#best allied technologies in tennessee

[floripire]

🙌

Wade Rivers (Jacob Batalon) is a changeling with a lot of knowledge inside his head which makes him a good friend or ally to have but at the Salvatore Boarding School, he's - unfortunately - a prime target for quick witted and sharp tongued people like Alyssa Chang. Wade knows as much about technology as Floribeth does and the two get on like a house on fire.

He might pretend to be a bumbling fool but make no mistake: Wade is very good at making deals and he does nothing for free. Not even for the people he loves. At all times, he knows what's going on in Salvatore's hallowed halls. Knows who loves who and who hates you. Currently, he's trying to gather up the courage to speak to Brock (Jacques Colimon), a member of the Salvatore school pack.

When Derek Machado (Derek Theler) was a human, he loved Paige Billingsley (Stella Maeve) to the point of absolute madness and that didn't stop after he got turned into a vampire. If anything, his love for her only grew. And so did his despair at her passing. He would have gone to the ends of the Earth for her. Would have walked through fire for her. Would have done anything for her. Would have done anything to get her back from the clutches of death.

Derek lived with Paige's pack in Tennessee until Klaus Mikaelson sought to create his own hybrid army. It didn't work. Many people, including Derek's best friend Ray Sutton, died. Paige died as well. Derek did, too. But he died with Klaus' blood in his system. Instead of dying like he thought he would, he made it through and had no choice but to complete the transition into a vampire, much to his own horror. His grief only amplified, for the majority of the Billingsley pack were all but decimated, bodies torn apart, unable to be identified, unable to be buried. He had no one to turn to. No one to understand his hurt and rage and fear and utter contempt for the monster who took everything from him. So Derek took Paige's body, fled the scene and ended up burying her in Maple Hollows, where she was originally from.

Each year, he visits Paige's grave on her death day and it was during his most recent visit that he turned Floribeth who was at the wrong place in the wrong time. Of course, he felt bad about turning the kid but not enough to step up as her sire. Not enough to help her with her memory issues after the transition took and she got turned. No, he did what he does best: fleeing the scene. Hiding out. Laying low. His last known whereabouts are Savannah, Georgia, where Maya Machado and her mother Marguerite are living.

Once word reached his ears that Klaus Mikaelson had a child, however, the wheels in his head started turning and he made his way back to Mystic Falls. Klaus took his heart, his hope, when he got Paige killed and now, Derek will do the same to him by figuring out a way to kill his only child and devoting the rest of his existence to see it done.

Druscilla Isobel Saitou (Lyrica Okano) is Floribeth's former roommate and former friend. Part of the same coven as the flirty witch and the sewing witch, Druscilla has fought against Triad during their siege of the school and has participated in Coven Day.

Druscilla is blunt and tells it like it is, even if you don't necessarily want to hear it. Especially if you don't want to hear it. For instance, she'll be the first to tell you - and has reminded Floribeth countless of times, despite the fact that it hurts - that romantic interspecies relationships just won't work out due to the fact that vampires are immortal and werewolves just age slower.

Nowadays, Druscilla and Floribeth don't talk anymore; Floribeth has since stopped considering her a friend because Druscilla also made it quite clear that she will break up the Anti Squad if it means that she gets Loren Bennett in her coven. She has been making derisive comments in regards to Mia Hirsch' background and lycantrophy too.

npc time // @kennheir

[alliedtechnologiesus]

Virtual Receptionists in TN

Virtual Receptionist is a smart system that handles all the requests of customers, similar to a human. The other end customers will never understand any type of difference between human and virtual receptionists. Our Virtual Receptionist can even receive and respond to real-time phone calls, connect the caller to any other locations, and maintain messages and appointments.

Precisely why we started the?

As we are busy, so not always available to reply to all the emails. At that point, you might miss big deals by missing appointments and not able to keep up with your to-complete list. Allied Technologies - a premium organization of Virtual Receptionists. We have the very best virtual receptionists in TN who might complete your work. Get going in minutes. We will save you both money and time, from administration offerings to innovative work - we've got you covered.

In case you employ a traditional employee, you are investing money, but not getting back all. Employees will spend some relaxing time at your workplace, as they are human, so definitely not working restlessly. The typical worker is wasting time between 48-76% of the day of theirs on non-work-related distractions. Also, a top of that, you have provided benefits and pay a lot for your office spaces where you have built your office setup. That is cash that can remain inside your pocket by merely utilizing expert virtual assistant services.

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No teaching: By contracting using a virtual receptionist business like Allied Technologies, you will not need to be concerned about take time to and purchase training. We will cover training expenses as part of your's agreement, saving you substantial time and monetary resources.

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Less waiting for all the customers: The best virtual receptionist in tn routes your client calls on the concerned department right basis the callers' enter in the telephonic menu. It will save your callers' moment to contact the correct representative and, thus, offers them faster on-call resolution. This flat cuts down the caller's period to wait on hold and improve their calling experience.

Multiple words support: Do several of the customers of yours or maybe clients speak a different language? Locating a full-time bilingual receptionist is usually hard. It means you will need to pay them a more substantial income. If your callers speak several languages, then you might be in trouble. It is truly next to impossible to locate one Receptionist that speaks three or maybe more languages.

Nevertheless, starting a phone answering service can fix all the problems of yours. We have several virtual receptionists in tn working for clients. We can be better suited to finding bilingual virtual receptionists to answer cell phones for you.

Visit at:- https://alliedtechnologies.blogspot.com/2020/08/virtual-receptionists-better-future.html

[obsessedwiththebatman]

Joel T. Schumacher

(August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American filmmaker. Schumacher rose to fame after directing three hit films: St. Elmo's Fire (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), and Flatliners (1990). He later went on to direct the John Grisham adaptations The Client (1994) and A Time to Kill (1996). His films Falling Down (1993) and 8mm (1999) competed for Palme d'Or and Golden Bear, respectively.

Director of films, including: The Incredible Shrinking Woman, 1981; D.C. Cab, 1983; St. Elmo's Fire, 1985; The Lost Boys, 1987; Cousins, 1989; Flatliners, 1990; Dying Young, 1991; Falling Down, 1993; The Client, 1994; Batman Forever, 1995; A Time to Kill, 1996; Batman & Robin, 1997; 8 mm, 1999; Flawless, 1999; Mauvaises Frequentations, 1999; Tigerland, 2000; Bad Company, 2002; Phone Booth, 2003; Veronica Guerin, 2003; Phantom of the Opera, 2004. Director of television movies, including: The Virginia Hill Story, 1974; Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill, 1979.

Awards:

National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) ShoWest Director of the Year Award, 1997; NATO ShowEast Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, 1999.

Sidelights

After more than three decades in the film industry, Joel Schumacher has earned a reputation as one of the most respected and well–liked mainstream

Joel Schumacher

filmmakers around. Schumacher's films are glossy; he delights moviegoers with his staggering sense of style. Movie companies love Schumacher as well because he completes his films on time and on budget. Over the years, the costume designer–turned–director has generated a long list of credits to his name, including the 1985 hit St. Elmo's Fire, which helped launch the careers of the "brat pack" kids, including Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez. His biggest blockbuster was 1995's Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer in the feature role and Jim Carrey as his nemesis, The Riddler. That movie grossed $184 million at the box office. For Schumacher, it is a dream come true. "I'm very lucky to be here," he told Jim Schembri of the Age. "I have a career beyond my wildest dreams. I've wanted to make movies since I was seven. I have my health, I conquered drugs and alcohol.… I've survived an awful lot."

Schumacher was born on August 29, 1939, in New York, New York, and grew up an only child in the working–class neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens, New York. Speaking to the New York Times 's Bernard Weinraub, Schumacher referred to himself as an "American mongrel." Said Schumacher: "My mother was a Jew from Sweden; my father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee."

When Schumacher was four, his father died. To make ends meet, his mother went to work selling dresses. She worked six days a week and also some nights. "She was a wonderful woman, but, in a sense, I lost my mother when I lost my father," Schumacher told Newsweek 's Mark Miller. By the time he was eight, the unsupervised Schumacher was on the street taking care of and entertaining himself. He found comfort reading Batman comics and spent long afternoons in darkened movie theaters watching Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant on the big screen. "Those were my two biggest obsessions before I discovered alcohol, cigarettes, and sex," Schumacher told Miller. "Then my obsessions changed a little bit. I started drinking when I was nine. I started sex when I was eleven. I started drugs in my early teens. And I left home the summer I turned 16. I went right into the beautiful–people fast lane in New York at the speed of sound. I've made every mistake in the book."

As a child, Schumacher also dabbled in entertainment. He built his own puppet theater and performed at parties. To help his mother make money, he also delivered meat for a local butcher. Walking the streets, Schumacher became interested in window displays and volunteered to dress the store windows in his neighborhood.

After he left home at 16, Schumacher lied about his age and landed a job at Macy's selling gloves in the menswear department. From there, he became a window dresser for Macy's, as well as Lord & Taylor and Saks. Later, Schumacher worked as a window dresser at Henri Bendel's and earned a scholarship to the Parsons School of Design in New York City. He also attended that city's Fashion Institute of Technology. Next, he worked as a fashion designer and helped manage a trendy boutique called Paraphernalia, long associated with Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick. In time, Schumacher found work with Revlon, designing packaging.

With a keen eye for style, Schumacher became a big star in the fashion world, but sunk lower into drugs. He favored speed, acid, and heroin. Schumacher refered to this period of his life—the 1960s—as his "vampire" years, according to Newsweek 's Miller. He stayed inside all day, covering his windows with blankets. He only went out at night. One day in 1970, something snapped, and Schumacher quit the hard–core drugs. "I guess it was the survivor in me," he told Weinraub in the New York Times. "I just knew I had to stop." He did, however, continue drinking, a problem that plagued him for two more decades.

In 1971, Schumacher relocated to Los Angeles, California, and got his foot in the film industry door when he landed a trial job as a costume designer for Play It As It Lays, which was released in 1972. From there, he picked up jobs as a costume designer for movies like Woody Allen's Sleeper and Blume in Love, both released in 1973. Through these movies, Schumacher made contacts and landed his first directing job for the 1974 NBC–TV drama The Virginia Hill Story. He also began writing screenplays, including 1976's Car Wash, and the 1978 musical, The Wiz. Finally, in 1981, he got his first shot at filmmaking, directing Lily Tomlin in The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Reviewers frequently commented on the atypical color scheme he chose for this film.

One of Schumacher's early successes was a 1983 film about a metropolitan cab company run by a group of misfits. Called D.C. Cab, the film featured Mr. T. Other early hits included 1985's St. Elmo's Fire, and 1987's The Lost Boys. The latter film, a vampire flick, helped launch the careers of Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Kiefer Sutherland; it was a hit with the teen audience. He followed up with the 1990 thriller Flatliners, and the psychological drama Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas, in 1993.

By the early 1990s, Schumacher was coming into his own. Legendary author John Grisham asked Schumacher to adapt his best–selling legal thriller, The Client, for the big screen. Schumacher cast Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon in lead roles in the film that told the story of a street–savvy kid in danger because he had information about a mob killing. The movie, released in 1994, was well–received and Sarandon received an Oscar nomination for best actress.

Next, Schumacher earned directorial rights to Batman Forever, released in 1995. The first two installments of the series were directed by Tim Burton, but were thought to be too dark and serious. Schumacher was charged with brightening the series. Val Kilmer replaced Michael Keaton as Batman, and Jim Carrey joined the cast as The Riddler. Under Schumacher's direction, the movie became the blockbuster of the summer, raking in $184 million. Batman & Robin followed in 1997 but was terribly unsuccessful, putting an end to the Batman series.

Over the years, Schumacher has become known for his perceptive ability to cast unknown actors and turn them into hotshots. His films have given rise to the careers of the "brat packers," as well as Matthew McConaughey, cast in Schumacher's 1996 adaptation of another Grisham novel, A Time to Kill. Schumacher also "discovered" Irish actor Colin Farrell, giving him the lead in the 2000 Vietnam drama Tigerland, which proved to be Farrell's breakthrough performance. Schumacher later cast Farrell in his 2003 suspense thriller Phone Booth, which was shot in an amazing 12 days.

Another actor who gained prominence under Schumacher is comedian Chris Rock, who starred in 2002's Bad Company. Like many actors, Rock enjoyed working with Schumacher and was amazed by Schumacher's ability to handle the whole operation of movie–making. As Rock told Film Journal International 's Harry Haun: "Joel is like a general, like Patton or something. He really knows how to whip up the troops. Doing a big movie is a lot of directing. It's coordinating a whole town. It's like being a mayor, and he's totally up to the task—of being a general and making it artistic."

What makes Schumacher stand apart from other directors is his eye for style. Characters in his films appear polished and classy, yet sexy. According to Haun, a Movieline article by Michael Fleming once proclaimed, "Why Don't People Look in Other Movies Like They Look in Joel Schumacher Movies?" For that, Schumacher credits his childhood spent in movie theaters where he inhaled a steady diet of films with stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Cary Grant, and Marilyn Monroe. As Schumacher explained to Haun, "You went to the movies and saw—Grace Kelly—these staggering images on the screen, so I think my early film influences are these archetypes—Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper. It's very much how I see film."

With about 20 films under his belt, Schumacher has had nearly every kind of review possible but says, for the most part, that he ignores them. Speaking with Film Journal International 's David Noh, Schumacher said he does not read reviews. "Woody Allen taught me a long time ago, 'Don't read them. If you believe the good, you'll believe the bad.' When they think you're a genius it's an exaggeration also, so somewhere between genius and scum is the reality of life."

After his foray into the blockbuster, high–budget world of the Batman series, Schumacher pulled back from big–name titles and returned to making grittier, chancier films. In 2003, he branched out into true crime, directing the film Veronica Guerin, which starred Cate Blanchett as the Irish journalist of the title. Guerin was killed by a heroin kingpin in 1996, who was angered by her investigative reporting. Schumacher made the movie in Ireland on a budget of $14 million—whereas $70 million is the average cost for a studio film. Once again, Schumacher was like a general. He kept everyone focused, shooting at 93 locations in 50 days.

The film won praise for its straightforward approach to the topic. Schumacher refused to glorify Guerin post–mortem, a trap many directors fall into. Speaking to the Age 's Schembri, Schumacher spoke about true stories this way: "You want to be sure that you're approaching the subject matter with integrity and not just trying to glorify the person, but trying to be honest with the facts, even if it upsets some people." Schumacher has also tried his hand at producing a musical. His film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical masterpiece The Phantom of the Opera, was set for release in 2004.

Schumacher is also openly gay but refuses to get into discussions about how his sexuality affects him in the movie business. "It never was an issue," he told Film Journal International 's Noh, noting he does not believe in labels. "I think we're all villains and victims, as long as we live in a culture which keeps defining people as African–American lesbian judge, gay congressman, Jewish vice–presidential candidate, etc. You would never say that Bill Clinton was a Caucasian heterosexual WASP president, you just say he's Bill Clinton. That means the only norm is white WASP male, because everyone else must be defined. I'm totally against that."

Despite his success, Schumacher has no plans to rest on his laurels. Though he is considered a veteran filmmaker by many, Schumacher still sees himself as a student. As he told the Guardian 's Peter Curran: "I hope I haven't made my best one yet, I'm still trying to learn on the job. So I keep stretching and hopefully I keep making better and better films.

[ghostbustermelanieking]

praescitum chapter seven

chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six

casefile, season 10, season 11. part of my series that i write as i rewatch the x files.

Summary: As Mulder and Scully adjust to their reassignment to the X-Files and working together in the wake of their separation, they find themselves investigating a small town and a ghost that apparently warns people of bad things to come.

note: so this part sets off Part Two. it takes place between my struggle iii and this, and features a bit of a time jump, because a) several of the references in this don’t make sense if s10 takes place in early 2016, and b) the shift in mulder and scully’s relationship dynamic between the seasons. (and also the change in scully’s hair.)

thanks extended to my friend jack. he’ll never read this, but he answered my annoying last minute technology questions, and i am forever grateful.

---

PART TWO

seven.

october, 2016

They are having dinner. That night, they are going to have dinner. It's simple, and it should feel simple. But nothing is ever as simple as it should be, not with them.

It would probably feel more simple if every single dinner didn't feel like a date. It's not an obvious sort of feeling—they rarely go to formal places, and they never dress in anything besides the suits they wear to work, aside from the recent meal they shared for Mulder's birthday (Scully's doing something different with her hair, it's straighter now, but that's more of an everyday thing than a concession for their dinners), and they never, ever call it a date, of course—but it's still there, the stipulation of sorts. Even though they do dinner a few times a week. Even though Mulder goes to her apartment, or Scully goes to the house to do work, and half the time they fall asleep there, though if it never goes any further than that. The awkwardness—the feeling that had appeared after the fear of their ordeal with apocalyptic visions and seizures and assassins faded away—is still there. It's less strong than it was in the early days of this second partnership, but it's still undeniably there. The awkwardness of the breakup, of not having lived together for years, of the fact that they agreed to take some time before moving further with their relationship. Mulder likes to think they're working through it all.

So. They are going to dinner, and since things have been particularly slow at the office lately, Mulder finds it's all he can think about in the quiet.moments of the day. They closed a case a few days ago in Tennessee, and Scully's working on the paperwork, having taken over the desk so she can work at the computer. (They still haven't brought Scully a desk, despite repeated requests from the both of them; something about budget. That fucking budget. He got her a nameplate, though, a gift he's saving for Christmas. It's not much, but it is something.) Her hair’s twisted back in the messy braid of her hospital days, and she's deep in concentration, teeth worrying her lower lip as she types. Mulder finds himself easily distracted by her, tapping a pencil absently against the other side of the desk; he doesn't have a lot of interest in this case report, especially considering that it wasn't too impressive of a case in the first place. They don't make monsters the way they used to.

“Mulder,” Scully says suddenly, startling him out his stupor. “Do you have the crime scene report?” she asks, scraping her teeth over her lower lip absently.

“Yeah.” Still halfway distracted, he has to rummage for it for a moment before coming up with it. Scully raises her eyebrows at him in a teasing sort of way as she takes it, and he shrugs. “Slow day, Scully. I'm ready for an impressive case.”

“I don't think cases come in based on whether or not you find them impressive,” says Scully bemusedly, taking the report from him. “And we need to finish this report, or Skinner will be pissed.”

“Let him be pissed,” Mulder says with a scoff, and Scully shoots him a stern look. She doesn't exactly approve of his newfound resentment of Skinner that's also lingered around since the beginning of the year. She's pointed out multiple times that they don't have any solid proof that Skinner is consorting with the Smoking Man, that Skinner has been their friend and ally for years, that he is still technically their boss, but Mulder doesn't care. (There is too much on the line, and he refuses to risk his family. Even for a friend.)

Scully taps his arm firmly with her pointer finger, still stern, gazing at him over the rims of her glasses. “Get to work, Mulder,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Few more hours, and we can get out of here.”

Mulder sighs, looking back at the desk. Paperwork has never been his favorite staple of the job. Taking Scully to dinner will be the highlight of his day. He taps the pencil against his lower lip, reluctantly goes back to the file.

And then, as if some higher power heard his complaints of boredom, his cell phone dings with the email alert.

“Convenient,” says Scully dryly without looking up—she recognizes all his alerts on this new phone of his by now. The light from the computer is reflecting off the lenses of her glasses.

Mulder smirks sideways at her as he retrieves his cell phone from the desk and opens the message. “It's not an FBI email,” he says. “I'll bet it's a citizen about a case.”

“Mmm.” Scully tucks loose strands of hair behind her ear absently, like she couldn't care less either way.

He scans the first few lines of the email, and chuckles quietly. “It's from a teacher in Willoughby.”

That gets Scully's attention; she looks towards him in surprise. “Willoughby, Virginia? I haven't heard that name in almost ten months. I figured we were done there.”

“In case you've forgotten, Scully, the Willoughby Specter is more or less an annual occurrence.” Mulder reads the rest of the email, raising his eyebrows in interest. “Email's from a Joy Seers. She teaches sophomore biology at Willoughby High, and Ryan Caruthers is in her first period.”

“Ryan Caruthers?” Scully asks incredulously, pulling her glasses off and setting them on the table. “I would've thought he'd still be in juvenile detention from the fire.”

“Sheriff O'Connell emailed me after Ryan went to trial in February. He got sentenced to six months in a detention center. I'm guessing that he got out in time to attend his sophomore year of high school.”

“I'm shocked he wasn't expelled,” she says.

“I'm guessing someone stuck their neck out for him. He is just a kid.” Mulder shrugs.

Scully chews absently on her thumbnail, indicates the phone with her chin. “So what does biology teacher Joy Seers want?”

“It seems as though a ghost is haunting her classroom.”

“No,” Scully says immediately, firmly. “We do not need to get pulled into that bullshit again.”

“It wasn't bullshit, Scully,” Mulder reminds her amusedly. “You saw it for yourself.”

“Mulder, it's been a year since the first time we were called in, and I still don't know why we were there. The only actual crime committed was the arson! And there's certainly no crime here!”

“But there was an X-File,” says Mulder. “And the case was never technically closed.”

“Mulder, half of our cases are never technically closed,” says Scully, exasperated.

“Yeah, but how many of them have repeat occurrences of phenomena?”

He makes a face at her, and Scully rolls her eyes in a matter that is somewhere between irritable and endearing. “So what's going on in this classroom?” she sighs, and Mulder grins, knowing he's gotten her attention, if not her endorsement.

---

Mulder sends the request in to Skinner, and Scully rolls her eyes and says that there is no way Skinner is going to approve a case back in the same town they've already gone to investigate three times, on top of the fact that it's not even law enforcement asking them to come, and Mulder shrugs it off. He doesn't have a lot of faith in Skinner, but he's pretty sure he can convince Scully to sneak over there off the book, considering it isn't even a real crime.

Luckily, he doesn't end up having to play that card. Skinner calls them that weekend, on a Saturday night when they're having dinner again at Scully's house, to let Mulder know that he signed off on the case. He sounds like he's trying to make up for something, which somehow only leaves Mulder more annoyed at him. He thanks Skinner somewhat begrudgingly and hangs up his phone.

“You can't be mad at him forever, Mulder,” says Scully from across the table, setting her fork down. “He's still technically our boss. And besides that, he's the best ally we have.”

“Not if he's betrayed us,” Mulder says.

“It's Skinner,” she says, like that should mean something. And Mulder supposes it should, but it doesn't, not when it comes to this.

Scully changes the subject, taking a sip of her wine. “So,” she says coyly. “We're going to Willoughby?”

“Looks that way,” he says, raising his eyebrows at her.

“And I suppose you want to leave tomorrow.” Her smile is small, but distinct.

“It might be advantageous to get a chance to look at the classroom without a bunch of high schoolers running around,” Mulder offers.

Scully takes another long drink of wine, rolling her eyes a little. “I'll pick you up in the morning,” she says. “It's on the way out there.”

He's tempted to point out that the trip would probably be a lot quicker if he just slept over here instead of going all the way back to Farrs Corner tonight. But she asked for time, nearly ten months ago, and he's trying to give it to her, as best as he can. So he nods, going back to his plate.

There's a few awkward beats of silence before Scully asks, “So, what do you think is going on in Willoughby, Mulder? Seriously.”

“Seriously? I'm not sure. But I'm guessing it's no coincidence that this alleged haunting is taking place in a classroom Ryan Caruthers is in daily.”

“But assuming this Specter of yours is real, Mulder, why is it doing this? I was under the impression that the spirit just… warned people about stuff. I didn't think it did… the typical haunting sort of thing,” she says, a bit stiltedly, like she feels awkward trying to make this point.

“Maybe it's a different ghost,” Mulder says, amused, and Scully scoffs a little. He shrugs innocently. “Or maybe the Specter’s activities are more complex than everyone else believes.”

“I feel like you're thinking about this more than it needs to be thought about, Mulder,” says Scully.

“Probably.” He shrugs again. “But I think it's worth looking into, don't you?”

“Not exactly,” she says, not unkindly. “But it should be an interesting venture.”

Mulder shakes his head wistfully, dares to reach across the table and take her hand. “That it should be.”

Scully squeezes his fingers, a sort of wistful look on her face. “Why do you really want to go to Willoughby, Mulder? Even you have to admit that this is a little below us, considering all the other work we’ve done..”

“I'm a little curious about this whole Specter thing, I'll admit,” he says. “But, honestly, Scully? Ryan Caruthers seems to be at the center of all of this, and I feel bad for the kid. And I think if William were out there in a situation like this, I'd want someone helping him.”

Scully bites her lower lip, as if contemplating, and he suddenly realizes the gravity of his words, rushes to add, “I don't mean in a… guilt trip kind of way, Scully, I know that you…”

“No, no,” she says, squeezing his hand again before pulling hers back. “I understand, Mulder. I more than understand.”

He nods. They sit in silence for a few beats, looking at each other from across the table, until Scully suggests, “More wine?”

Mulder nods again, holding his glass out. “Have I mentioned that you've really grown into a marvelous cook, Scully?” he says lightly as she fills the glass.

Taken aback, she pauses for a minute before shaking her head and responding, “Shut up, Mulder.” But there's laughter in her voice as she sets the wine down next to the takeout boxes from the restaurant she'd stopped by on the way home.

He smirks at her across the table, hangdog and teasing all at once. “I'll teach you how to cook someday, Scully,” he says. “Consider it my apology for dragging you on waste-of-time ghost cases.”

She sticks out her tongue at him before taking another sip of wine. “You know,” she says at length, the stem of the glass between two fingers. “It'd probably save us both time tomorrow if you just slept over here tonight.”

Hope flutters to life in his chest, a silly hope but a poignant hope. “Makes sense to me,” he says, taking a sip of his own.

Scully smiles at him, just a little, and looks like she wants to say something else, but they suddenly hear Daggoo yipping to go out in the other room. (Scully usually closes him into the bedroom while they eat because he's worse about food than her old dog was; that mutt would just beg, but Daggoo will climb up and eat food off the plate if you give him the chance. Scully is working on training him.) “Guess I'd better take him out,” Scully says, setting down the glass and standing. “I’ll have to call the sitter tonight if we're headed out tomorrow.”

Mulder stands, too, pulling his coat off of the back of the chair. “I'll come along,” he says, and when Scully throws him questioning look, he adds, “This dog actually likes me, Scully. I have to preserve that relationship.” As if he's not coming along just to spend more time with her.

She smiles and motions him towards the bedroom door.

---

They stay up for a few more hours, talking together on Scully's couch, before Scully excuses herself to take a shower. While she's in there, Mulder goes to the guest room he knows well and sets up the bed with sheets and a duvet.

A few minutes after he hears the water in the bathroom turn off, Scully's feet pad over the creaky floorboards. (As fucking modernized as this whole house is, you'd think they'd have a solution to creaky floorboards.) “Mulder?” she calls out in something like confusion, and he calls back, “In here.”

A few seconds later, she shows up in the doorway, wet hair and shielded confusion on her face. “Hi,” she says guardedly. Almost a question.

“Hey,” Mulder says, straightening a corner of the duvet. “Figured I'd go ahead and hit the hay.”

(He feels strange, ignoring the potential of sharing a room with Scully, but he doesn't know if that's what she meant when she said he should stay, and he doesn't want to risk the awkward conversation. Easier to just make up the guest bed so she doesn’t have to. He wants to give her the space she asked for.)

“Right,” Scully says, and her voice is unreadable. “Early start tomorrow.” When he turns to face her, he sees a hand pressed tensely against her thigh. Nerves. “Goodnight, Mulder,” she says softly.

He swallows, smiles smally. “Goodnight, Scully.”

She offers him a little wave before turning away and walking back down the hall. He considers following her, but he doesn't. He climbs into Scully's guest bed, where the sheets usually smell much nicer because of the laundry detergent she buys, and slowly falls asleep.

In the morning, they wake up and drive to Willoughby together. Scully drives. She makes a cup of coffee for him and negotiates rights for the radio ruthlessly.

---

They meet one Mrs. Joy Seers, biology teacher, at her house in Willoughby. She's a slight woman with wild hair, wearing a periodic table t-shirt, a cross necklace similar to Scully's hanging around her neck. She smiles cheerfully at them when she answers the door. “Agent Mulder?” she asks, extending a hand.

Mulder nods, shaking her hand. “This is my partner, Agent Scully.”

“It's nice to meet you,” Joy says, shaking Scully's hand in turn. “Deputy Jacobs spoke highly of both of you. He said that you both were a big help when the sightings started up last fall.”

“That's very flattering,” Scully says as they enter the house, “although I'm not sure how much help we actually were.”

“As much help as anyone can be with these sightings,” Joy says with something of a dismissive shrug. “I'm still not entirely sure how to control or interpret them.”

“So I'm guessing you believe that the phenomena in your classroom is a result of the Specter?” Mulder asks.

“That seemed like the most obvious explanation,” Joy says. “I mean, it could be something else, but considering the connection to Ryan Caruthers, it makes sense.”

“You think Ryan has a part in these… hauntings?” Scully asks carefully.

“I do, but not in the same way other people do.” Off their looks, she clarifies: “Some people are skeptical as to the authenticity of the haunting. They think Ryan is personally responsible for whatever is happening in my classroom.”

“What kinds of things have been happening? In my experience, most hauntings include phenomena that can't exactly be attributed to a fifteen year old,” says Mulder.

“I can show you the best evidence we have for the haunting. It's pretty self-explanatory in itself. The purported activity was caught on footage of a student's science project; he had a camera set up to film 24 hours a day in the classroom.” Joy sits in a chair adjacent to her coffee table and pulls a silver laptop onto her lap.

“So the entirety of the haunting was caught on video?” Mulder asks.

“Go ahead and take a seat,” Joy says, motioning at the couch adjacent to the chair. “No, not the entirety of it; there'd been strange activity all year. Stuff moving or getting lost, lights flickering, doors opening on their own, weird noises… Most students dismissed it at first, and then they started speculating that maybe it was the Specter, maybe the Specter was trying to tell us something. The activity mostly happened in first period, which made most people believe it was connected to Ryan Caruthers. And before long, the students and some of the staff were convinced that it wasn't due to the ghost at all. That it was Ryan, and he was trying to convince everyone that the Specter was bad.”

“Because Ryan doesn't share the same… faith in the ghost as the rest of the town,” Mulder supplies as he and Scully sit, side by side, facing a shelf of thick historical novels.

“Exactly,” says Joy, her fingers tapping at the keyboard. “Although I don't understand why people get so… fired up about that. The legend can be interpreted in many different ways. Personally, I think there's more to the legend than the ghost being a warning, but that's beside the point. By this time two weeks ago, everyone was convinced that Ryan was kidding with everyone, had been orchestrating all this stuff.”

“And that was when the video footage came into play?” Scully asks.

“Exactly.” Joy turns the laptop around to show a paused video, stopped on the image of a darkened classroom blocked by two plants. “This was the science project of Jamie Stintley. His project was going to be filming plants with a digital camera, for a month apiece over three months to see how they responded to different care methods, and do a timelapse video to show the change. He asked me if he could set it up in the classroom since his parents didn't want him filming at home, and I agreed. I've pulled the important clips out of the footage to show you what happened.”

She presses play with the stab of her thumb, and Mulder and Scully watch as the footage begins. At first the camera only shows the plants, with a series of chairs in the background. But then the footage fizzles, static crackling across the screen, and comes back clearer to show a dark figure in the background. It moves across the screen almost too quickly to see what it is, but Mulder can vaguely make out the flutter of what seems like a cloak, the shape of what might be a hat.

Beside him, Scully takes a sharp breath. Startled, Mulder looks over at her in concern, but her face is neutral, her jaw clenched almost angrily.

“That was the first night,” Joy says. “A couple of days later, this is what showed up.”

The footage switches to a similar scene: darkened classroom, empty. Static cuts harshly across the frame, and as the crackling sound cuts out, it's replaced by a low, pained moan.

The sound is eerie, cacophonous, and it sends a sharp chill up Mulder's spine. It starts out low and rises in volume, jarring, and becoming more and more like a scream. As it grows louder, a desk begins to bang against the floor in the background, starting out so suddenly loudly that they both jump. The camera's at an angle to where they can't see the desk moving, but the noise is unmistakable.

Mulder is tense, waiting for the activity to escalate, but it doesn't; it continues that way for a while, the desk pounding and the screams growing shriller. When the sounds finally end, it is sharp, and it echoes around the room in a rattly manner, the screams abruptly silenced, the desk pounding against the floor one last time. Mulder shivers again, wiping his palms absently on his pant legs. As the sound fades out, the screen grows static-y again.

“That kind of thing happened for a couple nights, apparently, but nobody realized it was happening because no one was viewing the footage,” says Joy. “But we found the camera had been moved one day. Slid over a few feet. Jamie just moved it back and didn't think about it again.”

She presses play again, to show a brief clip of the camera sliding across the shelf it is sitting on, moved by an invisible hand. The footage goes on uneventfully for a minute or two after that, nothing but the sound of the radiator and the hum of the computer monitors, and Mulder is about to say something when a chair falls abruptly to the floor.

“Camera was moved a few more times,” Joy says. “But just as Jamie was starting to think that someone was moving it on purpose, the camera went missing.”

“The ghost took it?” Mulder asks, and he doesn't have to be looking at Scully to know she's rolling her eyes.

Joy shrugs. “I genuinely don't know. Jamie couldn't find it; he figured someone was playing a prank. He started yelling and making threats, which earned him a trip to the principal's office, of course. I didn't know if I believed that anyone had stolen it, but I looked myself and couldn't find it anywhere. And I realized that day that a lock on one of the windows in the classroom was broken, so someone could've possibly broken in and taken the camera. So I threatened every class I had with detention if I found out they'd stolen the camera, and then everyone went home for the weekend. It was a Friday, and on Monday, Jamie found the camera stuffed under a radiator in the classroom.”

“Was there any footage on the camera?” Scully asks.

“Just this,” Joy says, and she hits play on the camera again.

The footage is once again of the dark, empty classroom. It's quiet and still for a moment before the camera begins to shake. It's brief, but rapid, and there's a pounding in the background that resembles the earlier desk pounding. A sudden, brief scream erupts, leaving Mulder and Scully jumping with surprise, and then the camera is flying across the room, hitting the floor with the sound of cracking glass.

The screen is suddenly a web of cracks, lying facing the ceiling. The feed fizzles, and there is a sudden dark figure leaning over the camera. Mulder can't make out much of it, but he can tell that it's the same figure from the first clip Joy showed them. Scully tenses beside him, and he's about to ask her if she's okay, but a sudden light flickers to life on the screen. Something almost like a flame. But Mulder never gets to see the source, because static fills the screen again. It overtakes it before the footage cuts out completely.

“That's the last of the footage,” says Joy, snapping her laptop shut. “Jamie's science project was ruined, of course, and in his mind, the minds of most of his classmates, and the minds of the majority of the staff, to be honest, Ryan Caruthers was to blame.”

“People don't honestly believe a fifteen-year-old kid did that,” says Mulder incredulously.

“There's actually a bit of damning evidence. Earlier in the year, Ryan made a video for a social studies project. His editing work was notably impressive. That, in most people's eyes, was enough to convict him, especially considering his recent stint in juvenile detention, his noted rivalry with Jamie Stintley, and his repeated insistence that the Willoughby Specter was a malicious spirit. People believe Ryan stole the camera and edited Jamie's footage to simulate a haunting, maybe even set some stuff up in the classroom. Pranks or stuff like that. We checked the footage for manipulation, of course, but someone told me that if the person knew what they were doing, we'd never be able to tell that the footage had been messed with. I hadn't been able to get the window lock fixed, so Ryan could've gotten in and rehidden the camera. I didn't know how long the lock had been broken, so he could've gotten in and out to set up stuff like the banging desk. It seemed like the obvious answer.”

“But you don't share this opinion,” Scully says knowingly. “Which is why you called us in here.”

“Exactly.” Joy folds her hands on her lap and meets their eyes. “Look, Agents, I've gotten to know Ryan pretty well in the few months since school started. He's not a big fan of science, but he's a hard worker and a good student. And he's a good kid who made a stupid mistake. I don't know the full spectrum of the Willoughby Specter—what it is, what it can do, what its intentions are with the people it haunts—but I do think it's real. And I'm not ready to convict Ryan off of this footage alone. I know this is pretty unconventional compared to your usual line of work, but I'd like to clear Ryan's name. And I'd really, really appreciate your help, considering your expertise.”

Mulder doesn't know if expertise is a good word, but he's ready to help anyway, as best as he can. He always figured there'd be a time in his X-Files career where he got to play Ghostbuster. He looks over at Scully questioningly. She's still a little tense, it seems, her hands knotted in her lap, but she nods her agreement.

Mulder turns back to Joy—a little reluctantly, he'd like to ask Scully what's wrong, but he doubts that she wants to discuss this in front of a stranger. “We’d be glad to help,” he says.

Joy Seers thanks them gratefully, practically beaming at them. “I don't know what you want our next move to be…” she says hesitantly. “I figure you want to talk to Ryan, but I'm not sure that school is the best place to do that… I know his aunt, I could see if they'd be willing to meet us somewhere.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Scully says with a small smile.

“All right. I'll go give her a call.” Joy gets up to exit the room, taking her cell phone with her. “Make yourself at home,” she calls over her shoulder.

As soon as they're alone, Mulder turns to Scully. “Scully, are you okay?” he says in a hushed voice.

She's clearly startled by the question, unraveling her fingers and sitting up straighter as if to feign a neutral state of contentedness. “What? Yes, I'm fine.”

“You just seemed…” He trails off, unsure of what to say. “You seemed shaken by all of that,” he finally finishes. “And I mean, I wouldn't blame you, but…”

“I'm fine,” Scully says again, and there's nearly a sharpness to her voice that's almost immediately contrasted by her fingers brushing across his. “Really, Mulder. I am. I was just startled.”

He lets it go, if only because he doesn't want to push her. But he can't help but linger over it, the way she tensed up when that thing appeared on screen. He supposes it's probably pretty insulting of him to be surprised by Scully getting scared; Scully is as human as he is. But it was just unexpected. Things like this don't usually bother Scully.

[antoine-roquentin]

Yet, if the rule is to be applied, an obvious question is how to define mountain people. Just because people live in a mountainous area does not mean they are mountain people. I define mountain people as those who make their living in the mountains rather than in the valleys. For instance, Korea and Japan are mountainous, but are also rice cultivating societies—which means most of their people make their living in the valleys rather than the mountains. By contrast, mountain people make a living through raising livestock, mining, logging, smuggling, quasi-nomadic agriculture or other economic activities that take place in the mountains—not the valleys between them. Perhaps most important, most of these activities do not require them to defend a specific piece of terrain.

However the fact remains, there is no clear-cut, academic definition of mountain people. But, in the tradition of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, you will know them when you see them. It will be even clearer if you choose to fight them.

The next obvious question is why are mountain people so hard to conquer? There is no question the difficult terrain favors the defenders—particularly if the defenders choose to fight as insurgents. While the invader can fight his way into the territory, he most often cannot locate and destroy the insurgents. The rugged terrain, with its caves, forests, cuts and gullies connected by routes known only to locals provides sanctuary and relatively safe movement even when outsiders have complete air supremacy. The mountains provide almost unlimited hiding places for local forces.

Further handicapping the invader, supply routes are always limited and frequently have numerous chokepoints which provide excellent locations for insurgent ambushes. To maintain a force in a mountainous area, the invader must provide security for long, vulnerable supply lines. He cannot concede the tactical advantage of the high ground to the insurgents but rarely has enough troops to control all the high ground on his lines of supply. YouTube has hundreds of videos of U.S. and allied forces blazing away at Afghan mountains hoping to suppress unseen insurgents. The invaders are usually firing blindly because despite owning the best technology in the world, they cannot find the insurgents. A few insurgents sniping at outposts and ambushing the supply routes tie down hundreds of government troops.

When dealing with outsiders, mountain people use the terrain to neutralize the attacker’s numerical or technological superiority—and their toughness to wear the interlopers down. When pushed by the Russians and then their Chechen puppets, the Chechens rebels withdrew to the mountains in the mid-1990s and continued their fight. In the last two decades, various Pakistani terrorist groups have maintained themselves in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to continue their fights in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Kurdish PKK has used its base in the mountainous southeast and east of Turkey to fight the Turks for over thirty years. And for over one thousand years, relatively small Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria have held their mountainous villages against lowland Muslim populations.

Campaigns against mountain people often become wars of attrition. In Afghanistan, the Soviets “successfully” invaded the Panjshir Valley nine times . Each time they caused great damage to the Afghan defenders, their families and their property. Yet each time, the Soviets withdrew and left the Afghan insurgents in command of the valley. Soviet and Afghan government forces were never able to suppress the insurgents and could not sustain forces in the rugged terrain. For while the Panjshir is a called a valley, it is really a long narrow corridor with limited access flanked by high mountains. In short, it is really a mountain fastness. Other than by rapidly depopulating a mountainous region, as Stalin did with the Caucasus in 1944 , outsiders have required very long campaigns to integrate mountain people into their societies. The political will often failed and the outsiders withdrew, settling for a series of punishment raids to “discipline” and contain the mountain populations.

Even if an outside force does take control of a mountainous region, it will find it very difficult to maintain control. Unlike most lowland societies, mountain societies are physically fragmented , which leads to social fragmentation. While river valleys and plains provide natural lines of communication, which tend to unify a society, often by conquest, mountain ridges separate communities. In particularly rugged terrain, villages as little as ten miles apart by direct line can take a day or more to reach on foot. And during winter, they may not be able to visit each other at all. Just as important, mountain societies do not consistently produce the large surpluses necessary to support a bureaucratic government and thus have only infrequently been able to afford or need a central government to protect that surplus. In contrast, lowland societies have historically produced surpluses, have needed a government to protect those surpluses and developed the stratified social structures to do so. The presence of surpluses and lack of defensible terrain provided the incentive and the resources for strong men to unify these lowland regions. While most lowland societies become unified political entities, mountain societies usually remain fragmented. An invader must deal with each small political entity (family, clan, tribe, etc.) and with the long-term conflicts between them if the outsider hopes to control the mountain populations.

Yet terrain only explains part of the difficulty of “pacifying” mountain people—and the least significant part. Culture is a much greater problem. Mountain people tend to be clannish, inwardly focused, belligerent toward outsiders and tough. Constant infighting among clans and families insures their fighting skills and toughness are continually honed. Between 1991 and 2012, over ten thousand Albanians died in feuding—up to 20 percent of all males in Albania’s mountain communities. David B. Edward’s Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier highlights the role conflict between cousins plays in Afghan society. Edward describes how cousins compete to lead their generation of the family. These competitions are often violent. “The word in Pashto for ‘male father’s-side first cousin’ is tarbur, which is, at the same time, also one way of saying ‘enemy’ in Pashto.”

Internal feuds between families, clans and tribes are an inherent part of many mountain cultures. In the United States, feuds between mountain families are legendary in West Virginia , Kentucky , Tennessee , Alabama and Arkansas . In Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) actually invited Saddam Hussein’s army into Kurdistan to help drive their rivals, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, out of Kirkuk. This was in 1996, when the United States was providing security guarantees for Kurdistan after the 1991 war with Iraq. Since then , the KDP has both suppressed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for a Kurdish state in Turkey’s southeast, and allied with the PKK to fight the Islamic State. Separated by harsh terrain, mountain people often fight each other—until outsiders show up, and then they loosely cooperate to eject the outsider, before returning to their intramural conflicts.

And the conquerors frequently left. Historically, they have only stayed when the resources available in the conquered territory’s strategic value made it worth the expense of maintaining control. For instance, England held Scotland despite the high cost because control eliminated a serious threat to its rear during its fights with continental enemies. If an area didn’t have economic or strategic value, the occupying power came to understand it was cheaper to deal with any threat from the mountains by blocking it in rather than trying to change the mountain society via occupation. The choke points that keep outsiders out can also keep mountain people in.

Most importantly, many mountain people apparently do not want to be part of the neighboring lowland societies. They have been watching the lowlanders for decades if not centuries. If they wanted to be part of the lowland society, it is literally downhill. Those that choose to move to the flatlands do. But, for a wide variety of reasons, many have chosen not to.

[qqueenofhades]

50 Awesome Women To Know: Part 4

You can find the other installments here. I am not willing to rule out the possibility that there may be more. For reasons.

Mae Jemison (1956 -- ), African-American, astronaut, first black woman in space, educator, holder of a B.Sc. in chemical engineering from Stanford University and an M.D. from Cornell. Dancer, holder of multiple honorary doctorates, founder of a technology company.

Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482): French, queen of Henry VI of England and powerful and ambitious figure in the Wars of the Roses. Probably the real-life model for Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones (down to having a totally horrible son).

Margaret Sanger (1879-1966): American, founder of Planned Parenthood and the pioneer of the American birth control movement (for which she was subject to all kinds of shit). Controversial for her belief in a mild form of eugenics and association with racist figures, but absolutely worth knowing about.

Margery Kempe (c. 1373-after 1438): English, religious woman, mystic, traveler, and author of possibly the first autobiography in English, The Book of Margery Kempe.

Maria Anna Mozart (1751-1829): Austrian, older sister of Wolfgang, and just as talented as a musical prodigy and performer, but forced to give up her career and settle down when she got older. Unfortunately unable to separate herself from the control of their abusive and domineering father, Leopold.

Mary Fields (c.1832-1914): African-American, first black female mail carrier in the United States, a route she drove every week in rural 19th-century Montana. Also known as “Stagecoach Mary.” Shot racists in the butt and had a lifetime pass to drink in her local tavern. Generally took zero shit. Awesome.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797): English, writer, feminist, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women among other works, career sadly cut short by her death in childbirth. Her daughter, Mary Shelley, is the author of Frankenstein and basically founded modern science fiction as a genre.

Maryam Mirzakhani (1977-2017): Iranian, mathematician and professor at Stanford, first female winner of the Fields Medal (the math Nobel Prize). Died at the age of just 40, from breast cancer.

Matilda of Tuscany (1046-1115): Italian, known as the “Great Countess,” powerful patron of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Conflict, and known for her skill on the battlefield, among other intrigues and politics.

Molly Brown (1867-1932): American, best known as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” for her surviving of the Titanic sinking, but also an all-around awesome lady who worked to help poor children, was fluent in French, German, Italian, and Russian, an advocate for workers’ rights, and winner of the French Legion of Honor for her efforts to help wounded soldiers in WWI.

Naomi Klein (1970 -- ): French-Canadian, Jewish, left-wing activist and author of several books fiercely critiquing the destructive effects of runaway globalization, late-stage capitalism, and free-market economics, including No Logo and The Shock Doctrine. 

Nonhelema (c.1718 -1786): Shawnee, chieftess and leader of her tribe, known as the “Grenadier Squaw” due to the fact that she stood six-foot-six and was famed as a warrior. Worked to contribute to the first dictionary of the Shawnee language and was an ally to white settlers, but she and her family were repeatedly screwed over by American soldiers (including the murder of her brother and husband), because of course they were.

Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944): Indian, born in Russia, studied at the Sorbonne, poet and author became a spy and activist against the Nazis during World War II despite being a shy pacifist. Member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and worked deep behind enemy lines. Captured and executed at Dachau concentration camp, at the age of just 30. First Muslim British war heroine.

Olympias of Macedonia (c.375-316 BC): Macedonian Greek, wife of Philip II of Macedonia and mother of Alexander the Great. Also a colorful character in her own right who was rumored to sleep with snakes. Was vampily played by Angelina Jolie in the 2004 film.

Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958): English, Jewish, scientist, chemist and researcher whose work on X-ray diffraction studies was crucial to the discovery of the structure of DNA (which Watson and Crick basically stole and never gave her credit). Died at just 37 from ovarian cancer.

Ruth Williams Khama (1923-2002): English/Botswanian, white British woman who married Seretse Khama, an African prince, in 1948, when interracial marriage was still very, very Not Done. Became the first First Lady of Botswana when he became president. Their story is told in the film A United Kingdom.

Samar Badawi (1981 -- ): Saudi Arabian, feminist and human rights activist, including challenging the guardianship rules, the ban on women driving and voting, and more. Received the 2012 International Woman of Courage award; was just arrested again (August 2018) by the Saudi government. Her brother, Raif Badawi, is also a blogger and liberal activist whose ongoing detainment is the cause of high-profile international attention.

Sappho (c.630-c.570 BC): Greek, poet and author, who was from the island of Lesbos, considerably admired in her own time, and whose work is well known for its exploration of same-sex female desire (including lending her name to the adjective Sapphic).

Sarah Churchill (1660-1744): English, the Duchess of Marlborough and one of the most influential women in late Stuart England, especially due to her long and close friendship with Queen Anne, which later fell out. Educated, strong-willed, stubborn, and could definitely hold a grudge.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695): Mexican, nun, scholar, philosopher, feminist, and author, whose feminist works and biting critique of religious hypocrisy and patriarchy brought her into conflict with the Catholic hierarchy of colonial Mexico. Died after contracting the plague caring for fellow nuns.

Sorghaghtani Beki (c.1190-1252): Mongolian, daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan, married to his youngest son. Like her sister-in-law Alakhai, she was a trusted and highly capable administrator, and may be one of the most powerful women in history for her development of the Mongol Empire.

Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927): American, first woman to run for president (in 1872), journalist, stockbroker, advocate for “free love” and women’s rights, civil rights and labor reforms, fought with noted killjoy Anthony Comstock, ran a newspaper with her sister Tennessee Claflin.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1930 --): Icelandic, elected first female president of Iceland, and first female president in the world, in 1980. This followed the major Icelandic women’s rights movements of 1975, and she won despite being a divorced single mother. Again, in 1980. It’s hard to imagine that happening in America now. She served for 16 years and saw Iceland transform into possibly the most progressive country in the world in gender equality.

Virginia Hall (1906-1982): American, worked as a spy for the British Special Operations during WWII, and later for the CIA. Had an almost ludicrously colorful and eventful career, as well as a wooden leg that she named “Cuthbert.”

Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994): African-American sprinter and Olympic champion, who suffered from pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio as a child (including having to wear leg braces until she was eight) and was the 20th of 22 children in a dirt-poor sharecropping family in the Deep South. First woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics (1960 Rome).

[the-slut-verses]

Some sci-fi podcast recommendations

As an aspiring scientist and just general nerdy person, I love the sci-fi genre dearly. But tbqh, I find myself loving the genre itself and its concepts rather than the actual stories and media. I find that a good deal of sci-fi stories are written exclusively for, about, and from the perspectives of Cis Het White Men™, which I as a queer Filipino cannot relate to at all. I find it Bothersome that so many stories set in the future erase people like me. And I think that so many of these stories are so emotionally dull and lifeless as they tend to focus on the world and concepts at the detriment of fleshing out characters.

However, I think that mostly applies to mainstream sci-fi, because a lot of sci-fi podcasts are really diverse and inclusive. And I find that podcasts are often a written with a lot more character and emotional depth. I saw someone describe podcasts as being like fanfic cuz of how they are mostly character driven instead of plot driven. 

Anyways, here’s my list of sci-fi podcast recommendations with descriptions and my personal thoughts. In no particular order, but I put the smaller ones first cuz i think they deserve more love.The ones with * are the ones with good queer rep (so far, it’ll be updated as needed).

Tides Podcast: It follows biologist Dr. Winifred Eurus, a member of the first manned expedition to Fons, an Earth-like moon wracked by extreme tidal waves due to its orbit around a nearby gas giant. When surveying ocean life her submarine is destroyed, leaving her alone to walk to higher ground before the wave comes back. Along the way, she makes notes about what she finds in the intertidal zone, and gradually realizes that some of the life there is more than what it seems. There’s only one episode out at the time of writing and I’m already deeply in love with this show. The main character is a huge lovable nerd. And in the space of one episode they’ve managed to create a creative, immersive and beautifully detailed alien world. If you’re really into biology like me, I think you’ll love this show.

Girl in Space: Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out.   This show hooked me from the get-go cuz its atmosphere and setting are grippingly ominous and mysterious. It had me begging for more. The creepy vibes are balanced really well with the titular girl in space because she’s really likable and her ramblings can be really insightful and enlightening, but also really hilarious and relatable. 

Empty*: The crew of an intergalactic colonization vessel wake up from cryosleep with no memories, finding themselves the only sentient life in the universe. Like Girl in Space, it has a masterfully done ominous atmosphere and world building that leaves you begging for more. But it has a wholly different tone because it feels grittier and serious. If you like creepy and slightly unsettling space podcasts, like Wolf 359, you should check this out. I can best describe this as space gothic, the same way Alice Isn’t Dead is American gothic. This podcast also uses a lot of hard sci-fi concepts in its worldbuilding, moreso that any podcasts I’ve listened to before.

The Earth Collective: Joseph Crane attempts to record and document the life and culture of the titular Earth Collective: the dying remnants of humanity living on rolling cities on the planet of Oasus, fleeing the malevolent entity known as the Dark This is one of my fave sci-fi podcasts ever. I’ve already gone on so much in this list about atmosphere and world building, but podcasts are just really good at that, and this one especially. The world building in this one is immersive and it feels so real, especially since I love learning about history and culture. Think of this show as Titan A.E but Soft™.  It starts slow but it builds up the conflict and tension which fit really well with the atmosphere.

The Falcon Banner*: Two hundred years after the fall of the Terran Empire, humans find themselves the subject race of the alien Amsus Hegemony. Darien Taine, a police inspector for the Terran police kills an Amsus inquisitor in self-defense, a crime punishable by death. He escapes Earth, and finds himself embroiled in a resistance movement and a centuries old plot that shattered the empire. An audio theater dramatization of the novel by Christopher Patrick Lydon. This show is what would happen if someone looked at the original Star Wars trilogy and said, “Hmmm that was good but could be gayer.” This is a high production, high action, epic sci-fi space opera. This show captured my heart with a fascinating universe, well written characters, and a bombastic soundtrack and atmosphere. This is perhaps the most epic Gays in Space™ podcast I’ve listened to. But I feel like I should warn y’all, the series just ends with no conclusion, and it’s been a decade since. But the story continues on in a book series (the podcast adapts the first book).

The Strange Case of Starship Iris*:  In 2189, Earth narrowly won a war against extraterrestrials. Two years later, in a distant patch of space, a mysterious explosion kills nearly the entire crew of the science vessel Starship Iris. The only survivor is Violet Liu, an intrepid, sarcastic, terrified biologist. But as Violet struggles to readjust to life after the Iris, questions abound. Was that explosion really an accident? If not, just what is going on? And why does every answer seem to get more bizarre and more dangerous? If Violet and her newfound allies want to untangle the truth, they’ll need courage, brilliance, and luck - and honestly, a couple of drinks. This show shines in having a really well written and lovable set of diverse characters that play off each other really well. Add on top of that some  fresh world building concepts and ideas that I haven’t seen done anywhere else. All in all they create an engaging and immersive story. 

Inkwyrm*:  Inkwyrm Magazine is an intergalactic fashion publication, bringing readers the newest looks from all over the universe. At the head of it all is Annie Inkwyrm, and directly behind her is Mella Sonder, AI caretaker and Annie’s PA. Along for the ride is an overzealous PR director, a perpetually unimpressed physician, and an AI that really needs to learn some ethics. One part sit-com, one part space opera. This show is my comfort podcast. It’s hilarious, cheesy in a good way, and gay which is what I need during such stressful times like now. The characters are likable and play off each other well. It’s mostly a comedy, but it does have it’s serious moments which are well done and hit close to home for me.

Limetown: Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. American Public Radio reporter Lia Haddock asks the question once more, “What happened to the people of Limetown?” This was one of my first podcasts and it set my bar really damn high. The gripping story drags you in with interesting characters, mysteries and concepts. The pacing is really well done and you wouldn’t even notice how many episodes had gone by. This was a really beautifully done mystery and thriller

The Message*:The weekly reports and interviews from Nicky Tomalin, covering the decoding of a message from outer space received 70 years ago. Over the course of 8 episodes we get an inside ear on how a top team of cryptologists attempt to decipher, decode, and understand the alien message. This was also one of my first ever podcasts. Like Limetown, it has a heart stopping story that will drag you all over place. It set the bar really high too. You’ll be constantly gripped by the ever increasing stakes and tension that conclude on a high note.

Life After*: The 10 episode series follows Ross, a low level employee at the FBI, who spends his days conversing online with his wife Charlie – who died eight months ago. But the technology behind this digital resurrection leads Ross down a dangerous path that threatens his job, his own life, and maybe even the world. This was done by the same people as The Message and it’s just as emotionally intense and immersive as a thriller. But the subject matter is more relatable and hits closer to home, both in that they’re personal issues that a lot of people have to deal with, and it deals with technology that may soon be a thing in daily life. The show has a lot of interesting ideas regarding technology, morality, and personhood, which makes it hit harder for me. (note, it’s on the same feed as The Message)

Eos 10*: The lives two mal-adjusted doctors and their staff on the Alliance space station, EOS 10. Other characters include a hypochondriac deposed prince, an aggressively enthusiastic nurse, and a galactically hated terrorist whom is not what you’d expect. This was also one of my first podcasts. It’s also one of my comfort podcasts. I imagine it as what would happen if Star Trek was a sitcom about doctors. Despite being a sitcom, the wacky sounding characters have a lot of surprising emotional depth and deal with serious issues that makes them really lovable and relatable. They play off each other wonderfully, which makes the comedy and the plot in general hit harder. It has a lot of same vibes as Inkwyrm.

Ars Paradoxica*: When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there’s no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe. This really one of the most intense podcasts I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. The characters are all massively compelling disasters that will make you feel so many things. It has so many twists and wonderfully tragic time travel ideas and concepts. I’m not kidding when I say that this is the best show regarding time travel I’ve ever seen. As someone with a love of history and science, I love how hard they play up those elements. Physics ain’t my forte so I’m not sure but this feels like a very hard sci-fi. 

Wolf 359: Set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station, the dysfunctional crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought. Tune into your home away from home… seven and a half light years away from Earth… This is one of the most popular ones so I put it last, but no podcast rec list would be complete without Wolf 359. This isn’t just a show, it’s an experience, it’s a life changer. It’s one of the best pieces of art that you’ll ever see.While I do admit it take a bit before it finds its legs, but it gets indescribably good when it does. The characters are all wonderful disasters with a lot of emotional depth and development to them. The story is paced really well, it knows when to get intense and suspenseful. But it also knows when to put in breather episodes and to make the intense parts easier to process with well written comedy. And the plot is unpredictable and plays with a lot of tropes and cliches. But you won’t feel lost because it knows to set the atmosphere and foreshadow. This show is Chekhov’s machine gun.

The Bright Sessions*: follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients - each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright. I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts in my life and I gotta say, this is the best one I’ve listened to so far. It’s very well written and well acted. This podcast will make you feel so much for the lovable characters and their struggles as they learn how to people while handling their powers. This show also isn’t just a show, it’s a masterpiece in storytelling that will change your life. Like Wolf 359, it hits hard in the feels department because of how much you’ll care for the multifaceted characters; but this one hits differently because the problems they encounter are one’s you’ll probably have to face yourself.

[mhkerlon]

Spectra wellness

Spectra wellness registration#

Spectra wellness code#

Providing support to organizations can look like 1hr to 2 day training, one-on-one advising on best practices to assessing present physical spaces, policies and social media to provide the best inclusive spaces, language and practices.Ĭontact Corey Keith today to book an appointment or to find out more about Spectra Services. It has been developed by physical therapists and exercise specialists. Per has also acted as a consultant to many organizations looking to create more inclusive office spaces and practices. Spectrums Medical Wellness Program is not a program for people who are ill. Transform your challenges/ blockages to allies! Below are a list of some of my other related services: Corey Keith has experience in exploring many spiritual paths including ((but not limited to) Paganism and Buddhism. Presently Corey is providing Life Coaching to those who are struggling to find there spiritual path or for those have started on their path but is finding them stuck or feeling disconnecting from source. Corey Keith has provided 15 years of support to sexual and gender diverse communities/ individuals.

Spectra wellness code#

SPECTRA WELLNESS PRIVATE LIMITED is a mca provider company based on the National Industrial Classification (NIC) code of 85190 and it is involved in the business activities related to this industry code such as #Human health activities#.Corey Keith, BSW, MEd, is a trained Life Coach, and Counsellor from Rhodes Wellness College and a trained Social Worker from Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (Indigenous focused program). Please visit the contact section or the contact form below for contacting this company and the contact details of the company as per the official records are mentioned in the contact section. Get the inside scoop on jobs, salaries, top office locations. Biohacking, light therapy, and unique solutions for treating the whole person, not just symptoms Spectra Wellness is based in Florida and serves the. The current status of this company is Active. Find out what works well at Spectra Wellness Solutions from the people who know best. Our mission is to normalize mental health and to promote the well-being of the individuals and families in the Tennessee Valley community by providing accessible, quality mental health care for children, adolescents, adults, and their families. We have a physical rehabilitation unit dedicated to the care of the patient who has an injury, suffers a pathology, recovers from surgical intervention, or other need that merits physiotherapy services. The industrial and the SIC code for SPECTRA WELLNESS PRIVATE LIMITED is 85190 and the The directors of this company are KUNAL ARORA and RAHUL ARORA. Welcome to Spectrum Wellness and Rehab Center Here you will find the help you need to recover from your injury. Its authorized share capital is INR 100,000 and its paid up capital is INR 100,000. Spectra Socials + Activities is a new center providing access to a variety of wellness activities for individual and groups. SPECTRA WELLNESS PRIVATE LIMITED is registered at Registrar of Companies, Delhi (RoC-Delhi) and is classified as the Indian Non-Government Company. A Game-Changing Mental Health and Wellbeing Solution for Employers, Employees and Insurers to help improve your employees health and wellbeing at work. Socials and activities have been shown to improve overall wellbeing, however, finding local and accessible activities can be a challenge. The current age of the company as per the available official records is 9 Years 11 Months 22 Days years.

Spectra wellness registration#

The corporate identification number (CIN) of the company is U85190HR2012PTC047136 and the company registration number is 047136. SPECTRA WELLNESS PRIVATE LIMITED is an Indian company incorporated on and its registered office address is 1358,SECTOR-16,Faridabad,Haryana,INDIA,121002.

[bitchymusictyphoon]

[alliedtechnologiesus]

Virtual Receptionists in TN

[jeromer-spatialdesign]

BOOKS AND ARTICLES

Theory in Landscape Architecture 

“The Art of Site Planning” (Kevin Lynch and Gary Hack) 1984

8 Stages of Site Planning

Defining the problem 

Programming and the analysis of the site and user

Schematic Design and Detailed Costing

Developed Design and the Preliminary cost estimate 

Contract Documents 

Bidding and Contracting 

Construction 

Occupation and Management 

“Our physical setting determines the quality of our lives” 

———————————————————————————————————

“An ecological method (1974) Ian McHarg 

Ecology Offers emancipation to landscape architecture 

———————————————————————————————————

“Community Design” 1974 Randolph Hester Jr.

Policies to make design profession more responsible for social sustainability of the neighbourhood environments 

To clarify to whom the designer is responsible 

To guarantee the input of users values 

To eliminate proffesional ethics 

To provide for socially suitable neighbourhood environments 

To guarantee increased users involvement throughout the neighbourhood

———————————————————————————————————

Operative Landscapes: Building Communities through public space 

Alissa North 

2013 

_Contemporary landscape architecture

_Operative landscapes exhibit concepts regarding self organisation emergence, ecology, systems, performance and function. This specific approach tends no to focus on future uncertainties to be adapted within a space over time…

_James Corner, put forward that landscape as an agent of change without end. “A cumulative directionality toward further becoming”; a constant process of unfolding rather than a rigid reality. Michael Desvigne interprets this notion as an indeterminate nature, a “Long time frame of landscapes and cities and especially “the play with time: the different stages of development that concentrate the condense, in short a short period. Processes with historical rhythms. 

_Communities rely on their surrounding resources for their functions.. Resources such as in the form of intact ecologies of forests, bogs, rivers and grasslands and through cultivation transformed into reserves, channels, acreage and plots. 

_Public spaces such as parks, community gardens, plaza or a street scape, the public where people interact provide a shared sense of ownership and the qualities of these spaces impacts the community on how they operate and evolve.. 

_Public spaces are the main core of creating and directing a successful community development… making use of a landscape framework to support an operative landscape….

_Public open spaces are continuously evolving with their communities… they can be considered as a dynamic rather than static and prescriptive

_A well designed open space tends to Forster strong community pride and involvement..

_What are remediation strategies for landscape?  

_Understand the communities impact throughout the design phases of a project… it can lend an insight on the effects of community input, development and sustained involvement and therefore it can guide the design of public spaces as intentional catalyst for community building….

JENFELDER AU, HAMBEG, GERMANY

_The community has been developed on a site and it was formerly occupied by military Baracks…

_The  design crated a typological references to the sites history to develop a strong image for this east Hamburg neighbourhood… currently considers charaterless but also includes technical design features such as rainwater harvesting, biomass energy production by useing sanitary waste and solar energy collection….

CRISTAL PARK, BIEL, SWI TZERLAND

_It was used as a waste disposal site, Prohibiting built structure, the site was then developed into a community park…

NEW FARM, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, 

_The riverfront community of New Farm provides a rich contextual narrative for a site that has experiences morphological and cultural transformations.

_New Farm’s name traces back to the portion of these sites peninsula that was once a farming settlement in the late 1800’s

_New Farms adaptive master plan, interprets the spatial and historical processes of socio economic change, the physical realities of the site, as well as its heritage quality informed by the sites previous industrial nature..

_New Farms regeneration to outline the preservation of the community’s historic housing stock, by providing guidelines that prescribe the creation of a heritage park system with reference to some fo the legacy features of the site.

DOCKSIDE GREEN, VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

_Dockside Green is an adaptive reuse of an industrial site that required brownfield remediation inured to make the site an appropriate contact for urban development.

_The project blends the best of the arbors old industrial fabric with innovate practices in landscape technology

*Landscape Architecture and Digital Technologies

Green-roofs assist in providing some of this habitat, collecting and recycling rainwater, insulating the interior membrane of the buildings and connecting the upper units to planted areas. 

Remediating a Sense of Place

Memory and Environmental Justice in Anniston, Alabama 

Melanie Barron 

University of Tennessee - Knoxville 

_”The Material Landscape itself, as it is produces by the black subject and mapped as unimaginably black, must be rewritten into black, and arguably human, existence on different terms…. Invisible geographies, marginality, indicate a struggle and ways of knowing the world, which can also illustrate wider conceptual and material spaces for consideration; real, lived dispossessions and reclamations, for example. The margins and invisibility, then are also lived and right in the middle of our historically present landscape.” Katherine McKitrrick, Demonic Grounds - pp. 5-7 

RECYCLING SPACES Curation Urban Evolution:

The Landscape Design Of MARTHA SCHWARTZ PARTNERS 

GRAND CANAL SQAURE Dublin — Case Study 

_Recuperation as a contemporary landscape architecture in response to the slow violence of economic restructuring globally

_Post Industrial Cities 

_Since the late 17th Century, the dublin docklands area has transformed from river estuary, to agricultural fields, to industrial port, to gas works, to toxic brownfield, to vibrant urban neighbourhood. Grand Canal Square, the centrepiece of the new development, has played a catalytic role in the most recent reshaping of this once forgotten part of town..

_Dublin is a city of change. More than 1000 years the city has been ruled by the norse and normans the British and the Irish, it has ben an agricultural city, a shipping city, a manufacturing city, a service city and a technology city. As the economy shifts, Dublin shifts..

_The most recent wave of movement to Dublin came during the Celtic tiger boom of the mid 1990’s, when Ireland transitioned from being one of the poorest in western Europe to having one of the fastest growing economies on the continent…

_In order to transform the site and its toxicity that got left behind, from being derelict industrial site to a vibrant mixed used development, the DDDA (The Dublin Docklands Development Authority) combined an innovative relaxation strategy and public realm design…

_”If you want to make it something that people are drawn to, you need to imprint it in peoples imaginations, in a way that is fun, that is lively. It had to have an identity in and of itself and had to be of cultural and artistic value.” - John McLaughlin

_The docklands are has historically been important of Dublin, but it was a really tough place to live, Now 80,000 people living and nearly 30,000 jobs. Facebooks agency is near and google just opened up their European headquarters. Businesses are growing and there’s a young and energetic population…

BEAUTY REDEEMED: Recycling post industrial Landscapes 

Ellen Braae 

“INTERVENTIONS”

Learning from Landschaftspark Duisburg - Nord

_German Landscape Architect Peter Latz - Latz + Partners 

_The transformation of former industrial areas for new purposes is a widespread phenomenon happening before our eyes.. 

_ “A space is thereby established in which the past, present and future can be seen together in mutual dialogue”

_The reuse of ruin ions industrial areas inscribes it self cultural in a wider artistic re-orientation and re-interprests on what we already have, contributing towards thinking behind sustainability. 

_The Industrial areas can be seen as potential new cultural heritage, where preservation, re use and transformation becomes allies

_Transformation of industrial areas is ushering in an epistemological breakthrough in design… there’s a lot of things to be learned from transformed industrial areas 

_The innovation in Latz proposal lay in decoding of features and qualities and the way they were highlighted and reworked. He saw structures in the area which could form settings and provide inspiration for new uses…

_Relics of Industrialism and The Process of nature

_Latz also developed a strategy for cultural re-use which no only re-incorporated the materials on the site but also incorporated entire structures such as the massive blast furnace which today houses an auditorium

_Latz intervention-based transformations with its desire to re use the decommissioned industrial areas in various ways, includes several aspect of sustainability.

_Sustainability in relations to the questions of future ruin ions industrial areas also involve cultural dimensions. There is cultural history hidden in these discrete areas, where the requirements of productions are intertwined with culturally determined values - but of far greater importance of how we can build a new future out if these ruins and derelict spaces 

_ “How can we work on the new aesthetics qualities, functions and materials, and the new frames of understanding in the industrial leavings, in a way that is meaning for us today and helps to draw the counters of tomorrow?” 

_ “German Historian Koselleck said each era is formed by its expectations of the future and if we are unable to take a creative approach to an absolutely crucial central element of our recent past and the present we live in, then in that respect there is little hope for our future. We must then develop our aesthetic views of these ruins if we are build a future from them and on top of them. This is where we find the new sustainability”

_ “Industrial areas can be regarded as a new form of cultural heritage, to be investigated and creatively treated” 

FROM INDUSTRIAL TO POST INDUSTRIAL UBRAN LANDSCAPE 

Industrial Landscapes as an element of post-industrial urbanisation 

_Post Industrial urban landscapes, ruinous industrial landscapes are simply part of are not planned, unified entities, they are accumulations of a series of decision taken over time, each rational in its own right, which led to the current stage of urbanisation. 

_Overlaid like a palimpsest on largely obliterated earlier uses of the land…

_ “In between landscapes” can be criticised as lacking both identity and aesthetic quality

[bitchymusictyphoon]

[sciencespies]

Catherine the Great's Lost Treasure, the Rise of Animal Rights and Other New Books to Read

https://sciencespies.com/nature/catherine-the-greats-lost-treasure-the-rise-of-animal-rights-and-other-new-books-to-read/

Catherine the Great's Lost Treasure, the Rise of Animal Rights and Other New Books to Read

By the end of her reign, Catherine the Great had acquired more than 4,000 paintings, 38,000 books, 10,000 engraved gems, 16,000 coins and medals, and 10,000 drawings. But as writers Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees point out in The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure, this collection—which later formed the foundation of the State Hermitage Museum—could have been even greater. A cache of Dutch masterpieces acquired by the art-loving Russian empress vanished when the ship carrying them sank in 1771 with its priceless artwork aboard.

The latest installment in our series highlighting new book releases, which launched in late March to support authors whose works have been overshadowed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, explores the loss and rediscovery of Catherine the Great’s sunken merchant ship, a leader of the fledgling animal rights movement, the stories of three daughters of World War II leaders, humanity’s connection to the cosmos, and the life of “Black Spartacus” Toussaint Louverture.

Representing the fields of history, science, arts and culture, innovation, and travel, selections represent texts that piqued our curiosity with their new approaches to oft-discussed topics, elevation of overlooked stories and artful prose. We’ve linked to Amazon for your convenience, but be sure to check with your local bookstore to see if it supports social distancing-appropriate delivery or pickup measures, too.

The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure: Catherine the Great, a Golden Age Masterpiece, and a Legendary Shipwreck by Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees

When Dutch merchant Gerrit Braamcamp died in June 1771, his executors held an estate sale featuring what Easter, a historian, and Vorhees, a travel writer, describe as “the most dazzling assemblage of Flemish and Dutch Old Masters ever to reach the auctioneer’s block.” Highlights included Paulus Potter’s Large Herd of Oxen, Rembrandt’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee and Gerard ter Borch’s Woman at Her Toilette. But one work eclipsed the rest: The Nursery, a 1660 triptych by Rembrandt student Gerrit Dou, who was—at the time—widely believed to have surpassed his teacher’s already prodigious talents.

Following an unprecedented bidding war, Catherine’s representatives secured The Nursery, as well as a number of other top lots, for the empress, a self-proclaimed “glutton for art.” The cultural trove departed Amsterdam on September 5, stowed in the cargo hold of the Saint Petersburg-bound Vrouw Maria alongside sugar, coffee, fine linen, fabric and raw materials for Russian craftsmen.

Just under a month after it left port, the merchant vessel fell afoul of a storm in the waters off of modern-day Finland. Though all of its crew members escaped unscathed, the Vrouw Maria itself sustained significant damage; over the next several days, the ship slowly sank beneath the waves, consigning its contents to the ocean floor.

The czarina’s efforts to recover her artwork failed, as did all salvage missions undertaken over the next 200 years. Then, in June 1999, an expedition led by the aptly named Pro Vrouw Maria Association located the wreck in a state of almost perfect preservation.

The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure deftly catalogs the fierce legal battles that ensued following the ship’s discovery. Buoyed by the tantalizing possibility that the vessel’s cargo remained intact, Finland and Russia both laid claim to the wreckage. Ultimately, the Finnish National Board of Antiquities decided to leave the Vrouw Maria in situ, leaving the question of the artworks’ fate unresolved. As Kirkus notes in its review of the book, “[I]t’s an entertaining yarn whose ending is yet to be written.

A Traitor to His Species: Henry Bergh and the Birth of the Animal Rights Movement by Ernest Freeberg

For most animals, life in Gilded Age America was fraught with exploitation and violence. Workers pushed horses to the limits of their endurance, dogcatchers drowned strays, and merchants transported livestock on lengthy journeys without food or water. Dog fighting, cockfighting, rat baiting and other similarly abusive practices were also common. Much of this mistreatment stemmed from the widespread belief that animals lacked feelings and were incapable of experiencing pain—a view that Henry Bergh, a wealthy New Yorker who’d previously served as a diplomat in imperial Russia, strongly contested.

Bergh launched his campaign for animal rights in 1866, establishing the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as a nonprofit with the power to “arrest and prosecute offenders,” per Kirkus. As Ernest Freeberg, a historian at the University of Tennessee, writes in his new biography of the unlikely activist, some Gilded Age Americans responded with “a mix of applause and mockery,” while others “who resented this interference with their economic interests, comforts, or conveniences” fiercely resisted Bergh’s call to action.

One such opponent was circus magnate P.T. Barnum, who’d built his empire by exploiting animals and people alike. Pitted against Barnum and other leading figures of the period, the naturally theatrical Bergh often found himself subjected to ridicule. Critics even labeled him a “traitor to his species.” Despite these obstacles, Bergh persisted in his campaign, arguing that while humans had the right to use animals (he personally was fond of both turtles and turtle soup), they lacked the authority to abuse them. By the time of Bergh’s death in 1888, notes Kirkus, “[M]ost states were enforcing ASPCA–backed anti-cruelty laws, and [the] universal feeling that animals did not suffer had become a minority view.”

The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War by Catherine Grace Katz

The February 1945 Yalta Conference is perhaps best known for producing a photograph of three Allied leaders—U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin—posing alongside each other as if they were the best of friends. In fact, these blithe smiles belied the contentious nature of the peace summit, which acted less as an affirmation of alliance than as a predecessor to the Cold War.

In The Daughters of Yalta, historian Catherine Grace Katz offers a behind-the-scenes look at the eight-day conference through the eyes of Roosevelt’s daughter, Anna; Churchill’s daughter Sarah, who was then serving in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force; and Kathleen Harriman, daughter of American ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman. Each played a key role in the meeting: Anna helped her father hide his rapidly declining health, while Sarah assumed the role of Churchill’s “all-around protector, supporter, and confidant,” according to Katz. Kathy, a competitive skier and war correspondent, actually learned Russian in order to act as Averell’s “de facto protocol officer,” notes Publishers Weekly.

An array of personal ties compounded the many political factors already at play during the conference. Churchill’s daughter-in-law Pamela was having an affair with Averell, for instance, and Kathy had had a brief affair with Anna’s married brother. But while Katz dedicates ample space to Yalta’s interpersonal intrigue, her main focus is the women’s roles as “daughter diplomats. As she explains on her website, “Their fathers could work through them to gather information, to deliver subtle but important messages that could not be explicitly expressed by a member of the government, and to give the leaders plausible deniability on thorny diplomatic issues in which they could not be directly involved.”

The Human Cosmos: Civilization and the Stars by Jo Marchant

Humans’ fascination with the night sky is as old as civilization itself, writes Smithsonian contributor Jo Marchant in The Human Cosmos. Citing case studies as varied as Ireland’s Hill of Tara, the Native American Chumash people, ancient Assyrians who associated lunar eclipses with their king’s demise, and drawings of what could be constellations at Lascaux Cave, the journalist traces the trajectory of humanity’s relationship with the stars from prehistoric times to the present, covering 20,000 years in just 400 pages.

Marchant’s overarching argument, according to Publishers Weekly, is that technology “separates people from the actual world.” By relying on GPS, computers and other modern tools, she suggests that society has created a “disconnect between humanity and the heavens.”

To correct this imbalance, Marchant prescribes a shift in perspective. As she explains in the book’s prologue, “I hope that zooming out to survey the deep history of human beliefs about the cosmos might help us probe the edges of our own worldview and perhaps look beyond: How did we become passive machines in a pointless universe? How have those beliefs shaped how we live? And where might we go from here?”

Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh

As alluded to by its title, Sudhir Hazareesingh’s latest book centers on a larger-than-life figure: Toussaint Louverture, a Haitian general and revolutionary whom the historian describes as the “first black superhero of the modern age.” Born into slavery around 1740, Louverture worked as a coachman on a plantation in Saint-Domingue (later Haiti). “[I]ntelligent, daring and athletic,” writes Clive Davis in the Times’ review of Black Spartacus, he gained his freedom in the 1770s and proceeded to embark on a number of business ventures, including renting a coffee plantation staffed by at least one enslaved individual.

In 1791, enslaved people living on Hispaniola, the French-controlled half of Saint-Domingue, revolted. Though Louverture initially stayed out of the conflict, he was eventually spurred to action by both his Catholic religion and Enlightenment belief in equality. Given command of thousands of formerly enslaved rebels, the burgeoning military man soon emerged as one of the movement’s key leaders.

Afraid that the unrest would spread to its own colony of Jamaica—and eager to cause trouble for its European neighbor—the British government sent in troops to put down the rebellion. France, faced with the possibility of defeat, sought to secure the rebels’ loyalty by abolishing slavery across its colonies. Louverture, in turn, allied with his former enemy, fighting Spanish and British colonizers on behalf of France.

By the end of the century, notes David A. Bell for the Guardian, “[H]e had outmaneuvered a series of French officials, overcome black rivals, emerged as the colony’s uncontested strongman, and brought it to the brink of independence.” In doing so, Louverture attracted the attention of newly minted French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, who sent 20,000 French troops to reassert control over the island. Though the French campaign ultimately failed, Napoleon did manage to end his rival’s grasp on power. Promised safe passage to peace talks, Louverture instead found himself arrested and imprisoned in France, ​where he died in 1803—just one year before Haiti officially won its independence.

Black Spartacus draws on archival documents housed in Britain, France, the United States and Spain to present a comprehensive portrait of an oft-mischaracterized man. “Toussaint,” writes Hazareesingh, “embodied the many facets of Saint-Domingue’s revolution by confronting the dominant forces of his age—slavery, settler colonialism, imperial domination, racial hierarchy and European cultural supremacy—and bending them to his will.”

#Nature

[alliedtechnologiesus]

Virtual Receptionists – The Better Future

[betinaserrano]

How to Get Away with Murder

How to Get Away with Murder is an American television series aired on ABC last September 2014 and ended May 2020. The series is created by Peter Nowalk with a genre of legal drama, mystery and thriller.

This is the most intriguing series I have ever seen. I binge-watched the whole six seasons on Netflix for a week. The suspense of each episode, the phenomenal cast, amazing writers and everyone who put this extra-ordinary series together were definitely worth of your time. The drama ended with a chilling and jaw-dropping plot twist.

Annalise Keating is a defense attorney and  law professor in Middleton University, Philadelphia. Every year, she chooses students from her class to be interns at her firm;  Connor Walsh, Asher Millstone, Michaela Pratt, Laurel Castillo and Wes Gibbins were chosen and named as "The Keating 5 or K5". Frank Delfino and Bonnie Winterbottom also work for Annalise. This is where she got entwined in a murder plot.

It all started in the case of a college student named Lila Stangard, where she was found dead inside a water tank of a fraternity house near their campus. The Keating 5 found out that Sam Keating, Annalise's husband and a psychology professor in Middleton, was having an affair with Lila. Rebecca Sutter is Lila's best friend and became the suspect to her death. Wes Gibbins who is part of the K5 helped her to bring justice to Lila's death but one night when they were all inside the Keating residence waiting for Annalise, the interns got an argument with Sam. They accidentally killed Sam and disposed his body. Laurel, Connor, Michaela and Wes cover up the murder of Sam and Annalise helped her students to get away with it. Rebecca wanted to go to the police and report what happened but she was secretly killed by Bonnie. Wes being paranoid looking for her, teamed up with Rebecca's foster brother to find her. The real killer behind Lila's death was Frank, who got his orders from Sam.

After Sam Keating's death, a lot of dead bodies were piling up. The next murders that they all got away were the deaths of A.D.A Emily Sinclair, Wallace Mahoney, D.A. Ronald Miller, Xavier Castillo, and Governor Lynne Birkhead.

Main Characters

Viola Davis as Annalise Keating

Annalise Keating is my favorite character in this show. She is a confident, powerful  and talented black woman who speaks the nation's truth about the justice system's discriminatory practices. And simply because she is Annaliese freaking Keating!

Annalise was born as Anna Mae Harkness in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the daughter of Ophelia and Mac Harkness. She has a sister named Celestine and a brother, Thelonious. When Anna Mae was still young, she was raped by her alcoholic uncle named Clyde, who was staying at their house while recovering financially. Ophelia saw Clyde coming out from Annalise's room and at that very moment, she knew that Clyde raped her daughter. A few days later, when Clyde was drunk and had a cigarette in his mouth, Ophelia started a fire and burn the house down with him inside.

When Annalise was in Harvard law school, she met Eve Rothlo and they became really close friends. Their relationship became romantic and when Annalise found out that she's pansexual, she got scared of her sexuality. Annalise and Eve were together until she met Sam Keating, who was her therapist that time. The two fell in love and it made Sam leave his wife, Vivian Maddox.

Billy Brown as Nathaniel "Nate" Lahey

Nate Lahey is a respected and tough Philadelphia police detective. In the beginning of the show, Nate and Annalise were having an affair. Nate was married to his wife Nia, who was in the hospital being treated due to her illness.

When Sam Keating died, Nate was and accused framed by Annalise to protect her students especially Wes. Nate being in jail, Annalise told him contact the lawyer that she's referring and it happened to be her former lover, Eve Rothlo.

Alfred Enoch as Wesley "Wes" Gibbins / Christophe Edmond

Wes Gibbins is a law student and  one of the so-called Keating 5.

In his earlier years, Christophe was an immigrant from Haiti to the United States with his mom, Rose Edmond. Rose was working as a maid in the Mahoney family at that time. When Christophe was 12 years old, his mother was called by Wallace Mahoney to be a witness for a murder and claim that she saw Charles Mahoney while cleaning  when Vickie was murdered. Rose refused due to the safety of her son but Wallace threaten to harm Christophe if she does not agree to lie in the stand.

Annalise was hired by the Mahoney's to represent Charles. She went to Ohio to approach Rose but during the trial, Rose did not show up and took his son to escape. At that time, Christophe did not know what was happening and does not want to leave.

Annalise went to Rose's apartment to tell her to testify but Rose took her life in front of her. Annalise was shaking, frightened and went home. When Christophe has returned to his home, he saw his mother lying on the floor with a knife on her throat. He pulled it out and the blood was dripping fast. He became the suspect of the death of his mother but there weren't enough evidence that he killed her and the police let him go. He was put into foster care and changed his name into Wesley Gibbins,

Jack Falahee as Connor Walsh

Connor Walsh was described as a sly, sexy, sophisticated and openly gay. He is also studying  law and one of the favored students of Annalise. He will do everything to earn his professor's admiration. During the case that they were working on, Connor slept with an I.T, guy named Oliver to gain evidence illegally. These two had an "on and off" relationship and ended up married on Season 5.

Aja Naomi King as Michaela Pratt

Michaela Pratt is an ambitious, overachiever who wants to be like Annalise.

In her younger years, her mother was shot by his father and this lead her to be taken by the social services. Michaela was adopted and raised by Trishelle Pratt along with her adoptive brothers and sisters. She grew up in a poor household and that made her wanting more from life.

She started dating a guy named Aiden Walker. They got engaged and had plans building a life together. Aiden was her ideal guy but Michaela has doubts on her fiance's sexuality. Later on when Connor found out that Aiden was Michaela's fiance, he said that they went to the same boarding school and had a relationship there.

Matt McGorry as Asher Millstone

Asher Millstone was born into a world of Ivy League educations and country club memberships. He is a rich law student of Middleton University. He went to law school to follow the footsteps of his father, Judge William Millstone.

During the death of Sam Keating, Asher was on his way to go to a party with the other students. As he was going to the bonfire, he passed by the house of Annalise and saw Connor's car in the driveway. He hurriedly knocked on the door and shouted to open it. He kept on walking on the streets and decided to party. He does not have any idea what happened to the other Keating 4 on that night. He felt left out every time his co-interns were whispering behind his back about the accident.

Karla Souza as Laurel Castillo

Laurel Castillo is a secret weapon in the making. A quiet, sensitive idealist who enrolled in law school to learn how to defend the less fortunate, Laurel manages to stay under the radar, making it easy for her fellow classmates to underestimate her. With a profound attention to detail and inventive mind, she's talented – and darker – than anyone realizes, including Annalise.

Laurel is the daughter of Jorge Castillo, the owner of Antares Technologies, a technological company which specializes in the manufacture of drones, pumps, among other things. When she was chosen to be part of the Keating 5, Laurel met Frank Delfino in A.K's firm. The attraction between the two was irresistible. But when Frank went missing on action on Season 2, she got closer to Wes. The two became a couple and had a son named, Christopher.

Charlie Weber as Frank Delfino

Frank Delfino's a local Philly boy who never thought he'd be the type of guy who wears a suit to work. But he also never thought he'd get to work for someone like Annalise Keating. Forever loyal and armed with hometown connections, Frank is ready to do Annalise's dirty work at every turn. His street-smart, tough-guy exterior makes him the ideal protector for Annalise.  His number one vice though? Sleeping with the students.

Frank was in jail for 10 years and got out with the help of Annalise. He works as a fixer and private detective in Annalise's firm. After being released from prison, Annalise brought Frank to Ohio to assist her in the Mahoney case. When he was having a drink in the hotel bar, a lady named Lisa whispered her room number. They started kissing but Lisa suddenly pulled a bag under the bed with money inside. She asked Frank to plant a bug inside Annalise's room.

Annalise got involved in a car accident and rushed to the operating room. She was 8 months pregnant back then and lost her son. Frank finds out that she lost the baby. He told Sam that he screwed up and it was his fault. Sam said that Annalise should never find out that Frank caused the accident.

On season 6, It was revealed that Frank was the child of Sam and his sister Hannah Keating. This made him mad and in order save Annalise, he did everything to protect her from Governor Birkhead. He shot the governor and died in the end.

Liza Weil as Bonnie Winterbottom

Bonnie Winterbottom appears sweet and kind, the perfect counterpart to Annalise, but she will show her claws when you least expect it. As Annalise's dedicated associate, Bonnie works around the clock to do all the behind-the-scenes casework, as well as help guide the students. Though she may reprimand Frank about his questionable decisions when it comes to his personal life, she is his biggest ally and protector. Besides, Frank knows that Bonnie has secrets, too.

When she was young, Bonnie was molested by her own father. She was raped, sexually abused and being taped by her parents, making her their source of income. At the age of 15, she got pregnant and while at labor, her parents told her that the baby did not survived but secretly taken by her sister. Bonnie files charges against the councilman who raped her and lose the case to Annalise. After that, she was offered by Annalise to get into law school and Bonnie agreed.

Conrad Ricamora as Oliver Hampton

Oliver Hampton is a computer genius who specializes in coding an hacking.

One of the many reasons that I enjoyed watching HTGAWM was the tandem and chemistry of the "Coliver" (Connor and Oliver). These two lovers will prove that true love exists no matter what the situation they are in, they will make through it all and last a lifetime.

The season finale was released last May 2020 and it broke my heart not seeing this squad again.

All photos credit to owners.

References

https://abc.com/shows/how-to-get-away-with-murder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Get_Away_with_Murder#Cast_and_characters

https://www.fandom.com/topics/tv

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