#a majority of the ii community oop

[moorsidesuite]

pookies i drew tonight that are based of sosme pieces i like alot

(i cant find the recording i like to listen to, oops)

thants abt it … i hope u like my music furries :dies:

pspspsps… theyre all up for offers on here:

[fidelmartin007]

Decoding the Salesforce Developer Demand: What to Look for & How to Hire

The demand for Salesforce is as high as ever, and this has increased the Salesforce developer demand. Salesforce remains the number one CRM choice for companies across the globe, and this means that compared to other CRMs, the Salesforce market share is also higher.

The Salesforce developer demand is high, but not every requirement is the same, and nor are all developer roles. What you need for your company defines the type of developer you hire and how you hire them.

This article is a guide on what to look for when hiring a Salesforce developer and how to hire the right one for your company.

Who is a Salesforce developer?

A Salesforce developer is an entity that develops steady and dynamic applications. They use Salesforce platforms to swiftly and efficiently develop and deploy these applications to the cloud without worrying about hardware. Salesforce developers can use the platform, or GIT, to effectively build and deploy code to run the application. They use different programming languages compatible with their platforms, like Ruby and PHP.

The responsibility of guiding and developing Salesforce’s instance rests with the Salesforce developer and building Salesforce applications on different Paas platforms. These developers must have excellent coding expertise and can construct club-based applications with the help of force.com platform.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Salesforce Developer

Salesforce technicians/developers/specialists differ based on the skills they offer, so there could be multiple roles a Salesforce specialist could take up. These roles will help establish the work for which a particular developer will be qualified and responsible.

It’s always best to know what you are looking for before you start the hiring process. There are six main Salesforce roles:

Administrator – they are responsible for running the CRM.

Developer – they are responsible for customizing the CRM according to the requirements of the company and business specifications.

App Builder – they are responsible for building various applications.

Architects – they are responsible for creating technical solutions for ecosystem development.

Consultant – they are responsible for administering and consulting on matters related to Sales Cloud, Community Cloud, and Service Cloud, and sometimes dealing with employee training.

Specialists – these are Salesforce Marketing Specialists, Pardot specialists, and CPQ specialists.

The major Salesforce certificates that are connected to the developer role:

Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I

Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II

Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder

Salesforce Certified B2C Commerce Developer

Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Developer

Salesforce Certified JavaScript Developer I

What are the skills of a Salesforce Developer?

Hiring candidates for technical positions can be a real task if you have no previous experience with it, especially if your first rodeo is hiring a Salesforce developer. Go through the following section to know what to look for when hiring a Salesforce developer.

1. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) concepts

Just like Java, Salesforce is an object-oriented language-based programming language. This is an approach to developing programs using various classes and objects. OOP lets the developers to work with an effortless development environment and ease of maintenance with concepts like Objects, Classes, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Abstraction, and Inheritance. Thus, when you shortlist candidates for Salesforce development-related roles, keep an eye out for those with a clear understanding of object-oriented programming.

2. Knowledge of JavaScript

To be considered a strong Salesforce developer, it is imperative that one has detailed knowledge of languages like JavaScript, which is a scripting language developed using the ECMAScript standards. A Salesforce developer with a strong base in JavaScript can make all the difference in the quality of project execution. Used to distinguish and tweak the capabilities of Visualforce pages, one can use JavaScript to set up pass parameters to showcase pop-ups and confirmation messages, manage validation messages, etc. Hence, the importance of learning JavaScript for Salesforce development cannot be stressed enough.

3. Knowledge of C#

As Salesforce is, first and foremost, an object-oriented programming language, developers are required to be proficient in C#. Its coding structure closely resembles JavaScript, and it is currently one of the most popular OOP languages in use. A mastery of C# is the most basic requirement of being a Salesforce developer. Hence, when one is hiring Salesforce developers, look for people who have experience working with C# and related technologies.

4. Knowledge of data modeling

Data modeling is the method of storing data in an architecturally structured manner. Salesforce offers multiple options to customize preset models to add to the existing functionalities and modify them. There are tips that developers can take up to develop Salesforce data models, which facilitates necessary processes.

5. Ability to work with Lightning frameworks

An essential and dynamic feature of Salesforce is the Lightning Component Framework. It is a very well-known framework that is often used in building web applications that have cross-platform compatibility. It is generally used to create single-page apps, intuitive UIs, and for Lightning Platform applications. The lightning platform uses Apex for the backend and JavaScript framework for the front end.

6. Strong understanding of SOQL

Salesforce Object Query Language is a tool for recalling sets of data from large databases, which is rapidly becoming popular. It sort of works like the SELECT statement used in SQL, but it is designed particularly to be used in the Salesforce platform. With the help of SOQL, developers can build effective query strings for multiple environments.

Advantages of Remote Salesforce Developers

Hiring a remote Salesforce development team can be considerably less expensive, depending on geographical costs. For instance, if you hire Salesforce specialists from the United States it will be way costlier than hiring from Eastern Europe. Moreover, you don’t have to provide them with office space.

It works out great with regard to time. Salesforce developers who work remotely follow a defined technical specification and deliver the outcomes on time. On top of this, when you work with remote development companies, you only pay once the project is complete.

You work with an experienced group of people. Your remote Salesforce team is made up of people who know the platform inside and out. These individuals specialise in a variety of Salesforce services and will be able to provide you with advice on particular Salesforce modifications and issues.

Disadvantages of Remote Salesforce Developers

If you hire a remote Salesforce development team, you cannot personally supervise the process and ensure that everything runs as it should.

When you work with a remote Salesforce development team, there is room for misunderstandings because of differences in culture, geography, and most commonly, language. Meetings can be scheduled to avoid most such situations, and proper equipment can be utilised.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you need to assess your needs and match them with your investment. Once that is done, you can figure out what kind of Salesforce developers will work best for you to meet your goals and hire them.

CRMJetty has over 16 years of experience with Salesforce development services. We can become your technology partner in a way that you can leave the entire Salesforce development project to us and focus on your business growth.

Reach out to us to talk about your requirement, and we will take it from there.

Original Blog: https://www.crmjetty.com/blog/salesforce-developer-demand/

[object-show-headcanons]

Taco and mic watch bollywood movies together

[darnestdungeon]

Oop, roadmap dropped on twitter. I am already awash with the power of speculation.

Yeah, it's nice to see their plans all laid out like that, I'm looking forward to the improvements! I transcribed the text from the picture in case someone needs it:

Darkest Dungeon II Community Roadmap

At Red Hook, we are thrilled to be back working in an Early Access development environment! We keep a close eye on Discord, our Subreddit, and social media for all feedback and discussions on the game - we're happy to hear from you. We see the road to 1.0 as being split into 6 major milestones - the outline below represents our intended focus for each of these key deliverables. We are excited to invite you all, new and returning fans of Darkest Dungeon, along for this development journey.

M1 (Milestone 1) Mid-February

Creature Den Location

Spiders, Dogs, Worms and More!

Roguelike Variation Improvements

Backstory Encounter Tuning

Trinket & Quirk Improvements (ongoing)

M2 (Milestone 2)

A Barnacle-Encrusted New Region

New Enemy Faction

New Lair Boss

Act 2 Final Boss

Story Content

Permanent Hero Upgrades

M3 (Milestone 3)

New Playable Hero

Act 3 Final Boss

Story Content

New Cultists

Valley Variation

Relationship/Affinity 2.0

M4 (Milestone 4)

New Region: ???

New Enemy Faction

New Lair Boss

Pets

M5 (Milestone 5)

New Playable Hero

Hero Origin Skins Playable in-Game

New Wandering Boss

Driving/Journey Improvements

Act 4 Final Boss

Story Content

M6 (Milestone 6)

1.0 Launch

New Playable Hero

Act 5 Final Boss

Story Content

Achievements

Ongoing work:

Implementing Community Suggestions/feedback

Balance: Monsters, Heroes, Skills, Quirks, Items, Economy

UI/Quality-of-Life Improvements

Visual Polish

New Location Types

New Academic/Narrator Lines

Stability/Bug Fixes

Please Note #1 - We may move things around as developments progresses. Game development is unpredictable, and we will pivot as needed for the health of the game, and the team. In the event of significant change, we'll post an updated roadmap.

Please Note #2 - This is not an exhaustive list of everything we'll be doing. There is a ton of behind the scenes work to be done, as well as ongoing polish and improvement. If you don't see something important to you listed here, that doesn't mean it won't happen!

[notrixxtarot]

Tarot Meanings (Suit of Wands, and Major/Minor Arcana Rundown!) Pt. 3!

Last time, we were discussing only the Major Arcana, and now we move on to the Minor Arcana. If you only want the card meanings, scroll down past where I discuss wands, the suit meaning, and correspondences.

What is the Minor Arcana anyway?

The Minor Arcana covers things that are going through our day to day life, and are typically our daily problems. These cards have a short influence time, and change often, representing that you can change your own life (even in minor ways) with minimal energy! Minor Arcana also signifies a lesson you are currently learning.

If your reading is overrun by Minor Arcana cards, you may need to focus more on your day-to-day life rather than the big picture for a hot second.

You never told us what the Major Arcana is!

Lol oops, I am going to now.

The Major Arcana is deeper and more complicated than the Minor Arcana, not that the Minor Arcana is any less important. These cards signify big lessons in our lives, karmic influences, cycles, and themes that relate to archetypes. These are the cards that identify sudden change, faith, intuition, etc, and usually ask for you to do some sort of self reflection to learn from them.

A reading full of Major Arcana cards signifies a lot of change that will effect you for a long time, change is good! We welcome change.

But what do all of the suits mean?

As we progress I will discuss the suits, what they effect, what they are associated with, and all that cool stuff.

Today we are focusing on wands, so I will discuss the wands suit meaning and purpose.

Wands (Also known as: rods, scepters, and clubs)

Element: Fire

Astrological Signs: Leo, Aries, Sagittarius

Aspect of Life: Creativity, willpower, energy

Strengths: Passionate, inspirational, and full of drive. Wands is the power behind action.

Weaknesses: Can be powerful, but also destructive. Very temperamental, or prone to shifts of energy.

Cards and Their Meanings

I - Creation, inspiration, willpower, energy, new desire/passion

II - Decision making, leaving home, planning

III - Rapid growth, expansion, looking towards the future, progression

IV - Home, celebration, family, connection, community

V - Hostile or playful conflict, argument, competition, rivals

VI - Reward, victory, success

VII - Defensiveness, pushing through, maintaining control

VIII - Haste, quick decisions, quick messages, everything is quick

IX - Resilience, the "boss battle", full of spirit

X - Responsibility, a weight on your shoulders, accomplishment

Page - Excitement, free spirit, exploring

Knight - Taking action, adventures, bravery

Queen - Bravery, happiness, determined

King - The "big picture", a leader, action and bravery.

In the future I will do a post discussing the court cards, as they can be a little tricky to decipher. I may also teach a little numerology to make learning the cards a bit easier, which is how I learned them (aside from doing flashcards almost every day)

Check out my profile for ways to support me if you like the content you are receiving!

[minnestudies-blog]

Spring 2019 Schedule

Oops, had to make some major revisions to my schedule, turns out I essentially already took Precalc 1 and didn't know it? Nice! Also the Fundamentals of Music class was essentially the basics of what I learned in Ear Training, so noooope. But I think I ended with a really really exciting schedule now!

Sound Design I, Precalc II, IT Concepts, Human Disease & Drugs, and Interpersonal Communication (14 credits, 2 online classes!)

I geek so hard about scheduling and planning stuff. Let me know what your course schedules are! Are we taking any of the same courses? How was your first week? ❤

Also I found time to start revising my Precalc notes and WHY HAVE I NEVER BLESSED MYSELF WITH GRID PAPER BEFORE AAAAAA maybe I'll upload a picture of them, they ARE pretty nice.

|| 🎧 Les Passants - Zaz ||

[babblingfishes]

Another FroodPad Update

(I’m sending an email instead of tagging people about this one because the majority of you guys have changed urls.)

For anyone who used the original FroodPad (PiratenPad) teamsite for fic writing, the host is taking down the site next month.

As before with the Mozilla alternative, I have backups of most of the text.

Here’s what I do not have:

Backups of locked pads

Chat logs

Authors / authorship colors

Time slider histories

If you want any of those, you’ll need to grab them yourself asap! If you’ve forgotten a password, the quickest way to grab my attention is to let me know via the tumblr messager (or my Discord, if you have it) and I can help you.

As for the actual text of the pads, I have these saved! I can send them to you whenever you like. Under the cut is a VERY lengthy list of the pad titles I have backups of. I can also do a text search if you need.

!!HEY GUYS -- WRITER PROFILES *Goat scream* 2SPOOKY 2c Stories 365 days of Rabbit No! A Very Frood Pad Christmas An attempt to organize chaos And the Band Plays On Annie got her gun Ask Walter Kids BADLY SINNING BRAINTHUNDERING Best Ship Around Broken little pieces CC 4 editing Care Cat!Steve. Don't ask. Cat's sehr whichtig grad portfolio stuff Catori's Little Pad ^^ Cheeroko: ES Drabbles And Possible Story Cheeroko: Elder Scrolls Brainstorming Cheeroko: Fanficing Fanfics since ... Today? Cheeroko: Has Started Yet Another AU Cheeroko: Rabbit Appreciation Pad (Aka, SPG Pad) Cheeroko: Walter Manor Cheeroko: What Should I call this? [{Original Fic}] Cheeroko: You Know What? I'm Just Going To Use This Pad For My Gender Stuff Christmas List Come keep French Company! Please? Configuration (new-new CC and biocore planning) Counter Nonsense Crazy Community Fanfiction Crazy Community Fanfiction II Crazy SPG Collab Thing 2.0 DANGER 5 SOLVE THE GREATEST CRIME OF ALL Derelict (spoilers yo) Derelict 23 and other stuff Derelict Chapter 20 Derelict Chapter 24 Derelict Chapter 25 Derelict Chapter 25 for real this time Derelict Dragon Dreads Derelict Take 73 Derpy-Nuns Don't come here unless Fish is whining at you Don't look Dr. Babblefish's Quest to Only Become Moderately More Insane Dragon Lurve Elephants and Nachos Everyone Writing Everything FRANKENPAPPY Fantastic Mister Vox Fish Does Terrible Things Fish Fanfictions Salgexicon Now Fish and Serif attempt a role play thing. Fish and its monospaced text Fish has an F in evil Fish is Sailing a Ship Fish is a terrible person. Fish is just rambling Fish writes things about other fandoms Fish's Awkward Nonfandom Headcanons Fish's Lupin Drabbles Fish's Magical Tragical Guide to Not Writing Mary Sues Fish's OC Boat Fish's Originalish Pad Fish's Plots and Characters French Rambles French Writes Stony French is a Poet Froodpad Rules and Instructions Further proof we're all insane Futureverse G-Mans and Watering Cans GW2 Cav stuff Ghost! Ghostfacers! Hangout pad Happy Little Family Happy Little Family Notes Here ye go, Redacted Heyo, Achgfd Homestead-Ch.1 How to be nice in RP I blame everyone but me I figure at this rate I should just make a Weird SPG Dreams pad I have no idea what im working on I never tire, I serve I- I- I- LOVE ROBBIE DARREN IT IS A SMUT POWERED BLANKET MY GOOT SAR Ice Cream and Knit Bow Ties Imma figure this thing out by posting prompt responses Improb In Which Pappy Dies In Which Reed Becomes a Robot In Which Steve Drops Bass In Which There is an Abandoned Lab In which robots become metaphors for Autism Spectrum stuff Laying Down The Law Here MATURE REPLY MBG Tumblr Planning   MERRY HOLIDAYMAS YOU WEIRDOS! MWFGOH Notes MY FRIEND MATT WHERE YOU AT May B. we Feta get outta here May B. we Feta get outta here pt2 Muppet Baby Giraffe Fics Myth fanfiction maybe??? NOBODY PANIC (MICHAEL GOT THE D) Neoma's Writes Not Actually a Funeral Not!Derelict Nuns could use help writing a comedy piece for English Nuns does a research paper on GAY GODS Nuns fools around with a hero's journey Nuns hunts for the Holy Grail (and a good essay grade) OC ADVENTURE!! OFF Musingses OOPS Oedipus Script Old Money On the wings of steam One of the Fanmily Original stuff is harder than we anticipated PSILENCE WILL FALL Pappy Pad 2 Pappy Rabbit Old (Still needed though!) Pen & Kari's Pad of Fairytale Badassery Philosophy Notes Pokemanz SPG Post-Derelict Headcanons Princey and Leeland's Walter People Pad Princey definitely isn't using this pad for homework anymore Princey is the best right Leilani right Princey tries Original Stuff Princey wanted to write OC stuff too Princey's self-indulgent stuff Princeyfic (An Accident of the Smallest Kind final chapter) Princeyfic: An Accident of the Smallest Kind Princeyfic: Basically nothing but a mermaid OC Princeyfic: Canoe Catastrophe Pronz Psi does homework and other stuff Psi does homework occasionally Psi gets his shit together Psi is in pain. Also class. Psi jacks Cat's characters Psi plans the Derelict!Verse RP blog early because he's bored Psi reads Marsupial Psi takes out dysphoria on The Spine Psi tries for "canon" SPG Psi writes Cabin Pressure stuff Psi writes a thing about an author Psi's Headcanon Psi's Kazooland OCs??? Psi's class notes Psi's class notes and HatchWorth stuff Psilent's Hatchworth Feels Psilent's Pscribblings Psilent's Pstuff Psunny's Muppet Babby Stuff Public pad 2: 2 public 2 pad Pun and Psi Make a Porno Punny: Ask Index Punny: Broken little pieces Punny: Crack Fic ideas Punny: Ficlets Punny: HLF Th teen years Punny: Happy Little Family Punny: Justice Giraffes Punny: Major fics Punny: Rainbow! The Spine Punny: Trying to figure out how the hell Super spg works RABBIT NO RABBIT NO 2: electric boogaloo Rabbit writes fanfic Relish's Ramblings Reverse Pre Mid Life Crisis 3000 Rex and Captain. Rover! SICK ROBOTS. (Princey and Leeland) SIMNANIGANS SO I may have discovered aquabats and it may have given me some muse SPG/Avengers cross over collab-fic SS kills a lot of young women SS: Aftertheendverse SS: Aggressively writes happy fanfiction SS: Amnesia Home Pad SS: Amnesia Revisions SS: Amnesia!Spine Headcanoning SS: Ancient Mariner SS: Angsty Poetry xP SS: Annie/V SS: Dragon!Steve SS: Genderbends because of reasons SS: Just our positronic electronic harmonic SS: Michael wants the D(erelict!Steve's dick) SS: Michael wants the D(erelict!Steve) #2 SS: More Spine/OC junk SS: Okay actually writing Amnesia now SS: Poems by Peter VI SS: Possible Natalia 'Verse SS: Private Party SS: Ratchet and pumpkin SS: Spine/OC SS: Spine/OC #2 SS: Spine/OC #3 SS: The Only Constant SS: The Way Home SS: hoamwork Satyr Adventure script Secret Santa (Sign-ups closed, Santas have been assigned!) Serif needs to kill something apparently Serif's Dump Pad Serif's Dump Pad 2 Seth only starts things and never finishes them Sewing Stitches SisterofaFish's Pad So much craft poisoning Something Wicked This Way Comes Space-Opera Spoons' Stuff Goes Here Stalking Information Steve has Joined Your Party! THIS IS WHERE THE PARTIES AT TIME TO SCARE THE BABIES Tango's Reason Why The Case of the Quest of the Missing Coffee The Mythos Mythos The Rake This is a public pad because Fish is bored This is utter crap Thunder Charge Title! Too Many Thoughts Untitled 180 Untitled 217 Untitled 314 Untitled 322 Untitled 323 Untitled 324 Verse Fable...or something like that WE GON WRITE FLUFF WE LAV U HRUP WRITER PROFILES We write Mirrormask fics now. Mirrormask is cool. Well look what the cat dragged back in World Building You know what, ignore Nuns a surprise in every pad and no one was ever happy the end awkward monsters/spg campfire song song cat used to write hannafic class notes copper conduction 3: REVELATIONS copper conduction p. 4 death lullaby ye everybody look down fear and loathing in san diego half-baked hatchworth stuff hesitantly works on new chapter how rabbit got his groove back 2 i leik ur silileh lteile hat incdrop - frisk incwrites it's sort of like hellraiser except not lemarchand's fic oh heck there's a plot one time ruffy wrote angst original sexy awesomeness possibly part of Two Birds One Stone possibly not psi is the batman psi's original story (caution may contain robots) ((totally contains robots)) psi's presentation that's due in six hours ruffy's writing a thing schoolwork and such (go away) shit so many fics so little time so much writers block sometimes i doubt your commitment to sparkle motion the end. the fucking crying game the future doesn't love you the wit and wisdom of spg woo lets write pirates woo

[meditatemoremedicateless]

Something Wicked: Moonlight (Part II)

Art by @flowersonpaper

Fandom: Life is Strange

Pairings: Christward, Amberchrist, Victaylor

Major Tags: Fluff, magical girl, witch, magic, polyamory

Words: ~ 10,000 (oops)

Summary: Taylor pulls off a heist in Nathan's room. While she's busy uncovering the secrets of his phone, a monster follows her to the outskirts of the town. Taylor has her second showdown with a shade. A new witch reveals themself.

Read the full story on Ao3

Rachel and Taylor were severely tardy and giggly by the time they entered the gym. Luckily, that meant that they'd missed stretches, and people had already arranged themselves around the small badminton nets from last week. This time though, people were paired up to hit volley balls back and forth. There was one empty mini-court, though, and Dana and Juliet were standing against the wall next to it, Dana with a volley ball tucked under her arm.

Taylor unlinked her fingers from Rachel's, nodding her head over to Dana and Juliet. As they approached, Juliet took notice, smiling and waving. Which was . . . unusual.

"Sup?" Rachel asked once they made it over.

Dana shrugged. "I guess we're all tardy, but whatever. You're lucky we managed to talk you down from a truant, though."

Taylor smiled, clasping her hands in fake prayer. "Thank you, almighty Dana."

Dana looked the both up them up and down quickly, smirking. "Well, you two look happy."

Juliet butted in suddenly to ask, "So are you guys dating?" She stood up from against the wall, swishing a little. Taylor wasn't sure she had ever seen her so animated.

Rachel smiled nervously, and she and Taylor both made the nervous tic to fix their hair. "We're . . ." Rachel started, then immediately faltered. She raised her hand up towards Taylor, adding an, "Um . . ." but that just faltered as well.

"Are we dating? We never talked about it."

Taylor wasn't exactly sure whether or not kissing meant they were dating, but rule of thumb said no. But they had gone on a date? "We're just . . ." but she quickly gave up trying to finish that sentence either.

Dana looked back and forth between the two of them as awkwardness beset all of them. Then she said, "Welllll, we'll come back to that one. Why don't we just-"

WHAM!

A volleyball slammed into the wall over their heads, rebounding just behind Juliet, who screamed for a second before realizing what happened. When they checked who it had come from, though, Zach waved from the other side of an adjacent court. Quickly approaching their little group, though, was Logan. Taylor immediately took a step back, and she wasn't the only one - only Dana didn't seem to flinch, instead taking a few steps over to pick up the ball.

He raised a hand now, greeting her with a, "Yo."

"Hey," Dana replied curtly, tossing the ball a little too high so Logan had to step back to catch it.

Once he'd caught it, he took another step towards the four of them, but Dana immediately pivoted towards Taylor. "Hey, so, want to play volleyball?"

"S-sure," she replied, taking a look over at Rachel before the two of them moved to the other side of the court.

Unfortunately, this brought their path a little too close to Logan, who muttered, "Bitch."

Rachel turned to glare, but Taylor couldn't even bring her eyes up. He was back in his court by the time they got set up, and Taylor had to look up.

On the other side of the court, Dana stood alone, Juliet sitting back against the wall, unable to play thanks to never changing. Dana lifted the ball to about stomach height, then looked over at Rachel and Taylor. "You ready?" she called.

"Literally never."

"Lay 'em on me, girl," Rachel called back, clasping her hands together.

Taylor snorted, knowing her wrists were probably going to be sore by the time class was over. Dana was a server for the girls' volleyball team. This was going to suck.

At least it was better than playing with those football assholes.

Taylor: hey vic.

Victoria: Hey T what's up?

Taylor: not much Taylor: just wondered if we could hit up nathan and smoke

Victoria: I've got my own if you just want to chill and do homework

Taylor: nah i kind of want to hang out with nathan. maybe we can do homework during lab tomorrow? i don't think it's gonna take us long to take a pic of the mountains

Victoria: Sure. Victoria: I'll hit up Nathan and we can hang out tonight

Taylor: cool

Taylor switched over to her new group text, Nancy Drew 1.2

Taylor: yo so i'm gonna try and get nathan's phone tonight.

Juliet: You sure? I mean, even if you get it, it's going to be locked you know. Juliet: He's not dumb.

Taylor: i think i've got that worked out, don't worry Taylor: or maybe do, who knows

Taylor's plan was, in fact, ludicrous. She was pretty sure she had mind controlled Logan somehow Thursday night when she got him to back off. At least, she had proven way more persuasive than she was before she had super powers, so that was close enough.

Dana: Good luck Dana: Text me if you need anything

Taylor: yeah Taylor: and thanks for helping me Taylor: i know i've been super shitty to both of you guys Taylor: but seriously thank you

Juliet: If you end up getting Nathan expelled for dealing roofies we can call it even?

Taylor: ha yeah Taylor: shit wow that's what might happen isn't it Taylor: that sucks

Juliet: It kind of already sucks, honestly.

Taylor: ha Taylor: well if i die or disappear you'll know exactly who did it Taylor: literally any member of the AB police department or Blackwell staff

Taylor's heart was already racing by the time she left her room that evening. The inevitability of her embarrassing failure when she tried to control Nathan only seemed clearer and clearer throughout the day until now she was actively blocking out her constant warnings to give up. Luckily, her body rarely seemed to communicate well with her head, and soon she found herself climbing the stairs up to the third floor of the dorms.

As she reached the first landing, the third-floor door opened and Samuel stepped through, dragging his cleaning supplies with him. The dormitories weren't very old but they were designed like shit, and accessibility changes had only started last week thanks to a local grant. As such, Samuel had to carry much of his supplies up and down the stairs every day. It was a damn uncomfortable thing to watch, as the cart was obviously not made to be carried, and yet he pulled it off several times a day, six days a week.

"Hey Samuel, do you need any help?"

As Taylor reached the top of the stairs, Samuel turned to look at her, the heavy steel door closing behind him with a loud ka-chung. "Why, I don't suppose so, Taylor, I'll manage. Do you need any help?"

See, now, this is why Taylor didn't usually talk to Samuel. She may not have the same visceral reaction as Victoria just because his voice made it sound like he was trying to tell a ghost story 24/7, but he rebounded everything you said in uncomfortable ways.

"Ah. Um, no, I don't think so. Just going to go hang out with some friends." She kept her arms close to her body, scratching to remind them to feel sensation.

Samuel nodded. "It's good to have friends," he replied. "They keep each other safe in dark times. At least tonight is bright."

"Uh . . . yeah." Taylor looked him in the eye, hoping she could get some peek into this guy's mind. Still, no voice appeared, so they just sat there in silence.

Without breaking eye contact at all, Samuel said, "I need to keep vacuuming now."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Taylor walked around the cart so he could access the stairs, still clutching her own body.

Samuel pushed his cart closer to the edge, then got on the stairs so he could lift it. But before he did, he paused and said, "It's a beautiful night tonight. It might be nice to take a walk.

"Yeah," she replied. Once he lifted the cart, though, she just pushed through the door and headed for Nathan's room.

Smoking in Nathan's room was always, inevitably, a little uncomfortable. The bondage art on the walls was one thing - Taylor had accepted long ago that what was creepy for her was 'artistic' to some people - but it was really the wall of foreign slasher films that Taylor didn't like. There's no way you watch that many people get murdered in French and walk away intact. Taylor barely managed to keep her mind intact when Victoria thought it was bourgeois to say random idioms in French. Still, there was one use to the room that never wore out: no matter how much it smelled like pot, you'd never get busted if you were in Nathan's room.

Taylor really would have liked to be high for this. But for some reason, no matter how much she was smoking, she wasn't really feeling it right now.

Victoria and Nathan were chatting about this football season, which Nathan was compelled to care about and Victoria somehow, genuinely cared about. Like most conversations when the three of them were together, Taylor sat out of it, played on her phone, or just sort of looked around the room and pet soft objects.

"Hey, that reminds me," Nathan said, (Taylor had no idea what preceded that) "how did you get chosen as the number two for that photo contest? I didn't think that was how that worked."

Victoria grimaced. She and Nathan sat next to each other on the couch under the projector, alternating between trying to relax and hunched over smoking from their pipes.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I was probably on the table to begin with, and when Max didn't show, Mark just made an executive decision. Especially if we were the last two in deliberations, I don't think anyone would question it."

Honestly, Taylor had been trying not to question that very thing. As much as she wanted to believe that Victoria was the obvious second, there was no way Evan and Rachel were far behind. Even taking family influence into account, the Chases didn't have much of a leg up on the Harris family in terms of artistic renown or the Ambers in community goodwill. The only thing that made Victoria seem like a sure second, only behind Max, was Jefferson's preference - he adored Max, and Victoria had been kissing his ass since day one. No one would want to say that out loud, and it certainly wouldn't be Taylor.

Victoria blew out a thin stream of smoke like a sigh. Then she said, "Guess I can't compete with a pet project, huh?"

Nathan side-eyed her. "Pet project? What makes you say that?" His hands twitched as he talked. Not that that was unusual for Nathan, but it still caught Taylor's attention.

Victoria returned the glance, then rolled her eyes. "Oh, just, when you're in class with him you can tell. Lets her off the hook, gives her lots of praise, tells her about photography opportunities after class, lectures as if it's just for her. Well, her and Rachel. The two of them together are the worst."

"Oh. Huh." Nathan looked at the floor. He didn't even reply with some witty, derogatory comment. Then he looked up at Taylor and asked, "You went to the party Thursday with Rachel, right T? Like, she asked you out."

Taylor shrugged. Then, she realized that was a question with clear answers. "Oh, yeah, I guess. She asked me, but then she couldn't make it."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Yeah," he said, "that sounds like Rachel all right."

I need to put out a notice that no one is allowed to be mean to Rachel while we're dating or else I'll mind control them into the swimming pool.

Taylor drummed her fingers on her jeans, criss-crossed on the bed. "I mean, we still went out Sunday. She didn't just flake."

"Oh, okay," Nathan said, suddenly grinning. "And just why'd she bail on the party, then?"

Taylor gripped her jeans as well as she could as she became flustered. "She - she had to do a thing with her mom."

Nathan chuckled. "Oh, okay, sure."

Victoria swatted his shoulder and shot him a look somewhere between an eye-roll and a glare. "Just stop it, Nate."

He held his hands up in surrender. "Sure, sure. Look, I'm's glad Taylor's getting some ass as we all are." His eyes rolled up as if he were picturing something. "Kind of a lot of ass, actually."

Victoria flushed, but that was far enough that Taylor stopped feeling so flustered. "Shut. Up. Nathan," she growled. "I don't want to hear what you have to say about Rachel's ass. Or Rachel at all, actually."

"Fine, fine." He leaned back on the sofa, but he wouldn't get rid of his pleased smirk, and that was what was pissing Taylor off the most, honestly.

A few more minutes passed by while Victoria and Nathan talked and Taylor sulked, wondering if she was going to have to defend Rachel against all of her friends, sooner or later. The only people who were being happy for her were Dana and Juliet, unlike everyone else who basically just agreed to back off. She wondered if Rachel was having to do this same thing on her end, hound Chloe and Max about being mean for . . . well, Taylor had no idea what they'd choose to be mean behind her back for, but she knew she wouldn't want it said about her. Why wouldn't people just get that all of this bullshit high school drama was going to disappear the second they graduated, but Taylor's chances for love and companionship and all that stupid Disney bullshit were never going to stop being limited? What was the point in treating a nice girl badly?

Thoughts of Dana and Juliet began to pool in Taylor's mind, and she wanted to think about anything else.

Victoria spoke up. "I'll, uh, be right back," she said as she got up.

Taylor latched onto the distraction. "Where're you going?"

"Uhh, bathroom. You need to go?"

This is perfect. Although Taylor did kind of have to go.

Taylor shook her head, "Nah, I'm good."

"Okay."

Once Victoria was out of the room and definitely out of earshot, Taylor turned her attention to Nathan.

"Hey, Nate," she said, scooting forward on the bed, "I need a favor."

Nathan immediately looked irritated, but he held it back enough to ask, "Like what?"

Taylor took a quick breath to prepare herself for the practiced lie, what she had been banking every possibility of not outright trying to steal his phone on. "I want to buy something you don't normally sell. But I know Frank used to have it."

Nathan just quirked his eyebrows, waiting for her to finish the request.

"Oxycodone. I know Drew used to run it, and I need some."

Now he looked concerned. "Is this . . . about your mom?" he asked.

Taylor looked down, rubbing her arms like she did when she was anxious. And she was anxious, just not for the reasons that she wanted to look anxious. "I don't want to talk about it," she said. "I just need it quickly. Can you get it for me?"

He exhaled slowly as he thought about it, hesitating. Or maybe he just really was concerned about her mom, it wasn't that easy to tell. Taylor wasn't picking up anything from his mind, after all.

"Yeah, yeah, totally. How much do you need?"

Taylor licked her lips, working out the smoothest option for her plan. "Not a lot right now, but I'll probably need more."

He nodded. "Gotcha. I gotta tell you though, T, this stuff's not cheap."

"I know. But I'll pay."

He shrugged. "Alright, then. I'll set something up."

"Thank you."

She waited for a few seconds while they sat in awkward silence. When it became clear he wasn't going to get something set up right now, though, Taylor said, "Could you do it as soon as you can? I don't want to be pushy, I'd just prefer Victoria didn't know about this."

"Totally," he replied, waving his hand to dismiss the possibility. "I'll get it going tonight, you'll have your oxy in a few days. I won't be able to take a tab for something like this, though."

Taylor nodded . . . but that still wasn't enough. "Could you do it right now? I'm just really worried, is all."

Finally, Nathan seemed to catch on, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I . . . could. But I think I'll just do it after you two leave."

Taylor was frightened that she was going to fail. Luckily, it was easy enough to channel that into frustration. "Nathan - I know you deal, and I know you're buying from Frank. You don't have anything to hide from me - would you just do it? Please?"

They entered into a staring match, while Nathan's mouth hung slightly open in irritated disbelief. Still, Taylor was small and harmless and, hypothetically, a friend to Nathan, so she kept up the stare as long as she could.

And Nathan was the one who finally caved. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Just don't fucking talk to anyone about how I do business, okay?"

Nathan grabbed the bottom of his couch and scooted forward, dragging the whole thing with him an inch. Then he turned around and reached over it, pulling something from the backside. When he turned back around, Taylor could not believe her luck - it was a cell phone, but not his regular one. She hadn't even thought about that. He opened it up and, with another discontent sigh, started typing a message.

God, I hope this works.

"Nathan, I need you to give me the phone."

His eyes flicked up to her. "What the fuck?" He didn't seem to be sure exactly what tone to use, so it came out as muddy confusion.

Taylor took an unsteady breath. She gripped her knees and tried to remember the feeling she'd had when she stood up to Logan.

"Nathan . . ." she lifted her right hand, slipping it into her pocket. She dragged a finger over the surface of the cold stone. "Give me that phone."

She almost yelled when she saw his pupils dilate suddenly - it looked even freakier in bright light than it had in the red of the End of the World party. He looked down at his phone, then up at Taylor.

He shrugged. "Yeah, whatever, take it." He held out his phone, but otherwise sat still.

Taylor scurried on all fours to the edge of the bed, then reached out and snatched his phone. He was mid-message to an unknown number. She hit up a few times to feel secure that the phone wouldn't go to sleep mode, then stood up.

"Yeah, thanks Nate. And when Victoria gets back from the bathroom, just tell her I went to bed."

"Roger."

Taylor began to walk as fast as she could as soon as she was outside of the room, making her way into the stairwell. Then she pulled the phone to her face again, trying to figure it out as quickly as she could. She hit End until she got to the home screen, then found the Settings. Settings to Personal Information? No, that was a profile. Back, down to Security. Yes, perfect - Password settings. Change Password. Input current password to change password.

Fuck! I should have thought of that first.

She didn't want to try and go back to the room. First, she had no idea if she could pull the Jedi mind tricks on Nathan a second time, and secondly, getting caught by Victoria sounded like one of the most uncomfortable, nevermind unexplainable, situations Taylor could imagine. No, she would just have to get all the information she could without letting the phone die or fall asleep. If Nathan wasn't the dealer . . . she was going to be in for some total shit.

Taylor thought about actually going to her room to figure this out, but there were two issues: one, she needed to make a call (and Victoria might check on her sooner or later), and two, she had no idea when Nathan would be capable of realizing what he'd done and come to get his phone.

You're going to be okay. Just get somewhere you won't be found.

It looked like it was time to take a walk.

Dana: "Wait, holy shit, you got the phone?"

Taylor: "Ha, yeah! But I can't change the password so I'm just kind of tapping buttons every few seconds to keep the screen lit. I don't know how much longer I'll have it, so, I need you and Juliet to take notes or something. Is she nearby?

Dana: "Yeah, we're just hanging out in her room. Can I put you on speaker?"

Taylor: "Please don't. Do you have headphones?"

Dana: "Yeah, sure. Who do you want to talk to?"

Taylor: "I, um. Not sure."

Dana: "Juliet says she'll do it - she's a better note-taker than I am. Give us a sec."

Taylor: "Mmhm."

Ever since she'd left school property, Taylor had gotten the feeling that she was being followed. Still, Blackwell was not that far from downtown and it wasn't late enough for no one to be on the streets, so she couldn't tell if the feeling had any merit. She walked as quickly as she could without looking like a total freak, alternating between looking at the phone and up at her surroundings.

Juliet: "Hey, Taylor, I'm here and I've got my notepad. What do you want me to write?"

Taylor: "None of the contacts in the phone are labelled, so I just need you to separate them and we'll work it out, okay?"

Juliet: "Sure, sure. What's the first one say?"

Taylor: "Okay, so, the first one looks like Nathan setting up a deal to buy something called 'G.' He made deals on 9/10 and 9/25. The first time, he complains that he got sold water."

Juliet: "Water?"

Taylor: "Like a watered-down product, I think. I don't know what G is - maybe Dana can look it up? I'm going on to the second one."

Juliet: "Okay. I got the drug, dates, and the complaint down."

Taylor: "Cool. Second contact, all the messages are more recent. Nathan asks repeatedly if there's any parties going on. The other person tells him to go to one of the parties 'his daddy' pays for. He says that's not enough and he needs a rager. Other person tells him to get bent. That was . . . oh, last week. 10/9."

Juliet: "Okay, weird, but whatever. What's next?"

Taylor: "It's literally just Nathan buying weed every few days for like the entire summer. I think this is just Frank's regular phone he's texting or something."

Juliet: "Okay, sure. Anything else?"

Taylor: "Yeah. Okay, wow - fourth contact is a lot. It's three messages that Nathan sent. "Here's the first one: 'Hey whore. Keep your fucking mouth shut or else. I know where you sleep.'"

Juliet: "Jesus fuck, Nathan. But, yeah, okay, go on."

Taylor: "The first one was last month, 9/16. Second one: 'Next time it won't be pig's blood. Feminazis will be exterminated.'"

Juliet: "Nathan's such a fucking red-piller. I really hope it's him." Juliet: "Oh and real quick, Dana wants me to tell you that 'G' might mean 'GHB', which is a muscle relaxant. It's a party drug that - come again? - can induce comas or death when mixed with alcohol. So it's a depressant, that's all we've really got there."

Taylor: "All right. The third message reads, 'What the fuck are you?' That's it."

Juliet: "Hmm. When were those last two messages sent?"

Taylor: "The second one was on 10/8. The last one was on 10/10."

Juliet: "October 10 . . . that was Thursday, right? What time did he send that?"

Taylor: "Um, about 11:30pm."

Juliet: "Wow, okay, ominous. But I guess we know what he was doing instead of going to the Vortex Club party, sheesh. Uh, is there more?"

Taylor: "Unfortunately, yeah."

Taylor had gotten through most of the town and was starting to walk along the hybrid of low-income homes and dirt roads that made up the northeastern corner of Arcadia Bay. And now, when she checked over her shoulder, she knew she was being followed. Not just by a person, either. She could see the flicker behind her, but it was making no attempts to catch up with her. Sooner or later, she was going to get cornered by this thing, and she was going to have to fight her way out.

I can get to the park. Maybe I'll have enough time to call someone if I can't figure out how to get my staff back. God, I don't want to do this.

Taylor: "Um, so, fifth contact. Only one message, real recent - 10/12. It says verbatim, 'Nathan, I know this must be a confusing time for you, but you have to believe me that this is for your own good. I wanted to wait until you were ready to receive this gift, but circumstances demanded more of both of us. Don't fuck it up.'"

Juliet: "So like, quick question - what the fuck is Nathan's life? Who has messages like this in their phone?"

Taylor: "Ha! I super don't know but I'm freaking out, to be honest. And there's one more. This one's got a few messages."

Juliet: "Okay, just lay them on me. Try and stay calm, Taylor, we'll handle this."

Taylor glanced back. The thing was staying almost a full block behind at all times, but it was getting harder and harder to see anything but its flaming eyes and fear made it hard to breathe.

Taylor: "Yeah, yeah, I am, I'm good. Here we go. The first one is from Nathan, and it says, 'Everything went great. Meet me in 30.' But about an hour later there's a message from the unknown contact that says, 'I don't know how you managed to ruin this, but consider yourself on probation. I wish to share my wisdom with you, but as long as you continue to behave like a tweaked out teen instead of the man you tell me you are, it's wasted. This will not happen again.' Nathan's message is from a little after 11:00 on 10/3, the other message is just past midnight on 10/4."

Juliet: "Hm. Yeah, okay, Dana would like me to say, 'what the fuuuucckkk what the fuck what the fuck?'

Taylor: "Ha! Yeah, same. And, hey look, I think I have to go, could I say goodbye to Dana?"

Juliet: "Oh, um, sure. One sec."

Taylor was on the path up to the park, and she was really banking on having a dramatic flip-around-to-face-her-opponent moment. She felt like hanging up immediately before a fight would give them the upper hand and, well, she needed any sort of help that she could get.

Dana: "Taylor?"

Taylor: "Yeah, hey Dana. I just wanted to let you know that I have to go. I'm being followed and I'm, uh, I'm going to call the police now. But I wanted to say thank you for helping me! You and Juliet are so sweet."

Dana: "My god, Taylor, are you going to be okay? Where are you?"

Taylor: "I'm in the city park like a mile north of the school. But I'll be okay, don't worry! I can take care of myself."

Dana: "Okay, just call the police. Juliet and I can come get you and-"

It was time. Taylor couldn't put this off anymore.

Taylor: "Don't come. I've got to go now, love you! Bye."

Taylor hit 'end', and immediately winced. She did not mean to say that. But maybe now was not the time to be worried about embarrassing herself in front of Dana when she had a demon or whatever to embarrass herself in front of.

Taylor reached into her pocket, made sure the gem was right where she left it, and paused. "You haven't been very stealthy, you know!"

She pivoted, expecting to find the shade coming up the path and into the field where she stood.

But she didn't. It was Logan. He had his hands in his letterman's jacket pockets and didn't even seem to realize Taylor was there - it was like he was just out for a stroll in the park one night. It was late enough at night that, if he weren't such a recognizable giant and the moon weren't nearly full, Taylor would probably have no idea who she was looking at. She refused to believe it was a coincidence that the shade was gone and Logan was here.

After a few more seconds, Logan's eyes fell on Taylor, and he stopped walking.

They stood about thirty paces apart - far enough that Taylor felt uncomfortable about having a confrontation out loud, but she'd also much prefer to keep him at a distance for the feeling of security.

"Oh, is that Taylor?" he called. "Weird meeting you here, huh?!"

Oh god. She hadn't been prepared for the pre-fight banter.

"Ha, yeah, too weird." Fuck, no, say something witty. "Kind of like your relationship with Dana."

What!? No! That's just going to piss him off!

"Oof. Y'know, really, that hurts right here," he said, tapping his fingers over his heart. Then, he snapped his fingers and pointed at her, as if he'd just remembered something. "Funny you should mention that, though. I think I happen to remember you having something to do with that going sour." He took a step forward, put a hand up beside his face and stage-whispered (about as loud as you possibly could, honestly), "Speaking of which, how is her and Justin? I've never seen someone try so hard to get cucked before."

"What? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Taylor actually, literally didn't know what that meant, but she would have been equally confused if she did.

He just shook his head. "Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. When are you going to learn that you wouldn't have so many problems if you just shut up and stayed out of people's way? Maybe then you wouldn't come off as such a schizo bitch."

Taylor could feel something around her now. It was like a thin fog seeped from her person and slowly made everything hazier, the moonlight dimmer. The longer this conversation went on, the more sure she was that she could kill this thing.

"You know what, Logan? You were just fucking irritating when you were some football player. Even when you were hooking up with Dana you were never anything but some dumbfuck linebacker who had to beg his way into a relationship. You weren't even worth manipulating because you were too fucking stupid to take instructions."

She could feel the light of the moon fading away, and there was little she could see in the field except for Logan - the fog wasn't just a blur now, it drifted over the grass and blot out the stars like LA smog. She wasn't sure if she should be scared - but she wasn't. Not anymore.

She started to laugh. "But now? Now that you're some monster? I'm happy, Logan. It's finally worth it to hurt you. And I'm so, so glad that I can." She drew the red stone from her pocket and clasped it tightly in front of her heart. It didn't feel so cold anymore - she could feel some heat, some energy leaking out of her, comforting her.

Logan grinned, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, all right, you're real scary." He tapped on his chest with both hands. "Give it your best shot."

It was like a heart beat that started from her hand. The gem began to glow, and a ripple ran through the fog, pulling some of it in, towards her. It began to swirl around her body, much like she had seen happen to Warren, only she wasn't drowning in it. When the pulse came again, the fog lifted from her, and the clothes were back. The robe, the lace glove, the gaudy bangles that no one in their right mind would wear. And so was the staff.

"Cool," Logan called, deadpan.

How the fog would behave became apparent to her immediately, though not in any rational way. All she knew was it only took a small motion.

She gripped her staff with both hands and swiped it through the air. A wave formed in the fog, dense and utterly black. She knew it was dangerous, and for a second, when she saw only Logan in front of it, she wondered if this might kill him.

Just before the mass struck him, however, a gout of flame appeared in front of him, and the wave broke. When Taylor recovered from the flash of light, at first she thought that Logan had disappeared.

Instead, he was replaced. The shade that stood where he once stood wasn't like the first - it was so much larger, more than eight feet tall at least, and the fire wrapped around his strange arms as well. But the one thing that was the same, the same it had been every time, was that Cheshire smile like a window to Hell.

Well. Fuck.

"Well, I was just getting-"

The distorted, horrible voice came across the field as if distance couldn't weaken it at all: "Shut up now, Taylor."

The fire that snaked around the shade's arms began to shift and squirm, then drop from its body like weights. He caught the ends of them while the rest plunged into the earth.

"Well, okay."

She wasn't sure quite what to think about that until the ground in front of her blasted itself into the air, and chains of fire emerged and wrapped themselves around her legs. She managed one shocked look up at the shade's grin before she was pulled forward, landing on her back as she was dragged over the field. She hit her head but managed to keep a grip on the staff.

She could see the chains of fire all the way back over at Logan, coiling around his arms as it fed up from the ground, pulling taut. She used the few, painful seconds she had before she reached him to come up with a plan, the only plan she had: jab him with the staff. It had worked last time.

He was laughing when she finally reached him, the chains unraveling themselves from her body and back onto his. She jabbed the staff up at his chest hoping some magic would happen, but he just grabbed the head of the staff.

Fuck. Why did her magic have to require motion? That was so stupid and now she was going to die and-

"Hey, dickhead! Paws off my girlfriend!"

The shade froze, glancing over its shoulder at something Taylor couldn't see. When she tried to use the distraction to pull the staff free, he ripped it from her grasp and threw it away. She tried to scramble to her feet, but the fire just snaked its way off of his arm again and grabbed her ankle. She couldn't move, and she was only feet away from her staff.

Rachel stood at the end of the path to the park, wearing what was probably her only warm vest. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail like it was time for gym, and she looked about as pissed as if it were gym with Logan, too.

The shade turned to face Rachel, the same smile never fading from its face. "Another one?" it asked.

"Yeah." Rachel reached into the vest's breast pocket, and drew out a huge, shining white gem. "Another witch."

In a flash of light, everything about Rachel changed. Light that looked silver and liquid wrapped around her body. The gem shined, and beams of light seemed to grow from it. The dark fog that covered the field split where she stood, basking her in the light of the moon even once the flash was over.

In the darkness, Rachel shined, and a bow carved from pale wood sat in her hand. Her clothes, too, had vanished, replaced by a gray dress (with buttons down the center for no clear reason, and a faux belt. It looked kind of ridiculous) and black boots.

Luckily, Taylor was the only one who was distracted by the clothes. Rachel turned and lifted the bow, raising her hand to the string. She actually looked like she knew what she was doing (which was a relief, because Taylor had been pretty convinced they were both about to die).

The shade raised one of its massive hands and beckoned Rachel with a hand. "Fine then. Bring it on."

Once Rachel's hand touched the string, a bolt of light coalesced, knocked on the string. As she drew it back, its light radiated further, brighter. Taylor could clearly see her take a deep breath.

At the last second, Rachel pivoted just a little, and loosed the bolt. Another burst of flame rose to protect the shade. But it came like a flash and rent the chain that held Taylor and the fog around her alike. Taylor stumbled forward to her staff, catching herself from topping over entirely.

By the time the shade realized what had happened, Taylor already had the staff in her hands again. It spun around to face the blade of darkness that formed this time, Taylor charging at the giant, hoping to catch it by surprise.

The flame rose again, and Taylor's attack was dispelled into nothingness.

"Fancy trick, but-"

There was another flash, and then a shining arrow pierced through the shade's body.

Its hands fumbled along its body, wrapping around the arrow where the fire inside only seemed to glow brighter. "No," it said, little more than a whisper.

Rachel didn't seem interested in moderation. When the second arrow emerged from the shade's torso, it began to scream in that horrible, horrible voice. The fire inside its body grew and grew as the darkness burned away, and soon all there was was a tower of flame. Taylor fell back in awe and fear.

And then, the fire extinguished, and Logan fell to the ground. Taylor placed her staff against the ground and pulled herself up from the ground, no longer afraid as Logan gasped, the darkness pouring out of his mouth and forming a mist around his body. Taylor just held her staff aloft, and let the darkness spill out, drawing itself into the gem atop her staff.

And then it was over.

"Taylor, you were amazing!"

Taylor hadn't even heard Rachel approaching, but suddenly Rachel had flung her whole body onto Taylor, and only by sheer luck and Rachel's cooperation did she keep them both from plummeting to the ground.

Rachel started to plant kiss after kiss on Taylor everywhere she could reach - her neck and her jaw and her cheek - and she held on so tightly that Taylor couldn't even turn to hug her back. "Are - you - okay? Did he hurt you?"

Taylor just opted to drop the staff, grab Rachel's hand, and pry it off her. That way, she was able to pivot and pull Rachel into the tightest hug of her life. "No, no, no, I'm all right. What are you doing here?"

Rachel didn't reply until their hug broke, and she started to stab pokes into Taylor's chest. "I was saving your ass, genius! And I was damn good at it, too!"

Taylor grinned, and pulled her into another hug. "You're a witch!" she exclaimed.

"I'm a witch!"

And for once, things were so weird that they both got to laugh about it.

When the hug ended, Taylor still left her hands on Rachel's shoulders. "And you called me your girlfriend!"

Rachel's eyes went wide. "Aaahh, I did! I'm sorry, I got really caught up in the rescue and-"

"No, no, no-" Taylor wrapped her hands around the back of Rachel's neck and pulled her into a kiss. She had absolutely never had a high like this moment, and every single touch felt weightless, easy, and electric. When their kiss broke, Taylor finished, "Please let me be your girlfriend."

Rachel's face was bright, shining like the light she conjured. Her eyes were wide and filled with the same wonder that suffused Taylor's whole body.

Rachel nodded, and didn't stop nodding. "Okay, yeah." More nodding. "I wanna date you."

"Same."

Another kiss - this one interrupted by a squeal that gradually grew in Rachel until she just had to let it out.

"I JUST FUCKIN' KILLED A DEMON, DID YOU SEE THAT!?"

They let each other go just long enough to lace their fingers together. Taylor let herself get just as loud. "I DID! YOU'RE A BADASS!"

"I'm so excited, oh my god. Just - just, make out with me. Holy shit everything is-"

They kissed until their witch costumes faded away and they had real clothes again, and once their hearts had settled down a little.

Rachel asked, "So we just have to do that like, like a bunch more times?"

Taylor nodded, still refusing to let go of Rachel's hands (and Rachel didn't seem interested in letting her). "Yeah, basically. We're supposed to get one more person in the team, I think. The Raven said there were two others."

"Okay, okay - cool, cool cool cool." Rachel leaned down, slipping her arms around Taylor's waist and pulling herself against her chest. "Oh, god, that was scary. When I saw that he had you I-"

"You saved me. You're a rock star, seriously."

"God, I love you."

Taylor grinned. She was starting to be able to tell the difference between the sound of someone talking and them thinking.

"Hey," she said, "I love you too."

"You heard-?"

"Yeah. It's okay, it's okay. I'm happy. I get it."

"Okay."

They stood like that, holding each other, for quite some time. The conversation mostly died after the 'I love you', but it was okay - Taylor was so happy she was dizzy, and holding Rachel just drew out the best moment of her life.

But sooner or later, someone had to break it. And that someone was Rachel. "Is he . . . gonna be okay?"

"I . . . think so? Zach was fine."

"Maybe we should . . . get him somewhere safe?"

"How?"

Rachel shrugged, finally breaking the two of them apart. "I guess . . . I guess we'll need a ride." She blinked. "I'll give Chloe a call, and we'll get you home."

Taylor smiled. She wished the moment never had to end, but one fight didn't end everything. Or anything. It just kept them going.

"Okay."

Chloe hadn't brought up anything strange about the situation as they'd all worked together to load Logan into the bucket of bolts she called a pickup truck. In fact, she was pretty short on conversation until they were scrunched up in the cab, Rachel without a seatbelt as she wedged between Taylor and Chloe. It wasn't until they drove past Blackwell that Taylor thought it might be a good idea to figure out what was going on.

"Um, Chloe, right?"

"Mhm."

"Hey, so. Where are we going?"

Chloe leaned comfortably against her window as she drove, as if she did this sort of thing all the time. Her eyes flicked over to Taylor for just a second. "The beach, I guess. Kids from Blackwell show up there passed out more than you might think. And there's no way I'm trying to explain this to David right now."

"Oh."

Back to quiet in the car. Taylor had been anticipating either the most confusing explanation of her life or stubborn denial and deal-making, but she hadn't expected to just pretend that nothing was happening.

After a moment, Chloe said, "So, you're Taylor, right?"

"Um, yeah."

"One of Victoria's friends, right?"

Taylor shrugged. "I mean, yeah."

"You don't have to say it like that,"  Rachel's mind grumbled.

"I heard she got some photo award because Max didn't show up, right?"

Taylor winced. "Yes, technically.

Chloe nodded. "Cool. I know photography is a big deal for her - she'd never shut up about it."

Taylor was rapidly getting confused by the conversation. When Chloe brought up something good in Victoria's life (ex. Everyday Heroes) it sounded mean, but when she brought up something negative (ex. Victoria talking too much), she came off as genuinely interested in her life. Did Victoria and Chloe actually know each other? And if they did, why didn't Taylor know that they did?

Taylor swiped hair behind her ear. Rachel noticed and smirked, leaning against Taylor's shoulder.

"I hope Max isn't too disappointed she didn't get to go. I know her photography is really important to her."

Chloe chuckled. "Yeah, no, she'll live. The two of them, though . . . huh."

Rachel peered over at Chloe. "What is it?"

As they pulled into one of the beach parking lots, Chloe said, "They should just bone already. It's got to be insufferable for Jefferson to teach when they're so competitive."

"Um, gross? Illegal?" Rachel high-talked, sitting back upright as they parked.

As they were dumping Logan out on the sand, Chloe said between strained breaths: "So - are you two - like - an item?"

Rachel hasn't said anything?

They dropped Logan's body like a mattress, then looked around at each other. There was a general aura of, 'this is very criminal, and the less we talk about it, the better.'

Rachel looked at Taylor for a second, then back at Chloe. Just the same as she had in gym. Only this time, "Yeah. Like, literally fifteen minutes ago, actually."

Chloe snorted, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Well, you know what I say. Nothing to bring girls closer together than killing a man."

Taylor stuffed her hands inside her jacket and in her armpits, hoping to keep the smallest portion of warmth to herself. "Um, he's not dead."

Chloe quirked her eyebrows, and asked, "Logan?" Then she kicked Logan's side experimentally. "Shame."

As they arrived at Blackwell, Rachel was back to laying on Taylor's shoulder (!!!) and starting to look very sleepy. However, once she recognized where they were, she said, "Babe?"

"Hm?" Taylor and Chloe hummed in unison. Taylor did her best to hide her embarrassed smile, staring out the passenger-side window.

"I know I said I was going to come over, but I think I want to stay close to Blackwell tonight."

Chloe's eyes darted between Rachel and Taylor for a second before she shrugged and said, "Sure."

Unfortunately, there was someone to greet them in the parking lot. As they pulled up next to the curb that would lead them up to the school, David Madsen, the school's head of security, came down the steps. Chloe didn't seem that troubled, although she did roll her eyes when she parked.

Taylor unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. She wasn't really sure what the consequences for being out late were, but at least she wasn't drunk.

"Beep beep. Late night delivery," Chloe called as David approached.

Initially, David looked pissed. But once he noticed Rachel getting out of the car after Taylor, he just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Whatever," he said. "Just get to your rooms, okay?"

Rachel grabbed Taylor's hand with her left and gave a two-fingered salute with her right. "Can do."

As the two of them basically jogged hand-in-hand into the school courtyard, Rachel started to laugh once they reached the school fountain. She twisted around and grabbed Taylor's other hand, tugging it around as she gesticulated excitedly. "We are going to own this school!"

The feelings were kicking in immediately now that they were alone again. "Oh? Does the school have a new power couple?"

"Super-power couple, maybe."

Rachel pulled Taylor's hands down to her hips, standing on her toes to lean into a kiss. The sound of the fountain was all there was for a second until Taylor's gripped tightened and she pulled Rachel closer, prompting a soft moan.

Which completely short-circuited Taylor's brain.

Once they broke apart, all Taylor could say (or think) was, "I really like doing that."

Rachel, delighted, began to walk her fingers up Taylor's arm to her shoulder. "Oh yeah? Well we don't have to stop anytime soon."

There was a new smoothness in Rachel's tone that made Taylor shiver excitedly, but it also prompted questions. "What - what do you mean?"

Once Rachel's fingers reached the top of Taylor's neck, they gently began to slide down her neck, over her throat. "I mean . . . well, you could sleep in my room, if you wanted to."

The fuses in Taylor's brain went from just malfunctioning to shooting sparks and potentially starting very dangerous fires.

"Um, like, to . . . sleep? Or . . ."

"That's up to you."

"Hhhhh," was the only sound Taylor could produce in response, clearly freezing. A proposition for sex was absolutely not something she had been mentally or otherwise preparing for. Nothing had ever prepared her for the possibility of physical chemistry with somebody she really liked. She hadn't even thought she'd like kissing as much as she did, and she thought about kissing a lot.

Rachel's expression sank from seductive to nervous. "Or - or not, like, don't let me pressure you, I'd super just like to-"

"No, no, that's something we should talk about."

Rachel quirked her eyebrows, obviously stuck in a state of anomie.

Taylor took Rachel's hand and continued their walk towards the dorms.

"So. Shit, I should have brought this up earlier, but, uh, I'm not . . . super interested in the sexual part of a relationship."

Rachel tilted her head. Her thumb worked comforting circles into Taylor's palm, which helped with the 'don't totally shut down and blow everything' thing she was trying to do.

"I'm ace," Taylor said, only making quick side-eyes at Rachel to watch her reaction.

"Oh . . ." Rachel said, looking ahead now. Her face pinched as she thought. ". . . okay. Hm."

Taylor should have expected as much, but these seconds of hesitation still made her want to be invisible. Rachel held her too tightly for that, and for that she was grateful.

"So," Rachel said, "I'm just gonna be real with you - I really like sex, and it's important to me. But I also like you." She looked up at Taylor now with a smile, while Taylor's lungs struggled to continue to breathe.

"I like you too," Taylor replied. She had to force her smile, even if that was a genuinely good thing to hear.

That broadened Rachel's smile, and she nodded. "Good. So we'll work something out. Together."

Taylor was flushed red as they entered the dorm courtyard. Rachel looked like she was in much the same state, her mouth crushed into a flat line as she tried to hold back an awkward grin.

"Because we're together," Rachel tacked on, like the most awkward fuck on the planet.

"Mhm," Taylor replied, trying just as hard not to grin.

That basically immediately failed once Rachel held up their linked hands and yelled at the dorms: "TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN'S MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Ssshh shh shh!" Taylor tried to bring her mouth over Rachel's face, but she wasn't having any of it - once she was done yelling, she just started to cackle at an inappropriate volume. "Stop - stop it, you'll embarrass me!"

Rachel broke their hand hold to make as big a 'whatever, man' pose as possible on the steps of the dorm. "Yeah? And I can do that now, because you're my girlfriend."

"Stop."

"Make me."

Taylor smiled, settling down a little. "Okay." She started to raise a hand to tuck her hair behind her hair again (that infernal tic!), but Rachel beat her to it, reaching out to brush it back and stroke her cheek at the same time.

Taylor took a hesitant step forward and kissed Rachel one more time.

Before they entered the dorms, Taylor leaned her forehead against Rachel's (they were almost the same height if Rachel stood on one of the dorm steps), taking a deep breath. "I think . . . I think I want to sleep by myself tonight," she said. "But . . . maybe this weekend . . . we could have a movie night in our pajamas or something? And then, maybe . . ."

Rachel closed her eyes and smiled. "I'd like that."

"Cool."

They stood like that for a moment, foreheads touching, eyes closed, basking in the orange light of the courtyard and the excitement of a new relationship. It was more than Taylor had ever imagined, and it was only just beginning.

"Come on," Rachel said, lifting her forehead away and planting a kiss on Taylor's. "It's bed time."

Taylor nodded. She didn't want the night to end, but she also couldn't wait for tomorrow to come. "Yeah . . . and I should probably tell Dana and Juliet I'm okay."

"Yes, you should," Rachel replied as she dragged Taylor inside.

They said good night once, came to the shower room to brush their teeth at the same time, messed around, kissed some more with the overwhelming taste of mint, and said good night again. When Taylor went to bed that night, she thought not at all about the things she'd found on Nathan's phone, even when she sent Dana a few text messages to say everything had worked out fine (the guy ran off when the police showed up, after all. She just got a ride home). She fell asleep dazed by the light in her life now.

End of Arc 1: Light and Dark

[readreadbookblog]

Mussolini by Jasper Ridely

Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy during World War II, is often neglected by popular culture and seen as the poor man’s Hitler. If you don’t know anything about Mussolini beyond that he was the leader of Fascist Italy, then Jasper Ridley’s book, Mussolini A Biography, is a perfect way to learn about him. Ridley covers a lot in this book that is mostly a narrative of the life of Mussolini.

How much do you know about Italy? Did you know that it is a very young nation? Do you know who Garibaldi is? Ridley kinda of expects you to know that Italy was basically united by Garibaldi during the 1870s. Beyond that, he will gracefully supply that rest of the facts. Oh boy does he supply them thou. You will basically get the history of early 20th century Italy, international socialism, Italian socialism, Italian fascism. Many names will definitely not be familiar and it will best to write down these names on paper for reference because it will make understanding the history and story of the book much richer and easier.

Ridley’s book is pure narrative, starting from pre-birth of Mussolini to exactly his death. This might be the closest one can get to only getting “the facts” without an author’s thesis or statement/purpose of writing the book. This is the strongest part of the book. It is easy to read and it does not jump around in time, event to event in chronological order is covered. I really appreciated this and learned a lot from this simple writing done without the academic style that many books chose to write in.

But Ridley’s book does have a few problems. Despite being only about “the facts”, Ridley seems to harbor secret praise and symmetry to Mussolini. There are certain sentences in which Ridley seems to either agree with Mussolini’s actions or paints him out to be a good guy. This is most evident in this writing that he puts in chapter 33 titled “Non-Belligerency”:

“Today, Mussolini’s supporters in Italy - and in other countries too - claim that whatever faults he may have had, he deserves the credit for his great achievement: he defeated communism in Spain.” (322)

Wow. First Ridley seems to forgot what Mussolini supporters are called. They are fascists. Many of these fascist are also racists, antisemitic, sexist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, and various other ugly traits, and traitors to their countries. Call them what they are! Mussolini proudly declared himself a fascist, so why would his supporters be afraid to do the same? It is also telling that Ridley seems to think that Mussolini’s great achievement is involving his country in Spain’s civil war rather than something such as the Italian-Vatican repairing of relationship, which I would personally argue is his biggest achievement negative or positive. One can maybe argue that Mussolini’s modernization goal might be a contender but Ridley seems to think that it only merits a paragraph of mention in this whole four hundred page book.

This sentence is also followed by Ridley basically explaining the Domino Theory, in which one country falls to communism then neighboring ones will too. Never-mind that the U.S.S.R. was the lone communist country by now, Ridley seems to lack the intelligence to see that his own writing shows that the Republic of Spain was being lead by a democratically elected left wing alliance against the rebelling fascists. This republic is also made up of various political groups that include liberals, socialists, republicans, and Christians. The international bridge of communists that arrived from around the world to fight in Spain for the republic also arrived after Hitler and Mussolini violated international laws and agreements to not get involved in the war. So Ridley seems to be praising the fascists for winning and ignoring his own writing on the subject to justify this.

This pro-Mussolini explanation ends with this sentence:

“When Fascism finally passed away, it was followed, not by communism, but by a constitutional and democratic monarchy, and communism in Russia only survived Franco’s regime in Spain by a few years.” (322)

This shows very clearly that Ridley seems to be rooting for Mussolini writing this.  While I do not know the complete story of Spain after Franco’s death, here are the facts: Franco’s death might mark the end of fascism in Spain but so can the 1977 elections, or the constitution of 1978, or the failed 1981 coup, or better yet the election of 1982 in which the socialist won. Oops sorry, Ridley, your theory is destroyed. A constitutional monarchy was also not the plan for Franco’s Spain as the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco by the ETA, Franco’s chosen successor, seems to have shaped plans up. Also taking the date of the 1982 election as the end date would make it fascism in Spain would clearly make it eleven years before communism ended in Russia and that is not a few years.

Ignoring the positive attitude and writings that the author makes about Mussolini, there are a few other problems with the book. Typos seem to be a thing throughout. Dates are worded weirdly or not printed correctly. It might be my ebook copy of the book only but I doubt it since publishers had to have converted this from print to digital. Also the last paragraph of the book is a big empty slot of words. The book ends with Mussolini’s death and his body being buried to his home town of San Cassiano. Then Ridley writes about Mussolini’s ramblings predicted the Cold War but that it was not correct in that it was not as viciously fought as the Second World War was. I do not know why Ridley thinks that this is something to be proud of and credit Mussolini with. His past ramblings have all been proven wrong in both the book and real life and really are just cries of violence towards something, a common fascist staple and battle cry. I do not know why Ridley thinks that this random Mussolini rant is any different. He then says that ‘Italy today faces many problems’ and does not elaborate. He then quotes a random politician (seriously he doesn’t name him beyond saying that he is a leading politician) that fascism can return if politic leaders incite nationalism and racial hate. Then the book ends. This really seems like a despite attempt to draw away attention from his pro-Mussolini stance and say ‘look I said that fascism is bad and might return if we are not careful. Really weak ending for this book, especially when one considers the amount of information it has. A real ending is desperately needed. For example, why wasn’t there a war trail for Italy like Germany and Japan had? What happened to the various Italian officials that survived the war especially those that didn’t join Mussolini’s Salo Republic? Did you know that Mussolini’s body had a little adventure before being buried? Don’t know why Ridley didn’t put that story in. How is the Mussolini family doing today? Beside arguing with anti-vaxxer Jim Carrey, they seem to still be fascists. Even the paragraph that I discussed above raises questions such as ‘who are these Mussolini supporters’? This book was published in 1997 and you can make a whole another book discussing fascism in Italy after the war but there seriously needs to be a discussion or analysis of Italy after Mussolini and his legacy. What is Mussolini’s legacy in Italy? That is a major question Ridley should have explored.

Despite author Jasper Ridley’s pro-Mussolini sentiments expressed in various sentences in this book, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. The easiness of reading this book without complex writing and the very simple narrative makes this book a very good way to read about il Duce. Perhaps pair this with another more academic book of Mussolini that you will read after reading this one for a more neutral and complete picture of the dictator.

[t-baba]

What Does PHP Stand For?

In this quick post, we’re going to discuss what PHP stands for and what you can build with it. If you are new to PHP, this article should help you to understand the basics.

What is PHP?

PHP is an open source, server-side scripting language which is mostly used to build web-based applications. You could use PHP to build a wide range of applications that may range from a personal blog website to full-fledged enterprise level applications.

If you want to use PHP as a server-side scripting language, you need to configure it with a web server. For Unix-like operating systems, Apache and Nginx are the most popular web servers. On the other hand, Microsoft IIS is a popular choice for Windows-based servers. When it comes to choosing a database for PHP websites, MySQL is one of the most popular choices.

You can learn more about how to install PHP in my post on how to run a PHP file.

PHP

How to Run a PHP File

Sajal Soni

PHP

How to Open PHP Files

Sajal Soni

PHP

What Is a PHP File?

Sajal Soni

But What Does PHP Stand For?

PHP is a recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a recursive acronym, so the first 'P' actually stands for PHP! Originally, though, it meant Personal Home Page tools. It was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994.

As per the official PHP documentation:

PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML.

PHP is a server-side (back-end) scripting language, so the code written in the PHP file is executed on the server. The PHP engine on the web server converts all the code written in PHP to HTML, and the resulting web page contains only HTML code when it’s sent to the client for rendering in the user browser.

Learn PHP With a Free Online Course

If you want to learn PHP, check out our free online course on PHP fundamentals!

  In this course, you'll learn the fundamentals of PHP programming. You'll start with the basics, learning how PHP works and writing simple PHP loops and functions. Then you'll build up to coding classes for simple object-oriented programming (OOP). Along the way, you'll learn all the most important skills for writing apps for the web: you'll get a chance to practice responding to GET and POST requests, parsing JSON, authenticating users, and using a MySQL database.

PHP

PHP Fundamentals

Jeremy McPeak

Even If you’re new to PHP, it's a very easy language to learn if you want to build based websites. In fact, if you’re familiar with basic programming concepts, you could get started with PHP in a few hours. 

And make no mistake, it offers a plethora of advanced features for professional programmers as well that allow them to build complex enterprise level web applications. You may be surprised to know that big names like Facebook, Wikipedia and a few others are using PHP as a part of their web development stack!

Since its inception, PHP has continuously evolved as a programming language. With every new major version, it has added new features and rewritten existing features to improve the overall performance. As of now, it’s running the latest stable version PHP 7, which brings significant improvements over its predecessors.

Show Me an Example!

Let’s have a quick at look at what a PHP program looks like:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>PHP Example</title> </head> <body> <?php echo ‘Hello World!’; ?> </body> </html>

The above script is a simple PHP program which outputs Hello World! in the user browser when it’s executed. As I said earlier, since PHP is a server-side scripting language, the code between <?php and ?> tags is executed on the server by the PHP engine.

In fact, the above example is one of the simplest examples to introduce you to PHP. In the real world, PHP is capable of building complex and amazing applications! In the next section, we’ll see what kind of applications you can consider building with PHP.

Things You Can Build With PHP

As I said earlier, PHP is one of most popular scripting languages for building a wide range of web-based applications. In fact, PHP is used by 78% of all websites!

Let’s have a look at the kind of applications that you could choose to build with PHP:

blogs

content management systems (CMS)

customer relationship management systems (CRM)

eCommerce platforms

B2B marketplaces

community and social networking websites

media processing applications

and many more

In fact, if you’re serious about PHP programming, there are a lot of ready-made PHP frameworks available in the market. The benefit of using these kinds of frameworks is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to build a feature and it’s already leveraged by the framework. They reduce your overall development time, as you don’t have to do repetitive coding for what is already available.

The Best PHP Scripts on CodeCanyon

Explore thousands of the best and most useful PHP scripts ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress themes and improve your website experience for you and your visitors.

Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming PHP scripts available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

12 Best PHP Event Calendar and Booking Scripts

Looking to add more interactivity to your site? If you could benefit from online bookings or event calendars, check out this list for some of our favorites!

Kyle Sloka-Frey

06 Sep 2019

PHP

10 Best PHP URL Shortener Scripts

In this post, we will review the ten best free and premium PHP URL shortener scripts that you can use in your projects.

Monty Shokeen

22 Jan 2020

PHP

12 Best Contact Form PHP Scripts for 2020

Are you looking for an efficient and easy to integrate a contact form PHP script? Contact forms are a must-have for every website, and whether your need is...

Esther Vaati

05 Mar 2020

PHP

Comparing the 5 Best PHP Form Builders

Looking for a PHP form builder for your website? Today, we compare the five best PHP form generators available at CodeCanyon. This post will help you decide...

Nona Blackman

10 Dec 2018

PHP

Create Beautiful Forms With PHP Form Builder

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use PHP Form Builder, a feature-packed form builder library, to create and beautify forms. You'll also learn how to use...

Ashraff Hathibelagal

20 May 2019

PHP

by Sajal Soni via Envato Tuts+ Code https://ift.tt/3dDlvRs

[abroadinthedesert]

Sadness, Happiness, Stressed, De-stressed

December 12, 2017

Last Thursday school was a half day for students, while teachers had an afternoon of  professional development. Our principal thanked us for our continuing comment to our profession as we are tired, the students are tired as we have all been at for 16 weeks without a break. That is right , 16 weeks of teaching, lesson planning, corralling students to learn, and duties without a break. WOW! I can feel all that as we come down to the last two weeks before winter break. No, not Christmas break, remember I am a Muslim country. We did get a three day holiday for Mohammad ‘s birthday last month and an unexpected school cancelation last Tuesday. Why you may ask? Kuwait is trying to mediate the disputes between Qatar and the other Arab nations, and the government was closing certain roads for all the dignitaries coming to the country. The government closed all the public schools and many private schools in the area began to announce their closure (kinda of like ice days in the States). Our school announced closure very late in the evening, and many teachers had already gone to bed because school starts at 7:15 each morning and the last bus to school leaves at 6 AM (yep, I am on that bus each morning, I am NOT a morning person). I got the message right before I went to bed, so I stayed up late to read a bit more, but forgot to turn off my THREE alarms for my morning wake up process. The bad part of this unexpected free time was the fact that I did not bring my school bag home because the night before was the Music Concert for the high school band and choir, and I stayed at school to work until the concert and knew that I would not do any school work at home that night; thus, I left my bag. So I did not get that never ending grading, planning, and organizing done. I did enjoy the reading, sleeping and cat time.

I had a doctor’s appointment today to get my prescriptions refilled. I go every three months for this process. It is a process. I sit in a waiting area, get called by the doctor’s nurse (they are called sisters here) where I wait in HIS waiting area. I then get called into his office where most times I do not spend more than five minutes.  Then I am on my way to the pharmacy where I must either wait for insurance to approve the prescriptions or come the next day to pick them up. Today I waited (one hour). 

Now on to my Sadness, Happiness, Stressed, De-Stress

The negative topics first so we end on positive notes for this blog post. I am a bit sad and stressed, but the end of the semester is always SSSTTTRREEESSSFFFUUUULLL!!!!!! 

Getting three version of finals completed along with the regular teaching duties is always stressful and I should be used to this after 26 years of doing this, but every year it stresses me out. Add on to this I had procrastinated another project for the social studies that need to be done ASAP and then I need to grade AP Psychology tests. Add to this I had run out my prescriptions, especially the one that keeps me balanced and optimistic most of the time. There have been a few moments when just thinking about what needed to be done brought me close to tears. Additionally, my birthday is very close, I am turning 53. This birthday seems to be not such a happy occasion this year. Last year my AP Psychology surprised me with a birthday cake!  When your birthday is a week before Christmas your birthday seems to be overshadowed with the holiday; although my momma does wrap my presents in birthday wrapping paper and not holiday paper (happy notes!!!)! So I do not expect any birthday presents or cake this year! Should I expect to feel special after living this long? I think my expectations are set just to high. Of course Christmas is around the corner and I am not in Texas to oohhh and ahhh over the Christmas lights, decorations, and packages under the tree. Nor to enjoy all the wonderfulness that my momma creates for this her favorite holiday. I do not put any Christmasy-ness up, I would just have to put up again after the cats had fun taking it down each day. Being a mom with grown children is a bit sad. They are busy with their lives and it seems that they just do not need mom anymore. I know that they are successful, and happy with their lives, but I do miss being apart of all that. Maybe I did my mom job to well.

Typing all that lighted my heart and soul, so thanks for letting me vent my stresses, sorrows and disappointments. On to the positives!!

I bought real Dr Pepper today!!!! You think that is funny, but here in Kuwait you can buy Dr Pepper that is made in Great Britain by Coke. I only like the real Dr Pepper made in my home state of Texas. Bought three six packs from the grocery store near the school, the same grocery store near where I live does not carry it. The strange thing about US products here in Kuwait is that the store may have it one week and not the next week. So when you see it, you better buy it. One branch of the store may have it and the others do not. In fact I am taking a can of cranberry sauce I bought in the store last month  all the way to New Zealand for Christmas dinner.  So a supper happy note is that I will be spending my Christmas not with my mom, dad, papa, and son in Texas but with my daughter in New Zealand. We plan on cooking a mini US Christmas feast for ourselves and her lovely Kiwi beau. I have been to New Zealand before and it is an AWESOME place, plus the fact that I will be with my daughter camping in the summer of the Southern Hemisphere!! My momma would be proud that I have already started to pack. I am trying very hard to pack light (only a backpack). Another positive to remember is that the teacher community I live with is a great group and very supportive. We celebrated Thanksgiving together and everyone loved my “stuffing”, I laugh at this because in the South it is dressing. I learned how to make cornbread dressing working beside my momma growing up. Thanks, Mom!!! Everyone here was excited too that I had decided to stay at the school at least one more year. It is nice to be with a good group of people, but sad that some are moving on (oops, a sad note slipped in).

One last positive note before I leave you with this lengthy post. Each day before I Ieave for school I usually turn on the radio for the Leo and Boutiquali (the cats) to listen to while I am gone. The radio is tuned to BBC news, but this morning I pushed the wrong button and changed it to an Arabic station. I could not have that, after all I am trying to Americanize their little furry brains, so I quickly turned it to iPod mode so that they could listen to my entire music collection. I started in at ten minutes to six this morning and as I finish typing this at ten minutes after nine it is still playing my music. That is AMAZING!!

Please excuse my mistakes, because most of this is typed off the cuff. I do proof read before I post, but I am history major and not an English major..

So bye for now and thanks for keeping up with....Abroad in the Desert II

[eurekakinginc]

"[Discussion] The 6 types of data scientist:"- Detail: (Inspired by a bunch of recent blog posts I've come across with titles like: "The Next Generation Data Scientist" and "The 3rd Wave Data Scientist", etc...)​Type I - the olympian deity: Works as part of the core ML or research team of a FAANG or for an academic team at a major university. Has multiple papers at NeurIPS or a similar status conference or publication. Wouldn't be able to recognize domain knowledge even if it punched her/him in the face. Envied by all others in the data science / machine learning community, but is actually miserable because she/he hasn't received the Turing award or gotten a theorem or class of neural networks named after them. Is this close to giving up and becoming a tenured lecturer for linear algebra 101 at a community college. Type II - the demigod: Works for an applied ML/product team at a FAANG or an up and coming very promising startup. Actually knows how to program in C++, understands dynamic polymorphism, and can solve Leetcode hard problems in their sleep. Also the envy of all others in the data science / machine learning community, but is actually miserable because they have to work 85 hours a week, and the awesome framework they contributed major chunks to 2 years ago is no longer fashionable and has been superseded by another framework. Also miserable because they could have worked for a startup and been billionaires at the age of 32, but instead are making a measly 250K a year in a city where a suburban one bedroom costs 1.5M. Type III - the grumpy old hand: In their late 40s/50s, was around during the previous Neural Networks hype cycle, and worked on them before the Tensorflow core dev team was even born. Has survived at least one A.I. Winter. Works for Boeing or Walmart or something like that. Doesn't know what StackOverflow is, and doesn't need it since she/he learned how to code back when people had those huge "The Java Bible" and "The Unix Bible" reference volumes on their desk, and therefore can actually figure stuff out from the documentation. Is almost as good a coder as the demigod, and almost as good a mathematician as the olympian, and beats them both in domain knowledge. But she/he has no idea what GitHub is, never had to spin up a docker pod or run something on a GPU, and haven't done an interview in 27 years. The last time they did, interviews were 45 minute affairs conducted over the phone. They are not really the envy of anyone in the data science / machine learning community, except for the fact that they have accrued 7 weeks of PTO by this point in their career. They are miserable because they know they are stuck in their current role, ageism is a definitely a thing, and they will likely be the first to go come the next economic downturn. Type IV - the hipster data scientist: young, very likely a millennial or even Gen Z, although might be a Gen Xer who is in very good shape and has tattoos. Recent college graduate or somehow managed to transition from a marketing or sales role into data science after completing a couple of classes on Udemy. Has a huge social media presence, and their LinkedIn profile picture is one of them at a podium with a mic or giving a TEDx talk. Has produced several blog posts and/or podcasts. Doesn't know any languages besides R. Doesn't know what a partial derivative is, and freaks out whenever they see an integral, but is still very good at explaining and simplifying concepts, hence always has the attention of the business stakeholders. Says things like "Cross-Validation is fun", "And I love boosting" with a straight face. Usually works for a small to mid-level company, but occasionally manages to land a role at a FAANG, after which they develop weapons grade levels of obnoxiousness. Not so much the envy of all others in the data science / machine learning community. More like the object of lust of all others in the data science / machine learning community. Is miserable because they are not Mark Zuckerberg. Type V - the overseas data scientist: As good as the olympian, the demigod, and the grumpy old hand combined, but nobody takes them seriously because of their skin color and very thick accent. Their career is additionally hampered by their cultural aversion to self-promotion and BS artistry which comes so naturally to many Westerners. Can do EDA, prototyping, production deployment, A/B testing, performance testing, and devOps all in one day, yet still somehow manages to be out of the office by 16:45 (they also don't show up until 9:45 in the morning). Is the reason why the hipster data scientist is able to get away with so little real work. Is the envy of all others in the data science / machine learning community, because they know that the overseas data scientist will be the last one to be let go in case of a $#!tst0rm, since they do the majority of the work on the team despite having the lowest salary. Is also the envy of everyone else, because at 35, they already own a home and have two teenage kids who are getting straight A+s in school. Is none the less miserable because their H1b might get revoked any day now.    Type VI - the stealth data scientist: Very smart dev or TPM, who never actually used the title 'data scientist' or even 'machine learning engineer' (they might even sneer at those titles). A mix of the hipster, the demigod and the overseas data scientist in terms of personality and demographics, who works mainly on infrastructure or platform stuff, or maybe on the web portal team, but has also prototyped and deployed more than one regression or clustering model to production, without ever having taken a single machine learning or stats class. Has no idea who Andrew Ng is, and thinks A.I. is mainly about robotics and the Turing test. Masters Shell, Java, Scala, Kotlin, Node.js and PL/SQL, and can shift between on-prem and cloud systems at will. Thinks Python is a joke, and is floored every time somebody says they are a Python expert even though they don't know OOP. Is not so much envied, as they are feared by the rest of the data science and machine learning community, because the stealth is unphased by any of the Deep Learning hype, and once the AutoML frameworks finally mature, they know that the stealth will make the rest of them redundant. Is not miserable at all, because the stealth knows that they will be around long after the whole DS/ML hype died down, and don't really care because they will be Sr. Director or VP of Engineering by then anyway. . Caption by AlexSnakeKing. Posted By: www.eurekaking.com

[8amnote-blog]

hello! my name is ryan & this is my first experience creating a studyblr! i’ve been a part of the community for quite a while, silently appreciating the hard work & dedication of every studyblr, but i never thought i would be creating a blog myself. this upcoming school year (my junior year) i want to start fresh & motivate myself to work harder than i usually would. with ap classes, a possible job, & a required 100+ hours community service project (not to mention life apart from obligations & time to do things i enjoy), i need something to motivate me. i’ll be the first to admit i’m completely lazy when it comes to studying, & only take notes when i absolutely have to/when i can make them look nice, but i don’t want to be anymore. i figured the number one way to motivate myself to actually do the work would be to create my own studyblr, so that way i’m not only influenced by others but influenced by myself. 

about me

    ↝ i use he/him pronouns, am sixteen, & am a junior in highschool

    ↝ i am an aspiring writer, hoping to major in creative writing during university. i i write short stories and poems, but would like to get into writing personal essays/memoir pieces. i also have a blog for my writing which you can find here!

    ↝ my favorite book is ‘it’s kind of a funny story’ by ned vizzini, which i discovered my freshman year & found comfort in due to the main character & i being in similar situations. my favorite tv shows include: friends, skam, gilmore girls, that 70s show & shameless (i prefer the us version). my favorite movies are ratatouille, midnight in paris, under the tuscan sun, the way he looks, & silence of the lambs. my favorite youtubers/youtube channels are dan & phil, bertie gilbert, savannah brown, will darbyshire, arden rose, chris klemens & conan gray. 

    ↝ i almost never use capital letters (unless it’s something for school) because i think ‘baby letters’ as i call them, or lowercase letters look a lot less intimidating & are softer.

    ↝ i am in the lgbtqia+ community, hooray! + i love animals, double hooray! 

    ↝ my blog is called 8amnote because i get the most inspired to study/read/write in the morning while drinking coffee or tea.

    ↝ my main blog is @rosyepiphany & i will be following people from there (+ you should follow it, i’m quite proud)

about school

    ↝ my classes for the upcoming semester include:

ap world history

honors pre-calc with trig

education & training I

education & training II

education & training II lab

ap language

yoga (rip)

honors physics

    ↝ favorite subjects: english & chemistry

    ↝ least favorite subjects: math, math, oh! & math! (why is it so hard?)

    ↝ i’ve been contemplating joining the nasa rover club, but i’m not sure if i will. freshmen year a couple friends & i started a pride club, which fizzled out by sophomore year & since i haven’t done any other pride clubs but i might begin another this upcoming year depending on the amount of time i have. 

    ↝ at my school, your junior year you have to create a community service project (& it must last 100+ hours). my friend & i are going to be creating boxes with supplies/resources to help transgender kids who wish to transition but don’t have the means/funds to do so. i’m mentioning this because if any of you know good sources/have connections for binders, packers, resources, books, movies, anything (!!!) please dm me it would help so much!

    ↝ my number one goal is to attend university in new york city, majoring in creative writing & possibly taking a few interior design courses. in the end i want to be a published writer, but my back up plans include psychology, teaching, & interior design.

about inspiration

    ↝ these are a few of the blogs that inspired me to create my own! thank you!!

@lychiestudies , @rosas-studies , @studyrose , @studylustre , @thecoffeedesk , @lillastudies , @studyrelief , @studiversal , @gracelearns , &  @studyplants !!

that’s all for this (very long, oops sorry) post! thanks for reading & checking out my blog! i hope it proves useful to both you & i (,: feel free to message me if you want to be friends & ask me any questions you might have in my little inbox! have a good day!!   

[entergamingxp]

Crusader Kings III Details Decisions, Stress, Events, and Audio in Latest Dev Diary

July 5, 2020 9:45 AM EST

Crusader Kings III introduces several gameplay mechanics in dev diary including decision-making, coping with stress, event scripting, and music.

In preparation for the September release date for Crusader Kings III — Paradox Interactive’s latest entry in their Crusader Kings franchise — the developers have released another developer diary finely detailing even more gameplay mechanics. This diary deals with decisions, how to cope with stress, changes made to event scripting, and audio in the game:

Decisions are made up of both major and minor choices in the game that either directly or indirectly influence both your character and their realm. An example of a major decision is if you decide to break out of imprisonment, while a minor one is petting your cat or dog.

Event scripting will be of interest to the modding community, as the devs made sweeping changes to how events are coded. Namely that events aren’t hard coded but scripted, making mods much easier to implement.

Stress is an interesting mechanic as it’s caused by your player character taking an action that conflicts with their personality. There are three levels of stress that bring different levels of penalties. It’s a mechanic that can’t be avoided as some actions are necessary for the realm’s betterment; players must instead learn to balance and reduce stress.

The last section details music and sound design. The composer wanted to create a certain ambience with the sound effects such as rushing water in the ocean, wildlife, etc. The music is also soothing and calm so players can listen to it for hours.

The release date for Crusader Kings III was revealed to be September 1st in a new story trailer, with the game making its initial debut through a story trailer. Said trailer highlighted the title’s theme of using both cunning and alliances to strengthen your kingdom and secure its dynasty for generations to come. Crusader Kings III will be the most recent installment of the popular strategy game franchise Crusader Kings from Paradox Interactive,

According to Game Director Henrik Fåhraeus concerning the latest installment: “Crusader Kings III is a grand medieval simulator where you are free to live out any plausible ruler fantasy that we could think of — but not without challenge. Seeing its predecessor explode in popularity was very satisfying, especially considering that user friendliness was never our primary goal. Now we have a chance to address an even larger audience.”

The official site also details what to expect from the latest Crusader Kings title:

Shape Your Dynasty: Guide unique characters through history, choosing lifestyles best suited to their personalities and your ambitions.

Rewrite Medieval History: Dynasties will change and adapt to changes in family and politics, and religious beliefs are more firmly under your control.

Build a Mighty Kingdom: Use your vassals’ fear of you as a weapon or call on familial obligations to persuade reluctant relatives to submit.

Experience High Drama: Stranger than fiction stories leap off the screen, as characters plot against you and events push you to extremes.

Learn as You Go: Guided advice to help newcomers navigate a rich medieval world. In-game suggestions tip you off to paths you might not have considered.

The Usual Crusader Kings Fun: Keep a stubborn council in line, scheme against your overbearing uncle or marry the rich duchy…oops, I mean pious duke or duchess of your dreams.

Meanwhile, for those wanting to sharpen their skills for next year, Crusader Kings II‘s base game is now free to play for Steam. There’s also plenty of DLC content once you run through the main campaign such as the Monks and Mystics Expansion, Jade Dragon Expansion, and the Holy Fury Expansion.

If you’re a fan of board games, the Crusader Kings The Board Game was fully funded on Kickstarter just last year. Crusader Kings III will launch for PC via Steam and is included in Xbox Game Pass for PC. Be sure to check out our extensive preview of the game here as well.

July 5, 2020 9:45 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/07/crusader-kings-iii-details-decisions-stress-events-and-audio-in-latest-dev-diary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=crusader-kings-iii-details-decisions-stress-events-and-audio-in-latest-dev-diary

[theconservativebrief]

On Tuesday, close to 200 climate activists crowded into the Capitol Building offices of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who will re-assume the position of House speaker when the new Congress is sworn in come January.

The activists called on Pelosi to lead Democrats in developing an ambitious, comprehensive plan to address climate change — a Green New Deal. Halfway through the protest, rising Democratic star and Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited to show her support, which drew a torrent of media coverage.

New Dem star protests speaker on first day of freshman orientation! The media loved it.

[embedded content]

I’ll be honest, though. I’ve seen intra-left disputes on climate change reprise themselves over and over again, to no one’s benefit, and when I heard about this protest, I felt a twinge of dread. Why target Pelosi, who has always been a climate champion? And how is she supposed to have a comprehensive climate plan already when she hasn’t even taken the gavel? Aren’t there worse enemies of the climate to protest?

But I talked it out on Twitter, emailed with a few of the organizers, and now have a better handle on what’s going on. And it turns out to be quite a bit richer and more significant than what you might get from the headlines.

As I said in my Monday post on Democratic climate strategy in a polarized era, there are three basic prongs of a unilateral left strategy. The first is using House congressional committees to investigate and slow President Trump’s deregulatory agenda. The second is accelerating policy innovation in states that Democrats control.

And the third is defining a long-term, comprehensive federal climate agenda for when/if Democrats regain the power to implement one. That is why climate activists swarmed Pelosi’s office. The left is making an early bid to set the highest bar possible for the 2020 Democratic climate change agenda.

Here’s how it unfolded and what’s at stake.

AOC thanks climate protesters. Sunrise

Climate hawks received a few disconcerting signals in the wake of the midterm elections (which turned out to be a much bigger victory for Democrats than they appeared early on).

A piece in the Hill reported that House Democrats had no plans to move on climate change, which appeared nowhere in their list of priorities. Meanwhile, Pelosi, who is very much intent on keeping her speakership, started talking the day after the election about a “bipartisan marketplace of ideas,” which is not exactly what you’d call reading the room.

Pelosi had signaled that she planned to revive the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (2007-2011, RIP), but activists and the incoming class of social democrats wanted something much bolder. They needed something to rally around.

And here it is: AOC plans to introduce a draft resolution that would put parameters around the committee, its work, and its membership. It is … bold, to say the least.

The resolution — supported by the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats, two youth-led organizations pushing for a Green New Deal — has a number of interesting provisions, but two demands are central: that the committee be given a mandate to develop a Green New Deal that would decarbonize the US economy, and that no members be appointed who accept donations from the fossil fuel industry.

Reinstating the Select Committee is a great decision that I fully support.

These dynamic leaders want to ensure is that the committee: – Has a mandate to draft a Green New Deal for 100% renewable energy – No appointed members that accept funding from the fossil fuel industry

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 13, 2018

Specifically, the committee “shall have authority to develop a detailed, national, industrial, economic mobilization plan for the transition of the United States economy to become carbon neutral and to significantly draw down and capture greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and oceans and to promote economic and environmental justice and equality.” It would be required to produce a draft plan by January 1, 2020, and draft legislation by March 1, 2020.

In other words, the committee must produce a package of legislation ready to move if Democrats take power in the 2020 elections.

Here are the goals the resolution sets for the Green New Deal:

(1) 100% of national power generation from renewable sources; (2) Building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid; (3) Upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety; (4) Decarbonizing the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries; (5) Decarbonizing, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure; (6) Funding massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases; (7) Making “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal.

That … pretty much covers it! It’s difficult to imagine how you could get any more ambitious than that.

Of course, every one of those bullet points represents dozens of policies and thousands of implementation challenges. Wonks like me look at this list and we wonder about the details. We wonder so hard, our hair tingles.

But that’s not really the point, at least for now. The point is this represents perhaps the first time in US history that a Democrat has proposed a plan for addressing climate change that actually scales to the problem and has some chance of influencing the party’s agenda.

Pelosi testifies at a House hearing on climate change — way back in 2007. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

But there’s more. The resolution is equally ambitious on the subject of equity. It says that the Green New Deal “is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation.”

To that end, it instructs the committee to develop a plan that would include a job guarantee, measures to combat income inequality and racial injustice, and maybe a universal basic income (UBI) for good measure.

Here’s the full list of equity provisions:

(i) provide all members of our society, across all regions and all communities, the opportunity, training and education to be a full and equal participant in the transition, including through a job guarantee program to assure every person who wants one, a living wage job; (ii) take into account and be responsive to the historical and present-day experiences of low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, rural and urban communities and the front-line communities most affected by climate change, pollution and other environmental harm; (iii) mitigate deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth (including, without limitation, ensuring that federal and other investment will be equitably distributed to historically impoverished, low income, deindustrialized or other marginalized communities); (iv) include additional measures such as basic income programs, universal health care programs and any others as the select committee may deem appropriate to promote economic security, labor market flexibility and entrepreneurism; and (v) deeply involve national and local labor unions to take a leadership role in the process of job training and worker deployment.

As iv demonstrates, this is about much more than carbon. It doesn’t separate out the climate problem from society’s other ills, as climate wonks have so often advocated. It sees environmental, economic, and social problems as intertwined, with a common set of solutions.

It’s a full-spectrum vision of a sustainable social democracy — a level of progressive ambition that most US citizens have likely never encountered.

As for how to pay for this, all the resolution says is that funding will primarily come from the federal government, “using a combination of the Federal Reserve, a new public bank or system of regional and specialized public banks, public venture funds and such other vehicles or structures that the select committee deems appropriate, in order to ensure that interest and other investment returns generated from public investments made in connection with the Plan will be returned to the treasury, reduce taxpayer burden and allow for more investment.”

So that’s AOC’s proposal: a committee on steroids, charged with developing the most ambitious national climate plan in history, with equity at its heart.

Political media desperately want the story of this protest, and AOC’s participation in it, to be another chapter of “Dems in Disarray.” But the truth is close to the opposite: This was a case of the Democratic base and leadership working together for mutual benefit. It was one big alley-oop.

Here’s how it went down.

Sunrise and Justice Democrats were planning a protest to push Pelosi on climate. AOC and her staff, who are in close touch with the activist left, suggested that protesters need something concrete to rally around, some specific demands; that’s why they wrote this draft resolution.

So protesters go to Pelosi’s office — where the cameras will be — as a show of force, to demand that Dems stop taking fossil fuel money and start planning for a real climate solution. AOC then comes to visit and support the protest, thus bringing more attention and more cameras.

Together, they help thrust climate change into the news cycle and get the term “Green New Deal” published in most of the nation’s newspapers, a fairly adroit bit of agenda-setting in a hostile media environment.

As for Pelosi? It would not surprise me at all to find out that she knew it was coming — was maybe even in on it. At the very least, she welcomed it and gave it further publicity:

Deeply inspired by the young activists & advocates leading the way on confronting climate change. The climate crisis threatens the futures of communities nationwide, and I strongly support reinstating the select committee to address the crisis. https://t.co/rjVJYSJraf

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) November 13, 2018

Of course, this falls far short of accepting the protesters’ demands. (There will be much more intra-Dem negotiation before anything like that happens.)

But Pelosi is signaling to Democrats on her right that she is being pressured from the left on climate change, that this is where the energy and enthusiasm is among the party’s most active young supporters, that Dems will get hounded endlessly if they don’t act on this. She and AOC are working together on this, not at odds.

Thank you, @NancyPelosi.

We have 10 years left to plan and implement a Green New Deal before cataclysmic climate disaster.

Reinstating the Select Committee is exactly what we need to do. https://t.co/Uy5BnrLZcR

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 13, 2018

Now the trick is to build more pressure. “Right after we left Pelosi’s office,” Evan Weber of Sunrise tells me, “we went to the offices of Raul Grijalva, Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, and Ro Khanna to ask for their support for the resolution.”

So far, freshman Reps. Khanna, Rashida Tlaib, and Deb Haaland have endorsed the resolution. The movement is pushing for more and believes, according to Weber, “there is actually an opening to have this resolution included in the rules for the new Congress.”

This is how activism is supposed to work. The climate left sent the signal it needed to send — that it is mobilized and fully willing to be a pain in the ass — and Pelosi was happy to amplify it. The political world heard.

It is an inverted mirror image of the Tea Party: Rather than trying to bring out the worst in Republicans, activists are trying to bring out the best in Democrats.

I admit, I have trouble envisioning the resolution passing in anything like its current form — it’s such a quantum leap from where the party currently stands. But I have proven an abysmal political prognosticator in recent years and no longer presume to predict anything. Maybe it will pass!

Regardless, it strikes me as a significant development in US politics that there is finally a constituency for full-scale mobilization on climate change — for making decarbonization a top national priority. At long last, there is an actual climate left! Perhaps that label will no longer be applied to a bunch of hapless wonks and economists.

Just as the Republican House climate caucus is shrinking, the Democratic House climate caucus is growing. And as it grows, its ambitions increase. The Overton window is shifting before our eyes.

In the long term, Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats tells me, the movement will focus on “repeating the success we had in recruiting, training, and helping elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.” The idea, he says, is to “build a caucus of like-minded, mission-driven legislators who will fight tirelessly for solutions that match the urgency and scale necessary to tackle the systemic crises in our country.”

From California to New York – @justicedems challenged the status quo by running candidates who truly represent the people – not corporate interests. Candidates who come from all walks of life and fight for voters, not donors. pic.twitter.com/nie8co7dpB

— Middle Seat Digital (@MiddleSeatCo) November 13, 2018

Suffice it to say, that won’t be easy. There are many among the 200-and-some House Democrats who are not going to look with delight on the prospect of supporting a huge, deficit-financed investment plan that includes a job guarantee and possibly a UBI. And that’s to say nothing of how Democratic senators might feel on the subject. Centrist and more conservative Democrats from purple states will not go gentle into this good night.

But now the 78 percent of Americans who say they support a clean energy transition have something to rally around. Now there is an actual left flank on climate change, a coalition of civic groups and elected officials who take the IPCC’s warning — that we have only 12 years left to take transformative action on climate change — seriously.

And like it or not, having a left flank will inevitably mean that Democrats in positions of power come under pressure and suffer criticism.

”Today’s Republican Party is an organized alliance between fossil fuel billionaires and white supremacists. They must be stopped, and we are not confused about this in the least,” says Weber. “Stopping the Republican Party does not mean unconditionally supporting everything that Democrats do; to the contrary, it means fighting for the party to lead vocally and unapologetically on issues that matter to the majority of Americans.”

Original Source -> Climate activists to Nancy Pelosi: go big or we won’t go home

via The Conservative Brief

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/the-2008-financial-crisis-10-years-on-its-not-just-the-economy-stupid/

The 2008 Financial Crisis, 10 Years On: It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid

Okay, so the figure for America’s economic growth rate isn’t higher than its unemployment rate for the first time as 100 years, as Trump proudly but falsely claimed this week. But it is higher (4.2% versus 3.9%) for the first time in 10 years, which is pretty remarkable considering how terrifying everything looked a decade ago.

It was on September 15, 2008 that Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the signal moment when the impact of the U.S. housing crisis became starkly apparent. It wasn’t just about a bunch of hard-luck homeowners and dumb investors that would be hurt but the entire financial system and economy.

The recession that followed was the worst since the World War II, encompassing not just the United States but nearly the entire developed world. The global financial system seized up, housing prices plunged in America and much of Europe, unemployment soared into the double digits and governments spent billions rescuing banks.

But the Great Recession wasn’t just about in bankruptcies and bailouts. It engendered political rage. Financial crises have that effect on people, as multiple studies have shown, for the obvious reason that they leave few winners and a lot of losers in their wake. These crises tend to surprise after a period of irrational exuberance, which make the pain even worse.

Government handling of the crisis made for more rage. In America, homeowners for the most part faced foreclosure. But the big financial institutions – the ones that were too big to fail – were rescued. A major byproduct of the policy prescription employed in America and Europe, super-low interest rates, was a stock market boom whose profits went mostly to the wealthiest. There were serious worries that the financial crisis was uncontrollable, that a depression on the scale of the 1930s was inevitable and that the recovery would take years.

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One snag

The worst predictions failed to come true: The policy prescriptions worked and the U.S. economy has experienced its longest post-war recovery ever and even Europe after some delays, is enjoying sustained and steady growth.

About the only major macro-economic problem that remains a festering sore is the problem of growing income inequality. But that was a problem long before the Great Recession and is such a slow, insidious process that even the victims don’t necessarily feel it as long as their incomes are rising.

And yet, Americans and Europeans are still angry. This week, a full decade after the Lehman collapse and at a time when their economy is performing well, nearly a fifth of voters in Sweden gave their support to a party with neo-Nazi origins that wants to pull the country out of the European Union.

Apart from being long past its sell-by date, the anger has other interesting (and worrying) features:

# Rightist politics: With a few exceptions, like Greece and France, the rage has been expressed in support for populist and far right parties. The take-away for angry electorates from the trauma of the Great Recession was government is to blame, not business. On the other hand, the populist right and certainly the extreme right have had a spotty record of achieving power. It seems the popular anger is preserved in a minority, but a big enough minority to upset the political order, not take it over.

# The chief targets of the rage: They have not been what you might have expected. Banks remain in the doghouse as far as popular perceptions go, but the reputation of business and the capitalist system managed to emerge from the crisis virtually unscathed. Leftist parties have profited not at all. But the biggest reputational casualty was the expert class – the economists, social scientists and policy wonks to name a few – who failed to anticipate the crisis and sold the public on the idea that economies could be managed.

# The rise of nationalism:  Brexit and the widespread anti-EU sentiment in Europe, the crackdown on immigration in the U.S. and Europe, not to mention Trump’s backing off of international trade agreements seem one of the most improbable outcomes of the Great Recession. Globalism didn’t contribute to the original problem and the push-back, far from solving any economic problems, will only make them worse by depriving economies of a bigger labor pool from immigration and the advantages of international trade.

There’s something deeper going on. In other words, for a change it’s not just about the economy, stupid.  I wouldn’t rush to say what that is, but I’m willing to hazard that the anger reflects a feeling that the post-war liberal agenda has gone a few steps too far.

In the name of universal values, like freedom, democracy, human rights and equality, it has undone the ties to community, religion and nation that the great majority of people rely on. That goes a long way to explaining why the EU, which is perhaps the most ambitious experiment in pan-nationalism, has become such an unlikely target for the rage.

The most angry – and they are still not a majority – are not only resisting the principles of universalism, they have turned against the people who espouse them. The Great Recession exposed the experts’ shortcomings in a big way and made them vulnerable to a broad attack on everything they know and stand for.

Perhaps universalism has pushed the envelope too far for too many, but the fact remains that the angry class offers no real alternative except to disparage and destroy what there is, a-la Donald Trump or Steve Bannon.

Source: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-the-2008-financial-crisis-10-years-on-it-s-not-just-the-economy-stupid-1.6470124