#we are best friends with the local fire brigade

[queerbeverage]

Hot hot girls get awoken at night by the fire alarm that someone caused with a burnt pizza (it's me i am the hot hot girl)

[josefavomjaaga]

Foreign languages: Eugène says something in German

In 1809, when Eugène marched his Italian army from Italy to Austria during the Fifth Coalition War in support of Napoleon, vice-queen Auguste, from the safety of Milan, tried to help as best as she could by providing her darling with German phrases he might find useful in conversing with the local population. We know that because at some point Eugène wrote back he appreciated the thought and was very grateful, yet still could not memorize any of it (plus they were now moving into Hungary where people don’t speak German – hooray!).

Yet it seems Eugène managed to remember at least some of Auguste’s lessons at a later occasion during summer and falls of 1813, when he – in vain – tried to defend French possessions against Austrian attacks after Austria had switched sides and joined the Allies. At least according to a footnote in "Handbuch der Geschichte des Herzogthumes Kärnthen", Volume 2, Part 3, about a fight at Feistritz an der Drau:

Welden, a Lieutenant Colonel at General Headquarters, who hurried to the battlefield with Hiller in order to assemble the grenadiers, gives a very brief account of the entire affair [...], but he does provide us with an episode from the events of that fateful day, which he had been told by the Viceroy himself, when he had the honour of being invited to his table after the armistice had been concluded.

Which is just so very Eugène in the first place. "So we don’t shoot each other today? Cool. Do you already have plans for dinner tonight?" But let’s hear lieutenant colonel Welden:

"Early in the morning of 6 September, Eugene Beauharnais set off from Assling with the two battalions of his Guard chasseurs mentioned above, and, guided by a farmer who knew the area, made his way through the Bärenthal to the pass where they descended into the Feistritzthal. Thick fog covered the area and the canyon was so narrow that only one man could walk behind the other. They had been mistaken about the distance from Feistritz, and thought it was still several hours away. The Prince walked at the head of the column. It was 7 o'clock in the morning when he, still walking through the fog and turning around a boulder, found the opening of a rifle pointed at him from only a few steps away. A " Halt wer da!" [Stop! Who’s there?] informed him who he was dealing with. The Viceroy frankly confessed to me how his blood froze in his heart until, from the small stock of German words he owed to the lessons of his spouse, he managed to utter a "Gut Freund" [good friend].

The vedette on the other side thereupon withdrew his rifle, and with a swift leap Eugen Beauharnois seized the man by the neck, the Frenchmen rushed up, made the vedette, a recruit of the 8th (9th?) Jäger Battalion, a prisoner, and after they had brought him to safety, the Italian chasseurs set themselves up in ambush. Soon an Austrian patrol arrived; this, too, was captured, and after due orientation, the nearest enemy post was attacked, thrown back towards Feistritz, which lay quite close, and thus the connection with the posts of the Campi brigade established. United with the latter, Feistritz was bypassed, but only taken after the bravest resistance and setting fire to the castle, not without great losses." - "What turn would the affair of Feistritz have taken," exclaims Welden, "if, instead of a mere recruit, a soldier of experience in war had stood at the outpost?"

Yes. Or if Auguste had not insisted on drilling some German words into this linguistically challenged husband of hers? Though, considering that later in Bavaria Eugène’s pronounciation was so very bad he barely could make himself understood, how could this Austrian sentry ever fall for it?

Austrian: Halt! Wer da?

Eugène [staring right into the muzzle of the Austrian’s rifle]: What? Oh, that’s German, right? Just a second, I’m sure I know the answer to that one… [takes a handwritten phrasebook out of his pocket and starts flipping through the pages]

Austrian: Look, Frenchman, I don’t have all day, okay?

Eugène [proudly]: Got it: Gut Freund. - Right?

Austrian [withdraws rifle]: Horrible pronounciation but I’ll let it go. Now take me captive already.

[prorevenge]

Saved by utter incompetence

The timeline for this tale is Christmas 1988.

I used to have a music production studio based out of a big studio rehearsal complex in South London and I had been working for three days on recording and producing some backing tapes for a client, who also happened to be an old friend. The last day we spent working on the mixdowns and at about 9:30pm, we decided to take a timeout and go to the local pub for some refreshment, rest our ears and generally chew over what we'd done. While we were blowing the froth off a couple, my old friend Alex and his girlfriend turned up. We all knew each other so decided to carry on until closing time.

Since it was getting late, I suggested we all go back to the studio, listen to the mixes we'd done and call it a day. As we were walking down the corridor, we came across the rehearsal studio’s manager—a person of staggering arrogance and ineptitude, and a frequent thorn in my side—who was restocking the beer machine in the green room. I told him that we were just going downstairs to my studio to listen to what we'd been doing and wrap things up. I also told him not to lock up before checking in with me first.

So we all settled down and listened to the first track. At the end, Alex had to go to the loo, so he went off in search of relief while we carried on. The second track had barely started playing when he came back in and said that all the lights were off upstairs and furthermore, the security doors in the upper corridor were all locked—WTF?

Thinking he was winding me up I went up to investigate—and sure enough, all the lights were off and the security doors closed up tighter than an anxious sphincter attempting to rein in the purgative effects of a themonuclear-grade vindaloo. Going back into the studio, I tried to call the studio owner but got no joy, so we sat there for a while trying to work out what on earth to do. Alex in particular was rather concerned as he was due to fly off to the Middle East first thing in the morning to shoot a commercial.

Eventually I decided the only hope was to call the Fire Brigade and get them to come and rescue us. Twenty minutes went past... no Fire Brigade. Thirty minutes… still no joy. By this time, I had lost my patience so grabbing my toolbox, I went upstairs to the fire exit, which had been chained up, and proceeded to dismantle the entire emergency panic bar exit mechanism from the inside. I eventually managed to get it open, only to be confronted by a big burly fireman about to lay into the door with a large fire axe. Fortunately, I managed to avoid being sliced in two by the simple expedient of stepping rapidly to one side. The rest of the firemen entered and checked out the rest of the building while I regaled the lead officer with our tale of woe, much to his evident amusement. Despite his amusement, he was absolutely furious with the clear violation of basic fire safety principles, and told me he’d be back first thing in the morning to give the owners a right earful because there was a strong case for prosecution over the incident.

As you might imagine, I was not best pleased with the entire farrago so the next day around noon, I stormed into the main studio’s office, thundercloud in tow and breathing fire (ironic, really), and in front of the studio owner and his wife proceeded to lay down some serious invective upon the head of the hapless studio manager, calling into question his dubious parentage, and threatening to attach his gonads to the output terminals of the largest class-A power amplifier I could find if there was ever a repeat of the entire sorry débâcle.

The studio manager was none too pleased either (a massive understatement), having been read the Riot Act by the Fire Brigade. He was also furious that, in order to deal with the huge legal fallout from the incident, he'd had to cancel the flight he'd booked to the States, which meant that he and his wife weren't going to be able to visit their family until the New Year.

The flight the studio owner and his wife was booked on—but had to cancel—was Pan Am 103.

(source) story by (/u/GhostOfSorabji)

[all-things-are-nothing-to-me]

On Sabotage as One of the Fine Arts: a contribution to the topic of the theory of the practice of Sabotage

Chapter 1

Who will revive the violent whirlpools of flame if not us and those that we consider brothers? Come! New friends: this will please you. We will never work, oh tides of flame! This world will explode. It’s the true path. Forward, on the march.

— A. Rimbaud

The spread of sabotage, its increasing practice, on a greater or lesser scale, far and wide against the domination of the market is a given fact. Burning ATM booths, disabling locks at shopping centers, smashing shop windows, setting fire to the offices of temp agencies and employment offices, the sabotage of the infrastructure of capitalism (high-speed railroads, dams, expressways, construction projects) ... are offensive practices against the colonization of our lives by the most advanced form of colonialism — the integrated spectacle.

All this is put into practice by individuals bored with survival as commodities (life reduced to economic imperatives) and disillusioned with false opposition (more false and less oppositional with each day that goes by), parties and unions that want to manage our misery and integrate us into a mode of production that prevents us from any participation in the decisions that relate directly to us and that assist in enslaving us, mutilating every gesture of negation of the existent.

The spectacle writes the scenario and distributes the roles: worker, professor, student, housewife, mother, father, son, daughter, unemployed, police, soldier, artist, humanitarian, intellectual... the majority, individuals who assume different roles in the course of 24 hours, see their existence as still more terrible, assuming this is possible. Everyone with his neurotic-schizoid viewpoint will react to the stimuli launched by power in the way that was already expected.

All social activity is planned in order to reinforce the spectacle, thus slowing down its unstoppable process of decomposition. Though we don’t want to hear the shrieking of militants of whatever organization, clearly we are not against the concept of “organization” as such, but against “organization” conceived as an end in itself , as the crystallization of any ideology, and as a separated organ, representing a class.

We are for the autonomous self-organization of the exploited. History has shown through two clear examples that the traditional form of the party (Russian revolution) and union (Spanish revolution) were nothing more than two attempts to manage capitalism and not to overcome it, and this is something that, consciously or unconsciously, everybody knows. In the seizure of power, it is not destroyed, but exercised: in the first case, the class of bureaucrats replaced the bourgeoisie, and in the other case, the anarcho-syndicalist leaders participated in bourgeois power, calling for the self-management of exploitation and alienation, while the base tried to overcome the relationships of production and social relationships in practice through the direct management of every aspect of their lives and not just work.

To be precise, both forms have the exaltation of work in common (something that they also share with national-socialism and with every political form of capitalism).

Their quantitative vision sought an increase in production, leaving aside the qualitative increase of life. This (practical and theoretical) defeat of the traditional organizations, which claim to represent us, has not been absorbed by the working class (it seems that we only know how to work), and we go along without maintaining any possibility of control over essential aspects of our lives, in a world that is developed, not only without our participation, but against us.

But, comrades, history is not cyclic; it is a cumulative process and already weighs too heavily upon our weary bodies.

Chapter 2

Never did mockers waste more idle breath.

— William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The contradiction between the possibilities of the means of production (the use of a few of them for the enjoyment of all, since most of them are useless and harmful and would be destroyed) and the relations of production (waged exploitation, commodification, the exclusions of class society) has reached an insurmountable point of rupture. In the spectacle it is easier to falsify the nature of this contradiction than to increase mercantile production with increasing use value. This inertia forces it to display all of its methods for recuperating any real movement of opposition and to turn the spectacular critique of the spectacle to its advantage.

A self-critical hypocrite directed by its own police of decomposed thought (pro-situationists, cadres, non-governmental organizations, recuperators, artists, journalists... the clique of politically correct alternatives).

These toilet brushes of modernity, like good priests, hope that with their patches, the proper development of the system will lead us, hand in hand, into an ideal world planned by their false consciousness and by the putridity of their armoured brains; as if they had ever given us anything. Their social function, which has been denounced for decades already, has been worth more to them than any aggressions, beatings or assassinations, and we are sure that these will not be mere anecdotes. They deceive and manipulate us. We must not allow them ta have a single day more. They are the guardians to the keys of our informal chains. They amuse us with insignificant debates. They impose their opinions on us, avoiding questions so simple that they make them tremble with terror: How best to live? Who and what keeps us from this? Questions that immediately unmask the professionals of the lie. Critical coherence and the critique of incoherence aid this operation.

Chapter 3

Injustice is not anonymous; it has a name and an address.

— Bertold Brecht

Situationist theory, as integral critique of the totality of the conditions of survival and of the mercantile-spectacular capitalism that necessitates them, has been confirmed in events by falsification.

One cannot fight alienation by means of alienated forms. The sabotage of this world starts with the break with the roles the system imposes on us, the sabotage of our death in life and the refusal of the roles that they have allotted and appointed to us. To speak of the Revolution in these times is “to have a corpse in one’s mouth”. We only need to look around ourselves to see a scenario that constantly reminds us of the defeat. Sabotage is thus an action that serves as a propellant against the unreality that oppresses us. A practice that has not gone unnoticed by ideological recuperation, which has transformed it into “terrorism” (the professionalization of sabotage that has done no more than reinforce the system, due to its centralist, hierarchical and militarist character). Today, what is proposed is not the creation of an armed organization of this type, but widespread attack by small affinity groups, uncontrollable by any higher organization, that come together and dissolve like the lunar tides. The tides that are born of the awareness of how bad things are and of the worsening that awaits us due to events.

In the 19th century, such a practice existed that put the incipient capitalism in check. Beyond the Luddite attacks, the “proletarian rounds” rendered their repression and recuperation, in which the embryonic unions would play a role, almost impossible due to their lack of a rigid structure and their maximum flexibility in attacks. A group of people came together, struck and disappeared into the mass, while a new group came together within it. Such widespread sabotage makes it difficult for the enemy to organize repression. Thus it transforms the attack into a universe of pleasure for the enlightened hooligan, the feelings of which are impossible to describe or communicate with the poor and banal language of words.

The game of subversion, the rules of which are written by those that participate in it, becomes an effective weapon against capitalism in all its forms.

There is much more to destroy than to build.

Chapter 4

Our epoch does not need to write poetic slogans, but to realize them.

— Situationist International

It has been demonstrated that small groups that attack do more damage than large organizations that specialize in armed struggle. The Angry Brigade continued its actions when people were arrested and the English state assumed the movement had fallen apart. The Kale Borroka (street struggle) in Euskadi, which Jarrai (the youth organization of the Basque nationalist left, NDR) recently declared uncontrollable is another example. Power has difficulty repressing and eliminating little groups that with complete security do not know each other, and the only thing that unites them is the desire for the destruction of a system that prevents them from living and condemns them to survival and uncertainty. They don’t attempt exhibitionist actions in order to make propaganda as some acronym or mark of origin. In the case of the Asturias, sabotage was a class weapon used innumerable times, particularly in labor conflicts with these enterprises: Duro Felguera, Hunosa, Naval and Ciata...(Asturian businesses and mines where sabotage was determinant in the struggles going on in the 1990’s); every weary person, regardless of her or his ideology, uses it. From the clerk who steals office supplies to the worker who damages the machine to which he is chained, passing through the use of plastic explosives like the licensed professionals of Duro Felguera. Today, the example is the burning of the ETTs (temporary employment agencies). The practice of sabotage remains limited to precise and very localized conflicts, without global perspectives, simply aiming for partial solutions with economic demands that remain within imposed limits where capitalist logic unfolds. The same holds in the case of the ETTs, an attack that goes beyond the temporality of a conflict in one enterprise, but that does not place wage slavery into question. Instead it only questions its most extreme form, not aiming at putting an end to exploitation, but rather to the ETTs. Today the conflict is global and it is not resolved through partial struggles, but through total struggle and through the refusal of this society as a whole. It is necessary to put an end to the reduction of our lives to commodities and to wage labor that wears us out, not just to ETTs. We must put an end to class society and not just fascism. Misdirecting our attention toward partial objectives only benefits the managers of our misery and those who will one day lay claim to its management., and both are among the targets for sabotage.

The widespread practice of sabotage (unhindered autonomy, maximum flexibility, self-organization, minimum risk) among like-minded individuals, opens the possibility for real communication, destroying spectacular communication, smashing the apathy and impotence of the eternal revolutionist monologue. Relationships and the possibility of contact with other people in the refusal of the spectacular role, these are transient situations that in their preparation and development carry in their essence the qualities of the revolutionary situation that will not retreat and that will suppress the conditions of survival. It does not fall into the irremediable alienating hierarchization that every specialized armed group of an authoritarian and militaristic character, to which the masses delegate their participation in the attack, carries within itself

The quantitative growth of this practice does not come to us from the hands of propagandists of the spectacle, but rather by taking a walk through the scenario of capitalism, and finding in this drift the burned ATM, the ETTs with shattered windows, the smiths changing the locks of a supermarket. These visions make our complicit smiles blossom and move us to go out that very night to play with fire with the aim of making the same smiles rise on the faces of unknown accomplices through the fellowship of destruction. The number doesn’t matter, but rather the quality of the acts: sabotage, expropriation, self-reduction... they return part of the life that is denied us back to us, but we want it all.

Comrades, the game is yours and we take courage in its daily practice. Organize it yourselves with your accomplices.

Against the old world in all its expressions, in order to leave pre-history, let’s launch and multiply attacks.

FOR THE ABOLITION OF CLASS SOCIETY AGAINST THE MARKET AND WAGE LABOR FOR ANARCHY STONES AND FIRE

[vitalrides]

Doble Rio Hermoso, Patagonia

I want to talk about when I had the chance of racing in south America, last December. As I probably mentioned before my girlfriend she is Argentinian and this year we decided to go visiting her family for Christmas. It would been a long holiday abusing also of the few national days off everywhere between Christmas and new year. So we did, we spent 3 plus week over, in sunny and warm Patagonia, on  the southern hemisphere.

This time was my 3rd time in Argentina, and considering, the family of her lives there plus the 3 legs journey on a plane it is very laborious and expensive I decided to not bring my bike across, but to get a new one there to use for the time being and leave it for every time I will be visiting. I did my maths and trust me, was worth the effort doing in this way.

The day after my arrive I went to few local bike shop to see which were the options and what was available. After some indecision I finally made my mind up and bought an aluminium Specialize Allez, old shimano groupset with 16 gears but internal cabling and all in all decent bike for the budget I had in mind. 

Nico, the guy of Sun & Ski Sport, the shop where I got the bike anticipated me that the day after a race organized by Los Bomberos (the fire brigades) would have taken place in town involving lots of bike enthusiasts. How could I have possibly missed this opportunity, so with new bike and all my good intentions I accepted and went for it. Nico invited me the same day also for a ride with other local guys around and that one was a good opportunity to understand the quality of the field and become a good friend with them. The following day it was race day and at the start line a big mix of road cyclist and mtbiker were sharing the road. In fact there was the possibility to compete or with your road bike (70 km with 1400 of elevation) or mtb (50 km), so the route was the same, just shorter in one case. The peloton appeared since the beginning a mix of amatorial and elite cyclists. In  San Martin de Los Andes, the place where I was, there are lots of opportunity to do outdoor activity all year round  with fantastic trails, a lake and a ski resort nearby, so all the locals are very much actives and sportive guys. The race started with the peloton compact, but after the 5km the big climb began and few of us started peeling off from the leading group. I managed to remain in the second group and even with lots of suffering I managed to go through it and place 24th overall. Such an amazing experience that was, sharing the roads with people from literally another continent talking a different language and surrounded by the Andes. At that time of the year I definitely wasn’t in my best shape but thanks to my resiliency my body was able to sustain those 2h effort without any issues the day after. I am hoping to be able next year to repeat it and possibly get there more trained, just another one on the calendar. I love it like that.

[movingkeepmoving]

Hello and welcome to Berlin, Germany! For many of you this will be your first stay here, so I’m trying to make things easy for you.

First things first: Phone code is +49 Police: 110 / fire brigade: 112 1€ is 100cts.

Be aware most places might not accept card as payment method; we’re pretty far behind on this; especially when it comes to music venues. Have some cash on you!

Safety:

Berlin is a huge city and compared to its size its fairly safe if you use common sense. No specific rules apply with the exception of public transportation and tourist areas where pickpockets are a problem. Watch your bags during rush hours, at larger train stations.

The police in Berlin are competent, not corrupt; therefore, if you try to bribe them you are likely to spend at least a night behind bars to check your background. They are generally helpful to tourists. Most of the officers are able to speak English, so don't hesitate to approach them if you are frightened or lost.

Although harmless, panhandlers have started to beg at local tourist spots such as Pariser Platz next to the Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz and the Museumsinsel. They are usually women accompanied by their daughters who ask if you speak English and say that they are from the new EU countries and trying to raise money to fly home. The story is false, so don't give them money, which would encourage further exploitation of the women and their kids. They also have a new tactic where they hand you a card telling their "story" and asking for money; beware that the children that they carry in their arms will search through your bags while you are reading the card. The best way to avoid this is simply to ignore them and not to respond when they ask you "Speak English?" If you feel scared, don't hesitate to contact the police, as they will help.

ALOHOL / DRINKS IN GENERAL / SMOKING

You’re allowed to drink alcohol in the streets, beer and wine is legal from the age of 16, everything else from the age of 18. You’ll notice many people will buy their drinks in Spätis (late night corner shops) and drink them in front of those shops. You might find more people doing this than finding people drinking in bars, because our bars normally open in the evening time (and are closed before that - sorry to our friends from the UK!).

We have a deposit on cans and bottles, so please NEVER put them into any bin. Place them next to the bin if you don’t care about getting 0,08ct to 0,25ct back, as homeless people often rely on this „extra income“.

You’ll pay at least 1€ deposit on bottles/glasses in venues too - even if they’re plastic cups. Keep that in mind. You don’t pay a deposit in restaurants or bars.

Brining bottles into venue won’t be allowed, due the fact venues want to sell as many drinks as possible. It’s also not a common thing to request tab water in a music venue. They might charge you for the deposit.

Smoking weed is NOT legal in Berlin / Germany. Although there will be people around the RAW area trying to sell you stuff - I can’t recommend doing this, the police knows about the situation and often watches the side undercover. (Can’t tell you how many times I saw a catch me if you can situation around here)
> Welcome to Berlin, you can actually smoke in most bars if they said they’re an 18+ venue. If you don’t smoke like me, this can be rather hell. If you’re a smoker: Welcome to paradise.

Apps you should consider to download:

Citymapper: This one actually works in a lot of big cities. I used it in New York, London and Boston before. With Citymapper you'll get all the options of getting from point A to B, including cabs, uber, walking distance, local transport, etc. It also shows you if the journey is accesible, if there are any disturbances and which carriage/entry/exit you should take for the fastest route.

Uber: If you want to take an Uber it's a bit different than in your city: Uber drivers are not allowed to use their own cars, but special black Uber cars. I haven't used Uber within Berlin so far yet. With the App you can also use the red e-bikes and red e-scooters branded with JUMP. If you're not an Uber Member yet, feel free to use the following link to sign up and get a 10€ balance for your first three rides: https://www.uber.com/invite/w1rzjd

FreeNow: If you want to use cabs, the easiest way ordering one via App is FreeNow. The app also works in different cities all over Europe and as there are more cabs than Uber cars within Berlin, this option might be faster than Uber. If you want to sign app with FreeNow, feel free to use the following link: (App currently not working)

Clever Shuttle: This app connects you with electric cars only, it works like a shared Uber (so you might have a stranger on your ride), but the other passengers will never see your destination (I heard that's different from Uber), so it's safer and you actually do something good about the environment to. If you want to try it, feel free to use the following code to sign up - you'll get a ballance of 10€: 9oxujh

Shared bike services: There are a handful of services offering a shared bike system; I’ve never used one of these besides the UBER/Jump one, so I can’t really tell how they’re working and if they’re expensive of not. If you want to do a little research yourself: Donkey Republic, Mobike, Deezer, Lime - are four providers who come directly into my mind. There are also some escooter services like Lime, Voi and Tier.

Happy Cow: You’re vegan and you want to check where you can grab some food or you’re looking for a vegan restaurant / vegan options / a vegan supermarket? Check out Happy Cow, - descriptions for all the places are usually in English!

When it comes down to food: Don't expect to get served tab water for free when you're at a restaurant. It's not a thing within Germany. We also don't do refills on soft drinks either. When ordering water, make sure you mention if you want to get it with or without gas, to avoid disappointment. (We live our fizzy water, folks!) It's a common thing to split the bill when you're having food with friends. We don't have the requirement to tip in restaurants and bars like in the US, but if you're satisfied 10% are the standard.

Local Transport / BVG

While BVG doesn't run S-Bahn or local trains, they are covered by the website and can be used with the same tickets.

BVG's customer service, ☏ +49 30 19449. If you don't know how to get somewhere, or how to get home at night, BVG's customer service number. Most U-Bahn and some S-Bahn stations have call points from which you can contact customer service directly.

Some BVG buses and tram lines run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

TicketsThe public transport system in Berlin (U-, S-Bahn, bus, tram, regional rail) uses a common ticket system based on zones (zone A, B and C). You are unlikely going beyond zone A and B, except on trips to Potsdam or to Schönefeld Airport (SXF). The border between zones A and B is the S-Bahn Ring (see here). Zone C includes trips to and within Potsdam.

The following tickets can be used for single journeys:

Single Ticket. The standard single journey ticket. It is valid for any travel within two hours of validation, in a single direction, within the appropriate fare zones. There is no limit to transfers. Return journeys are not allowed. Price: Berlin AB €2.80 (reduced €1.70); Berlin ABC €3.40 (reduced €2.50).

4-trip ticket (4 Fahrten Karte). This gives you 4 single trip tickets at a cheaper cost. Price: Berlin AB €9.00 (reduced €5.60). Short trip (Kurzstrecke).

For a single journey you can buy a cheap Kurzstrecke for €1.70, but this is only valid for 3 stops on the U-Bahn or S-Bahn (transfers permitted) or 6 stops on buses or trams (no transfers). The stations included in a short tip ticket are indicated on schedules posted at bus and tram stops.

Several options are available for unlimited travel: Day Ticket (Tageskarte). A day ticket for one person. Worth it if you are travelling more than two trips a day. Valid until 03:00 the next morning, not 24 hours! Price: Berlin AB €7 (reduced €4.70); Berlin ABC €7.70 (reduced €5.30).

Small Group Day Ticket AB (Kleingruppen-Tageskarte). A day ticket valid for up to five people. For groups of three or more, this ticket is cheaper than individual day tickets. Price: Berlin AB €19.90, Berlin ABC €20.80.

7-Day-Ticket AB (7-Tagekarte). A ticket valid for seven days. Price: Berlin AB €30, Berlin ABC €37.50.

Berlin CityTourCard. Ticket valid for all public transport services in Berlin, Potsdam and the surrounding area (depending on the covered zones) and a discount card for many tourist attractions; available in several different versions: 48 hours AB €17.40; 72 hours AB €24.50; 5 days AB €31.90. Add a few euros if you want to go to Potsdam (fare zone ABC). A folded leaflet with inner city map and an overview of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn railway networks of Berlin is included. Can be bought at ticket machines and various sales points (Berlin airports, larger train stations, hotels or online).

Berlin WelcomeCard. Unlimited travel with all methods of public transport for the validity of the ticket; save up to 50% on more than 200 tourist and cultural highlights; handy guide in pocket book format with insider tips and tour suggestions; city plan for Berlin and Potsdam and a network plan for public transport. Can be bought at various sales points (Berlin airports, larger train stations, hotels or online).

Tickets valid for only A and C are available as well, which you might need for a single trip to Schönefeld Airport from somewhat out of the way lodgings. There is only one way to get a ticket only valid in A: Deutsche Bahn offers "City Tickets" as an add-on for their long distance train tickets and in Berlin those are only valid for a single trip inside the A zone.

Reduced fares apply for children 6 to 14. Children under 6 ride free.

Purchasing tickets Tickets can be purchased in several ways. Upon arrival at the different Berlin airports, some tickets can be purchased at the tourist desk. All tickets are available at vending machines at the airports, U- and S-Bahn platforms, and passengers may also use the vending machines operated by DB at long-distance and regional railway stations to purchase the same. English and other European languages are available. You can also purchase them on the BVG app via Paypal/Credit Card, but unfortunately this app isn’t available in English yet.

Really important: Before the journey starts tickets must be validated by stamping them at the yellow or red boxes on the platforms, in buses or trams. In case of inspection, a ticket that is not stamped is invalid. (Nevertheless, if you buy a ticket directly from a bus or tram driver, it won't need stamping). Getting caught with an invalid ticket = 60€ fee; never pay this fee in cash; it’s illegal for ticket officers to charge you in cash!!

Arriving in Berlin

When arriving at Schönefeld Airport (SXF), you’ll need to buy a ticket that valid for all three zones (ABC) to get into the center. You can either buy a single ride ticket for ABC or you buy the ticket you think you’ll need for the time of your stay (7 day ticket or similar) for ABC and purchase an additinal ticket for the C zone (1,60€). You can take either a red Regional train or a S-Bahn into the city center; your ticket is valid in both. Just ask Citymapper for the next conncetion!

When arriving at Tegel Airport (TXL), you’ll need to take the bus (TXL Express) to get to the city center. Please note it’s a regular bus, not a special airport shuttle with lots of luggage space. So if you are a group or you have lots of lagguage, maybe think about sharing a cab or something similar. If you decide on taking the bus tho, Tegel is within the B zone, so you can just get your regular ticket. Also note, there are ticket machines and ticket offices at the airport, you might want to use them instead of getting your ticket from the bus driver. Take this bus to Berlin HBF / Berlin main station and continue your journey from here via train / bus.

What to do in Berlin during your stay? Here are my top 10 recommendations:

Ramones Museum: This place might be part of the official Lost Evenings programm as Flo (owner) and Frank know each other and Frank played a couple of times in their old location. They have a bar and serve breakfast, cake, coffee, and alcohol from 10 am til 10 pm. You’ll be able to purchase Ramones merch, you’ll be able to visit the Ramones Museum part and you’ll be able to check out all the photos and signatures of all the bands who played there or visited the place. It’s one of my favourite places, so you better be nice to the staff there (they all speak english really well!!)

Alexanderplatz: Don’t go up the TV tower! I’ll tell you my favourite secret spot: Go to the Park Inn hotel, go through their entrance, turn left and go straight to the lifts. Take the lift to the topmost floor and follow their signs to the terrace (you’ll have to climb 1-2 more floors on the stairs). You’ll pay 4€/person and you’ll get a wonderful view all over Berlin, directly in front of the TV tower in a height of 120m. There’s also a bar up there if you want a coffee or beer.

Eastside Gallery: When in Berlin, you need to see THE WALL, don’t you? There’s a huge part of the wall close to the Spree and close to the Lost Evening site. It’s called the Eastside Gallery and it’s painted by many different artists from all over. If you want to dig a bit more into history, you can take the M10 tram from Warschauer Straße (close to the Eastside Gallery) and take it all the way until Bernauer Straße. Here’s another huge part of the wall and some more info about it. And while taking the M10, you’ll have a great way of seeing different parts of Berlin on your way. But be aware, during the evening, this line becomes some kind of party train.

Brandenburg Gate / Holocaust Memorial / Reichstag / Siegessäule - These places are all located close to each other and you can easily reach them while starting from Berlin main station. They’re four of the most touristy places in the city, but if it’s your first time, you might wanna give it a go? You can also climb up the Staircase of Siegessäule to get a full panoramo view of the city; it’s worth it, but the staircase is super narrow and there’s no lift!

Museums Insel & Berliner Dom: Close to Alexanderplatz you’ll find the Museums Insel - and built in island with many museums, which I haven’t visited yet myself. But if you’re the museums person, you might wanna give it a go!? The Dom is close by and an impressive cathedral in the middle of the city.

Check Point Charlie: First time in Berlin? You probably want to get your photo taken in front of the world famous border crossing in Berlin. During the day you’ll find people dressed up as American Soliders in front of it too.

Flughafen Tempelhof: Visit the outdoor part of our now closed airport in the center of the city. The place of the famous Luftbrücke, where planes started to drop supllies into the East Berlin zone. There are tour through the aiport building, which you have to register for in advance, but you can walk freely on the airfield and you’ll see many people walking there during the day, or riding their bikes, or do any other sorts of sports. It’s a place for picnics, for haning around, it can be really lovely once the weather gets better. 

tbc

[afteriwake]

Old Books & New Flames (17/18)

Finally getting around to updating my own stuff! So here’s the last non-explicit chapter, where Molly and her friends deal with the aftermath of the arson attempt.

Old Books & New Flames - When Sebastian Moran asks local bookstore owner Molly Hooper for a job, all he wants is a second chance to live the life he should have been living before prison. What Molly gets is more than a loyal employee and good friend. What she ends up with is what she had always wanted her entire life: happiness.

READ CHAPTER 1 | READ CHAPTER 17 | HELP ME SURVIVE? | COMMISSION ME? | BUY ME A KOFI? | MY PATREON

Thankfully, there was little damage to the interior of the building and little to no water damage to the most important merchandise, but the exterior was frightful to look at. The fire had been put out quickly by the volunteer fire brigade, but it was clearly arson. And thankfully Lestrade had said there had been enough light upstairs in what had been Seb’s flat to clearly see Jim running off with a petrol bottle, and the sound of squealing tires shortly thereafter. But now the shop was going to be closed a while longer it seemed, and that was not what she had wanted.

In the morning Molly went back with Seb and got a better look at the exterior damage, having finally fallen back asleep and woken up to the cottage being occupied by just the two of them. Normally the landlord would fix it, but what happened when the landlord was the cause of it, all because she’d picked someone else over him? She was surprised to see Sally, Mary, and their husbands there, already cleaning. “What…?” she asked.

“Jim’s at Her Majesty’s Pleasure at the moment so someone needs to get back to work cleaning this place up,” John said. “It’s habitable, at least the upstairs flat is, so it just needs paint and spackling and--”

“And more than that, but we love this place and we’re not going to let you close up and move away from us,” his wife interjected. “We’ll get it back and better than ever.”

“But I don’t own the space!” Molly said, trying not to cry again. It would all go for naught if Jim simply sold the property out from under her to finance what would be, she thought, a lengthy case. She sank down to the wall surrounding the little garden she’d planted near the entrance for Martha and hung her head.

“Then fine. We’ll pool resources and get the old clothing shop when it's finally vacated and turn that into the store,” Sally said. “I’m sure we can sell some of the books, and the insurance is in your name. Or you can sue the bastard and not rest until you own this space. Whatever you want to do, we just don’t want you to leave. You’re family.” She sat on the wall next to her and hugged her, and Molly sniffled into her shoulder.

“Sherlock could always help if it came to a suit,” Seb said. “He’s good at what he does and I’m sure he can convince Jim to give you your due. I mean, he won’t stay in prison forever for arson, but it will be a time, and we’ll make sure he can’t set foot in the village again. He wants to cause more trouble, he can do it elsewhere.”

Molly leaned her head on Sally’s shoulder and gave him a shaky smile. “Alright. We’ll stay here, won’t we, Sebastian?”

“I might have to make your cottage my home for a bit, but I don’t know if there’s any other place I’d rather be than a place where I’m wanted.”

“Good, then we’ll do what we can inside today, and then sort out everything else later,” Greg replied. “We can go get make some plans over dinner tonight and then see what the next step the shop is going to take is.”

“Thank you, all of you,” Molly said. “I really do appreciate it.” She looked at all the people in her found family, ending with looking up at the newest member and realizing Seb had been right. It was best to stay here, where they were wanted and loved, and see what all happened next.

[frankwestpfahl]

Dear reader, early summer has come to Portugal. As we rise aboard the AmaDouro to start our day, the sun shines bright, the sky is a brilliant blue, the grape vines are starting to bud, and so many flowers are in bloom.

Carlos has gotten use to us, I'm not the biggest buffet fan, and when the buffet is crowded even less so. I realize we can order breakfast from the menu and just sit and enjoy, a leisure breakfast of steak and eggs with a side of waffels. I do enjoy our table mates and hope we keep in touch. It is one of the best parts of river cruising, the new friends you meet.

Now that we are charged we hop on the coach for a short drive up to Casitlo Rodrigo. We learn all about the the town Stork Georgina. When Georgina was small, she feel from her nest. The local fire brigade was called and they were able to nurse little Georgina back to health, however her injury prevented her from flying again. She ended up making a home for herself at the firehouse and quickly became a town mascot. Everyone in town knew her and her likes, as she wondered the streets, crossed in crosswalks and would visit the fish handler for treats and other restaurants.

Georgina was a little fistey and would keep people in line. Now the town does have a lot of dogs and one day poor Georgina had a go at a neighborhood dog and the two got into it. Sadly the dog won the fight and the fire brigade were not able to save her. Because of her popularity the town had Georgina stuffed, but do you know what they found out. Yes, they discovered why Georgina was always so cranky. Everyone had been calling her, her, when in fact Georgina is really George. He is now known as the Transgender Stork of the village, and still loved regardless of George's identity.

Now back to our day. The fort perched high up on a hill is like a fairytale. We leisurely stroll up to the top, wonder the ancient streets, see the ruins, visit the chapel (they seem to like dark religious monuments and figures), of course see the shops and visit friends as we take in the spectacular views.

Back on the boat we enjoy lunch and a busy afternoon with postcards and journaling all well sailing down the river to our next stop in Pinhão. Traveling the the river gorgoug again is still beautiful and going through the locks fascinating. We enjoy some tea and the sun before getting ready for this evenings sip 'n sail. Then we are in for a special treat for dinner tonight. We are traveling to one of the largest cooperative wine estates in Portugal, Avessada. I must admit the drive was a little rough, the very steep, winding roads through the vineyards to the top of the valley we're not only scary, but also makes for a bought of motion sickness. That all fades away when we arrive and meet our amazing host and team.

The estate is beautiful and they have live music, we have a wine tasting on the terrace and then learn about the wine process and the history of wine in the region and the creation of the cooperative. Then our comical host, with manerisims similar to Mr Bean welcomes us to a multiple course dinner in a beautiful room with windows and fireplace. What a wonderful evening of music, wine, and conversation.

Thank goodness the bus back to the ship was in the dark. Our bus driver is truly amazing as the roads are steep and curvy, but with it being dark we couldn't see the depth of the valley below. Back onboard it's time for bed. It's amazing how a day of leisure can be so exhausting. Tomorrow onto another city with a lot of steps. Thank you for joining is on this trip and see you tomorrow.

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#selfie #justfrank #vacation #vacation2022 #urlaub #urlaub2022 #reise #spaß #friendship #adventure #2022 #spring #fernweh #video @marty.reynoldsohana #april #funtimes #AmaWaterways #Portugal #Douro #2022 Enticing Douro #travel

[xtruss]

Biden's $735 Million Arms Sale to “an Illegal Regime of Zionist Cunts: Isra-hell” to Include Missile Type That Hit Gaza Tower

— By Tom O'Connor | Newsweek | May 17, 2021

$735 million arms sale to Israel approved last month by President Joe Biden would include the same kind of precision-guided weapons that the Israel Defense Forces use to target hundreds of sites across the Gaza Strip, including a tower housing international media outlets.

Congressional committee chairs were notified on May 5 of the weapons sale, first reported Monday by The Washington Post and confirmed to Newsweek by two congressional staffers. The notice came just days before the rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians erupted into a deadly campaign involving rocket fire by Palestinian groups led by Hamas on one side and IDF airstrikes and artillery fire on the other.

The proposed U.S. package includes Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) that convert missiles into so-called "smart bombs" with lethal accuracy and destructive effect. The sale is subject to a 15-day review that is set to end on Thursday, amid a sharp spike in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The deepening violence on both sides of what has already become the worst conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions in years has garnered international concern. It was one reportedly bloodless attack that has particularly captured global attention.

On Saturday, the IDF bombed Gaza's Al-Jalaa Tower, which housed the offices of top media outlets including The Associated Press and Al Jazeera, whose employees rushed out of the building after being given a warning of the impending attack by Israeli authorities shortly before the strike.

The dramatic destruction of the site, which the IDF argued was a legitimate target because it "contained military assets belonging to Hamas military intelligence," was captured in photo and film. The footage of the attack also reveals the munitions used, one that comes from the very same family of JDAMs included in Biden's proposed weapons sale to Israel.

Asked by reporters Monday about the planned arms sale, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki deferred to the State Department, which she said did not believe had announced "any future sales or weapons sales." She did, however, note the robust continued ties maintained between the two allies.

"We do have an ongoing and abiding strategic security relationship and partnership with Israel," Psaki said.

A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that U.S. officials "are restricted under Federal law and regulation from publicly commenting on or confirming details of licensing activity related to direct commercial sales of export-controlled defense articles or services."

But given the ongoing violence in the region, the spokesperson added a call for de-escalation as the Biden administration works with regional countries in an effort to resolve the crisis.

"We remain deeply concerned about the current violence and are working towards achieving a sustainable calm," the spokesperson said.

Smoke billows as a Joint Direct Attack Munition dropped on Al-Jalaa Tower during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, a city controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, on May 15. The U.S. considers Israel a key security ally and contributes billions of dollars a year in military assistance, but President Joe Biden has expressed concern over the IDF strike that destroyed a building housing international media outlets who were told to evacuate. MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The targeting and destruction of Al-Jalaa Tower have been condemned by a number of local and foreign media groups, including two of its occupants, The Associated Press and Al Jazeera, which launched its own investigation identifying the weapon that wrecked its offices as a GBU-31, one of several JDAM variants known to have been exported by the U.S. to Israel in past years.

As Israel faced pressing questions regarding the decision to take out the building, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus offered a three-part rationale for the strike. He said the structure was "not a media tower, and it's not a media center," but rather a militant headquarters used by Hamas for three main purposes.

The first entailed "officers of the military intelligence, basically collection and analysis of military intelligence, obviously used for military purposes, against us."

The second was "research and development, where the best subject matter experts were operating from inside that building, using the hardware, computers and other facilities inside the building to develop weapons, military weapons against us as well."

And the third involved "highly advanced technological tools that are in or on the building."

Conricus declined to go into specifics, citing security concerns, on the final point, but said such tools were used by Hamas "in fighting against us in order to hamper or limit the activity of the IDF inside Israel and on civilian activity along with the Gaza envelope." He reiterated the extent to which the IDF has identified how groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad embedded their military infrastructure "within civilian facilities."

He also emphasized the degree to which the IDF went out of its way to ensure non-combatants had left the building beforehand, even if this the forewarning "was also used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to salvage a lot of very important equipment. That, he said, "is a military loss that we are willing to 'suffer' in order to minimize and to make sure that there are no civilian casualties in the strike on the building."

Later that same day, President Joe Biden phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The U.S. leader expressed his support for Israel's right to defend itself, condemned Hamas' rocket launches and mourned the loss of life both sides. He also "raised concerns about the safety and security of journalists and reinforced the need to ensure their protection."

Netanyahu defended the operation in an interview aired Sunday by CBS News, in which he described Al-Jalaa as "an intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organization housed in that building that plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians," making it "a perfectly legitimate target." He said it was thanks to the IDF that the building's inhabitants escaped in time.

"You weren't lucky to get out. It wasn't luck," Netanyahu said. "It's because we took special pains to call people in those buildings to make sure that the premises were vacated, and that's why we brought down that building."

The Israeli leader also suggested that he had shared with the U.S. evidence backing up the Israeli claims of Hamas' involvement at Al-Jalaa Tower, saying "we share with our American friends all that intelligence." Specifically, he said such matters are communicated "through the intelligence services."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for his part, told reporters Monday that he had "not seen any information provided" regarding the airstrike, "to the extent that it is based on intelligence, that would have been shared with other colleagues and I'll leave that to them to assess."

Following Blinken's consultations with regional officials, including Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Qataris, Biden held Friday his third call with Netanyahu since the latest conflict began and for the first time "expressed his support for a ceasefire."

U.S. Air Force senior airman and 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons load crew member runs checks on an inert GBU-31 V3 bomb during a weapons load competition April 16 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The U.S. exports such Joint Direct Attack Munitions to around 30 countries around the world. AIRMAN COLLEEN COULTHARD/33RD FIGHTER WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS/U.S. AIR FORCE

Hamas has denied that it had a presence in the building, one of a growing number of Gaza high-rises reduced to rubble over the past week.

"The targeting of Al-Jalaa Tower is part of a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity that are being committed against civilians," Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said Monday in a statement obtained by Newsweek, "in addition to the targeting of homes, residential neighborhoods and civilian institutions."

Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, threatened on Monday to unleash a new round of rockets against Tel Aviv if the IDF did not cease bombing what he called "civilian homes and apartments." The IDF on Monday stepped up its bombing of what it said were "houses served as a part of Hamas' terror infrastructure."

Hamas and affiliated organizations such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad have fired what the IDF estimates to be 3,350 rockets toward Israel over the past week, hundreds of which were said to have fallen short of Israeli territory and hundreds more of which were intercepted by the advanced Iron Dome defense system. Israeli operations from land, air and sea, meanwhile, have targeted hundreds, if not thousands of sites across the densely-populated Palestinian enclave.

The conflict's death toll is estimated have reached well over 200, with the Gaza-based Ministry of Health placing the Palestinian toll at 212, most from Israeli bombings but also including nearly two dozen killed by Israeli police in the West Bank, and the IDF counting 10 Israelis dead due to rocket fire.

[diogomlacerda]

Post 2.4.: The insights of Subwoofers Music Fest

After a highly relaxed and celebrated summer, I was ready to go back to uni and deal with all its assignments and stresses that comes with it. On our first week back, Alan and Neil (Our lecturers) announced that we were throwing a day festival for this years event management module evaluation. I was excited about the news, but all I kept thinking is how the hell are we supposed to deliver such thing?

As I announced this event previously on the blog, it was a partnership with the Hearing Dogs Trust Foundation, and the festival would be on a 27 acre site, an accomplishment Bucks Live never achieved before. The buzzing started kicking in, and we had to quickly decide on the first couple of weeks in which team we wanted to be at. There were four of them: Production, talent, Logistics and Marketing.

For Winterland (Bucks Live event on the first year) I was on the logistics team, a choice that was rather innocent as I didn’t know what I was going for, and to be fair, none of us really knew. (We were in 1st year, for fucks sake!) But so I just ended up doing signage, lots of painting, and on the day I was responsible for the Ice skating rink. So for this year, I wanted to change a little bit and do something different. I would say an obvious choice for me would be Marketing, as Logistics was out of the way and Production is something I am not quite interested in doing, but I went for Talent, because I wanted to do the whole liaison with artists part but also help to choose the musical identity of our event.

The first couple of weeks being apart of Talent were a bit “clueless” I would say. We were told to keep it local on the artists and no budget was given, so we were all (My team had probably around 10 members) just searching for acts and seeing what acts we could get for the cheapest. We had a team leader that wasn’t so good at communicating (Which is fine, we were all in this experience together to learn the most out of it) so we were all just stumbling around the first couple of months trying to figure it out what acts we wanted and what would our target audience (Mostly families) like to hear on the day.

As the hearing dogs is a charity that trains dogs to help deaf people, I was able to be responsible to arrange the presence of BSL interpreters for the day. BSL interpreters are interpreters of music that perform alongside the bands on festivals and concerts. This is something I have never seen before, and never even heard of in Portugal (My homeland). I was in charge of finding the interpreters, book them and take care of them on the day. But booking them was something that showed more complicated than it should have been. It took months until I got a confirmed answer from the Hearing Dog’s that they wanted to go ahead with this and that I could finally do my job properly. Again, communication issues such as not answering emails only makes the job harder for everyone.

It was at a conference in London that I was working at, that I came across the company Performance Interpretive. They were there in a stand to showcase the work they do with BSL interpreters on festivals and so on, and I reach out to them to see if they were able to do our festival and they told me that they were more than willing to do it and that they even have worked with the Hearing dogs before. This turned out to be better than finding someone online because it’s always more reliable when you meet someone in person. After I had the confirmation that I could start booking them, I had the complicated task of gathering from our acts their setlists, lyrics, and music. This information had to be passed down to the interpreters so they could have time to rehearse and be prepared for the day. Again, if I had confirmation months prior to the event, we would have been able to put that this information (Lyrics, songs) would have to be given on the first letter of engagement sent to the artists. As we didn’t do this, it got very messy trying to contact each act individually and ask them for this, because mainly the acts were very poor on communication. So the week before the event, I was being sent loads of lyrics, trying to find them and organise them in order to sent them over to the interpreters (Shout out to Marie from Performance Interpreting for being so patient!) Additionally, most of the acts we got were still up and coming, so they didn’t have any lyrics or videos of them online, which only made the job more difficult and stressful. Some acts didn’t even send out their lyrics, but I made sure that if the interpreters couldn’t deliver an interpretation for each song, it wouldn’t be my fault.

The months kept on flying and I helped in numerous things, such as contacting the Green Watch Team from the Fire Brigade of Wycombe to be present on our event. They have a really strong connection with the community and they come and showcase their trucks and equipment’s to entertain the little kids. I didn’t do much painting work this time at the workshop, but I did my part by helping move all the stuff to the workshop area where we could paint and arrange the signage. As you can see by this picture of Martyna, we had quite a fun time doing this!

I also helped to do a catering list for the day. We had way less food than expected but I wasn’t told that it wasn’t for artists only, but for production as well. We could have way more bottles of water or at least try and have refill spots so that the same people wouldn’t have to keep taking more and more bottles.

Additionally, as the time got closer to the event, I was put on a team with my friends to flyer and communicate our event to the public, it was a good opportunity to reassure myself that commuters are very busy people and not even when they arrive in their hometown they’re relaxed and chilled. They still run to their cars and ignore the poor little people that just want to invite them for a fun day out. But then again, there were people that stopped and asked what it was that we were doing and when and some even said that they were already going.

On the day of the event I got there in the morning, I helped move some stuff around like fencing but I had to organise myself because my role was Second Stage Manager Assistant. I had to basically make sure the performers were ready to perform at least 5 minutes before their stage times. So I had to take them with me from the hospitality area to the second stage. I had Michael with me, Manager of the second stage, which was a great company to work with.

As I said previously, I was also responsible to liaison with the interpreters on the day. Obviously, they knew better than me what they were intended to do but however I had to tell them where they were going to stand and work with production to accommodate them the best way possible on the stage. I had to keep checking on them and give them water, but it was amazing to see the work they do and how much fun they were having by doing it. The feedback that I got from Marie was that they really liked working there and that the event was a success. However, the general consensus is that they worked really hard, and the two interpreters for the main stage had to support each other all day and didn’t have sufficient breaks and lunchtime. We hired two of them based on Marie’s suggestions when we presented her the list of acts we wanted them to interpret, but for next year we already know just two of them to cover 6 acts isn’t enough. I was very very happy with their service because the three interpreters that came (2 for the main stage and 1 for general interpretations needed and to help with the storytellers) were very very nice and I got to learn more about interpretation such as that there isn’t a global sign language available! I thought sign language is equal for everyone but it differs from country to country.

The day was a huge success, I was very proud and still couldn’t believe with the huge turnout we had – more than 3000 people! The weather was amazing and that’s why I think we had so many people coming. The acts were great for the day and delivered what we intended: good entertainment. What I would do differently it all goes back to communication. If I had a radio myself and Emma (that was in the hospitality for the day) another one, we could have arranged things better throughout the day such as, for example, telling me directly that an interpreter was needed in the box office (for example) and we had an act that cancelled, so we had to re-arrange the time slots for the acts on the main stage, if I had a radio I could have communicated more efficiently to the signers and answer them to questions directly instead of having to run around the whole site looking for someone with the answer. Another situation that we had was that it was agreed that one artist would be paid on the day of the event, has it made sure it. Has this artist made its way into the event and to the stage herself, no one knew where she was so after she performed, I had to take her to the hospitality area to sign her in and make sure she was paid. I had to contact Alan through someone’s radio only after a while looking for someone that would have a radio. It would have been more effective again if I had a straight line of communication. And regarding this situation where nobody knew where this artist was, I had to look for the person that was liaising her to see if they had their contact to get hold of her. It would have been easier to have on the spreadsheet that we had with all the time slots of the acts for the day to have their contacts as well, and method of payment. I think it would have been easier if we had a meeting to go through everything that was happening on the day and make sure everybody knew what they were doing.

I think what I take most of this event and the whole process is how communication is key for the good run of any job. We were able to deliver everything we were meant to deliver, but if I and some more members had more radios it would have been much easier.

With this invaluable experience of working at my own festival, I am now able to do a better job at my new internship! Working at Música do coração  (Biggest festival promoter in Portugal) on the booking department this summer will help me explore my skills even more!

Without further announcements,

Yours always,

Xavier

[vladtheunfollower]

Gordon Cornwall update on "Burnaby 15" injunction hearing, which concluded yesterday:

Kinder-Morgan got their injunction, as expected. However, we (the two defence lawyers, David Mivasair and myself (self-represented)) managed to beat it back in scope, if not duration: from a 50 m 'buffer zone' around KM properties (Westridge and the tank farm) to 5 m, with exceptions carved out for public trails and roadways, parks, schools, private property, the reservoir, etc. The duration, unfortunately, is for the duration of the project - which, we still hope, will be terminated prematurely.

Here is what I told the court when I finally got to speak yesterday:

"I want to explain my reasons for standing in Bayview Drive and holding out my hand to stop construction-related traffic from entering Westridge Terminals. I will also present three reasons why the injunction, if it must be granted, should be limited in scope and duration.

In their lawsuit against the defendants, Trans-Mountain claims that, by blocking Bayview, we delayed their work, cost them money, and caused them harm.

I took the actions I did in an attempt to prevent a greater harm from being inflicted on myself, my family, and society by Trans-Mountain and the rest of the fossil fuel industry.

I respectfully ask the court to take judicial notice of the broader context of global warming caused by manmade greenhouse gases.

Tran-Mountain’s proposed pipeline expansion is not compatible with Canada’s Paris commitment to make best efforts to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels.

Average global temperatures have already risen by 1° C, and harm is evident around the world. Looking at BC alone, we have seen in recent years a trend towards hotter, drier summers. The summer of 2017 broke records for lack of rainfall, and the result was a record year for wildfires. The cost to BC taxpayers of fighting the 2017 fires was $500M, and that does not include the military response. Figures for the damage caused by the fires – hundreds of buildings lost, 1.2 million hectares of forest destroyed, 400,000 hectares of rangeland made unproductive, cattle and wildlife injured and killed, the impact on tourism – the dollar value of that damage is not yet known. Nor is the cost of the health impacts on British Columbians across much of the province, including the Lower Mainland, from breathing smoky air for weeks on end. Nor is the psychological cost to many people who lived last summer in fear of losing their homes and cottages, their animals, and potentially their lives. For two months, my wife and I watched the Elephant Hill fire rip through 100 miles of forest from Ashcroft north to Sheridan Lake, where my family has owned a summer place for 60 years. Our place was saved by a fluke, a lucky change of wind.

The threat of global warming is one of imminent harm. No one knows exactly how it will play out, which parts of the world will be hit next by what disasters. We can see clearly that, unless we stop expanding fossil fuel production as Canada is still doing, unless we rapidly convert to a renewable energy economy, we are on a path to a global temperature increase perhaps as high as 4 ° C. That would cause unimaginable harm.

If an injunction must be granted in favour of the applicant, this harm being perpetrated by Trans-Mountain and other corporate entities is a reason to limit its scope and duration.

Also, legal cases naming the applicant, Trans-Mountain Pipeline ULC, specifically referencing the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion project, are currently before Canadian courts.

Among other cases, I refer to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project judicial reviews consolidated under file number A-78-17, currently before the Federal Court of Appeal. The applicants include the Tseil-Waututh Nation, the Musquam Indian Band, Aitchelitz et al, the Upper Nicola Band, the Squamish Nation, the Coldwater Indian Band, Chief Ron Ignace of the Stk’emiupsemc Te Secwepemc Nation, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Living Oceans Society, the City of Vancouver, and the City of Burnaby. Respondents include the National Energy Board, Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC, and the Attorney General of Canada.

The seven day oral hearing concluded in Vancouver at the Federal Court of Appeal on 13 October 2017. The court’s decision is still pending. In their May 25, 2017 prospectus, Kinder Morgan warned its shareholders that if the applicant is successful in this consolidated case, the Trans Mountain Expansion Project may be stopped altogether.

I refer also to the case brought by the BC Government appealing the NEB decision that permitted Kinder Morgan Canada to bypass two sections of the City of Burnaby’s bylaws on land and tree clearances.

I refer also to the City of Burnaby’s application for leave to appeal the same NEB decision.

As a result of these and other active court cases, the Trans-Mountain construction activities which have been described as lawful in this courtroom, may soon be found to be unlawful. That is another reason for limiting the scope and, especially, duration of any injunction granted to the applicant. A third reason for limiting the scope and duration of the injunction, if it is to be granted at all, is the concern expressed by many Burnaby residents in the neighborhood of Westridge Terminals and the Burnaby Tank farm, about the impact of any injunction on their normal activities and enjoyoment of the area. In addition to the evidence presented yesterday by my friend Mr. Leggett, I wish to draw the court’s attention to the affidavit of Maurice Jackson, who, with another Justin Trudeau Brigade participant and the help of two neighbours collected signatures from local residents expressing opposition to the injunction. The affidavit says 38 signatures, but by my count there are 40."

A couple of points:

The judge (Justice Kenneth Affleck) had the opportunity to deny my request for him to take judicial notice of the facts of global warming, but he did not do so. In this court, unlike the NEB hearings, evidence of global warming is admissible. I also, unexpectedly, hit the bulls-eye by describing last year's fire summer. Justice Affleck made three remarks during my submission. One was to say he didn't need to be convinced of the threat of climate change. The second was to remark that he too had a home or cottage threatened by the fires last summer, but his burned to the ground! (I expressed my sympathy.) The third was to point out that he could not, in those proceedings, rule on whether Trans-Mountain's project was good or bad. I told him I understood.

Trans-Mountain's lawsuit against the 15 named defendants, including me, is still pending. Their lawyer went out of his way yesterday to say that they may still pursue it. "Why wouldn't we?"

source

[captainoftherollyjoger]

To Me You are Perfect

Merry Christmas, @daxamsprince! Sorry this is a day late, things got hectic yesterday!

Killian and Emma are best friends and have spent every Christmas together since they were fourteen. That was not about to stop now. When Walsh asks Emma to spend Christmas with him, things take a turn for the worst.

Love Actually inspired!

Ao3 

  Up next on ITV… The Holiday, the TV announced as Killian sat down with his bowl of popcorn and a hot chocolate. It was two days until Christmas, yet there was no snow to be seen. Typical England. They’ll most likely see it in February if they see any at all. The Christmas tree was twinkling in the background whilst he heard the upstairs apartment playing Christmas songs. He had some freshly baked gingerbread on the side, one of his favourite things about Christmas. In fact, Killian Jones loved everything about Christmas, he had since he was a child. Even as an orphan he enjoyed Christmas. Everyone was just that bit kinder. Liam and him would exchange gifts and Christmas dinner was the best they got all year round.

  Killian was fourteen when Liam went into the Royal Navy, by then he had met his best friend, Emma Swan. He was invited to her family’s house for Christmas every year. When they were eighteen, Emma’s family decided they wanted to move back to America but she refused to go with them. They both ended up at university together and now six years later they were still living together in a small apartment in London.

  As the film started, the door swung open letting in a blast of icy air. It was slammed shut and Killian heard a large sigh. Emma. He heard her place some bags down on the counter then turn the kettle on. Two thuds indicated she had kicked her shoes off in her typical I don’t care where they end up, as long as it is somewhere Killian is likely to break his neck fashion. She plonked herself down on the couch next to him and let out another large sigh.

 “Turn this shit off, Kil.” She ordered, whilst munching on one of his gingerbread. “And what’s for dinner?”

 “Hello, Killian. Nice to see you, Killian. Would you mind turning the channel over? Would you like me to cook for once?” He mimicked. She tried to look unimpressed but the twinkle in her eyes told him otherwise. “And oi.” He stole the gingerbread from her. “They aren’t ready yet.”

 “Hey!”

 “I need to decorate them.”

 “I’m just making sure they’re worthy of decorating.”

 “My gingerbread are always worthy. And you know it.” He hit her on the nose with the biscuit and handed it back.

 “I know, I know. I’m just starving.”

 “Well, you best get cooking. I have a film to watch. There’s a pizza in the fridge, I’m sure you can manage that. I’ll have the fire brigade on standby whilst you cook.” That earned him a smack.

 “I’m not that bad.” He laughed at her. “Come on, Kil. Turn this off. Seriously. You know I hate this mushy stuff.” She tried to grab the remote but he kept it from her reach.

 “No, you know this is one of my favourites. I’m watching it. End of.”

 “Right, then it’s no Love Actually later then.”

 “You wouldn’t deny me Love Actually.”

 “Wanna bet?”

 “Yeah, because no matter how much you hate mushy films, I know you love that one.”

 “Urgh, fine. You can watch them both.” She stomped off to the kitchen. “You need to deal with your rom-com problem!” She shouted.

 “And you need to deal with yours!”

 “Dinner is served.” She announced, placing down the plate and sitting beside him once again.

 “Woo, it’s cooked perfectly. You’re getting better.” He smirked and kissed her on the cheek. He didn’t miss her blush.

 “Bit of a backhanded compliment, but I’ll go with it.” She picked up a slice and sat back. “Can we watch something else? Please. I am really not in the mood for this right now.”

 Killian switched off the TV and turned to her. “What did Walsh do?”

 Emma sighed, “Do you have to read me like a book all the time?” He didn’t reply. “We had a massive fallout because he wanted to spend Christmas with me.”

 “God forbid! What a monster!” He sighed dramatically. “So, what’s wrong with that?”

 “Well, we usually spend Christmas together.”

 “I know, I am usually there.” He laughed. She glared at him. “Sorry.”  “It’s just, when I told him I was spending it with you, he didn’t really take it that well.”

 “Which made you mad, I’m guessing.”

 “Yeah, it did. I’ve only been seeing him for four months. I’m not going to leave you on Christmas when we’ve spent every Christmas together since we were fourteen.”

 “It was bound to happen one year.” Though he didn’t want to miss a Christmas with her ever, however, he did wish they were under different circumstances.

 “I know but I like our Christmases together. The lazy mornings, a good breakfast, films for the day, your amazing Christmas dinner and then Doctor Who! How could I give that up? Plus, I don’t want you to be alone.”

 “If it makes you feel any better, I won’t be.”

  Emma was certainly confused. Why wouldn’t he be alone? Who was he seeing? Was he seeing a woman? He certainly hadn’t told her. Why was she so bothered?

 “You won’t?”

 “No, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise for you, but… Liam’s coming home for Christmas.”

 “What? No way!” She was beaming from ear to ear. “There’s no way I’m spending Christmas with Walsh now. I’m not missing Liam.”

 “Why don’t you invite Walsh here?” He suggested, he hadn’t yet met Walsh, maybe this was the perfect opportunity. Not that he was desperate to meet the man who was in the relationship he wanted to be in.

 “I don’t think so. You’ll interrogate him.”

 “No I won’t.”

 “You interrogated Graham.”

 “And he’s now one of my best friends, it’s a shame it didn’t work out between you two.” He sighed.

 “He wasn’t my type.”

 “And what is your type?”

 “I… I don’t know. Someone kind, someone funny maybe. Someone I get along with really well and can trust with my life. Someone who can put up with my habits, because I know they’re annoying.”

 “Hmm, yeah, can’t think of anyone like that.” Well, he could. But he wasn’t opening that can of worms just yet. “Well, if you’re going to be too stubborn to invite Walsh, there’s nothing I can do.” He turned the TV back on and continued watching his film.

  “If you’re going to watch this, I’m going watching Peaky Blinders in my room.” She stated.

 “Urm, no you’re not. That’s our show. We promised to watch that together.”

 “Well, we could be watching it now.” She got up to leave.

 “Emma, if you watch that show without me I won’t ever speak to you again.”

 “Oo, some peace and quiet at last.” She chuckled. He wasn’t impressed. “Alright, fine. We’ll watch this silly film.” She sat by his side and curled into him. His arm came around her shoulder as she lay her head on his shoulder.

  By the time the film was finished, Emma was snoozing on his shoulder. He didn’t dare move in case of waking her. Ding dong. Brilliant. He gently lay her down and covered her with a blanket then walked to the door.

 “Hello, is Emma in?” A man asked.

 “Who are you?”

 “I’m Walsh. I need to speak with her.”

 “She’s asleep at the moment.”

 “It really is important.” He pleaded.

 “Alright, I’ll wake her. However, she doesn’t like to be woken up. You can deal with that, mate.”

 “I know, I am her boyfriend.” Was that a dig? “Can I come in?”

 “Be my guest.” He let the man in and disappeared to his room for a while.

   “Killian! Just going for a walk. Be back soonish.” He heard Emma call.

  “Alright, love. See you.”

  “What did you want to talk to me about Walsh?” She asked, wrapping her coat around herself.

  “Look, Emma. I really like you, I do. But I don’t think this is working out between us.” He stuttered out.

 “What?”

 “I’m clearly more interested in you than you are in me. I don’t want to be in that kind of relationship, Emma.”

 “You’re breaking up with me?”

 “It’s for the best. And anyway, I think you’re more interested in someone else.” What the hell did that mean? Walsh must have recognised her confusion. “Killian.”

 “You think I fancy Killian? How many times have I told you? We’re just friends!” She shouted.

 “You say that, and you may think that, Em. But you two have a connection that can’t be explained and I don’t want to stand in the way of that.”

  “There’s nothing to stand in the way of!” Ding . Her phone. “I need to check this.”

   Hey, love. Nipping out for a pint. X He always sent her kisses no matter what. But that was just the friendly thing he did.

   Alright, just one though. It’s not Christmas yet! :D

  As you wish x

  Killian was at the local pub, Graham had asked him out for a drink. Emma wasn’t around so he gladly accepted. When he arrived, Graham had two pints ready for them.

 “Hey, mate.” Smiled Killian, taking the seat opposite. “How’s it going?”

  “Not bad. Finally finished my Christmas shopping.”

 “I should hope so, Christmas is two days away.” He chuckled.

 “So, where’s Emma? I thought you two would be watching Christmas films together on this chilly night.”

 “I certainly have tried to watch Christmas films with Emma, but she doesn’t like the mushy stuff. She moans all the way through them. But Walsh came round. Said he needed a word.”

 “Oh, that can’t be good.”

 “He was a bit of an odd character. If he is breaking it off, I don’t think Emma will mind.” Said Killian, taking a sip of his pint.

 “Course she won’t mind. She likes someone else.” Hinted Graham.

 Killian rolled his eyes, “She doesn’t like me like that.”

 “She does.”

 “She doesn’t.”

 “Kil, I’m telling you. She does.”

 “If she did, she would do something about it. Emma isn’t one to mess around.”

 “She is if she thinks it could be the real thing. I’m telling you, you two have been destined to be together since you were fourteen.”

 “Yet ten years later and here we still are.”

 “Trust me. It’s going to happen.”

  When Killian arrived home, Emma was curled up on the couch eating some popcorn and a film. She looked quite quiet, which means Walsh probably broke it off between them. He sat down quietly next to her.

 “Yeah, Walsh ain't coming here for Christmas.” She tried to laugh but it came out deflated. He wrapped an arm around her and she lay her head on his shoulder. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to comfort her. Was she mad at him for being inept? Was she-

  “Are you watching Die Hard?” His thoughts were interrupted by the odd observation he made.

 “Yeah.”

  “Only you, Emma Swan, could have someone break up with you and then watch Die Hard.” He chuckled, giving her a squeeze. She laughed at him and put her head in his lap.

 “You know me. Always full of surprises.” He ran his fingers through her hair, untangling all the knots from her walk.

 “Aren't you just. Now what happened to Love Actually?”

 “After this.”

 “Alright, alright.” He smiled at her. He couldn't go another day with at least trying to tell her how he felt.

  “I love this scene.” Grinned Killian. “It has to be my favourite.” The infamous ‘To Me You are Perfect’ scene.

 “Kil, you've said that about pretty much every scene in this film.” She laughed.

 “I know, but this film's just so good. Imagine someone turning up at your doorstep declaring their love for you.”

 “Yes, I’m sure it's great when she just got married to his best friend.”

 “Well, thankfully I’m not married.”

  “Mmm, yeah. Don't think any wife would approve of me living with you.” She giggled.

 “That is true. Can we watch Me Before You after this, Swan?”

 “Most certainly not.”

 “Why?” He pouted.

 “Because last time I couldn't stop you crying for an hour. I had to tuck you into bed with a hot water bottle.”

 “Point taken.”

 “Anyway, I fancy going to bed now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She kissed his cheek and untangled herself from his embrace.

 “Goodnight, love.”

  Christmas morning had finally arrived. Killian spent the whole of yesterday thinking of a way to tell Emma he had feelings for her. It had to be subtle. Maybe he should just come out with it? He was lay in bed, his present for Emma on his bedside table neatly wrapped. She was probably still fast asleep. No surprise there. Time to make pancakes. That would pull her from her slumber.

   Ding dong . Who on earth wanted them on Christmas morning? He opened the front door. Whoever it was, was going to see him in R2D2 pyjamas Emma had bought him for a laugh. Jokes on her because he always wore them.

  When he opened the door, he didn't expect to see Emma. Silent Night started to play. He knew where this was going.

 Emma was stood outside in the freezing cold. She was wrapped up in what looked like hundreds of layers and she was holding large pieces of card.

   Say it's Carol singers. The first card read. Not that he had anyone to say it to. But he played along with her game.

 “It’s carol singers!” He called.

  With any luck, by next year, I’ll be going out with one of these guys. The next piece of card revealed pictures of Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Craig, Cillian Murphy, and Tom Hardy. Killian’s heart laugh filled Emma with joy and she knew this is what Christmas was really all about.

  But for now just let me say, without hope or agenda - just because it's Christmas. (And at Christmas you tell the truth). To me you are perfect. Emma gave a knowing smile. She'd placed a bet with herself that he would be tearing up by the time she reached that card.

  Killian Jones, you have been the best friend I could ever ask for. He smiled and whispered ‘you too’.

  So, this year. All I want for Christmas. Is you. Before Emma knew it, Killian was kissing her and lifted her into the air.

 She squealed, “Killian! Put me down before we slip.” He laughed into her but what she asked. “So I take it that's a yes?”

  “Of course it is. I've been besotted with you since you hit me with a snowball and cut my eye open.”

 “I said I was sorry.”

 “And I forgive you.” He kissed her again, only softly this time. “Let's get you inside. I bet you're freezing. How does pancakes, hot chocolate, and a day full of Disney movies sound?”

 “Perfect. Merry Christmas, Killian.”

 “Merry Christmas, Emma.”

[nycpunkscene]

THE FUGS

“This band of pranksters and musicians were kings of New York protest music during the 1960s. Like proto-punk Yippies with a less destructive bent than the MC5, the Fugs (their name taken from certain obscene euphemism in the censored version of Norman Mailer’s book The Naked and the Dead) can be seen as forerunners to the early-1970s pre-punk performers like Patti Smith who mixed the personal and the political. At least one writer later noted a lyrical similarity between the Fugs and the Dead Kennedys. Founded in 1965, the Fugs went on several lengthy hiatuses and re-formed sporadically for benefits and protest concerts.” 

- Brian Cogan, The Encyclopedia of Punk, (2006) 

Tuli Kupferberg (vocals) 

1001 Ways to Beat the Draft (1966)

#1-100, Excerpt

1.  Grope J. Edgar Hoover in the silent halls of Congress. 2.  Get thee to a nunnery. 3.  Fly to the moon and refuse to come home. 4.  Die. 5.  Become Secretary of Defense. 6.  Become Secretary of State. 7.  Become Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. 8.  Show a li'l tit. 9.  Castrate yourself. 10.  Invent a time machine and go back to the 19th century. 11.  Start to menstruate.  (Better red than dead.) 12.  Attempt to overthrow the Government of the United States by force and violence. 13.  Advocate sexual freedom for children. 14.  Shoot up for a day. 15.  Refuse to speak to them at all. 16.  Enroll at the Jefferson School of Social Science. 17.  Replace your feet with wheels. 18.  Rent a motel room with a ewe. 19.  Rent a motel room with a ram. 20.  Say you're crazy. 21.  Say they're crazy. 22.  Get muscular dystrophy when you're a kid. 23.  Marry J. Edgar Hoover. 24.  Take up residence in Albania. 25.  Stretch yourself on a rack so that you become over 6 1/2 feet tall. 26.  Marry your mother. 27.  Marry your father. 28.  Blow up the Statue of Liberty. 29.  Marry your sister. 30.  Marry your brother. 31.  Marry your daughter. 32.  Join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. 33.  Marry your son. 34.  Marry Lassie. 35.  Marry President Johnson. 36.  Marry Mao Tse-tung. 37.  Proclaim that Mao Tse-tung is the Living God. 38.  Proclaim that you are the Living God. 39.  Stamp your foot in the earth like Rumplestiltskin and refuse to eat until our boys return from Viet Nam. 40.  Get elected Pope. 41.  Get elected to the Supreme Soviet. 42.  Get lost. 43.  Shoot A for one month. 44.  Grow seven toes on your head. 45.  Commit an unnatural act with Walter Jenkins. 46.  Make the world go away. 47.  Wear pants made of Jello. 48.  Say you are a wounded veteran of the lutte des classes. 49.  Solder your eyes shut. 50.  Ride naked through the streets on a white horse. 51.  Declare war on Germany. 52.  Tell the draft board that you will send your mother to fight in Viet Nam in your place. 53.  Study Selective Service reports on malingering and military medicine, and/or military psychiatry texts or journal articles on the same subject, and use the clever methods they describe. 54.  Organize your own army and advance on Washington. 55.  Tell the psychiatrist that if he doesn't let you into the Army you'll kill him. 56.  Turn yellow. 57.  Infiltrate your local board. 58.  Don't agree to anything. 59.  Contract Addison's disease. 60.  Contract Parkinson's disease. 61.  Contract Bright's disease. 62.  Contract Hodgkin's disease. 63.  Contract Cushing's disease. 64.  Contract Fröhlich's syndrome. 65.  Announce that you have become the bridegroom of the Virgin Mary. 66.  Announce that you have become the bridegroom of Jesus Christ. 67.  Get your friends to crucify you. 68.  Counterfeit money and omit the motto In God We Trust. 69.  Become a publisher of smut and filth. 70.  Become the publisher of the Little Mao Tse-tung Library. 71.  Prove the Brezhnev is a Trotskyite wrecker. 72.  Burn down the building located at 39 Whitehall Street. 73.  . . . 450 Golden Gate Ave. 74.  . . . 536 South Clark Street. 75.  . . . 55 Tremont Street. 76.  . . . 916 G Street NW. 77.  Burn down the Pentagon. 78.  Burn baby burn. 79.  Write a best-selling novel which portrays the CIA as incompetent. 80.  Catch St. Anthony's fire. 81.  Say you'd be happy to serve because it'll be easier to kill the fucken Americans who are interfering with the freedom of Viet Nam. 82.  Recite the Pledge of Allegiance 2400 times a day. 83.  Cut off your ears.  In ancient times no animal was sacrificed unless it was a perfect specimen. 84.  Cut off your left ear and send it to the draft board. 85.  Grow a tail. 86.  Learn to talk with your anus. 87.  Become a graduate student in a subject vital to the national security, such as the epistemology of phenomenological methodology.  Achieve your degree only after fifteen years of 2-S. 88.  Grow old fast, or 89.  When you reach the age of 17 don't get any older. 90.  Drink an elixir that will cause you to shrink to a height of 2 feet 3 inches. 91.  Buy a slave and send him in your place. 92.  Take your girlfriend with you when you get called and insist that you will not serve unless you can sleep with her at night. 93.  Take your boyfriend with you when you get called and insist that you will not serve unless you can sleep with him at night. 94.  Take your mother with you when you get called and insist that you will not serve unless you can sleep with her at night. 95.  Take your chihuahua with you when you get called and insist that you will not serve unless you can sleep with it at night. 96.  Wet your bed. 97.  When the doctor tells you to spread your cheeks, let him see the firecracker you planted there beforehand. 98.  Handcuff yourself to Lenin's tomb. 99.  Handcuff yourself to Nicholas Katzenbach and shout: "We shall not be moved!" 100.  Travel to Havana. 

(cont’d)

[chooliastudies]

Med school interview questions

10/11/17 I’d been asked by several people to write about med school interview questions I’d received, and this is me finally getting around to it as the Multiple-Mini-Interview (MMI) offers for Auckland are slowly starting to roll out! I’ve given general advice and info on how I prepared for interviews, which can be found under the “UMAT/GAMSAT/MED INTERVIEWS” section of the blog. The most helpful post might be this one:  https://chooliastudies.tumblr.com/post/157546997339/how-did-you-practice-for-the-umat-and-the

I’ve attended three (omg three) med school interviews, so I’ll just give a run-down on what was asked in each. Do note that these were about one or two years ago now, so my memory’s a bit fuzzy and I’m paraphrasing these hell out of the questions. If you’re really struggling to think of ways to answer some of them, feel free to flick me a msg and I’ll try and recall how I answered. Some of the questions are kinda personal, so if you want yours answered privately, let me know! (I can’t promise that I’ll always reply as I have a busy few weeks ahead of me, and the way I answered the question might not necessarily be the ideal or ‘best’ answer!)

The University of Auckland (MMI) -December 2015

1) Homelessness in Auckland is rising. Why do you think this happens? Is it a health issue? What can be done?

2) Climate change is a huge issue now. What steps can we take (personally and collectively) to lower the effects of climate change? Should doctors care about the issue? Why/ why not?

3) Acting station: You work for a company that produces standardised tests for high school students (similar to ACER for UMAT exams, but it’s totally not ACER hahaha). Your friend who works for a tutoring company asks if she could have a copy of some of the exam questions for the students to study off of. What do you do?

4) You are a pharmacist and a girl comes up to the counter to buy laxatives, which you know are used by some people to lose weight. You recognise the girl, as you’ve seen her come in to buy the same medications multiple times before. What do you do? Do you sell her the medication? 5) Some people see themselves as a more objective person, while others see themselves as more subjective. Where do you see yourself along this spectrum? Where do you think the study of medicine/ pharmacy/ nursing lie along this spectrum? 6) What is a weakness of yours? How do you work to overcome it? 7) When was a time you felt you had been judged unfairly or critically? How did you respond? 8) can’t remember for the life of me :( Questions from the other two interviews are posted below

Australian National University (Panel interview + MMI) -September 2016

At ANU, there was a 15 minute panel interview first, where I was interviewed by the same 2 people. Afterwards there was an MMI of 6 or 8 stations (I can’t remember if there were only 6 or I’ve just forgotten about the other 2), but the stations were about 2 minutes longer than the Auckland MMI ones, and you weren’t given any reading time beforehand.

Panel

More personal questions than what you’re asked at MMI stations eg.

-Briefly introduce yourself.

-Why medicine?

-How will you balance family and work life?

-How do you normally deal with trauma?

-Why ANU?

-What can you contribute to ANU?

There were also other specific and odd questions, like

-What do you think of doctors who want to do research instead of practising? 

-Are you comfortable around dead bodies? How do you know? (I actually gave the most ridiculous response to this question, which you can read all about here: https://chooliastudies.tumblr.com/post/155516177904/med-school-interview-was-going-smoothly-until )

MMI

1) After hearing that you’ve almost graduated, your aunt keeps asking you for medical advice and for you to perform medical examinations on her. What would you do?

2) A couple comes into see you. A woman is in need of treatment from a life-threatening condition, but she does not want it. Her husband continues to push her and ask you to convince her that she needs treatment. What are some of the ethical issues here? Why might the woman not want treatment? What do you do?

3) At this station, I was given some information about how vitamin D (?) levels varied depending on different groups of populations. The information said that Vitamin D (?) levels were significantly associated with the level of physical activity, socio-economic status and some other factors I can’t remember. I was asked to formulate a research question/ hypothesis to investigate this topic. Then I was asked to suggest any other factors that I thought might affect Vitamin D levels.

4) Before entering the room for this station, there was a note on the door saying that this wasn’t an ‘acting station’ that tested my ability to show empathy etc. Rather, it was there to test logical problem solving skills or something. I read that I was going to face an actor who was distressed as he couldn’t find his car keys (or remember where he’d parked his car?). When I went in and talked to him, he kept mentioning that he urgently needed to get home to his son who needed his medication, but couldn’t drive home.

5) FROGS! I entered a room with the interviewer sitting with a board-game in front of them. It was like a puzzle similar to checkers, where you place the little frog pieces in certain positions. A frog jumping over another frog would allow you to remove the frog piece that was jumped, and the aim of the game is to have one frog left or something... The twist was that I already knew the answer to the puzzle (it was written on a card that I was given) and I had to verbally instruct the interviewer on the other side the steps they had to take in order win the game. (Basically testing the ability to read instructions yourself, and also clearly instruct someone else).

6) It’s left my memory :(

The University of Auckland (MMI) -November 2016

1) I was given some statistics from Guy Fawke’s day for the previous year. The general trend was that there was an increase in injuries, hospitalisations, and calls to the fire brigade around Guy Fawke’s. The interviewer asked what I thought about it, and whether I thought fireworks should be banned etc.

2) Acting: You live in a rad apartment with a state of the art gymnasium (now wouldn’t that be nice). Your friend (the actor) is a busy, single dad who can’t afford to sign up to a gym, but he’s trying his best to stay healthy. He knows that the gym can be accessed if you know the combination to the keypad and since he lives super close to you and your building, he asks you for it.

3) A claaaassic one where a member of the team for a group project isn’t pulling their weight. What do you do?

4) What do you think about water fluoridation? How is it beneficial to people’s health? Should it be DHBs or local councils that have the right to decide whether to fluoridate their water?

5) More and more people are buying medications over the internet, instead of via prescription. What are the potential issues this may cause, if any? Why might people be buying meds over the internet?

6) There were a few statements about Maori people written on the question card I got before I entered the room. I was asked if I agreed with any of them. What are some other assumptions about Maori people and their health status that the general public may have?

7) What do you think your communication skills are like? How did you acquire them? How do you think you can improve them? Why is it important? What are different methods of communication? What are the most important aspects of communication?

8) What is one challenge you foresee yourself encountering as a future health professional? How will you deal with this?

[phgq]

PAMANA projects to transform MILF camp to peace, dev’t zone

#PHnews: PAMANA projects to transform MILF camp to peace, dev’t zone

ILIGAN CITY – About 52 kilometers or a one hour and thirty minute drive from this bustling northern Mindanao city is the town of Munai, Lanao del Norte, where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Camp Bilal proudly stands. The camp was considered as one of the major strongholds of the MILF, which became the site of fierce gun battles during the all-out-war in 2000 between the revolutionary organization and government forces. For several months, the deafening sound of mortar fire and air strikes reverberated across the hinterland municipality, as residents fled their homes and sought refuge in evacuation centers scattered across the province. From battleground to show window of peace But after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CAB) between the government and the MILF, the camp has started to undergo an amazing transformation and has ushered a new chapter in the people’s history. The peace deal paved the way for the entry of development interventions in the area. Among them is the government’s PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA), which carries out community-driven projects in remote, conflict-ridden areas across the country. On Wednesday, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the provincial and municipal governments of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte signed Memorandums of Agreement to implement PAMANA projects worth PHP85 million. The signing was held at the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade. The PAMANA projects aim to support the Normalization Program under the CAB, and are part of the government’s commitment to help spur economic activity in Camp Bilal and its neighboring areas. “Matagal na po namin itong hinihintay. Ang gusto ng Presidente natin ay kapayapaan, ibalik ang kapayapaan dito sa Mindanao, at ‘yan din ang isinusulong namin, kapayapaan (We have been waiting for this for a long time. The President wants peace, bring back peace in Mindanao, and that’s what we’re doing, peace),” said Member of Parliament Abdullah “Commander Bravo” Macapaar. “Nagpapasalamat ako kay Allah dahil nandito na ngayon ang signing na mag-implement ng mga development projects dito sa Lanao del Sur at Lanao del Norte (I thanked Allah because of the signing to implement the developments here in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte).” Camps Transformation is a major component of the Annex on Normalization under the CAB, the historic peace agreement forged between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF in 2014. PAMANA in the Bangsamoro The PAMANA Program is among the national government’s key interventions that are designed to implement community-driven development projects in remote, conflict-stricken areas throughout the country. “Simula noong 2011, patuloy ang PAMANA sa pagpapatupad ng mga proyekto sa mga isolated, hard to reach, conflict affected and conflict vulnerable communities sa Mindanao. Kabilang po rito ang ilang lugar na nasa ilalim ng pamamahala ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Since 2011, PAMANA continues to implement projects in the isolated, hard to reach, conflict affected and conflict vulnerable communities in Mindanao. This includes areas under MILF leadership),” said GPH Peace Implementing Panel Chair, OPAPP Undersecretary David Diciano during remarks at the MOA signing. Diciano said through the PAMANA projects, agricultural production in the area is projected to rise, and consequently, boost socio-economic activity in Camp Bilal and other nearby communities. Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Interim Chief Minister and MILF Chairman Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, assured the Bangsamoro people that the BARMM government’s initiatives will focus on bringing sustainable peace and development in the region. “Although very challenging ang nangyari sa atin dito sa BARMM, rest assured na for the remaining days and times na naiwan sa atin, we will do our best para matulungan ang Bangsamoro sa BARMM pati na rin ang outside sa BARMM (Although what happened here in BARMM are very challenging, rest assured that for the remaining days and times, we will do our best to help Bangsamoro even those outside BARMM),” said Ebrahim, who attended the event via video teleconference. Presidential Peace Adviser and National Policy Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said implementing projects for the Bangsamoro Region remains a priority of the national government despite the challenges caused by the pandemic. “Ang [sinabi] ng mahal nating Presidente, kahit may Covid tayo kailangan tuloy tuloy pa rin ang PAMANA natin. Mahal na mahal niya ang Bangsamoro at hindi hinding niya kayo pababayaan (Our beloved President said, even we have Covid-19, we need to continue the PAMANA. He loves Bangsamoro and he will not forsake you),” Galvez said. Galvez said OPAPP will stay and will continue to assist the BARMM.

Under the MOA, the PAMANA National Project Management Department, in partnership with provincial governments of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, and the municipal governments of Munai, Picong, and Tangcal, will implement projects to raise agricultural productivity in the area such as the provision of farm equipment to MILF beneficiaries, concreting of farm-to-market roads, and the construction of a barangay road. The PAMANA NPMD is also set to forge partnerships for the implementation of five projects in Lanao del Sur, which include the distribution of farm equipment and construction of a water system. 

From former war-zone to future ‘eco-zone’ Macapaar said the turning point for him and his men came after the signing of the CAB. It was then when they realized that armed struggle was no longer the path they wanted to pursue. “Bakit po ako sumama [sa gobyerno]? Alam po natin na ako po ay doon lumaki sa bundok kaya lang hindi po ako masamang tao. Dahil po sa utos ng Chief Minister, the Chairman of the MILF, lalong lalo na sa aking kaibigan former Chief of Staff ng Armed Forces si Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr (Why I joined government? A grew up in the mountain but I am not bad person. Upon the order of Chief Minister, the chairman of the MILF, especially my friend, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Secretary Carilito Galvez Jr.),’ Macapaar said. “Ako ay sumama dahil ang gusto ng Presidente natin ay kapayapaan. Ibalik ang kapayapaan dito sa Mindanao dahil ‘yan din ang isinusulong namin - kapayapaan, bilang kami ay mga Muslims na sumusunod sa aming Panginoon na Allah (I joined the government because the President wants peace. Let’s bring back peace here in Mindanao because it is also our goal – peace, as Muslims following our Lord Allah),” Macapaar added.

Local government units have also played a crucial role in sustaining the gains of peace in by facilitating the implementation of much-needed socio-economic and infrastructure projects in the area. “Alam po natin na ang Munai ay isa po sa conflict-affected ng Mindanao. Sa pamamagitan ng proyektong ito, naibibigay ninyo sa amin. Ito po ‘yung magiging daan para maibsan ang paghihirap ng mga tao at matulungan po natin sila para umunlad ang buhay ng ating mga mamamayan sa Munai (We all know that Munai is a conflict-affected in Mindanao. Through this project, it will be given to us. It will help to lessen the hardship of the people and help them improve the lives of the people in Munai),” said Munai Mayor Racma Andamama. Tangcal Councilor Abdani Buanding, who represented Mayor Fatima Tomawis, said that their municipality will significantly benefit from the PAMANA projects once they are completed. “Alam po natin ang aming bayan ay years ago dumaan po ng armed conflict so masyadong kumbaga, kasama kami sa medyo maliit na bayan so kailangan po namin ang ganitong mga projects sa amin (Our town experienced armed conflict, it’s a small town. So we need this kind of projects),” Buanding said. Meanwhile, Lanao del Norte Board Member Achmad Taha, who represented Governor Imelda Angging Quibranza Dimaporo, thanked the government for the projects, noting these are a testament of the President’s desire to help the Bangsamoro people. “President Duterte continues to give importance to peace-promoting projects and staying true to his promise to the Filipino people,” Taha said. “Through the PAMANA program, the LGUs are empowered by leading the implementation of the projects in their localities, while giving residents opportunities to contribute in community development, engage actively in governance processes, and resolve misunderstandings through peaceful means.”

Also in attendance during the MOA signing were PAMANA National Director Cesar De Mesa; Joint Normalization Committee (JNC) Co Chair Ariel Hernandez; OPAPP Assistant Secretaries Andres S. Aguinaldo, Jr. and Atty. Wilben M. Mayor; OPAPP Directors Farrah Naparan and Darwin Wally Wee; LDS Board member Abdulhamid Umpa Amerbito; Major General Generoso Ponio, commander, 1st Infantry Division; Brigadier General Facundo Palafox, commander, 2nd Mechanized Brigade; and Colonel Jose Maria Querpo, brigade commander, 103rd Infantry Brigade. (PR)

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References:

* Philippine News Agency. "PAMANA projects to transform MILF camp to peace, dev’t zone." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115802 (accessed September 18, 2020 at 01:49AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "PAMANA projects to transform MILF camp to peace, dev’t zone." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115802 (archived).