#Marine Corps training video

[saphiccarma]

- Post Bellum

Relationships - Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal x Reader

Summary - After the military, you're left fumbling with your life, unsure of what to do. In comes the prospect of private contracting, and you get hired by two insanely hot women.

Warnings: ✨Trauma✨

A/N: this is more of an intro chapter, but there is more to come I promise. This isn't going to be so much so a series, rather a bunch of interconnected one-shots with some semblence of a timeline and plot

The army was never really your choice. Both of your parents had been in the military, your mother in the air force and your father in the navy seals. They had met afterward, bonding over shared trauma, and eventually they had a kid. A kid, you, who was pressured into joining the army and beating your parents’ standards. A kid who suffered a lot during her deployment. A kid, who retired from the military at a young age, early twenties because you joined as soon as you were eighteen. Your father joined when he was twenty, your mother twenty-two, so of course you had to beat that record as well.

While you regretted signing up, you did have some good memories. Hanging out with your crew around a small fire, only letting it burn for a little while so as to not draw too much attention, chatting softly. Or sitting in the dirt, a gun pressed against your shoulder with blood and tears covering your face. You remembered sitting in the barracks after grueling hours of training, sweat dripping down your back and soaking your shirt through while you laughed, exhausted.  

After the marine corps, the division you were in, one of the hardest ones, you wanted peace. You wanted to live a peaceful life without flinching at every little sound and having to take the night shift. You wanted to live a life without being paranoid that someone would leap out and jump you, or that a barking dog would charge at you. Everything that reminded you, even the slightest of your time serving, set you off. It was impossible to get a moment of peace.

Your parents suggested therapy, part of the reason you lived in N.Y, but after one session you quit. New York supposedly had one of the best post-military therapy groups. It was a bunch of bullshit where you talked about feelings and shit. Nothing you were interested in. Not that they knew that. You told them you kept going and that it was helping.  They called you often, but half the time you ignored their calls, claiming you were busy. To them, you were living a good life. A life where you had a good job and you were okay.

But you weren’t okay. You still woke up in cold sweats, looking around your room with frantic eyes as you searched for potential threats and your hands tightening around the gun you kept on the bedside table. Screams echoing in your mind, whether they were from children or adults – your own or your friends. The shadows in your apartment seemed darker, more ominous than they looked when you were a kid. Your father wasn't there to protect you anymore, nor your mother, hugging you tight and placing a tender kiss on your head. The shadows, the invisible monsters, were supposed to go away once you got older, but they only got worse. And your parents weren’t here to help.

They lived across the country in L.A while you were in New York. It was a decision that you regretted, but you had paid months in advance for the apartment, so there was no going back. It was constantly moving in N.Y, a constant source of noise that never stopped, even at night. A lot of sleepless nights occurred because of that. New York never slept so you rarely did.

Point is, you couldn't rest. Peace never came no matter how hard you tried. You tried all sorts of hobbies, bird watching, knitting, sewing, reading, video games - everything. You tried it all and only the last two stuck really, but they did nothing to stop the constant buzz of fearful anticipation that ran through your veins. You were constantly on edge, unable to turn off your senses. New York was far too loud for you to settle down and you wished that you had chosen someplace else to stay.

An old friend, one of your mentors from the military, suggested private contracting. You had called him one night, breathless and wide-eyed. Desperate for someone to remind you that you were safe, that none of your fears were real. He soothed you, his voice calm over the phone before he suggested contracting. So, you figured out how to sign up for it and listed your services. It turns out, that after some research, private work paid a lot. Like a lot. If this worked out, you would be rich in no time.

You ran a hand down your face as you stared at the blue light of your computer, emails sitting dauntingly in front of you, all of them marked unread. The clock on your computer told you it was 3 am, a common occurrence for you. Within just a couple days, you had about dozen people reach out. And you thought you were ready. Yet simply clicking on a single email seemed like an impossible task. The idea of committing to a person, surrendering part of your control felt like too much.

Fingers twitching on the mouse, you closed your eyes before scrolling then randomly selecting on one. Looking over it, you thought that maybe this wouldn't be so hard. Two women, both married, in need of a personal bodyguard. Both rich, successful, lawyers who had made a lot of enemies over the years. They were looking for someone to accompany either of them throughout the day. You chewed on your lip as you thought it over, looking at the name at the end of the email. Agatha.

With your sleep-ridden brain, you somehow thought it was a good idea to respond now, and you clicked reply. It was tempting enough. They were offering a shit ton of money that would have you set for a long while. You managed to type up something coherent, agreeing to meet up with her tomorrow, absently typing in a time and place. Some coffee shop you visit often. You slammed your computer shut, jumping at the noise it made.

You settled back into your bed, setting your gun down onto the table next to you and sitting up against the headboard. Your eyes flickered around the room constantly, hardly able to rest at night. The shadows in your room were screaming at you, voices of the past that pleaded for help. As much as you wanted to squeeze your eyes shut, block out the noise and try to quiet your mind, but you couldn’t. That would mean being vulnerable.

 Eventually your eyes started drooping shut, exhausted from days spent with little to no sleep, and it was already 5 by the time you fell asleep.

^______________^

Your neck hurt when you woke up, a small line of drool streaming from the corner of your mouth. A sign you slept heavily. Wiping it away, you glanced at the clock groggily, jolting when you saw the time. You threw the sheets off you, scrambling out of bed to get dressed. It was 10:30 and faintly, although just barely, you remembered you were meeting up with Agatha at 11. The shop was a good walk away from your apartment. It was nice to have that little bit of exercise in your routine. Not that you didn't go the gym every day and run until your lungs were screaming and lungs were burning.

You brushed your hair and your teeth, groaning at the apparent eye bags. You threw a pair of nice pants on, at least ones that were presentable, and a shirt. A jacket was thrown over that shirt with loose sleeves that allowed mobility. You clipped your holster onto your belt, making sure you had your concealed license in your wallet, and you tucked your gun into its spot. The last thing you wanted was the get stopped because you didn’t have your license on you. Sliding your boots on, you made sure that a knife was placed in there, a backup weapon just in case you needed it. With one last pat down, making sure your laces were double knotted and secure, and your belt was tight, you rushed out the door.

And you turned promptly back around, slamming your shoe against the door to prevent it from closing. You forgot your keys and the printed version of the contract. After they were both successfully nabbed from where they had been carelessly thrown, you were racing down the stairs. Children screamed from inside their parent's apartments, and you tried not to flinch or close your eyes and freeze up right there. Instead, you rushed out of the apartment complex.

The bustling streets of New York hit you like a semi-truck, crashing into you with surprising force. You took a deep breath. You did this every day. It was just people. You could do it. Slowly, you took steps, weaving through the crowds of people. You ignored the way your heartbeat uncontrollably in your chest - it was a common occurrence by now. You were hyper aware of the people and everything they were doing A man reached into his pocket rather quick and you nearly drew your gun.

You followed the roads with practiced ease, even despite the hammering of your heart and the way your ears perked at every little sound. It took a while to make your way through a bunch of people until you reached the cafe. It was a nice corner in the wall shop, quiet with hardly anyone in there most of the time. The prices were cheap, the workers were not loud at all, taking your order with a polite nod. You appreciated it. They seemed to know you like the quiet, not even trying to strike up small conversation like they did with other customers.

Heading up to the counter, you inhaled slowly to calm your breathing before ordering a large iced coffee with two extra shots. That should help keep you awake. You took a seat, fiddling with your thumbs nervously, for some odd reason. You weren't sure why you were nervous. Your coffee was served, and you spent the time anxiously sipping on your drink, relishing in the way caffeine helped wake you up. And after what felt like forever, the door opened, and two very elegant looking women walked in.

You choked on your breath, nearly doing the same to your coffee. It was very clear that they were your soon-to-be employers.

The first had brown hair that was pinned up into a bun, blue eyes shimmering as she glanced around. Her eyes were calculating and cold but held a tint of warmth that you were able to pick out.  Pink lipstick adorned her lips that were pursed into a thin line. She was dressed nicely, with boots that clacked on the floor with every step she took.

The other had similar hair, except hers was wavy instead of curly, falling elegantly down her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark chocolate brown that seemed as if they had infinite secrets. Her own steps were silent, quieter than the subtle music that drifted through the cafe. You liked that immediately.

The blue-eyed one spotted you first, her lips pulling into a small smile before she made her way over. You stood, your chair pushed back a bit louder than intended and wiped your palms on your pants. You didn't bother to force a smile onto your face, rather just nodding in greeting.

"Hi, my name's Y/N," you introduced, your voice steady and calm. You had half a mind to stick your hand in greeting, but just the thought of it made you internally shake your head. It was relief when neither of them offered their hand.

"Agatha," the blue-eyed woman introduced, her voice silky smooth, "This is Rio."

Rio grinned, her smile cat-like, and eyes glinting with mischief. It instantly set you on edge, "Y/N is a beautiful name," she purred. She tilted her head, brown eyes taking you in.  

You cleared your throat awkwardly, "Can I get you guys anything to drink? Or do you just want to dive right in?"

"Rio will get us some drinks. You and I can get started." Agatha slid into the seat across from you, her long fingers folding in front of her. You sat across from her.

You weren't sure how long it took to go over the terms of the contract, discussing it all in great detail. Both of you had to know what was happening, all the exact terms of the job and what was expected from you as a private contractor, and from her as an employer. Rio joined after retrieving drinks, sipping on her own as she leaned back into her seat, casually crossing her legs. She reminded you of a cat. Calm and composed with a silent smile that spoke volumes, her body portraying so many of her thoughts.

Agatha was different. Her micro-expressions gave everything away, all of her thoughts. One of the many things you had taken from the military was how to read people. People expressed themselves in various different ways. Whether it was clear, voicing their exact thoughts whenever they wanted to. Others were more quiet, only speaking when prompted, but their bodies gave away more than they would like. Little movements, the tensing of their arms, shifting of feet, hunched shoulders - it all gave something away. Rio was one of those people. Agatha wasn't either of those people. She was the quiet commanding type. Tiny expressions on her face, the little twitch of her nose or slight curve of her lips told you what she was feeling. She was a perfect mix of voicing her thoughts yet keeping them close to her chest.

They were certainly an interesting pair.

By the end, you had gone through your entire cup of coffee, and you were still exhausted. Agatha gave you a little smile, her eyes shining with a small bit of hope that was just hardly visible, as she stood from the table.

"I will meet you tomorrow at our place? I'll text you the address." Agatha had gotten your phone number right before the conversation ended. Her words left no room for negotiation, and you nodded, standing from your own seat.

"Yes ma'am."

Rio grinned her smile wide, and you faintly heard her whisper while she walked out with her wife, "I like her."

Taglist: @poppyshuman

[dojae-huh]

Finished the vlog about sending Tae off. Nothing to comment, really, just wrote down a few facts to remember in the future.

Jungwoo said the party was at Jinhae-gu (a part of Changwon city). They really travelled to the other side of the country (a 3h trip on a bullet train, so not that bad).

So Doyoung was absent during the shaving head gathering.

Do is really strict about not drinking before singing. I think a senior from the musical cast gave him this advice.

I suppose Tae infamously being late to practices, waking up late and similar things made Woo think he is a free spirit (so following a strict routine would be hard for him). Doyoung being Doyoung (I know my friends the best) had to intervene with his own opinion, saying that Tae can follow the rules, actually abides by many societal norms. (Which made Tae laugh in a "so you know me best, huh, mbti-lover guy? let's hear out your reasoning")

Jungwoo joked for a year that he will be the leader when Tae leaves (he was a leader of trainees in his batch, btw).

At 21:30 Woo sat on Yuta's knee. Woo always pranks others in such way (Jae is not special).

It's been awhile I saw Taeil adoring Woo, heh.

23:02 - Cheerful Jungwoo (who drinks cola) beside hangover hyungs, lol. Don't drink too much, people, haha.

24:50 - It was Taeyong who said the ceremony was cancelled. However, instead of asking him to elaborate, or addressing both TaeDo, he quietly asked Do to explain (and turned to his soup).

24:54 - Do briefly touching Jae's thigh. It's the smothness with which Do transitioned to teasing Jae and the habitual touch, that screams "married", heh.

24:57 - Jae is such a maknae here. A throw back to trainee days.

24:58 - Jae's habit of tracking Do with his eyes.

Doyoung went to Marine corps camp in middle school for 4 days.

Jae didn't perk up hearing this info (he muttered smth instead), so he knew (figures, lol).

26:42 - Woo mentioning that he and Jae watched "Wonka" together. This is an example of very natural true commentary. As well as Jae's supporting "yes".

26:52 - Jae's smile at Do's indignant huff, heh. He got amuzed right away with DoIl interaction.

27:04 - That's a funny moment.

29:37 - Do feeling Tae's buzzcut. Meanwhile Jae actually suspended his hand in the air (he probably felt the tickling from the hairs, but he didn't rub the head). And later he was looking at Tae when everyone was posing, he was absorbing the moment.

Everyone comments how 127 is a family under the video, but I got the feeling of "brotherhood". (Not as blood brothers, but religious or knights).

Took me time, but I found it!

[usafphantom2]

Without the CMV-22, the U.S. Navy needs 15 former C-2A to carry out missions aboard the aircraft carriers

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/20/2024 - 20:58in Military

The uncertainty of the return of the tiltrotor V-22 to full operation is leading the U.S. Navy to rethink its plans on how to refuel its aircraft carrier fleet in the short term, with more uncertainty in the long term, and the remaining C-2A Greyhounds become essential.

The service had initially planned to retire its remaining 15 C-2A Greyhound onboard delivery (COD) aircraft in the next two years and replace them with a total of 38 CMV-22B Ospreys, which DOT&E reported "not to be operationally adequate".

“For the luck of the Navy, the C-2 Greyhound is still available,” said Vice Admiral Air Boss Daniel Cheever at a panel at the WEST 2024 conference, co-organized by the U.S. Naval Institute and the AFCEA. "Limited operational impacts at this time, but there are still operational impacts. And when you look to the future, there are significant operational impacts."

As part of the Greyhounds' planned retirement, the U.S. Navy stopped training new C-2 pilots and began to reduce spare parts and logistical support for the 60-year project.

This transition, completed on the West Coast, is now paralyzed with the grounding of the V-22 in the U.S. Marines, Navy and Air Force after the fall of a USAF Special Operations MV-22 off the coast of Japan late last year.

The grounding of the Ospreys has already been out of operation for 75 days, with no indication of how long the grounding can continue.

CMV-22B Osprey.

The suspension of operation of the tiltrotors forced the U.S. Navy to exchange the V-22 aboard the West Coast aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) for the C-2As of the East Coast Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40, the "Rawhides".

"The VRC-40 is currently emerging to fulfill the mission [COD] for aircraft carriers deployed in the 5ª and 7ª U.S. Fleets," says a statement from the Naval Air Forces. "There was no change in the planned retirement of C-2A for 2026."

Although there is still no change in the plan for the C-2, there is little indication of any of the forces for how long the V-22 will be able to remain out of service. After the initial grounding of the fleet, there was very limited information about the underlying cause of the grounding, in addition to a "potential material failure".

For the Marines, the situation is more terrible, said Lieutenant Karsten Heckl during the panel. He said that the operations of the 31ª Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Japan, the 26º MEU deployed in the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the 15º MEU that is preparing to be deployed aboard the Boxer ARG had "dramatic impacts".

Navy officers said that Marines are allowed to use Ospreys deployed aboard the Bataan ARG in specific emergency situations. A main mission of the 26º MEU, currently deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean, is the evacuation of non-combatants from Lebanon.

Last month, the Assistant Commander of the Marine Corps, General Chris Mahoney, said that the Force risks losing proficiency with the aircraft the longer it stays on the ground.

"At some point, if a pilot does not fly, if a maintainer does not turn a wrench, if an observer or crew chief is not exercising his profession, this will become a matter of competence and then there will be a matter of safety," he said.

Tags: Military AviationCMV-22B OspreyGrumman C-2 GreyhoundUSN - United States Navy/U.S. Navy

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[thepastisalreadywritten]

Loyal Service Dog Gets A Special Send-Off On Her Final Flight Home

9 February 2023

Kaya helped her owner, a Marine Corps veteran, through PTSD and suicidal thoughts, and even inspired a national law to help veterans get service dogs.

When Kaya was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Cole flew her home — and the airline gave her a beautiful special tribute on her final flight

Service dogs are invaluable companions for so many people, especially veterans. The benefits are great: dogs provide therapeutic companionship that can be used to treat conditions like PTSD.

For many vets who have service dogs, these dogs become their best friends in the world.

For Marine Corps veteran Cole Lyle, that dog was Kaya, a German Shepherd. Kaya was by his side all the time, even on hundreds of airline flights.

Sadly, Kaya took her final flight recently — but was given an incredible honor on board.

Cole, from North Texas, came home after a six-year tour in Afghanistan and was suffering from PTSD.

“I tried pills and tried therapy. The pills just made things worse. I spiraled down and almost became a veteran suicide statistic,” the veteran told WFAA.

A fellow veteran suggested he try getting a service dog. Cole brought home Kaya, the runt of her litter, and spent $10,000 of his own money to have her trained as a service dog.

It was well worth it: Kaya was trained to wake the vet up from nightmares and to stop anxiety attacks.

Cole said the dog made a huge difference on his condition and even credited her with stopping his suicidal thoughts.

“A dog can be a powerful thing to keep you around,” he said. “If you get to that point, you look down at the dog and say, well, I can’t leave the dog. The dog would miss me.”

Kaya not only made an impact on Cole’s life but for veterans around the country.

After Cole became an advisor to the US Senate on veterans policies, the pair lobbied for the PAWS Act, which provides canine training for veterans with PTSD.

That act was passed into law on August 2022, receiving bipartisan support.

Kaya lived quite a life: she met many politicians and celebrities, walked at graduation with Cole, and accompanied the vet on hundreds of flights around the country.

But sadly, a tumor under her tongue metastasized in January and took a toll on her quality of life. Cole didn’t want to see his loyal friend suffer.

“I didn’t want her to be in pain and suffer after all the pain and suffering that she stopped,” Cole told WFAA.

Realizing the end was near, he took her on one last flight, from Virginia to their home in Texas.

“She’s a Texas girl and I didn’t want her to die in Virginia,” Cole explained.

But it wasn’t just any ordinary flight. They flew on Southwest Airlines, with whom they had traveled over 250 times.

After finding out that this was Kaya’s final journey, the airline did something inspiring to mark the occasion.

On the February 2 flight, the pilot got on the intercom and made a special announcement.

He introduced Kaya, explaining to the travellers her work as a service dog and her work to get the PAWS Act passed.

He then explained he had the “solemn honor of what will be her last flight, as she goes home to rest where she was born and first met Cole.”

“On behalf of Southwest Airlines, your two veterans up front, we thank both Maya and Cole… for their service.”

In a video shared by Southwest Airlines, you can see Kaya get a round of applause from the plane’s passengers — and Kaya, who had been laying down, suddenly lifts her head up.

After the two arrived in Dallas, the airline also provided a cart for Kaya’s mobility issues.

A few days later, Cole announced that Kaya had died.

Rest in peace, Kaya. You may be gone but you made a huge difference in the world and were a best friend to Cole. We hope you’re at peace now.

https://thespacedogs.com/loyal-service-dog-gets-a-special-send-off-on-her-final-flight-home/

Texas service dog with 250+ Southwest flights takes her final trip home

9 February 2023

Kaya, a German Shepherd with years of service, went home to Texas last week.

[frankendykes-monster]

Protesters took over the 63rd Street-Lexington Avenue subway station on Saturday evening, calling for justice for Jordan Neely, who was choked to death aboard an F train on Monday. Police arrested 13 people who were protesting Neely's death at the station on Saturday evening, according to the NYPD. One person was issued a summons, and the other 12 were hit with varying charges for resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, assault, trespassing and unlawful interference of a railroad train, police said. Footage by ABC News shows police clashing with protesters on a packed subway platform, next to a stopped train with its doors jammed open. The protest began downtown, and protesters marched through Midtown before converging on the station. At 6:18 p.m., the MTA posted an alert to its Twitter account noting that F and Q train service was interrupted due to “people being disruptive at Lexington Av/63 St.” Service had resumed by 7 p.m., according to the MTA. Video posted to Twitter, meanwhile, depicted protesters jumping onto the subway tracks and chanting Neely's name. Talia Jane said they followed the protest from the Broadway-Lafayette station downtown up to Midtown. They estimated nearly 300 protesters poured into the 63rd Street-Lexington Avenue station, and dozens jumped onto the tracks.

People started waving their phone lights into the tunnel to notify any incoming train that there were people on the tracks," Jane said. Phone footage captured on Monday by journalist Juan Alberto Vasquez shows the 30-year-old Neely being put in a chokehold by Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Long Island. The city’s medical examiner ruled Neely’s death by chokehold as a homicide. Neely’s mother was strangled to death by her partner in 2007, when Neely was 14. Penny has not been charged with a crime. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and NYPD say they are investigating the death.

[beardedmrbean]

At least 11 protesters were arrested as they clashed with authorities in New York City on Monday night, during demonstrations over the killing of Jordan Neely, who was choked to death on the F train earlier this month.

Crowds of protesters gathered outside the subway station in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood where Neely was killed on May 1, CBS New York reported. Authorities stopped traffic in the surrounding area and made several arrests, taking some protesters into custody who were bleeding from their heads, according to the news station. Police estimated that more than 150 people were involved in the demonstration.

NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey acknowledged protesters' right to demonstrate over "the senseless death" of Neely, but said at a news conference late on Monday that people in the crowd had broken the law, including by bringing weapons and dangerous substances to the demonstration. Maddrey noted specifically that authorities found a Molotov cocktail at the intersection where the crowd had gathered to protest.

For days, protesters have been calling for the arrest of Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old student and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who, in video footage lasting nearly three minutes, can be seen placing Neely in the chokehold that led to his death. Although the New York City medical examiner formally ruled 30-year-old Neely's death a homicide, Penny has not been criminally charged in the killing. The former Marine was questioned by police, but released the same day.

The case is expected to go before a grand jury this week, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg faces growing pressure to file criminal charges against Penny. The grand jury will determine whether or not to bring charges. 

Protesters have said they will continue to demonstrate until Penny is arrested. Monday's demonstration over Neely's death followed another over the weekend inside a subway station at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue. Authorities say a crowd of about 100 people stormed the station, with some jumping onto the subway tracks in protest. At least 12 people were arrested during the demonstration, where multiple officers were injured, and police later released photos of six other alleged protesters wanted for criminal trespassing in connection with the incident.

Neely, a homeless man who performed in New York City as a Michael Jackson impersonator, had a history of mental illness as well as an arrest record, sources previously told CBS New York. Witnesses and Penny's attorney said that Neely was acting erratically, yelling about being tired and hungry, on the subway train when Penny, allegedly attempting to subdue him, placed Neely in the fatal restraint. 

On Monday, Neely's family urged city officials to take action to move his case forward in a statement released by their attorneys. 

They argued that Penny's "actions on the train," as well as his own statement released after the fact, "show why he needs to be in prison." A press release issued on Penny's behalf by his attorney last week said the former Marine "never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death," calling the deadly chokehold "a tragic incident on the NYC subway."

Michael Bachner, the former assistant district attorney in Manhattan, told CBS Mornings that a grand jury could potentially find that Penny acted in self defense when he restrained Neely on the subway.

"I think what happened is, things got really out of control. But horrible accidents can sometimes turn into a manslaughter," Bachner said. "The testimony of other people on the train, how endangered they may have felt, how heightened and really kind of scary and aggressive the whole situation was, that could lead to the conclusion that he acted in self defense."

But Lennon Edwards, the attorney for Neely's family, argued that Penny should be held accountable for his role in the killing.

"Justice, immediately, means an arrest," Edwards told CBS Mornings. "It means following the process through, and letting Daniel Penny have a day in court where he tries to prove that none of this is what we know it to be. A murder."

[mightyflamethrower]

Jordan Neely’s father sues Daniel Penny as NYC jury deliberates verdict for subway chokehold death

Jordan Neely’s father is suing Daniel Penny over his son’s chokehold death on a New York City subway car as the jury still deliberates whether to convict Penny of manslaughter.

The suit, filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday, accuses the Long Island Marine veteran of negligent contact, assault and battery that caused injuries and Neely’s death last year.

Neely’s father, Andre Zachary, “demands judgment awarding damages in a sum which exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower Courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction,” according to the lawsuit. It was filed Wednesday as jurors in Penny’s four-week-long Manhattan trial broke for a second time without reaching a verdict.

“The timing is unfortunate as Danny is awaiting a verdict from the jury where the potential consequences are far greater than any civil suit could threaten,” Raiser said.

“We will not be distracted by this attempt to attack Danny while he is under such tremendous stress.”

Neely, 30, died after Penny, 26, held him in a chokehold for six minutes on May 1, 2023, after the troubled homeless man began shouting at passengers on a crowded F train, seriously frightening them. Penny and other witnesses claimed Neely said he didn’t care if he went back to jail and threatened that he was willing to “kill a motherf—er.”

Defense attorneys argued that Neely died from a mix of schizophrenia, drug use, a genetic condition and the struggle with Penny.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, have claimed Penny was “criminally reckless” and went “way too far” while grappling with Neely.895

What do you think? Post a comment.

The jury requested Wednesday to again review bodycam footage of NYPD officers arriving at the scene as EMS tried to revive Neely as well as video of Penny’s precinct interrogation interview with detectives.

“I wasn’t trying to injure him. I’m just trying to keep him from hurting anybody else,” Penny told the detectives in the videotaped interview shown to jurors, adding “that’s what we are taught in the Marine Corps.”

Last month, Zachary left the courtroom as jurors were for the first time shown the infamous video of Penny putting Neely in a chokehold before his son died.

The shocking clip has since been played more than a dozen times inside the courtroom.

Black Privilege dictates that a black man has a right to rob and assault others without fear of consequences. Daniel Penny should not have interfered with Neely................cuz slavery.

[bllsbailey]

JD Vance Rightly Calls Tim Walz Out for Being a Sheep and a Coward

Wednesday morning, Senator JD Vance was giving public remarks on the campaign trail when he mentioned his opponent Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and his "controversial" military service record. Vance then laid into Walz, essentially calling him a coward, and rightly so, when he mentioned Walz's decision to abandon his troops right before they deployed to Iraq in 2004. 

To be perfectly clear, I 100 percent agree with Vance in his remarks, though because I am not running for Vice President of the United States, I would be much more colorful in my language describing Walz and his shameful behavior. Walz is absolutely a coward and a liar, and he uses and embellishes his service record for political gain. 

RedState helped break the story regarding Walz's military service when several of his former peers in the Minnesota National Guard called him out for cowardice and lying. The biggest complaints are how Walz continues to lie by omission when he says he was the most senior enlisted soldier when he was in Congress as a Command Sergeant Major — he was reduced in rank to Master Sergeant — and that he knowingly abandoned his unit before they deployed to Iraq in 2004. 

In an undated video posted to X, Walz is seen and heard ranting about gun control. Being a Democrat, that itself is not shocking or unusual. However, where he slipped up was when he called for banning so-called assault weapons. Walz said he wanted to ensure that "weapons of war like I carried when I went to war" stay on the battlefield. Again, the problem is he has no idea what a battlefield looks like and never carried a weapon in war, because he never went to war. 

Serving in the United States military has been voluntary since 1973, when the all-volunteer force (AVF) went into effect after President Richard Nixon signed the legislation in 1971. Since then, Americans and residents alike could volunteer to serve in the military's active, reserve, or National Guard components. People serve for a plethora of reasons, but they all serve with the understanding that they may be called one day to serve in combat. Pre-9/11, the use of military force was rare, or at least much rarer than it is today. Serving in the military was almost viewed as "safe," as some of my senior Marines who had served for several years before 9/11 had said to me. 

When I enlisted in 1999, in my junior year of high school, war was the last thing on my mind. I thought I was just going to join the Marine Corps and spend four years doing some pretty cool training. That, my friends, is one of the best examples of naivete because reality hit not even two months into BootCamp, when our Drill Instructors came out and said we were going to war when we saw the USS Cole with a gaping hole in her side after a suicide bomber blew her up, killing 17 Sailors and wounding 37 others. Nothing ever happened with that, but war and combat became a real thing to think about; then, the terrorist attacks on September 11th changed everything for us. War would come, not if, but when.

For those who went into their recruiter's offices on September 12th, 2001, they all went in there knowing that there was a distinct possibility they would be going to war. Especially those who chose the combat arms path, like infantry for me, or say, artillery, like Walz. I should note, that between 2001 and 2012 and possibly years past that, 0.45 percent of the American population served in the military. In a powerful and emotional essay penned by former Army Ranger and Captain Nick Palmisciano titled "The 0.45%," he wrote of the powerful statistic of the number of those who served and the burden they had to bear. I strongly encourage everyone to read the essay in its entirety. 

In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years. In Vietnam, 4.3% served in 12 years. Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror. These are unbelievable statistics. Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse. Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military. Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts. The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation. You. You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You’ve lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you’ll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don’t understand. And you come home to a nation that doesn’t understand. They don’t understand suffering. They don’t understand sacrifice. They don’t understand that bad people exist. They look at you like you’re a machine – like something is wrong with you.

Governor Walz was technically one of those people who signed up after 9/11 when he re-enlisted just seven days after 9/11 for six years. He signed up for another six years, not four as he falsely claimed.

According to his official Report of Separation and Record of Service, he re-enlisted for six years on September 18th, 2001. However, in his response he says that he re-enlisted for four years, conveniently retiring a year before his battalion was deployed to Iraq. Even if he had re-enlisted for four years following Sept.11, his retirement date would have been September 18th, 2005. Why then did he "retire" on May 16th, 2005, before his supposed four-year enlistment was up? And he makes it sound like he "retired" a year before his battalion deployed to Iraq; when in reality he knew when he "retired" that the battalion would be deployed to Iraq.

Tim Walz is an American coward, plain and simple. He betrayed his word, his contract; he betrayed his men. He committed the ultimate act of betrayal, and that is irrefutable. It is beyond offensive to those of us who not only served our country but who had the honor and privilege to serve with our brothers and sisters in combat. 

War is absolutely hell, literally and figuratively speaking. It is filled with death, destruction, despair, stress, and much more, but I have to say, I loved it too. I loved combat. It was the ultimate test of strength and ability, to fight another armed foe on the battlefield; it was the ultimate rush. Yes, I am scarred for the rest of my life because of it, but no warrior comes out of a scrap without scars. To be clear, I do not see myself as anything special or someone who needs or wants validation or admiration for what I chose to do, but I do deserve a little respect for living up to my word as a man when I said I would go. I have photos to back that up, too, whereas Walz only has figments of his imagination. 

I was not supposed to go back to Iraq when I did in 2004. I had completed my four-year contractual obligation to the Marines and could have gotten out in August of 2004. Instead, to the chagrin of my family and friends, I volunteered for another tour and extended my contract for another year. I could not stomach the fact that I would be abandoning my brothers when they were to go back. Myself and two others all extended to go back with our boys.

In contrast, Walz most likely said to himself, "Screw this, I won't go." He knew his unit was going to Iraq for months and told all his peers and leaders that he was going to go — that they could count on him. But at the last minute, like a true coward, he abruptly quit (you can do that in the National Guard). He couldn't even be bothered to show up and sign his discharge paperwork. His military family was about to get into a scrap, and he just said to them he was just gonna go sit this one out. Pathetic.

Walz is not a leader; he is a sheep in a sea of sheep, trying to convince them that he is a sheepdog when he is the farthest from it. JD Vance did not serve in a combat MOS; he was a combat camera, and he has openly said he never saw combat when he was in Iraq. But Vance honored his commitment to the Corps and the country and did not shy away from deploying in any way. Yes, I understand that as a junior enlisted non-commissioned officer, he did not have the capability of telling his leaders "no," and that he had to follow orders. But Vance willingly obeyed his orders and lived up to what it means to be a man by doing what you say and saying what you do. Walz did not, and for that, he is no real man in the figurative sense of the word. He is a coward and a fraud, a person who takes the easy way out and lies about it. I refuse to pay any iota of respect to a person who so readily says, "Screw it, I quit," and walks away on their family. 

[irishfederalreconnaissance]

The Family Support of the Vietnam War

Pasha (Charlebois):

Diane: MI-6 airways, out of Amsterdam; support through D-Company, into Thailand, out of Bengal.

Michael: Raytheon NFL, out of Attleboro; the jeweler's industry, as fomenting the Jets-Patriots rivalry, to prevent MI-6 from favoring the Steelers as the league chaplins, MI-6, instead of the Jets as league stewards, NYPD.

Steven: Vatican CIA, out of California; the saviorship, of Chinatown, as an anti-rape movie, and with it, the other films, the Vietnam War veteran support of female roles for male rapists, out of the frame of Roman Polanski, as police lieutenant Charles Manson, and the switch of identities.

Ellen: DC Comics African Poverty Fund, and the saviorship of the Batman title, outside of Mossad holding, and instead inside British calumny, the Wayne Family written as the Falcones, the Charleboises.

Sullivan (O'Neill):

Gene: The support of the Sino-Soviet Split, through President Nixon, and the sales of the Stretch Armstrong figure, to Cambodia.

Marie: The study of rare autists, produced by Japan, "The Greys", and the prevention of the MI-6 myth of alien invasion, through MUFON.

Roberta: The NSA housing fund, for irregular soldiers, as engineers, to counter any infiltrator in an unit, as requesting alcohol and liquor, otherwise murdering the failure to violate Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous protocols; such protocols, being Saudi and Malay.

Evelyn: The trans-axis between Texas, and Tennessee, through Alabama. The State Police office, in rare insects, "bugs", to be hunted by arachnids.

Danny: The formation of "The Cult of Subgenius", to hunt Che Guevera and library cops, those police officers and operatives working out of factories and warehouses, seeking prisoner inmate labor as slaves, to train transgender surgeons for male republics out of France.

Timmy Jr.: The practice of maps and trails finding, in Vietnam, to counter Nixon's attempt at killing the police services, with sperm steals and game theory modeling, through primitive video games, later film and tobacco reference inside Nintendo Systems.

Jimmy: The chaplin stewardship, of Indochina, into the Boston prostitution scene, dominatrixes and dominants, the latter gay, to women, female submissives; spread to Indochina, with trail shootings of Catholic ARVN priests, for Australian MI-6; infiltrated inside the Marine Corps.

Francis: The use of ultraviolet spectroscopes, to analyze schizophrenic birth defects, from police officer marriages, outside of the actual parents; the loss of the "childhood sweetheart" policy, of the Freemasons, to philosophy texts; the modification of "Awake" magazine, "The Watchtower", to "Dr. Spock", the falsely marked Gadze child, a politician with no bearing for being German Homesteader.

Alice: The SIS MI-6 sniper's corps; DEA, on a five person team, lead by Sanjay Gupta, interdicting IDF cocaine dealers out of Colombia; service to the Colombian Army, against sweatshop labor, in garments districts.

[c2istar]

Huchu 후추

“The commanders don’t decide who live who die, medics do.”

Age: 42     

Species: Gray squirrel     

Handedness: Right

Personality: A steadfast and stern squirrel with a bad case of savior complex. He’s not afraid to be impolite, cares too much and tends to explode in irrational anger. He hates that he’s fixing people just so that they could be injured again until it is impossible to fix them. He is also very observant of his surroundings. Combined with his natural gift of problem-solving skills, he can always look around and invent a solution on the spot no matter how little resource he has.

Like: Rum, Tomato stew, Sketching anatomy, Historical film, Warm bath, Surgical documentary

Dislike: Wine, Store brought apple cider, Dirtiness, War, Gossip

Occupations: Field Surgeon, MEDEVAC pilot, Surgical tools engineer

Story: Growing up in the Bay hill, He has a different world view from Northland citizens which made him an outcast. He couldn’t cope with having only 2 hands which isn’t enough to operate on a thousand people at once during the CCT purge and ended up lashing out in aggression whenever any medics reasonably put their patients out of misery. He openly disrespects anyone he disagrees with, which resulted in him being mistreated, having his scholarship forfeited and having a divorce from his wife. Aside from working his regular job and trying to finish his PHD. He ran an underground clinic and organ bank to pay for his intuition debt in the hope of going back to Bay hill in secret. His regular patients are C2ISTAR members and with good intention, tried to provide a CBT for them despite having no psychiatric license and ended up internalizing their problem to the point they cannot be helped anymore including himself. Huchu decided that if C2ISTAR became an international threat, he will kill them all with himself. Seoltang knows this and he will kill Huchu if he ever shows sign of doing such.

Skills examples:

Being a surgeon give him extreme dexterity which allowed him to: Pick lock and pick pocket.

Is a talented surgical instruments blacksmith, this allows him to mold and weld metal, especially an extremely small and detailed item like keys.

Is studying PhD for medical instrumentation engineering which allow him to: Fix and smolder electronic medical devices that don’t require programming and improvise non-complicated medical electronic devices on spot.

Have master’s degree in pharmacy which allow him to: Improvise medicine and poison on spot, improvised useful chemical on spot, and improvise explosive material on spot.

Has PPL license for B412 and can provide short VFR MEDEVAC and CASEVAC flight service.

Is a very talented and dedicated surgeon who can improvise many ways to keep someone alive. While he mainly works in the field of battlefield medicine, his original specialty was neuroscience.

Has a powerboat driving license.

Note:

His savior complex is very bad, he’s willing to pay for medical equipment that isn’t available in the camp to save his patients despite him being in financial shambles and being disliked by them. He will not let anyone die on his watch, on his duty. Even if it means he’s had to make them vegetables. If his patients are alive, nothing else matters unless they are C2ISTAR.

He has a habit of recording videos of himself in sensual activity.

He has a bit of a temper problem; he’ll lash out in violence from time to time to the point that he borderline physically assault his patients which is also other reason he’s disliked by the other marine corps. It seemingly developing into something more sinister but he’s a neurosurgeon so if there’s something wrong with his brain, there’s no way he would miss it and anybody who dared say otherwise is wrong and uneducated.

Is not very well trained in combat but amputating limps, carrying extremely heavy medical equipment and sometimes patients on field for living does result in some strong muscles. He may be the first one who’d be knocked out in sparring session but in term of raw strength, he might be as strong as Angae.

He uses soap that is scented like lemon and rosemary butter cookies, the dessert his mother makes at home.

[usafphantom2]

Wreckage of the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B jet is found in South Carolina

Service decreed temporary suspension of flights.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 09/18/2023 - 23:26 in Aeronautical Accidents, Military

U.S. authorities found on Monday a wreckage field of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) F-35B poacher that crashed in South Carolina after the pilot safely ejected.

The wreckage field was located in rural Williamsburg County, according to the Charleston Marine Corps Joint Base. The field is about two hours northeast of the base, and residents were asked to avoid the area while the recovery team worked to protect it.

Authorities have been looking for the jet since the pilot, whose name was not disclosed, parachuted safely in a neighborhood of North Charleston around 2 p.m. on Sunday (09/17). He was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, said USMC major Melanie Salinas.

The Marine Corps announced on Monday that it would stop operations for two days after the fall of the fighter - the third expensive accident in recent weeks.

General Eric Smith, interim commander of the Marine Corps, ordered the suspension while authorities were searching near two South Carolina lakes for the missing F-35B Lightning II aircraft.

It is the third event documented as a "Class A accident" in the last six weeks, according to an announcement by the Marine Corps. Such incidents occur when the damage reaches $2.5 million or more, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed or someone dies or is permanently incapacitated.

The commanders will pass the suspension reinforcing safe flight policies, practices and procedures with their marines, according to Monday's statement.

141029-M-RH401-078

The announcement did not give details about the two previous incidents. But in August, three U.S. Marines died in the crash of a V-22B Osprey tiltrotora aircraft during a training exercise in Australia, and a U.S. Marine Corps pilot died when his F/A-18D fighter jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.

Based on the location and trajectory of the missing plane, the search focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, said Senior Sergeant Heather Stanton at Charleston Joint Base. Both lakes are north of North Charleston.

Additional aircraft are researching northwest of the lakes, including a Cessna 182 with the Civil Air Patrol and a King Air 200 from the Department of Defense.

A helicopter from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division joined the search after bad weather improved in the area, Stanton said. Military officers appealed in online posts on Sunday for any help from the public in locating the aircraft.

The pilot of a second F-35 returned safely to the Charleston Joint Base, Salinas said.

The planes and pilots were part of the Marine Attack Fighter Training Squadron 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing based in Beaufort, near the coast of South Carolina.

Source: The Associated Press

Tags: Aeronautical AccidentsMilitary AviationLockheed Martin F-35B Lightning IIUSMC - United States Marine Corps/U.S. Marine Corps

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work throughout the world of aviation.

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[newstfionline]

Sunday, December 17, 2023

No room at the inn? (AP) It could be a cold, grim New Year for thousands of migrant families living in New York City’s emergency shelter system. With winter setting in, they are being told they need to clear out, with no guarantee they’ll be given a bed elsewhere. Homeless migrants and their children were limited to 60 days in city housing under an order issued in October by Mayor Eric Adams, a move the Democrat says is necessary to relieve a shelter system overwhelmed by asylum-seekers crossing the southern U.S. border. That clock is now ticking down for people like Karina Obando, a 38-year-old mother from Ecuador who has been given until Jan. 5 to get out of the former hotel where she has been staying with her two young children. Where she will end up next is unclear. After that date, she can reapply for admission to the shelter system. A placement might not happen right away. Her family could wind up getting sent to one of the city’s huge tent shelters far from where her 11-year-old son goes to school.

U.S. Military Returns to the Jungle, Training for a Very Different Threat (NYT) One by one, the American soldiers slid down a muddy hillside to a river deep in the Hawaiian jungle. With guns on top of rucksacks, they kicked their way across, wobbling in the current, trying to stay quiet. It was a sluggish advance stinking of sweat and silt—reminiscent of Vietnam, and similar to what they might face in a potential fight with China almost anywhere in the Pacific. Military strategists like to say the jungle is neutral, helping neither friend nor foe, but for most of the 79 students last month at the U.S. Army’s only jungle school, “the J” was just plain new. It was nothing like home or deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, which explained why they were there: To deter China and work effectively with partners in the region, American ground forces need more jungle expertise. The Marine Corps has been assigning a significant portion of its force to the muggy, rainy terrain of Okinawa, Japan, and training with partners near the Equator.

‘People Snatchers’: Ukraine’s Recruiters Use Harsh Tactics to Fill Ranks (NYT) With Ukraine’s military facing mounting deaths and a stalemate on the battlefield, army recruiters have become increasingly aggressive in their efforts to replenish the ranks, in some cases pulling men off the streets and whisking them to recruiting centers using intimidation and even physical force. Recruiters have confiscated passports, taken people from their jobs and, in at least one case, tried to send a mentally disabled person to military training, according to lawyers, activists and Ukrainian men who have been subject to coercive tactics. Videos of soldiers shoving people into cars and holding men against their will in recruiting centers are surfacing with increasing frequency on social media and in local news reports. The harsh tactics are being aimed not just at draft dodgers but at men who would ordinarily be exempt from service—a sign of the steep challenges Ukraine’s military faces maintaining troop levels in a war with high casualties, and against a much larger enemy.

Shell shortages force us to limit firing, Ukrainian troops tell BBC (BBC) A crackling sound on the radio sends instructions to artillerymen waiting inside a US-made M-109 Paladin howitzer. “We have a new target.” Immediately, the entire crew springs into action. The engine roars. One of the gunners pushes a projectile into the barrel. The gun is loaded. “Fire!” he shouts, and pulls the cord. A deafening explosion shakes the armoured machine. They fire just one round, and then wait for the next command. But after a prolonged silence, the same crackling voice on the radio gives them an order: “Stand down and cover the gun.” Ukraine’s gunners have to use ammunition rounds sparingly, as there is a shortage of artillery shells. Their gun, like most artillery systems provided by the West, fires 155-mm projectiles that are also supplied by foreign partners. The problem is, Ukraine’s troops need more rounds than their allies can currently give them.

“Clash Of Civilizations” Fervor Grips Turkey (Diken/Turkey) The ceasefire for the hostage exchanges was brief. Israel is back to carrying out massacres in Gaza with utter disregard for the women, children and elderly they may kill. Since the war began, there is no doubt that Israel committed a series of offenses that would logically be within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. There are people that have made a point of evaluating the current events in the Middle East as an extension of the so-called “clash of civilizations.” Here in Turkey, the massacres committed by Israel in Gaza, and the support granted from Western countries, seems to have augmented a belief that the historic “clash between East and West” is accelerating. Most of those who support the Palestinian people and condemn Israel also see the West as the accomplice to an Israeli genocide in Gaza. Moving outside the traditional Israel-Palestine question, the current war in Gaza has turned into a conflict between the cross and the crescent, a conflict between Islam and the West.

Private Gun Ownership in Israel Spikes After Hamas Attacks (NYT) In Israel, a nation of 9 million people, roughly 150,000 held private gun licenses in 2021, a figure that had dropped by about 20 percent over the previous decade, according to the National Security Ministry. The overwhelming majority of such licenses are for handguns. But in the aftermath of Oct. 7, Israelis have submitted at least 256,000 applications for gun licenses, including many who had never before considered owning a weapon. Israel’s current far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has long pushed for an expansion of gun ownership, and in mid-October, lawmakers signed off on eased gun ownership regulations promulgated by his office. Young adults with assault rifles slung over their shoulders are a common sight in Israel, where hundreds of thousands are soldiers on active duty or reservists with weapons stashed at home. But despite decades of insecurity, private gun ownership never approached the levels seen in the United States, where surveys show about one-third of adults own firearms. “Israel won’t become the United States,” said one former security official. “But we will pay a big price, as a society, for this proliferation of private weaponry: more gunfire accidents, more suicides, more kids playing with guns, more daily conflicts escalating to drawn guns.”

Detained without charge (BBC) Since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, Israel has been detaining Palestinians at its highest rate in years. Known as “administrative detention”, the longstanding security policy allows the Israeli state to imprison people indefinitely without charge, and without presenting any evidence against them. “What really gets to you is the uncertainty,” 17-year-old Yazen Alhasnat said, sitting in his living room. “Will you finish your six months and leave? Or will you be extended for a year, for two years?” The detainees can mount an appeal, all the way up to Israel’s Supreme Court, but with no access to the evidence against them, they have nothing to base it on. Israel’s use of the policy in the West Bank had “crossed all lines—red, green, every colour”, Yazen’s mother Sadiah said. “We are living under a parallel system of justice.” Israel says its use of the policy is compliant with international law.

Gaza families beg for bread, eat donkey meat as aid deliveries falter (Reuters) People in Gaza described begging for bread, paying 50 times more than usual for a single can of beans and slaughtering a donkey to feed a family as food aid trucks were unable to reach most parts of the bombarded Palestinian territory. “Aid? What aid? We hear about it and we don’t see it,” said Abdel-Aziz Mohammad, 55, displaced from Gaza City and sheltering with his family and three others, about 30 people in total, at the house of friends who live further south. “I used to have a big house, two fridges full of food, electricity and mineral water. After two months of this war, I am begging for some loaves of bread,” he said by telephone. “It is a war of starvation. They (Israel) forced us out of our homes, they destroyed our homes and businesses and drove us to the south where we can either die under their bombs or die of hunger.” The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Thursday hungry people were stopping its aid trucks to take food and eat it straight away.

Shipping firms are suspending routes in the Red Sea (Washington Post) This month at least six commercial ships traveling through the Red Sea have been subjected to drone and missile attacks as they approached the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The attacks have come from Houthi rebels, who since 2014 have controlled a large portion of western Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, and coastal areas along the Red Sea. The attacks endanger ships traveling through this vital corridor with cargo and energy shipments from the Suez Canal through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and out to the Indian Ocean. The Houthis have claimed that these attacks are aimed at ending the Israeli air and ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip and Hamas. The Red Sea is defined by two narrow waterways: to the north, the Suez Canal, an Egyptian waterway; and to the south, the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The strait is only 20 miles wide and is bordered by Djibouti and Eritrea to the west and Yemen to the east. Nearly 10 percent of all oil traded at sea passes through it, and an estimated $1 trillion in goods moves through the strait annually. The Strait of Hormuz, which is the entryway to the Persian Gulf and is bordered by Iran and Oman, is roughly 30 miles wide, for comparison.

A heavy building wouldn’t budge—so workers bought 700 bars of soap (Washington Post) As Sheldon Rushton prepared to move a 440,000-pound building earlier this month, he realized he was missing a crucial piece of equipment: soap. Rushton’s construction company had been tasked with moving a nearly 200-year-old Canadian building a few feet to make space for a new apartment complex. But the building wouldn’t budge until it became slippery with soap, Rushton said. To help complete the project, Rushton’s wife, Leanne, went to 15 stores to buy every bar she could find of Ivory soap, the brand Rushton said is the softest. It took four days and more than $970, but by last week, Rushton’s crew had 700 bars of soap to unpackage and place under the building. After the soap made the steel beams and the bottom of the building slippery last week, construction workers moved the structure in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. Rushton said he has moved buildings with soap dozens of times. Small buildings only need between 20 and 40 bars of soap, he said, but the building in Halifax was the heaviest he has moved in his five decades working in construction. After the crew put away their equipment, Rushton said, “And we all smelled good when we left there.”

[themoviejunkiesite]

The Boys Series on Prime Video - A Reality Check for Superheroes

The Boys series on Prime Video is not for the faint-hearted. Those who can sit through its ample gore and graphic violence, are rewarded with an explosion of morally challenged heroes on a quest for glory.

The Boys series gets its name from a bunch of rag-tag brave hearts that take on superheroes for personal vindication and the good of society. Here’s a headcount:

Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) - the former British SAS operative who blames Homelander for the disappearance of his wife.

Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) - the only civilian in the mix. He joins to avenge his girlfriend Robin after being killed by A-train

Frenchie (Tomer Capone) - the weapons specialist and chemist who’s in the group to protect his criminal homies.

Mothers Milk (Laz Alonso) - the former Marine Corps medic turned muscle, in the group to avenge his father who worked to bring Vought down

The Female/Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) - the mysterious supe (superhero) who fights against those who turned her into a supe against her will.

Cast

The Cast is a great mix of faces across genres and ones that we are used to seeing kicking ass. Karl Urban seen in Dredd, Doom, and Thor 3 has a platinum certification in kicking ass. Antony Starr, you would recall from Banshee and American Gothic. Erin Moriarty is no stranger to the superhero genre, starring in Jessica Jones, and Karen Fukuhara played the sword-wielding Katana in Suicide Squad.

Among the more well-known faces, Elizabeth Shue delivers a great performance, and Simon Pegg a good cameo.

Superpower Tally

Amazing Scenes

Any scene where the Deep ends up as unintentional comic relief, where the soundtrack devolves from a triumphant bellow to a downright comical needle scratch stop to the music is funny.

Background Score and Soundtrack

The soundtrack and background score are as dark and grimy as the basement Butcher’s Boys stay in. It would be worth downloading the soundtrack of the Boys as a workout anthem.

Comic Book Source

The Boys is an American comic book series, written by Garth Ennis and co-created, designed, and illustrated by Darick Robertson. It was originally published by Wildstorm (DC Comics) before moving to Dynamite Entertainment.

The Amazon Web series version has subtle yet significant differences from the comic that comic readers might notice.

Bonus Read Marvel Studios What If... Series Review - Marvel's Animated Imaginarium

Plot of The Boys

The plot begins with Hewey losing his love for Robin to A-train’s error. A-train runs through her like human whipped cream (yes, it's THAT graphic - get used to it!).

The series is worth watching for the super-powered scenes alone, but there’s so much more to The Boys than a dark superhero medley. It touches upon the many social ills that ail society today.

It brings up corporate greed and unethical scientific practices with Vought and its compound V, along with workplace harassment between the Deep and Starlight.

There’s the problem of immigration that is hinted at with Kimiko and her brother. It generally talks about the misuse of power by organizations and people of great wealth and influence, and about how human nature is deeply flawed.

You might like Project Power - Netflix Movie Review

Season 1

You see the group getting used to each other and complementing each other’s strengths throughout the first series.

Not only do they end up capturing and killing a supe, but they even go after the rest of the hallowed “Seven” by getting dirt on every supe. The Deep gets railroaded by Vought after assaulting Starlight under false pretenses comes to light.

Things get crazier and gorier until an expectedly shocking finale where an important character is killed in a horrific way.

A main point of contention between the Vought corporation and the government is whether supes can serve in the military. The end of the series shows a global threat that only Vought's superheroes can handle. That's where they leave us.

Read The Suicide Squad Movie Review: James Gunn's Fun Action-Adventure Team-up

Season 2

Here things get better with a fresh truckload of supes in every episode! You get to know Frenchie’s backstory along with Butcher’s past. It moves faster and is funnier than season 1.

Vought steps in to eliminate the global threat that they themselves had created.

However, Kimiko's happy reunion is short-lived as Stormfront executes her brother mercilessly with her watching on.

The Boys mocks a gratuitous female empowerment moment in Avengers Endgame where all women superheroes come together in a forced team-up. They call it "Girls get it done."

The Deep's storyline teases cults and specifically refers to the People's Temple in Guyana where an entire sect killed themselves with Flavor Aid laced with Cyanide. The series hints at this by showing people from the Church of the Collective offering a Fresca drink to everyone.

Season 3

Billy Butcher extracts a weapon from Russia that can kill Homelander which they discover is Soldier Boy.

This new character is played to perfection by Jenson Ackles of Supernatural fame. The Boys make this possible with the help of some Moxie and some temporary V serum giving them powers for a day.

A-train settles scores with another supe named Blue Hawk after he assaults a gathering. The way each character is given its due screen time and organic growth is really amazing considering the number of superheroes in this series.

Butcher teams up with Soldier Boy to kill Homelander which leads a mind-blowing finale where tables are turned at least twice in the span of five minutes.

Should You Watch The Boys Series on Prime Video? - Yes!

There are more Easter Eggs, potshots at the MCU and DC, and real-life events that you lose count of along the way. The graphics here are amazing, with multiple plotlines executed brilliantly with great production value. This series is definitely worth a watch! Especially if you want to make sense of Gen V out on Prime Video now.

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(KRON) — Prosecutors filed criminal charges against a U.S. Marine and retired East Bay police officer who allegedly shot his wife, barricaded himself inside his Pleasant Hill home for three days, prompted a neighborhood-wide shelter-in-place order, and shot at SWAT team vehicles.

Chunliam Nai Saechao, 40, is being held without bail in Martinez Detention Facility. On Wednesday, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office charged him with nine felony counts, including attempted murder of police officers, assault with a firearm, and injuring a spouse.

Saechao served in the United States Marine Corps before he joined the Pittsburg Police Department in 2007. He rose through the ranks and received awards as a detective.

When he retired from the police force in 2022, the Pittsburg Police Department wrote on Instagram, “Detective Saechao has been a valued member of the Investigations Division where he was primarily responsible for Domestic Violence Investigations.”

Saechao is now accused with committing a domestic violence-related crime.

The District Attorney’s Office said he “may have suffered a mental health episode” last week when he opened fire on his wife at their home on Cleopatra Drive. Saechao “shot at his wife while she was trying to gain entrance to their residence,” prosecutors wrote.

The wife was shot through a locked garage door around 7 p.m. on December 7. She was treated at a hospital for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Meanwhile, a police standoff ensued back at the Cleopatra Drive house and neighbors were evacuated. The ex-cop refused to communicate with a police crisis negotiation team.

Pleasant Hill Police Chief Scott Vermillion ordered his SWAT team to disengage and leave the house at 2 a.m. on December 8 for a “cooling off” period. The shelter-in-place was also lifted for 15 hours. Saechao, who has expert military training in firearms and combat, remained inside his house with an assault rifle.

Instead of calming down, the mentally unstable Marine became even more unstable, investigators said.

Vermillion said he was the decision-maker throughout the tense, multi-day incident. The police chief told reporters, “Our adversary that night had military combat training. We did not believe he presented an immediate threat to the community. I decided that the presence of a SWAT team could have made things worse, so I ordered them to tactically disengage.”

Vermillion continued, “I believed that there would be a cooling off period, and that he would not escalate. He did the opposite. His mental health and social media posts elevated.”

Saechao wrote a flurry of strange tweets on X throughout the first standoff, including videos he shot through the windows recording police officers outside.

One tweet stated, “Come try to kill me if you dare I’ll kill you back.” Another tweet wrote, “I’m kinda over it you might as well kill me so I don’t have to try to help you guys anymore I know where I’m going next do you?” Another tweet stated, “And just so you know I am perfectly sane.”

The SWAT team was re-deployed back to the house after sunset on December 8. Officers attempted to negotiate with Saechao, and he fired dozens of rounds at armored SWAT vehicles, police said. Vermillion estimates that Saechao stuck the police car around 30 times using an assault rifle and shotgun.

“Mr. Saechao shot at officers who were in the process of evacuating residents from nearby homes. Bullets also struck a police vehicle during the evacuation, which had two officers inside. The officers inside the vehicle did not sustain any injuries,” the DA’s Office wrote.

Finally, on December 9, Saechao walked out of his house, with his hands up, and a gun on his hip, police said. According to Vermillion, Saechao wanted officers to shoot him. He was taken into custody by FBI agents and the SWAT team.

The police chief told reporters, “I do regret that our community, and especially the Sherman Acres neighborhood experienced a major disruption caused by this prolonged and serious event.”

Saechao will make his first court appearance on Thursday afternoon in Martinez.