#there's a lot about company (especially company in 2006) that is uncomfortable and that i don't enjoy

[smallblueandloud]

the craziest part of the 2006 broadway revival of company is that the cast is SWITCHING INSTRUMENTS. not only are they singing AND moving to choreography AND playing instruments, they are doing this for multiple instruments. the amy actress alone has to be able to play a french horn AND a trumpet (she's the soloist in "side by side") AND act AND sing "not getting married". what the fuck!!!

[jodilin65]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2006 I thought I’d do some writing and some proofreading while it’s still quiet, though I doubt it’ll be all that noisy today. Right now it’s a miserable 5º. I had to sleep with the heater going continuously. I totally hate this cold!!! It’s so miserably uncomfortable, unlike the hottest day I ever experienced in Arizona. What I don’t get is why Massachusetts is so much warmer. They’re going to be at 65º in a few days! That’s so backward. They’re supposed to be colder and snowier! Our highs have only been in the 20s, though it’s supposed to be back in the 40s this weekend.

The floors in here, especially in the kitchen and bathroom where there’s no carpet, are like an ice rink. I have slippers on over my socks right now. When the heater turns off, it drops two-tenths of a degree every 10 seconds or so.

Last year the canal dog would shut up for the most part when it was under 40º. This year it seems we need to get under 30º, but at least I’ll get a few days off. As for the one in front, I have to hear from it every time it’s let out to shit, but at least the cock that owns the thing goes right back inside once it’s done. It has to be up in the high 30s for it to want to lounge out front while the fucking dog barks its ass off at everything and nothing at all.

The wakeboard people still haven’t come through, not at all surprisingly. Like I told Tom a zillion times, I knew they were scammers by all the phone play we had to do and when they said to call them if we didn’t get the wakeboard before I had asked for a cash equivalent. I was like, call if we don’t get it? But why shouldn’t we if they just put it in the mail and send it to me? That was the biggest red flag right there. It’s because of the cruise. If we didn’t need the extra money right now we’d have gotten it a long time ago. After all, they did fulfill the runner-up’s prizes, according to the posts I read. So this means that we’ll probably be stuck having to take a train to the airport in Portland, rather than driving a rental car to the Sacramento airport. The good news is that he found a company that specifically goes after companies that don’t give the prizes they promised. According to what he read, we have one more step to do first and that’s to call them one last time after being told of a set time frame in which to expect the check, which we were given over a week ago. So he’ll let them bullshit us one more time, then contact this company. Better later than never, but I have a feeling they won’t be able to get them to pay up till after the cruise, and they may want to help themselves to a percentage of it, too.

I just wish we could get this damn cruise over with so we can get on with our lives! I’m still sorry I won it. It’s brought nothing but headaches so far, so I hope we’re greatly compensated with lots of fun and adventure come January. I know I’ll be looking forward to escaping winter for a week, though with my luck it’ll be in the 40s or 50s while we’re gone. That’s still worth escaping! Really, I wish I could snap my fingers and have it be January 7th, 2 PM ET. That’s about when we’ll be boarding the ship. Then when we come back we can either find out if we really are going to get rich and get to live where we want to without the threat of losing the place, or if we’re going to be back to square one – trying to figure out how and when we can escape this shitty state to go live with troublemakers in the warmth.

At least there’s one thing I can relax about and that’s that I know no giant spiders are going to be terrorizing me anytime soon!

Here comes the trash people. I feel bad for them having to work out in this bitter cold!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006 Well, I got shorted an hour or so of sleep, thanks to one of our local attention-getters. If these people are that hard up for attention, why don’t they just parade around naked in the streets? That’d get them attention! Oh well, being woken up by rude assholes is all I’ve known for over 20 years now. I’ll just add the sound machine to the picture when I’m sleeping during the daytime. I had only stopped using it because she stopped being a company junkie next door.

He went to Safeway after I got up and was checked out by Liz. She didn’t say anything. She’s definitely not friendly. Not mean, but not friendly. The good-looking ones usually aren’t.

Saw a skunk late the other night. It came across the street and ran up her driveway. It was of a pretty good size too.

Back when Doe and Art had various people reporting my business to them, I hated it at first, figuring that if I wanted them to know whatever was up with me, I’d tell them myself. Then I pretty much didn’t give a shit who knew what. Now, however, I almost wish someone could tell them about the cruise. How funny it’d be if they knew I’d be right under their noses yet still out of reach!

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2006 With the snow gone and the temp around 50º, we went to the store today after he got off work. The poor guy’s been so beat and his feet have been killing him too, cuz of all the overtime they’ve been making him work. Anyway, not only did I get to see Liz, but she got to see me, too. She didn’t say much and I couldn’t think of anything to say to her. I can’t swear to it, but I thought she looked about 5 months pregnant, although with those bulky aprons they wear, I couldn’t say for sure. She sure as hell didn’t look pregnant that time she walked by me and I got to see her like never before, whereas from behind the counter, I don’t usually see as much of her. When she walked by me she wasn’t wearing her apron and she walked swiftly, too. She didn’t wobble like pregnant women usually do. She’s got some mighty narrow hips to be pregnant with, so maybe she’s just bloated if it wasn’t the way the apron billowed out. At least she didn’t leave me depressed. If anything she left me feeling sorry for her if she is pregnant. She’s just so young and it not only would be such a waste of youth but of life, too. This could explain why she seems to be there more lately; because if she is having a kid, she needs all the extra money she can get. Tom, however, hasn’t noticed her there more often. Either way, she wore her hair down with the front pulled straight back. I’ve never seen it parted in the middle, which I think might look best.

Tom called the people about the check and he said that they remembered who I was right away and that I wanted cash instead of the wakeboard and that the sponsor, who is the one running the sweep, should be mailing the check out to me within a week. He said he’d call to make sure things were on schedule. I wish they’d hurry the fuck up so we can open a savings account before some of these checks expire! Especially a bank with branches in California. Besides, I’m in a hurry to get going with EFO. I want to see it spit out hundreds a day at us and not just hear Tom say he’s 99.9% sure it will.

I can see not hearing from Mary, but not hearing from Paula this long after sending her a package, along with the fact that none of the numbers I had for her were in service, makes me wonder if she’s in jail. She probably got caught driving which she’s not supposed to be doing.

Some of these people are so weird. 50º may not be like 30º, but it’s still not toasty either. Yet there the people next door were, as we walked by to go to the store, sitting on their front porch as if it were a gorgeous day. They were gone when we came back, so I guess they decided summer was over by then.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 Another day of being teased and losing sleep to the damn sweeps I’m once again considering dropping. Last night UPS left a message saying they were making a delivery today that needed someone with a government-issued photo ID to sign for. Assuming that maybe they weren’t scammers after all and I was going to finally get that check, I ended up losing sleep to that damn diamond that’s probably not worth shit. It’s what they say it is, but it still doesn’t look like we could get much for it, even though it’s bigger than they said it’d be at .57 of a carat.

Meanwhile, Tom’s gonna play phone yet again with the scammers tomorrow and see what bullshit they tell us next. He thinks maybe there was a dispute of some kind over paying me cash rather than sending the wakeboard and whatever other shit was to come with it.

And they didn’t even have the decency to call and say so? Just what kind of bullshit company is this? So what if there’s a dispute? They already gave their word about sending a check rather than the wakeboard, so that’s what I should get! Tom says he thinks that worst-case scenario we’ll get the wakeboard, but that won’t bring us nearly as much money, and of course there’ll be the hassle of trying to sell the damn thing. Tom says all we have to sell to make the cruise I wish I hadn’t won is the guitar if we end up getting nothing. Yeah, but this delays my getting this Indian doll I’ve wanted, some beauty supplies, and worst of all, it delays EFO. Something does not want us roaring full blast with that thing!

Yesterday, someone stole the bottles and left the gate open. I wondered at first if maybe Bill came around to do clean-up, thinking they were filled with trash, but his SUV wasn’t here when I ran and checked. I’d have chewed him out for taking from us without having the decency to tell us if it had been him. Anyway, God spared someone a very vicious beating. They were only bottles, but I’d have been sending the wrong message if I’d done nothing, especially if the klepto saw that I saw them. One saying “Help yourself. I’ll just sit back and watch.” Tom thinks it’s kind of funny. It’s obviously someone as desperate and as broke as we were who passes by regularly enough to realize the bags had been out there too long to be regular trash. Besides, you can kind of see through the bags anyway to tell what’s in them.

For 2½ miraculous days, which was mostly during the time it was snowy, I didn’t have to hear from the canal dog or the one across the street. But now that we’re back in the 40s and the snow and rain have come to a temporary stop, the fucking beast across the canal goes on its 4-hour barking spree which usually starts around 4:00. I hear it every time I step into the kitchen and away from the radio.

The good news is that my ear’s doing remarkably well. I thought by this time there’d only be a few scattered days where I didn’t need to take ibuprofen or something, but instead, there have only been a few days where I have needed to.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006 Saw Liz today, but again she didn’t see me. To say that something up there’s keeping a wedge between us is an understatement! We were waited on by Olivia instead.

Still no check. There’s another understatement – saying that something wants to delay EFO. It’s delaying the Indian doll I want to order as well as a small order from Yves Rocher, too! Tom’s going to play phone with them again for the 10th time in a couple of days. I’m sure they’re going to make excuses for all kinds of problems they’ve been having, etc. I knew this one was too good to be true. To win a cruise and get the expenses paid for, too? I didn’t think so! Tom doesn’t think I’ll feel this way come January, and I hope he’s right, but right now I’m sorry I won that damn cruise. Totally sorry! It’s been more work and money than fun so far. Meanwhile, I’m sure they’ll bullshit us some more and say they’re still gonna send the check. We’re going to show them, though, that you can’t promise us $2500 and expect us to forget about it. We can’t make them pay up, but we can make their lives rather hellish, and we will, too!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2006 It’s been snowy and cold, in the 30s. It’s windy right now and as much as I hate the cold and snow, I love hearing the sounds of nature and wind chimes as opposed to barking and banging. This is day two now that I haven’t had to hear from the canal dog or the one in front. I just hope the power doesn’t go out. It happened to a lot of people last night who came into work late today, according to Tom.

Tom continues to hate his job so much that he almost wishes he could work elsewhere till he can quit.

Saw Estella the other day who had her hair up and who looks 10 years older with it that way, but no Liz. What’s the point anyway? I’ll never have her even for just a friend. After that time I was given false hope when she gave me that friendly “hello” and asked how I was doing, each time I saw her after that was more and more discouraging. The next time I saw her, she checked us out but barely glanced at me. The next time we were checked out by someone else and she still didn’t see me, even though I was just a few feet away. The last time she walked by me and again she never saw me.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2006 The stereos have backed off a bit, but not the dogs. The one in front was going berserk while the cock that owns it was sitting on the front porch bench gabbing on the phone. What the fuck’s it doing sitting out gabbing at 39º anyway? Hell, I’m not even going to the store in this shit later on when he gets off work. Liz ain’t worth it. I went yesterday but she wasn’t there.

Because we still haven’t gotten the check I’m only going to be ordering a handful of books later on, and some incense, including a smoking bottle, from the Incense Rack. I just hope they’re there and that no one died because they haven’t had their live help turned on in ages.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2006 In gay news, Mexico City approved civil unions, and MA may try to ban gay marriage in 2008. If they ban it, those already married would be allowed to retain their rights, but no more marriages could occur. My first thought was that they’d ban it since there are still more bigots than not, but it is Massachusetts, not Tennessee.

What I also want is for these non-whites to be stripped of the extra rights they have that whites never even had, same as I want to see the gays get equal rights.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2006 Normally I don’t follow the elections, but this latest one has brought some stunning results! Back when I wrote about South Dakota banning all abortions but those where the woman’s life was in danger, well, it turns out that they didn’t ban them back then. They just wanted to try to do so yesterday and were preparing themselves and all that back then. To my surprise, however, they rejected what would’ve been the toughest abortion ban in the nation.

Now here’s something a million times more shocking. Just like 2 years ago, 8 states had ban-gay-marriage on their ballots. At first I was confused, wondering how they could ban something that didn’t exist in the first place, but I guess the gays were trying to ban what marriage is defined as, which in most cases is still a man and a woman. Of the 8 states, there were 4 in the southeast, along with Wisconsin, Colorado, South Dakota and Arizona. By the time I crashed last night, Wisconsin and the southeastern states accepted the ban, not at all to my surprise. I also read a headline saying that those damn conserves were worried about Arizona, and I was like, worried about Arizona? Please! Arizona’s one of the most hateful states in the nation, why would those bigoted control freaks worry about them? Anyway, when I got up I fully expected to read that all 8 states supported the ban, but who should be the one state to reject it of all states but Arizona!!! I was like – Arizona?!?! You’ve gotta be kidding! Way to go Arizona, not that I’d ever want to live there again! I was so shocked and happy for gays I had tears in my eyes. Even though I loved Tom too damn much to care what body parts he had when we met, and even though I’m not the least bit religious, I still consider gays and Jews to be my people. I guess Arizona now has a bleeding heart for all but us Jews, though they also surprised me by starting to crack down on what was always their precious illegals and wanting to make English the official language of the state.

What a record loss for those poor, poor conservatives, and for once the Dems were winning like crazy! Something Dureen and Art O. would no doubt love to see. While they were never as liberal as me, they were never conservative either, being pro-choice and not as anti-gay. I laughed when I read that it was “a blow” to them. Just what the hell did they ever think they were trying to conserve anyway, the constitutional right to rule the country? If someone had told me that incredibly, one of the states would reject the ban, I’d have guessed Wisconsin first, which was the Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s first guess, too. My second guess would’ve been Colorado. It’s a small victory yet a big one at the same time. I don’t know enough about how elections work to know if the rulings will be overturned or not, but for now, it’s a great thing.

Another thing that surprised me which shouldn’t have was the one state (I don’t know what the outcome was) that wanted to strip judges of immunity, allowing them to be sued, jailed, etc. I was like since when were they ever immune in the first place??? No judge should ever be immune in the first place. They’re not God. No wonder there are so many twisted judges. What better occupation to get into than one you know you can be as corrupt and as unfair as you want and get away with it, too.

As much as I couldn’t imagine life without Tom, I’m not going to force myself to have sex with him even if he truly did want to, which I still don’t see how he could, because then I’d only be doing what I did with guys like Ron M and Al L, making myself have sex with someone I wasn’t attracted to. So yeah, I’d rather be celibate and be teased with the Lizs of the world which I can never have.

Normally I would respect the losers. After all, these conserves still have a right to want what they want too, right or wrong, yet I know I’d be laughing my ass off at them if I could!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2006 Still no check, but we got our passports. It’s cool for both of us since we’ve never had passports before.

We got a newsletter about the cruise from the cruise line listing the activities available to us at each stop. They’ll have snorkeling, mini-submarine tours, glass-bottom boats, scuba diving and more. Scuba diving requires certification, though, and he can’t scuba dive anyway due to the pressure he’d get in his ears. I’d hate to see what it’d do to my ears! I’d like to do the submarine, but that may be a bit pricey.

Kim’s gone 3 days with no company, and next door went 3 days with the burning. Looks like they’re taking today off. It isn’t just them. Lots of people are burning brush lately.

Yesterday was so nice that I even slept without a shirt, though it’s to be back in the 40s tomorrow. I haven’t needed to sleep with the heater on, but like I said, that’s about to change.

I’m now just over 10,000 points on that site I joined.

Yesterday when we went to Safeway, I was just entering it when Liz walked past me and disappeared somewhere at the side of the store. She never returned to the registers either, so I assume she either went on break or went home. She looked beautiful. Her hair was down and gorgeous. All one length and straight down to her waist. She really does have a nice body too, and I liked the way she walked. She walked gracefully yet a bit dyky. Ain’t no way she’s bi, though, let alone gay. I can’t imagine a woman giving another woman a ring like the one she wears anyway, and especially so young. Nonetheless, she looked so good that I got depressed. I want something I really don’t want at the same time. Most of the time I accept reality as it is, but every now and then it sucks. I want to get it on with this girl who’s straight as an arrow and 15 years younger, yet I know that if we did, it wouldn’t be like in my fantasies.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2006 Bluefly has saved our cable! I’m surprised, too. I didn’t think they’d pay up till later in the week, though they did catch the extra $100 they gave me and took it back. So another group of problems bites the dust. I just hope that the next time we have a problem it won’t spawn another, which spawns another, then another…

So I guess we’re still on for Friday’s shopping spree. We’re also on for making a run to the store after he gets off work. Hope Liz is there!

Looks like the compensation is over too, because I won a 1/3-carat diamond worth $600-$800! If we could get half that for it, that’d be great. Now all I have to do is hope the check gets here soon and that Tom’s sinuses get better. What’s strange, though, is that they didn’t mention affidavits or notaries in the email notification. They just asked for my details, saying they’d get my prize out to me soon. I would think a prize like this would mean a lot more work on my part than just providing my name and address.

Yesterday was day two of the brush-burning, so who knows how many more days we’ve got left of this shit, which I assume they’ll do again in the spring.

The weather’s been incredible. Around 60º. The heater hasn’t needed to run during most of yesterday and it looks like it’ll be that way today, too.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2006 Yesterday really ended a lot better than it started, but first, next door’s back to stinking the place up with their damn brush-burning. Who knows how many days this will go on for? Why can’t they just shove the shit in bags and dump it with the trash? And why does everything have to be done right by our place, including the parking of the fucking car I thought they sold? Someone slammed a door to this car so incredibly hard, harder than next door ever has, and the whole place shook like an earthquake. Makes me wonder if maybe that’s what woke me up a week or two ago, rather than next door.

I don’t know who I’m more pissed at right now, Bluefly or the property management. On the 10th we’ll have a grand and if management could’ve just fucking waited, Tom wouldn’t be put out as he has been. Safeway only allows a $200 cash-back limit and we need another $100, so he’s gotta go back. Like the fuckers would starve between now and the 10th? But no, they just have to have their precious money right away. He paid a part of it yesterday and explained the situation. They said we wouldn’t be charged the $50 late fee if the rest of it was dropped off over the weekend, which is what he’s trying to do. Meanwhile, if Bluefly doesn’t credit us by Monday, we’re gonna lose the cable for a few days and have to pay a $50 fee to reactivate it.

Thanks, God. This is just what we need. We needed this wonderful trip down memory lane, struggling, being your little bums.

For all I know I may still be right when I predicted we’d have money problems all our lives. Until we get the check, we can’t do shit with EFO to find out if I’m right or wrong.

I saw Liz, but she didn’t see me. We were two registers away. She had her hair up which I think looks the worst on her.

Kim came over yesterday to see if she could use a phone to activate her new phone, but as I told her, Tom had our only phone with him. We ended up chatting for about 10 minutes before she went to the old lady’s house on the other side of her to get it activated.

The first thing she said when she stepped into the house was that it smelled good in here. I gave her a stick of incense and one of the burners I’ll never sell.

I asked if she had a roommate and she said her mother was staying with her for a while, but it didn’t work out. Century is actually her aunt, which I was surprised to learn. I didn’t think an aunt would visit her niece that much. When I told her I had worried she was moving, she said she wasn’t, but maybe she would in a year when she goes up to Eugene. She’s from here and she hates the winters too, she said, after I told her we hope to go to a warmer place next summer.

She did get the same letter about management’s bullshit claim that the drain problem was tenant-caused, just like I figured. I guess she must’ve talked to them about it at some point and they’re pretty sure it was her because they mentioned tampons and Q-tips being present. That’s when she informed them that she doesn’t get periods because she takes birth control. She’s lived here for two years and I think the problem started building up way before she entered the picture, filthy or not.

She is working graves, though she didn’t say what she was doing. She just said she had trouble paying her rent once too, and was freaking out with no job and that she lost her cable as well. I guess she spends most of her time watching movies. She also says that once a year you can get out of having to pay the late fee, so I told Tom to mention that if we can’t get the rest of the damn rent paid over the weekend, though I think we will.

She’s paying $285 for that little shack and agreed we’re paying too much, too. She said she’s so cramped in there that she can’t sit on her toilet without having to have a foot in her shower stall, a hot spot for spiders. She has no sink in her bathroom either.

I told her we were laughing at how she must’ve been surprised and even thought there was a real person standing in the bedroom when she cut through to use the bathroom the last time she was here. She said she wasn’t though, and that she knew it was a mannequin and that they’re way cool.

She said we’re the best neighbors she’s had in a long time and that the last people used to park in her driveway, and I guess they accidentally turned her water off, too. Well, she better enjoy us while we last, because if we do leave sometime in June, the rest of the summer’s going to be anything but peaceful for her. I’m sure the next people will be barbecuing up a storm back there, though they’ll probably hang out in front for the most part. The back door is just too fucked up. It needs to remain sealed or else you’ll get a hell of a draft and tons of bugs. Besides, you’d lock yourself out if you went out and shut the door behind you.

Anyway, I told her she’s the best neighbor we’ve had since Tom and I have been together, even if the car doors do get a little vibrant. She said she’d watch that, but I think Aunt Century should watch it more. She’s the one that parks right outside my bedroom.

Later…

At last, the rent is paid! Poor Tom, though, is still coughing his ass off and never having just one day off to just relax and do nothing. Now, all we have to do is hope the cable doesn’t get shut off.

Liz was gone when he went back to Safeway for the rest of the money and groceries. That makes me think she’s on 1st shift unless she was on break.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2006 These last couple of days have been pretty shitty and it’s mostly due to the big sweeps I’ve won. In fact, I’m seriously considering stopping sweeping till after the damn cruise I never should’ve won, thanks to all the fucking hassles. It’s been more work and stress than fun lately and it’s been costing us big time as well. I entered the record-high count of 300 sweeps that came in on the 1st and most of yesterday’s newbies, but I haven’t done the dailies or today’s newbies. Believe me, I’m tempted to, though, because it gets addicting and it’s been my job for a year and a half now, and perhaps there won’t be any more big wins to sweat over for a while, seeing how compensated I was with a record low of just 6 wins last month. But then again, maybe I would win big again, depending on how long the compensation is scheduled to last. Either way, when the fun turns to a loss of money, sleep and time, it loses its appeal. It really does. It seems our only gain lately is stress and the only good that brings is weight loss, even if it’s only a few pounds. Meanwhile, I guess I’ll try to focus on writing for the remainder of the year.

The only good thing is that my clothes from Bluefly should get here today. Tom says bad things always happen to us in groups and that there’s no threat of being evicted, but first he couldn’t pay the rent cuz of his cold, then yesterday when he went to withdraw money for a money order to take to the management company during lunch, the ATM locked up and froze a certain amount of money in our account. It’s still locked too, which means that he’ll have to go in and explain it to them at lunch and why he can only pay half the rent at this time and deal with the late fees, etc. Plus there’s a good chance the cable will be turned off in a few days because Bluefly needs 3-5 business days to transfer the $200 credit to our card, according to what they told me when I called them, assuming they don’t fuck up again.

All this shit started with the cruise which spawned all kinds of other problems. It’s like I’m being punished for winning! If it hadn’t been for the cruise, Bluefly’s fuck-up wouldn’t have caused us to be in the jam we’re in now, and if it hadn’t been for us waiting on that $2500 check, I wouldn’t have been up 21 hours yesterday for no reason at all. Here we are stressing over money all over again just like old times and it really pisses me off! And once again, when others fuck up, we pay. But I knew that all good things eventually come to an end and that we were only given a temporary break from struggling. How many of these win punishments are connected to EFO, I don’t know, but I do know that if there is a connection, things are bound to get worse. If whatever’s up there doesn’t want us getting rich, it’s not going to just stop it from happening, it’s going to break us down, kick us back to where we were before, and see to it that we’re dirt poor for the millionth time.

The reason I was up so long yesterday was that UPS left a delivery-attempt notice on the door the day before with something that required a signature. We thought it was the check, but all it was was that damn shirt and cap I won on account of the Tonners which didn’t get delivered till the early evening! So I was up forever and on top of it all Tom’s been having to work all kinds of unwanted overtime, is pretty exhausted himself, and has not fully recovered from his cold. He’s still got a bad cough. What was even more frustrating was that Tom got the package and wasn’t even asked to sign for it. Why the fuck would someone have to sign for a damn shirt and cap in the first place, then not have to sign at all the next day?

Lastly, to add even more annoyance to the picture was Century. Yeah, despite the rainy weather, she came around when I was trying to rest in peace and slammed doors on and off for a half-hour doing whatever shit they do when she visits. Yet to put on music to drown her out would’ve been drowning out anyone knocking on the door, so I was forced to deal with it.

Just why is this all happening to us all of a sudden? What did we do to ask for this shit? Is it compensation for winning big? A warning to back off of EFO? I know one thing for sure and that’s that we’re going to start paying the rent a few days before the 1st so that when he’s sick or the account gets frozen or whatever, at least there’s no issue there. I sure as hell would rather lose the cable than get evicted. Unless God wants to force us to move into a place that’s noisier than this, there shouldn’t be any real threat of eviction because this place is noisy enough. You know those are the hardest places for us to escape.

I suppose if I get too bored I can do limiting sweeping by staying away from those that’ll cost us or that require credit card info. If I win any of those I’ve already entered, I guess I could always forfeit the prize.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2006 Another Halloween in the city has come and gone. Although I didn’t get up till 8:30, I never saw or heard any animals. I thought one threw something at the truck and smashed a window at one point, but all was fine when I went out and checked. The blimp’s been slamming in and out all morning, but not in an overly obnoxious way.

[patriotsnet]

Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

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Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

Undocumented Kids Are Saved By Obamas Executive Order Daca Which Would Put A Halt To Deportation For Those Whod Entered The Country Before Age 16 And Yet In A Bid To Get The Gop To Come Over To His Side On Immigration Reform The President Has Also Deported A Record 15 Million People In His First Term

A Family Caught in Immigration Limbo

When Belsy Garcia saw her mother’s number appear on her iPhone on the afternoon of June 15, she felt what she calls the “uncomfortable fluttering” sensation in her chest. She knew that daytime calls signaled an emergency. The worst one had come the previous year, when her sister told her ICE agents had placed their father in federal custody.

Garcia was attending Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, when her father was marched out of her childhood home. As an undocumented immigrant — like both of her parents, who are from Guatemala — she couldn’t qualify for loans. She financed her ­education through scholarships and a stipend she earned as a residential assistant. Now she wondered if her mother was calling to say her father had been deported, which might force her to leave school to become the family’s breadwinner.

But this call was different. “Go turn on the television,” Garcia’s mother said. “You’re going to be able to work, get a driver’s license.”

Onscreen, President Obama was announcing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Undocumented immigrants who had arrived in the United States as children could apply for Social Security numbers and work permits. Garcia qualified: Her parents had brought her to this country when she was 7 years old. DACA transformed her into a premed student who could actually become a doctor. “It was like this weight was lifted,” she says. “All of that hard work was going to pay off.”

In The Next Hundred Days Our Bipartisan Outreach Will Be So Successful That Even John Boehner Will Consider Becoming A Democrat After All We Have A Lot In Common He Is A Person Of Color Although Not A Color That Appears In The Natural World Whats Up John Barack Obama White House Correspondents Dinner

And Then There Were Three

The first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court did so in 1880. It would take another 101 years for a woman to sit on that bench rather than stand before it. Even then, progress was fitful. Over the 12 years that Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg served together, their identities evidently merged; lawyers regularly addressed Ginsburg as “Justice O’Connor.” When O’Connor retired in 2006, she left the faux Justice O’Connor feeling lonely. Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned of something far more alarming: What the public saw on entering the court were “eight men of a certain size, and then this little woman sitting to the side.” They might well represent the most eminent legal minds in America. But there was something antiquated, practically mutton-choppy, about that portrait.

How many female justices would be sufficient? Nine, says Justice Ginsburg, noting that no one ever raised an eyebrow at the idea of nine men.

Seal Team Six Kills Osama Bin Ladenraiding His Secret Compound In Abbottabad Pakistan While Obama And His Top Advisers Watch A Live Feed Of The Mission From The White House Situation Room The Picture Of The Assembled Becomes The Last Supper Of The Obama Era

Poop Feminism

For me, it’s one moment. All the bridesmaids have come to the fancy bridal shop to see Maya Rudolph try on wedding dresses. This should be a familiar scene: The bride emerges from the changing room and … This is the dress! The friends clap. The mother cries. Everyone is a princess. Go ahead and twirl!

But when the bride emerges in Bridesmaids, almost all of her friends have started to feel sick. Sweat coats their skin. Red splotches creep over their faces. They try to “ooh” and “aah,” but it’s already too late. It starts with a gag from Melissa McCarthy, followed by another gag. Then a gag that comes simultaneously with a tiny wet fart. It’s the smallness of the fart that’s important here. It’s the kind of fart that slips out — a fart that could be excused away, a brief, incongruous accident. Women don’t fart in wedding movies, and women certainly don’t fart at the exact moment that the bride comes out in her dress. This can’t be happening. ­Melissa McCarthy blames the fart on the tightness of her dress. We breathe a sigh of relief.

Then sweet Ellie Kemper gags, and the sound effect is surprisingly nasty. Ellie’s face is gray. Melissa’s face is red. They look bad. They are embarrassed. How far is this going to go?

The camera cuts. We are above now. We look down from a safe perch as the release we have been anticipating and dreading begins. It is horribly, earth-­shatteringly gross. A woman has just pooped in a sink. The revolution has begun.

The Government Acquires A 61 Percent Stake In Gm And Loans The Company $50 Billion The Auto Bailout Will Eventually Be Heralded As A Great Success Adding More Than 250000 Manufacturing Jobs To The Economy

The Auto Industry Gets Rerouted

“The president was very clear with us that he only wanted to do stuff that would fundamentally change the way they did business. And that’s what we did. There were enormous changes. For example, General Motors had something like 300 different job classifications that the union had. If you were assigned to put the windshield wipers on, you couldn’t put tires on. And we wiped all that stuff out. We basically gave back management the freedom to manage, to hire, to fire. People stopped getting paid even when they were on layoff. We reduced the number of car plants so that there wasn’t so much overcapacity. So now, when you have 16 million cars sold , they’re making a fortune.”

Black Lives Matter Activists Are Arrested In Baton Rouge Louisianaprotesting The Murder Of Alton Sterling; More Than 100 People Are Detained In St Paul Minnesota Protesting The Murder Of Philando Castile

What Is the Point of a Quantified Self?

Melissa Dahl: The Fitbit was introduced at a tech conference eight years ago. It’s kind of incredible to realize that, before then, this idea of the “quantified self” didn’t really exist in the mainstream.

Jesse Singal: I feel like it’s the intersection of all these different trends: Everyone plays video games these days. You got smartphones everywhere. And people are realizing that solutions to the big problems that lead to sleeplessness and anxiety and bad eating — unemployment and income inequality and yada yada yada — aren’t gonna get solved anytime soon.

MD: That’s interesting, because all of this self-tracking is also, according to some physicians, giving people more anxiety! A Fitbit-induced stress vortex.

Cari Romm: It feels like productive stress, though. I’m talking as a recovered Fitbit obsessive, but it does make you look at Fitbit-less people like, “You mean you don’t care how many steps you took today?”

MD: Oh, God. I don’t care. Should I care? Sleep is the one thing I obsessed over for a while. Which does not really help one get to sleep.

JS: Do you think an actually good and not obsession-­inducing sleep app could help, though?

MD: There’s some aspect to the tracking idea that really does work. I mean, it’s just a higher-tech version of a food journal or sleep journal, right? Ben Franklin 300 years ago was tracking his 13 “personal virtues” in his diary.

JS: Would Ben Franklin have been an insufferable tech-bro?

Officer Darren Wilson Fatally Shoots Michael Brownin The St Louis Suburb Of Ferguson Sparking A National Protest Movement And Setting Off Unrest That Will Remain Unresolved Two Years Later

On the Triumph of Black Culture in the Age of Police Shootings

In the two years since Mike Brown was fatally shot by the police in Ferguson, and the video footage of his dead body in the street went viral, we have seen the emergence of a perverse dichotomy on our screens and in our public discourse: irrefutable evidence of grotesquely persistent racism, and irrefutable evidence of increasing black cultural and political power. This paradox is not entirely new, of course — America was built on a narrative of white supremacy, and black Americans have simultaneously continued to make vast and essential contributions to the country’s prominence—but it has become especially pronounced. And it’s not just because of the internet and social media, or the leftward shift of the culture, or black America’s being sick and tired of being sick and tired. In fact, it is all of these things, not least two terms with a black president. In the same way that black skin signals danger to the police , his black skin, to black people, signaled black cultural preservation. African-Americans didn’t see a black man as the most powerful leader in the free world; we saw the most powerful leader in the free world as black. This is what comedian Larry Wilmore was expressing at the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Dinner when he said, “Yo, Barry, you did it, my nigga.” It was a moment of unadulterated black pride.

Militants Attack American Compounds In Benghazi Libya Killing Us Ambassador Chris Stevens And Three Other Americans There Will Eventually Be Eight Congressional Probes Into The Incident

“I Know I Let Everybody Down”

“Before the debate, David Plouffe and I went in to talk to him and give him a pep talk and he said, ‘Let’s just get this over with and get out of here,’ which is not what you want to hear from your candidate right before the debate. We knew within ten minutes that it was going to be a ­debacle. We had armed him with a joke — it was his 20th anniversary, and he addressed Michelle — and it turns out Romney was expecting just such a line and had a really great comeback. And Romney was excellent — just free and easy and clearly well prepared and showed personality that people hadn’t seen before. Obama looked like he was at a press conference.

We had a meeting at the White House and he said, ‘I know I let everybody down and that’s on me, and I’m not going to let that happen again,’ and that was his attitude. We always had debate camps before, where we’d re-create in hotel ballrooms what the set would look like, and all of the conditions of the real debate. When we went down to Williamsburg, Virginia, for the next debate camp, he seemed really eager to engage in the prep. We had a decent first night. That was on Saturday. On Sunday night, Kerry, playing Romney, got a little more aggressive and Obama a little less so; it looked very much like what we had seen in Denver. It was like he’d taken a step back.

Scott Brown Is Elected Massachusetts Senatorturning Ted Kennedys Seat Republican For The First Time Since 1952 And Suddenly Throwing The Prospect Of Passing Obamacare Into Jeopardy

Plan B

“I’m talking to Rahm and Jim Messina and saying, ‘Okay, explain to me how this happened.’ It was at that point that I learned that our candidate, Martha Coakley, had asked rhetorically, ‘What should I do, stand in front of Fenway and shake hands with voters?’ And we figured that wasn’t a good bellwether of how things might go.

This might have been a day or two before the election, but the point is: There is no doubt that we did not stay on top of that the way we needed to. This underscored a failing in my first year, which was the sort of perverse faith in good policy leading to good politics. I’ll cut myself some slack — we had a lot to do, and every day we were thinking, Are the banks going to collapse? Is the auto industry going to collapse? Will layoffs accelerate? We just didn’t pay a lot of attention to politics that first year, and the loss in Massachusetts reminded me of what any good president or elected official needs to understand: You’ve got to pay attention to public opinion, and you have to be able to communicate your ideas. But it happened, and the question then was, ‘What’s next?’

Sheryl Sandbergs Lean In Hits Bookstores Making The Feminist Case That Women Should Be More Aggressive And Ambitious In Their Careers And Making Feminists Themselves Very Angry

The “Mommy Wars” Finally Flame Out

After decades of chilly backlash, we find ourselves, these past eight years, in an age of feminist resurgence, with feminist websites and publications and filmmakers and T-shirts and pop singers and male celebrities and best-selling authors and women’s soccer teams. Of course, as in every feminist golden age, there has also been dissent: furious clashes over the direction and quality of the discourse, especially as the movement has become increasingly trendy, shiny, and celebrity-backed.

Perhaps the most public feminist conflagration of the Obama years came at the nexus of policy and celebrity, of politics and pop power. It was the furor over Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who gave a viral 2010 TED Talk about women in the workplace who “leave before they leave” — who alter their professional strategy to accommodate a future they assume will be compromised by parenthood — which led to the publication of her 2013 feminist business manifesto, Lean In.

It’s a lesson of the Obama era: One approach to redressing inequality does not have to blot out the others. Sometimes, attacking from all angles is the most effective strategy.

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis Laces Up Her Pink Running Shoes And Spends Ten Long Hours Attempting To Filibuster A Billthat Wouldve Imposed Statewide Abortion Restrictions

“The Concept of Dignity Really Matters”

“I was given an enormous degree of latitude. I did communicate with the White House counsel on occasion about high-profile cases, but it was much more in the nature of just giving them a heads-up, to calm any nervous feelings they might have. There’s only one exception to that, and it was on marriage equality, in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case in 2013. We were contemplating coming in and arguing that it was unconstitutional for California to refuse to recognize the legal validity of same-sex marriages. But we didn’t have to do it . And because it was a discretionary judgment, and it was such a consequential step, that was the one matter where I really sought out the president’s personal guidance. I wanted to make sure the president had a chance to thoroughly consider what we should do before we did it. It was really one of the high points of my tenure. It was a wide-ranging conversation about doctrinal analysis, about where society was now, about social change and whether it should go through the courts or through the majoritarian process, about the pace of social change, about the significance of the right at stake. He was incredibly impressive.

A Golf Summit Between John Boehner And Barack Obama Stirs Hopethat Perhaps The Two Parties Will Come To A Budget Agreement And Forestall A True Crisis Secret And Semi

A Grand Bargain That Wasn’t, Remembered Three Ways

“The president of the United States and the Speaker of the House, the two most powerful elected officials in Washington, decided in a conversation that they both had to try to make something happen. Maybe it would be the way it worked in a West Wing episode in a world that doesn’t work like a West Wing episode. That’s how it started — two individuals saying we’re going to try. I think they both shared a belief in the art of the possible, and they both did not think compromise was a dirty word.

When our cover was blown — a Wall Street Journal editorial came out saying that Boehner and Obama were working on this and attacking the whole premise — that was devastating. It resulted in Cantor being a part of the talks. Cantor and Boehner came in, and I think it was a weekend private session with the president in the Oval Office, and they were talking about the numbers. At one point Cantor said, ‘Listen, it’s not just the numbers. There’s concern that this will help you politically. Paul Ryan said if we do this deal, it will guarantee your reelection. If we agree with Barack Obama on spending and taxes, that takes away one of our big weapons.’ There were so many obstacles, some of them substantive — how much revenue, and what about the entitlements? — but there was also this overlay of ‘This is going to help Obama.’

Illustrations by Lauren Tamaki

The Obama Administration Unveils Its Plan For Regulating Wall Streetwhich Is Then Introduced In Congress By Senator Chris Dodd And Representative Barney Frank

MJ=JC?

Lane Brown: Michael Jackson’s death was a big deal for lots of obvious reasons, including the surprising way it happened and the fact that he was arguably the most famous person on the planet.

Nate Jones: He was an A-lister with an indisputable body of work; he was 50 years old, his hits were the right age — old enough that every generation knew them, but not too old that they weren’t relevant anymore.

LB: But it was also the first huge celebrity death to happen in the age of social media, or at least the age of Twitter.

NJ: MJ’s death came alongside the protests in Iran, which was when Twitter went mainstream.

LB: It also meant that so much of the instant reaction was to make it all about us.

Frank Guan: In a lot of ways, the culture prefers the death of artists to their continuing to live. Once an artist gets launched into the stratosphere, there’s no way to come down, and that permanence becomes monotonous. They run out of timely or groundbreaking material and the audience starts tuning out. At some point, their fame eclipses their art, and then the only way to get the general audience to appreciate them anew is for them to die.

LB: People seem to like the grieving process so much that even lesser celebrities get the same treatment.

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Returns To The House Floor For The First Time Since Being Shot In A Massacre In January Casting A Vote In Favor Of The Debt

A Rare Moment of Unity

“I was doing intensive rehabilitation in Houston at the time but was following the debate closely, and I was pretty disappointed at what was happening in Washington. I’d seen the debate grow so bitter and divisive and so full of partisan rancor. And I was worried our country was hurtling toward a disastrous, self-inflicted economic crisis. That morning, when it became clear the vote was going to be close, my husband, Mark, and I knew we needed to get to Washington quickly. I went straight from my rehabilitation appointment to the airport, and Mark was at our house in Houston packing our bags so he could meet us at the plane.

That night, I remember seeing the Capitol for the first time since I was injured and feeling so grateful to be at work. I will never forget the reception I received on the floor of the House from my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats. And then, like I had so many times before, I voted.

I worked so hard to get my speech back, and honestly, talking to people who share my determination helped me find my words again. I’ve been to Alaska, Maine, and everywhere in between. Best of all, I got back on my bike. Riding my bike once seemed like such a huge challenge. It seemed impossible.”

Miley Cyrus Twerks At The Mtv Vmassetting Off A Controversy About Cultural Appropriation That Soon Ensnares Seemingly Every White Pop Star On The Planet

• Karlie Kloss wears a Native American headdress and fringed bra at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

• Justin Timberlake is accused of appropriating black music when he tells a black critic “We are the same” after praising Jesse Williams’s BET Humanitarian Award speech about race and police brutality.

• DJ Khaled gets lost on Jet Ski, snaps the whole time.

• Two UW-Madison students snap their meet-cute as the entire student body cheers them on.

• Playboy Playmate Dani Mathers films and mocks an anonymous woman in the gym shower.

• A Massachusetts teen records the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. The video is later seen by a friend of the victim.

Prior To Going To War In Iraq Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Optimistically Predicted The Iraq War Might Last Six Days Six Weeks I Doubt Six Months

What’s more, Vice-President Dick Cheney said we would be greeted as liberators by the Iraqi people after we overthrow Saddam.

They were both horribly wrong. Instead of six weeks or six months, the Iraq war lasted eight long and bloody years costing thousands of American lives. It led to an Iraqi civil war between the Sunnis and the Shiites that took hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. Many Iraqi militia groups were formed to fight against the U.S. forces that occupied Iraq. What’s more, Al Qaeda, which did not exist in Iraq before the war, used the turmoil in Iraq to establish a new foothold in that country.

The Iraq war was arguably the most tragic foreign policy blunder in US history.

In 2012 Republicans Predicted That Failure To Approve The Keystone Pipeline Would Send The Price Of Gasoline Sky High And Kill Large Numbers Of Jobs

Despite the fact that the Keystone Pipeline was not approved, the price of gasoline continued to drop below $1.80 per gallon, millions of new jobs were created and unemployment dropped from 8% to 4.9% by early 2016. The most optimistic predictions say that the Keystone Pipeline would only create a few dozen long-term jobs and would do nothing to lower the price of gasoline.

Eric Cantors Stunning Primary Loss Suggests No Politician Is Safe From The Rage Of The Tea Party Not Even The Tea Partys Canniest Political Leader

From Party’s Future to Also-Ran in a Single Day

On the day his political career died, Eric Cantor was busy tending to what he still believed was its bright future. While his GOP-primary opponent, David Brat, visited polling places in and around Richmond, Virginia, Cantor spent his morning 90 miles away at a Capitol Hill Starbucks. He was there to host a fund-raiser for three of his congressional colleagues — something he did every month, just another part of the long game he was playing, which, he believed, would eventually culminate in his becoming Speaker of the House.

The preceding five years had brought Cantor tantalizingly closer to that goal. In the immediate aftermath of Obama’s election, he’d rallied waffling House Republicans to stand in lockstep opposition to the new president’s agenda. In 2010, he’d helped elect 87 new Republican members, giving the GOP a House majority and making Cantor the House majority leader. He became the champion of these freshmen members, stoking their radicalism during the debt-ceiling fight and working to undermine Obama and John Boehner’s attempt to strike a “grand bargain.” His alliance with the ascendant tea party was strategic — it gave him leverage not only over Obama but over other Republicans who might also have had aspirations of becoming Speaker. It never occurred to him that the wave he was trying to ride might crash on him instead.

In 1993 When Bill Clinton Raised Taxes On The Wealthiest 15% Republicans Predicted A Recession Increased Unemployment And A Growing Budget Deficit

They weren’t just wrong: The exact opposite of everything they predicted happened. The country experienced the seven best years of economic growth in history.

Twenty-two million new jobs were added.

Unemployment dropped below 4%.

The poverty rate dropped for seven straight years.

The budget deficit was eliminated.

There was a growing budget surplus that economists projected could pay off our national debt in 20 years.

Republicans Predicted That We Would Find Iraqs Weapons Of Mass Destruction Even Though Un Weapons Inspectors Said That Those Weapons Didn’t Exist

The Bush administration continued to insist that WMDs would be found, even when the CIA said some of the evidence was questionable. As we all know, the WMDs predicted by the Bush administration did not exist, and Saddam Hussein had not resumed his nuclear weapons program as they claimed. Ultimately, both President Bush and Vice President Cheney had to admit that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Republicans Predicted That President Obamas Tax Increase For The Top 1% In 2013 Would Kill Jobs Increase The Deficit And Cause Another Recession

You guessed it; just the opposite happened. In the four years following January 1, 2013, when that tax increase went into effect, through January 2017, unemployment dropped from 7.9% to 4.8%, an average of more than 200,000 new jobs were created per month, Wall Street set new record highs, and the budget deficit was cut in half.

Over 5.7 million new jobs were created in the first two years after that tax increase. That’s more jobs created in two years than were created during the combined 12 years of both Bush presidencies.

In 2001 When George W Bush Cut Taxes For The Wealthy Republicans Predicted Record Job Growth Increased Budget Surplus And Nationwide Prosperity

Once again, the exact opposite occurred. After the Bush tax cuts were enacted:

The budget surplus immediately disappeared.

The budget deficit eventually grew to $1.4 trillion by the time Bush left office.

Less than 3 million net jobs were added during Bush’s eight years.

The poverty rate began climbing again.

We experienced two recessions along with the greatest collapse of our financial system since the Great Depression.

In 1993, President Clinton signed the Brady Law mandating nationwide background checks and a waiting period to buy a gun.

Apple Announces That It Has Sold 100 Million Iphoneswithin A Few Months It Will Overtake Exxonmobil As The Most Valuable Company In The World

Earthlings Gain a New Appendage

What if we had the singularity and nobody noticed? In 2007, Barack Obama had been on the trail for weeks, using a BlackBerry like all the cool campaigners, when the new thing went on sale and throngs lined up for it. The new thing had a silly name: iPhone. The iPhone was a phone the way the Trojan horse was a horse.

Now it’s the gizmo without which a person feels incomplete. It’s a light in the darkness, a camera, geolocator, hidden mic, complete ­Shakespeare, stopwatch, sleep aid, heart monitor, podcaster, aircraft spotter, traffic tracker, all-around reality augmenter, and increasingly a pal. At the Rio Olympics you could see people, having flown thousands of miles to be in the arena with the athletes, watching the action through their smartphones. As though they needed the mediating lens to make it real.

This device, this gadget — a billion have been made and we scarcely know what to call it. For his 2010 novel of the near future, , Gary Shteyngart made up a word, “äppärät.” “My äppärät buzzing with contacts, data, pictures, projections, maps, incomes, sound, fury.” Future then, present now. His äppäräti were worn around the neck on pendants. Ours are in our pockets when they aren’t in our hands, but they also sprout earbuds, morph into wristwatches and eyeglasses. Contact lenses have been rumored; implants are only a matter of time.

Let’s face it, we’ve grown a new organ.

Republicans Said Waterboarding And Other Forms Of Enhanced Interrogation Are Not Torture And Are Necessary In Fighting Islamic Extremism

In reality, waterboarding and other forms of enhanced interrogation that inflict pain, suffering, or fear of death are outlawed by US law, the US Constitution, and international treaties. Japanese soldiers after World War II were prosecuted by the United States for war crimes because of their use of waterboarding on American POWs.

Professional interrogators have known for decades that torture is the most ineffective and unreliable method of getting accurate information. People being tortured say anything to get the torture to end but will not likely tell the truth.

An FBI interrogator named Ali Soufan was able to get al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah to reveal crucial information without the use of torture. When CIA interrogators started using waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation methods, Zubaydah stopped cooperating and gave his interrogators false information.

Far from being necessary in the fight against terrorism, torture is completely unreliable and counter-productive in obtaining useful information.

In 2008 Republicans Said That If We Elect A Democratic President We Would Be Hit By Al Qaeda Again Perhaps Worse Than The Attack On 9/11

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney stated that electing a Democrat as president would all but guarantee that there would be another major attack on America by Al Qaeda. Cheney and other Republicans were, thankfully, completely wrong. During Obama’s presidency, we had zero deaths on U.S. soil from Al Qaeda attacks and we succeeded in killing Bin Laden along with dozens of other high ranking Al Qaeda leaders.

Game Of Thrones Arrives On Televisionwith An Assemblage Of Dragons Torture Nudity Incest And Despair A Show The Whole Family Can Enjoy

Explaining Kale

ADAM PLATT: Many things in Foodlandia, these days, have a political element to them, and if you want to emblazon a flag to be carried into battle, you could do worse than a bristly, semi-digestible bunch of locally grown kale.

ALAN SYTSMA: To eat kale is to announce you’re a person who cares about the matters of the day.

AP: The idea of kale is much more powerful than kale itself. In short order it went from being discovered, to appreciated, to being something that was parodied. Frankly, I’m all for the parody.

AS: The same thing happened to pork. Remember bacon peanut brittle? Bacon-fat cocktails? There’s bacon dental floss.

AP: Ahhh, bacon versus kale. The two great, competing forces of our time.

AS: Do you think one gave way to the other?

AP: What we’re really talking about is artisanal bacon, and the more sophisticated-sounding pork belly, made from pigs that were lovingly reared at upstate farms and fed diets of pristine little acorns. Bacon is the great symbol in the comfort-food, farm-fresh-dining movement, a kind of merry, unbridled pulchritude. Kale is the righteous yin to pork’s fatty, non-vegan yang.

AS: But pork has an advantage: People like the way it tastes.

AP: That’s a huge advantage, one that will hopefully see it through to victory.

[kamiondir]

NCIS Fic Rec List

I’ve always enjoyed finding new stories from other people’s rec lists and since I have managed to accumulate my own list, thought I’d make my own! I watched NCIS through to S12-13. Tony was by far my favourite character, so most of my recs center around him in some way. I also have a number of crossover recs - mostly with Stargate. A lot of the recs are from FFN as lots of these stories are from 10-15 years ago. All recs complete unless otherwise indicated.

* - really like   ** - love  ♥ - favourite

Case Fic

Title: One Less Author: joykatleen Season: 6 Relationship: Gen Rating/Year: PG-13; 2010 Word Count: 100-200k Content/Warnings: Character Death (Minor), Disability, Rape/Sexual Assault, Torture

Author's Summary: 'The murder of a sailor in a DC warehouse reveals a conspiracy that's been silently destroying lives on a Navy carrier for years. Someone high is covering it up. Can Gibbs and company get to the root of it before more lives are lost?'

Review:  Well-written story about a series of cases too much of a coincidence to not be connected. Gibbs goes after it with his usually stubborness, and his own brand of compassion - and his team is there to prop him up. Not the type of fic I usually read, but well-done, and probably the best NCIS Case-fic I've found. ♥

Character Study

Title: Slices of a Life Worth Living Author: Angelus1 Season: 1,2 Relationship: Gen, but meant to be pre-Tony/Kate Rating: PG-13; 2006 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Kate is surprised at how easily they fall into a routine.'

Review: An awesome, well-written look at Tony and Kate's relationship. Pre-Kate/Tony. ♥

Title: Truth is in the Sodium Thiopental Author: Mahiri Chuma Season: 7x01 Truth or Consequences Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2009 Word Count: 3-5k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Ten hours was an awfully long time to be stuck on a plane with a concerned Gibbs while under the influence of truth serum. Tony/Gibbs non-slash - Hints of TIVA, S7x01-Tag.'

Review: Great fic, set on the plane ride home. Tony's feeling guilty, and Gibbs notices. Very well done and an excellent Tony POV.**

Family of Choice

Title: Lessons Learned Author: jumpfall Season: 1-5 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2010 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: Allusions to child abuse

Author's Summary: 'Gibbs' rules vary from the investigator-savvy to the cyncial to the life-saving. For every rule there is a reason. Behind every reason is a lesson learned.'

Review: A look at five different episodes where Gibbs rules come into effect. Very well done. ♥

Title: A Sense of Duty Author: GraveDigger Resurrection Season: 7x12 Flesh and Blood Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2010 Word Count: 3-5k Content/Warnings: Allusions to child abuse

Author's Summary: "You have children, Gibbs?" And in the silence of that moment, Gibbs realizes the answer is not as simple as he thought. Set mid-'Flesh and Blood'. Allusions to child abuse. Gibbs/Tony, father/son.'

Review: Well-written. More parental!Gibbs than canon, but totally in character. Has a sequel, A Sense of Family. ♥

Title: T.L.C. Gibbs’ Style Author: Obsessed Pam Season: 5 Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2008 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Tony has done it again - got himself into trouble and he is now having to face the unpleasant results of his own actions. Gibbs decides to intervene.'

Review: Tony covers for an agent who made a mistake, exposing himself to the elements and getting sick in the meantime. Gibbs is soooo not impressed. Especially when Tony seems to lose all common sense afterwards. Very well done - definitely get a harder side of Gibbs than you normally see, and a Tony who you can tell is more than just a bit broken.**

Crossovers

Title: Blood and Water Author: Commodore Norrington Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Pre-Jack O’Neill/Sam Carter Rating: PG-13; 2005 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: ‘When the leader of SG3 is murdered, Jack is forced to bring investigators to the SGC...investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.’

Review: There’s an OOC fact about Kate and Jack that’s kind of odd but doesn’t detract from the story.

Title: Conference Call Author: Moonbeam Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2009 Word Count: Drabble Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: ['Special Agent Tony DiNozzo makes a call to the Pentagon for a case.'

Review: Jack is willing to help when it's one of his men in trouble, and Tony thinks he could like this particular Air Force General.

Title: Detached Duty Author: zathara001 Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2017 Word Count: Verse Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: ‘When Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee are sent on TAD to investigate a death at Cheyenne Mountain, they find more than they expected.’

Review: As above! One of the more recent in this genre.*

Title: Echoes Author: Gadfly (no link available) Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2006 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: Torture

Author's Summary: ‘ Sometimes the past is echoed in the present.’

Review: Gibbs and another Marine were detained along with Jack in Iraq. When the other Marine goes missing, and Jack suspects the NID, he calls in Gibbs for assistance. With Gibbs undercover, they are able to get back the missing man, and then Jack has fun torturing Gibbs team in training scenarios. Realistic and interesting fic.* 

Title: A Fed, a General, and a Linguist Walk Into A Bar... Author: Trinket2018 Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2018 Word Count: 20-40k Content/Warnings: Kidnapping

Author's Summary: ‘Tony is hunting a serial killer in Alexandria, with competition and no back-up.’

Review: I love Tony’s interactions with SG-1 as well as the story, but the NCIS bashing is a bit more than I usually like. Overall interesting! Love the use of Tony’s undercover skills.*

Title: In Need of Shelter Author: etrangerici Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2009 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: Character Death (Canon), PTSD

Author's Summary: 'Jack was prone to collecting strays.'

Review: Where Jack runs into a distressed Tony at the grocery store after the events of 2x23 and knows what to do. Short and sweet - always wished we got more of this verse.* 

Title: Kindred Spirits Author: alcimines Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2013 Word Count: 3-5k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: 'Stargate Command and Gibbs' team from NCIS get crosswise with each other.'

Review: Jack is a 'person of interest' in a Captains murder. This doesn't go down well with anyone. Quite well done, with a hilarious tone throughout. ♥  

Title: NCIStargate Author: Keith_company Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2005 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'NCIS investigates an abnormal number of Marine deaths at an Air Force facility.'

Review: An excellent crossover, set during S8 of SG-1, and between seasons 1-2 of NCIS. The NCIS gang goes to Cheyenne, where they learn of the Stargate program, and discover that Tony's had a silent visitor for most of his life.** 

Title: Open Mouth, Insert Foot Author: Willow Fireheart Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Jack O’Neill/Sam Carter Rating: G/PG; 2007 Word Count: Drabble Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Tony just can't seem to keep his mouth shut, especially when it concerns attractive blonde women.'

Review: Concerning Sam, when she and Jack are married. Tony is afterwards concerned for his life. Cute! ♥

Title: A Coin is a Coin Author: ancientmaverick Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate Atlantis Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2008 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: 'Tony meets a new friend and reflects on life over the past few years. Crossover with Stargate Atlantis.'

Review: S6 NCIS, S5 (or after) for SGA. Tony goes drinking with off-duty navy-men, and they're playing a 'who's met who' game at a bar, when they're challenged by an Air Force man, who uses John as the highest challenger. Tony & John get into a (very drunken, but good) conversation. Well written &a in character X-over.*

Title: Cross Jurisdiction Author: casus17 Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate Atlantis Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2008 Word Count: 40-60k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: ‘When a marine turns up dead, you call NCIS. When a marine turns up dead, with Iratus bug DNA... well then you need SGA-1. Head butting will ensue. NCIS crossover.’

Review: Good, but not great fic of the genre.

Title: Highly Classified and Very Hush Hush Author: rageprufrock Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate Atlantis Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2010 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: 'Gibbs sometimes wonders what he did to deserve these morons, but then he looks through the one-way window at three naked and extremely uncomfortable-looking Marines and figures it could be worse.'

Review: Hilarious, with wonderful characterizations of both fandoms by a truly excellent and well-known author. I especially love John. Also has a sequel. ♥ 

[ladyhistorypod]

Bonus Episode: Cut Content

Attributions: Police Scanner Clips

Click below for a transcript of this episode!

Alana: When we first started this podcast my parents had the feedback that maybe there was too much banter. And now they're not allowed to call me on Shabbat. I went back to dating apps recently, fifty percent because I got those quarantine lonelies and fifty percent to plug the podcast. I'm dead serious if you find my like Bumble profile, I do have the Lady History account hooked up to it to plug the podcast. And some dude from Hinge listened to the first episode and was like this really seemed to drag on but you sound like you're having a good time. And I was like I think that's the first time I've ever been negged, never been negged before I think that's what negging is? But so I said to him, I said you have misread the situation and I only take praise. And then I unmatched with him. So anyway we did take that to heart, mom, dad we were listening and we cut out a lot of banter. And all of it was good especially from episode nine there is probably gonna be a lot from episode nine because all that banter was good. Lexi: And we love animals and that was we just kept going. Alana: We love animals. But here it is. All of the banter that my parents made me cut. Lexi: Dear listeners if you hear little cracks, little swallows, little tap tapping noises. It's because, it's almost Christmas and let Lexi the editor is tired and she's decided that because the bonus episode doesn't really matter. So if you like me have misophonia I apologize but now you k:now what it feels like every day when I edit Haley We be humans not robots. Alana: We be humans not robots. Lexi: I wish there was like an AI podcast editor. [INTRO MUSIC] Alana: So my latest project in the Sims, aside from trying to get to, I think my total is thirteen hundred and sixty hours. For like the police training thing. So far I'm at eight seventy two. Which I have passed Pennsylvania which is eight fifty nine. And I think next is there are two that are eight eighty and I think one of them is Rhode Island. Hawaii is zero hours by the way. Lexi: Wait what. Alana: Zero police training hours. Lexi: You just sign up and you- *frustration sound* We’lll pull that apart another time. Alana *laugh* Yeah.  But. So I'm recreating the restaurants from the area where I grew up because that's like the only thing I miss about Santa Clarita is my restaurants. So I recently I recreated my favorite. My favorite Mexican food place it's in the gallery if you want it it's called Sim Cuco because the name of the actual restaurant is Don Cuco and so I changed it. I also made Eggs-n-Things is my favorite breakfast place and I called that I think I called that Eggs and Sims and then I made In-n-Out and called it Sim-n-Out. Lexi: That is amazing. Police Radio Sound Effect, Male voice: No one wants to go to jail for things. Haley: That makes sense. That makes absolute sense. Lexi’s Brother: Ah precious baby! Lexi: Dude, dude. Alana: Dude. Lexi: Dude. Dude. Could you close the door? Lexi’s Brother: Yeah but look at him. Lexi: I know. Lexi’s Brother: Wait I have- Lexi: Oh, okay everyone come in and hug the dog in my room. Haley: I heard precious dong and I got real scared with your library background. Lexi: No Every it's. It's ten o'clock which is bed time here and so everyone comes in to tell the dog they love him in my room. Haley: That’s acceptable. I'm obsessed with my cat right now and then making him a very nice blanket like look at this! And I just found out I had been allowing him to sit on this Michael’s box. Lexi: This is why he stays in my room, Dad. Because I don't mess with them I let him have a space; he's a Big Boy. Sorry. Haley: My cat peed on my Michael's box and pee was on yarn and I'm like well ya fucker, you just peed on my yarn. Lexi: You can wash yarn though. Haley: I guess. Lexi: Bundle it and put it in the washing machine. Haley: I hope it’s not the box of yearn ya can't wash. But like it got cat pee on it and it's supposed to be his second blanket like his really big blanket that I was gonna like fold up into like a cat bed is this is just gonna be like a little - Lexi: Well then you know what it’s perfect that he peed on it. Alana: He peed on his own yarn. Haley: I know that's what my dad was like just like making him fucking deal with it but I was like but I don't want to have knit with it. Alana: Yeah. Lexi: Wash it. Wash it on a cold gentle cycle. Haley: And I think of what you were saying like let's see the compostable dog toys like that's not something you can go down to your like ShopRite and be like that’s what I need. Lexi: Well I need corn based PLA and a 3D printer which both things I could not purchase down the street. Haley: Maybe the Whole Foods would have that. Lexi: Corn-based PLA? PLA is the material that feeds into a 3D printer to print stuff out. I don't think Whole Foods carries that. Alana: They should. Haley: I now say whole foods doesn't have it it's just it doesn't exist. Speaker 1: Because there’s a Whole Foods next to my parents that's just massive and my mom her response to everything was like go to whole foods and I’m like there's so much more than Whole Foods. There's a Trader Joe's, a Stu Leonard's, an Acme, Stop and Shop. Just now that I have more than like one grocery store at my disposal is- Alana: You have a Trader Joe's. Haley: Oh yeah, Trader Joe's is the best. Lexi: I love Trader Joe’s. Talk about a good business. Alana: Talk about a good business. Lexi:+Did you guys ever use lime wire? I know we were very young when I was a thing. Haley & Alana: Yeah. Haley: Ya, no I’ve use it. Lexi: But when I found out what that was... Alana: Well I was actively not allowed to do it because I could just be like, “Hello” I mean I'm very privileged. “Hello I need an iTunes gift card to buy songs” and my parents would be like “okay”. Lexi: I used it and when I found out it existed. I really went all in. I had the original iPod Shuffle the white brick. That my dad got at an events for work at the Trump golf course in New Jersey. He's not a Trump supporter this was in what 2006 and it was. Alana: Before Trump was a Trump supporter. Lexi: Yes I believe at the time Trump was a Democrat but he wasn't there because of that but his company rented out the golf course for an event and they all got gift bag that said like Trump hotel so my mom had to rip that part of the bag off when we we re-used after that. But I got this- one of the party favors was a white brick iPod. This is all relevant trust me. So... Alana: It’s also like the peak of technology in 2006. Lexi: Yes and I loved it. You couldn’t pick what song you just went with it. So I downloaded, we were going to the beach and my mom said okay you can take it as long as you don't let it get sandy so the night before I went on my morning downloaded like all this stuff and I didn't really check it I just threw it on the iPod. So I'm sitting in the car going to the beach. I'm listening to my iPod shuffle, my white brick with a USB stick and this thing comes on like and I’m like I don’t remember I downloading this? It’s Bill Clinton saying I did not have relations with that woman. And I was like what the hell is this. Didn't cross my mind until I was like a teenager and I kind of became more of the internet and I realized that back in the day on like limewire and other platforms like that people would as a prank put that quote instead of songs and I was like oh my god that's what happened to me when I was ten, eleven whatever that was and that was the first Bill Clinton moment I ever had in my life. My favorite thing to dislike about Bill Clinton is that he decided it was okay to go play saxophone. That made me uncomfortable but it is one of my favorite things to love to hate to love to be a uncomfy about. So yeah that's my Bill Clinton story. Bill Clinton: But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me I'm gonna say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Miss Lewinski. I never told anybody to lie not a single time. Never.

Haley: Ah okay so there's this thing you can look it up it's Susan Lawrence in Chappaqua, New York so overpriced d for excellent food and it kind of is like a boujie Jewish deli because like you just walk up to the counter be like I want half a pound of kale salad and they just give you the kale salad but then there's like food all around you like black and white cookies which is also something you'll see in New York Jewish deli. And it's just fabulous their mac and cheese cups A+. In the summer with their iced teas because they put half ice when the ice tea and on top they put like lemon sorbet it is beautiful and I've always wanted something like that so I can... Alana: It’s like an Arnold Palmer float. Haley: Yes. Alana and Lexi: I want that. Haley: So so so good. Alana: I'm gonna try that. Haley: Such a cute little seating area and like their part like so they have like the actual food you can eat but then like amazing pastries and cakes so in my head… Alana: Um Haley: What. Alana: You can still eat pastries and cakes. I just want to point that out. The actual food that you could eat. You said that they have actual food that you can eat and also pastries and cakes. You can also eat pastries cakes. Haley: I can't because all the pastries and cakes have eggs, so in my head that's not real food. Lexi: Haley was thinking everyone in the world can't have eggs. You just look at cakes. Haley: That’s how like I describe restaurants to people. That's like not food that all has eggs. Alana: It’s poison. Haley: Food a lot of it has eggs or cross contamination and in my head like Greek restaurants are just not viable for me.

Haley: Can we have like an episode. . . I know this isn't lady but completely can we have like an episode about how like most of the founding farmer, founding not founding farmers, founding fathers Lexi: Just little DC tings.. Haley: Yeah. Were queer. Because boy howdy I have been watching so many youtube videos on that. Alana: I’m in. . . this is totally off topic and it's fine and I'm sorry that Lexi will have to go through all this when editing. Lexi: I don't care. Alana Whatever, cut content. There was a tumblr post awhile ago. That someone was like UWU Alexander Hamilton my bisexual baby with anxiety and then someone repblogged it and was like actually he own people and now he's dead. And I so firmly belong to both of those camps. I am so like yeah he own people and now he's dead. Fuck that dude. I hate him. I hate that dude. But also it's really important to like see queer people throughout history because like it's not- it's not a new identity and I think that's important so I'm all I'm like very much yes he was queer also he sucks. Lexi: This this is like more shit for me to cut but I just have feelings. The thing that irks me is when people equate the character with the history. Separate them. Okay? The character can be UWU your baby because it's not a real person and we don't give a fuck. The real person was a complicated person with lots of different feelings, emotions, and realities. Alana: It's almost like people are complicated. Lexi: It’s important to acknowledge that there were queer people in the past. And that telling your bro how great he smells was probably a sexual thing. Alana: Gay. Lexi: It's probs gay. And, also bad people can be gay too. Haley: Thank you! Alana: Okay so this is something that I was complaining- this is like years and years ago -but I was complaining to my dad about how I think Apple is an evil corporation and he was like but their CEO is gay and I was like yeah dad it's 2018. Queer people can be anything. Lexi: Wait. If you don’t think queer people can be bad like every Disney villan doesn’t make sense. Because so many of them were queer. Alana: So I mentioned that in the witch episode briefly. I have a lot of feelings about this because almost every Disney villain is either Jewish coded or queer coded and it's no bueno. We don't like that. It's not okay.  I'm trying to think of one who isn't. Haley: Scar. Alana: Queer coded. Haley: Yeah. Alana: I guess Hans? He's pretty heterosexual. Haley: Hans was pretty heterosexual. Haley:  Captain Hook was not like as a small child I was like Captain Hook is gay. Lexi: You don’t think Hans has bi vibes? Alana: I guess. Haley: I think. . . Alana: But... Lexi: Everyone has bi vibes to me. I can’t comprehend the straight. Alana: Everyone has bi vibes to you.That's true. Lexi: Literally when you said that thing like all the founding fathers were queer, like isn't everyone a little queer. Haley: Everyone’s a little queer, not gonna lie. Alana If Bonobo chimps are anything to be . . . anything like humans. Haley: I feel like Hans is like 3% in him. Alana: Yeah. Haley: It’s not much. Alana: But like so. I think he's the only one, They're moving away from it in there. . . Lexi: Oh my god I know what it is. Okay Hans is like Winston Churchill where like he hooked up with a guy one time and had a fling with them but like it was just one time in his life. Alana: It’s just a one time thing. Lexi: Just this one time. Alana: He was experimenting. But like he's not queer coded. I think there was not really, there wasn't really a villain in Frozen II was there? Haley: No it was like the universe was like the villian like. . . Lexi: Yeah it was like the world. Alana: Queer coded! Jew coded! Lexi: Okay, okay. Go on to your story. Alana: Ok.

Daveed Diggs: Uh, who provided those funds? Haley: Uh, France?

Haley: Lilac, chartreuse. Oh no not chartreuse is that bright one… Magenta… Alana: Wait wait wait. What color is chartreuse? To you? Haley: It’s green. Alana:  Chartreuse it.. So apparently that's one of those like Mandela Effect things that some people think it's a green and some people think it's pink. Lexi: It’s pink because Chartreuse was Blue’s neighbor and possible lesbian lover. Haley: No that’s Magenta. Alana: No that’s Magenta. Lexi: Oh my god is that a Mandela Effect? Haley: No, no. Alana: No. That's just you being a dumbass. Haley: I always, okay so here's the thing I always thought chartreuse is green and then that Mandela Effect was explained to me so now I always get it mixed up but I think like the best like colors for kitchen are like muted neutrals so it looks like the woods is coming into your baking zone. Lexi: Nah, teal. Ocean kitchen, ocean kitchen! Alana: You guys should see my Sims kitchens. I just made a beautiful little like all black and white... Shout out to the jungle adventure pack. Lexi: The jungle adventure pack is so good. Alana: I also really wanted to doo like a little dining nook but freaking sims don't know how to slide across the booth apparently so it didn't work. But.

Erika: So what I'm currently watching which I watched before is New Girl. I watch it when I have anxiety. Haley: Yeah Erika: So I started again. And then when I'm just like vibing or whatever and watching something that I haven't seen six hundred times I started watching Schitt's Creek. Haley: I’m watching Schitt’s Creek! Lexi: So good. Erika: It’s like.. Like dry funny. And it like almost lands and then it doesn’t. Alana: It’s like. . . Erika: It like pulls back. Alana: It's like Arrested Development but if the characters like had growth. Erika: Yeah Lexi: Yes and I love both series equally. Alana: Ew, David. Lexi: Alexis Erika: I don't get the hotel manager person. Alana: Stevie. I love Stevie. Lexi: I love Stevie. Her character arc is so good. Alana: Imagine the two queer people on the podcast being like I love Stevie.Stevie’s not queer but like she has lesbian vibes. Haley: I tried- Lexi: That’s her whole stick she is straight butch. Alana: Reminds me of someone else I know. Haley: Wow, got called out there. Well the thing that was said is true but the words still hurt. Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of this episode will be on ladyhistorypod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review, or tell your friends, and if you don't like the show, keep it to yourself. Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra you can find her on Twitter and Instagram at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand, and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time, on Lady History. Haley: Next week on Lady History, we're having a blast from the past and going back to our undergraduate degree to talk about some goddesses be there or be square.

[checkyourrealityevo]

IMVU: NUMBER ONE 3D CHAT OR NUMBER ONE CHEAT?

Let me begin this article by saying that I was very hesitant to write it. Mainly because this is not what Reality Check does. But after talking extensively with the subject and doing some further investigation, it intrigued me enough to tackle it.

Let us begin with some context, the subject of the article is about an IMVU user named YukuS, age 35.

For those who do not know what IMVU is, IMVU Inc., is an online metaverse and social game. IMVU was founded in 2004 and was originally backed by venture investors Menlo Ventures, AllegisCyber Capital, Bridgescale Partners, and Best Buy Capital. IMVU members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create, and play games.

It was apparently one of the foundations of 3D chat much like Second life which came after it.

Sixteen years later it is still the number one 3D App on the market.

Now that we know who IMVU is, let me introduce YukuS.

YukuS (her username) became a member of IMVU in 2006. A couple of months later she became what is called a developer.

A developer on IMVU is someone who creates content for other members to use. This can be clothing, pets, apartments, scenery, you name it. When other users create this content, developers get credit which can be used to buy content on IMVU, music, and even exchanged for actual cash.

YukuS had created a substantial amount of content, and by her omission accumulated a substantial amount of credit (by her estimate over one million). She also forged various friendships over the years. From college to her mid-twenties she was an avid user of the IMVU platform.

But like all things, real life stepped in. YukuS got a real job and took part in the real world. IMVU had to take a backseat. But from time to time as she explained it, YukuS would go on and say hi to old friends, make new ones, and then use her years of hard earned credits from content she painstakingly created to go and purchase other content for her avatar.

This is the part of the story where we come to the plot.

YukuS like many of us found herself confined to her home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, like many of us, she decided to take this time of confinement to dive back into IMVU. Only there was a problem.

YukuS logged on to find out that her account was restricted.

She had access to log into her account and use her old items, she could communicate with old friends and accept requests from new ones, but she no longer had access to use the over million dollars credits she accumulated, even though she received notifications that her items were still being purchased from users.

She also could not develop new content, which meant she could not upload the new line of products she had created for the last six months.

The reason for the restriction, a missed email requested verification of her email account due to not hearing from her for an allotted time.

YukuS answered the email hoping it would solve the issue. It did not.

She took the next step in reaching out to customer service creating a ticket (IMVU case #03332021) in hopes that they could assist her with the issue. In IMVU’s defense, they like many other companies currently have a reduced staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The customer support person she spoke to was named Glenn.

From her explanation, he asked her several questions to verify that she was the owner of the account which she answered. To her admission, one or two of the questions she did not remember due to it being over a decade since she opened the account.

After Glenn informed her that she missed some questions, his next request was for YukuS to submit a picture of herself holding up her government ID for verification in order to reinstate her account.

This made YukuS extremely uncomfortable, and she refused to do so.

Objectively speaking in the age of digital identity theft, I am inclined to agree with YukuS’s decision. It is a bit of an extreme request especially for a 3D social media platform. YukuS decided to do the alternative, which was send a screen shot of her email account showing that her account was still active and still getting emails from IMVU which also included purchases made by users.

Here we now come to the climax of this tale.

On October 17th, 2020 when YukuS attempted to log into her account, she was unable to. Thinking that she forgot her password she did a reset, except it was not allowing her to log in via her username but her email address.

Finally, able to log in she was in shock and horror (her words) to find that her account was no more. Instead YukuS’s profile of a 35-year-old female originally from New York, USA was replaced by a profile named awe2, a 26-year-old female from Indonesia.

As she researched further, her account was disabled, her content removed from the site, her over one million credits was gone along with items she had purchased over the years. She also no longer had contact with her many friends on IMVU.

By now you are probably saying to yourself, “So what is the big deal, she lost her account. It sucks but it’s not the end of the world.”

The problem is that for someone like YukuS, it is a big deal, it is a huge big deal.

YukuS is a young woman who suffers from a series of mental issues, she needs to take medication and see a professional in order to deal with these issues, and a 3D platform such as IMVU was an outlet that allowed her to deal with those issues.

The reason why I am writing about this is because I know YukuS, she is a friend of mine, and on October 17th, 2020 I had to talk a mentally traumatized thirty-five year old woman reduced to a sobbing child off a fucking ledge in the middle of the worse pandemic in the history of this country where isolation is key.

So as much as I am attempting to be objective with this article, I am a little bit pissed off as I write it.

I am assuming that like everyone else IMVU is supposed to be there for its patrons.

So, what happened?

Why did it fail to be there for YukuS?

Delay in communication is understandable, everyone all over the world are in uncharted waters in regard to this pandemic.

But why the hell would you delete a fourteen-year-old account of one of your developers that housed over one million credits that she earned?

Why would you do this in the middle of a pandemic where social distancing is key, and citizens are urged to stay inside? Where your platform is one of the key platforms of communication to the outside world for people like YukuS?

I never got into the whole 3D avatar platform thing; I have no interest of talking to a girl avatar controlled by a fat guy in his momma’s basement. Nor do I wish to be asked to go onto another chat so I can be coaxed to show my tits (Looking at you Second Life).

The only avatar I was happy to own is my Pokémon GO trainer avatar. Been trying to catch them all since 2014.

As I write this article, I began to realize why I decided to take it on.

I found the Reality Check.

In this time of uncertainty, where we are apart from our loved ones, it is extremely important to try and connect with them, especially with those with mental health issues. Because as much as companies like IMVU, celebrities, and politicians are there for you, they really are not and cannot be.

For all those mentioned, their main priority is to protect their bottom line, their image, or both.

If we’re all going to make it through this, it is our job to take care of the ones we love, it’s our job to pick up the phone, send a text, or do a video chat with the people we care about in our lives, to make sure that they are okay, and will be okay when this all ends.

IMVU from what I can tell failed YukuS in her most fragile moment. The cost for me was over one hundred and forty dollars to Uber Eats sending her wine and Chinese take out so that we can eat and drink together over video chat.

We talked for hours until the wine was done, and our eyes got heavy, but it was worth it.

Later in the afternoon before I wrote this article, I checked in with YukuS.

She will not delete the IMVU app in hopes that someone from IMVU will contact her and fix the damage that was done, but I got her to open a Pokémon GO account.

It will not replace the years of hard work she put into IMVU, but I think she will have more fun especially once the isolation mandate is lifted. Also, with the remote raid passes coming out, she will have a lot of fun getting some shinies and legendries.

To remain objective, I humbly invite IMVU to respond to this article. I and hopefully many others including their current customers would love to hear their side of this story.

Also, YukuS has given me permission to post images of her email to showing only her IMVU activity to confirm that everything in this article is accurate (SEE BELOW).

This has been another Reality Check.

[badmousestuff-blog]

The problem with Free Speech (Script)

One day I was helping out with the Free Palestine stall on Church Street. About an hour in a young dude came up to me, and gave us the usual conservative drivel.

He told me that he couldn’t support the left, because to him we were against free speech. Right below me were flyers detailing the extent of Israeli war crimes against Palestinians, and how little the world still hears about their plight. He stated that he wasn’t interested in our campaign, and bid me farewell. For, of course we must have our standards.

(Rowan Atkinson speech)

There’s never been a more unshakeable dogma in my lifetime than that of Freedom of Speech.

The real test of a country’s standards is if it allows people to criticise one another, especially the regime. The foundation of Liberty and Freedom and Friberty, is the story of free expression, after all, if you want to know who has the power, just look at which group you’re not allowed to criticise. Right?

Well no, I’m here to say that Free Speech isn’t just some base, flatline, monolith from which all societies are to be judged like an angelical truth, its a political concept, thought up by human beings, subject to critique, and frankly is in great need of one.

Let’s start with something simple.

Your concept that Free Speech is good, is only possible if your opponent also agrees with you, i.e. they’re not going to kill you if you disagree.

So therefore if your opponent doesn’t ?? and will use aggression against you, then you can’t really argue for free speech can you?

The conditions around you need to be such that nobody is going to die.

Right, whats next, oh I gotta do the Hitler bit, right…

Y’know the story, Weiner Republic, Full suffrage, large democracy, massive instability and debt caused from the prior war, enter the Nazis, and the German Communist party. Yes everyone seems to forget that the Commies were there too, headed by Ernst Thalmann, and at their peak gained 16% of the vote in 1932. Whilst Ernst was forward in his Anti-Fascism, the Social Democrats, and their newspapers, didn’t seem to understand the concept of a united front, they refused to confront the Fascists in an effective manner and simultaneously denounced the KDP as being a bunch of Muscovites, sporting the famous Iron Front symbol, The third arrow originally meant Anti-Communism, mind.

The SPD’s failure to effectively confront Fascism aided Hitler’s rise to power, sent the KDP underground, and Ernst to 11 years in the hole, followed by a firing squad.

So don’t tell me free-speech exists in vacuum, it doesn’t. In this video we’ll ask the necessary further questions.

Who dictates the media, who controls which advertisements we see, which views are more profitable? Does the removal of speech in given scenarios serve a common good? And if the enlightenment was correct why did Liberalism fail in its mission?

(Rowan Atkinson)

This clip was one of the first main intro points for me as well as many others into the realm of Super Free Speech, and it’s strange looking back just how dated it is. It’s not like we didn’t have the arguments back then, but moreso that nobody really cared, we were all swept up in the dogma, to challenge free speech would be on the same level as strangling a baby.

Anybody can go around today and talk about the joy of free speech, but it means nothing to a person who has no power with that speech, Freedom to Beg? That's not a freedom; that’s institutionalised sadism.

I’m not a believer in Maslow’s hierarchy but hypothetically, this really wouldn’t go number 2, it’d be right down at number… 27. Why do I say this? Well in the words of some philosophy guy people say I look like, “No rights matter if you’re dead”.

Food, Water, Healthcare, and Housing. These are all things you need in order to survive, in other words fulfil the other things that we consider ‘rights’ - rights that are worth struggling for. And despite the fact that the millions end up dying from the lack of these rights, even when they’re universally agreed upon, ever notice how this struggle goes very very quiet… Suspiciously quiet.

Sargon on the Socialists

I wonder…??? I wonder why the left seems to be largely committed to these causes, it’s something you find scantly addressed in the middle and right spheres with the exception of private individual charity (OSCAR WILDE), and Carl may find himself wondering why it is that these ideologies can barely create a solid solidarity towards these topics.

You might be a Liberal and say “Yeah yeah, I support that too though” but fact remains there’s no confidence here.

I see no outpouring of condemnation coming from you when Politicians like Bolsonaro press forward their restrictive measures, unlike what you have to say about this powerless Redhead. Why is that?

Count Dankula, who interestingly I had a couple scuffles with a while back without realising it, last year taught his dog to do a Hitler Salute, and he got fined £800. Now that’s probably one of the most petty excuses for a sentencing I’ll admit, but again this isn’t about whether it was justified, it’s about people’s standards.

Dankula received enormous support from, well, everyone, and he’s now more famous than he ever previously was, enough to be at the forefront of the free-speech festival later that year, and even use his fame to help push the emergence of UKIP. This is attention that people would pay top dollar for, way more than £800. He should be proud that he got a court hearing.

Frankly, me and my colleagues didn’t really care about this whole thing too much, just ask my IWW friend who I was with when this all went down. What happened around the same time that did catch some of our attention though was the plight of the J20 protesters who got arrested back during Trump’s inauguration.

Some of these people are on the butchers list to serve 60 year sentences for standing against a president who’s, a real dick, like I get the whole Liberal opposition is fucking corny but still he’s a dick, they’ve all been dicks, he’s just continuing what every dick who ever stood on centre stage ever started, this is America, you think Bernie’s going to save you? You think reforming the democrats can change the number one imperialist power?

Apologies. If you’re at all concerned that I didn’t give a toss about Dankula’s pug joke, if you’ve ever had friends like him this stuff isn’t too surprising, I know these are highly political times but a guy who votes UKIP is really not our number one concern right now.

I didn’t give a toss, but I know somebody who did, Mike Stuchbury, who you’ll remember from his childish twitter ramblings and dealings with Watson. Who proclaimed that the left needs to stand with Free Speech, A free-speech that is largely in the teat of Right-leaning discourse.

Sargon who was there with him, earlier that year got de-platformed by lefty-liberals in his debate with Muke.

The dogma is enforcing itself here, the left is all supposed to throw up our hands in swich liquor, of which vertu engendered is the flour, and decide Whether we should allow freedom of speech to our enemies, or not allow it, when the actual thing we should be doing, is taking hold of the narrative and putting forward our own ideas as the new talking point of discussion, instead of fucking Nazi Pug.

“Hey, you, what gives you the right to determine the narrative?”

Thats a good question, the hegemonic propaganda of our status quo is already setting the narrative, Noam Chomsky “I’m bored bye”

How can I make this more interesting… Ah ha…

IT’S TIME FOR FILM THEORY!!1 WOOOO

-

The Pursuit of Happiness.

In 2006 Will Smith told the story of Chris Gardner, a black man who struggled through poverty, separation, and fatherhood whilst living in San Francisco.

He gets an internship with a sales company and despite having to put up with a lot, by the end of the film he passes and at this point, we’re supposed to feel happy and redeemed, but to those who’ve watched it (surely I’m not alone) was it really a happy ending?

I’ll say that I walked out of the viewing feeling very uncomfortable and sour, but why is that?

Well for starters, that Internship he got was a 6 month unpaid one, in the most expensive US city might have something to do with it.

Then he’s got to deal with his wife leaving him, then he’s got to take care of his son, then he loses his source of income, then he’s got to deal with eviction, sleeping rough, not sleeping at all, by the end of the movie sure he gets his redemption but the message of ‘when life gives you lemons, just keep getting pummelled with those lemons and don’t ask why’ ultimately seems hollow.

Contrast that a more traditionally Anti-establishment film which was made by a literal Communist, where the exploiters are treated as they should be and thats what comes across on screen, with surprise horse-dick, and while Happiness doesn’t treat them like saints, they sure don’t come across as devils either.

6 months of free labour he and 19 other people who did not make the cut that they are effectively giving away for free.

What about those other 19 people, who ever tells their story?

The way his superiors always act like total dicks pushing him around and getting him to be their lobby boy, they lost nothing. And now he’s going to work for them.

Is the message here supposed to be “Well if this guy can survive the moon falling on him, what the hell are you complaining about?” Actually yeah, I think that consciously or not, this is what’s being said… Don’t worry we’re getting to the point of all this.

The extent of exploitation is naked, yet in the way the movie is presented I’m inclined to agree to this, and take it into my home, and sleep with it.

Now name me as many pieces of media that regurgitate this same old theme of rags to riches through adversity, to look at the man on centre stage, yet pay no attention to the millions locked in a cage.

Sure, say it how you will, Art is merely what you make of it and there’s not necessarily any devious agenda being pursued at any time. That’s one perspective I guess, another might be that there’s no such thing as Art for Arts sake, it all gears itself to differing political lines.

In a society based on private, individual enterprise, it's no surprise that Art would also foster themes that would support society as the normal and natural, even if they appear on the surface as radical.

Case in point, well the entire Hollywood Catalog.

On the Waterfront is literally Mccarthyism on celluloid, The People vs Larry Flynt guises pornification and billionairedom with a story of libel and freedom of speech.

And ironically enough probably the worst offender is, well I’m gonna lose some of you now, Billy Elliot, the Movie.

In which 2/3rds of the way through Billy’s dad strike breaks as a way to pay for his son to go to a prestigious arts school, y’know rather than maybe having him stay and use his skills to improve, embolden and enliven the downtrodden community, rather than leaving it to die.

Jackie’s very sympathetic in his devotion towards his son, except Striking is caring for your family, you’re fighting for a better future, together, as one, and it’s thrown away in favour of a much more individualistic get out of your circumstances, go and live your dream.

Now I’ve read Lee Hall, I know he didn’t intend for this to come through, but he is also no more aloof than any of us, we’re all susceptible to this ‘Common Culture’.

Just see the way our ‘Common Culture’ infiltrates into how Communism is talked about, in 2015’s Trumbo. The Hollywood screenwriter who was blacklisted for 2 decades for being a member of Communist Party.

Could make for some groundbreaking stuff right?...

Well no, instead we’re left with a film that focuses entirely on freedom of expression, which is ironic because if they represented him truthfully it would’ve resulted in a much more nuanced movie.

All we get is a 2 minute scene talking about Communist ethics and god its done in the most sanitised, unradical, storybook tale way possible, that doesn’t in any possible regard represent who the actual Dalton Trumbo was.

“If a book or play or film is produced which is harmful to the best interests of the working class, that work and its author should and must be attacked in the sharpest possible terms.”

I think I have a case that profit incentives are steering the way in which media is presented…

We have no problem pointing out the subtle propaganda messages in Soviet children’s cartoons (Cheburashka) but reverse that onto our society, prepare for some awkward stares.

You may argue that none of what I’ve just spoken about here has anything to do with censorship of free expression but this is the problem, our notions of censorship are stuck firmly behind the Berlin wall, and thats far too simplistic not to mention outdated.

Undoubtably Coca-cola has a far greater reach of expression than I ever will be able to ascertain, what says who can speak on a public forum, decide the content of a documentary, of a publication, of a movie, or a political campaign?

If a book is blacklisted by all publishers for political reasons, what difference does it make having 1 publishing house or 100?

If 90% of the movie market alone is controlled by just 7 companies, what kind of advice is “Just start your own business”.

If we want to talk about the free flow of expression and information, what little are these flyers (Free Palestine) when Zionism has a whole nation, and 2 continents supporting it?

This is the kind of expression we’re dealing with today, not the voices of individuals, but of multinationals. The fact that we had in any way an outpouring of sympathies towards one of these companies, Sony, for having their movie The Interview possibly censored by DPRK agents is a testament to how lost in the plot we have become.

And if by chance the media cannot direct the status quo by monopoly, it brings out its tried and tested method.

Commodify it.

I present to you Guerrillero Heroico, this photograph was allowed such free spread not simply because its bloody badass, but because there was no IP designated upon it, by Korda’s intention as a Communist himself he agreed with the free-flow of art. And what did this result in at the behest of Capitalist Corporations? The pastiche of revolution, to be bought and sold many times over.

Take any form of media, word, an expression, it will be hoisted away, slapped on a shirt, and sold back to you at a handsome price. You cannot escape this.

The moment that this (my tattoo) becomes the new Che it loses all its power, resistance is reduced to at worst LARPing, at best Nerd Fandom, and the winners are the profiteers.

If profit is the aim of the game, the speech that is supported will inevitably favour that which nurtures the economy, not destroys it, unless in farce. Speech ain’t a level base of which a country is determined by, its an apparatus held by those that dictate the game.

This is why there is a necessity for us to control the narrative, control the message, because if we don’t, they’re still going to.

-

Obligations:

When armies with unequal numbers go into battle, a draw is a defeat for the lesser side.

Make believe it or not Radical Centrist politics have their political leanings as well, even if just by effect.

Look I like free speech, I love it, I’m a goddamn youtuber, but I’m not stupid, I know what’s coming, I know that groups would try and silence me if they could. That’s politics.

You might go “All we’re talking about is the legal sphere”. Firstly the legal is the political, pure ideology to say otherwise, but second it’s difficult for you to call yourself a fighter for free speech when as I’ve explained there’s sooo much more to it than simply the judicial.

Many proponents will even side-step the judicial boundaries anyway when monopoly becomes involved, and if I have to explain how Monopoly is not an externality of our system but an inherent part of accumulation then… sigh.

Strange how we’re usually all skeptical of an Economic Free Market but the Free marketplace of ideas unlocks your inner Libertarian.

Its when I see stuff like this that I begin wondering if this is all just a trend that will eventually die off when people realise the complexities of their circumstances. I remember just a few years ago how many Libertarians were speaking the merits of free speech until they discovered that methodological individualism wasn’t actually achieving their goals. I count down the days when Lauren Southern finally calls for limits on speech just like her limits on borders. After all freedom is not free it must be defended right?

And btw folks usually aren’t as brave to actively advocate limits so they’ll always present justifications, such as that these views are mental disorders, or they’ll destroy civilisation, or these people are Degenerates.

This is a historic moment in political discourse, at this point ultimately we’re interested in picking sides, and you’ll do this just as much as anyone will.

On the left we like to talk a lot about Left Unity. I’m not necessarily against the idea, but a lot of the time people make a religion out of it, glossing over the fact that many aspects of various factions (???) contradict. It might not be immediately obvious, but when push comes to shove these conflicts become very apparent. There are some principles in which each side certainly doesn’t see eye to eye.

“Politics is pervasive, everything is political and the choice to remain apolitical is usually just an endorsement of the status quo”

If it wasn’t obvious, I’m a Communist, yeah yeah say what you want, I believe in the liberation of those who do all the work through armed struggle based upon material conditions. I’m going to therefore be in favour of real mass culture, the stuff that gets people focused on achieving liberating aims instead of just appealing to markets. Its for this reason that I’m not interested in defending the views of right-wing nationalists, fascists, reactionaries… my enemies in other words, the ideas largely speaking which regress the people and they’re not interested in defending me either, wouldn’t expect them to.

If all you’re talking about is the centre, you’re gonna get flanked, sorry.

You might bump in when I denounce Dankula stating “His punishment showcases the system is at fault” and I would agree. This system is at fault, its been at fault since before our constitution was written, and it’ll never stop being at fault until you solve the contradictions.

Liberalism did fail, its ideals never came to fruition and that’s the reason why Socialists bring forth the praxis to achieve it, sometimes that’ll involve using words, sometimes it’ll involve lots and lots of guns, but let me tell you, you can’t always fight a war by playing nice, sometimes you have to use a diversity of tactics to achieve it.

Maybe we need 11 of them? (Shows book)

But thats more of a material answer and I know that most you don’t give a crap about some dead Chinese guy., but getting back to the original idea about responsibilities behind our speech, well, here’s something to think about.

So… here goes nothing.

If you’re a straight white male aged 11-16 in the UK and weren’t brought up to fit into the standard male dynamic, chances are you got picked on, sometimes a lot, sometimes that’s every day, not necessarily violence but words from numerous mouths are highly unnerving.

I did not have a particularly fun time adolescence. Every day was horrible, I never had a feeling going in that this would be exciting or, this would be a day where things would be different, everyday was a total black smudge with no end in sight.

Unlike other people, I never got to have a group that I fit into, so I had no escape, nothing to take my mind off things.

Looking back I don’t know why I bothered going in, I wasn’t getting amazing grades anyway.

When I went to Drama school and other clubs on the weekends and after school, I would also get picked on, but it wasn’t in spite, it was just general, friendly teasing. But there wasn’t a difference in my mind, because when you’ve had to deal with so much constant abuse, and paranoia, and humiliation 30 hours a week, it fucks you up.

So when Id say to the weekend buds “I dont like this” theyd go “Oh come on man its just a bit of fun, its okay, dont worry about it, its just a joke, its all okay”

Back then I didn’t have the nerve, I just put up with it, but if I could go back, Id say. No, actually its not Okay, because you don’t know for the life of me how much I have had to deal with this shit, to me that doesn’t come across like you’re being funny, like your laughing with me, it comes across like you’re a psychopath who wants to get pleasure out of my misfortune.

Of course the response to this would be obvious “Well what am I supposed to do? Just talk to you like a robot. You should just get over it, leave it in the past. Your making it harder for everyone” or some other faux-victimised response.

And sometimes y’know they might be right, maybe I should’ve not made worse a bad situation, but fact remains I still bleed.

To you, this is just having fun and games, to you and your other friends its normal, but to me its a threat.

Now today you can call me what you want I don’t care, I’m out of that place now and I’m all the better for it,

But even though some 7 or 8 years since then I’ve been able to recover, I still carry a hangover of it all, and it affected my decisions later on in life sometimes to a dire extent,

Its had the effect of making me feel both distrustful of people, and also like Im a burden to be around other people,

I never feel I should hang around for too long, I never want to take chances in friendship for fear I’ll embarrass myself, I say one thing out of tempo and suddenly flashbacks and an enormous shadow of mordor conjures over me. And I think most of all its been very difficult for me to express my emotions because I used to do it a hell of a lot.

Those 5 years were the single handed worst years of my life. And if you were at any point responsible for adding to that devastation and humiliation, then a large part of me wants to lash your goddamn skull inside out.

Because as trivial and generic as my story may be, that part of my life has been stolen from me, and those 5 years I will never get back.

So what’s the point of all this?

“Ossidents are sometimes surprised that, instead of buying a dress for their wife, the colonized buy a transistor radio. They shouldn't be, the colonized are convinced their fate is in the balance. They live in a doomsday atmosphere and nothing must elude them”

I want you to place the relatively minor experiences I received as a child, and translate those into other groups, victims of domestic abuse, victims of colonialism, racism, sexism, queer phobia. Like I said I’m out of that place now, but others aren’t, for many people they still live day to day in this ever pressing struggle, trying to just tell people “Please, just don’t do this”.

It’s not okay. But maybe together you’ll help me out with solving these problems?

My conclusion to this is simple,

Free Speech is not just something you can fling around to score political points, it doesn’t materialise simply because we all decide it should. If we want free-speech we need to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

We need to be sure that the conditions in society don’t proliferate toxic ideas that might even lead to the downfall of said society.

This very Tattoo that 90 years ago would’ve been Anti-Communist as hell has become a Pan-Left symbol against Fascism. Its living proof that with the correct methods the conditions of words, symbols, ideas can be resolved.

When class struggle subsides, when our social divides have been solved, when the conflict doesn’t oppose the existence of certain folks, then maybe, we can well and truly say that we can have free speech, and we’ll stand at a comedy show and yell “Yes, lets talk about those BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP” and be met with cheering applause from all sides. But until then, Don’t be a dick.

[softuris]

you’ve given me my wings, sweetheart || part 2

stanley uris x eddie kaspbrak || steddie

part1 + part2 + part3 + part4 + part5 + part6

masterlist... (-)

IT prompts... (-)

request here... (-)

“What’s that look for, love?”

Stanley blinked, and suddenly he was back to reality. Back in the hallway with Eddie. “Yeah— yeah I’m fine,” Stan swallowed.

Eddie smiled, despite their situation. “Just lay low. Follow my lead,” he whispered, grabbing Stan’s hand with haste. With his free hand, Stan pulled his hoodie’s hood up over his head just like Eddie’s. This felt like a start.

As they reached a fork in the hallway, Eddie halted, along with Stan. “Which way to the car, boss man?”

Stan blinked again, as if if he didn’t try to blink, he wouldn’t subconciously or his eyes would dry out. “It should be just through those doors,” he whispers, his voice a little louder than it should be. With Eddie’s hand still attached to his, he pulls forward, leading Eddie to the correct door quickly. “Do you have any idea where your room mate’s car is, Eddie?”

Eddie fumpled around behind him, trying to keep up with Stan’s large strides. His legs were significantly longer than Eddie’s. “In the parking garage center next door,” he pants out, gripping tighter to Stan’s hand for balance.

As they got closer to the door at the end of the hallway, a shiny red exit sign above it, Stan braced himself to slam into the door to open it. The door swung open from the sheer brute slam, and without a second to waste, they spotted Stan’s car: A 2001 Honda CR-V. Green. As they stood in the doorway, looking at the car, still catching their breath, they hear a shout from down hallway.

“I know I heard someone! C’mere you fucking sneak!”

There was pure anger in his voice, and the thought of what would happen if the room mate caught them sent shivers down Stan’s spine. Before he had time to fully think of what would happen, Eddie pulled Stan from the door, before shouting “Says the damn skank who’s done the real sneaking!”

Eddie is bouncing on his feet, pent up with energy. With admiring eyes, Stan can see just how serious Eddie feels about his duty. And then Eddie turns to Stan.

“Unlock the car! Fucking move!”

With shakey hands, Stan unlocks the door and flips the button to unlock Eddie’s. Crawling into the backseat, Eddie’s squeels set Stan’s, already pounding, heart on fire. “Alright, alright, alright! Uhh— uhh—“ Stan starts, looking out the front window for any sign of the angry room mate.

“Go go go!” Eddie hollers, rolling down the windows on the passengers side as Stan frantically turns the keys in the ignition and speeds backwards, hitting the car behind them.

With wide eyes and a gaping mouth, Eddie turns to Stan beside him. “Oh my god!” Eddie shouts, a hysterical smile spread across his face. “You just fucking backed into a car!”

Throwing his hands in the air, Stan looks at Eddie in horror. “Shit!” Stan shouts, before putting the car in Drive. “Take two!” The car lurches forward with everything the old car has got, and speeds down the deserted back street. With a beaming look on his face, Eddie chuckles out loud, still pent up with energy.

As they pass the room mate, Eddie flips him off throw the open window and sticks his tongue out childishly. “Asshole!” Eddie calls to him, with a big smile, before sitting back in his seat and rolling up the window.

Stan steers with unbent arms and a horrified face, as Eddie beside him is laughing. “That was great! Did you see the look on that fucker’s face?” Eddie asks, looking to his partner-in-crime beside him, noticing his obvious anxiety. “You ok there, Curly. You look like you might puke,” Eddie recoils in his seat, fearing the impending vomit.

Clearing his throat, Stan looks over at Eddie briefly. “I’m fine.”

His expression changes, Eddie’s, as he crosses his arms and slouches in his seat. “You know I didn’t always used to be this,,,” Eddie trailed off, trying to think of the right word.

“Careless?” Stan suggest.

“Spontaneous,” Eddie finishes for himself, shooting a glare to Stan.

Stan chuckles scornfully. “Well I sure hope you didn’t always think it was ok to hop into a

“I thought you wanted to help.”

Distraught, Stan runs a funger through his now messy curls, to which he cringes at. “This isn’t part of the plan,” he groans, mentally kicking himself for doing this.

“Plan? What plan?” Eddie asks.

“My plan. The plan,” Stan says, rather upset.

“You’re going to need to elaborate.”

“Where I’m going and what I’m doing in life. That plan.” Eddie blinks, perhaps waiting for more information. “Nevermind. Someone as ‘spontaneous’ as you would never understand,” Stan huffs, running another hand throw his hair out of habit.

“Tell me about it then.”

Stan tightens his grip on the steering wheel, before letting his tense facial features relax. “You really want to know?”

Eddie nods.

“I just,” Stan fidgets in his seat, though never taking his eyes off the road. “Since I was young I’ve had this plan for how I’d get through life. It gets super complex, but to boil it down I planned to go to community college my first two years out of highschool, then go to NYU to major in Business Management, then buy out a music supply company to make lots of money.”

Eddie smiles at him in the darkness of the car. “That sounds like a good plan.”

“Yeah?” Stan smiles, looking to Eddie when they hit a red light.

Eddie nods. With admiring eyes, Stan gazes at Eddie in the passenger seat, who gazes back at him. “The light’s green, Curly,” Eddie smirks, looking at the light to signal to Stan the color really has changed.

“Right.”

As they roll down a busy road, in front of the parking complex, Eddie lifts his feet onto the dashboard. “So what does tonight have to do with that plan of yours?” he asks, folding his arms behind his head.

With a grunt, Stan reaches across the dashboard and pulls Eddie’s feet off. “None of it involves me going to jail, Eddie,” Stan says dryly.

Eddie chuckles. “We aren’t going to get caught.”

Stan pulls into the entrance of the parking garage, and pays for entry. “You want to finally tell me why we’re doing this?” Stan asks, a small smile on his face. Eddie notices his arms have finally relaxed, and his grip on the steering wheel is less intense than before.

“My room mate did something.”

From the passenger’s seat, Stan held eye contact with Eddie, briefly before he continues cruising through the parking garage. “Mind telling me what the something was?”

At first Eddie shakes his head slowly, and Stan thinks he might not give an answer.

“Henry has been sleeping with my boyfriend. Well— Ex-Boyfriend.”

Stan didn’t mean to slam on the breaks, but he did and, god damn it, he knew he’d regret that. Especially when Eddie shot him a look of anger. “Woah watch it!” he shouted, holding his head to protect himself from further brake checks.

“Sorry.”

Eddie rubs the back of his head.

“Is Henry your room mate?” Stan asked, trying to keep his cheeks from burning up, even though he knew they looked normal in the faint light from the parking garage lights. He made a right turn, to continue up the garage.

Eddie nodded, not given him a word response.

“Care to tell me anymore?” Stan asked, kicking himself for reacting the way he did. He didn’t want Eddie to feel uncomfortable. He thought Eddie was cute, that’s all, and to find out his boyfriend had cheated on him blew his mind. “Look, Eddie, you don’t have to tell me anymore. But just know that I’m glad to help your cause,” he smiled, letting the car fall into silence.

Eddie sighed loudly, almost giving in. “I walked in on them tonight,” he whispered. When Stan looked over Eddie was biting his lip, as if to hold back tears. “I mean I suspected it, I really did. I should’ve been smart enough to do something sooner.”

Stan nodded, to show he was listening. He turned around the next corner in the garage.

“I just opened the door, to ask Henry what he wanted to do for dinner, and then—“ With another sigh, Eddie’s voice became shaky. “So I did what I normally do: Run. I grabbed the car keys, and just ran.” With that, Eddie curled his feet up onto he seat of the car, and Stanley didn’t quite feel have the heart to tell him he shouldn’t put his feet on the upholstery.

Silence lingered, the only noise being sniffles coming from Eddie. “I— I’m really sorry that happened, Eddie,” Stan whispered, pausing in the road to place a comfortong hand on his shoulder. “That’s really fucked up.”

Eddie sniffled. “Yeah, well I’m gonna get him back.” Another sniffle. “He’ll pay,” Eddie all but growled.

Given a little bit more of a purpose, Stan continued up the parking garage until Eddie told him to park near a 2006 purple Dodge Camero. Stan got out of the driver’s side, and jogged around to the other side to get the door for Eddie. Trapsing toward the Camero, Stan scoffed. “That shit Ex of yours would drive a fuck-up car like this,” he spat, literally spitting on the windshield.

Chuckling, Eddie copied him, planting another loogie beside Stan’s. “And what’s that suppose to mean? That ‘he would?’” Eddie asked, a small smile spread across his face, his arms crossed in front of his chest, the sleeves of his windbreaker hanging at his wrists.

“It means that shitty people drive good-for-nothing, jerk off cars,” Stan explains, a smile forming on his own face.

With a weak slap on the back, Eddie giggles louder. “You drive a 2001 Honda CRV, and you think—“ he begins but is interupted by Stan.

“Ay ay, where’s that spray paint, huh?”

Eddie smiles wide. Swinging the backpack off his shoulders, he opens it up to pull out a can of spray paint. With a slight toss of his arm, Stan catches it, while Eddie takes the other can. “Here let me unlock it,” Eddie says, clicking the button on the set of stolen keys, which makes the Camero make a small chirp, signaling it’s been unlocked.

With suddenly shaky hands, Stan opens the passenger’s side door and climbs in, followed by Eddie, but from the back seat. “Care to do the honors?” Eddie asks, popping the cap off of his spray paint and shaking it thoroughly.

Stan smiles softly, and pushes the can towards Eddie. “I think you owe it to yourself to do the first of the spraying,” he whispers.

With grateful eyes, Eddie smiles back just as soft. Nodding he, turns to the back of the inside of the car, and squeezes his eyes shut, preparing for the spray paint. With tense shoulders, he presses down on the can’s button and paint coats the back seats in an ugly thick green color.

Unable to help himself, Stan chuckles, before Eddie gives him a nudge to start painting as well. With his still shakey arms, Stan lifts the can, and shakes it thoroughly, just like Eddie did, and pushes down on the top button. A bright pink blasts out of the can and coats the passenger’s seat in a hot pink paint.

They spend the next 4 minutes, getting each crevace of the dashboard, and every fiber of the seats, before returning to the outside of the car. “Shit, it smells so— so— so shitty,” Eddie gags, pinching his nose shut.

“Come on. We’ve still got paint left, and the exterior of this car is looking super guilty,” Stan teases, beginning to coat the windshield of the car with his pink spray paint.

With adoring eyes, Eddie watched Stan. He watched as he shimmied around the car with focused eyes. He watched him get close to get an especially tricky crevace, and see how his tongue sticks out when he’s concentrated. He watched how small drips of paint littered his neat tucked in shirt, and couldn’t help but feel... grateful.

“Can I buy you a smoothie?”

Stan stopped working. “Can you what?”

“I want to buy you a smoothie, Stanley.”

Stan let his arms drop to his sides, the can still clenched in his hand. “Oh, yeah— I— yeah that would be cool,” he shrugged, lifting a single arm back up to cover his reddening cheeks.

With that, Eddie continued his assault on the car, even going as far as to write “suck it (oh wait you already did)” in sharpie on the wheels.

As they stood back and admired their work, Eddie leaned against Stan, wrapping his arms around Stan’s in a small hug. A feeling of angst starting swell in Stanley’s stomach as he remembered how angry Henry looked. He remembered how he had been thinking of what Henry would do if he had caught them. “Eddie, what makes you so sure Henry won’t, you know, call the police.”

Eddie leaned back off Stan. “Henry’s closeted. The biggest homophobe of NYU actually. If word got out, from a certain angry gay, A K A me,” Eddie continued. “That he was sleeping with man, he would probably die.”

Knowingly, Stan nodded.

Eddie’s touch lingered on Stan. They looked back at the ugly Camero, and soon pride swelled in the two of them. Though silence hung, it was comfortable.

“Now how bought that smoothie, right Curly?”

——————

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[jakobsenespensen8-blog]

NDS Young boy! 4.6.3 For Android.

The day was chilly and also crunchy the air a clean wind and the heavens a dark gold as the sunshine gradually went up, the school was actually dynamic along with youthful adolescents prepared to begin their 1st day from university. There were hoots of arrangement coming from the children in the room; I took note that just Stephan looked unmoved by swap. This would take a complete three-day shake down with dogs off the drugs device to expose the contraband even one of the most ordinary teenage young boy may have produced around his area. This calamity film concerning zombies managing the globe could possibly properly have actually been a calamity in itself. But the males I met there still talked bleakly concerning being actually unchurched or abused by their families. As soon as, it appears off the art that grows older have left our company, there really was a time when males could delight in being on the cusp between feminine and manly worlds when they can generate yet another passing person, one thing even more playful compared to the guy as well as more strong in comparison to the youngster. Olsson's memoire relieves her family members coming from the ghost from a shed kid that had plagued them and also coming from the trouble that cascades down the eras; nevertheless, Peter's get-together with his shed household had not been also an ending" (220), because it is actually reality and that performs not merely end. Millions of males have actually been forced to put their lives in jeopardy without a say in the manner. When Group Meat set out to make a Super Meat Young boy version for touchscreen mobile phones, designers Tommy Refenes and also Edmund McMillen swore they definitely would not merely put a virtual gamepad on the important things and carry out some half-assed port from their downloadable pinch hit PC and also Xbox 360. In the meantime the guys have learned to interact and also end up being like an effectively oiled leather equipment. Meggie longs to find the captivated globe she has actually just experienced by means of the pages of a manual and also travels along with Farid in to the story. Some of the most significant disparities I discovered is actually the article writer regularly changes between the virtue and nativity of a preteen child Kiran (the hero of guide) and the understanding and also maturation from an adult. Graphically Men in Dark 3 is actually ok. This ´ s not specifically negative in any sort of area, but this doesn ´ t stick out like various other Gameloft activities either. I was actually in the escalator when the doors opened as well as concerning 10 boys - all in their twenties and also not exactly what you 'd contact sober - got along. They possessed their carry-ons with them and also in between their bodies and the suitcases, I was actually virtually affixed from the rear wall. Alternatively, if a boy states that he intends to do ballet, sewing, playing with figures, or even that he ases if fuchsia or purple he'll jeopardize being actually aggravated and not being actually allowed through others. While implementing get redirected here consults with Marcus who is regularly the odd one in his training class however one of the most mature youngster in the universe. The game follows the initial tale of George Stobbart as he takes a trip around the planet to unwind the Knight conspiracy theory. The guys in my loved ones had their Easter traditions truly, and soaking ladies in water on Easter Monday is just one of Slovakia's the majority of cherished practices. The addition of these personalities allows Houston to earn his point that races encountered bias, as well as his factor was properly produced; nevertheless, Vinny seemed to go away, and also, while Burns included in my individual favored scene at a jazz club in Nyc, his character remains mostly an enigma. British Military, World War I-- the brigadier, he would certainly stroll free throw line with a stick and he would certainly whack his males to get 'em to fire. Maturing http://how2befitandhealth.com/ as TELEVISION courses like United States Pie or The Inbetweeners have narratives dedicated to the sexual disappointment from being actually a teenage boy. Later on, our team are actually to discover that her impressive hereditary profile implies that she won't grow older a lot - unlike the individuals, which will wind up resembling Patrick Stewart and also Ian McKellen. Kevin Brooks has actually remained in an assortment from jobs consisting of: entertainer, filling station assistant, crematorium handyman, civil service employee, hot dog vendor at the Greater london Zoo, general post office employee, and train line ticket office Kevin Brooks was carried in 1959 as well as grew up in Exeter, Devon, England. I adored this. (Just in case it was actually hard to say to.) I was visiting offer this 4.5 given that I ased if Dangerous Girls a lot better yet after that ... why would I carry out that?! On Monday David Ellam, 52, was killed by a dog that had been gone back to its manager even with issues that this threatened. Young boy is a lot more thoughtfully crafted, as is her little girl Bird, although each still been without sufficient measurement to keep me over mildly fascinated. The disaster, the 5th pet strike death entailing little ones since 2006, echoes the death from five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson in Street Helens, Merseyside, on New Year's Time 2007, when she was actually bitten 72 times through her uncle's pit bull. Might possess taken the globe through storm with its own TV result however, as you will observe from the complying with listing, there's plenty of motion pictures on Netflix to feast on once you have acquired everything binge-watching out of your system. When reading through Kid + Robot, I was certainly not actually trying to find an electronic book especially, yet I did take place ahead all over a read-aloud from guide on YouTube. Eventually, he uncovers a plan to damage the world and must race the appear purchase to save it. It is actually certainly not merely the clothes that are available for little kids, this's everything - the kinds of toys that babies and children are provided (dollbabies as well as kitchen areas for ladies, matchbox autos as well as fire engine for kids), the kinds of activities that are allowed (sporting activities and tree climbing up for children, playing property as well as deciding on flowers for women), and also just how moms and dads and caretakers reply to injuries and also outbursts. Yes, I preferred him to appear beautiful and also everything however I failed to prefer them to point out: 'Consider me, I'm really very hot' - I hate all that, that is actually uncomfortable." McLellan, which likewise shot the naked tale for Fantastic Man, which featured males aged between 22 as well as 52, and also was actually alonged with an essay on the aging method of the male physical body, stated the shoot was about generating characters which were attractive but certainly not always in a fanciable way".

[ozma914]

The Heroes of 9/11

Much as I tried, I couldn't write anything new this year to memorialize the events of 9/11.

I was so heartsick over our horribly bungled and costly withdrawal from Afghanistan, I found myself unable to say anything that wouldn't just attract pointless political arguing. Oh, I found words--I'd even go so far to say they were eloquent. But despite the obvious connection, writing about it now would only take away from remembrance of the terrorist attacks.

So I deleted the whole thing, thus saving the internet another corner of hate throwing and name calling. Instead, I'm reprinting here the column I wrote for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Sadly, I didn't need to make many changes.

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              I've mentioned before that I’m uncomfortable using the word “hero”. Like many words, it’s overused and clichéd. What is a hero? Not a sports star. Being tough doesn’t make a hero. Not a skydiver. That may make you brave, but not heroic.  

Ronald Bucca was a member of the 101st Airborne, then served in the Special Forces and Green Berets while on active duty in the army. He became a New York City firefighter in 1978, and on September 11, 2001, became the only FDNY fire marshal ever killed in the line of duty.

           Does somebody become a hero when they take on a dangerous occupation? I don’t know … the flagger who controls traffic during road construction has an especially dangerous job, but I don’t know if you’d call it heroic. You could even argue that a firefighter or police officer doesn’t automatically become a hero the moment he puts on the badge. Maybe – potential hero?  

           But then, isn’t everyone a potential hero?  

           Steve DeChiaro is a businessman, and was just entering the Pentagon for a meeting when the building was struck by an airplane. No one would have blamed him for saving himself; he had no legal responsibility to act. Certainly he never thought he’d end up winning the Defense Department’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Valor, for his actions in rescuing and treating people that day.

           Sometimes, maybe, a hero is just someone who overcomes their fear and acts – not on a lark, but to do something important, something vital.  

Tom Burnett was the vice president of a medical devices company. He found himself on United Airlines Flight 93, and after his plane was hijacked he learned, in a cell phone call to his wife, of the attacks on the World Trade Center. He didn’t know for sure what the hijackers were planning, but it must have quickly become clear they also wanted to kill.

           Burnett must have also known that an attempt to take the plane back would likely be fatal … but that if it failed, they still might keep the hijackers from taking a large number of civilians on the ground with them.

           Sometimes being a hero is a matter of relativity. A firefighter might do something on a day to day basis that others see as heroic, while he just calls it another day on the job. But others wouldn’t normally expect to see a crisis, beyond a paper jam in the copy machine.  

Welles Crowther was an equities trader. The biggest risk for him on the job was a paper cut, or a coffee burn. He was on the 104th floor of the South Tower when the first plane hit.

           Witnesses described how Crowther, a former volunteer firefighter, took control, organized people, and got dozens out of the building before it collapsed.

           Sometimes it’s the call of duty, of course.  

Moira Smith, a 13 year veteran of the NYPD, had already been decorated for heroism. It’s hardly surprising that she headed into the World Trade Center to rescue people, and became the only female member of the force killed that day.

           Her daughter would be 22 now. I hope people tell her about her mom.

           Or … maybe heroism just runs in the family?  

Eric Moreland was a George Washington University student at the time, but also a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. As often happens to off duty emergency personnel, he was just happening by when an airplane crashed into the Pentagon.

           Moreland, at great risk, charged into the burning building and carried injured people to safety. Then he stayed to help remove the dead. Then he drove all the way to New York to help out at the world Trade Center.

           Moreland’s grandfather, Lt. Col. Conway Jones, was one of the famous Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. His father flew 80 combat missions in Vietnam.

           Whether it runs in the family or not, some people are just born to serve.  

Special Agent Leonard Hatton fought crime as an FBI agent, fought fires as a volunteer, and fought for freedom as a US Marine. He reported the second plan crashing into the south Tower – not from inside the World Trade Center, but from the roof of a nearby hotel. Then he went in. What else could he do? He died that day, but if he’d turned his back on the call for help, he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself.

           There will always be some who suffer for their service.  

Jim Ryan survived, but was still a victim of 9/11. A New York City firefighter, he came back to the WTC site again and again, for months. He helped search for survivors, then victims, and as time went by there was nothing left but to search out bits of what were once people.

           What else could he do? Over three hundred of his brother firefighters were there.

           The cancer diagnosis came in 2006. His lungs finally failed him on Christmas, 2009. He was 48, and died on the same day that someone else grabbed the headlines by trying to bring down another plane, with a chemical bomb strapped to his leg.

           On September 11, 2001, 341 FDNY firefighters and 2 Fire Department paramedics were killed; 23 NYPD officers died, along with 37 Port Authority PD officers and 8 private EMS medics.  

           On 9/11 at least 200 people, faced with the horrors of burning to death, jumped from the Twin Towers. Among the almost 3,000 who died in the four sites linked in the attack were citizens of over 70 nations. I don’t know how many of those people qualified as heroes. A lot of them, certainly. And just as certainly, the dead from that day are only a fraction of the victims.  

           Every now and then some short sighted person will suggest we stop obsessing so much about 9/11, that we “let it go”. After all, it’s been twenty years, right?  

           They’re wrong. They’ll always be wrong. Ten times twenty years, they’ll be wrong. Not only because we must keep this from happening again, but because heroes vanish too quickly, in the flotsam and jetsam of pop culture and the concerns of everyday life. Their memory goes too quickly, just as they do.  

           Be inspired by their stories. Saddened. Enraged. But never forget.

[felicia-cat-hardy]

11 Signs Your Body Might Not Be Properly Digesting Meat & What To Do About It

It’s a familiar feeling: waking up after a night out with the tell-tale stomach cramps, dark eye circles, and feeling like you need to down a gallon of water. No, it’s not a hangover — wondering “Why does meat make me sick?” the morning after a steak dinner is a more common experience than you’d think.

Meat can be a really healthy, protein-packed staple in your diet, but it doesn't necessarily work for all body types and metabolisms. Knowing if there are signs your body doesn't digest meat well can help you eat smart and feel more comfortable. There are certain foods that trigger an intolerance or sensitivity, and unless recognized, you might experience irregular bowels, head pains, body aches, and other symptoms.

Eating meat isn't a requisite for a healthy and happy lifestyle, and while someone might thrive when eating a meat-heavy diet, another person might notice stomach pain or diarrhea after eating red meat. Anything that throws the body out of balance can cause problems, and food is a common trigger for such instability. If you find that you can't tolerate meat, it's not a diet-buster, as you can still find protein and iron in plant-based sources — and will probably feel a lot better. Here are 11 signs that your body can't process meat well, and you might want to avoid it.

1. Bloating

If you notice bloating after eating meat, it could be a sign of malabsorption or be representative of a failure to digest food properly. Per a 2018 study in Nutrients, fatty meats contain large amounts of the amino acid methionine, which contains sulfur and is broken down into smelly gas in your gut. That can build up and make you bloated. Abdominal distention and an overall feeling of fatigue after eating meat is a large enough reason to eliminate it and see if you feel better.

2. Nausea & Diarrhea

Nausea, heartburn, and indigestion could be signs that you’re not digesting meat well, and these symptoms can prove to be incredibly uncomfortable, Rachna Govani, CEO and co-founder of public health technology company Foodstand, tells Bustle. If you get stomach pain and diarrhea after eating red meat, you may have a meat intolerance, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI). This can be caused by a meat allergy, which affects 1-3% of people and can develop as a symptom of a tick bite.

3. Getting Sick More Often

If you're not able to digest meat well, you might find yourself getting sick more often, especially with food-borne illnesses, such as salmonella and E. Coli. An antigen found in red meat has been linked to lower immune system function and higher incidences of cancer because the body struggles to digest it, per the Cancer Research Institute. If your immunity isn’t what it used to be, it could be due to eating high amounts of red meat.

4. Stomach Cramps

That abdominal cramping might be a sign that your body has an intolerance to meat, the ACAAI says. If you consistently feel like somebody’s kicked you in the gut after eating meat, but an allergy test comes up clear, another culprit could be diverticulitis, an inflammation of the colon that’s connected to high consumption of red meat in men, per a 2017 study in Gut.

5. High Blood Pressure

"One important problem you may not feel — high blood pressure. High blood pressure can be silent, and still cause damage," Neil Grimmer, head of Plum Organics, tells Bustle. Some processed meats, like bacon, contain high amounts of sodium, which can increase blood pressure. Research from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2018 also found that eating well-done meat, as opposed to rarer or less-cooked meat, was linked to a higher risk of blood pressure issues. "If you are one of the millions of Americans with high blood pressure, this may be a good sign that you’d do better cutting back on meat," Grimmer says.

6. Constipation

"Every person has a unique digestive system that functions based not only on their genetics but also heavily on their dietary habits as well. I've found more and more clients complaining about indigestion and constipation post red meat consumption which may be related to a variety of factors," Elizabeth Ann Shaw, M.S., R.D.N., C.L.T., tells Bustle. "For instance, depending on the cut of meat, some are exceptionally high in fat. Fat takes longer to digest in the body so it may cause indigestion based on the other foods you are consuming during the meal.” A study published in Gut & Gastroenterology in 2020 suggested that eating large amounts of red meat can cause constipation.

7. Dark Circles Under The Eyes

Dark circles don't just come from a poor night's sleep. Apparently, not digesting meat properly can mess with your beauty regimen, too. "If you get dark cycles under your eyes after eating meat, especially the next day it's a sign the meat has not been digested properly," Liana Werner-Gray, nutritional expert and author of The Earth Diet and 10-Minute Recipes, tells Bustle. Allergies and food intolerances can lead to dark circles thanks to an increase of nasal congestion, Healthline reports. At the same time, dark circles can also be a sign of anemia, or a lack of iron in the blood, for which eating more red meat is often recommended. It’s never a bad idea to consult your doctor if you’re concerned about your undereye circles.

8. Needing To Drink Water A Lot

Drinking water is a really easy way to improve your digestion — your body needs H2O to flush out the byproducts of processing your meals, a process your liver and kidneys do without much help. But meat is high in sodium, which can throw off your body’s natural balance of fluids if you have too much. If you find yourself reaching for your comically oversized water bottle after eating meat, it could be a sign that your body isn’t having fun digesting that hamburger.

9. Bad Body Odors & Breath

"Bad breath and body odor are both signs that your body isn't digesting meat properly. If meat isn't digested properly, the smelly odor can go back into the digestive system which eventually makes its way to the skin and breath," explains Werner-Gray. She recommends taking digestive enzymes to help break it down. A 2006 study published in Chemical Senses actually found that the body odor of non-meat eaters was regarded as more attractive than those who ate meat.

10. Fatigue

"If you feel really sluggish and tired after eating meat it's a sign your body doesn't properly digest meat. It's a sign that the meat is stuck in your bowels and actually draining energy from your body working it off to digest it," Werner-Gray says. Some sleepiness after eating, particularly heavy meals, is common, but consistent flat-out tiredness after meat consumption in particular may be a signal that the meat isn’t being processed properly.

11. Muscle Loss

“You may experience loss of muscle,” Dr. Partha Nandi M.D., F.A.C.P, creator and host of Ask Dr. Nandi and Chief Health Editor at WXYZ-TV (ABC) Detroit, tells Bustle. Protein is a major fuel for muscle maintenance, and if your body isn’t breaking down meat proteins, that steak can’t help keep your muscles healthy.

If you notice any of these symptoms after eating meat, it might be wise to alter your diet and try more plant-based foods to see if there's an improvement.

Experts:

Rachna Govani

Neil Grimmer

Dr. Partha Nandi M.D. F.A.C.P.

Elizabeth Ann Shaw, MS, RDN, CLT

Liana Werner-Gray

Studies cited:

Cao, Y., Strate, L. L., Keeley, B. R., Tam, I., Wu, K., Giovannucci, E. L., & Chan, A. T. (2018). Meat intake and risk of diverticulitis among men. Gut, 67(3), 466–472. https://ift.tt/3bBKAO0

Dallas, D. C., Sanctuary, M. R., Qu, Y., Khajavi, S. H., Van Zandt, A. E., Dyandra, M., Frese, S. A., Barile, D., & German, J. B. (2017). Personalizing protein nourishment. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 57(15), 3313–3331. https://ift.tt/3orbmxQ

Górska-Warsewicz, H., Laskowski, W., Kulykovets, O., Kudlińska-Chylak, A., Czeczotko, M., & Rejman, K. (2018). Food Products as Sources of Protein and Amino Acids-The Case of Poland. Nutrients, 10(12), 1977. https://ift.tt/2QytQA6

Havlicek, J., Lenochova, P. (2006) The Effect of Meat Consumption on Body Odor Attractiveness. Chemical Senses, 31(8), 747–752, https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjl017

Monif, G. (2020). Chronic Constipation and Red Meat Consumption. Gut & Gastroenterology, 3(2).

Wilson, J. M., & Platts-Mills, T. (2019). Red meat allergy in children and adults. Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology, 19(3), 229–235. https://ift.tt/3tXuSTN

Get Relationship Advice Here

[groovytastemakerunknown]

Gaming chair guide: Expert shares how to buy a gaming chair

What is a gaming chair?

There's nothing particularly unique about gaming chairs, except the style. Sure, you'll find everything fromgaming armchairstogaming chairs that bring you down close to the floorand everything in between. But these days, the term "gaming chair" tends to denote a specific type of office chair with a leather or faux-leather build, a high-back race car-style seat and colorful patterns.

1. DXRacer Racing Series Gaming Chair

DXRacer was the first brand to produce this style of gaming chair back in 2006 and has grown to offer many different shapes and styles — most built on the same race car chair design. This model uses an artificial polyurethane leather with high density foam and a carbon fiber texture on the seat. You also get strap-on lumbar and neck pillows, and a number of colors and patterns to choose from.

Since their inception, gaming chairs have grown incredibly common behind esports teams, Twitch streamers, YouTubers and other gaming personalities — leading to a surge in popularity.

Are gaming chairs ergonomic?

The word "ergonomic" gets thrown a lot in marketing — especially when it comes to chairs — ultimately, ergonomics is all about customizability.

"If I had to pick one important thing, it's that a chair be easily adjustable" said Karen Jacobs, a board-certified professional ergonomist and clinical professor occupational therapist at Boston University. Specifically, she explained, you want a chair whose height, tilt and armrests are versatile, and then you want to actually learn and use those adjustments so you can get that ideal sitting position at a desk. In fact, it's best if you adjust it throughout the day to vary your posture just a bit, rather than staying in one formation. So, in summary, adjustability is key.

2. GTRACING Gaming Chair

There are dozens of chairs using this racing seat design, but with different features. Many more affordable chairs like this popular model on Amazon — whose more than 18,500 reviewers left it a 4.5-star average rating — allow the back to recline but don't allow for the full seat to tilt. If you're sitting at a desk for long periods, you’ll likely want that full tilt mechanism.

It can be tempting to lean forward during an intense gaming session, too, but you don't want to sit like this for very long. "The chair isn't providing the support you need," noted Jacobs. You want to be able to tilt the chair back and forth to promote some movement. In addition, she said, you want some cushion in the armrest and a porous, breathable material in the seat, neither of which is particularly common among gaming chairs. The lower the price, in fact, the quicker the faux-leather will start peeling and the seat cushion will wear down to its rock-hard bottom.

None of this is to say gaming chairs are terrible. Certain models do allow you to lean back and elevate your legs, much as you would on a couch, which will be decently comfortable. Jacobs also mentioned that if you're sitting back, the extra high back support can be nice, provided you have support for your neck, too — a lot of gaming chairs come with neck pillows, though some may be more comfortable than others.

3. Secretlab Titan Gaming Chair

Unlike more affordable models, the SecretLab Titan — built primarily for medium-to-larger folks — has full tilt functionality and adjustable lumbar support within the backrest. It also comes in fabric and NAPA leather variations, giving you a few more options in terms of materials.

Gaming chair versus office chair?

I get it: Gaming chairs look cool, and might feel a bit more comfortable at first blush. But just because a seat is comfortable when you first sit down doesn't mean it's going to be good for longer sessions at your desk.

"Typically, it can take a week or longer to really evaluate a chair for comfort," noted Jacobs. If you can, find a company and retailer that will let you try the chair out for at least a week, if not more so you can dial in the adjustments and decide whether it's right for you.

Ultimately, the chair you get will probably depend on your use case. If you want a chair that'll let you kick back on soft leather for an hour or two, a gaming chair may fit the bill. But if you're working from home or gaming for hours on end, you're probably going to get more for your money with an office chair designed for long sitting sessions. High-end, well-known office chairs like the Herman Miller Aeron and Steelcase Gesture are hard to beat when it comes to adjustability, comfort and long-term durability, but more affordable models like the Komene Mesh or HON Ignition can do the trick, as well.

How to Choose the Right Bar Stool

Choosing the right type of commercial furniture is crucial, as it does not only define the entire look of your shop or office, but also influences customer impression of your business. This is even more important for businesses in the food and dining industry; bar and restaurant furniture are integral in creating the perfect ambience and theme for your interiors, which can make or break the customer’s dining experience.

For owners in the process of designing their bars or restaurants, one of the first things to look at are the chairs and bar stools. These are the cornerstone of your establishment’s dining space and are crucial to the entire dining experience. Selecting chairs is actually easy as they are often sold in sets. For bar chair, however, the process of choosing can actually get tricky. To help you decide which type of stool to use, we have rounded up some do’s and don’ts that you ought to follow:

Do: Measure your counter or table height.

For bars and restaurants, table height is usually at 40 to 45 inches. In this case, you can easily narrow down your selection to 30-inch bar stools. At the same time, measure its width and make sure that there’s still space for your customers to comfortable ease their way into or out of their seats.

Don’t: Choose a bar stool with no back if your table is not high enough.

Bar stool without backs is usually used when customers are more likely to lean on the table while watching the game, drinking, chatting, etc. However, they might get uncomfortable if there is not enough support, so you’d better choose a stool with arms and a back in this case.

Do: Consider using metal bar stools for your bar.

Metal is easy to clean, affordable, and stylish enough to match most countertops and tables. If you have a wooden floor and counter, it creates a contrast between modern and rustic design. An example of a very simple and minimalist metal barstool is our Kellis Stool.

Don’t: Use a metal bar stool with back and arms support for small spaces.

Metal bar stools with back and arms support may limit the space and are more appropriate for a home kitchen or bar (but this can work if you have swiveling bar stools). As much as possible, choose stools that occupy minimal amount of space, but make sure they’re still comfortable enough to accommodate even people with larger body types.

Do: Go for wooden bar stools if you want a more country and rustic look

Wood and woven stools offer a more traditional feel, usually made of dark woods, painted woods, and sometimes with leather cushion. These stools are the top choice for designers going for the vibe of sports bars, classic 50’s bars, or European-styled restaurants. Nextrend offers several wooden barstools such as the Destiny Barstools.

[patriotsnet]

Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/did-republicans-riot-after-obama-was-elected/

Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

Undocumented Kids Are Saved By Obamas Executive Order Daca Which Would Put A Halt To Deportation For Those Whod Entered The Country Before Age 16 And Yet In A Bid To Get The Gop To Come Over To His Side On Immigration Reform The President Has Also Deported A Record 15 Million People In His First Term

A Family Caught in Immigration Limbo

When Belsy Garcia saw her mother’s number appear on her iPhone on the afternoon of June 15, she felt what she calls the “uncomfortable fluttering” sensation in her chest. She knew that daytime calls signaled an emergency. The worst one had come the previous year, when her sister told her ICE agents had placed their father in federal custody.

Garcia was attending Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, when her father was marched out of her childhood home. As an undocumented immigrant — like both of her parents, who are from Guatemala — she couldn’t qualify for loans. She financed her ­education through scholarships and a stipend she earned as a residential assistant. Now she wondered if her mother was calling to say her father had been deported, which might force her to leave school to become the family’s breadwinner.

But this call was different. “Go turn on the television,” Garcia’s mother said. “You’re going to be able to work, get a driver’s license.”

Onscreen, President Obama was announcing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Undocumented immigrants who had arrived in the United States as children could apply for Social Security numbers and work permits. Garcia qualified: Her parents had brought her to this country when she was 7 years old. DACA transformed her into a premed student who could actually become a doctor. “It was like this weight was lifted,” she says. “All of that hard work was going to pay off.”

In The Next Hundred Days Our Bipartisan Outreach Will Be So Successful That Even John Boehner Will Consider Becoming A Democrat After All We Have A Lot In Common He Is A Person Of Color Although Not A Color That Appears In The Natural World Whats Up John Barack Obama White House Correspondents Dinner

And Then There Were Three

The first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court did so in 1880. It would take another 101 years for a woman to sit on that bench rather than stand before it. Even then, progress was fitful. Over the 12 years that Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg served together, their identities evidently merged; lawyers regularly addressed Ginsburg as “Justice O’Connor.” When O’Connor retired in 2006, she left the faux Justice O’Connor feeling lonely. Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned of something far more alarming: What the public saw on entering the court were “eight men of a certain size, and then this little woman sitting to the side.” They might well represent the most eminent legal minds in America. But there was something antiquated, practically mutton-choppy, about that portrait.

How many female justices would be sufficient? Nine, says Justice Ginsburg, noting that no one ever raised an eyebrow at the idea of nine men.

Seal Team Six Kills Osama Bin Ladenraiding His Secret Compound In Abbottabad Pakistan While Obama And His Top Advisers Watch A Live Feed Of The Mission From The White House Situation Room The Picture Of The Assembled Becomes The Last Supper Of The Obama Era

Poop Feminism

For me, it’s one moment. All the bridesmaids have come to the fancy bridal shop to see Maya Rudolph try on wedding dresses. This should be a familiar scene: The bride emerges from the changing room and … This is the dress! The friends clap. The mother cries. Everyone is a princess. Go ahead and twirl!

But when the bride emerges in Bridesmaids, almost all of her friends have started to feel sick. Sweat coats their skin. Red splotches creep over their faces. They try to “ooh” and “aah,” but it’s already too late. It starts with a gag from Melissa McCarthy, followed by another gag. Then a gag that comes simultaneously with a tiny wet fart. It’s the smallness of the fart that’s important here. It’s the kind of fart that slips out — a fart that could be excused away, a brief, incongruous accident. Women don’t fart in wedding movies, and women certainly don’t fart at the exact moment that the bride comes out in her dress. This can’t be happening. ­Melissa McCarthy blames the fart on the tightness of her dress. We breathe a sigh of relief.

Then sweet Ellie Kemper gags, and the sound effect is surprisingly nasty. Ellie’s face is gray. Melissa’s face is red. They look bad. They are embarrassed. How far is this going to go?

The camera cuts. We are above now. We look down from a safe perch as the release we have been anticipating and dreading begins. It is horribly, earth-­shatteringly gross. A woman has just pooped in a sink. The revolution has begun.

The Government Acquires A 61 Percent Stake In Gm And Loans The Company $50 Billion The Auto Bailout Will Eventually Be Heralded As A Great Success Adding More Than 250000 Manufacturing Jobs To The Economy

The Auto Industry Gets Rerouted

“The president was very clear with us that he only wanted to do stuff that would fundamentally change the way they did business. And that’s what we did. There were enormous changes. For example, General Motors had something like 300 different job classifications that the union had. If you were assigned to put the windshield wipers on, you couldn’t put tires on. And we wiped all that stuff out. We basically gave back management the freedom to manage, to hire, to fire. People stopped getting paid even when they were on layoff. We reduced the number of car plants so that there wasn’t so much overcapacity. So now, when you have 16 million cars sold , they’re making a fortune.”

Black Lives Matter Activists Are Arrested In Baton Rouge Louisianaprotesting The Murder Of Alton Sterling; More Than 100 People Are Detained In St Paul Minnesota Protesting The Murder Of Philando Castile

What Is the Point of a Quantified Self?

Melissa Dahl: The Fitbit was introduced at a tech conference eight years ago. It’s kind of incredible to realize that, before then, this idea of the “quantified self” didn’t really exist in the mainstream.

Jesse Singal: I feel like it’s the intersection of all these different trends: Everyone plays video games these days. You got smartphones everywhere. And people are realizing that solutions to the big problems that lead to sleeplessness and anxiety and bad eating — unemployment and income inequality and yada yada yada — aren’t gonna get solved anytime soon.

MD: That’s interesting, because all of this self-tracking is also, according to some physicians, giving people more anxiety! A Fitbit-induced stress vortex.

Cari Romm: It feels like productive stress, though. I’m talking as a recovered Fitbit obsessive, but it does make you look at Fitbit-less people like, “You mean you don’t care how many steps you took today?”

MD: Oh, God. I don’t care. Should I care? Sleep is the one thing I obsessed over for a while. Which does not really help one get to sleep.

JS: Do you think an actually good and not obsession-­inducing sleep app could help, though?

MD: There’s some aspect to the tracking idea that really does work. I mean, it’s just a higher-tech version of a food journal or sleep journal, right? Ben Franklin 300 years ago was tracking his 13 “personal virtues” in his diary.

JS: Would Ben Franklin have been an insufferable tech-bro?

Officer Darren Wilson Fatally Shoots Michael Brownin The St Louis Suburb Of Ferguson Sparking A National Protest Movement And Setting Off Unrest That Will Remain Unresolved Two Years Later

On the Triumph of Black Culture in the Age of Police Shootings

In the two years since Mike Brown was fatally shot by the police in Ferguson, and the video footage of his dead body in the street went viral, we have seen the emergence of a perverse dichotomy on our screens and in our public discourse: irrefutable evidence of grotesquely persistent racism, and irrefutable evidence of increasing black cultural and political power. This paradox is not entirely new, of course — America was built on a narrative of white supremacy, and black Americans have simultaneously continued to make vast and essential contributions to the country’s prominence—but it has become especially pronounced. And it’s not just because of the internet and social media, or the leftward shift of the culture, or black America’s being sick and tired of being sick and tired. In fact, it is all of these things, not least two terms with a black president. In the same way that black skin signals danger to the police , his black skin, to black people, signaled black cultural preservation. African-Americans didn’t see a black man as the most powerful leader in the free world; we saw the most powerful leader in the free world as black. This is what comedian Larry Wilmore was expressing at the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Dinner when he said, “Yo, Barry, you did it, my nigga.” It was a moment of unadulterated black pride.

Militants Attack American Compounds In Benghazi Libya Killing Us Ambassador Chris Stevens And Three Other Americans There Will Eventually Be Eight Congressional Probes Into The Incident

“I Know I Let Everybody Down”

“Before the debate, David Plouffe and I went in to talk to him and give him a pep talk and he said, ‘Let’s just get this over with and get out of here,’ which is not what you want to hear from your candidate right before the debate. We knew within ten minutes that it was going to be a ­debacle. We had armed him with a joke — it was his 20th anniversary, and he addressed Michelle — and it turns out Romney was expecting just such a line and had a really great comeback. And Romney was excellent — just free and easy and clearly well prepared and showed personality that people hadn’t seen before. Obama looked like he was at a press conference.

We had a meeting at the White House and he said, ‘I know I let everybody down and that’s on me, and I’m not going to let that happen again,’ and that was his attitude. We always had debate camps before, where we’d re-create in hotel ballrooms what the set would look like, and all of the conditions of the real debate. When we went down to Williamsburg, Virginia, for the next debate camp, he seemed really eager to engage in the prep. We had a decent first night. That was on Saturday. On Sunday night, Kerry, playing Romney, got a little more aggressive and Obama a little less so; it looked very much like what we had seen in Denver. It was like he’d taken a step back.

Scott Brown Is Elected Massachusetts Senatorturning Ted Kennedys Seat Republican For The First Time Since 1952 And Suddenly Throwing The Prospect Of Passing Obamacare Into Jeopardy

Plan B

“I’m talking to Rahm and Jim Messina and saying, ‘Okay, explain to me how this happened.’ It was at that point that I learned that our candidate, Martha Coakley, had asked rhetorically, ‘What should I do, stand in front of Fenway and shake hands with voters?’ And we figured that wasn’t a good bellwether of how things might go.

This might have been a day or two before the election, but the point is: There is no doubt that we did not stay on top of that the way we needed to. This underscored a failing in my first year, which was the sort of perverse faith in good policy leading to good politics. I’ll cut myself some slack — we had a lot to do, and every day we were thinking, Are the banks going to collapse? Is the auto industry going to collapse? Will layoffs accelerate? We just didn’t pay a lot of attention to politics that first year, and the loss in Massachusetts reminded me of what any good president or elected official needs to understand: You’ve got to pay attention to public opinion, and you have to be able to communicate your ideas. But it happened, and the question then was, ‘What’s next?’

Sheryl Sandbergs Lean In Hits Bookstores Making The Feminist Case That Women Should Be More Aggressive And Ambitious In Their Careers And Making Feminists Themselves Very Angry

The “Mommy Wars” Finally Flame Out

After decades of chilly backlash, we find ourselves, these past eight years, in an age of feminist resurgence, with feminist websites and publications and filmmakers and T-shirts and pop singers and male celebrities and best-selling authors and women’s soccer teams. Of course, as in every feminist golden age, there has also been dissent: furious clashes over the direction and quality of the discourse, especially as the movement has become increasingly trendy, shiny, and celebrity-backed.

Perhaps the most public feminist conflagration of the Obama years came at the nexus of policy and celebrity, of politics and pop power. It was the furor over Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who gave a viral 2010 TED Talk about women in the workplace who “leave before they leave” — who alter their professional strategy to accommodate a future they assume will be compromised by parenthood — which led to the publication of her 2013 feminist business manifesto, Lean In.

It’s a lesson of the Obama era: One approach to redressing inequality does not have to blot out the others. Sometimes, attacking from all angles is the most effective strategy.

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis Laces Up Her Pink Running Shoes And Spends Ten Long Hours Attempting To Filibuster A Billthat Wouldve Imposed Statewide Abortion Restrictions

“The Concept of Dignity Really Matters”

“I was given an enormous degree of latitude. I did communicate with the White House counsel on occasion about high-profile cases, but it was much more in the nature of just giving them a heads-up, to calm any nervous feelings they might have. There’s only one exception to that, and it was on marriage equality, in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case in 2013. We were contemplating coming in and arguing that it was unconstitutional for California to refuse to recognize the legal validity of same-sex marriages. But we didn’t have to do it . And because it was a discretionary judgment, and it was such a consequential step, that was the one matter where I really sought out the president’s personal guidance. I wanted to make sure the president had a chance to thoroughly consider what we should do before we did it. It was really one of the high points of my tenure. It was a wide-ranging conversation about doctrinal analysis, about where society was now, about social change and whether it should go through the courts or through the majoritarian process, about the pace of social change, about the significance of the right at stake. He was incredibly impressive.

A Golf Summit Between John Boehner And Barack Obama Stirs Hopethat Perhaps The Two Parties Will Come To A Budget Agreement And Forestall A True Crisis Secret And Semi

A Grand Bargain That Wasn’t, Remembered Three Ways

“The president of the United States and the Speaker of the House, the two most powerful elected officials in Washington, decided in a conversation that they both had to try to make something happen. Maybe it would be the way it worked in a West Wing episode in a world that doesn’t work like a West Wing episode. That’s how it started — two individuals saying we’re going to try. I think they both shared a belief in the art of the possible, and they both did not think compromise was a dirty word.

When our cover was blown — a Wall Street Journal editorial came out saying that Boehner and Obama were working on this and attacking the whole premise — that was devastating. It resulted in Cantor being a part of the talks. Cantor and Boehner came in, and I think it was a weekend private session with the president in the Oval Office, and they were talking about the numbers. At one point Cantor said, ‘Listen, it’s not just the numbers. There’s concern that this will help you politically. Paul Ryan said if we do this deal, it will guarantee your reelection. If we agree with Barack Obama on spending and taxes, that takes away one of our big weapons.’ There were so many obstacles, some of them substantive — how much revenue, and what about the entitlements? — but there was also this overlay of ‘This is going to help Obama.’

Illustrations by Lauren Tamaki

The Obama Administration Unveils Its Plan For Regulating Wall Streetwhich Is Then Introduced In Congress By Senator Chris Dodd And Representative Barney Frank

MJ=JC?

Lane Brown: Michael Jackson’s death was a big deal for lots of obvious reasons, including the surprising way it happened and the fact that he was arguably the most famous person on the planet.

Nate Jones: He was an A-lister with an indisputable body of work; he was 50 years old, his hits were the right age — old enough that every generation knew them, but not too old that they weren’t relevant anymore.

LB: But it was also the first huge celebrity death to happen in the age of social media, or at least the age of Twitter.

NJ: MJ’s death came alongside the protests in Iran, which was when Twitter went mainstream.

LB: It also meant that so much of the instant reaction was to make it all about us.

Frank Guan: In a lot of ways, the culture prefers the death of artists to their continuing to live. Once an artist gets launched into the stratosphere, there’s no way to come down, and that permanence becomes monotonous. They run out of timely or groundbreaking material and the audience starts tuning out. At some point, their fame eclipses their art, and then the only way to get the general audience to appreciate them anew is for them to die.

LB: People seem to like the grieving process so much that even lesser celebrities get the same treatment.

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords Returns To The House Floor For The First Time Since Being Shot In A Massacre In January Casting A Vote In Favor Of The Debt

A Rare Moment of Unity

“I was doing intensive rehabilitation in Houston at the time but was following the debate closely, and I was pretty disappointed at what was happening in Washington. I’d seen the debate grow so bitter and divisive and so full of partisan rancor. And I was worried our country was hurtling toward a disastrous, self-inflicted economic crisis. That morning, when it became clear the vote was going to be close, my husband, Mark, and I knew we needed to get to Washington quickly. I went straight from my rehabilitation appointment to the airport, and Mark was at our house in Houston packing our bags so he could meet us at the plane.

That night, I remember seeing the Capitol for the first time since I was injured and feeling so grateful to be at work. I will never forget the reception I received on the floor of the House from my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats. And then, like I had so many times before, I voted.

I worked so hard to get my speech back, and honestly, talking to people who share my determination helped me find my words again. I’ve been to Alaska, Maine, and everywhere in between. Best of all, I got back on my bike. Riding my bike once seemed like such a huge challenge. It seemed impossible.”

Miley Cyrus Twerks At The Mtv Vmassetting Off A Controversy About Cultural Appropriation That Soon Ensnares Seemingly Every White Pop Star On The Planet

• Karlie Kloss wears a Native American headdress and fringed bra at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

• Justin Timberlake is accused of appropriating black music when he tells a black critic “We are the same” after praising Jesse Williams’s BET Humanitarian Award speech about race and police brutality.

• DJ Khaled gets lost on Jet Ski, snaps the whole time.

• Two UW-Madison students snap their meet-cute as the entire student body cheers them on.

• Playboy Playmate Dani Mathers films and mocks an anonymous woman in the gym shower.

• A Massachusetts teen records the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. The video is later seen by a friend of the victim.

Prior To Going To War In Iraq Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Optimistically Predicted The Iraq War Might Last Six Days Six Weeks I Doubt Six Months

What’s more, Vice-President Dick Cheney said we would be greeted as liberators by the Iraqi people after we overthrow Saddam.

They were both horribly wrong. Instead of six weeks or six months, the Iraq war lasted eight long and bloody years costing thousands of American lives. It led to an Iraqi civil war between the Sunnis and the Shiites that took hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. Many Iraqi militia groups were formed to fight against the U.S. forces that occupied Iraq. What’s more, Al Qaeda, which did not exist in Iraq before the war, used the turmoil in Iraq to establish a new foothold in that country.

The Iraq war was arguably the most tragic foreign policy blunder in US history.

In 2012 Republicans Predicted That Failure To Approve The Keystone Pipeline Would Send The Price Of Gasoline Sky High And Kill Large Numbers Of Jobs

Despite the fact that the Keystone Pipeline was not approved, the price of gasoline continued to drop below $1.80 per gallon, millions of new jobs were created and unemployment dropped from 8% to 4.9% by early 2016. The most optimistic predictions say that the Keystone Pipeline would only create a few dozen long-term jobs and would do nothing to lower the price of gasoline.

Eric Cantors Stunning Primary Loss Suggests No Politician Is Safe From The Rage Of The Tea Party Not Even The Tea Partys Canniest Political Leader

From Party’s Future to Also-Ran in a Single Day

On the day his political career died, Eric Cantor was busy tending to what he still believed was its bright future. While his GOP-primary opponent, David Brat, visited polling places in and around Richmond, Virginia, Cantor spent his morning 90 miles away at a Capitol Hill Starbucks. He was there to host a fund-raiser for three of his congressional colleagues — something he did every month, just another part of the long game he was playing, which, he believed, would eventually culminate in his becoming Speaker of the House.

The preceding five years had brought Cantor tantalizingly closer to that goal. In the immediate aftermath of Obama’s election, he’d rallied waffling House Republicans to stand in lockstep opposition to the new president’s agenda. In 2010, he’d helped elect 87 new Republican members, giving the GOP a House majority and making Cantor the House majority leader. He became the champion of these freshmen members, stoking their radicalism during the debt-ceiling fight and working to undermine Obama and John Boehner’s attempt to strike a “grand bargain.” His alliance with the ascendant tea party was strategic — it gave him leverage not only over Obama but over other Republicans who might also have had aspirations of becoming Speaker. It never occurred to him that the wave he was trying to ride might crash on him instead.

In 1993 When Bill Clinton Raised Taxes On The Wealthiest 15% Republicans Predicted A Recession Increased Unemployment And A Growing Budget Deficit

They weren’t just wrong: The exact opposite of everything they predicted happened. The country experienced the seven best years of economic growth in history.

Twenty-two million new jobs were added.

Unemployment dropped below 4%.

The poverty rate dropped for seven straight years.

The budget deficit was eliminated.

There was a growing budget surplus that economists projected could pay off our national debt in 20 years.

Republicans Predicted That We Would Find Iraqs Weapons Of Mass Destruction Even Though Un Weapons Inspectors Said That Those Weapons Didn’t Exist

The Bush administration continued to insist that WMDs would be found, even when the CIA said some of the evidence was questionable. As we all know, the WMDs predicted by the Bush administration did not exist, and Saddam Hussein had not resumed his nuclear weapons program as they claimed. Ultimately, both President Bush and Vice President Cheney had to admit that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Republicans Predicted That President Obamas Tax Increase For The Top 1% In 2013 Would Kill Jobs Increase The Deficit And Cause Another Recession

You guessed it; just the opposite happened. In the four years following January 1, 2013, when that tax increase went into effect, through January 2017, unemployment dropped from 7.9% to 4.8%, an average of more than 200,000 new jobs were created per month, Wall Street set new record highs, and the budget deficit was cut in half.

Over 5.7 million new jobs were created in the first two years after that tax increase. That’s more jobs created in two years than were created during the combined 12 years of both Bush presidencies.

In 2001 When George W Bush Cut Taxes For The Wealthy Republicans Predicted Record Job Growth Increased Budget Surplus And Nationwide Prosperity

Once again, the exact opposite occurred. After the Bush tax cuts were enacted:

The budget surplus immediately disappeared.

The budget deficit eventually grew to $1.4 trillion by the time Bush left office.

Less than 3 million net jobs were added during Bush’s eight years.

The poverty rate began climbing again.

We experienced two recessions along with the greatest collapse of our financial system since the Great Depression.

In 1993, President Clinton signed the Brady Law mandating nationwide background checks and a waiting period to buy a gun.

Apple Announces That It Has Sold 100 Million Iphoneswithin A Few Months It Will Overtake Exxonmobil As The Most Valuable Company In The World

Earthlings Gain a New Appendage

What if we had the singularity and nobody noticed? In 2007, Barack Obama had been on the trail for weeks, using a BlackBerry like all the cool campaigners, when the new thing went on sale and throngs lined up for it. The new thing had a silly name: iPhone. The iPhone was a phone the way the Trojan horse was a horse.

Now it’s the gizmo without which a person feels incomplete. It’s a light in the darkness, a camera, geolocator, hidden mic, complete ­Shakespeare, stopwatch, sleep aid, heart monitor, podcaster, aircraft spotter, traffic tracker, all-around reality augmenter, and increasingly a pal. At the Rio Olympics you could see people, having flown thousands of miles to be in the arena with the athletes, watching the action through their smartphones. As though they needed the mediating lens to make it real.

This device, this gadget — a billion have been made and we scarcely know what to call it. For his 2010 novel of the near future, , Gary Shteyngart made up a word, “äppärät.” “My äppärät buzzing with contacts, data, pictures, projections, maps, incomes, sound, fury.” Future then, present now. His äppäräti were worn around the neck on pendants. Ours are in our pockets when they aren’t in our hands, but they also sprout earbuds, morph into wristwatches and eyeglasses. Contact lenses have been rumored; implants are only a matter of time.

Let’s face it, we’ve grown a new organ.

Republicans Said Waterboarding And Other Forms Of Enhanced Interrogation Are Not Torture And Are Necessary In Fighting Islamic Extremism

In reality, waterboarding and other forms of enhanced interrogation that inflict pain, suffering, or fear of death are outlawed by US law, the US Constitution, and international treaties. Japanese soldiers after World War II were prosecuted by the United States for war crimes because of their use of waterboarding on American POWs.

Professional interrogators have known for decades that torture is the most ineffective and unreliable method of getting accurate information. People being tortured say anything to get the torture to end but will not likely tell the truth.

An FBI interrogator named Ali Soufan was able to get al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah to reveal crucial information without the use of torture. When CIA interrogators started using waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation methods, Zubaydah stopped cooperating and gave his interrogators false information.

Far from being necessary in the fight against terrorism, torture is completely unreliable and counter-productive in obtaining useful information.

In 2008 Republicans Said That If We Elect A Democratic President We Would Be Hit By Al Qaeda Again Perhaps Worse Than The Attack On 9/11

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney stated that electing a Democrat as president would all but guarantee that there would be another major attack on America by Al Qaeda. Cheney and other Republicans were, thankfully, completely wrong. During Obama’s presidency, we had zero deaths on U.S. soil from Al Qaeda attacks and we succeeded in killing Bin Laden along with dozens of other high ranking Al Qaeda leaders.

Game Of Thrones Arrives On Televisionwith An Assemblage Of Dragons Torture Nudity Incest And Despair A Show The Whole Family Can Enjoy

Explaining Kale

ADAM PLATT: Many things in Foodlandia, these days, have a political element to them, and if you want to emblazon a flag to be carried into battle, you could do worse than a bristly, semi-digestible bunch of locally grown kale.

ALAN SYTSMA: To eat kale is to announce you’re a person who cares about the matters of the day.

AP: The idea of kale is much more powerful than kale itself. In short order it went from being discovered, to appreciated, to being something that was parodied. Frankly, I’m all for the parody.

AS: The same thing happened to pork. Remember bacon peanut brittle? Bacon-fat cocktails? There’s bacon dental floss.

AP: Ahhh, bacon versus kale. The two great, competing forces of our time.

AS: Do you think one gave way to the other?

AP: What we’re really talking about is artisanal bacon, and the more sophisticated-sounding pork belly, made from pigs that were lovingly reared at upstate farms and fed diets of pristine little acorns. Bacon is the great symbol in the comfort-food, farm-fresh-dining movement, a kind of merry, unbridled pulchritude. Kale is the righteous yin to pork’s fatty, non-vegan yang.

AS: But pork has an advantage: People like the way it tastes.

AP: That’s a huge advantage, one that will hopefully see it through to victory.

[hoynovoy]

11 Signs Your Body Might Not Be Properly Digesting Meat & What To Do About It

It’s a familiar feeling: waking up after a night out with the tell-tale stomach cramps, dark eye circles, and feeling like you need to down a gallon of water. No, it’s not a hangover — wondering “Why does meat make me sick?” the morning after a steak dinner is a more common experience than you’d think.

Meat can be a really healthy, protein-packed staple in your diet, but it doesn't necessarily work for all body types and metabolisms. Knowing if there are signs your body doesn't digest meat well can help you eat smart and feel more comfortable. There are certain foods that trigger an intolerance or sensitivity, and unless recognized, you might experience irregular bowels, head pains, body aches, and other symptoms.

Eating meat isn't a requisite for a healthy and happy lifestyle, and while someone might thrive when eating a meat-heavy diet, another person might notice stomach pain or diarrhea after eating red meat. Anything that throws the body out of balance can cause problems, and food is a common trigger for such instability. If you find that you can't tolerate meat, it's not a diet-buster, as you can still find protein and iron in plant-based sources — and will probably feel a lot better. Here are 11 signs that your body can't process meat well, and you might want to avoid it.

1. Bloating

If you notice bloating after eating meat, it could be a sign of malabsorption or be representative of a failure to digest food properly. Per a 2018 study in Nutrients, fatty meats contain large amounts of the amino acid methionine, which contains sulfur and is broken down into smelly gas in your gut. That can build up and make you bloated. Abdominal distention and an overall feeling of fatigue after eating meat is a large enough reason to eliminate it and see if you feel better.

2. Nausea & Diarrhea

Nausea, heartburn, and indigestion could be signs that you’re not digesting meat well, and these symptoms can prove to be incredibly uncomfortable, Rachna Govani, CEO and co-founder of public health technology company Foodstand, tells Bustle. If you get stomach pain and diarrhea after eating red meat, you may have a meat intolerance, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI). This can be caused by a meat allergy, which affects 1-3% of people and can develop as a symptom of a tick bite.

3. Getting Sick More Often

If you're not able to digest meat well, you might find yourself getting sick more often, especially with food-borne illnesses, such as salmonella and E. Coli. An antigen found in red meat has been linked to lower immune system function and higher incidences of cancer because the body struggles to digest it, per the Cancer Research Institute. If your immunity isn’t what it used to be, it could be due to eating high amounts of red meat.

4. Stomach Cramps

That abdominal cramping might be a sign that your body has an intolerance to meat, the ACAAI says. If you consistently feel like somebody’s kicked you in the gut after eating meat, but an allergy test comes up clear, another culprit could be diverticulitis, an inflammation of the colon that’s connected to high consumption of red meat in men, per a 2017 study in Gut.

5. High Blood Pressure

"One important problem you may not feel — high blood pressure. High blood pressure can be silent, and still cause damage," Neil Grimmer, head of Plum Organics, tells Bustle. Some processed meats, like bacon, contain high amounts of sodium, which can increase blood pressure. Research from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2018 also found that eating well-done meat, as opposed to rarer or less-cooked meat, was linked to a higher risk of blood pressure issues. "If you are one of the millions of Americans with high blood pressure, this may be a good sign that you’d do better cutting back on meat," Grimmer says.

6. Constipation

"Every person has a unique digestive system that functions based not only on their genetics but also heavily on their dietary habits as well. I've found more and more clients complaining about indigestion and constipation post red meat consumption which may be related to a variety of factors," Elizabeth Ann Shaw, M.S., R.D.N., C.L.T., tells Bustle. "For instance, depending on the cut of meat, some are exceptionally high in fat. Fat takes longer to digest in the body so it may cause indigestion based on the other foods you are consuming during the meal.” A study published in Gut & Gastroenterology in 2020 suggested that eating large amounts of red meat can cause constipation.

7. Dark Circles Under The Eyes

Dark circles don't just come from a poor night's sleep. Apparently, not digesting meat properly can mess with your beauty regimen, too. "If you get dark cycles under your eyes after eating meat, especially the next day it's a sign the meat has not been digested properly," Liana Werner-Gray, nutritional expert and author of The Earth Diet and 10-Minute Recipes, tells Bustle. Allergies and food intolerances can lead to dark circles thanks to an increase of nasal congestion, Healthline reports. At the same time, dark circles can also be a sign of anemia, or a lack of iron in the blood, for which eating more red meat is often recommended. It’s never a bad idea to consult your doctor if you’re concerned about your undereye circles.

8. Needing To Drink Water A Lot

Drinking water is a really easy way to improve your digestion — your body needs H2O to flush out the byproducts of processing your meals, a process your liver and kidneys do without much help. But meat is high in sodium, which can throw off your body’s natural balance of fluids if you have too much. If you find yourself reaching for your comically oversized water bottle after eating meat, it could be a sign that your body isn’t having fun digesting that hamburger.

9. Bad Body Odors & Breath

"Bad breath and body odor are both signs that your body isn't digesting meat properly. If meat isn't digested properly, the smelly odor can go back into the digestive system which eventually makes its way to the skin and breath," explains Werner-Gray. She recommends taking digestive enzymes to help break it down. A 2006 study published in Chemical Senses actually found that the body odor of non-meat eaters was regarded as more attractive than those who ate meat.

10. Fatigue

"If you feel really sluggish and tired after eating meat it's a sign your body doesn't properly digest meat. It's a sign that the meat is stuck in your bowels and actually draining energy from your body working it off to digest it," Werner-Gray says. Some sleepiness after eating, particularly heavy meals, is common, but consistent flat-out tiredness after meat consumption in particular may be a signal that the meat isn’t being processed properly.

11. Muscle Loss

“You may experience loss of muscle,” Dr. Partha Nandi M.D., F.A.C.P, creator and host of Ask Dr. Nandi and Chief Health Editor at WXYZ-TV (ABC) Detroit, tells Bustle. Protein is a major fuel for muscle maintenance, and if your body isn’t breaking down meat proteins, that steak can’t help keep your muscles healthy.

If you notice any of these symptoms after eating meat, it might be wise to alter your diet and try more plant-based foods to see if there's an improvement.

Experts:

Rachna Govani

Neil Grimmer

Dr. Partha Nandi M.D. F.A.C.P.

Elizabeth Ann Shaw, MS, RDN, CLT

Liana Werner-Gray

Studies cited:

Cao, Y., Strate, L. L., Keeley, B. R., Tam, I., Wu, K., Giovannucci, E. L., & Chan, A. T. (2018). Meat intake and risk of diverticulitis among men. Gut, 67(3), 466–472. https://ift.tt/3bBKAO0

Dallas, D. C., Sanctuary, M. R., Qu, Y., Khajavi, S. H., Van Zandt, A. E., Dyandra, M., Frese, S. A., Barile, D., & German, J. B. (2017). Personalizing protein nourishment. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 57(15), 3313–3331. https://ift.tt/3orbmxQ

Górska-Warsewicz, H., Laskowski, W., Kulykovets, O., Kudlińska-Chylak, A., Czeczotko, M., & Rejman, K. (2018). Food Products as Sources of Protein and Amino Acids-The Case of Poland. Nutrients, 10(12), 1977. https://ift.tt/2QytQA6

Havlicek, J., Lenochova, P. (2006) The Effect of Meat Consumption on Body Odor Attractiveness. Chemical Senses, 31(8), 747–752, https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjl017

Monif, G. (2020). Chronic Constipation and Red Meat Consumption. Gut & Gastroenterology, 3(2).

Wilson, J. M., & Platts-Mills, T. (2019). Red meat allergy in children and adults. Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology, 19(3), 229–235. https://ift.tt/3tXuSTN

Get More Dating Advice Here

[orbemnews]

Long Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage, her husband was known globally as a software pioneer, a billionaire and a leading philanthropist. But in some circles, Bill Gates had also developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings. That is attracting new scrutiny amid the breakup of one of the world’s richest, most powerful couples. In 2018, Ms. French Gates wasn’t satisfied with her husband’s handling of a previously undisclosed sexual harassment claim against his longtime money manager, according to two people familiar with the matter. After Mr. Gates moved to settle the matter confidentially, Ms. French Gates insisted on an outside investigation. The money manager, Michael Larson, remains in his job. On at least a few occasions, Mr. Gates pursued women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to people with direct knowledge of his overtures. In meetings at the foundation, he was at times dismissive toward his wife, witnesses said. And then there was Jeffrey Epstein, whom Mr. Gates got to know beginning in 2011, three years after Mr. Epstein, who faced accusations of sex trafficking of girls, pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Ms. French Gates had expressed discomfort with her husband spending time with the sex offender, but Mr. Gates continued doing so, according to people who were at or briefed on gatherings with the two men. So, in October 2019, when the relationship between Mr. Gates and Mr. Epstein burst into public view, Ms. French Gates was unhappy. She hired divorce lawyers, setting in motion a process that culminated this month with the announcement that their marriage was ending. It is not clear how much Ms. French Gates knew about her husband’s behavior or to what degree it contributed to their split. The announcement of their divorce has brought attention to a marriage whose dissolution has large social and financial implications. Multiple people said that during their marriage, Mr. Gates engaged in work-related behavior that they said was inappropriate for a person at the helm of a major publicly traded company and one of the world’s most influential philanthropies. Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, disputed the characterization of his conduct and the couple’s divorce. “It is extremely disappointing that there have been so many untruths published about the cause, the circumstances and the timeline of Bill Gates’s divorce,” Ms. Arnold said. “Your characterization of his meetings with Epstein and others about philanthropy is inaccurate, including who participated,” she continued. “Similarly, any claim that Gates spoke of his marriage or Melinda in a disparaging manner is false. The claim of mistreatment of employees is also false. The rumors and speculation surrounding Gates’s divorce are becoming increasingly absurd, and it’s unfortunate that people who have little to no knowledge of the situation are being characterized as ‘sources.’” Mr. Gates and Ms. French Gates met at work. He was technically her boss. He ran Microsoft, and she began working there in 1987 as a product manager the year after she graduated from college. Throughout their relationship, the two have played up the cute aspects of their office romance. He flirted with her when they sat together at a conference, then asked her out when they ran into each other in a company parking lot, according to Ms. French Gates, who described their relationship’s beginnings during a public appearance in 2016. Long after they married in 1994, Mr. Gates would on occasion pursue women in the office. In 2006, for example, he attended a presentation by a female Microsoft employee. Mr. Gates, who at the time was the company’s chairman, left the meeting and immediately emailed the woman to ask her out to dinner, according to two people familiar with the exchange. “If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened,” Mr. Gates wrote in an email, according to a person who read it to The New York Times. The woman was indeed uncomfortable, the two people said. She decided to pretend it had never happened. A year or two later, Mr. Gates was on a trip to New York on behalf of the Gates Foundation. He was traveling with a woman who worked for the foundation. Standing with her at a cocktail party, Mr. Gates lowered his voice and said: “I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?” according to the woman. The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she did not want the public attention associated with describing an unwanted advance, said she felt uncomfortable but laughed to avoid responding. Six current and former employees of Microsoft, the foundation and the firm that manages the Gates’s fortune said those incidents, and others more recently, at times created an uncomfortable workplace environment. Mr. Gates was known for making clumsy approaches to women in and out of the office. His behavior fueled widespread chatter among employees about his personal life. Some of the employees said that while they disapproved of Mr. Gates’s behavior, they did not perceive it to be predatory. They said he did not pressure the women to submit to his advances for the sake of their careers, and he seemed to feel that he was giving the women the space to refuse his advances. Even so, Mr. Gates’s actions ran counter to the agenda of female empowerment that Ms. French Gates was promoting on a global stage. On Oct. 2, 2019, for example, she said she would spend $1 billion promoting “women’s power and influence in the United States.” “Even though most women now work full-time (or more), we still shoulder the majority of caregiving responsibilities; we face pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination; we are surrounded by biased and stereotypical representations that perpetuate harmful gender norms,” she wrote in a column in Time magazine announcing the pledge. At the foundation, Mr. Gates made sure his voice was dominant and could be dismissive toward Ms. French Gates, causing some foundation employees to cringe, according to people who attended foundation meetings with the Gateses. In 2017, the couple confronted a sexual harassment allegation against a close associate. For nearly 30 years, Mr. Larson had served as Mr. Gates’s money manager, earning solid returns on the Gateses’ and the foundation’s combined $174 billion investment portfolio through a secretive operation called Cascade Investment. Cascade owned assets like stocks, bonds, hotels and vast tracts of farmland, and it also put the Gateses’ money in other investment vehicles. One was a venture capital firm called Rally Capital, which is in the same building that Cascade occupies in Kirkland, Wash. Rally Capital had an ownership stake in a nearby bicycle shop. In 2017, the woman who managed the bike shop hired a lawyer, who wrote a letter to Mr. Gates and Ms. French Gates. The letter said that Mr. Larson had been sexually harassing the manager of the bike shop, according to three people familiar with the claim. The letter said the woman had tried to handle the situation on her own, without success, and she asked the Gateses for help. If they didn’t resolve the situation, the letter said, she might pursue legal action. The woman reached a settlement in 2018 in which she signed a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for a payment, the three people said. While Mr. Gates thought that brought the matter to an end, Ms. French Gates was not satisfied with the outcome, two of the people said. She called for a law firm to conduct an independent review of the woman’s allegations, and of Cascade’s culture. Mr. Larson was put on leave while the investigation was underway, but he was eventually reinstated. (It is unclear whether the investigation exonerated Mr. Larson.) He remains in charge of Cascade. A spokesman for Mr. Larson had no comment. About a year after the settlement — and less than two weeks after Ms. French Gates’s column in Time — The Times published an article detailing Mr. Gates’s relationship with Mr. Epstein. The article reported that the two men had spent time together on multiple occasions, flying on Mr. Epstein’s private jet and attending a late-night gathering at his Manhattan townhouse. “His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” Mr. Gates emailed colleagues in 2011, after he first met Mr. Epstein. (Ms. Arnold, the spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, said at the time that he regretted the relationship with Mr. Epstein. She said that Mr. Gates had been unaware that the plane belonged to Mr. Epstein and that Mr. Gates had been referring to the unique décor of Mr. Epstein’s home.) The Times article included details about Mr. Gates’s interactions with Mr. Epstein that Ms. French Gates had not previously known, according to people familiar with the matter. Soon after its publication she began consulting with divorce lawyers and other advisers who would help the couple divide their assets, one of the people said. The Wall Street Journal previously reported the timing of her lawyers’ hiring. The revelations in The Times were especially upsetting to Ms. French Gates because she had previously voiced her discomfort with her husband associating with Mr. Epstein, who died by suicide in federal custody in 2019, shortly after being charged with sex trafficking of girls. Ms. French Gates expressed her unease in the fall of 2013 after she and Mr. Gates had dinner with Mr. Epstein at his townhouse, according to people briefed on the dinner and its aftermath. (The incident was reported earlier by The Daily Beast.) For years, Mr. Gates continued to go to dinners and meetings at Mr. Epstein’s home, where Mr. Epstein usually surrounded himself with young and attractive women, said two people who were there and two others who were told about the gatherings. Ms. Arnold said Mr. Gates never socialized or attended parties with Mr. Epstein, and she denied that young and attractive women participated at their meetings. “Bill only met with Epstein to discuss philanthropy,” Ms. Arnold said. On at least one occasion, Mr. Gates remarked in Mr. Epstein’s presence that he was unhappy in his marriage, according to people who heard the comments. Mr. Epstein pitched his tax-advisory and fund-raising services to Mr. Gates, although there is no indication that Mr. Gates did business with him, according to people familiar with Mr. Epstein’s pitch and finances. Sometime after 2013, Mr. Epstein brought Mr. Gates to meet Leon Black, the head of Apollo Investments who had a multifaceted business and personal relationship with Mr. Epstein, according to two people familiar with the meeting. The meeting was held at Apollo’s New York offices. It is unclear whether Ms. French Gates was aware of the latest meetings with Mr. Epstein. A person who recently spoke to her said that “she decided that it was best for her to leave her marriage as she moved into the next phase of her life.” Steve Eder and Jodi Kantor contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #behavior #Bill #Divorce #Gates #Long #Questionable #Reputation

[bughead-fic-request]

I would like to thank @leaalda for making these amazing banners.

This is an effort to spread the word about all fan fiction writers in our little fandom. If you would like to be featured or nominate a writer, please contact me. Please reblog this post if you can and check out some of @cooperjones2020 work!

1. First things first, if someone wanted to read your stories where can they find them.

I post all of them on AO3 as well as on tumblr @cooperjones2020 under the tag #mine and on my master list. (also fyi it’s a sideblog, so if you ever get a reply from @acitrusmoon, that’s also me!)

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve tipped the scale into second half of my 20’s. I’m currently doing my master’s in English lit, focusing on early modern drama and cultural studies. Canada is the third country I’ve lived in. I’ve been in four separate countries within a 24-hour timespan on two separate occasions. I prefer children’s toothbrushes to adult ones. I made my parents let me drop out of preschool when I was four because they wouldn’t give me orange juice.

3. What do you never leave home without?

Nothing. I leave with the absolute bare minimum I can get away with. So 99% of the time I have my phone, but even that’s not a sure thing. If I can stick a card or some cash in my bra so I don’t have to carry a purse or wallet, I’m doing it. If I do have a bag, I definitely have my giant reusable water bottle and a book with me.

4. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Early bird. I’ve hit the level of adulthood where I wake up at like 6:30 sans alarm. And I have no excuse. I don’t have to be at work til 10.

5. If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?

I’ve been thinking about this question and I can’t come up with anything other than HP. I basically learned to read off those books and grew up alongside them. That fictional world is so embedded with my real one, it would be a disservice to pick something else.

6. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met.

In general, I have no interest in meeting famous people, so I think the most famous person I’ve ever actually met was Roger Ebert at an ice cream shop in Michigan when I was 8. But I’ve been adjacent to famous people. I saw Josh Radnor in my college bookstore, I’ve emailed with John Green, and Chicago Fire used to film in my old apartment in Chicago before it became my apartment. They would still shut our street down to do external shots, and NBC paid my landlord not to gut the apartment when he rehabbed it, in case they needed to use it again.

Does Walk the Moon count as famous now? I’ve met Nick Petricca at parties (figure out what Josh Radnor, John Green, and Nick Petricca have in common, and you’ll learn something else about me).

7. What are some of your favorite movies/TV?

I’m the worst with “favorite” type questions because I change my mind all the time when my attention wanders. So TV shows I’ve loved a long time and will continue to rewatch ad infinitum: Gilmore Girls, Charmed, Boy Meets World. I don’t really re-watch movies, which is my general bar for loving something. I recently saw The Third Man and it blew my mind, so much so that it made it into chapter 5 of “Nobodies Nobody Knows.”

(but also I haven’t had consistent access to a television since 2006 because I went to boarding school for nerds, so I’m out of touch with a lot what’s been on unless I’ve been able to find it on the internet and binge watch it)

8. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians?

Again, I don’t know if I have anyone I would say is a favorite above all the music I like. I cycle through songs I get obsessed with for a week or two. The Spotify playlist I’m currently listening to on repeat includes Halsey, Imagine Dragons, Walk the Moon, Regina Spektor, Lorde, Cigarettes After Sex, Ed Sheeran, Adele, X Embassadors, and Sia. But it’s also my Bughead writing playlist. I’d really like to see Maren Morris in concert.

9. Favorite Books?

I could fill a library with my favorite books. The books that have been most foundational to me as a person were probably HP and the Anne of Green Gables series. The books/authors I loved enough to ship to Canada, which really just means I like rereading them, include Emily Dickinson, Raymond Carver, Louise Erdrich, Junot Diaz, Harper Lee, Milan Kundera, Diana Gabaldon, Deborah Harkness, and a little bit of Nora Roberts and Andrew Greeley for variety. But actually the hardest part of moving back to America will be having to round up all my books and get them to my new place of residence.

10. Favorite Food?

Soup. Which is really a non-answer because there’s infinite varieties.

11. Biggest pet peeve?

People who are passive aggressive and manipulative.

12. What did you want to be when you were little? What do you want to be now?

I went through an intense phase of wanting to be a flight attendant for a while. I was pretty sure I wanted to do a PhD, but the first year of my masters has taught me that I do not want to do that. So now, I have no idea. Something that involving writing and editing as part of its daily tasks. I did some freelancing for SparkNotes earlier this summer and they had a full-time opening that would have been perfect for me if it were a year from now. Before coming back to school, I worked for a tutoring company creating curriculum materials and overseeing/developing tutors.

13. What are your biggest fears? Do you have any strange fears?

The stereotypical things I’m afraid of are heights and clowns. I’m also afraid of bridges and really uncomfortable on escalators, though that’s gotten better. I’m a big believer in facing your fears, so one time I forced myself to do a high ropes course at a team-building retreat and I literally had a panic attack forty feet up in the air.

14. When you are on your deathbed what would be the one you’d regret not doing?

I think I’ll regret the times I’ve said no to things because I was afraid.

Okay… lets talk about your writing!

15. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for the Bughead fandom?

The one I’m enjoying writing the most/is coming the easiest is ”Second City.” I also really love ”Marked” because it’s the one that got me into the fandom and because it challenged me to go out of my comfort zone.

16. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

“What’s Past is Prologue” because the plot structure is so weird, so I wind up feeling like I’m just hitting the same note over and over.

17. How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? Do you people watch? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?

I haven’t written enough fics to have a developed answer to this. “Marked” and “WPIP” came about because of a conversation @jandjsalmon was having that I lurked on. “Second City” came about because I love post-break up/the characters are now in their 20s fics, and I was homesick (hence the setting). Also, with all the discourse around how healthy and communicative Betty and Jug are, I was wondering what would be a convincing enough circumstance to cause them to break up, and how would they find their way back to each other. As far as individual ideas within the fics themselves, I do, as mentioned, have a writing playlist, but I don’t listen to it while actually writing. Just while I’m doing things around the house or walking to school, which is when I brainstorm. I often have to stop walking and move out of the way so I can type ideas into the notes on my phone. A lot of times, I’ll just get a half a line or sentence that sounds nice and then I’ll have to figure out how to work it in later.

18. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

I haven’t been doing this long enough to be able to answer this question with any level of confidence. I don’t think there’s anything I’ve really wanted to write and been unable to, at least as far as fic goes. I have a lot of half-planned ideas for original stories that refuse to come out how I want them to.

19. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

The next chapter of WPIP because I don’t think it’s doing anything beyond serving as a vehicle to the chapter after it. But I recently had an idea of something to add to it which might help.

20. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

I love chapter 5 of “Second City.” I’m genuinely happy about every scene in it, especially the flashback. I also really like the end of chapter 8, parts of chapter 10 and pretty much all of chapter 11. More than plot points/chapters, I tend to love little details or turns of phrase, like the crown scar from “Marked,” or Jughead in a “this is what a feminist looks like” t shirt, or lines like “It hurts. She knows it shouldn’t. She knows it makes sense. But it does. Because it sounds like ‘I don’t think about you’” from “Second City.”

21.Favorite character to write?

Betty because I overly identify with her. In “Second City,” I’ve found Alice and Veronica particularly easy to write in the little they’ve appeared thus far. Like, their voices have been very clear. But watch, I’ve probably just jinxed myself.

22. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written?

I don’t know if I have a favorite, and I use too much dialogue to go back through it all. I try really hard to make it sound realistic. I’m particularly proud of the ending dialogue of chapter 9 of “Second City,” basically everything from after they go back into the spare bedroom.

Also, spoiler: “You harassed Sheriff Keller. You questioned FP. What’s next, Betty? Were you going to interrogate Jellybean?” Betty feels heat suffuse her face. “Oh, you thought I wouldn’t know about that, huh?”

“I did see JB,” she mumbles.

“Fuck, I knew she was lying.”

23. Best comment/review you’ve ever received?

I don’t want to call out anyone in particular because I love and appreciate every single one and I spend way too much time staring at my email waiting for comment notifications. I particularly enjoy when people point out a specific line or plot point that resonated with them, or when they say something rung particularly true to character. I also love when people will talk to me in the comments, because I reply to everyone and literary analysis is my jam.

24. How do you handle bad reviews or comments?

I’ve never had any! I’m not a big enough deal for that.

25. If you could change anything in any of your stories, what would it be?

I would have written more of “WPIP” before posting it because that was my first attempt at anything multi-chapter and I didn’t know what I was doing. I still don’t, but I’ve gotten slightly better at masking it.

26. What is your favorite story you’ve ever written? Any fandom?

Fandom-wise, I’ve only written for Bughead. “Second City”/the “Who Sings Heartache to Sleep” universe is (clearly) my favorite. I actually enjoy rereading old chapters, which is not a place I’ve been with my own writing in ages and ages.

27. What are you reading right now? Both fan fiction and general fiction?

I’m working on my master’s thesis proposal, so I’m doing a lot of reading about early modern theatre, seventeenth century midwifery manuals, and feminist theory. I’m also running a reading group on film noir, so I’ve read several of those this summer. I reread The Unbearable Lightness of Being for the sixth time, but it was for a student I tutor. I’m looking forward to reading a romance novel, probably Nora Roberts, when I visit my parents in a few weeks.

For fic, I’m subscribed to so so many and am behind on most of them. The ones I’ll drop everything to read as soon as I see the notification include anything by @lessoleilscouchants or @sylwrites, Summer Storm by @lazydaizies, Interbellum by @wolfofansbach, Serpent and the Swan by @jugandbettsdetectiveagency, Hearts in Velvet by @raptorlily, Carry On by @soulsofstarsliveinyourveins, Wicked Games by @ariquitecontrary, He Was Gone by @bettyluvsjuggie, What Fools These Mortals Be by @gellbellshead …gah, I know there are more. Those are ones that have either updated recently or that I’ve thought about recently for some reason or another.

28. Do you have an advice for writers that want to get into this fandom but might be scared?

Please please do it. I cannot emphasize enough how welcoming people are. I literally inserted myself in someone else’s conversation like a total creep and it’s the best thing I’ve done in months. I’ve never done anything like that before and definitely wouldn’t be able to in non-internet life. Think about if positions were reversed and you were the one already established in the fandom, how would you react to someone wanting to be your friend? You’d be pretty darn excited. That’s how I feel every day with all of you and I just want to spread the love.

And for writing specifically, and this is cliché advice but, you won’t get better unless you let other people read your work. And letting other people in and letting them be excited (because they will be) will make you so much more confident and motivated.

For real, though, while the last year of my life has been super rewarding personally and I’m happy, it’s also been one of the hardest and loneliest years of my life. And the hits just keep on coming. And you all have made the last month, at least, a lot easier.