#how is it scorching hot during the day but 9°C at night

[benkeibear]

I said I go to bed early but here I am, shivering my ass off bc it's so cold and telling @kenpachisbrat about how much I love Toji (spoiler: it's a lot)

[thefakejeffreyazoff]

‘He’s our Satan’: Mega music manager Irving Azoff, still feared, still fighting

(x)PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. —  

This is not Irving Azoff’s house. Irving and his wife Shelli own houses all over, from Beverly Hills to Cabo San Lucas, but right now in the last week of October it’s too cold at the ranch in Idaho and too hot at the spread in La Quinta, so he’s renting this place — a modest midcentury six-bedroom that sold for $5 million back in 2016.

From the front door you can see all the way out, to where Arrowhead Point juts like the tail of a comma into the calm afternoon waters of Carmel Bay. More importantly, the house is literally across the street from the Pebble Beach Golf Links, where Azoff likes to play with his college buddy John Baruck, who started out in the music business around the same time Azoff did, in the late ’60s, and just retired after managing Journey through 20 years and two or three lead singers, depending how you count.

(Via LA Times) 

Azoff is 72, and this weekend he’ll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Bruce Springsteen’s longtime manager Jon Landau. Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham are already in, but Azoff and Landau are the first living managers thus honored. Azoff is not only alive — he’s still managing. As a partner in Full Stop Management — alongside Jeffrey Azoff, his oldest son and the third of his four children — he steers the careers of clients like the Eagles, Steely Dan, Bon Jovi and comedian Chelsea Handler, and consults when needed on the business of Harry Styles, Lizzo, John Mayer, Roddy Ricch, Anderson .Paak and Maroon 5. Azoff has Zoom calls at 7, 8 and 9 tomorrow morning, and only after that will he squeeze in a round.

The work never stops when you view the job the way Azoff does, as falling somewhere between consigliere and concierge. “My calls can be everything from ‘My knee buckled, I need a doctor’ to ‘My kid’s in jail,’” Azoff says. “I mean, you have no idea. The ‘My kid’s in jail’ one was a funny one, because the artist then said to me, ‘Y’know, I’ve thought about this. Maybe we should leave him there for a while.’”

Golf entered Azoff’s life the way a lot of things have — via the Eagles, whom Azoff has managed since the early ’70s. Specifically, Azoff took up golf in the company of the late Glenn Frey, the jockiest Eagle, the one the other Eagles used to call “Sportacus.” By the time the Eagles returned to the road in the ’90s they’d left their debauched ’70s lifestyles largely behind, but Azoff and Frey got hooked on the little white ball.

“Frey would insist on booking the tour around where he wanted to play golf,” Azoff says. “We made Henley crazy. Henley would call me in my room and he’d go, ‘Why the f— are we in a hotel in Hilton Head North Carolina and starting a tour in Charlotte? Is this a f— golf tour?’”

Trailed by Larry Solters, the Eagles’ preternaturally dour minister of information, Azoff makes his way down the hill from the house for dinner at the golf club’s restaurant. He’s only 5 feet, 3 inches, a diminutive Sydney Pollack in jeans and a zip-up sweater. In photos from the ’70s — when he was considerably less professorial in comportment, a hipster exec with a spring-loaded middle finger — he sports a beard and a helmet of curly hair and mischievous eyes behind his shades, and looks a little like a Muppet who might scream at Kermit over Dr. Teeth’s appearance fee.

His father was a pharmacist and his mother was a bookkeeper. He grew up in Danville, Ill., booked his first shows in high school to pay for college, dropped out of college to run a small Midwestern concert-booking empire and manage local acts such as folk singer Dan Fogelberg and heartland rock band REO Speedwagon. Los Angeles soon beckoned. He met the Eagles while working for David Geffen and Elliot Roberts’ management company and followed the band out the door when they left the Geffen fold; they became the cornerstone of his empire. “I got my swagger from Glenn Frey and Don Henley,” he says. “No doubt about it.”

Azoff never took to pot or coke. The Eagles lived life in the fast lane; he was the designated driver. “Artists,” he once observed, “like knowing the guy flying the plane is sober.” This didn’t stop him from trashing his share of hotel rooms, frequently with guitarist Joe Walsh — whose solo career Azoff shepherded before Walsh joined the Eagles, and who was very much not sober at this time — as an accomplice.

“This was a different age,” Walsh says of his time as the band’s premier lodging-deconstructionist. “We could do anything we wanted, so we did. And Irving’s role was to keep us out of prison, basically.” He recalls a pleasant evening in Chicago in the company of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, which culminated in Walsh laying waste to a suite at the Astor Towers hotel that turned out to be the owner’s private apartment. “We had to check out with a lawyer and a construction foreman,” Walsh remembers. “But Irving took care of it. Without Irving, I’d still be in Chicago.”

Azoff became even more infamous for the pit bull brio he brought to business negotiations on behalf of the Eagles and others, including Stevie Nicks and Boz Scaggs. He didn’t seem to care if people liked him, and his artists loved him for that. Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker said they’d hired Azoff because he “impressed us with his taste for the jugular … and his bizarre spirit.” Jimmy Buffett’s wife grabbed him outside a show at Madison Square Garden, pushed him into the back of a limo and said, You have to manage Jimmy, although Buffett already had a manager at the time.

His outsized reputation as an advocate not just willing but eager to scorch earth on behalf of his clients became an advertisement for his services, a phenomenon that continues to this day. In August 2018, Azoff’s then-client Travis Scott released “Astroworld,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and occupied that slot again the following week, causing Nicki Minaj’s album “Queen” to debut at No. 2. On her Beats One show “Queen Radio,” Minaj accused Scott of gaming Billboard’s chart methodology to keep her out of the top slot and singled his manager out by name: “C—sucker of the Day award,” she said, “goes to Irving Azoff.” Azoff says he reacted as only Azoff would: “I said, ‘I’m really unhappy about that. I want to be c—sucker of the year.’” In 2019, Minaj hired Azoff as her new manager.

Most of the best things anyone’s ever said about Azoff are statements a man of less-bizarre spirit would take as an insult. When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Eagles in 1998, Don Henley stood onstage and said of Azoff, “He may be Satan, but he’s our Satan.”

An N95-masked Azoff takes a seat on a patio with a view of hallowed ground — the first hole of the Pebble Beach course, a dogleg-right par 4 with a priceless view of the bay. He cheerfully admits that he and his partners at Full Stop are “obviously, as a management business, kind of losing our ass” this year due to COVID-19. In another reality, the Eagles would have played Wembley Stadium in August before heading off to Australia or the Far East. Styles would have just finished 34 dates in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. As it stands Azoff is hearing encouraging things about treatments and vaccines and new testing machines, and is reasonably confident that technology will soon make it possible for certified-COVID-free fans to again enjoy carefree evenings of live music together; he doesn’t expect much to happen in the meantime.

“What are you gonna do,” Azoff says, “take an act that used to sell 15,000 seats and tell them to play to 4,000 in the [same] arena? The vibe would be horrible, and production costs will stay the same.”

He knows of at least six companies trying to monetize new concert-esque experiences — pay-per-view shows from houses and soundstages, drive-in events and so on. But he’s not convinced anybody wants to sit in their parked car to watch a band play. More to the point, he’s not convinced it’s rock ’n’ roll.

“Fallon and Kimmel, all these virtual performances — people are sick of that,” he says. “Your production values from home aren’t that good. And they’re destroying the mystique. I mean, Justin Bieber jumping around on ‘Saturday Night Live’ the other night without a band, and then he had Chance the Rapper come out? It made him look to me, mortal. I didn’t feel any magic. So we’ve kinda been turning that stuff down to just wait it out.”

In the meantime, he says, Full Stop is picking up new clients during the pandemic. Artists with time on their hands, he believes, “have taken a hard look at their careers— so we’ve grown. No revenues,” he adds with a chuckle, “but people are saying, ‘We need you, we need to plan our lives.’”

“IN HIGH SCHOOL,” Jeffrey Azoff says, “I wanted to be a professional golfer, which has obviously eluded me.” He never expected to take up his father’s profession. “But my dad has always loved his job so much. There’s no way that doesn’t rub off on you.”

The younger Azoff got his first industry job at 21, as a “glorified intern” working for Maroon 5’s then-manager Jordan Feldstein. After a week of filing and fetching coffee, he called his father and complained that he was bored. According to Jeffrey, Irving responded, “Listen carefully, because I’m going to say this one time. You have a phone and you have my last name. If you can’t figure it out, you’re not my son.”

“Direct quote,” Jeffrey says. “It’s one of my favorite things he’s ever said to me. And it’s the spirit of the music business, by the way. There are no rules to this. Just figure it out.”

Over dinner I keep asking Irving how he got the temerity, as a kid barely out of college, to plunge into the shark-infested waters of the ‘70s record industry in Los Angeles. He just shrugs.

“I never felt the music business was that competitive,” he says. “It’s just not that f—ing hard. I don’t think there’s that many smart people in our business.”

It’s been written, I say, that once you landed in California and sized up the competition, you called John Baruck back in Illinois and said —

“We can take this town,” Azoff says, finishing the sentence. “Where’d you get that? John told that story to [Apple senior vice president] Eddy Cue on the golf course three days ago. It’s true. I called John up and said, ‘OK, get your ass out here. We can take this town.’”

In the ensuing years, Azoff has occupied nearly every high-level position the music industry has to offer, surfing waves of industry consolidation. He’s been the president of a major label, MCA; the CEO of Ticketmaster; and executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, the behemoth formed from Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation. In 2013 he and Cablevision Systems Corp. CEO and New York Knicks owner James Dolan formed a partnership, Azoff MSG Entertainment; Azoff ran the Forum in Inglewood for Dolan after MSG purchased it in 2012.

Earlier this year Dolan sold the Forum for $400 million to former Microsoft CEO and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who’s since announced plans to build a new stadium on a site just one mile away. Despite the apocalyptic parking scenario that looms for the area — two stadiums and a concert arena on a one-mile stretch of South Prairie Boulevard — Azoff is confident that the Forum will live on as a live-music venue. “People are going, ‘They’re going to tear it down’ — they’re not going to tear it down,” Azoff says. “It’s going to be in great hands. I have many of the artists we represent booked in the Forum, waiting for the restart based on COVID.”

The holdings of the Azoff Co. — formed when Dolan sold his interest in Azoff MSG back to Azoff two years ago — include Full Stop, the performance-rights organization Global Music Rights and the Oak View Group, which is developing arenas in Seattle and Belmont, N.Y., and a 15,000-seat venue on the University of Texas campus in Austin. Azoff describes himself as increasingly focused on “diversification, and building assets for the family that aren’t just dependent on commissions, shall we say.”

But as both a manager and a co-founder of a lobbying group, the Music Artists Coalition, he’s also devoting more time and energy to a broad range of artists’-rights issues, from health insurance to royalty rates to copyright reversion to this year’s Assembly Bill 5, which threatened musicians’ independent-contractor status until it was amended in September. (“That was us,” Azoff says, somewhat grandly. “I got to the governor, the governor signed it — Newsom was great on it.”) He describes his advocacy for artists — even those he doesn’t manage — as a “war on all fronts,” and estimates there are 21 major issues on which “we’ve sort of appointed ourselves as guardians.”

He does not continue to manage artists because he needs the money, he says. (As the singer-songwriter and Azoff client J.D. Souther famously put it, “Irving’s 15% of everybody turned out to be more than everyone’s 85% of themselves.”) Everything he’s doing now — building clout through the Azoff Co., even accepting the Hall of Fame honor — is ultimately about positioning himself to better fight these fights. “I’d rather work on [these things] than anything else,” he says. “But if I didn’t have the power base in the management business, I couldn’t be effective.”

The recorded music industry, having fully transitioned to a digital-first business, is once again making money hand over fist, he points out, but even less of that money is trickling down to artists. That imbalance long predates Big Tech’s involvement in the field, but the failure of music-driven tech companies to properly compensate musicians is clearly the largest burr under Azoff’s saddle.

“These people, when they start out — whether it’s Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, whatever — they resist paying for music until you go beat the f— out of them. And then of course, none of them pay fair market value and they get away with it. Your company’s worth $30 billion and you can’t spend 20 grand for a song that becomes a phenomenon on your channel? Even when they pay, artists don’t get enough. Writers don’t get enough. Music, as a commodity, is more important than it’s ever been, and more unfairly monetized for the creators. And that’s what creates an opportunity for people like me.”

AZOFF’S FIRM NO longer handles Travis Scott, by the way. “Travis is unmanageable,” Azoff says, nonchalantly and without rancor. “We’re involved in his touring as an advisor to Live Nation, but he’s calling his own shots these days.”

I ask if, in the age of the viral hit and the bedroom producer, he finds himself running into more artists who assume they don’t need a manager. Ehh, Azoff says, like it’s always been that way. “There’s a lot of headstrong artists,” he says. “I haven’t seen one that’s better off without a manager than with,” he says, and laughs a little Dennis the Menace laugh.

We’re back at the house. Azoff takes a seat on the living-room couch; Larry Solters sits across from him, his back to the sea. Azoff recalls another big client. Declines to name him. Says he was never happy, even after Azoff and his people got him everything on his wish list. “He hit me with a couple bad emails. Just really disrespectful s—. I sent him an email back that said, ‘Lucky for me, you need me more than I need you. Goodbye.’”

He will confirm having resigned the accounts of noted divas Mariah Carey and Axl Rose. Reports that he once attempted to manage Kanye West have been greatly exaggerated, he says, although they’ve spoken about business. “Robert [Kardashian] was a good friend of mine. The kids all went to school together,” Azoff says. “What I always said to Kanye was, you’re unmanageable, but we can give you advice.

“A lot of people could have made a dynasty on the people we used to manage,” Azoff says, “let alone the ones we kept.”

But he still works with many artists who joined him in the ’70s — with Henley, with Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and with Joe Walsh. Walsh has been sober for more than 25 years; it was Azoff, along with Henley and Frey, who talked him into rehab before the Eagles’ 1994 reunion tour. “Irving never passed judgment on me,” Walsh says. “And from that meeting on, he made sure I had what I needed to stay sober.” If he hadn’t, Walsh says, there’s no chance we’d be having this conversation. “All the guys I ran with are dead. Keith Moon’s dead. John Entwistle’s dead. Everybody’s dead, and I’m here. That’s profound to me.”

The first client Azoff lost was Minnie Riperton — in 1979, to breast cancer when she was only 31. Then Warren Zevon, to cancer, in 2003. Fogelberg, to cancer, four years later.

“And then Glenn,” says Azoff, referring to the Eagles co-founder who died in 2016. “I miss Glenn a lot. And now Eddie.”

Van Halen, that is. I ask Azoff if he can tell me a story that sums up what kind of guy Eddie Van Halen was; he tells me a beautiful one, then says he’d prefer not to see it in print. It makes perfect Azoffian sense — profane trash talk on the record, tenderness on background.

I ask if he’s been moved to contemplate his own mortality, as his boomer-aged clients approach an actuarial event horizon. Of course the answer turns out to involve keeping pace with an Eagle.

“Henley and I are having a race,” he says. “Neither one of us has given in. Neither one of us is going to retire.”

Henley was born in July 1947; Azoff came along that December. Does Don plan to keep going, I ask, until the wheels fall off?

“I don’t know,” Azoff says.

Do you ever talk about it?

“Yeah! He’ll call me up and he’ll go, ‘I really feel s— today.’ And I say, ‘Well, you should, Grandpa. You’re an old man. You ready to throw in the towel? Nope? OK.’”

Azoff says, “I contend that what keeps us all young is staying in the business. I’ve had more people tell me, ‘My father, he quit working, and then his health started failing,’ and all that. Every single — I mean, every single rock star I know is basically doing it to try and stay young. And I think it works. I really think it works.

“I have this friend,” Azoff says. “Calls me once a week, he’s sending me tapes, it’s his next big record. Paul Anka! He’s 80 years old. OK? And my other friend, Frankie Valli …”

“Do you know how old Frankie Valli is?” Solters says. “Eighty-six. And he still performs.”

“Not during COVID,” Azoff says. “I told the motherf—, ‘You’re not going out.’”

[wherethewindtakesher]

actually all qs cuz I wanna get to know u :) boink!

OF COURSE BOINK ANON!

I will be excluding the ones Ive done (:

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? Wine glasses/water bottles c:

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? Bubblegum! im not really a big fan of cotton candy tbh.

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? for some reason, soda from plastic cups hit different 😞

7. earbuds or headphones? headphones in the winter, earbuds in the summer.

9. favorite smell in the summer? the smell of my oncoming de- the smell of flowers blooming.

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? it depends, some mornings I skip breakfast all together, others i’ll have a light snack, or I just have some cereal or make an egg.

12. name of your favorite playlist? ‘Recently added’

13. lanyard or key ring? landyard so I can find my keys easily. I still lose it tho-

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? spicy or sour candies are dope a f.

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? The first book I read that I actually enjoyed was twilight.

16. most comfortable position to sit in? with my legs w I d e open because I cant sit properly.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? my tan/floral converses.

18. ideal weather? cloudy, cold, and raining 😌.

19. sleeping position? on my stomach, leg raised to my abdomen while the other is in the open air, and hands underneath my pillow. the BEST.

21. obsession from childhood? picking my scabs-

22. role model? my mom and sisters.

24. favorite crystal? garnet. It’s also my birthstone! I have it as a gem for my class ring.

25. first song you remember hearing? “bidi bidi mom mom” by selena quintanilla.

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? if it’s not scorching hot, go on walks.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? snuggle up in a blanket and watch movies.

28. five songs to describe you? ‘humble’ kendrick lamar, ‘cry baby’ melanie martinez, ‘stupid’ ashnikko, ‘paparazzi’ lady gaga, ‘or nah’ ty dollar $ign.

29. best way to bond with you? send me M E M E S-

30. places that you find sacred? my bed.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? ripped jeans, boots, a crop top, and a jacket.

33. most used phrase in your phone? fuck.

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? that empire carpet wash commercial.

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? DAT BOI.

37. suitcase or duffel bag? duffel bag.

38. lemonade or tea? how about both of them combined 😉.

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? I hate pie 🙊

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? someone brought a gun and it fell out of their backpack during 2nd period.

41. last person you texted? @caws5749

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? pants pockets. BUT THE DEEP ONES NOT THOSE SMALL FUCKING ONES.

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? hoodies or a bomber jacket.

44. favorite scent for soap? Lavender.

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? superhero!

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? naked-

47. favorite type of cheese? queso fresco.

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? mango.

49. what saying or quote do you live by? “im a bad bitch you cant kill me”

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? anytime my friends and I joke around.

51. current stresses? school, personal issues, and my NEW JOB THATS RIGHT YALL YO GIRL EMPLOYED.

52. favorite font? calibri.

53. what is the current state of your hands? kinda rough but smooth.

54. what did you learn from your first job? that people fucking suck.

55. favorite fairy tale? little red riding hood.

56. favorite tradition? eating tamales during christmas time.

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? that im not perfect, my flaws are just as beautiful as my perfections, and that im just ug-

58. four talents you’re proud of having? im not talented aT ALL. uh...

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? ‘let’s fuck ‘em up’

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? sasuke from naruto or mey-rin from kuroshitsuji.

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? “see you in a minute”

62. seven characters you relate to? natasha, cristina yang, dexter, ford, thor, scott lang, and tony.

63. five songs that would play in your club? ‘bodak yellow’, ‘man of the year’, ‘rockstar’, ‘bickenhead’, ‘slumber party’.

64. favorite website from your childhood? I forgot the name but it was that educational site with the orange robot and human.

65. any permanent scars? my entire body is riddled in scars no joke.

66. favorite flower(s)? hibiscus and roses.

67. good luck charms? my dog’s name tag.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? onions-

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? that cracking your joints won't give you arthritis.

70. left or right handed? im mixed handed but I do the majority of stuff with my right.

71. least favorite pattern? plaid.

72. worst subject? MATH FJSKSJKFSJS I HATE IT.

73. favorite weird flavor combo? have yall tried chocolate milk with chicken nuggets-

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? 8-9 because I tend to fight back and not admit there is something wrong going on 😬.

75. when did you lose your first tooth? 2nd grade I believe.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? for some reason my love of tater tots has come back.

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? uh cacti?

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? coffee from a gas station cus im not trying to die-

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? oh man, I look like shit in both of them. School id.

80. earth tones or jewel tones? earth tones!

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? ive never seen either 😔.

82. pc or console? i’ve own consoles for most of my life.

83. writing or drawing? writing. I cant draw very well.

84. podcasts or talk radio? podcasts! I listen to ‘last podcast on the left’.

84. barbie or polly pocket? barbies! did anyone make their barbies have sex or was it just me-?

85. fairy tales or mythology? mythology. yall don't know this but I have fallen into the greek mythology rabbit hole-

86. cookies or cupcakes? I fuck heavy with cupcakes TILL THIS DAY.

87. your greatest fear? to see those I love die.

88. your greatest wish? to be happy.

89. who would you put before everyone else? myself.

90. luckiest mistake? guessing on a question and getting it right 😎.

91. boxes or bags? i’ll go with boxes. it makes everything easier to stack and organize.

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? fairy lights are so pretty.

93. nicknames? clown by @caws5749, bottom by @domromanoff, and variations of my real name.

94. favorite season? fall/winter TIMEEEEE.

95. favorite app on your phone? mario kart. if anyone wants to be friends give me your friend code-

96. desktop background? it’s black with a colorful smoke cloud exploding.

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? mine and my oldest sister’s because she has had that same number since I was in the WOMB.

98. favorite historical era? I would say the WWII era since ive studied more about it than any other era.

UPDATE; this would've been done last night but my screen decided to just crash and not save anything I had done and my girl sent my ass to bed so I couldn't finish it but here ya go boink!

[ladieslovingladiesandfics]

I Burn (All Those I Touch)

Anon asked: Can you write a story about Shield rescuing reader from being used any longer as a Hydra weapon because their telekinetic ability and fighting skills. Hydra has had reader since they were a toddler and don't even use her real name just a number. Now that they're free they escape Shield and start hunting/killing all Hydra in a form of revenge am while running from Shield. ( I couldn't fit it all in 500 so (1/2)

The team has to stop her as she’s becoming dangerous and more unstable, then during a blur of bloodlust and insanity from reader Jemma stops them with words and just a hug because they had grown to like each other deeply while reader was in containment (This the rest I couldn’t fit hehe (2/2) HEY AND I HOPE YOU’RE HAVING AN AWESOME DAY NOOT NOOT, I LOVE YOUR WRITING SO MUCH

Awww babes thanks! I’m sorry this took so damn long to write! I hope ya like it!

Like I said, I’m gonna change the powers and other things because:

A.) I’m listening to RWBY soundtracks and I had ideas

B.) I read some faerytales, playing some games, and had....ideas....lots of ideas.....

C.) Make it sound less like Stockholm Syndrome and give Reader and Jemmy more moments of sweet stuff ya know?

Warning: Blood, angst, gay shit, Jemmy being Jemmy, death, gore, etc. This is horrible I’m so sorry.

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There was no such thing as a happy ever after for you.

You who had been with HYDRA since you were young, you who was cursed, you who could control the fire like it was art, you who was raised to be a weapon, and you…who was a monster.

But this was fine.

This was fine.

Because Jemma was not here; and she cannot see you and your ugliness.

“Welcome to the team, Y/N.” Coulson smiles, a badge in his hand, outstretched to you.

You blink, staring down at the palm and the badge, shyly taking the piece of metal, shaking his hand as well. You smile a tiny but fond smile. “It’s good to be here, Coulson.”

“See, Y/N, I told you he’d agree to have you on our team!” Jemma brings you into an embrace, the widest smile upon your lips. “I knew you weren’t a bad person, no matter what HYDRA has done to you.”

Your lips tug into an even wider smile, while Daisy and Fitz share a knowing look between them. She was so small, so tiny, a kind girl, she didn’t deserve to be here…or near you. “Thanks Simmons.”

Her smiles becomes brighter, and her hands finds yours, holding them tightly in hers. “As your handler, I promise that we will find a cure for your curse. I promise.”

Oh…oh how wish you it could be true.

The crimson copper dots your fangs, the taste oh so thrilling, you lick your lips, sitting against a wall in a lone alley, eyes closed as you think.

HYDRA deserved to die. They did so many horrible things to you, to your family…

To Jemm- Simmons. Miss Simmons.

You couldn’t forgive them. Not now. Not ever.

“Good morning, Y/N.”

You perk up to the sound of the familiar biochemist, a tray in her hands and a kind smile upon her lips. “I brought you breakfast .” A simple but hearty one, with your favorite warm beverage in a steaming mug.

You groan, sitting up in your bed, rubbing your sore head. Ow. “How long was I out?”

“Only a few hours, you were exhausted during the night. Snoring up a storm, Y/N.” she places the tray on the side table, pulling up a chair to sit by you. “How are you feeling? You seem sore.” She hands you the mug first, and you sip it, letting out a sigh of happiness and relief. “May didn’t rough you up too much did she?”

You blink, staring up at Jemma with doe eyes and shake your head. “Nope. I just hope she’s alright…my…my powers didn’t hurt her, did they?” because you were worried you burnt her.

“What? No! May is just fine.” Jemma answers with a kind smile. “Her burns are healing and they were only minor, she’s up and tossing around with new agents as we speak. We can go visit her if you like.” Oh sweet and oh so kind, you didn’t deserve her. You can’t be here, because you were a monster. A tool. A weapon.

You needed to leave.

But with every smile she gives you, every laugh you two share, every ounce of her heart that she gives you…it becomes harder and harder to leave.

“We’ll find her, Simmons.” Daisy places a hand on Jemma’s shoulder, squeezing it. “We’ll find her, we’ll bring her home.”

The doctor wipes the tears from her eyes, turning to her best friend. “It’s my fault.” She weeps. “If…if I was strong I could have prevented this.” And seeing the bodies, charred and eaten alive…it sickened her. What drove Y/N to do this? How could she have let this happen?! She was your handler! The person who was going to help you find a cure for your affliction, and yet she let this happened!

It all fell upon her.

She should have been more careful.

She should have protected you more.

“Y/N?” Jemma heard muffled screams from your room, rushing over as fast as her legs could carry her, ICER in hand. “Y/N!” she calls out for you again. Without hesitation she opens the door, seeing you clutch your chest in agony, tossing and turning on the bed.

It hurts.

It was like the fires were burning you, your heart, and it may give out.

“Y/N! Y/N! Talk to me!” the pistol falls, and her hands are on your shoulders, trying to stop you from shaking and screaming. “Y/N! I’m right here! Tell me what is wr-“ the tattoo on your bare chest, right over your heart. No! Jemma! This was not the time to be distracted!

A rose, but covered with thorns. Strange, that wasn’t always there. What’s worse….it was glowing.

“Y/N! Stop! I’m right here! I’m here to help you!” Jemma takes your body into an embrace, holding you close against her chest. “I’m here, I’m here, it’s me, Jem-“ she screams the minute her back hits the wall, cold and hot at the same time. She stares up to you, your eyes which told untold agony, and sees your hand against the tattoo, hiding it from her. “Y/N?”

“I’m sorry, Jemma. I’m so sorry.” You press your lips to hers, fleeting and passionate. You grab your shirt and jacket, and leave.

Jemma slides down the wall, the scent of charred paper and wood tickling her nostrils. She touches her lips in horror, eyes wide. What just happened?

“Y/N!”

No!

Jemma stands in front of you, between you and the exit, ICER in hand, and tears in her eyes. Anger. Relief. All in between. She was glad to see you. A smile upon her tear stained face, she steps closer, and you step back. “I’ve missed you.”

NO!

“Jemma you need to leave!” your hand shoots up to your chest, it burns. The thorns dig into your heart, heating up and searing your body with pain. Flames lick at your skin, and you growl, unearthly, beastly. “Jemma, get out of here!”

“No! I’m not leaving you!” Two steps closer, five steps backwards. “You disappeared on us twice already, just…just please,” her voice was cracking. “Please, come back home.”

You shake your head, and your chest burns. “I can’t…I’m sorry.” And you run, jump, hiding yourself once more.

Jemma cries.

“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH HER!”

Her screams, Jemma’s screams, they cause your heart to scald and scorch even harder than before. You watch her blood drip down on to the floor, the HYDRA agent (your former handler, what the fuck was his name?) with a knife in hand, smirking. He was having the time of his life torturing her. The woman you cared for. Your current handler.

“I swear to you now I will kill you! I will fucking kill you, you crazy asshole!” you struggle against your binds, as the man laughs, digging a knife deeper into Jemma’s skin. Screams ring in your ears and you growl. “STOP!”

Chains crack, a section of the wall rips apart and you leap upon the man like an animal. Your fangs dig into his neck, blood surging out of the wound and you tear off his skin like it was wrapping paper on a present. No one, hurts Jemma.

No one.

“Y/N?” Frightened, tired, scared. You heard all of those emotions from her.

You glance up at her, tears in her eyes, fear accenting them. You spit out the piece of flesh and with the gentlest of hands, you rip Jemma’s cuffs apart. “Good bye.” And run.

“Jemma get down!” A beast was sent flying into the wall, crashing through cement as Elena runs by, grabbing the scientist and bringing her to safety.

Half eaten corpses lay on the ground, all from the beast itself.

It was big, bigger than all of the women combined. It stood tall like a man, but switched to a four-gaited dash. Eyes blood red, a lioness but with flames licking her maw and jaw and claws. A monster.

“What did it do to Y/N?” whispers Daisy, gearing up for another vibrational blast.

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here, it’s not safe.” The Colombian says, protecting the biochemist with her own body.

A glint of silver, a pair of wide brown eyes, and Jemma chokes out with a sob, “Y/N?”

“Happy birthday, Y/N!” Jemma holds out a present to you, which you stare down at, like it was a bomb or something. “What? You don’t like it? How can you tell without opening it?”

“…Is this for me?” You point at yourself in confusion, cocking your head to the side. “No it’s for Daisy.” Sarcastically remarks the woman. “Of course it’s for you, I mean I’m giving it to you and it has your name on it.” Sure enough, the tag had your name on it.

To: Y/N

From: Jemma

You cautiously take the present from her, gingerly untying the ribbon and stare down at the small black box. Opening it you see a necklace, a small and simple silver chain with a locket on it. You open it and gasp, tears filling your eyes.

Your parents. The parents that were killed by the witch who cursed you at birth. The parents you never got to see again.

There were here, and that was their photo.

“Where? How? When?!” you hug the scientist before she gets a word out, and she laughs, hugging her back.

“I had Daisy help me find your family. We got a photo and I bought the necklace.” She answers, holding you tighter against her. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Thank you, Jemma. Thank you so much.” You cry into her shoulder, staining the fabric.

“Anything for you, Y/N. Anything for you.” She lets you go, smiling. “Now come on! We have a party to attend!”

“How the hell do you know it’s Y/N?” demands Elena. “It’s a giant lion thing on fire and it’s eating

people!”

“The necklace, I gave it to her.” Answers the scientist, hanging her ICER over to the speedy Inhuman, walking forward with bare hands. The Inhumans prepare themselves to get her out of there.

“Y/N. It’s you isn’t it?” she asks, holding out her hands to you. The closer she comes, the hotter it grows, and she feels sweat beading down her forehead. It was hot to touch the air, her skin was boiling. It was beyond painful.

But she would travel through hell just for you.

The beast growls, flame-covered tail flickering with anger. Gentle hands touch the cheeks of the now paralyzed beast, like it knew her. It hurts. The skin burns her, and Jemma? She only smiles through the pain. “Let’s go home, Y/N. I’m not afraid of you.” Her clothes become singed as she embraces you, tears evaporating the minute they appear. “I love you, Y/N. I accept you, and I will always be beside you.”

The heat dies, and a woman stands there, eyes wide and tears falling, mouth stained with blood…but there she was.

Y/N.

Jemma smiles, kissing your cheeks. “I’d kiss you on your lips but you have blood in them.”

You only laugh and cry at the same time, shaking your head. “I’ll brush my teeth extra this time…I promise.” You hug back, burying your face into her shoulder.

“Let’s go home, Y/N.”

“Okay…Jemma.”

[mit-blut-der-nacht1459]

Burdens of the Past

December 14th, 1459 AD German-Danish Border Fort Frostburg 9:26 PM

The bitter, snow-laden wind had stung Alvurstein's face like a barrage of thousands of ice shards. His normally pale cheeks slowly turned pink from the constant blasts of the snowstorm. But, even with snow storms, someone had to protect the fort. An attack from the Dominion's forces were most definitely eminent. It could happen anytime, since the north was under Dominion control since Spruceholm...

Memories of the small village nearly made him smile. All the good memories the soldier had there. His family, his friends... *Endiwen. Whatever were to become a smile quickly began to fade. And, like a wildfire, nightmarish recollections of hellfire spreading across his home came to mind. And, soon following, the last glimpse he had of her face... Looking down at the man with pity. He hated that. He hated that he didn't stand up to fight. He hated that he trusted her. He hated that he couldn't protect his home. He hated how he couldn't protecthis family.

...

The pleasant scent of burning spruce was heavy on the air that day. It was an early spring morning, and he had just left Spruceholm village to hunt. The village thrived on the old traditions. They were mainly hunters and gatherers. Though, they also had a good lumber and charcoal business going with the Holy Roman Empire. Since the village was located in some woods on the Vida river, it made for a great place to build a current powered sawmill. And, since spruce trees made up the woods, the village obtained the Imperialized name; "Spruceholm."

With that information in mind, it didn't spark too much of an alarm when he saw the black smoke rise above the trees of the forest, back into the village. "It's probably just wood burning..." Alvurstein thought to himself as he lifted his downed prey onto his shoulders, and walked with it.

It had been a rather large buck he had shot down with his father's old crossbow that he had used in the eastern front. It was quite a deadly weapon indeed. His mother even told stories to him about bolts being fired from the same bow with so much power, that it could pierce both leather and chainmail. Of course, Alvurstein never fully believed those stories, but he knew that the weapon was definitely powerful enough to pierce deer hide easily enough.

The closer and closer he got to home from his hunting trip, the more of a weird feeling Alvurstein would get. He could smell a little more than just burning wood. The scent became a tad more reminiscent of burning meat. Not only that, but he began to hear screams, and the crackling of lightning and thunder. He looked to the skies, but noticed that the day was clear. There wasn't a storm. He suddenly dropped his kill, and darted for home. The tall, towering trees seemed to rush past him in streaks of green and brown the further he began to run. But, suddenly he began to froze. He had reached the end of the woods. But, what he saw was most definitely not the burning of wood for charcoal.

His eyes, frozen, icy orbs in his head widened with sheer terror. The entire village was razed, and in ruin. His jaw nearly hit the seared earth. After the pause, Alvurstein began to dart again, and called out;"Mother! Eydis! Endiwen! Are any of you there?!? Answer me!" For a moment, there had been no response. Just the crackling of the fresh flames around him. He turned to his home, the then ablaze alchemy shop. The doors began to creak open almost immediately, and a figure began to step out. Gratitude of the better part of the situation became evident when said figure moved closer, yet closer. A thin, female figure. She seemed rather beautiful; high cheekbones, pale skin, and long, blonde hair roughly down to her back. She wore black robes, and had slightly pointed ears.

"Yes, dear... I'm still here." The female replied as she slowly stepped ever closer. Her emerald hues gazing into Alvurstein's with what seemed to be gratitude for him to be alive. However, she had a more sinister expression about her before. Regardless, Alvurstein exclaimed with slight joy amongst the chaos. "Endiwen, dearest! You're! you're..."

The whole world seemed to slow at that moment. He was just about to run over to her, and embrace. But had to stop himself. He began to notice; in one hand, was an orb of orangish fire, and the other, sparks oscillated along her long, slender fingertips. Suddenly, Alvurstein's heart began to fall down into his stomach, and boil in the acids. He began to recollect the lightning, and the fire, one of which more so obvious than ever. Hot tears began to well up in his eyes, and roll down his cheeks ever so slightly as he began to close said eyes."You're... Behind this... Aren't you?" Alvurstein muttered, at first looking to the ground. Then, quickly, his head whipped right back up to meet Endiwen's gaze. Salty tears began to sting his eyes like fire.”Aren’t you?...” He choked, his whole body trembling. He didn't want to believe it. Maybe it was an accident? Oh, how he had hoped it would be so...

The elf released a light chuckle at the male's words, a devilish smirk forming on her lips afterwards. "You must feel pretty foolish, huh? The ones you called your family, and your friends are now dead! And, it's all your fault for letting your guard down. I'd take pity on you if it wasn't so deliciously... ironic. " The elf sneered. Suddenly, she rose her hand to the sky. Then, with the clench of a fist, the magic around her hand bursted into bolts of electricity, and began to form into a single edged saber in her hands. "Well, Alvurstein... it was fun while it lasted. It'll be a shame to sweep your ashes off of the ground whenever I'm finished with you." She snarked a laugh, slowly walking over to the downed Alvurstein.

Alvurstein's knuckles turned completely white during the conversation, his fists clenched. For a moment, he simply remained silent, staring at the ground in shame at his apparent foolishness, until Endiwen stood within striking distance from him. He wanted he to land the blow, then and there. But as Endiwen raised the blade and prepared to sink it deep into Alvurstein's flesh, he finally spoke.

"No," he interjected. "no. I can't let you do that, Endiwen." He spoke, refusing to make eye contact. His voice didn't falter, despite being somewhat teary eyed just moments before. The salt continued to sting his eyes at the thoughts of his mother and sister being burned alive at his lover's hand, the same hand he held just the night before as they laid sprawled in the grass, gazing up at the night sky. He could feel the anger rising in his throat. His heart was pounding heavily, and his eyes blazed like sapphire flames.

Endiwen froze, holding her sword outward. Her wicked grin contorted to a look of confusion. Here before her was one of the most gentle, kind people she had ever met. And, yet, here he was, growing courage. She snorted in reply. "What?"

He continued to look down for a couple moments, until he suddenly reached for the loaded crossbow at his hip. Without even thinking, he fired it as soon as he could draw it. But as he looked up to inspect the end result of his action, he found that his bolt found itself lodged into a charred tree several yards away instead of where he hoped it would end up.

The elf didn't so much as flinch when Alvurstein fired. Her confused look shifted straight to anger instead. "You slow witted, blunt-eared moron. Did you think resisting would actually help you?" She hissed, bringing the sword down onto his forehead. In a brisk motion, the blade peeled apart and penetrated his flesh, leaving a diagonal wound down his forehead and his nosebridge. The wound ended at his cheek, and began to ooze the darkest red. The scent of iron filled Alvurstein's nostrils, and the shock enchantment on her conjured weapon began to make him feel dizzy.

"You traitorous wench..." He slurred, his eyes beginning to fall. A corona of black grew around Endiwen, and his vision quickly began to blur. He tried to move, but simply couldn't. His whole body froze. It was like a nightmare that came to life. He tried to move his lips to speak, but to no avail.

Endiwen looked down at Alvurstein, and shook her head. Despite the name calling, she didn't want to bring a second blow down on him. Or, perhaps it was because of him rising up to her and calling her a name that she chose his new fate. "I will leave you here to the flames. Géstus have mercy on you." She turned away from him, heading south. Alvurstein could only gasp out the words he wanted to say.

"Damn you, and damn your God..." Alvurstein managed, his voice barely reaching her due to how weak he was. He couldn't speak louder. He tried to keep his eyes open to watch her walk away, but his eyes fell closed before her figure moved away from view. All he could hear before his consciousness drifted away was the rustling of grass, the crackling of the flames around him. But yet, in his head, all he could hear was the word "pity."He hated that. "Why couldn't she have just killed him then?" He wondered, and wondered. But there seemed to be no answer, no matter how hard he'd try to find it...

"Pity." The word scorched the knight's mind, and encircled it like a ring of hellfire. Unquenchable, and unyielding, the word continued to fuel the flame in his heart. He'd strike down Endiwen, and with her make the Dominion and its ideals fall into the deepest, darkest circle of Hell. She'd...

Suddenly, a voice reached out to him, pulling him back into the real world. Though his mind fought it, it eventually caught up with a second tug into reality. He could here a voice, somewhat soft spoken, and almost concerned. "Sir Wilhelms," the voice called again. Alvurstein jolted a little, his azure eyes darting back and forth, trying to look for the source of the voice, until he could spot out a frame, facing him. A sigh left his lips. Of relief, or of distaste, he was unsure.

It was Y/C. They were also stationed with him on guard duty, and had probably been staring out into the bleached landscape by themselves for quite awhile now. They detected the expression on Alvurstein's face. It was clear he was deep into thought. But what about? "Are... are you okay?" Y/C asked...

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

(Thanks for getting this far! If you're interested in roleplaying, please bare these things in mind;)

* Replies must be at least two paragraphs in length, in third person, and be understandable.

* I won't be very active, and there may be a gap of several days, maybe even weeks between responses. (College)

*  The magic system here is pretty complex, and I'll have to explain it.

* No yaoi is allowed.

* 18+ please.

[sareesinthewind]

Photo 1: My Ammama's house Photo 2: My home during the 2 richest months of my life Photo 3: The TRO office on the A9 Road, Killinochchi (2005) Photo 4: 2 Grave "stones" of Tsunami victims erected at a mass burial site Photo 5: 69 children, all under the age of 12 perished at this Children's Home in Mullaittivu. There were remnants of feeding bottles, toys, shoes and books strewn around. SHIRANEE ************ 19 February 2005

Hi all  When I arrived at the TRO office in Colombo and asked if I could hitch a ride to the Vanni I didn't know they were looking for a translator for 2 French ladies who had arrived with relief items that they wanted to distribute at the camps (known as welfare centres).  That is how I met Sandrine and Catherine Chopin (S&C) and had 4 memorable days on the road with the sisters. The trip up to Vanni was smooth (left Colombo at 2am) until we reached the Army checkpoint at Omanthai at 9am. We followed the heavily laden truck (with relief items), by van.   The SL Army insisted on unloading the truck to check if we were carrying any banned items  (like guns!).  They detained us in the hot sun for 3 hrs while they unloaded, checked then reloaded and demanded Rs.1800 for their trouble !! Sandrine was not going to part with the money without a struggle. She asked to be taken to the highest ranking army officer who was rude and relentless while the junior officers were very apologetic saying they were only carrying out orders. We had no choice but to pay the 1800 rupees and get out of there before they thought of other ways of harassing us.  While they checked our personal baggage 2 female army officers helped themselves (or thought they did) to 2 of the trauma bears that I had brought.   When they finished with my bags, I pretended I didn't understand any Sinhala, grabbed the bears from them and put them back in my bag and zipped up very quickly.  They made rude comments about the Tsunami victims being 'lucky' because they received stuff like the bears !!!!   My limited knowledge of Sinhala prevented me - I was so tempted to say something which would have been a very foolish move under the circumstances.   Arrived at Killinochi (TRO Headoffice) at 3pm, very tired, hungry and longing for a shower but had to go into meetings with the TRO guys who would help us with logistics/direction re distribution.  I was on a PC translating and typing lists, 15 minutes after arriving in our homeland - felt very useful and glad to be so.  All records are maintained in Tamil so any information needed, has to be translated, which is where I become useful. 95% population speak only Tamil. The 20 year civil war preceding the Tsunami has impeded the education of the younger generation. They had no opportunity of learning English (or anything else for that matter).    Coming back to S&C,  we got the necessary information and with a guide provided by the TRO we left Killinochi for the Mullaitivu area to distribute relief items - this we did for 3 days, returning only to sleep at 11.30 pm each day. Mullaitivu is about 1-2 hrs by (pot-holed, mostly dirt) road.  We visited several welfare centres, all run by TRO.   We met victims still in schools (Phase 1), in tents (Phase2) and saw individual homes still under construction (Phase 3) where they will eventually be resettled.  Life in the tents is unbearable in the 40 degree heat - very sad. They sit in groups under the shade of trees during day and go into the tent only at night. They have no choice.  I managed to distribute the stuff I brought - Karen, the kids loved the trauma bears.  They have nothing to call their own and hugged them tight.  The stuff that Sue and Kate gave too were gratefully received - very useful.  S&C brought stuff that were suitable for infants - we had made up baby kits with about 12 items in each kit before we left Killi.  The smaller camps were easy but there was a rush for stuff in one camp that we reached only at 6.30pm.  We had to use the headlights of the van to distribute the packages as there was no electricity - this was a bit scary as we were losing control of the situation - people mobbed us and were visibly disturbed that they had not each received something.  Those who didn't get anything were complaining to me as I was the only Tamil  in the 'team'.  Very sad I wish we could give them all something - they had lost absolutely everything - some even had their clothes washed away and found themselves naked when the water receded.  TRO is doing a marvellous job with the limited resources.  We had lunch at one of the camps y'day and the inmates were thrilled that we shared their lunch. It is not an experience I can even begin to describe.  I had the opportunity of talking to many of the victims.  A lady who was surprisingly cheerful said she had lost 15 relatives including 3 siblings and 3 grandchildren. I asked her how she coped with her grief - she said being amongst others like her helped her cope. She pointed to the rest of the refugees and said that they were all in the same plight.  There was a very young father who blinked away tears as he related his story. He had returned from Dubai when he heard of the Tsunami only to find his wife and all 3 kids had perished.  He is not sure if he wants to go back to Dubai to continue his job as a truck driver there.  He says he has no one to earn for.  There was a lone young woman sitting under a tree - I sat with her for about 10 mins but could not get a word out of her - she sat with her head lowered and was not even aware of my presence.  The others told me she had lost her youngest who was born 2 months after her husband's death (natural causes) - this child had been special.  She had 2 other young kids who hung around. She ignored them.  The other inmates are caring for those kids.  Several such stories.  It was the fisherfolk who were most affected in the Mullaitivu district. The fishermen, now living in temporary shelters are proud breadwinners and are not happy to live on handouts. They want to get back to sea as soon as possible. I think that is the best 'relief' we can offer them.  I have now made contact with Prof. Soosaiananthan who has taken time off from his job at the Jaffna University (lecturer in Fisheries and Aquaculture) to help restart the fisheries industry in the Mullaitivu area.    I start work with Prof. Soosai's team today working on the "Back to Sea" project and will be based at the TRO office in Killinochi.  The "team" consists all of 3 members including  yours truly!! We have an office set aside for us with 2 PCs.    I will be translating reports and other data which we will send to people overseas who are interested in helping.  Everything happens at snail pace here - so don't expect updates from me too often!!!   S&C returned to Colombo this morning and I miss them - we had a wonderful time together with our young muslim driver, Innam and Jeevan the TRO guide - everyone worked so well together.  I am beginning phase 2 of my work here (!!) today.  Very rewarding time so far and am already sad that almost a week of my 8 weeks here is coming to an end. I will write whenever I find time. I am going to try and attach some photos and hope it gets through to you.  Sadeesh the IT guy here tells me hotmail will only carry one photo at a time - will therefore send you separate emails with photos - please bear with me !!  Shiranee  ************ 13 March 2005  Hi everyone  This is another update in case you are interested.  I am continuing to enjoy my stay here and find the work very rewarding.   I live in a small house built by the TRO for volunteers.  There are 5 such houses in one compound but not all are occupied all the time.  At the moment there is a couple (retired engineer and wife from UK), 2 young engineers and myself occupying 3 houses.  All meals are delivered from a communal kitchen in an adjoining compound.  It is quite normal to hear rustling sounds in the house. I am too scared to investigate so I get under my mosquito net (for safety!!) and read by torch light.  I am quite often in bed by 8pm.  I can ask the watchman (of the compound) to have a look but don't want to - this is all part and parcel of life here. I suspect frogs have decided to keep me company. Plenty of wildlife around. The UNICEF rep here (American lady) was bitten by a snake and was airlifted to Colombo after 3 days at the Killinochchi hospital.  I ride a bike to work and back and arrive at the office huffing and puffing much to the amusement of the TRO staff.  I am so unfit. At the moment I walk to work (45mins each way) because I have a flat tyre which needs fixing.   The sun is scorching hot by 7am.  Believe it or not, I have now acquired a tan !!!   I work in the office 6 days and teach English on Sundays (after attending CSI church at 7.30am) at one of the orphanages close by which cares for 520 girls and a few boys under 5.  I can't bear to go the baby section because it is so pathetic. The kids are very well cared for, well fed and kept clean but there is still that sadness in their eyes.  I try and make the lessons as fun as possible - games, actions, colouring etc    The Year 9's were only interested in the story I read and explained to them in Tamil.  There is a 21 yr old in the office (Akila) who grew up in the same orphanage.  She is keen to learn English but all she wants to do everyday is read the Cinderella story - I try to distract her and teach her other things but later wondered if that story is her dream too and whether that is why she wants to read that story over and over again. She is gradually beginning to trust me and now tells me her story - very sad.  She has a little sister in the same orphanage and a brother in an adjoining boys home.  Her sister is currently down with mumps along with 34 other kids and has been quarantined. Akila told me her sister was tiny for her age (I am yet to meet the sister) because she had only been fed water for the first few weeks of her life.  Children as little as 7 draw water from the well, hand wash  their own clothes and attend to all their needs themselves - they are so much more independent and capable than our children growing up in luxury in Australia.  Another girl (Year 9) told me that she owned a cow called 'Letchumie". She does not speak of her parents or siblings (probably dead, not sure) but keeps telling me she misses her cow and wonders where it is today.  Like the Tsunami victims I spoke to, I think these girls take comfort in the fact that everyone around them is in the same plight.  Some who have one parent or relatives (who are interested enough) go home during the holidays but the others stay all through the year. One girl even told me that she misses the orphanage when she goes home and feels 'out of place' when she is with her family who she sees only once a year - probably true.  My work is quite varied and I am happy to do whatever is useful which is mostly the use of my language skills.  For example, I attended the sports meet of a preschool run by the TRO where they teach kids 3-6 years in ENGLISH. The people here are aware of their lack of English skills and make it a priority to learn the language. Anyway, at the sports meet, I was asked to make the announcements in English (I was only there as a guest).  The guy making the announcements in Tamil was so professional and here I was spluttering my way through colloquial English - lucky not many understood me!!  I am often called into meetings to translate - sometimes challenging and exhausting because I have to be very careful to understand the issues before I translate and get the right message across.    I went to Colombo for a day to get my visa renewed (we are only given 30 days on arrival). I managed to get a lift in an air-conditioned NGO 4 wheel drive - sheer luxury.  Returned in a TRO vehicle driven by a young maniac with a death wish!!  I had to keep my eyes peeled all the way back. We left Colombo at 2am to avoid the sun and also to make sure we arrived at the army checkpoint early. The driver said "akka, keep talking to me, I am feeling sleepy"!!  So I had this deep and meaningful conversation which went on for 8 hrs. Thank God we arrived safely - wont be travelling with that guy again. I have approx 4 more weeks here and panic when I realise that my days here are numbered. Will write again whenever I find the time. Shiranee ************ 4 April 2005 Hi all It is with much sadness that I have begun saying goodbye to the wonderful people I have met during my stay here in Vanni.  It is so true that time flies when you are having a good time.  This is my final update before I return home in a week.  People  have been very warm and gracious in sharing their stories with me.  Every person I met had a story – they had lost at least one (usually more) family member either in the war or as a result of the Tsunami.  Displacement has thrust them into poverty.  It is interesting how they’d go to the trouble of explaining how well off they were before the war/Tsunami. All the Tsunami victims have now been moved into temporary shelters by the TRO which is a very basic structure – one room and veranda, communal baths/toilets. The shelters are built only 7 mtrs apart from each other – no privacy at all.  They cook outside on an open fire.  The children in these compounds seem reasonably happy but some have not gone back to school yet.  This is probably because they are left with one parent (or none) and have no guidance and support to get them back to school.  Several school buildings were destroyed by the wave.  Some of the students gather under trees  in the school compound for lessons.  I have enjoyed sitting cross legged on a mat and chatting with these newly resettled families.  Most are happy with the assistance they have received but TRO is not without its share of disgruntled beneficiaries.  They are unhappy that they have not been given boats and fishing equipment yet – they are not able to comprehend the mammoth task that TRO is faced with.  I had to explain to them that TRO itself relied on donations from the Tamil diaspora and had very little money to work with.  Some were also annoyed with people like me (incl. myself!) who come, chat to them and go away leaving them ‘empty handed’.  I hope they understood when I said that my aim was to go back and publicise their plight and get more donations so TRO could do more for them.  I could easily have caused a riot if I started handing out money.  It is very clear that people are emotionally disturbed and the men in particular seem  lost and helpless.  Some are not coping well with their ‘altered’ social status and stress that they owned big houses with their own generators, couple of boats, trucks etc before the Tsunami.  Tamil funeral customs are fairly elaborate and there is a lot of trauma relating to people not having been able to perform the burial/cremation rites for their loved ones who died in the Tsunami. In a sort of compensating gesture there were several memorial functions held on the 90th day of the Tsunami, couple of which I attended.  At one such service I met a 45 yr old lady who was terminally ill.  She said she lost her husband and all 3 kids in the disaster – she cannot understand why she was spared and attributes it to ‘karma’.  At one of the shelters I met a man who kept thrusting this photo of his family (all perished) at me repeating “thanichu ponan” (I am left alone).  He had scribbled the names of his family on the door of his shelter. In the adjoining shelter there was a young widow with 3 kids with sad vacant eyes.  I have lots of photos but there have been occasions when I have felt it inappropriate to take photos.  I have given up trying to make sense of these people’s misery.  It has been an emotionally draining experience but very enriching at the same time.  Sumathi is a student teacher at the English College run by the TRO.  I always spoke English when conversing with Sumathi so she’d get some practice.  Whenever she reverted to Tamil I would keep speaking English until one day, exasperated she said “Akka, can we speak Tamil because I want to ‘talk’ to you” .  She then poured out her story.  She had lost two brothers in the war and her family had been displaced several times.  Her older sister fell in love with a LTTE soldier and married him which threw her parents into further despair.  Sumathi said she tries to remember the times when her mother was happy (before the death of her brothers). She seems desperate for her parent’s happiness. Interestingly, she didn’t refer to her own grief.  I have been visiting a few of the Nutritional Centres run by the TRO.  These are places set up in remote villages where malnourished mothers and babies are cared for until the baby reaches an acceptable weight.  A mobile doctor visits the centres weekly.  The dormitories that house  the  mothers and children are mud huts with thatched roofs which often collapse during the monsoon season.  There is a chart of recommended nutritional meals displayed on the wall but they often can’t afford to follow that chart.   TRO allocates only  Rs. 25,000 (A$320) per month to each centre for food.  This is far from adequate and the kids often go without basic necessities such as milk.  With donations from family in Sydney I have arranged to buy 2 cows each for 2 of the centres and 200 chickens for another and also paid for the construction of a hen house.  This will now provide enough milk and eggs for the centres and any excess will be sold. The needs are endless.  These centres are also refuges for abused women. I met a  14 yr old mother who has been abandoned by her parents for bringing shame on the family by becoming pregnant out of wedlock!  The man who promised to marry her had absconded.  The centres provide training  (cottage industries) for these mothers who are often illerate, so they will have a skill and are able to earn a living when they leave.   This email is going out to friends and family in over 9 countries. Some of you have worked tirelessly for TRO over the past 20 years.  Having lived and worked amongst these people I can tell you without a doubt that your efforts are not in vain.  You’d never find a more dedicated bunch of people such as those working for TRO.  They work long days and have a ‘makkalukaha” (‘for the people’) attitude in everything they do.   On a lighter note…… Sleeping-in, is not a choice we have in this part of the world – the  cock-a-doodle-doo usually starts around 4.30 and goes on until 6am when the last lazy rooster decides to join in!  I am usually up and out of bed by 5.30am with absolutely nothing to do until I leave for work at 8am.  I lie in the hammock under the mango tree until the sun is up and scorching, around 7am.  One of our neighbours must have managed to buy some batteries for his radio – he thinks nothing of sharing his choice of Tamil music with the entire neighbourhood from about 5am and then again late into the night.  He plays the music so loud that it is really horrible and  distorted.    I ride about 2km to work along a dirt road bordered by beautiful paddy fields on one side.  The fields were dry and brown when I arrived in Feb but are now being ploughed and prepared for ‘Siru Poham” (low season) cultivation.  It is sad to see young boys who should be at school working in the fields. For farmers who cant afford to pay for  labour this is the next best thing – to have their children help in the field.  Very young girls bring cooked food to the field for their fathers and brothers at lunchtime.   I am going to miss everyone here so much particularly the 3 young boys in our compound who insist on doing a ‘full service’ on my bike each morning!!  All I need is to have the rear tyre inflated a little.  They love tinkering with bikes and I seem to have provided them with the perfect toy.    Kate is another Aussie volunteer sharing the house with me.  She arrived 3 weeks ago and plans on staying for 6 months teaching English.  We both have a session of debriefing at the end of each day which is great.  I have been translating for Kate both in the neighbourhood and at the orphanage where we teach together on Sundays.  She is now hurriedly writing down Tamil phrases that she can use after I am gone. Its been a lot of fun and I will miss Kate too.  This incredible experience would not have been possible if not for the support and encouragement of my immediate and extended family.  My employers, Blake Dawson Waldron were generous in allowing me 5 weeks additional leave as part of their Tsunami relief effort. I was therefore able to save some of my leave and hope to come back again, may be late next year. See (some of) you soon. Love Shiranee

[practoall-yahoopartner-blog]

25 Useful Summer Care Tips

Summer means heat, lots of sweating, dryness, skin problems like tan, sun burns, pimples, heat rashes, blemishes and much more. With the blazing sun of the summer months, you need to know how to look after the skin properly and look fresh and vibrant.

Just using a good sunscreen is not enough for your skin in summer. You need to take proper care of your skin and hair too.

Here are some simple remedies for you to have a glowing and supple skin even in summer.

1. Cool Off

Carry a face mist with you, so you can mist your face and body while out in hot sun.

I am sharing a great Homemade Cooling Cucumber Mist recipe :

Puree a peeled cucumber until it is smooth.

Strain this mixture through your cheesecloth into a clean bowl, and make sure to squeeze that cloth to get all the liquid out of it.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of mint juice, 1/2 cup of rosewater, and stir well to make sure its all blended together, then pour the liquid into a spray bottle.

If you find that its a bit too viscous, you can add more rosewater or a bit of distilled water to dilute it.

This is a wonderfully cooling and soothing mist on sunburns, dry weather ravaged skin, or during a menopausal hot flash.

2. Do away with Dry Skin

Use a gentle scrub on dry skin to exfoliate, before you bathe. Pay special attention to knees and elbows. Finish with a rich body cream or oil within three minutes of toweling off.

A Very effective Home made Exfoliating Coffee Body Scrub

Mix 1/4 cup sugar sugar with 1/2cup finely ground coffee beans, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil,and 1/2 teaspoon (about 20 drops) eucalyptus essential oil. Turn it to a paste. You can add a tablespoon of sea salt and extra virgin olive oil too.

The firming effect of caffeine,nourishing sesame oil and purifying eucalyptus oil work magic with your skin.

Use this mixture to scrub your entire body.

Scrub away gently for 10 to 15 seconds until you feel your skin has turned soft and silky.

Rinse it off with lukewarm water. Make sure you use a body wash to experience the softness of your skin.

Once done, apply a moisturizer of your choice to retain the moisture.

3. Eat Your SPF - literally!

Oral intake of vitamins C and Vitamin A can limit potential for sunburn. A salad with vitamin C rich citrus, berries, tomato, and vitamin E rich nuts is an ideal SPF meal.

A mixed fruit treat of mango, strawberries, papaya is an amazing reward for your skin.

Mango is rich in betacarotene, a natural sunscreen given to us by nature in this season. It also fights against skin ageing, regenerates skin cells and restores the elasticity of skin.

Papaya is also a rich source of Vitamin A with a great sun protective action.

4. Ease the Eyes

The summer elements can be particularly harsh on the fragile skin around the eyes.

Apply sunscreen around the eyes too. You can use homemade packs to soothe your eyes. Use glares to protect your eyes.

A very soothing Homemade Cucumber Mint Eye Mask

Blend a cucumber (it is ok to leave the skin on) and 5-6 mint leaves.

Add a small amount of water to thin the cucumbers juice.

Dip cotton pads in the juice and gently squeeze them to get rid of excess juice with your palm.

Place the cotton pads flat and separated in a clear zip-lock bag and freeze them until they are iced.

At the end of a tiring hectic day, just take two cotton pads out of the bag, place them over your eyes for around 20-25 minutes and relax.

5. Protect your pout

The suns rays are very drying on the delicate lip tissue.

To keep your lips luscious and hydrated, apply a richly textured lip balm with a minimum SPF of 15 and reapply regularly, when outdoors. Apply little coconut oil or ghee on lips at night to prevent them from chapping.

The following Homemade lip pack will be well appreciated by your lips.

Apply a mashed ripe banana in a teaspoon of sour cream and leave on to soothe your chapped lips.

6.Take a cool shower

Hot showers after sun exposure further dry the skin. A cool shower after excess sweating helps keep the skin unblocked, and decreases acne breakouts.

7. Hydrate your Skin

Skin is the largest organ and needs to be kept hydrated all the time. 8 to 12 glasses of water helps to soothe the skin and keeps it supple.

8. Protect your Skin from the Sun

Use a good sunscreen with correct SPF properly and repeat as frequently as required. My health feed titled 'Know your Sunscreens' gives a detailed insight about the sunscreens.

9. Timed Travel

Sun rays are the harshest in noon. Try to avoid direct sun exposure between 11 am and 4 pm as much as possible.

10. Spritz your Scalp

Long locks offer some shade from the sun, but the sensitive skin along your hairline and parting still get bombarded with harmful UVA and UVB rays. Use a sunscreen spray along the scalp line. It's harder for creams to be absorbed there, and you can still get a sun burn.

11. Sip in your Antioxidants

Antioxidants are the key for summer, and there are tons of ways to work them into your routine.

Resveratrol, a naturally occurring phenol found in the skin of red grapes can decrease redness from acute sunburns. It has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect, helps strengthen your skin's outer layer. Water melons are loaded with antioxidants and are rich in water content.

12. Supercharge your Skin

Cantaloupe (our kharabooja) is the melon of choice for beautiful summer skin. The sweet delicious fruit is rich in antioxidants and delivers a unique hydration to the skin, resulting in a radiant complexion. It can actually boost your SPF by several factors

13. Love your Legs

The trick to great summer legs is to alter the way light reflects off the skin's surface. Exfoliate first, scrub and apply a good moisturiser. Always use a sunscreen.

14. Wear a Wide Brim

A plain cap won't protect your face from sun coming at an angle. Opt for a hat with a brim for full protection.

15. Keep Blemishes at Bay

During the warmest months, blemishes, acne can occur in embarrassing locations.

Select your sunscreen wisely. Sleep with a clear face. It is highly necessary to put off all your makeup at night, because it can seriously damage your skin. You can use a cleanser to remove all the makeup perfectly.

16. Save your skin

Sunny days makes your skin pigment uneven, consequently the skin that gets extra exposure to sun becomes dark and patchy. Once patches set in, its very hard to remove them. So apply some soothing creams over your skin daily or apply cold compresses whenever you come back home. Do not miss out on your sunscreen.

17. Feed Your Face

The best tool for an even summer skin tone is probably already in your fridge. Cut a large strawberry in half, swipe it across your face in small circles, leave it on for about two minutes, then rinse off. This will also brighten sun and age spots over time.

18. Pamper your hands and feet

The thin skin on your hands and feet wrinkles and pigments easily, so be sure to use sunblock daily.

Exfoliate frequently and apply moisturiser at night.

The following Homemade Scrub for hand and feetwill help to keep them soft and supple.

Mix well one tablespoon of coconut oil, 1/4th cup of sea salt and 1/4th cup of fine sugar (brown or white).

Add the juice of a lime and mix again in a blender for about 30 seconds.

Store in an airtight container and use within a week.

19. Light is nice

A lot of sunscreen is heavy and oily. These can contribute to breakouts and shine during the summer months. You can switch over to a water based or gel based sunscreen. Also wherever and whenever possible use a cap or cover your face with a kerchief or dupatta.

20. Battle Breakouts

Reduce bumps caused by summer heat and humidity with an at home antiseptic anti acne mask once a week.

Make a paste of rose petals and basil leaves.

Add pinch of turmeric and 1 tablespoon of chickpea flour.

Make a smooth paste of these ingredients. And apply to your face.

Wash it off with cold water after it dries.

This pack works well for acne prone skin. This pack also brightens up your skin and makes it soft and supple.

21. Bounce back from sunburn

The traditional indian chaas, lassi is amazingly soothing to your sun scorched skin.

The lactic acid in curd is calming and soothing for the skin.

Leave it on for 30 minutes as a mask before taking a cool shower and pat dry.

Freeze aloevera gel in ice trays. You can use the compresses if you get sun burnt.

22. Beat the Itch

Bug bites can itch and look unsightly for weeks after they become inflamed.

If you happen to get a sting, apply cold compresses, apply chilled aloe vera gel twice daily until itching resolves.

Avoid scratching.

Apply kojic acid containing creams twice a day to fade off any residual marks.

23. Be Gentle

During warmer months we tend to produce more oil and this means some people use overly aggressive skincare products. You can use a mildly foaming cleanser to eliminate excess oil but not totally strip your skin. If your skin feels tight after cleansing, the cleanser is too aggressive.

24. Mellow your yellow !

Many of us opt for gels or long-lasting chemical nail varnishes to keep chlorine and salt water from chipping away at polish. Unfortunately, these chemical-laden lacquers also leave your nails with a yellow stain.

Soak your nails for ten minutes in a mixture of four parts water and one part hydrogen peroxide. Use a buffer and lightly massage almond or jojoba oil into your nails and nail bed to get them back to their healthy, natural hue.

25. Pamper your Crowning Glory!

In the hot summer days, we need to wash hair almost daily, because they become tacky sooner. Use a mild or natural shampoo that does not contains chemicals. Also, avoid using heavy conditioners because it could make hair look sticky in summer.

Hope you have a great summer !

Do like and share this health feed with your family and friends.

Stay Healthy! Stay Happy!

This article was originally published on Practo Health Feed by Dr. Jolly Shah Kapadia, Dermatologist

More articles from Practo Health Feed

Chai garam chai: The Benefits Of Going Green With Your Tea! Ankhon hi Ankhon mein: Useful Tips To Cure Dark Circles! Importance of Skin Nutrition

[justsimplylovely]

The day the House of Representatives impeached President Trump will stand out in the history of the chamber. Even on this monumental day, however, something entirely ordinary happened: Rep. Louie Gohmert came to the dais. And he was angry.The Texas conservative is well-known among his colleagues for his liberal use of lawmakers’ privilege to deliver speeches on the House floor before or after legislative business. Gohmert, who has been in office since 2005, has delivered hundreds of these speeches, covering topics from the misuse of foreign aid, Obamacare’s many failings, the need for a border wall (way before Trump made it mainstream), the deficit, the tyranny of non-incandescent light bulbs, the government not doing enough (regarding the BP oil spill in 2010) and the government doing too much (pretty much everywhere else). Several hours into Wednesday’s impeachment proceedings, Gohmert approached the mic, his volume pre-dialed to 11 and his takes set to hot. Impeachment, he thundered, was meant to “stop the investigation” by American and Ukrainian officials into “the corruption of Ukrainian interference into the U.S. election in 2016.”“One thing hasn’t changed,” Gohmert said. “The intent to impeach this president. It’s always been there… This country’s end is now in sight. I hope I don’t live to see it. This is an outrage.”As he stepped away from the dais, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY)—who was running floor debate—admonished his colleague from East Texas for raising the Ukrainian election interference theory pushed largely by Russia. “I am deeply concerned,” said Nadler, “that any member of the House would spout Russian propaganda on the floor of the House.”Nadler tried to yield the floor to another lawmaker, but Gohmert wouldn’t let him. He returned to the dais and roared—even though his microphone was off—until the speaker gaveled him down. Still fuming, Gohmert marched over to Nadler’s seat angrily speaking to him as he loomed over the Democrat. Nadler mostly didn’t engage, and Gohmert eventually stormed off.A spokesperson for Gohmert did not respond to request for comment on what Gohmert said to Nadler. Gohmert Melts Down on House Floor After Nadler Accuses Him of Spouting ‘Russian Propaganda’It was a perfect finale to a two-week run of publicity for the Texas congressman, who has been a staunch defender of President Trump. Over the span of two weeks, the Texas congressman compared the impeachment proceedings to the attack on Pearl Harbor, said the Democrats’ move to recess a late-night hearing was “Stalinesque,” suggested that Nadler was accepting bribes, and said that Joe Biden should be impeached if he wins the presidency. He floated an amendment to the articles of impeachment that struck Trump’s name and replaced it with the names of Nadler and Rep. Adam Schiff. Typically, few people—either on the floor or on C-SPAN—tune into the congressman’s speeches. But he impressed an important audience during the widely carried debate on Wednesday.The president himself approvingly retweeted a clip of Gohmert’s floor speech on Thursday—the ultimate accolade. “Our great Congressman Gohmert,” tweeted Trump, “is a TRUE patriot fighting back against people that must hate our Country!”Over the past month, Gohmert—a member of the Judiciary Committee that handled articles of impeachment—has made the most of the wall-to-wall media coverage of the proceedings to treat millions of viewers to his remarks, turning impeachment into his own personal Gohmert hour. In a remarkable moment during the committee’s formal consideration of articles of impeachment, for example, Gohmert did another thing he’s well known for: pushing the envelope further than many in Congress are willing to.  In a speech, Gohmert blasted Democrats for not calling in certain figures for testimony, including the anonymous whistleblower whose accounts sparked the impeachment inquiry. But unlike every single one of his colleagues, Gohmert actually said the person’s name—at least an alleged name floated in conservative media—which immediately crossed an unequivocal red line laid down by Democrats. The Democrats watching were shocked that a member of Congress crossed that line, but few were surprised that Gohmert was the one to do it. In a previous hearing, the congressman stopped just short of outing the whistleblower; more to the point, he’s spent much of his career in Congress lighting bombs and gleefully running away, throwing caution and his reputation to the wind. This scorched-earth communications strategy—one even Trump’s closest defenders are largely unwilling to adopt—is well in keeping with his Capitol Hill career. Gohmert is one of the House GOP’s most recognizable characters.During a 2018 Judiciary Committee hearing with former FBI agent Peter Strzok—whose anti-Trump texts with a colleague with whom he was having an affair became a central part of the Republican case against the Mueller investigation—Gohmert used his time to speak to call Strzok a “disgrace.” As a smile crept across Strzok’s face, Gohmert became increasingly agitated. “There is the disgrace,” Gohmert continued, motioning toward Strzok. “And [trust in the FBI] won’t be recaptured anytime soon because of the damage you’ve done to the justice system. And I’ve talked to FBI agents around the country. You’ve embarrassed them. You’ve embarrassed yourself.” Noticing Strzok’s grin, Gohmert got personal. “And I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife’s eye and lie to her about Lisa Page?”With that, the committee erupted. ���This is an intolerable harassment of the witness!” one male lawmaker can be heard declaring off camera. “Have you no decency?” another said. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) can clearly be heard saying, “You need your medication!”GOP leaders have seemed to accept that no matter the stage, Gohmert is, simply put, gonna Gohmert. “I give him credit,” said a longtime GOP operative. “I don’t think it’s a pathological need to be in front of the camera. I think he genuinely is just a conservative guy. He believes what he’s saying—it’s earnest and genuine.”Former Speaker John Boehner had a tougher assessment, according to Tim Alberta’s American Carnage. “Louie Gohmert is insane,” he told Alberta. “There’s not a functional brain in there. I don’t know what happened to him.” In more than a decade, Gohmert has had only one bill become a law, but the one that did made a critical change to the 911 call system. That bill, called Kari's Law Act of 2017, was named for an East Texas woman, Kari Hunt Dunn, who was murdered as her 9-year-old daughter tried to dial 911. The child wasn’t able to get through due to the need to dial “9” to reach an outside line. Gohmert’s bill mandated that businesses with multi-line telephone systems allow direct access to 911. President Trump signed that bill into law in February 2018. The rest of the 103 bills Gohmert has introduced over his career have been more eclectic. Sprinkled among the bills to ensure troops are paid in the event of a government shutdown, to limit what qualifies as an endangered species, and curtail which countries can receive foreign aid from the U.S. are some decidedly unusual ideas. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that detainees at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had constitutional rights to challenge their detention in court, Gohmert introduced the Giving Inmate Terrorists More Opportunities (GITMO) Act of 2008. This bill directed “the Secretary of Defense to immediately transport all enemy combatants detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Washington, DC, where the U.S. Supreme Court shall hold such prisoners on Court grounds, confined by adequate fencing.”It noted that the prisoners would “use the restroom facilities inside the Court building” and allowed “any of the nine justices to guard the prisoners, or provide them with food and water, whenever they choose.”The East Texas Republican’s long history of controversial statements, actions and general demeanor hasn’t hurt him one bit in his district. Since winning with more than 60 percent of the vote in 2004, he’s never dropped below 70 percent, most recently winning in 2018 with 73.9 percent of the vote. Twenty-four hours after his fateful speech on Wednesday, Gohmert returned to the House floor, now-empty, to lob one more criticism at the impeachment process: it had infringed on lawmakers’ privilege to speak on the House floor. “But with impeachment going on, the Speaker chose to shut that down for the week and shut down five-minute speeches, so, pretty well shut down the speech we normally are allowed to have,” said Gohmert. “Normally, I would hope to read a Christmas proclamation, but since I am only allowed three more seconds, I would just say, merry Christmas. Happy New Year.” Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2EHoiti

[theplattexperiment-blog]

Pray for the world Reading: Proverbs 6-10 Warnings Against Folly 6  My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
    if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2  you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth. 3  So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest! 4  Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids. 5  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler. 6  Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise! 7  It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler, 8  yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest. 9  How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you get up from your sleep? 10  A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest— 11  and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man. 12  A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth, 13      who winks maliciously with his eye,
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers, 14      who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict. 15  Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
    he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. 16  There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him: 17          haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood, 18          a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19          a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Warning Against Adultery 20  My son, keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 21  Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck. 22  When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you. 23  For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life, 24  keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman. 25  Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes. 26  For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life. 27  Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned? 28  Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched? 29  So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
    no one who touches her will go unpunished. 30  People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31  Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32  But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
    whoever does so destroys himself. 33  Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never be wiped away. 34  For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
    and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35  He will not accept any compensation;
    he will refuse a bribe, however great it is. Warning Against the Adulterous Woman 7  My son, keep my words
    and store up my commands within you. 2  Keep my commands and you will live;
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. 3  Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart. 4  Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.” 5  They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words. 6  At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice. 7  I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense. 8  He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house 9  at twilight, as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in. 10  Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. 11  (She is unruly and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home; 12  now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.) 13  She took hold of him and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said: 14  “Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering at home. 15  So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you! 16  I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt. 17  I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. 18  Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love! 19  My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey. 20  He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.” 21  With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk. 22  All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[b] stepping into a noose[c] 23      till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life. 24  Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    pay attention to what I say. 25  Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths. 26  Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng. 27  Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death. Wisdom’s Call 8  Does not wisdom call out?
    Does not understanding raise her voice? 2  At the highest point along the way,
    where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3  beside the gate leading into the city,
    at the entrance, she cries aloud: 4  “To you, O people, I call out;
    I raise my voice to all mankind. 5  You who are simple, gain prudence;
    you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.[d] 6  Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
    I open my lips to speak what is right. 7  My mouth speaks what is true,
    for my lips detest wickedness. 8  All the words of my mouth are just;
    none of them is crooked or perverse. 9  To the discerning all of them are right;
    they are upright to those who have found knowledge. 10  Choose my instruction instead of silver,
    knowledge rather than choice gold, 11  for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her. 12  “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
    I possess knowledge and discretion. 13  To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
    I hate pride and arrogance,
    evil behavior and perverse speech. 14  Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
    I have insight, I have power. 15  By me kings reign
    and rulers issue decrees that are just; 16  by me princes govern,
    and nobles—all who rule on earth.[e] 17  I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me find me. 18  With me are riches and honor,
    enduring wealth and prosperity. 19  My fruit is better than fine gold;
    what I yield surpasses choice silver. 20  I walk in the way of righteousness,
    along the paths of justice, 21  bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me
    and making their treasuries full. 22  “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,[f][g]
    before his deeds of old; 23  I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 24  When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water; 25  before the mountains were settled in place,
    before the hills, I was given birth, 26  before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth. 27  I was there when he set the heavens in place,
    when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28  when he established the clouds above
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29  when he gave the sea its boundary
    so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. 30      Then I was constantly[h] at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence, 31  rejoicing in his whole world
    and delighting in mankind. 32  “Now then, my children, listen to me;
    blessed are those who keep my ways. 33  Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it. 34  Blessed are those who listen to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway. 35  For those who find me find life
    and receive favor from the Lord. 36  But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
    all who hate me love death.” Invitations of Wisdom and Folly 9  Wisdom has built her house;
    she has set up[i] its seven pillars. 2  She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
    she has also set her table. 3  She has sent out her servants, and she calls
    from the highest point of the city, 4      “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says, 5      “Come, eat my food
    and drink the wine I have mixed. 6  Leave your simple ways and you will live;
    walk in the way of insight.” 7  Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. 8  Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you. 9  Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. 10  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11  For through wisdom[j] your days will be many,
    and years will be added to your life. 12  If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
    if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. 13  Folly is an unruly woman;
    she is simple and knows nothing. 14  She sits at the door of her house,
    on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15  calling out to those who pass by,
    who go straight on their way, 16      “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says, 17      “Stolen water is sweet;
    food eaten in secret is delicious!” 18  But little do they know that the dead are there,
    that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. Proverbs of Solomon 10 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father,
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother. 2  Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,
    but righteousness delivers from death. 3  The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. 4  Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth. 5  He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. 6  Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
    but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.[k] 7  The name of the righteous is used in blessings,[l]
    but the name of the wicked will rot. 8  The wise in heart accept commands,
    but a chattering fool comes to ruin. 9  Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. 10  Whoever winks maliciously causes grief,
    and a chattering fool comes to ruin. 11  The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 12  Hatred stirs up conflict,
    but love covers over all wrongs. 13  Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,
    but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense. 14  The wise store up knowledge,
    but the mouth of a fool invites ruin. 15  The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,
    but poverty is the ruin of the poor. 16  The wages of the righteous is life,
    but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death. 17  Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,
    but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. 18  Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips
    and spreads slander is a fool. 19  Sin is not ended by multiplying words,
    but the prudent hold their tongues. 20  The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,
    but the heart of the wicked is of little value. 21  The lips of the righteous nourish many,
    but fools die for lack of sense. 22  The blessing of the Lord brings wealth,
    without painful toil for it. 23  A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes,
    but a person of understanding delights in wisdom. 24  What the wicked dread will overtake them;
    what the righteous desire will be granted. 25  When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,
    but the righteous stand firm forever. 26  As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so are sluggards to those who send them. 27  The fear of the Lord adds length to life,
    but the years of the wicked are cut short. 28  The prospect of the righteous is joy,
    but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. 29  The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless,
    but it is the ruin of those who do evil. 30  The righteous will never be uprooted,
    but the wicked will not remain in the land. 31  From the mouth of the righteous comes the fruit of wisdom,
    but a perverse tongue will be silenced. 32  The lips of the righteous know what finds favor,
    but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

[theplattexperiment-blog]

Pray for: The world Reading: Proverbs 6-10 Warnings Against Folly 6  My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
    if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2  you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth. 3  So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest! 4  Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids. 5  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler. 6  Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise! 7  It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler, 8  yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest. 9  How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you get up from your sleep? 10  A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest— 11  and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man. 12  A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth, 13      who winks maliciously with his eye,
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers, 14      who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict. 15  Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
    he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. 16  There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him: 17          haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood, 18          a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19          a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Warning Against Adultery 20  My son, keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 21  Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck. 22  When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you. 23  For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life, 24  keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman. 25  Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes. 26  For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life. 27  Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned? 28  Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched? 29  So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
    no one who touches her will go unpunished. 30  People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31  Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32  But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
    whoever does so destroys himself. 33  Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never be wiped away. 34  For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
    and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35  He will not accept any compensation;
    he will refuse a bribe, however great it is. Warning Against the Adulterous Woman 7  My son, keep my words
    and store up my commands within you. 2  Keep my commands and you will live;
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. 3  Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart. 4  Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.” 5  They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words. 6  At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice. 7  I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense. 8  He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house 9  at twilight, as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in. 10  Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. 11  (She is unruly and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home; 12  now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.) 13  She took hold of him and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said: 14  “Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering at home. 15  So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you! 16  I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt. 17  I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. 18  Come, let’s drink deeply of love ‪till morning‬;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love! 19  My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey. 20  He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.” 21  With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk. 22  All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[b] stepping into a noose[c] 23      till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life. 24  Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    pay attention to what I say. 25  Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths. 26  Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng. 27  Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death. Wisdom’s Call 8  Does not wisdom call out?
    Does not understanding raise her voice? 2  At the highest point along the way,
    where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3  beside the gate leading into the city,
    at the entrance, she cries aloud: 4  “To you, O people, I call out;
    I raise my voice to all mankind. 5  You who are simple, gain prudence;
    you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.[d] 6  Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
    I open my lips to speak what is right. 7  My mouth speaks what is true,
    for my lips detest wickedness. 8  All the words of my mouth are just;
    none of them is crooked or perverse. 9  To the discerning all of them are right;
    they are upright to those who have found knowledge. 10  Choose my instruction instead of silver,
    knowledge rather than choice gold, 11  for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her. 12  “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
    I possess knowledge and discretion. 13  To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
    I hate pride and arrogance,
    evil behavior and perverse speech. 14  Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
    I have insight, I have power. 15  By me kings reign
    and rulers issue decrees that are just; 16  by me princes govern,
    and nobles—all who rule on earth.[e] 17  I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me find me. 18  With me are riches and honor,
    enduring wealth and prosperity. 19  My fruit is better than fine gold;
    what I yield surpasses choice silver. 20  I walk in the way of righteousness,
    along the paths of justice, 21  bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me
    and making their treasuries full. 22  “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,[f][g]
    before his deeds of old; 23  I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 24  When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water; 25  before the mountains were settled in place,
    before the hills, I was given birth, 26  before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth. 27  I was there when he set the heavens in place,
    when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28  when he established the clouds above
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29  when he gave the sea its boundary
    so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. 30      Then I was constantly[h] at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence, 31  rejoicing in his whole world
    and delighting in mankind. 32  “Now then, my children, listen to me;
    blessed are those who keep my ways. 33  Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it. 34  Blessed are those who listen to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway. 35  For those who find me find life
    and receive favor from the Lord. 36  But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
    all who hate me love death.” Invitations of Wisdom and Folly 9  Wisdom has built her house;
    she has set up[i] its seven pillars. 2  She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
    she has also set her table. 3  She has sent out her servants, and she calls
    from the highest point of the city, 4      “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says, 5      “Come, eat my food
    and drink the wine I have mixed. 6  Leave your simple ways and you will live;
    walk in the way of insight.” 7  Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. 8  Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you. 9  Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. 10  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11  For through wisdom[j] your days will be many,
    and years will be added to your life. 12  If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
    if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. 13  Folly is an unruly woman;
    she is simple and knows nothing. 14  She sits at the door of her house,
    on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15  calling out to those who pass by,
    who go straight on their way, 16      “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says, 17      “Stolen water is sweet;
    food eaten in secret is delicious!” 18  But little do they know that the dead are there,
    that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. Proverbs of Solomon 10 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father,
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother. 2  Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,
    but righteousness delivers from death. 3  The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. 4  Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth. 5  He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. 6  Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
    but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.[k] 7  The name of the righteous is used in blessings,[l]
    but the name of the wicked will rot. 8  The wise in heart accept commands,
    but a chattering fool comes to ruin. 9  Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. 10  Whoever winks maliciously causes grief,
    and a chattering fool comes to ruin. 11  The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 12  Hatred stirs up conflict,
    but love covers over all wrongs. 13  Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,
    but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense. 14  The wise store up knowledge,
    but the mouth of a fool invites ruin. 15  The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,
    but poverty is the ruin of the poor. 16  The wages of the righteous is life,
    but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death. 17  Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,
    but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. 18  Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips
    and spreads slander is a fool. 19  Sin is not ended by multiplying words,
    but the prudent hold their tongues. 20  The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,
    but the heart of the wicked is of little value. 21  The lips of the righteous nourish many,
    but fools die for lack of sense. 22  The blessing of the Lord brings wealth,
    without painful toil for it. 23  A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes,
    but a person of understanding delights in wisdom. 24  What the wicked dread will overtake them;
    what the righteous desire will be granted. 25  When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,
    but the righteous stand firm forever. 26  As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so are sluggards to those who send them. 27  The fear of the Lord adds length to life,
    but the years of the wicked are cut short. 28  The prospect of the righteous is joy,
    but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. 29  The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless,
    but it is the ruin of those who do evil. 30  The righteous will never be uprooted,
    but the wicked will not remain in the land. 31  From the mouth of the righteous comes the fruit of wisdom,
    but a perverse tongue will be silenced. 32  The lips of the righteous know what finds favor,
    but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.