#it must be crazy to be a cristian

[princessofghosts-posts]

In the books it was told a couple of times that once a person die,when they go in the Underworld,they see it as what they want to believe in or based on what their religion is.

For demigods,greeks and romans,or people who believe in the Greek Pantheon,they probably see it as what it really is. But for mortal that have another religion?? They see it differently. Now,take a cristian for example.

Christianity makes a categorical division into: good and evil; God and the Devil; Heaven and Hell,with Purgatory in between. In this case:

The Fields of Punishment are Hell;

The The Asphodel Fields are purgatory;

Elysium is Heaven.

For a cristian that ended up in the Underworld,especially in the Fields of Punishment,Hades should be Satan. This put Persephone,his wife,as Lilith in their view. So,Nico is technically the Prince of hell and one of the Devil's son (in the Bible it's stated there are multiple of them).

Image being in Hell and saying the son of the Devil running around doing whatever,while you are there in pain for the horrible things you did in your life. What a day.

All of this,of course,if we take in consideration the view of a cristian person and how they see the Underworld.(And apparently Jesus is a probably thing in this Universe???).

But you know who is familiar with said religion? Who had a massive religious trauma and guilt because of it,especially on his sexual orientation and preference? And who probably was forced to practice it because at the time it was the only religion accepted? Nico.

Can you feel the angst of this? Because I can.

*evil laughing*

It's a good day to be alive (not for Nico).

[travelwithtravejar]

A Guide to Planning a Solo Trip to Rajasthan

Therefore, run to Rajasthan if you need help determining where to go next but wish to embark on new adventures alone because your pals scrapped the Goa trip. If you want to experience an elite and royal feel then the Rajasthan tour is rewarding because of its vibrant culture, varied environment, stunning forts, hiking trails, camel rides, and quiet retreats in the desert. 

The best months to travel are November through March. To travel between the cities, choose an easy path. Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, and Jaipur are a few of the significant places to visit in India for solo trips to Rajasthan.

Jaipur

The capital of the regal state of Rajasthan in Jaipur, which is also known as the "Pink City” is a famous place to visit in Rajasthan. Jaipur is one of the internationally popular tourist destinations and forms the Golden Triangle with Delhi and Agra. The old-world elegance of the pink city of Jaipur, with its gates decorated with artwork and walls around it, has been preserved. In Jaipur, which is also home to a variety of other magnificent forts, palaces, temples, and museums as well as a wealth of bustling local bazaars where you may shop to your heart's delight. 

The foods in Jaipur can make you go crazy with their unique ways of cooking and the taste and some of the most popular local foods include the Ghewar, Pyaaz Kachori, and Dal Baati Churma, and the city is also well-known for its royal cuisines. The city of Jaipur also hosts Asia's largest literary event and also the Jaipur Literary event is hosted here. The subway, local buses, shared tuk-tuks, auto-rickshaws, and cab aggregator apps like Uber and Ola are all convenient ways to get around the city.

Udaipur

One of the most well-liked tourist sites in Rajasthan is The City of Lakes, often known as Udaipur. The beautiful palaces, clear lakes, vibrant culture, and delectable food of Udaipur are well known.  Defensively walled by Aravali hills, this beautiful city is located around the beautiful lakes enhancing the beauty of this city of Rajputs. It is one of the best destinations in India to experience some royal luxury and a must-visit location for a unique experience.  

Some of the well-known tourist attractions in Udaipur include Lake Pichola, Jaisamand Lake, City Palace, Monsoon Palace, Jagmandir, Fateh Sagar Lake, Jagdish Temple, and Saheliyon ki Bari. Travelers typically combine trips to Udaipur with outings to Mount Abu and the distant 80-kilometer Kumbhalgarh. The renowned Nathdwara temple is 60 km away from Udaipur.

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer is a well-known tourist attraction in the northwest of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is known as the "golden city" because of its golden sand dunes and castles built of golden honey sandstone. Jaisalmer is known for its lakes, ornate Jain temples, and havelis. Take a camel across the desert to a campsite where the stars will sparkle for an unforgettable experience. 

Visitors must first take a car safari through the town of Jaisalmer before riding a camel to reach the Sand Dunes. The fascinating Indian desert culture, heritage, and adventure are thus all combined in Jaisalmer.

Jodhpur

Jodhpur, which was formerly the capital of the Marwar province, is the second-largest city in Rajasthan.  This city is also popularly called “the Blue City” because the houses here are painted in blue color justifying the nickname. Jodhpur, which was formerly the capital of the Marwar province, is the second-largest city in Rajasthan.  

Jodhpur attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world due to its use as a backdrop in films, with The Dark Knight Rises being the most well-known. Additionally, it is perfectly situated in the middle of Rajasthan, giving it a good starting point for exploring the region. Pack your bag and go on a Rajasthan solo trip to Jodhpur to find your inner self like Cristiane Bale did in Dark Knight Rises.

Chittorgarh

If you have watched the Padmavat movie then you must visit Chittorgarh. The town of Chittorgarh in southeast Rajasthan is home to Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in all of India. It covers about 700 acres and was constructed on a mountaintop. Rani Padmini's courageous, selfless Jauhar to stop Alauddin Khilji from taking the fort will live on in the memory of the lovely fortress that served as the former capital of the Mewar empire.  

The largest building in the Chittorgarh Fort is called Rana Kumbha Palace, which used to be a beautiful three-story palace with enormous pillars, maze-like underground passageways, and intricately constructed architecture. Now it is just a tumbledown edifice of broken walls and mounds of stones. The Padmini Palace, which bears Queen Padmini's name, is the most well-known feature of Chittorgarh Fort that you can explore with India tour packages.

Desert Safari in Thar

The desert safari is one of the most popular activities in the Thar Desert when visiting Jaisalmer. You have a variety of safari alternatives to pick from, such as riding a camel and navigating the dunes in style or riding some animals and driving through the desert in air-conditioned cars. These safaris can be tailored to fit your needs and budget and can last anything from 30 minutes to several hours. Enjoy your solo trip to Rajasthan with night camps, bonfires, and tasty Rajasthani cuisine. 

[cristianhernandez]

Cristian nodded, "Oh yeah, I thank her all the time, trust me. Just don't tell her how much of a hard ass I am at work, I'll get in trouble for it" he joked, but he really was very different in his personal relationships than his professional ones so she really didn't know what he was like when he was teaching. "That's the thing though, you can definitely be all of those things even if you're unsure of yourself. Speaking as a father, I have absolutely no clue what I am doing half the time, and I likely never will. And that's fine" he assured him, knowing the feeling very well. "'The man who voyages strange seas must of necessity be a little unsure of himself. It is the man with the flashy air of knowing everything, who is always with it, that we should beware of'" he quoted, never able to resist the urge to quote something when he found it relevant. He was, by all accounts, a huge goddamn nerd like that. He laughed again at his comment, "I swear I've heard more intelligent thoughts from my four year old than some of these students, it's crazy"

Lincoln was honestly surprised to hear Cristian's little confession about how his life was back then. He couldn't imagine the man as anything but the polished and professional one he had come to know at work. "Well I guess we have her to thank then for making you get your shit together and grow up to be the hard ass professor who won't cut my goalie a break." Lincoln chuckled but he didn't really expect the man to give a kid a grade he hadn't at least somewhat earned. "I'm trying to play the part of coach, mentor, and father figure to some of these kids and it's tough when I feel like I don't even know what the hell I'm doing half the time." He admitted. After screwing his own life up, who was he to help anybody else? "Well, can't say I blame you. Some of the shit these boys say to me makes me wonder how much longer I can stomach the thought of existing among the gen z kids."

[hvitserkmarcosource]

Into The Woods

(Hvitserk x Reader)

Warnings: 18+ , Smut, Unprotected Sex, Virgin Reader, Christian x Viking)

Requested by @lady-valkyrie

Word Count: 1,928

I hope everyone enjoys! My requests are still open, if anyone wants one, send me a message!

................................................

It was stupid, you knew it was, but you were dying of thirst and the men at camp weren’t going to fetch any water. “Stupid pompous, ignorant men” you grumble to your self as you walk further into the woods.

You were stationed at camp, a skilled nurse and an even better cook, waiting for this war to be over. You can’t understand why King Alfred would want to start a war with people who were once his allies. It boggles your mind terribly.

But who are you to judge... that’s right, no one.

You are a simple cristian, a servant to Alfred, and nothing more... isn’t that exciting. You roll your eyes at your own thoughts. Finding yourself angrier the further you walk. Stepping in mud and God knows what else.

After a long while you find the stream and your anger slowly starts to fade. The water is so beautiful and you guess nature isn’t so bad... The Lord made everything here so you should appreciate it more. You should stop and bask in all that the Lord has made, let it soak in and wash away all of your sins-

“Well well well, what brings you to our side of the camp little bird?”

You freeze, because what else could you possibly do in a situation like this.

“Cat got your tongue?” He chuckles “You are a Christian yes? I have not seen you before and trust me I would have remembered you”

You nod, it seems a cat has indeed got your tongue.

“Are you alone, little bird?” He asks

And that’s when you start to cry. You are alone, so terribly terribly alone, with no means to protect yourself and no one to help. Or hear your screams.

The man gets off of his horse and before you know it you’re running, running across the stream and as far away from this Pagan as possible. He was going to kill you, that’s for certain. He’ll kill you and send your head back to camp as a message.

Strong hands grab you and wrap around your mouth to silence your screams. Your body is pushed into a tree and you wince in pain. “Stay quiet” he warns “I don’t want to hurt you. This war is idiotic and unessesary… Will you be calm if I remove my hand?”

You nod frantically

True to his word he released you, spinning you around to face him he says “See much better, I was not trying to frighten.”

“You can understand my fear, I hope.”

He smiles “She has her voice back, praise the gods.”

“God” you correct him, to which he smirks

“You have your God and I have mine, I never understood why it is such a crime for people

to believe in different things. Why it has started wars”

“Because men like to fight” you answer him “They would rather be bloody on a battlefield than silent in a temple or church.”

He sighs “I guess you’re right… I’m Hvitserk.”

“I’m-“

“Don’t tell me, it is better I don’t know who you are” Confusion must have been clear on your face because he explains himself “If you are of importance I will have to do things I don’t want to do”

“O-oh”

For a moment a silence falls between the two of you. Your back still against the tree and Hvitserk still standing closer to you than he should be. However, you're not uncomfortable… he is handsome for a heathen. He isn’t filthy or fat. He’s young and,

you’re sure, fit under the layers of fur and armor.

“You’re staring, little bird.” He says softly

“So are you”

He chuckles “You are beautiful, you can not blame me”

A blush creeps onto your cheeks and you desperately try to avoid eye contact.

“Do you have a husband?” He asks “Is there a man back at camp that is missing you?”

You shake your head “No one is missing me, I doubt they even know I exist”

In an instant his lips are on yours, making your head spin… this is so wrong. He may be handsome but he’s the enemy and this is a sin.

You push him away and wipe your mouth off with the sleeve of your dress. “How dare you!” You yell “Why would you do that?”

He shrugs “You are beautiful and all alone… and I want to have sex”

You gasp at how crass this man is being “Well you’re just going to have to find someone else-“

He cuts off your sentence with a laugh “You liked it, admit it, little Cristian.” He points at you “A Pagan made you want to break the rules.”

You scoff “That simply isn’t true”

“Then why is your face red and why did it take you so long to push me away. I thought you Cristians couldn’t lie”

You clear your throat “We can’t, I am not lying.”

He steps closer, so close that you begin to get hot. You can feel the sin creeping into your brain. You want him to kiss you again. In fact you want him to do more than kiss you. You want him to throw you up against this tree and make you forget everything about your teachings.

“Little bird, I’m going to kiss you again.” He says it softly, so soft you almost don’t hear it. “I’ll be gentle and I promise it will feel good… and when we’re done you’ll come back to camp with me and forget all about your King Alfred and his Wessex.”

Your lips meet, and your breath leaves your lungs. Your legs turn to jelly and knees buckle as he rests your body against the tree. One of his hands comes up to grab your leg and you let him. You let him hike up your skirt and wrap your leg around his hip.

You let him kiss your neck and leave little bites. You let him mark your sensitive flesh. Bruise you.

Your mind is fuzzy, blissed out by how good he’s making you feel. You’ve never felt like this before and my God you don’t want it to end.

His hips rut into yours and you moan, head tossed back and bottom lip between your teeth. He curses in his language and it’s the most erotic thing you’ve ever heard. That alone must be a sin.

“Please- Please-“ you don’t know what you're asking him to do, why you're begging like this, but you are and he seems to enjoy it. His lips are on yours again, more aggressive than last time and more heated. You’re moaning like a whore and he’s growling like an animal. Heat rises to your cheeks in embarrassment, you are so going to Hell for this.

His hand slips inside of your undergarments and a small cry leaves your lips when he starts playing with you. Coating his fingers in your wetness and then gently rubbing the most sensitive part of you. You grab onto his shoulders for more support, feeling a fire burning in your belly like a hot coil that is getting ready to snap.

“Let go little bird.”

And you do, that hot coil inside of you snaps and you're reduced to a moaning sobbing mess of pleasure. You’re whispering his name when he lays you down on the ground.

He starts kissing your neck, your face, and lastly your lips “That was so good, so good little bird… are you ready for me now?”

You nod and are rewarded with another kiss. The both of you melt into it just for a moment. It’s slow and sensual and everything you’ve imagined a kiss to be like. You’ve decided you could stay like this with Hvitserk forever.

Once more, you allow him to push your skirt up, his head dips down but you’re too nervous to look. Too nervous, so you close your eyes. You let him kiss your ankles all the way to your hip bone, you let him slide your undergarments down, and you let him kiss below your belly button. “I will not lie, this is going to hurt a little in the beginning. But only for a moment… Is that ok?”

Your voice is shaky when you answer, the fear starting to kick in. You say “Yes” anyway. You don’t know what possesses you, may it be a demon or just the man hovering over you, but you want this. You want this probably as much as he does.

The sin is exciting. The chance of getting caught out in the open. The scandal that your first time will be with an enemy of Wessex. It’s all too exciting.

Your consent is all he needs, it all happens so fast you barely have time to register the sharp pain in your core. And the more he moves the better it feels.

A moan slips from your lips and he starts to pick up the pace, hitting a part of you you never knew existed. “You feel so good little bird- fuck… so good”

You cry out and your body convulses. His thrusts are so powerful that your body moves backwards every time he pushes into you. He buries his face in your neck, moaning and cursing like a mad man.

Your hands search for something to hold on to, finally coming to rest on his upper arms, your nails dig into the fabric of his shirt. “More” you whisper, arching your hips as much as you can. Trying to get more of him inside of you. His hand reaches down and starts to rub circles into your bundle of nerves, sending you into sensory overload.

Another moment of sin, you make the first move and pull him into a kiss. It’s hot and messy and- “Ohhh God!” You scream when your second climax hits you, this one even more intense. Tears streaming down your face and body shaking.

He doesn’t slow down.

Pushing you through your first climax and sending you head long into another. Your body quivers around his, your walls still spasming. Screams die in your throat as wave after wave of pleasure continue to wash over you. Thrust after thrust you get closer to the edge.

He brings your leg up to wrap around him “You’re mine,” he chants “all mine, understand?”

You’re a hiccuping mess but answer him as best you can. “Alll y-your-rss”

He loses his rhythm, his own climax roaring through him quickly. to keep from shouting, he sinks his teeth into the delicate flesh of your neck as he loses control. Spilling inside of you and triggering your third orgasm.

Both of you are quiet, the only sound in the forest is of your heavy breathing. He rolls you over to lay on his chest and wraps an arm around you. For a long while you stay like this, resting, recovering, enjoying the moment of peace in this crazy war.

Suddenly the quiet is broken by Hvitserk’s laugh “Well I don't think you can go back to your camp.”

Playfully you hit his chest “Thanks to you”

He kisses the top of your head and teases “You're welcome”

“I have to go back, Wessex is my home”

He sighs “It doesn’t have to be… I wasn’t joking when I said I want you to come back with me.”

“To a Viking camp? No one will want me there”

He sits up slightly, just so the two of you can look at each other. “I want you there…”

[clumsyclifford]

tbh never been to a game before, just cause it’s so fucking far, but i would die for that to happen lol. even montreal is not even close to me, but as a 🇨🇦 it is my duty to stan my country (my #1 team is actually the jays, even though they’re shit 😣), but i’ve always loved the nats as my #1 national league team. rip about that jersey, that’s so tough my guy. and yeah, i’ve been living and breathing baseball since i could walk. rendon may be an angel now, but i’d still let him step on me 🤭

iwjflgkdjlfgksjkgljdfkgj thats a VALID take id let the entire team trample me and wouldnt say a word. this is legend behavior!! do u remember jonathan papelbon??? remember when he tried to choke harper ????? that was WILD TIMES and jayson werth omg!!! also this may be too long ago for memory but if u remember adam dunn and cristian guzman......the way theyd announce their names at baseball games was so funny like “Adaaaaaaam DUNN” “crrrrrristian..........GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZMAAAAAAAAAAAAAN” god i miss going to nats games fkjgdklfj. ive been to so many my dad invented this game called baseball bingo which is literally bingo but each square is something that would happen at a game so like “new pitcher” “double play” “other team makes an error” “nats score a run” stuff like that it’s so much fun honestly. wow i miss baseball games. ughhh good times good times

do you have like, distant plans to make your way to a game?? cuz they are honestly so good if you do it right like is everything crazy overpriced? yes so very much. did i once stand in line for a full THIRTY MINUTES waiting for literally two slices of pizza?? yes i did. but is it WICKED FUN?? also yes! also nats park has a shake shack which is a GIFT i must say...........i do love shake shack. theres also a shake shack, like, right NEAR nats park which i think is kinda funny like. way to brand yourselves. anyway im rambling UGH i miss the nationals i miss baseball i miss nats park this is TRAGIC

[carumens]

When Valba left the school and a troubled Tom inside it, the plaza was still brimming with students, but it was easy to spot Gerah because he had decided to wait for her in the Romello Public School���s part of the square so that there was a wide empty circle of students surrounding him, sending him side glances as if he were a rare animal inside a cage.

                                         [full excerpt under the cut]

Valba stormed past them with elbows and stomps. “What are you looking at?” she snapped at Daniella Johnson and Fred Galindo.

Gerah was talking to Violetta Quillers, who was apparently oblivious to the expectant audience around them. Valba supposed she was already used to stares, what with her crazy attires and chameleonic hair.

“Let’s go,” said Valba when she reached them grabbing Gerah sharply by the elbow and leading him to one of the side alleys that branched from the square without even acknowledging Violetta’s presence. She heard her chirpy voice call after them: “Good day to you too!” Valba rolled her eyes and kept walking.

“Hey,” said Gerah, who kept pulling at the restless sleeve of his uniform jacket. “Hey, Valba, what the hell!”

She let him go, but didn’t stop her single-minded route.

“Valba! Valba, where are we going?!”

“The basketball courts.”

“What?” Gerah ran to catch up to her. “Why?”

“I wanna talk to Henry.”

“Oh,” said Gerah. “Henry?”

“Sanders.”

“Oh, uhm, I don’t―”

“He’s a cousin of Tom and Senka.”

“Oh.”

Gerah looked like he wanted to ask more questions but was too lost to find one to begin with. Valba couldn’t understand how he’d survived all of his life in Romello without knowing the first thing about it. Now again, rich people didn’t really need to survive.

“He’s the one who hit Mark.”

“What?” Gerah said, stopping dead in his tracks. “How do you know?”

“Gerah,” she said over her shoulder. “In Romello, it’s easy to know everything.”

The basketball courts were near the town hall, a couple of intricate streets further, and it was the place of reunion for most of Romello’s youth. People didn’t really play basketball there ―that activity was reserved for the courts inside the school. The asphalt was cracked and the field lines almost completely erased by time and the drag of feet. What young Romellians really did there was play mus, drink cheap beer and smoke cigarettes and spliffs from Cristian Bahnmann’s very own harvest. Valba thought he really ought to drop out of high school and start selling seriously. It would definitely help his family’s economy.

“But I thought you said Mark was looking for it,” said Gerah. He sounded slightly out of breath, and Valba slowed down her pace.

“Well,” she said. “I was wrong.”

Gerah didn’t answer, but Valba could feel him gaping at the back of her head. The thing about rumors travelling fast in Romello was that they often got distorted in the process, so sometimes it took some time to get to the real happenings behind them. Valba had seen Mark’s war wounds. Valba had assumed without knowing and she hadn’t stopped to think that because something happens often, it doesn’t mean that it will happen always. Valba had heard the whispers in the corridors and had only been reassured in her belief. And then Valba had heard Henry Sanders goading and had had to force her rage down not to crack Mrs. Barsau’s water bottle against his head.

The basketball courts came into view. The fences that surrounded the red and white surface were rusty and holed, and only one of the four baskets conserved its hoop. The fastest and most eager students were already lounging in the corners, cradling beer bottles and chatting loudly.

“There he is,” said Valba.

Henry Sanders looked the same as most of the members of the Sanders family. Tall, thin, blond and white as a lime wall. He was also, of course, a Catholic, which wasn’t a bad thing per se but was a horrendously easy shield to wield for those who hated everything that was different from them.

Valba entered in the court through one of the big holes in the closest fence, and ignored the startled looks falling upon her as she crossed the space to where Henry and his entourage of mindless apes loitered.

“Henry,” she said, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him to turn.

“What the―” the annoyed look in his face changed into something akin to respect when he registered her presence. “Oh, Barsel.” He frowned when he saw Gerah standing nervously behind her, but didn’t say anything about it.

“You have ten seconds to explain what happened with Mark.”

All trace of respect was gone when Henry heard Mark’s name. His face twisted into an ugly sneer. “That faggot got what he deserved.”

“Excuse me?” There was something hot and stingy simmering in the pit of her stomach.

“You heard me,” he spit out. “I saw him the other day in Uncle Roger’s carpentry, he―”

“He what?”

“He was molesting Tom!” Said Tobias Galindo, sticking his head behind Henry’s. He was pulled back by a wiser hand and a don’t get in there, man.

Valba limited herself to raising an eyebrow at Henry.

“You heard him,” he said with a jerk of his head.

“Okay,” she said. She breathed in and out slowly. Two times. And a third. “Time’s up.”

Valba grabbed Henry by the shoulder and smashed her fist against his nose. He doubled up with a shout and a very unholy string of curses. He looked up at her. There were tears forming at the edge of his eyes but Valba could not see blood, so she gripped his hair to bring him closer and crashed her forehead against his nose. It hurt, but from the loud scream he let out and the crunching noise she heard, it must have hurt him more. When he raised his head there was bright red stream falling from his nose, he wiped it uselessly with the sleeve of his jacket.

“Fucking bitch.” Someone grabbed him from the back, but he shook them off easily and lunged for Valba. She stepped to the side and tripped him with her foot. He fell to the floor, ripping his jeans at the knees and the skin of his hands. Valba wasted no time in jumping over him, a hand around his neck and her knee sinking in his stomach. Through her peripheral vision, she could see a mass of violence-horny and slightly stoned teenagers. Some of them cheered on, some other tried to establish peace with words Valba couldn’t even make out through the rage pounding inside her head, none of them stepped closer to try to prise her from Henry.

She could feel his throat straining under her hand, his windpipe uselessly trying to expand to let some air in. Valba found that it was enough, that he had got the message, that she wanted to release him, but couldn’t. Then there was a hand on her shoulder, a touch so gingerly that she almost didn’t feel it. She breathed out and open her fingers. Henry took in a noisy mouthful of air. Gerah helped Valba stand up, she left a blood smear on his hand that looked extremely dark against his tanned skin. She was trembling all over; Henry too, but for completely different reasons.

“Next time that you dare lay a single of your filthy fingers on Mark,” she said, the words coming sharp and strained through her teeth. “It won’t be just your nose that I break.”

She wiped rest of Henry’s blood sticking to her hands in her rough jeans and turned around to leave the basketball courts. Gerah fell in step beside her.

“Let’s go see Mark,” he said. “Shall we?”

Valba couldn’t speak through the knot in her throat, so she simply nodded.

[siremasterlawrence]

The Hollywood Stephord Husbands: Chris Evan’s Loves Me.

Chris Evan’s was attending the after party of a movie he stared in with my slaves Cristian and David all thanks to my planning. I smiled as I sat at the bar getting a drink and Chris walked in as he took the stool next to me. He smiled at me and then ordered us drinks as he asked me what inspired me to cast him in the role.

I smiled took a drink as I told him the long made up story of how I enslaved both my soccer stars. He looked at me like I was crazy as he slowly stood up from the stool chair and backed away from me. He was stopped half as his back hit both Cristian and David who were blocking him from leaving on my command.

“What are you guys doing? What is going on?” He asked as Cristian grabbed him from the back and held his neck down. David in a swift action uncovers the needle and Injects it in Chris. Chris suddenly feels like his skin is burning and then faints. He is put to sit on the stool again as I tell Cristian to bring the car around.

An hour later Chris Evan’s my newly favorite actor wakes up in a strange room. He strapped to a high tech chair and his eyes are being scanned by a brainwave machine. Once his eyes were scanned the machine locked to them and followed his every movement like a heat seeking missile. While he was completely rewired and brainwashed I set up my basement.

Five hours later Chris woke up as the straps unlocked and he stood up. He picked up the paper I left him to read and he smiled at what it said. “Chris this is your manager get dressed and go downstairs to the after party.” He chuckled at the message that his manger left him. He was always doing things like that and he would do anything for him.

Chris quickly and obediently gets dressed in the clothes I left him and heads to my basement to the after party. I sat at a table so that he would think my pretending was actually me being alone. “Hey thanks for the spare clothes and for giving me the advice earlier. You are the only reason I have a career and you must belong to me.

I stood up as he grabbed me and pulled me into a deep hug. He really loved and appreciated me as he smiled back at me. I told him I know he was straight and I was bi. However I think he should really dance with me and he sighs in relief my heart skipped a beat. I knew the program would work obviously but this was different.

I really liked Chris Evans so that night we joined my other slaves in bed as I was worshipped. The next morning I woke up to find all three of my boi’s working out with each other. I walked outside onto the compound as I smacked David’s butt, groped Cristians and played with Chris cock.

I walked back inside as they raced after me and headed into the huge kitchen. They all pushed me out of the kitchen as I grabbed a stool and watch them go to work. After about a half an hour they all they came to the table. It was a huge spread as we sat down and ate while they thanked me for all the success they ever had.

After breakfast Chris pulled me aside and started to make out with me. He kissed me as he told me he was madly in love with me and did not want to share me. He looked down at his sweats and begin to unzip his jacked as I walked around to his back. I placed my hand on his back as I slid to his ass and gripped it tightly.

He was moaning in ecstasy as he realized what he all this time and he could have lost it. I happily was commanding him to do a sexy striptease and then watch in pleasure. As he walks closer to me and pulls me into a deep, tender, loving and passionate kiss. I pushed him onto the bed and had my way with him.

He smiled at him as he we slept for most of the day and then my cell alarm went off. We woke up as we got dressed and raced to get the others. Chris looked sexy in my outfit of choice as he was being interviewed.

[euroman1945-blog]

The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – News From Around The World

Wednesday 25th July 2018

Good Morning Gentle Reader….  on this beautiful morning on the Costa del Sol, clear skies, and cool breeze blowing in from the Mediterranean, quite refreshing for a change… Bella say good morning, having drunk her water and now sleeping on my foot, and I’m enjoying the just brewed coffee, so let’s have a look at what I’ve found so far…

STRANDED BRIDE GETS POLICE CAR LIFT TO WEDDING IN BIBURY GLOSTERSHIRE ENGLAND…. A bride was given a lift to her wedding in a police car after her wedding car broke down. The gift of "something borrowed and something blue" arrived in the shape of two Cirencester officers who came to the rescue and picked her up from home. PC Mark Weedon said: "When we first walked in to all the bridesmaids downstairs, we had the usual, 'are you strippers?' which we said we weren't." The driver was unable to contact the bride as the mobile signal was poor. The bridal car broke down in Crickley Hill, Birdlip, about 14 miles from the bride's home in Barnsley, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. PC Weedon said: "The bride's mum came down and thought there was an issue with the cars parked outside, but once they realised we were police officers and not strippers and we were there because their's had broken down, the bride was cool as a cucumber. "She took it all in her stride, she had a smile on her face and she didn't seem fazed." PC Weedon and Sgt Andy Wood, stepped in to take the bridal party to Cripps Barn after being alerted about the situation from the local road policing unit which was dealing with the broken down car.

TANZANIA HUNT FOR TOP IVORY-SNIFFING DOG….Police officers in Tanzania are hunting for a talented sniffer dog who has been missing for two days. Hobby is able to catch smugglers at the busy port of Dar es Salaam by sniffing out guns, ivory and drugs. Home Affairs Minister Kangi Lugola gave the police a day to find the dog, but they have so far failed to do so. The minister said Hobby may have been deliberately taken away from the port, where there are only three other sniffer dogs now on duty. "What I have heard about these dogs is quite unpleasant. I'm told some are rented for other uses. I am really saddened by these reports because these dogs are police officers," The Citizen newspaper quoted the minister as saying. In 2016, the US gave Tanzania four dogs trained to detect illegal drugs and ivory at the country's main port and airport. It's unclear if Hobby was one of them.

ARCTIC WILD GOOSE CHASE THREATENS CHICKS AS TEMPERATURES RISE…. Rising temperatures in the Arctic are encouraging Barnacle geese to speed up their migration journeys north every spring, says a new study. But their efforts to go faster are leaving them too drained to lay their eggs early when they arrive. This is bad news for the species as their chicks are hatched too late to take advantage of the best food, so fewer are surviving. The scientists involved say the birds will have to adapt and migrate earlier. Every spring these geese set out from their temperate wintering grounds in the North Sea, often stopping off in the Baltic to rest on their way to their breeding areas in the Russian Arctic. However climate change is seeing spring arrive earlier in the Arctic, something the geese are blissfully unaware of, until about half way through their journeys. "The greening of vegetation as they fly probably gives them information about the earlier spring - as they see things more green that's a cue for them to hurry up, that's what we think," author Bart Nolet from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology told BBC News. One possibility might be moonlight grazing. "They could be able to do that if they forage on moonlit nights as they sometimes do," said Prof Nolet. "They would then be able to fuel up earlier and depart earlier and that would solve the problem of arriving too late," he said. The study has been published in the journal, Current Biology.

MELANOMA BLOOD TEST: SCIENTISTS UNVEIL 'WORLD-FIRST' RESEARCH…. Australian scientists say they have developed a blood test to detect melanoma in its early stages. The test, billed as a world first, is designed to make it easier to spot the skin cancer before it becomes fatal, according to researchers. Currently, doctors rely on skin examinations and biopsies to detect melanoma, which can spread quickly. Researchers say the blood test could provide more accurate results than the human eye, and save many lives. Developed by scientists at Edith Cowan University, the test picks up melanoma by recognising auto-antibodies produced by the body to combat the cancer's early growth. In a trial involving about 200 people - half of whom had the cancer - the test was successful in 81.5% of cases. It will now undergo clinical trials, to take place within three years, in a bid to improve its accuracy to 90%. Researchers hope it could be approved for use within five years. Malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, is mainly caused by exposure to UV radiation. It often starts with a change in a mole or a new growth on skin. While specialists are well-trained to spot melanoma, Prof Mel Ziman, head of the research team, said the blood test could hasten diagnosis. "Often in routine clinical practice, it can be a little difficult to tell an early stage melanoma from a mole," she told The Daily Tulip. "This blood test will fit in when the patient goes to the clinic to determine whether the lesion is a melanoma. The physician could do the test first before feeling like they have to do a biopsy." The study initially examined 1,627 functional proteins. After analysis, researchers identified 10 auto-antibodies that best indicated the presence of melanoma. Prof Ziman said detecting melanoma early was critical. "If we can remove the melanoma when it is less than 1mm thick, you have a 98-99% chance of survival," she said. "As soon as it spreads further into the skin, survival rates drop dramatically." In Australia, where incidence rates are highest, about 1,500 people die from melanoma each year. The research was published in the journal Oncotarget.

ARGENTINA ROCKER CRISTIAN PITY ÁLVAREZ ACCUSED OF MURDER…. An Argentine rock star, Cristian "Pity" Álvarez, has been charged with murdering a man outside a flat in Buenos Aires last week. According to the judge's report, the rocker shot the man four times after having a row with him. The victim, Cristian Diaz, has been described as an acquaintance of "Pity" Álvarez. The lead singer with bands Viejas Locas and Intoxicados said he shot him in self-defence. "I killed him because it was either him or me. Any animal would do the same", "Pity" Álvarez told reporters. After the fatal shooting, he fled and got rid of the gun, which was later found in a sewer. Cristian Álvarez handed himself in to the police a few hours after the crime. His lawyer said he had had drug problems, but judge Martín Yadarola said he believed the musician knew what he was doing when he committed the crime. He ruled that he undergo a drug addiction programme, but ordered that he must remain under arrest. "Pity" Álvarez left the band Viejas Locas in 2000 to found Intoxicados, but has since performed in both bands. They have released several successful albums in Argentina.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from around the world this, morning… …

Our Tulip today is very modern.. and I love it!

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Wednesday 25th July 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

[micvhisms]

dear mother,         i’ve found the devil again. and he’s just as smart as                                                   before.     /     self-para,    iv.

                                                         DON’T  COME  HOME.

she  isn’t  there  when  he  gets  there.    but  he  is,     which  doesn’t  set  micah’s  stomach  at  ease  at  all.    he  stands  outside  micah’s  door,   tips  of  his  mouth  curled  down  in  a  familiar  frown.    he  doesn’t  look angry,    but  he  rarely  ever  did.   PREACHER MAN,    PREACHER  MAN,    how  does  a  child  run  from  the  devil  if  you  yourself  can’t  recognize  him?    no,    hyun-ki  was  always  good  at  playing  the  part  of  the  angel.   even  when  his wife  was  dazed  and  his  son  sported  broken  bones,    he  was  the  picture  of  innocence.  micah  doesn’t  think  it  was  so  much  that  no  one  saw;    no  one  wanted  to  see.   and  he  couldn’t  blame  them,     because  if  he  had  the  choice  of  ignoring  it  all,    wouldn’t  he?

                                                            ha.    if  only.

hyun-ki  leaves  when  someone  comes  down  the  hallway.     his  hand  just  a  hair’s  width  away  from  his  terrified  son,    he  draws  back  as  if  burned.     he  gives  valeria,    their  nosy  neighbor  from  two  doors  down,    a  smile  and  watches  her  until  she  walks  into  her apartment.    it  isn’t  until  she’s  locked  inside  that  he  looks  back  to  his  son,    whose  back  is  pressed  against  the  door  of  his  apartment,    SO  CLOSE  to  safety,    but  too  far  for  it  to  make  a  difference.        ❛  you  can’t  avoid  this  forever,    micah.     eventually,    you  have  to  stop  running.  ❜      he  leaves  then,   another  look  to  his  son,     as  if  their  history  was  a  normal  one,    and  micah  was  just  being  a  stubborn  child.     he  disappears  down  the  hall  without  another  word,    and  micah    ━━

        micah  runs  into  his  apartment,    and  promptly  empties  his  stomach.

                                     YEAH,    I’M  FINE.    JUST  SAW  A  MOUSE. 

the  third  time  micah  is  forced  to  face  his  father  is  just  four  days  later,     only  an  hour  after  micah  gets  home  from  hq.    he  really does  try  to  work  out  a  way  to  help  naomi  pay  her  dad  back  without  leaving  them  broke  and  homeless,    and  he  devotes  his  time  to  trying  to  figure  it  out.

the  doorbell  rings,     and  micah....    he  already  knows.   he  knows  who  it  is,    but  he  answers  anyway,     because  IT  WON’T  STOP.    it’s  been  nearly  six  months  since  his  father  starting  calling,    and  if  that  rejection  wasn’t  clear  enough,    if  a  restraining  order  isn’t  enough  to  keep  him  away,   then  not  answering  the  door  isn’t  going  to  do  shit.

he  walks  into  the  apartment  as  if  he  paid  for  it,    glancing  around  with  distaste.    the  byeon  clan  was  never  wealthy,    but  they’d  always  lived well,    considering  they  had  no  support  but  each  other.    they  would’ve  never  lived  in  such  a  small  apartment,    especially  with  four  people  living  there.    but  micah  tries  so  hard  not  to  be  anything  like  his  dad,     and  he  likes  the  home  he’d  made  here.    he  likes  it,     and  the  sight  of  his  dad  standing  in  it  makes  him  sick.

but  nothing  feels  as  bad  as  those  eyes  falling  back  on  him.    with  no  audience  around  to  make  him  behave,     hyun-ki’s  gaze  is  sharp    &    unforgiving.     micah’s  throat  feels  dry,     and  his  heart  pounds  as  if  it  plans to  bust  out  of  his  chest,    but  he  holds  his  father’s  gaze.   he’s  not  a  kid  anymore.    he  can’t  be  afraid  to  stand  up  for  himself.     if  his  demons  are  in  front  of  him,    what  can  he  do  but  face  them?

❛  you’re  still  ignoring  my  calls.  ❜       his  frown  is  deep  and  disappointed.    it  shouldn’t  mean  shit,    but  it  makes  micah  feel  low  and  worthless.    just  the  way  it  used  to.    it’s a  look  his  father  has  mastered  over  years  of  practice,    and  the  feeling  of  it  never  quite  changes.     ❛  how  long  do  you  plan  on  acting  like  a  child,    micah?    don’t  you  have  the  decency  to  at  least  hear  what  i  have  to  say?  ❜           

with  his  arms  crossed  over  his  chest,    micah  tries  to  emulate  the  glare  he’s  so  used  to  giving  julian.    except  julian  has  never  hurt  micah;    he’s  never  been  more  than  a  minor  annoyance.    the  two  couldn’t  be  more  different,    no  matter  how  much  micah  hates  them  both.     ❛  why  should  i?   i  did  my  time  dealing  with  you.  ❜        

❛  i  came  all  this  way ━━   ❜

❛  i  didn’t  ASK  YOU  TO   ━━    ❜     the  look  on  his  father’s  face  could  settle  the  realms  of  hell,     if  he  so  pleased.    it  isn’t  nearly  as  thunderous  as  what  micah’s  used  to,    but  the  effect  is  the  same.     despite  his  bet  efforts,    micah’s  eyes  dart  away  for  a  moment.

❛  don’t  interrupt  me,    micah.    it’s  rude.    i  raised  you  better  than  that.  ❜

                                                         you didn’t.

there’s  a  long  silence,    and  micah  suddenly  misses  the  non-stop  noise  that  usually  fills  the  apartment.     naomi,     talking  and  crying  about  absolutely  nothing,     the  twins,   screaming  and  doing  all  they  could  to  make  life  harder  for  their  mother.    even  lana,    and  all  of  her  crazy.    anything  was  better  than  this.     ❛  how’s  cristian?  ❜        hyun-ki’s  lips  twitch  into  a  small  smile,    as  if  taking  pleasure  in  the  way  micah’s  head  snaps  back  to  him.    the  words  are  casual,    low  and  languid,     even  if  the  meaning  is  anything  but.       ❛  he  did  come  here  with  you,    didn’t  he?    it’s  been  a  long  time   since  i  last  saw  him.  ❜        cristian’d   never  gone  over  micah’s  house  back  then.    it  was  always  the  other  way  around,    even  before  micah  realized  he  was  living  with  a  monster  and  a  zombie.     his  dad  hadn’t   seen  cristian  since  micah  was  about  nine and  he  was  dropping  him   off  to  spend  the  weekend  with  the  ramos’.     not  long  after  micah’s  fourteenth  birthday,    he  was  careful  to  never  even  mention  cristian  around  his  parents.    even  if  they  were  well  aware  of  where  micah  was    (    when  they  cared  enough  to  notice    )    he’d  held  onto  the  hope  that  maybe  they’d  forgotten  about  cristian.     micah  would’ve  never  forgiven  himself  if  cristian  got  hurt  because  of  him.

he  shook  his  head  slowly,    glaring  at  his  father.     ❛  don’t.    don’t  bring  him  into  this.  ❜  

the  smug  smile  fades,    and  hyun-ki  stares  down  at  his  son  in  thinly  veiled  disgust,    and  micah  already  knows  where  this  is  going.     ❛  you’ve  always  loved  him  more  than  your  own  family.    i  was  hoping  you  would  have  grown  out  of  this  by  now,    micah,    it’s  embarrassing.  ❜         it  isn’t  a  new  conversation.     but  it’s  always  been  one  thing  micah  truly  didn’t  give  a shit  about.     whether  it’s  a  knock  on  micah’s  sexuality  or  his  loyalty  to  cristian,    or  both,    it   never  changes  the  fact  that  micah's  defiant.     it  only  serves  to  piss  the  man  off  more  to  know  that  he  can’t  control  everything,   but  it's  a  small  victory  for  micah.

arms  falling  to  his  side,    micah  glances  at  the  door  behind  hyun-ki.    all  he  can  do  was  hope  naomi  doesn’t  come  home  any  time  soon.    he  looks  back  to  his  father,    anxious  to  have  this  visit  end  sooner  than  later.    ❛  what  do  you  want?  ❜  

he  doesn’t  know  why  he  asked.     he  already  knows,     even  before  hyun-ki  announces  that,    ❛  you  need  to  come  home.    micah,  ❜    he  adds  before  micah  could  say  anything,    ❛  your  mother  is  dying.  ❜        

that   ━━  micah  isn’t  expecting  that.    his  eyes  trace  his  father’s  face,   looking  for  any  sign  of  a  lie.    he  wants  so  badly  for  it  to  be  an  elaborate  ruse,    another  trick  to  get  micah  to  forgive  and  forget  again.     but  it  isn’t.    hyun-ki’s   eyes  are  as  honest  as  they’ve  ever  been.    ❛  how?  ❜    no.  not  how.    ❛  what did you do?  ❜        as  much  as  micah  despises  his  parents,    his  mother  was  never  bad  to  him.    she  was  negligent,    at  best,    but  when  she  was  there,    she  was  everything  he  needed.     warm  and  soft,    a  kiss  ghosting   across  his  forehead  as  he  fell  asleep,     a  strong  force  between  him  and  his  father.    because  as  cruel  as  the  man  is,    he’s  always  loved  her  too  much  to  hurt  her.    at  least,    he  DID.   but  it’s  been  four  years  since  micah  left;    there’s  no  reason  to  believe  he  hasn’t  started  taking  it  out  on  elodie.    his  hands  clench  into  fists,     and  he  grits  his  teeth.    ❛  WHAT DID YOU D O ?  ❜        

his  father  shakes  his  head.    ❛  she’s  sick,    micah.    she  hasn’t  taken  care  of  herself  in  years.   it’s  been  too  long.     her  body  is  shutting  down.  ❜    it  feels  like  a  bullshit  answer.    like   the  EASY  one.    it’s  better  to  blame  it  on  his  sick  wife  than  on  himself.    ❛  i  understand  if  you  have  your  problems  with  me,     micah,    but  she’s  your  mother.     surely,    you  want  to  be  there  in  her  last  days.  ❜    

no.      no.

when  micah  doesn’t  answer,     hyun-ki.... changes.    it’s  a  subtle  shift:    his  eyes  seem  colder,    calculative.    his  head  tips  to  the  side,   and  he  stares  at  micah  as  if  he’s  staring  right  through  him.      ❛  and  the  children  that  live  here?  ❜     micah’s  heart  STOPS.   of  all  of  the  things  hyun-ki  could’ve  said,     nothing  terrifies  him  as  much  as  the  idea  of  his  father  knowing  about  the  twins.    but  it  makes  sense,    doesn’t  it?    his  father  somehow  knows  where  he  lives.    god,    he  knows  where  he  works.     the  latter  can  almost  be  excused.    since  the  release  of  the  movie,    they’ve  been  popular.    it  wouldn’t  be  hard  to  find  out  where  they  work.    but  micah  has  made  sure  their  address  was  always  kept  secret,    for  this  very  reason.    for  his  own  safety,    for  naomi’s,    but  most  of  all,    for  the twins.     ava  and  noah,    who  his  father  knows  about.    his  reaction  must  be  enough   to  encourage  hyun-ki,    because  he  keeps  going,    as  if  micah  doesn’t  feel  sick.    or  maybe  because.      ❛  wouldn’t  you  want  them  to  return  home  if  it  were  their  mother?  ❜     stop.      ❛  what’s  her  name.... naomi,    right?  ❜       please.      ❛  you  aren’t  setting  a  good  example  for  them.     perhaps  i  should  talk  to  this  roommate  of  yours.    i’m  sure  she’ll  understand.  ❜

❛  no.  ❜       micah’s  voice  is  quiet,    nearly  inaudible.     if  his  father  hears  it,    he  gives  no  indication.

❛  i  can  wait  until  she  gets  home.    or  i  can  come  back  later.  ❜

❛  don’t.  ❜     quieter.

❛  you   realize  that  now,   don’t  you?    i  can  always  come  back.    as  far  as  you  run,    you  are  my  son.    and  i  can  always  find  you.  ❜     micah’s   head  drops,     and  his  shoulders  sag  as  he  stares  at  the  ground,    willing  everything  back.   the  fear,    the  hatred,    the  desire  to  hide,    the  desire  to  cry.    a  cold  hand  rests  on  his  cheek,    and  micah  knows  he  can’t  win  here.    ❛  it’s  in  the  best  interests  of  yourself,    the  children,    and  all  of  your  friends  to  stop  this  rebellious  act  and  come  home.  ❜

micah  tries  to  breathe.    he  tries  so  hard,    but  it’s  wet,    shuddering,    and  shallow.     his  lungs  are  filled  with  water,      as  if  he’s  a  dam  just  on  the  verge  of  breaking.    and  he  is.    at  least,    he  feels  like  it.     ❛  please,  ❜    he  pleads  again,    voice   shaking.    his  entire  body   is  trembling,    but  he  feels  no  tears.    slowly,    he’s  starting  to  feel  nothing. 

❛  we   can   work   the  restraining  order  out,    of  course.    my  lawyer  has  already  agreed  to  talk  to  the  judge.  ❜    the  same  lawyer  that  made  sure  hyun-ki  never  spent  a  second  in  a  jail  cell,    despite  how  many  times  he  was  accused  of  abuse.     ❛  and,    to  compensate  naomi  for  your  inconvenience,    i’ll  pay  your  half  of  the  rent  every  month  that  you’re  gone.  ❜     every  MONTH.    as  if  elodie  has  years  left.    in  all  likeliness,    she  does.     but  what’s  the  point  in  arguing?    the  use  of  naomi’s  name  is  deliberate.    it’s  a  quiet  reminder  that  i  know  about  her,    and  i  know  where  she  lives.    if  i  can  get  to  you,    what  do  you  imagine  i  can  do  to  her?    it’s  a  threat,    not  just  to  naomi  or  the  twins.    it’s  to  cristian,    and  ashley,    and  every  other  mysterybuster.   

(    there  was  once  a  reason  that  micah  kept  his  distance.    somewhere  along  the  way,    he’d  forgotten.     now,     he  remembers.    his  father  has  always  been  good  at  mind  games.     he’s  always  been  a  master  of  seeing  what  it  takes  to  get  to  his  son,    and  pushing  every  single  button  he  needs  to  in  order  to  get  his  way.    micah  stayed  away  so  that  they  could  never  be  used  against him.     inevitably,    he  failed.    )

❛  i’ll  come  back  to  pick  you  up  tonight,    micah.  ❜

❛ please...  ❜     it’s  a  last  attempt   at  saving  himself.    it  means  nothing.    they  both  know  he’s  lost,    even  before  his  dad  stepped  through  that  door.

when  hyun-ki  speaks  again,  his  voice  is  tender  and  loving.     the  way  he  genuinely  sounded,    some  many,    many   lives  ago.     ❛  your  mother  will  be  so  happy  to  hear  that  you’re  coming  home.    you  are  coming  home,    aren’t  you?  ❜     

                                          DON’T  WORRY,    I  TOOK  CARE  OF  IT.

somewhere  across  the  city,    someone  has  their  first  kiss.    the  dog  in  the  apartment  upstairs  barks,    and  a  siren  wails  as  a  fire  truck  passes  by.    the  sky  falls  dark,    and  micah.... breathes.

                                                           ❛  yes,     father.  ❜    

dear mother,        

     i’m  sorry  to  say  i  lied,    and  the  devil  has  played  me  again. 

                         it  seems  he’d  never  left  to  begin  with.

[appinsta]

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 international giveaway!

Welcome to the Sunday giveaway, the place where we giveaway a new Android phone each and every Sunday.

A big congratulations to the winner of last week’s Google Pixel 3 XL giveaway, Cristian R. from Romania!

This week we are giving away a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 9, courtesy of the AA Deals Store!

This week, the AA Deals Store is featuring a great discount on the Raspberry Pi 3B Plus starter kit bundle. For just $139.99 (68 percent off), you’ll get access to the latest version of Raspberry Pi, a variety of parts to assemble, as well as hands-on training materials. Using these tools, you’ll be able to build games, robots, tools, or pretty much any other contraption you can think of.

Get this deal now!

The Galaxy Note 8 was a beast of a phone, and the Galaxy Note 9 is somehow even better.

The Note 9 is still the big, S Pen-touting flagship we expect from the Note line. It has a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 845 SoC, 6 or 8GB of RAM, a crazy 128 or 512GB of storage, as well as the same dual-camera setup we first saw on the Galaxy S9 Plus. It basically has the best specs you could expect to see on a smartphone in 2018.

There are some upgrades worth pointing out. First, the battery. Samsung increased the battery from 3,300mAh in the Note 8 to 4,000mAh in the Note 9. Plus, the S Pen now supports Bluetooth, so you can actually do things like control your phones camera and control music with the S Pen’s button. It’s pretty awesome.

It also unsurprisingly won many of our Best of Android 2018 awards, including the coveted Best Android phone of 2018 award.

To learn more about the Galaxy Note 9, check out our related coverage below:

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review: In praise of incrementalism

The Galaxy Note 9 is the best Android phone you can buy

The best Samsung Galaxy Note 9 cases you can buy

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 vs the competition

7 things you can do with the Galaxy Note 9’s Bluetooth S Pen

Enter the giveaway here

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 international giveaway!

Don’t miss: Best Android phone giveaway | Jaybird Tarah giveaway

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This is an international giveaway (except when we can not ship to your country).

If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.

We are not responsible for lost shipments.

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You must be age of majority in your country of residence.

We are not responsible for any duties or import fees that you may incur.

Only one entry per person; please do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.

We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.

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The prize will ship when it is available to purchase.

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[gizedcom]

Guerin Emig: A vote of conscience, confidence for Chuba Hubbard as Big 12 Offensive Player of Year | OSU Sports Extra

Sam Ehlinger will likely be the Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, scheduled to be announced this week, which is both sensible and predictable given Ehlinger’s accomplishments and the fact he plays the most important position on the league’s most scrutinized team.

I believe he will be first team All-Big 12 quarterback at the end of 2020, assuming there is a 2020 season.

I also believe Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard will be Offensive Player of the Year.

Consider this a vote of conscience, Hubbard having joined basketball coach Mike Boynton as the moral compass of OSU athletics the past several weeks.

Consider this primarily a vote of confidence.

I like Hubbard because I’m confident he is going to be as active in OSU’s offense as he was last year when he touched the ball 351 times.

Wait, you say. Remember what Mike Gundy said last January before the world went insane?

“I don’t see Chuba getting 30 carries a game like he did last year.”

I also remember Gundy saying five minutes later: “We need to have Chuba more involved in the throwing game. It makes us a better offense.”

What’s more likely to happen this season — Gundy giving No. 2 running back LD Brown more carries? Or Hubbard adding to his 23 receptions total from 2019?

I doubt Hubbard equals Joseph Randle’s 43-catch production out of OSU’s 2011 backfield. Surely, though, he can get in the 30s. He caught seven passes at West Virginia alone last fall.

Gundy and newly-installed offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn want Spencer Sanders targeting Tylan Wallace, Dillon Stoner and Landon Wolf downfield, no doubt. They want Sanders handing off to Hubbard more than flipping him screen passes.

I’m confident handing off to Hubbard will be just as effective this year as it was last. Meaning, I’m confident of the following…

* That OSU will figure out a way to play a couple non-conference games.

Hubbard rushed for 477 yards and six touchdowns against Oregon State and Tulsa. It was man barreling over boys.

It would have been the same this September, only now Oregon State isn’t playing in Stillwater and who knows whether the Big 12 will join the Pac-12 and Big Ten in wiping out non-conference games?

* That OSU will figure out a way to fortify an offensive line missing Johnny Wilson, Marcus Keyes and Dylan Galloway from the one that blew open holes a year ago.

Hubbard will be depending on Teven Jenkins and Bryce Bray, the two full-time returning starters, primarily, but also on West Virginia transfer Josh Sills, who should be a starter, and on coach Charlie Dickey, who is charged with rebuilding half his line.

* That Tylan Wallace stays healthy.

With Wallace out wide, defenses must play OSU’s run game honestly. That happened the first half of 2019, before Wallace tore up his knee. Then defenses cheated a little closer to the box and Hubbard’s production dipped.

* That Hubbard stays healthy.

“Chuba was beat up the last part of the season and didn’t practice much,” Gundy also said last January.

He’s going to get beat up again this season. It’s the life of a 2,000-yard running back, no matter how carefully he is protected.

Hubbard still cleared 100 yards in his last three regular-season games of 2019, but he didn’t have the same burst. He got a month of rest before the Texas Bowl, then averaged 8.2 yards per carry against Texas A&M.

I have confidence Hubbard will pick up where he left off when he gets his first touch of 2020, that he’ll keep getting touches both in the run and pass game, that he’ll keep cutting back into wide swaths created by his replenished line, that he and Wallace will be healthier deeper into the season, and that the end result will make him 2020 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Here’s my Preseason All-Big 12 ballot

Spencer Rattler, Spencer Sanders, Brock Purdy, Charlie Brewer, Alan Bowman and Skylar Thompson make this the deepest position in the conference. No quarterback is more proven, or valuable, than Ehlinger.

Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State

Hubbard is obvious. I went with Brooks over Pooka Williams and Breece Hall because of opportunities. Brooks should get plenty of touches with Trey Sermon now at Ohio State.

Wallace is also obvious. I have no idea about the second receiver. Brennan Eagles of Texas? T.J. Vasher of Texas Tech? Charleston Rambo of OU? I sort of think Rattler spreads it around. Parchment should get 15 targets a game at KU.

Charlie Kolar, Iowa State

Wanna drive Big 12 defensive coordinators crazy? Ask them about trying to cover Kolar.

Jack Anderson, Texas Tech

Start with Humphrey and then draw names out of a helmet, honestly.

Wyatt Hubert, Kansas State

Darius Stills, West Virginia

JaQuan Bailey, Iowa State

The Sooners’ Ronnie Perkins would get consideration were he not suspended for the first five games of the upcoming season.

Three triple-digit tacklers from a year ago. OSU’s Amen Ogbongbemiga is a fourth. He narrowly misses the cut.

Anthony Johnson, Iowa State

A leap of faith here on Brown, assuming Grinch’s defense is ready to take the ball twice as much as it did a year ago.

Iowa State safety Greg Eisworth is my nickel.

Austin McNamara, Texas Tech

Joshua Youngblood, K-State

Watch now: Thurman Thomas among former Cowboys interested in showing Mike Gundy, OSU a better way

A look at OSU running back Chuba Hubbard’s career so far

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard (30) carries the ball up the middle against against the Texas A&M Aggies during the fourth quarter of the 2019 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, Dec 27, 2019. ERIK WILLIAMS/for the Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard (30) looks to block Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Demani Richardson (26) while carrying the ball during the second quarter of the 2019 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, Dec 27, 2019. ERIK WILLIAMS/for the Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (right) was named to the Preseason Walter Camp 2020 All-American first team. ERIK WILLIAMS/for the Tulsa World, file

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (left) tries to avoid Oklahoma’s DaShaun White during the bedlam football game in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, November 30, 2019. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Chuba Hubbard breaks free for a touchdown during Oklahoma State’s football game vs. TCU on Nov. 2, 2019 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. DEVIN LAWRENCE WILBUR/For the Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (30) carries the ball during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against West Virginia in Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson)

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (30) runs with the ball during the first half of the NCAA college football game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Brad Tollefson)

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard blows a kiss to the Oklahoma State fans after their 34-27 win over Iowa State after an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (left) and Hunter Anthony (right) celebrate a touchdown against Kansas’ during a football game in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, November 16, 2019. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (left) is hit by Baylor’s JT Woods (right) during a football game in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, October 19, 2019. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard warms up against Baylor during a football game in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, October 19, 2019. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Chuba Hubbard celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown during Oklahoma State’s football game vs. No. 24 Kansas State in Stillwater, Oklahoma at Boone Pickens Stadium, on September 28, 2019. DEVIN LAWRENCE WILBUR/For the Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (center) is brought down just short of the goal line by Texas defenders during a football game in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, September 21, 2019. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard (30) stiff arms Tulsa Golden Hurricane safety Cristian Williams (3) during the NCAA football between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (left) runs downfield against McNeese State at a football game in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, September 7, 2019. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard (30) poses for a portrait during the Oklahoma State Football media day in Stillwater on August 3, 2019. Tulsa World File photo

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard (30) runs the ball during Oklahoma State’s Spring Weekend at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday, April 20, 2019. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2019

Running back Chuba Hubbard makes a catch at football practice during Oklahoma State’s first day of fall camp at the Sherman E. Smith training center in April 2019. DEVIN LAWRENCE WILBER/For the Tulsa WOrld

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard raises his arms as he scores a touchdown during a football game against Missouri State at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., on Thursday, August 30, 2018. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard (30) runs through an attempted tackle by Boise State Broncos safety DeAndre Pierce (4) during the NCAA football between the Boise State Broncos and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday, September 15, 2018. IAN MAULE/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (bottom) is brought down by Iowa State’s Will McDonald during a football game at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, October 6, 2018. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (center)heads downfield against Texas during a football game in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, October 27, 2018. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard (center) runs downfield under pressure from Oklahoma’s Curtis Bolton (right) at the Bedlam football game in Norman, Okla., on Saturday, November 10, 2018. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard runs past a pack of West Virginia defenders including Dravon Askew-Henry (right) during a football game at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, November 17, 2018. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2018

Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard runs breaks away from Missouri linebacker Cale Garrett during the first half of the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game in Memphis, Tenn., Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. JOE RONDONE/The Commercial Appeal via AP

Chuba Hubbard in 2017

Running Back, Chuba Hubbard, 30, runs a pass during a drill at Oklahoma State’s first practice at the Sherman E. Smith practice center in Stillwater on Sunday July 30, 2017. Tulsa World file

Chuba Hubbard in 2017

Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard warms up against Texas Christian during a football game at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, September 23, 2017. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Chuba Hubbard in 2017

Justice Hill (left) and Chuba Hubbard sign autographs during Fan Appreciation Day at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, August 4, 2018. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Video: Eric Bailey and Guerin Emig break down Bedlam

Credit: Source link

The post Guerin Emig: A vote of conscience, confidence for Chuba Hubbard as Big 12 Offensive Player of Year | OSU Sports Extra appeared first on GIZED - Breaking News Worldwide.

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[themothermary-blog1]

i sound too much like my brothers   and now it makes more sense

i remember when i usto tell my brothers dont talk like that   life aint like that Tommy be nice    he use to tell me to take my rose collored glasses back to the country store  that as soon as i get a grip that life is primaraly bull shit that he woul be  happer with me   that i need to get my head out of the cloud up there and look around here we are living hell on earth   aint no god gona save you dad aint never coming back  and you real dad is uncle jack    pull my head out of gods ass     mary  we got to get the hell out of cleveland   he ended up in parma and i ended up with  religous hillbillys in southern ohio   now i have been giving the same advice my brothers gave me      i think these hilbillys  used gorilla glew  when inserting there heads up gods ass     the people you should trust the most are the ones who show a rainbow that has black in it   never beleave anything thats too perfict  or anybody that is too nice   if sombody aint showing some copping vice  pertaining to life  than the vice thay   are using is so much worse than the standards   you know  food , coffie ,cigeretts, alcohol drugs being a all around ass hole being on psy meds   i guyes we got the praying folks but those i dont trust the most because thay will never admit it but there copping mechanisim is based  on faith (hope)  i hope for them there is a god up there and i hope for them he cares i hope for them that theres a heven and i hope for them that jesus opened the door  i hope for them that if god does exist that he change his mind because of some crap some preast does under his name see thay are going under the word crist who is sopoato be the one who opened the door  if adam and eve did exist lets face it    it dosent take much to get god pissed    we are soposto be taking care of eachother down here and even after he gave his only begotten son humans are a bunch of self centered creatures   think about all the crap that has happined just since jusus died now you tell me if you were god and you soposedly gave you only son thay got beat half to death had to carrie that cross and then nailed to it  finally stabed   if i was god i would be so ticked so pissed  i would move where heven is with where hell is and trick the selfrichus hippacrits    when it was the time for the judgement day to come to get the human sorting day done i would pull a fast one and have sainten posse as me and open the gate and let all of them is ever one of them   theres going to be a fue that actually stuck to what thay were actuall soposto do but i assure you its very fue  i think mother taresia  maby princess diana    then he will come to people like me and ask whats your excuse i will openly admit i looked at all the religons and  none of them were ohonestly doing the jesus thing it all seemed like a lye so  i chucked all of it and did my best to try to be nice to all not just a fue chosen people  but to be ohonest the cristians are just hard to love thay seemed so fake to me so two faced to me the shit just got on my human nerves i tried to do religon but it just seemed like i was putting on some kind of show i mean i really wanted to beleave and i would put my all in it but it would just fade after awile   god unfortunatly if you needed me to pick the right one you shouldnt have given me so meny to pick from thay ass clame thay know whats best  so i deciced to get my own religous and leave you out of it untill i got to know the real you   sometimes humans just make me so angry it drives me out of my mind i just can let people treat me how ever thay want to   i do turn the other cheak  i have 4 cheaks but then im week after that ive pretty much had it.  so if i let you down im sorry but im a human and my life was anything but easy down there i know nobody ever said life was going to be easy or fair but sereously god did you have to hit me with all that shit  or if sainten had a hand couldnt you have told him enough is enougy because im sorry there comes a time when you have been through so much and seen so much that you just cant beleave theres a god anymore  if you were going to let that happen you should have given me some extra god stuff to go on you know like some kinda  ball of light that comes to me in the middle of the night and says i know you dont understand the reason for all this but trust me there is one then some second of pure happyness like a glimps of heven then put me to sleep so i can put up with more

now  i get my self in truble for this down there i hope its not the same up her but what the hell thay all say im a fuck up so i wont be one bit surprised if you do thay represent you

now get out your my life  movie projector  and i want to do this in a manor that is educational  not  my life falashes befor me

of lest leave out the day to day stuff and get to the big events to me and the importan events to you 

when we hit something that matters to eathor on of us lets stop and discuss it 

now we will keep score  on  some things can we call it even and just cross it out on other things can we find a equal and cross elimanate   once we are done we will see who comes out on top

if i win you let me in 

if you win i have to turn around bend over and let you boot my ass down to hell oh dont worrie sainten aint getting off easy when i walk in the gates of hell im going to be bitching  and whether or not he likes it im going to be trying to help those poor soals like me who just couldnt beleave and there for  mearly existed or in my case tried to do some of that stuff jusus said pertaining to humans 

  for the most part this was  my polacy as long as long as my fellow man dont do nothing to me ill treat him nicely  and have empathy   ill    do somethin to help poor people not just money carring words       ill do a little more to try to help a fue  i usually will lend a ear help people get through hard stuff.    i love kids  i care but im not too great with old people or people with bad learning probablems i did things to better my self and other people   ill give you this if clendlyness is next to godlyness i openly admit most of the time im a half ass to poor house keeper so ill go ahead and give you that one

now jenerally even when somebody does me wrong as long as it dont go on and on i am fairly forgiven

i did clean up my life when i was really not doing right and attemped to appologise to people it may have affected

i care about nature

i want people to be ok

i ohonestly admit it would take a lot for me to forgive the zwicks thay are the some of the coldbloodedist people i have ever met

i truly try to be ohonest   sometimes my ohonest is to a fult

i have a tendency when ive been wronged to point out other peoples faults in a effort to make my self feel better

i try to let people be who thay are and even be understanding if thay dont like me or my way of doing things

ocasionally i lye but never to just hurt sombody  not unless thay have purpously hurt me and its only to show them how it feels   unfortunatly what i have found out is that others people dont get hurt like me or atleast thay sure dont show it

you know i did care about brian and i did want our marrage to work and i did not set out to hurt him in any way shape or form i guyes thats why i cant understand why thay continue to treat me in this way  thay dont even have to outrightly appologise to  me  i have attempted to explain my actions and appologise to brian even attempt to justify his action based on mine but im sorry there comes a time when someones action in retaliation far out weigh the original offence and when it comes to the zwicks i think that point has hit.

if i wash my hands of the current situation for my my sons and my ex husbands sanity i can say this i did all of it to help my son i truly to my heat feel the interaction up to this poin have been for ther good of my son  i do think my son will be used and that thay may be cruel to him possably in the near future i do feel his father is holding him back from life out of selfishness   having said that i now must reolize i am stuck with my ex raising him and if i were to cause his father to see him self for the weekness he is i may cause him to have a mental break down and  that would hurt my son because he loves his father and looks up to him and bursting that bubble  would do more damage than good time will show my son all he needs to know if i cause his father to  have a mental breakdown  my son at this tender age will blame me finding out sad truth bit buy bit is the way most people like it  only i like to be punched in the stomach and get it over with  and get on with my life  he has been told im crazy and he beleaves it if his dad breakes down   what does that leave him with a sense of emptyness  and turning to the wrong people   and none of us want that no matter how much we dont like each othor we all care about him i guyes in our own way  

 so for my sons benifit i will try to pretend his father aint there and that the person in the other room is some cop that was told a bunch of bad stuff about me hes been told im very manipulative dont even talk to me.  he has been told that these visatations only serve the purpous to make me look like a bad person so being rude to her helps  he has been instruted to treat me like garbage so that my son will see me that way and not want anything to do with me anymore that i am to treat brian as death blind and dumb  and that he has pit bull tendencys and if i rattle his cage he will bark me out of the house by his self or using my son  and thats what he wants my son to hurt me or hate me  so thay can finally get rid of me with out bransten getting hurt  so that can play farm disney ever after      i am not play into this i am strong enough to handle this i have handles so much more

i must reolize how vonerable brian and his family must feel that thay are so affraid of me spending one more minute with him  why wasent i that afraid of shannons father  because i knew she didnt want to live with him i knew she was happy with me  i knew he didnt want her that he just wanted to see her

why elts would thay be sceard  thay have delt with sereous mental illness drug issues or drinking and thay  are tarafied because of that persons actions

or thay are so backward that thay cant see that my son would be fine that lots of people have lots of problems and its just life  thay know i ask for help when i need it  thay know i dont hurt kids   thay know i dont put kids down  brian know i pose no danger to him  the danger i pose is to brian and his family    if thay thought life was so great over there and so shitty at my house thay would want him to go and see for him self atleast for a fue  thay might even have brian bring him over here just so he could see how lousey life would be. thay know i will feed him  i have neighbors thay know bransten is in no real danger  thay are afraid he will be happy with me or maby i will take off with him i am too old for that crap i aint going to prison/ live with him on the run thay cant think im that stupid  thay cant possably think i would hurt him  do thay reolize what i went threw just to bring him into this world what i go through emotionally just to see him  what i just paid out to have more time with him  what i am going to be put threw to try to improve our visataions and still may only slightly improve the situation for me   are these people kidding me if anything bad ever happened to him at my house or because of me i would go crazy     that leaves brian who has not put all that much effort in  he did at first but what now does he rilly offer bransten funny faces a farm 

[365footballorg-blog]

Warshaw: Winners and Losers from a Decision Day that did not disappoint

USA Today Sports Images

October 29, 20181:09PM EDT

The Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs may be ahead, but there were already plenty of winners and losers after the regular season concluded on Sunday, the 2018 edition of MLS Decision Day presented by AT&T. Here’s a look at who gained and lost the most 

The Clear Winners

RBNY Duh. The Red Bulls lifted a trophy (props to whoever decided to whip this shield out). New York’s 1-0 win over Orlando paired with Atlanta’s loss to net a third Shield in six years. RBNY also set the record for most points in a single season.

Yo @ChrisEvans, these guys got your shield. pic.twitter.com/Ec5b6lHzgF

— COPA90 US (@COPA90US) October 29, 2018

A question for the super MLS dorky: Does three Shields in six years count as a dynasty? My gut reaction says no. But if they were MLS Cups, the answer would be yes. Should it be a different answer for the Shield? Isn’t the Shield harder to win?

Big Winners

REAL SALT LAKE What a night they must have had. RSL had to watch from home as the Galaxy carve up Houston in the first half en route to a 2-0 lead. Then Houston pulled a goal back, and it was surely just a tease … no way Galaxy could cough this up, right? Then Houston get another to tie … but it’s Zlatan on the other end, and this has storybook LA ending written all over it, right? Then Houston scored a third and Mike Petke must have lost his *&^% as RSL snuck into the six spot in the West.

Lozz Angelez https://t.co/uyvUDfFNmc

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 28, 2018

The folks in Utah gotta send the Dynamo something, right? What’s the proper gift for such an occasion? Nobody actually wants a fruit basket. Flowers could be funny; I’d watch a GIF of Alberth Elis opening a box of roses.

We better see a ‘gram from Houston showing off an arrival from RSL this week.

Winning

SPORTING KC The good news: The 2-1 win over LAFC ensures Sporting skip the elimination game. After losing four straight first-round games, they can sleep a little easier this week. They also got the game winner after going down a man.

The bad news: Seth Sinovic got the red card and Sporting have struggled without Sinovic on the field this year. In Sinovic’s 18 starts prior to Sunday, Sporting were 11-3-4; in the remaining games, they were 6-5-4. To make matters worse, their reserve left backs — Cristian Lobato, Jimmy Medranda, and Jaylin Lindsey — are all unavailable right now. Sporting can either call Lindsey back from U-20 national team duty, or move Yohan Croizet to left back for next weekend’s playoff game (or maybe move Matt Besler there?).

SEATTLE With the win over San Jose, the Sounders finish as the No. 2 seed in the West. Yeah, crazy, huh?

Best I can tell, Raul Ruidiaz is the fastest Sounder to 10 goals. Took him 14 games. Dempsey, I think, had the record with 19. Montero took 20 games. Oba was 24.

— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) October 29, 2018

I stick to my comments that the Sounders weren’t yet good through the early parts of their win streak. But they are good now. They spun the confidence into a reliable playing style revolving around sharp passing, fluid attacking movement, and dominating dangerous space near their box. The No. 2 seed is a fair finish for them. They are one of the top-two teams in the West.

CREW SC They won; they’re in; Gyasi Zardes bagged a hat trick. Once upon a time they would have been bummed to have to travel for the elimination game, but they can’t dwell on that. They get the five-seed and will travel to D.C. for the elimination game.

D.C. UNITED A draw was enough to move into fourth and earn D.C. a home game. They’re 12-2-1 at home since christening Audi Field.

NYCFC They might have gotten their mojo back in the 3-1 win over Philadelphia. Or, at least they got their starters back, who brought the mojo with them. Yangel Herrera, Maxi Moralez, Jesus Medina, and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi all returned to the starting lineup, and we saw what would probably be Dome Torrent’s first-choice group for the first time since the manager took over the team. The win means NYC get the elimination game at Yankee Stadium, where they are 12-1-14 in 2018.

The Clear Losers

LA GALAZY I still can’t believe that happened. Winning 2-0 at half in a home game against a team that’s been eliminated for a month and then … Splat.

Actually, yes I can. The Galaxy had been better recently, but they still weren’t playing like a playoff team, especially defensively. In preparation for our studio shows, our producers asked me to put together film on how the Galaxy had improved defensively. I couldn’t do it. I went back through their last four games and couldn’t find a single clip when they showed solid team shape. They weren’t making the elementary mistakes that they had been making, which elevated their level by default, but they still allowed plenty of gaps between their lines, and someone was bound to exploit them at some point.

Big Losers

ATLUTD Matt came in hard on Atlanta for their disappointing 4-1 defeat to Toronto.

They got drilled 4-1 on the final day of the season w/ a trophy on the line. That’s a collapse. #TFCvATL https://t.co/yrlf0hWzER

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) October 28, 2018

I see where he’s coming from, but I disagree; I wouldn’t call it a collapse. Atlanta won 5-of-7, and 9-of-13. The two most recent losses were at the Red Bulls and at Toronto (The Reds have had a bad year, but they still have the ability to be very good). There’s nothing embarrassing about any of that. It just so happens that Red Bulls also won 9-of-13, but happened to draw instead of lose in the other couple.  

That said, this has gotta hurt. Atlanta were the best team for most of the year, and it felt like a matter of time until they would hoist their first trophy. Now everything’s falling apart: Tata’s leaving soon; Miguel Almiron’s hurt; the midfield looks unable to control a game. Atlanta didn’t just lose a game and a trophy on Sunday – they looked far from being a team that could win three straight tough playoff series.

MONTREAL IMPACT So close yet so far. They gave themselves a chance heading into Decision Day, but the 1-0 loss to New England ended their hopes. The Impact held on longer than anyone expected. Mais c’est fini, as they say.

Losing

PHILADELPHIA The loss itself wasn’t that bad. The way they lost, though …

The Union looked like the worst version of themselves at Yankee Stadium on Sunday; the tight dimensions of the field hindered their ability to pass. The Union’s entire gameplan, both offensively and defensively, depends upon their ability to move the ball in a controlled manner. Philly have worked hard to build a playing style, but Yankee Stadium might be the toughest place to execute it. Sunday’s loss means they fall to sixth … and will play in Yankee Stadium. Again. On Wednesday.

LAFC It’s harsh to call LAFC “losers” on the night; they lost on the road to the top team in the conference. Unfortunately, though, they also fell out of the top two and must now play an elimination game.

Of note, head coach Bob Bradley reinserted Eduard Atuesta into the lineup. Benny Feilhaber and Lee Nguyen played with Atuesta in the middle and Carlos Vela started on the right. I understand why Bradley wants Atuesta on the field — Atuesta can offer more defensive stability — but LAFC look better to my eyes when Vela plays centrally. The spacing with a triangle of Feilhaber-Nguyen-Vela makes for more fluid ball movement than Atuesta-Feilhaber-Nguyen with Vela tucking central. That’s something to watch during their midweek elimination game against RSL.

Series: 

Topics: 

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Warshaw: Winners and Losers from a Decision Day that did not disappoint was originally published on 365 Football

[borisartamonovblog]

The question of the eternal life and the eternal death.

      Let's begin with an example not provoking any doubts. Is a human able to waive his destiny consciously, for example, to spoil a part of his life for a few years? Only in particular cases if one has to choose from two evils the lesser one. For example, to be a slave or to die for the liberty, someone chooses the second thing, joining a last unequal battle against those who is going to turn him in servitude inevitably. At the same time, if he is responsible and operates correctly, he is trying to calculate his movement in a way that he would cause to the enemy the most damage as it is possible. Certainly, if there is a third way making possible to avoid the servitude and continue the struggle, not sacrificing his future, he would choose just this third way. Anyone not being in the state of affect or of intoxication, not being a crazy, he will not keep a devil-may-care attitude towards his future, for example, to come out through a window on the third floor to shorten his path or to kill a first anybody who has looked askew at him or has talked some foolishness.       Sane people's indifference to his own destiny is beginning to discover, if some trouble or severe trials have to happen not now, not in half year, but in 20-30 years, for example. So the indifference to the destiny after the death one may account not only for unbelief in the afterlife, but more, including the psychological human quality to take thoughtlessly that troubles which stand far, or relatively far in time, even if they are inevitable. This is rightly confirmed by age of the majority of the believers in temples. The closer a calendar age to the limit of human life, the less atheists one can see in a such age group. At the young age, however in a situation of mortal danger, it is observed the same: the percentage of atheists is falling sharply.       Certainly briefly but as far as possible from all sides, to examine the psychology of the human's attitude to his own destiny we have by no means because of the idle curiosity. We have approached to a very important aspect of this psychology: the faith of most people, what extent in is it conscious and deliberate? If the peoples of all the Earth profess only the same religion, all would be more simple. However the only the Christian Old Belief consists of several hundreds of different confessions. If one considers this fact conscientiously, a question is arising inevitably: why are sure the followers almost every confession that only their faith is right, only they will be saved, but all the others will burn in hell or will lose the God's grace or will suffer damage either this or that? Does that their doctrine seems more convincing? But if we visit in a temple of their opponents, it is doubtful whether another doctrine would seem less convicting. Of course, one can try to go deeper into systems of values either to ones or no others. Essay, please, and you will be just sure that one had taken care of this more before you. In the struggle for existence (pay attention to this) every organization acquired its own powerful and convincing philosophical superstructures, but every complicated philosophical system is found not able to be under philosophical test but it is only able to be checked up by experience, this already was demonstrated convincingly in my essay "The applied foundations".       What would be the first reaction of the sincere believer in response to the above mentioned facts at the moment when he begins to use the mental abilities that God has endowed him, that is his faith would conscious one? Evidently, he would be driven into the panic: thousands denominations contradicting one another, and one must choose a sole "right" from the thousands of "wrong" and if he errs, he will suffer in the hell always, and the life imprisonment would look like summer holidays in comparison with it. And an attempt to justify himself alleging "the faith of our fathers", this is condemned by the Bible and the Coran. This argument is unfit for an excuse. The problem becomes practically insoluble one. But is that merciful and fair God could throw such insoluble problem to human being whom He had thought highly than the angels? Of course not.       In fact that's what took place: in different centuries among different nations came the Prophets and the Teachers of humanity. All of them taught the same Truth but even the levels of the propagation were different too. For example, Mohammed and Jesus Christ propagated and their speech was understood for the ordinary people. But Gautama Siddhartha (Buddha) was a prince and he used more complicated concepts. Different levels of the homilies, different countries, different times: as a result of this, it would not go just without differences which the powers that be attempted to use them not always with the noble objectives. If Jesus Christ came with a finished doctrine what one must believe blindly in, then the words "seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" would be unnecessary, that is superfluous. He just understood and knew that the society is able to modify any alive verity to his dead dogma. So He taught to disregard the public opinion and don't be afraid to seek: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:7-11) It remains to recall the priests and others moralists revolt in fact against these lines of the Gospel threatening by all the punishments for those who is attempting to dig down to the Truth independently, without their helping. In most cases, they point just at the danger to find oneself as a devil's prey "by inexperience", to the danger of disregarding their "authoritative" opinions, as if they are beings of the highest order mentally and spiritually, and as if it is impossible to grow to their level, excepting those whom the people's mob and the powers that be would admit as an authority and would give them a place, a rank and the documents certifying the profession of a priest. But it is indicated obviously in the foregoing lines of the Gospel that one may not be afraid to seek the Truth independently, that if he disregard the opinion of the public and the authorities he would not find himself as a vulnerable victim in solitude or before the Satan, because the same words of Jesus Christ are directed against the society and the authorities: "if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch". Only the hope upon God, God's helping and protection, the Gifts of God as the mental faculties and the intuition - all this makes humans more strong and invulnerable one before the intrigues of the Satan and the subordinated him society - people's mob, that is "this world". Let the foregoing lines don't give a guarantee to survive physically, because you know, finally many Prophets and Teachers were killed physically by the society. But this hope gives the guarantee to live life happily, and when the time come to die, to meet the death with faith and hope, without torment himself by doubts and remorses.       Yes, many Prophets and Teachers were killed by the society, but very few people have yet reached up to this destination. And those who had the destination of self-sacrifice, these knew it, felt it, so it is they who had chosen the martyrdom, nobody incited them to it against their will, nobody persuaded to do it, more often it had place the opposite: one put them off doing it. It is enough to remember as Peter attempted to dissuade Christ and received the answer: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me". Therefore, if the society calls you to sacrifice yourself for the sake of some of their idols, then most likely it is from the evil one, and anyone wants to use you fraudulently, but these are an especial kind of a rascal who operates not with money, but with lives and these sacrifices will bring for them or for their masters the power and the desired nourishment for the ambitions. If you yield to them, you have very much chances serve to the devil, but not to God. If the way of sacrifice is your predestination, you yourself will feel it, you yourself will go on the warpath and look for a weapon and nobody will incite you to this, most likely one will you dissuade from this and try to prevent from this.       And now let's return to the fundamental subject: what still one must believe in? What religion is more right? But all the religions are right APPROXIMATELY, because all the Prophets and the Teachers told about the Same Single God, about the single Commandments and they recommended one single way of living. Those discrepancies, which onto the instigators of religious discord cling, depend only on time, place and level of a homily.       Simple examples: where in the Bible is written than one must not to have wives more than one? However it would be really to observe as a neighbour Christian condemns a neighbour Muslim since he has four wives. However, this time the Muslim is all right. The Koran allows to have not more than four wives. But the Cristian is sinning in the given situation because he breaks the commandment of Christ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged". Another example: a Muslim condemns a Vaisnava because he instead of a prayer repeats the Maha-Mantra: "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare ..." But it is most probably that Muhammad didn't know about the teacher Krishna who propagated in another country several thousand years before him. As at that time there wasn't the Internet, weren't the airplanes and the trains. These worlds were different ones absolutely. And there was not the sense to introduce by the Arabs the way of communicating with God like mantras: it could provoke superfluous and needless difficulties, because an ordinary prayer is more understandable and intelligible to them, however, in the India this way passed successfully and favoured consolidation of the faith. However Muhammad did not forbid at all to recognize Krishna as a teacher and to practise the mantras. The ways of Allah so diverse and numerous that for one person, even for a genius, even for a Prophet it is not enough 1,000 years to tell about all the ways and all ways to teach. Already after the Prophet a foolish crowd had set all these needless prohibitions, so distorting thus the creed. Why the Christianity many peoples consider as the cruelest and sanguinary religion? It is because in the Middle Ages the commandment of Christ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged" was broken. So all followers of any religion have better at first pay attention to the observance of their own commandment before to condemn the another's ones.        Should not look for a perfect faith in the world, which one would join. If such one exists, we should see a society congenial to the ideal and something like a paradise. But if there is not a paradise on the Earth, that means there is not a society which it ought follow blindly. Every religion would be fitted for you, which preaches the faith in the Single God - Creator. As the final determination of your fate in the eternity is not dependent on which society you have joined, is it the "faith of our fathers" or taking into account your individual features, you prefer something another. But you may don't join to any society at all. All depends how your faith is perfect. Pay attention the words of Jesus Christ “Your faith has saved you". That is just the personal faith but not a social environment or something else. How have you been diligent in improving themselves and your personal faith, so high you will rise in eternity. And the question: "What God do you believe in?" is a pointless one, because God is Single and if the name, which you use calling Him, expresses the glory and the respect, it is all right.       It is necessary to solve only one sore misunderstanding. A Teacher or a Prophet - this is a man reaching the Enlightenment who finds in some way a unity with God, so in India by tradition such humans are named Bhagavan, what signifies the Lord. But this doesn't signify at all as this or that Teacher is God. Must we consider Jesus Christ as God or as a Man? Attempt to examine this yourself personally and if you cannot it, there is not a large trouble for you, only don't focus your attention on any incomprehensible question for you. As in the both cases you would treat Christ positively with respect. If most of people do so, these both great religion Islam and Christianity would  be reconciled and united. But the perfection is not given to the society. The perfection is given to a Personality. Be a Personality, go your own separate way. The society is like an interference in radio, it will confuse you.       We have the saint scriptures, several, not one. The Apostle Paul said than all the scriptures are useful, still at that time, when the books not were united in the Bible. So it's better don't think very picky about the canonicity of a book. We have the nature around, which can also be considered as a kind of book. We have our own conscience, which can be regarded as a manual too. If it is difficult to embrace and to master all this in complex, it would indicate that one has to develop, perfect yourself, to become more honest and more intelligent. Just the second strong inclination after the sexual one, this is the desire for learning, the inclination to games, to the novelty leading to the knowledge. This is not a violence on oneself, before the recognition of the new something gives the joy always, although it sometimes requires an effort. God has endowed you with intelligence and with the ability and desire to develop it at the same time. If you have refused the development - it is the same burying the talent in the ground. The imbeciles may don't worry: our Lord is a fair judge and will not make responsible strictly them. But those who have the mind all right, they have to develop themselves and to learn, because refusing development is the single sit and it is a cause of all remainder sins, which are possible. The perfection of abilities given us from God - this is a general goal and predestination of our life which is a school. Be perfect as possible, and your faith will be correct. Your faith will save you. Amen.

The original Russian text

[peachhplum]

TRAVEL DIARY: THINGS TO DO IN FLORENCE, ITALY

It was back in October that we visited Florence and I've only just gotten around to writing this up as I sit somewhere in the fog between Xmas and NYE. We fancied a last little blast of sun our our skin before we headed into winter in the UK, so the three of us and my mum booked four days in Florence, staying at an incredible Airbnb right next to Pitti Palace. Here's what we got up to!

PONTE VECCHIO FOR ALL THE GOLD

On our first full day in Florence we walked out past the palace and up the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge over the river Arno.

The Ponte Vecchio is incredibly busy at times, but get up early enough and you can stroll along before it packs out. It's most known for all of it's boutique jewellery stores. Trust me when I say this is some of THE BEST gold jewellery I have ever seen. Now I know it's there the next time I go back I am gonna save up then go there to splurge. 

Marley also loved the buskers and the love locks around the statues, we didn't do one ourselves but this could be a fun thing to do with a little one!

UFFIZI GALLERY FOR JESUS PAINTINGS (A LOT OF THEM)

Next we headed to the Uffizi Gallery, as had heard that it was THE place to go and see the best of Florence's art collection.

The gallery is packed full of renaissance paintings with some incredible pieces. I have to say though, it's not a great place to take kids - our daughter Marley is 5 and whilst she found some of it interesting there were only so many times I could play 'spot the baby Jesus'. Let me tell you, there are a lot of baby Jesus paintings in that spot, and not much else. It's defo one for the adults!

TIP - We booked our tickets in advance so we didn't have to queue. This might sound like a small thing but the queues are HENCH. I'm talking like three hour waits. I mean I don't know who is that desperate to see 500 painting of Mary and baby Jesus but you know, whatever floats your boat. 

BITTER BAR FOR NEGRONI MAKING

On the second day mum was kind enough to take Marley out for pizza, gelato and a wander whilst hubby and I headed to Bitter Bar for an Airbnb Experience to try our hand and making (and tasting) Negronis for the first time. Bitter bar is a cute little speakeasy decorated in vintage 20s style and run by the amazing Cristian, an incredibly passionate cocktail master with an exquisite taste for creating drinks.

His bar is seating only - so you won't ever turn up and be huddled around the bar. He designed it so only the exact amount of people to seats can be in there at any time. This guy had serious attention to detail and wanted to create the most amazing experience for his patrons. 

During our super intimate 90 minute class (it was just me hubby and another guy who we quickly made friends with), we learned the history of the negroni, watched Cristian as he made us each the perfect one and then learnt how to make them ourselves. Equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and bitters is how it's done, with ice to chill the glass to just below zero, then finished with a rub of orange peel around the rim which plops into the glass as a garnish. I'd never tried Negronis before but it's now one of my go-to drinks to order when I'm out as you can slowly sip it. It feels grown up and cool.

After making our own we then had Cristian create us a bespoke 'twist' on the negroni based on what our own preferences were. I like sweet and sour things so Cristian made me a negroni with hazelnut syrup and mint plus he smoked it with black tea I think. It was INSANE! I can still think of the taste right now. I always say when you can remember the taste of something even months later it must have been damn good. 

TIP - follow Bitter Bar on instagram here and check out the Airbnb experience if you want to try this class, I'd HIGHLY recommend it.

View On AirbnbNegroni Cocktail Experience

BOBOLI GARDENS FOR STUNNING VIEWS

On day three we visited Boboli Gardens, the gardens behind the Pitti Palace, which was just a stones throw away from our Airbnb. 

Let me tell you if you go to Florence and only do one thing, let this be it. The gardens are breathtakingly stunning at the top. I couldn't quite believe that it wasn't a painting. I stood, listened to the birds chirping and watched Marley throw little rocks into the fountain at the top of the gardens and make wishes, which will be a lovely memory of mine. 

'I wish for ten cats'.

'I wish I could have a new hat'

'I wish the scratch on my head would go away'

and other such important wishes.

TIP - again I suggest you book tickets in advance as it can get very busy. take a camera, you won't want to miss the stunning views at the top. On a sunny day you could be lost in here for hours, it's that beautiful.

SHOPPING FOR VINTAGE DESIGNER BARGAINS

After Boboli we went for a wander as I had realised there were quite a few vintage shops around where we were staying. I picked up and incredible vintage dress which I have since realised is four sizes too big for me (I was under its spell and bought it anyway). 

Then we wandered the luxury Via De' Tournabuoni full of designer stores and high end boutiques.

TIP - head to Via Maggio and look for the shop that looks like a complete junk store. Everything is piled on top of each other. Don't take pictures - the lady doesn't like that, but go in and have a rummage. She has designer gems buried in there and I got my designer vintage dress for 30 euros. Absolutely crazy little place.

DID A FASHION SHOOT IN OUR AIRBNB

Completely normal, right? You can see the whole thing here! If you want to book it then the link is here but word of warning - the wifi wasn't great for us when we were there which was kind of annoying but hey I guess it means you have to have real life conversations instead!

LE VESPE CAFE FOR HIPSTER MUNCHIES

On our last day we had time to take a bit of a walk to the other side of town to visit Le Vespe Cafe which served incredible French toast and pancakes that I'd seen raved about online. This place felt quite different to the rest of Florence, less traditional Italia and instead the cool young things. Maybe we had found the Shoreditch of Florence?

WALKED AROUND AND LOOKING AT THE ARCHITECTURE

You just can't get bored of it really!

GENERALLY HANGING OUT DOING ITALIAN THINGS IN THE SUNSHINE

Eat gelato, hang out on terrace, soak up sunshine etc etc.

THE ANTIQUE CAROUSEL FOR PONY FUN

Just before we headed for our train back to Pisa airport we had time to ride the beautiful antique carousel in Piazza della Republica. Unlike your typical scummy carnival ride this one is steeped in history and was an absolute favourite of Marleys - I think we rode it 5 times in total. Perfecto.

S x

[trendingnewsb]

The Biggest Myth Debunked: The More Protein You Eat, the Faster You Build Muscles?

Some years ago I gulped down at least 2-3 unflavoured, whey protein shakes a day, while eating multiple chicken breasts. I thought protein was the holy grail when it comes to muscle growth. Yet I didn’t see the results that I truly wanted in the gym. Instead I was feeling low on energy and bloated.

People training in the gym often consume tons of protein because they expect it to be converted into muscles. Yet the effectiveness of excess protein intake, especially protein shakes has never been scientifically proven. If you drink protein shakes regularly, it’s very likely that you’re taking in more protein than you should.

Will Protein Be Converted To Muscles?

The biggest misconception there is on protein, is that muscles consist entirely of it. This isn’t true.

Muscles consist of protein, yes. But only a fraction of your muscles, approximately 20%, actually is protein. The other 80% are made up of different components, mostly water.

You don’t need to consume as much protein as you think you do. Let me show you that with a simple calculation:

In my multiple years as a trainer, I seldom saw an increase in raw muscles more than 5 kilograms in a year. Even for beginners. This is not because I’m a bad trainer, no, this is just the hard truth for natural athletes. There’s a lot of deceptive marketing out there. Don’t believe it. When I started training in the gym I started to look pretty massive after one year of training and gained multiple kilograms, but it was never, never more than 5 kilograms of raw muscle in a single year.

To continue the math and show you how much protein you would need for that natural muscle gain:

One-fifth of those 5 kilograms is 1 kilogram. 1 kilogram of raw protein that your muscles would actually need. If you divide that one kilogram of protein again through 365 (amount of the days in a year), you get only a few grams. In fact it is a one-digit figure. This results to only a few grams that you would need to eat extra in a day, to guarantee muscle growth.

You need way less protein than you think you need. All the excess protein that you will consume, will be converted to fat and stored in fat cells.

How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

You’re more likely to suffer from protein excess, than deficiency. If you eat sufficient calories in your daily life, you will not be protein deficient.[1]

I myself strive to consume about 1.3 grams of protein per day. Which might even be too much scientifically speaking, yet moderately higher levels of protein intake are still considered safe.

Unbiased studies recommend consuming about 0.8 to 0.9 grams of protein per day, if you’re an adult. Most people may even need protein intakes of only 0.6 grams of protein per day, but the recommendation’s aim is to cover most of the bell curve. Experienced athletes may even need less than that, according to some studies, as their body is better able to make use of the protein that they actually consume.

Once I’ve made that switch to a lower protein diet, I’ve actually experienced less fatigue and more energy in the gym and in my life.

The Downsides Of Protein Excess

Protein can do more harm than good. I’ve heard this sentence from my mother many times over, back when I was still drinking frequent protein shakes. I ignored it when I was younger and thought my mother was crazy, yet she still had a decent point.

Our current protein focused diet in the western world is promoting hyperfiltration of your kidneys. This increases the workload of your kidneys and therefore increases the stress that you put on that organ. Too much protein in your diet also diminishes the blood flow of your filtration helper and may even leak protein in your urine.[2] Long-term high protein diets may therefore lead to kidney problems. There is also a linkage to increased cancer risk, liver malfunction, and worsening of coronary artery disease.[3]

Not All Protein Is Created Equal

There is a guy training in the fitness center that I’m a fitness manager in. He’s a really friendly guy, but suffers from severe kidney problems.

I recently discussed his workout and nutrition regime with him, so I might give him some additional advice on how to better his condition. I advised him on cutting back his protein shakes and animal protein intake as meat and dairy can lead to an inflammatory response in his body.[4] He’s consuming a lot of protein on a regular basis.

Sadly he refused to listen to my advice and told me, that his doctors recommended him to keep following his regular diet plan. They told him that altering one’s nutrition doesn’t make a big difference anyway. Tip: If your doctor tells you that, you must change your doctor as soon as possible.

Some weeks later, after our workout session, he told me about his holidays with his family. And how he needed to cancel them in the last minute, because he was suffering yet again from intense stomach pains. He had to undergo operation that same day to ease the pain. It was his second alarming operation this year.[5]

Focus on a plant-based, unprocessed protein source. Such as beans, legumes, seeds and nuts in your diet.

What To Do Now

If you drink a protein shake every day, ask yourself: Is this truly working? If not, it may be the time to let go of some of your precious beliefs.

Consume a plant-based protein shake if you actually like the taste of it. If not, throw it away and don’t waste your money on that beverage ever again.[6]

Don’t stress protein out too much in your diet. If you don’t like gulping down pounds of lowfat-quark, don’t do it. The extra protein in that food won’t make your muscles pop out. I’ve been there. I was that weird guy that was eating nearly a kilogram of low-fat quark in the morning at 5am after going out, to preserve my muscles. It wasn’t worth it.

You should take a sincere look at your protein consumption and ask yourself: Am I truly enjoying the excess protein that I put in my body? If not, you should let it go. It isn’t necessary and may even be unhealthy in the long run.

You have to realize that supplement companies are marketing companies. Ignore those supplements for the beginning and focus on whole foods. Most people in the US are deficient in fiber and antioxidants. A deficiency that can be fatal. It is time to put more fruits and vegetables in your diet and not worry about protein deficiency.

Featured photo credit: Photo by Cristian Baron on Unsplash via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]^NCBI: The History of Protein[2]^NCBI: Adverse effects of excess protein consumption[3]^NCBI: Western diet and kidney function[4]^The Guardian: Animal protein and smoking[5]^NCBI: RDA and protein[6]^NCBI: Low protein, high fiber diets and exercise and cancer

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