#Noam. Noam Fall Garden

[birthday-journey-posts]

Ghost Story Finding a Pascha Pumpkin   Halloween starts with this book/Challenge

[noam-easter-bunny]

The Pascha Pumpkin’s Gift

Once upon a moonlit night in Moriah Hallow, where enchanted forests whispered secrets and mystical creatures danced under silver leaves, Noam the Easter Bunny discovered a hidden path. It led to a cozy adobe house adorned with marigolds and flickering candles—a place where the veil between worlds was thin.

The Ximena family lived there, their hearts heavy with memories of loved ones who had crossed over. Día de los Muertos was approaching, and they prepared their ofrenda with care. But this year, something extraordinary awaited them.

Noam hopped up the stone steps, his fluffy tail twitching in anticipation. He carried a pumpkin—a pumpkin unlike any other. Its skin shimmered like moonstone, and when Noam touched it, he felt warmth and ancient magic.

“Dear Ximena family,” Noam whispered, “I bring you the Pascha Pumpkin. It holds the essence of love, faith, remembrance, and connection.”  A connection between the living and the departed.

The family gathered around, eyes wide with wonder. They placed the Pascha Pumpkin on the ofrenda (alter) to honor their grandparents, its glow illuminating cherished photographs. It became the focal point for their Día de los Muertos celebrations. The ofrenda serves as a bridge between the living and the spirits. The Pascha Pumpkin radiant stories of departed grandparents, whispered secrets from the Otherworld, and sang songs that made the candles dance.

As midnight approached, the veil lifted. Spirits emerged—their laughter like wind chimes, their presence a balm for grieving hearts. Noam watched as the Ximena parents held hands, tears glistening. They felt their ancestors’ love, as tangible as the pumpkin’s warmth.

The Pascha Pumpkin pulsed, weaving memories into the night. It whispered forgotten lullabies, and the Ximena children giggled, feeling their grandparents’ kisses on their foreheads. And then, a miracle: the pumpkin split open, revealing tiny golden seeds. Each seed held a memory—a shared laugh, a stolen kiss, a favorite recipe. 

Día de los Muertos dawned, and the ofrenda glowed with the Pascha Pumpkin miracle. The spirits danced, twirling with joy. Noam watched; his heart full. He knew that love transcended worlds, that even in grief, there is beauty.

And so, every year, the Ximena family planted the Pascha Pumpkin seeds in their garden, and soon, marigolds bloomed, their petals echoing laughter, sharing stories. Seeds from a Pascha Pumpkin can only grow marigolds and not another pumpkin. Noam visited, leaving gifts—a feather, a moonbeam, a whispered promise.

The Pascha Pumpkin’s legacy lived on, reminding all who passed by: Love was the bridge between realms, and remembrance was a gift to be cherished.

And that, my dear reader, is how Noam the Easter Bunny and the Pascha Pumpkin wove miracles into the tapestry of Moriah Hallow.

May your heart be as warm as a pumpkin’s glow, and may you find joy in the whispers of memories.

Learn more about The Pascha Pumpkin; in Noam Fall Garden adventure story book.

Hope you find One--- Hope you get One

[bookrabbit]

Halloween begins with this story book, 5 Star children book series./Challenge

[jesuisgourde]

Please please please give me more Richey book recs! Especially with suicide as a theme, but if you know of any others, I would love to hear about them too! Thank you for being a fountain of a Manic knowledge and sharing it with us <3

Here's two lists! List one is stuff Richey definitely read, as in it's something he mentioned or referenced in lyrics/interviews/album booklet or setlist quotes/etc. List two is stuff that I can extrapolate he likely read, due to the things I know he did read. Note that a fair amount of these come with various trigger warnings. Again, I've read most but not all of these, so I can answer questions about a good number of them.

Oh, also, this totally slipped my mind from the last list somehow. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides was definitely a book Richey read; the Manics use a quote from the film version (which came out after Richey's death but they said in an interview they thought he'd have liked it) at the end of Doors Closing Slowly.

Definitely read: -Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger -American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis -The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides -The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart -1984 by George Orwell -Confessions Of A Mask by Yukio Mishima -The Plague, The Stranger, and The Fall, all by Albert Camus -A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams -Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus -The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche -The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau -Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan -The Divided Self by RD Laing -Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky -Novel With Cocaine by M Ageyev -Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald -Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse -Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry -Frisk by Dennis Cooper -Bartleby The Scrivener by Herman Melville -Homage To Catalonia by George Orwell -Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (which is what Apocalypse Now was based on, and the film was one of Richey’s major obsessions at the end of his life) -Brave New World by Aldous Huxley -Rumblefish by SE Hinton -Being And Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre -Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite -The Atrocity Exhibition by JG Ballard -High Rise by JG Ballard -Birdy by William Wharton -The Trial by Franz Kafka -Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams -Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin -The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon -Lord of the Flies by William Golding -Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis -One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey -Birdy by William Wharton -Thirst For Love by Yukio Mishima -Miracle Of The Rose by Jean Genet -The Drowned And The Saved/So This Is A Man/Escape From Auschwitz, all by Primo Levi -The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank -Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr -The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe -Four Quartets by Hart Crane -The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri -The Pursuit Of Loneliness by Philip Slater -Society Of The Spectacle by Guy Debord -The Naked And The Dead by Norman Mailer -Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl -Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud -Dialectic Of Enlightenment and Minima Moralia by Theodore Adorno -The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan -One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn -The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell -Naomi by Junchiro Tanizaki -SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas -The Lives Of Michel Foucault by David Macey -Rethinking Camelot by Noam Chomsky -The Anxiety Of Influence by Harold Bloom -The Unrest Cure And Other Stories by Saki (HH Munro) -King Lear by William Shakespeare -Confessions by Saint Augustine -The Day Of The Locust by Nathaniel West -Tom Jones by Henry Fielding -Bird Man: The Many Faces Of Robert Stroud by Jolene Babyak -The Demon by Hubert Selby Jr -The Waste Land by TS Eliot -Songs Of Innocence And Experience by William Blake

Likely read: -The Outsiders by SE Hinton -Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury -Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (features a suicidal main-ish character) -Post Office by Charles Bukowski -The Prophet by Khalil Gibran -Knots by RD Laing -On The Road by Jack Keroauc -No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre -The Sickness Unto Death by Soren Kierkegaard -Junky & Naked Lunch, both by William S Burroughs -Valley Of The Dolls by Jacqueline Susanne -The Runaway Soul by Harold Brodkey -Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller -The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass -Austerlitz by WG Sebald -Betrayal by Harold Pinter -Invitation To A Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov -The Story Of O by Anne Desclos -Lucie’s Long Voyage by Alina Reyes -120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade -The Traitor by Andre Gorz -The Man Of Feeling by Henry Mackenzie -This Way To The Gas, Ladies And Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski -The White Rose by Inge Scholl -It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis -On Revolution by Hannah Arendt -Being There by Jerzy Kozinski -Heliogabalus: or, the Crowned Anarchist by Antonin Artaud -Resuscitation of a Hanged Man by Denis Johnson -Mysteries by Knut Hamsun -We by Yevgeny Zamyatin -Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami -Venus In Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch -How I Became One Of The Invisible by David Rattray -The Story Of The Eye by Georges Bataille -The Blue Of Noon by Georges Bataille

Also, there's a lot more of my ramblings and writings about the Manics on my other blog @meta-squash under the "manic street preachers" tag, if you're interested. (And I do love talking about them, and Richey especially.)

ETA: I went through all the (text) interviews of the Manics and wrote down every book they mentioned in interviews or lyrics and posted it up here.

[nicklloydnow]

“In the case of Afghanistan, America’s refusal to countenance the return of Zahir Shah may well have proved to be their greatest failure of imagination yet.

(…)

We were ushered into the garden room, there, on cane furniture, sat two old men. One, slightly-sunken of face but alert and with a smile waltzing over his lips, the other of a more military bearing. Dust eddied in the shafts of light as we passed, then settled as we did. We were visiting the 86 year old Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan for 40 years between 1933 and 1973. With him was Lieutenant-General Sardar Abdul Wali Khan, who acted as an interpreter, it was entirely unnecessary as the King would answer in accurate though halting English.

We were there to discover if the old man was interested, or even able, to take up the reins again. His time as monarch (ended in a palace coup by his cousin, Mohamed Daud) had been one of unprecedented peace and prosperity for the mountain kingdom. In the late 1960s he introduced a new democratic constitution. Amongst other things, it guaranteed women’s rights and elections. He was also someone who was able to garner loyalty not just from his native Pashtun people, but from the Hazara, Tajik and Uzbeck minorities and the confidence of many of the regional powers.

The exiled king spoke of his visceral love for the country. That and his deep sadness. How, from his Roman exile he had seen his land first became a dictatorship after a palace coup, then a Soviet satellite state, ending in a Soviet inspired coup, the Soviet invasion of 1979 and the civil war that saw the death of 400,000 of its citizens between 1979 and the fall of the Taliban. Estimates suggest upwards of 10 per cent of the entire population were killed during that period, a salutary realisation that even 20 years ago Afghanistan had been a killing field for the previous 20 years.

(…)

These events had not dimmed the king’s desire to do what he could for the nation. He had told us he would do anything to secure peace. As he went on to do. Within a week of our meeting, he had made an informal agreement with the anti-Taliban Mujahedeen of the Northern Alliance.

(…)

At this point things were looking promising for a return of the king. But Pakistani Intelligence, the ISI, was uncomfortable with the prospect of a moderate in power in Afghanistan, and was even less happy by the combination of a Pashtun king, with the support of the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara dominated Northern Alliance having political power.

Zahir at no time demanded the throne — indeed the Tajik, former President and leader of the Jamiat-e Islami rejected the idea out of hand — his offer was to convene a Loya Jorga, a gathering of all the tribal notables to create a new constitution. In November of that year the Bonn conference, which included all Afghan factions barring the Taliban, supported him as the interim leader.

And yet, by the time Zahir returned to Kabul with Hamed Karzi, the US had gone completely cold on the idea. Now their chosen man was Karzai, soon after American-led forces had driven the Taliban out of Kabul in 2002. It is clear that the US’s retreat from supporting the monarchical option was in part driven by their ties with the Pakistani ISI, for years they had starved the moderate Afghan nationalist Haq of support whilst feeding the Islamist factions of the Northern alliance.

(…)

The US, though it was aware of the possibilities of an Afghan solution to an Afghan problem, and a solution that could have utilised the residual loyalty of the Afghan peoples, decided against. The rest is dour, bloody history.”

“All empires die. The end is usually unpleasant. The American empire, humiliated in Afghanistan, as it was in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, as it was at the Bay of Pigs and in Vietnam, is blind to its own declining strength, ineptitude, and savagery. Its entire economy, a “military Keynesianism,” revolves around the war industry. Military spending and war are the engine behind the nation’s economic survival and identity. It does not matter that with each new debacle the United States turns larger and larger parts of the globe against it and all it claims to represent. It has no mechanism to stop itself, despite its numerous defeats, fiascos, blunders and diminishing power, from striking out irrationally like a wounded animal. The mandarins who oversee our collective suicide, despite repeated failure, doggedly insist we can reshape the world in our own image. This myopia creates the very conditions that accelerate the empire’s demise.

The Soviet Union collapsed, like all empires, because of its ossified, out-of-touch rulers, its imperial overreach, and its inability to critique and reform itself. We are not immune from these fatal diseases. We silence our most prescient critics of empire, such as Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis, Andrew Bacevich, Alfred McCoy, and Ralph Nader, and persecute those who expose the truths about empire, including Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Daniel Hale, and John Kiriakou. At the same time a bankrupt media, whether on MSNBC, CNN or FOX, lionizes and amplifies the voices of the inept and corrupt political, military and intelligence class including John Bolton, Leon Panetta, Karl Rove, H.R. McMaster and David Petraeus, which blindly drives the nation into the morass.

Chalmers Johnson in his trilogy on the fall of the American empire – “Blowback,” “The Sorrows of Empire” and “Nemesis” – reminds readers that the Greek goddess Nemesis is “the spirit of retribution, a corrective to the greed and stupidity that sometimes governs relations among people.” She stands for “righteous anger,” a deity who “punishes human transgression of the natural, right order of things and the arrogance that causes it.” He warns that if we continue to cling to our empire, as the Roman Republic did, “we will certainly lose our democracy and grimly await the eventual blowback that imperialism generates.”

“I believe that to maintain our empire abroad requires resources and commitments that will inevitably undercut our domestic democracy and, in the end, produce a military dictatorship or its civilian equivalent,” Johnson writes. “The founders of our nation understood this well and tried to create a form of government – a republic – that would prevent this from occurring. But the combination of huge standing armies, almost continuous wars, military Keynesianism, and ruinous military expenses have destroyed our republican structure in favor of an imperial presidency. We are on the cusp of losing our democracy for the sake of keeping our empire. Once a nation is started down that path, the dynamics that apply to all empires come into play – isolation, overstretch, the uniting of forces opposed to imperialism, and bankruptcy. Nemesis stalks our life as a free nation.”

If the empire was capable of introspection and forgiveness, it could free itself from its death spiral. If the empire disbanded, much as the British empire did, and retreated to focus on the ills that beset the United States it could free itself from its death spiral. But those who manipulate the levers of empire are unaccountable. They are hidden from public view and beyond public scrutiny. They are determined to keep playing the great game, rolling the dice with lives and national treasure. They will, I expect, preside gleefully over the deaths of even more Afghans, assuring themselves it is worth it, without realizing that the gallows they erect are for themselves.”

“We waged war in Afghanistan - twenty years of war, thousands of American lives lost, tens of thousands of Afghan lives lost, over 2 trillion dollars spent - but we did not wage peace. We went, we fought, we supported a corrupt Afghan government almost as abusive to the people there as the Taliban had been, we droned, we bombed, we tried to build an army of some of the historically best fighters in the world in the image of the American armed forces (so arrogant are we), we tried to build an Afghanistan in the image of our own country (so delusional are we) - and yeah, we did some good things too. In the end, we aren’t just the last in a long line of empires defeated in Afghanistan. Even worse, we’re the last in a long line of empires that raped and plundered it before we left.

God help us, if we don’t learn from this.”

[willowgast]

hello studyblr! i’m a newbie here, so i thought i’d give a little introduction:

my name is molly! nice to meet you all!

i’m 18, queer, she/her pronouns, and fresh outta my a-levels in the u.k.

vegetarian, hopefully-maybe-soon going vegan

currently preparing frantically for october, when i will be studying ba anglo-saxon, norse, and celtic studies @ the university of cambridge (dead languages! monks! pretty manuscripts! what more could you want from a degree other than the tiniest semblance of postgrad job opportunities!)

i study a fair few languages (french, german, swedish, danish, norwegian, and since it got added to duolingo, finnish)

big fan of tulips (bet you never could have guessed that!), skaldic poetry, vikings, chocolate, corgis, woodlands in the rain, thunderstorms, and giant snails

some interests

i’ve been involved in activism w/ my local fridaysforfuture branch for about a year and a half now, running talks and workshops as well as monthly student strikes in the city centre; beyond that, most of my time is spent reading (i keep a political book, a history book, and a fun fiction book on the go at all times - currently it’s ‘on palestine’ by noam chomsky, ‘in the land of giants’ by max adams, and ‘ninth house’ by leigh bardugo) and writing (poetry, creative nonfiction, and a small novel which lies permanently unfinished in the depths of my folders). i bake a lot, with some hits among friends including chocolate brownies and vegan jaffa cakes, and i help out w/ gardening at home and at my grandad’s allotment.

some studyblr goals, because why not! seems like a smart idea

motivate myself to not fall behind on any of my languages (at this stage i’d be content with maintaining their current level, let alone improving in any capacity)

keep myself on top of pre-term reading and prep work for university

once i start university: record my journey on my degree and hopefully meet and befriend some other tumblr medievalists!

looking forwards to joining this community🌷☕️

[skatoonyfan1234]

Shrinking Daddy

Based on the Daddy Balloon app by Eran B.Y., and his daughter Noam.

Naomi had a useful dad, Normal-sized, and not at all bad. He bought her presents, which were pretty cool, and twice a week, he took her to school.

One sunny day, Naomi and her dad went, Into the garden to put up a tent. It was made of her dad's giant clothes, that's for sure; Cause they didn't actually fit him anymore.

They had expanded as big as the moon When her daddy got fat and turned into a balloon Inside, the tent was pretty cool, And her dad suggested tomorrow, they went to the swimming pool.

But then that day, quicker than a wink, Naomi's daddy began to shrink!

His shirt became baggy, an when he looked at the ground, he saw his pants were falling down!

Soon it was over, and to Naomi's surprise, Her father had shrunk to a much smaller size!

His clothes were now massive, almost as big as the sea, and the only clothes that fit him now were his underpanties!

The lawn looked like a jungle, with blades of grass big and tall; Naomi's daddy stared; he thought it seemed scary being so small.

He walked in the giant sized garden all around, and he was amazed at what he found; the flowers and the plants were lovely to see, except now they looked about the size of a tree!

He then came across some giant-sized toys, thinking they'd belong to some giant girls and boys.

Naomi's daddy then stared into the sky; the clouds and the sun seemed extremely high. He wasn't mad, but rather proud, as he stared up at the sun, birds and clouds.

He lay down on the ground and fell fast asleep, he dozed off counting sheep. he dreamt about when he turned into a balloon; and became big, round, and fat, almost as big as the moon!

He remembered that floating in the air, he had lots of fun Till one day he got so big, he clouded out the sun!

They sky turned dark, as greay as a pan; If he couldn't explain it, nobody can! The whole sky darkened, and it started to rain; Naomi's daddy wished he was back to normal size again.

And suddenly, just like that, he counted to 3, and then, he was back to his normal size again.

And though he had got used to being so small, He said to Naomi, 'I've had quite a ball.' 'Being tiny was fun, but I am so glad,' 'That I'm still your useful, normal-sized dad.'

Naomi felt glad on this day as they all sat in the garden, watching the rain fall today.

[birthday-journey-posts]

Ghost Story Finding a Pascha Pumpkin  5 Star children’s book series

[noam-easter-bunny]

Halloween starts with Noam Fall Garden and the Pascha Pumpkins

[bookrabbit]

Halloween begins when you find a Pascha Pumpkin, Share the Magic.

[aion-rsa]

Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Look at Them Beans

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Wynonna Earp review contains spoilers.

Wynonna Earp Season 4, Episode 3

In last week’s review, I commented that the episode could have been a (great) season finale. It follows, then, that this week’s episode, “Look at Them Beans,” would have the vibes of a season premiere, which it totally does. New setting! New characters! And new problems for Team Earp to deal with. (That last one is not getting an exclamation point.)

Setting doesn’t just refer to a story’s location, but also a story’s time. Therefore, time jumps are effectively ways of switching up a TV show’s setting in some major, abrupt ways. While the episodic plot in “Look at Them Beans” is a bit cursory, it does serve as a fun, quick vehicle to introduce us to this new setting and the new characters and problems that come with it. When Wynonna is arrested for the murder of Nedley (yeah, I immediately refused to accept Nedley’s death as a reality), the Earp sisters and Doc are thrust into Purgatory’s new and not-improved power structure. Luckily, Wynonna has a half-demon cellmate named Casey to explain to us what has been going on the past 18 months. Apparently, after the Ghost River Triangle evacuation for the “forest fires,” the people moved out and the demons moved in. The townspeople were allowed to come back home, should they choose, to a new normal that involves a demon-driven sham of a town government (some bro replaced Nicole as sheriff) and a local forest crawling with monsters.

When TV shows employ a time jump, it also generally means separating the characters into two groups: “audience surrogates” and “mysteries to be solved.” The “audience surrogate” characters are the ones who have had the rug pulled out from under them too. In Wynonna Earp, we get three “audience surrogate” characters: Doc, Waverly, and Wynonna. (Interestingly, for different reasons, Nedley kind of falls into this category too.) The “mysteries to be solved” are the characters we know and love whose experience of the missing time is not only dissimilar to us, but that we don’t have any direct narrative insight into—in other words, they might tell us what they have been up to, but we haven’t experienced it alongside them. In Wynonna Earp, these characters are Nicole and Jeremy, along with supporting characters like Mercedes and Rachel.

Some of the best parts of “Look at Them Beans” come in starting to dig into the mystery of what happened to Nicole during the 18 months we missed. She may have the love of her life back, but that doesn’t mean she’s OK—far from it, in fact. She obviously went through some shit since we last saw her and has many signs of PTSD. Even though she may have her family back and the safety and support that comes with it, part of her is still stuck in those difficult months when it was up to her to take care of the Homestead and Rachel, all without knowing if she would ever see Waverly, Doc, or Wynonna again.

It also can’t be understated how the perceived death of Nedley, who has been a father to Nicole, would have also impacted Nicole’s mental health during this time. While we viewers know that Nedley is probably OK (and somewhere in that Sasquatch) from the get-go, Nicole has no such assurances. She has been asked to grieve her father figure without her main support system, all while fighting monsters on the daily (and I haven’t even mentioned the skunk juice).

In the (brilliantly-directed) best scene of the episode, we get to see Waverly, Doc, and Nicole save Nedley from the clutches of the furry monster he has been turned into all through Wynonna’s perspective. Wynonna watches as her family does what they do best: show up for one another, using whatever tools they have lying around. (This time, it’s a super soaker, a t-shirt gun, and some rope.) It’s fucking hilarious, delightful in its silliness, but it is also incredibly moving at the same time. This is the moment when Wynonna realizes that she is home and she and her family is safe. When she tells Nedley that he survived, she’s telling herself that too. It’s the moment she can let go of the breath she has been holding since Waverly was pulled into The Garden, or maybe even before that. Nicole, on the other hand, is still holding her breath. She’s still in survival mode. She’s still carrying the weight of her world on her shoulders, not yet ready to trust that she can truly let go and let others’ carry it for a while. Because, when she lets go, she’s going to have to feel a lot of stuff that she hasn’t been able to let herself feel. It’s going to messy and it’s going to be painful and, hopefully, there will be some healing on the other side. (You know there will be. This is Wynonna Earp.)

The other main “mystery to be solved” character I have yet to mention is Jeremy, who we get the briefest of glimpses of when Chrissy Nedley is leaving the Ghost River Triangle. Jeremy is stationed at the checkpoint, in uniform, presumable back working for Black Badge in some capacity. Nicole seems to have written him off as any kind of reliable ally, but it’s hard to believe Jeremy doesn’t have some kind of larger plan for helping Team Earp in action here. Given that Wynonna is snatched by military-types in the final moments of the episode, Jeremy might understand a threat to Team Earp that we have yet to. Or maybe, given that Chrissy gave him the scoop on his friends’ return to Purgatory, he was the one who gave the order to bring Wynonna in? Either way, I miss Jeremy. I hope we dive into his mystery sooner rather than later.

Additional thoughts.

Seriously. What the fig, Chrissy Nedley?

Martina Ortiz-Luis is killing it as Rachel. I’m glad to have her as part of the ongoing cast. The scene that sees Wynonna thanking Rachel for taking care of Nicole while they were gone and Rachel thanking Wynonna for noticing was an episode highlight.

I hope Casey sticks around too.

While the introduction of the new Purgatory is only somewhat successful (partially because I never had a great grasp on how the old Purgatory actually operated past the Homestead, the bar, and the police department), the introduction of demon club Glory Hole rocks. Doc has serious chemistry with the proprietor of the club (played by Lost Girl‘s Noam Jenkins), stirring up that always-lingering question regarding the nature of Doc’s relationship with Wyatt Earp. (They were in love, right?)

Mercedes is working at the Glory Hole, pretending to be a demon. Never change, Mercedes.

Wynonna is trying to keep the fact that she no longer has Peacemaker on the dl, presumably because she assumes that it keeps the demons somewhat afraid of her. Personally, I think Wynonna has the potential to be terrifying whether she has Peacemaker or not, though it makes sense that she would presume so much of her power lies not in herself, but in the gun/Curse.

It’s interesting that Wynonna, Doc, and Waverly were all gone for the same period of time, even though Wynonna was in The Garden for a far shorter period of time. This suggests that it’s not that The Garden has a different temporal pace, but rather that the wormhole or portal or whatever that brings people back from The Garden to The Ghost River Triangle has something to do with the temporal distortion. I don’t know. Time dilution and/or travel makes my brain hurt!

It is interesting, however, that both The 100 and Wynonna Earp have some time dilution going on this season. (Although, I am assuming that it will be way less important in Wynonna Earp, but who knows?) The Magicians also had this as part of their setting, as Fillory had a different temporal pace than Earth. It’s particularly interesting to see this kind of time travel/time dilution storylines during this period of pandemic and general societal upheaval where time has seemed to slow down with the changing of our status quos. It’s honestly highly relatable and a little cathartic to see our TV characters go through something similar. It’s like, “Oh, you looked away for a second and your whole world changed? Same.”

This also makes me wonder not only where, but when Eve ended up. As in, how much time has passed for her in whatever intersection of time-place she ended up in? We better hope she didn’t end up in our past. That is the time travel equivalent of a head start.

This episode was directed by Melanie Scrofano, and she did an amazing job. That is two full-time jobs she pulled off exquisitely in the production of this episode.

Wynonna’s hair always looks so good.

I, um, had to Google “bush party,” even though I grew up in a rural area where this was the main kind of high school party. But we just called them “parties.” Now I am learning about Ontario slang.

Kate hasn’t come back.

What happened to Robin?! Finish the sentence, Nicole! Is his mysterious absence related to why Jeremy is working for Black Badge again?

“Vacation is over, assholes. It is time… for a Holliday.”

I want some of Waverly’s vegan chili.

The post Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Look at Them Beans appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2DBvtqa

[bigyack-com]

Trump’s Bizarre Apple Factory Visit

Charles Schwab is reportedly in talks to buy TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion deal that could be announced as early as today. (Want this by email? Sign up here.)

Why did Tim Cook let Trump’s inaccuracies slide?

President Trump toured a Texas plant that makes high-end Apple computers yesterday, and inaccurately played up the six-year-old factory as evidence of success for his three-year-old presidency, Jack Nicas of the NYT reports. Apple’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, didn’t correct the president, raising questions about whether he may be compromised over his company’s desires to skirt tariffs. “For me, this is a very special day,” Mr. Trump said during the visit. “I said, ‘Someday we’re going to see Apple building plants in our country, not in China. And that’s what’s happening.’ ” Later he posted on Twitter “Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America.” But the plant opened in 2013. It’s owned and run by a company called Flextronics, and builds devices on Apple’s behalf. Mr. Cook spoke immediately after Mr. Trump but did not correct him. Instead, he thanked the president and his staff. “I’m grateful for their support in pulling today off and getting us to this far. It would not be possible without them,” he said. Perhaps tariffs were in Mr. Cook’s mind. Apple pays the trade levies on Apple Watches, iPhone components and other consumer products as a result of Mr. Trump’s trade war, and has sought waivers. When Mr. Trump was asked yesterday if he would exempt Apple from tariffs, he said, “We’ll look into that.” “It illustrated the complicated position that Mr. Cook and other corporate executives find themselves in with this president, forced to stand silently by while he sometimes misleads about their businesses,” Mr. Nicas writes. But if Apple succeeds in wriggling its way out of tariffs, Mr. Cook’s spot could become even tighter — especially if the president speaks out on topics such as immigration, on which Mr. Cook has disagreed with him in the past.

Henry Paulson’s warning on U.S.-China relations

Even if the world’s two biggest economies reach a truce, their relationship is likely to worsen, Henry Paulson, the former Treasury secretary, tells Andrew for his latest DealBook column. Animosity between the two countries has merged “military prisms and ideas into economic policies,” Mr. Paulson said in a preview of a speech he planned to make today at a Bloomberg event on the economy in Beijing. • “It should concern every one of us who cares about the state of the global economy that the positive-sum metaphors of healthy economic competition are giving way to the zero-sum metaphors of military competition,” he planned to say. More worrisome: the U.S. could close off its financial markets to Chinese investment, Mr. Paulson said. “It would eventually threaten U.S. leadership in finance, as well as New York City’s role as the world’s financial center,” he said. He also raised a worst-case scenario. China, which owns more than $1 trillion in U.S. debt, could decide to sell Treasury bonds, potentially sending their value down and pushing interest rates much higher, a worry that Andrew raised in a previous column.

A U.S.-China trade deal could slip into 2020

Negotiators are said to be making progress on a first trade deal with China, but reports suggest that hopes of an agreement being reached before the end of the year are beginning to evaporate. “Trade negotiators from the U.S. and China are making progress in key areas even as concerns grow that efforts to nail down the first phase of a broader deal are stalling,” Bloomberg News reports. It adds that “some people close to the talks describe them as being in a sensitive, make-or-break stage and caution that what President Donald Trump proclaimed as a done deal a month ago, sending U.S. stocks soaring to records, could still easily fall apart.” • Separately, Bloomberg News reported that China’s chief trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, has said that he is “cautiously optimistic” about reaching a “Phase 1” deal with the U.S. But the timeline for a deal remains unclear. Reuters, citing trade experts and people close to the White House, reports that the “completion of a ‘Phase 1’ U.S.-China trade deal could slide into next year,” as “Beijing presses for more extensive tariff rollbacks, and the Trump administration counters with heightened demands of its own.” • When Mr. Trump was asked yesterday if he would secure a deal by the end of the year, he said: “I haven’t wanted to do it yet. Because I don’t think they’re stepping up to the level that I want.” And some people doubt further progress will be made any time soon after a preliminary deal is signed. • “Our base case is that the Phase 1 trade deal gets done and that might be about as good as it gets, that Phase 2 and Phase 3 remain distant next year,” Andrew Sheets, chief cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley, told CNBC. More: China may be running out of economic ammunition to use against the U.S.

G.M. sues Fiat Chrysler over U.A.W. contracts

General Motors sued Fiat Chrysler yesterday, claiming that it bribed United Automobile Workers officials in contract negotiations to get a leg up on G.M. over the course of a decade, the NYT’s Neal Boudette reports. The corruption went far beyond garden-variety embezzlement and personal enrichment, G.M. claimed in its lawsuit. The company contends that: • The illegal activity was authorized by Fiat Chrysler’s chief executive at the time, Sergio Marchionne, and helped Fiat Chrysler win union acceptance of cost concessions that were denied to G.M. in labor contracts in 2011 and 2015. • Fiat Chrysler executives bribed union leaders to win support for Fiat Chrysler’s highly public effort to pressure G.M. into a merger in 2015. The union’s president, Gary Jones, resigned hours after G.M. filed the lawsuit. • “The day’s events embroiled two of the country’s three biggest automakers and the union that represents their workers, a controversy the likes of which the industry has rarely experienced,” Mr. Boudette writes.

Google’s staff clash deepens

Google has hired an anti-union consulting firm to advise its management as it deals with widespread worker unrest, Noam Scheiber and Daisuke Wakabayashi of the NYT write. The company has grappled with internal strife recently, including accusations that it has retaliated against organizers of a global walkout and cracked down on dissent inside the company. The newly hired firm, IRI Consultants, promotes its anti-union success on its website. The move “is the latest evidence of escalation in a feud between a group of activist workers at Google and management that has tested the limits of the company’s traditionally transparent, worker-friendly culture,” the reporters write. But hiring IRI was a surprising turn. “Union organization — even labor unrest — has traditionally been rare among big tech companies because their employees have usually been treated and paid well,” Mr. Scheiber and Mr. Wakabayashi write.

What would a wealth tax mean for entrepreneurs?

At this stage, no one needs reminding that many Democratic nominee hopefuls want to tax the wealthy, with Senator Elizabeth Warren in particular looking to disincentivize the accumulation of fortunes above $1 billion. But in his latest column, Greg Ip of the WSJ wonders what it might mean for entrepreneurs. • Ms. Warren’s wealth tax of up to 6 percent a year, along with other levies, are intended to shrink the fortunes of billionaires and multimillionaires. • But, Mr. Ip writes, research shows that “countries with a lot of billionaires per capita had higher incomes per capita,” and a country’s share of the world’s billionaires also “corresponded closely to its share of the world’s largest, most successful companies.” • “While this doesn’t mean billionaires make an economy successful, it does show the two go hand in hand,” he adds. • For most billionaires, Ms. Warren’s tax proposal could easily eat up most if not all of their returns. “Founders would have to steadily sell off their holdings to pay their taxes, shrinking their stake,” Mr. Ip writes. • That could disincentivize many entrepreneurs from growing huge and successful companies. • “This isn’t a reason not to tax billionaires; it’s a reason to be careful about how it’s done.”

“We followed the president’s orders”

Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the E.U., told the impeachment inquiry yesterday that he was following President Trump’s orders when he pressured Ukraine to conduct investigations into Mr. Trump’s political rivals, Nicholas Fandos and Michael S. Schmidt write in the NYT. He said he reluctantly followed Mr. Trump’s directive, in what Mr. Sondland claimed was a clear “quid pro quo.” He added, “We followed the president’s orders.” “Mr. Sondland linked the most senior members of the Trump administration to the effort — including the vice president, the secretary of state, the acting chief of staff and others,” Mr. Fandos and Mr. Schmidt write. “He said they were informed of it at key moments, an account that severely undercut Mr. Trump’s frequent claims that he never pressured Ukraine.” Ukrainian officials may have known as early as late July that a $391 million package of security assistance was being withheld by the Trump administration, a Defense Department official, Laura Cooper, testified later. Mr. Sondland’s testimony may be a career-endangering blow for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has long tried to portray himself as balancing loyalty to Mr. Trump with defending the traditional security interests of the U.S., write David E. Sanger and Edward Wong in the NYT. But the testimony undercut any notion that Mr. Pompeo was not a participant in Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine. More: Mr. Sondland had not even finished his testimony before it was called the “John Dean moment” of the impeachment drama. The F.B.I. tried to interview the anonymous whistle-blower who helped ignite the inquiry, several people familiar with the matter said, but the interview never took place.

Revolving door

HSBC is reportedly planning to replace Samir Assaf, the long-serving head of its investment bank. He is expected to be moved to a non-executive role.

The speed read

Deals • Alibaba’s $13 billion I.P.O. in Hong Kong and Saudi Aramco’s anticipated $26 billion I.P.O. in Riyadh will reportedly deliver only modest fees for the banks that are advising the companies. And many global banks have been sidelined in Aramco’s offering. (Reuters, FT) • LVMH has reportedly increased its offer for Tiffany, to around $130 a share, valuing the company at around $15.8 billion. The offer prompted the jeweler to open its books to the luxury goods giant, raising expectations that a deal could happen. (FT) • PayPal announced the $4 billion acquisition of the private e-commerce company Honey, which tracks prices and automatically applies online discounts for consumers. (FT) • SoftBank is reportedly sounding out Japan’s top three banks to borrow around 300 billion yen, or about $2.8 billion, to help fund its WeWork bailout. (Reuters) Politics and policy • A federal judge halted the executions of four federal prisoners, essentially stymieing the Trump administration’s plan to resume the use of the death penalty. (NYT) • A bill compelling the U.S. to support pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong is headed to President Trump’s desk. The president is expected to sign it, setting up a confrontation with China that could imperil a long-awaited trade deal. (NYT, Bloomberg) • Senator Kamala Harris said at the Democratic debate yesterday that “Donald Trump got punked” into meeting with Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader. (Axios) • Mr. Trump’s nominee for Food and Drug Administration commissioner sidestepped questions about whether he would push for a ban on flavored vaping products. (NYT) Brexit • The opposition Labour Party unveiled its election manifesto, which includes scrapping university fees, reducing the workweek and nationalizing utilities. (Reuters) • Boris Johnson pledged to delay tax breaks for high earners if he is elected, in favor of a tax change that would help those with lower incomes. (FT) • The Conservative Party has come under fire for rebranding one of its Twitter feeds as an account that critics say tried to appear to be a neutral fact checker. (FT) Tech • Elon Musk’s announcement of a Tesla factory in Germany took the industry by surprise, but the deal had been in the works for months. (NYT) • The Trump administration has approved “several” individual licenses for U.S. companies to do business with Huawei. (FT) • The U.K.’s Labour Party said that it would provide government-sponsored broadband service if it wins the December election. But is that even possible? (NYT) • China set up a $21 billion fund to further develop its advanced manufacturing sector. Don’t expect the Trump administration to be happy about it. (WSJ) • Apple and Intel have filed an antitrust lawsuit against the SoftBank-owned Fortress Investment Group, alleging that it stockpiled patents to initiate lawsuits against tech companies that demanded as much as $5.1 billion. (Reuters) Best of the rest • Minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting reinforced its message that it may be done cutting rates, barring economic weakness. But its officials are puzzled about how to best regain their handle on short-term interest rates. (NYT, Bloomberg) • Prince Andrew said yesterday that he would step back from public duties, seeking to contain a firestorm over his ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. (NYT) • Media workers have anonymously posted salary information on crowdsourced spreadsheets, many of them hoping their efforts will lead to higher pay. (NYT) • FedEx delivers billions to the taxman, the company’s C.E.O. says. (WSJ) • As businesses try to correct power imbalances, they find a growing need for experts who can help address issues like unconscious bias. (NYT) Thanks for reading! We’ll see you tomorrow. We’d love your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to business@nytimes.com. Source link Read the full article

[merrileeper301-blog]

Sudhir Tiwari.

Is actually gel Still Appropriate?

In these unique job interviews we speak with Jüri Ratas (Prime Minister of Estonia), Man Verhofstadt (Former Head of state, Belgium & EU Main Brexit Negotiator), Vicente Fox Quesada (Former Head of state from Mexico), Noam Chomsky (Teacher Emeritus from Linguistics at the Massachusetts Principle of Technology (MIT), which - along with over 150 publications posted - is considered as 'one of the best significantly engaged public pundits alive today'), Alastair Campbell (Communicator, Article writer and Strategist), Glenn Greenwald (Multi Honor Succeeding Writer, Constitutional Attorney and also Writer), Lawrence Larry" Lessig (Roy L. Furman Instructor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Regulation School), Lecturer Yanis Varoufakis (Business analyst and also Former Administrator from Financing of Greece) as well as Instructor A. C. Grayling (thinker, teacher, author and also thinker; Expert of the New University of the Humanities). As a Large Thought and feelings summer trainee in 2014, 2015 and also 2016, Jesus was a critical power on the ground during the course of the various neighborhood events encompassing the Dallas Urban area from Discovering project. Al Davison: A.K.A. The Astral Gypsy, are going to be presenting you effective ways to create convincing faces as well as providing pointers on illustration and storytelling for comics.

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Understanding The Background Of gel.

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[birthday-journey-posts]

Black Cat's Magic--5 star children's book series

[birthday-journey-posts]

Copilot Book Review: Noam Fall Garden (part of Noam's children book series)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

Noam the Easter Bunny’s Halloween adventure is a delightful and heartwarming addition to children’s literature, seamlessly blending the magic of Halloween with the vibrant traditions of Dia de los Muertos. This enchanting series, set in the whimsical world of Moriah Hallow, is a must-read for young readers and their families.

Plot and Themes: The story follows Noam, an endearing Easter Bunny, as he embarks on a thrilling adventure filled with mystery, faith, and love. The narrative beautifully intertwines the spooky elements of Halloween with the colorful and meaningful customs of Dia de los Muertos, creating a unique and captivating experience. The themes of friendship, courage, and the celebration of life and memory are thoughtfully woven throughout the tale, making it both entertaining and educational.

Characters: Noam is a charming protagonist whose bravery and kindness make him a beloved character. Alongside him is Mr. Rufus the black cat and a cast of magical creatures and forest friends, each adding depth and warmth to the story. The interactions between these characters are heartwarming and often humorous, providing readers with moments of joy and reflection.

Writing Style: The author’s writing style is reminiscent of Beatrix Potter, with a touch of modern flair. The descriptive language and vivid imagery bring the enchanting world of Moriah Hallow to life, making it easy for readers to immerse themselves in the story. The balance between adventure and heartfelt moments ensures that the book is engaging for both children and adults.

Illustrations: The illustrations are a visual treat, complementing the narrative perfectly. They capture the essence of the characters and the festive atmosphere of the story, enhancing the overall reading experience.

Conclusion: Noam Fall Garden, a Halloween Adventure is a standout series that celebrates the beauty of different cultures and the power of love and faith. It’s a perfect read for the Halloween season, offering a blend of excitement, warmth, and valuable life lessons. This book is sure to become a cherished favorite in any child’s library.

[birthday-journey-posts]

The Pascha Pumpkin’s Gift

Once upon a moonlit night in Moriah Hallow, where enchanted forests whispered secrets and mystical creatures danced under silver leaves, Noam the Easter Bunny discovered a hidden path. It led to a cozy adobe house adorned with marigolds and flickering candles—a place where the veil between worlds was thin.

The Ximena family lived there, their hearts heavy with memories of loved ones who had crossed over. Día de los Muertos was approaching, and they prepared their ofrenda with care. But this year, something extraordinary awaited them.

Noam hopped up the stone steps, his fluffy tail twitching in anticipation. He carried a pumpkin—a pumpkin unlike any other. Its skin shimmered like moonstone, and when Noam touched it, he felt warmth and ancient magic.

“Dear Ximena family,” Noam whispered, “I bring you the Pascha Pumpkin. It holds the essence of love, faith, remembrance, and connection.”  A connection between the living and the departed.

The family gathered around, eyes wide with wonder. They placed the Pascha Pumpkin on the ofrenda (alter) to honor their grandparents, its glow illuminating cherished photographs. It became the focal point for their Día de los Muertos celebrations. The ofrenda serves as a bridge between the living and the spirits. The Pascha Pumpkin radiant stories of departed grandparents, whispered secrets from the Otherworld, and sang songs that made the candles dance.

As midnight approached, the veil lifted. Spirits emerged—their laughter like wind chimes, their presence a balm for grieving hearts. Noam watched as the Ximena parents held hands, tears glistening. They felt their ancestors’ love, as tangible as the pumpkin’s warmth.

The Pascha Pumpkin pulsed, weaving memories into the night. It whispered forgotten lullabies, and the Ximena children giggled, feeling their grandparents’ kisses on their foreheads. And then, a miracle: the pumpkin split open, revealing tiny golden seeds. Each seed held a memory—a shared laugh, a stolen kiss, a favorite recipe. 

Día de los Muertos dawned, and the ofrenda glowed with Pascha Pumpkin miracle. The spirits danced, twirling with joy. Noam watched; his heart full. He knew that love transcended worlds, that even in grief, there was beauty.

And so, every year, the Ximena family planted the seed in their garden, and soon, marigolds bloomed, their petals echoing laughter, sharing stories and savoring pumpkin soup. Noam visited, leaving gifts—a feather, a moonbeam, a whispered promise.

The Pascha Pumpkin’s legacy lived on, reminding all who passed by: Love was the bridge between realms, and remembrance was a gift to be cherished.

And that, my dear reader, is how Noam the Easter Bunny and the Pascha Pumpkin wove magic into the tapestry of Moriah Hallow.

May your heart be as warm as a pumpkin’s glow, and may you find joy in the whispers of memories.

Learn more about The Pascha Pumpkin; in Noam Fall Garden adventure story book.

Hope you find One--- Hope you get One