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robertreich · 5 years ago

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The Democratic Establishment is Freaking Out About Bernie. It should Calm Down.

The day after Bernie Sanders’s big win in Nevada, Joe Lockhart, Bill Clinton’s former press secretary, expressed the fear gripping the Democratic establishment: “I don't believe the country is prepared to support a Democratic socialist, and I agree with the theory that Sanders would lose in a matchup against Trump.”

Lockart, like the rest of the Democratic establishment, is viewing American politics through obsolete lenses of left versus right, with Bernie on the extreme left and Trump on the far right. “Moderates” like Bloomberg and Buttigieg supposedly occupy the center, appealing to a broader swath of the electorate.

This may have been the correct frame for politics decades ago when America still had a growing middle class, but it’s obsolete today. As wealth and power have moved to the top and the middle class has shrunk, more Americans feel politically dis-empowered and economically insecure. Today's main divide isn’t right versus left. It’s establishment versus anti-establishment.

Some background. In the fall of 2015 I visited Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, and North Carolina, researching the changing nature of work. I spoke with many of the same people I had met twenty years before when I was secretary of labor, as well as some of their grown children. I asked them about their jobs and their views about the economy. I was most interested in their sense of the system as a whole and how they were faring in it.

What I heard surprised me. Twenty years before, most said they’d been working hard and were frustrated they weren’t doing better. Now they were angry – at their employers, the government, and Wall Street; angry that they hadn’t been able to save for their retirement, and that their children weren’t doing any better than they did. Several had lost jobs, savings, or homes in the Great Recession. By the time I spoke with them, most were employed but the jobs paid no more than they had two decades before.

I heard the term “rigged system” so often I began asking people what they meant by it. They spoke about the bailout of Wall Street, political payoffs, insider deals, CEO pay, and “crony capitalism.” These came from self-identified Republicans, Democrats, and Independents; white, black, and Latino; union households and non-union. Their only common characteristic was they were middle class and below.

With the 2016 primaries looming, I asked which candidates they found most attractive. At the time, party leaders favored Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush. But the people I spoke with repeatedly mentioned Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. They said Sanders or Trump would “shake things up,” “make the system work again,” “stop the corruption,” or “end the rigging.”

In the following year, Sanders -- a 74-year-old Jew from Vermont who described himself as a democratic socialist and wasn’t even a Democrat until the 2016 presidential primary -- came within a whisker of beating Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucus, routed her in the New Hampshire primary, garnered over 47 percent of the caucus-goers in Nevada, and ended up with 46 percent of the pledged delegates from Democratic primaries and caucuses.

Trump, a 69-year-old ego-maniacal billionaire reality TV star who had never held elective office or had anything to do with the Republican Party, and lied compulsively about almost everything -- won the Republican primaries and then went on to beat Clinton, one of the most experienced and well-connected politicians in modern America (granted, he didn’t win the popular vote, and had some help from the Kremlin).

Something very big happened, and it wasn’t because of Sanders’s magnetism or Trump’s likeability. It was a rebellion against the establishment. Clinton and Bush had all the advantages –funders, political advisors, name recognition -- but neither could credibly convince voters they weren’t part of the system.

A direct line connected four decades of stagnant wages, the financial crisis of 2008, the bailout of Wall Street, the rise of the Tea Party and the “Occupy” movement, and the emergence of Sanders and Trump in 2016. The people I spoke with no longer felt they had a fair chance to make it. National polls told much the same story. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who felt most people could get ahead through hard work dropped by 13 points between 2000 and 2015. In 2006, 59 percent of Americans thought government corruption was widespread; by 2013, 79 percent did.

Trump galvanized millions of blue-collar voters living in places that never recovered from the tidal wave of factory closings. He promised to bring back jobs, revive manufacturing, and get tough on trade and immigration. “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing,” he roared. “In five, ten years from now, you’re going to have a workers’ party. A party of people that haven’t had a real wage increase in eighteen years, that are angry.” He blasted politicians and financiers who had betrayed Americans by “taking away from the people their means of making a living and supporting their families.”

Trump’s pose as an anti-establishment populist was one of the biggest cons in American political history. Since elected he’s given the denizens of C-suites and the Street everything they’ve wanted and hasn’t markedly improved the lives of his working-class supporters, even if his politically-incorrect, damn-the-torpedo’s politics continues to make them feel as if he’s taking on the system.

The frustrations today are larger than they were four years ago. Even though corporate profits and executive pay have soared, the typical worker’s pay has barely risen, jobs are less secure, and health care less affordable.

The best way for Democrats to defeat Trump’s fake anti-establishment populism is with the real thing, coupled with an agenda of systemic reform. This is what Bernie Sanders offers. For the same reason, he has the best chance of generating energy and enthusiasm to flip at least three senate seats to the Democratic Party (the minimum needed to recapture the Senate, using the vice president as tie-breaker).

He’ll need a coalition of young voters, people of color, and the working class. He seems on his way. So far in the primaries he leads among white voters, has a massive edge among Latinos, dominates with both women and men, and has done best among both college and non-college graduates. And he’s narrowing Biden’s edge with older voters and African Americans. [Add line about South Carolina from today's primary.]

The “socialism” moniker doesn't seem to have bruised him, although it hasn't been tested outside a Democratic primary or caucus. Perhaps voters won't care, just as they many don’t care about Trump’s chronic lies.

Worries about a McGovern-like blowout in 2020 appear far-fetched. In 1972 the American middle class was expanding, not contracting. Besides, every national and swing state poll now shows Sanders tied with or beating Trump. A Quinnipiac Poll last week shows Sanders beating Trump in Michigan and Pennsylvania. A CBS News/YouGov poll has Sanders beating Trump nationally. A Texas Lyceum poll has Sanders doing better against Trump in Texas than any Democrat, losing by just three points.

Instead of the Democratic establishment worrying that Sanders is unelectable, maybe it should worry that a so-called "moderate” Democrat might be nominated instead.

#bernie

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anexplanationofunfortunateevents · 4 years ago

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the voting ends today but the fight almost certainly does not

Republicans are filing increasingly desperate and ridiculous lawsuits trying – emphasis on TRYING – to have votes thrown out because they’re big old losers who know they can’t win legitimately.

If you’re the kind of person who can get into the weeds of federal court filings on elections, you probably already have your hair on fire. If you’re not, I don’t recommend picking up the habit right now. It’s just going to make your head swim. These are so incoherent and meritless that even our corrupt federal judiciary and plenty of conservative state judges have frequently brushed them off. I get the sense that Trump’s lawyers are more hoping to win those cases than trying to win them. What they seem to be trying to do with these lawsuits is some mix of the following dishonest things:

depress turnout by making people feel like he can just have their votes thrown out so why bother;

set something, anything, up on track for the Supreme Court, which Trumpworld is (not unreasonably) confident they have sufficiently corrupted;

create a general sense that there’s some authority other than the voters who get to decide this election.

That is what makes me think Trump’s plan to barricade himself in the White House and tweet out a declaration of victory the first moment Fox News reports a good exit poll for him is only mostly about his pathetic need to self-soothe with an autocratic display. He’s also making one last go-for-broke play for the public narrative. He thinks – again, not unreasonably – that if he says he won, then he’ll get a bunch of “Trump Declares Victory” headlines and chyrons, which puts a thumb on the scale in terms of how people frame any resulting developments in their own minds. It’s not a good strategy, it’s more of a hail Mary, but it’s the only potentially helpful option he’s left for himself.

All of this has, once again, summoned the specter of the 2000 election.

We can’t look one day into the future. But we might be able to prepare ourselves for it if we look about twenty years into the past.

There’s kind of a fable that’s built up around the 2000 Florida recount that Republicans were just tougher and savvier and wanted it more, while Democrats clumsily Ned Starked everything up. It’s important to reject that premise as fundamentally abhorrent. In a functioning democracy, campaign strategy is irrelevant after Election Day, because voters are in charge. The Gore campaign, to its credit, was buying into the basic premise of democracy, and had therefore planned their campaign around trying to win an election fair and square. When you punish or condemn people for that, you are ceding ground to the fascists and agreeing to fight on their terms.

The Bush campaign was just fundamentally not operating from the premise of democracy, but from the premise that elections are merely a weak opening bid from the electorate. Before anyone even knew there would be a recount, they had already gamed out a scenario where they could win even if they lost. The contingency they’d planned for, that struck them as most likely, was actually that Gore would win the Electoral College but Bush would win the popular vote. They planned out a whole pressure campaign to create enough of an uproar to give some friendly Republican state legislatures somewhere just enough of an excuse to award electors to Bush even if their constituents had voted for Gore. That wasn’t the scenario they ended up facing, of course. But when you do those kind of war games, you have to think about what your opponent would do, which means the Bush team was ready to hit the ground running with a whole bunch of things they had been expecting Gore’s campaign to do. The core point of whatever they were going to do was always to create an excuse for the nuclear option of having Republican state legislators send Republican electors to install George W. Bush no matter what their voters wanted.

One major difference between then and now is that generation of Republicans knew what they were doing was abnormal and wrong, so they kept it under wraps. Now they’re so high on their own supply that they brag about it to The Atlantic, because they genuinely don’t realize that people will object and try to stop them if they give up the element of surprise.

In 2000, the nuclear option of state legislatures just ignoring their voters to install Bush was not something the Gore campaign could have reasonably foreseen, and even if they did have an in-house psychic to warn them about it, it’s not something they could have realistically stopped except by winning with the biggest margin possible, which they were already trying to do. In 2020, Republicans are basically trying to run the same play, but against Democrats who very much are as prepared as they could possibly be, and by “Democrats,” I mean Democrats at every level. Inside the campaign, Biden campaign senior adviser Ron Klain ran Gore’s recount effort in Florida, and is therefore the last person to have any illusions about the opposition. Their lawyers are fucking beasts. Outside the campaign, Democratic voters have already voted, dragged their friends out to vote, and are amped for whatever fight tomorrow brings.

And, unlike 2000, any formal government processes are going to have to go through House Speaker Nancy D’Alessandro Pelosi, and honey, she is not having it. Remember, Pelosi has already thwarted not one but two Trump regime connivances to steal elections. In 2018, she successfully deterred any attempt to undermine Democrats’ midterm victory. And with her crisp, digestible, precision strike impeachment strategy, she neutered the HUNTERGAZI plot that Trump had every intention of using to sabotage the election this year. (God only knows what other schemes she headed off by making an example out of the pressure campaign against Zelensky. Any foreign leader or official who might have been tempted to cave under similar pressure by Trump got put on notice that trying to appease him quietly was not going to make their lives any less complicated.) No wonder she felt emboldened to tell the Trumpist wing of the Supreme Court to sit their asses down if they know what’s good for them.

What Democrats – and other small-d democrats and progressives – can do, we’re doing. You need to take heart from that, and brace yourself for a couple of stressful weeks.

Unfortunately, we can’t control everything. We can’t control what Trump will do to seize the narrative, and we can’t do much about how the press responds. And again, I’d point back to 2000 as a cautionary tale. Did you know that most of the networks actually called the race right, and they did it pretty fast? It’s true! Early-ish that night, they called Florida for Gore. And, as a subsequent investigation showed, Gore got more votes in Florida! But the ballot count was tighter than it should have been – a lot of registered voters who were likely to have preferred Gore were kicked off the rolls in a racist purge – so they did a reasonable thing and retracted the initial analysis to say the state was too close to call.

I did say most of the networks. I’ll give you one guess which was the outlier. John Ellis – head of the decision desk (ie, the decision of when to call a race for one candidate or the other) at Fox News and first cousin of candidate George Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush – somehow knew something about the Florida vote count that the Associated Press didn’t. Late that night, as Gore’s numbers were actually ticking up, Ellis called Florida for Bush. (I might’ve been more circumspect making those implications five years ago, but these people have forcefully rejected the benefit of the doubt.) The other networks, embarrassed by the earlier retraction and exhausted after a long night, leapt after Ellis like lemmings in five minutes flat.

This created a narrative that seamlessly dovetailed with the Bush campaign’s evolving strategy: a Bush win was a fait accompli, so why was sore loser Gore insisting on this recount, wasn’t it taking way too long? Of course, the truth was that nobody actually wins an election before the votes are counted, so if Bush really wanted to get this over with, why was he so resistant to having so many votes counted even once?

Because, of course, while Bush’s top campaign people were out in front of the press loftily insisting that this recount was an irrelevant waste of the country’s time and attention, Republican lawyers were down in Florida doing everything they could to run out the clock. Deadline after deadline loomed and then passed with a bunch of Federalist Society hacks badgering and haggling over every single ballot. Said Federalist Society hacks included John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

So legal correspondents and voting rights advocates, unfortunately, aren’t crazy to have their hair on fire about the Supreme Court once again doing what happened next in 2000: the court ordered all the counts to stop until arguments that it scheduled for the day before an arbitrary deadline. Then they handed down a decision that even they knew was so incoherent and indefensible that they said it wasn’t supposed to be used as precedent in any other case, even though the Supreme Court’s job for over two hundred years had been to hand down rulings that lower courts could use as precedent.

(Seriously. Guys. If Doc Brown ever tosses you the keys to his DeLorean, your mission is to go back to 1999 and run Chief Justice Rehnquist over with it. Then – and this is important – back up and run over him again. Twice. Then you can go buy stock in Google or feed Trump to zombie vampire bats or hit up a Borders or whatever.)

If you’re not really familiar with this story, you’re saying “wait, what? Why did people stand for this bullshit?” FAIR QUESTION. There are a lot of reasons, though no excuses. One reason that’s been previously underrated, I guess, is that Bush hadn’t spent the week before the election running around telling everyone who would listen that “what we’re gonna do is, we’re gonna make ourselves a huge pain in the ass while people are trying to count votes, and then we’re gonna whine about, ‘why is it taking so long to count all these votes?’ Heh heh heh.”

If he had … well, I’m pretty sure at least 538 Floridians would have been alarmed enough to make a better choice than they ultimately did.

I always want to be able to share an action item. This time, I can’t. (Unless you can vote but haven’t yet, in which case, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ON TUMBLR, GET YOUR ASS IN LINE AND STAY THERE.) I don’t know what the world is going to look like six hours from now. It’s entirely possible that there’s a Biden blowout big enough that Trump just gives up and flees the country. But assume we’re not going to get to take the easy way out of this. Get organized and stay fired up. WE RIDE AT DAWN, unless Florida and/or Texas breaks our way by 10:30, in which case, WE DRINK AT 10:31.

#2020 election #2000 election

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the--blackdahlia · 5 years ago

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Too Young to Fall in Love Chapter 43 (Dirt!Nikki x Reader)

Title: Too Young to Fall in Love 43

Summary: Nikki Sixx was a hard partying musician on the strip. He never expected to fall in love with anyone, until a girl knocked on his dressing room door looking for a ride home and took his breath away. Just like everything else Nikki did; the drugs, the money, the music; Nikki went hard with love. (Y/n) Bass never expected the bassist of Motley Crue to be the one to shake her calm and calculated life up. She had a plan. Graduate school, become an epic producer, and watch from behind the scenes as her brother’s band rose to fame. Nikki and (Y/n) were perfect for each other, too bad her brother, Tommy, didn’t think so.

Series warnings: Smut (18+ Please), drug use, language, referenced miscarriage, drug overdose, mentioned attempted suicide, out of character moments for everyone in the band, the timeline might be a little screwy but it’s fanfiction! I know nothing of music production and my medical knowledge is really screwy, so it won’t be accurate.

“Bass, what you are asking for is unheard of,” the executive said.

“You don’t want to keep them,” (Y/n) told them. “And you said it yourself that the last album cost you more than you made. Merchandise sells are down, and the public polls show that the grunge and alternative movements are bringing in the money, not heavy metal.”

“Not even the Beatles own their music Bass, this is not negotiable,” the executive was being stubborn.

“The Beatles should own their own music! But the difference between the Beatles and Motley Crue is that the Beatles didn’t have me for a manager.” (Y/n) smirked. “And you’ve seen what I can do. Do you really want to come to work every morning knowing that I’m coming in with them?” She tapped on the desk. “If they stay, their sales are going to just keep going down. They will do the one last album that is promise in their contract, and then they will be out of your hair, as long as you give them their masters.”

The executive sighed and nodded, “Fine, let Tom know that Nikki and the Crue can have the masters.” he looked over at (Y/n). “Why did we let you quit?”

“Because you didn’t realize what you had until it was gone.” She stood up and shook his hand. “Now, I need that in writing. I don’t trust oral contracts.” She bit her lip. “Or better yet, go ahead and give me the paper that shows ownership of the masters.” She smiled when the tapes and all the documents were all placed in a box and handed to her, and the lawyers were alerted.

Nikki and the guys made their way into the building. Nikki was feeling something different in the air as they made their way to the elevator.

The elevator doors opened and (Y/n) was standing there, a smile on her face and the box in her hands.

“Hi boys!” She smiled. “And actually, don’t go up there yet. I need you guys to come to the house with me, okay?”

Nikki looked to the guys who shrugged. He followed after her with the guys following after, “I guess we’re going to my house…”

“What’s in the box?” Tommy asked, looking at Nikki.

“I don’t know, but I hope it’s not seven deadly sins,” Nikki chuckled.

“Maybe it’s the executive’s head.” Mick said. “I wouldn’t mind that.”

Nikki and the guys made their way back to his house where (Y/n) was waiting for them back in her office. Ziggy was happily barking as there were visitors at the house.

“Okay boys, I got some bad news and I got some good news” (Y/n) told them. She was at her desk, Nikki was leaning against the wall, and Tommy, Vince, and Mick were on the couch in her office. “The bad news is after your next album, Elektra will not be renewing your contract.”

“What’s the good news?” Nikki sighed as he looked at the floor. (Y/n) smiled as she laid everything out on the table.

“All of Motley Crue’s work, from Too Fast for Love up to your new album, will belong to Motley Records.” She told them. “Every last note belongs to you guys now.”

Nikki rushed to her and kissed her, “you’re amazing!”

“I know.” She laughed. “I might have told them I was your manager, which I’m not. I just needed some leverage to get these out of their cold hands.”

“I wouldn’t deny you being our manager,” Nikki muttered as he leaned her against her desk and kissed her.

“Um Guys… please….” Tommy sighed. (Y/n) blushed.

“So, welcome to Motley Records.” (Y/n) laughed. “I can handle things for now because, let’s face it, no record company is gonna want me after I just screwed Elektra out of one of their biggest names.”

“Our own label,” Nikki smiled. “Dudes this is going to be awesome! Let’s get to work!”

“What about Corn-on-the-cobi?” Mick asked.

“I...the label actually fired him this morning.” (Y/n) said. “He doesn’t blame you guys. He thinks that Elektra just doesn’t appreciate real talent.” She smiled at the boys. “Just remember, you have to do one last album with Elektra.”

Nikki looked at Mick and smiled before looking at (Y/n) and hugging her, “I love you sweet girl.”

“I love you too silly boy.” She hugged him.

“I...I need to go apologize to Vanessa.” Vince said awkwardly. “We have a lot of making up to do.”

**************

Nikki and Mick were back in the Jewelry store and smiled when the clerk gave him the ring he bought for (Y/n).

“Ok… am I doing the right thing here?” Nikki swallowed the lump in his throat.

“What does your gut say?” Mick asked. “Can you imagine anymore days without her being Mrs. Sixx?”

“No, I can’t. I look at her and I just want to make it official you know?” he smiled. “I almost asked her last night and I had to remind myself I had a plan.”

“Our bassist and our manager are getting married.” Mick laughed. “Don’t piss her off.”

“She might not even say yes so who knows,” Nikki made his way to his car.

“Oh, I’ll bet she’ll say yes.”

*****

“Do you think Nikki’s gonna ask me to marry him again?” (Y/n) asked as her and Vanessa met for mimosas and brunch. “And how are you even still walking since Vince came home?”

Vanessa almost choked on her mimosa, “has he hinted at asking you?” she leaned in.

“I...well he tells Ziggy we’re his mommy and daddy. And we’ve been together for almost three years.”

“Awwww,” Vanessa smiled. “I mean it is a possibility,” Vanessa shrugged. “Oh and I am sore as hell ok.” she smiled. “He’s doing better and it’s still hard…” she whispered. “His other kids have been visiting and I’ve gotten to know them.”

“Do you think there a future there?” (Y/n) asked. “He really seems to like you. Or have you gotten to the love part yet?”

“Maybe,” Vanessa shrugged. “If not then I’m doomed to be alone forever.”

“You’re not going to be alone forever. I can hook you up with Tommy.” (Y/n) winked. “But I know he really likes you. Who knows, maybe you’ll bring him another little baby. Of course it won’t be Skylar, but it might help?” (Y/n) shrugged. “All these years, your the longest one he’s been with, if that makes you feel any better.”

“Yeah,” Vanessa sighed and shook her head. “I really just never thought this would be it you know.”

“So, I thought I was pregnant a couple weeks ago…” (Y/n) told Vanessa.

“Oh honey,” Vanessa reached her her hand a squeezed it. “What happened?”

“My period came. I was relieved, but upset.” (y/n) sighed. “Something just wants us to wait. Just like back then.”

“The universe is very mysterious,” Vanessa gave her a smiled. “But it’ll happen… I know it will.”

"I just hate upsetting him. He still feels guilty that he didn't realize what happened before." (Y/n) told her best friend.

“I know hun. But this time he might be there with you and he can help you through this.” Vanessa reasoned. “We should head back. I hear there is a carnival in town. Maybe we can all go for old times sake?”

"Yeah…" (y/n) smiled softly. "Everyone seems so happy since the last album is done. I think it would be good to relax."

**********

The drive to the carnival the next day had Nikki nervous. He kept looking over at (y/n) who seemed to look out the car window.

“You ok?” Nikki took her hand in his and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Me? Oh yeah I'm great." She smiled at him.

“Well, we can ride some rides, play some games, eat some junk food,” Nikki smiled.

"Just make sure the rides come before the junk food." (Y/n) laughed.

“Awww, what’s the fun in that?” Nikki teased as he parked the car. He spotted Mick, VInce, and Vanessa. “I take it Tommy is MIA?”

“Don’t worry about him bass player,” Mick smiled. “So you got everything ready?” he leaned in as Vanessa and (Y/n) talked.

“Yeah well, I got permission from the important people that actually care about her,” Nikki smiled. “Am I doing the right thing here Mick… I keep doubting myself…”

"Do you love her?" Mick asked. "Do you want to spend the rest if your life with her?"

“Yes,” Nikki nodded.

"Would you have rather she married Bret?" Mick teased.

“No,” Nikki closed his eyes. It was now or never today. “Ok I know I’m retreating back into sloth mode and I can’t do that. Let’s just get some ride tickets ride some rides and have some fun.”

Nikki rushed to (Y/n) as the group made their way around the best rides to ride. Nikki kept glancing at the ferris wheel but decided to save it for sunset. He didn’t want to rush the day. He grabbed his camera and began taking pictures, many of them when (Y/n) wasn’t looking. The light captured her just right and he couldn’t help but take pictures.

“Hey, (Y/n) come here,” he called to her. She looked over at him and smiled.

“What?” She asked, making her way over to him. She saw the camera in his hand. “You know, this whole rockstar thing doesn’t work out, I bet you could be a photographer.” She said, kissing him gently.

“Oh, now there is a thought,” Nikki smiled as he pulled her in for a deeper kiss lifting his camera and taking a picture. “I’m framing that one.”

“Just make sure you keep those special ones hidden from prying eyes.” (Y/n) whispered in his ear. “Come on, I’m hungry.” She took his hand and led him over to the food trucks and tents.

Vince looked at everyone as his knee bounced. He wasn’t sure if this was the right time, but if he was to make a relationship last, the one with Vanessa would be it.

“Uh, I have something to say.” Vince said, looking at the group. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Um... what?” Vanessa looked at (Y/n) and then to Vince. “What are you doing?”

“Something I honestly should’ve done a while ago.” He smiled at her. “Vanessa, I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with you when (Y/n) introduced us back in the 80’s. I figured that her and Nikki just didn’t want me butting in on their dates.”

“Got that right,” Nikki interrupted and closed his mouth.

“I know that the road has been hard,” Vince glared at Nikki for a second before turning his attention back to Vanessa. “And I’m probably the last person you would want to spend your life with,” He got up from the table and knelt by Vanessa. “Vanessa Maria Rodriguez, will you marry me?” He showed her a beautiful silver ring with purple stones. (Y/n)’s eyes widened. She had never thought in a million years Vince would want to get married again.

“I….” Vanessa looked to (Y/n) who kept nodding her head. “Yes!”

“Yes!” (Y/n) jumped up and hugged her after Vince put the ring on her finger. “My best friend is getting married!” Vince looked over at Nikki, who was just sitting there, a little in shock.

Getting up he hugged Vince, “congrats man.” he muttered and cleared his throat. “I gotta head to the restroom for a sec.” he got out of the small area and headed to the restrooms with Mick following him. Turning on the sink he splashed water on his face, now if he asked (Y/n) it was going to seem as if he was copying Vince. Closing his eyes he tried to think of a different plan, but jumped when he felt a hand on him.

“I know what’s going through that head of yours.” Mick told him.

“Oh yeah?” Nikki smiled. “What are you a psychic?”

“I might be. Part of my alien charm.” He chuckled. “I know you’re not gonna ask her now, right?”

“It’ll just seem like I’m asking cuz Vince asked,” Nikki sighed and opened the box looking at the ring.

“You know that we’d all be happy for you though,” Mick told him. “And I don’t think Vince realized that’s what this night was for. Just go ahead and do it.”

“OK, I guess it’s now or never.” Nikki said as he gave Mick a smile and walked out back to (Y/n). “Come on sweet girl, you and I have a date with the ferris wheel.”

****

“I thought Nikki would be happy for us,” Vince said to Vanessa after Nikki had walked off. (Y/n) was sitting on a park bench, eating a snow cone while she waited for him to come back.

Vanessa leaned in and sighed, “Nikki is going to propose. It’s the reason he brought (Y/n) here.” she gave him a soft smile. She placed a finger to her lips and looked at (Y/n). “So, what ride should we head to next? I’m thinking bumper cars!”

“Wait...oh shit…” Vince sighed. “He’s not gonna do it now, is he?” Vanessa took his hand and led him over towards a ride.

“Come on blondie,” she laughed. “Hey (Y/n), your boy is on his way back,” she smiled at her and used her head to point at Nikki’s direction. (Y/n) threw the trash away and made her way over to Nikki.

“Hey silly boy. Are you okay?” She asked, taking his hand.

“We have an appointment with the ferris wheel,” he said as he led her towards it giving Mick a wink. (Y/n) smiled as they made their way over to it. Nikki slipped the operator some money to stop them at the top after a few rounds. There weren’t many people on anyway.

When the ride stopped at the to Nikki smiled. “I have a question to ask you and the first time I did this… I don't think I did it right.” He took out the box and played with it in his hands. “I think that first time I asked you I was scared of losing you… don’t get me wrong I’m still scared. But, you are this light in my life that has helped to pull me out of the darkness. I lost you once because I was an idiot. (Y/n) Bass, will you marry me?”

“Of course I want to marry you.” (Y/n) said, a smile on her face. “This time, we’ll do it right.” She held out her hand towards him, watching as he slid the ring on. “Oh my god, it’s beautiful!” She looked up at him. There was so much joy, love, and any other happy emotion in her eyes.

Nikki took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. His fingers raked through her hair as he pulled her close, “I love you sweet girl.”

“I love you silly boy.” She kissed him again. The ferris wheel started to head back down and (Y/n) rested against Nikki.

Forever Tags: @anathewierdo @dekahg @marvel-af-imagines @feelmyroarrrr @nanie5 @imboredsueme @gemini0410 @aiaranradnay @babypink224221 @mogarukes @xxwarhawk @sandlee44 @shatteredabby @caswinchester2000 @supernaturalwincestsblog @lauravic @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @teller258316 @horrorpxnk @tommyleeownsme

Motley Crue Tags: @primal-screamer @waywardprincess666 @twistnet @saint-of-los-angeles @vader-kai @motleyfuckingcruee @sharon6713 @kawennote09 @2dead2function @nikkisixxwiththebass @iamtiber-andtiberismusic @jayprettymuchomw @charlyallise @you-know-im-a-dreamer @sweet-dreams-on-butterfly-wings @estxxmotley @arianareirg @the-normal-potato @nikki-sixxtynine @jjjjjjjoshdun @just-a-normal-fangirl18 @stella20131991 @tarahell @wowilovenikkisixx @i-want-to-shoot-myself @motleycrueee @sams-serialkiller-fetish @getbackhonkycatt @are-you-reddie54321 @flamencodiva @lesliethegroupie @deacyduck @scarecrowmax

Nikki Sixx Tags: @daisystuffsstuff @unknownoblivion @deakysblueoutfit

Too Young to Fall in Love Tags: @kingbouji3 @leximus98 @thekidbakerinthetardis @crystalbaby12 @shawnsstxtches @knockemdeadgirl @deansgirl1993

#too young to fall in love #Motley Crue #nikki sixx #nikki sixx x reader #nikki x reader #the dirt #dirt!nikki sixx #dirt!nikki sixx x reader #dirt!nikki x reader #dirt!nikki #fanfiction

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tonkirc · 2 years ago

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Cornucopia fruit of the loom

I wanted to compile all evidence in one place, if anyone has any they can contribute that I've missed then please comment!Īrtist recreation of logo i./nGVVA43.jpgĢ) Cancelled TM filed by company mentioning cornucopia /fruit-of-the-loom-73006089.htmlģ) Fruit of the loom response /a/1Eq8W2aĤ) Logo in "The Ant Bully": /a/hcvgpeYĥ) 2012 article about brand logos /upload/docs/About_Us/NewsArticles/05_23_12_Detroit%20Free%20Press_Ford's%20Blue%20Oval,%20other%20corporate%20symbols%20ad%20value,%20experts%20say.pdfĥ) mentioning horn of plenty Ī/Q/What_kind_of_fruits_are_in_the_Fruit_of_the_Loom_commercialsĦ) Frank Wess album cover /a/QRoJi6uħ) Newspaper article imgur. I feel there isn't a plausible explanation for this Mandela effect, people say its because you associate a pile of fruit with a cornucopia, however being from the UK I would not have made this association. Every single person described the fruit and either a cornucopia or a "basket thing". not asking "Do you remember the cornucopia on the fruit of the loom logo?" but instead asking them to describe it to me without looking it up. I've asked a handful of people over the past few days, making sure not to load the question i.e. The Fruit of the Loom logo is one of the biggest examples of the Mandela Effect.So this one really hit me hard, like many others on here I was convinced that the cornucopia has disappeared from the famous fruit of the loom logo, and in my mind it's one of the strongest Mandela Effects, because of the left over residual evidence of its existence, coupled with the huge amount of people that are certain it was there, including employees of the company! Considered to be one of the strongest Mandela Effects, the Fruit of the Loom logo with a cornucopia is referenced in many works, such as the cover of the 1973. They say the logo must have simply just been updated, but this is impossible since Fruit of the Loom claims that they have NEVER had a cornucopia in their logo. There is also offbrand shirts created for Fruit of the Loom from a long time ago with the cornucopia.Ĭritics of the Fruit of the Loom Mandela Effect claim that there most have been an old logo with a cornucopia and people are thinking of the old logo they say when they were kids. When you look at this and keep in mind that there are millions who remember a logo with the cornucopia, it makes the situation really suspicious. We all remember it here too, in fact our school uniforms were Fruit of the Loom, burgundy sweaters and Kicker shoes. Make an application of the 4 - inch measuring in the construction of the loom. The cornucopia has often been used in Thanksgiving decorations, that might have been where you saw it. The trademark they pitched featured a cornucopia in the logo, but the trademark was cancelled. Draw some of the fruits or vegetables that appear at the harvest season. According to this albeit horribly done poll on r/MandelaEffect, out of 1143 respondents, 58.8 of respondents remembered the cornucopia was visually on the left of the fruit and 38.1 of respondents said it was on the right of the fruit which you both believe to be highly consistent amongst FotL cornucopia believers. One of the biggest pieces of evidence out there is an official cancelled trademark by Fruit of the Loom in 1988. Some even said that while in elementary school there teacher pulled up the Fruit of the Loom logo while discussing cornucopias. There are a lot of old books out there that talk about the Fruit of the Loom cornucopia, and there are thousands of people online who swear that they learned what cornucopia was BECAUSE of the Fruit of the Loom logo.

#Cornucopia fruit of the loom

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mfackenthal · 7 years ago

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100 Followers Spotlight: @simplyaiden-blog

Hello Hello Hello … is this mic on? Yes? Great! I have a treat for you today! Especially if you’re a Drake or a Damien fan. Today, I am here to interview the talented, fun-loving, and fabulous @simplyaiden-blog AKA Krystal AKA Krys.

Krys, would you join me on the stage? While she walks up here, let me tell you just a few things about her.

Krys is PhD candidate studying biomedical science with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease. That’s right, we have another super smart lady in the house!

When I first talked to Krys, she claimed that she is not really a content creator, but the quick search I did on her blog told me a very different story. Of course, @tmarie82 also knew better – she was the winner of the 100 Follower give-away and, thus, was the one who told me to interview Krys. (To understand how this interview came about and to learn more about @tmarie82, please see this post.) When pressed I finally got Krys to own that her biggest claim to fame is coming up with Santiago Cabrera as the Damien faceclaim.

And what a claim to fame this is! Here is the post. This post has more notes than I have followers! (With a faceclaim like that – I can’t be mad at it!)

Krys will also admit that she sometimes post pictures of things that happened in the book of TRR but through real photos, like drinking whiskey with Drake in Olivia’s cellar, polar plunge, and Drake smirking (with Michiel Huisman as my Drake).

Please give a huge round of applause to Krys before we start our interview!

MFackenthal: So tell me, How did you come up with the face claim for Damien?

Krys: Honestly, a lot of googling. Since I found out Damien was Puerto Rican, I basically did a nose dive on google images looking at Spanish actors and then I found him!

While I thought he was perfect, I found some others that could work, I wanted to give people options, and did a poll on here. He was overwhelmingly the #1 choice.

MFackenthal: If someone else wanted to ask you to create/find a face claim for them, would you?

Krys: Oh my goodness! Getting to look at hot celebs while also fulfilling my need to talk about choices? Undoubtedly, YES!!

MFackenthal: How did you find choices?

Krys: Honestly? I had decided to check the App Store for free games and it was like #33 or something like that. I thought, “A story I can control - let see what it’s about.” And then I started playing the books and got hooked; especially TRR. I’ve literally played each book 3 times and each chapter 4 or 5 times and still needed more, I needed more Drake in my life.

MFackenthal: Now that’s a sentiment I can relate to. In fact, I may need to go to Choices Addiction (CA) meetings!

Krys: Seriously, I cannot get enough of that man. He is my ride or die. The love I have for him is very unhealthy. My fiancé doesn’t understand.

MFackenthal: How did you get connected to the choices fandom?

Krys: So, like I said, my love for Drake knew no bounds and I needed more. I knew fanfiction was a thing so I started googling for “Drake Walker.” @mrswalkerwrites was the first blog to come up and I devoured literally everything Drake related she wrote. After that, I decided to just join a few months ago, and the rest is history.

MFackenthal: Is there anything you're thinking about adding content wise to the fandom? Are you a writer who just hasn't published yet? (hint hint nudge nudge)

Krys: Mmmaaaayyyybbbeeee …. I’m a scientist not a writer so I’ve never seen myself writing fiction. But then a couple of days ago I had a dream about Drake and I had to write it down (took me an hour or so to jot everything that happened down). It might turn into a story, who knows @tmarie82 might help me with it.

MFackenthal: What is something you would like to say to the choices fandom?

Krys: Oh my goodness, the choices fandom has honestly been such a blessing. I needed an outlet to talk about my obsession because my fiancé and my friends did not understand the appeal one bit. But it was something I loved and needed to talk to someone! And I found you guys! You have all been so nice, and welcoming, and fracking hilarious with your posts and conversations. All the writers and artists are so talented, I can’t even stand it. From expanding on chapters in the book to writing AUs to OCs. The plethora of talent in this fandom just boggles my mind. And it’s an honor to be a part of it all and to have a few people here I can call friends. I LOVE THEM ALL! And I also blame the writers for enabling my Drake obsession … Like I said, I loved Drake Walker before, but with all the fanfiction I’ve read, it’s definitely gone above and beyond.

MFackenthal: How do you find time to yourself to read fanfics when your fiancé is around?

Krys: Hahaha, @tmarie82 got to you, didn’t she?!

MFackenthal: Mmmaaaayyyybbbeeee …. If "got to you" means she asked me to ask you and I immediately added it to the list of interview questions. (wink)

Krys: Honestly, that girl is my absolute favorite. Anyways, normally, when he and I aren’t doing stuff, he’ll be on his phone playing hearthstone, which gives me time to read my fanfics … but he can only do that for so long … so, I’ll hide in the bathroom.

MFackenthal: I’d laugh at that, but I have to admit I have been known to do that too!

Krys: One time I was in the bathroom for like 30 minutes and he came in to check on me to make sure I was okay. I didn’t even have to go, I just went in there to get more time and so he wouldn’t bother me. He was like “are you okay, you’ve been in there awhile?”

Basically, I was like, “oh yeah, sorry just got distracted.”

And he was like “distracted by what?”

“I was reading.”

And he said, “… about Michiel?”

And I’m like, “No, about Drake!”

But, I’m just so proud in the moment that he now knows what faceclaiming is.

And he was like, “Well you faceclaimed Michiel for Drake so isn’t it the same thing?”

And I laugh and think to myself, “Touché fiancé, touché.”

So yeah, he sort of just rolls with it. I think I’m really lucky that way.

MFackenthal: I’m sure he’s the lucky one! Krys, I want to thank you so much for your time today and for all that you contribute to this Choices Tumblr Fandom.

Everyone, please give @simplyaiden-blog a round of applause! And if you haven’t already, check her out, follow her posts, and help @tmarie82 and I encourage her to write her first fic!

Thank you all for coming! Thank you for following me! I’ll see you at 200 followers with another interview contest! If you really like this, let me know. I could easily be convinced to do it every 50 followers. Just let me know if you’d like that. In the meantime, I’ll also be looking for other ways to highlight the work of all of you amazing content creators! Thank you and good night!

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years ago

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Rural Ambulance Services Are in Jeopardy as Volunteers Age and Expenses Mount

DUTTON, Mont. — Vern Greyn was standing in the raised bucket of a tractor, trimming dead branches off a tree, when he lost his balance. He fell 12 feet and struck his head on the concrete patio outside his house in this small farming town on the central Montana plains.

Greyn, then 58, couldn’t move. His wife called 911. A volunteer emergency medical technician showed up: his own daughter-in-law, Leigh. But there was a problem. Greyn was too large for her to move by herself, so she had to call in help from the ambulance crew in Power, the next town over.

“I laid here for a half-hour or better,” Greyn said, recounting what happened two years ago from the same patio. When help finally arrived, they loaded him into the ambulance and rushed him to the nearest hospital, where they found he had a concussion.

In rural America, it’s increasingly difficult for ambulance services to respond to emergencies like Greyn’s. One factor is that emergency medical services are struggling to find young volunteers to replace retiring EMTs. Another is a growing financial crisis among rural volunteer EMS agencies: A third of them are at risk because they can’t cover their operating costs.

“More and more volunteer services are finding this to be untenable,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer of the National Rural Health Association.

Rural ambulance services rely heavily on volunteers. About 53% of rural EMS agencies are staffed by volunteers, compared with 14% in urban areas, according to an NRHA report. More than 70% of those rural agencies report difficulty finding volunteers.

In Montana, a state Department of Public Health and Human Services report says, about 20% of EMS agencies frequently have trouble responding to 911 calls for lack of available volunteers, and 34% occasionally can’t respond to a call.

When that happens, other EMS agencies must respond, sometimes having to drive long distances when a delay of minutes can be the difference between life and death. Sometimes an emergency call will go unanswered, leaving people to drive themselves or ask neighbors to drive them to the nearest hospital.

According to state data, 60% of Montana’s volunteer EMTs are 40 or older, and fewer young people are stepping in to replace the older people who volunteer to save the lives of their relatives, friends and neighbors.

Finding enough volunteers to fill out a rural ambulance crew is not a new problem. In Dutton, where Greyn fell out of the tractor bucket, EMS Crew Chief Colleen Campbell says getting people to volunteer and keeping them on the roster has been an issue for most of the 17 years she’s volunteered with the Dutton ambulance crew.

Currently the Dutton crew has four volunteers, including Campbell. In its early days, the Dutton ambulance service was locally run and survived off limited health insurance reimbursements and donations. At its lowest point, she said, her crew consisted of two people: her and her best friend.

That made responding to calls, doing the administrative work and organizing the training needed to maintain certifications more than they could handle. In 2011, the Dutton ambulance service was absorbed by Teton County.

That eased some of Campbell’s problems, but her biggest challenge remains finding people willing to go through the roughly 155 hours of training and take the written and practical tests in this town of fewer than 300 people.

“It’s just a big responsibility that people aren’t willing to jump into, I guess,” Campbell said.

In addition to personnel shortages, about a third of rural EMS agencies in the U.S. are in immediate operational jeopardy because they can’t cover their costs, according to the NRHA.

Slabach said that largely stems from insufficient Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. Those reimbursements cover, on average, about a third of the actual costs to maintain equipment, stock medications and pay for insurance and other fixed expenses.

Many rural ambulance services rely on patients’ private insurance to fill the gap. Private insurance pays considerably more than Medicaid, but because of low call volumes, rural EMS agencies can’t always cover their bills, Slabach said.

“So, it’s not possible in many cases without significant subsidies to operate an emergency service in a large area with small populations,” he said.

Slabach and others say sagging reimbursement and volunteerism means rural parts of the U.S. can no longer rely solely on volunteers but must find ways to convert to a paid staff.

Jim DeTienne, who recently retired as the Montana health department’s EMS and Trauma Systems chief, acknowledged that sparsely populated counties would still need volunteers, but he said having at least one paid EMT on the roster could be a huge benefit.

DeTienne said he believes EMS needs to be declared an essential service like police or fire departments. Then counties could tax their residents to pay for ambulance services and provide a dedicated revenue stream.

Only 11 states have deemed EMS an essential service, Slabach said.

The Montana health department report on EMS services suggested other ways to move away from full-volunteer services, such as having EMS agencies merge with taxpayer-funded fire departments or having hospitals take over the programs.

In the southwestern Montana town of Ennis, Madison Valley Medical Center absorbed the dwindling volunteer EMS service earlier this year.

EMS Manager Nick Efta, a former volunteer, said the transition stabilized the service, which had been struggling to answer every 911 call. He said the service recently had nine calls in 24 hours. That included three transfers of patients to larger hospitals miles away.

“Given that day and how the calls played out, I think under a volunteer model it would be difficult to make all those calls,” Efta said.

Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Montana Hospital Association, said an Ennis-style takeover might not be financially viable for many of the smaller critical access hospitals that serve rural areas. Many small hospitals that take over emergency services do so at a loss, he said.

“Really, what we need is a federal policy change, which would allow critical access hospitals to be reimbursed for the cost of delivering that EMS service,” he said.

Under current Medicare policy, federally designated critical access hospitals can get fully reimbursed for EMS only if there’s no other ambulance service within 35 miles, Rasmussen said. Eliminating that mileage requirement would give the hospitals an incentive to take on EMS, Rasmussen said.

“It’s a long haul to do this, but it would dramatically improve EMS access all across this country,” he said.

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pilot program is testing the elimination of mileage minimums for emergency services with select critical access hospitals.

The rural EMS crunch puts a greater burden on the closest urban ambulance services. Don Whalen, who manages a private EMS service in Missoula, the state’s second-largest city, said his crews regularly respond to outlying communities 70 miles away and sometimes across the Idaho line because local volunteer agencies often can’t answer emergency calls.

“We know if we’re not going, nobody is coming for the patient, because a lot of times we’re the last resort,” he said.

Missoula EMS is responsible for calls in the city and Missoula County. Whalen said Missoula EMS has agreements with a couple of volunteer EMS agencies in smaller communities to provide an ambulance when volunteers have difficulty leaving work to respond to calls.

Those agreements, on top of responding to other towns where 911 calls are going unanswered, are taking resources from Missoula, he said.

Communities need to find ways to stabilize or convert their volunteer programs, or private services like his will need financial support to keep responding in other communities, Whalen said.

But lawmakers’ appetite for finding ways to fund EMS is limited. During Montana’s legislative session earlier this year, DeTienne pushed for a bill that would have studied the benefit of declaring EMS an essential service, among other possible improvements. The bill quickly died.

Back in Dutton, the EMS crew chief is thinking about her future after 17 years as a volunteer. Campbell said she wants to spend more time with her grandchildren, who live out of town. If she retires, there’s no guarantee somebody will replace her. She’s torn about what to do.

“My license is good until March of 2022, and we’ll just see,” Campbell said.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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stephenmccull · 4 years ago

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Rural Ambulance Services Are in Jeopardy as Volunteers Age and Expenses Mount

“More and more volunteer services are finding this to be untenable,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer of the National Rural Health Association.

“It’s just a big responsibility that people aren’t willing to jump into, I guess,” Campbell said.

In addition to personnel shortages, about a third of rural EMS agencies in the U.S. are in immediate operational jeopardy because they can’t cover their costs, according to the NRHA.

“So, it’s not possible in many cases without significant subsidies to operate an emergency service in a large area with small populations,” he said.

Slabach and others say sagging reimbursement and volunteerism means rural parts of the U.S. can no longer rely solely on volunteers but must find ways to convert to a paid staff.

Only 11 states have deemed EMS an essential service, Slabach said.