#like it’s technically country but since they’re usually made by white Americans they think it’s their post 911 country lolll

[kintoo-un]

Old cumbias are good for the soul and well-being

[i-did]

A guide for proper terminology for Nicky Hemmick:

Written by me, a Mexican-American.

Latin American: someone from Latin America, this includes Mexico but not Spain. Latin America is multi ethnic, and not just Spanish speaking, the non Spanish speaking countries of Latin America are Brazil, Belize, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, and the Falkland Islands.

Latino: decent from Latin America, similar to saying Latin American, but can include people born in America of Latin American decent. People don't really say "Latin American American," they say Latino American. (Latina = woman, and Latine = neutral but not commonly used, often typed Latin@s online for shorthand to include both). Latin American countries are very diverse, some are dominantly black/Afro-Latino.

Afro-Latino: Afro-Latin Americans are dominantly from African decent, some Latin American countries are majorly black/Afro-Latino. when used outside of Latin America it can mean someone who’s mixed black and Latino. 

Latinx: "gender neutral" term for Latino, but probably made by white people because .... Spanish words don't end in x, and x isn't pronounced that way in Spanish, for example the name Xitlali (sometimes spelled Zitlali and other variations, but pronounced like an S). Honestly say Latino/Latinos or Latin@s, and in online queer spaces Latine/Latines.

Chicano: Latin American decent but born in America.

Hispanic: related to Spain, colonized by Spain, so this includes Spain but not Brazil, which is a Latin American country.

Mexican: a person from Mexico living in America, for example Nicky's mom, but often also casually used to mean Mexican Americans (or Latino/Chicanos in general).

Mexican American: Latin American decent born into America. Unlike chicano, it is associated more with the idea of assimilation into white America, but not always.

Mexicano: what Mexicans call themselves in Mexico (feminine is Mexicana).

TexMex: people who were living in Mexico, and then America bought/stole the land and said "this is also America now, you can leave or stay" and they stayed. They became Americans, Texas Mexican American culture is different than for example SoCal Mexican American culture because of this, (but still more in common with each other than not).

Anglo: someone who is non Latino, usually in reference to someone who lives in the America's that were colonized by British people and English is the standard spoken language, ex/ North Americans and Canadians who aren't Latino. Usually in reference to white people but not always. If someone is Asian American and constantly purposefully mispronounces my name, instead of being like "🙄white people" I can be like "🙄 Anglos" (or I could say gringo, which is not as nice of a term for anglo). I honestly don’t know if I can call a spaniard anglo, but I assume not, since they're not Anglo-Saxon, which is where the term comes from.

despite what the media represents, not all Latino’s are Mexican! although the two terms are often used interchangeably when they’re really not. there are 32 other countries besides Mexico in Latin America.

Mexican is technically a nationality, but because of colonialism it’s not that simple. Race dynamics work differently in different countries. Most Mexicanos are not connected with their mixed indigenous ancestors, while some still are, like the Maya. It is something that has been taken from us and has evolved into its own thing. Some Mexicanos are lighter than others, sometimes by being more related to the Spanish than the indigenous. Mexico has a huge problem with colorism and class divide as well as overall racial tension.

Mexico is also not only "white/more Spanish" "more brown" and "fully indigenous, culturally and ethnically", there are afro-latinos (like mentioned before), and also Asian latinos, specifically a large amount of Chinese immigrants from when China became communist, middle eastern latinos, etc. Latin America has immigrants too! 

I have a friend who is fully Korean but grew up in Guatemala, I have another friend from Brazil who is 100% of polish and Ashkenazi decent, her grandparents having escaped to Brazil during WWII, but she and her parents grew up and spent their whole lives in Brazil, they are Latin Americans. 

List of things Nicky's mom Maria is:

Mexican, Mexicana, Latina, Latin American, 'Hispanic' but like.... outdated term and usually when people use this they just mean Latin@.

List of things Nicky is:

Mexican-American, Latino, "Mexican" in the broad sense of the word.

Describing Nicky or his mother as "looking hispanic" doesn't really make sense because he takes after his mother who is described as very dark and therefore less Spanish decent and more indigenous decent, she's from a Spanish speaking country so... its not technically wrong, but Nicky is from and English speaking one and doesn't speak Spanish, so it doesn't really make sense.

He isn't Chicano and neither is she, she wasn't born in America and Nicky doesn't identify as Chicano or in general much with his mothers culture beyond visible features. He is never mentioned to make Mexican food, listen to Latin American music, or other aspects of Latino culture in general. He chose to go to Germany instead of Spain or Latin America, and he talked Aaron out of taking Spanish in exchange for German so Nicky could help him with his homework, (meaning he doesn't know Spanish, which many Mexican Americans don't know).

saying Nicky “looked Mexican” or “looked brown” isn’t a bad thing, Neil in the books says he’s two shades too dark to be considered tan, so... stop tip-toeing around it and call him brown instead of tan. It’s not a bad thing to be brown, and It’s not a bad thing to be Mexican. maybe I’m just from somewhere with a lot of Mexican-Americans, but when I look at people I can tell they’re not Anglos, or I think to myself “oh another Mexican” or at least “brown person” vs when I see a white person I think “white person.” I’m not face blind, I know that different races exist and look different and can see such trends in real people in the same way that when I look at a little girl I go “oh a little girl” not “what sex is this weird hairless animal, what is this alien”.

these concepts are a lot more complicated in practice, I get told often I don’t “look Mexican” but so does one of my cousins who’s afro latino and plays professional basketball in Mexico. Gender is fake but the majority of people we see are still falling into two categories on sight, it’s how we’re socially trained. 

I'm also not an encyclopedia, if you think I made a mistake let me know and I'll check it out. A lot of this was just off the top of my head and words I just learned from.... existing, I didn't exactly look them all up in the dictionary.

Also if you’re writing Nicky, don’t be afraid to get a sensitivity reader, @sensitivityreaders is a good resource for this, and so is @writingwithcolor

[superman86to99]

Superman #84 (December 1993)

Superman takes a short Paris vacation! Like, one day short. What's the worst that could happen?

Oh, man.

So, for the past few issues, we've been hearing about children being abducted in Metropolis. Now we see that they're being kept inside a giant toy house by some creepy bald man in Quasimodo clothes who seems to be obsessed with toys -- a "Man of Toys," if you will. Side note: no wonder the children haven't been found... all the articles about them are just gibberish! (See clip below.)

The kidnapper thinks that these kids' parents don't deserve them, and that they're much better off here, in an underground hideout with a man who threatens to starve them if they don't play with him. (And I do mean literally play, with action figures and stuff.) Meanwhile, as these children cry for help, Superman is having the time of his life. While helping move a stranded ship with some huge-ass chains, Superman spots a sunken galleon with a treasure chest inside and fantasizes about keeping the booty...

...before turning it over to the authorities anyway, the big boy scout. Then, he wakes up Lois at 6 AM and tells her they should go to Paris right now, which usually means your significant other is having a mental breakdown, but in this case they can actually do it. And so, after deciding that he deserves to use his powers for fun every once in a while, Superman and Lois drop everything and fly to France with super-speed for the rest of the day/issue.

Anyway: back to the child abduction! Cat Grant and her son Adam attend a Halloween party at Adam's school, but there's a disturbed weirdo in a hideous costume lurking among the crowd. Yes, I'm talking about Jimmy Olsen in his Turtle Boy suit.

Shortly after that, a guy in a dinosaur costume (see, all the creeps are dressed as reptiles) lures Adam out of the party with the promise of "superb video games." What child could resist that? Of course, that turns out to be the kidnapper and Adam ends up in his hideout along with the rest of the missing children and, worst of all, not a single "Lextendo" console.

The kidnapper gets angry at Adam when he refers to the toys at the hideout as "old-fashioned junk" (he was REALLY looking forward to those video games), and even angrier when Adam tries to free the other kids. Adam is brave and puts up a good fight, but...

And those were Adam Morgan's final words. "Uh-oh."

Next, we have a pretty harrowing scene of Detective Turpin letting Cat know Adam’s body was found, and Jimmy and Perry White taking her to the morgue to identify the body (most people probably wouldn't bring their former boss to something like that, but Perry sadly knows more than most about losing a kid). As for Lois and Clark, they were gone so long that the Daily Planet had time to print a headline about the murders. The issue ends when the lovebirds walk into the office smiling like two people who just spent the night fooling around in Paris... only to feel like jackasses when they find out what happened.

To be continued!

Character-Watch:

And that's it for little Adam Morgan who, unlike the also tragically diseased Jerry White, didn't even get any post-death appearances. Adam went from a little kid scared of Superman, to a huge brat, to a character who was approaching likeability as of last week. That's why I hate it when DC kills off young characters like Adam or Liam Harper: in long-form storytelling, children represent potential. Look at how much Wally West or Dick Grayson evolved over the years compared to their mentors! Sure, there's a huge probability that Adam would have ended up disappearing from comics for 25 years anyway, but who knows, maybe we'd now know him as Teen Gangbuster or something. GangbusTEEN.

This issue also represents a turning point for the kidnapper, who is never named or seen clearly in the story itself but I don't think I'm shocking anyone by spoiling the fact that he's Toyman (it's in the cover, for one thing). In his last two appearances before this storyline, Toyman helped Superman save some kids from Sleez and looked genuinely sad to learn about Superman's death, so this is a pretty dramatic change for the character. We'll find out why he went from big softy to child killer in Superman #85 (but don't get your hopes up).

Plotline-Watch:

The most disturbing part of the issue, all things considered, is still the part where Toyman climbs into a giant crib and hugs a huge stuffed bunny. Look at serial killer Tommy Pickles here:

Don Sparrow says:  “Even with the upgrade, Toyman is still just a man in a suit, a common complaint about Superman’s rogues gallery.” Funny you should say that, because I JUST shared an old Wizard interview in our Twitter in which Dan Jurgens talks about how Doomsday came out of his frustration with the fact that most Superman villains are dudes in suits (plus other interesting tidbits from the era, like how it was actually Roger Stern’s idea to bring back Hank Henshaw, so check out that link!).

Don again: “The entire Superman storyline of this issue feels like filler. Diving for buried treasure and soaring off to Paris -- it all feels like wasted time next to the Adam storyline.” I have a theory that the entire ship sequence is there as an excuse to put Superman in those big chains and make that Spawn joke (which I didn’t get until now, since I’ve always read this issue in Spanish).

Superman says that pulling that big ship was "a little easier than expected" -- that's either another hint that there's something going on with Superman's powers since he came back, or a subtle dig at the state of American ship manufacturing.

Another adorable "window tap" scene for the books, and this is the sexiest one so far. Is it me or has Jurgens started copying more than just Teri Hatcher's hairdo from Lois & Clark? (For anyone who thinks Lois has gotten implants, I refer you to this clip.)

While in Paris, Lois asks Clark if he's ever wondered what would happen if his rocket had landed in other countries. Don: “Clark’s conversation with Lois sounds like a bunch of concepts for Elseworlds stories. We eventually would see a Russian Superman, and a British Superman, but not yet the French Superman. (Hire us, DC!)” Yep, got my French Superman pitch ready, Jim Lee. Or just let us do Russian Superman again, since Red Son wasn’t even the first time you published that idea.

Don once more: “Another thing that makes no sense about the ‘new’ Toyman is his resentment of technological toys—when in previous appearances he himself had deadly high-tech toys to vex Superman over the years.” I especially resent his hatred of video game consoles. Incidentally, I wonder what types of games are available for Adam’s beloved Lextendo. Star Lex 64? Mega Man Lex? Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles & Lex?

No one is more upset at Lois and Clark for going AWOL than Whit. NO ONE. He's so furious that his usually grey mustache turned black.

Patreon-Watch:

As always, shout out to our patrons, Aaron, Murray Qualie, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Samuel Doran, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush and Raphael Fischer! Last month’s exclusive Patreon article was about the recently unearthed sequel to Superman 64 for the PlayStation, featuring Metallo, Parasite, and Lois looking even hotter than in this issue:

Hot damn. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99!

And believe it or not, Don Sparrow has even more to say about this issue. Read his section after the jump:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow​):

I should start off my section with a big caveat:  I flat out hate this issue. There were several weird decisions made in the post-Death-and-Return era (most of them along the same lines of making the Superman titles more grim-and-gritty), and this story was one of the worst of them.  My theory is that, despite the praise and record-breaking sales of the Death and Return storyline, the Superman creative team felt pressure to have more extreme storylines, perhaps in response to the wildly successful Image books coming out at the time.  Between this story, and the upcoming “Spilled Blood” storyline, the Super books take a hard—but temporary--turn into more violent and upsetting storytelling—even though these stories are by the same writers as the previous few years. While death has always been a part of comics, and Superman comics was no exception, there is a jarring glibness and unfeeling toward the way violence is handled in these pages that is quite different from the stories that preceded it.  It’s made all the more jarring by the fact that well-established personalities suddenly veer wildly out of character, Toyman chief among them.  

We start with the cover, and while it is technically well-drawn (by the familiar team of Jurgens and Breeding) it’s also a very upsetting visual.  I think they should have gone with the pieta type pose with Adam and Superman, OR the scary badass bowie-knife Toyman (who apparently has a Cheshire cat smile now) but not both.  But the cover is a good hint at the tonal dissonance of the comic within.

We open with a splash of the now-extreme 90s looking Toyman, with his serial killer shaved head and spooky cloak, ignoring the pleas of hungry kids he has locked up in a tiny jail cell for days at a time (if that sentence doesn’t ring alarm bells for how wrong this is for a Superman story, I don’t know what will). For much of the issue Toyman’s eyes are obscured by glare on his lenses, further de-humanizing a character who was once one of Superman’s more empathetic bad guys.

We cut to Superman tugboating a huge tanker with giant chains and it’s a cool visual (one repeated in the Batman V Superman film).  It feels especially out of place to focus on, given how upsetting this issue is otherwise, but throughout the whole comic, Lois is drawn smoking hot, especially on the two page spread on pages 9-10.

The scenes depicting the actual murder, while still wildly out of place in a Superman comic, are well done, and give a real sense of darkness and menace, which I suppose is the intent.  Perhaps my least favourite visual is the Big Bird stuffie, silently bearing witness to what’s about to occur.

The edges of the panels on get more slashy and off-kilter (to me, looking very much like the layouts more typically seen in Image comics of the day) and I suppose I appreciate the restraint of how little Dan Jurgens shows of the death of a child, showing only a bloody slash on a black background.  This is still a pretty baroque image for a Superman comic, but certainly less violent than it could be, given what is happening.

Cat Grant’s silent horror is well staged, and powerful in its way.   Lastly, Clark Kent bending in sorrow and regret is a powerful image.

While this issue is handled marginally better, and more maturely than other comics on the shelf at this time, I still believe it is one of the biggest mistakes of the era.  Giving a long-established character an unceremonious death for shock value is gross on its own, but making it a child definitely crosses a line for me.  Making it worse is that, while the Toyman is a criminal and a killer, he has shown in past issues (a similar kidnapping storyline involving Sleez) that he genuinely cares for the well-being of children.  So for a long-time reader, this also felt like a betrayal of a long-established, fully developed character.   Adding to the ugliness of this is that Adam dies heroically, trying to free the children who have been caged, unfed, for days, but even in that regard, he fails.  The headline at the end of the issue confirms all the children are dead.  Adam’s death did not buy the other kids enough time to get away. It was all for nothing. Had Adam died, but the other children lived, maybe this issue wouldn’t leave quite as bad a taste. [Max: It’s weird because it’s all told in a way where it’s told in a way where it would make sense, narratively and within the story universe, that the other kids survived, but then it’s almost casually revealed that nope, they died too. A scene of one of the kids relaying Adam’s heroism to Cat in a future issue would have gone a long way.]

Superman doesn’t come off well in these pages, either.  It’s honestly the type of story they should just stay away from, because the more you think about all the calamity that is going on around the clock, the less defensible the whole Clark Kent persona becomes. Superman carving out time to romance his fiancée directly led to the preventable deaths of innocent children—how do you come back from that?

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

I’m always looking for hints that perhaps Jimmy or Perry know Superman’s secret identity deep down, and Jimmy’s anger at Lois and Clark on their return to the Daily Planet offices would seem to give that theory some credence, as he’s as angry at them as if he knew Clark really were Superman.  Either that, or he’s ticked that it fell to him, and none of them to escort Cat into the morgue. [Max: Has this issue finally converted you to the “Jimmy is terrible” side now, Don?]

I don’t think I’m the only one who disliked the new Toyman—SPOILERS BE HERE: years later, in Action Comics #865, Geoff Johns retconned this whole story, reverting Schott into the criminal who over-relates to kids, rather than the child-killer of this story.  Apparently the infantile Schott, who speaks to “Mother” a la Norman Bates, is a robot so lifelike it fools even Superman, and the “Mother” he’s constantly replying to was the real Winslow Schott trying to recall the malfunctioning robot. [Max: That’s one Geoff Johns retcon I really didn’t mind, even if it felt kind of derivative of his similar “all the Brainiacs are robots made by the real Brainiac” reveal.]

[what-a-treat-nz]

World Book Challenge: China

Officially, the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion. It covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, and is officially divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

The areas in dark green are under direct Chinese control; the areas in light green (Tibet and Taiwan) are contested. For the purposes of this challenge, I’m treating China, Tibet and Taiwan as three separate countries. Because I can.

Number of Chinese people in New Zealand: As of the 2013 Census, there were 163,104 people of “Chinese (not further defined)” ethnicity in New Zealand - 10,008 of those were in Wellington City.

Have I been there? Yes! I visited Shanghai with my Dad in December 2011. I bought a really nice coat, had tea that tasted like warm Fanta (it was oddly addictive), and got hugged by Dave Grohl. So, the usual Chinese experiences, really.

I also had Peking Duck for the first time in my life, and holy hell I didn’t know what I was missing. I’ve tried to make up for it by eating copious amounts of it since.

The books

For “China” on my reading challenge, I read three fantasy novels - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and the final two books of the Poppy War trilogy (The Dragon Republic and The Burning God) by R. F. Kuang, a Chinese-American author.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (魔道祖师 / Mó Dào Zǔ Shī)

(Book 30 of 2021)

Given the fact that I have an entire subsection of my blog about how much I love the live-action TV show based on this book, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that I had Mó Dào Zǔ Shī at the top of my list of Chinese books to read.

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī tells the story of Wei Wuxian, a loathed cultivator of dark and demonic arts who resurrects 16 years after his tragic death. His return to the world brings him to reunite with the people in his first life, including his soulmate, the honored Lan Wangji (who mourned him for 16 years, during which he branded himself with the same mark as Wei Wuxian and kept his memory alive and I’m okay, I promise). Wei Wuxian then begins to remember his time before his demise 16 years ago, from his beginnings as a young cultivator to his descent to dark magic. Together, they solve a mystery linked to a dark tragedy from Wei Wuxian’s first life, then live happily ever after.

This novel was originally published on the Chinese web novel site JJWXC from October 31, 2015 - March 1, 2016, with additional side stories that continue to be released sporadically. The revised version of the main story was later published online until September 7, 2016. A paperback version was released on December 12, 2016, with a total of four volumes in traditional Chinese. The first of three planned volumes in simplified Chinese, titled Wuji, was released in 2018, but release of the following installments has stalled after the locking of the novel on JJWXC since January 2019.

Mó Dào Zǔ Shī isn’t officially available in English, and given that it depicts an explicit danmei relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, I don’t think we’ll ever see an official version. Though there are official translations into Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Russian, Japanese, and Burmese, and the tour for the TV traveled to Toronto, Los Angeles and New York, so maybe one day there will be an official translation.

For now though, you can read the entire novel for free at Exiled Rebels Scanlations, where it has been translated in full by a then-highschooler called “K-san”. It’s hard to actually judge the merits of the writing of the original novel, given I was reading an unofficial translation, but that was actually half of the sweetness of it. It was kinda rough - K-san tweaked the terms they used as they gained more confidence with the translation, and I enjoyed reading the translator and editor notes that accompanied most chapters - especially notes such as “we’re translating as fast as we can, stop asking for faster updates!”. It felt really organic and friendly, and the story is good (though much gorier than the TV show and good god boys, learn what lube is, it’ll make your lives better I promise).

I read the book more as a companion to the TV show though, rather than a novel on it’s own merits, so I’m not sure I can judge it as a novel on it’s own merits. Though the book did teach me one very important piece of information: Lan Wangji canonically smells of sandalwood.

Would I read it again? If an official English translation comes out, I’d probably read that. I’m more likely to watch the TV show again, or dive into one of the sesquillion Untamed fanfics on AO3 ( Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn was the most popular ship on AO3 in 2020, with 12,878 new works about these characters being published that year).

The Dragon Republic and The Burning God

(Books 34 and 35 of 2021)

I read The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic back in September 2019 (when I wasn’t counting how many books I was reading, but I did have a record of them), and I decided to re-read The Dragon Republic because I couldn’t exactly remember where the story was up to.

And it’s a good thing I did, as something I thought happened at the end of The Dragon Republic actually happened at the end of The Poppy War, so oops?

The Poppy War trilogy is a grimdark fantasy novel set in fantasy China, with a Chinese protagonist and written by a Chinese-American author. It’s spectacular. The trilogy draws its plot and politics from mid-20th-century China, though it’s atmosphere is more inspired by the Song dynasty. The conflict in the first book is based on the Second Sino-Japanese War (though this time, it’s the Chinese empire against the Japanese empire), in the second on the start of the Chinese civil war (Chinese empire against nascent Republican movement), and in the third on the end of Chinese civil war (Republicans versus not-Republicans).

It’s a massive trilogy. It’s incredibly complex, with a huge scale and massive numbers of characters, though the fact it’s all seen through Rin’s eyes (with the occasional first and last chapter from the point of view of other characters) helps.

The story follows that of Fang Runin, better known as Rin, a poor war orphan in southern Nikara who trains in secret to test into the elite Sinegard Academy. Throughout the trilogy she deals with racism, sexism, elitism...most of the isms, really. Author R.F. Kuang said that Rin's life is meant to parallel the trajectory of Mao Zedong, and I had fun trying to match events in Chinese history to the events in the book (the easiest ones to spot are the Rape of Nanjing, the nuclear bombing of Japan and the Long March).

I don’t remember Mao Zedong having the power to call on a fire god, however. It’s probably a good thing that’s not something that happened in real life China, as Mao’s policies killed enough people without him literally being able to spit fire.

I described the first book as “If Kvothe from The Name of the Wind was female, Chinese, and allowed to say fuck.” Those two books felt really similar to me - they’re very much your “outsider is accepted to elite academy, winds up pissing off most of their classmates and chooses an obscure major to specialise in before being thrown into a conflict they are key to winning.” But honestly, I preferred the Poppy War trilogy, even if the final book did get super dark.

Rin is a really refreshing character, and the world seen through her eyes is a very different place to one I’m used to reading about. Kuang said that she "chose to write a fantasy reinterpretation of China's twentieth century, because that was the kind of story I wasn't finding on bookshelves", and I’m so glad she did. The world needs more books like this. I’m as pasty and as white as they come, and I loved reading a book where the heroine was authentically Chinese. This isn’t a pakeha author trying to fit themselves into someone else’s shoes - this is someone with a deep understanding of Chinese military history and collective trauma using that understanding and pain to build a new fantasy world.

I loved it, and if you can stomach war scenes, I recommend this trilogy.

Will I read the Poppy War trilogy again? I might do. It’s a bit darker and more desperate than I usually read - particularly The Burning God - but I did enjoy them. So that’s a firm “never say never”.

Bonus book! 

These Violent Delights

I read NZ-Chinese author Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights earlier this year (book number 20 of 2021), before I set myself this challenge, so it doesn’t technically count as an entry for “China” in my book challenge. But it is amazing, and I love it, so I wanted to give it a quick shout out here (because if we’re talking fantasy reimaginings of Chinese 20th century history by Chinese diaspora authors...).

These Violent Delights relocates the story of Romeo and Juliet to 1920s Shanghai, casting the two leads as the heirs to rival gangs. It’s brilliant, it’s beautiful, there were sentences that made me stop and gasp for the sheer delight of having read them, and there’s a monster made of bugs driving the citizens of Shanghai insane. The way Gong has woven the characters from the play into their 1920s counterparts is delightful (I say this as someone who’s never actually read the play, though I think I saw the Leonardo DiCaprio movie because it was difficult to be a tween in the late 90s and not be exposed to his films).

15/10, would definitely read it again, it’s been on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks for a very, very good reason. Stop reading this blog and go get a copy. Now.

The feast

I admit, using China as my first country may have been a bit of a cop out, given my familiarity with Chinese food - though, living in a Western country, I’ve probably eaten more Westernised Chinese food than authentic Chinese food.

Which is why I was chuffed to learn that spring rolls are, actually, authentic Chinese food. I always thought they were a Westernisation, like sweet and sour pork or fortune cookies.

For my Chinese feast, I turned to The Woks of Life, a delightful Chinese cooking blog that I can’t open without being inspired to cook like 9 million things.

When I started this project, I originally was only going to cook one dish from each country. I figured I’d go easy on myself for China, and make 花生酥 (hua sheng su), a traditional sesame peanut brittle.

It’s something I’ve made before - I make little bags of it for my colleagues each lunar new year.

I don’t follow the Woks of Life recipe exactly - for example, I’ve never once roasted and shelled my own peanuts. I tend to use a mix of blanched and pre-roasted peanuts in my 花生酥, and I think it comes out okay. Next time I’m going to increase the amount of sugar I use - I find that 270g of rock sugar is not quite enough to cover the peanuts totally. Which is a pain. Next time I think I’ll use 300g, and turn the heating on in my kitchen so it’s warmer, to stop the brittle from hardening before I can properly get it into the tray to cool.

But then I changed my mind, and decided to throw a full on feast.

For the feast I threw, I made two more dishes from the Woks of Life - Easy Peking Duck with Mandarin Pancakes, and 年糕 (nian gao), or stir-fried rice cakes (though I did them with chicken, not pork, as that’s what I had in my freezer). I also cooked up some spring rolls, as I had them leftover in my freezer from my housewarming (for which I over catered, because I cannot do anything but over cater any event I throw). I should have marinated the duck longer. That one was on me.

I also made some 核桃酥 (he tao su), walnut cookies, which were delicious and I definitely want to make again. I think I’ll add some hazelnuts in as well for additional crunch, and make them slightly smaller - they were 12 very big cookies.

But delicious cookies.

Kisu was most distressed that we did not feed her anything from this feast.

The Playlist

I ended up finding this “Chinese Indie & Rock” playlist on Spotify, which I really enjoyed. I could understand none of the songs, but I enjoyed the heck out of a lot of them. I’ll probably keep listening to this playlist - they were definitely my sort of jams.

[qqueenofhades]

Could you expand a bit on the "death of expertise"? It's something I think about A LOT as an artist, because there are so many problems with people who think it isn't a real job, and the severe undercutting of prices that happens because people think hobbyists and professionals are the same. At the same time, I also really want people to feel free to be able to make art if they want, with no gatekeeping or elitism, and I usually spin myself in circles mentally thinking about it. So.

I have been secretly hoping someone would ask this question, nonny. Bless you. I have a lot (a LOT) of thoughts on this topic, which I will try to keep somewhat concise and presented in a semi-organized fashion, but yes.

I can mostly speak about this in regard to academia, especially the bad, bad, BAD takes in my field (history) that have dominated the news in recent weeks and which constitute most of the recent posts on my blog. (I know, I know, Old Man Yells At Cloud when attempting to educate the internet on actual history, but I gotta do SOMETHING.) But this isn’t a new phenemenon, and is linked to the avalanche of “fake news” that we’ve all heard about and experienced in the last few years, especially in the run-up and then after the election of You Know Who, who has made fake news his personal brand (if not in the way he thinks). It also has to do with the way Americans persistently misunderstand the concept of free speech as “I should be able to say whatever I want and nobody can correct or criticize me,” which ties into the poisonous extreme-libertarian ethos of “I can do what I want with no regard for others and nobody can correct me,” which has seeped its way into the American mainstream and is basically the center of the modern Republican party. (Basically: all for me, all the time, and caring about others is a weak liberal pussy thing to do.)

This, however, is not just an issue of partisan politics, because the left is just as guilty, even if its efforts take a different shape. One of the reason I got so utterly exasperated with strident online leftists, especially around primary season and the hardcore breed of Bernie Bros, is just that they don’t do anything except shout loud and incorrect information on the internet (and then transmogrify that into a twisted ideology of moral purity which makes a sin out of actually voting for a flawed candidate, even if the alternative is Donald Goddamn Trump). I can’t count how many people from both sides of the right/left divide get their political information from like-minded people on social media, and never bother to experience or verify or venture outside their comforting bubbles that will only provide them with “facts” that they already know. Social media has done a lot of good things, sure, but it’s also made it unprecedently easy to just say whatever insane bullshit you want, have it go viral, and then have you treated as an authority on the topic or someone whose voice “has to be included” out of some absurd principle of both-siderism. This is also a tenet of the mainstream corporate media: “both sides” have to be included, to create the illusion of “objectivity,” and to keep the largest number of paying subscribers happy. (Yes, of course this has deep, deep roots in the collapse of late-stage capitalism.) Even if one side is absolutely batshit crazy, the rules of this distorted social contract stipulate that their proposals and their flaws have to be treated as equal with the others, and if you point out that they are batshit crazy, you have to qualify with some criticism of the other side.

This is where you get white people posting “Neo-Nazis and Black Lives Matter are the same!!!1” on facebook. They are a) often racist, let’s be real, and b) have been force-fed a constant narrative where Both Sides Are Equally Bad. Even if one is a historical system of violent oppression that has made a good go at total racial and ethnic genocide and rests on hatred, and the other is the response to not just that but the centuries of systemic and small-scale racism that has been built up every day, the white people of the world insist on treating them as morally equivalent (related to a superior notion that Violence is Always Bad, which.... uh... have you even seen constant and overwhelming state-sponsored violence the West dishes out? But it’s only bad when the other side does it. Especially if those people can be at all labeled “fanatics.”)

I have complained many, many times, and will probably complain many times more, about how hard it is to deconstruct people’s absolutely ingrained ideas of history and the past. History is a very fragile thing; it’s really only equivalent to the length of a human lifespan, and sometimes not even that. It’s what people want to remember and what is convenient for them to remember, which is why we still have some living Holocaust survivors and yet a growing movement of Holocaust denial, among other extremist conspiracy theories (9/11, Sandy Hook, chemtrails, flat-earthing, etc etc). There is likewise no organized effort to teach honest history in Western public schools, not least since the West likes its self-appointed role as guardians of freedom and liberty and democracy in the world and doesn’t really want anyone digging into all that messy slavery and genocide and imperialism and colonialism business. As a result, you have deliberately under- or un-educated citizens, who have had a couple of courses on American/British/etc history in grade school focusing on the greatest-hit reel, and all from an overwhelmingly triumphalist white perspective. You have to like history, from what you get out of it in public school, to want to go on to study it as a career, while knowing that there are few jobs available, universities are cutting or shuttering humanities departments, and you’ll never make much money. There is... not a whole lot of outside incentive there.

I’ve written before about how the humanities are always the first targeted, and the first defunded, and the first to be labeled as “worthless degrees,” because a) they are less valuable to late-stage capitalism and its emphasis on Material Production, and b) they often focus on teaching students the critical thinking skills that critique and challenge that dominant system. There’s a reason that there is a stereotype of artists as social revolutionaries: they have often taken a look around, gone, “Hey, what the hell is this?” and tried to do something about it, because the creative and free-thinking impulse helps to cultivate the tools necessary to question what has become received and dominant wisdom. Of course, that can then be taken too far into the “I’ll create my own reality and reject absolutely everything that doesn’t fit that narrative,” and we end up at something like the current death of expertise.

This year is particularly fertile for these kinds of misinformation efforts: a plague without a vaccine or a known cure, an election year in a turbulently polarized country, race unrest in a deeply racist country spreading to other racist countries around the world and the challenging of a particularly important system (white supremacy), etc etc. People are scared and defensive and reactive, and in that case, they’re especially less motivated to challenge or want to encounter information that scares them. They need their pre-set beliefs to comfort them or provide steadiness in a rocky and uncertain world, and (thanks once again to social media) it’s easy to launch blistering ad hominem attacks on people who disagree with you, who are categorized as a faceless evil mass and who you will never have to meet or negotiate with in real life. This is the environment in which all the world’s distinguished scientists, who have spent decades studying infectious diseases, have to fight for airtime and authority (and often lose) over random conspiracy theorists who make a YouTube video. The public has been trained to see them as “both the same” and then accept which side they like the best, regardless of actual factual or real-world qualifications. They just assume the maniac on YouTube is just as trustworthy as the scientists with PhDs from real universities.

Obviously, academia is racist, elitist, classist, sexist, on and on. Most human institutions are. But training people to see all academics as the enemy is not the answer. You’ve seen the Online Left (tm) also do this constantly, where they attack “the establishment” for never talking about anything, or academics for supposedly erasing and covering up all of non-white history, while apparently never bothering to open a book or familiarize themselves with a single piece of research that actual historians are working on. You may have noticed that historians have been leading the charge against the “don’t erase history!!!1″ defenders of racist monuments, and explaining in stinging detail exactly why this is neither preserving history or being truthful about it. Tumblr likes to confuse the mechanism that has created the history and the people who are studying and analyzing that history, and lump them together as one mass of Evil And Lying To You. Academics are here because we want to critically examine the world and tell you things about it that our nonsense system has required years and years of effort, thousands of dollars in tuition, and other gatekeeping barriers to learn. You can just ask one of us. We’re here, we usually love to talk, and we’re a lot cheaper. I think that’s pretty cool.

As a historian, I have been trained in a certain skill set: finding, reading, analyzing, using, and criticizing primary sources, ditto for secondary sources, academic form and style, technical skills like languages, paleography, presentation, familiarity with the professional mechanisms for reviewing and sharing work (journals, conferences, peer review, etc), and how to assemble this all into an extended piece of work and to use it in conversation with other historians. That means my expertise in history outweighs some rando who rolls up with an unsourced or misleading Twitter thread. If a professor has been handed a carefully crafted essay and then a piece of paper scribbled with crayon, she is not obliged to treat them as essentially the same or having the same critical weight, even if the essay has flaws. One has made an effort to follow the rules of the game, and the other is... well, I did read a few like that when teaching undergraduates. They did not get the same grade.

This also means that my expertise is not universal. I might know something about adjacent subjects that I’ve also studied, like political science or English or whatever, but someone who is a career academic with a degree directly in that field will know more than me. I should listen to them, even if I should retain my independent ability and critical thinking skillset. And I definitely should not be listened to over people whose field of expertise is in a completely different realm. Take the recent rocket launch, for example. I’m guessing that nobody thought some bum who walked in off the street to Kennedy Space Center should be listened to in preference of the actual scientists with degrees and experience at NASA and knowledge of math and orbital mechanics and whatever else you need to get a rocket into orbit. I definitely can’t speak on that and I wouldn’t do it anyway, so it’s frustrating to see it happen with history. Everybody “knows” things about history that inevitably turn out to be wildly wrong, and seem to assume that they can do the same kind of job or state their conclusions with just as much authority. (Nobody seems to listen to the scientists on global warming or coronavirus either, because their information is actively inconvenient for our entrenched way of life and people don’t want to change.) Once again, my point here is not to be a snobbish elitist looking down at The Little People, but to remark that if there’s someone in a field who has, you know, actually studied that subject and is speaking from that place of authority, maybe we can do better than “well, I saw a YouTube video and liked it better, so there.” (Americans hate authority and don’t trust smart people, which  is a related problem and goes back far beyond Trump, but there you are.)

As for art: it’s funny how people devalue it constantly until they need it to survive. Ask anyone how they spent their time in lockdown. Did they listen to music? Did they watch movies or TV? Did they read a book? Did they look at photography or pictures? Did they try to learn a skill, like drawing or writing or painting, and realize it was hard? Did they have a preference for the art that was better, more professionally produced, had more awareness of the rules of its craft, and therefore was more enjoyable to consume? If anyone wants to tell anyone that art is worthless, I invite you to challenge them on the spot to go without all of the above items during the (inevitable, at this rate) second coronavirus lockdown. No music. No films. No books. Not even a video or a meme or anything else that has been made for fun, for creativity, or anything outside the basic demands of Compensated Economic Production. It’s then that you’ll discover that, just as with the underpaid essential workers who suffered the most, we know these jobs need to get done. We just still don’t want to pay anyone fairly for doing them, due to our twisted late-capitalist idea of “value.”

Anyway, since this has gotten long enough and I should probably wrap up: as you say, the difference between “professional” and “hobbyist” has been almost completely erased, so that people think the opinion of one is as good as the other, or in your case, that the hobbyist should present their work for free or refuse to be seen as a professional entitled to fair compensation for their skill. That has larger and more insidious effects in a global marketplace of ideas that has been almost entirely reduced to who can say their opinion the loudest to the largest group of people. I don’t know how to solve this problem, but at least I can try to point it out and to avoid being part of it, and to recognize where I need to speak and where I need to shut up. My job, and that of every single white person in America right now, is to shut up and let black people (and Native people, and Latinx people, and Muslim people, and etc...) tell me what it’s really like to live here with that identity. I have obviously done a ton of research on the subject and consider myself reasonably educated, but here’s the thing: my expertise still doesn’t outweigh theirs, no matter what degrees they have or don’t have. I then am required to boost their ideas, views, experiences, and needs, rather than writing them over or erasing them, and to try to explain to people how the roots of these ideas interlock and interact where I can. That is -- hopefully -- putting my history expertise to use in a good way to support what they’re saying, rather than silence it. I try, at any rate, and I am constantly conscious of learning to do better.

I hope that was helpful for you. Thanks for letting me talk about it.

[lovemesomesurveys]

How's life? Blah.

Do you like bananas? Yeah. It’s been awhile since I’ve had one, though.

Do you like country music? Some, yeah.

What's the last thing you had to drink? Starbucks Doubleshot energy drink.

What is the last four digits of your phone number? Uh, no.

Has anyone ever given you butterflies? If so, aren’t they amazing? Man, I haven’t experienced that kind of butterfly feeling in so long. It’s been a few years.

Are you a girl? I am.

How's your neck? It’s fine at the moment.

Do you like your computer mouse? I have a laptop, so it has the built in trackpad. 

How's your love life? Completely non-existent. 

Can you play "My Life Will Go On" by Celine Dion on the piano? No.

How many times do you brush your teeth a day? Once at least.

Do you like the movie Superbad? Nah.

Do you like pancakes? Sure. Waffles are better, though. What's your number's area code? Not sharing that.

Do you like Paramore? Yeah.

Got a MySpace? It must still exist out there since I never deleted or deactivated it. Unless Myspace did from being inactive for so long. *shrug*

Do you judge people? I feel like everyone does that at least a bit <<<

Do you plan on getting married? No.

Ever been given a promise ring? Nope.

Relationship status? S i n g l e.

Sexual orientation? Straight.

Would you rather be told the truth and have it hurt or be lied to? I mean, you can spare me if it’s something like, “Wow, your new haircut looks like shit” or something haha.

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Haaa. No.

Do you have any step-parents? Nope.

Who do you text the most? My mom.

Is music a daily part of your life? No. It’s weird, like I don’t listen to music nearly as often as I used to. 

Would you change anything about your life? Yeah, a few things.

Describe the socks you're wearing. They’re Christmas socks. 

Do you still talk to the person who hurt you most in life? Why or why not? No.

How far have you ever been away from home? Just to Atlanta, Georgia (I’m from California).

Have you ever given your number to a complete stranger? At first I was like, uh, no, but technically you are when filling out paperwork or anything that may ask for your number. 

What color is your keyboard? Black keys and the letters/numbers/symbols are white. Your mouse? The trackpad (and entire laptop) is silver.

Desktop or laptop? I’ve made that clear by now.

Do you like sweet tea? I used to, but it’s not something I’d gravitate towards anymore. I haven’t had it in several years.

How much sugar do you put in your tea? Just a packet, usually. Two at most.

Do you wear a lot of makeup? I haven’t worn any makeup at all in like 3 years.

Have you ever called someone useless? I say that about myself all the time.

Are you a virgin? Yes.

Do you have a wood or glass dining room table? We don’t have a dining table or a dining room. It was converted into a bedroom. 

Who can you always vent to? Ya’ll, ha.

Are you one to beg people to comment your pictures on MySpace? Myspace is dead, but ew no I don’t beg people to comment on my pictures or anything else for that matter.

Do you like music? Yes.

Have you ever used someone? Definitely not proud to admit that I have before. :/

Has someone ever used you? Yes.

Do you hate it when people don't type correctly? If it’s really bad.

Do you hate anyone at all? No.

Do you love anyone? I love my family.

And your best friend's name is..? Well, to me she’s mom. (:

Do you know how to play beer pong? I know how it’s played, but I’ve never played myself.

Have you ever been in love? Or did you just think you were at the time? I believe so.

What's your name, anyways? Stephanie.

Are you doing anything besides this? I’m listening to an ASMR video.

Do you get annoyed how many surveys ask your favorite color? That one doesn’t bother me, but there’s a few other questions that do.

So.. what's your favorite color? Pastels, rose gold, mint green, coral, and yellow.

Do you like Mozart? Sure. I enjoy classical piano music.

Do you live by quotes that are an explanation of what you're going through? I do love relatable quotes that put into words what I can’t.

Do you hate when you're wrong? I’m wrong a lot and I can admit when I’m wrong.

Do you live in the country? No.

Do you tend to get attached easily? No.

Do you still watch American Idol? No, I stopped watched several years ago.

Do you have a cell phone? Yes.

Ever been broken? Oh, yes. Even physically I feel that way.

Are you still trying to figure out who you are? In some ways, yes.

Is Joe Jonas really hotter than Nick? I always thought so, ha. He was my favorite Jobro back in the day.

How's your back? Not good.

Do you get drunk? If so, are you an alcoholic, or just do it for the rush? Not anymore. I haven’t drank alcohol in 7 years now. I have no desire for it.

Do you make a lot of mistakes? I sure feel like I do.

Do you regret any of them mistakes? I have a lot of regrets. Tell me about the person you're crazy about? There isn’t anyone in my life romantically speaking.

Favorite flavor pudding? I don’t like pudding. It’s a texture thing.

Don't you hate mosquitos? I hate when they bite me and make me itch. Thankfully, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve had a mosquito bite. Or any bug bite, actually.

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Point of Interest: Why Disney’s Live-Action Hercules Needs Appropriate Casting

I want to make one thing perfectly clear, I am speaking on this topic as a Caucasian male so when it comes to me suggesting that these live-action remakes should be more regionally appropriate than their

 animated counterparts, I am speaking both as a fan and as someone who wants to see these characters be appropriately represented in these live-action movies.

Okay so Disney Animated Movies tend to make it clear when they’re set in different locations. From the more obvious search as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book and Mulan, to the more obscure such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Tangled and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

These cultural difference are shown not only in the locations but also the design of the characters.  Asian characters are distinctly Asian, Black characters are clearly Black characters and if they’re European there’s usually at least one character with the accent of the country.

However, Hercules is one of those rare anomalies where not only are our main characters not made to look or sound distinctly Greek, despite the majority of the movie being set in Ancient Greece with the only other locations being the Greek versions of Heaven and Hell, Mount Olympus and the Underworld.

Now granted ,the 1992 animated Aladdin did not have one Arabian voice actor and was instead an entirely Caucasian cast. But the 1998 Mulan featured a prominently Asian cast, something which the upcoming live-action adaptation will be doing, and the 2019 live-action Aladdin featured an almost entire cast of Arabian-Indian heritage with the only exceptions being Will Smith as the Genie and Billy Manguson as a prince of a foreign land and it was the first time Disney spotlighted the importance of regional appropriate casts outside of the MCU.

With that being said, despite the 1996 Hercules having its minor ensemble cast specifically being Greek based on looks, and the Greek Gods having a variety of different appearances therefore not necessarily representing any specific culture and rather fictitious deities, There is nothing specifically defining our leads Hercules and Megara as Greek other than Hercules having a tan and the way they dress.

Enter a chance to not only remedy this but also shine a spotlight on Greek culture just as Aladdin represented Arabian culture and how Mulan looks set to represent Chinese culture.

Since the announcement of the Russo Brothers are working on a live-action version of Hercules there have been several different suggestions as to who could portray the live-action version of these classic characters. But while some seem both appropriate in terms of representation and also acting ability...some just seem to be pitched because fans of the actors want to see them as these characters.

While some fans are gagging over the idea of Ariana Grande potentially being cast as Meg after she effectively auditioned with a stellar rendition of “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” on the Disney Sing-Along, she has never once developed a level of sass close to what made Meg so great as a character. Not only is she the anti-damsel in distress but she is cynical and fiery.

Reversely, as much as I know how well Anna Kendrick can sing and act in a very dry and sassy manner, she is nowhere close to being regionally appropriate to the Greek setting that Hercules is set in. I mean yes the animated Meg does look Caucasian, but in a Greek setting and a Greek mythology movie, she should at least look the part.

I find myself saying if they take Anna Kendrick’s acting ability and combine it with Ariana Grande’s look and both their singing abilities, that’s the perfect live-action Megara right there.

As for Hercules, as much as it seems obvious to cast either Chris Evans or Hemsworth as the titular bulky hero, not only is it too close to their Marvel superheroes, but Hemsworth is still portraying Thor at least until the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder.

Herc is also technically supposed to be a teenager at the time of this movie, with the movie’s climax taking place 18 years after Herc’s birth and the Hercules animated series taking place when Herc is in school.

For that reason, I like the idea of Noah Centineo playing the Demigod hero, not only does he have the fame and “aw shucks!” personality to play the naive hero, but as he is a couple of years younger than Ariana, the dynamic of the two characters from the original would still be there.

Yes I know neither actor is from Greece, but Ariana is of Italian decent and Centineo is Italian, Dutch, Native American and Puerta Rican. Maybe Disney can find more regionally appropriate actors, but if these two were cast I would not complain.

Again I am not making this post because I feel it is a hot-button topic or a neccesity for the Mouse House to do, let’s face it they have the revenue currently to make a clunker, but Disney live-action is making great strides in representation recently with Aladdin and Mulan, race-bending Ariel to be at least more regionally appropriate to the Atlantic Polynesian location of The Little Mermaid similar to Aquaman, and the announcement that a live-action Lilo & Stitch is in development promising Hawaiian representation with Polynesian actors, it stands to reason that representing Greek culture in a movie that details Greek mythology set in Ancient Greece, should have Greek representation in its cast.

So what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Points of Interest as well as other posts.

[nonbinary-octopus]

College Crush AU Part 11 Thanksgiving, Part 2

wordcount: 1.2 K

Thanksgiving, Part 1

CCAU Masterpost

CCAU Timeline

[More stories]

~~~~~

“So, whatcha think so far?”

They were in Roman’s room now, both sitting on his bed. Honestly, the last several minutes were a bit of a blur. Virgil remembered Roman leading him into the house, and almost immediately being greeted by two women, who promptly pulled Roman into a hug. He remembered Roman saying, “This is Virgil. He has anxiety and doesn’t know you yet, so no touching,” and he remembered Roman’s moms actually listening and greeting him warmly without any attempts at a hug, or even a handshake. He did not, however, remember what other conversation was made, other than that there was some before Roman had brought him here.

“It’s… good,” Virgil said. “Your moms seem very nice.”

Roman grinned. “Good!” he said.

Virgil hesitated, unsure if he was about to say something rude. “I… wasn’t expecting one of your moms to be, um, white.” And now he realized that he wasn’t sure which name went to which mom, either. Roman had probably told him, but it was lost in the blur.

Thankfully, Roman didn’t seem offended. He laughed. “Why’s that?”

Virgil shrugged a bit, the sort of shrug that meant ‘lemme think a second,’ not ‘dunno.’ “I mean… you said you’re Latino,” he said after a moment. “But one of your moms is white. Wouldn’t that make you half Latino? And half white?”

Roman chuckled. “Naw,” he said. “Latino means ‘of Latin American descent,’ so Mamá Jota being Latina means that I’m Latino too.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, how do you think I have white cousins without one white parent?” Roman added.

Virgil didn’t answer for a second. “I don’t know any of your cousins,” he pointed out at last.

Roman got a confused look on his face. Then he looked thoughtful. “Did… did I forget to mention that Logan’s my cousin?”

Virgil stared at him. Roman was serious. “Yes, you did.”

“Oh. Whoops. Well, Logan is my cousin. His dad is Maní’s big brother.”

“Do you have a lot of cousins?”

Roman thought, counting on his fingers. When he’d passed five, Virgil interrupted with a more pertinent question.

“How many will be around for Thanksgiving?”

“Logan, for sure,” Roman said. “And he’ll probably bring Patton, he usually does.” He paused. “In retrospect, it may have been obvious that they were together.”

Virgil laughed, feeling the tension in his chest ease. Roman grinned sheepishly at him. Virgil took Roman’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“In my defense, they’ve been best friends since practically before my memories start,” Roman said. “And I wasn’t there when they decided to move from a platonic relationship to a queerplatonic one, and they didn’t outright tell us.” He paused again. “At least, I don’t think they did.” After a few moments thinking about that, Roman shook himself. “Right, people visiting.”

Virgil nodded.

“Logan lives down the road from us, and Patton lives across the street from him, so we’ll probably see them several times. We may or may not see Logan’s parents or his little siblings.”

Virgil looked inquisitive, and Roman explained, “Twins. They’re not too much younger than us, they’re in highschool, and they used to be one each boy and girl, but then they had a fight a couple years back about whose turn it was to be the girl twin, so now you never know what combo you’ll get.”

Virgil smiled. So that was why Roman had grasped the genderfluid thing so smoothly with M. Roman grinned back at him.

“Logan’s and my other shared relatives live across town,” he continued, “so they’ll probably only be here for a day, maybe two. That’s my aunt and uncle Alex and Bob, and my cousin Reem. Oh yeah, and the baby.”

Virgil felt a twist in his gut. “I’m… not great with little kids,” he admitted.

“That’s okay,” Roman assured him. “The baby’s really chill, anyway.”

“Does the baby have a name?”

Roman thought for a second. “Sandy. And Sandy isn’t exactly a baby anymore, I think they’re like… one and a half-ish? now.”

“They?” Virgil repeated, and Roman perked up.

“Yeah! My aunt and uncle are raising Sandy without an assigned gender.”

“That’s… pretty neat,” Virgil said.

Roman grinned. “Yeah, I think so too.”

Virgil leaned against his boyfriend’s side. “What’s Reem like?” he asked.

“Rambunctious,” Roman replied at once. “He’s our age, only a few weeks younger than me. Actually, we look a lot alike, except that he’s white, and we’ve been mistaken for twins. We got into a lot of trouble and adventure together when we were kids.”

Virgil nodded a bit.

“Also,” Roman added musingly, “he doesn’t have much of a filter. So there is that.”

“Mm.”

Roman bumped his shoulder against Virgil’s. “It’ll be alright,” he said. “Reem can be loud sometimes, but he’s a good guy, and if he’s too intense for you, I’ll make him dial it back a bit. Okay?”

Virgil nodded. “Thanks. Who else is coming?”

“Well, that’s all the relatives I’ve got on that side,” Roman said, then amended, “Well, there technically is one other uncle, but he’s super transphobic and got kicked out of the family.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, we don’t talk to him. Anyway, all my cousins on Mamá Jota’s side of the family are actual adults, with jobs and stuff, some in other states or even other countries, so they’re less likely to be here. And of the ones who do live nearby, most of them are married, so they have even more family dinners to choose from. I dunno yet how many plan to be here. Probably at least one, though.”

Virgil nodded.

“Hey, question,” Roman said, and Virgil lifted an eyebrow at him. “How do you want me to introduce you?”

“Hm?”

“My roommate? Boyfriend? Fiancé?”

Virgil considered it. “Yes.”

Roman laughed. “Which one?”

Virgil shrugged, grinning. “You pick.”

“‘This is Virgil, my roommate-boyfriend-fiancé,’?” Roman said, grinning back.

“Sure!”

Roman suddenly lit up. “Ooh!” he exclaimed. “Can I call you my betrothed?”

Virgil blinked, surprised. Then he smiled, feeling his face warm again. “Okay.”

Roman looked delighted. “May I give my betrothed a kiss?”

Virgil pretended to consider it for a few seconds. “You may,” he said at last, and Roman leaned in and kissed him. Virgil kissed back.

“Oh, one more question,” Roman said when they pulled apart again. “Where do you wanna sleep? We can share my bed — it’s a full, so we should both fit fine — or we’ve got an air mattress we can put on the floor, or the livingroom couch is a pull-out bed.”

“Do you hog the blankets?”

Roman made a thinking face. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “I haven’t shared a bed in a long time. I don’t think so, though.”

“We can try it.”

Roman smiled, and Virgil leaned against him again, bumping his forehead against Roman’s shoulder.

“So…” Roman said after a few moments. “Shall we get some supper?” Virgil hesitated for a moment, and Roman added, “You don’t have to hold a conversation if you want to. But I think it would be nice for us all to eat together.”

Virgil nodded, getting up. “Sure.”

~~~~~

Written Next: Nothing yet

Chronologically Next: The rest of the Thanksgiving story, not yet posted. After that: The Infographic

[newcatwords]

who i mean when i talk about the white man

the beauty of the agent smith character from the matrix is that he can inhabit anyone, meaning that anyone can become him.

this is one of the ways i think about the white man.

usually, though, when i talk about The Man, i mean the high level operatives of the state & industry...judges, gatekeepers, bosses. but it also includes the more anonymous enforcers: cops, soldiers, etc... these are people who can bring the hammer of the state down on you if they so choose. they have chosen to become the hand of the state..the mouth of the state..acting on its behalf, doing its work, etc.

is america the white man’s state?

well it was founded by 100% white men:

it was founded for white men. it was not for white women (who couldn’t vote, etc.) or black people (who were enslaved, 3/5ths of a person). it was not for the people who were already living where these men were trying to form their country: native people weren’t even allowed to become citizens of USA until 1924.

you can argue that the white men who ran this place (and who started institutions like the major universities, etc.) have gradually let other people in - women, black people, jews, immigrants, etc. but the rules & values of the american government, of major universities, of news organizations, etc., are in almost all instances the rules & values of those original white people & the white people that have been running those places ever since.

even things like tech products (like this website!) that are meant to be for anyone to use, where technically anyone can work, are the white man’s tech..primarily built & founded by white men..primarily in the white, western tradition of high tech. almost every discipline you can get a degree in (like computer science) was invented & founded by white men working within universities run by white men. this is the most basic sense in which i mean these instutions belong to the white man. he founded them. they are his creations. he continues to create them - publishing the news, keeping the university running, keeping the government running.

you may want to become a part of those institutions - to be in government, to work for a major tech company, to be a cop or a teacher, to be recognized in the art or business world, to get tenure at a major university, etc. ..which is your business and you do you. right now i am writing in the white man’s language (english), using his technology (a computer, the internet, this website), and i, too, try to get my hands on his money (dollars) if at all possible lol.

not all white men are agents of the white man’s state, but most of them (especially if they’re straight and/or christian) can become a part of it. all of them benefit from it (you’re just not as likely to get killed by a cop during a traffic stop if you’re white. this is just reality.). 

almost anyone (with the right papers, with the right skin color) can become The Man...when you as a white person call the cops on a black person, in that moment, you are The Man. when you as a white person try to police someone else’s behavior..or question whether they are in the right place etc...in that moment, you are The Man. if you’re gatekeeping your favorite hobby or industry, in that moment, you are The Man. that’s the beauty of the agent smith character in the matrix - agent smith can execute the full power of the state (ie, visit death on you) and anyone can become him.

it’s much harder (in many cases impossible) for certain “others” to enter various parts of the white man’s world. but it’s possible! look at your black & women cops. look at your colin powells and condoleezza rices..look at all the queer people who are allowed to rise to the top. which is why i think of being The Man as a condition, not as something essential about who you are. of course some people really are The Man on the inside lol - they were born into it or have adopted it or really think they know better and can’t see any other way. waddaya gonna do.

many white people especially are confused about the things that make up white culture. it’s especially difficult to understand because part of white culture is insisting that its culture & ways are universal. so every time you’ve heard a white man say “this is human nature” or “all people do this”, that in itself is white culture. white culture claims to be a neutral culture and a universal culture. but the more you learn, the more you discover that things you might have thought were neutral or universal are actually historically, geographically, & culturally specific to whites/westerners..they are things that were invented by whites/westerners.

here’s one example: many people think that some form of jail/prison/confinement of a person who did a bad thing is universal, or at least very common throughout time and in many parts of the world. but jails/prisons were invented in the west and in fact through much of the west’s history, these were not the main or preferred ways to punish people. michel foucault’s book “discipline & punish” is a good history of the invention of the prison.

when i say “a product of white culture” or "western culture”, the white reader might think “well i’m white and it’s not *my* culture.” that may be true! now imagine the whitest of the whites: your new england snobs, your english posh snobs, the good ole boys who run your town or state, your oppressive church leaders, an elected official who hates you & lies to you, a smug know-it-all educated technocrat (it might be you!), a karen, a cop, the trumpists, the polite skeptic liberals who are always telling you to temper your expectations, the shmucks who make the sexist, dumb hollywood movies, alllll the gatekeepers... their culture, the way they do things, the things they value, that is white culture. it varies. the white conservative’s culture is not the same as the white liberal’s culture, but they do have some things in common, like wanting to keep america going. both of their cultures are white cultures.

these whites are the people who make the culture that so many of us have grown up in - not just those of us in the west. the white culture machine includes academia (which produces scientific knowledge, histories, & the social theories & policies that many reforms are based on), tv, movies, the music industry, the art world, fashion, wall street, the tech industry, the news, professional sports, the politicians & cops (that are so often the content of the news), schools, white churches, most philanthropies, and all kinds of national (& many international) interest groups (ngo’s, advocacy groups, etc.).

these are institutions that (like the US government) were founded primarily by white men and have been run primarily by white men since their founding. they have all the money. they have power - whether it’s commercial power, political power, power to shape the national conversation, power to define what is true (only western science can say what’s true, according to western science!), power to give you a job or take it away, etc.

if you want to be “at the top of your field”, you are almost always meant to strive to join one of these white institutions (mostly white mens’ institutions). you might say “well there’s nothing particularly white about them..it’s just a news company..or an ad company. they’re just doing business.” but when i say white in this context, i mean that the people who founded them were either 100% white or mostly white. the people who have always run them have been either all white or mostly white, and the people who run them now are either all white or mostly white. in this sense, they are the white man’s institutions.

it can be hard to understand that because they are often the national or otherwise “official” thing: national news, or the biggest national/international companies, the top national/international universities. they certainly sell themselves as “the official thing” because it doesn’t sound great to say “the official newspaper of the white man.” and they want to be the official thing. they want to be the top x in the world. that’s an important white, western value as well - wanting to be the thing for everyone. the UN was not the dream of all peoples. it was the dream of some specific white, western people who created it.

here in america, a white man’s state, we grow up in that state’s schools, learning the history it wants us to learn. we watch its tv and listen to its music. we read its news and use its tech. we & our ideas..many of the things we think are true..many of the things we value..have been installed in us by that state and its various mouths (the ones who teach its desired history, tell you how you should look, what you should want out of life, what you should buy):

(above graphic from the movie “they live” (1988))

but we do all have a choice about which aspects of the white man’s culture we choose to adopt..we have choices about which of his values (progress, superiority of humans over nature & animals) we adopt..choices about which books we read & which movies we watch. is the matrix white man’s media? it used to be, but the wachowskis left the club ;). now it’s white trans women’s media :}

one final thing: is everything that white men do or think part of the white man’s culture? are all white men The Man? i hope that this post has made clear that i think the answer to both questions is “no”. i hope i’ve also made clear that non-whites and non-cis-het-men can very much be The Man or agents of The Man at times, or even their whole life. i’m not saying that it’s necessarily bad or necessarily good here, i just want us all to be honest with ourselves about who we are & whose work we’re doing.

a related question: if you start a club and you’re a white man, is it the white man’s club? i think it depends..it might be. do you work within the white, western tradition? do you accept its assumptions (capitalism is good, meritocracy is real, etc.)? do you further its culture? do you support its work? do you subvert it (by insisting that the club & its ways & rules are co-created with women, POC, etc., as real equal co-founders, for example)? do you use your position as someone the cops might believe, or someone the manager might listen to, to get your way & get what you want? ..to get someone else out of the way when you want? you might be The Man!

we can debate specifics - whether industry x or person y or instution z or cultural value n is white, but for me it comes down to this: was the value/government/institution founded by whites/westerners? has it been run & carried forward by whites/westerners? you can also ask whether it primarily benefits whites/westerners (who are allowed to rise to high positions or allowed to not be as likely to be killed by the cops, etc.) and whether it promotes the values/goals of The White Man. if a judge, a cop, an elected official, a principal, a high level church leader, a university president, and a corporate leader can all agree on it, then in my book, it promotes the values/goals of The White Man. an example of values that might fit this bill include an agreement that we should not try to dismantle america, for example. that one should work within the system...that industrialism is the way to go...etc.. primarily these are pro-establishment values. and “the establishment” is another way that i think many people talk about the white man’s culture & institutions.

anyway, this post has gone quite long. thank you for staying with me till the end. i hope it’s provided at least a rough sketch of what i mean when i talk about the white man or The Man and i hope it’s given you something to think about. i apologize for not going into the history of the usage of “The White Man” or “The Man”..i started writing this on a whim & haven’t done a historical dive. please forgive me for that. thank you.

[bridgetlynn]

Goodnight & Goodluck

So I don’t know who reads these anymore - when I actually pop up and post something. Especially since I don’t do the usual tumblr “thing” and just re-blog pictures. But sometimes I just need to write something down and say it “outloud”, as it were. So really, it’s my own thoughts, for my own piece of mind, in an attempt to remind myself what should be.

It’s May 31st 2020. At least, technically, since it’s 3:20am as I start to write this. 

America’s burning. In the year of two-thousand-twenty. Think about that.

Then ask yourself why. 

(Newsflash - not covid)

If you had to either think too long about it - or don’t understand - then you’ll never get it. If you don’t think there’s even an iota of justification to that level of rage and terror and sadness then you’ll really never get it.

And I feel sorry for you. 

If you can answer those questions truthfully and turn a blind eye? Then I’m disgusted with you. 

If you’ve ever screamed all lives matter - especially right now - just don’t ever bother talking to me. ‘Cause you’re an oblivious moron.

Because there’s a simple fact at play - right now and always -

Black. Lives. Matter.

Maybe it’s ‘cause of where I grew up. Maybe it’s ‘cause of how I was raised.  

We see it year after year after year after year...and it doesn’t stop. And I can’t wrap my head around it. 

I grew up on Long Island - which everyone automatically thinks means I was a wealthy, privledged white girl from the suburbs. 

And I agree - I was a privledged white girl from the suburbs...wealthy not so much. I grew up in a mostly white town - but due to the way parts of Long Island are structured and zoned I also simultaneously grew up in a fairly diverse overall community. 

The way my family raised me was simple - a person is a person. That’s it. You treat a human being with respect and dignity and equality until they show you that they (singular to that specific individual) do not deserve it. Doesn’t matter if they’re white, black, asian, hispanic....you get the point. (and yes, that included LGBTQ+ as well) I’m just not built to think any other way.

I genuinely didn’t realize there was any other way of thinking until I got to high school. As far as I was concerned before high school - everyone was different and that was what made us beautiful. That’s what made it amazing to live here in the United States. 

My Irish heritage family. My best friend’s Nigerian heritage family. Various other friends of differing backgrounds who lived in our area. These were just the people we associated with because they were our neighbors and friends and co-workers and school mates. They lived their lives alongside us and they good people. That’s all anyone in my family ever needed to know.

Then high school came - and suddenly I was in a private catholic school (our public school wasn’t great) and I was weird. I was a poor, scholarship kid who “didn’t belong” because I didn’t have a lot of money. That I shrugged off. That I had been exposed to my whole life. Hell, I had expected it.

What I couldn’t understand was....if I didn’t belong because I didn’t have money....then why did the senior boy whose parents were both surgeons, drove a Jaguar to school and had a country club membership get treated like even more of a pariah then I did? Literally, possibly the wealthiest kid in the school at the time.

Maybe it was stupid of me at 14 to NOT have realized it - hell, maybe I was lucky to have not been exposed to it - but my african-american best friend’s mother had to sit me down and explain how genuinely shitty most people are. It wasn’t just on tv. It wasn’t just in history books. It was everywhere. Including what I thought was our nice little neighborhood. 

Apparently, my family, was the outlier. And I never realized that.

Then she told me she loved me like I was her own and sent me to do my homework. 

And I’m glad she was the one who told me - ‘cause my parents didn’t “get it”. 

Not really. They didn’t get it - not ‘cause they didn’t see it. Or know about it. Or hate it. But because they were physically incapable of living that experience. And they understood that. I know it’s the same for me. But I hate it now more then I hated it then. 

Years ago it was a child-like misunderstood hatred fueled by the idea that anyone would think my best friend - or any other person - was bad or wrong for how they looked. That they would dislike someone and use that as a reason. Now it’s an adult hatred that stems from a more fully lived life that brought about the understanding that it’s far more then dislike. Seeing friends looked at side-eyed for being in a store...seeing boyfriends get questioned about what they were doing with me in their car...seeing people murdered by the very people who are supposed to be protecting everyone.

And make no mistake - it’s murder in every sense of the word.

The systemic violence in policing has been getting progressively worse throughout my lifetime. Throughout my parents lifetimes. My grandparents. 

And it has to stop. It has to be stopped.

The ingrained, brainwashed, predjudice that gets drilled into them through a testosterone, rage, fueled culture of “us vs them” has to be crushed into to the dirt and rebuilt into something that can be relied on. 

Now, I haven’t seen my friend’s family in years. Jaycee’s parents moved when we graduated from different colleges. She got married. Kids came. People grow older and lose touch. It happens in life to everyone. Doesn’t mean they ever forget the people who helped to shape them into the adults they would become

Needless to say I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately. Not because “those are my black friends” (as some people like to point to for themselves as examples of how they aren’t racist) but because without them I sometimes wonder how I could have turned out. 

Without them in my life would it have been possible for my happy-go-lucky everyone is awesome childhood to be perverted throughout high school and college into me giving someone the side-eye because they were (allegedly) different then me?

I’d like to think the answer to that is a resounding no. But as I said earlier - our experiences and the people around us shape who we are. And if we avoid people who are (according to some) different then us? 

Then we never realize that they aren’t. Not where it counts.

And, if you were wondering - the answer to my question at the top. Why is America burning in 2020?

Because we got complacent. We stopped helping. We stopped seeing people for who they actually are; rather then our first glance. 

America is burning because white American’s let it get dragged there over years and years of injustice until it didn’t have anywhere else to go but up in flames. 

And I despise Trump - but he’s not the main problem. ‘Cause, he’s definitely a massive problem. But in this case - he’s a symptom of the problem. 

If racism, bigotry and hatred didn’t exist in our overall society then he wouldn’t be our President. Hell, if those things didn’t exist then he wouldn’t have even been allowed near the Republican Nomination - let alone the Oval Office. 

And, so tonight, when I would much rather be in the city - standing shoulder to shoulder with people I don’t know - but still love and support and admire - I’m writing this as my stand because of the damned virus. I’m stuck at home breathing through bronchitis and hoping it doesn’t get worse with a fever of 101.6 (which might have contributed to anything here that got stream of consciousness style) rather then off in Brooklyn or Times Square or the Bronx....or anywhere else I could get myself to so I could take a stand as well. Nothing else short of the fact that I can literally not get out of bed right now could have stopped me.

So, yes, this is as close as I could come. Just writing something. Just breathing it out onto the internet to be read or not read. To be absorbed or ignored. Just to be there in some form of spirit.

Because George Floyd Matters. Because Eric Garner Matters. Because Michael Brown and Freddie Gray and Philando Castile Matter. And all the thousands of others who don’t make the nightly news cycle for whatever reason. They all matter.

So all I can leave with is Edward R. Murrow’s classic sign off - with true heartfelt hope to everyone out there this evening - Goodnight and Goodluck.

I wish I could be with you.

[bigskydreaming]

I’m really sorry if this is a very stupid question, but what’s the difference between social politics and political infrastructure? Have a nice day!

No worries, and tbh that’s not even like.....its not the right way or at least not the best way to describe what I was trying to say, my brain just wasn’t cooperating when I tried hunting for a better phrasing, lol.

Essentially though, the distinction I was making there is that you’ve got social politics, which is your position on social issues - LGBTQ+ rights, legislation against hate crimes, police brutality, prison reform....and like, in the US at least, how we tend to define ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ is aligned with whether a person votes Democrat or Republican, with liberals of course being considered more concerned with being socially progressive while conservatives and their candidates and electeds are regressive on social issues like the ones I just mentioned. But at the same time, whether a person votes Democrat or Republican involves more than just candidates’ stances on social issues, as it usually also factors in their stances on taxes and the economy, etc. Which is how we end up with like, when people describe themselves as being socially liberal but fiscally conservative, they’re basically claiming they lean left on social matters and would vote along those lines when those issues are put to a vote....but also that they still lean right on matters pertaining to the economy, because they prefer how the Republicans vote on things like taxes.

And so by political infrastructure, I was referring to more...the general view of how a particular government is structured and which parties are associated with which views. Because it doesn’t always match up with our current view of ‘left equals Democrat equals liberal and right equals Republican equals conservative.’ Because these things change over time. For instance, in the 1800s, the Democrats were actually considered the conservative party and the Republicans the liberal party....with those flip flopping when policy changes over time eventually led to shifts in each party’s direction. 

Like, major changes to the economy and the way it was structured/we interacted with it led to Republican leadership reframing themselves as the fiscally conservative party and trying to appeal on that basis to voters who didn’t like the direction Democrats were trying to take our economy and who wanted things to stay the same, basically. And over time, more socially conservative elements within our society gained more and more influence within the Republican party and capitalized on that fiscally conservative angle to draw in a wider support base, with them then gradually pushing more conservative agendas on social issues as well, and pairing this with the party line like ‘a stronger position for our party overall gives us more power to affect economic policy in that way you like, so its in your best interests to be united with us when we push for more of what we want on these social issues here too’ etc etc. Until eventually, the parties had essentially completely flip flopped, and then the Democratic party was made up of the more socially liberal segments of society as well as the economically liberal.

So like....bottom line is ‘right’ and ‘left’ and all associated terms like liberal and conservative....are EXTREMELY arbitrary. Because their meaning at any given moment depends wholly on context...with that context frequently just being where any one party lands on a given matter RELATIVE to their opposing party. Which is how we so often get Democratic ideals that aren’t really remotely progressive or liberal and so on. They just happen to be ‘more’ progressive than those of their Republican counterparts...for whatever that happens to be worth. With that uh, not actually always being worth that much.

And there’s also the little matter of like....not everybody uses the same associations, because context varies not just compared to the other party in your own government, but also different countries have different contexts entirely. Like I mean, don’t quote me because I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that the party in Australia that’s referred to as the liberals in that system are actually a lot more aligned ideologically with our own Republican party than our Democratic party, our version of liberals. So someone from Australia saying hell no, they’re not a liberal, isn’t actually them saying they’re more likely to agree with what Trump and his supporters over here say, in opposition to OUR liberals. At least, I think anyway. Again, not really up to date with Australian politics, lol, our own give me enough of a headache.

Anyway, so yeah, what I was getting at in that post is that its utterly pointless to try and define other governments and their parties by our own associations with the right and left terminology. And that’s even when just talking about our contemporaries. Its even MORE pointless to try and label other governments from entirely different eras with our idea of right and left.

Like, most left ‘extremists’, like antifa, advocate for extremely liberal economic policies, compared to our current economic model. To the left of our current economy you get into socialism and from there communism. But leftists are also equally liberal socially speaking, with modern left ‘extremism’ pushing for us to move further left across the board on all issues.

This is completely fucking different from the overall positions of the communist regimes that post was trying to call examples of left-leaning extremists....because just because the USSR and China transitioned to communist governments in the past, which is a ‘left-side’ economic model according to our current view of things.....that in no way, shape or form says that their social politics were also left-leaning, like those of the most far left members of our society currently, even though both in theory advocated for left-side economic policies.

And since the whole thread was about those two posters trying to argue that extremists on the left side of things are just as fanatical as right-wing extremists, and thus are equally dangerous and do just as much harm......it was completely dishonest and fake to draw comparisons to Mao and the Soviet Union just because they both have technically used left-model economic systems similar in name to what the far left is pushing for today....when both those examples and their policies on human rights and social justice issues would be as considered as much the opposite of our modern far-left’s view on social issues as the white supremacists on the far right are.

Like LOL it just doesn’t work like that at all, and its extremely fake and misleading to try and pretend it does. The ideologies that led to the deaths of so many people at the hands of those two regimes have absolutely nothing in common with the ideologies of the modern American far left, and so trying to point to them as an example of the dangers of ‘leftist’ fanaticism was just fake as fuck fear-mongering meant to imply that’s where we could end up if our society didn’t have a natural opposite to our modern far-left (right wing extremists) to keep the far-left in check. 

When like, no, that’s not remotely an accurate read of our current social climate, and there’s no chance in hell that far-left extremists as is (like, without dramatic shifts in direction along the lines of how the Republican party went from being the liberals to the conservatives) - like....another freaking Mao is not where far left extremism could potentially lead us if allowed too much power. According to our current model, the more left your social politics are, like the FURTHER away you get from the social politics of someone like him.

[douxreviews]

American Gods - ‘House on the Rock’ Review

"To be continued, in what some call the real world."

American Gods is back, and opens season two with the centerpiece location from the first half of the novel. Was it worth the wait? Yes. It was worth the wait.

I don't think that there's anyone who's watching this show who is unaware of just how long the wait was between seasons one and two. It's been just shy of two years since the corpse of Laura Moon walked out onto Easter's balcony and politely interrupted the opening ceremonies of God War I with a relatively polite request to speak to her husband. It wasn't precisely a cliffhanger, but it definitely was a tense situation which was waiting for some resolution.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances behind the scenes, they weren't able to pick up the scene where they left it, and had no choice but to paper over the join as best they could and continue with the larger story.

To quickly sum up the scene as we left it, Wednesday had convinced Easter to join the side of the old gods in his coming war. Media, Technical Boy, and Mr. World were present to witness her choice, and it forced Mr. World to finally accept the declaration of war; something he had previously been disinclined to do. As a result of these advancements in the god/war plot, Shadow found and declared his belief in all the gods around him. Or, alternately, as a result of Shadow finding and declaring his belief in the gods around him, those advancements in the god/war plot occurred. It depends on how you read the situation. And as those events simultaneously climaxed and/or caused one another, Laura and Mad Sweeney joined them on the lanai to deal with her marital problems.

Fade to black. End series one.

Series two picks up in the aftermath of those events, but only indirectly. As discussed at length in my previous review, one quarter of the actors present in the finale are no longer with the show, which means that we don't get to see how the immediate moments following the end of season one play out. To be fair, it's possible that they never would have picked up exactly where they left off. There's a school of thought that leans toward resolving cliffhangers by picking up somewhere unrelated and then winding your way back to explain what happened. Steven Moffat, as an example, is a big proponent of that technique. Maybe the plan was always to begin with Technical Boy frantically driving his limo away from the scene with the remnants of Mr. World in the back. Perhaps the only real difference is that Media would have been with them, if Gillian Anderson was still on the show.

In any case, they have two missing characters to account for, and I think they made a really good decision in the case of Media. Making her absence part of the plot turns a problem into a storytelling opportunity, and was a good call.  We find out pretty quickly that Media has gone missing after the finale, and Technical Boy's plotline is going to be looking for her on Mr. World's orders. That opens up a lot of storytelling possibilities, and it was a good solution to the problem. It is a little odd that we last saw all three of them together and perfectly fine, only to be told now that she somehow vanished, but it holds together, and they have plenty of time to give us more explanation as the search for her goes on.

Easter, on the other hand, merely gets a line of dialog later on from Mr. Nancy, stating that she's not going to participate anymore because she's mad about Wednesday running over her bunnies. That's kind of a cop out, but Easter's story was essentially told last episode, so it's not too great a loss to move on from her to other characters. If you're familiar with the novel, you know that Easter has one fairly significant plot function down the road, but at the pace the show is going that probably won't happen until season five or six, so there's plenty of time to either mend fences with Kristin Chenoweth or figure out another option before we get there. If we even get there, for that matter – serialized television has broken all of our hearts before, remember.

The somewhat utilitarian way that the show moved on from the season one climax is kind of indicative of a change of tone overall. It's not that there's less meat on the storytelling bone, but there is notably less fat on it. When we left them, Laura had just found out that Wednesday had her killed, Sweeney had revealed to her that it was him who actually did the task, and Laura was about to tell Shadow both of these facts. But we pick up with the four of them on a road trip together, so whatever happened they apparently worked that all out. What we do get is the map segue showing the trip to Wisconsin and while there's some admirably efficient dialog between them that reminds us of a couple of plot points that we might have forgotten over the hiatus and establishes a few character touches that are going to be relevant later, it seems pretty clear that the show is mostly interested in getting them to the big showpiece and isn't going to be delayed by a little thing like character conflict. Witness, for example, the way that Salim just walks into a scene with the Jinn with no lead in about his journey to Wisconsin, or how he found the Jinn inside the house. Neither of those things matter, the show just wants to get to their long awaited reunion.

Honestly, it mostly feels like after spending all of season one not getting to the House on the Rock, arguably the big showpiece of the setup phase of the novel, they were determined to make it happen in the season two opener as quickly and efficiently as possible. So while we finally get to meet Mr. World's network, and Mr. Town finally gets brought into things, the Black Briar Secret Government Safehouse and Country Club is clearly being sketched in quickly so that they exist by the end of the episode, when we need them to be responsible for a sniper attack.

All of this makes me suspect that my take on things behind the scenes was correct, and it came down to Fuller and Green wanting more of an anthology show and Gaiman wanting to focus more on the plot of the novel. Both of which viewpoints are totally valid, if that needs to be stated.

So, now that we've gotten to the big showpiece setting, how did they do with it? Well, the House on the Rock looks fantastic, as it would. They filmed at the house itself, which is a real location and exists pretty much exactly as described, if anyone hadn't already heard that. The carousel looked fantastic, and the realization of the council of gods inside Wednesday's head is beautiful and stuffed to the brim with nice little details like the way Zorya Vechernayaya has three faces when you focus on her and Anansi's spider eyes. They really needed to make that scene look amazing, and you can see the work on screen. Although there is just a little too much usage of smoke and sparks, which is usually a tell that there's a lot of compositing that they're trying to blend together. The diner scene afterwards is equally well presented, and actually more deserving of a shout out, as 20-30 people having a party at a restaurant is a nightmare brief as far as staging and filming goes.

That's really the episode in a nutshell. The things that needed to happen they did very, very well. It's just that there's very few instances of extraneous details outside of the big important things that needed to happen, and I think the show is just a little less rich for it. Of course this is only the first episode of the season, and premieres are notorious for that exact criticism, so we'll see how things develop.

Quotes:

Laura: "I still don’t understand how such a sweet old man can have so many enemies." Wednesday: "Oh, it’s perfectly simple, my dear. Jealousy. Unmitigated jealousy."

Laura: "Do you believe in mermaids now?" Shadow: "I don’t know what I believe in yet. I guess. I don’t know."

Jinn: "You’re here for the meeting?" Bilquis: "I wasn’t formally invited."

Mr. Nancy: "Mad Sweeney, is that you? Or is it Wednesday’s bullshit I smell."

Sweeney: "You sound like a man who’d fight to get back into those maggoty panties." Maggoty Panties is the name of my new punk band.

Bilquis: "I was old in the desert before they sacrificed the first horse to you. I will be heard. Unless you’re afraid?"

Mr. Nancy: "Apparently the houses in this area were built by some skinny white motherf**ker named Frank Lloyd Wright. Some say his evil twin brother built this one. Frank Lloyd Wrong."

Bits and Pieces:

-- I'm not 100% clear what Bilquis' goals at the meeting were. She's nominally working for the new gods, or at least seems to be, and she clearly knew about the sniper because she left the restaurant immediately before the shooting started. Is she a spy? Was she supposed to disrupt the meeting? That would explain her speech about the new gods being nice and giving her a new platform, but it didn't seem like her heart was in it.

-- It's very sad that Zorya Vechernayaya was shot and killed, but didn't we just see like three other gods killed in the same crossfire? Did we just not like the god of getting his face blown off as much?

-- It's intriguing that we were shown twice that gods can't identify one another as gods on sight. Wednesday might have been lying for reasons of his own when he claimed to think Salim was a god, but then Bilquis made the same mistake with Laura, so it looks like they genuinely can't tell. That surprised me. Neither Salim nor Laura took Winston Zedmore's advice on this issue.

-- I can't have been alone in momentarily believing that Anansi was about to launch into the story about the tiger's balls. Which I suspect was deliberate.

-- This week in Orlando Jones' Fabulous Outfit Watch: He was sporting a blue plaid number that was quite nice, but not quite as shiny and wonderful as the shiny cream number he was wearing while he did the tailoring a few episodes back. Again, I really, really hope that Orlando Jones is enjoying every second of his wardrobe.

-- As they got on the carousel, Mr. Nancy rides a lion, Wednesday appears to be atop a wolf, Shadow climbs on an eagle, and Bilquis mounts a pirate.

-- Mad Sweeney, after complaining repeatedly about Laura having his luck, got lucky when he slipped in a patch of blood and avoided getting shot. Emily Browning's eye roll when the bullet hit her not-previously-damaged shoulder was priceless.

-- According to the fortune teller booth, Shadow's lucky number is none and his lucky color is dead. Man, just when you thought fortune teller booths couldn't be creepier.

-- For all his irritation that Salim had followed him, the Jinn immediately moved to protect him when the bullets started flying. That was sweet.

A solid season opener that manfully took the occasionally wandering larger plotline from season one and firmly put it on a more defined course. I just hope that less exploration of the corners of the novel's universe doesn't end up being no exploration of the corners of the novel's universe. Oh, and I already miss Fuller's trademark screeching strings and horns approach to incidental music. Hope that makes a return as well.

Three out of four creepy fortune telling mannequins.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[texanpeanut]

Why Am I Here?

I think a lot. Probably too much by some standards, which is one of the reasons I wanted to join the Peace Corps. Once upon a time I believed if I made it to this position I would be forced to think less and do more. However, over the past six months I’ve experienced the opposite. Without mind-numbing mental distractions like Instagram and Facebook readily available while I’m in my rural site, and with the heat-forced downtime that occurs between noon and five p.m., I find myself thinking all the time. Not just in a hazy, half-aware state, but actively considering a handful of topics over and over again trying to find some satisfying conclusion that may or may not exist. So I’m not sure if the amount I think has changed since coming here, but perhaps the way I do has. Maybe now it’s more focused, more linear, less wiggly and sporadic. Maybe it’s more dense and easier to hold in my hand, like pudding versus water. Maybe it hasn’t changed at all and I’m just making it all up. 

One topic currently seems to have a more substantial presence in my mind than the others, though. Sometimes it burns like a roaring campfire and I’m completely captivated and sometimes it nags silently like a mango string caught in my teeth that I run my tongue over again and again without actually making an effort to remove. When I sit on the floor of my hut at 6:30 am drinking Nescafe, when I fill my water bucket at the forage in the silent woods, when I escape the afternoon sun by doing crosswords in bed, when I sit with my family in the evening as we wait for dinner to finish cooking, I always come back to the same thought - why the fuck am I here? 

For anyone reading this who doesn’t know, Senegal is a small West African country that happens to be the furthest western point on the African continent. I honestly don’t know that much about Senegalese history because all the empire formations and and dissolvements make my head spin, but I do know that it is certainly a very rich and diverse history, which has led to a very rich and diverse culture today. Although French is the national language, apparently 36 different languages are spoken in Senegal today, and each language corresponds to a different ethnic group with it’s own stories and traditions and beliefs. In my own region of Kedougou, I can travel between Bassari, Pular, and Jaxanke villages in just a few hours, and then if I travel up to any of the northern regions I find myself surrounded by Wolof or Pulaar du Nord or Serer. 

So, take a trip in a time machine back to maybe the 7th century and you’ll find all these groups of people living their lives, forming empires and kingdoms, disbanding, migrating, adopting Islam, you know, whatever, the usual, until the advent of globalization at the end of the 15th century. At that point, Europeans began competing for trade and conquest in Senegal (like they did in almost all other non-white countries, as y’all know. I have a few other colorful ways to describe this but since I have family reading and I already dropped a fuck once (twice now, sorry) I’ll keep it tame.)* until 1677 when France won by gaining control of Goree Island, which is known for being a purchasing base in the Atlantic Slave Trade. 

Travel forward in the time machine to 1961 and Senegal becomes independent from France. After centuries upon centuries of existing as a region under various kingdoms, then 300 years under French rule, Senegal becomes a country with a border, a tax system, a school system, elected officials, all that stuff. Now travel forward in the time machine to today, 2018, 57 years later. 

SO MUCH BACKDROP. Was all that even necessary for what I’m about to talk about? We’ll see, I guess. 

Living here, I see a lot of European and North American presence. Asian presence too, actually - a lot of the roads being built are Chinese construction projects, and the Renaissance Monument in Dakar was given as a gift from North Korea. There are other development organizations like UNESCO and World Vision, some religious missionaries, some adventurous tourists traveling on their own, some old French women sunbathing on the beaches of Mbour, and of course the obnoxious buses crammed full of European tourists coming to see a waterfall and stop by the surrounding towns to take photos of ~village life~ as if strolling through a zoo. 

As a white person here I’m perceived differently based on which of these groups of white people Senegalese people have interacted with more. When I travel anywhere outside my village I hear the children sing-song chant “toubako okkan cadeau!” which means “westerner, share a gift with me!”. Sometimes the adults engage me too when I go to a boutique or wait for a car at the garage. They like to ask me if I’ll take their baby with me back to America, if I’ll give them my earbuds, my cell phone, or my dress, or if I’ll marry their old crusty-ass uncle I don’t even know. When I travel up to Thies I don’t get chanted at quite as much and am almost ignored, which is nice. The few times I’ve been to Mbour I’m almost ignored except for the occasional beach-walking knick-knack seller begging me to be their first customer of the day. 

Even though they are just children, I get so incredibly annoyed sometimes by the chanting. I usually ignore it and go about my day but sometimes I just want to scream “my name is not Toubako, it’s Binta, and I don’t have a fucking gift, leave me alone and let me walk or bike or buy a piece of bread or whatever the fucking I’m doing at the moment.” The adults can be just as irksome, too. I don’t usually get into it and play these comments off as jokes but they make me so uncomfortable. I want to tell them “stop asking me for things. Every time you see me you only ask me for things. I came here to teach, to work, to plant at least like one fucking tree, not to take your baby or marry your god-damn uncle.” 

I think I’m up to four fucks now, sorry. God, that’s five. 

But I don’t respond because in some ways I feel like I deserve it. Even though I wasn’t here between 1677 and 1961 selling humans from Goree Island, even though I’m not one of these oggling, bus-going, camera-toting tourists, because I’m white I’m still part of that story. And in some ways isn’t “international development” another form of colonialism, of imperialism? Western groups coming in with resources and knowledge trying to fix what they perceive as problems? If the people of Senegal continuously rely on foreign aid organizations to supply resources and technical expertise, how sustainable is that for development in the long run? 

So this is where my thoughts lead me every day. What’s my role as a volunteer here? How can I act as a white person without perpetuating colonialism? How can I work and learn here while being the least imposing as possible? In Peace Corps we’re told the role of a volunteer is to be a mentor, a teacher, a co-facilitator, a co-planner, etc. There’s a huge focus on “people-centered” work. Don’t do anything your village doesn’t want. Don’t force your own projects because when you leave no one will continue it. I think I feel comfortable with this part. So far I’ve really been trying to feel out my village for what they want, what they need, and what they’re willing to work toward. If no one wants to make a compost pile or build a tree nursery, I’m not going to force it. I try to see myself as a supplier of information, not an iron-fisted environmental ruler. 

But even if I am trying to work with my village, even if I am truly trying to be this mentor/teacher/facilitator figure, and not a tyrant or giver of gifts like some other development organizations can be, why is that my responsibility as an American? All my technical training in Thies was done by Senegalese people. Wouldn’t this whole program be way more effective if Senegalese people trained other Senegalese people? People who live here and truly understand their land and their culture? People who don’t have to spend a year just trying to learn a language and fit in? People who aren’t going to go home to America or Canada or Japan after 2 years? 

Well then I think maybe it’s not just about the work. The work is so fun, it’s a blast, it’s been my favorite part in village. Helping someone build a tree nursery, doing a small training, getting my hands dirty planting seeds or amending a garden bed - it’s fantastic and I say that without a single drop of sarcasm. But there’s three goals in Peace Corps - the first is about the work, the second is about sharing American culture with the host country, and the third is sharing host country culture with Americans. And I think many volunteers have a fourth, personal goal of learning about themselves or some kind of self improvement. That’s my other favorite part so far. The opportunity to challenge myself, to learn, to think in a focused way and not just bounce all over the place. But did I have to come all the way to Senegal to do that? Are there experiences I could have had in America that would have been this formative? If I’m here just to learn, is that another form of exploitation? Am I just using my village’s daily life and culture as a means to only better myself? Maybe I should really focus my efforts on this whole cultural exchange part? 

I don’t know! I don’t know anything!

I’m not sure what my goal is in writing this post, but there was something inside me nagging me to put it down in type and send it into cyberspace. I do really appreciate my service in Senegal so far. I don’t want to leave, I don’t want to go home. But I think this topic is something I will continue to come back to again and again over the next year and a half. Maybe other volunteers will see this and relate or offer some insight? Maybe some history nerds will call me out on all the mistakes I made in the earlier paragraphs? Maybe people will tell me to shut up and get back to the cool tree stuff or post more pictures of my dog? 

Like I said, I don’t know. 

If you got this far, thanks for reading. That’s all for now. 

-Maggie 

*Way earlier in this post I put a little asterisk, if you remember. I have a book recommendation. If you’re interested in globalization, colonialism, and/or potatoes I highly recommend 1493 by Charles C Mann. It’s the story about how the face of the Earth completely changed with the first Europeans coming over to North America. It tells a very, very interesting story and I encourage anyone interested in learning even a little bit to read it. 

[fortheheavenssake]

💟💟 PG MM Anon(II) 💟💟 Interpretation Collection -13

81. Aug 5

MM ANON ……… Kate mask…………… Louis £12 shirt ………… granite city………… Bridesmaid on Island😱😱………………these BOOTS are made for walking ………… five silent ……………54 million!!!………The pain in Spain………… Epipen tragedy ………… the Spitting Image …………is statue on my toe………… Italian migrants!!!………KP deepcleaned.

Entertainment purposes

💜💜💜💜💜🌈🌈🌈🌈😊😊😊😊Thank you so much MM Anon😊😊😊😊🌈🌈🌈🌈💜💜💜💜

August 5/2020. Riddle #81

Kate mask……………

Catherine was seen wearing a lovely Amelia Wickstead dress, very floral and lovely on her! She was also wearing a lovely mask with a floral print. Now that it seems this is going to be our new normal. I love they are making masks that are not just utilitarian but also that are pretty. My sister has gotten me some and I’ve ordered some online and they’re quite nice. But one doesn’t realize all the detail to make a mask. How to make it comfortable, to make it fit properly that’s quite a technical feet to make a safe effective a comfortable mask and yet to know what fabrication to make it out of.Sorry kids I got the dress mixed up I know she was wearing that floral dress which she was William now she’s wearing what I would call spectator dress. Any of you people old enough to remember spectator pumps? Oh man I had a pair they were so popular during the 1940s they were pumps or court shoes as they’re called in the UK. They were black and white usually,the tips were black and the heels were white or variations thereof they were very smart looking shoes in that dress she was wearing reminded me of that. Oh she looks stunning! From the BBC now, The Duchess of Cambridge has revealed stories of families struggling during lockdown have moved her to tears.Catherine was seen wearing a mask for the first time as she visited a Sheffield baby bank, which offers essential supplies to mothers in need.She said she wept at the “bravery” shown by parents after an earlier visit to a similar project.Previously during the pandemic, the duchess has usually attended engagements outdoors or via video call.

Her appearance in a floral fabric face mask comes after the Duchess of Cornwall wore a face covering during a visit to the National Gallery in London.

Louis £12 shirt ………… I just Love that despite all the money they possess in the world Catherine has this down to earth fashion sense of where to spend money and how do use it appropriately and also how to reuse close. We’ve seen that with herself where she wears her dresses on several locations or sometimes even has them altered to look a little different. We’ve also seen little Louis wearing clothes George has worn before. I just find her amazing yes I am biased but I love the Cambridges so hate me😋😛😛😛😝😝😝😜😜🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂! Prince Louis wears adorable £12 shirt from Sainsbury’s in his new birthday portraits. Kensington Palace released new pictures of Prince Louis to mark his second birthday on 23 April - doesn’t he look so adorable? The sweet photographs show the toddler having fun painting a rainbow picture, in a set of new snaps taken by mum the Duchess of Cambridge at Anmer Hall. And since royal fans are often keen to learn which clothes Kate dresses the children in, we’ve tracked down Louis’ super-cute blue shirt! Little Louis is wearing a smart navy blue checked shirt from Tu Clothing at Sainsbury's - it costs £12 as part of a dungarees set and is luckily still available to buy online. In fact, it could well be the same top the young royal wore underneath his jumper for the Cambridges’ Clap for our Carers video in March - when many fans noticed similarities between the boys clothes.

granite city…………

Aberdeen is called the granite city. Everything is in Scotland and it’s very near to Balmoral Castle in case you didn’t know.If you’ve ever been there it’s just beautiful and yes I am biased it is beautiful. The buildings are all made of stone everything, everything is made of stone. Granite stone. One would think that would be rather austere and boring, but it’s not. Whoever designed all those buildings and put them together, they’re just standing just absolutely stunning! I went to attend a wedding, on one occasion,at King’s College at the chapel there. That was so beautiful in the wedding rehearsal I was part of the party, so we had to go a day before I think, for the rehearsal and that was totally new for me it was just I’ve never ever ever been in a church that old. The whole experience was amazing! If you’ve never been to a Scottish wedding and you get a chance, I highly recommend it. If you’ve never been to a cieliedh, pronounced kaylee, l highly recommend it! So Aberdeen is now on lockdown because of Covid. Just yesterday her Majesty flew there to get to the Balmoral Castle. Oh that’s frightening that’s frightening! If that had been the case yesterday when she arrived, she would’ve had a helicopter waiting right at the airport to take her right to Balmoral Castle she would not have had to be anywhere near this in the city in the airport isn’t really right in the city with the one that’s up on in and out of many times. my thoughts and prayers are with everyone there who’s been affected now.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Bridesmaid on Island😱😱………………

I just soooooo wish none of this would ever have happened. I wish none of us would have to be hearing this filth that’s 20 or 30or 40 years old oh yuck!DM…Bridesmaid for Princess Diana was guest on Epstein island: Clemmie Hambro who took two trips on paedophile’s private jet says ‘I was young, naive and lucky to escape’.Clemmie Hambro revealed as guest on JE’s private island.She also took two flights to Little St James on one of the paedophile’s jets.Travel logs were released as part of court proceedings for GM.Now married mother of four said she did not suffer or witness any abuse.

these BOOTS are made for walking …………

BOOTS has revealed plans to temporarily close 60 stores that have taken a hit due to coronavirus.The pharmacy chain says it’s made the decision due to a lack of footfall in some stores, particularly those in airports, train stations, and city centres. Pharmacists have been redeployed to busier nearby Boots shops.It has around 2,400 stores across the UK and says some local community pharmacies are seeing more than double the number of people requiring prescriptions.Boots adds that it’s looking to redeploy other staff but says some could be sent home.The Sun April.BBC More than 200 Boots stores across the UK could be closed by its American owners Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in a bid to cut costs.The shops - which are in areas where Boots has more than one store - are under review for possible closure.It is understood the review will take place over the next 12 to 18 months.

Boots said it did not have “a major programme envisaged” but was always reviewing “underperforming stores and opportunities for consolidation”.“We are being realistic about the future and that we will need to be agile to adapt to the changing landscape,” it added.The chain has 2,485 stores across the UK, employing about 56,000 staff. So to use the clue, BOOTS has sent many people walking looking for new jobs and I’m sure they’re not singing the song ‘these boots are made for walking’while they’re trying to find a job in this in this current world situation.

five silent ……………

All this money being spent on court costs and she’s not even there. I find that so bizarre. What’s even worse is harass her flagrant lack of respect for the judicial system in the United Kingdom! The judge has been more than patient with her and more than kind. Reminds me of the Bard’s “more kin then kind”.ha ha Identities of five of Madam’s ‘friends’ who briefed People magazine about her relationship with her father will remain a secret ‘for the time being’, judge rules.Mr Justice Warby upholds application by Madam’s team that five friends’ identities should remain secret, FOR NOW!!! Women named as sources of People article in 2019 in legal papers submitted by Duchess to High Court. But their names were not made public and it is not clear whether any of them will be called as witnesses.Madam maintains she didn’t know any friends had spoken to People until after article was published.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥 Well I maintain that I am the the fairest of them all with my magic mirror and I maintain that I have $1 billion right here in my bedroom and I maintain that I could fly even though I don’t have wings. She can maintain anything she wants to she can maintain that she can ride a donkey halfway across the desert. Those are all lies! Mr. Justice Warby is going to see through her, he’s already has done!

54 million!!!………

DM …. Land Rovers targeted in £54million rural theft spree as countryside crime rises to an eight-year high.Figures show thefts of the 4x4 rose by more than a third in the year to April 2020.2020 Rural Crime Report found tractors, quad bikes and live stock were targeted.Thefts likely to have been fuelled by overseas demand for farming equipment.Well this is what a world of people wasting their lives. There’s so much good to be done in the world and yet there’s just a continuous criminal activity. I suppose it’s always been there we just hear about it more now that we have global media 24 hours a day.

The pain in Spain…………

Second wave strikes Europe: Spain reintroduces lockdown, Greece sees a worrying rise in cases and virus is 'more active’ in Germany amid warnings France 'could lose control at any moment’.The head of Germany’s doctors’ union has said that the country is already in the midst of its second wave because people have flouted social distancing rules.France says it stands on precipice and 'could at any moment tip’ out of control.Two towns north of Madrid, Spain, have been put under strict lockdown.

Greece recorded 121 new cases Tuesday - the highest daily tally since April 22.Italy has quarantined two infected cruise ships at Civitavecchia port in Rome.

Epipen tragedy …………

Everybody and I mean everybody, who has a serious allergy to anything should have an EpiPen with them at all times. Their family members and their friends I don’t care what age should know the symptoms and they should know the exact way to use an EpiPen!

DM this is terrible. Schoolboy, 14, with severe dairy allergy died after eating popcorn while watching movie at Odeon Cinema with his parents - having left his life-saving EpiPen at home, inquest hears.Ruben Bousquet died after eating sweet popcorn while at an Odeon Cinema. Ruben was a promising player in the London Knightz ice hockey team.The boy, aged 14, was allergic to cow’s milk, raw egg and soya. Such a simple thing, but we all forget things right. My Sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends this is so very sad.

the Spitting Image …………

I just knew this was going to be in the riddle today! I just knew it when I read part of the article! Disclosure documents now accuse prince Andrew of using the puppet of himself that was used by the television show, Spitting Image, from years ago.Now accused of using that list with two women in sexual ways. In New York. If you do not know spitting image, just go to YouTube and Google it. It was a very much satire and they were they went hard hard mocking the royal family. All was just the puppets. It was just very exaggerated and that’s the skits they would do the things he would talk about or just absolutely over the top!DM…slightly altered by me. Prince Andrew in sunglasses as he emerges from Windsor after court documents claimed he used Spitting Image puppet of himself to grope Virginia Roberts and another woman at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York home.Duke of York is accused of using latex puppet of himself to grope the women.VRG made the claim in a manuscript a judge has ordered released.It states that Andrew groped Roberts and another woman in front of Epstein.Prince Andrew has always strenuously denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

is statue on my toe…………

OOPSIE! I ‘toed’ you not to take that picture🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂. Get it, bad pun ‘toed’= told. Sorry my bad humour.

A quick snap! Tourist accidentally breaks the toes off a 200-year-old sculpture at Italian museum while lying on it for a selfie.I tell you kids, people walk into water fountains, there’s taking selfies they walk into it a little pond they walk into traffic it’s just ridiculous! The tourist leaned on the ‘Paolina Borghese Bonaparte as Venus Victrix’ artwork.He accidentally broke off three of the toes of the 200-year-old sculpture.Police say they have identified the man as a 50-year-old Austrian tourist. Well I will certainly hope he got the best selfie of all time. I wish him a speedy recovery. I shouldn’t joke about it, that wasn’t good. I hope he can recover and we can use of his toys in his foot.🙏🏻🙏🏻

Italian migrants!!!………

Is bad and difficult as things are in the UK people are still fleeing other countries to come there.DM Another 120 migrants on eight boats stream into Dover in a day as people smugglers urge hundreds to make Channel crossing now before Brexit 'closes the door’. This human trafficking business, I mean this is like an industry just ‘helping’people escape and then taking them to different places and then they charge an exorbitant amount of money to do that. That is human trafficking as well shuffling them from one place to another it’s just dreadful! Pictures show men wearing masks and lifejackets while arriving at Dover, Kent.Border Force sent out vessels Seeker and Hunter from Dover earlier this morning.Figures making perilous journey have spiked recently during favourable weather.So far this year, 3,510 migrants have crossed illegally, compared to 1,850 in 2019.

KP deepcleaned.

As usual MM Anon you leave me with one clue that doesn’t doesn’t cooperate for lack of a better word it doesn’t cooperate with me ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. This could refer her to carpet cleaning or washing the walls are doing a deep thorough clean. I am certain that that all will be down done it will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before they arrive there.FULL STOP!!! NO DOUBT!!First thing that came to my mind when I read the phrase deep clean,it was security issues that must be with this family.My mind went right to looking for bugs are looking for things cameras planted or anything like that. They are currently at Anmer Hall. I’m sure they’re getting Kensington Palace ready for when they return to London. As the plan is that school will resume in the fall and I’ve heard or read nothing that George and Charlotte will not return to Battersea. Time will tell what happens there but it is the first week in August and the summer is coming to an end. And we can know that just by looking at Catherine’s she’s had some lovely highlight quite lovely. Reminiscent of the way her hair was last item when she in William George in Charlotte to school and Charlotte was her birthday and her hair was trending top worldwide. Oh I just love that! It must have just got Madam’s 🐐 goat!!I’m still laughing at that at that. I wish them all well good health and safety. I pray for them all every day.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

—————

82. Aug 6

MM ANON …… Harry gossip………President Macwrong ………MM moving????…………… desertion of the theatre charity …………… Brexit&Coronavirus tanks economy ……… structural changes???? ……………… negative interest rates !!……………… pregnant migrant…………… mother hit by Flack…………… 50 million for duff masks😱😱…………………… Ireland hits 1.8………… elite athletes only!!

Entertainment purposes

Aug 6/20💜💜💜💜💜🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈Thank you MM ANON🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈💜💜💜💜💜

August 6/2020. Riddle #82

…… Harry gossip………

I posted this on my blog this morning and I don’t know I haven’t checked this evening but it sure got a lot of feedback. I am just furious about this this is this is the from the daily mail.

“Prince Harry’s biographer Angela Levin claims he’s become ‘a shadow of his former self’ after losing some of his ‘mischievous charm and royal stardust’ and only focusing on negativity. Prince Harry has become a 'shadow of his former self’, claims royal biographer.London-based Angela Levin made the remarks on ITV’s Royal Rota last Friday.Harry is currently living with Meghan Markle and their son Archie, one, in LA.” I’ll repeat what I said this morning this woman knows absolutely nothing about where Harry is, what he’s doing, how he’s feeling, what he is thinking, how he is coping, what his issues are etc. etc.! She has absolutely no inside information or any direct contact with him at all!! She has no business putting her nose into this. The only reason she is doing is to get some publicity for herself!Apparently she’s been in the past have made comments and then forced to retract them. She is a piece of work trying to get her slice of the Harry pie pardon the pun oh my..

President Macwrong ………

French president macron visited the disaster site today in Beirut. I’m gonna cry here in a minute, Lebanon is the former territory to France.In colonial times when France possessed other nations as other European countries did, France was a colonial power over Lebanon. So he has sent I believe I don’t know how many jetsPlanes full of aid food medicine anything to Lebanon. I read three here in this BBC article but there may be more by now. He walked the streets amongst the people and they were, I’m sorry I’m crying, they were pleading for help pleading pleading him for help help them help them!Truth be known their government is so corrupt it ineffective people are crying for a new government and I don’t think they have the option. Macron said what they need is a “new political order”. What does that sound like kids??? A member of the EU talking about a “new political order“. I’ll let you think on that for a minute. The balance of this paragraph is from the BBC.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has called for “profound change” from Lebanon’s leadership following Tuesday’s huge explosion in Beirut.

Visiting the devastated city, he called for an international investigation.Many Lebanese say government corruption, neglect and mismanagement led to the explosion.It killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others, while dozens are still missing. A two-week state of emergency has begun.Lebanese President Michel Aoun says it was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse.The state news agency says 16 people have been taken into custody as part of the investigation.

Judge Fadi Akiki, a government representative at the military court, said more than 18 port and customs officials and maintenance workers at the warehouse had been questioned. What did Macron say?The first world leader to visit since the explosion, Mr Macron described it as a “metaphor for Lebanon’s current crisis” and said a “new political order” was needed. Funding was available for the country but its leaders had to implement reforms first, he said.

MM moving????……………

'Cooped up’ Meghan wants to leave her $18M sprawling mega-mansion to celebrate her August birthday - and will make guests get tested for Covid-19 beforehand.Madam wants to celebrate her birthday outside of Los Angeles, as she and Prince Harry are feeling 'cooped up’, .The friend explained Madam thinks a change of scenery would be nice and is eyeing up Montecito, outside of Santa Barbara, where friend Oprah. Madam said it will be low-key. She said she doesn’t want to come across as being careless and irresponsible. How anybody could feel cooped up in an $18 million mansion is beyond me but then she is beyond me she’s beyond all of us! Now this article Was put into the press before her birthday. And as we know she puts things into the press that are not real but things that she’s demanding or wanting from somebody. So she Wanted to celebrate her birthday because she was being kicked out of Tyler Perry’s mansion, if she ever was there,so she put out in the PR where she wants to go and she’s listed 0W she wants a quieter place simpler place .Yeah right yeah if you believe that again I still have that bridge in the Sahara desert I want to sell to you.

desertion of the theatre charity ……………

There’s an article in the paper today regarding the patronage of the national theatre which her Majesty the Queen so generously gave to Madam. We all know that the COVID-19 virus has affected many many things and it has all the decimated the theatre industry which was huge in England especially London. People travel from all over the world to attend the theatre on the West End that’s legendary and I told you before my sister used to make regular trips to go see usually three different plays or productions. The national theatre Society no association I think whatever the patronage that she was given is saying publicly now that they feel abandoned by her. They have gone public and that has to be absolutely has to be with the approval of her Majesty the Queen. That is pretty major for an Royal patronage organization to come out and criticize her like that. Is this the beginning of more of her patronages coming out and voicing the same opinion? Madam “has been attacked for what has been seen as abandoning her patronage to the National Theatre when she stepped down as a senior royal, especially because the theatre industry is struggling so much amid the coronavirus pandemic.16” Daily Express. For some reason and I do not know why the national express your daily express I can get to the homepage and I can read some articles but not all. And I know I read this one in the morning and now it won’t load for me completely so I’m going to put the link in here and I hope it works for you guys. And if anyone else knows why this is happening or how I can fix it would you let me know please I’ve tried shutting off my iPad cleaning my cookies and all that kind of stuff and nothing works. https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1319467/meghan-markle-news-prince-harry-national-theatre-patron-royal-family-duchess-sussex-spt

Brexit&Coronavirus tanks economy ………

Around the globe everybody is feeling the effects of the coronavirus but in the UK that is compounded by the issues surrounding Brexit. The Bank of England warns some parts of the economy might NEVER recover from coronavirus with a million jobs set to go this year as GDP plunges 9.5% - but the slump might only be the worst in a CENTURY rather than 300 years.The Bank of England has published its latest quarterly Monetary Policy report with views on the UK economy.It predicts that GDP will be down 9.5 per cent this year, lower than previously estimates of around 14 per cent.Unemployment rate could rise from 3.9 per cent to 7.4 per cent by the end of 2020 as a swathe of jobs go. This is actually a fantastic article if you’re into the graph into reading graphs and understanding what’s happening I’m going to put the link here because I’m a visual person and when I see a graph that makes it much more clear in my head than reading a bunch of flat statistics on a paper. So I’m just going to put the link here just for those of you who are interested. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8599039/Bank-England-says-unemployment-hit-7-4-cent-year.html. There will no extension of the Brexit transition period beyond December 31, 2020, meaning that the European Union and the UK will have to strike a deal in just six months to avoid Britain crashing out of the bloc without one.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on Monday not to extend the transition, which currently preserves much of the UK-EU relationship from before the UK left in January.https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/15/brexit-boris-johnson-and-ursula-von-der-leyen-to-hold-high-level-talks-next-week

structural changes???? ………………

I knew what this was the moment I read the clue. COVID-19 is as lightly as some people are affected by it and it can be lethal as we have seen thousands and thousands of people die from it. But what they are learning now is that there are long-term effects and changes in the body that happened I read one lady her hair was falling out in clumps so she just ended up shaving her head. Other people their sense of smell and the taste since has not returned. Other people are having long-term effects on their lungs with fluid in their lungs. Even long after that they don’t have the virus present in their body. This is a little nasty piece of work, That this virus is. Hi I almost wonder I don’t know I almost wonder if it wasn’t a man-made thing and released by accident or on purpose. Because it seems to be really acting in a very aggressive way in a long term way. We are not even at the end of this yet we don’t even know when it will end. Right now it’s increasing in so many places however I’ll stop talking I’ll let the professionals do the explaining. There’s a very highly regarded in the medical community for lack of a better word magazine it’s called the Lancet. And they have published some information recently which I’ll share here. and if you don’t wear a face mask wash your hands and use hand sanitizer after reading this and learn and learning about this well then I will say no more. From The Lancet Cerebral Micro-Structural Changes in COVID-19 Patients – An MRI-based 3-month Follow-up Study. Background Increasing evidence supported the possible neuro-invasion potential of SARS-CoV-2. However, no studies were conducted to explore the existence of the micro-structural changes in the central nervous system after infection. We aimed to identify the existence of potential brain micro-structural changes related to SARS-CoV-2. Findings

In this follow-up stage, neurological symptoms were presented in 55% COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 patients had statistically significantly higher bilateral gray matter volumes (GMV) in olfactory cortices, hippocampi, insulas, left Rolandic operculum, left Heschl’s gyrus and right cingulate gyrus and a general decline of MD, AD, RD accompanied with an increase of FA in white matter, especially AD in the right CR, EC and SFF, and MD in SFF compared with non-COVID-19 volunteers (corrected p value <0.05). Global GMV, GMVs in left Rolandic operculum, right cingulate, bilateral hippocampi, left Heschl’s gyrus, and Global MD of WM were found to correlate with memory loss (p value <0.05). GMVs in the right cingulate gyrus and left hippocampus were related to smell loss (p value <0.05). MD-GM score, global GMV, and GMV in right cingulate gyrus were correlated with LDH level (p value <0.05). Me😁. I realize that this is written for the medical community but you can get the gist of what they’re saying. Changes structural changes are happening because of this little viral monster. I pray so much that I don’t get it and no one I love does.

negative interest rates !!……………… The governor of the Bank of England has refused to rule out introducing negative interest rates in the UK. Andrew Bailey told MPs that his views have changed in the light of the coronavirus pandemic - the BoE is reassessing all its tools, as it tries to fight the worst downturn in centuries.Bailey was speaking shortly after the UK sold government debt at negative yield for the first time. Investors effectively paid for the chance to lend to Britain — perhaps partly because the BoE has pledged to buy the gilts under its stimulus programme. The pandemic is pushing inflation down across the globe. In the UK, the Consumer Price Index dropped to just 0.8% last month, down from 1.5% in April - with fuel and clothing prices dropping last month.Eurozone inflation fell to 0.3%, while in Canada the inflation rate turned negative for the first time since 2009.The WTO warned that world trade in goods has fallen dramatically this year, as the economy contracts.Despite this concern, global stock markets have risen today on hopes of economic recovery later this year. I am the last want to talk about finances and percentages and all that stuff that stuff is all over my head so I’ll just leave it here this is from the professionals it those of you who understand it I take my hat off to you and for those of you like me who don’t you can just scroll on by ha ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

pregnant migrant……………

There are so many people, the world over, in such war torn poor countries that they’re willing to risk life and limb in fact they’re very own life so that they can get their children to a safe country. If you live in a in a first world country and I live in Canada I am so blessed and I thank God every day for how I am blessed.DM 😁A newborn baby, a heavily-pregnant woman and children are among 120 migrants to land in Kent today bringing total crossing the Channel in 2020 to DOUBLE the figure for last year.The group of around 16 refugees landed on Dungeness beach,Kent, at 8.30am.It comes just a day after 13 migrants were picked up yesterday morning in Kent.It means 3,643 migrants have made the life-risking Channel crossing this year. Me😁We have many people in Canada they have migrated here. Legally. But we’re starting to see more and more and more people smuggle or sneak across the border. The border between Canada and the United States is the longest unprotected border in the world we have many many official crossings but there’s miles and miles and miles or people can just find a way in. In fact back in the 1930s Al Capone used to to smuggle booze from a place I know very well and he had a place there where he would hide.In some border towns people are quite afraid. Some have started to leave clothes and shoes and blankets and nonperishable foods just outside their house or in the bushes or just to help these people. Canada has always been a welcome place to immigrants. Where I live we have thousands of immigrants thousands in our culture has been vastly expanded because of it. In fact, all I won’t have my personal stuff there but oh it’s it’s just been marvelous.

mother hit by Flack……………

This is such an exceedingly sad story when it happened and now that the inquest has been going on been reading about it day after day after day in the daily mail. I don’t believe her mother was actually physically hit by her I think she was emotionally hit by the suicide and by the charges that her daughter was facing. There was so much question about whether she should have been charged at all for domestic assault on her boyfriend and that was the last straw for her and she hung herself. She had so much going for her she was so famous and so beautiful so so beautiful. It’s just goes to show you if you don’t have your health and your mental health nothing else matters. For those of you who haven’t been following this or are not aware Caroline Flack was the host of the X factor in the UK and she also was on a show called love island. They’ve done a love island America I think it is basically they send all these couples on to an island and then they kind of vote each other off and it’s a reality show. I have never seen the show. Anyways she obviously had some mental health issues and there is some relationship issues thrown in there as well. And as anybody in a passionate relationship knows there’s good passion bad passion and I guess things got physical and she was just charged with assault assaulting her her boyfriend. Not long after that she hung her self. And the inquest is now going on I’m gonna put a little little bit from the bit from today’s paper in here. DM Caroline Flack star’s tearful mother blasts CPS for 'show trial’ - but inquest hears how POLICE pushed for tragic Love Island star to be charged over 'lamp attack’ on boyfriend.The 40-year-old, known for hosting Love Island, found hanged at her home in Stoke Newington on February 15.

The Presenter had been due to stand trial for assaulting her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, after police called to home.Today CPS said it had considered Flack’s mental health in its decision making but decided the risk was 'low’.Said prosecutors recommended a caution but police pushed for charge because of alleged domestic violence.

50 million for duff masks😱😱……………………

From new scientist.com Covid-19 news: NHS unable to use 50 million masks due to safety fears. The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the COVID-19 pandemic. Latest coronavirus news as of 5 pm on 6 August

Safety issue means 50 million medical face masks won’t be used by NHS England workers50 million medical face masks purchased by the government in April won’t be used by NHS England due to safety concerns, according to legal papers seen by the BBC. The masks use ear-loop fastenings rather than loops that go around the head, so may not fit tightly enough. Alan Murray, chief executive of the British Safety Industry Federation told the BBC: “The face fit is either a pass or a fail and there are more fails on products with ear loops than there are on products with head harnesses.” The FFP2 respirator masks were bought as part of a £252 million contract from supplier Ayanda Capital. It isn’t clear what will happen to the masks. Now me 😁Well they should obviously be burned if they’re not safe to use. Why keep them around good gracious!. Kids do you ever feel like the monkeys are running the zoo sometimes these days? Because it sure does to me. So many things that are so basic and so bloody simple like making masks and making masks that are appropriate for medical use! I mean we’re not in the 1800s in the Civil War here I mean we are in the 21st-century! We have groundbreaking things,we have wireless everything and they cannot make bloody mask that are safe. Sorry I sound like Prince Philip, but I this is really upsetting to me as a former nurse oh my goodness! This shows you the modern value of hard work and what happens when when you Outsource things to China or some of these third world countries where they are not paid enough and they’re not given the proper working environment. I don’t know where these masks were made but I’m guessing whoever did them was not given the correct directions on what to do. Or whoever designed them did not design them properly which is quite frightening because you think that be a specialty somebody in graphic design or whatever that title would be called would know how to design a facemask that was proper for medical use! This is absolutely asinine! Madam if you’re reading this, you have to go and look in the dictionary for some of these words. I know they’re awful big words but you know, you can go on Mr. googly, actually if you go on Mr. googly and type in the word you will find out what it means. Ha we know Madam reads here we know she does! Mind she probably only reads things about herself.

Ireland hits 1.8…………

Evening Standard. Coronavirus R rate in Northern Ireland ‘could be as high as 1.8’Reported uptick in the R rate comes as Northern Ireland records 43 more coronavirus infections in the region. The regional government’s health department said on Thursday that the rate had risen from between 0.5 to 1 last week to between 0.8 and 1.8 this week.

R represents the number of individuals who, on average, will be infected by a person with the virus.A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said while community transmission remains low in Northern Ireland, the number of positive tests per day has increased three-fold from early July. Why happening to so many places around the globe? Why is it that the number of cases exploding in so many places? Is it just due to people becoming complacent and not complying with social distancing and handwashing in and hand sanitizer? Or is there something more sinister going on? Is this virus more than we even thought it was?

elite athletes only!!

Well isn’t that special? Only the best of the best will be allowed isn’t that special? The rest of you who usually run in the marathon, you really don’t matter but in the elite athletes who that is their job to train for running marathons, they will let them go ahead. They can do it and earn their money and let the sponsors and their money. Well I think it’s a good thing because maybe it’ll bring some money in for something.BBC London Marathon: 2020 edition to be elite-only race, with mass event cancelled. The 2020 London Marathon will involve only elite athletes, with 45,000 'mass-event’ runners unable to take part because of coronavirus concerns.The much-anticipated contest between Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele will take place on a bio-secure closed course.Reduced fields of 30-40 athletes will also compete for the elite women’s and wheelchair titles on 4 October.The 2021 race, meanwhile, will be on 3 October rather than a date in April.That calendar shift from the traditional date is designed to maximise the chances of all runners being able to take part in next year’s race.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

—————-

83. Aug 7

MM ANON …🎼O I do like to be BESIDE the seaside🎼…………Air India ………… 4000 crossing ………………4000 BA lost……………… the cost of lockdown 😱😱😱38.000 excess death …………… PRESS-ton…………… SM. a fire of hate…………… Palmerston quits🐱…………………A WOC veep…………nudist legs it……………… Catharine unbeatable!!

Entertainment purposes

Aug 7/20

💜💜💜💜💜 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈Thank you MM Anon🌈🌈🌈🌈💜💜💜💜💜

August 7/2020. Riddle #83

🎼O I do like to be BESIDE the seaside🎼…………

The UK is experiencing unprecedented hot weather. It is called the Sahara Blowtorch or something like that.. Some places were to see 38°C today the weekend is supposed to continue very hot. Do you see the pictures of the people on the beach? Like they are crammed together like sardines in a can! No social distancing and I don’t think any of them were wearing a mask. Beside myself and many people are beside themselves that what the public is doing. The risk of spread the close quarters it’s just all so dangerous!DM ‘Have we forgotten social distancing?’ Critics accuse beach crowds of ‘undoing the hard work of lockdown’ during dash to the seaside on hottest August day in 17 years as staycation stampede leaves roads gridlocked.Temperatures hit 97.5F (36.4C) at Kew Gardens in West London at 4pm Friday and may soar further tomorrow.Heathrow matched Kew and the temperature makes it the hottest August day on record since 2003.Met Office issues level-three heat health alert warning Britons to look out for the elderly and young children.Councils fear tourists flocking to coasts will ignore social distancing rules and cram on to packed seafronts.😁Me. Listen, most of us in North America, we all have central air conditioning or window units or something like that. They don’t have that in the UK, nobody has air-conditioning there nobody that I know. And even on the West Coast in Canada they don’t have air-conditioning and when it gets so hot it’s unbearable. Oh I feel for them oh my my my my life. All those people at the beach are going to be so sunburned and there’s going to be people with heat stroke. When I just looked at the paper now everybody’s in the bars because the bars are open. So they will be drunk and back on the beach tomorrow and repeat the whole thing over again. Why don’t you just shut the bars down I don’t get it?

Air India …………

There is a most horrific air crash this morning in India. DM… At least 17 dead, including both pilots, and 123 injured as Air India flight from Dubai with 191 people onboard splits in two as it crash-lands on runway in Kerala.The Air India flight left from Dubai and overshot the runway in Calicut, Kerala.The pilot is among fourteen people who were killed in the crash earlier today.Images on social media show aircraft torn in two with people gathered around.Police reports say two pilots and 13 other individuals were killed in the disaster.Another 123 people were injured in the crash with 191 passengers onboard.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

4000 crossing ………………

The migrant crisis is increasing and increasing. Today there was a,oh my don’t know what motor way it was, but there is a long queue the police have stopped a lorry and the driver remember where he was from but he had the whole back of the Lorry loaded with people that he was trafficking. Oh I hate that human trafficking!These people that are crossing the channel in these rubber boats there risking their lives their children’s lives and their unborn children’s lives because the home they know it’s so terrible that the unknown no matter what the baby is a better safer option to them. Now those of us in the lap of luxury in first world countries just just take a minute to sinking what a mistake for a pregnant woman and her little children it’s just it’s it’s just heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. DM….

FOUR THOUSAND migrants have crossed the channel this year: Toddlers and a baby in a gym bag are among at least 130 migrants landing in UK today on 13 boats as ministers threaten to send in the Navy to turn back the ‘tide’.Nearly 4,000 migrants made the crossing in boats in the first 219 days of 2020.Up to 235 migrants crossed the channel on Thursday, the highest ever daily total.One group had 12 men in their 20s intercepted by Border Force Friday morning.Home Secretary’s spokesman said the 'fantastic weather’ was behind the surge.

4000 BA lost………………

British Airways is sinking and they’ve been in tight agreements with their cabin staff. And I heard a woman speaking on the BBC this morning and she was saying she’s been with BA for 25 years and does not want to leave however she took redundancy because what they would be having would be just untenable. First of all menu will be losing their jobs so thousands have already taken redundancy to just avoid that. But those that remain that are given a job their salaries their take-home pay will be reduced by 40 to 50%. Kids just graspthat the same work the same stress but have to pay wow!BBC Some British Airways staff who have accepted voluntary redundancy say they had felt “forced” into it.BA wants to cut 12,000 job roles and says 6,000 staff have volunteered.Carol - not her real name - said BA had told her if she did not accept the offer of voluntary redundancy she would have to apply for a job and if she did not get it she would only receive a statutory redundancy payout.She says the airline’s conduct was “a slap in the face”.Carol, who had worked for BA for 23 years, told the BBC: “They [BA] said 'If you don’t take the offer, you’ll go into the fire-and-rehire phase’, but if we aren’t hired, we’ll get only statutory redundancy.”

Those BA cabin crew who did reapply for their jobs on a new contract are expected to find out later on Friday whether or not they lose their jobs.Carol, who worked on the long-haul fleet, said it was a foregone conclusion that the airline would not re-hire older cabin crew members.“Even before I had accepted the voluntary redundancy offer, I had a message on my roster from BA: 'Thank you for your service. Good luck’. That is all I got from them after 23 years.“It’s a slap in the face, but it shows they knew who they were getting rid of,” she said. She says she will be forced to sell her home since her redundancy payment won’t cover her mortgage.

“It’s actually age discrimination, we were forced out

the cost of lockdown 😱😱😱 38.000 excess death ……………

There’s been a lot of people talking about this and I know a lot of these clues because l have been paying attention to these things. During the lockdown and the whole Covid thing that never ends there have been many many many people that have died not of Covid. People that I’ve had a heart attacks people that have had cancer people that have not gone to emergency because of Covid they didn’t want to go. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people have died. I dare say some of those may be domestic violence related although I don’t have the stats to prove that. And I also do think with the tremendous loss of income and loss of job there may be well some suicides in there I have no doubt of that.DM….The full health cost of lockdown: Doctors warn of a devastating toll on non-virus patients who still face delays in diagnosis and care.Cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart condition patients among the worst affected.Doctors still face delays when referring patients for cancer or cardiology tests.Coronavirus deaths have now fallen to their lowest level since before lockdown.

PRESS-ton……………

Coronavirus: Stricter measures introduced in Preston. Lockdown measures are being reintroduced in Preston from midnight after a rise in Covid-19 cases.Residents in the Lancashire city are facing stricter restrictions, which include banning separate households from meeting each other at home.The council had already asked residents to follow extra precautions in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.The move brings Preston in line with measures in east Lancashire, Greater Manchester and parts of west Yorkshire.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the restrictions in these areas would remain in place “as the data does not yet show a decrease in the transmission of this terrible virus”.

Any changes to the measures will be announced by 14 August following a review next week, he added.He said the decision to extend the restrictions to Preston was “at the request of the local area”.Almost half of the cases reported in Preston were among people aged 30 and younger, Lancashire’s director of public health, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, said.As Preston has been designated an “area of intervention” by the government, the city will be able to access additional support to tackle the spread of coronavirus.BBC

SM. a fire of hate……………

No one has to be very careful in this situation. Unless I see him, Prince Harry, standing next to William and Catherine actually saying these words publicly before reporters I believe nothing. Madam is hard at work with her PR hard at work and she’s the one stoking anything if they’re stoking being done. DM…..Prince Harry says social media is stoking a 'crisis of hate’ as he reveals he and Madam have been calling business leaders for the last month to ask them to stop funding the sites in column for US business magazine.ME yeah right she’s she’s the one that’s been calling business is desperate for a job and putting out PR that she wants $200,000 from somebody. OK back to the DM….In an opinion piece for U.S. business magazine Fast Company, Prince Harry said that social media, in its current state, is ‘unwell’ and in desperate need of fixing.The former senior royal said he and madam , have spent the past few weeks working with business leaders to enact positive change. The Duke of Sussex called for online communities to be 'defined more by compassion than hate; by truth instead of misinformation’.Harry said he and Madam started their social media reform campaign at the same time as the launch of the Stop Hate for Profit movement in June. Me. OK kids you know that saying take a take things with a grain of salt? Will take this with 10 pounds of salt! She knows that she is in quicksand and that she is sinking. She is desperate and she is trying anything and everything to get whatever she thinks that she needs or wants. Even if it’s just her picture in the paper she’s just happy about that. I can hardly wait Skippy till your page turns emerald green I can hardly wait!!!!

Palmerston quits🐱…………………

I knew this was gonna be here I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it when I sought on the news I knew it was gonna be here!! It is the cutest black and white cat he’s been on duty in the secretary of defence office for years. And he’s been meeting and greeting everybody that comes in and out of that office. But a memo with the circulated yesterday that Palmer’s den was going to retire and live in the country and accompanying this memo was a picture of Palmerston next to a tree and it said it was him by his favourite tree. We wish him all of very happy retirement! I knew this was gonna be in the riddle I knew it new it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it!I’m going to put his picture in here but it like always it won’t be right here when it gets posted they’ll be a big blank space but the picture will be at the very top of the interpretation but you have to see this cute little guy oh my goodness I’m gonna give you some less emotional comments from the BBC I just knew this was going to be in the riddle I’m so excited.. BBC Foreign Office cat Palmerston retires to countryside. Palmerston, the Foreign Office’s resident cat, has retired from mousing duties to “spend more time relaxing away from the limelight”.In a “letter”, he says he has moved away from Whitehall and is now climbing trees rather than “overhearing all the foreign dignitaries’ conversations”.The black-and-white rescue cat, who has more than 105,000 Twitter followers, arrived from Battersea in 2016.He has been known to clash with Larry, Number 10’s main mouse-catcher.Their decidedly undiplomatic disputes - which have included several hissy fits and a stand-off in full view of the press in Downing Street - are not thought to have hastened his departure.

A WOC veep…………

Well they said today on the news that Joe Biden has his choice narrowed down to two women earlier in the week it was for but now it’s two women and I think it’s either Kamala Harris or Susan Rice I believe was her name. Either way he will be picking a woman of colour for vice president that’s a given! And if one were so inclined to have that party win the election that would be fantastic fantastic achievement to have a woman of colour in the vice presidents chair. Oh for those of you who don’t know veep veep is a slang word for vice president is also a cheesy show on HBO or one of those one of those channels you got a pay an arm and a leg for.

nudist legs it………………

In Ukraine today there was a man stark naked blocking traffic. I don’t know what his problem was or what his issue was. It was solved rather quickly though when I guy got out of his car and he was a big guy he took his fist and he clocked him and he knocked him cold out and got back in his car and drove away. You can see the video look on the daily mail. Or this from the DM….

The bare cheek of it! Naked man is forced to chase a wild boar after it snatched his laptop at a naturist hotspot in Germany.The unnamed man had been sunbathing at Teufelssee, a lake west of Berlin.Tenacious wild boar snatched a yellow bag which contained the man’s laptop.He chased after the boar as dozens of bemused families watched the pursuit.

Catharine unbeatable!!

The Duchess of Cambridge remains the biggest royal influencer: The Duchess of Cambridge’s 'premium’ lockdown looks have proved more popular than Madam’s 'relaxed style’ - and are THREE times more likely to sell out. She overtook Madam as biggest royal influencer in March.Research shows she has maintained title throughout the coronavirus lockdown.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s looks three times more likely to sell out than Madam’s.Favourite look of hers was Blue floral wrap midi dress by Boden for Zoom call. She opted for dresses, Madam went for a more relaxed, down-to-earth look ( filthy, ratty, messy, wrinkled, ill fitting..shall l go on?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂)Catherine’s 16 outfits cost a total of £6,305 while Madam’s six ensembles cost £1,105. Yes because she hasn’t done anything as a royal! Catherine says she’s 'in awe’ of frontline staff as she and Prince William pledge £1.8 million from their charity to support emergency workers and mental health amid the coronavirus pandemic. Catherine and William have pledged £1.8 million to support frontline workers after crisis.The grants have been made to ten leading charities at the heart of mental health and frontline support.

Earlier this week, the Duke and Duchess spoke to representatives from organisations to benefit from the fund. She said she has been 'in awe’ of workers, but 'knows pandemic will have a lasting impact on mental health’.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

——————

84. Aug 10

MM ANON … Bela-rouse……… 🎼roaming in the 🎼gloamin:………………Simple Simon…………Spill…………Karen ain’t a happy embryo …………”erotic podcast??? ………… sheepish microdot. …………… muggy, tuegy,Wegy ………red bullish………… beach barney……………… education not saturation ……………… getting ready for school Charlotte?????

Aug 9/20

💜💜💜💜💜🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈Thank you MM Anon🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈💜💜💜💜

August 10/2020. Riddle #84

I’m sorry it’s a day late.💜😊💜

I am so so sorry that there’s two clues here that I just cannot solve to my satisfaction. I truly am sorry I have researched for a couple hours now I just can’t I just can’t figure them out. I apologize for letting you all down but I really have done my best.💜💜💜💜💜PG💜💜💜💜💜

Bela-rouse………

Just to give you a little history of the country, Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.It is bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

The people of Belarus are very angry. That’s exactly what the word rouse means. Protesters clashed with riot police as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ secures another landslide in Belarus despite fury over his dismissal of Covid-19 as ‘psychosis’. Clashes came after President Alexander Lukashenko’s landslide victory.Lukashenko, 65, has held office since 1994 and dismissed Covid as ‘psychosis’.Outraged opposition supporters came out in their thousands to demonstrate in disbelief that the repressive strongman had secured 79.7 per cent of the vote. Many hours after that, one lone protester faced off against an army of armoured vehicles in Belarus. 3,000 were arrested and one killed in clashes over ‘rigged’ re-election of Europe’s last dictator Alexander Lukanhesko.Scene emerged amid clashes over apparent re-election of President Lukanhesko.He’s known as Europe’s 'last dictator’ as Belarusian police detained 3,000 people.Election officials said he won his 6th consecutive term with over 80% of the 🗳 vote. Those of us who live in countries where you actually can vote freely are so blessed! So many countries that purport to have “fair elections“ but in fact or actually dictatorships or autocracies. My heart goes out to these people. Long protester remind me back call me what was the year in red Square where the tank drove over that one brave I don’t know if it was a man or woman that was protesting that gave their life for it.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻What are the people of Belarus.DM and me.

🎼roaming in the 🎼gloamin:………………

There was a movie maybe 20 years ago called, in the gloaming, did anybody see that? I did not, however the definition of gloaming will tell you something. I will share it with you. A poetic word for “twilight,” or the time of day immediately after the sun sets, is gloaming. This is a word with a strong Scottish heritage, adopted from Scottish dialect during the Middle Ages and rooted in the Old English word for “twilight,” glōm.WIKI Yesterday we saw some lovely pictures of Her Majesty. She was out for a lovely walk amongst the grounds of Balmoral. There was a woman with her at a safe distance and the paper I read didn’t identify who that was. But they looked like they were just having a lovely time enjoying being outdoors. Prince Edward and Sophie and their children arrived, so I imagine they probably had 🧺 with them as well. so as they say they were out for a good long walk, that clears your lungs, spending time together outside which is what they all love doing!! It is also something they can do safely in this time of COVID-19. In Scotland you would call that roaming in the gloaming!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿😊😊���😊😊😊😊😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Definition wiki, the rest me.

Simple Simon

Simon Cowell is one lucky man! He could have been paralyzed or worse in this accident!‘The impact missed his spinal cord by a centimetre’: Simon Cowell 'could have been PARALYSED’ when he fell from his electric bike… as star recovers from six-hour surgery on his broken back.The 60-year-old was rushed to hospital on Saturday when he fell from his new electric bicycle whilst taking it for a test drive at his house in Malibu.He had surgery after breaking his back in a number of places and is recovering well from the six-hour long operation which saw a metal rod placed in his back.A source later revealed that doctors told Simon his injury could 'have been a lot, lot more serious’ and 'the impact missed his spinal cord by about a centimetre’.Speaking on Sunday, a family friend told MailOnline that Simon is 'doing well’ now but was in ‘shock and massive amounts of pain’ after the accident.The music mogul's girlfriend Lauren Silverman, 43 - with whom he shares son Eric, 6 - was spotted riding her own bike on Saturday.Simon was at his Malibu home with Lauren and their six-year-old son Eric when the accident happened. The father-of-one is due to return to America’s Got Talent next week, with the first live show set to air on Tuesday August 11.Simon’s other hit show Britain’s Got Talent is due to film in the autumn, with the mogul scheduled to be in the UK for the live final in October. He was previously hospitalised in October 2017 after falling down the stairs at his London home - prompting him to embark on a healthier lifestyle.'Back on his feet in three weeks’: Simon Cowell’s new 'family-friendly’ lifestyle and four-stone weight loss could mean he’ll recover faster from e-bike fall that’s left him with metal rod in his back after he missed breaking his spine 'by just 1cm!! DM and me.

Spill…………

Mystery as devastating chemical spill kills tens of thousands of fish along stretch of pristine river in rural Wales leaving trout gasping for air amid sea of toxic foam. Mother-of-three witnesses a river pollution spill so toxic it wiped out all the fish.Emily Tilling, 47, walks her dogs along the shady banks of the River Llynfi, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales. Ms Tiling says the event 'was like something out from [TV drama] Chernobyl’.As Emily Tilling walks her dogs along the shady banks of the River Llynfi, her eye will often be caught by the splash of a leaping wild brown trout or the iridescent flash of a kingfisher.But during an evening stroll last weekend, she witnessed an ecological catastrophe that has almost completely destroyed the wildlife at the river in mid-Wales.Amid putrid foam and an overwhelming stench of chemicals, trout flailed around in the shallows gasping for air as desperate crayfish attempted to scrabble out of the water. DM and me.

Karen ain’t a happy embryo …………

Something I just heard recently and I do not know if you kids are aware of it. I read online somewhere and am actually quite confused. Apparently some people of other races, call all women who are white, Karen, as an insulting him term. I do not know how that came about.BBC Until last week, if you had asked the BBC to nominate the most reviled species on the planet, the answer would have been obvious: middle-aged white men, of course, the necrotic heart of the evil patriarchy (so long, Andrew Neil et al).But not any more, it seems. For Auntie has a new enemy in her sights: Karen.A Karen, in case you didn’t know, is a term used on social media to denote a middle-aged woman who is unaware of her ‘white privilege’. Yeah I know as of the fancy baby shower in New York City the baby ha ha whatever it was supposed to be a girl. The royal family swept out away from her and turned around it was a boy. So I can I can’t find I don’t know what this clue is meaning beyond that I just don’t and I’ve looked and looked and looked I don’t know and I’m frustrated!💜💜💜💜 usually every riddle has at least one clue that drives me batty and then in the end I get it but this riddle has to. I researched and looked and read high and low. I just cannot solve this clue. I feel upset about this. Extremely frustrated! And worst of all I’m so sorry to disappoint you all. I just don’t know where to go from here I just don’t know.💜💜💜💜💜💜

“erotic podcast??? …………

Demi Moore stars in scripted podcast Dirty Diana that focuses on couple trying to reconnect amid their failing marriage.

Demi Moore stars and is the executive producer of a new scripted podcast series called Dirty Diana.The new audio drama circles around a couple that face a dying marriage as they lose touch with their intimacy.Demi stars alongside Claes Bang, as two partners who try to work on their marriage and intimacy, as heard in the first trailer that dropped via People. Dirty Diana begins on Monday, July 13 via podcast; it is a six part fictional series from QCODE. The podcast also focuses on female erotica, with the trailer starting with a woman being heard telling Demi’s character that she wants to pleasure herself. But why do they have use the name Diana? there’s a part of me that wonders if this isn’t a potential revenue earnest for Madam? How do people find these podcasts? How do people find all this porn and garbage that’s on the Internet? I don’t understand I wouldn’t have a clue where to begin to look to find anything anything remotely like this never mind if you don’t even know the title of it or if it even existed? Oh my stars! Demi Moore have you no shame? Have you no shame? Obviously she doesn’t! One would think she would be a multi multi millionnaire after all the movies she has made. But she is start to get old, according to Hollywood standard,and she wants to stay relevant. So what is the best, easiest revenue earner? Selling your body disgusting! she has adult children and probably grandchildren too! I have no no doubt that if Madam thought she could earn money doing this, oh you bet, in a heartbeat she would be in there like a fish in water! Pardon the pun she’s used to doing this kind of stuff around water Ha Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah Hah🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂. I want to get that only because of her but the whole issue was very serious and very shady!DM and me.

sheepish microdot. ……………

Let’s start with the definition of microdots. A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular and around one millimetre in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials such as polyester or metal. The name comes from the fact that the microdots have often been about the size and shape of a typographical dot, such as a period or the tittle of a lowercase i or j. Microdots are, fundamentally, a steganographicapproach to message protection. Bear with me now let’s find the definition of sheepish.adjective (of a person or expression) showing embarrassment from shame or a lack of self-confidence. So somebody sent something via microdot that they are ashamed of or embarrassed by. This is another clue I’ve looked and looked and stretch my brain I I cannot figure out what this means! It’s usually one clue that really drives me batty but eventually I can Kinda sorta get some thing but this one there’s two honestly I’ve looked at looked and read and searched and every permutation I I just cannot find what your meaning by this MM Anon.💜💜💜💜 I am so so so so sorry I just cannot solve this clue! I really apologize for letting you guys down I am quite upset about this. Forgive me.💜💜💜💜

muggy, tuegy,Wegy ………

One thing I find so but funny about the UK is that everything has to have a slang term or almost every word has to be twisted and said in a funny way. I do not know why that is but I just find that so funny.😊😊😊This reminds me of a child learning to speak the days of the week. How does my head go, I wonder if these are the days when little Louis will be going to preschool, and he is learning to say the names of the days of the week. That is just a thought I’ll I get back to this. This has nothing to do with school it has all to do with the weather. Due to the Sahara Blowtorch, as it was called,the UK was subjected to unprecedented heat over the actually, the whole weekend Friday Saturday and Sunday. As the front is passing, coming behind it is muggy weather. Muggy is where the air is very sticky and the humidity is very high. What is going to be happening today is you will be feeling the muggy weather but then the rain is coming and it is going to be torrential ☔️rain. So we have Monday will be Muggy, Tuesday will be sort of humid and some rain, hence Tuegy. Wednesday will be Wegy, lots and lots of rain, possibly even torrential amounts of rain! Me and weather knowledge.

red bullish…………

A leaked 'racist’ map of the world 'according to Americans’ shown at Red Bull conference that led to the firing of three execs who called for company to make a statement in support of BLM.Three Red Bull execs have lost their jobs in a row over a leaked map of the world that was shown at meeting.Florian Klaass was global head of music, entertainment, and culture marketing at the energy drink giant.In February he made a presentation in Detroit with an offensive map of the world that he was advised not to.North America CEO Stefan Kozak, chief marketing officer Amy Taylor also let go after lobbying for BLM suport.The pair were fired after being vocal about attempts to make Red Bull inclusive in wake of BLM protests.DM

beach barney………………

It’s heartbreak after their son, 17, died in a horror car crash - as police continue investigation into what caused P-plate driver to veer into a fence.Family of young man tragically killed in horror smash pay tribute to 'adored’ teen.Barney Wakes-Miller, 17, died when the vehicle his mate was driving crashed.There were six young people travelling in an overloaded Holden Commodore.NSW Police say no arrests or changes have been made but inquiries are ongoing.Tributes have poured in for an 'adored’ teenager who was tragically killed in a horror car crash on Sydney’s northern beaches.Barney Wakes-Miller, 17, died when the vehicle his mate was driving came off the road and slammed into a sandstone and wrought iron fence at Elanora Heights on Saturday at about 11.20pm.Family of the young man said he was their 'rainbow’ and a 'real treasure’ in their lives.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻for all his family and friends. DM and me.

education not saturation ………………

(Early) Signs of (Modest) Online Saturation

Does a small decline in the share of all academic programs that are delivered at a distance suggest that online has peaked?

Bold pronouncements about trends in the fast-moving, and somewhat data-poor, landscape of online learning should be approached with great skepticism.What it is is a high-level view of some data in an analysis published by Public Insight, which collects and makes available public data in accessible formats. The blog post by the company’s CEO, Dan Quigg, carried the provocative title of “Has Distance Education Hit Its Peak?” – a question inspired by federal data showing that the proportion of all academic programs that were offered via distance education.It was the first such decline since the federal government’s main higher education database, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, began collecting data on online education in 2013.”It appears that the original lure of distance education seems to have worn off somewhat and whatever works, works well,“ Quigg wrote. “Whatever is not working is being phased out."Quigg admits he is no expert on online education, and that his analysis is at a surface level, prompted by one data point surfaced from among the millions his company processes.

But the assertion sparked our curiosity here at "Inside Digital Learning,” especially in the face of other federal data showing that online enrollments continue to grow. So we did a bit more analysis on the data Quigg produced and asked a couple of people better versed in online education for their takes on the question. Now this research article appeal applies to higher learning, but I think we can extrapolate that down to our school-age children and their learning experience. So does this mean all the online education being thrown out to children via digital means, while at home due to Covid, and all the various assignments etc. are not equivalent to an in person learning? Of course there are not! They miss the whole atmosphere, the milieu, the whole being with your peers and interacting learning social skills. A school milieu enables learning from other people, learning from your peers, learning from different teachers who have different ways of speaking. It also teaches structure and how one spends their days.There are all these basic life skills that children need in order to function later in life.Just learning in the whole environment! Not being in your home environment, where they are used to playing, having fun, and time with your family. It is dramatically different thing. So the saturation, was just throwing all this data at the children they cannot possibly learn in the same way. I’m not a statistician. I’m not a researcher, but I do have common sense. And it’s just if you’re not in the milieu at school there’s so many non-verbal and experiential things that you are missing experiences and learning from them. I found this article and thought it was very applicable to the clue. I’m not sure, MM Anon if you were talking about rain and weather and all that but I just thought this was very applicable. This is something that’s everybody is wrestling with, whether you have children or not. I just feel for parents. I feel for the children. I feel for the teachers. It is just such a different world isn’t it? There used to be a phrase we really used a lot at work, when a patient had would be admitted and they would have all this information thrown at them, hospital policy, their diagnosis, new medications lots of teaching. It was called sensory overload! That means so much coming at you that your brain is overloaded. Your brain cannot process any of it because it is just too much information coming at you at once. I think that is what is happening to many children. Insidehighered.com

getting ready for school Charlotte?????

It is a very small world in the aristocratic circles of London. Princess Charlotte’s teacher married her godfather isn’t that something! The Cambridges, said back in June I believe it was, that she would not return to school unless George was in school. Now with Covid and things going up and down and up more on the up and down, I am not sure what they are going to do. I wonder if they know what they are going to do. I personally, I do not have children, but if I did have children and two of them are in very high line of succession to the throne, I would keep them at home and school them at home. But that is just my opinion. I think that is what all the?’s are about . Should they shouldn’t they should, they shouldn’t they, they are weighing the options the pros and cons. I guess until the time comes we will not know. But I do pray for them and I pray for their health and I pray that they make the right decision. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻Me.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

—————

85. Aug 14

MM ANON ……… “ we have 4 hours to get a ring of garlic “ ……… I dispute my results ……… poor maintenance!! ………… first responders warm to Charles …… 7 million mortgage 🤣🤣🤣…………… £3000 !!!…………” I shan’t be buying any Tuna on rye” ………… staycation on the up…………” it arrived in a crate!!!!” …………… algorithm and blues…………” not eligible to serve”.

Aug 14/20

😊😊😊😊💜💜💜💜Thank you MM Anon💜💜💜💜💜💜😊😊😊😊

Riddle #85. August 14/2020

THESE ARE HARD EXTREMELY OBSCURE CLUES😁🥺🥺😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩OBSCURITY HAS MET WITH TENACITY AKAPG ME!! TODAY MM ANON!!!! I SAY, CHECK MATE😁😁😁😁😁

“ we have 4 hours to get a ring of garlic “ ………

What the heck is a ring of garlic? Here it’s called a head of garlic. Who wants a ring made of garlic? I don’t understand this clue at all! I think I’ve lost my mojo because I just makes absolutely no sense to me. OK I have searched, now a ring of garlic is not actually a ring nor is it garlic, it is oh thing of sausage a great big long whatever you call it in the in the tube I guess I don’t know if it’s in the casing that’s what it’s called casing casing. Why do you only have four hours to buy meat? I know this is not it but it is awfully gross. A disgusting video shows the moment a mother cuts into her sausages and finds a ‘rubber glove’ inside.Shona Barton, from Sandy, Bedfordshire, was horrified to discover the foreign object inside the £3 Jolly Hog sausages, which she purchased from a Sainsbury’s store.

The 37-year-old sat down to dinner on July 27 with husband Jamie, 37, and their daughter Ellie, 6, before she made the grim discovery.DM. Well this must have something to do with the closing of travel ban I don’t know but you certainly could be able to buy garlic sausages in the UK. I don’t understand this clue it just makes no sense to me.

Is Nicola Sturgeon running Britain? Scottish First Minister causes holiday chaos for thousands by demanding France is put on quarantine list by 4am tomorrow rather than Sunday amid fears GREECE will be next.The UK Government has placed quarantine on arrivals from France, the rules set to come in at 4am Saturday.It has triggered scramble among hundreds of thousands of Britons in France as they try and rush home today.

Many are desperately trying to return home today to avoid having to quarantine for 14 days from tomorrow.Demand for the Eurostar has soared, while a BA flight from Paris to London has increased from £66 to £452.There are fears Greece could be the next country added to the infection list after a spike in its daily cases. I RESEARCHED GARLIC AND RYE ENDLESSLY! This closure must affect wherever this fancy meat comes from in the EU. DM

I dispute my results ………

The UK’s under-fire education secretary Gavin Williamson has said that the government would cover the appeal costs to ensure that head teachers are not put off from making appeals by the cost. The government is facing a storm after nearly 40 per cent of results were downgraded by the computer model deployed when exams had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis. Around the same proportion of GCSEs as A-levels are expected to be downgraded when results come out next week. Meanwhile, students face being forced to take a gap year after Oxford, Cambridge and other universities said they may not have room for them – even if they successfully challenge their A-level grades. Lucy Lipfriend missed out on a place at Cambridge University after her grades were downgraded, which she thinks could be due to her poor performance in A-level exams last year - which she took when her mother Tina had been diagnosed with breast cancer - being taken into account. Bottom: Students protest outside Whitehall

poor maintenance!! …………

KINSHASA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A plane carrying four passengers crashed late on Thursday in dense forest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said.

The plane, thought to be one of two small cargo planes owned by Agefreco, went down during a flight from Kalima in Maniema province to Bukavu in South Kivu province, said Theo Kasi, governor of South Kivu.”The investigation will determine the cause of the accident. I share the pain with the grieving families and offer my deepest condolences,” Kasi said on Twitter. The wreckage has not been located, but the suspected crash zone is a vast dense forest, said Desiree Kyakwima, a spokesperson for South Kivu administration.”The airport services who informed the governor of the crash told him that, while trying to locate the wreckage of the plane, there is no chance of finding any survivors,” Kyakwima said.Air accidents are relatively common in Congo because of lax safety standards and poor maintenance. All Congolese commercial carriers are banned from operating in the European Union. (Reporting by Stanis Bujakera and Fiston Maham Editing by Gareth Jones).

OR

13th August

Housing group under fire over ‘poor’ maintenance of open spaces in Castle Mead. CAMPAIGNERS on the Castle Mead estate in Trowbridge say housing provider GreenSquare’s maintenance of open spaces is not up to scratch.

They say litter is not picked up and grassy areas are not weeded.

Wendy Evans said: “We just want a fair deal. I fully support Castle Mead residents’ objections as we too understand the frustration of being denied a fair go.

“We, too, have become increasingly aware that work done is at a bare minimum, leaving many disgruntled by the shabbiness of the central garden and surrounds. “The lawn is cut regularly during the summer, however litter pickup, weeding and plant management is virtually absent.”The 67-year-old says 79 residents in the Union Street area are collectively paying £12,000 a year in fees for a poor service.

first responders warm to Charles ……

Prince Charles Thanks First Responders at the Site of a Deadly Train Crash in Scotland

Queen Elizabeth said in a message of condolence, “Our thanks go out to the Emergency Services for their response and dedication”Prince Charles paid tribute to those who died and showed his support for the emergency services who rushed to a tragic train crash in Scotland this week.The 71-year-old royal headed to Stonehaven early Friday to visit the site of the train derailment and speak with first responders who aided the injured and helped at the scene on Wednesday.The 06:38 Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street ScotRail train service derailed in the area of north eastern Scotland, and local transport police have confirmed that three people died, including the ScotRail driver and conductor. Several other people were injured and taken to hospital. Charles arrived just after 11 a.m. local time and surveyed the scene from high up on a bank. He then chatted to some of the emergency crews who have been on site following the crash.It’s believed that the derailment was caused by a landslip following heavy rain, the BBC reported. On Wednesday evening, Queen Elizabeth sent a message of condolence to the Lord-Lieutenant of Kincardineshire expressing her “great sadness.”“The Duke of Edinburgh, and the entire Royal Family, join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have died and those who have been injured,” she wrote. “Our thanks go out to the Emergency Services for their response and dedication.“People.com

7 million mortgage 🤣🤣🤣……………The Sun

Prince Harry( nope she is lying!!) and SEAHAG are believed to have taken out a massive £7.25m mortgage on their lavish nine bedroom, 16 bathroom estate - which they are calling their "sanctuary”.The couple reportedly moved into the luxurious £11.1 million mansion which boasts a pool, theatre, arcade and guest house in Montecito, California, back in July. Pictures from a previous listing of the huge 14,563 square foot property on five acres of land show it appears to have a stripper pole installed in its gym.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥It is not known if the quirky feature has since been removed. The huge pad also has its own kids playground.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥Despite the hefty price tag, it looks like the couple got themselves a bargain as the estate is actually valued at a whopping £20m ($27m).

Deeds, obtained by The Sun, show the buyers for the property took out a £7.25m ($9.5m) mortgage to be paid back plus interest by the year 2050 - indicating they put down a deposit of £3.8m ($5m).They will also have to pay a whopping yearly property tax of £220,000.The records show the property was bought by a mysterious company called the Residential Real Estate Trust.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥While there are no names listed for the mysterious trust, it matches that of a previous LLC set up by Meghan called Frim Fram Inc.A source close to SEAHAG and NOT!! Harry says the couple are calling the luxury mansion their “sanctuary”.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥“NOT Harry and SEAHAG have settled into their new home and say they are still figuring things out, they hope when Covid lets up their lives will become easier,” a source said.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥

£3000 !!!…………

Here’s another one £3000 what like what what where do you like are you doing this on purpose making these ridiculously obscure clues? but I don’t give up!Excess baggage: Average traveller packs £3,000 worth of clothes, gadgets and toiletries (three times the cost of holiday) When it comes to packing, everything but the kitchen sink appears to be the order of the day for most holidaymakers. The concept of travelling light seems to be as foreign as their destinations. For it emerged yesterday that the average British holidaymaking family crams £3,000 worth of clothes, gadgets and toiletries into their luggage – worth almost three times as much as their holiday.DM. This is just absolutely ridiculous! I retract any sympathy I had for anybody who Mr. vacation or who got stuck or had to be quarantine. If you have that much money on stuff that you’re toting along with you and then the cost of your holiday I got no pity for you no pity at all!😁ME I have not been on holiday since my last trip to Scotland in 2005!! Any sympathy for me?!😁🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

“ I shan’t be buying any Tuna on rye” …………

Well I would never buy tuna on Rye because I hate fish and seafood of all kinds. This is in quotation marks but if I search it as such nothing shows up. I hate these clues! Wall Street Journals Coronavirus Has people Hooked on Canned Tuna, and Producers Are Playing Catch-Up.People have been buying more canned tuna during the economic downturn, in part because it’s a cheap protein. Tuna fish has surged in popularity thanks to pantry loading during the coronavirus pandemic, but producers of the canned fish are dealing with higher prices and other challenges that are making it difficult to keep up with the increased demand.

staycation on the up…………

Fully booked! Scramble for staycation spots after Cornwall and Dorset’s top camping areas reach capacity - with some booked up until the end of SEPTEMBER - and there’s hardly a hotel room or cottage to be found.None of the top 20 campsites in Cornwall have any availability for a week’s stay for two adults from tomorrow.Parks and campsites across Britain are seeing a boom in bookings as Britons give up on planning trips abroad.Haven, Butlin’s, Center Parcs and Hoseasons are being inundated while cottage bookings are being swept up.Officials in St Ives, famed for narrow streets, introduce a ‘keep to the left’ policy amid soaring visitor numbers. DM

“it arrived in a crate!!!!” ……………

UPDATE: Call of Duty publisher Activision has revealed plans to unveil the new game on August 14.According to influencer NoahJ456, the next Call of Duty 2020 teaser will go live at 5pm BST on August 14. That’s based on clues uncovered from the mysterious Call of Duty crates, as well as the discovery of a new teaser site.

“I just heard directly from Activision. What we solved today was just the FIRST step of the Call of Duty 2020 reveal. What comes out on Friday at 12 EST is just the next part. We go again.”

ORIGINAL: Call of Duty publisher Activision is finally ready to reveal the 2020 release, titled Black Ops: Cold War.

After months of waiting, fans will get a glimpse of the new game during a reveal planned for 5pm BST on August 10.

The extent of the reveal is yet to be confirmed, but fans will be hoping for more than just a cinematic trailer or logo.

After such a lengthy wait for any kind of information, fans want a release date and extensive gameplay footage, or maybe even a look at next-gen upgrades.

The timing of the reveal was confirmed by COD influencers such as CharlieIntel, who recently received a mysterious Call of Duty crate.The locked crate can only be opened when Activision sends out a code at 5pm later today.Elsewhere, Activision has started dropping hints about the upcoming release in Call ofDuty’s Battle Royale spinoff Warzone.Visual glitches featuring the message, “know your history”, started appearing in Warzone late last week. This was followed by the appearance of mysterious gas cannisters scattered throughout the Warzone map. Other leaks suggest the reveal will take place in the Gulag.

THE EXPRESS

algorithm and blues…………

Where I live the COVID-19 cases are increasing. They’ve been steadily increasing each day and today they’re at the highest level that they were April 2. I don’t think we are even done the first wave yet and wait till the kids go back to school and flu season comes I am already stocking up and still have a stock pile but I’m continuing to have a stockpile.DM Britain records 1,441 Covid-19 cases in biggest daily jump for two months as officials announce another 11 deaths - but separate statistics show the crisis IS under control with the outbreak definitely shrinking each day and the R rate stable.Department of Health statistics show the daily spike in cases is the largest 24-hour jump since June 14 (1,514).The rising numbers of positive tests have ignited fears that the virus is rebounding and sliding out of control.But prevalence of the coronavirus in England is mostly unchanged since last week, official statistics show.Office for National Statistics report estimates 0.05 per cent of population are currently infected with Covid-19.Official daily cases are rising but this is likely because testing is better targeted and finding cases well.SAGE today revealed Britain’s Covid-19 R rate remains between 0.8 and 1.0 - the same as last week’s estimate.And it said that the outbreak is shrinking and cases are fall. Algorithm referred in the clue is the algorithm used to calculate the R rate etc. The blues is obviously the death and disease.

“not eligible to serve”…

CAVEAT HERE THIS IS NOT! I REPEAT NOT! MY OPINION

President Trump said he heard that Ms. Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice-presidential nominee born in California, was not eligible for the ticket, repeating a theory that is rampant among his followers. Constitutional scholars quickly called his words false and irresponsible. WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday encouraged a racist conspiracy theory that is rampant among some of his followers: that Senator Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice-presidential nominee born in California, was not eligible for the vice presidency or presidency because her parents were immigrants.

That assertion is false. Ms. Harris is eligible to serve.

Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday, nevertheless pushed forward with the attack, reminiscent of the lie he perpetrated for years that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya.“I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Harris.“I have no idea if that’s right,” he added. “I would have thought, I would have assumed, that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.”Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to a widely discredited op-ed article published in Newsweek by John C. Eastman, a conservative lawyer who has long argued that the United States Constitution does not grant birthright citizenship. Ms. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, was born in 1964 in Oakland, Calif., several years after her parents arrived in the United States. The New York Times

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

——————

86. Aug 17

MM ANON …… redundant coal……… I’m a penguin , officer !! ……… 🎼stormy weather🎼………… property boom??……… don’t stamp on my duty!! ………… still her own women at 70. …………… ask your father for 7 million ………… “ there giving me 50 million if I play spider woman “……… vaccine vaccine Ivan!!………… Shambolic!!

Mon Aug 17/20. Riddle #86

💜💜💜💜😊😊😊😊Thank you dear MM Anon 😊😊😊😊💜💜💜💜💜

August 17/2020

redundant coal………

The Sun…. COAL SCUTTLED England’s last coal mine shuts next week marking the end of a tradition dating back to Roman times. ENGLAND’S last coal mine shuts next week, marking the end of a tradition dating back to Roman times.Banks Mining’s open cast site near Dipton, Co Durham, will extract its last coal on Monday. The 250 workers will be made redundant — victims of falling demand and concerns over the environmental damage caused by burning fossil fuels.It means there will be no working mine left in England — although there are a handful of sites still operating in Wales and Scotland.Coal has been a vital resource since Roman times and powered the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.At its height, the mining industry employed one million people in the UK.The last deep mine in the UK closed in 2015 and all coal-fired power stations will close by 2025.Banks insists five million tons of coal is still needed in Britain for the steel and cement industries.But most of it is imported from Russia while potential sites in the UK remained untapped. More and more redundancies.. Clean the millions of jobs lost to Covid and this and so many other industries our world is looking very grim for millions and millions of people possibly billions! My heart goes out to all those people that have lost their job. Not only do they have the physical health effects of having worked in the coal mine now they’ve got a find work when there is no work.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I’m a penguin , officer !! ………

BBC ……. Penguin 🐧 waddling in Broxtowe picked up by police.A penguin 🐧waddling through a village has been picked up by police officers on a routine patrol.They were on patrol in Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, when they spotted the Humboldt penguin in a village street in the early hours of Sunday.The bird, nicknamed Po-Po, that’s hilarious because that’s a slang term for the police 👮‍♀️,Po Po 🤣🤣😂😂😂,had escaped from a farm enclosure in Strelley and then managed to waddle a mile up the road.Police stuck their beak in and the 🐧 was returned to its owner.PC Gareth Philp said they nicknamed the penguin 🐧 Po-Po after “he posed for some pictures with us and he was very friendly with our officers”.Last year a pair of stolen penguins were rescued by officers in Strelley. In January 2019,Police acted on a chip and rescued the two penguins. 🐧 🐧

🎼stormy weather🎼…………

Great song sung by the unbelievably gorgeous and talented Miss Lena Horne from the film 🎞 of the same name. The Evening Standard…… UK weather forecast: Storm Kyle aftermath set to hit Britain as Met Office warns of strong winds and torrential rain. Forecasters say weather will turn "autumnal" this week. Large parts of Britain are likely to face “heavy storms” and further torrential downpours this week as the aftermath of Storm Kyle hits the UK, forecasters say.

Flash flooding has already caused disruption to parts of England after storms and driving rain followed a scorching week where the mercury topped 30C for five consecutive days.

A yellow thunderstorm warning covering the whole of Wales, southern England and parts of the north is in place until 9pm Monday, with the same warning in place for a large area of Scotland on Tuesday afternoon. Up to 1.6in (40mm) is likely to fall within an hour in some areas. Other parts of the country are likely to see “heavy storms” on Tuesday as the “dregs” of Storm Kyle hit the country, followed by windy and showery conditions later in the week.Rainfall is expected to be more sustained, with the potential for 0.8in (20mm) falling over six hours, the Met Office has said. Please stay safe everybody!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

property boom??……… SKY News…… Coronavirus: UK’s £37bn July house-buying boom sees busiest month of sales in a decade.Record-breaking transactions coincide with the country going into recession and the suspension of stamp duty. More than £37bn worth of property sales were agreed in July - the busiest month for home buying for 10 years, according to property website Rightmove.The spike follows a suspension of the housing market during the coronavirus lockdown, but also coincides with the UK plunging into a recession. The chancellor also cut stamp duty in July, in an effort to encourage more people to get on the housing ladder. By comparison, £25bn worth of sales were made in July 2019, .Rightmove said the average asking price for a house in the UK in August stood at £319,497, down by around 0.2% from July’s £320,265 - which was a record high.However, in Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber, North West England, the East Midlands, West Midlands and the East of England all recorded new highs in August. It was London that pulled the national asking price down, with average prices falling by around 2%.

don’t stamp on my duty!! …………

FTADVISER.COM…… for those of you like me who don’t have a clue about financial matters or what on earth stamp duty is I have found a definition before we go any further. You usually pay Stamp Duty Land Tax ( SDLT ) on increasing portions of the property price above £125,000 when you buy residential property, for example a house or flat. There are different rules if you’re buying your first home and the purchase price is £500,000 or less. The chancellor cut the stamp duty in July, in an effort to encourage more people to get on the housing ladder. Investors want support beyond stamp duty cut.The government is not doing enough to support the housing market despite its generous nine-month stamp duty holiday, according to a survey of investors.A survey from FJP Investment, carried out in August, found 42 per cent believed the government needed to offer more support to homebuyers and property investors beyond its temporary stamp duty relief on £500,000 of the purchase price.More than half (54 per cent) were in favour of extending mortgage payment deferrals beyond October 31, the date when applications for a deferral are due to end for borrowers who have not yet taken one.

At the same time a quarter (24 per cent) of investors were planning to purchase one or more properties to take advantage of the temporary stamp duty cut, with the figure rising to 43 per cent for those aged between 18 and 34.Last month the Financial Conduct Authority issued a call for input on how firms should treat consumers who are coming to the end of their second mortgage payment deferral, as it considers extending its current guidance beyond October.However, the research also found more than half (54 per cent) of investors had lost confidence in the government based on how it handled the coronavirus pandemic, with almost six in 10 (57 per cent) believing more financial relief was needed to support UK businesses affected by the coronavirus.

still her own women at 70. ……………

Happy Birthday, your Royal Highness! 🎂 Happy birthday HRH! Royal family releases three new portraits of Princess Anne resplendent in evening gowns and relaxing in the grounds of Gatcombe Park to celebrate her 70th.The Princess Royal’s 70th birthday has been marked with the release of three official photographs taken in February before the lockdown to celebrate the milestone.Princess Anne is known for her no-nonsense approach to life and tenacious attitude, but in the images she is pictured smiling and looking relaxed at her Gatcombe Park home in Gloucestershire.

Wearing a Maureen Baker evening dress and Sue Palmer bolero jacket, the Queen’s only daughter looks stylish as she poses for celebrated photographer John Swannell and smiles broadly while sat in a chair. In another picture the princess looks directly at the camera, with a hint of a smile on her lips, wearing a Sue Palmer emerald green dress and a gold ribbon knot brooch, set with 12 diamonds.The images were taken in late February a few weeks before the coronavirus lockdown, and in the final picture Anne is dressed more causally for the outdoor setting, where she poses under a tree.Anne celebrates her 70th birthday on Saturday and her son-in-law Mike Tindall has already revealed Covid-19 and the recent spike of cases in Aberdeen have meant plans to mark the day have been scaled back.DM ITV did a fabulous documentary called Anne: the Princess Royale at 70. If you have not seen that, I highly recommend seeing it. It’s probably been pulled off of YouTube by now for copyright infringement but I am sure it will air on some other channels sometime in the future. It was so well done! She is so natural, down to earth, being in a ball gown to holding the chin of a cow who wants to cuddle. She said there’s lots of Gatcombe Park to keep her busy during Covid, but there’s so much work that’s being missed. That was bothering her. She’s outstanding, she is just outstanding! I’m going to include a picture, but again the way things get posted, it will be at the very top of the riddle but I will include one of the special portraits that were taken for the special birthday.

ask your father for 7 million …………

The Sun….. Prince Harry and Madam are believed to have taken out a massive £7.25m mortgage on their lavish nine bedroom, 16 bathroom estate - which they are calling their “sanctuary”.

The couple reportedly moved into the luxurious £11.1 million mansion which boasts a pool, theatre, arcade and guest house in Montecito, California, back in July. Now I think all you kids know by now what side of the fence I am on. There is no house purchase done. Harry is not with her. She is flea bagging it at the Soho in West Hollywood. This is another PR lie saying that Harry’s going to ask Prince Charles to pay their $7 million mortgage! Don’t believe it! Harry is not with her! Archie is not with her! They are not a family! If they were, she would be just as she was trumping up and down in front of the daily mail in her rubber wellies trying to get noticed, if they were together she would have them marching up and down every single street in west Hollywood, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Timbuktu to everywhere! She lies she lies she lies she lies! 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥Satan is the father of lies and she has learned from the worst she lives she lives she lives she lives she lies she lies she lies! Get it? Got it? Good!!!!🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥

“ there giving me 50 million if I play spider woman “………

Huzslers yikes that’s a bad website news name.

Mother is Suing Marvel For $50 Million Dollars After Son Died Jumping Out 6th Story Window After Waching ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’. PHILADELPHIA – Aaron Clinton, a 12 year old boy who was “obsessed with Spider-Man” died earlier today after jumping out his 6th story apartment window. His Mother, Cheryl Clinton is suing Marvel, the company that owns Spider-Man, for $50 Million Dollars.Aaron’s Mother blames Spider-Man for her son’s death. “After seeing that movie yesterday, he became obsessed with Spider-Man and has been only talking about him since he saw the movie, It’s all Marvel’s fault for making kids think they can be superheroes. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻☹️☹️☹️I think Madam is going to extrapolate that and put it out there that she’ll be getting $50 million to play spider woman. And we all know when she throws a number out in PR that’s the amount of money that she wants from somebody. So who does she want $50 million from? And who would be giving her $50 million? That’s the even more interesting question doesn’t it!. Back in February, Marvel and Sony just announced that they will be releasing a new movie in October of 2021 and inside sources say that this movie is going to be Spider-Woman! Well that’s far an actress has not been announced. So naturally Madame assumes she will throw out the number and they’ll throw the 50 million to her and Bob’s your uncle!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

vaccine vaccine Ivan!!…………

The United States Canada and the UK are all working with a number of pharmaceutical corporations on several different vaccines for COVID-19. They’re actually working on vaccines and therapeutics. Basically that means they’re working on finding a treatment for us and a vaccine to prevent it.. Some of the vaccines are in stage III clinical trials which is basically meaning they are being tested on human beings many many human beings. Both China and Russia have attempted hacking to the database of these pharmaceutical companies as well as the teaching hospitals or medical centres that are working on the study and doing the clinical trials. Yes they would rather steal the information and then possibly work on it themselves.But that’s been their modus operandi since I don’t know my whole life probably much longer than that!NEWSWEEK….

Bill Gates-Backed Vaccine CEO Calls on Russia to Release Data.If Russian President Vladimir Putin has found an effective COVID-19 vaccine, then the data showing its safety and effectiveness should be released, the head of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance says.In an exclusive wide-ranging interview with Newsweek International, Dr. Seth Berkley said that he had yet to see any efficacy data showing that President Putin had a safe vaccine.He said: “We don’t have public, published information on efficacy or safety of this product.“It may be that there’s some data we don’t know about but in general what’s very important is that vaccines go through a well-oiled and recognized process for evaluation and safety and ultimately registration. "My understanding from the media is that they [Russia] are starting an efficacy trial now so it hasn’t been through an efficacy trial and normally that would not allow a stringent regulatory authority to approve it.”If there is some efficacy data we don’t know about, we’d love to see it."GAVI is a public-private global health partnership that aims to increase access to immunization in poor countries, with The Gates Foundation the organization’s single biggest supporter, donating $4.1m since its formation in 2000.President Putin had announced last week that a locally developed vaccine for the COVID-19 virus that has killed over 770,000 people worldwide, had been given regulatory approval.CNBC……Russia’s vaccine chief claims the West is trying to ‘lure’ away its scientists. The head of Russia’s vaccine-developing body has claimed that Western research institutions are seeking to “lure” its scientists away to work for them.Gintsburg heads the institute that developed Russia’s coronavirus vaccine that was given regulatory approval last week.News of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine was greeted with skepticism in the West.

Shambolic!!

Top scientist slams ‘shroud of secrecy’ around 'shambolic’ government coronavirus decisions as ministers try to get UK moving with eat-out discount launch and return to work - despite rising cases, lockdown fears and civil service revolt.Sir Paul Nurse hit at 'shroud of secrecy’ on government coronavirus decisions.Francis Crick Institute chief said some of the key policies had been 'shambolic’.Civil servants rebelling over Boris Johnson’s call for people to return to offices. Sir Paul Nurse, chief of the Francis Crick Institute, raised concerns that crucial choices seemed to be made by a 'black box’ in Whitehall with the results sometimes 'shambolic’. He insisted more transparency and scrutiny was needed to get the 'best results’.The intervention came as the government faces a fresh backlash about mixed messaging. Treasury subsidies for eating out at restaurants are launched today, and advice that everyone should work from home is being downgraded.

However, there are also mounting rumours about tightening coronavirus rules in some areas, with fears of a looming second wave.Civil servants have complained they are being used as guinea pigs for the return to offices, with claims of more cases at the heart of government over the past fortnight.DM

OR

Shambolic in the slips: Close-in catching continues to haunt England. England’s nightmare is not new. They have been dropping catches again and again and again in the slip cordon. England vs Pakistan, England badly let themselves down at the start of Day 1 of the 2nd Test vs Pakistan at Ageas Bowl, Southampton on Thursday. Right from the beginning of the first session, the English slip cordon comprising Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, and skipper Joe Root looked all at sea whenever an edge came flying at them. James Anderson had trapped Shan Masood lbw off the 14th ball of the innings to leave Pakistan on 6/1 and under real pressure in the opening session, but the abysmal performance in the slips let them off the hook. The Indian Times.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

——————

[cassiecantyousee]

Golden Calves and Golden Guns

On Valentine’s Day, something all too familiar happened in America: children were killed while at school. And then, some people, many of them Christians, became more worried about their guns than about the lives of the children themselves.

Look, America has a lot of problems. Racism, greed, sexism, pride, you name it, we've got it. But you know what our biggest problem is? Idolatry. And nowhere is this more clear than in discussions about gun control.

Americans, and especially white evangelical Christians, idolize guns.  

(Brief aside and disclaimer: I technically AM a white evangelical Christian, and someday I may write a post discussion what that means and how it's been co-opted and how I've been having an extended identity crisis about it for years, but today is not that day. Anyway, moving on.)

I'm sure you're all familiar with the Ten Commandments. They're a pretty big deal. Central tenets of how Christians are supposed to live their lives blah blah blah. No politician/advocate/pundit/lobbyist who calls themselves a Christian is going to come right out and say they don't support the Ten Commandments. The first two are about idolatry. When we think about idols, we’re usually thinking about the second commandment, which talks about not making images of things to worship. For a refresher, please refer to this excellent meme:

We often expect idols to be literal golden statues in our yards, but it doesn’t always look like that. The first commandment reads: "You shall have no other gods before Me." Now, when discussing Christian theology, that doesn't mean that it's cool to worship other gods as long as GOD God is first on the list. It's not "before me" like you're standing in a line, it's "before me" as in "in front of my face at all." If you're talking about importance in your heart, it's not enough for God to just win the contest. God needs to be the only competitor. Anything that you're even allowing on the playing field with God is an idol (sorry for the badly executed sports metaphors, it's Olympic season).

So we're all clear on what idolatry is, yeah? No worshiping things other than God. That's a big no-no.

When pro-gun folks talk, you often hear a lot of the same talking points. "It's our right." "It's in the Constitution." "We need to protect ourselves." “It’s about freedom.”

So let's look at those claims. First of all, "it's our right." Is it? According to who? Not the Bible, certainly. No mentions of guns in there. That would be impossible, since gunpowder wasn't even invented until the 9th century (and invented by the Chinese, not by "Westerners," for the record). Often the full phrase is "it's our right as Americans." Which, come on Christians, really? Americans aren't God. Christians in America aren't more connected to God or somehow more "special" than Christians in other countries. So let's dial back the sense of self-importance, yeah? And the Bible REPEATEDLY tells us to put down our weapons or not fight back. Turn you swords into plowshares and all that (Isaiah 2:4).

Then people bring up the Constitution. Even setting aside the fact that one of the central tenets of the Constitution is that it's modifiable; this is still a crappy argument for a Christian to make. Are you saying the Constitution is infallible? Are you saying a document OTHER THAN THE BIBLE is the indisputable word of God? I sure hope not.

Now on protection. I understand wanting to protect yourself and your family, I do. The world can be a scary place, and "taking back control" definitely feels good. But Christians are supposed to know better.  You say you speak for "God-fearing America," but you rely on weapons of death and destruction to protect yourself. You're correct that one of us doesn't trust in the Lord, but I don't think it's me. When a colleague of the Olympic runner and missionary Eric Liddel (of Chariots of Fire fame) was offered a gun to protect himself, Liddel responded: “Don’t touch it! If you have that in your pocket you will depend on it rather than God and I would refuse to travel with you.” Sums it up, honestly.

If this were all, if this were the whole discussion, there would already be a solid case for idolatry.

But.

BUT.

It’s not all. Supposedly Christian pro-gun advocates have gone so much farther than this, and it should deeply horrify us. At the most recent CPAC meeting, only a few days after the tragic events in Parkland, the executive president of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, made a statement that honestly made me want to throw up. He said that the constitutional right to bear arms “is not bestowed by man, but granted by God to all Americans as our American birthright.” What. The. Actual. Hell. This isn’t right. His worship of guns is obvious. Are Christians really okay with this kind of rhetoric? Should we really be supporting the NRA as they continue to double down on this level of theological perversion and gun worship? I definitely don’t think so.

The Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death, and we can see this clearly in American gun culture. People would rather hold on to their earthly possessions than allow children to attend school safely.

So let me be perfectly clear: American gun culture is idolatrous. The NRA is an idolatrous organization profiting from the deaths of Americans, many of them children. Christians, why aren't we more upset? Like, honestly, I don't get it. It's so clear. It's so obvious. IT'S KILLING CHILDREN.

Now, I’m not the first person to say any of this. Nor am I the smartest. Christianity Today published an editorial stating that “fear and idolatry are our real gun problem” in 1999, after Columbine. In 2014 Patheos asserted that the idol of fear is at the root of American gun culture. After the massacre in Las Vegas, John J. Thatamanil wrote a great piece of the “American gun cult.” In an episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Impolite Company, Amy Sullivan and Nish Wiseth do a deep dive into the connection between white American evangelicals and guns. And finally, the documentary Armor of Light and the associated movement follows Reverend Rob Schenck, who begins to question if it is really possible to be pro-life and pro-gun. So if you don’t want to listen to me, you can listen to these much smarter people. And thanks for letting me get all this off my chest anyway.

I want to conclude with a personal story. As most of you know, I have been living and working in Florida for the past few years. A month or so ago, I Skyped with a middle school in South Carolina to teach them about the Florida Keys ecosystem, and discuss the effects of climate change and Hurricane Irma. The teachers were great, and the kids paid attention and asked good questions. Overall it was a great day at work. Then I got back to my regular list of tasks, and I essentially forgot about it.

Flash forward to last week, when I turned on NPR on my drive home and heard about what happened in Parkland. I was horrified, sickened, angry, and above all, devastated and sad. As someone who works in Florida, and whose job frequently involves education and outreach, I was knocked emotionally flat. I went to work the next day feeling numb, depressed, and hopeless. And then after lunch, I got a package. It was from the middle school in South Carolina. They had written me an incredibly nice note thanking me for talking with their students, and requesting that we talk again in the future. They had also sent me a school t-shirt, a mug, a key-chain, and other school gear. Friends, I burst into tears at my desk. Our students, and our educators, deserve so much better. In the midst of all my grief, students and teachers who I have never even met in person gave me such a moment of pure hope.

School is supposed to be about learning and growing. Not worrying about whether or not you’ll survive to the bus ride home.

[nobszone]

Hate and Anger

(With apologies to Jonathan Pie)

So, what plans do you all have for this week?

Me? I’m gonna go to work, try out a tabletop RPG with some friends, and get set for my trip down to the heartland next week for the Solar Eclipse.

I mean, I’m just trying to carry on as normal.

Because isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Whenever something disturbing happens in this country, we’re just supposed to carry on as if nothing is wrong, right?

Actually, this week isn’t normal for me. This is a break from normal, because these days “normal” for me involves me getting annoyed at people. And who I get annoyed by depends largely on the day.

On some days it’s the right, because they have the most control they’ve had over the Federal Government since the Civil War, and they’re using it for the sole purpose of shitting on Barack Obama’s legacy no matter how much it fucks up the nation in the process.

On some days, it’s the left because they’ve still shown a complete and total obliviousness to why they lost in 2016, and now they’ve become obsessed with diversity as long as it’s not diversity of opinion. 

I mean, some days I just need a break from that. Some days I just want to go to my place of work and hang out with a red-tailed hawk that happens to reside on the premises.

You know what she does? She just perches in a tree all day. No terrorist is gonna stop her from doing that. She doesn’t attack people, she doesn’t annoy them, she minds her own business. Good on her.

Oh, I’ve also been playing Rainbow Six. Because I get to pretend the terrorists in those games are Neo-Nazi’s. In fact, in one of the games, the terrorists are Neo-Nazi’s.

Right now, Tom Clancy might be the only thing keeping me from starting down on the path to serious radicalization.

You guys know why there’s so many radical leftist groups out there? Why AntiFa, BAMN and others exist? Why people are willing to condone violence from the left? 

Because in this day and age, “carrying on as normal” feels apathetic. You don’t feel like you’ve accomplished anything. 

I mean this whole weekend, my social media pages were flooded with what was going on down in Charlottesville, and since I wasn’t out there protesting or counter-protesting or whatever you want to call it, I felt like my only choices were to either carry on as normal, or write a Twitter thread.

I only made that one post about it here, because what was I supposed to do otherwise? Write a Twitter thread on “what if these people faced REAL oppression” or go on Facebook saying “FUCK THIS COUNTRY AND FUCK WHITE PEOPLE” or just write some feel-good message about unity or solidarity or how we’re better than this?

I’m sick of it, folks. I don’t want to Tweet anymore. I want to fucking scream.

I wanted to fly down to Charlottesville, go up to every one of those alt-right fuckers, and make them proper skinheads by ripping out every one of their goddamned hairs, and then smash in their faces for good measure.

But I couldn’t do that.

Why?

1. It’s technically illegal in this country to assault someone.

2. Apparently, if I get mad, or if I fight back, they’ve won.

Because we have one weapon those assholes don’t, and that’s love, right? We’re not going to fight them with fistcuffs, or pepper spray or anything like that, we’re just gonna sing fucking My Little Pony songs at them. That’ll show those punks!

Look, I understand the need for nonviolence. You’ve all heard me express that viewpoint on a constant basis.

I understand that if a guy is standing on the corner and doing nothing except shouting at the top of his lungs, if you run up to him and sock him in the face for no reason besides you don’t like what he says, then you’ve lost. You’ve given him the moral high ground, and you’re getting hauled off to jail.

I get all that.

But I gotta be honest with you folks, as the days go by it gets harder and harder for me to stick with that mindset.

Because right now? I’m not feeling the love. To be perfectly honest, I feel nothing but hate.

I feel nothing but hate for a group of people who think plowing their car into a crowd of civilians and advocating for an ideology that was responsible for the worst conflict in the history of mankind is going to “Make America Great Again.”

Who the fuck told them that?!

David Duke was down there with those assholes saying “This is what President Trump wants.”

Who the fuck gave him that idea?! That’s what I want to know.

And yes, I know the alt-right doesn’t represent the GOP or all the Conservative voices in America. They don’t even represent all white people. I get that.

But it’s time to stop pretending these people just showed up, and we have no idea why.

Trump is up there, looking flabbergasted that people that support him are committing this violence. Why would they do it? What is their goal?

Just check their fucking Twitter feeds. Look at the pictures of them doing the fucking Nazi salute. It’s not hard to figure out.

For better or worse, there is an entire generation of white Americans who looked at the KKK and the Nazi’s and apparently ISIS and said “You know what, they were on to something.”

Why can’t we talk about that?

Why should we pretend that this has nothing to do with ideology? That this has nothing to do with the growing radicalization of the hardline elements of the right wing? That this is not an extension of the racism that existed in this country’s past?

I mean, they went to Charlottesville for a reason. Despite the fact that it’s one of the more progressive cities in the US, it also has a history of segregation. Hell the apparent motivation for the protest was the removal of a state of Robert E. Lee.

They went there for a reason.

The alt-right subscribes to a twisted version of Conservative ideology, but it feeds off of the biases and prejudices that still exist in parts of America. If you pretend that’s not the case, it doesn’t go away.

We need to have a conversation about this.

There are sensitive issues in this country, and they need MORE discussion, not LESS.

And don’t think the left is immune to criticism here, either. A guy at Google wrote a memo saying he was concerned that certain political views were frowned upon, and Google fired him for it, thereby proving his point.

I mean what the hell am I supposed to do if I work at Google someday? Never talk about my beliefs because I might offend someone? What the fuck happened to freedom of speech?

But this isn’t the day to talk about the cntrl-left. This is the day to talk about the alt-right.

Why? Because when it comes to my own line in the sand, my own definition of terrorism, the alt-right crossed it first.

An innocent person is dead because of the actions of a member of the alt-right.

These are FACTS. They are undisputed.

This is something that should not have happened. IT HAS HAPPENED. 

Oh and by the way, someone dressed up in riot gear and carrying around an AR-15 does not need protection from someone who has opposing political views.

Seriously, if they weren't carrying military grade weapons, I’d have told them to fuck off.

Anyway, please excuse the fact that this post is a tad more emotional than what you’d usually see around here, but I just don’t know how much longer I can put up with this.

Because a little more than a year ago, when Trump won the nomination, I wrote a post that talked about the message the alt-right was sending, and that message is ringing loud and clear today:

Be afraid. Be terrified. And give into that fear, embrace the darkest part of your soul, and do everything to them that they’ll do to us.

And seeing as the cntrl-left has no problem repeating that message to their followers, I think it’s only a matter of time before we see more bloodshed.

Fuck it, maybe we should all get Rainbow Six. We can resolve our differences with fantasy violence. Everyone wins.

I need folks to do terror hunt with anyway.