#This Post Was Sponsored by the Ministry Of Truth

[traaaaaaaansnerd]

ATTENTION ALL HELLDIVERS

[chaoticneurodivergent]

Ok I'm so pissed at this point that I have to make a Tumblr post about this. Reasons nobody should take IQ seriously (as a measurement of a person's intelligence):

* Warning this will be long because I'm pissed off in 7 dimensions

1. The French

It hasn't always been taken for granted that intelligence can be tested and measured in numerical form. The French are to blame for that (sorry France). In 1904, the Ministry of Public Instruction of France made primary school compulsory. The easiest obvious method for sorting the massive influx of new students into class years was by age. However, prior to 1904, a massive percentage of French children had not been schooled at all or not been consistently schooled, so age was not a reliable predictor of knowledge / education level. So the French government sponsored a man named Alfred Binet, along with his partner, Theodore Simon, to create a test that could sort children based on their school-readiness.

The Binet-Simon scale was not originally designed to assign children an IQ number (with the average being 100), but instead, a mental age. The children would be placed into a school grade corresponding to their mental age, as determined by the "intelligence" test. Now you'd think that it would be obvious to everyone involved that students coming from backgrounds with little to no literacy and education would get lower scores and be placed into lower grades, regardless of how much potential they had at birth. But this was not the case. Many conflated intelligence with performance.

Binet realized that intelligence is complicated and multi-faceted and can't be perfectly studied in a quantitative way. He admitted his tests were limited. Second of all, he realized that environment plays a huge role in intellectual development, and he realized that delays in intellectual development could be repaired (they are not necessarily inherently a part of a person). The goal of his test, after all, was not to score children, but to sort them into the education system. Unfortunately, as the 20th century progressed, eugenics and its array of awful ideas became widely popular, and many successors were more interested in how they could use his test and his ideas to determine people's value and worth than they were in truth.

2. Yes, intelligence is a social construct

We decide what intelligence means. It's based on what our culture values. If we want an IQ test that we are designing to measure intelligence accurately, we first have to decide what is and is not a part of intelligence.

On a wide level, this includes questions like: Should social and emotional skills be measured? (Our culture says no). Should the kind of thinking necessary for motor coordination and quick thinking in athletics be measured? (Our culture says no). How about skills specifically involved in literacy? (Remember, until very recently, the vast majority of humans on earth were not literate, and the vast majority of cultures would not have valued those skills).

On a narrow level, this includes questions like: If we want to test quantitative reasoning (so roughly, math intelligence), should we be testing mental math skills (whether you can do 56 x 17 quickly in your head), or more abstract math skills, like those necessary for understanding a calculus class when you have a calculator in front of you? Should we test general knowledge? (The WAIS, the most common professionally administered IQ test today, does have a general knowledge section, which includes questions such as, who was the president during X war)? If so, how do we account for differences in exposure to information?

There is no such thing as intelligence outside of what we decide it is. There are so many skills we arbitrarily choose to include or not include. And when we measure whether our IQ tests are accurate, we can only do so by comparing those tests to other tests (which probably also come from our culture) or by measuring how well they predict success in some other environment, like school (which isn't a very objective way of measuring intelligence).

3. Neurodiversity and "general" intelligence

Finally, the entire concept of IQ as it exists today centers on a major hypothesis: For most people, there is a general intelligence across all categories that can be summarized with a single number. This is the only way we can justify giving somebody a test that has them identify patterns (for example, the Raven inventory, another highly credited IQ test) and then make a claim about their entire intelligence. We make this assumption because of something called the G factor, which is basically the level of correlation between measured intelligence in one area (using X set of skills) and another area (using Y set of skills). The higher the G factor, the more correlation there is between skill in one area and skill in another area. And there's a lot of research suggesting that in most people, that correlation is pretty high. The problem word here: Most.

Much of psychology focuses on the abnormal (in popular interest as well as in research). When people talk about IQ, they're rarely interested in Suzie who scored a 105. They're interested in those scoring in the margins. They're interested in intellectual disability, learning disabilities, and "giftedness." And while IQ admittedly is a useful tool for identifying certain fringe cases, such as disabilities and those with certain exceptional skills, we quickly run into a problem here.

If you're Autistic there's a decent chance you've heard phrases like "spiky profile," "splinter skills," or "uneven cognitive profile." Essentially, if you're Autistic, there's a pretty high chance all your cognitive skills don't cluster around one measurable number, and IQ tests with massive differences in scores on different sections are pretty common for Autistic people (take me as Exhibit A). And that's just Autism. Take any learning disability and you'll very quickly realize why this is such a problem. If somebody can be in the 99th percentile in one area on a test and the 10th percentile in another, there's not much point in trying to give them a summary intelligence score. Neurodiversity, as a concept, can't really coexist with the idea that each person has an intelligence number that all their skills cluster around.

So yeah, basically IQ, as a way of "objectively" measuring someone's intelligence, is 2 degrees shy of idea mush.

Ok that was long my God if you read this all, I appreciate your patience and have a nice day. Of course this is all my opinion and I'm interested to hear differing ones.

[butinthenext]

I hope this is helpful for your research, OP, and that others/you don’t mind me adding on! But I haven’t seen anyone in the notes discussing Catholic Social Teaching yet and I think it’s a hugely important thing to mention.

Most people, even practicing life-long Catholics in my experience, don’t know that the term social justice actually comes from Catholic Social Teaching. In the US, we break it up into seven (7) pillars or themes, but in other countries it’s grouped or broken up differently. Most of them are pretty self-explanatory (e.g., Life and Dignity of the Human Person), but others I think really do demonstrate Catholicism’s differences, such as The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, which explicitly states that Catholicism is pro-labor union, for example.

Along with Catholic Social Teaching’s history and theology (such as liberation theology), I think it’s also important to mention theological documents such as Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, discussing climate change, and other theological documents like those produced from the Second Vatican Council. OP might particularly be interested in Nostra Aetate, which discusses the Catholic Church’s relationship with other faiths:

"The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings, which though different in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of truth which enlightens all men."

I also definitely agree with all that’s been beautifully stated above ^.

About me: life-long practicing American Roman Catholic (Irish and Polish descent). I currently attend a queer-affirming Jesuit parish, and am involved with the queer ministry there. I’ve also been a lector since I was a little girl, and I’m also an RCIA sponsor, which means I serve as godmother/spiritual mentor to folks who have discerned they want to join the Catholic Church.

I hope this is helpful and I’m sending love and prayers to everyone on this post!

Calling All Catholics!

Weird thing for a Jew to post I know I know but hear me out here.

I would like to hear from Catholics (current and ex/raised),

what do you feel separates your religion from others (both other sects of Christianity and other religions as a whole? what feels unique or specific to you/your culture/your beliefs/your church? this can be theological beliefs, practices, or even aesthetics

what things feel "inherently Catholic" or "Catholic coded" to you?

if you don't mind, would you also include what subset of Catholicism you are/were raised in (Roman, Byzantine, Irish, Opus Dei, etc)?

As you may have guessed, this is for research, and I personally only have experience with Roman Catholicism (and limited experience at that, more cultural than truly religious). I would love to hear from a larger subset of people. My family is extremely Italian Catholic but that's just one very specific version, and I don't have much/any experience with any others. I'm curious to see what the common ground is.

Reblogs/signal boosts are appreciated as I doubt I have like a SUPER broad Catholic following myself lol!

[gameofdrarry]

Wizards Hearts Recs: Epistolary

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 To My Enemy (Secretly Yours) by randoyoyo Rated:  Teen Words:  9757 Tags:  Epistolary, Eighth Year, Roommates, Fluff Summary:  McGonagall has decided on some changes for those returning to Hogwarts for an 8th year. Not only will Houses be abolished, but there will be a shared commonroom and rooms will be assigned to pairs. On top of that, they're all randomly assigned a pen pal within the same year that they have to write to each week. Harry and Draco don't like the way any of this information sounds, but it doesn't set in until they get their room assignments...they're going to be roommates?? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Re: Harry's Crush by lettersbyelise Rated:  Teen Words:  3700 Tags:  Epistolary, Bets & Wagers, Aurors, Getting Together, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Humor, Banter Summary:  Ever get that feeling you're being talked about behind your back? Harry doesn't, he's too busy being stupidly, obviously besotted with the guy in the lab downstairs. A fic where the interdepartment betting war at the Ministry gets out of hand, Millicent and Hermione get scheming, Harry Potter ends up wearing black eyeliner, and everybody ends up getting more than they bargained for. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Misdirection by lea_anberlyn Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  3764 Tags: Humor, Snarky!Malfoy, Epistolary Summary:  Harry buys a new owl after the war – a bird he soon realises is cursed to send letters to the person he hates most. Draco Malfoy finds the whole thing hilarious. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Dear Enemy by GingerTodgers Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  69130 Tags: Epistolary, Secret Identity, Orphanage, Harry Potter's School For Squibs, Slow Burn, Swearing, Politics, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, Minor Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Minor Pansy Parkinson/Greg Goyle, Light Angst Summary:  An anonymous benefactor makes a generous donation to Harry Potter's School for Squibs in exchange for a weekly letter from the Boy Who Lived. What begins as a chore soon becomes the only outlet Harry has to talk about the war, love, life, hope, redemption, his renewed obsession with a certain blonde nemesis and how he really, honestly, believes that this will be the year Puddlemere United reclaim the Quidditch League Cup. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Howlr by partialtopotter Rated:  Explicit Words:  47634 Tags: Texting, text!fic, Sexting, Romance, dating app, Anal Sex, Rimming, they don't know they're falling for each other, Ginny has a personality, THIS IS NOT A NON-MAGICAL AU, Professor Harry, pansy x ginny, LGBTQ Themes, Smut, Mistaken Identity, Phone Sex, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Humor, Post-Hogwarts, Not Epilogue Compliant, Switching, Light BDSM, Bisexual Male Character, Spanking, Epistolary, Textfic Summary:  Howlr is the new dating application enchanting Witches, Wizards and Everyone in between. Are you looking for the one or a one-night stand; it’s all here folks. Howlr is sponsored by Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the same team that brought us the Spellular just two years ago. Ginny Weasley, famed chaser for the Hollyhead Harpies, swears by the app, ‘guaranteed to make sparks fly,’ she says. The magic awaits you! ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Garden War by Cibee (Cibeeeee) Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  4884 Tags: Fluff and Humor, Epistolary, Draco and Harry are neighbors, with a lake between them, and they keep trying to make their garden better than the other's, "one tree? fuck you I'll grow TWO trees", then omg quarantine, Frenemies to friends to lovers, Friends to Lovers, draco has a cat, harry has chickens, Mutual Pining, they both have no chills, Idiots in Love, Dramatic Draco Malfoy Summary:  Harry and Draco are quarantined in their houses, a lake across from one another. What better ways to spend this time than to annoy each other with letters and attempts to prove that their garden is better ? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 A Series of Neighbourly Epistles by slytherco Rated:  Mature Words:  13671 Tags: Neighbors, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Anonymity, Letters, anonymous notes, Top Draco Malfoy, Bottom Harry Potter, Mutual Masturbation, Blind Date, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Sexual Tension, Curse Breaker Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy Has Long Hair, and it's glorious, Draco Malfoy in a leather jacket, Brief Draco Malfoy/Other, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, some French food, Bisexual Harry Potter, Dirty Talk, the morning after, Pillow Talk, One Night Stands, that turn out to be possibly-not-so-one-night, Snark, Banter, Sexual Content, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Blow Jobs, in general there's sex but it's not graphic ok?? Summary:  Harry finds himself in a very awkward spot when he calls the Aurors on his neighbour… having very loud sex. As in not actually killing anyone. He writes him a disgruntled note and thus begins a very interesting exchange. When they finally decide to meet, Harry’s not quite prepared to find out who his mystery neighbour turns out to be. Or for everything that happens next, for that matter. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Texting You by ununquadius Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  6005 Tags: Major Character Death, text fic, draco is dead, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, or maybe hurt/no comfort, Everyday Life, Pets, Asexual Harry Potter, Indian Harry Potter, one penis drawing, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Loneliness, Drinking, Terminal Illnesses, blink and you missed them suicidal thoughts Summary:  After Draco's death, Harry can't let go so he keeps texting their private chat, updating him on his life and rambling about everything and anything until it almost feels like there's a possibility that, one day, a reply will come. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 More Than Kisses, Letters Mingle Souls by Erin_Riwen, Kristinabird Rated:  Mature Words:  21171 Tags: Epistolary, Professor Harry Potter, Professor Draco Malfoy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Fluff with feelings, Past Child Abuse, Past Suicide Thoughts, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore Summary:  It's the beginning of the term at Hogwarts and Professor Harry Potter never seems to be able to get close enough to have an actual conversation with Professor Draco Malfoy. When he discovers it's because his colleagues have been intentionally keeping them apart for fear they might have issues, he bristles at the intrusion and decides to send a letter to a very confused Draco Malfoy. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Summer's Lease by GallifreyisBurning, xkingofgamesx Rated:  Explicit Words:  74162 Tags: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Epistolary, Bisexual Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy, Post-War, pre-eighth year, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, slowest of burns, First Kiss, First Time, Coming Out, Anal Sex, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, All of the jobs except employment, Gentlemen of Leisure, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Home Renovation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Nightmares, Mental Health Issues, Homophobia, Lots of drinking, Happy Ending, Fluff Summary:  It was just a letter. And then another. And then another. And then it was something more. The summer after the war, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are both at loose ends, not sure how they fit into a world where both of their roles have been fulfilled, for better or for worse. As the learn to live with surviving, they find, together, an unexpected way forward. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Recompense & Reparo by sablier_bloque Rated:  Explicit Words:  48981 Tags: Alternate Universe - Regency, Regency, Slow Burn, Pining, Gay Draco Malfoy, Bisexual Harry Potter, Alternate Universe - Historical, Masturbation, Anal Sex, Frottage, mention of suicide, mention of period-typical racism, Period-Typical Sexism, Mention of Child Abuse, Period-Typical Homophobia, Draco Malfoy tries to redeem himself in a very Slytherin way, Meddling mothers, Magic Rituals, Quidditch, Mention of Minor Character Death, Happy Ending, Letters, Epistolary, Indian Harry Potter, Desi Harry Potter, Austen-inspired, Mention of torture Summary:  It is a truth universally acknowledged that a pureblood wizard in possession of a slandered reputation will do absolutely anything to return to good graces. And Mr. Draco Malfoy, pureblood wizard whose reputation has certainly been slandered by The War (and perhaps even by his own actions in said war) has a plan. A list of five steps to restore the Malfoy family to its proper place in society. That is until Harry Potter comes along and mucks it all. A Regency AU, in which there are ungloved touches, letters, meddling mothers, and hope that love can somehow find a way. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Always and Forever by PurePeace Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  35162 Tags: N/A Summary:  An epistolary fic between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, taking place after the trials. It starts with irritation and relucant gratitude and ends - hopefully - with romance, always and forever. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 No Greater Victory by dicta_contrion Rated:  Explicit Words:  26951 Tags: Hogwarts Eighth Year, Bets & Wagers, Diary/Journal, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Scheming, Blackmail, Recreational Drug Use, Casual Sex, Snark, Draco starts out as an angry defensive arse, Personal Growth, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Switching, First Time, Making Love, Fluff and Angst, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:  Back at Hogwarts after the war, a defeated Draco Malfoy is prepared to settle for life's simpler pleasures: snark, sex, and Slytherin scheming. That is until Pansy, newly in possession of Malfoy Manor, offers to return his ancestral home. Just one condition: he has to win, and break, Harry Potter's heart to get it. That's no problem. Draco's got this situation completely under control. Completely. At least until he doesn't. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Help Is Always There For Those Who Ask by donnarafiki, orpheous87 Rated:  Mature Words:  12873 Tags: Post-War, Mental Health Issues, Healer Draco Malfoy, Angst, Epistolary, Getting Together, No healer/patient, Depression, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Therapy, Friendship Summary:  It's been years since the war, and Harry's been doing fine (Not!Auror). But after witnessing a violent incident in muggle London, he feels empty and angry. Eventually, he reaches a breaking point and has an outburst in public. The next day he finds a letter on his desk, the Ministry reaching out to connect him with a mind healer, saying they don’t even have to see each other, and everything can be done privately if Harry wants to keep it anonymous and confidential. He decides to write back. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 This feeling inside by Andithiel Rated:  Mature Words:  8714 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Epistolary, Diary/Journal, flatmates, omg they were roomates, lockdown - Freeform, Quarantine, bisexual awakening, Oblivious, As in ridiculously oblivious, Mentions of a fictional pandemic, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Cooking, Baking, learning to play the guitar, mentions of:, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Frottage, Kissing, I think it was in that order Summary:  Harry Potter and his flatmate Draco are both straight as nails. But during a lockdown, things start to get a little desperate, and suddenly they’re giving each other friendly handjobs and blowjobs on the regular. But that’s okay. That’s just what friends do. Right? A story about two oblivious idiots, told through the diary of Harry James Potter. ❤️ Read on AO3

[god-is-queerer]

All I want is to be a good Christian.

(This was a comment I made on my reddit account on a post where someone was struggling with affirming their own queerness, with a few edits, but I really felt like what I had to say was something worth sharing more broadly, so it's here now.)

I know what you mean by this. you mean that you want to be faithful to God's calling for you and follow in the lineage of the life and ministry of Jesus. but is it possible that these aren't the same things?

who determines and interprets what it means to follow God's calling for someone? well, that would have to be the decision of the individual made within the context of community. that's not something any institution can claim to have authority over, because each individuals' path and calling will be different. but who determines what it means to be a good Christian? the church. the church puts out wide sweeping rules to determine what is and isn't acceptable

is it possible, that in the construction of "a good Christian" the church put more emphasis on preserving it's own power than general guidelines on how we should live justly?

is it even possible that the commandments for "a good Christian" and the leadings of God might be in direct opposition?

was Jesus a good Christian?

well, we at least know the answer to the last question: no. Jesus was Jewish. and furthermore, Jesus did not fit into our image of what a good Christian should be. Jesus was, as far as we can tell, homeless during his ministry. He wasn't married as far as we can tell. he roamed around the ancient near east causing trouble wherever he went, with a team of teenagers/young adults helping him. Jesus had no white picket fence, no 2.5 children, no stable job, and very little respect for the religious institutions that did not serve the people.

and if Jesus would not have fit into the good Christian box, should we?

and, I know that the first time you encounter this sentiment, it may be scary. that's okay. I'm sure what you have ningling in the back of your mind is the verses about false teaching, so instead of letting those linger, why don't we face them head on.

let's look at Romans 16:17-19

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

so, that has probably been taught to you to mean, "yeah, gay people just wanna bone down! they're contrary to what we've been taught!!"

but is that true?

a text without context is pretext, so let me provide some context for you real quick. you can read it for yourself if you like. just to verify I'm telling you the truth.

this appears at the end of Paul's letter to the Romans, and at the beginning of 16, the last chapter, he's basically giving his "and now, a word from our sponsors". he's talking about all of the generous people there, how helpful they've been to him and the church. and then directly after that, comes this verse.

so in that context, it seems pretty unlikely this verse is about queer people. it seems more likely that it's about people who are trying to become leaders and teachers in this new Jesus movement so that they can live off of the good will of the people.

and, is it possible, that this verse is not merely speaking of heresy, of people who have a different doctrine than the church, but of teachings that themselves enforce divisions amongst the people?

the image we see of the early church is one that follows Jesus' message of radical equality. is it possible these teachings are things like, "hey why are we inviting slaves to eat with us?" (there's some evidence based in the names fond in the greetings, that some of those people were slaves) or, "hey maybe only I should be able to tell everyone else what God wants for them"?

when the bible talks about giving in to the teachings of the world, I think it's actually a much shorter line to draw that the writers were talking about the corruption of wealth and greed and power, than an lgbtq+ rights movement that gained traction nearly 2000 years after those words were written.

that's all to say, for my money? being a good Christian is overrated.

[steve-the-evets]

oh it sure would be a shame if someone where to

Ban some books

Under the parental oversight of public libraries bill, which has been proposed by Missouri Republican Ben Baker, panels of parents would be elected to evaluate whether books are appropriate for children. Public hearings would then be held by the boards to ask for suggestions of potentially inappropriate books, with public libraries that allow minors access to such titles to have their funding stripped. Librarians who refuse to comply could be fined and imprisoned for up to one year.

Titles including Sherman Alexie’s award-winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, a young adult novel about the rape of a teenager, have all come under fire in Missouri over the last decade.

“Every reader and writer in the country should be horrified, absolutely horrified, at this bill. The fact that a librarian could actually be imprisoned for following his or her conscience and refusing to block minors from access to a book, that tells you all you need to know about the suitability of this act within a democratic society.”

[antoine-roquentin]

There are two kinds of CIA films: the boosters and the revisionists. Hollywood has long been important to wartime propaganda. After World War II, huge swaths of the media were co-opted in a large-scale penetration in which secret funding from a de facto anti-communist Ministry of Culture was doled out around the world. There were, of course, strings. In Hollywood, the CIA had at least one undercover agent embedded in a major studio, Paramount Pictures. This agent could get a script killed if it made America look bad, or get it rewritten if its patriotic messaging was salvageable. And the CIA worked with various studios to cultivate a theme it called “militant liberty,” another buzzphrase, one meant to guide filmmakers during the Cold War. Icons like John Wayne and John Ford signed on, promising the military and defense establishment to explicitly follow the aims of “militant liberty” in their representation of the United States in films that might be seen around the world.

The first movie produced by the CIA, a cartoon version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, was edited to the point of censorship to remove Orwell’s pointed critique of capitalist overreach. Comparing his work to that of Walt Disney, future Watergate crook E. Howard Hunt described in his memoirs not only censoring the film to advance the aims of the Cold War, but adding jokes and a happy ending in order to compete with Disney. As open secrets around this period of deep media penetration were threatened with explicit exposure, the CIA learned to mask its reactionary ethos under a fake sheen of New Left politics, which would affect its cinematic aesthetics.

The years 1967 and 1977 were two high-water marks for exposure of these CIA conduits, which tarnished the agency’s reputation. Its efforts to put the media “in a box” were placed, correctly, alongside its highly unpopular (but only slowly revealed) participation in coups, assassinations, and death squads in the developing world. In the 1970s, the Church and Pike Committee hearings showed how much worse it all was than the average member of the public knew. The destructive wastefulness of this anti-democracy agency was laid bare to the American taxpayers who had unwittingly, voicelessly sponsored it. And so a second kind of film about the CIA was born. There was a new hero: the journalist working toward exposure. The whistleblower. The archetype of this mode was not a Disney-lite cartoon, but a political thriller in the mode of All the President’s Men.

When The Report lands on the question of how and how honestly—with or without severe redactions—the torture report will be released to the public, Burns cuts to a clip of Jones watching a news story about Zero Dark Thirty. What makes that film exceptional is that Bigelow and writer Mark Boals worked with the CIA, in the tradition of the militant liberty era of films of Ford and Wayne, but they did so in disguise, by taking on the dark style of the political thrillers that marked the second wave of films about the agency. Working through the liaison office the CIA created in the 1990s, Zero Dark Thirty’s filmmakers rewarded agents consulting on the film with expensive meals, and in one case, counterfeit jewelry. The tone of the film correctly makes you feel dirty for watching it, but it doesn’t disclose, naturally, that it’s deliberately misrepresenting the recent past. It may not bullish or naive about the United States’ role in the world, but Zero Dark Thirty must justify this ambivalent stance with the fallacy that torture works. For this reason, the real Feinstein walked out of the film after only fifteen minutes, describing its lies as insulting.

As a work of post-Church Committee CIA propaganda, Zero Dark Thirty won’t work unless it first convinces you it’s on your side. It promises you the truth in its style and its attention to detail, in its loyalty to the floor plan of bin Laden’s safe house. The film may not feel triumphant, but after Chastain’s Maya “gets” bin Laden, it’s implied that finally she, and we, can get a little rest, freedom (if not quite militant liberty) no longer back on its heels. Paradoxically, the FBI-friendly alternative of The Report is ultimately a more sophisticated, historically accurate, “revisionist” film. You can see it as anti-propaganda. But anti-propaganda is still propaganda, of course; and if you view it critically, which you must, The Report argues that it was a middle-of-the-road Senator who scolds young promoters of the Green New Deal for petitioning for a future and an FBI veteran who saved the truth of history.

In The Report’s depiction of the torture program, a lot of the blame is placed on Mitchell and Jessup and their supposedly novel reverse-engineering of hostile interrogation resistance techniques. But this blurring of offense and defense was not new; during the Cold War, American use of torture was rampant. As a Green Beret in Vietnam, antiwar activist Donald Duncan was trained in alleged Communist torture techniques. After a litany of these techniques was taught to Duncan’s class, a fellow student asked the sergeant in command why the name of the class was Countermeasures to Hostile Interrogation. Confusingly, the sergeant had also told the class there were no countermeasures to most of these techniques. “Are you suggesting we use these [torture] methods?” the student asked. As Duncan recollects in his memoir The New Legions, the sergeant “looks down at the floor creating a dramatic pause. When he raises his head, his face is solemn but his eyes are dancing. ‘We can’t tell you that . . . The Mothers of America wouldn’t approve.’ The class bursts into laughter.”

When the CIA was born in 1947, it promoted torture in its first theaters, one of which was Greece. There, the agency created a Greek CIA equivalent called the KYP, which used torture to curb leftist support. After the 1953 CIA-backed coup in Iran, the United States created a secret police force for the Shah called SAVAK, which routinely tortured Iranians. Likewise, the United States sent infiltration agents from Munich into the U.S.S.R. to engage in sabotage. When the operation was infiltrated by double agents, suspects were routinely tortured. In Brazil, after the CIA overthrew leftist President João Goulart in 1964, suspected leftists were rounded up, death squads were formed, and suspects were tortured and killed on the U.S. taxpayer’s dime. In Uruguay, counterintelligence agent Philip Agee learned that one of his penetration agents in the police force was torturing a prisoner whose name Agee had inadvertently provided. The screams haunted him.

During the hunt for Ernesto “Che” Guevara in Bolivia, the CIA sent in Cuban exile-agents who tortured suspected leftist collaborators. Under Reagan, at least two Americans tortured General Ahmed Dlimi before he was killed in Morocco in 1983. In Nicaragua, the Contras routinely engaged in the torture of suspected leftists. “Rose had her breasts cut off,” went one retelling. “Then they cut into her chest and took out her heart.” In El Salvador in 1982, U.S. military advisers watched as their trainees tortured random prisoners who had been dragged from their beds in the middle of the night—and warned the trainees that having any pity was counterproductive. In 1992, Guatemala’s U.S.-trained counterinsurgents captured, tortured and murdered the leftist guerrilla Efrain Bámaca Velásquez. This became an international incident when his wife, the American lawyer Jennifer Harbury, petitioned the CIA with hunger strikes. And then, in November 2001, Libyan national Ibn Shaykh al-Libi was apprehended in Afghanistan and tortured in Egypt. Under duress, al-Libi told his torturers that Saddam Hussein was training Al Qaeda terrorists in the use of chemical weapons. This turned out not to be true. The toll? One million or so dead.

[transthaumaturge]

Happy TDOV! Here’s some Queer Hogwarts Headcanons.

Hi, all! My name is Rachel! I’m a trans woman, and I grew up on Harry Potter. I am writing this because we deserve to be seen and also because I know it would piss JK “Gender is Real” Rowling off if she ever read this. Here is how queer students and allies in the different Hogwarts houses would support fellow LGBTQ+ kids in various positive ways.

Disclaimer: Throughout this post, I’ll use the word ‘Queer’ several times. I know that this label doesn’t necessarily represent everyone in the LGBTQ+ community, but I also don’t consider it a slur in modern usage. It has a history of reclamation in the community, and has long been considered a sort of umbrella term for a lot of identities under the rainbow umbrella. Please respect my choice to use this word, as I don’t police others’ language when it comes down to it. If you see yourself as LGBTQ+ but not queer, I see you and respect you.

Gryffindor

When a Gryffindor student is ready to come out as a trans boy or a masculine enby, they can ask LGBTQ+ students in their house to accompany them while they attempt to climb the staircase to the girls’ dormitory and announce their newfound gender identity to the whole house. Without fail, when they climb halfway up and speak their truth the stairs turn into a ramp and they slide back down. Every time that someone does this, there’s a huge party in the common room afterward to celebrate them living their truth for the first time.

Some of the burlier Gryffindor kids decided to bury the hatchet and team up with their Slytherin equals to form a queer community watch. Inspired by Hermione’s work with the fake galleons, they get a list of interested students around the school and start passing out small badges enchanted with the protean charm and a mild shield charm. When a LGBTQ+ student is in trouble, the coin will keep some of the nastier curses from landing while they use it to notify the watch. Before long, these badges become very recognizable to the right people and just wearing one is usually enough to ward off bullies or vouch for LGBTQ+ identity. One of the watch captains is a muggleborn with a special interest in Earthbound, and insists that they should be made to look like Franklin Badges.

A couple years after the Battle of Hogwarts and inspired in part by Dumbledore’s Army, a group of Gryffindors decides to start a weekly queer support group in the Room of Requirement. It’s not the best-kept secret in the world, but the room provides the group with the extra security they need in order to make sure that any closeted students are comfortable showing up.

Ravenclaw

A group of Ravenclaw students begin curating an LGBTQ+ library in their common room, with resource books and fiction about every identity under the rainbow. They maintain a robust lending program, teaming up with Madame Pince to keep a catalog of their books in the library proper. For closeted students who want to learn more about their identities without outing themselves too early, the Ravenclaw students in charge of the queer library become skilled in charming the book covers to disguise their contents and in developing alternate places for book pickup and drop-off.

Appreciating Gryffindor students’ initial efforts to open up a queer support group in the Room of Requirement, LGBTQ+ Ravenclaw students team up with their Hufflepuff counterparts to find facilitators for a number of smaller identity-specific support groups representing everyone from trans students to aspec kids. The Ravenclaw students focus more on intercommunity education, while the Hufflepuffs put more work into inclusive group protocol and making sure that meetings are as affirming as possible for attendees.

A group of out-and-proud Ravenclaws take it upon themselves to get professors to sponsor a series of lectures in the Great Hall about a variety of LGBTQ+ topics. These student-delivered lectures get so popular that they’re able to get several well-known queer celebrity witches and wizards to come and speak on their experiences. They’ve even been able to convince a couple ghosts who identified centuries ago in a way that would now be known as LGBTQ+ to speak on what life was like for them. They’re trying really hard to score an interview with the ghost of one of Sappho’s lovers, but they’ll need a translator first.

Hufflepuff

Being a house founded from the start on the ideals of inclusion and diversity, Hufflepuff already lends itself well to LGBTQ+ community support. On an emotional high from their work with Ravenclaw to found identity-specific support groups, queer Hufflepuffs go further and set up a whole slew of LGBTQ+ mental health community pick-me-ups. These range from Pride parties and dessert buffets full of rainbow food to therapy dog sessions, group Quidditch outings, and trans-inclusive drag shows. Every so often, they convert the Room of Requirement into a fashion closet so that all interested students can try on different kinds of masculine, feminine, and androgynous fashions from the wizarding world and muggle culture alike.

A group of Hufflepuffs recruit students from other houses in starting the first Hogwarts LGBTQ+ support helpline. They bring in counselors from St. Mungo’s about four times a year to train student peer-advocates, and try their best to find students from every identity under the rainbow so that all their bases are covered. Students can reach the helpline at any hour by taking an enchanted pamphlet from a community bulletin board near the Great Hall and saying “I need help” into it. As a bonus, it casts a Muffliato charm around the user so that nobody around them can hear their conversation. This helpline stays active during school breaks so that queer students in need will always have somebody that they can talk to.

Some trans Hufflepuff upperclassmen aspiring to be healers convince Madame Pomfrey to get training on magical transition therapy so that she can administer it to interested students. They put up community notices to field students to her, and sit down with anybody unsure if they’re “trans enough” to reassure them that they definitely are, and that getting transition therapy is their choice alone. They’re now working on getting gender-affirming transmutation procedures subsidized by the school.

Slytherin

Ever skilled at navigating bureaucracy and antiquated rules to get what they want, a group of legal-minded queer Slytherin students team up to defend fellow Hogwarts students who were punished for LGBTQ+-related reasons and so that any homophobic or transphobic staff members know that if they put one toe out of line, they’ll be gone before they can say “Merlin’s Rainbow Flag”. They also exploit several unclear passages in the original Hogwarts’ founding documents to make the school re-label a bunch of washrooms as gender-neutral and establish a new non-binary/gender-neutral dormitory in each of the four houses. Anytime that a new attempt is made to gender-segregate student life or force compulsory cisheteronormativity on school events, Slytherin is there to right wrongs.

A group of formerly-closeted Slytherin students start offering help to anybody in the student body who wants to be socially out but needs to keep their gender identity or sexual orientation hidden from their parents. They advise these students on what to say, how to act, and where in the school it’s safest to present as their true selves. If anybody attempts to out these students-in-need, their lives are made...unpleasant. When a student is ready to come out publicly and to their family, these Slytherin students talk them through how to safely and defensively do it so that if their parents react poorly and try to hurt them financially or otherwise, the damage is minimized. They help to arrange alternate living situations and tuition funds if needed, provide polyjuice potion for trans students going through magical transition therapy who need to hide their identity during a parent visit, and they’ve gotten very skilled at spotting and destroying transphobic and homophobic howlers before they reach their intended recipient.

About to graduate from Hogwarts and get a cushy Ministry job? There are queer Slytherin students who will find you in your OWL year and beyond to offer coaching so that you can effectively support and pass LGBTQ+-inclusive policies at the government level. They offer any information about policy and past precedent that they can (and they have a very well-stocked queer law library in their house common room), help future magical legislators and judiciaries to get better at debunking homophobic and transphobic legal fallacies, and put them in touch with queer and allied Ministry members so that they have multiple people they can keep in touch with in the workplace if they need more support after graduation. Before long, there’s a noticeable shift at the Ministry level towards policies that help LGBTQ+ wizarding kids and adults avoid discrimination and live the lives they want to live. Following their initial success at Hogwarts, this Slytherin-led LGBTQ+ future legislators group reaches out to magical schools in other countries to found satellite chapters and expand their positive influence.

Closing

That’s it for now! I hope that I made you smile and that my ideas resonated. If anybody has any additional headcanons in this area or suggested tweaks for how each house would contribute to LGBTQ+ life at Hogwarts, be sure to reblog this post with your ideas. Happy Trans Day of Visibility!

[greatllamaenthusiast-blog1]

IPL 2020 News: Latest News and Updates on IPL 2020

The T20 Challenger, anticipated being transformed right into a Girls’s IPL in time, could see confined international participation mainly because it clashes Together with the Ladies’s Large Bash League (WBBL) in Australia. It will eventually only be a three-team celebration this 12 months, with four matches to generally be played, such as the closing.

"Gals's T20 Problem will even happen within the UAE and will comprise a few groups with four matches to be performed in the course of the IPL Playoff week," said the Board's press launch.IPL News

Ashish Nehra said that MS Dhoni's comeback is usually a very hot subject matter of discussion just because he has not formally introduced his retirement but.

The board is on the lookout for an affiliate spouse because the handle FBB—one of a few associate sponsors—has finished. Talks are on with FBB and native sponsors within the UAE to check out who will come on board.

It is actually learnt that the BCCI will probably be renting the grounds from the ICC Academy for coaching from the teams.

Considering that the outbreak in the Coronavirus pandemic, each cricket board thinks twice prior to determining to send out its gamers overseas for participation in cricketing tournaments.

"Also the BCCI has obtained presentations from a Dubai based team on developing a health care facility while in the UAE. The BCCI is additionally in talks With all the Tata Group for creating a bio-bubble," the Formal claimed.

It is anticipated the squad energy with regard to participating in users will be 24 for your eight franchises.

Should the wellbeing predicament and governing administration authorization enable, the possibilities of holding a confined-overs sequence with South Africa in October will probably be explored.

Harbhajan Singh took to Instagram and posted a story, attaching an image of Shane Watson with his knee bent, hitting a shot in the off-facet.

“He's playing remarkable cricket. He would like to be included all the time whether it's Using the bat, the ball or on the sphere. He will get himself in the hot places and wants the ball to return to him. Those people would be the gamers you need in the crew; They're those who want to action up inside the tension moments when things get challenging,” he stated.

“We see logic in BCCI’s selection. They have got To place particular protocols in position and coordinate While using the UAE government to make certain here They are going to be adopted to your ‘T’. For illustration, we’ll be travelling by road amongst towns – Dubai to Sharjah to Abu Dhabi. So, will we be checked at all departure and entry points? How will two franchises – who may have their different bio-secure bubbles – coordinate with each other’s protocols on match days? BCCI has quite a bit on its arms and they are able to assume our whole cooperation,” team

 officials advised TOI. Franchises are permitted to vacation with their comprehensive squads – a optimum of 24 – but teams are predicted to fly in additional ‘working hands’ retaining in your mind they would require Web bowlers, fielders throughout instruction, standard medical professionals (unrelated to Covid) and people today in other important classes. The truth is, 8 gamers from each franchise will travel from other international locations and Indians traveling to UAE, per squad, will probably be limited to not a lot more than fourteen to sixteen gamers. The IPL GC is also set to mention “Indeed” to groups which want the choice of gamers attending to vacation with family members. “They (players) will likely be in comprehensive isolation. It can be quite depressing. Close relatives are alright to journey assuming that They are going to be Component of a similar bio-protected bubble,” sources stated. The BCCI expects an official nod from your central federal government plus a letter signalling the inexperienced light-weight for vacation to UAE in another forty eight to seventy two hours. “BCCI has been in touch Using the External Affairs Ministry and that is staying labored out,” resources increase. The GC also made a decision to keep all its sponsors. In Online video:IPL 2020: Governing Council wants teams to travel on August 20

[fanfic-ebooker]

Title List - Harry Potter

Sorry this took me a couple of days. Here is the information for the ebooks I have so far. Titles are organized by fandom, then by genre/pairing, then by series, then alphabetically.

Harry Potter

Severitus/Sevitus

An Unexpected Boggart by Kaona -  One-shot. What if Professor Lupin had let Harry have a go at the boggart in third year, and what if it turned into something that no one had expected? Coincidentally, Snape's boggart is the exact same...

Broken Wings series by Snapegirl

   Broken Wings -  Desperate to escape his guilt and nightmares after the third task, Harry transforms into a hawk by accident and ends up breaking both wings and suffering partial memory loss. He is found by Snape,who helps him and discovers the truth about his professor.

   Two Hawks Hunting - Harry & Severus quest for the remaining Horcruxes. Can they fulfill the prophecy of Two Hawks Hunting and destroy Voldemort forever? AU, pre-HBP, HBP/DH noncompliant! No slash, mentor/guardian fic!

Family Night by Celebony -  As Hogwarts starts a quarterly Family Night, Harry is determined take part. Facing the heartache of looking in all the wrong places, he'll have to discover the true meaning of family, and that sometimes it comes from where you least expect it.

Finding a Family and a Home by Hestia - At the beginning of second year, Severus agrees to become Harry's guardian, little suspecting the far-reaching effects of this decision.

Freaks Aren’t Allowed by lastcrazyhorn -  After nearly freezing to death outside his relative's home, little Harry is rescued by first a spirit and then a snarky git! The adventure isn't over yet though, as Snape soon realizes that his charge's problems aren't limited to just frostbite.

Harry Potter and the Phoenix’s Flight series by The Velvet Ghost

    Harry Potter and the Phoenix’s Flight - Why is Snape acting so oddly? Who is causing the mysterious disease sweeping Hogwarts? What's wrong with Draco Malfoy? And what is the Dark Lord planning for Harry Potter's sixth year? AN ALTERNATIVE 6th BOOK, WRITTEN PREHBP, now complete.

    Harry Potter and the Ankh of Khepri - A new Dark Arts mistress, mysterious attacks at night, lessons to kill, an Egyptian monster, and terrible dangers await Harry Potter in his seventh year. Sequel to The Phoenix's Flight. SEQUEL TO AN ALTERNATIVE 6th BOOK, WRITTEN PREHBP, now complete.

Harry’s New Home series by kbinnz

    Harry’s First Detention - AU one-shot about Harry’s first detention with Snape. Take one mistreated boy, one misinformed man, mix well and watch what happens!

    Harry’s New Home - One lonely little boy. One snarky, grumpy git. When the safety of one was entrusted to the other, everyone knew this was not going to turn out well... Or was it? AU, sequel to "Harry's First Detention". OVER FIVE MILLION HITS!

Heat Wave by Ebbtide - The defeat of Voldemort leaves Harry Potter and Severus Snape adrift in a new world where they are no longer needed. Will they help each other adapt to this new freedom or will old grudges prove stronger? Read to find out!

Love Thy Neighbour by Alexannah - The Dursley family move house, and Harry is horrified to find that they are now living opposite his most hated Potions Master. Between Snape and the Dursleys, will Harry make it to the Burrow in one piece?

Perfectus Memoria by Dream Painter - All Harry wanted was a few happy memories of his parents, yet, when he fails in the attempt, it might very well cost his life.

The Boy Who...? by Dream Painter - By third year, Harry was starting to think he knew his own identity. Then, the discovery of an old secret threatens to throw his world into turmoil, yet again. Nor is he the only one who finds his life affected...

The Sleeping Sickness by Sadakat - Nightmares. The only solidity Harry Potter can count on anymore. As he enters his sixth year at Hogwarts, he will face a new nightmare in the form of one Severus Snape. But will it be as bad as they both expect it to be?

There’s More Room In A Broken Heart by Severus redeemed - Harry is almost 9 when he is rescued & taken to Hogwarts by Severus Snape. Despite his intentions to have nothing more to do with the child, Snape finds himself unable to resist Lily's child, as they both discover that broken hearts can hold more love.

To whom it may concern by swamygliders - Sitting at Number 12 Grimmauld Place Severus and Remus were not expecting a letter that would change their lives. Oneshot Warnings: Mention of Abuse

Whelp series by jharad17

    Whelp - AU. Harry is 7 years old and treated literally like a dog by the Dursleys. Will he be rescued by the wizarding world? Will he ever be fit to take on the mantle of The Boy Who Lived? childfic, preHogwarts, sevitus. warning:extreme child abuse, violence

    Whelp II: The Wrath of Snape - Soon after rescuing 7-year-old Harry from the abusive Dursleys, Severus Snape starts his teaching career at Hogwarts. Harry finds even more ways to surprise his father, the Headmaster, and a school full of students. Snape'll have his hands full, raising and protecting his son.

Yet another Snape meets the Dursleys story by rabbit - When Snape is called to the Dursleys’ by an urgent message, he does not find what he expects to find.

Snamione

A Matter of Decorum by Kerr Avonsen - Hermione casts a hair charm. Lucius Malfoy makes a bet with Snape. But is Severus playing the role of Professor Higgins or of Mephistopheles? SS/HG, Post-DH, EWE.

Bring it on Hogwarts by Mother of Tears - As a punishment for rude, antisocial behavior, Dumbledore assigns Professor Snape as the Faculty Advisor to the new Hogwarts Cheerleading Team. Poor old Sev will never be the same again!

Heart over Mind by Regann - Something odd about Hermione causes her to have unexpected reaction to a love potion. Only it's one which no one expected. How could a lack of reaction cause so much trouble? AU to Books 5 and 6.

Heart With No Companion by Michmak - “Well, Miss Granger, even incapacitated as you are, you are still causing me trouble.”

His Draught of Delicate Poison by Subversa - A/U. At the end of war, the Wizengamot has passed a Marriage Law. The Order has opened Headquarters to house its youngest members during a summer of Ministry-sponsored social events. With Snape as a chaperone, and engaged to another woman, the advent of a busy Hermione, determined to see her friends in love-matches, can only be a recipe for disaster.

Other

Just One of Those Things by PenguinBuddy -  It would be extremely easy for Lily to hate the girl James is betrothed to if she were a rich, popular, pureblood snob. But it’s rather hard for Lily to hate a girl who’s kind, smart, and pretty… and just happens to be her best friend. AU

[awlwren]

[id: screenshot of a tumblr dashboard with the top post being “martin luther’s 95 theses nailed to tumblr’s dashboard”, Sponsored with Blaze by roach-works, with the sponsored part circled by the editor. The post reads: “Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

“1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying, “Repent ye, etc.,” intended that the whole life of his believers on earth should be a constant penance.

“2. And that the word “penance” neither can, nor may, be understood as referring to the Sacrament of Penance, that is, to confession and atonement as exercised under the priest’s ministry.

“3. Nevertheless He does not think of inward penance only; rather is inward penance worthless unless it produces various outward…”]/end id.

[id: Illustration of Martin Luther, a tonsured monk in a black habit, nailing the broadsheet of the theses amid many woodcuts and papers on the wooden door.]/end id.

It’s happened! The first Blaze post has haunted my dash, and it’s the fucking 95 theses. 

When I say hellsite (affectionate) this wasn’t the context I was thinking

[sotosino-blog]

What You Don't Know About Oman Gcc Visa

The resident is going to be the sponsor for this kind of visa. If you're on a visit visa, then you are going to have to apply separately. Generally you will get your dependent visa on the identical moment.

Choosing Good Oman Gcc Visa

An individual must need to be careful though in selecting an agency. It's ranked 38th with respect to travel freedom. In the event your passport expires while you intend to be in Kuwait, remedy the circumstance and get it renewed.

This post may get extremely busy and personally I prefer to cross at Mezyad as it is significantly quieter there even during peak times like Eid I have been able to go through border formalities in only one hour. Therefore, if you're already eyeing a hotel, send them an email should they also provide visa services since there's a huge possibility that they do. You don't need any surprises while on your journey.

Finding Oman Gcc Visa Online

On the next page, you will have to upload a duplicate of your valid passport. You have to upload the documents mentioned previously. Each document also needs to be submitted in two copies.

The Saudi Arabia eVisa application is only going to take a couple of minutes to complete online, there'll not be a need to attend an embassy or consulate. If you reside in one of the GCC countries, surely you've got one. The UAE government has made it quite simple to have a Dubai Visa if you're a GCC resident through internet portal.

To begin with, you should open the web site of Ministry of Interior of UAE. Filipinos who are aspiring to stop by Oman needs to have a valid Philippine passport. To acquire a tourist visa, the person should have traveled into the nation by Qatar Airways.

The Hidden Truth About Oman Gcc Visa

Payment method at the same time you fill in your Kuwait visa program, you also will need to create the payment to iVisa. Observing this period of time, GCC resident visa holders will only be in a position to submit an application for a UAE visa online and there won't be a facility to get a visa at the airport upon arrival. Alternately, visitors can submit an application for a Kuwait on-line Visa that has been designed to simplify the practice of getting a visa.

If that's the case, every one of the libraries in addition to the application itself should use the shared libgcc. According to GCC medical laws, it's not an issue. Then after 3 months you're able to go for one more GCC medical test.

When it is revealed that you're a citizen of some other country your Georgian passport could possibly be revoked. Not everybody wants a visa, though. Quite simply, you want a visa for each country you go to.

New Questions About Oman Gcc Visa

No eligibility or criteria is necessary. However, the visa may also be extended by another 3 months by paying an extension fee of QR100 for each extra month. 1 payment per application ought to be followed.

If you're asking for a lengthy stay visa, there are various supporting documents that you will need to fulfill besides the mandatory documents. There are not any special requirements, and odds are that you presently have the documents given below. In the event of any differences between information supplied in the application form and the original documents, the granted e-Visa is going to be considered invalid and its holder won't be allowed to join the nation.

[cre8tiveaudio]

Obituary for My Brother Rano

“I may be born as a beauty

or maybe as a beast

but I will die for truth”

 (Serrano G. Sianturi)

 The architect of the Sacred Rhythm music festival and the founder of Sacred Bridge Foundation, Serrano Gara Sianturi, passed away on the 26th of January 2019 in his hometown, Jakarta, Indonesia, at the age of 58, leaving a wife and two sons. 

Serrano had battled an extreme pancreatic cancer known as neuroendocrine carcinoma or small cell carcinoma. At the time of his formal diagnosis in August 2018 at the National University Hospital Singapore, the cancer cells had already spread rapidly to the lungs and brain. Professor Lawrence Ho, a senior consultant there who helped in finalizing the diagnosis, mentioned to family members that Serrano had had the same cancer to which Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, succumbed. With the expertise, guidance and warm hospitality from a great medical team led by Dr. Chee Cheng Ean, specialist and program director in medical oncology, Serrano’s wish was granted to be moved to Jakarta to share the time remaining with his loved ones, family and friends.

“He was a true fighter and was very lucky to have a loving family by his side throughout his journey” (Dr. Chee Cheng Ean)

Known to many simply as Rano, he was “the Heart and Soul” (LTTW, 2019[1]) of Sacred Bridge Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Jakarta which focused on bridging cultures and making the world a better place through a harmonious relationship between man and nature; to reach this ideal necessitated faith in the integration of culture, economics, and politics. Of these, culture was of utmost importance. In Rano’s own terms, as a cultural economist, he reminded us that it is time to give culture a chance where economics and politics alone have often failed to provide solutions.

Though officially founded in 1998, according to Stephen Hill, who at that time served as the Director of the Jakarta Regional Office of UNESCO, they had been collaborating for two years including censor-challenging concerts in support of international percussion music in the period shortly before the New Order Indonesian Government of President Soeharto fell in the revolution of May 1998. This was a time when freedom of expression was politically severely constrained with communities tightly controlled, the early work using cultural expression to push the boundaries of rights and protest (Hill, S., 2019).

Rano felt that this crisis period was the right time to respond by establishing a foundation that could facilitate the urgency to regain mental strengths and trust within the communities. Utilizing creativity through the Arts was a powerful medium to heal the wounds, to exercise freedom of expression and to break down boundaries in order to establish respect and mutual understanding.

In response to the Aceh Tsunami of December 2004, the Sacred Bridge and UNESCO organised a field project called ‘Rising Above the Tsunami’ whose primary aim was to heal the trauma experienced, particularly by orphaned children, utilising the intangible cultural heritage as one of the society’s self-reliant supportive systems. Acehnese traditional performers were trained to incorporate local song and dance in a disciplined way and nurture a life-long sense of arts. The impact was powerful - the children were able to smile again and their communities quite literally came alive. The film, 'Rising Above the Tsunami’ was shown to the collected Ambassadors of the World (around 190) at the UNESCO General Conference in October 2005 in Paris; many in the audience were moved to tears. The film was later shown in New York.

Rising Above the Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia.

 As a core element of the foundation, an International Sacred Music Concert, the ‘Sacred Rhythm’, was inaugurated as a Millennium celebration at midnight December 31, 1999 in Bali. This evolved into a series of festivals opening doors to global musical friendships and included participants Stomu Yamash’ta, Farafina, Vikku Vinayakram, Mor Thiam, I Nyoman Astita and many more. 

Later finding a new home in Kyoto, Japan, the UNESCO-sponsored event utilised the creativity of dozens of renowned musicians from five continents to bring together people from different faiths, nationalities and walks of life. By re-uniting humanity and nature, and upholding culture, the rising sun of the twenty-first century was embraced. Music then became a focal point of cultural development more than twenty years after the World Conference on Cultural Policies. Rano, as the main organiser and inspiration, together with Stephen Hill, Philippe Delanghe and Stomu Yamash’ta believed it was time to make a statement.

Sacred Rhythm: The Millennial Percussion for Unison in Bali, Indonesia (1999-2000).

 Sacred Rhythm in Kyoto, Japan

“Collaboratively, they wanted to show to the world - on behalf of the United Nations - that if we are to reflect on the next one thousand years, this must be in spiritual and human terms, not commercial” (Hill et all, p. vi, preface Kyoto Manifesto, 2018)

 “Use Cultural Currencies for equality and understanding” (Serrano G. Sianturi)

Rano spent almost a quarter of his life in the United States of America pursuing his education. A Bachelor degree in Architecture Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1981 was followed two years later with a Masters degree in Earthquake Engineering at MIT. Returning to Indonesia, he joined the university Civil Engineering faculty, subsequently accepting the invitation to work with the then Directorate of Public Buildings of the Ministry of Public works. During this time, he trained and supervised the research of many Indonesian volcanologists.  In 1988, he resigned from both organizations and returned to MIT to pursue a completely different course of education - gaining a post-graduate economics degree specializing in Cultural Economics.

Upon his return to Indonesia in 1991, Rano immediately established an economic and marketing advisory firm and served major multinational companies including Citibank, NTT, Club Med, Price Waterhouse, WWF, Jardine, Allied Queensland Coalfield, Fuji Bank International, as well as national companies such as the Jakarta Stock Exchange, Elnusa, and Telkom. 

After seven years practicing as an economic consultant, he decided to pursue his long-time interest in cultural economics. He then established the Sacred Bridge where the foundation focused on action research works and model making covering five domains: Cultural Education for the Young, Cultivation of Roots Arts, Intercultural Dialogue, Capacity Building, and New Media. Since his involvement in the Foundation, Rano conducted research and field programs in Indonesia that included Aceh, Nias, Jakarta, West Java, Borobudur, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Bali, and West Papua. Sacred Bridge itself was the first UNESCO counterpart in the field of culture. In addition to the field works, Serrano managed to consult and write for international journals as well as give academic lectures at many well-respected universities in the US, UK, and Japan, with focus on cultural economics.

His inspirations, achievements and contributions for Indonesia and beyond are immeasurable but he never worked for personal recognition. He was critical of the narrow and seemingly opportunistic viewpoints of many Indonesian academics and institutions in various fields and challenged them to aspire to a higher level of understanding and interpretation for the betterment of the country and humanity. While battling the cancer, Rano mentioned in several occasions that his unfinished book title ‘Economics for Humanity’ became the least important for many reasons, but one reason that stood out as a reflection of his faith in the young generations to come, he said their books would be far more important than his.

On many occasions, while reading local newspapers, Rano said to his eldest son, Boo-boo Sianturi, now the chairman of the foundation, “Hey, they’re my ideas, that’s my writing, completely plagiarized”. He then continued, “Oh well, that’s okay, as long as they learn things the right way, understanding the importance of fundamentals…and so on, let the people learn, let the nation learn”. Rano stressed the importance of understanding contexts and fundamentals challenging their credibility on ethical grounds. In his view, the most respected profession is teaching; not only are adequate knowledge and experience required but teaching also comes with a set of responsibilities.

“Serrano Sianturi, he was my best friend and hero of his mother country”, Stomu Yamash’ta (founding member of Sacred Bridge foundation)

I​​​n 2013, Rano brought together Stomu Yamash’ta, Stephen Hill and I Nyoman Astita in Bali where they visited villages, exploring a possible way of developing the Cultural Centre which Rano was planning as a Sacred Bridge Initiative. What transpired instead was the development of a very fruitful partnership of Rano, Stomu and Stephen with the just established  ‘Centre for the Creative Economy’ at Doshisha University, Kyoto, and its Director, Tadashi Yagi. T​ogether, they trawled the world for four years through Annual International Symposia in Kyoto in search of the best participants for their ​planned book which sought to re-ground global economics in our core humanity and spirituality. Prior to every Symposium Stomu produced his ‘On-Zen’ performance bringing Buddhist and Shinto priests together in combined ritual in Kyoto’s Daitokuji Buddhist Temple ​- in a ceremony of peace and cross-religious care - the first time in 800 years that Buddhism and Shinto had shared in such a way. Rano had brought Stephen and Stomu together in the first place – via the meeting in Bali, and spoke at the first International Symposium in June 2014, but unfortunately, after that, was too ill to participate any more.

                                       Rano with Stephen Hill

                                Rano with Stomu Yamash’ta.

The book “The Kyoto Manifesto for Global Economics - The Platform of Community, Humanity and Spirituality” resulted from this collaboration and was published internationally last year by Springer. Under Stomu’s inspiration, Stephen designed the structure of the book as a ‘Symphony’, and then elaborated it further as a ‘Polyphony’, i.e. bringing two or more separate themes together into an overall harmony.  

“We all, however, owe Rano an enormous debt of gratitude for his humanity, vision, commitment, generosity, and inspiration. He is both our own dear friend and a friend to humanity as a whole”. (Hill et al, Kyoto Manifesto, 2018)

During the last few months of Rano’s life, he believed that the Sacred Bridge needed to continue and was convinced that the younger generations were equipped and ready to lead the foundation into the second decade of the 21st century.  On January 13, 2019, 13 days before Rano’s departure, the Sacred Bridge was marked by a “Reborn” gathering at their headquarters in Jakarta. The word “Reborn” itself was inspired by the Sacred Rhythm II (Reborn Unison) concert that took place in Bali last August 2018.  

               Sacred Rhythm: Reborn Unison in Bali, Indonesia. (2018)

 Now, almost twenty years after the first Sacred Rhythm, Rano believed that it was time to elaborate the statement. Reborn Unison emphasises the need to work together for culture to become both driver and enabler of human development, sustainable development, or the upholding of continuous and inclusive improvement of human well-being. It is this old way that is cherished by Sacred Rhythm II (Reborn Unison), paving the ground for a new generation of artists, scientists, and spiritual activists to come together, shaping and spreading the message of culture through their world-wide networks.

Bintang Perkasa, who is now the programme director, concludes Rano’s view that in the eyes of Sacred Bridge, “reborn” is not merely rebirth, but also rethinking and revisiting its fundamental values based on guidance of the past and present life to re-focus (including re-evaluate) the foundation towards the future. He further emphasizes Rano’s own words that “changes can only happen on the ground,” capturing the very spirit of Sacred Bridge “Reborn”. This will be manifested in its plan to return to fieldwork, the change initiated and agreed by Rano himself with the acknowledgment and consent of the active founders.

Rano, Rest in the Peace You Deserve. The Peace of Love – the guiding light of your life!

Stephen Hill                                                                                                             

26thJanuary 2019

   Sources:

Hill et al, Kyoto Manifesto, 2018

Email exchanges (Boo-boo and Stephen), 2018-2019

Email exchanges (Boo-boo and Dr. Chee), 2019-03-02

LTTW, 2019 (http://www.listentotheworld.net/human-voices/serrano-g-sianturi-the-heart-and-soul-of-sacred-bridge/)

Sacred Bridge Web, 2019 (http://www.sacredbridge.org/the-bridge/history/)

 [1] LTTW, Obituary SGS news, 2019 (http://www.listentotheworld.net/human-voices/serrano-g-sianturi-the-heart-and-soul-of-sacred-bridge/)

[sgjt23]

The US is the super spreader of coronavirus and political virus

When coronavirus hits the US, some politicians choose to surrender and collude with it. While working haltingly on containment, some people in the US, mostly without any scientific background, have been hyping up the "China lab accident" hypothesis. But in the China Part of the global study of origins of the coronavirus convened by the WHO, this pathway of emergence has been rated "extremely unlikely" after thorough review on data and evidence. This is not the first time the US has insisted on going down a misguided path at the wrong time. Back in 2003, the US invaded Iraq with a tube of detergent as the proof for weapons of mass destruction held by the Middle East country. The 18 years since only made the US more unscrupulous. From using counter-terrorism as the pretext for raking in resources and geopolitical interests, it is now engaged in a terror-making campaign. Muzzle voices of reason Many Americans have been either muzzled, investigated or dismissed from their posts just because they told the truth about COVID-19 that the authorities don't like. Dr. Helen Y. Chu, a whistle-blower, sounded the alarm on the epidemic in the US, but was ordered to "cease and desist" and "stop testing". Adam Witt, a nurse, was barred from the medical center he worked for after going public with workplace concerns about coronavirus precautions. Captain Brett Crozier of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Navy leaders to evacuate and quarantine most of the sailors on board after three crew members were tested positive, only to be relieved of duty for losing the "trust and confidence" of their superiors. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top medical expert in the US, was lambasted by the previous administration and is still under attacks by some US politicians trying to force through conspiracy theories. The only way to evade the violent acts is to clam up about the truth. Indeed, some in the WHO and world scientists are adjusting themselves to the new reality. Attack China with a whole-of-government approach The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the new US administration has generally continued its predecessor's extreme and erroneous China policy. This seems to be proved by the US stand on origin tracing of COVID-19. Despite the partisan gulf on most policies, Democrats keep with them the anti-China playbook compiled by some Republicans and have been going "tough" on China, including hyping up the lab leak theory pushed by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Following the line of the "presumption of guilt", the new US administration has entrusted its intelligence community to rummage through for evidence that shows the virus was leaked from or manufactured by China. The US also went so far as to spread lies at different levels in its government about China's lack of "transparency and openness" by fabricating infections at the Wuhan Institute of Virology or in a mine in Southwest Yunnan Province without providing the names or any other supportive details. When unfounded claims from the US are debunked one after another with facts, the state-sponsored machine is working against the clock to churn out new disinformation. The aim is clear: to glorify the US by defaming China. Super spreader of virus The US has long been the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases. On top of the 35 million confirmed cases at home, the country has registered the highest number of over 611,000 deaths. But it is not just the Americans that are suffering from the inadequate response by the US government. The lack of effective border control has led to international spread through cross-border travels. An Israeli study by Tel Aviv University in May 2020 showed 70 percent of the local virus strains originated from the US. Similarly, 35 percent of the imported cases in the Republic of Korea came from the US, according to reports in February this year. Countries in the Americas bear the brunt of transmissions in another way. From March to September, the US deported 160,000 illegal immigrants, many of whom had lived in shabby shelters that could have undetected cluster cases and crossed the U.S. border without any testing or quarantine. Guatemala, for example, saw 50 percent to 7 percent of its deported citizens from the US confirmed with COVID-19. Considering the mysteries shrouding Fort Detrick, the hundreds of lab mistakes, safety violations and near-miss incidents occurred in bio-labs coast to coast in recent years and more than 200 labs run overseas, the US is deeply involved in furtive operations posing significant health and security risks. The US COVID-19 response has made it the super coronavirus spreader poisoning the whole world, be its scientific research, international cooperation or the protection of people's fundamental rights to survival. Out of self-interests driven by politics, the US has also become the super spreader of political virus, spreading stigmatization such as "China virus". Moreover, some US politicians have made personal attacks and verbal threats against some outspoken scientists. Some media outlets commented that the above practices of the US are tantamount to origin-tracing terrorism. All this makes the US unqualified to talk of "responsibility" and ashamed to make human rights lectures.

[americanmysticom]

REVEALED: Chinese Communists Subsidized Trips For Western Journalists for Over 25 Years – CNN, NPR, WaPo, NYT, Reuters, ABC, NBC & More.

August 4, 2021

Natalie Winters

https://thenationalpulse.com/news/exc-ccp-journalism-exchange-program-to-enhance-understanding/ 

Several Chinese Communist Party-linked groups – including the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – have subsidized trips to China for American journalists in an effort to “enhance” their understanding of U.S.-China relations since the 1990’s, The National Pulse can reveal from recovered webpages deleted by program sponsors.

Among the outlets sending journalists to participate in the trips are The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio (NPR), CNN, Reuters, POLITICO, and more.

The “China-United States Journalism Exchange” is sponsored by the New York-based East-West Center, All-China Journalists Association, and the Better Hong Kong Foundation. Inaugurated in 2010, the program expanded upon a 1996 initaitive “supported” by the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that granted free trips to China for journalists from mainstream American media outlets.

The effort is closely tied to the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), a foreign influence group operating under the Chinese government’s United Work Front Department.

The United Front, according to the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission, aims “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition” to the Chinese regime and “influence foreign governments and other actors to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies.”

In practice, CUSEF has sponsored trips to China for mainstream corporate media outlets in exchange for “favorable coverage.” As revealed through Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings with the Department of Justice, the group’s explicit goal of the trips is to “effectively disseminate positive messages to the media, key influencers, and opinion leaders, and the general public.”

JOIN THE NATIONAL PULSE TODAY!

https://thenationalpulse.com/support/

SHOCKING!!! - THE CCP IS PAYING U.S. MAINSTREAM MEDIA JOURNALISTS!

https://thenationalpulse.com/

https://nationalpulse.podbean.com  

https://www.facebook.com/thenationalpulse/

BREAK THE CCP EMBARGO ON TRUTH!!!

 [THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM IS UNWHOLESOME MOTIVATION, MADE MANIFEST BY AN IMPORTED FOREIGN SYSTEM OF CONTROL THAT IS COMMUNISM, OVERLAPPED ON A VERY SOPHISTICATED, DETAILED, RUDIMENTARY CULTURAL SOCIAL NETWORK]

[callmetippytumbles]

Thoughts on THOTS: Chapter 14 Peen Parade

So after a lot of encouragement from @lizzybeth1986, @violetflipflops and @feisty-mary, I have decided to gonad up and start posting stand alone reviews instead of bumming off of Lizzy. So here we are.

So this has been quite the week.  So much to discuss. Let’s make like the Black Eye Peas and get it started. Heads up, its a long one.

I feel like PB has been very generous this week.  They are like, “Call us Santa & Co. ‘cuz we outchea giving gifts to all the LI stans” PB: Here you go Liam stans. Liam Stans: Thank you, PB

PB: We see you Drake stans, here is something for you too. Drake Stans: Thank you so very much, PB.

PB: Maxwell stans? Maxwell Stans: Yeah? PB: I don’t know if we have anything for you Maxwell Stans: *faces fall, eyes well up with tears* PB: Sike! We got y'all too. Maxwell Stans: 

SUPERCALLAFRAGALISTICEPIALAHOLYFUCKINGGODTHANKUIVEWAITEDSOSOLONGTHANKU 

Hana Stans: What about us? PB:

I am a Liam stan, but even I feel away about Hana’s treatment these past few chapters. I mean a lot of her diamond scenes are initiated on the idea that she is helping you impress someone else.  I haven’t really tried to romance Hana so I can’t speak to the romance part. We were in Hana’s home country for the last TWO chapters but the diamond chapters with her don’t offer very much about or even center Hana. Hana is from China but the folklore about koi cam from Liam? I could go on but there are people who talk about this WAY better than I do.  I am just saying it’s one thing to make a point to include a diverse, LGBTQ+ character there, its another to do so in a meaningful way.  If Hana is there simply to be an endlessly supportive bestie and a love interest but doesn’t really get the same careful development that the other male love interests get this relegates her to a token.  That’s messed up.

I wouldn’t quite call it the Ultimate Sausage Fest because nobody’s dicks touched.  I would call it a Peen Parade. Lots of dudes and shitty gaudy parade clothing.

Like Home Alone 2, we are lost in New York. Everything about this chapter is like:

No seriously.  So. Many. Questions. I will get back to those. For the sake of being linear I want to address something. That fuckass bitchass assass voicemail that IT left to MAXWELL. I am over here listening like:

I have a phone too Demon.  Why didn’t you ring up MY line directly?  I know why: You’s a bitch. Not that Meredith Brooks “I’m-gonna-reclaim-bitch” bitch or Lizzo’s “I’m-100%-that-bitch” bitch. Nah. I mean bitch as in you are a coward. Also, this is a fuckass task to set up some real fuckery in the coming chapters. Maybe even force a book three.  

I am surprised that the Demon didn’t show up at all. In fact, the Demon has been conveniently absent a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I am not exactly looking to see that dusty heifer befoul my sight.  But the Demon not being around means that IT is up to something. What that something is, I don’t know.  

For instance IT could be also looking for Tariq too.  Tariq could be minding his business at some riddiculously expensive restaurant doing a great job at being not in Cordonia but a shitty job at keeping a low profile. 

He is talking to a waiter like “I would like to go off menu and have a fillet mignon, medium rare but slightly more rare than medium with a Bearnaise sauce…” Before the waiter can tell him that he can’t go off the menu like that, the Demon shows up in a hoodie and Drake’s sunglasses like this:

“How 'bout a side of knife?” IT says and then stabs Tariq in the chest. I mean Connie may not literally be a MurderKing, but that demon being a MurderQueen2B? Would not put it past IT.  

Also can we talk about the ring, why did A Demon use Dean’s engagement ring from RoE? I thought IT would have at least wanted William’s ring from RoE. Then again, the ring is to symbolize a union with a man IT doesn’t give a solitary fuck about what so ever.  If she doesnt care about the man why would she care about the ring?  Personally, I am just going to take it as one of many indications that this was indeed a fuckass errand.

Drake was there, he wants to dress up Liam like a pirate.

Okay, with that out the way.

Well questions.

Drake, I know that you are simple ass dude kind of dude. I can appreciate that.  I just can’t suspend my disbelief that you are really going wedding gift shopping for your best friend who is a monarch at NotIKEA or at a hardware store. What are you thinking? I know this has more to do with PB only having so many backgrounds than Drake actually being this inept. PB either make the background you need or rethink your story.  

Anyway the whole point of the shopping trip is to gift Liam Jess’s compass from RoE and for PB to force Halle to demonstrate terrible taste by putting Drake in those god awful sunglasses.  Drake didn’t protest because he only knows about whiskey, beige food and meat, and whatever his official job is in court.  Issa look. I will get back to these terrible ass clothes later.  Just know I am in my feelings.

This UN dinner is a fraud! How did Halle have to talk to some Italian ambassador in Capri but doesn’t talk to a single dignitary other than the Champagne Mami? How come Halle had to be there, Liam has to be there, Champagne Mami has to be there but the Demon is conveniently missing? 

What about the rest of the female members of the court? 

A UN dinner is the perfect place for a multiligual, ambitious woman like Kiara who would like to work for any of the foreign ministries to network.  I will not under any circumstances believe that Kiara was like “It’s ShondaThursday. I can’t!” Especially in the age of DVR and HULU.  Apparently Kiara was there in passing.  She was the one who recommended the roof to Maxwell.  Knew that Kiara is too smart to pass up this opportunity.  Still sucks not to see her though.

I could believe that Penelope would skip this.  Penelope hates parties like this which is something that she said at the last foreign dignitary party. The Demon isn’t going to be there. Penelope can be like “Well if Madeleine isn’t gonna be there, I am skipping the bullshit too.  If anyone is looking for me I will be hugging up on some dogs at the animal shelter. Deuces." 

I might believe that Olivia may not show up for a few reasons. One, free food and booze is not a motivator for her as it is for the rest of us simpletons. Nothing is as good as anything in Lythikos. Even the air in Lythikos is more airy-er. NY air smells like piss.  Olivia could skip the entirety of NY for that reason alone. Two, since the courting season or whatever Olivia does not give a fuck about participating in royal court.  She’ll be there when she’ll be there. Lastly but also most importantly, Connie done fucked up when he thought to threaten The Duchess of Lythikos. Olivia is a lot of things, but she isn’t the one.  Sure ain’t. Olivia didn’t come to that sad, retirement community center party because she was busy doing this:

Making some calls…

Training…

She is coming for that ass Connie.  She may pull the plug before Halle.  The only thing that could possibly keep Connie from getting his whole ass handed to him by Olivia as opposed to aggressive end stage lung cancer is if Connie tells her the whole truth about her parents.  I could see Olivia at least pausing to get those answers. Then she’ll be like:

Why isn’t Hana there? She is a member of the court and has no reason to miss this.  It’s not like she is scouring New York for practice puss.  I can appreciate that so much of Hana’s life is in flux right now. However I do not see Hana as the type to just let herself be driftless without some kind of anchor even during a time like this.  While she is unsure of what she wants or what’s next I think that Hana would have still come to the UN shindig.  If anything else, Hana knows how to be at an event like this, can benefit from networking, and it could be affirming for Hana. Not in this massive way but in that she knows how to do this. So I call bullshit.

Hana can’t be in attendance but Maxwell can be there to embarass the whole fuck out himself? I know you have home training.  Why are you like this? It’s not the time to literally play with your food. Maxwell really has no sense of time and place whatsoever. This is why Bertrand has to get you together sometimes.

As for the Champagne Mami herself, I really like her. I know that she could be in on the fuckery if not an active participant of whatever that Demon is up to. However, I still really like her and I am going to make her my mom now.  I could see Champagne Mami and Halle just living, enjoying each other’s company. They are cackling in the corner of some stuffy ass party in the UK. Waiter: Would you like some spotted dick? Adelaide: Are the spots something that can be cleared up with antibiotics? Asking for a friend. Halle: Girl, you so bad! Adelaide: No you are. *They cackle together loudly*

So, at any minute PB is just gonna be like:

So the Demon is not even the duchess of its country, just a county. Your inferiority is showing again heifer.  Maybe the Demon takes all of its time wielding the little power IT has in a way that inflicts pain because it reflects how truly powerless IT feels. Hmm.

That tidbit came from the .000003 seconds that Justin dropped by.  He certainly made his time count.  If I have to assemble a team to beat A Demon I am picking Justin and Olivia.  Dassit. Justin is a great strategist that can outsmart the Demon and Olivia is additional brain power + brawn.

I am really happy for Maxwell stans.  Y'all have been waiting, biding your time, and your patience and persistence has paid off. I am hoping that the romance upgrade includes some character development for him. I did not play the scene for romance but Halle and Maxwell do have a real moment where she thanks him for making this experience happen for her. If Maxwell didn’t think that Halle could make Liam happy he would not have been inspired to sponsor her.  His sponsorship made this whole experience possible. So even when he regresses in a way that makes me wonder if he has any untreated brain injuries, this whole experience is thanks to him. I am glad that is acknowledged in writing.

Maxwell stans you are one step closer to making this happen:

I am happy with the Liam diamond scene this week.  He is literally crazy in love with Halle.  I ain’t mad at it.  He gets sweeter and sweeter every time we are alone with him.  He is so sweet I am actually concerned that Halle is going to wake up and Liam has transformed into a Haribo gummy bear.

But Liam also did this:

What are you trying to say? This only tells me that Liam hasn’t actually tasted a Cordonian Ruby straight from the tree recently if not longer. I think Liam’s perpetual boner for Cordonia could be having an adverse affect on his taste buds. Them apples are nasty raw. Just a fact.

I know if Liam and Halle were to literally start fucking in Central Park, Hana stans would rightfully start a riot. With that said, I know that he has that on a list somewhere.

These clothes.  Bruh.  We need to talk. 

Drake’s was the least offensive since it was really the sunglasses that killed it. 

Halle’s dress is kind of matronly.  It reminiscent of what a girl would wear to a cotillion.  Halle is literally waiting to be presented to black high society arm in arm with the son of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Fontaine. And even when Liam got to dress down, Halle had to stay in this awful get up.  So now Halle has to be out here looking like some budget Glinda the good witch holding hands with a dude in joggers. Yuck!

As for Liam’s outfit, I am here for the tight shirt, I am not as bothered by the novelty aspect of it (it might be kind of cute). Liam picked the pants. I now know that Liam has never shopped for his own clothes a day in his life and it should remain that way. Liam has many talents but clothes shopping ain’t one.  Liam is a fucking king and he can live without ever having to learn. He will be just fine.

What really has me feeling a way about these clothes is two things.  One, for all of these cothing options you have to pay diamonds.  You pay your hard earned money to dress poorly.  Spending that money but still coming out like Ugly Betty. On top of that insult, not only did you spend money on this, PB has the whole entire nerve to blame Halle (MC) partially (Liam, Halle made the top) or entirely (Drake’s outfit is all Halle) for these poor satorial choices.  Halle’s character has been assassinated y'all.  Halle has been defamed.

So Bertie is back just in time to tell us that we are going to LA to look for Tariq.  I am not sure what finding Tariq is going to do.  Connie is the one behind all of the bullshit.  Unless the Demon did something to blackmail Connie, I don’t see how this clears the way for Liam and Halle to get married.  Also, I guess your enemies did get bolder Connie.  How effective is your leadership if the Demon can blackmail its way directly to the throne?  Also, what does the Demon have over you that you just can’t diffuse?

So we are going, going, off, off ,to Cali, Cali. At least Liam is letting us use his jet. How much do you want to bet that we are going to end up on a beach so PB can use that beach background?  Maxwell stans are probably going to taste Maxwell’s dick before Drake stans will taste his. That has to sting, but not as much as Hana stans not having a passing mention of Hana in this chapter. Y'all better get your ducats ready. Liam stans may not really see Liam. I am a little sad, but PB is not disrespecting me as intensely and thoroughly so Imma shut up and let it stand.

I still want a panda for my royal wedding. I would also like to kick that demon into a pit 300 style.

Also wrapping up my first fan fic.  I hope to have it out in the next couple of days. “Why am I saying that here?” asked nobody.  I need peer pressure to make me stop being so nervous and get it done.