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lastfrontierheli22 · 2 years ago

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Proudly South African!

Thrilling ski adventures, sensational lengthy haul getaways and great cruises - just a few of the experiences you'll be able to enjoy with Club Med. Start putting these exercises into your routine now and ensure your time on-piste isn’t cut brief because you aren’t as a lot as the problem. Book your all-inclusive snow vacation with Club Med at present for days of skiing fun.

This is an exercise for many who ski at an intermediate or skilled level. It is the chance to be flown to the higher reaches of the adjacent mountains after Heliski which to ski down in virgin powder. STAR GAZING PLATFORM - Relax underneath the evening sky and enjoy the Magnificent Constellations, and shooting Stars.

You may have walked the paths of Table Mountain many instances, but have you ever accomplished it on a freewheeler? The spectacular surroundings is all the more invigorating throughout an off-road adventure, particularly if you get to feel a rush of adrenaline as you whizz down slopes. The two-hour tour begins on the top of Signal Hill for your first downhill run to Bo-Kaap, then strikes on to the lower slopes of Table Mountain, from which you descend via Deer Park.

Cape Town Helicopter’s scenic flights differ in distance, taking you over the town and harbour, alongside the Atlantic Seaboard, over Robben Island or all the finest way to Cape Point and False Bay. Trips to the Winelands can be Heli skiing Canada found, too , or elsewhere special to get pleasure from a picnic, meal, golf or safari outing. Paddling on the open ocean evokes a way of freedom and adventure.

It is right here where you are taking a break, lounging on the massive terraces soaking up the solar and letting the Matterhorn magic wash over you. Zermatt’s world-famous popularity as a top ski resort started badly. From the late Eighteen Eighties, driven by the spirit of journey, mountain-conquering British lords and gentlemen felt the need to discover the unknown − the untamed Alpine world − and pit their power Heli skiing and abilities against it. The metre Matterhorn, which dominated the skyline of the city, was a tempting problem. On your “gap year” you can benefit from the 500 sq. metres set aside purely for toys, like snowmobiles, jet skis, a helicopter and submarine. You must save enough money, choose your location and date.

Under this canopy of trees and at the edge of the Mountain one feels very small, compared to the magical views. Wander around the quaint mountain cities, from Chamonix within the shadow of Mont Blanc to fairly riverside Annecy. Enjoy a steaming glass of vin chaud with a serving to of raclette, or pick up some local comté to take home with you. Even when you’re on vacation, there are still a quantity of extra issues you are in a place to do to make certain you get probably the most from high quality time on your skis. Why not try one of the skiing fitness apps now obtainable corresponding to Be Fit.

There’s also a wealthy native tradition of post-skiing socialising, starting from a bottle of beer and steaks on a grill to seats in a gourmand restaurant. And, while eating, you'll find a way to benefit from the nice view of the seven close Heliskiing by glaciers. The Heli Skiing in Cervinia is just awesome, and there may be climbing (the mighty Matterhorn!) paragliding, snow and summer 18-hole golf, a snow park on the Bontadini run, curling, indoor pools and X nation skiing.

The scenic Italian Alps comprise lush valleys and pine forests set in opposition to the backdrop of jagged white peaks. Towns nestle within the valleys and ski chalets nuzzle into the crevices provided by the beneficiant mountains. Access to the world is offered via train or bus routes snaking via the Alps, but the worldwide cable automotive connection over the mountains from Chamonix is by far probably the most spectacular approach to enter the region. One factor Heli skiing BC is certain, your vacation in Italy will be an experience to recollect. Mountain cuisine is normally considered nothing more than a gas cease, but the fifty six mountain restaurants round Zermatt − a lot of them former farmhouses − serve magnificent meals. A personal favourite tasted at one of the restaurants on the slopes was a bowl of hay soup with vodka, which tastes infinitely better than it sounds.

#skiing

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writingopheliasheart · 5 years ago

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Gold Dust Woman

Carol Danvers x f!Reader

Word Count: 1447

Rating: M AO3: opheliasheart

“Baby, you should see me now, You gon’ feel me... You can’t save me”

You can’t help but smirk, rolling your eyes before they return to the flecks of gold adorning hazel. There would be time for recognition. To dig deeper and heal the wounds that surpassed her steely exterior. For now you take refuge in a corner booth.

Your midnight encounters were born from the licks of rage. All teeth, tongue and tremors as you know this is just territory claimed to keep the thoughts at bay. A possessiveness to the way her arm curled around your waist in the corner of the bar, red lights dancing around you both while illuminating your curls thrown over one shoulder. Her body faces you. Heat almost suffocating in the sway of the bodies rolling in mass at the centre of the room, sticky skin on skin meeting the sweeter diffusion of spilt spirits and ciders.

They left the shards of remaining deceit lying around her, a false reality that shattered into sharp fragments that threatened to slice her skin with any movement.

“Hell hath no fury and all that.” Tony piped up from the kitchen counter, a knowing look woven together from humour and wrath. He sees the pain that was laced in Carol’s body language and understands the heartbreak. Has experienced the heartbreak. Knows that her method of finding catharsis is just as valid as anyone else.

You can’t help but smirk rolling your eyes before they return to the flecks of gold adorning hazel. There would be time for recognition. To dig deeper and heal the wounds that surpassed her steely exterior. For now you take refuge in a corner booth. Carol’s fingers meander over your skirt covered thigh as your legs rest on hers. Shared joked into each others ears above the noise, drinks exchanged as you try the others order. There is no space between you. That heat from the dance floor lingers, never dissipating as you glide your finger over her arm. Sweat from your palms coalesce and you both watch as your fingers gently intertwine.

Carol radiates a golden glow. Shimmers of gold dust that would litter the sky as she soars through the galaxy now glisten in the air around her… It’s angelic aura juxtaposed with the infernal desire that creeps across her eyeliner smudged, glistening face. Hand squeezing yours as your eyes connect once more.

“Heav’n has no rage like love to hatred turn’d, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” You poke Tony as you pass by the fridge. Coming to stand a few feet from Carol, you watch the emotions flicker through the film projector of her mind and onto her iris. Sorrow from the loss of a friend. Pain at the abuse of a trust built between two lovers. Rage as that trust was twisted and torn to leave a gaping wound. Excitement… Eyes fixated on yours. Wallowing seemed to fall back in sequence of priority. Potential for fun, relief… Interest garnered from a mutual friendship could be used as a weapon of course. Devious plans collide in her eyes as her fingers glide over your hand to guide you to the privacy of her room. Would be a shame to not let you share her enjoyment.

There’s a sting as her nails dig slightly into the skin of your side, gently caressing the red marks left behind (just a couple more to match those littering your back). The tension in the air is palpable with the trail of her finger sending a shiver down your spine.

A pause as the music transitions, one song blending to the next. There is a fluidity to the rippling bodies adjusting and moving in sync with the beat. Carol’s eyes flicker to an observer beyond your vision. They refocus on yours and there is a proposition in the point of her eyebrow. Always asking never assuming, though each time you establish yourself as ready and willing with a graze of your lips against her neck and nudge of your nose.

You are practically lifted from your position in the booth, her body the guiding light through the swaths of people enjoying an escape from the realities outside the club.

The hallway east of the stage, down a staircase and through a set of double doors, was far enough away. The music reverberated through the concrete walls enough that you both could hear your slightly deeper breaths. Anticipation. There is a pause. The charge of the air around you.

The cold hits you first as your back collides with the wall. You gasp at the sensation as she captures your bottom lip, slipping her tongue through to flit against yours. Hands on her cheek and neck, you register the vibration of her moan through them. Your thighs thrust forward against her, back arching as her lips descend the column of your neck. Her tongue glides across the skin, the salty dampness gathering at the nape of your neck.

The charge of the air around you both continued to grow in line with your increasing desire pulsing, attempting to find purchase as you grind your hips forward. Her nails drag down your thighs to the edge of your leather skirt before her hands slide up underneath. She grips and you groan at the pressure of her abs against your centre as she lifts, legs wrapping around her waist.

You break away to take a breath, thumb raising to wipe the bead of saliva that escapes Carol mouth moving across her lip. She watches you with an intensity. A second pass across her lower lip and she captures your thumb, tongue swirling and caressing as your eyes widen. She sucks it gently before releasing it and squeezing your arse with her hands.

Just a second gazing down at her is all you need. Recognition flickers in your eyes as you watch this golden goddess. She would be worshipped, allowed to take this mortal offering of stretch marked skin, scars from healed wounds and enjoy the wonders, the pleasure it can provide.

“Would you do the honours?” She leans forward to whisper into your ears before tugging the lobe with her teeth, sucking the flesh.

With a blink of your eyes the base vanishes. The light gives way to the dark interior of your room at the compound.

“Switch on the lamps Friday.” There is a dull glow from the bedside tables. Carol carries to the King sized bed and pinches your arse before dropping you to the bed and climbing onto your lap. You capture her lips in a desperate kiss, more than ready to explore this devilish nature of hers. Your mouth falls open, accepting the taste of sweet alcohol on her tongue as she kisses you deeper. Flitting in and out, grazing your teeth. You take in a soft breath before taking her tongue between your lips as she pushed it further into your mouth, causing her to release a groan of desire that shoots straight to your already pulsing core.

Her hands grip your shirt and pull it over your head, hands caressing your back before deftly unhooking your bra to release you from it confines. She glances down and back up to your eyes then pulls you in for a bruising kiss, all tongue and teeth sending a tremor through your body as she raises a hand to your breast.

There’s a sting in her touch as her heat pinches and licks at your skin. It burns away the rest of your clothes and tears away her own. Fiery eyes take in every inch of your body, savouring the spots that get the best reactions to pair with her fingers caressing the wet, thrumming heat to send you over the edge into the abyss. She pulls you back to fling you over the edge once more and you take the remaining energy from her exploits to flip Carol.

Her hooded eyes gazed up at you, smirk adorning her face. It disappears quickly with the graze of your fingers across her bare skin, chest soon heaving and body shaking. Her skin is glistening as you set it alight with each kiss and caress. She groans, lip caught between her teeth. You pull Carol into your lap, grinning up at her as she throws her back, pupils blown and grinding down onto you.

Whether this recurring rendezvous will fizzle or swell, blooming into more than just the haze of skin meeting skin and sees gentle caress of hands on bare thighs or tangled in the early morning rays, is not important. Merely the common understanding of a juxtaposition. The almost bruising grip of her hand on yours is a delicious ache that serves to keep her with you, grounded in the moment with your eyes attentive to the waves of pleasure that roll over her face. The ecstasy sends her higher with each flick and thrust, back arched soaring above you. She floats higher with each culmination, always tethered.

#carol danvers x reader #carol danvers x female reader #carol danvers x fem!reader #carol danvers x you #carol danvers x y/n #carol danvers #captain marvel #carol danvers imagine #carol danvers one shot

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mexcine · 4 years ago

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Massacre Gun [Minagoroshi no kenjū)] (1967) review: Massacre Gun is a curious yakuza film, bereft of many of the familiar yakuza tropes one expects. It's actually more of a generic gangster movie, with the only strong yakuza flavour coming from the idea that there is a "family honour" bond between gang members, as opposed to that of a simple crime gang where individuals are linked only by common self-interest and may defect as soon as they feel it benefits them to do so. Otherwise, there's not a sword, a tattoo, or a missing pinky finger in Massacre Gun. In a way, it's a mid-point between the "chivalry films" (Ninkyo eiga) of the 1960s and the 1970s Jitsuroku trend in which yakuza were portrayed as violent thugs (see the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" series).

The film also has a rather bizarre aspect: the three Kuroda brothers challenge the Akazawa gang, "poaching" several of the business "clients" who are receiving protection from the yakuza. At one point, brother Eiji Kuroda says "we can take over the entire city!" But this is patently ridiculous: the Kurodas have no henchmen! It's literally just the three of them, against Akazawa's dozen or more. It would have been more logical if the script simply had the Kurodas merely defending themselves against Akazawa--or even attempting to kill him--rather than trying to set up a rival gang with only 3 members.

Ryūichi Kuroda is ordered by Boss Akazawa to execute Akazawa's former mistress, for whom Ryūichi has romantic feelings. He kills her, but then resigns from the "family." Shirasaka, Ryūichi's best friend and second-in-command of the Akazawa group, asks Ryūichi to reconsider but is turned down.

Saburo, Ryūichi's youngest brother, is a boxer whose contract is owned by Akazawa: Saburo complains to the gangster that Ryūichi was treated unfairly, and severs his relationship with Akazawa. In revenge, yakuza thugs break Saburo's hands, destroying his promising ring career. The gangsters also wreck the "Club Rainbow" nightclub operated by middle brother Eiji.

In retaliation, the Kuroda brothers "convince" some small businesses to switch their allegiance from the Akazawa gang: this gets one of the men murdered, his body sent to the Club Rainbow in a coffin also containing a bomb (defused by Ryūichi). The owner of a bowling alley gives the Kurodas a false tip-off about an Akazawa gambling party on a docked ship; this turns out to be an ambush, but Ryūichi and Eiji escape. Eiji begins an affair with Akazawa's current mistress.

Akazawa's men abduct Saburo (while he's strolling with his girlfriend through some sort of wasteland full of burning piles of trash?!): he'll be released if Ryūichi gives himself up (to certain death). However, Eiji follows his older brother and bursts into the meeting, tossing a pistol to Ryūichi and gunning down Akazawa himself. A short time later, Eiji is caught in his apartment with Akazawa's mistress by the gangsters. Eiji (not much of a gentleman) pushes the young woman in front of him and she is shot to death. But this only buys him a couple of minutes of life, as he's riddled with bullets trying to escape.

Shirasaka takes over the gang and arranges a final showdown with Ryūichi on a stretch of deserted (under-construction) highway. Ryūichi shoots all of the yakuza from ambush with a rifle, then he and Shirasaka meet face-to-face and kill each other. The end.

The action scenes in Massacre Gun are odd: everyone shoots multiple times (the ambush on the ship is outrageous, with seemingly hundreds of shots being fired but the only casualty is Ryūichi, who suffers a slight wound to one arm), but there are no bullet squibs and very little blood on the victims (this is especially notable in Eiji's death scene).

The character motivations of Massacre Gun range from obscure to somewhat nuanced. Shirasaka and his wife Shino run a bar and are longtime friends of Ryūichi. There's some hint that Ryūichi and Shino were romantically involved before she married Shirasaka, and Shirasaka--as he departs for the final showdown--tells Shino that she can trust Ryūichi if he (Shirasaka) doesn't survive. Shirasaka, as noted above, tries to convince Ryūichi to reconsider his decision to quit the Akazawa's "family." When Ryūichi says his decision is final, Shirasaka says their friendship has to end.

The three Kuroda brothers are given distinct personalities, but the characterisations are not very deep. Ryūichi's "duty" to his oyabun compels him to murder a woman he has romantic feelings for (he's even purchased an airplane ticket to help her escape); he then resigns his position in remorse. At this point, he seems to have no plan--even when Akazawa's men brutally assault Saburo and wreck Eiji's nightclub, Ryūichi doesn't immediately retaliate. I've seen some other films featuring Joe Shishido (he of the cheekbone implants) where he has some personality, but in Massacre Gun he spends most of the time glumly sitting around, staring into space.

Saburo is incensed at Akazawa's mistreatment of his older brother, but subsequently takes no active part in the fight against the gang (partly because his brothers shield him, partly because he's not inclined towards a criminal life); Eiji seems more opportunistic and hot-headed, urging Ryūichi to be assertive and attack Akazawa. The film ends with surviving Kuroda brother Saburo running along the deserted highway towards the site of his brother's death.

The only other significant character in Massacre Gun is "Chico," the pianist/singer at the Club Rainbow. Played by Ken Sanders--half Japanese, half-African American--Chico has a lot of screen time, although most of it is spent singing and playing the piano. The Club Rainbow itself is one of the major locations of the film (the Kuroda brothers apparently live upstairs) and there are two extended dance numbers (the club's floor show): in one, a scantily-clad woman and man dance; in the second, a woman (the same woman?) does a strip-tease (possibly to full nudity, but she's definitely topless at the end). Both of these are too long and have no bearing on the plot, unlike Chico's music, which is appropriately moody.

In addition to the two extraneous dance sequences, Massacre Gun also includes several odd dialogue scenes between Saburo and his girlfriend. In the first, they have a serious conversation as they zip around the bay in a speedboat! Later, they go for a drive in Saburo's sports car, which they then park so they can walk around a landfill or something (it's possibly part of the same construction project as that shown in the finale, but in this sequence the audience sees barren sand dunes and piles of burning trees and other trash!). I suppose these scenes are marginally more interesting than having the two characters sitting in a room or walking through a city park, but they still seem out of place (and it's never explained where Saburo got the money for a boat or a sports car).

Not boring or uninteresting, Massacre Gun is nonetheless unfocused and not especially stylish, well-written, or filled with fascinating characters.

#massacre gun #yakuza film #japanese cinema #joe shishido #gangsters

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thatsnotcanonpodcasts · 5 years ago

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Pokémon Crash, Beetles & Fox Movies

Hello and welcome to another illuminating episode of fun and frivolity with those goofballs from Nerds Amalgamated. First up we have a story about how Nintendo are crashing Roku devices. That’s right, Nintendo have an issue with Pokémon Sword and Shield that is causing Roku to crash and shut down. Now if you want to know more you will need to listen in and then you can tell us what you think in our Facebook group if you think Buck is being to grumpy.

Next up we have the start of Jurassic Park with a beetle trapped in amber. That’s right, a real beetle trapped in amber. This one in particular is historical due to a few important factors, such as the age of the beetle. Would you believe it was around almost 100 million years ago? That’s right and it played an important part in the local ecology. Want to know how the listen in for our second story and then tell us what was your favourite part of the Jurassic Park movies?

Last up we have those poor people at Disney having to vault movies to try and increase the value and increase the margins. That’s right, since Disney the evil organization seeing world domination have bought Fox media they have begun to reduce access to Fox movies to create a false scarcity. This is only one of the underhanded things that they are doing, if you want to know more you know what to do. Also let us know what you think about these dirty tricks by Disney in our group.

Pokémon Sword and Shield crashing Roku devices - https://www.cnet.com/how-to/pokemon-sword-and-shield-are-making-rokus-crash-nintendo-switch/

A beetle in amber - https://www.futurity.org/beetle-in-amber-first-flower-pollination-2208542-2/

Fox Movies being vaulted by Disney - https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/disney-is-quietly-placing-classic-fox-movies-into-its-vault.html

Games currently playing

Buck

– Spyro - https://store.steampowered.com/app/996580/Spyro_Reignited_Trilogy/

Rating – 4.5/5

Prof

– DNP

– Age of Empires Definitive Edition bundle - https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/11831/Age_of_Empires_Definitive_Edition_Bundle/

Rating – 4/5

Other Topics Discussed

Reddit post on Pokemon Sword & Shield crashing roku devices

- https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/dxc5yg/psa_pokemon_swordshield_causes_roku_devices_on/

Roku (Digital Media Player)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018 crossoverfighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd., and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._Ultimate

Link (Legend of Zelda character)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)

Pebble (discontinued smartwatch developed by Pebble Technology Corporation)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_(watch)

Pokémon Sword and Shield Pokédex cut can be permanent

- https://www.techradar.com/au/news/pokemon-sword-and-shields-pokedex-cut-could-be-permanent

Pokémon Sword and Shield Pokédex restored by hackers

- https://www.polygon.com/2019/11/18/20970489/pokemon-sword-shield-hacking-modding-national-dex-cut-monsters-nintendo-switch

Helium leak disables iPhones

- https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gye4aw/why-a-helium-leak-disabled-every-iphone-in-a-medical-facility

The Magic Switch

- http://catb.org/jargon/html/magic-story.html

Pterodactylus (extinct genus of pterosaurs, whose members are commonly known as pterodactyls)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterodactylus

Pollination of Cretaceous flowers (Article by Tong Bao, Bo Wang, Jianguo Li, and David Dilcher)

- https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/11/05/1916186116

Witchetty Grub (term used in Australia for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchetty_grub

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement

More details on Disney vaulting 20th Century Fox Movies

- https://collider.com/disney-vault-20th-century-fox-movies/

Baby Driver’s Edgar Wright Isn’t Happy About Disney Putting Fox’s Movies In The Vault

- https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2484090/baby-drivers-edgar-wright-isnt-happy-about-disney-putting-foxs-movies-in-the-vault

Artificial Scarcity (the scarcity of items that exists even though either the technology for production or the sharing capacity exists to create a theoretically limitless or at least greater quantity of production than currently exists)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_scarcity

Sony keeping Spiderman

- https://variety.com/2019/film/news/sony-marvel-tom-holland-spider-man-1203351489/

Fox Searchlight Pictures (American film studio that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Searchlight_Pictures

JoJo Rabbit (2019 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Taika Waititi, based on Christine Leunens's book Caging Skies)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jojo_Rabbit

Guy Ritchie (English film director, film producer, screenwriter, and businessman, known for his British gangster films)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ritchie

Aladdin (2019 American musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_(2019_film)

Age of Empire 2 old intro

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rS_n3JVTPE

Wololo sound effect

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNTxlafhWYo

Glenn Martin, DDS (American/Canadian adult stop-motion animated sitcom that premiered on Nick at Nite on August 17, 2009)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Martin,_DDS

Musicals Taught Me Everything I Know (TNC Podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/mtmeik

Shoutouts

16 Nov 1902 - Brooklyn toymaker Morris Michtom named the teddy bear after US President Teddy Roosevelt. It was named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, after he refused to shoot a bear during a Mississippi hunting trip in November 1902. During the trip, guides clubbed a bear and tied it to a tree then invited the president to shoot it; instead, Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman and hunter, declined, saying it would be unsportsmanlike to kill a defenseless animal that way. - https://www.nps.gov/thrb/learn/historyculture/storyofteddybear.htm

18 Nov 1926 - Writer and playwright George Bernard Shaw refused to accept money from the Nobel Prize. Shaw initially wanted to refuse the Nobel Prize in general, in line with his principle of not receiving public recognition, but his wife convinced him to receive the award. - https://history.info/on-this-day/1926-why-did-george-bernard-shaw-refuse-the-money-from-the-nobel-prize/

18 Nov 2019 – Shoutout to the firefighters, SES, Ambulance services, Police, RSPCA & other services - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7703587/Australia-scorched-125-year-heatwave-bushfires-continue-burn.html

20 Nov 2019 - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki is being awarded the 2019 UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science. Dr Karl is the first Australian to win the prize, which he received in recognition of his "longstanding commitment to fire up people's curiosity for science and share his passion for the subject". He prides himself on being able to explain in minutes concepts or ideas that take him hours to research and understand. - https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-11-20/dr-karl-kruszelnicki-unesco-award-science-communication/11717044

Remembrances

18 Nov 1962 - Niels Henrik David Bohr, Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research. Bohr developed the Bohr model of the atom, in which he proposed that energy levels of electrons are discrete and that the electrons revolve in stable orbits around the atomic nucleus but can jump from one energy level (or orbit) to another. Bohr was involved with the establishment of CERN and the Research Establishment Risø of the Danish Atomic Energy Commission and became the first chairman of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1957. He died from heart failure at the age of 77 in Copenhagen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr

18 Nov 1941 - Walther Hermann Nernst, German chemist known for his work in thermodynamics, physical chemistry, electrochemistry and solid state physics. His formulation of the Nernst heat theorem helped pave the way for the third law of thermodynamics, for which he won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is also known for developing the Nernst equation in 1887. Nernst developed an electric piano, the "Neo-Bechstein-Flügel" in 1930 in association with the Bechstein and Siemens companies, replacing the sounding board with vacuum tube amplifiers. The piano used electromagnetic pickups to produce electronically modified and amplified sound in the same way as an electric guitar. He died from a heart attack at the age of 77 in Zibelle, Landkreis Rothenburg, Gau Lower Silesia or present-day Niwica, Lubusz Voivodeship - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Nernst

18 Nov 2017 - Malcolm Young, Australian musician and songwriter, best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its November 1973 beginning until retiring in 2014 due to health reasons. Young and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Malcolm was described as the driving force and the leader of the band. In 2014, he stated that despite his retirement from the band, AC/DC was determined to continue making music with his blessing. As the rhythm guitarist, he was responsible for the broad sweep of the band's sound, developing many of their guitar riffs and co-writing the band's material with Angus. He died from dementia at the age of 64 in Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Young

Famous Birthdays

18 Nov 1939 - Margaret Eleanor Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor, teacher, and environmental activist. Since 1961, she has published 17 books of poetry, 16 novels, 10 books of non-fiction, eight collections of short fiction, eight children's books, and one graphic novel, as well as a number of small press editions in poetry and fiction. Atwood is also the inventor and developer of the LongPen and associated technologies that facilitate remote robotic writing of documents. Several of her works have been adapted for film and television, increasing her exposure. Atwood's works encompass a variety of themes including gender and identity, religion and myth, the power of language, climate change, and "power politics". Many of her poems are inspired by myths and fairy tales which interested her from a very early age. She was born in Ottawa,Ontario - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood

18 Nov 1953 - Kevin Nealon, American comedian and actor. He was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acted in several of the Happy Madison films, played Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and provided the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin, on Glenn Martin, DDS. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Nealon

18 Nov 1961 - Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of two BBC One series: the science fiction television series Doctor Who, and the contemporary crime drama television series Sherlock, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. In 2015, Moffat was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to drama. He was born in Paisley - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Moffat

Events of Interest

17 Nov 1999 - Sleepy Hollow came out, it earned decent reviews and doing solid business. Burton fanatics who loved his creepy aesthetic were thrilled to finally have a true horror film from the director at last. - https://nerdist.com/article/sleepy-hollow-tim-burton-20th-anniversary/

18 Nov 1865 – Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is published in the New York Saturday Press where it appeared as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog". In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. The narrator describes him: "If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would take him to get to wherever he going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celebrated_Jumping_Frog_of_Calaveras_County

18 Nov 1978 - In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier. Jonestown resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown

18 Nov 2015 - "Kangaroo Dundee" wildlife TV series premieres featuring Brolga and Roger the ripped Kangaroo on BBC Two - https://www.onthisday.com/date/2015/november/18

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Facebook

- Page - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

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Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094

RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

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regularbeans · 6 years ago

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Best Singles of 2018 but it’s chill this year

This category should speak for itself but I just tacked so many amendments onto the description that it’s like... it just makes no fucking sense anymore. Technically this is a list for any single that was released this year or last year December (since I write these lists in December it’s easier for songs to slip under my radar so I sometimes count them for the next year, like the Grammy’s eh? But then sometimes I let a November 30th release date slide as well... or maybe the single was released earlier but the video would qualify or just... any dumb fucking reason. If you see a song that shouldn’t qualify just trust me to find a loophole so... lezzgo.

Also hey, I guess I’ll just straight up say it then, there’s no best covers, best collaborations OR best pop songs list either, I just kinda threw them all on here. With a good portion of this list being kpop I’d have to make a whole different kpop list too? No sir, no thank you, I’ll just dump it all on here especially since the past few years most of the pop songs list was already featured on the singles list so like... why make the extra effort? Enjoy All Songs.

Also the order is just ugh, it’s 200 songs, get off my weenie.

>> YOU CAN LISTEN TO ALL OF THIS IN THIS ORDER HERE I SPENT TWO HOURS PUTTING THESE SONGS IN ORDER WHY DID I DO THAT <<

200 Seventeen: Oh My! 199 Nicky Jam: Live It Up (feat. Will Smith, Era Istrefi) 198 Ariana Grande: imagine 197 Mona: Not Alone 196 The Lumineers: Pretty Paper 195 James Bay: Pink Lemonade 194 Lily Kershaw: Moonlight 193 GOT7: Lullaby 192 Bishop Briggs: Baby 191 Zara Larsson: Ruin My Life 190 (G)I-DLE: Hann (Alone) 189 Matt Simons: We Can Do Better 188 Cardi B: I Like It (feat. Bad Bunny, J Balvin) 187 Apink: I’m So Sick 186 Pentagon: Shine 185 Moon Byul & Seulgi: Selfish 184 FOURS: Sweet Reality 183 The Tallest Man on Earth: An Ocean 182 LSD: Audio (feat. Sia, Diplo, Labrinth) 181 David Guetta: Flames (feat. Sia) 180 The Strumbellas: Salvation 179 Wanna One: Boomerang 178 White Lies: Finish Line 177 Gabrielle Aplin: My Mistake 176 Lykke Li: hard rain

175 Poets of the Fall: False Kings 174 Netta: Toy 173 Highlight: Loved 172 Dua Lipa: IDGAF 171 Christina Aguilera: Accelarate (feat. Ty Dolla $ign, 2 Chainz) 170 Tom Walker: Angels 169 Astro: Always You 168 Craig David: I Know You (feat. Bastille) 167 Vance Joy: Call If You Need Me 166 Years & Years: Sanctify 165 Imagine Dragons: Machine 164 LSD: Genius (feat. Sia, Diplo, Labrinth) 163 Jennie: Solo 162 Wanna One: Spring Breeze 161 Mumford & Sons: If I Say 160 Alle Farben: H.O.L.Y. (feat. RHODES) 159 Vance Joy: Saturday Sun 158 Eric Nally: Spirits 157 Gabbie Hanna: Monster 156 Sunmi: Heroine 155 Amy Shark: I Said Hi 154 Taemin: Eclipse 153 Scenic Route to Alaska: How It Feels 152 Sam Fender: Friday Fighting 151 The Score: Glory

150 Sloes: Misunderstood 149 Ina Wroldsen: Mother 148 Dan Owen: Icarus 147 Amber Run: Heaven Is A Place 146 Cosmos & Creature: I Am Free 145 Echosmith: Over My Head 144 NONONO: Friends 143 Grizfolk: Endless Summer 142 Retro Video Club: Chemistry 141 Sam Smith: Fire On Fire 140 flor: get behind this 139 FOURS: Even In My Dreams 138 X Ambassadors: Don’t Stay 137 Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness: Ohio 136 (G)I-DLE: LATATA 135 Clean Bandit: Solo (feat. Demi Lovato) 134 Momoland: BAAM 133 Momoland: BBoom BBoom 132 Florence + the Machine: Hunger 131 Demi Lovato: Sober 130 Loïc Nottet: Go to Sleep 129 The Mowgli’s: Real Good Life 128 Twice: What Is Love? 127 Imagine Dragons: Bad Liar 126 Muse: Thought Contagion

125 Shinedown: Devil 124 Three Days Grace: The Mountain 123 Imagine Dragons: Natural 122 iKON: Love Scenario 121 Snow Patrol: Empress 120 Sigrid: Sucker Punch 119 Will Jay: Never Been In Love 118 YUNGBLUD: Medication 117 Monsta X: Shoot Out 116 The Carters: Apeshit 115 Jess Glynne: I’ll Be There 114 Florence + the Machine: Big God 113 OneRepublic: Connection 112 Vance Joy: I’m With You 111 The Boyz: No Air 110 Vance Joy: We’re Going Home 109 Imagine Dragons: Next to Me 108 Alexander Oscar: Number 107 flor: heart 106 HAUS: Shameless 105 888: Are You Out? 104 Pop Evil: A Crime to Remember 103 The Collier: I’m Older 102 YUNGBLUD: Psychotic Kids 101 The Record Company: Life to Fix

100 The New Pacific: Anchor 099 The Midnight: Scream 098 Modern Me: Dead to Me 097 Layup: Whole New Level 096 Jack & Jack: No One Compares to You 095 FRENSHIP: Mi Amore 094 Bebe Rexha: I’m a Mess 093 IU: BBIBBI 092 dodie: Human (feat. Tom Walker) 091 FOURS: Snap Out of It 090 dodie: If I’m Being Honest 089 Walking On Cars: Monster 088 Tessa Violet: Bad Ideas 087 dodie: Party Tattoos 086 Tessa Violet: Crush 085 Years & Years: Palo Santo 084 Janelle Monáe: Pynk (feat. Grimes) 083 Rudimental: These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore, Dan Caplen) 082 OneRepublic: Start Again (feat. Vegas Jones) 081 EXO: Tempo 080 Ariana Grande: God Is a Woman 079 Ariana Grande: no tears left to cry 078 Christina Aguilera: Fall In Line (feat. Demi Lovato) 077 Iz*One: La Vie en Rose 076 Mamamoo: Starry Night

075 Gabbie Hanna: Honestly 074 American Authors: Do My Own Thing 073 AJR: Sober Up 072 The Wombats: Cheetah Tongue 071 Hayley Kiyoko: Curious 070 Bastille: Quarter Past Midnight 069 Jess Glynne: Thursday 068 AJR: Burn the House Down 067 Matt Maeson: The Mask 066 Shawn Mendes: In My Blood 065 Bill Wurtz: And the Day Goes On 064 Shawn Mendes: Nervous 063 Hozier: Movement 062 The Chainsmokers: Sick Boy 061 Kendrick Lamar: All the Stars (feat. SZA) 060 NCT 127: Regular 059 Zendaya & Zac Efron: Rewrite the Stars 058 Mamamoo: Wind Flower 057 Cö Shu Nie: Asphyxia 056 The Faim: Saints of the Sinners 055 Loïc Nottet: On Fire 054 Mamamoo: Egotistic 053 Avril Lavigne: Head Above Water 052 Céline Dion: Ashes 051 Billie Eilish: lovely (feat. Khalid)

050 Bastille & Seeb: Grip 049 Snow Patrol: Life on Earth 048 Mumford & Sons: Guiding Light 047 Imagine Dragons: Zero 046 Childish Gambino: This Is America 045 Blackpink: Ddu-Du Ddu-Du 044 Bruno Mars: Finesse (feat. Cardi B) 043 Matt Maeson: The Hearse 042 Banners: Let Go 041 Kodaline: Follow Your Fire 040 K/DA: POP/STARS 039 Keala Settle: This Is Me 038 Fall Out Boy: Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) 037 Panic! at the Disco: Say Amen (Saturday Night) 036 Twenty One Pilots: Nico and the Niners 035 Bishop Briggs: White Flag 034 Sunmi: Siren 033 YUNGBLUD: 21st Century Liability 032 SIgrid: High Five 031 YUNGBLUD: California 030 Nothing But Thieves: Forever & Ever More 029 j-hope: Daydream 028 Zedd: The Middle (feat. Maren Morris, Grey) 027 j-hope: Airplane 026 BTS: Airplane pt.2 - japanese ver.

025 NEEDTOBREATHE: Bullets 024 Hozier: Nina Cried Power 023 Janelle Monáe: Make Me Feel 022 Panic! at the Disco: Hey Look Ma, I Made It 021 Twenty One Pilots: Jumpsuit 020 X Ambassadors: Amen (feat. Billy Raffoul) 019 BTS: Fake Love 018 Snow Patrol: What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get 017 Matt Maeson: Hallucinogenics 016 Mother Mother: So Down 015 Steve Aoki: Waste It On Me (feat. BTS) 014 BTS: Idol 013 American Authors: Deep Water 012 Editors: Darkness at the Door 011 Twenty One Pilots: My Blood 010 Mamamoo: Paint Me 009 Amber Run: Carousel 008 Editors: Hallelujah (So Low) 007 Years & Years: All For You 006 Snow Patrol: Don’t Give In 005 Panic! at the Disco: High Hopes 004 Editors: Magazine 003 Years & Years: If You’re Over Me 002 Editors: Cold 001 X Ambassadors: Joyful

I mean I was also surprised a little but in the same time they (they) only have three like, official singles this year as far as I’m aware? And they’re not among my most favouritest songs they released this year so... thaaaaaat’s politics!

#listen idol and fake love are good but like #arent joyful levels of good i mean #alright lets calm down and not be ridiculous #long post for ts #best of 2018 #tia's best of 2018

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xtruss · 4 years ago

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A Fourth of July Symbol of Unity That May No Longer Unite

In a Long Island town, neighbors now make assumptions, true and sometimes false, about people who conspicuously display American flags.

Peter Treiber Jr., a farmer, said he was taken aback that a customer thought he was conservative because of the flag painted on his potato truck. Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

By Sarah Maslin Nir

July 3, 2021

SOUTHOLD, N.Y. — The American flag flies in paint on the side of Peter Treiber Jr.’s potato truck, a local landmark parked permanently on County Route 48, doing little more, he thought, than drawing attention to his family’s farm.

Until he tried to sell his produce.

At a local greenmarket where he sells things like wild bergamot, honey and sunflowers, he had trouble striking a deal until, he said, he let his liberal leanings slip out in conversation with a customer.

“She said, ‘Oh, whew. You know, I wasn’t so sure about you, I thought you were some flag-waving something-or-other,’” Mr. Treiber, 32, recalled the woman saying and citing his potato truck display. “That’s why she was apprehensive of interacting with me.”

He paused: “It was a little sad to me. It shows the dichotomy of the country that a flag can mean that. That I had to think, ‘Do I need to reconsider having that out there?’”

Thirteen stripes, a dusting of stars, the American flag has had infinite meanings over the 244 years since the country began flying one. Raised at Iwo Jima, it was a symbol of victory. Lit on fire, it became a searing image of the protests against the Vietnam War. Ribboned around the twin towers on commemorative Sept. 11 lapel pins, it is a reminder of the threats against a delicate democracy.

Politicians of both parties have long sought to wrap themselves in the flag. But something may be changing: Today, flying the flag from the back of a pickup truck or over a lawn is increasingly seen as a clue, albeit an imperfect one, to a person’s political affiliation in a deeply divided nation.

Supporters of former President Donald J. Trump have embraced the flag so fervently — at his rallies, across conservative media and even during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol — that many liberals like Mr. Treiber worry that the left has all but ceded the national emblem to the right.

What was once a unifying symbol — there is a star on it for each state, after all — is now alienating to some, its stripes now fault lines between people who kneel while “The Star-Spangled Banner” plays and those for whom not pledging allegiance is an affront.

And it has made the celebration of the Fourth of July, of patriotic bunting and cakes with blueberries and strawberries arranged into Old Glory, into another cleft in a country that seems no longer quite so indivisible, under a flag threatening to fray.

Mr. Treiber’s farm is in the town of Southold, a string of hamlets and a village on the North Fork of Long Island’s Suffolk County. The county chose Mr. Trump for president in 2020 by just 232 votes out of more than 770,000 cast.

Southold is predominantly white, with a small, longstanding Black population — families who reside mostly in the village, Greenport, at the edge of the salty Peconic Bay. There is also a significant Latino population, many of them undocumented, their labor underpinning the vineyards, farms and landscaping businesses that line the peninsula.

The pressure to draw partisan lines is fierce.

David Surozenski, a Republican, refused to add Trump flags to his display. “That’s not the way I was brought up,” he said. “The American flag political? No.” Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

Just across the street from Treiber Farms, David Surozenski, 66, was weeding around the flagpole in his front yard a few days before the Fourth of July. Bouquets of miniature American flags flapped among the marigolds at his feet. Above him flew the flags of the Marines and the Coast Guard — he has children in each service — and at the top, an American flag.

A Republican, Mr. Surozenski said friends constantly pressured him to add Trump banners to his flag-and-flower garden, to fly “Make America Great Again” signs between his red, white and blue pinwheels whirling in the grass. But Mr. Surozenski declined — some of his eight children are Democrats.

“They said, ‘Dave, you’ve got to put Trump’s flag up!’ and I said, ‘No, that’s not happening,’” Mr. Surozenski recalled. “That’s not the way I was brought up. The American flag political? No.”

About 70 percent of Americans say the flag makes them feel proud, according to a recent survey by YouGov, a global public opinion and data research firm, and NBCLX, a mobile information platform. The sentiment was shared by about 80 percent of white Americans, just under 70 percent of Hispanic Americans and slightly less than 60 percent of Black Americans.

The divisions were deeper when it came to politics. While 66 percent of Republicans surveyed said they associated the flag with their own party, only 34 percent of Democrats said the same.

At its 1777 inception, the flag’s very design signified unity, the joining of the 13 colonies, said John R. Vile, a professor of political science and a dean at Middle Tennessee State University.

Politicizing the American flag is thus a perversion of its original intent, according to Professor Vile, who is also the author of “The American Flag: An Encyclopedia of the Stars and Stripes In U.S. History, Culture and Law.” He added, “We can’t allow that to happen.”

“It’s E Pluribus Unum — from many, one,” he said, citing the Latin motto on the Great Seal of the United States. “If the pluribus overwhelms the unum, then what do we have left?”

The sentiment of some conservatives is that a line was drawn when Colin Kaepernick, the former National Football League quarterback, set off a national movement protesting the shootings of Black men by police by taking a knee during the anthem in 2016. His kneeling protest, Mr. Kaepernick has said, still demonstrated respect for the flag, but others saw him as hijacking the flag for political purposes.

Maryneily Rodriguez, 33, said she believed that Mr. Trump’s most fervent supporters had done the same. Ms. Rodriguez, who was visiting Greenport with her fiancé during the Fourth of July weekend, said that she once regularly flew the flag at her home in Freeport, about 80 miles west on Long Island, taking it down only in winter for safekeeping. But about three years ago when spring came, Ms. Rodriguez, who is Black and a Democrat, left the flag in storage. It hasn’t come out since.

“It felt like it didn’t belong to me anymore,” she said.

John Hocker, a Republican who said he sometimes votes Democratic, also said he felt the flag had lost its meaning of unity. Instead of saluting the same flag as one people, he said, too many Americans were modifying it to become emblems of their own identities or belief systems, for instance with rainbow stripes, a symbol of gay pride, or blue stripes to show solidarity with the police.

He flies the flag — the red, white and blue one — from a towering crane several stories above the gravel piles of Latham Sand & Gravel, where he is a co-owner.

“There is a lot of history with this country, some that maybe people don’t like today, and some that people are being judged for today for what they did 300 years ago,” he said.

“It’s still our country and every good and bad thing made it our country,” Mr. Hocker said, glancing upward. “And that’s what that represents.”

The culture war he was alluding to was on full display a few miles away, hanging from the eaves of an empty roadside stand: “SAVE AMERICA” was printed along the flag’s top border, and below: “FIGHT SOCIALISM.”

And on a notice tacked nearby: “If this offends you LEAVE.”

A flag, and a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance meant to convey unity, is displayed on the billboard for St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Greenport. Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

At Rinconcito Hispano in Greenport, Ana Perez, 33, served up pupusas, stuffed masa flour patties from her native El Salvador, to customers who ordered exclusively in Spanish. Many of them are the laborers who clean the pools at the beach houses and scare the crows off the grapes at the wineries.

In 2017, as Mr. Trump began his crackdown on illegal immigration, village trustees unanimously adopted a resolution to declare Greenport “a welcoming community.” One resident opposing the measure at the meeting urged the public to call and report anyone who employed undocumented immigrants. Wearing an American flag on his chest, he held up a sign with a phone number.

Ms. Perez said she has an American flag T-shirt, too, and she intended to wear it on the holiday. “This symbolizes this country, and I live in this country,” she said, speaking in Spanish because she is not fluent in English. “This flag is for all.”

Maryneily Rodriguez and Anthony Dipolito, who are engaged, walked through a forest of American flags in Greenport while on vacation. Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

Strolling with her fiancé, Anthony Dipolito, Ms. Rodriguez took in the 1920 wooden carousel beside the marina in Greenport.

As she crossed through Mitchell Park, she was struck by the sight of a forest of American flags. It was not a prop for a political rally, but rather a peaceful “field of honor” installed by the Greenport Rotary Club.

Each flag represented not an ideological belief, according to the club, but a veteran or other citizen who had inspired or helped the community.

“I’ve always loved the American flag so much, and now seeing it by the carousel I felt happy again,” Ms. Rodriguez said, as all around her red, white, and blue cloth still waved. “And I haven’t felt that way about the flag in such a long time.”

Correction: July 3, 2021

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to an organization that had installed a flag display. It was the Greenport Rotary Club, not the Greenpoint Rotary Club.

— Sarah Maslin Nir covers breaking news for the Metro section. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her series “Unvarnished,” an investigation into New York City’s nail salon industry that documented the exploitative labor practices and health issues manicurists face. @SarahMaslinNir

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writeyouin · 7 years ago

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Swerve X Reader – A Human Crewmate - Chapter 9 Part 1

A Play-Date with Megatron Part 1

A/N – Based on a lot of head-canons from @rocksinmuffin and @straightouttacybertron so extra special thanks to them for that. Fun fact, Lepoteran is a word I made up based off Lepidoptera which is the scientific name for a moth.

Warnings – None.

Rating – T

Swerve watched as you paced the bar, speaking excitedly of the planet Hacathar which you would all soon visit. He loved seeing you like this, as did most of the crew. By now, quite the crowd had gathered to hear what you wanted to see upon visiting.

“I wonder what kind of people live there,” You beamed.

“It’s a space-port,” Nightbeat answered, happy to show off his knowledge. “Ships from all over the galaxy refuel in the port while the planet itself is for people to get a break from ship life.”

“Cool… Hey, will stuff there be too small for you?”

“No need to worry about us short stuff,” a slightly overcharged Chromedome laughed, patting your head with a servo which you playfully swatted away. “We’ve got to use our holoforms.”

“Holoforms?”

“The illusion that makes us look human,” Rewind explained. “We also use mass displacement to reduce our weights.”

“Oh yeah, I saw some of those when I was brought aboard. Rodimus, Maggie, and Rung used them.”

“They’re stupid,” Whirl complained loudly. “They don’t want us there! Then why fragging go?!”

“If you hate it so much, why are you going?” A mech called Wrecker asked angrily.

“Maybe I’m going to trash the place.”

“Oh yeah? How ‘bout you scrap off before I trash you?”

Whirl stepped forward threateningly, “You piece of scrap, I’ll-”

“I’ll bet,” You interrupted loudly, “that this planet doesn’t accept non-organics because they’re jealous; I would be too if I was faced with someone way more awesome than me. Never meet your heroes, right?”

Whirl laughed obnoxiously, “You’re right meat sack, smart fragger.”

“So, you’re not going to break anything?”

“Not when they clearly idolise me. Gotta keep the worship coming.”

Everybody watched in awe, all wondering the same thing. How had you stopped Whirl from fighting? Nobody could control him; it was a fact he was immensely proud of. If anyone bothered to ask Whirl why he’d acted so out of character, he would have lied or shrugged it off. In truth, Whirl was afraid of disappointing you. You were a clean slate, someone who didn’t know or care about his past. You understood him without trying to change him; in short, he respected you. Without showing affection or anything that would jeopardise his reputation, Whirl made the effort to find ways to listen to you, even if it meant taking the bait to obvious lies aimed at stroking his ego.

“Great because I’m looking forward to a little window shopping,” You chimed.

The conversation resumed at a normal pace once again. Meanwhile, when everyone else was in jovial conversation, Swerve worried between serving drinks. He’d spent so much time planning everything the two of you would do together that he hadn’t even considered his holoform. Swerve was no stranger to what passed as handsome on Earth and that concerned him. He wasn’t tall, slim, or remotely muscled and up until now, he hadn’t minded but what if you saw him and were repulsed or expecting more. There wasn’t time to change the holoform now but Primus, he wished he could.

Swerve opened his mouth to shoot a casual question about Earth shops but before he could, the ship’s PA came on, calling you to Megatron’s office.

When you reached the right corridor, Rodimus stomped out of the office. Upon seeing you, he pointed and yelled, “Just so you know, this isn’t my fault,” before storming off again.

You frowned, confused until Megatron called you in with a stiff, “Enter human.”

You stood awkwardly I the doorway, looking up at Megatron who’s discomfort showed. Despite his displeasure, Megatron spoke solemnly, “Thank you for coming, we have something very important to discuss. Tomorrow we arrive at Hacathar and it has come to my attention you intend to go to the planet’s surface. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to do that, instead you must stay here with Ratchet. You have my humblest apologies.”

“WHAT?!” You exploded. “Why can’t I go?”

“A foreign planet holds many dangers for… one of your kind,” Megatron lied. He couldn’t tell you the real reason; that a Cybertronian aboard the Lost Light was trying to kill you and the planet would provide too many opportunities to do so.

You sighed heavily, “Megatron, I’m afraid I can’t stay on the ship tomorrow. I mean, I didn’t want to bring this up and panic anyone but- but- I’ll die if I don’t get onto a planet soon.”

“Excuse me?”

“Human’s need exposure to natural pathogens to survive, we store them in our blood streams for ages but I’m beginning to run low; if I don’t top up soon, I’ll- I’ll-” You managed to start crying.

Megatron shuffled uncomfortably, unsure of what to do; your lie was taking a heavy toll on him. He couldn’t leave you unprotected, nor could he let you die; his processor was working hard to come up with a workable solution.

“Very well human,” Megatron said tiredly, “we shall reach a compromise. You may visit the planet to replenish your pathogens however, I shall be there to accompany you for the entire day.”

“I mean, can you believe it? Megatron actually told me I can’t go with anyone but him. Does he really think I’m that bloody fragile?” You ranted at Swerve who was feeling more and more crestfallen. Once again, all his plans to make you happy had been foiled. It was almost like there was a force keeping the two of you apart.

Despite his despair, Swerve slapped on a false smile and hid behind humour, “Hey, it could be worse, I can’t believe you managed to trick him like that. I mean, enzymes? That’s hilarious.”

You grimaced guiltily, “Gosh, I’m sorry Swerve. I’ve been bitching at you this entire time but you’re right, at least I get to go out now. I wish I could still go with you but there’ll be lots of time to spend together afterwards. Hey, how about we get a few bots together for a game night when we get back?”

Swerve gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, “You got it.”

You beamed and stretched, “Alright, I’m gonna get some sleep before we hit the planet. Night Swerve.”

“Right and I’ll be right here… recharging.”

Swerve laid on the berth, thoughts once again consuming him. Did he have a problem? He’d already considered this time and time again, constantly switching between conclusions. It was very possible that he needed to get over you, for you were the impossible; despite that, he didn’t want to get over you. It was near impossible to stop thinking about you except for when he talked with friends, providing a distraction to his overworked processor. The only problem with that method was that very few people considered him friend enough to converse with; in all honesty, he was lonely before you came along.

“Damn it, why can’t she go back to just a hot frag fantasy? At least then, I didn’t care.”

You pouted as various bots went to the ship’s docking bay and you awaited Megatron who had delivered you a set of rules while you slept. Never had you felt more patronised than when you read them.

Rule 1: You must wait till everyone else has left before we leave.

Rule 2: You will stay in sight at all times.

Rule 3: No wandering off.

Rule 4: No outside communication without my permission - that includes other crew members.

Rule 5: There will be no mention of Cybertronians on the planet surface.

Rule 6: There will be no consumption of alien foods so as to avoid injury or disease.

Rule 7: No visiting of bars, clubs, or any other such rowdy areas.

Rule 8: No participation in dangerous events.

Rule 9: No usage of the name Megatron upon the planet’s surface so as to avoid conflict.

Rule 10: You will follow my instruction at all times.

You tapped at the datapad keyboard adding to the document.

Rule 11: No fun.

Megatron cleared his vocaliser at you, “I see you’ve been studying the code of conduct I’ve given.”

You turned the datapad screen off, hiding the addition, and forced a grin, “I sure have, Megs.”

“Megs?”

“Rule nine, no use of your name on the planet; I was just practicing,” You said innocently.

Megatron frowned coolly; you were almost sure his face had only one setting by now.

“So… can we go now?” You asked.

Megatron nodded and applied his holo-form.

“Whoa… dude, you look awesome.”

Megatron ignored the praise, mainly because he didn’t know what to say; very few had praised him unless out of fear and now, nobody did, not that he felt he deserved it. He walked to the docking bay with you by his side where he could keep an optic on you.

You gasped upon reaching the ramp. The planet below was similar to a rainforest, with thick foliage of the lushest blue creating a tall canopy over the sandy floor. Buildings were scattered under the bushes and trees in a random order; they were seemingly made of sharp, long slabs of crystal. You briefly found yourself wondering if they were onyx. Various market stalls outside the buildings had thatched roofs made of yellow, straw like flowers. With a mix of odd foods on one, clothes the likes of which you’d never seen on another, and technology on a third, you were reminded of old bazaars seen on films. Then, there were the people, all organics like you, yet wholly different. There was a person who looked like a humanoid caterpillar with a long body and multiple hands. Then there were hulking elephants of people inching their way through the crowds with polite exclamations. Somebody examining jewellery had a large maw with razor teeth and apparently no eyes or nose; that person was actually licking the necklace it was holding.

You beamed excitedly at Megatron; it was like nothing you’d ever imagined. You ran straight for the first stall, a clothes stall with labelled racks that indicated not size but species. Megatron glared, he should have made another rule, no running. He paced towards you, maintaining a dignified speed while you listened to the shop keep, a sort of moth man, speaking with a customer; you were amazed by the ship’s translator that Perceptor had previously explained. Eventually, the moth man caught you staring.

“Can I help you?” He harrumphed disdainfully.

“Uh yeah, sure,” You breathed, attempting to calm your boggled mind. “Do you have any clothes for humans?”

“You can’t read?”

You glanced sheepishly at the signs, “Oh yeah, right, sorry.”

“(Y/N),” Megatron glowered, appearing by your side.

“What?”

“The rules.”

“Oh come on Megs, I haven’t done anything yet.”

“Your communication says otherwise.”

“What that? I didn’t know you meant I can’t talk to anyone, I was only asking-” You faltered at Megatron’s scowl, “You know what Megs, when you’re right, you’re right, sorry.”

“Well, at least you behave better than Rodimus.”

Usually, you would have argued your point, but you weren’t willing to push Megatron too far lest he took away your outdoor privileges.

It took only a minute to find the rack for human section and when you did, you were disappointed to find only one hideous, mustard coloured jumper that was much too small anyway.

“What a bust,” You murmured, looking around for the next store.

Your excitement was quickly restored upon spotting a music store which was playing a song you knew well.

“Oh my God,” You laughed. “They have the YMCA in space.”

You grabbed Megatron’s hand, pulling him quickly to the music stall, where you started to dance, much to his consternation.

“Dance with me,” You giggled.

“I do not dance.”

“Come on, every ex-warlord should know how to dance. Besides, this one’s easy, you just have to make the letters. If you don’t like this one, I can see if they have the Macarena.”

“I have no idea what you just said,” Megatron deadpanned.

You danced with even more enthusiasm, and started singing along with your own words, “Old man, you can’t help yourself. Old man, do it for your good health. Old man, old man, come and dance with me, after that I will set you free. It’s the YMCA, come and dance to the YMCA.”

As you crooned, Megatron suffered; as it turned out, you didn’t behave better than Rodimus.

While you danced, Swerve was miserable. He’d visited all the places he’d planned to take you… alone. None of it meant anything without you; he was once again friendless. Now, it was approaching the planet’s early sunset and Swerve was stood by himself on a curved, wooden bridge which overlooked a flowing river; in a few short minutes, it would also have the perfect view of an effect known to occur on Earth, aurora borealis, more commonly known as the Northern Lights.

Light moaning revealed that Swerve wasn’t alone as he’d first thought. He looked around and quickly spotted a pair of the planet’s native Lepoterans (the very moth people you’d discovered earlier) making out amorously in the side alley. Swerve sighed despondently, sloping off in another direction; he couldn’t catch a break.

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jawsmarinecrew · 5 years ago

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Day at the range. Steffen Garthoff firearms instructor. #allrounder #9mm #star9mm #fbssc #targetpractice #firearms #firearmsinstructor #jawsmarinecrew #glencairn #capetown #marinecoordinatorsteffengarthoff (at False Bay Sport Shooting Club) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCY6rXJJ46z/?igshid=89mjua9oz506

#allrounder #9mm #star9mm #fbssc #targetpractice #firearms #firearmsinstructor #jawsmarinecrew #glencairn #capetown #marinecoordinatorsteffengarthoff

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quantum-displacement · 8 years ago

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Trumps Cabinet

Secretary of State

Rex Tillerson (Oil Tycoon)

He broke the law by illegally doing deals with State Sponsors of Terrorism.

He broke the law by illegally doing $50 million dollars worth of deals with Iran and selling their military "chemicals" while they were under sanctions.

He bragged about being a personal friend of Putin and estimates put that he has spent more time with Putin then any other American citizen.

He lied under oath to Congress when asked about him lobbying against Russian Sanctions.

He was sued for anti-gay discrimination.

He was Director of a Russian Oil Firm in the Bahamas that helped companies use offshore tax haven loopholes to avoid paying taxes.

When the threat of rising sea levels due to climate change were brought up his response was, "We'll adapt to that."

He is being sued for ignoring environmental regulations.

He was fined after he ignored safety regulations and that resulted in 2 people being killed and another 13 injured.

He refused to agree that Saudi Arabia violates human rights or Putin has committed war crimes.

He has been investigated for fraud.

He was personally mentioned in court documents where at least 14 different witnesses have testified private military security forces employed by Exxon Mobil working in Indonesia had engaged in serious human rights abuses, including murder, torture, sexual violence, kidnapping, battery, assault, rape, arbitrary arrest, detention and false imprisonment. Instead of denying these things occurred his lawyers have argued he shouldn't be held responsible for the actions of employees even though he directly was involved in the management.

Secretary of the Treasury:

Steven Mnuchin (Worked for Goldman Sachs)

He has been accused of racism by enacting company policies to refuse to give loans to minorities and giving Latinos higher mortgage rates than whites.

If you were a Latino who didn't pay your morgue to Steven Mnuchin's bank you are 20% more likely to be foreclosed on than if you are white and in the same situation.

The bank he headed broke the law numerous times with unethical and illegal foreclosure practices. Such as trying to evict an elderly couple who had already paid them $525,000 in mortgages for a house that was only worth $200,000.

He has been sued dozens of times and settled or was found guilty in multi-million dollar lawsuits on several separate occasions.

He has been forced to testify and received subpoenas from the Department of Housing and Urban Development multiple times during government investigations against him.

He tried to take a 90 year old woman's house because a clerical error made it seem like her payment was 27 cents short.

Secretary of Defense:

James Mattis (Former General)

He says it's fun to shoot people.

He's been implicated in committing war crimes.

After his own soldiers were hit by friendly fire he refused to send rescue and left them to die.

He is on the board of executives of a medical company currently going through bankruptcy after they committed fraud and misrepresented their products.

Attorney General:

Jeff Sessions (Alabama Senator)

He said he supported The K.K.K until he learned they smoked pot.

He admitting to making racist jokes during the investigation of two Klansman whom had kidnapped, beaten, tortured, slit the throat and murdered a young black man in 1981 before hanging his body in a tree at a local park in Mobile, Alabama.

He called an attorney a "race traitor" for defending a black client in a voting rights case.

He was considered by the Reagan administration to racist to be a Judge 30 years ago.

He called the ACLU and the NAACP "un-american" and "communist" for forcing civil rights down Americas throat.

He used racial slurs to address black co-workers. And told one Black Attorney, "You best be careful how you talk to white folks, boy."

He referred to the only black commissioner in Mobile Alabama as "the n*gger"

Dozens of former co-workers allege he is a racist and when asked about racist comments he has refused to give a straight answer.

Q: "Did you refer to him as the N-Word? Yes or no?"

A: "I am not the Jeff Sessions my detractors have tried to create."

He tried to fight against the passage of the violence against women act and fought against laws to make spousal rape a crime.

He said if a person is gay it should automatically disqualify them from getting a job as a judge.

He attempted to pass laws that would defund any school that allowed gay student groups or clubs such as the Gay-Straight Alliances. "An organization that professes to be comprised of homosexuals and/or lesbians must not receive state funding or use state-supported facilities to foster or promote those illegal, and sexually deviate activities that break the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws."

He voted in favor of laws that would make it legal for the U.S military to perform torture.

He supports seizing peoples homes without due process.

He has received a 0% rating from The Human Rights Campaign.

Secretary of Interior

Ryan Zinke (Former Congressman)

When he was in the military he was caught in a pattern of fraud.

He used techniques thought up by Stephen Colbert as a joke as part of a campaign money scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.

He repeatedly voted in support of logging, drilling, and mining on federally protected land.

He tried to make it legal for hunters to be able to hunt endangered species.

He fought to give federal park land to a coal company who donated $160,000 to his campaign.

Secretary of Agriculture

Sonny Perdue (Former Georgia Governor)

His solution to a drought was to organize a group to go outside the capital building and pray for rain.

He cheated on his property taxes by avoiding to include any mention of his vacation homes to the IRS.

He appointed people to government position in exchange for them selling him land for a cheaper price on at least two separate occasions.

He snuck a bizarre measure into a state law bill about State Safety Regulations that said people don't have to pay property taxes if they buy properties in other states. This saved him $100,000 in property taxes.

He moved all of his money to Florida so he wouldn't have to pay state taxes in Georgia.

He diverted $4.3 million dollars that was supposed to go into building a reservoir into buying massive amounts of land for himself.

Even far right websites managed to create a 22 incident long, 3 year timeline just of scandals involving Perdue either unethically buying or stealing land. Or Perdue trying to use his political power to find bizarre ways to not pay taxes.

Secretary of Commerce

Wilbur Ross (Billionaire coal mine owner, his nickname is "the king of bankruptcy")

He was fined $2.3 million dollars by the SEC for swindling over 10 million in unnecessary fees out of investors.

He killed a dozen miners by knowing violating safety regulations that he was warned would lead to deaths.

He once bailed Trump out of bankruptcy.

Secretary of Labor:

Andrew Puzder (CEO of Carl’s Jr)

He had been accused of beating his wife, medical records prove it was long term and the police were called on atleast two separate occasions.

When asked about the domestic violence charges in court while his wife was trying to get a restraining order he gave bizarrely worded excuses.

Instead of saying:

"Yes I shoved her to the ground so she couldn't call 911."

He said:

"I didn't shove her, I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back I don't know if her foot caught or what happened.”

A year before this incident when he was in court again and asked to describe what happen when he was driving drunk, crashed his car and then punched his wife.

Instead of saying:

"I don't remember what happen that night, I did have a minor accident but it wasn't because of my wife it was because I was driving drunk."

He said:

"I recall no such incident. I do recall going up on a curb but it had nothing to do with my reaction to Lisa. I think it had to do with the liquid refreshment we had with our dinner more than anything else."

At the time of these Domestic Violence allegations he was chair of an anti-abortion task force created by the Governor of Missouri.

When asked if he would resign he said:

"This is a personal matter and has nothing to do with issues I'm speaking out on. The fact that I was appointed to the task force, I don't think is relevant to these issues. This is what normally happens in a divorce case. You're blowing it way out of proportion."

He later was forced to resign from the state run Anti-Abortion task force...

Neighbors called the police on another occasion when he started breaking furniture and plates.

The U.S. Department of Labor found that more than half of his restaurants were committing wage violations.

He was sued and found guilty for discriminating against the physically disabled.

He was sued and found guilty for refusing to pay employees overtime.

He was sued and found guilty for refusing to pay employees overtime again. This time he was forced to pay $9 million dollar.

He was sued and found guilty for refusing to follow safety regulations.

He was sued and found guilty in a class action lawsuit for refusing to compensate employees for work expenses.

He was sued and found guilty for allowing sexual harassment to continue.

He has been accused of racial discrimination.

His company is one of the highest ranked in the country in terms of employees reporting gender discrimination or harassment.

He hired Illegal Immigrants and paid them below minimum wage.

He is against there being a minimum wage.

He argues overtime pay shouldn't exist.

He blames poor people for being in poverty while he earns more money every day than employees at his fast food restaurant earn in an entire year.

He wants to replace employees with machines.

Secretary of Homeland Security:

John F. Kelly (Former General)

He doesn't believe women should be allowed be in the military.

He argues Guantanamo Bay, "Isn't as bad as it seems."

He supports Trump building a wall because Terrorists might sneak in through the Mexican boarder, aided by illegal immigrants.

He lied and said Narcoterrorism have killed 500,000 Americans since 9/11.

Secretary of Energy:

Rick Perry (Former Texas Governor)

He was indicted on Felony Abuse of Power charges.

He promised to abolish the Department of Energy before being picked to lead it.

He allowed the execution of a man later proven to be innocent and stalled the investigation to clear the mans name until after he was executed. Then fired all the people who warned him the man was innocent from the start.

He carries a semi-automatic handgun while jogging, “because he is afraid of snakes.” and for the past several years has bragged during interviews he used it to kill a coyote with a single shot. Though everytime he retold the story there were more inconsistencies.

He has told blacks that racism doesn't exist anymore while at the same time having owned for 33 years a hunting camp named simply, N*ggerhead.

He made sexist comments against the former Governor and then argued against a woman who said she was insulted by them by arguing she wasn't really offended.

He said income inequality isn't a problem because there are poor people in the bible.

He proposed a plan to lower taxes on the rich and raise taxes on the poor to compensate, when a New York Time reporter brought up how this would create massive levels of income inequality his response was, "I don’t care about that."

He gave a lengthy speech about how Atheists deserve hell and will go there when they die, and how they have to much power in society.

A whistle blower discovered that state juvenile detention facilities had employed sex offenders and had been covering up complaints of abuse in what may of been the largest child sex abuse ring in U.S history, the whistle blower contacted Governor Perry and spoke to him numerous times but Perry refused to do anything about it. Three years later in 2007 the FBI determined that at least 750 girls age 10-17 had been sexually abused by guards and several high ranking administrators who either covered up the abuse or participated in it were arrested. Many of these administrators were personally appointed by Perry himself.

He said the BP Oil spill had nothing to do with poor safety regulations and was actually caused by god.

In college he got a D in a class titled, "Meats."

He vetoed a bill saying the state can't execute the mentally ill.

He has threatened that Texas can secede from the United States more than once.

He said drugs were the cause of the Charleston Church shooting not racism.

He compares being gay to alcoholism.

He suggested Immigrants trying to cross the boarder should be drone striked to keep them from getting in.

He signed an executive order making it so all girls over the age of 12 had to receive a vaccination against sexually transmitted diseases. Then it was revealed his chief of staff was an executive for the company that made the vaccine.

He threatened the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and accused him of treason.

Secretary of Education:

Betsy DeVos (Billionaire private education advocate )

She wants creationism taught in public schools.

Her family made their fortune through a literal pyramid scheme.

She wants to get rid of Child Labor Laws.

She owes millions of dollars in government fines for election fraud.

She lied during Senate Hearings.

She illegally omitted anti-union donations on disclosure forum.

She wants to use American Schools to "Build Gods Kingdom."

She hired a Felon to run her school lobbying group.

She thinks schools should be armed in order to protect themselves against bears.

White House chief strategist:

Steve Bannon (CEO of Breitbart News)

He was arrested for three counts of domestic violence in the 90s.

The charges were dropped after him and his attorney threatened his ex-wife into fleeing the state.

He choked his ex-wife and smashed her phone so she couldn't call 911.

He was accused of sexual harassment by female co-workers. “Saftey Regulations? I’m going to ram those Safety Regulations down her fucking throat,”

“There are some unintended consequences of the women’s liberation movement, the women that should lead this country would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children. They wouldn’t be a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools up in New England.” ― Bannon during interview when asked about women in government

He was outraged when he found out that Jews were allowed at his daughters school and complained to them over it.

He helped promote the white supremacist novel The Camp of the Saints which depicts non-white immigrants as barbaric invaders whoes goals for moving to Europe and America is to bring forth the downfall of civilization.

He was a member of a Facebook group that produced racist rants and death threats against President Obama.

He complained about there being to many Asian CEOs.

National Security Adviser:

Michael Flynn (Disgraced former General)

He says Islam is Cancer and it's irrational for people not to be afraid of Muslims.

He ordered female Defense Intelligence Agency employees to "dress sexy" and wear short skirts and makeup.

He was fired from the Military for trying to demand too much power and authority. Though he says the reason was, "political correctness."

Leaked Bush Administration emails show he show he had extreme anger issues, refused to follow orders, went against policy and became, "physcially abusive with staff."

He wants to bring back torture.

He retweeted anti-semetic Tweets.

He is a Board Member for what The Southern Poverty Law Center considers the largest Anti-Muslim Hate Group in America.

His son and top adviser is famous for posting online Conspiracy Theories and racist memes.

Leaked 2010 memo reveals he shared Top Secret Information without permission.

He facilitated the murder of civilians in Afghanistan.

Domestic Policy Adviser

Ken Blackwell (Former Ohio Secretary of State)

He says, "Gays can be reformed, just like arsonists."

He works for an anti-gay hate group who wants gays deported.

He advised Trump to change the laws so youth Homeless shelters could legally refuse to help gay and transgender youth.

He believes mass shooting are caused by America's lack of morality which stems from the country allowing gays to exist.

He wrote an article saying Mosques don't have a right to exist in New York City.

He was accused of rigging the 2004 election in Ohio for George Bush. After he was called to testify in legal hearings by Congress he just refused to show up.

During his term he had 18 major lawsuits.

He accidentally published a list of 1.2 million Social Security numbers of Ohio citizens.

He fought tooth and nail to move too electronic touch screen voting machines instead of paper ballots, after it was discovered the machines had a backdoor software "glitch" it was revealed that Blackwell owned the company that made the voting machines.

A group of 31 pastors contacted the IRS alleging that a number of Churches in the state had been secretly funding Blackwell which violates laws prohibiting charity groups involvement in political campaigns

Blackwell sent an email claiming he had never heard of any of the churches that he was accused of getting illegal donations from. But after media outlets traced the I.P address of the email it was revealed he sent the email inside of the church that he was claiming he had never heard of in the email he was sending from their building...

Click here to vote who you think is the worst pick.

#Trump #Hillary #Imwithher #nevertrump #never trump #fuck trump #fucktrump #Donald Trump #Mike Pence #Pence #Hillary Clinton #blm #blacklivesmatter #stay woke #woke

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ashotofpeace-blog · 8 years ago

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“Never in the course of human events has so much been named after a man who spent so little time in a place”. Jim Baker That man is Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. His influence on the Malay Peninsula is not confined to Singapore, however. At the turn of the 19th century, France had taken control of the Netherlands, forcing the Dutch King to seek asylum in Britain. Fearful that France was about to go on a maniacal rampage in search for world domination, Britain struck a deal with the exiled monarch of Holland to temporarily occupy all of their colonial territories in order to stave of any provocations from the increasingly dangerous French. Britain and the East India Company had promised to return all the colonies to the Dutch once the war was over. For the formerly Dutch-occupied city of Malacca, the East India Company, in their typical pedantic and ruthless style, planned to honour this agreement but first wanted to burn it to the ground and force all of its inhabitants - at gunpoint if necessary - to emigrate to Penang, rendering it worthless to the Dutch. Luckily for the Dutch, but more importantly the residents of Malacca, Raffles vehemently argued against this plan. Raffles was an East India Company officer stationed in Penang, but had visited Malacca in 1808. Throughout the imperialist epoch, the British establishment peddled a false narrative of the positive moral impact of British colonialism on the native people in order to justify the true reason behind their foreign policy: to increase the Crown’s capital and power. ‘We are here to civilise you. Please ignore our ships full of your tea and gold.’ Raffles argument for not annihilating Malacca abstractly embodied this sophisticated doctrine of soft-power used by the British. Raffles put forward the case that forcing the citizens of Malacca to up sticks or die was immoral - such a policy would make the British no better than the ‘savages’ they were attempting to civilise. However, the fundamental reason why he argued against torching the city was his belief that returning the Dutch their territories was against the interest of British hegemony. Raffles wanted to keep Malacca as part of a larger strategy to expel the Dutch from the archipelago altogether. Arguing against both the Crown and the East India Company at that time took a level of bravery and self-righteousness that not many men possess. He eloquently convinced the establishment to leave Malacca in one piece. Had he not done so, Malacca might have forever been a city confined to history. Perhaps spurred on by this victory, Raffles went from arguing against the Establishment to downright mutiny in order to create Singapore. After the Napoleonic War ended the British returned the Dutch their settlements in the south of the Malacca Strait, despite Raffles’ objection. In his mind, such an act was a precursor to complete Dutch domination in the region. Consequently, he set out to establish a new colony south of Penang in order to prevent his prophecy. It is important to note that the British establishment did not want to return the Dutch their territories for the sake of fairness, but rather thought that a strong Netherlands would act as a counterbalance to any future French aggression in Europe. Both Raffles and the Crown were pursuing expansions to British power, they just disagreed on how to do so. Raffles got permission to search for a naval base in the Strait, but was under strict orders to in no way provoke the Dutch or encroach on their authority. What he did next was an act of a true maverick that would shape the history of the region. Prior to his arrival, Singapore was sparsely inhabited and was loosely ruled over by the Kingdom of Johor, which was in the Dutch’s sphere of influence. When Sultan Mahmud of Johor died in 1812, it was his second eldest who succeeded him, as his oldest was not residing in Johor at the time. Regardless, the Dutch and British Crown recognised the authority of the new Sultan. Raffles, in conjunction with other local powers, found the firstborn of Sultan Mahmud and agreed to recognise him as the true Sultan of Johor if he granted Singapore to the British. At no point did Raffles seek ratification of this plan from his superiors, and many were fuming when they found out as they feared he had risked ruining Anglo-Dutch relations. However, before any decision on Raffles’ action could be agreed upon, Singapore’s free trade philosophy began to make stupid amounts of money for the East India Company, quickly convincing the Establishment to keep the new colony and not return it to Dutch quasi-controlled Johor. Although instrumental in its founding, Raffles was only there for 10 months. Much of Singapore's success should be attributed to the man charged with putting Raffles’ vision of a free trade haven into action - Lord Farquhar. Farquhar’s name is nonexistence in Singapore, but nearly every building or road has either ‘Stamford’ or ‘Raffles’ in its title. Prior to arriving here, I had already decided I hated this city-state as I had to bin my vaping kit and supplies before arriving. To be caught with it would lead to a S$5,000 fine and 6 months in prison, or both. Purportedly this ban is for health reasons, although cigarettes are freely sold everywhere. The Singapore justice system is not to be fucked with - there is little grey area or leniency for rule breaking. Perhaps this rigid strictness is an attempt to atone for their vice-filled past, when anarchy and organised crime ruled the city. Prior to being under the British government's rule, the colony was overseen by the East India Company, who did not really care for the social society of Singapore as long as it was making money. The East India Company had only bothered to put twelve policemen in the territory, all of which were Bengali, none of whom could speak the language of the population which consisted solely of Malay and Chinese immigrants. Alas, it is hard to stay bemused at a city of this wonderment for very long. Singapore is the third largest financial centre in the world. Unlike London and New York, it doesn't have a rural population to support. Combined with their fascist approach to litter and mess, the end result is a city like no other I have ever seen. Despite its reputation as a city for the wealthy, there is a surprising amount to do for free. Each evening, Gardens by the Bay - an eco-park near the city centre - put on a free lights show, where artificial tree-like structures glow in unison to music. Each light show has a theme and when we attended it was ‘A Journey Through Asia’. I'm not sure how the history of the world's most diverse continent can be explained through lights, but it was nonetheless an enjoyable experience. A short ride on the MRT (their underground) is Chinatown and Little India. In every city, the Chinese get their own town whereas the Indians have to make do with the diminutive title of ‘Little’. Although obviously not free, getting food in either of these places is cheap - a hearty meal can be purchased for a pound. However, it is back downtown where the best attraction of all is found. The Sky Bar at Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Marina Sands is a marvel of modern architecture. Three towers elegantly shoot into the skyline, all connected at the top by a Sky Park. If you are a guest of the hotel, you can use the infinity pool in this park. If you are not, you can visit the Sky Park for around $20. But, if you go to Tower 1, you can go all the way up to the top for free and drink at the Sky Bar. Here you get the same view of Singapore and only have to pay for the drinks you order. You'd be forgiven for thinking the bar is a members only club due to their professional level of service, but no - they let scum like you in too, even if you are donning flip flops and a Liverpool shirt. Drinks are reasonably priced to pay for the awe-inducing view you are treated to. What seems like an infinite amount of cargo ships are dotted throughout the bay. Directly below is the Gardens by the Bay park, which was once so captivating but now seems like an irrelevant attraction when compared to view from the Sky Bar. Many people in the bar were conducting business meetings and why wouldn't you choose to do business here; just being here makes you feel important. I know it made me feel like I'm a man of great standing even though my only current inherent value to mankind is this blog which no one is reading. Looking down onto the horizon from this gorgeous, innovative, and luxurious piece of architecture, the impact of Raffles' vision and Faruqah’s action is astonishing. Had Raffles followed his brief not to disturb the Dutch, none of this would be here. Or perhaps it would, but the Sky Park would instead be called ‘Hemel Tuin’ or whatever Sky Garden is in Dutch.

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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Join the Den of Geek Book Club!

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The Den of Geek Book Club is a place to geek out about our favorite science fiction, fantasy, and horror books.

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Feature Kayti Burt

Den of Geek Book Club

Sep 18, 2018

Fantasy Books

Science Fiction Books

Join the Den of Geek Book Club!

Featuring book giveaways and exclusive author interviews, this is a place to recommend, discuss, and obsess over the best current and classic fantasy, science fiction, and horror books. Join us in discussing our latest pick...

September/October: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Victor Vale and Eli Ever were college friends who discovered the secret to extraordinary abilities together only to become enemies set on bringing the other down in this morally-complex tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers,

"There are no good men in this game," Schwab writes in Vicious, and it's true, proving that you don't need good guys to tell a compelling story and that you don't need to sacrifice empathy, feeling, or nuanced self-awareness when telling a tale of anti-heroes.

Read Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Schwab is one of the best writers of her generation and, if you have yet to pick up one of her many speculative fiction books, Vicious is a great place to start, not least of all because its sequel, Vengeful, is out on September 25th. (Schwab also recently released a middle grade novel called City of Ghosts that is perfect reading for the Halloween season.) You won't be disappointed.

Read Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Come discuss Vicious, Vengeful, and other speculative fiction picks over at the Den of Geek Book Club, and stay tuned for more Villains-related treats in the coming month! You can also enter to win our Villains giveaway, which includes copies of both Vicious and Vengeful, as well as some other exclusive merch.

August/September: European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss

In addition to have the coolest name this side of Space Unicorn Blues, European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman has a killer premise. The second book in the Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series, European Travel follows Mary Jekyll, Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein, and Diana Hyde as they make their way into the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire into an attempt to save Lucinda Van Helsing.

Den of Geek Chats With Theodora Goss

In The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, we were first introduced to these characters from the pages (or between the pages) of classic 19th-century literary canon. Author Theodora Goss wanted to give the female characters who were so often written as monsters from these stories a voice of their own. Mary Jekyll is our protagonist and, when we first meet her in The Alchemist's Daughter, she is struggling to find money to support herself and her household following the death of her mother.

Read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter

When a series of murders seems to be connected to her late father, Dr. Jekyll, or perhaps to his mysterious assistant Mr. Hyde, Mary starts down a path of investigation alongside Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson that leads her to create her own found family of monstrous women.

Come discuss European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman and other speculative fiction picks over at the Den of Geek Book Club, and stay tuned for more Athena Society-related treats in the coming month! You can also enter to win a copy of European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman!

Read European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman

July/August: Heroine's Journey by Sarah Kuhn

The third book in Sarah Kuhn's ridiculously fun Heroine Complex series, Heroine's Journey follows Bea Tanaka, the younger sister of Heroine Complex protagonist Evie Tanaka. An aspiring twenty-something superheroine who just wants to stop being treated like a kid and be allowed to help save the Bay Area alongside Evie and Evie's superhero partner-best friend Aveda Jupiter, Bea has the power to influence other's emotions—also, sometimes, when she screams, she blows things up.

In the Heroine Complex world, Kuhn has created an alternate San Fran where a demon opened an Otherworld portal 13 years prior, setting into motion a series of events that led to the creation of other local portals through which demons can come into our world and the development of a human population with otherworldly powers of their own. Bea, Evie, and Aveda are three of those humans, and are part of a superhero team that would give the Scooby gang a run for its found family money.

You don't need to have read the previous two books in the series, centered around Evie and Aveda respectively, to enjoy this world. Kuhn has crafted a story filled with whip smart dialogue, complex female relationships, romance, silly yet dangerous demons, and Asian American superhero representation that works for the casual and more completist reader alike. Fair warning, though: If you go into this one blind, you will find yourself going back to read the other two installments. That's just the way the demon cupcake crumbles.

Come discuss Heroine's Journey and other speculative fiction picks over at the Den of Geek Book Club, and stay tuned for more Heroine's Journey-related treats in the coming month!

Read Heroine's Journey by Sarah Kuhn

June/July: Brief Cases by Jim Butcher

Brief Cases, a collection of several of Butcher's excellent short stories and novellas from within the universe of Harry Dresden, is a delight for new and old Dresden Files fans alike. Centered around the theme of parenting, the stories in the collection range from a prequel set in the Old West to a Rashomon-style tale of Harry discovering a warlock at the zoo.

You can read our full review of Brief Cases here, or head over to the Den of Geek Book Club to discuss the book. We're also giving away a complete set of the Dresden Files books, if you're looking to add to your own collection. Find out how to enter here.

Read Brief Cases by Jim Butcher

May/June Pick: Ship It by Britta Lundin

Riverdale is one of Den of Geek's favorite shows, so when we heard one of its writers was coming out with her debut novel, you better believe we put it on our must-read list.

Britta Lundin's Ship It is the story of a teen fanfiction writer, Claire, who is pulled into the behind-the-scenes world of her favorite TV show, and Forest, one of the show's male leads who understands absolutely nothing about fandom. Ship It is an exploration of fandom, queerness, TV creation, and love in its many forms. Read our full review here, then check out our podcast interview with Lundin.

Join the Ship It discussion over on the Den of Geek Book Club Goodreads page.

April/May Pick: The Power by Naomi Alderman

Imagine a world that completely flips the balance of power when it comes to gender. This is the setting for The Power, Naomi Alderman's 2016 science fiction novel set in a world in which women develop the ability to shoot electric jolts from their fingertips, leading to their dominance as a gender.

As Delia Harrington notes in a review for Den of Geek, The Power is a vital read for a time in which some falsely claim that women have stolen all of the power from men. President Obama named this one of this favorite books of 2017, and the book somehow feels even more relevant now than it did when it was published just two long years ago.

If you're into The Handmaid's Tale, then check out the novel that has been called "our era's Handmaid's Tale." Then head over to the Den of Geek Book Club Goodreads page to discuss.

March/April Pick: Children of Blood & Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone is the first book in the West African-inspired fantasy series Legacy of Orisha. The debut from 24-year-old Tomi Adeyemi made waves when it was bought by Macmillan for a reported seven-figure sum.

The story follows Zelie, a girl who lost her mother in the purge of magic executed by Orisha's totalitarian ruler, Saran. In the first book, Zelie sets out to restore magic to the land and take down Saran, with a little help from her friends: a giant lionaire, her older brother Tzain, and Princess Amari. Prince Inan, another protagonist in the book, pursues Zelie as she undergoes her quest, torn between his family and, you know, doing the right thing.

Read our full review of Children of Blood and Bone.

Children of Blood and Bone is a promising start to a new young adult fantasy series that is set to take the world by storm. Head over to our Den of Geek Book Club page to join the discussion!

February/March Pick: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

All Our Wrong Todays is a time travel novel where the "wrong" timeline is our own. When protagonist Tom Barren travels back in time using his father's technology, he changes the world from a utopia where the problems of war, poverty, and under-ripe avocados have been solved, into, well, this one. By centering our timeline as the "wrong" one, author Elan Mastai subverts many of the classic time travel narrative trope, giving us a fresh science fiction novel for anyone who worries they're living in the darkest timeline.

You can read our full review of the book here, check out our interview with author Elan Mastai, then head over to our Den of Geek Book Club page to join the discussion!

January/February Pick: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor is a Hugo Award-winning novella about a young African woman who leaves her home on Earth for the first time to attend an intergalactic university on another planet. On the voyage, something goes terribly wrong, forcing Binti to rely on her mathematic skills and her culture to survive.

Learn more about Binti and Nnedi Okorafor's other work.

The Afrofuturist space adventure novella is unlike anything I have ever read, coming from one of the most exciting authors working in science fiction right now. The story continues in two follow-up novellas already published.

Head over to our Den of Geek Book Club page to join in the discussion!

Kayti Burt serves as a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. A long-term lover of all things science fiction and fantasy, she is an unabashed defender of the power of speculative storytelling and a proponent of sentimental TV. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

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elmiragc · 7 years ago

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U.S. Open 2018: Brooks Koepka shows he's more than a bomber, can play U.S. Open-style golf, too

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — A day after balls were repelled from the baked-out yellow-brick greens of Shinnecock Hills like pesky mosquitos to a can of Raid, and Phil Mickelson was driven to a breaking point of intentionally hitting a moving ball, Tommy Fleetwood had a putt for the lowest score in U.S. Open history. He settled for tying the mark, becoming just the sixth player to shoot 63 in the 118 editions of the championship. A birdie fest had broken out in Sunday's final round, relatively speaking at least, after the USGA had doused the course with enough water to fill Peconic Bay. Never mind that the hole locations looked like something out of a Wednesday pro-am. Still, when it came to Brooks Koepka becoming the first player to go back-to-back in the national championship since Curtis Strange in 1988-’89 and just the seventh overall to successfully win back the U.S. Open trophy, it was a tried-and-true method that paid the biggest dividend. Not being afraid to settle for pars—and even a bogey at times—helped carry the 28-year-old to his second career major title. “I think this whole thing of everyone said Erin Hills was set up for me, it was set up for a lot of guys that bomb the ball,” Koepka said of last year’s football-field-wide Open venue. “I just happened to play a little bit better that week. This week it was just back to a typical U.S. Open, where one over par wins the golf tournament. It’s just a lot of grinding. But I couldn’t be happier with the way I played.”

And why not. This one had reason to feel more satisfying.

Unlike a year ago, when Koepka bashed his way to matching the lowest total score in championship history on a course where 31 players broke par, the buffed bomber’s victory on Sunday required the kind of game that belied his bulging biceps and broad shoulders. There was nuance in dissecting the William Flynn masterpiece—a word that no one would use to describe much-criticized Erin Hills—especially when it mattered most.

Leading by two and with his ball stuck in the thick rough behind the green on the par-3 11th, Koepka purposely pitched across the putting surface and into a bunker, then got up and down, draining a 13-footer to save bogey on the 160-yard par 3. One hole later, and again in a tricky spot behind the green, he did one better, getting up and down for par after knocking in a nervy six-footer.

Then on the most difficult hole on the course, the par-4 14th, Koepka drove into rough too heavy even for his might, forcing him to chop out and leaving a delicate 67 yards into the green on the 512-yard hole. He flighted the shot into a forward hole location made difficult by a false front and stopped it eight feet from the cup before sinking the putt to keep a two-stroke advantage.

“That was huge,” Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, said of the bogey on 11. “It’s hard to believe a bogey can keep your momentum, but it did. He’s been one of best putters on tour and hits it a long way, but his short game is so good.”

“I can’t really pick one of those because they were all kind of at different times,” added Koepka, who closed with a two-under 68 to finish at one-over 281 and a stroke clear of Fleetwood, who had polished off his historic round a few hours earlier. “I felt like I could have been very easily derailed, making double or triple. You've just got to keep plugging away.”

RELATED: The clubs Brooks Koepka used to win the U.S. Open

That same mentality had kept him going earlier this year, when Koepka missed three months due to a partially torn tendon in his left wrist and was admittedly down in the dumps about a suddenly uncertain future. The injury kept Koepka out of the Masters, and that only motivated him further. The day after Patrick Reed slipped his arms into the green jacket, Koepka got clearance to hit balls again. He started with wedges and 9-irons, and looked like he hadn’t missed a day. By the end of the week he was getting after it with full shots.

“For someone who’s never been a golf nerd, I think he fell in love with golf for the first time in his life,” said Koepka’s coach Claude Harmon. “He wasn’t that guy, not a guy who’s going to follow golf or watch golf. When he came back, there was a definite something about wanting to play again that I hadn’t seen before. I really believe he fell in love with golf again and fell in love with the game of golf and playing and hitting shots.”

All of them were on display at Shinnecock Hills, where after playing his first 22 holes of the week in seven over something clicked. Koepka closed out his second round with six birdies over his final 11 holes and shot 66.

“He started hitting good shots into the right sides of the greens,” Elliott said. “We were really sloppy the first 27 holes, and then he was hitting driver good and hitting his irons good.”

And grinding, too. Koepka carded a third-round 72 on a day when the scoring average soared north of 75 as USGA officials admitted the course had gotten away from them. By the following morning, the setup had done a 180 and players were taking dead aim.

Close friends Koepka and Johnson—Koepka lived with Johnson for six months last year in South Florida while his house was being finished—started Sunday like a lot of other days, in the gym. Johnson noted the easy hole locations and good scoring opportunities. In between conversation, they threw around some weight, too, with Koepka knocking off 14 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. He couldn’t quite get the 15th and lost a bet to his trainer. It didn’t matter. He’d pay him back a few hours later. It would also be the last of the conversation for the day between Koepka and the top-ranked player in the world as each pursued a second U.S. Open title in the day's second-to-last group.

“I think he was a good pairing for [Brooks] today,” Harmon said. “They want to beat each other. Brooks sees that as motivation. That’s where he wants to get to.”

He played like it.

Given the soft conditions, birdies came by the bushel with Fleetwood making four in his first seven holes, and Reed charging up the board, too, with four birdies in his first five. Koepka did his part, with three on the first four holes to set a tone that he would be the determining factor in who held the trophy at day's end.

Then came the test of the back nine. Koepka—whose Open track record now includes a T-4, T-18, T-13, 1st and 1st—passed with just two bogeys, one of which coming on the 72nd hole with the outcome essentially in hand.

“If you could design what this test throws at you, they’re very good at that,” Harmon said of Koepka and Johnson, who ended up finishing third, two strokes back. “It used to it was the characters like Raymond [Floyd] and Curtis [Strange], who were tough and mean. Brooks has a similar demeanor in that nothing bothers him and he’s able to not get too high or too low. We saw his guts and determination with the up-and-downs on 11 and 12 and the putts he had to make.”

It also gave him one more major trophy than Johnson, who has 15 more career wins.

“I don’t know if it evens it up,” said Koepka, who admitted that he has often felt overlooked among the games other young stars. “You see how talented he is. He’s physically gifted. In my mind, he’s probably one of the most talented guys to ever play the game.”

With a second straight U.S. Open title, Koepka’s well on his way, too.

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synergygolfsolutions · 7 years ago

Text

U.S. Open 2018: Brooks Koepka shows he's more than a bomber, can play U.S. Open-style golf, too

And why not. This one had reason to feel more satisfying.

RELATED: The clubs Brooks Koepka used to win the U.S. Open

“He started hitting good shots into the right sides of the greens,” Elliott said. “We were really sloppy the first 27 holes, and then he was hitting driver good and hitting his irons good.”

“I think he was a good pairing for [Brooks] today,” Harmon said. “They want to beat each other. Brooks sees that as motivation. That’s where he wants to get to.”

He played like it.

It also gave him one more major trophy than Johnson, who has 15 more career wins.

With a second straight U.S. Open title, Koepka’s well on his way, too.

0 notes

hamiltongolfcourses · 7 years ago

Text

U.S. Open 2018: Brooks Koepka shows he's more than a bomber, can play U.S. Open-style golf, too

And why not. This one had reason to feel more satisfying.

RELATED: The clubs Brooks Koepka used to win the U.S. Open

“He started hitting good shots into the right sides of the greens,” Elliott said. “We were really sloppy the first 27 holes, and then he was hitting driver good and hitting his irons good.”

“I think he was a good pairing for [Brooks] today,” Harmon said. “They want to beat each other. Brooks sees that as motivation. That’s where he wants to get to.”

He played like it.

It also gave him one more major trophy than Johnson, who has 15 more career wins.

With a second straight U.S. Open title, Koepka’s well on his way, too.

0 notes