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cuyanir · 4 years ago

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VERSE NOTES: twin twilight ( aka the book of bobos )

naturally all of this is speculation that i’m happy to abandon the second i learn anything about the upcoming show. but i also see no reason not to embrace the cool imagery of boba taking over the hutt empire. if it’s real, that’s cool (tho i wouldnt want it to be boba’s endgame), if it’s not, that’s also cool. so yes, speculation. but fun speculation !!!

fun fact -- ‘twin twilight’ is a placeholder name, ill wait for the show to actually settle on a proper verse name but i picked this one to as a sort of reference to tatooine and the naming conventions of other criminal syndicates of sw, such as crimson dawn or black sun. uwu.

after jabba’s death, there was a lot internal squabbling between the hutt lords as to who should take over jabba’s operation on tatooine. this meant that bib fortuna could simply declare himself the new king sort of by default. he simply took the throne and kept his head low, hoping the hutts will continue their in-fighting and won’t actually check whether the throne is empty or not.

because bib couldn’t attract attention of the hutts, he couldn’t do much with jabba’s resources. there weren’t that many of them to begin with. after the dune sea execution the palace was looted, the staff and hired forces scattered and bib was left with scraps of what used to be an impressive criminal empire. but he had enough to live comfortably and he still had the palace. during his reign, the remains of jabba’s power stagnated but that’s how bib managed to stay alive, by not attracting the attention of hutt lords.

after boba and fennec take over, they free the slaves and focus on getting the palace operational. boba has no need for the entire building so there are sections of it that get permanently locked, but the most important rooms get restored, restocked and have their security measures upgraded. people doing the refurbishing are the tatooine locals who then spread the news about the new king in the middle of the desert. people start coming back to the court because they know things are about to get busy and work is guaranteed.

once the palace is under control, boba’s attention turns to the rest of the planet. he respects the tusken territory so he leaves that alone, but he slowly takes over the trade routes cutting through the dune sea. if traders wish to use them and be under his protection, they have to pay. it’s not exorbitant and the safety is always guaranteed, so it’s not an awful deal. there are also several tusken and jawa camps along the way for additional trading between the tatooine cities.

protecting trade routes requires forces which know how to handle a blaster and can fend off raiders and/or wild animals. mercenaries and hunters from all over the galaxy come to the palace, looking for a steady employment. boba also offers contracts for the more skillful visitors. he still prefers to stay hands on, so the most important jobs are done by him or fennec or both. but he will hire someone to clear out some dangerous den or a raider camp from time to time.

hunters/mercs that have proven their worth will be eventually send off-planet. as boba’s influence on tatooine grows and he restarts the outer rim trade, the hutt clan can’t afford to ignore him. even if they wanted to leave him alone, they can’t because letting boba rule over jabba’s domain sends a message of weakness to other crime syndicates in the galaxy. and the hutt clan’s position is already very wobbly, compared to black sun and crimson dawn. the hutts will attempt to reclaim jabba’s domain but boba knows exactly where to hit them because he spent years working for them. the tactic he utilizes at first, very relentlessly, is siccing the new republic on the hutts. he does so by contacting the rangers through a third party and tipping them off where hutts’ bases of operations are hidden.

some threats are taken head on and a lot of high ranking hutt families are eliminated either by him or fennec. once hutt clan gets the message and leaves tatooine alone, other crime syndicates begin to take interest in boba’s little operation. but he is not entertaining any coalitions, mostly because he’s boba and boba works alone yadda yadda yadda, but part of it is also boba’s previous working experience for almost every crime organization in the galaxy. he knows that sooner or later they turn on each other, hence his lack of interest in any long-term alliance.

as boba’s kingdom grows, the previously quiet palace gets lively again. boba resumes some of the duties jabba had, such as resolving disputes or settling debts for people of tatooine. because fennec is his equal, she is often found on the throne as well. she’s also responsible for making the palace fun again because boba is tragically ignorant of how important having a good music band in the palace at all time is. they compliment each other well when it comes to running the palace and are equally involved in seeing their operation flourish.

but eventually, boba will reach the peak and he will lose interest in running this operation. he proved a point, he didn’t let this planet defeat him, he returned and conquered it in return. once he’s satisfied with the conquest, he will move on. give the palace away to fennec or anyone else, return to hunting for a brief while. and this is the place where i’d link my mand’alor verse if i had it written out so UHH watch this space but yes, the next logical conclusion is him returning to mandalore.

to sum up, they have fun on tatooine!! boba’s a great businessman who can and will fuck up other crime syndicates and new republic alike. if we have any threads happening in this verse, it’s likely boba will offer some sort of job for them and thats fun !!!! or they can just hang , the vibes at the palace are immaculate now. theres a cool bar and a lot of gays , lets chill lets have fun !!!!!!

#this is his boss babe verse #( VERSE; twin twilight ).#im uhhh not proof-reading this. maybe . maybe later .#( headcanon ).

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quakerjoe · 5 years ago

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American states are abruptly facing their worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that more than 25 percent of state revenues have evaporated because of the pandemic. Demands on state health-care budgets, state unemployment systems, and state social-welfare benefits are surging. By the summer of 2022, the state budget gap could total half a trillion dollars.

States need help. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does not want to provide it. On The Hugh Hewitt Show on April 23, McConnell proposed another idea. Instead of more federal aid, states should cut their spending by declaring bankruptcy:

“I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route. It saves some cities. And there’s no good reason for it not to be available. My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don’t have to do that. That’s not something I’m going to be in favor of.”

McConnell expanded on the state-bankruptcy concept later that same day in a phone interview with Fox News’s Bill Hemmer:

“We’re not interested in solving their pension problems for them. We’re not interested in rescuing them from bad decisions they've made in the past, we’re not going to let them take advantage of this pandemic to solve a lot of problems that they created themselves [with] bad decisions in the past.”

McConnell’s words instantly attracted attention, criticism, even some derision. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted the idea as “dumb,” “irresponsible,” and “petty”:

“How do you think this is going to work? And then to suggest we’re concerned about the economy, states should declare bankruptcy. That’s how you’re going to bring this national economy back? By states declaring bankruptcy? You want to see that market fall through the cellar? … I mean, if there’s ever a time for humanity and decency, now is the time.”

Cuomo’s fervent rebuttal grabbed the cameras. It did not settle the issue. State bankruptcy is not some passing fancy. Republicans have been advancing the idea for more than a decade. Back in 2011, Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich published a jointly bylined op-ed advocating state bankruptcy as a solution for the state of California. The Tea Party Congress elected in 2010 explored the idea of state bankruptcy in House hearings and Senate debates. Newt Gingrich promoted it in his run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

To understand why Republicans want state bankruptcy, it’s necessary to understand what bankruptcy is—and what it is not.

A bankruptcy is not a default. States have defaulted on their debts before; that is not new. Arkansas defaulted in the depression year of 1933. Eight states defaulted on canal and railway debt within a single year, 1841. The Fourteenth Amendment required former Confederate states to repudiate their Civil War debts.

A default is a sovereign act. A defaulting sovereign can decide for itself which—if any—debts to pay in full, which to repay in part, which debts to not pay at all.

Bankruptcy, by contrast, is a legal process in which a judge decides which debts will be paid, in what order, and in what amount. Under the Constitution, bankruptcy is a power entirely reserved to the federal government. An American bankruptcy is overseen in federal court, by a federal judge, according to federal law. That’s why federal law can allow U.S. cities to go bankrupt, as many have done over the years. That’s why the financial restructuring of Puerto Rico can be overseen by a federal control board. Cities and territories are not sovereigns. Under the U.S. Constitution, U.S. states are.

Understand that, and you begin to understand the appeal of state bankruptcy to Republican legislators in the post-2010 era.

Since 2010, American fiscal federalism has been defined by three overwhelming facts.

First, the country’s wealthiest and most productive states are overwhelmingly blue. Of the 15 states least reliant on federal transfers, 11 are led by Democratic governors. Of the 15 states most reliant on federal transfers, 11 have Republican governors.

Second, Congress is dominated by Republicans. Republicans controlled the House for eight of the last 10 years; the Senate for six. Because of the Republican hold on the Senate, the federal judiciary has likewise shifted in conservative and Republican directions.

A state bankruptcy process would thus enable a Republican Party based in the poorer states to use its federal ascendancy to impose its priorities upon the budgets of the richer states.

When Cuomo protested McConnell’s bankruptcy idea, the New York governor raised the risk of chaos in financial markets. But McConnell does not advocate state bankruptcy in order to subject state bondholders to hardship. Obviously not! When McConnell spoke to Hewitt about fiscally troubled states, he did not address their bond debt. He addressed their pension debt. State bankruptcy is a project to shift hardship onto pensioners while protecting bondholders—and, even more than bondholders, taxpayers.

Republican plans for state bankruptcy sedulously protect state taxpayers. The Bush-Gingrich op-ed of 2011 was explicit on this point. A federal law of state bankruptcy “must explicitly forbid any federal judge from mandating a tax hike,” they wrote. You might wonder: Why? If a Republican Senate majority leader from Kentucky is willing to squeeze Illinois state pensioners, why would he care about shielding Illinois state taxpayers? The answer is found in the third of the three facts of American fiscal federalism.

United States senators from smaller, poorer red states do not only represent their states. Often, they do not even primarily represent their states. They represent, more often, the richest people in bigger, richer blue States who find it more economical to invest in less expensive small-state races. The biggest contributor to Mitch McConnell’s 2020 campaign and leadership committee is a PAC headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey. The second is a conduit for funds from real-estate investors. The third is the tobacco company Altria. The fourth is the parcel delivery service UPS. The fifth is the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical corporation. The sixth is the home health-care company, LHC Group. The seventh is the Blackstone hedge fund. And so on and on.

A federal bankruptcy process for state finances could thus enable wealthy individuals and interest groups in rich states to leverage their clout in the anti-majoritarian federal system to reverse political defeats in the more majoritarian political systems of big, rich states like California, New York, and Illinois.

No question, many states face serious problems with their unfunded liabilities to state retirees. Illinois’s liability nears $140 billion, and its municipalities are liable for additional billions. California’s state and local unfunded liabilities amount to $1.5 trillion.

Those liabilities are often described as “pension” liabilities, but they are driven above all by faster-than-expected increases in retiree health-care costs. They need to be addressed, and addressing them will be a tough policy challenge. It will be a tough legal challenge, too, since those liabilities are often—as in Illinois—inscribed into the state's constitution.

Difficult and important as these problems are, they are not urgent problems. They existed 24 months ago; they will remain 24 months from now. From a strictly economic point of view, McConnell's schemes for state bankruptcy are utterly irrelevant to the present crisis. Reducing future pension liabilities will not replenish lost revenues or reduce suddenly crushing social-welfare burdens.

But McConnell seems to be following the rule “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” He’s realistic enough to recognize that the pandemic probably means the end not only of the Trump presidency, but of his own majority leadership. He’s got until January to refashion the federal government in ways that will constrain his successors. That’s what the state-bankruptcy plan is all about.

McConnell gets it. Now you do, too.

- DAVID FRUM

#ideas

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dopescotlandwarrior · 5 years ago

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A Hero Among Us-Chapter 12

Special thanks to @statell for all your help

Previous chapters at AO3

Chapter Twelve

January went by in a blur. The confirmation of ownership of the hidden property made the great caper a reality. Jamie and Ned spent time bent over plans, Claire and Misses Crook spent time cleaning out the dirt, pulling draperies to wash, sweeping piles of dust to be cleared and washing furniture. Rupert installed a line that could withstand the weight of wet rugs and the women beat them dustless and then washed them. Misses Crook was an absolute stickler for cleanliness, Claire was a bit more practical opting for moderately clean.

“Misses Crook I have spent many hours here and still have not seen all the rooms. Can we agree to a deep scrubbing when time permits? May I show you your rooms?”

The older woman looked up, “rooms?”

Claire reached for the knobs of double doors pushing them open with great flourish and breezed by Misses Crook who was spellbound, mouth open, and stuck looking into the largest room she had ever slept in. Claire pointed to the sitting room and bathroom with her own tub. Misses Crook shook her head no and finally found her voice. “Misses Fraser, this is yer room, the master’s room.”

Well no, our room has its own hallway off the top of the stairs, like a separate floor it seems. I believe this was the room of the nanny or governess because its surrounded by three smaller rooms. That hall there leads to three rather large rooms, possibly for guests.

The home was decorated in the European style of fancy, over-furnished rooms and when they discovered the attic, Claire jumped up and down with happiness. They had a place to move the excess furniture.

Jamie wanted to take advantage of Randall’s declaration on the vineyard and keep nosy neighbors away from their new property. Claire and Misses Crook went with a land representative on Wednesday afternoons and endured hours of boring property viewings with a long-winded salesman. Every third or fourth property Claire would make a fuss and talk openly with Misses Crook about bringing Jamie to see it. It was enough to keep the gossip ship afloat and moving in the wrong direction.

Jamie decided they would start the transplanting on February fifteenth and prayed for enough time to get the healthy vines removed at the very least. Each week, the men would deconstruct one cabin and move the wood to the new property. It was always done on nights with little moonlight in silence and relying on their sense of touch. When dawn lit the landscape again there would be one less cabin. It was very difficult terrain between the two properties. There were strained and broken ankles from walking in the dark and general exhaustion from the distance and burden of transporting materials. Jamie saw the wear on the men and not a vine had been dug up. He ordered the cabin construction to stop for now. The men were given an extra meal, a day off to fish, sleep, get drunk or get laid, if they were lucky enough. It made a difference. On the next workday they would clock the removal and transport of a single vine so Jamie could estimate how much of the vineyard he could save.

Jamie called it the dress rehearsal and chose the fifth of February, 1882. The exercise was to move a single vine and estimate the time to pull it from one vineyard and bury it in the other. They all feared an early arrival of Randall and the loss of their crop, so moods lifted as the date approached to finally move them to safety. At six in the morning, Jamie smiled and pointed at a vine randomly as two of the men approached with shovels, just happy to be included in the dress rehearsal. At six o’clock that night, Ben pulled Jamie from the hidden property, his hands and feet were bloody from the unyielding earth refusing to release the vine. The challenge continued with traversing the rugged land and retrieving the dead replacement from the same unmerciful dirt on the other side. Jamie was despondent. Ben forced him on Brimstone and promised to help find a solution. Jamie knew it was God or nothing. He couldn’t bear to think of how this would crush Claire. For the first time since devising this scheme, he wondered I it was even possible.

Ben could not help Jamie, so he went home to sleep a few hours. The men tried to speak to him, but he didn’t hear them. He walked to the back yard and laid on the swing. For hours he watched the twinkling stars, and his failure raged inside of him. He dozed until soft hands touched his face and his eyes jerked open. Claire smiled at her husband and laid next to him.

“Why do you sleep without me tonight Jamie darling?”

“I was watchin the stars,” he lied.

“There are no stars shining tonight.”

Jamie looked at the sky and was surprised to see the stars were blocked from view. As far as he could see in all directions the stars were blocked. He felt another powerful hammer drive a nail into the coffin of his project.

“It will rain tomorrow Sassenach. Not thrilled but it’s been months without a drop. One man’s prayer goes unanswered so another man may flourish. A better man,” he said softly.

“I know one thing better than my own name Jamie and it is you are the best man. You have the truest heart, highest integrity, and a moral fiber that points to the harder road. I have never known such a man as you. I have enough faith for both of us, so rest my love and I will carry your burden of doubt. In ten days, we will move this entire vineyard.”

It was the first ray of hope he felt since early morning. She spoke with authority and conviction he rarely heard from her. “Thank you, Sassenach, I feel a bit better.”

Claire pushed up on an elbow and spoke into her husband's ear; “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”

Jaime took her face in his hands and searched her eyes, “and if yer wrong?”

“I am already right. You are my vineyard Jamie, my golden crop, my riches, my promise of the future. No one can take that from me. We own a vineyard in our own right, we have a glorious house and strong men, we don’t need these vines. Ben can find the native people to teach us how to graft and in three years we will prosper safely.”

Jamie took several gulps of air and held her close, “Sassenach, my brilliant Sassenach. Thank ye. Ye have released me from torment and yer amazing. I will spend the rest of my days thanking ye for all ye have said.”

The flash of lightning came with an explosion that threw them into deafness. Claire looked terrified and Jamie picked her up and ran to the house. Misses Crook was there with towels and looked out at the downpour as she closed the door. They all sat at the kitchen table and Misses Crook served hot chocolate to ease sleep and calm nerves while she blushed at Ned. Jaime could not let go of his wife under the table. The thunder was fiercer than any of them had ever heard and they chuckled their appreciation for shelter.

Jamie carried his bride to their rooms and tucked her in. He looked out at the cabins and hoped the men would find some rest tonight. The wind howled and the thunder crashed making Claire call to Jamie for comfort.

Jamie held her close and stroked her hair. “The rain has a debt to pay, our sleeping vines are baked dry. It is a good thing mo chridhe, fear not.”

When Claire was asleep Jamie went back to the window. Frank did many things right, like building the cabins on a raised platform of earth so the water fell away and was routed to the empty land behind the cabins. Where the vegetable garden had been…and Cho lived under a rudimentary lean-to that rested, unsecured, between two small trees. “Christ, Cho.”

Jamie pulled his slicker on and rubber boots. When he opened the door, the wind ripped it out of his hands and slammed it against the wall. It took all his strength to close the door before heading into the wind to find Cho. It took him some time to round the corner behind the cabins and he waded through a foot of water looking for his man. The rain was still blinding, and he was feeling panicked with no sight of Cho. He pushed on looking forward and then he saw him. Clinging to a small tree, head down, fighting the wind. Jamie pried Cho’s fingers from the tree and dragged him to the house. Cho lacked the strength to fight the water and wind and his single layer of cotton clothing was soaked to the skin. The old man stood on the doormat shaking violently. He tried to protest the special treatment and leave out the front door. Jamie stayed his hand.

“Oh good Lord, Mister Cho I’ll get ye warm right away.” Misses Crook came with towels and a blanket. Her heart broke for Cho because of his uncontrollable shaking. Misses Crook went for some tea and hot chocolate and did her best to make him comfortable.

“I know it’s not what ye want Mister Cho but yer stayin inside until the rain stops. Yer a bit too important to lose,” Jamie said softly.

Cho refused the bed in the second guest bedroom and chose to sleep in the bathtub where he seemed to fit perfectly.

The rain raged for a solid week. Part of the terraces came down and the men pulled heavy mud away looking for the vines. It would clear up for half a day and then rain hard for two. The men went back to dismantling the cabins and stacked the wood into individual cabin piles on the new land. Jamie requested the next cabin be stacked behind the barn but didn’t say why and the men didn’t ask.

Claire used the time to pack their clothes, the kitchen, and the treasures she wanted safe. Jamie investigated more of the outbuildings on the new property and found a carriage, a six-horse barn, and expensive saddlery. He wondered what happened to the horses.

On the first clear night in eight days, the night watch noticed several men watching the vineyard. It made Rupert’s skin crawl to know Randall senior was having them watched. He told Jamie the next day.

“Walk with me, Rupert.” The two men walked into the vineyard sinking several inches into the mud. As Jamie talked about building a raft, Rupert walked up to a vine and pulled it out of the ground, taproot and all. His cheeks were bunched up in a happy smile and when Jamie turned around he stopped mid-sentence and stared at the vine in Rupert’s hand.

“Sweet Jesus, ye just pulled it out of the earth, did ye nae?” He gave one a tug and it came right out of the ground. “We start tonight but we need to build a raft, actually three will do. Can ye do it, Rupert?”

“Angus has experience with water but what do ye want with a raft?”

“Get Angus, tell him we’re gonna float them across, starting tonight. Tell him the wood is behind the barn. Get all the men to start pullin the vines starting in the back and work forward. The ground is so wet they will come out easy and we can stack them at the lake. Go, hurry! We need to make haste while the ground is soft.”

Rupert took off to find Angus. Jamie saddled Brimstone and left to fetch Ben. By early afternoon Angus had completed one very substantial raft, but it had to be finished on the water because of its large size. He sent men to carry it to the lake and started on the next raft. They would tie them together, load them with the vines and four men would row the rafts to the other side. When Misses Crook rang the bell for supper to be brought down, Angus was starting the third raft.

With the little light of day left, Jamie and Ben were at the lake looking at the vines piling up and the sections of raft waiting to be connected. They decided twelve men would row to make the best time possible. Split the men into two crews, one at each property, pulling vines and planting the replacements. Things were moving fast now and when the night was dark the men loaded three huge rafts with vines, six men on each side sat on the very edges of the raft, heels touching butts and they started rowing. By the time they were in sync, they were moving across the lake faster than Jamie hoped. He watched the stars to keep their direction and finally saw the shore fire that Ned built to guide them in.

Ben’s crew had another six acres of vines stacked on the beach awaiting the dead vines to stick in the holes. On the third trip across the lake, Jamie exchanged the eleven exhausted men with fresh rowers, and they waited for the vines to be loaded and pushed off for the last run before sunrise. Jaime looked up and saw only clusters of stars here and there, otherwise, the night sky was hidden by incoming clouds. Twenty minutes in, he was dead lost. He told the men to sit still and wait for enough light to navigate. He could see lightning in the distance and watched it come closer. I hope we’re close, he thought.

When the sun finally punched through the layer of clouds it was barely enough to choose a direction. Jamie heard the morning bird song and after five minutes he decided that weird sound was someone imitating a bird and doing a poor job of it. They had drifted quite a way based on the sound Ned was sending across the water. He motioned the direction to the men, and they put their backs into it. Jamie’s relief was profound when he saw the fire and Ned, hands to mouth making his bird noise and pacing the shoreline.

The clouds were pushing a wicked cold wind and the men fought against it to bring the rafts to shore. Men descended on the vines, pulling them off and into holes already waiting for them. Jamie stumbled onto the shore and tied the rafts securely. He had never been so exhausted in his life but there were equal amounts of elation and relief in what they had done. His Sassenach was right, it was the hand of God that intervened, and he wasn’t done yet. The thunder exploded above them, and the rain came hard pushing Jamie and Ned into the house. Jamie looked out at the men stomping the mud around freshly planted vines and yanking dead ones as they moved back to the raft. He could barely see their outlines, but their smiles were impossible to miss.

With the work done for the time being the men gathered, dripping wet, not knowing what to do. Jaime herded them downstairs and promised food would be coming. He built up a huge fire and the men laid down on the hard ground and passed out, shivering with cold.

Jamie wanted to get the women off the {soon to be Randall} property as soon as possible and prayed the rain would let up long enough for Ben to bring the two horses. He pulled the carriage out and readied it to roll. It was nerve-wracking waiting for Ben, but he finally heard Ben’s whistle and ran out to show him the barn. The men hitched the carriage to the two horses Ben brought and Jamie was on his way negotiating the hills and holes of the terrain before finding the road. It was difficult keeping the horses calm in the sliding mud but his anxiety over Claire pushed them through it.

Angus saw the carriage and came running. He held the horses while Jamie ran inside the house apologizing for the wet trail. Claire ran to him and hugged him close but didn’t let go. Jamie looked at her, so petite and clean with Misses Crook standing behind her.

“We have to go ladies. We will float all you’ve packed another time. Can we bring food for the men? It’s been a very hard night for them.”

Misses Crook tried to pass Jamie the heavy cauldron that created the porridge every morning. Jamie took it from her and told the women to wear their heaviest wrap, the wind was freezing. Once they were settled in the carriage Jamie climbed up and thanked Angus, telling him to sleep. They were back on the sliding road heading toward their new home. A lightning bolt came down on the road ahead spooking the horses. They took off running and Jamie did all he could to keep control of them. The women were screaming, the rain was coming down in sheets and Jamie almost slipped out of his seat putting the fear of God into him. When he finally brought the horses under control it was time to leave the road and cut into the property. Jamie stopped the carriage and swung down. He tied the reins off and looked in the window at two women clutching each other, wide-eyed with fright.

“It’s a beautiful day for a ride ladies! Dinna fash, this part is the most fun.” He smiled at Claire and she boldly rushed forward and kissed him.

“You will take us home then?”

“I like the sound of that Sassenach. I must walk the horses in because it’s slippery. The carriage will bounce a lot but it’s plenty safe. If it’s too hard to hold em I’ll be pullin ye out into the rain but let’s see how it goes.”

Jamie reached for the reigns and considered the danger. If the horses spooked and bolted it would flip the carriage killing the horses and probably the women inside. He stood there considering his options and felt a meaty hand pull two reins from the bunch he held. He looked up at a smiling Ben Yountz and almost dropped to his knees with relief. The men nodded and each took a position at the mouth of a horse. They walked the carriage and horses into the property and the ladies were deposited in the house, no worse for wear an hour later.

The men unhitched the horses and slapped their rumps driving them into a stall. Jamie climbed into the hayloft and tore a bale apart smelling the fresh hay. They haven’t been gone very long, he thought. Maybe a year, maybe less. He pushed hay into the stalls and walked with Ben to the house.

Misses Crook had porridge bubbling over the fire in the kitchen and Claire was nowhere to be seen. Jamie scooped a bowl into the hot cereal and went to find his wife. She was spreading sheets across the biggest bed he’d ever seen. She moved quickly and with purpose as the rain came down outside. She approached Jamie and pulled his shirt off, boots and pants, handed him soap and pointed at two French doors.

“You want me to go out there mo chridhe? But why?”

Claire opened the doors to a porch and he smiled as he walked naked outside and washed. Claire draped towels over him and dried him off handing him a clean shirt. When she looked up there were tears rolling down her cheeks.

Jamie held her cheeks and wiped the tears with his thumb. “What is it, love?”

“You”…she swallowed hard, “are the most courageous man alive, and I am the luckiest girl in the world.”

Jamie pulled her to him and kissed her shoulder walking backward as she pushed him toward the bed. He laid down and thought he had gone to heaven. “God Sassenach, have ye…”

Claire looked down at her husband, sound asleep. She moved the hair out of his eyes and watched the corners of his mouth turn up. She thought her heart might burst looking at him, this man she loved so deeply.

Night after night the scene was repeated. The men never complained, Ben was always there to lead his half of the men, and they slowly worked their way into three hundred acres of grapevines. By March first, they had half the vineyard safely planted at the new site. Jamie rode to the old house and was surrounded by men who followed him inside like they owned the place. When he saw the kitchen, he almost fainted.

“What the devil has happened here?”

The men looked at each other and lifted their shoulders, it all looked right as rain to them. Jamie saw food stuck on the floor, countertops, footprints going down the hall and a sink full of disgusting dishes.

“Ye men are pigs.”

Robbie slapped his impressive girth and announced no loss of weight with the men cooking for themselves.

“Jesus Christ, I’ve never seen a room so dirty in my life.”

Later, the men sat around Jamie enjoying the sunny afternoon. He looked from one face to the other and saw sheer exhaustion. They didn’t look well at all and he needed to call a time out to rest. He made the decision to split Rupert and Angus between the two groups at night and exchange the groups weekly. First, they all needed three days off to rest and recharge. He had hardly seen his wife in two weeks, and he was exhausted.

Claire found a wardrobe in the attic and expected it to be full of blankets and men’s coats. When the door swung open her eyes got huge and her open mouth turned up in a smile. Her hand reached for the floor-length robe of the softest fabric, knit somehow, with fur piping, like mink. She pulled the garment out and ran to her room to try it on. It was the most exquisite garment she had ever seen and decided it was time to seduce her husband.

Jamie came bounding into the bedroom a few hours later and stopped dead at the sight of his wife. She reclined on a chaise lounge with a beautiful robe on. The front was open to her navel, belted, then opened again to see her legs up to high-thigh. He knew he would lose his grip on sanity if he didn’t take her this minute. He listened to the rain pour outside and felt the soap in his hand, he walked naked into the rain but watched her every second. He dried off, still watching and walked to her lounge. He ran a finger under the fur piping and touched her nipple. Suddenly he wanted to touch everything, he wanted to be inside her right away, his exhaustion was making his mind scramble and he called to her. A starving, horny, sleep-deprived man could not decide what to do first and he dropped his head in his hands. He saw Claire’s naked leg swing across his lap and straddle him. She pulled his head to her breasts and then kissed him so deeply it touched his soul.

Claire kept her eyes locked on Jamie’s and slid to the floor. She held him in her hands and opened her mouth as she watched him watch her. Her tongue touched all his places and she took notice of what made him weak. When she pulled him into her mouth, she tilted her head so he could see. Jamie pulled her up and aimed himself at her wet core and as she dropped down on him, he thought he would explode. Claire’s body brought him sweet release, she fed him and laid next to him until he chased his dreams.

For the next three days, Claire wore the beautiful and extravagant robe, kept ample food in the room, and read Jamie to sleep after every meal and orgasm. For both of them, it was three days in heaven.

Jamie felt the boards under his knees and dug his ore deep in the water to gain the most speed. He was back in the zone with a single purpose, to ferry the vines to safety. On March twentieth the entire vineyard had been moved except the two acres in front of the house. Ben told him to let it go, he had enough. The ground was tightening around the roots laying claim to those that were left. Jamie felt defeated.

Two nights later Jaime woke to the crash of thunder and room brightening lightning. He listened to the pounding rain and heard voices in his head say, “come and get me… come and get me… come and get me.” He tucked his head against the wind and rain and ran to the vineyard pulling up vines as he ran along. Robbie appeared next to him pulling up vines. They pulled what was left and then ran them to the shore of the lake. Two other men showed up, rubbing their eyes as they loaded the vines onto the raft. Robbie jumped on the raft opposite Jamie and the men rowed hard as the rain pelted them.

Jamie and Ned devised a whistle system when the sky was cloudy, and Jamie sent his inquiry across the water. Five minutes of whistling in all directions and finally a whistle came back. They moved toward it until they saw the light from burning lamps inside the windows of the house.

The next morning the men stacked the dead vines on the rafts and made jokes about the boss not being human. Ned walked out and put a shaky foot on the closest raft looking like he might lunge for it.

“What might ye be thinkin Ned”, asked a concerned Highlander.

Ned looked up as his spectacles slid down his nose, “we must get the vines across right away. We can’t have anyone notice those front acres are suddenly empty.” He prepared himself for the lunge to the raft until a large hand pulled him back. Ten Highlanders piled onto the rafts and a grateful Ned watched them disappear over the horizon.

For the next two weeks, Jamie, Ben, and most of the Highlanders worked on the old property trimming the vines that had been left overgrown and shabby. All the work they had done would be for naught if the vines looked like dead transplants.

As the old vineyard was being trimmed, men were taking loads of personal belongings across the lake and the new house was feeling more like home to the women.

The rest of the cabins were relocated except the front ten. Many days Jamie would work in the equip barn on some project that only Angus knew about and he wasn’t talking. As the calendar was turned back onto the month of May, Jamie and Angus took another trip across the lake on a dark night, loaded the precious cargo from the equip barn, and floated it back. They would work silently for several more hours constructing their surprise.

The next morning Cho sat outside eating his porridge when Jamie asked for his assistance. The quiet man stood and bowed, following Jamie around the cabins and ducking under a line of willow trees that were budding out for the spring. Cho stopped at the site of something miraculous.

“Come Mister Cho. I made this for ye, Angus helped, and I hope you like it. I tried to remember all you told me about your property at home. The floor, the Che-friendly angles, and exposure. You had a water garden, like this I believe,” Jamie pointed to the large area that was dug out at differing depths and wound around his house with a large pool right in front. “I waited for you to fill it with water in case it needs something.”

Cho had remained like a statue looking white as a sheet. Jamie feared he overstepped, or insulted Cho and was filled with dread. He boldly kept going and lifted a large door that when raised above the head slipped easily into grooves in the roof structure. The space inside was ten times his lean-to at the old property. There was a circular fire pit in the middle with a corresponding hole cut into the roof. There was a new bedroll, a low table with a tea service and a canister full of his favorite tea that Claire had ordered from China town. There were four woven mats around the fire pit for relaxing and conversation with visitors.

Claire had been fetched by Angus and walked up to Mister Cho. She took his hand and walked him to the structure smiling brightly. Her curtsy was to the ground, head bent, held for at least a minute. When she rose she took his hands again, “thank you Mister Cho, for saving my life, twice.” She released his hand and joined her husband who asked Cho to come in for one last thing. Cho moved like a sleepwalker, with tears streaming down his face. Jamie pointed at Cho’s love in life. A floor easel, paints, brushes for his calligraphy and pictures, graphite, rulers, and clips. Jamie laid a highly polished box at Cho’s feet. “I made this as watertight as possible and from the Manzanita tree. The wood is so dense it can float for a week with no problem.”

Cho ran his fingers along the edges of the box, the tongue and groove craftsmanship, and the beautiful red wood. Lifting the lid he saw paper of various sizes stacked neatly inside. He held the box to his chest and bowed to the Frasers. He would have a home of his own and make his meditation pond beautiful. The willow trees sheltered the home from view of the vineyard and he could be alone and commune with nature until the next emergency. Cho set the box down and held a hand of each of them, pressing it to his forehead as he bowed, still too overcome to speak.

That night, Cho unrolled the thick new bedroll and watched the stars out of the hole in the ceiling while the fire kept him warm. It was the most luxurious moment in his memory and he smiled as he fell asleep.

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sarcasticmesswriting · 5 years ago

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WinterHawk Week Day 5 - Arranged Marriage

Historical Au with some typical period and arranged marriage consent issues, though it has a beautiful Happy Ending.

It is nearly 4K so make sure you have the time :D (You can still find all 7 stories collectively at Ao3 here.

Clint never viewed his life as either lucky or unlucky. There were only circumstances and whatever work he had done to better his life.

Circumstances that determined Clint was born into the family to an easily addicted father who loved gambling, women and his drink. A father who beat his sons and still managed to get one on his side to share games of dice, women or a drink.

Clint never liked the idea of his life being all written out as some declaration read to the commoners in the market square. He was more than just the son of a man who had fallen from glory gained in war.

Starting as an errand boy Clint quickly became the most reliable in the city. He was fast and nimble enough to go routes no one else could and none of his wares ever went missing. Years he worked and built a reputation, getting a job going in and out of the castle, getting paid better and finding friends in the people in the castle, noble and commoner.

Harold and Barney tried to rope Clint into their dealing, tried to get him to give them money, but Clint barely had enough to sustain himself. And he really didn’t want to support their habits.

Years of having a pretty decent life with ups and downs, but he still didn’t expect to be called in front of the Kings of their country.

Anxiety churned in his gut as two guards he had just talked to this morning opened the door to the throne room. They looked serious and maybe even pitying.

The room had never been this long or his stride had never been this short.

King Steve and King Tony sat in their equally large thrones with grave expressions, advisers in a group to the right, the captain of the guard with a couple high ranking officers on the left. They didn’t have their weapons out. Yet.

Clint knelt down, head hung low and said loud and clear, “Your Majesties.”

“Please, Clint, there is no need to kneel,” Steve said kindly and Clint quickly got up, putting his hands behind his back for lack of a better spot.

“Now we called you here to talk about your family’s debt to the crown.” Tony lounged precariously on his throne and Steve sent him the usual reproaching look Tony ignored.

“I see,” Clint said slowly, even though he didn’t. He didn’t have anything to do with that debt. Unofficially he had already washed his hands off it, but officially he was still part of the Barton family. His only reason for not doing that yet was that he didn’t want to lose his mother’s surname.

“Steve and I have talked at length on how to approach this and we have decided to release you of the whole debt.”

“In exchange for your hand in marriage.”

“My hand in-” Clint blinked at them in incomprehension. “I don’t understand. Barney and my father are the ones you should talk about the debt to. Your Majesties,” he added quickly, lowering his gaze.

“Has no one told you?” Rhodey stepped forward, his Captain’s insignia on his chest shining in the light from the windows.

“Told me what?”

“Clint, there was a brawl in The Sun three days ago,” Rhodey said, coming closer, hands away from his sword, but Clint still kept his posture unthreatening. It didn’t matter that they were friends outside of this hall. “Your father and Barney were involved and suffered severe injuries. They died that night.”

“They’re both…?” Clint couldn’t feel his fingers, couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of being the last one left of his family.

“Yes. I’m so sorry, Clint.” Rhodey looked like he genuinely meant it, but Clint wasn’t upset? Or at least he didn’t think so. Maybe it would need some time to sink in, but now he was in front of the crown, talking about money he had to pay back. Money he absolutely and without a doubt did not have.

“If I may ask, who will I marry?” He didn’t want to leave the city. All his friends were here. Marrying the person chosen by the crown would free him of the debt, but maybe shackle him to someone cruel and unkind. Even so, did it even matter? The crown wanted him to marry someone. He couldn’t refuse. And no matter who it was Clint would be fine. Clint was tenacious and had survived the beatings of his father, the cold starving touch of winter more than once.

“Bucky Barnes.”

The Winter Soldier. Clint’s stomach bottomed out.

“You’re definitely going to die,” Natasha commented, hands busy braiding Pepper’s red hair.

“He is not going to die,” Pepper said with an eye roll, though she very purposefully didn’t move her head.

“I don’t know, man. I have never seen that guy smile or sad.” Sam’s knife impaled the wooden target with a dull thud, a good foot away from where Clint’s was embedded. “He is the crown’s most successful assassin. I do not want to be in your shoes right now.”

“Great,” Clint muttered, throwing his second knife with all his strength, making the whole target shake. “I’m going to die.”

It had only been a couple of days since Clint had been pushed into marrying someone, but here he was, being dressed in clothes that surely cost just as much as the debt he had been released from, for a wedding to a man Clint had never really spoken to.

Barnes had always been around the castle when Clint had come to it to run errands. When Clint hadn’t known who the man was, Clint had tried to talk to him, tried to strike up a conversation and make a friend and maybe help the handsome, slightly lost looking man.

Barnes had glared at him, grunted and left. All the following instances they were in the vicinity of each other Barnes had glared at him, often stared at Clint while Clint talked to someone else.

Once Clint saw him covered in blood that wasn’t his own, seconds after killing a man making an attempt on the Kings’ lives.

Rumors called him a rapist and a killer of children, called him the moon to Steve’s sun.

Clint was to be his husband, his property and whatever else Barnes wanted him to be. Barnes didn’t even need to tell the Kings that Clint wasn’t cooperating, he could just kill Clint himself without a problem.

“You look very handsome,” Pepper pulled him out of his thoughts. Her smile was calm and encouraging.

He didn’t understand how she could believe this was not going to end in bloodshed.

“Thank you.” Swallowing he straightened his jacket and turned to look over his room for one last time.

It was nothing special. A tiny room above the blacksmith with a bed and a small cabinet for the few clothes he owned. He would never see it again. Instead, he would go to live in whatever rooms Barnes inhabited in the castle.

He offered Pepper his arm and she took it with another smile.

“It’s going to be fine. Maybe you will even come to like him.”

He sincerely doubted that.

The ceremony was held in the chapel, overseen by both Kings and advisers and all of Clint’s commoner friends. All the seats were filled and flowers decorated every inch. Barnes was dressed in black like always and Clint refused to let his head hung low as Clint stepped up next to him.

The words of the minister washed over Clint like white noise and he only snapped out of the daze he hadn’t even noticed he had entered into when it was time for Clint and Barnes to move into the throne hall for the feast.

There was no kiss to seal the marriage, there was no happy exchange of rings, there was no dance or stolen touches. It was just everyone happily eating incredible food, laughing and getting drunk, while Barnes and Clint sat at the table of honor next to the Kings in silence.

Clint only managed to swallow two bites, before his stomach rebelled and he stuck to picking at the food on his plate. Barnes didn’t seem to have the same problem and Clint kind of resented him even more for it.

After Tony was well into his cups, he winked at Clint and Barnes - his husband - and got them to leave the party. The catcalls from the other guests were quickly silenced by a single look from Barnes and cold anxiety rolled down Clint’s back as he followed Barned out of the room and down hallways and up stairs.

The door they stopped at was simple wood with metal reinforcement and Barnes opened the door with a key before nodding for Clint to go in first.

The room was so much bigger than Clint’s, more expensive, which wasn’t a surprise, but it was much simpler than other rooms in the castle Clint had snuck a peek into. Clint couldn’t see any personal effects and beside a small trunk he had put his stuff in prior to the wedding, there wasn’t much else.

Clint blinked as Barnes basically pushed the key in his face. When he took it Barnes turned and started to make his way out of the room.

“Wait,” Clint said confused. He shouldn’t put thoughts in Barnes’ head, but he rather got this over with as soon as possible. “We’re not going to consummate the marriage?”

Barnes paused in the doorway and only turned his head after a good five seconds, eyes scrutinizing Clint from top to bottom. “No,” he simply said, voice rough, before he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Not sure what else to do and not understanding Barnes at all Clint started to explore. There were no paintings or pictures, no jewelry or other trinkets, nothing that indicated Barnes had a personality. Not even any clothes of his own.

It was very strange.

Clint passed the night fitfully. Every noise was unfamiliar, every creak was the potential sound of Barnes returning.

When the sky started to lighten and the sky peeked over the horizon, Clint got up from the too soft bed and got dressed in his own clothes, the commoner clothes that made it easier to move around in and blend in.

For a while, it was like the wedding had never happened. Clint went about his deliveries, helped anyone who needed it and continued to steal food from Natasha in the kitchens. The only thing that really changed was the room he returned to every night. He didn’t see Barnes either around the castle or at night in the room, but he wasn’t sure if it was because Barnes was trying to lure Clint into false security or if he really wasn’t interested.

And then, just as he was leaving the kitchen with threats being shouted after him, he crossed paths with Rhodey who smiled at him.

“Ah, I’ve been looking for you. Would you like to join us for practice, Clint?”

It took only a second to make sure everything he needed to do today could be postponed. “Sure.” He loved watching the knights train, though he could never do it for very long or very frequently.

Everyone else was already on the field and warming up. Which didn’t really make sense. If they didn’t need someone to carry their weapons or targets or whatever else they needed, why did Rhodey tell Clint to come with?

Barnes noticed Clint first and if possible, he looked even more furious than usual. At the moment he grabbed Steve and dragged him a couple of steps away, Steve didn't look like the King he was. They were too far to hear clearly as Barnes started to hiss at Steve, but they stood in a way that made it possible for Clint to read their lips.

“This was your fucking idea. Don’t lie.”

“Come on, Buck. This is a good thing.”

“It’s fucking torture and you fucking know it.” Barnes let go of Steve, looked over at Clint and their eyes met in the same moment Sam’s arm was slung across Clint’s shoulder and pulled him in a hug.

“I’m going to have so much fun beating you at something.”

“Never,” Clint answered, looking up at Sam.

“Your husband is glaring at me in jealousy,” Sam whispered into Clint’s ear. “You must have won him over with your sexual prowess.”

Clint pulled a face in a mix of disgust and embarrassment. “I hate you.”

“Aww, don’t lie. You love me.” Sam grinned at him and attempted to kiss him jokingly, but Clint stopped him with an elbow to the side.

Someone cleared their throat next to them and Clint glanced over to see that Barnes had approached them. He was looking even more murderous than a second ago.

“Steve wants to spar with you, Sam.”

“Sure, sure. Let me have the bruises while you two cosy up. I understand.” With a wink, Sam went over to Steve leaving Clint and Barnes in awkward silence.

Or at least Clint felt awkward. Who could tell from Barnes’ blank expression, though he did avoid eye contact.

“It’s fine.”

Clint frowned at Barnes. “What?”

“We’re married because of Steve. Sam’s fine.” Barnes glanced at Clint and quickly looked away when he saw that Clint was already looking at him. A knife appeared in his hand he started to fiddle with. “I wouldn’t consider it cheating if you two get involved.”

“I,” Clint stopped, blinking in confusion, not sure if he had heard correctly. “What?”

Barnes exhaled sharply, frowning down at the ground. “You were forced into this. You should be with someone you want to be with. That’s all.” He turned away and walked over to Rhodey who immediately pulled him into a sparring match, leaving Clint to stare after him.

As stilted as that had been it had seemed like concern for Clint’s happiness?

Clint was distracted by watching Barnes during the rest of the training. All the other knights seemed to chalk his failure up to being a novice at sword fighting and Clint for once didn’t bother to correct them or boast about his ability to pick skills up quickly.

Observing Barnes was puzzling. All the little details Clint had never seen before didn’t really fit with the image of the ruthless, murderous killer Clint had built Barnes up as in his head.

Yes, he was the most skilled fighter among the knights and there was no hesitation in his movements with a sword or knives, but when they stood around and talked about the next exercise or the topic of conversation turned to something else entirely, Barnes tended to stay silent and stare off to the side or even turn a knife over in his hands behind his thigh, half-hidden from everyone else. Clint would say it almost looked nervous.

A half-assed plan started to form in Clint’s head, but he always worked best with those.

At the end of the training, everyone was sweaty and grass-stained, but they were still joking around, still happy with their Kings, especially because Steve acted more like a fellow knight than their King. Still, the other knights grabbed weapons to get back to the weapon room or left to do something else, when Clint used the perfect moment of stopping Steve, so no one else noticed.

“May I ask a question, your Majesty?”

Steve looked half-amused, half reproachful. “Really, call me Steve outside of official events. And of course, you may. You’re married to my best friend.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk about. Ba-Bucky kind of told me the reason why you wanted us to marry. I guess I just wanted to confirm because he… well.”

“Oh, I get it. He’s being shy again, isn’t he?” Steve shook his head with a smile. “You know, every time he looks ready to kill someone he is usually trying not to blush or say the wrong thing. He’s been pining for you for so long, you would think he now has a thousand things to say.”

“Yeah, right.” Clint barely registered the heavy hand on his shoulder and only absentmindedly watched Steve walk away.

Barnes had been pining? For Clint? And he had been insecure this whole time and not angry at all? At least if Steve was to be believed and Steve was the most honest person in the whole kingdom.

All Clint’s friends knew that his self-preservation instincts only went so far, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to confront Barnes with only Steve’s word as assurance, so he did something else.

Clint started to follow Barnes around.

It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but as Clint always pretended to talk to someone or do things when Barnes looked at him, so he probably hadn’t been discovered yet.

For a couple of days, nothing interesting or very revealing happened and Clint was close to giving up. Or at least he was because he never managed to stick close after dinner. Either Barnes vanished alone while others were eating or Clint had to take a different hallway all together as to not arouse suspicions, but tonight Barnes seemed to be deep in thought and Clint was able to follow him while using shadows.

Whatever Clint expected to walk into, and he wasn’t really expecting anything, it wasn’t for Barnes to walk into the stables and enter the tack room in the back, leaving the door slightly ajar.

As quietly as Clint could he moved closer until he was able to look into the room.

At first he only saw saddles, then there was a huge solid trunk shoved into a corner and Clint tried to see more and slowly edged the door open even more, but he didn’t see the raised stone in the floor and his foot promptly caught on it, causing him to fall forward into the room with a yelp.

Hands caught him just before he busted his knees on the stone floor and trepidation rushed through Clint as his eyes moved over grey stones over blankets to Barnes sitting on said blankets holding Clint up above him.

For a moment they looked at each other with wide eyes, both surprised for very different reasons until the things with Barnes in the room clicked in Clint’s head and of course immediately left his mouth.

“This is where you’ve been sleeping this whole time!” It was too loud, too blunt. Clint was afraid as soon as he said it, but he forgot all about it when he observed a never before seen blush cover Barnes’ cheeks.

“My rooms were supposed to be our rooms, but you wanted them.”

“I never said I wanted them. You just gave me a key and left and never said anything again until you told me I could fuck Sam.”

Barnes winced, something dark flashing through his eyes.

“You don’t want me to fuck Sam.” Clint felt like he was solving one of Tony’s puzzles or Bruce’ riddles, his thoughts spilling out without even the pretence of a filter. “You want me to be happy, but you don’t like the idea of me being happy with someone else. You let me move into your own room and start sleeping in the stables. Steve said you’re shy, that you pined for me. I thought he was joking, but.” But now with the evidence right in front of Clint’s eyes, with Barnes beneath him with a red face and not pushing Clint away or even stabbing him like Barnes undoubtedly could, it seemed more and more like the truth. “Do you like me, Bucky?”

Bucky’s hands slipped off Clint’s shoulders and suddenly Clint landed completely on top of Bucky, nose pressing against Bucky’s neck, chest to chest and what was…

It was Clint’s turn to blush furiously when he realized what was pushing against his belly.

“I, um, I’m not good with people and emotions,” Bucky said quietly, looking to the side when Clint sat up slightly, legs on each side of Bucky’s. “You. You talked to me when everyone else was too afraid. You always gave more than you took with to with everyone, no matter their status.” He swallowed and Clint felt warmer than he should, happier than he should. “I. Yes, I like you. Of course, I like you.” With a groan, he rubbed his face with his hands.

Another, potentially terrible, idea made Clint reach out to curl his hands around Bucky’s wrists to pull his hands away, so Clint could lean in to kiss him. Maybe it was a kiss, Clint hadn’t had too many experiences in that department.

Cute, he thought, observing Bucky’s reaction. At that moment Bucky really didn’t look like the deadliest assassin in the whole country, but more like a fumbling teenager.

“I honestly haven’t thought about you and me before right now, but I’m definitely thinking about it right now.”

“Y-You are?” The hope in Bucky’s voice and face kind of broke Clint’s heart.

“We’re already married, so we are doing things a bit backwards, but I have never been conventional.” Clint winked at him and watched in awe how the most brilliant smile appeared on Bucky’s face.

Arms wrapped around Clint’s waist and hugged him so tightly, Clint was barely able to breathe, but he felt strangely safe. If anyone wanted to get to Clint they would have to go through the most feared killer of the kingdom, if not the world. And Clint was the only one who knew the real Bucky Barnes, the one outside of the battlefield, the one who felt too much to express properly, who wanted to spoil the people in his life rotten even though he was always uncertain if it was welcome. Clint was the only one coaxing out all the different expressions and the whispered comments that got Clint to double over in laughter while Steve looked at them in satisfaction and disapproval because it was the middle of a council meeting.

It was Clint who proposed to Bucky, because he wanted to, after being together forever.

They had just won what looked like the last battle in an incredibly annoying war and after becoming one of the best knights Clint was right at the front line with Bucky and Steve and Sam at his sides. They were all covered in blood and Bucky looked just like one of the first times Clint had ever seen him, all terrifying and murderous and unapproachable.

Something crunched under his knee when Clint knelt down in front of Bucky.

“Holy shit,” Sam exclaimed right next to them, but Clint didn’t look away from Bucky, watched the realization wash over Bucky’s face, the joy lighten up his whole demeanour.

“Yes,” Bucky answered the unspoken question, hauling Clint back onto his feet to kiss him senseless until Rhodey told them off.

Clint had never viewed his life as lucky or unlucky, but he was happy and that was really the only thing that counted.

#winterhawkweek #winterhawk #fanfiction #day 5 #arranged marriage #clint barton #bucky barnes #hawkeye #winter soldier #my writing #marvel #4000

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pkmatrix · 5 years ago

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For the first time in YEARS, I’ve been thinking of trying to write a screenplay. I’ve written one feature-length screenplay over the years (this odd hybrid heist/pandemic/conspiracy thriller), but what I’ve always wanted to do is write a full-blown kaiju flick.

Back in High School and early college, I toyed with trying to write a script inspired by The Volcano Monsters, the unproduced Americanized Godzilla Raids Again concept. Recently, since this stuff has been on my mind again, I hit upon that idea again...only, now, I think I have a basic outline I can work with.

More after the break!

Following a devastating volcanic eruption and earthquake on an island off of North Africa, a pair of American geologists (let’s say Mary and Dave) are dispatched to help survey the island. They are given boarding by the old lighthouse keeper and his son (Lorenzo), and from the old man learn the local legend of Dagor and Mocuro - the Leviathan and Behemoth respectively of the Bible - who supposedly guard the entrance to Hell on the island and after every eruption return to resume their eternal feud.

A series of unusual disasters - a fishing boat sunk, a ranch destroyed, etc. - that cannot be simply explained by the volcano follow, culminating in the appearances of two prehistoric creatures: a Spinosaurus from the sea, and an Ankylosaurus from the land. The Spinosaurus (Dagor), seemingly attracted by the light and horn, attacks and destroys the lighthouse, killing the old man, before moving into the village where soldiers who’d been deployed to help the relief effort find their weapons useless. The Ankylosaurus (Mocuro) appears and the two battle. Dave sets off dynamite, causing a landslide that traps the creatures.

The world is blown away by the news and an esteemed paleontologist (Oberhauser) is sent out to examine the animals. It’s decided - against Mary’s wishes - to ship the animals to New York City for further study. Mary, Dave, and Lorenzo fly ahead back to New York while the paleontologist accompanies the animals as they’re shipped on two separate container ships. Arrive in New York, Dave is becomes a celebrity and is approached by the representatives of an anonymous billionaire that offers to pay him millions to “facilitate” obtaining the animals. Dave, deeply in debt, agrees.

En route to New York, the ships are caught in a storm. Dagor manages to break loose and causes his ship to sink, presumably drowning him as he’s trapped inside. Oberhauser finishes the journey and delivers Mocuro to a prepared containment facility in Brooklyn. Oberhauser meets with Mary to tell her he’s discovered that despite the apparent imperviousness of Dagor and Mocuro to guns, an artillery shell tipped with a special rare metal would be able to pierce. Plans are made to have some made just in case Mocuro ever escapes. Oberhauser warns, however, that Mocuro appears to have incredible healing abilities, far beyond any normal lifeform.

Suddenly, however, Dagor appears - alive - in New York Habor, attacking and sinking a ferry off of Staten Island. A state of emergency is declared and the National Guard mobilized. Mary and Oberhauser meet with officials, theorizing that Dagor would head straight for Mocuro. As they’re discussing this, however, Dave and the billionaire’s associates suddenly appear at the containment facility in an effort to steal the creature at gunpoint. Naturally, this plan goes horribly awry and they end up releasing Mocuro. Dave is killed when Mocuro crushes his car.

Dagor comes ashore in Brooklyn and breezes through the NYPD. Dagor and Macuro battle, their fight causing destruction and chaos. The National Guard attempts to intervene, but inadvertantly just assists Dagor in killing Mocuro. He then turns on the National Guard, battling their tanks and helicopters, until a Navy Destroyer arrives. The ship fires on Dagor, dealing a fatal blow, and the Spinosaurus dies a theatrical death on the shores of the East River at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

...Or so it seems! In a post-credit scene, it’d be revealed Dagor and Mocuro’s “fatal” wounds were not as fatal as they seemed, with both resurrecting and escaping into the sea.

The details, particularly what’s going on with the human characters, needs more work. I’d like for Dave (not the final name) to be more villainous, and I need to find a way to have Mary and Lorenzo be more directly involved with the finale. But I like this outline! I think this has potential.

#kaiju #story idea

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filmjrnl365 · 6 years ago

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#111 Jerichow (2009)

Director: Christain Petzold

Germany / Turkey

A love triangle re-take on The Postman Always Rings Twice.

This is a kind of Boris and Natasha plot to knock off the duped husband. Why? Money, sex and love.

Our three main characters:

Thomas: dishonorably discharged Afghanistan war veteran, the buz cut silent type, wears plaid, man of integrity (we think). Thomas doesn’t smile much, and we don’t know much about him. Why? He rarely talks. Thomas lives alone in his late mom’s house, sleeps on a mattress on the floor, he’s flat broke –probably another reason we shouldn’t trust him….Thomas doesn’t talk to himself either.

Laura: German girl, blonde, but prone to wearing cowboy boots with her skirts. She’s the wife of Ali. She’s in charge of running the business. She’s a woman of few words as well (just right for Thomas). Come to find out, Laura has a past, not a good one, and she owes a shit ton of money. She’s basically Ali’s lackey. Why? He’s taken over her debts. Hard to read Laura, she seems capable of anything; same with Thomas. Of the two Laura talks more.

Ali: Ali is Turkish. Ali has his shit together and he makes money. Everyone is out to rip him off, and he’s had about enough of it. Ali owns a chain of kiosks, so everyone from the cooks to the beverage guy seems to cut into his profits. He has a bit of a drinking problem, beats Laura, and dances like a Greek. (might be an insult to a Turkish man). Ali talks enough for both Laura and Thomas.

Ali offers Thomas a job driving the delivery truck. He finds Thomas trustworthy, and for the most part he is, except Thomas wants to screw Laura, and he needs money to fix up his mom’s place. But Thomas keeps quiet on these things. Ali and Thomas get along. Ali is very suspicious, hot wife, good income, foreigner in a foreign land (Germany). When Ali isn’t drunk, and that’s not very often, he hands more business responsibility to Thomas. Why? Because Thomas passed Ali’s informal quiz:

Q: On the delivery route, do you drop off to the nearer or farthest destination first?

A: You deliver nearest first. Why? So the long leg of the return trip carries the least weight.

Apparently, all the other drivers for Ali got it wrong. Not Thomas. When Thomas talks, he gets things right. I became depressed, realizing I would have been fired by Ali because I failed the quiz.

You knew Thomas and Laura were going to accost one another, lots of pent up passion there, I think, they don’t talk much about it, they are people of action. Sure enough, right there in the hallway of Ali’s nice home, the panties come off –Ali is plastered, but still sober enough to call out for Laura in his drunken stupor, and that leaves Thomas and Laura frustrated sexually. Ali is a functional drunk because, next morning he’s on top of his game, he’s a going over the fine points of the business with Thomas, talking numbers, strategies. Thomas wears plaid, listens and nods.

The turning point of the film, at least for Thomas, is that he declares his love for Laura. He actually yells it, so he must mean it. She in turn lets him in on her Pandora’s box of a past. Once all the skeletons are out of the closet, it’s clear her and Thomas are shady characters trying to get their lives straight. Ali keeps being suspicious and making money. Laura says, “someone can’t love unless they have some money”, I don’t believe that, but Laura is in a lot of debt, so that tends to shape her perception on everything.

In the name of love, Thomas and Laura have decided they are going to push Ali off a cliff in his Range Rover. Then Laura finds out Ali has about three months to live because of a heart condition, and he’s going to give the business over to her. So, no need to kill Ali, but Thomas is lurking in the bushes waiting to clobber him on the skull. Laura stops him, but Ali is smart and finds a clue and forces Thomas out into the open. Everyone is there together in a triangular final confrontation –kind of like the closing gunfight in The Good and the Bad and the Ugly (I think Ali would be Tuco, street smarts, talks a lot). In the final confrontation, Ali does all the talking. Thomas is stoic, Laura is conflicted. Ali calls them both pigs, and tells them to get out of his life. Thomas walks off silently, in plaid. Laura is torn, probably worried about her debts –but she and Thomas can love one another freely on his mattress now. She walks off with Thomas. Everyone shitting on Ali, again!

An explosion occurs behind them as Thomas and Laura are walking away from the standoff. Ali has driven the Range Rover over the cliff. This seems awkward, since Ali has just confessed to Laura he’s afraid of dying, and also because Ali is a smart business man, this seems like a bad move for business. Ali doesn’t seem like the type to leave his business ledger in disarray (I’ll bet there’s some business insurance clause about suicide). Either way, Laura’s toast, financially. Thomas doesn’t offer much. He loves Laura, he won’t abuse her like Ali did, but there’s her debt to contend with, and they both just lost their employer.

In the sequel: Ali in his dumb luck survives the suicide, but in his business savvy has recouped the cost of the Range Rover. New lovers, Thomas and Laura have started their own business. It’s like Ali’s, but under a different name, something like Thomas and Laura’s Kiosks. Something simple –Thomas would nod in approval. They’d do a bang up business, since they both learned from the master himself, Ali. If they were smart they’d buy Ali’s house, (killer kitchen!) sit on it for a while, and watch the property value go up. From there they would invent and distribute a line of sports drinks popular with the kids these days (Germany already has enough beer). They’ll make millions, probably enough to pay for some advanced heart surgery for Ali and buy out his company in a kind of love triangle hostile take over! Ali will head back to Turkey, his next wife is hot as well, but he’s loaded for cash. They vacation on the island of Capri, he still drinks, but limits himself to moderate amounts of Ouzo. Nobody screws over Ali anymore.

Laura has payed off her past debts, but has subsequently over leveraged herself on the sport drink endeavor, so she’s right back where she started. Thomas doesn’t say much. He doesn’t wear plaid anymore, he’s an executive now, and they like to wear Hugo Boss. But he does have his eye on a cute little thing that just got hired to work on the loading dock.

https://filmjrnl365.tumblr.com

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houstonvote · 4 years ago

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Juneteenth, 20 minutes prodcast on Radio France Internationale.

The link for the podcast: https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/grand-reportage/20210618-m%C3%A9moire-et-r%C3%A9parations-de-l-esclavage-%C3%A9ternels-d%C3%A9fis-pour-le-texas

the Full Script, translated in english:

June 19th is now the 11th national holiday in the United States this date commemorates June 19th 1865, when 2000 Union soldiers arrived in the last Confederate city in the country.

General Gordon Granger announced the immediate liberation of the slaves, and the effective end of slavery in the United States. This city was Galveston, Texas.

This great port of the triangular trade is today a seaside resort, a touristic and historical attraction and a place of memory on the outskirts of one of the great black cities of the country, Houston...For 156 years, Galveston and Houston have commemorated the anniversary of the end of slavery, but also the long way to heal the wounds.

Memory and reparations of slaver: the eternal challenges for Texas,

Thomas HARMS, RFI

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"This building used to be here (showing a picture). This was General Gordon Granger's headquarters. We're standing in the exact spot where General Order Number 3 was issued. " (Tommie Boudreaux)

Tommie Boudreaux is the city historian for Galveston. The Emancipation Act signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 freed the slaves, but it took 2 1/2 years of fighting for the news to reach Texas. And that Union troops led by General Gordon Granger finally arrived in Galveston... where he had his general order number 3 read: " (…) all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves..."

"As far as we know he was standing around here when the announcement was made. Of course the merchants of the town came out in number to attend. He had 2,000 men with him, which was already unusual, and that made what he was going to say all the more important. He also had black soldiers with him.” (Tommie Boudreaux)

In his order, General Granger made it clear what the slave owners had to do, for example, that the slaves could stay and work for them for a wage. In Galveston, this order was not applied until much later...

"In order not to lose their heritage, they found legal loopholes and ways to keep the new free men in bondage. You had to work to pay off all the debts accumulated during the years of slavery. So a lot of them left Galveston. And because there was a lot of virgin land in Texas, they had that opportunity (..) When you think of slavery, you think of working in the fields from sunrise to sunset. Galveston was different, the soil didn't allow for farming so the slaves worked at the ports, on the docks, loading the ships, cleaning the holds... they were craftsmen, blacksmiths, the women were nannies, and did most of the domestic work..."(Tommie Boudreaux)

The place of the historic declaration of June 19, 1865, Juneteenth in English, is today a parking lot. But since March, artists have painted a Mural of more than 450m2 on the adjacent building.

"This is History that you see, when scrolling from left to right. We see the boats, and the Africans who are forcibly embarked. We see Harriet Tubman who helped many slaves to escape. In the middle you see Abraham Lincoln breaking the chains. Above him you see the Union soldiers, some of whom are African-American. Then you see General Granger signing General Order number 3. We also see the African Americans who left Galveston to settle further north. This wall is interactive, with your phone you can zoom in on a part of the drawing to see a video that tells the episode represented." (Tommie Boudreaux)

Sam Collins, co-chair of the juneteenth legacy committee, is at the origin of the mural project. The idea came to him a few days after George Floyd's death in May 2020. He contacted the owner of the building and the parking lot who was excited by the idea.

"This design, which has been called “absolute equality”, is part of the Junetenth legacy project. It was created by artist Reginald Adams and his team (the Creatives). Every year Juneteenth is an important event. There was a lot of talk about it last year (during the protests after George Floyd's death), but this History has always been important to the Galveston community, to Texas and to the United States. " (Sam Collins )

But Galveston past resurfaced in 2019, when a man, Donald Neely, walked through the city between two sheriffs on horseback. The hands tied behind his back and pulled by a rope, as were the slaves captured by the slave patrol. The video went viral around the world.

"I don't think the police intended to hurt, it was more a lack of sensitivity and cultural reference that lead them to make him walk like that in the street. But it is also because of a lack of historical knowledge. That's why it's so important to have art projects like this one, to teach history to citizens and law enforcement. I'm sure none of them had seen a slave militia or someone pulling a tied slave on the street before. Maybe if they had been taught this in school or high school, they would have thought twice about doing this to someone. You have to teach the full story and tell what happened here. We all live in this house America that was built on a cracked foundation. We need to repair that foundation. It is my job to tell that story, the artists to paint it. It's all part of the repair work to make America better. " (Sam Collins )

At 1 hour drive from Galveston we arrive in Houston. The Buffalo Soldier Museum is located In an old army building, It traces the history of black soldiers in the United States... including those who accompanied General Granger, as Captain Paul Matthews, the founder of the museum, tells us.

"When General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston to read his declaration, he had 300 black troops with him to enforce the law. Many of these African American soldiers remained in Texas after the Civil War. So part of the maneuver was to free the slaves but also to enroll them in the army. Look at what the ardent defender of slavery Howell Cobb wrote in 1865: "The day you make soldiers of them, speaking of Negroes, is the beginning of the end of the revolution. If slaves make good soldiers our whole theory of slavery is wrong. " (Captain Matthews)

In 1865, many former slaves made the journey from Galveston to Houston, more than 2 days by foot or boat. They landed in Freedmen's Town, a town created by freed slaves some twenty years earlier. Catherine Roberts is a historian and co-founder of the Rutherford Yates Museum, which traces the history of the original inhabitants of Freedmen's Town.

"The 40 blocks of Freedmen's Town housing listed on the National Historic Register are the only evidence of urban settlement by former slaves in Texas. Because of Jim Crow laws, former slaves could only buy land in very few places. They were allowed to settle on a swamp, along the Buffalo Bayou River which is always flooded. Because they were the first inhabitants, archaeologists consider Freedmen's Town a treasure because everything found in the land was left by newly freed slaves, so we know how they lived and how they built this community on a swamp. " (Catherine Roberts)

When they were taken to Africa and made slaves, the most expensive were the ones with skills. Those who knew how to work metal, mastered basketry or pottery.

"When they were able to get their own land, they knew how to do just about everything, because they had built up their skills on the plantations. There were 13 blacksmiths living here, 34 brick makers, masons and carpenters of quality. There was also a fairly diverse population. Jewish families moved in right after slavery in the 1800s, as they were also subject to segregation laws (Jim Crow). They were limited in where they could go, where they could live and own land. That's why you have a Jewish cemetery at the end of the street. (…) The inhabitants had to protect their children from strangers coming into the neighborhood, so when you look at this model you see that they relied on an African tradition of a central courtyard in the heart of the block of houses. Each porch faced the street and between the houses was a central courtyard where livestock was stored, gardening was done, and children could play safely. "(Catherine Roberts)

Of these original wooden houses, painted white, few have been preserved. Since 1985, 500 of them have been torn down or burned to make way for expensive middle-class homes in this central Houston neighborhood.Charonda Johnson is a neighborhood activist who was nominated mayor of the community.

"This was my childhood home. My family has been in Freedmen's Town for five generations. I used to play in the Gregory School when it was abandoned. The Gregory School was the first school for black children. It opened in 1872. How did my grandmother get here? My mother told me, everybody knew to come here. It was a kind of Mecca. The word was passed around that people were free here. Some people walked from Galveston, but most came by boat on Buffalo Bayou. We are not upset that people are moving into our community today. We just want everyone to know that this is a historic place where our ancestors came from and it deserves respect. "(Charonda Johnson )

Charonda organizes tours of Freedmen's town and fights to keep the developers from destroying the history of these houses and cobblestone streets. She is supported by the city council, which has helped create the Freedmen's Town Conservation Center... an NGO headed by Zion Escobar, who has just gotten Freedmen's Town officially designated as a historic district, the first in Houston...

"When you look at a map of the area...You see Galveston, where the Juneteenth Emancipation Proclamation was read. All that green space there is plantations. So people went north from there by trade routes, and some by boat. You take a whole region, concentrate all its population looking for economic opportunities, take them to Freedmen's town and you get a black Wall street, which was bigger than Tulsa's. But nobody knows that. It's this chapter of American history: this is what happens in the aftermath of the end of slavery! That's why we're trying to get Freedmen's Town designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Because nowhere in the United States can you find so many houses that date back to the history before the Civil War (..)"Here you can see the big picture, and realize that there were thriving businesses. This gentleman owned a brick factory, a drug store, and he was a writer. This one was the first black lawyer in Houston... We need to stand up for ourselves, we need to stand up for this space, politically and legally, or else anyone would just set it on fire and think they can take it over. "( Zion Escobar)

Freedmen's Town was quickly enclosed, a highway was even built in the middle of it. The descendants of the former slaves therefore left for other parts of Houston, notably towards the 3rd Ward. Carl Davis presides over the " Houston Society for Change ", which is very active in this district.

"Emancipation Park is the site that 4 former slaves were able to purchase together in 1872, 7 years after 1865. They wanted a place where they could celebrate their Freedom as a family. The community leaders pooled their resources, $800 to buy these 10 acres of land. It was the first public park in Texas. The 1872 celebration was a huge success, everyone came as a family, they had been enslaved for so many years. When they were able to celebrate that they were free it was a feeling of fulfillment. They wanted a place where they could come together and be one. Today, if there is a tragedy in the country, Emancipation Park is the focal point, the place where you can share your feelings or express your protests because we consider this place holy ground. It is a sacred place for us African-Americans. " ( Carl Davis)

On the ground, a group of young women paint "Be the change". Emancipation park is not only the symbol of Juneteenth, but also the symbol of recent struggles against systemic racism and police violence. George Floyd, whose murder by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020 generated a huge wave of protest in the United States is indeed from this neighborhood of 3rd Ward. His face is represented on several murals.

"We find these paintings on the walls of several buildings of Third Ward. There is one in front of Jack Yates High School, where George Floyd studied. I helped create it: it's a Black Lives Matter mural, which takes up the demand for social equity that has been going on around the country. But we added a coat of arms, with on one side the lion, mascot of the school, and on the other side George Floyd's soccer jersey...with his number, 88, his name, his birth and death dates. We want these children growing up in this African American high school to see, every morning, that "Black lives matter," that their lives matter. That's the message that should give them hope. " (Carl Davis)

A few steps from Emancipation Park, we come across 7 restored houses of the first descendants of slaves. Today they host artists for creations related to the current events of the neighborhood... Eureka Gilkey directs the Row House Project organization which promotes art and development of 3rd Ward.

"The 7 artists who created the Row House Project were inspired by Dr. John Biggers who founded the art studies department at Texas Southern University, Houston's Black University. He studied and worked on the architecture of these slave houses, which are called "shotgun houses". Most people think that the name comes from the shotgun, because an urban legend says that when a slave tries to escape, the owner can shoot the house and hit all the inhabitants. But in fact these houses are the result of the architectural ingenuity of the slaves. Inside, you find a central column, a bit like a chimney, with a hole inside. This allows air to circulate and keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the cooler months. The word comes from the Yoruba "Shogun", which means "the house of god", but it has been distorted by dialects and time...” Juneteenth will always be at the heart of the work we do here, especially because of the geographical proximity of the "Row houses" to Emancipation Park. But it's also important to know that the Row house project has been at the forefront of social justice issues for many years. One of our creations a few years ago was titled: "Breaking the Concrete: Artists, Activists and Instigators" and one of the installations highlighted police violence and the need for police reform. " (Eureka Gilkey)

Marked by slavery and its memory, the Houston area has become, since Emancipation, one of the spearheads of the struggle for perfect equality, "absolute equality" written as early as 1865. Max Krochmal is Professor of History and Chair of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Texas Christian University.

"There was a fierce struggle in Houston for civil rights. African-Americans fought for decades before the struggles of the 1960s, and they continue to do so today. African-Americans continue to come to Houston because it is recognized that it is an easier city for them to live in than other cities. It's not the slave plantation city it used to be..." (Max Krochmal)

It is not a coincidence then that it is thanks to the mobilization in Galveston and Houston, that since 1979, June 19th is a holiday in Texas...( and that Juneteenth is now a holiday everywhere in the United States.) It's no coincidence either that it's Houston's congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in Washington who is trying to get a vote on the creation of a reparations commission for the descendants of slaves.. Because here in Houston, instead of the term African Americans, we prefer an acronym, ADOS, African Descendant of Slaves.

Descendant d’esclaves africains… (in French)

Thomas Harms, Houston, RFI

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thesportsman · 4 years ago

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When VA Lenders Compete, You Win – How to Find a Good VA Mortgage Lender

We’re jumping right into the topic. When VA lenders compete, you win. Okay, you may have heard a similar catchphrase like that or some similar. I don’t know you don’t I’m trying to say. You’ve probably heard something like this before it’s true in life in general, when you can get many people more than at least one in this instance.

We’re going to use an example of three, but if you can get someone to compete for your business, you’re always going to win so, for example, somebody in our marketing department, our marketing director and I were talking before this article – he just got done doing a home Improvement loan don’t want to tell you who he went through, but I bet you can guess – pulled some equity out of his house, which we’ve been talking about lately and he was over at Home Depot with all this money that he got out of his house and They were redoing their cabinets, their kitchen.

He was making his wife happy, happy, wife, happy life, there’s another catchphrase. You’ve probably heard back to the point. What made it so amazing is that he went to Home Depot first and when he was looking for all of his. You know supplies and products. He saw something near one of the registers that said they would match Home Depot would match any basically price that he could find. So he went out to two or three other hardware stores and Home Improvement.

Places in the area got some better deals, believe it or not, that he would have had at Home. Depot went back, provided the proof and ended up getting a better deal at Home Depot than the otherwise would happen, and that’s exactly what I want to teach you today now we’re going to talk about the CFPB and we’re going to be friendly with the CFPB. Today. That’s not always the case, but the CFPB, who is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? There are a government agency if you will that their sole intention is to protect the consumer and we’ve talked, and we will continue to talk to some that doesn’t always happen.

The intentions are good, but sometimes the regulation doesn’t make that work well kudos to the CFPB on this one, because about a year ago they put out a report that suggested that less than half of the people in this country getting mortgages took the time to shop. When they were getting a mortgage purchase refinance and why did people not shop? Well, there was a few reasons number one they immediately went with, whoever they had used in the past, so prior relationships, confidence and comfort.

Okay, I understand that or they immediately went with the first big bank that they came across Chase Wells Fargo US bank now to see if he didn’t name those names, but they led us to believe through their article that borrowers that didn’t shop, they just didn’t understand Or feel the need to do it, I don’t care if you’ve gone through uncle Jim’s mortgage company for your last three mortgages and he’s your best uncle you’re doing yourself a disservice by not making Uncle Jim in this example compete to maintain your business.

You don’t he’s already earned it. Here’s how you get banks to compete, step number one. Let’s get right to the point. This is your recipe for success. The number one three lenders you need to get at least three lenders on your radar so, like I said great time to be refinancing, interest rates are still low, though they’re starting to creep up home equity is at an all-time high. Go get some of that cash out of your house and doing much-needed home improvement.

Take a much-needed family vacation before you decide who you’re going to go through get three lenders now, of course, low va rates. We need to be one of those lenders, I’m just telling you little birdie told me: choose lobia rates for one of lenders then put us to task go to whoever did your last loan and if that was us, then go find somebody else. Look at the billboards in your area go to your local banker now.

Doesn’t this sound odd, we’re telling you to go? Find some competition. Of course we’re we’re very confident. It’s in your best interest, get three lenders. Once you have those three lenders, then you’re going to want to go through kind of a. I don’t know a investigative type process with them to find out two or three very simple things. Number one right happens if lender number one is at 475 lender number.

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Two is it’s four and a half and lender number three is at four and a quarter. Then you go back the lender number one and you tell them hey, I’m getting offered four and a quarter, and you get these guys doing the best they can to compete to earn your business so find yourself. The best rate we’ve got articles all over our YouTube. Blog on how to determine who’s, giving you the best deal, there are also closing costs involved in these rates, so make sure you’re comparing apples to apples number three.

How do you feel this is huge? Okay, it’s not the only thing, but let’s say the best rate out there. Every time you talk to him, you feel like you’re, being lied to your feel like you’re, getting pressured. They have no clue what it means to do. Va loans and they’re just stumbling all over themselves. Well then, this is also part of the equation who’s going to treat you the best who’s going to talk to you with respect who understands your military service, if you’re, a veteran okay so find three lenders get them competing.

Is this a tug of war? It happens. Here’s what I’m going to end today, if you’re not familiar with the two hundred and fifty dollar lowest rate and fee guarantee, we’ll put a link to our excuse. Me we’ll put a link to that on our website. But if you can find a better deal anywhere out there on any loan, conventional VA FHA usda. If you can find what you think is a better interest rate, and/or lower lower closing costs, bring us evidence just like my marketing director did to Home Depot we’re better than Home Depot, though we won’t just to match it.

That’s what Home Depot did we will beat it? Okay, we will beat the best offer. You come with that my friends here at low V rates reading today. That is why, when VA lenders compete, you win. You want to take V out of there. Put an FHA put USDA get lenders competing, it’s in your best interest, it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable, it does not have to be animus or or angry. It is part of you protecting you and you deserve the best.

Okay, any questions start bringing those up doing a question and he says I want to do. I want to refinance my current VA loan with another VA loan, but pull cash out and I’m in Texas. Can I do that uh? Possibly okay. Now I am NOT a lawmaker, but we can do some researching it back to you, Eddie, just private message us to your contact information with the most recent changes in the tax law. I believe there were some laws passed in Texas that do allow Texas veterans and other home owners to access the equity in their home.

It’s intricate. There are Texas equity laws that have kept Texas homeowners safe when the housing market was way out of control. Texas didn’t get hit like areas like Arizona out of California, so on one hand, those laws or regulations have protected our veterans in Texas. On the other hand, they have also kept you guys from being able to get some of that equity. That you’re, you can do VA cash outs in Texas.

There are some restrictions on how that cash is used and how often you can do it now keep in mind if the VA loan isn’t the best route to go. If you have lots of equity in your home, there are other ways to access that equity. So, let’s meet offline privately and we’ll get more details on your particular situation and what we might be able to afford a great question. Donna took out a bankruptcy last year and is wondering how long she has to wait before she should do a refinance so great question Donna.

So there are differences in rules with VA and FHA and conventional assuming you’re. Referring to your va loan benefits. There’s a difference between chapter 13, bankruptcies in Chapter 7. You know chapter 13s, not as detailed and it’s not a complete liquidation of all of your liabilities, your debts, so on a chapter 13, generally speaking of the fee, ain’t give us some leeway here. They give some guidelines and then they are lenders, because the V is not lending the money we are.

So our money is at risk here and we’re going to look at your entire situation, but, generally speaking, a chapter 13, you need to have gone 12 months, one full year of reestablished credit. It does not help your situation if you have declared bankruptcy started, making timely payments, and then you start defaulting on auto payments or credit cards or you’re, not paying the trustee. That could hurt you, so we need reestablish credit of at least 12 months.

Most of the time, with a chapter 13 chapter sevens closer to the two-year mark again extenuating circumstances. Personal situations do allow us to make some exceptions to those guidelines. They’re guidelines, they’re, not fast rules, so also reach out to us either by phone. Private message live chat and we can look more detailed into your personal situation. Any other questions. Okay, if there’s no more questions, I’m going to wrap up and if somebody else throws one at me, we’ll try that answer before I leave we’re closing today was something we feel super passionate about here at lower rates.

It’s why we wear red every single Friday. Now we’ve been doing this for well over the last couple of years, and I’ve just been hoping that every single Friday, we would have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos of people wearing red. They don’t have to be lobia rates, red shirts. They could just be a red t-shirt, red sweatshirt, red baseball cap, red fans with low PA rates, tagged in the picture and the hashtag red Friday, if you’re not sure what that means.

This is a hashtag red Friday. So you post a picture on Instagram Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter, wherever you want to post a picture hashtag red Friday and then, if you tagged, that’s you type the @ sign and then lo VA rates. You are going to be able to get mailed to you. Some of our red swag now, don’t just do it because you want cool red sweater. I do think this shirts pretty cool by the way. Here’s why we do it.

It is an outward kind of in-your-face expression of something that we take very seriously internally in our soul in our hearts in our minds here at low VT rates. I wish we could walk you through the office everybody’s wearing red. We don’t make them, we don’t give them prizes for wearing red, they do it because they love the veterans of this country. This is our way of showing support. There’s way too many people in the country right now that are, in my opinion, disrespecting veterans and disrespecting.

This country, this is a way to say we support the military, regardless of your political affiliation, these guys and gals men, and they deserve a repo. They deserve our support. Please wear red even if you’re, not an in-your-face type of person, you don’t want to throw it all over the Internet and you don’t want to bring that up. You’ll know when you walk out of your house every Friday morning with something red on while you’re doing it so stay safe, have a great weekend, we’ll see you guys next week, Friday same time, 1:30 Mountain Standard,

source https://thesportsman-usa.com/2020/10/02/when-va-lenders-compete-you-win-how-to-find-a-good-va-mortgage-lender/

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seekfirstme · 4 years ago

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Meditation: What kind of future are you preparing for? Jesus encourages us to think - to think about the consequences of our choices, especially the choices and decisions that will count not just for now but for eternity as well. The choices we make now will affect and shape our future, both our future on earth as well as in the life of the age to come.

Repaying a debt of gratitude and showing respect where it is due

Jesus tells a simple story of two imperfect sons to illustrate the way of God's kingdom. The father amply provided for his sons food, lodging, and everything they needed. Everything the father had belonged to them as well. The father also rewarded his sons with excellent work in his own vineyard. He expected them to show him gratitude, loyalty, and honor by doing their fair share of the daily work.

Converting both heart and will to do what is good and pleasing to God

The "rebellious" son told his father to his face that he would not work for him. But afterwards he changed his mind and did what his father commanded him. The "good" son said he would work for his father, but didn't follow through. He sought his own pleasure, contrary to his father's will. Now who was really the good son? Both sons disobeyed their father - but one repented and then did what the father told him. Jesus makes his point clear - Good intentions are not enough. And promises don't count unless they are performed.

A transformed heart filled with gratitude and respect

God wants to change our hearts so that we will show by our speech and by our actions that we respect his will and do it. God offers each one of us the greatest treasure possible - indestructable peace, joy, and friendship with him in his everlasting kingdom. We can lose that treasure if we refuse the grace - the free gift of God's blessing and strength - which the Lord Jesus has won for us through his victory on the cross. The Lord Jesus fills us with the gift of the Holy Spirit who works in and through us for the glory of God. Do you seek to please God and respect his will and loving plan for your life? Allow the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with the peace, joy, and righteousness of God's kingdom (Romans 14:17).

"Lord Jesus, change my heart that I may only desire that which is pleasing to you. Help me to respect your will and give me the strength, joy and perseverance to carry it out wholeheartedly."

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!

“Since he has turned away from all the sins which he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” ––Ezekiel 18:28

In track competition, sometimes a sprinter is described as “strong out of the blocks but weak to the finish.” We can picture an explosive start followed by running out of gas. Often, the natural world provides relevant metaphors for our spiritual life. “When a virtuous man turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die” (Ez 18:26). This is not the route we want to follow. The Lord teaches us that he who perseveres to the end will be saved (see Mt 24:13).

Since the Lord is abundantly merciful, it is never too late. Jesus, in today’s Gospel, paints a picture of family life. It is a scene repeated throughout history: One son speaks disrespectfully to his father but does the right thing; the other son pays lip service, while dissenting in his heart. “What do you think of this case?” (Mt 21:28ff) Jesus poses this question to the chief priests and elders, leaders of the people in His day. But we must challenge ourselves in the same way. Have we become disobedient? “When John came preaching a way of holiness, you put no faith in him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe in him. Yet even when you saw that, you did not repent and believe in him” (Mt 21:32).

Possibly a dose of humility would do us good (see Phil 2:3). Don’t limp to the finish line! Repent and get back on track. Run to Confession.

Prayer: Father, enlighten our minds to know Your truth and guide our footsteps in the ways of righteousness.

Promise: “Good and upright is the Lord; thus He shows sinners the way.” ––Ps 25:8

Praise: “...And every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!” (Phil 2:11)

Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)

Rescript: "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for One Bread, One Body covering the period from October 1, 2020 through November 30, 2020. Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio February 25, 2020"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements

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thechasefiles · 5 years ago

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The Chase File Daily Newscap 13/12/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Friday, December 13th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).

DLP: NO REAL UPGRADE – Barbados’ six-notch jump in its creditworthiness rating yesterday has been downplayed by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), as political leader Verla De Peiza contended that the new rating essentially puts Barbados back where it was before the Mia Mottley administration took power 18 months ago. De Peiza told Barbados TODAY that contrary to calls for some celebration at the news, there is actually little to write home about. It was under Mottley’s stewardship that the “country dropped five notches to default status in the first place”, she declared, noting the Prime Minister’s announcement that Barbados would defer payment on debt within days of coming to power on May 24 2018. For several years, the nation’s sovereign debt rating lay firmly at junk status during the 2008-2018 DLP administration. De Peiza said: “We have now moved one small step higher than where we were before the default. On the 31st of May last year, we were one step below where we are at now. “So it is only slight progress, it is not six notches as they [Government] are saying. In fact, we would have been further along had Government not defaulted.” The DLP leader was also critical of the length of time that it has taken Government to return the country back to its starting position. She said: “We are definitely not out of the woods, we are still in junk bond status but the biggest takeaway for me is that we dropped five points on June 1, 2018 when this present administration decided to go the route of default and we have just come back up by six points and that has taken us 18 months. ‘This suggests to me that our 18 months could have been spent better.” New York-based Standard & Poor’s yesterday raised Barbados’ long- and short-term foreign currency ratings to ‘B-/B’ from ‘SD/SD’ and assigned its ‘B-‘ foreign currency issue rating to foreign currency debt delivered in the exchange. The rating agency also affirmed its ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings and ‘B-‘ issue-level rating on Barbados’ long-term local currency debt. It was on June 6, 2018 that S&P lowered its foreign currency sovereign issuer credit ratings on Barbados to ‘SD/SD’ from ‘CCC+/C’. This came four days after the newly elected Government announced that it would immediately suspend its external debt service payments and seek to make interest payments on its domestic debt while negotiating a restructuring agreement. Yesterday’s news of S&P’s upgrade prompted congratulatory responses from economists and key private sector players. The common theme from experts is that the country’s vital signs are good and its chances for a full recovery to investment grade appeared likely. But De Peiza told Barbados TODAY that Barbadians have paid an unnecessarily high social cost for any perceived gains from the global credit rating agency. The DLP president said: “Our concern is that alongside of the economic situation, is how our people are faring through all of this. “Just yesterday the private sector reported sluggishness, and this is because consumer confidence is still out to sea. “We also have to consider our social fabric, which has remained a major concern for the Democratic Labour Party and the wider country. “So we can’t just have the one yardstick, it must go much further than that.” In her response to the new ratings, Mottley said: “I want to congratulate the Barbadian people for pulling together and making the necessary adjustments and sacrifice to put us all on the right path to sustainability. “We are not yet where we need to be but if we stay the course and if we focus on adding value in all that we do and on growth, I have every confidence we will make it and reverse the impact of the lost decade. “We can return the country to investment grade and continue to build people’s confidence in all that we are doing.” (BT)

STEPHEN WELCOMES S&P UPGRADE, URGES CAUTION –Barbados’ most recent upgrade by New York-based credit rating agency, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Financial Services, is an achievement worthy of congratulations, economist Jeremy Stephen has declared. But while it will go a long way in mending investor confidence, the ratings boost is no indication that citizens should expect an ease in the financial burden they have been asked to bear, he warned. He told Barbados TODAY: “It is good that this notch has come about likely because of increased prudence when it comes to reviewing a government’s financial position. “But again, even though the outlook is positive, one must always encourage the Barbados Government to continue putting the people first and making sure they keep their economic house in order.” Barbados’ creditworthiness was lifted six notches, as S&P raised the long- and short-term ratings for ‘B-/B’ from ‘SD/SD’ while assigning its ‘B-‘ foreign currency issue rating to foreign currency debt delivered in the exchange. The improvement comes after Government successfully exchanged over $1 billion in new 2029 bonds and $64 million in past due bonds to holders of its US dollar bonds following the administration’s 2018 default. According to the economist, such achievements are the result of prudent economic management policies and a clear indication that government is capable of handling its debts. “Fundamentally if a government can manage its debts, even with reduced payments or some period of moratorium agreed upon by investors, S&P and the others would consider it to be prudent financial management,” explained Stephen. While noting the protracted period in which Government and external creditors remained at an impasse over the restructuring of external credit was “rather uncommon”, he was happy to see Government’s methods finally bearing fruit. Stephen suggested that for the past six years a debt restructuring exercise was the only plausible solution to Barbados problems as global interest rates had become unsustainable. He said: “Most institutions and persons would find themselves wanting if they continued paying debts at interest rates that were higher than what the markets expected them to pay or under more onerous terms than what the markets expected.” To the Government, he declared “all still is not out of the woods” and implored leaders not to cease their efforts until the benefits of economic policies could be enjoyed by all. Stephen said: ” You probably will not hear me say we are out of the woods for a while, but it is something to be congratulated and it does speak to our standing as a destination for investment. “We just hope the economic feeling on the ground becomes the same and that Government continues to improve but not at the behest or to the disadvantage of the people. “They both have to act coherently and concurrently.” (BT)

ECONOMY ‘ON TRACK’ WITH CREDIT RATINGS BOOST –Buoyed by a major upgrade of Barbados’ creditworthiness yesterday, the private sector touted expectations of rising investment levels with renewed confidence in the economy. Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) Edward Clarke told Barbados TODAY that Barbados’ creditworthiness coming out of default status was “excellent news” for the economy, investors and residents. “Obviously the country is on the right track as you can see and this will be good news for investors. It will give us more confidence in the economy,” He said. Clarke, who is also Co-chair of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) monitoring committee, said he was confident that the Government’s austerity programme was on target. He said he remained hopeful that once the benchmarks under the BERT programme were achieved the island would return to investment grade. He told Barbados TODAY: “We have a long way to go in Barbados still but obviously we are on the right track. “We look forward to seeing Barbados back to investment grade all around, which is where the ultimate goal should be. “Once we continue in the direction in which we are going I think we should get there. “It is not going to be easy but we are on the right track and this is good news for the private sector and for all investors and all Barbadians.” On Wednesday, the New York-based Standard and Poor’s (S&P) raised its long- and short-term foreign currency ratings to ‘B-/B’ from ‘SD/SD (Selective Default), and assigned its ‘B-‘ foreign currency issue rating to foreign currency debt delivered in the exchange. This means the island’s long-term foreign currency ratings moved six notches up to the ‘highly speculative’ category, while the short-term foreign currency rating is between non-investment grade speculative and highly speculative, both up from ‘default’. After reaching a debt swap deal with bond holders of Barbados US-dollar debt, Government exchanged over $1 billion (US$531 million) in new 2029 bonds and $64 million (US$32 million) in past due interest bonds to holders to those bond holders that have been in default since 2018, of which about $1.3 billion (US$677 million), plus accrued interest, was outstanding. The ratings agency also pointed to the need for Government to stick to its austerity programme, stating that failure to meet fiscal and debt targets over the next year could weaken investor confidence and result in loss of capital inflows. But S&P said it could raise the ratings over the next year should Government adhere to its fiscal targets and reform agenda, which it said could strengthen investor confidence and contribute to improved gross domestic product growth prospects. (BT)

RBC SELLS EC BANKS TO HOMEGROWN OPERATORS – Major Canadian banks continued their exodus from the Caribbean today as RBC Royal Bank of Canada agreed to sell all its banking operations in seven Eastern Caribbean nations to a consortium of indigenous banks, the banks announced jointly. The sale will not have any impact on the Barbados RBC Royal Bank operations, an official confirmed to Barbados TODAY. Five island banks are to take over RBC Eastern Caribbean branches in Antigua, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as regional businesses operating under RBC Royal Bank Holdings (EC) Limited in Nevis, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The five banks – 1st National Bank of St Lucia, Antigua Commercial Bank Ltd., National Bank of Dominica Ltd., the Bank of Montserrat and Bank of Nevis Ltd – are to operate the RBC banks. Head of RBC Caribbean Banking Rob Johnston said the transaction was subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, and should be finalized “in the coming months”. Johnston said: “Consistent with our strategy of being a competitive leader in the markets where we operate, RBC is always evaluating opportunities for our business. “Earlier this year, we were approached by a consortium of indigenous banks with their proposal to acquire all RBC Eastern Caribbean operations “After a review of our operations and strategy, we determined this opportunity was a good decision for the long-term future success of RBC Caribbean, and also, that it aligned with our vision to help our clients thrive and communities prosper.” Johnston pointed out that the bank had been in the region more than a century, adding that “we remain committed to the future of the Caribbean and to a vision of digital innovation that transcends traditional services”. He said: “This transaction will allow us to realign and focus our strategy on Caribbean markets where we can achieve that vision most successfully. “Self-determination is the highest level of empowerment – and the indigenous banks acquiring this business will now have an increased opportunity to influence the development of their communities.” Back in 2007, RBC had bought the Trinidad and Tobago-based RBTT Financial Group operations in the region for about US$2.2 billion. Financial terms of the current transaction were not disclosed. But RBC is to release its first quarter 2020 results and host an earnings conference call on February 21. A year ago, Managing Director of RBC Barbados operations Robert De Silva said that the Canadian bank had no intention of leaving the Barbados market. “We have been part of Barbados for 108 years. If you think about it, we have branches in the Caribbean before we had branches in Toronto, so Barbados is an important part of our Caribbean strategy and we intend to be here for the long-term,” Da Silva had said then. In a joint statement today, Managing Director of 1st National Bank of St. Lucia Johnathan Johannes said the consortium was formed to expand the scale of the locally owned banks in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. Johannes said: “This transaction gives us the size and scale to play a more active role in the development of our respective countries. “We see this transaction as the first step in achieving even greater synergies, efficiencies and cross-territory marketing opportunities “ Johannes who said the homegrown banks “embrace and eagerly anticipate that opportunity”. The consortium was advised by accounting firm PwC Jamaica, led by Wilfred Baghaloo. He said that the transaction “demonstrates that Caribbean countries and businesses have the capacity and capability to come together when the circumstances are right”. Back in 2014, RBC had also finalized the sale of its RBC Jamaica operations to the Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited. The sale of the RBC operations in the Eastern Caribbean comes another Canada-based commercial band withdraws from the region, leaving sole footprints in Barbados Scotiabank drastically scaled down its operations last month when it finalized an approximately $246 million (US$123 million) deal with Republic Financial Holdings Limited, which operates as Republic Bank. The countries affected by the Scotiabank sale were St Maarten and the Eastern Caribbean territories of Anguilla, Grenada, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. (BT)

ACTIVIST, STILL ‘UNHAPPY’ WITH HOTEL PROJECT, BACKS PLANNING PROCESS – With the recent completion of the Environmental Impact Assessment on the proposed $200 million (US$100 million) Hyatt Centric hotel project at Bay Street, the man who was legally challenging the granting of building permission to the developers has said he is satisfied that the correct procedure is now being followed. Attorney-at-law and Ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong told Barbados TODAY that the judicial review he sought for the 2017 decision by then Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to grant approval without having first conducted an EIA, was now a moot point. He said: “My challenge was essentially asking the court to scrutinise the manner in which [then] Prime Minister Stuart purported to have processed this application. “And I did this because I did not believe that it had been properly processed and I therefore presented the judge with all the reasons why I had come to that conclusion. “So, if under the new administration, the proper legal procedure for processing these applications is being followed– an EIA has been done and Town Hall meetings are being held– then I can have no quarrel with that. “I still do not approve of the project, but It is not for me to make the decision on the application. “However, it was my right to insist that it had to be processed in accordance with the law,” he said. An extensive study, which is available for download on theHyattcarlislebay.com website well as for viewing at the public library, encompasses a wide range of areas, which include the project’s impact on heritage, drainage, traffic, socio economic factors, pollution and a geotechnical study. The study also factors in disaster management and an environmental monitoring plan. Comissiong told Barbados TODAY that while he is still in the process of going through the assessment, he is satisfied that the developers are now at least following the legally required procedure. He said: “The legal process was always that an Environmental Impact Assessment be done, the results of the [EIA] be made available to the people of Barbados, that town hall meetings be held where the people of Barbados could discuss the results of the report and raise questions. “In addition, all of this has to be fed back to the Town and Country Planning Department and in particular the person who would be ultimately making the decision [Prime Minister Mia Mottley]. “This was always the process and it is good to see that the process is now being followed.” Stuart, in his capacity as Minister responsible for town planning, had given developer Mark Maloney’s company – Visions Development Inc. – permission to build the multi-million-dollar high-rise hotel resort in the centre of a UNESCO-designated World Heritage area. But Comissiong, a long-time political and social activist, has been relentless in his objection to the project and earlier this year he had made it clear that he was not backing down from the challenge, which has been cited as one of the reasons for the project being at a standstill for the last three years. But this afternoon, Comissiong explained that the developers have essentially undertaken a new application for planning permission. While he said he was still not happy with the proposal, his legal standing as a citizen of Barbados only extended to the procedural discrepancies. He pointed out that it was now up to the people of Barbados to study the report and make any objections that they may have. Comissiong declared: “It is now up to the people of Barbados to make use of the process. “It is now their duty to go to the public library or go to the website to access the EIA report to read the report and analyse it and to determine for themselves whether the correct studies were done in a serious and rigorous manner and whether they have confidence in the outcomes of the studies. “They must then go to the town hall meetings and participate in the process. “This is why this process was so important because we the people of Barbados must of have a say in the process. “What we say in those town hall meetings must be taken into account by the Prime Minister in the making of her decision.” (BT)

HOTELIERS ‘UNABLE TO GET PROMISED CONCESSIONS’, SAYS BHTA – Over a year after hoteliers were given a promise by Government that they would be able to more easily access concessions under the Tourism Development Act and the Tourism Development Amendment Act, nothing has changed, they have claimed. Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) officials also pleaded with the Mia Mottley administration to go back to Parliament to provide clarity to some tax measures that were implemented earlier this year. Chairman Stephen Austin reported that members were still coming up against a cumbersome process when they tried to access concessions, complaining that “the playing field is still not level”. He said: “We have been struggling and members have continued to be frustrated by accessing these concessions. “The procedure to access concessions is cumbersome and outdated.” In October 2018, Prime Minister Mia Mottley gave the assurance that her administration would be creating a “level playing field” across the industry, allowing hoteliers to access the approved concessions the same way in which Sandals was accessing them. She said then: “Immediately, I can say that for those persons in the Barbados hotel sector who now currently have to go every two or three weeks to get renewal from the Ministry of Tourism, I have indicated to the Minister of Tourism that is unacceptable and that they should equally be allowed the same benefit that Sandals has now.” But a visibly annoyed Austin Austin told the BHTA’s fourth quarterly general meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre that there has been no improvements in the process over a year later. He said that there continued to be “procedural runaround”, which was extremely frustrating for members. “I am afraid… the playing field is far from level. The field actually reminds me of a cow pasture with big holes and crevices,” said Austin. Austin told the BHTA members that he feared it could take months before a new Fiscal Incentives Bill was created, passed and proclaimed “while the tourism industry continues to suffer great delays by the extensive process”. He said too many members were still unable to access the concessions while others were simply turned off by the lengthy process and “turn around from all angles”. Hoteliers were told they were using the wrong letterhead, their signature “appears funny”, or they encountered problems with Customs trying to differentiate between a bedsheet or skirting for example, he said. “I think we have to go beyond the list and get to a point where we are allowing people to access concessions and allow them to do so and police it,” he declared. Austin pleaded with Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds to help arrange a meeting between the BHTA, the Ministry of Finance and the Comptroller of Customs so they could “agree to a procedure that would alleviate the challenges that we have”. “The time for action after lengthy discussion is now,” said Austin. Another sore point for members has been the Tourism Levy Bill and VAT Amendment Act, Austin said, while explaining that the delay in those pieces of legislation has left the industry with a level of uncertainty as it relates to the correct level of taxes to be collected. He said: “It is necessary for this bill to be passed so that we can get on with advising our partners and stakeholders in our industry about the correct level of taxation. “The implication of this legislation not being established could be significant to the collection of the correct levels of revenues from the levies. “Many in the industry are unsure of the level of levies and are awaiting the policy notes from the enacted legislation.” He said while he understood the industry had to “pay our fair share in taxes”, he was still hopeful that the issues would be ironed out soon. BHTA Chief Executive Officer Senator Rudy Grant said in relation to the issues about access to concessions under the two laws, a meeting was requested with the Ministry of Finance and he expected that meeting to take place this month. (BT)

‘MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF ELDER-ABUSE PERPETRATORS’ –Increasing reports of the elderly being thrown out of their own homes and continuously exploited is a matter that former chairman of the National Assistance Board (NAB) David Durant is calling on authorities to use the full weight of the law to rectify. He said he was continuously bombarded with reports about an increasing number of senior citizens being evicted, neglected, physically abused and in some instances being forced to sign over their properties to relatives and caregivers. “And then they are being left at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) abandoned,” Durant said. “They are carried to the Geriatric Hospital and receive no visits from the family members who are finished with them. They are put out of their home that they worked hard to build. Put out of their own home by their children. “I am hoping that elderly [citizens] being put outside by their own family members will stop. “And the financial exploitation where monies are being taken without their knowledge, and all that they have accumulated for this point of their life just being squandered by younger people is not fair.” Speaking at a Christmas luncheon for the elderly at his Restoration Ministries Church, Durant said it was high time that the courts made an example of someone abusing the elderly. Durant said he believed that once a serious message was sent that Barbados would not tolerate any form of abuse of the elderly, others may think twice about mistreating the vulnerable pensioners. Regardless of a person’s age or circumstances in life, they should be given the opportunity to age with dignity, respect and shown compassion and love, the pastor declared. He added: “They need to be shown that love and attention by family members especially, because we can’t depend on Government to do everything. “I know that the present Minister [of Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde] is very concerned about it because even before she became minister over the elderly, when I was NAB chairman, she used to call me and express concern. “So I know that she is as concerned about it as I am and I hope that we would have stronger legislation. “I know some things have already been put in place, but now the implementation is important that somebody be made an example.” He said he was also concerned about the need for more accommodation to be made available for the elderly since homes currently in place were full. Durant said: “Some elderly people are being evicted and put alongside the road with their things. “And that hurts me because any nation that is treating their elderly in this kind of fashion is the nation that will stand the judgement for such a mistreatment. “The Bible says ‘honour your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land’. The more we honour the elderly the better it will be for us.” He thanked all those who contributed to the luncheon where over 250 people were fed a traditional Christmas meal. They were also treated to an entertaining concert where several members of Restorations Ministries delivered performances. Prominent gospel artist Sister Magrita Marshall performed some of her popular hits. “We want to be able to give them as much love as we can during this Christmas season, make them feel at home, bless them,” Durant said. (BT)

PINE MAN ACCUSED OF WOUNDING – A system operator will next appear in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on April 23 next year on charges of wounding a man and damaging a car. Geoffrey Lawson Marlon Lovell, of 106 Parkinson Field, Pinelands, St Michael is accused of damaging a car belonging to Ryan Thomas on April 11, intending to damage such property or was reckless as to whether such property would be damage. The 47-year-old is further alleged to have assaulted Thomas on October 17 causing him actual bodily harm as well as unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on the same complainant on November 2 and 3. The accused pleaded not guilty to the offences before Magistrate Douglas Frederick today. With no objections he was granted $5,000 bail. (BT)

HIGH HOPES FOR NEW COACH – National Sports Council coach Margaret Cutting has been appointed the coach of the Bajan Gems senior netball squad. And, she has to hit the ground running, with Barbados staging a Caribbean/African Cup in the first quarter of 2020. Cutting, 54, has been a NSC coach for the past 25 years. She replaces Sandra Bruce-Small, who was the coach for the last five years. Cutting was the assistant coach to Bruce-Small with the senior team and she also assisted when Barbados won the AFNA Under-21 Qualifier in St Maarten in 2017 and competed at the finals in Botswana in 2018. In making the exclusive announcement to the Weekend Nation, president of the Barbados Netball Association Nisha Craigwell said the BNA was highly optimistic of Cutting being a successful national coach. (DN)

EARLY CHRISTMAS VACATION FOR FREDERICK SMITH STUDENTS – Students at the Frederick Smith Secondary School have received an early Christmas gift. Following the staging of a peace rally yesterday from Jubilee Gardens, The City to Queen’s Park, the students were given early Christmas holiday. To this end, parents and guardians of students of the Trents, St James, institution are asked to note that there will be no school for students today, Thursday, December 12. School resumes after the Christmas holiday on January 6, 2020. (BGIS)

There are 19 days left in the year Shalom! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

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feynites · 7 years ago

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#I love their interactions to bits and their fluffier moments are amazing#but so often there's an underlying heartbreak about them too#the difficult paths that shaped them into the people that they are#but also the hardships (and sometimes tragedies) awaiting them#sometimes it feels like I'm doing escapism of escapism#if that makes sense XD#with all the au fanart for LG#trying to imagine what they might have in happier moments#in worlds that might treat them more gently#in futures that hold more hope than darkness for them#and I just gave myself a sad over gratuitous art for no reason :x#(poor thenvunin barely-clad as usual :3)#but sometimes difficult doesn't mean impossible#because these dorks aren't just passively sitting back either#they're /trying/ and sometimes that works out#and all the aus you've written for them are just <3<3 (@pyrrhy)

Sometimes - when he lets himself - Thenvunin wonders what would really make him happy in his life.

He knows what is supposed to make him happy, of course. A life of good works and atonement. There are days when he uncharitably thinks that all mages are born with a debt they never asked for; like inheriting some unmet ancestor’s bills. From the first moment magic flew from his fingertips, he was destined to spend the rest of his life paying for it, paying for the danger of it, and the power of it, and the ancient history tied to it.

He is supposed to be happy, in his payments. Humble and thoughtful and willing to make all needed sacrifices, to be one of the good mages. And sometimes, he is. He can recollect a feeling of relief that would rush through him, every time his sacrifices were rewarded, every time it was affirmed that he was doing well at offering the universe his apologies.

He can recollect it.

But, more and more, he finds, it is becoming less likely that he will actually feel it. And some part of him is beginning to wonder if that was ever really ‘happiness’, or simply the brief flare of hope that maybe, some day, if he did things precisely right...

Maybe he would actually pay his debts, before he died.

Maybe he would no longer have to constantly prove himself, and could simply be.

But whether it was happiness or not, Thenvunin finds in his time with the Inquisition, that it becomes harder to feel. That instead of relief, something else tends to rise up in him every time he is called upon to pay for his magic. Something steely, and bitter, and increasingly resentful. It doesn’t really speak with Uthvir’s voice, but it listens to Uthvir. This part of him that would only ever come out, in the past, when he had a sword in his hand and an enemy in front of him... it gets bigger. Stronger. Louder.

Thenvunin would be afraid that it might steal all of his happiness.

Except, he realizes, when he leaves Markham for the second time - when Uthvir comes and gets him, and tells him they’re rescuing him - that he is happy. Or rather, he can be happy, in ways that sometimes conflict with him, but also seem much stronger than what he thought happiness was. He finds something that he hadn’t even realized he’d misplaced; something left behind in the days before his Harrowing. Before Seth and the guard and the rebellion. He is not really sure if more of the blame rests with Uthvir or the Inquisition but he knows he’s changed. That he can feel giddy, and excited, and confined, and strong in ways that he shouldn’t. For reasons that he shouldn’t.

That he can want things he’s been told not to, and that even realizing that, even admitting it, doesn’t seem to carry the dire consequences he somehow always feared.

What would really make him happy?

Is it wandering? Is it fighting? Is it love? Is it freedom?

Can it last?

That’s the sticking point, he supposes. Most any mage can taste freedom, but usually only at the cost of death. Any thrill can be obtained, but not all of them can be survived. What kind of end is waiting for him, now? What kind is waiting for Uthvir? If neither of them had been born mages, would it have gone better for them? Or worse? Would Thenvunin have been left to die as an infant? Would Uthvir have ever escaped enslavement?

How many lives might they have led with worse fates in store?

...How many with better?

And what would ‘better’ even look like? Thenvunin wonders. Utopia, maybe. Elvhenan, he might have thought, before he learned that even old fables must be uprooted and destroyed in this life. But if not Elvhenan, then what? Some other idyll, some other place. Free of demons and slavery and death. Or even just less replete with them. Would the two of them have ever had simple lives? Or lives filled with fewer harrowings, at least? Kindly adventures, maybe. Sweet stories. Uncomplicated dreams. A castle in the clouds, higher even than Skyhold, where bad things could only threaten to reach them, but never actually succeed.

He does not realize how thick his throat feels, until he swallows and finds it like sandpaper. His vision blurs a little, and Uthvir stops, and looks over with concern. Their hand rests against his forearm.

“Thenvunin?” they ask. “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head.

How can he explain? It sounds so silly. To suddenly start crying, of all things, just because of a daydream. Just because he doesn’t know why they don’t deserve a chance. Why everyone, it seems, is so set upon abandoning them; why people must hate mages, why humans can go about destroying the lives of elves, why Uthvir’s skin has scars but there are magisters who live to ripe old ages and die peacefully in their beds, untouched by justice for their atrocities. Why even the elven gods must be liars and cheats and murderers and creatures of their ilk, why Solas would look the Inquisitor in the eye and declare his intentions to destroy this world.

Their world.

Even the rebel gods forsake them.

Thenvunin shakes his head, again, and then lifts his arms and puts them around Uthvir. He cannot change it. That is the worst part. He is still, after all this time, so powerless to fix things. His shoulders shake and he pulls Uthvir presumptuously close. They do not object, though. Their hands settle onto his back, and they ask him what’s wrong again. They don’t let go, even as Thenvunin just rests his head atop theirs, and weeps for seemingly no reason.

When he finally finds that he can’t anymore, Uthvir rubs a hand in slow circles against his spine.

“We have been travelling much harder than usual,” they say. “I should have realized. Let’s make camp, hmm? Rest a while.”

A much simpler state of affairs than anything which Thenvunin could articulate.

Uthvir gets him moving again. The roads they are traversing are not well-trodden, but they are better than hunters’ trails or smugglers’ paths. Trade routes, Uthvir had said, between villages and more remote homesteads, not-quite-civilized but not really wild, either. They had warned him that slavers were known to pass through the areas, every now and again. Opportunists, mostly, or bounty hunters, following leads on runaways. Debt collectors, too, apparently. Thenvunin had been surprised to learn the fullness of the systems in place, that operated within the machinery of Tevinter’s slave trade.

Somehow he had always envisioned things as a matter of... well, magical force, more than anything. Corrupt mages casting spells that stripped others of their agency. Shackling people to them with blood magic and curses and demons to aid them. He had never really considered that a great deal of paperwork was involved, and truthfully, Dorian had explained things more than Uthvir generally did. He had made it sound almost reasonable, talking about debt and time frames and ‘indentured servitude’. Made it sound almost like the Circle, in fact, and sometimes Uthvir made the Circle sound like slavery, too, in even more unsettling ways.

Thenvunin thinks about debts, and cruelty, and stares at the tip of a scar he can see on the back of Uthvir’s neck, as they find a spot sufficient to their aims of making camp. The sun is still up, and it can’t be all that long past midday. They don’t complain about the daylight they will lose by stopping now, however, merely bid Thenvunin sit and get work on preparing a fire, while they set up their tent.

Thenvunin takes his time - it is hardly urgent, after all - and spends the better part of it watching Uthvir. Watching their hands, as they move, and watching their face, as they frown a little, and send the occasional glance his way. Watching their arms and their back and the way their armour moves with them, the way they walk and the deftness with which they go through familiar motions.

They are very graceful.

Graceful. And gentle. And sometimes not gentle, in ways that... excite him. But do not frighten him, and haven’t for a long time, now. They are cautious - even over-cautious - and playful, and they are beautiful. It strikes him, then, that Uthvir is one of the loveliest people he has ever met. He wonders if this was what the Maker might have felt like, when he heard Andraste’s voice, singing so brightly from such a dark and forsaken place.

“What?” Uthvir asks, and Thenvunin realizes his staring has been quite blatant.

He swallows.

Say it!

Uthvir is always saying such... such things, to him. Poetic things. Flattery, he might call it, except that it works too well. With things as they are, should they not reciprocate? At least somehow?

“You remind me of Andraste!” he blurts.

Uthvir blinks.

Awkward silence descends, and Thenvunin kind of wants to find a rock to hide under. Uthvir’s brow furrows, and they look as though they are backtracking the last few moments in their mind, searching for a missing piece of context.

“...In what sense?” they finally ask him.

Oh, Maker, why did he say anything? Now he has to explain. Or at least try to. He folds his arms, and lifts his chin, except that he cannot get defensive. Uthvir has done nothing wrong, there is no fault in their inquiry, and though Thenvunin dearly wishes that they could simply divine his meaning, it is rather reasonable that they can’t. Under the circumstances.

“Well,” he says, still feeling somewhat wrung out from his tears. He clears his throat. “Well, in the - in the sense of, I was just. I was thinking, and, you know, the Maker heard Andraste’s singing and He fell in love with her. And that is rather like you. Except that you don’t sing, of course. Unless you do, though I haven’t heard it, I don’t think. But, that’s not the point, obviously. Just that... the Maker thought that Andraste was very nice, and... not that I’m comparing myself to the Maker, per se, that would probably be presumptuous, but... I love you.”

Uthvir stares at him.

Thenvunin redirects his gaze onto his unfinished campfire, and attempts to survive the sheer tidal wave of mortification rising up in him. He cannot bring himself to look, when he hears their footsteps coming closer. Not until they settle down beside him. And then he does, and his heart stops at the aching affection in their gaze.

“I do not think I am very much like Andraste,” they tell him. “But, thank you.”

Thenvunin sniffs.

“You have plenty in common with her,” he insists. “She wanted to end slavery and destroy Tevinter too, you know. And back when she was raising her army, very few people shared in her faith, and a lot of her enemies objected to nearly everything about her. But she was clever, and charismatic, and also very good at killing.”

“Ah,” says Uthvir. “I admit, when I consider her, I tend to think more about the end of that story.”

He frowns.

“I would not betray you,” he asserts, before he can think twice about it. “Not like Maferath.”

Uthvir reaches over, and brushes their fingers across the back of his hand.

“An addendum, then,” they decide. “Shall we say I am somewhat like Andraste, but with potentially better taste in husbands?”

“Certainly,” Thenvunin agrees, and then his brain catches up with the implications of that. Potentially better taste in husbands. Not men. Not lovers. Not bedpartners, cohorts, or allies.

Husbands.

Married.

Thenvunin’s heart stops and his tongue ties itself into a knot, and he looks at Uthvir, who only looks levelly back at him for a moment; before their expression softens, and they squeeze his hand. And then stand up, and move away, which seems so wrong that Thenvunin cannot help but reach out and grab their wrist.

Such a comment seems to vague to be a proposal; but too important to deny offhand.

“...You would consider marrying...?” he manages to ask.

Uthvir inclines their head.

“I would prefer to discuss such things when we are not on the road and near to exhausted,” they admit, which does seem reasonable. “But, yes, vhenan. I would.”

They lean down and kiss him, just once, before working their way free of him again, and saying something about having to check and just make certain of some nearby tracks they saw. They don’t leave his sight entirely, but Thenvunin can tell they are conspicuously giving him some space to process things.

The future is such a perilous thing. Happiness seems only so fleeting. All of it rife with the potential for a multitude of disasters. This is not, he thinks, the best of all possibly lives and fates.

But it is his, it is theirs, and if he can share it with them, then...

Then that is more than he could have dreamed.

#filled prompt #sharkbait #sharkbait companions au #i <3 u too pyrrhy <3333

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caidenjbme811-blog · 5 years ago

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Methods To Get Bigger Than 4% Curiosity As Part Of Your Cost Financial Savings Account?

The Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) a brief even though in the past declared a hike throughout the desire premiums on own cost savings banking account. That must have created lender customers joyful as Many of them go away enormous sum of money lying in price savings accounts.

Favourable, they will obtain 50 %-a-% supplemental on savings lender accounts now. Nonetheless, the moot level is: Does which make the Value personal savings account crescent bank and trust auto loan the very best spot to retain the dollars, which will be idle till They are often utilised or invested?

Economical personal savings banking account

Your salary goes straight for the discounts examining account. Your housing EMI devours a substantial Section of it. Then the cheques you've got issued for your individual bank card payments, utility rates, SIP etc consume a great deal more into it. The harmony amount gets amassed whilst from the Price tag savings account month instantly after thirty day period of time.

That is the story of a standard rate savings checking account, which presents four% as interest to the savers. The curiosity is calculated with regards to the every day stability within just your account. Earlier, the curiosity was calculated on the bottom amount in the bank account amongst the tenth of each month and the final Business Doing the job working day While using the 30 working day interval. The need is compensated to suit your needs at the conclusion of the quarter or fifty percent calendar year. Which suggests you receive extra money now in your monetary price savings account than What ever you obtained a calendar calendar year in the past. But does that also make discounts account the easiest spot to park your idle hard cash?

Liquid and liquid as well as resources

Definitely considered one of the greatest benefits of a rate cost savings account is liquidity. You will get the amount after you want. But you can find avenues that give improved returns than price savings accounts, without the need of impacting liquidity An excellent deal. They may be identified as liquid funds.

Liquid revenue are open-completed dollars industry mutual fund methods that spend money on get in contact with income sector and a variety of preset gains securities by utilizing a maturity duration of less than ninety just one times. Liquid Furthermore cash, frequently called ultra shorter-time frame bond funds, are individual personal debt mutual money where ever the fund supervisor invests in securities which could contain gadgets with greater than 91 moments' residual maturity. The yield is mostly improved for gadgets with extended phrase. The natural way, inclusion of products with in excess of 91 days to experienced boosts the return of liquid Moreover resources.

The fund manager spots liquidity and safety as the basic tenets although developing the portfolios of these kinds of hard cash. This may make these funds a safer location to park your hard-earned income. The liquidity demands of buyers are under no circumstances compromised. For, all redemption requests submitted and time-stamped forward of the Decrease-off time, the payouts are designed the really up coming working day - This can be also referred to as redemption on T+a person basis.

How they stack up?

It is possible to Analyze the place up-tax returns of equally these alternate options - own price savings banking account and liquid and liquid On top of that mutual methods.

"The need cost of a fiscal institution's particular personal savings deposit account is four%. Ultra constrained-phrase money provide you with a better returns," claims Joydeep Sen, senior vice-president, advisory desk-established gains, BNP Paribas Prosperity Administration.

"If we look at it on the publish-tax foundation, returns from ultra transient-expression means are quite a bit far better. The dividend distribution tax for extremely confined-expression cash stands at 13.5% for man or woman investors, While the want payable on price tag personal savings bank deposits is taxed in the marginal rate of tax - for the folks in the most effective slab, it is definitely thirty.nine%," he indicates.

In accordance with Value Investigation, a mutual fund monitoring company, liquid cash produced available six.seventy five% and liquid On top of that funds returned six.eighty two% over a person distinct twelve months. If we look at 1-7 days returns, each the fund forms readily available 0.16% returns. In The prevailing motivation cost circumstance, liquid money rating higher than particular discounts bank accounts. But for simply how much time will this be the situation?

A brief while back, the Reserve Bank of India came out getting a discussion paper on deregulation of interest amount payable that has a economic savings banking account. A chart whilst from the discussion paper throws Light on how discount rates banking account interest amount as well as other critical costs are In the the most recent earlier. It is obvious that The cash Market offers a lot better returns for incredibly brief-phrase investments when compared with returns designed available from the financial discounts banking account.

Barring for a short duration of A few quarters in 2009, curiosity cost more than a personalized financial savings checking account has remained reduce in comparison on the weighted regular get in touch with amount. "The small money industry returns had been currently being an result of surplus liquidity Within the approach as RBI, in reaction to the global disaster, seasoned Decrease vital premiums in the 2nd fifty % of 2008," aspects out a credit score historical past analyst by utilizing a fund property.

The money market place costs are envisioned to stay higher as being the financial system carries on on The growth route. But what is brief-expression scenario likely to be like?

Crude oil charges are actually Business in the last a few months. Presented the unstable geopolitical condition of affairs in the crude oil-building nations, The prices are not going to return down. The under recoveries of oil internet marketing and promotion businesses have already been climbing, forcing them to hike the costs of petrol by Rs 5 For each and every litre. Diesel charges have, Nevertheless, not been touched, but the industry expects diesel providing costs also to go up when within the quick-term. This could push up inflation.

The RBI could keep on with its fee hike spree for your couple a lot more time. "We anticipate a fifty basis factors Enhance in important fascination costs in extra of the following three to six months, that could go on to keep the short-period of time interest fees company," suggests Ramanathan K, CIO-one manager investments - ING expense choice administration. These days, terrific credit score-rated economical instruments maturing in 90 times provide an annualised deliver within the array of 8.seventy five% to nine.25%.

Operational problems

Liquid and liquid plus dollars rating a lot more than monetary personal savings banking account in returns, but You must check out various other aspects of the parking features to select the one that satisfies your needs.

A discount rates banking account helps you to problem cheques, which can be not possible with mutual cash. To pay for household retain the services of toward the landlady, You should redeem your liquid cash products, Permit the proceeds arrive at the rate savings checking account and afterwards issue a cheque.

The second problem is concerning the operational factors of buying these dollars. You will get resources In the savings banking account possibly as income or from A couple of other transaction. Due to this fact, the cost price savings bank account might be the parking Area for your hard earned money by default.

But if you wish to set a few of that amount in mutual money, You will need to possibly get it done all on your own or establish an agent who will do it with your case.

Given that cash flow in liquid In addition income is parked only for brief disorders, there may very well be a ideal series of transactions taking place routinely. It could be challenging for you personally personally find out the time or regulate this type of transactions. And no institutional or specific individual agent operating inside an offline arrange will support you to Given that this business will not be remunerative. The only real serious way out for you personally will likely be to potentially Remedy a web based fund distributor which include fundsupermart, investonline.in or make investments from on the net platforms of massive institutional distributors.

But ahead of choosing to transact working with on the web platforms, It may be intelligent to confirm if there are literally any rates appropriate. You may additionally commit to open up an internet based account which has a fund dwelling and map your mutual fund portfolio on that account. This assures seamless transfer of hard cash.

Liquid and liquid Additionally methods could possibly be even more applied to boost your returns on investments. "Should you have a considerable corpus of cash to have a place in fairness, then in lieu of a scientific financial investment method, select a scientific transfer system, which offers you both equally the good thing about averaging in fairness fund and in addition enhanced returns from the liquid fund vis a vis a fiscal savings account," states Rajesh Krishnamoorthy, handling director, fundsupermart.com, an online dependent mutual fund distribution entity.

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#savings account #online banking #bank investment

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rexcrystallis · 7 years ago

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He would remain patient no longer. Blood boiled and raged in defiance against those whom would wish him parted from his consort. Secluded in the servant's pathway he pressed Noctis against stone wall intent on taking his pleasures from the man here and now. He needed no permission from overly pompous and arrogant future in-laws.

@theplagueofstars

They’d returned to Lucis after Ardyn’s arm healed, after the prince earned the Covenant of the Archaean in a hard-fought battle that left him, Noctis and Lady Hera battered and exhausted. The exile was ended because Gordian had summoned them back to Insomnia, and Ardyn’s marriage plans were already revealed: he was to wed the Princess Selene Le Ponte of Accordo.

Hawk missives reported that the match was negatively received by the Lucian court following Gordian’s latest missteps and Noctis’ own declaration and elevation both as Royal Consort and Marquis of Leville, but the marriage plans were still negotiated and finalized. The Princess had a handsome dowry; five hundred thousand gil, plus rights of profit-sharing on ten out of fifteen Accordiano trade routes, plus the promise of the aid of the Accordian navy if and when Lucis went to war or was attacked. The dowry alone would be enough to pay crown debts and damages owed with the war against Dis.

Noctis wasn’t supposed to be in Altissia, really. It was good manners and refined taste, but Ardyn bundled him up anyway and took him along, no doubt to keep him safe against the more hostile atmosphere at court, and spare him from dealing with both King Gordian and the Prince Izunia.

But then upon their arrival in Altissia, the Accordian court at once took offense to Noctis’ presence there - the prince Ardyn’s Great Whore - bringing him along was an offense and insult to his in-laws and his bride. The Princess Selene’s parents wasted no time making their displeasure known both in great and subtle acts, like declining to invite Noctis in the welcoming ball for Ardyn, and sending him sub par meals to equally sub par quarters.

Ardyn has since relocated him to his suites and commanded that what foods were brought to him be also fed to his consort, and Noct has been uncomplaining, only cautioning his lover when his defiance causes greater friction between them and the Altissian court.

And yet the in-law’s conduct, disrespecting him, and in turn, publicly disrespecting Ardyn, only served to increase the man’s ire and provoke him from doing more scandalous acts.

…Like taking his consort against the wall in one of the servant’s passageways in the palace.

Noctis is pushed hard and roughly against the brick wall that it’s a wonder he hasn’t melted right through yet. Their coats and shirts hanging open as the torches flickered in their holders. Huffed breaths and gasped misting over each other’s faces, eyes reflecting desire and need.

There’s a half-strangled cry from him, muffled against Ardyn’s left hand in a vicious bite that draws the prince’s blood into his throat. Pleasure pools and spreads, all the way to the tips of his hair, and Ardyn rocks urgently and gracelessly into him, riding out his own pleasure. Noct’s thighs burn, and slowly, they both slide down to the passage floor.

He catches his breath in a pant, his cheeks flushed. He kisses Ardyn, thereafter nuzzling him. He gives a mischievous smirk, to which Ardyn answers in kind. Between them, a whispered word–

Hertis rote.

#.nsfw #.v: sempiternal #theplagueofstars #.responses #.sic semper tenebris

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christophergill8 · 6 years ago

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Donating & deducting gifts to governments (but not the wall)

A crowdfunding effort to raise money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has ended, but some folks still want to contribute.

The debate on an expansive U.S.-Mexico wall (or similar structures) continues, in Washington, D.C., as well as across the country.

The top issue right now is money to pay for any barriers along the United States' southern border. Donald J. Trump has declared the situation a national emergency, which his administration says would free up a total of $8 billion for the campaign-promised project.

Opposition to the wall and Trump's workaround to pay for it has received most of the recent attention.

Lawsuits have been filed in several federal courts across the country to challenge the border emergency assertion on a variety of grounds.

This week the House is expected to pass a resolution to block Trump's declaration. The outlook for a subsequent Senate vote is less clear.

But some folks support and even want to help pay for the border barrier.

Notably, there's the GoFundMe fundraising effort that raised more than $20 million. It since has morphed into the 501(c)(4) nonprofit We Build the Wall, reportedly collecting around $7 million.

Down here in Central Texas, a 7-year-old boy's hot chocolate stand went viral — helped in large part by mentions from Fox News' Sean Hannity and Donald J. Trump, Jr. — after he raised around $10,000 in less than a week to help build the proposed wall.

Limits on wall donations: Politics and wall positions aside, the efforts by private citizens to help pay for public projects raise some interesting questions.

The first and biggest question is whether such payments can be accepted.

The answer isn't entirely clear.

True, the government has accepted private donations for infrastructure before.

In 2012, for example, Bethesda, Md.-billionaire philanthropist David M. Rubenstein donated $7.5 million to fix the earthquake-damaged Washington Monument. That gift came on the heels of his $4.5 million donation to the National Zoo's giant panda program and another $13.5 million gift to the National Archives.

But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees border issues, said in 2008 policy directive that money donated to the department would require approval from Congress. The directive cites a law (6 U.S. Code § 453. Use of appropriated funds) that says "gifts or donations of services or property of or for the Department may not be accepted, used, or disposed of unless specifically permitted in advance" by Congress.

That's not going to happen as long as the House is under Democratic control.

Other gifts to Uncle Sam, however, are OK.

In fact, if you itemize your deductions instead of claiming the standard deduction, donations to the federal government can be claimed as charitable donations.

Giving more to the feds: Most folks feel like they give enough to the U.S. government with their annual tax payments.

But some folks like to do more.

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service, a part of the Treasury Department that basically handles financial management operations, says that citizens who wish to make a general donation to the U.S. government may send contributions to a specific account called Gifts to the United States.

This account, according to the website, "was established in 1843 to accept gifts, such as bequests, from individuals wishing to express their patriotism to the United States. Money deposited into this account is for general use by the federal government and can be available for budget needs. These contributions are considered an unconditional gift to the government."

Financial gifts for this purpose can be made by check or money order payable to the United States Treasury and mailed to:

Gifts to the United States U.S. Department of the Treasury Funds Management Branch P.O. Box 1328 Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328

Paying down the federal debt: You also can specifically give to 33 federal efforts, ranging from certain Department of State programs to a handful of projects overseen by the National Marine Fisheries Service to 14 different veterans' health programs to helping reduce Uncle Sam's growing public debt.

The federal debt fund is one of the more popular options, even getting a special mention in the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 17, its annual tax guide for individuals.

Again, if you prefer paying the old-fashioned paper way, you can send your debt reduction check to:

Attn Dept G Bureau of the Fiscal Service P. O. Box 2188 Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

If, however, you are OK with online payments, head to the Treasury Direct website for details on sending in your debt reduction dollars electronically.

E-giving to other federal programs: In fact, the easiest way to make any added gifts to Uncle Sam is by using the Treasury's pay.gov website.

When you click on the Make a Donation or Contribution link at the bottom of the page, you be taken to the first of several pages with more on the federal programs to which you can donate.

You can choose to have the money transferred from your bank account or you can donate using a credit or debit card.

If you go the plastic payment route, the site reminds us that we might have to limit our generosity:

"U.S. Treasury has established a maximum transaction amount for credit card payments made through Pay.gov of $49,999.99. If the amount you plan to pay exceeds this limit, you must choose ACH [bank transfer] as your method of payment."

Hey, Uncle Sam obviously ascribes to the go big or go home philosophy.

Deducting government gifts: The tax code allows gifts to many entities to be deducted by the donor as long as the gifts do not benefit any specific individual. This includes gifts to governments, from the federal level to those closer to home.

Specifically, the IRS allows for deductions of contributions made to:

Religious organizations, including churches, synagogues, temples and mosques;

Federal, state and local governments when the contribution is solely for public purpose (for example, a gift as noted earlier to reduce the public debt or maintain a public park);

Nonprofit schools and hospitals;

Public parks and recreation facilities;

War veterans groups;

Expenses paid for a student, sponsored by a qualified organization, who lives with you;

Out-of-pocket expenses when you serve a qualified organization as a volunteer; and

Salvation Army, Red Cross, CARE, Goodwill Industries, United Way, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts and many other IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.

Determining whether the group to which you contribute is qualified under the tax code is just one step.

You also must meet the other charitable donation deduction rules, which means itemizing your expenses. You can get the details on charitable gift deductions in my post about the annual Giving Tuesday philanthropic push.

Donating sans deductions: This year, there likely will be fewer folks claiming charitable donations on their taxes. That's not necessarily because not as many folks are giving or are giving less.

It's because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) which is in full force for the first time this filing season has almost doubled the standard deduction amounts.

But just because you use your gift to reduce your tax bill, your goodwill still is needed. It might not do you any good on your 1040, but you and your favorite charities still will feel great and that counts for a lot.

You also might find these items of interest:

Wealthy donors giving more, getting added tax breaks

Uncommon charitable gifts still provide donors the typical tax deduction

Donor advised funds and donation bunching get renewed interest in wake of tax reform