#Please rise for your national summer anthem

[avatarinspirations]

Avatar Kyoshi music

Here are some songs I like for Kyoshi’s story. It’s gonna get random XD

Angst

“Again” by Flyleaf.

“Anything” by Mae.

“Are You With Me” by Trapt.

“Baby you wouldn’t last a minute on the creek” by Chiodos.

“Bionic” by Christina Aguilera.

“Bite To Break Skin” by Senses Fail.

“Breath” by Breaking Benjamin.

“Breathe” by Michelle Branch.

“Broken Crown” by Mumford & Sons.

“Build your own Disaster” by Ice Nine Kills.

“Calling All Angels” by Train.

“Calls Me Home” by Shannon LaBrie.

“Carry On” by Fun.

“Change” by Taylor Swift.

“Change your mind” by All-American Rejects.

“Coffeeshop Soundtrack” by All Time Low.

“Cold” by Crossfade.

“Colors” by Crossfade.

“Crawling” by Linkin Park.

“Dare you to move/Meant to live” cover by Anthem Lights (original songs by Switchfoot).

“Dead in the Water” by Ellie Goulding.

“Demons” by Imagine Dragons.

“Don’t Tell Me” by Avril Lavigne.

“Dust & Gold” by Arrows to Athens.

“Everybody’s Fool” by Evanescence.

“Evil Angel” by Breaking Benjamin.

“Explosions” by Ellie Goulding.

“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten.

“Fix You” by Coldplay.

“Fly from the Inside” by Shinedown.

“From Yesterday” by 30 Seconds to Mars.

“Fully Alive” by Flyleaf.

“Gives you hell” by All-American Rejects.

“Headstrong” by Trapt.

“Helena” by My Chemical Romance.

“Hero” by Skillet.

“Heroes” by Alesso.

“Hit me with your best shot” by Pat Benatar.

“Hit the Floor” by Bullet for my Valentine.

“Hit the Floor” by Linkin Park.

“Hold Me Down” by Halsey.

“HTML Rulez Dood” by the Devil Wears Prada.

“Hurricane” by Bridgit Mendler.

“I’m So Sick” by Flyleaf.

“In the air Tonight” by Nonpoint & Phil Collins.

“Innocence” by Avril Lavigne.

“It Only Hurts” by Default.

“It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi.

“Justify” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

“Karma” by Alicia Keys.

“Kings & Queens” by 30 Seconds to Mars.

“Monster” by Skillet.

“Move Along” by All-American Rejects.

“My Hero” by Foo Fighters.

“Never Too Late” by Three Days Grace. 

“One Girl Revolution” by Superchick.

“One Woman Army” by Porcelain Black. 

“Only One” by Yellowcard.

“Over & Under” by Egypt Central.

“Papercut” by Linkin Park.

“Prelude 12/21″ by AFI.

“Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande.

“Ready to Fall” by Rise Against.

“Rebirthing” by Skillet.

“Reverie” by Megan McCauley.

“Savior” by Skillet.

“Shake It Out” by Florence & the Machine.

“Shattered” by Trading Yesterday.

“So Cold” by Breaking Benjamin.

“Somebody that I used to know” by Mayday Parade.

“Sorrow” by Flyleaf.

“Supernatural” by Flyleaf.

“Tears don’t fall” by Bullet For My Valentine.

“The Cave” by Mumford & Sons.

“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus.

“The Greatest” by Sia --> I especially love Madilyn Page’s cover.

“The Rescue” by American Hi-Fi.

“This is Gospel” by Panic at the Disco.

“To Hell & Back” by blessthefall.

“Waiting for the End” by Linkin Park.

“What have you done” by Within Temptation. 

“What I’ve Done” by Linkin Park.

“Whisper” by Evanescence. 

“You’re Not Alone” by Saosin.

Score Music (Mostly epic)

“A Building Panic” from the Titanic soundtrack.

“Air” from the Angels & Demons soundtrack.

“All or Nothing” by Brand X Music.

“Antrozous” by Hanz Zimmer (Batman Begins soundtrack).

“Attack at the Wall” from the Mulan soundtrack.

“Battle on the Tower” from the Beauty & the Beast soundtrack (the Gaston vs Beast half).

“Birth of a Hero” by Soundcritters.

“Blossoms” from the Mulan soundtrack.

“Bonded for Life” from the Indian in the Cupboard soundtrack.

“Bring the Pain” by Brand-X Music.

“Bumblebee Captured” from the Transformers soundtrack.

“Caeser’s Home” from the Rise of the Planet of the Apes soundtrack.

“Call to Arms” by Two Steps From Hell.

“Chatting with Clark” from the Supergirl Season 1 soundtrack.

“Coffey on the Mile” from the Green Mile soundtrack.

“Destiny” by Filip Olejka.

“Destroying the Corpses” from the Haunting in Connecticut soundtrack.

“Evolve Nation” by Sub Pub Music.

“Farewell” from the Pocahontas soundtrack.

“Firebird Suite” by Igor Stravinsky.

“Floating Away” by Epic Score.

“Glory Seeker” by Immediate Music.

“H2O” from the Angels & Demons soundtrack.

“Here comes the King” by X-Ray Dog.

“Heroes” by Randy Dominguez.

“Jim Saves The Crew” from the Treasure Planet soundtrack.

“Kill ‘Em All” from the Carrie 2013 soundtrack.

“Lacrimosa Dominae” by Immideate. 

“Legion” by Randy Dominguez.

“Like a Fire” from the X-Men: Apocalypse soundtrack.

“Love & Loss” by Two Steps From Hell.

“Marriage Proposal” from the Young Victoria soundtrack.

“Neodammerung” from the Matrix soundtrack.

“Person of Interest” by Immediate Music.

“Prologue” by Jeremy Zuckerman from the Legend of Korra soundtrack.

“Ready for the Fight” by Epic Score.

“Redemption” by Andreas Christodoulou.

“Red Sea” from the Prince of Egypt soundtrack.

“Remember the Titans” by Audiomachine.

“Return of the King” by X-Ray Dog.

“Rise of the Abyss” by Two Steps From Hell.

“Sands of Time” by “Audiomachine.

“Shenzhou” from the Gravity soundtrack.

“Short Hair” from the Mulan soundtrack.

“Silver comforts Jim” from the Treasure Planet soundtrack.

“Superhuman” by Baby Rattle.

“The Age of Man” by Fringe Element.

“The Battle” from the Chronicles of Narnia soundtrack.

“The Burning Bush” from the Prince of Egypt soundtrack.

“The Doll Survives” from the Mulan soundtrack.

“The Fall of Man” by Groove Addicts --> this is the music I imagine when reading the Kyoshi vs Xu Ping An <3

“The Great Eatlon” by James Newton Howard.

“The Huns Attack” from the Mulan soundtrack.

“The Master Plan” from the Mulan soundtrack.

“The Moon & the Superhero” from the Hancock soundtrack.

“Their War Here” by Hanz Zimmer & Junkie XL (Batman vs. Superman soundtrack).

“The Ultimate Gift main title” from the Ultimate Gift soundtrack.

“Tornado” by Hanz Zimmer (Man of Steel soundtrack).

“Trilogy” by ATB.

“War is Coming” by Epic Score.

“We Shall Rise” by Epic Score.

“World on Fire” by Ninja Tracks.

Love

“All I Need” by Within Temptation.

“Arms” by Christina Perri.

“Beside You” by Marianas Trench.

“Back to Life” by Hailee Steinfeld.

“Boom Clap” by Charlie XCX.

“Can’t Help Falling In Love” by A*Teens.

“Crazier” by Taylor Swift.

“Everything” by Lifehouse.

“Falling in Love” by Falling Up.

“Fearless” by Taylor Swift.

“Flashlight” by Jessie J.

“First Time” by Lifehouse.

“For you I will” by Teddy Geiger.

“Hands on Me” by Vanessa Carlton.

“Here in your arms” by Hellogoodbye.

“How you get the girl” by Taylor Swift.

“I’d rather be in love” by Michelle Branch.

"Impulsive” by Wilson Phillips.

“Juliet” by LMNT.

“Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding.

“Salvation” by Gabrielle Aplin.

“She is the Sunlight” by Trading Yesterday.

“She looks so perfect” by 5 Seconds of Summer.

“Smile” by Uncle Kracker.

“Starving (feat. Zedd)” by Hailee Steinfield & Grey.

“Start of Time” by Gabrielle Aplin.

“Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional.

“Stuttering” by the Friday Night Boys.

“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran.

“Whenever, Wherever” by Shakira.

“Wish you were here” by Avril Lavigne.

“With Me” by Sum 41.

“Yellow” by Katherine Ho.

“Your body is a wonderland” by John Mayer.

“Your Guardian Angel” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Other

“I Lived” by One Republic.

“I’m Alive” by Celine Dion.

“I won’t give up” by Jason Mraz.

“Part of Me” by Katy Perry.

“Release Me” by Agnes.

“Superheroes” by The Script.

“Undefeated” by Jason Derulo. 

“Wild Heart” by Sabi.

“You’re a god” by Vertical Horizon.

Please, feel free to add to this list!

[calacuspr]

The Debate About Sports Activism Is Over – The Time Is Now

As we begin 2021, David Alexander, Managing Director of Calacus PR, looks at how the issue of sports activism altered over the past 12 months, and what is in store for 2021 as it continues to rise ahead of major events this summer.

There’s little doubt that 2020 was a difficult year for us all.

Sport suffered significantly due to lockdowns that have hindered competition, spectators attending in person and grassroots sport that means so much to so many.

But with more time on their hands, sports stars have been showing why the debate about sport and politics and sport and social good is essentially redundant.

If you go back in history, there are many instances of sports stars using their platform to make a political point.

“With more time on their hands, sports stars have been showing why the debate about sport and politics and sport and social good is essentially redundant.”

Muhammad Ali protested about the draft and refused to fight in the Vietnam war. That lost him his boxing licence and some of his peak years.

African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” during their medal ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City in 1968.

And in more recent years we’ve had NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick take the knee to protest at inequality and police brutality in the United States.

Over in England, Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling has been vocal about racism in the game after both fans and media have targeted him.

“First and foremost, I don’t really think about my job when things like this happen. I think about what is right,” he said when discussing racism in the game.

In light of the death of George Floyd in the United States, footballers have been taking the knee before most top-level matches, to highlight the importance of diversity and equality in society.

England captain Harry Kane explained why it is so important that the ritual is continued: “We are a huge platform to share our voices across the world,” he said.

“I hear people talking about taking the knee and whether we should still be doing it and for me I think we should. Education is the biggest thing we can do to teach generations what it means to be together and help each other no matter what your race.”

Fellow England forward Marcus Rashford has also been in the news for all the right reasons, somehow managing to help Manchester United on the pitch while changing UK government policy off it.

Rashford has opened up about the struggles his family endured, relying on free school meals, breakfast and after-school clubs, food banks and vouchers to ensure he could eat.

He addressed the issue of children missing out on a free school meal during the UK’s coronavirus lockdown, which saw the government make a U-turn and make the vouchers available.

He then partnered with Fareshare to ensure food that would otherwise be wasted was redistributed to good causes and in early September, Rashford went even further, creating the Child Poverty Task Force with the food industry to shed light on the issue of child food poverty in the UK. No wonder he was awarded an MBE.

France and Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann also took a stand against electronics brand Huawei, after reports emerged that the company was developing facial recognition software to be used on Muslim Uighurs in China.

“I take this opportunity to invite Huawei to not just deny these accusations but to take concrete actions as quickly as possible to condemn this mass repression, and to use its influence to contribute to the respect of human and women’s rights in society,” said Griezmann in a statement.

“When sports stars, clubs or federations work with brands, particularly these days, there needs to be constant dialogue.”

Huawei responded that they would like to speak to Griezmann, which begs the question why these discussions were not had between Griezmann or his representatives and Huawei before he cut ties.

Griezmann’s resignation as an ambassador will make the news, but if he HAD spoken with the electronics brand, he could have potentially worked with them to ensure better treatment of Uighurs.

When sports stars, clubs or federations work with brands, particularly these days, there needs to be constant dialogue.

Aligning yourself with a brand just because of a logo or free merchandise is not enough these days – and there is a lot of research that suggests consumers want their brands to make a positive difference.

But we have seen this year that sports stars feel more empowered than ever to try and make a positive difference, using social media to communicate which gives them a huge reach on channels that THEY own and so avoiding any misinterpretation or sensationalism that may have come from sending out a press release or staging a press conference, for instance.

As we move into the new year, the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer will be fascinating and provide a strong indicator for future trends.

“Calls have increased this year for a change to Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which bans any form of political protest during the Games.”

Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states that the field of play and medal events should be ‘separate from political, religious or any other type of interference’ but it has been criticised recently, with new independent body the Athletics Association saying it is not fit for purpose.

Calls have increased this year for a change to Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which bans any form of political protest during the Games.

World Athletics have, for instance, said that athletes should have the right to make gestures of political protest during the Games, contrary to official IOC policy.

IOC President Thomas Bach has said that the Rule will be reviewed but more recently has said that “Inclusiveness and mutual respect also by being politically neutral” is also important.

The Games are supposed to be unifying so it will be fascinating to see who protests if Rule 50 remains in place.

To read the original article, please click HERE

[owlways-and-forever]

HSWW Asst 11, Thaumatology Task 3 - Write about someone having an accident.

Camp Hogwarts, [Song] Hold You Down by X Ambassadors

IPC #943 - [Title] What Time Doesn’t Heal

365 #5 - Ache

 Warnings: character death, funeral, graphic injuries

 o . o . o

  When there’s no one to hold you, I will still hold you down

I will still hold you down

- Hold You Down, X Ambassadors

 There were five people between Lily and James. His father was to James’ left, then James, Sirius, two stuffy relatives that she couldn’t for the life of her remember, Remus, and then Lily. She could have stood before Remus, but he had offered to go first so she would attract less attention, and honestly Lily was okay with it because whatever second uncle was standing next to Remus smelled  incredibly musty. Except she wasn’t okay with it because there were five people between her and James and all she wanted was to hold his hand. She snuck a glance over at him, and felt her heart shatter a little bit more. He was staring straight ahead with glassy eyes, adamantly refusing to look at the ornate coffin in front of him. Lily understood. If he didn’t look at it, it wasn’t there. If he couldn’t see her body, maybe his mom was still alive. Damn, if only she could hug him right now.

 Remus elbowed her gently, a subtle reminder to face front again. It was hard to remember all these stupid rules. Especially since she had only met Euphemia twice, so she wasn’t really all that sad. Well she was, it was awful losing such a tremendous public figure, but mostly she was sad because James was going through hell and there was nothing she could do about it. Lily peeked over again, and she could practically feel Remus roll his eyes.  Great job, Lily  , she internally reprimanded, channeling Remus as best she could,  I’m sure none of the billion photographers have gotten a picture of you craning your neck to stare at the bloody Prince of England at his mother’s funeral. That definitely won’t be plastered across tabloid covers in a week. She sighed and tried to refocus her attention on the service that was taking place around her.

 It might be easier if the stupid Abbey weren’t eight hundred degrees inside. Not to mention if her heels weren’t pinching her toes. People just shouldn’t be allowed to die during the summer, it was far too uncomfortable. Lily mentally slapped herself for that. She had no business thinking about physical comfort right now.  Grief, Lily, grief, that’s what you should be feeling right now. Nothing else . She looked at the Queen’s face, waxy and preserved. So much must have gone into making her look right for her burial, because Lily had been there, and the woman certainly hadn’t died peacefully in her sleep.

o . o . o

  Lily and James had excused themselves, leaving the private Royal car of the train, ostensibly to go find some food, but really they were looking for some privacy, ironically enough. It was just that it was only the second time Lily was meeting his family, and they were only 19, so who could blame them if they wanted a little bit of alone time? Euphemia was more than a little bit heavy handed with her hinting as well. When his mother said she was getting peckish, James had hastily offered to go get something to eat for them, needing a brief moment of reprieve. And then he had wisely claimed to need Lily’s help carrying everything back, and they had both departed the little compartment with their hands clasped. Which is precisely how they had ended up in an empty compartment two cars down, the privacy shades pulled all the way down as their hands groped to find skin and they pressed desperate kisses against lips and noses and jaws. Lily thought she might actually spontaneously combust from longing when a loud metal creak tore through the air and she fell crashing to the floor of the train. 

  She barely had time to comprehend that the train was tipping on its side before she was sliding to the wall, James scrabbling for purchase beside her. An awful metallic shriek was rending the air as the train continued to surge forward, its outer wall scraping along the tracks. The lights blinked off as the train lost all power, and slowly, the train ground to a halt.

  “Are you okay?” James asked her, struggling to get on his hands and knees in the sideways compartment.

  “I think so,” Lily answered. Later, she would feel the sharp ache of her broken wrist, but at that moment, she felt nothing. 

  James had a cut across his forehead where he must have banged it on the seat or something, and she was sure both of them would have more than a few bruises. 

  “We need to go find my mum,” he said, kicking the compartment door open and carefully dropping himself through it. He reached up to Lily, helping her as she wiggled her way through and dropped down next to him.

  Together, they quickly made their way back to the Royal Family’s car, careful not to step on the compartment windows, half of which were shattered anyway. James pried the door open, kneeling on it so Lily could pass. But there was nowhere for her to go, with no floor to step on and the door on the other side of the gap firmly shut. James swore, clearly not prepared for that outcome, and quickly took stock of the situation. 

  “Go up,” he grunted, nodding at the outer door, which had sprung open as part of the emergency protocol. 

  Lily nodded and grabbed onto the edge of the metal above her head, struggling to heave herself out. She kicked her feet as her stomach met the edge of the doorway, and she leaned forward so her chest was resting against the outside of the train car. Reaching up to try to grasp anything and finding one of the handholds for climbing aboard, Lily dragged herself out of the door, her muscles howling in protest as her belly scraped across the door. When she was finally out and stood atop the side of the train, she rolled her eyes slightly. Of course she’d gotten up on the wrong side. She leapt over the doorway, landing with a metallic clang on the other side, and then waited for James to join her. He managed to pull himself out in a smooth motion, seemingly with as much ease as vaulting out of a swimming pool, and if she wasn’t so bloody scared right now, she would probably hate him a little bit for how graceful it was. 

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her along, their footsteps echoing heavy and hollow on the metal siding, until they reached the joint between the next two cars. James peeked through the doorway and huffed when he found the inner door to the Royal car firmly shut. Looking up though, he saw a window broken in, and immediately made a beeline for it. They could hear muffled shouts from inside the car, and James lowered himself inside, worry written in creases along his forehead, leaving Lily for the first time as he rushed to his mother. Lily tried to follow him carefully, but the broken window left a jagged, stinging cut along her palm. She hissed at it slightly before turning her attention back to James and his mom. When she turned around to face the compartment where the Queen had been sitting, her heart broke.

  James was kneeling on the window next to the compartment door, held back by one of his bodyguards, grief and anger and disbelief battling for control of his features. Inside the compartment, Queen Euphemia was collapsed against the outer window, craggy glass shards littering the ground outside. The post of a track-side sign was sticking up through the broken window, piercing the Queen’s stomach. Blood dripped through the cracks in the glass and oozed slowly across her shirt, but it was the only movement anywhere on her body. No flutter of the eyelids, no twitch of the fingers. Not even the faintest rise and fall of her chests to indicate breath. She was just… still.

  “Mum,” James gasped, nearly hyperventilating. “Come on, Mum, please.”

  Lily crawled over to him, reaching out to cover his hand with her own but he jerked it away sharply. She understood. She wasn’t the one he wanted right now, she couldn’t comfort him the right way. These were the one shoes she would never be able to fill. Even so, James leaned into her shoulder, reaching out and squeezing her hand softly before pulling away again. Just enough to let her know that he wasn’t angry with her. She looked at him carefully, taking in the anguish and the way he just couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from his mother’s body.

  “I’m sorry, James,” she whispered, her heart sinking even further.

  His mother died and he hadn’t been there. Lily wasn’t sure James was ever going to forgive her for that.

 o . o . o

 The Garter King of Arms stepped forward, taking his place next to the Archbishop, and took a deep breath, projecting his voice throughout the Abbey for all to hear.

 “Thus it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this transitory life unto His Divine Mercy the late Most High, Most Mighty and Most Excellent Princess Euphemia, Queen Consort by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories Queen Consort, Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Lady of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, Grand Master and Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order upon whom has been conferred the Royal Victorian Chain, Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Dame Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John. May God save the Queen.”

 “God save the Queen,” a chorus replied, sincere in their wishes for their beloved monarch, and many people bowed or knelt in a show of respect.

 The orchestra struck up a somber and melancholic version of the national anthem, and voices joined with the instruments. Lily peeked over at James as she sang, seeing the struggle on his face. She could tell he was desperately trying to hold back his tears and present the strong face that he had been counseled to display, but he was entirely overcome with grief. How could he not be a mess? To the country, the woman before them was a symbol, a figurehead, but to him she was so much more, and he grieved as any son would for his mother.

 As the music transitioned seamlessly to some instrumental piece and the Archbishop walked around the coffin to begin the parade out of the Abbey, James pressed the heel of his hand into his brow bone and took a deep breath that shuddered through his frame. He repeated the action again, searching for composure as he prepared to face the masses of people gathered outside, lining the route. James stepped forward, taking his place next to his father, right behind the coffin, as officers of the Royal Navy stepped forward, carrying the top of the coffin from where it had been sequestered out of sight, and laying it over the Queen’s body. They latched it securely shut, standing at attention. Two of the officers unfurled the Queen’s personal standard, carefully draping it over the coffin like a blanket. In unison, the six officers reached down and grasped the handles of the coffin, slowly moving forward, one marching step at a time. 

 James flashed a look at Lily as he and his father began to move forward, following the Queen’s coffin. He seemed to be searching for something in her face, some kind of strength or courage to keep going. She nodded to him, trying to encourage him and wordlessly reassure him that he could get through this. She would only be a few steps behind him.

 The parade route was a mile and a half long, taking them along Whitehall, passing the houses of government along the way, and then along The Mall, with St. James’ Park on their left, an imposing march through the Admiralty Arch with Buckingham Palace looming at the end. When they reached the end of their journey, the coffin was laid on a catafalque in the palace square, while the Royal Family, extended family members, and close friends made their way to the balcony.

 In the privacy of the Palace, they were free to break from their strict procession order, and Lily immediately sought James out. His shoulders sagged under the weight of his grief, and Lily thought he might collapse from the strain of the day. She laced her fingers with his and he squeezed her hand as if he could extract strength from her grasp.

 “It’s almost over,” he whispered, blinking quickly to contain the tears as they climbed the stairs together. It seemed like James was talking more to himself than to her, as if he was reminding himself to keep it together for just a little bit longer.

 “James,” the King said quietly, a gentle signal that it was time for their last public duty.

 James stepped out onto the balcony with his father, and Lily returned to Remus’ side, both of them taking their own places far off to the side. It was the final salute. The Royal Army began, conducting a spectacular gun salute in the courtyard. The Navy followed with a smaller display, their primary role as bearers of the coffin serving as their salute to the Queen instead. Finally, the Royal Air Force flew an array of jets over the palace, leaving streaks of red, white and blue, interspersed with a coal black. As the jetstreams faded in the sky, the Naval officers once again took up the coffin, this time conducting it into a waiting hearse. From there, the Queen would be driven to Windsor Castle and interred in St. George’s Chapel. The guests on the balcony watched as the car departed, each privately saying their final goodbyes to the beloved queen.

 As soon as the car was out of sight, James turned from the balcony, retreating to the privacy behind the palace walls, unable to take any more ceremony. His father followed a moment later, pausing only to wave farewell to his people, and then the rest of the guests on the balcony returned inside. The King patted his son’s shoulder sympathetically, before moving down the stairs, still intent on being a good host. They still had a lunch for the attending dignitaries and attending guests, but Lily knew that James needed a few minutes before he would be ready for that.

 She took his hand and pulled him off to the side of the room, and no sooner had they moved out of the path of the other guests than James collapsed in her arms. His head dropped to her shoulder as his hands wound around her waist in a tight hug. Lily had to stretch onto her toes so that she could reach around his neck to hug him in return, rubbing her fingers soothingly against his skin.

 “I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling his tears wet on her dress, not that she cared in the slightest about the scrap of fabric. “I’m so sorry.”

 “Thank you for being here,” James murmured, as his breathing steadied and his tears slowed. He looked up at her and Lily reached up to wipe some of the tears from his cheeks with a soft brush of her thumbs over his skin. “There’ll probably be rumours after today, I -”

 “I don’t care,” Lily interrupted, fixing him with an intensely sincere look. “None of that matters at all, James. I just want to be here for you.”

 The corners of his mouth twitched in the closest thing she had seen to a smile in a week, and he pulled her into another hug. After a long moment, he pressed a quick kiss to her temple and pulled back, taking her hand and turning toward the now empty grand staircase.

 “Come on, everyone is probably waiting on me to start lunch.”

 Lily squeezed his hand and moved forward with him, glad that at least now she could stay by his side and be the comfort she knew he so desperately needed. 

[fanfics4all]

The Northside Serpent: Part 21

Request: Yes / No

Request are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Sweet Pea x Fem!Male!Keller!Reader

Word count: 3309

Warnings: Archie getting arrested, Ghoulies, season 3 stuff

Y/N: Your Name

Summary: You’re Kevin Keller’s little sister when you’re mom left to go to war and your dad started cheating (I’m making it so he’s been cheating since season 1) You started rebelling; dying your hair, getting a nose piercing, tattoo, and hanging out on the southside.

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

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Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

“Y/N, come on up.” He said and I looked at him shocked. Sweet Pea pushed me to get up and I looked back at him. Sweet Pea and Fangs nodded at me to go and I smiled. I walked up to him and he helped me same as he did with Cheryl. He smiled at me and everyone cheered once again. I hugged him and then ran back to Sweet Pea. He hugged me and lifted me up, being careful of my stitches. He gave me the biggest kiss and when it was over he pulled back, he had the biggest smile on his face.

“I love you Y/N.” He said and I smiled at him.

“I love you too, Sweet Pea.” I said.

We were in the school gym watching Archie officially become class President. The Vixens had just got done and Weatherbee was about to speak.

“Students, faculty and staff, before we inaugurate Archie Andrews in as our new student council President, please rise for our national anthem.” He said and everyone stood up. We put our hands over our hearts and Josie got up to sing. Archie was smiling at us and we smiled back, he was so happy. Suddenly the door opened and we watched as Sheriff Minetta walked in with some other cops and arrested Archie.

“Sheriff Minetta, what are you doing?” Archie asked.

“Archie Andrews, you’re under arrest for the murder of Shadow Lake resident, Cassidy Bullick.” He said.

“What? I didn’t kill him-��

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. Yout have the right to an attorney…” He continued to list off the rights and we all watched in shock.

“Hey! Let him go!” I shouted and went to go run, but Sweet Pea held me back. We watched as our friend was lead out of the school in handcuffs…

I didn’t think Riverdale could get any worse after the Black Hood, but then Archie was arrested in front of the whole school. It was a nightmare and now that summer was here we all were trying to relax even though we couldn’t. Veronica was cut off from her family’s money and was now working at Pop’s, and downstairs at her secret club. Betty had an internship, she was helping Mrs. McCoy and Mrs. Andrews with Archie’s trial. Jughead was writing his book. Toni was on a roadtrip with Cheryl. Kevin spent a lot of time with Moose and Josie. And Sweet Pea spent his free time with me and the others with the Serpents. I still wasn’t on good terms with my Father, but Sweet Pea was trying to convince me to make up with him. Sure he was cool with me dating Sweet Pea now, but he was still cheating on my mother and I couldn’t accept that. Kevin and I were back to being the best of friends since he didn’t care about me being with Sweet Pea anymore, he was still worried but he always was.

Currently we were all at the courthouse in support for Archie. I can’t believe they thought he murdered someone! He would never kill someone, he was one of the sweetest guys in Riverdale! I remember when we were younger and I was too shy to play with my brother’s friends, Archie came up to me on the playground and I thought he was going to be mean and take my dolls from me; but he didn’t. He sat down next to me and ask if he could play. The others noticed how he went missing from there game and saw him with me. They all came over and we’ve been friends ever since. Sure we’re not the closest of friends, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna support them.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the evidence and testimony that was presented in this court tell a dark story. That Mr. Andrews has a history of violent behavior. That he started not one, but two masked vigilante groups. That he assaulted an innocent boy who was helpless with two broken legs. That he went “wilding” in the Southside of town and threatened to shoot a young man in the face-” I noticed Sweet Pea move uncomfortably at hearing this so I grabbed his hand and gently squeezed.

“-That while partying with his friends in the town of Shadow Lake, Mr. Andrews ran into the woods and shot the victim, Cassidy Bullock, point-blank in the head. Now Mr. Andrews claims this it was his girlfriend’s father’s doorman who shot Mr. Bullock. A shot Mr. Andrews claims to have heard, but not seen. Who knows the truth of what happened  that terrible night in the wood near Shadow Lake? I’ll tell you who. That man! Archie Andrews may be a varsity athlete and he may be a sensitive musician. But he is also a cold-blooded killer.” Ms. Wright finished and sat down. Mrs. Andrews got up and faced the jury.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we know, for a fact, that Archie Andrews constantly puts the needs of others ahead of his own. We know that he helped to solve the murder of Jason Blossom. We know that he offered both friends and enemies shelter when they had nowhere else to stay. We know that he punched through a river of ice to save the life of his classmate Cheryl Blossom.” I shifted uncomfortably hearing this, she was my best friend and I remember getting a call from her crying. Sweet Pea squeezed my hand and I looked up at him, he gave me a small smile.

“Well let me remind you that there were no witnesses to the actual killing. There was no murder weapon. There was no motive. At the end of the day, all the prosecution has is cloudy testimony from unreliable people. Now, it is my solemn duty as a mother to protect my son. But as an attorney, it’s my duty to adhere to the facts, to the evidence. There is nothing here that proves that Archie Andrews is anything less than an innocent boy. Thank you.” She finished and sat down next to her son.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, the charge is first-degree murder. You may retire to begin your deliberations.” The judge said.

“All rise.” The bailiff said and everyone stood up. Everyone left the courtroom while Archie’s fate was being decided.

“Okay, can you just level with us mom? What do you think Archie’s chances are?” Josie asked.

“Baby, I’d say… 50-50.” Mrs. McCoy answered.

“But if you had to come down on a side, Mrs. McCoy?” Kevin asked.

“I’m not sure honestly Kevin…” She answered and I sighed.

“I’m going over to Sweet Pea and Fangs…” I said and walked over to the boys.

“Hey, how ya holding up Quinny?” Fangs asked and Sweet Pea put his arm around me.

“Well, McCoy says it’s a 50-50 so I’d say not so great…” I answered and Sweets kissed my head.

“It’s gonna be okay babe.” He said and I sighed. I wasn’t sure it was.

“Hey guys, the judge is calling everyone back in.” My brother said and walked past us and up the stairs.

“Guess it’s time to find out the damage.” I said and the two boys nodded. We all went back inside.

“The jury is still deliberating, but I’ve dismissed them.” The judge said. Everyone was whispering to each other.

“They’re sequestered and I’ve instructed them not to read anything about this case, nor to discuss it with anyone. We’ll reconvene Tuesday morning after Labor Day.” He said and I could feel the hope in the room rise.

“My advice to you, young man, is to spend this weekend with your family and your loved ones. That’s all.” He said and you could tell there was still hope, but not as much as before. Everyone was walking out and talking about what just happened. Sweet Pea, Fangs, and I left as soon as we could. I couldn’t stand being in there any longer than I had to. We went to the Serpents place, Sweetwater River. The three of us were relaxing and trying to keep our minds off what just happened. Luckily the familiar hum of Toni’s bike pulled up and we all smiled. We all missed her.

“T! You’re back! Finally!” I shouted happily and attacked her in a hug.

“Missed me that much huh Quinny?” She said with a giggle.

“Of course! I was stuck with these two all summer, I need my two girls in my life to balance it out.” I answered.

“Hey! You love us!” Fangs said walking over with Sweet Pea.

“I do love you guys, but seriously I need some girl time.” I said and Toni laughed.

“Well Cheryl and I are throwing an awesome End-of-Summer pool party at Thornhill and you’re all invited. I should warn you guys Cheryl is kind of looking for trouble.” She said and I smiled.

“Trouble is my middle name.” I smirked.

“Babe, trouble doesn’t seem like a good idea. You dad won’t be happy if you get hurt again or something.” Sweets said worried.

“You just don’t want me getting in trouble after the riot.” I said and he nodded.

“She’ll be fine Sweets.” Toni said.

“Now, let’s catch up before the party.” She said pulling me away from the boys.

“Fangs! Sweet Pea! I need you two!” Jughead called and they two walked off.

Few hours later and all of us were heading to Thornhill for the party. Well they were, I had to stop at home and change. I put on my black bikini, some light blue shorts, a gray short sleeved shirt. Some gray toms, and my sunglasses.

Sweet Pea was kind enough to wait for me outside and we were off to the party. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. I immediately took off my shirt, shorts, shoes, and sunglasses and jumped in the pool. I heard Sweet Pea laughing as I came up for air.

“Come on in babe! The water’s great!” I said and he shoot his head but sat on the side.

“I’m good baby, you enjoy yourself.” He said with a smile.

After an hour or more of swimming I got out a dried off. Sweets and I sat together on a couch that was outside and he kissed my head. I snuggled into his side with a smile on my face.

“I’m happy you’re alive Y/N.” He said and I looked up at him.

“And I’m happy you didn’t do anything stupid while you thought I was dead.” I said and he gave me a slight smile.

“That’s in the past Sweets, we need to move on from all of that okay?” I said and he nodded and kissed me. The kiss was getting pretty hot when Jughead interrupted it.

“Hey love birds, Serpent meeting. Now.” He said when we pulled apart and walked off. Sweets and I looked at each other confused but got up and followed him.

“Are you absolutely sure that this was Hot Dog?” Jughead asked Fangs.

“Hundred percent, man. They must have snatched him on Riot Night. He looked skinny. I don’t think the Ghoulies are feeding him enough.”He answered.

“We’re lucky those animals aren’t slow-roasting him on a grill.” Sweets said pissed.

“What do we do, Jug?” I asked.

“We’d be going behind enemy lines, outnumbered, open to attack from all directions and risking another gang-war.” He said and everyone sighed.

“No Serpent left behind, right? That includes our spirit animal.” He asked and I smirked.

“Okay, we’re gonna deploy after dark. It’s gonna be a stealth mission. It’s gonna be quick.” He ordered.

“Jug, last time you went into Ghoulie territory, you were beaten to within an inch of your life.” Betty said worried.

“He’ll have backup this time.” Cheryl said and I nodded.

“And we’re gonna be quick, Betty. They won’t even know we were there.” He said.

“Okay, well, then I’m coming with you.” Betty said.

“No.” He said.

“No. Don’t you dare tell me that it’s too dangerous, Jug. The Serpent Queen is a warrior queen. So if you’re on the frontlines, so am I.” She said and Jughead smirked.

“Okay. Let’s bring Hot Dog home, shall we?” He said. Sweet Pea pulled me aside and he wore a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“I don’t want you coming with us.” He said and I looked at him confused.

“But I’m a Serpent now, I should go with you guys.” I said and he shook his head.

“You almost died for us.” He said.

“So did Jug.” I said and he sighed.

“I know, but I can’t lose you…” He said and I sighed.

“Sweets, I’ll stick by you the whole time, just let me come please.” I said and he sighed.

“Promise to stay by me the whole time?” He asked and I stuck out my pinky.

“Pinky promise.” I said and he wrapped his around mine with a smile.

“Fine.” He said and kissed my head.

We all went back to enjoy the rest of the party. As soon as night fell we all got our jackets and piled into Sweet’s truck. We drove to the Southside, which none of us have been to since the riot, and parked just outside the fence that they were keeping Hot Dog. Jughead wanted to make sure no one was there so we’ve been waiting an hour and poor Hot Dog has been whining for us.

“It’s been an hour and no sign of anyone.” Toni said.

“Alright, Sweet Pea, you guys keep look out.” Jughead said grabbing some cutters. All of us watched as he walked through the gate and cut him free. Right as we did though lights turned on and out walked Penny and the Ghoulies.

“Hiya, Jonesy.” Penny said walking up to him.

“Welcome back to the Southside.” She said. Betty went to go after him but Cheryl pulled her back.

“Cheryl!” Betty said.

“Not yet, cousin.” Cheryl said and she stopped.

“I thought this mangy mutt might get you to show up. We need to talk.” Penny said.

“No, we don’t, Penny. I’m here for the dog.” Jug said.

“If you didn’t want trouble, why have you been sending spies all summer, trying to get into our business? Back off. Unless you want a replay of Riot Night.” She said and I growled.

“Y/N, no.” Sweet Pea said.

“Yeah, I’ve been sending scouts. I was looking for Hot Dog. Now that I’ve got him, We’re good.” He said trying to leave.

“Not so fast.” Penny said stopping him.

“Your jacket… the Southside isn’t yours anymore. That means you’re no longer the Southside Serpents.” She said and I rolled my eyes. I honestly couldn’t keep my mouth shut anymore.

“You’re really that petty that you care about a damn jacket?” I shouted at her.

“Y/N!” Sweet Pea scolded me.

“Hey, Sweet Pea, you better keep your bitch under control!” Malachai shouted.

“You’re the one being controlled by a bitch!” I shouted back and he glared at me.

“I guess we found our next victim.” Penny said walking closer to Jug.

“Fine. You can have the jacket as long as you and the Ghoulies stay out of the Northside.” He said.

“Oh, you don’t get to make demands.” Malachai said walking closer to him, but before he could make it to him Cheryl shot an arrow into his shoulder.

“Cheryl!” Jughead shouted at her.

“Told you I was in the mood for some hell raising.” She said and I smirked.

“That’s it. Just kill ‘em all.” Penny ordered.

“Cheryl, aim your next arrow right between Penny’s eyes.” Jug ordered and she did.

“If you and your Ghoulies take one more step, she’s gonna release that arrow. Cheryl doesn’t miss.” Jug said.

“Congratulations. You’ve just make the Northside fair game.” Penny said and Jug turned away.

“Come on.” He said to Hot Dog and brought him back to the truck.

“See you soon, Jonesy!” Penny called and we all drove off. Hot Dog was safe now and hopefully everything would be okay, at least for now. We dropped everyone off and Sweets took me back to his place.

“Sweets?” I asked once we were inside, he hasn’t said a word to me since I yelled at Penny and the Ghoulies.

“What the hell was that!?” He shouted and I looked at him shocked.

“All you had to do was keep your mouth shut! Now they’re gonna go after you!” He shouted and I sighed.

“I know…” I said, I knew it was a stupid thing to do, but I couldn’t help it.

“What if I can’t protect you?” He said sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.

“Hey, everything’s gonna be okay, they’re not gonna do anything.” I said sitting next to him and wrapping my arms around him.

“Yes they will Y/N! And I don’t know if I can protect you!” He said worried.

“Relax babe, I promise, everything’s gonna be okay.” I said and he sighed.

“It won’t be…”

“Yes it will, I have you and the Serpents, my brother, and even though we’re not on great terms right now I still have my dad.” I said which seemed to relax him a bit.

“Come on, let’s get some rest. We got to go to Archie’s trial tomorrow.” I said kicking off my shoes and taking my jacket off. Sweet Pea did the same and we both fell asleep.

The next day we woke up and Sweet Pea took me home so I could change. I put on something appropriate and waited for Sweets to pick me up. My father and brother were already there with Mrs. McCoy and Josie. Sweets picked me up and we got there just in time. We took our seats and anxiously waited to hear Archie’s fate.

“All rise.” The bailiff said and in walked the judge. He sat down and we all took our seats once again.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” He asked. The man in the front row in the first seat stood up.

“Your Honor, we haven’t. We’re deadlocked. Six-to-six. And it’s not gonna change.” He said and most people started whispering.

“So be it. The jury is dismissed. Thank you for your service.” The judge said and the jury left.

“Your Honor.” Ms. Wright said standing up.

“In lieu of another trial, the State is prepared to offer a deal for a lesser sentence. Instead of prison, time served plus two years in juvenile detention, if Mr. Andrews will plead guilty to the crime of manslaughter.” She said.

“Your Honor-” Mrs. Andrews stood up.

“I’ll take the deal.” Archie said cutting off his mother. Everyone was shocked and we told him not to.

“Your Honor, I accept the deal.” He said and I saw Veronica lean forward, crushed.

“Son, just so I have it straight, though it’s legally within your rights, you’re ignoring the advice of your counsel, your own mother?” The judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor. I’m guilty.” Archie said and the whispers started up again.

“Mr. Andrews, the court accepts your plea of guilt. You’ll be taken directly from the courthouse to the Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, where you will serve out your sentence beginning immediately. This court is adjourned.” The judge said. Everyone watched as Archie was handcuffed and lead out of the courthouse. It hurt to watch him be taken away in handcuffs once again. I could feel tears well in my eyes and a few fell down my cheeks. Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

Tag list: @54fangirl @southsidehufflepuff @xrosesareredx @cvvlxx @skeletalwolfcat @demigodofthesun @depressed-octopods @nalayrene @yourfavouritefuckup @staygoldsquatchling02 @sataninsatin @im-socialy-awkward-no-joke @dark-night-sky-99 @aframeofbones @fly-slytherin-queen @jojokoko0717 @nixdunbarhale @wanderlust-and-poetry @theyouthfulmoon @seasiren96 @nixdunbarhale2 @misskarynie @emo-godess-loves-you @serpent-stan @a--smallgirlinabigworld @ohlookmybed @everheart12 @sailorsolar12 @screamxqueenx94 @sweetpeas-serpent-princess @peter-parker-fyeah @genius2050 @dylpickles1267 @notreallyamundi @xdsockmonkey

[kmp78]

FINLAND 1 - 0 - 0 🇫🇮

A QUICK COMPILATION OF ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW - AND WISH YOU NEVER DID.

1. You may call us Finland and Finns, but we call ourselves Suomi and suomalaiset.

2. Altho if you don´t mind, we would rather you did not call us anything ever. Actually if we could both pretend each other doesn´t even exist, that would be just great!

3. Yes we are a notoriously shy and reserved nation with a gigantic inferiority complex - especially when compared to our neighbor Sweden.

4. Who incidentally we loooooove beating in hockey.

5. Saimaannorppa aka Saimaa ringed seal can only be found in Finland and is highly endangered.

According to a count done in 2015, there are only about 320 individuals left, and therefore quite understandably whenever one is found dead in a fisherman´s net or by the hands of a poacher etc., it causes headlines and outrages.

6. 70% of Finland is made up of forests - that´s roughly the size of the entire area of the United Kingdom.

7. Finland was awarded the Summer Olympics for 1940, but then things got all sorts of fucked up thanks to Adolf & co., so those plans were scrapped even tho we had a brand-spanking new Olympic stadium and everything! Dammit!

Oh well, we were compensated in 1952 when we finally got the honor of hosting our only (so far) Olympic games.

8. Those 1952 Olympics were the first time Coca Cola was introduced to Finns.

9. No, we do not have polar bears.

10. We also don´t have KFC, Wendy´s or Dunkin´ Donuts.

11. Yes I am very upset about all those things mentioned above but especially about KFC.

12. Finland was the first country in Europe which gave women the right to vote (1906).

13. The Finnish language does not separate words such as “she” or “he”. We just use a gender-neutral “hän”, which means “that person”.

14. The national bird of Finland is the whooper swan.

15. Helsinki has the world´s most Northern metro system.

16. Savonlinna hosts their annual Opera Festival in a Medieval castle.

17. We are vindictive and petty as HELL. Just ask Silvio Berlusconi.

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/155861218049/finland-chronicles-part-14

18. A Finnish person will drink approximately 129 litres of milk a year.

19. Some years ago, the word for mother (”äiti”) was voted the most beautiful word in the Finnish language.

20. Moomins are, as some of you MAY REMEMBER FROM A SPECIFIC DEBACLE FROM EARLIER THIS YEAR, from Finland and were created by OUR Miss Tove Jansson.

21. Unlike many other countries which after gaining independence tore down all statues and other remnants of their history under foreign rule, in Finland we chose to keep ours up as reminders of our past.

For example, on our main square aka the Senate Square you will find Czar Alexander II standing proudly.

22. And speaking of statues, one of the landmarks of Helsinki is Havis Amanda.

It depicts a mermaid who decides to leave the sea and walk on... well, not water.

Each year on April 30th, she is “crowned” with a cap, to represent all those who have graduated from secondary school and earned their caps.

23. As of 2010, internet access has been a legal right in Finland.

24. Do you have one of those cupboard things over your kitchen sink, the kind where you place your dishes to dry?

That was invented by a Finnish woman called Maiju Gebhard in 1945.

25. The longest word in the Finnish language is “epäjärjestelmällistyttämä­ttömyydelläänsäkäänköhän”, which loosely translates to “not even by her lack of organization, do you suppose”.

26. Angry Birds are from here.

27. Finland is also the birth place of the most successful ski jump champions of all time, Matti Nykänen.

28. After his sports career came to an end, Matti has been a permanent fixture in the tabloids with his... issues... involving alcohol abuse, domestic abuse (he even served time in prison for attempting to kill one of his many ex-wives) and an assortment of careers including stripping and now singing. 

He is also responsible for one of our most beloved and useful quotes of all time: back in the 80s when he was still jumping from towers and competing in Canada, he got into some “situations” and was sent back home as punishment. When he arrived at the airport, a journo asked him “Matti, did you drink alcohol?”, to which Matti replied “Maybe I did drink, maybe I didn´t drink”.

All bases covered then!

The man is a fucking genius.

29. There are absolutely ZERO public payphones anywhere in Finland.

30. For a very short period of time back in, Finland had a female president AND a  female Prime Minister. 

Sadly that arrangement came to an abrupt end when the Prime Minister was forced to resign over a scandal involving some sort of Iraq documents which I´m still, a decade later, completely baffled by.

31. As those who come on this blog surely know by now, Yours Truly is a passionate berry picker - and being a berry nut in Finland is easy indeed since a) we have one of the cleanest natures in the world and b) all living things you find in nature, you can keep - within reason, of course.

Usually a good principle is to keep about 100 meters distance from the nearest house. Other than that, you´re good to go!

32. People in in Northern Finland aka Lapland area have a very specific unit of measurement called the “poronkusema” which could be loosely translated to “Reindeer´s piss”. Roughly it means the distance a reindeer can walk before needing to urinate. It´s quite a long distance...

33. Our current President Sauli Niinistö is a survivor of the tragic tsunami which took place in South-East Asia on Dec 26, 2004. Over 200 000 people (including almost 200 Finnish tourists) died in one of the worst natural disasters of our time - Mr. Niinistö and his sons saved their own lives by climbing up a telephone pole and staying there for several hours.

34. In Finland October 13th is National Failure Day which aims to encourage people to share their failures and learn from them rather than hide their heads in shame and pretend all is well.

35. The REAL Santa Claus lives up in Rovaniemi and you can visit his village all year long.

36. Sheldon gave us a good laugh and an ego boost.

37. We like eating Rudolf with lingonberries and mash.

38. On some years we get A LOT of snow, but on others we get practically none. Back in 1997, in Lapland the snow reached up to 190 cm.

Incidentally I am 155 cm.

39. In the Finnish language there is an alphabet called Å which isn´t actually a part of a single Finnish word in the entire Finnish language - it is simply a remnant from our many centuries spent under Swedish rule.

40. Unesco has reported that Finland´s tap water is the cleanest in the world.

41. A handy Finnish saying: “Early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese”.

42. For some God forsaken reason, Finland and Estonia have the same national anthem.

43. Sadly accurate these days.

44. Sadly accurate these days.

45. Rosina Heikel (1842 - 1929) was Finland´s and in fact the Nordic countries 1st female doctor.

46. When something is a failure/a dud, the common term in the English language is “a lemon”. Over here, it´s “susi”. Susi also means wolf.

47. And susi should not be confused with sisu! 

48. In Lapland you can spend your vacation in an igloo.

49. Fines for speeding are determined by the offender´s income. Basically if you earn more, you have to pay more. The highest fines have been over 100 000 €. Stay poor, kids!

50. Pamela Anderson´s grandparents were from Finland.

51. Yes we like getting our drinks on, and most of us go abroad to Tallinn to get our drinks on for a lot less €s.

52. In Lapland, the Sun never rises from November to January.

53. In reverse, the Sun never sets from June to July. We call it “The Nightless night”.

54. Finland has exactly 1 Eurovision victory under its belt.

55. In 2018 Saara Aalto will be repping us.

Please vote for us. Please?

56. Nokia became famous for their mobile phones, but originally they manufactured rubber boots.

57. We don´t dub movies or TV shows.

58. We do however sometimes give them ridiculous and extremely SPOILER ALERT-y names. For example, “The Shawshank Redemption” was translated to “Rita Hayworth - Key to escape”.

I mean... C´MOOOOON!

59. Sometimes that´s all you can do.

60. Simo Häyhä aka “White Death” was one of the deadliest snipers of all time. During a 3 month stretch of the Winter War, he shot roughly 200 Russian soldiers before getting shot in the face himself. He survived and lived to be 96.

61. We don´t use the 1 and 2 cent coins. You CAN try paying with them as they of course are legal currency, but there are no guarantees you´ll get very far.

62. Feb 14th may be a day for lovers for the rest of the world, but we know it as “Friend´s Day”.

63. Tipping is not (thankfully) a part of the Finnish culture.

64. The guy longing for Sven in Titanic (the coat dude) was portrayed as a Swede, but was actually a Finn called Jari Kinnunen.

65. Karelian pies with egg butter are the best thing ever.

66. Märket island which is situated between Finland and Sweden had to have the border lines twisted a bit because the Finns who built that lighthouse, accidentally built it on the wrong side...

67. While often named as one of the 5 Scandinavian countries, Finland isn´t technically even a part of Scandinavia: we ARE however a part of the Nordic countries.

68. If you are invited to a Finnish sauna, you are expected to go nude.

69. Finnish armed forces are mandatory for men but voluntary for women.

70. Moomin mugs are peculiarly popular especially among Asian tourists. They can sometimes pay even thousands for rare ones.

71. We never had vikings, but there is one viking tale about a princess called Skjalv, daughter of the Finnish King Froste (those aren´t even Finnish names...), who was stolen as war loot to Sweden but ended up strangling her captor with a gold chain. 

72. Our 4th president was Kyösti Kallio, who was forced to resign from office after the Winter War on December 19th 1940. On that same day he was about to step onto a train to take him back home for retirement, when during his final official ceremony at Helsinki Railway Station, in front of his soldiers and while the orchestra played, he suffered a fatal heart attack and died right there in front of everyone. Legend says he collapsed into the arms of our greatest war hero and later president himself, Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim (seen in the white hat next to President Kallio).

73. Marshall Mannerheim is the only person in Finnish history who has been rewarded that particular military honor. In fact, he is and forever will remain the only person who has the title “Finland´s Marshall”, an honor bestowed upon him for his services to his home country during Finland´s tumultuous early years of independence.

A few years ago he was voted by the Finns themselves as the most important Finnish person of all time.

74. In June 1942, Adolf Hitler came to Finland to pay his respects to Marshall Mannerheim on his 75th birthday. As a little “souvenir” for future generations, the sneaky Finns recorded a snippet of his and Mannerheim´s private conversation.

It is the only known recording of Hitler speaking with a calm, normal voice, as he was very particular about only being filmed while screaming and ranting his ideologies.

75. Roughly 3 million tourists visit Finland each year and I think at least 2 500 000 of them are always going exactly where I´m going too.

76. We like to make things hard for foreigners.

77. We don´t have any mountains.

78. But we have lakes. We have a shit ton of lakes. 187 888 lakes to be precise.

79. FYI

80. All our days end with -tai (Monday = maanantai, Tuesday = tiistai etc.), except for Wednesday. Wednesday is called keskiviikko.

81. We have a lot of free time.

82. J. R. R. Tolkien used the Finnish national epoch the Kalevala as inspiration for the languages in the Lord of the Rings saga.

83. The St. Louis Arch was designed by a Finn called Eero Saarinen.

84. Every summer we arrange what is called Kaljakellunta aka “Beer float” which pretty much just consists of taking a floatie and a case of beer and... well, that´s about it.

85. If you want to enhance your sauna experience, you can use a birch whisk.

86. The bubble chair was designed by a Finnish man called Eero Aarnio.

87. Thursdays are the “official” pea soup and pancakes day all over Finland.

88. Finns love queuing.

89. Life expectancy for men is 78 years and for women 84 years.

90. In Tornio you can play golf in two countries:

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/155901150914/finland-chronicles-part-15

91. Finns invented the so-called Molotov´s cocktail.

92. All people in Finland must pay a TV tax even if they do not they own a TV.

93.  We celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December.

94. Finns love salmiakki aka salty licorice.

I don´t, btw.

95. Finland is one of the few countries in Europe which has not banned sex with animals - and some actually take advantage of that loophole...

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/156161829244/finland-chronicles-part-21

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/156257574544/finland-chronicles-part-23

96. Armi Kuusela won the 1st ever Miss Universe pageant in 1952.

97. In 2006, Conan O´Brian did a sketch about looking like our then-president Tarja Halonen and it ballooned into a huge movement.

98. Weeeeell...

99. On every Independence day, the current president hosts a party at his residence for about 2 000 dignitaries, celebs, politicians etc. We riff raffers sit at home in our sweatpants and watch it on TV with some nachos and snarky comments.

100. MONTY PYTHON KNOWS. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUOMI, AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. 

Despite you reeeeally getting on my nerves SO MUCH and SO OFTEN, I still love you. 💙 💙 💙

[ignitingwriting]

Igniting Writing Bingo Challenge 2020, Submission by Adam Kim

Sporting Chance

 Good afternoon from Lisbon and it is the first game of the knockout stage, where Belgium are playing France. Both teams are about to play a football game. Wow, what a kit the Belgian players are wearing!

Right, kick off. France start with the ball. I think I had those trainers when I was a young boy. Nikes those are. Ladies and gentlemen let us give a special mention to the French hairstyles. Just look at those curls on number 17. Oh, and the score is now 2-1 to Belgium. Ugh, my coffee has too much sugar; I better go make a new one.

I am back and it seems to be halftime. Oh, France have taken a lead. I mean Belgium, 4-2. The teams are back and oh it seems as they forgot to sing the national anthem. Personally I have a feeling Portugal is going to win. Number 10 has the ball and oh Number 17 has tripped him up. He better apologise quickly. Why is there a red card I didn’t know we used colourful cards in tennis – I mean football. The score is 72-56. Oh, hang on, that is just the timer, score 5-5.

80 minutes and it is the end of the match. No one will be eliminated. We still have 10 minutes? Nice afro from No 13. He shoots and misses. Oh, it is a goal.

6-5 to France. It is the end of the match and France is crying. Strange way to celebrate winning. It is the end of the road for Belgium. They must head back to Paris in Belgium. Hey Belgium won? Sorry ladies and gentlemen, France must head back to Brussels in France. Goodnight.

Alphabetti Spaghetti

 “Are you busy Granny?”

“Busier than ever.”

“Could you give me lunch?”

“Do you know what you want to eat?”

“Eggs.”

“Fried, scrambled or boiled eggs?”

“Granny I only like boiled eggs”

“How about I cook it in half an hour, because tennis is starting soon?”

“It’s already 3:30.”

“John, can you wait until dinner?

”Killing me is what you are doing; you are starving me.”

“Lick a lollipop in the meantime.”

“My music class starts soon, so feed me and bring me there.”

“No.”

“Of course you won’t, so let’s change the subject.”

“Please tell me what music notes you play in your class.”

“Quaver and semibreve.”

“Run and get your instrument, we are going to class.”

“Silly Granny; I always leave it at my class.”

“Take your coat, as it is raining outside.”

“Umbrellas are needed too.”

“Violin is my favourite instrument.”

“Well, I don’t play violin I play the xylophone.”

“Xylophone is what you play?”

“Yes.”

“Zealous is what you are to play an instrument so boring.”

Horror Scope

 Aries: Your life has had its ups and downs but from now on the downs will reflect on you with your goodness washed with regret.

Taurus: Your fury will rip you into shreds of emotion and hate. With death glaring at you, you are trapped in a tornado of hate.

Gemini: Your skills are frowned upon by others and the fact you think life is a game trips you up like pebbles of sin.

Cancer: Your practicality leads you into places unknown whereas irresponsibility brings good.

Leo: Your pride turns people’s souls into jealousy. You juggle good and evil into a pool of uncertainty.

Virgo: You will live life without enjoyment or excitement due to your cold dark cellar of tears.

Libra: People find you strangely attractive on the outside but on the inside you hide your fear.

Scorpio: Your popularity comes with a price of sadness and fear leaving you a hollow person.

Capricorn: You only care for those who care about you as your plans to become popular need to have a backup plan.

Aquarius: Your smart ideas crush the souls of others in a duel of temptation and jealousy. Taking over is impossible for you.

Pisces: You feel free but a watchful eye surrounds you permanently.

Sagittarius: Your care is taken as a good deed but deep inside you know how people feel about you.

Urban Legend

 I live in the haunted town of Trickle. At least that’s what I’m told. I moved in two weeks ago. The house is in the middle of a forest. It looked abandoned and was the only one in the forest.

Three days later my parents took me to the market place. They gave me £5 and let me go to the sweet stall. On my way there, a man grabbed me and pulled me into an alleyway.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” he said. “Well, let me tell you the tale of the Grethelsmite.”

Then he told me a story. Once, 36 years ago, five children sneaked into the forest and barged into the house. They smashed the windows and ripped the carpet. As they were heading out they noticed a basement. Foolishly, they went inside. When they were all inside the door suddenly shut and locked. They took no notice until it came. All was silent when one child screamed. He was gone – another desperately tried to open the door but a shadow appeared to her and she fell down the stairs, dead. One boy picked the lock and escaped leaving the others trapped. The ceiling collapsed on them and they couldn’t escape. The boy headed to the police and reported it but they ignored him.

That night a shadowed figure approached him.

“Hello young one. I am the Grethelsmite and I have come to take you away. Due to your actions every child in this village will pay.”

The boy never returned. Now, every full moon he takes one child away. The monster lives in the basement and takes all inhabitants away.

Overreaction

 I remember that day. It was a summer morning. It was boiling hot and I was so excited to watch Space Cruiser 2 in 4D. Unfortunately, I was too distracted that I put on ODD SOCKS!

It was when I stepped out the house with Colin that I realised it. It was too late. The door was locked! As I got into town my feet started to become itchy, very itchy. Every step, it got worse and worse. It was so unbearable I couldn’t walk. I stood at the popcorn machine frozen. Were they staring at me? They certainly were. Oh how humiliating. We sat in the front row and put our 3D glasses on. The trailers played. Hang on, I didn’t know Sock Wars: Episode VIII Rise of the Sock was a movie. The movie played. No one seemed to pay attention. Were they distracted by my socks?  

We went to a fancy restaurant called La Sock de Odd and waited to be served. When the waiter asked for my order I accidently blurted out, “Sock fried chicken” instead of southern fried chicken. I put it in my mouth and tasted sock, plain sweaty sock.

I headed home my feet tight and sweaty. I never really knew what socks I was wearing until I took my shoes off and I was wearing a green Kermit the Frog sock on my left and a blue one on the other. How embarrassing.

Recipe for Disaster

Starter: Cheddar, Custard, Mustard, Pigeon and Broccoli Soup

 Ingredients:

225g grated cheddar

35ml mustard

2 heads of broccoli

5 pigeon fillets

300ml custard

 Method:

Melt the cheddar and whisk with mustard and custard until creamy.

Soak the pigeon in water and mash into broccoli.

Mix the liquids until thin.

 Main: Eggshell Crunchy Penne Pasta with Pomegranate and Beetle Sauce

 Ingredients:

5 eggs

500g penne pasta

1 pomegranate

10 beetles

 Method:

Crack the eggs, removing the yolk.

Place the whites inside a bowl.

Crush up the beetles, pomegranate and incorporate them to the egg whites.

Boil the pasta for 39 minutes and then, after ten minutes of cooling, pour in the sauce.

Crush the egg shells and sprinkle over pasta as a garnish.

 Dessert: Ant Egg Cookies with Watermelon and Red Onion Icing

 Ingredients:

35 ant eggs

2 watermelons

178g plain flour

23ml skimmed milk

2 red onions

 Method:

Blend the ant eggs and flour together.

Pour the milk into the mixture.

Split it into 14 bits and place on tin foil.

Bake for 90 minutes.

Meanwhile peel the onion and watermelon and blend the skin.

Squeeze the juices into the mixture with the watermelon seeds and blend for 30 minutes.

Scoop onto the cookies and cool for 30 seconds.

 Drink: Brown, furry, mashed potato fizz

 Ingredients:

1l fish urine

500ml ketchup

600ml black food colouring

400ml carbonated water

500g squirrel fur

 Method:

Whisk the ketchup, fish urine and food colouring together.

Pour into the water.

Sprinkle with squirrel fur.

[jscottscales]

How the slow sabotage of Obamacare may hurt America’s breastfeeding rate

Breastfeeding in America isn’t easy but it got a whole lot easier after the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.

Lesley Muldoon, a 37-year-old mother of three in Washington, learned just that with the birth of her son two and a half years ago. Because of the law, she was able to get a free breast pump, and that smoothed her transition going back to work.

Even though her insurance provider, CareFirst, wouldn’t cover the cost of the hospital-grade breast pump she needed to feed her twin girls six months ago, she said, “Overall, I’ve had pretty good experiences with the insurance company. Being able to pump allowed me to return to work after both pregnancies and maintain a breastfeeding relationship with all my children, even if it’s not ideal for the twins.”

That’s because theAffordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, included provisions aimed at supporting mothers who want to breastfeed, as part of its expansion of preventive-health services coverage. The regulations — and how they are applied by companies — haven’t been perfect, and some women have fallen through the cracks.

But in recent years, several studieshave shown that the provisions — giving moms access to lactation consultants, breast pumps, and time and space at work to pump their milkfor as much as a year after birth — have contributed to rising breastfeeding rates in the US.

The regulations went into effect in 2010 and 2012. From 2011 to 2014, the rate of women who were breastfeeding 12 months after giving birth rose from 27 percent to 34 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That amounted to the largest increase in any recent three-year period.

Now women’s health and breastfeeding advocates worry that we might be poised for a reversal of this trend.

The news that the administration of President Donald Trump undermined breastfeeding at a United Nations global health meeting and aligned itself with the $70 billion formula industry has sent a powerful signal that expansion od breastfeeding access won’t be a priority for this administration. Caitlin Oakley, a national spokesperson for the Department of Health Human Services, told Vox, “The United States was fighting to protect women’s abilities to make the best choices for the nutrition of their babies. Many women are not able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons,” she said. “These women should not be stigmatized.”

In addition, the administration’s focus on sabotaging the ACA doesn’t bode well for breastfeeding rates. It means that fewer people will access health care and insurance companies can now sell skimpier, short-term plans with few benefits and protections (including coverage for preventive services like breastfeeding support).

“When it comes to the ACA, nothing is beyond the scope of [the administration’s effort of] trying to undermine the principle of expanded coverage,” said Boston University maternal health expert Eugene Declercq. And that means even meddling with provisions that help moms feed their babies.

The ACA has helped more moms breastfeed and for longer periods

The reason raising breastfeeding rates through the ACA became a policy focus is quite simple: Breastfeeding represents the gold standard in infant nutrition. It basically offers inoculation against sickness and death for babies — and moms too.

Medical organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Academy of Pediatrics, recommend that babies be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their lives — and then receive breast milk, supplemented by other foods, for about two years after that. The longer babies receive breast milk in their first years, the better.

Yet the rates of breastfeeding in the US aren’t nearly as high as they could be. In the US only a little more than half of all babies receive any breast milk at the age of 6 months. One reason for that is women don’t get to breastfeed for as long as they want to.

Help our reporting on pregnancy

Are you pregnant? Have you ever been pregnant? Or do you work with pregnant women? We’re reporting on pregnancy for a series here at Vox and we’d love to hear from you. Please check out this survey for Vox.

The ACA tried to address that particular problem.Section 2713 of the law requires health insurance plans to provide coverage for breastfeeding support (like lactation counseling) and supplies (like breast pumps) without any co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance, as long as a woman decides to breastfeed. This coverage is required for employer-sponsored plans, individual plans purchased through the Obamacare marketplaces, and for Medicaid enrollees who access public coverage through the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.

Section 4207 of the ACA also requires that companies with annual sales of more than $500,000 provide break times and a private place (not including a bathroom) where moms can use breast pumps to express their milk while at work.

Researchers have been looking at what these requirements have done for breastfeeding — and their findings all point in the same direction: They have helped.

A 2018 study in the found the ACA’s policy change was associated with a 10 percent increase in the length of time women breastfed. It also increased 21 percent the length of time moms breastfed exclusively, instead of supplementing with formula or other food. A 2016 study in foundthat women who had access to both a break time and private space for breastfeeding were 2.3 times as likely to be breastfeeding exclusively six months after birth as compared with women who didn’t have such access.

Other researchers have found that the lactation support coverage increased the number of women who started breastfeeding by about 2.5 percentage points, “which represents as many as 47,000 more infants for whom breastfeeding was initiated in a given year in the United States.” They also found that claims for breast pumps rose significantly after the ACA’s passage.

This findings square with what people who work in the breastfeeding arena told me. Gina Caruso, deputy director of the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington, a lactation consulting nonprofit in Washington, estimated that her group has seen a threefold increase in lactation consultations following the ACA’s passage and that the average number of appointments women receive has climbed. Her group also found there’s been a drop-off in breast pump sales (since women were able to get their pumps free from their insurance company). “The ACA has changed our business immensely,” she said.

But the law hasn’t been perfect

I also heard that the ACA’s breastfeeding policies have been far from perfect: Some families have had trouble finding lactation consultants in their networks or have wound up with as much as $1,500 in unreimbursed claims.

One woman said she submitted her claims to Cigna for lactation consultation, and even though her paperwork was clearly marked as being for lactation, Cigna told her the services related to parenting and wouldn’t be covered. (Cigna said in a statement to Vox that coverage of lactation consultants is required by law and it normally covers these services.)

Another woman told me she couldn’t get her lactation consultant services covered, even after she had her doctor send a note to the insurance for preauthorization. “They repeatedly denied the claim until I got my office HR involved,” she said in an email. (Both women did not want to be identified publicly.)

Mara Gandal-Powers, of the Women’s Health Law Center, explained that these stories are not uncommon. Because lactation consulting is a service that women need immediately after birth, they’re not typically in a position to haggle with insurance companies over coverage. “If you don’t get the services to help you increase your [breast milk] supply quickly, nursing can become difficult or impossible and not really happen. So we see women who pay out of pocket.”

Trump’s chipping away at the ACA will affect women’s health

Instead of working to fix these gaps in coverage, the Trump administration has been attempting to dismantle the ACA. And while Republicans have failed to fully repeal the law, they’ve put forward a series of policies that have caused the uninsured rate to rise and have weakened the law in the process.

Among them: In June, the administration announced that insurance companies can now offer skimpier, short-term plans that don’t have the benefits and protections, including coverage for the preventive services that Obamacare ensured.

Breastfeeding is a “preventive service,” said Kaiser’s Salganicoff. “So if it’s a short-term plan, it doesn’t have to have maternity care, preventive services and women who enroll in these plans would not have the entitlement to the breastfeeding coverage.”

Companies have also been scaling back their reimbursements. In April Anthem, which is the nation’s second-biggest health insurer, reduced its reimbursement for breast pumps from $169 to $95. Critics see the move as potentially undermining the Obamacare breastfeeding mandate. “The question is what types of pumps will now be provided,” said Summer Hawkins, a researcher at Boston College School of Social Work who has studied the impact of the ACA on breastfeeding.

In a statement, Anthem said, “Anthem recognizes the positive health benefits that breastfeeding can have on mothers and their newborns, and we are committed to ensuring new mothers have the information, tools and support they need to successfully breastfeed their newborns.” Anthem did not answer repeated questions about why it has reduced its reimbursement rate.

One thing the ACA hasn’t helped with when it comes to breastfeeding rates: lingering socioeconomic disparities. “There’s a 20 percent gap between most and least educated,” Hawkins added. African-American women also have persistently low rates of breastfeeding compared to other racial groups. “Sowhile our average rates look fantastic now, once you start digging into this by education, income, or [insurance] status — you see lower income, less educated women have much lower rates of breastfeeding than more advantages women.”

Let’s not forget that the US remains unique among wealthy countries in that it has no maternal leave policy. “The ACA did some very important things but I would say it’s only a piece of the broader constellation” of measures that would improve women’s and infant’s health, said Carol Sakala, director of childbirth connection programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

And when it comes to breastfeeding, Sakala said, “It’s hard to find another more impactful preventive health practice. We as a society should be mobilized to be supporting women and babies to get benefits of breastfeeding.”

For more on breastfeeding politics, please listen to the July 12th episode of .

Source

https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/17560528/breastfeeding-resolution-obamacare-rates-breast-pump

[dfroza]

Today’s reading in the ancient book of Proverbs and Psalms

for Sunday, August 9 of 2020 with Proverbs 9 and Psalm 9 accompanied by Psalm 51 for the 51st day of Summer and Psalm 72 for day 222 of the year

[Proverbs 9]

[Lady Wisdom Gives a Dinner Party]

Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home;

it’s supported by seven hewn timbers.

The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted,

wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers.

Having dismissed her serving maids,

Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place,

and invites everyone within sound of her voice:

“Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on?

Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me!

I’ve prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread,

roast lamb, carefully selected wines.

Leave your impoverished confusion and live!

Walk up the street to a life with meaning.”

If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you’ll get slapped in the face;

confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins.

So don’t waste your time on a scoffer;

all you’ll get for your pains is abuse.

But if you correct those who care about life,

that’s different—they’ll love you for it!

Save your breath for the wise—they’ll be wiser for it;

tell good people what you know—they’ll profit from it.

Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God,

insight into life from knowing a Holy God.

It’s through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens,

and the years of your life ripen.

Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life;

mock life and life will mock you.

[Madame Whore Calls Out, Too]

Then there’s this other woman, Madame Whore—

brazen, empty-headed, frivolous.

She sits on the front porch

of her house on Main Street,

And as people walk by minding

their own business, calls out,

“Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on?

Steal off with me, I’ll show you a good time!

No one will ever know—I’ll give you the time of your life.”

But they don’t know about all the skeletons in her closet,

that all her guests end up in hell.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 9 (The Message)

[Psalm 9]

A David Psalm

I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,

I’m writing the book on your wonders.

I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;

I’m singing your song, High God.

The day my enemies turned tail and ran,

they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.

You took over and set everything right;

when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.

You blow the whistle on godless nations;

you throw dirty players out of the game,

wipe their names right off the roster.

Enemies disappear from the sidelines,

their reputation trashed,

their names erased from the halls of fame.

God holds the high center,

he sees and sets the world’s mess right.

He decides what is right for us earthlings,

gives people their just deserts.

God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God,

tell his stories to everyone you meet:

How he tracks down killers

yet keeps his eye on us,

registers every whimper and moan.

Be kind to me, God;

I’ve been kicked around long enough.

Once you’ve pulled me back

from the gates of death,

I’ll write the book on Hallelujahs;

on the corner of Main and First

I’ll hold a street meeting;

I’ll be the song leader; we’ll fill the air

with salvation songs.

They’re trapped, those godless countries,

in the very snares they set,

Their feet all tangled

in the net they spread.

They have no excuse;

the way God works is well-known.

The cunning machinery made by the wicked

has maimed their own hands.

The wicked bought a one-way

ticket to hell.

No longer will the poor be nameless—

no more humiliation for the humble.

Up, God! Aren’t you fed up with their empty strutting?

Expose these grand pretensions!

Shake them up, God!

Show them how silly they look.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 9 (The Message)

[Psalm 51]

A David Psalm, After He Was Confronted by Nathan About the Affair with Bathsheba

Generous in love—God, give grace!

Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.

Scrub away my guilt,

soak out my sins in your laundry.

I know how bad I’ve been;

my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen

it all, seen the full extent of my evil.

You have all the facts before you;

whatever you decide about me is fair.

I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,

in the wrong since before I was born.

What you’re after is truth from the inside out.

Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,

scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.

Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,

set these once-broken bones to dancing.

Don’t look too close for blemishes,

give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me,

shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don’t throw me out with the trash,

or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile,

put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways

so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,

and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God;

I’ll let loose with your praise.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you,

a flawless performance is nothing to you.

I learned God-worship

when my pride was shattered.

Heart-shattered lives ready for love

don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Make Zion the place you delight in,

repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.

Then you’ll get real worship from us,

acts of worship small and large,

Including all the bulls

they can heave onto your altar!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 51 (The Message)

[Psalm 72]

A song of Solomon.

True God, bestow Your honest judgments upon the king

and anoint the king’s son with Your righteousness.

May he be honest and fair in his judgments over Your people

and offer justice to the burdened and suffering.

Under his reign, may this land of mountains and hills know peace

and experience justice for all the people.

May the king offer justice to the burdened and suffering,

rescue the poor and needy,

and demolish the oppressor!

[May the people fear You] for as long as the sun shines,

as long as the moon rises in the night sky, throughout the generations.

May the king be like the refreshing rains, which fall upon fields of freshly mown grass—

like showers that cool and nourish the earth.

May good and honest people flourish for as long as he reigns,

and may peace fill the land until the moon no longer rises.

May the king rule from one sea to the next,

and may his rule extend from the Euphrates River to the far reaches of the earth.

Let the desert wanderers bow down before him

and his enemies lay prostrate and taste the dirt.

Let the kings of Tarshish and the island kings

shower him with gifts

And the kings of Sheba and Seba bring him presents as well.

Let every king on earth bow down before him

and every nation be in his service.

For he will rescue the needy when they ask for help!

He will save the burdened and come to the aid of those who have no other help.

He offers compassion to the weak and the poor;

he will help and protect the lives of the needy!

He will liberate them from the fierce sting of persecution and violence;

in his eyes, their blood is precious.

May he live a long, long time

and the gold of Sheba be given to him.

May the people constantly lift up prayers for him,

and may they call upon God to bless him always.

Let grain grow plentifully in this land of promise,

let it sway in the breeze on the hilltops,

let it grow strong as do the cedars of Lebanon,

And may those who live in the city bloom and flourish

just as the grass of the fields and meadows.

May his name live on forever

and his reputation grow for as long as the sun gives light.

May people from all nations find in him a blessing;

may all peoples declare him blessed.

May the Eternal God, the God of Israel, be blessed,

for He alone works miracles and wonders!

May His glorious name be blessed forever

and the whole earth be filled with His eternal glory!

Amen. Amen.

The prayers of King David, Jesse’s son, are ended.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 72 (The Voice)

[womenofcolor15]

ADD TO PLAYLIST SUMMER 2020: Megan Thee Stallion, Buju, August Alsina, Roots Virtual Picnic, Toni Braxton, DaBaby & MORE!

2020 has been hell, but we JUST officially made it to the summer. And there���s new music to add to your playlist to continue getting us through the most foolish year to date. New bops from Megan Thee Stallion, Buju, August Alsina, Toni Braxton and more inside…

Hot Girl Summer 2020 is HERE! And you can thank Head Hottie Megan The Stallion.

        View this post on Instagram

                  GIRLS IN THE HOOD OUT NOW EVERYWHERE

A post shared by Hot Girl Meg (@theestallion) on Jun 25, 2020 at 9:08pm PDT

  It’s the official first weekend of the summer and the Houston Hottie made sure to give her hotties something to turn up to – even if we are in quarantine. Well, some of us.

After landing at the No. 1 spot on Billboard for her "Savage Remix" with Beyoncé, the Stallion returns to the music scene to kick off summer 2020! The 25-year-old rapper released her new track "Girls in the Hood" at midnight and the hotties are already cutting up. The beat samples Eazy-E’s classic track “Boyz-n-the-Hood" and it's the perfect vibe to turn up with your girls while doing hood rat things.

"Girls In The Hood" is a street-smart ode to the area Megan grew up in and the pride in being a product of her surroundings. A celebration of the lifestyle and energy of her community, "Girls In The Hood" features all the hallmarks of Megan at her finest; playful lyricism, hard hitting delivery, and a self-confident vibe. Using the track to celebrate her culture and her blackness, Megan has created an anthem reminding girls worldwide that just because you’re from the bottom, it doesn’t mean you can’t come out on top and keep it real the whole way.

Take a listen below:

The Savage x Fenty ambassador (who shouted Rihanna out on the new track) has been nominated for five BET Awards, which include Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, Album of the Year, and Video of the Year. She's also set to perform during the awards show which is set to air live on BET and CBS at 8pm EST.

Also...

        View this post on Instagram

                  #UPSIDEDOWN2020 AVAILABLE NOW!

A post shared by Buju Banton (@bujuofficial) on Jun 25, 2020 at 9:05pm PDT

  Reggae dancehall artist Buju Banton is back!

The Grammy Award winner just dropped some new bops. He released his 13th studio album titled Upside Down 2020 via Roc Nation. This year certainly has felt like we've been upside down for sure. On the album, he has features from Pharrell Williams, John Legend Stefflon Don and Stephen Marley.

Earlier this year, Buju was featured on the Bad Boys For Life soundtrack, which was produced by DJ Khaled.

Check out Buju's track "Cherry Pie" featuring Pharrell below:

You can listen to the album on YouTube here or download it wherever you get your music.

Another album that dropped today...

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                  THE PRODUCT III: STATEOFEMERGENCY OUT NOW ‼️ LINK IN THE BIO

A post shared by Yungin' (@augustalsina) on Jun 25, 2020 at 9:03pm PDT

  August Alsina is back! The R&B singer just returned to the music scene with some new music from his new album, The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy.

Fans were gifted 27 tracks from the singer with features from Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti, Juicy J and Tink. It's been almost four years since he last dropped an album, so his fans deserve all of the tracks he provided. On the album, he shares the difficulties of his lifetime and tribulations he has dealt with up until now. In anticipation of his album, Alsina spent the week prior to his release dropping a new single daily, giving his fans a taste of what’s to come with “NOLA,” “Rounds,” “Work To Do,” “Sincerely” and “Deliver Us.”

August represents so many touch points within Black America right now: healthcare given his struggle with rare auto-immune disease, socio-economic issues, police brutality, and Black on Black crime -- which is seen throughout the 5-part documentary series and heard within his new album.

You can take a listen below or stream it wherever you get your music:

  Also...

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                  Have y’all caught up on the first 3 episodes of #stateofEMERGEncy? Episode 4 and new music tonight at 12am EST/9pm PST. #TheProduct3

A post shared by Yungin' (@augustalsina) on Jun 23, 2020 at 4:48pm PDT

The New Orleans native dropped a five-episode docuseries on YouTube titled “stateofEMERGEncy: The Rise of August Alsina” — which debuted earlier this week.

“I’ve been working. Been working on myself, my family and my health,” Alsina said. “While on my journey I’ve discovered that life is like one huge puzzle w/ limitless pieces. I’ve been putting the pieces of my puzzle together — with my new music and documentary, stateofEMERGEncy."

You can check out all of the episodes here.

As for more new music....

Toni Braxton teamed up with Missy Elliott for a remix of “Do It.”

On the track, Toni pulls inspiration from her own experiences and shares advice for anyone struggling with the decision to end an unhealthy relationship. Well, she's not singing about her own relationship. Back in April, Toni said she and her fiance Birdman are getting married THIS year regardless of the Coronavirus pandemic. They have been engaged since 2018.

Toni & Missy bring a fast-paced tempo to the remix while reiterating the Grammy winner's encouragement to leave a toxic relationship by rapping “let him know I gotta do it, ‘cause he already done and blew it.”

On collaborating with the living legend, Missy stated, “Toni’s team reached out to my manager and asked if I could produce a remix for her next single. They said, ‘Hey if Missy wants to rap on it we would love that too.’ So they sent me the record and my boy Hannon and I, sped the track up to a mid-tempo and re-arranged the music. To be honest, I was scared to send it because anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a huge fan of Toni Braxton! I’ve worked with so many legends. I’ve even worked with Tamar. But I had never worked directly with Toni before. So I thought, what if she hears it and says ‘oh HELL NAH Missy done messed my record up.’ But thank God when she heard it, she loved it and hear we are! Now I can say I finally worked with the living legend—Ms. Toni Braxton.”

“Do It” with Missy Elliott is the latest single from the "Braxton Family Values" star following her multi-Grammy nominated album, Sex & Cigarettes. Take a listen to her newest musical offering above.

New visuals....

Rapper DaBaby just released the video treatment to his hit single “ROCKSTAR” featuring Roddy Ricch. The Reel Goats-directed visual comes as the single continues its chart-topping reign: earning DaBaby his first #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and snagging #1 on Rolling Stone’s Top 100, while approaching #1 at Rhythmic Radio. The song also peaked at #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop, Hot Rap Songs, Streaming Songs charts and in several international markets.

DaBaby is getting it. He also recently released a Black Lives Matter Remix, adding his voice to the conversation surrounding the current hot-button social justice issues. Watch the “ROCKSTAR” video above.

More new music....

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                  6pc Hot EP coming soon... but check your mailbox wed

A post shared by black (@6lack) on Jun 22, 2020 at 12:23pm PDT

  Singer 6LACK just released his new EP, 6 PC HOT, which features production from Timbaland, Fwdslxsh, Gravez, STWO, and more as well as one guest feature from Lil Baby.

Aside from the music, he has some good news to share as well.

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                  6lack on black business starting tomorrow through the weekend, you can order a “6pc hot” meal from atlanta’s black owned @therealgoodfellas and recieve a free bottle of my @600_degrees hot sauce with your order. special thanks to @postmates

A post shared by black (@6lack) on Jun 25, 2020 at 3:14pm PDT

  Fans can enter an augmented reality chicken shop pictured on the EP cover because, COVID-19. It can be found by searching “6pc hot” in the IG filter search menu. A link to the filter is available HERE (to be opened on a phone). Once selected, a 3D shop will launch through the camera to share pictures and videos. The AR shop was created by Jackie Carlise, a 3D motion designer who recently graduated from School of The Art institute of Chicago. She created it using the Spark AR platform.

For Atlanta fans, 6LACK has partnered with Postmates, the leader in delivering nearly anything on-demand, and local favorite restaurant Goodfellas, a Black-owned business, as a part of his 6LACK on Black Business initiative. Exclusively on Postmates this weekend, customers can order a custom 6LACK wing item from Goodfellas for $6. Through Sunday June 28th, customers who order the 6pc Hot wings meal will receive a free bottle of 6LACK’s new hot sauce “600 Degrees."

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                  limited edition 6pc hot merch available now purchase 3 items and you’ll receive a free bottle of @600_degrees shop.6lack.com

A post shared by black (@6lack) on Jun 26, 2020 at 10:18am PDT

  For Los Angeles fans, 6LACK will be sending his new hot sauce directly to their doors starting 6/29 via a friendly robot.

Also...

Raptress CupcakKe released her new track "Discounts." And social media is feeling it:

That new cupcakKe pic.twitter.com/MErYHreYto

— Karla (@onlynickilove) June 26, 2020

me after listening to Cupcakke Discount pic.twitter.com/ZUJQttrol7

— nodafuc (@Nodafuc) June 26, 2020

And she already picked out who she wants to be featured on the "Discounts" remix:

I want DaBaby or Nicki on "Discounts" remix ... I'm speaking this shit into existence right now ‼️ We are #16 right now on the iTunes chart I never been this high up . Please keep purchasing this may can be my first #1 on iTunes‼️

— CupcakKe (@CupcakKe_rapper) June 26, 2020

  Craving live music because 'Rona ruined summer festivals?  The Roots Picnic has gone virtual, and we're checking that out tomorrow night!

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                  Most of us are still chillin’ in Club Living Room until the Covid foolery dies down (again). So we’re hitting up the @rootspicnic @whenweallvote virtual experience tomorrow night. You?

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on Jun 26, 2020 at 2:08pm PDT

  First Lady Michelle Obama's When We All Vote teamed up with The Roots to party with a purpose.  Because we're not just staying mad anymore about everything going on.  We're taking action at the polls after the party....

  Here's some more music that dropped today to add to your playlist:

  More new music out now:

Jack Harlow - Whats Popping (remix) ft. DaBaby, Tory Lanez & Lil Wayne

88GLAM - New Mania (tape)

G-Eazy - ESH (album)

Bankrol Hayden - Pain is Temporary (album)

August Alsina - TP3 (album)

Lonzo Ball - BB (album)

Lil Gotit - What it was ft. Future

— HIP HOP FACTS (@DailyRapFacts) June 26, 2020

  Masks On and Happy Summer!

Photo: Megan's IG

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/06/26/new-music-to-kick-off-summer-2020-megan-thee-stallion-buju-august-alsina-toni-braxton-dab

[mastcomm]

The Winners and Losers From T-Mobile and Sprint’s Merger Saga

Voting in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary has begun, and Mike Bloomberg has won over one small town. Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg is gaining support from business moguls. (Want this in your inbox each morning? Sign up here.)

T-Mobile and Sprint finally make a connection

A federal judge is expected to approve T-Mobile’s $26 billion takeover of Sprint, perhaps even today, bringing a yearslong merger campaign to an end.

The winners:

• SoftBank, which pumped billions of dollars into Sprint over nearly a decade. The T-Mobile deal turned out to be its best hope of rescuing an expensive bad bet.

• Bankers from nearly a dozen firms working on the transaction. Deep breath: PJT Partners, Deutsche Bank, Evercore, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for T-Mobile; Raine, Centerview, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase for Sprint; and Mizuho and SMBC Nikko for SoftBank. They could split fees of at least $155 million, according to the consultancy Freeman & Company.

• Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, who helped save the deal from regulatory limbo — then complained about states’ efforts to unwind his work.

The losers:

• State attorneys general, who sought to block the deal despite its approval by the Trump administration, including those of California and New York. They argued that it would lead to a loss of competition and higher prices for consumers.

The great unknown:

• Consumers, who may not feel the effects of the deal for years, for good or bad.

Trump’s budget sends a message

The White House’s $4.8 trillion budget proposal features “a familiar list of deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing efforts, food stamps and Medicaid,” the NYT reports. It lifts spending on defense and the border wall, and extends individual tax cuts set to expire in 2025.

It won’t happen. Or, at least, it’s unlikely to be approved by Congress in its entirety. Instead, the budget largely serves to signal the administration’s priorities ahead of its re-election campaign.

It relies on rosy economic assumptions to make the numbers work, with punchy forecasts for G.D.P. growth and government borrowing costs leading to a steady reduction in the deficit and, eventually, a balanced budget by 2035. It’s common practice, of course, for administrations to publish overly optimistic forecasts alongside its policy proposals.

On the financial front, the budget cuts support for student-loan relief programs and reduces funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There’s a small increase for the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, intended to help combat “emerging virtual currency and cybercrime threats.”

The fine print: Politico runs down the quirkier aspects of the budget, including the reveal of a new paint job for Air Force One, flagged by the president with much fanfare over the summer.

Amazon looks to question Trump in cloud-computing case

The tech giant isn’t letting up in its legal battle over the Pentagon’s cloud-computing contract, which the Trump administration awarded to Microsoft last year. Amazon wants President Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to give depositions, reports Karen Weise of the NYT.

A recap: Amazon has argued that Mr. Trump let personal animus against its founder Jeff Bezos — driven largely by coverage from the WaPo, which Mr. Bezos owns — affect an important decision for American national security.

Amazon cited tweets and other public comments by Mr. Trump in its court filing seeking to depose the president. What it doesn’t do is provide direct evidence that Mr. Trump directed Mr. Esper to blackball Amazon.

Both Microsoft and the Pentagon oppose the deposition request. The Defense Department called it “unnecessary, burdensome and merely seeks to delay getting this important technology into the hands of our warfighters.”

Reality check: Courts don’t automatically grant these kinds of requests, the WSJ notes — and deposing cabinet-level officials is relatively rare.

That huge Slack deal? It wasn’t what you thought.

Shares in Slack jumped yesterday after Business Insider reported that IBM would use the workplace messaging app for all its employees — and then promptly gave up the gains after Slack clarified what the deal meant.

Here’s what happened:

• The big news was that all of IBM’s 350,000 employees would use the messaging app, a victory for Slack over rivals like Microsoft’s Teams service.

• Business Insider erroneously reported that the deal would make IBM Slack’s biggest customer, sending the messaging company’s shares up as much as 15 percent.

• Some investors even speculated that IBM would try to buy Slack outright.

• Slack then published a regulatory filing clarifying that IBM was already its biggest customer, and that the new deal wouldn’t meaningfully change its financial guidance.

Shares in Slack fell 7 percent in after-hours trading.

U.S. blames the Chinese military for Equifax breach

If you thought relations between Washington and Beijing had thawed after the recent trade deal breakthrough, think again.

Federal prosecutors yesterday charged four Chinese military officers with hacking into Equifax in 2017, stealing trade secrets and the personal data of 145 million Americans. It was only the second time that the Justice Department had indicted the Chinese military on suspicions of hacking.

The charges show that the Trump administration remains worried about a Chinese threat to U.S. national security:

• Attorney General Bill Barr said yesterday that China could use the stolen personal information and combine it with A.I. to target American officials.

• He pointed to previous cyberattacks that he said had been orchestrated by Beijing, including those affecting the health insurer Anthem and the hotel chain Marriott.

• Last week, Mr. Barr suggested that the U.S. government finance takeovers of European telecoms to counter the rise of the Chinese tech firm Huawei.

Expect the Trump administration to keep up the carrot-and-stick approach with Beijing as it negotiates the second phase of a trade deal.

Brandless’s failure isn’t the end of the world for SoftBank

The direct-to-consumer retailer said yesterday that it was shutting down, a first for a portfolio company in SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. But it’s not exactly a huge disaster for Masa Son’s tech conglomerate.

SoftBank had invested $100 million in Brandless, which sold inexpensive household and food items, such as “dog shampoo and conditioner,” for $3 each. Last year, SoftBank executives reportedly pushed the company to turn a profit. (Imagine that.)

Brandless blamed a “fiercely competitive” retail market for its collapse. But it had also gone through a carousel of management changes and tried raising prices for some products. And it had tried pivoting to trendier things like CBD oil.

It’s the latest bit of bad news for SoftBank, after other Vision Fund portfolio companies — like the robot pizza company Zume — announced layoffs. News reports have also suggested that it was struggling to raise money for a second Vision Fund.

Andrew’s take: The headlines suggest that Brandless is another example of trouble for SoftBank. In truth, Brandless is basically lint in Vision Fund’s wallet pocket.

More trouble in direct-to-consumer start-up land: Edgewell abandoned its $1.4 billion deal to buy shaving company Harry’s, which has promised to sue. Get the popcorn out.

The speed read

Deals

• Xerox raised its hostile takeover bid for HP to about $35 billion and plans to take its offer directly to the computer maker’s shareholders. (Reuters)

• Simon Property Group agreed to buy 80 percent of Taubman Centers in a deal that values the mall operator at $3.6 billion. (CNBC)

• The Agnelli family of Italy reportedly plans to use the cash it will receive from the sale of its PartnerRe insurance business to buy more companies. (Reuters)

Politics and policy

• The investor Tom Barrack, an ally of President Trump, says that a Democratic candidate could win in November — and cited Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg as major rivals. (CNBC)

• A bill in the House would make plastic container companies pay for the collection of plastic waste, though it has little hope of becoming law. (NYT)

Tech

• A California judge refused to temporarily block a new state law that tightens legal protections for gig-economy workers like Uber drivers. (NYT)

• Mobile World Congress, which is held in Barcelona, and is the world’s biggest smartphone trade show, will look a lot emptier this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. (FT)

Best of the rest

• Meet the former reality TV producer who has become a top adviser to Saudi Arabia’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund. (WSJ)

• Bill and Melinda Gates said their foundation’s focus this year would be on climate change and gender equality. (Fortune)

We’d love your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to business@nytimes.com.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/the-winners-and-losers-from-t-mobile-and-sprints-merger-saga/

[newssplashy]

A man, a country and an era came together in Leonard Bernstein, the musician of the American century.

After 150 years of insecurity as this country gazed across the sea at the edifices of European culture, here was the New World finally in command.

Composer, conductor, arranger, pianist, television personality, star, Bernstein — a Jew, crucially, just a few years after the Holocaust — marched Mahler back into Vienna, a second wave of liberation, a musical Marshall Plan.

Bold, maybe a little brash; tender, maybe a little sentimental; difficult to work with yet desperate to please: Bernstein’s qualities were America’s, too.

He was born 100 years ago on Aug. 25, and his centenary is being celebrated as his achievement — and the smilingly confident place and time he symbolized — seems ever more unrepeatable. Who today could write both “West Side Story” and three thorny, searching symphonies? Who could bring together Brahms and the Beatles on national television, and have millions watch? To what maestro’s left-wing political dalliances would New York magazine devote a cover story in 2018?

Yet if there will never be another Bernstein, and if the high culture for which he tirelessly evangelized keeps drifting farther from the mainstream, his legacy is still clear, and secure. When he died, in 1990, he left us a charge to listen to music, of all kinds, with endless enthusiasm; to devote ourselves to both the creation of new work and the revival of old; to make every facet of culture accessible to all.

To mark the anniversary of Bernstein’s birth, writers of The New York Times have come together to focus on key moments in his career, to interview musicians he led from the podium, to praise his feverishly physical conducting style, and to offer suggestions for further listening. We hope to capture just a bit of the energy and influence of one of the most indelible figures in the history of the arts.

— Zachary Woolfe

A Revolutionary Score

It’s more than just “New York, New York.”

“On the Town,” Bernstein’s 1944 foray into Broadway, may be famous for that number, which transcended musical theater to become a city’s anthem. But the rest of his score for this show is so much more important: Its omnivorous musical style embodies the Bernstein ethos at its most daring and youthful, while also laying the groundwork for his later masterpiece, “West Side Story.”

When he wrote “On the Town,” Bernstein was in his mid-20s but rapidly on the rise. He had already made his unexpected debut conducting the New York Philharmonic, filling in for an ailing Bruno Walter, and in January 1944 he had arrived as a composer with the premiere of his First Symphony.

“Fancy Free,” Bernstein’s first ballet — a collaboration with the great Jerome Robbins, who would choreograph “On the Town” and “West Side Story” — came just several months later and couldn’t be more different. Where the symphony was moody and dissonant, and clearly under the influence of Aaron Copland, the ballet score unabashedly embraced popular music and jazz. (It opened with a radio-ready song, “Big Stuff,” which was recorded by Billie Holiday.)

With the ballet, Bernstein was flirting with an artful marriage of classical and popular idioms, of high- and lowbrow culture. This would reach its apotheosis with “On the Town,” whose score is often as revolutionary as the politics of the Broadway production itself.

As Harvard professor Carol J. Oja observed in her 2014 book “Bernstein Meets Broadway,” the musical’s premiere was full of subtle subversions. At the height of World War II, it had cast Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato as Ivy Long. And the opening number, “I Feel Like I’m Not Out of Bed Yet,” with the call-and-response feel of a spiritual, announced the musical’s mixed-race casting and identity in a time when blackness on Broadway most often came in the form of all-black shows like “Cabin in the Sky” and “Porgy and Bess.”

The score is less explicitly political, but consider its brazen blend of genres, pulled off with the success of only someone who had come to Broadway by way of the concert hall. (Other composers in this vein were Gershwin and Weill.) There is a lot of music in “On the Town” — about 30 minutes of which is purely orchestral — and it reads like a panoramic glimpse into Bernstein’s musical mind.

“New York, New York,” is quintessential Bernstein: an exuberant opening with his trademark syncopation. Later orchestral passages, like “Lonely Town Pas de Deux” and “Imaginary Coney Island” have the soaring lyricism and classicism of symphonies, while some songs nod to operetta (in a way, it must be said, that is more fun and less fussy than in his quasi-operetta “Candide”).

But Bernstein could also be a consummate tunesmith: Few Broadway ballads are as memorable as “Lonely Town,” or as quietly heart-rending as “Some Other Time.” And he embraced all-out camp with “Ya Got Me” and “I Can Cook Too,” which is refreshing given how unbearably earnest Bernstein’s later works could be.

The democratic style of “On the Town” proliferated in Broadway’s golden age and continues today, even in the works of Bernstein’s eventual collaborator Stephen Sondheim. It’s also in their “West Side Story,” an indisputable masterpiece, though ultimately more refined and controlled than “On the Town,” which has the youthful élan of its creators: brash energy that sometimes verges on unwieldy recklessness. That spirit may make it a risk for producers today, but it’s also what makes every opportunity to see the musical so electrifying.

— Joshua Barone

Puncturing the Snobbery of the Concert Hall

There were conductors as great as Bernstein — and pianists, and composers, and political activists, and theater artists. But there had never been a communicator about music with anywhere near his brilliance, humor, energy, reach and importance.

From 1958 until 1972, Bernstein turned a series of educational concerts for children into a televised international classroom of unlikely glamour. The roots of the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts went back to the 1885-86 season, when Theodore Thomas conducted 24 matinees focused on learning about music.

In Bernstein, the practice was revived by post-World War II mass culture. After becoming the Philharmonic’s music director, he reshaped the concerts, following the model of the Omnibus programs he’d done on CBS, starting in 1954.

That was the series that began unforgettably with Bernstein analyzing the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony while he and the musicians strolled over a giant reproduction of the first page of the score. “A more perfect unconscious metaphor for his American cockiness,” the critic and historian Joseph Horowitz writes of the moment, “could hardly be invented.”

In the Young People’s Concerts, that cockiness was still there, but also Bernstein’s confident mellowness — his coolness.

“See how simple it is?” he asks after the Philharmonic surges through the opening bars of Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” at a concert devoted to understanding melody. The audience chuckles — all that? simple? — but Bernstein’s explanations make it so.

He introduced Mahler and Ives; he paid tribute to Hindemith, Stravinsky and sonata form. He demystified living composers by hosting them and showing that they were — shocker — ordinary people. He used slang. He talked about the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel.

He punctured the snobbery and rituals of the concert hall, and showed music as something that could be gobbled whole, without prissy distinctions between high and low. He was iPod Shuffle half a century before it was invented, a one-man mash-up.

Everything illuminated everything else; everything was interesting; great Elvis was as worthy of enjoyment as great Mozart. That none of this seems at all unfamiliar in 2018 is a testament to his permeating influence.

Bernstein hosted the televised concerts for 15 consecutive seasons, during which time they were dubbed into 12 languages and syndicated in 40 countries. They were referenced in “Peanuts” and, in Hungary, beat “Bonanza” in the ratings. For a few years, they even made it from weekend afternoons to prime time.

He clearly loved doing them, and is said to have written every word of every script. In the 1964-65 season, when he took a composing sabbatical, Bernstein conducted just a single concert (of his own music) — along with four Young People’s Concerts. They were, he said, “among the favorite, most highly prized activities of my life.” When he gave up the Philharmonic’s directorship in the late 1960s, he said he would be happy to continue leading them, and did.

Bernstein’s is the best kind of teaching: even more empowering than informative. Music, in his telling, is about open-ended, never-ending pleasure, about gaining confidence in your own choices and judgments.

“No matter what stories people tell you about what music means,” he said of Rossini’s “William Tell” Overture on the first televised program, “forget them. Stories are not what music means. Music just is.”

— Zachary Woolfe

Shakespearean Depth in a Broadway Musical

The first note of “West Side Story” can’t even wait for the downbeat; it lands one hiccup early. That’s how impatient the show is to get going — and how impatient Bernstein was to bring what he knew about musical theater to Broadway in 1957.

What he knew is just what the opera composers he loved had taught him: Music is character. In “West Side Story” he was writing about gang members hopped up on hatred and hormones during the last days of summer. No wonder he introduces them, in the Prologue, already jumping the gun.

But it’s not just in the Prologue. The score to “West Side Story” is a war zone of impetuous cross-rhythms. That lurching first figure recurs as the engine for “The Jet Song,” in which the melody and the bass line form a complex, interlocking pattern. Moments later, “Something’s Coming” sets a jumpy tune against a monotonous substrate, dramatizing the longings for escape that propel Tony — the Romeo figure in this updated “Romeo and Juliet” — toward his fate.

Of course, Bernstein was working with some of the best lyrics yet written for a Broadway show, by Stephen Sondheim, then in his late 20s. Together they were cannibalizing one of the best scripts, by Arthur Laurents. Compared with other musicals, not much dialogue remained after Bernstein and Sondheim’s raid. To make up for it, the score had to be dense, providing in music the depth of portraiture Shakespeare achieved in verse.

That’s part of why the rhythm of “West Side Story” is so intensely layered. Naturally, Bernstein used Latin dance forms to depict the Puerto Rican characters: an explosive mambo, a delicate cha-cha and, in “America,” a joyful huapango, with its stresses constantly regrouping, two then three, back and forth. More than 30 percussion instruments, including maracas and police whistle, help create and clarify the effects; though many productions make do with one player, Bernstein calls for four or five in his symphonic arrangement of the score’s dances and they are not underworked.

But the manipulation of stress in “West Side Story” cuts the other way as well. Whenever the pure love of Tony and Maria is set to music, the rhythms, as if they were street noise, disperse. “One Hand, One Heart” barely has any notes; Sondheim had to beg Bernstein to toss in a few more so he could fit some proper English onto the melody. And the hymnlike, dreamlike “Somewhere” is entirely square, at least until it wakes up to the rat-a-tat nightmare that is the lovers’ reality. Then it sounds like gunfire.

We think of Bernstein as a melodist, and it’s true that the vocal lines of “West Side Story” are gorgeous, even when they’re spiky. But no one writing a musical has ever used rhythm as effectively as he did, to let us hear the human heart just as it’s leaping forward, just as it’s about to burst.

— Jesse Green

The Maestro Meets the Black Panthers

One January evening in 1970, Bernstein and his wife, Felicia, had about 90 people over for a soiree. The express purpose, according to the invitation, was to “meet and hear from leaders of the Black Panther party and lawyers for the New York Panther 21.” So: a cocktail fundraiser for the Panthers 21 Legal Defense Fund, which would pay for the defense of the men and women accused of a rash of attempted coordinated bombings and armed attacks on government facilities (they were all eventually acquitted).

Anyway, these fundraisers were a thing at the time. And that evening in January, it was the Bernsteins’ turn.

The press hadn’t been invited. But the press was there. The New York Times’ society writer, Charlotte Curtis, whipped up a detailed article that ran a few days after. Six months later, in New York magazine, Tom Wolfe dropped his bomb.

“Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny’s” lasted 25,000 words of withering absurdism that mocked white liberal haute bourgeois virtue. The guests included the likes of Barbara Walters, who at the time hosted “The Today Show,” the filmmaker Otto Preminger, the socialite Jean vanden Heuvel and “the former ‘boy president’ of Sarah Lawrence” (Harold Taylor). Wolfe, less cuttingly, looks askance at the Panthers for, among other things, being the sort of outfit that would need the attention of such people.

But Wolfe keeps making a target of Bernstein, who had just cut back his duties at the New York Philharmonic. He becomes an emblem of do-gooding wishy-washy, optics-obsessed paternalism — and these Panther parties were possibly beside the point of most engaged interracial civil rights struggles. Bernstein seems, in Wolfe’s caricature, grand, withdrawn, contradictory, exasperated, squeezed.

“Lenny couldn’t get over the whole affair,” Wolfe writes. “Earlier in the evening he had talked to a reporter and told him it was ‘nauseating.’ The so-called ‘party’ for the Panthers had not been a party at all. It had been a meeting. There was nothing social about it. As to whether he thought because parties were held in the homes of socially prominent people simply because the living rooms were large and the acoustics were good, he didn’t say. In any case, he and Felicia didn’t give parties, and they didn’t go to parties, and they were certainly not in anybody’s ‘jet set.’ And they were not ‘masochists,’ either.

“So four nights later Lenny, in a tuxedo, and Felicia, in a black dress, walked into a party in the triplex of one of New York’s great hostesses, overlooking the East River, on the street of social dreams, East 52nd, and right off the bat some woman walks right up to him and says, ‘Lenny, I just think you’re a masochist.’ It was unbelievable.”

It was also an impossible position for Bernstein. Obviously, he meant well. But he’d lost control over the interpretation of what he meant. In Wolfe, he was up against someone as superb at his job as Bernstein was at his — one maestro trapped under the thumb of another.

— Wesley Morris

Bigger Than the Beatles

My father took me to see Bernstein conduct a Young People’s Concert when I was 9 years old. I don’t remember what he conducted, but I do remember that he was dressed in a very hip way, he looked really cool, and he talked to me, to us, the audience, and I absolutely loved that.

When Bernstein conducted, he was having so much fun. I had been getting the feeling that classical music was not going to be a lot of fun. And then I saw him, and I said to my dad, “Ah, that’s it! I want to be the conductor.” So Bernstein became my idol from that moment on. I had a poster of him, and a poster of the Beatles on my bedroom wall — the Bernstein poster was bigger!

As I got to know him, and study with him, I discovered many other connecting points: the idea of eliminating boundaries between popular and serious music, the idea that music is fun, that the rules about how people must behave are just dumb constraints that we’ve imposed on classical music and, most importantly, that music speaks to every one of us. And, as I witnessed the kind of a citizen of the world he was, my admiration for him grew exponentially. I really admire people who stand up for what they believe in.

As an American music director, I think my commitment to new music, to living composers, my interest in speaking to audiences, my interest in creating access points for all different segments of our population, all different types of people, throwing the doors of the concert hall open — I think that all of these things were deeply influenced by Leonard Bernstein. These approaches are much more part of the fabric of orchestras as institutions today — because of Bernstein.

Bernstein gave a credibility to American musicianship that hadn’t existed before, easing our sense of inferiority. He came along and did what seemed impossible: bringing Mahler back to Vienna!

He talked a lot about the narrative of the piece. He was an amazing storyteller. I remember watching him, I think it was with the New York Phil once, when he said, “Ugh, do I have to tell you the story of this Haydn symphony?” And all these grown-ups were like, “Yes! Please tell us the story!” He loved storytelling, and music for him was just a vehicle for telling stories. Often his stories had important morals as well: There was always a lesson to be learned. For me that was a big takeaway.

In terms of conducting technique, he would offer tips. He used to say, “Don’t imitate me — but do it like this.” It was very funny. But it was much more about bigger concepts. He was extremely supportive of me personally. He’d say “Come on, show me what you’re feeling!” and then saying “Yes! That’s it!” Giving students the courage and permission to be themselves — this is a beautiful gift.

I think in many ways he was at a unique moment — but he was a uniquely gifted human being. Really the epitome of an American entrepreneur. He was so many things: a great conductor, great composer, great pianist. But he was also a TV star, he was a thinker, he was a philosopher, he was a political activist. How many people could wear all of those hats at once? It’s a rare thing.

— Marin Alsop, Music Director of The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as told to Michael Cooper

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

via Nigerian News ➨☆LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS ☆➨GHANA NEWS➨☆ENTERTAINMENT ☆➨Hot Posts ➨☆World News ☆➨News Sp

[reomanet]

NFL players kneeling during national anthem becomes issue in Texas Senate race

NFL players kneeling during national anthem becomes issue in Texas Senate race

NFL players kneeling during national anthem becomes issue in Texas Senate race John C Moritz Margaret Fratila (right) stands in front of people with Beto O’Rourke signs before a Ted Cruz campaign event on Saturday, August 16, 2018, at House of Rock. Casey Jackson/Caller-Times Save CORPUS CHRISTI — Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, in a campaign stop Saturday in Corpus Christi, slammed Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke for siding with the NFL players who’ve chosen to kneel during the national anthem to racial injustice. Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd of about 500 jammed inside downtown music venue The House of Rock, Cruz rejected O’Rourke’s likening the “take a knee” gesture to the actions of civil rights protesters of the 1960s. “When Beto O’Rourke says he can’t think of anything more American (than players taking a knee), well I got to tell you, I can,” Cruz said to loud applause. As an example, Cruz noted that service members on military posts around the nation routinely salute the flag and stand at attention whenever the anthem is played. In what polls suggest could be an unusually close race for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, Cruz used the NFL controversy to further highlight the contrast between him and O’Rourke, who is giving up a safe El Paso-based congressional seat to challenge the incumbent Republican. O’Rourke, who is campaigning in South Texas this weekend, is seeking to be the first Democrat to win a Senate race in 30 years and the first in his party to win any statewide election since 1994. More: Is Beto O’Rourke’s rise the latest summer romance for Democrats? The Democrat provided the opening at a town hall meeting in Houston last week when he was asked if the players who decline to stand for the anthem are disrespectful. O’Rouke said it wasn’t and offered several examples of how gestures of protest brought about social change. “And so non-violently, peacefully, while the eyes of this country are watching these games, they take a knee to bring our attention and our focus to this problem to ensure that we fix it,” he said at the Houston event. “That is why they are doing it. And I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully, standing up, or taking a knee, for or your rights, anytime, anywhere, in any place.” Cruz said such statements by O’Rourke are generating enthusiasm of Democrats and bringing in record campaign donations from left-leaning supporters nationwide. He acknowledged, as he has in campaign stops around the state, that even though he’s a Republican incumbent in a Republican state, he’ll likely be outraised and outspent by his Democratic foe. But, Cruz quickly added, that he’s focusing his efforts on motivating conservative voters while O’Rourke is “doubling down” on what the Republican called liberal policies outside the Texas mainstream. In a speech that included a question and answer session with the audience and lasted more than an hour, Cruz reminded supporters of the tax cut legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed by President Donald Trump. He credited the tax cut and easing of federal regulations on business for a drop in the unemployment rate both nationwide and in Texas. “Corpus Christi is the number one exporter of crude oil in North America,” Cruz said. “It’s not complicated. When you cut taxes and loosen regulations, Texas booms.” Outside of the House of Rock, a smattering of protesters greeted the Cruz supporters by holding up O’Rourke campaign signs. “I’m very concerned about what they are doing with our health care system,” said Maria S. Olivares of Corpus Christi. “It’s now all about business and all about profit. The patients are losing out.” Olivares said she also attended an O’Rourke event at the same venue earlier in the campaign. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Read More…

The post NFL players kneeling during national anthem becomes issue in Texas Senate race appeared first on TBNT Have The Solution.

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[theconservativebrief]

Breastfeeding in America isn’t easy but it got a whole lot easier after the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.

Lesley Muldoon, a 37-year-old mother of three in Washington, learned just that with the birth of her son two and a half years ago. Because of the law, she was able to get a free breast pump, and that smoothed her transition going back to work.

Even though her insurance provider, CareFirst, wouldn’t cover the cost of the hospital-grade breast pump she needed to feed her twin girls six months ago, she said, “Overall, I’ve had pretty good experiences with the insurance company. Being able to pump allowed me to return to work after both pregnancies and maintain a breastfeeding relationship with all my children, even if it’s not ideal for the twins.”

That’s because the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, included provisions aimed at supporting mothers who want to breastfeed, as part of its expansion of preventive-health services coverage. The regulations — and how they are applied by companies — haven’t been perfect, and some women have fallen through the cracks.

But in recent years, several studies have shown that the provisions — giving moms access to lactation consultants, breast pumps, and time and space at work to pump their milk for as much as a year after birth — have contributed to rising breastfeeding rates in the US.

The regulations went into effect in 2010 and 2012. From 2011 to 2014, the rate of women who were breastfeeding 12 months after giving birth rose from 27 percent to 34 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That amounted to the largest increase in any recent three-year period.

Now women’s health and breastfeeding advocates worry that we might be poised for a reversal of this trend.

The news that the administration of President Donald Trump undermined breastfeeding at a United Nations global health meeting and aligned itself with the $70 billion formula industry has sent a powerful signal that expansion od breastfeeding access won’t be a priority for this administration. Caitlin Oakley, a national spokesperson for the Department of Health Human Services, told Vox, “The United States was fighting to protect women’s abilities to make the best choices for the nutrition of their babies. Many women are not able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons,” she said. “These women should not be stigmatized.”

In addition, the administration’s focus on sabotaging the ACA doesn’t bode well for breastfeeding rates. It means that fewer people will access health care and insurance companies can now sell skimpier, short-term plans with few benefits and protections (including coverage for preventive services like breastfeeding support).

“When it comes to the ACA, nothing is beyond the scope of [the administration’s effort of] trying to undermine the principle of expanded coverage,” said Boston University maternal health expert Eugene Declercq. And that means even meddling with provisions that help moms feed their babies.

The reason raising breastfeeding rates through the ACA became a policy focus is quite simple: Breastfeeding represents the gold standard in infant nutrition. It basically offers inoculation against sickness and death for babies — and moms too.

Medical organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Academy of Pediatrics, recommend that babies be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their lives — and then receive breast milk, supplemented by other foods, for about two years after that. The longer babies receive breast milk in their first years, the better.

Yet the rates of breastfeeding in the US aren’t nearly as high as they could be. In the US only a little more than half of all babies receive any breast milk at the age of 6 months. One reason for that is women don’t get to breastfeed for as long as they want to.

Are you pregnant? Have you ever been pregnant? Or do you work with pregnant women? We’re reporting on pregnancy for a series here at Vox and we’d love to hear from you. Please check out this survey for Vox.

The ACA tried to address that particular problem. Section 2713 of the law requires health insurance plans to provide coverage for breastfeeding support (like lactation counseling) and supplies (like breast pumps) without any co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance, as long as a woman decides to breastfeed. This coverage is required for employer-sponsored plans, individual plans purchased through the Obamacare marketplaces, and for Medicaid enrollees who access public coverage through the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.

Section 4207 of the ACA also requires that companies with annual sales of more than $500,000 provide break times and a private place (not including a bathroom) where moms can use breast pumps to express their milk while at work.

Researchers have been looking at what these requirements have done for breastfeeding — and their findings all point in the same direction: They have helped.

A 2018 study in the American Journal of Public Health found the ACA’s policy change was associated with a 10 percent increase in the length of time women breastfed. It also increased 21 percent the length of time moms breastfed exclusively, instead of supplementing with formula or other food. A 2016 study in Women’s Health Issues found that women who had access to both a break time and private space for breastfeeding were 2.3 times as likely to be breastfeeding exclusively six months after birth as compared with women who didn’t have such access.

Other researchers have found that the lactation support coverage increased the number of women who started breastfeeding by about 2.5 percentage points, “which represents as many as 47,000 more infants for whom breastfeeding was initiated in a given year in the United States.” They also found that claims for breast pumps rose significantly after the ACA’s passage.

This findings square with what people who work in the breastfeeding arena told me. Gina Caruso, deputy director of the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington, a lactation consulting nonprofit in Washington, estimated that her group has seen a threefold increase in lactation consultations following the ACA’s passage and that the average number of appointments women receive has climbed. Her group also found there’s been a drop-off in breast pump sales (since women were able to get their pumps free from their insurance company). “The ACA has changed our business immensely,” she said.

I also heard that the ACA’s breastfeeding policies have been far from perfect: Some families have had trouble finding lactation consultants in their networks or have wound up with as much as $1,500 in unreimbursed claims.

One woman said she submitted her claims to Cigna for lactation consultation, and even though her paperwork was clearly marked as being for lactation, Cigna told her the services related to parenting and wouldn’t be covered. (Cigna said in a statement to Vox that coverage of lactation consultants is required by law and it normally covers these services.)

Another woman told me she couldn’t get her lactation consultant services covered, even after she had her doctor send a note to the insurance for preauthorization. “They repeatedly denied the claim until I got my office HR involved,” she said in an email. (Both women did not want to be identified publicly.)

Mara Gandal-Powers, of the Women’s Health Law Center, explained that these stories are not uncommon. Because lactation consulting is a service that women need immediately after birth, they’re not typically in a position to haggle with insurance companies over coverage. “If you don’t get the services to help you increase your [breast milk] supply quickly, nursing can become difficult or impossible and not really happen. So we see women who pay out of pocket.”

Instead of working to fix these gaps in coverage, the Trump administration has been attempting to dismantle the ACA. And while Republicans have failed to fully repeal the law, they’ve put forward a series of policies that have caused the uninsured rate to rise and have weakened the law in the process.

Among them: In June, the administration announced that insurance companies can now offer skimpier, short-term plans that don’t have the benefits and protections, including coverage for the preventive services that Obamacare ensured.

Breastfeeding is a “preventive service,” said Kaiser’s Salganicoff. “So if it’s a short-term plan, it doesn’t have to have maternity care, preventive services and women who enroll in these plans would not have the entitlement to the breastfeeding coverage.”

Companies have also been scaling back their reimbursements. In April Anthem, which is the nation’s second-biggest health insurer, reduced its reimbursement for breast pumps from $169 to $95. Critics see the move as potentially undermining the Obamacare breastfeeding mandate. “The question is what types of pumps will now be provided,” said Summer Hawkins, a researcher at Boston College School of Social Work who has studied the impact of the ACA on breastfeeding.

In a statement, Anthem said, “Anthem recognizes the positive health benefits that breastfeeding can have on mothers and their newborns, and we are committed to ensuring new mothers have the information, tools and support they need to successfully breastfeed their newborns.” Anthem did not answer repeated questions about why it has reduced its reimbursement rate.

One thing the ACA hasn’t helped with when it comes to breastfeeding rates: lingering socioeconomic disparities. “There’s a 20 percent gap between most and least educated,” Hawkins added. African-American women also have persistently low rates of breastfeeding compared to other racial groups. “So while our average rates look fantastic now, once you start digging into this by education, income, or [insurance] status — you see lower income, less educated women have much lower rates of breastfeeding than more advantages women.”

Let’s not forget that the US remains unique among wealthy countries in that it has no maternal leave policy. “The ACA did some very important things but I would say it’s only a piece of the broader constellation” of measures that would improve women’s and infant’s health, said Carol Sakala, director of childbirth connection programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

And when it comes to breastfeeding, Sakala said, “It’s hard to find another more impactful preventive health practice. We as a society should be mobilized to be supporting women and babies to get benefits of breastfeeding.”

For more on breastfeeding politics, please listen to the July 12th episode of Today Explained.

Original Source -> How the slow sabotage of Obamacare may hurt America’s breastfeeding rate

via The Conservative Brief

[leftlotusflower-blog]

To a Friend in Ireland

Dear Liam,

         I know that you do not care about American football and I know every time that I bring something up about American football you hate it, but this time it’s different. There is this article in The Washington Post about Colin Kaepernick, the title is “The Making of Colin Kaepernick”, and talks about his rise, his fall, his protest and his firing. I agree generally with Colin Kaepernick and what he has done but I am not as surprised as the author Kent Babb is about what has happened to Colin Kaepernick as a result of his protests.  

         First, let me tell you who Colin Kaepernick is, in case you did not know already. Colin Kaepernick started in the NFL as a back-up quarterback on the San Francisco 49ers. Eventually, the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers at the time, Alex Smith, got hurt and was going to be out for a couple of weeks. So, naturally as the back-up does, Colin Kaepernick took the spot as the starting quarterback while Alex Smith was recovering from his injury.  Colin Kaepernick as a first-time starter really played well; nobody expected anything from this random back-up but he proved everybody wrong. Soon enough, Alex Smith was back from his injury and he assumed that he could have his job back as starting quarterback, but that was not going to be the case because Colin Kaepernick was playing lights-out. The San Francisco 49ers were also started playing much better as a unit as soon as Colin Kaepernick became the starting quarterback of the team. The San Francisco 49ers had so much faith in him the next season that they even sold Alex Smith, his only competition, all the way to Missouri to the Kansas City Chiefs. Colin Kaepernick continued to be the starting quarterback for that San Francisco 49ers for a couple of years. As the years went by, Colin Kaepernick’s performance has dropped slightly and recently he has not been playing like the Colin Kaepernick we used to know.

         The most important thing that you need to know, which has been on all over the news, is that Colin Kaepernick has been protesting during the national anthem before each game. The way that he does this protest is by simply kneeling while the national anthem is being played. He is doing this because he is protesting police brutality, especially towards African Americans, throughout the United States of America. This protest has many supporters who think what Colin Kaepernick is doing is his civic duty and there are others who think that Colin Kaepernick is just straight up disrespecting our flag and our veterans. This debate has become very popular and so much so that even the President of the United States, President Trump, has even talk publically about the subject.

       The first part of the article mainly talks about Colin Kaepernick not having a job as a quarterback on any of the thirty-two NFL teams. In the article “The Making of Colin Kaepernick” the author Kent Babb writes, “’No one wants to deal with that,’ said an owner of one of the league’s thirty-two franchises, none of which offered Kaepernick a contract this offseason, and the estrangement is in keeping with most everything else about the young man’s life.” What the author means by saying that is the reason that Colin Kaepernick does not have a job as a quarterback in the NFL is because that he is too controversial. Additionally, it does not matter how good Colin Kaepernick might be because no team in the NFL wants to associate their brand with his name.

          The next part of The Washington Post article, Kent Babb, talks about the message that Colin Kaepernick is trying to send to the people with his protests. The article talks about specific social media posts that Colin Kaepernick made in 2016 to help get his point across to more and more people. An example of this is, “’This is what lynchings look like in 2016!’ he wrote on an Instagram post about the death of Alton Sterling, who died in Baton Rouge, after two police officers shot him.” The author highlights this Instagram post because it shows that Colin Kaepernick is constantly fighting for change, not just when the cameras are on. Also, Colin Kaepernick uses his platform, from playing football, to remind of what African Americans have to deal with in the United States. Colin Kaepernick even compares the actions of the police officer, where the officer killed Alton Sterling, to lynchings that were prevalent in the Deep South many years ago. Again, Kent Babb in the article uses another one of Colin Kaepernick’s social media posts where he said, “’I couldn’t see another hashtag Sandra Bland, hashtag Tamir Rice, hashtag Walter Scott, hashtag Eric Garner,’ Kaepernick told reporters late last summer. ‘The list goes on and on and on…At what point do we do something about it?’” What Colin Kaepernick is saying is that he wants to know how long the list of dead African Americans will have to get before people actually take notice of what is happening.

           Lastly, Kent Babb argues that it is wrong that Colin Kaepernick is not even on a practice squad this season because last season he was starting on the San Francisco 49ers. This is not surprising to me because NFL teams in the past have always tried to stay away from controversial players; the most important thing for the teams is their image and brand-safe players are always more desirable. Another example of teams doing something similar was when the St. Louis Rams, now the Los Angeles Rams, cut Michael Sam, the first openly gay football player to be drafted in the NFL, before the season started and no other teams signed him afterwards on their rosters.

           Overall, Colin Kaepernick is a good guy and he only has good intentions in his mind and did what he thought was right to shed light on an issue that troubles him deeply. He wanted to show people the awful things that have been happening to African Americas in our country for centuries. Colin Kaepernick only even got in the public eye because he had a breakout year when he got a chance to play off the bench and earn his starting spot on the team. But for the worse of Colin Kaepernick, team now do not want anything to do with him because they do not want seven camera-crews in their locker-rooms asking Colin Kaepernick about his kneeling after every game. Kent Babb might be surprised by Colin Kaepernick not being on a team right now but I am not because NFL teams have had a history of cutting controversial players.

          Liam I hope that you thought that this was thought-provoking to you because I thought that I was very fascinating. Please tell me what you think about it soon.

 Your friend from the USA,

[chicojimj]

State of the Union 2018 Trump

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:

Less than 1 year has passed since I first stood at this podium, in this majestic chamber, to speak on behalf of the American People -- and to address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams. That night, our new Administration had already taken swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land.

Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission -- to make America great again for all Americans.

Over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success. We have faced challenges we expected, and others we could never have imagined. We have shared in the heights of victory and the pains of hardship. We endured floods and fires and storms. But through it all, we have seen the beauty of America's soul, and the steel in America's spine.

Each test has forged new American heroes to remind us who we are, and show us what we can be.

We saw the volunteers of the "Cajun Navy," racing to the rescue with their fishing boats to save people in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane.

We saw strangers shielding strangers from a hail of gunfire on the Las Vegas strip.

We heard tales of Americans like Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashlee Leppert, who is here tonight in the gallery with Melania. Ashlee was aboard one of the first helicopters on the scene in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. Through 18 hours of wind and rain, Ashlee braved live power lines and deep water, to help save more than 40 lives. Thank you, Ashlee.

We heard about Americans like firefighter David Dahlberg. He is here with us too. David faced down walls of flame to rescue almost 60 children trapped at a California summer camp threatened by wildfires.

To everyone still recovering in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, California, and everywhere else -- we are with you, we love you, and we will pull through together.

Some trials over the past year touched this chamber very personally. With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this House -- a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work three and a half months later: the legend from Louisiana, Congressman Steve Scalise.

We are incredibly grateful for the heroic efforts of the Capitol Police Officers, the Alexandria Police, and the doctors, nurses, and paramedics who saved his life, and the lives of many others in this room.

In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people. But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy. Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve.

Over the last year, the world has seen what we always knew: that no people on Earth are so fearless, or daring, or determined as Americans. If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there is a frontier, we cross it. If there is a challenge, we tame it. If there is an opportunity, we seize it.

So let us begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our Union is strong because our people are strong.

And together, we are building a safe, strong, and proud America.

Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. After years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages.

Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.

Small business confidence is at an all-time high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value. That is great news for Americans' 401k, retirement, pension, and college savings accounts.

And just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.

Our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small businesses.

To lower tax rates for hardworking Americans, we nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone. Now, the first $24,000 earned by a married couple is completely tax-free. We also doubled the child tax credit.

A typical family of four making $75,000 will see their tax bill reduced by $2,000 -- slashing their tax bill in half.

This April will be the last time you ever file under the old broken system -- and millions of Americans will have more take-home pay starting next month.

We eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year -- forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they could not afford government-ordered health plans. We repealed the core of disastrous Obamacare -- the individual mandate is now gone.

We slashed the business tax rate from 35 percent all the way down to 21 percent, so American companies can compete and win against anyone in the world. These changes alone are estimated to increase average family income by more than $4,000.

Small businesses have also received a massive tax cut, and can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.

Here tonight are Steve Staub and Sandy Keplinger of Staub Manufacturing -- a small business in Ohio. They have just finished the best year in their 20-year history. Because of tax reform, they are handing out raises, hiring an additional 14 people, and expanding into the building next door.

One of Staub's employees, Corey Adams, is also with us tonight. Corey is an all-American worker. He supported himself through high school, lost his job during the 2008 recession, and was later hired by Staub, where he trained to become a welder. Like many hardworking Americans, Corey plans to invest his tax‑cut raise into his new home and his two daughters' education. Please join me in congratulating Corey.

Since we passed tax cuts, roughly 3 million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses -- many of them thousands of dollars per worker. Apple has just announced it plans to invest a total of $350 billion in America, and hire another 20,000 workers.

This is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.

So to every citizen watching at home tonight -- no matter where you have been, or where you come from, this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve anything.

Tonight, I want to talk about what kind of future we are going to have, and what kind of Nation we are going to be. All of us, together, as one team, one people, and one American family.

We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny, and the same great American flag.

Together, we are rediscovering the American way.

In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the American life. Our motto is "in God we trust."

And we celebrate our police, our military, and our amazing veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support.

Here tonight is Preston Sharp, a 12-year-old boy from Redding, California, who noticed that veterans' graves were not marked with flags on Veterans Day. He decided to change that, and started a movement that has now placed 40,000 flags at the graves of our great heroes. Preston: a job well done.

Young patriots like Preston teach all of us about our civic duty as Americans. Preston's reverence for those who have served our Nation reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem.

Americans love their country. And they deserve a Government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return.

For the last year we have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their Government.

Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court Justice, and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country.

We are defending our Second Amendment, and have taken historic actions to protect religious liberty.

And we are serving our brave veterans, including giving our veterans choice in their healthcare decisions. Last year, the Congress passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability Act. Since its passage, my Administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve -- and we are hiring talented people who love our vets as much as we do.

I will not stop until our veterans are properly taken care of, which has been my promise to them from the very beginning of this great journey.

All Americans deserve accountability and respect -- and that is what we are giving them. So tonight, I call on the Congress to empower every Cabinet Secretary with the authority to reward good workers -- and to remove Federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people.

In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.

We have ended the war on American Energy -- and we have ended the war on clean coal. We are now an exporter of energy to the world.

In Detroit, I halted Government mandates that crippled America's autoworkers -- so we can get the Motor City revving its engines once again.

Many car companies are now building and expanding plants in the United States -- something we have not seen for decades. Chrysler is moving a major plant from Mexico to Michigan; Toyota and Mazda are opening up a plant in Alabama. Soon, plants will be opening up all over the country. This is all news Americans are unaccustomed to hearing -- for many years, companies and jobs were only leaving us. But now they are coming back.

[newstfionline]

Make China Great Again! Xi Leads China Into Muscular New Era

AP, Oct. 20, 2017

BEIJING--In this summer’s “Wolf Warrior II,” Chinese action star Wu Jing portrays a tough super-patriot who rescues both fellow countrymen and oppressed Africans with help from the People’s Liberation Army.

Audiences loved what became China’s biggest-grossing movie ever. Some reportedly sang the national anthem as the movie closed on an image of a Chinese passport and the words, “Please remember, at your back stands a strong motherland.”

This red-blooded nationalism has been channeled skillfully by President and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping as he seeks to strengthen the party’s role in Chinese life and shepherd the country’s rise to prominence at a time when the United States and others in the West are seen to be in retreat.

Xi’s muscular foreign policy could become even more assertive following this month’s congress of the ruling Communist Party, where delegates will agree to support his policies and endorse his second five-year term as party secretary general, observers say.

“Xi’s on a roll,” said June Teufel Dreyer, professor of political science at the University of Miami. She predicted he would continue expanding China’s influence by gradually increasing pressure on other countries, a tactic seen in Beijing’s steady island-building efforts in the South China Sea, for instance.

In an address Wednesday to the congress’ opening session, Xi reiterated that China pursues an “independent foreign policy of peace” and maintains a defensive military posture. However, he also warned other countries not to underestimate China’s willingness to stand up for itself.

“No one should expect China to swallow anything that undermines its interests,” Xi told delegates at Beijing’s hulking Great Hall of the People.

For years, after its emergence from hard-line Marxism in the late 1980s, China stuck to reformist leader Deng Xiaoping’s dictum to “keep a low profile and bide one’s time, while also getting things done.”

That began to change after the last decade’s global financial crisis, from which China emerged relatively unscathed, and the country’s foreign policy has since shifted into high gear under Xi.

China has succeeded in leveraging its booming economy and mountain of foreign currency holdings to influence other nations and further its global ambitions. A key watershed came this year, when the People’s Liberation Army began manning China’s first overseas base in Djibouti, reversing decades of rhetoric eschewing such facilities as imperialist Cold War holdovers.

The overall goal seems clear: Restore China to its traditional role as East Asia’s leading nation and a global economic and cultural force.

Xi said as much in his opening address on Wednesday when he outlined a vision of raising China’s international stature. By 2050, Xi said, China would be “a global leader in terms of composite national strength and international influence.”

“Xi presents very bold visions for where China should be headed and what China must become,” said Jingdong Yuan, an Asia-Pacific security expert at Australia’s University of Sydney.

A more forceful post-congress approach could include expanding China’s role in international bodies and new China-sponsored initiatives such as the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank. China could also become more assertive in regional hot spots such as the South and East China Seas and its contested border with India.

Perhaps no strategy reflects Xi’s vision more clearly than the “Belt and Road Initiative” launched around the time of Xi’s elevation five years ago. The massive undertaking seeks to link China to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond with a sprawling network of roads, railways, ports and other economic projects valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The goal is to make China an indispensable economic partner with expanded political influence, while offering new opportunities for Chinese businesses weighed down by overcapacity and shrinking markets at home.

To do this, China has refined its diplomacy to take advantage of favorable global trends while not going so far that it would damage relationships with its neighbors and the United States, Yuan said.

In some areas, China has proved unyielding. Beijing, for instance, angrily rejected last year’s ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague on a Philippine case that invalidated most of China’s territorial claims in the contested South China Sea.

It has also taken a hard line against South Korea’s deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system that Beijing calls a security threat. South Korea has been vilified in Chinese state media, with Chinese group tours banned and South Korean businesses in China hit hard.

However, the pragmatic approach more often wins out.

Beijing has largely resisted the urge to fire back when U.S. President Donald Trump lambasts China for not doing enough on North Korea or allegedly cheating at trade, instead offering measured responses. Xi, meanwhile, pulled off a successful visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida estate that was heavy on the sort of positive optics Beijing prefers. Trump is now due to travel to Beijing in November.

In China’s latest border standoff with India, Beijing agreed to a mutual pullback of forces just days ahead of a China-hosted summit of large developing economies attended by both Xi and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

Beijing has also softened its approach to charm Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, offering him infrastructure investment and military assistance against Muslim rebels, while agreeing to allow Philippine fishermen to return to their traditional grounds in Scarborough Shoal, which China seized in 2012.

The approach seems to be working. The results of a recent Pew Research Center survey show two-thirds of Filipinos believe strong economic relations with China are of greater importance, as opposed to 28 percent who say getting tough with China over territorial disputes is more important. When last asked the question in 2015, Filipinos were divided almost evenly on what was more important.