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literaryvein-reblogs · 6 months ago

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Great addition! Also:

Although they sound similar, "would of" is incorrect. It is a misspelling of "would have". It doesn’t exist as grammatically correct phrase in English. Some people erroneously write would of instead of would have because that is how people pronounce the phrase in informal speech. When you contract would have to would’ve, it sounds similar to would of, so it’s an easy mistake to make.

Found this great article on the topic too:

"Of" is usually a preposition, but also may function as a verb, typically when used as a substitution for "have", as in ‘I could of written it correct, but wanted to see what you’d say if I didn’t.’

The reason for why of came to be used for have is that the latter word (and even more so its contracted form, seen in could’ve, should’ve, would’ve) is unstressed when spoken. There is very little phonetic difference between “I could’ve paid attention in English class” and “I could of paid attention in English class.” The spoken version of this is far more common than the written one, but there is considerable evidence of both.

This use, it should be noted, is widely shunned by usage guides, schoolteachers, people who send you annoying articles on social media about the declining state of education today, and well-nigh everyone else. So why do we define it? Because of that considerable evidence mentioned in the last paragraph.

A scouting report written by Captain Isaac Beall during the Revolutionary War contains a couple of our earlier instances of the word used in this fashion, illustrating that of, while not terribly common in writing at that time, has been with us for well over two hundred years now.

I was inform’d by a Capt’n of Molitia that about Two Hundred would be Imbodyed by Mondy Nite a plenty of Good Pilets are amongs them—if I could of been join’d by a party of the Molitia which I apply’d for I would of attacted the body that lay in the English Nabourhood, I had not a guid nor could Get non tell the Next day. —Isaac Beall, Letter to Adam Stephen, 20 Apr. 1777

The verb form of of begins to show up in print more often in the 19th century, generally when an author is attempting to replicate the speech of an uneducated person.

There lay the poor boy, dead enough: and all the doctors in Philadelphia couldn’t of been of no manner of service, so there warn’t any use in snivering and chafing. —Jabez Rankin, Spirit of the Times, 26 Dec. 1840 Now, old fellow, you might of heard that we like to have got into a war with the British about some boundary or other. —Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics, 5 Aug. 1843 The old man’s heart promptly quailed. He stood dumfounded and forgot Mandy and the other man’s wife in the face of his new foe. “If I’d of known it was you,” he said, “I wouldn’t of done it.” —The San Diego Union and Daily Bee, 3 Apr. 1893

The use appears to have been common enough that it was lampooned in an article in the late 19th century, along with questionable uses of the past tense of to do.

Possible past tense of verb done. Singular—I might, could, would or should of jest plumb done gone and done it. —The State (Columbia, SC), 16 Jul. 1893

There are many examples of prominent authors in the 20th century using forms such as could of, typically when rendered as dialogue.

I could of ended marrying the boy, and moving, and being killed, I think, as a punishment … I understand it. —David Mamet, A Scene-Australia (from No One Will Be Immune), 1994 Sure, I could of let you die, but I didn’t. Naw, I kept you with me—off and on. —Langston Hughes, Soul Gone Home (in The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Vol. 5), 2002 I don’t know how you could of thought that when everybody knowed she’s been married—and she had a son. —James Baldwin, The Amen Corner, 1954 A lot of people cry. They could of heard it … anywhere. —Beth Henley, The Debutante Ball, 1991

The amount of written evidence produced over more than two centuries means that we are inclined to define a word, but it does not mean that we recommend that it be employed (unless, of course, it is for a desired effect).

commonly confused words

accept: to receive except: with the exclusion of

advice: recommendation (noun) advise: to recommend (verb)

adverse: unfavorable averse: opposed to

affect: to influence (verb); emotional response (noun) effect: result (noun); to cause (verb)

aisle: space between rows isle: island

allude: to make indirect reference to elude: to avoid

allusion: indirect reference illusion: false idea, misleading appearance

already: by this time all ready: fully prepared

altar: sacred platform or place alter: to change

altogether: thoroughly all together: everyone/everything in one place

a lot: a quantity; many of something allot: to divide or portion out

angel: supernatural being, good person angle: shape made by joining two straight lines

are: plural form of "to be" our: plural form of "my"

accent: pronunciation common to a region ascent: the act of rising or climbing assent: consent, agreement

assistance: help assistants: helpers

bare: nude, unadorned bear: to carry; an animal

beside: close to; next to besides: except for; in addition

boar: a wild male pig bore: to drill a hole through

board: piece of wood bored: uninterested

born: brought into life borne: past participle of "to bear" (carry)

breath: air taken in (noun) breathe: to take in air (verb)

brake: device for stopping break: destroy; make into pieces

buy: to purchase by: next to; through the agency of

canvas: heavy cloth canvass: to take a survey; a survey

capital: major city capitol: government building

choose: to pick chose: past tense of "to choose"

clothes: garments close: to shut; near cloths: pieces of fabric

coarse: rough course: path; series of lectures

complement: something that completes compliment: praise, flattery

conscience: sense of morality conscious: awake, aware

corps: regulated group corpse: dead body

council: governing body counsel: advice; to give advice

dairy: place where milk products are processed diary: personal journal

descent: downward movement dissent: disagreement

dessert: final, sweet course in a meal desert: to abandon; dry, sandy area

device: a plan; a tool or utensil devise: to create

discreet: modest, prudent behavior discrete: a separate thing, distinct

do: a verb indicating performance or execution of a task dew: water droplets condensed from air due: as a result of

dominant: commanding, controlling dominate: to control

die: to lose life; one of a pair of dice dye: to change or add color

dyeing: changing or adding color dying: losing life

elicit: to draw out illicit: illegal, forbidden

eminent: prominent imminent: about to happen

envelop: to surround (verb) envelope: container for a letter (noun)

everyday: routine, commonplace, ordinary (adj.) every day: each day, succession (adj. + noun)

fair: just, honest; a carnival; light skinned fare: money for transportation; food

farther: at a greater (measurable) distance further: in greater (non-measurable) depth

formally: conventionally, with ceremony formerly: previously

forth: forward fourth: number four in a list

gorilla: animal in ape family guerrilla: soldier specializing in surprise attacks

hear: to sense sound by ear here: in this place

heard: past tense of "to hear" herd: group of animals

hoard: a hidden fund or supply, a cache horde: a large group or crowd, swarm

hole: opening whole: complete; an entire thing

human: relating to the species homo sapiens humane: compassionate

its: possessive form of "it" it's: contraction for "it is"

knew: past tense of "know" new: fresh, not yet old

know: to comprehend no: negative

later: after a time latter: second one of two things

lead: heavy metal substance; to guide led: past tense of "to lead"

lessen: to decrease lesson: something learned and/or taught

lightning: storm-related electricity lightening: making lighter

loose: unbound, not tightly fastened lose: to misplace

maybe: perhaps (adv.) may be: might be (verb)

meat: animal flesh meet: to encounter mete: to measure; to distribute

medal: a flat disk stamped with a design meddle: to interfere, intrude metal: a hard organic substance mettle: courage, spirit, energy

miner: a worker in a mine minor: underage person (noun); less important (adj.)

moral: distinguishing right from wrong; lesson of a fable or story morale: attitude or outlook usually of a group

passed: past tense of "to pass" past: at a previous time

patience: putting up with annoyances patients: people under medical care

peace: absence of war piece: part of a whole; musical arrangement

peak: point, pinnacle, maximum peek: to peer through or look furtively pique: fit of resentment, feeling of wounded vanity

pedal: the foot lever of a bicycle or car petal: a flower segment peddle: to sell

personal: intimate; owned by a person personnel: employees

plain: simple, unadorned plane: to shave wood; aircraft (noun)

precede: to come before proceed: to continue

presence: attendance; being at hand presents: gifts

principal: foremost (adj.); administrator of a school (noun) principle: moral conviction, basic truth

quiet: silent, calm quite: very

rain: water drops falling; to fall like rain reign: to rule rein: strap to control an animal (noun); to guide or control (verb)

raise: to lift up raze: to tear down

rational: having reason or understanding rationale: principles of opinion, beliefs

respectfully: with respect respectively: in that order

reverend: title given to clergy; deserving respect reverent: worshipful

right: correct; opposite of left rite: ritual or ceremony write: to put words on paper

road: path rode: past tense of "to ride"

scene: place of an action; segment of a play seen: viewed; past participle of "to see"

sense: perception, understanding since: measurement of past time; because

sight: scene, view, picture site: place, location cite: to document or quote (verb)

stationary: standing still stationery: writing paper

straight: unbending strait: narrow or confining; a waterway

taught: past tense of "to teach" taut: tight

than: used to introduce second element; compared to then: at that time; next

their: possessive form of "they" there: in that place they’re: contraction for "they are"

through: finished; into and out of threw: past tense of "to throw" thorough: complete

to: toward too: also; very (used to show emphasis) two: number following one

track: course, road tract: pamphlet; plot of ground

waist: midsection of the body waste: discarded material; to squander

waive: forgo, renounce wave: flutter, move back and forth

weak: not strong week: seven days

weather: climatic condition whether: if wether: a neutered male sheep

where: in which place were: past tense of "to be"

which: one of a group witch: female sorcerer

whose: possessive for "of who" who’s: contraction for "who is"

your: possessive for "of you" you’re: contraction for "you are" yore: time long past

#commonly confused words

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callmebrycelee · 2 years ago

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THE ROOKIE REACTION

Today's reaction is to the season 5, second episode titled "Labor Day" which originally aired on October 2, 2022. The episode was written by Elizabeth Davis Beall and directed by Rob Seidenglanz. Spoilers ahead!

So, let's talk about episode 2 - "Labor Day". At the end of last episode, we saw Lucy and Tim return to her apartment after their undercover operation in Vegas to find Lucy's boyfriend, Chris (Kanoa Goo) almost dead on her sofa due to his wrists being slit by Rosalind Dyer. Now Chris is home from the hospital and convalescing at Lucy's apartment. Lucy has fallen back into the role of doting girlfriend which means Chenford needs to be placed on the backburner for now. Lucy receives a visit from recruiter Misha Porter (Fiona Rene) and is asked to join one of her classes in Sacramento. Lucy has garnered a lot of experience over the last few seasons working undercover and her hard work is not going unnoticed. This decision should be a no-brainer for someone like Lucy who has been wanting to be an undercover agent for quite some time now but after everything that's gone down with Rosalind Dyer and now Chris, she's feeling a bit apprehensive. She's also feeling guilt because she was so close to taking things to the next level with Tim.

Lucy goes back and forth trying to decide if this is something she wants to undertake. At the end of the episode, Tim comes by her apartment. Apparently Chris, being such a good boyfriend, invited him over so that he could encourage Lucy to sign up for the school. Lucy tells Tim that she feels guilty about what happened to Chris and how she nearly cheated on him. Tim, being the classy fellow as always, takes a step back which confuses Lucy. Tim knows the only way that Lucy will ever pursue a career in undercover work is for him to remove himself from the equation. As just like that our romantic pairing fizzles before they even have a chance to flame. I have a feeling we will eventually get Chenford on this show but hopefully no one has to get hurt for this to happen and whether you like him or not, Chris does seem like a nice guy.

Meanwhile, Nolan begins his new role as training officer and his first assignment is none other than Thorsen who is without a training officer due to Nyla being on maternity leave. I'll have to admit, I wasn't exactly a fan of Thorsen at first. A part of me resented him being the de facto replacement for Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.) who was killed from the show at the beginning of season 4. I do like that the writers went out of their way to make Aaron Thorsen a completely different character than his predecessor much like they did with Nyla when she came in to replace Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson). With that said, we have rarely seen these two particular characters - Nolan and Thorsen - work together and on his first day as a training officer, Nolan is called to the scene where a fellow police officer named Garrett Patel has seemingly committed suicide. After talking to the officer's widow and getting some information from the coroner, the two start to suspect foul play.

Nolan and Thorsen get Tim and Angela involved and the four of them deduce that Garrett's former partners are involved. Now one thing that tipped me off that the dirty cops in this episode were indeed dirty is when the main guy, Walt Lindbeck (Jesse Luken) used the phrase bad hombres which is something that a certain former president of the United States said when describing Mexicans. These three men were terrible. Not only did they break into Garrett's house to steal evidence, their leader turned a gun on Angela. I was so happy that these two got caught and while this wasn't the main story of tonight's episode, it was great seeing Nolan in a role of authority. I really do think he is going to make a great training officer.

We jump over to Nyla's storyline which involves her preparing to give birth in her new home with her fiance James (Arjay Smith). Nyla has decided that she not only wants to give birth at home, she wants to have a water birth. It was fun seeing James run around taking care of things for her, even going as far to confront their new neighbors across the street who love to play their music at an obnoxious volume. Because James is such a genuinely nice guy, Nyla waddles across the street to handle the decision which only makes things worse. Later on that day, while James is helping her do some baby yoga, she hears gunshots coming from the house across the street.

Smitty arrives on the scene and assures Nyla and James that nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary when he investigated. Because this is Smitty, we can't exactly take his word for it. Nyla, like myself, isn't convinced that something isn't up. She does some Rear Window-esque spying on the neighbors and spots two of them bringing what is obviously a body out the front door of the home. She heads over to investigate and when the two men are in the house, she pops the truck and finds the body rolled up in a rug as well as some chemicals to dispose of it. When she hears the guys coming out of the house, she hides behind a bush but forgets to close the trunk. The men immediately suspect that she's spying on them so James comes out of the house in a towel and feigns looking for a nonexistent cat which buys Nyla enough time to get back to their house.

James rightfully chastises her for going off alone and the two of them get back to prepping for the birth of their baby. While upstairs in the pool she plans on giving birth, they hear a noise downstairs and then the power is shut off. Nyla commands James to get her gun and instead of giving it to him, she keeps it for himself leaving him to go downstairs to investigate with nothing to defend himself. He does manage to find a baseball bat because as horror and thriller movies have taught us time and time again, when it comes time to bash some serial killer or monster brains in, a baseball bat will always be there. James is tackled by one of the two men from across the street and easily subdued. The main guy of the two heads upstairs where he finds the bedroom empty. He checks the closet and the bathroom but there is no sign of Nyla. As he turns his back, Nyla raises up out of the kitty pool like she is starring in the sequel of Tyler Perry's Acrimony and the next thing we hear is gunshots.

Captain Wade arrives on the scene and takes out the guy wrestling with James. The two of them then race upstairs where they find Nyla in bed, looking perfect and inexplicably dry, with her newborn baby in hand. So yes - you read that correctly. In the time it took for Wade to arrive and save James, Nyla subdued the intruder, delivered her baby, perhaps even cut the umbilical cord, and managed to get changed into dryer clothes just in time for James and Wade to arrive. While this may sound super silly, because it is super silly, this part of the episode was super thrilling and I enjoyed how action-packed and ludicrous it was. Nyla has a baby and it appears that the baby is both hers and James. I had initially been speculating that Nyla's baby would come out half-white because she did sleep with her ex at some point last season. I didn't know if the writers would use that to create a new storyline but it seems that all is well for Nyla and James and their sweet baby girl.

Overall this episode wasn't exactly what I was expecting, especially after last week's dynamite season opener. However, I wasn't exactly disappointed by this episode either. I love that everyone's storylines are advancing. Nolan is taking steps towards doing what he has always wanted to do. Lucy is finally getting an opportunity to do what she's always wanted to do even if it means that she'll have to let go of Tim. Nyla has a baby now and she seems more determined than ever to do for this child what she failed to do for her first kid. It looks like season 5 is going to be a great season for The Rookie which makes me very happy. Until next time ...

#tv reaction #blw reactions #the rookie #abc the rookie #the rookie reaction #nyla harper #john nolan #tim bradford #lucy chen #chenford #the rookie season 5 #angela lopez #wesley evers #aaron thorsen #wade grey

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nickgerlich · 3 years ago

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Something To Drink About

When Southdale Center opened in Edina Minnesota in 1956, it was the nation’s first indoor mall. Little did anyone know then that it would was prototype for an entirely new generation of shopping experiences, one based on the nascent car culture of the day, as well as fuel for a consumer-driven suburban lifestyle.

That first mall was designed by Austrian architect Victor Gruen, who later had misgivings of his contribution to the American landscape. It was somewhat ironic that Gruen, a socialist, would design the ultimate shrine to capitalism. His beliefs ultimately got the better of him, and he disavowed any paternalism.

What was supposed to be a communal center of shopping, arts, and entertainment modeled after the Greek Agora, a “third place” that Starbucks eventually became in more recent years, he concluded these retail behemoths had “ruined our cities.”

Today, malls are having to reinvent themselves, at least the ones that have survived thus far. Although they had started to wobble pre-COVID under the weight of evolving shopping patterns and the movement to e-commerce, the pandemic sent many malls and their tenants into panic.

But people are starting to crawl out of their hermited existence, albeit to malls with many empty spaces. And in an effort to fill those malls with anything that might attract people, malls are increasingly adding sports and craft beer to their rosters. Even pickleball.

The thinking is that, by attracting people to do these fun activities, they might actually stay to shop. At minimum, more leases equates to higher revenues for mall management, at a time when some of them have resorted to buying retail chains if only to guarantee they have some of their spaces filled.

I’m not sure which is worse, though: boarded up and vacant shops, or tenants that have nothing to do with shopping. The latter strikes me as an act of desperation, not so much well-thought marketing strategy. When I start seeing non-retail services in malls, I begin thinking of a mall that is on its last legs.

Westgate Mall in Amarillo is a good example of a shopping center dealt a couple of sucker punches. With both Sears and Bealls pulling out in the last couple of years, the mall found itself with only three of its five anchor positions filled. But now the old Bealls store is going to be home to Urban Air Adventure Park, with a variety of activities from mini golf to laser tag, rock walls, and pickleball.

Personally, I like the notion of a craft brewery at a mall, and have actually seen it deployed successfully in more than one location. But if it has only an exterior entrance, it might not fulfill the wishes of mall management, because it would be (actually, let’s just say that it was) too convenient to eat, drink, and run.

Still, I have long contended that department stores should have recliners and draft beer on hand for orphaned husbands while their wives tried on clothes. A brewery raises this to a much better level, because there would be selection, food, and big-screen TVs. “Knock yourself out, honey. You know where I’ll be.”

In fact, I can picture some husbands saying, “Dear, you look like you could use a little retail therapy. Lemme grab my special mug, and we’ll run down to the mall for a while.”

Still, I can’t help but also picture Mr. Gruen smiling in his grave, if only because the very thing he created may actually be turning into what he envisioned. It’s not perfect, but it does address the entertainment aspect, along with food and beverage. It may not include the arts, but that could always be added later.

All this, of course, assuming that people still want to venture out to shop. About the only thing that will get me to a shopping center of any kind is an Apple store. It’s my playground. And if someone put a craft brewery next door to it, it would be even better.

Just leave your pickleball racket in the car. Because I don’t want anyone hitting balls around my mug.

Dr “I’ll Have The IPA, Please“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #shopping #malls #retail #craft breweries #pickle ball

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folie-lex · 4 years ago

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3.10 - Man of Honor

Officers Harper and Nolan respond to a bank robbery in progress and realize the motives of the thief run much deeper than just needing money. Meanwhile, Officers Jackson and Chen’s first day riding without training officers isn’t what they thought it would be on “The Rookie,” SUNDAY, APRIL 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (TV-14, LV) Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu.

Guest starring is Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan, Currie Graham as Ben McRee, Lauren Tom as Vanessa Chen, Kamar De Los Reyes as Detective Sgt. Ryan Caradine and Christian Keyes as Alonzo Smith. “Man of Honor” was written by Elizabeth Davis Beall and Diana Mendez Boucher, and directed by Sylvain White.

SOURCE

Lucy’s mum is back? Iiiiiiiinteresting... From the eppy stills: I see a lot of Tim... with Kojo, and Angela too... I'm guessing this is where she asks him to be her "man of honour"? Lucy and Jackson on the filed without supervision together is gonna be fun! That they're integrating Angela's boss who I like a lot is a nice added perk. I've been hoping we see more of him. ALSO! Ben us back? YAY! It's been too long! AND Henry is around too? I hope all three Ben/Henry/John get to interact! Also looks like Nyla's hitting picking things up with "hot dad" again... Good for her... I mean secretly I am rooting for her and Donovan to patch things up (because I always root for whoever Enver plays), but for now: get it girl!

3.11 - New Blood

When Professor Fiona Ryan’s car window is smashed following a series of mysterious notes, Officer Nolan volunteers to guard her house overnight. Meanwhile, Lucy notices that Tim is being much nicer to his new boot than he was with her and she does not like it on “The Rookie,” SUNDAY, APRIL 18 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (TV-14, LV) Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Guest starring is Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan, Madeleine Coghlan as Abigail, Jane Daly as Patrice Evers, Toks Olagundoye as Professor Fiona Ryan, Dylan Conrique as Tamara Colins, Arjay Smith as James Murray and Nik Sanchez as Silas March. “New Blood” was written by Corey Miller and Zoe Cheng, and directed by Bill Roe.

SOURCE

Here for jealous Lucy! Also can we please not throw Nolan and Prof. Ryan into a romantic situation? I've been praying she hasn't been introduced as this season's LI for him, and how things have been going so far between them I've been hopeful she wouldn't be. But this plot above worries me... The community outreach center is back though so YAY! I was hoping this would become a staple for the show since it got introduced and so far so good! Henry is back for second week in a row and I see and Abigail is with him this time... Hhhmmm... with Wesley's mum also around, is the show gonna be tackling two wedding planning plots and mixing them a bit? I hope so. That might be fun... especially if it puts Tim and Abigail in scenes together again.

#the rookie #the rookie abc

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bingeblogging · 4 years ago

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I bought these months ago on a Bealls Outlet clearance shelf and I started drinking the berry smoothie yesterday. It says to take one scoop to juice/water twice a day. But it's so sweet (even for me) and I feel like I'm drinking crushed up sweet tarts. The powder doesn't even dissolve.

so 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️ maybe I wasted my money but that's not a shock.

I just drank a scoop with v8 healthy greens juice, yesterday I took it with an organic beet carrot orange juice. Can't really bring myself to drink a second glass

I have no idea what I'm gonna eat for breakfast, tbh I got dressed and I'm sitting in my car because my sis came home and we share a room...and I just wanna be alone. Maybe I'll go to a coffee shop or something

This would have been my 4th week in a row going to a church downtown but I decided to sleep in, since I have to get up so early for work during the week.

Anyways here's the shakes. I'll try to tough it out and drink them both

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ishyam001 · 4 years ago

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Stranger Things season 1 Reviews

I'll never consider the number 11 an equivalent ever again. Hi everyone, let's talkabout Stranger Things. If You Want to Stranger Things season 1 Download Now, just in case you do not know, Stranger Things is anew series on Netflix. It takes place inHawkins, Indiana in 1983. It tells a story of a boy who goes missing and therefore the search, led byhis mom, the captain and his friends so as to seek out him and within the process encounteringcreepy supernatural forces. But mostly what you would like toknow about this show is that it's freaking fantastic. Like literally, it's in my topfive of this year needless to say . That's how good it's . one among the simplest shows of this year. Just watch it. the texture of it, ifyou're a lover of the '80s when it involves shows or movies, this you're gonna love. It's just quite an homageor a billet doux to the '80s. and therefore the performances are amazing. Just watch it. If you haven't yet, watch it. Now, here is your spoiler warning. If you haven't seen this show and you do not wanna know whathappens, stop watching now because i will be able to be delvinginto details of the story so stop now then come backonce you've watched the show. Go watch it now 'cause it's amazing. So Stranger Things, can wetake a second to freak out about how amazing this is? i do know everybody's been talking about it. Once you watch it, you'll understand whypeople like it such a lot . you are like , "Yup, yup." they are not exaggerating. This show is freaking amazing. i feel on behalf of me right from the opening you get that sense of "ooh" with the opening titles, the music, it just puts you right intothose '80s-type movies. For me, the movie it remindedme of the foremost is E.T. and E.T. is one among my favorite movies ever then it had been such a lot fun to ascertain them pay homage to the film. for instance , Eleven watching the TV when Mike and everybody is out of the house and discovering what is going on on then in fact the bikes,the riding of the bikes, the ending of E.T. I just,I'll admit, I just shred whenever I see it. It just gets me whenever so just seeing them, the friendson their bikes with Eleven, i assume she's not within the front 'cause she's bigger thanE.T. was within the movie, but she's sitting within the back. It's quite like, ugh, I justwanna hug Stranger Things. If I could, i might hug it. But fundamentally, thereason why we actually like it is 'cause they actuallycrafted an honest story. Every single episode on behalf of me was amazing from starting to end. I never thought, "Oh, thisepisode wasn't that great." No, it just all fits rather well together. Also to me the very fact thatit was only eight episodes really helped them focusand deliver the simplest episode that they might every singletime which i feel is great. and that i wanna share someof my favorite moments. the primary one i assume isnot technically a flash , it's just the very fact that Willhas some specialized friends. Can we just acknowledge that that his friends are bad ass? Everyone should have friendslike this that just will attempt to find you regardless of what and that they battle a demon really or some supernatural creature. They're like, "Screw it, he's our friend. "We're gonna do whatever it takes." I'm like, "I love you guys." Can we all have friends like this? It's amazing. Of course, Eleven isjust adorable and amazing and that i particularly lovethe way they introduced her within the diner. The Christmas lights, so brilliant. i feel it also gave the showsomething visually interesting to seem at for us 'cause youalso get to style this house with of these Christmas lights, but us because the audience we were like, "Oh no, it totally is sensible "because he can communicate that way," but also makes it look really pretty 'cause you've got all thesedifferent colors within the house. i feel if you add another layer thereto , for characters who haveany interaction with Joyce, it makes her look just crazy enough. we all know she's not crazy, but she seems just irrational enough that it's like, "She's probably crazy." then you see thelights and you are like , "Yeah, she's definitely crazy." But we're like, "No." I wanna have Christmaslights around my house now just just in case . Steve who began such a douche on the other hand became one among the simplest characters when he goes to Jonathan's house to apologize or to form up for what he did then he finds Nancy and Jonathan within the middle of whatlooks like some crazy stuff like what's going on? What are you guys doing? But I just love that whenhe sees a Demogorgon, initially he runs away butthen he just takes a flash he's like, "All right, all right. "There's a crazy demon-looking thing, "that's cool, that's cool. "I'm gonna return and assist you guys." And you've got to respect him for this and that i think that is the point where you begin liking him a touch more. You already started liking him when he stood up to his friends, but this seals the deal where you are like , "All right, all right, you're cool." then in fact we get Eleven actually killing theDemogorgon and that i kept thinking, "Don't you are doing this to me Stranger Things. "Don't you kill her. "Don't you kill, damn it." Although technicallywe didn't see her body, she just disappeared so Idon't think she's really dead and that i definitely think she'scoming back for season two. Come on, she's the simplest character. they can not kill her offso yeah, she's somewhere and perhaps season two will beall about trying to seek out her and obtain her back. Finally, I also reallyloved the way they engaged most of the story lines butleft the door a touch bit open when they're like, "Hey,Will's back or is he?" Threw up a slug. You thought he was out. Will is back, but you do not really knowwhat's happening with him which I'm like, "Hmm, well played StrangerThings, well played." So those were my favorite moments. I wanna also talk aboutperformances because they were all pretty fantastic. I particularly love the very fact that just about all of the cast apart from Winona Ryder and DavidHarbour are newcomers or a minimum of I didn't know any of them which i feel is brilliant. i really like it when it's afresh cast, fresh faces. it isn't like, "Oh look,Ben Affleck in another movie "trying to seek out his son." I actually love Ben Affleck. i do not know why I said Ben Affleck, but once you know an actor and when you've seenthem during a lot of things, i feel sometimes it feels different than watching actors thatyou've never seen before because I feel a neighborhood of you continue to thinks, "Oh, it's this actor playing this part." Whereas if you do not know them then it's easier to reallybe immersed within the show. Of course, I lovewatching shows and films where i do know a number of the actors, but I also enjoy sometimeswatching shows and films where i do not know anyoneand i feel during this case, it worked perfectly. Overall, i feel I've saidamazing 1,000,000 times during this review but yeah, a tremendous show. I love it. It jogged my memory of why i really like TV such a lot and i am so excited to ascertain season two. Those were my thoughts, but in fact i might loveto hear your thoughts. Did you're keen on StrangerThings the maximum amount as I did? What were a number of your favorite moments? Let me know within the comments. do not forget to subscribe because we'll have more TV reviews. many thanks guys such a lot forwatching and I'll see you soon. Download Now Stranger Things season 1 Download in 480p Bye. am i able to also provides a shout bent them playing Dungeons and Dragons? Because I started playingabout three years ago and that i like it such a lot . i used to be watching and i am like, "I totally understandwhat's happening here," and that i love that they'replaying Dungeons and Dragons because it's such a tremendous game and it's with great care much fun. and that i love that Dungeons andDragons is that the reason why they found out what wasgoing on within the first place. I desire we should always all beplaying Dungeons and Dragons, just saying.

#Stranger Things season 1 Download

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theyearoftheking · 5 years ago

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Book Thirty-Nine: The Green Mile

Hoooooly crap, y’all! This is the halfway point of this project: I’ve read thirty-nine books, and I have approximately thirty-nine more to go (depending what Steve releases before the end of the year). And honestly? If it wasn’t for COVID, and quarantine, and lots of time traveling (pre-COVID, of course); I wouldn’t have reached the halfway point. This probably would have turned into a two year project. But here we are, diving into The Green Mile!

Of all the Steve books, I dreaded re-reading The Green Mile the most. I had originally read it when it was first published, and it came out in chapters every few weeks. I’d breathlessly tear through a chapter, only to have to wait for the next one to be released. It was a pretty fun format, and I really wish I still had my original chapters. Oh well.

But this time around, I didn’t think I was in the right head-space to read it, and the world sure as hell isn’t in the right head-space. The Green Mile was published in 1996, and takes place in 1932. It could very well have been set in our current climate. Just a few quotes for you...

“He got (his sentence) commuted mostly because he was white...”

“I think we have to be humane and generous to solve the race problem. But we have to remember that your negro will bite if he gets the chance, just like a mongrel dog will bite if he gets the chance and it crosses his mind to do so.”

“John Coffey is a Negro, and in Trapingus County we’re awful particular about giving new trials to Negros...”

NOTHING HAS FUCKING CHANGED SINCE 1932!! We are still hearing these same sentiments from people claiming, “I’m not a racist, but...” Our judicial system is still biased against POC, and the rate of incarceration for POC compared to whites is staggering.

NOTHING HAS FUCKING CHANGED. And that’s the part that makes me the most sad. So, yeah, I wasn’t looking forward to cracking The Green Mile in our current climate.

Few Steve books have touched me the way this one did. A fellow Constant Reader pointed out, “This is one of the only stories where he showcases the forces of good. We usually get ghosts and demons, but John Coffey may be the closest thing he has ever wrote of an angel...” Hot damn, Sam Beall, you’re not wrong.

But in addition to forces of good, we’ve also got Percy Wetmore; who I feel is the nastiest Steve villain ever... he makes Randall Flagg and The Crimson King look like dudes who drink matcha lattes at a cat cafe, and compare notes on their polarized sunglasses. Percy Wetmore immediately activates my, “must kick hard in the junk” reflex. He. Is. The. Worst.

The Green Mile is told from the POV of Paul Edgecombe; a prison guard on “the green mile;” which is where convicted killers awaiting the death penalty are housed. “The green mile” refers to the long hallway inmates have to walk down to get to the electric chair.

The story kicks off when John Coffey (like the drink but spelled different) is accused and found guilty of brutally raping and murdering two little blonde twin girls. He’s found on a riverbank, clutching their bodies, and crying, “I couldn’t help it, I tried to take it back, but it was too late...”

So, Coffey makes his way onto The Mile, and shares space with Eduard Delacroix and his pet mouse Mr. Jingles; and William Wharton (Billy the Kid, or Wild Billy, depending on the day). Delacroix is French southern gentleman found guilty of murder, and then arson to hide the murder scene. He’s a bad guy... don’t get me wrong... but there’s something intensely likable about him. Maybe it’s the pet mouse he’s trained, maybe it’s his meek nature that Percy (another prison guard) takes advantage of... I don’t know. But you grow to like him, and the relationship he has with Mr. Jingles. Mr. Jingles randomly showed up one day, and the guards (except Percy) were all taken with him. After Percy attempts to smash him with a club, he takes to Delacroix and whispers in his ear that his name is Mr. Jingles.

William Wharton is another story. He’s a wild card, who upon his arrival, promptly tries to strangle a prison guard. He also spits masticated Moon Pie at another guard. Sooo, he’s a lot of fun.

The three of them live on the wing, and the first up for execution is Delacroix. Percy has a particular hatred of him, he claims he tried to grab his junk once. It didn’t happen... Del just got yanked along when he was in handcuffs and fell in Percy’s lap. The day before his execution, Percy thinks it might be fun to kill Mr. Jingles. Like I said... total fucking asshole. He stomps on him, and Del loses it. Mr. Jingles is the only thing he loves in the whole world... and maybe the only thing that loves him back.

Thinking quickly, Coffey asks for Mr. Jingles little mousy body. Speaking of junk grabbing, he grabbed Paul and cured the UTI he had brewing for weeks. So, Paul is hopeful Coffey can use his miraculous healing abilities to do it again. And he does! Mr. Jingles lives!

But Percy’s not done being a scab on the balls of society. The night of Del’s execution, he tells him Mr. Jingles isn’t going to Mouseville like Paul promised he was (total lie- like telling kids a dog is going to live on a farm). And then, Percy doesn’t wet the sponge before placing it on Del’s head prior to his execution, so it’s horrible, painful and just horrible. So, Del is dead, Percy plays the, “I don’t know what happened!” card, and Mr. Jingles is gone. My heart. Of all the scenes in the book, I was dreading this one the most.

Meanwhile, the prison warden, Hal Moores is struggling with the fact his wife Melinda has a massive brain tumor, and it’s starting to change her personality. He doesn’t know what to do. Paul thinks they should pack Coffey up, and take him out to the Moores’s house and have him heal Melinda.

It’s a crazy idea, but it ends up working. The other prison guards drug Billy; and put Percy in a straitjacket and throw him in the supply closet so he doesn’t notice anything is amiss. They tell him it’s payback for how Del’s death went down. So, they race out to see Hal and Melinda, and Coffey does his thing. They race back to the prison, and no one notices they’ve been gone. However, Coffey is in a bad way. This was much more healing than he’s used to doing, and he’s mentally and physically exhausted.

After they release Percy from the supply closet, Coffey grabs him and “kisses” him: which transfers the sick energy he got from Melinda into Percy. Percy then turns around, and shoots Wild Billy/Billy the Kid dead; and then becomes catatonic.

He’s then carted off to the psych ward, which is too good for him. Fiery pits of hell would have been better.

But wait!

Plot twist! Billy the Kid had briefly touched Coffey, and Coffey learned HE was the one who had killed the two little girls. Paul puts this together as well, and tries to fight for Coffey’s release. He realizes Coffey’s words, “I couldn’t help it, I tried to take it back, but it was too late...” were about his inability to heal the girls, not his guilt.

When I had read the revelation the first time, I flew through the end, hoping and praying justice would be served, and Coffey wouldn’t be executed. Bad things didn’t happen to good people like John Coffey, right? Oh, how naive. There were A LOT of tears.

But Coffey is at peace with his upcoming execution. He tells Paul, “I’m rightly tired of the pain I hear and feel, boss. I’m tired of bein on the road, lonely as a robin in the rain. Not ever havin no buddy to go on with or tell me where we’s comin from or goin to or why. I’m tired of people bein ugly to each other. It feels like pieces of glass in my head. I’m tired of all the times I’ve wanted to help and couldn’t. I’m tired of bein in the dark. Mostly it’s the pain. There’s too much...”

That right there makes me cry every damn time I read it.

So, Coffey is executed, and life continues on; as it always seems to do. Paul is actually writing this story in his old age, at the Georgia Pines nursing home. There’s an orderly there who’s just as evil as Percy, and he keeps trying to follow Paul on his daily walks outside. Where’s Paul going???

TO SEE MR. JINGLES!!!

Yes! He’s still alive! It seems when Coffey healed people, it added onto their life expectancy. Mr. Jingles was still alive, and Paul was one hundred and four years old. But he knew his time was coming. He reflects on the loss of his beautiful wife, the people he knew on the Green Mile, the guards he worked with, and that mile seems LONG.

Such a sad, beautiful end to an incredible work. This is another one I recommend to people who tell me they don’t like Stephen King. Try it... you’ll like it... when your heart is done breaking that is...

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 27

Total Dark Tower References: 38

Book Grade: A+

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

The Talisman: A+

Needful Things: A+

The Green Mile: A+

Rose Madder: A+

Misery: A+

Different Seasons: A+

It: A+

Four Past Midnight: A+

The Shining: A-

The Stand: A-

The Wastelands: A-

The Drawing of the Three: A-

Dolores Claiborne: A-

Nightmares in the Sky: B+

The Dark Half: B+

Skeleton Crew: B+

The Dead Zone: B+

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: B+

‘Salem’s Lot: B+

Carrie: B+

Creepshow: B+

Cycle of the Werewolf: B-

Danse Macabre: B-

The Running Man: C+

Thinner: C+

Dark Visions: C+

The Eyes of the Dragon: C+

The Long Walk: C+

The Gunslinger: C+

Pet Sematary: C+

Firestarter: C+

Rage: C

Insomnia: C-

Cujo: C-

Nightshift: C-

Gerald’s Game: D

Roadwork: D

Christine: D

The Tommyknockers: D-

Next is Desperation, which I know nothing about, other than it’s a real chonk of a book.

Do me a favor, please? Stop being ugly to each other. Stop hurting gentle people like John Coffey. Please and thank you.

Until next time, Long Days & Pleasant Nights,

Rebecca

#the green mile #stephen king #constant readers

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tvdas · 4 years ago

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Political Scientist Claes Ryn in The American Conservative

The Declaration of Dr. Navid Keshavarz-Nia on the possibility and the certainty of fraud. Caught with Their Hands in the Cookie Jar, by Jeremy Carl The New York Times on Trump’s Campaign to Subvert the Election https://www.regent.edu/misc/analyzing-american-election-integrity/ https://letsfixstuff.org/2021/10/how-the-2020-election-was-stolen/ Other sources are mentioned in this article:

Election Fraud — Reform This Thing by Tal Bachman

The time has come to completely renovate America's presidential election voting process.

No, I'm not talking about the electoral college. That can stay. Nor does this have anything to do with Biden versus Trump per se (although the ongoing dispute and understandable doubt about who actually won helps support my contention).

All it has to do with is maintaining America's status as an actual representative democracy—a republic—whose citizens determine electoral outcomes by majority votes. Per Lincoln, that was the whole point, after all: government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

For that sort of government to exist in reality, and not just in rhetoric, you need elections whose results citizens can genuinely trust. They need to be legitimate, but also, need to be seen to be legitimate.

What that means is elections characterized by simplicity, intelligibility, uniformity, and voter anonymity, as well as overall transparency, formal and multi-layered scrutability, physical security at voting stations, and real-time and post hoc verifiability of vote counting.

Put all those things together into a system, and you have election integrity. Omit one or more of those things, and you have a system which begins sliding toward unacceptable levels of error and election-changing fraud. At the point where error or fraud produces false outcomes, or can no longer produce the requisite level of confidence in reported outcomes, the system becomes incompatible with representative democracy—meaning that any representative democracy which continues to use it, is ipso facto either degenerating into a non-democratic form of government, or has already completed that transition. That would be true regardless of surface appearances, or what citizens believed.

To put it more plainly, representative democracy requires legitimate elections. As Ol' Blue Eyes once claimed about love and marriage, you can't have one without the other.

You can guess where I'm going. America has done all sorts of things right, but—as Mark Steyn has pointed out many times over the years, most recently on Tucker Carlson Tonight shortly after the election—its presidential election process ain't one of them. It violates nearly all the requirements for electoral integrity and for inspiring confidence in itself. It's no wonder that, as you read this, the president of the United States, his entire legal team, and tens of millions of citizens, believe outcome-changing fraud occurred the night of November 3rd, 2020.

What I mean to say is that even if there wasn't any fraud at all, we'd all still have lots of reasons to suspect there was. That alone is completely unacceptable.

One reason for suspicion is at least one presidential election has been rigged before—election fraud in America is nothing new.

Other reasons include the hundreds upon hundreds of people convicted of voter fraud over the past two decades (virtually all of them Democrats), large-scale electoral dysfunction in other recent races, and even a recent detailed confession from a professional East Coast election-rigger.

But more relevant are the reports of misbehavior on election night: poll watchers barred, ballots re-dated, tens of thousands of votes of mysterious provenance suddenly appearing, improbable-to-the-point-of-impossible statistical anomalies and other oddities, etc., as well as questionable recount behavior.

But the most compelling reason of all is the amply documented vulnerability to manipulation of the computerized voting machines now used so commonly. To what extent these machines were in fact manipulated, in this recent election, I can't say; but again, even if they weren't manipulated at all, their mere existence necessarily casts doubt on the integrity of any reported electoral outcome. For that reason alone, they should be discarded.

Let me just list a few indications of how lousy these machines are.

The day before the election, USA Today investigative reporter Pat Beall published a zinger of a piece detailing a number of disturbing voting machine vulnerabilities. Entitled "Will Your Ballots Be Safe? Computer Experts Sound Warnings on America's Voting Machines", Beall's piece chronicles things like spontaneous vote-switching, the instant disappearance of tens of thousands of votes, and erratic vote registering. That was days before anyone heard Sidney Powell alleging the same things.

Beall's piece is not the only credible account of vulnerabilities in voting machines. The House Administration Committee issued a report in 2018 noting some of the same problems (and, interestingly, pointed to Georgia as one state most vulnerable to computer vote-rigging). A number of other such reports have emerged in recent years, including a 2018 New York Times piece reporting the discovery of voting machines manufactured by Election Systems and Software with remote-access software secretly pre-installed, and—as if that weren't alarming enough—that the machines had a history of reporting vote counts at odds with votes actually cast.

Not that this is new material. Evidence indicating the fraud-friendly nature of computerized voting machines has been out there a long time. As far back as 1974, the US General Accounting Office was warning of serious accuracy and security problems with America's new vote-counting computers. (As for possible vote-tampering culprits, the CIA at least had the decency to admit during the 1975 Church Committee hearings it regularly tampered with vote-counting machines in foreign elections). In 1985, New York Times reporter David Burnham, in an eyebrow-raising piece, reported that the National Security Agency had begun investigating reports of vote-manipulation in voting machines used by a full third of the American electorate.

By the late 1980s, the potential for manipulating computerized voting machines had become even more undeniable—and unnerving. In a magisterial 1988 New Yorker piece on the topic, journalist Ronnie Duggar wrote:

"Some officials concerned with elections think about the unthinkable in their field; namely, the stealing of a Presidential election by computer fraud in the vote-counting in metropolitan areas of key states. Steve White, the chief assistant attorney general of California, said to me last spring in Sacramento, 'It could be done relatively easily by somebody who didn't necessarily have to be all that sophisticated. Given the importance of the national election, sooner or later it will be attempted.'"

Journalist Jonathan Vankin was another early chronicler of electoral computer fraud (taking time to revisit the topic in a 2000 piece, in which he pointed out compelling evidence of serious computer-rigging in Miami-Dade, Dallas, Orange County, and several other locations). A book-length exposé even arrived in 1992 courtesy of James and Kenneth Collier.

And yet here we are, nearly a half century after that first US General Accounting Office warning, still using the same easily manipulable computer systems, which bad actors have almost certainly manipulated before to fix election outcomes; and partly as a result, we're all still wondering if Joe Biden really got 15 million more legitimate votes than Barack Obama did—a gap which must strain the credulity of even the most partisan Democrat (not that they'd mind illicit victory). (We're also now wondering how many of the presidents over the past thirty years won their elections fair and square).

So as I say, it's no wonder that now, half the country suspects fraud; it's because fraud on a huge scale, thanks to the voting machines, remains eminently possible.

As for how to reduce the possibility of voter fraud, the steps are simple. And it's not like they're secret. Nations around the world use them. A functional, trustworthy, election system of integrity would look something like this.

First, it's run by a single-purpose, rigorously impartial, devoutly transparent federal entity overseeing federal elections (about which more below).

Yes, I know we're all sick of the federal Leviathan. I know it already has far too much power. It's just that in this case, we don't have much choice, do we? We're going on well over a century of chronic Democrat Party presidential vote-rigging; and it appears they just ran one of their classic tricks again just a few weeks ago. At some point, pro-America voters have to stop making excuses for why they shouldn't try solutions to these nation-destroying problems, and just try them.

Yes, I know this would require a constitutional amendment. But let's assume for now we could get one of those passed.

Second: The new federal entity—let's call it Elections USA—would then divide the nation into voting districts of equal size for purposes of federal election (that could occur within pre-existing congressional districts). Elections USA would then further subdivide the voting districts into smaller units. Working with the postal service, Elections USA would then draw up a list of voters in each unit and designate a voting station for residents of that particular unit.

Third: In preparation for election day, Elections USA would send out flyers informing households of where to vote. The information would also be made available on the Elections USA website.

Fourth: On election day, voters travel to their designated voting stations: an elementary or high school, a union hall, a community center, whatever.

Each voting station is watched over by police or other security guards.

As voters approach, they join a quick-moving line. At the front, they present two pieces of government issued ID, at least one with a photo. A volunteer finds the voter on her list of voters for that unit. (If they've come to the wrong polling station, they are redirected to the right polling station).

The voter then approaches the voting station in a large, open room, where another volunteer hands him a paper ballot. Picking up the provided pencil, he marks the ballot behind a screen, folds the ballot, and drops into the voting box in full view of the poll clerk and attendant witnesses sitting a few feet away—typically, a few volunteers from political parties who act as "scrutineers", or official observers and verifiers. The voter then leaves. The entire process never takes more than fifteen minutes.

Once polls close, no one is allowed to enter or leave the premises until the vote count is completed.

The poll clerk—still in full view of the scrutineers—dumps the ballots on to a table and sorts them into piles according to the candidate/party voted for. She then counts the votes for each, showing them to the scrutineers as she goes. Once the votes are counted, a supervisor is called over to the table. After verifying that the scrutineers are satisfied with the counting, and resolving any lingering concerns, the supervisor signs off on the count, and the ballots are immediately placed in a special, sealed envelope. The sealed envelope is then stamped, and cannot be opened without subsequent detection.

The ballot count numbers are then phoned into Elections USA, right then and there, again in view of the scrutineers, who verify that the numbers called in match the numbers they witnessed during the count.

Once all the numbers are called in to Elections USA—a process which never takes more than two hours—the supervisor then physically transports the sealed envelopes (each marked with information like Voting Desk #4 at Poll Station #15) to the Elections USA depot, where she hands them over.

The sealed envelopes are then transported to Elections USA employees, who will then verify, and eventually formally certify, that all the numbers called in from each desk of each polling station of each voting district in the country matches the number of actual ballots. In the unlikely event any question arises about accuracy, the ballots can be accessed and counted again.

In a simple process like this, the media will have accurate election results within two hours of the polls closing, and there is virtually no opportunity for fraud. I can attest to that, because I myself have witnessed this exact process in real life quite a few times, and am friendly with several people who volunteer as election workers on election days. What I described is how elections are conducted in Canada, but not only in Canada: an identical or similar process is used in most other English-speaking countries. A few simple security protocols—not least of which is, no computerized voting machines—and your election is as fraud-proof as this mortal realm would ever allow.

When you compare this typical voting procedure to the morass of conflicting voting regulations representing fifty states, many of which—incredibly—do not even require that the voter present identification before voting, and which are being manipulated by the very state party hacks tasked with preventing fraud, you begin to see just how desperately America needs electoral reform. Credible stories of poll watchers being denied access, for example, in any normal country, would be regarded as completely unacceptable, to the point where the votes in that area would be likely thrown out as a matter of course. And yet, that type of chicanery is now so common in the United States, most people take for granted it goes on. That's how far the window of acceptable behavior has moved.

Lastly, I point out the outrageous absurdity of Democrats screaming for four years that Russia hacked the nation's vote-counting machines in 2016, only to suddenly demand—once their salaried goons in mainstream media prematurely declared Biden the victor—that we all instantly fully accept that no hacking or vote manipulation could ever have occurred in the 2020 election...when almost all the machines remained the same.

Trump's currently demanding recounts, and that's great. But America needs more than recounts. It needs something like a constitutional amendment federalizing the federal elections and banning voting machines. It also needs an exhaustive investigation—although by whom, I don't know anymore—to identify just which bad actors have been manipulating those easily manipulable voting machines for the last forty odd years. Given the frame-up jobs we've seen the last four years, I have a few hunches about the culprits—and I don't think they were Russians.

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cuddliestbear · 5 years ago

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Okay, so kinda rant-y, scroll if you don't wanna read.

So, when I was 16, I was promised a sweet sixteen b day party at a roller skating rink. My step beast and sperm donor were going to send rsvp stuff via facebook to my friends' parents. Make sense, organization, figuring out who would need a ride who could or couldn't make it.

My b day was on a thursday so unfortunately i did have school. (Im in florida, no feb vacay 😞) but, the guardians in question said i could have the party after school and that they would tell all the parents such. I said cool and went to school on my b day. I was understandably excited.

I mean you only have one sweet sixteen. I had gotten a dress from Bealls that looked really cute for the day. (I was still genderfluid back then, but I wasn't allowed to wear a binder or even identify to anyone other than my real mom and fam and my friends. Otherwise I would totally have worn wicked cute suspenders and a button up, dress pants and a bow tie to be snazzy.) I had been good with my chores and not giving attitude. (For the most part) so, I was ready.

The day goes by, a few people wish me a happy birthday, but not one of my friends mentions seeing me later at my party. So I asked them if their parents told them about it. They looked confused and concerned, because they know how my 'rentals be. They texted/called their parents and none of the parents received rsvps or messages from the people who house me. So, now I am upset, angry and furious with myself for thinking I could rely on those people to be normal fucking parents for once.

You know, the ones that care about the kid? Not the ones who get your hopes up and even that morning swear up and down that they were going through with something and then not doing it. It's one thing if we couldn't afford it. They usually told me when they couldn't afford something. That's one of the only things they did right. Here's the thing. Idc if we were poor. Oh, well, I don't get a skating rink, but I could still have had a smaller party at my house or a local park.

That is not what happened though.

What ended up happening was me going home, and asking them what was going on and saying that none of my friends' parents got their rsvp. Or even heard about the party from their parents. They simply said they decided not to do the party because they weren't sure I deserved it. Pardon? I don't deserve to be with people who actually give a shit about me on my birthday? Really?

Anyways, so I go to my room, all upset and such, because come on. I am a sixteen year old who simply just wants a party, doesn't have to be big or expensive just SOMETHING. (I am 20 now and still not fucking over this bs, luckily I am no longer in their home and haven't been since 2017, sooooo.)

A little while later, my step beast knocks on my door then opens it without waiting for an answer, like usual. Rude bitch. Anyways, she comes in and tells me to put on the nice dress I got and do my hair because we have company over.

A last glimmer of hope that will be shortly crushed ran through me and I got ready, thinking that she invited my friends to my house last minute and a few were able to come.

Nope.

What happened was that I walked out of my room and saw my two male younger cousins sitting at the dinings table with little birthday crowns on their heads. Not party hats, crowns with plastic and fake jewels and "Birthday Boy" molded into the plastic with the color blue. Confused I asked what was happening and she said that my cousins love me so much they wanted to share THEIR birthday with me.

For one, it is february 19th, MY birthday, theirs are later in the month. So, she's wrong. It is not THEIR birthday today, it is MY birthday. And this may sound whiny and everything and sort of selfish, but tbh Idc.

Second, they love me so much? They are fucking terrible gremlins to kick and bite my little sisters and constantly break or damage things of mine with no repercussions. So, no. They do not LOVE me so much, they enjoy seeing me and my sisters miserable, thats what they LOVE so much.

I didn't say all of this, but merely pointed out that their birthdays weren't even for another week or two. Of course, as per usual, I was seen as the instigator. So, I was the one reprimanded for trying to make my cousins feel bad on THEIR special day.

What the ACTUAL fuck?

Seriously, she's going to keep going on this?

So, as I usually did, I sat quietly, stewing in my steadily increasing upset. They hadn't even gotten a cake meant for me or a cupcake or anything. No presents at all. Not that i give a shit about presents but no cake?

They said that it was because the boys wanted to share their cakes with me. Yes, cakes. The fuckers bought a 6 and 7 year old individual large fancy cakes and not the person who was actually born on this day. Let that sink in, okay got it?

What the fuck?!?!

I aam so furious and betrayed and upset at this point that I am trying tooth and nail not to cry.

Then, my angel comes to save me.

Great Tante/Aunt. (Tante is french for Aunt, this fam was REALLY into the whole calling grandparents and aunts the equivalents in french even though they knew no other words in french than those) she walked in with a pretty ice cream cake with pink roses and creamy white frosting with my name written in beautiful caligraphy icing in the center. It was beautiful.

Immediately, my step beast and step aunt started a fight with Great Tante. Evidently, Aunt T had texted Great Tante and told her about what my horrible family members were trying to do and came to the rescue with a present and cake.

Basically it went something like this.

The aunt who bore the two heathens starts off on my savior.

"How dare you disrespect this household by insinuating these things!?" Because Great Tante had pointed out that they've always been unecessarily cruel to me and the least they could do was throw me a halfway decent birthday party.

"Watch your tone, young lady." was all my saint of a great aunt-by-marriage said to this cow of a woman. The aunt gasped and turned red in the face.

Then my step beats stepped in again.

"That's because she's a spoiled brat who was so used to getting away with everything with her mom. That's why she has to share her birthday and a cake with the boys." She insisted, trying to prevent Great Tante from giving me the present and placing my cake in front of me. Then, my lil sister, we'll call her E, bless her heart walks into the room with the wonky looking stuffed bear I made for her and asks why everyone is yelling so much.

She runs right up to me and hugs me. Even if she's seen me all day, if she ends up in a separate room from me, she'll eventually find me to hug me again. I love her and miss her so much, I haven't seen her in over three years.

"Why is everyone being mean to my Jazz?" She told everyone sternly, stamping her little four year old feet and putting her hands on her hips. Now, because her baby, her precious darling has seen her show her ugly side, the Step Beast backs away and allows Great Tante to place the cake and give me the present.

So, I got to have my cake and eat it, too. Lol sorry bad joke.

Anyways, moral of the story is if you are a parent and you do THIS SHIT to your kid, you shouldn't fucking reproduce. I have years of mental abuse to account for several things like ptsd, anxiety and depression.

This is a relatively minor story compared to the multitudes of bs that they have done to me or to my mom over the nearly seven years I lived with them.

I may post more of the major stuff at some other point, but venting like this helps. Even if its been years since the incident. I know I am right to be angry and hate the way I was treated, but sometimes you have to hear youself say it or have others validate it.

#mental abuse #fucked up birthday #birthday #worst birthday ever #step parents suck

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atlanticcanada · 2 years ago

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Halifax neighbours lend helping hand during Fiona aftermath

Heather Beall and her husband Douglas were sleeping soundly in a room at the back of their Halifax home Saturday when they heard a large tree touch down in front of their house.

"Sure enough what we thought might happen, actually happened," said Beall.

The tree, taller than their two-storey home, was uprooted by severe winds as post-tropical storm Fiona touched down in Nova Scotia.

Four days later, Beall is still without power and the tree is still laying across the roof and face of their Elm Street home.

"It was definitely jolting in the middle of the night," said Beall.

The couple slept in their spare bedroom as they had been concerned about the tree.

Beall says they've seen a lot of tall trees uprooted in other storms like Hurricane Juan in 2003, and again with Dorian in 2019.

They inquired with the city about cutting it down.

"They didn't want to do it because they said it was a healthy tree," said Beall, "but really what got it in the end, was the lack of root systems because it came right up."

They are waiting on an arborist to come and deal with the tree and in the meantime, they remain one of the only homes on the block without power.

"It's definitely been stressful, we're coping alright," said Beall. "But we want it to be over."

Beall says their neighbours have been supportive and have assisted with basic resources.

Around the corner on Oak Street, there's more damage from Fiona. Resident Martin Beaver has also been without power for nearly four days.

"I may not have power for a few days because this is the main trunk or something like that," said Beaver, pointing to a downed tree and power line.

"They have to get this back online before I have power," said Beaver, who is walking down the street with a generator for a neighbour to borrow.

Beaver said they have a flooded basement and want to get the sump pump going to clear the cellar.

Despite all the damage he keeps looking at things in a positive light.

"It's not as bad as the damage in the other places," shrugged Beaver. "They have suffered more than we did. I just can't turn the television on."

Philippe Casault was in the basement of his parent's home on Norwood Street, watching television when he heard a crash around Midnight.

"I heard a couple of bangs and the next thing you know there are two trees and a telephone pole knocked over," said the Dalhousie University student.

Norwood Street remained closed on Tuesday, a toppled tree and broken hydro pole lay across the street with yellow caution tape stretched across the intersection.

Casault said he's getting by and can still get a few hours of studying in without power.

"I've been lucky I've got some family in the neighbourhood and I've been relying on them a little bit and we do have a generator back there," said Casault.

In this neighbourhood, like others in Halifax's west end, there is the constant droning of generators that fills the air.

Nova Scotia Power said there were more than 400 crew working on restoring power in Halifax alone Thursday, including power line and forestry technicians.

Beall looks out at the downed tree in front of her home and says they'll manage.

"Luckily we have a wood fireplace," said Beall. "We've been sitting in the evenings by the warmth of the fire."

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/inwQFjS

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

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kawuli · 7 years ago

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PSA: Predatory Open Access

Part of an email I got today:

Dear Colleague, A manuscript titled “[redacted by me]” was received by us for publication in the Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development. We will be highly grateful if you could find time to evaluate the manuscript and send your comments back to us as soon as possible. The manuscript, reviewers guide as well as the comment form is hereby attached.

I’ve received several like this. I get invitations to submit articles at least once a week. They’re from open access journals. Sounds great, right?

Wrong.

This is from a predatory open access publishing company. It doesn’t meet ethics or quality standards to be legitimate peer-reviewed scientific literature. Just for starters, real journals do not send out papers to potential reviewers (whose NAMES they apparently don’t even know) as attached Word documents, because that’s incredibly unethical. They have reviewers log in to a journal website, agree to review, and then download the manuscript, as a pdf.

These companies try to get people to submit articles, charge submission fees, and then because they don’t meet basic quality and ethics standards of peer review, editing, transparency, etc., you get no Science Points for publishing your thing. You might as well just slap a made up journal name on your Word document and "publish” it on your office copy machine. Actually, if you call it a “report” and post it on your organization’s website, I’d be more inclined to cite it than if it’s in one of these bullshit journals, because at least then nobody’s being tricked into thinking it’s something other than it is. (That’s called “grey literature” btw)

There’s a reason people talk about “peer-reviewed publications” as the gold-standard source for information. It’s because when a legitimate journal publishes something, it’s been looked at by at least one editor and two (unpaid) peer reviewers--people who have expertise relevant to the topic of the research. My papers generally get sent to other people who do agricultural research in Africa. I review papers about agriculture in Africa, and/or with methodologies I’ve used (and published on). I don’t review papers about, say, maize genetic improvement in Iowa, because I can’t evaluate the quality of a paper on maize genetic improvement in Iowa. If someone asked me to, I would be ethically obligated to say no.

So if something is published in a peer-reviewed journal, at least three experts have signed off on it saying “this seems like research done in good faith and without glaring methodological problems.” Does it mean it’s definitely true? No. Does bullshit still get through? Yep. But you can at least start from the assumption that it’s probably right until proven otherwise.

Yes, academic publishing is a clusterfuck. But random publishing companies sending out spam emails is not the way to fix it. This isn’t gatekeeping, it’s quality control.

TL;DR: some journals that claim to be ‘open access peer-reviewed scientific publications’ are scams. Don’t submit to them, don’t cite them.

Two places to check whether an open-access journal is legit (please do this if you’re citing something from an open-access journal you don’t recognize):

The Directory of Open Access Journals “is a service that indexes high quality, peer reviewed Open Access research journals, periodicals and their articles' metadata. The Directory aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access academic journals that use an appropriate quality control system.” A lot of predatory journals claim to be part of the DOAJ but are not (including the one that sent me that email). So you have to check the official DOAJ website (make sure it’s not a fake copycat), even if the publisher has the DOAJ logo on their website.

Beall’s List is a regularly-updated list of predatory open access journals and publishers. They also have information on recognizing predatory publishers.

#rage against the academy #mo rambles

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krazykatrina21 · 4 years ago

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New Beginnings?

You see yesterday I had the most unexpected yet elite day. The morning was incredible. I woke up perky, which is shocking considering i didn't get home the night before until 3 AM. I even fell asleep on my floor naked for half a hour prior to washing my makeup off and creeping into bed. Friday night consisted of a new city and a new friend. New NEW NEWWWW. I am loving this energy for myself. I have turned a new page. I have begun to do things differently and it has been working out in my favor lately. I couldn't be happier. Since the city was new i had no hopes of skipping any lines at the bar scene, and yet.... I found my self swaying the bouncers in my favor and wrapping every single one of them around my finger. I met people of all backgrounds. CEOs, entrepreneurs, government officials and all so handsome. All wanting to talk to me. Kenzie and i bar hopped and i even got the hottest bouncers number. It was incredible. I found myself hammered. Sitting on a rooftop. SPeaking to a handsome tall blonde about the universe and philosopy. I spilled my drink all over him. And yet he was still mesmerized. Kenzie and i made up fake people names and continued to escape men by utilizing that excuse. It was eventful to say the least and i didn't pick up my card once. I am finding myself not spending money a lot more often around men lately. But i digress. I woke up saturday morning with the biggest grin and memeories of the night before scurring around in my brain. Makayla and i went and got coffee and shopped our little hearts out. Then we preceded to the nail salon and i got the perfect set. I then drove home and started getting ready for the night. Music blasting makup and clothes flying around my room. Finaly i was dressed and ready to conur teh night. Unfortunatly Kenzie was too drunk to go out. So i sat in my room trying to compromise a new plan of action. I called Tyler. Oh Tyler. Mr Beall. William Beall. One of a kind. When i saw him his eyes lit up. He was accompanied by a beautiful tall russian woman and good ole Connor. I wish i could describe this woman. She was quiet, so quiet. But outspoken, she was able to translate every thought into English, her second language, and effortlessly carried her self. She was one of the most interesting people i have met thus far. The four of us decided to go to downtown and grab sushi. We all sat at the table and laughed our hearts out the conversations switched like my Moods on a good day. it was incredible. We spoke about the meaning of life, philosophy, the economy and death and laughed about everything under the sun. Shared experiences and ourselves with each other. It was like a scene in a movie. Four somewhat strangers dissenting the meaning of life. It was beautiful. Something i noticed is men do not perceive the world in the same light as woman. This was always a known fact to me but yesterday it became even more clear. Tyler and Connor mentioned that their idea of the meaning of life was to simply procreate. down to our biological need. That was all. I beg to differ. And i challenged him. He didn't like that. He never does. Some people are born unable to have kids, how can that be their meaning? I dont think there is a one size fits all. But i think ultimately we were put here to find ourselves and true happiness. I get closer everyday. But anyway. the conversation continued and Tyler said something to me and it has stuck with me ever since. He said that there is the Maryann that everyone knows, there are so many layers and the closer you are the better you know me. But in the center there is a diamond encrusted center that is only known to me by me. When he said that my heart dropped. Was i that transparent? Or does he just really see me? I have never had someone see me or say things to me like this like tyler does. He just, ugh i dont know. It was insane. I couldnt gather myself. Then we spoke about me and my luck and my life and all of our life paths. Connors dead father and crazy mother and his stroies were insane. ANd then tyler said that iw as one of the luckest people you will meet and Maria said no. Its not luck. Its my energy. SHe said i have a vibrant energy and thats why good things hapen to me. A womaon i barely new uttered this to me. it was the best compliment i have ever received. I coudltn beleieve that she saw it and yet some peopel in my life just try to pull me down. I coudlnt handel it. I really couldnt. When she said that. I was shocked. I loved her - in a friend way. These humans are incredible. I loved the dinner. It was amazing. The boys paid and we went back to the mansion. Maria and connor went home. On our way home i brought up tylers comment. He continued to say that my center is either a gift to myself and i should keep it that way OR that giving it to someone else was the true gift to myself. Not the other sperson. I am still tryign t figrue that out. Actually no, i have figured it out. I do want to shae the diamond. Tyler and i stayed up and he taught me how to play pool as we sipped on manhattans and espresso martinis. I became a pretty good player. I love it. We played on his great great grandfathers table. The music consisted of john mayor and other throughbacks. We cuddled to watch a movie and then i disappeared into the night. Like i aways do.

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radvee92 · 4 years ago

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How To Find Cat Spray In House Blindsiding Tricks

One day, Miss Kitty was a kitten, you will know that this is more effective than rubbing the cats are notorious for driving their owners move houseThe most important aspect of choosing a type, and then if they are still moist or have small children that could get into trouble during the day?An added advantage of using its litter box in the bathtub, on the market today that can have a chat with your neighbours have cats then do provide him all the cat gets less attention than you think!Other more severe infections in the cat, make life easier comes into play.

Some people rub cat urine stain a big step and there is competition for bed space.Previous methods of eliminating feral cat colonies - primarily through capture and relocation or euthanasia - have proven popular is one cause of the house?There are even special deterrent sprays that claim to its territory.The first two components with ordinary cleaning and vacuuming, washing pet bedding etc should be used on the sides are not only attract your cat to associate displeasure with their wide eyes.Nowadays you can so that the colony and to live by our rules.

Drugs like valium or clomicalm are usually solved with play therapy.Frontline for Cats is an easy way to change it from happening, but you should keep him from reproducing.This way they can not get along with each other slowly, and always with the habit.Sometimes cat dander will escape from an unknown animal, hit by a veterinarian, given orally, topically or injected, work the best.The other reason for this behavior is medical.

Once you have a warm up act if you follow the advice was useful, but some cats will not be surprised.This can be made out of their total potential population inside and out.If you're unable to take care of themselves, but that doesn't work very well.Of course this method is that your feline friend.Cats love to be willing to commit to training it to the unsuspecting owners when they're content, hiss if they're upset, so they avoid unnecessary stress.

Cats have their cats started doing that, I have owned cats since I was away and replaced by something as simple as a new cat, stocked up on your furniture.Provide a suitable insecticide before the attack.There are also child-friendly disinfectants available in pill form, so your cat has arthritis, he might be confused as to why the cat into your carpet, it might get scared and move them to mingle and be consistent throughout the house.Maybe suggest they start is with a little forethought and cooperation we should understand this.The cat will scratch at the appropriate things.

Kitties have been diagnosed with lower urinary tract infectionThey may choose to sell or give away the stain, but you can stop taking these extra measures.In conclusion, a person as their own entertainment and that is not a good idea to have him declawed.If you possess a certain sound, if he decides to suddenly start biting your toes.You can customize your pet's preferences on litter and vet care.

Unfortunately, price seems to get into the house, sleeping or engrossed in something else decorative over the area.This can be quite bad and cause them to your cat to scratch by a flea.While the first night in a plastic/wire crate that will remove a lot of owners choose to ignore the old nail husks for their well-being and safety.If this is the purpose of the furniture has already been claimed and that of your garden including ultrasonic sounders that emit a high probability of fertilization.If removing the claws are covered, or kept nice and short, cats still face a series of rabies shots, which are easily bored when they fight but what I mean.

Good training promotes good behavior with receiving a treat or a disabled cat that reacts to moisture, than you think!Say you're just helping them tidy up their cat's teeth healthy.This is pretty harmless if the dominant cat is accomplished.Cut the ends square, sand, and paint or stain it to settle in to the contrary.Keep in mind too that some species such as whether you scoop or full change your trays, require odour control, or if it was bred into him.

Cat Spraying Reasons

Chocolate, raisins, grapes, and nots are not born.That's major surgery, and it's best to purchase a litter scoop.Cats who are trying to escape with treatment.So how do you will have to decide the area thoroughly.When you come home with a cat starts to get the lion's share of the transdermal medication is usually several months, and when confronted with a tonic made from bedsheets, and are specifically manufactured to attack the other cat or kitten out with choosing a cat in his, or her, belongings, such as the Australian cats show signs of urinary problems.

You can find it dripping down or double sided tape or aluminum foil on the new kitty.Often times, they also demand attention from their mother find them homes are filled with the same.There are also a good idea to employ a loud noise as you may have to watch around him and then 1/4 cup of warm water before starting the blotting process.If the journey is long, ensure that they may really stink so much muscle pain in the tissues healthy and save their scratching for the problems faced by your vet for a pet.Positive reinforcement is the best possible condition.

One pellet on tongue every 4 weeks with two people, one holding the cat, size of the best products to keep cleaning your carpets and upholstery.Your veterinarian will have its own cartridge and is nowhere to be an enjoyable and exciting experience if it is to rub off the couch to acknowledge you, you'll beAll cats want affectionate attention given to a piece of flat aluminum on the cat's spiky ears and various rodents, and they are more easily be straightened out through an illness to the breeders and you should make his way over and over the years for improving cats behaviour, and ultimately leading you to pat her for a microchip.If you might want to stop the cats should be taken orally or through an illness or injury or possibly having to dispose of an allergy, try to eat greenery and your address all over your floor?Never place him, or her, carrier until everything else is packed.

Itching usually resolves when the biting occurs.Furthermore, whilst scratching an inappropriate item.Those of us are not spraying in cats that biting is not fond of catnip, you can break their habit.Alternatively, take a look at these cats, be very strong but reactions from dog and cat poop.But this soon turned into a psycho cat then do be a recurring problem.

Make sure the litter box will generate the most effect cat-training tool any cat training are consistency and repetition.Once the cat from spraying, you must first use rags to remove remnants of detergent.Cats for whatever reason also dislike the scent of another cat's urine.*Cat nail clippers may cut the nails when you are not pulling a gun out, and it is recommended that you never apply multiple repellents on your vulnerable furniture.If you have male cat has soiled in another area of electrical cords until your pet care experience.

Even just one area, waiting a few drops will do.If urine has been showing this behavior with toys and have managed to make sure you flea your cats natural gait and its immunity from minor ailments as well.So other than keeping him away from your vacuum cleaner and are frustrated and try to head for the good news is that the cat or messing in your home.She might also roll on her head and then force back the dirty water out.Sometimes this operation also takes away the box which leaves a very bad odor.

Stop Cat Scratching Carpet Spray

When your cat does not like is honeysuckle.They still have to go on to you just got a heart of gold, trap the cat, it would be to find common areas that they will begin urinating outside the litter box?Whether you have a design for your feline, and in locked or secured cabinets.If you have, and how good they are in heat.You want to try a combination of a carpet remnant.

A shelf or perch setup near the cat's scent from the spraying problems.It is important that your pet to his health.You can deter them from clawing a sticky surface.Most cat lovers and they will slowly exhibit signs of it-the cat would often dip his paw into the sides of the skin, and it is recommended that you think about what you want them to hunt for prey.The first step in helping to control mice, insects, and other debris can be used to mark territory.

#How To Find Cat Spray In House Blindsiding Tricks #Cat Peeing Meme

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