#so the project is named 911 goes prison break

[lover-of-mine]

911 Hiatus Rewatch:

5x06 - “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1”

[inact-ice]

Ok episode 5,

- ooh arranged wedding moment. Hey guys, if it goes bad at least the wedding was gorgeous. Ope. My fault everyone sorry

- is bobby ever gonna apologize for like pushing buck against that wall bc that really scared me. I know it was a manifestation of trauma but damn

- love how black women across the world use the word wicked. It’s probably bc of like colonialism and specifically Christianity, but it’s a nice connection

- Athena you still have a job?? You weren’t even like suspended, you definitely have stuff to do other than running background checks on your friends bosses

- oh. Oh no… not the hen and Karen cheating arc, I haven’t even met Karen yet please no

- BUCKS FAMOUS ROOMATES! So these are the people everyone hates so much in fanfics

- Oh yeah Abby’s mom is missing

- hen your ex girl friend is in braids, back out slowly before she starts calling you gurl OMG, it’s too late

- what am I watching

- these aren’t even like real braids im so funny

- Carla’s little crush on buck is so fucking great, maybe they should get together

- aw wait this is buck and Abby meeting face to face for the first day time

- HOT PRIEST, hey girl

- bobby have you ever considered going to like real therapy, I don’t think the hot priest is a licensed psychologist

- HELP BOBBY DONT SCARE THE HOT PRIEST LIKE THAT HE ISNT LEGALLY REQUIRED TO TELL THE COPS AND HES ALL ALONE WITH YOU

- Bobby’s wife who’s name I never heard, I am so sorry. Is Bobby gonna cheat??? Oh. We’re pulling out ye old lantern to drink I see. Does he just come here to like nap, NO BOBBY YE OLD LANTERN

- the actor who plays Bobby has like a permanent bemused grin so while he’s breaking down to his wife about his addiction he kinda just seems confused and it’s a little funny

- checkovs ye old lantern

- oh damn bobby that was your fault wow. Oh he made the hot priest cry.

- yeah idk if the priest can handle this, maybe you should consider trauma therapy

- the priest: “god forgives you” Bobby: “gods forgiveness actually means nothing to me in this case” the priest: “well that is the entirety of my expertise”

- I don’t like when Bobby cries, it always seems to be ripped out of him😭 the actor is doing a great job

- Karen you are being very forgiving of your wife meeting her ex gf in prison, I fear you are too good for her

- aw buck calling Athena sergeant, love it

- buck being so astounded that Abby hasn’t had sex in a year is hilarious, meeting me would kill this man

- Abby you’re so cool omg, it’s like she can’t help but want to help others even when she’s going through so much. I feel like that’s the theme of her character

- Abby looks so cute in her little dungarees omg

- I can’t believe that manny’s just like dead rip I guess

- who the hell are these firefighters?? How does buck know them? Are they at the 118? I wonder what their lives are like

- Abby is calm cool and collected fr. What do jedis have to do with still hands? Anyways

- Abby’s mom! Thank you tattooed men, in my head you stay in contact with Abby forever and are good friends of hers

- aw Abby’s mom, even when she can’t remember stuff she still remembers that she wants her daughter to be happy. Gang I love Abby’s mom so much

- did not appreciate the fucking Abby’s mom joke, thanks writers but it was a little weird

- if we’re gonna keep talking about bucks sex addiction can we take it seriously at some point or what

- the “what are you high” scene in context is kinda dark bc bobby might’ve been actually scared he was high bc he sees himself in buck a bit

- aw I miss chimney

- girl he didn’t even laugh that much. Which is kinda dark. Bobby is like if Sayaka and Kyouka from Madoka Magica had a child and he was a white middle aged man. Like maybe they adopted him and just projected all their trauma onto him and now he’s repeating all their mistakes

- if they have phone sex I’m gonna freakout

- I’d like to personally thank the 911 tv show directors for cutting away from that bc I do not like bucks phone sex voice

[clarabosswald]

okay so someone on twitter dug up this absolutely outstanding uhhh “”article”” on his dark materials in general and the golden compass movie specifically by one david j stewart and i just. i HAVE to break down at least some of it because it’s an absolute gem

(this is a bit long - there is a LOT of stupidity to cover here)

first of all, the url

i could honestly just end the post here because that line right there is a masterpiece by itself. screw eurovision, hellivision is the next hot thing

There is no movie any more evil than THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

that’s the first line of the article. what a first line. the most amazing thing is that in an entirely different context i can kind of agree with this claim

Philip Pullman is a sinfully proud, God-hating, militant atheist.

militant! oh wow. is the hdm fandom actually pullman’s secret army? like dumbledore’s army in hp? do we have secret meetings? i want in

The movie has been dumbed down

yet again i find myself agreeing with mr stewart

in the end the children kill God and everyone can do as they please.

people having free will? good lord, the horror. 

The movie is indescribably evil.

damn dude yet again you’re right but you’re kinda preaching to the choir here at this point

The word "demon" is repeated several dozen times throughout the movie, as each child has it's own lovable demon. 

this is the first time in the article that mr david j stewart stubbornly refuses to understand that there’s this thing called “concept” and “artistic license” and that in the context of the hdm world, pullman used his artistic license to change the common meaning of the word d(a)emon.  NOT TO MENTION that pullman hardly made up the concept of a daemon as a positive creature - “originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit”, literally the first line in the wikipedia article about the classical concept of daemons. but yeah i’m unfairly expecting mr dave to do his research so i guess that’s kinda mean of me.

Witches by the hundreds are featured in the movie, and are portrayed as being good, helpful and rescuers.

for a moment i wondered what mr dave’s opinion on harry potter is like, but i can imagine it quite vividly.

The star character, a little girl named Lyra Belacqua, loves her demon (who takes various animal forms), and she has named him "Pan" (short for Pantalaimon)

somewhere inside of me, my inner hdm myth fanatic is screaming in rage at all the gross misunderstanding of the basic plot of hdm, but well we’ve got more serious problems here

Pan is the pagan god of sexual rape, lust and fertility.  Statues of Pan are often displayed showing him with an erection.

you know what’s EXTREMELY ironic here? pantalaimon isn’t named after that pan. he’s actually named after the greek saint pantaleon.  (mr dave now provides a link to his rage fest over narnia. good to know he’s against even blatantly pro-christian fiction.)

NOTE: Pullman uses the word "daemon." A "daemon" is just another term for "demon."

...no, honey, they really don’t, but we already know you didn’t do your research.

In the movie THE GOLDEN COMPASS, there are at least 50 references to a child's "DEMON."

imagine this grown up dude sitting in a movie theater watching a kids’ movie and counting the number of times the word “daemon” is said dkgsdaoighs

In one part of the movie, a missing boy (Roger Parslow) is found, but he is out of his mind and looks distraught because his DEMON has been taken away from him. Talk about twisting the truth around. The little girl who stars in the movie, Lyra, vows to find and return the boy's demon.

aslkdghsaodigho yeah this guy was definitely too busy to count “daemons” to actually pay attention to the plot

Pullman is hoping that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie

no i actually think that at this point pullman didn’t want anything to do with the movie

The title for the trilogy comes from a line in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Pullman views his trilogy as a re-telling of Milton’s poem (which means that His Dark Materials is in reality Pullman’s re-telling of the Genesis story in fantasy form)

no, not really, not as literal as that, but artistic subtleties seem to escape you quite frequently, my dear dave

In the trilogy, a young girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle against a nefarious [extremely wicked] Church known as the "Magisterium."

iooisadhgosdiahgosa i LOVE how dave made the EFFORT to explain the meaning of “nefarious” to the reader

Pullman's books are a work of darkness that every Christian needs to diligently expose (Ephesians 5:11)

damn dude can you believe hdm got so popular it’s referenced in the bible

America was founded upon faith in God, and the Communists are trying to rob it from our children

kefhsaoidgsdoh COMMUNISM CONFIRMED 

at this point in the article mr dave finally decides it’s time to talk about the story of the golden compass in mere two paragraphs. spoiler: the first paragraph is yet again dedicated to anti-pullman ranting. so much for that plot summary.

In the books, Pullman represents God as a decrepit and perverse angel who captures the dead in a “prison camp” afterlife.

damn the dude says he’s gonna talk about the plot of the golden compass and then goes ahead and spoils the amber spyglass just like that. where are your internet manners, dave

The story centers on Lyra, a young girl living at Jordan College in the Oxford of an alternate world where everyone is accompanied by a daemon, a physical representation of their soul in animal form.

this is the ONE time dave refers to daemons as what they ACTUALLY are. but i suspect he just copy-pasted this bit without actually reading what is said in it. 

One morning, Lyra's school Master

yet again someone was too busy counting words then remembering the plot/characters

Lyra then finds herself in a world where she must fight against evil, and here lies the controversy. Lyra is the "chosen child" who must do battle with evil. But in this story, the things that are good are evil (the church is the Magisterium, the bad group trying to gain control of all) and evil is good (daemons and witches are allies.)

it’s almost...... as if......... it’s somewhat........... symbolic.......... you know, that artistic device? symbolism? yeah? no...?

our darling dave then links to this piece as the source of his info on the plot of tgc and god that’s a whole nest of wasps i can’t even begin to deal with here. but it’s p entertaining how in only briefly reading the thing i can already recognize whole sentences who got copy-pasted by dave for his own magnificent piece of critique

Satan's Bid for Your Child

oh, WHAT a title for the next segment of the article. i’m hooked

Even though the books are strongly anti-God and anti-church, they’re getting a strong push in the godless public school system as curriculum resources.  First the God-hating Communists introduced the lies of Evolution into the public school system.  Then they kicked God's Word and prayer out of the public schools in 1962 and 1963.  Now they want to teach our children homosexuality and witchcraft.

communism! evolution! homosexuality! witchcraft! god, i’m trembling

dave goes on for a while without mentioning the movie again, just ranting against the world in general. parts of it are still amusing, though:

Evolution is in fact a religion, as is humanism, witchcraft and Satanism.

yeah man i miss it when in school we used to pray to darwin every morning before class started :(

It requires faith to believe Evolution because there is NO proof, or even evidences to permit study. It is tragic that young people today are being taught a theory that has NO proof whatsoever.  In sharp contrast, the Word of God is supported by an overwhelming abundance of scientific, historical, archeological and astronomical evidence.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD. WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Public school children are being taught religion; but it's the religions of Humanism (i.e., man is his own god), Evolution, New Age and now Demonism.

are daemians aware that daemonism is being taught in public schools as a whole ass religion??? damn

With the rise of the New World Order since the 911 attacks

holy shit dude dave is diving deep into the waters of conspiracy at this point

Surely Satan is already panicking, knowing that he must accomplish much in a very short time frame.  This explains why we see a flood of demonism, witchcraft and apostasy sweeping the world in an effort to destroy Christianity.  Have you heard about the new FLY Pentop COMPUTER for kids, which features witchcraft?  Did you know that Toys-R-Us sells a VooDooz doll for children?  It comes complete with a spell book, and pins to stab your VooDooz doll with.  I was at Barnes and Noble bookstore and saw a Teenage Witchcraft Kit.

THIS DUDE IS FUCKING WILD i imagine he started yelling at some poor employee for having witchcraft in that store

Doesn't anyone love God anymore?

this is sad.

The Bible condemns all forms of witchcraft—Voodoo, charms, spells, divination, incantations, palm readings, Ouija boards, psychics, witchery, sorcery, wizards, magic, potions, good luck charms, astrology, necromancy, spiritism, magic candles, mesmerism, hypnosis, astral projection, levitation, and anything else that invokes the power of Satan.

he actually............went through the trouble of listing all of that. from memory, no doubt

WE’RE BACK TO THE GOLDEN COMPASS AT LAST LADS

Instead of presenting the trailer on the homepage, The Golden Compass website uses audio to introduce the characters of the film and their respective demons, and then provides a prompt to "Meet Your Demon."  Twenty questions are presented which promise to reveal "your true character and the form of your demon."  Once you complete the questionnaire, you can send your resulting demon to your friends, presumably to build a community of young demons who will all later commune at the theater.  This is pure Satanism and it's being directed at our children.  Satan wants your child.  The Golden Compass series glorifies demonism, witchcraft and divination; while blaspheming God Almighty.

Satan Wants Your Child

In the movie THE GOLDEN COMPASS, children are being kidnapped by a mysterious group called the Gobblers and taken "to the North" where they are tortured by having their daemons separated from them.  This is the Satanic garbage that film producers and book publishers are vomiting upon our children.  Towards the end of the film, the starring little girl deliberately destroys the machine that was robbing children of their daemons.  Literally, the movie portrays the little girl as a hero for ensuring that all the other children can continue to be daemon possessed.  This is one sick movie, straight out of the pits of Hell.

it’s fucking ASTOUNDING how this paragraph could straight up pass as magisterium propaganda

How about you?  Our time on earth is short my friend.  This life will be over before we know it.  Is your heart right with God?  Are you saved?  Have your sins been washed away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ?

this dude got so fucking emotional over one bad movie he grossly misunderstood i am INSPIRED

our dearly beloved dave now goes on to quote yet another highly reputable source on the evil of the golden compass

"His Dark Materials" by atheist Philip Pullman

is “atheist” a title at this point? now that pullman is a sir, do they call him “atheist sir pullman” or “sir atheist pullman”?

Unsaved Heathens and Apostates Praise Pullman's Works of Darkness

do i get to officially call myself “unsaved heathen and apostate” because that’s one rad fucking title

Satan truly is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4), and he has many servants.

this is such a confusing fucking statement. how can satan be the god of this world if there is only one god? or two, because there is god and there’s also jesus? god i don’t know christianity never made any sense so this statement isn’t actually that surprising

Why would any professed "Christian" support Pullman's works of darkness, which he admittedly calls HIS DARK MATERIALS?

esteemed article writer dave is unaware of the existence of the concept of “references”

Sadly, ChristianityToday magazine promotes this vile filth, giving it a rating of 2 1/2 out of a potential 4 stars.  I give the movie a ZERO rating, and so should you if you love the Lord Jesus Christ!

yeah guys! we must purify this dirty world by giving bad ratings to hollywood movies! this is the only way to show jesus our love and devotion! 

Movie writer-director Chris Weitz has said he wants to make the next films more "iconoclastic," so consider this bit of sacrilege a taste of what is yet to come.  The word "iconoclastic" means "Characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions."  In other words, the sequels to The Golden Compass are going to blaspheme God and attack Christianity much worse than the first movie.

man.... chris had good intentions. too bad new line fucked him over with how bad they butchered the movie in post-prod.

If we don't complain, then who will... the atheists?

this line is so confusing and meaningless and yet so timeless and iconic. wow

The Golden Compass is a Sicko Movie

i can’t breathe this sounds like an early 2000s compliment coming from a middle school bad boy who does tubular tricks on his skateboard

For Pullman, sexual experience is an essential part of becoming a full-grown human, despite the confusion and pain it can cause.

HOW IN THE FUCK IS THIS CONTROVERSIAL OR WRONG FOR NON-ACE PEOPLE KADSH;GOIDAGSDKJG

Children Using Divination to Confirm Guidance from Demons? "Lyra tries to consult the alethiometer to see if the daemons are right.”

Things Taking Wildly Out Of Context Making No Sense?

Kill God?

after reading this torturous rant? yes absolutely. next

Of course the idea in a trilogy is to read the second and third books, and not just the first.  Naturally Scholastic is selling nicely packaged boxes of the trilogy.

i love how dave felt the need to explain to us how trilogies and bookselling work. what a sweetheart

Blasphemy!  Children are being taught that killing God is quite a desirable thing to do.

will anyone ever understand that WILL AND LYRA NEVER INTENDED TO KILL GOD, AND WHEN GOD DIED IT WAS BY MISTAKE AND MADE THEM UPSET AND SAD? i mean this guy won’t, but people who actually read the books???

God and the Church Are Awful and Pathetic?

dave at this point in reading your rant i hate the whole of christianity. yes. next

Summoning Witches? “Serafina and her witches decide that they need to summon other witch clans....”

Mr Dave Is Unaware That The Word “Summon” Has Got Several Meanings

“He is so weak and old that he blows to bits with the first breeze, but his dissolution comes as a relief. It is as though God does not want the burden of leadership. In the end, Will and Lyra don’t kill God. Instead, they free him, and he becomes one with the universe again. The fact that God dissolves just like the newly freed ghosts suggests that perhaps God is simply the spirit of the living.”

i love how dave quotes this whole bit - ACTUAL GOOD ANALYSIS OF GOD’S DEATH IN HDM - without absolving any of its meaning

Conclusion The Golden Compass is evil.

i love this

children today are being challenged to hate Christianity, and are being invited to join ranks with the Devil's army.

damn i totally missed that bit about joining satan’s army in hdm

All we hear about nowadays is how religion throughout the ages has caused wars and suppressed people's rights.

it’s almost as if it’s true!

Increasingly, children today are being brainwashed to view Christianity as a power-hungry "MAGISTERIUM" (i.e., the evil organization in The Golden Compass), which seeks to suppress the rights of homosexuals, Wiccan witches, Evolutionists, abortionists, feminists and other degenerates of society.

WHAT a sentence!!!!!

The grave danger of Harry Potter and The Golden Compass

that sounds like one hell of an au

Christians are commanded not to associate with any professed Christian who is a drunkard, chases women, lives for money or lives in unrepentant sin.

and yet donald trump is president of the united states! go figure, davey

Public school children are being taught that the sin of homosexuality should be accepted; BUT, God says "No."  Now you know why homosexuals hate God's Word so much.

we’re almost at the end of the rant and dave didn’t reference balthamos and baruch even once and i feel ROBBED

Women in the 1960's embraced feminism, because they were told (just as Eve) that the higher powers were trying to suppress their rights.  Satan lied to Eve, thus creating a sinful power-struggle between her and God.

damn why won’t women just understand that men are like god :\\\

Satan is recruiting.  Satan has a bid for your child mom and dad, and he will stop at nothing to recruit your child's soul.

gotta admire the determination there

Again, The Golden Compass is evil.  It is not just a fantasy for children.  The author of the series (Philip Pullman) is a militant, God-hating atheist who has openly stated that his goal is to "undermine the basis of Christian belief" in the mind's of children.

dave decided that the best way to end his rant is to quote a line that already appeared in the text at least 2 times before. man, if you ever think you’re a bad writer, remember that at least you’re not as bad as this dude.

moral of the story is: dave probably needs some sleep. and professional help

[eileensadventures-blog]

Washington, DC

I had an opportunity to tag along with Nancy and Bob on a trip to Washington, DC. With some advanced planning, I was able to get us passes to tour the White House, Pentagon, and Capital Building. Once we were in DC, we discovered Senator Patty Murray holds a Thursday morning coffee session with constituents. We were all over that. Other than the scheduled tours, we really had no plans yet somehow we all flew home absolutely exhausted and lacking sleep.

When I arrived DC, Nancy and Bob were already there. Bob immediately invited me to rent bikes and go to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. It was only 8 miles south of Alexandria where we were staying. The bike trail was awesome; up, down, weaving left and right. We only crossed a few street besides that we were along the river.

If you visit Mount Vernon, be sure to watch the 20 minute movie in the visitor center. We did not have time before before our scheduled tour of his home so we stopped on our way out. George really was an amazing man. It is said the only thing our government has ever agreed upon was that George would be our first president.

His home is very simple. The center is the original 4 rooms. Then George built up a floor. Then he had a wing on each side built.

When you walked up the stairs, you used the original wood railing. The bed in George’s bedroom is the one he died in. The desk in his study is original. Almost everything on the estate is original. And when they need to repair things, they use materials from his time. Bob and I spent sometime watching the blacksmith make nails. For any history buff, this is a must see.

Bob and I spent the next 2 mornings getting up a 6:30 (eastern time), logging onto the Museum of African American History to try and get “day of” tickets. These tickets go so fast... 3 minutes max. This museum opened over a year ago and people still line up daily at 1pm to see if there is any open space in the museum.

The unique part of the Museum of African American History is that half of the museum is above ground and the other half is below. You start by taking an elevator down 3 floors. When the elevator open, you step into the beginning of slavery. How it all started. The museum moves you from slavery to racism to the civil war. Through segregation and the civil rights movement, ending with today and returning you to the ground floor.

They do an excellent job of incorporating movies, write ups, and visual experience like walking through a very dark slave ship where you hear individual talking about a day in the life of a prison. I liked the fact that at the end of each floor they had benches and another movie. Nice break before you headed into the next experience.

Not sure what was above ground. After 3 and half hours on the lower floors,  my time was up and the museum was closing. I will definitely be going back.

The only other museum we got to was the Holocaust Museum. After being in Europe this last summer, I must say it had some difficult parts. What I did like was learning about what the USA saw and did. We did not have this view point in Europe.

As we exited the exhibit, there was this quote on the wall. Good thing to always remember.

After 2 intense days of slavery and the holocaust, I was ready for the White House. The White House has the most amazing security, as it should. Our passports were examined twice, we went through a metal detector and some sort of screening that involved a dog, and we were only allowed to bring in a cellphone or small camera, car keys, umbrella (if raining), and a wallet (no purse). If you had a baby, you were still not allowed to bring a diaper bag.

Once inside, you could stay as long as you wanted but there are no bathrooms, water fountains, or food so eventually every has to leave.

We entered the White House through the East Wing and the gardens.

This hallway contains all the fun pictures of the Presidents. Lots of pictures of them playing with their dogs and kids.

Other pictures include guests like this one with Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta.

This is the wing that displays the Presidential China, ....

... has the library ...

... and the ever famous China Room.

We were not allowed to go into these rooms just look through the door. Once we were inside the main house, we were free to roam (under Secret Service supervision) through the Ballroom, ...

... the Green Room, ....

.. the Red Room, ...

... the Blue Room, ...

... and Dining Room with a painting of Abraham Lincoln over the fireplace.

From the Blue Room, you could look out the windows and see down the back lawn all the way to the Jefferson Memorial.

There were painting of previous Presidents all through the rooms.

The tour ended with the flags inside the front doors where we had seen many famous pictures from.

Nancy and I had a blast trying to get a picture of us as a reflection in the entryway antic.

The tour ended with us walking down the steps in front of the White House looking out over the fountain and lawn at the people with their faces pushed up against the gates.

The Pentagon was not as impressive but security was pretty much the same. We were not allowed to take pictures once we got past the meeting room.

After leaving this room, we went up escalators, past the guy with a machine gun (yes, machine gun), and through small glass doors. We entered a private city with a chocolate shop on the left and a bank on the right. Everything one might need is inside security: doctors, dentists, hair salons, and grocery stores.

The tour was non-stop walking. They don’t let you stop any where. If you need the bathroom, the group goes with you. Not sure I would recommend the tour but the 911 Memorial outside on the grounds is very well done. I would visit it again. (If you go, make sure you dial the phone number at the entrance so you get the audio tour.)

We spent the rest of our trip on Capital Hill. We had coffee with Senator Patty Murray.

She was very friendly yet direct. Talked to us about what was going on right now and in the near future. Then took questions and discussed issues that we had. There were 14 of us. We only got 30 minutes of her time but we all felt privileged.

The Senate and the House were both in session and had votes taking place. She gave us tickets to the Galleries so we could watch. The first day we sat in on the Senate. We missed the vote but we were still fascinated by the going ons.

The first thing we learned was a Senator has to sit in the main chair if there are in session even if they are the only one in the room (they rotate ever 60 minutes). There are pages everywhere. They look like high school age kids. They ran documents, got water, and setup/took down podiums.

Different Senators came in, stood at their desk, and addresses the empty room with the issue at hand (today it was the life time appointment of judges). Every Senator has their personal desk. They are ordered by seniority and look to be from the 19th century.

The next day we went to the House. It was a big room with benches. Democratics on the left and Republicans on the right. Both faced a stage with the Speaker of the House or someone representing him.

They were working on a Vote so we got there early to avoid a long security line. By the way, you are not allowed to bring anything into the Galleries. You check you stuff in before you go through security.

The House ran more like a courtroom. The first hour was closing arguments on the Vote. Each side took turns address either the Speaker of the House or the crowds in the Galleries. Their speeches were timed and multiple Representatives spoke from each side. No one had the floor for longer than 2 minutes. When it was over, one side asked for a postponement of the vote so everyone voted on that.

Directly in front of the Galleries where wallpaper once was a reader board appeared with all the Representatives listed. As each voted, a Y or N appeared in front of their names. On the ends of the assembly room, scoreboards appeared displaying the number of “no” votes versus “yes” votes plus a 5 minutes timer which was counting down.

When the vote was over, the “no” votes won so all the votes were cleared and they immediately went to voting on the the issue. It was awesome to watch the floor come alive. When we first got there, it was civilized with only 20 people in the room. By the time the vote came, there were 400 people in the room. A few brought young kids around 4 or 5 years old. Bring your grand kid to work day?

After the vote, it took about 15 minutes for the Speaker to get the floor cleared so they could move on to future business. At this time, the Majority Leader and the Democratic Leader took their prospective sides and started to discuss where they are on current projects.

They both summarized their visit to Puerto Rico and talked about issues there. Then they discussed a few more issues before the release of the new tax cuts hit the floor. It was at this point that things got really interesting. They went back and forth like attorneys arguing a court case. We were very impressed with the manure they conducted themselves.

After about 30 minutes on the tax cuts, they moved on to other committees and the issues they are working on. It was interesting to hear that there is an issue that is being held hostage. Something they both agree on but the Majority Leader won’t bring it to the floor. I have heard of this but it was interesting to see it was real.

We were so very lucky to get to see our government in action. This was not something that could be planned. If you are in DC, I advise asking the guards at the bag check in. They seem to know what is really happening. Don’t rely on the published schedule. Things are always changing.

While at the Capital Building, we did take the public tour. I have taking it before and I consider it a must do. New to the tour was the original Supreme Court meeting room.

They also showed us the new chambers.

All this under one roof

During our time in DC, we were able to fit in a tour of NPR (National Public Radio)

I took a 4 hour walking tour of the National Monuments. Highly Recommend.

The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is new. They carved him stepping out of “A stone of hope”. The detail was amazing.

One of the trips highlights was watching the sunrise from the Lincoln Memorial. You would  think we would have the National Mall to ourselves but there were joggers everywhere.