#Save Marriage Articles New York

[hero-israel]

Something that I just need to get off my chest, and tbh I'm curious what you and your followers think about this topic: I'm Jewish and for shorthand purposes, a Zionist, but out of fairness and intellectual honesty I do try to read opinions/articles coming from an anti-Zionist perspective. I specifically look for ones that aren't explicitly antisemitic (which narrows it down substantially) and acknowledge the valid claims of both peoples (narrowing it down even further.) In several of these more balanced articles, I've seen extensive analysis of "Jewish fear" and how the politics of fear impact the situation. At first I was trying to take this perspective in, because I have seen fear (even legitimate fear) be weaponized. On the other hand, though, the longer I think about it, the more I really don't like how most of them approached that discussion. It comes across very "get over yourselves" and "get past the past," and I just find that extremely frustrating. Because the thing is this: it's not paranoia, or post-trauma, or even particularly remote in time. It's a completely rational fear when one looks at the last 2500 years of history and stacks that up against what Palestinian leadership's stated goals are re: removing Jews from the land. And there's never any real concrete plan for how to keep Jews safe from another genocide (or multiple) if we don't have self-determination somewhere, ideally somewhere we have a valid historical claim to. It just gives me strong "go back to your husband and save your marriage; I'm sure he'll change" energy. Why should we believe that it'll be different. The bones of Babi Yar weigh that scale down pretty far and so far there's naught but a feather on the other side. Hopes, wishes, thoughts & prayers, etc. Anyway it really rubs me the wrong way.

It's not remote at all.

Less than 90 years ago, major cities from Vienna to Warsaw to Alexandria to Baghdad were all 25% Jewish. To put that in context, New York City today is about 18% Jewish. 100,000 Iranian Jews were forced to flee for their lives from an "antizionist-not-antisemitic" regime in 1979, the same year Alien came out. Poland banished its pathetic surviving remnant of Jews in 1968 as collective racial revenge for defeating the Soviet bloc's Arab client states; that was 8 years after Ruby Bridges climbed those school steps.

What is ancient history? What doesn't matter anymore?

You are right to see it as a "go back to your husband" vibe. Whenever I have told social-justice leftists about the unreliability of America, about the Jewish need for a state that is guaranteed to defend us if America goes the same way all prior diaspora countries did, several of them have told me that American Jews must stay and fight for their country and force it to be safe for them. I can't help but notice that they say no such thing about Mexicans or Syrians, for whom fleeing to a safer country is seen as an unquestionable right - no matter how much racism that safer country may have anyway.

[cult-of-the-girl-offensive]

Bourgeois Polyamory versus Proletarian Polyamory

To be very clear, this post should not be taken as serious theoretical work, this is basically just an elaborate shitpost inspired by the Atlantic article that was doing the rounds early this year about how polyamory is the "latest fad" of the "ruling class".

The article in question spends most of its runtime rightfully attacking the "polyamory" practiced in a NYT best-seller by an upper class woman who turned to it to save her marriage. Buried in the article is the acknowledgement that this isn't how the majority of polyamorous relationships work. Indeed, I don't think I've ever actually met a wealthy polyamorous person, but I have met a lot of broke polyamorous transgender lesbians.

We cannot simply exclude the upper class "polyamory" described in the pages of the New York Times from polyamory as a whole, but we can place it into context. We can do so by adopting a "Marxist" approach to the question, and looking at the material basis for polyamory as a form of sexual relations.

In Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State (1884). Engels characterizes marriage as evolving from the "primitive" "group marriages" to "pairing marriages" to "modern" "monogamous marriages", with "polygamy" as an intermediate step where "men have women as their slaves". He describes monogamous marriages as founded upon the open or concealed domestic slavery of the wife, and as an institution in which only the woman's sexual freedom is constrained in truth.

What Engels does not do is envision a future formulation of love not founded upon monogamy, as he assumes that "sexual love is by its nature exclusive." Instead he postulates that marriages among the proletariat cease to be monogamous in the full sense of the word and become equal partnerships founded on love which may be formed or dissolved at any time.

Now, in the 21st century, polyamory could be considered as a strategy for group survival among the beleaguered proletariat, a formalization of the mutual bonds of support and care which are necessary to carve out a semblance of stability within the anarchy of the market, a salve for the constant alienation we suffer daily. Alternatively, we might think of it as the proletariat abandoning the bourgeois norms of false exclusivity and domestic slavery which we still struggle with, and instead embracing a more honest and truthful form of love. This is the polyamory of the proletariat, something which is forged from its material conditions and alienation, and which signals the death-knell of the bourgeois family.

In contrast, "bourgeois" polyamory attempts to reinforce bourgeois marriage, to resolve its contradictions in a "novel" fashion, as though a failing marriage can be solved by simply having sex with other people. The additional partners are not treated as part of the family but as foreign to it, an external aid for the "core" relationship. The result is unsatisfactory to all parties, an institution founded not on an excess of love as with our "proletarian" polyamory, but on the lack of love. It strips away the sheen of a bourgeois marriage and reveals the ugly core, a business arrangement and unequal "partnership".

Under communist society, when the bourgeois family has truly met its end, we will simply have love, in its purest and most magnificent form.

[majaloveschris]

For some the “weddings” was what made them believe it was PR.🤣

Mostly because of the information that was coming in real-time when they were supposed to be happening from people that were supposed to have signed NDAs, around the same time projects for both of them were coming out I may have to mention, followed by all the articles promoting the ceremonies that keep happening even now almost every month like someone it's afraid we would forget. Which is kinda funny and desperate in my opinion because those articles are not always tied to them doing something like for example RDJ's wife mentioning how “he was mentoring during his wedding” after over 10 years of working with him. Like really? That's the best example you can think of. 🤣🤣🤣

Also, the mystery of where the first “ceremony” was supposed to happen that not even his “go-to” magazine seemed to know.

But I guess that helps to get people attention that seem to be the ultimate goal.

All of it is too sloppy to be just PR.

There doesn't seem to be much love or real need for privacy to be completely real so we are stuck in limbo until someone breaks…

Yeah, the super secret, super private, NDA-proved wedding wasn't that big of a secret after all. As you said, it's funny to think that the first article via Page 6 came out the day after the wedding. The "source" didn't wait a single minute. And the People article wave was even funnier. We got newer articles every single day for almost a week. Talking about the wedding, their relationship, and whatever they were able to come up with. What a low-key couple, right? My opinion is that those articles came from their teams, which leaves the question of why selling this whole "we are so happy and in love" thing is so important. It's a super secret, NDA-proved wedding, but Hemsworth was casually telling random people that they were there for Evan's wedding. RDJ's wife wasn't holding it back either, and it's so believeable that in the past 10+ years, RDJ hasn't "mentored" him for something else or even more important.

The whole location thing is a joke. Page 6 wrote, "The couple said “I do” Saturday in an intimate ceremony that took place in Massachusetts at their Boston-area home," and then People wrote (mentioning that "The New York Post's Page Six was first to report the news") that "The actor, 42, wed Alba Baptista during a ceremony at a private estate in Cape Cod, Mass., on Saturday, a source tells PEOPLE." Neither of those articles mentioned that the party and the ceremony were at two different locations, and both of those pages talk about the ceremony. So where was the ceremony then? Because the two outlets wrote about entirely two different locations, and the fact that People mentioned that Page Six was the first to report yet their "source" said a completely different thing is funny. I wouldn't assume the source didn't know where they were. Then People obviously tried to save what they could and published another article where they wrote, "Chris Evans and his new bride Alba Baptista partied at his Boston-area home to celebrate their marriage" and that "the wedding weekend also included a gathering at a private estate in Cape Cod, sources confirmed to PEOPLE." So what happened and where then? Because the story doesn't really make sense. Just like anything else in this whole thing. I guess their love is so strong that even the source(s) got high on it and couldn't tell where or what was happening.

To me, the sloppiness is one of the reasons why I think this is PR. There wouldn't be this many inconsistencies if this were a legit thing. They wouldn't need to prove anything, they wouldn't need to publish this many articles about the wedding or their relationship, and they wouldn't need to keep filling in the whole mess their sloppiness caused.

[clearlydiamondz]

Loyalty to Royalty

Erik!Stevens x OC

Part Five

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Princess Imani was the black sheep of her family, never really fitting the female royal type. When an arranged marriage between Prince   N'Jadaka and her is set up, she tries her hardest to get away... but she just can’t.

IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE: I HAVE UPDATED MY MASTERLIST SO IT'S EASIER TO NAVIGATE. SO CHECK IT OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T! IT'S ALSO PINNED

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"I don't know whos face I want to ball up in my fist, Erik's or Amarah's." Imani snapped walking through the halls with her newly hired publicist and manager, Makiah. She walked behind her keeping up with every news article the presented the news typing away.

It's been weeks since she's been to Wakanda and everything has been going smoothly. Her step-mother and step-sister stayed out of her way, her and Erik seem to get closer, and her worries of Vibranium went away as it seemed to vanish in the wind.

That was until this morning.

As she was eating her breakfast, her phone started to ring of notifications with Erik's name in the headlines.

Prince N'Jadaka Ex Comes Forward, Trouble In Paradise?

Her face twitched at the news before she clicked on the article. A video popped up of a beautiful girl with a light skin complexion, and curly hair. It was a Tiktok.

"Yeah.. he called me asking if he could fly me out to Wakanda. Obviously in respect to Princess Imani I declined. He continued to tell me how much he missed me but honestly that was a bridge I burned long ago."

Arianna Cope was her name.

She stood up calling Erik's phone but obviously no answer.

And to top it all off, fucking Oshana and Amarah.

It was believed that the two of them were going on a Vacation to Mexico but last minute plans changed to them going to New York. As her and Makiah were coming up ways to come up with damage control ideas, another notification came up.

The City Kambaho Is Now Willing to Trade, and so is Wakanda?

"No.. no no no no no." she stood up looking at her phone. "What the fuck have y'all done. What the actual fuck have you done!?" she yelled in horror as she seen the video.

"Princess Imani, let's the put the phone down and take it one step at a time." Makiah said, but she couldn't. She played the video,

"As we all know both Wakanda and Kambaho are greatly armed with the material known as Vibranium. We also know how important this could be for trading with not only America but with other nations who are possibly willing to trade with us. We no longer want to be in the shadows of what our strength can do, and we call to our sister nation to help support those that are in need."

Amarah looked at the screen with a smile as everyone asked her a bunch of questions. The screen with black as her eye started to twitch. She stood up making a B-Line straight to her fathers office, where she knew he would be.

And here we are in present time. As she was going to cross the garden room, she saw Erik running towards her. "Erik I swear on every linage of ancestors I have don't you-"

"It's not true. I promise it isn't." he said running towards her. "I jumped on a flight just to let you know this, I would not do something like this to jeopardize your future." he said, damn near out of breath. She looked over his face to see that he was genuine, but looks could be deceiving.

"Prove it." He pulled out his phone showing that she was the one that called first.

"In the call she was telling me how she missed me and that she wanted to be together. I admit, before I came to Wakanda I wanted a relationship but she didn't. Once she got wind that I was royalty and I moved on, obviously she wanted to be a clout chaser."

"That doesn't prove nothing. She could have called you first but you initiated first. And there is audio of you." Makiah said as he looked at her in confused.

"Okay first of all, who the hell are you?"

"That's our publicist and our manager who's going to be saving your ass, so show her all of your respect please." Imani snapped at him. "Show me other proof." he sighed not knowing any other proof but then he remembered.

"I have a screen-recording of her turning me down. " she had her palm out as he went through old videos before finding it. He handed her his phone as she read through the text-messages. She looked at him before cringing.

"Jesus.. that's sad." she handed him the phone as his fascial expression dropped.

"You really didn't have to say all that." she looked back at Makiah before asking.

"What can we do to fix this?"

"If this is true, that means that she could have edited the audio. We could hire an audio specialist to clear the audio that was recorded. He would then have to put out a public statement explaining how it's chopped, and Erik put out a public video on his side of the story. I can easily write that up for him." she said as she nodded.

"You get started on that, I on the other hand have to deal with some other bull-crap. You-" she pointed towards him. "Are coming with me." she said.

"I'll be getting right on that Imani." And with that, Makiah ran back down the hall with to her office. Imani handed him her tablet that she was holding as he looked at the article in shock.

"Why would they do this? The Wakanda council will set hell for this?" he told her as she opened the door to her fathers office. "No idea, but most definitely will be having a meeting for every party involved." she stated as her dad looked up at the screen.

"Imani I-"

"Dad. It's not your fault. Just get them on a plane back to Wakanda." she stated as he looked at her confused.

"Why Wakanda?" he asked her.

"I'm taking initive and we will all personally take accountability for this mishap and you will explain to them what your next steps are on fixing this." she demanded him as he scoffed..

"Hold on, you just told me that it wasn't my fault. Now I have to take accountability for what they did?"

"Yes because that is your WIFE and the Queen! When you decided to marry the back stabbing manipulative women you signed up for taking full accountability of everything she does as her HUSBAND and KING!" she yelled at him. "The country of Wakanda is our one and only true ally and whatever she just did, just had the possibility of messing it all up." she lowered her tone. He looked shock at the threatening voice but she did not care.

"So yes, we are going to Wakanda and we are fixing this mess. Wakanda deserves our loyalty and you know this, and I do too." she snapped at him. She turned and looked at Erik.

"Prince, please explain to my king how detrimental this could be for my people." Erik cleared his throat before speaking.

"Because Wakanda helps regulate and distribute your country's share of vibranium, we will have all rights to simply stop production. This could mean your economy market will crash, leaving you defenseless against other nations if they do decide to attack us for vibranium." Erik says as her father sighed rubbing his temples.

"Like I said, we are fixing this. Get your apology ready and decide how you will tell the nations how your step-daughter has no authority to make decisions for this country, or Wakanda." she told him.

"Imani, I do this she will leave." he said as Imani scoffed.

"Are you seriously considering not doing it for a woman who went behind your back and put your people in jeopardy? Father if she decides to leave you over this, this just proves her motive of marrying you in the first place." she stated.

"I don't get my paranoia from no one. You taught me why I should fear this."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Imani sat down next to Erik in the Council room, as she stared back at T'Challa who sat in his throne, and he looked pissed right a long with Queen Ramonda. The council of Wakanda looked even more angry.

"I would first like to start off and says that me as well as the rest of the citizens of Wakanda is very disappointed in the actions that transpired over the course of the day." he stated as Imani hung her head low.

"Now, we do acknowledge that some people are more to blame than others, but the fact that you could come and apologize for any acts of betrayal that you guys may have caused. Princess Imani, we and the council appreciate you initiative to come to talk to us so we have decided to hear you out, but those who have done the damage is not here." T'Challa stated as Imani stood up and cleared her throat.

"Permission to speak." he nodded. "King T'Challa, I-"

"We have never used formals before, let's not start now." he chuckled as she nodded.

"Challa, first I would like to apologize on behalf of my father and his wife, and his step-daughter. As you know, my mother's death took a toll on my father more than he can admit and he's doing unwell. As you know, our loyalty as a country is with you and the Wakandians and we will never sway from that. We are working right now to get this fixed as we speak." Imani spoke. Queen Ramonda looked her in the eyes, as if telling her she was okay.

"I would further more like to explain that this is not in a state of where they think this will help benefit the world, but in act of greediness. His wife knew the dangers of exposing the world of our ability with vibranium, and out of spite went to America. I do not and have not recognize her as my Queen, as my queen and mother is long gone." she stated. T'Challa looks at the council as they still stared at her with mixed emotions.

"This is your King and your families. You speak of them like you don't associate yourselves with them." M'Baku states.

"That's because I don't." she sighed looking down. "Look, I say this from the heart and not because I'm trying to play clean up. Every choice that I have made is the betterment of my country. And those choices are influenced by those older and wiser than me. Every ruling, every law, everything has been influenced by my father, my mother, and even you. I ran through these halls with Challa and Shuri for more than I can remember. My mother would have never taken Wakanda for granted as she too was a child of Wakanda."

She tried so hard not to cry, but the state of her people was at hand. The severity of her love for her country showed as she tried to hold back her tears but she couldn't help but let a few drop.

"I hope that we can be forgiven." she finished, as her voiced break.

Erik saw her and realized that they had more in common than they think. Not the herb, not that they are getting married. But the love and protection of their own kind. Looking at her in pain, knowing that she her country could be in potential danger. He had to say something.

"Can I say something real quick." Erik said raising his hand as the council looked at him, a tad bit shocked. Hell, even Imani did.

"I will say, these past couple of months have been a tad bit challenging for the both of us due to some... unforeseen circumstances." he said throwing a little shade at the council. "But, I can say that within these past few months and getting to know her is that her nation comes first. She has mentioned to me on plenty of times where she stated that the distribution of vibranium was against her wishes. She has no fault in this." he stated as the council looked at her.

"Furthermore, and Challa and Auntie can account for this. Both his wife and step daughter is just weird as hell." he stated making Imani chuckle through her tears. That was just so outta line but also the perfect timing.

"Meaning?" one of the council elders asked looking at Ramonda and T'Challa.

"We did notice how resilient they were being about their step-daughter being the true queen of Kambaho instead of Princess Imani." T'Challa said as Erik scoffed.

"More than that. They were acting like I should be the one marrying Amarah instead, how she wasn't fit to be a queen, how her father shouldn't trust her." Erik continued.

"Princess Imani, is this true?" The elder asked her as she nodded.

"Yes. That's why I believe this was an act of retaliation. Those statements never came from our kingdom." she stated. The elders looked at each other before one said,

"Well then why are we questioning her. This does not seem like it's her fault."

"It doesn't matter who's fault it is." M'Baku said standing up. "Princess Imani, I am sure you'll make a fine queen. I admire your bravery but this does not fix what was said." he pointed at T'Challa. "We now have world leaders expecting T'Challa to hand over the vibranium and obviously we cannot do so." he stated as Imani closed her eyes sighing.

"We are working on-"

"Don't mean to cut you off but what can you truly do. You don't even have your title yet to be making decisions for the country yet, and it seems like King Z'Kiri has his heads in the clouds."

"M'Baku there is no reason for your to be standing up and towering her like that." Erik said stepping close as M'Baku clicked his tongue. She never saw Erik angry, but his eyes showed every emotion.

"Well she doesn't seem that afraid if she's here playing king." he stated making Imani roll her eyes.

"Then I will." T'Challa said shrugging his shoulders. "Like you stated, King Z'Kiri doesn't seem like he's in his right mind to making decisions, he's not here defending himself or apologizing on their behalf, but she is." T'Challa replied standing up. That's when the ideas in her head started going.

"Erik.. you should be there." she said out loud. "Your word over hers as the next ruler in line, and as King will have a lot more effect than hers considering she isn't royal blood. It will have even more of an effect because you are blood cousins with Challa and a child of Wakanda also." she stated looking at him.

"Then if that's the case you should be there too." Okoye said. "Your mother was also a child of Wakanda and you are the rightful ruler to the throne. That's three words against what? A step child? And it's the black panther and the golden jaguar making this statement." Okoye chuckled then sneakily winked at you. You looked at T'Challa.

"Then.. it is settled."

As everyone was dismissed, it was now only her and Erik in the room. She sat down on the steps as he sat next to her. "Ya know ya really did good. Not surprised but thought you should know." he told her looking at her.

"Thank you Erik. I also wanted to say I appreciate you standing up for me." she whispered the last part playing with her fingers. She then looked up at him. Out of all this time they've known each other, he has never seen her been shy or cry. More than showing that she was showing her vulnerability to him.

"It's just- I never had someone stand up for me. I'm always standing up for myself so this feeling is different." she whispered looking him in the eyes. He looked her in the eyes before smiling at her. The damn smile.

"I told you, I got you." he whispered back looking at her. He was most definitely going in for a kiss when her phone ring. Looking at it, she saw that it was Makiah.

"Oh would you look at that." she chuckled. "It was shown that the audio had traces of editing software." she smirked at him as he smacked his teeth.

"I told you." making her chuckle. "Well you're not in the light yet. You still need to put on a public statement about the situation." she said standing up as he looked up at her. "Now, I need to go confront dear father for not coming." she said. He could obviously see the anger in her face but lord did she look sexy while mad. She had her hand out for him to grab to help him up. He stood up, a tad bit close as she was faced with his chest, breathing in his cologne.

Damn he smelled good too..

"A bit close don't you think?" she whispered looking up at him.

"I don't see you moving." he snapped back at her, moving even closer closing any room the two had between them.

"Maybe I don't want to move."

"Maybe I want to be close to you." he said placing his hands on her the sides of her face softly as he traced her lips with his thumb. She bit her lip in anticipation. That was all he needed to make the first move.

He leaned in placing his lips on hers, with her gladly accepting his advances. She grabbed the bottom of his shirt bringing him even closer as the kiss became heavier. His arms dropped from her face as he kneeled down, still kissing, and wrapping his arms around her thighs and lifting her up into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and a hand through his locs as he moaned into the kissed.

"Ahem." They heard someone clear their throat in the door way. There T'Challa

"Well, I owe Shuri and mom two hundred bucks."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"I need everyone in the council room." Imani stated as she walked into the living quarters to see the three of them in there.

"For what?"

"We have some visitors."

"I hope you seen the conference set up in New York." Oshana claimed standing up as Imani nodded.

"I have." she said looking directly at her.

"It seems like the Americans love me." Amarah said with a smirk. She look down with a chuckle.

"Yes, congratulations." she stated as they looked at her weirdly. They were about to chastise her before she looked at her father.

"Prince N'Jadaka, King T'Challa and Queen Mother is here to discuss some exciting news with you guys." she stated looking at them as Oshana looked at my father with a smirk.

"See.. I told you they'll catch a long." she than looked back at Imani. "Don't get your head too full of ego and pride." she walked passed her as the two walked in front of Imani and her father excited about what the conversation may be. Her father looked at her, but she showed no emotion to him at all.

As they walked into the council room, they thought that they would be faced with greetings and hugs, but when they saw the three of them were three angry monarchs and some scary Dora Milaje. Their excited faces were then changed with confused and concerned looks.

"King T'Challa." the both bowed at his presence but her shook his head.

"Please.. take a seat." he pointed at the chairs as they all sat down in front of him. Imani took her seat next to Erik.

"So you may be wondering why we are calling this meeting with just the few of us." he told them leaning back in his chair.

"Well from Imani, you guys had some exciting news to tell us about the vibranium. We thought it was necessary-"

"Is that what you told them?" Ramonda asked with a little laugh as Imani shrugged.

"I had to tell a little white lie or they wouldn't have come." Imani confessed than turned to look at them. "That's not what they are here for." she finished off.

"I don't think you guys understand the magnitude of your actions of going to America and telling them we would be willing to trade vibranium." King T'Challa said, his voice was calm but his deamonr was nothing of it.

"You have not only put your own country in danger, but you have also put Wakanda in danger." Erik said looking at them. The realized how this conversation was going, they ended up going in defense mode.

"We apologize but we only did what we thought was best for both countries and-"

"No you didn't." Imani spoke up as they looked at her. Their face pleaded for her to remain quiet but she was long passed keeping her mouth shut. "Oshana I told you in my fathers office months ago why we shouldn't trade with them, yet you went behind our backs. Father, did I not?" she looked at her father as he looked between the two women.

"Imani did warn her, so did I." he admitted as Ramonda scoffed.

"For the love all ancestors." she sighed rubbing her forehead.

"Not only that, but King Z'Kiri the fact that your daughter had to come plead with us not to take action against this, and you as KING and her Father wasn't there to defend your country not only shows us how you think of her, but the kind of King you are." T'Challa told him as her father looked up.

"And I am forever grateful for that, but you have to understand, my wife and step-daughter knows no better." he stated. "That is why my heir goes to my only blood daughter, the daughter that has been trained since birth to do such." he admitted as Oshana scoffed.

"Excuse me!?"

"We are not here to fix any family issues that you guys may have. We are only here to talk about the mess that two of them have caused." Ramonda stated.

"T'Challa, Imani and I will be visiting the states tomorrow and holding our our conference in Oakland at the Outreach Mission there. We will disregard any of your statements made in New York, and let it be known that Wakanda has no intent on distributing any vibranium in the near future." Erik stated, Imani looked at her father.

"Father, as King, would you like me to also speak on your behalf and recant her statement?" Imani asked as her father sighed.

"I've told you before, I trust your judgement." he said with a whisper as Oshana scoffed.

"You just let that girl walk all over you." she shook her head.

"No, let me say this." Ramonda said as Oshana looked at her, scared for about what she has to say. "Any decision that Imani has made or have been making whether it has to do with your kingdom, or her marriage with N'Jadaka, or anything else for that matter is because she has been heavily influenced. Influenced by those who are wiser and older so when she makes a decision, damn well it is planned to a T." Ramonda stated.

"You doubt her, you're doubting those who are wiser and older."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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[une-sanz-pluis]

What do you think of Anne Neville What I mean is, all the articles I read about her are about the men around her, her father, her two husbands... Anne's two biographies are mixed with the author's biases and feel more like novels. (When it comes to her novels, in all the works I know, Anne's role is to shape her "perfect" second husband... Her marriage with Edward was a disaster...)

The thing is there's very little that survives about the "real" Anne Neville. As far as contemporary chronicle accounts, the best comment about Anne is by Kavita Mudan Finn in The Last Plantagenet Consorts:

... about Anne herself there is little information. She remains an empty space at the center of these accounts, a definite and ultimately unexplored source of political and economic capital.

As an empty space, she can be anything anyone wants her to be. But like almost everything about the Wars of the Roses, she's become stereotyped into a collection of literary tropes and constructions that supposedly is her "real self" but try to trace them back and scrutinise them and the evidence will fall part apart or feeds a circular narrative.

In Tudor times, Anne's story was shaped by the narrative around Richard III. She is yet another of the monster's victims, the murdered wife casually disposed of by the cruel husband seeking a new bride - or else she and her son don't appear, their absence heightening Richard's alienation from humanity. The Ricardian movement has reshaped her into Richard's tragic and loyal wife who has loved him all her life. In this stories, Anne has been ailing since childhood and struggles through adversary and trauma - dragged hither and thither into danger by her uncaring, power-hungry father, married off to a vicious husband who abused her and maybe raped her (the debate on the marriage's consummation sure is... a thing that exists), endured the cruelties of Evil Queen Margaret, imprisoned by her own sister and brother-in-law - before Richard rescues her and she receives a brief few moments of married bliss before the recurring miscarriages and her frail health collapses ruin this bliss before she finally and tragically dies in a heartbroken Richard's arms.

Some novelists, such as Philippa Gregory and Annie Garthwaite, make a "feminist intervention" where, despite being still the tragically ailing heroine, Anne is also more ruthless or clever than Richard in the pursuit of power. Both authors depict Anne and Cecily Neville joining forces to push noble-hearted Richard into disinheriting his nephews in order to save him. The TV series based on Gregory's novels, The White Queen, depicts Anne as willing to have the Princes killed, though of course Margaret Beaufort gets there first and Anne later has a breakdown, having heard Elizabeth Woodville has cursed the murderers of her sons and rumours that Richard is having an affair with Elizabeth of York (which he pretty well is). Garthwaite, on the other hand, depicts Anne as the only woman Cecily Neville likes (and the only other woman the narrative doesn't depict as evil, stupid, selfish or hysteric - how is this feminist again?) and joins forces with Cecily to advise the kindly Richard to bring the Princes back from wherever he's sent them to prove that they're not dead. Richard, however, nobly refuses - displaying what seem to be post-Diana concerns about the right of royalty to privacy - as he insists to bring them back would expose them to the public eye, a cruelty he cannot countenance but one Anne and Cecily evidently can.

Historian Anne Crawford very recently proclaimed Anne the lone perfect queen of the Wars of the Roses - because not a hint of criticism of her behaviour survives, though I suspect this is because the brevity of her life and the sheer absence of evidence for her life, and it's easy to proclaim her the ideal when you reduce Margaret of Anjou to a shrew and Elizabeth Woodville to an invasive species as Crawford does. Some Ricardians, on the other hand, declare Anne was a "bad" wife and queen due to having only one child, thus failing to secure Richard III's dynasty, and then for dying, thus leaving him open to accusations he murdered her. I know people who love the the idea of a monstrous Anne and Richard as an evil super couple.

Are any of these interpretations of Anne likely to reflect the real, historical Anne? We know so little about Anne's life that anything could is possible. We can talk about whether there's evidence that Anne had a chronic illness or recurring miscarriages, that she was raped or mistreated, that she was the brains behind Richard III - but a lack of evidence proving these things is hardly surprising given how little evidence survives about Anne in general, and an absence of evidence is not proof that these things didn't happen. I don't say that to mean, "and therefore I think these things happened" because I don't. I think these are more literary constructions or pointless point-scoring than an attempt to draw out the real Anne or at least imagine her as a flesh-and-blood woman who could have believably lived in the 15th century and did more than act as a heroine in a tragedy or a heroine in a romance.

I've not read the biographies of Anne. The biography by Michael Hicks has not reputation for being absolutely rancid and the one by Amy Licence... well, I think Licence is a pretty bad historian (I've got to rant about her Red Roses book in my head, but I will give her props for actually saying that maybe Victorian historian who famously got a lot of things wrong wasn't right about Catherine de Valois being forced into an abbey which is more than some are doing.) I did read and somewhat like the chapter on Anne in Late Plantagenet and the Wars of the Roses Consorts by Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs but that very much was shaped by Ricardianism.

I actually see parallels between Anne and Catherine de Valois. Both reigned as queen-consorts for such a short time that we have very little knowledge of what their queenship looked like and they can be imagined as perfect queens or useless queens (Anne Crawford labels Catherine as stupid and lacking in personality, for the record). Both are imagined today as more important not so much for their lives but for their status as romantic heroines. And when push comes to shove, they both get thrown under the Ricardian bus - Anne was a "bad" wife for suffering fertility issues and then dying and Catherine's Tudor children were all secret Beaufort bastards, which means Henry VII was a secret incest bastard who never had the right to the throne.

Both women are fascinating to us - but they remain out of reach due a lack of evidence. They must have lived very complex lives, living through the turmoil of war and civil unrest. And yet all everyone cares about is how they might shape the reputation of their second husbands and, in Catherine's case, the dynasty that ensued.

[oscarealejandro]

I just learned about this villain, Jennifer Bonjean, a defense lawyer who has represented R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and potentially P. Diddy.

Earlier this year she filed a petition in case of her client R. Kelly for a writ of certiorari, a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case to review.

"The argument set forth by Kelly’s attorneys centers on the the 2003 PROTECT Act, which extended the federal statute of limitations for such cases. The petition for writ of certiorari states that the conduct for which the singer is convicted — specifically creating child pornography and enticing minors into illegal sexual activity — occurred prior to the law being passed. Because the acts date back to the Nineties, lawyers argue, the statute of limitations would have expired."

R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his sexual crimes against children (In a victory for the defense, the judge ruled that all but one year of the prison sentence would be served at the same time as a previous 30-year sentence that Mr. Kelly received after a jury in Brooklyn convicted him of racketeering and sex trafficking charges) and if those charges are overturned it would not only negate every victim who has had their lives severely traumatized, but also potentially allow R. Kelly to see the light of day much sooner than expected assuming he is granted parole. The basis for Bonjean filing this petition is that Kelly's actions exceed the statute of limitations and whether or not that is true would normally be important because it's the due diligence of the justice system to abide by the regulations they swore to enforce, but in this specific case we're arguing semantics. The man paraded around for decades and was praised as a cultural icon for a majority of my lifetime before he was punished for acts that everybody knew he was committing.

This clip from the renowned satirical series, The Boondocks, does a great job of touching on the cultural phenomenon that is R. Kelly and how we as a society played a role in him avoiding justice. I was in elementary school when I learned about R. Kelly's marriage to Aliyah and the video recording of him urinating on a 14-year old girl and even at ~8 years old I was curious as to why everyone was just okay with it.

This New York Times article discusses his accusations in further detail and why so many ignored the signs.

This is the man Bonjean is aggressively advocating to be released into society. I would advise that you save your breath before you gasp out of shock because this is far from unusual behavior for someone like her. As mentioned earlier, she represented Bill Cosby in his infamous case involving sexual misconduct, and also worked to overturn his conviction of 3-10 years in prison stemming from more than 50 women accusing Cosby of a range of sexual assault and misconduct, including rape.

Bonjean is a despicable, vile excuse of a person who lacks shame and is equally evil as the perverts she elects to represent. Another New York Times article writes that she "Called one woman who accused R. Kelly of sexual abuse 'a pathological liar.' She accused another of extortion. She tried to pick their accounts apart, and attacked prosecutors for stripping her client, the former R&B star, of 'every single bit of humanity that he has.'"

Bonjean's biography on her firm's website details what motivated her to attend law school:

Bonjean’s life took an unexpected turn when she began volunteering for the women’s services division of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago. At the YWCA, Bonjean was a rape crisis counselor and victim’s rights advocate for under-served and marginalized women who were victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

One would think that the exposure to the suffering and traumatizing impact left on these victims would influence her to pursue a path where she could provide a sense of support, but not Bonjean..

While in law school, Bonjean quickly began to identify with the underdog, which in the criminal justice system is the accused.

I'll end this with a case that was lesser known to me. In June 2019, Keith Raniere, the founder and leader of Nxivm (a human trafficking cult disguised as a self help group), was tried and convicted of all seven counts of a superseding indictment charging him with racketeering and racketeering conspiracy (including predicate acts of extortion, identity theft, and production and possession of child pornography); sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy; forced labor conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. On October 27, 2020 he was sentenced to 120 years in prison after 15 victims testified against Raniere in a Brooklyn federal courtroom. Less than 3 months after this sentencing, Bonjean joined Raniere's legal team to assist with the appeal. An appeal that was supported by the clam that by definition, the actions should not be considered a commercial sex act.

Raniere's arguments turn on the meaning of "commercial sex act," which the statute defines as "any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person." 18 U.S.C. § 1591(e)(3). He principally argues that to qualify as a "commercial sex act," there must be a monetary or financial component to the "[ ]thing of value" that is given or received, and the sexual exploitation must be for profit.

Bonjean did what she does best. She did not argue that her client was innocent, but rather that the justice system failed him. I believe the justice system is not perfect and there are shades of corruption but to use it as a primary source of defense multiple times when there's clear proof against you is asinine. This woman is a diabolical spawn of Satan and a walking ironic figure. To cry corruption as a way of freeing your client is proof of failure in so many areas, including the justice system itself.

Yes, the government conspires to put a lot of innocent black men in jail on fallacious charges but R. Kelly is not one of them... You want to help R. Kelly? Get some help for R. Kelly

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Pay Me To Go Away: BRF allegedly threatened persistently with divorce settlements up to $100 million by u/leafygreens

Pay Me To Go Away: BRF allegedly threatened persistently with divorce settlements up to $100 million With the recent talk of Todger divorce again, I wanted to re-visit some older stories in which the RF appears to have been threatened for years with up to a $100 million divorce settlement.Families don't pay divorce settlements, only the spouse and their income is taken into account. Why would the RF pay That One a settlement, unless it's under duress?May 19, 2018 - An article published the day of the Todger wedding was already discussing the "what-ifs" in a Todger divorce and how much money That One would get from the BRF. The article discussed royal prenups:that "all of the couple’s wealth gets divvied up, not just what each spouse brought into a marriage". This certainly sounds threatening.that Diana received a $23 million settlement from Charles, alluding to That One being worth much more with inflation.It seems strange divorce was discussed the day of the wedding unless it is the idea That One had all along.January 28, 2019, the palace is allegedly already in "crisis talks" over the marriage with a $37 million settlement discussed. We now know the RF and staff were abused in the lead-up to the marriage: Charlotte's dress fitting, "We both know I'll be your boss soon," employees "slumped over their desks", etc.March 3, 2019, shortly after the obscene New York "baby" shower, threats appear of a $25 million settlement to pay off That One with New York property. That One allegedly:was using the guise of a baby shower to "scout apartments on the Upper East Side." She "fell instantly in love with" a $25.4 million apartment.can't afford it but would no doubt "get a huge payout given she’s the mother of [This One]'s child.""as a royal divorcee, the commercial opportunities... would make her millions and millions." [This old chestnut again.]conceived a scheme to have Amal or Serena buy the apartment and keep it for when That One can "buy them out" [LOL]may use Amal as her divorce lawyer [LOL]February 14, 2020, a blind after Megxit states that stories about their brand valuation amount is really That One's "buyout number," a.k.a. the amount it will take her to "go away" and be less of a p.i.t.a. News (unarchived) stories in January were predicting Brand Todger "could get up to $100 million" to $1 billion. The RF didn't bite, so the Todgers trashed the family in the media.January 16, 2023, King Charles reportedly "could" pay That One a generous settlement to get rid of her and "save his son" (too late for that, IMO.) This time we are up to $50 million. The settlement will also include child support for the invisikids.July 3, 2023, the $80 million figure was allegedly part of the pre-nup to take care of any alleged children. This One was allegedly pre-contracted for full custody, yet That One was pre-contracted to "receive $80 million for their support" that she will "fight" for. Why That One would receive $80 million to support children who are in This One's full custody is illogical.It is interesting now that we know the bullying the RF was put under, it seems the bullying was a means to get them to pay her off to go away. They didn't fall for it or any of her other schemes. This results in Montecito-sourced harassment about reconciliation, olive branches and sweet nods that makes the one-sided bullying seem like a 50/50 spat.Now This One is cut off from his family and there is no way That One will get $23 or $100 million from the RF. That One can make her threats for an imaginary settlement as the RF continues to gray rock. post link: https://ift.tt/v4JD8GH author: leafygreens submitted: August 27, 2024 at 05:00PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[steelbluehome]

"Stan, who is also great in the upcoming A Different Man, plays Trump as a nervous nobody being crushed under the weight of his father’s thumb"

The Daily Beast

The Scandalous Trump Movie at Cannes Could Be an Oscar Contender (Really!) (click for article)

MAKE MOVIES GREAT AGAIN

Esther Zuckerman

Published May 20, 2024

4:41 PM EDT

One of the scariest moments in a film this year will invariably belong to Jeremy Strong.

Early into The Apprentice, the new film about Donald Trump’s rise that premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival, Strong, playing notorious lawyer Roy Cohn, takes Trump, played by Sebastian Stan, into the room where he secretly records phone calls. With darkness behind in his intense eyes, Strong, as Cohn, tells Trump about how he orchestrated the death penalty for Ethel Rosenberg, the convicted Soviet spy. He explains how while others argued that her life should be saved because she was a mother, he disagreed. “She betrayed our country and she has to die,” he says, with no remorse. It feels like evil incarnate leaping off the screen.

Strong’s work is another master class from the Succession star, currently on his way to a Tony for An Enemy of the People on Broadway. It feels like one of the first performances of this year’s Cannes that has true Oscar potential. That is, if the entire prospect of this movie doesn't scare people away.

For what it’s worth, The Apprentice isn’t all that shocking. Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by journalist Gabriel Sherman it tells the story of Trump’s rise in 1970s and ’80s New York through the prism of his relationship with Cohn. Nothing in here is particularly revelatory, even with the upsetting sequence that features Trump raping his then wife (Maria Bakalova) at their home. (Ivana later said: “As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”)

The Apprentice is an attempt to dig into the psyche of the man who became president—and is now running again—during his nascent years, and it’s in Strong and Stan’s portrayals that we begin to see something that hasn’t been rehashed time and time again.

Cohn inducts him into his world, taking on the housing discrimination case against Trump and his dad. Cohn teaches him his rules of life, which eventually became Trump’s own playbook: Attack, deny, and don’t admit defeat. Strong inhabits Cohn unapologetic bullishness, and his many contradictions, including his sexuality, which he doesn’t hide around his confidants. And the young Trump doesn’t care that he witnesses Cohn having sex with a man, because Cohn gets him what he wants.

The film begins with something almost like a meet-cute between Trump and Cohn across the room at Le Club, the private venue that both of them used to frequent. With his sunken eyes, Strong's Cohn seems to bore into Trump with his gaze. These early moments of their courtship is where the film is at its strongest. Stan, who is also great in the upcoming A Different Man, plays Trump as a nervous nobody being crushed under the weight of his father’s thumb. He’s a beleaguered dork who thinks he’s somebody. You can hear some of those all too familiar inflections in his voice, but the braggadociousness is still mild, the strange turns of phrases only appearing every so often.

As the plot jumps ahead to the ’80s, we see their power dynamic shift. Stan slowly morphs into a more recognizable version of the man, his hair growing thinner, his belly increasing, and his ego growing out of control. Meanwhile, Cohn weakens, his body faltering under the AIDS diagnosis he tried to keep a secret and his power waning with a massive IRS suit.

The movie falters whenever this relationship recedes into the rearview, and the script can be painfully obvious, especially in the second half. We don’t really need to be told about the way in which Trump’s marriage to Ivana fell apart, nor do we need to see how Roger Stone (Mark Rendall) told him about Ronald Reagan’s “Let’s Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. (That scene in particular is an eye roller.) But whenever Stan and Strong are on screen together, The Apprentice can be magnetic, two actors at the top of their game trying to locate the malevolent soul of these public figures.

Right now it’s unclear when exactly The Apprentice will be released. It currently does not have U.S. distribution, a notion that likely remains daunting given the subject matter. Regardless, it’s unlikely to be much of an election game changer should it come before November given that the material is well-tread, but if it enters the Oscar race, Strong and Stan could very well make a showing.

[isay]

At the age of 91, Murdoch blew up his fourth marriage. Hall was waiting for Murdoch to meet her at their Oxfordshire estate last June when she checked her phone. “Jerry, sadly I’ve decided to call an end to our marriage,” Murdoch’s email began, according to a screenshot I read. “We have certainly had some good times, but I have much to do…My New York lawyer will be contacting yours immediately.”

...

Four months later, Hall got a potential answer for why Murdoch broke off the marriage. Newspapers around the world printed photos of Murdoch vacationing in Barbados with a new girlfriend, Smith. Murdoch and Hall had hosted Smith for dinner at their ranch in Carmel, California, about a year earlier. Smith was dating the ranch manager. At the time, Hall didn’t think anything of it when Smith told Murdoch that he and Fox News were saving democracy. Or when she offered to give Murdoch a teeth cleaning. Or when Murdoch began making trips alone to Carmel, which he explained was because his daughter Grace wanted one-on-one time with him there. (A source close to Murdoch said such a dinner did not happen.) Looking back, Hall told friends that Murdoch had simply moved on, the way he had ended previous marriages. “She was devastated, mad, and humiliated,” Cashin told me. On the first day of Lent in February, Hall told friends she made an effigy of Murdoch, tied dental floss around its neck, and burned it on the grill. 

This article is gold.

[lcvesickboy]

Welcome to lcvesickboy!! a blog for nepofm and penned by Liz ( 26, cst ) . This is a pinned post introducing

J A E H A P A R K

jeon   jungkook.   he/his.   cis   man.   ›   spotted   at   the   met   steps   ,   jaeha   park   ,   most   likely   listening   to   falling   by   harry   styles   with   their   airpods   pro   .   the   twenty   six   year   old   gained   quite   a   reputation   ,   known   to   be   -aloof   yet   +passionate   to   anyone   who   knows   them   .   you'll   easily   spot   them   when   you   hear   about   sleepless   night   on   the   studio,   a   tattoo   sleeve   on   his   right   arm,   secret   smiles   and   soft   eyes   in   bed   ,   followed   by   invictus   by   paco   rabanne   .   latest   nepoupdates   article   talks   about   well   known   producer’s   parents   used   to   scam   people   for   money   that   they   would   gamble.   rumor   says   he   payed   back   everything   they   owed   ,   but   i   guess   any   reputation   is   good   reputation   .

A B O U T

full   name   :    Park Jaeha    english name:  James Park nickname   :    Jae, Namu (producer alias)        age   :    26.      gender   :       cis man.        pronouns   :    he   /   his   fc: jeon jungkook orientation   :    heterosexual /heteroromantic.     date   of   birth   :    july 05th, 1997  occupation   :   producer / barista .

P E R S O N A L I T Y.

+passionate +adaptable +genuine +loyal

-aloof- opinionated -stubborn -resentful

S U B P L O T # 1 m u s e B

muse a moved to new york chasing a career a few years ago while JAEHA PARK has lived there their entire life. muse a dreams about fame and money, about the day they can afford a designer piece without saving up the money from their paychecks from the last six months while from JAEHA, no one ever expected to work a day in their life with a last name that you’d know the second you were born and with a status like that and pockets full of money, the last place you’d except to see someone like JAEHA is behind a starbucks counter as a barista. but JAEHA never wanted to be dependent on their last name and family status, while muse a would do everything to have that privilege. a few weeks in a row of muse a ordering the same thing on JAEHA’s working shift somehow turned into a moral compass friendship. and it’s just an every day thing when muse a wants to know everything about the luxuries and works their ass off to get there while JAHEA is their reality check, trying to prove them that the world of riches they see on the internet is not what their dreams should be about.

B A C K G R O U N D.

Park Jaeha is the only child of the Park marriage. Son of a former A-list actress in South Korea and a chaebol, now CEO of Park enterprises, the family company known as one of the best in the technology department. Born straight into a world of luxury, Jaeha was never expected to work a single day in his life and while growing up he found himself with loads of freedom to do as he pleased, to let his curiousity win the best of him and try out anything he wished to do, from taekwondo to box, from learning to play an instrument to going to any concert he wanted, Jaeha had everything and anything he wanted on the palm of his hand as long as he asked for it.

It was during highschool that Jaeha had his first crash with reality. Back in those days he had found what really interested him, music. The young boy found himself wanting to develop himself in the musical field and not just as playing the violin like his mother had suggested, no, he he wanted so much more than that. His father didn't approve and non of his money could be used to buy the instruments he wanted, he learnt that lesson quickly when his father found him with a keyboard he had just bought and was quick to throw away, so he began working on a small cafe to pay for his own things.

>> Fast forward

Jaeha worked from the bottom to the top on the music industry, slowly making a name for himself with talent and a bit of luck in his own words. Now he found succes as a producer under the alias of Namu and still a worker of that little cafe he had worked on since his teens, too fond of the place and the old owner to give it up now. Though time was good with him, it wasn't so much with his family...rumor says that they were on the verge of bankruptcy due to his own father's debts, the former CEO had a problem with gambling since his teen days and that problem finally caught up to him. Some even came to scam those around him in a desperate attempt to pay off his debts only to make them bigger instead.

C O N N E C T I O N S

Reality check.- Everyone wants to be part of a world of luxury but no one knows the price you pay . (subplot 1 muse a - TAKEN.)

Soulmate.- A friend, a best friend, a soulmate. No secrets, no judgement, knowing someone better than you know yourself, just understanding and care. A friend, a best friend, a soulmate, family. (OPEN)

Wish.- Parents meddling in their children's life. A wish to fullfill became a date that was awkward, is there still hope for something else? Never ending phonecalls, begging for a second date, parents wanting a deal. Should we listen? (OPEN)

Listen.- Late night conversations, sharing music, stuck on the studio until sun rises. Time flew by. Surprise visits, encouraging words, and sore voices after standing in the recording booth for too long. Only you understand me. (TAKEN)

Nevertheless.- A flame that's only hers, coming to live with every kiss, with every touch. Tangled up in their bed, having midnight conversations and secret smiles. More than his muse. (OPEN)

Dionysius.- Drink, after drink. Late at night only music in the ears and the taste of alcohol in the lips, after a tiring day, after a long week, after a good week. Let's drink away. (OPEN)

OTHER IDEAS

Exes ended in good terms or bad terms.

Childhood friends

Fellow producers / in the music industry

Frequent visitors at the cafe

Family friends / alternatively someone who knows about his dad problems.

A fan of his songs but doesn't know he is THE Namu

Producer intern

His go to tattoo artist

Anything you want!!

[paulinedorchester]

We Followed Our Stars, by Ida Cook. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1950; rev. ed., Toronto: Harlequin, 1976. Reprinted, as Safe Passage: The Remarkable Story of Two Sisters Who Rescued Jews from the Nazis, with a new foreword by Anne Sebba, Toronto: Harlequin, 2008; reprinted again, as The Bravest Voices: A Memoir of Two Sisters’ Heroism During the Nazi Era, Don Mills, Ont.: Park Row Books, 2021.

Overture of Hope: Two Sisters’ Daring Plan That Saved Opera’s Jewish Stars from the Third Reich, by Isabel Vincent. Washington, D.C.: Regnery History, 2022.

As soon as I learned of Isabel Vincent’s book, I knew that it would need to be read with great caution. That feeling was reinforced when I read the “about the author” blurb on the book’s dust jacket. Then I looked at the bibliography, and wondered if I really needed to read it at all. (Here I must stop and thank the collection development, acquisitions, and cataloguing staffs of the Chicago Public Library. This is the second time in less than three years that they’ve purchased a book at my request, and in both cases they’ve managed to put it into my hands in less than a month.)

Why the unease? To begin with, Regnery Publishing’s stable of authors includes Ann Coulter, Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich, David Horowitz, Sarah Palin, and similar types.

Second, it turns out that Isabel Vincent isn’t a historian: like Lynne Olson, she’s a journalist writing about history. Not only that: Vincent is an investigative reporter for the New York Post! One has to wonder what the phrase “investigative reporter” actually means in the context of that truly filthy tabloid, a jewel in the crown of Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp. On the other hand, I must say that Vincent seems far more comfortable using primary sources than Olson does — her research for Overture of Hope included examining 33 archival collections in seven countries. As well, the book carries an endorsement from the historian Blanche Wiesen Cook, who is not exactly a darling of the right.

Finally, the Cook sisters’ story is far from untold. I’ve known of them for at least the past several years, although I’m no longer sure how I learned: I could swear that there was an article about them in Opera News four or five years ago, but I can’t locate it. In any case, as early as 1950 Ida Cook wrote a memoir of their exploits (revising it in 1976), which is why this is a review of two books, not just one. She was the subject of a 1956 episode of This is Your Life. In 1964 Yad Vashem honored the Cook sisters as Righteous Among the Nations. They were interviewed in McCall’s in 1966 (the article was reprinted the same year in The Australian Women’s Weekly). They also inspired an essay in Granta in 2007, and I found a goodly number of other newspaper and magazine articles about them while searching for image files to use in this post.

Ida (at left; 1904-1986) and Louise (1901-1991) Cook seem to me slightly too young to be classed with the hundreds of thousands of British women for whom marriage became, if nothing else, a simple numerical impossibility in the wake of the First World War and the influenza pandemic that overlapped it. Nevertheless, that’s where Vincent situates them. The daughters of a Customs and Excise officer, they had both entered civil service themselves by the end of 1920, as typists. They were then living with their parents and younger brothers in Wandsworth, London, but the family had moved several times while they were growing up. During a stint in Alnwick, Northumberland, they attended The Duchess’ School, where music was one of their exam subjects: Louise was a pianist and Ida was a violinist.

Their passion for opera seems to have come about more or less by accident. One day in 1923 Louise, who worked for the Board of Education, wandered into a lunchtime lecture on music being given on the premises, returned home in a daze, and announced that she simply had to have a gramophone. She proceeded to buy one on an installment plan, along with ten records. (These would have been 78rpm discs, with a single track, three or four minutes long, on each side.) They were mostly of instrumental works, but also included recordings by two sopranos, Amelita Galli-Curci and Alma Gluck.

These quickly eclipsed everything else for the Cook sisters, who pooled their savings to buy the cheapest available tickets to three performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: they saw Tosca, Rigoletto, and La Traviata, all excellent ways to get started with opera. I was startled to learn that the Covent Garden opera season was only two months long in those days; apparently, the opera house was used as a dance hall during the rest of the year.

When the Cooks learned that Galli-Curci was to give five concerts in London in late 1924 (her first appearances in the U.K.), they bought tickets to all of them. After the first one they wrote her a fan letter, enclosing a handkerchief that Ida had embroidered, and received a letter back by return post, inviting them to come back stage and say hello after the last, which they did.

Having learned in the meantime that Galli-Curci confined her operatic engagements to the Metropolitan Opera, in New York, the Cooks decided that they would travel there to see her perform — and figured out it would take them two years to save up the money that they would need in order to do so. They wrote to Galli-Curci about their plans, and she urged them to contact her when they had an itinerary. She would reserve seats for them, she said. (Galli-Curci's behavior wasn't unusual at the time, at least for singers who could pick and choose their engagements. As late as the 1970s, Dame Janet Baker was appearing in opera only in England, while continuing to tour all over the world as a concert artist.)

And that’s exactly what happened. Their arrival in New York, on January 4th, 1927, attracted the attention of The New York Times; and when they went, as instructed, to Galli-Curci’s agent’s office they found main-floor tickets to several performances waiting for them, along with Galli-Curci’s husband, Homer Samuels (a composer and pianist who was her recital accompanist), who invited them to dinner at their apartment a couple of nights later. They asked the Cook sisters to visit them in Autumn at their home in the Catskills, north of New York City — and that happened as well, though it took another two years of saving to bring it about. Ida’s account of this visit in We Followed Our Stars is not to be missed. She makes it sound like Downton Abbey on a smaller scale. (I feel compelled to add, however, that her description of Catskills social life has absolutely nothing to do with my understanding of what went on there, as recounted by my mother, who spent many summers at Catskills resorts during the 1930s and 40s. See also the films Dirty Dancing and A Walk on the Moon.)

They paid for all of this fun by scrimping and saving, skipping many lunches, and getting up before dawn to join the queue to buy cheap tickets at the Royal Opera House, where they made many like-minded friends and had the opportunity to meet world-class artists arriving for rehearsals. As we’ve seen, they were very outgoing — or at any rate Ida was outgoing and Louise was nearly always willing to follow where her sister led — and by 1934 they had befriended, and been befriended by, Galli-Curci, Ezio Pinza, Rosa Ponselle, Elisabeth Rethberg and — most crucially, in view of what was to come — Viorica Ursuleac and her husband, the conductor Clemens Krauss.

As the years went on, however, a new source of income emerged. Ida Cook was clearly a born storyteller. She had written articles for The Duchess’ School Magazine as a student; in 1928, as an old girl, she sent in an account of her and Louise’s trip to America, which was published, along with an article in the Daily Mail. After the Catskills visit, she sent an article on that experience to Mabs Fashions, a magazine that published sewing patterns, romantic fiction, and non-fiction on whatever topics seemed likely to interest their audience, including travel. This, too, was published, and the editor, a Miss Taft, invited Cook to lunch. (Vincent refers to the Mabs Fashions article, but doesn’t quote from it, as she does from the Duchess’ article, or even supply its title. From this I surmised that Mabs Fashions is poorly documented, and sure enough, WorldCat shows only scattered holdings in fewer than half a dozen libraries in the U.K. I can tell you that it was a monthly, and that it seems to have run from 1924 until some point in the mid-1930s, but much of its contents appear to have been lost to history. That’s a real pity, as it sounds very interesting.) Miss Taft asked Cook to write additional travel articles for the magazine. “Apart from the American journeys, a very short trip to Brussels was the full extent of our foreign travels,” Cook recalled. “But I said, ‘Yes, certainly,’ bought a series of guidebooks and set to work.”

A year or so later Miss Taft offered her a job at Mabs Fashions, as fiction sub-editress. This was a big leap — Cook had a responsible job in the Law Courts, with an assured pension when she turned 60, and in fact had just been promoted — but she decided to take the offer, even though she didn’t know what the position entailed. Her account of this experience is very funny, and I won’t spoil it for you, except to quote her about one part of it: “On press day I was faced with ... adding perhaps five hundred words to a story, without altering its sense, and so that no one could detect the ‘joins’. This was the only part of my work at which I became adept.”

Indeed, she became so adept that after several months the long-suffering Miss Taft asked her to write a story of her own. And then another, and so on. One of them grew into a novel, Wife to Christopher, which appeared in 1936 and was the first of Ida Cook’s more than 120 romantic novels, written over the course of 50 years, all under the name Mary Burchell.

(Above, from the Daily Mail, August 6th, 1936, left, and the Aberdeen Press & Journal, August 12th, 1936. Images ©The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved.)

In short order, she was earning as much as £1,000 per year. That money was going to prove very useful. (All of her novels were published by Mills & Boon, which later became an imprint of the romance giant Harlequin, thus explaining We Followed Our Stars’ reprint history.)

“I realize now that, even though we were in our late twenties, we were not entirely grown up,” Cook wrote of the plans she and her sister had been making during the first half of the 1930s. Indeed, when Englebert Dollfuss, the Austrian chancellor, was assassinated on July 25th, 1934, their main concern was that this might disrupt their planned first visit to the Salzburg Festival. (It didn’t.) They were no more politically aware when, during a visit to Amsterdam near the end of that year, Ursuleac asked them to “look after” a friend of hers: Mitia Mayer-Lismann, a German pianist and educator, who was soon to visit London to give a series of lectures. The Cooks assumed that this meant showing her the sights, which they did. When she asked whether St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey were Protestant or Catholic, they wondered if she was a Catholic and shouldn’t have been taken to see a Protestant church — so they asked.

What they learned was that Mayer-Lismann was Jewish, and it was she who explained the Nuremberg laws to them. Her other purpose in visiting the U.K. was to see if there was any way of moving there with her family. The Cook sisters offered to do what they could to help. The U.K. wasn’t making things easy for would-be refugees from the Nazis (nor was any other country), and half of the Cooks’ work as the decade went on would consist of cutting through reams of red tape. Word of their willingness to do this spread through the Jewish communities of Germany and, later, Austria, keeping the sisters active until just days before war was declared.

The other half of the task was helping those for whom they were able to secure visas to smuggle out whatever portion of their assets hadn’t been seized by the authorities, which by this time consisted mostly of furs and jewelry. This was a genuine cloak-and-dagger operation, if only because it involved making repeated visits to the countries in question at a time when the authorities there were beginning to view British visitors with suspicion. It was at this point that Clemens Krauss got involved: he kept the Cooks informed about when and where he was conducting what, so that when they were questioned at the border they could say that they were going to hear Krauss conduct this opera in that city on that date.

As a side note, Ida’s new prosperity allowed the Cooks to buy a long lease a one-bedroom apartment in Dolphin Square, which had just been built (and where their neighbors included politicians, spies, and Oswald Mosely). Ostensibly, this was so that they would have a crash pad in central London after late nights at the opera. In reality, it served as a dormitory for newly-arrived refugees. Ida recalled that at one point there were twelve people sleeping there.  

While Ida seems to have been the family dynamo, Louise’s contributions shouldn’t be overlooked. One of her hobbies was teaching herself languages; she learned German at top speed in 1937 in order to facilitate the sisters’ work. She also put all of her (apparently quite generous) allowance of vacation time during that period into the rescue effort, and also seems to have been the uncredited co-author of, or at least an essential consultant on, Louise’s novels.

At this point I’m going to stop summarizing the Cooks’ story and tell you that if you’re going to read either or both of these books, you should begin with Ida Cook’s memoir, if only because it’s a primary source. It’s also a very useful insight into how an opera buff’s mind works.

Both authors provide their readers with excellent summaries of political events in Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1939 — and both do so without ever talking down to their readers or implying that they shouldn’t need to provide them with this information, which is quite an accomplishment. Cook can be vague about the dates and chronology of personal events, while Vincent simply is vague on music in general and opera in particular, subjects in which she clearly has no genuine interest. (As Fred Cohn points out in his review of Vincent’s book in Opera News — which is how I learned of it; here’s a link, but I’m not sure that it will work for non-subscribers — her subtitle is a complete howler: there were no “stars” among the Cooks’ refugees; in fact, many of the people they helped weren’t involved with music at all. In spite of this, the Library of Congress has classed Overture of Hope as ML (Literature on Music).) As well, Vincent gives short shrift to the war years. (Louise was evacuated to Wales with her office; Ida was an assistant warden in a Bermondsey air-raid shelter, while continuing to write; the Royal Opera House became a dance hall year-round.) On the other hand, she provides us with a firm chronology of the Cooks sisters’ pre-war lives, and she also reveals the hard facts of how the people whose escapes they facilitated fared, which are not happy stories in all cases.

It is also Vincent who relates that Clemens Krauss fared badly in denazification proceedings. Despite his efforts on behalf of his Jewish associates and their families (as well as many complete strangers), he was widely denounced in 1945, and it’s undeniably true that he displayed a Machiavellian streak that led him to consolidate his artistic influence by securing the directorships of both the Vienna and Munich State Operas under the Third Reich. He ended up being banned from conducting for two years, but Vincent documents that just about all of his denouncers were his professional rivals. (The same thing frequently happened in France during the search for collaborators.)

Finally, Vincent quotes extensively from a film treatment that Ida Cook wrote, based on We Followed Our Stars, that is languishing in Joshua Logan’s papers at the Library of Congress. That document needs to be plucked out of purgatory and produced. Right now!

[baura-bear]

When I’m writing Newsies fics sometimes the hardest part is finding headlines to put in so I’d like to share some a couple things! 

The first is this link it’s the library of congress’ archive of American newspapers 1777-1963. It’s very handy. You can sort by state, year, and even by which newspapers articles were published in! You can also search for key words or phrases. All of the articles about the actual strike are on there and you can also just see what else was happening at the time. I usually use this to find headlines to include in fics haha!

The second thing I wanted to share is all the headlines that are in papers from UKsies! I got Crutchie’s cast paper and the Seize the Day “New Newsies Price” paper. I’m just going to include headlines on the post, but if you want to know more about any of them or want the full article just message me and I’d be happy to send it :)

Crutchie’s paper front page:

The World. New Jersey Edition

Vol. XXVII., NO. 9,230  12 Pages.  Saturday, November 27, 1886  12 Pages. Price Two Cents

“NEW YORK AND LONDON. Number of columns of Advertising Printed During the Month of October:

 London News... 631 Columns

London Standard... 863 Columns

London Times... 985 Columns

London Telegraph... 1,049 Columns

New York World... 1,648 Columns

LORD CAMPBELL IN COURT. A Sensational Divorce Case Which Stirs London Society. Terrible Charges Against the Brother of the Maquis of Lorne-Meeting of Husband and Wife-The Painful Details of the Latter’s Story-The Duke of Argyll Unable to Bear His Son’s Disgrace. [Copyrighted by the Press Publishing Company (New York World), 1886.]

A MELANCHOLY HONEYMOON. The Story Told in Court of Miss Blood’s Courtship and Marriage [Associated Press Despatch.]

DAVITT’S CANADIAN TOUR. Rousing Reception at Montreal-Hot Shot for  O’Donovan Rossa.  [Special To The World.]

The President and the Statue. [Special To The World.]

A Hurricane and Cold Wave. [Special To The World.]

England’s Prosecution of Dillon.

Drank Aconite for Whiskey.

BALKED BY THE PRESIDENT. He Orders Chief Walker Discharged. -Overhauling The Commissioners. [Special To The World.]

ANOTHER BIG RAID. Harry Hill, Billy McGlory, Tom Gould and Other Shining Lights Arrested. 

RASCALITIES OF REED. Boston’s Defaulter Discovered in More Over Issues of Stock. [Special To The World]

Telegraph Ticks.

FORTY-TWO MINERS BURNED. Explosion of Mine Gas Caused By Disregard Of Warnings. It Happens Before All the Men Have Entered the Working-The Very Air About Them Seems Turned to Flame-Rescuers Overcome-The Bodies Almost Unrecognizable-At Least Twelve Will Die. [Special To The World.]

ABBET HAS IT NOW. The Recount at Camden Elects Turley (Dem.) Instead of Haines (Rep.). [Special To The World.]

THEY DISAPPROVED OF M’NEILL. Nominated for Mayor of Boston on the L- (from here the ink didn’t print well and I can’t make out the headline) [Special To The World.]

A Rioter’s Queer Excuse. 

Texas and the Cholera Scare. [Special To The World.]

Confessed to a Bogus Friend.

Stabbed by Her Insane Husband.

Jim Cummings, the Letter-Writer 

RESCUED FROM THE ROCKS. Gallant and Thrilling Feat Of The Life-Saving Heroes. After Lightning Dash by Rail of a Hundred Miles They rescue Twenty-four Men from Certain Death-An Incident of the Recent Storms on Lake Superior-Steam and Courage Carry the Day. [Special To The World.]

BELLIGERENT BAKER. Uncle John, After Beating Morrison, Beats Reporter Too. [Special To The World.]

Her Great-Grandchild at Her Wedding. [Special To The World.]

Canada Exchanging Swindlers. [Special To The World.]

Three Human Beings Roasted. 

(Those last five are also In the Seize the Day Pape but I won’t be repeating them)

Weather Indications 

Vogel Brothers’ Perfect-Fitting Overcoats 

Crutchie’s paper second page:

THE COMEIE FRANCAISE. Domestic Arrangements At The “Home Of The French Drama.” Mrs. Hooper’s Investigation of the Inner recesses of a Famous Historic Temple-Spacious Greenrooms and Artistic Loges-Manager Claretie’s Sanctum-Court-room of the Official Dramatic Jury. [Special Correspondence Of The World]

DEAD LETTER DRIFTWOOD. Annual Sale of Stray Trinkets in Uncle Sam’s Curiosity Shop. [Special To The World.]

NORRISTOWN NIPPED. A Clever Swindler Bluffs and Borrows on Large Bogus Drafts. [Special To The World.]

RECOVERING FROM HIS FRIGHT. Patrick Loughran Almost Ready to Begin Digging Another Sewer Trench. 

The George W. Cable Insult. [Special To The World.]

Assassinated for $65

Who Will Succeed Mr. Hoxie?

HOW WILSON PAID HIS DEBTS. His Accidental Acquaintance With The Engle Family. Various Facts Bearing on the Theory the He is Moon’s Legitimate Son-His Sudden Blossoming as a Capitalist-Pretense of a Marriage With Hattie Englee Kept Up- The Cemetery Lot. [Special To The World]

Cutting’s Mexican Colonization Scheme. 

Methodists Extending Their Work.

Stabbed by a Drunken Customer 

THE TEST OF THE ATLANTA. Lieut. Bacon Says She Is As Good A Ship As She Floats. The Trial was Not a Fair One, He Declares, Because Her Machinery was New and She was Kept at High Speed Too Long-He Says that She Can Make Twenty Miles an Hour.

A CHINESE GAMBLER FAILS. Two Hundred Infuriated Celestial Policy-Players Clamoring for Their Winnings.

Printers’ Union Nominations

General Railway Notes

THE AMSTERDAM MILL PICKETS. Meeting of the Strikers in Their Behalf-The Trial Postponed. [Special To The World]

Organizing A Cavalry Squadron

Great Excitement on Broadway 

New Publications (this section includes ads for subscriptions to magazines and newspapers and such, also a few ads for books and toys)

Seize The Day Paper Front Page:

(this one actually has a headline unlike Crutchie’s!)

NEW NEWSIES PRICE: SIXTY CENTS PER HUNDRED

CLOSE CONTEST FOR MAYOR. Four Candidates Will Struggle For The Honor At Plainfield. Some Sharp Republican Practices in the Deal for the Party Nomination-The Secret Caucus-The Fourth Ward Ignored-Inside History of the Campaign-Democratic Prospects Favorable. [Special To The World.]

WAKING UP OLD MORRISTOWN. Orange Soldiers Create Great Excitement in a Theater-A Plucky Spaniel.

NEWARK SCHOOL MATTERS. Change of Teachers and Dispute About the Site of a New School.

ONE STRIKER FOUND GUILTY. He was a Member of the Paterson “Escort” and Too Officious.

The Police Want New Quarters.

Wanted to be Sent to Snake Hill.

KILLED ON HIS WEDDING DAY. Sad Circumstances Attending The Death Of Charles F. Gocker. He is Supposed to Have Met the Fatal Accident at the Erie Tunnel, Jersey City, While Temporarily Insane-His Death Announced to an Assembled Bridal Party-Interview with the Bride-Elect’s Mother. 

REDUCTION OF TAXES DEMANDED. Jersey City Householders Object to Paying Too High Prices for Privileges. 

Last Night of the Fair.

DRINK MADE HIM A DEMON. Richard Dixon Went on a Thanksgiving Spree and Stabbed His Wife. 

THOSE RED BANK SLOPES. They Will Arrive in Jersey City To-Morrow Evening-Warrants Ready. [Special To The World.]

AT THE POINT OF DEATH. George Mackay Fatally Injured on a Coach When Driving Under a Bridge. 

IMPRISONED BY HER HUSBAND. A Wife Complains the She was Locked up for Two Days and Her Arm Broken.

IT WAS ALMOST A PANIC.  A Can Of Naphtha Explodes And Injures The Forewoman. Fifty Girls Get Scared and Rush Into the Street-Five of Them Faint and Are Sent Home in Carriages-Miss Cumming’s Face Neck and Breast Badly Burned-Beyond This Little Damage is Done.

THE BONDSMEN COMPROMISE. Settling with the New Brunswick Insurance Company for Applegate’s Deficit.

DELANY TRIAL DELAYED. Convicted of Atrocious Assault Yet Still Retains His Liberty. 

To Establish a Principle.

TALKING ABOUT WATER. Newark Officials Considering the Question of Filtering the Passaic.

CRIMINAL TRAILS CONCLUDED. Petit Jurors in the Essex Quarter Sessions Complimented and Discharged. 

EDWARD RUTH’S FUNERAL. Many Organizations will Turn Out to Do Honor to the Dead Chief. 

SUNDAY DRUG TRADE IN DANGER. Asbury Park Commissioners Are Making a Dead Set to Stop it. [Special To The World.]

Sentence Day in Court.

(Front page ends with the repeated five articles from crutchie’s pape)

Seize The Day Paper Page Two:

BUILDING NEW WAR SHIPS. Completing The Contract For Constructing The Cruisers. The Union Iron Works of San Francisco Secure the Heaviest Work-The Firm Fully Responsible-Terms Imposed by Secretary Whitney on the Contractors-Names and Dimensions of the New Vessels Ordered.

BICYCLES IN THE PARK. Wheelmen Want to Know Why The Cannot Use all the Drives.

The Women G.A.R Veteran Rescued Him.

The Workingman in Politics.

TALLMADGE TALKS OF ARTHUR’S DEATH. And He Says All Ministers’ Sons Do Not Turn Out Bad. 

A VERDICT OF $48,861 28. The Nice Little Bill that the Third Avenue Surface Road will Pay. 

Hayden’s Slayer Loses His Bravado.

A Cannibalistic Murderer.

MADE NEGROES HIS HEIRS. Peculiar Will Of A Wealthy White Farmer Of Georgia. His Daughter by a Negro Woman Gets Most of His Estate-Surrounded by His Former Slaved and Dominated by One of Them-White Relatives Avoid Him-They Contest the Will. [Special To The World.]

THE CHICAGO HOTEL FIRE. Narrow Escape of Many Guests-Railroad Shops Burned-Other Fires. 

Theatrical Men’s Hobbies [From The News Letter.]

A MUNICIPAL FARCE. The Grotesque Situation of a Divided Seaside City. [Special To The World.]

FRATRICIDE AND SUICIDE. Tragic End of the Prolonged Debauch of Two Atlanta Brothers. [Special To The World.]

THE RELIEF OF THE LYCOMING. Towed to Fort Disabled After Severe Lake Storms.

A New Woodbridge Industry.

The Heir to Millions. [From The Philadelphia Call.]

Obituary Notes

California Wines (Strictly Pure).

THE CRIME OF CLUVERIUS. Three Of His Jurymen Want The Death Sentence Commuted. They Contend that They Did Not Know a Verdict For a Less Offense Could be Rendered-Some Contradictory Attitudes-Juror Jowell Stands Firm and Carries the Others With Him for Hanging. [Special To The World.]

CHANGED COLOR. A Blonde Victim of “Addison's Disease” Becomes Black. [from The Cincinnati Enquirer.]

Poor Brignoli’s Daughter. [New York Letter to Boston Globe.]

STRAY BERLIN NOTES. Death of an Eccentric Character-New York Enterprise. [Special Correspondence Of The World.]

Pittsburgh Stove Moulders Strike. 

Lamson and Kilrain Matched

(The rest of the paper is ads for government bonds, calls for money donations, and shipping news)

[icarus-suraki]

Like, I love a good Shen Yun meme but the facts behind the whole Shen Yun thing are, um, definitely something.

Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by Chinese expatriate adherents of Falun Gong, and is based at Falun Gong's 427-acre Dragon Springs compound in Deerpark, New York, near where the new religious group's leader and founder, Li Hongzhi, and many of his followers also reside. Falun Gong adherents pay to rent the performance venue, promote the show, and sell tickets. After expenses are covered through ticket sales, proceeds go to Shen Yun. The finances of Shen Yun and Falun Gong appear to be linked, with technically separate corporations sharing funds, executive and the same mission. Li Hongzhi describes the Shen Yun performance as a means of "saving" audiences.

I’ll throw the Wikipedia link here but I highly recommend looking at the linked articles. I’ve read quite a few articles and there are a lot of good ones. There are also some good explanations of how, yeah, it’s put on by an actual cult. And it’s not even subtle in its performances. A cult that, in fact, “that denies evolution and science, claims the earth was inhabited by aliens, demonizes atheists and homosexuals, and condemns mixed marriages.” (Walter Whittemore, The Ledger)

I went to one (I paid actual money because I had no idea) and, okay, there’s dancing. That’s nice. But there are these operatic solos throughout the (very long) show performed by a series of women in huge ballgowns where they sing what amount to Falun Gong hymns. And, yeah, that was awkward. 

But not quite as awkward as Evil Demonic Karl Marx being defeated by Heavenly Good Guy Li Hongzhi.

[yeoldenews]

I fell down a rabbit hole last night researching this girl and found some photographs of her that are just peak Weird Little Girl (affectionate) energy, so I'm sharing.

Gladys (sometimes spelled Gladyce) Ditmars was born October 16, 1903 in the Bronx.

Her father, Raymond L. Ditmars was, at the time, the assistant reptile curator at the Bronx Zoo, and would later be appointed curator of the entire zoo.

Raymond met his future wife, Clara, when she was visiting the zoo and witnessed Raymond break up a fight between two venomous snakes. She was so impressed she asked to meet him. They were married eight months later. The venue was decorated with snake skins and Clara wore a live gopher snake around her neck during the ceremony.

Gladys first made the papers at the age of two and a half in the article @yesterdaysprint posted, which was reprinted across the country, as well as appearing in newspapers as far away as Australia.

The photograph of Gladys above dates to the same time as the article, and I believe the snake she is holding is likely 'Indigo', a four-foot long black-snake the article mentions her rocking to sleep.

Gladys was fascinated by snakes from infancy, and loved both the live animals her father sometimes kept at home overnight before giving lectures, as well as the preserved specimens he kept in jars in his office.

Mr. Ditmars stated in the 1906 article that Gladys appeared to have "no inborn fear for any animal" and reported that she "claps her hands with glee" upon seeing bears fight in the zoo.

Mr. and Mrs. Ditmars, Gladys and her younger sister Beatrice (born in 1905) were never out of the news for long. Prior to his marriage Mr. Ditmars had briefly worked for the New York Times, and the close relationship he maintained with his former colleagues kept the Bronx Zoo, and with it the Ditmars family, as a convenient source whenever the Times required a public interest story on a slow news day.

Mrs. Ditmars and the girls often accompanied Mr. Ditmars on his trips to collect new specimens for the zoo.

At the age of 14 Gladys captured a 6-foot diamondback rattlesnake in an improvised trap of her own design.

In her early 20s Gladys once again made headlines for speeding her roadster through the streets of New York City in order to get a vial of antivenom on a departing train, saving the life a man who was bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake in upstate New York. Her adventure grew comparisons to the story of Balto which had occurred only a year previously. A picture of Gladys posing with the famed Balto statue in Central Park, at the time only a few months old, appeared in newspapers across the country.

Raymond Ditmars was also a pioneer in the development of using motion pictures to record the natural world. Over his career he produced dozens of nature documentaries and educational reels, many of which are now unfortunately lost films. Gladys appears to have been very active in assisting with these films and can be seen (and heard!) in a surviving 1931 film reel titled "Monkey Whoopee!" playing a newspaper reporter opposite her father.

Gladys appears to have never held any official salaried position at the zoo, but served as her father's unofficial assistant until his death in 1942. She was a near daily fixture at his office and worked developing film, organizing and typing his notes and letters, as well as accompanying him into the field - including an expedition to Trinidad which resulted in the first ever capture and display of live vampire bats.

After Raymond Ditmars death, Gladys assisted in the publication of his biography.

After a brief marriage in the 1930s to a talent agent, which resulted in him allegedly cheating with a radio singer and a $100,000 lawsuit, Gladys remained single for the rest of her life. She lived quietly with her mother and sister in Westchester County, dying in 1979 at the age of 75.

The Great Bend Weekly Tribune, Kansas, March 2, 1906

[michaleideas]

All About New York’s Contested Divorce Lawyers

Probably the worst time of your life. You may have heard: "I don't love you anymore." This can be devastating, and it's not unheard of for a person to lose interest in their marriage or relationship with someone. No matter who said it, if one of the parties thinks they want a divorce, there's a good chance they will. Divorce is a highly emotional event. You may go through a divorce because of abuse, adultery, or incompatibility, but going through it either way is never easy.

The justice system can be intimidating and stressful. If you are going through a contested divorce in New York, you need an attorney who can present your case persuasively and successfully to protect your legal rights. In this article, you will learn everything you should know about hiring a contested divorce attorney, as well as several advantages:

How to Find a Contested Divorce Lawyer NY

Finding a top-notch contested divorce lawyer in New York can be made easier by using the following tips:

1. Choose people who care about your interests

When you choose a divorce attorney, make sure they can represent your interests during the case. You should trust them and feel comfortable around them. If you don't feel that way about any attorney you encounter, it's time to find another attorney who can better meet your needs. It is crucial that you feel comfortable enough with your attorney so that they can explain things in terms you understand and answer any questions you may have about your case.

2. Find an Affordable New York Divorce Lawyer

Everyone has a budget, but it's important to remember that the cost of divorce goes beyond attorney fees. You will also need copies of any documents you signed or submitted in court and copies of any other documents related to your case. To save money, you should organize all your documents and make them easily accessible to your attorney.

3. Look for experience

A lawyer’s experience is crucial because the more experience they have, the better they can understand your situation and provide sound advice. Look for attorneys who have been practicing for at least five years or more and have handled at least one contested divorce case during that time.

Why You Need a Contested Divorce Lawyer in New York

If you are going through a divorce, you will need a lawyer. But why? What can they offer you that you can’t offer yourself?

First, they can make sure your rights are protected. There are many things that can happen during a divorce, such as property division and child custody issues. Your attorney knows the law and can help you make sure everything goes smoothly.

Divorce is often very emotional, and it can be difficult to remain rational when discussing these issues with your spouse. A reasonable divorce attorney can mediate between the parties and ensure that both spouses feel heard and treated fairly during this stressful time.

In conclusion: https://bgdivorcelawyersny.com/practice/contested-divorce-lawyer-new-york-city-ny/ Finding a contentious divorce lawyer in New York often starts with a family member or friend. You can use the Internet to find it, but you must take precautions. Because divorce attorneys have specialized areas, you must make sure your choice is legal and has a certified professional on your team. Also check to see if the divorce lawyer has a proven track record of successfully winning contentious cases.

[newpathpride]

Great episode @theacecouple !

This writer of this article had such an incredible opportunity to dismantle compulsory sexuality. They got so close and yet were so far…

Absolutely insane to me that asexuality isn’t even addressed, but that might be better because I doubt they would have got it right.

I have so many thoughts about this entire discussion as an asexual person who had a sexless marriage for reasons not addressed in this article. I’ll save those thoughts for another post because it will be a long one.