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myimaginesandrp · 5 years ago

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Wandering through the ashes

Summary: You have one job on Star Killer base: take care of Millicent, Hux’s cat. What are you gonna do when she goes missing?

Words: 2k

Warnings: Fluff

A/N: Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this ^.^ This is very different from anything I’ve written before so I hope you like it. It’s a short fluffy piece and I hope it leaves you with a smile.

Your heavy steps echoed through the halls as you made your way down the corridors of Star Killer Base. You’d been walking for hours now and your feet were protesting with every step you took. Even with a whole squad of troopers aiding your search, the target was nowhere to be seen.

“Where are you little cretin?” You muttered to yourself as you made another turn to a busy hall. You were all the way up near the General’s quarters now, she couldn’t be far. How did she always know that you were going to collect her? Just when she was within your reach, she’d jump out of your grasp and escape into the labyrinth that was your station. You should’ve learned your lesson by now, but it was always the same story. Now here you were, growing very impatient and very close to being reprimanded by the general. A stormtrooper ran down the hall and slid to a halt in front of you. His breath was unsteady underneath the voice amplifier.

“Lieutenant” He gasped, “we have word that the target was last seen near the commander's quarters”

“Very good. I’ll intercept the target myself.” You stared at him for a moment as he lingered in front of you. He was looking at the scratches on your face. The freshest ones were a trio that made their way from your eyebrow down to your cheek. They weren’t the only ones you had, most of your body was covered in scratches. Your forearms and neck saw the most damage but people were usually smart enough to know they shouldn’t look for too long. This guy clearly didn’t get the memo.

“You’re dismissed!” You cut, making him jump before scurrying away. You huffed and continued making your way down the halls.

It wasn’t easy to make others take you seriously, especially since no one really knew exactly what it was that you did. Classified directive they called it. Half of the base thought you were Hux’s whore and by this point you were too tired to try and change anyone’s mind. Your services were for someone far more important than the general anyway. Your scars helped keep any curious eyes from questioning your authority, but even you had to admit that having him as your direct in command helped keep prying lieutenants away.

The lights of the corridors blurred past you as you moved quickly down the halls. It was about to be mid cycle and you’d be getting another request from the general soon. You hated when he went off world, she was the first thing he asked about when he returned.

The locator chip in your hand began to flash. At least you were going in the right direction. Just a few more paces and you found yourself in front of Commander Ren’s quarters; the door stood before you wide open. Well someone would be getting in serious trouble for that, but that wasn’t your concern.

You peeked into the room and scanned it until you found what you were searching for.

There.

Just a few feet from the far corner of the room she lay on a table, sprawled across a pile of ashes with her tail swinging gently beside her. She was covered in grey patches of muck that clung onto her once pristine orange fur.

Great.

“Millicent!” you whispered through your teeth. Her ear flicked but didn’t move otherwise. You called out to her again, a little louder this time. She knew you were there, but the little brat wasn’t cooperating. You huffed out a sigh and her head swung up to meet your gaze.

“Come here!” you called out to her, pointing at the spot in the ground beside you. She stood up then, taking her sweet time to stretch and yawn and jump onto another table farther away from you.

You threw your hands up in exasperation. She wasn't gonna make this easy, not after the little battle she’d put up during bath time this morning. That was how she got away in the first place, and why your face was now adorned with three more scratches today. Baths were the worst part of the job, but at least you weren’t helping people out of garbage shoots anymore.

You still remembered the first time you encountered the little princess, not much had changed since then.

…

The loud clang of the garbage chute finally came to a stop after you loaded the last load of the day. Working sanitation wasn’t exactly what you thought you’d be doing up here, but it was honest work. Well as honest as working for a facist dictatorship went anyway. Not like you had a choice after they invaded your home planet. This was the only way you could get enough credits to keep your family living a comfortable life. Few people accepted the offer, so pay was very generous; turns out no one wanted to live in a ship that might blow up the second the resistance decided to show up. Go figure.

Today one of the Generals was coming by to visit the station and everything had to be perfect for his inspection. They never made their way down to your side of the ship, you were as close to the bottom of the command chain as you could possibly get but you liked it that way. No one really bothered you and you stayed out of trouble.

The quiet taps on the floor behind you interrupted your thoughts. A small orange cat was standing a few feet from you, looking up with it’s big round eyes glittering in the light of the room.

“Hello there” You called out to it. “What are you doing all the way up here in space?” You reached your hand out to the cat but she just tilted her little head to the side. “Come on little one, let me pet you” Your voice was growing sweeter as the cat began to approach. It smelled your hand before pressing her face against it. Her fur was soft against your calloused hands.

“You’re a cute little thing aren’t you?” You reached for her with your other hand and scooped her up. She had a collar on, with a locator chip inside and her name was engraved on it.

“M-milli..cent hu? Millicent” her ears perked up at the sound of her name. “We’ll just have to wait and see who comes and claims you” Who had a cat in this place? No one could have pets here, none that you knew.. You turned the collar on and pet her head gently. Her body seemed to vibrate underneath you.

“Come now, I was just finishing up” you said as you started shutting off the machines. She leapt up to your shoulder and laid there as you began to move.

After the last door was sealed, you took a seat on the floor and pulled her from your shoulders. She promptly sat herself between your legs and you began to give her little scratches underneath her chin.

“You look like you’re a spoiled little princess” you said as you pat her stomach gently. It had been a while since you had a moment like this. Just for a second you were content with yourself as the little cat followed your hand with her paws.

“Millicent the cat, a bratty little princess, so pretty and fat” you sang before a laugh escaped you.

“What is going on here?” The sound of the voice modulator made you freeze in fear. It wasn’t your superior, it wasn’t even a lieutenant, it was the captain herself. You shot up so quickly you almost tripped over; the cat remained safely in your arms.

No it wasn’t just the captain, it was much much worse.

Just in front of the captain was General Hux himself with two stormtroopers behind him.

“I- I just found her” you managed to choke out. You couldn’t speak, you couldn’t even move. That’s when the General approached you making your heart race. Words came out of you quickly as you tried to defend yourself.

“She just walked in here and- and picked her up. I saw that she had a locator in her collar and I turned it on. I-I didn’t know who she belonged to, I was just taking care of her.” He raised his hand and you winced, waiting for his hand to strike you but instead he reached down and scooped up the cat who went along willingly. He looked her over for a moment, inspecting for any damage, you supposed, before handing her to one of the stormtroopers behind him.

“Leave us” he ordered as he glanced behind his shoulder for a moment before turning back to look at you. The others quickly made their way out of the room, leaving the two of you alone, and you with nowhere to run.

“How did you know?” he asked as he took your badge in his hand for a moment before dropping it.

“What?” you said furrowing your eyebrows.

“How did you know it’s a female?’ He asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well she’s a cat..” You lingered on the last word not really sure what he meant.

“You have experience dealing with her species?” he asked as he started walking from one end of the room from the other, his hands tucked behind his back. Your gaze shifted to the floor

“Yes sir, on my home planet I had two” He paused and studied you for a moment and you waited for the punishment that surely was coming.

“Y/N… How would you like a change in work duties?” he asked, finally breaking the silence. It wasn’t really a question you had a choice of answering.

…

That same night you were shipped off to Ilum and became a full time cat nanny. It was much better than you’d expected to be, and the general was pleasant enough. Nothing like Commander Ren, he was a whole world of crazy. A handsome bastard, but a crazy one nonetheless. So you stayed far away from him. That was until now because you had to get Millicent and give her a bath before the General returned, or you were gonna be in serious problems.

If only you could reach out and grab her…

No you couldn't risk it. If commander Ren caught you in his quarters you wouldn’t hear the end of it. If he let you live, that is.

“Millicent Hux if you don’t get your little tail over here I’m gonna give you extra tub time! Get you little tail over here right now” It almost scared you sometimes, how perceptive she was. There wasn’t a single doubt in your mind that she knew how urgently you needed her, but she didn’t care. Instead of coming towards you she began dropping items of the shelves that were placed around the room. They dropped down with one loud crash after another. You had to get her before she broke something important, and better yet, before commander Ren saw her in his quarters.

You took a deep breath and armed yourself with courage before running into the room. The little princess wasn’t about to let this be easy so she jumped away from you several times before you were able to scoop her up.

You held her in your arms and frowned down at her. She was filthy and it was about to take a miracle for you to get her cleaned up before General Hux returned.

“Young lady you are in so much trou-” your breath hitched in your throat as you turned towards the exit. There in the doorway was a dark figure, looking at you with a deep scowl on his face.

“Commander l-” He lifted his hand to stop you. You bit down on your lip waitting for him to let you have it. His eyes scanned the room before settling on the orange bundle that was comfortably laying in your arms.

“Tell Hux the next time I see that ball of fur in my room, I will personally hang her carcass from my doorway” He growled

Jeez

“You may leave Lieutenant” He sighed. Welp... good thing he was in a good mood.

Your feet couldn’t move fast enough out of there. You ran and ran and ran and once you were sure enough you were out of earshot you let yourself laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. You looked down at the bundle of dirty fur in your arms who was happily purring.

“You are in so much trouble young lady”

——

Thanks for reading! :) Requests are always open

#Millicent #MIllicent Hux #millicent the cat #armitage hux #armitage x reader #armitage x you #armitage hux x reader #armitage hux x you #kylo ren x you #kylo ren x reader #star wars imagine #kylo ren imagine #armitage hux imagine #fluff #angst #starwars fanfic

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redisriding · 4 years ago

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Tell us about yourself!

Yikes! So I didn't really know where to begin with this one, Well I was born on the banks of the river... Nah! So I googled “fun get to know me questions” and the resulting questionnaire had 371 questions. I decided to answer the first 100!

Strap yourself in, because HERE WE GO!

1. What is your full name?

Red is Riding ;)

2. What does your name mean?

Funny story, so I actually created this alias to partake in some underground hedonistic activities. When I went to start my Tumblr I just decided to use the same one because I’m not very creative and didn’t want to make up a new one. I never thought that this blog would become as popular as it has, and now I couldn’t be bothered changing the name. It does make me laugh though, if only you people knew what I used to get up to under this alias.

3. Are you named after anyone?

Little Red Riding Hood?

4. Does your name make any interesting anagrams?

I don’t think so, but maybe someone smarter than me could figure it out.

5. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

I would probably change my real first name if I could as unfortunately I share it with a reasonably well known facist.

6. Where are you from?

A small European country.

7. Where were you born?

In the capital city of that small European country.

8. Where did you grow up?

In the suburbs of the capital of that small European country.

9. Who did you look like growing up?

A member of the band Hanson, if they had red hair and wore those terrible 2000’s wire rimmed glasses.

10.What are your best characteristics?

Oh gosh, isn’t it embarrassing to talk about your good traits? Especially when the way you see yourself is often so different from the way others see you.

11.What are your favorite things about yourself?

Honestly, I’ve great boobs.

12.Which of your parents are you closest to?

Depends on my mood.

13.Which of your parents are you more like?

I think physically I’m more like my mother, but my character is closer to my father.

14.Are your grandparents still married?

Yep, on one side. On the other side my grandad is dead and has been for a very long time.

15.What relative was important to you growing up & why?

I guess my grandparents, they are the only members of the extended family I ever really saw growing up. I was never close to my uncles, and my aunts and cousins all live in different countries.

16.What is one thing that you’ve never revealed to your parents?

Anything about my love life, we just don’t talk about it. Ever!

17.What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?

I’m actually not sure. I know they had lots of other traditionally female names picked out, but I don’t know any male names they had for me. I’m not sure if they knew early on if I was going to be a girl, would make sense though.

18.What do you call your grandparents?

I call one of my grandmother’s by her first name, and my grandad, grandad.

19.What is your best physical feature?

My boobs!…I have pretty eyes too.

20.What is your biggest accomplishment?

Probably getting into University and graduating top of my class.

21.What is your biggest fear?

Having all my joints simultaneously dislocate.

22.What is your biggest regret?

The way I’ve treated certain people over the years.

23.What is your eye colour?

Blue.

24.What inspires you?

Hope that tomorrow can be better.

25.What is the most important thing in your life?

My family, and my future.

26.What has required the most courage of you in your life so far?

Hummm, I’m really not sure about this one.

27.Who is your favourite actor?

I truly could not name a single actor.

28.Who is your favourite actress?

As above.

29.Who is your favourite celebrity?

I genuinely have no idea.

30.Who is your favourite musician?

Lorde has been getting me through this quarantine, but my favourite singer/band is/are Florence + the Machine. Maybe that dates me.

31.Who’s your favourite person in the world?

I can’t choose just one!

32.What is your favourite childhood memory?

I’m very lucky, I had a really marvellous childhood. I guess I have some great memories of playing with my brother as a child, but I’m not sure I have a favourite memory.

33.What is your favourite colour?

Teal.

34.What is your favourite cultural activity?

I love going to the theatre.

35.What is your favourite drink?

Water is the thing I drink most often. I don’t like tea or coffee, and I only drink alcohol in social settings not alone of an evening.

36.What is your favourite fairytale?

I’m actually not sure. I know it’s not quite the same but I was never allowed to watch the Disney princess films growing up (a lot of which are based on fairytales) so I can’t say I am particularly attached on any. Although, in answering this question I have remembered by blog name so I probably should say Little Red Riding Hood.

37.What is your favourite food?

Potatoes, they are so wonderfully versatile, I will never get bored eating them.

38.What is your favourite holiday destination?

There is so much of the world I have not yet seen and I cannot wait until we’re allowed to travel again. The last big trip I was on was to Canada, Vancouver, and it was amazing.

39.What is your favourite ice-cream flavour?

Ice cream does not agree with me at all, I always thought I was lactose intolerant because of it (I’m not), but I did love a pistachio ice cream as a kid.

40.What is your favourite music genre?

According to Spotify my most listened to genre is “alternative” whatever that means.

41.What is your favourite physical activity?

Hiking.

42.What is your favourite quote?

I don’t believe I have one. I do know someone who has “live laugh love” tattooed on their foot. Take from that what you will.

43.What is your favourite snack?

Tbh I don't really snack (am I coming across as awfully boring in these questions?) I love three big meals a day. I will eat an apple or something if I need something pre dinner.

44.What is your favourite song?

Either Fascination by Alphabeat, Prayer in C by Lily Wood and the Prick, and Robin Schulz, or Brimful of Asha by Cornershop, the Fat Boy Slim Remix. Those songs never fail to put me in a good mood when I need it.

45.What is your favourite sport?

To watch? Rugby. But I am OBSESSED with the Olympics, especially the winter olympics.

46.What is your favourite time of the day?

Early evening.

47.What is your favourite type of clothing?

Dresses…with pockets! Or jumpers, I love a big wooly jumper.

48.What is your favourite way to pass time?

Read.

49.What is the name of your favourite restaurant?

My favourite restaurant is called Dishoom, but unfortunately it has yet to make it to my little European country, so it’s a real treat if I get to eat there.

50.What is your all-time favourite town or city? Why?

I don’t have one.

51.What is your favourite candle scent?

Probably a classic vanilla, but not an overpowering one. The vanilla candle from IKEA is the NICEST.

52.What is your favourite social media channel?

Probably Twitter, although Tumblr is my place for escape.

53.Where’s your favourite place to take an out-of-town guest?

Ugh I hate being the one to choose where we go. I think it’s because I’m a Libra.

54.What was your favourite subject in High School?

Okay now this is a fun fact, I didn’t actually go to school. I was “Home Educated” which is ideologically different form being Home Schooled. There was no curriculum for me to follow so I could basically dick about doing whatever I wanted during the day. I did study Law which I really enjoyed, and I went onto study it at University.

55.What was your least favourite subject in High School?

Again see above. Although I do remember crying every time my father tried to teach me maths. To this day, I’m still not sure how to work out a percentage, let alone anything more advanced than that.

56.What was your favourite TV show when you were a child?

Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the Melissa Joan Heart version) or anything with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in it (have I dated myself again?)

57.What do you love about your favourite TV Show?

They were fun. I wanted to be them!

58.Are you scared of heights?

Nope, but I’m scared of falling and shattering all the bones in my legs.

59.Are you high maintenance?

Definitely not.

60.Are you more inclined to “build your own empire” or unleash the potential of others?

I don’t know what this means, but fuck imperialism.

61.Are you more likely to avoid conflict or engage it head-on?

Ugh, I hate conflict, like I go all trembly, but if there is something amiss I can’t not confront it.

62.Are you a dog person or cat person?

I really adore animals, I had hoped to get a cat during this long and lonely lockdown but my landlord wasn’t keen. If I had more time and space I would love to get a dog, it’s just not feasible in my life at the moment.

63.Are you a fan of any sports team?

Just my national team no matter what the sport.

64.Are you a good cook?

I like to think so.

65.Are you an early adopter or late-adopter?

Depends. I don’t always love change.

66.If you had more courage what would you do differently in your life now?

I don’t think having more courage would change anything in my life right now.

67.What is good about how you are living your life right now?

Oh gosh, I’m so incredibly lucky to have the like that I am living right now. Truly blessed, but at the same time, I have got here because of all my hard work and determination.

68.If you could eliminate one weakness or limitation in your life, what would it be?

I’m not sure if this strictly answers the question, but I wish I could be kinder and more sympathetic to people. I can be harsh on people I care about because I want to see them do well in life and get frustrated when they are doing things that so obviously curtails their ability. I’ve lost friends because of it.

69.Who has left the most impact on your life?

I don’t think I can name just one person.

70.What aspect of your life needs tremendous improvement?

My love life. It’s not existent. Truly. I don’t even have a far away crush on anyone at the moment. I desperately want to experience romantic love, but it’s scary and you have to allow yourself to be soft and vulnerable which is not something that I am very good at. I also have a lot of negative thoughts/self doubts about whether I am good enough to be in a relationship, or worthy enough for love. It’s stupid, obviously, everyone, flaws and all is worthy of love, but because of things that have happened/been said to me I do kind of have this negative chatter of “who could ever love me” or fear people thinking “god love the poor guy who ends up with her.” All that said, I have never actually met anyone who I’ve really liked, let alone anyone who has liked me back. The closest I’ve got, is I’ve been in lust twice in my life with guys, who objectively speaking, I would never think I would be attracted to.

71.What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen in your life?

I’ve see a lot of weird things tbh, but the first one that springs to mind is that every year we used to go to these big gatherings of families who home educate their children. Now, there are two groups of people that tend to home educate their children 1) EXTREMELY religious families who don’t want their children going to secular schools, and 2) new age hippies who don’t want their children to have to conform to the rigours of school. When these two groups meet…it is interesting. The religious families usually have a lot of children (10+ in many cases), while the hippy families wander around semi-nude and breast feed their children until their grown (7+ years in many cases). So at these home education conferences, the hippy parents would be wandering around, leaky boobs out, and the religious babies would be wandering around because their parents have too many children to keep track of. Whenever one of these babies wandered within range of the hippy parents, they’d take them, and latch them onto their breasts. Absolutely bizarre stuff.

72.Who is the best teacher you’ve ever had?

Myself.

73.Who is the biggest pack rat you know?

I don’t know what this means.

74.Who is the first person you call when something exciting happens?

If it’s a big enough deal to call someone, I’ll call my parents, but usually if something exciting happens I’ll just message my friend group.

75.Who is the first person you call when something horrible happens?

Same as above.

76.Who is the worst boss you’ve ever had?

I had to sue her to get her and her husband to pay me for the work I did.

77.Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows?

Yep? Can you not?

78.Can you do a split?

No, but I want to learn! I have really tight hamstrings so that would be good to stretch them.

79.Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

No. Can you?

80.Can you whistle?

Yeah.

81.Can you dance?

Everyone can dance, the question is whether you can dance well or not! I have no rhythm or style, but get me on a dance floor and I’ll bop my socks off.

82.Do you remember your dreams?

Sometimes.

83.Do you save old greeting cards and letters? Throw them away?

I save them for a while, but I’m not overly sentimental.

84.Do you sing in the shower?

Never.

85.Do you sleep with the lights on or off?

Off.

86.Do you spell the colour as grey or gray?

Grey you weirdo!

87.Do you take any pills or medication daily?

Never.

88.Do you prefer kissing or cuddling?

I like kissing because it’s hot and fiery and I think I’m reasonably good at it. Cuddling is the best but it’s something I struggle with as I find it far too intimate. See my answer to Q70.

89.Do you prefer that people shoot straight with you or temper their words? Why?

Hit me between the eyeballs with the truth, please! I just like people who are clear and direct about their intentions, it means everyone knows where they stand.

90.Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook?

I saw a black and white documentary about the Titanic when I was a very small child (maybe about 5 or 6) and for a long time I thought that was the movie Titanic! I have seen neither the real film Titanic nor the Notebook, although from what I know of the latter I don’t think it would be my thing.

91.Do you have a catchphrase?

I don’t think so, but maybe people in my life would be better at answering this question. What is it that I say a lot?

92.Do you have a garden?

I wish!

93.Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve never shared with anyone?

I’m taking this to mean a goal or aspiration, and not something that I have subconsciously dreamed and been too embarrassed to share? I would love to write a book one day. I’m work on something periodically but I’m not sure if anything will ever come from it, a gal can dream though!

94.Do you have a tattoo?

None! I’m kind of a commitment-phobe, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed?

95.Do you have a whole lot of acquaintances or just a few very close friends? Why?

Both! I know lots of people in passing, but the people I consider actual friends, who know what is going on in my life at any given time, I could count on my fingers.

96.Do you have any allergies?

Not that I’m aware of…

97.Do you have any birthmarks? If so, where?

I used to have one on my back, but it’s faded as I’ve aged.

98.Do you have pets?

Not at the moment.

99.Do you hold any convictions that you would be willing to die for?

That is a big question. I think however, if there was a guarantee, that sacrificing my life would make the lives of others immeasurably better, I would be scarified. I have plenty of convictions that I’m willing to protest/riot/go to prison for.

100.Do you carry a donor card?

Bit ominous after Q99 but yes I do, and my driver’s licence states that I’m a donor.

I’m not sure if this is at all what you were hoping for in asking this, but I honestly had the best fun answering these questions! :)

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mikenips · 4 years ago

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Do Sitting Ducks Take Acid

Woke up today with the same fear I wake up to everyday. The mail on the table isn’t addressed to me. But I’ve been known to break the law here and there. So I read the open letter anyways. The federal government with the news of the oncoming impending doom. Twelve hundred in the bank account. Sincerely. President Donald J. Trump. It feels surreal. A sittin’ duck listenin’ the broken record skip for the past four years. The loop echoes in the news and Facebook comments. But just now recognizin’ that every revolution brings you back to where you started. Recognize you’re stuck in the loop and there’s no way to spin on. Move past it. Pick up the needle at his signature copied to millions of people. It’s real. There’s nothin’ left to do now but face it. And hope you can jump the acid loop. Skip past election day. And it’s all over.

All things must pass. Everyone out here strokin’ the Beatles off. But don’t wanna face the reality of George Harrison’s oncoming impending doom. All things must pass. The lines of ecstasy drip into the nosebleed. Eventually come down. Left sweaty and shirtless in your room. Alone. Watchin’ Big Bird sing at Jim Henson’s funeral. Made it through years of revolution. Revolution is comin’ to a doorstep near you come this November. Look outside. Wish the sun good morning.

Grow up. Jim Henson’s dead man! Step on the porch. Nose clogged with baby lax and amphetamines as the hundred from unemployment unravel into ones. Light a cig with coffee as the sunrises. Maybe it’s the ketamine or acid or the fuckin’ coffee. But step outside and realize you don’t remember how to get to Sesame Street. And the neighbors you’ve lived next to for three years but don’t know their names don’t wanna see this shit outside their doors every morning. Shit man. There’s kids that live here. They don’t wanna see you gaspin’ for air. Hidin’ from the sunlight.

“I’m fine grandma. Just sat down to play Scooby-Doo with the homies.” Heathcliff the Big Cheese spits the oncoming impending doom into the phone. Another story for her to tell her friends. The needle keeps spinnin’ on the edge of the wax. He tells you if you don’t beat the game the whole world is gonna implode. Shit. Between the Pentagon confirmin’ the dude from Blink-182 isn’t just a cook from our childhood but was onto aliens long before the CIA. California is lookin’ like Blade Runner 2049. Or some other movie set Hollywood uses to make underdeveloped countries look overly polluted. A facist is paying our rent while plannin’ a coup. And the hundreds of thousands dead are just sacrifices to keep Wall Street above the risin’ sea levels in the midst of a pandemic. 2020 is really turnin’ into some type of apocalypse film. Arthur Lee always said the news of today will be the movies of tomorrow. But I’m not so sure I wanna stick around to see the ending. Not sure if I want this chapter included in my semi-autobiographical choose your own great American adventure novel. I want the thrill of meetin’ new people and them sayin’ they’ve heard a lot about me. Just don’t know if this is a part I want them to hear.

Drag on the cig while takin’ in the drag of reality outside the living room. The grass seems more vivid. More harsh. But the neighbors don’t see the cosmos exhaled. They don’t see the constellations of ash and clouds smoked through your nostrils to avoid a dry socket and another couple hundred dollar dental bill. They don’t see the cliche survival story of hours spent researchin’ sellin’ plasma to pay the bill. They don’t see that me and my friends are out here birthin’ our own cosmos. We know the world can be as simple as Fraggle Rock. And now without Jim Henson it feels like someone is pullin’ the puppet strings in a different direction.

We are the lonely and desperate people John Sinclair told you about. We collage together sound bites and Harmony Korine B-rolls. News broadcasts and Instagram photos. Makin’ our own vibe boards. Boredom is the vibe. Cause no matter how far you move the needle. You keep revolve in the same loop. The constant struggle to make the moment bearable. The Guilty Undertaker tries to drone it out behind chord organs and omnichord beats. File it under the audiobooks on Bandcamp. Like some self-help book that didn’t include an instruction manual. It reads like noise. But in relative pitch plays back like a symphony on the reel to reel. But it just revolves back to where you started. Nothing.

“Yeah. I think hating yourself is just part of your twenties.” PJ Banana tells you this. While pissin’ into the oncoming impending doom in my front yard. Takes a bump with a Gumby like omnipresence. Downs the beer with toddler like chaos but is too old for childhood games like kick the can and nitrous oxide. Somethin’ about that last third makes ya puke up all the drunken coherence.

We resist. We take the streets. We play rock and roll music in sweaty basements till one in the morning. Record revolves in the living room. Nobody is listenin’ to any of it. No matter how much the record skips we just fall into the loop. We grow into somethin’ we hate. Throw in the towel after he says he deserves a third term for reckless endangerment. Then pack it up for the burbs. A place the news and movies don’t wanna go. Replace the familiar characters of Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster with Phil the dentist who treats himself to another year of golf at the club on your unnecessary root canal financed by your plasma. The lobotomizing mundane doesn’t hurt as much as the oncoming impending doom. Call it god or Santa Claus. But at the end of the day we’re still gettin’ punished.

Unwind in a hammock without the sound of duster cans firin’ in the distance. Unsure if your actions are an ironic joke at your own expense. You always said don’t take yourself so seriously. Shove metal through your flesh. The good memories never stay. Only the nasty wounds scar. You let your life imitate the art you once lived. Masochistically ink yourself. Tattoo the good memories that burnt up with the braincells from aluminum foil bowls. You don’t remember the stories. But you can still see Skaterino outside the club askin’ where the party’s at.

You can’t see his face or the Carhart beanie that probably stays on durin’ sex. But you can see his smile. Nicotine stains in his teeth glisten with childlike optimism at the oncoming impending doom. Every morning I wake up with the same fear his question left with me that night outside the ol’ OLL. Every morning I wake up to the shower head I don’t recognize. But the familiar dirt on the ground. Every morning I wake up to images of people that did terrible things to their bodies taped to my walls. Everyday I wonder if I know where the party is at when I wake up. A room of burnouts and drunks like sittin’ ducks gets you the fix we all crave when they say they’ve heard a lot about you. We all live in the hopes someone else shares our urban legend to people we may never know. A room of burnouts and drunks like sittin’ ducks in the rain dancin’ their cares away with the fraggles will always be more aware than Phil the dentist pullin’ a tooth from your skull with pliers in the most unprofessional medical procedure. How much college do you need to learn how to destroy lives?

Everyday I wake up with the same fear that this is the day the party ends. The drugs come down. The fascists burn the Constitution in an Antifa organized wildfire to spread climate change propaganda. Everyday I wake up with the fear that this is the day the fear ends. I meet Jim Henson in the dead end alley where Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock converge with the oncoming impending doom. Everyday I wake up with the fear someone just moves the needle forward and we’re still in a loop but with a different revolution bringin’ us back to where we started.

I see his name signed on a piece of government mail. It surreally makes this apocalypse film a reality. The Guilty Undertaker hits a bowl of salvia. PJ Banana screams his head hurts. His hands are sweaty. And his face is hot, man! His face is hot! Before lockin’ himself in the bathroom with a fifth of Hornito’s. But I know outside my door. And outside my neighbors’ doors. Revolution is happenin’ all around us. People are birthin’ their own cosmos in the midst of space and time and whole damn continuum. We’re all writin’ our own semi-autobiographical choose your own great American adventure novel. Somewhere outside all our doors the ducks are on acid, dancin’ their cares away in the puddles and rain. Somewhere Skaterino is askin’ where the party’s at. Nicotine stains glistenin’ with childlike excitement and naivety. Somewhere the angels are screamin’ at every single one of us sellin’ our bodies to the plasma bank. While tryin’ to make the most of the oncoming impending doom and over inflated cost of dental work.

All of this must pass. And we all wake up with the same fear that this is the day the scene ends. This is when we forget how to get to Sesame Street and move to the burbs instead. We wake up with the fear that someone is gonna skip our needle forward to a new loop on a broken record. But hopefully someone sees the constellations in the clouds we smoke. And are comforted by the hope someone out there is sayin’ they’ve heard a lot about us before we even meet ‘em. But everyday we wake up with the fear that the reassurance our urban legends of cosmos we create are recognized won’t be enough to end the revolutions of the dronin’ loop of our oncoming impending dooms.

#psychedelic vomit #vague glimpses of beauty #brief moments of clarity #grown up fucked up #somewhere the angels are screaming

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mrsrcbinscn · 4 years ago

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Franny’s 30 Day Cover Challenge

Playlist

Franny’s 30 Day Cover Song Challenge: (categories are mostly from here, and here, with some from here, and a couple I made) in September 2020 one of her musician friends challenged her to do the thing and she was like “It seems like a fun way to show everyone what kind of music has influenced me as a musician, singer, songwriter, and just like, person. So I’m going to do it.”

In reality, she recorded most of them in 1-2 days to distract her from how sad she is because Wilbur hates her and he’s sad lmao

It helped a little.

(If you want me to drop the playlist she mentions in #24 let me know, I have it started I can finish it)

TW: mentions of Franny’s political beliefs so tw: politics, an allusion to suicide though the word isn’t directly used, mention of 9/11 and the subsequent invasions...nothing graphic with any of these triggers but worth a forewarning

Day 01 - A song that makes you happy

Honey Spiders by The Parlotones

“The Parlotones are this fantastic indie rock band out of South Africa. And I actually thought about doing their song, uh, Stars Fall Down for day sixteen, but I’m going with Honey Spiders for day 1. There were lots of Parlotones songs, I mean. Push Me to The Floor, We Call This Dancing, Should We Fight Back...but ah, Honey Spiders always puts me in a good mood.”

Day 02 - A song that helps you clear your head

Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton

“I grew up on Dolly, and it’s funny because for the longest time this song wasn’t really on my radar as much as it is now. But when I was twenty-two I was going through something really difficult, and my then-fiance now husband was abroad for work, so I was alone in our apartment and just. Really, profoundly sad and lonely. So I put on a Dolly Parton record and just laid on the bed and Light Of A Clear Blue Morning played and I had a good long cry and felt so much better after that. When I need to think about how to solve a difficult problem, or I feel overwhelmed, I just listen to that song.”

Day 03 - Song you love from a band/artist you hate

Should’ve Been A Cowboy by Toby Keith

“Honestly, he’s called me a nasty lady to my face and I’ve called him a facist enabling pig to his, so I have no qualms openly saying I hate Toby Keith. That being said, Should’ve Been A Cowboy is one of the best country songs of the 90s, undeniably. I loved that song when it came out when I was thirteen, and I still love it.”

Day 04 - A song about drugs or alcohol

Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss

“This is probably cheating, because my lovely best friend Daniel and I cover this a lot at Dara & Danny shows. But today look who I have! My friend Max from Seoul Hanoi’d! Max the Korean Scot who can’t hide his accent to save his life, so let’s see how it sounds in a Scottish accent.”

Day 05 - A protest song

Talking Vietnam Blues by Phil Ochs /// and Here’s to The State of Mississippi by Phil Ochs

“This one was hard because I. Fucking. Love. Protest music. I could have done a whole 30 days of protest music - wow, let me know if I should do that and give my husband a heart attack with all the twitter threats I’ll invite. Huh. Right, so I was going to do Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven by John Prine. But I decided to do two Phil Ochs songs because I don’t think Phil Ochs is talked about enough. It’s a shame we lost him so young. Ochs’ sardonic humor and honesty in his writing has influenced me as a songwriter deeply. When I write political songs, I don’t hold back, and it’s because of Phil Ochs’ writing that I have that courage. I’ve been singing Love Me, I’m A Liberal since I was in college with constantly updating lyrics. It was so hard to even choose which songs of his to do because for his fairly short career his songbook is lengthy and full of gems. I’m Going to Say It Now, Draft Dodger Rag, Spanish Civil War Song, I Ain’t Marching Anymore...I couldn’t pick one so I’m cheating and recording two.”

Day 06 - A song you wish you wrote

When I Think About Cheatin’ by Gretchen Wilson

“I will forever be pissed off that I didn’t write this song. I’m absolute trash for my husband, so it’s never -- I’ve never had to be in a situation to ever consider -- but this song gets me every time. It feels like I could have written it. Because we do spend a lot of time apart travelling for our work. And the sentiment expressed in the song is a little too real.”

Day 07 - A song in a language you don’t speak

Khattar by Khine Htoo

“This will either be a charming attempt to sing in Burmese or I’m about to offend a lot of people. Which, being a politically outspoken woman on the internet, I’m used to anyway. So. 1, 2, 3, okay here goes.”

Day 08 - A song by an artist no longer living

Phop Samnang by Sinn Sisamouth (inspiration)

“Haha, you thought I’d see the name of this category and not do a Sinn Sisamouth song? You were wrong.”

Day 09 - A song you want to dance to at your wedding

Devoted To You by The Everly Brothers

“I’m already married, so this was actually our first dance song at our wedding. Day three of our wedding, like the more Westernized wedding ceremony day. We had a three day long traditional Cambodian wedding and I felt like a princess. An-y-way!”

Day 10 - A song that makes you cry

Borrowed Rooms and Old Wood Floor by Emily Scott Robinson

“Unfortunately, Emily Scott Robinson and I aren’t related. Sad, I know, because she’s so talented. Almost her entire album Traveling Mercies is...sad as hell. The record reminded me of early Dolly Parton, and my second solo album. You know, all those sad-ass songs. The Dress is honestly the song that makes me the saddest but I can’t even listen to it without crying so.”

Day 11 - A song that you love hearing live

Prove My Love by Violent Femmes

“There is nobody I have seen in concert more than Dolly Parton, but Violent Femmes and George Strait come incredibly close. The Cranberries, the amount of times I saw them in the 90s and early 2000s...close fourth. Probably. The very first concert I dragged my husband to was a Violent Femmes concert, he was not prepared for how hard college me went.”

Day 12 - A song from before 1960

There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth The Salt of My Tears by Libby Holman

“This song is from 1928. I came across it when I was in grad school and it’s, as the kids say, a bop.”

Day 13 - A song you think everybody should listen to

White Man’s World by Jason Isbell

“I think perspectives of people of color should of course take precedence in these conversations. But I find this song to be a good faith attempt of a white man coming to terms with the institutional racism and sexism in the world around him. And I think this song can be a useful tool to explain certain concepts of racial justice to ignorant but well-meaning folks. As a woman of color I think Jason Isbell did a great job not centering himself even though it was from his perspective. This song is great musically and necessary socially.”

Day 14 - A song from the 1970s

You’re No Good by Linda Ronstadt

“Linda Ronstadt is grossly underrated, that’s all I have to say here.”

Day 15 - A song people wouldn’t expect you to like

Racists by Anti-flag

“I mean, I’ve talked about how much I like punk in the past, and I remember a video of Seoul Hanoi’d doing Spanish Bombs at a San Antonio show made the rounds, but I don’t think I’ve talked about how much I like Anti-flag. People don’t expect me to like punk for some reason. But I agree with...everything punk music is all about.”

Day 16 - A song that holds a lot of meaning to you

Blue by LeAnn Rimes

“It’s silly, but I won a county fair singing competition with this song in high school and it really fueled my passion for music, that win. It’s also the first song Cornelius heard me go full Georgia on, with the yodels and all, at the little bar in my hometown on his first trip meeting my parents. The song doesn’t cut to my very soul ot anythin’, but it’s special to me.”

Day 17 - A song attached to a memory

Supernova by Liz Phair

“I remember buying Liz Phair’s Whip-smart album when I was eleven. And in college, when I was getting ready for dates with Cornelius in my dorm room, I would dance around to a CD I burned and wrote on it with a sharpie, ‘Pre-date Movie Scene Music.’ God, what was even on there? I’m about to expose myself as the most basic 1999-2001 bitch. I remember Head Over Feet, I mean, Alanis Morisette? I was a young woman in 2000, obviously I loved her. Mm, Dreams by The Cranberries...oh, Kiss Me, Sixpence None The Richer...yeah, anyway, Supernova was on there.”

Day 18 - A song from the year you were born

Call Me by Blondie

“...I can’t believe Call Me is as old as I am.”

Day 19 - A song that reminds you of someone you miss

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (yes, of course she does a cover with banjo)

“This was my late best friend Molly’s favorite hymn. And I sang it at her funeral at her husband’s request. Molly and I grew up together in the small town of Payne Lake, Georgia and Molly was the most devout Christian...but she was also the first person I came out to as bisexual when I was a teenager, and she said that Jesus taught her that love was the greatest commandment and that meant I was automatically twice as good at it as her. Her faith guided her every action but she never talked down on her two best friends - Dan(iel Maitland) and I for not sharing it. Molly was doing the whole emulate Jesus thing beautifully. I miss her every day and it’s been seven years. If you ever think that people won’t miss you...you’re wrong. All right, let’s see if I can get through this without crying.”

Day 20 - A song by an artist you discovered this year

Hello, Anxiety by Phum Viphurit

“I just discovered this quirky Thai-Kiwi singer and not to be dramatic, but he’s my favorite thing in the world right now.”

Day 21 - A song with a city or country in the title

Oh! Phnom Penh (track 20)

“This song was written after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and after people began to make their way to what was left of their homes, alone, or with what was left of their families. If you want to learn more about what that was like to actually live it, my cousin Reena Boran has a video interviewing her parents and paternal grandfather and uncle about it. Reena is a journalism student currently studying in London but she lives in Cambodia. Her mother is my aunt Malisruot, my mother’s youngest sister. The video is English subtitled on her channel, I’ll link it in the description box below.”

Day 22 - A song from the 1960s

To Sir, With Love by Lulu

“I didn’t actually discover this song until I heard it covered at a 10,000 Maniacs concert in the 90s. My friend Allison was standing next to me and I just started crying and she’s like ‘are you okay?’ and all I just blubbered out ‘My dad!’ For the uninitiated, my dad married my mom, who’d raised me alone until then, when I was six and he adopted me when I was eight. My dad didn’t have to adopt me, he didn’t have to call me his daughter, he could have just been like half of my friends’ stepdads and give me a place to live and nothing else. But my dad was my biggest supporter from day one. He convinced my mom to let me join the dance team and show choir instead of science club, he was the one that talked my mom down from probably killing me when they found out I was only studying music and not music and political science at NYU. I am who I am today because he is my dad. And this song just says everything I’ve always thought about him.”

Day 23 - A song from your childhood

Una Lacrima Sul Viso by Bobby Solo

“But Franny, aren’t you a Cambodian raised in the US? Yes, but you were fooled. My very white father is also an immigrant. He is from Switzerland and while he didn’t teach me to speak Italian and German growing up, he played German, Italian, and French records all the time. My parents often spoke to each other in French and I picked up some French but properly studied it starting in high school, and I didn’t study Italian until college -- and my German is still …. [points to a spot on the screen where she later inserted a card linking to a video on her cousin Köbi Framagucci’s YouTube channel titled ‘Can My American Cousin Speak German?’ where he tests her Standard and Swiss German speaking and comprehension]. But hell if I couldn’t sing every one of the songs from my father’s French, German, and Italian record before I knew what the words even meant.”

Day 24 - A song that gives you chill vibes

Glorify by Ivan & Alyosha

“Dan(iel Maitland) and I actually have an entire playlist on my Spotify accounts of songs to listen to to get us out of writers’ block. And one that I often will put on repeat and just absorb through my headphones with my eyes closed is a song called Glorify by Ivan & Alyosha. I think it touches on a lot of the themes I include in my songwriting. Christian mythology, the darker side of humanity, it often reminds me of what I love about songwriting. If you say please I might drop a link to that playlist.”

Day 25 - A song that’s your signature song

Long Gone Lonesome Blues by Hank Williams“Right, so I chose this instead of a Kitty Wells song or I Get A Kick Out of You (her being

featured on a 2005

recording propelled her career majorly) because if you’re familiar with me you might have seen a video that went around in like….2017? 2016? of Dan(iel Maitland) and I doin’ the song at our hometown bar in 2014. I posted it in response to some tweets because hoes mad when a WOC calls out racism and sexism in the Nashville music industry. ‘Bet she don’t even know Hank’, really? You think I wouldn’t know the history of one of the two music industries I work in? Please. Anyway, she knows Hank and nails the incredibly technical yodel -- the

most difficult

one in Hank’s songbook - in Long Gone Lonesome Blues. Mm...Lovesick Blues though, that also strikes fear into my heart. Anyway stay mad I guess?”

Day 26 - A song by your favorite band

Gun Shy by 10,000 Maniacs

“10,000 Maniacs was one of my favorite bands when I was in like 5th grade through 10th. I listened to them for a little while after Natalie Merchant left for a solo career, but the Natalie Merchant era was really what resonated with me the most. Gun Shy was a bit too advanced for my little 5th, 7th grade ears to really appreciate when I first discovered the album In My Tribe. Merchant’s voice -- because like, I don’t have a very conventional voice either, so her and Dolores O’Riordan really changed my entire perspective on what a woman’s voice can sound like in rock music. Um, yeah, so her voice more than the lyrics just wowed me. And as I got closer to graduating high school and especially in college I actually understood what What’s The Matter Here, Hey Jack Kerouac, and Gun Shy were talking about. Gun Shy...really became a significant song to me because...being born in 1980 I grew up in a relatively peaceful time. The Cold War was all but thawed by my tenth birthday. But I was getting ready to leave my then-boyfriend-now-husband’s apartment for class at NYU on the morning of 9/11. We stood in line for hours to donate blood. And then my government invaded two completely unrelated countries and jingoism and terrifying, fervent nationalism, and xenophobia just smacked me in the face. And friends of mine from high school were convicted to drop out of college and join the Army, and died, for an unjust, imperialist war, and suddenly Phil Ochs, John Prine, and Bob Dylan lyrics hit a lot different, and I understood what Gun Shy was really about.”

Day 27 - A song you hate by an artist you love

Mrs.Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel

“Paul Simon is one of my favorite songwriters ever, um, and I actually used to like Mrs. Robinson….until I got married and everyone sang it at me. It’s kind of my fault, I did choose to take my husband’s last name. And I leaned into it by making my social media handles all Mrs. Robinson...but still. Only play the song around me if you want to die.”

Day 28 - A song that a younger you would have loved

Mean by Taylor Swift

“I’m so genuinely glad that I am older than Taylor Swift. Middle school Franny did not need Taylor Swift to enable me and fuel my ego. Some of her singles, while not really 35 and 40 year old Franny’s cup of tea, young me would have played until my mother hid the record or cassette from me. Although - fuck if Tim McGraw didn’t immediately give my happily married ass flashbacks to my first love and make me bawl like a baby? Right, so when Speak Now came out and I listened to it, Mean, while not a song that adult me has listened to maybe more like ten times, I immediately thought ‘wow, I needed this song when I was in middle and high school.’ I could literally picture 7th grade me with my little guitar and my little cowboy boots my dad bought for me singing this at the talent show making eye contact with the kids who bullied me as if it was some kind of own when it’s not. I could still, almost thirty years later, name them if I really wanted. So, for 7th grade me, Mean by Taylor Swift.”

Day 29- A song that reminds you of your partner/spouse

ផាត់ជាយបណ្តូលចិត្ / Phat Cheay Bon'dol Chet by Sinn Sisamuth (translation) (female singer covering it) (modern, studio recording of a male and female singer dueting it) (a cool violin cover) (another female singer) (cool guitar cover)

Feat. some members of Seoul Hanoi’d. Andy Chaiyaporn (violin), Max Cho (piano), Jodie Batbayar (cello), Aisulu Niyazova-Li (percussion) and Franny has her guitar

“The song, lyrically, only reminds me of my husband a little bit. But Phat Cheay Bondol Chet has several memories with my husband attached to it. The first time he heard me sing in Khmer was at my mother’s house in Atlanta when I had him visit the first time to meet my parents. My mom had a little dinner party at our house to show him off, like Asian moms do when they think their daughter snags a good one, and I was hand washing the dishes while my mom and the other Cambodian parents were listening to Sinn Sisamuth records. I’ve always loved the song I’ll be showing y’all today, like I’ve always just stopped what I was doing and -- so it came on and I just started singing along without really being aware of it. And then at a different diaspora get together that summer, that song came on and I just kinda. Pulled him aside to the side yard of that person’s house to look at the stars with him and translated the song. It’s one of the Khmer songs he instantly recognizes now, so it’s special.”

Franny did NOT say in the video that college her 100% had him sit in the grass with her outside that person’s house, where nobody could see, so she could makeout with him

Day 30- A song by one of your favorite songwriters

Reincarnation by Roger Miller

Feat. Seoul Hanoi’d, done more in the style of the Cake cover

Also instead of singing the lyric “you’re a girl, I’m a boy” she goes “you’re a girl, so am I” because she doesn’t ever change pronouns, she just makes it gay because she is a bi-con

“Roger Miller, to me, is as important as Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, in the American songbook. He’s not as talked about which is a shame because his discography is iconic. Getting to be a part of King of The Road was one of the highlights of my career.”

#&&...hc

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slovenlyrecordings · 5 years ago

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New collection of COUNTRY TEASERS on Crypt Records

In case you haven't heard, Crypt Records (Crypt Records?) has a new collection of COUNTRY TEASERS material out and has reissued the "Satan Is Real Again" LP and their self-titled 10" debut LP! We'll have all three on our Slovenly USA website on Monday, Sept. 23rd.

COUNTRY TEASERS “Toe Rag Sessions, September 1994” Gatefold LP

14 cuts from their first recording studio sessions of Sept 2-4 1994. Originally the band recorded 23 songs but in October 1994 Ben fired the drummer and decided to re-mix everything. Dec 1994: Ben erases the drum track and re-drums it himself. Ben decides to jettison most of the songs and suggests 10 cuts for the debut so we decide on a 10” (See: Crypt-060 10” - Country Teasers “Pastoral / S/T”, also reissued.) And here they are at last: the 13 tracks cut at Toe Rag that didn’t make it onto the Pastoral 10”, PLUS the original version of “Black Cloud Wandering”. In a sumptuous gatefold containing ancient pre-interWeb communication forms (letters, faxes, etc). It would have made a damned great debut album in 1994. It IS a damned great album in 2019 (and forever!)

COUNTRY TEASERS "Satan Is Real Again" Gatefold LP

A rather deluxe reissue of this classic (as considered now) 2nd LP by Edinburgh/London combo Country Teasers, featuring tons of info on just how this LP came to be, plus the rather fucked-up story of a wee label flailing against the corrupt/inept accounting by Atlantic Records. Gatefold sleeve plus printed inner sleeve. And, most importantly: a READABLE sized BAND NAME upon a sticker attached to the shrink-wrap! Perhaps best is to quote directly from the original 1996 one-sheet (including original fonts!): Yes, my friends; A new 14-cut album from London´s finest, no doubt to cost Crypt more "garage/punk cred" within the ranks of those "hip". Well, believe me, I just spent 24 hours going thru a stack of over 200 demos from half-assed newly "hep" "garage" and "punk" bands and the Teasers cut a bold swath through alla these nouveau Caesars or D Dogs attempters, never mind alla these pissant surf/lo-fi/"trash" punkers with absolutely no fucking SUBSTANCE or originality. I will admit that the Teasers AIN´T yer "typical" Crypt "sound"; Hell, they almost fit in and could even appeal to "garage" hating "indie rock" types. SOME NOTES ON THE TUNES YE SHALL BE TREATED TO: Anyway, the alb kicks off with a noisey instrumental "intro", "THE WIDE-OPEN BEAVER OF NASHVILLE". Next up: the ALMOST "radio-friendly" "BLACK CHANGE" kicks in. Track 3 is an ode to the subtleties & innocent pleasures of "PANTY SHOTS". "IT IS MY DUTY": a charming, skipping treatise on the overly facistic feminism of now. Rather than apologize for any whining from the PC do-gooders, the next tune, a poignant C&W ballad, blames Ben´s brutal truth-laying on the "DEVIL ON MY BACK". Next up, the video-game squealing instro "LITTLE BLACK CLOUDS". And, rounding off side 1, another quiet C&W ballad, "LIES". Side 2 kicks off with a rollicking new wave "dance" ditty on the joys of being a man, "THANK YOU GOD FOR MAKING ME AN ANGEL", complete w/ intro/outro cops from a Joy Division tune. "CRIPPLES" is an ace mid-tempo jaunt. "SOME HOLE" is a crawling, slide-guit-screeching C&W ode to chasing pussy. "I DON´T LIKE PEOPLE" is a fast-paced R&B rocker about the "pleasures" of society. "COUNTRY FAG" is a rather crude "thru the eyes of" sketch about the manly West. "SATAN IS REAL AGAIN" is a dark discourse on Ben´s personal tract with the Prince Of Darkness. And, after all that bile and blood- letting... a quiet cover of the old standard, "THESE THINGS SHALL PASS", Ben´s "farewell" message of perseverance and hope....

COUNTRY TEASERS "Pastoral - Not Rustic / Self-titled" 10"

At last a repress of their 10 song 10” debut album that Crypt released in March 1995. From their first recording studio sessions of Sept 2-4 1994 at Toe Rag, London

#slovenlydistro #cryptrecords #crypt #records #vinylrecords #vinyls #vinylcollection #10inchvinyl #Country Teasers #countryteasers

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frost-skyder · 5 years ago

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Gaslighting, homophobia, harassment, etc.

This is a copy of a journal that was/is on deviantArt since the incident happened there, but I’m putting some of my records here when it involves harassment and art theft.

Warning: This includes harassment towards minors by a predatory adult, homophobic behavior, gaslighting, and other predatory behaviors.

Another Update:

Archived here for better viewing:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190704135920/https://www.deviantart.com/haleyc7995/journal/Harassment-and-Discrimination-About-My-Opinion-802306133

It’s one thing to harass me, but going out and threatening others isn’t okay.

Update, a freaking year later:

https://www.deviantart.com/haleyc7995/journal/Everyone-report-this-journal-for-harassment-802227692

Apparently I'm part of the LGBT+ Mafia because I said it's homophobic to go out of your way to say our existence is wrong? Not sure where they got that idea but they chose to dig up this old warning journal since they were harassing Queer people, and apparently think it's still okay to do so.

Also going to note that trying to use neurodivergency as an excuse for our actions isn't okay and is ableist, basically spitting in the face of other neurodivergent people.

---

OH WAIT THERE'S MORE!

This guy has sexually harassed minors. Also much more disgusting rhetoric than I expected in stamps but also in other comments towards minors. Please be advised of the explicit comments when clicking on this journal.

[Journal redacted by minor]

It's one thing for him to harass me, another adult, but to sexually harass and target minors is beyond disgusting, and illegal. If anyone wants an example of what a predator is, here it is.

---

Nvm, not last update.

Due to more and more people coming forward, I'm going to keep updating this journal, and adding links provided to me. I'm going to state that I'm so, so sorry to all of those who have been harmed by the three perpetrators in this journal. Hopefully from awareness comes prevention of further victims.

It was also brought up to me that my journal skin was causing issues for mobile users, so since this journal is very serious in nature, I have removed it so no matter what platform it should be legible.

This Journal is being added because it provides more information. TW (Rapey Rhetoric, body shaming, harassment, etc)

[Journal removed]

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Last Update (hopefully): Due to the garbage he keeps posting, I decided to block both his accounts because he's just rehashing what others have said about him, and now pinning it on victims lmao. When I told him I didn't tolerate how he was sexually harassing women and belittling sexual assault victims, apparently I'm the one harassing trauma victims now??

For the record...the only person I've blocked is him, which makes it funnier, but okay Chad™

Also going to state that being neurodivergent is not a justification for marginalizing others, ever, and is a spit in the face and throws other neurodivergent people under the bus. As I said, most of my friends with autism are in the LGBT+ community, and a majority of my friends are neurodivergent in general. So am I. It's never an excuse to marginalize others,

ever.

Apologies to everyone who had to deal with him, his nonsense, and has to deal with people like this in general.

And sorry, but marginalized groups speaking out against people actively trying to harm and oppress them isn't and will never be fascism. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

---

Very, very IMPORTANT Edit:

It is fairly easy to tell, but EmpatheticDesign is the same person as GrandtheftAutoOnline, and uses the duo of accounts to block evade.

I was made aware by others spreading my journal that this person is known for this behavior, has harassed others in the past, and belittled victims of trauma, including rape victims. It's one thing to be a homophobic garbage pile, but to go out of your way to harm and belittle those who have suffered through serious trauma? So yeah, please let others be aware so they are not harassed as well.

Edit: The second journal was removed at the request of the victim, who didn't want to associate with their abuser, or be found again. I was allowed though to give some details about what happened, so I think it's best that I post a screenshot of our notes, censoring the names.

https://www.deviantart.com/uwugirls/journal/Stay-safe-guys-749736306

At this point, it's beyond just harassing the LGBT+ community, and they seem to harass, sexualize, and belittle victims and women in general. Please be aware of this and stay safe.

Triple Edit: The person mentioned below, EmpathicDesign proceeded to post homophobic garbage on other people's posts so yeah, they kind of just admitted to be homophobic which is why they are so bitter lmao.

Double Edit: Apparently pointing out homophobes is facist now lmao. This was a great magnet for homophobic garbage so y'all can also block GrandTheftAutoOnline while you're at it, since they are trying to compare facism and oppression to someone pointing out homophobia. Clearly they don't know what facism actually is, what oppression is, and just want to justify hate speech without consequences.

Edit: I'm going to put this here so others know to also bock/avoid this person, who has made a variety of stamps targeting the LGBT+ community, and decided to think it was a smart idea to defend this person's discriminatory and phobic behavior as an "opinion."

Suuuure it isn't...

Then this lovely stamp shows they don't even know what "safe" spaces refer to whatsoever and they'd just rather shame Queer folk. Ya know, besides trying to avoid admitting that they are just phobic.

So yeah, here's another person that blatantly discriminates if you want to add to your list of "people that don't deserve any of your time." ------

Being gay myself, and having to deal with this on far too consistent of a basis, I thought I'd do my part to warn others so they can avoid some of this in their lives.

Apparently HaleyC7995 has done these things before, but I wanted to warn others who are Queer and may want to block people who go about spewing homophobic rhetoric.

I don't suggest going to her profile if you are sensitive to fat fetishizing, vore, and sexualization of a potential minor character (the character is in high school so there is a large possibility that they are a minor). Also racist depictions of characters.

People tried to explain why what they were saying wasn't okay, how it was homophobic, but she turned it around to blame the victims for her actions and other inappropriate behavior. She continued to say she was "misunderstood" about what she said, despite multiple times saying how being gay was "wrong" and overall seems quite content continue to say such things.

It started by saying something unnecessarily homophobic on an art piece, then when the artist made a status saying how people needed to stop being homophobic at them, they posted this on that status:

As you can see here, many people expressed how this was innapropriate:

https://comments.deviantart.com/62/13481362/4588682762

Apologies to the artist who was subjected to this person. You aren't the first victim, and hopefully you will be one of the last. For those who aren't Queer and don't realize this yet...you can't "turn" gay. She for some reason acts as if it's a choice lmao.

And well, many people reacted angrily, and she decided to "apologize" which wasn't an apology at all, but once again shifting blame and saying that it was just her "opinion."

For future records, hate speech isn't considered an opinion. It's hate speech and bigotry. An opinion is that I don't like raisins in my carrot cake because they make the cake texture gross.

Credit to this person who tried very, very hard to explain why this wasn't okay. This had to be the most patient person trying to explain why homophobia isn't an opinion.

People continued to be mad, because well...the obvious lack of empathy, blaming others, and continuing to persist with the idea that being gay was wrong and a sin.

Other people tried a well, especially those who have dealt with this person before she was banned on a previous account. She was ban evading for a while but it seems the accounts were unbanned now.

She continues even with me to say she's "unaware" of what she's doing. It's obvious she's not, and at this point she gets very gaslighty and trying to flip it once again on everyone else.

I was blocked after this so I couldn't respond, though as an angry gay person I had choice words. Unfortunately, due to how she's behaving, and how she has a history to blame everyone but herself for her own actions, I don't expect she'll be changing anytime soon. If you are Queer, have Queer friends, or just are very tired of blatant phobic behavior I'd just suggest blocking her. She's not willing to change or learn, but that doesn't mean we have to subject ourselves to hatred. I am so sorry for those she's already caused harm to, for those who tried so hard and had to put up with this, and for those who have had to deal with her even before this incident.

#homphobia #gaslighting #harassment #abuse #predatory #stuido talk #studio bullshit #putting this up here in case i have to remove the journal from dA

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geek-gem · 6 years ago

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Reunited

5:01 pm so as of now I've seen the new Steven Universe special, "Reunited" and their will be spoilers possibly so be warned I will tag it with spoilers too.

To be honest I didn't want to immediately go on my phone and talk about this. Because just I was wondering if that was seriously all until Adult Swim came on. So the tv is now on The Loud House just commericals on now. Including I've been watching some of the show again despite how I'm critical of the show.

But let me talk about this now.

After all these years and I've been a Steven Universe fan since the Summer of 2014.....all the build up, and after going through many years of again build up and people being critical and some being well stupidly critical where me and others couldn't take them seriously. Just after everything all the other stories and theories so much stuff so much shit going on. It all builds up to this.

Now Loud House is on the Girl Guru episode enough.

But I'm gonna say some stuff and people might say better stuff then me but this is my reaction.

The special, "Reunited" and this specific Steven Bomb was all worth it and it's possibly one of the or maybe the best Steven Universe episode ever. Even though the series is a big story but in a way.....how about a comparison here it might be stupid.

Think of Infinity War....this was my kind of thing. Seeing a whole bunch of this shit and just what we get these could be first reactions.

Okay looked at the last paragraph and the other before it I'm sorry of rambling at first but seriously. I'm very positive of the episode. To be honest for the first three episodes I didn't rewatch them including July 4th fireworks starting at 7 but rewatched, "Made Of Honor" yet was mainly on my laptop. I think I'm gonna leave this episode on basically see it again.

Now I think I should get into more details. It's a really great fuckin special it is. Because it's like an event me and other fans have been waiting for in so long. Including yeah some pretty funny moments and twice they used okay spoilers now they used the Peridot flower thing twice which is funny.

But it's like an event seeing all these characters and I don't know if this is a finale to a season. Because the ending and just after it ends is surprising as hell.

Basically let's talk about the wedding. I'm gonna be honest I said woah after the whole thing Sapphire explained with Steven and Ruby surprised by a whole lot explained and then Sapphire explaining it in a simple way. Especially the fucking kiss they actually showed that. Which is pretty fuckin amazing. Especially yeah Garnet came back which is awesome. I was surprised by the kiss it's just it's surprising because they actually showed it on TV despite I suppose Rebecca Sugar didn't have fear of showing it but still.

Now to the biggest things almost just said thing. But just the Diamonds and their is so much to talk about.

The big battle especially the biggest fucking surprise the Cluster actually turns into a large arm and fucking arm wrestles Yellow Diamond's ship. The fact the Cluster is seriously that in control of it's actions is amazing and good that it's on the Crystal Gems side. Especially even Steven mentions that and the Cluster even does thumbs up twice.

Also just the battle between the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds it's fucking awesome and some surprising stuff man. Now I'm thinking I hope the Diamonds Pearls are somewhere maybe on their ships I'm worried now where are they now man.

Yet again their are indeed some funny moments especially Peridot which is quite a surprise glad Bismuth loves her attitude holy crap I remember the ideas that Bismuth might of hated Peridot and Lapis yet yesterday shit changed.

Also Lapis she came the fuck back holy fuck. Yeah I'm swearing a bit I guess in a way to express myself on this stuff. But especially before but just her entrance is amazing she fucking slams the barn on Blue Diamond. Yet also one of the biggest things. It's her interaction with the Crystal Gems before more of the battle and the whole thing of officially joining now.

I'm just remembering all the times people talking about her relationship with the Gems and now here we are man.

Seriously again lots of stuff especially the last half the fact this is three parts was surprising. It's not just tap parts it's three parts man.

But the last half which especially before that holy shit after Yellow Diamond basically poofs Peridot who has the balls to even step forward to the Diamonds after being launched by Bismuth onto Blue Diamonds face. Yellow actually runs towards Steven and fucking steps on him I'm being serious. Especially he had his shield and it protected him but fucking broke. Crap glad it didn't end on that.

But the last half again Steven's I guess in....their minds of shorts. Including able to connect with everyone and just oh shit man. Then also the last part he's trying to talk to the Diamonds and it's quite a struggle and just hearing everyone's thoughts also some silly stuff in there too man.

Yet after all that he's able to talk with them and reveal what actually happened to Pink Diamond. Then it just fucking ends with the Diamonds and especially everyone else looking at Steven seeing he's up now. But also the biggest thing the Diamonds realize who he is now.

Okay other thing I remembered which was funny was Greg surviving and getting I think I remembered he was called Cat Steven and Greg says he will rather stick with them the other Gems.

Also I don't know why I thought of this the fact Steven needs to sleep to speak to the Cluster I was thinking their gonna jam a tranquilizer or something in his neck it sounds so weird. But it's funny he went to sleep rather quickly after Greg played his guitar.

Also remembered the funny moment Ruby speeding up to Sapphire and shit's on fire and Greg playing the guitar more quickly.

Along with I wanted to mention this. This special actually fucking starts with a song by Steven especially with him reacting to some people's negative stuff and whatever looking on the more bright side of things.

Now I need to speak of the final part and this wasn't shown in the ending. The ending is left pretty open ended. Their is footage of the next episode which seems to line up with that gif of Blue and Yellow with the Crystal Gems at the house.

Holy shit especially Centi whatever she's named is gonna be part of that too. Their talking about the whole thing that the Diamonds used to wipe out most of the Gems on Earth and how it affected Gems.

But basically I should just get to the point I fucking loved this special. Especially the show started when I saw the intro I turned off my laptop well exit the screen was watching some Klayton Fioriti stuff the 20 years Lost World Jurassic Park stuff I exist that out and turned off the screen not the laptop.

Again sorry I really enjoyed the special. So much good shit. The fact we finally got this is amazing. Now we're gonna get more after this but it didn't reveal the date of what I saw.

Hopefully at Comic Con we will get more information.

Also on a funny note considering my reblog sorry for the mention gal but want to @beevean her post and how I made a joke about White Diamond. Also put back the n of her username whatever.

At first my ideal and it's was mainly a joke about she was the one who killed Pink Diamond that White Diamond is a facist. But now the theory and it works perfectly and if this is true how much symbolism Rebecca Sugar and the Crewinverse have done. The idea White Diamond distancing herself from so much shit.

She does not appear in this. In fact maybe hopefully she will appeared or even mentioned in those upcoming new episodes that maybe the Diamonds could be on good terms now. Or even maybe some Comic Con stuff but from what I know they don't really reveal something like that unless Cartoon Network fucks up but this time they didn't which is amazing man.

In a nutshell and I'm gonna copy this. This is probably one of my favorite things from series, the best Steven Bomb and my favorite of the series or just the build up is worth it. It's basically my Infinity War yet probably hopefully for other fans as well. But not the kind of Infinity War where spoilers the ending contains White Diamond making half of the universe disappear where Connie says, "Steven I don't feel so good". Okay Connie was my first choice then Greg or Peridot but Jesus Christ let's be glad their isn't something like that and wanting to keep which characters alive stop it sorry guys.

Tags done but seriously all fucking great man the best we've gotten is such a long time the greatest hopefully just sorry I'm rambling the greatest.

Edit had to click here again it's 5:46 pm I forgot the time but just got the nutshell thing on Deviantart and Loud House is on commericals gonna reblog shit. But seriously the fucking greatest.

#steven universe #su spoilers

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xtruss · 4 years ago

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Trump said he intends to declare antifa as a terrorist organization. Here's what we know about the decades-old, leaderless group.

The leaderless, non-hierarchial organization has existed for decades but has grown to greater prominence since Trump's election in 2016 and after the violent 2017 white supremacist rally and its counterprotests in Charlottesville, Virginia.

— By Michelle Mark and Connor Perrett | June 2, 2020 | Businesses Insider

Hundreds of protesters gather at Government Center including a protester with an antifa flag draped over his shoulders during a rally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Boston on May 31, 2020. Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

President Donald Trump and other Republicans have blamed antifa, which stands for anti-fascist, for ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd.

The president said amid the protests that he intends to declare antifa as a terrorist organization.

The group has represented a boogeyman of sorts for Trump, who previously threatened to classify the group as a terrorist organization in July 2019 after a clash between members of antifa and far-right group the Proud Boys.

Members of the group are known for clashing with members of the far-right and decrying white supremacy, though the group has drawn criticism in the past for its willingness to use violence.

President Donald Trump on Sunday announced plans to designate a left-wing group known as antifa as a "terrorist organization," blaming the group and other unidentified "radical left-wing" organizations for ongoing civil unrest following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd.

Floyd, a black man, died while in police custody on May 25. Video of the incident showed that a white police officer held his knee to Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, even after Floyd lost consciousness. That officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Three other Minneapolis police officers present have been fired but have not been charged with a crime.

Floyd's death has sparked protest — many peaceful but some violent — in Minneapolis and other major cities throughout the US, including New York, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta. Over the past week, some protests have resulted in the looting of business, destruction of property, and death.

"I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters, but in recent days our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, antifa, and others," Trump said at a June 1 press briefing.

Other Republican leaders joined Trump in claiming that protests are the result of antifa, a leaderless, non-hierarchial organization that has existed for decades.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton called ongoing protests the work of "antifa terrorists" in a June 1 tweet, echoing the president's rhetoric. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz similarly equated antifa with terrorists and said the members should be "hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East."

The group has represented a boogeyman of sorts for Trump, who in July 2019 similarly threatened to classify the group as a terrorist organization after a clash between members of antifa and far-right group the Proud Boys in Portland led to the assault of a conservative journalist.

While the group has existed for decades, its name seems to have entered mainstream vernacular after a white supremacist rally and counterprotests clashed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Trump was most likely referring to antifa activists when he blamed "many sides" for the violence in his initial statement on the Charlottesville violence. At a press conference later that week, Trump criticized what he called the "alt-left" for "charging with clubs."

In and around Portland, Oregon, activists with the organization smashed windows and hurled smoke bombs during a series of riots following Trump's election. In August last year, 13 people were arrested in a clash between members of antifa and far-right groups.

It's not exactly clear how many demonstrators at ongoing protests are members of antifa.

"The radical left is much bigger than antifa, much, much bigger, and the number of people who are participating in the property destruction are much, much bigger than the radical left," Mark Bray, a historian at Rutgers University who authored "Antifa: The Anti-Facist Handbook," told the Associated Press.

Here's what you need to know about the activist movement:

What is antifa?

A counterprotester with an antifa sign outside the Boston Commons and the Boston Free Speech Rally in Boston in 2017. Reuters/Stephanie Keith

Antifa, short for "anti-fascist," describes a decentralized, leaderless movement dedicated to combatting right-wing authoritarianism and white supremacy. It has existed for decades but gained prominence after the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, and has continued to be associated with clashes and protests since.

Its members include a mixture of anarchists, socialists, communists, and other far-left activists. It's unclear how many people count themselves as members, but local, autonomous chapters or cells exist in major cities across the US, in many cases accompanied by sizable online followings.

The movement's adherents reject the notion that white supremacy can be quashed by any government apparatus and believe it instead must be eradicated through direct action.

Bray said the group lacks hierarchical structure or universal set of tactics that would make it recognizable. Its members often to espouse revolutionary and anti-authoritarian views, he said.

Sometimes their action consists of traditional community-organizing efforts like peacefully protesting or fundraising. In other cases, Antifa activists have staged doxxing campaigns to expose suspected white supremacists to their employer or landlord and have sometimes used violence to clash with those they view as fascist.

Antifa activists believe that legislative efforts or action from law enforcement are not only insufficient in expunging racist or fascist viewpoints but perpetuate them.

These beliefs were put on full display during the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally, when counterprotesters complained that the police had neglected to protect them from violence. It was antifa, instead, that had physically defended vulnerable counterprotesters and prevented further bloodshed, they argue.

"The police didn't do anything in terms of protecting the people of the community, the clergy," Cornel West, a prominent academic and activist, told The Washington Post. "If it hadn't been for the anti-fascists protecting us from the neo-fascists, we would have been crushed like cockroaches."

The origins of antifa lie in subcultures that emerged to counter fascism in the 1900s.

Antifa protesters at a rally on June 4 in Portland, Oregon. Getty Images/Natalie Behring

Antifa's origins are sometimes attributed to European movements in the 1930s against Nazis in Germany and Blackshirts in Italy, though a more direct and contemporary ancestor of the movement would be the far-left activists who opposed British neo-Nazis in the 1970s and 1980s during the height of the punk-rock subculture's popularity.

In the US and Canada, the Anti-Racist Action Network sprang up around the same time in the 1980s in a similarly loose and decentralized state that Antifa exists in today.

America's oldest antifa group that still operates is Rose City Antifa, which formed in 2007 in Portland, Oregon, according to Bray.

Bray previously wrote in The Washington Post that these early Antifa adherents typically faced outright animosity from the mainstream left for their attention to what was then seen as fringe, racist groups instead of tackling "more large-scale, systemic injustices."

"Years before the alt-right even had a name, antifascists were spending thankless hours scouring seedy message boards and researching clandestine neo-Nazi gatherings," Bray wrote. "They were tracking those who planted the seeds of the death that we all witnessed in Charlottesville."

'You need violence in order to protect nonviolence': Antifa, in its members' own words

Anti-fascist counterprotesters outside Emancipation Park on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

Antifa members don't hesitate to describe their movement as one that uses any means necessary to oppose fascism.

A 2017 manual for organizing local antifa groups published on It's Going Down, an Antifa-supporting journal, advises prospective members to stay anonymous, track and document "white nationalist, Far Right, and fascist activity," and organize demonstrations to counter events held by white nationalists or members of the so-called alt-right.

The manual warns against accepting "people who just want to fight," adding that "physically confronting and defending against fascists is a necessary part of anti-fascist work, but is not the only or even necessarily the most important part."

"No, I did not behave peacefully when I saw a thousand Nazis occupy a sizable American city," one activist wrote in a letter published on It's Going Down. "I fought them with the most persuasive instruments at hand, the way both my grandfathers did. I was maced, punched, kicked, and beaten with sticks, but I gave as good as I got, and usually better. Donald Trump says that 'there was violence on both sides.' Of course there was."

The necessity of violence in the face of what they perceive as a growing fascist threat is a sentiment expressed by many antifa adherents, who emphasize that white nationalists often cannot be reasoned with or otherwise opposed.

"You need violence in order to protect nonviolence," Emily Rose Nauert, an antifa member best known for being punched in the face by a white nationalist during a clash at Berkeley in April 2017, told The New York Times. "That's what's very obviously necessary right now. It's full-on war, basically."

Antifa's critics on the right have pushed back on the group's use of force

President Donald Trump makes a statement to the press in the Rose Garden about restoring "law and order" on June 1, 2020 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Right-wing critics of antifa have long expressed concerns about the chilling effect the group has on their First Amendment rights. Conservatives have also decried the groups sometimes violent and confrontational tactics.

Conservatives have long complained of censorship and infringement on their freedom of speech — particularly on college campuses, where predominantly left-wing student bodies and faculties have often succeeded at shutting or shouting down controversial right-wing speakers and events.

Among the most prominent of such instances was Berkeley's cancellation of Ann Coulter's campus speech in 2017 out of fear that far-left activists and antifa members would respond with violence. The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the cancellation as a "heckler's veto," a legal term in which the government suppresses speech out of fear it will prompt a violent reaction.

In 2019, clashes between antifa members and far-right groups turned violent, leading to 13 arrests in August. In July, conservatives targeted the group after right-wing blogger Andy Ngo said he had been attacked by antifa members.

The GOP's yearslong calls for antifa to be labeled a terrorist organization have been amplified amid the ongoing protests surround Floyd's death and police brutality.

In statements about protests over Floyd's death , Attorney General William Barr described "antifa-like tactics" by out-of-state agitators and said antifa was instigating violence and engaging in "domestic terrorism."

The right-wing media has also fixated on the antifa movement, portraying it as an example of violence inherent in left-wing ideology. Fox News' Jesse Watters even attempted to confront a purported antifa member on the air — a stint that backfired when it emerged that the purported antifa member was really an 18-year-old YouTuber apparently pulling a prank.

Trump and his supporters have reacted to antifa violence with zeal, drawing parallels between the movement and the neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members who antifa oppose.

Trump was possibly referring to antifa when he gave his now-infamous press conference at Trump Tower, during which he slammed what he called the alt-left — a term created by white nationalists that no actual left-wing group self-identifies under — as being equally to blame for violence in Charlottesville.

"What about the 'alt-left' that came charging at the, as you say, the 'alt-right'?" Trump said in 2017. "You had, you had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now."

The movement has sparked criticism, amusement, and discussion among the left.

A counterdemonstrator using a lighted spray can against a white nationalist demonstrator at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017. Associated Press/Steve Helber

Liberals have generally been slow to acknowledge antifa. While some have lamented the violence at recent protests, others have reacted with amusement at certain antifa antics.

"Their presence at a protest is intended to intimidate and dissuade racists, but the use of violent measures by some antifa against their adversaries can create a vicious, self-defeating cycle of attacks, counter-attacks and blame," the Anti-Defamation League said of antifa. "This is why most established civil rights organizations criticize antifa tactics as dangerous and counterproductive."

One of the most-witnessed instances of antifa violence came on Trump's January 2017 Inauguration Day, when an activist punched avowed white nationalist Richard Spencer in the face as he was giving an interview. A video clip of the encounter immediately went viral, to the cheers of prominent mainstream liberals.

The incident and its viral response prompted a debate over whether it's moral to "punch a Nazi" and whether broad acceptance of that behavior could increase ambiguity over which people can be accurately described as Nazis and who has the right to decide.

"No, it's not OK to punch a Nazi," Brian Levin, the directer of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino, told CNN. "If white nationalists are sophisticated at anything, it's the ability to try to grasp some kind of moral high ground when they have no other opportunity, and that's provided when they appear to be violently victimized."

Levin continued: "That's the only moral thread that they can hang their hats on. And we're stupid if we give them that opportunity."

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manuquialex120683 · 6 years ago

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rise in Hate Crime?

The daily caller makes a interesting point, from 11 months to the point where president Trump was elected, there has been some harsh things that happened that specific leftist media would not acknowledge. Hate groups (actual facist group) like Antifa, rise up in various colleges in mask with weapons attacking anyone on the right with their justification if they are for Hitler/Nazi you can strike them just for that and then associating anyone being Christian, Conservative, Republican, for MAGA or likes the president as a Nazi, as a racist, bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic and Islam phobic. Theres no counter debate no evidence just a moral attack, which, then for them justifies refusal to hear the other side. Here some scary events that occurred during those months (information obtained by the Daily Caller News foundation, article by Dave Brooks entitled "This list of attacks against conservative is mind blowing "):

June 2016: protesters jumped on cars, stole hates, fought with and threw eggs at Trumps supporters outside of Trump rally in San Jose, California (unprovoked)

July 2016: Hilly Clinton supporter lights a flag on fire and attacks a Trump supporter in Pittsburgh

August 2016: Trump supports were spat on, harassed, forced to leave a Trump fundraisers in Minneapolis, also they beat an elderly man, a Tennessee man was assaulted at a garage sale for being a Trump supporter, in New Jersey trumps supports were attacked with crowbars.

September 2016: North Carolina was fire bombed and spray painted with "Nazi Republican" get out of town or else.

November 2016: High school student was attacked, they ripped her glasses and punched her in the face.

month after month the violence and attacks kept increasing. It was contrary to the information I obtained from the Hill in a article entitled Hate crimes up for the third year in a row: FBI. they were citing FBI statistics, saying there was a 17 percent in crease from 2016 to 2017 (7,175 hate crimes to be exact) and also stating that 23 percent are religious based, 58.1 percent of crimes were against Jewish people (anti-Semitic).

Heres the real data, I got from wiki but you can copy their source to validate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States#Right-wing_extremism_and_anti-government) NOTE: A lot of the ones labeled as right wing terrorist are not. Some are blatant socialist, others communist. KKK for example targeted all Republican. Its almost as if it were meant to characterize Republicans are evil people.The only exception I would say would be the attack on abortion clinics.

2010–present[edit]

Date Type Dead Injured Location(s) Details Perpetrator February 18, 2010 Suicide attack 1 (+1) 13 Austin, Texas Austin suicide attack: Andrew Joseph Stack III flying his single engine plane flew into the Austin Texas IRS building killing himself and one IRS employee and injuring 13 others. Stack left a suicide note online, comparing the IRS to Big Brother from the novel 1984. Joe Stack March 4, 2010 Shooting 0 (+1) 2 Arlington County, Virginia 2010 Pentagon shooting: John Patrick Bedell shot and wounded two Pentagon police officers at a security checkpoint in the Pentagon station of the Washington Metro rapid transit system in Arlington County, Virginia. John Patrick Bedell May 1, 2010 Bombing 0 0 New York City 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt: Faisal Shahzad ignited an explosive in Times Square. The bomb failed to go off, and he was later arrested on a flight leaving for Dubai.[99] Sentenced to life in prison on October 5, 2010 after pleading guilty to a 10-count indictment in June, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.[100] Faisal Shahzad May 20, 2010 Shooting 2 (+2) 2 West Memphis, Arkansas 2010 West Memphis police shootings: Two West Memphis police officers were killed by a father and son who supported the sovereign citizen movement during a traffic stop. The suspects were later killed by other officers. Jerry and Joseph Kane September 1, 2010 Hostage taking 0 (+1) 0 Silver Spring, Maryland Discovery Communications headquarters hostage crisis: James J. Lee, armed with two starter pistols and an explosive device, takes three people hostage in the lobby of the Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland before being killed by police. After nearly four hours, Lee was shot dead by police and all the hostages were freed without injury. Lee had earlier posted a manifesto railing against population growth and immigration.[101][102] James J. Lee October 2010 Bombing 0 0 Virginia Farooque Ahmed conspired with law enforcement officials posing as al-Qaeda to bomb Arlington Cemetery, the Pentagon City subway station, Crystal City subway station, and Court House subway station.[103] Farooque Ahmed October 29, 2010 Bombing 0 0 Chicago, Illinois Cargo planes bomb plot: Two plastic explosive bombs were discovered on two cargo planes destined for two synagogues in Chicago. They were discovered at East Midlands Airport and Dubai International Airport while en route.[104] al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula October 17, 2010 – November 2, 2010 Bombing and Shooting 0 0 Virginia Northern Virginia military shootings: A series of shootings took place at the five military buildings including the National Museum of the Marine Corps and the Pentagon. He also attempted to bomb and damage Arlington National Cemetery.[105] Yonathan Melaku November 25, 2010 Bombing 0 0 Portland, Oregon 2010 Portland car bomb plot: Mohamed Osman Mohamud attempted to detonate what he thought was a car bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.[106] Mohamed Osman Mohamud January 17, 2011 Attempted Bombing 0 0 Spokane, Washington Spokane bombing attempt: A radio-controlled-shaped pipe bomb was found and defused in Spokane, Washington along the route of that year's Martin Luther King Jr. memorial march.

On March 9, 2011, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Kevin William Harpham, 36, of Addy, Washington. On December 20, 2011 he was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the attempted bombing.[107]

Kevin William Harpham May 25, 2011 Bombing 0 0 Bowling Green, Kentucky Two Iraqi immigrants were arrested for sending money and weapons to Iraq while residing in Bowling Green, Kentucky, as well as participating in attacks while in Iraq and plotting to kill American soldiers on their return.[108] Mohanad Shareef Hammadi and Waad Ramadan Alwan December 6, 2011 Shooting 2 0 Fort Stewart, Georgia Killing of Michael Roark and Tiffany York: 19-year-old Michael Roark and his girlfriend, 17-year-old Tiffany York, were found by two fishermen near a rural road in southeastern Georgia. It was believed that Roark was killed for his part in giving information to Fort Bliss authorities in El Paso.[109] FEAR August 5, 2012 Shooting 6 (+1) 4 Oak Creek, Wisconsin Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting: Six people were killed and three others were injured, including a police officer who was tending to victims at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The gunman, 40-year-old Wade Michael Page, killed himself after being shot by police.[110] The shooting is being treated by authorities as an act of domestic terrorism.[111][112] While a motive has not been clearly defined, Page had been active in white supremacist groups.[110] Wade Page February 3–12, 2013 Shootings 4 (+1) 6 California Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt: Former LAPD officer Chris Dorner goes on a killing spree targeting police officers and their families throughout Southern California. Dorner was eventually killed in a shootout and fire in Big Bear Lake, California. Dorner stated he committed the shootings in response to police brutality. Chris Dorner April 15, 2013 Bombings, shootout 5 (+1) 280 (+1) Boston, Massachusetts Boston Marathon bombing: Two bombs detonated within seconds of each other near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring more than 180 people.[113][114] On the evening of April 18 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an MIT campus police officer was shot and killed while sitting in his squad car. Two suspects then carjacked an SUV and fled to nearby Watertown, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. A massive police chase ensued, resulting in a shootout during which several IED's were thrown by the suspects. A Boston transit police officer was critically wounded and suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a Russian immigrant of Chechen ethnicity, was killed. The second suspect, Tsarnaev's younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, escaped. A "Shelter in place" order was given for Boston, Watertown, and surrounding areas while house-to-house searches were conducted, but the suspect remained at large. Shortly after the search was called off Tsarnaev was discovered hiding inside a boat parked near the scene of the shootout. He was taken into custody after another exchange of gunfire, treated for injuries received during his pursuit and capture, and arraigned on federal terrorism charges.[115][116][117][118] Preliminary questioning indicated the Tsarnaev brothers had no ties to terrorist organizations.[119] A note written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the boat where he was captured said the bombings were retaliation for US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan against Muslims.[120] On April 8, 2015, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty on all 30 counts related to the bombing and shootout with police.[121] On May 15, 2015, Tsarnaev was sentenced to death.[122]

Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013

Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev April 16, 2013 Bioterrorism 0 0 Washington, D.C. April 2013 ricin letters: Two letters, sent to Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker and president Barack Obama, were tested positive for ricin. Each letter contained the message "I am KC and I approve this message". On April 27, 2013, a man named Everett Dutschke was arrested. Evertt Dutschke November 1, 2013 Shooting 1 6 (+1) Los Angeles, California 2013 Los Angeles International Airport shooting: Paul Anthony Ciancia entered the checkpoint at the Los Angeles International Airport and fired his rifle, killing one Transportation Security Administration officer and injuring six others. The motivation behind the attack was Paul's inspiration of the anti-government agenda, such as believing in the New World Order conspiracy theory, and stating that he "wanted to kill TSA" and described them as "pigs". Paul Anthony Ciancia December 13, 2013 Bombing attempt 0 0 Wichita, Kansas 2013 Wichita bomb attempt: 58-year-old avionics technician, identified as Terry Lee Loewen, was arrested on December 13, 2013, for attempting a suicide bombing at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, where he was employed. Loewen became radicalized after reading extremist Islamic material on the Internet. He was arrested while driving a vehicle into the airport with what he believed to be an active explosive device. Later sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison.[123] Terry Lee Loewen April 13, 2014 Shootings 3 0 Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting: A pair of shootings committed by a lone gunman occurred at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom, a Jewish retirement community, in Overland Park, Kansas. A total of three people died in the shootings. One suspect, identified as Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr., a neo-Nazi neo-Pagan, was arrested and charged with capital murder, first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated assault. Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. April 27, 2014 Shootings 1 0 Seattle, Washington Ali Muhammad Brown shot and killed a man who was walking home from a store. This killing was part of a series of terrorism related killings in the states of Washington and New Jersey.[124] Ali Muhammad Brown June 1, 2014 Shootings 2 0 Seattle, Washington Ali Muhammad Brown shot and killed two men outside a Seattle gay nightclub. These killings were part of a series of terrorism related killings in the states of Washington and New Jersey.[124] Ali Muhammad Brown June 8, 2014 Shooting 3 (+2) 0 Las Vegas, Nevada 2014 Las Vegas shootings: Two police officers and one civilian died in a shooting spree in the Las Vegas Valley committed by a couple, identified as Jerad and Amanda Miller, who espoused anti-government views and were reportedly inspired by the outcome of the Bundy standoff. The Millers both died during a gunfight with responding police; Jerad Miller was fatally shot by officers, while Amanda Miller committed suicide after being wounded. Jerad and Amanda Miller June 25, 2014 Shootings 1 0 West Orange, New Jersey Ali Muhammad Brown shot and killed a man who was driving home from college while stopped at a traffic light. This killing was part of a series of terrorism related killings in the states of Washington and New Jersey.[124] Ali Muhammad Brown September 12, 2014 Shooting 1 1 Blooming Grove, Pennsylvania 2014 Pennsylvania State Police barracks attack: Two Pennsylvania State Policeman are shot in a sniper attack nearby a police barracks, one dies. Eric Frein is arrested for the shooting after a 48-day manhunt. Eric Frein September 24, 2014 Stabbing 1 1 (+1) Moore, Oklahoma Vaughan Foods beheading incident: Alton Alexander Nolen aka "Jah'Keem Yisrael" attacked two employees at Vaughan Foods, beheading one and stabbing the other before being shot and injured by Vaughan Foods' Chief Operating Officer.[125] Alton Alexander Nolen

"Jah'Keem Yisrael"

October 23, 2014 Melee attack 0 (+1) 3 New York City 2014 New York City hatchet attack: Zale Thompson injured two New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers, once critically at a Queens, New York City shopping district by striking them with a hatchet. Four officers were posing for a photograph when Thompson charged them. The police opened fire killing Thompson and injuring a civilian. Thompson, who converted to Islam 2 years before the attack, posted "anti-government, anti-Western, anti-white" messages online.[126] Zale Thompson December 2014 Cyberattack 0 0 United States "The Guardians of Peace" linked by the United States to North Korea launched a cyber attack against SONY pictures. Embarrassing private emails were published and the organization threatened attacks against theaters that showed The Interview, a satire which depicted the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Following the refusal of theater chains to show the movie, SONY Pictures withdrew release of the movie, a decision that was criticized by President Obama and others. Obama said the USA will respond. North Korea denied responsibility for the attack and proposed a joint investigation with the U.S.[127][128][129] North Korea May 3, 2015 Shooting 0 (+2) 1 Garland, Texas Curtis Culwell Center attack: Two gunmen opened fire outside the Curtis Culwell Center during an art exhibit hosted by an anti-Muslim group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative in Garland, Texas. The center was hosting a contest for cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Both gunmen were killed by police. A Garland Independent School District (ISD) police officer was injured by a shot to the ankle but survived. The attackers, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were motivated by the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France and the 2015 Copenhagen shooting in Denmark earlier in the year. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attack through a Twitter post.[130] Elton Simpson, Nadir Hamid Soofi, and Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem June 2, 2015 Stabbing 0 (+1) 0 Boston, Massachusetts Police investigating a planned Islamic terrorist attack on police confronted Usaama Rahim to question him. He pulled out a military knife, and was eventually shot and killed by police as he approached them with the knife. David Wright was later arrested and charged with planning a terrorist attack with Usaama Rahim.[131] Usaama Rahim and David Wright July 16, 2015 Shootings 5 (+1) 2 Chattanooga, Tennessee 2015 Chattanooga shootings: Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He first committed a drive-by shooting at a recruiting center, then traveled to a naval reserve center and continued firing. He was killed by police in a gunfight. Four Marines were killed immediately, and another Marine, a Navy sailor, and a police officer were wounded; the sailor died from his injuries two days later. The motive of the shootings is currently under investigation.[132] Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez November 4, 2015 Stabbing 0 (+1) 4 Merced, California University of California, Merced stabbing attack: Faisal Mohammad, armed with a hunting knife, stabbed four people at the University of California before being shot and killed by police.[133] Faisal Mohammad November 27, 2015 Shooting 3 9 Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting: Robert L. Dear, armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic. Two civilians and one police officer were killed, while four civilians and five police officers were wounded before the suspect surrendered. Dear told police "No more baby parts" after being taken into custody.[134] Robert Dear December 2, 2015 Shooting 14 (+2) 24 San Bernardino, California 2015 San Bernardino attack: A mass shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, with 14 dead and 22 injured. Two suspects, Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, fled in an SUV, but were later killed.[135][136][137][138] Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik January 7, 2016 Shooting 0 1 (+1) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania A man shot at a police officer in his cruiser multiple times, injuring him in the process. The officer returned fire injuring the assailant. The assailant later pledged allegiance to ISIL, citing it as his reason for the attack.[139] Edward Archer February 11, 2016 Melee attack 0 (+1) 4 Columbus, Ohio Ohio restaurant machete attack: Four people were injured in a restaurant when a man with a machete attacked them at random. After a car chase, the assailant, who was from the West African nation of Guinea, was killed by police.[140] Mohamed Barry June 12, 2016 Shooting, hostage taking 49 (+1) 58 Orlando, Florida Orlando nightclub shooting: 49 people were killed and 53 were injured in a terrorist attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The sole suspect behind the slaughter was identified as Omar Mateen, an American-born citizen with Afghan immigrant parents who was later killed.[141][142][143] The FBI asserted his possible link to radical Islam.[144] Despite assertions to the contrary, the FBI could not find evidence to suggest Mateen was gay or targeted Pulse because it was a gay club, according to The Washington Post[145] Omar Mateen August 20, 2016 Stabbings 0 2 Roanoke, Virginia On August 20, 2016, Wasil Farooqui stabbed a man and a woman in a random attack at an apartment complex.[146] Wasil Farooqui September 17, 2016 Stabbings 0 (+1) 10 St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud, Minnesota mall stabbing: On September 17, 2016, a mass stabbing occurred at the Crossroads Center shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Ten people were injured, and the attacker was shot dead inside the mall by an off-duty law enforcement officer.[147] ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq media agency, claiming Adan "was a soldier of the Islamic State".[148] Dahir A. Adan September 17–19, 2016 Bombings 0 34 (+1) New Jersey and New York City 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings: Four bombings or bombing attempts occurred in the New York metropolitan area, specifically in Seaside Park, New Jersey; Manhattan, New York; and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Thirty-one civilians were injured in one of the bombings. Ahmad Khan Rahimi was identified as a suspect in all of the incidents and apprehended on September 19 in Linden, New Jersey, after a shootout that injured three police officers.[149] According to authorities, Rahimi was not part of a terrorist cell, but was motivated and inspired by the extremist Islamic ideology espoused by al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda chief propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki.[150] Ahmad Khan Rahimi November 28, 2016 Vehicle attack, stabbing 0 (+1) 13 Columbus, Ohio Ohio State University attack: A car ramming attack and mass stabbing occurred at 9:52 a.m. EST at Ohio State University (OSU)'s Watts Hall in Columbus, Ohio. The attacker, Somali refugee Abdul Razak Ali Artan, was shot and killed by the first responding OSU police officer, and 11 people were hospitalized for injuries. According to authorities, Artan was inspired by terrorist propaganda from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.[151] Abdul Razak Ali Artan March 20, 2017 Stabbing by sword 1 0 New York City Stabbing of Timothy Caughman: James Harris Jackson, 28, traveled from his home state of Maryland to New York City with the "sole purpose of stalking and killing black men for a statement-making media spectacle" according to police. On March 20 he allegedly attacked Timothy Caughman, 66, in Midtown Manhattan with a sword, killing him. Police allege ties to White Supremacist hate groups.[152] James Harris Jackson August 12, 2017 Vehicle-ramming attack 1 28 Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville car attack: On August 12, 2017, James Alex Fields Jr. intentionally drove his car into a group of counter-demonstrators at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Charlottesville mayor called it "an act of domestic terrorism". The suspect is described as a white supremacist.[153] James Alex Fields Jr. August 5, 2017 Bombing 0 0 Bloomington, Minnesota On August 5, 2017, an explosive device shattered windows and damaged an office at the mosque, which primarily serves people from the area's large Somali community. October 31, 2017 Vehicle-ramming attack 8 11 (+1) New York City 2017 New York City truck attack: On October 31, 2017, an ISIS-inspired man drove a rented Home Depot flatbed pickup truck in a vehicle-ramming attack on cyclists and runners along 1 mile (1.6 km) of a bike path alongside West Street in Lower Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring at least 11 others. The attack took place several blocks north of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Authorities found a note near the truck used in the incident which claimed that the attack by the 29-year-old was made in the name of ISIS.[154] Sayfullo Saipov February 16, 2018 Assault with vehicle 0 3 East Orange,

New Jersey

A man crashed a stolen truck into a Planned Parenthood clinic, injuring a pregnant woman and two others.[155] Marckles Alcius October 22–, 2018 Bombing 0 0 Several states October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts: In late October 2018, at least 12 packages containing pipe bombs were mailed within the U.S. Postal Service system to several prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump, including various Democratic Party politicians (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Eric Holder, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maxine Waters, Cory Booker), actor Robert De Niro, billionaire investor George Soros, former CIA Director John O. Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Cesar Sayoc Jr.

Terrorist incidents in the United States[5][6] YearNumber of incidentsDeathsInjuries 20176595932 20166468139 2015385458 2014292619 20132023436 20122077 20111002

#hate crime #hatecrime #antifa #president trump #Donald trump #liberal media #conservative

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trevorbailey61 · 7 years ago

Text

Heaven 17

The Picturedome, Holmfirth

Friday 18th August 2017

It wasn’t meant to be like this of course. Alongside that, after two albums, the original members of the Human League decided they hated each other, there were considerable differences in the way they each saw the music developing and their role within this. Standing at the front while his companions coaxed the sounds out of their synthesisers, Phil Oakey saw himself as the star; all he needed was that moment of pop glory that would make him the teen idol he wanted to be. He may have had doubts as to whether Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh could provide the accompaniment for this but that was never really on anyway, the pair would never have accepted simply being the backing band in his quest for stardom. Thus they fell out, Oakey kept the name and after finding a couple of backing singers in a Sheffield night club, produced one of those albums that was to define its era with almost everyone owning a copy of “Dare”. Ware and Marsh, however, had loftier ideas and quickly formed the British Electric Foundation, something they saw as being at the forefront of developing the use of technology to fundamentally change the way in which music sounded. Through this they recorded “Music of Quality & Distinction Volume One”, the volume one indicating that this was conceived as an on going project, where they provided innovative accompaniment for cover versions of songs performed by a range of artists including Tina Turner, Bernie Nolan, Hank Marvin and, erm, Gary Glitter. With Oakey inheriting the name, he could wrestle with the problems of taking synthesiser driven music out on the road, they would be creatures of the studio, pop art radicals striving for that moment of sonic perfection.

Alongside the established names they drew into the BEF project was Glenn Gregory, like them, a Sheffield lad who, rumour has it, was the original choice for The Human League. With Gregory as the singer, they had already recorded a number of their own compositions on two cassette only releases before releasing their first album, “Penthouse and Pavement” just prior to the BEF project. Remaining, as they saw it, true to their art credentials, they avoided the usual trappings, insisting that this was music to be listened to, not performed. They did, however, decide that they needed a name for this collective and picked Heaven 17 from a fictional band in “A Clockwork Orange”. Released at the start of the 80s, looking back now it seems a suitably iconic album to usher in a new decade, its sleeve depicting an emerging yuppie lifestyle in much the same was as the music provided a foretaste of the styles that would dominate the sound of the years to come. Unlike Oakey’s opus, however, it did not endear itself and the mixed response in the music press was reflected as it provided the background to late night discussions while I was at university. Despite being built on heavily programmed beats, Gregory is still able to tell us the bpm for two of the songs during the set, the music is stuttering and awkward with songs often lacking a strong melody or the easy hooks that Oakey found on “Dare”. It seemed important but it was difficult to love.

Another barrier was that the album was also highly political, not overtly but, as the title implies, the lifestyles reflected in the songs had a clear focus on the gap between those above and their fellow citizens who had been less fortunate. In the lead single, however, the message was blunt leading to “We Don’t Need This Facist Groove Thang” being banned by the BBC due to its reference to the recent election of Ronald Reagan. Their politics, informed by the highly politicised atmosphere in their home town at the time, also contributed to the way in which their music was presented; the BBC ban no doubt giving them some kudos and their use of promotional films rather than a tour gave them a greater element of control over this. More than likely, they never thought of where this would lead them over three and a half decades later but if they did it would be to providing the soundtrack to some post modernist art installation rather than to this straight forward run through their hits to a group of mostly fifty somethings trying to recapture their youth. This can mainly be attributed to one song, “Temptation”, a moment of pop brilliance that shattered the art pretensions and led to them reluctantly accepting the rules by which the business worked. Success brought expectations, audiences expected to hear them live, they expected the songs in pretty much the same way as they heard them on the records, they expected at least 90 minutes of music and they expected an encore. No longer were they allowed to be the mavericks, the art rebels, they were now mainstream.

With Heaven 17 being at their peak during my time at university, it is fitting that the concert led to a reunion with an old friend from those days, although with Neil never really showing the obsession with music that I have, he would not have been part of those discussions on the limitations of “Penthouse and Pavement”. It was good to meet up, however, and this led to a night out in Huddersfield, an opportunity to visit some great pubs and a little too much to drink. Another reason for our visit is that the support act are Beautiful Mechanica featuring Grace, our niece, on keyboards and backing vocals. This will be the first time we have seen them since they supported Spear of Destiny at the Hare and Hounds last year and the more upbeat set, together with an audience who responded well to them, made it a much better show. Talking to the band leader, Graham, after, he explains how they adapt what they play to the fit in with the headline and tonight this gave them an energy that the darker songs last year didn’t always have. This is helped by the introduction of some new material that, he explains, is their beginning of their disco phase, “well if the Arcade Fire can do it”. There were a few problems with the balance in the sound at first but once the levels were set, the precise harmonies from Grace, more prominent on the newer songs, added a haunting quality to their sound.

With Marsh having given up touring about ten years ago, Ware and Gregory are now Heaven 17 with the keyboards of the former being set prominently at the front alongside the singer. With them, another set of keyboards is set up at the back of the stage allowing the parts created by Marsh to now be filled in by the tall striking figure of Bernie and two backing singers add harmonies and occasional lead alongside Gregory. Their initial reluctance to play the game is now forgotten, they are engaging performers, occasionally bickering with each other as happens when two people know each other well and adding humour to the chat between the songs. They are aware of this tendency to become an end of the pier comedy act, “we’re not Morecambe and Wise” Gregory complains at one point, but they know each other so well now they seem incapable of preventing it. Announcing that for a special Yorkshire audience they have something different lined up, he tells us that they will be doing an Abba song which, when alternatives are shouted out, he immediately regrets. The warmth of their partnership, however, is best seen on a cover they do. Leaving Bernie to accompany the song, Ware joins Gregory for a spirited “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”, played in the stark arrangement used by the Human League all those years ago. Taking on a well known pop standard invites comparisons and whilst the quality of the vocals may, at best, be described as functional, the wonderful bond between the two made it inspiring.

Gregory is keen to acknowledge Ware’s contributions to the first two Human League albums and the show starts and ends with songs from these. “Circus of Death” is a reminder of just how uncompromising they could be, sparse electronic distortions and changing rhythm patterns combine to unsettling effect allowing Gregory to lurch onto the stage to add the macabre lyrics. As an encore, “Being Boiled” takes us back there, softened a little by the years, the harmonies and hand-clapping but still an audacious song and a reminder of how ground breaking they were at the start. Whilst these excursions into their origins adds perspective, however, the age of the audience show the period they have come to hear and the bulk of the set is drawn from “Penthouse and Pavement” and its follow up, “The Luxury Gap”. “Facist Groove Thang” appears early, urgent in its ferocious pace and as Gregory points out in its introduction, terrifyingly relevant. At the time, its statement seemed a little too obvious, sixth form politics set to a disco beat where simply mentioning the worked facist would provoke nods of agreement in junior common rooms. If anything, that simplicity works better now than it did, with nuance and subtlety replaced by broad slogans in the intervening years, argument based on something that can easily be expressed in 140 characters. The only minor quibble would be a missed opportunity to update the reference to Reagan. The programmed rhythm is as fast as it always was but even this is exceeded by the appropriately titled “We Live So Fast”, “motion, motion”.

The nights spent listening to and dissecting this music have left an imprint and despite having paid little attention in the intervening years, I find I instantly recognise almost all of the songs and, with introduction giving me the prompt, can sing along to most. Familiarity has smoothed off some of the rough edges; the unwavering beat was always infectious but now the melodies seem more natural than they once did and the song structure more clearly defined. A wave of nostalgia envelops me through “Penthouse and Pavement”, “Play to Win” and “Let’s All Make a Bomb”, taking me back years to the small room in Derby Hall or the cold house we had in Basford. The comfort this brings, however, serves to bring out the darkness in the lyrics, as pertinent and relevant now as they were then, perhaps we needed the last song on the album, “We’re Going to Live for a Very Long Time”, to wrap us up and assure us everything will be alright. The second album, “The Luxury Gap”, always had its pop hooks which remain as strong as ever, seen on “Crushed By the Wheels of Industry” and “Temptation”, the extended introduction to the latter giving the backing singers a chance to fill their lungs and show the power and range in their voices. It is difficult to think of anyone writing a song with the complex morality of “Come Live With Me” now but it still manages to provide some insight into the emptiness of the relationship between the older man and a much younger woman. A couple of Bowie covers are also included, “Let’s Dance” sits alongside the rhythms of their own songs well but despite the importance he attaches to it, Gregory’s voice lacks the subtly to capture “Life on Mars”; the sparse accompaniment was fitting but his deep baritone rather over powers the fragility and loneliness in the words. The highlight, however, was one of their own. Before playing it, Gregory states that “Let Me Go” is their favourite and it is easy to see why. Smart, intelligent lyrics above an intricate and multilayered arrangement, it epitomises everything they worked to achieve and with coloured light bouncing off the mirror ball above us provided a suitably affecting and powerful moment before the party blast of “Temptation”.

After the show, we head to the pub next door for a drink giving an opportunity for the post gig adrenaline to subside, particularly for those who had been performing. Had it not been for a family interest, I would probably have never seen Heaven 17 or been to a concert at the Picturedome but in both cases, I’m glad that I did. The venue is wonderful, an old cinema that has been converted sympathetically into a concert hall, the sound is good, it is the right size and they even manage to serve decent beer at a reasonable price. All agree that the audience helped to make this a great show tonight; loud and enthusiastic from the start, the band responded accordingly making for a wonderful evening. Commenting on this, Graham noted that they didn’t want them to fail, something that a support act often has to contend with as audiences make little effort in concealing their boredom as they wait for the headline. They also comment on how supportive the headline were, staying out in the hall while they played and providing encouragement. That art installation will have to wait, there are plenty who want to relive their youth in the company of one of the innovative bands of the era which means that the nostalgia circuit will be detaining Heaven 17 for while yet. With a Yorkshire crowd at a great venue like this was to see them at their best. As we leave, I look up at the acts playing there in the future and notice that Half Man Half Biscuit will be there towards the end of September - it will be a long way to go and there are no family connections but ……

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