#only related because it has to do with the rio grande

[iheartsteve0704]

Agathario Imagine Me & You AU

(Where it’s not just the movie verbatim)

Agatha is a single mom and she has been for 6 years now

There’s no baby daddy (thank god) because she adopted Nicky all on her own and there has never been someone else in the picture

But 3 years ago she met this guy, Ralph, at work and he has to be one of the only men she’s dated that isn’t a shit head

Agatha is bi but has a favoring for women so she surprised herself when she accepted Ralph’s proposal on a windy afternoon in New York City right by the water

She thinks she accepted it because she wasn’t getting any younger and no other prospects were in her sights but also Ralph was a decent, good man which is rare. Especially in Manhattan.

He had a great job, he was kind, he wasn’t a Republican, and he was the type of guy who would never cheat on her.

Agatha didn’t want to call it settling but she could do a lot worse

In terms of Nicky, in the 3 years she’s dated Ralph, her little boy hasn’t fully warmed up to the guy. It’s not a bad concerning thing, if it were Agatha would’ve called it off asap

Sometimes Ralph will try to play with Nicky and the boy allows it but his mom can tell he’s hesitant or letting the guy be around him out of pity. She doesn’t think much of it though because Nicky is like that in general, he’s a tough cookie to crack (just like his mom)

So Agatha and Ralph make preparations for their wedding over the course of serval months and it’s a shitstorm with work, taking care of Nicky, and having some resemblance of a social life

When it comes time to try on dresses, Agatha realizes her circle is pretty small. She cut ties with her mom a long time ago (big homophobe! And just terrible risk overall!) but she did still have her two lifelong best friends: Alice and Jen, both her MOHs. The two women happily took the day off of work to come along and help their best friend find a dress and she also decides to bring Nicky too

They had 3 dress shops to check out (one being Agatha’s dream shop, Klienfield)

Agatha and Nicky are the first to show up to the first shop of the day, which is a small business Jen suggested (something about how she walks past it on her way home everyday and it looked promising)

And it was for sure small, the place wasn’t grand like the other stores Agatha has seen pictures of online but the dresses inside were absolutely stunning and Agatha was enamored by each and every one of them

She was busy admiring the dresses when she notices that Nicky had disappeared, she starts to panic until she hears his small sweet voice rapidly and excitedly asking questions from a little bit farther into the room

She walks into the back where she find Nicky (practically jumping up in down in curiosity) watching over a woman hand sewing what looked like 300 small pearl beads on to a lace vial

Agatha watches them for a second longer, how the woman’s voice was so sweet and patient with her son. It was also odd because her son and this woman had the same colored hair so they almost looked related. And then she clears her throat and the two finally two around the resemblance is almost startling but so is how fucking stunning this woman is

Agatha’s breath hitches and she forgets how to speak when the woman turns around. Shes at least ten years younger than herself and has sharp features and these big beautiful brown eyes. She had to be the most stunningly beautiful woman Agatha has ever seen in her life

The younger woman is observant and clocks Agatha’s reaction so she slap on a cocky smirk and gets up from her chair where she offers her hand and introduces herself as Rio Vidal, the shop owner who hand crafts each of the wedding dresses

Rio asks about her fiance and assumes it’s a woman and when Agatha says it’s a man, rio’s face falls and for some reason Agatha decides to awkwardly and loudly reveal she’s actually bisexual (which earns her a laugh)

From the shock of her beauty to the shock of the woman’s incredible talent, Agatha is acting like a complete fool but is saved by the literal bell of the front door opening and Alice and Jen arriving

What Agatha failed to know about dress fittings, and to realize before gaining the knowledge that the shop owner was this beautiful and attractive young woman, is that an attendant comes into the dressing room with you to help so they pretty much see you naked and then after their hands are all over the place on your body pinning things in place and seeing what needs to be fixed

But Agatha also tried to remind herself that while Rio was captivating, she was also a professional and this was her business so Agatha tried her best to be professional too (she failed when Rio’s knuckles grazed up her bare back when she zipped up her dress)

Agatha tries on 5 dresses and falls in love with one dress instantly (and tries not to let a blush creep onto her cheeks and down her neck when Rio gives her an earth shattering compliment and her brown eyes rake over her body slowly)

And during the entire dress fitting, Agatha couldn’t help but notice her young son talking off Rio’s ear and practically being glued to the woman’s side. It even got to the point where Nicky ended up holding onto Rio’s tub of dress pins while the woman pinned the dress into place

It hit time to head to the next dress shop and Agatha tried not to reel when Rio professional hand shake goodbye as she left (Nicky did give Rio a giant hug and Agatha did melt at the sight of that)

In the taxi on the way to the next shop, Alice and Jenn strike up conversation about how hot Rio was and it makes Agatha’s blood literally boil but then it hits her… why does it matter to her? She’s getting married! To a man! She’s still bi but still she was getting married and this conversation didn’t matter to her. It didn’t matter how good Rio looked in her loose jeans and open button down top because Agatha was getting married in 5 months

The rest of the day Agatha is lost in her mind (lost in Rio) and that follows her all the way home when she’s sitting at the dinner table with Ralph and Nicky. She’s staring into space as Ralph tries to talk to Nicky who either ignores the man or gives him short, vague answers

Later that night, she’s alone and sitting up in bed cyber stalking Rio’s shop Instagram page and finds the younger woman’s personal account. Ralph steps into the room, startling her when asks her if she’s fine because she’s been acting weird all day and that causes Agatha to accidentally double tap on a photo Rio posted 5 years ago. Then she learns she can’t undo it and Agatha gets defensive and snaps at him.

Ralph sleeps on the couch that night, he offers to give her space, and Agatha feels bad until her phone buzzes and it’s a notification that Rio has followed her on Instagram and sent her a message. That night, agatha can’t go to sleep because she’s dying of embarrassment and excitement

The very next day Agatha finds herself showing up to the dress shop alone and tells Rio that she’ll take the dress

Rio teases her about the Instagram like and then forces a pout when she says Agatha didn’t follow her back, Agatha melts at the sight and pulls out her phone so fast

Rio asks about the other stores they visited and Agatha accidentally lets the words “there’s no one like you” slip from her mouth and tries to recover by adding “I mean no one makes dresses as beautiful as you. Yours! Your dresses, I mean”. A cocky smile is infuriating but Agatha can’t help but be pulled to her

Agatha finds herself lingering in the shop much longer than needed and Rio lets her, chatting her up and asking her about Nicky (which makes Agatha’s heart thud inside her chest) and they’re flirting most definitely but neither them can stop

But the shop bell rings and a pretty red headed woman struts in with a brown paper bag filled with food and drops it on the counter, not even blinking an eye at Agatha, and kissing Rio on her cheek. Agatha looks away quickly, spills out some pathetic quick goodbye and leaves before Rio could say anything else

Its three weeks later when Agatha is fuming at Ralph because they had court-side tickets to the Liberty game (thanks to his job) but he forgot he has to go to a dinner with his boss (another woman btw)

They’re fighting (as in Agatha is yelling at Ralph) when the phone rings and Ralph picks up. “It’s Rio? From Vidal Dresses?” he says and Agatha tries to grab for the phone but Ralph continues to speak. He’s humming in agreement until his eyes light up. He asks Rio if she’s busy tonight and then somehow that ends up with Rio and Agatha going to the Liberty game together

They meet up outside Barclays center by the VIP entrance and Rio both cool and adorable wearing her baggy jeans, a loose shirt with the sleeves rolled up and her liberty hat on and all go a sudden Agatha feels silly for the tight blue dress she didn’t bother changing out of from work and even voices that. That silliness melts away though when Rio’s eyes give her a once over and her brown eyes go wide when she realizes she’s been caught.

Keeping Agatha’s slight discomfort in her mind, when they are seated before the game to starts, Rio gets up to go to the “bathroom” and comes back with a matching hat similar to her own and an oversized jersey. Agatha slips on the jersey and Rio sounds breathless when she says how cute she looks. Agatha blushes and thanks her with a hand on her arm and is so busy putting it fixing the hat onto her head that she misses the longing look Rio gives her

It’s not as tense or awkward as they’d both it would be considering they both love basketball and love the liberty. They’re both passionate, yelling, waving around their white towels, and standing up from their seats to yell at the refs

Rio even challenges Agatha to chug her beer and as a prize she’ll buy another on her. Agatha initially declines with a nervous laugh but when Rio makes a teasing joke about not being a chicken, Agatha’s eyes light up. Making a show of tilting her head back and wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. Rio has to school her reaction and how turned on it made her feel

During the start of the third quarter, they call a timeout and they start up the kiss cam. Rio and Agatha are shoulder to shoulder, laughing up at the screen at the shocked couples until it pans on them. Both their mouths fall open and it’s Rio who shakes her head, plastering on her signature cocky smile and wagging her finger no.

The camera moves to 2 more couples before going back to them and the crowd erupts in a chant. The two women look at each other and for a minute Agatha thinks Rio will kiss her on the mouth right the and there and Agatha finds she really wants her to. The younger woman does close in but a wave of disappointment hits Agatha when soft lips meet her temple instead

The crowd boos and the announcer starts up another kiss chant. The women look at each other again and it’s Agatha makes the rash decision and leans in, connecting their lips. It’s supposed to be quick but when Rio melts into it, Agatha puts her hands on soft cheeks and deepens the kiss. They pull apart after a while and even though everyone is staring and the arena is roaring just for them. Nothing mattered because it felt like they were the only two people in the word right then

After the game, Rio walks Agatha home and they stand in front of the luxury apartment building awkwardly, the air filled with tension. Rio nods her head and starts to turn around to leave when Agatha pulls at her arm and their bodies collide. They are pretty much sharing the same air, only inches a part when Agatha decides to do something stupid and ask about the red head from the shop.

Rio tells her it was a one night stand who can’t understand the words not interested (and that should set alarms in Agatha’s head. That Rio isn’t looking for serious because she’s young and that should turn Agatha away but it’s doesn’t) and then Rio asks if she’s jealous. Agatha says no.

A moment passes and the Rio looks down at Agatha’s lips for a long moment before connecting with blue eyes and saying “well I’m jealous” running her thumb over Agatha’s lower lip, caressing her cheek gently before turning and walking away and never turning back around because god she’d run away with this woman if she asked her

They don’t see each other again and maybe it’s a good thing because Agatha could just write it off as a one time blip that will never happen again but Agatha does keep seeing Rio everywhere. She sees her being featured in bridal magazines looking absolutely sexy and adorable, posting in Instagram with mystery women Agatha doesn’t know, and sometimes Agatha sees dark hair out in the wild and a pang of disappointment fills her body when it turns out to be someone else. Agatha always brushes off these instances as nothing but she knows deep down it’s something

And she can’t silence the nagging in the back of her mind when one night Alice and Jen are over for a wine night and the two single openly lesbian women pull up their hinge accounts and they all cuddle up on the couch and filter through the different women and Jen lands on Rio. Agatha wordlessly grabs the phone and starts looking through her profile and the pictures that weren’t found on her Instagram and made Agatha’s heart squeeze.

Then jealously overtook her, knowing that other women were looking at her profile. Other women were messaging her, flirting, asking her out, spending no time with her, taking her back to their place to- no! Agatha shoves the phone back into Jen’s hands and downs her wine in one gulp

Jen jokes about wanting to send Rio a like and that was Agatha’s last straw, who pours herself another glass and downs it again

She tries to forget Rio after that but when she closes her eyes at night, all she can see is that signature smirk and those big brown eyes

On the day of her wedding she almost slips her coffee all over her white satin robe when Rio walks into the bridal suite in a black floral mini dress and her bridal dress bagged and draped off her arm

Agatha had forgotten that that a part of Rio’s business is that she hand delivers the dress on the day and stays around until after the ceremony to make sure the dress is good for the whole celebration. The fact that those big brown eyes are going to be watching her all day, walk down the aisle, marry this man, made Agatha want to throw up

Rio greets her with a kiss on her cheek (which shouldn’t be weird it’s a normal greeting) but Agatha can’t help the blush that paints over her face

Agatha can’t focus on anything else but Rio’s presence in the room. Rio playing with Nicky, her cousins fawning over the younger woman, both Jen and Alice trying to endlessly flirt with her which makes the bride to be harshly bite down on her bottom lip and make it literally bleed

When he hair and makeup are down, her and Rio go to a secluded space to get her dress on and Agatha is literally shaking in anticipation

It’s quiet and the tension is killing both of them so Agatha stupidly brings up if Rio has had anymore one night stands or seen that red head again. Rio is dead serious when she tells her no, that she recently discovered she’s looking for more. That she’s looking to settle down. She jokes that it’s because of her business, that it’s influencing her and while that could be true they both know the real reasoning

Rio’s gently takes Agatha’s soft long hair and brings it over her shoulder, her knuckles grazing her skin which makes Agatha shiver. Agatha watches eyes take over her curves and their eyes meet in the mirror and their breathing both labored

A knock on the door startles them both and it’s Ralph, with his hand covered over his eyes but declares he doesn’t believe in that tradition and takes in his wife to be. He sweeps her into a kiss and when Agatha looks over his shoulder, Rio is long gone

She doesn’t see Rio again until she’s being walking down the aisle and catches Rio standing by the exit, an unreadable expression on her face, before she turns and leaves

Agatha convinces herself she can do this, that Rio was no one to her, that her feelings mean nothing and Ralph is right here ready to marry her but then she finds herself speaking up when the priest asks if anyone objects. All she says is sorry to Ralph (who looks at her in understanding) before running out of the church (Alice and Jen high five, smiling from ear to ear because maybe they knew something was going on all along and maybe tried to make Agatha jealous all day)

Rio is back in her shop, luckily no brides to be coming are scheduled to come in today, so keeps the shop sign on closed and she sits in the back, letting herself cry.

She doesn’t even know why she’s this emotional. She doesn’t even know this woman for real but there’s something so clearly there and that fact that she can’t even explore it, explore her, is killing Rio inside because she can just feel that whatever they could’ve had would’ve been once in a life time, magical.

Rio has always thought the term soulmate was idiotic and made up but when she met Agatha, all she wanted to do was please her. To make her smile. To be around her. She feels tethered to someone who just got married to a man and she was spiraling.

The bell of her store dings and through tears she yells that the shop is closed only to look up in see Agatha, hair matted from running, still in her wedding dress and clearly out of breath

Agatha doesn’t need to say anything, they both understand what’s happened. Rio gets up and runs towards her and Agatha meets her halfway. They kiss, melting into each others embrace, knowing this is the start of something incredible and forever

Two years later they are getting married at city hall with Jen and Alice as witnesses and MOHs again and Nicky as Rio’s best man. Agatha wears a chic white satin dress with a matching white neck scarf that Rio spent over a 1000 hours crafting especially for her wife to be and Nicky is wearing a matching suit as Rio (that she also made) and it’s the sweetest thing Agatha has ever seen, she loves how much her little boy adores Rio as much as she does. The wedding photo they blow up in their shared apartment is them on the steps of city hall. Both women lifting up Nicky into the air who holds up both of their bouquets in joy above them as the two women kiss

[iicraft505]

Also not really related but gill nets should be illegal everywhere. As far as I'm concerned there's no good use for them.

[romance-rambles]

concept: due to some ancient relic rumored to be able to make someone go back in time, the ricci brothers wake up in the past.

this happens about a year after chevalier's coronation.

they specifically end up on the day that silvio's mother poisoned rio's mother, and silvio could do nothing but watch helplessly—aka that scene from silvio's romantic route ch21.

you see, the relic is supposed to take you back to a moment you deeply regret. and silvio was the one holding onto it, while rio was climbing over him to see what he was up to.

rio is really just collateral here.

they both wake in their own beds. while silvio is woken up by one of his servants, lydia, rio's mom, wakes rio up. due to all the poisoning attempts, she's incredibly frail, and it's only when he holds her that he realizes that this is real.

silvio, meanwhile, has already caught on, simply because he remembers the legend surrounding the relic—a moment he regrets most.

truthfully, he regrets how he handled rio in general.

because silvio both loves and loathes him. if someone seems to have a better relationship with rio (outside of emma), he starts getting snippy. if someone insults rio (even if it's a friend of his), he starts getting snippy.

if rio hits his head and suddenly starts showing mild affection towards him...i think you get the idea.

[by the way, rio's is provoking the former queen. silvio is oddly touched, until he remembers he hates his mother and that he'd given up on emidio long before rio's accident, so he really doesn't care.]

however, there's one singular moment that specifically haunts him whenever he's left at the mercy of his regrets. so silvio asks the servant when his father is coming back. then he purposely says the wrong date, mostly because his pride won't let him admit he's worried about rio.

[it isn't said how old they are, nor when it takes place in relation to the rio&silvio collection story. however, i assume they take place within a year of each other, with the latter coming first. they're like 10/12 respectively]

once he has his answer, silvio heads over to the royal physician's office and tells him that he wants the physician's book on poisons.

there's probably a better way to word this so that the man doesn't think he's trying to poison rio, but silvio's used to it. he flips through the book and demands that the man make him a specific antidote. he's already lived through this once, after all. at this point, the only person he cares about in this damned family is rio (and emma).

however, while he's in the middle of rushing the apprentice, rio comes along, having had the same idea.

they stare at each other for a long moment before silvio gets embarrassed and tells the apprentice to drop it off in his room as soon as it's done. it's not like he hasn't helped rio in the past, but their childhood...it still feels like a touchy subject for him. plus, when helping him in rhodolite, he had the excuse of preventing an international incident.

what excuse does he have now?

the door slams shut behind him and rio takes the opportunity to question the apprentice.

after warning him about talking shit about silvio, though he words it as if he was concerned about the apprentice instead, he takes the antidote and offers to drop it off at silvio's. rio get visibly angry when the apprentice insists against it, but puts his "nicest person you'll ever meet" mask on so quickly that the man misses it.

the first thing rio does when he kicks open the door is complain about silvio's bad reputation. the first thing is silvio does is tell him to fuck off.

rio's compromise is this: he sits on the edge of the bed, while silvio is trying to get the antidote. then he asks about silvio's grand plan, and it's really just him opening his big mouth and handing her the antidote.

even if it means being shunned by his mother and emidio.

rio thinks he's an idiot, but silvio throws rio's words back at him: "at least i'll be human."

"isn't that what you've always been?"

silvio's not entirely sure how much he's supposed to read into rio's words. is this forgiveness? does he deserve it? of course, he doesn't. but rio doesn't let him wallow for much long. he suggests that he should be the one to give the antidote, and silvio can play double agent, particularly since they have no idea how long they'll be here for. and they can't leave without emma anyway.

so they go with his plan, where, once his mother gets poisoned, rio orders a few servants to help him get his mother to her room. then he feeds her the antidote and she falls asleep.

that night, he sneaks into silvio's room to tell him the news.

meanwhile, silvio's been thinking. it's possible that the requirements for returning home include fixing rio's regrets as well. they both agree that they'd prefer to stay here for as little time as possible, so they hope that's not the case.

that night, they congregate in silvio's room to discuss what happened. eventually, they fall asleep together and when they wake up, they're on the floor, with emma hovering over them concernedly.

[by the way, emma tried to get some of the knights to move the two to their respective rooms. rio was, unfortunately, holding on for dear life.]

at first, they think it might've been some kind of dream. nothing seems to have changed after all. silvio has a moment where he hates himself, since all that fixing amounted to was soothing his own guilt and ego.

he then leaves and rio comes to talk to him, regardless of what route emma's on. they're very awkward about it.

then, rio says:

"even if it was a dream, you still helped. emma would say that's still a good deed regardless."

they end up fighting like babies—or more accurately, like siblings. silvio snarks that he doesn't understand how he ended up with a brother like rio, and rio teases him about wanting to look good in front of him.

"ah, how embarrassing. 'i've always wanted to be close to you.' you know, words like that are better suited for your wife (silvio's route)/fiancée (rio's route)."

this is something silvio personally said before they fell asleep, so silvio's only recourse is to shove him.

emma's job, as always, is to break it up.

[cut to baby rio and baby silvio. they wake up, with the vaguest memory of the prior day's events. they think it's just their imagination, until rio finds a note written by silvio (that he vaguely remembers writing) about how he hopes his mom feels better because of the antidote.

rio gets angry at first. he thinks he's being taunted. and then, he realizes that he can recall taking the antidote from silvio—and that silvio claims that he wishes to protect him, but has no power.

so he leaves a note for silvio, who goes through the same song and dance. their relationship ends up for the better, since now rio knows silvio's on his side. at one point, he comes across silvio after he's "talked" with their dad.

rio kicks the door open to shout at his dad. silvio tries to get him to stop, but rio's mother comes in and she learns everything. she's suitably horrified, so now the king has to choose between hating silvio and keeping the woman he loves.

even in the future, rio's mother holds a grudge, and thinks her sons aren't necessarily wrong to hold one, even if it breaks her heart.

in this new world, they end up much happier, though the events of the game still happen!]

[in the og timeline, their relationship is notably less rocky. they're like normal sibling tier now.]

[kramlabs]

Texas told the Biden administration to take a hike.

Via Brion McClanahan

But this isn’t “nullification”.

Texas insists that the Biden administration enforce the laws of the United States.

Biden has so far refused and instead retaliated by cutting off natural gas exports from Texas.

In other words, Biden has chosen economic warfare against a State, the very definition of treason in the Constitution, to appease the hard left faction in his political party.

This is the very thing the founding generation feared from the executive branch.

Some background is in order.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas National Guard to construct obstacles—barbed wire fencing and shipping containers--on land adjacent to the Rio Grande River. This is Texas property, not federal land.

The United States Border Patrol used it as a processing center for illegal aliens, and thus it became a focal point for massive numbers of “migrants” crossing into Texas across the Rio Grande River.

Invasion would be a better word.

Texas then told the Border Patrol that they were no longer allowed on State property while Texas law enforcement began arresting and deporting illegal aliens.

The Federal Government sued in federal court and demanded that the razor wire and makeshift border wall come down. Biden’s Justice Department also argued that Texas’ efforts to enforce federal immigration law violated the Constitution.

“Texas cannot run its own immigration system. It’s efforts, through SB 4, intrude on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrate the United States’ immigration operations and proceedings, and interfere with U.S. foreign relations.”

Here’s the catch. Texas isn’t running its own immigration system. It’s enforcing existing federal law.

Every officer in the United States, from the local governments to the President, takes an oath to uphold constitutional federal law. Biden did so in 2021. That is the primary language of his oath of office.

Biden has not claimed that immigration laws are unconstitutional. He has not claimed that these people are crossing the border legally.

He admits that they are entering Texas illegally, meaning his only job is enforcing the laws on the books, something his administration is clearly refusing to do.

Texas has done it for him.

But this raises several larger Constitutional questions.

The Founders unequivocally considered “invasion” to be one of the important reasons States maintained control of their own militia units.

That would be the modern misnamed “National Guard.”

Biden cannot “nationalize” the Guard in this instance because federal law would not allow it.

The Texas National Guard is already enforcing federal law, meaning that if Biden nationalized the Guard and told them to stand down, he would be in violation of the Constitution.

He would also violate federal law. The Insurrection Act of 1792 allows the President to nationalize the militia (National Guard) in three instances: to suppress insurrection, stop domestic violence, or enforce federal law.

Allowing invasion is not on the list. Nor is breaking the law.

That would be a dereliction of duty, an impeachable offense.

The parallels between Biden’s actions and other stand-offs between the States and the general government are impossible to find.

Texas wants to enforce federal law.

In 1798, Virginia and Kentucky nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts because they violated the Constitution. This wasn’t a case of neglect.

In 1815, several New England States refused to enforce laws in support of the War of 1812. Again, not a case of neglect.

In 1832, South Carolina nullified the federal tariff. Jackson threatened to send in the army to collect the tariff. He wasn’t refusing to enforce a federal law.

In the 1840s and 1850s, several Northern States refused to enforce the fugitive slave laws. The Supreme Court ruled that States did not have to use their own police powers to support federal law.

But in this case, Texas is supporting federal law. The Biden Administration has vacated its Constitutional responsibility.

The Justice Department’s claim that the general government has “exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens” would also be news to the founding generation.

States could determine residency and who could and could not be within their borders. Jefferson made this contention in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. After 1808, the general government could prohibit “persons” from entering the States, but this power was not denied to the States in Article I, Section 10, meaning the States could also allow or prohibit “persons” from entering their borders.

The “supremacy clause” only applies to laws made in “pursuance of the Constitution.”

Nor does the 14th Amendment cover illegal aliens. Only citizens of the States are entitled to due process and the privileges and immunities of citizens of the other States. Foreign nationals are not citizens of any State or the United States.

This is an open and shut case of dangerous abuse of power by the executive branch. If the Republicans in Congress had any spine, they would immediately impeach Biden for his action against Texas and inaction on immigration enforcement.

In the Philadelphia Convention, James Madison listed “negligence” and betraying “his trust to a foreign power” as the chief causes of impeachment, among others.

Attempting to coerce a State though economic boycotts would satisfy Gouverneur Morris’s definition of “treachery”, what he considered to be an impeachable offense.

In either case, Biden should be easily convicted and booted from power.

That is, if we had a real Constitutional government in the federal city.

That dream died in 1789 in the First Congress.

I discuss all of this on Episode 926 of The Brion McClanahan Show.

You can watch it here.

OR

You can listen to it and download it here.

If you want a real history education, check out McClanahan Academy. I've produced several courses on secession, the Constitution, the War, decentralization, and a host of other cool topics. I think it's the antidote to our current Lincolnian nightmare. Use the coupon code Podcast at checkout and get 25% off every class.

And if you want to get my show ad free, just head over to my Patreon account. For $10 you get no ads and one additional Podcast per month that is based on your questions. It's a win/win.

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[usafphantom2]

As the bombings in Gaza continue, the US approves the sale of guided bomb kits to Israel

The pumps are manufactured by the North American subsidiary of the Israeli company Rafael.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 08/11/2023 - 11:00 in Armaments, Military, War Zones

The United States government has approved a sale of $320 million Spice kits of precision guided ammunition to Israel, specifically designed to convert unguided bombs into more accurate GPS-guided ammunition.

These precision-guided bomb kits, known as Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies, are manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, an Israeli defense company, with Rafael's U.S. subsidiary facilitating this transaction.

The decision to supply these munitions to Israel has sparked debates and criticism, mainly due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where the Gaza Ministry of Health reported a significant number of Palestinian victims. Israel used accurately guided ammunition to achieve military goals in Gaza, resulting in devastating damage, especially in densely populated urban areas.

The U.S. State Department authorized the sale to Israel on October 31, which follows a previous transaction for the same equipment valued at almost $403 million, which was approved on February 5, 2023, contributing to the ongoing discussion and debate around the use of precision ammunition in the Gaza conflict.

The authorization of the sale coincides with a major airstrike in the Jabaliya neighborhood of Gaza, which allegedly involved the use of 2,000-pound bombs, resulting in numerous victims and drawing attention to the use of such ammunition in densely populated areas.

This sales process is distinct because it involves a foreign entity, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which directly buys weapons from an American company, Rafael USA, bypassing the typical foreign military sales channels of the U.S. government. As a result, the approval of the State Department was not as widely publicized as is usual in the case of arms sales.

The State Department's letter of approval was addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, the House Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversee the sale of weapons. It is essential to note that Israel's request for this $320 million equipment was previously initiated and underwent an informal review process with congressional committees, only receiving final approval from the State Department at the end of October.

There are no SPICEs of any version in the U.S. arsenal, so the weapons will be built from scratch (whether internally in the U.S. or in Israel) for delivery to the Israeli Air Force. Although the number of SPICEs is not specified, it is estimated that the amount is at least 2,000 pumps, although some sources point to 2,500.

On the other hand, it should be emphasized that the U.S. has already replenished the Israeli Air Force's JDAM and GBU-39 stocks directly from the U.S. armed forces stocks.

Tags: weaponsMilitary AviationIAF - Israeli Air Force/Israel Air ForceRafael SystemsSPICEWar Zones - Middle East

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[msclaritea]

GOP talk of military action in Mexico sparks dire warnings | The Hill

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the strongest pledge on the stage with his response to Fox News moderator Martha MacCallum’s question asked whether he would support sending U.S. special forces into Mexico to “take out fentanyl labs, to take out drug cartel operations.”

“Yes. And I will do it on day one,” said DeSantis.

The governor’s eagerness reflects a growing normalization of the idea, which Republicans have embraced from the campaign trail to the halls of Congress.

Even more moderate GOP candidates such as former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott have suggested support for some version of unilateral military action across the Rio Grande.

Former President Trump’s hawkish approach to the bilateral relationship has led the way in mainstreaming the idea. As president, he sought Pentagon advice on launching missiles into Mexico, according to “A Sacred Oath,” a memoir by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Esper talked Trump down, but the proposal still casts a shadow on U.S.-Mexico relations.

“I believe any action that is unilateral by the United States vis-à-vis Mexico, especially by U.S. uniformed forces, be they police or military, would be completely counterproductive to United States-Mexico relations,” said John Negroponte, who served as permanent representative to the U.N. under President George W. Bush and as ambassador to Mexico under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

“Mexico is our largest trading partner. We share a 2,200-mile border and we have inter-relationships that are extensive and across an entire spectrum of issues such as migration, trade, people-to-people relations and environmental concerns. I believe such action would be extremely ill-advised,” Negroponte said.

Over the past century, bilateral relations have eased from the brink of war to deep collaboration on that catalog of issues, though many in Mexico remain distrustful of U.S. influence.

The last major U.S. military intervention in Mexico ended in 1917, as the latter country’s revolution entered its final phase. Known then as the “punitive expedition,” the mission led by Gen. John Pershing saw 10,000 U.S. combatants deployed to northern Mexico over the better part of a year.

Better commercial and cross-border relations came with decades of political stability in Mexico, culminating in the signature of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992.

While cooperation has only intensified since then, open and direct collaboration between U.S. and Mexican security forces remains elusive; the Pentagon’s long-term goal of better integration with the Mexican military hit a speed bump amid Trump-related tensions.

But a century of progress could be erased overnight, a Mexican official told The Hill.

“Any military intervention in Mexico would be a monumental setback for the U.S. and would derail the bilateral relationship. It can destroy the North American trading bloc and worsen the security situation, triggering a wave of migration in the region.”

Now, bilateral tensions are being stimulated on both sides of the border, with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pursuing an internal image of defiance against the United States.

“It’s been made worse obviously in the process by President López Obrador’s denial of Mexico’s role in fentanyl trafficking — the fact that he says that fentanyl isn’t produced in Mexico — which is absurd because its own armed forces parade seizures of labs and of fentanyl being produced in Mexico,” said Arturo Sarukhán, who served as Mexican ambassador to the United States from 2007-13.

“In many ways, López Obrador unwittingly has fanned the flames of anger, vis-à-vis Mexican positions on law enforcement collaboration, so it’s the perfect storm.”

Despite the political pressures that driven in part by a frantic search for solutions to the opioid epidemic, a few cooler heads remain.

On the debate stage Wednesday, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) opposed the unilateral use of U.S. military or police force in Mexico, harkening back to his experience as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We cannot be successful against the cartel unless we bring in Mexico as a partner. We have to use economic pressure to accomplish that,” said Hutchinson, though he added that López Obrador “has not been helpful.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence lauded Hutchinson’s appeal for economic pressure, but said he would “engage Mexico the exact same way” as the Trump administration to ensure security cooperation.

Hutchinson, who also served as the top border security official when the Department of Homeland Security was created in 2003, was more channeling the approach of the pre-Trump GOP.

“​​What Hutchinson said last night is a clear reminder of the way the GOP would go about addressing issues of transnational collaboration in the fight against transnational organized crime with countries like Mexico,” said Sarukhán.

But the post-Trump GOP, according to its opponents, is a ticking time bomb.

“I think what you’re seeing is the unraveling of a political party in real time,” said Texas Rep. Joaquín Castro, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.

The idea of unilateral military action is a placeholder for a lack of policy proposals in other fields, said Castro, but he warned the idea is already snowballing.

“What happens is, somebody popular in their party starts talking about it, and then the other candidates start parroting it. And after time, their base takes it on as a core idea and gets behind it.

“And then the base starts demanding that every Republican in the country, whether they’re running for president or school board, agrees with this idea. And that’s the evolution of this whole thing. And that’s what’s gonna happen here. If something doesn’t change, that’s what’s gonna happen here.”

Pressed for further comment on DeSantis’s hard-line position, his campaign said “he will do what is necessary to stop the deadly flow of Fentanyl and other narcotics from the Mexican drug cartels.”

“Ron DeSantis rightly didn’t back down to the Experts(TM) during COVID and he likewise won’t let them keep him from securing our southern border,” said press secretary Bryan Griffin.

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), a global crisis negotiator who served as U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. under Clinton, warned that military action in Mexico would both backfire and fail to solve the underlying issues.

“It shows the nativist shift of the Republican Party from internationalism to irresponsible diplomacy. It would be a disaster if there were any military action against Mexico — a foreign policy disaster for the United States,” he said. 

“Plus, it makes no sense to resolve the problem,” Richardson added.

Leftists crying for a revolution here. Rightwingers crying for a war with Mexico. Evil never rests. Vote.

[blueedahlia]

You Are Home

So I went to the coordinates of the vase and lamp that were found to see if I could find nearby interesting places on Maps.

Thanks to genuinemusic​ for finding about You Are Home and linked it to Harry in this amazing post . daisiesonafield-blog who found the coordinates in the HTML. theirloveisgross​ for adding all the newspaper locations and bluewinnerangel​ and ladychlo​ for the follow up of the adds being published (vase) in the newspapers (lamp).

Take in mind:

Some of this stuff is crazy and I only found it by looking at the photos of the places nearby and even going street view near the locations, this could all be a huge ass coincidence and has nothing to do with Harry or Louis.

The only SURE thing about all this is that the coordinates are close to newspapers building and that later You Are Home ads began to be published in the same newspapers. Everything else here is just me being a clown.

If you want to find something, you will find a way. So it's likely that I only found all of these because I knew very well how to look for them.

Don't ask about the Hilton Hotel, it's just that I realized that in many of the coordinates there was always a Hilton Hotel nearby, so I started looking for them in all the locations.

I added Freedom after I realized that Australia and Argentina literally had a hostel called Freedom.

And Princess because someone pointed out that the coordinates leading to Argentina were near the Princess Park bar.

I KNOW I found something about Marvel, but I couldn't find it again, I think it was a museum or a stadium or something. If anyone finds it, please tell me.

I had to rewrite the entire post twice because for some reason Tumblr didn't save the changes, so I KNOW I'm missing a lot of other stuff I noticed the first and second time :(

Warning: if you want to do this too, keep in mind that if you are nearsighted, with all the focus on little things on the screen, it will probably get worse lol.

I'm going to cut the post here because, well, it's looooong.

Enjoy and be a clown with me!

var coords_vase:

29.4279, -98.4849:  301 Ave E, San Antonio, TX 78205

Nearby places:  

Ripley's Believe It or Not! (museum)

Oasis Mexican Cafe

Gallagher house (only say historical)

Anchor Lodge (fraternal organization)

Bowie St

Louis Tussaud's Waxworks (wax museum)

Rainbow Shops (clothing store)

BBVA Compass ATM In HEB

Compass Rose Ingenuity (college)

Newspaper: 

San Antonio Express News

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Palacio del Rio

Hilton Garden Inn

Hilton Garden Inn San Antonio Airport South

Freedom: 

Freedom Hill Church

Freedom Forever

Freedom Park

Princess:

Princess Pass, San Antonio

40.7748, -73.4108:  1 Corporate Center Dr, Melville, NY 11747

Nearby places:  

Honeywell security (Joel Honeywell was the director of photography in Golden Music Video)

njs wealth management

The street name being “corporate center”... suspish

Baker Tilly US (LLP)

Compass Advisors (financial advise)

Victoria Place (victory place) 

Arrow Electronics Inc

Louis Dr, Melville (street)

Newspaper:  

Newsday Connect (publicity agency)

Media Contact list (newspaper editorial)

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Garden Inn Melville

Hilton Long Island/Huntington

Homewood Suites by Hilton Long Island-Melville

Freedom:

Freedom Care

Freedom First Abstract

Freedom Abstract Corporation

Princess:

Princess Cafe

40.7691,-111.9029:  Union Pacific Depot, 18 N Rio Grande St, Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Nearby places:  

Gateway plaza

The Getaway (shopping mall)

The Gateway north garage

The Store: Getaway

Liberty Getaway (apartments)

Blue lemon (restaurant)

Anchor (Financial Services)

Fidelity Investments

Free People (clothing store)

Capitol (theatre)

Bring Horizons (kindergarten)

Inland SW Management Co (real state developer)

Blue Iguana (Mexican restaurant)

Louis Vuitton City Creek Center (sunglasses store)

Angel Wings mural (nothing Larry related but it’s nice and wings represent freedom).

Note: all those Getaway reminds me of Sign of the times (We got to get away)

And if you go to Street View in the Angel Wings mural, guess what? The Getaway is advertised this way::

Newspaper: 

The Salt Lake Tribune

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Salt Lake City Center

Hilton Garden Inn Salt Lake City Downtown

Freedom:

Freedom Zone

Utah Freedom Fighters

Princess:

Oliver & Princess Natasha (house articles store)

49.9317, -97.1876:  1571 Magnus Ave, Winnipeg, MB R2X 0P6, Canada

Nearby places:  

Color Compass (auto parts store)

Sunny Food 

Louis Trading Company Ltd (collectible card shop)

Harry Logistics Ltd.

Arrow St

Brazil St

Code St

Buller St 

A singer named Buller has a song named Barry Styles with the following lyrics:

Newspaper: 

Canstar Community News LTD & Distribution Services

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Winnipeg Airport Suites

Freedom:

Freedom International School

Freedom Hill Church

Princes:

Princess St, Winnipeg

The Bubble Princess (beauty and health store)

53.5418, -2.14973: 228 Broadway, Chadderton, Oldham OL9 9JE, UK

Nearby places:  

Compass Learning Center

Anchor St

Rainbow Kabin Pre-school (Community Church)

Oasis Academy Oldham (school)

There is literally a place 30 min away named Rope & Anchor

Anchor - Weavers Lodge (nursing home)

Not much to look at, but I mean, the 228 is just a bit suspish, but if you go to Street View near the location, you'll find this:

Ring road

Leeds

Newspaper:

Manchester Evening News HQ

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Garden Inn Manchester Emirates Old Trafford

Hilton St, Manchester, Reino Unido

Hilton Ln, Walkden

Freedom:

Digital Freedom Limited (not that near as the previous ones)

Princess:

Princess Rd, Chadderton

55.8632, -4.2791:  Anderston Medical Centre, Finnieston, Glasgow, UK

Nearby places:  

Loud and clear (audiovisual consultant)

The Anchor Line

Compass Gallery (art gallery)

William St

Edward House (volunteer organization)

BuZy Bees (cleaning Services)

Anchor Building (apartments)

Pursuit Marketing (marketing consultant)

Holmes Miller

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Statue (was famous for his personal styled named “Mackintosh Rose”)

There’s a place named “airport” that caught my eye, so I went Street View. I turned to the Geared Life Magazine building and I found this (happy accidents I guess):

Newspaper:

Sunday Mail

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Glasgow (cof cof is in 1 William St).

Hilton Garden Inn Glasgow City Centre

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Glasgow Central

Hilton hotel

Freedom:

Freedom Scripted Entertainment Ltd

Freedom One Life, The Pentagon Centre

Princess:

Pole princess Glasgow (dance academy)

Princes House (office complex)

52.5258, -1.8348: Edwards Rd, Birmingham B24 9EW, UK

Nearby places:

The Sunshine Bakehouse

Sunrise News

Rainbow Carpets and Flooring Ltd

Anchor - Kingsbury Place (yup another nursing home named Anchor)

Anchor Day Nursery

Anchor - Kimble Grove (and ANOTHER nursing home)

Neverland Fun House (nothing Larry related but Neverland being this imaginary amazing place where everything is possible make think of TPWK “maybe we can find a place to feel good and we can treat people with kindness”)

Compass Support (Sanctuary)

Fire Station (I’d walk through fire for you, just let me adore you)

The simple location being in EDWARDs rd is suspish.

Newspapers: 

Close to Solihull Mail

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham Brindleyplace

Freedom:

Freedom Gmap

Freedom paper converters goods in (reels)

Princess:

Princess Rd, Birmingham (not as near, 15 min away)

Princess Alice Retail Park

-37.82071, 144.9666: 3 Southgate Ave, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia

Nearby places:  

28 State Route 20

Mantra Southbank Melbourne (hotel) I’m pointing this out because I notices in other coordinates there is also places with the name “Mantra” so I found it weird.

Bombini Buzz (cafe)

Anchor Apartments

Edward VII Monument

Rose Garden (park)

Louis Vuitton Melbourne Crown (shop)

Compass Coffee and Food

National Gallery of Victoria

Queen Victoria monument

Queen Victoria Gardens

Testing Grounds (artistic center)

Orchestra Victoria (orchestra Victory)

The good guys (corporate office)

In the 78 City Rd, there’s a place named Eureka 

A big ass shopping mall named “Southgate”. 

The interesting part is the photos I found from the mall:

Fun Home advisement in the floor.

Big ass bees (buzz buzz mf)

This is from Eureka Tower which is also not far from the original location:

Newspaper:

The Sun Herald Melbourne

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street

Hilton Academy

Pan Pacific Melbourne, 2 Convention Centre Pl (is in a Hilton Hotel)

Freedom:

Freedom - South Wharf, Homemaker Hub shop

Princess:

Princess bridge

59.327, 18.0152:  Kvällstidningen Expressen, 105 15 Stockholm, Sweden

Nearby places:  

I don't know Swedish, so if there is something interesting, I won't be able to get it.

But, I went to Street View if I could find anything and guess what? Still buzzing? Also Bauer Media Group.

Newspaper:

Dagens Nyheter (newspaper editorial)

Expressen (newspaper), and from there is the bee symbol on the building.

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Stockholm Slussen

Freedom:

Frihetens Källa (fountain of freedom)

25.674, -100.309:  Eje Metropolitano 26 616-704, Centro, 64000 Monterrey, N.L., Mexico

Nearby places:  

El sol editora (The Sun publishing company).

Salon de las ventanas (windows salon)

Nandas 78 Bar (cof cof another 78 coincidence)

BBG comunicación (I don’t know what this is, in the map just say “payphone”, but the BBG alone is interesting).

El Ancla (The Anchor clothing store)

Hotel Oasis (*sigh*)

Oasis de Vida (health food store)

Rosa Náutica (Nautical Rose restaurant)

Newspaper:

El Norte newspaper

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Garden Inn Monterrey Obispado

Hampton Inn by Hilton Monterrey/Galerías-Obispado

Freedom:

FREEDOM, Av. Chapultepec 401

Libertad, Independencia (freedom street)

Princess:

Princess (venue for events)

var coords_lamp:

39.7647, -86.1583: 130 S Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46225

Nearby places:  

Harry & Izzy's

Remind you of something? What a coincidence!

Anchor clothing store (inside the mall)

If you go street view in the Anchor Store location you will find this, I swear I’m not making this up!

Elite Management

Sun Garage (that’s the name of the mall)

Business Media

Sun King Brewery (beer factory)

Oasis of Love (home Care) (yes, another Oasis)

Compass Group (financial advisor)

Parlor Public House (cafeteria) Yup, another place named Public House *sigh*

Buzz (cafeteria) 

Rainbow Realty Group (real state agency)

World of Wonders Garage (just because remind me of Neverland)

Ticketmaster (tickers sale)

Independent Colleges of Indiana (non-profit organization)

Fandom (store)

If you go street view to Fandom location you will get exactly in front of the Blue announcement (in the Anchor store you need to turn around, but in Fandom you get exactly in front).

Newspaper: 

The Indianapolis Star

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Indianapolis Hotel & Suites

Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown

Freedom:

FREEDOM Indianapolis

Charters of Freedom - COMING SOON

Freedom Construction Of Indiana

Freedom From the Inside Out

Princess:

Princess Jewelry (not as near, 14 min away)

35.2203, -80.8441: S Caldwell St, Charlotte, NC 28202

Nearby places:  

The Green Park

This is a photo of the park’s bigger attraction. I’m not gonna say it...

NASCAR Hall of fame. 

If you go Street view outside of the NASCAR Hall of fame you will find this (who is NASCAR Hall of fame motto):

“THIS IS OUR SPORT, THIS IS OUR HOUSE”

Also, the checkered flags from NASCAR means FINISH LINE

Stonewall St.

Anchor Capital (bank and finances)

A bar named “The Public House”. I’m not kidding anymore guys. This is getting creepy.

Compass Group (offices)

369 Charlottetowne Ave, Charlotte

A place named “More Human Training”

Newspaper:

Charlotte Business Journal

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Charlotte Uptown

Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte Uptown

Freedom:

Freedom Park

Princess:

Princess Pl

49.9614, -112.5298: Lethbridge County, AB, Canada

Nearby places (for this one since the coordinates lead to a small town I will expand my limits, with the other locations I was looking for places less than 15 minutes from the original coordinates, with this one I will look for keywords to see what I find:  

Anchor Products (35 min away)

Compass Dental (dentist) (36 min away)

Rainbow Vacuum Sales & Service (33 min away)

Oasis (beauty shot) (35 min away)

The Rose Garden (florist) (40 min away)

But since in this location there’s literally NOTHING, I started to zoom out and guess what? WTF is that?

Remind me of two things:

A target

A radar (cof cof Eroda)

Newspaper:

Nothing, but there’s a mail office near named “Canada Post.”

Hilton Hotel:

Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Lethbridge

Freedom:

Rccg Freedom House Lethbridge

Ultimate Freedom Plus

Freedom 55 Financial a Division of London Life Insurance Company & Quadrus Investment Services Ltd

Princess:

Princess Auto (tool store) (36 min away)

53.7933, -1.5598: 26 Whitehall, Leeds LS12 1BE, UK

Of course it’s Leeds!

Nearby places:  

Wellington Rd

Wellington St

Wellington Wy

Rainbow Therapy (adviser)

7&8 Wellington Place (cof cof another place related to 78)

Edward Architecture

Compass Building Consultancy Limited

Anchor - Simon Marks Court care home (another nursing home *double sigh*)

Rainbow Junktion (cafeteria)

Compass Live Art (art studio)

And guess what? Anchor, St Peter's Ct (another nursing home)

Newspaper:

The Yorkshire Post

Hilton Hotel:

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Leeds City Centre

Hampton by Hilton Leeds City Centre

Hilton Leeds City

Freedom:

Freedom Care Clinics Wellington Place

Princess:

New Princess St

-16.9222, 145.7781:��Abbott St, Cairns City QLD 4870, Australia

Nearby places:  

Tha Fish (seafood)

Louis Vuitton cairns DFS (store)

Sunlover Reef cruises 

Mantra Trilogy Cairns (hotel), I just mention this because in other locations there are also places named mantra.

Compass Cruises (agency)

House Of Commons

Blue Lagoon Bar (cocktail bar)

Victory Vape Cairns (vape shop)

Hello Harry (The Burger Joint) Cairns (I CAN’T. I.C.A.N.T)

Rebel Rose Australia (clothing store)

Golden Boat Chinese  (restaurant)

Newspaper:

The Cairns Post

The Australian Newspaper

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Cairns, 34 Esplanade

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cairns

Freedom:

Freedom Hostels

Ocean Free & Ocean Freedom - Cairns Premier Great Barrier Reef & Island Tours

Princess:

Princess Cl

-26.1855, 28.0293: Empire Rd, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

Nearby places:  

There’s also a Wellington rd.

SHISHA BUZZ (hookah shop)

Anchor Nursery School

Harry Street (I’m not kidding)

Urban Oasis Rooftop (hotel)

Salon Louis,  Lewis Pritchard Street and Cigarette Inn next to each other.

The location being in Empire Rd is suspish. You know, because Pleasing is actually located in The Empire State Building:

Newspaper:

Daily Sun

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Sandton

Freedom:

A New Freedom Group

Princess: 

Princess (mall)

44.8435, -0.5638: 23 Quai des Queyries, 33100 Bordeaux, France

Nearby places:  

Louis Emie street

Louis Vuitton (leather goods)

I don’t know French, so even if there’s more interesting places  I will be no able to get it. If someone know French and want to look, be my guest!

Newspaper:

Journal Sud Ouest (newspaper)

Journal Sud Ouest (media house)

Hilton Hotel:

Hilton Garden Inn Bordeaux Centre

Freedom:

Rue de la Liberté (Freedom street)

Princess:

Princesse tam.tam (lingerie store)

-32.9460, -60.6379: Sarmiento 749, S2000 CMK, Santa Fe, Argentina

Nearby places:  

La casa de las alianzas (the house of the alliances)

Remeras Fandom (clothing store)

This is just a happy accident, but if you go to the Fandom clothing store location, you will find photos on the walls of different artists and you will find Luis and Harry among them. Please, this is just a coincidence because you will also find photos of Zayn, Niall and One Direction. 

Disqueria Music Shop (record store) has this image and it’s literally across the street from the original location:

Let’s zoom in:

Yep, that’s fucking WALLS VINYL Y’ALL. What are the odds?

Banco Columbia (Columnia Bank)

Luis Martorell Propiedades (real estate agency)

Calle San Luis (St Luis street)

Paparazzi (photo shop)

Blue House Servicios Eléctricos (Electrical technician)

SUNSUN MARKET (toy store)

Textil Oasis (bedding shop)

Aldea del Sol (baby clothes store)

Sport 78 (sportswear store) (yup, another 78)

NUEVA VICTORIA (new victory - health food store)

Ferretera San Luis | Sucursal Centro (hardware store)

Also someone pointed out that the Princes Park bar is in the same city and only 5 minutes away from the original location.

Newspaper:

La Capital newspaper

Hilton Hotel:

Hampton by Hilton Rosario

Freedom:

Freedom Hostel (why there’s also one Freedom Hostel in Australia?)

Galería Libertad (Freedom Gallery Shopping Mall)

Freedom Coffee & Bread

Av. de la Libertad (Freedom avenue)

Princess:

Princess Park bar

CRUCEROS PRINCESS (cruise agency)

PRINCESS Todo para el ballet (dance accessories shop)

Thinks to keep an eye on:

The night all the You Are Home madness came out, Louis, for the first time, used green and blue lights during OTB.

Someone on daisiesonafield-blog’s ask found an artist on Instagram named maggiemargaret_designs who does artwork very similar to the vases/flowers in You Are Home. And coincidentally she follows Harry.

And she post this yesterday to Stories:

Someone on Twitter pointed out that she shared Rosalía’s presentation in SNL. 

Two interesting things:

Mentioning the Duvet

The blue and green aesthetic

It would be logical that the female artist that Harry is rumored to have collaborated on his new album is her, since she is part of the same label as Harry and after he himself admitted that, in addition to choosing her to narrate the Adore You video because it is incredible, she is part of the same label as him.

I also found an article about  Maggie Cowles (the artist) and is interesting how she describes her art.

With a love of wordless narratives, Maggie creates food-centred scenes of domesticity which reflect the wider world.

“The work explores how rooms can be full even when they’re empty,” as Maggie describes. “They’re an ode to gatherings past, present, and future.”

The flowers in the artwork seems to be red tulips, so gettingdizzy-oh did some research and found that tulips are associated with 11th wedding anniversary:

lovingstheantidote​ found that the vase have blue laurel leaves

You Are Home now have a Discord, and have two channels named:

#beyond-the-door

#behind-the-door

More Info about this here.

A person in Twitter asked a friend to go to the location in Glasgow and the person found this:

A graffiti with the word Change

A poster with the phrase “The time is now”

A poster announcing the Glasgow Festival from March 3 to March 13 (coincidentally March 13 is the date Louis will finish the North America leg of this World tour).

And blue fish 

Harry naming the pods on the avenues of his European tour after house rooms:

Only time will tell.

And if You Are Home has NOTHING to do with any of them, then, shit, universe really, really hates them.

[batwhimpix]

An Interview with Former Takarazuka Top Star Asumi Rio: The Laidback Personality Behind the Handsome Face

(Translated by me 8/19/2021)

While still a member of the Takarazuka Revue, Asumi Rio was known for her sensitive acting which digs deep into the heart of each role, her crystal-clear vocals, and her captivating stage presence. As the top star of Flower Troupe, she gained an immense level of popularity. Now, it has been one year since her retirement from the company. She has expanded her repertoire from stage to screen, and continues to showcase new sides to her talent. In her first name-bearing variety program, the Hulu Original "Asumi Rio's Atelier," Asumi-san learns new tips and techniques to "step up" both her lifestyle and her design sense. Totally different from her intense onstage aura, this program offers a chance to get to know Asumi-san's soft and relaxed offstage persona.

It's been a year and a half since you left the Takarazuka Revue. How would you describe that period of time for you, Asumi-san?

When I was in the Revue, because I had managed to enter the world of Takarazuka, which was my absolute favorite place, I felt strongly that I didn't want to have any regrets. So I was very motivated to work as hard as I could to polish my craft. I was completely lost in it, but within that, I always had my fans cheering me on, and the guidance of so many around me. In the last year and a half, I've realized all over again just how precious a thing that was.

Until I left, my only experience was on the stage, so stepping into the world on screen for the first time, a lot of totally new forms of expression were expected from me, and I felt a lot of anxiety. Parting from Takarazuka and living as just one individual human, every day is full of challenges. But that said, every day now is also rich with new experiences and new possibilities, so I've come to face that with a lot of gratitude.

While you were in Takarazuka, there was a very clear image, that of a perfect "otokoyaku," to aspire to. Now that you don't have that anymore, what kind of actress are you aiming to become?

There are a lot of qualities I have now precisely because I was an otokoyaku, and I think it's probably okay for me to just embrace that. As top [abbrev. "top star", the starring otokoyaku actress in each troupe], I was in a position where I had to lead the troupe, watch over and guide all the other actresses, and shape each production as the lead actress. I think I've picked up a lot of grit through that experience, and even as a woman, I think having a bit of a masculine edge in your lifestyle and how you deal with things can be a positive, right?

Even when I was playing otokoyaku roles, moreso than aiming for a particular ideal, I came at each role separately, like, this time I'm playing this kind of man, next time I'm playing this kind of man. It was like a gradual broadening of my horizons. Now I'm simply adding female roles to that roster, so it's kind of like the scope of roles available to me has doubled. When it comes to my outward appearance, as my hair grows out and I transition toward a more feminine look, I've been having all kinds of new discoveries, like, "Oh, this kind of styling makes me feel like this." Within my drama roles as well, I like those discoveries like, if I do it like this, won't it be interesting, or if I do this, I can get viewers to say, "Oh!" I want to keep digging to find those little moments where I can really surprise people within each role.

Since your retirement from Takarazuka, what overall on-set experience sticks out the most in your memory?

I think that has to be the first show I had the opportunity to take part in, "Ochoyan" [NHK serialized telenovella]. Until I was on that set, I always thought that the stage was the most incredible place in the world. I would never find anywhere else where every member is so unified in their vision, where everyone has so much pride in their troupe and so much love for the production they're building together, as in Takarazuka. Even now, I still think Takarazuka is a very special place, and my love for it hasn't changed.

But on the set of "Ochoyan," like Takarazuka, there were so many staff working to create this thing, who truly loved the work and brought all kinds of skills to the table to bring it to life. Among the cast as well, the atmosphere during recording, where all of us in the Tsurugame Family Theater [the name of the theater company employing main character Takei Chiyo as well as Asumi-san's character Takamine Ruriko] really did feel like a family, wasn't that different from Takarazuka at all. On the contrary, because our time together was limited just to the recording of this show, it felt like everyone valued that time all the more. Being on a set like that was a huge experience for me.

In Takarazuka, you had a very hectic schedule. As soon as one production closed you were already thinking about the next. I'm sure your lifestyle has changed in a big way since then. What kind of feelings do you have about that?

I retired and moved here to Tokyo right around the start of the pandemic. During the lockdown, when I was in my house all day, I realized how long the day really is. Suddenly it was up to me to decide how to spend all this time in the day. I could use it to rest or, if I had some area I was struggling with, I could use it for training too. I had a renewed realization that depending on my own feelings, I could choose to change myself in any number of ways.

These days, how do you find yourself spending the majority of your time?

These days, I'm doing a lot of types of work I'm totally new to, and working on sets with people I've only just met, so I'm still in a place where I spend a lot of time nervous. When I'm on a set I haven't gotten used to yet, my antenna is going in all different directions, so after I get home I try to relax as much as possible. In order to fully refresh myself and go into work the next day in high spirits and ready to face whatever comes, I've been making a conscious effort to be kind to myself.

What activities allow you to refresh your batteries the most?

Zoning out, and eating delicious food.

On "Asumi Rio's Atelier," you gave steaming rice in a donabe [TN: earthenware pot traditionally used to steam rice, supposedly more delicious than steaming in a rice cooker] a try for the first time, but what kinds of things do you eat most often?

As long as it tastes good, I'll happily eat anything. I like vegetables, meat, fish, and I love carbs, too. Ideally, I want to eat a good balance of a lot of different things.

Speaking of that program, how were the topics for each episode decided? Were you able to make requests?

For "Atelier" we had the general framework that I would be trying different activities I was interested in from the onset, so basically they asked me, "What kind of things are you interested in? What do you want to try?" And then...Yeah, first I had about 30, then we added about 30 more, so in total about 60, ideas that we pitched. The program staff wanted to include as many of my requests as they could, so actually, within each episode there are probably three or four different ones. In addition to that, there's an interview in each episode that relates back to that episode's theme. I enjoyed the chance to reflect on my Takarazuka era and memories from my childhood.

On the topic of your Takarazuka era, in your first interview for us, you said, "I wasn't necessarily aiming to become top star." But within the system of Takarazuka, to climb all the way to top star, you must have been aware of something within yourself that made you want to aim higher?

Let's see...Ever since I was an underclassman, I had a strong drive to improve as an otokoyaku. I wanted people to find my performance interesting, and I wanted to be seen as a necessary part of the production. I wanted to act a lot, and I wanted to sing a lot of songs that I love. I wanted to bathe in the spotlight, and I was happy when I got to wear more gorgeous costumes. If I really think back on those feelings now, first in the shinjinkouen junior performances featuring only actresses who have been with the company seven years or less, and then in performances at the smaller Bow Hall theater next to the Takarazuka Grand Theater, inevitably I started aiming for the lead roles that would allow me to stand on stage for the longest every time.

Somewhere along that road, when I was told I was being transferred from the troupe I was first inducted into, Moon Troupe, to Flower Troupe, this feeling that I had wanted to be the Moon Troupe's successor welled to the surface. And since that's the same as saying, "I wanted to be the top star of Moon Troupe," that was the first time I became aware of that goal. Every troupe in Takarazuka has its own character, though, so after my transfer, I was desperate to hurry up and become an otokoyaku befitting Flower Troupe first...

So as you worked to further your artistic development, there at the zenith was top star.

If you were to ask my underclassman self, the Top-sans are unbelievably incredible performers, and the more shinjinkouens you experience, the more closely you come to understanding just how incredible they are. Then as you spend more years with the company and find yourself in a position where you're working directly under the Top-san, you realize how much work they're really doing, and...The more you know, the more you lose the ability to say something like "I want to be the top star" carelessly.

And yet, you bore the heavy responsibility of a top star for five-and-a-half years. It's hard to imagine from your usual laidback attitude, but when it comes to your art, you're incredibly diligent and strong-willed. That gap is captivating.

When it comes to theater, I'm very picky. I mean, I'm way too stubborn for one thing. Especially in productions where I'm playing the lead role, I always have really strong feelings about how I want to perform things, and I'm not in a position where I can hesitate to convey that. It's important to listen to the opinions of various other people too, but when it comes down to it, if I have a clear idea of the direction I want things to proceed and direct things with that in mind, it makes things easier for everyone else, so I always tried to communicate my thoughts clearly and directly. If I'm delivering consistently good work, there's a persuasive power to that. Not only do the underclassmen naturally follow along, but the staff listen and respond to my requests as well.

But when you're making this kind of production, you do have to be pretty strict. But then, the real me is more of a people pleaser. I want everyone to like me, or more like, I don't want to be disliked. I didn't want the younger underclassmen to feel like I was unapproachable or like they couldn't talk to me because I was the top star. I wanted them to think of me like family. So outside matters relating to work, I tried to give off as relaxed a vibe as possible. Definitely, I think there was quite a gap between "on" and "off" for me.

Are there a lot of differences between "Asumi Rio the otokoyaku" and "Asumi Rio the actress?" How about between your stage name persona and your private self under your birth name?

I've lived under my stage name for so much longer than my birth name that I feel like, at this point, the parts of myself that belong to my real name are few and far between. I do have the feeling that, in some respect, I've grown up together with my stage name. In essence, while I was in Takarazuka, I didn't worry too much about creating a separate persona. Thanks to the kindness of my fans and the environment I was in, I felt like I could leave my otokoyaku persona on the stage and stay pretty close to my natural self everywhere else. I guess the only thing is, when I'm alone in my house, I revert to goblin mode. (laughs wryly) Like I'll have trouble getting myself to go take a bath, or I really should clean but my back hurts, etc., etc.

By contrast, now that I've graduated from being an otokoyaku, a lot of the things I'm doing as an actress are total firsts for me, so I think I feel more discomfort with my presentation now than I did then. There are times when I get really nervous, and then I get disappointed in myself for feeling that way. Like, until just a little while ago, I was in a position where I was responsible for keeping everyone's morale up. I would get up on that stage like, "It's alright, just leave it to me," so what am I all anxious for now? I often think about how much I still have to learn, and how badly I want to hurry up and learn it so I can show the results of my efforts.

Is there a particular ideal you're currently pursuing? What kind of actress do you want to become, and what kind of woman?

Since leaving Takarazuka, I've had a lot more opportunity to meet all kinds of new people. On every set I've been on, each of the actresses I meet has their own unique aura, and seeing their acting up close, I'm blown away by each of them. Among the staff as well, there are so many different kinds of professionals of all ages, and I often find myself inspired by their work ethic and lifestyle. I'd like to continue to enrich my life by learning from the amazing people I meet and experiencing many new things, and work to become a more fully rounded human being.

*Bracketed notes not marked "TN" (Translator's Note) were present in the original article.

[mijh]

these are maned wolves (my ocs from wolfwalker ) and are not a mother and her cub, but two friends. 👍🥰😁🧡

about maned wolf:

Guara wolf From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia How to read a taxonomy infoxoxy-maned wolf [1] Occurrence: Pleistocene - Recent Maned wolf in the Serra da Canastra National Park Maned wolf in the Serra da Canastra National Park conservation state Almost threatened Almost threatened (IUCN 3.1) [2] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Canidae Genre: Chrysocyon Smith, 1839 Species: C. brachyurus Binomial name Chrysocyon brachyurus Illiger, 1815 Type species Canis jubatus Desmarest, 1820 Geographic distribution Maned Wolf range.png Synonyms [3] Canis brachyurus Illiger, 1811 Canis campestris Wied-Neuwied, 1826 Canis isodactylus Ameghino, 1909 Canis jubatus Desmarest, 1820 Vulpes cankerosa Oken, 1816 The maned wolf (scientific name: Chrysocyon brachyurus) is a species of canid endemic to South America and the only member of the genus Chrysocyon. Probably the closest living species is the vinegar dog (Speothos venaticus). It occurs in savannas and open areas in central Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia, being a typical animal of the Cerrado. It was extinct in part from its occurrence to the south, but it must still occur in Uruguay. On July 29, 2020 the maned wolf was chosen to symbolize the two hundred reais bill.

It is the largest canid in South America, reaching between 20 and 30 kg in weight and up to 90 cm at the height of the withers. Its long, slender legs and dense reddish coat give it an unmistakable appearance. The maned wolf is adapted to the open environments of the South American savannas, being a twilight and omnivorous animal, with an important role in the dispersion of seeds of fruits of the cerrado, mainly the lobeira (Solanum lycocarpum). Lonely, the territories are divided between a couple, who are in the period of the female's estrus. These territories are quite wide, and may have an area of ​​up to 123 km². Communication takes place mainly through scent marking, but vocalizations similar to barking also occur. Gestation lasts up to 65 days, with black newborns weighing between 340 and 430 g.

Despite not being considered in danger of extinction by the IUCN, all the countries in which it occurs classify it in some degree of threat, although the real situation of the populations is not known. It is estimated that there are about 23 thousand animals in the wild, being a popular animal in all zoos. It is threatened mainly because of the destruction of the cerrado to expand agriculture, pedestrian accidents, hunting and diseases caused by domestic dogs. However, it is adaptable and tolerant of changes caused by humans. The maned wolf currently occurs in areas of Atlantic Forest already deforested, where it did not originally occur.

Some communities carry superstitions about the maned wolf and may even harbor a certain aversion to the animal. But in general, the maned wolf provokes sympathy in humans and is therefore used as a flag species in the conservation of the Cerrado.

Index 1 Etymology 2 Taxonomy and evolution 3 Geographic distribution and habitat 4 Description 5 Behavior and ecology 5.1 Diet and foraging 5.2 Territory, area of ​​life and social behavior 5.3 Reproduction and life cycle 6 Conservation 7 Cultural aspects 7.1 Representations in cash 8 References 9 External links Etymology The maned wolf is also known as maned, watered, aguaraçu, mane wolf, mane wolf or red wolf. [4] [5] The term wolf originates from the Latin lupus. [4] Guará and aguará originated from the Tupi-Guarani agoa'rá, "down hair". [6] Aguaraçu came from the term for "guará grande". [4] Tupi-Guarani names of origin are more common in Argentina and Paraguay (aguará guazú), but other Spanish-speaking countries have other names like boroche in Bolivia and wolf of crin in Peru. [7] Lobo de crin (in Spanish) and maned wolf (in English) are allusions to the mane of the nape of the neck. [7]

Taxonomy and evolution

It is one of the endemic canids of South America. Phylogenetic relationships of South American canids. [8]

Chrysocyon brachyurus - maned wolf

Speothos venaticus - vinegar dog

Atelocynus microtis - short-eared bush dog

Cerdocyon thous - bush dog

Lycalopex genus - South American foxes

Phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data. The species was described in 1815, by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger, initially as Canis brachyurus. [3] Lorenz Oken classified it as Vulpes cancosa, and only in 1839, Charles Hamilton Smith described the genus Chrysocyon. [3] Later, other authors considered him to be a member of the genus Canis. [3]

Despite having belonged to the genera Canis and Vulpes, due to their morphological similarities, the maned wolf is not closely related to these genera. [9] Molecular studies have shown no relationship between the Chrysocyon genus and these canids. [8] [10] The maned wolf is one of the endemic canids of South America, along with the bush dog (Cerdocyon thous ), the vinegar dog (Speothus venaticus) and the genus Lycalopex. [8] Such a group is monophyletic according to genetic studies, but morphological studies include Nyctereutes procyonoides, who is originally from Asia. [8]A study comparing the brain anatomy of several canids, published in 2003, placed the maned wolf as akin to the falkland fox (Dusicyon australis) and the genus Lycalopex (considered by the authors as Pseudalopex). [11] Molecular studies corroborate that the maned wolf has a unique common ancestor with the falkland fox, which lived approximately 6 million years ago. [12] [13]However, recent genetic studies place the maned wolf as the closest phylogenetically to the vinegar dog (Speothos venaticus), forming a clade that is a sister group to another to which all other South American canids belong, such as the canine dog. short-eared bush (Atelocynus microtis), the bush dog (Cerdocyon thous) and the genus Lycalopex. [8] [10] This clade diverged from other South American canids about 4.2 million years ago, and the Chrysocyon and Speothos genera diverged about 3 million years ago. [8]Not many maned wolf fossils are known and those that were discovered originate from the Holocene and the Upper Pleistocene, unearthed in the Brazilian plateau, indicating that the species also evolved only in the open areas of Central Brazil. [14] Nor are subspecies recognized. [15]Geographic distribution and habitatThe Cerrado is the main habitat of the maned wolf. The maned wolf is an endemic canid from South America and inhabits the grasslands and thickets of the center of that continent. Its geographic distribution extends from the mouth of the Parnaíba River, in the Northeast of Brazil, through the lowlands of Bolivia, east of the Pampas del Heath, in Peru and the Paraguayan chaco, to Rio Grande do Sul. [3] Evidence of the maned wolf's presence in Argentina can be found up to Parallel 30, with recent sightings in Santiago del Estero. [2] Probably the maned wolf still occurs in Uruguay, given that a specimen was spotted in 1990, but since then there has been no record of the species in the country. [2]It is a fact that the maned wolf has disappeared in many regions at the southern limits of its geographical distribution, occurring almost only up to the border of Rio Grande do Sul with Uruguay. [16] Interestingly, the deforestation of the Atlantic Forest in the southeastern and eastern regions of Brazil favored the expansion of its geographic distribution to areas where it did not previously inhabit. [16] For this reason, records in Atlantic Forest areas in Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais have increased in recent years. [5] In the Pantanal the maned wolf occurs in highlands in the upper Paraguay, but avoids the lowlands of the Pantanal plain. [5] There are sporadic records of the species in transition areas between the Cerrado and the Amazon and the Caatinga. [5] The species can occur above 1,500 meters in altitude. [5]The maned wolf habitat is mainly characterized by open fields, with shrub vegetation and forest areas with open canopy, being a typical animal of the Cerrado. [15] It can also be found in areas that experience periodic flooding and man-made fields. [15] The maned wolf prefers environments with a low amount of shrubs and sparse vegetation. [15] More closed areas are used for rest during the day, especially in regions that have been greatly altered anthropically. [17] In these altered areas it can be seen in cultivated fields, Eucalyptus plantations and even in suburban areas. [18] Although the species can occur in anthropic environments, further studies are needed to quantify the degree of tolerance of the maned wolf to agricultural activities, but some authors suggest the preference for areas modified by man as opposed to well-preserved forest areas. [5] [15]DescriptionThe skull is similar to that of the wolf and the coyote. It is the largest canid in South America, reaching between 95 and 115 cm in length, with a tail measuring between 38 and 50 cm in length and reaching up to 90 cm at the height of the withers. [15] It weighs between 20.5 and 30 kg, with no significant differences in the weight of males and females. [15] It is an animal difficult to confuse with other South American canids, because of its long and thin legs, dense reddish coat and large ears. [15] The species' slender shape is probably an adaptation to displacement in open areas covered by grasses. [3]It is unmistakable among South American canids, being the largest among them. The body coat varies from golden red to orange and the hairs on the back of the neck and feet are black, with no undercoat in the coat. [3] The lower part of the jaw and the tip of the tail are white. [3] The hairs are long, reaching up to 8 cm in length along the body, forming a type of mane on the animal's neck. [7] There is almost no variation in the color of the coat, and it is not possible to identify individuals or sex from hair color, although an entirely black individual has already been recorded in northern Minas Gerais. [7] [19]The shape of the head looks like that of a fox. The snout is slender and the ears are large. [3] However, the skull is similar to that of the wolf (Canis lupus) and the coyote (Canis latrans). [3] The skull also has a prominent sagittal crest. The butcher tooth is reduced, the upper incisors small and the canines long. [3] Like the other canids, it has 42 teeth with the following dental formula: {\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {3.1.4.2} {3.1.4.3}} \ times 2 = 42} \ tfrac {3.1.4.2} {3.1.4.3} \ times 2 = 42 [20] Similar to the vinegar dog (Speothos venaticus), the maned wolf's rhyme extends to the upper lip, but the vibrissae are longer. [3]The maned wolf's footprints are similar to those of the dog, but have the pads disproportionately small when compared to the digits of the digits, which are wide open. [21] [22] The dog has foot pads up to 3 times larger than the maned wolf's footprints. [22] These pillows are triangular in shape. [22] The front footprints are between 7 and 9 cm long and 5.5 and 7 cm wide, and those on the back legs are between 6.5 and 9 cm long and 6.5 to 8.5 cm wide. [22 ] A characteristic that differentiates the maned wolf's footprints from that of other South American canids is the proximal union of the third and fourth digits. [3]Geneticame n the maned wolf has 38 chromosomes, with a karyotype similar to that of other canids. [3] Genetic diversity suggests that 15,000 years ago the species suffered a reduction in its diversity, called the bottleneck effect. Even so, this genetic diversity is greater than that of other canids. [5]average 0.7 seconds in 2 to 4 second intervals, a sequence that is repeated for up to 23 times. [7] Both males and females vocalize. [7] They tend to vocalize more at night, when they can be heard from several meters away. [35] Despite being associated with territoriality, vocalizations are more frequent among young people from the same territory, suggesting that they are only a sign for contact over great distances between known individuals and not for the defense of territory. [35]Direct social interactions are rare and maned wolves seem to avoid each other. [7] Agonistic encounters are rare but occur mainly between males, and have not been seen among females. [32] This results in almost no overlap in the male territories. [32]

Reproduction and life cycle

The puppies are born weighing between 340 and 430 g and have a reddish coat after the tenth week As in the diet, most of the data on the maned wolf's estrus and reproductive cycle comes from animals in captivity, mainly on the endocrinology of reproduction. [33] However, studies of animals in freedom have found that hormonal changes follow the same pattern of variation as animals in captivity. [33] At first females spontaneously ovulate, but some authors suggest that the presence of a male is important for estrus induction. [33]

Captive animals in the northern hemisphere breed between October and February and in the southern hemisphere between August and October. This indicates that the photoperiod has an important role in the reproduction of the maned wolf, mainly due to the production of semen. [3] [33] Usually estrus occurs annually [3] and the amount of sperm produced by the maned wolf is less when compared to that of other canids. [33]

Copulations take place during the 4-day period of estrus and are followed by up to 15 minutes of copulatory engagement. [3] The courtship behavior is no different from that of other canids, characterized by frequent approximations and anogenital investigation. [26]

The gestation lasts about 65 days, being born between 2 and 5 puppies, but 7 puppies have already been registered. [3] Births in May have already been observed in the Serra da Canastra, but captivity data suggest that births are concentrated between June and September. [5] The few data available on reproduction in the wild show that the maned wolf reproduces with difficulty and the mortality of young is high. Females can stay up to 2 years without reproducing. [33]

In captivity, reproduction is even more difficult, especially in temperate countries in the northern hemisphere. [33] The puppies are born weighing between 340 and 430 grams, black and changing to a reddish color after the tenth week. [3] The eyes open at about 9 days of age. [3] They are breastfed up to 4 months and fed by their parents through regurgitation until 10 months, starting at the 3rd week of age. [25] [26] At three months of age the puppies accompany the mother while she forages. [25] Parental care is shared between male and female, but females do this more often. [25] Data on male parental care have been collected from captive animals, and little is known about whether this occurs frequently in wild animals. [26] Sexual maturity is reached at 1 year of age and after that age they leave the territory in which they were born. [26]

[newstfionline]

Monday, September 20, 2021

Biden’s Entire Presidential Agenda Rests on Expansive Spending Bill (NYT) Biden’s entire presidential agenda is riding on the reconciliation bill being crafted in Congress right now. No president has ever packed as much of his agenda, domestic and foreign, into a single piece of legislation as President Biden has with the $3.5 trillion spending plan that Democrats are trying to wrangle through Congress over the next six weeks,” Tankersley writes. “It is almost as if President Franklin D. Roosevelt had stuffed his entire New Deal into one piece of legislation, or if President Lyndon B. Johnson had done the same with his Great Society, instead of pushing through individual components over several years. If he succeeds, Biden’s far-reaching attempt could result in a presidency-defining victory that delivers on a decades-long campaign by Democrats to expand the federal government to combat social problems and spread the gains of a growing economy to workers. If he fails, he could end up with nothing. As Democrats are increasingly seeing, the sheer weight of Mr. Biden’s progressive push could cause it to collapse, leaving the party empty-handed, with the president’s top priorities going unfulfilled. … If Mr. Biden’s party cannot find consensus on those issues and the bill dies, the president will have little immediate recourse to advance almost any of those priorities.

Child care in the US is a ‘broken market,’ Treasury report finds (Yahoo Money) A Treasury Department report this week characterized the U.S. child care system as “unworkable” as Democrats push reform that experts say is an “overdue and critical investment.” The average American family with at least one child under age 5 uses 13% of their income to pay for child care, according to the report, nearly double the 7% that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers affordable. Additionally, less than 20% of the children eligible for the Child Care and Development Fund—a federal assistance program for low-income families—are getting that funding. “Child care is a textbook example of a broken market, and one reason is that when you pay for it, the price does not account for all the positive things it confers on our society,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement on Wednesday. “When we underinvest in child care, we forgo that; we give up a happier, healthier, more prosperous labor force in the future.”

Inspiration4 Astronauts Beam After Return From 3-Day Journey to Orbit (NYT) After three days in orbit, a physician assistant, a community college professor, a data engineer and the billionaire who financed their trip arrived back on Earth, heralding a new era of space travel with a dramatic and successful Saturday evening landing in the Atlantic Ocean. The mission, which is known as Inspiration4, splashed down off the Florida coast at 7:06 p.m. on Saturday. Each step of the return unfolded on schedule, without problems. Within an hour, all four crew members walked out of the spacecraft, one at a time, each beaming with excitement as recovery crews assisted them.

Haitians on Texas border undeterred by US plan to expel them (AP) Haitian migrants seeking to escape poverty, hunger and a feeling of hopelessness in their home country said they will not be deterred by U.S. plans to speedily send them back, as thousands of people remained encamped on the Texas border Saturday after crossing from Mexico. Scores of people waded back and forth across the Rio Grande on Saturday afternoon, re-entering Mexico to purchase water, food and diapers in Ciudad Acuña before returning to the Texas encampment under and near a bridge in the border city of Del Rio. Junior Jean, a 32-year-old man from Haiti, watched as people cautiously carried cases of water or bags of food through the knee-high river water. Jean said he lived on the streets in Chile the past four years, resigned to searching for food in garbage cans. “We are all looking for a better life,” he said.

Three Weeks After Hurricane Ida, Parts of Southeast Louisiana Are Still Dark (NYT) For Tiffany Brown, the drive home from New Orleans begins as usual: She can see the lights on in the city’s central business district and people gathering in bars and restaurants. But as she drives west along Interstate 10, signs of Hurricane Ida’s destruction emerge. Trees with missing limbs fill the swamp on either side of the highway. With each passing mile, more blue tarps appear on rooftops, and more electric poles lay fallen by the road, some snapped in half. By the time Ms. Brown gets to her exit in Destrehan 30 minutes later, the lights illuminating the highway have disappeared, and another night of total darkness has fallen on her suburban subdivision. For Ms. Brown, who works as an office manager at a pediatric clinic, life at work can feel nearly normal. But at home, with no electricity, it is anything but. “I keep hoping every day that I’m going to go home and it’ll be on,” she said. Three weeks have passed since Hurricane Ida knocked down electric wires, poles and transmission towers serving more than one million people in southeast Louisiana. In New Orleans, power was almost entirely restored by Sept. 10, and businesses and schools have reopened. But outside the city, more than 100,000 customers were without lights through Sept. 13. As of Friday evening there were still about 38,000 customers without power, and many people remained displaced from damaged homes.

Favela centennial shows Brazil communities’ endurance (AP) Dozens of children lined up at a community center in Sao Paulo for a slice of creamy, blue cake. None was celebrating a birthday; their poor neighborhood, the favela of Paraisopolis, was commemorating 100 years of existence. “People started coming (to the city) for construction jobs and settled in,” community leader Gilson Rodrigues said. “There was no planning, not even streets. People started growing crops. It was all disorganized. Authorities didn’t do much, so we learned to organize ourselves.” The favela’s centennial, which was marked on Thursday, underscores the permanence of its roots and of other communities like it, even as Brazilians in wealthier parts of town often view them as temporary and precarious. Favelas struggle to shed that stigma as they defy simple definition, not least because they evolved over decades. Paraisopolis is Sao Paulo’s second-biggest favela, home to 43,000 people, according to the most-recent census, in 2010. Recent, unofficial counts put its population around 100,000.

The barbecue king: British royals praise Philip’s deft touch (AP) When Prince Philip died nearly six months ago at 99, the tributes poured in from far and wide, praising him for his supportive role at the side of Queen Elizabeth II over her near 70-year reign. Now, it has emerged that Philip had another crucial role within the royal family. He was the family’s barbecue king—perhaps testament to his Greek heritage. “He adored barbecuing and he turned that into an interesting art form,” his oldest son Prince Charles said in a BBC tribute program that will be broadcast on Wednesday. “And if I ever tried to do it he ... I could never get the fire to light or something ghastly, so (he’d say): ‘Go away!’” In excerpts of ‘Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers’ released late Saturday, members of the royal family spoke admiringly of the late Duke of Edinburgh’s barbecuing skills. “Every barbecue that I’ve ever been on, the Duke of Edinburgh has been there cooking,” said Prince William, Philip’s oldest grandson. “He’s definitely a dab hand at the barbecue ... I can safely say there’s never been a case of food poisoning in the family that’s attributed to the Duke of Edinburgh.” The program, which was filmed before and after Philip’s death on April 9, was originally conceived to mark his 100th birthday in June.

Relations between France and the U.S. have sunk to their lowest level in decades. (NYT) The U.S. and Australia went to extraordinary lengths to keep Paris in the dark as they secretly negotiated a plan to build nuclear submarines, scuttling a defense contract worth at least $60 billion. President Emmanuel Macron of France was so enraged that he recalled the country’s ambassadors to both nations. Australia approached the new administration soon after President Biden’s inauguration. The conventionally powered French subs, the Australians feared, would be obsolete by the time they were delivered. The Biden administration, bent on containing China, saw the deal as a way to cement ties with a Pacific ally. But the unlikely winner is Britain, who played an early role in brokering the alliance. For its prime minister, Boris Johnson, who will meet this coming week with Biden at the White House and speak at the U.N., it is his first tangible victory in a campaign to make post-Brexit Britain a player on the global stage.

Hong Kong’s first ‘patriots-only’ election kicks off (Reuters) Fewer than 5,000 Hong Kong people from mostly pro-establishment circles began voting on Sunday for candidates to an election committee, vetted as loyal to Beijing, who will pick the city’s next China-backed leader and some of its legislature. Pro-democracy candidates are nearly absent from Hong Kong’s first election since Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system to ensure that “only patriots” rule China’s freest city. The election committee will select 40 seats in the revamped Legislative Council in December, and choose a chief executive in March. Changes to the political system are the latest in a string of moves—including a national security law that punishes anything Beijing deems as subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces—that have placed the international financial hub on an authoritarian path. Most prominent democratic activists and politicians are now in jail or have fled abroad.

The Remote-Control Killing Machine (Politico/NYT) For 14 years, Israel wanted to kill Iran’s top nuclear scientist. Then they came up with a way to do it while using a trained sniper who was more than 1,000 miles away—and fired remotely. It was also the debut test of a high-tech, computerized sharpshooter kitted out with artificial intelligence and multiple-camera eyes, operated via satellite and capable of firing 600 rounds a minute. The souped-up, remote-controlled machine gun now joins the combat drone in the arsenal of high-tech weapons for remote targeted killing. But unlike a drone, the robotic machine gun draws no attention in the sky, where a drone could be shot down, and can be situated anywhere, qualities likely to reshape the worlds of security and espionage.

Israeli army arrests last 2 of 6 Palestinian prison escapees (AP) Israeli forces on Sunday arrested the last two of six Palestinian prisoners who escaped a maximum-security Israeli prison two weeks ago, closing an intense, embarrassing episode that exposed deep security flaws in Israel and turned the fugitives into Palestinian heroes. The Israeli military said the two men surrendered in Jenin, their hometown in the occupied West Bank, after they were surrounded at a hideout that had been located with the help of “accurate intelligence.” The prisoners all managed to tunnel out of a maximum-security prison in northern Israel on Sept. 6. The bold escape dominated newscasts for days and sparked heavy criticism of Israel’s prison service. According to various reports, the men dug a hole in the floor of their shared cell undetected over several months and managed to slip past a sleeping prison guard after emerging through a hole outside the facility. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have celebrated the escape and held demonstrations in support of the prisoners. Taking part in attacks against the Israeli military or even civilians is a source of pride for many Palestinians, who view it as legitimate resistance to military occupation.

Jaw-dropping moments in WSJ's bombshell Facebook investigation (CNN Business) This week the Wall Street Journal released a series of scathing articles about Facebook, citing leaked internal documents that detail in remarkably frank terms how the company is not only well aware of its platforms’ negative effects on users but also how it has repeatedly failed to address them. Here are some of the more jaw-dropping moments from the Journal’s series. In the Journal’s report on Instagram’s impact on teens, it cites Facebook’s own researchers’ slide deck, stating the app harms mental health. “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,” said one slide from 2019, according to the WSJ. Another reads: “Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression ... This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.” In 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a change in Facebook’s algorithm was intended to improve interactions among friends and family and reduce the amount of professionally produced content in their feeds. But according to the documents published by the Journal, staffers warned the change was having the opposite effect: Facebook was becoming an angrier place. A team of data scientists put it bluntly: “Misinformation, toxicity and violent content are inordinately prevalent among reshares,” they said, according to the Journal’s report.

[things2mustdo]

As you probably have heard in the news, earlier in August a Pennsylvania grand jury handed down a 1,356-page account of sexual abuse which involved around 1,000 kids and 300 priests during a period of approximately 70 years. It is another pedophilia scandal within the Catholic Church that adds up to their collection of countless other ones reported in recent years.

The commie pope—while on his two-day visit to Ireland—begged for forgiveness again, just the way he did in Chile back in January of this year.

You can notice how quick and scathing the mainstream media is to denounce these recurring events, after all we know who owns the MSM and the (real) Church has a long, well-known history of “anti-semitism” and resistance against the tentacles of globalism. I wish the media had the same commitment to inform the existence of other pedophile rings full of high-ranking people as well.

Is the problem of the church’s innumerous sexual abuse allegations really pedophilia? To me there is a deeper explanation for it, and that explanation is: homosexualism. 81% of the alleged victims are male and three-fourths of them are post-pubescent. As you guys are certainly aware of, the Church has a very big issue with homosexualism among its clergymen.

I have a theory for the high presence of gay men inside priesthood: until not long ago being gay was definitely not ok, homosexuals were not accepted as they are now, so they became priests.

The developed Western world of today encourages people to become gay, it applauds individuals for their gayness, but it wasn’t always like that. Now, try to imagine a closeted homosexual man living in the 50s, for example. What a better place to go than the Catholic seminary? People wouldn’t look you down, you wouldn’t have to get married, the place was filled with other young men (potential sexual partners) and that’s how the Church got corrupted by perverts.

Pedophilia x Homosexualism

One normie could argue “how homosexualism relates to pedophilia?” Any red-pilled person who has ever wondered what causes someone to become gay will notice that there is an undeniable link between pedophilia and homosexualism.

Let’s remember the occasion of Milo Yiannopolous’ resignation from Breitbart over comments which seemed to endorse sex between “younger men” and older men. Something that is—as he pointed out—extremely common among gay men. A 2009 report revealed that 74 percent of bisexuals had been sexually abused as children, I am pretty sure homosexuals follow the same numbers.

I won’t say homosexual behavior is exclusively caused by pedophilia because human (or animal) sexuality is a very complex topic which can certainly involve many variables. I just don’t buy that “born this way” hype, until this day not a single reliable proof of the existence of a gay gene or anything like it was discovered.

The Vatican once bought a £21 million apartment block above ‘Europe’s largest gay sauna’.

Pope Francis, a champion of the left-leaning agenda inside the Church, has been accused of covering up former Cardinal McCarrick’s abuse allegations (one of the many cases in Pennsylvania). The accusations were made by Carlo Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the US, and if it proves to be true–I am positive it is—that should result in pope Francis’ resignation. As a traditionalist Catholic myself I would be delighted with such an event.

Francis has already been complacent with other pedos before. One good example is the 2015 ‘Synod on the Family’ when the pope invited Godfried Danneels, a Belgium Cardinal convicted of covering up pedophiles in the 90s, to attend the meeting. Danneels is a hard-left priest that tries to push the Church ” liberal reformation” and admitted that he was part of a plot against (right-leaning) Pope Benedict and in favor of the election of leftie Francis.

To affirm that the Church’s gay/pedos are exclusively part of the left-wing priesthood would be too Manichean. I am sure there are tons of sick people who lean right also. But it can’t be denied that the liberals make up the vast majority of these issues involving sexual misconduct.

“Religious progressives”

For those who don’t know, the Catholic Church, just as any other political institution, is divided in factions that tend to be more liberal or orthodox. The liberation theology, for instance, is a movement created inside the Catholic Church (and some Protestant denominations) which aims to mix Christianity and Marxism.

Even if you are an agnostic don’t underestimate the influence they played in various regions such as Europe, Latin America and even New England. Brazilian Workers’ Party attributed their success to this movement and Unions.

Be wary of any religious leader that tries to push a liberalization of dogmas and traditions. Because all religions are intrinsically conservative according to their respective contexts, they establish doctrines that dictate sets of rules that must be followed properly in order to attain their objectives (whether is Salvation in Christianity or Nirvana in Buddhism). There are no (real) religions without their traditions.

Whenever you see liberal religious men doubt their characters. There is a good chance they don’t even bother with religion or spirituality, perhaps they are closeted atheist. What they do care about is the religious platform, which can offer various benefits such as large audiences, political influence, money and even sex.

Estimates of the number of gays in the priesthood are all over the lot, from 20 percent to 60 percent, although a Los Angeles Times poll in 2002 found only 15 percent of priests saying they were homosexual or “somewhere in between but more on the homosexual side.”

Every time pedo priests’ cases pop up in the MSM, secular people are very quick to point fingers and show their moral superiority, but they “forget” the existence of secular institutions that are way more sexually perverted than the “gayish” modern Church, such as Hollywood, the political and corporate world.

Real Church x Sissy Church

It is also important to notice that the Church was emasculated, an emasculation that took place during the process of secularization and establishment of liberal democracies across the Western world (e.g. French Revolution).

The Church had to be softened, becoming an institution that barely resembles the once powerful and great Church of the Crusades or the Inquisitions. This same phenom of emasculation can also happen in other secular institutions too, the Military, mainstream Music, Politics, Sports and even Boys Scouts. And it will only get worse as liberal-democratic globalism advances, so secular people: watch out!

St. Basil the Great, a 4th century bishop and Doctor of the Church, defended that gay/pedo priests should be publicly flogged. That was the (real) Church, not this sissy catholicism created after the Second Vatican Council (a modernist reform imposed in the Church from 1962 to 1965). A lot of things got bad in the 60s.

The (real) Church has a very important and vigorous story in the construction of the West. Always being a target to the globalists and that breed who rules the world, a clear obstacle to their goals.

Examples are many: Gabriel García Moreno, Catholic Equatorian president, who made a terrific job in a Confessional Equator and was killed by the Freemasons; Saint José Sanchez del Rio, who was killed by Mexican secular, freemason and leftist government with the support of the US, for refusing to abbandon his faith.

Inconvenient truths are ignored

The media only goes after what is convenient to their narrative, don’t expect them to expose Hollywood pedos nor the obvious link between pedo priests and homosexualism. The left has already pushed the normalization of pedophilia many times and I didn’t see the indignation of the MSM.

Late Vatican’s Chief Exorcist Gabriele Amorth once said, “The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences”.

“The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops”. – St. Athanasius

Read More: The Vatican Has Disgraced True Catholic Values

I have noticed that many people have been falsely conflating what comes out of the Vatican as Catholic. Thus it is my duty to present to the esteemed readers of this fine site the true teachings of the Church which stand, ever more so today, in stark opposition to the rot of cultural Marxism and the effeminacy of the Papal pretenders in Rome.

Vicar of Christ?

Church authorities are not legitimate

It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that the Church cannot substantially change. This means that the church cannot contradict nor change her teaching from what has always been universally taught or has been solemnly defined. Any one who claims to be Catholic and knowingly professes a faith which contradicts a teaching of the Church is considered to be a heretic and is considered to have a removed himself from the Church.

As St. Thomas states: “[one] who disbelieves [even] one article of faith does not have faith, either formed or unformed.” This is known as the unity of faith which means that all Catholics profess the same faith. Likewise it means that heretics cannot hold a clerical office in the Church. Thus if a heretic were to be elected even to the Papacy they could not be considered a legitimate Pontiff because a heretic has separated himself from the Church (source).

Would a real Pope bow to a religion declared false by the Church?

Simply put, you have to be Catholic to be Pope, and the absurdity of a heretic claiming the See of Peter is where we find ourselves today. For just as the institutions in the West have been infiltrated and seized by the enemy, likewise have the institutions of the Church been usurped by apostate forces. The hierarchy currently residing in the Vatican are not legitimate authorities and do not represent the perennial teaching of the Church. Therefore I have listed for your benefit the actual Church’s positions on some current areas of contention.

The only time Francis has ever smiled at a Crucifix

On Communism

The Catholic Church is vehemently opposed to communism. Without Pius XII valiant efforts, communism would have prevailed over postwar France and Italy. The Pope went so far as to issue the Decree against Communism in 1949 which excommunicated any Christian who professed communist doctrine.

Catholicism is the enemy of Marxism as it teaches that there can be no separation of Church and state, and an atheist government is immoral. Catholicism believes private property is a natural right going so far to say that depriving workers of their wages is a sin which cries to heaven for vengeance (compare that to our socialist tax code!).

On Migration and Culture

The current Muslim invasion of Europe would be met with the utmost resistance. It has always been the Church which has sought to safeguard Catholic Culture and in ages past has gone so far as to issue a call to arms against non-Catholics who have sought to destroy it.

Pope Urban II issued the Crusades and Pope Leo the great even went so far as to personally travel into the heart of the Hun army—to Attila himself—to deliver Rome from the sack that was to come. In 1571, St. Pope Pius V formed the Holy League that would go on to defeat the great Muslim Turkish Armada that was plaguing the Mediterranean.

“Then I pointed like so and told them where to take their cultural enrichment”

The tradition of the Church has been to unite the West against external non-christian threats in order to preserve Western Christian culture.

“The natural law enjoins us to love devotedly and to defend the country in which we were born, and in which we were brought up, so that every good citizen hesitates not to face death for his native land…. We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence we have received the means of engagement this mortal life affords.” – Sapientia Christiana Encyclical Pope Leo XIII

On Abortion and Contraception

So what is the real teaching of the Church in regards to abortion and contraception? The teaching is any member who has an abortion or supports abortion is automatically excommunicated from the Church. That’s right: every single Democrat who claims to be Catholic is actually excommunicated, including Nancy Pelosi who likes to sanctimoniously drone how she is a good Catholic grandmother.

Contraception is also considered a mortal sin because it is an unnatural stoppage of life.

“Hence, after the sin of homicide whereby a human life already in existence is destroyed, this type of sin appears to take next place, for by it the generation of human nature is impeded.” -St. Thomas Aquinas.

I know this is unpopular with the readers, but the teaching is that those who engage in contraception have already committed murder in their heart. Contraception is what allows people to engage in recreational sex, because the natural end of sex has been set aside so too then has the institution of marriage, whose end is children.

Likewise, because we have committed murder in our hearts, we have become a petulant, immature, vain, and a sterile people similar to any other people who have taken the risk from reward or the consequences from pleasure. This is the most difficult pill to swallow.

On Feminism

The Church condemns feminism in the strongest terms. There cannot exist feminism without birth control.

“…any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin.” -Pius XI Casti Cannubi

The Church asserts that Man is the head of the household and that a woman finds her vocation from being a good mother and housewife:

“This … does not deny or take away the liberty which fully belongs to the woman both in view of her dignity as a human person, and in view of her most noble office as wife and mother and companion; nor does it bid her obey her husband’s every request if not in harmony with right reason or with the dignity due to wife; … For if the man is the head, the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief place in ruling, so she may and ought to claim for herself the chief place in love.” -Ibid

The Pope has even gone so far as to condemn women’s suffrage:

“Woman can never be man’s equal and cannot therefore enjoy equal rights. Few women would ever desire to legislate, and those who did would only be classed as eccentrics.” -St. Pius X

On Pacifism

The Catholic Church is not simply just a religion of love and mercy. Christianity is not a weak religion, for our God is a God of Battles. Catholic Tradition encourages us to live our lives in the manner of our Lord Jesus who spoke of the struggle that his Church would have to endure.

“Do not think that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.”-Mathew 10:34

Christians are not meant to sit idly as bystanders to the great struggle of good and evil in this world.

“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood: but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness: against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.” -Ephesians 6:12

[akkivee]

don’t expect any cohesion out of this outta this by here’s my thoughts and speculations on the hypmic guidebook image. i’m sorry. it’s stupidly long. 

alright so at first glance, you kinda gotta panic a little because holy cow, very few of the teams are actually together?? bb and mtr are the only two (2) groups actually in close proximity with each other while mtc and fp are all over the place. which is weird since we just got through fp at least reconfirming that they are each other’s true posse and definitely should not be separated right???

big brained twitter users tho came through and it clicked that everyone is separated because their agendas/goals are vastly different from each other, not because of their weak bonds with each other. so lets take a look at where everyone stands with each other

let’s start with the buster bros!!! it comes as a surprise to no one, but the bros are still together since jiro and saburo are largely following after their big bro. i do have a point to mention about saburo, but that’ll come later.

so on to mtc!! save for probably fp, their group has the widest separation. but given each of their goals, it makes plenty of sense. samatoki wants to bring his sister home. juto wants to bring about the end of drugs. rio hasn’t made any grand movements, but he is keeping an eye out on chuohku. different goals, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t one as a team.

fp!! you could feasibly make the bermuda triangle with how far apart they are! fp’s goals, as of now, do align since they are truly together to prevent ramuda from, y’know, dying, but their individual agendas are separate. in a sense. i’ll try to expand on this in a bit.

next is mtr!! much like bb, they are together as jakurai leads them towards his goal and hifumi and doppo follow out of their desire to support him.

and next we have dh!! their placement pretty much follows what went down in their debut drama track, sasara and rosho have been brought together (by rei) and are determined to make it work as they partner up with rei, whose goals are widely unknown, pretty sus and definitely not aligned with sasara and rosho. and to speculate a little about sasara and his placement somewhat behind the rest of the leaders, i think that it’s because sasara has no clear goal as to why he’s participating in the rap battles outside of wanting to be with rosho. he is right where he wants to be, with rosho and doesn’t have any current goals aside from staying with him. at least, none that we know of.

which brings me to bat. and kuukou specifically. but notice, none of the bat members are together as well, and like so, their individual goals are pretty different from each other. hitoya is here to beat jakurai for once in his life, jyushi has a strong desire to overcome himself and to be a stronger person, and kuukou has barely left any room for jesus between him and ichiro because kuukou, similar to sasara, is here for ichiro. this is my personal headcanon, but i do believe that kuukou actually remembers that ramuda was the one who hypnotised him into breaking things off with ichiro. neither one have forgotten the other (e.g. ichiro naming his new team after his duo with kuukou, kuukou at the end of the bat debt drama track saying “wait for me, ichiro...!”) so i do think how close kuukou and ichiro are reflects their mutual desire to be together as a team again. 

another nifty thing i noticed was that there’s a divide amongst the cast, split straight down the middle. you can see it with how gentaro/jyushi, doppo/saburo, samatoki/ichiro, are back to back. and on each side, you have one person posed unlike the rest of them; on the right you rei in the back facing away from everyone. on the left, ramuda sitting on the ground. so, i propose that this divide shows who has goals against chuohku, and those who, while not on their side, are entrenched in chuohku’s plans.

ramuda, as we know, has the biggest chip on his shoulder when it comes to chuohku. they kinda found a replacement for him in his enemy jakurai, discarded him, left him die, that sort of thing. if anyone wants to see chuohku burn, it’s him. anybody on his side of the picture has goals against chuohku. 

ichiro intends to ‘break the wall,’ to topple the chuohku regime and his brothers are right by his side with kuukou there with him as his partner, as previously mentioned. again, we don’t know yet of sasara’s goals outside of being with rosho, but in ‘ahh, osaka dreamin’ night,’ rei’s verse states, “teacher, comedian, doctor, lawyer- Those who are being looked up to as pros are all swindlers,” so there is something going on, not only with sasara, but also with rosho. jyushi is kinda unknown, though ramuda expressed quite a bit of annoyance dealing with him at the end of the bat debut drama track. rio is out here with prior knowledge about plot points such as the hypnosis canceller, in cahoots with former military and hacking into chuohku databases all with an illegal gun strapped to his back. like some of these homies wish they had the balls and the initiative. 

as for the right side, rei is the definition of an anti hero. he’s not on anybody’s side, he working with whoever has the power to get his goal done. and that’s on par with anybody on his side of this picture; everybody here is balls deep in chuohku shenanigans, whether they want to be or not.

samatoki’s whole schtick is to free his sister from chuohku. as we’ve seen in the finale of the tdd manga, samatoki will willing go along with whatever and burn any and all bridges if that means his sister is safe. jakurai is likely on this side due to chuohku doing their damnest to get jakurai within their grasp so they can harness the true hyponsis mic’s full potential using jakurai’s healing ability. and where jakurai goes, doppo and hifumi would be loathe to leave him alone. juto maybe be a cop, but it’s implied he is a high ranking one given his change in outfits from tdd canon to present time (from a cop uniform to a crisp suit.) he’s high enough on the ladder for ichijiku, japan’s #2 big boss lady, to know of his work and to be summoned to aid nemu, another high ranking chuohku officer, in an arrest. hitoya, dice, and gentaro are all vague in connection. hitoya, however, is again part of rei’s callout verse as mentioned earlier, so he may be a swindler in the sense of not unwilling to work with chuohku to further his goals (defeating jakurai) and maybe making some hard cash. gentaro is shady as hell; he seems to be connected to a group called plunderer, which chuohku has control over. as for dice, hypmic likes dropping hints that he’s related to otome.

i mentioned i had an observation about saburo, and without getting too into character analysis (ichiro/rei/saburo similarities as people), it’s interesting to note saburo is on the border of this divide and the closest to rei, which could be a play into where we left saburo, questioning ichiro, after the events of helter skelter.

last general observation! with all the speculation i just dropped, the majority of characters that tie directly to chuohku are hanging in the back. we have rei, gentaro, juto, dice, and rio. i thought it was a neat detail, but it struck me as weird that ramuda was way in the front when he’s probably the most direct result of chuohku existing. but... it’s not like the leaders aren’t tied directly into chuohku. they were chosen by chuohku to be center stage in battles meant to appease the general populace into focusing their aggression on each other.

so looking at the pic again, i noticed a kind of... border??

the ones with obvious connections made a circle. i say obvious and included hitoya and rosho into this because of rei’s verse that i mentioned before. so i’m wondering... does jyushi have some stakes involved in chuohku?? he is a little further into the middle than gentaro, but he’s in line with juto?? this may be a case of over analyzing, but i did point out ramuda’s strange comment about jyushi being annoying to deal with which could randomly come back at any point in the story. or not lol. anyway i’m done, thanks for coming to my ted talk it was as long as an actual ted talk

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil has a super port in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul

After two years of dredging works using a federal investment of R$ 500 million, (some 80 million dollars) the Port of Rio Grande – the main port in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul – will be able to receive vessels of up to 366 meters in length.  This is because the port’s new draft, (15 meters) was officially approved on October 26th.

Thanks to the removal of more than 16 million cubic meters of sediment, the operational draft of the so-called internal channel, where the most important port terminals and the largest flow of cargo are located, went from 12.8 to 15 meters. The depth, which was 14.2, is now 16.5 meters. The handling capacity now meets international navigation standards, and the port is able to receive vessels of up to 366 meters in length- a difference of 29 meters in relation to the previous capacity of 337 meters in length.

“We are already working to prevent the channel from silting up and decreasing the load capacity again, requiring that we again spend hundreds of millions of reais to recover the draft. We are putting together a declaration so that in the first half of next year, we can begin investing R$ 30 to R$ 40 million annually in port dredging, permanently guaranteeing the cargoes of the ships that arrive and leave our state”, stated Eduardo Leite, State Governor.

“The approval of the new draft represents a lot for our state. It is the first time that it is approved, this means that, with the certification of the Navy, which is the port authority, we can guarantee cheaper and safer freight. This will attract international shipowners and more cargo. The port of Rio Grande is repositioning itself as one of the main ports in Brazil, not only due to the infrastructure it has built, but also the certification it gains now with the official approval”, said Fernando Estima,  Superintendent of the Ports of Rio Grande do Sul.

Currently, over 25% of the GDP of the state of Rio Grande do Sul passes through private terminals that operate containers, agricultural bulk, fertilizers, oil, and petrochemical cargo in the port of Rio Grande, the equivalent of more than 40 million tons per year when the installed capacity is 50 million.

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[hillbillyhippiemusicreview]

Post #63, MarDe Brooks--Running Out of Time

Reviewed by Lyssa Culbertson

“Way back on the radio dial The fire got lit inside a bright-eyed child Every note just wrapped around his soul From steel guitars, to Memphis, all the way to rock and roll” -Eli Young Band

Every time I hear “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” by the Eli Young Band pass through my playlist, my mind cannot help but wander to the trajectory HHMR alum MarDe Brooks has had over the past couple of years. It is impressive what an ample amount of hard work, determination, faith, and if we are honest, an iota of craziness will manifest when it comes to chasing dreams. If you are unfamiliar with MarDe’s story, let me fill you in:

The Alabama born and bred singer-songwriter recently released his debut album, Running Out of Time, after a lifetime of desire to share his musical gifts with the world. Perhaps the album title is a nod to the notion of growing older and time slipping away, leaving you with no choice but to shelve your dreams or take a chance and live them with all you’ve got—but MarDe need not worry. With the impeccable artistry he possesses and a knack for heartfelt, honest songwriting, we’ll be hearing more out of him for years to come. With an practically permanent smile as wide as the Rio Grande and an electric energy radiating from him every time he steps on stage, he possesses an often unmatched zeal for his work that will surely keep him on everyone’s radar. His sound is as eclectic as he is, and that is the utmost compliment in my book. As I said in the review of his first single, “Memories,” MarDe cannot be caged by a genre, for this powerhouse of a songbird sings to the tune of whatever is in his heart—whether that’s a slow sentimental ballad about life on the road, or a rockin’ up-tempo song about love gone wrong. Running Out of Time has something to love for everyone, but odds are you’ll love it from the beginning of the “Memories” you’ll make whilst listening, to the last “Curtain Call.” Answering the desires of his soul to create his own original music, the collection of ten songs were written and composed in just under a year, and within the next year the record was recorded and MarDe hit the highway sharing his stories with anyone who would listen. On September 11, 2020, he added fuel to the fire that got lit inside the bright-eyed child of his youth when he debuted his first album to the world.

When listening to this record both as a whole and dissecting each individual song, it’s quite easy to hear the various musical influences that have helped shape MarDe into the artist he is. However, he infuses those notes of blues, old time rock-and-roll, country, southern rock, folk, and more into sound all his own. The first track on the record, “Memories,” incorporates all of these styles in a up-beat tune set against a bit of a dark subject matter. A failed relationship takes its toll and leads to self-destruction, but if you only listen to the melody, you wouldn’t have a clue. I love how MarDe plays a lyrical and musical trick on the listener’s ear on this one, and it was a solid first choice for a single release, as it showcases both his songwriting ability and musicality. Heading to the opposite end of the romantic spectrum, the next track, “Slow Time,” is a beautiful ballad that will transport you back to a time to when life ran at a slower pace, perhaps on the riverbank next to a loved one watching the summer clouds roll in, where nothing but the love you were in mattered. Speaking of rolling in, “I’ve Got Memphis” is one of the standouts on the record, as it details the feelings of a traveling musician counting the miles wearing on both the road and his soul. As a music lover with a heavy dose of Gypsy in my soul, when MarDe sings “Oklahoma calls out to me, and I miss that Kentucky high, I’d love to stay in Alabama, but I’ve got Memphis tomorrow night,” it resonates with me on a spiritual level. I love the sound of four wheels spinning down an open highway, but occasionally every mile marker makes me weary and I just want to be home, though there’s always another show down the road and work to be done. It’s a sentimental tune about the highs and lows of this life and is just so powerful. Track number four, “Down the Road,” happens to be one of my favorites off the record—it’s a total jam with an infectious groove that just won’t let go, much like how he bemuses the difficulty of letting go of his beloved and moving on in the tune. The way he once again juxtaposes an upbeat melody with a somewhat somber subject matter intrigued me from the first verse of the song, and I was hooked. We’ve all been there—in love with someone that it kills us to let go of, though we know we’re better off leaving them in our rearview. I admire how MarDe can write about real life situations with such clarity and cleverness.

As evidenced by the previous tracks mentioned, MarDe has such a versatile voice where one moment he can have you high on life singing along and the next morose and feeling every bit of heartache his vocals are seeped with on a song like “Home,” one of the most compelling works on the album. The imagery is quite vivid, as you can easily picture the man in the song with his “hands on the sink, face down to the floor” ruminating over his life. As I’ve listened to this song, it dawned on me that the character in the song was not simply speaking to a lost lover, but to the man in the mirror as well, because all too often we can break our own hearts by our choices with the aid of the demons we face. For many, alcohol can be one of those demons; however, as shown by MarDe’s joyful vibes in “Fifth by Noon,” sometimes it can be just the cure a man needs to patch up a broken heart. This tune is my favorite to see performed live because of the energy MarDe harnesses as he brings the song to life. A little ditty about the healing powers found in a fifth of your favorite whisky and good friends, the line “everything will be alright if I down a fifth by noon” has the possibility to become an adage for centuries to come. Likely not the wisest piece of advice, but one most can certainly empathize with if we’re honest. When he sings “I used to lay you down like Conway at night, but now you’re out there girl and you’re making different music tonight, so here’s an idea, why don’t you stay, yeah that’s where you made you made your bed and that’s where you can lay” it’s loud and clear how he feels about the woman in question—and I’m absolutely here for it. Such a killer, feisty verse that makes me cackle as I belt it out every time! The guitar solo prefacing the semi-acapella portion of the song backed by a chorus of voices and a drumline are my favorite parts of the song because it drives the point home and is so fun to jam out to.

Reflecting back on the record to this point, it’s easy to see the thematic presence of sorrow woven throughout the lyrics. Despite the best efforts we tend to put into anything in life, what we deserve is not always what the universe sends our way. Track number seven, “Earned,” is a prime lyrical example of that fact, especially in relation to futile relationships we may feel that we got the short end of the stick in, so to speak, because “even if you do things the right way, you don’t always get what is earned.” A heart is a fragile thing, and love is even more delicate, as heard in “On My Way.” MarDe croons “rules are made to be broken, but hearts aren’t the same, so many words left unspoken, could have silenced the pain” to a lover he’s leaving behind—and that is such a poignant line about the importance of communication. Quite frequently, it’s the words we do not say that could salvage important connections or bring closure to difficult goodbyes. His voice is soft and melodic on this tune, highlighting every bit of emotion involved, notably when he sings in the bridge “I couldn’t see through the flames when I promised my life, but all that smoke cleared just in time.” Every time I hear that particular lyric a single tear escapes my eye because I’ve lived that line and the emotions connected are just so painful—It hurts so good.

Although words sometimes possess the power to save relationships, they also have the power to destroy them. In the case of “Liar,” MarDe appears to be addressing a friend or mentor, rather than a past lover. “Your lies won’t let you tell the truth, you looked down on me, I looked up to you, you dig your hole try to pull me in the ground, you had your chance but it’s all over now”—WOW. In spite of the rather calm melody, the anger and disappointment boils over in every verse of this good riddance themed song, as he’s “on [his] way to the top now, and you can’t slow [him] down.” I often lightheartedly—but seriously—joke that people should not do wrong by a songwriter, because a song will inevitably be written about the offense, and “Liar” is a prime example of that, tying into the seemingly autobiographical journey MarDe details in the final song on the record, aptly titled “Curtain Call.” It’s a beautiful summation of his ride from the aforementioned bright-eyed dreamer of his youth to the man he is now, steadily achieving lifelong goals—while the highs and lows ebbed and flowed and it wasn’t always easy, the journey was without a doubt worth it, as evidenced by the quality and ultimate success of his first release.

MarDe either wrote or co-wrote every song on Running Out of Time and rounded up a group of gifted musicians to record the album at Rose City Recording in Charleston, WV with producer Greg McGowan. With a heavy dose of the keys, the lead/rhythm guitar, mandolin, violin, bass, drums, and pedal steel played by (in no particular order) musicians Jerimiah Hatfield, Joey Lafferty, Mark Cline Bates, Jeremy “Wood” Roberts, Eric Robbins, David McGuire, Molly Lynn Page, Travis Egnor, and MarDe himself, this record is a unique work of art, reflective of the array of musical styles that encompass the artist MarDe Brooks is. The support from background vocalists Ritch Henderson, Eric Robbins, Jerimiah Hatfield, and Mark Cline Bates adds a spark to each track they are featured on. My only critique of the record is that you cannot truly hear the extent of the passion and range MarDe possesses behind his vocals, as that essence can only be captured live—which is why you must catch him a live show, soon! You can find tour dates, merch, and other important info at www.mardebrooks.com, or you can follow him on Facebook at MarDe Brooks and on Instagram at @mardebrooksmusic.

Peace, love, & music,

Lyssa

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*This is an independent review. The Hillbilly Hippie Music Review was not compensated for this review.

*The opinions expressed are solely that of the author(s).

*These images are not ours, nor do we claim them in any way. They are copyrighted by MarDe Brooks & Jimbo Valentine of Amalgam United.

[discotreque]

Picard 1.09: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1

And we're back to a 45 minute runtime this week. But why? Imagine a version of this episode that was as leisurely and intimate as "Nepenthe," with time to really luxuriate in all these interesting new characters and situations. Instead it felt like an all-out race to... well, the middle, because the second half of this story won't come out for another week.

This is immensely frustrating for me because I'm a fast reader. Shorter novels I tend to finish in one sitting; a big doorstopper might take me two or three sessions max. Never in my life have I encountered a story with a pre-existing emotional connection, characters I liked right away, a plot that started with an interesting mystery—and then rationed that story out to myself in ten small doses, each a week apart. I'd slap you for suggesting it!

If this were a more episodic show—even only as episodic as Disco, which still has the obligatory Big Arcs—or if they dumped the whole season at once, I'd be a lot less frustrated. But releasing a "10-part movie" with a week between each part? I'm not loving it.

My complaints are general; my praise is specific. And contains spoilers:

Accountability update: I get half points at best. Last week I did correctly predict that Brent Spiner was going to come back—but as a synth like Soji, just in the form of an old man instead of a young woman. Did anybody suspect a previously unknown biological son of Soong was in the cards? I sure as hell didn't.

The surprise of that twist bodes well for more fun surprises next week, doesn't it? If they kept Brent Spiner a secret, they could keep Michael Dorn and Gates McFadden a secret too...

I loved the new effects for the transwarp conduit. They feel very of a piece with the new at-warp-speed effects. The old slow, streaky stars were a pretty and interesting effect, but they only connoted speed in an abstract, pseudo-scientific way. The zoomy new warp drive makes no pretensions to "accuracy," it just feels fast. And the transwarp conduit feels appropriately like warp drive on fast-forward—which is to say, kind of terrifying!

When Narek (ugh) is first shooting at La Sirena, there's a wide shot of the crew, and out the window behind them you can see disruptor bolts passing by and casting green light into the bridge. Extremely sexy work, VFX team.

"There's a difference between killing an attacking enemy and watching a wounded one die." Yeah, Picard, the second one's a lot less work.

Speaking of sexy VFX, how about those space orchids?

That "old" medical tricorder looks newer than anything we've seen before. I wanted a much closer look.

"Oh hey, by the way, everyone, I'm dying, now shut up about it." That's our Jean-Luc!

Prop of the week: that crazy soccer ball Rios briefly interacts with as they arrive in Synthville.

After Dahj died, Isa Briones didn't have much interesting to do as Soji for the first half of the season, but since joining up with the rest of the main cast, she's quickly becoming one of my favourites. I have no idea where this story is going to go next week, or what's going to happen to Soji (or Sutra (or anyone)) next season, but I hope Isa sticks around somehow—she’s terrific.

Star Trek has a long and gross history of objectifying Jeri Ryan when all they had to do was put her in a t-shirt and a leather jacket. I'm just... I'm so gay for Seven of Nine, you guys.

I would be 100% more interested in a Seven-and-Elnor series than this alleged Section 31 show we're getting.

Imagine the casting call for the androids in this episode: "Identical twins needed. Ages 20-30. Any race, any accent. Must be sexy as hell."

I love that at least some of the androids have names that fit in with the naming scheme of "Data" and "Lore": Saga (RIP), Arcana, Codex, Rune, and Sutra. I'm not familiar with a language where the word "Jana" means anything information-related, though.

Isa Briones is the MVP this week for sure. Dahj and Soji felt very distinct as people, and now we meet Sutra, who's nothing like either of them. She's creepy as hell, for one thing, and you fully believe she is capable of murder—several times this episode I expected her to reach out and snap a main character's neck. And who knows, next week she might!

I like this interpretation of the Admonition better than the Zhat Vash's. It's not a woo-woo prophesy, and thank fuck there's no time travel bullshit involved—it's a commercial, basically, for a hyper-advanced alliance of synthetic life. Call 1-800-FUCK-ORGANICS and they'll come clear up that little infestation for you.

But what I'm really hoping is that Sutra doesn't have the whole story either. What if the purpose of this alliance isn't to destroy organic oppressors, but mediate peace between organics and synthetics? Or what if they just scoop up all the synths and take them to safety wherever they normally live?

I just really, really don't want the heart of this story to be an evil AI, or even neutral AI vs. evil humans/Romulans. There are way more interesting stories to tell.

Spot II is a good baby and I love him. (RIP Spot the First, I guess.)

Still don't really have any feelings about Rios/Jurati but it's sweet that he's so soft with her.

That scene between Picard and Raffi though... my heart... my whole entire heart......

The fact that Jean-Luc couldn't get through to Starfleet feels extremely fucking ominous to me.

Narek still sucks and he's SO boring. How boring is he? In that scene between him and Soji, I was mostly focused on how the force field kept lighting up when Soji breathed on it—another subtle and sexy VFX moment.

Poor, sweet Saga. Later models didn't cram the entire positronic net into one single eyeball, an obvious design flaw in retrospect given its extreme vulnerability to injury. :(

And just as things are getting interesting...

It's hard to pass any kind of judgement on something that's clearly only half of a whole, but it certainly made me want to watch Part 2. See y'all here next week for the grand finale.

[wildishmazz]

Alright, Picard S01E08

Are we going to find out who the grand heroic captain was now? Betcha it’s the EMH who takes over the ship. Ooh, pretty space pictures again. The sphere the sphere the sphere the sphere Hell yeah we’re connecting to Discovery BOOM So Narissa’s old as balls, then. Ahh, that “some of” was carefully sliced out of that line for the trailer. Is that Ramdha? That properly looked like Airiam, crossed with the I, Robot robots. They’re family? Oh, that’s sad. Huh. I thought Narek had killed her. They’re really having fun exploring the various methods of cabbageheading, aren’t they? Last week realistic kid infodumping, this week, villainous soliloquay. Would have made a better Borg, or will make a better Borg? Daresay he’s had Faceless Man training for fighting blind. Me too, Elnor. Me too. How does she trim the nails of her left hand? Somehow, a fragment of Data will complete someone on the cube… Still feels weird that says it’s based on TNG, not Star Trek. Ooooookay, how do they know each other? Uh, who’s the captain here? Again, I have to ask; how come Dahj knew Picard instinctively but Soji doesn’t? Raffi, being sensible and logical Oh hey, Clancy! Nice to see you again. Would have been nice to see Wesley tell Picard to shut up. Uh… Raffi, how did you not pick up on the accent there? Nice detail there, that the image wibbles with her hand. Nice thing with the eyes. Me too, Elnor. Me too. Uh… what just happened to her eyes? He looks like he might have a line later just before someone kills him. Maybe he does, Soji. Depression will give a person alexithymia like that, and he’s had cause for a lot of depression. What element of The Inner Light is going to end up being the most significant? Picard having a son in another life? Hopefully played by the same actor again? AKA his actual son? Not THAT limited. He had Vulcan levels of sass. And liked his poetry, because honestly, it was really good. I’d say “how do you know?” but knowing shit you’re not supposed to know is your whole thing. Well, one of your things. Why the bad accents? Are they deliberately bad? Like “here’s my sphere!” So, the EMH is based on Bashir, the ENH is O’Brien, the EEH is Scotty, who are the EHH and ETH? Oh, Rios, sweetie. Wait, how long did you serve if you had that emblem on your stuff? To be fair, I don’t know when they exchanged it for the asymmetric one. How many pips does he have? K, not Captain Nog. Microcollective? You’ve done that before. But you’re going to do it, aren’t you? Ad break. Head smacking a la “Little Green Men”. Van der Meer. Of the sea. Like mermaids. Well, that was fun. What would have happened of Soji had met Maddox? That is red-eyed Airiam, I swear. Or related. Hubris. Nicely seeded word. We’ve only heard it once before in this show. Oh hey, Soji. Bless you, Raffi. You get access to a replicator that would probably do red wine, and you use it to get Rios a coffee. Did Van der Meer get the Knowledge That Drives You Mad? And just like that, Jurati has a reason to live again. I really don’t know what I make of her any more. He had The Knowledge That Drives You Mad. How long has Oh been head of Security? So that makes three. Oh no. Oh, Seven. Internally lit eyes. That was the Romulan theme again. Ad break. I have an idea. You have a concussion. And an idea. And what will happen to you when you do turn yourself in, to the authority that set you the mission in the first place? It’s the spheeeeeeeeere Somebody… Borgy. Yet the Romulans never really came for Data. They would have sent Sela, but she was too hot-headed and had already revealed herself. And now, she takes over the ship. Did someone already wipe out your family? Or Data picked it up when he was connected to the Queen. Uh, dude, who’s the captain? Yeah. There’s that head tilt again. Neatly done. You may yet make a better Borg than your auntie. How many voices is she speaking with just now? “Annika still has work to do”? Who said that? The rest of the xBs on the cube? Someone further away? How many of her will there be? Oh shit, N(ot S)arek came along for the ride.