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gorogues · 11 days ago

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Hi! 👋

So what’s the difference between the comic version Rogues and the Arrowverse Rogues? I haven’t watched any live action stuff about them but I would still like to know the difference between these two. (Backstory and personality-wise, but you can add other stuff if you really want to)

Thank you!!! And have a good day/night :)

Hi! It's been a few years since I've watched those shows, but here's as best as I remember it.

Len: The Snarts had their comics backstory of a violently abusive ex-cop dad, and Len raised Lisa after their father went to prison. As an adult, he tended to work with Mick and Lisa in criminal activities, but was still protective of his sister and he killed their father after dad had risked her life as part of a criminal scheme. He continued in crime, but developed a working relationship with Barry and they eventually came to an agreement in which Len could commit crimes as long as he didn't kill anyone or tell anyone about Barry's identity. He was later recruited into the Legends of Tomorrow and came to relish heroic work, which ultimately led to conflicts with Mick, and Len then sacrificed his life to save the Legends and defeat the Big Bad. He had a lot of similarities to comics Len, although more of an interest in heroism, and had a closer and even flirty relationship with Barry.

Lisa: The Snarts had their comics backstory of a violently abusive ex-cop dad, and Len raised Lisa after their father went to prison. As adults, they worked together in crime and kidnapped Cisco to build weaponry for them, which they used to attack a crime boss and commit general shenanigans. However, Lisa flirted with Cisco and he had a thing for her, and she came to Team Flash for help when she thought Len had been kidnapped. It turned out that Len was on a job with their father because dad had secretly implanted a bomb in Lisa; Team Flash got the bomb out and Len killed their father for the cruelty he'd inflicted on her. After that, she was generally involved in crime with her brother until he joined the Legends of Tomorrow and was killed, but we don't know much about her activities after that. Personality-wise, she was very flirty but extremely tough and a bit of an action junkie, so pretty similar to comics Lisa. No skates or jewel weapons, though.

Mick: He had the most development and most airtime of all the Flarrowverse Rogues, and thus unsurprisingly the biggest character arc. He began as a one-note raging villain, and later received a little more depth but had an in-universe reputation for being stupid, violent, and thoughtless. Even his best pal Len treated him like he was stupid, sometimes quite overtly. Over time we learned that he had a lot of past trauma (his father was a traumatized and abusive Vietnam vet), and he formed bonds with new caring people and was able to show his depth: still grumpy, but intelligent and with surprising interests. He became a successful novelist and basically blossomed into a different person over the course of Legends of Tomorrow. You can see aspects of comics Mick (who has gone through phases of being a one-note raging villain and also been more gently sensitive) in him, but he's radically different in backstory and character portrayal.

Digger: Very different from the comics. He was an ex-special forces operative who became a mercenary and was drafted into the Suicide Squad, but Lyla Michaels tried to liquidate the team in the field and Digger's brain bomb malfunctioned so he didn't die…and then he came after her and anyone associated with her for revenge. He set a bunch of bombs and tried to blow stuff up, but in the end he got killed. He certainly seemed more like an ex-military soldier than a criminal or supervillain, which fit well with his CW backstory but he was nothing like his comics incarnation.

Owen: Very different from the comics. He wore a comics-accurate outfit…but it was Digger's outfit, not Owen's. He was just a villain/criminal who decided to take Digger's mantle after he died, and he worked for the Red Death (a crime boss). He was basically just a skilled asshole, but a smartassed and entertaining one. Also had an interesting friendship with the second Murmur.

Roy Bivolo: He only dealt in negative emotions -- fear and anger -- and was a bit of a psycho who did angsty edgy art and seemed to enjoy hurting people. I liked that the show did a more accurate depiction of his achromatopsia than the comics ever have; he wore dark glasses and his hideout had low lighting to accommodate his vision problems. There was a female Rainbow Raider (Carrie Bates, not another Roy Bivolo) later on who dealt in positive emotions, and she was fun.

Hartley: He was pretty different in that he was a perpetual jerk, even after he'd reformed. He was an engineer at STAR Labs and a protégé of Harrison Wells (who was Eobard Thawne in disguise) but hated Cisco, and when Wells seemingly replaced Hartley with Barry he developed a violent grudge against them all. He mostly used sonic tech rather than musical instruments, and used tech to cope with the damage done to his hearing by the particle accelerator accident. He was pretty cruel as a villain; at one point he sent some metas to destroy a city dam, which could have killed thousands of people. Anyway, he didn't get over the grudge for a long time, though the universe reset itself a couple of times and eventually he got a boyfriend named Roderick who was hurt by a battle between Hartley and the Flash. Team Flash helped save his life, so Hartley more or less let go of the grudge and reformed for Roderick, and later helped Barry when he needed it.

James: Mark Hamill reprised his Trickster role from the `90s Flash series, and he was kinda fun but not in a traditional James way. He was definitely a psychopath and a murderous criminal who tried to kill hundreds or thousands of people for laughs, but he had some theatrical panache while doing it.

Axel: He idolized James Jesse and was delighted to learn that James was his father; it turns out that his mother was Prank, James' old sidekick from the `90s Flash series. He's also a psycho who likes killing people, but he too has something of his father's style.

Mark: He and his brother Clyde had been violent bank robbers who worked together before getting meta powers. Clyde became the original Weather Wizard, but he was killed by Joe West and Mark took over the mantle and sought revenge. Mark was generally pretty murder-happy, especially towards Joe and the Flash. He had a kid like in the comics, but ironically she used tech and he had meta powers (so the opposite of pre-Flashpoint continuity), and she was older and tried to kill him for being a crappy dad.

Sam: He was a wannabe gang leader with his girlfriend Rosa (Flarrowverse Top), though he tended to talk over her and eventually she murdered him to take his place. He got his powers when he'd insulted Len and Len had been in the process of killing him when the particle accelerator exploded, but it left Sam trapped in a mirror for a few years until he freed himself. He was vain and showy and could travel through mirrors, but we didn't really see much of him.

Evan: There was a gender-swap, so she was Eva. It was a complicated story, but the gist is that the real Eva was killed in the particle accelerator explosion, and a mirror duplicate of her was created and trapped in a mirror universe. She didn't know she was a duplicate, and was unhappy to be trapped; she dragged Iris into the mirror universe and created a duplicate Iris in the real world. Once Eva escaped the mirror world, she killed her crappy ex-husband but soon learned that she was in fact a duplicate and her whole existence was a lie. She created a ton of mirror duplicates and they tried to destroy Central City, but she was convinced to stop and decided to make the mirror world into a better place for them. As you can tell from these events, she was basically nothing like Evan aside from the name.

Roscoe: There was a gender-swap, so she was Rosa(lind). She was a wannabe gang co-leader with her boyfriend Sam, but he tended to sideline her and eventually she killed him. She didn't spin (except for a gag when Jesse Quick tossed her into the air), and originally she only had vertigo powers. Later she gained empathic powers and quasi-telepathic powers and developed an odd frenemy relationship with Cecile Horton (who was part of Team Flash and had similar powers), which was the only thing I liked about her.

Dr Alchemy: His name was Julian Albert in the show, and he was a work colleague of Barry's who fell under Savitar's control after finding the Philosopher's Stone. Savitar used him as a cult leader granting/restoring powers to people in his Alchemy persona (which he didn't know was happening), but Julian was eventually able to break free from him and joined Team Flash. The team used him to contact Savitar, and as Julian he pursued a relationship with Caitlin and tried to cure her of her Killer Frost persona. There were some similarities to Johns' post-Flash: Rebirth revamp of him, in that he was Barry's bitchy co-worker instead of someone he befriended after Al reformed. The Savitar and cult thing was different, and in the CWverse the Philosopher's Stone was made out of Speed Force or something.

Abra Kadabra: Originally he was a cool criminal from the future with amazing tech that looked like magic (it gets my seal of approval), and then he was brought back in another episode which revealed he was a dude named Philippe who tried to destroy Central City because his family had been erased in Crisis and he was angry. Barry was kind to him and he backed down, and then he got killed while helping the Flash.

Magenta: A nice teen with magnetic powers and mental health issues from an abusive parental figure, so fairly similar to her comics self. She didn't have a romantic history with Wally or any member of Team Flash, and she got her powers from Dr Alchemy.

Lashawn: She was called Shawna, and her backstory was completely different. In the comics she committed crimes only to save her father's life, but in the CW she was an ordinary thief and tried to spring her loser boyfriend from jail with her teleportation powers. She joined Hartley's vengeance squad after a time incarcerated in the Pipeline, but wasn't okay with his plan to destroy the city and she told Iris West about the plan before anyone could be killed. So in that sense she was different from most of the Rogues, and somewhat like her comics self.

Girder: He was completely different. In the Flarrowverse he was a former bully of Barry's, and he was more like Colossus (from the X-Men) than Girder because he could transform from a human into a metal form and even looked like Colossus instead of a rusted junk pile.

Blacksmith: Also completely different. She was an odd woman who liked to reinvent herself with fake names and new personas, and she wanted to be a crime boss like her comics counterpart but wasn't nearly as intelligent or threatening. Her powers were better, though, and I liked her lovers/rivals relationship with Goldface. In the comics she could manipulate and meld metal and flesh, but in the CW she could shape a specific type of metal into projectiles and defensive functions.

Tar Pit: His backstory was completely different, as he was betrayed by a comrade and knocked into a tar pit, leaving him trapped for years underground and seeking revenge on those who wronged him after he was free. Thus, his personality was less cheery than his comics self because what he went through was pretty traumatic. He had a human form and a tar form instead of being a perpetual tar monster.

Double Down: His powers were mostly the same (though tattoo-based), but he was more of a gang enforcer in the Flarrowverse. And there was no cursed deck of cards in his backstory, alas.

Cicada: Totally different. In the CW, the first Cicada was a guy who blamed metahumans for his family's misfortunes and went on a killing spree, and then he was killed and replaced by an insane future version of his metahuman niece who picked up his war and murdered metas.

Murmur: There was a man and a woman who went by that name in the Flarrowverse. Neither spoke English (they both had their mouths sewn shut) so we don't know a ton about them, but they were surprisingly true to the original comics version. The woman used ASL, which gave us more insight into her personality and she was rather witty. I liked her friendship with Owen.

Chillblaine: Not exactly a Rogue, but the Flarrowverse version had a lot more development than his comics counterparts. He was a lot smarter (a former scientist) and liked to walk around shirtless, and he had a redemption arc but then went bad again and then redeemed himself once more. He was in a relationship with Killer Frost when she was killed, which devastated him.

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siryouarebeingmocked · 1 year ago

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I was watching an LP of Spider Man 2 (PS5) SPOILERS

In the first mission after the intro, some guys try to rob a gun club. Which, has no security but a thin metal rolling door that some random thugs easily back a truck through. Sure, I get it, it's a plot contrivance.

Spidey (Peter) complains about the stupidity of the idea of having a gun club in the city. He banters about how he wants to replace the city's gun clubs with places that don't hurt anyone, like complement clubs.

In other words, a man who can dodge bullets in a high-tech, bullet-resistant suit packed chock-full of unlicensed, experimental, powerful concealed weapons* says guns are bad because they hurt people, as he beats thugs to a pulp with his carbon-fiber reinforced fists.

Two, legal gun owners are rarely the people who shoot others. If they shoot anyone, it's probably themselves, on purpose. Most gun crime is with illegal guns, and blaming legal owners for that is stupid.

Heck, I'm from one of many countries with low legal ownership, strict gun control, and more per capita gun homicides than America.

Three, the plot of the first game involved terrorists attacking the city, compromising a public official, and nearly blowing up the Mayor. Then there was a supervillain prison break, then the Mayor called in a PMC to keep order, which turned out to be tyrannical fascists.

Followed by a bioterror attack using weaponized biotech from the Mayor’s own company.

Needless to say, the Mayor loses his job.

I’m not even covering the DLC and Miles Morales game, which caused even more chaos. In short, faith in the city government and cops to protect the public has to be at an all-time low.

Also, the city's gun laws apparently don't keep countless bad guys from toting around their thundersticks. And we know those laws are probably similar to reality, because one of the side plots in SM2 involves Spidey responding to people with fireworks, which are illegal without a permit.

In the entire state. Except for sparklers.

Also, Spider-Man usually mocks his enemies. He spends most of the fight mocking the idea of gun clubs. Imagine if some randos tried to rob a jewelry store, and he started going on about blood diamonds.

I'm an hour or two later, and some guy says that his foundation is developing GMO crops for humanitarian reasons, as opposed to normal corporate GMO crops, which are made for profit and are "rightly criticized".

The speech does not sound one bit like something an actual person would say. It's possible the character is drawing on the language of a speech or article, but it still sounds awkward.

Peter later says "Money shouldn't be part of the equation when it comes to basic human necessities."

Man who lucked into a cushy job because he was friends with a nepo baby of a billionaire in high school says “the vittles shouldn’t cost money.”

And last time I checked, a lot of crops wouldn't even be grown if farmers and corporations couldn't profit by them. Because, y’know, food costs time, money, effort, and resources to make. Like most things.

Just to be clear, I'm actually in favor of Open Source, generally. But this is just so preachy.

*Including armed drones with lasers powerful enough to destroy scenery.

#spider-man #spiderman #writing #cringe #sjws #social justice #gun control #gunblr #guns

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poisonsaints · 3 days ago

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{ pedro pascal, cis male, he/him } Is that DIEGO SANCHEZ? I heard the FORTY-NINE year old is the LEADER of the NIGHTSHADE. I’d stay away from them if I were you. I heard they were JUDGEMENTAL, but they can also be PATIENT, so proceed at your own risk.

Character Name: Diego Elias Sanchez Nickname (s): Santi, but only for those close to him. Face Claim: Pedro Pascal Birthplace: Los Angeles, California Birthday: December 31st Zodiac: Capricorn MBTI: ISTJ Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral (possibly Lawful Evil, we'll see) Sexuality: Heterosexual 3 positive traits: Steadfast, confident, hardworking 3 negative traits: Ruthless, Machiavellian, deceitful Languages: English, Spanish, some Chinese. Love language: Physical touch

The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, for if that fails the chain fails and the object that it has been holding up falls to the ground.

The third son of Santiago Sanchez, nothing much was even expected out of the boy called baby Santi by relatives. His oldest brother was the heir, the second born the stand in, so there was nothing for Diego to be except for a child.

These low expectations didn't result in low aspirations. Instead Diego had that child's urge to run with the big kids coupled with a competitive need to prove himself. He wanted to be just as fast, just as smart, and just as strong. He didn't know that one day he would get exactly what he wanted by being the last one standing.

His father was a petty criminal and even if Santi wasn't involved, he still saw the blood, the stitched up wounds, and the newspaper headlines. Santiago Sanchez always said the city didn't take care of them, so they had to take care of themselves.

As Diego watched his family keep getting into trouble all while telling him to stay out of it, that he wasn't cut out for it, he decided to take their words to heart. Instead of ending up going down the same road to petty crime, he took a different path.

Was it any surprise they threatened to disown him when he went to the military?

His goal was simple. Instead of getting in over his head and causing more trouble for his family, he would learn how to look out for them in a way that couldn't be faulted. He'd be trained by others to be deadly in a way that was respectable, then a few years later, he'd go home and none of them would be able to say a damn thing about it.

What Diego failed to realize is that some of them wouldn't be alive. He was overseas when word reached him about his brother's death, the middle Sanchez son eliminated by a well placed bullet.

Diego could have gone home, but he didn't want to. He wanted the sweat, blood, and bullets that waited for him there in the sand. Home would still be there and if it was in pieces, so what? He was good at puzzles, he would pick them up and put everything back together.

It took another few years before Diego left the military for home, yet another story of a screw up waiting for him. His oldest brother was in jail, arrested for a house of crimes. Breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, drugs were involved somewhere in there.

It was a mess and made Diego think of nights in the bathroom, cleaning up blood from white tile with stained grout, his dad disoriented from pain, pills, and booze. It seemed this was always his job, cleaning up the mess, but he wasn't baby Santi anymore. When he stepped off that plane in California, Diego felt like his own man in a way that he hadn't when he left.

As always, he had a plan. He trusted his dad to use his illegal connections to look into what happened with his brother, and meanwhile Diego could try more legal routes. It would take time, but connections to law enforcement meant the chance for evidence to go missing, for new suspects to be framed, for technicalities to free his brother. Dirty cops and corrupt politicians were lurking in the cracks everywhere, all they needed was the right leverage and they could break his family free.

The short-sighted wanted plans with immediate pay-off, but Diego was different, he was willing to spend years to get to the desired outcome if that was what it took.

What Diego didn't expect was for his father not to be enthused about helping out his eldest son. He'd been gone a long time overseas, leaving him unaware of how age was getting to his father, how his brother was hungry for power. He didn't know of the struggles between them.

He'd always been told that his father was guilty of petty crime, and even when he was older, Diego hadn't questioned. But the more he looked, the more things didn't make sense. Somehow Santiago Sanchez was involved with what brought down his eldest son and that didn't count as petty crime.

When Santiago was found dead a few months later, Diego told everyone the man must have bitten off more than he could chew.

Santiago used to tell him the city wouldn't look after them, so they needed to look out for each other. There was a flaw in that logic, Diego eventually decided. The city was only a reflection of the people inside of it and if the people didn't look out for each other, of course they'd be chewed up and spit out.

Theoretically, that's what the law was supposed to do, but they were so... encumbered. They couldn't do enough, their reach was too short, and there was a rot inside the system if you looked.

It seemed like Diego spent his entire life doing just that, standing on the outside and looking in. Enough.

The first time he killed someone important enough for the national news to catch on, they were inside a greenhouse. Shot lined up, sniper rifle fired, and the body fell onto a shelf of poisonous plants.

Atropa belladonna. Toxic berries, toxic foliage, and being cultivated for the use in pharmaceutical drugs, most people knew the plant by the name of deadly nightshade.

It wasn't much to look at, reminded him of baby eggplants growing on a vine to look at it, and that wasn't much of a surprise. Eggplants were part of the nightshade, so were tomatoes, potatoes... not all of the Nightshade family was deadly, and Diego kept that in mind as his roots spread through the city, entangling people in his vision.

People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means ‘mean.’ It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it.

#I was going to add wanted connections but now I just want to post this #bloodnhonor.intro

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parrot-with-a-mohawk · 1 year ago

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B the Beginning opinions and season 2 rewrite

The opinions

Recently, I rewatched B the Beginning, since I found out it had a season 2 and was like "heck yeah, I'd like to see more of those characters and that world".

Season 1 was great. 9.5/10. The plot was woven well and it was compact, the characters were adorned with small details and quirks that made them complex people rather than just characters and the animation and direction were full of character. Legendary outro song. The whole show had it's own unique feel. I don't really have any criticisms.

Season 2 was garbage. The plot was all over the place. The characters were reduced to caricatures of their former selves. The snappy dialogue and the neverending and meaningful action (even in the short quiet scenes) were replaced with neverending dialogue and short and meaningless action scenes. The animation and direction were bland and generic. The outro song was also generic. To me, it was a bore even as background noise. I quit during episode 4.

Which is why I made a rewrite of season 2 in my head. I don't claim this rewrite to be a fix, or even good. I'm sure whoever worked on season 1 would be able to write something much better than what I am about to vomit here.

The rewrite

The season starts with Keith and Lily together at a crime scene, eating freshly baked bean buns and sharing clues. They say "yeah, this is definitely a copy-cat" then the shot pans out to reveal the Killer B signature on the wall.

Cue intro, then the scene shifts to Kirisame showing up just like the original, but, instead of his "new world order" thing, his plan would have been to make Koku the king of Cremona. He was shown in season 1 to be the one most loyal to Koku. Koku would refuse, because he just wants to live peacefully with Yuna and his violin repair job, even offering Kirisame his arm back. Kirisame says no and that he'll be back.

Meanwhile, the RIS is super busy, because a big series of murders is happening: the king's heirs are being killed one by one and all of them have the "Killer B" signature on them (the crime scene at the start was also one of those heirs). Also, Keith is nowhere to be found (again). Lily is the one to have to find him (again).

Lily and Keith both know it's not Koku this time, even though the signatures look like his now. All of the crime scenes had golden ampule residue, including inside the bodies and all of the vicious wounds happened after death.

Keith is doing independent investigations and has already figured out Kirisame is involved. Then, late at night, at the heir crime scene from the beginning, Keith finds some golden ampule residue and also meets with Kirisame. The latter is like "Canopus, you have to convince Koku to claim his rightful place" and Keith, in his mind, is like "yeah, this guy is NOT the mastermind" (with a subtle close-up shot of his eyes and no inner thoughts monologue, to let the audience interpret the scene).

Anyways, there is only one heir remaining (it's the bald dude with the ginger beard) and RIS has to protect him, together with all the cops and the royal security. Meanwhile, Lily is revisiting all of the other heir crime scenes and uses her own methods to deduce the mystery. She discovers that all of them were cut with the same sharp weapon that was used to carve the Killer B signs and asks Yuna about it. Koku is also nowhere to be found. Yuna says that it was definitely done with blue steel (because maybe it leaves some kind of residue or something), so Kirisame couldn't have killed them, because he doesn't have any of that, since Koku has it as his arm. So, together they go to the library to do some research on the royal family history, to find some more leads. Lily finds out from Yuna that the royal family branched out some 1000 years ago and that the current king is from that branch, while the original bloodline fell into obscurity. Lily then wonders if Koku might be of the original bloodline, and that is why Kirisame wants him to be king that badly, but Yuna says no, the royal family are heirs of the guy who killed the first Black King (she did lots of research together with Keith).

Suddenly, Lily gets a call from Boris, who called everyone. The last heir disappeared, everyone is dead, including a bunch of armed strangers and Mario is gravely injured and unconscious. On the way to the station, Koku shows up, all beaten and bruised, but he heals while he tells them basically the same thing and that the apparent leader of that attack had a mask on his face, so he couldn't tell who it was. Then, a video transmission is put on tv. Someone is tied to a chair, with a bag on his head, in a castle room, and Kirisame's voice booms out "Let the rightful King take his place! If he doesn't claim his throne in the next 24 hours, then the person on the chair will die and we know you don't want this to happen to this particular person.".

Everyone at RIS is now in full activity. Kaela is tracking down the source of the transmission, Bran is gathering data on all medieval places, Eric is managing everyone and Boris is contacting all of the important and helpful people who are left. Lily realises that she can faintly hear waves while Kirisame is talking, so Kaela and Bran narrow it down and find out that there is a lone tower at sea, that had been around since the first king of Cremona.

Koku gets out his wings and everyone is like "What is this, what is happened, Lily explain". So Lily tells them the truth about Killer B. Everyone is conflicted and Chin-four-eyes says that he should have all three of them arrested, but they'll deal with this after the first heir is saved.

Then, Boris gets a call from the hospital. It's Mario and he tells them that they were attacked by a small army of people (who the audience knows they're all Reggies), and that Koku fought most of them off and that it's thanks to him that he's alive to tell the tale. Lily insists that Koku is a good guy, while Yuna is ready to throw hands with anyone who would touch even just the tip of one of his feathers. Everyone is conflicted, but Eric takes the lead and starts directing everyone to their priorities. Kaela gives them communication devices and sets up a tracking software (for their security, but also just in case they try to flee). Lily, Koku and Yuna get a boat and head to the King's Tower.

It's strangely empty, except for a few other boats. Koku goes bird and flies to the top. Lily and Yuna climb the stairs there (actually, does Yuna also have wings? I remember both skeletons had wings, so Yuna should be able to go bird also). They find the hostage and Lily pulls the bag from his face, but it's not the heir. It's Keith, all bruised up and unconscius. Lily tries to wake him up, but she doesn't get to do much, because Kirisame shows up and holds a monologue about Koku "finally coming to take his place as rightful ruler of this land". Keith wakes up briefly and tells Lily ina muted voice that Kirisame is not the mastermind. Koku jumps to fight Kirisame but, just then, someone comes from behind and stabs Kirisame in the back. Kirisame dies, but not before giving his last words ("Koku,... you are... our true king"). The backstabber comes in to the light and it's... the last heir guy. He manipulated Kirisame to do his bidding, so he could be the last heir and inherit the throne. Now that Kirisame is dead, everything is resolved and they can just take him back to Creona so he can be crowned. It's not like they can do anything to him, since he's crucial to the succesion and it would cause some more war, when Creona had just recovered from the previous one. Koku can't help but notice that the knife in his hand is made of blue steel ("so you were the one impersonating Killer B"). Koku tells Lily to get Keith and get away from here, to somewhere safe, then he proceeds to fight with the last heir guy. Lily gets Keith and moves to the boat, while Yuna protects them from the mini-army of Reggies that was now raiding the place.

During the fight, last heir guy tells Koku about the line of kings and the branching out and that it connects to the Jaula Blanca institute. That one of the big hands there was actually his uncle/grandfather/something, who was also a scion of the first king, therefore making Koku also a rightful heir to the throne (which would make his killing all the more satisfactory).

Finally, on the boat, after Yuna dispatched the last Reggie, Keith fully wakes up and tells them that he know who the real mastermind is. It's not the last heir guy either. Is the king himself. While Keith was imprisoned there, Kirisame told him about the new age of prosperity for the Reggies Koku would bring and that, soon, the Reggies would no longer need golden ampules to live, but that Koku needed to take the throne for that to happen. Kirisame was also dropping hints that he didn't have much left to live/keep his sanity anyway, because he was chugging golden ampules like water. Keith figured the rest out by himself.

Basically, the mastermind was someone who had an interest to have the heirs kill eachother and that the golden ampules had something to do with it. The Reggies would die without those ampules, so they clearly contain something to prolong life. Therefore, the mastermind was someone who was seeking immortality as a human and who was also rich enough to be able to invest in research to make the ampules work on normal humans, not just Reggies. And that someone could only be the king. Lily was like "you crazy, immature, reckless, good for nothing, dumbass", while holding his face in her hands and crying. Right then, Koku, landed on the boat, carrying the unconscius and beaten up last heir guy (Kirisame's body turned to ash). They went back to the mainland.

Back at mainland, Koku, Yuna and Lily instantly get their hands cuffed, as well as last heir guy (still fainted), and they have to explain the Lohengrim prophecy thing, together with the king's conspiracy, with Keith backing them up. Kaela and Mario understand. Bran doesn't really agree with all this. Boris sees Lily as a daughter, so he looks at this with an open mind and tells Eric to do the same. Eric says that they'll see if they can confirm this when they interogate last heir guy later.

They interrogate him and confirm everything. Last heir guy was like "Father never cared about us anyway! He was always absorbed in his research and politics, that he didn't even notice his sons and nephews were dying". They also found out from him that he was the one who poisoned the other heirs with golden ampules. So now the RIS was making a plan the stage an interview with the king and somehow get him to reveal the location of the research facility. Thankfully, a big meating with the press was happening in a few days, related to the last heir's arrest.

Lily and Bran disguise themselves as reporters and go to the press meeting and ask the king about the "miracle cure he's investing in that they heard rumors about". Every other reporter becomes super interested in this and everyone starts pestering the king. That was the plan, because, while all this was happening, Kaela was hacking into the royal computers, while Mario and Boris were doing spy work, in case it was all on paper. They find some stuff about chemical recepies and also a secret schedule with a "special" meeting at one of the historical sights.

That was all the proof they needed. All of the RIS agens come out and arrest the king for crimes against humanity. The king flees to the royal chambers. The agents run after him. In the royal chamber, the king opens a drawer and drinks the golden ampule inside. The shot then pans to Koku, sitting in the window frame all menacingly. The king says, without turning "I was planning to save this for after I framed my own death. Oh, well." The king's body then starts to shift all weirdly and he becomes young again. His hair is dark red and he sprouts wings, just like Koku's. Epic aerial battle ensues. The king is very strong and nearly kills Koku, who was already tired from fighting constantly. Still, Koku wins epicly and kills the king (strikes him doooowwwnnn).

Epilogue happens. After Lily and Yuna bring genetic evidence, it is proved that Koku is a legitimate heir. Koku is crowned as king. He takes Yuna as his queen and invests in golden ampule research to make ampules that have permanent effects to make Reggies healthy and autonomous even after 20 years of age. The kings death is ruled out as a stroke from overdose. Lily and Keith are on a nice date at the newly opened cafe. Keith is blushing aggresively the entire time. The other RIS guys are shown minding their personal lives in still shots (like, Boris with his grandkids, Bran playing a detective video game, Mario with 2 cats, Kaela with a big dog, Eric with his wife and kids, stuff like that), all with a chill anime song on the background. Or the season 1 outro. Or both.

#b the beginning

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nnnn99999 · 4 months ago

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Episode 3 of my favorite live action anime, mafia the series was as good as the previous ones. Well it's not a live action anime, at least as far as I know, but it sure does feel like one. With every episode I watch, I get increasingly frustrated that a show this good is so obscure.

This is one of the funniest shows I have ever watched. It does comedy so well. It's in your face, but also subtle. It is serious at times, but it never takes itself too seriously either. The comedy is sprinkled in so nicely with the plot progression that it makes the viewing experience that much more enjoyable.

The plot is good. Like really good. I am genuinely intetested to see where things are going. And then I get hit with things I don't expect. So fun.

The characters are SO FREAKING GOOD. I feel so thrilled watching this because the characters are right up my alley. Everything everyone says or does makes sense for their character, no matter what kind of scene os going on. It's actually amazing. Also everyone is doing such a good job of bringing these characters to life.

The action sequences in this show is actually some of the best I have seen coming from a thai production. It is so well choreographed and executed. Different people have different fighting styles based on what weapons they use, and it really shows. Even the fake fight was choreographed so well. Most action scenes I have seen from the thai market are bad, so I am so glad that this show has good action. Because the action is such an important part of the show too. And the thing is, the action is not that realistic, it's definitely exaggerated and has that anime vibe to it. But it works with the overall tone of the show so well.

I am totally digging the vibes of this show. It's just so so good.

AnnaSvenBeam continue to be the most chaotic funny wholesome trio. Beam, my sweet naive child, is still very much a lamb thrust into the world of wolves. Anna, the frustrated babysitter that just wants to chill will do anything to make others do her work for her. Sven is a sympathetic bro who really enjoys watching the show. The dumb, dumber, dumbest moments that happen with this trio are so funny. I just love that most interactions between Anna and Beam involve her pointing a gun at him. I know Sven enjoys watching Anna bully Beam as much as I do.

I can't believe there is seriously a bunny girl in this show. I love it.

Beam my sweet child is not prepared for whatever is coming his way.

I couldn't care less about the cop. He deserved that for letting his ego get to his head.

The mafia women are so cool.

And now it's time for my compulsory Joong simping. Seriously, Joong is so good in this series. He can do comedy so well too. I fidn't know that. To me, the best form of comedy is when characters remain serious and react normally conforming to their character setting in the most absurd situations. It's not exaggerated reactions that make the situation funny. The situation itself is funny, and the characters reacting seriously makes the whole thing even funnier. And Joong does this type of comedy oh so well. He reacts to his environment so naturally. I am still amazed that he can play a character like Beam without being overshadowed by all the other eccentric characters he is always surrounded by. He really did such a good job here.

#mafia the series #i am offended by how few people know about this show #3 eps in and there have been countless memeworthy moments #i wish i could make memes just because i cannot bear to let these moments go un-memed #the plot is solid #the show is funny #the vibes are amazing #the characters make sense #what more could i ask for?#i cannot explain how much fun i am having #joong archen #i knew you were a good actor #but i didn't know you could do all that you're doing here

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electriopenguin-21 · 4 months ago

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Sly Cooper 5 Idea part 2

Moving onto the villains and gameplay of the game, first for the gameplay, I picture the game playing most like the previous games, considering it has been a while since the last game so I would not do anything too crazy. The playable characters would be Sly, Bentley, Murrey, and Carmelita. The one thing I would add to the gameplay would also involve a subplot the game would have. The subplot would involve Penelope after she escaped prison. Penelope would be hidden throughout each chapter as a mini boss, becoming like a rival thief to the Cooper gang. After defeating each boss fight you get a special upgrade for each of the characters for chapters 2-5. In chapter 6 when you encounter Penelope for the final time, you find not one but 2 Penelopes. As it turns out, Penelope was building robots in her free time, but le Paradox from Sly 4 took one of Penelope's robot and gave it her memories and convinced her that she was the real Penelope and that Sly is keeping Bentley from his true potential. The robot Penelope then locked up the original Penelope and joined le Paradox. After you defeat robo Penelope will give you a permanent upgrade allowing to find collectables you missed to make up for all the damage she and her robot clone caused.

Villain Bios:

Noir: Noir is a black cat that was a social outcast during his time in school due to black cats being seen as bad luck. This overtime caused him to fall into the shadows. Because of that, he would start a life of petty theft, at first to get back at those that rejected him, before moving to robbing museums. He is encouraged to do this by Lady Futoro as she was the only one outside of his family that did not treat him like bad luck. Noir is a master of stealth that can steal anything for the Oracles without being spotted, and the level would be about trying to track him down.

Octavius: Octavius is a giant octopus that uses radiation to power the machines and weapons the Oracles use. Octavius was once a normal octopus that wanted to show people the machines he built that run on nuclear power at his job at the plant, only for a rival coworker to sabotage his machine, which would not only disfigure him but also cost him his job. In order to pay the bills, he reluctantly started working for Lady Futoro, using his designs once meant to help people, to instead only help the Oracles and harm everyone else.

Janaina: Janaina is a maned wolf that once went to the same academy as Carmelita. She constantly felt envious of Carmelita, feeling like the academy gives her special treatment because her family members were cops. One day, she dropped out of the academy and joined the Oracles to get revenge on the academy she felt picked favorites. She acts as the muscle of the Oracles and breaks into places to knock out the guards.

Hades: Hades is a horse who once went by the name Sullivan that lost his girlfriend to an unknown gang and teamed up with Lady Futoro to hopefully avenge her death. After killing the unknown gang, he went on the run, acting as an assassin for the Oracles. His boss fight would have you playing as Murrey and fight him head on as you corner him.

Eliana: Eliana is a Seal that growing up did not have much money but had big dreams to start her own circus after falling in love with them after encountering one arrive in her home town. Desperate for money to create her dream circus, she gets help from Lady Futoro and in exchange, the funds the circus make go towards funding for the Oracles plans. The chapter you fight her in take place mostly at a circus.

Lady Futoro: Lady Futoro is the mastermind behind the Oracles. As a young water bear she had a special ability to see into the future. When she entered adulthood, she form a cult called the Oracles that takes advantage of people who are struggling. She uses the radioactive machines built by Octavius and the artifacts Noir steals to power a mech that allows her to become the goddess she sees herself becoming in order to rule the world and mold it in her image.

And that's it for my ideas for Sly 5, what do you guys think?

#sly cooper #gaming #Sly 5 #3d platformer

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wastrelwoods · 2 years ago

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to be fair i actually like the way that pterry positions police work - that there IS value in theory in a force that works to bring justice and uphold laws designed to protect people, and if police were good people who truly wanted justice then that would be fine, but also unflinchingly pointing out how easy it is for cops to be corrupt and/or arms of the government and how individual coppers' prejudices can affect their policing if not dealt with? like night watch especially with the original gang and with cable street and then with carcer easily becoming police - feels like pterry was saying 'ACAB, but they don't HAVE to be, but it takes root reform and a top-down permanent commitment to genuine people-focused policing to make them a force for good'

HI yeah sorry i waited to chew on this for a while i'm thinkin it over bc i am still always of two minds. pterry's take on policing is very reform-minded and explicitly trying to call out widespread corruption and violence in direct deconstruction of almost every other traditional form of the police procedural. and also having vimes and his police literally break from their intended role as a tool of the state to try to hold the state equally as accountable as people with less power is very narratively good! the idea that runs through the books of one man who is so committed to justice that he can reform the whole institution from the inside is compelling! and it is also very much an unrealistic fantasy and the kind of empty promise cities throw millions of dollars away for in sensitivity training and uber-militarization hoping that the problems with policing always sort themselves out with the right polish

as an abolitionist i don't agree that police work is an essential service and that police need to exist to provide justice, or that people would tear themselves apart without police and states and laws to hold them in check. but. that premise is something it would be very hard to make a procedural without. i think i like the watch best when they function the least like Police and are striving to provide more nuanced nonviolent community support, and de-escalate, and actually protect and serve people, and i like that sections like the start of night watch where every department in the city is involved in a genre-typical tense manhunt and shootout with A Psychopath Serial Killer (tm) are very, very rare

carcer isn't like most watch series criminals in being either a person driven to breaking the law by rough circumstances or a corrupt person in power, when we meet him he's just knee-jerk murdering young off-duty officers to keep from being caught for undescribed other random murders. carcer is just the sort of character who exists to be as terrible as possible with no particular motivation in order to make vimes' inner narration about how badly he wants to get a chance to kill this man without due process something that is sympathetic as much as it is harrowing. definitely the type of character most copaganda pieces use as an antagonist, and i like that the watch books don't resort to that the rest of the time. AND i also love that being just a guy who loves to do indiscriminate violence for the hell of it lands him a job as a cop in the past THAT is a great deconstruction. i also love the final conclusion being that even people who are this brand of cartoonishly evil and too dangerous to safely apprehend can't just be murdered in the street on the judgement of a good guy with a weapon. tho of course he is just hauled off and killed by the state anyway with more due process and paperwork involved. which is a little bit of an undercut of the idea but the ethics of capital punishment is sort of a different beast and not rly the focus ANYWAY

TLDR my hesitation is that a lot of the premise of police reform in the watch books is the kind of thing that demonstrably doesn't work irl re: promoting change from the inside but if you gotta have a book about good cops i do appreciate the ways pterry dug in and grappled with that

#night watch #meta #discworld #idk i hope i said this well #pigeon post

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the-ravenclaw-werewolf · 2 years ago

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Okay, um, so this happened:

I wasn't sure what to expect, but ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE! LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS!

Lupin the 3rd: Delicate Threads

Okay, in this Zenigata-centric story, it takes place in three timelines, which translates to three arcs:

Timeline 1: The Musician Arc

In the beginning, he doesn't want to become an officer in the first place.

That's because throughout his life for as long as he could remember hid father kept pushing him to "carry the family legacy".

Now it's not to say Zenigata completely hates everything and anyone police related, he does has respect to the few cops who truly uphold justice and he knows that the job is important. But when you've been forced trained by your father since you were a child to know how to fight, use weapons, and study every law and new law known to man, then the idea to become one leave a sour taste in the mouth.

But he gets his break once he starts college. After saving enough money and managing to get a scholarship, he heads off and is studying to get a degree in music. This because thanks to his mother, music became his escape and then became his passion. So he wants to make it big in the music industry.

Of course his father finds out and isn't too happy about the change. But Zenigata didn't care. He was on his own now and there was no way he going to be told who to be ever again. His ultimate goal; bring joy and light to those with his music, both spiritually and financially.

So he put all his effort into his schoolwork and he excels at both being a student and a musician, already having several songs out. But also because of his creative and inventor mind, (he's minoring in engineering), he has created some songs considered "beyond his time".

(Because he was born in 1938? and it would around the late 1950s when he's in college. )

During the four years he soon cultivates a fan base and Zenigata is both physically and mentally better. Then came Zenigata's last year of college, and he's at a karaoke bar preforming. That's where he meets Lupin who is in his second year.

(Apparently they both went to the same college manga-wise?)

Call it fate, love at first, whatever, but after Zenigata's initial performance, they end up meeting with each and hitting it off. Before they depart, they exchange numbers and wish each other luck for the paths they are going down.

Over time, Zenigata watches as Lupin goes down at the world's greatest thief, and even meets Jigen, Goemon, and Fujioka on different occasions. He doesn't get in involved in their heists, but he'll occasionally patch them up after some particular bad ones and only once did he help them steal something.

And of course he comes in encounter with the officer hot on their tail, Inspector Yatagarasu, or Yata as he like to call him, or "Rookie" as Lupin likes to call him. Since Zenigata never became a cop, there was no one stand place as the top inspector of the ICPO, or at least one that was consistent. Yata dedicated himself to fighting for justice and weeding out any corrupted officials, causing his to become the best cop the ICPO has seen, which eventually lead to him being one of the youngest Inspectors. He is also well known in the community for taking on the Lupin case and being the first, and continuing, officer to being close to apprehending the thief.

(And despite know that Zenigata, somehow, has connection to these four thieves, they get along great and will go out to drink together. Zenigata over the years comes to see Yata as like a son, helping him out, giving tips of anything crime and law related. and making sure Yata isn't pushing himself.)

(Yata is also a big fan of Zenigata's music, but shh.) 🤫

Speaking of which, Zenigata achieved his dream of becoming a famous singing, going on tours and just all around living his dream. Zenigata also achieves in making inventions that would help the world for the better. So thanks to his mind and influence, he actually able to thrust the world a little ahead in the future in terms of technnolgy and using his money, he's able to help those in need, making his a historical figure for the books.

And over time, he discovers he is polyamorous and has fallen for Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko. Of course he has a freak out, but decides to take the chance, come out to the four, and ask them out. After some revelations, it turns out that all five of them have feelings for each other. So after some tears and hugs, all of them agree to start officially dating.

Skip ahead and one day, Lupin and the gang are on another heist and Zenigata is out buying groceries for dinner and buys something special for the four of them.

But when he gets home, he turns on the news to find the four of them died in a fire set on the museum of where the valuable they were trying to steal was. Zenigata is devastated and starts screaming and crying, clutching on to a small, but slender box that held the engagement rings he had recently bought.

Entering into a state of depression, Zenigata just goes through the motions of life, but can find the joy and love he once did before. Not when the ones he considered his soulmates were gone. He then gets a call from Yata to head down to the station. He at first thinks he's going to be interrogated, but seeing Yata's red eyes and tired bags, Zenigata figures there was something else

As it turns out, the fire was not cause by a gas leak, as the news keep reporting it. Yata has noticed something was off about the crime scene and dug a little deeper, finding evidence that this whole heist, the jewel, the location, was just a ploy to capture and kill the Lupin gang. Zenigata becomes enraged and promises to help Yata get to the bottom of them, even when the latter doesn't want him to get directly involved, but nevertheless, the two begin working together.

But of course even before this revelation, Zenigata had taken it upon himself to make sure the four at least get a funeral, since not many people would mourn thieves. So he get in contact with those who truly knew the Lupin gang and they hold a service, and even Yata came to pay his respect. Zenigata then retires from the music industry to focus fully on finding the culprit. But then one day, he finds more clues to who it is and tries to call Yata, but it goes straight to voice mail. This doesn't set right with him, so he automatically drives to the station.

When he gets there, he finds Yata car, but no one else at the building. Zenigata unconsciously starts using his detective skills and realize something is wrong. He is able to break into the building and sneak through it, but then he hears a gun shot. In a panic, he runs to where Yata's office is, only to find a masked killer who is holding a thick envelope of files, a gun, and is standing over Yata's dead corpse.

The killer spots Zenigata, but he was already running and tackles the killer, which cause them to drop his gun. The two get into a fight and many blows are exchanged. Zenigata is able hold himself up in the fight, but the killer has more brute strength along with skills. Almost beaten to a pulp, Zenigata doesn't watch as the killer aims their gun at him. He only looks at Yata's corpse and starts mentally apologizing to him and the Lupin gang that he couldn't save them, that he couldn't do more.

Before it goes dark, the last sound he hears is a gun shot.

Timeline 2: The Criminal Arc

But then he wakes up, on the day he received his scholarship and realized he some how traveled back in time. So now he wants to protect the Lupin gang but he knows he can't do that as a musician, so he sets up a plan and just a several months after, he fakes his own death. His "death" left him with a scar running over his left eye, but he was more focusing on become a well known thief, one to ensure that when he meets Lupin again, he can team up with him and will be able to protect him.

Zenigata becomes Moneta, a thief know for using high tech inventions to steal priceless objects and always slipping out of the cops grasp. Some call him "Robin Hood" because he mainly steals from the wealthiest, but the most shadiest, of people and exposes them in the process.

(A lot of people on the internet suspect that he's the reason why some place such orphanages and shelters are given such a large donation, but no one has been able to prove it yet.)

(And because Zenigata doesn't become a musician, which by turn nor an inventor, the world is "behind" on technological advances compared to the first timeline, making the world see him as mad genius.)

He course let's Lupin have his big break when he first entered into the criminal world, but using his knowledge of the past timeline, he sets up his plan.

He meets Lupin by "coincidence" on one of heist, take the piece that Lupin was going to steal, and after an exchange of words, he declares that they will see each other again and disappears into the night.

(Zenigata almost cried at seeing Lupin, living and breathing in his green jacket and wearing that monkey-like grin on his face.)

And this works. After several more times of running into each other, sometimes in competition, they begin to work together, bring the other three into the fold, and now they are well known in the criminal community, with Inspector Yata hot on their trail.

But during the course of all this, Zenigata has been secretly taking down other criminals who would, or were, going to to hurt the Lupin gang, but he still couldn't find the person who killed the Lupin gang, Yata, and himself the previous timeline.

But he figures that in said timeline, Yata must have gotten close or figured out who killed the Lupin gang. He starts searching into any ICPO officers who has any link to the case or to Yata. Zenigata of course finds there are a whole lot of corrupted officials, so now he tasked himself to bring them down as well.

Meanwhil, he comes out of the closet early, and the gang starts dating each other again. After several months, they finally get married. Zenigata was the one who was crying tears of joy the hardest, brimming with happiness of finally making part of his dream a reality.

When the day came when the fire happened, they actually don't go. Because just a week prior, Zenigata steals the artifact in secret, but making sure the rest of the gang has an alibi, and so now that nightmare of a day will soon pass, and Zenigata has alreary taken down more then 90% of the corrupted officials, so this should be it, right?

Zenigata had hoped and prayed that the nightmare was over, but as the five of them were running away with a different stolen piece on that same faithful night, they are suddenly shot at. They figure out right away that the cops who were shooting at them weren't not aiming to stop them, they were aiming to kill them. The five try head to the car, but it blows up, forcing them to run on foot. Unfortunately, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko are killed and Lupin is barely hanging on. Zenigata begins to carry him, but then he get shot as well and in the end, the cops eventually surround them. It takes a second for him to realize that Lupin had already died in his arms.

Zenigata ends up alive, but paralyzed from the waist down. He is arrested and is taken to jail, after pleading guilty for everything. He is back in a depression state and once again just going through the motions of life since he is severing a life sentence. But then he gets a visit from Inspector Yata, who still holds a somewhat friend/father-son relationship with him, and he tells him that those "cops" were not the ones the ICPO sent. Apparently, they were hired goons but they are nowhere to be found and any connections to them lead to dead ends.

Zenigata is still enraged by knowing he failed to protect the gang again, but he begs for Yata to stop looking so he wouldn't get hurt in this mess. Yata refuses, saying that he already found buried clues that suggest that that person who hired them could be an officer. Zenigata tries pleading over and over, but Yata doesn't budge as he won't rest until all five of them are avenged and the criminals involved are brought down. In the last few minutes of the visit, he only tells the Inspector to be careful. Yata promises to be so and then leaves with bittersweet feeling in both of them.

It's not till later, when Zenigata receives word that Yata was found dead in his apartment, bullet wounds found on his person. Zenigata never felt more useless in his entire life.

Time passes and then one day, Zenigata looks up to see an prison guard, who was hiding their face, opening his cell door. That's when they attacks him by trying to choke Zenigata to death, but even when paralyzed, he is able to get them off and he manages to get a good look at his attacker.

Seeing their face, Zenigata becomes even more enraged and brutal starts punching them. But when they throw Zenigata across the cell and pulls out their gun, he knew that this was his final moment. As he apologizes to those dead for not figuring it out sooner, Zenigata is shot dead.

Timeline 3: The Inspector Arc

Just like before, he alive and is back on the same day. But seeing of who the killer really it, he decides to take a new route. He wouldn't be able to save him as a musician, and he wasn't able to save him a criminal. So, decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become a cop. He will become the gang's enemy in order to save them.

He goes to college for a degree of Science of Criminal, but avoids Lupin, unable to face him the third time around. All through college, the national exam, and police training, Zenigata becomes the best of the best. Others admire him while other jeer and some call him crazy, but he doesn't care. Save those he loves are the only thing on his mind and he'll do whatever it takes.

After many years of putting criminals and corrupted officials behind bars, he finally becomes inspector to the ICPO and gets assigned to the Lupin case. Even while he wanted to once again cry after seeing one of the people he loves alive again, Zenigata never wavers. Even when the other members join in, Zenigata keeps up his mask in front of them, all the while secretly protecting them from the dangers they had previously faced in the other timelines.

But then Yata, a bright-eyed, optimistic officer was assigned to be his partner. He said of how much he admired Zenigata and he promise to help him in his endeavors. This later caused the older man break down, the changes in this timeline finally getting to him.

But it does turn out the right choice in the end. The other criminals and corrupted officials are still captured and the person who killed them in both previous timelines is sentenced to death, but tragically, Zenigata cannot go back to any of his old lives and would just have to live out this one, never being able to follow his passion, nor being able to tell the Lupin gang his real feelings, and is drowning in the guilt of taking away Yata's chance to rise above and beyond.

I know this is a lot, but what do you think?

#lupin the 3rd: delicate threads #lupin the 3rd #arsene lupin iii #daisuke jigen #goemon ishikawa xiii #mine fujiko #goro yatagarasu #time travel #polyamarous #musician zenigata #criminal zenigata #inspector zenigata

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kevinsreviewcatalogue · 1 year ago

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Review: The Last Boy Scout (1991)

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Rated R for graphic violence and very strong language

Score: 4 out of 5

The Last Boy Scout is a wild, unwieldy, and immensely entertaining buddy-cop action flick cut from the same cloth as Lethal Weapon, not much of a surprise given that Shane Black wrote both movies. It's a movie that opens with an over-the-top song that would make for a legitimately good intro to an NFL broadcast, followed by a prologue of a football player (played by Billy Blanks in a cameo) shooting three members of the opposing team on the field before killing himself. The plot of the film is one that has only become sadly relevant in the years since 1991, especially as sports betting has been legalized and normalized as just a regular part of the professional sports landscape. It's got Bruce Willis at the height of his glory post-Die Hard playing a salty private eye, a young Damon Wayans in a role that, while more dramatic than anything on In Living Color, still supplies a lot of funny moments in his interactions with Willis, and director Tony Scott delivering a ton of exciting, spectacular action scenes. It's a shallow film that's mostly an excuse to have Willis and Wayans do their thing, but that alone is enough to make it practically obligatory viewing during football season.

Our protagonists are both disgraced men. Joe Hallenbeck is a private detective and former Secret Service agent who lost his last job after he punched out a senator he caught raping a woman. Jimmy Dix is a former star quarterback for the Los Angeles Stallions (because like hell the NFL would let them use real team names in a movie like this) who was fired and banned from the league as the chronic pain caused by his injuries on the field led to drug addiction and, from there, involvement in gambling. Together, They Fight Crime -- specifically by uncovering a gambling ring within the league that's scheming to get sports betting legalized in order to make it a more exciting experience for viewers, damn the consequences (gambling addiction, game-fixing), and is willing to kill in order to do it. It's the kind of suspicion of authority and rich fat cats that, almost as much as witty buddy-cop banter, I've noticed is something of a trend in Shane Black's screenplays, and while it's an altogether shallow treatment of sports betting that serves largely as background flavor, it's a story that predicted, decades before the rise of DraftKings and FanDuel, just how corrosive it would be to sports in general. (One change, though: I would've had the shadowy hitman in the opening threatening to kill the running back if he wins instead of loses, since throwing matches and point-shaving are how a lot of sports betting scandals go down in real life.)

The heart and soul of the film is Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans as Joe and Jimmy, both deeply troubled men who mean well but are otherwise plagued by all manner of demons. Joe's strong moral code gets him compared to a Boy Scout (hence the title), but it also ruined his career once it put him on a collision course with the powerful crooks who run everything, while Jimmy was chewed up and spit out by a corrupt sports league that wore down his body and then blamed him for the resulting drug addiction. They're both bitter, cynical assholes, but they have damn good reason to be. Willis was always a master of action movie snark, and his talent for such is on full display here as he has to put up with indignities from everyone around him, not least of all his estranged wife and his rebellious daughter. Wayans, meanwhile, gets the more serious role as a guy who's pissed at the world and jumped head-first into hedonism as his life fell apart, but one who's not all that different from Joe except that his vices aren't as socially acceptable as alcoholism. Two guys who look like polar opposites, especially in the contrast between Joe's blue-collar status and Jimmy's fame and fortune (highlighted in a great exchange involving Jimmy's $650 leather pants), but turn out to have a lot more in common than they think is ripe material for a buddy comedy, and Willis and Wayans have great buddy chemistry together. The supporting cast, too, is filled with character actors giving fun performances, whether it's Noble Willingham as the villainous team owner Marcone, Taylor Negron as the terrifying hitman Milo, a young Halle Berry as Jimmy's stripper girlfriend Corey, or a young Danielle Harris stealing the show as Joe's daughter Darian, feeling almost like a prototype for Angourie Rice's character in The Nice Guys in terms of being what happens if you gave Nancy Drew the mouth of a sailor. (And now I wanna see Shane Black write a Nancy Drew movie.)

When it comes to action, this is a Tony Scott movie, and if you know the first thing about Tony Scott, you know what you're getting: flashy action, glamorous vistas, and a lot of visual flair. This movie looks damn good in that peculiar '80s/early '90s studio way, a movie that knows exactly how big and dumb it is and leans right into it. The opening scene of an ill-fated running back at the end of his rope giving a whole new meaning to "pistol offense" sets the tone and lets you know what you're in for straight away, a film big on splashy visuals and moments designed to set a mood. The plot is fairly boilerplate and easy to figure out, existing largely to drive the action and the characters' banter and get you to the real reason this movie exists, which is the car chases, shootouts, and explosions that are all handled with aplomb. From start to finish, this movie is incredibly entertaining, the kind of flick that invites you to turn off your brain and have a great time watching a pair of very charismatic actors run around Los Angeles with guns.

The Bottom Line

The Last Boy Scout is a kick-ass, no-nonsense buddy action/comedy anchored by a pair of great lead performances, a witty script, and director Tony Scott doing what he does best. This was perfect viewing just before the Super Bowl, and honestly at any other time of year.

#the last boy scout #1991 #1991 movies #action #action movies #action comedy #buddy cop #crime movies #sports movies #tony scott #shane black #bruce willis #damon wayans #danielle harris #halle berry #noble willingham #taylor negron #super bowl

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rocicrew · 2 years ago

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How do we feel about Miller, generally, in the fandom?

What do you think about him?

i'm not sure tbh what the overall feel about miller is in the fandom. i've seen both positive and negative opinions so my guess is a mixed bunch, but to which way that tips i actually don't know bc i joined the fandom 'late'.

personally, i don't particularly like him as a character. i understand that they wanted a noir vibe so that must have factor in it's creation but a. he's just wasn't one of the characters i was drawn to, b. i can't get over his obsession with julie. i still think the story could have worked without pushing the obsession that far. crooked cop with loose morals gets a kidnap job, but as he digs in realizes how deep this goes, how much of a threat to belters that 'weapon' actually poses > eros > he becomes radicalized again/wants to stop it, etc becomes involved if you will. eros is more than enough to spiral, seek revenge, stop and so the list goes ... he still wouldn't become my fave, personally speaking but the overall story still holds. then again i'm being very subjective bc it made me uncomfortable.

i have to say, that i did not expect, when i read leviathan wakes that miller was far more self aware about how a. unhealthy his obsession was b. that the image of julie he made up in his mind wasn't actually julie, in the sense of who julie actually was but his own projection. i also do not personally agree with their decision to add in the kiss on the show, nor ship them, but to each their own.

i did whoever like the use of the investigator as a plot device. it's on the weird scifi stuff i find intriguing so yeah. and i get why they picked miller for it, but overall i'm eh about miller's character but i do like what they did with the investigator later on.

#anti joe miller #for anyone that wants to tag #answered #i read the second ask too and it's okay !#i'm always down to talk abt the thoughts i have re characters / plots etc #tldr yes i do like julie #(bc she along with the cant's destruction was the first domino that started this journey so it caught my interest)#(i also feel like the the protomolecule infected her/she infected the protomolecule back had some interesting potential that was untapped)#but i'm not particularly fond of miller

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tuttle-did-it · 6 months ago

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Every single police officer I meet in the US was a soulless. power-obsessed, racist, sexist, sadistic and cruel human. And they openly fantasised of getting to shoot a Black person in the face. A couple of them freely admitted that they jacked off to the idea of it. That this is why they became a cop. They were (are) monsters and they hope every day they get to find an excuse to shoot a person of colour, a transgender person or a disabled person.

Every single police officer who kills a person should be in prison for life. Especially if it is a hate crime— queer, mental or physical disabilities, is not white, or underage, of a certain political or religious persuasions, etc. And every cop who covers up for them should be in prison for life, too.

I’m very much of the opinion that prison should be focused on rehabilitation, not revenge. But after seeing the kinds of people who are cops there, I’m even more convinced that this must be the case.

I say:

Every cop who murders a person should be in prison for the rest of their lives, with potential for parole as I’ll explain. Whilst in prison, they are required to undertake education about their victim.

So, in this case, this Sean Grayson would get life in prison. In prison for a minimum of 10 years, no negotiation. First degree murder is the automatic base charge, hate crime is another charge. Other charges can be added in top. Time without parole increases exponentially with every charge.

In prison, he (and any other offenders of similar cruelties) will be required to take a university-level degree education on the systemic racism within the country, the mental health conditions Sonya Massey suffered from, the history of police brutality against people of colour, treatment of people of colour throughout time, white privilege, male privilege, connection between racism and sexism, etc.

He also has to have serious therapy for the entire time he’s there. If he cannot do this, he stays in prison until he dies.

If he passes the classes, does well with the therapist, writes a dissertation on case studies of how the system failed people like Sonya, how fucked up he was to do it, what should have happened/what someone in this situation must do next time, how fucked up the entire system really is, etc—then and only then can he apply for parole. The 10 years reset every time he pulls shit in prison like attacking someone, etc.

If he’s granted parole, he’s never allowed near any form of law enforcement again, or anywhere where he will be with vulnerable people. For the rest of his life, he’s registered as a criminal offender who can never possess a weapon of any kind. If he violates parole, gets involved with a hate group, does anything violent, etc he returns to prison for the rest of his sentences, no second parole.

He must pay financial retribution to the family person he executed. If they have no family, the retribution goes to organisations that would have helped his victim so they can help someone else before they get into the situation Sonya was. Yep, time to sell the boat you got from the extra time you were on paid leave after the murder and worked at another police station until the media stopped talking about the execution.

He would need to publish that dissertation as well. Every single law enforcement officer must read at least 5 of these dissertations every year to keep their jobs, and must attend seminars once every 3 months where former cop murderers/abusers come in and talk about everything they learned.

Also part of his parole will include teaching classes to other criminals who murdered women of colour, disabled people, etc.

After 10-20 several years of this, he’s welcome to find a job in anything else as long as it is not connected to a hate group (including law enforcement), can never be near a weapon again, and still must pay restitution to the family or charity to help someone else. But must continue therapy for the rest of his life. Violating this, he is back to serve out his life sentence, no second parole.

As for the cops who are working but haven’t murdered anyone yet? They would then have to pass exams after every one of these seminars, and once a year have to hand in a document describing at least 6 seminars/mental health experts/qualified therapy hours/case studies on how to improve the system that fails so many. And classes on how to actually be a fucking human being with a shred of empathy and soul. If they don’t do this, they lose their jobs.

Sonya Massey deserved better. Everyone who has ever been hurt by a corrupt law enforcement officer or will in future deserves better. And the criminal justice system is absurd. These cops murder the most vulnerable people in society and laugh about it with their cop pals. They destroy lives and they should pay with their lives.

First degree murder charge— EVERY time. No whoops, no ‘accidental’ anything. When they take a gun to be a cop, it automatically makes it first degree because they know they have the gun and they know they can end someone’s life instantly. And until they have education and consequence, they’re just going to keep enjoying themselves as they execute people.

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

ACAB.

Sonya Massey was a paranoid-schizophrenic woman who turned to the police when she was scared and suspected an intruder inside of her home; she was a Black, mentally ill, woman shot dead and executed by a white police officer solely because she said "I rebuke you" over a pot of water. she was DUCKING DOWN behind a counter repeating the words "I'm sorry" as he advanced and, eventually, killed her. Sean Grayson, a white police officer, executed her.

her name was Sonya Massey. she was a human being who deserved to live. say her fucking name. Sonya Massey.

#police brutality #saneism #say her name #sonya massey #corrupt cops #ACAB #The justice system fucking sucks #racism #sexism #ableism #stop letting soulless psychopaths near vulnerable people #fuck cops #black lives matter #black lives fucking matter

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jimmylee300 · 10 months ago

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Hong Kong Action Cinema (Blog 2)

For my second blog about Hong Kong action cinema, I decided to take a closer look into one of the greatest Hong Kong action films made. We all know John Woo can be considered one of the greatest filmmakers of the genre, so I dove into one of his most notorious films: Hard Boiled.

Released in 1992 and clocking in at two hours and eight minutes, this film is amazing. It gets going right from the jump with the action, at the beginning in the tea restaurant. It leaves the viewer with no shortness of action throughout the entirety of the film, and has a sweet conclusion as well.

Heres a semi-detailed summary for some background knowledge on how this film goes. The film follows a policeman, Tequila.

He is the main character we see throughout the film, and his role is simple; a Hong Kong police officer. He is chasing after two different gangs, the Triads who are led by Uncle Hoi, and also Johnny Wong's gang. One of these gangs killed his partner so he's out for revenge. We see another main character introduced in the film, Alan.

He is working for Uncle Hoi to kill, but nobody knows he is actually an undercover cop. Impressed by Alan's gun skill, Johnny Wong recruits him to work for him, and betray Uncle Hoi.

While all this is going on, Tequila finds out Alan is an undercover cop, and they eventually start working together. The triad's lair gets raided by Wong's gang, and Uncle Hoi and most of the gang die, thanks to Alan. Now Alan has Wong and his gang on his side, and when he confronts Tequila at the lair, this is when Tequila realizes he is actually a cop (because Alan lets him live).

Then Tequila confirms his belief at Alan's boat, where they work together to fight off the rest of Hoi's gang. This is the part in the film where a duo is introduced, and the rest of the action involves Tequila and Alan working together as a team. We get taken to a hospital where another undercover cop who was on Wong's team, gets figured out and is a huge target. We remain at this hospital for the remainder of the movie, roughly about an hour. Tequila and Alan figure out Wong's lair is under the hospital, so they are fighting them the remainder of the movie. To prevent spoilers I will not say the ending, but what we see is a beautiful action-packed ending, where teamwork and trust become huge factors. Bombs are set in the hospital by Wong, and everyone is fighting for their life, while Tequila and Alan are fighting for revenge and justice.

John Woo does a great job at never letting the action get boring. We see pistols, shotguns, SMGs, LMGs, RPGs, and grenades all incorporated as weapons of use in the film to get viewers on the edge of their seats. John Woo uses slow-motion, and multiple angles during every fight which spices things up. We also see a great plot-line involved in this film, between a love story, brotherhoods formed, and justice being served. The plot is simple for this film: cops fighting bad guys, but it is so much more than that.

A scene that really stuck with me that I'd like to analyze, is the closing action scene. Wong has all the power in his hands, after blowing up the hospital and having a gun pointed to Alan's head. He uses this power to embarrass Tequila, but Alan pulls a fast move and grabs Wong's gun to shoot himself in the chest, allowing Tequila to finish Wong off. This is the teamwork I had touched upon earlier, because they both knew they had to do something, and they were both ready because they developed that brotherly connection throughout the film. It isn't one of the most action-packed scenes, but in my opinion it is the most important one. I could not find the scene on YouTube, but here's another great one from the hospital, Alan using deception to make this scene work.

youtube

Barbara Scharres, of The Criterion Collection, states "It is filled with images of departure and closure, of impending death, fear of the unknown, and regret for what is not to be. In terms of the bravura with which Woo stages the action, the film is unparalleled in its fiery invention and technical virtuosity, a fact which points out all the more that for the first time in one of his films the relationship between the central characters—the cop Tequila, and his compromised undercover counterpart Tony—is one of wariness and grudging respect rather than all-out trust " (Barbara Scharres). This describes the film in a perfect way, applauding Woo's directing style but also acknowledging the unique plot used between Tequila and Alan's relationship.

When talking about Tequila and Alan's purpose, Zsoro from Medium, states "the audience comes to understand these two men are fundamentally good; they are loyal to the side of justice, even if they have to shoot their way out and harrow their souls along the way to its delivery" (Zsoro). Thats their purpose, unsentimental combat for revenge and justice will no ill-intent. "Heroic Bloodshed" (Zsoro) was a great way to describe this film, because there was a lot of blood but it was all in the name of justice. A final touch upon this point, "Hard Boiled, like A Better Tomorrow (1987) and The Killer (1989) before it, comprises this arena of heroic bloodshed, with stylized action set pieces setting heavy duty cops against Romantic robbers. Each side of the conflict is armed with a mastery of “gun fu” and their own self-determined sensibility for what constitutes justice" (Zsoro).

This film paved the way for a lot of the more modern action films we see today, such as Fast and Furious where slow motion is used and lots of gunfire with many different interesting angles, and a hell of a storyline.

#Hong Kong action cinema #Youtube

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fedorasaurus · 1 year ago

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Been getting back into fanfic writing after a couple years of barely churning out any WIPs. It feels good! A lot of my stories have been too raunchy to share on main, but for this one, here's some SFW Gunther x JC fluff.

It's a real short one, <1000 words.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53935072

Downtime

You know what they say: "it takes all kinds to make a world."

Jordan Shea had seen all sorts of folk enter the Underworld Tavern over the years. Mechs, however, were an unusual sight, especially ones decked out in as much hardware as the tank of a man who approached the bar that night. Arms, legs, and eyes all replaced with sturdy metal and cabling. A web of intricate wiring, likely the kind used to inhibit pain in soldiers who take on the more risky missions, was visible just beneath his skin. The whole top of his head was a metallic dome, probably bulletproof. Machinery like his wasn't cheap, nor was it necessary for the average civilian. Had to be a UNATCO agent, she thought, giving the big man a knowing nod. She too had been involved in an augmentation program, once upon a time. Now her mechanical arms were mostly used for her bartending duties--not to say she couldn't use her hardware in combat when belligerent patrons ignored her establishment's "no weapons" policy.

Underworld was known as a smoky, shady place, where people made legally questionable deals over games of pool and shots of liquor, but it was also known as a safe place, a place not to be fucked with. "Underworld" was a scary-sounding name, maybe, but it was fitting. All kinds of "sinners" from society were welcome here, free to be themselves, whoever they were, if only for a few hours.

Judging by the Mech's tough-guy stance and serious expression, she suspected he'd be ordering something strong tonight. Maybe a whiskey (or two). She was surprised, then, when all he asked for was a soda.

[story continues below the pagebreak]

"Orange," he specified.

"No problem, sir, that'll be ten credits."

He seemed delighted as she passed him the chilled can, as if orange soda was some kind of rare commodity that you couldn't get from literally any old vending machine.

Strange guy, Jordan thought with a smile as the Mech made his way to a booth in the back of the tavern. That's when she noticed that he'd come to Underworld with someone else.

The other man looked fairly average, but in a suspicious way. Like he was trying too hard to be incognito with his black sunglasses and long trench coat. She couldn't quite read his face or body language, either. Just, completely neutral. She'd seen the guy once before, now that she thought about it. He'd ordered a couple beers and asked about her augs, said he was "in the business." He was polite enough, and while Jordan wasn't exactly thrilled with UNATCO's tendency to "phase out" old Mechs in favor of agents with the newest, fanciest models of tech, she knew better than to pry about their latest "business."

She wondered if the agents were here on some sort of stakeout. Was her bar under government surveillance or something? If they were looking for intel, she'd be hard pressed to give up any juicy details. Nothing personal, of course. She had the same policy with those Midnight Sun tabloid journalists.

Jordan kept an eye on the two agents while she worked her shift. They sat close to each other, talking softly, and she'd never been good at reading lips, so who knows what they were plotting back there. Had to be important, though, the way they were leaning in at such an intimate proximity, faces almost touching. The big Mech smiled a few times, and overall seemed pretty relaxed, so Jordan chalked it up to just a couple of off-duty cops who, like lots of folks in this city, were coming to Underworld to get away from it all for a few hours. And she knew, there was a hell of a lot to get away from these days.

She quit focussing on the men for a little while, going on with her job mixing drinks and chatting with the regulars, until the other guy--the suspiciously average one, approached the bar.

"Evening, ma'am," he said flatly.

"Evening, officer. What can I get for ya?"

"I'll have a whiskey and a candy bar, please."

Jordan smiled with amusement as she turned to pour the glass. She'd have thought him to be strictly a beer guy, but it seemed the night was full of surprises.

The agent returned to his booth and resumed his private conversation with the big Mech, this time splitting the Choco-lent-Dream with him as well. Jordan couldn't help but notice that their hands lingered for a while over the crumpled candy wrapper afterwards, their fingertips ever so loosely entwined. And, surely, it wasn't just the whiskey that was bringing a certain blush to their cheeks.

Ah, I get it now, Jordan thought, her smile broadening to a full grin.

They really were just a couple of cops trying to get away from it all for a few hours. After all, it was hard to find a place in this city--in 2052 in general, for that matter--to just sit down in peace and have a few drinks with a lover.

Jordan was happy that the Underworld could be that place for them.

#Deus Ex #fanfic #JCxGunther #writing #fluff #oh oof my text formatting

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masterofd1saster · 2 years ago

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CJ current events 30mar23

Paul Pelosi getting hammered

The federal trial of David DePape, the man accused of attacking Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul at the couple’s San Francisco house last year, will start later this year, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors said that “all discovery has been produced” but there may be some supplemental items, according to court papers (pdf). A hearing on DePape’s motion to change venue is scheduled for May 30, while his jury trial is slated for Oct. 23, 2023.

The government reported that all discovery has been produced; however, there may be a few supplemental items that will trickle in. The hearing on Defendant’s Motion to Change Venue is set for May 30 at 10:00 a.m. Pretrial conference is set for Oct. 11, and jury trial is set for Oct. 23. Counsel is to submit a stipulated pretrial schedule by April 5.*** https://www.theepochtimes.com/update-in-case-against-paul-pelosi-attacker-david-depape_5142527.html ***

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The quick & easy way to solve homelessness in your city

***

Let's ask Laquan McDonald or Tamir Rice for their opinion!

12-year-old Elias Armstrong stole a car in Denver. When the owner tracked it down, the occupants fired at him, and Elias was killed in the shooting on Feb. 5. DA McCann will not charge the car owner with a crime. Elias's dad now wants a state law that prohibits an owner from tracking down his own property without police assistance.

“It’s the police’s job, let the police do it,” said Thomas Armstrong, father to slain 12-year-old Elias Armstrong. “No civilian should be able to track down their car and be able to approach the vehicle. I want it called Elias’ Law.” https://www.denverpost.com/2023/03/23/elias-armstrong-killed-stolen-car-protest-vigilante

Slaughtering any sense of personal responsibility would remain legal.

***

The conservative red meat headline of the day is

Transgender socialist shoots officer during eviction

A now-deceased transgender socialist seriously wounded a Seattle detective with the King County Sheriff's Office in a shootout while officers delivered a final eviction notice in Washington state on Monday.

The flurry of gunshots occurred at a Ballard apartment complex and ended in the suicide of the transgender evictee, who was born male. All three detectives likely exchanged gunfire with the evictee, who went by the name Eucytus, or Eucy, before they committed suicide by a gunshot to the head, according to the Seattle Times.

Detective David Easterly was injured and taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he went into surgery. As of Thursday night, he is still in critical condition. Although all three detectives were wearing bullet-proof vests, the bullet missed the vest and hit Easterly's torso. Police initially said Easterly did not fire his gun, but further evidence indicated that all three deputies “probably returned fire,” according to a news release.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/democratic-socialist-shoots-officer-during-eviction

***

Why are cops writing plea deals?

EXCLUSIVE — FBI whistleblowers are raising concerns over the bureau's involvement in a secret plea agreement conditioned by the U.S. government that stripped a defendant of their rights to own, buy, or even use firearms.

The FBI and Secret Service worked behind closed doors with an apparent prosecutor in 2019 to condition the signing of the form, which also stripped at least 60 people of their gun rights between 2011 and 2019, according to multiple Washington Examiner reports. Two FBI whistleblowers say the bureau's actions in connection to the forms are yet the latest revelation of the politicization of agencies, an allegation at the heart of the newly launched GOP-led weaponization of the federal government subcommittee. *** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ex-fbi-agents-sound-alarm-on-bureaus-involvement-in-secret-plea-agreement-gun-rights

***

Russian mercenary group threatens to dump fighters' corpses on doorsteps of officials

by Brady Knox, Breaking News Reporter |

March 23, 2023 06:53 PM***

Wagner's intimidation of the authorities extended until the next day. Prigozhin announced the following day that the region head promised that there would be no more obstacles to burials. He had previously called for the prosecutor general of Russia, Igor Krasnov, to punish Sergei Belopolsky, the head of Goryachy Klyuch, for discrediting volunteers and abuse of power. It's unknown if higher authorities got involved in the dispute.

Of the eight fighters buried, four were convicts recruited from penal colonies. The New Tab identified 38-year-old Anatoly Plotnikov, 34-year-old Alexei Ivanov, 45-year-old Sergey Grigoriev, 22-year-old Stanislav Suleymanov, 27-year-old Oleg Korolev, 52-year-old Valery Grishin, 26-year-old Alexander Korenev, and 23-year-old Dmitry Maltsev as those buried. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign/wagner-prigozhin-threatens-russian-officials

***

It's only a firearm crime, no reason to be punitive

The Colorado high school student who shot and injured two school administrators after they discovered his gun during a mandatory pat down had been on probation for a weapons charge, a law enforcement source said Thursday.

Austin Lyle, 17, who shot two deans at Denver East High School on Wednesday, was arrested on a weapons charge in 2021 shortly before he was expelled from Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado, the source said.

Classmates at Overland High School flagged posts about guns on Lyle’s social media, prompting police to visit his parents’ home, the source said. His parents let the officers in and they found a rifle with a “high capacity magazine and a silencer” in his room. Lyle was charged with a felony but the court dropped the charge and instead put him on one-year probation for the incident, the source said.

A representative for Cherry Creek School District said Lyle was “disciplined for violating board policy” during the 2021-2022 school year and consequently “removed from Overland High School.” It is unclear if the weapons incident was the violation.*** Safety plans can include things like mandatory pat downs for drugs or other items, supervised bathroom visits or random backpack searches, McDonald said. “It’s up to the school to follow through with that each and every day in order to affect a good climate culture, good safety within the school and protecting all the other kids,” he added.*** https://www.nbcnews.com/news/colorado-student-shot-two-school-administrators-probation-weapons-char-rcna76383

***

Good parody

Government Demands TikTok Stop Spying On Americans As That's Their Job

WASHINGTON, DC — As TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced questioning from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Capitol Hill, leaders from the United States government issued strong demands that TikTok stop spying on American citizens because that's the government's job.

"Stay off our turf!" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said to assembled members of the press. "How can the federal government be expected to effectively spy on all of our citizens if we've got this TikTok app and the Chinese Communist Party getting in our way trying to do the same thing? If anyone is going to be violatihttps://babylonbee.com/news/government-demands-tiktok-stop-spying-on-americans-as-thats-their-jobng the privacy of the American people, it should be us!"***

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Stanford grows a pair

Excellent letter by Stanford law dean Jenny Martinez about heckler's veto. https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/letter-stanford-law-school-dean-jenny-martinez-campus-community-march-22-2023:

Some students contend that the judge invited the heckling with offensive comments or engagement with protestors. These arguments misunderstand the nature of the disruption policy. The policy would not be meaningful to protect the carrying out of public events and the right of attendees to hear what is said if it applied only when a speaker said things protesters in an audience found agreeable. Nor does the fact that the speaker departs from their planned remarks and engages with the hecklers justify further heckling that disrupts the event. The Stanford disruption policy prohibits not just conduct that literally drowns out the speaker, but also that which “disrupt[s] the effective carrying out” of the event (emphasis added).***

quoting U of Chiraq:

A university faithful to its mission will provide enduring challenges to social values, policies, practices, and institutions. By design and by effect, it is the institution which creates discontent with the existing social arrangements and proposes new ones. In brief, a good university, like Socrates, will be upsetting. The instrument of dissent and criticism is the individual faculty member or the individual student. The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic. It is, to go back once again to the classic phrase, a community of scholars. To perform its mission in the society, a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry and maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures. A university, if it is to be true to its faith in intellectual inquiry, must embrace, be hospitable to, and encourage the widest diversity of views within its own community.

***

Let's see how it works

New X-Ray Checkpoints Scan for Fentanyl in Trucks at Mexico Border

Cartels rely on low probability of detection at crossings

By José de CórdobaFollow and Jon KampFollow | Photographs by Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Wall Street Journal

March 24, 2023 9:00 am

BROWNSVILLE, Texas—Some 1,000 trucks a day arrive from Mexico at a border checkpoint here near the southern tip of Texas. Their first stop is a white-and-yellow painted metal portal where energy beamed at the trucks produces X-ray images to try to spot fentanyl and other contraband.

Such scrutiny is rare. Across the southern border, most U.S.-bound trucks and nearly all passenger vehicles are generally scanned selectively if they are pulled aside. Mexican cartels have long profited from these odds while smuggling fentanyl and other narcotics. Their illicit trade propelled the U.S. to a record of nearly 107,000 fatal overdoses in 2021, the most recent year of full data. *** https://www.wsj.com/articles/fentanyl-opioid-us-mexico-border-5f947de

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Not nice

Emergency personnel have responded after a package with suspicious white powder was delivered to the mail room for the New York City building housing the Manhattan District Attorney's office, according to police.

A law enforcement source confirmed there was a note saying "Alvin – I’ll kill you" in the envelope. District Attorney Alvin Bragg is currently weighing whether to proceed with an indictment against former President Donald Trump for alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

The envelope delivered by the U.S. Postal Service Friday has been "deemed non-hazardous" at the scene, the mail room to the DA's office, officials told Fox News. *** https://www.foxnews.com/politics/package-suspicious-powder-delivered-manhattan-da-office-trump-investigation

***

Holy smokes, Batman!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, March 24, 2023

Deputy U.S. Marshal Convicted of Conspiracy, Cyberstalking, Perjury, and Obstruction

A federal jury convicted a deputy U.S. Marshal yesterday for conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury, and obstruction of a federal matter.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ian R. Diaz, 44, of Brea, California, and his then-wife, an unindicted co-conspirator (CC-1), posed as a person with whom Diaz was formerly in a relationship (Jane Doe). In that guise, they sent themselves harassing and threatening electronic communications that contained apparent threats to harm CC-1; solicited and lured men found through Craigslist “personal” advertisements to engage in so-called “rape fantasies” in an attempt to stage a purported sexual assault on CC-1 orchestrated by Jane Doe; and staged one or more hoax sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults on Diaz’s former wife. Diaz and CC-1 then reported this conduct to local law enforcement, falsely claiming that Jane Doe posed a genuine and serious threat to Diaz and CC-1. Their actions caused local law enforcement to arrest, charge, and detain Jane Doe in jail for nearly three months for conduct for which Diaz and CC-1 framed her.

“Ian Diaz abused his position as a deputy U.S. Marshal to execute an intricate cyberstalking scheme that framed an innocent person for sexual assault, leading to her unjust imprisonment for 88 days,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As this prosecution demonstrates, the Criminal Division is committed to preserving the public’s confidence in law enforcement by holding accountable any official who violates their oath of office and victimizes the community they are sworn to serve.”

In addition, Diaz and CC-1 took steps to conceal their conduct, including using falsely registered email accounts, using virtual private networks to access the internet anonymously, and communicating with each other using encrypted messaging services. Diaz also deleted email accounts used to communicate in furtherance of the scheme.*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/deputy-us-marshal-convicted-conspiracy-cyberstalking-perjury-and-obstruction

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Somebody find out for me if this is true

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If you're a mother, think about your kids before you get stupid

A New Jersey mother has died after she and four others inadvertently overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl in the parking lot of the shopping mall where they worked — as cops announced that two people have been arrested in the frightening ordeal.

Michelle Kerry Edoo, 29, of Bergenfield, NJ, died last Saturday, according to an online fundraiser created by Edoo’s family.

Edoo’s death came three days after she and four other female mall workers were found on March 15 in the lower level of the parking garage at the Shops at Riverside mall in Hackensack.

The four other mall workers, who have not been identified, survived.***

Meanwhile, authorities arrested two men from Paterson, New Jersey, Friday in connection to the overdoses.

Garfield Jones, 48, is charged with third-degree possession with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and third-degree possession of a controlled substance, the prosecutor’s office said.

Robert McCrae, 52, is charged with third-degree possession with the intent to distribute less than a half-ounce of heroin and fourth-degree possession with the intent to distribute drug paraphernalia, authorities said.*** https://nypost.com/2023/03/25/nj-mom-dies-after-inadvertent-fentanyl-overdose/

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Adverse possession is a thing, but squatting is still a crime

A Nevada handyman turned the tables on squatters who invaded his mother’s California home, after local officials said they could offer no assistance getting them out.

Flash Shelton, executive director of the Las Vegas-based United Handyman Association, said in a YouTube video that the trouble began after his father died and his mother could no longer live in the family home — which was then put up for rent.

A woman who identified herself as a prison guard reached out to Shelton looking to rent the Northern California house, but couldn’t offer any money or credit.

Shelton turned the woman down, but she was apparently undeterred.

“She ended up having a truck of furniture, and literally moved into the house,” Shelton said.***

Local police and the sheriff’s department said there was nothing they could do to help.*** https://nypost.com/2023/03/25/california-man-turns-the-tables-on-home-squatters/

That's not the law!

***

Filthy criminals

LYNWOOD, Calif. - The search is on for two suspects after an Uber driver was shot and killed and then carjacked in Lynwood early Friday morning, officials said.

The shooting was reported just after 1:30 a.m. at a 7-Eleven, which just celebrated its grand opening the day before, in the 2800 block of Imperial Highway.

Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the victim picked up two passengers and during the ride, he stopped at the convenience store for an unknown reason. At some point, the rideshare driver reportedly got into an altercation with the passengers when one of them pulled out a gun and shot him in his upper body. A store clerk witnessed the shooting and contacted authorities. When first responders arrived, the victim's body was found in the parking lot.

The victim's Honda Accord was carjacked by one of the suspects after shots were fired, while the second suspect took off running, according to authorities. ***

Loved ones have identified the victim as Aaron Orozco. His family members said he was a Marine veteran and that he served three tours in four years in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also told FOX 11 he was in his late 30s and is survived by his wife and two children.*** https://www.foxla.com/news/uber-driver-carjacked-shot-and-killed-in-lynwood.amp

***

Daily Mail, of course

A transgender woman has called for the dismantling of airport TSA screenings after she claimed an agent punched her in the testicles and 'yelled at me for having a penis'.

The flyer posted a since-deleted selfie showing her sobbing in a bathroom stall following the episode, complaining that her 'balls still hurt so bad'.

'I don't want the TSA agent that hurt me fired,' she said in a separate post. 'I want her educated and the entirety of TSA abolished altogether.' ***

another TSA row erupted when a transgender woman hit out at screenings for being 'transphobic' after an 'anomaly' was detected between her legs that 'set off the alarm'.

While Rosalynne Montoya was moving through the security, a TSA officer reportedly pressed a button designating her as a woman - triggering the alarm when she walked through the body scanner.

'Can we talk about how horrible it is to travel while being transgender sometimes? I always have immense anxiety leading up to going through security,' she explained.

After being flagged by the security system, she called on the TSA to 'remove the gender settings from their scanners' to cater to transgender people. *** https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11902891/Transgender-woman-posts-sobbing-selfie-bathroom-claiming-TSA-agent-punched-testicles.html

1 - "Anomaly."

2 - Is there anyone who likes TSA?

***

Really?

A teacher is under investigation in The Bronx and Staten Island amid accusations she had a long sexual relationship with a mentally ill 16-year-old student at a school for children with special needs.

Sandy Carazas-Pinez, 33, a former NYC biology teacher who is married with three children, had sex with the teen in her car at least a dozen times, and sent him nude and erotic poses among scores of inappropriate texts, according to allegations by the boy’s mom and documents obtained by The Post.

Police and district attorney investigators compiled reams of texts sent at all hours between the teacher and the teen, who attended the Biondi School in Yonkers at the city Department of Education’s expense. It is run by the nonprofit Rising Ground, which terminated the teacher this month.

“I know for me it isn’t going to be easy, I will miss your kisses, hugs and everything,” Casarez-Pinez allegedly wrote this year in a discussion of whether she and the boy should “end it,” according to texts under review by law enforcement agencies.*** https://nypost.com/2023/03/25/nyc-teacher-accused-of-sex-with-mentally-ill-student/

***

Israeli judicial reform - parliamentary system

JerusalemCNN —

For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets across the country to protest far-reaching changes to Israel’s legal system some say threaten the country’s democratic foundations.

Tensions rose further this weekend when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over his opposition to the planned overhaul, prompting mass street protests and widespread strike action.

At its core, the judicial overhaul would give the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and therefore the parties in power, more control over Israel’s judiciary.

From how judges are selected, to what laws the Supreme Court can rule on, to even giving parliament power to overturn Supreme Court decisions, the changes would be the most significant shakeups to Israel’s judiciary since its founding in 1948.

The proposed reforms do not come out of nowhere.

Figures from across the political spectrum have in the past called for changes to Israel’s judiciary.

Israel has no written constitution, only a set of quasi-constitutional basic laws, making the Supreme Court even more powerful. But Israel also has no check on the power of the Knesset other than the Supreme Court.***

The judicial overhaul is a package of bills, all of which need to pass three votes in the Knesset before they become law.

One of the most important elements for the Netanyahu government is the bill that changes the makeup of the nine-member committee that selects judges, in order to give the government a majority of the seats on the committee.

But the anger has also reached the business community, academia and even the military

Defending his plans, the prime minister has pointed to countries like the United States, where politicians control which federal judges are appointed and approved.

Another significant element of the changes is known as the override clause, which would give the Israeli parliament the power to pass laws previously ruled invalid by the court, essentially overriding Supreme Court decisions.

Supporters say the Supreme Court should not interfere in the will of the people, who vote the politicians into power.

“We go to the polls, vote, and time after time, people we did not elect decide for us,” Justice Minister Yariv Levin said while unveiling the reforms at the beginning of January.*** https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/middleeast/israel-judiciary-netanyahu-explainer-intl/index.html

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There was a time....

The Hebrew word translated “Judges” in the English title of the book refers not to specialized judicial officers or magistrates but to leaders in general. According to the biblical narrative these judges led Israel from the end of the conquest of Canaan until the beginning of the monarchy. The period of the Judges, therefore, extended from the death of Joshua (Jos 24:29–31; cf. Jgs 1:1) until the installation of Saul as Israel’s first king by the prophet Samuel, who was also the last judge (see 1 Sm 7:15–17).*** https://bible.usccb.org/bible/judges/0

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Just like bubblybarbie13 is a cop, not a girl

By Julie Kelly

March 24, 2023

After nine weeks of testimony from multiple government witnesses, including FBI agents, the Justice Department finally concluded its case-in-chief in the Proud Boys’ seditious conspiracy trial on Monday.

Five Proud Boys, including the group’s leader, Enrique Tarrio, are accused of conspiring to “oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force” on January 6, 2021. It is Attorney General Merrick Garland’s most consequential case related to January 6; convictions will help build a similar case against Donald Trump largely based on his infamous “stand back and stand by” remark to the Proud Boys during an October 2020 presidential debate.

Most of the evidence is nothing more than inflammatory, braggadocious chatter in group texts; Tarrio wasn’t even present at the Capitol on January 6. Another defendant, Ethan Nordean, can be seen on surveillance video walking through an open door as Capitol police stood nearby.

Similar to other so-called “militia” groups tied to January 6, no one brought weapons to the Capitol that day; no one was charged with assaulting police officers or lawmakers. A key piece of evidence that prosecutors claimed was a road map for the “attack” on the Capitol wasn’t produced by any Proud Boy but by a former intelligence asset who himself sent the plan to Tarrio through a third party.

The document represented just one more instance of how a government agent helped shape the government’s narrative that the Proud Boys plotted in advance to carry out an “insurrection” on January 6. In fact, much like the FBI-engineered plan to “kidnap” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, court proceedings confirm that FBI assets might outnumber criminal defendants.

At least 10 and possibly up to 15 FBI informants were embedded in the group months before and continuing after the events of January 6. Informants participated in numerous group chats, cozied up to leadership, and even accompanied the Proud Boys to Washington.

One known informant, according to a September 2021 New York Times report, was involved in the first breach of Capitol grounds and entered the building that afternoon.***

For the second time this month, Kelly suspended the trial on Wednesday after prosecutors confessed that a key witness for the defense, who was scheduled to testify on Thursday, had worked as an FBI informant during the entire investigation. Although prosecutors have known for months that the defense might call this person as a witness, they waited until the last minute to tell defense attorneys, who were blindsided by the news.

It got worse from there. A bombshell motion filed by the defense shortly after the disclosure revealed the informant cozied up to defendants and their attorneys for more than 20 months—from April 2021 until January 2023 when the trial began.***

Multiple other participants were fed sources or servants.

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it's called a "dollar store" for a reason

PHOENIX - A Family Dollar employee is now behind bars after he shot a man more than 10 times at a store near 67th Avenue and Indian School Road earlier this week.

Kevin Salas Madrid, 24, had reportedly been confronting a serial shoplifter moments before he opened fire.

The alleged shoplifter punched Madrid in the face after being told to leave, and witnesses said the store clerk shot the man 10 times in response.

Court documents stated that the 24-year-old continued to shoot the man as he laid on the ground.

The victim remains in the hospital in life-threatening condition.*** https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/family-dollar-employee-shooting-west-phoenix

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Suprise! Surprise!

The nation’s drug-overdose crisis is taking a heavy toll on homeless people, with data from hard-hit places such as Los Angeles and New York showing a surge in deaths, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The potent synthetic opioid fentanyl is a major factor, heightening the overdose risk among homeless drug users who researchers say are often disconnected from treatment and other health services. New national data also show that overall deaths among homeless people, who have for years suffered a higher mortality risk than the broader population, climbed markedly during the pandemic.*** https://www.wsj.com/articles/fentanyl-fuels-surge-in-deaths-among-those-who-are-homeless-6490366a

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Nashville Covenant School shooting

https://twitter.com/MNPDNashville

The shooter who killed six people at an elementary school in Nashville Monday has been identified as Audrey Hale, sources have confirmed to The Post.

The shooter had opened fire inside the private Christian elementary school, killing three children and three adults. Police received an active shooter call at 10:13 a.m.

Officers heard gunshots on the second floor and rushed to a lobby-type area where they came across the 28-year-old Nashville woman who had two assault rifles and a handgun.

Police said Hale once attended the school and an online profile listed her as working in Commercial Illustration and Graphic Design.

She was shot dead by police on site at 10:27 a.m.

A car was located near the Covenant School, where the 14-minute shooting spree took place Monday morning, and provided investigators clues as to the shooter’s identity, Metro Nashville Chief of Police John Drake said at a press conference.

A neighbor to the last address listed for Hale told The Post police were on the scene and the whole area had been blocked off, before hanging up. *** https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/nashville-school-shooter-idd-as-audrey-hale/

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MNPD Officers Rex Engelbert, a 4-year veteran, and Michael Collazo, a 9-year veteran, were part of a team of first responders to the Covenant campus Mon morning. They fired on the active shooter, who was killed. This is their body camera footage. https://youtu.be/Ue2tZa4hT0c ... https://twitter.com/MNPDNashville/status/1640715069158989824?cxt=HHwWgIDRrbPq_sQtAAAA

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Vox populi, vox Dei

Attack ads are heating up the airwaves in Wisconsin as millions of dollars are being poured into the influential state's high-stakes Supreme Court race.

With just eight days to go, neither side is pulling any punches.

Former Justice Daniel Kelly and his conservative allies launched a new ad on Monday taking aim at liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz's record on crime.

In it, three Wisconsin sheriffs faulted Protasiewicz for failing to lock up criminals.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaign/wisconsin-supreme-court-ads-kelly-protasiewicz

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the 1st step is admitting you have a problem....

A staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was hurt in a stabbing in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, the senator's office confirmed in a statement on Monday.

The staffer, who was not identified, was stabbed in broad daylight and was taken to a hospital. The staffer is still recovering, and a suspect has been arrested, the senator said.***

42-year-old Neal Glynn, was arrested on Monday. Glynn has been charged with assault with intent to kill (Knife).

The staffer was transported to a local hospital and treated for life-threatening injuries, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The attack comes one month after Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) was attacked in an elevator at her Washington apartment. It also comes shortly after President Joe Biden blocked changes to the district's criminal code that critics claimed were too soft on crime. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/rand-paul-staffer-injured-stabbing

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Fairfax County Police shot Timothy Johnson on 22feb23. Oped makes good points

*** But mostly, police, as public servants, deserve public scrutiny in a way that private people do not. It’s not merely that police salaries come out of taxpayer-funded coffers — even if somehow they were all privately funded, they would owe an account to the public in a way no regular person would. That’s because our society gives police something of a monopoly on the legal use of lethal force and the power to detain.

With this great power comes great accountability. If, as a parent, you want to point out that even larceny could endanger your life, go ahead and do it. But as public commentators, we ought to focus our attention on those who are directly accountable to us.

Another unhelpful, if common and understandable, reaction is this one often expressed by politicians and activists: “Tim certainly didn't deserve to die over sunglasses stolen from a department store."

Of course he didn’t. Also, that’s not an apt critique of the police or anyone else in power here. Nobody shot him for stealing sunglasses.

You can believe 100% that the officer was in the wrong, deserved to be fired, and deserves to be prosecuted, and that still doesn’t make it true that the officer shot him for stealing sunglasses. The officer chased him for stealing sunglasses, and the chase resulted in the shooting, but we all ought to possess enough logical ability to agree that the initial domino in this horrible chain of events wasn’t the motivation for the shooting.***

***Wed

The U.S. Army has pulled a revamped “Be All You Can Be” ad campaign featuring Jonathan Majors, a rising movie star, after he was charged with assault Saturday for allegedly strangling a woman.***

According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), the latest round of ad campaigns featuring Majors was slated to arrive in August.

“The Army had reportedly already invested millions in advertisement purchases for the 2023 NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, with immersive in-person events for the tournament’s Final Four,” noted THR.

On Saturday, the New York Police Department said that they responded to a 911 call pertaining to a domestic violence dispute that involved the 33-year-old Majors and a 30-year-old woman. The woman reportedly sustained minor injuries to the neck and was taken to the hospital.

“The victim informed police she was assaulted. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident,” police said.

[innnocent until proven, etc]

***

EXCLUSIVE DETAILS: While a team of Nashville police officers swarmed a Christian school Monday morning to stop an active shooter, the department praised two of the responding officers, credited with taking down the suspect, by name.

Hero Metro Nashville Police Officers Michael Collazo, 31, and Rex Engelbert, 27, have served in the department for nine and four years, respectively. The department declined to make either of them available for an interview on Tuesday.

Collazo, a Marine Corps veteran and former firefighter, also responded to the Christmas Day bombing in 2020, his sister said Tuesday. He is also the father of a young girl himself.

Engelbert, one of the first officers on scene, is shown on bodycam video calmly retrieving his rifle from the back of a police SUV as a teacher outside explains the situation.***

Speaking separately at a news briefing Tuesday, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Collazo had also served as a SWAT team paramedic.

He was born and raised in Nashville, joined the Marine Corps right out of high school and told his parents hours after the shooting that he drew heavily from his military training during the ordeal, according to DeHart.*** https://www.foxnews.com/us/rex-engelbert-michael-collazo-who-are-nashville-officers-who-took-down-covenant-school-shooter

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a reported text message exchange between Hale and a former middle school basketball teammate shows that Hale planned to die by suicide, and it would be seen on the news.

According to text messages obtained by News Channel 5, Averianna Patton at 9:57 a.m. saw a text message on her phone from the Covenant School shooter on Instagram.

The messages show Hale telling Patton that she would see her again in another life. Hale also told Patton about no longer wanting to live and the need to die.

"One day this will make more sense," Hale wrote. "I've left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen."

Patton told NewsChannel 5 that she tried to comfort Hale because she had mentioned being suicidal in the past.

"I tried to comfort and encourage her and subsequently reached out to the Suicide Prevention Help Line after being instructed to by my father at 10:08 am. Audrey has shared with others that she had been suicidal in the past and I knew to take this serious," Patton said. *** https://www.foxnews.com/media/nashville-transgender-school-shooter-messages-friend-show-deeper-issues-fbi-special-agent?dicbo=v2-VHHTk92

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Finish eating before you do anything

After nearly a year of searching, investigators used DNA pulled from a half-eaten burrito to capture the man they believe firebombed a Wisconsin anti-abortion lobbying group’s office.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Madison announced that police arrested 29-year-old Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury at Boston’s Logan International Airport on Tuesday. ***

He made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell set a detention hearing for Thursday.

Roychowdhury’s attorney, Brendan O. Kelley, who is listed in online court records as a federal public defender, declined comment when reached by phone after Tuesday’s hearing.

Federal agents have been searching for almost a year for whoever tossed a pair of Molotov cocktails into the Wisconsin Family Action office in Madison on May 6.***

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Monarch Casino theft in Black Hawk under investigation, $500,000 heist is biggest since legalization

Colorado authorities are investigating a mountain town casino heist of $500,000 in cash — the biggest theft from a casino that state regulators can remember since gambling started again in 1991.

The theft from the Monarch Casino Resort and Spa, located 34 miles west of Denver in Black Hawk, occurred March 12. Casino cashier Sabrina Eddy, 44, has been jailed on suspicion of theft and was still in her cell Tuesday afternoon, according to a Gilpin County Clerk deputy who spoke on the condition her name wouldn’t be used.

Monarch officials declined to say how money was removed from inside the casino.

“While we can confirm that the theft occurred,” Casino spokeswoman Erica Ferris said, “this is currently an active and open investigation and Monarch is making no comment.”

According to a Gilpin County District Court affidavit issued in support of a warrantless arrest, Eddy was working shortly after midnight in the Monarch as the “cage cashier” responsible for casino money when she received phone and text messages from men claiming to be casino bosses. They instructed her to take money needed by the casino to pay a lawyer, the affidavit said.

Surveillance cameras captured images of Eddy putting $50,000 bricks of money into a box and then loading that money into a gold-colored minivan, the affidavit said. She left the casino, and later returned and went to the vault and took more money, then drove as she said she’d been instructed to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver — and handed the money to a man near the emergency room, the affidavit said. She later called the casino, said she’d taken money away from the casino, and added that she thought she might be arrested, it said.

“Eddy continued to state that she had done nothing wrong but she was just following orders that she believed had been put out by the casino,” the affidavit said.*** https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/monarch-casino-theft-in-black-hawk-under-investigation-500-000-heist-is-biggest-since-legalization/ar-AA19caSH

***thurs

Yeah, it is

Marshals training slides for SCOTUS protection in the protests last year included

Square "not synonymous" in this context with

18 U.S.C. §1507. Picketing or parading

Whoever, with the intent of *** influencing any judge***or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades *** in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge *** or court officer*** or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

***

Nothing's going to change until the whole church, top to bottom, starts asking "where did you hear this was ok?"

***

Holy smokes - report immediately!!!

***

All someone's son

PHILADELPHIA - Deadly gun violence continues to plague the city of Philadelphia and the everyday lives of its residents, and now the issue has trickled even further into the schools of innocent children.

The School District of Philadelphia says 99 of its students have been shot so far this school year, 18 of them killed and 81 others wounded.

That number increased this week after a 15-year-old student was gunned down and killed on his way to Simon Gratz High School in Nicetown on Monday.

A tragic day for the entire community as school officials say students witnessed the deadly shooting and ran into school. All Mastery schools closed Tuesday for a day of healing.*** https://www.fox29.com/news/students-are-afraid-nearly-100-philadelphia-students-shot-18-killed-so-far-this-year-district-says

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Not CJ, but Social Justice

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg revealed on Monday that the firm guaranteed as much as $13.3 billion in uninsured deposits for the 10 largest account holders at the defunct Silicon Valley Bank.

The implosion of Silicon Valley Bank, where the vast majority of account balances exceeded the $250,000 threshold backed by the FDIC, prompted the government-backed company to secure all accounts in order to prevent additional bank runs. Silicon Valley Bank had been forced to sell a long-term bond portfolio at a substantial loss to cover deposit requests.*** https://www.dailywire.com/news/13-billion-in-silicon-valley-bank-bailout-money-went-to-just-10-accounts

I get that the gov't caused the collapse by spending recklessly and rapidly and unpredictably raising interest rates, but WTF?

***

amusing parody

***

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