#the ending got me stoked up to 100 percent!!!!

[octuscle]

Late Night Possession

Inspired by @malevessel

It was a terrible day. Meetings that dragged on like chewing gum. The air conditioning in the meeting room was faulty, it was well over 30 degrees Celsius outside, much higher inside and the humidity wasn't much below 100 percent. I hate it when lawyers suddenly join us at the end of a project. They talk everything up without even having understood for five cents what it was all about. And my client's in-house counsel was not only annoying, he also stank from the mouth and smelled terribly of sweat. The air in the meeting room was stifling. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we thought we were finally finished at 8pm. And then the pain in the ass said he had a few more questions….

It was really lucky that I got the last train home. I still had a three-hour journey ahead of me. It would be 02:00 when I was finally in bed. What a day! But I would take a nap now. The train was almost empty, I was sitting in the rest area, no one would disturb me.

"Hey bro, I swear! The bitch was begging for mercy. And then I fucked her all the more!" I am rudely torn from my reverie. Two seats away, a guy has sat down. A migrant with Arab roots, I'd say. Not a Muslim, because he doesn't perform ablutions. It smells of sweat and tobacco. The guy is on the phone at 11:30 at night in the train's rest area. On the phone? No, he's shouting. Without a headset of course, I can hear his "bro" on the other end just as well as I can hear him. And the guy is smoking. On the train. That's all I really needed today to be happy.

I may look weak. I am weak. Sport was never my thing. But I'm not anxious. Even if the guy has arms that make my legs look skinny. But he's not allowed to use the phone here. And he's certainly not allowed to smoke here. I stand up. I go to him. He only looks at me for a split second and immediately turns his attention back to his conversation partner. "Excuse me, this is a non-smoking train and you are in the rest area… So may I ask you…" BAAAAANNG! His fist hits me without any warning. My eyes go black.

Shit, why does my fist hurt? Shouldn't my head be hurting? I rub my fist. And see myself. On the floor. Knocked out. Shit! Shit! Shit! I look in the window. At my reflection. A migrant with Arab roots. "Yo dude, you good? Yo bro, spill the tea, what's the 411?" I hear from the cell phone. I pick up the phone, say that everything is okay, but that I have to take care of something here and hang up. I lie on the floor and sniffle. So it's the other one. Or is it me? Damn it! What's happened here? Take it easy now. This is a dream. I have brain trauma or something… What would I really do now if I were in that bastard's body? I'm like remote-controlled. I take my wallet out of my jacket pocket. I take my watch, the gold cufflinks and my glasses. I put everything in my laptop bag. The next station is coming. And I jump out of the train. I need a cigarette now. I don't smoke, but my body is obviously addicted to that shit. There's a Zippo and filterless Marlboros in my bomber jacket. I'm still a bit inexperienced with it, I have tobacco crumbs on my tongue. But the smoke feels good. So good. And my head is finally starting to work properly again.

Okay, I'm in the middle of nowhere in Stoke-on-Trent. Shit, I've got the belongings of a man who's been knocked out on a train to Manchester. I'm going to need money. I take the money out of my wallet, take the credit cards and pull the maximum amount out of the ATM in the deserted station concourse with each one. According to the departure board, there's a train back to London in ten minutes. The platform is empty. I get on, leave the laptop bag with everything that might remind me of myself in an empty compartment and quickly get off again. The train departs. Shit, shit, shit! I need one more cigarette first. I smoke the second one much more routinely on the station forecourt. Opposite the station is a somewhat shabby-looking hotel. While I'm thinking about going in there, a bus arrives. Destination Birmingham. Without thinking twice, I get on the bus. Birmingham. I drove through there a few hours ago. In a completely different body. I fall asleep.

It's dawn when my cell phone wakes me up. The phone of the guy who knocked me out. Mine after all. Shit, I'm not awake yet and the situation is challenging. The phone isn't vibrating discreetly, it's quite loud. BILLY TSTRK as the ringtone. One of my favorite hip-hop artists. He's also from Beirut. It's my buddy Dylan. He asks if everything's okay because I haven't been in touch. I say I've had a bit of stress with the wanker on the train and am now on the bus to Birmingham rather than Manchester. Dylan says cool, he'll tell Hamza and he'll pick me up at the bus. "You're a man of honor, I'll kiss your eye!" I say and hang up.

It's 05:30. I've been on the phone with Facetime. Without a headset. Several pairs of eyes stare at me in annoyance. "laenat alfilastiniiyn alkufaar" I curse and close my eyes again.

Had to go into hiding for a few weeks. The police were looking for me. Of course, there were surveillance cameras at the station. As far as I know, my old body is in a mental hospital. The story of the investment banker who suffered brain trauma after being mugged on a night train and then thought he was his tormentor was in the press. Not that I still read the papers. But it even appeared on Yasin's Instagram account, which is now my account.

My boys had to get used to it a bit. The investment banker is still in me. And that's a good thing. As Yasin, I have a pretty complex company to run. Import, export, all sorts of different stuff. I wash the money in investments in shisha bars and fitness studios. Hey, I only invest in things I know something about. And I practically live on the weight bench and in the shisha lounge area. Even though I think shisha sucks. I'll stick to cigarettes.

[belphieslilcow]

If it’s not a problem with you can we please get some headcaons on how the obey me brothers get off when we’re not there to help?

The fact I wrote this over the span of over a month... sorry for the wait but I finally got it done!!

🔞 Needing Your Own Hand

Lucifer

Lucifer tends to edge himself a lot, not purposely to make his orgasms more intense, but because he thinks he's above touching himself until it all builds up.

It becomes worse when you're in a relationship and you don't have sex for a bit, he gets so used to consistent pleasure that he becomes desperate for your touch.

He'll be doing his paperwork at his desk in his secret office, a cursed record softly playing, and a glass of demonus nearby... but he can't focus when all he can think about is you.

How your hand would feel stroking him and praising him for the good work he's been doing lately and that he deserves this. However of course since you're not there right now, he removes one of his gloves and leans back in his chair, he doesn't have lube in his office, so he slowly teases his tip until precum starts to leak out.

Demons can't resist temptation and as he jacks himself off imagining how great you'd feel, he speeds up his stokes and bites his lip as he cums over his hand with a deep moan.

Mammon

Mammon's pretty normal when jacking off, position wise at least. He does it in his bed most of the time, he gets pretty horny frequently too, so he has a few sex toys he likes to use, guy is greedy of course so he wants ALL the pleasure he can get.

He starts off stripping down and getting comfy while laying down, he probably already has a boner so he starts stroking it right away. He likes to fantasize when you aren't around and while they change depending on what he's in the mood for, he always gets so desperate and needy by the end.

If you're cool with it, he is 100 percent down to take nudes and/or videos to send to you. Though he'd love some special ones back for his eyes only in return. He moans get very loud and whiny and usually goes for multiple rounds until he's tired out, or til he's having dry orgasms from all the cum he's milked from himself.

Levi

You know a cute lil degenerate otaku like him masturbates pretty frequently. He's pretty quick and dirty with it usually, just rubbing one out at his desk and cumming into a tissue (funny that tissues are one of his liked items, hm?) with some hentai dating sim on.

Though he does have his moments where he needs more, and that's where his sex toy collection comes into play!! He's totally the type to have fantasy ones too, you know the dragon dildos and fleshlights? He doesn't have a *huge* collection, but a few of each type depending on what he's feeling that particular day.

He's also not shy about using his tail when his hands are busy, he'll have both hands on a controller and his tail wrapped around his cock, pumping him for all he's worth. He maaay also use it during facetime calls with you to secretly jack off just underneath his desk or behind his laptop.

Satan

you know what, I think satans a bit of a closet perv

he's got some absolutely filthy erotica novels tucked away on his shelves for when he needs a bit more than his fantasies to help him out

he also maaay just have a hidden pair of cat ears and a buttplug tail for when he's feeling subby, he'll put them on/in alone is he's especially needy and misses you

I wouldn't think he'd jack off too too much honestly, maybe just below average?

Asmo

oh you know mr. avatar of lust jacks off a ton

I feel like he rubs one out at least in the morning when he wakes up and before he goes to bed, starting and ending the day in a good mood, yknow.

and wowie wow is he versatile, he's got toys galore to help him out when his hands and fingers aren't enough to satisfy

he's another one who is more than down to share nudes or vids, mutual masturbation with his love on a call might not be the same as having you there with him, but he hopes you two can make up for it big time when you're back in the house~

Beel

Beel jacks off more than you'd think, he's got a ton of testosterone flowing through him after all. He just does it in the shower. Even if he's alone in his room he still feels weird about jacking off in there since he shares it, so the shower is perfect for him. He can have his privacy and even better, he doesn't have to clean up afterwards.

He's pretty normal with it, putting his back against the cool tile and letting the water rush over him as he strokes himself. He tries to go slow and savor the feeling at first, but he can't help speeding up, letting his heavy balls smack against his thighs. If he's feeling particularly adventurous that day, he might even bring one hand up to his big chest and give nis nipples some love.

Belphie

Not too surprising, Belphie's very lazy when it comes to masturbation. He doesn't tend to tease or draw it out longer than he needs to, unless he's insanely horny or with you, he just does it to get it over with.

However... he does tend to accidentally edge himself a lot. He'll be in bed, pillow between his legs and poor guy will fall asleep halfway through, which leads to him having a sexy dream and waking up horny again, so on and so forth.

Speaking of pillow humping, that's one of his favorites, he doesn't even have to take off his pants. When he does take the time to touch his cock, he can be kinda fast with it, not savoring the pleasure too much. He just the type of guy to both want to share moments like this with his beloved, and also get his annoying boner out of the way.

Any sex toys he has are gifts from Asmo or you, vibrators are his favorite since he doesn't have to do anything other than turn it on. Though maybe there's been a time or two where he's had a vibe pressed against his prostate at a low rumble and fell asleep like that, woke up to quite the mess.

[poppibranchlover]

Part two of my thoughts on season six:

- Chummy Sparklestone - This episode is quite funny because idk why Cooper is everywhere trying to be a stupid detective. Also, Branch seems to be wearing his golfer outfit from “Peril Patch” at the very beginning of the episode! Have you noticed?!

- Giggleyum - Same here. I found it funny. I watched a brilliant musical number where it has some Broppy that you mentioned to me a long time ago. The most funniest part was Branch turning buff during the song, lol!! 😂😂😂

P.S. At the end, I laughed too hard at his ending scene of the episode! Silly silly Branchie!! 😂😂😂

- Glamping - This is about Branch camping with Poppy, CJ, Priscilla and Keith but has to get away from Guy Diamond because he thinks he’s soooooo annoying!! Love this episode! It is way too hilarious!! 😄💙💙💙

- A Flower for Poppy - The most heartbreaking episode I’ve ever seen!!! I get to know the origin of Branch’s little crocodile plushie when Poppy gives him that doll at the start, and I’m seeing Branch trying to win her heart by giving her something in return. At the end, Poppy gives him the feather from their magic pillow that chose both of them in “Pillow War”! Sweet, sweet episode!! 😭😊💙💖

- The Partier’s Apprentice - Okay. Branch is also not in there, but I can confirm this is a nice episode.

And finally, the most intriguing episode you guys researched all this time:

- Hair Ball - Yeah, I know it’s about Smidge, Guy Diamond and Milton, but all I was aiming for were scenes with Poppy and Branch in this episode!! And yep, Branch was present in there, albeit in a minor appearance.

Here are some of the photos I took while I was watching this episode:

Sweet Celestia!! That ending really GOT ME BIG TIME!!! I know I’ve seen those in many of the fandom’s posts about it before, but turns out look at how the episode ends with:

A very happy ending!!! 😍😍😭😭💙💖💙💖💙💖

You were right, fandom! There are no cliffhangers in this episode this time!! It ends perfectly with this wonderful Broppy moment!!!! 💙💖

Thank you to all the people working for TTBGO for making this ending!! This season has soooo many Broppy moments!!! I’m happy!!! 😄😁

@eva-93

@dartheclipse0816

@toki-trolls

@shaniahedgehog

@bunkerbash

@kate669

GOD BLESS THIS SHOW!!! I love it so much!! Best season ever since season one!!! 💙💖

I WATCHED SEASON SIX OF TROLLS: THE BEAT GOES ON! IN KIMCARTOON TODAY!!!

Fandom, I know you can hear me but I definitely saw the first six episodes out of the twelve episodes of this season! Here are my thoughts on them:

Blank Day - I can’t believe it was Keith who froze the Trolls! The beginning is such an April Fools joke! Also, the way Branch blushing in one part gives me a lot of life!

Haircuffed - HOLY CRAP! Branch and Creek are finally getting along!

Marshtato Fairy - It’s my favorite Branch-focused episode!!! Branch looks like entering a cave of giant marshmallows and meets a Marshtato creature called Mary! In one part, Branch looks so cute when encased inside a giant marshmallow!!! Awwwwww, and I saw him bounce while inside the marshmallow, it’s so cute and funny!! 😂😂😂

Do the Biggie - Quite okay, right? Even though Branch wasn’t in there, I simply enjoyed the sense of humor from Biggie.

Hitting the Sky Note - Is it just me or does Sky Toronto sound a lot like Tarzan whenever he tries to sing?! One memorable funny moment I like about in this episode is a flashback of Branch’s play when he screams for Gary! 😂😂😂

And finally, I saw….

Hug Fest - I can’t believe Poppy and Branch are going together in the amusement park!! Ooh, and Poppy wants to ride that Big Squeeze jump-style kind-of ride with Branch!!! And they did!!! I’m very happy they’re getting along!! Such a great Broppy episode!! (Plus, I don’t even care about the Biggie and Guy Diamond subplot in there lol! 😂😂😂)

Yep, and I decided to stop my post here. This is part one of my thoughts on season six because I can watch them now in KimCartoon. Let me know if you’re happy about these because I just watched these episodes and they totally gave me life!!! 😍😍😍

Hopefully I will watch the remaining six episodes of this season in some time around. After I’m done watching them all, I’m gonna reblog this and continue where I’ve stated in part two!

I hope you’re seeing this, fandom! You all should be happy for me!!! 😃

@eva-93

@dartheclipse0816

@toki-trolls

@shaniahedgehog

@bunkerbash

@kate669

[allyvampirelass29]

Killing Time

A HEROES Fanfiction By: Allyssa J. Watkins

He loved that he could touch her, even from across the room, that as long as she was in his sight, she was never gone from the reach, the caresses of his mind. Sylar turned his head towards his shoulder, and felt the weight of hers, the silkiness of her wispy curls, as he grazed the air, yet felt the fluttery sensation of her hair. The soundproof glass between them, kept him from saying what he needed to say, kept him from possessing that flooding power in hearing her breath quicken, and knowing he was the cause. But he could watch his effect on her through the one way glass, her head turning towards his phantom projection, and as she clinged to the air around her, he just knew....... As smoothly as he could turn a phrase with his silken tongue, his talented fingers were far more eloquent.

He smiled as he watched her own delicate hand reach up, search the air, and he felt his whole body seized with chills, that irresistible feel of her thumb stroking his dark brow over and over, and the tension in his back slowly released with his exhale. "God, I love when you do that," he spoke to the glass, and felt her melt against his hand as he placed it gently on her shoulder. To anyone watching, it would look like he was touching his own shoulder, but it was definitely hers, he could feel the feminine curve of it, and he imagined the tiny freckles dotting it like stars.

His heart panged, as he watched her lips move, speaking to the air, and he imagined the music of her laugh, as he watched it soundlessly. He'd give anything to know what she was saying to him. "You're a doll, Ally," He whispered painfully to the glass, releasing his hold, to edge himself closer to it. He watched her eyes shift from happy enchantment, to sudden fear, when she couldn't feel him anymore. "Hey, no, don't be scared I'm right here...…" He whispered, tapping on the glass, like he'd done every day since they'd been captured. If he hadn't been dosed up with enough brain paralysis to kill a baby elephant, he'd have shattered that glass by now. But with his powers leashed, and his body considerably slowed, all he could manage was the tapping, the weak reach, the projected touch. He couldn't save her, but as long as he could feel her, there was hope.

"Don't cry, no, Baby. Stop, you're killing me." The tears stung Sylar's eyes, as he watched her hug her knees, and sob quietly, her hair catching the light and veiling her face. He felt the pain of his own tears stoke the fire, the anger inside him, and using all of his strength he pounded the glass with his fist, harder and harder, over and over, his sadness becoming pure rage. Again and again, he watched his knuckles bruise and then heal, melt back into perfect skin. So he hit harder, the glass shuddering beneath his relentless attacks, and still, Ally could not hear him, and didn't so much as look up from her desolate sorrow.

"You're only making it worse, on the both of you." The Senator's voice was the match thrown into the dangerously full gasoline barrel, and Sylar hurled his whole body against the glass with a seething, animalistic yell.

"That glass, just this one piece, cost 20 million dollars, Buddy. You'd better believe it's bulletproof, blast proof, and 100 percent SYLAR proof. If I'd had the funding, you'd be in a box of the stuff right now. Wasting good drugs on you, makes me sick."

Sylar's eyes smouldered, his dark brow slanted, screaming murder, and his mind burned black with threats, too many to pick just one. Torture beyond anything he'd perpetrated before, horrendously bloody acts that would give even himself, nightmares. But his lips could only utter three words after the energy syphoned off from his intense physical exertion, and he felt his body fading, with the single, desperate plea still on his lips.

"Let. Her. Go."

"Can't do that friend."

It was all Sylar could do to steady his breathing, his heart pounding relentless against his chest with wounded rage, that wild, almost primal hunger to kill, and for the first time in months, he actually felt relieved Ally couldn't see him, blinded from the monster he was about to become. His very soul burned with bloodlust, the sleeping danger awakening. The killer emerges.

"SAVE IT!!!!" He snarled, nostrils flaring as he fended off the invading drugs that chained up his powers, his anger yanking on the mental restraints with an unhinged force. His forehead still rested against the glass, as he turned it slowly, methodically, toward the door, his eyes flashing with obsidian fire.

"Save your damn campaign speech, Senator, I am so not your friend. You play the benevolent leader, Mr. All American with such shocking deception. You put on a tie and a fake smile, and you HIDE behind that door and enact the horrors that you speak out against. As much as I love cruel and unusual punishment, you've just lost my vote. You're a monster, Nathan, you're worse than me, because at least when I kill my own kind, I don't pretend to care. I don't pretend that I'm going to save them."

The silence that followed was deadly in of itself, a cold void spreading through the sparse, empty room but when Nathan finally gave the order, it was edged with a severity that even Sylar had never thought capable of him.

"Open the door."

"Sir, we'd strongly advise against engaging the hostile."

"Oh yes, be a good boy, Nathan, and listen to your pathetic excuses for bodyguards. You've never experienced HOSTILE, until I've got you alone, locked in a room with me. You're going to need more than fancy drugs, and a twenty million dollar piece of glass to save you. You can use all the confiscated narcotics you want, if it'll make you feel safe, but I don't need my powers to kill you."

"You really think I'm scared of you?"

"No, Senator, I KNOW you are. But by all means, open the door...…. Let's play."

"Please, you've been so heavily sedated, hell, you should have OD'd twenty times over by now. You couldn't kill time."

"Haha that's good, I like that...… Killing and Time are my two favourite things. Even high, I can still do more damage than you can ever do to me. Whatcha gonna do, Buddy? Send me to death row, can I request the chair, that might be fun.”

"Don't you get it, Sylar? You're on Death Row."

Sylar froze as a red dot appeared on Ally's bare shoulder, as she sat, hugging her knees, and a low growl escaped from deep within his chest, his fingers starting to tremble.

"Alright, easy, white flag!" He fumed, throwing up his hands. "Fine, I'll play nice, just call off your sniper."

"Back against the glass, hands on your head, you son of a bitch."

"You're making me miss Bennet with that kind of sweet talk. Good times......" He snickered, turning his cheek inward playfully, brow raised, his eyes intensifying.

"Shut up! I'll shoot her, I swear to God. It's amazing, really, how many ways you can shoot a person and still keep them alive, just long enough, so that they feel each agonizing moment."

Sylar wasn't laughing anymore. He tentatively backed into the glass, and interlaced his fingers, as he put them behind his head, taking one last glance over his shoulder, and he didn't start breathing again, until the red dot threatening her pale skin, disappeared.

There was a loud mechanical sound, and the door slowly opened, as Nathan strode in, surprisingly unaccompanied, and it took every bit of Sylar's resolve not to tear into him on sight.

The young, square-jawed Senator regarded the tall, dark, and dangerous man before him, as though he were approaching a rabid animal, looking at him sideways, with great disdain.

"What now, Nathan, come to pat me down? You gonna rough me up a little?" He looked over his shoulder at the brown haired girl, her hands searching the glass in front of her with stricken eyes. He almost reached out to put his hand where hers was, when he remembered she couldn't see him. "You even think of doing that to her, I'll kill you. Nobody touches her, got it? Nobody but me."

Nathan's eyes narrowed as he ventured closer. "I'll do whatever the hell I want with her. She's the property of the United States Government now, you both are."

Sylar smirked at him, flexing his bent arms behind his silken head, his dark eyes dancing. "So, I'm like an acquired weapon of mass destruction?"

"More like Enemy of the State, an apprehended terrorist. Congratulations Gabriel, with a little help from the FBI, you no longer exist. There is no Gabriel Gray, meaning I can do whatever I want to you, hold you without trial, kill you without cause."

"So do it." Sylar snarled, his eyes snapping back to cold and impenetrable. "Kill me, Nathan. End it. Be the hero, everyone thinks you are. What are you waiting for?"

Nathan laughed without feeling, the hatred between him and Sylar rising like a scorched heat. "You think I won't do it? I was an officer of the United States Navy, I know HUNDREDS of ways to kill a man, and I'm pretty sure, you only know, the one." Nathan swiped his finger mockingly in front of Sylar's face, and Sylar smirked back, his gaze deadly.

"Just because I have my favourite weapon, doesn't mean it's the only trick up my sleeve. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already. No, I'm going to kill you, Nathan, for doing this to me, to HER. I'm going to kill little brother, and Ma, and only after you're out of your head, seeing their bloody mangled bodies, their heads viciously ripped into, I'm going to make you beg me to kill you, and only then, will your little Superman charade end."

"You dressed up in my brother's face and tried to kill me, you SICK bastard!!! Who does that!? Did you really think I wouldn't retaliate?  You tried, and you failed. You used someone I loved against me, and you still lost. Don't be surprised when I do the same, go dark, and I follow through for the win."

"Look, I get that you're pissed, I know, I ruined your little ball and tricked all your big, fancy Senator friends. You want blood? Take it. Take it all...…. Torture me, kill me, bring me back, just to kill me again, maybe I deserve it, maybe I don't, do whatever the HELL you want, even let Peter get his, but don't punish her for my sins. My blood for hers. You already have me, you don't need her anymore, so, please...… let her go. You do that, and I might just let you live."

"Look at me, Gabriel, look right into my eyes. Never gonna happen."

Sylar could feel his skin prickling with the chills coursing through his body, the coldness of a killer, creeping into his dark features, his voice like ice.

"I said...… Please."

"No deal. You see..... I'm not going to do any of that to you, Gabriel. Because I know that whatever punishment I inflict, government sanctioned or otherwise, nothing is going to hurt you worse, nothing is going to make you behave more than the constant threat of what could happen to her. Why do you think I designed the glass so that you could see her, but she can't see you? Because I want you to see it, what I do to her, every time you get out of line. You so much as look at me a way I don't like, I'll take action, and it won't be me, hurting her, it will be you, your hand. I don't want your worthless blood, hers is so much more valuable. I'm going to take as much as I need to replicate that power, increase it enough to protect entire armies. This is a whole new level for our military, and on behalf of the United States Government, I thank you for your generous contribution."

Sylar's rising anger chilled into paralyzing fear, and he shook his head incredulous. "You're insane. She doesn't have enough electricity for that kind of scale, or enough blood for such rigorous testing...…You'll kill her."

Nathan smiled, his teeth gleaming, looking every bit the congenial politician. "If that's what it takes. I guess, we'd better get started." Nathan made a motion with his hands, and Sylar dropped his arms, failing to hide the abject horror flooding his eyes, feeling sick.

"What did you just do? She's- She's an innocent girl!!!!!"

"Wrong. She WAS an innocent girl. You stole her innocence. YOU ruined her, and got her all mixed up in the MURDER plot of a US Senator!!! She'll PAY for your sins, because they're her sins too, she deserves what's coming."

Sylar shook his head, his brow pulled back, as he sank desperate to his knees. "Nathan, listen to me, she didn't know, I swear!"

"Ever hear of guilty by association?"

Sylar whirled his head around, just as two fully equipped S.W.A.T. members stormed into Ally's side of the room, one of them roughly tackling her to the ground, the other taking a long needle from a cylindrical container.

"NOOOOOOO!!! Nathan, GOD, Nathan, don't do this, I'll do ANYTHING you want, I'll kill whoever you want me to kill, I'll be a damn saint, just don't- Don't hurt my girl." Sylar's tears streamed freely now, his chest so tight, he couldn't get air to his lungs and they burned, as he watched with blurred vision, Ally screaming without a sound, fighting back and sobbing. He bristled as the one holding her down backhanded her across the face, and felt his own jaw sting with the assault.

"Not My Baby...…. Don't hit her, don't hit my baby!!!!" Sylar's voice was hysterical, failing to suppress his sobs, his emotions heightened because of the drugs. Nathan had never seen him like this, and he liked it. He liked it a lot.

"You want it to stop? Fall at my feet. Beg like the pathetic creature you are."

Sylar started to scowl, his lip quivering with both rage and pain, an emotion swathing him that was more dangerous than anything he'd ever felt before, Self Sacrifice. 

"Never."

"Hey Tom, I'm going to need you to bleed her." Nathan spoke calmly into his earpiece."

"Like HELL you are!!!!!" Sylar's rage burned through the pain, engulfing him and Nathan in the catching flame like wildfire, as he hurled himself at him with murderous intent. But the drugs had dulled his reflexes, and Nathan slammed him hard into the glass, grasping his jet black hair, and holding his forehead against the glass, as Sylar struggled against him, growling.

Ally was still fighting hard against her attackers too, but they overpowered her, one of them returning the needle to the container, retrieving, instead, a scalpel and silicone cup. Sylar released the full force of his scream into the glass, feeling the vibration against his lips, the sound reverberating through the room, echoing through the entire space, as the blade sank into Ally's pale skin, dark red blood trickling down her forearm, into the waiting cup.

His body couldn't take it anymore, between the drugs and the horror he broke...…. Sylar sobbed bitterly, and Nathan loosened his hold on the back of his head, letting him fall, helpless, to the ground, legs crossed, looking like a frightened little boy, instead of a cold blooded killer.

"You really do love her."

"Please," Sylar breathed the single word, his voice frail, his eyes sincere.

"Fall at my feet, and I make it stop."

Sylar gritted his teeth, his cheeks shiny, wet with tears, the image of Ally's silent scream haunting him, begging him. He couldn't take it. He'd been compromised, and it terrified him what he'd do if it meant keeping her alive. Sylar got all the way down on the floor, revolted by the utter degradation, hating Nathan, and even more, hating himself.

"Hey Guys, that's enough for tonight. Get the girl bandaged up, and get the sample to the lab."

Nathan looked down at Sylar like he was a loathsome thing, an insect on the floor, and Sylar held his breath, as Nathan stepped directly onto his fingers, digging his heel in. 

"Look at you, The Big Bad Wolf...…. Now, you're just a whimpering pup. I own you."

Sylar had to bite his tongue to keep his scathing response from escaping his lips, and he seized up, his back arching, as he felt the pin prick in the back of his neck, a new rush of drugs flooding his system, his eyes going blank.

"Sweet Dreams, you Psychopath."

Sylar passed out on the floor, unable to fight off the heaviness of the newly introduced drugs mingling with the lingering effects of the ones previously administered, his mind paralyzed, and his body exhausted. Nathan strode out of the room, and the mechanical sound echoed through the space, as the door locked itself behind him. The lights died, darkness washing over Sylar's still form, his arm outstretched.

Silence.

Then.... the intercom crackled, as someone turned it back on, a bit of feedback, and a voice filled the room.

"Sylar!? Sy? Baby, can you hear me?"

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[richincolor]

Everyone, please welcome Sarah Kuhn to Rich in Color! Sarah’s first YA novel, I LOVE YOU SO MOCHI, is out today, and we’re thrilled to have Sarah here to talk about it. If you’re looking to add a cute contemporary romance to your summer TBR list, start here!

Kimi Nakamura loves a good fashion statement. She’s obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her and her friends feel brave, fabulous, and like the Ultimate versions of themselves. But her mother sees this as a distraction from working on her portfolio paintings for the prestigious fine art academy where she’s been accepted for college. So when a surprise letter comes in the mail from Kimi’s estranged grandparents, inviting her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to get away from the disaster of her life.

When she arrives in Japan, she loses herself in Kyoto’s outdoor markets, art installations, and cherry blossom festival–and meets Akira, a cute med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot. What begins as a trip to escape her problems quickly becomes a way for Kimi to learn more about the mother she left behind, and to figure out where her own heart lies.

I LOVE YOU SO MOCHI is your first YA novel. What were you most excited about writing for teens?

I love writing characters experiencing firsts, those amazing moments that give you that tingly sense of possibility, that feeling of your whole world opening up — first kisses, first trips to another country, first time facing a total existential crisis about your life. To be fair, a lot of my adult characters experience many firsts as well (as do I as an actual supposedly adult person)! But Kimi in particular gets to have maybe the most firsts of any character I’ve ever written — she’s someone who’s initially kind of scared of big new experiences, so writing her having all of those experiences and realizing that so much excitement and wonder can come out of them was a total joy. And maybe a good lesson/reminder for my adult self.

Kimi sounds like fun! Tell us more about her fashionista ways and her friends.

She is fun! In my totally unbiased opinion. It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with clothes and fashion — I love bright colors and patterns and experimenting with putting different outfit combinations together. Basically, I still worship at the shrine of my original idol, Claudia Kishi from The Baby-Sitters Club. But I’m really bad at sewing, mending, or anything that requires patience, so I thought it would be fun to create a character who shares my love of fashion but is also really excellent at sewing and makes all her own outfits. She’s kind of like a fantasy version of myself, with an added sewing superpower. And then of course she has her own Girl Gang, because all my books have Girl Gangs — her best friends are Atsuko, who writes a dating advice column (even though Atsuko is actually very cynical about love in all its forms), and Bex, who is dreamy and idealistic and wears cute dresses with mermaids on them. They’re a fun trio.

It sounds like Kimi and her (extended) family are having some difficulties in I LOVE YOU SO MOCHI. Can you tell us more about Kimi and her relationships with her mom and grandparents?

Kimi is extremely close with her mom, who came to the States from Japan for college and ended up staying there when she fell in love with Kimi’s dad, who is fourth generation Japanese American. Her relationship with her mom mirrors the one I had with mine — her mom knows her better than anyone and they kind of love each other more than anyone…but that also means they have the potential to hurt each other more than anyone. The grandparents in the book are Kimi’s mom’s parents — Kimi’s never met them because they disapproved of Mom’s choice to stay in the States. But they invite Kimi to visit them in Kyoto over Spring Break and after a huge fight with Mom, Kimi accepts. And as she gets to know her grandparents, she realizes there’s a lot more to her mother’s story than she realized. I really loved writing about three generations of powerful Japanese/Japanese American women. I wanted their relationships with each other to be prickly and not always perfect, but with so much love underneath.

I went to Kyoto a few years ago and loved it. Why did you decide to set I LOVE YOU SO MOCHI there?

Kyoto contains so many beautiful sights I wanted to write about: Fushimi Inari Taisha, the amazing shrine with those bright red-orange torii gates; the Arashiyama bamboo grove; Maruyama Park with all those glorious cherry blossoms. All of these were things I thought would inspire Kimi as an artist and budding fashion designer. I’d also read somewhere that Kyoto is a place for people who are passionate about making things, and that seemed perfect for Kimi and her grandmother, who also loves sewing and creating clothes. I loved including more obscure locations that got to the heart of that “making things” idea, like Misuyabari, this tiny, family-run needle shop that’s like 400 years old and sells these incredible handmade needles and sewing supplies. Oh, and finally, Kyoto has a pug cafe — which ended up being a very necessary location.

Can you introduce us to Akira and tell us a little bit about what draws Kimi to him?

Akira is an aspiring med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot at his uncle’s mochi stand. Kimi meets him because he’s doing this ridiculous dance, trying to attract customers, and she laughs too loud and he gets distracted and falls over. It’s probably the cutest meet-cute I’ve written. At first, let’s be honest, she’s drawn to him because he’s hot. But he also has this interesting quality about him that’s very attractive to her — he’s a weird combination of seriousness and goofiness, like he never gives anything less than 100 percent, but he also has a tendency toward dorky jokes that surprise her and make her laugh. Also, he takes her to Japanese McDonald’s, which is very romantic.

What 2019 YA books by or about people of color or people from First/Native Nations are you looking forward to reading?

So many! At the moment, I’m super stoked for OUR WAYWARD FATE by Gloria Chao — AMERICAN PANDA made me die both laughing and crying, so I can’t wait to read her new one. And WICKED FOX by Kat Cho — I’m always hungry for contemporary fantasy/romance starring women of color and this sounds absolutely perfect.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about I LOVE YOU SO MOCHI?

I already mentioned the pug cafe, right? I mean, there are a lot of cute animals and delicious food. Be prepared for that going in!

Thank you for stopping by, Sarah! We’re looking forward to your book.

Sarah Kuhn is the author of the popular Heroine Complex novels—a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book is a Locus bestseller, an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee, and one of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog’s Best Books of 2016. Her YA debut, the Japan-set romantic comedy I Love You So Mochi, comes out in June 2019. Additionally, she is currently working on a graphic novel about Batgirl Cassandra Cain for DC Comics. Sarah also wrote “The Ruby Equation” for the Eisner-nominated comics anthology Fresh Romance and the novella One Con Glory, which is in development as a feature film. Other projects include a comic book continuation of the cult classic movie Clueless, a series of Barbie comics, and a story in the recent Jem and the Holograms anthology series Dimensions. Additionally, Sarah is a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her non-fiction has appeared in The Toast, The Mary Sue, Uncanny Magazine, AngryAsianMan.com, IGN.com, The Hollywood Reporter, StarTrek.com, and the Hugo-nominated anthology Chicks Dig Comics.

[whenwomenrefuse]

Hey big tipper

I tend bar for a living. I have also volunteered at an organization which helps victims of domestic violence, stalking and rape for 2 years now. I have a lot of training in these issues and no, that training does not prevent me from being victimized myself. Nor does it guarantee that I will necessarily handle my own victimization perfectly well.

About two and a half years ago a customer at the bar gave me a 100 dollar tip after a night of serving (maybe over serving) him and his friends. I asked him if he had made a mistake. He said no. I told him that was too much and that I would not feel right taking more than a twenty percent tip off his card. I did not want him to regret his choice after sobering up and seeing his bank statement. He then demanded to my boss that I get the entire amount, that it was no mistake and that I deserved it for putting up with him and his friends all night.

So I got the tip. Actually, I was stoked! And he had been a huge pain in the ass all night anyway. I had done my part and made sure there was no mistake and I had bills to pay and shoes to buy.

The next day he came back and asked me on a date. I said no and to avoid hurting his feelings I told him that I had a boyfriend. He asked me to keep him in mind.

He came back some time later and asked me out again. Same response from me. He was pushier this time though and told me that my boyfriend was not the right person for me. And that he and I belonged together. He continued coming back from time to time. He got pushier every time.

On one occasion he grabbed onto me while I was outside and wouldn’t let me back in. For a while I wore a ring and told him I was engaged. He would sit at the bar and just constantly hound me about going out with him. Sometimes inform me that we WOULD be together soon whether I realized it or not. I said nothing to my boss for fear of being reprimanded. I needed my job, and my boss was a rotten excuse for a human.

A police officer and his wife used to frequent my bar. One night when the creeper was harassing me the officers wife whispered to me, “Charity, are you OK, I mean, is he OK?” I told her that he’s just a wierdo but I could handle him. I ended up cutting the guy off which had become a regular occurance by now. She then insisted that her husband do a background check to see if he’s dangerous. I later told her that I wouldn’t mind if he did. I confided that he had been harassing me for a long time.

The officer was not able to tell me what he found and only warned me that it wasn’t good and to stay away from him. There might be some rule keeping him from disclosing other peoples info. Of course that didn’t stop me from investigating him myself. All I did was a Google search. His crimes against women on the other side of the counry were actually big news. Still, I was not ready to tell my boss.

Then one night I had several regulars, some of whom are personal friends sitting around the bar and he came back. He obviously figured out that some of these guys were personal friends. The type of people that I would have a beer with on my days off, the type of guys that would come over to my house to work on my car and take payment in beer. Unfortunately these friends had no idea that this was the man who came in and harassed me from time to time, and I was working and felt I had no time to take people as side and explain this nor did I want to.

He of course acted as though he and I were old friends who went way back. He seated himself right next to the three friends of mine who had been chatting with me earlier. I secretly listened to as much as I could of their conversation and quickly figured out what he was up to. I needed to act fast. I went to the kitchen and texted these guys and told them what was happening. I told them to give him no info about me particularly where I live and my last name. I went back to the bar to see if they were reading their texts. One was. I approached the other after the pervert got up to use the bathroom.

Later, after the creeper left, my friend who is an older man asked me how I had gotten myself into this. I had some harsh words for him and I think I may not have spoken to him for a couple weeks after that.

Another friend had actually been suspicious of the guy and said to him, “So if you know Charity, you must know Hogan."He drew a blank on Hogan, my dog who I used to take everywhere with me, except work of course.

At the end of the night my boss’s mother came in to close. Now she is actually a pretty decent person. I explained to her that I had a terrible night, that I went to pour a tall crown and coke and that I just kept pouring the crown royal to the top of the glass because I could not focus. That I’m sure I messed up a lot of things that night and then I told her why. She told me to never allow him in the bar again. I knew she would back me. I knew my boss would not take on his mother especially since she actually owns the place and is the only reason he gets a paycheck for doing virtually nothing. I was almost free.

The guy did come back. Twice in fact. The first time alone and I told him that he was not allowed in the bar anymore. He got angry and left. The second time with two friends and I said the same. He asked me why not and I told him that if he doesn’t understand why then he should probably get help. He left angry.

That night someone’s car was sideswiped by a hit and run driver. My coworker thought it might have been his truck. After the incident was reported I gave the officer his name as a potential suspect. I also explained to her the reason he had left the bar angry and may have driven recklessly.

She called me later to inform me that he was not involved in the hit and run but that she had checked him out and that she would like to have him trespassed from my work. I agreed. The police notified him that he would be arrested if he showed up there. He threatened to sue. Oh well.

I now work at another bar. I live and work in a small town and have reason to believe that he now knows where I work. I pray he doesn’t show up there.

I know there will be some who believe that I either brought this on myself or that I should have handled it better. Maybe then it wouldn’t have gone on for 2 years. Who knows! There is probably some part of this mess where I could have responded in another way and ended it. I tried. And no, I did not want to lose my job. I listen to women on a regular basis who have been victimized, most through domestic violence, and one thing I am sure of. It us never their fault. Not one of us is immune to domestic violence, rape or stalking regardless of how carefull, educated or intelligent. We don’t ever get to choose to be victimized. The choice always lies with the perpetrator. That man had a choice and he made it.

[classyfoxdestiny]

Europe recovers from double-dip recession but lags the United States.

Europe recovers from double-dip recession but lags the United States.

Workers at a Volkswagen assembly line in Zwickau, Germany, last month.Credit…Matthias Rietschel/Reuters

Europe’s economy exited a painful double-dip recession in the second quarter, rebounding faster than expected from the ravages of the pandemic as consumers spent pent-up savings and restaurants, factories and other businesses sprang to life after pandemic control restrictions eased.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, grew 2 percent in the second quarter of the year in the eurozone, up nearly 14 percent from a year ago and reversing a 0.3 percent contraction in the first three months of the year, Eurostat, Europe’s statistics agency, reported on Friday.

But the eurozone’s recovery, while striking for its speed, is far from complete: It continues to lag the United States, which reported data Thursday showing it had returned to its prepandemic level of output in the second quarter. Europe is not expected to hit that marker before the end of the year.

The European Union recently increased its forecast for growth this year to 4.8 percent, but the United States economy is expected to grow by 6.9 percent in 2021, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Nonetheless, Europe’s recovery has gained speed as service and manufacturing sentiment and activity jumped among the 19 nations that share the euro currency, after governments worked to prevent new lockdowns in spring. Authorities also applied pressure on citizens to ramp up vaccinations that are seen as the key to sustaining a recovery — and winding down billions in pandemic support for workers and businesses.

The vaccination push has reaped benefits: This week the European Union pulled ahead of the United States in total vaccinations, adjusted for population, a turnaround from the spring.

Europe’s four biggest economies recorded expansions over the April-to-June quarter, with the most robust growth in southern Europe, in countries that suffered the brunt of Covid deaths last year.

Italy grew 2.7 percent and Spain grew 2.8 percent from the first quarter, while Portugal and Austria’s economies surged more than 4 percent, thanks to a rebound in tourism. But growth was weaker than expected in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, which grew 1.5 percent from the first quarter, perhaps reflecting supply chain problems as a shortage of electronic chips has slowed manufacturing in its massive auto industry.

The French economy, however, struggled to climb out of a recession, growing 0.9 percent from April to June following zero growth in the first three months. President Emmanuel Macron has been trying to coerce the French into getting vaccinated in a bid to cement a recovery.

Counting the 27 European Union countries, Eurostat said economic output rose 1.9 percent last quarter.

Europe’s revival has helped stoke a mild return of inflation, which rose to 2.2 percent in July following a 1.9 percent rate the previous month. The European Central Bank, which until recently sought to keep inflation below or close to 2 percent, has a new strategy that will tolerate inflation above its target if the price increases are considered transitory.

Keeping economies open is seen as crucial to sustaining Europe’s rebound. Since countries ended lockdowns earlier this year, order books for industrial goods have filled rapidly — so much that some European manufacturers have begun to express worry about keeping up with demand. And unemployment continued to fall, declining to 7.7 percent in euro area in July from 8 percent in June, Eurostat reported.

“Never before has sentiment been so positive among eurozone businesses and consumers,” Bert Colijn, senior eurozone economist at ING Bank, said in a note to clients. “This indicates that the economic rebound is in full swing.”

Since the pandemic arrived in early 2020, Europe’s economy has been rocked by two recessions — a double-dip recession. In the second quarter of 2020 alone, eurozone economic output shrank 12.1 percent.

But in a reflection of the return of economic fervor, many of Europe’s biggest companies reported bumper earnings this week, from a surge in aircraft delivery at Airbus, the world’s largest plane maker, to a consumer splurge in the purchases of expensive scarves and handbags at the luxury retailer Hermes. But the Delta variant, which has caused a jump in coronavirus infections across Europe, has recently caused consumer confidence to tick back down, increasing uncertainty among service sector businesses.

Vaccinations, though, are weakening the link between cases and hospitalizations, meaning the economic consequences of a new wave of coronavirus cases will be far milder than those of previous waves, Rory Fennessy, an economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note.

Nonetheless, depending on how the pandemic evolves, “the potential ramifications of the Delta variant are the main downside risk to the outlook,” he said.

Read more

Credit…Andrew Kelly/Reuters

In late 2018, Chelsey Glasson, a researcher at Google who had worked there for four years, moved to a new team. She was pregnant at the time and said she immediately felt she was being discriminated against. Her new boss suggested that her forthcoming maternity leave might “rock the boat,” and she was effectively stripped of her management responsibilities.

When she filed a complaint with human resources, she was offered 10 free sessions with a mental health counselor who was contracted by Google and available on campus.

At the time, she thought, “What a great resource, of course I’m going to take advantage of this.”

More than a year later, when Ms. Glasson filed a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against Google, her counselor told Ms. Glasson that she was “really nervous and uncomfortable” seeing her after Google had asked for access to records of their sessions, Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Ruchika Tulshyan report for The New York Times. “She was concerned that affiliating with me would compromise her contract with Google,” Ms. Glasson said.

“That was an incredibly low, deflating moment in my experience,” she said. She added that Google had already been using those subpoenaed records to suggest that she was distressed for personal reasons, not because of a potentially toxic work environment or discrimination.

In interviews with The Times, six former and current Google employees recalled that when they spoke up against workplace misconduct, they, too, were offered free short-term counseling — called the Employee Assistance Program (E.A.P.) — or medical leave.

A Google executive, who asked not to be identified because he is not permitted to speak to reporters, said that when employees report difficulties at work with a colleague, Google’s human resources officers are instructed to remind those employees that the company offers up to 20 therapy sessions a year. (Google recently expanded the benefit to 25 sessions.)

Of course, offering counseling isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nor is this kind of counseling unique to Google.

But counseling can become problematic when it’s used as a stopgap or a quick fix to resolve tense workplace situations that might not legally be considered harassment or bullying but that are nonetheless unacceptable, said Erica Scott, a human resources expert.

Tolerating bad managers while directing employees to a counseling program is a “shocking” way to “shield the employer from accountability,” she said. “These are employee matters that are the employer’s obligation to deal with, not a third party.”

Read more

A woman interviewing for a position at a job fair in St. Louis last month.Credit…Whitney Curtis for The New York Times

Economists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago this week unveiled a vast discrimination audit of some of the largest U.S. companies. Starting in late 2019, they sent 83,000 fake job applications for entry-level positions at 108 companies — most of them in the top 100 of the Fortune 500 list, and some of their subsidiaries.

Their insights can provide valuable evidence about violations of Black workers’ civil rights, Eduardo Porter reports for The New York Times.

The researchers — Patrick Kline and Christopher Walters of Berkeley and Evan K. Rose of Chicago — are not ready to reveal the names of companies on their list. But they plan to, once they expose the data to more statistical tests.

In the study, applicants’ characteristics — like age, sexual orientation, or work and school experience — varied at random. Names, however, were chosen purposefully to ensure applications came in pairs: one with a more distinctive white name — Jake or Molly, say — and the other with a similar background but a more distinctive Black name, like DeShawn or Imani.

On average, applications from candidates with a “Black name” get fewer callbacks than similar applications bearing a “white name.”

This aligns with a paper published by two economists from the University of Chicago: Respondents to help-wanted ads in Boston and Chicago had much better luck if their name was Emily or Greg than if it was Lakisha or Jamal.

This experimental approach with paired applications, some economists argue, offers a closer representation of racial discrimination in the work force than studies that seek to relate employment and wage gaps to other characteristics — such as educational attainment and skill — and treat discrimination as a residual, or what’s left after other differences are accounted for.

The Berkeley and Chicago researchers found that discrimination isn’t uniform across the corporate landscape. Some companies discriminate little, responding similarly to applications by Molly and Latifa. Others show a measurable bias.

All told, for every 1,000 applications received, the researchers found, white candidates got about 250 responses, compared with about 230 for Black candidates. But among one-fifth of companies, the average gap grew to 50 callbacks. Even allowing that some patterns of discrimination could be random, rather than the result of racism, they concluded that 23 companies from their selection were “very likely to be engaged in systemic discrimination against Black applicants.”

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Uber will only allow employees to come into its offices if they are vaccinated and wear masks, a spokesman said.Credit…John Muggenborg for The New York Times

Uber told employees on Thursday that it would require them to be vaccinated, and it postponed a mandate to return to the office, joining a group of tech companies that have delayed reopening and stepped up vaccine requirements in response to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Google postponed its return-to-office plans until October and said employees in its U.S. offices would be required to be vaccinated. Lyft, Uber’s largest U.S. competitor, said it would not require employees to return to the office until February. Twitter shut down its San Francisco and New York offices, and put an indefinite halt to its reopening plans. Last week, Apple postponed its reopening until October.

The changes come as coronavirus cases have surged in the United States. Cases in the country increased 146 percent in the past two weeks, according to a New York Times tally.

Uber will also require employees to be vaccinated in order to work from the office. The mandate will begin with employees in the United States, and the company will assess its requirements for employees in other countries based on vaccine availability, Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, wrote Thursday in an email to staff seen by The New York Times. Unvaccinated employees will be required to work from home.

Uber had already opened some offices for employees who wanted to return voluntarily, and a spokesman said that employees could continue to come into Uber’s offices if they are vaccinated and wear masks. But the company said it would not require employees to return until Oct. 25, a delay from its initial September return date.

“It’s important to say that this date is a global target, and local circumstances will continue to dictate when it makes sense to bring employees back in a given city,” Mr. Khosrowshahi said. “Rising Covid cases in our communities are a real reminder that we still need to be cautious, look at the data, and listen to experts as we return to offices. Every day, teams across the company are closely monitoring the rapidly changing global situation.”

Uber’s return date could be pushed back further if cases continue to surge, Mr. Khosrowshahi wrote.

Uber has not said whether it will require its drivers or riders to be vaccinated. It does require them to wear masks.

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[expatimes]

Party over? China trade rift threatens Australian winemakers

Adelaide, Australia - As a seasoned vintner from Australia's famed southern wine-making region, David Harris is proud of one of his country's best-known products.

“You don't have to be a genius to know great quality wine. It's got to jump out of the glass, ”he said. "We get the fundamentals right and we do it at a good price."

One of the countries that has been guzzling ever-larger quantities of Australian wines in recent years is China.

“They've drunk us out of house and home. We are getting the highest prices we've ever had thanks to China, ”Harris, CEO of South Australia Wine Group, a wine trading and services company, told Al Jazeera.

But the party may be coming to an end.

A widening political rift between Canberra and Beijing is spilling over into trade ties between the two, threatening corporate profits and livelihoods in some of Australia's most important export industries.

Analysts and Australian exporters suspected that China is retaliating following moves and statements by Canberra against Beijing, specifically concerning latest-generation 5G mobile phone networks and the coronavirus. China has not officially said it is doing so, but recent moves speak for themselves.

In May, China hit Australian barley with import duties, accusing it of selling its products below cost to gain market share, a process known as dumping, and halted beef imports from some of Australia's largest meat processors.

Earlier this month, live Australian lobsters died waiting for customs clearance in Shanghai. China has halted some imports of Australian timber, reportedly due to concerns about pests.

Australia's copper and sugar exports to China may also be targeted, according to state media.

And in August the China Alcoholic Drinks Association (CADA) called for retrospective tariffs on Australian wine imports, as part of an investigation into dumping, according to Australian winemaker Treasury Wine Estates.

China has become crucial to Australia's wine industry. In the last financial year, China imported $ 850m (1.17 billion Australian dollars) of Australian wine - 39 percent exports of the total value of Australian wine.

Bottles of Australian wine sits on shelves for sale [File: David Gray/Reuters]

Indeed, China is by far Australia's largest and most important trading partner. About a third of Australia's total exports are now destined for Chinese shores, a market valued at approximately $ 111bn (153 billion Australian dollars) in the 2018-2019 financial year. This success in China has been facilitated partly by a Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) signed in 2015, which deepened the trade reliance.

Souring ties

Beijing has denied imposing the speculated embargo, which would flout World Trade Organization rules and ChAFTA. However, on November 4, a state mouthpiece, the Global Times, referred to an “import suspension”, further complicating China's messaging and creating the uncertainty.

And on November 12, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters, “The cause of the current difficulties in our bilateral relations is very clear… For some time, Australia has been violating basic norms governing international relations, and made erroneous words and deeds on issues concerning China's core interests, including those related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan, and blatantly interfered in China's internal.

We are getting the highest prices we've ever had thanks to China.

David Harris, CEO of South Australia Wine Group

Beijing and Canberra's relationship took a turn for the worse in 2018 when Australia became the first nation to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from the rollout of its 5G mobile phone network.

Relations frayed further after Australia led calls for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. In another move likely to stoke tensions, for the first time since 2007, Australia joined the US, Japan and India for the Malabar naval exercises.

China's growing economic and military power has led to questions about its commitment to the international rules-based order and prompted a more hawkish backlash from Australia and its allies.

Professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London, said Australia's ability to navigate its trading interests with China is being put to the ultimate test by its allegiance to longtime security ally Washington.

“Australia is certainly caught in between the pulling forces of a US-China decoupling,” says Professor Tsang, “Australia will judge what is in its best national interest and which international partner it can depend on, and between China and the USA, it is clear which one Australia feels more comfortable with. ”

Blacklisted

Any embargo on Australian exports to China could be catastrophic. According to Jeffrey Wilson, research director of the Perth USAsia Center at the University of Western Australia, the seven products that have been targeted hundreds of thousands and together represent about $ 15.9bn (21.9 billion Australian dollars) in exports to China.

That amounts to 14.3 percent of Australia's total exports to China in the 2018-2019 financial year.

Wilson said China's intention appears to be to spread disinformation in a bid to rattle the Australian export market and hit Australia where it hurts.

Chinese demand has driven up sales of Australian wines [File: Martin Pollard/Reuters]

“It is psychological war more than trade war,” he said, “China has a long history of using this kind of trade sanction as a diplomatic weapon, and is doing so to 'make an example' of Australia for a range of foreign policy actions the Australian Government has taken in the last few years. ”

He said Beijing targets industries that are highly dependent on China as a destination, or those products which Beijing can easily buy from somewhere else, which is why China has not placed any punitive measures on iron ore imports.

“Its steel industry is structurally dependent on Australian supply for normal operations, and the entire Chinese industrial ecosystem depends on its steel industry. Sanctioning iron ore would be 'mutually assured destruction', ”Wilson said.

Greener pastures

The anti-dumping investigation by CADA, which is expected to take one year to complete, has homed in on three major Australian wine businesses: Treasury Wine Estates, owner of brands including Penfolds; Yellow Tail's owner Casella Wines; and Australia Swan Vintage.

“Australian winemakers are cooperating fully. We don't believe there is any evidence to support dumping, ”said Tony Battaglene, chief executive of industry group Australian Grape and Wine.

Treasury Wine Estates stock slumped to a five-year low on November 5 due to fears that China would impose retrospective tariffs.

Battaglene said, “Duties, if assessed, will be applied to all Australian wine exporters”.

For winemaker David Harris, potential tariffs would hit hard, “It's about 50 percent of what we do. It would be a massive, massive disaster but we wouldn't go broke; there is huge market growth in India and Southeast Asia ”.

Eric Yang, CEO of Adelaide-based Pacific Vintners, is also weighing up his options, “Of course, tariffs worry me, especially because we are Chinese market-oriented and focused. More or less this is a political issue, but it has shown that we can't rely on one market. It is time to slow down, strategise and plan for alternatives. ”

It is psychological war more than trade war.

Jeffrey Wilson, Perth USAsia Center at the University of Western Australia

Another issue that could be troubling for Australian winemakers is that consumers in China can now choose to quaff decent-quality wines from other countries.

In Beijing, longtime resident Claudia Masueger is the founder of Cheers, a retail wine chain with more than 100 outlets in major cities in China. About a quarter of the wine on offer is from down under.

The Swiss entrepreneur said that if tariffs are imposed on Australian brands, her customers might switch to Chilean or Argentinian wines as an alternative.

“It's difficult to predict the outcome of tariffs but it would be sad to see the tax for Australian wine increase. Luckily, we represent all major wine growing regions, therefore, we will not face much trouble as a business, ”Masueger told Al Jazeera.

But underneath the optimistic veneer, those with their livelihoods at stake fear Australia may be going down the same path as the United States, which is locked in a bitter trade war with China.

Trade expert Jeffrey Wilson said the situation for Australia may improve when US President-elect Joe Biden steps into his new role.

“Whereas Trump would be willing to let Australia suffer and ignore it, a Biden administration will see the sanctions as both a grave breach of international trade law, and also a direct economic assault on one of its most important regional allies,” Wilson said.

“By raising the political costs of these actions, the Biden administration will likely see China exercise some greater caution in sanctioning like this in future,” he added.

. #world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=14199&feed_id=17704

[science-and-sigils]

Pairing Science and Magick: 3

Example Three: Tarot

I was pretty skeptical of tarot at first. You’re telling me that this stack of cardstock, these 78 rectangles, will give me insight into my life? Come on how is that possible? There’s a 1 in 78 chance I pull any given card, less if we’re doing reversals, what are the chances that I get something that applies to my life? But I had come across things that didn’t make sense yet appeared to be true before, and I’d been drawn to tarot for a while. I remember looking at a deck somewhere once at about the age of ten. Maybe there was something to it after all. Maybe there was a reason I was drawn to it. 

I wasn’t very good at reading tarot at first (I’m still learning, for that matter), but certain cards kept popping up. The Tower became a theme--more than it should be, statistically. Once I had both of the daily draws on the two tarot apps I was using give me The Tower--and both were reversed.

Statistically this just...There is a 1 in 156 chance that either deck gave me this particular card in this particular orientation. And both of them? Since they are independent events (the card of one app does not influence the card of the other), we are multiplying 1/156 by 1/156, and get 0.000041. In a percent, ergo out of 100, that’s 0.0041%. Around 4 out of 100,000, or 1 in 25,000. That’s... well...not likely. I mean yes, it absolutely can happen, anything with a non-zero probability is possible. My sister once picked up every single monastery in a game of Carcassone, including the one in the river expansion. Not sure on the probability of that, but it will probably never happen again in our lifetimes. 

That day with the double Tower reversal arguably did have a Tower reversed feel--ongoing chaos and change of routine (it was the middle of a vacation that to me was more stress than much else).

Anyhow, in short, in time I started noticing two things with tarot. One, statistics were being ignored, it seemed, the same cards or suits showing up more than one should expect them to. And after some time, as I got to read them better, I realized they really did apply. That card? Well if you look at this potential keyword...yeah I guess that does work! Over and over and over. Not always, but more than one would expect looking at it with percentages and statistics.

And that was why I got Annie in the first place.

Annie is my tarot deck, a gorgeous copy of Anne Stokes Gothic Tarot. And I can tell you she is accurate. Not perfect, of course, but pretty good. She’s a pretty nice deck, not usually too sassy or bitchy, and generally quite encouraging and positive! I’m very glad she ended up as my first deck. 

Oh and also.

She talks. 

No really. I say ‘Annie’ because it’s a nickname for her full/true name, I say ‘she’ because I can hear her, a woman’s voice. Sometimes she laughs, too. She tells me how to shuffle, what card to pull, if I should reverse it or not before I should play it. She tells me if I’m getting my interpretation right (so incredibly helpful). All that I read about tarot decks (at least some of them) having a spirit--well hell yes, they apparently do, this one does at least. I hear her clearly, I feel the energy of her pulse under my palm when I rest my hand on her. The purely logical side of my brain says she should be just 78 cardstock rectangles with pretty Anne Stokes artwork, but I have experienced that she is so much more than that. 

All the little things, and a lot of things in terms of Annie, added up. Two reversed Towers in one day? Technically possible. Unlikely but not impossible. But accuracy, a tarot deck that knows my name when I didn’t tell her and knows things about me that I didn’t tell her, sometimes that I didn’t even know myself--well, then, the only logical explanation is that it’s more than 78 cards and yes, this can actually be a hell of a tool for gaining insight. Occam’s Razor strikes again.

Even if some days I still stare at my tarot apps and try to figure out how I’m supposed to apply them to my life at all--it isn’t all nonsense. I can’t deny that, especially given Annie.

Pairing Science and Magick Series: Energy Balls Pendulum Astrology Past Lives

[junker-town]

Bill Walton and the Grateful Dead team up for a psychedelic sports adventure

Mixing the music of the Grateful Dead with action sports, director Chris Benchetler aims to capture the spirit of the band.

“I am the fortunate one who gets to set the stage and tone for Fire On The Mountain, an incredible 30-minute adventure though our emotional identity that is officially fueled by the Grateful Dead’s live catalogue. These young visionaries and champion athletes epitomize the melding of competitive greatness with purposeful creative genius.”

That’s Bill Walton talking about Chris Benchetler’s new film, Fire on the Mountain, which sets the extreme adventures of a skiing and surfing collective to the music of the Grateful Dead. Shot in the unforgiving environment of the North Pole and the blissed out blue water off the coast of Indonesia, it’s a gorgeous piece of work that strives to provide nothing less than a visual manifestation of the Dead’s musical transcendence.

Walton’s narration provides the voice to the film, lending an old-world authenticity to the new generation of seekers hooked on the Dead’s mystical aesthetic.

I wanted to ask Walton about the elusive X-factor in the Dead’s music that inspired a crew of outdoor enthusiasts who weren’t even alive when the band was at its creative peak to reach for those same metaphysical heights. Alas, he gave those quotes to Benchetler in anticipation of people like me who wanted to talk to him about the Dead.

I get it. Being America’s resident Deadhead is a full-time job. Besides, talking about the Dead is a tricky business. You can’t talk to non-Deadheads about the Dead because they think the whole thing is ridiculous. You don’t really want to talk to a Deadhead about the Dead unless you want to get into pedantic arguments about dead keyboardists. (I’m a Keith and Donna guy, for the record.)

At their righteous core, however, Deadheads are people who consciously engage in the practice of living in the present moment, with the band serving as the soundtrack. That’s what Fire on the Mountain is about.

What’s interesting about the Dead, and this film, is Walton and Benchetler understood this connection intuitively even though they had never met, don’t share the same interests, and are separated by generational divides. They were united only by the spirit of a band that has ceased to be an active concern for more than two decades.

“He thought we were the craziest people ever,” Benchetler says. “At the same time, he’s the most passionate, kind human I’ve ever met. He was so professional and so invested in the project even though he wasn’t charging me for his time.”

Walton is 67 years old. He literally grew up with the Dead, seeing them in concert when they were psychedelic warriors on the jingle bell rainbow. He traveled with them to Egypt to play before the pyramids and looked into a volcano that legend has it was caused by a particularly rapturous “Scarlet/Fire”.

When he played basketball, he did so with the Dead’s improvisational flair. You can see it for yourself in old clips, from the whirling outlet passes to the funky jump shot. At his peak, he was not only the best at what he did, he was the only one who played that way.

Benchetler is 33, too young to have seen the band when Jerry Garcia was alive, but old enough to absorb them into his psyche when a family friend took him to a Dead and Company show.

“That was when it fully clicked for me and I totally got it,” Benchetler says. “Even though it wasn’t the full iteration of the band, once you see them live it makes so much more sense. I fell hard after that first show. That was the point of the movie, that present moment. That’s how they play a show. It’s 100 percent off feel, which is exactly how we approach mountains and waves.”

If you are into skiing, you will like this film. My wife is not a Deadhead in any way, shape or form, which is probably for the best. Our kid already knows all the words to “Eyes of the World”, much to her chagrin. She is a snowboarder, however, and after watching the film she was so stoked she made plans for a late winter trip to Tahoe with her friends.

If you are into the Dead, you will really dig this film. The music selections, chosen by the Dead’s excellent archivist David Lemieux are perfect. Drawing heavily from Europe 72, which happens to be my favorite period, Lemieux picked “The Other One” from Bickershaw, the “Playin’” from the Strand Lyceum, and the gorgeous “Dark Star” from Wembley that is as close to a religious experience as music has ever taken me.

The key sequence, however, is drawn from a different period in the band’s life. It involves Benchetler and his crew cruising down Mammoth Mountain in California at night under a psychedelic light show wearing LED skeleton suits. (Bonus points to Benchetler for not making them look like dancing bears.)

It’s an incredible scene, set appropriately enough to the “Fire on the Mountain” from Cornell 77, arguably the sweetest and most productive period the Dead ever had. The sound the band makes in those days is that of a collection of friends playing music for their friends’ enjoyment, which is what Benchetler and his crew are doing in the snow.

Benchetler shot that sequence before all the musical rights were cleared because the setup was perfect and the moment was right. He did it on faith, and the power of manifestation, as he put it. A quintessential Deadhead moment if ever there was one.

Deadheads will also appreciate the subtle touches Benchetler sprinkles throughout the film from the animation that harkens back to Gary Gutierrez’s work in the Grateful Dead Movie to the campfire sing-along. Ultimately, Fire on the Mountain is a movie about friends living life on their own terms traveling the country in a hand-painted bus, which is about as Deadhead as you can get.

Walton’s narration is simply the cherry on top. Mixing band metaphors with lyrical references in his typically exuberant manner, he carries the story from beginning to end voiced in the Dead’s own peculiar lexicon. That can get admittedly confusing if you weren’t already familiar with rainbow spirals that tremble and explode.

Wife: “Where’s Fennario?”

Me: Pausing to think if it’s worth explaining the circumstances that led Robert Hunter to live with Jerry and Mountain Girl in Larkspur … “It’s wherever you want it to be.”

Wife: Long sigh and exaggerated eye roll.

Walton voiceover: “Or maybe, it’s Nevereverland.”

You can watch Fire on the Mountain in its entirety online.

[gadgetsrevv]

Michael Owen shows he’s not just Mr. Nice Guy, ranting about Liverpool, Man United, fan hate and his regrets

MALPAS, England — Michael Owen laughs a lot. It’s one of the first things you notice when you are in the company of the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United forward. The common perception of Owen is that he is, and always has been, an extreme version of the modern-day sportsman who has been managed and polished to within an inch of his life, but the reality is very different.

We are chatting in the Owners Lounge at Manor House Stables, a thoroughbred horse racing training complex deep in the Cheshire countryside, which was nothing more than a cattle barn when Owen bought the land in 2007 as a post-football investment. While the camera is being set up in the stables to film Owen’s first interview since the publication of extracts of his autobiography, “Reboot,” we discuss the fallout from the book, including headlines about his broken relationship with Alan Shearer, controversy surrounding his comments about former club Newcastle United and criticism of David Beckham. (And, of course, two of his former clubs square off this weekend when Liverpool host Newcastle at Anfield.)

There has been widespread surprise at Owen’s candour and readiness to be blunt; it’s a side of his character he’s kept well-hidden since bursting onto the scene as a teenage sensation with Liverpool in 1997. But he laughs again when reminded of the time he scored his first goal for Manchester United. It came at Wigan in August 2009 and after the match, Owen walked past reporters asking for a post-match quote before turning on his heels to tell them to “F— off, because you’re always caning me…”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t have been a first,” he said, laughing. “I was probably right as well!”

– ESPN’s Ultimate XI: This team would win everything – Lukaku’s mission: Win at Inter, prove Man United wrong – Harding: The real reason Bundesliga is king

Owen is surprised that people have been surprised about his true personality, but he hasn’t lost any sleep over it.

“I’ve taken my tin hat off to chat about this!” Owen tells ESPN FC, following the initial reaction to the revelations in his book. “I’ve written a book that’s open and honest, talking about my career. It’s been interesting, quite a therapeutic process in the beginning, but now that it’s in the mainstream, it’s causing quite a lot of opinion.

“But look, to get to the top of any profession, you need unbelievable drive, confidence and the ability to filter out anything that is going to have negative impact on your mind.”

Owen is known for his safe public persona but in retirement and with his memoir released, he isn’t afraid to speak out.

Behind the laughter and the smile, it is fairly obvious that Owen is a tough, hard character to the point of appearing cold to outsiders. Perhaps it’s a result of being a child prodigy, the son of a former professional footballer (Terry Owen played over 300 games, including a spell at Everton) who spent his young life being groomed for the stardom which came at such an early stage of his career.

By the time he was 18, Owen had become a first-team regular at Liverpool and emerged from the 1998 World Cup as the most-talked about teenager on the planet after scoring his stunning individual goal during the second round defeat against Argentina. He was the Kylian Mbappe of his day, his scorching pace combined with an ability to score goal after goal after goal, but there was always an element of the “brand” being the most precious commodity, with Owen’s persona carefully managed to the extent that he never quite connected with supporters at any of his clubs.

Opinions back then were simply not on the agenda.

“A lot of the time when you are playing, you are slightly gagged,” Owen says. “You can’t be talking about Liverpool if you play for Man United.”

He scored 158 goals in 297 games for Liverpool but even at Anfield the affection for Owen is lukewarm, at best, largely because he signed for bitter rivals United after leaving Newcastle in 2009.

“When I left Newcastle, the two real options were Everton — David Moyes wanted to sign me — and Manchester United,” said Owen. “You could say that I was doomed to be criticised by Liverpool fans at that time, no matter what I did, because their two biggest rivals were the two biggest moves for me. But that’s fine. I’m certainly not sitting here apologising for anything.

“If I had the time again, in that situation, I would do the same again. In no other walk of life would you be criticised for having ambition: people would applaud it. But because I chose to sign for a club at the top, to play in the Champions League, you get castigated for the colour of your shirt. I’m never going to change that ‘you wore red, he wore blue, so I hate you,’ mentality.”

There it is again: that cold, hard honesty. Owen just does not do sentiment or play the game of telling supporters what they want to hear.

In his book, Owen admits that by the time he left Liverpool for Real in 2004, he was earning more from commercial deals than from club wages at Anfield, an admission that underlines not only his global status at the time, but also that sense of Owen the brand being bigger than Owen the footballer. As Sir Alex Ferguson says in the foreword to the book, “another factor in Michael’s career was the way he led his life; no arrogance, no partying, a good family life, respect for his parents, his manager and team-mates: all in all, a completely rounded young man.”

The problem for Owen, though, is that all of the above conspired to create the image of a footballer who was hard to love. “Over the years, I’ve inevitably run into a fair amount of criticism about various aspects of my career,” he said. “In my case, people complained that I wasn’t loyal enough to this or that club, was ‘always injured,’ boring.”

But does it bother him? Does he care?

“A throwaway line from Alex Inglethorpe, the Academy Director at Liverpool, summed up everything for me,” Owen writes in his book. “He told me that I had the best s— filter of anyone he’d ever met. To many, all I’ve ever been is a voice — a not very interesting one at that, some would say — or a face on a television screen.

“This ‘s— filter’ is at the core of it all and I hope everyone enjoys getting a brief glimpse into my head.”

April 12, 1999. It was certainly the end of the beginning for Michael Owen but the subsequent years also proved it to be the beginning of the end and, in many ways, the root cause of those accusations that he was injury prone.

Liverpool played Leeds United at Elland Road. Steve McManaman split the Leeds defence with a pinpoint pass to Owen, who collected the ball and raced towards goal until he pulled up sharply and collapsed to the ground on the edge of the penalty area. The Leeds crowd cheered, mocking Owen as he rolls around on the turf, clutching his right hamstring, which is torn from the tendon. The YouTube footage is difficult to watch considering the implications of the injury.

Owen was still only 19 at the time. He would go on to win the Ballon d’Or two years later and move to Real in 2004, but he tells ESPN FC that the injury at Leeds changed everything to the point that he could have quit in his mid-20s.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” he said. “Back in the day, when I did the injury, they didn’t do surgery on muscle [injuries]. If they did, it was extremely rare, so it was an injury that was going to catch up with me later in life, mainly in terms of speed, and this is one of the most frustrating things about what people have accused me of when I have said that, in the last few years of my career, I didn’t enjoy it as much as in my early years.

“I think that’s a perfectly fine and honest thing to say. I was right at the top of my game and I have countless recollections to prove how high my standing was during the first half of my career, but just think of the mental toll it takes when you’ve done that but then have to accept that players who are, with all due respect, half as talented as you, almost taking the ball off you.

“At 26, I couldn’t even run past them anymore. I was having to tell myself to link the play because I couldn’t sprint into channels anymore. It was alien to me, of course I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did when I was at my best.”

Owen, left, was prolific for Liverpool but a serious injury at 19 set the tone for several tough fitness issues in the later half of his career.

Losing his trademark pace was like a master craftsman being unable to use his tools and Owen could sense his decline. In his book, he admits that the root of his rift with Shearer stemmed from the then-Newcastle manager believing that Owen was refusing to risk his fitness to help save the club from relegation.

Knee, hamstring and foot injuries marred Owen’s career at Newcastle, restricting him to just 71 Premier League games in four seasons at St James’ Park. He had a similarly injury-affected three seasons at Manchester United, making just 31 league appearances (he only started six league games for the club), but having been one of the biggest stars in world football as a teenager, he claims it was “torture” to have to endure such a painful decline.

“I enjoyed the game throughout,” he said. “I’d have stopped playing at 25 if I hated it that much. I love the game now, I loved it at 33, but the mental torture of not being able to do what you could once do — the brain is still telling you to do it — you think, come and get it to feet because you can’t expose yourself to sprinting.

“The older I got, the slower and slower I got, but how do you get used to being ‘just a player?’ My brain, my heart, my everything is about being the best and when I couldn’t be, it was just torture in my mind to feel like that. I can’t understand how people don’t understand that.

“I was almost dying a slow death when I was playing. The last year at Stoke, I hardly played, and it made my mind up. I vividly remember playing away at Crystal Palace. I hadn’t played for six months, I was on the bench, hardly getting on, and I played [at Palace] and I just thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I’m just not as fast or as strong as anyone anymore. Yes, I could still finish as well as anyone in the six-yard box, but I just vividly remember that I wasn’t capable anymore.”

For a player who achieved so much, Owen has a surprisingly long list of regrets. He smiles about them, and does not project the image of a man weighed down by questions of what might have been, but they are there nonetheless.

Owen left Liverpool a year before Rafael Benitez’s team won the Champions League in 2005, spent just one year in Spain with Real Madrid, signed for Manchester United a month after the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and was part of the so-called “Golden Generation” of Beckham, Ferdinand, Scholes, Terry et al, which failed to win a major tournament with England.

But such is Owen’s character, and his pursuit of absolute excellence, that it appears he relishes setting his personal bar so impossibly high.

“I’m wired in a certain way,” he said. “I’ll regret anything if I can. If I win the league, I regret not winning it twice. If I win the Ballon d’Or, I want to win it two or three times. That’s the way you have to think if you are at the top of your profession. But if I had one regret, with all the players we had, nobody will ever convince me that we didn’t have an amazing team with England. It was so frustrating that we never won anything.

“Yet my trophy collection is my pride and joy, my memories. Sometimes, you have a little five minutes looking at them, remembering how you did it, because the evidence is there. You just go into a room and see it all shining.”

One of those trophies is the Ballon d’Or, which Owen won after helping Liverpool to a Treble of FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001. No Englishman has won it since and, although he believes the Premier League now possesses the players to produce a winner again, Owen does not expect an English player to emulate him anytime soon.

“I can’t see it being in the next few years,” he said. “We have some great players, but you’d to think Messi and Ronaldo will be around for a bit yet. There’s obviously Virgil van Dijk and other top-class players in the Premier League but yes, it’s going to be a while before Englishman does it.”

Michael Owen opened his Twitter account in November, 2010 and it is fair to say he has endured a bumpy ride on social media ever since. For a player who generates more negative opinion than positive, it can be a daily grind of abuse and hatred for Owen, especially since going public on his rift with Shearer. He bites back more than most but also believes there is a difference between what happens in daily life and being at a computer screen.

“I think everybody gets [abuse] in my line of work,” he said. “I’ve been used to that since social media started. It was my decision to go on it and interact with fans and, by and large, you do get amazing interaction on it and a lot of support through social media.

“In the street, no-one says anything, so you’ve got to take social media with a pinch of salt. I was having lunch in Manchester city centre with my wife and kids last week, and this is when I’m in all the headlines, and not one person has a go at you. Not one person says anything. I’ve never encountered anyone saying anything [face to face] like they do social media.

“But if you’re not thick-skinned, there’s no point going on it.”

And with a shrug and a smile, Owen sums himself up. His skin is thicker than most.

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[thumbkenya76-blog]

How one man lost $31,000 in a romance scam

Although the Valentine's Day candy is rapidly exiting store shelves everywhere, romance and the scams that go with it go on year round. 

Last year, people reported losing $143 million to romance-related scams – a higher dollar amount than any other type of scam reported to the Federal Trade Commission. The average median loss? A whopping $2,600. Those ages 70 and older reported a median loss of $10,000. Some individuals even reported losing $100,000 or more.

Victims aren't just losing their life savings. Some are taking on new debt in the name of love – taking out home equity loans, opening up new credit cards and even getting payday loans to solve somebody else's crisis, medical emergency or business trouble. 

"It's amazing how deeply they get into your head and your heart with Facebook messages," said Eric Larson, 54, who lives in northern Montana and was caught in a romance scam for much of last year.

It started when a woman sent him a friend request on Facebook in January 2018. He didn't know her, but she was nice. She showed pictures of herself dressed up when she was going to church.

Larson, who had divorced after a 20-year marriage, was home after sustaining an injury at work and dealing with other medical issues. 

"We exchanged selfies of each other," he said. "She was interested in me and my life and made me feel likable and lovable and interesting."

How he lost the first $1,000

After two and a half months, she broke her cellphone, needed a new one and, because she was a student, asked him to buy it for her.

That was how he lost the first $1,000. He sent that money via Western Union to another person who supposedly was able to get her the money. 

More stories – a father who was murdered, her legal battle for a $28 million inheritance, a need to keep things off the radar because her father's old business had ties to organized crime – drove up his total losses to around $31,000.

Around half of that money came from savings and the money he was earning when he went back to work. He had to borrow the rest on credit cards, payday loans and the like. 

"I didn't tell anybody what was going on," Larson said. 

He's willing to talk now because he wants to help someone else avoid getting trapped.

"I know I'm not the only divorced, middle-aged man that's lonely and wants someone to talk to," Larson said. 

Related video: 71-Year-Old Man Loses $80K to Overseas Con Artist in Romance Scam (provided by WXIN)

Click to expand

UP NEXT

Over roughly eight months, he put money on Steam gift cards supposedly to help her cover her cellphone bills. They only talked a few times but she accessed Facebook via the cellphone. 

He helped with legal bills for that inheritance. He bought "lots and lots and lots of Amazon cards – $100 each." 

He'd take pictures of the gift cards, send her the numbers on them and she had quick access to the cash. He didn't even have to mail the cards. 

He was flat broke at one point but somehow she convinced him to apply for a Target credit card. And the same day, he maxed it out to buy gift cards for her.

At another point, she wanted him to open a bank account for her. When he said he didn't have money to do that, she asked him for his online banking information so she could wire money to cover that cellphone to his account.

He asked her to send a check. She insisted on sending it directly to his bank. He gave her online bank information. 

She directly deposited a fake check and ultimately he ended up with a $2,000 overdraft. 

When he started suspecting something, he asked her to send him another selfie. 

"And she sent me a picture of a different woman," he said. 

He soon crafted his own story where he pretended to have major surgery ahead. Then, perhaps, when he stopped responding, she would think he was dead. 

After talking with an FBI agent, he realizes that "she" might have even been a "he" or a group of men overseas engaged in scamming Americans out of their money. 

While he likely won't get any money back, he wants to see more oversight by banks and retailers to help people stop from making horrible mistakes. If someone's judgment is clouded, he said, there should be even more hurdles when it comes to wiring money or buying a string of gift cards. 

How scammers hook you

The pitches made by sweet-talking scammers tend to be similar. One huge red flag: The new love of your life somehow can never see you. He or she is stationed abroad or travels frequently. 

The scammer texts or sends emails to better control the message. One tip: Take time to paste the text into a search engine and see whether the same words show up on websites devoted to exposing romance scams, AARP suggests. 

Scammers might do research about you online, too. But they often tap into the same old cliches to describe themselves: They're a simple person who likes walks on the beach. They'll talk of finding "true love." 

And they've always got a reason for you to feel sorry for them. One con artist told his victim that he lost his wife years ago, for example, and mourned her by working and working. Now, he's ready to move on – once he finishes this last, big job overseas.

We're doing more things online so scammers have all sorts of opportunities to target their victims. A scammer could be targeting 25 people or more at once, said Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention programs for the AARP. 

More than half of adults in the United States have used the internet to find new friends, dates and romantic partners, according to an AARP national survey. 

About 27 percent of those surveyed said they or someone they know have encountered a relationship scam online, according to the AARP survey. About 11 percent report being victimized.

If you suspect being targeted by a fraudster – or your relative or friend is – you can call the AARP helpline to talk to a trained volunteer at 877-908-3360 and press 2. 

How fake connections get your money

Once they convince you that you're in love – maybe promising to visit you by Christmas – they find a reason to ask for some cash.

Most of us would dump a guy or gal within seconds if they asked for $500 after a few dates. But somehow the online universe is different.  

"Once they have you, they have you," Stokes said. "They've found a way to get you out of your logical thought process." 

A new Better Business Bureau report indicated that some online romance scams can escalate beyond gift-card related scams, too. Some victims turn into unwitting accomplices as "money mules," where they act as middlemen in a variety of scams. 

“If the victim doesn’t have the money, the scammer often asks them to send a package from a friend," said Laura Blankenship, director of marketing for the Better Business Bureau serving Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Criminals operating primarily from Eastern European countries and Nigeria may buy computers and other electronics via the internet using stolen credit cards.

They then have the goods shipped to addresses in the United States of “reshippers.” 

The victim might be asked to repackage the merchandise and mail it elsewhere, according to an alert by the United States Postal Service. 

"These scammers prey on the emotions of those looking for love and companionship," Blankenship said.

How to spot a romance scam 

Victims tell shocking stories of how falling in love was a 24-hour whirlwind. 

Yet the love connection might repeatedly promise to meet you in person but always comes up with an excuse to cancel, according to the AARP tip sheet. 

Many times, scammers create profiles online using other people's pictures. 

Consumers can use a reverse image search on Google to see if the photo was used online publicly elsewhere, Stokes said. 

Sometimes, they may even use a photo of someone in the military. Never send money to someone claiming to be a U.S. soldier. 

Larson said someone who is lonely can be a prime target but the one thing he realized is that you should never send money, ever, to someone you meet online.

"I wouldn't have sent a dime," he said, when asked what he would do differently now. 

Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/how-one-man-lost-dollar31000-in-a-romance-scam/ar-BBTW8Fp?srcref=rss

[spainmozsombi]

M as Mountains. (yes. again.)

On thursday I had two classes and I might be wrong but I think nothing exceptional happened. I have some real problems consentrating, couldn’t figure it out why (yet), either I don’t like the courses or I simply haven’t got back to the mindset of studying. (Summer was long and eventful).

On friday I had the most boring class ever (theory of democracy), the teacher started a conversation and basically three girls talked through the class (I mean they were sharing their opinions which is fine but I don’t attend classes to listen to other people’s opinions..), Oliver got so upset at a point that he stood up and walked out. At the time i thought that’s a bit too much but after 20 min I followed him cause I couldn’t concentrate on anything the teacher was trying to say..I’m almost sure that the teacher’s sentences had beginning nor ending they were just floating in the air...After having problems with sleeping for about 2 weeks I decided to get a new pillow as it is one of the main reasons of my problems. I checked out two shops in the city center but I wasn’t satisfied with their offers (non of them felt comfortable plus they were also expensive..). After I got home I checked if there is an IKEA or JYSK somewhere in Granada, thank God I found a JYSK! I had checked it out before I went to my evening class, and guess what, they had about 8 different types of pillows, so I finally managed to find a good one! Stoked, haven’t had any problems with sleeping ever since! (okay, that’s not true, on friday i took a nap in the afternoon and I had to go to sleep early, wasn’t a good combination but it’s not the pillow’s fault..)So, I survived my evening course, (Magreb-politics, meh.) did a huge grocery shopping session and headed home to get something normal to eat after eating garbage the whole day..Bought a tortilla de patatas, heated it in a pan (was to lazy to make anything decent) it was good. Oliver invited me to get a beer/tapas in the evening, which I obviously accepted! Was worth, it had some good talks, a small heart attack when I went to check out if my bike is still there where I left it (it just fell over). huh. Tapas was cool, this place is incredibly crowded though, it’s in the area where every university student drinks in the evening, so the place was packed, bartenders were working on 200%, it was so loud we had to get out there after eating cause we didn’t even hear each other.

Earlier that week Oliver invited me to join him on his run to Mulhacén. The plan was taking the bus from Granada to the village, Sierra Nevada, from where it’s a decent hike/ride to Pico de Veleta, and another bit tougher ride/hike to Mulhacén. Then I told him that I’m far from being that sporty to do this, but eventually I decided to join him at least on a part of this trip. I took my bike on the bus, and decided to pedal up to Pico de Veleta. Bus was leaving pretty early (at 9 am), so had to get up early, which wasn’t the best thing after taking a nap in the afternoon. Managed to get up somehow, made sandwhiches and whatnot, got there in time. On the bus station accidentally I bought two tickets for the same coach, cause I couldn’t add the “bike ticket” for the first one and refund was not an option...Got over it, was only a tiny bit angry. I texted-called Oliver (cause I got to the bus earlier than him) if he wants my ticket buut I couldn’t reach him. He also caught the bus but it was kinda last minute. We got to Sierra Nevada after a zigg-zagging ride, which I survived without throwing up! (huge achievement!). So, Oliver was doing the whole running thing as a practice for triatlon/marathon events, so he was all fired up. He basically outran(? dunno if this is the perfect term) me after about 10 meters, which was funny cause I was on a bike. I need to add that he was taking the hiking trails and I was riding up on the serpentine which was much longer, but obviously less steep. The uphill was tiring, no question, but I kind of surprised myself after not being totally f*cked up when I got to the top. It took me about 1,5 hours to get to the top, (12 km, 900 m in elevation). The weather was much warmer than on our hike to Mulhacén last weekend, I only had to put on my windbreaker on the last few kilometers cause it was getting windy, which only got worse on the top. Most of the climb was on concrete, only the last kilometers were rocky. The view from the top was even more astonishing than last time since there were no clouds. Met some dutch people, took the obligatory peak photos, etc. 

The way down was also pretty cool, I was mixing normal roads and hiking trails to make it more interesting. From the bus stop It took about 2,5 hours to get home, all in all I rode 60 km on saturday. It was fascinating to witness (and also painful) how the weather got warmer as I descended from the top. At about 2300 meters I had to get rid of my jacket cause I was sweating unbearably. Was funny to see how incredibly slow my bike is on normal roads, road cyclists passed me a few times, I felt like I am not even rolling compared to them. Got home safe, only bent my left pedal’s axle a bit (not even 100 percent sure about it) on a rock while a descending rocky downhill trail. And my front brake’s disc..Meh. Might do the same hike next weekend with my flatmate Martin, only on foot this time (and not walking all the way home of course).

Sunday passed without anything worth mentioning, watched formula 1, (Jesus, poor ferrari, how can you mess up the tactics like this?!...I am deeply disappointed..), made some pasta with veggies. Trying to eat healthier (plus vegetables are also much less expensive)..See the photos about everything above.

[thisdaynews]

Hickenlooper faces buzzsaw if he drops out to run for Senate

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/hickenlooper-faces-buzzsaw-if-he-drops-out-to-run-for-senate/

Hickenlooper faces buzzsaw if he drops out to run for Senate

“I’m not cut out to be a senator,” Demcoratic candidate John Hickenlooper said in February. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

2020 elections

Colorado Democrats currently running for Senate are signaling Hickenlooper wouldn’t clear the field.

John Hickenlooper cracked the door open to a potential Senate bid last week — but it looks like many Democrats back home in Colorado have moved on.

The former two-term governor would have scared off potential rivals earlier this year, but it’s doubtful now that he could clear the field of Democratic challengers who’ve been in the trenches for months already.

Story Continued Below

Nearly a dozen Democrats are running in Colorado, which is seen as the party’s best opportunity to flip a GOP-held seat, and there is a top tier of roughly five candidates. They’ve spent months courting supporters and raising money, and few wouldimmediatelystep aside for Hickenlooper, according to conversations with several candidates, aides and a half-dozen Democratic operatives in the state.

“I don’t think that he is thinking about getting into this race,” said John Walsh, a former U.S. attorney and one of the Democratic candidates, who said he’s spoken to Hickenlooper recently. “I think his focus is on Iowa.”

Hickenlooper has consistently said he’s focused on the presidential race and has no interest in challenging vulnerable Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, a stance he has reiterated multiple times this week. Peter Cunningham, a Hickenlooper spokesperson, declined to comment on the Senate race. “He’s running for president,” Cunningham said.

But several recent moves have stoked speculation that he’s eyeing a run for Senate. Hickenlooper met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last week, CNN reported and an aide to Hickenlooper confirmed. A Democratic operative last week purchased web domains related to a Hickenlooper Senate bid. And over the weekend, Hickenlooper said in a radio interview that he’d “never ruled out anything,” a comment that sparked buzz back home.

“I’m not sure people necessarily get out of the race if he decides to run,” said Doug Friednash, a former chief of staff to Hickenlooper. “But he’s got a favorable matchup with Sen. Gardner, and I think that’s what catches the attention of national Democrats. … They see him as an incredibly strong candidate who can raise money and instantly be a formidable opponent.”

Still, while many Democrats see him as a formidable opponent against Gardner, his success in the primary is not guaranteed. Former state Sen. Mike Johnston already has $2.6 million in cash on hand, and former ambassador Dan Baer has more than $1 million. Two other candidates — Walsh and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff — have war chests in the high-six figures. They’ve already carved out endorsements and strategies to guide them over the coming months, whether Hickenlooper runs or not.

“We’re scaling up,” said an aide to one of the campaigns, requesting anonymity to speak frankly. “We’re not playing wait-and-see here.”

“He’d have to prove his mettle,” said an adviser to another Democrat in the race.

In each case, the candidates already running are aiming to fill different lanes and find arguments to separate from the crowded field — and potentially from Hickenlooper.

“At every level in the campaign there is real momentum for us,” said Johnston, who not only outraised his rivals last quarter — he also outraised Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign. Johnston said he plans to roll out new policies in the coming months to continue to separate himself from the field. He brushed off questions about Hickenlooper as “distractions.”

Walsh, the former U.S. attorney, said the questions about Hickenlooper are divorced from the reality of his presidential aspirations and his executive mindset. Walsh has promoted himself as a political outsider and pragmatic problem-solver in the race, and added that it would be a “great honor” to earn the former governor’s endorsement.

Several Democrats in the state point out that while Hickenlooper remains popular, he has never faced a Democratic primary challenge, and the base of the party in the state has moved to the left since he was last on the ballot. Hickenlooper, a bipartisan, business-friendly governor, has run as a pragmatic moderate in the presidential race, decrying socialism and some liberal priorities such as the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All.” Some Democrats say that opens him up to trouble in a primary contest.

“I think there is certainly room to the left of him,” said one veteran Colorado Democrat, who requested anonymity to speak frankly.

Romanoff has most aggressively filled that lane in the primary so far, touting his position as the only candidate supporting both the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, as well as endorsements from several hundred local officials.

“I’d be glad to earn Gov. Hickenlooper’s endorsement as well,” Romanoff said in a statement.

Hickenlooper has panned the idea of dropping out to run for Senate in the past. He’s even said publicly that being in the Senate was a poor fit with his interests and experience.

“I’m not cut out to be a senator,” Hickenlooper said in February. “Senators don’t build teams. Senators sit and debate in small groups, which is important, right? But I’m not sure that’s my — I’m a doer. That’s what gives me joy.”

Another complicating factor for Hickenlooper: Colorado has never elected a woman to the Senate, and many Democrats are eager to rectify that next year. Alice Madden, a former state House leader, and Angela Williams, a state senator, are both running. Jena Griswold, the secretary of state, formed an exploratory committee recently as she mulls a campaign.

“Ultimately it’s up to John to decide what job he wants to run for, but I am putting 100 percent of my efforts toward becoming Colorado’s first female senator and true clean energy champion,” Madden said in a statement.

A larger field of competitors could benefit Hickenlooper, splintering any progressive animosity or opposition to him and giving him a clear path as a frontrunner. Many Democrats expect the field to naturally winnow in the coming months, and the difficult process for getting on the ballot in Colorado will likely limit the eventual primary field.

Several Democrats believe a decision from Hickenlooper could happen in the coming weeks. He is a long shot to make the stage for the next presidential primary debate, though the polling and fundraising qualifying period doesn’t end until Aug. 28.

If he were to enter the Senaterace, according to multiple Democrats, the initial fundraising quarters would be a key test for whether he would be able to run ahead of the rest of the field. Democrats in the state expect other candidates to push in the third and fourth quarter of this year to increase their fundraising to keep pace with the former governor. If he significantly outraises the field through the end of the year, it could change the dynamics quickly in his favor.

Some Democrats argue Hickenlooper has damaged his standing back home during his presidential run, with one strategist likening a possible Senate bid to a “consolation prize.” Others say the governor remains as popular as ever.

“I think progressives will never like him, but I think the people that are not on Twitter and on Facebook do like him a lot,” said one Democratic strategist in Colorado. “I think he would handily win a primary.”

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[torentialtribute]

New Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate wants to emulate Sir Bobby Robson

Jonathan Woodgate went back to the dressing room Newcastle United after successful marking on Didier Drogba when manager Sir Bobby Robson approached him in the corridor.

& # 39; I have never seen such a performance, son. You were great. I can't believe what we have, "says Woodgate, who mimics the famous tee delivery.

I just thought," Wow. "A manager who truly believes in me. Therefore, the players, you do everything for him. & # 39;

Jonathan Woodgate (right) Will do his best to replicate Sir Bobby Robson & # 39; s man management "class =" blkBorder img-share "/>

to replicate] Jonathan Woodgate (right) will do his best to replicate Sir Bobby Robson's management

Those familiar with the Bobby Robson story in Ipswich, England, PSV, Sporting Lisbon , Porto, Barcelona and Newcastle, be aware of his unique motivational powers and special bond with the public.

[19459Butnoonecouldhavepredictedtheincrediblelegacyhehadlefttocancer10yearsafterhisdeathattheageof76Thefoundationhesetuptofundcancerresearchandequipmenthasnowraisedmorethan£13million

In Portugal, a street was recently named Sir Bobby Robson Street in honor of his work supporting orphans. A special needs school is being built in Ipswich that will bear its name.

A soccer player to his core, he must have been delighted to see how many of his former players and coaches have developed into top managers.

The impressive list is led by Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho and also includes international managers Julen Lopetegui, Luis Enrique, Glenn Hoddle, Peter Reid, George Burley and the late Gary Speed.

Woodgate is the newest in a row of players inspired by Robson

[1945911]

And the graduates keep coming. Last season, Lee Bowyer led Charlton to promotion in his first full season and next Friday, his former Newcastle player Jonathan Woodgate will start his management career when Middlesbrough opens the championship season in Luton.

& # 39; I take many things into the job that Sir Bobby taught me & # 39 ;, 39-year-old Woodgate shamelessly says.

& # 39; When I signed, the gaffer said he would never lie to me. If I played well, he will tell me. If I played poorly, he would tell me. But if you were bad, he would still give you a boost afterwards. & # 39;

Woodgate spent 18 months in Newcastle in 2003 and 2004 and also played for Leeds, Real Madrid, Middlesbrough hometown club, Tottenham, Stoke and England

He hopes his players are the same way to treat Sir Bobby with him.

& # 39; The first thing that struck me was his enthusiasm & # 39 ;, reflects Woodgate. Knew that he knew everything about me, up to my sister's name. When I received the tour of St James & Park, I was in awe of him. My father too.

"He was 70 but did the exercises on the training field. Man management was his greatest strength. He will make you feel a million dollars. & # 39;

Sir Bobby & # 39; s reputation as an attacking coach may also have had an impact on Woodgate & # 39; s approach after a golden season on the Riverside under Tony Pulis. Woodgate says he also wants to strive for Sir Bobby's ability to create a family atmosphere in a club.

"It's just not about 11 players, but all those people behind the scenes. Sir Bobby knew everyone's names for how long they worked there.

"He has not placed injured players in the back of the cupboard and has forgotten them. People do not realize that depression can cause injuries. I will always spend time with the injured players, as the gaffer did. Let them know that I care. Good managers appreciate that people are wired differently. Sir Bobby can get players to the office or tell them for the group to do better. But at the end of it, he was 100 percent behind them. & # 39;

Sir Bobby reluctantly brought Woodgate to Real Madrid in August 2004 with the prophetic words: & # 39; How will I replace you? & # 39; Ten days later, he was fired by Newcastle. Now it's Woodgate's turn for the warm seat.

Woodgate wants to treat his players with the same unwavering honesty as Robson did

& # 39; Being a manager was the last thing I thought of when I was 23 & # 39 ;, he admits. "I think you have to be a little obsessive to be successful and I just love watching football. I'm not saying I'm just as well-informed as Sir Bobby, but I'll try. & # 39;

The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Foundation helped employ 45 people in the cancer research department at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, where Sir Bobby was a patient.

A £ 850,000 stereotactic radiotherapy system was purchased to provide detailed scans and accurate radiation. Almost £ 1 million has been given for research and treatment to reverse the low survival rates of colon cancer in the Northeast and Cumbria.

The name of Sir Bobby is hardly less popular in Portugal, where he once managed Luis Figo and inspired Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas. Every year, a golf event takes place in his name in the Algarve to raise money for the Aboim Refuge Ascension that accommodates abandoned babies and children under the age of six.

It is supported by dozens of football personalities and has raised £ 1 million

Sir Bobby & # 39; s incredible career saw him cross the road with most of the greatest football figures of the past 60 years. He was part of the 1958 World Cup with Pele and Sir Bobby Charlton, eventually lost his place in England to Bobby Moore, faced Diego Maradona and Franz Beckenbauer as manager, worked with Ronaldo, Romario and Paul Gascoigne and tried to sign Wayne Rooney .

Sir Bobby Robson here depicted during his stay in Barcelona, ​​is still worshiped throughout Europe

His best friend was Charlie Woods who worked for Sir Bobby as a coach, scout, driver and confidant.

Woods remembers well their last conversation a few weeks before his death.

I stayed with Bobby and Elsie in their beautiful house in Urpeth. Bobby was poor, so I told him when I left at six in the morning that I wouldn't bother him, & Charlie recalls.

& # 39; So at six o'clock I left the house as quietly as I could. I had even parked outside the main gates so that the car would make no noise on the gravel.

I got in the car and left. I am not five minutes away and my phone rings. It's the boss. "I heard you leaving, driving safely" was the message.

& # 39; That was he – thinking of others until the end.

& # 39; He will be so proud to see more of him players like Jonathan who become managers and see how his family continues the fight against cancer and homeless children. & # 39;

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[hencoplumbingservices]

Libraries have role on, off camera for movie about homelessness

Find out how to get the best plumber in Vancouver Washington

Laura Ellsworth and Dre de Leon joke that the idea for screening “The Public” at Vancouver’s Kiggins Theatre came about due to their mutual love of Emilio Estevez and Ryan Dowd. You’re likely familiar with writer/director/actor Estevez of “The Breakfast Club” and “The Mighty Ducks” fame, but who is Ryan Dowd?

“He’s kind of a library celebrity. He’s a big deal,” said de Leon, branch supervisor at Vancouver Community Library.

Dowd is the executive director of Hesed House, the second-largest shelter in Illinois, and he wrote “The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness.”

Last fall, he trained local library staff on how to effectively interact with homeless patrons. Dowd and Estevez have been touring the country, promoting “The Public,” which opens April 12 at Kiggins Theatre. Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle and representatives from the library and Council for the Homeless will speak around 7 p.m. before the film starts.

“We’re fortunate in that homelessness is on the top of everyone’s minds right now,” said Ellsworth, strategic partnerships manager at Council for the Homeless. A mainstream film that looks at homelessness is “a good opportunity to really engage with the community around it,” she said.

“The Public” was shot in January 2017 at The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Ohio. It follows homeless patrons who refuse to leave the library on a subzero night and the librarians who help them, leading to a standoff with police.

Richard Beer, director of programming and marketing for the theater, said the movie came on his radar after a customer saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival. More people, including library staff, said they wanted the Kiggins to show the film.

“The Public” deals with heavy topics but is full of humor and is overall an upbeat, positive film, said Beer, who watched it about a month ago.

“Some people might think it’s dark or dry or something, but it’s entertaining and fast moving,” he said. “I can see librarians getting up and cheering at several points in the film.”

The movie earned 63 percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and 82 percent of audiences liked it, as of Friday.

Friends of Vancouver Community Library bought 100 tickets to “The Public” to give away to interested people, partner agencies, city and county councilors, and those who are or have been homeless. People who show their library card can get $7 tickets on the opening night.

On May 2, the downtown library will host a discussion of “The Public,” topics in the film and tie them back to Clark County’s Homeless Action Plan.

“We can really give the community a tangible response to what does the picture look like in Clark County? What has been done? What is our system that’s in place? What are our goals in the next couple of years?” Ellsworth said. “Another opportunity around this movie is to just highlight the fact that we don’t have enough emergency shelter, especially in the winter, and we really rely on the generosity of our community to take people in.”

At the end of March, Clark County wrapped up its winter shelter season, a resource that’s primarily provided by the local faith community. Ellsworth said there were 49 times when severe weather was called, meaning the temperatures dropped below freezing or there was ice or snow, and emergency shelters were asked to open.

The severe-weather shelter system has been in place for two years, prompted by a large dumping of snow one winter that took awhile to melt. Pacific Northwest winters are typically mild compared to those in Cincinnati, the city portrayed in “The Public.” In the Midwest, it’s imperative people without homes are provided shelter because they could die of hypothermia.

Clark County Public Health reported no deaths by hypothermia in 2018. Figures for the first quarter of 2019 were unavailable.

Hours of operation

The Salt Lake City Public Library System at one point looked into opening the first 24/7 library but ultimately discontinued the inquiry based on projected costs.

Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries does not operate 24/7 and is not a shelter. The district has had to make decisions around homelessness, which include banning camping around the downtown library, adding a rule that people can only bring in what they can carry in one trip, and making its policies against bathing or washing clothes in its restrooms more explicit.

Through the training with Dowd, the shelter director and author, library staff learned empathy-driven approaches to enforcing the institution’s rules.

“Just like with anybody else, if you treat people with respect and you develop a rapport and you have a good relationship with somebody, it’s going to be a lot easier to have those more difficult conversations,” de Leon said.

Ellsworth said that society has a middle-class lens for what’s considered normal behavior, so poverty is viewed as abnormal, distasteful or threatening.

“Someone said recently that people experiencing homelessness are simultaneously the most scrutinized members of our society and the most invisible members of our society. … That rang very true to me,” she said.

For librarians, it’s a matter of discerning whether someone is doing something that’s truly against the rules or whether other patrons just find that person unpleasant because they’re having to witness their poverty. Rules based on society’s norms and middle class timelines may not work for someone who’s homeless and can’t think beyond the next 24 hours.

Vancouver Community Library recently formed partnerships with Council for the Homeless and Community Services Northwest, where social workers are available in the library and can connect homeless people to resources. One man who frequented the library was homeless for 34 years before he recently got housing.

“That happened because of the library partnership,” Ellsworth said.

He visited the downtown library the other day.

“He looks great. He’s so stoked,” de Leon said.

If You Go

• What: Opening night of “The Public,” rated PG-13. • When: Speakers at 7 p.m., movie starts at 7:30 p.m. April 12. • Where: Kiggins Theatre, 1011 Main St., Vancouver. • More info: KigginsTheatre.com. • Cost: $10 at the door; $7 with a library card (only on April 12); $7 advance. • • • • What: Community discussion about “The Public.” • When: 6 p.m. May 2. • Where: Columbia Room, Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver. • More info: fvrl.librarymarket.com/public-community-conversation. [Read More …]

Find out how to get the best Vancouver Washington plumber