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sunkenightmare · 1 year ago

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Blog Post #4

Eve's Bayou

This movie had my head spinning! There were so many moments where I was practically screaming at the TV, begging the parents to pay attention to their kids. Let's dive into the first parent, Louis Batistet, aka Dr. Feelgood. This guy admitted that he's just a small-town doctor trying to find validation from others. Right from the start, we see that he's a real ladies' man, and even his mom mentions how many women want him. He's definitely successful, living in a nice house on the Bayou, look at all fancy in his suits. You can tell his family is above average compared to the other families around.

But here's the thing, Dr. Feelgood is always craving attention from anyone and everyone. He loves the approval he gets from all the women who are practically fawning over him. And guess what? That craving for attention extends to his kids too. Let's talk about Cicely, the oldest daughter who's 14 years old. Her bond with her dad seems loving at first, but then it takes a really weird turn. Man, let me tell you about the beginning of this movie. It seemed all innocent and pure, you know? But then Cicely starts to realize that her dad has a thing for older women. And that's when she decides to present herself all ladylike and proper. She even changes the way she talks and during this big family fight, she boldly says, "enough is enough." Throughout the film, she's always defending her dad and correcting her mom. But here's the thing, her parents totally neglect Cicely's needs. She's clearly trying to figure herself out, but she ends up having this strange and inappropriate attraction towards her dad. Now, I think he actively manipulated her. For instance, she would stay up late at night, waiting for him in his chair. She'd offer him drinks and give him shoulder rubs, which was seriously uncomfortable to watch. I kept thinking it would lead to something even more messed up. She even disobeys her mom right in front of her dad, just to get his approval. And get this, she takes a bus all the way to his office just to see him because he's not coming home. Mr. "Feelgood" should've stepped up and told her how inappropriate all that was.

Now, let's talk about Cicely's mom. Poor thing is caught up in her emotions due to her husband's cheating. But here's the deal, she's so wrapped up in her own drama that she doesn't pay enough attention to her kids. She doesn't bother figuring out why Cicely wants to be just like her. Plus, she's under pressure to be a strong black woman and hold the family together. But nobody talks about how she becomes the subject of gossip among the women on the Bayou because her man is everybody's man. I think this movie is trying to show us how black marriages were viewed in the 60s. Even if the dad messes up, society expects the wife to stand by him. The mom doesn't want the marriage to end; she just wants peace. But she doesn't realize how much Cicely is getting caught up in their messed-up relationship until she starts distancing herself from both of them. And you know what's messed up? The dad acts all clueless, like he doesn't understand why Cicely is pulling away. This would've been the perfect moment for both parents to come together and explain to her that she's acting way too grown for her age. But nope, Dr. Feelgood decides to blame it all on Roz, Cicely's mom.

Eve wasn't a bad child. She simply had middle child syndrome, feeling overlooked and craving attention. I actually liked Eve as a character. She had a curious nature and questioned authority figures, not in a misbehaving way, but in a genuine quest for answers. She would ask her father difficult questions, like if he had children outside their family or why he didn't want to dance with her like he did with other women. She longed for her father's attention, but it was interesting to see how her love for him turned into hatred and a desire to harm him. She felt betrayed by him and saw his continuous betrayals of the family. It was intriguing to witness her conflicted feelings towards the end, when she ultimately revealed her father's affair to the woman's husband he was cheating with. There's a moment in the saloon where she begs her father to come home, but she's ultimately disgusted by the smirk on his face, as if he believes he's untouchable. The mistakes the parents made with Eve, I believe, ultimately led her astray. She was a child but excessively curious for her own good, which resulted in the loss of her innocence. As the father, Mr. Feelgood should not have brought Eve along on house calls, knowing he would end up sleeping with the women to make them feel better. He should have also given equal attention to all his children, as it was evident that Cicely was his favorite, even mentioned in the letter he left for Aunt Mozelle. I also didn't understand the notion that stating love for someone means they can do wrong without consequences. Mr. Feelgood often tells Eve that he loves her and her mother, as if it validates his bad actions. Aunt Mozelle does the same thing by saying that her father loves her, as if his behavior is acceptable. Aunt Mozelle also allowed Eve to have crazy ideas about voodoo and witchcraft, without trying to correct her curiosity about her line of work. She often let Eve observe her clients and watch how she practiced, ultimately leading Eve to seek voodoo in her father's fate. Overall, the director portrayed the story excellently. We knew who we would consider the "bad guy," but there were arguments throughout the movie on who was truly at fault. I appreciated how they developed the relationship between Sicily and her father, causing viewers to question who was truly in the wrong. It was a nice touch on magical realism and the depiction of voodoo in the South. Additionally, the film touched on the dynamics of an upper-class black family during the 60s, with the father being a doctor and the wife being a loving mother. It shed light on how the concept of family differed during that time in the South.

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ramrodd · 2 years ago

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What are some possible reforms that could be made to the universal service obligation?

COMMENTARY:

Back in the ’60s and the anti-draft movement, I always thought that the Peace Corps should count as national service equivalent to military enlistment.

As an Army brat, I was an atheist on the idea that I would not be a soldier. I began to seriously prepare for a military career when I was 15 and going to Vietnam was part of my career and estate planning. I expected to spend 30 years working with Green Berets like Stanley McChrystal in a life of thrills and danger. The mission of the Green Berets in Vietnam was defined by General Marshall’s just war doctrine of nation building as a military solution.

Now, at that time, I saw the mission of the Army in Vietnam in terms of NATO as an instrument of the United Nations and in the same nation building business as the Peace Corps, which was JFK’s essential contribution to the success of the Marshall Plan and the New Deal. I’ve had cousins from Greg Pence’s Indiana Congressional District who were among the first generation of volunteers after Sargeant Shriver took over. In retrospect, I considered the Peace Corps to be a practical implementation of Eisenhower’s 1956 Presidential Platform and captured the anti-war intent of Eisenhower’s program.

Here is one of the things that is missing from the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam that is essential to actually learned the lessons of how it played out and why. Here’s the thing about Tucker Carlson and the Ivy League Socialism of the John Birch Society that lost the battle of Vietnam was the assassination of the Diem brothers that was engineered and implemented by John Birch Society activists inside the State Department at the work flow level of the Oval Office and CIA Bay of Pigs cowboys who were still trying to improve their effectiveness across the Burma Hump. People like B. Gordon Liddy, the Peter Pan of the OSS conceits of the FBI under J> Edgar Hoover.

But the assassination of the Diem brothers violated our stated ideals of sovereign democracy, no matter how messy it was. This is where Oliver Stone gets part of it right in JFK about a evil cabal in the Pentagon, but it was totally outside the boundaries of the Army Chief of Staff. They knew these Fascists were at State because they had a front row seat to the success of the ur-John Birch Society at State at preventing Jews from escaping Hitler.

Anyway, all the momentum that had been building around the success of the Marshall Plan was seriously stalled by the assassination of the Diem brothers by basically the same people who are currently represented by the January 6 majority in the House. These people have been committed to sabotaging the American Christian Just War Doctrine that began to evolve from General Marshall’s reform of the General Staff to include G5: Civil Affairs. The intent is to avoid the mistakes that were made with the failure of Reconstruction and the League of Nations, but to actually deploy American constitutional capitalism in the restoration of battle damage immediately behind the Forward Edge of the Battle Area. Organic to the leading edge of the Battle Area.

That was my understanding of becoming a career Green Beret in 1962 and I considered the Peace Corps to be the reason why we were in Vietnam and Africa in the first place. I mean, DC Home Rule is based in no small measure to the success of community building at the Peace Corps level.

And the white supremacists at State and CIA Cowboys fucked it up for everybody jus like they did for Nixon and Watergate as the Plumbers. Pat Buchanan brags about being on the phone on Air Force One trying to sabotage Nixon’s China Policy as part of Nixon’s staff in the Mao-Nixon “Leaky Umbrella” Summit. Pat Buchanan was Nixon’s Ivy League Socialism advisor and the essential liaison to the Plumbers. He was very careful to keep his fingers clean, but his political intent was to implement William F. Buckley’s manifesto for the Nazification of America , the Sharon Statement, which was committed to preventing Eisenhower’s 1965 Presidential Platform from transforming the Cold War physical infrastructure to the Star Wars social infrastructure made possible by Apollo 11.

The January 6 majority is the last cunt hair in the way of the critical mass necessary to trigger the transformation of the Quantity of the Cold War to the Quality of Star Wars. So, it comes down to the reality that the only cunt hair in the way of Biden’s program to become 2001: A Space Odyssey is the 14th Amendment and that ‘s how a healthy constitutional process processes.

So, if there was any one thing I would add to the current avenues of national service within the legal boundaries of the 2nd Amendment, I would add the Peace Corps to the mix and expand the Veterans Administration to accommodate volunteer veterans the same as the grunts. Same mud. Same blood.

Of course, the 14 Amendment is what being woke is all about. Never forget Dan Sickles was the Tommy Tuberville of Gettysburg. The 1st Minnesota paid the price, but Dan Sickle’s leg gets all the glory.

So, my vote goes to the Peace Corps.

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the-firebird69 · 2 years ago

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There's other things happening here and a few of them are

-and then aka Dave yeah got his eviction notice yesterday no but when was filed to victim and to evict the others but not our son.

-the post office tried screwing around with our son's check again to pay his credit card for their pain in the ass and they were fighting over it when the mailman came in and took the mail and that was what happened he put it out to be assorted and it got sorted while they're fighting and then it left and there's idiots luckily and the guy in the post office truck wanted it and they watched him the whole way and it's a decent size truck and they kept saying it don't even I really it's disgusting you people are so stupid

-is a huge number of warlock in Charlotte county getting ready to leave finally there's still 120 households but they're going to be very fewer today it is a huge evacuation and they say it too we're out of here and it's good we don't need you here I don't want you here and there are more things here to talk about

-they are firing people from retail jobs and other private jobs but really they're down to about 10%, they're going to drop five more percent out and the percentage is rough it could be at 15% and they're dropping 5% out it's closer and they fired people on Sunday and it was 5% it was a lot but that's what's working on the weekend

-on top of that government workers they're laying off another 10% that said and you know there's 10% left in the State of Florida and Charlotte county is 20% left 10% are going to be fired today

-and out of leadership in Charlotte county is still 2800 they want to find 400 today

-there's a few more positions that they're laid off today in Charlotte county one of them is the police department personnel there where about 60 cops and they laid off 20 and hired back 20 and minority Bullock and now they want to lay off 20 more and hire 20 minority warlock and stuff like that the sheriff has 300 minority more luck and 100 left and they're holding for today other agencies are looking to cut in half again but really they're hiring a bunch of minority warlock for those agencies as they release people from the FBI and about 50% today the CIA about 50% the DEA 50% NSA 50% and their offices will have minority warlock in them and at 50% of the office morlok population.

-and it is going on too but there are a few people who CR7 for what he is they see our son for what he is and who is but it's not in a good way they say he's a Giants and to take him down and stuff like that that's an excuse to try to kidnapping it's a growing one that's seriously it's a joke... But I didn't intend it to be and he wants to put it up there because it sounds funny and he said the reason is that he's not a giant right now so there's a bunch of people will be considered mentally ill by others even their own that's what's happening they're saying it and they're saying you're crazy and they're getting hit that guy is no bigger than us you loser and then they hit each other and it's quite a show

-there's a ton of people who are wondering what the song Halo is about in my son says that people like him have a lot of electrical activity and the Brain if you look at it and do something and just heat it up or charged up you'll see a little bit of a Halo and everybody's trying to check but they can't it's not really charged up and nobody really has video of it how they do and it's the tech people and you have to look at it a certain gear and you can see it and it's glowing and it looks odd like a golden ring

-there's a couple other things there's a lot of people in town running around already trying to cause trouble and they are being picked up

Some of it's been modified the statements if he doesn't post them right away usually at the end we found one that was in the middle and we fixed it but this guy Brian has nothing to do yet so you have to entertain him you should let him know that his people are being arrested too and brought in questioning murdered a lot of them it's just sitting there making stupid comments on the website bothering her son the guy needs to get the f*** lost along one side of his trumpsters you're useless person Brian James.

Besides that the evacuation is increased from 50% to about 75%.

Usually if you evacuate an area up to 75% the whole place is going to evacuate really think that's the case in a couple hours will probably see it.

Right now a massive contingent of minority morlock are heading this way and it is a huge bunch huge. They're going to take over where the more likely here and there's about 25% more of them coming that are leaving cuz I always tend to find a place.

Hera is okay the incident is passing she is not under duress or nothing like what it was and she feels better and didn't really tell him so she's mad at him. She says you planned it. And then she says I have my release date after she said I'm doomed here but she's got a release date and she's going to be released into our custody and we'll have all the proper foods and medicines and oxygen levels and everything. She's laughing a little bit cuz he's the one who helped her a lot and he's surrounded. It's getting information here himself but she does feel better.

-it's a huge day in history.

Mars into Superior conjunction, but shortly after Mars and Venus going to conjunction it's in February of 2024, and that's about 7 months from now and that's when it occurs and she's excited very excited and said my man is helping me and she said you created both and she and she said oh it's supposed to happen after. But if we can get out now it's the thing to do and it didn't happen but we have a lot of work to do to get there and we have to make sure it works one of the moves is coming up real quick he says you have some stuff to get out of the way and in a day and we said no way so it makes sense to me but it could be the other one that makes sense so. Whole bunch of us for getting up in arms they have the schedule we have to do and we're getting to work a couple more things happening though and sending out orders now

-there are unruly people here there are nasty comments and threats people stalking him. I want them in jail and I mean it and let's be at worked on. And people are doing a job all over to get there today in Florida they're evacuating and they're getting picked up too at the same time and large numbers of being arrested and more evacuating it's a large scale evacuation not only that but they're pulling people in and it's a small fraction of those evacuated but it's a large number it's like 2 billion an hour it's a ton of people so we are watching that and watching people get arrested I don't see what for and we understand people are having a hard time I'll send it arrested for stupid stuff. There's probably not any of them left in Tallahassee or Gainesville and they are quickly emptying Tampa area and soon Sarasota and they'll reach here is already Naples and Cape Coral and the stereo down that way are evacuating so both sides are going and they're going to do these people sitting here.

Thor Freya

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lt-wolfpack · 2 years ago

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70 things ALL Police rookies should know...

1. Out here, everybody lies.

2. They lied to you during training.

3. Never take the word of a drunk person over that of a sober person.

4. Civilian ride alongs are not your friends.

5. Sit back and listen to the veterans.

6. Some night, someone will try to kill you. You do not know when, who or where. Therefore, consider everyone with whom you come in contact to be a potential threat.

7. If you need help, ask for it.

8. NEVER, EVER lie.

9. Have fun with the job and don't take yourself too seriously.

10. If you think someone is watching you....they are

11. Go Home At The End Of Your Shift

12. Pick A Secret Mentor

13. Develop A "Hand Fetish"- Watch everybody's hands

14. Report Writing IS "Officer Survival"

15. Wash Your Hands!

16. Wear That Geeky Traffic Vest

17. Have A Life Outside The Job

18. Trust Your Instincts

19. Handcuff EVERYBODY / "Search For The BB"

20. Be Professional And Courteous, But Never Forget The Next Person you Meet You May Have To Kill.

21. Trust Your Instincts

22. You've got 30 years to be the Police (depending on your state)...don't try to do everything the first year.

23. Know where the hell you are in your town/city

24. Don't let the bastards get you down...the department is probably full of people that like to complain.

25. When it comes time to lay hands on somebody (and that time WILL come), let your violence be swift and merciless.

26. Don't talk bad about other officers EVER.

27. Listen up to the radio and know where the other officers are.

28. When everyone else in the jurisdiction is shagging paperwork calls, DO NOT stop the car with a out tag light that is being driven by a 60 year old woman who has never ever been stopped by the police before just because you are a little bored.

29. Murphy was a cop and he likes to do ride-a-longs. If it can go wrong it will.

30. NEVER eat where you can't see your food being prepared.

31. Don't hold your flashlight in your weapon hand.

32. Don't ever tell back-up there not needed even if there from another agency.

33. Look Good/sharp in uniform

34. Attitude is everything-

35. I highly recommend not purchasing expensive writing utensils for patrol work. You will eventually lose them.

36. You must be alert.

37. Never let anyone you are questioning or about to stop get in a better position than you and your vehicle.

38. Is your firearm clean? Will it fire? How about the ammo? When did you last fire so that you can hit a target in combat conditions? What's the sense of carrying any firearm that may not work?

39. Remember to look up when your out on patrol

40. Have a SPARE key for every car you THINK you might drive...and keep it ON YOUR PERSON.

41. Sometimes the bad guy will get away. Sometimes you just can't connect him to the crime. Sometimes he will be out on the street before you report for your next shift. Sometimes prosecution will be declined. RELAX, THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME.

42. Think about worst case scenarios, then have a plan to respond. Have a backup plan in case the first one fails. Always leave yourself a way out. There is no such thing as retreat. However, there is nothing wrong with fighting in the opposite direction.

43. Be nice to everyone you meet. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet

44. Pay special attention to people who don't want to make eye contact. The ones who give you the "fuck you" looks are the ones who probably don't have anything going right then.

45. Learn to look around at everything quickly and not staring in one place hoping something happens there.

46. Get out on foot and walk. Perps expect us to be lazy. They never expect us on foot.

47. When asking for consent to search, watch their eyes. If they have something, the eyes will automatically look at it before they respond.

48. Be nice to your dispatcher!

49. NEVER walk up to a vehicle on a traffic stop with a ticket book in your hand. I don't care what your FTO says.

50. THE PEOPLE THAT YOU GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO "CUT A BREAK" ARE ALWAYS THE ONES WHO COMPLAIN.

51. THE GUY YOU KNOW PERSONALLY, EXPECTS FAVORS.

52. Stay in shape.

53. Keep learning/going to schools/college.

54. MAKE AND KEEP GOOD RELATIONS WITH OTHER LEO'S. YOU WILL NEED THEM AND THEY WILL NEED YOU. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN AGENCIES IS CRITICAL.

55. Buy a bag of chewy dog treats in the resalable bag. Great for coaxing a pitbull out of the house you need to get into.

56. Check the backseat of your squad before you leave the station, and every time you take someone out. You'll be surprised how much dope you find.

57. Pretty girls have gotten breaks all their lives, so stroke 'em.

58.Wear your body armor every single day. No matter what, no matter how hot or uncomfortable it gets, or if the other guys tease you. The day you don't wear it could be the day you need it.

59. Never, never, ever trust ANY member of the news media if you want to stay out of the trick bag.

60. When on the radio always use your normal tone in your speech! It helps when you call out on traffic or anything and your fellow officers can tell that there is a concerned/excited tone in your voice they will know that something may be up and can start your way.

61. Personal hygiene is a must. First, you're dealing with the public and they don't need to smell your stinky ass.

62. Remember, two is one and one is none. Always have at least two flashlights, two pairs of cuffs, two radio batteries because when you need that particular piece of equipment most, it will crap out on you.

63. Practice, practice, practice. Because the bad guys sure are. They study your holsters and probably know how to get your firearm out quicker than you do.

64. When you make a traffic stop, don't just give a tag number thinking your dispatcher will get all the pertinent info. from the return. Give a vehicle description. What if that tag doesn't belong on that car? When the driver gets though shooting you, I'd like to be able to at least be looking for the right type of vehicle.

65. For the love of God, please take all the crap that jingles out of your pockets. I don't want to clear a building with a guy that has $15.00 worth of pennies in his pocket and something resembling a janitor's key ring hanging off his belt.

66. If you find one weapon always assume there is another

67. Remember that this is people business. The more details you can recall about people, their families, what they drive, where they work, who they hang with, where they hang, will be so vital in your every day contacts.

68. Don't let the prospect of a citizen complaint keep you from doing your job. If you're right, don't worry. Some people just love to complain.

69. Take a bathroom break whenever you can...you never know when that long drawn out call or arrest is going to prevent you from going.

70. NEVER trust anyone from Internal Affairs

#thin blue line #law enforcement #sheriff #police #night shift #thin gray line #thin gold line #brotherhood #lawenforcement #back the blue #igy6

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ahedderick · 3 years ago

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Creative inspiration

Did you ever have a burst of creative inspiration strike - for the WRONG medium? I paint and draw. Write a bit. For me to get a movie scene stuck in my head is . . entirely unhelpful. But here it is.

The scene opens with a bunch of kids roughly 5 to 12 yrs old running excitedly around a suburban yard have a large-scale nerf battle. Slow-mo scenes, afternoon sunlight, lots of laughter and yelling, valiant defense and high-stakes offense.

The camera swings around to the other side of a rose hedge to show a serious-looking mid-60s man carefully inspecting his roses. He is a tad bit too neat and tidy. Mustache a little to precise. We get the impression of a fussbudget. Over the hedge sails a nerf suctioncup-dart which sticks, quivering, to his forehead. His eyes widen!

Cut to Mustache marching dramatically into his house, dart still on his forehead, yelling cholerically for his wife.

Back in the other yard, the kids are still whooping it up. Then their eyes widen! Around the end of the hedge comes Mustache Man. He is yelling/roaring, grinning, and carrying the largest-possible SuperSoaker.

Summer afternoon CHAOS ensues. The battle is filmed with all the seriousness and drama of Saving Private Ryan. The air is thick with nerf bullets and sprays of water. Some kid grabs the garden hose. The yelling and laughter can be heard all down the block. One stocky ten-yr-old starts doing a haka. Everybody is soaked, grass-stained, and out of breath.

Camera cuts to Mustache’s wife and another neighbor, standing on the sidewalk watching attentively. They have popcorn and occasionally do a round of ‘golf clapping’. You start to get the sense that this sort of scene is not out of character for the neighborhood.

A shift in the sunlight cues us that it is now late afternoon. Cars start coming down the street and turning into driveways; parents returning home from work. The kids disperse from the battleground. Two of the returning parents turn out to be Chris Fleming and Dwayne Johnson. The kid who was doing the haka runs to Johnson and starts describing the whole battle at top volume. He is dripping wet and gesturing wildly. The Rock is grinning ear to ear, and does a little haka with him. Ditto for the skinny, energetic girl who runs to Chris Fleming. He embraces her without worrying about messing up his office clothes.

Mustache Guy limps over to his wife and they return to their house, him holding his lower back, more than a little of-of-breath, and grinning widely.

Cut.

There. I mean - I can SEE all of that. But I don’t know WHY?

#unrestrained summer fun #kids #movie

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marauder-exe · 5 years ago

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AU list!

hi! These are a bunch of Au’s that i could write,and you could request! (reposting because it didnt work the first time)

General

Fake dating (My personal favourite)

Soulmates

Coffee shop

Modern Royalty

Rockstar

Running From The Police

Rebel Against The Goverment

High School

University

Law school

Delayed-Flights-And-Were-Stuck-In-The-Airport-And-Its-Like-2Am

Roommates

Road Trip

Arranged Marriage

Im-Arranged-To-Marry-Your-Brother-But-Were-In-Love

Amnesia

Tattoo-Artist-And-Coffee-Shop-Worker

Loved-Since-Childhood

Professor-Student (of age)

Met-On-Holiday

More detailed

21.You were singing/playing guitar/etc. in the park to protest the war and a policeman tried to dismiss you for 'disturbing the peace' but you argued that you were promoting peace and things got heated and next thing you know you're being arrested for assaulting an officer. You intrigue me, so I'm here to bail you out and maybe take you on a date?

22.the nice one who everybody loves with the grumpy and strict one that the students hate and the students wonder?????????how what the fuck

23.we just had a one-night stand but a massive storm hit so now we’re snowed in, hello awkward

24. i sit at the rental booth at our local ice rink and watch you teach children how to skate

25. alternatively, i watch kids teach you how to skate because you’re a terrible skater

26. i’m running late to an important interview/meeting and you accidentally spill your hot cocoa all over my outfit

27. you’re my hot ski instructor and i’m failing the bunny hill

28. i slip on some ice and you’re the stranger who catches me

29. i gave my winter coat to a homeless person and come into your store to warm up

30. our friends rent a cabin to go skiing and we’re the only ones who stay inside

31. you’re the asshole of our group and we don’t get along, but then i find out you make soup for the local shelter

32.we’re waiting in line for the club when you complain that your roommate stole your gloves so let me warm your hands up with mine

33.my family invites you to join our holiday meal as an obvious setup and i’m so sorry

34.the power goes out in our apartment building, but i’m not prepared for this, and you come to check on me

35.i’m having a snowball fight with my friend in the park and i hit you instead

36.a storm is delaying our flight home and i’m afraid of thunder, please talk to me while we wait

37. we’re both in small claims court and i got into a huge fight with the person suing me but you stepped in to hold me back before security got there

38. i drove two hours to the closest video rental store that’s still operating and you were checking out the only copy of the movie i was after

39. i hit you with my car but luckily you’re okay, but we should still exchange information i guess

40. i was worried about buying something off of someone creepy from craigslist but oh no you’re hot

41. my friend talked me into playing a drunken game of spin the bottle even though we’re all adults and now we have to make out

42. we both decided to take a [yoga/fencing/cooking etc] class and we’re the only two assholes not taking it seriously and everyone else is giving us dirty looks but we keep grinning over at each other

43. my date just made a scene in public and got arrested and now i’m stranded in a city without a ride home

44. sharing a cab together

45. you’re trying to get me to sign a petition and i have no idea what you’re talking about

46. you’re drunk at this festival and dancing on the table and when you eventually fell i caught you

47. we both play this stupid game online and you keep beating me every single goddamn time so i called you out and you are pretty cute but can you not

48. im a bartender and you just came in here without shoes sat down and ordered a chocolate volcano and idk what the fuck that is and im scared to ask

49. we are neighbours and every night at 3:14 am you start yodeling for no fucking reason??? why???? is that you yodeling??? its been 2 months???

50.im a pizza delivery person and i just delivered a pizza to someone in the middle of a satanic ritual and they gave me their number???

51. i woke up this morning to find you sitting in my living room with a goat in a poncho??? who are you??? why is the goat wearing a poncho??? how did you get the goat in here i live on the 12th floor???

52. we work out at the same gym and you always look super legit but i know you sing hannah montana in the shower and you know i know

53. im a cashier and i saw you stuffing you pants full of potatoes and i would stop you but you already have 27 and i want to see how many you can fit

54. its 4 am and im drunk as fuck in a mcdonalds and you have been watching my trying to eat this burger for 30 minutes

55. i was playing beer pong with a coin and i accidentally threw it right into your eye at a party

56. i’m at the beach and some kids thought it was funny to bury me in the sand when i dozed off can you please dig me out

57. it’s unbearably hot and we’re both fighting over the last handheld electrical fan at the shop at the amusement park

58. hey i just met you, and this is crazy, but i get sunburned really easily so can you please help me put sunscreen on my back?

59. thunderstorm after a menacing heatwave and we’re both getting weird looks for dancing in the rain

60.i have no idea who you are but you just fainted right in front of me holy shit dude you need to drink more in this heat

61. we both chased after the leaving ice cream van like ten-year-olds and now we’re both out of breath and a bit embarrassed

62.i clearly reserved this deck chair by putting a towel on it why on earth are you lying on it who the fuck do you think you are

63. My friends bet I wouldn’t buy these three weird and questionable items and you’re my cashier.

64.Once a week I go visit the pet store just to stare at the cute kittens and puppies and you’re the nice employee who always lets me hold them and wait I think I’m going to cry hold on.

65.You’re the DJ of the University’s radio station and every time you give an opinion on a current event I have to call and argue with you because could you seriously be anymore wrong?

66.We both wait tables at the same restaurant and you’re always mad at me by the end of the night because I make more in tips

67.We have the same class and once a week you wear this graphic shirt I don’t understand and I really want to ask you about it.

68.We both work at the same craft store that literally has no customers so we have nothing to do and I’m always reading at the register but you always have to criticize my book choice what the hell?

69.I’m working the concession stand for this week’s home game and this is the fifth time you’ve come back for snacks wait are you flirting with me?

70. we’re at a bookstore and you and I seem to have similar taste in books have you read this one? How about this one?

71. you look like you need help and I’m a professional roller/ice skater but I don’t want you to feel bad about how much you suck but wow you suck

72. You ordered your food before me and they gave you a drink you didn’t want so you gave it to me

73. We’re sitting at adjacent computers in the library and I’m taking extra care not to look at your screen out of respect but what the fuck do you keep laughing at

74. as a joke I yelled out “happy birthday to someone!” in this store and you called back “thank you!” who are you

75. You heard me talking about a TV show in class the other day and now you’re passionately yelling at me about how good it is we’ve never actually spoken before

76. It’s 10:30 at night and I left my glasses at home so I can’t read any of these labels and you’re one of the only people in the grocery store and GODDAMMIT DO YOU HAVE ANY TOMATO SAUCE WITHOUT CHUNKS

77. We go to the same support group; I have social anxiety and you’re a kleptomaniac who sorta stole my heart

78. You thought you were alone at the bus stop so early in the morning so you started passionately singing Fall Out Boy but your Patrick Stump impression could use some work and I’m not really afraid to point that out

79. I’m an artist and you have a really nice face so would you mind if I drew you?

80. We’re rival up-and-coming singers and every time one of us releases a new single the other does a cover to try to make it better; we’re always trying to top each other and out-cute each other, but half our fans aggressively ship us; our agents use this to their advantage and decide we should do a duet because it’ll be popular; unfortunately now that we’re in the same studio and I’ve seen what you’re like I really wanna know what your lips feel like

81.PLEASE I REALLY CANNOT FIND MY CAT AND I KNOW IT’S THREE A.M. BUT NEIL CATRICK HARRIS AND I WOULD BOTH APPRECIATE THE HELP

82. We were both stood up for dates at the same nice restaurant so we decide to eat together and split the check but I dunno you’re pretty interesting aside from your distractingly enormous eyebrows

83. We met at a mutual friend’s cheesy masquerade party and we agree that the only good thing about this party is the masks so you can’t judge a book by its cover only now that we’ve been talking I want to see your face but I don’t know how to ask

84. You used to date my friend who absolutely hates your guts after a messy breakup and now you’re flirting with me and I really shouldn’t be so interested in you but I am

85.We pass each other every day while we’re biking on the same path so we’ve started smiling at each other and one day you’re stopped because you’re having an asthma attack so I offer you my extra water bottle and now we’re talking and now I’M the one who’s breathless

86.I lost my little sibling in IKEA and I need your help finding them

87.I'm a private detective hired to follow you, but you're endearingly boring and mostly I just like watching you and oops, I sort of find you adorable.

88. You've been sketching me for half an hour now, and just shuffled up to hand me the finished product and it's TERRIBLE but you just wanted an excuse to talk to me.

89. I'm at an art exhibit and I just badmouthed the art, because I don't get it, okay? And it turns out you're the artist. I'm so sorry, maybe I could get you coffee and you could explain what it was supposed to be?

90. We're the only two people who turned up to an underground gig and it should be awkward, but the band is amazing and you asked me to dance and hey, there's nobody watching but us.

91. You live in the apartment next to me. We're not supposed to have pets, but I KNOW you have a cat. I'll make you a deal, I won't tell, if you let me pet it.

92. I punched you because I thought you were insulting my friend, but it turns out you know each other and it was an inside joke and I'm so sorry, let me drive you to the hospital?

93. We both wanted to rent a bike for an hour but the only one they have is a tandem bike

94. I’m on a terrible date and you’re my waitor please help me

95.Our dick landlord just evicted us both

96.I’m your neighbor and I can hear you fucking someone who shares my name

97. You’re sort of famous and we vaguely know each other through bumping into each other all the time but the media thinks we’re dating

98. Your roommate cheated on me and I just threw your laptop out the window thinking it was his

99. It’s 2am on the night of my 21st birthday and we gotta fix this fucking mess by morning or else we’re fucked

100.Fuck you and your bee farm I’ve had enough

Feel free to use any of these as your own! If you wanna request you could drop an inbox saying ‘ could you do ____ AU with this character’!

#remus lupin x reader #sirius black x reader #james potter x reader #lily evans x reader #cedric diggory x reader #regulus black x reader #fred weasley x reader #george weasley x reader #hermione granger x reader

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prorevenge · 6 years ago

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You okay the project for the whole team? Great turn it in to the professor tomorrow

Tl/dr; Kids in group project don’t take having a real life client seriously, 1 fails, 1 fails and doesn’t graduate, and 1 goes from A to C and screws up GPA.

Enough of the Backstory, here are the characters, obviously no where near their real names:

Matt - Professor

Client - Store owner

Damien - Project Partner

Jeff - Project Partner

Kirk - Project Partner

Barry - Me

The SPRING class in this story was a Implementing Business Computer Systems class. For the yearly project we had a real life client that our school volunteered the students for Pro Bono work of small business in the area. We were seniors, so we are trusted with the clients work as it is oversaw by our professor. This is a big step and I, for one, am excited. I had been doing nothing but working as a Bartender/Server in a fine dining restaurant and having my head in books learning how to code with barely any time to do much else - this was an opportunity to get a taste of the real world we were about to embark on.

The project started out fine, we all drive thirty minutes away to meet our client. A wonderful woman that owned a small floral business and she was paying 1-800-flowers to sell her product for her, which came with a website itself and a HUGEEEE price. This lady was also in her 60s and by no means fluent in computer - this is important for later. We talk, find out she wants a new website, her contract with 1-800-assholes ends in the summer. No pressure, we will be able to finish the web site and give it to her by the end of the semester, if not earlier. This will give us time to teach her what is needed and what to do so that she can maintain and run the website by her self. Afterwards we delegate the tasks, and since I have the most extensive background in coding and computers, I volunteer to learn how to create this website for our client as long as Damien, Jeff and Kirk work on the other parts of the project - the user guide and the technical documentation. For our client, this needed to be extensive so that she would be able to post her product on the website with an easy transition.

As we weigh our options over the next week, we come up with some proposals to the client and we set a meeting to go over these on a Tuesday - the day everybody is the most free in their schedule - the following week. Sunday - Jeff says he can't make it, Kirk quickly responds and says he can't make it either. I say its cool, Damien and I will be able to make it. Monday - Damien says we should reschedule because now he can't make it. I say no, I will go by myself we shouldn't cancel on the client - no biggie, I understand things come up. As the project went through the semester, I am killing the website. I have a working e-commerce store integrated with the stores paypal, i have a shop tab, and a featured page for in season flowers. I ask about the documentation and the user manual and I am told by the all three of them that they are working on it and will have a rough draft for me soon to check out. Cool, No problem. Time to show the client the product to see if she wants any changes or if we should just continue creating this website for her; we set a meeting with the client on a Tuesday a week or two in advance and everybody says that is okay.

Same song, different story. Sunday - Jeff says he can't make it, Kirk quickly responds and says he can't make it either. I say its cool, Damien and I will be able to make it. Monday - Damien says we should reschedule because now he can't make it. "I say fuck no, this is a client. You don't do that to clients." So I hop my ass by myself to drive 30 minutes to meet our client. I show the Client the website and she client is happy with the product and asks us to continue and she is excited for the finished product.

How our weeks are set up is in such a way which they start on a Wednesday and end on a Tuesday. So the last day of classes are on a Tuesday. The school then gives an extra free day that Wednesday for a "Study Day", then the exams schedule goes Thu-Fri-Sat || Mon-Tues-Wed. I am sure you can infer what students do on that Tuesday before study day. Fast forward to the end of the semester, I still haven't seen any documentation or user manual and it is due on the class' exam day, which is the first day of exam week. So a week before it is due I am told I will have the documentation and user manual in my hand before our meeting which is at 12PM that study day - Wednesday. I receive a email at 11PM on Tuesday as I am getting off work and I see that is the technical documentation and the user manual. i open it up, promptly get pissed, turn off my laptop, play some xbox and pass out before midnight. The reason being, technical documentation was 1 page and did not contain anything about the Database Schema used, the website language, the paypal information, the emails registered. Just the URL and some other information that wasn't important and was half a page long. Remember how our client was in her 60s? The user manual was 1 and a half pages long and, I shit you not, contained about 5 sentences and 3 pictures with an arrow. 0 explanation on how to use the website.

Come to the meeting at 12pm, I show up and wait about 5 minutes. I then text everybody asking where they are at, no response. I start looking over how to fix the user manual since I obviously have to start over. While I am working on it, I haven't said anything and then Damien walks into the room.

D: "Did you get the docs?"

Me: "Yeah. You guys really think this is finished?"

D: "Oh yeah, it should be good to turn in."

Me: "Idk, I think we should add a little more, this is for our client, she won't understand this. Where is Jeff and Kirk?"

D: " ahhahaha We all got fucked up last night after finishing up the documentation, they are probably still passed out. Also, I'm turning it in tomorrow, if you want to do anything else go ahead, but whatever I have I am turning it in. I think its ready to turn it so I won't be doing anything else, I have other classes to study for. I already have an A in this class so it doesn't matter to me and Kirk and Jeff have A's as well so they don't care at all."

Perfect he said the magic words and then he left with a flash drive. I immediately went upstairs and told my professor, Matt, everything. I said I don't want to leave my client hanging, yes my client, not ours. Matt said that he completely understands and even commends me for wanting to stay on top of everything and not give our client a bad taste for our students. He then asks why. I simply stated, "What you are about to receive tomorrow for 'our' project is completely unacceptable. It is unfair for us and for our client to leave her hanging." I showed him the website, which he likes and then I showed him the user guide and technical documentation. I asked for an extra week to finish the documentation and user guide - as I had a plan for what it should be and needed time to create it all. Matt said absolutely, but forget about the documentation. You obviously know what is in it, just focus on the client. So I created user videos with dictation, drove to the client and showed her how to use it all, where to find the videos. I even created a program that had all the videos inside so she could have it on her desktop and the program pulled up the video of her choice for whatever she needed help with with some buttons so she wouldn't have to search folders for the videos. I gave her my contact info and said I'll be here over the summer if she ever needs help with the website or has any questions and I can swing by.

After all of this happened and afterwards I gave an update to Matt who also had an update from me. Apparently he almost failed the rest of my group because they turned in their project by slipping an unmarked USB drive under his door. He only accepted it after they emailed him asking him if he received the USB. Matt also called our client to verify my story of the fact that they never showed for client meetings and the client told him I was the only person that has been showing up. Hearing this from other people, anybody in my group that had A's in the class leading up to the project got a C, anybody with a B in the class failed. Damien's GPA was screwed up from this class as it was a 4 hours class. Kirk and Jeff both failed and Jeff wasn't allowed to graduate and Kirk had to retake it the next semester even though he wasn't graduating. My grade which was an 84 before the project was bumped to an A. The next year Damien asked how I did in that class because he was confused about his final grade, and I simply said I did fine, received an A. He has no idea the reason why. Don't f*ck with me and my grade and I won't f*ck with you.

(source) story by (/u/sw1mm3r202)

#prorevenge #by /u/sw1mm3r202 #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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noonmutter · 6 years ago

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*Grinch grin* Make me admit something... DO THEM ALL.

Pff like I haven’t had to do this rodeo before come at me scrub

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?

That’s either my realtor or my mom, so no.

2. You talked to an ex today, correct?

No? Why on earth would I?

3. Have you taken someones virginity?

Not to my knowledge.

4. Is trust a big issue for you?

Absolutely. Trust is the core of a relationship, without it you’re just acquaintances who maybe make eye contact sometimes.

5. Did you hang out with the person you like recently?

From the phrasing I assume this means “like-like” and since I live with my fiance, yes.

( I really did answer all of them at once but I’m not enough of a turd to fill everybody’s dashboard so the rest are behind the cut! )

6. What are you excited for?

Boring work stuff that makes little sense to anybody who doesn’t work with me but is going to be just as jazzed about it as I am because they’re FINALLY FIXING SOMETHING I SAID WAS A PROBLEM A YEAR AGO–AGAIN

7. What happened tonight?

Um… it’s four in the afternoon here.

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted?

I think it’s disgusting when anybody gets wasted. You aren’t even conscious of whatever fun you might be having and you sure as shit aren’t tasting whatever you’re drinking anymore. Quit that.

9. Is confidence cute?

Only in the context of someone who’s about to get the living shit beaten/embarrassed out of them for being confident against all advice to the contrary (”He’s gonna go punch a tarrasque in the nads! How cute!”). Otherwise confidence is just a good thing and generally rad.

10. What is the last beverage you had?

I just finished my second coke of the day about ten seconds ago and am debating a third.

11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust?

“Fully” is the operative word and that number is zero of any sex.

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans?

Probably. It’s hard not to get them when you’re at a certain size.

13. What are you gonna do Saturday night?

Work, go home, either raid or RP, and sleep. I do that basically every Saturday night.

14. What are you going to spend money on next?

Ideally a house that isn’t being sold by an idiot, but probably something less interesting like Starbucks.

15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed?

Hey @dwyndel would you consider what we’re doing “going out”?

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months?

I mean, I hope so? Growth is important.

17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

My fiance and my mom.

18. The last time you felt broken?

hahaha “last time”

19. Have you had sex today?

hahaha “today” I haven’t gotten laid in years. plural.

20. Are you starting to realize anything?

what the hell kinda question is this that’s not something you admit to, that’s a question that answers itself and the answer is either “no” because you aren’t or “yes” because the question made you realize it

21. Are you in a good mood?

Pretty good, yeah

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks?

Yes but I’ll be peeing literally the entire time

23. Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s?

Probably. I got a lot of my looks from him, which aggravates the shit out of me since he’s a terrible person

24. What do you want right this second?

A nap

25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy?

‘Can I watch’‘Were they hot’‘Do they like sharing’‘Your breath smells like infidelity’

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color?

Yep, white streak included

27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?

Probably not, but there’s a huuuuuuge difference between “doesn’t make me laugh” and “does not have a compatible sense of humor with mine.” Some people just aren’t funny. Like me. I’m not funny at all. Jesus am I ever not funny. Wow.

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh?

A fucking Spanish Inquisition reference from Dan Avidan in Game Grumps that I’m still mad at myself for laughing at

29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now?

Eh, not really. I don’t have homesickness pangs or people-aren’t-here pangs unless I know I can’t get to them because they’re not in a place where I can go. Otherwise I’d be a sad puppy every time I went to work

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance?

No. Some people are not worth anyone’s time or effort and often they know it and abuse people’s willingness to forgive or try.

31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to?

Hatred is hard to pull out of me unless you personally did something really offensive and permanent to me. I get tired of people but I very rarely hate them. The last “boy” (he is very much an adult, calling him “boy” is fuckin’ wierd) I talked to was my supervisor and I rather like Phill

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do?

I am engaged. You tell me.

33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda?

Not only did I just say I’m contemplating a third Coke at 4 in the afternoon, I have a bucket to collect pull tabs in for the fiance to make chainmail out of

34. Listening to?

My coworkers chattering in the office around me. I could listen to music if I wanted, but the office headsets suck ass and can’t handle bass of any kind

35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore?

Not often. My handwriting is awful and I try not to write by hand at all, but if I do, it’ll probably be in pen

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is?

Either at home or running errands

37. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Shit no

38. Who did you last call?

Not counting work calls, I try not to call people if I can possibly avoid it. Uhhhhhhh…probably my mom.

39. Who was the last person you danced with?

hahaha “dance”

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed?

Because she was there and smoochable

41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake?

Haven’t had cupcakes in a VERY long time, have had very good muffins from Costco this week though

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today?

Nope, they live in Virginia and I don’t

43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush?

Am I misunderstanding what you do to attract a mate?

44. Do you tan in the nude?

I don’t tan.

45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss?

Nope, that’s my smooch and I’m keeping it

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

Sorta. RP is kinda like talking, right?

47. Who was the last person to call you?

Realtor.

48. Do you sing in the shower?

Not really. If anything I hum; being able to hear myself too well makes me get quieter

49. Do you dance in the car?

Drum stuff out, finger-piano on the steering wheel, occasionally headbang.

50. Ever used a bow and arrow?

Once, and I’d love to again. The first/last time I fired a bow I took ten shots and bullseyed six.

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

College. Never doing that shit again.

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy?

That’s sort of the point of them. The question isn’t are they cheesy, it’s are they good.

53. Is Christmas stressful?

Of course it is. The only time it’s not is when you’re too young/old to have conscious thoughts, because even young children worry endlessly over what they’re getting or if they’re getting anything or what if santa thinks they were bad

54. Ever eat a pierogi?

I fucking love pierogi but I’ve only ever had the frozen ones from Mrs. T’s, Dwyn and I keep saying we should find time to make some and see how much better it is

55. Favorite type of fruit pie?

Don’t really do pies of any kind except for French Silk. Fruit pie filling is a wierd texture I don’t really enjoy

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

Architect and animator

57. Do you believe in ghosts?

Enough to be unsettled late at night by noises I can’t identify, not enough to be unwilling to sleep in an allegedly haunted house

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

All day every day. No joke somedays I wonder if people who think they have psychic powers are just people with really persistent deja vu, it feels like magic

59. Take a vitamin daily?

vitamin coke or vitamin coffee

60. Wear slippers?

Technically the shoes I wore to work today could count as slippers. I call them my crazy-people shoes because they have no shoelaces and no fittings

61. Wear a bath robe?

only when it’s really cold in the house

62. What do you wear to bed?

Nothing

63. First concert?

Blind Guardian at the Pop’s in Chicago when I was 13. It was their first US tour and my parents are boss people who really wanted to humor their kid. People at the show realized this tiny barely-teenager in the back knew every word to every song and pulled me to the front, and there was no barrier between crowd and stage, so I got to lean on the stage and got smirked at by the guitarist. After the show I shook Hansi Kirsch’s hand and got my copy of Imaginations From The Other Side signed. Good times

64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

Target

65. Nike or Adidas?

Neither, they’re both overpriced shit

66. Cheetos Or Fritos?

Cheetos

67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?

Peanuts, although I’d rather have cashews

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song?

I don’t know any taylor swift songs nor do I care

69. Ever take dance lessons?

Nope

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

Hadn’t given that one any thought beyond helping her job hunt in the immediate sense. I can see her doing costuming on a professional level eventually, though

71. Can you curl your tongue?

I never know what people mean by this. I can make an “O” shape with my tongue but that’s it, I never figured out that clover shape

72. Ever won a spelling bee?

Multiple. I almost went national in …something-before-sixth-grade-because-I-remember-beating-sixth-graders but refused to go because I wanted to stop being stared at (seriously, I just didn’t want to go because I hated being on a stage). I’m sure that frustrated my mom

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

A few times, but not often

74. What is your favorite book?

One of the Discworld novels, but the answer is ever-changing because they’re all pretty goddamn great. Picking one out of a hat, Unseen Academicals is pretty rad just because it’s got such a great take on [thing that spoils the plot if I say it]

75. Do you study better with or without music?

I was not a studying kid, I was a “retains everything as long as nobody stops me from doodling while they’re teaching and it’s not about numbers” kid. Thinking about it I was probably doing some eidetic memorization tricks without realizing it, my fact retention is/was top notch when I cared

76. Regularly burn incense?

Nope, I have over 100 allergies and a lot of them are to plants so I’m not risking that bullshit

77. Ever been in love?

I am engaged to be married right now

78. Who would you like to see in concert?

Does Critical Role count?

79. What was the last concert you saw?

H…alestorm? I think? It’s actually been a while

80. Hot tea or cold tea?

Hot plz

81. Tea or coffee?

Tea if it’s just the drink itself, coffee if I can put a ton of shit in it so I can only barely taste the actual coffee

82. Favorite type of cookie?

Does Not Contain Raisins

83. Can you swim well?

I can swim, Iunno about well? I’ve never been in danger of drowning for lack of swimming ability, I guess

84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

What an interesting question, it hadn’t occurred to me there are people who can’t until now

85. Are you patient?

When I choose to be

86. DJ or band, at a wedding?

If it’s affordable and the right band, band. Otherwise DJ and karaoke because HELL YEAH GET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY DRUNK AND LET THEM SING

87. Ever won a contest?

A smattering of spelling bees, a couple art contests, summer reading competitions. Nerd shit, yanno? Although I’ve won those water gun shooting gallery games at Six Flags every time there’s enough people to play, too

88. Ever have plastic surgery?

Nope

89. Which are better black or green olives?

Olives are gross

90. Opinions on sex before marriage?

It’s sex, who cares

91. Best room for a fireplace?

Living room and/or bedroom

92. Do you want to get married

I am engaged right now

@theengraver EAT ME

#prompty things #munday #theshadowborn

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

Text

The Liberation of Mitt Romney

The newly rebellious senator has become an outspoken dissident in Trump’s Republican Party, just in time for the president’s impeachment trial.

MCKAY COPPINS | Published OCT 20, 2019 | The Atlantic | Posted October 21, 2019 |

Updated: Sunday, October 20, 2019, at 9:32 p.m. ET

Mitt Romney is leaning forward in his chair, his eyes flashing, his voice sharp.

It’s a strange look for the 72-year-old senator, who typically affects a measured, somber tone when discussing Donald Trump’s various moral deficiencies. But after weeks of escalating combat with the president—over Ukraine, and China, and Syria, and impeachment—the gentleman from Utah suddenly appears ready to unload.

What set him off was my recitation of an argument I’ve heard some Republicans deploy lately to excuse Trump’s behavior. Electing a president, the argument goes, is like hiring a plumber—you don’t care about his character, you just want him to get the job done. Sitting in his Senate office, Romney is indignant. “Are you worried that your plumber overcharges you?” he asks. “Are you worried that the plumber’s going to scream at your kids? Are you worried that the plumber is going to squeal out of your driveway?” I am playing devil’s advocate; he is attempting an exorcism.

To Romney, Trump’s performance as president is inextricably tangled up in his character. “Berating another person, or calling them names, or demeaning a class of people, not telling the truth—those are not private things,” he says, adding: “If during the campaign you pay a porn star $130,000, that now comes into the public domain.”

At this, Romney glances over at two of his aides who are watching silently from the other end of the room, and grins. “They’re going, Oh gosh, shut up.”

I’ve spent the past several months in an ongoing conversation with Romney as he’s navigated a Washington that grows more hostile by the day. Before arriving in the Senate, Romney nurtured a pleasant delusion that he could somehow avoid being defined by his relationship with Trump. He had his own policy agenda to advance, his own vision for the future of the Republican Party. He would use his platform to take a stand against Trumpism, while largely ignoring Trump himself. When I would speak with his friends and allies in Utah during last year’s campaign, there was often a certain dilettantish quality in the future Senator Romney they envisioned—a venerable elder statesman dabbling in legislation the way a retiree takes up tennis.

Instead, Romney has emerged as an outspoken dissident in Trump’s Republican Party. In just the past few weeks, he has denounced the president’s attempts to solicit dirt on political rivals from foreign governments as “wrong and appalling”; suggested that his fellow Republicans are looking the other way out of a desire for power; and condemned Trump’s troop withdrawal in Syria as a “bloodstain on the annals of American history.”

Trump has responded with a wrathful procession of personal attacks—deriding Romney as a “pompous ass,” taunting him over his failed presidential bid in 2012, and tweeting a cartoonish video that tags the senator as a “Democrat secret asset.”

These confrontations have turned Romney into one of the most closely watched figures in the impeachment battle now consuming Washington. While his fellow Republicans rail against “partisan witch hunts” and “fake whistle-blowers,” Romney is taking the prospect of a Senate trial seriously—he’s reviewing The Federalist Papers, brushing up on parliamentary procedure, and staying open to the idea that the president may need to be evicted from the Oval Office.

In the nine years I’ve been covering Romney, I’ve never seen him quite so liberated. Unconstrained by consultants, unconcerned about reelection, he is thinking about things such as legacy, and inheritance, and the grand sweep of history. Here, in the twilight of his career, he seems to sense—in a way that eludes many of his colleagues—that he’ll be remembered for what he does in this combustible moment. “I do think people will view this as an inflection point in American history,” Romney tells me.

“I don’t look at myself as being a historical figure,” he hastens to add, “but I do think these are critical times. And I hope that what I’m doing will open the way for people to take a different path.”

With his neat coif, square jaw, and G-rated diction, Romney has always emanated a kind of old-fashioned civic starchiness. In the past, this quality has been the object of occasional ridicule. (During his 2012 presidential bid, reporters like me often snickered at his penchant for quoting lines from “America the Beautiful,” which he called his favorite of the “patriotic hymns.”) But in these decidedly more vulgar times, there is a certain appeal to the senator’s wholesomeness.

When I first caught up with Romney, in June, he was in a buoyant mood, preparing to deliver his “maiden speech” from the Senate floor later that day. I asked him how he was settling in. “This is great!” he replied. “I mean, everybody told me I was going to hate it here.”

I confessed that I was among those who thought he might not enjoy being the 97th most senior member of the Senate.

“I think people forget I worked for 10 years as a management consultant,” Romney said, referring to his time at Bain & Company. “Which meant I was able to make no decisions, I was able to get nothing done, and I had to try and convince people through a long process.” In retrospect, it seems, he was destined for the U.S. Congress.

Romney told me that he doesn’t think much anymore about his 2012 defeat to Barack Obama. “My life is not defined in my own mind by political wins and losses,” he said. “You know, I had my career in business, I’ve got my family, my faith—that’s kind of my life, and this is something I do to make a difference. So I don’t attach the kind of—I don’t know—psychic currency to it that people who made politics their entire life.”

Not everyone he’s met in the Senate shares this outlook, he said. “People are really friendly, they’re really nice—except Bernie,” he said, laughing. “He’s a curmudgeon. It’s not that he’s mean or whatever; he just kind of scowls, you know”—Romney hunched his back and summoned a Scrooge-like grunt. “For Bernie, it seems like this is kind of who he is. It’s defining. It’s his entire person. For me, it’s part of who I am, but it’s not the whole person.”

After he was elected in November, Romney began typing out a list on his iPad of all the things he wanted to accomplish in the Senate. It was 50 items long by the time he showed it to his staff, and though they laughed, he continued undeterred. By the time we spoke, it had grown to 60, with priorities ranging from complex systemic reforms—overhauling the immigration system, reducing the deficit, addressing climate change—to narrower issues such as compensating college athletes and regulating the vaping industry.

As he searched the Senate for legislative partners, Romney told me, he was warned that his efforts were likely doomed. Even in less polarized, less chaotic times, the kind of ambitious agenda he had in mind would be unrealistic. But Romney was steadfast in his optimism. “I’m not here to say it can’t happen,” he told me.

When I broached the subject of Trump that afternoon in June, Romney’s face didn’t register the familiar mix of panic and dread that most GOP lawmakers exhibit these days when faced with questions about the president. If anything, he seemed a little bored by the topic. I had heard repeatedly from people close to Romney that his decision to run for Senate was motivated in part by his alarm at Trump’s ascent. But he still seemed to believe that he could illuminate a path forward for his party without incessantly feuding with the president. “I’m not in the White House,” he told me. “I tried for that job; I didn’t get it. So all I can do from where I am is to say, ‘All right, how do we get things done from here?’”

Anyone familiar with the fraught history between Trump and Romney might have known that a detente was unsustainable. Trump has nursed a grudge since 2016, when Romney denounced him as a “phony” and a “fraud,” and warned of the “trickle-down racism” that would accompany his election. After he won, Trump briefly considered tapping Romney as his secretary of state, but the match was not to be. And in the years that have followed, the tension between the two men has only grown more exaggerated.

They manage that tension in different ways: While the president spent a too-online Saturday earlier this month unloading on Twitter—launching #IMPEACHMITTROMNEY into the canon of viral Trump taunts—Romney enjoyed a quiet afternoon picking apples with his grandkids in Utah and refusing to take the bait. When I met him in his office a couple of weeks later, I asked if the Twitter insults bothered him.

“That’s kind of what he does,” Romney said with a shrug, and then got up to retrieve an iPad from his desk. He explained that he uses a secret Twitter account—“What do they call me, a lurker?”—to keep tabs on the political conversation. “I won’t give you the name of it,” he said, but “I’m following 668 people.” Swiping at his tablet, he recited some of the accounts he follows, including journalists, late-night comedians (“What’s his name, the big redhead from Boston?”), and athletes. Trump was not among them. “He tweets so much,” Romney said, comparing the president to one of his nieces who overshares on Instagram. “I love her, but it’s like, Ah, it’s too much.” (After this story was published, Slate identified a Twitter account using the name Pierre Delecto that seemed to match the senator’s description of his lurker account. When I spoke to Romney on the phone Sunday night, his only response was, “C'est moi.”)

He understands, of course, that many of his Republican colleagues live in fear of being subjected to a presidential Twitter tirade. In fact, some believe that Trump’s targeting of Romney is intended as a warning to other GOP lawmakers lest they step out of line. That fear is one of the reasons his caucus has attempted such elaborate rhetorical contortions to defend Trump as the House impeachment inquiry turns up damning evidence. “I think it’s very natural for people to look at circumstances and see them in the light that’s most amenable to their maintaining power,” he told me in an interview last month at The Atlantic Festival.

Romney told me that he does not have an abstract definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and that when it comes to identifying impeachable acts, he follows Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s famous standard for defining hard-core porn: “I’ll know it when I see it.” Asked if he’s seen it yet, Romney told me that he’ll make up his mind once he hears all the evidence at the trial: “At this stage, I am strenuously avoiding trying to make any judgment.”

In the meantime, Romney is leading the Republican revolt over the president’s recent decision to pull troops out of northern Syria, leaving America’s Kurdish allies behind. In a withering speech on the Senate floor last week, he condemned the administration’s betrayal of the Kurds, and called for hearings on the matter. He told me that he wants to see a transcript of the phone call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that preceded the troop withdrawal. “This is not just a disagreement on foreign policy,” he said. “This is a violation of fundamental American honor.”

Amid all the tumult, Romney has come to terms with the fact that there will be little progress on his legislative to-do list for the foreseeable future. (Between impeachment proceedings and next year’s elections, who has time to pass laws?) Nor is Romney especially well positioned to launch a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, despite endless fantasizing by pundits. (He has said he’s not planning to run again.) While his battles with the president have earned him plaudits from some in Utah—where support for Trump is uncommonly weak for a red state—he is widely viewed as a villain in MAGA world.

But Romney is looking beyond the next year, and beyond the president’s base, as he tries to lay the groundwork for a post-Trump Republican Party. While he acknowledges the failures of his own presidential campaign, he told me that he doubts Trump’s electoral coalition will be replicable in the long run. “We have to get young people and Hispanics and African Americans to vote Republican,” he said, adding that he hopes these voters will see his resistance to Trump as a sign that one day they could find a home in the GOP. If that seems naive, the senator is probably okay with it. In cynical times like these, someone has to serve as the guardian of lost causes.

After all, Romney said, “the president will not be the president forever.”

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dreamingsushi · 6 years ago

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Before we get married - Episode 2

Soooo! Seems it gets better after a few episodes, so let’s hang on to this one!

The episode starts next morning at Weiwei’s office. I think Han Kefei needs to see a psy-something, you decide which one is best suited. She’s disgustingly funny in a way. Even though it’s so exaggerated, I think that so far I like her the best. At least what she wants, we know haha! She doesn’t think it’s weird that he handcuffed Weiwei, neither does she thinks that him doing anything to her would be rape. No no no! Weiwei is the victim because he didn’t have sex with her. Thank god you are not my friend girl. Weiwei dear, I hope you lock your door when you sleep, in case any of the guys Kefei brings back home would try and go to room : she wouldn’t think they did anything wrong. Well maybe she would, in the sense that they shouldn’t pick you over her. She’s so sassy though haha!

How cute is this. Kefei tries to get a date with Kehuan by asking him to teach her about stocks, but actually, it’s his assistant. And we’ll stop calling him assistant, his name is Yan Baiyang. Apparently he is pretty much in love with Kefei and asks Kehuan to coach him on how to date. How cute. Obviously, Kefei is pissed of when she’s him, but then she bumps into him and her sexual desires awake so they end up in a hotel room. I’ll take the drama as a caricature from now on, it’s way funnier like that. The scene is overly acted. They’re about to woohoo and then he confesses his feelings for her. Big mistake. Kehuan absolutely agrees : don’t talk about your feelings, it’s pathetic not romantic, it’s going to scare her away. I think she’s just wild. Well, let’s hope for Baiyang Kehuan can fix that.

To Kehuan’s many flaws, let’s add that he is a stalker. He followed Weiwei to a convenience store. Well didn’t really follow, but knew she likes going there through a collegue. Tries to pay for her stuff. Bothers her about her retirement plan with her boyfriend because he deems it’s not like her. I also think so, but he doesn’t even know her. Is he a soothsayer of some sorts? Well, I must say he knows how to piss her off.

Weiwei has to stay at work later that night. Her boyfriend offers her to take her home how sweet of him, but then a collegue comes in. So he just leaves and text her see you on Saturday to go visit houses. It’s always about plans, oh god. That guy... No wonder she’s bored with you. And then Kehuan calls her. She’s already pissed off because she’s doing overtime so she just hangs on him. I must say though, this guy has really nothing to do. He keeps on calling her. Girl, just call the police at some point, this is harassement.

When she’s done, she goes again to the solo KTV machine, listens to the same song. She is upset by her boyfriend. Good, be upset, he was not nice to you. I agree. Now dump him and get someone else. He talks to her like she is a child. I think he doesn’t really like her, he just likes the fact she pays her part and won’t ask for his money. Then Kehuan comes looking for her. And this is not important. But the videoclip with the lyrics is not in sync with the music playing. IT BOTHERED ME. Anyways, not important. But details are details. Make the clip fit with the music if it’s KTV.

He blurts out something about not liking to break up on the phone. You go girl, no need to break up, you are not an item. Tell him, good bye and stop stalking me. I loved the line “The song has ended, so did our relationship”. That was perfect. Leave and don’t look back.

Okay. I might start liking this drama. Kehuan follows out of the cabin and says he’s sorry and wishes her happiness with her boyfriend. Than he pushes on her forehead : he pressed the delete button! THAT IS SO CUTE. First best moment of the drama. He asks her to do the same, so she does and when he opens up his eyes again, he pretends they don’t know each other. I don’t dislike him right now. She definitely thinks he is insane hahaha.

At Kehuan’s office, Ziyuan (that would be his girlfriend) comes and bring desserts for everybody. Shu Ming asks when she and Kehuan will get married. You can see on Kehuan’s face that he is so unhappy from seeing her there. I don’t know why he doesn’t break up with her? Since the beginning, he looks so annoyed when he sees her. There’s no way he still has feelings for her. He is staying with her for some weird reason?

I must talk about the actress here. That character doesn’t do justice to her. Nita Lei is so much better than that. Well in the previous drama I saw with her (Someone like you 听见幸福) she was so good. Or maybe she’s still good but I don’t like the part. Anyways.

Ziyuan and Kehuan eat together at the restaurant, probably to celebrate his promotion. I think the best word to describe Ziyuan would be carpet. She’s like begging for Kehuan to step on her. Stop trying too much please. Thank you.

OMG. I kept myself so many times from writting OMG. But this time. OMG. SHE PREPARED THE WHOLE WEDDING WITHOU TELLING HIM. He’s so pissed at her. I really don’t get why those two are together, it’s nonsense. Seriously. She’s like, are you angry? Duh he is. He just tells her : well I wasn’t mentally prepared for this, after all, I never proposed to you. BAM. She is so embarrassed. And she is unable to use a fork. That’s funny.

Weiwei and her boyfriend (forgot his name) go and see houses. I totally get Weiwei’s feelings as I am also looking for a house. Nothing seems to be perfect. And her boyfriend is so cringy. The floor is uneven and he still wants it. They are not going to move out of there any time soon if they buy this. Why is he so stuck up to buy that one... So he’s like, well let’s save more money so we can buy a better house. AND SHE BURSTS. She tired of saving every penny. You go girl. That Kehuan did a good job on you. Planning your life for the next 60 years is not a good idea. At least, she realises it’s not her plan, it’s his plan and he says that if they don’t find anything good the next day, they will just rent something together. Good boy.

Kehuan invited Kefei for lunch. Naturally she tries to hit on him but it doesn’t work at all : this guy is not for you girl, move on. You are allergic to eat, go eat somewhere else. I didn’t really get what happened there, I can’t read that well traditional characters. But basically, that scene meant nothing.

Weiwei is meeting friends at the restaurant and... one of them is long time no see Ziyuan. She’s so annoying. This is twisted omg. So the two other friends have the time of their life, taking pictures together while completely ignoring Weiwei. Wow. This is so rude. Anyways, Ziyuan insists on letting her boyfriend pay for her, Weiwei says she’s uncomfortable, follows her to the door and... Kehuan’s there. Hahahaha. So funny. AND HER BOYFRIEND COMES TO PICK HER ON A SCOOTER! THIS IS PRICELESS.

I’ll call him Scooter Delivery Boy now.

So back home, Ziyuan badmouths Weiwei saying she dresses out of fashion. And then she’s like “I know you are angry about the wedding, so I though a new environnement would make you more sure about it so I contacted a real estate agent to sell the house and buy a bigger one.” I just can’t. What is wrong with that girl...

So the first people to go and visit the house.... Li Haoyi (Scooter Delivery boy) and Weiwei. And Kehuan that doesn’t know. And Ziyuan that pretends to like Weiwei. Ziyuan goes with Li Haoyi to see the building’s society or something like while Weiwei stays alone with Kehuan. They quarrel a little, he lifts her up to the balcony and threatens to push her down. There are so many things that so wrong with this drama T_______T She pushes him to go down, calls him crazy, he says he still has feelings for her and ask her to kiss him. I want to point out the romantic music in the background. This is so romantic, yep. She pushes him away, he pushes her against the bay wind and traps her wrists. The others come back, they don’t realise anything, Kehuan insists on giving her a lower price, Weiwei will not buy, Scooter delivery boy is upset because he really likes the house.

Now I get it. Ziyuan’s mom is the reason they are still together. She’s in total denial. He wants to break up with her, but she won’t let him and she pretends everything is fine to keep controlling his life. So basically, she’s deseperate. I don’t like her.

The episode ends on Kehuan learning that Weiwei and Haoyi works for the same company.

I am still not sure if I enjoy or not this drama. We will see. It is definitely getting a little better and I did enjoy myself once or twice. I still don’t recommend this to a younger public. There are a lot of cringy things, lots of things that makes me uneasy. I mean, many of the stuff happening should be treated less lightly. Like the fact that Weiwei could be attracted to Kehuan, despite every thing he does... It gives a bad image. I hope it will change with time. Because right now he is a stalker-almost-rapist and that’s... nope.

#before we get married #我们不能是朋友 #taiwanese drama #drama recap #drama review

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years ago

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A new California law that allows judges to grant diversion to first-time misdemeanor DUI offenders has created a quagmire in the legal system, leaving criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors warring over its interpretation and judges conflicted over a lack of clarity.

One attorney described the law, introduced last year as Assembly Bill 3234 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, as the most litigated issue in the state since it took effect on Jan. 1. District attorneys in Riverside, Los Angeles and Sacramento counties have challenged it in their Superior Court appellate divisions.

Opponents argue that the new law, which falls under the state Penal Code, conflicts with an existing state Vehicle Code section that precludes judges from granting diversion to DUI offenders in lieu of criminal penalties.

At the judicial level, it has created glaring disparities in who is granted diversion — which allows for eventual dismissal of charges — and who isn’t, essentially based on which judge a defendant appears before and in which county the charges were filed.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin (File photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG).

‘Flapping in the wind’

Prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys and lawmakers have been seeking clarification from higher courts or new legislation to resolve the conflict.

“This is what is happening now. It’s like a wildfire going through the courts,” said Lara Gressley, a criminal defense attorney in Riverside specializing in DUI cases. In June, she petitioned the state Supreme Court to weigh in after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied her motion to grant diversion to a client.

The Supreme Court declined to review Gressley’s case, which she attributes to the absence of any lower court appellate rulings on the issue.

Gressley said the new law is vexing judges who are having a difficult time deciding which way to go.

“They’re continuing cases for months at a time in hopes there will be a court of appeal opinion,” Gressley said. “Everybody wants a court of appeal ruling, because that is binding across all courts in California. Now we’re left just flapping in the wind. It has to get figured out.”

In the courts

Since Ting’s legislation went into law, Superior Court judges have had discretion to grant diversion in misdemeanor DUI cases largely based on the severity of the offense, such as the defendant’s blood alcohol level, speed, where the offense occurred and whether any property was damaged.

Pomona Police Department Detective J. Dolgovin monitors a DUI checkpoint in Pomona on Dec. 21, 2018. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

DUI offenses that cause injury to another person are usually charged as felonies and do not quality for diversion under the law.

Prosecutors immediately began filing motions within their respective Superior Court appellate divisions maintaining that DUI offenders do not qualify for diversion due to Vehicle Code Section 23640. Some appellate division judges have sided with prosecutors, and others have not.

On July 27, a three-judge panel in Riverside Superior Court’s appellate division denied a motion by District Attorney Mike Hestrin, voting 2-1 that DUI defendants are, in fact, eligible for pretrial diversion under the new law. Hestrin and Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Bouffard filed the motion after judges granted diversion to three defendants in separate DUI cases.

Two weeks prior — on July 14 in Los Angeles County Superior Court — appellate division judges unanimously ruled that DUI defendants do not qualify for diversion. They maintained that when the Legislature approved AB 3234, it was “silent on whether misdemeanor diversion can be granted in driving under influence cases,” and that the new law did not repeal the Vehicle Code provision.

In Orange County Superior Court, some appellate division panels have concluded that misdemeanor DUI offenses do not qualify for diversion, and others have declined to hear petitions that raise the issue, court spokesman Kostas Kalaitzidis said in an email.

Disparity in rulings

In her petition to the Supreme Court, Gressley said the lack of an appellate court decision on the conflict has resulted in a “vast disparity in rulings” by trial court judges across the state.

“The lack of guidance on the questions has resulted in inconsistent rulings throughout the state,” Gressley said in her petition.

She cited 11 DUI cases from eight Superior Courts across the state, including Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties, in which five defendants were granted diversion and five were denied. In the 11th case, a judge said further review was necessary.

More getting diversion

In Riverside County, more than dozen DUI defendants have been granted diversion since the new law took effect, said Deputy Public Defender Souley Diallo. Some judges, however, are still reluctant to grant diversion even after the favorable appellate division ruling on July 27.

Orange County Public Defender Martin Schwarz said misdemeanor DUI convictions are unique in that they carry large mandatory fines. While perhaps not consequential to people of means, they do have a dramatic effect on those his office tends to defend the most: the poor.

While Schwarz would not comment on how many DUI defendants have been granted diversion so far, he said the majority of requests have been denied.

While he could not provide specific numbers, San Bernardino County Deputy Public Defender Geoff Canty said he’s only seen “about a handful” of DUI offenders granted diversion since January. He embraces the new law.

“It follows the trends that we are seeing in California, giving a variety of access to services and treating underlying causes that bring people into our criminal justice system,” he said. “It is far more beneficial than being punitive.”

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson disagrees. Due to the high recidivism rate of DUI offenders and the public safety risk they impose, he said, making a first-time conviction stick is crucial to deter a second instance. Diversion, he argues, amounts to “giving people a pass on a first-time DUI.”

Patricia Rillera, California state executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. (Photo courtesy of M.A.D.D.)

M.A.D.D. reacts

Patricia Rillera, California state executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said AB 3234 not only gives DUI offenders a free pass, but undoes a lot of what her organization has achieved in its more than 40 years of existence.

“From our perspective, it undermines the seriousness of the offense and the progress that’s been made over the years to reduce DUIs and DUI-related deaths,” Rillera said.

She said drivers under the influence kill more than 1,000 victims a year in California and more than 10,000 nationally, and she said she sees the same repeat DUI offenders showing up for court-ordered classes over and over again.

But some question the punitive nature of California’s DUI laws, and whether they are really that effective in deterring offenders from repeating past mistakes.

During a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing in July, Sen. Nancy Skinner said that while prosecution of DUI offenses has become more and more punitive over the years, there has been only a 4% drop in DUI incidents in the last 22 years.

“I’ve not yet seen any kind of study that shows that the diversions are less effective in terms of the reduction of DUIs,” Skinner said. “We’d obviously need more data to fully understand it, but there’s some indication that some of the diversion programs are more effective.”

Legislative action

Legislatively, bills have been offered to clarify or tighten Ting’s bill.

SB 421, introduced by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, would limit diversion to those who have no prior convictions for driving under the influence and have not completed diversion for DUI within the past 10 years. For those who are granted diversion, the bill would require the defendant to install an ignition interlock device and participate in education and counseling programs.

Two key Senate committees have signed off on Bradford’s bill.

Another bill, AB 282 by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, was designed to exclude DUIs under Ting’s diversion law. The bill was rejected by a Senate committee in July, however.

Lackey said he would bring up the legislation against in the next session. For him, the fight is personal. As a retired CHP officer who worked 28 years in L.A. County, he saw dozens of accidents caused by DUI drivers, and notified more than 40 families that their loved ones had died in DUI-related accidents.

“I personally made over 1,000 (DUI) arrests. I have literally seen hundreds of tragedies associated with impaired driving, and it’s all preventable, and that’s the big tragedy,” Lackey said.

Change of heart

When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Ting’s bill into law on Sept. 30, 2020, he expressed reservations about DUIs being among the qualifying offenses.

“I am concerned that the crime of driving under the influence was not excluded from the misdemeanor diversion program. I will seek to expeditiously remedy this issue with the Legislature in the next legislative session,” he said at the time.

The unintended consequences of the law and its ripple effects across the state in the past nine months has prompted Ting to have a change of heart.

When Lackey’s AB 282 went before the Assembly on May 27, he was among more than 60 Assembly members who voted yes on it. The bill passed, with only nine Assembly members voting no. However, it was rejected two months later when it got to the Senate Public Safety Committee.

Ting said that when his bill was moving through the legislative process, the primary concerns raised over which offenses would be eligible for diversion were related to domestic violence and sexual assault. DUI offenses did not come up during discussions, he said in an email.

He said he was primarily concerned about harsh treatment for first-time DUI offenders and a “one-size-fits-all approach to our criminal justice system that hasn’t worked.”

But now he’d like to remedy the law’s flaws.

“The legislative process allows for debate and compromise. That doesn’t end just because a law took effect,” Ting said. “I’m always willing to listen. But one lawmaker doesn’t have the power to make changes. It takes a majority of both houses and approval from a governor to make it happen.”

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