#on a sunday to avoid conflict with other events!

[vampiricsheep]

RP Potluck Planning (Sunday June 23rd)

Doing something a little different this time since my past several events have been obligatory NA! poll duration of one week, but please (if you plan on attending) vote ASAP!

if you don't plan on attending, I would prefer that you don't vote because it makes it easier to count votes, but I'd rather have a sacrificial button than skewed results.

OH, and before I forget - the location is Vigil Keep in Gendarran fields, so it will be both easy to reach from LA and right next to a waypoint. no mounts necessary!

While the event is a "pact reunion," friends and family of pact members (current, retired, AND deceased) are encouraged to attend!

[colsons-baker]

The Sins of The Father

Father Charlie x Reader

Disclaimer: this is my reimagining of Father Charlie / him before the events of Grotesquerie (and yes I have seen it and knows what happens but idc he’s still the hot priest to me ✋🏻)

You, an angelic face sat in the pew with your family, a vision in a white lace dress your mother always complained was too short for church so you wore it every Sunday to annoy her. He, a young priest newly moved to the parish, who couldn’t help keep his eyes on you a moment longer than he did the others in the congregation. The first sin, lust.

Charlie had never done drugs but he imagined the way he craved you was what it would be like to be an addict. He hid it as best he could, a priest should not have these thoughts or feelings. A priest should never do what he did when he was alone in his room at night and all he could picture was you.

He knew you felt it too, something in the way you looked at him as he held onto your hand for just a moment more as he greeted the parishioners one by one while they left the church. Could you tell what he did to the thought of you? Could you tell how desperate he was for you? Could you tell how conflicted he was between right and wrong and all his life choices?

——

His list of sins began to grow as time passed. Second sin, envy.

Envy was not a strange feeling to Charlie, everyone was guilty of being envious of another at some point. It was something that a person could not help, something that was probably ingrained inside us all. But he had never felt envy like this.

The months passed and the longing for you did not leave him, neither did the burden of his guilt for wanting you in the way that he did. He would watch you out of the corner of his eye after Mass, talking to a friend of yours while he spoke to some parishioner. He wanted to be able to talk to you outside of the formalities, he wanted to be the person infront of you making you smile. He was jealous that they got to spend that time with you and he did not and he had never felt that type of envy before.

It was an envy that ate him alive, made him dislike the people who knew you better than he did. It was an envy fuelled by longing. Maybe it was even an envy fuelled by love.

———-

But one moment could never be enough to quench his thirst for you. The third and fourth sins, greed and gluttony.

“I think you have your days mixed up, Y/N.” Charlie chuckled as he made his way to the pew you were seated on. He was just leaving his office for the day when he saw you sitting there.

You turned your head to look at him as he stopped beside you. “I do?”

“Well, last time I checked it was Thursday and I’ve never seen you here outside of Sunday mass. And you don’t even attend that regularly.” He teased, but the Sunday’s you did not show were the ones he hated most. “May I?” He pointed to the pew.

“Of course.” You nodded, sliding over to give him some room.

Charlie breathed out as he sat down. He looked around before focusing once more upon you. “So?” You turned your head to him once more. “Why are you here?”

You hummed. “I don’t know.” You admitted with a shrug. “I just felt like I should come here.”

“Why?” Charlie looked at you as you looked at him.

To see you was what you wanted to tell him, because that was the truth. But how could you explain that to a man of the cloth in a church?

Not knowing what to say, you said nothing as the two of you looked at one another. The silence lingered in the air between you for a moment before the kiss began, and when it began it became obvious that neither one of you wanted it to stop. But he was a priest and this was wrong.

You pulled away, looking at him in a state of semi-shock. This is what you had wanted, but it’s not something you thought would happen. “I-I have to go.” You said quickly as you stood and quickly walked to the door.

“Y/N please!” Charlie stood pleading with you to stay as the church door closed behind you. He sighed and slumped back onto the pew, avoiding eye contact with the crucifix on the altar. He knew he should be paying penitence for what just transpired but he could not bring himself to. The kiss had not felt wrong and he didn’t want it to stop. He just wanted more.

———

Charlie rose his head as he heard a knock on the open office door. “Y/N?” He stood, not expecting to see you standing there. It was Sunday, mass was in an hour and you were in the dress your mother hated.

“I’m sorry Father, but I had to come.” You told him, taking a step inside but stopping short of going to him.

Charlie shook his head. “Call me Charlie, please.” He whispered, his voice not able to get past the lump in his throat. He wondered if you would even turn up for mass today, so the last place he expected you was here, now.

You nodded before looking down. You had thought this over a million times in your head since Thursday, but now you were here…well where do you start?

Charlie cleared his throat. “Thursday was…”

“Wrong?” You suggested.

“Something I’ve wanted since I first set eyes on you.”

You looked at him. “What?”

Charlie shook his head as he looked away. “I’ve done so much to get to where I am, to be in this position. But you? You’re testing my faith more than I ever thought a person could.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I like it.”

You smiled slightly and he smiled back.

“I felt called to the church, I can’t explain what that feels like to someone who doesn’t feel that calling.” He told you. “But every time I look at you, I feel a new calling. And I don’t know what to do.” He whispered.

You shook your head, trying to take it all in. “My parents would kill me.” You laughed a little, it was a joke but it had truth in it. But what could they do? You weren’t a kid, just a sinner.

Charlie moved closer to you. He reached out slowly, taking a hold of your wrist. “How would they ever know?” He whispered.

————

From that moment a relationship grew, which only brought more sins upon the young priest, but he did not know if he cared. His faith in his profession began to crumble, but his faith in you and the relationship you formed. which blossomed in secret liaisons and out-of-town dates without his collar on, shone bright. The fourth and fifth sins, pride and sloth

“Charlie…we need to talk.” You told him as you stood in the door to his room, him by his closet.

“What’s up babe?” He asked, not looking at you.

You breathed in, trying to steady yourself before you dropped the bomb that would blow everything out of the water.

“I-I’m pregnant.”

Charlie froze but he didn’t turn to look at you. His mind raced with thoughts, more thoughts than he could handle.

“P-pregnant?” He said quietly after a moment, still not turning to look at you.

Charlie believed that no man was without sin. But the sin of your relationship was something he had taken all on himself, not wanting you to be tarnished in anyway. But he had failed because now you were pregnant. Maybe this was his penance, caught up to him at last, because now you were full of sin. And the child you carried would be born of it.

“Charlie? Please look at me.” You whispered, your eyes welling up.

He turned his head and you saw his eyes mirror yours. Both of you were thinking the same thing. What would happen now? What would happen to your relationship, to your child, to Charlie’s faith? He couldn’t do the right thing and marry you as it went against the rules of the church and if your relationship ever got out then you would be a pariah in this town.

You see, no man was without sin, least of all Charlie. But his sin was so beautiful that he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t stop himself. His sin was you, and he never wanted to give you up.

[rosieswriting]

Closer than ever

Remus Lupin x Potter!reader

Summary: After years of friendship filled with banter, study sessions, and always having each other’s back, a certain Gryffindor victory shifts everything between them. The lines they’ve carefully walked for so long start to blur, sparking a new closeness neither can ignore.

Note: english is not my first languaje so it probably has some mistakes!

Words: 1,9K

It was a Sunday morning, and the first days of spring had brought a warm glow over Hogwarts. The Gryffindor team had been training all morning under their new, overly enthusiastic captain—your brother, James Potter—who was determined to crush Slytherin in the upcoming match.

“We’re telling you, Moony, he’s going to be the death of us!” Sirius groaned dramatically to Remus and Peter, clutching his chest with exaggerated despair. The table broke into chuckles, everyone except James.

“You’re exaggerating,” James said, taking a long sip of his orange juice, looking unimpressed.

“He’s really not, Jamie,” you interjected, giving him a pointed look. “It’s barely nine in the morning, and we’re here, fresh from a two-hour training session, just trying to enjoy breakfast,” you added, taking a bite of your toast.

James shrugged, grinning. “When we beat Slytherin, you’ll all be thanking me.”

You and Sirius shared an eye roll, and Peter and Remus gave a small laugh. Soon, the Marauders shifted the conversation to other things—something about their latest plan to prank the Ravenclaws—but you tuned them out, savoring the warmth of breakfast and the rare spring sun filtering through the Great Hall.

Beside you, Remus leaned in, speaking softly. “Are you still up for the study session with Lily later? Or do you want to take it easy after practice?”

Since your first year, Remus had always been the one to help you with studies when you needed it. Weekly study sessions had become a tradition, and once Remus and Lily had grown close, she’d started joining you too.

“I’m still up for it,” you replied, turning to smile at him. “I have an essay due on that Goblin War of 1882, or something like that.”

“Oh, yes, I remember that one from last year,” he said with a grin. “I’ve got you covered. Same time in the library?”

“Same time,” you confirmed.

Later that afternoon, you made your way to the library, books and notes in hand. As you entered, you spotted Remus already sitting at your usual table, a few books spread out in front of him. He looked up, giving you a warm smile as he waved you over.

“Hey! Ready to tackle the Goblin War of 1882?” he greeted with a grin, sliding a seat out for you.

“Not really, but I’ll try,” you replied with a laugh, settling down beside him.

As you set up your notes, you noticed that Lily was nowhere to be found. "Where’s Lily? Don’t tell me she bailed on us,” you joked, glancing around.

Remus chuckled, shaking his head. “She did, actually. But only for a good reason—your brother convinced her to go for a walk around the lake.”

“Of course he did,” you muttered, rolling your eyes but smiling at the thought of James finally winning Lily over enough to steal her for a date. “Guess it’s just us, then.”

“Just us,” he repeated his tone light but with the slightest hint of something softer, and you couldn’t help but feel a warm flutter in your chest.

Remus pulled one of the books towards you, flipping to a section he’d marked. “So, for your essay, you’re supposed to cover the lead-up to the war, right? I found a few bits in here that might help.”

“Thank Merlin you’re here,” you sighed, leaning in to read over his shoulder. The proximity made your face warm, and you quickly turned your attention to the book to avoid giving yourself away.

He started explaining the notes he’d gathered, his voice soft and steady as he walked you through the political tensions and key events leading up to the conflict. You noticed how his hands moved as he spoke, gesturing in small, precise movements, and how his face lit up slightly as he explained things. There was something calming about the way he taught—like he wasn’t just helping you study but making it genuinely enjoyable.

After a while, he paused, his gaze lingering on you a little longer than usual. “You’re actually getting this down quicker than I thought.”

“Are you doubting my historical expertise, Lupin?” you teased, glancing up at him with a smirk.

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not at all, but you did look a bit horrified earlier at breakfast when you mentioned the essay.”

You laughed, nudging his shoulder playfully. “Alright, fair point.”

A comfortable silence settled over you both as you continued writing, only broken occasionally by quiet questions and shared glances that made your heart race more than you’d like to admit.

Eventually, your attention drifted back to Remus, his brow furrowed in concentration as he scanned through one of the history books. “You know, I never did get why you’re always so patient with me about this stuff.” You said softly “You know you don’t have to keep impressing James to be your friend, right?” you added playfully.

He looked up, surprised by the question but with a fond smile playing at his lips. “I know” he answered chuckling “I like spending time with you.” he replied simply, his voice barely above a whisper.

You felt a blush rising to your cheeks, and the air between you grew warm. “Well… I like spending time with you too,” you murmured back, feeling bolder than usual.

For a moment, you just looked at each other, the silence now filled with unspoken words and the quiet buzz of the library around you. Neither of you moved, and neither did anything to break the spell. Instead, you just smiled, feeling flustered and shy, but somehow happier than you’d been all day.

Remus cleared his throat softly, breaking the silence but not the mood. “So… back to the Goblin War?”

You laughed, nodding. “Back to the Goblin War.”

And, as you returned to your notes, you couldn’t help but wonder if, maybe, this little spark between you both was something he felt too.

A week after, the Gryffindor common room was a blur of red and gold, filled with cheers and music as everyone celebrated their win over Slytherin. As one of the Chasers, you’d played a crucial role, weaving through the Slytherin defense and scoring more than once, and your teammates and friends hadn’t stopped congratulating you since.

As you moved through the room, basking in the praise and warmth of your friends, Remus caught your eye from across the room. He was leaning against the wall, holding a cigarette and smiling softly as he watched you. You made your way over to him, dodging tipsy students and sidestepping Sirius, who was in the middle of a very dramatic retelling of the match to a group of fourth years.

“Hey,” he greeted, taking a drag of his cigarette. “You were incredible out there.”

“Thanks, Rem.” You grinned, taking a sip from your own drink. “I’d say I had to be. Slytherin was definitely out for blood.”

“Tell me about it,” he chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you play like that.”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “It is Slytherin, after all.” You smirked. “You know, I wish you could come up there with me.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “You’d have to use a Sticking Charm to keep me on that broom, but... maybe someday.”

You grinned, holding out your pinky. “I’ll hold you to that.”

He hooked his pinky with yours, giving you a look that made your heart skip. “Fine. But only if you promise you won’t laugh when I fall off.”

“Deal” you whispered, still caught in his gaze.

“Although I’m not sure if I’ll be as good as you” he said softly.

The compliment caught you a bit off guard, and you felt your cheeks warm slightly, though you brushed it off with a laugh. “Flattery now, Lupin? I’m not that easy.”

He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. “Really? Could’ve fooled me. You looked over the audience about five times during the game, couldn’t keep your eyes off me.”

You laughed, nudging him. “Maybe you were distracting me.” You said playfully.

“Was I?” he asked, giving you that lazy, half-smile that made it impossible to tell if he was serious.

You smirked, folding your arms as you leaned in a little. “Yeah. You wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid.”

The words slipped out, and for a split second, you wondered if you’d gone too far. But instead of getting flustered, Remus just laughed, a deep, warm chuckle that sent a shiver down your spine.

He took a small step closer, his voice soft but playful. “So what if I do?”

Suddenly, you found yourself speechless, your usual confidence shaken by the way he was looking at you. Your heart raced, cheeks burning, and you tried to come up with a clever comeback but failed miserably.

Remus chuckled, clearly enjoying your flustered reaction. “Didn’t expect that one, did you?” he teased gently, reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear, his fingers lingering for just a moment.

You swallowed, feeling your pulse quicken as you looked up at him. “Shut up” you mumbled.

His smile softened, and he leaned in slowly, giving you plenty of time to stop him if you wanted to. But of course, you didn’t. You closed the distance, meeting him halfway, and his lips were warm and soft against yours, filling you with a heady rush that made the whole world fade away.

His hands settled on your waist, fingers pressing gently as he pulled you closer, making your heart race. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his shoulders, fingers finding their way into the soft strands of his hair, savoring the warmth radiating from him. The kiss was anything but rushed; it was slow, each movement filled with a quiet intensity that spoke volumes.

As the kiss deepened, you felt the world melt away, leaving only the feeling of his steady heartbeat against your chest, the gentle touch of his hands as he drew you impossibly closer, and the realization that you’d both been waiting, yearning, for this moment to unfold. When you finally pulled back, he rested his forehead against yours, his thumb brushing your cheek as he whispered, “You really are something, you know that?”

But just as you were about to say something, you heard someone clear their throat beside you.

You both turned to find James standing there, arms crossed, a smirk playing on his lips. “Well, well,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “about time, don’t you think?”

You felt your face go hot, scrambling to explain yourself, but James just rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Please, I’m just glad you finally got around to it. Just… no public displays around me, alright?” He winked and clapped Remus on the shoulder. “She’s all yours, Moony. But you better take care of her, or I’ll be hexing you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of anything else, mate,” Remus replied, glancing at you with a smile that made your heart skip.

James gave you one last playful eye-roll before heading back into the crowd. And as you turned back to Remus, you felt that spark between you both grow even warmer, knowing that whatever this was, you weren’t the only one who wanted it.

“Again?” you ask him smiling widely, making him chuckle.

“Again” me muttered against your lips before kissing you.

[turtles-and-turnips-blog]

Turtles & Turnips June 2025 Newsletter: Voice Chat Events, a New VC Event, Updates, and More!

Hello, hello! It is Admin Star, everyone! I'm pleased to bring you what will be the first of our monthly blog posts detailing current happenings within the Turtles & Turnips community, including server events, updates, things currently in development, and more! Let's get right down to it, shall we?

Scheduling for June VC Events

Friday, June 6th, 9 PM EST: Turtle Pile 1

Saturday, June 14th, 7 PM EST: Watch Party (This month's selection: The King, The Shredder Strikes Back duology, and Tales of Leo)

Saturday, June 21st, 8 PM EST: Turtle Pile 2

Sunday, June 29th, 7 PM EST: Turtle Pile 3

A New Server Event: Hosted By Artists, For Artists!

A new voice chat event is currently in development! While the name is still pending, the general idea is pretty simple: During the event, the artists of Turtles & Turnips will gather together in the VC so that they can do things like show off illustration WIPS, stream pieces as they're drawing, give each other feedback, and provide tips tricks, and general art advice to one another! We're thinking about holding this event at least twice a month with the start time being either 6:00 or 7:00 PM EST; specific weekday is up in the air, although it'd most likely happen sometime between Monday and Thursday to avoid conflicting with other events such as the Watch Parties and Turtle Piles. Hopefully, we'll have the schedule finalized and can begin hosting it by this July.

Speaking of which...

1st Anniversary Project!

Turtles & Turnips's 1st Anniversary is coming up this summer on July 25th. In celebration, we are currently putting together a fun little project that will see its release on the server's birthday! Sign-ups are open until June 7th, so if you join Turtles & Turnips before this coming Saturday, you will still have a chance to join in on the fun. Otherwise, look forward to a proper announcement in the near-future!

Exploring the 2003 Series

Not too long after we got the server blog up and running, we got a friendly anon asking about the possibly of starting a dedicated archive for TMNT 2003. As they pointed out, there aren't really any places online dedicated to the 2003 series outside Turtlepedia, and a lot of the available media for it (ex: production art) tends to be hidden away on niche blogs or has been uploaded in very low quality. From my perspective, a project like that is incredibly tempting, but also extremely daunting since it's not just a matter of gathering as much associated media for the series as possible; it's also about organizing everything so that it's easy to find as well as verifying information to make sure it's accurate. At least as it stands, I don't see it becoming a major project anytime soon just because of the amount of organization required, as well as community participation to ensure we obtain everything we possibly can.

That said, one of our plans for this blog is to take the time to explore the history of the 2003 series, from the beginnings of its production in early 2001 all the way up through to its cancellation in 2009, along with the legacy left behind by the stories it told, the characters it introduced, and the people who worked on it. If we at least begin with that, it could very well end up expanding into something bigger beyond that. Either way, we'll see what happens!

That's all for now! Take care, everyone!

[witchyintention]

The Right Timing: When to Work Your Magic for Maximum Power

Description: Timing is everything, especially in magic! Learn how to align your spells with cosmic forces for the best results.

Magic isn’t just about candles, herbs, and willpower—it’s about timing. Sure, you can do a spell whenever you feel like it, but why not supercharge your results by working with the universe instead of just winging it? Whether you’re casting under the full moon, aligning with planetary hours, or avoiding Mercury retrograde disasters, the right timing can be the difference between instant results and crickets.

So, let’s talk about how to time your magic like a pro—no more guessing, just pure cosmic precision.

Moon Phases: Your Magic’s Best Friend

The moon isn’t just a pretty nightlight; it’s a powerful force that influences energy, emotions, and magical workings. Each phase holds a different type of power, so aligning your spells with the lunar cycle can amplify your results.

New Moon – Fresh starts, new beginnings, setting intentions. Ideal for manifestation spells, planning, and long-term goals.

Waxing Moon – Growth, attraction, and abundance. Perfect for money magic, love spells, and anything you want to increase.

Full Moon – Peak power, clarity, and illumination. Great for divination, psychic work, or any spell that needs extra oomph.

Waning Moon – Release, banishing, and letting go. Time to kick bad habits, cut toxic ties, or do that freezer spell on your annoying neighbor (ethically, of course).

🌕 Bonus Tip: Eclipses are wild cards—they shake things up and bring sudden changes. Some witches avoid spellwork during an eclipse, while others use the chaotic energy for deep transformation. Choose wisely!

Planetary Days and Hours: Because the Universe Runs on a Schedule

If the moon is your general guide, planetary influences are your fine-tuning tool. Each day of the week is ruled by a different planet, which means certain energies are stronger on certain days.

Monday (Moon): Emotional work, dreams, intuition.

Tuesday (Mars): Courage, protection, strength, motivation.

Wednesday (Mercury): Communication, wisdom, travel, business.

Thursday (Jupiter): Luck, prosperity, success, expansion.

Friday (Venus): Love, beauty, relationships, harmony.

Saturday (Saturn): Banishing, discipline, protection, endings.

Sunday (Sun): Power, vitality, healing, success.

For even more precision, you can use planetary hours, which divide the day into segments ruled by different planets. That’s right—Saturn’s influence isn’t just on Saturdays, but at specific hours of the day, too. If you really want to geek out, you can use a planetary hour calculator to schedule your spell down to the minute.

Retrogrades: Proceed with Caution (or Don’t, If You Like Chaos)

Ah, Mercury Retrograde—the cosmic event that turns texts into misunderstandings, tech into paperweights, and travel plans into a mess. But Mercury isn’t the only planet that goes retrograde!

Mercury Retrograde – Communication breakdowns, tech failures, and general confusion. Avoid signing contracts, starting new projects, or sending that “we need to talk” text. Perfect for reflecting, revising, and reconnecting with the past.

Venus Retrograde – Relationship drama, financial instability, and bad haircuts. Not the time for major love spells or beauty rituals!

Mars Retrograde – Low energy, frustration, and conflicts. Pause aggressive spells and avoid confrontation magic.

Saturn Retrograde – Lessons in discipline, structure, and karma. Good for inner work, but don’t expect shortcuts.

Jupiter Retrograde – Slow luck, delayed opportunities. Time to reassess goals instead of chasing new ones.

🌟 Pro Tip: Retrogrades aren’t all bad—they’re great for reflection, internal work, and fixing past mistakes. Just don’t expect things to move forward smoothly.

Solar and Lunar Eclipses: Magical Wildcards

Eclipses are powerful, but unpredictable. A solar eclipse is great for resetting intentions, while a lunar eclipse is deeply transformative. Some witches avoid spellwork during eclipses, while others harness their power for shadow work, truth-seeking, and breaking through barriers.

If you choose to work with eclipse energy, be prepared for unexpected outcomes. Think of it as the universe saying, “Oh, you want change? Buckle up.”

Sabbat and Seasonal Magic: Aligning with the Wheel of the Year

The Wheel of the Year provides natural checkpoints for your magical workings. If you like working with seasonal energies, these are perfect times to perform certain spells:

Samhain (Oct 31) – Ancestral work, spirit communication, shadow work.

Yule (Dec 21) – Rebirth, renewal, protection.

Imbolc (Feb 1) – New beginnings, inspiration, cleansing.

Ostara (March 20) – Growth, fertility, abundance.

Beltane (May 1) – Passion, love, creativity.

Litha (June 21) – Strength, success, manifestation.

Lammas/Lughnasadh (Aug 1) – Harvest, gratitude, prosperity.

Mabon (Sept 21) – Balance, reflection, preparation

These festivals are great for big-picture spellwork, helping you align your intentions with natural cycles.

So, When Should You Cast Your Spell?

In short, it depends on your intention. If you’re casting for love, do it on a Friday during a waxing moon in Venus’ planetary hour. Need to break a bad habit? Try a waning moon on a Saturday in Saturn’s hour. The more aligned your timing, the stronger your magic will be.

But let’s be real—keeping track of moon phases, planetary days, hours, and retrogrades can feel like juggling flaming wands while blindfolded.

Why Guess When You Can Know?

If you want to take out the guesswork and make sure your spell timing is on point, I offer custom astrology readings that help you align your magic with cosmic forces for maximum results. Don’t leave your spells up to chance—work with the stars, not against them.

🔮 Check out my shop for a custom astrology reading! Ko-Fi

Other Links

[girlactionfigure]

🟦Wednesday - events from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - IDF operating in Lebanon, official video. )

✡️ROSH HASHANA is tonight.  Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the universe, the day G‑d created Adam and Eve, and it’s celebrated as the Jewish New Year. The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) on both mornings of the holiday, which is normally done in synagogue as part of the day’s services.  Rosh Hashanah feasts traditionally include round challah bread (studded with raisins) and apples dipped in honey, as well as other foods that symbolize our wishes for a sweet year.

▪️ISRAEL DECLARES.. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declares the UN Secretary General as persona non grata - an "undesirable personality" in Israel, following the failure to condemn the Iranian attack.

.. Foreign Minister Katz: “Anyone who is unable to unequivocally condemn Iran's criminal attack on Israel is not fit to set foot on Israeli soil. This is an Israel-hating Secretary-General, who gives support to terrorists, rapists and murderers. Guterres will be remembered as a stain on the history of the United Nations."

▪️US SAYS.. US Secretary of Defense: We are determined to protect Israel from Iranian aggression and push for a diplomatic solution and avoid further expansion of the conflict. Analyst response: The US is doing and will do everything in the closed and open rooms to get to the November elections with no war in the background.

▪️IRAN SAYS.. The Iranian Minister of Defense in an appeal to the European countries: if you fail to control Israel's actions - there will be an Iranian response, and the entire region will risk an all-out war.

.. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence publishes a threat to Netanyahu, Gallant, and the heads of the defense establishment: we will reach each of you. (( Rules of engagement determined. ))

▪️FOLLOW UP ON TEL AVIV SHOOTING TERROR.. One of the terrorists who carried out the attack last night in Jaffa - was not killed, but seriously injured. A number of suspects were arrested who helped the terrorists purchase the weapons and enter Israel.

.. The terrorists visited a mosque and then warned the worshipers in one of the Jaffa mosques not to leave the mosque so that they would not be harmed.

▪️SOME TRAIN SERVICE LIMITATIONS.. Israel Railways announces that due to an extensive reserve recruitment of security personnel, a number of stations will be closed from Sunday, Oct 6  until further notice.

▪️FALL BACK.. Iranian opposition sources: 5-10% of the missiles failed and fell in areas of Isfahan in Iran.

▪️A GAZAN ASKS.. How is it that 200 Iranian missiles do not kill even one Israeli and one Iranian missile in Syria kills 200 Syrian civilians?

▪️NOT KIDNAPPED.. Israel's ambassador to Cyprus refutes the likely-Iranian-sourced rumors that he was kidnapped.

♦️IDF attacked in a-Shuifat area of ​​Dahieh in Beirut in the last hours.

⭕HEZBOLLAH ROCKET & SUICIDE DRONE FIRE continues regularly across the north and extended area such as Safed and reaching to Kinerret towns.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, September 17, 2023

13,000 workers go on strike at major US auto makers (AP) About 13,000 auto workers have walked off the job at three targeted factories after their union leaders couldn’t reach a deal with Detroit’s automakers. The United Auto Workers union is seeking big raises and better benefits from General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. They want to get back concessions that the workers made years ago, when the companies were in financial trouble. A small percentage of the union’s 146,000 members walked off the job at a GM assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri; a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit; and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. Both sides began exchanging wage and benefit proposals last week. Though some incremental progress appears to have been made, it was not enough to avoid walkouts. The strike could cause significant disruptions to auto production in the United States.

Muslim Students’ Robes Are Latest Fault Line for French Identity (NYT) The mass French return to work, known as the “rentrée,” is often marked by renewed social conflict. This year has been no exception as the summer lull has given way to yet another battle over a recurrent national obsession: How Muslim women should dress. Late last month, with France still in vacation mode, Gabriel Attal, 34, the newly appointed education minister and a favorite of President Emmanuel Macron, declared that “the abaya can no longer be worn in schools.” His abrupt order, which applies to public middle and high schools, banished the loosefitting full-length robe worn by some Muslim students and ignited another storm over French identity. The government believes the role of education is to dissolve ethnic or religious identity in a shared commitment to the rights and responsibilities of French citizenship and so, as Mr. Attal put it, “you should not be able to distinguish or identify the students’ religion by looking at them.” Since then, organizations representing the country’s large Muslim minority of about five million people have protested; some girls have taken to wearing kimonos or other long garments to school to illustrate their view that the ban is arbitrary; and a fierce debate has erupted over whether Mr. Attal’s August surprise, just before students went back to their classrooms, was a vote-seeking provocation or a necessary defense of the secularism that is France’s ideological foundation. Where some see laïcité as the core of a supposedly colorblind nation of equal opportunity, others see a form of hypocrisy that masks how far from unprejudiced France has become.

Crowds descend on Munich for the official start of Oktoberfest (AP) The beer is flowing and millions of people are descending on the Bavarian capital to celebrate the official opening of Oktoberfest. Revelers decked out in traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses trooped to Munich’s festival grounds Saturday morning, filling the dozens of traditional tents in anticipation of getting their first 1-liter (2-pint) mug of beer. The Oktoberfest has typically drawn about 6 million visitors every year. The event was skipped in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with COVID-19, but returned in 2022.

If 3.3 Million Ukrainian Refugees Never Come Home? The Economics Of Post-War Life Choices (Ukrainska Pravda) Approximately 6.7 million Ukrainians have left their country since the Russian invasion. The longer the war lasts, the more these refugees will consolidate their new lives in their host countries, resulting in a heavy population drain for Ukraine. Earlier this month, the Kyiv-based Center for Economic Strategy (CES) presented a study on the attitudes of Ukrainian refugees that shows a large number of them will likely not return to their homeland even after the end of the war. According to their calculations, Ukraine may lose 3.3 million citizens. There is also a strong likelihood that a large number of men currently fighting in the war will move abroad in order to reunite with their families that have settled there. Even in peacetime, counting Ukrainians is not an easy task. A full-fledged census was conducted in the country only once: in 2001. It concluded that Ukraine had a population of 48.5 million.

Erdogan says Turkey may part ways with the EU (AP) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey may part ways with the European Union, implying that the country is thinking about ending its bid to join the 27-nation bloc. “The EU is making efforts to sever ties with Turkey,” he told reporters before departing for the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York. “We will evaluate the situation, and if needed we will part ways with the EU.” He was responding to a question about a recent report adopted by the European Parliament, which stated “the accession process cannot resume under the current circumstances, and calls on EU to explore ‘a parallel and realistic framework’ for EU-Türkiye relations.”

China Is Investigating Its Defense Minister, U.S. Officials Say (NYT) China’s defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu, has been placed under investigation, according to two U.S. officials, fueling speculation about further upheaval in the military after the abrupt removal of two top commanders in charge of the country’s nuclear force. General Li has not been seen in public in more than two weeks. He had been expected to take part in a meeting last week in Vietnam, but there was no word of his attendance. The investigation points to questions about the Communist Party’s leader Xi Jinping’s confidence in his own military, a pillar of his ambitions abroad and dominance at home. Just six weeks ago, Mr. Xi replaced the two most senior commanders of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, which oversees China’s nuclear missiles. The abrupt dismissals suggested that Mr. Xi was seeking to reassert his control over the military and purge perceived corruption, disloyalty and dysfunction from its ranks, analysts have said. Mr. Xi still appears politically unassailable, with the Communist Party leadership, military top brass and security services packed with his loyalists. Even so, the sudden downfall of such high-ranking officials has exposed the pitfalls in a system so dominated by a single leader and has raised questions about Mr. Xi’s judgment because the officials under scrutiny been promoted by him.

History Turns Upside Down in a War Where the Koreas Are Suppliers (NYT) Washington and Moscow flooded the Korean Peninsula with arms and aid as they fueled the war between South and North seven decades ago. Now, in a fateful moment of history turning back on itself, Russia and the United States are reaching out to those same allies to supply badly needed munitions as the powers face each other down again, this time on the other side of the globe, in Ukraine. “In the post-Cold War era, South and North Korea have been virtually the only countries that have remained on a constant war footing, with large artillery and other weapons stockpiles ready to use,” said Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. “The fact that South and North Korea remain stuck in a Cold War armed confrontation explains why Washington and Moscow come to them seeking weapons.” Artillery ammunition has been in particular demand as both sides in the Ukraine conflict tear through their stores faster than production can catch up. South Korean and American officials have been tight-lipped about how many shells South Korea has provided to the United States. But recent news reports indicated that South Korea has sold or lent at least hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to the U.S. military. Moscow has repeatedly warned Seoul against supplying weapons to Ukraine. But South Korea has been pressed by the United States, its most important ally, to help the war effort.

A year after Mahsa Amini’s death: Repression and defiance in Iran (Washington Post) A year ago, the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police sparked a popular uprising, led by women and young people, that rattled the pillars of the Islamic Republic: clerical rule, gender segregation and the security state. In the end, the leaderless movement, clustered in pockets across the country, was no match for the keepers of Iran’s authoritarian system. Its clerical leaders are still standing, having brutally crushed the demonstrations. More recently, they have strengthened the kind of strict social controls that gave rise to the protest movement. The last year allowed the world to glimpse the seething anger just below the surface of a repressive society, and to document government abuses. But it also highlighted the resilience of the regime. But Tehran has not emerged from the uprising unscathed, according to analysts, human rights advocates and ordinary Iranians—many of whom say they are just waiting for the next spark.

There’s a glimmer of hope on Yemen’s war front. Yet children are still dying of hunger (NPR) Malia Qassim Mahmoud found herself at Al-Thawra hospital in Taiz, seeking help for the third time for the acute malnutrition affecting her family. Two years ago, her older son was severely malnourished. He recovered but his growth has been stunted; she says the 6-year-old is much smaller than other kids his age. A year later, she herself had to be hospitalized for malnutrition. Then it was her 1-year-old baby, lying limp in her arms, his skin a sickly yellow color, unable to even open his mouth as his mother tried to feed him protein paste. “Most days we can only get water and flour and I make a doughy paste and that’s what we eat,” Mahmoud said. “We can’t afford more, and we haven’t received any aid through the war.” This family is among at least 20 million people in Yemen who need food assistance in the midst of what the United Nations calls one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. In 2014 Houthi rebels overthrew the Saudi-backed government. They took control of parts of Yemen, sparking a civil war. The U.N. estimates that the conflict in Yemen has caused over 377,000 deaths, most of which were due to hunger and lack of health care. A slowdown in fighting has raised hopes that the war could end, but the number of people needing medical attention or hospitalization due to malnutrition has not decreased.

In the midst of Morocco earthquake chaos, surprising heroes: Donkeys (NPR) When the villagers of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains were stricken by a powerful earthquake on Friday, they found themselves facing a situation they had never known before. They dug desperately in the rubble to rescue loved ones or find their bodies so they could bury them, rescue crews having been held up by mountain roads choked with rocks that fell in the magnitude 6.8 quake. Heavy machinery was dispatched to clear the roads, and rescue teams worked to open access points to the mountain. But it took time—time the villagers did not have. The villagers, used to the mountainous terrain, found a foolproof method to move themselves and materials around: their donkeys. Photos have emerged of villagers using donkeys to move rubble out of the way, to get relief supplies to more difficult-to-reach spots, and to move people to where they need to go. The nimble-footed creatures have been able to pick their way along tracks that are barely visible, loaded with bulging saddlebags and sometimes hauling a person on their backs to boot.

Amazing science: The Ig Nobels (AP) Counting nose hairs in cadavers, repurposing dead spiders and explaining why scientists lick rocks are among the winning achievements in this year's Ig Nobels, the prize for humorous scientific feats, organizers announced Thursday. Jan Zalasiewicz of Poland earned the chemistry and geology prize for explaining why many scientists like to lick rocks. “Wetting the surface allows fossil and mineral textures to stand out sharply, rather than being lost in the blur of intersecting micro-reflections and micro-refractions that come out of a dry surface.” Other winning teams were lauded for studying the impact of teacher boredom on student boredom; the affect of anchovies' sexual activity on ocean water mixing; and how electrified chopsticks and drinking straws can change how food tastes.

[youngerdrgrey]

all the pieces aren't even in the box // the morning show, bradley/laura, chapter three

about: Bradley and Laura's last few months in Montana and how the world reacts along the way (and maybe how they find their way back to each other) ~ read chapter one / chapter two chapter three summary: As Bradley prepares to leave the ranch for the funeral, Laura's conflicting feelings bubble up. (read chapter three on AO3)

mid J U L Y (2020)

By the next morning, Gayle’s already put in the request for Bradley’s time off. It’ll only be a few days since Bradley can work Thursday morning, then start her drive. The funeral’s set for Saturday. Bradley will either leave Sunday while everyone’s at church or Monday morning. She’ll be live on air from the guest house by Wednesday.

Cory’s face only pulls tight once as he hears the full plan. It’s during a post-show Zoom with Cory, Stella, and Mia. Laura watches as Cory’s eyes bounce from Bradley to Laura within their shared Zoom window.

“And will we be replacing one anchor or two?” He asks.

Laura quips with only a bit of spite in it. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Cory.” 

His nostrils flare, even as he barks out a laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of it. You, my friend, are ratings gold. I’d say you have the Midas touch, but I don’t want to get HR on the call.”

It’s Laura’s turn to give a fake laugh. Bradley flicks the outside of Laura’s thigh. Play nice. Laura turns her gaze to her woman beside her. Bradley still looks like she’s ready to neutralize a fight. But Laura lifts her brows in silent surrender.

She says, “This is Bradley’s trip. I will hold down the fort.”

Bradley speaks only to her, “Thank you.” Then she averts her eyes back to their computer. “Can somebody draft a statement so Twitter doesn’t freak out again?”

Mia speaks up. “We’re already on it. You’re taking time to grieve in conjunction with your family. No mention of you actually traveling for the funeral.”

“Thanks, Mia,” Bradley says.

Laura shouldn’t say it. She shouldn’t mention how they’re avoiding the funeral in the statement because of how hypocritical this whole thing could look.

Cory’s eyes shrink as he makes an exaggerated wince. 

“Question.” He holds up a finger, and Laura feels a rush at the calculated voice he’s already in. He’s going to say it for her, isn’t he? “Do we think it’s a bit of an optics nightmare to send Bradley across country right now? Sure, she did it four months ago, but we have the spent the summer of our discontent tirelessly demanding that our fellow Americans hold the line. No travel, not even for emergencies. Yet here is Bradley Jackson, the face of UBA, doing exactly that.”

The air thickens as Bradley stops breathing. Laura watches the tiny wrinkles form between her brows. A wrench thrown by Bradley’s friend on the inside.

Bradley tries her best to sound friendly, but they all hear the crackle underneath it. “I’m not flying, Cory. I’m driving. By myself, with masks and hand sanitizer.”

He nods. “Then you’re attending the biggest event in your town since New Year’s.”

“It’s my mother’s funeral,” Bradley bites.

“Plenty of people miss funerals every day. We’re in a global pandemic.”

“Are we?” Bradley asks. “The CDC seems a little confused about that.”

Now that's too far. Bradley's being willfully obtuse for her trip.

Laura sets a hand on Bradley’s thigh, and Bradley whips her head to glare at Laura too. For a moment, Laura hesitates. If she publicly sides with Cory, after she was the one who set this in motion….

She can play the fence. 

“Maybe Bradley can keep a low profile,” Laura suggests.

Bradley runs with it. “I don’t need to give a speech. Hal has got that covered.”

He doesn’t, but Laura can’t say that either.

Cory grinds his jaw. “And when America asks where you’ve been for three days?”

Bradley gives a dazzling smile. “We refer them to Mia’s brilliant statement. Honestly, the less people I talk to down there, the better. Gives me a perfect excuse to avoid a few uncomfortable reunions.”

Cory’s eyes shift, and Laura can feel them on her. “Laura? What do you think?”

She never should’ve made this suggestion. Bradley going is an awful idea. She doesn’t want to be alone in this house for three weeks just because Bradley wants to say goodbye to a woman that Bradley despised.

Laura smiles into the camera. “So long as she stays masked up, then we should all be fine. I have had to use the restroom since we went off air. If you’ll excuse me.”

She stands up over their commentary. Heads out with something like panic vibrating under her skin. She fucked up. She put herself in this impossible situation where she can’t tell Bradley how deeply she wants Bradley to stay. Her therapist isn’t available until next week, and Gordon will absolutely make things worse if she tells him how she feels.

Laura walks past the studio restroom for the main house. The rest of the call will be travel logistics anyway. She needs to center herself before she says something she’ll regret.

She starts a bath in the master bedroom. That will calm her down.

What is it about Bradley that makes Laura so unstable? She destabilizes Laura. She upends her time and time again, and Laura keeps allowing it to happen. Honestly, Laura should’ve never let Bradley move in. It was too soon. 

Yet, even as she thinks it, Laura doesn’t mean it. Having Bradley here has been her North Star. Her gravity as every new piece of information sends the world reeling. But if her gravity falters, then where does that leave her? Splayed out on the ground, gasping for air that her lungs can’t process.

She undresses and slips into the water. 

She needs to be her own gravity again. She can do that. She’s done it for over fifty years. Why should now be any different?

“Babe?” Bradley’s voice comes from the other side of the bathroom door. Laura’s traitorous heart soars at hearing babe again. Bradley’s been withholding in her grief. One of her little rebellions. “Can I come in?”

“Open it.”

In comes Bradley in her work dress with a cold glass of water for each of them. She pauses at the door, eyes raking along Laura in the tub. 

“The call wasn’t that long. I, uh, took out the trash before coming up. I didn’t mean to let it sit so long. I just….”

“You just?”

Laura wants her to say it. Wants Bradley to find her voice in all of this.

Bradley lands on, “You know I can’t fight Hal. I can’t. He’s too raw and tender. He can’t handle it.” 

“I suppose there’s a compliment for me in there.”

Bradley shakes her head. She crosses the room to kneel beside the tub. Sets the glasses on the railing beside Laura’s left arm.

“No. Well, yes, but not intentionally.” Bradley holds Laura’s eyes so softly. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve been forgetting that you’re tender too. And if all this is too much for you, if you don’t want me to go… then I can stay right here. With you.”

It’s an impossible situation. Laura’s heart pounds in her ears. She can’t do more than blink as she takes that in. 

The acknowledgment is everything, but Bradley cannot possibly mean it. Bradley may hate her mom, hate everything that Sandy Jackson stood for her and did to Bradley and her brother. But she hasn’t healed from any of it. Hasn’t processed enough that this death doesn’t wreck everything else she’s built on shaky ground.

Laura says, “You don’t owe it to her, Bradley. You don’t owe her anything.”

On instinct, Bradley says, “She gave birth to me. She fed me and clothed me.”

“You fed yourself more often than not. You may think you’ve hidden it, but not from me. You — she hurt you.” She stills hurt Bradley, even when she’s not around.

“Not in the ways that matter,” Bradley says. She shakes her head. “Not in a way I can’t come back from. I’m not, you know, Hal.”

“You mean you’re not an addict.”

“I’m not.”

But Bradley does bury her feelings in whatever she can. Buries them in her reporting and in Laura and in midnight margaritas that make no sense for their earlier mountain call time.

Months ago, when Laura first brought up therapy, Bradley had been afraid that they would call her crazy. Is that what this is about? Bradley wants to prove to everybody that she’s mentally stable? Mental disorders and hormone imbalances are often genetic. Hal has them for sure, but Bradley could easily have something too. She just did a different job of hiding it and handling it.

As gently as she can, Laura says, “There’s other options than just ‘crazy,’ ‘addict,’ and ‘fine.’”

Bradley’s eyes narrow. “‘Crazy?’ What part of burying my mother makes me crazy?”

“None of it.” Laura twists in the tub to set her hand next to Bradley’s. “Bradley, that’s not what I said.”

“You literally said the word ‘crazy!’”

“Because you seem to have an aversion to talking about any other possibilities. You are very sane, Bradley Jackson, but when it comes to your mother, or to Hal, you can be so reactive and defensive—“

“I’m not—“ Bradley stops herself. Laura quirks a brow as Bradley flushes. “You don’t know them. Nobody does. I’ve spent my whole life defending them. That doesn’t make me crazy.”

“I know, honey. I’m not trying to diagnose you. That’s not my job. My only job is to support you through whatever comes our way.”

Bradley leans into the tub, so it can help hold her up. “How come this kind of support isn’t enough?”

“It is,” Laura says, “but we all deserve more than bare minimums.” Bradley eyes Laura’s bare body. Clear sign of deflection, and Laura splashes a bit of water out of the tub to stop her. “Focus.”

Bradley swipes the water off her face. “I am. You’re deflecting too. You didn’t answer my question. Do you want me to go?”

Laura sighs. Fine. “Of course I don’t,” she admits without looking, “but I won’t stop you either. I’m just… not ready for all this to be over.”

“Over? Laura, I’m coming back.”

“I know that, but in here—“ Laura puts a hand to her wet chest “—it’s harder to know.” Laura feels flushed after saying that. Vulnerable in the same way she’s been asking Bradley to be. It’s uncomfortable to say the least. To admit that Bradley has this space in her heart and in her life.

Bradley takes the hand from Laura’s chest in two of her own. “Then let’s do something fun before I leave. Anything you want.”

A last good day.

Anything she wants. They can’t leave the ranch, not that Laura really wants to. There’s only one thing they haven’t done. Four months in, and Bradley still won’t go horseback riding. Bradley always insists that it’s Laura’s thing. Bradley’s never been good with animals. Their earlier compromise had been that Bradley would go with Laura to the stables. Brush the horses. Feed them. But she still hasn’t ridden.

“Ride with me,” Laura says. Bradley’s lips quirk, so Laura corrects, “Horseback. Today.”

“Today!?”

“You said anything I want.”

Bradley rolls her eyes. “I thought you’d want something like a massage, or a picnic. Not try to kill me.”

Scout would never hurt Bradley. Neither would Sue. But Laura’s said that more than enough times since March.

She leans forward, knowing good and well that it’s not playing fair to draw Bradley’s eyes back to her body. Might as well remind her what she’ll miss, right?

Laura asks, “Is that a no?”

Bradley pries her gaze back up to meet Laura’s. “If you want us to make it out there, you better get out the tub.”

“Or what?”

Bradley doesn’t take the bait. She pushes herself up off the floor and grabs her lukewarm water glass. She heads for the door, talking as she goes, “What do I even wear to go horseback riding? All of my boots have heels.”

Laura calls after her. “A whole life in West Virginia, and you don’t have any boots?”

“I threw them out when I moved to New York!”

.

.

The next hour’s a bit of a blur. Bradley ends up in a pink and blue plaid shirt that screams “gay and into horses.” Laura pulls on a nice denim shirt and a white hat for the sun. Then they head down to the stables. 

Laura squeezes Bradley’s hand before they go in. Reminds her, “Don’t be nervous. They can sense it. They already like you.”

Still, Bradley’s hand shakes when she holds it out so Scout can smell the back of her hand. The horsemen’s handshake gives the horse the chance to trust the rider.

Bradley mumbles, “Can’t believe you named your horse after ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’” Laura allows it since the chiding means Bradley’s loosening up.

Laura brushes Sue, her other horse, who bristles at the fact that she’s not going out today.

“I’d been rereading when we got her. It felt appropriate.”

Scout touches her nose to Bradley’s hand. Bradley beams over at Laura. She’s a bundle of proud nerves until Laura says, “Now you can mount her.”

“Oh boy.”

Then Laura helps Bradley get up onto Scout. Corrects her form and grip on the reins. They do a few short laps inside to get Bradley and Scout acquainted before Laura checks back in.

“How do you want to do this? Together or separate?”

Bradley laughs. “Together please. Do not leave me alone with her.”

So Laura climbs up behind Bradley and curves her body around Bradley’s. She settles her hands on Bradley’s wrists.

“To help guide you,” Laura says, “but you’ve got this. I’m right here with you. Stay calm, and move with her. Keep your eyes ahead, so she knows where to go.”

Bradley turns her head just enough to see Laura’s face beside hers. “Anything else?”

Laura presses a kiss to her lips. “Have a good ride. And thank you, for doing this.”

Bradley kisses her back. “Thank me if we stay upright.”

Laura’s laugh follows them out into the field.

.

.

Nearly an hour and only two near falls later, they reach a clearing with a wooden fence and a picnic table. Laura helps Bradley down, and they tie Scout up while they all regroup and hydrate. There’s a small watering trough there for Scout. Bradley watches her drink with a little smile on her face.

“Admit it,” Laura says with a shift of her hat on her head. “You liked it.”

Bradley takes a big swig of her water. “I admit nothing. ‘Cept maybe how good it feels to have you behind me.”

Laura’s grin grows. “What did you say? Is Big Spoon Bradley Jackson saying she wants to be held?”

Bradley swats at the brim of Laura’s hat. “You hold me plenty.”

“I do.”

Bradley rolls her eyes and watches Scout’s mane blow in the breeze. One of the great things about Montana has been the views. Even now, there’s these gorgeous trees and wide fields of flowers that barely glimpse at neighboring properties. Bradley’s never had so much space in her life. Never felt so full.

“Let’s take a picture,” Bradley says.

Laura smiles. “Of what? Us?”

Bradley nods. “But not a selfie. We can balance it.” She gets up from the table to use her helmet as a prop for her phone.

“Bad day to leave the tripod at home,” Laura jokes. Bradley flips her off. Laura walks closer to the wooden fence.

Bradley sets the timer and rushes to Laura’s side. “Put your arm around me.”

“You’re directing now?”

Bradley huffs, and Laura just barely gets her arm up before the camera clicks. Bradley slips out of Laura’s grasp to set the timer again.

Laura says, “It might help if you tell me the pose before you hit the button. What do you want, Bradley?”

“I don’t know,” Bradley says while she changes it from five seconds to ten. “Something cute.” Something they can look back on once their thighs stop aching and the sunburn’s gone and remember that they had a good day during a God awful week. Something she can show Hal when he asks why she’s leaving so soon in a few days.

“Well, you’re cute,” Laura says once Bradley gets back to her side. She slips her right arm around Bradley’s shoulders, and Bradley slips her left around Laura’s waist. “So how about you smile and I’ll just—“ 

She presses a kiss to Bradley’s temple. It’s probably cheesy. Next level corny that this picture will be the two of them in the gayest possible outfits after horseback riding in Montana, but damn, if that thought doesn’t make Bradley smile even harder. 

She never thought she’d get this. She almost screwed it up several times over, but here she is with a woman she’s crazy about who could have asked for anything in the world, and all Laura wanted was to do something she loved with Bradley.

The camera clicks, but Bradley doesn’t even hear it. She turns in Laura’s hold and wraps her other arm around Laura’s waist.

“I did like it,” Bradley tells her.

Laura smiles. “I know. But thank you for telling me.”

“Can I tell you something else?” Bradley asks. Once she does, her heart pounds heavy in her chest. It’s like it wants out of there. She has to gulp just to keep it out of her throat.

Laura must feel it since she rubs her hand along Bradley’s back. Lifts her other to hold Bradley too.

“Anything.”

Just say it. Say something. Say she’s never been happier than she is with Laura by her side. Say she could spend the rest of her life here if they were allowed to go out and be people sometimes too. Say that she’ll be back the moment she can, and this week is just the last thing she needs to do before she can really move forward.

A whole world of things Bradley could’ve said, but all that leaves her mouth is: 

“Come with me.”

.

.

a/n: !!!!!! COME! WITH! ME! will she do it? should she do it? l

et me know what you think and what else stood out to you.

also, just to say it, fictional lesbian/journalist Laura Peterson would never spout zionist propaganda the way that her actress currently is. I won't say much on here bc it's a fic site, and I am here to escape into Montana, but also free Palestine. stopping Israel has nothing to do with judaism, and it's an awful weaponization of religion to equate stopping genocide with antisemitism.

[keytrackr]

How to Calculate Work Days for Better Planning and Productivity?

Accurate time management is essential for effective workflow, especially in fast-paced professional settings. A critical part of this process is knowing how to calculate work days, which refers to counting only the active business days—usually Monday through Friday—while excluding weekends and public holidays. This seemingly simple task has far-reaching implications for project success, resource planning, and organizational efficiency.

Below, we explore the importance of understanding working days and how this knowledge can positively influence decision-making across various domains.

Understanding the Difference Between Calendar Days and Work Days

A frequent error in planning is mixing up calendar days with actual working days. Calendar days include every day on the calendar, while work days typically exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and recognized public holidays. Understanding the difference is crucial when creating an accurate Workday Schedule, especially for setting deadlines, planning employee shifts, or estimating delivery times.

For example, if a company promises a product delivery in ten work days, it's essential to clarify that weekends and holidays don't count toward that period. Overlooking this difference may result in delayed timelines, dissatisfied customers, and damaged trust.

The Role of Work Day Calculation in Project Management

Timelines serve as the cornerstone for achieving success in project planning. Whether you're managing software development, event planning, or construction, accurate scheduling helps allocate tasks efficiently and avoids last-minute pressure. Calculating work days allows managers to set realistic deadlines and ensure that every stage of the project receives adequate time and attention.

Many project management tools now offer built-in features to automate the calculation of working days between two dates. These tools consider weekends and allow for customization based on location-specific holidays. Automation not only reduces manual errors but also improves overall team coordination.

Payroll and HR Operations Depend on Accurate Scheduling

For human resources and payroll departments, determining exact work days is essential for calculating employee compensation, leave balances, and overtime. Errors in these calculations can lead to payroll discrepancies, which may affect employee morale and even result in legal complications. Understanding how to calculate productivity is also closely tied to accurate workday tracking, as it helps HR teams evaluate employee performance and optimize resource allocation. By ensuring accurate day counts, HR professionals can maintain transparency, reduce conflicts, and comply with labor regulations. Using reliable scheduling tools or software also saves time and minimizes administrative workload.

Global Considerations in Multinational Work Environments

In a global business environment, calculating work days becomes more complex due to differences in work week structures and holiday calendars. For instance, the standard work week in some countries runs from Sunday to Thursday, while others follow the traditional Monday-to-Friday pattern. National holidays also vary significantly.

To ensure coordination among international teams, it’s important to use a centralized system that accounts for these regional differences. This helps align expectations, improve cross-border collaboration, and prevent costly misunderstandings.

You can also watch : How To Measure Productivity Of Employee According To The Days In A Week With EmpMonitor? 

Conclusion

Learning to effectively calculate work days is a fundamental skill that benefits individuals and organizations alike. From managing projects and ensuring timely deliveries to processing payroll and maintaining team productivity, this practice enhances clarity and reduces operational risks. With the help of modern tools and a good understanding of regional work schedules, anyone can improve their time management and contribute to smoother, more efficient workflows.

[starlifeinsider]

Read More Updates from our website Starlifeinsider.com https://ift.tt/4moiMan Lost In Love On Starlife July 2025 Teasers, New!! Lost In Love On Starlife July 2025 Teasers, New!! July marks a turning point as Tejaswini enters the story, bringing fresh energy and emotional twists. As her bond with Neil and his family begins to grow, hidden truths, strained relationships, and heartfelt performances take center stage. Meanwhile, Mohit’s internal battles and Tejaswini’s rising passion for music begin to shape the drama ahead — setting the stage for even bigger events in July. Saturday 12 July 2025 Teju’s family travels to Prayagraj for a spiritual bath in the Ganga. Tejaswini is formally introduced to Neil’s family. Later, Jeetu invites her to sing, and the two perform a song together. Sunday 13 July 2025 Laxmi, annoyed with Mohit, lashes out at Aditi. Meanwhile, Tejaswini’s mother disapproves of her excitement about performing a duet with Ritu. Monday 14 July 2025 Tejaswini pledges to make Mohit and her mother proud through her singing, while Mohit battles with guilt and his conflicted emotions for Aditi. Tuesday 15 July 2025 Neil’s family teases Ritu about his duet with Tejaswini. As they arrive in Timbakeshwar, Tejaswini grows nervous about her performance. Wednesday 16 July 2025 Tejaswini and Ritu deliver a captivating stage act. Elsewhere, Aditi watches Mohit on TV, and Laxmi is infuriated to see Mukta near him. Thursday 17 July 2025 Laxmi scolds Aditi for wearing makeup and vents her frustration over Mohit. Meanwhile, Neil finds himself drawn to Tejaswini. Friday 18 July 2025 Neil’s uncles try to avoid their medical check-ups. At the same time, Mohit is burdened by a secret he’s keeping from the family. Saturday 19 July 2025 Manjari argues with Nandini and her father. Meanwhile, Tejaswini hides her plan to meet Rituraj as she convinces Mukta and Mohit to let her travel to Nagpur. Sunday 20 July 2025 Neil and others playfully tease Rituraj about his upcoming US tour. On the flip side, Laxmi raises concerns with the family. Monday 21 July 2025 Rituraj praises Tejaswini and subtly confesses his feelings. Later, Aditi reminds Mohit to look after himself. Tuesday 22 July 2025 Tejaswini grows uneasy after arriving in Amaravati, and Neil comforts her. Meanwhile, Mukta and Mohit question Sammy’s actions. Wednesday 23 July 2025 When Mukta discovers that Tejaswini met Rituraj, she scolds Sammy. Later, Mohit expresses gratitude to Neil for safely dropping Tejaswini home. Thursday 24 July 2025 Mukta and Mohit invite Neil to dinner with the family. Meanwhile, Tejaswini faces a dilemma as her secret comes to light. Friday 25 July 2025 Tejaswini recounts to Rituraj how she returned home. Later, Rituraj openly shares his feelings for her. Saturday 26 July 2025 Neil feels ashamed for lying about his job to Tejaswini’s family. Later, while at the monastery, Tejaswini prays for her singing dream, and Neil prays for her love. Sunday 27 July 2025 After dinner, Tejaswini goes for a walk and unexpectedly encounters a tiger with Neil — the two try to escape the danger together. Monday 28 July 2025 Panic sets in when Mohit experiences chest pain, worrying Tejaswini’s family. Neil steps in and helps calm the situation. Tuesday 29 July 2025 A disturbed Aditi calls Mohit after dreaming something unsettling. Meanwhile, Tejaswini thanks Neil and warmly invites him to visit her home. Wednesday 30 July 2025 Mohit tries to reveal the truth about Laxmi and Aditi to Mukta. Tejaswini assures Mohit she will never judge him again. Thursday 31 July 2025 Neil agrees to marry Tejaswini at Mohit’s request. Later, concern arises when Mohit suddenly collapses and fails to respond. The post Lost In Love On Starlife July 2025 Teasers, New!! appeared first on Starlife Insider.

[edwin-ting]

Innovative Strategies for Family Time Management

Managing family time can be a juggling act. With busy schedules, multiple activities, and varying personal needs, it can often feel like there's never enough time in the day to give everyone the attention they deserve. However, implementing innovative strategies for family time management can create harmony and ensure that precious moments together are utilized effectively. By incorporating key techniques, families can achieve better balance, prioritize quality time, and foster stronger relationships. Here are some valuable strategies for managing your family’s time more successfully.

Establish a Family Calendar

One of the first steps in managing family time effectively is organizing everyone’s schedules in one place. A shared family calendar can help ensure that everyone knows what’s happening at any given time. This tool allows each family member to track their commitments, such as school activities, work meetings, or extracurricular events. Reviewing the calendar together makes it easier to spot potential overlaps, and you can make adjustments to avoid conflicts.

A shared calendar also helps reduce stress because everyone is on the same page. When everyone can access the family calendar, planning family activities, vacations, and downtime is more manageable. It helps prevent last-minute changes and scheduling conflicts, giving each person a clear overview of the week’s events. The more you rely on a family calendar, the more streamlined the planning process becomes, and the better your overall time management will be.

Set Priorities and Boundaries

Effective family time management requires knowing what’s most important. By setting clear priorities, families can focus on the activities that matter most while reducing time spent on less significant tasks. For example, family meals and weekend outings might be priorities higher than extracurricular commitments that can be rescheduled. This doesn't mean eliminating all outside obligations but rather finding a balance that allows for meaningful family time.

Boundaries are also crucial when it comes to managing family time. For instance, setting clear work boundaries, such as not answering work emails during family dinners, can help maintain focus on family. Similarly, setting specific times for screen use or other distractions allows for uninterrupted moments together. By defining limits around particular activities, families can better protect their time and reduce unnecessary disruptions.

Plan Family Time in Advance

Spontaneity can be wonderful, but planning ahead is often the key to success when it comes to family time. Busy families must schedule time together to ensure it doesn’t get lost amidst other obligations. Whether it’s a regular movie night, a monthly outing, or just a Sunday afternoon walk, marking these events on the calendar helps ensure they happen.

Planning also allows families to coordinate with each other’s schedules. If everyone knows when family time is happening, they can adjust to accommodate it. This eliminates the last-minute scramble for availability and makes anticipating and preparing for quality moments together easier. Additionally, planning helps families avoid overcommitting and leaving little room for rest or relaxation.

Delegate Household Responsibilities

A significant source of time management stress within families is the overwhelming number of household chores and tasks. To avoid burnout and frustration, it’s important to delegate responsibilities. Involving everyone, even young children, in household chores teaches accountability while freeing up time for the entire family to spend together. Creating a system where tasks are shared helps reduce the burden on one person and ensures that no one gets overwhelmed.

Delegating household duties also fosters a sense of teamwork. When everyone works together, the time spent on tasks feels more productive and less stressful. Additionally, this allows for more time to enjoy other activities as a family without worrying about the upkeep of the home. Involving everyone in household responsibilities makes the overall environment more balanced and supportive, helping family members appreciate their shared efforts.

Embrace Flexible Time Management

Although structure is essential, flexibility is equally vital in family time management. Life is unpredictable, and sometimes plans need to change. Whether it’s due to unexpected events or changes in individual needs, being adaptable allows families to roll with the punches. Flexibility in time management means that you can adjust your plans while still keeping a focus on the bigger picture: spending quality time together.

It’s also essential to remain open-minded about how family time looks. Instead of rigidly adhering to a specific activity, be open to trying new things based on the situation. Whether it’s shifting an outdoor picnic indoors because of rain or squeezing in a game night after a busy week, adaptability can help maintain a positive atmosphere. By embracing flexibility, families can continue to make the most out of every situation and ensure family bonding remains a priority.

Make Time for Self-Care

While managing family time is important, taking care of yourself is equally essential. When parents and guardians prioritize their well-being, they set a strong example for the rest of the family. Taking time for self-care—a few quiet minutes with a book, a workout, or enjoying a hobby—allows individuals to recharge and be more present during family activities.

Self-care can also be incorporated into family time. For example, taking a family walk to clear the mind, practicing mindfulness together, or engaging in a relaxing activity like yoga can promote physical and emotional well-being for everyone involved. When everyone feels their best, family time becomes more enjoyable, fulfilling, and meaningful. Prioritizing self-care helps ensure that families remain healthy, connected, and better able to manage the demands of their busy lives.

Family time can often feel like a scarce resource in today's fast-paced world. However, families can make the most of their time together by implementing innovative strategies such as using a shared calendar, setting priorities, and maintaining flexibility. Delegating responsibilities and prioritizing self-care create a more balanced and enjoyable family dynamic. By proactively managing family time, families can strengthen their bonds, create lasting memories, and ensure that every moment together counts.

[cherryblossomcinephile]

Barefoot Gen: The Unimaginable Pain of Hiroshima Seen Through the Eyes of a Young Boy

Barefoot Gen, written by Keiji Nakazawa, directed by Mori Masaki, and released on July 21, 1983, is not your typical feel-good anime. This is a brutal portrayal of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima that took place on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb, code-named Little Boy, from the B-29 Enola Gay onto the city of Hiroshima—all seen through the eyes of a young boy named Gen Nakaoka.

While the imagery is graphic and disturbing, the film’s power lies in its blunt honesty and its ability to capture the horrors of Hiroshima, connecting them to broader themes of war and the resilience of the human spirit. Barefoot Gen serves not only as a historical account but also as a warning—a mirror reflecting issues that still affect us today.

One theme that stood out to me the most in Barefoot Gen was the brutal senselessness of war. This film does not sugarcoat how grotesque the bombing truly was: the flash, the heat, the unimaginable injuries that are now burned into my brain, and… the lingering effects of radiation sickness. It lays bare the cost of conflict. This is far from your typical World War II film like Casablanca or Pearl Harbor—it strips away any romanticized notions and forces the viewer to confront the realities head-on.

Gen’s experiences provide a rare illustration of how war impacts not only innocent civilians but children in particular. He witnesses horrific things—from watching his family perish to scavenging for food when they run out of rations. This anti-war message reminds us how important peace and diplomacy are in a world full of conflict.

Beyond the bombing and its immediate devastation, Barefoot Gen sheds light on the social inequalities that existed in Japan at the time. Gen’s family represents the working class, struggling to make ends meet even before the bombing. The film also highlights the discrimination faced by Koreans living in Japan, exposing the prejudice and xenophobia that can emerge during times of war and crisis. As many of you are aware, these issues are not exclusive to Japan during World War II—they are universal and continue to manifest in different ways around the world.

I will be the first to admit that I was ignorant of what happened in other parts of the world during World War II. I was vaguely aware of the events in the United States, and I knew they were devastating, but seeing them portrayed in such a raw, unfiltered way forced me to confront uncomfortable truths that I may have been subconsciously avoiding. Barefoot Gen also makes the viewer reflect on how societal hierarchies can deepen suffering during times of conflict.

Furthermore, this film also explores the theme of resilience in the face of unimaginable adversity. Despite his trauma, Gen never gives up or loses his spirit. He struggles to care for his remaining family, yet he still manages to find moments of hope and joy. His resilience is a powerful representation of the strength of the human spirit—the ability to find hope even in dark times. While the tragedy of Hiroshima is at the forefront, the theme of resilience resonates beyond the historical context, offering a message of hope and reminding us that even after the most devastating tragedies, we must find the strength to move forward.

Barefoot Gen is not an easy film to watch by any means. Its graphic imagery and stark portrayal of suffering can be deeply disturbing. However, despite its disturbing nature, Barefoot Gen is a necessary film—it serves as a reminder of what can happen in times of war. By exploring themes of social inequality, prejudice, and resilience, it goes beyond its historical context and speaks to the human experience as a whole.

I watched this film on Friday, February 14, and I am writing this on Sunday, February 16. This film stays with you long after the credits roll—it took me two days to fully reflect on it and process my emotions. Seeing the raw reality of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing was something I was not prepared for. But looking back, I’m glad I watched it because it has opened my mind even further and deepened my appreciation for the suffering the victims endured.

.

CherryBlossomCinephile Rating: 8.96/10

Animation: 9.4/10; While the animation was not bad, it felt very simple and lacked detail. The use of multilayered animation effectively captured the horror of August 6, 1945, but I feel that more detail could have been added.

Sound: 8.6/10; The score is minimal yet highly effective in setting the tone for the film. The bombing scene was the most impactful, with the sounds of explosions and destruction creating a chilling atmosphere. The groans and cries that follow add to the horror. The original Japanese voice acting was strong, but the English dub felt weaker, with unnatural and sometimes confusing line delivery.

Writing: 8.9/10; The narrative is straightforward and doesn’t shy away from the brutal reality of its subject matter. Despite the heaviness of the story, I felt compelled to keep watching. However, while the raw storytelling and engaging narrative were strong points, some side characters lacked development, feeling very one-dimensional.

[fourmsandasilentq]

Heather Cox Richardson

October 6, 2024 (Sunday)

This morning began with a CNN headline story by fact checker Daniel Dale, titled “Six days of Trump lies about the Hurricane Helene response.” Dale noted that Republican nominee for president Donald Trump has been one of the chief sources of the disinformation that has badly hampered recovery efforts.

Trump has claimed that the federal government is ignoring the storm’s victims, especially ones in Republican areas, and that the government is handing out only $750 in aid (in fact, the initial emergency payment for food and groceries is $750, but there are multiple grants available for home rebuilding up to a total of $42,500, the upper limit set by Congress). He has also claimed—falsely—that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is out of money to help because the administration spent all its money on Ukraine and undocumented immigrants.

Trump’s lies are not errors. They are part of a well-documented strategy to overturn democracy by using modern media to create a false political world. Voters begin to base their political decisions on that fake image, rather than on reality, and are manipulated into giving up control of their government to an authoritarian.

Russian political theorists who were key to the rise of Russian president Vladimir Putin after the collapse of the Soviet Union called this manipulation “political technology.”

They developed a series of techniques to pervert democracy through this virtual political reality. They blackmailed opponents, abused state power to help favored candidates, sponsored “double” candidates with names similar to those of opponents in order to split the opposition vote and thus open the way for their own candidates, created false parties to further splinter the opposition, and, finally, created a false narrative around an election or other event that enabled them to control public debate.

Essentially, they perverted democracy, turning it from the concept of voters choosing their leaders into the concept of voters rubber-stamping the leaders they had been manipulated into backing.

This system made sense in former Soviet republics, where it enabled leaders to avoid the censorship that voters would recoil from by instead creating a firehose of news until people became overwhelmed by the task of trying to figure out what was real and simply tuned out.

But it has also worked in the United States, where right-wing leaders have used it to divide the American people and spread disinformation. While “misinformation” is simply false information—which we all spread innocently and correct with accurate information—“disinformation” is a deliberate lie to convince people of things that are not true.

Before the 2016 presidential election, Russian operatives working for Putin set out to tear the U.S. apart and thus undermine the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) they see as stopping the resurrection of Imperial Russia. They called for provoking “instability and separatism within the borders of the United States... encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts,... [and] support[ing] isolationist tendencies in American politics.”

But they were not the only ones operating in this disinformation sphere. In 2014, then–Breitbart chief executive Steve Bannon explained to a right-wing Catholic group meeting at the Vatican that he believed traditional western civilization was fighting a war for survival. To win, current western-style civilizations must be completely reconfigured to put a few wealthy white Christian male leaders in charge to direct and protect subordinates.

In that year, Bannon set out to dismantle the administrative state that was leveling the playing field among Americans and push Christian nationalism. With the help of funding from Republican megadonors Robert and Rebecca Mercer, he launched Cambridge Analytica, a company designed to develop profiles of individuals that would enable advertisers to group them for targeted advertising. Before the 2016 election, the company captured information from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their permission or knowledge, enabling it to flood the platform with targeted disinformation.

Bannon became the chief executive officer of Trump’s 2016 campaign. He then served as chief strategist and senior counselor for the first eight months of Trump’s term, during which he worked to put MAGAs in power across the administration and across the country.

“The Democrats don’t matter,” Bannon told a reporter in 2018. “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with sh*t.” Keeping listeners constantly trying to defend what is real from what is not destroys their ability to make sense of the world. Many people turn to a strongman who promises to create order. Others will get so exhausted they simply give up. As scholar of totalitarianism Hannah Arendt noted, authoritarians use this technique to destabilize a population.

Trump’s administration began with a foundational lie about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. Recent challenges to that assertion from Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Barack Obama rankled as badly as they did for Trump because that lie allowed Trump to define the public conversation. Forcing his supporters to commit to a lie that was demonstrably untrue locked them into accepting others throughout his presidency, for backing away would become harder and harder with each lie they accepted.

Challenging that lie, as Harris and Obama did, challenged all those that came afterward, including the lie that Trump had been the true winner of the 2020 presidential election. Thanks to the October 2 filing by special counsel Jack Smith, we know that Trump was in almost daily communication with Bannon as he pushed that lie.

Scholars of authoritarianism call a lie of such magnitude a “Big Lie,” a key propaganda tool associated with Nazi Germany. It is a lie so huge that no one can believe it is false. If leaders repeat it enough times, refusing to admit that it is a lie, people come to think it is the truth because surely no one would make up anything so outrageous.

In his autobiography Mein Kampf, or “My Struggle,” Adolf Hitler wrote that people were more likely to believe a giant lie than a little one because they were willing to tell small lies in their own lives but “would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.” Since they could not conceive of telling “colossal untruths…they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” He went on: “Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation.”

The U.S. Office of Strategic Services had picked up on Hitler’s manipulation of his followers when it described Hitler’s psychological profile. It said, “His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.”

The MAGA movement is now based in the Big Lie. Its leaders refuse to admit that Trump lost the 2020 election. Trump’s running mate, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, two days ago actually said Trump won, and as media figures more frequently ask the question of MAGA lawmakers, they continue to dodge it, as Arkansas senator Tom Cotton did today on NBC’s Meet the Press, and as House speaker Mike Johnson did on ABC News’s “This Week.”

Now, though, their lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene show that they are completely committed to disinformation. As Will Bunch noted today in the Philadelphia Inquirer, when Vance lied again at the vice presidential debate about the legal status of the Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, and complained when moderator Margaret Brennan corrected him, he gave up the whole game. “Margaret,” Vance said, “the rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check.” He continued to argue until the moderators cut his microphone.

Bunch points out that MAGA Republicans insist on the right to lie, considering any fact-checking “censorship,” a position to which Vance pivoted when Minnesota governor Tim Walz asked him if Trump won the 2020 election.

Just as Russian political theorists advocated to overturn democracy, MAGA Republicans have created an alternative political reality, aided in large part by the disinformation spread on social media by X owner and Trump supporter Elon Musk.

They continue to be aided by foreign operatives, as well. This morning, on CBS’s Face the Nation, Senate Intelligence Committee member Mark Kelly (D-AZ) warned, on the basis of information he has heard from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the National Security Agency, that Russia, Iran, and China are generating about 20% to 30% of the political content and comments on social media.

But the largest purveyors of disinformation are homegrown.

Perhaps, though, the very real, immediate damage MAGA’s disinformation about Hurricane Helene is causing might finally be a step too far. In what is at least a muted rebuke to Trump, Republican governors across the damaged area have stepped up to praise President Joe Biden and the federal response to the disaster.

Notes:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/06/politics/fact-check-trump-helene-response-north-carolina/index.html

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview/gleb-pavlovsky/

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/this-is-how-steve-bannon-sees-the-entire-world#.nbJrrXK8gx

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/virtual-politics-and-the-corruption-post-soviet-democracy

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/02/08/514102356/steve-bannon-aligns-with-vatican-hardliners-who-oppose-pope-francis

John B. Dunlop, “Aleksandr Dugin's Foundations of Geopolitics,” paper available at https://stanford.io/3wTNlEx.

Quoted from “Joseph Goebbels: On the ‘Big Lie,’” Jewish Virtual Library, https://bit.ly/2PlQmdI.

Office of Strategic Services, A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler: His Life and Legend, Walter C. Langer, CIA-RPDP78-02646R000600240001-5, Washington, D.C., August 24, 1999, p. 38. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-02646R000600240001-5.pdf

https://www.yahoo.com/news/vance-says-trump-won-2020-192218871.html

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/10/01/vance-walz-vp-debate-tonight/moderators-fact-check-00182066

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/gop-disinformation-trump-vance-20241006.html#loaded

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-sources/index.html

https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2024/10/gov.uscourts.dcd_.258148.252.0.pdf

https://gazette.com/news/wex/helene-makes-unlikely-friends-of-republican-swing-state-governors-and-biden/article_b2814791-6ca3-5d89-9a3f-35ab3c135c4a.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4870818-barack-obama-donald-trump-new-kamala-harris-campaign-ad/

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/10/harris-trump-crowd-size-debate-00178116

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/06/mike-johnson-donald-trump-election/

X:

keithboykin/status/1842975629995921781

NewsJennifer/status/1842940155847746011

[themacpsych]

2024: Week Two

Yes, this is a day late, but it’s been quite the week so I hope you’ll understand.

Work

I had a really, really good week at work. I tore through my task list and made great progress on some important podcast and YouTube work. Plus some lovely client projects and interest from potential new clients.

I’m super excited about an upcoming collaboration with another psychologist. We’re going to co-host a podcast series all about psychological flexibility and how to develop it. Lots of work still to do, but I’m confident we’re going to have a great product at the end of it all. We did our first video podcast together a while back and we both agreed we worked well together.

I published my second Vlog on my work YouTube channel. It’s very much an experiment, but I can already see ways to improve the next one and keep improving as the weeks go by.

Wellbeing

As per my previous post, I had some bad news on the wellbeing front. This is almost certainly going to lead to some hospital time, so intrusive tests, and then long term medication. If I’m lucky.

Despite this, I stuck to my new healthy habits. I’ve maintained Dry January (it’s just too easy!), avoided junk food and snacks, and made it to the gym and went out for a run on Sunday. I could so easily have rationalised a few beers and burgers to ‘cheer me up’ after speaking with the doctor. But I didn’t. Frankly, that’s the kind of crap that my body really doesn’t need right now.

I’ve veered between doom and gloom and a sense of optimism that I’m finally getting some medical attention. It’s fine to have doubts, it’s fine to feel some anxiety about it all. But it’s what I actually do that matters.

Travel

To take my mind off my wellbeing worries, I spent some more time planning my upcoming trip to Tokyo. In just over a month, I’ll be flying there with JAL and, for the first time ever, I’ll be experiencing their First Class cabin. I have no doubt it’s going to be amazing. But once I’m there, I want to extract as much fun out of the visit as possible. So my list of venues and experiences is getting longer by the day.

I just hope I’m able to make some progress on the wellbeing front so that illness doesn’t hamper my enjoyment of this amazing holiday. Or that it conflicts with a hospital stay…

In other news

I’ve continued to experiment with NotePlan and I think it’s going to stick. You can think of it as a kind of digital bullet journal. Each day as a note, but there are weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual notes too. You can have notes, tasks, reminders, events… pretty much anything you want to help you feel organised and avoid relying on your memory.

You can easily make links between notes (like in Obsidian and other PKM apps), but unlike Obsidian, the iOS apps actually work and synching is flawless. This is so important for me - I want to be able to access my project notes and plans from my iPhone and iPad when I’m on the move.

I’ve been using it to make a weekly note that contains my must-do tasks and activities. I fill this every Sunday for the week ahead. Then the following Sunday, I review the week with my reflections on how things have been.

I’m toying with the idea of starting a new travel blog. I love writing and I have some great trips lined up for this year. I’d like a fresh start and, based on some posts I’ve read about Substack in the last week, I’m looking at Ghost as one option. If you’re a Ghost user, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I’m writing this from my study at home, as I’m working here this morning. I’m starting module two of my Japanese language course this afternoon, and it didn’t make sense to go to the office then all the way back into the West End for my lesson.

And that….was the week that was.

[vyorei]

Article from 16th October on CNN about the US warmachine on the move. Link below but this is the whole article.

"A US Marine rapid response force is headed to the waters off the coast of Israel and the Pentagon is preparing American troops for a potential deployment to the country, escalating the US’ show of force in the region as it works to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from widening any further.

A defense official familiar with the planning said the rapid response force, consisting of 2,000 Marines and sailors, is being sent. It will join a growing number of US warships and forces converging on Israel as the US seeks to send a message of deterrence to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

On Sunday evening, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered that roughly 2,000 troops prepare for a potential deployment to Israel to help with tasks like medical and logistical support, multiple defense officials said.

Taken together, the moves are aimed at forestalling a wider regional war, officials said. But they also risk deepening the US’ involvement in a conflict in which the Biden administration is trying to avoid direct military action.

Officials have stressed that the US has no plans to put American boots on the ground to fight in the war between Israel and Hamas, which Israeli officials have warned could be prolonged and difficult.

But the planning and movements offer a window into the kind of assistance the US might provide, including managing logistics away from the front lines and offering medical support. That could be particularly valuable if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza, which could be complicated and bloody, experts have warned.

The decisions also come as the US military has been steadily bolstering its presence in Middle East, including deploying a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to join the USS Ford strike carrier group there, and sending Air Force fighter jets to the region.

The Pentagon has been deliberately cautious about how it discusses any potential deployment of US troops to Israel, officials said, because the Biden administration does not want to give the impression that American troops could become embroiled in a hot war.

But there are preparations underway for a range of contingencies should things devolve further.

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), which specializes in tasks such as amphibious operations, crisis response, humanitarian assistance, and certain special operations, had been stationed near Kuwait in recent weeks as part of a scheduled exercise there. But it departed early “as a result of emerging events,” Capt. Angelica White, a spokeswoman for the unit, told the Marine Corps Times on Wednesday.

CNN previously reported that the unit was preparing for a possible move toward Israel.

Officials would not specify where exactly the Marine unit will now go, other than to say it is headed toward Israel. But it could remain in the Red Sea off the southern coast of Israel, which would put US forces near the country’s two coastlines. The unit is on board the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship which is currently in the Gulf of Oman, officials said.

The USS Bataan and the 26th MEU have been operating in the Middle East since August as part of an effort to deter Iranian aggression in the critical waterways around of the region, including the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.

Austin’s order to prepare troops for a possible deployment, meanwhile, does not mean they will definitely deploy, or that any will serve in a combat role if they do go to Israel, officials said. But the secretary’s decision has shortened the time the identified troops will have to prepare for the mission if they are ordered to go, officials said.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report about the potential deployment of troops to Israel. Asked about the possible movement, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday, “I don’t have more to provide at this time. I might be able to give you more details later, but at this time I just don’t have anything more specific to add to.”"