#They’ve already hosted events in Mexico

[mrn2electricboogaloo]

UFC just put on a massive event, a live letter to Mexico. They hosted it in Las Vegas for some reason

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: moe. with Daniel Donato - “Mexico” (Live, Feb. 25, 2024)

The song proper isn’t much. And the sound quality is even less. But when guest guitarist Daniel Donato lights into a guitar solo inspired by his hosts Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey, “Mexico” picks up.

And when newest moe. man Nate Wilson digs into a Chuck Leavell-sounding piano solo and the band basically is playing “Jessica” instead of “Mexico,” the song picks up some more.

Recorded - poorly - Feb. 25 on board Jam Cruise 20 and just released, the video seems designed to promote moe. and Donato’s summer tour. It won’t get any newcomers on board. And folks who’ve been following the band for some time might also consider they’ve already experienced moe. at its best.

In any event, Donato and Wilson are “Mexico”’s MVPs.

Grade card: moe. with Daniel Donato - “Mexico” (Live - 2/25/24) - C

7/1/24

[newstfionline]

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ like China, Russia, at campaign event (Washington Post) President Biden called Japan a “xenophobic” country during a campaign event Wednesday evening, putting the U.S. ally in a group with authoritarian rivals such as China and Russia and suggesting that a lack of immigration may be why the nations were “stalling so badly economically.” “You have to conclude that Biden’s mouth moved faster than his brain,” Gerald Curtis, director of Columbia University’s Japan Research Program, said in an email about Biden’s remarks. “Japan may be moving too slowly for its own good in welcoming more foreigners to live and work in the country,” he said, but to “lump it” together with China and Russia was “over the top.” The comments came amid a period of good relations between the United States and Japan. Last month, Biden hosted the first state dinner for Japan in nearly a decade. “We are the same, Japan and the United States,” Biden told dignitaries gathered at the lavish event in the East Room of the White House for the visiting Japanese leader Kishida.

Houston area facing ‘life-threatening’ flood conditions as severe weather pummels Texas (ABC News) The Houston area is facing “life-threatening” flood conditions, officials warned, as severe weather pummels parts of Texas. A flood watch is in effect Thursday in southeastern Texas and Louisiana. Numerous flash flood warnings are also in effect, as up to 8 inches of rain has already fallen in some parts of southeastern Texas Thursday. Additional rounds of rain are expected to continue through Friday in these areas. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration as severe weather and flooding threatened the state. “Extreme” river flooding is expected to impact central and east Texas river basins through next week, with “historic” releases by lake and reservoir operators amid the heavy rainfall exacerbating flooding conditions, the governor’s office said.

A global student movement (Foreign Policy)  Pro-Palestinian student protests like those seen in the United States in recent weeks have begun popping up at universities around the globe, including in Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Pro-Israel counterdemonstrations have also arisen in several places in response. Unlike in the United States, where more than 2,300 demonstrators have been arrested or detained across at least 49 campuses since April 18, international protests have largely faced minimal police interference. (A report released Thursday by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a nongovernmental organization specializing in crisis mapping, found that despite “some notable violent clashes”—such as the one at the University of California, Los Angeles, where pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators fought—99 percent of the U.S. protests have remained peaceful.)

Money goes elsewhere, aid workers flee, Haitians endure on their own (Washington Post) Almost all the beds at the La Paix University Hospital are occupied. Critical medical supplies, including blood collection tubes, are running low. Doctors are operating without blood; they fear they’ll soon run out of anesthesia, too. The stream of patients, meanwhile, is unrelenting. There are those who have been attacked by the armed gangs that control 80 percent of the capital. Stroke patients. Women in labor. People with kidney failure who need dialysis—and are turned away because it’s not available. Once, the staff at La Paix was augmented by international doctors. Now, as Haiti confronts what aid workers say is the worst humanitarian crisis since then, there’s far less international help. The hospital’s Haitian doctors and nurses—many of whom have themselves been forced from their homes by the criminal paramilitaries who kidnap, rape and kill with impunity—are on their own. The United Nations has appealed to donors this year for $674 million in aid for Haiti. They’ve contributed $97 million—14 percent. Last year, the request was $720 million; only 35 percent was met. There’s “a lot of competition at the moment” for aid, according to Carl Skau, deputy director of the World Food Program.

Death toll from rains in southern Brazil climbs to 29 (Reuters) The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 29, local authorities said on Thursday evening, as the state government declared a state of public calamity to handle the dramatic situation. The storms, which have caused the greatest devastation in the state in recent years, also left 60 people missing and 10,242 displaced in 154 cities, according to Rio Grande do Sul’s civil defense.

UK’s Boris Johnson, who introduced voter ID rule, forgets his while voting (Reuters) Former British prime minister Boris Johnson, who introduced a contentious requirement for voters to show photo ID while voting, was turned away from a polling station on Thursday for forgetting to bring his. The incident is the latest in what has been a colourful political career for Johnson. As London mayor he was once left dangling in the air when he got stranded on a zip wire, and as prime minister he was once pictured appearing to retreat into a large refrigerator while being pursued by a camera crew for an interview.

Germany warns of consequences for alleged Russian cyber attack (Reuters) Russia will face consequences for a cyber attack allegedly orchestrated by a group with ties to its military intelligence, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday. Germany has been among the Western nations providing Ukraine military support in its war with Russia, with President Vladimir Putin saying in December that ties between the two countries stay largely frozen. In January 2023, Berlin said Russian activist hackers knocked several German websites offline in response to its decision to send tanks to Ukraine, although with little tangible effect. “We can now clearly attribute last year’s attack to the Russian group APT28, which is controlled by the Russian military intelligence service GRU,” Baerbock told a press conference in Adelaide. “In other words, Russian state hackers have attacked Germany in cyberspace,” added Baerbock, who is visiting Australia to meet counterpart Penny Wong. “This is completely unacceptable and will not remain without consequences.”

Human Rights Watch accuses Russian forces of executing Ukrainian troops (Le Monde/France) For Ukrainian soldiers, surrendering to the adversary on the battlefield is a lot like playing Russian roulette: The risk of being executed on the spot is all too real. A report by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), made public on today, states that since December 2023, at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers have been shot dead after surrendering. It has called for investigations into “war crimes,” so that those responsible can be brought to justice. It followed another report published on March 26 by the UN’s human rights watchdog, which established that Russian forces likely executed more than 30 Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs) during the winter months.

Ukrainian men abroad voice anger over pressure to return home to fight (Washington Post) With Ukraine desperate for soldiers to reinforce its crumbling defenses against Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian embassies have temporarily suspended consular services for fighting-age men, placing new pressure on them to go home to fight. The suspension of citizen services, such as passport renewals, is intended as a preliminary step to a new mobilization law that will go into force on May 18. It will require all men ages 18 to 60 to update their personal information with a local draft office within 60 days. Martial law, in effect since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, prohibits men ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country. But many men who were afraid of being sent to the front have fled. Thousands of others were already living abroad. Now, all of them face pressure under the new rules, which could restrict their movements. Men targeted by the policy expressed anger. And the requirements of the mobilization law are casting new light on a deepening rift between those men who have gone to the front lines and those who have not, between families whose loved ones are at risk every day and those who are living safely, in some cases many thousands of miles away.

Turkey to restrict exports to Israel (WSJ) Turkey said that it would halt all trade with Israel until the country allows uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Turkey decided to expand last month’s restriction on some exports to Israel due to the “worsening humanitarian tragedy in Palestine,” the Trade Ministry said, adding that work was underway to make sure that Palestinians were not adversely affected.

Slain Shepherd (Washington Post) A U.S. drone strike in Syria last year killed a 56-year-old shepherd after confusing him for a terrorist leader, an internal investigation concluded. The new assessment by U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military activity throughout the Middle East, affirms a Washington Post investigation published a year ago that cast doubt on officials’ initial public claim to have slain a senior al-Qaeda figure. Lotfi Hassan Misto was tending to his animals on May 3, 2023, in Qorqanya, a rural town in northwestern Syria. U.S. forces fired a Hellfire missile into the rocky outcrop behind his home, killing him and several of his sheep rather than a terrorist. “The U.S. government doesn’t do enough to learn from its mistakes,” said Oona Hathaway, an international law professor at Yale Law School, citing her research on other U.S. airstrikes. “The exact same mistakes happen over and over and over again.”

China to launch world-first mission to retrieve samples from far side of moon (Washington Post) China on Friday will embark on one of its most ambitious space missions yet: the launch of a probe to retrieve samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth within two months. If successful, it would be a first, for any country. Beijing has ambitions to become a space power and scientific force, laying out plans to land Chinese astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and set up a base at the moon’s south pole. This has created a new frontier in its broad rivalry with the United States, also including computer chips and solar panels.

Russian troops enter base housing US military in Niger, US official says (Reuters) Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces. The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington's fight against insurgents. A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were not mingling with U.S. troops but were using a separate hangar at Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger's capital.

Night sky (NYT) Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can only observe a fraction of astronomical phenomena with your naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them. The latest observable meteor shower will be the Eta Aquarids, which have been active since April 19 and are forecast to continue until May 28. They reach their peak May 4 to 5, or Saturday night into Sunday morning. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is known for its fast fireballs, which occur as Earth passes through the rubble left by Halley’s Comet. Sometimes spelled Eta Aquariid, this shower is most easily seen from the southern tropics. But a lower rate of meteors will also be visible in the Northern Hemisphere close to sunrise. With the moon just a thin sliver in the sky, viewers could witness a strong show this year.

[theoriginalmarke]

MONDAY PART II

So yesterday we met with a group of concerned volunteers from the shelter. Our board hired an executive director who has been an absolute disaster and we’ve had enough.

She hasn’t communicated with the volunteers, she has been spending a shitload of money on remodeling the office, she’s hired people to do the job that she should be doing, she throws staff under the bus, and she doesn’t know a single thing about how the shelter actually runs or what it does. Worse, she shows no desire to learn. NOTHING she has done or spent money on has improved the life of adoptability of a single cat.

Someone wrote a letter to the board of directors expressing our concerns and had a list of names that should get their attention. The ED replied with an email saying she’d like to meet one on one to hear our concerns. One: Divide and conquer is what she’s going for. Two: She doesn’t actually listen to what anyone says anyway. We have all decided that we will decline this invitation for individual meetings.

The board president replied with a little more concern, but still full of blah blah blah. He’s a friend, so I’m kind of torn. I like him, he’s done a lot for me, but he’s also done a terrible job over the past three years or so. The entire board has.

They’ve known there is an issue, they’ve heard complaints, but they don’t want to fire the ED because they already fired one for incompetence two years ago and then took a year to hire this one. Plus she’s friends with someone on the board.

Traditionally the board hosts a big picnic each year to express their appreciation to the volunteers. (We normally have around 100 volunteers and fosters.) They want to have the picnic but turn it into a big pat themselves on the back, look at all the wonderful things we’re doing event. We have all decided to decline the invitation for this event.

Our volunteer coordinator quit four months ago because of the ED, and the ED decided that we won’t hire a new one until the office is remodeled. WHAT? We have no help, we’re floundering, and... and this is pure stupidity.

The worst thing I discovered yesterday is that they’ve hired a “coach” to teach the ED how to communicate better. If you have to bring in a coach you’ve hired the wrong person. And a coach isn’t going to change a personality, a lack of ability, or a lack of inclination. This is gross malfeasance in my opinion.

Several of our group are former board members, several are big donors. We’ve all stopped donating until things change. 

Meanwhile, in other news, it looks like our landlords are going to move to their new home in Mexico and rent out their side of the house. It makes sense because they can get quite a bit of income for it. 

It also doesn’t make sense because he’s got his garage and many unfinished projects. A big Ford F650 that he was planning on turning into a camper/toy hauler. A race truck he’s rebuilding for someone. A race truck he’s rebuilding for one of his kids. Yada yada yada.

Personally, we wonder what it means for us. We like them. Will we like our new neighbors? Will we still get to use the pool and hot tub? They can charge a lot more if the new neighbors don’t have to share it. I’m assuming we’ll get to stay here. If not I don’t know if we’d even be able to afford Santa Barbara anymore. 

Anyway. That’s what’s going on that I can’t talk about on FB. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m really going to get moving this time. 

Y’all have a great day.

[tabloidtoc]

Star, December 28

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: The Kardashians in ruins 

Page 1: Fans jumped to conclusions when Taylor Swift who is known to drop hints about her personal life in her music videos posted a teaser shot for her new clip for Willow of herself in a lacy dress and floral headpiece looking very much like a blushing bride -- Taylor and boyfriend Joe Alwyn have been talking weddings and they initially discussed throwing a big bash in Joe’s native England but they’ve reconsidered since holing up in Taylor’s farm outside Nashville so now they’re just going to go ahead and get married in a small romantic ceremony and forgo the church wedding and elaborate reception since they are super private and prefer to do things out of the spotlight 

Page 2: Contents, Heather Rae Young scoped out wedding dresses with Chrishell Stause by her side 

Page 4: Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio are heating up the Boston set of their movie Don’t Look Up where their chemistry is off the charts even though both are seriously taken: Jennifer is wed to Cooke Maroney and Leo’s been dating Camila Marrone since 2017 but Jennifer and Leo have always had a flirty rapport whenever they bumped into each other at awards shows and other industry events -- Jennifer’s husband Cooke could be annoyed with all the flirting even if the actors are keeping things professional and as for Camila she finds his connection with Jennifer pretty intimidating 

Page 5: There’s plenty of tension on the set of The Morning Show now that Julianna Margulies has joined Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston on the series -- Jen wasn’t in on the decision to add Julianna to the cast and is miffed she wasn’t consulted and doesn’t understand why Reese insisted bringing Julianna on board and she’s just plain hurt that the new arrival has been getting so chummy with her BFF and Julianna and Reese are whispering behind everybody’s backs and barking orders like they own the place and they’re not even inviting Jen to lunch 

* Olivia Jade Giannulli addressed her part in the $500,000 bribe that ensured her entrance into USC and sent her parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli to prison and reactions to her appearance were harsh with a typical commenter calling her smug but she thinks she did well and figures this will be good for her career as a social-media influencer 

* Martha Stewart has been flourishing during lockdown and a new photo shows her looking beyond refreshed leaving some to wonder if she’s doing more than nibbling her new CBD gummies to look so good

Page 6: Kelly Clarkson’s divorce from Brandon Blackstock may be getting ugly but her ex-mother-in-law Reba McEntire is standing by her side even though it can get a little awkward at time but nothing is going to get in the way of Kelly and Reba’s relationship 

* A slew of A-listers are about to be dragged into Johnny Depp’s defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard as shocking new court papers allege that Johnny had affairs with a bevvy of his costars including Angelina Jolie and Keira Knightley and Marion Cotillard and must submit all responsive communications with them -- the women are mortified and embarrassed they’re being pulled into Johnny and Amber’s tawdry split while for his part Johnny flipped out when he learned he needed to produce his communications with these women and he’s calling the tactics lowdown and disgusting 

* Star Spots the Stars -- David Beckham, Chrissy Teigen, Carrie Underwood, Gal Gadot, Floyd Mayweather, Nick Offerman, Hilaria Baldwin 

Page 8: Star Shots -- Audrina Patridge and her daughter Kirra out in Beverly Hills, Pete Wentz let his bleached hair down during a tennis game in L.A., Joe Jonas and wife Sophie Turner walking with their daughter in a stroller in L.A. 

Page 10: Steve Martin took his meal to go during a break from filming Only Murders in the Building in Central Park, Josh Duhamel and his son Axl enjoyed a playful romp in the grass, Paris Hilton and Carter Reum celebrated their one-year anniversary in Bora Bora 

Page 11: Diane Keaton jokingly flirted with the men watching on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in Burbank, Sir Michael Palin brought the laughs during his appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show in London 

Page 12: ‘Tis the Season -- Kristen Taekman left a nursery in Encino, a decked out Lil Nas X and Ellen DeGeneres opted for a safe season’s greetings by bumping elbows on the talk show 

Page 13: Brooke Burke was all smiles shooting content for her fitness app in Malibu, Niecy Nash and wife Jessica Betts kicked off their first holiday season as a married couple in plaid pajamas 

Page 14: Kylie Minogue performing on The Jonathan Ross show in London, Irina Shayk out and about with daughter Lea in NYC, Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld and a canine costar filmed scenes for Hawkeye in NYC

Page 15: Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn showing some major skin during a photoshoot in L.A., Antonio Banderas and journalist Maria Casado posed for photos at a presentation for their new Spanish television series Escena en Blanco y Negro in Malaga, Spain 

Page 16: Beach Babes -- Chantal Jeffries and boyfriend Drew Taggart in Miami, Mark Zuckerberg showed off his gliding skills on his $12,000 eFoil electric surfboard in Hawaii 

Page 17: Chris Pratt used his hoverboard as a weight after hitting the sand with his son, Julia Roberts enjoyed a solo stroll in Hawaii 

Page 18: Normal or Not? Vanilla Ice headlining the drive-in Winterfest concert in West Palm Beach -- normal, Demi Moore wearing big boxing gloves -- not normal, James Franco couldn’t go without his phone during a getaway in Mexico -- not normal 

Page 20: Fashion -- stars look timeless in black -- Sofia Carson, Nicole Richie 

Page 21: Taylor Hill, Vanessa Kirby 

Page 24: Like so many Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton are putting their future on hold amid the global health pandemic and Gwen revealed that the two won’t even set a date for their nuptials in order to avoid a COVID situation that would require restrictions -- they have already nailed down a few details like the location which is Blake’s Ten Point Ranch in Oklahoma where he proposed inside a chapel Blake built for Gwen on the 1300-acre property

Page 25: Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox are embroiled in a bitter custody war over their sons Noah and Bodhi and Journey -- Brian responded to Megan’s divorce filing by requesting joint custody and spousal support and he’s in a non-negotiating mood and if she tries to take his kids it’s going to get ugly really fast 

* James Franco is ready to pop the question to girlfriend Isabel Pakzad and he’s been looking at rings -- dating since 2017 the two overcame a difficult time in 2018 after James was accused by multiple women of misconduct -- surviving that scandal and enjoying their time in lockdown has convinced James he’s found The One 

* Kristin Cavallari and comedian Jeff Dye who were first linked in October jetted off to Mexico for a fun getaway with friends where the couple smooched and danced and enjoyed cocktails and had a wonderful time in Cabo but Kristin isn’t looking for anything serious following her divorce from Jay Cutler 

Page 26: Cover Story -- the Kardashian empire crumbles -- with their show leaving the air early next year the Kardashian-Jenner crew could stand to lose it all -- ratings for Keeping Up With the Kardashians reached a new low before they pulled the plug and it’s obvious fans are losing interest and they spend money like it’s going out of fashion 

Page 30: A Spy at the Palace -- after a staff member steals more than $200,000 worth of her personal keepsakes Queen Elizabeth no longer feels safe in her home 

Page 33: Gone Too Soon -- a look back at the celebrities we lost in 2020 and the legacies they leave behind -- Naya Rivera, Kelly Preston, Regis Philbin 

Page 34: Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, Alex Trebek 

Page 40: Beauty -- pretty pout -- sparkly, shiny and matte lipsticks to rock this New Year’s Eve -- Rihanna 

Page 42: Entertainment 

Page 48: Parting Shot -- Vanessa Hudgens as host of the first MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time 

[usfwspacific]

#MigrationMondays: How You Can Help Birds On Their Way This Spring

By: Rylan Suehisa - Public Affairs Officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based in Portland, Oregon

In the morning when you wake up during this time of Quarantine, what’s the first thing you hear? If it’s not a family member or roommate bugging you to “Get out of bed already!” - (I’ll raise my hand to that), chances are you’re greeted by a chorus of bird song.

As the current pandemic has many of us sheltering in place, we are experiencing nature more acutely. Instead of turning on the TV for morning commute traffic updates, we can take an extra minute or two to focus in on the birdsong coming in through the window, or note a flurry of actively-foraging birds in a nearby Douglas Fir tree. With current circumstances the way they are, we have more time to appreciate the little things.

Yet behind these much-needed moments of zen lies an incredible phenomenon - spring migration. With more than three billion birds heading north throughout North America creating a beautiful seasonal spectacle, migration is something to get pumped about.

Western tanager, credit: Peter Pearsall/USFWS

We’ve just celebrated World Migratory Bird day (WMBD), where a whole flock of bird lovers from around the globe gathered together in collective awe and appreciation of birds’ incredible springtime journeys. Showcasing the inter-connectivity of bird conservation through many virtual events around the world, WMBD participants stirred up a gust of momentum that has us thinking about the remaining duration of spring migration. How can we do our part throughout May into early June?

With much of the world under lockdown, these action items should follow guidelines set forth by your local and national leaders. Here in the Pacific Northwest, that means sticking close to home for now. So from your garden, to your porch, to the grocery store, join us in the coming weeks as we explore some of the ways we can help birds along their journeys.

Let’s get started! First up…

Make informed choices about the plants in your garden.

Black-capped chickadee with insect at William L. Finley NWR. Credit: George Gentry/USFWS

It’s hard to imagine that a tiny nickel-sized bird such as a Wilson’s Warbler travels 2,000 miles or more on its way from wintering in Mexico to northern nesting grounds each year, or that migrating songbirds such as western tanagers, vireos and flycatchers expend up to half their body weight to make their own journeys north. Given these circumstances, it’s not so difficult to grasp a songbird’s need for breaks along the way. Once they’ve landed they need to refuel their tiny bodies to recover and complete the rest of their journey.

These waves of small yet determined travelers often fan out across wild spaces, but also urban areas, voraciously eating any small insect they can find. Yet depending on what’s growing in your garden, a songbird might land to discover a bountiful buffet waiting, or nothing more than a colorful but empty picnic table. A couple keys to meeting the stopover needs of a bird on migration are planting native vegetation and eliminating all use of pesticides, especially those known as neonicotinoids, from your yard.

Native plants provide critical supplies of pollen and nectar for a host of pollinating species including caterpillars - delicacies that many spring migrants love!  Non-native plants may have the vivid colors and more showy flowers, but some do not provide nectar nor pollen and research shows that native pollinators generally visit more native flowering plants. Birds in turn visit these same plants in search of the abundant insects found among their leaves. Native plants also have many advantages since they are accustomed to the local climate and native soils, and once established they need minimal care.

As you head over to your local nursery in search of native plants, inquire about that establishment’s use of neonicotinoids, one of the most prevalent pesticides around the world today. “Neonics,” as they are called, are highly toxic to pollinators such as butterflies and bees, but also toxic to birds that eat the dosed insects.  A growing number of nurseries are specifying where these pesticides are in use among their offerings so you can be sure that the native plants you purchase will actually bring the insects and birds you’re hoping for.

For more information on neonicotinoids, hear from Regional Refuge Biologist Joe Engler.

For strategies to incorporate native plants into your garden, check out this piece from Regional Bird Biologist David Leal.  

Next week, we’ll look into building birdhouses for resident songbirds that will be singing and raising young throughout the summer. Stay tuned!

[joysmercer]

b99 season 6: a timeline

*****ONLY ACCURATE FOR 6x06 AND LATER******

E1 (“HONEYMOON”): Tuesday, 5/15 - Tuesday, 5/29/2018 

First day of Jake and Amy’s Holt-less honeymoon – Wednesday, 5/23, which also happens to be the date Jake was originally planning to propose on (x)

E2 (“HITCHCOCK AND SCULLY”): Wednesday, 5/30/2018 E3 (“THE TATTLER”): Thursday, 5/31/2018

E4 (“FOUR MOVEMENTS”): Friday, 6/1 - Friday, 6/22/2018

Jake’s Birthday – sometime between 6/18-6/20 

E5 (“A TALE OF TWO BANDITS”): Day 1 – Day 2 2018 (?)

Gas Explosion on Halloween – Wednesday, 10/31/2018

The Santiago’s visit for Thanksgiving – Thursday, 11/22/2018

Secret Santa, hosted by Jake and Amy – around Tuesday, 12/25/2018

The Coldest Night of the Year – Sunday, 1/6/2019

E6 (“THE CRIME SCENE”): Monday, 1/7 – Sunday, 3/10/2019

Amy punches Jake – Wednesday, 2/27/2019

E7 (“HONEYPOT”): Wednesday, 3/13/2019 – Sunday, 3/17/2019 E8 (“HE SAID, SHE SAID”):  Monday, 3/18 - Friday, 3/22/2019 E9 (“THE GOLDEN CHILD”): Monday, 3/25 - Wednesday, 3/27/2019 E10 (“GINTARS”): Saturday, 3/30 - Tuesday, 4/2/2019 E11 (“THE THERAPIST”):  Monday, 4/8 - Wednesday, 4/10/2019

E12 (“CASECATION”):  Friday, 4/19/2019

Waterpark – Saturday, 4/20 - Wednesday, 4/24/2019

E13 (“THE BIMBO”): Thursday, 4/25 - Sunday, 4/28/2019 

B-Plot ends – Tuesday, 4/30/2019

E14 (“TICKING CLOCKS”): Wednesday, 5/1/2019 E15 (“RETURN OF THE KING”):  Thursday, 5/2 - Saturday, 5/4/2019 E16 (“CINCO DE MAYO”): Sunday, 5/5/2019

E17/18 (“SICKO & SUICIDE SQUAD”): Wednesday, 5/8 – Wednesday, 5/15/2019*

* if 7x01 begins right where 6x18 left off, Season 7 will probably open on Jake and Amy’s actual wedding anniversary. Cheers!

explanations for the dates are under the cut!

Things to keep in mind:

The B/C-plots, for the most part, are not included in the calculation of the times here, because they rarely line up with the A-plot. For example, it’s unlikely that Terry spent more than a few days unable to have enough confidence to make decisions in “Honeymoon,” let alone a few weeks.

I didn’t take weekends into consideration unless otherwise noted. There is a weekend squad, but we know that the regular detectives also sometimes work weekends (enough so that on more than one occasion, Holt has rewarded them with “weekends off”). 

Time-stamps within the episode are used as guidelines, but not always as the rule, unless there is a specific number of days given.

Jake’s birthday is somewhere between 5/21 and 6/20, so the one that Gina missed (referenced in “Return of the King”) had to have been the 2018 one, which means that Gina had to be out of the office before 6/24 (the Sunday after 6/20) – hence why the first 4 episodes are all squeezed together.

E1 (“HONEYMOON”): Tuesday, 5/15 - Tuesday, 5/29/2018

The first post-cold-open scene probably happens on Thursday, 5/17: Gina says that Holt is taking “another personal day,” implying that he was gone at least one day after the wedding. 

Jake and Amy reach Mexico two days later after, so Saturday, 5/19. Based on dialogue / events they attend / shirt changes, Holt leaves on Tuesday, 5/22. Jake and Amy’s extension begins the next day, 5/23. They are back at work “one week” after Holt leaves, so Tuesday, 5/29 (it could also be Monday 5/28, but it doesn’t really matter because the start date of 6x04 is locked in on a Friday anyway, so might as well give them a full week.)

Continuity Problem: “Captain Holt is at a 49 & improving 8.6% per day” implies that the first scene takes place ~5-6 days after the cold-open, but given Holt’s lack of usual Holt-ness the rest of the episode, we can assume his calculations are off. 

Continuity Problem: Amy says that “This is the first time all week” Holt has left them alone, but based on the activities they’ve shown, he’s really only been tagging around with them for, like, 4 days. I’m using the shorter version because 6x04 has to end as early as possible.

E2 (“HITCHCOCK AND SCULLY”): Wednesday, 5/30/2018

Jake is wearing a different shirt here than he was wearing in 6x01. So, the earliest that 6x02 can take place is Wednesday, 5/30. 

E3 (“THE TATTLER”): Thursday, 5/31/2018

The next day. It’s a bit odd to have a reunion on a Thursday, but roll with it.

E4 (“FOUR MOVEMENTS”): Friday, 6/1 - Friday, 6/22/2018

Like I said before, because of Jake’s canonical birthday, Gina has to be out of the office before 6/24.

Gina gives her two-week notice in the cold-open. 

She stays back Monday-Friday the week after she’s supposed to have left, implying that her official last day was a Friday (assuming that the squad had the weekend off after the Gina-rama festivities, and, of course, she meant exactly 2 weeks). Therefore, she gives her two-week notice on 6/1, her official last day is 6/15, She leaves 6/21, and the episode ends on 6/22.

This timeline locks Jake’s birthday in to the very end of Gemini season, between 6/18-6/20 (with his birthday drinks being the weekend after). Either that, or he (for whatever reason) decided to hold his celebrations a week or more after the actual day.

E5 (“A TALE OF TWO BANDITS”): Day 1 – Day 2 2018

I literally have no idea when this is supposed to happen, except that Day 1 happens on the same day as some kid’s Bar Mitzvah (so probably over the weekend) and the whole thing takes place before Christmas (Trudy says “see you at Christmas!” at the end).

It’s probably also before Halloween/Thanksgiving (so over the summer/early fall) because those events + the holiday season happen pretty close together and we would have probably gotten some indication of those dates approaching during the episode otherwise. 

E6 (“THE CRIME SCENE”): Monday, 1/7 – Sunday, 3/10/2019

The murder happens on a Sunday, so Day 1 is a Monday. 

Day 51: the briefing room shows 2019 monthly stats on the board, indicating that we’ve officially gotten to the new year, and it’s already February (or later)…

Since it has to be February by the time Day 51 rolls around and Day 1 is a Monday, the episode can start on either December 17, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, or January 7. 

December 17 as a start date means that they were working straight through the holidays, which seems unlikely. Christmas/NY Eve as start dates are also unlikely, for obvious reasons. Therefore, Day 1 is Monday, January 7 (and Day 51 is 2/26/2019).

Day 52: Amy punches Jake – 2/27/2019

The Episode takes 8 weeks, 6 days (56 days + “one week later”): the episode ends 3/10/2019.

E7 (“HONEYPOT”): Wednesday, 3/13/2019 – Sunday, 3/17/2019

The episode starts with Jake saying, “this is the third secretary you’ve fired in 3 days,” which indicates that it’s been at least 3 days since the end of 6x06.

E8 (“HE SAID, SHE SAID”): Monday, 3/18 - Friday, 3/22/2019

Day 1: start case

Days 2-4: amy working nonstop; Beefer gives text messages

Day 5: final 2 scenes

Everything has to happen on a weekday because the office that they’re investigating is open throughout.

Continuity Problem: Amy has 3 weeks off; she’s caught up on her paperwork (by which the show meant that she really had no Sergeant duties), and it’s unlikely that Holt would let her sit around and do nothing for that amount of time. However, things always come up unexpectedly, and she’s not doing much anyway in E9-10.

E9 (“THE GOLDEN CHILD”): Monday, 3/25 - Wednesday, 3/27/2019

E10 (“GINTARS”): Saturday, 3/30 - Tuesday, 4/2/2019

Nikolaj probably isn’t in school during this time, at least in the beginning.

E11 (“THE THERAPIST”):  Monday, 4/8 - Wednesday, 4/10/2019

As per the B/C-plots, and the fact that therapists probably don’t schedule appointments on the weekends unless absolutely necessary, all of this had to have happened on a weekday.

E12 (“CASECATION”):  Friday, 4/19/2019

The earliest this could occur is 4/17; otherwise, it’s illogical to say “our anniversary is coming up.”  It’s also been “almost a month” since 6x09 (when they last “hung out”).

I made it a Friday so they could take “next week off” without having to go back to work first. 

E13 (“THE BIMBO”): Thursday, 4/25 - Sunday, 4/28/2019

Continuity Problem: 

The B-plot takes 6 days (5 tallies on the whiteboard, plus 1 more where Amy’s squad tells her to stop competing for lunchtime greatness), which poses some…problems. 

Four of these happen at the same time as the A-plot; two are unaccounted for. However, there aren’t enough days left if Jake and Amy come back from their week off on Monday, 4/29 like they’re supposed to. The latest date they could conceivably come back to work (which would also serve as the first day for the episode) is Saturday, 4/27.

There were three choices here: 

Jake and Amy return on Saturday, 4/27. The A-plot lasts until 4/30. The two “remaining” days for the B-plot occur at the same time as “Ticking Clocks” (5/1) and “Return of the King” (5/2). 

Jake and Amy return on Friday, 4/26. The A-plot lasts until 4/29. 1 remaining day occurs on the “Free Day” of 4/30, and the other happens at the same time as “Ticking Clocks,” on 5/1. 

Jake and Amy return on Thursday, 4/25. The A-plot lasts until 4/28. Both remaining days occur on the “Free Days” of 4/29 and 4/30.

Logistically, it wouldn’t make sense for one of the remaining days to happen during 6x15: Terry would have to a) randomly change his shirt multiple times/day for some reason, and b) comes back to the Precinct more times than shown while dealing with Gina’s problem. Option 1 doesn’t work.

Amy’s dentist appointment is the morning of 6x14, and the last day of “The Bimbo” is 9:07am-lunchtime, so Option 2 doesn’t work either.

Therefore, Jake and Amy start work again on Thursday and The B-plot continues into the afternoon of 4/30. I mean, do you really need a whole week at the waterpark anyway?

(why was the heist on Cinco de Mayo, instead of, like, anything in June. why)

E14 (“TICKING CLOCKS”): Wednesday, 5/1/2019

E15 (“RETURN OF THE KING”):  Thursday, 5/2 - Saturday, 5/4/2019

Day 1 is a weekday – Gina has a business meeting on this day.

Continuity Problem: Jake tells Gina that she’s been blowing him off for “the last few months,” but it’s been much longer than just a few months.

Continuity Problem: The B-plot supposedly takes place on Mariano Rivera’s birthday, which is actually in November.

E16 (“CINCO DE MAYO”): Sunday, 5/5/2019

E17/18 (“SICKO & SUICIDE SQUAD”): Wednesday, 5/8 – Wednesday, 5/15/2019

Day 3 is a Friday (at least, that’s what CJ says in his video). Considering that Terry is only just receiving his Lieutenant’s package, the finale probably occurs right after 6x16.

The episode takes 7 days (until 5/14); I’m assuming that the final scene of Holt as a Patrol Cop occurs the day after, or 5/15/2019. This should also be when the first scene of 7x01 happens. Happy anniversary, Jake and Amy! 

[salmonthestoryteller]

Chance Encounters

A Roswell New Mexico Fanfic

Set in 1x02, pre-reunion

“Whoa, sorry about that.”

Alex winced slightly as he’d been forced to step back fast to dodge the cart coming around the corner.  He was being stubborn by not taking a cart himself and just grabbing a basket, but he also wasn’t planning on getting nearly run over at the grocery store.  “It’s okay.”  He reassured the other party, pausing when he saw the man who was pushing the cart.  He was pretty sure he’d seen him at his welcome home parade and gathering, but he couldn’t put a name to the face.

“Sergeant Alex Manes, right?”  The man recognized him.  Everybody recognized him these days, part of the joys of having a parade held in your honor.  Though at least he’d gotten the rank and name right.

“That’s me.  I don’t believe we met.”

“Sorry, Noah Bracken.”  He was quick to reconcile the fact.  “My wife, Isobel, she’s an event planner for the city council.  I think we saw each other briefly when she hosted your return home parade and the gathering afterwards.”

“Isobel Evans?”  Alex was startled, and then quickly realized his mistake - the man, Noah, had just said she was his wife.  “I’m sorry, we went to school together, so-”

“That’s right, you graduated the same year - didn’t you?” Noah didn’t seem insulted at all by the slip. “I think they said that among the speeches welcoming you back.”

“There were so many speeches, I wouldn’t be surprised.”  Alex realized it probably was a snippy thing to say to the husband of the woman who’d planned the event.  He’d rather there never have been any event at all, though, to be honest.

“Oh, trust me, I heard all the complaints about it.”  Noah grinned.  “How everyone wanted to make a speech, and didn’t they realize people wanted to mingle and talk to the man of the hour, not listen to them flap their gums.  About how every speech ran over and the hors d’oeuvre table kept running out of cheese.”

The man’s smile was contagious, and Alex couldn’t help but give a small laugh at the joke about the refreshments.  “Well, I will say it was a well run event.”

“I’m actually on a last minute supply run for the reunion tonight.  Are you going?”

“She’s running that, too?”

“I don’t think there’s an event in this town my wife isn’t involved in.  Next up is the UFO Emporium Reopening Gala, and I’ve already heard how they’ve had to change the menu three times.  But I’m probably boring you.”

“It’s fine.  I suppose I’ll see you tonight.”  Alex offered.  The man was polite enough, but he was ready to escape the idle chit chat.

“No, sadly I have to work tonight.  A last minute case of mine at the law firm.  Max will probably be there with her, though.”

“Max Evans.  He’s still in town?”  Alex hadn’t run into Isobel’s twin brother, but then he hadn’t actual been very social since his return.

“He’s a Deputy in the Police Department.”

“Wow… that wasn’t what I expected to hear.  Funny how people’s plans change.”  While Alex wouldn’t say Max and he had been good friends, they’d been on good enough terms through their mutual friendship with Liz.  He knew back in high school Evans had planned on becoming a writer.  Of course, back in those days he also thought he was going to be a musician.  And there was Michael, too.  Still very much here, and not at all where Alex had always envisioned him.

“She said she was trying to convince Michael to come.”

“I’m sorry?” Alex’s eyes snapped over to the other man.  The fact he’d mentioned Michael right when he thought about him threw him off guard.

“Michael Guerin?  He would have graduated with you, too.  He’s a close friend of Izzy’s, practically a brother.”

Alex nodded, feeling strangely wary now.  “I knew him in high school, too.”

“Small town, right?”  Noah didn’t seem to notice his tension, or was too polite to mention it.  “Well, I better get going with these supplies, before Isobel freaks out on me.  My wife is scary when she’s angry.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr Bracken.”

“Please, Noah.  Nice to meet you, too.”  Noah started to push the cart away.  “Have fun at the reunion. Maybe we’ll see each other another time.”

For a moment the words seemed ominous, but Alex shook it off.  He was just being paranoid.  He really did need to get out and socialize more - maybe he’d find time to go see Maria at The Wild Pony later in the week.

Fini

Day late, this was for Day 3 of Alex Manes Appreciation Week. (Interacting with others he hasn’t yet.) I’m going to miss Noah next season, no lie.

[douxreviews]

Legends of Tomorrow: Luchas de Apuestas

"You were right. There’s no such thing as happily ever after."

Legends of Tomorrow is back with its first episode in nearly four months, and it comes out swinging.

The second half of season four just got real, y'all.

Wow. That is a lot to process. Just... wow.

The most admirable thing about this episode is how much every additional tragedy felt like a natural consequence of the events that led up to it. So often when a show wants to create big, dramatic rifts between its characters it ends up coming across as incredibly contrived. The writing staff wants A and B to have a falling out for whatever reason, and so they find some way of starting a fight between them that usually comes wrapped in a big sign that says 'this is an excuse for A and B to fight.'

That's not the case here at all. What we have here is a bunch of characters that we know quite well by this point, responding to events in ways that feel perfectly true to who they are. And the actions that they take cause other characters to react in ways that are true to who they are, and soon the reverberations of all of those in character actions are careening off in tragic but understandable ways. It's like watching a meticulously arranged domino pattern but with crying.

Obviously, I'm girding myself to discuss Sara and Ava.

OK, right now I'm rocking gently and repeating to myself, 'It's not permanent. They'll work it out' over and over again. But as much as I hate that Sara and Ava have broken up, I can't help but watch all the little steps that led up to it and think, 'Yes. That is exactly how Sara would respond to that' and 'Yep, that's exactly how I would expect Ava to react to that situation.' Of course Sara would choose to give Mona and the Kaupe the benefit of the doubt and try to shield them from the Bureau. Of course Ava would feel betrayed by that and respond by attempting to take more control over Sara and the Waverider in order to protect time. Or course Ava would ultimately try to prevent Sara's team from doing something she sees as reckless by sending in troops, and of course Sara is going to respond badly to that. Just to make it more heartbreaking, they both genuinely tried several times to talk the situation through like adults so that they could head the whole thing off, but failed.

Ava needed Sara to be on her side, and Sara couldn't be because that would mean abandoning Mona and the Kaupe, both of whom are basically innocent, to punishment and torture. She feels like Sara let her down, because Sara did actually let her down, even if it was for the best of reasons. Sara needed Ava to back her up against Hank and the government forces that are torturing their prisoners, and Ava couldn't do that because without Hank and his funding the Time Bureau ceases to exist, which would leave time unprotected just as it's being overrun with magical monsters. She feels like Ava is compromising herself ethically by ignoring the torture because Ava is, in fact, compromising herself ethically by ignoring the torture, even if she is doing it with the greater good in mind.

Which was a great final twist of the knife, by the way. A lot of Sara's dilemma in this episode was not knowing if Ava was part of the corrupt system, or in danger from the corrupt system. And because Sara is an emotionally healthy adult her default position was to have faith in Ava. Which made that final conversation all the more painful when Ava not only revealed that she didn't have a problem with the torturing of prisoners, she also pointed out that the Legends were sending those same prisoners to literal Hell only a few months ago. Ouch. I had forgotten that. Hell, they were ready to send Charlie to Hell now that I think about it. Goodbye moral high ground.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the episode, wow we have a lot of characters now, don't we. So, Charlie and Ray hang out back at the Waverider, while Mick, John, and Sara go to check out the Lucha Libre to which they've tracked the Kaupe. Zari, meanwhile, heads to Time Bureau HQ to dig into their security software and find out if Mona is telling the truth about not having released the Kaupe herself. She pairs up with Nate, and of course uncovers that Hank doctored the footage and is behind the whole 'creature torture' thing. Nate shows that he's undergone some character growth and doesn't fly off the handle at Hank, but instead pretends to be cool with it so that he can go all monster hunter Donnie Brasco. I like that new direction for Nate a lot. Having him investigation the TB from within is a lot more interesting than him slowly turning to the dark side and siding with Hank during the inevitable upcoming civil war, which is where I thought he was going.

Mick, John, Charlie and Ray don't get a ton to do this week, but Mick does get a couple of solid bonding scenes with Mona, over his Buck and Garima books, of which there are now apparently many. I guess that's what Mick was doing over the winter break. John, similarly, doesn't get a lot, but had a couple very nice moments with a Luchador who is supposed to be a big hero, but who's been supplanted by the time displaced Kaupe who's now wrestling under the name El Lobo. The detail that John is apparently a big fan of that particular wrestler and his later monster movies is perhaps a tad too convenient, but it was earnestly endearing, and earnest helps to excuse a lot in my book.

So, after all that uplifting triumph over adversity, Mona has the opportunity to run away with the Kaupe, but makes the emotionally correct choice to not run away from her problems, and everything is warm and fuzzy and deeply moving. But then the Kaupe is abruptly shot and killed and Mona is apparently a werewolf (were-Kaupe?) now, and all you can think as a viewer is, 'Oh, that's why they reminded us about her Kaupe-injury and why we had all the wolfman references made to the Kaupe. They were setting up that moment really well as the natural consequence of this sequence of events and I didn't even notice.'

If only every hour of broadcast television understood and used cause and effect as a result of character choices this well. What a world that would be.

So what have we learned today?

That the show isn't even remotely concerned about what the knock on effects of changes to the timeline might be anymore. That was actually the one big flaw this week. If the presence of the Kaupe in 1961 was changing the timeline in a way that the Bureau could see, then it would have eliminated a lot of the underlying problem. Specifically, if Ava could have seen that having the Kaupe fight the Lucha de Apuestas fight was the only way to get history back on the correct course, then the whole final fight could have been avoided.

Of course, the whole final fight was much more about Sara and Ava and their relationship, so it doesn't detract that much from the episode. But it would be nice if they'd addressed it at all.

Everybody remember where we parked:

This week the Waverider went to Mexico City, 1961, to catch a little Lucha Libre. And Zari somehow flitted back and forth between the Waverider in 1961 and the Time Bureau in the present day.

Present day, interestingly enough, is still stated here as 2018, probably unavoidably, as the action picks up right where "Legends of To-Meow-Meow" left off.

Quotes:

Gary: "Aw, what an adorable little puppet." Puppet: "Eat my fuzzy dung, ya dick!"

Ava: "Gary. Close that hospital gown or I will report you to HR."

Gary: "I don’t know who I am. I don’t know why anything is things. I don’t know where my nipple went. Where’s my nipple? Where’s my nipple?!?"

Constantine: "Oh, come on Raymondo."

Nate’s mom: "Zari? What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman with excellent childbearing hips."

Ava: "Sara, my ass is already on the line. Feeling me up in front of my boss is not a good idea right now."

Constantine: "Trust me, there’s nothing people like more than a good comeback."

Bits and pieces:

-- Please don't let them be hinting that Zari and Nate are going to be a couple. I'm just not down for it.

-- Zari and Sara again looked absolutely amazing in their party dresses.

-- On the one hand, I like the implication that the show has finally remembered Nate's hemophilia, since it's implied that that's why his parents host an annual fundraiser for it. On the other hand, it's weird that that never came up once from anyone.

-- Seriously, powers that be, if you're going to take a four month mid-season break, for the love of god make the first half's episodes available on-demand so that we can get back up to speed. I spent most of this episode thinking, 'Oh yeah, I forgot that that happened,' which really killed several of the reveals for me.

-- I really, really wish that there'd been a luchador with the number 5 on his mask, somewhere in the background.

-- Luchas de Apuestas means a fight with a wager on it. Usually either the opposing wrestler's mask or hair.

-- Was the Kaupe a demi-god before? Because I think that was a bit of a ret-con.

-- Apparently the heavily hinted Gary/Mona/Kaupe love triangle is not going to be a thing. I hope they find a way to fix Gary and that he forgives Mona.

-- I did not see Mona's monster transformation coming. Can't wait to see where that goes.

-- When exactly did Sara and Ava learn that Tango? Not that I'm complaining, it looked amazing.

-- I would totally play Ray's 'Cards to Save the Timeline' game.

An episode that was both a lot of fun, and a lot of heartbreaking. Welcome back, Legends. You were gone too long.

Three and a half out of four missing nipples.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[nabikome-blog]

Getting the Best Mexico Tourist Visa

https://fr.ivisa.com/mexico-tourist-visa

Occasionally, the website doesn't function and you might find it hard to book tickets. If you don't have your passport or green card when seeking to reenter america, you'll be held until the situation can be worked out with the appropriate embassy authorities, which might take an extremely long moment. The ideal time to apply for your Mexico visa is 1-2 months ahead of your travel date.

If you are going to be in Mexico seven days or less, there isn't any charge. If you want to go to Ireland for at least 3 months, for example to follow a plan of study, for work or maybe to settle permanently in Ireland with family members that are already resident in Ireland, then you're able to apply to get a lengthy stay D' visa for a single entry. The vehicle has to be returned in time and within the timeframe stated on the temporary import permit.

In the event the names of their countries aren't listed, it means they will need to submit an application for visas. Also, not all countries offer you all sorts of visas. Rather than a business visa, your host business in Saudi Arabia may give you a visiting work visa.

Want to Know More About Mexico Tourist Visa?

There are various ways to go about obtaining a Visa. Along with the decal, you'll also be provided a paper copy of the import permit. Based on the kind of account that you want to open, you will be asked to deposit a minimum of between $1000 and $10,000 Mexican pesos.

What You Should Do to Find Out About Mexico Tourist Visa Before You're Left Behind

There are various types of Visas that are necessary to pay a visit to Mexico and based on the intention behind the visit. The quickest and easiest way to make an application for a visitor visa is online. You will also need to demonstrate proof you have sufficient financial resources to prolong your stay.

Travel advices can help you to discover the top rated restaurants, lodgings, destinations and activities of that specific location. Tourists may remain in Mexico for as much as 180 days. To stop by Mexico as a tourist a visitor will want to acquire a tourist visa.

Mexico Tourist Visa Fundamentals Explained

They can either choose the e-tickets option or I-tickets depending on their choice. The procedure is usually fast the eTA could be approved within minutes although it is advised that travellers apply in advance of their flight in order to prevent delays. If you intend to enter Mexico by auto, please read the car's importation requirements.

Mexico Tourist Visa - What Is It?

Visa request cannot be processed without your initial passport. Nationals of countries authorized to take part in the Guam visa Waiver Program have to present an unexpired passport. Filipino passport holders are needed to make an application for visa prior to going to Mexico.

The one exception is where they've been issued with an Australian Declaratory Visa. You don't have to be a Temporary Resident initially to turn into a Permanent Resident later, assuming that you fulfill one of the other requirements required for permanent residency. Upon arrival in Mexico you need to create a current passport plus a visitor's permit that is now called the FMM Forma Migratoria Multiple.

The Fight Against Mexico Tourist Visa

A residence visa will be required if you would like to live or relocate to Saudi Arabia. Acquiring an automobile visa in mainland Mexico can potentially involve a good quantity of paperwork. Mexicans with a valid TRV do not will need to also receive an eTA to be able to enter Canada.

You should get familiar with the laws of Mexico, america and Canada so you will have the ability to comply with them. Chacala in Nayarit, it is one of the most picturesque beach towns in the country. Travelers who would like to work in Mexico they must make an application for work permit.

[amararoleplays-blog]

50 QUESTIONS THAT WILL TELL YOU MORE THAN YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IRISH ACTRESS SADIE DUNNE

IS YOUR CHARACTER

[001] the face of any products

sadie is the current face of louis vitton she also has a partnership with covergirl for their all day every day natural finish foundation.

[002] open about their private life

to some extent, she doesn’t hide her relationship with matt matson, however she does prefer to keep some things close to the cuff. she’s very protective of her sisters ( and family in general ), matt, and her friends. so when the press does go after them she does get annoyed.

[003] an advocate for any charities

since her mother passed away from breast cancer, sadie is very much involved with several charities focused around breast cancer research she tries to do the run for the cure every year. she’s also a goodwill ambassador for unicef and a huge advocate for the #metoo & timesup movements.

[004] involved in a relationship for publicity

she’s luckily never had to have been.

[005] where they are because of dishonest / shady moves

sadie’s parents were very very adamant of preserving her integrity and although there were some “casting couch” opportunities sadie declined all of them. her career ( as she will admit ) is built upon sheer dumb luck and some hard work. 

WHO DOES YOUR CHARACTER

[006] @ / retweet regularly

twilight meme accounts, cute dog pics, charities she’s involved with & her sisters

[007] mention most in interviews

her sisters/family & matt

[008] go to when they need some help

her sister for like general life advice and matt when she needs to feel better in general.

[009] idolize / adore more than life itself

her mother

[010] want to end up with (in their dreams)

honestly, ever since matt came into her life three years ago she hasn’t really thought of anyone else. but sixteen year old sadie would say leonardo dicaprio ( cliche she knows )

WHAT WAS

[011] the first thing they tweeted

@sadiedunne am I allowed to be here if I’m terrified of birds? that hitchcock movie still has me scarred, #crowsbegone

[012] the first event they got invited to

kids choice awards

[013] the last (non work related) vacation they took

she went to mexico with matt for their three year anniversary

[014] the first thing published about them on lounge

a few years ago when sadie did her very first indie film that garnered massive critical acclaim, she played a lesbian. lounge did an “expose” on this which sadie never commented on. she feels as though her sexuality is no one’s business and she’d rather just celebrate the people she loves.

[015] the project that made them want to act / write / sing / etc.

she grew up on musicals like sound of music & wizard of oz and all of shirley temple’s movies. as a child star,  she aspired to be like shirley temple and groomed herself to be a triple threat.

WHY

[016] do they put up with all of the bs that comes with the business

to some extent, she’s been in the business since she was six. so she knows being a public figure, people will ultimately be curious about her. however she draws the line and calls people out on bs. she has zero filter.

[017] did they pursue the career they’re currently in

since she was a kid, she just loved entertaining people. she’s so full of energy this career really suits her because she’s an energizer bunny but also has just a great deal of empathy.

[018] did they choose the media persona they did

sadie’s not even sure she has a “media persona” her M.O. is just being awkward and loud and for some reason people like it.

[019] do they hate gossip magazines so much

she could honestly care less on what gossip mags have to say, she’s proven them wrong through her actions.

[020] would they ever make a sex tape

I mean.... there’s probably one floating around there somewhere. if it ever went public she’d laugh and say that she feels sorry for anyone that had to view it because she feels she looks awkward having sex.

WHERE

[021] did they hear their first song on the radio

she actually heard an irish radio play in her mom’s study in their home in dublin when she was four. that’s the oldest memory she has of hearing something on the radio

[022] did they find out they’d landed their first project

at her sixth birthday party, she was thrilled because she’d booked a sitcom in the states.

[023] did they go on vacation after their first big project

yes, her parents took her to disneyland, it was no pun intended magical.

[024] do they live when they want to get away from it all

sadie goes back home to dublin

[025] was their first big press conference

in toronto, one of her indie films debuted there as a part of the toronto film festival.

WAS THEIR FIRST

[026] project embarrassing

her first “project” was a chocolate bar commercial for an irish brand of sweets and sadie got to eat chocolate for the whole day she’ll say to this day it was one of the best jobs she’s ever had. 

[027] talk show appearance a wreck

no, sadie is unbashedly honest and people find that endearing. she told a story about how she befriended a squirrel that lived by the set of the movie she was working on. 

[028] public relationship heavily followed

not really, she dated one of her fellow disney alums. the relationship lasted a year but never garnered too much press as neither of them were “big names”

[029] fan encounter awkward / nice / sweet / etc.

it was kind of awkward because she was thirteen and a middle aged man wanted her autograph. her mother allowed it but she and sadie were a little uncomfortable even though the guy was fairly nice.

[030] relationship (while famous) talked about at all

not particularly, she was never a household disney name, she played the best friend so it was reported on briefly.

WILL

[031] they ever open any sort of business

sadie has recently started dabbling in executive producing and she loves it. so in the future, she’d love to open her own production house.

[032] they ever win a major, prestigious award

she’s won a golden globe, a few BAFTAs, and was nominated for an oscar last year. midnight city’s already getting a ton of critical buzz so hopefully next year will be her year *fingers crossed*

[033] they ever host the smn version of saturday night live

she did last year just before the oscars. she’d love to do it again.

[034] they ever work tirelessly for years to get a project going

she has for midnight city, and now that she’s a little more settled in her career she would love to be a champion for female led and diverse/inclusive projects because she feels she has a voice.

[035] they take pictures with fans who approach them on their off time

absolutely ! she’s happy to do it as long as they’re polite

DOES YOUR CHARACTER

[036] invest their money wisely

I mean sadie’s fairly frivolous with her spending habits, but she’s not spending her money on designer handbags it’s on twilight collectibles, candy, and random tidbits she likes to collect.

[037] work only on projects they love

since her career’s taken off and she’s being taken seriously as an actress, yes.

[038] care more about the fame than anything

no, fame isn’t something she’s concerned with. she’d be acting even if it was in a community theatre setting she just loves entertaining people.

[039] often find they’ve put their foot in their mouth

absolutely, she’s a rambler and she says stuff without thinking so she’s constantly doing this

[040] hide things from the public because they are afraid / ashamed of what the reaction could be

no she’s fairly open about who she is and feels no need to hide anything

DO YOU HONESTLY THINK YOUR CHARACTER

[041] is a good person

objectively yes, I think she tries to be at least.

[042] will have career longevity

I think so, she’s wise about the projects she chooses and is committed to never doing the same thing twice.

[043] deserves the career they have

yes, she’s worked so hard for it

[044] can remain unjaded by hollywood

she’s managed for the last twenty four years so I hope so !

[045] will spend the rest of their life with the person they marry

depends on who she marries, because that person will require a lot of patience

GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY WOULD YOUR CHARACTER

[046] date / marry a fan

she would date a fan, sure. just as long as they tried to get to know who she is with all her complexities

[047] star on any type of reality show

no, she’s not a fan of reality shows

[048] donate to charity / do good deeds without publicity

yes, she doesn’t engage with charity for the publicity. she would do it even if she weren’t famous

[049] say exactly what they think about the ins/outs of fame

yes she’s fairly candid about this and will throw shade where shade needs to be thrown

[050] walk comic con without any security (in or out of disguise)

yes, she’d love it !! she’s a huge fangirl herself. however, she’s never had the chance to go to fan conventions.

[newstfionline]

Friday, July 30, 2021

Alaskan coast 8.2 magnitude earthquake was the strongest one in decades, official says (CNN) The 8.2 magnitude earthquake that struck off Alaska’s coast Wednesday night was the strongest one since 1964, an official told CNN. The very strong quake was located about 56 miles (91 kilometers) east southeast of Perryville, Alaska, and happened around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. “This event was felt throughout the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak,” according to the Alaska Earthquake Center.

Homes lose water as wells run dry in drought-ravaged basin MALIN, Ore. (AP) Judy and Jim Shanks know the exact date their home’s well went dry—June 24. Since then, their life has been an endless cycle of imposing on relatives for showers and laundry, hauling water to feed a small herd of cattle and desperately waiting for a local well-drilling company to make it to their name on a monthslong wait list. The couple’s well is among potentially hundreds that have dried up in recent weeks in an area near the Oregon-California border suffering through a historic drought, leaving homes with no running water just a few months after the federal government shut off irrigation to hundreds of the region’s farmers for the first time ever. Officials have formal reports of 117 empty wells but suspect more than 300 have gone dry in the past few weeks as the consequences of the Klamath River basin’s water scarcity extend far beyond farmers’ fields. Worried homeowners face waits of six months or more to get new, deeper wells dug because of the surging demand, with no guarantee that those wells, too, won’t ultimately go dry. While much of the West is experiencing exceptional drought conditions, the toll on everyday life is particularly stark in this region filled with flat vistas of sprawling alfalfa and potato fields and normally teeming wetlands.

Biden orders tough new vaccination rules for federal government (AP) President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping new pandemic requirements for millions of federal workers. Federal workers will be required to attest they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus or else face mandatory masking, weekly testing, distancing and other new rules. The newly strict guidelines are aimed at boosting sluggish vaccination rates among the four million Americans who draw federal paychecks and to set an example for private employers around the country. The administration encouraged businesses to follow its lead on incentivizing vaccinations by imposing burdens on the unvaccinated. Rather than mandating that federal workers receive vaccines, the plan will make life more difficult for those who are unvaccinated to encourage them to comply. Biden also directed the Defense Department to look into adding the COVID-19 shot to its list of required vaccinations for members of the military. And he has directed his team to take steps to apply similar requirements to all federal contractors. Biden also urged state and local governments to use funds provided by the coronavirus relief package to incentivize vaccinations by offering $100 to individuals who get the shots. And he announced that small- and medium-sized businesses will receive reimbursements if they offer employees time off to get family members vaccinated.

Mexico declares $3 billion U.S. security deal ‘dead,’ seeks revamp (Washington Post) Frustrated by raging violence, the Mexican government is seeking to overhaul the Merida Initiative, a $3 billion U.S. aid program that’s been the centerpiece of security cooperation between the two nations for more than a decade—but has failed to reduce bloodshed. Mexican officials say they have been meeting with Biden administration officials since late spring to refocus their cooperation against drug cartels and other criminal groups, amid growing concerns that such gangs are expanding their control over Mexican territory. “The Merida Initiative is dead. It doesn’t work, okay?” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told The Washington Post in the government’s first detailed comments on the discussions. “We are now in another era.” Launched during the presidency of George W. Bush, the Merida Initiative initially provided hundreds of millions of dollars for aircraft, helicopters and other hardware for Mexico’s security forces. In recent years, the funding shifted to technical aid and training to strengthen Mexico’s police and justice system. But despite the billions of dollars in aid, there has been a “huge, huge increase in violence,” Ebrard noted. Homicides in Mexico have quadrupled since the initiative was announced in 2007. Drug overdose deaths in the United States, meanwhile, soared to a record 93,331 last year, fueled by the rising use of fentanyl, much of it smuggled across the southwest border.

Something strange is happening in Britain. Covid cases are plummeting instead of soaring. (Washington Post) This is a puzzler. Coronavirus cases are plummeting in Britain. They were supposed to soar. Scientists aren’t sure why they haven’t. The trajectory of the virus in Britain is something the world is watching closely and anxiously, as a test of how the delta variant behaves in a society with relatively high vaccination rates. And now people are asking if this could be the first real-world evidence that the pandemic in Britain is sputtering out—after three national lockdowns and almost 130,000 deaths. Public health experts, alongside the government, predicted that cases would be rising in Britain at this point, perhaps even exponentially.

France Gave Teenagers $350 for Culture. They’re Buying Comic Books. (NYT) When the French government launched a smartphone app that gives 300 euros to every 18-year-old in the country for cultural purchases like books and music, or exhibition and performance tickets, most young people’s impulse wasn’t to buy Proust’s greatest works or to line up and see Molière. Instead, France’s teenagers flocked to manga. As of this month, books represented over 75 percent of all purchases made through the app since it was introduced nationwide in May—and roughly two-thirds of those books were manga, according to the organization that runs the app, called the Culture Pass. The focus on comic books reveals a subtle tension at the heart of the Culture Pass’s design, between the almost total freedom it affords young users—including to buy the mass media they already love—and its architects’ aim of guiding users toward lesser-known and more highbrow arts. Opponents accuse Macron of throwing cash at young people to court their vote before next year’s presidential election.

Europe on vacation, but vaccinations not taking a break (AP) Europe’s famed summer holiday season is in full swing, but efforts to inoculate people against the coronavirus are not taking a break. Instead, with lockdowns easing despite concerns about variants and nations looking to breathe new life into their ailing tourism industries, vaccinations are being taken to vacationers. From France’s sun-kissed Mediterranean coast to the azure waters of Italy’s Adriatic beaches and Russian Black Sea resorts, health authorities are trying to make a COVID-19 shot as much part of this summer as sunscreen and shades for those who are not yet fully vaccinated. The new drive to take shots to tourists is a way of adapting to Europe’s annual summer migration, when it seems whole cities empty of their residents for weeks.

Taliban assassinations of Afghan pilots 'worrisome,' U.S. govt watchdog says (Reuters) Taliban assassinations of Afghan pilots marks another "worrisome development" for the Afghan Air Force as it reels from a surge in fighting, a U.S. government watchdog said in a report released on Thursday. At least seven Afghan pilots have been assassinated off base in recent months, two senior Afghan government officials told Reuters, part of what the Islamist Taliban says is a campaign to see U.S.-trained Afghan pilots “targeted and eliminated.” The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), in its quarterly report to Congress covering the three-month period through June, broadly portrayed an Afghan Air Force (AAF) under growing strain from battling the Taliban amid the U.S. withdrawal—and becoming less ready to fight. The AAF’s fleet of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, for example, had a 39 percent readiness rate in June, about half the level of April and May.

Floods make thousands homeless in Bangladesh Rohingya camps (AP) Days of heavy rainfall have pelted Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh, destroying dwellings and sending thousands of people to live with extended family or in communal shelters. Just in the 24 hours to Wednesday alone, more than 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) of rain fell on the camps in Cox’s Bazar district hosting more than 800,000 Rohingya, the U.N. refugee agency said. That’s nearly half the average July rainfall in one day while more heavy downpours are expected in the next few days and the monsoon season stretches over the next three months. Citing initial reports, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said more than 12,000 refugees were affected by the heavy rainfall while an estimated 2,500 shelters have been damaged or destroyed.

Thailand sets up hospital at airport; Cambodia closes border (AP) Health authorities in Thailand raced to set up a large field hospital in a cargo building at one of Bangkok’s airports on Thursday as the country reported record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths. Other field hospitals are already in use in the capital after it ran out of hospital facilities for thousands of infected residents. The airport, a domestic and regional hub, has had little use because almost all domestic flights were canceled two weeks ago. The quick spread of the delta variant also led neighboring Cambodia to seal its border with Thailand on Thursday and order a lockdown and movement restrictions in eight provinces.

Outspoken Chinese billionaire Sun Dawu sentenced to 18 years in prison (CNN) Billionaire Sun Dawu, a vocal critic of the Chinese government, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” according to an official statement posted by the court. Sun was arrested in March this year. His company, Hebei Dawu Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Group, owns farming operations in China and employs about 9,000 people in poultry processing, pet food production and other industries. He is also famous for being an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party. As part of his 18-year sentence, Dawu was also fined 3.11 million yuan ($480,000). Sun was one of very few people in China to publicly accuse the government of attempting to cover up the extent of the African swine flu outbreak in 2019, which eventually killed more than 100 million pigs in the country. In an interview with CNN in May 2019, Sun said local officials had only retested his pigs for the disease when he had started to post pictures of the dead animals online. Sun’s sentencing comes amid a growing crackdown on private enterprises in China, as Beijing attempts to pull into line the country’s free-wheeling entrepreneurs. In a set of guidelines put out in September 2020, the Communist Party said the private sector needed “politically sensible people” who would “firmly listen to the party.”

Lockdown Under (Reuters) Sydney, Australia announced Wednesday that they would be extending their lockdown by four weeks. The extension was announced with frustration by Premier Gladys Berejikilan, who stated, “I am as upset and frustrated as all of you that we were not able to get the case numbers we would have liked at this point in time but that is the reality,” during a televised news conference. Berejiklian added police would boost enforcement of wide-ranging social distancing rules and urged people to report suspected wrongdoing. The multiple lockdown extensions have turned a “snap” lockdown into the country’s longest, with many fearing another recession.

Probe into Beirut blast stalls again, leaving families fuming one year on (Reuters) Ibrahim Hoteit lost his younger brother, Tharwat, in the huge explosion that ripped through the port of Beirut last August. He went around hospitals collecting body parts, starting with Tharwat’s scalp, and buried his remains in a small coffin. Nearly a year later, Hoteit, a spokesperson for families of more than 200 people who died in the disaster, is still trying to call to account those he says are responsible for allowing the accident to happen. As Beirut prepares to mark the first anniversary of a blast that flattened large swathes of the city, politicians and senior security officials have yet to be questioned in a formal investigation. Much of the devastation from the blast is still visible. The port resembles a bomb site, and many buildings have been left in a state of collapse. Major questions remain unanswered, including why such a large shipment of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in bombs and fertiliser, was left stored in the middle of a crowded city for years after being unloaded in 2013.

[ezatluba]

To stop a virus, California has euthanized more than 1.2 million birds. Is it reckless or necessary?

By JACLYN COSGROVE

JUNE 7, 2019

Each morning, once the kids were off to school, Kerri Hand would slip out to her backyard, sit in a lawn chair and hang out with her feathered family.

There was Delores, a young turkey she got her 13-year-old son for his birthday, who would sit in her lap and beg for treats. Her family loved Delores so much they stopped eating turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

Hand, 48, would laugh at their black silkies Queen Coconut and Bambi, fluffy chickens that look as if they had a fun time at a blow-dry bar, and Michael, a leghorn rooster who once overheated because he was running around so much to check on hens.

In watching the colorful birds parade around her yard, Hand felt at peace. Life was good — until it wasn’t. Her family’s birds are now dead.

For the past year, Southern California has been plagued by an outbreak of a highly contagious viral disease that can affect all species of birds but is most deadly to chickens.

Known as virulent Newcastle disease, the virus poses no food safety concerns and essentially no human health concerns. Only people who spend a lot of time close to infected birds are at risk of pink eye or a mild fever.

But for owners, the outbreak has been devastating: 444 homes, farms and businesses in California — the majority in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties — have had birds test positive for the disease since May 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There is no cure or treatment.

All of L.A. County and parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties have been under quarantine for months, with no one allowed to move their birds without facing steep penalties.

To stop the spread of the virus, more than 1.2 million birds, mainly chickens, have been euthanized in heavily affected areas, some of which weren’t showing symptoms or hadn’t been infected yet.

And that’s the root of the outrage from a small but vocal group of backyard bird owners, led by Hand.

Before her birds were euthanized, Hand was a stay-at-home mom and retired law enforcement officer who used social media to share photos of her kids and pets.

But now she’s become something of a poultry activist, organizing protests at homes where the euthanasia teams are scheduled to be and raising money to sue the state.

When she learned in April that her birds might be euthanized, she started a Facebook group with about 30 friends and family members called “SOB save our birds.” Now, it has more than 4,700 members.

That’s because on April 19, when Hand came home to find a euthanasia team with a court order to destroy an estimated 70 birds at her home, she was holding arguably the most powerful tool of protest in 2019: her cellphone.

Over the next few hours, Hand broadcast live on Facebook from her backyard, showing the team grabbing her family pets and killing them. Hand’s one video has garnered 225,000 views on Facebook, far more eyeballs than any of the educational videos the state agriculture department has produced about Newcastle disease.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has tried in vain for the past year to educate the public about the outbreak. But there is no central database of the estimated 100,000 backyard chicken owners in California.

Instead, agency staff has visited almost 150,000 homes and dozens of feed stores and community events. They’ve given more than 100 presentations at churches and held almost 20 town hall meetings.

But only after Hand’s viral video did the outbreak start to gain significant attention.

Authorities and researchers agree that, while heartbreaking for families to lose their pets, euthanizing birds that aren’t showing symptoms but live in areas where the virus load is high — where epidemiologists are actively pulling data to assess which flocks pose the most serious threats — is necessary to end the outbreak.

The virus can spread in a number of ways, hitching a ride on vehicles, equipment and even on the bottoms of shoes as neighbors visit one another. Other birds can carry the disease on their bodies without being affected. And even if a bird survives an infection, it can still shed the virus for weeks.

“The reality is that the virus does not replicate in dead birds, but it does replicate in live birds,” said Dr. Maurice Pitesky, a veterinarian and faculty member at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who has researched how avian diseases spread.

“If we are on a block, and there’s 10 houses on that block, and your birds, you think, are perfectly healthy, but there are one or two other homes on that same block that have infected birds, you have a high risk of those healthy birds getting sick,” Pitesky said.

Hand lives in Perris, one of several neighborhoods heavily affected by the outbreak.

Early in the day’s events, one worker attempted to explain to Hand why they were at her home. Hand had coops, but some of her birds did roam around her backyard freely.

“The fact of the matter is that a commercial facility in December was positive very close to you,” the worker told Hand. “Recently, there was another property in less than a quarter of a mile in this subdivision that was positive for Newcastle disease. There is a commercial property across the street from you, which hasn’t been infected yet. The issue is, the high risk of your birds…. Your birds are not cooped in a cage with a roof where there can be no contact with other birds.”

Authorities have advised that, to limit exposure to Newcastle disease, all poultry should kept away from waterfowl and wild birds.

Los manifestantes observan cómo los funcionarios limpian pollos sacrificados en Mira Loma, California (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

At Chino Valley Ranchers, an organic egg producer headquartered in San Bernardino County, staff met last June with a state agriculture department veterinarian and, per the state’s requirement, moved their chickens, which normally walk around the farm on soil, inside.

Already practicing rigorous biosecurity before the outbreak by requiring visitors to dress in protective gear and sanitize their vehicles before and after visiting their farms, the company hasn’t had any sick birds. But it is stressful, regardless of how careful they are.

“It’s probably a 12 out of 10,” said David Will, general manager of Chino Valley Ranchers. “It’s an invisible disease. It travels in the wind. The host vectors are known but not clearly identified. Some bird species can live with this and become transmitters, but this particular virus is very, very targeted to chickens, and it’s just scary.”

Not typically found in the United States, virulent Newcastle disease is endemic in some areas of Mexico, Central and South America, and widely spread in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Officials say that Southern California — which has experienced the only major Newcastle outbreaks in North America — is at particularly high risk to outbreaks, in part because there are a lot of people with a lot of birds, living close together, creating the perfect environment for the virus to thrive.

In 1971, a major outbreak here infected 1,341 flocks, caused 12 million birds to be euthanized, cost $56 million to end, and seriously threatened the nation’s entire egg and poultry supply. It was 19 months from the first to the last case detected.

Los pollos de Les Kanawah están programados para ser sacrificados en Mira Loma, California (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Thirty years later, an outbreak that was started by illegally imported game fowl started here and spread to commercial operators and to backyard poultry in Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Then-Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency. Almost 3.2 million birds were euthanized at a cost of $161 million. The outbreak, from discovery to eradication, lasted 11 months.

California state veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones served as incident commander during that outbreak.

When she got the call from the laboratory last year that Newcastle was again active in the state — initially detected after a backyard chicken owner took sick birds to a veterinary clinic in L.A. County — Jones’ stomach dropped.

“I don’t think I’ve gotten my stomach back since that day,” she said. “For the people that have been impacted by this outbreak, it is personally devastating to them, and the way I am able to do my job is I think of all the bird owners in the state, and if we can just work together and get through this very difficult time, we’re going to spare so many more people from going through this.”

The bit about getting everyone to work together seems to be the trickiest part.

Jones said she cannot talk specifically about Hand’s case because of the lawsuit filed against Jones by the Save Our Birds group.

But Jones said that, generally, authorities have made the most progress in eradicating the disease in communities where bird owners have banded together to increase biosecurity — which includes keeping birds indoors and limiting contact with other bird owners — and pledged not to move their birds. In those communities, the virus load has stayed low, she said.

“The problem is, when one person doesn’t follow directions because they think they’re doing the right thing or don’t know what the right thing is because we haven’t reached them, that puts everybody back,” she said.

Officials say the biggest challenge in controlling the outbreak has been people going against the quarantine.

In January, someone with a valuable bird moved the bird from L.A. County to Utah. The person thought the bird wasn’t sick. And then the birds around it in Utah started dying of Newcastle disease.

A similar scenario played out in April in Arizona when the virus was found in a small flock of pet chickens in Coconino County. Genetic testing found that the virus in Arizona was more than 99% similar to the virus causing the California outbreak.

During Hand’s video, she tells the audience: “Get off the live video, people, and get your chickens, and get the [expletive] out of Dodge now. Run. Take them. Everybody’s birds will die. Take your birds, and run, hide, go. Please, I don’t want any more death.”

Hand said she doesn’t regret saying that and wishes she had taken her birds elsewhere, despite the enormous fines she could have faced.

“Are you really going to put me in jail for that? … I’ve got more time than money so, OK, I will go there if that’s where you need me to go,” Hand said. “And that can be remedied. What I can’t seem to remedy is the fact I failed all of them. They’re all dead, and money is not going to fix this. Money is not going to fix what we heard or saw or witnessed or the whole memory of it all.”

Les Kanawah holds a protest sign outside her Mira Loma, Calif., home on the day her chickens were scheduled to be euthanized.

Mira Loma community members protest the chicken euthanizations, an effort to curb the spread of virulent Newcastle disease in Southern California.

John Dave Denilofs talks to community members about the protests against euthanizing chickens in Mira Loma, Calif.

Community member Roger Johnson, center, speaks with police officers during the protest against bird euthanization in Mira Loma, Calif.

Members of the euthanasia team clean up.

Katie Walker, left, and daughter Kalli Walker protest the euthanization of chickens.

Les Kanawah’s chickens were scheduled to be euthanized May 13 in Mira Loma, Calif.

In recent weeks, the outbreak has split backyard chicken owners into factions.

In Hand’s Facebook group, members voice deep skepticism over the government’s approach to the outbreak, arguing with the science and even whether the disease is actually killing birds.

Hand regularly refers to the state veterinarian as “Lying Jones.” Members have posted Jones’ photograph and photos of state and federal workers, including euthanasia team members, complete with their names and notes about their interactions.

The group made T-shirts that read: “We the People are pissed off! When will the killings end?” And on Tuesday, the group filed a lawsuit against Jones and the state agriculture department, noting in their complaint that they want to “stop inhumane euthanization practices until it can be ascertained that the euthanizations are justified.”

Other Facebook groups have since started, including “In Memory of Flocks Killed by the CDFA 2018-2019” where people post photos and memories of their departed pets.

Mikke Sharpe started the Facebook group “End Virulent Newcastle Disease” four days after Hand posted her video. The group takes a different tone than Hand’s group, its description including that it was “formed to support and share the FACTS” of the virus and outbreak. It has about 620 members, a fraction of Hand’s group.

Sharpe, who has 12 birds at her home in Hesperia, said she and her fellow group moderators feel deeply for people who live in zones where teams are actively euthanizing birds, but it’s the only way to end the outbreak.

“I don’t believe that it’s going to help anything to — I don’t know how to say it — to be overly emotional about it,” Sharpe, 54, said. “It’s a scientific fact. In order to stop the disease spread, it has to happen, no matter how much we don’t want it to.”

On a recent Monday afternoon, Hand and her fellow Save Our Birds members organized a demonstration at 55-year-old Les Kanawah’s home in Mira Loma to protest the euthanasia team coming to take her birds.

Some held signs, and a few children carried Kanawah’s Red Star hens down the road. The group headed toward the euthanasia team, which left and hasn’t returned. Since then, Kanawah has felt edgy and stressed, unsure of when a team will try again.

Desde la izquierda, Kayla Walker, Katie Walker, Kalli Walker y Megan Walker protestan por la eutanasia de pollos en una esquina de Mira Loma. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Recently, a neighbor lost birds to Newcastle and called the state, which sent a team to euthanize the rest of his birds.

Kanawah said her birds are still healthy, and they spend all of their time in a coop, making them less at risk of catching Newcastle disease, she said.

“If I saw any signs of my birds looking not healthy, I’d be the first one to say, ‘Yeah, get rid of them before my neighbors get in trouble,’ ” Kanawah said. “That’s what animal people do.”

The same day as the protest, a quieter scene played out about 30 miles southeast at 23-year-old Julia Lopez’s small hobby farm in Perris.

A euthanasia team arrived at the farm about 3:30 p.m. Her family asked several questions, and the workers answered them. All remained cordial, and in less than an hour, their 40 chickens, five ducks and two turkeys were dead.

The family moved to Perris from Anaheim to escape rising housing prices. When they moved to their half-acre in July, they already had plans to start their farm. They soon learned from their local feed store that they’d just moved to the middle of a bird disease outbreak.

About six months ago, a neighbor’s birds were euthanized, and her family feared a team would soon be by for their birds, Lopez said. Finally, they came.

The following day, the farm was quiet. Lopez was heavyhearted, trying to figure out how she would tell her 5-year-old sister where the chickens she loved to help feed had gone.

“It’s heartbreaking, it’s hard, but I guess in time, we will heal,” Lopez said. “And as soon as this is over, we can start over again.”

[digittaly]

Why the coronavirus might remake faculty as we all know it

Seattle-area tech firms like Amazon and Fb have informed workers to work remotely through the COVID-19 outbreak (if doable), however some individuals had been already working from house anyway. However with Seattle Public Colleges closed by way of late April, many of those employees have children with time on their palms at house — whereas they work. “That’s the most important problem proper now, is that they’re simply bored out of their minds,” Deven Wilson, a program supervisor at Verizon, informed Digital Developments. He’s had his middle-school-age son, Thomas, out of faculty for per week, as a result of his juvenile arthritis medicine has immunosuppression unintended effects. “We had been actually frightened he was going to get behind,” stated Wilson. Now that each one the faculties are closed — and never holding on-line lessons — that’s much less of a priority. However Wilson is aware of he’s fortunate that he hasn’t needed to search for childcare for Thomas and his sister, Iris.

Faculty-less in Seattle

revoc9 / 123RF Inventory PhotographThe varsity district despatched an e mail to academics recommending they ship college students house with ready classes, if doable, in keeping with The Seattle Occasions. But it surely hasn’t launched particulars about any potential on-line educating, because it doesn’t have a means to make sure all 52,000 college students have the right gear to entry these classes. Seattle Public Colleges can be determining learn how to help those that need assistance with childcare. To that finish, it would open 50 to 60 faculty websites for college students who depend on faculty lunches. “I’ve had little or no coaching on learn how to combine expertise into my classroom.” “I’ve had little or no coaching on learn how to combine expertise into my classroom,” one particular training trainer who works in Seattle’s southeast area informed Digital Developments. She requested to not be recognized by title over concern concerning the district’s response to her statements. To make up for price range shortfalls, parent-teacher associations could out with donated funds or expertise. In Seattle, a few of these teams voluntarily share a proportion of the donations with lower-income faculties, nevertheless it’s not sufficient to get each baby a laptop computer or pill. “Usually what occurs for low-income faculties is that it will get pushed to the underside of our price range,” the trainer stated. The faculties must prioritize positions like a studying interventionist or faculty nurse over a expertise coach. The result's that even when all the scholars had a tool and web, the construction for creating classes and successfully delivering them to a digital room of over 20 children isn’t in place. “It will be a very large ask for lots of academics within the district to place collectively some type of on-line curriculum with out a whole lot of coaching,” she added. It’s not simply Seattle-area faculties, nevertheless. California has faculty closures, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine introduced the state’s faculties will shutter for not less than three weeks, as nicely. Although some faculties have contingency plans for weather-related incidents, the general U.S. public training system isn’t universally ready to take lessons on-line. One “optimistic” estimate places the quantity at 20 to 30 p.c of faculties. Within the vacuum created by weeks of closed faculties, some districts are turning to different sources for help, together with Okay12 Inc., a for-profit education-management group. They’re making real-time selections proper now,” Shaun McAlmont, the corporate’s president of profession readiness training, informed Digital Developments. “They don’t know in the event that they’re going to be quick or long run. And there’s simply a whole lot of panic within the voices, a whole lot of chaos.” Although Okay12 has helped faculties after pure disasters like floods, it additionally has misplaced a contract with a Georgia public faculty and settled a lawsuit with the state of California over a few of its practices.

Pencil, paper, and packets

Stephen Noonoo is the Okay-12 Editor at EdSurge, a nonprofit training expertise publication that’s a part of the Worldwide Society for Know-how in Schooling. He hosted a webinar on March 13 concerning the influence of coronavirus on faculties, and he fielded questions forward of time. “The most important concern that the faculties have proper now's what occurs to children that don’t have web at house,” he stated. “And that’s simply by far the most important query.” Primarily based on conversations he’s having with faculty districts and academics who're making ready for or are already coping with closures, there are totally different ranges of each day engagement with college students. It’s particularly troublesome with youthful college students. “From what I’m listening to, some are checking in with video calls twice per week with college students and giving actions that may be accomplished, because the household, within the meantime, and others are simply giving exercise worksheets to younger college students,” he stated.

On-line faculty instruments

Noonoo stated academics and college students which might be logging on must put together for an array of instruments. Microsoft 365 Schooling and the Google Suite for Schooling have a whole lot of capabilities and Google particularly has a big imprint within the U.S. “They've the Google Docs, Spreadsheets, after which in case you mix that with Google Classroom, that's sort of the closest factor to an all-in-one infrastructure that we have now, nevertheless it’s not 100 p.c for one thing like this,” he stated. There are nonetheless another apps or software program academics may use to complement for duties like screensharing. Noonoo stated Seesaw is a well-liked digital portfolio utilized by academics of youthful college students to share art work and movies. Even with all these instruments up and operating, college students doubtless received’t discover their days as structured as earlier than. “The pacing could be very totally different from commonplace classroom pacing,” stated Noonoo, “that means that academics can’t cowl almost as a lot floor.” For youthful college students, that is likely to be as a result of dad and mom could should be closely concerned in guiding college students and helping with the expertise. Older college students should be extra impartial when a trainer isn’t current. Sure topics are tougher to show, like a science class that requires lab gear. Testing can be troublesome. “That’s actually one of many greatest ache factors that I’ve been seeing, is that faculties don’t actually know learn how to conduct assessments as a result of there’s no actually good approach to conduct a check with the identical sort of constancy because the classroom atmosphere on-line,” stated Noonoo. Sources just like the Khan Academy do supply timed assessments on-line, however that will not give academics the identical stage of management they’re used to when everyone seems to be in the identical room.

Parental management

Within the case of scholars fortunate sufficient to have dad and mom at house that aren’t imagined to be working, these dad and mom could also be requested to turn out to be surrogate tutors, stated Noonoo. That requires they turn out to be comfy with video instruments like Zoom or Google Hangouts, in addition to on-line studying portals and apps. “We’ve seen some districts in Minnesota and New York create these digital studying plans for snow days,” stated Noonoo. “However mainly what they're is, they spell out the duties of everyone as they transfer to on-line studying,” together with dad and mom, academics, directors, and college students. “There are going to be a whole lot of struggles as academics and fogeys are navigating these instruments for the primary time,” he stated. There are different issues with on-line studying. Final month, the lawyer basic of New Mexico sued Google for gathering college students’ information, together with their places and what the web sites they visited. As dad and mom of scholars with out on-line lessons flip to the web to search for options to boredom, it may be troublesome to search out appropriate instructional sources. They don’t need children unintentionally watching conspiracy principle movies. Noonoo recommends Frequent Sense Media, which critiques books, motion pictures, apps, and video games. “It’s a very terrific useful resource, they usually have a particular part on coping with the coronavirus closures,” he stated. Regardless of the various challenges with total faculty districts turning to on-line studying, educators have already been taking steps to make the most of these instruments throughout snow days and different short-term faculty closures. California handled challenges following the 2018 Camp Fireplace, which pressured some faculties to shut. Local weather change might make such closures extra widespread. Primarily based on discussions he’s been having on account of the coronavirus, Noonoo stated he thinks extra establishments will begin rethinking their contingency plans. “This can be a catalyst for rethinking faculty as we all know it,” he stated. Editors' Suggestions Read the full article

[un-enfant-immature]

Netflix fends off new streaming rivals by way of Samsung partnership

As the streaming battles heat up, Netflix is hoping a new partnership with Samsung will help it fend off rivals. At Samsung’s Unpacked event this week, the mobile device maker announced a deal with Netflix that will bring to its Galaxy smartphones exclusive bonus content associated with several Netflix original shows. The partnership also allows Netflix to more deeply integrate its streaming service with Samsung devices.

The latter part of the partnership involving device integration is fairly standard. In Netflix’s case, Samsung will allow users to launch Netflix content by way of its voice assistant Bixby. Netflix will also deliver recommendations to Samsung users, and will be better integrated into specific Samsung mobile features, like search and its discovery platform, Samsung Daily.

It’s not unusual for Samsung to work with tech companies to offer tighter integration and distribution for their app. For example, Samsung and Spotify announced a formal partnership in 2018, which has since resulted in consumer-facing features like Spotify’s deep integration with the new Galaxy Buds+, Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip.

The new Netflix content partnership, on the other hand, is unique.

Though Netflix didn’t go so far as to announce original series or movies only available to Samsung users, it will offer bonus content to Samsung device owners that won’t be found elsewhere. This includes behind-the-scenes footage, companion stories and other bonus content — much of it filmed by the Samsung Galaxy S20’s new camera, of course.

Initially, bonus content will be available for shows including “Narcos: Mexico,” “Sintonia,” “Elite” and “Netflix is a Joke.” Netflix says more bonus content will become available in the future.

The two companies have a decade-long relationship, which has seen them working together on joint marketing campaigns and other advertising. However, they’ve not before done a content deal like this.

“The mission of this partnership [is] to make the Netflix viewing experience on Samsung mobile the absolute best it can be,” said Netflix CMO Jackie Lee-Joe, announcing the company’s plans at Samsung’s event. “This means that even more users can enjoy our best-in-class stories across all genres through even better product integration with Galaxy mobile devices,” she noted.

The partnership comes at a critical time for Netflix. Its subscriber growth in the U.S. has gone flat, even as its international growth is booming. More importantly, perhaps, is how Netflix is coming up against a whole host of new streaming competitors with money to burn — including Disney+, Apple TV+, WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, NBCU’s Peacock and Quibi.

What’s worse is that these new streaming services already have ways to tightly integrate with mobile devices or have partnerships allowing them to distribute their service to millions.

For example, [TechCrunch parent] Verizon is offering its mobile subscribers a free year of Disney+. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s mobile streaming service Quibi is partnering with T-Mobile. NBCU owner Comcast has its own mobile network, Xfinity Mobile, and HBO Max hails from AT&T’s WarnerMedia. And Apple, for now, is just giving away Apple TV+ for free to anyone who buys a new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac.

That leaves Netflix without a competitive distribution strategy. And its only viable option to get similar global scale is Samsung, which had an 18.8% worldwide market share in Q4 2019 (in terms of shipments), compared with Apple’s 20%. Samsung also has solid distribution in key international markets where Netflix is seeing its strongest growth.

“We believe this significant partnership will provide millions of Samsung Mobile users across the globe the best mobile entertainment experience, and make discovering new stories around the world easier than ever,” said Lee-Joe.

[passantony-blog]

Day 11- Nov. 5th We are flying back from Huatulco to Mexico City where Ryan and Danielle will continue on to SFO and where I part ways with mi amigos and continue on to Guatemala (with a short 2 day stint in Mexico City). They’ve been an amazing couple to travel with together.

Full of customized songs including “Cats and the Bags”, “We got the things (We got it!)”, and the classic “800-Empire” tune. Lots of calibration (dropping things), combining patchwork Spanish and enjoying the great (and not so great) food. My cheeks sore from a permanent smile from Danielle and Ryans antics, heart heavy as we prepare to say our goodbyes.

The last week was a wonderful capstone to a mosaic of different experiences throughout the various communities and climates of one of the southern most states in Mexico. Our final portion of Oaxaca took us on an 8-hour bumping, but very comfy ride on the ADO bus up to the mile-high capital of Oaxaca City. A stark contrast to the sleepy Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca city is a high desert city of over 100,000 residents, possibly double that number given that it was the Dia de los Muertos festival.

We checked into a very homey and cozy casa located next to the gorgeous Santa Domingo Church, a close walk to most of the attractions but tucked away in a quiet neighborhood off the main drag. Quick story on the Airbnb host, Lorena. She was gracious enough in the last minute to offer up her home to us. She’s an environmental steward in Oaxaca working with agave farmers in the region to develop environmental certification processes for mezcal and the replanting wild, native agave in severely eroded sites around the valley. Coincidently, she also knows and visits Cotati often as a close friend to the owners of the nearby Ray’s Deli in Petaluma. Crazy small world (more on that to come). Needless to say that we connected and really enjoyed her home, full of succulents lining the inner courtyard and open air architecture of the simple, rustic and unique accommodations.

As much as we loved the house, we came for Day of the Dead and though our lids weighed heavy over our eyes from the sleep deprived bus ride, we rallied to see the city and nearby graveyards. Having already explored the major destinations around city last year, it was a warm welcome to not feel rushed or obligated to jam-pack the itinerary. A stroll through the cobblestone streets, sharing with Ryan and Danielle the sites of the city was a comfortable change of pace to my normal adrenaline-induced travel style. Muy Tranquila.

Searching for outdoor activities last year, I stumbled on a local ex-pat hiking group “Hoofing it Oaxaca” that took me on a wonderfully unique trek through the mountains with a group of mostly retired Canadians, Americans and Europeans. Returning this year, I found that they were offering several Day of the Dead themed hikes.The first being a shuttle to Xoxo (Pronounced “Ho-Ho”), a small town just outside of Oaxaca City notable for it’s massive graveyard. The scene there was very lively, with food stalls, Dia de los Muertos trinket vendors, live musica and loads of tourists snapping shots of the decorated graves as family members sat by. Initially somber in our approach we were quickly reminded by a man sitting by a grave that this was a celebration of those that are no longer with us. The man was sitting by a grave with beautiful marigolds and candles illuminating the sand art of a basketball and hoop. “Mi hermano. He loved basketball”. He proudly described his brother, handing us a shot of mezcal and raising a glass in his name, “Salute!”.

These specific marigolds that covered the graves were unlike those more commonly found in the US. They had a sweet, intoxicating scent that Mexicans believe was the smell of the dead. Laden with flowers, art and personal trinkets, illuminated by slow dripping candles, the intention of these alters was to attract souls back to the graves to enjoy their company on what they call the “All-Saints Day”, Nov. 1st. This day, a mixture of Spanish Catholicism and Mayan spirituality is believed to be the date where the spiritual and mortal world are at their thinnest boarder between the two. The alters and music are intended to attract the family and friends, being careful not to draw in the wrong spirits as they believe all spirits, both good and bad are wandering amongst them during this event. In all, Xoxo was a very incredible and uplifting event. Proud family members sharing the live of their past loved ones to passerby’s, though the waves of passing tour groups detracted from the overall experience.

The second graveyard, in the town of Atzompa, was much more intimate with small crowds and more locals sitting quietly around their tombstones. Excited children faces illuminated as they toy with the candles, passing the flame over unlit wicks. Abeulas in their head scarves huddled over the graves, silently respecting the dead. So curious to know what they’re thinking as they pay tribute to the deceased, they’re youth far behind them and the reality of their life to be celebrated in the near future alongside their family members. Wanting so badly to comminate and express gratitude and well-wishing to the families, but restricted by lack of a common language I was held to only subtle nods and smiles passing along the sites. Hopefully the gestures were understood.

On the second night, on a tip from our Airbnb host we traveled to the outskirts of town to an industrial art exhibit with a different, modern take on the Dia de los Muertos. Was interesting to see the interpretation of the holiday by the new generation, hammocks hanging in an old limestone factory, small alters tucked under the large cement tanks and a beautiful glassblowing art studio hidden beyond a catwalk leading to the old furnace room. What a gem to see the modern aspect of art and tradition.

Having arrived late to the art exhibit, we only had a few minutes to enjoy the building. We had more plans though, continuing on we taxied out to a small Etla, San Agustin, known for it’s large parades of rivalry Day of the Dead villages. One side reflecting thousands of small circular mirrors in a sort of chain mail garb that bounced and sparkled in their dance. The other side in furry long white-haired costumes from shoulders to their knees alongside both groups were brass bands belting tubas and trombones encouraging the two groups to dance and jump amongst one another as the throng of bystanders, smartphone in hand, flash photos of the scene, beer in hand. We were wiped from the day, and though the dancing and festivities lasted to sunrise we slipped out for an early night unable to keep up.

The rest of the week consisted of mellow meandering through the streets of Oaxaca, picking up fellow travelers along the way. Kate, a British doctor from Brighton, met us on the first evening with the Xoxo graveyard visit and was such a joy to have, we adopted the solo traveler for the rest of the week. Rachel and Erica, two girls that we serendipitously ran into at a taco shop were Sebastopudlians that happened to overhear us talking about Sonoma. A wonderful little crew formed enjoying the last few evenings together. Seems to always work out that way when you keep your blinders open.

Paid one last visit to the graveyards, these ones about an hour outside of town. While Ryan and Danielle had some solo time doing their cooking class, I teamed up with the Hoofing it Oaxaca one more time trekking for 6 miles along dirt roads through the farms where all the marigolds were grown for the regional celebration. Their Day of the Dead was held the day after others, using the leftover unsold flowers to cover their graves in huge bushels of yellow, red and white color. It was so interesting to see the different between each graveyard. All had their own cultural take and feel to the holiday reflective of their community.

With a late bus out of Oaxaca City, we shared our final hours with our new friends before giving cheers to one another’s safe journeys and going amongst our ways. After a much more comfortable ride back down the mountains, we awoke in Huatulco. The town was slightly more developed for tourism that Puerto Escondido but still held an isolated charm and was mostly visited by Mexican tourists with few gringos in the mix. Not the most exciting place, but wonderful beaches shaded in palm trees was exactly what we needed to cap an active first two weeks.

With Ryan and Danielle parting for their flight, we end the prologue of the trip. Two days in Mexico City to play before starting a completely different experience with the Guatemala volunteer commitment. Initial shock and loneliness at losing their jovial energy slowly replaced with the excitement of the new chapter.

Aloha guys! (Hello and goodbye)