#in the end master won betting poll

[hanakihan]

(non full and not complete) ultimate EdSali headcanon and brainrot list (because apparently I have poor self control and have those men in a chokehold just like they have me)

Salieri:

- constantly claims he’s not Salieri, but he IS an actual Salieri; the funny thing is that since his existence is a mixed result of actual person and rumors, Innocent Monster’s reluctance to respond to Salieri’s olive branch is what leads to their collective suffering (eventually they do find a form of an inner piece and due to Salieri’s acceptance of his innocent monster aspect it results in much more stable mixed spirit origin)

- due to unstable nature of his spirit origin and as such much faster mana exhaustion even outside combat it’s not an unusual sight for Chaldea inhabitants to find him passed out in corridors or sleeping in most random places; some were even (un)fortunate enough to see poor man pass out from exhaustion and mana deficiency in middle of conversation or doing anything; da vicni links it to what people call narcolepsy

- under normal circumstances initially a ruler but forced to be an avenger, salieri himself feels close to rulers too, hence why he’s probably the only one to peacefully coexist with them despite classes differences as well as being the most non-avenger behavior wise unless it concerns Mozart or rare cases of innocent monster going out control. as a result of ruler-avenger alignment, salieri’s music and voice can have either pacifying or exciting effect based on desirable result and salieri’s own mood

- despite being an avenger, his class’ passive skills work extremely poorly with him, especially in self healing department. hence why after battles he needs extra more time to sleep and food to eat as well as visiting medical room. his exterior can negate this problem but makes mana issue even worse hence why eventually he’s forced to learn to wear it partly on damaged body parts to speed up healing which gives his appearance even more artificial feeling to the point of it looking like prosthetics.

- manifesting in avenger class made salieri actually a fully albino, which means he shouldn’t spend too much time under sun (and he actually doesn’t want to himself because he handles it badly). considering that with proper ruler summon he would’ve had his black hair and golden eyes at least in one of ascension stages, sometimes at calmest moments his eyes can turn golden, after finding peace within himself his eyes turn into red-golden gradient.

- since he’s able to transform his blood into strings, he’s also able to manipulate said blood in general to certain extent, but such experiments mostly leave him anemic and make things worse, so he rarely goes beyond strings

- finds the fact that he’s manifested with a pair of misericordia absolutely hilarious in dark humor way, wondering if one of them is for mercy kill on Mozart and other is for his own suicide after it

- his neck scar is forever raw and fresh and ugly - it’s a proof of his existence in a way, and if it heals/disappears it means his existence stop as well. it hurts from time to time and actively bleeds after battles so his red neck scarf helps to cover such fact. aside from that his neck scar also behaves like a growing pattern that goes beyond his neck in cases of overexertion - going as far as reaching half of his face and fingers, which leaves him covered in bloody red alive pattern he absolutely hates and thinks it’s extremely disgusting.

- tends to avoid musical instruments or singing at all since it’s what salieri loved and did in life (despite itching to do so because he is salieri and is just in active denial within himself), but that doesn’t mean he isn’t appreciating other music at all - in fact, since master introduced him to headphones and modern music that’s one of his favorite pastimes simply because it fascinates him.

- salieri sleepwalks. since he’s one of few servants who require sleep as necessity like humans do, it’s not rare to see him aimlessly sleepwalk across Chaldea at nights either ending up asleep in random locations or in local music room since that suppressed craving of playing music is realized in his sleepwalking.

- despite his attitude he’s extremely good and patient with children or young servants/people due to his life experience of being a father as well as a music tutor and a leading kapellmeister. he keeps things organized and strict where it’s needed but not to the extremes, if anything he’s so good at it he’s consistently sought after. Children servants especially adore him since he not only participates in their tea parties (he can’t say no to them), likes sweets like them, but also plays music for them and tutors them on music or singing. he still continues to claim he’s bad with children and doesn’t know how to handle them.

- the moment any of his students manage to get summoned in Chaldea he becomes extremely happy, eventually it evolves into them all asking if they all can perform under his conducting as a sign of gratitude in a way, and mostly to fill in salieri’s kapellmeister title.

- he himself doesn’t know what exactly are his minions. it’s not like they’re able to explain themselves but he kinda rolls with it because they’re nice to him. he can’t keep them manifested long enough so they keep to be a complete mystery even to him. after some time with better mana resources he starts to have some suspicions that are confirmed the moment minions gain enough mana supply to have proper manifestation - apparently those are his 8 children who became a part of his spirit origin but only as ‘placeholders’ because not much known about them and they’re mostly a basic fact on his biography that’s known well enough. because nothing that much is known about his children, his minions lack many emotions, feelings and ability to speak as well as names, so for time being he goes with calling them after notes (as well as two most similar ones going by Ut-Do duo to make it 8) and because all they can do is to chirp in their respective notes. eventually it becomes better and they all start to have distinctive behavior and preferences but aren’t able to start to properly talk aside from simple words despite salieri’s teaching attempts. in long run they also become emergency mana supply by simply being near salieri but after that they fall into hibernation for some time. sometimes everyone wonders who’s watching after whom.

- he avoids any event like a plague especially if it involves change of clothes because he doesn’t feel comfortable in any other outfit. hence why he visits madame crane’s dress making room only because of his children minions and even that is at their curious demand (he’s eventually dragged into some gala related event which means crane got a time of her life)

Edmond:

- behaves like an edgelord and laughs maniacally to keep himself sane enough. since he’s relatively fresh from château d’if, his ptsd kicks in more than he would’ve liked to, so being assertive with his attitude makes him feel more in control as opposed to feeling of his own life going out of his control one again. in especially bad cases he prefers to find secluded place and have his breakdown that involves thinking he’s still back in that hell and mostly hallucinating about abbe faria. it isn’t healthy at all but he doesn’t know any better way.

- he’s extremely numb to pain thanks to not only different pain levels experience but also due to some of his nerves being damaged as a result of that. which is why he always ends up with extremely nasty injuries he barely notices until someone points it out to him. the only pain he feels to full extent is phantom pains from his engraved scars.

- lives on coffee and cigarettes to the point that’s his coping mechanism. he sees so much shit on his assignments he sometimes just stares into distance while smoking he actually considers visiting a psychiatrist

- he knows social etiquette of high society and is actually capable of proper interactions but isn’t fond of it because he is a man of common origin after all, but that doesn’t mean he can’t use his knowledge is low key roasting

- despite not yet reaching point of facing consequences of his revenge, he does have knowledge of what will happen and that’s why he avoids children at best of his ability. not only he doesn’t know how to handle them, he also feels guilty about what happened to young Edouard which was partly what snapped him out of his revenge frenzy. also avoids them due to youthful naivety that is still present in them, something that was brutally torn from him.

- sometimes hums sea shanties when doing something. also as a result of potential of being summoned as a rider class is also extremely good with ships and that’s what sometimes makes him end up in argument with ship related rider class servants.

- despite everything he is pretty much the dad of the avenger bunch even if others aren’t listening to him most of the time they do acknowledge his authority as the mostly known origin of said class. he bickers with other avengers but he’s also the one to stand on their side if need arises because he is rather protective of his own kin

- after master offhandedly mentions how his story became a basis for whole ass genre of revenge stories in east, he decided to check couple of them only to realize what a burning dumpster most of them are. reading them becomes his favorite past time just because it’s absolute trash and cringe he can laugh about.

- freckles. he has freckles and those became apparent after his imprisonment for decades and not being under sun as a result of that. his unnatural paleness makes them more prominent which is partly the reason he needed to wear makeup as a count

- he has subtle case of claustrophobia, where closed dark space without anyone in sight awakens visions of his cell and that can trigger further ptsd chain if he doesn’t deal with it on time

- despite his abilities and outfit, he is cold to touch and is freezing from time to time. chateau d’if wasn’t warmest place as well as that dive in a body sack.

- it’s hard to say from his looks, but he really likes to eat. mostly no matter what as long as it’s edible since he does know what (self inflicted) starvation feels like and he doesn’t like it. on top of that he prefers commoner’s dishes as opposed to ones of rich society. only exceptions are tobacco and coffee because if he’s gonna fuck up his ‘health’ he’s gonna do it expensive way

- isn’t a fan of fancy outfits but that was during his revenge time, as of now absolutely rolls with whatever the fuck master has in mind this time because it’s both fun and he knows that he’s got the looks for it

EdSali exclusive (we’re entering ultimate delulu territory which is also filled with jp headcanons bless pixiv)

- they had absolutely nothing in common but apparently master’s remark about keeping an eye on unstable salieri is what kicked their interactions into actions. from then on dantes was observing salieri’s state and only stepping in to make sure man won’t disappear from lack of mana.

- from then on dantes became salieri’s main mana supplier through hand holding for small period of times. it was mostly done in complete silence but eventually they started to have small talks during whole procedure.

- what probably really kicked their relationship to even start in some way than ‘supplier-supplied’ is edmond having beginnings of his ptsd in most unconventional time. upon hearing suspiciously quiet edmond mutter faria’s name, salieri puts two and two and starts to carefully say things in italian just to see how it will play out. it does work even if dantes mistakes him for abbe faria in his delusional state. that’s also where salieri’s innate ruler skills for pacifying shine.

- as a result of better mana supply and control of it salieri’s minions were able to take proper appearances that salieri has to keep manifested most of the time since he doesn’t have a heart to dematerialize them. as a result of that mana consumption once again overweights its renovation. it returned him to starting point but even worse so minions started to seek out dantes because mana they use has his traces.

- dantes is high key terrified being pursued by so many children who can’t even speak and only proceed to chirp and tug at his cape. he does feel a certain familiarity from them but can’t pinpoint it until they lead him to unconscious salieri. that’s where first ‘kiss’ happens and dantes starts to have suspicions about minions’ appearances. eventually it results in dantes spending more time around salieri which also turned into weird high key married domesticity that they don’t notice but bystanders see. dantes also becomes the one to mostly drag salieri’s sleeping or sleepwalking body back to his room since dantes himself doesn’t usually sleep.

- no one really knows how dantes looked in his childhood years, so no one really connects the dots, but first time he saw salieri’s properly manifested minions he choked on his coffee because he’ll recognize that same face everywhere because all of them look suspiciously like him but also not. salieri on other hand doesn’t understand why his minions pester dantes and tries to stop them from doing that. it’s not rare for salieri losing them only for dantes to arrive later with a bunch of squirming chirping children that either have him in a death grip or he has them in a (choke) hold. ironically enough dantes is the one to better understand what minions want to convey.

- salieri with all seriousness without any other meaning thinks that count is really beautiful and aesthetically appealing. because of that a huge misunderstanding is born that salieri is secretly in love with dantes. dantes on other hand likes salieri’s music and overall character since it bounces off nicely with his own personality. everyone around logically misunderstands it as mutual pining and eventually start to make bet polls.

- since their more frequent interactions, their personal rooms started to change in appearance too. dantes now has more sugar and sweets stored, tea and even a violin, as well as more comfortable set of pillows and blanket in case he drags salieri’s unconscious body to his room or salieri himself simply out of nowhere will fall asleep. salieri’s room is not only stocked with bunch of stuff for his minions, but now also hosts coffee and books, as well as some expensive tobacco and alcohol. there’s also something to snack on since salieri did caught on count’s unconscious habit of snacking.

- salieri doesn’t think he’s a proper avenger hence why he’s so lacking compared to others. dantes does think he’s a strong avenger in his own right but also acknowledges that salieri’s position among them was pretty much forced. when salieri has episodes of doubt in himself dantes usually drags him into a sparring match, and in process of distraction and emptying his mind salieri does prove he’s more than capable avenger being able to keep up with dantes but exhausting himself relatively quickly.

- eventually dantes is the one to roll along with minions’ disaster ideas because it’s fun and chaotic and he’s all here for it (but also to keep an eye on them). it’s a result of dantes being their primal supplier and caretaker in times when salieri exhausts himself and needs rest.

- dantes and salieri eventually spend more time together just because they find each other’s company pleasant (and also because little gremlins try to set them up for some reason). they can be seen together in cafeteria, playing chess in one of rooms, once salieri heard count hum one of shanties and accompanied him on piano.

- during one of gala events they somehow end up dancing with each other and by the end of it things became much awkward because both felt how intimate and awkward it was. master from sideline watching whole performance and agreeing that it’s some real unresolved tension but also entire dance was rather sensual and personal, as if them talking through body language than actual words.

- things became even more awkward after both of them unintentionally fell asleep after gremlins exhausted too much mana from both of them. they woke up with tangled limbs and after initial internal screaming stage passed salieri tries his best not to laugh from grumpy sleepy count who clearly struggles waking up at mornings (and his wild bed hair). it’s also first time salieri realizes dantes has freckles since they woke up too close to each other.

- in battles salieri will prioritize stronger servants, which means in question arises he’ll take damage so better servants can have an advantage. couple of times it happened with dantes ended up in dantes’ loud and aggressive yelling. salieri’s counterargument that if stronger servant is out of commission it seriously complicates things. salieri has issues with his own worth which results in such high key suicidal behavior while dantes acts same way but out of fact that he can’t feel that much pain anyway, and salieri’s whole thing was kicked into action after dantes nearly lost an arm for him and didn’t even flinch. they’re both idiots.

- it once started as a joke about how dantes’ own theme would’ve sounded so salieri took it seriously and legitimately composed a piece for him. dantes was so moved he dropped his usual attitude and genuinely thanked him. since he doesn’t forget kindness but also doesn’t have any actual talent (cough) he just gives salieri some really expensive chocolate.

- salieri is the one to ‘kiss’ dantes in middle of a battle because his mana is close to none and master is busy supplying other offensive front, so without really thinking salieri just grabs dantes and kisses him (which is more about clashing teeth and awkward angle) only to jump back into action while ruffled dantes kinda freezes on spot from such sudden act.

- both of them can swordplay but while dantes has an actual knowledge on how to wield a smallsword, salieri’s style is pretty much self taught mess which dantes finds fun to go against because salieri’s unpredictable misericordia swings give a good challenge.

- jalter is few of ones to interact with both and after it just dying of cringe and complaining how these two are too fucking dumb to exist and seriously need a room, she’s clearly not paid enough for this.

- while dantes is cold to touch, salieri is usually feverishly warm. when they touch hands they become pleasantly warm. furthermore, their touch can soothe phantom pains of their scars. salieri laments dantes’ countless scars but admits they add to his looks, dantes on other hand thinks salieri’s scar is beautiful despite its nature and appearance. when salieri’s scar roots further dantes actually calls him beautiful despite salieri saying it’s ugly.

- both of them have extreme episodes of delusions, where salieri tries to stab or cut his own neck and dantes tries to gradually starve himself. while it wont have lasting effects or any serious impact, they both do intervene when it happens, with dantes apprehending salieri and taking misericordia away from him, and salieri forcefully feeding dantes.

- salieri doesn’t understand appeal of smoking and doesn’t like smoke smell. dantes once jokingly puffed it out into salieri’s face only to hear that it’s awful and smoke will damage vocal chords so later on dantes tries not to smoke around salieri.

- both of them are aware of their looks, and while dantes isn’t ashamed of his body and looks and casually can show it and all it’s scars (which is his summer outfit), salieri is actually really conscious about his (non) existent physique. once at beach dantes comments how salieri looks as staved as dantes back in château d’if but with salieri it creates a weird sickly aesthetic and appeal which dantes can appreciate.

- while with their appearances it’s not uncommon to see dantes sometimes carrying salieri around when man himself is out cold or too beaten up, the sight of salieri princess carrying beaten up dantes made several witnesses double take. salieri may appeal frail but he’s more than capable of carrying heavy things which is a must when he has 8 chaotic bodies to somehow carry around.

- when trying to speaks other’s language they find accents hilarious and rather endearing.

- when chance arises (or more like another inconvenience) they manage to visit their birthplaces. dantes calls château d’if his birthplace but salieri asks him to show him marseille.

- they seamlessly started to call each other by their first names. before that they went by ‘count’ and ‘kapellmeister’ in their interactions, but at one point it switched to first names. it doesn’t bother them as they thought it would considering identity issues.

- edmond’s palms are bigger but salieri’s longer and despite that they’re a perfect fit. skin to skin contact still feels awkward for them and such moments are one of few where dantes is clearly awkward in his own actions.

[mightyflamethrower]

The presidential race was not unpredictable, as the now once again discredited polls swore to us.

Instead, the great Trump comeback victory was clear by the last weeks of the campaign.

The Republicans had made massive gains in voter registrations since 2020, when Trump had lost the Electoral College by only a few thousand strategically placed votes.

Republicans began to master the transition to non-Election Day balloting—first engineered by the left in 2020 under the pretext of COVID.

They not only vastly exceeded their early/mail-in voting totals of 2020, but by Election Day, they often outpaced Democrats.

For months, it was widely reported, albeit grudgingly, that there were large defections in Hispanic and African American voters from Harris.

The betting odds over the last three weeks usually favored Trump.

Harris simply could not run on anything she had so emphatically promoted in the past—given these left-wing, unpopular, and failed policies had no majority support.

So, the chameleon Harris renounced her prior 30 years of earlier radical advocacies that, along with her race and gender, had forced Joe Biden in 2020 to select her as vice president.

There was no way Harris could still support banning fracking, defunding police, opposing border security and the wall, or calling for mass amnesties and an end to the border patrol.

Nor could Harris still promote racial reparations, ending private health care insurance, or advocating for higher income and capital gains taxes and a wealth tax.

Much less could Harris still boast of wanting mandatory “buyback” or confiscation of some semi-automatic weapons—including entering private homes to seize them.

So given all that, Harris simply flipped—and serially lied about who she was, renouncing her entire political career.

Indeed, Harris began to copycat Trump’s own positions. And so, she never convinced the electorate that she would not flip back to her earlier radicalism once elected or even in defeat finishing out her vice presidential term.

There were three damning realities that even if Harris had been a gifted politician and an adept speaker, she could never have changed.

One, Harris was preposterously running as a turn-the-page, new-generation candidate.

But why had she not sought to implement such a “new chapter” for the prior 45 months as an incumbent vice president, especially while in office during the campaign itself?

Voters knew the answer: the entire Biden-Harris tenure was a far left-wing utter disaster, one for which the radical Harris 1.0 had for three-plus years claimed co-ownership.

Two, why did Harris avoid all impromptu interviews and the media for most of the campaign—only to reverse course and seek out reporters when her polls eroded?

Did it hurt Harris more to avoid the media—or meet with them and thus confirm her inanity to millions of viewers and listeners?

Three, why did Harris serially lie to America that Joe Biden was hale and vigorous—until hours before his senility prompted leftist donors and party insiders to force him off the ticket?

And why could she not declare her independence from the historically unpopular Biden?

Harris instead chose to terrify voters to vote against a demonized and “fascist” Trump rather than to vote for Harris and her make-believe agendas.

But even in demonizing Trump, the maladroit Harris hit a wall.

By campaign’s end, Trump’s favorables were often higher than her own.

His prior four years as president polled higher than the current Biden-Harris train wreck.

Trump, the purported “racist,” won more Hispanic and black voters than past “moderate” Republicans like Bob Dole, John McCain or Mitt Romney.

It was hard to damn Trump as a crazy fascist when iconic liberal figures, like Robert Kennedy or Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, were campaigning for him.

Trump had reinvented the Republican Party by substituting ecumenical, middle-class solidarity for polarizing racial tribalism. Elitist Democrats were left to cater to the interests of their well-off and very rich donors as well as the subsidized poor.

Finally, workaholic Donald Trump campaigned nonstop for two years, won all the primaries, and was endorsed by his two chief primary rivals.

In contrast, the Harris “nomination” was the product of a coup that, in 48 hours, removed from the ticket an incumbent president, nullified the will of his 14 million primary voters, and coronated Harris, who had neither won nor ever entered a primary.

That late July forced abdication of Biden lent an air of illegitimacy to Harris’s candidacy, as well as truncating the time available to campaign.

Finally, Harris’s first major decision was to nominate as her vice president the buffoonish and inept Tim Walz. His radicalism, serial lying, and herky-jerky “weirdness” proved a force multiplier of her own mediocrity.

In contrast, the calm, empathetic, and astute J.D. Vance eviscerated Walz in their sole debate and did the same to the media.

Add it all up—and Harris and her star-crossed candidacy were simply and rightly doomed.

[shyficwriter]

Twister

Guardians of the Galaxy fanfic | Yondu, Peter, & Reader. Guest-starring Kraglin and Mantis

Summary: Drabble where gang plays Twister, but Yondu cheats by tickling reader

Author’s Note: Prompt that won second place in the poll (Option: GOTG 6) and I’m still deciding how I want to go about a tie breaker for 3rd place lol. Based off prompt from anon.

Word Count: 1,859

“Left foot on red!” Mantis cheered happily. 

With Gamora and Drax looking over weapons with Rocket, Peter suggested a game of Twister as a way to kill boredom. You weren’t sure how he managed to rope Yondu and Kraglin into playing, but you assumed they probably placed bets. 

Mantis was currently the referee, wanting to watch how the game was played first, and she giggled happily as she watched the four of you twist yourselves into pretzels trying to complete the latest instruction. You couldn’t help but think that if Groot hadn’t been with Rocket and the others right now, he’d probably be winning.

As soon as everyone had settled, with groans about being old from Yondu, Peter gave the go ahead for Mantis to spin again. Currently, you were stretched over Kraglin with your hands on yellow and green, and your feet on blue and red. The others of course also had their limbs on the same corresponding colors, but with the rules being that no two players could share a spot, your positions varied. 

As stated, Kraglin was currently under you, doing his best to retain his almost horizontal position to avoid falling onto the mat. Unfamiliar with the game, he didn’t start out making the best placement choices. Peter was to your left, his right leg placed precariously between Kragin’s to rest on a blue dot, and his body leaning over Yondu who’s left arm was stretched under your own for purchase on yellow.

“Right hand blue!” said Mantis, to the collective groan of the group.

You found yourself in lucky enough position to not be buried under everyone else, so you were able to quickly position your hand in the dot right next to your right foot, much to the chagrin of Peter who had to reach for a free space at the far end of the mat as Yondu had taken the only other free space that was only available because Kraglin, unable to twist around in his flattened position to reach a blue space, fell and was eliminated from the game with an, “Aw, shucks!” 

“Right hand yellow!” Mantis called once Kraglin had vacated the mat. He joined her at the spinner.

The three of you sighed in relief as this move resulted in a much needed “un-pretzeling.”

You were now currently at the highest advantage, seeing as Peter was twisted very awkwardly with his arms crossed over Yondu. However that all changed in a few more turns.

“Left foot blue.”

“Right hand green.”

“Right foot red.”

“Right hand yellow”

Now you were more or less pinned under Yondu’s right arm as he reached over you for a yellow dot to your right side. Peter was worse off though, after being finally able to uncross his arms for a bit, that last call forced him back in the same crossed arm position he had been just a few turns ago.

“Left foot red.”

You all shifted to red. An easy move.

“Right hand blue.”

You let out a yelp as you felt Yondu tweak your right side as he pulled his arm back to claim a blue dot to your left, and you squeaked again when he performed the same action to your left side before settling in on his chosen dot.

“No cheating!” you scold playfully.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” replied Yondu, pretending to be offended.

“Left hand yellow.”

Everyone’s left hands had already been on yellow for some time, so this was a mercifully easy one, as everyone just shifted their hand down one space.

“Right hand green.”

Yondu was finally making his way out from under Peter, or Peter from over Yondu, depending on how you looked at it. Yondu moved his hand to green with ease, but not before poking you in the ribs and passing it off as an accident. Peter had obviously noticed Yondu’s shenanigans and was no longer regretting having forgotten to take his leather jacket off before starting the game. He could call him out for cheating, but hey, if it got rid of the competition... Not wanting to get his arms twisted up for a third time, he quickly reached over to claim the green dot directly in front of you.  No matter, you were able to reach one just fine to the right, the last one in the row. 

Now you were all parallel to each other, Yondu on the left of the mat, you on the right, and Peter in the middle.

Mantis called out ‘Left hand yellow’ yet again and you wondered if the spinner might be sticking, but everyone just moved their hands back up one space to where they had originally been on the last ‘left hand yellow’ call. 

“Right foot yellow.”

Crap. Peter was faster and managed to kick his foot under your body before you could react to claim the furthest yellow dot, the one that would have been easiest for you to reach, forcing you to take the one next to it, the one that would have been easiest for him to claim. This required you to step over and almost straddle his leg to do so. Clearly he was trying a strategy to mess you up.

“Right hand green.”

Crap again. At first you thought nothing of it when Peter lifted his hand and you claimed the green spot his hand had previously occupied, assuming like every time when Mantis called a color/limb combination you were already on that you’d all move forward or backward a space. However, instead of taking the easy route and moving forward, he reached over you, and poked you in the armpit (resulting in a squeak from you) on the way down to claim the spot where you had just been, despite the fact that this also made things more difficult for himself. Yondu simply moved his hand down to rest on the green dot next to yours, despite many open within his reach. 

“You both suck.” you scolded, laughter still in your voice.

“I have no idea what you mean.” Peter claimed, and Yondu just chuckled in response.

“Left hand blue.”

Yondu quickly snatched up the blue dot closest/easiest to Peter, and Peter awkwardly twisted to grab the one next to it, the one that would have been easiest for you to claim. 

Because you were on top of Peter’s leg as well as under his torso, this made things difficult for you. The next best one for you to grab was under his leg, and with difficulty, you made it.

“Right hand yellow.”

Peter claimed the circle just next to the one your foot was resting on, so you seized the chance to get out from under him. You quickly pulled out from under his torso to reach over him to claim the yellow dot right next to it just in time to see Yondu had already claimed his and was very much in a better position than you and Peter seeing that he wasn’t tangled up at all.

“Left foot green.”

Finally, something to twist Yondu up! He had to swing his left foot behind his right to reach the green dot nearest to him. It wasn’t a whole lot, to be honest, he was still better off than you and Peter, but hey, it was something. 

Speaking of you and Peter, Peter was now completely under you and twisted in what you were sure was an uncomfortable position. He looked over at Yondu and lamented, “How’d you get so lucky?”

“Skill, boy.” Yondu laughed.

“More like beginners luck!” You sassed, rolling your eyes.

“Right hand red.”

“Left foot yellow.”

“Right foot green.”

“Right hand blue”

A few turns later and Peter was in almost a crab-walk position, not exactly ideal for him. You were still bent over him like a bridge, facing away from him and Yondu, who was only just starting to lose his luck and get re-pretzeled in with you and Peter.

“Ain’t one of ya gonna fall yet?” he asked. “How long does this usually take?”

“Normally-” Peter grunted from the effort of staying in his position, “The game is much shorter- but... this is what happens... when you play with a master!”

You and Yondu both rolled your eyes at that. Kraglin groaned and laid back for a nap, expecting this to take a bit longer and Mantis just remained cheerful as ever, enjoying watching her friends tie themselves into knots.

“Left hand yellow.”

You managed to claim a yellow dot near to you, but then you felt something tickling at your waist.

“H-hey! Peter quit it!” you squealed through giggles.

“It’s not me! Why would it be me? If you fall on me we both lose!” Peter whined.

“Yondu!” you scolded.

“What?” came his voice from behind you in a mock-innocent tone. “I’m just trying to find a yella circle.”

You felt his fingers creep further up to your ribs and your giggles turned into laughter. “You won’t find it there! That’s cheating! Quit it!”

“Actually, I don’t see anything in here saying that’s against the rules,” Kraglin quipped, now re-interested in the game and pretending to go through the rule booklet. He even made a show if letting Mantis see.

Peter sighed and spoke up over your peels of laughter. “Mantis, just go ahead and spin the next color.” He was really hoping for a ‘right foot red’ or something that might allow him to pull himself from beneath you before you fell.

“I can’t Peter, the rules say everyone has to either find their circle or fall before we continue, and Yondu is still looking for a circle.” Oh Mantis, sometimes she was too innocent.

Kraglin chuckled and suggested maybe giving a time limit of 10 more seconds to “find a circle,” pretending to referee the situation. Mantis agreed, and Peter groaned, warning that you that you better not fall on him. 

“Don’t worry, I think I almost found one!” Yondu claimed, smirking. He had moved his hand back down and was now scritching at what he could reach of your belly, and you were losing it. Even if it wasn’t against the rules to remove a hand from a circle unless another color had be called, you didn’t think you could manage it without collapsing, and there was nothing you’d like more right then than to pull his tickling fingers away from your tummy. 

“No! No! AhahaHAH! Not there! Yondu! Yondu please! I- I can’t!” you cried out, trying with all you had to keep from falling, but, of course you failed in that goal. You finally collapsed, taking Peter down with you.

You rolled off of Peter, still giggly from being tickled, and smacked Yondu in the leg, who was now standing and smugly brushing himself off whilst declaring himself the winner. “That’s for cheating.”

“Hey, ya heard ‘em. Ain’t no rules against it.” The Centaurian laughed. “Well, I won. I believe you owe me some units, boy.” he said, grinning at Peter.

Peter grumbled and transferred the units he owed him, claiming his was going to add “no tickling” to the rulebook for the next game. 

[knightotoc]

Anakin Blogging:

What’s the right order to watch the SW movies? KnightOTOC Ranks the SW Movies Why Ahsoka’s S7 Lightsabers are Blue ”I cannot interfere” Sometimes I draw Buzz Lightyear Luke Father-son or brothers? My favorite part of Wookieepedia the Skywalker name Content between TPM and AotC  Helmet: A Star Wars Story Rey Anakin parallel Fresh Salted Hunk from the Deli Devil’s Contract AU An Explanation Are gifs libel or slander? Higher Ground Blogging Lars Quell Name Game Anakin’s Ghost Bum Out Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) Mind-Blowing Organizational Tool The Reaction You Requested Brad Pitt Cameo Can’t Explain, I think it’s Love My 3 Fave Characters Ever Worth its Weight in Gold Dark Middle Chapters My Curse It’s outrageous, it’s unfair Facts and Opinions Would these items work instead? Space Cowboys Diegetic Opera Lady Minnesota Update High-Maintenance Boyfriends Ranked + Part 2 Reconnaissance! This Guy + Part 2 Mirror Universe Karen Do Ben-Hur Again! Young, Dumb, and Full of Midichlorians Happy Birthday! + Part 2 My Ani Cosplay Best Title Crawl in Star Wars Low Poly Ani Hayden Voice + Hayden and Natalie Voices

Love That Maul:

I’m not a Sith Maul’s will Jedi Maul AU + Part 2 Impress the Bridgers “I was hoping for Kenobi” Poor Evil Gay Men "There IS no ‘US!’” Memes for the Old Master Awkward Zelda is the Boy 🙏Manifesting🙏

Other Prequels Stuff:

You’re reckless, little one (Except Shmi) “That’s...why I’m here.” Padme 🤝 Destiel Sith Obi-Wan AU Yikes High Republic Thoughts Pink and Blue Wat Tambor Theory I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in. Korkie! Actually I Want at Least 20 Prequels Discourse by Layer Rush Clovis Sideblog? My Evil Wife Ahsoka, Artorias, and Gerard Way Wait...We’re All Handmaidens!

I care about the Knights of Ren:

Illustrated Knights of Ren Headcanons The Baddest Boys of TRoS are Friends  another Knight of Ren theory (with evidence)  Avril of Ren Evil Monkey: Origins Poor Old TRoS Let’s split up, gang, and search for clues! vs Hux

Gay/Emo Shit About Han Solo

Solo is Sad, Too Solo 2 Solo Fandom the FOUNDATIONAL Rare Pair Han Feelings Chewie Feelings

Thinking about Mando:

Gallery review The Rise and Fall of Baby Yoda Coming at You from 2002 The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! Target Audience Mwahahahahaha + Meme + Part 2 Always Read the Comments Madeline just said “pooh pooh!” Warrior Gentleman Ouch, right in the niche! Yes he means ALL Mandalorians Put That Thing Back Where it Came From

Other Disney Star Wars Stuff:

Hierarchy of Needs + Part 2 Finnrey White Feminism Rogue Won LASaT Seriously Though, Where’s Ezra? Always Read the Comments, Bot Edition Cussin’ Anime Predictions My TFA Joke Revenge of the Jedi Promises, Promises

Gamer KnightOTOC:

Old Republic Wars Timeline Worth Fuckin Zeffo OTP YTTD = KotOR 2 Imaginary Sadness of Imaginary World + Part 2 Branching Paths  Less Famous Sherlock Holmeses Hot Takes from my Kitten

Other Star Wars Stuff:

Last Thoughts Masterlist SW cartoons as meals I will never read this again My strongest Star Wars opinion Special Force Abilities Trek AU Top 11′s Balosar blogging Star Wars Writing Women Don’t bet against the house 20 Hot Takes Girls and Siths Vibing with Russ + Part 2 + Part 3 Powerpoint I’ve read approx. 10000 comics about this MY GIRL + AGAIN! + MY SON Ghostwritten by Cham Syndulla Mom Protagonists Dooku makes no damn sense...Compels me, though + Another List Starring Dooku A Daily Occurance + Part 2 + Part 3 Nostalgia and Ending a Franchise + Some Girls Planet Misandry Krayt’s Eye Color Continuity Small Companions Crossover #1 + Crossover #2

Catawampus from Star Wars:

Favorites Writing + Part 2 + Part 3 Senseless Violence MY ARM!!! Goodbye, Sheev Mashups for the faves Your SW Cameo Name Ahsoka’s suitors Ahsoka Fanart! My Mantra / My Better Mantra Fictionsonas SW Haters vs Trek Haters Darth Maul Prints They really are pretty useless Evolving Tastes The Gay Agenda Holorcon Boss Nass Kitty Balance in the Force KnightOTOC’s Official DNI There’s some good in...that! Ponchos: A Star Wars Story Fan edit of Maul vs Ahsoka Zabrak Padme Darth Hanna-Barbera It’s good, I like it Man After Midnight Snips protecting Skyguy Halloween cover of Battle of Heroes Come to the Dark Side... The Youngliest Youngling of Them All Hello, Sheev the OoOoOoOoOne! this looks better on mobile EU joke attempt (rough draft) Luke x Lando song! “Legacy Characters” Vivid Dream + Another One “Bill it to the Republic!” Maul and Ezra But They’re Cats Anakin vs Lancelot at Being Problematic  Ongoing Poll grumble grumble Quinlan feelings Uncle Oni Blogging Part 1 - Part 2 Christmas OT3 How to Make ANY Sci-fi Good Subtweet How I’m Feeling So Intellectual Give in to your cringe! Prepositions Stretched Past their Limit Panicking Skywalker It’s called “art,” Kolara + Part 2 It’s no Seagulls, but still good My Favorite Trope + More Trope Stuff Underrated Joke imo My Demands! Spoonerism Wifeless Wife Guys 3 Guesses

[racingtoaredlight]

THE DEGENERATE’S GUIDE TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL TV WATCH ‘EM UPS 2021: WEEK TWO, A MUDDLED AND MAUDLIN WEEK OF MAYHEM IN HONOR OF THOSE WE LOST

RTARL would like to extend our warmest holiday wishes to those who celebrate and, even if you don’t, happy 9/11. Now who’s ready for some FOOTBALL!!!!?!?!

So after two weeks of games that combine to count as only one official week even though some teams have already played twice we have only one real question answered: is Alabama still good? Yes, they are. Everything else is still liquefying vapor.

I am assuming everybody is waiting with baited breath for an RTARLsman but I don’t have anything yet. I guess the not-Master Teague RBs on Ohio State are the frontrunners for now. Or that one guy from that one team who was good. You know who I mean.

Saturday, September 11

Matchup    Time (ET)     TV/Mobile

Illinois at Virginia   11:00am   ACCN

Jeff George won Citrus Bowl MVP for the Illini against the Hoos in his last game as a student athlete before becoming the #1 overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. Based on this history it is safe to presume that whoever the QB is for Illinois today will be the #1 pick in 2022.

VMI at Kent State   11:30am   ESPN3

I’m not sure on this but maybe this game is cancelled.

WKU at Army    11:30am   CBSSN

Army is favored by 6. I bet this game is boring.

Norfolk State at Wake Forest    12:00pm   ACCNX

I don’t see a line listed but whatever it is bet against Wake covering.

Indiana State at Northwestern     12:00pm    BTN

This game is an act of terrorism.

Alabama State at 25 Auburn     12:00pm    SECN

Real body bag season starts today, huh?

Youngstown State at Michigan State  12:00pm   BTN

The Michigan State running back is the guy I was trying to think of earlier! He’s pretty good. Not good enough to make me watch this but I will check on his stats every so often.

Tulsa at Oklahoma State   12:00pm   FS1

I bet Mike Gundy has some really salient thoughts on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and I can’t wait to hear them.

South Carolina at East Carolina   12:00pm      ESPN2

South Carolina is a two point favorite against an East Carolina team that is, per my understanding, not exactly good. So I can only extrapolate that South Carolina is likewise not good.

Pitt at Tennessee  12:00pm   ESPN

Look, I’m not going to pretend this is good television but if Pitt rocks their classic yellow helmets and Tennessee wears non-alternates the colors on the screen will at least be pleasing. The thought of the actual football involved hurts my brain but it’s interesting that the points have gone from a consensus pick ‘em to Pitt -3 over the course of the week. Does Tennessee have any players that are good enough that by missing the game they could impact the gambling that much? Or are people just squaring themselves with the fact the the Vols are really and truly a ruined burnt out hole of a football program? Pound the latter.

12 Oregon at 3 Ohio State  12:00pm   FOX

Losing Kayvon Thibideaux certainly isn’t going to help Oregon but he’s not usually on the field as a run stopper anyway and if Ohio State learned anything last week it’s that they can just run until they feel like throwing a pass. Oregon actually has some legit talent on the d-line besides Thibideaux but the Ducks are gonna be hard-pressed to keep things within two scores here.

Miami (Ohio) at Minnesota   12:00pm   ESPN

If Oregon can’t make a game of it in Columbus look out because this time block is an absolute wasteland. There is scant reason to turn the TV on for the early schedule other than gambling purposes.

Kennesaw State at Georgia Tech   12:00pm    RSN/ESPN3

Georgia Tech probably should have closed up shop after Paul Johnson retired. Either that or just absolutely slathered the football program in dollars. The Yellow Jackets being unable to land any big time recruits while playing in Atlanta is a real mindfuck. They aren’t a AA program playing dress up in a “power” conference they’ve got actual history. I don’t mean to give the impression I want them to be good but I don’t understand how they can be such fodder for so long.

13 Florida at USF    1:00pm    ABC

Remember that year when USF was the best program in the state? Wild stuff. Weird, wild stuff. I know the deal with UF is that they don’t go out of state for contract games but it’s actually kind of surprising they even bothered to keep this trip to Tampa on the schedule. Like the area recruits would probably be happier to go see a game at The Swamp than to kick around their hometown for a pile of shit like this.

Wyoming at NIU    1:30pm   ESPN+

I’m not gonna open the ESPN app for this but if it was on ESPN2 I’d probably check in on it during commercials. Aesthetically pleasing trash with an upside for actual entertainment.

Middle Tennessee at 19 Virginia Tech    2:00pm   ACCNX

Virginia Tech’s home crowd scene was the normie story of last week’s games. People that don’t watch college football were either aghast or frantically waving their blue lives matter flags in response. Us in this space just ate the shame and forgot it happened by the time Saturday’s games kicked off. My theory is that VPI is not actually any good but UNC’s 2020 season was a well-timed fluke and the last hurrah of Mack Brown’s storied coaching career. The Hokies are at home, though, and MTSU is almost certainly not on the same athletic level as the Turkey Gobblers so I’d probably take the home team -20 if I were so inclined to wager on this particular game that is being broadcast on the ACC’s new pornography channel.

Rutgers at Syracuse    2:00pm    ACCN

Holy fuck does this game suck. Reuniting former Big East, uh, rivals (??? does Rutgers have any natural enemies?) in a cross-conference classic betwixt the B1G and the ACC.

Duquesne at Ohio   2:00pm   ESPN3

I don’t think I need to explain to you all the national title implications riding on this game.

Toledo at 8 Notre Dame    2:30pm     Peacock

Just remember that if you subscribe to Peacock you are at the very least tacitly supporting Notre Dame. If for some reason you’re watching this please report back on how many of those defensive pick plays Notre Dame runs. They were doing that shit constantly against Florida State last week and it drove me nuts. I think the idea is that you are so flagrantly illegal so often that the refs grow numb to it and just don’t call it at all.

Robert Morris at Central Michigan     3:00pm    ESPN3

Not to be outdone by the early games, the 3 o’clock set is equally terrible.

Purdue at UConn    3:00pm    CBSSN

I bet Edsall still gets bonuses for stupid shit even now that he’s retired or whatever the official designation was for him no longer coaching.

Boston College at UMass    3:30pm    FloFootball/NESN+

I don’t know what FloFootball is but I know it isn’t anything to do with the state of Florida.

Ball State at 11 Penn State    3:30pm    FS1

It surprises me to see Penn State as only -22.5 favorites. That seems very kind to Ball State. Hopefully I’m wrong and the Ball State Lettermans take it to the Sanduskys.

Murray State at 7 Cincinnati    3:30pm    ESPN+

Practice week continues.

Temple at Akron    3:30pm    ESPN+

Pound the under.

Georgia Southern at Florida Atlantic   3:30pm   Stadium

There is really nothing going on this week.

Air Force at Navy   3:30pm   CBS

Middies vs. Fly Boys in the first leg of the Commander’s Cup on the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. I can’t imagine the amount of emotional manipulation that’s going to make its way onto this broadcast. Normally I watch these games but I don’t think I can do it this year.

UAB at 2 Georgia    3:30pm    ESPN2

Georgia may well be absurdly talented on the defensive side of the ball but I’d be surprised to see them make it through the regular season with fewer than two losses.

5 Texas A&M at Colorado     3:30pm     FOX

This is only interesting if the Aggies spring a leak.

California at TCU    3:30pm    ESPNU

Things most certainly are not looking up.

Buffalo at Nebraska    3:30pm    BTN

Nebraska is in an interesting position because if they buck the odds and end up being good after we’ve all been so ready to see a National Championship-winning coach get fired that would be funny but if they end up being really bad it’s even funnier. Go Bulls!

Mercer at 1 Alabama    4:00pm   SECN

I’ll cry a little if Saban pulls the starters in the first half and the Tide beats Mercer by less than they beat Miami.

South Alabama at Bowling Green   4:00pm    ESPN+

10 Iowa at 9 Iowa State    4:30pmABC

This is not the kind of top 10 matchup I can just sit idly by and let it happen. Your silence is complicity in this monstrous display of modernity.

SC State at 6 Clemson    5:00pm      ACCN

Clemson dropped all the way to #6 and they’ll hang around the top of the polls because they don’t have the toughest conference schedule in the world but my confidence in them is not high right now. I think the new QB is just a guy. He’s talented as hell but I don’t see him being great.

Illinois State at Western Michigan     5:00pm   ESPN3

This is either MACtion or MACtion adjacent and I have only one word for this midwestern trash: abhorrent.

LIU at West Virginia   5:00pm    ESPN+

LIU plays football?

Lamar at UTSA      6:00pm    ESPN3

Downside: You’re watching one of the least important games of the year. Upside: You’re really not missing anything.

Portland State at Washington State    6:00pm    P12N

Washington State was a perfect spot for the stupid pirate fuckhead and his leaving has ruined the program and, eventually, his reputation. Not relevant to this game necessarily but this game isn’t relevant to anything else, either.

Gardner-Webb at Charlotte   6:00pm    ESPN3

Oh, yeah, feel the excitement.

Bethune-Cookman at UCF   6:30pm   ESPN+

Go Cats.

NC Central at Marshall    6:30pm    ESPN+

The hits keep coming.

Houston at Rice   6:30pm    CBSSN

I’ve always had a soft spot for Holgo and for Houston football but somehow I really don’t like seeing him coach the Cougs. This is SWC magic but with no magic. UNLESS! Houston can put up 100. I don’t think they even have the guys to do it but this is Rice we’re talking about here.

Nicholls at Louisiana    7:00pm    ESPN3

Keep the energy up.

North Texas at SMU   7:00pm   ESPN+

I bet is MS621 were still alive he’d be at this game giving Spencer’s boys hell. Sadly he died doing what he loved, curing his COVID by eating ivermectin paste out of a horse’s butt. R.I.P., friend. Neigh to you wherever you are.

Southeastern La. at Louisiana Tech   7:00pm    ESPN3

Even the low tier stuff is geared up for annihilation. This is a bodybag week for all time.

Memphis at Arkansas State    7:00pm    ESPN+

Memphis getting less than a touchdown against Arkansas State seems like easy money but I have no real concept of either of these teams just yet. Maybe the end is nigh for the Tigers glory years? I sure hope not but it’s possible.

NC State at Mississippi State    7:00pm     ESPN2

This game should be as fun as a parents funeral.

Southern Illinois at Kansas State   7:00pm      ESPN+

Over the past week I experienced derision for referring the the guys in purple and silver as “Kansas State” instead of “K State” and that stung because it always surprises me that anybody cares about them enough to have a strong opinion about them.

Stephen F. Austin at Texas Tech    7:00pm    ESPN+

Shrugs

15 Texas at Arkansas    7:00pm   ESPN

Let’s see if Texas is ready to run with the big boys of the SEC! Arkansas is given a decent shot to win this game and that makes the “15″ next to Texas appear extremely suspect in my eyes.

Texas Southern at Baylor    7:00pm   ESPN+

This week Texas Southern is the people’s champion.

Texas State at FIU   7:00pm    ESPN+

Oh, Butch, why have you done this to yourself?

Western Carolina at 4 Oklahoma      7:00pm     PPV

All the Westen Carolina fans are buying this PPV to see their guys score 40.

New Mexico State at New Mexico    7:00pm     Stadium

I looked up the historic rivalry last year to figure out why it was played early in the season instead of at the end but I’ve forgotten and don’t feel the need to look it up again. I figured out how to watch Stadium on my TV but I also forgot that and don’t feel the need to look it up again.

Appalachian State at 22 Miami (FL)  7:00pm   ESPNU

My gut tells me Miami is probably legitimately about the 14th best team in the country but I still would never advise you to bet actual money on the Hurricanes. Are they 9 points better than App State? Easily. They should win by 20+. Are they liable to fuck around and lose or scrape out a win in the final seconds? Absolutely. Let’s fuckin’ go.

Morgan State at Tulane    7:00pm    ESPN+

A lot of people learned to love the Green Wave last week but it’s hard to keep that going with their schedule. Don’t forget them later in the year when the CBSSN glow is really shining.

Liberty at Troy   7:00pm   ESPN+

Liberty -4 is maybe my surest advice of the week. If Malik Willis is as good as his press the fake school should have this game on ice early.

Eastern Michigan at 18 Wisconsin   7:00pm    FS1

I find Wisconsin’s losing effort against Penn State last week to be a personal affront against me and all of nature.

Eastern Kentucky at Louisville    7:00pm   ACCNX

I think this game being broadcast at night on ACCNX means they’re playing naked.

Grambling State at Southern Miss    7:00pm    ESPN3

This is the kind of game that belongs on an app.

Hampton at Old Dominion    7:00pm    ESPN3

This is the kind of game that belongs on a well-worn high school football field.

Austin Peay at 20 Mississippi   7:30pm     ESPN+/SECN+

This is a pretty big OOC game for an SEC team.

Georgia State at 24 North Carolina    7:30pm    RSN/ESPN3

One of several GSUs, I think this is the one I most hope emerges victorious this week.

Idaho at Indiana   7:30pm    BTN

Wait, wasn’t Indiana like #10 last week? What the hell happened to them? No, don’t tell me. Seriously, don’t.

Missouri at Kentucky     7:30pm    SECN

When the SEC hits 24 teams the “S!E!C!” chants are gonna seem really stupid.

Howard at Maryland    7:30pm    BTN

There’s no official line for this game but I hope the Bison can pull off the upset in this classic local rivalry game.

Jacksonville State at Florida State    8:00pm   ACCN

Still shaking my head at FSU icing their own kicker. Jesus, Norvell. Get your shit together.

McNeese at LSU     8:00pm      ESPN+/SECN+

LOLSU was my lock of the week last week if you’re considering taking gambling advice from me.

Washington at Michigan    8:00pm    ABC

UDub lost to a 1-AA team last week and now they have to go on the road and beat Michigan. Which seems inevitable, to be honest.

Cal Poly at Fresno State    10:00pm    CW59

The murder rate will continue to increase as the day progresses. I always kind of like it when a local broadcast shows up on the sheet. So pretty much none of us have legal access to this game. It makes it more special.

San Diego State at Arizona    10:00pm    P12N

Pac-12 Network is similar to CW59 in that almost nobody in the country has legal access to their broadcasts. If you’ve read enough of these posts you are aware that SDSU is my weird very deep backup team. I don’t have a reason to align myself with the school or program, I just tend to enjoy watching their games.

Vanderbilt at Colorado State     10:00pm    CBSSN

This is an abomination.

21 Utah at BYU     10:15pm    ESPN

This is a lowkey fun rivalry. I’m pretty sure I write the same thing every year but it’s still true. Go Utes.

Stanford at 14 USC     10:30pm    FOX

I think USC could win a national championship and I’d still be baffled that Clay Helton is their coach. Of course, they won’t win a national championship as long as Clay Helton is their coach but they apparently won’t ever get embarrassing enough to fire him, either.

Idaho State at Nevada    10:30pm    Stadium

This is the lowpoint of the week’s schedule and you have to stay up late to watch it on a network that only exists as an app or as part of a hidden unlockable download-only level of cable subscription. This is the beauty of the college game.

UNLV at 23 Arizona State    10:30pm   ESPN2

Herm Edwards figured out the trick to looking good in the Pac-12 without having a particularly great team and I can’t make up my mind if I’m rooting for him to keep sliding on that rail or to fall off it. I think I’ve come around to rooting for him but it’s a very dynamic and fluid situation.

Hawaii at Oregon State   11:00pm    FS1

Hawaii gets to play at their normal time for a game against the bottom of the barrel of the Pac-12 but they’re an 11-point underdog. If you’re ever going to take Hawaii, this is the stars lining up for you to do it. It’s still a big “if” but I’m saying there’s a chance.

[surprisebitch]

LOL i saw this dumb video saying how “GoT should have ended” and it said in captions that Sansa’s rule will be devastating cause she’s a terrible ruler and the North will die.. LIKE THE DELUSION!!!!

first of all, she kept Winterfell fed since she reclaimed it. she was responsible for handling food supplies and supplying armoury for her people as seen since s7

two, after the war w/ Night King, North was heavily depopulated so there’s more food for the living

three, the Long Winter is over so they can farm and produce resources

four, Sansa’s story can be a parallel of Queen Elizabeth I who was also abused, manipulated but powered through with resilience and became a master in politics. and when she got crowned queen, her ruling was considered to be the best by many historians even called the Golden Era

five, it’s SO IRONIC that Dany stans are screaming “feminism” or say writers hate women while tearing down Sansa when JON SPILLED THE SECRET FIRST. and Sansa just wanted independence which Dany wont give. its not even her fault Dany went genocidal.. like make it make sense!!!

i guess ppl are projecting their hatred, but its soo annoying. but then again, us Sansa stans dealt with Sansa hate every season, so i guess it was inevitable that people just cant see who her character really is. many even betting she will die in every start of season polls. people always underestimated her except us who weren't actually blind to the truth. but anyway, Queen Sansa Stark won and there’ll always be salty and sour losers

[americanconstitutionalpatriot]

.

Please read and share!

Title: Who Won the Election? Nov 4, 2020

by michael charles master (author of Save America Now, Rules for Conservatives, and the Birth Famine)

Who won the election?

Did you watch the election returns on Tuesday night? Did you stay up all night? At about midnight on the east coast, Trump led in all the battleground states by large margins. The betting odds were more than 75% for Trump to win. Then for some unexplainable reason, Wisc, Mich, Pa, NC, and NV all stopped counting votes simultaneously... in unison.... took a "pause" ... at around 1 AM. None of those states counted any additional votes for the next 3 hours. So what did they do for those 3 hours?

Let me point out a couple of things:

1. All of those 5 states have Democrat governors.

2. Suddenly during the 3 hour shut down, in the dead of night when most people were sleeping, all those states found enough votes for Biden to catch Trump. 5 for 5. At midnight in Michigan, Trump was ahead by 5% (400 thousand votes) with 80% of the votes already counted. When the next 10% of votes of about 400,000 were counted from Wayne County (Detroit), then suddenly Biden caught Trump with 90% of the votes in. Biden made up 5% with 10% of the total vote. That means that all the votes (close to 100%) from Wayne went to Biden. That also means that practically all registered voters voted in Wayne County. Does anyone believe any of that is possible? The same thing happened in Madison, Wis, In Raleigh, NC, in Las Vegas, NV, and could be happening in Phil, Pa by Friday. So why did all those Democrat stronghold cities take a "pause" to report their votes?

3. Not one pundit questioned why a shut down in counting votes happened in all those states simultaneously. Not one. Not even on FOX. Not one questioned how almost all of the newly counted votes in those battleground states went to Biden. Only NewsMax pointed out the coincidence of it happening in those 5 states with Democrat governors with Trump ahead before the "pauses."

4. Wisc is now reporting 3,239,920 votes cast when there are only 3,129,000 registered voters on record. More people voted than actually registered. When questioned, the Democrat Sec of State says there are 3.6 million registered voters from late registrations. Even if there are 3.6 million registered voters, that means that 90% of them voted when the average was 55 to 60% across the USA. How did almost all votes from Madison go for Biden? Almost 100% of registered voters, not just votes? Did ballot harvesting happen? How about in those other battleground states?

4. CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS all refused to call the elections in Tx and Fla until almost all votes were counted, yet FOX called Az only 30 minutes after the polls closed with less than 50% of the votes. Arizona had a million outstanding votes in Republican Maricopa County with Biden ahead in the state by only 100,000 when Az was called for Biden.

If you think that the media cartel was hard at work demonizing Trump for the last 4 years ... 94% negative Trump reports.... then it was in full swing last night at protecting those Democrat governors in the battleground states.

Think about this for a moment: “resist” by Democrats from the first day that Trump was elected, recounts, no peaceful transition of power, impeachment, 3 years of false accusations about Trump colluding with Russia to affect the 2016 election, Mueller, Comey/Clapper/Brennan with the FISA requests and the Steele Dossier paid by Hillary Clinton, 22 FBI agents lost their jobs because of spying on Trump, riots/looting/violence, continued polls that proved to be wrong, $400 billion by Soros and Bloomberg for Biden, Wall Street 4 to 1 in donations to Biden, lack of coverage about the Bidens' relationships with China/Russia/Ukraine/Burisma, and then Covid, covid, covid around the clock by the media ... with little mention of the record economic and international results by Trump.

Covid became the reason for the unsolicited mail out of ballots by Democrat governors. Covid was used to scare voters and to distract them from Trump accomplishments. Covid was used as the reason to shut down economies in Democrat run states. Let's see what happens with Covid now that Democrats and the media no longer need it.

So did those battleground states run by Democrats use ballot harvesting or any other types of election fraud? How did the vote tallies change so dramatically after those Democrat governors "paused" in their election counts in the dead of night? In all 5 Democrat controlled battleground states? If the media, Democrats, and deep state could be in such collusion against Trump for 4 years, then how hard is it to question collusion in ballot counting last night by those Democrat governors?

What gets lost with a Biden election? for staters: any investigation of Biden with Burisma and China, the Barr investigations, the Durham investigations, the investigations of deep state players, and Constitution integrity with DC as a state and with packing the Supreme Court. Democrats had lots on the line so they practiced “the end justifies the means” just as Alinsky instructed. They cheated and the media helped.

Who won the election? Average working Americans lost. Election integrity lost. No matter who won, America got less great.

...

[newstfionline]

The leaders of both Koreas feel like they won gold medals this week

By Anna Fifield, Washington Post, February 16, 2018

TOKYO--The leaders of both Koreas have reason to celebrate as they mark the start of the Lunar New Year holiday.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in has presided over the opening of the Winter Olympics, with all eyes on South Korea as it put on a dazzling spectacle and hosted a huge North Korean delegation as part of a Games-related rapprochement.

Moon elicited a much-desired invitation to Pyongyang and he managed to get the Trump administration, which was appearing to lean toward military action, to state an interest in dialogue with North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is clearly feeling pleased with himself, too.

The high-level delegation he sent to the South returned home to something of a hero’s welcome, with senior government officials lined up at midnight along a red carpet at Pyongyang’s main airport for their arrival.

The following day, the leader’s younger sister and the main interlocutor in the South, Kim Yo Jong, told her brother about the visit before locking arms with him for a photo. Kim Jong Un used words such as “impressive” and “sincere” to describe the way the South’s government had treated the North’s delegation.

“Kim Jong Un has proven that he’s brilliant with the way he’s played this,” said Ralph Cossa, head of the Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based think tank.

Much of the world sees Kim Jong Un as a cartoonish evil villain, Dr. No crossed with Machiavelli and topped with a bad haircut. But, like his father and grandfather before him, the 34-year-old has defied the geopolitical odds to stay in power.

“Kim Jong Un is a cold strategist. He is masterful at playing this game,” said Chun Yung-woo, a former South Korean nuclear negotiator with North Korea and ardent conservative. “He has won every bet he’s made in the last six years. I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

Even as they isolate and repress the 25 million-strong population, North Korea’s leaders are well versed in what is happening in the outside world, especially in Washington.

Officials dissect President Trump’s tweets. They watch CNN constantly. They have read “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff’s sensational book on the Trump White House.

Many analysts think that the North Korean leader has become alarmed about talk in Washington of military options for dealing with his regime, and has become worried that sanctions will cripple his economy.

For that reason, he took up Moon’s invitation to the Olympics as a face-saving way out of the cycle of escalation. He sent a huge contingent of cheerleaders and musicians, and even a few athletes.

He also sent his younger sister, who is the propaganda chief in North Korea and is sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses. Another member of the delegation is blacklisted by both the United States and the United Nations. South Korea got a special waiver for him to travel.

“He’s adopted ‘maximum charm’ to counteract ‘maximum pressure,’” Chun said, referring to the Trump administration’s strategy to squeeze Pyongyang.

Moon has portrayed the inter-Korean detente as a step toward broader nuclear negotiations, although Pyongyang has dismissed any such idea, saying its nuclear program has nothing to do with Seoul.

For progressive South Korean leaders, who favor a “sunshine policy” engagement with North Korea, a summit in Pyongyang is the holy grail. Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize after brokering the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, although this was marred when it was discovered his government paid $500 million for the privilege, and Kim’s ideological heir, Roh Moo-hyun, traveled North for his own summit meeting in 2007.

Both of them met Kim Jong Il, the current leader’s father.

Now, Moon looks in line to get his own meeting, but this time with the third generation leader, Kim Jong Un. This would be the first time in his six years in power that Kim has met a foreign leader.

But like his predecessors, Moon would have to travel to the North for the meeting. Although Kim Jong Un is not afraid of flying, as his father was, the young leader hasn’t left the country since he took control at the end of 2011.

Several South Korean polls published Thursday put public support for the rapprochement at between 60 and 70 percent. The South Korean president used the Lunar New Year’s celebrations to keep the momentum going.

“South and North Korean athletes are exchanging warm greetings in Korean with each other,” he said in a video message on the eve of the holiday. “This is a long-awaited scene for Koreans’ most festive traditional holiday.”

Next week, once officials return from their holiday break, they will get down to the serious business of trying to arrange the summit.

After a year of threats, actual and rhetorical, fired from North Korea toward the United States, the sudden burst of inter-Korean diplomacy has turned the focus away from Washington, at least temporarily.

“It really does look like the U.S. is not in the driver’s seat anymore,” said Bridget Coggins, a Korea specialist at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “The United States doesn’t seem like a coherent actor at the moment, so maybe it’s just better to wait and see what happens.”

Moon was careful, upon receiving the invitation to Pyongyang, not to appear too eager. He said they needed to “work towards creating the right conditions” for the summit, and urged North Korea to talk to the United States, his spokesman said.

But there is still a great deal of skepticism in Washington about Moon, whose parents fled North Korea as refugees during the war and who has repeatedly talked of wanting to visit North Korea.

“The president has made it clear he always believes in talking,” Vice President Pence told Axios after returning from South Korea. “But talking is not negotiation--talking is understanding one another.”

Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a staunch supporter of Trump’s who has repeatedly warned Moon not to fall for North Korea’s “smile diplomacy,” spoke on the phone Wednesday and remain deeply wary, but analysts say there is value in talks with North Korea.

“If you’re talking, you can make policies clear and also make the consequences clear,” Coggins said. “The U.S. side has been really bad on that dimension.”

“The U.S. should see this inter-Korean development not as an obstacle to the pursuit of its objectives, but as a way to help achieve those objectives.”

[zweedsanimatiepoppetje1]

Occidentali’s Karma- timeline

10-12-16: 34-year old Francesco Gabbani, native to Tuscany, is revealed to participate at the Campioni category after winning the Nuove Proposte the previous year. He is one of the few, if not the only, artist to do so in the 67 year counting history of the Sanremo Festival. Only the one who wins the Campioni category is allowed to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest of the same year. His song title is “Occidentalis Karma.” He is ranked as underdog.

08-02-17: Gabbani performs during the Second Night. He has altered the song title to Occidentali’s Karma, because the world is getting more English. People react positively on the song, both the home audience and the critics. But it is veteran Fiorella Mannoia who leads the bookies.

11-02-17: Francesco Gabbani wins the 67th Sanremo festival with 43.7% of the televotes during the final round. He is the first participant ever to win the Nuove Proposte and Campioni category in two consecutive years. Fiorella Mannoia and Ermal Meta accept their second and third positions. Social media explode. But the question is: Would he accept the honour to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest? To the relief of many fans, he accepted it a few hours later. This is the real beginning of his Eurovision journey.

12-02-2017: The official video of Occidentali’s Karma, which belongs to the YouTube channel GabbaniVevo, has been watched 4.353.802 times in 24 hours, being the Italian video with most views in a single day ever. Italy climbs to spot number one in the bookmakers. The song receives some controversy, but most fans praised every part of Italy’s entry. 

15-02-17: Gabbani considers adding English lyrics to his song to make foreigners understand the meaning of it better. Occidentali’s Karma contains a lot of references to science, philosophy and literature. It criticises the fact that Westerners are addicted to selfies and tend to believe everything they read on the Internet, turn to eastern philosophies and practises “to avoid stress”, without knowing the actual meaning, and that people tend to follow the masses ( e.g. using the word ”namasté” to sound cool, without knowing the meaning, in other words: using the word “namasté” as a catchphase, alé.) It also mentions that the evolution is stumbling. “We act if we are master over the world, but we still have the traits of cavemen”.

19-02-17: After many requests from fans, and of course because it’s a wonderful language which sounds even better when sung, Gabbani decides to keep the song in Italian. Several days later, this decision was declared official.

24-02-17: Desmond Morris is contacted to react to Gabbani’s song. He says he is fascinated by the meaning of the lyrics and the words in it. Fabio Ilacqua, who wrote on the lyrics, was drawn to the meaning of his book “the Naked Ape”, and therefore decided to use it in the lyrics. (Therefore the gorilla.) Morris hopes that Gabbani would meet him one day as he is unable to travel by himself, due to his age and his ill wife.

17-03-2017: The official version of Occidentali’s Karma is too long and needs to be cut. The Eurovision version is released over a month after Gabbani won Sanremo. Most fans were disappointed. The entire second verse is gone. This was inevitable, however, as it contained a registered trademark, Chanel. The verse also featured the drugs cocaine and opiate. They also cut the first verse, making the popular word “internettologi” disappear.

01-04-17: It is confirmed that Italy will have six people on stage. Four of them are backing vocalists: they include Gabbani’s brother Filippo and a singer who is born in Tanzania. This turned out not to be an April Fools joke.

03-04-17: After performing at the London Eurovision party, Gabbani went to Oxford to visit Desmond Morris. The sociobiologist had a long conversation with the Italian singer. “We talked about how important it is to communicate deep concepts in a simple way that can easily get to all”, he said. His song is also loved by the first Eurovision winner of all time, Lys Assia.

08-04-17: Occidentali’s Karma has surpassed the view rate of Il Volo’s Grande Amore, making it the most YouTube-viewed Eurovision song of all time. Italy’s 2015 entry had 85.9 million views, of which around 22 million are reached before the contest. The gap between the views of Gabbani’s song and that of the second most viewed song of Eurovision 2017 is gigantic.

12-04-17: Not even Loreen’s Euphoria or Rybak’s Fairytale had such low betting odds one month prior to the Eurovision final than Occidentali’s Karma, which lowest is 1,91.

17-04-17: Gabbani is a very popular artist among Eurovision fans. He already showed that during the London Eurovision party, and he was very well received by the fans again during Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam.

24-04-17: The official video on the GabbaniVevo YouTube channel has exceeded the 100 million hits. Occidentali’s Karma becomes the first Eurovision song ever to reach this amount of views, and if it wasn’t remarkable enough, this occured before the Eurovision Song Contest it was participating in. 

26-04-17: Italy is declared unbeatable in the OGAE pre-contest poll, as it leads the pack with 383 points and a few countries left to vote. The runner-up, Belgium’s City Lights, has 264 points.

05-05-17: Gabbani has his first rehearsal in Kyiv, where he is well received. 

07-05-17: Gabbani’s second rehearsal. The reactions are more mixed now: many fans dislike the rehearsal. To add to this, Italy is drawn to perform in the first half of the show, unlike every other country of the Big 5.

09-05-17: Italy’s song is showed in the first semi-final. The Italian delegation (gorilla included) is found in the Green Room. Gabbani said the gorilla “is not just for fun. We are all naked apes.” Later, it’s known that he will perform ninth.

12-05-17: Portugal, which has never won and had many setbacks besides that, and therefore withdrew from Eurovision the previous year, has made a powerful comeback: the Sobral siblings’s song is received so well that they managed to top the betting odds, and therefore pass Italy. Occidentali’s Karma is now 18th in the Italian iTunes charts. But many fans are still hoping for Italy’s third win, and Gabbani too…

14-05-2017: Francesco Gabbani receives 334 points, which is way below the expectations of the fans and the bookmakers, and ends up sixth.

I am disappointed, we are disappointed, but we must accept that this happened and I praise everything everyone participating has done. As we (or at least our (grand)parents) already saw with Domenico Modugno’s Volare, a Eurovision song does not have to win in order to become a worldwide hit.

Francesco Gabbani had done so much from the time he was chosen as a participant for Sanremo 2017, and I didn’t even mention recording new songs and releasing his new album. I wish him the best of luck with coping with this disappointing result and pursuing his career to become a bigger artist.

Namasté,

ALÉ.

[biofunmy]

NASA Ended The Apollo Moon Landings After The First Astronauts Went There 50 Years Ago

With the Apollo 11 landing’s 50th anniversary at hand, US lawmakers and the Trump administration are newly enthused with moon landings, directing the space agency to hurry up and get us there in the next five years.

“It’s hard to believe it has been a half century since the US won the space race,” Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said on Wednesday at a Senate hearing on NASA’s moon plans. He and other lawmakers were asking NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine why the space agency stopped, and can’t easily restart, the moon landings mastered from 1969 to 1972, a time when phones had cords, computers relied on punch cards, and chunky eyeglasses weren’t a fashion statement.

From 1969 to 1972, Apollo carried a dozen astronauts on six missions to the surface of the moon, part of a program that cost from $112 billion to $146 billion (in 2019 dollars), and returned some 842 pounds of moon rocks to Earth.

“It’s really two questions,” space historian John Logsdon of George Washington University told BuzzFeed News. “Why did Apollo end? And separately, why did we stop going to the moon?”

The answers are a bit more complicated than the US running out of money for moon shots in the 1970s. For one, the striking success of the Apollo missions themselves seeded the demise of more moon landings to come.

A prime reason for the efforts, beating the Soviet Union, disappeared as soon as Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon. “It stopped because it was over, first and foremost,” former NASA chief historian Roger Launius, author of Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race, told BuzzFeed News. “They could have stopped at Apollo 11 and declared victory.”

Instead NASA rolled the dice by hoping that Congress would pay for shiny new things after Apollo, freeing up money for a space shuttle and Skylab, an early orbiting lab, instead of just killing the agency off entirely with the moon landings done.

“NASA said we’ll bet on the future,” said Logsdon. And it won the bet, he added: “They got a shuttle and now they have a space station, seemingly forever.” It just wasn’t a future that included moon missions, and now, it’s one that looks like a dead end.

You can blame NASA for the halt of the Apollo moon landings. But as to why we haven’t been back, Logsdon says to blame President Richard Nixon.

In 1969, even as Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins enjoyed a ticker-tape parade down the streets of Chicago after their return from the moon, the future of NASA was under review by a task group commissioned by the newly elected Nixon and headed by then–vice president Spiro Agnew. (Going back to LBJ, vice presidents have steadily been handed the space portfolio of US presidential administrations.)

A month later, the group proposed three options for the space agency’s future: one ended with astronauts landing on Mars in the 1980s; one ended with uncrewed precursor Mars missions around that same time; the least expensive proposal ended with a space shuttle and space station but a decision on Mars deferred to the end of the century. Annual costs ranged from as high as $10 billion down to $4 billion, at a time when NASA’s budget was around $3.7 billion (around $26 billion in 2019 terms, where NASA’s budget now is about $20.7 billion) a year.

The reaction from Congress, the public, and, perhaps most surprisingly, scientists was overwhelmingly negative, with a NASA science adviser calling a Mars mission “utmost folly.” It looked like too much money and too much risk.

“There really wasn’t any appetite for these more expansive efforts at the time,” Launius said. “And that was largely about cost.” NASA’s budget, never all that popular, had been under protest since 1963. A people’s march right at the Apollo 11 launch led by Rev. Ralph Abernathy had protested that money wasn’t being spent alleviating poverty.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rev. Ralph Abernathy with Thomas Paine at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“The crisis had passed,” said Launius. Nationwide panic after the launch of Sputnik in 1957, followed by the Soviet Union launching the first person into space in 1961, had kicked off the space race. But the feeling was that the US had pulled ahead at the finish line by landing first on the moon. “The sense on both sides of the aisle was that the money could be better spent on other priorities.”

In light of the opposition, NASA Administrator Thomas Paine faced a choice over the future of the agency, just at the moment when the agency was enjoying its greatest triumph. The agency could continue spending money on moon landings, or it could follow a new path.

NASA management in Houston, where the astronaut program was based, realized it was pushing the Apollo spacecraft “right up to the edge of its safe performance,” Logsdon said. These combined landing and ascent modules landed astronauts on the moon, barely saved the lives of the astronauts of Apollo 13 in 1970, and had made everyone nervous thereafter. That meant Apollo had to end.

Within months of Agnew’s space proposals release, NASA first suggested killing Apollo 20, the planned final mission of the program, and then announced it was extending the moon landings until 1974 in a bid to save money.

Paine next announced a halt to production of the mighty Saturn V rocket that carried the lander into space. No Saturn V meant no moon landing.

Then in March 1970, about a month ahead of the ill-fated Apollo 13’s launch, Nixon released a statement on the future of space exploration, a crucial nail in the moon mission coffin. “What we do in space from here on in must become a normal and regular part of our national life and must therefore be planned in conjunction with all of the other undertakings,” said Nixon.

“His reading of the American public, a correct one I think, was [that it was] not interested in funding an expensive space program,” said Logsdon. “He, being a fiscal conservative, was fine with that.”

Rather than enjoying its status as the favored son, NASA was suddenly competing with the likes of the Justice and Commerce departments, which approach the same congressional spending subcommittee for money every year. The space agency has since declined from its high of 4% of the overall federal budget in the ’60s to today’s share of less than 0.5%.

The Apollo 13 mission, launched and aborted a month after Nixon’s decision, did nothing to suggest the moon landings should be extended. The rupture of a spacecraft oxygen tank nearly killed the crew, who had to use their landing module as a lifeboat to return to Earth, a rescue chronicled in the 1995 movie Apollo 13.

After the near calamity, even NASA was inclined to play it safe. The attitude at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston was “Let’s quit while we are ahead, before we kill somebody,” said Logsdon. Concerns centered on the ascent rocket of the Apollo lander module, which threatened to strand astronauts on the moon forever if it malfunctioned or broke, since it didn’t have a backup.

Facing budget cuts by the end of that pivotal year, 1970, NASA canceled the last three planned Apollo flights, leaving Apollo 15, 16, and 17 as the final moon landings concluding two years early, in 1972. “The canceled missions freed up resources for NASA’s Skylab and Space Shuttle — programs that were slated to launch over the next two decades,” George Abbey, senior fellow in space policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and former Johnson Space Center chief, told BuzzFeed News.

It could have been worse, Abbey added. One year later, Nixon wanted to kill Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 as well.

The normally budget-cutting Caspar Weinberger, director of the Office of Management and Budget, talked him out of the idea, arguing “large numbers of valuable (and hard-to-employ-elsewhere) scientists and technicians are kept at work,” by Apollo in a 1971 memo. “America should be able to afford something besides increased welfare, programs to repair our cities, or Appalachian relief and the like,” he added. (He really said that.)

That convinced Nixon, particularly after Weinberger promised to find money elsewhere in the federal budget to cut. And so, Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan was the last astronaut to stand on the moon, departing the lunar surface on Dec. 14, 1972.

Since then, a parade of vice presidents — George H.W. Bush, Dan Quayle, and just this March, Mike Pence — have promised to send astronauts back to the lunar surface. Somehow it never happens. The public’s attitude toward NASA might play a big part in that — people seem to like the space agency as an idea, but don’t want to fund moon bases, according to a July C-SPAN/Ipsos poll. Only 8% of the US public wants to see a return of astronauts to the moon, that poll found.

“Everyone loves Apollo. Apollo is cool, you like it, I like it, it was just a great achievement,” Launius said. “But our politicians seem to have discovered they get just as much bounce from announcing we’ll go back to the moon — without having to actually pay for it.”

Sahred From Source link Science

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[theconservativebrief]

On a bitterly cold day in late January, I knocked on the door of a home in Louisville, Kentucky’s Camp Taylor neighborhood. I was running for state representative in a Democratic primary and was spreading the word about my candidacy. Camp Taylor was an interesting community politically: It was full of registered Democrats who hadn’t been turning up to vote in recent elections.

A woman in her 50s came to the door and peeked through the curtain at me. “Hi,” I said. “I’m Richard Becker and I’m running for state representative!” She turned the deadbolt and opened the door.

“I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself and find out what issues—” I was interrupted by a voice from further in the house. “I want to know if you’re gonna fight for people like me!” a woman’s voice said from the couch.

“That’s my daughter,” the woman said. “She got hurt in an accident and can’t walk very well anymore.”

“And now this governor thinks I should have to go to work to get my health care? I can’t even walk to the bathroom without help!” the younger woman cried out, referring, presumably, to Gov. Matt Bevin’s plans to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

“I don’t know what to say,” I said. “And I don’t know what to tell you other than I will fight for you. Fighting Gov. Bevin’s Medicaid work requirements and fighting for universal—”

“What we need is single-payer health care!” the mother interrupted.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I said. I stopped by that house twice more before the end of the campaign, and by Election Day, they had placed one of my signs in their yard.

I’m a union organizer who ran in Kentucky on a leftist platform and I was campaigning in the state’s 35th District. Predominantly white and working-class, the district exists in a sort of bubble within Louisville. Containing rapidly gentrifying, liberal neighborhoods like Germantown and Schnitzelburg, as well as more conservative areas like Okolona and Lynnview, the 35th District holds political lessons about the viability of a progressive platform for those willing to listen.

It’s a district that is overwhelmingly Democratic by voter registration numbers, but like many communities across the South, the Democrats here don’t necessarily always vote with their party. The district went for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary by a margin of 53 percent to 45 percent. In the general election, Hillary Clinton won the district with just 54 percent of the vote, or 9,554 votes, out of a total of more than 18,000 Democrats. Many of the registered Democrats in this part of town voted for Donald Trump.

I knocked on hundreds of doors. While I didn’t win my race — I finished second in a three-way primary. But through my conversations, I heard over and over again that Louisville voters were tired of timidity, incrementalism, and equivocation. They craved boldness and candidates who will not only fight for them but with them on issues that affect their lives: truly universal health care, free college tuition, combatting income inequality, and restoring and strengthening workers’ rights.

I ran for the state legislature in the shadow of an intensely controversial legislative session that saw right-wing Gov. Bevin ram through so-called “pension reform,” gutting retirement benefits for public employees. Apparently startled by the backlash to his proposals, Bevin lobbed vitriolic insults at teachers and other public employees, calling them “selfish,” “thuggish,” and “ignorant and uninformed.”

Bevin’s push to make cuts to public employee retirement benefits came as teacher strikes swept the country, from West Virginia to Colorado. Inspired by their fellow educators across the country and angry over Bevin’s insults, Kentucky’s teachers shut down their schools for several days earlier this year and rallied in Frankfort, the capital.

To stand, as I did, on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol amidst a sea of red — striking teachers, marching en masse on the legislature, wore red to symbolize solidarity (“Wear Red for Ed[ucation]”) — underscored one of the values we had set out to uphold on the campaign: that an organized working class is the most powerful political force you’ll find.

Across Kentucky, the potency of the teachers’ movement persists, with record numbers of educators running for office, and one teacher, R. Travis Brenda, even defeating an incumbent, House majority leader Jonathan Shell, in a Republican primary. Brenda ran on a pro-pension, pro-public education platform. This uprising echoed in red states across the country is proof of a nationwide working-class awakening.

Voters are fed up with a political class that defends its corporate masters and spits in the faces of working-class people. An overwhelming majority of voters, 77 percent, want to see the influence of money in politics curbed, while establishment politicians of both parties continue accepting campaign checks from big business.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory over establishment Democrat Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th District primary this year set off the latest iteration of Democratic Party hand-wringing over the future of the party. Establishment Democrats across America wasted no time in admonishing the left to know its place and discounting Ocasio-Cortez’s success as an aberration and a product of her deep-blue district. This political earthquake, they assured us, was most certainly not indicative of any broader political trend.

But to see the potential of progressive politics, even in supposedly moderate states, we need only look to the success of candidates like Virginia’s Lee Carter, a 31-year old former Marine who ran for the House of Delegates in 2017 as an open socialist against an entrenched Republican incumbent — and won. Or, obviously, Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, which saw victories in Rust Belt states across the Midwest, including Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia.

Further, polling suggests that progressive or even “socialist” policy prescriptions actually enjoy considerable support among voters, with Americans supporting a federal jobs guarantee by a margin of 52 percent to 29 percent.

With only 23 percent of voters casting a ballot in the 2018 Kentucky primaries for both parties, progressives within the party have a real opportunity to expand the voter pool by offering a message that draws people into the political process. The Democratic Party can win by attracting non-voters who are disengaged from a political system and bought and paid for by corporate America — and by embracing the next generation of political leadership, a generation that by all accounts is more progressive than their parents on almost every issue.

Although I didn’t win my bid for public office, the issues I ran on — Medicare-for-all, restoring and strengthening workers’ rights, and free college tuition — resonated overwhelmingly with the voters I spoke with. I earned the endorsements of sitting members of the Kentucky General Assembly and more than a dozen local labor unions. Not bad for someone campaigning on an openly left-wing platform in a supposedly centrist city.

The question today is: Will the party continue to circle the wagons around more corporate-friendly, “mainstream” candidates, or will it welcome and support truly progressive candidates who will fight for the working class?

How Democrats choose to answer the call of my generation will likely determine whether the party goes the way of the Whigs — drifting away into history as a failed political party — or if it can secure majority status once again. If and when the party chooses to open itself up to more progressive elements and ideas, you can bet there will be millions of us ready to help realize that vision.

Richard Becker is a union organizer, millennial, and political activist in Louisville, Kentucky. He ran for state representative in Kentucky’s 35th District in the May 2018 primary election.

.First Person is Vox’s home for compelling, provocative narrative essays. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines, and pitch us at firstperson@vox.com

Original Source -> I’ve spoken to hundreds of voters in “flyover country.” Socialism is an easy sell.

via The Conservative Brief

[cleopatrarps]

For Putin, Helsinki talks with Trump a win before he even sits down

MOSCOW (Reuters) – For U.S. President Donald Trump, a summit with Vladimir Putin risks a political backlash at home and abroad. For the Russian president, however, the fact the summit is even happening is already a big geopolitical win.

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo/File Photo

Despite Russia’s semi-pariah status among some Americans and U.S. allies, the Kremlin has long been trying to arrange a summit, betting that Putin and Trump will get on well and stop a sharp downwards spiral in bilateral ties.

While nobody on either side expects big breakthroughs, including on U.S. sanctions, the summit is seen by Moscow as U.S. recognition of Russia’s status as a great power and an overdue U.S. realization that its interests must be taken into account.

“The fact that a Putin-Trump meeting will happen says only one thing: that for all its hysteria, the United States is not able to isolate or ignore Russia,” said Alexei Pushkov, a prominent Russian senator from the ruling United Russia party.

“It took a long time for Washington to get that idea, but it got there in the end.”

Western grievances over Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its backing of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine and its support for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad haven’t gone away.

Other accusations, denied by Moscow, include that it meddled in U.S. and European politics, supplied the weapon that shot down a passenger plane in 2014 over Ukraine and tried to kill a former Russian spy in Britain with a nerve agent.

Kremlin critics at home and abroad see Trump’s decision to grant Putin a summit against that backdrop as conferring international legitimacy and status on Putin, something they say he doesn’t deserve given the lack of meaningful change in Russia’s policies internationally.

But in Russia, where the political system is obsessed with hierarchy, status and displays of raw power, Putin has “already got his victory,” said Andrey Kortunov, head of RIAC, a foreign policy think-tank close to the Foreign Ministry.

“It allows him to make his point that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is a great power, and to some extent can even claim an equal status with the United States, at least in the security field,” said Kortunov.

Expectations are high in Russia that Putin, with more than 18 years of global experience, will have the edge on Trump, who had not held elected office before he was inaugurated last year. The two men have met twice before at other events and spoken by phone at least eight times.

Vitaly Tretyakov, a political author, described Trump on state TV on the day the summit was agreed as “a neophyte in world politics” to whom Putin could explain Russian thinking and why Russia was right to annex Crimea.

Sergei Mironov, a senior lawmaker from the pro-Kremlin Just Russia party, said in another political talk show that Putin would definitely have the upper hand in Helsinki.

“… Vladimir Putin will give a real master class to the inexperienced politician Donald Trump,” he said.

START OF A THAW?

For older Russians, the summit venue – Helsinki – reinforces Putin’s narrative by evoking memories of Cold War show-downs between the Soviet Union and the United States at a time when Moscow was the capital of a real superpower.

While ties with China, India and the European Union may be even more important in economic terms, Russian politicians still measure their own country’s soft and hard power globally against that of the United States.

Nobody in Russia expects the summit to resolve the differences that have led to painful U.S. sanctions. A survey by state pollster VTsIOM published on Monday showed that more than half of 1,600 Russian adults polled predicted the summit would yield no tangible results.

But for Russian politicians who erupted in applause on learning that Trump won the U.S. election in hopes of rapprochement only to see ties worsen, Helsinki offers a precious opportunity for a possible thaw in relations.

Hard-liners saw a rare visit to Moscow this month of a delegation of Republican lawmakers as proof the tide is turning.

“Six months ago we suggested to them (the lawmakers) that we communicate by Skype. For them it was political suicide, but now it’s not,” pro-Putin lawmaker Vyacheslav Nikonov, the grandson of Stalin’s foreign minister, told state TV this month.

Nikonov said Trump was now strong enough to pursue his own agenda.

“It’s one of the signs that the wind is blowing in our sails, thanks in large part to Trump,” he said. “I don’t remember any pro-Russian (U.S.) presidents, but I want to remind you that he (Trump) is one of the most pro-Russian politicians at the moment in the United States.”

Kremlin-backed media have stressed the importance of the summit taking place on neutral territory to ensure Trump is not seen as having the upper hand.

Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show “Vesti Nedeli,” said Moscow had seen how Trump had received other leaders on home soil, showing footage of Trump holding Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand in a vice-like grip, brushing dandruff off French President Emmanuel Macron’s shoulder and glowering next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“On neutral territory everyone will be calmer,” Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, said in a report on the subject.

Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

The post For Putin, Helsinki talks with Trump a win before he even sits down appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2L70xMR via News of World

[dragnews]

For Putin, Helsinki talks with Trump a win before he even sits down

MOSCOW (Reuters) – For U.S. President Donald Trump, a summit with Vladimir Putin risks a political backlash at home and abroad. For the Russian president, however, the fact the summit is even happening is already a big geopolitical win.

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo/File Photo

Despite Russia’s semi-pariah status among some Americans and U.S. allies, the Kremlin has long been trying to arrange a summit, betting that Putin and Trump will get on well and stop a sharp downwards spiral in bilateral ties.

While nobody on either side expects big breakthroughs, including on U.S. sanctions, the summit is seen by Moscow as U.S. recognition of Russia’s status as a great power and an overdue U.S. realization that its interests must be taken into account.

“The fact that a Putin-Trump meeting will happen says only one thing: that for all its hysteria, the United States is not able to isolate or ignore Russia,” said Alexei Pushkov, a prominent Russian senator from the ruling United Russia party.

“It took a long time for Washington to get that idea, but it got there in the end.”

Western grievances over Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its backing of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine and its support for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad haven’t gone away.

Other accusations, denied by Moscow, include that it meddled in U.S. and European politics, supplied the weapon that shot down a passenger plane in 2014 over Ukraine and tried to kill a former Russian spy in Britain with a nerve agent.

Kremlin critics at home and abroad see Trump’s decision to grant Putin a summit against that backdrop as conferring international legitimacy and status on Putin, something they say he doesn’t deserve given the lack of meaningful change in Russia’s policies internationally.

But in Russia, where the political system is obsessed with hierarchy, status and displays of raw power, Putin has “already got his victory,” said Andrey Kortunov, head of RIAC, a foreign policy think-tank close to the Foreign Ministry.

“It allows him to make his point that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is a great power, and to some extent can even claim an equal status with the United States, at least in the security field,” said Kortunov.

Expectations are high in Russia that Putin, with more than 18 years of global experience, will have the edge on Trump, who had not held elected office before he was inaugurated last year. The two men have met twice before at other events and spoken by phone at least eight times.

Vitaly Tretyakov, a political author, described Trump on state TV on the day the summit was agreed as “a neophyte in world politics” to whom Putin could explain Russian thinking and why Russia was right to annex Crimea.

Sergei Mironov, a senior lawmaker from the pro-Kremlin Just Russia party, said in another political talk show that Putin would definitely have the upper hand in Helsinki.

“… Vladimir Putin will give a real master class to the inexperienced politician Donald Trump,” he said.

START OF A THAW?

For older Russians, the summit venue – Helsinki – reinforces Putin’s narrative by evoking memories of Cold War show-downs between the Soviet Union and the United States at a time when Moscow was the capital of a real superpower.

While ties with China, India and the European Union may be even more important in economic terms, Russian politicians still measure their own country’s soft and hard power globally against that of the United States.

Nobody in Russia expects the summit to resolve the differences that have led to painful U.S. sanctions. A survey by state pollster VTsIOM published on Monday showed that more than half of 1,600 Russian adults polled predicted the summit would yield no tangible results.

But for Russian politicians who erupted in applause on learning that Trump won the U.S. election in hopes of rapprochement only to see ties worsen, Helsinki offers a precious opportunity for a possible thaw in relations.

Hard-liners saw a rare visit to Moscow this month of a delegation of Republican lawmakers as proof the tide is turning.

“Six months ago we suggested to them (the lawmakers) that we communicate by Skype. For them it was political suicide, but now it’s not,” pro-Putin lawmaker Vyacheslav Nikonov, the grandson of Stalin’s foreign minister, told state TV this month.

Nikonov said Trump was now strong enough to pursue his own agenda.

“It’s one of the signs that the wind is blowing in our sails, thanks in large part to Trump,” he said. “I don’t remember any pro-Russian (U.S.) presidents, but I want to remind you that he (Trump) is one of the most pro-Russian politicians at the moment in the United States.”

Kremlin-backed media have stressed the importance of the summit taking place on neutral territory to ensure Trump is not seen as having the upper hand.

Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show “Vesti Nedeli,” said Moscow had seen how Trump had received other leaders on home soil, showing footage of Trump holding Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand in a vice-like grip, brushing dandruff off French President Emmanuel Macron’s shoulder and glowering next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“On neutral territory everyone will be calmer,” Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, said in a report on the subject.

Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

The post For Putin, Helsinki talks with Trump a win before he even sits down appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2L70xMR via Today News

[netunleashed-blog]

Peter Sagan wins stage five of the 2018 Tour de France | Cycling News

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=2775 Peter Sagan wins stage five of the 2018 Tour de France | Cycling News - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=2775 Last Updated: 11/07/18 5:06pm Peter Sagan sprints to victory on stage five of the Tour de France Three-time world champion Peter Sagan won stage five of the Tour de France in Quimper. The Bora-Hansgrohe rider had the power to hold off Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain-Merida in a sprint after a steep uphill rise to the finish.Ireland's Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) finished in sixth place while Colbrelli's team-mate Vincenzo Nibali took 10th, both on the same time as Team Sky's Geraint Thomas in 12th and Chris Froome in 14th. Race leader Greg van Avermaet finished seventh to retain the yellow jersey at the end of the 204.5km stage from Lorient.More to follow...Tour de France stage five result1. Peter Sagan (SVK) BORA-Hansgrohe 4hrs 48mins 06secs2. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) Bahrain-Merida Same time3. Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Quick-Step Floors "4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar Team "5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Quick-Step Floors "6. Daniel Martin (IRL) UAE Team Emirates "7. Greg van Avermaet (BEL) BMC Racing Team "8. Soren Kragh (DEN) Team Sunweb "9. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA) Wanty-Groupe Gobert "10. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) Bahrain - Merida " 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[junker-town]

Florida’s biggest problem for the last decade has been QB play. Well, good QBs are new head coach Dan Mullen’s claim to fame

The Gators haven’t had much good QB play since he left, while his Mississippi State teams found three-stars in the Tim Tebow mold.

The Florida Gators have had two peak eras of college football. The first was under Steve Spurrier from 1990 to 2001, when they went 122-27-1 with six SEC titles and one national championship running the fun-and-gun offense. The next was with Urban Meyer from 2005 to 2010, when they won two more SEC titles and two national championships with Meyer’s spread offense.

Those were identified by Heisman-winning QBs Danny Wuerffel (1996) and Tim Tebow (2007). Wuerffel started for most of four years and threw for 3,625 yards and 39 TDs in 1996 in an offense that foreshadowed explosive and vertical spread offenses of today at schools like Oklahoma State. Tebow was a situational player for one and starter for three, scoring 97 total TDs in 2007-2008 and establishing a new model in which the QB executes both passing plays and inside runs.

Since Meyer left, Florida has been lackluster, with two fired head coaches and a constant stream of QBs who ended up being better elsewhere or at other positions. The Gators have failed to put a single QB on any All-SEC list and only came close to having truly good QB play for a six-game stretch in 2015, before eventual West Virginia QB Will Grier was suspended.

The Gators have had some strong offensive lines, including under Jim McElwain, and promising skill players. They’ve also been ranked as a top-10 defense by S&P+ on four occasions this decade, never lower than 35th (2011) until this season, when they dropped to 55th amidst program turmoil.

Saying Florida hasn’t had good QB play since Tebow left translates to saying the Gators haven’t been good without a QB coached by Dan Mullen, who left after 2008. If there’s causation in that correlation, we’re about to find out.

Mullen brings back the Meyer offense.

Mullen has a reputation as a QB guru, the ideal reputation to have in today’s job market. Mullen’s Bulldogs didn’t really start to put that together until 2013, when they plugged in a young Dak Prescott and, over the two following years, landed two of the five top-15 AP Poll finishes in school history. Then replaced him with Nick Fitzgerald, a decent passer who’s run for 2,359 yards and 19 TDs in the last two seasons.

This scheme is sort of like blending two seemingly contradictory schools of offense: a Bill Snyder Wildcat and Mike Leach’s air raid. Under Prescott and Fitzgerald the last four seasons, the QB has averaged 380 pass attempts and 182 rushing attempts and led the team in carries every year save for 2017, when Aeris Williams got 224 to Fitzgerald’s 162.

Mullen is on record explaining that he’ll adapt his offense to different skill sets at QB, as he looks to sell fans who are concerned about the lack of dual-threats on the roster. That said, he’s been most successful with big QBs who can run between the tackles 10 times a game. His ability to find guys who can handle that while mastering all of the concepts needed to execute a spread passing attack and spread run game has been the secret to his success.

Mullen’s own words on the topic are pretty instructive.

He’s noted the need for QBs who don’t need to “look over to the sidelines after they say 'hut’” but who “already know what they are checking to do.” There are a lot of concepts within the Mullen offense, and a QB who understands them all is invaluable.

The main thrust is the option run game on standard downs, which can feature the RB, with the QB keeping the defense honest via a keep or pass option:

From there, Mullen teaches his QBs standard play-action plays and some traditional drop-back passing concepts from the spread, some of it inspired by the air raid offense and much of it just standard best practices in attacking modern coverages.

The trump card of the offense, though, is the QB run game that makes third-and-short a near certainty.

As you see on this play, Alabama is playing man coverage on the three receivers and committing everyone else on the defense to the box to stop the run. The Tide still fail to stop Fitzgerald before a nice gain, let alone the marker.

This is what has really made the Mullen offense stand out from other spread systems: his willingness and means of using the QB as a featured runner to guarantee a numbers advantage in the box.

How will this go at Florida?

One obvious issue is that the Gators have a cast recruited to run a pro-style offense, particularly at QB, where their main options in 2018 are redshirt sophomore-to-be Feleipe Franks and some even younger, pro-style pocket passers. The 6’, 225-pound Malik Zaire ran well at Notre Dame and would be a decent fit, but he’d need to apply for and gain a sixth season of eligibility from the NCAA.

On the bright side, both Fitzgerald and Prescott were lightly recruited prospects, and Mississippi State didn’t have to compete with major SEC programs of Florida’s caliber to secure their commitments.

.@rick_cleveland asked Dan Mullen who they had to beat out in recruiting to land Nick Fitzgerald. This was his response & it's glorious. http://pic.twitter.com/fFZGJwyVFq

— Robby Donoho III (@RobbyDonoho) November 27, 2016

There is a question of how long it’ll be until the Gators have a Mullen-type QB on campus.

But he’s made a QB transition work before.

In year one at Florida, Mullen made the most out of having a veteran passer in Chris Leak, and in year two, started to work in freshmen Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin to boost the run game and create the kind of option-oriented attack the Gators ultimately wanted.

They won a title with Leak because the senior was a savvy passer, they still used Tebow and Harvin to make third downs and goal-line situations more of a sure thing and to add explosiveness, and they had an elite defense. Florida could very well be great on defense early under Todd Grantham, but how well Mullen adapts to this offensive roster will be curious.

If he can get Zaire to return or find a crafty-and-tough QB from the JUCO ranks or grad transfer market, there’s a lot in place to allow a quick turnaround. The bet on Mullen is a bet that he can find another overlooked, quick-thinking, tough, and imposing QB and get him to Gainesville sooner than it took him to get Prescott in Starkville.

[stephaniefchase]

Bajan Newscap 4/30/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is your daily news cap for Sunday 30th 2017. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Sunday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).  

UNIONS MUST UNITE TO END DISRESPECT – Unless the fractured trade union movement is unified and the apparent rivalry between union leaders ended, they will continue to be disrespected. In his 2017 May Day message, general secretary of the Congress of trade unions and staff associations (CTUSAB), Dennis De Peiza, said disunity among some local union leaders had led to “undermining of the solidarity of the movement”. Just hours before workers’ day celebrations tomorrow De Peiza said: “It is disconcerting to CTUSAB that the celebration of Labour Day 2017 is being celebrated against the backdrop of an unstable industrial relations climate that is characterised by adversarial relationships”. This month marks four years since the island’s largest trade union the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) abruptly pulled out of (CTUSAB) after then leaders Sir Roy Trotman slammed CTUSAB for disrespecting him as general secretary and his union. (SS)

WORRYING LABOUR PAINS AS MAY DAY APPROACHES - Ahead of Monday’s observance of Labour Day, the umbrella Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations (CTUSAB) is sounding an alarm bell about the state of industrial relations on the island. In a statement marking the day, otherwise known as May Day and which is to be celebrated with a public holiday here on Monday, CTUSAB warned that, amid a climate of “economic misfortune”, Barbados’ labour relations environment left much to be desired. In fact, CTUSAB described it as not only “adversarial” and “unstable” but “counterproductive”, while  pointing to “a growing disregard for the observance of mutual respect and for the engaging of the consultation process” within both the public and private sectors. In a climate of economic misfortune, where the Social Partners are required to find solutions to the fiscal and economic problems facing the nation, it is counterproductive that the workers movement of Barbados could be conveniently embraced, while at the same time treated with discourtesy and disdain, when individual trade unions and staff association, and the CTUSAB as the umbrella body for workers organizations, undertake to represent the interest of workers. The fracture and disconnect which the fraternity of the labour movement has been experiencing, has to a large extent contributed to the undermining of the solidarity of the movement. This on the one hand has led to the creation of apathy, and on the other, a semblance of rivalry within the labour movement. The threat to trade union solidarity has also been accentuated by declining number of unionized workers; as occasioned by layoffs and retrenchment, and the apparent lack of interest in becoming members of the trade union family. CTUSAB contends that these observations are not to be ignored, and moreover, that swift and decisive action must be taken to address the fallout from these developments. CTUSAB repeats its call for the reunification, and a renewed show of solidarity within the Barbados Labour movement; as this is imperative if the pride, respect and confidence which the movement has traditionally had, is to be secured.”  (BT)

MODEST PROFIT RISE FOR SIGNIA – SIGNIA FINANCIAL GROUP says despite challenges in the Barbados economy it still recorded increased profitability. In its just released year-end financial statements, the non-bank financial institution reported  comprehensive after-tax profits of $3.67 million as at December 31, 2016, an improvement on the $3.66 million recorded for the same period in 2015. Signia, which was formed in 2003 as a joint venture by Cave Shepherd & Company, Massy United Insurance and GraceKennedy and Co. out of Jamaica, was able to grow its loan portfolios with individual loans increasing from $129.3 million to $144.6 million last year, while corporate loans increased from $40.4 million to $47.2 million. (SS)

VENEZUELANS WANT MADURO OUT – The NICHOLAS MADURO administration has to go. This was the consensus of Venezuelans living in Barbados, who joined forces with over 80 cities and staged a peaceful protest at Accra Beach in Christ Church yesterday. Jocelyn Hunte, who has called Barbados her home for 67 years, said she was fed up with the way the administration was running the country. “The so-called president should not even be there. While people are dying the so-called president is dancing salsa,” she said.  (SS)

PAR VICTORIOUS IN CURACAO ELECTIONS - The Partido Alternativa Real (PAR) led by its new political leader Eugene Rhuggenaath was Saturday declared the biggest winner following the preliminary count of the general elections held here on Friday. The PAR received 18,362 of a total of 78,815 votes cast in the election that was observed by a four-member team from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It is the first time that Rhuggenaath participated in an election as leader of the party. The PAR was one of 11 parties that contested the poll, two less than the October 5, 2016 poll when three parties won four of the 21 seats in Parliament. The PARTIDO (MAN) party of former prime minister Hensley Koeiman came in second with 16,071 votes.  The party placing third, is the current coalition partner MFK of Gerrit Schotte with 15,710 votes. Other parties that have received enough votes for a seat in Parliament are Korsou di Nos Tur (KdNT) of the businessman Amparo dos Santos with 7,438 votes, Pueblo Soberano with 4,029 votes, PIN of former Minister of Traffic, Transportation and Spatial Planning Suzanne Camelia-Römer with 4185 votes and Movementu Progresivo (MP) of Dr. Marilyn Moses with 3885 votes. For the first time one of the country’s oldest party the Partido Nashonal di Pueblo ( PNP) led by Humphrey Davelaar did not receive enough votes for a seat in Parliament. This will be the first time the party is not represented in Parliament since it was established about 70 years ago. The preliminary results indicate that PAR will have 6 seats in the Parliament, with MAN and MFK five seats each, KdNT two seats, and PIN, PS and MP one seat each. Friday’s elections followed the collapse of the Koeiman government on October 5, 2016 after seven weeks. The cabinet fell on February 12, 2017. (BT)

NURSE BLAZES AWAY – Ashley Nurse was on fire yesterday. The Barbados Pride and West Indies limited-overs all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 80 off 47 balls to lift Gladiola to a third successive victory in the Barbados Cricket Association’s Sagicor General Twenty20 competition. Playing in the second match of a double-header at Waterford, Gladiola beat hosts Combermere by seven wickets, overhauling a target of 144 with eight balls to spare. They maintained their 100 per cent record and emerged top of Zone B at the end of the first phase of the competition. (SS)

BRACE KEEPS HUSBANDS IN TOUCH WITH LEADERS –Multiple-time Woodbine champion Patrick Husbands rode a double on Friday’s nine-race card to keep pace with the leaders in the early stages of the new meet at the prestigious Toronto oval. The Barbadian scored in race six with 6-1 bet West L.A. Girl before returning to win race eight with 4-1 chance Bear’s Profit. He has six wins, three off leader and defending champion Eurico Rosa da Silva with nine, and two behind the second placed Rafael Hernandez. Gary Boulanger lies third with seven wins. Husbands opened his account over seven furlongs when West L.A Girl recovered from hitting the gate at the start to beat the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by a length. The four-year-old chestnut filly raced near the rear of the field as Pure Purity laid down the early fractions but Husbands rallied in the stretch, grabbed the lead passing the eighth pole and was the best at the wire. His second triumph came in a 5-1/2 furlong sprint when he spurred six-year-old gelding Bear’s Profit to a narrow win over the three-year-old and upwards. Outsider Chief Chato set the pace with Smart Spree chasing and Husbands settling Bear’s Profit at the back of the field again. Once in the stretch, Husbands set the gelding down for the drive and he got up in the dying yards to win by a neck. (BT)

MUCH AT STAKE IN CHESS BATTLES – The opening round of the 2017 BOA Heroes Day Masters saw some intense battles among the players in this section yesterday. Non-titled players are seeking seven points out of a possible nine to qualify for an International Master norm. International Master Kevin Denny, Barbados’ most decorated player and many times national champion, showed that he still has the blood of a champion running through his veins as he outplayed the top seed Raven Sturt of the USA. Sturt found himself in trouble early in the opening, but was able to defend stoutly until Denny crashed through in the ending. Bulgarian Grandmaster Evgeny Ermenkov had to settle for a draw against Trinidad’s Ryan Harper after he failed to capitalize on a superior ending. In the other matches in the masters section, Fide Master Orlando Husbands defeated International Master Delisle Warner in an all Barbadian clash. Women’s candidate Master Katrina Blackman collected her second point in as many games by defeating Allan Herbert. Also recording victories were Anthony Francis Worrell, Emar Edwards, Donna Murray, Cody Sargeant, Azariah Johnson and Azari Gittens. (BT)

GIRLS PUT ON LAYAWAY PLAN – Some men are reported to be offering mothers a so-called layaway plan to secure their young daughters when they reach the age of consent. The plan is not dissimilar to the system that allows a customer to pay a deposit for a product for later purchase. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) children’s champion for Barbados, Faith Marshall-Harris, told the SUNDAY SUN that she had heard reports of men giving mothers money to support their daughters until they reach the age of 16, when the children would be passed on to the men. “I have been hearing recently of men who do layaway,” Marshall-Harris said. “They see a 13-year-old who is developing nicely and they start giving the mother things and money until they feel she is ready and then they move in. It is a cancer in our society.” (SS)

ANDREWS FACTORY CASE BEING FAST TRACKED – A HIGH COURT decision on the future of the proposed multi-purpose sugar facility at Andrews in St Joseph could come within the next three months. Before that, attorneys involved in the substantive court case that led to an injunction preventing the start of the project last year will head back to court on Wednesday. They have agreed to the matter being determined by the Supreme Court via written submissions, instead of oral arguments. This was after a number of adjournments had left the matter in limbo. The substantive case against the Chief Town Planner and the Attorney General was brought last year by Emile P. Elias, owner of more than 8 000 square metres of property at the site of Andrews Great House. (SS)

PLAN TO SLASH REMAND TIME – Criminal trials in Barbados are about to undergo a significant shift. People charged with indictable crimes, especially murder, may soon spend less time on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison at Dodds, and their trials could also be completed in half the time of what now obtains. Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock QC last week sent out guidance on trial committal proceedings to judicial officers, following up on the abolition of preliminary enquiries earlier this year, via proclamation of the Magistrates Court Act. The guidelines will allow the judiciary to put the new system into action. (SS)

JAMAICAN REMANDED TO DODDS – A 26-year-old Jamaican national has been remanded to Dodds prison until May 26 on a charge of causing serious bodily harm, following an altercation that led to the death of another Jamaican woman. Dead is 34-year-old Shockaya Natalya Boyd, who was pronounced dead at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after the stabbing incident, which occurred along Bay Street, St Michael around 2:30 a.m. Friday. This morning, Tedesha Ann-Juliet Hayles appeared in the District ‘A’ Court before Magistrate Douglas Frederick and was not required plead to the indictable charge. However, the prosecutor, Station Sergeant Neville Reid, objected to bail on the grounds that Hayles is a non-national. He also told the court that the charge against the accused was likely to be upgraded, based on the outcome of an autopsy into Boyd’s death. (BT)

SHOOTING IN NELSON STREET – At this hour police are investigating reports of a shooting in Nelson Street, The City. All police could confirm so far is that the incident occurred. However, one eyewitness told Barbados TODAY that two people sustained gunshot wounds as a result of a ride by shooting. The perpetrator apparently rode into the popular watering hole on a motor bike around 7:15 p.m. and began firing shots. One of the victims, who was reportedly shot in the area of the left knee, left the scene in a private vehicle, while the other victim – the extent of whose injuries could not be immediately ascertained – was transported by ambulance to hospital, the eyewitness said. Police spokesman Acting Inspector Stephen Griffith has promised to release details as soon as they come to hand. (BT)

POLICE PROBE UNNATURAL DEATH – Lawmen are continuing investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of 60-year-old Andrew Thompson. Thompson’s body was discovered around 7 a.m. today near an unfinished house at Balls’ Land, Christ Church. Thompson is a resident of Lowthers Hill, Christ Church and the nephew of Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM Robert Bobby Morris. (BT)

THOMPSON’S LAST DANCE – It is believed that 60-year-old Andrew Thompson had his final dance on Thursday night. At that time he was celebrating the birthday of a Balls Land Christ Church resident at the nearby Balls Bar. The energy and moves he displayed that night were a far cry from the position his still body was in when it was discovered on the property of Keith Chase around 7:15 a.m. yesterday. When the Lowthers Hill, Christ Church resident was discovered he was in the same clothes he wore while attending the function the night before. (SS)

ATHERLEY’S FAMILY OVERWHELMED BY HIS DEATH - Edwin Atherley loved the sea. It is therefore ironic that this is where he met his death. The 69-year old went missing yesterday afternoon after he went swimming in the waters off the Ermie Bourne Highway, St Joseph. His body was discovered this afternoon after it washed ashore not far from where he went missing. Family members, though in mourning, are breathing a sigh of relief that his body has been found. Atherley’s granddaughter, Kelly-Ann Drayton-Archer, told Barbados TODAY her family was still trying to come to grips with the tragedy, which marred the annual east coast excursion hosted by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP). Atherley’s granddaughter said he was a strong BLP supporter and attended the annual picnic for the first time last year. Earlier today BLP General Secretary Dr Jerome Walcott extended “heartfelt condolences” on behalf of the party to Atherley’s loved ones, family and friends. Atherley’s brother Whitfield Robinson and his sister-in-law Angela Rawlins described him as a cool guy who would be missed terribly. (BT)

SCORES PAY FINAL RESPECTS AT FUNERAL FOR ELI EDWARDS - Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson headed a list of dignitaries who packed the Calvary Moravian Church on Roebuck Street, The City, today to bid adieu to one of their own, Eli Edwards, a former attorney-at-law in the Attorney General’s Chambers. Also turning up to pay their last respects were Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock and other members of the legal fraternity; Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development and Member of Parliament for St Michael Central Steve Blackett; Appeals Court Judge Sandra Mason;  High Court Judge Jacqueline Cornelius, family members, friends and members of the Royal Barbados Police Force. Edwards, who began his career as a police officer, later studied law before becoming a member of the magistracy and an attorney-at- law in the Attorney General’s Chambers. During the two-hour funeral service one of Edwards’ two daughters, Liann, could be seen wiping her eyes as the tears streamed down her cheeks. At the graveside she could be heard saying through tears: “This is not fair” as the workers at Coral Ridge Memorial Gardens covered her father’s casket. In paying tribute to their fallen colleague, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Donna Babb-Agard, QC, and Chief Legal Officer in the Energy Division, Barry Carrington, described Edwards as a gentleman. In his sermon, Reverend Dr Adrian Smith recalled that Edwards was a committed member of the church who participated in Bible study on Wednesday nights on a regular basis. Addressing the issue of fear, the cleric said: “We need to remain confident in life. It is about trusting God. Your God is here for you. We must be confident in God. Remain confident because of the security of our God. God is with us in good and bad times.” (BT)

TECHNICAL GLITCH AFFECT VINTAGE REGGAE SHOW - Technical difficulties brought last night’s Digicel Vintage Reggae and Dance to a standstill for nearly an hour. Minutes into the performance of Jamaican artist Flourgan, shouts of “we can’t hear you, we can’t hear you” could be heard coming from patrons. Flourgan had to leave the stage around 11:25 p.m. as technicians rushed to get the issue fixed. It would be almost an hour before he was able to continue his act. “We apologize for the break in transmission,” one of the MCs,  Admiral International, told the seemingly patient crowd. “It was due to a massive power failure that actually destroyed the mixer. Thank you for being patient people,” he said. Prior to the technical problem, local deejays took to the stage from around 7 p.m. to warm up the crowd. First to grace the stage, Shirley Stewart and The Escorts International had patrons rocking to music of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Other performers on the night were Pluto Shervington, Eric Donaldson, Little John, Pinchers Marcia Griffith and Glen Washington. (BT)

ROCKING RICK – It took the electrifying performance of Lil Rick to re-energise the thousands who attended Friday night’s Digicel Barbados Reggae Festival Vintage Reggae Show. And the dynamo did it hours after being involved in a crash in which his SUV was severely damaged, leading to speculation that he might not be fit to perform. However, after the show had experienced a power glitch and some less-than-lively performances, a familiar shout heralded the presence of Lil Rick and with it an appreciative roar from the crowd. (SS)

Winning couple say ‘I do’ – The 2016 winners of THE NATION’S Forever I Do competition, Ria Clarke and Andre Lewis, tied the knot at Whitehall Methodist Church, St Michael, yesterday. The ceremony began just after 3:30 p.m. and after the two said “I do” and recited their vows before Reverend Michael Charles, they skipped down the aisle to begin their new life together. (SS)

That’s all for today folks. There are 244 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase