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butterflydm · 3 years ago

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wot reread: the fires of heaven (chap 52- chap 53)

spoilers through the fires of heaven; vague reference to something that will start to be a trend for a character next book

1. Rand is determined to be calm and presentable when he kills Rahvin. Cold, so that he doesn’t make any mistakes. Aviendha starts to talk to Rand while still mostly naked and when he points out that she’s not wearing anything, she flushes and hurries into her clothes. Rand finds all of it confusing.

2. Maybe the reason that Aviendha’s motives are so hard to parse is that she herself doesn’t know what she’s doing? She slept with Rand, felt guilty enough about it that she told him it couldn’t happen again, but she does seem to keep poking at the idea, like at a scab. She knows that she shouldn’t, but can’t quite help herself maybe? That’s kinda the most charitable interpretation that I’ve got.

3. Rand plans to take only Aiel with him to kill Rahvin because he doesn’t trust the Cairhienin or Tairens. ...and we learn that Aviendha beat up Colavere for coming to speak with Rand last night. Asmodean comes by to talk to Rand -- Rand was planning on leaving him behind, but he requests that he be allowed to come along.

4. Rand debates going to Tear for Callandor or going to Rhuidean for the saidin-focused sa’angreal there, but ultimately isn’t willing to trust himself with that much power at this time. He feels like he’s basically made out of the taint and rage at this point and worries what effect using that much of the One Power might have.

5. Everything else does fly out of Rand’s mind momentarily when Mat tells him that Melindhra tried to kill him. And Rand very sincerely tells him, “I’m sorry you had to do that,” because he can see how traumatizing it was for Mat to have killed Melindhra. These little moments of connection between people, moments where there’s no power-play involved, really do get to me. i’m gonna miss this The Rand that wanted to protect Mat at the start of TFOH is still in there under the ice. Anyway, Mat is also here to volunteer to come to Caemlyn with Rand. He’s tired of attacks coming at his back and wants to hit back at one of the Forsaken.

6. A very brief moment of warmth from Moiraine to Mat (either she’s been ignoring him by her own choice or because Lan talked her into it) and a compliment about trusting the Pattern and not trying to change what cannot be changed that makes Mat look on the verge of running off again. And Moiraine gives Rand two letters, one addressed to him and one to Thom. And she says that there’s something Rand must see at the docks, and off they go.

7. ...why are they taking horses? That seems so pointless? Isn’t Rand Skimming there? ???? Don’t make the horses go Into The Void, that’s mean.

8. Seriously, “Lord Matrim”? How are all these people learning Mat’s given name? Maybe it really is just Known Worldwide that the only possible name that ‘Mat’ could come from is ‘Matrim’ and that no one ever just names a kid Mat, because it’s just kinda ridiculous that it seems like EVERYONE knows that’s his given name when he never uses it himself. this is such a minor worldbuilding thing, I guess, but it bothers me so much. I guess it’s like the universality of pipe-smoking. Makes no sense that different cultures wouldn’t associate different given names with the nickname of ‘Mat’ to me. Unless Matrim is the name of like, a famous hero in the past that we’re never told about. Is there some way for me to search the text of the WoT series to find out if Mat has ever actually introduced himself with ‘Matrim’? Any searchable text files out there?

...how do they all know?

9. Honestly, Mat has just as much of an issue with people not wanting to use his own name as Rand does, his is just more subtle. Well, more subtle up to this point. It gets a lot less subtle starting in the next book.

10. Right. We’re here because Moiraine called us all down to the docks, not to talk about Mat’s name for twenty years. Sorry, Moiraine. Oh, and the Maidens have been missing all morning btw.

11. Kadere is visited again by Lanfear in person and begins to ‘catch her up’ on everything that she missed while she was off making plans with the other Forsaken; every scrap of information about Rand’s plans and doings that he’s been able to scrounge. He’s really gonna regret that in a minute.

12. Anyway, the wagon explodes because Lanfear is SO MAD that Rand isn’t a virgin anymore. “You let another woman touch you! Again!” I’m curious about what her motivation for doing this in the show might be, since Rand isn’t a virgin. Will it be an actual confrontation between the two of them where he turns her down and then she explodes on him? That might also be a good excuse for Moiraine to need to intervene. Lanfear starts just laying waste all around her, so Rand closes off a smaller area to limit the damage that she’s doing. I think it’s the same thing (or related) to what she did at the end of TSR so that they could talk in private in the middle of Alcair Dal.

13. Egwene, Aviendha, Moiraine, and Lan are all inside the bubble with Rand and Lanfear; Asmodean and Mat are both safely outside. Lanfear demands to know which of the two women standing next to him (Egwene or Aviendha) is Aviendha, who she knows he slept with, and she immediately starts torturing both of them. Rand severs her flows, still only doing defensive measures. Cutting someone’s flows is done with “Spirit woven so, with Fire and Earth”. Thx LTT.

14. And it is VERY MUCH LTT in control now as he says to Lanfear, “I was never yours, Mierin. I will always belong to Ilyena.” Ah, they could make this be the thing that actually triggers Lanfear to violence in the show maybe? “Your name is Lanfear and I’ll die before I love one of the Forsaken.” Rand is also, at this time, trying desperately to assert his identity as Rand al’Thor and not LTT.

15. Lanfear is heartbroken for a single moment and then switches to cold killer mode and starts going after Rand in earnest. She tries to stop his heart with the One Power. He’s able to cut her flows in time to stop himself from dying. Hmm. “She smiled like winter’s heart.” And then she tries to sever Rand from saidin (gentle him, as the current Aes Sedai would put it). Fighting her is difficult because he’s also fighting Lews Therin at the same time.

16. Ah, and here Rand’s trauma reaches the peak of being Not Able To Kill A Woman even as she is actively trying to murder him at that very moment.

“Images darted through the pain. A woman in a dark merchant’s dress, toppling from her horse, the fire-red sword light in his hands; she had come to kill him, with a fistful of other Darkfriends. Mat’s bleak eyes. I killed her. A golden-haired woman lying in a ruined hallway where, it seemed, the very walls had melted and flowed. Ilyena, forgive me! It was a despairing cry.

He could end it. Only, he could not. He was doing to die, perhaps the world would die, but he could not make himself kill another woman. Somehow it seemed the richest joke the world had ever seen.”

So, here, it really does seem based on him killing his wife, and then that expanding outward to Every Woman In The World which is... it really is arbitrary, because Ilyena isn’t and shouldn’t be interchangeable with every other woman in the world like that. But Ilyena is the only real firm emotional connection that we ever get from LTT’s side, unfortunately.

The show is likely NOT going to be leaning on this like the books did (they’ve already shown LTT as a father first; we haven’t even heard specifically about Ilyena in the show yet). Especially since we wouldn’t be getting Rand’s inner monologue anyway. I think it’s more likely they would just make this a tense and close battle, with Moiraine playing tie-breaker.

17. Moiraine setting this all up beforehand (even including the angreal for Lanfear????) is also Peak Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Let’s not fight the Pattern, she says to Mat. So instead we should... purposefully cause the thing to happen? Anyway, she thinks she’s gotta do it and the author agrees with her on the inevitability of fate, so off she goes. We also see from her PoV that Rand is just kneeling on the ground, laughing and crying at the same time. Anyway, the leap into the doorway is a BIG lightshow, lightning all around and the wagon catches fire. Very dramatic, as befits a Damodred.

18. Lan can feel that Moiraine is ‘gone’, so he immediately sets to getting ready to leave, as his new bond with Myrelle now compels him to go seek her out. He leaves Rand, of course, with one last terrible piece of advice, as suits his role as a mentor who was great at teaching swords but effing awful at life advice: “We are alike in many ways, you and I. There is a darkness in us. Darkness, pain, death. They radiate from us. If you ever love a woman, Rand, leave her and let her find another. It will be the best gift you can give her.” thx for all the terrible advice! See you next time you pop up! He does call Rand his friend, though, so that’s nice. And he calls him True Blood of Manetheren, which is also nice. Lan genuinely is trying to help Rand, but Lan himself is so tangled up in his own issues that he gives, genuinely, the worst advice. ilu but never give me advice, Lan.

19. Aww, Mat is fanning Egwene with his hat and worrying over her. Aviendha is also worrying over her, but that’s more expected. A nice moment of connection between Mat and Egwene... while Egwene is unconscious lol. Anyway, it is determined that Egwene is too badly hurt to go with Rand to kill Rahvin. Their healer did just yeet herself through a doorway to her potential death and the Aiel Wise Ones aren’t good at healing (we never really get a good reason why they don’t have healers except Plot (in)Convenience). ...Rand somehow gets the blame for all this despite Moiraine being the one who made them all go to the docks. Okay. Sure. After he says that Moiraine and Lanfear are dead, Amys calls him a fool but does not, of course, explain what she means. No one ever explains anything to Rand.

20. He tries to mourn Moiraine, but mostly feels numb. And there’s no one there to tell him that that’s actually a really common reaction to a loss and it doesn’t actually mean he didn’t care about her. Then he goes ahead and reads her letter. So, the trigger for the meeting at the docks was Rand receiving the news of Morgase -- from that point, Moiraine saw three potential paths in the silver rings (she doesn’t say it’s from the rings). A. the desired outcome of removing both Moiraine and Lanfear from the playing board; B. Lanfear kills Rand; C. Lanfear carries Rand away and twists him into playacting as LTT and being her devoted lover.

21. Apparently, Manetheren are the ones we are supposed to blame for Just Can’t Kill A Woman which... (x) doubt. Literally was never shown to be part of the culture of the Two Rivers early on and makes no sense for an egalitarian (or even matriarchal, but I believe it’s mean to be egalitarian) farming community. Protect The Ladies For They Are Precious and a Man’s Life is Meant for Protecting the Ladies is an idea very much rooted in benevolent sexism and makes no sense for the Two Rivers. It doesn’t make much sense for LTT/Age of Legends either.

22. Moiraine warns him against trusting ANY Aes Sedai sister, as they are used to making people dance to their strings. And she reveals (without saying it straight out) that she knows Natael is Asmodean.

23. And the Maidens have now come to confront Rand re: his benevolent sexism. Which, hey, I like that it’s being challenged but it still makes no sense for Rand’s background. It’s very author’s culture-insert, I feel like. But Jordan was using Rand to explore that idea, I think, so Rand needs to believe it in-story so that it can be challenged and overcome. I get the narrative reasoning. I just think it doesn’t make worldbuilding sense lol. The conclusion is good, I just feel like the background is wonky to justify Rand’s starting position.

But taking that out of it, I really love Sulin here. I love her speech about the spear being her life and being her and that when Rand refuses to treat them as he would any of the other warrior societies, he is dishonoring them by trying to control them and take the choice out of their hands. And there was literally a line of Maidens down the docks to keep making the point to Rand if he refused to listen to Sulin. They made their choice and Rand doesn’t get to make it for them; his job is to respect their choice and then make his own about his own life but not theirs (which is similar to the conclusion that Rand comes to in the S1 finale of the show actually).

24. Note that Mat is also cheerful (like the Maidens) and Rand is also confused about that, but he doesn’t feel the urge to wrap Mat up and protect him from his cheerfulness about potentially going to fight a Forsaken.

“How can you be so cheerful?”

“Because I’m alive. What do you want me to do, cry?”

25. ...seriously, though, I guess the idea is that the exploding wagon would have drawn Rand down to the docks, which would have meant that a lot more people would have died before he was able to confront Lanfear, so that could be Moiraine’s reasoning behind setting up the scene herself and taking Rand down there, to minimize casualties? Since she knew she wouldn’t be around to heal people afterwards. That kinda makes sense. Take what you know and figure out a way to make it cause the least amount of harm to the people around you. I can buy that being Moiraine’s thought process.

#wot #wheel of time #wot reread #the fires of heaven #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers

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go-redgirl · 4 years ago

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President Donald Trump Pardons Sixteen People Including Charlie Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone

President Donald Trump issued another round of pardons on Wednesday to sixteen people, including his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, his sometimes adviser Roger Stone, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charlie Kushner.

Charlie Kushner was prosecuted in 2005 by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was New Jersey’s Attorney General at the time. Kushner, a top donor to Democrats, pleadguilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering, and making illegal campaign donations.

Charlie Kushner served 14 months of a two-year sentence in an Alabama prison before he was released in April 2006. Jared Kushner cites visiting his father in prison as an influence for pursuing the issue of criminal justice reform.

Manafort served two years of his seven and a half years in prison after he was prosecuted for financial crimes from consulting work for pro-Russian Ukrainian leaders before he joined the Trump campaign. Special Counsel Robert Mueller also charged Manafort with two counts of conspiracy.

In a statement, Trump noted there was “blatant prosecutorial overreach” in Manafort’s case.

“Mr. Manafort has endured years of unfair treatment and is one of the most prominent victims of what has been revealed to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history,” a statement from the White House read.

Trump also pardoned political operative Roger Stone, after commuting his prison sentence in July, citing the unfair investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

“Pardoning him will help to right the injustices he faced at the hands of the Mueller investigation,” the statement from the White House read.

Read the full list of other pardons below:

James Kassouf — President Trump granted a full pardon to James Kassouf. This pardon is supported by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Representative David Joyce, Representative Darrell Issa, Pastor Darrell Scott, and many friends in Northeast Ohio.

Mr. Kassouf pled guilty in 1989 to one count of filing a false tax return. Since his conviction, he has devoted extensive time and resources to supporting causes such as Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, and his local church and fire department. Mr. Kassouf’s pastor, who also writes in support of today’s action, highlights Mr. Kassouf’s “vision” to make his community a better place. Mr. Kassouf is dedicated to revitalizing the city of Cleveland and has been intensely involved in the Northeast Ohio community.

Mary McCarty — President Trump granted Mary McCarty a full pardon. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Christopher Ruddy are among those supportive of Ms. McCarty. Ms. McCarty was a longtime public servant in Palm Beach, Florida, serving as one of its County Commissioners. In 2009, she pled guilty to one count of honest services fraud. The Supreme Court has since interpreted that statute more narrowly, meaning that Ms. McCarty’s conduct might not be criminally prosecuted today.

Christopher Wade — President Trump granted a full pardon to Christopher Wade. Wade’s pardon is supported by Isaac Perlmutter, Mark Templeton, and numerous current and former law-enforcement officials. Mr. Wade served two years’ probation after pleading guilty to various cyber-crimes. Since his conviction, he has shown remorse and sought to make his community a safer place.

Christopher II X, formerly Christopher Anthony Bryant — President Trump granted a full pardon to Christopher II X, a prominent community leader. This Federal pardon is supported by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky as well as Tori Murden McClure, the President of Spalding University, among others. Mr. II X is a powerful example of the possibility of redemption. For a two-decade period ending in 1998, Mr. II X battled a severe addiction to both cocaine and marijuana. In this period he committed numerous state and federal offenses.

Since overcoming his drug dependency and following his release from prison for the last time over 20 years ago, Mr. II X has become an acknowledged community leader in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Today, Mr. II X runs a non-profit organization, Game Changers, which is dedicated to guiding youth to productive, meaningful lives.

He is also widely credited as a trusted voice of reason and peace in Louisville that both sides turn to if tensions arise between the police and local community.

In recognition of the many contributions to his community, in December 2019 Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky issued Mr. II X a full pardon for each of his State crimes. Today’s Federal pardon achieves the same for Mr. II X’s Federal cocaine offenses.

Cesar Lozada — President Trump granted a full pardon to Cesar Lozada. This act of clemency is supported by U.S. Representative-elect Maria Elvira Salazar and members of Mr. Lozada’s community. Mr. Lozada, an immigrant from Cuba, started a small business cleaning and servicing pools in Miami-Dade County. Since then, his business, now a pool equipment company, has grown and employs dozens of people. Today’s pardon addresses a mistake Mr. Lozada made in 2004 of conspiring to distribute marijuana, for which Mr. Lozada took full responsibility, served his sentence of 14 months in prison and three years supervised release, and paid a $10,000 fine. Mr. Lozada volunteers on weekends at a charity mission and serves food to the poor.

Joseph Martin Stephens — President Trump granted Joseph Martin Stephens a full pardon. Mr. Stephens’ Federal conviction – a guilty plea in 2008 to being a felon in possession of a firearm – is predicated on a State felony conviction from 1991, when he was 19. Although the state offered Mr. Stephens deferred adjudication, he turned it down. When Federal authorities prosecuted him nearly 20 years later for possessing a firearm, he took full responsibility for his conduct and served a sentence of 18 months in prison and three years on supervised release. Clemency for Mr. Stephens is supported by business associates.

Andrew Barron Worden — President Trump granted a full pardon to Andrew Barron Worden, an entrepreneur who has worked extensively in the solar energy field. Mr. Worden has exhibited a decades-long commitment to philanthropy, including founding charitable foundations and teaching and research grant programs.

Mr. Worden enjoys the support of business associates and his community for this pardon, which pertains to a 1998 conviction for wire fraud. At the time, Mr. Worden had just graduated from college and made mistakes in running an investment firm he founded. However, Mr. Worden voluntarily stopped his wrongful conduct and began to repay his victims before any criminal charges were filed, an action his sentencing judge called “extraordinary.”

Robert Coughlin — President Trump granted a full pardon to Robert Coughlin. This act of clemency has the support of former interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey Taylor and Adam Ciongoli, and former counselor to Attorney General Ashcroft. Mr. Coughlin pled guilty to a single count of conflict of interest in performing his duties as a Department of Justice official. He was charged for doing favors on matters before the Department of Justice in exchange for sports and concert tickets. Mr. Coughlin voluntarily surrendered his law license and was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house and 200 hours of community service. Mr. Coughlin is remorseful and has volunteered in his community through organizations including Meals on Wheels and Toys for Tots. Recently, he was reinstated to the D.C. Bar and wishes to put his mistakes behind him.

John Boultbee and Peter Atkinson — President Trump granted a full pardon to John Boultbee and Peter Atkinson. Mr. Boultbee is the former chief financial officer and Mr. Atkinson is the former vice president of Hollinger International. Both men were convicted as part of an alleged fraud scheme involving Lord Conrad Black, and both served nearly a year in prison for mail fraud. President Trump previously pardoned Lord Black, and for similar reasons and with the support of Lord Black, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Safer, and David Nathanson, he has now granted a full pardon to Messrs. Boultbee and Atkinson.

Joseph Occhipinti — President Trump granted a full pardon to Joseph Occhipinti, a 70-year-old former Supervisory Special Agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This pardon is supported by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, National Association of Police Organizations, and Representative Christopher Smith. In 1991, Mr. Occhipinti was convicted of conspiracy to violate civil rights under the color of law and making false statements. Mr. Occhipinti had a 22-year highly decorated career in which he earned 76 separate commendations, including three from Attorneys General. Mr. Occhipinti’s 37 month long sentence was commuted by President George H.W. Bush after only seven months’ incarceration.

Rebekah Charleston — President Trump granted a full pardon to Rebekah Charleston. Ms. Charleston’s pardon is supported by her friends, family, and even the Special Agent who arrested her in 2006 for tax evasion.

Ms. Charleston is a victim of sex trafficking who has suffered a litany of abuses and endured a life of forced prostitution. Despite these hardships, Ms. Charleston has become a champion for survivors of all crimes, particularly sex trafficking. She obtained a master’s degree in criminal justice and has worked tirelessly to give a voice to the voiceless victims of sex trafficking. Ms. Charleston volunteers much of her time helping those who are currently or have previously been victims.

Rickey Kanter — President Trump granted a full pardon to Rickey Kanter. Mr. Kanter was the owner and CEO of Dr. Comfort, a company that manufactures special shoes and inserts for diabetics. Although there was no evidence that Dr. Comfort’s customers were ever harmed by the company’s shoe inserts, the company and Mr. Kanter settled claims in civil court regarding shoe inserts that were technically non-compliant with Medicare regulations.

It was only after this point when the Federal Government filed a criminal action against Mr. Kanter. Mr. Kanter pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and completed his sentence of one year and one day in 2012. Since his period of incarceration, Mr. Kanter has been a model member of his community.

Topeka Sam — President Trump granted a full pardon to Topeka Sam. This pardon is supported by Alice Johnson and David Safavian.

Ms. Sam’s life is a story of redemption. She has become a powerful advocate for criminal justice reform since she completed three years of a 130-month sentence she received in 2012 as a result of pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. Ms. Sam has since dedicated her life to helping other women in need turn from a path of despair towards a path of redemption. Ms. Sam founded Ladies of Hope Ministries, where she helps formerly incarcerated women transition back into society through education, entrepreneurship, spiritual empowerment, and advocacy. Along with others, she championed the historic First Step Act that President Trump signed in to law in 2018.

James Batmasian — President Trump granted a full pardon to James Batmasian. Mr. Batmasian’s pardon is supported by Representative Brian Mast, Alice Johnson, and former Masters Champion Bernhard Langer, among many others from the South Florida community that Mr. Batmasian has done so much to serve through his extensive charitable works.

Mr. Batmasian runs an extensive property management business in South Florida. Over a three-year period from 2001 to 2003, Mr. Batmasian made overtime payments without withholding for income taxes or FICA contributions. While illegal, Mr. Batmasian recorded all of these payments and made no attempt to hide them when confronted by IRS investigators. In 2008, Mr. Batmasian pled guilty to willful failure to collect and remit payroll taxes. Mr. Batmasian accepted full responsibility for his actions, fully repaid the IRS the money he owed, and served his 8-month sentence.

William J. Plemons, Jr. — President Trump granted a full pardon to William J. Plemons, Jr. Business associates attest to his generosity and service to children and the underprivileged. His clemency is also supported by Richard Greene, former State Senator of Georgia.

Mr. Plemons served in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged. He has spent decades supporting the Boy Scouts, the Cure Childhood Cancer Hospital, and other charitable efforts. Although he was convicted of various financial crimes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he has taken responsibility for his conduct, served a sentence of 27 months in prison, and paid $400,000 in restitution.

Russell Plaisance — President Trump granted a full posthumous pardon to Russell Plaisance. His clemency is supported by numerous local officials, including the Sheriff of the parish. The prosecutor on his case also does not object to a pardon.

In life, Mr. Plaisance built a tug boat business from the ground up that has grown into seven vessels and employment for over 50 individuals. He has also contributed his time and resources to local charitable causes. His Federal case, dating back to 1987, involves a single count of conspiracy to import cocaine stemming from one conversation in which he participated. The sentencing judge called the event “totally inconsistent with [Mr. Plaisance’s] life history and [his] character.” Mr. Plaisance is survived by his wife of 54 years, children, and grandchildren.

Daniela Gozes-Wagner — President Trump commuted the sentence and restitution order imposed upon Ms. Gozes-Wagner. Numerous former law-enforcement officials, including U.S. Attorneys General Michael Mukasey, Ed Meese, Ramsey Clark, and John Ashcroft; Acting Attorneys General Peter Keisler and Matt Whitaker; an FBI Director, two U.S. Solicitors General, and scores of U.S. Attorneys, among others, have supported commutation for Ms. Gosez-Wager, arguing that she received a disproportionate sentence. The Aleph Institute also supports her commutation.

Ms. Wagner is a single mother of two children who has been in federal custody since her 2017 conviction for health care fraud and money laundering. Ms. Gozes-Wagner worked as a mid-level manager for a company that improperly received Medicare and Medicaid funds. Of the individuals in Ms. Gozes-Wagner’s case, Ms. Gozes-Wagner was the only defendant to go to trial. She received a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and was ordered to pay $15.2 million in restitution. This sentence was significantly more severe than the sentences imposed on the other defendants, several of whom played a more central role in the fraud. Her sentence was criticized by numerous former high-ranking U.S. officials as disproportionate to her crime.

Mark Siljander — President Trump granted a full pardon to Mark Siljander. His pardon is supported by Former United States Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt, and Pastor Andrew Brunson.

Mr. Siljander served in the U.S. House of Representatives for six years, representing the people of Michigan’s 4th district. During his time in Congress, Mr. Siljander was one of Congress’s most stalwart defenders of pro-life principles and the namesake of the “Siljander Amendment,” which prohibits U.S. funds from being used to lobby for or against abortion.

Mr. Siljander served a year in prison for obstruction of justice and failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Since his incarceration, Mr. Siljander has devoted himself to traveling in the Middle East and Africa to promote peace and mutual understanding.

Stephanie Mohr — President Trump granted a full pardon to Stephanie Mohr. Her clemency is supported by the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund and the Fraternal Order of Police.

Ms. Mohr was a police officer in Prince George’s County where she achieved the distinction of being the first female canine handler in the Department’s history. She served 10 years in prison for releasing her K-9 partner on a burglary suspect in 1995, resulting in a bite wound requiring ten stitches. Officer Mohr was a highly commended member of the police force prior to her prosecution. Today’s action recognizes that service and the lengthy-term that Ms. Mohr served in prison.

Gary Brugman — President Trump granted a full pardon to Gary Brugman. His clemency is supported by numerous elected officials, including Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Senators Ted Cruz, and John Cornyn, Representative Louie Gohmert, Representative Ted Poe, Representative Steve King, Representative Paul Gosar, Representative Walter Jones, Representative Brian Babin, and Representative John Culberson. Others who support this pardon include Laura Ingraham, Sara Carter, Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Bernie Kerik, and numerous members of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Mr. Brugman served this country for eight years in the Coast Guard and then for four years as a U.S. Border Patrol agent. While protecting our borders at Eagle Pass, Texas, Mr. Brugman intercepted nearly a dozen illegal immigrants, pursued them on foot, and apprehended them.

Mr. Brugman was accused of knocking one of the illegal immigrants to the ground and was prosecuted on that basis for deprivation of rights. He served 27 months in prison, where other inmates sought to harm him because of his law enforcement background. After being released from prison, Mr. Brugman went on to obtain his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management.

John Tate and Jesse Benton — President Trump granted John Tate and Jesse Benton full pardons. This action is supported by Senator Rand Paul and Lee Goodman, former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission. Both Mr. Tate and Mr. Benton were convicted based on indirect campaign payments to a state Senator. According to Mr. Goodman, the reporting law violated was unclear and not well established at the time. Each individual received 6 months home confinement and 2 years’ probation.

Charles Kushner — President Trump granted a full pardon to Charles Kushner. Former United States Attorney for the District of Utah Brett Tolman and the American Conservative Union’s Matt Schlapp and David Safavian support a pardon of Mr. Kushner. Since completing his sentence in 2006, Mr. Kushner has been devoted to important philanthropic organizations and causes, such as Saint Barnabas Medical Center and United Cerebral Palsy. This record of reform and charity overshadows Mr. Kushner’s conviction and 2 year sentence for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation, and making false statements to the FEC.

Margaret Hunter— President Trump granted a full pardon to Margaret Hunter. According to former Federal Election Commission Commissioner Bradley Smith, the conduct forming the basis of Ms. Hunter’s 2019 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to misuse campaign funds for personal expenses should have been treated as a civil case by the agency. Mrs. Hunter was sentenced to three years’ probation. President Trump previously issued a full pardon to former Congressman Hunter for the same alleged conduct.

Paul Manafort—Today, President Trump has issued a full and complete pardon to Paul Manafort, stemming from convictions prosecuted in the course of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, which was premised on the Russian collusion hoax. Mr. Manafort has already spent two years in prison, including a stretch of time in solitary confinement – treatment worse than what many of the most violent criminals receive. As a result of blatant prosecutorial overreach, Mr. Manafort has endured years of unfair treatment and is one of the most prominent victims of what has been revealed to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history. As Mr. Manafort’s trial judge observed, prior to the Special Counsel investigation, Mr. Manafort had led an “otherwise blameless life.” Since May, Mr. Manafort has been released to home confinement as a result of COVID-19 concerns.

Roger Stone— Today, President Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Roger Stone, Jr. President Trump had previously commuted Mr. Stone’s sentence in July of this year. Mr. Stone is a 68-year-old man with numerous medical conditions. Due to prosecutorial misconduct by Special Counsel Mueller’s team, Mr. Stone was treated very unfairly. He was subjected to a pre-dawn raid of his home, which the media conveniently captured on camera. Mr. Stone also faced potential political bias at his jury trial. Pardoning him will help to right the injustices he faced at the hands of the Mueller investigation.

Mark Shapiro and Irving Stitsky — President Trump granted commutations to Mark Shapiro and Irving Stitsky, for the remainder of both of their sentences. Messrs. Shapiro and Stitsky founded a real estate investment firm, but hid their prior felony convictions and used a straw CEO. Due to the 2008 financial crisis, the business lost millions for its investors.

Prior to trial, prosecutors offered Messrs. Shapiro and Stitsky plea agreements for 5 to 7 years and 7 to 9 years, respectively. Both declined the deal and exercised their Constitutional right to a jury trial. Both men were found guilty and sentenced to 85 years imprisonment. This sentence was over 10 times the plea offer for Mr. Shapiro and almost 10 times the plea offer for Mr. Stitsky. Messrs. Shapiro and Stitsky have already served more time than their plea offers.

Since their incarceration, both men have become model prisoners, earning support and praise from their fellow inmates. Mr. Shapiro has renewed his faith in Judaism and taught fellow inmates the dangers of dishonesty, while Mr. Stitsky has reflected on the victims of his crime and the remorse that he now has.

This clemency is supported by the Aleph Institute, Alice Johnson, several criminal justice advocacy groups, former Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, former District Judge William Bassler, former United States Attorneys Brett Tolman and James Reynolds, Professors of Law Bennett Gershman and Harold Krent, and several of the victims.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT:

2020 Election Politics Charlie Kushner Donald Trump Jared Kushner Paul Manafort Robert Mueller Roger Stone

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walkerismychoice · 6 years ago

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For Law and Love - Chapter 13

Book: Desire and Decorum - Modern day AU

Paring: Ernest Sinclaire X MC

Raiting: PG-13

Summary: Day one of their month apart, but Ernest and Anna still find a way to spend time together. Anna is trying to keep a low profile today, but nobody wants to let her forgot what day it is.

Word Count: 2543

Law and Love Master List - Catch up here

One month. Anna had been through one month over 250 times in her life. Certainly one more was insignificant compared to the total. And it's not like she wouldn't be able to see him, but it was almost more difficult to have someone you wanted so badly but couldn't have in front of your face all the time then to not see them at all. Yet she still wanted to be with him as much as possible, so she found herself waking at the dreadful hour of seven on a Saturday morning to volunteer at the legal aid clinic on campus. She threw her hair up, put on a clean pair of jeans and a sweater, and grabbed an extra large coffee on the way, hoping she'd feel awake by the time she got there.

As was expected with his “on time is late, and 15 min early is on time personality”, Ernest was already there when she arrived. She had to resist the urge to hug him or be too informal, so she decided if she couldn't act how she wanted to, she'd have some fun with it.

"Good morning, Mr. Sinclaire. Than you so much for this opportunity," Anna greeted.

Ernest raised an eyebrow at her. "Good morning Anna, why don't I introduce you to Mr. Chambers. He'll be training you this morning."

"Anna, so nice to meet you." He held out his hand for Anna to shake. He was a couple inches shorter than Ernest with curly dark brown hair and couldn't have been much older than Ernest. "None of this stuffy Mr. Chambers though. You can call me Bart."

"Nice to meet you too, Bart," Anna replied warmly. There was something about Bart that put her at ease. "How can I help?"

"I'm afraid it's not glamorous work, but we have a backlog of filing to do. Let me show you to the file room." Bart led her to a small room towards the back of the building and explained which piles needed to go where. Just before he was about to leave, he looked at her and smirked. "You know, Ernest had told me a lot about you."

"He has? I'm just one of his students..." Anna waited nervously to see where he was going. She already trusted Bart, but this legal clinic was affiliated with the school and she didn't want any rumors going around.

Bart chuckled. "Relax Anna, Ernest is a good guy, and I'm on your side. It's usually hard to get anything personal out of him, so for him to open up to me about you and this whole ordeal must mean you're pretty special. If he's not going to be interested in someone like me, I'm happy it's you." He must have noticed a slight change in her expression due to his unexpected admission, adding "Yes, I'm gay if you couldn't already tell."

Anna laughed. "I didn't want to make any assumptions."

"I have a boyfriend now, and obviously I'm not his type, but if I had ever had a chance with him, I would have been all over it. Anyhow, the clients will start trickling in any moment, so I'll leave you you to it, but let me know if you have any questions." Bart snuck through the partially opened door, leaving her alone with the massive stacks of paperwork.

Anna put her earbuds in and put some music on to make the menial task a bit more enjoyable. She got in a groove and had made a good dent, not even sure how much time had passed when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It startled her to the point that she jumped and let out a yelp. She whipped her head around expecting to see Bart. "Ernest! What are you doing in here?"

Ernest threw a stack of envelopes on the table and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "Bart insisted I file those immediately."

Anna peaked over his shoulder to see he had closed the door behind him. "Oh did he? He's a pretty decent wingman isn't he?"

"One of the best." Ernest cupped her cheek and ducked his head down to kiss her. He backed her into the table, and then picked her up and sat her atop it. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer as she deepened the kiss, having to fight the urge to start ripping his clothes off since it was neither the time or the place.

Anna put her hand on Ernest’s chest as she pulled back and looked up at him. “I think we better stop before I get us both kicked out of school.”

“You just can’t resist me, can you?” Ernest teased.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Today I can, but just barely. Ask me again in a few weeks.”

“It’s only been a day, hasn’t it? Speaking of the date, I have a confession.” Ernest picked the stack of envelopes up from the table and handed them to Anna. They were tied together with a red bow and she could see the top one was addressed to her, with ‘Day 1′ written on it. “It seems you may have been hoping I would forget what day it is today. With everything going on, I neglected to get you a proper present, but I hope these will suffice. Happy Birthday Anna.”

Anna didn’t forget it was her birthday, but she had hoped everyone else would. She had planned to celebrate her 21st birthday with Ernest and all her other close friends, but given the circumstances, she just wasn’t in the mood if he couldn't attend. As thoughtful as he was, she should have figured Ernest wouldn’t let it go by unnoticed. Anna untied the ribbon and sifted through the envelopes numbered 1-31 and her eyes began to well up. "When did you have time to do all this?"

"Let's just say I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Ernest pecked her sweetly on the lips. "I know we won't be able to talk or see each other every day, but at least you'll get a little something from me."

Anna threw her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. "It's perfect."

Ernest left Anna to finish her filing. There was still another hour or so until lunch, and she figured she had at least that much more work to do. She worked diligently and powered through a few extra minutes to get it all done. When she reached the break room, all the employees and volunteers were there and Bart was standing next to a birthday cake.

"We heard it was your birthday, and we never pass up an opportunity to eat cake around here." He lit the candle and led everyone in singing happy birthday to Anna. She was a mix of mortified that all these people she just met were making a fuss over her and touched that Ernest set this all up, for she highly doubted Bart figured out her birthday from the volunteer paperwork she just submitted that morning.

"Thank you," Anna mouthed to Ernest and he just nodded and smiled. The ate lunch and had cake before it was time for Ernest to get back to the clients.

Bart approached Anna before going back to his work. "You got the filing done much faster than I anticipated. I didn't prepare anything else for you to assist with today, so if you want you can go home early, otherwise you could shadow Ernest to get a feel for what we do here."

Anna wasn't going to turn down a chance to spend more time with Ernest, and she was curious to see what kind of cases he dealt with, so she happily agreed to stay. The first client was a man named Luis with an energetic boy in tow who looked about four or five. He rolled his toy truck across the desk and over the paperwork, and Ernest took it all in stride. He went around to Ernest's side of the desk and stared at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry," Luis apologized. "I didn't have anyone to watch him today. Alex, come here!"

"No worries," Ernest assured him. "Hey Alex, I have a very important job for you. Would you like to be my special helper?" Alex nodded and beamed proudly. "Can you give this paper to your dad to fill out?"

Alex took the form to his father and continued to be the courier for each document throughout the visit. It turned out Luis was a single father trying to get permanent custody of Alex. His mom was in and out of jail and sporadically in Alex's life. Luis had been laid off from his job for some time, but now he had steady employment and hoped he had a better chance of the courts awarding full custody. Anna was in awe of the level of compassion and kindness Ernest showed towards both Luis and Alex, and it made her love him even more. Yes, there was no denying she was completely head-over-heels in love with Ernest Sinclaire.

Ernest saw a few more clients that afternoon including an immigration case, a tenant-landlord dispute, and woman seeking disability benefits. Anna had been around lawyers her whole life, but this was a completely different side of things - one she knew existed but had never experienced. Her dad’s clients were typically large corporations and individuals who could pay top dollar for his services. His work certainly served a purpose, but this type of advocacy work, while not likely profitable, seemed to really give people a chance to change things in their lives for the better. Anna was beginning to see for the first time that maybe this career path could not only help fulfill her dad’s wishes, but could be something she was passionate about as well.

At the end of the day, Ernest and Anna snuck in a quick goodbye before Anna headed back home to spend her birthday and the rest of her weekend with her dad. She hadn’t seen him in a few weeks, and spending her birthday with him would be a good distraction. She knew he wouldn’t have expected her to celebrate her 21st birthday with him, but she was sure deep down he was thrilled to have her there instead of out at some bar getting wasted.

Anna walked through the front door, and was confused when she saw a couple pairs of women’s shoes by the door. She turned the corner to the living room and noticed a large birthday banner, before she saw two familiar faces pop out.

“Surprise!” Briar yelled and rand over hugged her.

Annabelle followed suit. “We know you said you didn’t want to do anything, but we came to crash your party anyway. Don’t worry, nothing wild. Just a fun girls night in.”

Somehow Briar and Annabelle both new Anna well enough to know what she needed even more than herself. She thought she wanted to wallow in self-pity with her dad, but having them there was a breath of fresh air, and her mood instantly lifted.

“I’m glad I have troublemaker best friends like you two who never listen to anything I say.” Anna chuckled. “Seriously though, I’m really happy you both are here. I’m just going to go say hi to my dad.”

Anna wandered into the kitchen where she could hear her dad banging around. “Hi sweetheart!” Vincent threw his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. “Happy Birthday!”

“Hi, Dad. I hope you don’t mind that Briar and Annabelle are joining us.”

“Of course I don’t mind!” Vincent Exclaimed. “Who do you think invited them? I know you love your old man, but I know you need your friends too. I figured we could all eat dinner together, and then I’ll leave you girls to whatever girls do.”

Anna scanned the kitchen. There was a pan of lasagna prepped and ready to go in the oven, and her dad was cutting up vegetables for salad. “Do you need any help with anything?

Vincent shooed her away. “Get out of here. It’s your birthday. Go relax.” He pointed to a bottle of white wine chilling in a bucket on the counter. “You could get yourself and your friends a drink now that you’re legal. There’s some beers in the fridge also.”

“The wine will be perfect. Thanks dad.” Anna grabbed the wine and three glasses and joined her friends in the living room.

Dinner was nice, and Vincent had gotten tiramisu from Anna’s favorite Italian bakery for dessert. Both Anna and Vincent were pleased to hear Briar had ditched Eddie and Arthur and was navigating somewhat of a long distance relationship with Luke. It was nothing serious yet, but they had continued to talk since they met at the bar and had plans to meet for lunch the next day. Annabelle gave a hilarious but PG-rated version of her Tinder adventures, and they all ate until they were stuffed.

Vincent retired early as promised, and the girls put on face masks and gave each other pedicures, which probably wasn’t the best idea after a few glasses of wine. Nevertheless, Anna hadn’t felt so light nor laughed that much in quite some time. They settled in and watched To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, which Anna could never get tired of. She had to admit Peter Kavinsky made her swoon, but he still had nothing on Ernest Sinclaire.

When they could all barely keep their eyes open, Anna showed Briar and Annabelle to their guest rooms, before climbing into bed. She retrieved evelop #1 from her bag, which she had purposefully saved until now to open and read what was inside.

My Anna,

One day down, and one day closer to us being together freely again. I couldn’t have imagined just a few months ago I’d be here today, having someone like you I can’t live without. However much you are missing me, I’m certain I’ll be missing you more.

I know this birthday isn’t what you planned, but I hope the time we got to spend made you at least a little happy. I’m not sure what kind of trouble you’ll get into the rest of the day without me, but please for your sake and mine, try to refrain from getting so drunk you puke on another man’s shoes. I hope to be the first and last to experience that with you.

Love,

Ernest

Anna laughed to herself as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Then she realized what he’d written in closing and her heart fluttered. She knew she loved him and she thought he felt the same, but they’d never thrown that four letter word out there. She wondered if it held the weight she thought it did, but Ernest took nothing of importance lightly. If he used that word, he meant it. Anna tucked the letter safety in her nightstand drawer and her head hit the pillow with a big smile on her face. This was not at all the 21st birthday she had envisioned, but all in all it had been a pretty great day.

Tag List: @symonde @timmagicktoad @reputationbee @flowerpowell @flyawayboo @hellospunkiebrewster @boneandfur @tmarie82 @debramcg1106 @lizeboredom @simplyaiden-blog @the-writerly-night-owl @quacksonlover @thefarrari @snickette @hhiggs @marianagmt @drakewalkerfantasy @mistersinclaire @jessweb84 @marshmallow-ortega @butindeed @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @confessionsofabrokegirl @akrenich @alexanderkeith-77-blog @nicestrokepam @leelee10898 @blackcatkita @yesterday4 @shelivesinthewoods @snyggflicka @nekkidmolerat @srry-itshockeyszn @walkerduchess @choicesyouplayandmore @andy-loves-corgis @katurrade @too-poor-to-buy-keys @endless-vall @hopefulmoonobject @damienazarios @pens-girl-87 @catlady0911 @thatspicegirlssong

#playchoices fanfic #desire and decorum #ernest sinclaire #Mr. Sinclaire #mc X ernest sinclaire #for law and love #my fic

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luck-over-logic · 6 years ago

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A couple of days ago, @firstofficerhobgoblin let it slip that today is her birthday. I decided to put a little fic together to celebrate.

The Birthday

Chekov had been planning himself a birthday party for, well it must have been a couple of weeks now. Twenty three, a prime age-- and the Ensign was certainly ready to celebrate. According to Scotty, the young man had beamed back from his last shore leave with about a grocery cart’s worth of liquors.

Jim, on his part, couldn’t help but be bemused by the whole thing. It wasn’t often they had a party on the ship, and well-- after last weeks’ close shave with the Romulans, the rest of the bridge crew could use a night off.

As the remainder of Alpha shift drifted off of the bridge, and headed towards the celebration, Jim noticed his First Officer, still working diligently at his science station.

“Planning on stopping by tonight, Spock?”

The question was immediately met by a raised eyebrow. “Negative, Captain. I fail to see how my attendance would improve morale at the event. Vulcans do not typically celebrate our, as humans would call them, birthdays.”

----

Spock didn’t attend the party. And to tell the truth, neither did Kirk. After all, this whole… birthday thing had got him thinking.

Starfleet officers didn’t usually celebrate while on missions, save for a small cake, or a bottle of wine. But Jim had had plenty of birthday bashes in his time, and he’d be damned if Spock didn’t get to have the same. After all, his First Officer was half-human. So, by that-- well, logic, it would make sense that he should celebrate his birthday at least half the time, every other year.

Two nights after Chekov’s party, Jim assembled a hushed meeting in his cabin.

“... they don’t celebrate at all?”

“I was as shocked as you, Sulu. I… well I expected something a bit more stoic than what you and I might have, but to hear they didn’t do anything at all!”

“--they really are sticks in the mud, the lot of them.”

“Spock’s birthday is coming up soon-- next month based on his crew file. I want to do something. Let’s…. have a party.”

________

And just like that, a plan came in to place. At Sulu’s suggestion, they set the tables up in the Arboretum. Uhura volunteered to dig through some Vulcan cooking manuals, and with Scotty’s help, they were able to program a few of the more ornate dishes into one of the replicators.

McCoy had initially grumbled about the whole idea, but any excuse to visit an exotic distillery and buy the alcohol for the event was enough to put a smile on his face. Chekov livened up the place with colorful balloons, streamers, and tinsel. Even Chapel and Rand got in on the affair- staying up late the night before to bake a birthday cake in the ship’s only convection oven.

And as for Jim, well his task was to keep the man distracted. Too… engrossed to see what was really happening behind the scenes. Perhaps... an away mission would do the trick.

Yes!

It was perfect.

______________

After eight hours of digging through spore samples on the planet below, Jim, Spock, and two Science Lieutenants beamed back aboard the Enterprise. Just as planned, Kirk immediately received a message over the intercom.

“Sulu to Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk, this is Lieutenant Sulu.”

Jim bit his lip to keep from smiling, as he leaned into the receiver. “Kirk here-- go ahead Mr. Sulu.”

“Sir, it’s one of the plants in the Arboretum. It appears, well it appears to be molting sir.”

“Molting?” Plants didn’t do that. Jim did his best to seem befuddled, “But Sulu--”

“I think you better come see this, sir.”

“Alright. I’ll be right down. Kirk out.”

The Captain turned to the Vulcan with a frown-- “I’m no scientist Spock. You… better come too.”

The Vulcan followed without a word. Jim knew the question of a molting plant would surely peak his curiosity. They hurried down to the Arboretum, only to be met with… total darkness.

Spock, of course, immediately picked up on the anomaly.

“The lights appear to have gone off Captain.”

Jim nodded, not even bothering to conceal the grin growing on his face. “You’d… better turn them on then, Spock.”

Spock nodded once, clapping to order the lights up. Just then, a noise filled the entire garden, as 30 crew members jumped up from behind the plants, out from under the tables.

“SURPRISE!!”

#firstofficerhobgoblin #hope you like it!!!

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dritastock · 2 years ago

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worklabournewsresearch · 3 years ago

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New Twist in Pandemic’s Impact on Schools: Substitutes in Camouflage

Green, E.L., and Malcolm, A. (2022, February 20). New Twist in Pandemic’s Impact on Schools: Substitutes in Camouflage. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/us/politics/substitute-teachers-national-guard-new-mexico.html UTL Link: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2630568781?pq-origsite=primo

Erica L. Green and Adria Malcom write: "For the last month, dozens of soldiers and airmen and women in the New Mexico National Guard have been deployed to classrooms throughout the state to help with crippling pandemic-related staff shortages. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has also enlisted civilian state employees — herself included — to volunteer as substitute teachers. New Mexico has been the only state to deploy National Guard troops in classrooms. But since the fall, when districts around the country began recruiting any qualified adult to take over classrooms temporarily, several other states have turned to uniformed personnel. National Guard members in Massachusetts have driven school buses, and last month, police officers in one city in Oklahoma served as substitutes."

"Staff shortages are the latest hurdle for school districts navigating a pandemic that is about to enter its third year. Coronavirus-related illnesses, quarantines and job-related stress have hit many districts hard. But the country’s education leaders say the pandemic is just accelerating trends that were at least a decade in the making. The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher’s union, published a survey this month that found 55 percent of educators were thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned, up from 37 percent in August. Three-fourths of members said that widespread absences had required them to fill in for colleagues or take on other duties, and 80 percent reported that unfilled job openings had led to more work obligations."

Additional Information

Steiner, E.D., and Woo, A. (2021). Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply: Key Findings from the 2021 State of the U.S. Teacher Survey. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-1.html

Walker, T. (February 1, 2022). Survey: Alarming Number of Educators May Soon Leave the Profession. National Education Association. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/survey-alarming-number-educators-may-soon-leave-profession

(2022, January 31). Poll Results: Stress And Burnout Pose Threat Of Educator Shortages. GBAO Strategies. https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/NEA%20Member%20COVID-19%20Survey%20Summary.pdf

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/jlt/

Cooper, D., and Hickey, S.M. (2022, February 3). Raising pay in public K–12 schools is critical to solving staffing shortages. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/solving-k-12-staffing-shortages/

Photo Source: (2022). Survey: Alarming Number of Educators May Soon Leave the Profession [Photograph]. National Education Association. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/survey-alarming-number-educators-may-soon-leave-profession

#labour economics #covid-19 #pandemic #labour shortage #teacher shortage #education sector #job stress

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stairnaheireann · 2 years ago

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#OTD in 1922 – The Free State’s Provisional Government puts the “Public Safety Bill” before the Dáil.

Dáil Éireann passed emergency legislation which allowed for the execution of those captured bearing arms against the Free State. The legislation passed to the National Army powers of punishment for anyone “taking part in or aiding and abetting attacks on the National Forces”, having possession of arms or explosives “without the proper authority” or disobeying an Army General Order. Interestingly,…

View On WordPress

#Dáil Eireann #Emergency legislation #Erskine Childers #Gen Richard Mulcahy #Irish Civil War #Kevin O’Higgins #Kilmainham Gaol #Labour TD #Michael Collins pistol #Public Safety Bill #Rand and File Volunteers #Thomas Johnson #W.T. Cosgrave

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poachai · 4 years ago

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Recruiting Police is Hard, Here’s Why (and 5 Tips to Fix It)

Communities across the United States currently share a common hiring challenge: keeping the police force fully staffed. A combination of factors has resulted in fewer applicants for law enforcement positions.

The most visible factor is the recent media coverage of controversial incidents involving police officers. In addition, viral videos generate comments and controversy related to police behavior, budgets, and charges of racism. As a result, the public image is not one that encourages or increases recruits.

Other factors contribute to the shortage as well. Police officers are retiring in unprecedented numbers. In New York City, for example, between June 29 and July 6 alone, the number of officers filing for retirement increased by 411 percent increase over the same time last year.

In addition to negative press and an increase in the number of retirements, the work itself is certainly less than attractive. Police officers face risk, job-related stress, and, in some cases, PTSD. In the current climate, recruiters may be hard-pressed to sell the benefits of law enforcement.

Interested applicants are sometimes deterred by the hiring process itself. Due to the nature of the work, hiring can take months, with several steps including interviews, background checks, academy training, and other requirements.

Add to all that, the need and desire among city governments to reach and recruit from diverse populations in terms of both ethnicity and age.

Are there solutions to the hiring shortage? Definitely. Police departments are finding several innovative effective ways to increase the number of qualified applicants.

Polish your image. Police departments are working to counteract negative public opinion by reaching out to the community in a variety of ways. Working with the local media to generate positive coverage is essential. Daily police briefings keep the public informed and allow for questions from reporters. That transparency should carry over into recruitment. Recruit by emphasizing public service and community connection over "law and order."

Use a variety of recruiting tools. Look for new ways to reach potential applicants. Be aware of popular online job sites. Post openings prominently on the department website with clear and simple ways to respond. Consider expanding your postings beyond the boundaries of the local community. To increase diversity among applicants, research and understand publications and websites designed for specific populations.

Support your applicants. Reducing the number of steps in the application process may not be possible or desirable. Still, giving applicants guidance and support throughout the process may prevent candidates from dropping out. Be sure that steps are clearly defined. Have a recruiter available to answer questions. Follow up frequently. Stay in constant communication and offer plenty of encouragement.

Interact with youth in the community. Police officers have multiple opportunities to serve as role models for young people in the academy. They may serve as mentors and volunteers in programs for students. Be sure that local schools know officers are available to talk to classrooms about policing as a career. Provide scholarships. Some communities have even established cadet or youth academy programs. The Memphis Tennessee police department calls their youth program for high school students the Blue Path and includes tuition-free coursework toward an associate's degree.

Turn current police officers into recruiters. Finally, empower current police officers to find applicants. Research by the Rand Corporation shows that more than 60 percent of law enforcement officers were drawn to the profession by friends or family in law enforcement. Provide current officers with materials and guidelines so that they can encourage qualified candidates to apply. Incentive programs for referrals might include financial incentives or additional leave and comp time.

Police departments that understand the current hiring shortage and are ready to adapt and improve their recruiting strategies are on track to maintain a strong force, reducing crime, and building trust with their community.

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luke-rand · 7 years ago

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— ✧KEIYNAN LONSDALE?, NO, THAT’S JUST LUKE RAND ! THEY’RE THE TWENTY-THREE YEAR OLD SON OF DANNY RAND & MISTY KNIGHT. THEY ARE ALSO A GRADUATE STUDENT AT PARAGON. I HEAR THEY’RE EXCITABLE & COMPASSIONATE BUT TEND TO BE CHILDISH & NAIVE. HIS FILE SAYS THAT HIS POWER IS ADVANCED TRAINING IN MARTIAL ARTS.

Was very obviously named after Luke Cage b/c Danny & him are best bros for life.

THE SWEETEST CINNAMON ROLL YOU WILL EVER MEET. He genuinely enjoys doing any kind of nice deed, from helping old ladies cross the street to trying to save the world.

110% here for all this hero stuff & making the world a better place.

Truly tries to see the best in every single person which can get him into some sticky situations since he’s so trusting & naive.

hONESTLY JUST WANTS TO BEFRIEND EVERYONE?? (especially the other kids of the defenders b/c he wants to have a lil team of junior defenders & will talk about it way more than necessary.)

Would get friendship bracelets or necklaces with you.

Super duper open with his parents about pretty much everything b/c he loves his family so much & just wants them to be hella close. Also Misty made it a huge point that they all needed to be open with each other since Danny & her have had problems with that in the past.

Listen, he has so much energy & can come across as immature & annoying. This really doesn’t bother him that much unless someone he REALLY REALLY wants to befriend thinks this.

Doesn’t get down or stay down too much. Usually bounces back from things pretty quick.

LOVES ATTENTION.

A little too confident tbh. Definitely bites off more than he can chew.

Honestly needs a friend or multiple friends to watch out for him & let him know when his ideas are bad. Otherwise this smol bean is going to get himself killed one day tbh.

Hella bi.

Loves memes, puns, & vines with his whole heart. Would definitely create a group chat with pals called “by any memes necessary” & use it to strictly send everyone wholesome memes to brighten their day & bring them laughter.

He also really loves those planet earth documentaries b/c he thinks nature & animals are very rad. Honestly gets a little too into them & gets very stressed when there’s a small animal just trying to survive.

Luke can be a bit much when it comes to comforting others b/c he wants to help them right away which lbr might not be what they need in the moment.

Has a pet turtle named Sheldon & watches the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon with him.

He really loves volunteer work & often times takes on more than he can handle b/c he hates saying no.

Social work major. If the hero thing doesn’t work out, he’d like to still help people out. Although being a hero is his ultimate goal, he doesn’t look down on other occupations, after all his mom started off as a cop.

He’s very creative and let’s his wild imagination get the best of him sometimes.

#sidekick.intro #i definitely need to add to this #later tho

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berniesrevolution · 7 years ago

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JACOBIN MAGAZINE

Twenty years ago, the Teamsters’ national strike against United Parcel Service (UPS) produced panic, if not outright hysteria, in the corporate boardrooms of the United States.

The editorial writers of the Wall Street Journal were at their wits’ end:

The UPS strike is so weird it’s hard to know where to begin. Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the mighty Teamsters has suddenly decided it must paralyze the nation’s parcel-distribution system to have it out over mostly voluntary part-timers and various pension arcana. These matters may be worth an argument, but Armageddon? What’s this weird, awful strike about anyway?

Everybody else, though, seemed to get it.

Then-New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote that the UPS strike “is best seen as the angry fist-waving response of the frustrated American worker, a revolt against the ruthless treatment of workers by so many powerful corporations.” Even right-wing Chicago Sun-Times columnist Dennis Byrne didn’t have to think too hard about it: “Working men and women have paid dues enough; it’s time to pass around some of the prosperity.”

With 185,000 Teamsters on strike for nearly three weeks beginning on August 4, 1997, fighting under the slogan of “Part-Time America Won’t Work,” the UPS strike proved to be the most popular strike in a generation. Now that the US and world economy revolves around the burgeoning logistics industry — dominated by giant corporations like UPS, FedEx, Walmart, and the quickly growing Amazon — we should look back to the 1997 UPS strike for lessons on how to revive a dying labor movement, and how to hit capital where it hurts.

Contract Campaign

The future of the Teamsters hung on the outcome of the 1997 UPS contract.

Ron Carey, the Teamsters’ first reform-minded general president, was elected to office in 1991 against two old-guard slates in the first government-monitored, rank-and-file election in the union’s history. The majority of his slate were members of the Teamsters for Democratic Union (TDU), the longstanding Teamsters reform group whose origins were in the radical rank-and-file movements of the 1970s.

Carey won the election with a little more than 48 percent of the vote, shocking the media, labor officialdom, and major employers who thought he didn’t have a shot at winning. The TDU imprint on the victory of the Carey slate was unmistakable. Post-election, TDU concluded:

A close look at the election results shows clearly that where TDU organizing has been strongest, the Carey Slate win was strongest — even in the opposing camp’s back yards.

Carey’s triumph set off a chain reaction of events that toppled the sclerotic leadership of the AFL-CIO in 1995 and culminated in the 1997 UPS strike. Soon after taking office in 1992, Carey cut his own salary and eliminated the many perks of office held dear by previous old-guard officers and staff such as limousines and private jets — the infamous “Teamsters air force.” He also began the difficult and painstaking process of removing dozens of corrupt local leaders, many connected to the mob.

He shocked UPS in February 1994 with a national safety strike after the company unilaterally raised the weight limit of packages, in violation of the contract. The company was not expecting such a militant response to a move they considered to be their prerogative. Clearly, UPS was dealing with a different type of Teamster leader.

Carey won re-election in 1996 against an old-guard slate led by James P. Hoffa, son of the notorious and presumed-dead Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa. It was a physically demanding and bruising contest. Teamster employers clearly favored a Hoffa victory as akin to something of a welcome counterrevolution in their eyes. “In all honesty, my clients’ interests are best served by a return to the Old Teamsters,” declared Gary Marsack, a Milwaukee-based lawyer representing Teamster employers, and a former grocery industry executive.

Ron Carey and the reformers triumphed in no small part due to Carey promising major gains in the upcoming 1997 contract. In order to win those gains at UPS, the Teamsters organized a contract campaign on a massive scale. “First, you have to get organized. You have to have something that brings you together. When you are organized, you then create the leverage you need,” recalled Ron Carey. The leverage Carey wanted could only be achieved by a national contract campaign.

Rand Wilson was tapped to be communications coordinator and campaign strategist for the contract campaign. Before being recruited by Teamster friends to work under the new reform leadership, Wilson had worked since the 1980s as a union organizer and led several important labor-centered political campaigns.

Steven Greenhouse, the labor reporter for the New York Times, observed Wilson in action during the fractious 1996 Teamster convention in Philadelphia:

Tucked in a booth belonging to the union’s Parcel & Small Package Division, Rand Wilson was preoccupied with another, distant battle. He was buttonholing dozens of UPS shop stewards and stuffing their pockets with a booklet called “Countdown to the Contract.” It contained a month-by-month calendar until the July 31 strike deadline and gave myriad tips on how to escalate pressure on the company and build a communications network to keep workers informed and involved.

“The International Union began sending bulletins to every UPS member’s home,” Wilson later wrote. Fellow communication department staffer Matt Witt,

highlight[ed] the importance of Teamster families’ involvement in the upcoming contract campaign. Nine months before the contract deadline, every member received a survey asking them to help shape the union’s bargaining priorities.

Wilson crafted the membership survey with Ron Carey and Ken Hall, a West Virginia Teamster and the new parcel director for the Teamsters. The survey asked members what priority the union negotiating committee should place on either creating more full-time jobs, winning wage increases, or improving pensions. The “Countdown to the Contract: UPS Teamster Bargaining Survey” was more than a long list of questions. “The bargaining survey was a very important part of the contract campaign,” according to Wilson.

Working closely with the Research Department, we put a lot of effort into how we framed issues so that the questions didn’t divide full timers from part timers, or feeder drivers from package car drivers. The distribution and return of the surveys was just as important because that allowed the leadership to gain intelligence about which locals had the organizational capacity to get a large number filled-out and returned. It signaled who were willing to actively participate.

It was expected that UPS would continue their push for major concessions from the union — possibly greater ones than demanded in the past. Unsurprisingly, the survey found that for 90 percent of part timers, the top priority was creating more full-time jobs. The Teamsters Research Department produced a well-documented booklet Half a Job Is Not Enough that revealed, among many other shocking things:

The last Teamster-UPS contract was negotiated in 1993. Since then, the part-time work force at UPS had grown by 43 percent, while the number of full-time jobs has grown by only 10 percent. UPS has hired an additional 46,300 workers, but more than 38,500 of them have been placed in part-time jobs. Therefore, 83 percent of the new jobs at UPS have been part-time jobs.

It was not just the growth in the number of part-time jobs at UPS, but the shift toward part-time work.

Of course, one would expect part-time employment to grow, as the company expands. However, the shift to part-time jobs is way out of proportion when compared with overall growth in the economy. Since 1993, the volume of packages handled by UPS grew by eight percent. Total company revenues grew by 26 percent. But part-time jobs grew by 43 percent, much more rapidly than the company as a whole.

UPS made over $4 billion in profits during the life of the 1993-97 contract. It was well positioned to create more full-time jobs and close the wage gap between part-time and full-time workers and UPS workers knew it. More than 100,000 of them signed a petition demanding that UPS stop increasing the number of part-time jobs and start creating more full-time ones.

During the past two contract negotiations, the Teamsters struggled to successfully counter the company’s daily propaganda broadcasts at “Pre-Work Communication Meetings” (PCMs). For this contract campaign, to ensure a regular flow of information to the ranks, Ken Hall instructed

all Teamster local unions to set up “member-to-member” communication networks. Under these networks, each steward or other volunteer was responsible for communication with approximately twenty workers. The International Union deployed education staff and field representatives — some of them UPS rank-and-filers — to help locals get the networks established.

The “member-to-member” campaign was certainly the largest initiative ever in the union — if not the entire US labor movement — to involve 185,000 rank-and-file union members in a contract campaign.

We Wanted People We Could Count On

The Field Services Department was to play a crucial role in the upcoming contract campaign. Carey created it soon after taking office for his first term, and it organized contract campaigns and ran strikes for contracts negotiated by the international union in Washington. Field Services Department director David Eckstein worked closely with Rand Wilson, training a crew of field representatives for the upcoming UPS contract campaign.

Eventually forty people, drawn from a cross-section of the varied Teamster membership including freight, car haul, warehousing, and UPS, were trained to focus exclusively on the campaign. “We wanted people we could count on,” David Eckstein recalled. “We wanted to create an army the company couldn’t buy.”

The field representatives were expected to work around uncooperative local officials, mostly old-guard figures allied with James P. Hoffa. “We had a lot of resistance in Minnesota and Wisconsin,” Eckstein remembered. Carey and Eckstein held two-man meetings with local officials about the upcoming contract. Eckstein vividly remembers Carey laying it on the line:

I know some of you don’t like me, but this is a national contract campaign and it is going to happen. We have two plans: Plan A is where we give you everything you need to move the campaign in your local, and Plan B is the same as Plan A but we move it in your local without you.

According to Eckstein, Carey made it clear that the full weight of the general president’s office would be brought to bear on uncooperative local officials — including the possibility of the nuclear option, trusteeship, in which the international union would seize control of a local and dismiss much of its leadership.

On March 7, four days before national negotiations began, the Teamsters organized a national contract meeting with two representatives from each of the 206 local unions representing UPS workers to outline contract goals and strategy.

Three days later, UPS Teamsters rallied in ten major cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Seattle. “UPS is a billion-dollar company,” Carey told the media, “that can afford to provide good full-time jobs with pensions and health care.” The rallies around the country gave UPS Teamsters confidence that the international union was solidly behind their most important demands and grievances.

On March 11, contract proposals were exchanged. As predicted, UPS, despite making record profits, demanded wide-ranging concessions on subcontracting, pensions, and health care coverage.

(Continue Reading)

#politics #the left #organized labor #labor movement #strike #history #UPS strike #workers rights #workers union #capitalism #corporatism #jacobin #jacobin magazine

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sizecon-blog · 8 years ago

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SizeCon17 Update 4/19/17

Hi all, Bryan here with this week's update. Let's dive right in! 1.) SizeCon App!! -- One of our multi-talented volunteers, Kreeyz, has been hard at work on an app for SizeCon! This app (for iOS and Android) will come loaded with handy information, such as the schedule, venue map, nearby attractions, and more! Plus, the app will use your smartphone's QR Code Reader, enabling you to access cool and exclusive extras from both the SizeCon staff and participating Artists. While it's still a work in progress, above are some preview images for you all to check out!

2.) Size Games -- we are currently developing a bunch of fun Size-themed games for our attendees to play. First off, we are working on a Size-themed version of Cards Against Humanity. For those who don't know, Cards Against Humanity is played where one person reads a "prompt card." Then the rest of the players play one of seven "response" cards in their hands. The "prompter" picks his or her favorite one. For example, "Charades was ruined for me forever when my mom had to act out ________." and "Using her giant silk panties as a duvet." A group of us have spent hours playing this in New York! Another game we'll introduce is Size Jenga. This will involve the typical "giant" Jenga set you might see in bars with an added twist: each block has a "dare" on it. One example might be "Reveal your first Size-related thought." I know personally that this game is endlessly fun! Last but certainly not least, GirlShrinker (http://girlshrinker.deviantart.com) has offered to run a size-themed RPG! New players and veterans alike can participate in a one-off game featuring sexy size-themed shenanigans. If you have any interest in participating, please note him privately.

3.) We are extremely excited by the submissions we have received already. We're looking forward to posterizing and framing them at the event. That being said, we are still accepting submissions: the final deadline is May 30th! See below for the original post: Hi everyone! Captain Rand here with the Sizecon Crew, shouting out for SUPER HIGH RESOLUTION artwork for posters to hang around Sizecon 2017, this July 29-30th in New York! Get your tickets at www.sizecon.com/tickets/ What posters are we looking for? GTS, GT, SW, SM, BE, FMG, Growth, Anthro, Furry, Vore, Gentle, Destructive, Whimsical, Collage, Drawing, Render, Lyrical poetry ~ we're looking for variety, quality, and most importantly - from the community! No nudity though or overly sexual visuals. Think classy. Also think about the significant others and friends than attendees may bring along Again - No nudity! Please send submissions as .JPG files with the exact dimensions: 7200 pixels by 10800 pixels (24 inches by 36 inches in 300 dpi). Please email to [email protected] with the subject: POSTER: (Artist name) The absolute deadline is May 30th, as we have to review and possibly ask for an edit or two before sending for printing. Not all submissions will be printed, but we plan on hanging up as many as our budget will allow! Thank you all for your enthusiasm and creativity! 4.) Sales Update: we are growing slowly but steadily. We are up to 53 attendees so far. If you're planning to attend and haven't bought a ticket yet, please consider doing so sooner rather than later -- we use the revenues from ticket sales to help cover some of the upfront costs. And if you already have your tickets, let everyone know! Word of mouth has been a tremendous help, especially from last year's attendees who had such a good time. For example, our volunteer group tripled from last year to this year -- and nearly all of them were attendees from last year! So we urge you, please go out and spread the hype! That's all for this week's update. As always, feel free to reach out with questions or concerns at [email protected] Thank you! Bryan www.facebook.com/SizeCon/ twitter.com/nycsizecon sizecon.tumblr.com/

www.sizecon.com

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wtfhastrumpdonenow-blog · 8 years ago

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June 14th: Bad news out of left field

1) This morning, a gunman opened fire on congressional Republicans who were holding practice in Alexandria, VA for tomorrow’s Congressional Baseball Game, a long-standing DC tradition to raise money for charity. Five people (House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, two Capitol Police officers, a congressional staffer, and a lobbyist) were wounded. The suspect later died of wounds sustained by law enforcement fire. Before the shooting, another GOP congressman says a man matching the shooter’s description had asked him who was practicing on the field - Democrats or Republicans. Rep. Steve Scalise is still in critical condition, but his colleagues are crediting him for their lives. Since he is House leadership, he travels with Capitol Police detail. Sen. Rand Paul, who was present, says “had they not been there, it would have been a massacre.”

What can I do?

Email your gratitude to the Capitol Police for their bravery at [email protected].

The game goes on! If you’re local, get your $10 ticket to tomorrow night’s game here and donate to the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity 501(c)3 non profit on Facebook.

Obviously, there appears to be a political element to the shooter’s motivation, who reportedly shared numerous anti-Trump posts on his social media platforms and who had volunteered for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Right now, D.C. is coming together in unity. Eventually, though, this will probably become political, as most things do. So make sure you read up on gun control and mental health so you’re prepared to engage thoughtfully and respectfully about policy when that day comes.

2) Jeb! is back. Yesterday, Jeb! Bush announced he is backing Paul Massey in the NYC Republican mayoral primary. Massey must be feeling especially excited with headlines on Politico like, “Jeb Bush backs Massey, who's been compared to Jeb Bush.”

What can I do?

Please clap.

3) Nearly 200 Democratic members Congress filed a federal lawsuit accusing Grumpy of violating the Constitution by profiting from business dealings with foreign governments. Rumor has it this is the most members of Congress to ever sue to president.

What can I do?

If you’re feeling super nerdy, read the full complaint here.

Confused about the emoluments clause, the basis for the suit? Vox has you covered.

4) In a rare act of bipartisanship, the Senate voted today to enact new sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. BONUS: It also included a provision to make it harder for President Trump to lift sanctions himself/without involving Congress.

What can I do?

Call your congressional reps and ask them to vote in favor of the House bill so we can send it to Trump’s desk for signing. MAKE HIM SIGN IT.

Positive News: It’s National Bourbon Day!

What can I do?

Try one of these fun bourbon cocktail recipes.

Raise your glass to Capitol Police and Alexandria PD for saving some lives today.

Repeat.

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god-hunter · 8 years ago

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Secret Empire #2

This was a loaded one. And the ending confused me...

But for an event, I do like the fact that so many things are packed in. It does make it hard for a comprehensive review, but like last time, I’ll try to do so as best I can.

There are so many directions occurring in this dense issue, that I couldn’t just outright say whether it’s good or bad, but basically this whole thing is an aftermath of the ending of Issue 1. That is to say, if bombs were to be dropped from the last issue, this one takes us to after the smoke clears. ...if that helps...

Also, there wasn’t nearly enough Defenders in this issue. Still though, I’m happy they’re included at all.

[Spoilers below. The only way to understand what happened, really]

Like I briefly said, this issue begins ‘after the bombs dropped’ from the end of issue 1. You may recall Helicarriers hovering over cities after the death of a certain, Rick Jones.

Well this one insinuates that bombs dropped and people died. It starts in Las Vegas with Wonder Man, Hawkeye, Hulk and Nadia Pym digging for survivors through wreckage, etc. etc. Black Widow is there too, brooding about how Steve Rogers needs to die.

Then we get a glimpse of what’s going on in New York. It’s no good. There are aliens everywhere in the darkness, who do a bit of a number on Luke Cage and Danny Rand. The only way we see what’s happening in the darkness was through the clever use of a night vision cam, or what-have-you.

Jessica Jones ended up coming to their rescue, and we find that Dagger has been basically, using ALL her power in order to light the city for hours and hours at a time. It’s gotten to the point where she can only keep the light going for 4 hours a day. Then for the remainder of the time, the city is in darkness, and I guess these aliens have their free reign, without many heroes left to stop them.

Let’s not forget normal every-day looters, who are just trying to survive. I can’t blame ‘em. King Pin of all people says that he’ll save them. And when he does, he wants the whole World to remember that he was the one who made things right. “...On the day when we see the sun again, you remember-- It was Wilson Fisk who kept you safe.” [Ooh. Pretty interesting thread for the Defenders to go on.]

Meanwhile at ‘The Mount’, which is I guess what they’re calling the Underground HQ, Spencer made an interesting choice in copying or rather, nodding to Hickman’s style of narration.

“It was the day two of us stood, and two paths were laid out. A familiar story, but somehow different this time. One was Light. And the other was Darkness.”

[This was a strange, slightly forced nod to Hickman’s Avengers, back when they symbolized Captain America to ‘Life’ and Iron Man to ‘Death’. This time the comparison was set that Tony A.I was ‘Light’ and Black Widow is ‘Darkness’ now. Choosing A.I Tony for Light is a very interesting choice for a lot of reasons. But the main one I want to go with for now is that he literally is made of light. The idea that an A.I representation of Tony is the ‘Hope’ of the group, however... implies that he only has pure motivations. Which, I’m sorry, but even the biggest Stark apologists know he’s got his hang ups. Particularly that thing about how this A.I feels that Humans are obsolete. But I’m pretty sure Spencer is ignoring that one completely.]

Um. Without diverting any further, basically a line is drawn in the sand about the direction which the Underground should take. Black Widow wants to kill him, and Tony wants... volunteers for a different sort of mission. Not killing though.

He puts on a video of Rick Jones speaking to the group, and it’s nice to see him again. We get the whole “If you’re getting this message, let’s be honest--there’s a good chance I’ve been made dead,” trope. But then he tells them exactly what happened to Captain America.

We get some decent insight from everything that went down since Pleasant Hill - [what I know] and Spencer’s run of Captain America: Steve Rogers - [stuff I don’t know.]

He informs the gang via dead video message that Kobik was manipulated by Red Skull while in Pleasant Hill. That she truly thought Hydra was a good thing, and so she was the one who changed Steve’s entire disposition, memories/history, etc. when granting him Youth again.

“She completely rewrote reality--his life experiences, his beliefs--Everything right down to the DNA. She made him their perfect soldier.”

From there he laid out his own plan. “A plan that included capturing Kobik--and killing his best friend, Bucky...” [Damn, he’s dead again? Fuck.]

He apparently destroyed Kobik too. She’s been shattered into a million little fragments. And the basic idea now is that if they find the fragments to put the cube back together [not her, but the cube..] then maybe they can all salvage this and write the whole thing off as a horrible nightmare.

“...They’re out there somewhere. I’ve attached everything I’ve got--all the Hydra files on the Cosmic Cube... all their intel.”

So, now it’s down to a hunt for the fragments and A.I Tony is all in. But Black Widow doesn’t buy it at all. For her, This is Reality. There is no rewriting it. And they need to kill Steve for his Treason.

She believes this to such a degree that she slugs Clint in their downtime, in only the most Romanov way. She shares a sweet kiss with him and agrees to do things his way, only to turn on him and punch him while his guard is down.

[This punch didn’t mean Civil War III or anything. It was just a way for her to get out of there and do what she needed to do. But it’s still fucked up.]

Clint comes to pretty soon and informs Tony A.I about this, who seems to already have a plan. Hercules, Quicksilver, Ant-Man and Mockingbird are all going to help him look for the fragments.

“Good team, right?” Tony asks. “It’s a start.” Clint says.

In Black Widow’s corner, Spider-man somehow tracks her down in Colorado a day later. And he tells her that he wants to help her kill Cap.

We get an awesome reference to Civil War II. Now suddenly that Future Vision makes perfect sense to Miles. And he actually wants to do this.

[And suddenly there entirety of Civil War II is all the better for me. I only liked half of that event, before it became so Miles v Cap focussed. But NOW.. hoohoo. Damn. That’s good planning Marvel.]

Miles didn’t come alone. Hulk, Nadia, Riri, Viv and whoever is manning the Falcon suit came too.

Despite saying ‘no killing though’, Black Widow is happy to train these children in her ‘Red Room’.

Nearly at the end of the issue, in Montana, Clint, Tony’s A.I (who can apparently wear clothes, like a Red Hoodie now... - [Come on Man!] They end up finding Sam Wilson, who seemed to have hung up the Cap Costume since all of this until now.

Then the very end of this issue confused me.

We see a bloke girl in a white dress running away from Hydra people. Particularly a dude in a snake costume. And she gets beat down on until a random Old guy gives the snake leader a big boot to the head. He knocks out the other guys with ease too.

Narrations insinuated throughout this entire issue that there was no hope to be found. Until this one moment, right when things seemed at their worst.

“W-who are you?! What do you want?!” she asks, frightened.

An older, white-haired bearded dude in Army fatigues tells her, “My name is Steve Rogers. I’m just trying to get home.”

-To Be Continued!-

...I give up. Not on the event, but on trying to understand it.

I don’t know what is going on here, and I’m not going to conjure up any theories. The reveal might be stupid, or it might be genius. But I’m just gonna wait and reserve judgement until then.

Ugh!!

This event is half entertaining, and part frustrating! I’m not sure what else.

...by the looks of it, Secret Empire #3 will focus on our teams in Space, which I’m actually interested in following up on for once.

We’re also at the point where allll the tie-ins are going to splinter out from this Event, causing this thing to go on foooreeever long this Summer.

I am not interested in Secret Empire: Uprising, which involves Black Widow training the Champions to do her bidding...

In fact, the only tie-in I am interested in is the Doctor Strange one. [Which is a funny story for it’s own reason. I’ll get into it when I actually review the issue.]

Anyway, I feel like it’ll be a moment before we get to Secret Empire #3.

So until then. I guess we’ll just have to sit on this.

For now though, it’s still more entertaining than frustrating for me, I think.

#Secret Empire #Issue 2 #Marvel Event #Summer 2017

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star-trekkin-across-theuniverse · 8 years ago

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Floating, Pt10

Word Count: 3171 Tags: @medicatemedrmccoy, @from-kitten-to-kitsune @suzen23smith @outside-the-government @sistasarah-sallysaidso @nymphadora-blurryface @bluebird214

Jim was still asleep in my bed when I slipped out of my room to meet Leonard for our meeting. I leaned across the bed and kissed his shoulder before leaving, trying not to be bothered by the juxtaposition of Jim Kirk in my bed and the conversation about Janice Rand in the cantina. I didn’t have any delusions of happily ever after with Jim. I didn’t even have any hopes for happily every Tuesday. But I did wonder what exactly it was we were doing. We didn’t socialize other than our secret rendezvous in one another’s rooms and bantering in the halls when we saw one another. But it was also still early days of whatever this was. I was already overthinking it. I scolded myself and shook off the meandering path of doubts I was following in time to walk into medbay.

Leonard was already sitting at his desk, poring over his PADD. I grabbed mine from the charging station, and joined him. He gestured for me to sit, and without a word, rose, and held a hypo to my neck. Still silent, he pushed a coffee cup toward me, and went back to whatever it was he was doing on his PADD. I raised an eyebrow and took the coffee, trying not to flinch away from the bitter, unsweetened heat as it crossed my tongue.

“Good morning to you too,” I finally offered, when no greeting was forthcoming.

“First things first,” he started. “I know I’m responsible for one of them, but that’s two nights in a row you’ve been out drinking. That’s not something that will be easy for you to do once your daughter is shipboard. It also won’t be particularly healthful to maintain. I spent some time looking at your records last night and you had a few periods of irresponsibility while you were at the Academy.”

My cheeks burned in shame. “You’re right, you were responsible for one of them.” I couldn’t think of what else to say.

“You don’t want to defend the catastrophe of your second year?” It was pointed.

“I don’t. I want you to have a little faith in me,” I countered. He clenched his jaw and nodded. “You said first. So what else? You may as well get the entire uncomfortable employee review type shit out of the way.”

“Your social calendar will look different once Katie is here.” He wouldn’t make eye contact with me. He was either referring to hanging out at the cantina or spending time with Jim. I assumed he meant Jim. I saved us both the embarrassment of saying it and instead just nodded.

“I’m sure I would adjust.”

He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face. “I hate to ask this, kid, but I’m going to have to. I need Katie’s medical history, including her birth certificate. I think I can backdate most of her information, and treat this as a simple clerical error.”

“Why is that such a bad thing to ask about?” I was confused.

“I need to know about Katie’s dad,” he sighed. I smiled.

“That’s probably the easiest part of the whole thing. He’s dead,” I offered. “He wasn’t terribly involved prior to his death, aside from giving me child support.”

“When did he die?”

“He was on the Farragut. Elias Cox. ”

“I’ll try to access his records. I’m sure you’re aware, we need to look at Katie’s genetic history to check for any markers suggesting she’s unfit to be shipboard. With both you and the father being safe, it shouldn’t be an issue. Will your parents be able to take her to a physical within the next day or two?” Leonard was flicking his finger across his PADD rapidly, stopping a few times to make notes in whatever file he was in.

“Of course.” I was assuming so, but they always came through. “This seems very quick.”

“By the end of next week, we’ll be far enough out that a simple teleport won’t work any longer, and she’d have to piggyback across space, teleporting from one ship to the next until she caught up. The physical toll on her body would be ridiculous, and every other risk goes up with that kind of plan. She could go missing, she could get hurt, she could get lost, she could get ported to the wrong place. I’m going to push forward with this, as quickly as possible,” he explained.

“You need to captain’s approval for this, don’t you?” I asked. I had said nothing to Jim about having a child. It was one of those conversations you either have right away or save until you’re doing something serious. We were well past the ‘right away’ and I didn’t think we were ever going to get to the ‘something serious’. So I’d never brought it up.

“Of course,” he affirmed. I cringed. “Does Jim not know about Katie?”

“Why would I have shared that? With my captain?” I asked, not the least bit sarcastic.

“You - but -” Leonard stumbled.

“I wasn’t about to volunteer information about Katie until I needed to,” I started. “Because he’s the captain.”

“But if you hope to have any kind of relationship with him, Bryn -”

“I know Jim is your best friend, Leonard. But look me in the eye and tell me honestly that he’s the kind of man that settles down with one woman,” I interrupted. “Particularly a woman that brings with her a pre-existing family.”

“He’s a good man, Bryn.” Leonard’s tone was a warning.

“I would never suggest he isn’t. The crew, as a whole, respect him, and that speaks volumes for me. But he’s married to this ship, and will be married to every subsequent ship he commands. I’m a distraction,” I replied. Leonard looked like he wanted to say something and I held up my hand to stop him. “I’m a distraction, Bones. And I’m okay with that. Because that’s what he is for me too.”

He shook his head. “You’re both much more valuable than that.”

“I’m not upset about it. I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts,” I shrugged. I felt my cheeks flame up again. “But it’s not like we’re having long discussions about what the universe means. We’re not even friends with benefits. We’re just the benefits part.”

Leonard flushed a little as well, and looked down at his PADD. “I’m not sure I needed that information.”

“I could have sworn you were a doctor,” I laughed. Leonard’s head snapped back up.

“Damnit woman, I am a doctor. But I’m not a sex therapist,” he barked. I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing.

“So about Katie.” I changed the topic back to one we would both be more comfortable talking about.

“I’ll talk to Jim this morning,” he started. “If you make those arrangements for her tests, we can get the ball rolling right away.”

“Thanks, Leonard,” I smiled. I checked my comm. It was just after breakfast at home.

“Children need their parents.” He looked back down at his PADD, his shoulders tense. I was moved by how much he was willing to put on the line for me. Backdating everything and treating it as a clerical error was technically falsifying records, and could come with some pretty severe punishment. But Starfleet had been through a number of crises in the past few years, and with the loss of the bulk of the fleet during the Narada incident, and the destruction of the hall of records by Khan, it was the kind of tiny deception that might be overlooked. I assumed that’s what Leonard was thinking as well. I rose to go make the call to my mom and saw his shoulders slump just a little. Impulsively, I stepped behind his desk and threw my arms around him.

“I mean it, Leonard. Thank you,” I said again. “I can’t put into words how much this means to me.” His arm snaked around my waist and squeezed once before gently pushing me away.

“It takes too damn long to train up good doctors, kid,” he said gruffly. “And stop with the hugging. People might think I’ve gone soft.”

I laughed as I left his office. “I won’t tell anyone what a softy you are.”

I finished assessing the young ensign and ran the scanner over his left arm. “You’re lucky you didn’t get more badly hurt,” I commented. “The fractures in your radius and ulna should be easy enough for the osteogenic regenerator to take care of before Alpha is over.”

“That’s reassuring.” His accent was so thick, I wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic or not. I made some notes in his chart, and laid his arm carefully on the biobed before setting the regenerator to work.

“Scotty told me you’d had a mishap in engineering, Chekov.” Kirk had come into medbay while I was focussed on the youth. “And you somehow managed to luck into the prettiest doctor on the ship.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“It wasn’t deliberate, sir,” Chekov laughed.

“Not hard to be prettier than me, Jim,” Leonard commented.

“But we also have M’Benga and Sanchez on board,” Jim teased.

“I would like to point out that Dr. Noel is stunning,” I interjected. All three men looked at me in surprise. I turned back to Chekov and gave him a hypo for pain. ”That should carry you over until the bone knits.”

“Bones, you wanted to see me?” Jim asked. I looked up at Leonard, wondering if I would be summoned into the meeting as well. He nodded for me to follow them into his office.

“Erikssen, sit. Jim, you’ll probably want to as well,” Leonard started. “I have some paperwork here I need you to sign for family benefits and quarters reassignment on a new crew member.”

“And we needed to have a private meeting about this?” Jim asked, taking the seat beside me and crossing his legs. “You could have just forwarded this to my PADD.” Leonard tapped on his PADD quickly and looked up.

“Very well, it’s waiting there now, Jim.” He glanced at the PADD in Jim’s hand expectantly. Jim opened the file and tapped a few times, signing off on it without looking.

“You know I trust your judgement, Bones,” Jim said. “If you feel the crewman needs his family aboard, I am not going to question you.”

“Did you read the document at all, Jim?” Leonard asked, suppressing a laugh. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Jim looked at Leonard, and then to me, then back to Leonard. He pulled the document back up on his PADD and read through it.

“I see.” He nodded, not looking back at me. “Can we have a moment, Bones?”

“I’ll finish up this paperwork now that I have your approval, and get the ball rolling.” Leonard rose and stepped out of his office. Jim stood, and leaned against the desk, facing me.

“I’m not sure where to start,” he said. “Maybe with us? Why didn’t you tell me about Katherine?”

“Why would I need to, Jim? She’s not here. Starfleet will only know about her once Leonard finishes the late entries and adjustments to my records. I’ve been keeping her a secret for eight years,” I started.

“And the for last few weeks of that, we’ve been -”

“Exactly, Jim. It’s only been a few weeks. And you are my captain. The balance of power is in your favour. It’s not like we talk about,” I paused. “Well, about anything really.”

Jim pursed his lips. “That’s fair. What led you to hide this in the first place?”

"Sit down. It's a long story," I sighed. He made himself comfortable and leaned forward. I started from the beginning, and told him the whole story. About being young and in love, and making bad decisions. About the shock and horror of discovering I was pregnant. About telling Katie's dad, long after he'd left for the Academy, and his resulting ethical dilemma. About staying home instead of following him to the Academy at his request, at first. About the weekly calls that became monthly calls that became monthly support payments only, which was when I changed my mind about not applying to the Academy. About how I felt nothing for him when I learned of the Farragut's destruction, other than the overwhelming sadness that accompanied the knowledge of all the lives lost that day. I explained honestly missing an entire page of my Starfleet Application about my family situation and the predicament I found myself in when I realized I'd been accepted under false information. How I chose to perpetuate the deception in order to finish my medical training quicker, and face the music once I was fully qualified. How I pushed myself through every obstacle, including Michael, and pushed so hard I finished with distinction to better my chances of being kept on after my deceit was revealed.

“I’m left with a few questions,” Jim nodded. “Why would you confess this to Leonard if you weren’t comfortable confessing to me? As you saw, he has much more control over your future than I do. I trust his recommendations implicitly.”

“I didn’t confess to him,” I admitted. “Bodies change as a result of pregnancy. It is essentially written into my skin. He saw that and asked.”

“And you freely confessed, after years of hiding her?” Jim pressed.

“Of course not.” I shook my head. “When we were on Proxima B, he overheard me talking with her. She’s ten, she wasn’t feeling well. My mother commed me while we were eating dinner.”

“You should probably be thankful it was Bones and not Spock who found you out,” Jim sighed. “That would have been a step by step, by the book ordeal involving Headquarters. I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t have told me though.”

“Permission to speak freely, Captain?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. My tone was dry, and I hoped he caught it.

“Bryn.” His tone was a warning. “That’s neither amusing nor appropriate.”

“That’s exactly my point, Jim.” I threw up my hands in exasperation. “You said I could speak freely, so please pardon me for being crass. You and I, we’re just fucking. We sneak around like the bad boy and the pastor’s daughter. We’ve never had a conversation about anything of substance. But we’re sexually compatible and having a good time. Regardless of the fact that you are, no matter how you particularly choose to look at it, my captain, you are my non-committal lover. By contrast, my daughter is my life. Every deception I have undertaken has been to provide a better life for her. So I have to ask you, Jim, why would I have told you about her?”

“You wouldn’t have told me about her, even if I weren’t the captain?” He clarified.

“It’s never been the right time,” I shrugged.

“I owe you an apology, Bryn,” he said.

“For what?”

“I hadn’t considered that our affair would be such an ethical crisis for you,” he admitted. “Regardless of how little conversation our assignations contain, I do hold you in high esteem.”

“Are you trying to say that you like me, Jim?” I laughed. He smiled and flushed a little.

“I do. I don’t know why. You’re right, we never talk about important things,” he shrugged. “I enjoy your wit. I find you clever. And maybe if we weren’t quite so clandestine, we’d know each other better.” I was stunned.

“What are you saying?” I asked. He smirked and I wanted to melt.

“I don’t really care if people know we are spending time together,” he started. “I’m sure there are some who are already talking -”

“The inside scoop is that you are sneaking around with someone. The real gossip is about me and Bones,” I interrupted. His laugh was a short surprised burst that made me grin.

“Of course. I sent you off ship together,” Jim chuckled. “My point is that we can be seen together outside of quarters and let people come to their own conclusions.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, if I were honest with myself. I was such a recent addition to the crew that I didn’t want anyone thinking I was getting special treatment because of where I spent the night. I wasn’t opposed to actually getting to know him though.

“Maybe we should hold off on that kind of thing until Katie is settled shipboard,” I sighed. Jim nodded.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he winked and looked down at his comm. “You should probably see to Chekov. Bones will have me strung up if I keep you any later.”

Leonard had finished Chekov’s treatment, and dismissed him from my care. He was standing at the bedside finishing the charting when I found him.

“The osteogenic regenerator worked quicker than I was expecting,” I commented.

“You took longer than you realize with Jim,” Leonard countered. I bit my lip.

“It went better than I thought,” I admitted.

“I told you, he’s a good man.” Leonard was smug in his correctness.

“Takes one to know one, I guess.” I winked and Leonard rolled his eyes.

“What did your parents say about Katie when you commed them?” He changed the subject.

“They have her at my doctor’s office right now. She said she would send the report as soon as it’s complete.” I double-checked the message on my comm. As if on cue, Leonard’s comm beeped. He scrolled through the report, nodding as he read.

“I’ve got to make another call, so mind the floor, would you?” He walked back to his office, not bothering to wait for my response. Christine sidled up to, a sly grin on her pretty face.

“Doctor Erikssen,” she started. “I hope your research with the captain was fruitful last night.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. We were able to discover a few vaccines that will give him the same coverage as the ones he can’t have,” I stammered. She smirked.

“Amazing,” she said. “How you managed to figure that out when your PADD was down here charging! No wonder it took you all night.” I felt my cheeks heat and turned away to regain my composure.

“I’m not sure what you’re saying, Nurse Chapel,” I replied, as coolly as I could manage. She let out a little huff of breath and shook her head.

“Your secret is safe with me, Bryn,” she reassured me, laying a hand on my shoulder. I gave her a weak smile.

“It’s not what you think -”

“I think you’re definitely researching vaccine reactions for the captain,” she interrupted.

“Oh, well, of course then,” I raised my eyebrow and met her gaze. She smiled again.

“And if you have to give him a thorough physical every other evening, I’m not going to judge,” she laughed. My cheeks burned again, and I excused myself to review Chekov’s chart before the shift ended.

#star trek fanfic #star trek fanfic with OC

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