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guigz1-coldwar · 3 years ago

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'Countdown': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out!

"Countdown"

"I maybe got one eye but I'll kill you, Sarah!"

Chapter Summary: Time's running out for Yirina & Park as London is in danger of getting destroyed with the Greenlight asset by Sarah...

Link of the Picrew here!

To read it on AO3, click here!

Words : +4300

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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London is in big danger now...Perseus...Bellamy & Sarah...their whole presence here was to find the Greenlight nuke that was hidden under the British parliament while the whole government is in town to blow it up, killing millions of civilians & bringing the United Kingdom to its knees in the Cold War. A project that I thought to be out since 1981, coming from the CIA, was still active despite the events surrounding it 3 years ago, a project that I & Zasha inadvertently brought out to Perseus and allowed him to try to blow up Europe with it...and now, I'm trying to get it down again...avoiding him to destroy London...

The only thing that was in me at the moment while Park was leading me to one of a car before getting in it and leave the sector rapidly with Price's quickly formed team...the only thing was just the anger of...having been mistreated, tortured by Bellamy & Sarah, my thoughts about the latter changing to be less friendly with her after the stab in the back she did to all of us. No words were coming out of my mouth as we were going away to join the British Parliament at the Palace of Westminster, Park focused on driving the car and following Price's team van in the streets of London.

She...Park wanted to know more about what happened to me down there in that cell but I stayed silent, away in my thoughts of getting Sarah, Bellamy, and anyone that's with them...what they deserve. I could see the distress in Park's eyes just by looking at her, she was worried, calmer than me despite the situation and I was understanding her on that part. She must have been deadly worried when she learned that I & Zasha got captured but now, I needed to stay focus, my eyes drifting around...

As we were driving to reach the parliament, my gaze fell on the mirror in front of me between me & Park, and by curiosity, I put the mirror in my direction to take a look at my left eye and...and just by looking at it...

"Fuck..." I muttered, discovering how much my eye was looking more like a mess and Zasha was right, my eyes weren't having the same color patterns. The right one was still blue while the left one...it became more very light blue going more into a white color, the vision of it still blurred. "Shouldn't have look at it," I thought to myself, putting my back against the seat.

"You'll be fine, Yiri," Park assured in a normal voice, her eyes staying on the road.

"I'm not sure of it," I said.

"Don't worry," She added, her voice taking a better tone, still sounding to reassure me at the moment.

"My eye is a mess, can't be sure that I don't need to worry about it," I told her, turning my head slightly to the right to look at her. "They injected me with their damn needle in the eye and they kept me awake with the product in the eye," I declared, sounding a bit angry in my voice. "Instead of letting me sleep, they put music in my ears to make sure that I suffer worse,"

"They...they did that?" She demanded.

"Yes," I whispered, my word causing her to clench her fists while having them on the steering wheel, holding it firmly.

"The same music?"

"No," I replied, having guessed that she was referring to a memory of me during our time in Verdansk. "It was different...Only You," I articulated, those two words staying in my mind and as if I could hear it in my ears.

"Only You?" She repeated.

"Can make...all this world...seem right," I started to say, remembering the song in my head before I stops myself by shaking my head. "Sorry, it's just that...I got it in my mind since...since..." I apologized but I cut myself up, the hours have passed since that happened. "A long time," I resumed.

"I'm sorry," Park whispered.

"It's not your fault...it's mine," I claimed in a clear voice, still feeling the blame for the event in the metro and that crash. "It's my fault if I got me & Zasha captured and...someone wounded...and another killed,"

"It's not..."

"No, just...don't, ain't helping," I cut her gently in her words even if she was trying to do her best to make me think of something else as I was looking outside, seeming to soon arrive at our destination. "I know that you want me to think of something else but not here," I told her straight about this. "Now, we just need to stop Sarah & Bellamy to destroy London," I muttered, my head going back into looking in front of me as Park was still looking confused about Sarah's name been mentioned despite after my revelations about it.

"Sarah Stone...I never thought that he got a sister," Park thought to herself, slightly turning her head around for a bit on her right.

"She's crazy, she's dressing in her brother's clothes for his legacy," I exclaimed, a vision of seeing her in that blue outfit with a green hood was disgusting to me. "She played everyone in here, she faked to be friends with us...just to get us in a better way,"

"I thought that she was a friend," Park remarked, me shaking my head at this.

"She played it," I repeated. "Manipulating the files to make sure that we believe that Harry was back from the dead and we bought it," I passed my hands through my face, avoiding touching my left eye at the moment. "She wants to avenge her brother by killing millions of citizens with the very thing that me...you, we swore to stop 3 years ago," I said clearly, Park turning her head with a little smile on it at me.

"We did," She grinned before she looked back at the front of her. "Here...the parliament," She pointed outside with her left hand towards the building at our right, seeing Big Ben's tower from afar. "And the government is here, looking at the security," She commented, seeing outside a lot of policemen and policewomen standing near the building.

"Price and his men are pulling over there," I said, seeing their blue van going to park itself on the right side of the road.

"We should join them, then," Park said before she decides to get the car behind the van a few meters from it.

We stopped the car right behind the van and just by looking at the palace and its surroundings from the car's inside, I was wondering how the CIA could have implemented a nuclear bomb right under the place that the British government is reuniting but that thought went away as Park was taking out from her pocket, an MI6 identification card on a necklace, putting it around her neck before we could go out of the car, going to join Price and his men near the van as some cops were coming to them.

"Excuse me but who are you?" A policeman with a bulletproof vest asked Price as we were arriving near the group. "You have some identifications?"

"We're with the SAS, sir," Price replied to him but the policeman was looking unconvinced with his colleagues behind him.

"Sure, sure, we believe you," The policeman scoffed, thinking that we were joking with him. "Get serious, let me see you all your papers," He demanded, sounding less funny of a sudden.

"Excuse me," Park finally stepped inside the group, going to face the policemen with me. "You don't think that's serious but it's bloody hell right," She affirmed, not happy that we were thought like that. "I'm with the MI6, there's a threat inside a building," She showed the policeman the palace behind him through the gates, her face getting along with her voice.

"How's that?" The policeman suddenly got his voice changed, worried, to be honest.

"A terrorist group entered the building & intend to blow up a nuclear bomb under it," I revealed directly, speaking up and going straight into the subject with the police, seeing in a second their eyes going wide at this.

"We need to enter that building and stop that threat, you have to let us in," Price declared, sounding assertive to the policeman that was looking terrified.

"Uhm...Uhm...sure, sure," He stuttered, his hand going to stretch a bit the collar of his vest. "What should we do? Alert the houses?" He suggested.

"No," I said clearly. "If the government is alerted of that threat, the terrorists could be aware of it & detonate the bomb," I suggested, knowing that it was a big risk to take if the government was aware that a nuke was beneath their feet.

"Good point," Price noted, nodding at me before he looked at Park. "If they're under the building, we should take them on two sides," He proposed.

"There's an entrance near a pier on the Thames, get your men with you to that entrance, it will surely cut them off in the case of an escape from them," Park ordered, pointing towards a direction as we start walking in a group to the portal separating us from entering the palace. "I'm going with Yirina inside the palace," She told them.

"Understood, let's go, everyone," Price agreed before he gestures to his men to follow him inside as the portal got opened by the cops, letting us enter and parting ways with Price's team.

"Uhm, miss, what should we do now?" The policeman's voice came behind us as we were directing ourselves towards the entrance of the palace.

"Alert the security about the threat but they can't alert the government," Park slightly turned around to face him, making her voice clear for him. "Stay here, we're taking care of this," She affirmed before we resumes our walk inside.

"Let's hope that we don't arrive too late," I confided to Park, taking a deep breath as we were arriving near the building, a bit of stress of going inside coming in me. "Not even changed," I commented in a low voice, looking at the state of my outfit that was filled with dirt.

"Let's hope," Park repeated in a low voice before we got in front of the door, some policeman guarding it.

It didn't take a few seconds to let the policemen open the door for us, even after Park showed them her MI6 credentials around her neck before we could step inside the building that was holding a very important reunion of the British government at the moment and it was sure that the stress was coming inside of me just to think of it and that the bomb under our feet could blow up at any moment if Sarah and her team already left the place to be doomed.

Since that Park was the one to know the place perfectly, I followed her around as my thoughts were overwhelming me during my walk behind Park...are we going to stop Sarah in time? That was the main question that came to my mind but...but...we need to stop her, we have to. She's going to nuke London for her revenge...just for her terrorist brother...just for someone...her brother...we have to stop her, everyone knows that and just by looking at Park's walk, she was thinking the same thing.

Then, after only a minute to walk through the building, we managed to arrive at a door that was leading to the underground of the building but we were surprised that the door was kept by two policemen that were very-well armed and protected than the others cops that we crossed paths with, the two looking rather...normal...

"Sorry, miss but this area is restricted to the public," One of the policemen addressed us, putting himself in front of the door as we were arriving near it.

"We're with the MI6, we need to get down, there's a security threat," Park announced, showing off her card to them.

"Sorry, but we can't let you here, it's a private zone," The other policeman in front of me said to her as I was getting suspicious of these guys, now looking different...and not British. "Besides, we got nothing of that sort from a security threat," He explained.

"Hey guys, the bomb is going to be on soon, you should get out," Suddenly, a voice over the radio that was belonging to the guy in front of me went on, a feeling of confusion taking over the two 'cops'...those guys were posing as cops...

"Cops...just fuckers..." I taunted them before I start to give the guy in front of me the first move by hitting him right in the teeth.

Park immediately reacted by also throwing a punch to the other guy face, launching ourselves to take care of these two 'cops' and thankfully, those two weren't in fact a big deal to neutralize, taking only at least 10 seconds to get them out and putting them on the ground before we decide to check them in quickly, seeing that they were Perseus agents undercover...that operation must have been prepared for days...and it's only the beginning for the moment...

"And now?" I demanded to Park after I got up from the guy I was checking.

"Now, it's time to get down but..." She started as her eyes were looking at the two 'cops' on the ground, and then, looking around. "We can't take the risk to let those two escape, there's no cop in here," She said as we were in a part of the building that wasn't having a lot of cops around.

"Meaning?" I narrowed my right eye at her.

"One of us goes down while...while the other stays here to get the two under control before the security gets them," She explained, chuckling for a bit as she put her hands on her pistol. "You stay here," She ordered, cocking her pistol.

"No," I stopped her, shaking my head at her. "I'm the one going down," I volunteered, getting in front of Park to stop her from going down and passing that door.

"Yiri, no...you...you're not..." Park tried to defend herself but I shook my head at this.

"Maybe that I can see with half of my vision, maybe that I should be healed but no...I'm going down," I claimed, taking out my M1911 from my jacket.

"I don't want to lose you," Park whispered in a low voice.

"Me too," I assured her with the same tone, checking up the mag of my M1911, 5 bullets remaining in it. "That's why I'm the one taking the risks,"

"You don't have to do that," Park asserted, putting her hands over my right shoulder to make me change my mind.

"It's my fault that Perseus is going to use Greenlight and..." I snorted, putting the mag back into the gun to load it, moving to face the door and open it. "I'm going," I announced before I start to walk away, not feeling Park's hand on my shoulder as she was seeming helpless to stop me to do what I needed to do.

The stairs that I was using to reach the underground was pretty old, looking like it was never fully maintained to a good shape and it's with cautiousness that I start to go down the stairs, taking care to not miss any steps and going slow in my moves, thinking that at any moments, I could be surprised by a Perseus agent right now and it made me keep my M1911 pointed right in front of me, a look of determination coming on my face.

Once that I reach the underground level, it was at this moment that I needed to be careful, extremely careful since that I can only see right with one eye and...no, it was too late to back down, Sarah needed to stop to detonate that nuke and destroying London. I started to walk in the only direction that was getting offered by me to take, staying aware of any noises that could come around me: the sounds of water flowing through some pipes, a little buzzing getting heard from afar...I stayed careful.

But the more I was advancing, the more the underground wasn't looking old enough, seeing some spotlight and crates around...getting soon accompanied by some noises that were certainly people speaking and it caused me to be silent in my footsteps as I was getting closer to those talks, and then, I put myself behind a crate, arriving near a big room looking like some sewers with in the middle of it...the bomb...and Sarah...only her...in the same clothes as her brother...

"How much time?" There was also a hooded soldier near her, standing up as she was sitting, doing something with the bomb.

"Not so long, we'll be away when it will explode," She replied in a sort of reassuring voice.

"Good to know," The hooded soldier affirmed, passing his hand through his face as Sarah got up but then, some clouds noises came from another hallway at their right. "What's that?" He asked.

"Must be the SAS, good," Sarah presumed as I was thinking the same thing, maybe that Price and his men had to fight to get here. "More useless people to die tonight," She remarked, and that...I don't know why but it provoked something that I couldn't control...rage...causing me to go out of cover, pointing my gun at the two.

"Not in my watch," I spoke up clearly to the two, taking the risk to do this like that.

"What the fuck?" The soldier cursed as he turns around, seeing me arrive in the middle of the room.

"Don't try anything," I ordered, staying at a safe distance from them and keeping the two under my control. "Hands up," I gestured with my M1911 up, seeing that the soldier complied first as Sarah was looking unimpressed.

"Grigoriev..." She smirked at my sight. "A pleasure to see you here, came to admire the show?" She questioned, not ready to get her hands up at my command

"I'm here to stop you," I affirmed.

"Not sure that it will happen," She told me, staying stubborn and not complying as she got next to the soldier, his hands staying up. "I see...weak," She muttered by looking at the soldier before of a sudden, she got a blade out of her left sleeve...and start to stab to the neck, the soldier.

I could see that she was emotionless to the man that she was stabbing now, not stopping in her move as I was looking terrified at the scene I was watching in front of me...Sarah...literally stabbing one of her own men in front of me and continuing even if the guy was dead, making his blood flow like a fountain as she put him down on the ground before her eyes went to look at me, her face filled with the blood of the soldier.

"You're crazy," I said, lowering my gun at seeing her like that, a pool of blood forming on the ground.

"You don't know me well, Grigoriev," She stated, smirking at me with the blood on her face, passing her right hand on it. "Harry wasn't showing his full potential to the cause, I did what he couldn't do,"

"By destroying London?" I presumed.

"He was a bad man but never, he wanted to burn that city down to the ground," She told me, checking her hands full of blood. "Now, this city will burn...by me...Sarah Stone!" She claimed loudly to me, getting her head up to form a disturbing smile with her lips.

"No, not with me," I admitted, my hands letting my M1911 go off on the ground.

"The pathetic little lost girl with one fewer eye...against me...in a fistfight?" She lamented my choices before breaking a laugh about this. "Going to be a pleasure to break each of your bones before I let you die here with that bomb,"

"I maybe got one eye but..." I started before I clench my fists, ready to stop her from doing her plans. "But I'll kill you,"

"Let's see that!" She said in a clear voice before we both starts to move in each other direction to get it done.

She was the first one to try a punch at me, throwing her right hand at me at full speed but I managed to avoid it at the last moment by moving myself back behind before she starts to get serious to put me down for good, causing me to stay on the defense for the moment by trying to block at my best the punches and kicks that she was giving me, either succeeding or failing to do so, slowly getting the advantage over me as I found myself blocked with my back against the wall behind me.

The blocks that I was doing to counter her wasn't working anymore as she started to get dirty on me, punching me faster and making me impossible to counter everything from her and hitting me in the chest and my left knee but by chance, I took a moment that she was taking a breath to get away from the wall, avoiding a punch directed to my face and causing her to hit the brick wall with her fist.

"Fuck, you bitch!" She shouted, holding her right wrist with her left hand before she turns her head around to look at me with rage. "You're hard to kill but not impossible," She commented, me catching my breath and trying to keep an eye on her.

"You messed up with me, you're deserving it," I taunted her, what she did to me was enough to make me reach my limit.

"Says the bitch who worked with my stupid brother for years," She exclaimed before she starts to turn around me in a circle at my left, she was trying to get out of my sight. "Man is so manipulative, remember?" She demanded in a normal voice as she was walking on her side faster to get away from me.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, confused as I was trying to keep her insight. "You...you manipulated your own..." I couldn't finish that I received a kick behind my right knee, causing me to fall for a bit on the ground.

"Yes," She replied behind me directly without having finished my question. "He wasn't...very sure...before her little sister came to see him straight," She commented, moving in front of me as I was trying to get up. "Helped him to kill some...useless people...including...a brother from...someone," She smirked at me as I start to think about...Park's brother, William.

"You didn't..." I tried to say before she put me down again on my knees, her hands over my shoulders.

"Oh yes, I did," She told me with a smile before she got at my level. "Made him believe that her pathetic brother hated him, made him murder people...bang, bang, boom," She mimicked before breaking out a laugh from her mouth. "So easy to break, Harry's mind was so easy to break," She taunted as I realizes with her words that... for a long time, she was the one who orchestrated William's death...and put the blame on Harry. "Since that, he thought that he was the boss...until you kill him and got me to get into his boots to make his legacy live,"

"No, you created a monster...and I'll kill you!" I then got myself into a rage and managing to get her hands off my shoulder before I decide to throw myself on her, right into her chest and getting her on the ground, and finding myself on top of her. "That's for Peter...for me...for Park...for everyone you killed!" I shouted loudly, at each punch I was giving to her face, mixing her blood with the soldier's one on her face.

I was giving all of my strength inside of these punches, doing all of my best to make sure that she wasn't going to get out of here alive before she got some nerves to hit me in the chest, stopping me to give her more pain than she deserves before moving her feet to kick me & push me away from her far behind her, making me land at a few meters from her, and then...I saw my M1911 near me...and...I had no choice to take it...

"AAAHH!" Sarah screamed, going to charge me over before I took the M1911 in my hands, and then, I pulled off the trigger, shooting two bullets at her, hitting right in the chest and in the right shoulder. The bullets caused her to stop in her run to look at the bullet holes in her body before falling on her knees as I got up from the ground, gun in my hand.

"That's for everyone," I muttered as I looked at her with desperation.

"You weren't pathetic after all," She said, still sounding stubborn. "Just...stupid...and lost," She proclaimed as I hold my M1911 by the cannon of it. "If not dying by that not-working nuke, the numbers will," She exclaimed before she spits some blood on my clothes, giving me nothing but disgust towards her.

"Just...fucking...die," I declared before I took a deep breath, and then, I decided to hold her by her hair to expose her throat before using my M1911 to throat chop her with a strength more powerful than my punches from before.

The strike made her cough out some blood from her mouth, trying to speak to me but it was mostly inaudible sounds coming out of her mouth as her eyes went wide at looking at me before she shut them down and I let her down, throwing her on the ground...it's like the...first time that...I'm using...to be violent like this to kill someone...I never did this but now...I felt...bad for doing this but also...I don't know, Sarah was a monster, she deserved a worse death but...why I'm violent...I'm not the monster that Perseus tried to create.

My eyes then went on the bomb that she was working on, leaving her to die painfully on the ground to take a look at the bomb that was in fact, not even armed...not working at all and a smile came on my face about it, seeming a bit happy before I start to fall on my knee, some tears coming out of my eyes, and then, falling on the ground on my back, completely exhausted by this day...seeing now only the light above the ceiling...as I could hear some people approaching...

It's with a smile that I closed my eyes, thinking about my friends...about my love...

#call of duty cold war #black ops cold war #cod black ops cold war #cod cold war #cod cw #cod bocw #call of duty #cod #fem!bell #helen park #yirina grigoriev #bell x park

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scifigeneration · 6 years ago

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Brain over body: Hacking the stress system to let your psychology influence your physiology

by Vaibhav Diwadkar and Otto Muzik

Researchers imagine tapping into your body’s reactions to extreme cold to reap psychological benefits. Ratushniak/Shutterstock.com

There are people who show incredible resistance to extremes of temperature. Think of Buddhist monks who can calmly withstand being draped in freezing towels or the so-called “Iceman” Wim Hof, who can remain submerged in ice water for long periods of time without trouble.

These people tend to be viewed as superhuman or special in some way. If they truly are, then their feats are simply entertaining but irrelevant vaudevillian acts. What if they’re not freaks, though, but have trained their brains and bodies with self-modification techniques that give them cold resistance? Could anyone do the same?

As two neuroscientists who have studied how the human brain responds to exposure to cold, we are intrigued by what happens in the brain during such resistance. Our research, and that of others, is beginning to suggest these kinds of “superpowers” may indeed result from systematically practicing techniques that modify one’s brain or body. These modifications may be relevant for behavioral and mental health, and can potentially be harnessed by anyone.

The body’s drive for balance

Behavioral modification techniques like yoga and mindfulness seek to modulate physiological equilibrium – what scientists call homeostasis. Homeostasis is a basic survival need and crucial for an organism’s physical integrity.

For example, when someone is exposed to cold, certain brain centers initiate changes in how the body responds. These include decreasing the blood flow to the extremities and activating deep-layer muscle groups to produce heat. These changes let the body hold onto more of its heat and occur automatically without conscious control.

Messages go back and forth from brain to body, working to keep systems in homeostatic equilibrium. Diwadkar and Muzik, CC BY-ND

Homeostasis is maintained when peripheral organs (“the body”) collect sensory data and forward it to the processing center (“the brain”), which organizes and prioritizes this data, generating action plans. These directives are then conveyed to the body, which executes them.

It’s the balance between bottom-up physiological mechanisms and top-down psychological mechanisms that mediates homeostasis and guides actions. Our idea is that this balance between physiology and psychology can be “hacked” by training the brain to deal with exposure to cold. This is a very interesting trick – and we believe the brain changes that occur extend beyond just cold tolerance.

Brain systems for responding to cold

Brain systems for maintaining homeostasis form a complex hierarchy. Anatomical regions in the primitive brainstem (midbrain, pons) and the hypothalamus form a homeostatic network. This network creates a representation of the body’s current physiologic state.

Based on what this representation describes about the body’s conditions right now, regulatory processes trigger physiological changes in the periphery via the nervous system. The representation also generates basic emotional responses to physiologic changes – “cold is unpleasant” – that trigger actions – “I need to get indoors.”

The midbrain, colored red in this illustration, is tucked deep inside the human brain. Life Science Databases(LSDB)/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

In human beings, an area in the back of the midbrain called the periaqueductal gray is the control center that sends messages about pain and cold to the body. This area releases opioids and cannabinoids, brain chemicals also associated with mood and anxiety. The periaqueductal gray sends these chemical signals both to the body, via the descending pathway that suppresses the experience of pain and cold, and via other neurotransmitters to the brain.

Lower-order primitive networks, like those associated with the brain stem, evolved before higher-order regions of the brain, like those in its cortex. And, lower-order networks exert a greater influence on higher-order networks. Here’s a clear example: Being severely cold will interfere with rational thinking, a condition that in hypothermia is catastrophic. But one cannot simply imagine a sunny beach to wash away the unpleasantness associated with feeling very cold. In this instance, the “physiological” system outweighs the “psychological” system.

This asymmetry of causal effects in brain networks has been taken for granted. But could strategies that target innate physiological mechanisms induce top-down psychological control? Emerging research suggests that techniques that combine physiologic stressors with focused meditation may “break” this asymmetry, allowing the psychological to modulate the physiological. That’s what we observed in recent studies we performed on the “Iceman” Wim Hof.

Otto Muzik prepares Wim Hof for fMRI scanner in order to see how his brain responds to cold exposure. Wayne State University, CC BY-ND

Hof’s self-modification techniques include controlled breathing (hyperventilation and breath retention) and meditation. In our study, he performed these techniques before we repeatedly exposed him to cold by pumping ice-cold 39 degrees Fahrenheit water through a whole-body wet suit he wore.

Breath retention and cold form two physiologic stressors, whereas meditation is a form of psychological control. When normal subjects are exposed to cold, body temperature changes, triggering homeostatic drives. But Hof’s skin temperature remained unchanged, unaffected by cold exposure. Moreover, unlike control subjects, he robustly activated the periaqueductal gray region of his brain, an area important for regulating pain. His self-taught technique appears to change his brain’s ability to deal with cold by modulating pain pathways.

Extending the benefits

What might explain our findings with the “Iceman”?

Cold exposure appears to trigger a stress-induced pain-relieving response in the homeostatic brain network, already primed by breath retention. Activation of the periaqueductal gray suggests a decrease in pain perception and therefore anxiety. These sustained changes in Hof’s homeostatic brain network increase his tolerance to cold. The effects are enhanced by focused meditation which generates the expectation of positive outcomes.

Here’s the crucial part: This expectation is likely to extend the effects of stress-induced pain relief beyond immediate cold exposure. If such an expectation – “I confronted the cold and feel invigorated” – is fulfilled, it will lead to the release of additional opioids or cannabinoids from the periaqueductal gray. This release can affect the levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, further enhancing a feeling of overall well-being. This positive feedback loop is implicated in the well-known “placebo effect.”

More generally, techniques such as those Hof uses appear to exert positive effects on the body’s innate immune response as well. We expect them to also have positive effects on mood and anxiety because of the release of opioids and cannabinoids. Though these effects have not yet been well studied, by evoking a stress-induced analgesia reaction, we think that practitioners may assert “control” over key components of brain systems related to mood and anxiety.

At present, millions of people use drugs to help with feelings of depression and anxiety. Many of these drugs carry unwelcome side effects. Behavioral modification techniques that train users in ways to influence their brain’s homeostatic system could someday provide some patients with drug-free alternatives. Efforts to understand links between the brain’s physiology and its psychology may indeed hold the promise for a happier life.

About The Authors:

Vaibhav Diwadkar is Professor of Psychiatry at Wayne State University and Otto Muzik is Professor of Pediatrics and Radiology, also at Wayne State University

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

#science #neuroscience #psychology #Physiology #science news

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phroyd · 7 years ago

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A recent episode of the dystopian television series “Black Mirror” begins with a soldier hunting down and killing hideous humanoids called roaches. It’s a standard science-fiction scenario, man against monster, but there’s a twist: it turns out that the soldier and his cohort have brain implants that make them see the faces and bodies of their targets as monstrous, to hear their pleas for mercy as noxious squeaks. When our hero’s implant fails, he discovers that he isn’t a brave defender of the human race—he’s a murderer of innocent people, part of a campaign to exterminate members of a despised group akin to the Jews of Europe in the nineteen-forties.

The philosopher David Livingstone Smith, commenting on this episode on social media, wondered whether its writer had read his book “Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others” (St. Martin’s). It’s a thoughtful and exhaustive exploration of human cruelty, and the episode perfectly captures its core idea: that acts such as genocide happen when one fails to appreciate the humanity of others.

One focus of Smith’s book is the attitudes of slave owners; the seventeenth-century missionary Morgan Godwyn observed that they believed the Negroes, “though in their Figure they carry some resemblances of Manhood, yet are indeed no Men” but, rather, “Creatures destitute of Souls, to be ranked among Brute Beasts, and treated accordingly.” Then there’s the Holocaust. Like many Jews my age, I was raised with stories of gas chambers, gruesome medical experiments, and mass graves—an evil that was explained as arising from the Nazis’ failure to see their victims as human. In the words of the psychologist Herbert C. Kelman, “The inhibitions against murdering fellow human beings are generally so strong that the victims must be deprived of their human status if systematic killing is to proceed in a smooth and orderly fashion.” The Nazis used bureaucratic euphemisms such as “transfer” and “selection” to sanitize different forms of murder.

As the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss noted, “humankind ceases at the border of the tribe, of the linguistic group, even sometimes of the village.” Today, the phenomenon seems inescapable. Google your favorite despised human group—Jews, blacks, Arabs, gays, and so on—along with words like ��vermin,” “roaches,” or “animals,” and it will all come spilling out. Some of this rhetoric is seen as inappropriate for mainstream discourse. But wait long enough and you’ll hear the word “animals” used even by respectable people, referring to terrorists, or to Israelis or Palestinians, or to undocumented immigrants, or to deporters of undocumented immigrants. Such rhetoric shows up in the speech of white supremacists—but also when the rest of us talk about white supremacists.

It’s not just a matter of words. At Auschwitz, the Nazis tattooed numbers on their prisoners’ arms. Throughout history, people have believed that it was acceptable to own humans, and there were explicit debates in which scholars and politicians mulled over whether certain groups (such as blacks and Native Americans) were “natural slaves.” Even in the past century, there were human zoos, where Africans were put in enclosures for Europeans to gawk at.

Early psychological research on dehumanization looked at what made the Nazis different from the rest of us. But psychologists now talk about the ubiquity of dehumanization. Nick Haslam, at the University of Melbourne, and Steve Loughnan, at the University of Edinburgh, provide a list of examples, including some painfully mundane ones: “Outraged members of the public call sex offenders animals. Psychopaths treat victims merely as means to their vicious ends. The poor are mocked as libidinous dolts. Passersby look through homeless people as if they were transparent obstacles. Dementia sufferers are represented in the media as shuffling zombies.”

The thesis that viewing others as objects or animals enables our very worst conduct would seem to explain a great deal. Yet there’s reason to think that it’s almost the opposite of the truth.

At some European soccer games, fans make monkey noises at African players and throw bananas at them. Describing Africans as monkeys is a common racist trope, and might seem like yet another example of dehumanization. But plainly these fans don’t really think the players are monkeys; the whole point of their behavior is to disorient and humiliate. To believe that such taunts are effective is to assume that their targets would be ashamed to be thought of that way—which implies that, at some level, you think of them as people after all.

Consider what happened after Hitler annexed Austria, in 1938. Timothy Snyder offers a haunting description in “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning”:

The next morning the “scrubbing parties” began. Members of the Austrian SA, working from lists, from personal knowledge, and from the knowledge of passersby, identified Jews and forced them to kneel and clean the streets with brushes. This was a ritual humiliation. Jews, often doctors and lawyers or other professionals, were suddenly on their knees performing menial labor in front of jeering crowds. Ernest P. remembered the spectacle of the “scrubbing parties” as “amusement for the Austrian population.” A journalist described “the fluffy Viennese blondes, fighting one another to get closer to the elevating spectacle of the ashen-faced Jewish surgeon on hands and knees before a half-dozen young hooligans with Swastika armlets and dog-whips.” Meanwhile, Jewish girls were sexually abused, and older Jewish men were forced to perform public physical exercise.

The Jews who were forced to scrub the streets—not to mention those subjected to far worse degradations—were not thought of as lacking human emotions. Indeed, if the Jews had been thought to be indifferent to their treatment, there would have been nothing to watch here; the crowd had gathered because it wanted to see them suffer. The logic of such brutality is the logic of metaphor: to assert a likeness between two different things holds power only in the light of that difference. The sadism of treating human beings like vermin lies precisely in the recognition that they are not.

What about violence more generally? Some evolutionary psychologists and economists explain assault, rape, and murder as rational actions, benefitting the perpetrator or the perpetrator’s genes. No doubt some violence—and a reputation for being willing and able to engage in violence—can serve a useful purpose, particularly in more brutal environments. On the other hand, much violent behavior can be seen as evidence of a loss of control. It’s Criminology 101 that many crimes are committed under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and that people who assault, rape, and murder show less impulse control in other aspects of their lives as well. In the heat of passion, the moral enormity of the violent action loses its purchase.

But “Virtuous Violence: Hurting and Killing to Create, Sustain, End, and Honor Social Relationships” (Cambridge), by the anthropologist Alan Fiske and the psychologist Tage Rai, argues that these standard accounts often have it backward. In many instances, violence is neither a cold-blooded solution to a problem nor a failure of inhibition; most of all, it doesn’t entail a blindness to moral considerations. On the contrary, morality is often a motivating force: “People are impelled to violence when they feel that to regulate certain social relationships, imposing suffering or death is necessary, natural, legitimate, desirable, condoned, admired, and ethically gratifying.” Obvious examples include suicide bombings, honor killings, and the torture of prisoners during war, but Fiske and Rai extend the list to gang fights and violence toward intimate partners. For Fiske and Rai, actions like these often reflect the desire to do the right thing, to exact just vengeance, or to teach someone a lesson. There’s a profound continuity between such acts and the punishments that—in the name of requital, deterrence, or discipline—the criminal-justice system lawfully imposes. Moral violence, whether reflected in legal sanctions, the killing of enemy soldiers in war, or punishing someone for an ethical transgression, is motivated by the recognition that its victim is a moral agent, someone fully human.

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Phroyd

#violence #morality #new yorker

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asmasheikh · 3 years ago

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The relationship between the creation of a company and the married couple

The articulation between the management of private assets and professional assets has become over time a subject that goes far beyond the legal sphere. This does not prevent the situation from being complex, and sometimes risky. This has led married couples to integrate issues at the intersection of family law, matrimonial regimes and corporate law. It offers you an overview of Pakistan law on the subject. It deals with the case in which the spouses are associated within the same structure. In addition, in what way is the married couple impacted by the quality of partner of one of them? The essential points on the relationship between the creation of a company and the married couple.

The term “partnership between spouses” is understood to mean the social form of any kind whatsoever in which two spouses join together. The question therefore arises whether they are alone or with third parties. The article then goes on to assert that the benefits and gifts granted under the partnership agreement cannot be qualified as disguised donations. The spouses who embark on the social adventure are therefore deemed to be in good faith. Their approach should not be assimilated to tax optimization!

To exist validly, it is still necessary that the company is not struck of nullity because of fictitiousness or of absence of affection societies . Civil partnership companies are often called into question by the tax authorities. This highlights the purely or mainly fiscal object. These are cases where the company serves as a cover for the transmission of family and / or professional assets taxed much lower.

Associate spouses married under the community of property regime

The regime of community of property implies that the spouses share either all their possessions (universal community), or the property acquired during the marriage (community reduced to acquits). These are the points of contact between company law and the matrimonial regime of the community reduced to acquit. Legal regime, it is by far the most used in Pakistan.

In joint-stock companies (SA, SAS, etc.), the origin of the funding is of little importance. Ownership of the shares is in fact attributed to the sole contributor. This is the case even if he acquires shares through common goods. The title of associate is therefore purely personal.

In partnerships (SARL, civil partnerships, etc.), the contribution made by means of common goods confers the quality of partner on both spouses in equal parts. This is the case when the spouse who has not made the contribution claims this quality.

Movable and immovable property are deemed to be common if it is not proven that they belong to only one of the spouses. To refuse the entry of the spouse, the partners of the company must prove the contrary. It is a question of demonstrating that the contribution was made by means of own goods.

To be able to exercise his right of claim, the contributor must have informed his spouse of his contribution. If he has not notified it, the nullity of the contribution can be requested by the spouse. This possibility is open within 2 years of becoming aware of the operation. It is therefore advisable for companies which do not want the spouses of their common property partners to claim this quality to stipulate in the articles of association of the company a specific clause allowing them not to approve the spouse.

Spouses married under the regime of separation of property

The union under the matrimonial regime of separation of property is inherently the bearer of less conflict. Indeed, the border between the properties of the two spouses is then clearer. Thus, everyone has total freedom over their personal property. He can therefore bring them to a company and become one of its partners.

However, the origin of these contributions is of some importance. This is evidenced by the three cases below:

Contribution from a joint account:

Funds deposited into this account are considered to be joint. If the status of partner is acquired with funds from such an account, the company securities acquired in return for the contribution are deemed to be undivided. It is therefore the two spouses who become partners… unless proof to the contrary is provided. It must then be shown that the person who made the contribution had exclusive ownership of the funds.

Contribution from labor income:

Earnings and wages are proper under the separation regime. They should therefore not be paid into the joint account, in which case they fall into joint ownership and become common again.

Contribution in kind of certain goods:

Family accommodation and the goods which furnish it cannot be contributed to a company without the agreement of the other spouse. As regards the goods necessary for the exercise of the activity of one of the spouses, the contribution can only be made by the latter.

The case of the transfer of social securities between spouses

The validity of the transfer of social securities between the spouses is conditional on the establishment of a notarial act or a private deed of which the date is certain other than by death of the transferor. Then, the shares acquired by contribution of own assets are freely transferable to the other spouse if he buys them with his own funds. On the other hand, the transfer is not possible if the titles are part of the community.

The interconnection between the solidarity of the spouses and the quality of partner

The impacts of the social adventure are not to be found only in societies where the two spouses are associated. It is also necessary to take into account the consequences of the status of married partner on the couple. This in particular from the point of view of the obligations introduced by marriage.

Beyond the intimate and personal ties that unite a couple, the law has established a compulsory legal bond between the spouses. It is about solidarity. Provides that the execution of the contract by one of the spouses will be provided by the other in case of failure. The scope of this article covers debts arising from household maintenance, children’s education or the payment of taxes.

Another hypothesis involves the mechanism of solidarity between spouses. It is association in a society with unlimited risks.

When a spouse acquires the quality of partner of a civil society, general partnership or limited partnership, he commits himself by signing the partnership contract. If this contract provides for a personal and unlimited debt obligation, the partner puts his spouse at high risk.

Courtesy: Farmhouse Event Planner in Lahore

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phllawstudent · 3 years ago

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Persons 17

Article 24, Parens Patriae and Contracts of Adhesion

Article 23 provides that, “Even when an act or event causing damage to another’s property was not due to the fault or negligence of the defendant, the latter shall be liable for indemnity if through the act or event he was benefited.”

For Article 23 to apply - the requisites are:

There must be an act or event which causes damage;

The damage is caused upon another person’s property;

The defendant must have been benefited from the act or event;

The defendant is still liable, even if there is no fault or negligence in his part.

When these four requisites are present, then the person is liable for indemnity. The basis of the indemnity is the degree to which he or she has been benefited. This is because Article 23 is a follow-up to the principle of unjust enrichment. The law makes a person liable for damages, even if he had no participation in the act or event, so long as he or she gains some benefit therefrom.

Article 24 is part of the chapter on human relations. Its difference from the other provisions is that Art. 24 is a directive addressed not to us, but for the courts.

Article 24 of the Civil Code provides that, “in all contractual, property or other relations, when one of the parties is at a disadvantage on account of his moral dependence, ignorance, indigence, mental weakness, tender age or other handicap, the courts must be vigilant for his protection.”

Moral dependence refers to the inherent imbalance in the relationship between two persons where one party needs the other more such as the dependent party has no choice but to submit to the will of the dominant or more powerful party. The imbalance typically stems from socioeconomic reasons. The law has a strong bias in favor of the employee and against the employer. No less than the Constitution tells us that. The Supreme Court teaches us that a person’s job is his property - sometimes, only property.

Based on moral dependence, labor has to be accorded more protection particularly against the possible abuses of management.

In practical terms, when there is doubt between the construction of labor laws or to a certain extent in the evaluation in the pieces of evidence, these doubts have to be resolved in favor of labor, in favor of the employee and against management, against the employer.

The employer occupies the economic high ground.

Employee has no other other remedy, no other recourse but to come to court. Only when the employee asserts his or her rights thus the protection kicks in. This is the essence of moral dependence.

Ignorance on the other hand is a function of the degree of instruction or education that one person has. The law will tilt in favor of someone who has not finished primary/elementary education versus someone who has finished a college degree or is part of the professional board. However, it is wrong to assume that the bias always kicks in just because one party has proven that he cannot read or write.

Art. 24 has no bearing in the commission of crimes. A lot would depend on the factual circumstances surrounding each case. The degree of instruction and the amount of education a person has has been placed not as a justifying or mitigating circumstance under the revised penal code. Instead, we find it under alternative circumstance.

If a person has used his knowledge, training and education to commit the crime of estafa, then that should be taken against him.

Indigence refers to the state of relative poverty. The law offers plenty of protection for the poor and we also see that in the Rules of Court.

A person who comes to court has to pay the necessary fees. That’s the general rule.

Exception: When an indigent comes to court to file a complaint

Rule 141 of the Rules of Court provides that a person is an indigent or proper litigant when the combined gross monthly income of himself and his immediate family do not amount to double the minimum wage

Another condition is that a person must not own real property whose fair market value exceeds three hundred thousand pesos

If a person has these two essential requisites, he or she is an indigent and therefore will not pay the fees. Pero pag mananalo siya sa kanyang complaint, iaawas muna ang dapat niyang binayaran bago ibigay sa kanya kung ano ang iaaward ng Court.

Mental weakness - kadalasan sa mga kaso na ang lola nagpapahiram ng titulo sa kanyang anak o apo pero hindi lang isinasangla kundi ibinibenta.

Presented to persons in advance age, suffering from mental illness, or both.

Mental weakness is something the Court must watch out for, particularly when the parties to a contract are of an advanced age or n the allowance or disallowance of a will as executed by the person who may have been unduly influenced by a family member, friend or caregiver.

1912 case: the Supreme Court ruled that perfect soundness of mind is not essential to testamentary capacity. A testator may be afflicted with a variety of mental weakness, disorder or peculiarity and still be capable in law of executing a valid will. It is not necessary that the mind shall be wholly unbroken and impaired or unshattered by disease or otherwise. Or that the testator shall be in full possession of his reasoning faculties.

Tender age - the law has always shown a bias in favor of minors no matter their position relative to the law.

A contract of sale executed by a minor may nevertheless be declared void. A contract of loan made by a minor can be voided on the basis of his or her minority. When a minor is called a witness to Court, the law confers a lot of protection upon the minor. They may be called and examined not necessarily in open court but behind closed doors. A child witness has the right to be accompanied by a trusted adult or caregiver. Courts have to make every single accomodation possible to keep the child witness comfortable during the examination. The protection of children is so great, so wide that minors who may have committed crime are not denominated as accused. They are called children in conflict with the law, and their cases are handled specifically by court personnel who have undergone special training for this purpose.

Why does the law afford protection for those who are morally dependent, for senior citizens or for minors? Ano ang basis nito?

Art. 24 and the host of other laws are based on the principle of parens patriae (parent of his or her country, and refers to the State in its role as “sovereign” or the State in its capacity as a provider of protection to those unable to care for themselves. In fulfilling this duty, the State may resort to the exercise of its inherent powers: police power, eminent domain, and power of taxation. Parens patriae is a role that the government takes in order to somewhat balance the inherent inequality of differnet persons within the State. Under this doctrine, the State is justified to use the three powers

Teresita Dio v. St Ferdinand Memorial Park inc.

Teresita Dio is a well-known businesswoman from Lucena City. She purchased from St. Ferdinand Memorial a parcel of land about 36 m. This parcel of land was used as the final resting site for Teresita’s father and husband. When her daughter died, she also buried her daughter on the same lot. Some time in 1986, she decided to build a mausoleum on the land she had purchased. She had the design made and the possible cost of the mausoleum was 60k. St. Ferd Memorial Prk was duly informed of this plan. Teresitas plan was approved but the SF MPi pointed to Rule 69 of their contract that any plans of the construction of buildings, imrpovements or memorials have to conform to the standards of smpfi. Further lot owners are prohibited from engaging outside contractors. Rule 69 of their contrat provides that only smpfi may build mausoleum’s improvements in memorials. Total cost of this is 100k

RTC ruled in favor of the Memorial Park. rejected the claim of Teresita that she was not informed of the rule 69 at the time she purchased the memorial lot. The fact that she reached out to the memorial park to have her design approved was evidence that she was aware of Rule 69.

CA for its part affirmed the ruling of RTC. it ruled that Teresita agreed with the rules of their contract and to any future rules governing the cemetery.

SC applied two principles. Art. 24 of the Civil Code and the Doctrine of contract of admission.

Did not apply Art. 24 (???)

It ruled that Dio is an experienced businesswoman. She doubtlessly dealt with numerous documents and is therefore presumed to know the import thereof. It cannot be further emphasized that it behooves every contracting party to learn and know the contents of an instrument before signing and agreeing to it.

Contract of adhesion - one wherein one party imposes a ready-made form of contract on the other. It is not strictly against the law. A contract of adhesion is as binding as ordinary contracts. The reason being that the party who adheres to the contract is free to reject it entirely

Contract of adhesion - terms and agreement upon installation of software, contract of carriers sa barko at eroplano,

- Walang room for negotiation. Yes or no lang ang sagot ng isang party. choice is to adhere to or reject the contract in its entirety.

These contracts are prepared ahead of time by one of the parties

Not only is dio educated, she is likewise a well-known and experienced businesswoman plus she cannot claim to be the weaker or disadvantaged party in the subject contract so as to call for a strict interpretation against the memo park.

Vicente and Laleng Kabanting v. bpi fam savings bank

Acceleration clause -

RTC ruled in favor of bpi, partly because the spouses has waived their right to present their evidence

CA affirmed RTC ruling but deleted the award of 20k as attorney’s fees

SC (through sc justice diosadado peralta) ruled in favor of bpi

Reiterating the case in teresita vs. memorial park, the validity or enforceability of the (impune) contracts will have to be determined by the peculiar circumstances obtaining in each case and the situation of the parties concerned

A contract of adhesion is not invalid just bec one of the parties exclusively prepared the contract ahead of time. The other party in fact has the choice either to agree to or adhere to the terms of the contract or to reject it completely

When the terms of the contract of adhesion are not clear, any doubts on the contract shall be resolved against the party who prepared it.

Summary:

Art. 24 applies to the contractual property or other relations;

Art. 24 is a dormant power. It is only activated when the weaker party comes to court . it is only then that the protection begins.

The law protects those who suffer from moral dependence, ignorance, indigence, mental weakness, tender age or other handicap;

Basis of this protection is the parens patriae doctrine, this principle means that the State acting as a sovereign, must step in to afford protection to those who need it;

Contract of adhesion is one where the contract is prepared exclusively by one party, and the other party has nothing to do but to accept/reject it;

It is not invalid, per se. A lot would depend on the peculiar circumstances of the contract. All doubts however are construed against the party who prepared the same, and in favor of the party who merely signs it.

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phgq · 4 years ago

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Duterte to get to the bottom of PNP-PDEA shootout

#PHnews: Duterte to get to the bottom of PNP-PDEA shootout

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will get to the bottom of the alleged “misencounter” between operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) near a mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City Wednesday afternoon, Malacañang said Thursday.

In a press briefing in Negros Oriental, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this assurance, saying the President expressed sadness and concern over the incident that took place between two groups of government forces.

Roque said the President was informed of the shootout after recording his public address in Malacañan Palace on Wednesday night.

“The President, of course, expressed both sadness and concern bakit nangyari nga ito na kapwa tao ng gobyerno ay nagkaputukan. Ang in-assure niya, gaya ng assurance na ginawa niya nung nangyari ito sa Sulu, ay (why this happened among government forces. He assured, like the assurance he gave when this happened in Sulu) we will get to the bottom of this incident,” Roque said.

Roque also expressed confidence that parallel investigations by the ad hoc joint PNP-PDEA team and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will shed light on the incident.

“We are confident po that with the PNP and the PDEA forming an investigation panel and Justice Secretary [Menardo Guevarra] ordering to conduct its own parallel investigation that we will know the truth behind this incident and justice will be done,” he added.

Based on reports from Batasan Police Station 6, the alleged misencounter between PNP and PDEA took place while both camps were conducting drug buy-busts.

At least two policemen were killed while at least three from the PDEA group were brought to the hospital.

Gov’t probing drug war irregularities

Roque also assured that the government continues to investigate deaths in police drug war operations and prosecute perpetrators if necessary.

This after Guevarra told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday that preliminary findings from the DOJ-led drug war review panel showed that a number of police officers did not follow protocols in drug war operations.

“Our initial and preliminary findings confirm that in many of these cases, law enforcement agents asserted that the subject of anti-drug operations resisted arrest or attempted to draw a weapon and fight back. Yet no full examination of the weapon recovered was conducted, no verification of its ownership undertaken, no request for ballistic examination or paraffin test was pursued until its completion,” he said.

Guevarra said the investigation also showed that scores of police have been recommended for administrative and criminal action.

Roque said Guevarra’s admission proves that the Duterte administration is in "discharge of the state obligation to investigate and prosecute violations of the right to life.”

“Itong naunang pahayag ng ating Secretary of Justice ay nagpapatunay na seryoso po tayo sa obligasyon natin na mag-imbestiga at maglitis dahil hinaharap po natin ang katotohanan na posible pong may ilang mga alagad ng batas na kinakailangan sigurong managot sa ating batas dito sa Pilipinas (The statement of the Secretary of Justice proves that we are serious in our obligation to investigate and prosecute because we face the truth that it’s possible that there are some law enforcement officers that need to prosecuted under the law),” he said.

He noted that Guevarra’s “transparency” is part of the administration’s commitment to strengthening its domestic accountability mechanisms.

“That proves that our domestic legal system is working at hindi po dapat maghimasok ang ibang mga istitusyon. Bigyan po natin ng pagkakataon ang ating legal system na gumana ngayong meron na pong ganyang transparency at open-mindedness sa parte po ng no less than our Secretary of Justice (and that other institutions should not interfere. Let’s give our legal system a chance to function now that there is that kind of transparency and open-mindedness of the part of no less than our Secretary of Justice),” he added. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Duterte to get to the bottom of PNP-PDEA shootout." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131856 (accessed February 25, 2021 at 11:42PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Duterte to get to the bottom of PNP-PDEA shootout." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131856 (archived).

#Philippines #News #Filipino #Pinoy #Tourism #Politics #Culture #Editorial #Environment #Society #History

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kgomotsosekonya · 4 years ago

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Imperative Reading for people that aren't sure if they have/had a valid customary marriage.

THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEAL OF SOUTH AFRICA

JUDGMENT

Not Reportable

Case no: 244/19

In the matter between:

ROBERT TSAMBO APPELLANT

and

LERATO RUBETA SENGADI RESPONDENT

In re:

TSAMBO, JABULANI DECEASED

Neutral citation: Tsambo v Sengadi (244/19) [2020] ZASCA 46 (30 April 2020)

Coram: MAYA P and MBHA, ZONDI and MOLEMELA JJA and MOJAPELO AJA

Heard: 6 March 2020

Delivered: This judgment was handed down electronically by circulation to the parties’ legal representatives by email, publication on the Supreme Court of Appeal website and release to SAFLII. The date and time for hand-down is deemed to be 12h00 on 30 April 2020.

Summary: Customary law – s 3(1)(b) of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 – whether handing over of bride occurred – whether a valid customary marriage came into existence.

ORDER

On appeal from: Gauteng Division of the High Court, Johannesburg (Mokgoathleng J, sitting as a court of first instance): judgment reported sub nom Sengadi v Tsambo; In re: Tsambo [2018] ZAGPJHC 666; 2019 (4) SA 50 (GJ); [2019] 1 All SA 569 (GJ)

The appeal is dismissed with no order as to costs.

JUDGMENT

Molemela JA (Maya, P and Mbha and Zondi JJA and Mojapelo AJA concurring)

[1] The central issue in this appeal is whether on 28 February 2016 a customary law marriage came into existence between the deceased, Mr Jabulani Tsambo whose stage name was HHP (“Jabba”), and the respondent, Mrs Lerato Rubeta Sengadi. Ancillary to that issue is whether, pursuant to the conclusion of the lobola negotiations, a handing over of the bride ensued in satisfaction of the requirement that the marriage be negotiated and entered into or celebrated in accordance with customary law in terms of s 3(1)(b) of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998.

[2] The appeal is directed at the decision of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Johannesburg (Mokgoathleng J), which found that a valid customary marriage was concluded between the respondent and the deceased. The appellant, Mr Robert Tsambo, is the biological father of the deceased.

[3] In support of relief she sought from the high court, the respondent relied on the following facts. The deceased proposed marriage to her on 6 November 2015 in Amsterdam. She immediately accepted the marriage proposal. The deceased considered African culture to be important and insisted that the couple conclude a marriage in terms of customary law[1] with the blessings of their respective parents. The respondent agreed. On 20 January 2016 the appellant dispatched a letter written by the deceased’s uncle, Mr Tutu Mokgatle, to the respondent’s mother. The letter requested that the families of the respondent and the deceased meet ‘to discuss the union’ of the deceased and the respondent. On 28 February 2016 the two families met at the respondent’s family home. Although the appellant and the respondent’s mother were present at the respondent’s home, they did not participate in the lobola negotiations, as is the custom. Upon the successful conclusion of the lobola negotiations, a lobola agreement was concluded, reduced to writing and signed. It stipulated that the lobola agreed upon was an amount of R45 000. It further recorded that the deceased would pay a deposit of R30 000 upon signature of the agreement and that the balance would be paid in two instalments. As a postscript to the agreement, it was recorded that ‘the final amount at our next meeting shall be R10 000. It is agreed that the remaining R5000 will follow at some later stage.’

[4] At the conclusion of the lobola negotiations, the women from the respective families attended to the preparation of a meal. At this time, the deceased left the respondent’s home for a short while. In the intervening period, the respondent’s mother received a payment notification on her phone, advising that the deceased had transferred an amount of R35 000 into her bank account.

[5] When the deceased returned, the respondent noticed that he had changed into formal attire. She also noticed that the deceased's aunts, Ms Nomvula and Ms Minky, had emerged from outside and entered the house bearing a covered outfit on a clothes hanger. The deceased's aunts requested the respondent to accompany them into one of the bedrooms. Once in the bedroom, the deceased’s aunts revealed an outfit from the clothes hanger, and informed her that the attire was her wedding dress. They then proceeded to dress her up in that attire. When she emerged from the bedroom, she noticed that her attire matched the deceased’s. She then realised that not only was that day reserved for lobola negotiations, but the deceased and his family had also planned that a customary law marriage between her and the deceased should be celebrated on the same day. The deceased’s aunts introduced the respondent to all persons present as the deceased’s wife and thereafter welcomed her to the Tsambo family. The appellant approached the respondent, embraced her and congratulated her on her marriage to the deceased.

[6] The celebration that ensued after the lobola negotiations was recorded on video camera by one of the attendees. Photographs described as screenshots were obtained from the recording and introduced into evidence. In one of the photographs, the appellant is depicted with the deceased and the respondent, who are dressed in matching attire. In another, the appellant can be seen embracing the respondent. The video recording was introduced into evidence and viewed at the high court. The high court recorded that the video depicted the two families in a joyous celebratory mood ululating and uttering the words ‘finally, finally’. The respondent averred that a lawful customary marriage came into existence between the deceased and herself on that day. She asserted that later that day when she and the deceased returned to their place of abode, they did so as husband and wife. Consequently, their place of abode became the matrimonial home, so she asserted. It is common cause that the customary marriage was not registered with the Department of Home Affairs.

[7] According to the respondent, she and the deceased continued to live together as husband and wife until sometime during 2018, when their relationship went through a rough patch, apparently because of the deceased’s infidelity and drug addiction for which he refused to undergo rehabilitation. This caused the respondent to leave the matrimonial home although she did not take all her personal belongings with her. Due to the deteriorating health and depression of the deceased, during April 2018, the respondent convened a meeting of the two families. She reported the deterioration in the deceased’s health. The deceased, however, stalked out in a huff before any resolution could be reached. During August 2018, the couple reconciled but did not resume their cohabitation as the respondent had insisted that she would return to the matrimonial home only if the deceased agreed to submit himself to a rehabilitation programme. Unfortunately, the deceased committed suicide on 23 October 2018. The respondent returned to the matrimonial home on 24 October 2018 in order to mourn the passing of her husband. On 27 October 2018, the appellant informed the respondent that he did not acknowledge her as the deceased’s wife and barred her from making funeral arrangements for him. He subsequently changed the locks of the matrimonial home, thereby depriving the respondent of access thereto.

[8] The respondent launched an urgent application, essentially seeking recognition of what she asserted to be a customary marriage between her and the deceased and all rights consequent upon that marriage. The salient orders sought in terms of the notice of motion were couched as follows:

‘2. It is declared that the customary marriage between [the respondent] and the deceased is a customary marriage entered into validly on 28 February 2016, and as envisaged in terms of section 3 of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 120 of 1998.

3. The [respondent] is declared to be the lawful customary wife of the deceased . . . who died on the 23rd of October 2018.’

The rest of the relief sought in terms of the notice of motion is not the subject of the appeal before us and need not detain us.

[9] The appellant opposed the application. The main thrust of his opposition was that the respondent had no right to the relief sought, as no customary law marriage had been concluded between her and the deceased on 28 February 2016. The appellant argued that ‘at best for the deceased, the necessary customs, rituals and procedures required for the conclusion of a customary marriage may have commenced, but were not proceeded with or completed.’ The appellant averred that the meeting that took place on 28 February 2016 was confined to lobola negotiations and what happened thereafter merely constituted a celebration of the successful conclusion of the lobola negotiations. He asserted that it was clear from the terms of the lobola agreement that the families intended to have a further meeting thereafter.

[10] The appellant also averred that ‘[t]he two families would have [had] to agree on the formalities and the date on which the [respondent] would be “handed over” to the [deceased’s] family’. He contended that in terms of custom, subsequent to the initial payment of lobola, a date is set on which the bride’s family will hand over the bride to the husband’s family, ‘go gorosiwa’,[2] and upon arrival a lamb or goat is slaughtered and the bile therefrom is used to cleanse the couple. He contended that the performance of that ritual would signify the union of the couple and the joining of the two families. That ritual would be followed by a celebration, during which the lamb or goat that was slaughtered would be consumed. The appellant contended that because that ritual was not observed, the handing over of the bride, which he considered as the most crucial part of a customary marriage, did not take place.[3] Thus, so it was contended, no customary marriage came into existence between the deceased and the respondent.

[11] The high court found that the handing over was not a strict requirement for a valid customary marriage and could be waived. It found that there was a tacit waiver of the custom of the handing over of the bride because a symbolic handing over of the respondent to the deceased’s family had occurred after the conclusion of the customary marriage. It rejected the appellant’s contention that the most crucial part of a customary marriage is the handing over of the bride and that the absence thereof would result in no valid customary marriage coming into existence. The high court, inter alia, granted the following orders:

‘1. It is declared that the customary marriage between the [respondent] and the deceased is a customary marriage entered into validly on [the] 28th February 2016, and as envisaged in terms of Section 3 of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 120 of 1998.

2. The [respondent] is declared to be the lawful customary wife of the deceased, JABULANI TSAMBO . . . who died on the 23rd of October 2018.’

[12] Before us, it was contended on behalf of the respondent that the requirement of handing over of the bride is not determinative of a customary marriage. As authority for that proposition, the respondent relied on the writings of Professor Bennett and Professor Bekker with specific regard to the evolution of the customary marriage practices of the Batswana people, which is the customary law that is applicable in the present case. Professor Bekker[4] in Seymour's Customary Law in Southern Africa, argued that amongst the Sotho-Tswana people, the wedding is celebrated at the bride’s family home, where the lobola negotiations take place. In some of the communities, the handing over of the bride takes a physical form on the day of the wedding.[5] Professor Bekker proceeds to observe as follows:

‘On the completion of the lobolo agreement, the bride's guardian provides a beast for slaughter, each party receiving half the meat; certain ceremonies are performed with the entrails. This slaughter signifies not only the completion of the lobolo agreement, but also the consummation of the customary marriage, which is not rendered less effective if the bride does not leave with the bridegroom's party on that occasion, and usually she does not.’[6]

[13] It is clear from the preceding discussion that historically, significance was paid to the conclusion of the lobola agreement, and not necessarily the full payment of lobola. Therefore, the appellant’s contention that a marriage could not have been concluded as it was agreed that part of the outstanding balance on the lobola would be paid ‘at the next meeting’ is devoid of any merit. In my view, it simply does not follow that the completion of the customary marriage process on the same day was precluded because it was not pertinently discussed during the negotiations. As mentioned above, the crisp question in this matter is whether, on the facts of this case a customary marriage came into existence.[7] The handing over of the bride is an issue that was raised by the appellant as proof that the existence of a customary marriage had not been established. The facts must be considered against the backdrop of relevant authorities.

[14] Section 3(1) of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act provides:

‘For a customary marriage entered into after the commencement of this Act to be valid –

(a) the prospective spouses –

(i) must both be above the age of 18 years; and

(ii) must both consent to be married to each other under customary law; and

(b) the marriage must be negotiated and entered into or celebrated in accordance with customary law.’

[15] When dealing with customary law, it should always be borne in mind that it is a dynamic system of law.[8] In Ngwenyama v Mayelane and Another[9] this Court stated as follows:

‘The Recognition Act does not specify the requirements for the celebration of a customary marriage. In this way, the legislature purposefully defers to the living customary law. Put differently, this requirement is fulfilled when the customary law celebrations are generally in accordance with the customs applicable in those particular circumstances. But once the three requirements have been fulfilled, a customary marriage, whether monogamous or polygamous, comes into existence.’ (Own emphasis.)

[16] In Mabuza v Mbatha[10] the court, stated that there was no doubt that the custom of ukumekeza[11] had evolved so much so that it is probably practised differently than it was centuries ago. It went on to endorse the view that it was inconceivable that ukumekeza had not evolved and that it could not be waived by agreement between the parties and/or their families in appropriate cases.[12] That dictum was approved by this Court in Mbungela and Another v Mkabi and Others.[13] Having reviewed several authorities, this Court concluded that the handing over of the bride, though important, is not a key determinant of a valid customary marriage. It aptly stated as follows:

‘The importance of the observance of traditional customs and usages that constitute and define the provenance of African culture cannot be understated. Neither can the value of the custom of bridal transfer be denied. But it must also be recognised that an inflexible rule that there is no valid customary marriage if just this one ritual has not been observed, even if the other requirements of s 3(1) of the Act, especially spousal consent, have been met, in circumstances such as the present ones, could yield untenable results.’

[17] The appellant’s contentions pertaining to the rituals observed during the handing over of the bride ceremony fail to take into account that customary law is by its nature, a constantly evolving system.[14] That customary law has always evolved is evident from the following observation made by Professor Bennett almost three decades ago and approved in many judgments:

‘In contrast, customary law was always flexible and pragmatic. Strict adherence to ritual formulae was never absolutely essential in close-knit, rural communities, where certainty was neither a necessity nor a value. So, for instance, the ceremony to celebrate a man’s second marriage would normally be simplified; similarly, the wedding might be abbreviated by reason of poverty or the need to expedite matters. Aside from this, the indigenous rituals might be supplanted by exotic ones: a wedding ring may now be used in place of the traditional gall bladder of a slaughtered beast and for many a church ceremony has become indispensable.’[15]

[18] It is evident from the foregoing passage that strict compliance with rituals has, in the past, been waived. The authorities cited by the respondent, mentioned earlier in the judgment, also attest to that. Clearly, customs have never been static. They develop and change along with the society in which they are practised.[16] Given the obligation imposed on the courts to give effect to the principle of living customary law,[17] it follows ineluctably that the failure to strictly comply with all rituals and ceremonies that were historically observed cannot invalidate a marriage that has otherwise been negotiated, concluded or celebrated in accordance with customary law.

[19] Before analysing the facts of this case, it is appropriate to address the appellant’s contention that there was a dispute of fact pertaining to the question whether the events of 28 February 2016 established a customary marriage. The appellant submitted that in the light of a material factual dispute regarding the nature of the celebrations after the conclusion of the lobola negotiations, the high court ought to have referred the dispute to trial or for the hearing of oral evidence in accordance with the principle established in Plascon-Evans Paints Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd.[18] A brief consideration of the Plascon-Evans rule is required. The principle laid down in that seminal judgment is that an applicant who seeks final relief using motion proceedings must, in the event of a dispute of fact, accept the version set up by his or her opponent unless the latter’s allegations are, in the opinion of the court, not such as to raise a real, genuine or bona fide dispute of fact or are so far-fetched or clearly untenable that the court is justified in rejecting them merely on the papers. The nub of the issue is whether on the facts, and bearing in mind the Plascon-Evans rule, the handing over of the bride was established.

[20] In Wightman t/a J W Construction v Headfour (Pty) Ltd and Another,[19] this Court clarified the effect of factual disputes in motion proceedings as follows:

‘A real, genuine and bona fide dispute of fact can exist only where the court is satisfied that the party who purports to raise the dispute has in his affidavit seriously and unambiguously addressed the fact said to be disputed. There will of course be instances where a bare denial meets the requirement because there is no other way open to the disputing party and nothing more can therefore be expected of him. But even that may not be sufficient if the fact averred lies purely within the knowledge of the averring party and no basis is laid for disputing the veracity or accuracy of the averment. When the facts averred are such that the disputing party must necessarily possess knowledge of them and be able to provide an answer (or countervailing evidence) if they be not true or accurate but, instead of doing so, rests his case on a bare or ambiguous denial the court will generally have difficulty in finding that the test is satisfied. I say “generally” because factual averments seldom stand apart from a broader matrix of circumstances all of which needs to be borne in mind when arriving at a decision. A litigant may not necessarily recognise or understand the nuances of a bare or general denial as against a real attempt to grapple with all relevant factual allegations made by the other party. But when he signs the answering affidavit, he commits himself to its contents, inadequate as they may be, and will only in exceptional circumstances be permitted to disavow them. There is thus a serious duty imposed upon a legal adviser who settles an answering affidavit to ascertain and engage with facts which his client disputes and to reflect such disputes fully and accurately in the answering affidavit. If that does not happen it should come as no surprise that the court takes a robust view of the matter.’

[21] It is evident from the foregoing passage that a bona fide dispute of fact only arises when the party raising it seriously addresses the facts that are disputed, especially where the disputing party is in a position to be aware of the facts. The difficulty for the appellant in this matter is that he provided no answer to some of the respondent’s crucial allegations. He did not engage with the respondent’s assertions pertaining to specific events that were said to have happened in his presence, such as her being dressed in a wedding attire as described by the deceased’s aunts, being introduced to the witnesses by them as the deceased’s wife and welcomed to his family and being congratulated by the appellant on the marriage. These allegations were not gainsaid despite the fact that they related to aspects that lay within his personal knowledge and for which he could provide an answer.

[22] There was a bare denial regarding the material aspect of what the change of clothes and the words uttered signified. Whereas the respondent supported her evidence with the confirmatory affidavits of her relatives who were present during the lobola negotiations, the appellant did not support his bare denials with any confirmatory affidavit. I find it odd that the deceased’s aunts, who played a crucial role in the events, did not depose to any affidavit. One of the aunts, Ms Nomvula, was reportedly present at the deceased’s house before his burial. This was not denied by the appellant. Surprisingly, not even an unsworn statement was presented as her account of events. Instead, an unsworn statement, allegedly authored at the instance of the deceased’s mother after the deceased’s death, was attached to the appellant’s papers. While it is trite that hearsay evidence may be admitted in urgent applications, the note prepared by the deceased’s mother cannot carry much weight as she was not part of the lobola negotiations and the celebrations that followed.

[23] Notably, no reason was given for not obtaining affidavits from those who were present. In my view, the same effort expended to procure an unsworn statement from the deceased’s mother could have been spent on obtaining a statement from Ms Nomvula. The very fact that the appellant was able to procure a statement from the deceased’s mother actually puts paid to the appellant’s contention that he was not provided with sufficient opportunity to interrogate the factual disputes. When all is said and done, the appellant’s bald denials did not create a bona fide dispute of fact necessitating the referral of the matter for oral evidence or trial, or even the dismissal of the application.

[24] The appellant contended that the fact that both the respondent and the deceased considered culture to be of significance cast doubt on whether they could have intended to conclude a wedding without observing such a crucial aspect of their culture like the handing over of the bride. I disagree. In my view, there is sufficient undisputed evidence from which it can be inferred that the deceased, a successful musician who had a busy schedule,[20] had decided to expedite the conclusion of the customary marriage. The letter requesting a meeting for the lobola negotiations was dispatched relatively soon after he had proposed marriage to the respondent. After the conclusion of the lobola negotiations, the deceased transferred more than the amount he was required to pay as a deposit for the lobola. It is also significant that the deceased and the appellant were in attendance at the respondent’s home even though the family had nominated emissaries that would represent him during the lobola negotiations.

[25] While rituals associated with the handing over of the bride, like the slaughtering of the sheep and the consumption of its bile were indeed not observed, there are some features that bear consideration. It is quite striking that the deceased’s aunts are the ones who provided the respondent with an attire matching that of the deceased and who actually dressed her up in it. That they described it as her wedding dress is quite telling. These are customary practices that are undoubtedly compatible with an acceptance of the respondent by the deceased’s family.

[26] The clearest indication of her acceptance as the deceased’s wife is evidenced by the actual utterances that were made: the respondent was formally introduced as the deceased’s wife and welcomed to the Tsambo family. Thereafter, the appellant embraced her and congratulated her on her marriage to the deceased. Bearing in mind that thepurpose of the ceremony of the handing over of a bride is simply to mark the beginning of a couple’s customary marriage and introduce the bride to the bridegroom’s family,[21] I am inclined to agree with the respondent’s assertion that a handing over, in the form of a declared acceptance of her as a makoti (daughter-in-law), satisfied the requirement of the handing over of the bride.

[27] That the couple continued to cohabit after that celebration and that the respondent registered the deceased as a beneficiary and spouse on her medical aid scheme[22]are features that cannot be dismissed as insignificant, as they are consonant with the existence of a marriage. I am fortified in this view by Professor Bennet’s argument with regards to the handing over requirement. He argued that the parties’ intention could be inferred from cohabitation. According to him, where the parties were cohabiting, the gravamen of the enquiry was the attitude of the woman’s guardian. If the guardian did not object to the relationship, a marriage would be presumed, irrespective of where the matrimonial home happened to be or how the ‘spouses’ came to be living there.[23] Professor Bennett placed reliance on a case in which the Court had remarked that “long cohabitation raises a strong suspicion of marriage, especially when the woman’s father has taken no steps indicating that he does not so regard it”.[24] In this matter, the respondent averred that her mother had not instituted any action for seduction or demanded payment of a fine, well knowing that the respondent cohabited with the deceased. She accepted that the respondent and the deceased had entered into a valid customary marriage.

[28] To sum up: the respondent’s evidence of the events that took place on the day of the lobola negotiations is supported by several confirmatory affidavits. The appellant’s bare denials did not refute the respondent’s evidence. Clearly, the correct application of the Plascon-Evans rule did not preclude the high court from granting final relief on the papers, where the evidence put up by the appellant did not constitute a bona fide factual dispute.

[29] Despite the high court’s misgivings about the application of the Plascon-Evans rule in the context of an urgent application, it is evident that, in reality, it applied the same rule and came to the correct decision regarding the waiver of some of the rituals associated with the handing over of the bride. It is therefore not necessary to determine whether a more robust approach was necessary. To the extent that the high court stated that the Plascon-Evans rule was not satisfactory in the context of urgent applications, it erred.

[30] Having considered all the facts and circumstances of this case, I am persuaded that on 28 February 2016, the respondent and the deceased concluded a customary marriage that complied with all the requirements for a valid customary marriage as contemplated in s 3(1) of the Act. It follows that the appeal against that order of the high court must fail.

[31] Despite the finding that the appeal against the order of the high court ought to fail, there is an aspect that this Court is constrained to pronounce itself on. Having correctly found on the facts of this case that the physical handing over of the bride was waived in favour of a symbolic handing over, the high court, in the process of giving reasons for its order, proceeded to declare that the custom of the handing over of the bride was unconstitutional.

[32] In Director of Public Prosecutions, Transvaal v Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development and Others,[25] the Constitutional Court laid down that a court may raise, of its own accord, the unconstitutionality of a law that it is called upon to enforce.[26] It pointed out that it may do so where (a) the constitutional question arises on the facts; and (b) a decision on the constitutional question is necessary for a proper determination of the case before it or it is in the interests of justice to do so.[27] It pointed out that it was neither necessary nor desirable to catalogue circumstances in which it would be in the interests of justice for a court to raise, of its own accord, a constitutional issue, because that would depend on the facts and circumstances of the case.[28] It stressed that the parties must be afforded an adequate opportunity to deal with the issue.[29]

[33] It must be borne in mind that it was never the respondent’s case that the requirement of the handing over of the bride was unconstitutional. The issue of the handing over of the bride became relevant in so far as establishing whether a customary law marriage came into existence. Given the pleaded case, a decision on the constitutionality of the custom of the handing over of the bride simply did not arise. During the exchange with the bench, both counsel assured this Court that the constitutionality issue was not canvassed during argument before the high court. They bemoaned the fact that the declaration was made without the benefit of full argument. Since prerequisites laid down by the Constitutional Court in the afore-mentioned judgment have not been met, I am inclined to agree that there was no basis for the high court to declare that the handing over custom was unconstitutional.

[34] With regard to costs, counsel for the appellant informed us that he was representing the appellant on a pro bono basis. He submitted that if this Court was inclined to find against the appellant, it should grant an order in terms of which the costs of the appeal are borne by the deceased estate, as the appellant was cited in his personal capacity as well as in his capacity as the head of the Tsambo family. The respondent’s counsel indicated that it left the issue of costs in the Court’s discretion. All things considered, it would be appropriate not to make any order as to costs.

[35] The appeal is dismissed with no order as to costs.

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predict-it · 4 years ago

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Predictable Insights - 8.21.20

Here are the real-money, prediction markets trending on PredictIt, the stock market for politics. This week we hosted VICE News' Liz Landers for another great happy hour chat. Landers gave traders the skinny on the Democratic National Convention and her take on this fall's big showdown between Biden and Trump.

Market prices updated as of 11 a.m. ET on Friday, August 21.

2020 US Presidential Race Update

Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Photo: Official Photos - White House and Senate

Democratic National Convention: It was an unusual Democratic National Convention. Perhaps a better descriptor than convention would have been a the Democratic National Livestream. But regardless of the circumstances, Democrats rolled out the heavy hitters of their party, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) appearing to quell the fears of the left, and former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama serving to go after President Donald Trump, and highlight their “friend” and “brother,” former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden spoke last night, and the reviews were good, even from seemingly unlikely sources.

Fox News’ Chris Wallace said, "Remember, Donald Trump has been talking for months about Joe Biden as [being] mentally shot, a captive of the left," Wallace said during Fox News special coverage of the Democratic National Convention. "And yes, Biden was reading from the teleprompter and a prepared speech, but I thought that he blew a hole, a big hole, in that characterization."

Will the markets move today based on this reaction? Stay tuned to find out.

ICYMI, Don’t Worry, We Taped It: We hosted Liz Landers, VICE News’ DC correspondent, on our virtual happy hour series this week. Liz discussed some reporting nuggets that might be very helpful in making your decisions on key markets. Click here to see the discussion in full.

Swamp News: No, we're not talking about Washington, DC this time. Head a little farther south and, in Florida, there's a ballot measure that could enfranchise 1.4 million felons. VICE has followed this story over the past year and chatted with us about it. With market odds getting closer and closer, how the court decides could swing the election in this very important swing state.

Market: Which party will win Florida in the 2020 presidential election?

Election Overtime: Anxieties amongst Americans across the political spectrum are understandably high, as many begin to navigate life beyond lockdowns, again. While it's still more than two months away, the election and logistics of voting loom large, too. As Congress returns to session tomorrow for a fight over the future of the United States Postal Service, some even wonder if enough votes will be cast and counted in time to declare a winner on Election Night. We spoke about the issue with Landers (who shared a similar forecast).

Next week: PredictIt will ask its crowd when they expect to know the 46th president.

Groundhog's Day 2020? Landers recently visited Wisconsin to talk to voters about Biden’s vice presidential pick in Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). But as far as reporters in the field go, she's not in the majority. Reporters across the country have been grounded in the wake of COVID-19. Could this alter the way news organizations understand the electorate? Could it create a repeat of 2016? Democrats are holding strong in the market for which party will win the presidency, but as we close in on Nov. 3, what information is being missed? We talked to Landers about whether a Trump win is possible.

Market: Which party will win the 2020 US presidential election?

Next PredictIt Happy Hour: Next week, join us for a PredictIt Virtual Happy Hour with CNN commentators Maria Cardona and Alice Stewart as they look back at the DNC and discuss the happenings of the RNC. We’re very excited to have this duo on considering their very busy schedules. They just launched a new podcast, "Hot Mics from Left to Right," where they discuss what they didn’t have time to get to air, but is a much-needed conversation at an unprecedented time of partisanship and politics. Alice and Maria have a unique ability to bring hot topics of conversation to the fore, with respect, civility and intellectual honesty. Register here.

Other Market Commentary from the PredictIt Community

To kick off the Democratic National Convention this week, Election Whisperer Rachel Bitecofer hosted an all-star lineup of campaign strategists, operatives and activists. Guests included Jessica Post (president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee), Ezra Levin (co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible), Shannon Watts (founder of Moms Demand Action) and Guy Cecil (chair of Priorities USA). Check out the full show here.

The Political Trade dropped a new episode titled "Mark Vargas: Breaking Blago & Presidential Pardons." Mark Vargas has more than earned his political insider credentials as the so-called “mystery man” who achieved the impossible: nearly single-handedly brokering Trump’s commutation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence. But that’s not all. Vargas also assisted in securing Roger Stone’s recent commutation. He tells the full story, as well as sharing his insights on Jared Kushner, Kanye West, Mark Cuban, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort that you don’t want to miss!

The Art of the Possible invited Kathy Peach, the head of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at Nesta (UK), on the show to discuss, among other things, why people are either good or bad at predicting, why women don’t bet more and why prediction markets could replace insurance one day.

We recently mentioned a new newsletter that’s dedicated to trading in political prediction markets joining the fray — The Voting Odds. If you have enjoyed the tips in the newsletter, you’ll love the podcast, too!

State of the 2020 Elections in Two Graphics:

Source: PredictIt.org

Source: http://electiondice.com/

Crowdsourced

Crowds are information-aggregation machines. Here are some disparate nuggets of wisdom we found informative from the PredictIt crowd this week:

Old Man Wisdom — “The usual touchstone, whether that which someone asserts is merely his persuasion — or at least his subjective conviction, that is, his firm belief — is betting. It often happens that someone propounds his views with such positive and uncompromising assurance that he seems to have entirely set aside all thought of possible error. A bet disconcerts him. Sometimes it turns out that he has a conviction which can be estimated at a value of one ducat, but not of ten. For he is very willing to venture one ducat, but when it is a question of ten he becomes aware, as he had not previously been, that it may very well be that he is in error. If, in a given case, we represent ourselves as staking the happiness of our whole life, the triumphant tone of our judgment is greatly abated; we become extremely diffident, and discover for the first time that our belief does not reach so far. Thus pragmatic belief always exists in some specific degree, which, according to differences in the interests at stake, may be large or may be small.” — Immanuel Kant, former PredictIt trader

A Defense of Election Forecasting Models — "Critical thinking and analysis of information is as important as learning how to read or do basic arithmetic. It is especially important in the context of elections where pre-existing biases are deeply embedded in what information we expose to ourselves, how that information is presented to us, and how receptive we are to it. All modelers strive to be right, but ultimately, we hope the public will interpret our data with a skeptical eye and use it to refine — not define — their own viewpoints." — Scott Tranter, UVA Center for Politics

Prediction of the Week — Some political forecasters, as early as Dec. 2018, raised the contrarian proposition that the online fundraising campaign “We Build The Wall,” which was spearheaded by Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former 2016 campaign manager, could ultimately end up in a criminal lawsuit. That bold prediction appears to have paid off this week.

Submit your comments and links for this section via Twitter by tagging @PredictIt and the hashtag #crowdsourced with your submission. If we select your comment for the newsletter, you get a $10 credit!

In Case You Missed It!

PHOTO: THE EPOCH TIMES/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

PredictIt markets were mentioned often in the news this week, including by: CNN Business, National Review, MarketWatch, DraftKings (1 and 2), Reason Magazine, FintechZoom, Casino.org (1 and 2) and EconoTimes.

This Week's Quotable — from the EconoTimes’ article: “Will Trump or Biden win the US election? This could be a better predictor than the polls”:

"We know that prediction market prices match the underlying probabilities because empirical and lab research has looked at thousands of such market predictions, grouped all with a price of $0.4 together, and found that the predicted event underlying the asset, for example, the election of a particular candidate, did indeed occur in 40 percent of these cases. Similarly, for prices of $0.5, the underlying event occurred in 50 percent of cases, and so on. The prices are well-calibrated as probability forecasts."

We are always crowdsourcing new market ideas from traders. Send ideas to [email protected]. Be sure and include a legitimate resolution source.

Thanks for following the markets!

Team @PredictIt

#predictit #prediction markets #political forecasts #political futures #political technology #2020 election #Trump #biden #convention

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airoasis · 6 years ago

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News Now Stream 4/24/19 (FNN)

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/news-now-stream-4-24-19-fnn/

News Now Stream 4/24/19 (FNN)

Turned tragic proper now our sister station fox thirty two in Chicago reporting that a body has been located. Close this wooded subject in Woodstock Illinois this is very shut. To within the subject of where this lacking boy he is welcome right here to information now we are expecting. A an FBI investigation as soon update on that as good. Well as we got these are living pix into the newsroom — a bit of earlier this morning it began off as Ariel’s hanging and no longer unusual in any respect. To peer – you know with the stories of a lacking little one — that you would have photos coming in of a of an area being searched.You keep in mind the story. Of a younger girl who went out for a jog this was last yr. There in the Midwest in Iowa in a small city in Iowa and turned up missing in they had more than one syringes for her. Out within the farm lands out corn fields — just hoping — To you realize be capable — To both in finding her or recover bodies. And so it was once no longer. 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Weere athe pole stion by using It w a coue of hrs lat And e nexthing wknew a law forcemt newconferceas beg set r latein theay d then whave t pictus from t sce. F g u n rselves — Th thi ecificlys t by using of a lile misng A t lite Boy you g awher inhisveearld bo. Is outind oin theuburbsyesrhon e ah yea so th is t really.Burbs andust ver erybyn th enrcemen w for six days nowas ll i’ve been ying ttrack do that lt. So a l of bl ribbo out there olle . Signal at a hom- just wn the stet fro the place. This familiva And it jusit doe’t loogood concsions werin staby mod for ths confence thas anoerind interting aect tit all. Is theact tt the FBI isn morehan just police topic thicr all right so we will have tha fut sttbin iwasupposedo At ts hrut now it’been nce ph back up just aittl bit sog y need to talk about will have it.For you correct here. News now that isne of thbig orie her of theay viously all correct a different — preserving trackf justoments ago president trump in the First lady walking down the steps of Air drive One in Atlanta. Where they’ll be quickly speaking about the drug difficulty in Americ- principally opioids — The president correctly on the south garden of the White residence or a bit elier this morning with anothe onef the impromptu news conferences and he did not off. By speaking abo how theirst woman e . A faiamount otime worng on a reality Malani in to ke se he was getting the fts.Ght and said tt I lieve we’re. Areelling folkshat ere’ bee abo a 17% reduion. A reporte usef opioids thinhisast yeaand she mentioned she sok her head to t affia. An so- Forhe fst cple whicou d’tm e evy bits mh as is.Rng o And nowhis jor speh. Atlta wch i wbelie — righ therend hers a liv okt the pium right there youan see as t crowd he is waing. For threside a the Fst La a when at hpens of coursee’llu heren news now s Alread rig ohe sta now we have numerous mong parts already and it tbrintia and i as we it forheseig. Monts to happen yh an is most like anymore my he eve with a wita littlender ten minute. Impromptu othe uth lawn it’s like. Ght there are such a large amount of ou of what he d to assert at present heb speaking about. Quite he stated in summaryhat wts to e thount as Spificly knohow vonrom high wi thery tsubpoenaskw yo proper and yowonder Wh doe the presidentiste to it appears he’s an excellent relationshipith s ne cef of employees? US- Somebodyay b aisin the president on sort of you kn wha tone he should be takingow we don’t absolutely is is possess man he’s gog to tweet whatever he needs to tweet and say atev he ntso sa — but ithisartilar illustration — He what he did do the fee and i’ve been questioning when at used to be going to return — Becausehe wle his argument against Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats is that they are gng to show themselves to the part of investigate examine .And no longer absolutely get quite a lot of things executed. So t they’rell kds ople — And adlis Nancy Pelosioday saying with the president is stonalling the United Stes Congso see is xes hs no gng t it is going to be a legal fht goes downm. Up allhe w in e Suemetelnd court — you know so that’s family of brewingut tre in phrases of the connection between the 2 but if the president’s gonna make the argumt.On the Democrats are the celebration of investigate — examine collusion investigate obstruction of in my tax vested in my household then he wishes to get off that topic. Right so he he was on a for somewhat even as in these days and you are going to play a few of that i am sure Yoll hear he used to be without doubt on that subject for a bit of at the same time speakme aut Moeer and the way he made the assumption. The molars tv would have financ and seemed it is taxes don knoif tt’s e ca or not — Bh e vot. And he stated it’s time for . To determine how we are able to begin to work on some of tse b issu the h so that’ll binteresting simply see himake that move it as he df cou keeup on at.Ah and rig n mean once spng breakheirxtendedor tir spring bak correct now so I nogetting the information one ey’re now not even there to receive the good day man could be pleasant Mike to have a have a job the place which you could set yrwn earnings and also you’r On vation -So Thf vacations I mea On the u to ke ae other sidofhe cn whh of course had been trained to do — If u we aongressm oa nato fro s Newersey. Or Delare. Omewre almost DCt’s allyot tt b a dl b the theongred mennd the senators from Washington and Ogon and kn youave two full days ofirniau avel ery sgle wee bathom s. Monday is a trav dayo get ther –n ce you’re wondering why are there no longer a lot of headline o of Congress on a Monday or Friday. That’s why. Tuesday Wednesday Thursday these of the three working days so and Monday presupposed to be the day th fly i. Ide is ppos to be at present the fly and so that is kindf the way in which itorks. Michael it’ such a day we must add up the wle number vacate days..I suppose it’l a rather rather as I heardou sa a ltle bit oDelawa and their spkingn Delare I about. Bing oka the enormous dayor overbi inl intesting isn it.Nuth Becae the headlin the day past used to be at a NeHampshe and it’s impornt state. Buit cou potenally ba that Bere Sands is pretttleit st ll known aretty willighten n that — part of Ne door in rmont — ts in Moouth ces o with is a national. Pollhat sa holdn a mine w e . O and oted Jdish. Most cching by. In that her pu that w Hashireollere’s eir snapsh. Of whe stands nationally witby 27% unwell wel aheadfernie Saers at 20%. An to dge aittle further hind welsubstaially fuher bind. Th set theres a quite intestingtory- This moing ou therey that — Thes somof these candites de dot knowho relatively Weeally d’t and but that a few of ese ndidat are. Or rame-p wi dirn ved genne rht So call the D. O. . All on who to penitentiary. And that i imply he he is starseen singo quick.To Joe by means of hring h numbe ve beestrongndor the st parof stad stro we asmehereas hwas somef thosstorie — That we so netiveowardoe Biden or thls whene wasn his decion king pcess severely i youe anotr ndidatend you suppose youe goome magi iormaon peop who a willi to co ahead to share that detrimental. Inrmatn whyot put it in the market when the man nonetheless attempting whether he’s going to run or not so whonows I virtually believe like within the entrance of the curiosity of frt trsparency. And anybody from The N Yor Time n in Keokuk Iowa when they report a sty. That. Clearlys poor at a exact candidate I suppose like they must have the state. Who gave them that expertise? This is it can be referred to as off fl research it happs at all times – however I feel like they will have to say ay soul somepposition research used to be provided to us by using.Pick your candidate toll so ye. She appears to pleasant. Ah but Ieant do hapn al pa oft is everybo interesting as kinof cerom zero tobling up e hero. Litelly inside about oneonh Annie Elizabeth Warren need to be thinkinghat I have got to do. We s wor anoer pgrama malove polits yomay be aware she li. Bu she is she is significantly placing the suggestions available in the market after which what occurs is. Other candidates tral to continuously resnd ther d her ide m e mo rect one was cngen the x sucta companies like Amananno be in a sittion whe the make as a lot moneys they do. And Jeff basins pen’s riche he does on businesses on all those types of thinnd a we l recognize we suggested to the Amaz web page zero on federal That’snbelievable so you realize loophole I figure you are actually think for the year conservative or liberal you appear at that and also you say welow c that. Stated I goa pn for tha. Thrigh.Ng on bothhe lt and No I that could be a road to enty entynd is ju htingp erybody but now let exhibit you litt bitn president trump’s comment oside othe White residence.As with lani- As wel. The variety of special they may be thmari one yes they areff visiting collectively on this one is interesting. Keep silent although ok there we go — more news now coming. The stock market. Three from an monetary standpoint is doing the excellent traditionally it can be ever executed. Waiting ales ain. Clos to or over 100 instances is an president. The time of the election. Quality they’ve ever been via a ways. We now have nearly a hundred to sixteen folks working in these days of the USA that’s more th. Three earlier than. We’re doingell and we’re doing matters are goi goo I convey within the Firstady proper now she’s labored very hard on the costs. Have been down about 17%. From final year whichs pretty potent what down. 17% for the opioids problems a bi probl is a. We’re ndli. The doctors areorki with us. They are working with further work s woing th us.Is amounof progrs Jo AnI ha beethe st And esidt a admn y far. We simply went by way of theall whi. Where you ad? Real ehteeangrDemos at eight psident drop the eight AM with advert. They we contriy cases Alary however eher th a passion. I have no idea. And eyame witno llusn a sincerely alame Atrneyener centered on the he all over the place the situation.S They verify my finciand th cheed my taxes I asme. Washe mt. U shouldrobay. Feel I read whereheyotry I I say is enghe hundred ople. Get back to infrtr. The reducing tas get bac to loweringrug ices thas wh.Relatively that’s what we should do The survey i These armpartial pee . Twty tnty t goain with e peoplehat see And ey’rnot ing n ains me the onlyay ty ca could lo. D Ion’think tt’s nna opsite tt’s at a l ofe opleayin. The ly w the getockeout r me. Nonnseut ty suld relatively foced o n ivehis a ligatedust you understan alstince received intoffior the lasta now. Youant litate. Afr the DNC. Lary The rty jobll othese matters thas what to be litigated. Because that was a rigged syem. Breaking down i’m breaking down the swap in case you seem at what’s taking place. They getting. Fi what’ gng to ppen from w on b I ope. I en is vetrong. But ifou can di. Alrit people and sy rig he with us had been folwing a two bit ftou’re tang aive appear Illins wre pole andBI agtsre at a sce in odstoc Illinshere ty recoved a b.Learngn simply littl bit i at is. Unfortately indd the misng t long gone week after which to e rightou e awting psident trump remar dhe Fir Lademarks abus he on this untry we’ ve itll f youight he on newnow hk g righ now in theed buttill. Holding an extraordinarily strongoday I every body maybe certain welcome bo the d we will he psideeref trpike I sdt just ase alws have it for u he in i entetyhat’ wre we prefer to e neonferences. T a slice of a you don get everytng o rig rig he on news n f . Let’s get me da to industry briefs right now from Tracy Carr. By means of Amazon ia method to make receivingour ckages mor handy andafe whe you arawayrom hom.Enables for delivery people to situation applications inside your home or car to be certain they will not get stolen beforeou g hom and now Amazon has expanded t servicewo gages you’ll nd eligible discipline and have a my queue connected garage door. Opener for those who alrdy possess a m queur enerll youaveo do i nnected with the E. Key with the aid of Amon as. Disneyould en as mh as % zero% of al ticket sales in North the usa this summer time that is in line with a rert in the rap biest dralong with seval polar filmranchises T ory for The Lion King a Aladnre all set to debut within the coming months.For reog on to fox business dot com in Ne. Thing there so much Tra you for that updat wel thisext orye first bught it tyou stery as itas hpeni On t lucest twey fourearbut nown freakingay that wasanuel Frco’s rction when he realiz he was once protecting. Sevehundreand sty eigket worth llion dlars in m heart began rt for out 5 or t minutes anco w the oy perso to check al Fivnumbers. Whilst onarch twey seventh making him the seconigge a loery htorye says he had od fling abo snding t On his manner hom from rkast moh. I honestly felt soucky thatI di lookt at e cama a I really wante to n got it becausIy feeling Franco says he stored his mouth shut aboutis b win Evenallo e after knewhat I’of wor I I work aa discontinue houseent in mu that — i am re to evyone awork high-quality however and Ieally desired say sething that I kn that i was once unhealthy decion and that i pe for wk aga.As for wt’s nextor Frao he ys that he wan to be careful about how he spends his profitable. T wanted to trel theorld I pl to li my liormal as as muc ase osehe lum sum ch optn for hello wina after taxes he’salkingway withhry six llion dolrs. Lauren Bncha fox ns tha u Laen tre whiife wellut I sorhere.Chaing as jother immiate aft Winng the jkpe dn’tant opleo fi out That’sow peo fi outf the. En y’re ite rht aer dide simply w the lotte Iyeoplgone woerf the waa lo of hen thoffiayin.Uorke — Isotere oious someing’ goi onnteg hofullhe spends it had inveed- Sma allightext doorhat r ye we e awting pside trum to lk d cris Inhis cntry and abrdo a dera procuto nowakin onharmaceucal companie introduced the firstver dru traffiing crges again a armaceical cpany a two distriting prescriion medications helped gas the opioid epidemic Lawrce dol the thirdheging former CEu cooperative for our DC with algedly tfficking tens o llions of tablets to armacies.Identified tillegay allotting naotics the iictment also claiming our DC and its executives made the deliberate determination to now not invesgate or alert federal rulators about phmacyustome ty kne extra disnsino pele for nonedicalses om twenttwelveo twty sixteen thef l skyrketed durghe perd RDC genered one pnt tallege in . Billion dlars of revenue fro e sale of controlled materials. The station was tied to that revenue. The seventy 5 year historic former CEO surnderin to thorities on Tuesday he is chard wit consring to distribute oxy code . And coniring to defraud the Drug Enforcement Administration which lift a minimal ten year jail sentence greenbacks legal professionals saying he’s being framed.Mr down won’t. Serve as their scapegoat. Thoroughly intends to fight that is In N Yor Jry bb gaen. Ne Theror tt uate a brand new learn correct now sws that young adults rather feel. They feel — quite often everything is dependable take a look at this. One it’s emerge as this new matters like I do not know myophomo ar in excessive university to dwelling here started vaping to support her stop cigarettes but i do not think it can be doing so much. To residence understands and understood every hit a virtual ges a a higy coentrated. Nicotine in new studyut of of teegers sdyouaid th 4 dates n nicotine pducts test pitive foricotinathen resechs proven of cocaine.As a whole. As heroin dependancy psychologist doctor Harris straighter worries this abilities lack of expertise among younger people about what they are feeding might leave them settl wh the nancia burden and abilities wellbeing influences of nicote liveio forhe res of eir n me you. Cry even grter stilating feelin in line with thU. S. Cents for disse ctrol and prevention estimatour int eight . Incrse fm the yea befor% everybode a lotf thes. Inhe batoom in the liary the peop in oseooms w flaved.G up withhese ping pducts absutely no that they appea to yoger audiense t the flavorsffery sobody’s nicotine baiting products. It imy favore the bacof the roomn fortress otheartf thei nufacters tappeal to younger persons.Many of which the Sny Brook college gain knowledge of finds might be didn’t have an understanding of what they’re putting into their our bodies if we can appeal to you with berries. And then it did she with nicotine that may be a long run sales circulation it is large so that you see it all over the place in the East Village I Max king. Box five news. And individuals we are simply now moments faraway from an FBI update in Illinois on the the missing the boys search we’ll convey it to your correct here. On news now you’re taking a are living appear at Woodstock Illinois this is where police and FBI dealers had been calming this wooded area. And our sister station fox thirty two in Chicago reporting that a body.Has been determined on this area and now we are waiting for that update might it’s the lacking a fiveear olboy. Be me newsow by way of xtwhat tragi and ce bko ne noy doppreateouoining u Ne Jery rig nowhere thereay wreo used to be hugehild predator skig the bd sieen ople had been aeste incding g s lksncluding aolicfficer Of making an attempt tsolit intercourse from a minor take a appear at this every body administrative center. In help partial agent in argeicha Reinhd Ofomelan. Shiff.Lke al have our And om Bern couy localaw put in force. I’dike toecogze and Rdy St Bri g. An uer sdle rir % eutena. Da allowg dedicated. We’re also grateful to operatn unites president and CEO hi Nancy ailes thank you. Thanks also to an incredible. Serv in a nner works d and nit No matte what i need at ast they’re all cl amid the strangest hrs he is continuously therworking Secretary Alex Cesary best Alex was once dng. Robertedfield who’selping us a radids V as by twenty thirty and where there was once going to be equipped to try this. Humans are shot please rise up sold. Forecely in a speeche will a renegad is via twenty thirty net ogress and so they failed to understand speakme about they could not speech health care professional they stated you imply that that’s righte’reoing to ha it round a gated. Through twey thirty thank y very much doctor very imptant. Also with us i. Th lieenant goverr of this greatd Brn.N whoseork tough with The mixture of Jeff Dunn and Bryan has bn. More often than not ueatae doing a fabuus job Jeff thank you very so much Jeff where are y Jeff. Jeff thanks. Jeff. Best jobeall greohn Mrs And the Geoia Aorneyeneral Chris automobile.Chris thank you. He is in the figI ow that. As well as participants of ngress Rick Allen. Drew Ferguson bBarry hell out of milk. Have a that’s a prettyall we we’ve got been doing ok togher Avue. Now we have been doing god’s to all the oplen this room to serve ery day. The frontiers and entrance traces I haa challenge it’s you ever in theratitude. Of our allntoouration you can also now not even comprehend it. Butur natn loves you and so they love what you’re doing thanyou very so much. The primary responders who deliver patients back to lifestyles. Yo a theaw enfcement Drug traffickers to justic. You’re the doctorsurse and coung strength tbuild.E and solace and A brighter and brighter ture. Of usa citizens overcome addiction For a new life of freedom. My ainistrations depying each useful resource atur disposal to empower you. Support you. Ane g Weill now not sol this epidem ernight. But wilstop. There is simply nothing that’s — Plaster topic the way you cutt i know one of the vital humans in this room nothi stoou. Unless our j is finished.N telyou. Andhenaybe o findomething new and that i hop tt’s going to be soon b we willucceede have resule mbers that I heard two weeks ago. That used to be bowled over to listen to. Whenakin significant progress every year extra tn seventy thound pcious American lives are lost?O the opioids and drug . And inmy opinion t quantity is much larger than that. To safeguard all american citizens my administration declared the opioidpidec nation large A colossal step.Mgency. Sincehen we have secured a file six billion dlars. Opid crisi.G to fight the And that is the most ever. And we’r going for even higher numbers ts ye. Th year we providedinety sutance abuse.Eventse The support for patients and communities ahe lgestver leslative effor to combat a nation’s hisry.Sis in r it is the larst ever. Following the w Ofy doctor geners and plenty of hers ltear th distribution. Ofhe ordos revsing dgs naudible Naloxone. Improved by way of over.One million. Models prey aming stuff. Expa aesso remedy restoration another crucial activities and serces. L tought ouration we promises to statesotaling a report two billion dolla. Areow permitting stateso use Medicaid money to pay for residential treatmen facilities a ty’re beinbuilt all over the place the country. In my first yearn ofce the quantity of paentseceiving. Remedy aisted tatment at community wellness centers ineased through sixty four% know what the esident did the nor the gift. We haven’t any alternative we haven’t any alternative We handed t cre bac. To develop remedy for motrs and phical based oopios.N For our. ‘remprovi soreness administration fewer veterans or ooids considering Jak you at. 0-002-30. With the aid of t means f thehis. Forty toet it.Hiya’ve been attempting Asou understand. Simply rectly I signed n oice. Veteran cano and if the moist is going to be. Ys or weeks or months which is prate doctor. Go out and spot a Take instantaneous care. We pay for to care for the it’s been an fantastic it’s it’s new and it can be been.Incredib theifference it’s bad. And simply monthsgo I sigd bipaisan criminal justice among different critica chang the firs step back supplies dependancy tatment to americans in prison. That in jus four months. Greater than sixen thousand intes are taking part a brand new medications trit. Criminalustieform I need to say — Peoe getting out of pron. And in view that our founding theyere havingn impossible time tting a job. Bu becau o economic climate is doing wel. Rhaps the fine it is er bn numbers in historical past.Mpyment fine the whole thing considering that of th Becae of thi prisone getting ou. S employers becse I spe to quite a bit oar overjoyed. Th hado thought. I am so proud of thatohe satisfactory economy has me it. Muchasier they get out and th they must prov themselvesndever received they pve theelves. W job now not alof them. Staggering there’s nothing falabouany us. T they a doing apectacular b. So Iant tthank all of you d Iant to thank cgresan need to ank you f helping me with that case will have to be have been very instrumental thanks very so much exndingederal efforts tobor i help.Recoveri americans fd a gre. In our store into trying to me. Consequently of our historic financial boom ao. Including up all americans from all walks lifestyles. Incling individuals who havbeen for the period of theain of addicti. Getting a 2nd a thi and in see and so they’re mang it. Theye makg it and ty reallyave sothinto le. R a few of th say w love gettin ue r jo. D in the event that they d’t like the job in view that of what is happene it is a micle a over the wld that speaking abo wt’s happed. Ifhey do not just like the job the have alternative also like the vets ey he alternative the alternative o going out and discovering a Thathey ke bter. Tremendous impa final year a recor 73% of the brand new jobs went to folks who are Coming again to work for thee no. First time in big apple yrs. These new eloyed citizen are becoming a member of fivpoint fe Fod jobs nce the electn. Drivin l employment rat. To its lowest lel in fiy one years. Ands you recognize whilst you’ve hed me sayt.Lost. Amerin uneloyment Inhe histo of our untry. Asian Amerin unemploent lowest io cotry. Lowest in the historical past of our. Individuals the graduate witut a lowest in the hisry o o country. Ladies Sorry. Lowest in sixty e years. However will soon have the report. Will soon have the record. We’re ing have that document. To we’re all Amecans we’re all . We a the strongest when n one My administration is committed to making sure that each citizen n liveith digty and cause and proudly purehe Ameri. Adnistration’s powerful help. For religion founded Initiatives. Americas a nation that belies in the werf pray. An we lieve within the grace of Ouof right here with us tay is door Montyurke’s. Nineteen years in the past Monty tned his existence Fr his place of origin church helped him to get. No Mon works for Tennessee is. What a best state. Thats director of their faith o. Established covery. And tell us a bit of bit about yourork high-quality. My administration can also be barkedn a urecedent crinal networks crackdonne authorized internatial spments. The deadl flo of medications in our cotry. The prior two yea ctoms math a cocaine and heroiand Fent all. On the southn border. Are up 45% and gng up much excessive l Problyo thnumbersoday. Deining cturing call it extra pplehanver befe a few of thot ople wwant in oucouny An i’ll s borr patrol has been incdible the’s by no means been a.That border. The ke theres tay up thugho Mexic Mexicwas starng. To detain and bring again to thei. Once they got here from? Bua lof iis drugsnd medicinal drugs are Being Gotteny us we are spping the dr flows so much as we will soon. ‘re gonna have wall this would bery powerfulalls it is underneath conruction. The mediag about it. The media doesn’like. To one in every of many things had been doing however en that wall is finish you intendo have. It can be fouhundred milesf wall constructed. With the aid of the tip of nt yr have been probly ahead of schedu a little bit . ‘ll have a trendous impac on druy an we haany other tngs includg te Than you c b hundrs of miions o bucks of e bes. Ug dection eipment which you could have. D I aays say ts becse as od as at apparatus is ingeniou.The greatest equipmente world is a canine. Puppies. A ctain sort oGerman shepherd ipartular. To a greater job thanour hundred million llars worth of can you bs would realise tha. He stated to the boer patrol the otr day they have been giving me. A little bit bit of a run down on ths hundreds and hundreds with just about five hundred llion greenbacks worth of equipmt at t porf entry. I said how does this compare. To those exceptional to althis I noticed. He.Saronestly the dogs about I sa you bought to be kding it incredie they usually showe mend it’s simply first rate in the first-class puppies and we chish them. Ale kills. Tee hundr ericans a wee. Ninety% of which entersur country via our southern border. We’re doing the whole lot. To empow ourselv s that we are able to keephis poison out of our co. And far from our kids one can find some very very giant differences within the coming month. Ere had been shooting people tt you would not think? Introduced that noted run once I got here down and i’m certain no person saw this after I came down the escalator with.Malani a our waitresI don’t suppose someone saw that. But I made an extraordinarily robust assertion abo the border. It is no longer that dangerous will limited. Thattatent was peanuts. In comparison with reality peanutst reity.All time compared to however we’re confronti. Ality and cfronting the grave secury and you manipulate for the duration of main issue on our southern boer. And at’s why Ie declared a country wide emergency which is strictly what it’s. We now have secured historical funding to strengtn border security. Incling the gear. For the duration of the wall. The extra border patrol agents. Is that youon’tven have to recognize aboo knowbout. Congress mus additionally acte f nonetheless. Obsolete Uhhuh. Thanks Mr pside firly speak. Time and possibility to Borofessnally and peonal. Fami’s lif.Ed mlife a my Wo forhe sta pole in Virgin for thirty e yr. Enter . 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They are going to make it ar crime. It is no longer a criminal offense now sits down as an industrial drug. Antheye gonna make it a crime and they’re going t cost humans with the highest degree of crime In Ch. Like in our couny. The highest level of crime is very very high it’she perfect you paid the ideal pric. So I recognize that very a lot. Nce I sigdhe stop act int law our potent customs and border protectionffics of stopped.Over six timesore packages from accomplishing Amerin drste g deal. And border prection officers. On the seaport in Savannah. Just lately discovere an estimated nineteen million dollars valued at In cargo of Coloian Polls. At present we’re proud to be joined with the aid of two officers who helped find James longnd Erica nles. Andhank y bot f your courageous work. The where are you individuals had been I you come on come on up here Thank t ofll. And agn than you f all you ppor it’een aong rd d wre glaand e priden Gl to ve y all bind ubehind us. As y all o our bigge hel just about day. A hstack day on your recreation thank you.Thank you both very so much first-class job. So many incredle folks tha I met doingxactly wt you are doing. To allf the customsnd border defense offers t agents and state and neighborhood regulation forcement. The he tod we An we’re with you the entire way. We had billions of dolrs of mitary equipmenthichhe previo ade to offer u. To legislation enforcent and that i u very a lot. Many drug businesses are giving Euroan nations a better deal. They provide their o country and that has to stop wvelrea Mang se that ourreat seors Medare. Will share in the discounts given to other international locations. What that mns.The sophisticates available in the market that do ts for a living you know precisely it’s a b deal unds like. The deal however it quite is a g deal. At lengthy last we’re stopping the drug organizations in foreig international locations fromeading. 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#5-year-old #abuse #Air Force One #Andrew AJ Freund #Arizona #boy #Crystal Lake #drug #first lady #Georgia #Illinois #Joe Biden #Melania Trump #Mike Pence #missing #opioids #Phoenix #President Donald Trump #summit

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batterymonster2021 · 6 years ago

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News Now Stream 4/24/19 (FNN)

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/news-now-stream-4-24-19-fnn/

News Now Stream 4/24/19 (FNN)

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guigz1-coldwar · 3 years ago

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'Hope': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out!

'Hope'

"I'm just glad that we found you, Yiri,"

Chapter Summary: Yirina & Zasha are trying to stay focus and well in their situation, awaiting a light of hope to come for them...until...

Link of the Picrew here!

To read it on AO3, click here!

Words : +3500

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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That's all that I & Zasha wanted at the moment to get out of here...a sense of hope coming to save us...Park, Portnova, the SAS...they're our hope but now, we have to wait...wait inside that small cell and let the time pass, trying to stay focus on not losing our minds in here as for me, my left eye's vision was worse, all blurred with now only my right eye that can see right. It was making me sad to think about it and I was trying to not think of it but having a stinging eye wasn't helping...I'm feeling bad...

It was long, very long to wait, Zasha staying near me at my right and the only good place that I could see perfectly, and our eyes were mostly focused in front of us as if we were awaiting at any moment someone to come in and each time, a noise was heard through it, we were preparing ourselves, was it going to be someone from Perseus? Was it going to be our saviors? Each time, unfortunately, it was false hopes when we were thinking about getting saved, it was just maybe the Perseus guards behind that door...each time...

I couldn't know if it was good or not but it seems that Beck's intervention hours ago stopped the two crazy Perseus agents, Bellamy & Sarah, to come here & fuck up my eye again but the bad was already done with it. They stopped coming here & since what happened, no one came to check on us, leaving us alone to dream & wonder what time it could be...was it the afternoon? The night? Having no means to know was...disturbing and I was starting to think that it was like days that we're here.

A long time passed until as usual, some noises were getting heard through the door while I & Zasha thought that it was just the guard before suddenly, the door was getting unlocked, and then, opened widely to reveal Beck alone, just him, not even his friend Lukas or the two crazy ones with him. It was just him, looking very normal and wearing the same clothes as the last time.

"You're okay?" He asked us, entering the cell and letting the door open behind him.

"Do you think that we could say yes now?" I told him with a low sarcastic tone, pointing at me & Zasha who shook their head at me.

"I'm sorry, it's just that..." Beck sounded apologizing to us, knowing that his question is a bit stupid to ask at this moment. "I think that you're thirsty, right?" He guessed, taking out from the inside of his jacket, a bottle of water.

"Yes..." Zasha whispered, offering their left hand towards the bottle that Beck urged to give them quickly. "Thirsty," They muttered between their lips before they starts to drink the bottle.

"You don't have...anything to eat?" I asked Beck as he was nearly kneeling in front of us.

"No, I'm sorry," He replied, shaking a bit his head at us. "I would have liked to but Bellamy & Sarah refused that I go down with food and only with that bottle," He pointed out the bottle that Zasha was drinking before they finished.

"Here, Yirina," Zasha offered me the bottle in my hand that I take gently, wanting to finish it quickly too, the feeling of thirst inside my throat. "What time is it?" Zasha demanded, sounding to have enough to be in the unknown about it.

"Uhm..." Beck drifted his eyes towards his left wrist to look at a silver watch on it. "It's evening, 7:21 PM," He revealed and even if it was relieving to know the exact time, that wasn't doing really something to us.

"I thought that Lukas will be with you," I said after I got my lips away from the bottle, putting it gently on my right, just in the space between me & Zasha.

"Nein, they send him away," Beck declared in a low voice, joining his hands together. "Told him to leave England to go back to Russia and I couldn't do anything," He added, his right hand moving behind his head to scratch it.

"They? Bellamy & Sarah?" Beck nodded when I tell him those names. "Shit, those two are the worst," I exclaimed in a clear voice, making Beck laugh a little.

"Yeah, the two are fuckin' strict, even avoiding me to take some of my Judge Dredd comics for relief," He alleged, the two of us getting along on the subject.

"You read comics?" Zasha questioned him, sounding curious to know.

"Of course," Beck responded directly, giving them a little smile. "Before, there were some NATO defectors that make me learn of comics with this Judge Dredd, and since, I'm a fan of this character," He announced, sounding very good to tell that to us. "You know him?"

"Never heard," I said.

"A few times," Zasha said, making me turn my head slightly at them. "You should read some when...you know," They advised me, sounding low at the end of their sentence.

"I'm sure that..." Beck was going to say something before suddenly, a big boom was getting felt inside the room, making some dirt falling off the ceiling. "Scheisse, what's going on?" He cursed, turning his head around outside the cell to see some people running in a direction...was it...our saviors...

"Beck!" A loud voice was heard coming into the cell, and then, we could see Bellamy arriving inside the cell, in a sort of panic. "Beck, here you are!" He mumbled as he was at our sight with a masked man behind him.

"What's happening, Bellamy?" Beck demanded, curious to know.

"The SAS has found our location and is closing in, we need to leave," He answered, making me & Zasha look at each other with wide eyes...finally.

"And Sarah?" Beck asked, his voice not really sounding worried about her to be honest.

"Sarah is with her team at the parliament for the bomb, don't worry," Bellamy told him in a clear voice before his eyes went on me & Zasha who give him back the same glare he was giving us, and then, he looked at the soldier behind him. "You know what to do, handcuff them," He ordered with a gesture from his head as the soldier starts to comply and enter the soldier, passing next to Beck to get to us.

"We're leaving them here?" Beck pointed out at us as he was looking at Bellamy and walking outside.

"Even, they're still going to die in a worse way," Bellamy declared before he & Beck got away from the cell, going in another direction as the masked soldier was taking some handcuffs from his vest after they closes the door behind them

"Give me your hands," The soldier demanded to us in an assertive tone as he was moving in front of us to reach our hands. "I said, give me your hands," He repeated after we didn't move our hands to comply, taking first my right hand.

"Zed," I muttered in a low voice as the soldier was starting to get the handcuff around my wrist. "You're still hurt?" I asked them clearly.

"Uhm...no," They whispered, looking at me with curiosity and wondering why I was asking this now before I gave them a wink with my right eye. "Oh...not at all," They affirmed again, a smile appearing on their face.

"Good to know," I said, and just before that the soldier could reach Zasha's left hand, I decided to make a stand, as the sounds of gunshot & little explosions were getting perfectly heard, and then, I decided to clench my left fist and land a punch right on the side of the man's head.

It caused him to remove his hand around my wrist that he was still holding in the case and Zasha took the charge by giving him a foot kick on his chest that make him fly in a little distance, in the middle of the room and away from us, giving us some moments of relief before we manage to get up on our feet and ready to leave but the soldier was quicker than us and got up back on his feet right before we could make a single step to get away, just after Zasha got up.

"You want to fight?" The soldier demanded in anger after he got up.

"As you wish," I told him straight before I starts to walk towards him, without any difficulties despite everything.

Honestly, this wasn't going to be something that I would have like to do but...now, I was like determined to...leave this place that if I had to fight for that, I will do it without any hesitation, even if I'm not in the state for it or that the man in front of me was tougher than us and now, even if a half of my vision is blurred, nothing couldn't stop me to put a fight between me, Zasha & an armed soldier...nothing and my thoughts were empty when I start the first moves against the soldier, soon followed by Zasha themselves but as I thought, the fight wasn't going to be easy for us because of our states.

Since half of my vision wasn't clear, I needed to be focus only on keeping my right eye on the soldier but that guy was seemingly knowing this detail and was making sure that it wasn't on him with his punches while Zasha was trying to strike him back but the guy was tougher than us and was avoiding all of their punches before he manages to grab them and throw them away against a wall violently as I was coming back from avoiding one of his punch but then, he threw himself on me, causing me to hit the ground with him on top of me.

His hands went straight towards my neck to start to strangle me to death and he was putting all of his strength on it, me trying to remove them away with my own hands but getting my hands below his to stop him only allowed him to have better control of me and traps my hands. I got a quick peek with my right eye towards Zasha who was still trying to recover on their side before my eye got back into looking at the masked soldier on top of me, seeing nothing but death in his eyes...before my eyes tries to shut down...

"You're going to die here, сука!" The man told me as my strength was slowly giving me up to him. "She's going to win, London is going to bu-" The man continued until he then stopped, a sound of a gunshot getting heard, and a second after, a bullet went to pierce his skull on his back before he falls on me, dead.

I found myself with the man's body over me as no more sounds were getting heard around me, making me think that...maybe that I wasn't alive anymore until I got this thought away from me and get the body out of me, struggling a bit into doing so before I could breathe freely for once, my eyes moving to the door to see...Portnova...holding an MP5 in her hands and looking across the room.

"Grigoriev! Zed!" She said, sounding relieved to have found us here as she got inside the cell, soon followed by a SAS soldier behind her.

"Portnova..." I muttered, a smile forming on my face to see her.

"Yiri..." Zasha's voice whispered across the room and getting Portnova's attention at them.

"Zasha," She breathed, looking at them getting up on their feet before she moves to get to them. "My god, Zed," She sounded so happy & relieved to see them as she got her hands off her gun to hug them.

"Hey, easy, Grigoriev," The SAS soldier told me with a muffled voice as I was trying to get my back off the ground, him moving next to me to help me before he removes his mask, revealing Soap. "Glad to see you still alive," He exclaimed, helping me to get up.

"What happened?" I asked him, even if that question was also for Portnova who was staying with Zasha.

"Someone tipped us off about your location, we came in and got you," Soap replied, starting to walk with me outside with my left arm behind his neck. "Come on, let's get you both out," He proclaimed before my feet arrives outside the cell...my first time out of that room and discovering a hallway full of metal doors.

Soap was staying with me as Portnova got Zasha out of the cell with her and no more sounds of explosions & guns were heard in that place, meaning that...our hope was here, that we got saved after...I don't know...but we got saved by the SAS, Portnova, and...Park...where was she now? That's the only thing that my mind could think at the moment that her name came inside my thoughts while Soap & Portnova were getting us out of that hallway to reach some stairs to get up.

I could walk normally but my thoughts about Park's presence here made me so worried that Soap's help for me to walk was necessary and I was able to see with my right eye but better, the place we were trapped once that we got up the stairs to reach the ground level. It was like an abandoned warehouse and bodies were all around the ground, getting cleaned up by some soldiers whose looks were on me as we were passing by before we arrives near some sort of garage door...

"Where are they? Where are they?" I suddenly heard a voice coming right in front of me a few meters outside. "Did they..." The voice stopped as...I could see her...Park, standing in front of me, her blue eyes from afar looking at me. "Yi...Yirina!" She exclaimed with the happiest voice before she walked right to me and took me in her arms, Soap getting off.

"Park," I whispered, so happy to see her now, a smile forming on my face and some tears coming out of my eyes because of the emotions. "Ouch, that's stings," I mumbled, my left eye-stinging and causing Park to get off me, her eyes widely open.

"Bloody hell," She muttered, her right hand moving on my cheeks. "What did they do to you, Yiri?" She asked me, her eyes focused on my left eye as her hand was going near it.

"Injection...they...I should sit, right?" I suggested, thinking that...what to say needed to be...told while sitting.

"Of course," She agreed before we took only a few steps to go near a small crate outside the warehouse. "Here," She helped me a bit to get sit as the SAS soldiers were starting to clean up the place, Soap staying not far from us as Zasha & Portnova were staying near the garage door on their side. "So, what happened?" She demanded. "What happened yesterday at that crash?" She clarified herself, sounding curious.

"The train crashed after our pilot...Griffin got hit, and then, Sarah...captured us with her men," I started, trying to remember perfectly the events of...yesterday.

"Sarah?" Park whispered and I nod to her. "You mean, Sarah Mcgrath?" I nodded again.

"Sarah Stone," I corrected, Park's eyes going wide again at this news from me. "She was his sister, plotting to make the MI6 believe that Stone was still alive, killed Peter, and faked an abducting," I continued, Park, looking very curious and astonished to that. "Her & Bellamy...they did this to me, injecting me with a needle...Can't see right with that eye," I pointed out to that eye, sounding bad as the vision wasn't coming back.

"Shit," She cursed, getting her hand back on my cheek to have a look at this eye.

"I look ugly, right?" I presumed, not having seen my eye with a sharp of glass, and even, I'm not sure to look at it. "It's all blurred so, I presume that's bad," I added.

"Your eyes have different colors now and..." Park was trying to say something before she stops herself, looking sad at seeing me like that. "I'm just glad that we found you," She expressed, a smile on her face.

"Not in my best shape," I muttered, looking down at my feet and seeing the bad shape of my outfit, filled with dirt on some parts of it. "I can't see on my left part, not the best feeling I have at the moment,"

"Don't worry, we're going to heal you with Zasha," Park exclaimed, putting her hand below my chin to make me look at her, a tear coming out of my right eye at seeing her. "You'll be fine with me," She said, giving me a comfortable grin on her face.

"Grigoriev?" A voice called me out behind Park and I could see Price himself arriving at us. "I think it belongs to you," He told me as he was handing me over an M1911 in his right hand...my very own M1911 that...I'm been using it since I came back...

"How?" I questioned him, taking nonetheless the gun in my left hand.

"Soap found it with Ghost when they came back from the train crash," He responded, his head turning around to look at his men inside the warehouse as Zasha & Portnova were getting sit on their side, looking at me with a smile. "Roach was wounded but saved as for Griffin, he was dead when they came to the crash," He announced, making me feel bad to hear that from him.

"I'm sorry, Price," I apologized as I was the one who took this Griffin with me...caused his death.

"It's not your fault, Grigoriev, you did what was necessary," Price told me, trying to stay positive towards me but I can't forget that my decision got me & Zasha captured, someone killed and another wounded.

"Captain, we found something inside," Then, a masked SAS soldier came towards us, holding a sort of picture in his hand and offering it to Price. "Picture of a nuclear bomb but nothing else," The man said.

"Looks like an American one," Price judged by looking at the picture that was looking to be in the inside of a building as he was giving us a peek at it before...before...

"Wait!" I raised up my voice, something inside of my mind enlightening. "You said...you said, a bomb...a nuclear bomb," I pointed out at the soldier whose head came to look at Price before nodding back at me. "Nothing about a location?" The soldier shook his head.

"Where are you getting here?" Price demanded as Park was worried about what I was thinking.

"Bellamy said, before leaving that...Sarah was with her team...under the parliament," I announced, and directly, I could see Park's & Price's eyes going wide at my declaration, having the same realization as me. "Greenlight," I muttered that name, making the link between a nuclear bomb and that CIA project.

"No..." Price whispered, looking down at the ground. "The whole government is having a session tonight...both houses...it was going to happen tomorrow but they reported to...tonight," He revealed, his eyes going over in a direction...the direction of the city on the horizon.

"Perseus wants to blow up London with the Greenlight bomb...and it's under the parliament," Park said, Perseus's intentions in London getting clear for everyone now as Zasha & Portnova came to us to hear the news. "We need to go now, that bomb can't explode," She spoke to Price who agreed.

"I'm coming!" I told her in a clear voice, a feeling of hatred coming inside of me against Perseus, Bellamy & Sarah.

"No, you're hurt, Yiri, I..."

"No, I'm coming!" I cut out Park in her words. "It's not because they fucked up my eye that I can't fight," I added as I look up at my M1911 in my left hand, seeing it well cleaned up. "We can't allow them to blow up a nuke in London and kill everyone...and for that, I'm coming!" I made my stand loud & clear to her before I look up at Zasha, shaking my head at them, meaning that I don't want them to follow me & reenact what happened the last day.

"Yiri, you..." Park was going to say before she resigns herself to not continue in her words. "No, you're right, we're not going to let them detonate that nuke," She agreed even if I could see on her face that she wasn't willing to let me fight.

"Soap, you're staying here with a large part of the men," Price ordered to Soap who nods at him. "Those outside are coming with me to the parliament!" He raised up his voice to make himself heard well before he walk away from us towards a van parked at least 20 meters from us.

"Yirina, you're sure about this?" Zasha asked me, sounding worried as Portnova was in the same state as them. "You're hurt and...even with that...you're sure?" They repeated and I nod back.

"I won't let Sarah destroy London...not our new home, Zed," I responded to them, their face understanding my reasons to do this. "You two should stay here, you need to heal up,"

"You too," Zasha remarked to me.

"Maybe but not for the moment," I said, the urge of stopping Sarah into destroying London getting over the fact that I should be healed now. "Stay here, me & Park are going to stop her," I told the two, gesturing at Park that I'm ready to leave and she opens the lead, me giving me a head gesture to Zasha & Portnova with a little smile before going to follow Park to a car...

I'm not going to let that bitch destroy the new home I want to have!

#call of duty cold war #cod #black ops cold war #cod black ops cold war #cod cold war #cod cw #helen park #fem!bell #call of duty #cod bocw #cod bell #yirina grigoriev #bell x park

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hakuouki-history · 8 years ago

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Saitou Hajime - 2010 Japanese Wiki Entry

From the Japanese-English Bilingual Corpus of Wikipedia’s Kyoto Articles . This is a translation from Saitou Hajime’s Japanese wiki entry, exactly as it was in 2010. It is taken from PNM00087 in that collection.

For information on the database and how to use it, please check this post.

Just like English wikipedia, none of this information is guaranteed to be accurate. It’s not a current version of the Japanese article either.

Saitou’s article is translated in the worst English I’ve seen so far in this database, but it’s readable. The names of organizations, either too literally translated into English, or not translated at all when they should be, make it way more complicated than it should be.

It’s not hugely extensive, but there’s enough interesting information in it that I decided to make it the third entry in this series. I particularly was interested by the small paragraph on his experiences in the Seinan War aka the Satsuma Rebellion.

The translated sentences used in this service contain English contents which are translated by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) from Japanese sentences on Wikipedia. My use of these translated sentences is licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Please refer to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or http://alaginrc.nict.go.jp/WikiCorpus/ for details.

HAJIME SAITO

Hajime SAITO (February 18, 1844 - September 28, 1915) was a samurai who was active from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. He was an officer of the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party. He served as a leader of Sanban-tai troop or a grand master of the Gekken martial art in the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party.

In the Meiji period, he was promoted by Keishi-kyoku (a precursor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) of the Interior Ministry and became a commissary (as a police officer was then called). He held the rank of an assistant police inspector.

He served in the Seinan War as a member of Betsudo-Daisan-ryodan (the third stand-alone brigade), which consisted of commissaries.

Biography

His Place of Origin

He was born as the second son of Yusuke YAMAGUCHI, who had years of experience as a masterless samurai in the domain of Akashi and had become a vassal of Hatamoto (a direct retainer of the shogun), the Suzuki family holding 1,000 koku as its kokudaka (stipend). Some records state that he was from the domain of Aizu, but they are not considered primary materials.

Other materials state that when he was in Edo he would hang out in Isami KONDO's kendo training hall, the Shieikan training hall, but when KONDO had all the members of Shieikan training hall staying in Kyoto bring weapons to him, SAITO was not included among the members.

On April 27, 1863, a group of 13 people, including Kamo SERIZAWA and Isami KONDO formed Mibu-Roshigumi (the Mibu masterless warrior group), which was also called Seichu-Roshigumi, the predecessor of the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party. They belonged to the domain of Aizu, in which the lord of the domain, Katamori MATSUDAIRA, was in the office of Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Governor of Kyoto) Title. On the same day, 11 people (including SAITO) joined the group.

Another legend states that he had been a cenacle along with KONDO since the years at the Shieikan training hall, and that he had gone to Kyoto with KONDO, but in any case SAITO's journey to Kyoto was separate from that of KONDO. However, the people who went to Kyoto with KONDO didn't take joint actions.

Later, SAITO, who was then 20 years old, was promoted to Fukucho-jokin (third-rank of Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party) in the election of the cadre of the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party.

While Soji OKITA may generally be considered the youngest man among the cadre of the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party, the youngest was SAITO (there are several different opinions about OKITA's date of birth).

He became a group leader upon the organizational restructuring and served as a grand master of the Gekken martial art.

In April 1867, when Kinetaro ITO left the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party to form the Goryo-eji (guardians of Imperial mausoleums), party, he left the party with ITO, but eventually he rejoined the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party. Some theories assert that he stole the war chest from the Goryo-eji party or had originally infiltrated as a spy for the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party, but his acts during this period of time have not been clarified in terms of the facts and motives. Another theory states that the Abura-no-koji Incident, in which the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party assassinated ITO, had occurred based on the information given at the time SAITO returned.

In the Tenmaya Incident, which occurred on January 1 in 1868, he guarded Kyutaro MIURA, the feudal retainer of the Kishu domain, at the request of the domain. While the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party was holding an alcohol-drinking party with MIURA, they were beaten by an attack from members of the Kaientai (Japan's first modern corporation established by Ryoma SAKAMOTO) and suffered damage such as the deaths of Nobukichi MIYAGAWA and Kamataro FUNAZU as well as serious injuries to Katsunoshin UMEDO, which occurred in an effort to help SAITO, but the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party was successful in its effort to guard MIURA.

He continuously fought the Battle of Toba and Fushimi in January 1868 and the Battle of Katsunuma (Koshu Province) in March 1868. He fought on the front line in both battles.

After KONDO surrendered to the new government army in Nagareyama City, he separated from Toshizo HIJIKATA and other members who remained in Edo, and departed for Aizu, leading a number of officers. However, a different theory asserts that at this time SAITO was absent from the line of battle due to his injuries and was not in Nagareyama. According to that theory, the person who had departed for Aizu leading officers was either Masachika KUMEBE or Saisuke YASUTOMI.

After HIJIKATA injured his leg in the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle in April of the same year and therefore left the line of battle, he arrived at the castle town of Wakamatsu via Tajima and got together with SAITO and others. The Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party, including SAITO, came under the command of the domain of Aizu and fought in the Battle of Shirakawaguchi on the 26th of intercalary month of May, as well as the Battle of Bonari-toge on October 6. The Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party retreated to Tsurugajo Castle due to the defeat in battle.

Amid their retreat, the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party joined HIJIKATA in Inawashiro Town. Later, HIJIKATA departed for the domain of Shonai and a battery of former retainers of shogun, including Keisuke OTORI, went to Sendai to fight, but SAITO remained in Aizu and continued to fight against the new government army outside the castle with feudal retainers of the Aizu domain.

After the Aizu domain surrendered on November 6, SAITO continued to fight, but eventually, an envoy sent from Ｋａｔａmori persuaded him to ｓｕｒｒｅｎｄｅｒ to the new government army.

After his surrender, he initially lived in suspension in Shiokawa in the former domain of Aizu, but later lived in Echigo-Joetsu City, along with feudal retainers of the Aizu domain who had been taken as prisoners.

After the surrender, the Aizu domain fell subject to Kaieki (the samurai's forfeiture of rank and property), and the Matsudaira family became subject to Kamei-Danzetsu (forfeiture of the family name) but on November 3, 1869 was given the right to rebuild the family. The chigyo (fief amount) was set at 30,000 koku in Mutsu Province, and the Matsudaira family was directed to choose either Inawashiro or Shimokita as the domain territory. The former domain's cadre, including Hiroshi YAMAKAWA, had been taken prisoner in Tokyo and chose Shimokita without consulting with the feudal retainers who were held in suspension at Takada. It was newly named as the domain of Tonami.

SAITO departed for Shimokita Peninsula as a feudal retainer of the Tonami domain. SAITO moved to Gonohe, in the territory of the Tonami domain, and entered his first marriage, to Yaso SHINODA. The Shinoda family was an important family able to be acknowledged from "Shoshi Keifu" (retainers' genealogies) and belongs to highly persons as feudal retainers of the Aizu domain. SAITO was a member of Chu-Nibantai troops in Byakkotai suicide corps and was remotely related to Gisaburo SHINODA who committed a suicide in Mt. Iimori (Fukushima Prefecture).

Later, SAITO married Tokio TAKAGI with the support of Katamori as Ue-Nakodo (a go-between after the engagement) and Kambe SAGAWA and Heijiemon KURASAWA as Shita-Nakodo (a go-between from the marriage meeting to the engagement). SAITO and Tokio had three sons: Tsutomu, the eldest; Tsuyoshi, the second; and Tatsuo, the youngest son. All three sons married woman from the Tonami domain.

Later, he moved to Tokyo. He applied for employment with a commissary that had recently been established, and was hired. In February 1877, he was appointed to the position of assistant police inspector of Keishi-kyoku.

On February 15 of that year, the Seinan War broke out. He joined the Bungoguchi Keishi Chobotai (Bungoguchi Enlisted Commissary Troops) as a member of the "Army Cutting with a Gouge," and in May of the same year he took part in a battle. During the battle he suffered a gunshot, but he prevailed over the Satsuma warriors with his gifted sword technique and generalship. He played an important role, as it was even reported in newspapers of those days that he had captured two big guns.

In 1891, he retired from Keishi-cho and then worked as a security guard at Tokyo Higher Normal School, etc.

He died of a gastric ulcer on September 28, 1915. According to one legend, he died while seated in an alcove. He was 72 years old. His tomb is located at Amida-ji Temple in Aizu-Wakamatsu City

Personal Profile

His school of swordsmanship is said to have been either the Itto-ryu school or the Mugai-ryu school, but the truth is not known.

There is a theory that SAITO was left-handed, but it has little likelihood of being a historical fact. He is described as left-handed in some of the fiction written by novelists, etc., in later years, but in the pictures produced by Nobori NAKAJIMA he was shown holding a sword in the same position as a right-handed person.

He was said to be one of the strongest swordsmen in the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party, along with Soji OKITA and Shimpachi NAGAKURA. NAGAKURA told his followers that "Okita is a swordsman of valor, but Saito is one of invincibility."

He used the name 'Hajime SAITO' from the relocation in Kyoto through the heyday of the Shinsen-gumi masterless warrior party. His first name was Hajime YAMAGUCHI. According to legend, his first name "Hajime" originated from his birthday (January 1), but there is no historical basis for this assumption.

In 1862, he ran away to Kyoto since he was involved in a sword-cut incident in Edo, and changed his name to Hajime SAITO. In 1867, he changed his name to Jiro YAMAGUCHI. During the period of his involvement in the Boshin War, he belonged to the domain of Aizu, and he identified himself as Dempachi ICHINOSE. After he moved into the domain of Tonami, he changed his name to Goro FUJITA. He was registered as 'Goro FUJITA' in Jinshin-koseki (family registries in Jinshin) in 1872.

While there is a theory that Hajime SAITO and Goro FUJITA were two distinct persons, currently the "different person story" is denied due to the findings that Goro FUJITA had signed invoices of government pension for his older blood brother, Hiroaki YAMAGUCHI, as his relative and that the writing of the 'Fujita Family's notes' belonging to Goro FUJITA's offspring started in the first year he identified himself as Hajime SAITO.

#Shinsengumi #Japanese History #Bakumatsu #saitou hajime #japanese 2010 wiki translations

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bharatiyamedia-blog · 6 years ago

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Barack, Michelle Obama Signal Deal to Produce Podcasts for Spotify

http://tinyurl.com/yy6a9dbn Former US President Barack Obama and his spouse Michelle entered the booming podcast enterprise on Thursday, asserting a multi-year partnership with streaming service Spotify to provide a collection of unique podcasts. Underneath the partnership, the Obamas will “develop, produce and lend their voices” to pick out podcasts that might be distributed worldwide, Spotify and the Obamas manufacturing firm, Greater Floor, mentioned in a joint assertion. The announcement follows a multi-year settlement between Greater Floor and Netflix that was introduced in 2018 by which the previous president and former first girl will produce movies, documentaries and different collection. Spotify Know-how SA, the world’s largest music streaming service with greater than 217 million month-to-month energetic customers, will distribute the podcasts to audiences throughout the globe, the assertion mentioned. Podcasts have turn into huge enterprise within the final 5 years with topics starting from true crime like Soiled John to present affairs (The Every day), politics (Pod Save America) and comedy (2 Dope Queens). The variety of Individuals listening to podcasts surged 35% within the final three years as content material has expanded, based on a 2018 research by client information firm statista.com. Spotify bought three podcast firms this 12 months, and has mentioned it has earmarked as much as $500 million for podcast acquisitions. Thursday’s assertion didn’t embrace particulars of any subjects that the Obama podcasts would cowl, nor after they would begin to be out there to listeners. Barack Obama mentioned in a press release he believes podcasts “provide a unprecedented alternative to foster productive dialogue, make folks smile and make folks suppose and, hopefully, convey us all slightly nearer collectively.” Spotify Chief Content material Officer Daybreak Ostroff described Barack and Michelle Obama as “two of the world’s most essential voices” in a press release on Thursday. Source link

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joyfulfartwombat · 6 years ago

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http://www.recitequran.com/es/tafsir/en.ibn-kathir/13:1

LEER

Tafsir

Ar Rad

El Trueno

Ibn Kathir – Inglés

CAPÍTULO

SÍGANOS

Versículo

Página 249

Which was revealed in Makkah

﴿ بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴾

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

﴿ الٓمٓر‌ۚ تِلۡكَ ءَايَـٰتُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ‌ۗ وَٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ ٱلۡحَقُّ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَڪۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ ﴾

(1. Alif Lam-Mim Ra. These are the verses of the Book (the Qur’an), and that which has been revealed unto you from your Lord is the truth, but most men believe not.)

The Qur’an is Allah’s Kalam (Speech)

We talked before, in the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah (chapter 2) about the meaning of the letters that appear in the beginnings of some chapters in the Qur’an. We stated that every Surah that starts with separate letters, affirms that the Qur’an is miraculous and is an evidence that it is a revelation from Allah, and that there is no doubt or denying in this fact. This is why Allah said next,

﴿ تِلۡكَ ءَايَـٰتُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ‌ۗ ﴾

(These are the verses of the Book), the Qur’an, which Allah described afterwards,

﴿ وَٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ ﴾

(and that which has been revealed unto you), O Muhammad,

﴿ مِن رَّبِّكَ ٱلۡحَقُّ ﴾

(from your Lord is the truth,) Allah said next,

﴿ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَڪۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ ﴾

(but most men believe not.) just as He said in another Ayah,

﴿ وَمَآ أَڪۡثَرُ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَوۡ حَرَصۡتَ بِمُؤۡمِنِينَ ﴾

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) (12:103) Allah declares that even after this clear, plain and unequivocal explanation (the Qur’an), most men will still not believe, due to their rebellion, stubbornness and hypocrisy.

﴿ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى رَفَعَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ بِغَيۡرِ عَمَدٍ۬ تَرَوۡنَہَا‌ۖ ثُمَّ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ‌ۖ وَسَخَّرَ ٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ‌ۖ كُلٌّ۬ يَجۡرِى لِأَجَلٍ۬ مُّسَمًّ۬ى‌ۚ يُدَبِّرُ ٱلۡأَمۡرَ يُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأَيَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّكُمۡ تُوقِنُونَ ﴾

(2. Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that you can see. Then, He rose above (Istawa) the `Arsh (Throne). He has subjected the sun and the moon, each running (its course) for a term appointed. He manages and regulates all affairs; He explains the Ayat in detail, that you may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord.)

Clarifying Allah’s Perfect Ability

Allah mentions His perfect ability and infinite authority, since it is He Who has raised the heavens without pillars by His permission and order. He, by His leave, order and power, has elevated the heavens high above the earth, distant and far away from reach. The heaven nearest to the present world encompasses the earth from all directions, and is also high above it from every direction. The distance between the first heaven and the earth is five hundred years from every direction, and its thickness is also five hundred years. The second heaven surrounds the first heaven from every direction, encompassing everything that the latter carries, with a thickness also of five hundred years and a distance between them of five hundred years. The same is also true about the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh heavens. Allah said,

﴿ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبۡعَ سَمَـٰوَٲتٍ۬ وَمِنَ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مِثۡلَهُنَّ ﴾

(It is Allah who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof.) (65:12) Allah said next,

﴿ بِغَيۡرِ عَمَدٍ۬ تَرَوۡنَہَا‌ۖ ﴾

(…without any pillars that you can see.) meaning, `there are pillars, but you cannot see them,’ according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and several other scholars. Iyas bin Mu`awiyah said, “The heaven is like a dome over the earth,” meaning, without pillars. Similar was reported from Qatadah, and this meaning is better for this part of the Ayah, especially since Allah said in another Ayah,

﴿ وَيُمۡسِكُ ٱلسَّمَآءَ أَن تَقَعَ عَلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِهِۦۤ‌ۗ ﴾

(He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His permission. ) (22:65) Therefore, Allah’s statement,

﴿ تَرَوۡنَهَا ﴾

(..that you can see), affirms that there are no pillars. Rather, the heaven is elevated (above the earth) without pillars, as you see. This meaning best affirms Allah’s ability and power.

Al-Istawa’, Rising above the Throne

Allah said next,

﴿ ثُمَّ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ‌ۖ ﴾

(Then, He rose above (Istawa) the Throne.) We explained the meaning of the Istawa’ in Surat Al-A`raf (7:54), and stated that it should be accepted as it is without altering, equating, annulling its meaning, or attempts to explain its true nature. Allah is glorified and praised from all that they attribute to Him.

Allah subjected the Sun and the Moon to rotate continuously

Allah said,

﴿ وَسَخَّرَ ٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ‌ۖ كُلٌّ۬ يَجۡرِى لِأَجَلٍ۬ مُّسَمًّ۬ى‌ۚ ﴾

(He has subjected the sun and the moon, each running (its course) for a term appointed.) It was said that the sun and the moon continue their course until they cease doing so upon the commencement of the Final Hour, as Allah stated,

﴿ وَٱلشَّمۡسُ تَجۡرِى لِمُسۡتَقَرٍّ۬ لَّهَا‌ۚ ﴾

(And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed).) (36:38) It was also said that the meaning is: until they settle under the Throne of Allah after passing the other side of the earth. So when they, and the rest of the planetary bodies reach there, they are at the furthest distance from the Throne. Because according to the correct view, which the texts prove, it is shaped like a domb, under which is all of the creation. It is not circular like the celestial bodies, because it has pillars by which it is carried. This fact is clear to those who correctly understand the Ayat and authentic Hadiths. All the (praise is due to) Allah and all the favors are from Him. Allah mentioned the sun and the moon here because they are among the brightest seven heavenly objects. Therefore, if Allah subjected these to His power, then it is clear that He has also subjected all other heavenly objects. Allah said in other Ayat,

﴿ لَا تَسۡجُدُواْ لِلشَّمۡسِ وَلَا لِلۡقَمَرِ وَٱسۡجُدُواْ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن ڪُنتُمۡ إِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُونَ ﴾

(Prostrate yourselves not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him.) (41:37) and,

﴿ وَٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ وَٱلنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَٲتِۭ بِأَمۡرِهِۦۤ‌ۗ أَلَا لَهُ ٱلۡخَلۡقُ وَٱلۡأَمۡرُ‌ۗ تَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴾

(And (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His command. Surely, His is the creation and commandment. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of all that exists!) (7:54) Allah’s statement next,

﴿ يُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأَيَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّكُمۡ تُوقِنُونَ ﴾

(He explains the Ayat in detail, that you may believe with certainty in the Meeting with your Lord.) means, He explains the signs and clear evidences that testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. These evidences prove that He will resurrect creation if He wills, just as He started it.

﴿ وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى مَدَّ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ وَجَعَلَ فِيہَا رَوَٲسِىَ وَأَنۡہَـٰرً۬ا‌ۖ وَمِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٲتِ جَعَلَ فِيہَا زَوۡجَيۡنِ ٱثۡنَيۡنِ‌ۖ يُغۡشِى ٱلَّيۡلَ ٱلنَّہَارَ‌ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ • وَفِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ قِطَعٌ۬ مُّتَجَـٰوِرَٲتٌ۬ وَجَنَّـٰتٌ۬ مِّنۡ أَعۡنَـٰبٍ۬ وَزَرۡعٌ۬ وَنَخِيلٌ۬ صِنۡوَانٌ۬ وَغَيۡرُ صِنۡوَانٍ۬ يُسۡقَىٰ بِمَآءٍ۬ وَٲحِدٍ۬ وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعۡضَہَا عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأُڪُلِ‌ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَعۡقِلُونَ ﴾

(3. And it is He Who spread out the earth, and placed therein firm mountains and rivers and of every kind of fruit He made Zawjayn Ithnayn (two in pairs). He brings the night as a cover over the day. Verily, in these things, there are Ayat (signs) for people who reflect. ) (4. And in the earth are neighboring tracts, and gardens of vines, and green crops (fields), and date palms, growing into two or three from a single stem root, or otherwise, watered with the same water; yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Verily, in these things there are Ayat (signs) for the people who understand.)

Allah’s Signs on the Earth

After Allah mentioned the higher worlds, He started asserting His power, wisdom and control over the lower parts of the world. Allah said,

﴿ وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى مَدَّ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ ﴾

(And it is He Who spread out the earth) made it spacious in length and width. Allah has placed on the earth firm mountains and made rivers, springs and water streams run through it, so that the various kinds of fruits and plants of every color, shape, taste and scent are watered with this water,

﴿ مِن ڪُلٍّ۬ زَوۡجَيۡنِ ٱثۡنَيۡنِ ﴾

(and of every kind of fruit He made Zawjayn Ithnayn.), two types from every kind of fruit,

﴿ يُغۡشِى ٱلَّيۡلَ ٱلنَّہَارَ‌ۚ ﴾

(He brings the night as a cover over the day.) Allah made the day and night pursue each other, when one is about to depart, the other overcomes it, and vice versa. Allah controls time just as He controls space and matter,

﴿ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ﴾

(Verily, in these things, there are Ayat for people who reflect.) who reflect on Allah’s signs and the evidences of His wisdom. Allah said,

﴿ وَفِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ قِطَعٌ۬ مُّتَجَـٰوِرَٲتٌ۬ ﴾

(And in the earth are neighboring tracts,) Meaning, next to each other, some of them are fertile and produce what benefits people, while others are dead, salty and do not produce anything. This meaning was collected from Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak and several others. This also covers the various colors and types of diverse areas on the earth; some red, some white, or yellow, or black, some are stony, or flat, or sandy, or thick, or thin, all made to neighbor each other while preserving their own qualities. All this indicates the existence of the Creator Who does what He wills, there is no deity or lord except Him. Allah said next,

﴿ وَجَنَّـٰتٌ۬ مِّنۡ أَعۡنَـٰبٍ۬ وَزَرۡعٌ۬ وَنَخِيلٌ۬ ﴾

(and gardens of vines, and green crops (fields), and date palms…) Allah’s statement, next,

﴿ صِنۡوَانٌ۬ وَغَيۡرُ صِنۡوَانٍ۬ ﴾

(Sinwanun wa (or) Ghayru Sinwan.) `Sinwan’ means, growing into two or three from a single stem, such as figs, pomegranate and dates. `Ghayru Sinwan’ means, having one stem for every tree, as is the case with most plants. From this meaning, the paternal uncle is called one’s `Sinw’ of his father. There is an authentic Hadith that states that the Messenger of Allah said to `Umar bin Al-Khattab,

« أَمَا شَعَرْتَ أَنَّ عَمَّ الرَّجُلِ صِنْوُ أَبِيه »

(Do you not know that man’s paternal uncle is the Sinw of his father) Allah said next,

﴿ وَٲحِدٍ۬ وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعۡضَہَا عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأُڪُلِ‌ۚ ﴾

(watered with the same water; yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat.) Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet commented on Allah’s statement,

﴿ وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعۡضَہَا عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٍ۬ فِى ٱلۡأُڪُلِ‌ۚ ﴾

(yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat.)

« الدَّقَلُ، وَالْفَارِسِيُّ، وَالْحُلْوُ، وَالْحَامِض »

(The Dagal, the Persian, the sweet, the bitter…”) At-Tirmidhi collected this Hadith and said, “Hasan Gharib.” Therefore, there are differences between plants and fruits with regards to shape, color, taste, scent, blossoms and the shape of their leaves. There are plants that are very sweet or sour, bitter or mild, fresh; some plants have a combination of these attributes, and the taste then changes and becomes another taste, by Allah’s will. There is also some that are yellow in color, or red, or white, or black, or blue, and the same can be said about their flowers; and all these variances and complex diversities are watered by the same water. Surely, in this there are signs for those who have sound reasoning, and surely, all this indicates the existence of the Creator Who does what He wills and Whose power made distinctions between various things and created them as He wills. So Allah said,

﴿ إِنَّ فِى ذَٲلِكَ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَعۡقِلُونَ ﴾

(Verily, in these things there are Ayat for the people who understand.)

﴿ وَإِن تَعۡجَبۡ فَعَجَبٌ۬ قَوۡلُهُمۡ أَءِذَا كُنَّا تُرَٲبًا أَءِنَّا لَفِى خَلۡقٍ۬ جَدِيدٍ‌ۗ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِرَبِّہِمۡ‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ٱلۡأَغۡلَـٰلُ فِىٓ أَعۡنَاقِهِمۡ‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ‌ۖ هُمۡ فِيہَا خَـٰلِدُونَ ﴾

(5. And if you wonder, then wondrous is their saying: “When we are dust, shall we indeed then be (raised) in a new creation” They are those who disbelieved in their Lord! They are those who will have iron chains linking their hands to their necks. They will be dwellers of the Fire to abide therein forever.)

http://www.recitequran.com/es/tafsir/en.ibn-kathir/13:1 LEER Tafsir 13 Ar Rad El Trueno Ibn Kathir - Inglés CAPÍTULO SÍGANOS Versículo 1…

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