#leo campo one shot

[luminoustarlight]

Leo Campo is a romantic. He’s a ladies man until he finds the one, but you better believe he treats every woman he’s ever hooked up with like they’re his world. He’s just an affectionate guy. Call it a symptom of being Italian. Pet-names roll off of his tongue smoothly, always punctuated with a little smirk.

“Can I get you anything else, sweetheart?” He’ll ask the unsuspecting girl at the bar.

The most frequent reply is “just your number,” which has definitely gotten old. He doesn’t actually give it out; he just takes them upstairs and gives them something better.

He’s a tender lover, always attentive to the needs of the woman he’s pleasuring. And the women are always satisfied.

Between the adoring nicknames and innate ability to make a woman cum three times before he cums himself, many girls begin hoping for something more than a one night stand. All of it offers them a false sense of the possibility of a relationship. Because how can a man be so sweet and not want something more?

Because Leo Campo is certain he’ll know the love of his life when he sees her. Maybe she walks into the bar, maybe he meets her while he’s coaching soccer.

Or, in your case, at your apartment where he’s delivering pizza.

If only you’d known how handsome the pizza delivery guy was going to be, you would’ve bothered to clean the smeared mascara from your eyes. You wouldn’t have answered the door with an oversized t shirt hanging off one of your shoulders, no bra to hold up your goods, and an old pair of sweatpants you’ve had since college.

“Oh my God,” slips out of your mouth. Your first instinct is to slam the door. Your tongue feels dry and your broken heart hasn’t forgotten how to hammer in your chest. Breakups happen every day. It’s okay that you look like a hot mess, minus the hot part.

You’ve ordered pizza from Vince’s dozens of times and that Jogi kid always delivers your pizza.

Who is this tall, dark-haired man with a smile that makes you think maybe you won’t feel miserable forever?

“How ya doin’?” He asks you, clearly not taking in any context clues as to how your night is going.

“Uh,” you begin unsurely. Are you really about to have a conversation with this guy in a pair of sweatpants with a guacamole stain on the right thigh? “I’ve been better. Hence the absolute atrocity standing before you.”

“Where?” He smiles without missing a beat. Because somewhere beneath your disheveled appearance, he sees a girl he desperately wants to get to know. Who broke your heart? And how does he mend it?

“I don’t suspect you have anyone to share this pizza with?”

“Not as of 8:16 this morning.” Yes, you know the exact minute you found your piece of shit ex-boyfriend cheating on you with his co-worker.

“Well, as of,” Leo checks his watch, “7:24 this evening, now you do.”

“You’re quite bold, aren’t you?”

“I suppose.”

“Aren’t you working?”

He shrugs. “It’s the end of my shift. Are you going to let me in?”

You narrow your eyes at him. “Is this the beginning of a Dateline episode?”

This makes Leo chuckle. Of course you’re tentative. You’re an attractive, single woman who has no right trusting any man at all, let alone a random pizza delivery guy.

But there’s something about his smile that quells your anxiety. No ulterior motives, just genuine kindness.

“I can call my Ma, if you want,” Leo suggests half seriously. “You can talk to her and learn everything about me.”

Your bottom lip snags beneath your teeth as you open your door to let the handsome stranger in. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“Leo.” He sets down your pizza on the coffee table. “Leo Campo.”

requests are open for leo and several other hayden characters!

anakin masterlist

[queenie-official]

I FINISHED LITTLE ITALY AND IM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS MAN ITS NOT FUNNY

[hanasnx]

❝ oranges. ❞

── leo campo x reader

MINORS DNI 18+ WORD COUNT: 1k SUMMARY: leo's not used to being in a relationship that has rules, but makes it up to you. WARNINGS: sexual content | mild relationship toxicity: manipulation, unsuccessful gaslighting | jealousy | makeup.

There's so much to love, hate, and admire about LEO CAMPO.

He calls his friends “cousin.” Even if they're not blood, they're family.

He corrects your pronunciation of his full name when you ask for it. He teaches you how to say it the way his parents meant it to be said. What his future restaurant will be called. What his mother yelled when he was in trouble for playing craps behind Pizza Napoli.

He quit smoking because you express disinterest in the way it makes his saliva taste. He chews nic gum constantly to soothe that oral fixation. You start to miss the way cloves smelled on his jackets.

Barely gets enough sleep. Between his job at his father’s joint, his shifts at the bar, and staying up late to work on the spot he leased, he’s swamped. Any spare time he has is spent on his restaurant, molding it to his visions. He loves this town, and he’s excited to put down some roots.

Who doesn’t realize he makes you jealous when he places his hands on his coworker’s hips behind the bar so he can get past her. Or how she takes every excuse to hover around him long past her training has completed. How she calls for him in a tune, or interrupts your conversation with him to ask you if she can, “steal your boyfriend real quick.” You’re onto her.

Who swears up and down that she doesn’t have a thing for him, and you’re making shit up. It’s cute that you’re jealous and all, but c’mon. She knows he’s her boss. He’s unappreciative of your “infringement” upon his actions. Unfortunately, you can’t let this go. Not when she so clearly wants to fuck him.

Who scoffs when you tell him, “Okay, if you don’t believe me, text her. Do it right now. Ask her to hook up.” because you’re sick of dragging this out. He protests you, but simply being higher than her in the bar’s food chain does nothing to quiet your nerves. You don’t care if he’s her boss.

“Didn’t know you got so fucking jealous. Maybe we should just call off the whole thing.” he says. It stings to be told you’re not worth the effort. That he’d rather quit on giving you and him a real shot instead of just easing your worries.

“Is that what you wanna do, Leo? Huh? Call off this whole thing just so you can keep acting like a sleaze?”

He scoffs at you. “What the fuck are you even saying?” It’s too late to derail your train of thought, it won’t be deescalated after what he’s admitted. You’re apparently not worth the effort. So you gather your things.

“Fine. You win.” you reply, “Don’t call me until you get fucking smart.” You throw your belongings into your purse, throwing it over your shoulder to exit the empty bar.

An annoyed sigh sounds behind you, but you don’t look back. “Baby.” His exasperation shines through when he calls after you, “Baby! C’mon, I didn’t mean it.” When that doesn’t receive the usual response, he fishes out his phone from his pocket. You open the door, cold air blowing in while he surrenders his phone, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it, look!” You halt, and eye him as he begins typing. “I’m doing it. And...” he muses. “send. It’s sent.” He turns it to show you the screen, and gently you close the door. “Now we’ll just wait—“ His cell isn’t halfway back in his pocket before a text tone beeps. “Oh, already.. Huh.” His brows furrow, deepening as he lays his gaze on it to read.

“What? What does it say?” you demand.

He says nothing, and you hastily approach. As soon as he registers your lingering presence, he jerks it away, but you're steadfast. Your hands catch his wrist to yank his cell back into your view. "'Was waiting for you to ask. Could tell your G-F was getting on your nerves.'?" Each word you read aloud your voice raises. His head lulls with a disappointed sigh through his nose, pressing his eyes closed as your nails dig into his skin unintentionally.

When you make one move, returning to your route to the door, he's swift in latching a hand on your upper arm. "Woah, woah, where you goin'?" There was something off about that girl, and you knew it.

"To go knock that bitch's headlights out!" you reply as you're drawn right back to him, bracing your fists against his chest. Truthfully, you don't want to be anywhere near him. After dismissing your instincts and giving that girl any indication that he was annoyed with you pissed you the fuck off. "Let me go!" you command, and he palms your forearms, arresting you as you thrash.

"I'm not gonna let you go off and do somethin' stupid!" His response causes you to flick off his grasp, throwing your hands down to release them. A quiet moment passes as you pant, sharing a heated exchange of eye contact. You shy away at first as his fingers graze your elbow, but you allow him to use it to lead you softly towards the bar. "Let's just... talk about this, huh? Lemme get you somethin'." He pours you a drink, but you don't touch it yet, pressing your lips into a thin line. He inclines his head in an attempt to catch you eye. "Will you look at me? Please?"

An accusatory finger jabs into his chest as you lay your gaze on him, that wrath flaring within you. "And you—" you seethe, and he suspends his hands in surrender, "you let her think you were annoyed with me. What did you say to her?" His posture straightens, upturning his brows as he defends himself.

“Honest, baby, I don’t know where she got a thing like that. S’crazy.” Your expression hardens, grilling him. He concedes, his face twisting as that familiar noise of, "'Ehh," spills from his lips. “I may—” he relays tentatively, “—have told her a little somethin' about how you were getting on my case about staying late—"

"—Leo."

"—She wanted to play pool so we’d hit the balls around a bit and I’d come straight home after closing up shop. It was a little bonding! You know? I’m a boss! Was trying to make her feel at home! That’s it, I swear—”

"—Leo."

"—Sure, you can be a little pitchy, but I wouldn't tell her that—"

"—Leo!"

His parted lips close, dropping his hands.

LEO CAMPO can be exceedingly difficult to have a conversation with, but he makes it worthwhile. Showing you how sorry he is, eating his words as he eats you out on top of his bar. Murmuring shit into your cunt about how that girl wishes he'd done this to her, fantasizes about fucking him in the empty bar... but who's got him doing that right now? Who runs him? Of course it's you. Just to get the point across, you make him fuck you bent over the pool table too.

[starryevermore]

foolish one ✧ leo campo

angst city™ library | send in a request (consult request faqs first)

request: Hiiii, I just read your Leo fic and I absolutely loved it.  Is there any way you can write another one? - anon

pairing: leo campo x fem!reader

summary: you know how to keep me waiting. i know how to act like i’m fine. don’t know what to call this situation, but i know i can’t call you mine. and it’s delicate, but i will do my best to seem bulletproof. ‘cause when my head is on your shoulder, it starts thinking you’ll come around. and maybe, someday, when we’re older, this is something we’ll laugh about over coffee every morning while you’re watching the news. but then the voices say, “you are not the exception. you will never learn your lesson.”

word count: 2,076

warnings?: implied smut, friends with benefits, angst, no happy ending, not proofread

It ran like clockwork. Every Friday night, you would go to Luigi’s an hour before closing time. Leo would bring you a vodka martini that you would drink as he flits between flirting with you, serving final drinks, and running through the closing activities. As the last of the patrons left, Leo would offer you a charming smile, ask if you’d like to take the party upstairs, and you would (trying to not seem so eager) accept. He would lead you to his apartment and…Let’s just say, make a mess in his sheets In the morning, Leo would offer you a coffee—a croissant if he was feeling particularly nice. By the time you finished drinking, you would be ready to leave. and it would all repeat again the next week.

You liked the routine. You liked the simplicity of the arrangement. 

You liked that, for once, Leo would actually pay attention to you. 

For as long as you could remember, you had had a crush on Leo Campo. It wasn’t an uncommon position to be in. He was funny, witty, and handsome as could be. Nearly every woman in Little Italy—single and taken alike—wanted him. But it was an equally uncommon position for Leo to not notice you. In your younger years, his attention was completely devoted to his best friend, Nikki Angiolo. Then, when their friendship eventually deteriorated because of the sudden feud between their families, you still couldn’t catch his eye. You were a dorky sort of kid. No one really spared you a second glance. 

It wasn’t until you left for college, had a glow up, and returned to Little Italy to take over the family business that anyone really noticed you. (In some ways, if you were being honest with yourself, that kind of hurt—the younger version of you deserved to be noticed, too.) But the most surprising thing of all was when Leo noticed you. 

“Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before,” Leo said, two shot glasses in hand, when you came to Luigi’s one Friday night. He slid a shot of tequila in front of you, keeping one shot glass to himself. 

You were caught between being snarky (“You’d’ve seen me if you paid attention to women who don’t look like a model straight off the runway”) and finally, finally, getting to be the giggly girl who finally caught the hottest boy in town’s attention in your fantasies. You tried to find the middle ground by saying, “Been gone a few years.”

“You’re from here? Nah, I think I’d remember you if that was the case. Can never forget a beautiful woman like yourself.”

Humming, you picked up the shot glass, tilting it in Leo’s direction. “Maybe you should get your memory checked.” You leaned in a little.

“Would you mind helping me refresh my memory?” Leo asked, picking up his own shot glass. 

“Do you talk like this to every woman who comes up to the bar?” Truthfully, you didn’t want to know the answer. You kind of already did. A man as handsome as him? With as well-known playboy tendencies that your friends loved to tell you about whenever you’d call? Yeah, you technically knew. But you that this line was the ultimate flirtatious exchange. It would make his feelings toward you more clear, let you know if it was okay to make a move. 

“Only the gorgeous ones,” Leo said, flashing you a grin. 

It felt weird to be this bold. It felt so out of character, so out of left field that if anyone was witness to this, they’d think you had gone off the deep end. But… Well, you already got this far. You couldn’t back down now—not that you really wanted to. So, you asked, “When does your shift end?”

Leo glanced at the clock on the wall behind you. “‘Bout an hour. I gotta close, but my place is right upstairs.”

“Maybe I’ll stick around then.”

Leo’s tongue darted out, licking his lips. He shamelessly looked you up and down, pausing for a bit longer than maybe necessary to stare at your cleavage. (Thank God you had decided to wear a shirt that provided a tasteful peak at your breasts and a push-up bra that accentuated them all the more, you had thought.) When he looked back up at you, his face was subtly tinted pink. “You should.”

And you did. 

It was a night you would never forget, finally getting to live out your fantasies. And, oh, what an amazing night it was. For all of Leo’s womanizer tendencies, you expected him to be more focused on his own pleasures. To not care about making you feel good. But you were so, so wrong. Because that man was fucking dedicated. 

You never expected it to last, though. You thought it would be just a one time thing. Something you would tell your friends about and giggle over the idea that maybe he would show interest in you one more time. But come morning, Leo was handing you a mug of coffee and saying, “We should do this again sometime.”

You were caught between being shocked and giggling like a schoolgirl. You distracted yourself by taking a drink of the coffee, trying to figure out how to response. Finally, you said, “Just name the time and place.”

And so, the routine began. And you never looked back. 

At least, you didn’t for a while. This was always supposed to be a casual thing. Nothing serious. The classic friends-with-benefits, no-strings-attached scenario. You both were free to see other people as you pleased. Either one of you could call it off if you so pleased. And you were content with that. Leo Campo, after all, was not the sort of man to commit. You always knew that. You always knew you would never hold a piece of his heart. You never expected anyone to. 

But then you saw her. Saw the way he looked at her. Saw how he dedicated all of his time to her ever since she came home. And you knew then that Leo Campo could love. It’s just that he could never love you. 

And yet, he still came back to you. Still invited you into his bed. Pretended that neither of you could see the way he burned for Nikki Angiolo. And you knew it shouldn’t have, but it gave you just enough of an inkling of hope to think that maybe he did care about you in some capacity. 

Though the question ate at you, you never intended to voice your concerns. You knew nothing good would come out of it. And even if you would eventually lose Leo to Nikki…Well, you so selfishly wanted to keep him around for as long as possible. 

But nothing ever really went to plan for you. Perhaps it was because it was a Monday, not a Friday. Perhaps it was because he came to your apartment. Perhaps it was because you weren’t expecting him at all. But it brought the question to the very forefront of your mind, and it wouldn’t let you rest until you got an answer—no matter if it was the one you didn’t want to hear. 

“What are we?” you asked one night as the two of you basked in the afterglow before you could stop yourself or even think about what you were saying. 

Leo shut his eyes, suppressing a groan. You knew he hated when you brought this up, even if it was seldom that you did. It’s just…The boundaries of whatever this was, was never defined. You just wanted to know your place in his life. If you were more than just a good lay. If you meant something to him like he did to you. 

“Not this again,” he grumbled. You weren’t quite sure you were supposed to hear that. It almost sounded he was talking to himself. You certainly had never had this conversation with him before, had always respected the boundaries he so carefully constructed. How often, though, had he had this conversation with the other women he slept with? Did he consider you to be one of them—never satisfied with the arrangement, trying to trap him in a relationship he never wanted? Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Leo run his hands over his face. A little louder, he asked, “Why does it matter?”

You turned over on your side and looked at Leo. When you tried to reach out, caress his face, urge him to look back at you, he only pushed your hand away. You asked, trying to swallow your hurt, “I mean…we’re friends, right?”

He didn’t say anything immediately. Didn’t try to convince you he felt something, anything more than lust, for you. You were really to take that silence as an answer, turn away from him, pretend that you hadn’t said anything at all. Of course it couldn’t be that simple. “Never really thought about it.”

And, oh, that hurt. Reaffirmed everything you ever thought about how Leo felt about you. In just five words, Leo told you that you never meant as much to him as he did to you. And even if that was something you always knew, deep down, it still hurt for it to be confirmed. To know that it would the truth instead of some lie you just told yourself to keep you from getting your hopes too high. 

“Go.”

Leo finally looked over at you, his brows pinched together. “Huh?”

“Leave,” you said, thinking that he didn’t understand you were telling him to get out. Sometimes he was like that. Sometimes you had to tell him something very directly for him to understand. 

Leo pushed himself up, propping himself up on his elbows. “You’re kicking me out?”

Why wasn’t he understanding? Why didn’t he get that, if you meant nothing to him, he didn’t get to stay? What was so hard about understanding that? You rolled over on your side, turned your back to him. You couldn’t look at him while you did this, or else you might change your mind. 

He reached over, touched your shoulder. You jerked away, pushing yourself closer to the edge of the bed to get away from him. “Don’t be like this.”

“I have work in the morning. Gotta get up early.”

“Earlier you said you have tomorrow off.”

Damn him. Damn him for remembering what you said but still not caring about you. “Errands then. I just got an early morning, and I’d like to sleep.”

Leo reached for you again. This time, you didn’t move away, let him touch you one last time. “Don’t push me away. Please.”

“Why should it matter? You don’t even think of me as a friend.” You pulled the covers around you tighter, burrowing yourself in a little cocoon. Didn’t even care that, in doing so, you were taking the covers from Leo. He didn’t deserve your covers. “And that’s pretty fucking clear. I never ask anything of you, but when I ask you to leave, you can’t even give me that.”

“Why are you doing this? What’s wrong?” Leo moved closer to you, sure that you wouldn’t try to pull away again. He pressed his body against yours, buried his face in the crook of your neck. His lips ghosted over the spot where your neck met your shoulder. “C’mon. This isn’t like you.”

“How would you know? We’re not friends.”

Leo kissed your shoulder softly. In any other circumstance, you might have melted. But, now, it felt like he was burning you. “I care about you—”

You fought the urge to scoff. How was this caring? “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Me neither. I never want to fight with you. Just, please, tell me what’s upsetting you so I can make it better—”

God, how was he so obtuse? How couldn’t he understand what you were saying? 

“No. I don’t want to do…whatever this is anymore. I want to end this…arrangement between us.”

Leo pulled away. Finally. “Are you serious?”

You could only nod.

“…did I do something?”

You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to will the tears pricking at your eyes to not fall. Not now. Not while he was still hear. “You did nothing at all.”

And maybe that was the worst part of all. 

[sciencespies]

Brazil's Amazon rainforest and development at a crossroads

https://sciencespies.com/environment/brazils-amazon-rainforest-and-development-at-a-crossroads/

Brazil's Amazon rainforest and development at a crossroads

In this Nov. 25, 2019 photo, highway BR-163 stretches between the Tapajos National Forest, left, and a soy field in Belterra, Para state, Brazil. Carved through jungle during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, this highway and BR-230, known as the Trans-Amazon, were built to bend nature to man’s will in the vast hinterland. Four decades later, there’s development taking shape, but also worsening deforestation. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Night falls in Brazil’s Amazon and two logging trucks without license plates emerge from the jungle. They rumble over dirt roads that lead away from a national forest, carrying trunks of trees hundreds of years old.

After pulling onto a darkened highway, the truckers chug to their turnoff into the woods, where they deliver their ancient cargo. By morning, the trunks are laid out for hewing at the remote sawmill, its corrugated metal roof hardly visible from the highway.

The highway known as BR-163 stretches from soybean fields to a riverside export terminal. The loggers were just south of the road’s juncture with BR-230, known as the Trans-Amazon. Together the highways cover more than 5,000 miles, crossing the world’s fifth-biggest country in the state of Para.

Carved through jungle during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, the roads were built to bend nature to man’s will in the vast hinterland. Four decades later, there’s development taking shape, but also worsening deforestation—and locals harbor concerns that progress may pass them by.

Colonization Dream

The highways first meet in the city of Ruropolis, where the military government promised land to lure people to the planned agricultural village. One 53-year-old man, Hilquias Soares, remembers a state agent in his hometown yelling, “Who wants to go to Para?”

In this Nov. 28, 2019 photo, a logging truck without license plates carries the trunk of a giant tree on a dirt road away from Trairao National Forest in Trairao, Para state, Brazil. Night after night, truckers chug along the darkened road to their turn-off into the woods, where they deliver their ancient cargo. By morning, the logs are laid out for hewing at the remote sawmill, its corrugated metal roof hardly visible from the highway. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

His family took the chance, arriving just after President Emílio Médici, a general, inaugurated the town. Archival footage shows Médici unveiling a plaque reading: “The Brazilian people respond to the challenge of history, occupying the heart of the Amazon.” Children play on see-saws and show off T-shirts with the crossroads sprawling across the continent-sized nation.

“There was a dream of colonization, of getting land and seeing if here we could have better financial conditions,” Dedé Diniz, 69, said in his home. “A lot of people don’t recognize what we did, what we fought for.”

Diniz examines a photograph he took of Médici and, below it in his album, a shot of a truck trapped in mud. It’s nothing like the bucolic painting on his wall that shows farm furrows and wild forest beside the highway, where a machine repairs ruts.

In this Nov. 22, 2019 photo, cut logs and wooden boards lie in an area opened by illegal loggers within the Renascer Reserve in the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. This conservation unit is known to have trees with high economic value such as ipe, jatoba and massaranduba. One of the biggest seizures of illegal timber in the Brazilian Amazon forest happened in this reserve in 2010. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

He jokes that he’ll update the painting with asphalt soon—that stretch should be paved by 2021. Already people have started moving in from other states to buy land for cattle pastures.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army captain, won last year’s election with support from farmers, truckers and miners by resurrecting the dictatorship-era desire to develop the world’s largest tropical rainforest. But he did so at a different stage of human history, one where scientists recognize the Amazon must remain to suck carbon from the air and help arrest climate change. Some also argue the Amazon, which has lost some 20% of its original forest, is nearing an irreversible tipping point. In that sense, Brazil itself is at a crossroads.

Road Warriors

From Ruropolis, the Trans-Amazon and BR-163 run jointly westward over a bumpy 70 miles before splitting at a little roundabout. During corn and soy harvests, 2,600 trucks pass through each day to and from the nearby Tapajos River.

In this Nov. 29, 2019 photo, cargo trucks turn off the Trans-Amazon highway, top, onto route BR-163 in Campo Verde, near Itaituba, Para state, Brazil. Carved through jungle during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, the roads were built to bend nature to man’s will in the vast hinterland. Four decades later, there’s development taking shape, but also worsening deforestation— and locals harbor concerns that progress may pass them by. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

There, trucks pull into transshipment ports. Grain cascades from their containers to be loaded onto barges. After a downriver trip that takes days, the grain is poured into ships’ holds and dispatched across the world, largely to China.

That transoceanic network seems far removed from the road warriors filling up on grilled beef or bowls of açai in truck stops. While the truckers eat, grease-stained mechanics replace worn-out shocks and blown-out tires.

At the start of Bolsonaro’s administration, only 32 miles of BR-163 from soy country to the Trans-Amazon remained to be paved. But tropical rains transformed the dirt into impassable mud. Soy trucker Sandro Vieira recalled being stuck in gridlock two years ago, consuming nothing but bread, coffee and peanuts for a week; to this day, the smell of peanuts disgusts him.

In this Nov. 29, 2019 photo, an image of sacred heart of Jesus hangs on a wall in Dede Diniz’s home in the town of Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil, next to an aerial photo of the town. The Trans-Amazon highway and route BR-163 meet in the city of Ruropolis, where the military government promised land to lure people to the planned agricultural village in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Bolsonaro’s government last month finished paving the soy corridor. The decades-delayed achievement is the first of major public works to come, Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio de Freitas said. They include a $3 billion grain railway alongside BR-163.

A ministry promotional video for foreign investors shows deer and other wild animals in their habitats, living in harmony with highways.

“We know Brazil has a responsibility to the world, and we will fulfill our responsibility,” de Freitas said.

Improved Access

The two highways opened up the rainforest—and viewed from above, the landscape is slashed by jagged stitches of cleared forest on both sides.

Roads themselves aren’t the problem today, according to Paulo Barreto, a forest engineer and researcher at environmental group Imazon.

The issue, he said, is that improved access has been accompanied by Bolsonaro’s rhetoric emboldening illegal loggers while his administration undermines its own environmental regulator.

In this Nov. 22, 2019 photo, cut logs lie in an area opened by illegal loggers inside the Renascer Reserve in the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. This area is known to have trees with high economic value such as ipe, jatoba and massaranduba. One of the biggest seizures of illegal timber in the Brazilian Amazon forest happened in this reserve in 2010. Those who live in the area complain that illegal logging is still happening. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

“If those things continue, deforestation will explode in the area,” Barreto said.

Official data show Amazon deforestation rose almost 30% in the 12 months through July, to its worst level in 11 years. Para state alone accounted for 40% of the loss, with a heat map of incidents running along the Trans-Amazon and BR-163. The Jamanxim national forest, alongside BR-163, had the second most deforestation of any protected area.

Paulo Bezerra, a leader of the Munduruku indigenous people that live around the highways, said in an interview that farmers from Mato Grosso and other states are using tractors to rip down trees near his village, and try to intimidate tribesmen into silence. They say they’re afraid of being killed.

After the global spotlight turned to Brazil in August as the Amazon burned, Bolsonaro dismissed the huge fires as normal practice for clearing pasture and farmland.

In this Nov. 29. 2019 photo, an otter pelt hangs on the wall behind Dede Diniz in his home in the town of Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil. Diniz remembers the visit of President Emilio Medici, during his military dictatorship, at the time the town was inaugurated. “There was a dream of colonization, of getting land and seeing if here we could have better financial conditions,” said Diniz in his home. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

What kind of development should Brazil’s government encourage, and how much, are questions being asked at the U.N.’s ongoing climate conference in Madrid.

Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said in an interview in Madrid that people in the Amazon will continue to be drawn into illegal activities if there isn’t economic development.

Soy Bonanza

Paving BR-163 ensures soy and corn can flow uninterrupted, making viable more farming and new riverside terminals, where the government says exports can reach 25 million tons in 2024, from 10 million tons this year.

More soy means more transport. Workers recently spread concrete at one gas station being built near the crossroads, with parking for 760 trucks.

Edeon Ferreira, executive director of soy and corn transport group Pró-Logística, said heavier traffic will add jobs at restaurants and hotels, plus generate demand for mechanics to meet truckers’ needs. He spoke while leading a group of Mato Grosso soy farmers on a 2,900-mile circuit to inspect Amazon roadways.

In this Nov. 29, 2019 photo, smoke rises from a fire in the Amazon rainforest near route BR-163 and the Trans-Amazon highway in Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil. Official data show Amazon deforestation rose almost 30% in the 12 months through July, to its worst level in 11 years. Para state alone accounted for 40% of the loss, especially along the Trans-Amazon and BR-163 highways. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Ferreira said Mato Grosso can farm enough on degraded pasture, without deforestation, as cattle ranching becomes efficient. But Imazon’s Barreto said productivity gains don’t happen automatically; farmers will calculate whether it’s cheaper to invest in technology or clear forest areas made available, even tacitly, by the government.

To support Amazon states, Salles said Brazil aims to shore up foreign funding from the Paris Agreement. But Brazilian officials have yet to detail measures, goals or resources for anti-deforestation efforts.

The clock is ticking. Already the Amazon is growing warmer and drier, losing its capacity to recycle water, and the majority may become savannah in 15 to 30 years, said Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo.

Order and Progress

Over the past two decades, soy was increasingly planted along the northern part of BR-163. On one side of the highway is the Tapajos national forest, and farmland on the other. Fires burn here and there. In one spot, the breeze carries black ash across the road into the protected area.

In this Nov. 22, 2019 photo, a wooden house stands at dawn in the Renascer Reserve in the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. The clock is ticking. Already the Amazon is growing warmer and drier, losing its capacity to recycle water, and may become savannah in 15 to 30 years, said Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 29, 2019 photo, a tank truck pours water on the street at dusk in Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil. Carved through jungle during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, the roads that meet in Ruropolis were built to bend nature to man’s will in the vast hinterland. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 21, 2019 photo, 10-year-old Kevin performs a somersault in the Uruara river as his friend looks on, at the entrance of the Renascer conservative unit of the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. The clock is ticking. Already the Amazon is growing warmer and drier, losing its capacity to recycle water, and may become savannah in 15 to 30 years, said Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 24, 2019 photo, Paulo Bezerra, a member of the Munduruku indigenous people, works on his fruit plantation at the Acaizal village in Santarem, Para state Brazil. The 56-year-old indigenous leader says that farmers from Mato Grosso and other states are using tractors to rip down trees near his village and try to intimidate them into silence. “Because of the complaints we make, we have been threatened,” said Bezerra. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 30, 2019 photo, a fragment of Amazon rainforest stands next to soy fields in Belterra, Para state, Brazil. The Amazon, which has lost about 17% of its original forest, is nearing an irreversible tipping point. In that sense, Brazil itself is at a crossroads. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 18, 2019 photo, 24-year-old Donizete carries a heavy sack of watermelons through the water at the edge of the Tapajos river as he unloads a boat with goods to be delivered to the local market in Santarem, Para state, Brazil. The town, at junction of the Tapajos and Amazon rivers, is an important hub where grain is loaded onto barges for a downriver trip that takes days, then poured into ships’ holds and dispatched across the world, largely to China. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

This Nov. 18, 2019 photo shows boats at dusk in a port at Santarem, Para state, Brazil, at the confluence of the Tapajos and Amazon rivers. The grain export terminal, top left, loads ships with grains, which are then dispatched across the world, largely to China. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 26, 2019 photo, a truck drives on the road in Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil. From Ruropolis, the Trans-Amazon and BR-163 run jointly westward over a bumpy 70 miles before splitting at a little roundabout. During corn and soy harvests, 2,600 trucks pass through each day to and from the nearby Tapajos river. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 28, 2019 photo, Lauzenir Araujo stands beside his truck after removing a layer of rubber from a damaged tire on route BR-163 near Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil. Araujo, who is hauling a load of manure to a grain plantation in the state of Mato Grosso, says that the old tires tend to explode as the truck can move faster on the newer road. “Eighty percent of your life is on the road,” he says. “There is no life. That’s why I say, this is for those who like it.” (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 23, 2019 photo, a cut tree stands in a burned area in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. Official data show Amazon deforestation rose almost 30% in the 12 months through July, to its worst level in 11 years. Para state alone accounted for 40% of the loss. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 22, 2019 photo, the sun lights part of a path opened by illegal loggers in the Renascer Reserve of the Amazon rainforest in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. This area is known to have trees with high economic value such as ipe, jatoba and massaranduba. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 27, 2019 photo, a woman stands on her stilt house with her dog, watching young boys playing soccer in the Vila Nova neighborhood of Itaituba on the Trans-Amazon highway in Para state, Brazil. The highway, carved through jungle during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, was built to bend nature to man’s will in the vast hinterland. Four decades later, there’s development taking shape, but also worsening deforestation, and locals harbor concerns that progress may pass them by. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 29, 2019 photo, a dead armadillo lies on a dirt road in Campo Verde, near Itaituba, Para state Brazil. The clock is ticking. Already the Amazon is growing warmer and drier, losing its capacity to recycle water, and may become savannah in 15 to 30 years, said Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 23, 2019 photo, a burned area of the Amazon rainforest is seen in Prainha, Para state, Brazil. Official data show Amazon deforestation rose almost 30% in the 12 months through July, to its worst level in 11 years. Para state alone accounted for 40% of the loss. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 28, 2019 photo, an old television transmits a Brazilian soap opera in the home of Domingas Rufina, who is a member of a local women’s association in Trairao, Para state, Brazil. The 67-year-old is considering moving to another quiet town after a leader of her association was threatened after denouncing illegal logging in the nearby Trairao national forest. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 29, 2019 photo, men work on the construction site of a gas station and parking lot on route BR-163 near the intersection with the Trans-Amazon highway in the area of Itaituba, Para state, Brazil. When it’s complete, the parking area will be big enough for 760 trucks. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 27, 2019 photo, Antonia Pereira swings on her hammock as she talks with a friend on her stilt house at the Vila Nova neighborhood in Itaituba, Para state, Brazil. She says life was better in the 1980s when people came to the gold mines in the region. Now she survives selling hammocks and cooking street barbecues. Sometimes she can fish from her porch during the season that the Tapajos river floods. “I wish there were more jobs for the young people,” she says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 28, 2019 photo, Domingas Rufina, a member of the local women’s association, poses in her home in Trairao, Para state, Brazil. The 67-year-old is considering a move to another quiet town after a leader of her association was threatened for denouncing the illegal logging in the nearby Trairao national forest. Rufina doesn’t want to get mixed up in any conflict. “I don’t know how to read and I only know how to write my name, but I am an experienced woman,” she says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 20, 2019 photo, Valmir Lima de Souza poses with a sickle on his manioc plantation at the Curua-Una region in Santarem, Para state, Brazil. The 60-year-old small farmer, who has been working on this land for 48 years, says people have tried to buy his property, telling him that he has already raised his family and deserves to take a rest. “Man, I am already resting, because I didn’t have water and light here, and now I have water and light and I am resting in my piece of land where I’m gonna stay. Making abundance, growing what I want to plant,” says Souza. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 30, 2019 photo, a rooster-tail cicada clings to a tree on the property of Joao Batista Ferreira in Belterra, Para state, Brazil. The area was jungle throughout Ferreira’s childhood. Today, his plot is an island of shade and birdsong in the middle of sweeping plantations. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 27, 2019 photo, boys play soccer next to stilt houses at the Vila Nova neighborhood in Itaituba, Para state, Brazil. Carved through jungle during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, the Trans-Amazon highway that runs through town was built to bend nature to man’s will in the vast hinterland. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this Nov. 30, 2019 photo, the forest stands next to a soy field in an area behind the home of Joao Batista Ferreira in Belterra, Para state, Brazil. Better known as Joao of Honey, though none of his 1,000 beehives remain, he complains that agribusiness did away with the native forest. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

“The national forest is a reserve that’s important for the country, for the world,” said Manoel de Souza, 59, who coordinates the Tapajos forest’s federation of traditional communities. “Soy is also important, but it should be ordered so that they aren’t on top of one another, impacting each other.”

Just north of the forest is Belterra, which was jungle throughout João Ferreira’s childhood. Today, his plot is an island of shade and birdsong in the middle of sweeping plantations. He’s known as João of Honey, though none of his 1,000 beehives remain. The bees died off since agribusiness moved in 20 years ago, said João, 59.

He complains that agribusiness did away with native forest, and its efficient machinery creates few jobs, leaving townspeople in the lurch. In an act of lonesome protest, he painted altered versions of the Brazilian flag and hung them over his yard. They feature question marks rather than the national motto “Order and Progress,” because he’s not sure Brazil has them any longer.

“One day progress comes,” he said, “and decay arrives with it.”

Explore further

Brazil highways drive Amazon development—and destruction

© 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and development at a crossroads (2019, December 12) retrieved 12 December 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-12-brazil-amazon-rainforest-crossroads.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Environment

[jacensolodjo]

Updated El Paso victim list:

Javier Rodríguez. 15. Javier was getting ready to start his sophomore year, a soccer player ready to start another season. His whole life ahead of him. His sister says she “lost my everything, my best friend.”

His classmates organized a vigil for him. No student should ever have to do that. We must not accept this epidemic as a new normal or the status quo. Let’s do better for this generation and the ones that follow.

Jordan Anchondo. 24 years-old. She went to Walmart to buy school supplies—and decorations for her daughter’s 6th birthday party. When the gunman entered, she shielded her 2-month-old son. Jordan didn’t make it, but her son did.

Andre Anchondo. Jordan’s husband. 23 years-old. They married last year. He’d just finished building their family a home. Saturday was going to be the first time family & friends would see it. But he, too, was killed—while shielding his wife, who was shielding their son.

Arturo Benavides. 60 years-old. An Army veteran and a bus driver—he spent his life serving our community and our country. His wife was with him in Walmart. She made it out. He did not.

David Johnson. 63 years-old. When hatred entered Walmart on Saturday morning, David responded by protecting his wife and his 9 year-old granddaughter. He passed away, but they survived.

Jorge Calvillo García. At 61 years-old, Jorge passed away this weekend while he was protecting his granddaughter. He was from Torreón, Mexico. His son, Luis Calvillo, was shot as well. They were outside of Walmart on Saturday, raising funds for EP Fusion, a local girl’s soccer team.

María Eugenia Legarreta Rothe. María is from Chihuahua, Mexico—and was only here so she could be at the El Paso airport when her daughter arrived. She was 58 years-old.

Teresa Sanchez. At 82 years-old, Teresa bore the brunt of evil on Saturday. She was from Mexico as well.

Luis Alfonzo Juárez. 90 years-old. His wife, who he’d been married to for almost 70 years, was also a victim of Saturday’s shooting. He didn’t make it—but thankfully, she did. Beto was able to meet their family at the hospital, and they're showing this community's strength.

Gloria Irma Márquez. A mother of four and a grandmother, Gloria was from Juárez—part of our binational community. She lost her life at 61 years-old because this country failed to protect her.

Iván Manzano. Like Gloria, Iván was from Juárez, where so many of our neighbors live. He was 46 years-old when he lost his life in our country.

Elsa Mendoza Márquez. 57 years-old. Elsa lived across the border in Juárez, where she was a teacher. When she ran into Walmart on Saturday to buy supplies for her students in Juárez, her husband and son waited outside in the car. They survived the shooting. Tragically, she did not.

Sara Esther Regalado. 66 years-old. Adolfo Cerros Hernández. 68 years-old. They, too, were from Mexico—and are remembered as being loving parents. “I don’t know how long it will take for my soul to heal,” their daughter wrote.

Alexander Gerhard Hoffman. Alexander also wasn’t from the United States. He was from Germany—but he lost his life visiting our country at 66 years-old.

Maria Flores and Raúl Flores. The couple went to Walmart on Saturday morning and never came home. They were 77 years-old. Both of them.

Angie Silva Englisbee. 86 years-old. This wasn’t the first time Angie experienced tragedy. Her husband died at 38 years-old, leaving her to raise seven kids by herself. Her grandson called her “the hero of our family.” She, too, was killed.

Leo Campos. 41 years-old. Maribel Hernandez. 56 years-old. They went to Walmart after leaving their dog to be groomed. When Maribel’s brother heard they never came to pick him up, he feared the worst. Soon, it was confirmed: Leo and Maribel had both lost their lives.

Margie Reckard. 63 years-old. “I’m like a puppy run away from its momma,” said Antonio Basco, her husband of 22 years. “But my wife, she’d say, ‘Get up off your rear end.” He continued: “I know she’s looking down and she’s smiling.”

Juan de Dios Velázquez Chairez. Juan and his wife, Nicholasa, shopped together every week. Juan was from Zacatecas, Mexico, but had lived in El Paso for two years. Nicholasa was injured in the shooting. Juan lost his life at 77 years-old.

Via #El Paso Strong

(Reminder that it was the Anchondo baby who was in the photo op by the Twitterer in Chief)

[haydennation]

Little Italy shines light on family, love and Toronto

Credit: ENTERTAINMENT ONE/LIONSGATE

(A film about life, family, love and pizza, as well as a large focus on Canada, Little Italy is the next movie to add to your must see list.)

Melissa Novacaska | Interrobang | Lifestyles | September 7th, 2018

A film about love, lost, pride and of course family with a little rivalry is just a snippet of what the movie Little Italy is all about. Little Italy, stars Emma Roberts as Nikki Angioli, an up and coming master chef and Hayden Christensen as Leo Campo, an inspiring pizza entrepreneur, who grew up together with their families in Toronto’s Little Italy borough. The two are inseparable as kids and in turn, help their families run a joint pizza shop, that is until a pizza contest and an argument between the fathers (from each family) leads to the shop closing and each family creating their own restaurants (right next to one another, no less). Though it seems both families are at war, it’s really only the fathers who are against one another, while the other members of each family secretly (and not so secretly) remain friends. As for Angioli and Campo, they also remain close, until they hit young adulthood and Angioli (who secretly has had feelings for Campo), jets off to the London, England for five years, to learn from the best in the culinary world (also known as chef Corrine, played by Jane Seymour). Angioli ends up coming home for two weeks to renew her Visa, though her family and friends plea for her to stay longer. Her plans eventually go up in the air for the time being as she reconnects with Campo (who is trying to live out dreams of his own) and while their fathers continue to butt heads Angioli ultimately has to choose what she’ll end up doing in the end.

Directed by Donald Petrie, (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Miss Congeniality), Little Italy is a romantic comedy delight. Though it may be cheesy (both literally and figuratively) and can be compared to a romcom pulled right out of 2005, Little Italy has some true heart to it. The fact that this film was not only filmed in Toronto, but also set in Toronto makes it a stronger movie (at least in Canada), since a number of movies tend to be filmed in Canada, but are staged as cities such as New York, or small town U.S.A. From the shot of the CN Tower and the Distillery District, to some Blue Jays gear being seen on screen, this film pays homage to the Toronto and to the Italian community. Even a bit of Canadian music was part of the film’s soundtrack, including some Shawn Mendes. Little Italy, tries to portray and demonstrate what a tight knit community Little Italy (the area) is and how close an Italian family can be (e.g., running a family business with everyone young and old helping out etc.) Add pizza to the mix and it’s even better. Though the film may not be an Oscar contender, it is a funny and lighthearted romcom that has just the right amount of heartwarming moments as well as a decent amount of laughable lines. The cast is a mix of Canadian and American actors, including Alyssa Milano, Adam Ferrara, Gary Basaraba, Andrew Phung and Linda Kash. The two other stars of the movie and who brought a number of laughs include Danny Aiello and comedy queen Andrea Martin, who play the single elderly parent from each side of the two families. The chemistry between the two is great and it was hard to not want the best for them. Plus, their quips and perfectly timed comedy kept the audience in the theatre on their toes laughing. Both Roberts and Christensen play their parts well and together, help tell the story of young love and the difficulty of wanting to create a life (both independently and together), even when obstacles get in the way. Overall, Little Italy shows the strong ties between love, life and family and that when things get tough, your family and friends will always have your back and be ready to welcome you back home with wide-open arms. Though Little Italy was somewhat predictable in certain aspects, it’s still a film worth checking out if you’re into the classic romantic comedy genre, pizza or looking for a loveable family-tied story.

[yoongichild]

#Accaddeoggi: 25 aprile 1945; FESTA DI LIBERAZIONE.

Il 25 aprile 1945 è il giorno in cui il Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia (CLNAI) – il cui comando aveva sede a Milano ed era presieduto da Luigi Longo, Emilio Sereni, Sandro Pertini e Leo Valiani (presenti tra gli altri il presidente designato Rodolfo Morandi, Giustino Arpesani e Achille Marazza) - proclamò l'insurrezione in tutti i territori ancora occupati dai nazifascisti, indicando a tutte le forze partigiane attive nel Nord Italia facenti parte del Corpo Volontari della Libertà di attaccare i presidi fascisti e tedeschi imponendo la resa, giorni prima dell'arrivo delle truppe alleate; parallelamente il CLNAI emanò in prima persona dei decreti legislativi, assumendo il potere «in nome del popolo italiano e quale delegato del Governo Italiano», stabilendo tra le altre cose la condanna a morte per tutti i gerarchi fascisti, incluso Benito Mussolini, che sarebbe stato raggiunto e fucilato tre giorni dopo.

«Arrendersi o perire!» fu la parola d'ordine intimata dai partigiani quel giorno e in quelli immediatamente successivi.

Entro il 1º maggio tutta l'Italia settentrionale fu liberata: Bologna (il 21 aprile), Genova (il 23 aprile) e Venezia (il 28 aprile). La Liberazione mise così fine a venti anni di dittatura fascista e a cinque anni di guerra; la data del 25 aprile simbolicamente rappresenta il culmine della fase militare della Resistenza e l'avvio effettivo di una fase di governo da parte dei suoi rappresentanti che porterà prima al referendum del 2 giugno 1946 per la scelta fra monarchia e repubblica – consultazione per la quale per la prima volta furono chiamate alle urne per un voto politico le donne – e poi alla nascita della Repubblica Italiana, fino alla stesura definitiva della Costituzione.

Il termine effettivo della guerra sul territorio italiano, con la resa definitiva delle forze nazifasciste all'esercito alleato, si ebbe solo il 3 maggio, come stabilito formalmente dai rappresentanti delle forze in campo durante la cosiddetta resa di Caserta firmata il 29 aprile 1945: tali date segnano anche la fine del ventennio fascista.

————————————————————

The Giorno della Liberazione (Liberation Day), also called Festa della Resistenza (Celebration of the Resistance), is held on April 25th each year and has been a public holiday in Italy since 1946. It celebrates the end of the Italian Civil War and the end of the Nazi Occupation of Italy during World War II.

Why today?

This is a good question, since not all of Italy was liberated on April 25th, 1945. So here's the short version of what happened.

Italy's partisan resistance movement had been going since the start of the war. It was made up of many different groups, including a wide range of political parties (the Italian Communist Party, the Italian Socialist Party, the Christian Democrats, the Labour Democratic Party and the Italian Liberal Party), which together made up the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy (CLNAI).

A large number of women were involved, around 35,000, and the CLNAI had the backing of Italy's Royal government and the Allied forces.

The CLNAI first called for an uprising on April 19th and Bologna - considered a communist stronghold - was liberated on April 21st, followed by Genoa on the 23rd.

April 25th was such a significant date because it was the date Milan and Turin were liberated. Milan was the home of the CLNAI, while Turin was significant as a large city of industry.

On the morning of the 25th, a general strike was announced by partisan Sandro Pertini, who went on to become President of the Republic. Factories were occupied, including the one where Corriere della Sera, which had been connected to the fascist regime, was printed. Partisans used that factory to print news of the victory.

What happened after the Liberation?

After April 25th, all fascist leaders were sentenced to death, and Benito Mussolini was shot three days later, after he had tried to escape north to Switzerland. The Americans arrived in the city on May 1st and German forces eventually officially surrendered on May 2nd.

The Liberation was a key turning point in Italy's history as it led to a referendum on June 2nd, which resulted in the end of the monarchy and the creation of the Italian Republic. The Constitution of Italy was drawn up in 1947.

April 25th was designated a national holiday in 1949 by Alcide De Gasperi, the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy.

[kroabot]

My whole life is sitting in my room.  Guarding a few boutique items.  The same at the mall, security guards need to guard the clothes.

Toda mi vida está sentada en mi habitación. Guardando algunos artículos de boutique. Lo mismo en el centro comercial, los guardias de seguridad deben proteger la ropa.

Dios me protege del robo en Perú. Pero no hay descanso alrededor de estos incrédulos.

THIS IS WHAT THEY DO TO STAR AND SHE'S NOT EVEN LIVING IN POVERTY!

https://elpitazo.net/cronicas/un-rato-en-cucuta/

LEO FELIPE CAMPOS CHRONICLE

Yorleidys produces cuts with leaflets in the abdomen and wrists. Recently he turned sixteen and confessed to his mother that he likes pain.

"It scares me because the wounds are getting deeper," says Veronica, her mother, from the entrance of a modest house. The street is dirt and is in the El Trigal neighborhood, Molinos Norte sector, a commune on the outskirts of Cúcuta, where hundreds of Venezuelans have come, like them.

In this area, of obvious poverty, most subsist thanks to the recycling of plastic and cardboard.

Yorleidys' sister is called Yorleana, she is nineteen years old and lives with her, her mother, her grandmother, her son and ten other people. In total they are fourteen, counting seven minors. None studies. No one has their documents in order.

Veronica, the mother, is worried; Apart from the injuries that his youngest daughter self-inflicts, she has no job and knows that Yorleana, the eldest, prostituted herself for two months. In that period he slept with seven men.

Yorleana does not hide it, speaks head-on though with shame; It is hard to look into your eyes. She has severe pain in the colon and is depressed.

"Nothing more was seven," he repeats. This is the worst thing that happened to me.

    IN TOTAL THEY ARE FOURTEEN, COUNTING TO SEVEN MINORS. NO STUDY. NOBODY HAS DOCUMENTS IN RULE

He was paid forty thousand pesos every time he slept with someone. With that money he helped cover the lease. When he says "prostitution" he turns off his voice until he is hardly heard. He is a bachelor, he wanted to study Criminalistics or Veterinary Medicine.

-What I can do? This is life. –Yorleana turns to the other side to contain the crying. As he speaks, his younger sister looks out and continues long. She sees her in silence. Both are young, beautiful. They contain sadness and emptiness in their eyes.

–Yorleana is beautiful –suelta Dildar, coordinator of the International Plan Foundation, an NGO that has been working for decades in Colombia for children, and that in the last year has developed projects to help the migrant population from Venezuela, in Special to children and teenagers.

Dildar is visiting the sector. A community day of embellishment promoted by the foundation takes place several blocks away, in a house called Espacio Protector, where children without schooling will play and learn. Today they are painting the facade with murals. The colors shine. There are mothers and fathers who smile and sweat with their hands stained with hope. The message is clear: integration between Colombians and Venezuelans.

Veronica, Yorleana and Yorleidys' mother, has half an hour talking with Dildar, informing him, telling him about his sufferings, remembering his past. When Dildar comments that her daughter is beautiful, her response is immediate:

- My daughter is pretty, yes, but that has not brought her luck. Even the owner of the house wants to abuse her in exchange for not throwing us out.

It is not a saying, and they know what that means.

After arriving in Colombia, in December 2017, they shot between precarious homes. They even spent a week sleeping outdoors. They also ate from the trash. And to think that they left their home in Maracay, where they had always lived, fleeing hunger.

In front of Yorleidys and Yorleana there is an even more humble house: two minimal rooms, a living room with an old refrigerator, a shell television, a picture and a broken glass as a mirror. The aroma, which permeates everything, is that of wastewater that is impoverished in the margins of the house. There I receive Gleudy Álvarez, small, angelic, wearing a shirt of the selection of Portugal that is large. You should not weigh more than forty kilos and carry a baby in your arms. The boy is ten months old and his name is Fabian. She presents it with joy. He is his son, he was born when he had just turned fifteen.

[luminoustarlight]

— HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN CHARACTERS MASTERLIST

©️ luminoustarlight // i do not give permission for my work to be translated or posted on any other platforms.

-ˏˋplease reblog writing to support writers and their hard workˎˊ- 

organized from newest to oldest // last updated October 31th, 2023

Please note that Anakin Skywalker has his own masterlist and can be found here.

LEO CAMPO Little Italy, 2018

— A Meet Cute | fluff/smutty themes, >1k

— The Holidate | coming soon

◂ main masterlist ▸ anakin skywalker masterlist

requests are open!

[queenie-official]

Frankly the lack of Leo fics makes me wanna cry myself to sleep 😔😭

like guys please get into it

[hanasnx]

-ˏ͛ ꒷꒰ christensen-verse ⿻ m.list ꒷ˏ͛-

MINORS DNI 18+ ༄

"I wanna tear down the walls that hold me inside / I wanna reach out and touch the flame." — U2. (1987). Where the Streets Have No Name.

彡 ch: hayden christensen 「 � 」

── series ┆ CHAPTER SERIES.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ the angel in the garden | SUMMARY: hayden is the gardener to the grounds of the estate you reside. the wayward home for girls is meant to straighten you out, however hayden has other plans for you. chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ just like a daddy should ✩ dacryphilia ✩ starlet!reader ✩ work-dad | part two | part three ✩ hat ✩ arms ✩ spit ✩ degradation ✩ head ✩ knee bounce ✩ breeding ✩ autograph ✩ picture ✩ body shots ✩ working man ✩ golf

smut ¡! ❞

✩ riding ✩ creampies ✩ head in semi-public ✩ he spits on it ✩ one more ✩ don piper

other ¡! ❞

✩ holding you

── headcanons ┆ LIST OR NARRATION.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ starlet!reader ✩ corruption

smut ¡! ❞

✩ ass-eater ✩ breath play ✩ period sex

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ thoughts ✩ prompts

彡 ch: scott barringer 「 � 」

── one shots ┆ OVER 1K.

other ¡! ❞

✩ capable of love | SUMMARY: an injury brings you closer together.

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ yoga ✩ fingering ✩ vs ✩ head ✩ late night ✩ woods ✩ nerd!reader

── headcanons ┆ LIST OR NARRATION.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ headcanons ✩ one

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ thoughts ✩ prompts

彡 ch: leo campo 「 � 」

── one shots ┆ OVER 1K.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ oranges | SUMMARY: leo's not used to being in a relationship that has rules, but makes it up to you.

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ freezer fuck ✩ petnames

── headcanons ┆ LIST OR NARRATION.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ smut alphabet: A - B

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ thoughts ✩ prompts

彡 ch: sam monroe 「 � 」

── one shots ┆ OVER 1K.

smut ¡! ❞

✩ breathe into me | SUMMARY: sam's so pliant in your hands he lets you jack him off outside in broad daylight.

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ slapping ✩ spit

── headcanons ┆ LIST OR NARRATION.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ cumming untouched

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ thoughts ✩ prompts

彡 ch: billy quinn 「 � 」

── one shots ┆ OVER 1K.

other ¡! ❞

✩ not alone anymore | SUMMARY: you meet a handsome stranger at a party, and go out for coffee after.

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ one

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ thoughts ✩ prompts

彡 ch: clay beresford 「 � 」

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ drabble ✩ eating pussy

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ thoughts ✩ prompts

彡 ch: stephen glass 「 � 」

── one shots ┆ OVER 1K.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ incendium

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag ✩ prompts

彡 ch: jacob 「 � 」

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ training

── headcanons ┆ LIST OR NARRATION.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ smut alphabet: A - B

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag

彡 ch: jacob x lian 「 � 」

── one shots ┆ OVER 1K.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ taint | SUMMARY: after their shared kiss, lian is desperate to know how jacob really feels about her.

── drabbles ┆ ABOUT 1K OR LESS.

smutty ¡! ❞

✩ shall i? ✩ small talk

── additional content ┆ MISC.

✩ nametag

NAVI | M.LIST | RULES | FAQ

[starryevermore]

as of 11/09/23, the post office is OPEN and is currently accepting requests.

general information:

⇨ i write mostly fem!reader, but open to male!reader and gender neutral!reader.

⇨ requests are filled when they are filled. there is no rhyme or reason to when requests are filled. i reserve the right to delete any request as i see fit. if a request is deleted, you are not entitled to knowing the reason.

⇨ not all requests will be one shots. some will be turned into short blurbs or series, depending on how much inspiration i have.

⇨ i write fluff, angst, smut, and dark fics, but angst is my specialty.

⇨ at the present, i only feel comfortable writing smut for fem!readers.

⇨ any au ideas are welcome.

⇨ i am willing to write for characters beyond the lists below, but please ask me first before you send in a request so that i can judge if it’s something i’m comfortable with.

⇨ i no longer write rpf (real person fiction), so don’t make a request for a real person.

⇨ if the listed character is struck through, that means im not taking requests for that character at the moment.

⇨ my hard no’s for fic requests are as follows:

anything involving haunted houses (the kind you go through for halloween, not a house haunted by a ghost character),

teacher/student relationships (though i am willing to explore other teacher relationships, such as teacher/teacher, teacher/librarian, professor/dean, teacher/parent of student, etc.),

stepparent/stepchild,

incest,

pedophilia,

coprophilia (feces) and emetophilia (vomit),

self-harm, and

suicidal ideation/actions.

mcu characters:

⇨ bucky barnes 

⇨ sam wilson

⇨ steve rogers

⇨ natasha romanoff

⇨ loki + his variants (jotun!loki, president!loki, etc.)

⇨ druig

⇨ makkari

⇨ ikaris

⇨ wanda maximoff

⇨ tony stark

⇨ peter parker (aged up)

⇨ eddie brock/venom

⇨ steven grant/marc spector/jake lockley

⇨ khonshu

⇨ layla el-faouly

⇨ kate bishop

⇨ matt murdock

⇨ foggy nelson

⇨ jennifer walters

sebastian stan characters:

⇨ bucky barnes

⇨ mickey henry

⇨ charles blackwood

⇨ lance tucker

⇨ chris beck

⇨ lee bodecker

⇨ jefferson/mad hatter

⇨ nick fowler

⇨ steve kemp

chris evans characters:

⇨ steve rogers

⇨ ransom drysdale

⇨ andy barber

⇨ ari levinson

⇨ robert pronge/mr. freezy

⇨ johnny storm

⇨ jake wyler

⇨ frank adler

⇨ colin shea

⇨ jake jensen

⇨ curtis everett

⇨ lloyd hansen

oscar isaac characters:

⇨ steven grant/marc spector/jake lockley

⇨ poe dameron

⇨ nathan bateman

⇨ jonathan levy

⇨ santiago garcia

pedro pascal characters:

⇨ din djarin

⇨ frankie morales

⇨ javi gutierrez

hayden christensen characters:

⇨ anakin skywalker

⇨ leo campo

star wars:

⇨ poe dameron

⇨ obi-wan kenobi

⇨ anakin skywalker

⇨ luke skywalker

⇨ padmé amidala

⇨ leia organa

⇨ hera syndulla

⇨ sabine wren

⇨ darth maul

⇨ savage opress

⇨ din djarin

⇨ cassian andor

⇨ captain rex

⇨ hunter

⇨ wrecker

⇨ echo

⇨ tech

⇨ crosshair

⇨ fives

⇨ cody

⇨ wolffe

maasverse

⇨ rhysand

⇨ cassian

⇨ azriel

⇨ the bat boys

⇨ feysand

⇨ nessian

⇨ eris vanserra

⇨ lucien vanserra

⇨ ruhn danaan

⇨ hunt athalar

⇨ aelin galathynius

⇨ rowan whitethorn

⇨ rowaelin

⇨ fenrys moonbeam

⇨ lorcan salvaterre

⇨ elide lochan

⇨ elorcan

⇨ dorian havilliard

⇨ manon blackbeak

⇨ manorian

knives out:

⇨ benoit blanc

⇨ ransom drysdale

ted lasso:

⇨ ted lasso

⇨ jamie tartt

⇨ roy kent

⇨ keeley jones

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/movie-reviews-the-happytime-murders-least-funny-comedy-this-year/

Movie reviews: 'The Happytime Murders' least funny comedy this year

THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS: 1 STAR

Make no mistake, “The Happytime Murders” is not a Muppet movie. Sure, the puppets look like they just wandered in from “Sesame Street,” but the latest Melissa McCarthy film takes place a few blocks away in a much worse part of town.

Set in a Los Angeles where humans and puppets co-exist—imagine “Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s” Toontown with hand puppets—“The Happytime Murders” is an R-rated comedy that sees the felt cast members of ’80s children’s TV show “The Happytime Gang” systematically murdered by a mysterious killer.

Next on the hit list is Jenny (Elizabeth Banks), a burlesque dancer who was the “The Happytime Gang’s” sole human cast member. She’s also the ex-girlfriend of Phil Philips (Bill Barretta), the first puppet to join the LAPD.

After a scandal pushed him off the force he became a private investigator but when his older brother and “The Happytime Gang” actor, Larry (Victor Yerrid), is offed, and with Jenny in danger, he teams up with his former partner Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) to find the puppet serial killer. “If it gets crazy,” he says, “I’m going to get crazy.”

Repeat after me, “The Happytime Murders” is not a movie for kids.

With the first F-bomb less than thirty seconds in, the tone is set early. By the time we get to the puppet porn shoot and McCarthy snorting ecstasy with down-on their-luck puppets it’s abundantly clear this isn’t your father’s Muppet movie.

Trouble is, I’m not sure who it is for. The idea of a raunchy puppet flick isn’t new, “Meet the Feebles,” “Team America” and others have put the ‘R’ in marionette with great success but they did it with wit as well as in-your-face vulgarity.

In “The Happytime Murders,” easily the least funny comedy to hit screens this year, the laugh lines mostly get laughs because we’re not used to seeing puppets in… er… ahhh… compromising positions. Watching McCarthy and Maya Rudolph, who plays Phil’s love struck secretary Bubbles, flounder in a sea of felt and unfunny “gags,” is almost as sad as seeing the vaunted Henson name in the opening credits.

You know when someone constantly swears just for the sake of swearing? That’s shock value. “The Happytime Murders” is all shock, very little value.

PAPILLON: 2 ½ STARS

The remounted “Papillon,” starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek in the roles made famous by Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffmann in the original, maintains the brutality of the 1973 film but plays more like a buddy flick than the resilience-of-the-human-spirit epic it should have been.

Based on the “75 percent true” tale of Henri Charrière, a safecracker nicknamed Papillon, the 1930’s era story sees him sent to a hellhole jungle penal colony in French Guyana for a crime he didn’t commit. Sentenced to life in prison with hard labour on Devil’s Island, he begins to plot his escape as soon as he arrives, despite the fact that no one has ever successfully fled the island.

To assist and finance his plan he offers protection to Louis Dega (Malek), a spindly, wealthy, white-collar criminal with a relative fortune hidden in a place where the sun don’t shine. Faced with abominable conditions and dictatorial prison guards the pair, along with a couple of others, stages a daring run at freedom.

Leaner and meaner than the original the reboot nonetheless hews fairly closely to the 1973 screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and Dalton Trumbo. Some grisly scenes featuring crocodiles and lepers have been blue-pencilled but the basic idea of the bond between the two men in the face of unimaginable adversity remains.

Hunnam and Malek make a good team—with Malek even giving the Degas character more inner life than Hoffmann managed—but the movie itself doesn’t contain the same sense of struggle. Certainly there is violence, Hunnam is frequently covered in blood, mud or worse, but the previous film was grittier, less refined. Dialogue was sparse—in the new one Hunnam and Malek chatter like school kids throughout—and there was a sense of hopelessness that fuelled the need for escape. Here their mission feels pat, like a typical prison drama. It’s less meaningful, simply a run from the violence and horrors of their incarceration, and not a spiritual journey.

“Papillon” gets much right and features nice performances from the leads but feels like an unnecessary revamping of the story.

LITTLE ITALY: 1 STAR

“Little Italy,” a new rom com starring Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts, is good hearted enough but feels like it arrived via a marinara sauce splattered time capsule from 1985.

Leo Campo (Christensen) and Nikki Angioli (Roberts) were inseparable while growing up in Toronto’s Little Italy. “To us Little Italy wasn’t just a few blocks, it was our whole world.” Their families were tight, working side by side at the Napoli Pizza Parlour until the Great Pizza War erupted, causing a split that saw the pizza place sliced down the middle, cleaved into two separate businesses. Years pass. “It’s Little Italy’s oldest food fight.” Nikki moves to England to study the culinary arts while Leo stays home, working with his father.

Five years later Nikki returns home to renew her English work visa and is drawn back into the world she thought she had left behind. My Nikki is coming home today,” says mother Dora (Alyssa Milano). “Now we have to find her a husband so she’ll stay.” Will there be amore? Will the moon hit her eye like a big pizza pie or will she return to her cooking career in London?

“Little Italy” is an “I’m not yelling I’m Italian” style rom com. Desperate to establish the flavour of Little Italy it parades stereotypes across the screen speaking in loud exaggerated Italian accents. It’s annoying but it is all played for laughs, tempered with the easy sentimentality of the most rote of rom coms.

Director Donald Petrie, whose “Mystic Pizza” made a superstar out of Roberts’s Aunt Julia, never finds the balance between the slapstick, romance and cliché. Sometimes it feels like sketch comedy, other times like every rom com you’ve ever seen. Either way, it never feels original or particularly likeable. Top it off with a been-there-done-that run to the airport climax that would likely get everyone involved, if this is anything like real life, arrested and you have a movie that is all about love that is anything but loveable.

CROWN AND ANCHOR: 3 ½ STARS

“Crown and Anchor,” co-written by and starring “Arrow” actor Michael Rowe, is billing itself as a “punk rock drama.” Shot on location in St. John’s Newfoundland, the crime drama embodies punk’s DIY ethic but don’t expect thrash and trash.

To stretch the musical analogy one step further, this well measured movie has more to do with the introspective stripped-down sounds of a band like Television than the loud ‘n fast rush of The Ramones. In other words, it’s like punk with guitar solos.

Rowe plays police officer James Downey, a disciplined man who fled Newfoundland years before to get away from his abusive alcoholic father Gus (Stephen McHattie). Returning for his mother’s funeral he must confront the past he left behind. Gus is safely tucked away behind bars but cousin Danny (Matt Wells) is loose, desperate for money and wallowing in booze and drugs. He’s also involved with some very bad people. Thrown back into the kind of family drama that forced him to leave the island years before, Downey stays put confront the past and present.

Don’t expect a tourism board approved view of Newfoundland and Labrador. “Crown and Anchor” is all about the dark corners. The echoes of the grief, tragedy and violence of James and Danny’s lives reverberate throughout. Director Andrew Rowe is unflinching and uncompromising in his presentation of the underbelly of St. John’s life.

Shot in long takes, often in uninterrupted close ups, “Crown and Anchor” showcases its strong performances. The leads, along with Natalie Brown as Danny’s wife Jessica and Robert Joy, bring authenticity to roles that could have veered into caricature.

“Crown and Anchor” is a slow burn. It takes its time getting where it is going, building tension with long scenes. Rowe gives his scenes room, allowing them to marinade. It’s old school indie, but in our era of frenetic editing it feels fresh and new.

BREATH: 3 ½ STARS

“Breath,” directed by “The Mentalist” star Simon Baker in his helming debut, is a coming-of-age tale about two boys who learn about life and love through surfing is specific in its subject but universal in its themes.

Bruce and Ivan, a.k.a. Pikelet and Loonie (Samson Coulter and Ben Spence) are teenagers growing up in remote 1970s western Australian. Desperate for adventure they form an unlikely friendship with Sando (Baker), a former surfing star who now mentors young athletes. Sando is spiritual surfer who not only teaches the kids about how to glide across the water but also how to live their lives. Their idyllic life lessons are threatened when Pikelet has a brief affair with Sando’s wife, Eva (Elizabeth Debicki).

“Breath” is an enjoyably but languidly paced film that captures the slower pace of life in 1970s Australia. Baker displays a connection to the material, allowing the story to play out in its own time. The affair subplot dips into melodrama but the rest of the film is an evocative portrait of the time and place.

On a technical note, the cinematography—credited to “water cinematographer” Rick Rifici—adds much visual flair to the storytelling.

MADELINE’S MADELINE: 2 ½ STARS

“Madeline’s Madeline” begins with a nursed telling the audience, “What you are experiencing is just a metaphor.” That sets up the tone for what is to come, a boldly dissociative study of creativity and identity told through the lens of a sixteen year old girl.

The film essays the main people in Madeline’s (Helena Howard) life, with her mother Regina (Miranda July), acting teacher and maternal figure Evangeline (Molly Parker) and, finally, herself as she prepares to be part of an avant grade theatre production.

“Madeline’s Madeline” is a bold film. Madeline’s experiences, both real and imagined, merge creating a dreamy, unsettling pastiche of real life. She is a complicated character, beautifully played by newcomer Howard, with a multi-faceted personality that may be the result of mental illness or in expression of her creative spirit or her troubled relationship with Regina. Director Josephine Decker sets the stage, employing frenetic editing, overwhelming sound design and other experimental film techniques to place the viewer in Madeline’s headspace.

“Madeline’s Madeline” may prove too challenging, too psychedelic for casual viewing. Howard is a powerhouse, careening through the film untethered to the realities of narrative form but the oblique storytelling does the viewer no favours.

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/movie-reviews-the-happytime-murders-least-funny-comedy-this-year-1.4065143

[talbottbaseball]

Welcome to Everett Memorial Stadium in Everett, Washington, home of the Andromeda Galaxy. This inaugural year of Talbott Professional Baseball has been a highly competitive year with several of the playoff spots coming down to the wire, but nothing is more exciting in regular season play than a tiebreaker game for that last spot in the playoff tournament. We're excited to have you join us here on BNN as we present Game Number One Sixty-Three; extending the season for one more game to see who gets to keep playing and who goes home. It's the Victoria Station Canadians facing the home team on a very clear, but somewhat chilly night at 55 degrees Fahrenheit and for our Canadian viewers, almost 13 degrees Celsius. Victoria Station is sending their number two starter and veteran righty Jose Rodriguez to the mound tonight to face the Galaxy batters. His record is 16-8, with an ERA of 3.12. He's a three-pitch starter, which is unusual; carrying a 4-seam, with a 12-6 curve, and a changeup. His fastball averages around 95mph, which has become his strikeout pitch over the years. He has 115 Ks this season, but he only strikes out maybe 3 or 4 batters per game. Mostly he is a groundball pitcher, so the infield is going to get a lot of work. The Canadians are hopeful that their leadoff man, Omar Alanis will lead the club tonight in victory. His nickname is "Shotgun" for the scatter-shot hitting he exemplifies on the field, his line drives seem to find a hole somewhere in the defense. He leads the Canadians in average (.339) and on-base percentage (.401), and he is fairly speedy on the basepaths with 16 stolen bases out of 27 attempts. For the home team, rookie righty and number three in the rotation Sam Hubert will square off against Victoria Station. At 18, he has seen quite a few games thanks to injuries, but he has eight wins and fourteen losses on the season. His repertoire has a fastball, 12-6 curve, slider, forkball, and the change available, and he loves his changeup as his go-to pitch when the at-bat does not go in his favor. His fastball tops out at 90mph, which makes his 77mph change more effective. His weakest pitch is the slider, which he has spent a lot of time with pitching coach Leo Esquivel to develop. 2B Jesus Hernandez is the club's leader in average (.351) and on-base percentage (.420). Galaxy manager Bobby del Campo puts a lot of faith in the veteran infielder to get on base and drive in runs. He is known for putting the ball in play and has some gap power, with 89 hits and 12 doubles. LF Jose Valle is your home run hitter with 33 dingers on the year and 120 RBIs; look to him get people home. Valle also drives catchers crazy when he gets on base, because he's got 44 stolen bases out of 51 attempts. These two guys are the Galaxy's four and five hole hitters and they are very dangerous. Well, both the Canadian and American anthems have been sung and the first pitch has been thrown. The leadoff man is heading for the batter's box. Let's get ready for Cascadia League baseball here on BNN!

[eventicatanzaro-blog]

Hit a Shot to save a Life

http://eventicatanzaro.it/event/hit-a-shot-to-save-a-life/

Il LEO Club Catanzaro Host presenta “Hit a Shot to save a Life”, un torneo di BEACH VOLLEY in favore di “One Shot One Life”. “One Shot One Life” è la Measles Initiative supportata dal Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) con l��obiettivo di combattere il morbillo.

Ogni giorno muoiono ancora 400 persone a causa del morbillo e la maggior parte sono bambini. Questa malattia può causare complicazioni gravi, fra cui danni cerebrali, la perdita dell’udito e la cecità. I Lions la combattono fornendo assistenza fisica tramite attività di mobilitazione sociale e patrocinio. Senza alcun tipo di vaccino, risulta impossibile arginare l’epidemia in quanto il morbillo è altamente contagioso (il 90% dei soggetti che entrano in contatto con un infetto contraggono il virus). La vaccinazione non è importante solo perché protegge dal morbillo e dalle successive complicazioni patologiche; il vaccino è in grado di creare una popolazione positiva e dunque immune al virus, proteggendo anche coloro che non possono avere accesso alla vaccinazione. Due vaccini contro il morbillo sicuri ed efficaci costano solo 1 USD!

Per partecipare alla raccolta fondi vi invitiamo a prendere parte al nostro torneo GIOVEDI 24 AGOSTO.

ISCRIZIONI APERTE FINO A LUNEDI 21 AGOSTO!!!

TORNEO BEACH VOLLEY 4vs4 MISTI (min. una donna in campo e max una riserva) 30€ a squadra

Location: Lido BRONDI’S BEACH START H. 17:00!!

Con la partecipazione di UMG Web Radio.