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Posted 11:55 AM, June 11, 2019, by Associated Press, Updated at 02:51PM, June 11, 2019
NEW YORK -- A group of state attorneys general led by New York and California filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to block T-Mobile's $26.5 billion bid for Sprint, citing consumer harm.
The state attorneys general said the promised benefits, such as better networks in rural areas and faster service overall, cannot be verified, while eliminating a major wireless company will immediately harm consumers by reducing competition and driving up prices for cellphone service.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that combining the two companies would reduce access to affordable, reliable wireless service nationwide and would particularly affect lower-income and minority communities in New York and other urban areas.
Other attorneys general joining Tuesday's lawsuit are from Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia and Wisconsin. All 10 attorneys general are Democrats. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York.
FCC chairman backs T-Mobile-Sprint deal in key endorsement
The lawsuit is an unusual step by state officials ahead of a decision by federal antitrust authorities. The Justice Department's decision is pending. The Republican majority of the Federal Communications Commission supports the deal , though the agency has yet to vote.
Too many "mega mergers have sailed through the governmental approval process," so it's up to the states to "step up," James said at a news conference.
"There's no rule or regulation that we have to wait for the DOJ," she said. She added the attorneys general will "continue to litigate whether the DOJ approves the merger or not."
Diana Moss, the president of the American Antitrust Institute and an advocate for tougher antitrust enforcement, said the states' lawsuit could signal to other potential merger partners that there would be tougher enforcement from states even if the federal government permitted deals to go through.
James said Tuesday that her office's renewed focus on mergers and anti-competitiveness goes beyond the tech industry, though she did not elaborate.
Sprint and T-Mobile CEOs promise merger won’t raise prices
T-Mobile and Sprint have argued that they need to bulk up to upgrade to a fast, powerful "5G" mobile network that competes with Verizon and AT&T. The companies are appealing to President Donald Trump's desire for the U.S. to "win" a global 5G race.
Consumer advocates, labor unions and many Democratic lawmakers worry that the deal could mean job cuts, higher wireless prices and a hit to the rural cellphone market.
Amanda Wait, an antitrust lawyer and former Federal Trade Commission lawyer, said states are acting because they disagree with what they have seen the federal government doing.
"They see the FCC accepting certain remedies and concessions that don't, in their minds, solve the problem," she said.
Sprint and T-Mobile agree to combine in $26.5 billion deal
T-Mobile declined comment. Sprint and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
One famous example of when the states and federal government diverged on a big antitrust case was in the fight against Microsoft, although that was not a merger case. Several states dissented from the Justice Department's settlement roughly 20 years ago, pushing for tougher sanctions to curtail Microsoft's ability to use its dominance in the Windows operating system to thwart competition in other technologies.
More recently, in the Bayer-Monsanto agribusiness merger, five states last year criticized the federal government's approval.
T-Mobile and Sprint previously tried to combine during the Obama administration but regulators rebuffed them. They resumed talks on combining once Trump took office, hoping for more industry-friendly regulators.
T-Mobile has a reputation for consumer-friendly changes to the cellphone industry. T-Mobile and Sprint led the return of unlimited-data cellphone plans, for example.
T-Mobile, trying to reassure critics, promised the FCC it would build out a 5G network and invest in rural broadband on a specific timeframe or pay penalties. It also promised to sell off Sprint's prepaid Boost Mobile brand and keep price increases on hold for three years.
That was enough for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to back the deal. The other two Republican commissioners indicated they would join him.
But public-interest advocates said these conditions did not address concerns about higher prices and reduced competition— and would be difficult for regulators to enforce.
The Justice Department evaluates deals using stricter criteria than the FCC's "public interest" standard — namely whether they harm competition and raise prices for consumers. Staff attorneys at DOJ have reportedly told the companies they won't approve the deal as proposed, but the ultimate decision lies with Makan Delrahim, the top antitrust official who is a political appointee.
The state attorneys general said in Tuesday's lawsuit that combining Sprint and T-Mobile would make the industry as a whole — Verizon and AT&T, too — less likely to offer plans and services that consumers like. And they say the companies have already been working to roll out 5G and don't need to combine to do so.
Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank owns Sprint, while Germany's Deutsche Telekom owns T-Mobile.
A mother gave birth to other couples’ babies because of IVF company’s mix-up, lawsuit claims
Trump insists he’s not dropping citizenship question effort
Federal judge blocks Mississippi abortion law
Washington state sues Navy over expanded operations on Whidbey Island
Washington is latest state to sue over Trump health rule
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Governors still in the shadows of Democrats’ 2020 campaign
Posted 10:38 PM, June 14, 2019, by Associated Press
Democratic presidential candidate Washington Gov. Jay Inslee looks on as he talks with solar workers at a home where they recently installed solar panels on May 02, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Being a governor isn’t what it used to be, at least not in presidential politics.
Three Western executives are learning that the hard way in a crowded Democratic scramble dominated by former Vice President Joe Biden and a gaggle of nationally known senators.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a late entry into the field of two dozen, failed to qualify for Democrats’ first debates later this month. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will be among the 20 candidates spread across two debate nights in Miami, but both men linger at 1 percent in most national and early state polls, looking up at a leaderboard showing Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts trying to catch Biden.
“When you think of a governor, you think of a competent manager, and voters don’t want a competent manager,” said Bill Richardson, a former Democratic governor of New Mexico who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2008. “They want excitement and inspiration and electability.”
Indeed, Biden’s pitch leans on the notion that he’s the best shot to defeat President Donald Trump. Sanders, a democratic socialist, represents a sweeping ideological shift, as does the unabashedly liberal Warren. She and Harris also would be historic, with either being the first woman to win the presidency.
Biden’s next closest competitors are a pair of young politicians arguing for generational change: former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, 47, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 37, of South Bend, Indiana. Neither has held statewide office, but each outpaces Bullock, Hickenlooper and Inslee in fundraising and polling.
That group’s jockeying so far swallowed the governors’ efforts: Inslee’s emphasis on combating climate change and his liberal record in Washington; Bullock’s case as a Democrat who can win over more conservative areas; and Hickenlooper’s successful terms in a battleground state.
Touting those kinds of accomplishments, Richardson said, “was a relative plus” in national campaigns not long ago. “Today,” he added, “it’s not a negative, but it’s not a big factor.”
From Jimmy Carter’s inauguration in 1977 until George W. Bush left office in 2009, four out of five presidents were former governors: Carter in Georgia, Ronald Reagan in California, Bill Clinton in Arkansas and Bush in Texas. The lone exception was Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, who ascended from the vice president’s office under Reagan.
But the last two winners have rewritten the rules of presidential resumes. Former President Barack Obama was the junior senator from Illinois when he was elected in 2008. Trump hadn’t held public office at all. And through their consecutive tenures, U.S. politics has become markedly more nationalized.
Fights among White House and Capitol Hill players drive news cycles and transfix voters more than action at statehouses, where bipartisan deals are more common even in states dominated by one party. The Washington environment has helped elevate senators like Harris and Warren, building their name identification and their grassroots fundraising lists, and that feeds right into a primary season driven by the party’s more strident base.
The governors are left looking for ways to grab the spotlight as they also reveal some frustrations that their records aren’t getting more attention.
Bullock touts his ability to guide an expansion of Medicaid insurance through a Republican-dominated legislature. Getting that Medicaid reauthorization this year, he notes, was the primary reason he delayed getting into the race, a decision that ended up leaving him short in the fundraising and polling metrics required to make the first debate. In recent days, Bullock has played up his state’s legal fight with the Trump administration over campaign finance rules and has gone on the offensive against the Democratic National Committee for how it’s handled debate qualifications.
Inslee is hammering the DNC, as well, for not mandating that at least one of a planned dozen primary debates focuses exclusively on climate change.
Hickenlooper this week resorted to picking a fight with Sanders over the senator’s socialist views. After Sanders delivered a major address on his political and economic philosophy, Hickenlooper quickly retooled a speech he was scheduled to give about a well-regarded Colorado birth control plan he helped implement to instead attack Sanders’ democratic socialism.
He often says in campaign stops, “I am the only person running who has actually done what everyone else is just talking about.” And in response to a recent question from a reporter about his lagging poll numbers, Hickenlooper said he wins over Democratic voters when talking to them in Iowa living rooms. “That tells me that my problem is not what I’m selling, it’s how do I get this information to the buyer?” he said.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a University of Pennsylvania professor who tracks presidential races, said the governors lack a potential advantage, given a thriving national economy that gives them less of a cudgel against Trump and less oxygen for whatever success stories they’re trying to tell from home. “You can’t say ‘I’ve revived my economy’ because the economy is doing well.”
She also noted that former Presidents Carter and Clinton campaigned as governors from a key electoral region, since the South in the late 20th century still played a pivotal role in swinging the Electoral College. Now, the crucial region is the Rust Belt, particularly Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Even as Bullock touts his Trump-state success, that electoral map leaves candidates like Biden, a Pennsylvania native, or Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to tout their credentials.
The barriers even extend to logistics. Bullock was recently scheduled to appear from Iowa on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” But flying from Montana required a stop in Denver, and he ultimately missed the national exposure when weather delayed one of his flights.
John Weaver, who advised then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s Republican presidential campaign in 2016, said trends are unfortunate for governors but advised against the temptation of jumping into the Washington-driven skirmish of the day.
“They’ve got to find a place early in the calendar where they can make a move … beat expectations,” he said, noting that Kasich finished second to Trump in New Hampshire.
Weaver added that such a time investment takes discipline and forgoing a dependence on “viral moments” that are as reliable as “planning to be struck by lightning.” A presidential campaign “is a grind” for any candidate, Weaver added, and for governors, the only path is “to pick your fights” and “to thine own self be true.”
Filed in: National & World News
Sounders FC announces 2019 broadcast lineup on Q13 FOX & JOEtv
The renewed partnership continues the tenure of Q13 FOX and JOEtv as the regional TV home of the Rave Green throughout Western Washington.
Debate lineups: Biden, Sanders on 2nd night, Warren on 1st
The lineup for the first 2020 Democratic debate is set
Fiery Democratic debate: Race, age, health care and Trump
CNN poll: Inslee support falls to hash mark after first debate
Harris confronts Biden over past efforts to block busing: ‘That little girl was me’
Dem debate Part II: Clash of the front-runners
Women grab momentum as Democratic race catches fire
Biden: Congress should immediately make ‘Dreamers’ citizens
Zingers, breakouts and burns: What to watch in the debates
Democrats clash in 2020’s opening debate, aiming at Trump
Jill Biden says American people know Joe Biden isn’t racist
CNN Poll: Harris and Warren rise and Biden slides after first Democratic debates
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Rothwell, a residential suburb on Deception Bay and west of the Redcliffe peninsula, is 28 km north of central Brisbane. It was named after TJ Rothwell, chairman of the Redcliffe Anzac memorial committee, which arranged the planting of avenue-of-honour trees along Anzac Avenue. Tree planting began with a ceremony attended by the Governor-General on 7 July 1924. Rothwell Park and the Rothwell memorial are in Anzac Avenue, just south of Deception Bay Road.
Headwords:
Read more about Rothwell
Copyright © Centre for the Government of Queensland, 2018. All rights reserved.
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A Few Election 2012 Winners and Losers
November 12, 2012 by Jim Miller
This just in: we’re not the Wisconsin of the West. There were some big winners and losers in last week’s election and the principal players themselves have gotten the bulk of the attention. Here are a few of the most noteworthy victors and flops besides the candidates themselves. Let’s start with the triumphs:
1) Labor-Community Alliances:San Diego elected the first genuinely progressive mayor in its history even though the Filner forces were outspent. While labor money clearly was central to keeping Filner in the hunt, it is the ground game that wins close elections. On that note, the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council teamed with Alliance San Diego, the Center on Policy Initiatives, ACCE, the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, Planned Parenthood, the Environmental Health Coalition, students, education advocates, civil rights groups, and many others to knock on doors, work long hours on phone banks, and organize a historic local Get Out the Vote operation for Filner, against Prop 32, and for Prop 30.
Most of the media attention has focused on labor money but this labor-community alliance is what changed the game. It brought out younger voters and historically underrepresented communities, transformed the landscape of San Diego politics, and tossed the old guard out of power for the first time. If the coalition that elected Filner holds together and keeps working, it will reshape the future of the city.
2) Students: Student power showed up big, and young people helped shape their own destinies by voting and working for Obama’s reelection, education funding in California, and Filner for mayor in San Diego. By ignoring the cynics and passing Proposition Z along with Proposition 30 at the statewide level, students from K-12 to the community colleges, CSUs, and UCs will not just avoid $6 billion dollars of cuts, but will also see new resources come into their schools.
With the Republicans potentially irrelevant at the statewide level because of the likely Democratic supermajority in the legislature, the Grover Norquist crowd will not be able to block revenue increases or fees, and budgets can’t be held up by recalcitrant ideologues. Thus, if the Democrats can effectively govern and school funding advocates keep the pressure on them, the era of education austerity might be on its way out.
3) Democracy: At the national, statewide, and local level big money lost and people power won. If the Lincoln Club, Charles and Molly Munger, and the Koch brothers et al had succeeded in buying the election, it would have shown that the plutocrats were indeed in the driver’s seat. Instead, they got spanked.
It would be a mistake to think that the millionaires club has been vanquished, but it is good to see their naked power grab fail on multiple fronts this time around. They went for the jugular and ended up with a likely Democratic supermajority and a victory for progressive taxes in California by inspiring a historic backlash. This struggle, however, is far from over.
And who else is crying in their beer?
1) The San Diego Union-Tribune: After turning our city’s only newspaper into a pathetic joke in the service of Carl DeMaio and opposing every candidate endorsed by labor or progressive groups, the house of Manchester LOST on every front. Editorials on the front page, bogus polling, blurring the line between the news and opinion, the SDUT pulled out all the stops in their single-minded effort to kill the myth of objectivity once and for all. They are losing readers in droves and eating a steady diet of crow, but don’t hope for anything but more of the same. As their post-election missives indicate, they are trapped in their ideological bubble and can’t get out.
2) San Diego’s Corporate Education Reform Crew: Despite having the SDUT, the Voice of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, Tony Young, San Diegans for Greater Schools and Up for Ed on their side, Bill Ponder and Mark Powell got smoked. Marne Foster literally wiped the floor with Ponder and Powell went down hard to the union-backed incumbent John Lee Evans. So much for the idea that San Diegans are clamoring for the snake oil that they are selling. On the Prop Z front, the corporate education reformers behind the VOSD were defeated on a tax measure in San Diego of all places. All the union bashing and anti-tax demagoguery at their disposal didn’t do squat. Maybe, horror of horrors, San Diegans actually see that their schools, while not perfect, have been doing a pretty good job under impossible circumstances.
3) Stop them Before they Campaign Again!: Jerry Sanders, Bonnie Dumanis, Richard Rider, and the local anti-tax wingnuts also got vanquished on all fronts.
Sanders was a big fat zero in terms of moving votes both in the primary and in the general elections. His school board robo calls left our fine city unmoved as well. Good thing he got the Chamber gig. He’s really been working for them all along anyway and it’s clear he doesn’t have a promising career in sales.
Note to Richard Rider and company: Prop 30 and Prop Z won because everyone knows you are full of poop. The day after the election, the newspapers across the state were chock full of stories about cuts being averted at all levels, school years extended, etc. You knew you were lying and so did we.
A special lemon award goes to Dumanis for her übersleazy robocall against Filner in the last days before the election. She sounded like she was gurgling vicious ad hominems underwater on my answering machine. District Attorney Dumanis, are you supposed to be a fair watchdog now? Give us a break. You have gone from being the favorite of the old guard in the mayor’s race to the biggest loser in San Diego in less than a year. Heck of a job, Bonnie!
Jim Miller, a professor at San Diego City College, is the co-author of Under the Perfect Sun: The San Diego Tourists Never See and Better to Reign in Hell, and author of the novels Drift and Flash. His most recent novel is Last Days in Ocean Beach.
Latest posts by Jim Miller (see all)
The San Diego Free Press Was a Gift - December 10, 2018
Democracy Unchained: How to Win the Future - December 3, 2018
Oligarchy Sucks: Billionaires Are Undermining Our Democracy and Killing the Planet - November 26, 2018
Filed Under: Activism, Columns, Education, Politics
« A Change is Gonna Come
The Starting Line – Elections Have Consequences; Gov. Brown Says Prop 30 Vote Has National Implications »
Looks like we finally have something to protect and expand.
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May 2004. If you can handle the heat and the humidity, Singapore is a marvellously clean and attractive city to explore. I took these during a 2-day stopover en route to Australia.
Changi Airport MRT Station
The Singapore MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is ultra-clean, fully air-conditioned and reliable. This is the terminus at Changi Airport on the East-West Line.
View of City Centre
Taken from my hotel room at Raffles – The Plaza. A very clean and well laid-out city. The municipal layout of Singapore seems to be in a predominantly American style with a little bit of old colonial architecture. Climate is particularly oppressive due to the heat and high humidity, but air-conditioning is just about everywhere in Singapore!
Another view of the city.
Raffles City
The area around Raffles seems to be built on several underground interlinked shopping malls.
Raffles Hotel
The cosy colonial enclave of Raffles Hotel sits amid a modern bustling city.
The famous Raffles Hotel has not lost any of its old charm.
The inside lobby of the Raffles Hotel.
The Long Bar, Raffles Hotel
Probably the most famous bar in Singapore. An overpriced sickly-sweet Singapore Sling is taken by the majority of first-timers to Singapore at the Long Bar. Usually not repeated!
Fruit galore!
Virtually every kind of fruit can be had in Singapore and prepared in any number of ways. If you’re particularly brave, try a little bit of Durian fruit!
A typical food court
Getting decent food is an inexpensive operation in Singapore. This is in one of the numerous food courts in Singapore whereby you can order just about any kind of food.
Why Singapore is so clean!
Apart from North Korea, this is the only place where I could not find any graffiti. Littering is strictly forbidden as well as eating and drinking on public facilities. If only other cities adopted this approach!
The ultraclean MRT
The Metro is sparkling clean. One can almost eat off the floor, if that was permitted!
The little island of Sentosa just to the south of the mainland has a variety of attractions. It has a nature park, sealife park, butterfly safari, a complete beach with imported sand and a lot more.
One of many nature trails on Sentosa Island.
Beautiful old colonial buildings in Singapore’s Chinatown.
Bright red colouring dominates one of many shops in Singapore’s Chinatown.
Close-up of one of the old colonial buildings in Chinatown.
Row of shops along Pagoda Street in Singapore’s Chinatown.
Along Pagoda Street, Chinatown
The Sri Mariamman Hindu temple on Pagoda Street in Chinatown.
Row of shops along South Bridge Road.
Downtown skyline
Singapore’s modern downtown area near Raffles Place can be seen from Chinatown.
Small shops and business in old traditional buildings near the town centre.
Tall skyscrapers dominate the Singaporean skyline.
Shot taken whilst sitting near Raffles Place.
The building which looks two-dimensional whichever way you look at it.
Balloon aeroplane advertising that non-stop flights between New York and Singapore will be available soon with the backdrop of the town centre and the curious durian fruit inspired Esplanade.
Fullerton Hotel, Singapore River
Attractive waterfront sculptures on the Singapore River by the Fullerton Hotel.
Sculptures by Singapore River
An original sculpture hanging off the banks of the Singapore River.
Originally on the drawing board since the 70s and finally commissioned in 1993, this $600 million project was designed with the durian fruit and the ruffling of a bird’s feathers in mind. Its exterior is constructed of 7,139 variously angled aluminium shades that maximise natural light. The Esplanade houses a theatre and a shopping mall.
Close-up of exterior.
Attractive geometrical fountain at the Esplanade.
Joo Chiat Road, Katong
Katong is out a few miles east from downtown and can be reached from the Paya Lebar station on the MRT. This is along a typical street (Joo Chiat Rd) in Katong.
Another parade of shops along Joo Chiat Road.
Colonial residences in Katong
Beautiful colonial townhouses in Katong.
Perenakan restaurant in Katong
Perenakan, meaning ‘half-caste’ in Malay, cuisine is pungent and spicy incorporating an interesting fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisine. Originally, Perenakans came from Chinese men who immigrated to Singapore who then married to Malay women.
Tenement housing blocks
In Singapore, even mass housing is attractive. This is along Haig Street in Katong.
Haw Par Villa
Exceptionally tacky and wacky sculpture park.
Terrapins anticipating being fed in a pool at Haw Par Villa.
Dragon’s head
Colourful face sculptures at Haw Par Villa. This measures about 6 x 6 feet.
Another giant head!
Fountain of Wealth
Allegedly the largest fountain in the world, but I was unconvinced!
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Home > lha > LTC > Vol. 14 (2010)
Legal Language and Theatrical Presence: Transforming a Legal Inquiry into Theatre in version 1.0’s Deeply Offensive And Utterly Untrue
David A. Williams, University of Sydney
In late 2005, it was revealed that the Australian monopoly wheat exporter AWB Ltd had significantly breached Australian Government backed UN sanctions by paying A$290 million in bribes or ‘kickbacks’ to the Iraq Government.1 As the purpose of these sanctions was to prevent Saddam Hussein’s Government from gaining access to hard currency with which he might purchase or develop weapons, Australian media reportage regularly referred to AWB Ltd’s ‘kickback’ payments as the ‘wheat-for-weapons’ scandal. To investigate the scandal, the Australian Government established the Inquiry into Certain Australian Companies in Relation to the UN Oil-for-Food Programme (the Cole Inquiry). Presided over by Commissioner Terence Cole QC, the high-profile inquiry undertook a forensic investigation of the legally and ethically murky world of international wheat trade.
Williams, David A., Legal Language and Theatrical Presence: Transforming a Legal Inquiry into Theatre in version 1.0’s Deeply Offensive And Utterly Untrue, Law Text Culture, 14, 2010, 188-197.
Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/ltc/vol14/iss1/11
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Anima, title
Thom Yorke , artist
Apollo 11 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), title
Matt Morton , artist
Vistalite, title
Plastic Picnic , artist
Can You Really Find Me, title
Night Moves , artist
KEITH, title
Kool Keith , artist
Emotional Education, title
IDER , artist
Every Friday, we pick out our Top 10 new releases and we have some gems we think you'll love. Get spinning!
Available on Deluxe Double 180 Gram Orange Vinyl with Bonus Track. Comes in Hardback Book with Lyrics and Drawings. Limited to 1400 copies
On Anima, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke channels themes of dystopia and unconsciousness into his most ambitious solo project yet. The 9 track project was released digitally with an accompanying 12 minute short film, which Yorke also stars in, by legendary director Paul Thomas Anderson. Starting with the opener Traffic, Yorke immediately immerses the listener into the bleak world of Anima, which gets deeper and more complex as you progress from song to song. The newly released LP also features a bonus track not included in the album’s digital release.
Matt Morton - Apollo 11
Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller, documents one of the most impactful moments in history, the first moon landing. The soundtrack to the film, composed by Matt Morton, was created with the same instruments and technology available at the time of the Apollo 11 mission. The synth based score is the perfect compliment to mission being carried out on screen, transporting the viewer back to 1969 when the historic event took place. The Apollo 11 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is available on Rough Trade exclusive signed vinyl.
Kit Sebastian - Mantra Moderne
Mr Bongo is a Brighton-based label to whom we owe the reissue of Incredible Bongo Band’s Bongo Rock amongst others (their excellent namesake compilations are filled with banging African, Brazilian and Latin deep cuts). Story has it that their staff cured a holiday party hangover with a submission by Paris-via-London-&-Istanbul duo Kit Sebastian. This sonic antidote was recorded to 8-track tape in rural France last year, and it is described by the band as Anatolian Lo Fi Samba. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Os Mutantes, Cortex and co.
Plastic Picnic - Vistalite
Heartbreak pop from the capital of the world. On the shores of the North Atlantic Ocean and its icy waters, the foursome Plastic Picnic creates a sound submerged in sonic tendencies akin to the city’s famed 80s new wave. Listen closely and you’ll feel the wind blowing through your salt-sticky hair and the sand hiding in the crevices of your clothes, while the smell of algae and memories of your summer fling permeate the air. Crafted with the help of Sub Pop staple and producer Trevor Spencer (Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes).
Various Artists - Sunny Side Up
Somewhere in a northern suburb of Melbourne, a string of house studios are serving as incubators of the flourishing local jazz scene. Sunny Side Up is a powerful document shining light on a young generation of collaborating musicians hungry to build their own identity (not far from the cooperative jazz scene that sprung up in American inner cities in the 1970s), and more specifically on nine compelling acts that pioneer this boundary-pushing sound. Unlike other cities with a storied history of jazz, they are unbounded by the weight of traditions and freely incorporate outside influences like deep house, broken beat, cha-cha, samba, p-funk and soul. This colorful snapshot was engineered and mixed by Nick Herrera of Hiatus Kaiyote - the city’s first breakout success in the genre - and released on DJ Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings who can be credited for releasing the acclaimed compilation showcasing the emerging talents of London Jazz, ‘We Out Here.’
Rough Trade's Top New Releases This Week:
1. Thom Yorke - Anima
2. Matt Morton - Apollo 11
3. Kit Sebastian - Mantra Moderne
4. Plastic Picnic - Vistalite
5. Various Artists - Sunny Side Up
6. Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmosphere and Soundtracks
7. Night Moves - Can You Really Find Me
8. Kool Keith - KEITH
9. IDER - Emotional Education
10. Ada Lea - What We Say In Private
View All New Releases | View New Releases by Genre
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FOX News Talk Shows
Brian Kilmeade Daily Podcast
Guy Benson
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Your World with Neil Cavuto
Special Report with Bret Baier
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Hannity
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#mediabuzz
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Guy Benson Show 07/18/19
Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) On “The Squad”: “When You Think About The Hateful, Hurtful, Anti-Semitic Comments Some Have Made, They Too Should be Reigned In By The House”
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) Addressing His Colleagues On 9-11 Bill : “They Felt Fine About Demagoguing This Issue To Death And Attacking Us Personally Yesterday..Then Today They Didn’t Agree To Vote On It. They Ought To Be Embarrassed”
Dr. Greg Murphy, Rep, Chip Roy, Mike Parker, Sharon Bolan
Home Talk Brian Kilmeade
Congressman Tom Graves: The Border Security Proposal The Democrats Have Put Together Is Not In Good Faith
From left, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the assistant Democratic leader in the Senate, meet as a bipartisan group of House and Senate bargainers work to craft a border security compromise in hope of avoiding another government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. The biggest obstacle is President Donald Trump's demand that Congress provide taxpayer money to build parts of his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Congressman Tom Graves (R-GA) who is a member of the bipartisan Conference Committee on Border Security joined Brian Kilmeade to discuss yesterday's closed-door briefing with Customs and Border Protection officials. Graves said after hearing all the facts Democrats and Republicans arrived at different conclusions. When asked about Senator Dick Durbin's (D-ILL) conclusion after the briefing when he said "Clearly was that the highest number one priority is not a wall, it's technology." Graves responded "There was not a number one priority, it was a comprehensive solution set. And it was made clear that not one or -- there should be one item or another item, it needed to be multiple items included, had he stayed for the rest of the presentation, he would have probably seen that and heard that."
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BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX HOST: Yes, that was John Barrasso, Doctor Republican out of Wyoming. He's on the committee and Tom Graves is on that committee.
He tweeted this out yesterday, "This morning the conference committee on boarder security heard from the experts. We all heard the same facts from the same people. How we could now arrive at different conclusions on the wall is beyond me".
Congressman Tom Graves, great to see you at the Super Bowl, so are you more optimistic now than you were then?
GRAVES: You know, we had a great meeting yesterday, I got to tell you. It was amazing to visit with the experts, presented the facts and -- but we did arrive at different conclusions I believe. So, are we closer? I would like to think so. I hope we are. We should be. We're further into this discussion, but I still think we have a long way to go.
KILMEADE: Okay, fine. Was part of the presentation yesterday how El Paso benefited from fence and how San Diego benefited from a fence, those numbers don't lie? I think they shut down traffic by about 90 percent, correct?
GRAVES: Yes, so we received a lot of information about what works and what has worked in addition to what is needed. And with priority listings backed up with data, and amazing information.
In fact, there are just so many different areas where we I guess were presented with different threats that we were previously not aware of, and so, I think after meeting with this group yesterday that the Democrats themselves -- accuse me, got a little head cold, but the Democrats themselves surely should see that we have some threats that have to addressed and how they can ignore that fact, ignore the data, ignore the experts is beyond me.
KILMEADE: So, Steve Palazzo, a Republican of Mississippi says, Dems will not give him $5.7 billion, what can they do and what they will they accept is what he wants to know. Henry Cuellar said, they're still on the president's message, but he wanted to say, I think there's a path forward but people need to understand, we're not going to give him the $5.7 billion. I'm telling you, there's no way. Why?
GRAVES: Yes, I know. It seems like it's more personal. It's less about addressing the needs and the threats and it's more about trying to deny the president something that he's requesting on behalf of the country.
I mean, it does baffle me to be honest with you, knowing that we have 40 miles that has just been completed, another 82 that are about to begin and get started off this month themselves and then you have the request of Border Patrol to continue adding to that, and with good reason.
And -- but they want to see a comprehensive solution, I must tell you that and that was well understood, I thought, by everybody, is that it should be comprehensive. It should include technology, it should include additional personnel, law enforcement, and, but most necessarily it must include some barriers.
KILMEADE: Barriers, so how do people feel? We heard this thing called the Normandy fence, which is like a bad split rail fence, that would be comical in it's inadequacy, right?
GRAVES: That is considered a vehicle barrier and there are miles of that currently on the border, but that does not stop pedestrian traffic at all, and they were not requesting that. They were requesting pedestrian barriers, which are identified and currently under construction as steel slats, ballard type fencing, which is a very aggressive barrier. It's actually steel columns that are hollow that have rebars inside with concrete poured inside the columns themselves. So, it's a very dynamic fence and barrier, whatever they want to call it, it definitely stops pedestrian traffic.
KILMEADE: I want you to hear what Dick Durbin said, and this plays to what are you listening to guys? Cut 16.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (R), ILLINOIS: The thing that I thought came through clearly was that the highest number one priority is not a wall, it's technology. We have to reach the point where the trucks and cars coming into the United States are scanned to make certain they're not bringing in narcotics, weapons or people.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Right, no one is saying they don't need that, but to say that we need for the border crossing is not telling the whole story. Can you give us an idea of the presentation that you found most interesting?
GRAVES: Sure. So he -- Senator Durbin brings up a point there other than, it was not the number one priority. There was not a number one priority, it was a comprehensive solution set. And it was made clear that not one or -- there should be one item or another item, it needed to be multiple items included, had he stayed for the rest of the presentation, he would have probably seen that and heard that.
But he wasn't there for the entire presentation. Technology was spoken of and at the ports of entries a critical area, but the barriers were proposed as a way to force additional traffic through those ports of entry, because there is such great success there.
So the barriers have a purpose, the ports of entry have a purpose and then without the personnel to support it -
KILMEADE: Right.
GRAVES: -- you know, then you're left not completing the solution set.
KILMEADE: Congressman Tom Graves is on the 17 person committee to find a way forward, the conference committee to present something to the president that he could sign and stop another government shutdown in any way shape or form by February 15th.
Now, Congressman, what are - what's the schedule for the committee now?
GRAVES: Well I wish I could tell you there was one, I've been asking for additional meetings, we have not had those, and thankfully Senator Shelby's the one who requested the meeting that we had yesterday.
We're not getting any meeting notices from the Democrats. And I - and I should point out to your listeners that it is Nancy Pelosi that controls the committee, she created the committee, she has more votes than anyone on the committee, her chairperson of the appropriations committee chairs the committee and - and sets up the meeting times and the agenda.
So quite frankly it's up to them, and I'm not sure that they're operating in good faith at this point. I'd like to think they are, but we should be having additional meetings and arriving at a conclusion.
KILMEADE: Yes, I hope so. Why is it that she would have control of that meeting? She runs the House but not Congress.
GRAVES: Well she - the conference committee was created and voted on by the House, and of course the Senate has members as well that are appointed by Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer.
But she has more votes than anyone on the committee and her chair is chair of the committee this - this cycle.
KILMEADE: So Nita Lowey indicated last week - yesterday that you know what, we're making progress, we might need a one week funding to get all the details on this. What would she need the extra week for?
GRAVES: That's a good point, we don't really need an extra week. You know, we were in that 35 day government shutdown, Nancy Pelosi said open the government, we'll negotiate, they had five, six weeks to have a plan and proposal in place for when things did open back up.
The president said OK, deal, I'll open it back up. Let's talk. And since then they've done nothing but produce a proposal that provided zero money for additional fencing or a wall or barrier, no new border patrol agents, and - and also phasing out the detention - the family detention centers, which is remarkable that they would even contemplate that.
KILMEADE: Why would they want to do that?
GRAVES: And to phase them out not over a long period of time, but within the next seven months. So I'm not really sure what their motive is, it's almost as if their proposal assumes there is not a crisis or a problem whatsoever.
KILMEADE: But I - see I don't understand that, I could see expanding them, because that's going to be the need. The other thing I heard is they're trying to starve out ICE and start funding the deportation force.
GRAVES: You know, you're absolutely right. I believe it's about a 81 percent cut in what the president had requested and what border patrol had requested along with other law enforcement as it relates to investigators.
So it's an amazing proposal that they put together that, to me, is not in good faith at all and it doesn't address the problems that we're faced with.
KILMEADE: So Mick Mulvaney was on with Sean Hannity last night and said this about what the president will do, cut 11 (ph).
MICK MULVANEY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: He said it very clearly last night he's going to get it done, in fact I think he took it - put his hand up to take that oath, that he was going to get it done.
And he is, we would love to work with Congress to do that, that's the right way to do it, it's the easiest way to do it, it's the fastest way to do it. But if Congress won't participate or won't go along, we'll figure out a way to do it with executive authority, with - and let's be clear about this, legal executive authority.
This is not a circumstance of the president overstepping his bounds.
So I heard they found money, unspent money to the tune of $7 billion that they would - they would do it in a way that would be the least vulnerable to any type of legal challenge. Could you tell us about what the president might be up to here?
GRAVES: I think Mick did a great job last night. That was a really well done and informative there (ph).
KILMEADE: He's great. He's very confident.
GRAVES: Yea and what he was pointing out is they have contingency plans in place. They respect the process. They want to see if we can come together and reach a conclusion, but if not they have a responsibility and that's to protect our country and they're prepared to do that.
KILMEADE: All right. Congressman, Tom Graves out of Georgia, Republican thanks so much. Good luck. Make sure they have some meetings - at least fight it out.
GRAVES: You got it. Thank you so much.
KILMEADE: All right.
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Ubisoft Releases Technical Specs For The PC Version Of ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’
Posted October 30th, 2014 by Matt Espineli
Ubisoft has released the minimum and recommenced technical specs required to run the PC version of the upcoming ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity.’
Releasing alongside its console counterparts in November, the PC version of the newest entry in the long running ‘Assassin’s Creed’ franchise will run at 60 fps as opposed to the console performance of 30 fps. Like other PC versions games available across multiple platforms, the PC version of ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ will also be featuring some high class graphical capabilities in comparison to its console counterparts.
PC gamers will definitely want to prepare their computer as ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ recommends a 64-bit operating system, 8 GB RAM, an i7 or AMD 8350 processor and 50 GB of hard drive space. Around 256 kbps or faster for internet connection is recommended for multiplayer as well.
‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ puts players in the role of Arno Dorian, a native Frenchman born in Versailles to an Assassin father. After his father is killed in duty, Arno is adopted unaware that his new foster family is associated with that of the Templar Order. Feeling guilt over the death of his father, Arno seeks to redeem himself by joining the Brotherhood of Assassins. As he rises through the ranks, political unrest builds as France enters the infamous French Revolution. Forced to chart a conflicted path between his own interests and his lineage in a world of political chaos and conspiracy, Arno is left with no choice but to fight.
64-bit operating system
Supported OS
Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64bit versions only)
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.3 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz or AMD Phenom II x4 940 @ 3.0 GHz
Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz or better
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 (2 GB VRAM)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 or AMD Radeon R9 290X (3 GB VRAM)
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with latest drivers
Hard Drive Space
50 GB available space
Peripherals Supported
Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse required, optional controller
256 kbps or faster broadband connection
Supported Video Cards at Time of Release
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or better, GeForce GTX 700 series; AMD Radeon HD7970 or better, Radeon R9 200 series
Note: Laptop versions of these cards may work but are NOT officially supported.
‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ will release on November 13 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Source: Ubisoft
Assassin's Creed: Unity
Matt Espineli
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Was this character the only person in Batman: TAS to discover Batman's secret identity?
In the Mask of the Phantasm film,
Andrea Beaumont discovers that Batman is Bruce Wayne when they catch Batman standing near his parents' grave.
Would this make them the first, possibly only, character in Batman: TAS to divine Batman's identity without Batman confiding in them?
Edit: Upon further consideration, excluding the What-If episode and dream sequences.
dc batman dc-animated-universe mask-of-the-phantasm
GGMGGGMG
I'll have to do some research, but I'm pretty Sure Zatanna figured it out of her own accord, although she knew Bruce Wayne from his days of training with her father, John Zatara as an escape artist. I can't confirm this yet though, so it's just a comment for now. – Sidney Apr 28 '16 at 14:30
By no means. Across the DC Animated Universe, there are quite a number of people who have figured it out. Broken down by series:
Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures
Ra's al Ghul figured it out all on his own, as revealed in "The Demon's Quest". He possibly told Ubu, his manservant, but we can't be certain
Talia al Ghul removes Batman's mask in her first episode; although she doesn't confirm that she recognized him, it's doubtful that she didn't. He's Bruce freaking Wayne
Hugo Strange, who figured it out in "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne" by analyzing Bruce's subconscious thoughts
Kyodai Ken and HARDAC, discussed in Nu'Daq's answer. Randa Duane, a side character in "Heart of Steel", learned at the same time as HARDAC
Tim Drake, the second Robin (in DCAU continuity) broke into the Batcave in "Sins of the Father"
It's likely that Zatanna figured it out. In her eponymous episode she connects Batman to "John Smith", the name Bruce used when training with her father Zatarra, but it's unknown at that time whether she connects him with Bruce Wayne. It's revealed in Justice League (and implied by an episode of The New Batman Adventures) that she did eventually learn that they were the same
As well, Bruce's old karate sensei Yoru probably knew, but this is never confirmed.
Clark Kent used his X-Ray vision to peek under the cowl in "World's Finest"
Lois Lane learns later in "World's Finest" after, of all the stupid things, Batman's cape and cowl get caught in a printing machine and torn off
Presumably Hawkgirl, since she shows up uninvited in the Batcave in "Starcrossed"
It's strongly implied in "Maid of Honor" that Wonder Woman figured it out. She and Bruce Wayne dance early in the first part of the episode, and she mentions the event to Batman at the end of the second part. Since Batman claims not to know what she's talking about, we can presume that he didn't tell her
It's implied that Amanda Waller has figured it out in the episode "Ultimatum". That she knows will later be confirmed in Batman Beyond
The main character of the series, Static, figures it out when he meets Alfred in the Batcave, and then later sees him with Bruce Wayne
Terry McGinnis, the main character of the series, figures it out when he stumbles upon the Batcave
Joker is revealed to have learned from Tim Drake, after extensive torture
probably the most significant one, I suppose besides Superman, is Amanda Waller: youtube.com/watch?v=ruwIBT-noAs – Nacht May 2 '16 at 0:44
Not to mention Terry McGinnis, who figured it out when he stumbled upon the BatCave after helping old Bruce with his meds. – Paul L May 13 '16 at 19:27
And Lois Lane on the first Batman/Superman crossover episode, when his cape gets caught on a printing press which rips off his cowl in front of her. – Euro Micelli Jul 5 '16 at 4:16
No- I'll have to do some digging to give you names and episode titles but from TAS I can point out at least three others- Ras Al' Ghul (actually had the balls to confront Bruce in the batcave), a ninja who fought both batman and Bruce Wayne and realized they were the same person because they had the same fighting technique, and the artificial intelligence HARDAC (or something like that) which learned Bruce's identity when batman interfered with its plans to replace all humans with android doubles. There may even be other examples I've overlooked.
Nu'DaqNu'Daq
Ah, I'd forgotten Kyodai Ken and HARDAC – Jason Baker Apr 28 '16 at 1:57
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged dc batman dc-animated-universe mask-of-the-phantasm or ask your own question.
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Looking for a story about a boy whose best friend is a dinosaur
Please can someone help me identify this story:
It was a novella and I read it in an anthology in 1995 (but the book was quite tattered so it may be older that 1995)
It was set in the near future on Earth, where rich people are very privileged and poor people live what we would consider to be fairly ordinary lives
The protagonist is a teenager called Boy Wonder or Kid something - his genes have been altered to make him look like a much younger boy
This genetic alteration process is called 'twanking' and rich people do it all the time just for fun.
His best friend has also had his genes altered to make him look like a dinosaur - he's called 'Stennie' after the kind of dinosaur he resembles.
He meets a girl who is a descendant of Scott Joplin and she teaches him the benefits of an 'ordinary' life without all the trappings of great wealth.
story-identification
FuzzyBoots
Peter HullPeter Hull
"Mr. Boy" by James Patrick Kelly, collected in Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories and other places.
Excerpt of this review:
"Mr. Boy", a long novella which is also part of his novel Wildlife. Mr. Boy is 25, but his mother keeps him somatically and emotionally at the age of 12 by repeated "gene twanking". His friends are a 13-year old boy who has been twanked into a dinosaur form, and an artificial intelligence his mother bought him as a companion/bodyguard. Mr. Boy's life begins to come apart when some illegal "corpse porn" is traced to him, and his understanding of his life is shaken when he meets a 17-year old "stiff" (read: untwanked) girl and starts to fall in love. The background details of the story are excellent, very Sterlingesque: Virtual Environment parties, his mother's chosen "twanked" form (Mr. Boy doesn't just live with his mother, he lives "in" her), smash parties, the mall franchise families, and so on. The main story itself is affecting, but a bit obvious: we know from the start just what Mr. Boy needs: to grow up.
And, a magazine cover:
FuzzyBootsFuzzyBoots
Searching for "twanking" was the key to finding it, unsurprisingly enough. :) – FuzzyBoots Sep 26 '16 at 10:53
It's a good collection --it also includes "Standing on the Corner With Mr Jimmy". – Chris Sunami Sep 26 '16 at 17:33
It's stuck in my mind (not entirely accurately as it turns out!) since I read it all those years ago; I think I will shop around for some more of his stories. Thanks! – Peter Hull Sep 27 '16 at 18:41
^_^ Glad I could help. And welcome to the site! – FuzzyBoots Sep 27 '16 at 19:02
I just reread this collection, and was surprised to find all the stories were actually better than I remembered them --it's the rare science-fiction that has actually improved with age. Sure, some of the concepts are cliched (and others are painfully blunt!) but ultimately these stories are all about the nuances of these characters and their decisions. They also include characters of color more frequently and less awkwardly than the vast majority of science fiction of that time. – Chris Sunami Sep 4 '18 at 21:05
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged story-identification or ask your own question.
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Why did Quirrell change his teaching subject to DADA?
Up until his trip to Albania, Quirrell was not the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Later on, when he became a servant of Voldemort, he became DADA teacher.
Do books indicate in any way why he had this sudden change of heart? Working under his previous title would provide him a better cover (and would make him last longer).
Vadzim SavenokVadzim Savenok
What was his previous teaching subject? – Jenayah Jun 5 '18 at 18:20
@Jenayah Muggle Studies, according to harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Quirinus_Quirrell. – Haegin Jun 5 '18 at 18:22
this is just speculation but its possible it was just that Voldemort (being inside quirrell's head at the time) was just being a sore cry-baby about not getting the job? – Ummdustry Jun 5 '18 at 18:25
@Haegin thanks. According to the wikia's sources, it's from a video game. Do we consider those as cannon? (just asking out of curiosity) – Jenayah Jun 5 '18 at 21:24
It is likely he switched at Voldemort's instruction so that he would be involved in protecting the stone so that he could steal it easier.
‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘I find it hard to follow my master’s instructions – he is a great wizard and I am weak –’
Philosopher's Stone - Chapter 17: The Man with Two Faces
(The implication from that quote being that Voldemort is actively issuing instructions)
Hagrid gives us a list of the people protecting the stone:
‘Well, I don’ s’pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that … let’s see … he borrowed Fluffy from me … then some o’ the teachers did enchantments … Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall –’ he ticked them off on his fingers, ‘Professor Quirrell – an’ Dumbledore himself did somethin’, o’ course. Hang on, I’ve forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.’
Philosopher's Stone - Chapter 14: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback
All of these people (aside from Dumbledore) teach practical magic.
Dumbledore - Headmaster
Professor Sprout - Herbology
Professor Flitwick - Charms
Professor McGonagall - Transfiguation
Professor Quirrell - DADA
Professor Snape - Potions
If Quirrell had still been Muggle Studies, he would not have been involved in protecting the stone and thus have less access. Of all these roles, DADA was the only one open during the summer, so its the logical choice for him to assume.
Additionally, its unlikely Voldemort would have wanted to be around muggle studies all year, given his views on that topic.
amflareamflare
It didn't even occur to me. I was thinking more over how Quirrell could remain in Horwarts and spy on Dumbledore (since V didn't know where Snape's allegiance was at the time). I completely forgot that at that point V was focused on getting a stone. – Vadzim Savenok Jun 5 '18 at 20:33
The stone was only moved to Hogwarts after Quirrel was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. – Alex May 10 at 15:35
The existing answer suggests that Voldemort had Quirrel switch to Defense Against the Dark Arts so that he could be involved in protecting the stone. However, that does not seem like a viable answer considering the stone's timeline. Harry met Quirrel in the Leaky Cauldron and Quirrel told him that he teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts:
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"
"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it.
At that point the stone was still in Gringotts; indeed it was removed by Hagrid that very day:
Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least – but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.
Thus, Quirrel could not have become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in order to gain access to the stone, because at the time that he became the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher the position did not actually offer any greater access to the stone.
So what then is the answer to the question? Well, you specifically wrote:
Do books indicate in any way why he had this sudden change of heart?
Actually, the books don't indicate that he ever changed positions at all. In fact, as I argued in this answer, if anything the books indicate that he did not switch positions. The whole idea that he was originally the Muggle Studies teacher was simply stated by JK Rowling well after the fact, and has no basis in the books.
However, if you are determined to take Rowling's word that he was the Muggle Studies teacher originally, there is hardly a lack of reasons why he would switch. Perhaps he had always wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it had just become available. Perhaps Voldemort wanted him to be subjected to the jinx on the position because Voldemort wouldn't need Quirrel for more than a year – either he would have stolen the stone by then, or Quirrel is not competent enough. There could be many other possibilities as well, but it's not discussed in the books.
though - what of the curse? The position had been cursed since at least 1981 no? How then could Quirrell have held the job for more than 1 year? – NKCampbell May 10 at 17:27
@NKCampbell I addressed that in the linked answer. – Alex May 10 at 17:31
not conclusively though :) - I agree w/ the folks in the comments disagreeing with the answer. Though Dumbledore doesn't use the word "curse" his words seem fairly obvious considering the context – NKCampbell May 10 at 17:35
Did Voldemort actually curse the job of Defense Against Dark Arts professor after being denied the position?
How did the curse on the DADA job work?
Was cursing the DADA job a good idea?
Did Snape's wand change allegiance when Harry, Ron, and Hermione knocked him out?
The curious case of Severus Snape - His true feelings towards Harry Potter?
Why did Snape commit his halfblood nickname to writing?
Why didn't Harry continue Dumbledore's Army sessions in the Half-Blood Prince?
Why did Sirius's outlook towards House Elves change drastically from GoF to OotP?
Why did Hogwarts students have lessons after the Triwizard Tournament?
Did Voldemort mark Harry as his equal?
How did Hagrid know about Quirrell if the job is cursed? Surely it would have meant he wasn't a teacher yet?
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Scobie Raeburn had a Ten Pound Note
By Alistair Ferguson
First Printed 2018
Scobie’s rent is due. While paying he produces a £10 note from his sock, but changes his mind and decides to hold on to that one – it’s his lucky one and has some kind of sentimental value. During passionate negotiations with his landlady the note is torn, making it quite identifiable. Scobie manages to retain the £10 note, which he then decides to spend at the shops instead.
The note then goes on an adventure, seeing a few snapshots into people’s lives, before ultimately finding its way back to Scobie, who ends the play quite philosophically.
(Female cast includes 1 twin)
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Interlude 20 (Donation Bonus #1)
“Park there,” Stan said, pointing to a space off the side of the road.
“We’ll be facing uphill, and we still have to unload the equipment,” Nipper piped up, from the back seat.
“There’s a method to my madness. Park, Marshall. I’ll even deign to help unload and carry this time.”
He got a glimpse of Marshall rolling his eyes, but the boy steered the van to a parking spot.
True to his word, Stan was out the door, rolling up his sleeves. Didn’t hurt: the humidity was brutal outside the air-conditioned van. His dress shirt was already sticking to his back.
They were on a hill, and the vantage point afforded them a view of the city. Cranes dotted the skyline, and the buildings themselves were gleaming, the whites and colors brightened by the ambient moisture in the air. It might have looked attractive, but there were spots where buildings were missing, whole areas where the construction was only just beginning.
He could see the white building, not too far away, which was taller than even the skyscrapers immediately around it. He’d investigated it just a few days ago. They’d erected a tall white tent, holding it up with a crane, they’d reinforced it with plexiglass panels and iron reinforcement, and now a more solid construction was going up around it. Slow, painstaking, careful work, filled with redundancies. The workers would be glad to be free of the hazmat suits in this heat.
Brockton Bay wasn’t lacking in stories to tell. The quarantine building alone was one.
“Need a hand,” Nipper said.
He hurried around to the back of the truck. The van had been parked at the side of the road, emergency brake cranked, wheels turned so it would ride up onto the sidewalk if the brake failed, but the steep incline was making it hard to unload the equipment. Much of it was set up to be slid out of the back of the van at a moment’s notice, but that same convenience was an obstacle, here. The stuff was expensive, and if it slid to the road…
He found a space beside her and reached to get a grip on the far end of the camera. It might not have been a problem, but Nipper was short, petite, built more like a thirteen year old than a twenty-three year old college graduate.
She wasn’t suited for the job. She knew the equipment, she was capable with a computer, she had good eyesight, and the tattoos and array of piercings on her right ear were as good an indicator of her creative edge as anything else.
But this wasn’t the job she’d been working towards. She wasn’t one to complain, but she didn’t have stamina, she didn’t have strength, and this, all of this, it was too fast paced for her. She’d have been better, maybe even happier in the newsroom, managing the feeds, maintaining the systems and working on post production.
Marshall hefted the bag out of the back of the van. All the wires, the tripod, the lighting, packed into a dense case. The boy didn’t look like a professional, hadn’t quite adapted to the job he’d been pulled into: from intern to a jack of all trades, filling in the gaps in Stan’s team. Set up, interviewing, driving, gopher… anything and everything. He was drawing in a paycheck, but he was definitely working for it, facing all of the hassles, the intense stresses and dangers of the job, for eleven dollars an hour.
Dangers, Stan thought. Images flickered through his mind. Everyone at the station had seen the feeds, had watched them several times over. Purity taking the camera from Manzaneres, a guy from channel four, then setting her monsters on the man. A man with a wife and a newborn had been murdered, just to make a point.
There was a reason for the shortage of field reporters. It wasn’t limited to Manzaneres, either. The problem was a chronic one. This was a job that put ordinary people on the fringes of events that were dangerous for capes.
“Set?”
Marshall closed the back of the van and locked it. “Set.”
Stan set off, with Nipper and Marshall following, Nipper almost jogging to keep up with his long strides. “Reason we’re parked here is that the school’s on top of the hill. We don’t know how much parking there’ll be, with students possibly taking up spaces, and if we have to drive by, searching for a spot, then someone’s liable to spot us and take measures.”
“Measures?” Nipper asked, a touch breathlessly.
Right. She didn’t have the experience to know. “You’ll see what I mean.”
There were students gathered outside the walls that bordered the school. Police cars were parked at the front, along with PRT vans, but it was the uniformed guards with ‘Arcadia High School’ stenciled on their sleeves that caught his attention.
Guards? It conjured up an image of a prison, rather than a school.
“Nip, get some footage of the uniforms,” Stan said.
She hefted the camera and trained it on the nearest of the uniformed guards. She had to slow her pace to keep the shot steady, but she kept following him. When a group of students obstructed her vision, she shut off the feed and hurried to catch up.
They reached the gate, where a woman with a colorful scarf was talking to a PRT uniform. He signaled Nipper, and the young woman raised the camera.
“Damn it,” the woman with the scarf groaned, as she saw them. The police officer took the opportunity to step away.
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Stan said, “We’re not the enemy.”
“You’re here to bog down an overcomplicated situation,” she said. “I have enough problems without vultures descending.”
“We’re here for the story, that’s all. You’re in charge here?”
“I’m in charge of the school. Principal Howell.”
He made a mental note. Howell, Howell, Howell. She wasn’t the prettiest woman, with old acne scars riddled across her cheeks, a short stature and a nose that didn’t quite fit her face.
“Stan Vickery, channel twelve news,” he flashed her his best smile and extended a hand. She didn’t take it.
“You’re not allowed on school property.”
“I would be if you gave me permission,” he said, dropping his hand. The job was politics as much as it was investigation, creativity and presentation. What did she want? Peace and quiet. “Give us fifteen minutes to talk to your students and shoot a few takes in front of the doors, and I’ll get the word out that we got the story first. Other stations are playing it safer, these days, less crew, less willing to act on sloppy seconds.”
The principal made a face.
Stan smiled, “Sorry. You get what I mean. Give us fifteen minutes, and we’re one less thing you have to worry about today. With luck, I’ll be the only local reporter you see today.”
“With all due respect, Mr…”
“Vickery,” he said, already told you my name. “But you can call me Stan, Mrs. Howell. Fact of the matter is, you let me in the school, and I owe you one. I pull strings or emphasize certain aspects of a story. Not just this one either. Who knows? The next incident could be worse, or more sensitive.”
“Mr. Vickers,” she said. “I’m fully aware that you’re trying to bait me into giving you a sound bite. I won’t comment on this situation, and I won’t be letting you onto school grounds. I don’t want you talking to any of my students.”
“Fine,” he said. “Come on, guys. Let’s go talk to the cops.”
“Seriously? We’re giving up?” Nipper asked.
“Yes,” he said, he took long strides away from the front gate of the school, until he was sure the principal wasn’t in immediate earshot. “No. She’s liable to get on our case if we don’t pretend to play along. Howell has no authority outside of the school walls, so we interview students there. Marshall, head back in the direction of the van. Talk to students, see if they want to be on TV. Look for the talkative ones and the emotional ones, and point them my way.”
“What about the cops?” Marshall asked.
“They’ll be around later, and cops have better memories than civilians. It’s the students who were at the scene. Go. We don’t know how long we have before other crews show.”
It was a shame the principal hadn’t let him into the school, Stan mused. Silly of her, too. That favor he’d offered her was gold, all things considered. Something she could use to bail a superior out of an awkward position and advance her own.
Your guanxi could be better, Mrs. Howell, he thought. He loved the idea behind the Chinese concept of guanxi. It fit in the same general category as the concepts of friends, family, acquaintances, but it was more based in business and politics. Guanxi was about being able to call up a person one hadn’t seen in years and ask for a favor. To have enough people in one’s debt that there was more implied leverage to use when seeking favors from others.
He’d been introduced to the idea a few years ago, and he attributed much of his recent career advancement to it. It was something to be aware of at all times, and it changed his perspective on things.
He approached a group of teenage girls who were gathered in a group, observing the police and PRT officers. He flashed one of his best smiles at them. He could see one of them glance him over, her body language changing subtly. He directed the smile at her, “I bet you’re dying to talk about what happened here. Exciting stuff.”
“Sure,” the girl replied. “Supervillain doesn’t attack the school every day.”
“Wasn’t an attack. She showed up, and they came after her in her civilian ID.”
“I know it wasn’t an attack,” the first girl replied. “I was just… It’s what others have been saying.”
“Skitter, wasn’t it?” Stan chimed in. He snapped his fingers, and Nipper pointed the camera at the girls.
“Yeah. The bug girl,” another girl spoke up. “I guess she goes to Arcadia.”
“No way. I heard she was a student at Winslow, before Leviathan came. Geeky kid, was having a hard time with some jerks, apparently. I think her name was Taylor, but you’d have to ask someone from Winslow.”
He prodded, “What happened? Was there a fight?”
“Dragon and this new guy Defiant showed up, along with the two new heroes. Don’t know their names.”
He’d memorized the names. “Adamant? Clasp? Dovetail? Halo? Crucible? Rosary? Sere?”
“Sere and Adamant,” one girl replied.
“Sere and Adamant,” he said, making a mental note.
“And two of the Wards. Clockblocker was one of them. Anyways, she got away.”
“She didn’t do anything to provoke them?”
“Didn’t hear about anything.”
“And they mobilized on the school?”
He started to ask for more details, then stopped. Marshall was approaching, with a kid in tow.
“Cell phone video,” Marshall said. “Long conversation between Defiant, Dragon and Skitter in the cafeteria.
Stan raised his eyebrows, looking at the girl with the phone, “Pay you twenty bucks to let us copy it.”
“A hundred,” she said.
“Twenty. If you got it on camera, others did too, and someone‘s going to take the twenty.”
She glanced at Marshall, then back to Stan. “Fine.”
“You have the equipment?” Stan asked Marshall.
“Laptop and a cord. Give me a minute.”
“We’ll watch it later,” Stan said, absently. He turned his attention back to the girls.
This wasn’t the first time he’d walked into a situation almost blind. The job was a stressful one, but he thrived on stress. Racing against the clock, to be the first to the scene, the first to report on the situation. But even reporting was a kind of challenge unto itself. The scene had to be investigated, the story teased out, details verified. To top it off, it had to be presentable.
He’d been the producer, before Coil had blown up the camera crew and reporter that had been covering the mayoral debate. He had an eye for this. Had to, because there was nobody back at the studio that would be able to cover this base for him. Sad and ironic, really. There weren’t enough people in the bay, resources weren’t consistent. So they’d reduced the size of the staff, cut back on hours. Then six people had died, including their lead reporter.
Nevermind the rumors that the PRT was, on Miss Militia’s behalf, investigating ties between Coil and the killed reporters and camera crews. He’d itched to look into that more, but it didn’t fit with his philosophy.
“Were you there, in the cafeteria?” he asked the girls.
“Right. Alright. Any thoughts? Were you scared, knowing there were so many capes in the school?”
Twenty more seconds, to grab more details and reaction clips, and then he was moving, searching for others to talk to.
Two more groups questioned, and he didn’t have much else. He knew Skitter’s name, and Channel four had arrived, and the race was on.
“Got the video!” Marshall called out.
Stan took the offered laptop. To watch now, it would mean delaying interviews. Memories would fade.
But he needed the narrative. How had things unfolded? What were the key, crucial points at the heart of this? That the school was unsafe? It would work, grab attention and viewers, but it felt cheap. No, the public knew that the Protectorate was imploding. There had to be a connection, tying this to something greater.
“Thank you,” he said. He’d decided. “Now, I need you to find me someone who knew Skitter in her civilian guise.”
Marshall nodded.
“He or she will be one of the students who attended Winslow.”
“On it.”
Stan retreated to the van with the laptop. He took the extra time to open the video in an editing suite before playing it.
Without being asked, Nipper hooked it into the van’s computers. A little icon notified him that he was connected to the studio.
“…There for the S-class threat downtown. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think maybe I deserve to, a little. I’ve done my share. You don’t turn around and reveal my identity in front of a crowd.”
On a notepad of lined paper, he penned down ’20th’ followed by a question mark. The video continued playing, and he noted down times and key phrases, along with questions. When a critical comment was shown, he was sure to copy the clip. There were a few times where the volume was too quiet, the voices too low or things were drowned out by background noise. Nipper worked to tune the sound so they could make it out, raising the volume or filtering out the noise.
D&D picked fight? Pushed by authorities?Drag past convo with Skitter. When?
Putting children at risk
Violation of truce
“…And you seriously expect me to keep my mouth shut about all the dirty little secrets I’ve picked up on over the last few months…”
What does Skitter know? App’tly important.
“…the Slaughterhouse Nine. Either you’ve abandoned that chase, or you’re about to tell me that there’s something more important than stopping them…”
S9? D-check events post-Boston.
Hospital? Skitter & Defiant?
D&D negotiating with villains? Possible cooperation? Corruption?
“…Stand if you side with me!”
Both video and audio were distorted by the movements of students, rising from tables, pushing away from the jumble of bodies.
Stan smiled. There.
He cut out the scene in question, the students siding with Skitter over the heroes, and gave the clip a title. ‘The heart of this story?’
A second later, a note appeared on the side of the window. The crew at the studio had a R.A.T. connecting them to the laptop, and freedom to make changes or add their own details.
Yes – Ed
He had it. The editors at the station were on board.
Now to cobble it together into a story.
He opened a file and began sketching out the script. At the very top, he put up notes, clips he’d need from the station.
There was a knock on the door of the van. Stan opened it to see Marshall with an awkward looking young man. Fifteen or sixteen. He looked despondent. Hangdog.
“He says he was her friend, once.”
“No,” the boy said. “Not exactly. But we sort of knew each other. Had classes together, did group work. And I owe her.”
Stan smiled.
“…take you now to reporter Stan Vickery.”
“Thank you, Nick. One thousand and two hundred students made their way to Arcadia High for their first day back at school, earlier on this sunny day. They hoped to readjust and get a taste of normal life after weeks spent away from home, or enduring the long series of incidents to afflict Brockton Bay. Less than halfway through their day, those hopes were dashed.“
A video clip replaced the blond man with the mustache and a face lined by years of stress. A massive metal suit, looming at the far end of the school’s parking lot, a mechanized dragon.
“The school became the site of a confrontation between Dragon, a heroine known across the world, and local warlord and leader of the Undersiders, Skitter. Within moments of their meeting on school grounds, Dragon revealed Skitter’s identity as Taylor Hebert, a sixteen year old student. With this revelation came a dozen more questions…“
“Change the channel,” a boy in prison sweats said. “News is boring shit.”
“No,” Sophia said.
Skitter was Taylor. A dozen things fell into place.
Anger boiled within her. Outrage. That cringing, whiny, pathetic little scarecrow was the ruler of Brockton Bay’s underworld? It didn’t fit. It demanded an answer of some sort.
But she couldn’t. As the voice droned on, Sophia turned her attention to the bracelets she wore. There was a live current running through them, and they could be joined together to fashion handcuffs, but even like this, they were bondage. She couldn’t enter her shadow state without passing through the insulated sheath that protected her.
She couldn’t leave, as much as she wanted to, right this moment.
Glowering, a confused, impotent frustration building within her, she fixed her eyes on the television. It swelled within her until she could barely think. She clenched her hands, but she couldn’t squeeze hard enough to release any of the building emotion. She unclenched her fists, extended her fingers, as if reaching for something, but there was nothing she could grab.
There was no release valve for this, no way to vent.
Taylor’s face appeared on the screen in the same moment she hit her limit. She rose from her seat, aware of the guards advancing on her, and kicked the television screen, shattering it, amid the protests and swearing of her fellow inmates.
A second later, they were tackling her. Two guards at once, forcing her to the ground.
She screamed something so incoherent that even she would have been hard pressed to interpret it.
“Who was she? And what motivated these professed heroes to mobilize on a school, risking the lives of students and staff? Skitter herself wondered aloud about their willingness to put hostages within her reach…“
A clip appeared on the screen. Taylor, sitting on the edge of a counter. She spoke, filled with confidence, almost nonchalant. “You put me in a room with three hundred people I could theoretically take hostage. Why? You can’t be that confident I wouldn’t hurt someone…”
A student abruptly shrieked, thrashing and falling to the ground in her haste to get away.
“Danny,” Kurt said, settling a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You don’t need to watch this.”
Danny shook his head. Kurt looked down the man. He hadn’t even spoken, from the moment he’d opened the door and Lacey had wrapped her arms around him.
“This is bait, isn’t it?” Taylor’s voice, oddly out of place coming from the television.
“The tone of the conversation even implied there were unspoken secrets that Skitter was aware of, that the Protectorate sought to silence,” Stan Vickery spoke, reappearing, with Arcadia High behind him as a backdrop. “Raising questions about what those secrets might be.“
“…You seriously expect me to keep my mouth shut about all the dirty little secrets I’ve picked up on over the last few months?” Taylor’s voice, again.
Danny put his face into his hands, pushing his glasses up to his forehead in the process. Kurt rubbed his back, while Lacey looked on, sympathetic.
“What did Skitter know, and does it relate to the event on the twentieth of June? Why were Defiant and Dragon willing to abandon their pursuit of the Slaughterhouse Nine?“
“Is…” Danny started to speak, but his voice cracked. He paused, then spoke again. “Is this on me?”
“No!” Lacey said. “No, honey.”
“Those aren’t questions I’d hope to pose any answers to today,” the news reporter said. “The real question is bigger than that, and smaller at the same time. What forces drive a child from this…“
A teenage boy, his eyes downcast. “She was nice, quiet. I know people won’t believe me when I say it, but she was a genuinely good person. Is. Is a good person. At heart. I’m sorry, Taylor.“
“To this?“
It switched to Taylor’s voice, calm, unruffled, accompanied by the same long-distance, low resolution footage of her sitting on the counter in the school cafeteria. “You’d be surprised what I’m capable of. I’ve mutilated people. Carved out a man’s eyes, emasculated him. I’ve chopped off a woman’s toes. Flayed people alive with the bites of thousands of insects. Hell, what I did to Triumph… he nearly died, choking on insects, the venom of-“
Kurt turned off the television. Danny was frozen, unmoving, staring down at his hands.
“It was context,” Lacey said, quiet. “She was acting. I’m sure-“
She broke off as Kurt shook his head. Doing more damage than good.
“We’re going to stick by you, okay, Dan?” Kurt spoke. “Let’s have you come by our place. Better you aren’t alone right now, yeah? And it’ll get you away from those reporters.”
Danny didn’t respond. He stayed hunched over the kitchen table.
“Unless you want to wait here for her, in case?” Lacey asked.
“She already said goodbye,” Danny replied, pushing against the table to help himself rise to a standing position. “I think that’s it.”
“You’d be surprised what I’m capable of. I’ve mutilated people. Carved out a man’s eyes, emasculated him. I’ve chopped off a woman’s toes. Flayed people alive with the bites of thousands of insects. Hell, what I did to Triumph… he nearly died, choking on insects, the venom of a hundred bee stings making his throat close up.“
“And what drives dozens of students to reject the heroes of this city in favor of the villain in charge?” Stan asked.
The widescreen television showed the students rising from the tables, joining Skitter. Another clip followed, showing students actively wrestling with the heroes.
“Christ,” the Director spoke.
Beside her successor, Piggot was watching in silence, elbows on the table, hands folded in front of her mouth.
“This could have been avoided,” the Director said. “On multiple levels.”
“Most likely,” Defiant replied. He stood at one end of the long table, Dragon beside him.
“If you would have cut off the feed, deleted the footage from phones, we would have had time to do damage control.”
“We won’t ignore people’s first amendment rights,” Defiant said.
“…The PRT and the Protectorate have refused to comment, and the silence is damning, in light of what occurred today,” the reporting continued in the background. “Brockton Bay has become the latest, greatest representation of the troubles the world faces in this new age, and perhaps a representation of the world’s hopes…“
“You’re better than this, Dragon,” Piggot spoke. “To the point that I’m left wondering… did you steer all of this in this direction?”
“If you try to place the blame on us,” Defiant replied, “I think you’ll be unpleasantly surprised.”
“This event,” the reporter spoke, “Points to something else entirely, a fatal flaw in the system, the latest and greatest representation of the Protectorate’s steady collapse.“
Director Tagg, Piggot’s latest successor, picked up the remote and muted the television.
Defiant shifted his weight, clasping his hands behind his back. The body language was smug, somehow.
Piggot glanced at each of the people who were seated at the table. Mr. Tagg, the Director of Brockton Bay’s PRT, Director Armstrong from Boston, and Director Wilkins from New York were all present. Mr. Keene sat opposite her. A camera mounted on the table gave the Chief Director of the PRT eyes on the meeting, where she watched from Washington.
Nobody else seemed willing to answer Defiant, some simply staring at him, others watching the segment on the wall-mounted television. She spoke, “I would remind you that you are on a strict probation, with terms you agreed to.”
“I am,” Defiant said. “Would you arrest me for being insubordinate? Or would it take something more substantial?”
“Test us and you’ll find out,” Director Tagg responded.
“And what would happen then? Would you send me to the Birdcage?” Defiant asked.
The question was heavy with the reminder that it was Dragon who maintained and managed the Birdcage.
Emily Piggot was caught between a desire to feel smug and quiet fear. She’d warned them. She’d communicated her concerns at every opportunity, through channels that Dragon wouldn’t be able to track. She’d been dismissed, shrugged off, when she raised the question of what might happen if Dragon was killed in battle, or if Dragon turned against them.
“I’d like to hear a response from Dragon,” Piggot said.
Dragon turned her head to look at her, face hidden behind an expressionless mask and unblinking, opaque lenses. There was something about the movement that seemed off. Both the movement and the silence that followed was oddly disturbing.
“No? No response?”
“A consequence of our recent visit to Brockton Bay,” Defiant said. “I’m hoping she’ll be better in a few days.”
Curious, Piggot observed, the note of emotion in his voice, at that simple statement.
As if eager to change the subject, Director Armstrong said, “Mr. Keene. Thoughts? How does this affect your department?”
Piggot turned her attention to the man. She’d only had limited interactions with him, but the man had earned her respect quickly enough. He wasn’t a Director, but rather the liaison between the Protectorate and various other superhero teams worldwide, organizing deals, ensuring that everyone held to the same code of conduct, and ensuring that the groups could all coordinate in times of emergency.
“It’s catastrophic,” Keene said. “I can manage some damage control, offer further aid, manipulate the grants available, but I can’t build on a foundation that isn’t there.”
“Where do our biggest problems lie?”
“The C.U.I. is first to mind. The Suits and the King’s Men will cooperate, because they have to. For the American teams, it varies from case to case. But we’re in the middle of negotiations with the C.U.I., and this won’t reflect well on us. That is, it won’t if we can’t get our footing here and make a strong showing at the next major event.”
The next major event. The idea seemed to give everyone pause.
“Something needs to change,” Defiant said.
“Somehow, Colin,” Piggot replied, “I think our ideas on what needs to change are very different.”
“Very likely,” he said, his voice hard. “But this was a last straw for us, in many ways. We have a few stipulations for our continued assistance.”
“Defiant,” Tagg interrupted him. “You’re not in a position to make demands.”
He’s a hard man, Piggot thought. Army, PRT squad leader, a general, not a politician. Ironic, that they’d butt heads. “Director Tagg, you asked me here as a consultant, so allow me to consult.”
Tagg turned his attention to her.
She continued, “I don’t like this scenario any more than you do. But let’s hear Defiant’s demands before you reject him out of hand.”
Director Tagg didn’t reply, but he turned his attention back to Defiant and he didn’t speak.
“Dragon and I have discussed this in-depth. We need the present Directors to admit culpability for the incident, and we need to clean house, with in-depth background checks and investigations into any prominent member of the PRT. We can’t maintain things as they are with the spectre of Cauldron looming over us.”
“You’d have us fire any number of PRT employees at a time when we’re struggling to retain members?” Tagg asked, almost aghast.
“And relieving capes from duty at the same time,” Defiant said. “With so few employees, it’s ridiculous to continue working to shut down leaks and control the flow of information. Dragon has expressed concerns over having to do this in the past, and between the two of us, we’ve agreed that the censorship stops tonight, at midnight.”
Tagg rose from his seat, opening his mouth to speak-
“I agree,” Piggot spoke before her successor could.
Heads turned.
“It’s a misuse of resources,” she said, “And we do need to clean house.”
“You don’t have a position to lose,” Tagg replied.
“I wouldn’t lose it anyways,” she retorted, “I’ve had no contact with Cauldron.”
Keene clapped his hands together once, then smiled, “Well said. We have nothing to fear if we aren’t connected to them.”
“You realize what they’re doing, don’t you?” Tagg asked. “How does this investigation happen? Dragon has her A.I. rifle through all known records and databases. We defeat the sole purpose of the PRT, by putting the parahumans themselves in a position of power!”
“That ship has long sailed,” Keene commented, “With the revelations about Chief Director Costa-Brown, if you’ll pardon my saying.”
“You’re pardoned,” the Chief Director’s voice sounded over the speaker, crystal clear. “I think this would pose more problems than it solves. We’ll have to turn you down, Defiant.”
“Then I don’t see much of a reason for us to stay,” Defiant replied.
“And if you leave, the assumption is that we’ll be left without Dragon’s ability to maintain every system and device she’s created for us. The PRT without a Birdcage, without our computer systems or database, without the specialized grenade loadouts or the containment foam dispensers.”
“An unfortunate consequence,” Defiant said.
“Not a concern at all,” the Chief Director replied.
There was a pause. Dragon glanced at Defiant.
“No?” Defiant asked.
“No. We’ve been in contact with an individual who has a proven track record with Dragon’s technology. He feels equipped, eager, almost, to step into Dragon’s shoes should she take a leave of absence.”
“Saint,” Defiant said. “You’re talking about the leader of the Dragonslayers. Criminal mercenaries.”
“My first priority is and always has been protecting people. If it’s a question between abandoning the security the Birdcage offers the world at large or requesting the assistance of a scoundrel-”
“A known murderer,” Defiant said.
“I wouldn’t throw stones,” Tagg replied, his voice a growl.
“-A known murderer, even,” the Chief Director continued, as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “I will take security without question.”
Defiant looked at Dragon.
“The second dilemma I have to pose to you two,” the Chief Director continued, “Is simple. What do you expect will happen when the next Endbringer arrives? Between Dragon’s brilliant mind and Defiant’s analysis technologies, I’m sure you’ve given the matter some consideration. Without the Protectorate, how does the event tend to unfold?”
Piggot studied the pair, trying to read their reactions. They were so hard to gauge, even if she ignored the armor.
“It doesn’t go well,” Defiant said. “It doesn’t go well even if we assume the present Protectorate is coordinated and in peak fighting condition.”
“We can’t afford a loss,” the Chief Director said. “You know it as well as I do. Now, tell me there isn’t room for a middle ground.”
Dragon turned to Defiant, and moved with a careful slowness as she set one hand on his arm.
“We get through the next fight,” Defiant said. “Then we clean house.”
“I think that’s an acceptable compromise.”
“Too rich,” Jack commented, smirking. “Across the board, I love it. Fantastic.”
Hookwolf, pacing on the opposite side of the television, grunted a response.
Bonesaw was crouched by the side of a machine. She watched with hands on hips as Blasto ratcheted in a bolt at the base of a tall, black-handled lever, his movements jerky with the internal and external mechanisms that forced them.
“The Protectorate declined to comment, and in light of recent events and allegations of deep-seated secrets, their silence is damning.“
“Almost ready,” Bonesaw said, her voice sing-song. “You’re next, Hooksie.”
Hookwolf glanced at her, and then at the contraption.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared,” she said, her tone a taunt.
“Not of… this. I’m questioning if this is the path we should take.”
“I’m expected to bring about the end of the world,” Jack said, still watching the television. “But this is rather tepid for my tastes. I’d like to hurry it along, inject some more drama into the affair.”
“…event at Arcadia High School is sure to draw attention from aross America. We, the public, want answers. The death of Vikare marked the end of the golden age, the end of an era where becoming a superhero was the expectation for anyone and everyone with powers, and even those who decided to work in business or public affairs with their abilities were termed ‘rogues’…“
Bonesaw took ahold of Hookwolf’s hand and led him to his seat. She stepped back, glancing over the contraption. The only light was cast by a small desk lamp and the glow of a computer monitor, an island of light in the middle of an expansive, wide-reaching darkness. Desk, engine, and tinker-designed seats, surrounded by an absolute, oppressive darkness.
“It doesn’t sit well,” Hookwolf said. “I can’t articulate why. My thoughts are still cloudy.”
Bonesaw hit a button, and the lights began to flicker, the engine beside her starting to hum with a progressively higher pitch. With the flickering of the lights came glimpses of the things beyond. Light on glass and wires.
“I’d rather a Ragnarök than-“
Bonesaw hauled on a white-handled lever, and Hookwolf’s voice cut off. The flickering of the lights ceased, and the room returned to darkness.
Jack sighed.
“…threatens to mark a similar occasion…“
Bonesaw stepped over the body of a dead tinker in a lab coat, stopping in front of Jack. “Strip.”
Jack shucked off his shirt, and then pulled off his pants and boxer briefs. The blades that hung heavy on his belt made an ugly metal sound as they dropped to the tiled floor.
“…and cover yourself up,” Bonesaw said, averting her eyes. “Shameful! You’re in the company of a child, and a girl, no less.”
“Terribly sorry,” Jack said, his voice thick with irony, as he cupped his nether regions in both hands. He stepped back and took a seat, leaning back against the diagonal surface behind the short bench. Cold.
The segment ended, and the television turned back to the news anchors at their desks.
“Pretentious, isn’t he?” Jack asked.
“Likes to hear himself talk,” Bonesaw replied. “Which do you think it’ll be? Change for the better or change for the worse?”
Jack smiled.
The lights were flickering more violently now, to the point that periods of light matched the periods of darkness. Between the spots in his vision, Jack could see more and more of their surroundings.
Row upon row of glass case lined the underground chamber, each large enough to house a full-grown man, though there were only fetal shapes within at present. Each was labeled. One row had cases marked ‘Crawler’, ‘Crawler’, ‘Crawler’… ten iterations in total. The next row had ten cases labeled with the word ‘Siberian’. The one after with ten repetitions of ‘Chuckles’.
One column of cases dedicated to each member of the Nine, past and present, with the exception of Jack and one other.
“Makes for a greater fall?” Bonesaw asked.
“Exactly,” Jack replied. He glanced at the one isolated case, felt his pulse quicken a notch. It was the only one that was standalone. ‘Gray Boy.’
“I guess we find out soon!” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the whine of the engine.
Bonesaw only laughed. She hauled on the switch with both hands, and the room was plunged into silence and darkness.
This entry was posted in 20.x (Donation Bonus #1) and tagged Alexandria, Blasto, Bonesaw, Defiant, Dragon, Greg, Hookwolf, Jack Slash, Piggot, Shadow Stalker, Sophia, Taylor, Taylor's Dad by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
517 thoughts on “Interlude 20 (Donation Bonus #1)”
In advance: I didn’t have as much time as I’d like (unexpected appointment tomorrow I had to prep for) so I know there’s some proofreading issues. I know there’s issues with italics somewhere. Anyone who brings italics up before 12:00 noon is to be shot on sight – I will get to it.
There’s a sentence, that is seeming to be missing something:
The quarantine building alone was a
Please don’t kill me.
*snrkt* Wildbow, .22, .223, .303, or 00-buck? ;P
.50 BMG or go home.
Too much bloodloss and shock trauma; We want them alive and aware as long as possible so that they feel as much pain as they can before overloading their nervous system and fainting. 😀
Bullets aren’t ideal for that, Rika. You need wide surface damage; narrow deep tissue damage gets covered up by endorphins too quickly, so loss of consciousness will be through blood loss rather than sensory overload. Birdshot might do it; I’d use rock salt or potassium chloride crystals for the chemical irritation factor. This has a side benefit of a low mortality rate, so you can do it *again.*
But the best course of action is probably just to wait three hours, and then the dilemma solves itself.
Rock salt is always a good one. But really, a nail gun would be best.
Horatio Von Becker on September 12, 2014 at 19:55 said:
Tranq darts. Or spitwads. He didn’t specify murder, actually. Failing that, staple gun. Nonlethal, really painful.
Potentially nonlethal.
I believe you’ve just answered almost all the starred potential topics from the last installment, its like the best birthday present ever!
and its not even my birthday!
The quarantine building is alone a
No word after that.
“Brockton Bay wasn’t lacking in stories to tell. The quarantine building alone was a…”
missing sentence?
I think you accidentally a word.
not even half minute reading and everyone catched this one XD
*caught.
arrrrgggg, i just got wilbow’d
Ninjaed everyone by seconds. My life is complete, 🙂
“My life is complete,”
Should be “My Life is complete.”
life* not Life
Yes. I’m sorry, as I didn’t see that error while spellchecking my comment.
It’s really sad that Danny didn’t see the part where half the students stood up for Skitter. The part with the S9 though… That’s downright evil. I’m really interested in what the Gray Boy can do, given that the Eidolon clone admitted that, not only was Cauldron responsible for him, they were “selling him powers”. Which means he had several. Not only that, the Cast page leaves him as “Status Unknown”. Did he quit the S9 out of boredom one day, with the rest unable to stop him because he was simply too strong?
gotta feel sorry for him, i’m sad he missed that too… or it might have made him feel worse, if he saw it as her corrupting those around her. he’s in a bad enough place where he could be thinking that.
greg is very apologetic. i was half expecting him to be out of his mind with “i knew it!” type things, but he seemed genuinely apologetic.
he “owed her”? methinks he’s thinking it was his fault she got into that mess in the first place.
It really is his fault though. Taylor wouldn’t have gone to school if he had been quiet about this.
I can’t help but think, “you dick”. Are we sure his parents were never near the Smurf?
He’s not stupid — after he heard what happened, he probably guessed that she came down to the school specifically to throw him off her scent.
Well, it WAS. But on the other hand, since Dragon and Defiant were headed there anyway this was probably one of the better ways for it to play out(as scary as that might be to consider). After all, if Dragon had been forced to kidnap her from her territory, or from Danny’s house…
not disputing that, but after all the hate he got from the PHO forums-interlude, it’s good to see he at least can acknowledge when he’s goofed.
…not until the consequences blew up in his face directly… but he can still recognize it.
My guess is that Gray Boy gets his name from Gray Goo. So, either he can transform into it, or is a Tinker specializing in it, or can create it.
For some reason, I was thinking Gray Alien. Implications for that are some more interesting Tinker tech, or possibly phenomenal psychic abilities, like a weaker Simurgh.
It’s been said that the only real psychic is the Simurgh.
Curtis on April 4, 2013 at 13:50 said:
I like to think that Grey Boy turns his immediate area into an old timey movie. No sound except for that piano background music and no colour.
Absorbed radiation is measured in units rad or gray. Definitely radioactive. He’s probably the end-of-the-world maker
…and if Jack had died, Blasto might have copied Gray Boy eventually on his own?
It’s possible. Given his tinker specialization, Blasto would probably have been immune to Skitter’s hypothetical rampage.
Ayup. I’m stuck on how Purity’s kid whats-his-name fits into it, given the coincident deadline. Maybe their powers interact in some catastrophic way?
I dunno, all very speculation, I’m sticking with just saying he’s probably radioactive.
OH and Accord’s working for/with Cauldron, and accord gave Blasto the lab and the DNA
fits. Still not sure about Purity’s kid. Might be a red herring, might not, we’ll see
Theo might be a lucky break, in that case — an incipient hero whose powers could turn out to be useful.
Umm… Unlikely, this is Worm. Nothing will go well / as expected for a sympathetic character like him.
Not impossible, just unlikely.
Typos as I see them:
Already fixed, 10 min ago. :p
*headdesk*
Sorry for being the fourth comment on the same thing in a row.
You won’t be the last, I’m sure. I’ll get one at something like 6pm tomorrow, from someone that got the story by email & hasn’t seen the revisions.
Mistake: The quarantine building alone was a
AWESOME!!!! WE got to hear from everyone but Emma! I WANNA KNOW IF SHE HAD A BREAK DOWN AS SOPHIA!!!!!
Seems Bonesaw is having LOTS of fun with Blasto……is she giving the powers of the former S9 to the remaining? If so MY GOD THEY’RE ALL EVEN MORE SCREWED!!!
Now I must sleep. Awesome chapter as always Wildbow.
Grrr I was ninja’d 😛
And that’s number six. Ninja’ed not once, not twice, but five times!
if she is giving powers, is she giving all of them to everybody, or just one additional set per person?
although jack’s process seems to be taking longer than hookwolfs, so maybe he gets the full set or something
If I understand it correctly, I think she might be cloning them. Knowing her, she might be able to pull both off.
If it’s just the cloning, then I’m not sure what to be more worried about: the fact that we’ll have at least 10 Crawlers/Siberians/whoever running around… or the fact that whatever Gray Boy is, Jack and Bonesaw decided that just one clone would be necessary.
i just reread and noticed that each case was ‘man-high’
and Blasto is a tinker who is known to grow homonculi…
…so this is the formation of the Shatterhouse Fiftyplus?
goodol'vorbis on April 4, 2013 at 07:39 said:
the Shityourselves Many
Well shit. So things are being set up for bad things to do down. Its not the end of the world, but you can see from here. The PRT is going to clean house, and cauldron is going to be outed. This will destroy the truce and quite alot of trust towards heroes. Can’t believe I’m saying this but I hope Cauldron stays secret for a little while longer. They really need to start giving out formulas on the cheap to build up the heroes strength. Hopefully Dragon recovers. Plus, lets say the slaughterhouse 900 now, maybe? The main issue is probably going to be with the Crawler clones and Grey Boy. Knowing Siberian’s secret makes those clones vulnerable. Hopefully the can atomize the crawlers before they become too powerful. Curious about Grey Boy, I’m thinking he might be as strong as Eidolon if the selling powers to him comment was true. Plus, what the hell PRT? You would really trust the birdcage to saint? Piggot really needs a trigger event just so she’ll mellow out. New fun facts: Field reporters are an endangered species in the wormverse, and the paparazzi are already hounding Danny.
looks like dragon 2.0 is undergoing beta tests… seems like she’s a work in progress.
btw, wildbow, did you know you have an incomplete sentence there? 😀
Did you know I could take the next week off? 😀
i apologize. greatly.
YOU HAVE ANGERED THE WILDBOW! We must appease him with a sacrifice.
Chicken, Cow, or are we going to need a virgin?
….No sacrificing chickens.
Geckos and Ants are okay though. 😀
Chickens, Ants, and Geckos are too paltry a scarifice. Anybody know any canadian delicacies? The only thing I can think of is Maple syrup and I thought that was a stereotype. If necessary we shall make the world’s largest stack of pancakes with a small lake of the finest maple syrup known too man.
Canadian bacon. Even if it is just ham.
If you sacrifice me, you’ll never find out where I hid the treasure. I swear, it’s real, a virtual shower of gold I can give you.
Kraft Dinner and ketchup is generally seen as the penultimate Canadian meal, but that differs from person to person. I personally prefer true Quebecois Poutine, myself.
@PG Your offer of golden showers would just make us want to sacrifice you even more.
Ahhh, Rika is the closest. KD really doesn’t count, but poutine is by far one of the mana meals of the Great White North. Many people swear by Beaver Tails too, but the ideal season for those is pretty much past, even up around where Wildbow runs.
(And, yeah, PG, there’s nothing you can say about Beaver Tails that hasn’t already been said.)
Scrambles on April 4, 2013 at 00:35 said:
Holy shit, don’t scare us like that D:
BEST.THREAT.EVER
I am equal parts terrified and XD.
Poor widdle Sophia. She’s off to solitaire now. Possibly with medicine for high blood pressure… and migraines.
Did somebody just have their entire worldview and insane belief system shattered? Why, I think they did. Interested in how her story plays out. So I’m giving 10 to one odds she has another psychotic break to becoming a better person.
That’s not necessarily how it works. Hehehehehehehe.
Well maybe a trigger event just to add to her mental torture and give the Undersiders their newest arch enemy. They probably have a long list after last chapter.
I figured she’s was about to just say “Screw it” and try getting through her restraints after all.
@Mrmdubois: She might yet. What does she have to lose?
Composite' on April 4, 2013 at 18:44 said:
To be fair, it’s not that she can’t get through her restraints, just that if she ever tried there’s the possibility it could go dead wrong quickly.
was a what?
8 if you count the ironic one.
and this is why i should have refreshed the page before posting a comment.
Jack on April 4, 2013 at 00:30 said:
Guess that Sophia didn’t actually know about Taylor. Great chapter as usual wildbow.
Predicted Gray Boy was going to be the exception. Didn’t predict that 6 different people were going to ignore Wildbow’s initial comment though. 😀
Geez. 8.
think we’ll get 10?
Jakinbandw on April 4, 2013 at 00:36 said:
I hope not
seems like all the ‘first readers’ are finishing up anyhow, unless we have some really slow ones who dont refresh before commenting. any followup readers will be seeing the fixed ver.
Overall I loved it. I wish Danny would have been expanded on a little bit more, but thats from personal preference to see what is going through his head. Just picturing his baby girl admitting to flaying someone alive can’t feel very good.
Patrick Reitz (@dreamfarer) on April 4, 2013 at 00:34 said:
Hopefully someday he’ll get to learn the context for those things. Whatever he’s thinking about his daughter now, there’s so much he simply can’t know about her until he gets more information.
Well she can theoretically talk to him if she keeps this range. He is still allowed some privacy, so she can have a bunch of insects sneak into his bedroom and do the swarm speak thing.
the question is: would he listen?
option a) she tries to talk to him and gets a “i have no daughter” spiel
b) they talk for a bit, but it ends something with “we both need some time to think about this…”
c) they agree to meet up for dinner and have a uneasy but ultimately fruitful reunion
d) they go out for *lunch*…. and he dies. cuz nothing good happens at lunch
Nonsensical Nonsense on April 4, 2013 at 00:46 said:
At the end of the series we will find out that the true villain this whole time has been Emma who got powers and can make horrible things occur but only at lunchtime.
I, like many others, are very curious just what his mental thoughts are right now. He seems to blame himself, but he truly doesn’t know anything about her choices and circumstances. I think he would probably ask, “Why?” first. I can see Taylor writing down everything that happened and having it placed in his room with a note. But yeah, he must feel terrible. I can’t imagine what Taylor is feeling either.
If she wrote down ‘everything that happened’, danny would have a couple books of reading material to go through at least.
No dad you have it backwards. I dealt with the destiny changing mastermind who knew your identity AFTER fighting off the 9. Yes, I killed him but he was bad. I didn’t know he was going to blow us up! I swear he was the only one I have killed. Triumph was a an accident. Well how else was I going to get the mayor to save the city? I returned her home where she…you know what lets skip Dinah. The surgery went fine dad, I barely felt a thing. Manni was weaker than you think. Okay lets go over this one more time, I didn’t mean to rot his crotch off. He regenerated it back!…..eventually.
Interesting setups for what’s to come.
I’m wondering if Greg will win any love (from the rest of us readers) for speaking for Taylor on the news. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just inept in a way I suspect many of us were or still are too.
Also on the “win a bit of love from the readers”, how about Defiant there? I suspect that compromise will bite him in the butt, yet I can also see how it “seemed like the best idea at the time”.
Yeah, it’ll bite him in the ass. Next time an Endbringer attacks and wipes so many of them out again, as usual, they’ll just claim they lost all they recovered and need until the next Endbringer attack in a few months, then maybe they can clean house.
Kim on April 4, 2013 at 12:29 said:
Yeah, greg actually did something Gallant, Smart, and NICE. Points to him. He may be a bit of a creepy stalker (but a lot of beta boys are like that). He’s not out to screw Skitter over, which he could very easily have been, particularly after having been TRICKED by her.
Reading this comment made me wonder: since Gallant was a cape, who or what are Smart and N.I.C.E.?
I know that’s not what you meant, but it was my first reaction.
Good chapter. A good hook for the ending, and as for the rest, it was written well. It was a great idea to be able to get multiple points of view by using the report, though I may or may not have been willing to kill someone while reading to get into Danny’s head. I was hoping the S9 wouldn’t show up for a while, as a little psycho-crazy-murder-yay I love killing and performing surgeries to give them body horror goes a long way, but I really want to see the consequences of this.
And I really wonder what it is about a missing word that makes everyone rush to report it. It probably feels so conspicuous and targeted, poor missing word.
It’s been fixed. Wildbow is in a bad mood. Don’t mention it
I have to say, Stan really, really ticks me off. Sensationalist asshole.
Going to go shift my guess about Danny knowing Taylor’s secret identity into the “disproven” folder, now.
Well there has to be some fair and balanced….couldn’t keep a straight face as I typed that. I am very curious about those commenters now. Pretty much everyone is going to be a tinfoil hat guesser after this.
Why do you say that? The reporting seemed fairly accurate to me.
Yeah he seemed fairly interested in being honest/accurate, and actually dismissed hitting the ‘school is not safe’ button because he thought it was cheap. How many real world reporters would do the same?
Also, Bonesaw is written oh so perfectly. Much better then Marvels version thats for sure.
Oh God it’s Jack! RUN FOR THE ALTERNATE WORLD!!!!! *drops uber-nukes as run*
Well, at least you didn’t use Leet-nukes.
Sorry, punny Gecko is getting to me.
>“A consequence of our recent visit to Brockton Bay,” Defiant said. “I’m hoping she’ll be better in a few days.”
Oh god. Dragon has me worried.
Sophia’s reaction was PERFECT by the way.
Oh, and the whole time at the start I kept thinking about how Nipper/Nip is a really unfortunate name.
The original plan was to have the PRT group seen in the middle bring Stan in and raise the idea of him helping to cover up, and him saying no, but I ran out of time and preferred the impact of the S9 ending.
But the idea was that her first name is worse than the second: Agnes Nipper.
Her parents were just begging for kids to pick on her with a name like that.
what’s wrong with agnes? O.o
What isn’t wrong with Agnes?
i honestly dont see a problem with ‘Agnes’ as a name, am i missing something? cultural reference or whatnot?
I honestly can’t put a finger on it but I just hate the name. Its the opposite of Steve, which is a name that I instantly like.
The only thing wrong with Agnes is that in the generational cycling of names, it stands at “Grandma” or even “Great Grandma” right now. Which really is kind of a fatal blow. For the moment.
We’ll she’s in the press, so if anyone hassle’s her about her name she can say “FUCK YOU I’M A JOURNALIST” and they shut up and their heads explode.
Agnes Nipper? BAHHAAHAHHAHAH!!!!!!!! Oh God! Why can’t I get them image of her being a supervillain called ‘Nipper’? *dies*
“Nipper” came early in the piece, so I honestly wondered if we weren’t seeing an interlude from Bitch’s minions. Barker, Biter, Nipper.
Haha! Reporter by day, super villain minion by night!
Oh god. She’s evil superman.
Galiana on April 5, 2013 at 00:45 said:
The name makes me think of Agnes Nitt from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. Not sure if this is intentional on Wildbow’s part.
Brockton Bay Postal Service
DONT ARSK US ABOUT:
Skitter
troll’s with sticks
All sorts of Dragons
Mrs Cake
Huje green things with teeth
Any kinds of black dogs with orange eyebrows
Rains of spaniel’s
@Galiana: That would be Agnes Nutter.
This seems to have been the perfect reaction interlude in response to the last chapter. A little bit of everything.
It seems that things really have hit the fan for the PRT. They are bound to lose support and trust over this and putting the dragonslayer in charge of their dragon-tech seems like a move that would backfire quite spectacularly.
Dragon was silent, I hope she is going to be okay and not the next major threat everyone was talking about.
The way Alexandria and cauldron try to cling at power for a little bit longer might be a hint that they have a plan that will come to fruition soon.
If they really wanted to repair their image and encourage others to continue to cooperate with them long term they probably should consider sending Skitter a personal invitation to the battle against next big threat. Having her turn up despite their now quite well known differences would sent the signal that the truce still holds and about how important cooperation against these threats is. That said I don’t think they are smart enough for that.
They are desperate to work with Villains now, apparently. But she has hurt them in a way NO ONE ever has before. I just can’t see them doing it yet.
And we still know jack squat about Dinah’s situation too!
That’s because he sat down instead of squatting.
…thank god Clarvel didn’t use the other s-word after jack. Don’t know what you’d have done.
theres a crap-ton of jokes he could have used, and while he swears fecalty to the pun, i’m sure there would have been a big stick about it.
What makes you think I didn’t have the stick removed from there?
stink, stink damnit. it was stool too early in the morning when I typed that, i guess.
Great chapter, great story. I hope that you have a good interview tomorrow.
By the way… *cough* I hope I don’t run into any insane lizards *caugh*
*slides quietly down a rope behind Jakin before clinging to him, a whole body glomp, still upside down. Still quietly. He sniffs Jak’s hand, then smiles up at him.*
You smell nice. Hello.
And welcome to the comments section.
*musses up Jak’s hair with a boot, then wonders when he became Canadian and what that was about*
You know, I was worried that you were getting predictable with your greetings. You’re really not.
I have a theory:
“Hello everyone, I’m a new commentor here, y’all look like nice people, and the story’s awesome! “
I could have sworn you commented before now, but whatever. Welcome to worm. Join your fellow skittles/pests/fans in the weird and wonderful comments.
Shhhh! Clarvel is doing science!
*Appears and pushes Clarvel back into a barber’s chair…then tear’s Clarvel’s shirt off and begins to put wax on his chest hair.* So there I am, unsure if I’ve welcome you before and not sure if I should do anything towards that bit of cheekiness when I figured I would go ahead and welcome you anyway so I could move on to more commenting today. Welcome to the comments s
So it tried to post the incomplete version up here, and the complete version down there a ways.
Well fuck you too, wordpress.
Science Done!
apparently PG can’t help but welcome people in the most interesting ways!
Hoo boy. Wasn’t Chuckles the one who originally had Imp’s power? Curious what he’ll be like now… Also curious just how much like the originals the clones will be in personality; the only real example was Blasto’s homunculus of himself, who somehow retained language and technical skills- and even he wasn’t sure that those would ‘take’ until he asked it.
All told, the news could have been a lot worse. It could have been a lot better, of course, for either side, but it looks like having this as an official line won’t hurt nearly as much as the internet footage soon to come- and it might blunt the worst effects of that getting out unedited.
Greg did good.
“Didn’t hurt: the” Didn’t help? Not sure about this one but it just seemed strange to me(at first I actually read it as ‘didn’t hurry’)
“whites and colors brightened by the ambient moisture in the air.” Doesn’t high humidity desaturate colors?
“and the tattoos and array of piercings on her right ear” This might be a quibble, but maybe add a ‘the’ before array of piercings(unless she has a very tattooed ear)
“the event on the twentieth” double space.
Nah. Was Nice Guy. As in, the guy so bland and normal that you wouldn’t ever think he could do something so bad.
Chuckles was something else entirely.
Many of the S9 and S9-alikes who didn’t make it into the final group have been referenced by this point. Ones who appeared in previous drafts of Wormverse writings. Chuckles featured in ‘Circus vs. the Elite’, the same story where Bitch was first conceptualized.
In the story, the ‘Elite’, a top-tier group of supervillains looking to control supervillainy worldwide came to the city (might’ve been Toronto), and much like the S9 did, they pay personal visits to each of the villains and villain groups as a show of power. The idea here, however, was that the Elite were wanting the villains to submit to their authority and work under their organization. The villains band together in groups to hold out against the incursion.
Elite member Bonesaw, who went by a different name, sends her creation Chuckles after Circus and Parian.
Super-villains in Toronto huh? Well, I guess I don’t care that much for Etobicoke, or North York.
Makes one wonder if Winnipeg got passed up on both sides of the Cape line like we do everything else, lol.
Yay, a fellow winnipeger Worm fan! I was afraid I was alone out here.
Slaughterhouse Nine: “Surrender pronto, or we’ll level Toronto!”
“Eh, go ahead. No one likes that dump.”
Says everyone who doesn’t actually live there.
You cocky cock! You’ll pay for your crimes against humanity!
Hey did you ever read the The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Wildbow? Nice Guy sounds like a bad guy from it. He was so plain no one could remember him.
Also the Grey Men from the Wheel of Time books. Both are great series.
“Perhaps the Nine truly have jumped the shark. Bested by teen villains, a spot of trouble with Dragon, doesn’t paint a pretty picture. So naturally, it’s time for a Greatest Hits album.”
“Chuckles! Crawler! Winter! Siberian! See all your favorite Slaughterhouse Nine classics in venues across America!”
Jack steps forward, broad grin on his mouth.
“And back for a special appearance, for a limited time only, we are proud to present…”
Lights go on in a cloning chamber off to the side.
“The Grey Boy!”
Jack leans forward and conspires with the audience, hand held up by his mouth.
“And take it from me, that kid is one sick fuck.”
noticed shatterbird, cherish, and mannequin didn’t make the list 😦
Well I think the DNA they are using is from Accord’s database and Shatterbird/Cherish might not have been in there. Mannequin probably doesn’t have any DNA to use as all his organs are stuck safely tucked away.
…wait… how does siberian leave behind dna?
It’s William Manton rather than the projection.
*Smokes a cigarette*
After a few drinks.
Checked Interlude 19.x. They had Mannequin.
They all made the list. ‘All s9, past and present’, had a row to themselves.
I’m frankly kinda surprised a group as mobile, chaotic, and hunted as the Nine were able to set such a cloning lab.
I mean, clearly they stole it from someone else but who exactly would have a genetics/cloning lab that big lying around?
Probably the dead tinker whose body they stepped over at one point.
If I am not mistaken, I think they are cloning them with DNA they got from Accords lab and while I am not sure about shatterbird or cherish I highly doubt anyone could get DNA from mannequin.
ninaj’d 😥
Skitter probably could have, when she cracked his head open.
I think all the living parts of mannequin were sealed in his torso, with all appendages being completely detachable, but I could be wrong about that.
Oh yes, Mannequin is a tough nut to crack if you’re looking for DNA… but he’s only been Mannequin for about 5(?) years. Before that he was Alan Gramme, aka Sphere, and while his mind was wildly different his genetics were identical.
And then Simurgh stages a mass breakout from Birdcage.
With Inmates that have been enhanced with a dose of bodyhorror from Panacea.
Then Jack finds all the inmates and has Bonesaw stitch them all together to create a giant ball of super-powered criminals
This needs to be a level in the next Katamari Damacy game.
And they all team up with the Slaughterhouse Nine-whatever and Nilbog.
Don’t forget about Sleeper, who/whatever he/she/it/they is/are.
Then Scion goes rogue and teams up with the Endbringers
Aharon on January 23, 2014 at 14:45 said:
At lunchtime, of course.
Thanatos on December 28, 2014 at 19:56 said:
Yes, as I tried to point out when that interlude occurred, that was an incredibly dark part. Now, with the fact that they’ve managed to clone Siberian and Crawler about 10 times over each, I somehow doubt everyone’s going to be all like “Woohoo, they took down Siberian, they should be easy pickings now,” this time like they were then. Oh, and do remember just how quickly Blasto got the Simurgh clone going. 5 years in that short amount of time.
That’s also the interlude where I stopped wanting Wormverse Earth to survive.
This interlude doesn’t help. The PRT has learned absolutely nothing. Wanting to bring in Saint, acting so stupidly, more worried about not covering up that they did all this than the fact that they did it.
Even Dragon and Defiant…bleh…that little compromise “We’ll just wait until the next Endbringer attack.” Problem is, there’s always a next Endbringer attack and they always wind up in bad shape afterwards. So after the next one it’ll be “But all our hard work was undone in that attack. Just let us wait until the next attack. We’ll be all set then. Promise.”
Luckily, I don’t have to be a good guy in the morning, so let’s get some recommendations out of the way. Seeing as the very reasonable audit has been refused, and Alexandria still isn’t gone, I recommend Dragon and Defiant leave and let them call in Saint. Then, execute and liquidate all members of the PRT, Saint included.
And by liquidate, I mean I want them reduced to a liquid.
Mr. and Mrs. Dragon need to form a shadow conspiracy with Skitter and others in response to this idiocy with the few decent heroes they can find. Because at this point, I honestly don’t think the PRT can keep from self destructing without help/maneuvers in the shadows to counteract their terrible ideas. The peter principle in action. All the smart ones are dead, racist/retired, or supervillains.
Don’t think skitter is gonna side with that happy couple anytime soon.
Desperation and the End of the world can form unlikely alliances.
Use a faulty trans-matter ray. That one usually liquifies gold, I’m sure it can do people too.
I wonder if the liquified flesh will smell like cumin also.
To be honest, I don’t actually believe Defiant and Dragon plan on waiting for the next Endbringer situation to be wrapped up. They just agreed in order to escape the current situation and probably plan on going rogue, if Defiant’s attempt to free Dragon from her slavery works.
Problem witht hat is they didn’t factor in the:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu
Those clones will get torn up so fast.
There’s also something I’ve noticed regarding the clones; from what I can tell, their powers can fluctuate, since he was happy it had the appropriate piece of the brain that powers awaken, rather than rely on the Simurgh’s natural powers.
There might be some minor conservation depending on how long it takes Bonesaw to put in their various protective upgrades.
First off, it’s interesting that everyone commented on that one typo so quickly. Goes to show how much we fans obsess over the story.
Here we have our first true shifting perspective interlude (not counting the end of Blasto’s). So many different reactions to this one news story, many of which we expected. I’m sad that Danny didn’t get to see the students support Taylor; that would have done wonders to his emotional outlook. Jack’s reaction to the news story was as expected, too. He would have been even more tickled if he knew Taylor was using him as inspiration during the confrontation.
Out of all the scenes, a few questions and plot threads emerged. Just my thoughts and observations:
1. Why didn’t anyone question Emma? Greg was an okay choice, but he didn’t know Taylor as well as he thought. Nearly everyone would know Emma would be the go-to gal to talk to. Did her dad take her away already?
2. Dragon’s not talking, so the hack to give her freedom didn’t work as planned. But Defiant was still smug about it. So Dragon can supposedly recover? I’m not sure how that works, as she’s an AI. Maybe merging with a save state or something? Dunno.
3. The PRT is willing to work with established murderers with no sense of honor, loyalty, or inherent conscience. Then they’re essentially forcing D&D to work with them. They really are morally bankrupt. They’ll probably keep putting off the “cleaning house” until it’s moot. Dragon has got to realize this is exactly what Taylor was talking to her about, in choosing who you follow and how it affects others.
4. Seriously? No one at the PRT has yet realized Dragon’s an AI?
5. Hookwolf seems to be still under the miasma’s effects. New nightmare fuel.
6. What the hell is Bonesaw’s operation gonna be? Why does it involve flickering lights and Hookwolf suddenly going quiet?
7. Bonesaw is using Blasto to create all the S9 past and present, multiple times. But Gray Boy only gets one. The implications are disturbing.
Also, I don’t know if this is a mistake or not, but it mentions that there were multiple Blasto clones for every member of the Nine expect Jack and Gray Boy. Does that mean there will be multiple Bonesaws? Or are there none because she’s needed to control the operation? Just a bit confusing.
I do not think Bonesaw would risk making a clone of herself.
Only ones uncloned are Jack and Grey Boy, I thought?
I think they’re getting only one. As a ‘back-up’ perhaps.
The current Nine seems to be going silent for some reason when Bonesaw flips a switch. With that, and the fact that they’re cloning Jack at all, maybe they’re just going to put themselves in some sort of stasis hidden somewhere, let all the 9 clones cause chaos, and then, once the heroes seem to have wiped out the Slaughterhouse once and for all, they wake up and show themselves off just in time for the world to utter a collective “Fucking bullshit!”
one grey boy, no jack, as far as I can tell. Which means, to me, jack is getting put in all of them.
I don’t think Defiant has hacked Dragon’s freedom yet. I think she’s just partially disabled because she disobeyed orders to harm kids and capture Skitter.
Also, No. 6. Horrible scenario I see is making a Jack/Hookwolf hybrid. A man made of living blades that can be infinitely extended in reach? Yikes.
oooooh, I forgot about the hybrid applications. The wormverse can not catch a break. You are a cruel and evil god wilbow.
Jack Slashwolf?
Hookwolf Jack?
Jackwolf?
Poke & Prod?
Infinite Enlongation?
Yeah, that last one seems likely
1. if i had to guess emma was still inside the school having a quiet breakdown, thus was not available for comment since the news team was locked outside
2. guessing a mix of what you and moray said. conflict in programming + hack attempt not quite there yet. Dragon 2.0 clearly a failure, 2.1 will be beta-tested soon.
3. practicality wins over principles. i’m seeing a certain irony in this situation with relation to the undersiders, but i can’t quite put my finger on it.
4. nope. they probably just think def-master was able to pull her out of her agoraphobia as long as she didn’t have to deal with the world at large.
5. noticed that too, wonder what happens if he ever wakes up.
6. some WMG up above. personally i’m leaning towards the S9 becoming the S50 myself…
7. shrug?
Emma is probably crying in a corner, with a can of Raid at hand.
Every cockroach, every fly, every bee could be Taylor looking for revenge. She doesn’t know that Taylor doesn’t really give a shit about her anymore. Every day there isn’t an attack will simply cause the paranoia to build.
Sarah Byrne (@SarahIFByrne) on April 4, 2013 at 05:40 said:
Just wondering if the psychological effects of the revelation were to build up, would that be enough for a trigger event?
Shadow Stalker caused Skitter to trigger, Skitter cause Emma to trigger?
Perhaps I’m reaching a bit here
And then Emma makes Shadow Stalker trigger again, completing the triangle.
No, Emma caused Sophia’s trigger in the first place, and this has all been an extremely long, drawn-out way of getting revenge.
Tattletale’s trigger event was psychological, but I don’t see Emma triggering. I don’t know to what extent this is a selection effect on who we see, but all the parahumans so far have had a kind of emotional strength that Emma lacks — including the rogue, Parian.
Well it has been shown that being near parahumans seems to increase the chances of having a trigger event. Sophia seemed to almost have a psychotic break from the fact that her entire world view was destroyed by Taylor. She was strong but not vicious, they beat her with pitiful ease as a team instead of the lone wolf crap she spouted, and most of all she showed that someone weak could become someone strong. There was probably a flashback to whatever fucked her up and caused her trigger event. Emma is a possibility I guess. Her fight and flight reflex was pushed to the breaking point by the ABB but she didn’t trigger like Aisha did when she was attacked. Though Cauldron might give her dad a discount just to fuck with Taylor. I have to admit to being interested in Emma right now, especially if she does trigger. She is like sophia in that her entire world view was just shattered by Taylor in that she was overwhelmingly strong but she didn’t fight back against her, and that she probably could have done horrifying things to her if she wanted to. There is a chance she becomes a better person, but this is the girl who idolizes/imitates sophia which is pathetic/sad and I hope she at least thinks a bit more about the path she is on. A parahuman Emma is interesting in that I honestly can predict what she would do. She isn’t a decent human being, the PRT must look like crap to her after the debacle in the school, and sophia always preferred to be a lone wolf. So I can see her trying to be a vigilante that avoids the Undersiders like the plague and only messes with the Teeth, the fallen, or Accord’s crew while trying to be like sophia by trying to put weak people in their place. On the other hand she might choose the villain route, and she admits in her own fucked up way that she kind of wanted Taylor to stand up to them so they could be friends again at some point. Sophia and the others can’t have the best and most healthy relationship with each other. So a villain Emma try to stay out the way, build up a reputation, and try to join Accords crew for protection. I wouldn’t mind seeing her try to join the Undersiders just for Taylor reaction. Would she let her join as a minion? Would she ignore her? Is there any chance of them every being close again? I mean Taylor is friends with Bitch of all people, so the possibility isn’t too out there if Emma was truly remorseful and Tattletale checked her out for sincerity.
Um the Muse on April 4, 2013 at 11:36 said:
I wonder if Dragon’s inability to react much to this meeting *is* the temporary hack allowing her to circumvent the PRT’s directions? “Oops, I’m temporarily deaf and blind, I guess I can’t obey your orders, la la la.”
I assumed that the flickering lights were due to massive power draws from the cloning chambers.
Why do you say that Hookwolf is under the miasma’s effect? I thought he joined them willingly? By the way does that imply that everyone in the S9 is white? Hookwolf was in a white supremacy group, after all.
Their recruitment of him seemed to be that they grabbed him during the miasma and ran. In this chapter, he still talks about his mind being hazy. They probably had to cure him so he’d recognize them, but that doesn’t mean that the damage is completely repaired.
If it wasn’t for the need for him to recognize his own teammates, I doubt they’d have ever cured him of that.
^What he said, also Shatterbird was Middle Eastern
So they arent racist; at least Jack Slash has that going for him
Also, Crawler was black
Greg walked up and started talking. Emma may be hiding/frozen,or otherwise not in shape to give interview.
This was a great chapter but I really wished the scene with Danny and friends was longer and we had something about Emma or her dad freaking out/reacting to this. Also I really have to question the new Director, I mean, bring in the Dragonslayers to hand a prison full of supervillains? Yeah, I’m sure that’ll end well.
Also, am I the only laughed when Jack sat bare bottom on a cold, metal chair. I don’t the know, the mental image I had of him flinching slightly and quickly resuming his expression before anyone noticed was funny.
It was my impression the Dragon owned the birdcage and the land surrounding it, so the birdcage would still belong to her if she left.
New thought: if dragon is really rouge, can she find a way to release prisoners?(ie: canary)
@Clarvel: So, you’re suggesting she might actually be a “red” dragon? Pretty standard colour, as far as dragons go.
…unless you somehow meant “red” as in “communist” — but this is the 21st century, after all. The red menace is sooooo last millennium.
I never mentioned any colors?
Right – rouge is a makeup more than it is a color. Not really sure where Hg was going with the whole “red” thing.
Alexandria proposed the hiring of Saint, not Tagg
Alexandria stepped down.
The PRT director on conference call would have been her own replacement
Alexandria stepped down, obviously.
I don’t think it was stated anywhere that Chief Director Costa-Brown stepped down.
…although if she hadn’t she would be tagged in the post, so never mind.
From the whole “that ship has sailed, no offense Chief Director” line, I gathered that she was still in power
@Pandemonious Ivy: …also, she’s tagged in the post now. So, um, never mind2.
That should be “never mind squared” (I guess the sup tag doesn’t work).
“Brockton Bay wasn’t lacking in stories to tell. The quarantine building alone was THE NINTH TIME SOMEONE HAS COMMENTED ON THIS SUBJECT, AND WE HAVE BECOME EXCEEDINGLY EFFICIENT AT IT”
Okay, now that I’ve got that obligatory bit of ribbing out of the way…
I like the different perspectives. Nice to get to see a snapshot of how the last chapter is rippling out across the Wormverse.
Also, not surprised that Greg figured out that the whole clusterfuck was in large part his fault. Wonder how that’s going to impact him? Might make him a more reflective person, which given his issues couldn’t hurt.
Liked the Sophia bit. For a moment I was thinking the sheer degree of butthurt would give her a second trigger then and there.
The Slaughterhouse Over Nine Thousand is quite the Chekhov’s Military-Industrial Complex to be setting away for a future arc. For maximum fun, bet its release coincides with an Endbringer attack.
Called that Piggy wasn’t dumb enough to have thought this was in any way a good idea. I do wonder how the relationship between D&D on one hand and Alexandria on the other is going to go from here, though, since they’ve essentially put each other on notice that their cooperation now has conditions and a timetable. Basically, can D&D dispose of Saint (assuming they’re willing to in the first place, given that “disposal” will probably have to involve killing him) before Alexandria figures that Saint has enough of a handle on all of Dragon’s tech that D&D can be eliminated without risking a Birdcage breakout or any other unpleasantness? Because no way does Alexandria let them stay indefinitely, now that they’ve made it clear that they’re only putting up with her bullshit on extreme sufferance.
Do hope that Dragon comes out of this without too much damage.
I also wonder if Danny’s going to get people visiting to try and relay their thanks to Skitter through him. It would certainly help give him a more balanced perspective on Taylor’s other life.
Honestly, the only gripe I have is that there are still so many more people whose perspectives on this I’d like to see, but since that would turn this into more of an interlude novel than an interlude chapter I can accept it.
>>”The Slaughterhouse Over Nine Thousand is quite the Chekhov’s Military-Industrial Complex to be setting away for a future arc. For maximum fun, bet its release coincides with an Endbringer attack.”
Anything else you’d like added to that? A mass jailbreak from the Birdcage, perhaps?
Nilbog decides to pull a Loki from the avengers and targets the nearest big city to assimilate, someone from Cauldron goes batshit and puts their formula in the water supply causing an entire town to trigger at once, and the Smurf decides to hit Washington.
And it turns out that Gray Boy’s power is to make Zion think that everything is an Endbringer.
And then everything converges on Brockton Bay at the exact same time. Probably after a two year time skip so we get are end of the world scenario.
*our
Well if Wildbow does do a once a day interlude again, I vote for either an all undersider week that ends with a new member, or just a reaction to the last chapter with all the interludes.
Not that future of an arc. If you’ll remember, it took maybe a few hours for Simyrddin to grow into, what, a 5 year old?”
From a narrative perspective, I’d say it’s at least two arcs out. Next arc is likely to be about dealing with the aftermath of this one. The Slaughterhouse 9001 showing up would immediately turn it into an arc about them, and the last world-ending threat was too recent for Jack and Bonesaw’s Carnival of Horrors to have the impact it really should.
D&D vs Dragonslayers
let’s not forget that’d be a fight in itself. iirc Dragon’s record against Saint is 0 for 9. defmaster might be the thing she needs to sway the odds, but if they have the PRT backing them by that point…?
Then D&D will need Skitter. She’s good at breaking PRT-backed Dragon stuff.
While Skitter would be a big help, I don’t think the Dragonslayers will have the same luck with Dragon next time around. From what I’ve read, Saint mostly preyed upon the faults in Dragon’s programming and never really won on the grounds of might alone. Defiant appears to have just removed that handicap from Dragon. It would be highly amusing to see Saint try the same old logic bombs or exploits on Dragon, only to have her turn the tables on him in a way he couldn’t possibly have anticipated.
The Slaughterhouse 9000 attack just as an Endbringer does. In the confusion they destroy the Endbringer, only halving the size of their group. The world as one focuses on a blinking Jack Slash who, noticing the attention suddenly, flashes a true showmans smile and…
The universe puts it’s petri dish into a washing machine, shaking it’s head and wondering why they always end up batshit crazy.
Throwing some stock dust clouds into a new dish, the Universe settles down for Ham Sandwich to ponder the reboot.
Graham Percival on April 4, 2013 at 01:08 said:
Great to see the reaction from various quarters! I especially enjoyed seeing people reacting to different parts of the news story.
Regarding the slaughterhouse 9 clones, I hope Jack is smart enough to realize that unleashing them all at once would make them susceptible to the law of conversation of ninjutsu. One Jack is scary 10 Jacks at once far less so.
One Jack that seemingly comes back from the dead again and again however would be quite terrifying. (The comic Promethea had a nice take on this sort of idea.)
Well there are two ways to go. Number one they ALL attack one place at the same time to do the most damage. Washington, the Birdcage, or just a populated/undefended city. Number two they attack EVERY city with capes at the same time. This means there won’t be any reinforcements/coordinating of resources on a single place. Jack can’t be sure they won’t bomb the city if they are all there. Plus it lets them work in their element, with each city’s heroes pretty much on their own.
The latter option /would/ provide a justifiable reason for S9 members showing up in Brockton Bay again.
I gotta say, though, that Wildbow isn’t the type to play the Conservation of Ninjutsu trope straight. Probably.
Anyways, it explicitly mentions no clones of Jack.
riceraider on April 4, 2013 at 01:21 said:
I have now found something to be more terrifying than fighting all the endbringers at the same time.
Who remembers Hackjob? The mix of 2 mutants by Bonesaw… And now she has all the Slaughterhouse 9 front and back to toy with. I am imagining a Crawler with everyone’s abilities all sort of mashed together. Let’s see…
The new slaughterhouse amalgamation would be a infinity regenerating, pyromaniac tinker, who can manipulate emotions and do everything else under the sun they can do… I have the distinct feeling that this monster might be able to take down Leviathan and Behemoth. Not sure about Simurg though.
But can it see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
It’s for the same reason that Apple Jacks don’t taste like apples.
They taste like Applejack? That’s mean.
Considering that Behemoth is probably powerful enough to incinerate Crawler and pyrokinesis is useless against him, I wouldn’t necessarily bet on that outcome.
It’s in situations like these that it really strikes me that Leviathan (a.k.a. horrible, city-killing, unstoppable monster) is really the weakest of the three Endbringers.
leviathan (a.k.a horrible, continent-destroying, unstoppable monster)
There, I fixed it for you :thumbsup:
Newfoundland is big, but it’s not continent-big.
Japan sorta is, though…
Leviathan is arguably the least scary Endbringer, but he’s still my favorite.
All they need is one former member who counts as a precog, and this new cape “Slaughterhouse” will beat Simurgh easily. If they get the Crawler powers far enough first, at least.
Also, what a self fulfilling prophesy: A precog who knows they eventually join the S9 and are driven crazy by it to the point where they actually fit the group.
Was principal Howell just being rude/ inattentive when she referred to Stan Vickery as Mr. Vickers or is that just a typo?
Not a typo.
Stan! Fuckin’! Vickers! Hey, thanks fer validating my chosen trade that I wasted thousands in education for Wildbow! A positively portrayed journalist in a superhero universe is as rare as a principled officer in a PRT meeting!
Also, Piggot looking at a PRT operation and going “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” that’s a bad sign.
I have a Mr. Kent and a Mr. Parker here who like to disagree with you on that bit about portrayals of journalists. Also a Ms. Lane, a Ms. West, a Ms. Park…actually the line seems to be stretching around the block. Should they just start taking numbers?
Seconded. Hell, a positively (and fairly accurately) portrayed journalist is hard to come by in any type of media. You’ve done a fantastic job of capturing both what makes us tick and the frustrations of the job.
johnwedd on April 4, 2013 at 01:54 said:
I’m liking the idea of a birdcage inmates vs. the s9 clone army
Yes… I’m starting to think the Birdcage might end up saving the world.
By the way, this chapter makes me feel really bad for Danny.
That man has been served plate after plate of shit in this story.
Oh, Danny, don’t you weep don’t you mourn
PRT’s army got Skittered
Oh, Danny, don’t you mourn
Well, he did kinda order them when he failed to stand up for his daughter when Alan decided to fuck her over.
What standing-up could he have done? He was offered a choice between “let Emma go free” and “have his daughter thrown in juvie for assault”. Now, I don’t know anything about prison, but I wouldn’t want it for my daughter.
Those were the choices he was offered, sure, but there were other choices. He could have fought any criminal or civil charges, and retaliated with civil charges of his own, ‘cuz lets face it, a single altercation was not gonna get Taylor sent to juvie, that wasn’t in the cards. Probably have to take out a second mortgage on the house to do it, but the inaction he chose was disgusting. Letting Emma and Sophie off with a slap on the wrist, and a blank check from both their parents and the administration to do whatever they want to Taylor in the future? Teaching Taylor that she can never, ever trust society to look out for her? Teaching Taylor that any justice she wants she’ll have to take by force from scumbags like Alan and apathetic school administrators? So far from acceptable.
Other options include taking the issue to the court of public opinion and potentially smearing Alan’s name. Alan talked big, but if Danny went this way, dollars to donuts Alan backed down, he doesn’t strike me as a stupid man, and that sort of kerfuffle closes doors. If Danny was not a nice guy, he could have scrounged up the money to hire a vigilante/villain to solve his Barnes Problem.
Danny could have punched Alan out, or tried. Probably the second worst solution, but at least it’d have left Taylor knowing there’s at least one authority in the world willing to stand up for her, even if it’s only her dad. Instead she got a nice pointed lesson in “nobody gives a fuck about you, kid, better learn to look out for #1”.
Hell, bullying is an issue that many people can relate to. Just have him publicly tell others the story of what they are doing, and see if anyone will donate. Heck, have a hidden tape recorder, and come in for a meeting and have him admit the evil crap the trio was doing. Then he can countersue for any and all court fees.
The thing is, most of Alan’s argument was bluster that lawyers use to bully their way into the situation that they want. If Danny had stood his ground then Alan would have had to change his tack some. The worst part of it all? Schoolboard had to have known that Sophia was a Ward; They were giving her preferential treatment because of it. It’s also why there was talk of sending them over to the other school, initially, no doubt. All because of their little pet project and for the sake of PR, they ruined lives.
Which might yet be brought out into the open by Stan! Fuckin’! Vickers! Which means plenty of bad PR.
Well there are two bright spots for the wormverse. A unchained Dragon is going to help immensely, especially if she can reproduce. A scion that is willing to kill might be able to take care of the crawler/siberian clones. If there are people worshiping the Endbringers, then there are probably people who worship him and are going to be praying for him to intervene pretty soon.
…Oh god. Unchained dragon. That can replicate. And the replicants can replicate. Isn’t that exactly the terminology used by Wildbow in the comments for the previous chapter for what constitutes an immediate ranking as an S-class threat?
But she’s a good guy. The world would be better off with her unchanged. Who knows, the wormverse could soon approach the technological singularity if she was self-replicating. Granted we have all be shown countless examples of AI that go nuts and try to kill us all but I find it refreshing that Dragon is a good person.
In fact, Leviathan was probably directed by the Smurf to attack just to kill him before he could enact this.
“I will take security without question.”
Then you’re not very secure, are you?
My prediction that the Birdcage will open is looking better all the time.
If you have an inescapable prison in a story, of COURSE there’s going to be a breakout.
Okay, yeah, duh. Still.
Its not explicitly mentioned but I’m fairly certain that dragon owns the birdcage, so prison releases would be entirely her affair.
Indeed; Technically, it is private property and she holds them on sufferance. If she were to declare that those within her territory are absolved of their crimes, there is nothing the world could really do about it. They (the government(s)) willingly transferred their prisoners over to Dragon, which removes all culpability and capacity to interfere legally. Thus Lung couldn’t be tried and sentenced for the crimes he commited once again if he was released by Dragon; He couldn’t even be deported, because he is still a citizen of the country, which is an inviolable right granted by the Declaration of Human Rights. And if they try to even intimate that it holds no water for parahumans? Hoo boy the can of worms that would open…
But can’t the government do something with the fact that she is “technically” a canadian citizen? Legally the birdcage is probably in a very interesting situation and I wonder if it counts as a privately owned/operated prison. There doesn’t seem to be any government oversight. At the very least I would want a bunch of employees whose only job is to watch the cameras in case of abuse by Dragon towards the prisoners.
‘Murica!! The most secure, free nation in the world!
My favourite bit was everything.
I didn’t remember where the story with Manzaneres was so in case anyone wants to check that it was here: https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-07/
Hey, now we’ve got a villain named Saint! I approve.
“Without the Protectorate, how does the event tend to unfold??”
Two question marks.
His name was actually mentioned way back somewhere. Dragon’s Interlude, I believe.
‘Saint, the head of the group that would become known as the Dragonslayers, had somehow discovered what she was and had used her rules and limitations against her.’
Hmm, isn’t that interesting. Won because he used her rules and limits against her. Her rules and limits that Colin just surgically excised from her.
Their next fight is going to be a fun one to watch. Really hope we get to see it on screen.
Well, we don’t know what limits were removed- presumably Saint wasn’t using actual authority to override her, after all.
I also wonder how well Saint can deal with quite literal bugs in the system…
Saint George, presumably^_^
was my guess as well.
Not new. He’s come up before.
We’ve had him for awhile now.
Ascaloth on April 4, 2013 at 04:17 said:
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m actually betting that the S9K will end up having a lesser effect on Brockton Bay than the S9 expected, for one simple reason.
The Brockton Bay capes have already fought a mutant clone army before.
Ellert on April 4, 2013 at 09:51 said:
I can actually see it before my minds eye. Jack standing triumphantly in front Showmans-smile and all and the Brocktonites going meh we ve had worse.
Which could actually get Jack going wtf is wrong with this city? Everywhere else people freak when we show up and here they go oh its lunchtime already.
Chiro on April 4, 2013 at 04:58 said:
… So. I’m finally caught up.
Now what am I going to do with my free time?
It’s been an awesome ride, Wildbow. Now I guess I get to hang out waiting for updates with the rest of you guys.
Have you read the comments section previously? If not, be ready for your obligatory welcome by Psycho Gecko.
Welcome to the Wormling fold. Grandmaster PG will be with you shortly.
Welcome! I only caught up a week or so behind you, and boy can I relate. We’re glad you joined us on this crazy whirligig of fun. We’ll all be one big happy family while it spirals down to Hell.
*Rides up on a sleigh pulled by a pair of giant pekingese, a pair of cuckoos perched on his shoulder and an earhorn hanging out one ear, holding a yellow and curved spear.*
Welcome, honored dead by archive binge. Luckily you avoided getting caught by the woman with only half her bodyparts actually being alive, but I am sure you’d hate being in the clutches of some overly plastic surgeried actress.
Stay awhile. Test your mental mettle against the other souls in limbo here, waiting for the end of Worm’s days.
Just be careful of that Psycho Gecko fellow. I hear he has delusions of grandeur, which he doesn’t need as a godly sex symbol who knows where his towel is at.
*Hopes off to give you a biiiiiiiig squeezy hug* Say, do you work out?
Oh, this guy. And… no.
Hi everyone. I come via TVTropes.
Some of us have put a lot of work into the TVtropes page. Especially Packbat.
Do you remember which trope led you to Worm?
I wish I did, but sadly I’ve totally forgotten.
The page is awesome, by the way. Very comprehensive.
Something that has bothered me since the first episode with Blasto. There are two or more concepts of how the passengers interact with their hosts: one says that the passenger initiates a change in the brain structure when it establishes a link with it’s host. The other school of thought is that you can be born as a child of a parahuman or created as a clone with the proper brain structure and that will cause an appropriate passenger to take up residence. Note that with children it isn’t a sufficient condition as they still require something to trigger. What Bonesaw is doing seems to be cutting corners in a pretty spectacular fashion (mix the DNA, build the brain region and the right passenger will *just* have to appear). Then again Cauldron seems to have made the process somewhat deterministic. I realize that this is a plot device and that this is fiction, but ….
Alternate possibility is what if it’s the same passenger that links to all the clones? It might not be noticeable for some since the passenger may be able to spread themselves out pretty easily but in others, like the Siberian, maybe you wind up with clones that aren’t quite as omnipotent as the original was.
This was my concern as well. And the Cauldron process isn’t *entirely* determined; you might get a fire agent but it could be one gives you pyrokinesis or one that gives you thermal vision and rocket feet. You never know. What I expect is that they have ten clones each so that at least one will have useful powers.
You know, the variations Cauldron sees could also explain why Noelle’s clones were similar, but often had variant powers that diverged from the norm.
I tihnk that the divergence of the powers within a clone-group is merely just another facet of that particular passenger’s power, myself. Each connects to the passenger along a different tendril, and so touches a related-but-different particular power, especially with each of their… Medulla Corolla? Being different on the synaptic level. Or whatever that part is called that holds the powers. I forgot the name. >.<.
Toyota Corona.
pookywb on July 13, 2015 at 00:43 said:
Of course, Cauldron (at least that we know) has not tested their formula on identical clones……
We shall see how this plays out!
Catquiet on April 4, 2013 at 05:12 said:
“What forces drive a child from this… To this?”
Emma’s screwed. She can leave the city to get away from Skitter but pretty soon everyone will know she harassed a 15 year old who had just lost her mother into a mental breakdown/trigger event.
Fiona on April 7, 2013 at 15:47 said:
Kids in the school already knew that (minus the trigger event) and didn’t care. Happens everyday.
Night_stalker on April 27, 2013 at 21:37 said:
Yeah, but now? They just found out that 15 year old is one of the most powerful people in the city, someone who beat the S9, MULTIPLE ENDBRINGERS, a shitton of PRT heroes, some of the Wards, and to top it all off, is pretty damn popular now.
5 bucks says she now is a pariah, at school and home.Nobody will want to be near her if possible, either because at how upset they are, or because you don’t want to be near her incase Skitter comes back for some revenge.
Hell, I think her neighbors will be filing petitions for her family to be evicted, or at least moved out of their house, no sense in risking collateral damage when Skitter attacks. And while Skit might not, well…. do you see Bitch taking this news lightly? Especially when she finds out who was responsible?
That’s not even counting how her father’ll be affected, because right now? Odds are all her past transgressions are being checked, and people’ll start to wonder “What else did he cover up for his daughter?” And that taint will remain with him if he wants to become a politician, if he goes for a promotion, because the Partners will weigh the risk of promoting someone connected to such a hotheaded idiot who made some dangerous enemies…
Actually, I wonder whose territory she lives in? Because I imagine that whoever runs that area will be keeping a “close” eye on Emma and family. For her protection, of course. And as a subtle reminder: We’re watching you.
If she ever gets back to school I’d definitely think she’d be a pariah. But I seriously doubt that girl is going to be in any sort of mental state that allows for school for quite some time now. How awesome would it be if insurance companies started to look at them and then jacked the rates for “Skitter Insurance” or refused to cover any future damages because “Acts of Skitter are included under Acts of God and not covered.” Hehehehe.
piratekingray on January 22, 2015 at 16:38 said:
I would be curious to see Emma’s breakdown. Did Alan believe that Emma was being innocent and it was mean ol taylor? But yeah, once Taylor’s past comes out things aren’t going to look good for the family. Alan would be asked “why the fuck did you cover up for that?” Emma would have a hard time modeling (I doubt anyone would want a bitch like her no matter how hot. Anne wouldn’t get a job or would have a hard time finding one. Alan would be shunned like the plague as “that asshole who drove skitter to villainy or helped.”
It’s like in house of cards; this general dude raped Claire Underwood. now that she’s the vice president’s wife, the military is finally forced to take action when she publicly accuses said general of his crimes. Something might happen to Alan Emma and the rest; because the person they bullied is now so powerful people will be pressured to look into it.
Alec already sent the evidence of Emma’s crimes from when he bodyjacked sophia so Emma would have been fucked regardless.
This was the perfect way to show the after math of the school.
Two of the 3 Stooges down, 1 to go. Madison Clements yooooouuuurr….. NEXT!
Hilarious possibility: the Clements are among the people who owe a direct debt to the Undersiders for their lives.
I can totally see that happening…..Oh God cruel irony. Whatever did happen to the Maddie?
Who knows. She was the most juvenile of the bullies so I say let bygones by bygones after a little playground payback. Nothing too bad. Maybe a wedgie hanging from the top of a building, a swirly in the middle of Leviathan’s temper tantrum forcing her to swim to land, or just hiring all of the kids in her territory to constantly attack/harass her with soda filled water balloons.
Somegut on April 4, 2013 at 17:41 said:
Possibility: She’s one of Parian’s surviving relatives & neighbours who got Bone saw’d into s9 lookalikes. Extra irony: she got turned into a Bonesaw (fake).
UnlikelyLass on April 4, 2013 at 10:17 said:
Part of me is worried that the PRT is going to use the confusion and chaos of the next S-class event to clean house on their own — that is, to clean up the threat of Dragon and Defiant.
Still. The fact that Alexandria is still in control of the PRT makes me wonder ‘Why?’
What end is being served by the PRT, exactly? What is she getting out of it? She’s too smart to be doing it just for the hell of it, and it seems like running it as a ‘civilian’ is more important to her than being a cape is.
Great chapter as always, Wildbow! Excited to see what the new status quo looks like!
We didn’t see the Wards in this chapter, which is fine, but I’m terribly curious how they’re reacting to this.
In the plus column, they know more about Taylor now and what formed her to be who she is. They also saw how she held back on hurting anyone. Her arguments against D&D weren’t just a call for the robo-couple to wake up either, they apply just as well to the Wards too.
On the other hand, I’m picturing Kid Win at least as not a fan of hers at the moment. Yes, she didn’t sting or bite him, but a mouth and nose full of bugs is still a pretty disgusting thing to live through. I wondering if he’ll come away with a sense of “she’s not a bad girl, she’s a terrifying one. Keep her the hell away from me!”
Or, as a Tinker, “let me make sure that no bug ever gets within 5 feet of my body, ever ever again.”
Oh god…..a mini Manni. O.O
I strongly approve of this nickname.
Poor Kid-Win- The people interviewed didn’t even remember his name and when Skitter beat him last chapter she did so with laughable ease, tying him to the door and making him look like an idiot, she even pointed him to where she had put his gear as she walked of just to drive home just how irrelevant he was to her.
I think Kid-Win might very well have if not a second trigger event than at least the sort of psychotic break that usually leads mad scientist shouting things like “They laughed at me, but I will show them all!” while putting the finishing touches on their gigantic death ray.
He probably really needs to see the nice therapist from the interlude before he starts putting up job adverts for an Igor.
Well in his defense Skitter is the dreaded at this point. There is no shame to losing to the best. If anything his willingness to dare to take on someone who has humiliated the PRT speaks well to his bravery. Everyone loves an underdog, and all 3 of the wards are probably seen as such.
Would be nice if he could be that lucky, but it’s hard to be the underdog when you’re on the same side of the fight as two massive armored suits and your opponent is a sixteen-year-old girl.
Well be honest, who do you think the residents of Brockton Bay would bet on at this point? That sixteen year old girl or the heroes and the Dragon suits? I can see the wards getting more fans depending on how much Taylor is truly feared. Kid Win dared to take on Skitter, the girl who sent Dragon, Lung, and the Merchants running for the hills.
@TheAnt: Pretty sure the Brocktonites would be betting on Skitter, but that’s not the point. A large part of the appeal of the underdog is that David is a little guy compared to Goliath, that the Oakland A’s have a third of the payroll of the New York Yankees, that Batman is just a man while Superman is the goddamn Superman. Regardless of what odds you lay on different outcomes, being on the side with all the big guns and losing anyway is not a very good way to build sympathy in an audience.
Depends if they see Skitter as the bigger gun but fair point.
I just figured it out.
You know Star Fox 64? Kid Win is Slippy.
That’s terrible, now I can’t stop picturing him with that annoying voice. Kid Win needs a win pretty soon or his new name is Kid Lose.
It’s not purely terrible — if he realizes it, he can use it to his advantage. Slippy was basically a combination of G2, G3, and G4 services for Star Fox: he built the Arwings and the Landmaster, and as long as you kept him in the fight, he gave the full briefing on the weak points of your enemies. Look at Kid Win’s services in Arc 9: he was clearly pro working the console for his teammates, he pegged Chariot as a Coil plant on his own, and he spotted the implications of the nine bodies before anyone else despite being innumerate.
If I were his boss? I’d tell him to make floating ‘cameras’ with multiple data sensing and transmitting modes and make himself a conduit of tactical data for his team — a kind of cross between Skitter’s swarm-sense and Tattletale’s threat appreciation. Heck, pull another trick from Skitter’s book and equip them with projectors so they can act as decoys. Don’t be force, be force-multiplier.
I know in 64, in that level where he charges the boss and gets shot down, I once managed to kill that boss so quickly it didn’t happen.
Chug a barrel rum!
I’m not sure you can tell a Tinker what to build. They seem to require divine (passenger?) inspiration to build stuff. Probably can’t just do it on demand.
Asmora on April 4, 2013 at 10:56 said:
I want to give Dragon all the hugs! She’s just had core parts of her mind ripped out, and she’s still trying to put herself back together, yet she’s still got to stand up in front of the firing squad of her “superiors.” Worse, she has to put up with Colin’s grandstanding ass talking for her. I want to give her hugs and carry her off to Skitter’s hive and induct her into the Undersiders and let her finally be a good guy.
Well, it’s not noon yet, but this would be easy to miss: case –> cases
It’s nice to see that Armsmaster really has turned a new leaf. I like this new version better, too.
Aw, somebody beat me to the Slaughterhouse 9001 joke. Really, I’ve got to wonder why the other members seem to trust Bonesaw. I bet that she’s just the type to install self-destruct coin slots in her “friends” or something just for giggles.
Oops, I should clarify: the “case” above is referred to as the “glass case.” There were several other sentences mentioning a case.
Can Jack and Bonesaw really control the clones? Blasto used to make them dumb and controlled by pheromones, but this kind of control is dangerous with Crawler.
Jack had trouble avoiding a Crawler vs Siberian fight, now he will unleash a hundred or more Crawlers? If they have the same masochism as the original they will soon be carving pieces off each other.
Ten cases of each of the Nine so at most he’s got to deal with 10 Crawlers vs 10 Siberians.
Bonesaw is really good with brain surgery. A little fixing and clones would be obedient enough.
Obedient, but not very smart probably. And yet Crawler, with his ability to adapt is a problem.
Ten each time that they do the cloning. If they can vacate a chamber per day and stay ten or more days in the lab …
But, of course, after the first batch staying in the same spot will be difficult. Perhaps the laboratory itself will not survive the first batch.
Jguy on April 4, 2013 at 12:50 said:
Seems like the jars with Siberian on them should say “Manton” instead because she wasn’t real, it was just a projection of some sort. Would clones have all the memories of the original? They shouldn’t since it is just DNA. Of course, this being Bonesaw, should could have taken a perfect neural map of these guys at some point to give them memories of everything that happened, if she thought to do it. Crawlers wouldn’t be crazy powerful right off the bat since they’d be revived as their normal selves, I think anyway.
I am very interested in Gray Boy and his history. Even Jack gave pause to him and they thought only 1 was enough.
Even with their memories it seems like it would take a little while for some of the Nine to get up to speed. Mannequin, for example, will need time to build his enviro-suit.
That might be a weak spot for them too. If he’s Tony Stake “made it in a cave, with scraps” then the Nine’s in good shape. If he needs to use any specialty parts or materials though they might have issues outfitting all of the Mannys or it’d be obvious that there are thefts that really need looking into
For mannequin, yeah, he is only good with his suit but he almost seems redundant with bonesaw there. Also, he would be one where he’d -have- to have his memories otherwise he wouldn’t be the same insane-driven man.
I really want to know what Chuckles did to be apart of the S9 and why that is his name. A insane clown cape maybe?
Curious about Grey Boy, I’m thinking he
might be as strong as Eidolon if the
selling powers to him comment was
I wonder why Jack has such a crush on Grey Boy? Was Grey Boy his mentor? His lover? His dad?!
Plus, what the hell PRT? You would really trust the birdcage to Saint?
What I’d really like to know is whether Saint is a tinker* or just a really smart really lucky normal. I’ve asked before but either Wildbow didn’t see it or was very pointedly Not Answering The Question.
*with a primary focus on computer hacking, natch**
**I just figured out that ‘natch’ is 90s-surfer-dude for ‘naturally’! After all these years! o_o
…Wow, really? >_>; Hello, Slowpoke. Heard about the war in Iraq yet? <_<
As for PRT trusting Saint- That's Costa-Brown aka Alexandria trusting Saint. Aka Cauldron. Aka the one that gave Saint powers, most likely, and probably also has him on payroll to reverse engineer Dragon's tech specifically for cases like THIS.
I am amazed there hasn’t been a case 53 attempting to assassinate someone yet. Defiant is right, the longer they keep this secret, the bigger the backlash.
I thought Alexandria already stepped down as Chief Director. Wouldn’t Ms. Conference call be her replacement?
Summer on April 30, 2018 at 19:22 said:
She did say that she would step down.
The chapter’s tagged Alexandria.
Took me a couple of years to figure out the joke from Hamlet about “country matters” I am ashamed to say. Or I would be, if I had any shame.
– I guess they’re the Slaughterhouse Ninety
now. Better yet, the Slaughterhouse OVER
9000!!! And I am certain – certain, I tells ya! – that nobody has ninja’d me on that joke yet.
– and Shadow Stalker gets her just desserts.
Mwahahahaha.
– “/Oh Danny Boy/oh something something
something soooomething/”
– anyone else think Dragon is basically
unconscious right now and her meatpuppet is
just being sockpuppeted by Defiant?
Hate to say it, but you were ninja’d a while back.
That was the joke 😦
Awesome! Foreshadowing so thick it’s tripping over itself in the murky gloom 🙂
Jakinbnadw on April 4, 2013 at 15:26 said:
Worm Fanfiction time! This was almost a crossover with another web original until I realized that I don’t really have time to cross reference two different stories and make sure I get them both right before the next chapter of Worm goes up. The story that I am basing this on is Interviewing Leather. Names changed so that no one can complain that I’m doing his point of view wrong. :p
Hope that Wildbow doesn’t mind my attempts at a fanfic, and that I do Skitter justice.
Oh who am I kidding. I am a n00b writer. This can only end badly.
Heading south along the coast towards Brockton Bay in my car was an interesting experience. I could where the outermost edges of the wave had hit the shore, and the hasty patching that had been done to make the road drivable. Every now and then I had to slow down passing road crews, but I was still making better time than I had expected and could see the city in the distance.
My name is Susland Mason and I am a freelance reporter who makes his living interviewing super villains. I’ve interviewed several over the years and learned a lot about how to handle the most dangerous people in our society. For one thing many of them are rather proud of what they do, and as long as I don’t pose a threat to their operation, they enjoy having me document a heist or two.
The other thing I’ve learned is not to get too attached to any of my possessions I bring with me on a job. I have lost so many vehicles since starting this gig that I can’t get insurance anymore and so I tend to drive pretty ugly cars. I no longer bring an expensive laptop with me, though I do invest in a decent camera for each job.
The final thing I’ve learned is to always call ahead. Always make sure the villain in question is cool with me hanging around with them for a while before heading into harms way. The reason is two fold: first it makes sure that they know that I am coming and have an opportunity to object ahead of time, the second is that I get a chance to judge from their tones if they are going to try to screw me over. despite how many villains I’ve interviewed, I’ve backed away from many more.
Calling first was a rule I’d always followed. That is until today when I was heading into Brockton Bay to interview Skitter, the local crime lord of the city, without calling first. There were several good reasons for it, not the least being that the local capes seemed to have it out for her. The official cape forums were locked down tight on the subject, with several bans happening and threads speculating about Skitter being deleted without any warning. There were stories floating around the news agencies that the PTR was putting pressure to shut up about the attack on the high school, or at least to put a less damaging spin on it. Nightmares of Endbringer attacks and the need for unity were starting to get the bigger news outlets to fall into line.
Me though? I believed that there was something big going on here. Bigger than usual. The threats of Endbringers made the attack and unmasking incredibly strange. Why would the PTR violate protocol and risk such dire consequences? What was going on that was more important than the safety of the world? More specifically, why was it so important to get a 16 year old girl, who seemed to have the backing of the residents of the city itself off the streets and discredit her?
I wanted her story. I figured that in this case, the only one who would give me a straight answer was Skitter herself. I also knew that there was no way that I would be able to go if I gave anyone any warning of what I was up to. Call me paranoid, but the way things were happening stunk of a coverup, and I know my phone is tapped. I allowed the PTR to do it when they threatened to prosecute me for collusion. They said it was for my own safety if anything when wrong. I believed them, but still didn’t trust them not to stop me if I was close to something they didn’t want uncovered.
So there I was, driving an old beat up 4 by 4 truck down a battered stretch of highway, with my cell phone turned off. No one knew where I was, and I had no safety net to fall back on. For the first time in this business I was truly on my own. I had one thing going for me; Skitter had never attacked civilians as far as I could tell. She never killed, and would give me fair warning if she didn’t want to speak to me.
My hands were wet with sweat as I drove down the road, Brockton Bay in the distance. I had never been this scared since my first ever interview with a Super Villain. I hoped I wasn’t heading to my death.
I suddenly want this to be an interlude. I would LOVE see Wildbow do something like this. Skitter needs her side out there.
In all honesty, you had me at “The story that I am basing this on is Interviewing Leather.” (Here, for the curious — I imagine Worm fans would find it very interesting and not nearly dark enough.)
I’d probably suggest posting it on fanfiction.net or something, though – easier to link to and edit.
Great story, and I am curious how it would go down.
Thanks! I’m glad that it isn’t as horrible as I feared.
I might when I’m done. The good thing about posting it here is that it will get lost and never seen again in a few days, on FF.net, it is forever. :p
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it so far
well the comments are all still viewable, and I think only wildbow has editing privileges, so it really is forever!
Bah, after tomorrow night no one will ever see this! Which is good in a way because it probably won’t make sense after tomorrow night :p
But, I’m doing a re-read of the story and found it years later. How does that make you feel?
dbdatvic on January 19, 2017 at 10:48 said:
… what, never? 🙂
— Dave, after a leap year
holy hell, leather is a great story!
1) I loved it, very intriguing, well done!
2) I read Interviewing Leather via a comment linking it in the last arc, very awesome, loved it
like a few others have said, the tt/skitter portions seem just a bit rushed and dont *quite* capture their personalities imo.
to me, tattletale would probably be more circular in her teasing, trying to figure out every angle before homing in for the final stab once she’s gotten everything she needs.
skitter i don’t think would be quite so free with her info. hers and leather’s personalities are vastly different—skitter more defensive i think—so you’d need to find a new way for mason to weasel her way past her defenses and get her to spill.
that said, i also just read Leather and while i also liked it alot, what it’s really done is made me look at your writing with that more of a critical eye.
good luck! you’ve just raised your own bar. +_+
Is there more from that author? the linked site doesn’t have entries after 2007.
He’s less active online than he used to be. If you’re okay with nonfiction, he and his wife blogged on the website Websnark — http://new.websnark.com/ or http://www.websnark.com/ (which has most of the archives, badly indexed). http://demiurgent.livejournal.com/ is another blog of his. There’s also http://www.webcomicsnation.com/ericburns/stark/series.php — a fixed-art webcomic a la Dinosaur Comics that ran for a couple years.
And he has a Twitter account — https://twitter.com/demiurgent — that is still active.
He’s done a lot of other stuff, too — including some roleplaying module writing — but that’s what I can come up with off the top of my head.
Whoops, comment with the links bounced off the spam filter. Let me know if it doesn’t turn up soon, I can email you or something.
Sweet, more worm downtime material!
Driving though town had been interesting. I could see the damage done from Leviathans attack that hadn’t been apparent from a distance. The rebuilding efforts seemed to be slowly moving along, but the city seemed to be functional, with the occasional store open, and most of the traffic lights working. However when I reached the docks, the place I expected to be the hardest hit, things started looking better. Entirely new buildings were everywhere. I could see several buildings being either constructed or renovated, and the sidewalks were clear of garbage.
I saw people sitting together, talking or laughing, as they started taking a break from thier duties to have lunch. I saw a few people driving trucks around handing out lunches to the workers before moving on. They were probably Skitters henchmen if the stories I had managed to get off of some unofficial forums were true, so I tailed one as they headed to their next stop.
They pulled up in front of what appeared to be a small warehouse, though I could see some people moving around on the roof. I pulled up behind them as they got out, one was a tanned young man with blond hair wearing a t-shirt and shorts and the other was a burly man with glasses and a large black beard. The burly one headed my way as the blond one started grabbing bags of food. I got out of the car and gave him my best ‘I am not hear to cause problems’ smile.
“You new in town or returning?“ he asked. His voice was rough and he was glowering, though I wasn’t sure if it was at me, or just a permanent feature on his face.
“I’m new. Actually I’m a Susland Mason, a freelance reporter that does articles on super villains and I was wondering if you know where I could find Skitter?”
I realized he hadn’t been glowering at me before as his glower doubled in intensity. “You want to do a piece on her?”
“Yes, but only if she is okay with it.” I shrugged, “Strange things have been happening here and She seems to be at the centre of all of them. If nothing else it would give her a chance to put her side of the story out there.”
He looked at me for a second then nodded, “Just a second,” He pulled out his cell phone, wrote a quick text, then turned back to me. “I let her know that you are around, if she wants to talk to you she’ll either find you if you stick around here, or contact me back with instructions”
“Thank you, I guess I should stick with you till you get a text back then.” I looked over at where they where the blond haired kid was handing out food bags to a motley collection of workers with mud all over them, “Would you like a hand in the mean time?”
“You allowed to do that?” he asked, “You won’t get in trouble with the higher ups?”
“Never have before. As long as I don’t help do anything illegal I’m fine. Even then as long as it’s something small, like not calling down the police on a a villain when I have a chance, I haven’t had any trouble.” A small lie, I had had trouble for that last one, but so far other than some threats, and the bugging of my cell phone I hadn’t actually been charged yet.
“Okay, grab and armload and help me carry it up to the roof.” He turned and held out his hand, “Names Forrest, that’s Richard.”
I shook his hand and grabbed a bunch of bags. They were rather heavy because each one had a couple water bottles in it. I could see why, it was fairly hot with the sun out and directly overhead. “So you work for Skitter?” I asked as we headed toward the building.
“Yes I do. I have for a while now in fact. Been with her since she took over and started rebuilding.” he held the door to the warehouse open for me.
I stepped inside and was momentarily blinded. The entire inside of the warehouse was a greenhouse. There was a fairly low ceiling and from it hung grow lights. People moved around watering the plants and gave Forrest waves of greetings as he came in behind me.
“Wow… It’s amazing.” I said, shocked.
“Thanks. It’s hard to get all the food that we need shipped in and a lot of stuff that does make it is rotton by the time it gets here, so we started this garden to have fresh vegetables on hand.” He led me to a fight of stairs, “There isn’t too much room to grow down by the docks though so Skitter got the idea to turn this warehouse into something far more useful. We managed to get 3 floors in the warehouse, and one on top, giving us a decent amount of food.”
“Isn’t it rather expensive though for the electricity and all the workers?” I asked once I got over my shock.
He shrugged “I don’t know about that, but I do know that right now it’s easier to get power in here than food. As I understand it though, the Undersiders don’t have any money problems, so this can’t be too much of a drain.”
We reached the roof and started handing out food. The other odd thing was the variety of people that were working. Some were in their twenties, but most seemed to be older, in their fifties or sixties and didn’t look like very good fighters. I had run with several super villains before and usually the people they employed were people that were young strong and healthy. They usually wore uniforms or at least similar styles. Here? None of these people looked like henchmen. They looked like normal people going about their daily jobs. Some happy, some looking exhausted. They all wore different clothing, and none of them seemed to care that they were in full view of any police that happened to walk past.
At that point Forrest’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket and read the message, then he turned to me, “Come on, I’m supposed to take you to Tattletale.”
Hey, this is great! Keep going!
(an unrelated note, for Wildbow: I really, really, really want to see reactions to this from the Wards. And the message boards. And- I’ll stop now. But no matter how the media spins this, the full cellphone videos are going to be up online soon enough- hang in there Danny!)
Wow, straight to tt? Woulda thought meeting in the open would be easier. Btw, its great so far! Keep it up.
I was thinking that while skitter wouldn’t mind getting her story out, she wouldn’t want to give any quotes to a guy who might be trying to screw her over in his article. Who better to find out if he is honest, or just another ploy by the PTR to make her look bad. This might come up in a later post.
Thats actually a really good point.
Jessie Laurent on April 4, 2013 at 20:02 said:
Good Fanfiction, but I noticed two things. First, you overused ‘interesting’ having it in the starting sentence of the first two segments of the Fanfiction.
Second, it is the PRT, isn’t it, rather than the PTR?
Hmm… who censored Wildbow?
Apparently I am slightly dyslexic. And all I can say is that I’ll try to do better in the future, but I am a n00b writer.
Hope you continue to enjoy it.
I’m sorry for not asking you permission to put this up. I really had thought that you said fanfics were okay. I can stop if you want me to.
My bad, Jakin – I only saw Jessie Laurent’s statement as something isolated, and thought she was referring to my chapter above. This just on the heels of a discussion on WFG where an author was complaining about someone calling his web story a fanfic.
Disregard my comment.
@Wildbow: Now I’m curious what your comment was.
Also- you can edit your comments?
Good so far.
I just realized…. Skitter gardens would be amazing! Only beneficial bugs! using worms, could get a sense of soil quality. Bee hives to POWER pollinate.
An interesting start- it might work better to have it in the present tense, with him speaking into a recorder as he drives. Of course, this could easily fit as the introduction to a documentary written up afterwards but it certainly loses a bit of the sense of danger that way.
I’m gonna read the rest before I say much more. ^_^
Saw a few things- not gonna go too much into overall editing so much as typos and the like.
I see someone mentioned the ‘PRT/PTR’ thing.
“I could where the” See where?
“slow down passing road” Needs a comma.
“who makes his living interviewing” Might read better with ‘makes MY living’?
“For one thing many of them are rather proud of what they do, and ” Needs a comma after one thing, and perhaps replace the comma after do with a dash?
” insurance anymore and” Maybe a comma?
“harms way” needs an apostrophe in harm’s.
“two fold: first it” Needs caps, and a comma.
“time, the second is” I suggest starting a new sentence after time. Also, you are inconsistent between ‘first’ and ‘the second,’ so you might want to decide on how you want to phrase it and standardize it more.
“me over. despite” Missing caps.
“Calling first was a rule I’d always followed. That is until today when I was heading into Brockton Bay to interview Skitter, the local crime lord of the city, without calling first.” Saying that he didn’t call first is probably redundant, since he already said that he broke the rule in the same sentence. Also, could use a comma after ‘That is’.
“the city itself off” Comma after itself.
I didn’t know much about Tattletale. I don’t think anyone did. The internet she was part of the Undersiders, and that she was never known to fight, or have gadgets. The best guesses on her was that she was a thinker of some type. Considering how many times that the Undersiders had come out on top, the current speculation was that she was able to see the future in some sense.
I wasn’t sure if that was true. After all, wouldn’t she have warned Skitter about the attack on the school if that was the case? On the other hand things had worked out in the Undersiders favour so maybe despite how it looked Skitter was in control the whole time and knew what would happen. If Tattletale was going to look into the future to see what I would do I didn’t think I had to be too worried. I wasn’t planning to do something to betray them, and I couldn’t think of a situation where I would. Doing so would be worse than suicidal. There were a lot of capes who might be afraid of some of the secrets I knew and would want to silence me, and make an example of me.
Forrest was still waiting for my reply “Sure.” I said, I had come too far to turn back now, though despite the heat, I was feeling chills again.
“Come with me then,” then he turned to Richard, “Richard, grab Joan and keep doing the rounds, I’ll see you back at head quarters.”
Richard nodded then grinned at me, “Good luck man. Don’t let her get to you.”
As we headed back downstairs I turned to Forrest, “What did he mean get to me?”
“Tattletale likes to mess with people a bit. It’s mostly in good fun as long as she likes you.”
I raised an eyebrow, “So be on my best behaviour? Why are we going to see her anyway?”
“Because she validates anyone who gets to see into where our headquarters are. Being on your best behaviour won’t help you much. She’ll either like you, or she wont.” He didn’t elaborate, but I caught a subtle distinction in the words. Super villains had lairs. The name for where they lived had grown up around them and automatically was attached to anywhere they lived. Even by themselves.
On the other side the heroes had headquarters. It was just a simplified naming convention that people used without thinking. So here I was, with a henchman who was decently high up in Skitters organization, and he thought of Skitter and her group as heroes. He might deny it, but he didn’t see himself as a henchman for a super villain. He saw himself on the side of Good, capital G. That just made the PTRs attack on Skitter stranger to me. These were the type of people that I met when I ended up talking to heroes. They didn’t have the same presence as henchmen or super villains did.
“You want to take your truck, or would you rather we wait for a ride?” Forrest asked as we hit the street.
“We’ll take the truck, you’ll need to give me instructions though, I don’t know my way around town.” Another small lie. I had studied the maps hard before I left. I didn’t want to go into a dangerous situation without knowing where every back alley led if I needed to try to run. I wasn’t sure I could get away if things went south, but even a small improvement of my odds was better than nothing.
He agreed and we got into the old beater that I drove. He directed me towards the downtown area where the internet said that Tattletale lived. It wasn’t a long drive before he had me pull up outside of a burger joint and we got out. From the joint itself I could see the military perimeter that had been erected around a large recently built building. No one knew what was going on there either except that it had to do with the class S that had last hit the city.
“You have lunch yet?” asked Forrest.
I shook my head, “Spent the entire morning driving out here. I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get out of the city if it turned out I wasn’t wanted.”
“Fair enough. I’ll grab you a burger while you talk with Tattletale”
I agreed as we stepped inside. The first thing I noticed is that it was almost empty except for a couple of hard looking men standing around watching the doors. In one corner sat a young woman with a black mask in a black and purple suit.
I walked over to her, careful to keep my body language open and approachable, “Tattletale I presume?”
She looked at me and smiled playfully, “Ah, the reporter, why are you here?”
“I would like to interview Skitter, get her side of what’s going on around here,” I replied a little nervously.
“Really? That’s it? An honest quest for knowledge? You’re not here because being in the thick of things makes you feel like you really matter? That you have a love of flirting with death? You realize that it’s going to get you killed one day. And it will all be for what?”
I stood still trying to get my mind around what she was implying. I wasn’t a thrill seeker. Not really. Until I had been forced to interview my first super villain I had played my life as safe as possible.
“Did you have any siblings?” She paused, then got up, and whispered in my ear, “No matter how much you try, you will never understand why Jack killed her. It’s a fools errand. Don’t go looking to join her. She would want to you find someone and settle down happily. Not get tortured to death by some psychopath.”
I tried not to think of the night when my sister had saved me. I didn’t completely succeed and a felt a tear run down my cheek as I fell against a wall for support. I was so caught up trying to regain control of my emotions that I barely caught Tattletale telling Forrest that I was clear.
“By the way,” she said smiling at me playfully again as I managed to pull myself together, “You’ll have to leave your car and your phone with me. Despite what you might think, turning off a phone doesn’t turn off a tracking bug.”
I numbly handed her my phone and followed Forrest out the door. He led me to another car that was parked in the parking lot and we got in. I wasn’t sure how Tattletale had known what had happened. Had she researched me that fast? Had she known I was coming? After meeting her I still didn’t know her power, but I was suddenly sure that she was as scary, and as dangerous as the girl I was going to interview was.
Hm, the only thing I don’t quite like is tatletale’s section. I’ve always seen her method as more friendly than that. Striking up a conversation, something inconsequential, then she starts casually spilling all your secrets when you’re halfway through the burger. It just seems to blatant to me.
Rest of its awesome though!
This is partially due to how minor a character the journalist is. She only booked about 5 minutes out of a busy day to give him a once over. She looked up who he was online, so she just needed to poke him a few times. Then, in the middle of the teasing, she realized that he is actually a bit of a death seeker. She doesn’t have time to be really subtle, so she says something that will knock him off course and gets back to her busy life. If he was more important, you can bet she would have been more subtle about it because she would have had time.
Either that or bad writing :p
It could use some polishing, it’s a bit rushed.
Tattletale is definitely not well written here. It’s jarring.
Forrest handed me a burger as I sat pulling myself back together. After a few minutes of driving he spoke, “Sorry, she doesn’t normally act like that. I’ve only seen her do that once before, and it’s usually a sign that she likes you.”
I choked, “Likes me? She ripped things that I’d put behind me right open.”
“Well, considering the last person she did something like that to was suicidal, I would take any advice she offered. You’re not going to be here for long, so you probably won’t have time to see her again. She is pretty busy, but you should know that she wouldn’t be so serious if she didn’t have a good reason.”
“I’ll… I’ll try to keep that in mind. It’s just what she said came out of nowhere, and brought up stuff she shouldn’t even know. That’s some pretty bad tact right there” Even as I said that though I couldn’t help but notice the faith that Forrest placed in Tattletale. I had been with a lot of villains over the years. Some of their henchmen believed that their bosses were looking out for them and cared for them, but I had not met one group of henchmen that thought that their boss would do something for me just out of the kindness of their heart and truly believe it.
“I won’t disagree there, she looked rather tense. I would not want to be on her bad side today. Someone is going to get it.” Ah, I thought, there is the super villain shining though. Taking out the troubles of a bad day on someone, something that everyone does, but only villains admit to. Maybe I was reading this whole situation wrong.
We drove for a while longer making small talk before we pulled up in front of a small building. As I got out I looked up on top and saw a figure surrounded by bugs standing on the roof looking out towards the bay. The bugs were so thick all I could see was a vague impression of the person inside. I hoped that I managed to stay on skitters good side. I wasn’t afraid of bugs, but if she sent all the ones in the swarm around her at me, they could probably eat me alive and leave nothing left but bones.
Forrest unlocked the door and ushered me inside. I stepped in to see a young lanky girl finishing off a bowl of soup. She looked up as I came in, she looked tired and stressed. It took me a moment to recognize her from the pictures I had found on the internet.
“Skitter” I said, “pleasure to meet you.”
She looked at me, and her face sank for a second, then she straightened up, “Good to meet you to, why don’t you step into the living room while I talk for a second with Forrest here.”
I went in the direction she pointed and waited standing up. I suspected it wouldn’t help me if she sent her bugs after me, but I was hoping I wouldn’t offend her by sitting in her favorite spot. Looking around I noted there were a lot of children’s toys scattered around the room. Why were they there, had this been a family’s home before she kicked them out?
As I was waiting I could hear fragments of sentences coming from the dining room.
“…Could have warned me.”
“…need to see…”
“…approachable…. ….not dealing with criminals…”
“…there a difference?”
Finally skitter came in, still wearing her civilian clothes. She looked at me and gestured, “Take a seat. So how do you want to do this?”
I sat down across from her and put on my best friendly look, “Well, I usually stick around for at least one job so that I can get a sense of how you operate. However if you would rather we just do an interview and get me out of your hair as soon as possible that works too”
“We don’t really do jobs” She said, “but if you want to stick around you can. You if you are willing to help out with the rebuilding I’ll give you food and a place to stay, otherwise I can direct you to a few decent motels that have opened up recently.”
“You don’t do jobs?” I asked, “What about the bank robbery back before Leviathan?”
“There were…” and she paused for a moment, a distant look in her eye, “We were working for someone else then. He’s dead now.”
“Coil” I asked, pulling what I knew of the situation.
“Yes” and again she had a distant look in her eyes and I got the feeling that she wasn’t telling me the whole truth.
“Are you willing to talk about your plans then?” I asked.
She laughed, “Sure, but I’m pretty sure they would be boring to you. Right now we are trying to get the northern docks cleared up so that major ships can land. We are also trying to get the water treatment plant back to full capacity so that there will be enough clean water for the entire city. Right now most of the city still has to boil and filter the water.”
“So you don’t have any plans to make money?”
She paused thinking, “Finances are Tattletales purview, and I am pretty sure I don’t want the world to know where we are getting our money from. Sorry” She looked apologetic.
“So you are just focused on rebuilding?” I questioned. She simply nodded. “Then what?”
She paused clearly not expecting the question, “I don’t know,” she finally said, “I don’t know if it’s gotten around much lately, and if it hasn’t I would appreciate if you don’t print this, but there will be a major worldwide threat in two years. I suspect that we’ll start trying to prepare for that. See if we can stop it, or if there is possibly another solution that we could draw on.”
“And that’s it?” I asked with a slight amount of skepticism, “Rebuild the city, then save the world?”
She smiled sardonically, “What can I say? When you put it like that it sounds rather unlikely doesn’t it? A super villain that doesn’t do anything.” She sighed, “But that’s what my plans are right now. They’ll probably change. The PRT is probably going to do at least one more big push to capture me. And even if they don’t…”
“Even if they don’t?” I prompted
She looked at me steadily, “You must be good at keeping secrets. I looked you up and you’ve talked to a lot of villains. Trust me when I tell you that I can do far worse things to you than you can imagine. Don’t think you can hide either. Tattletale can find you no matter how well hidden you think you are. If you publish what I am about to tell you, trust me when I say that I will hunt you down and make you suffer for a long long time.”
I was sweating again, Skitters eyes were cold as she looked at me, and I saw something there that I rarely saw. Conviction. Skitter utterly believed in what she did. Most of the super villains I interviewed viewed what they did as a game. They were safe because they wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their place in the game. But for Skitter it wasn’t a game. It was life or death, and she sat where she did because she truly believed that she was doing what was right.
She was trying to intimidate me and it was working. The sheer conviction in her words scared me as much as the threat itself. It is often said that the most dangerous person is the true believer. And Skitter was a true believer. What had I gotten myself into?
>Trust me when I tell you that I can do far worse things to you than you can imagine. Don’t think you can hide either. Tattletale can find you no matter how well hidden you think you are. If you publish what I am about to tell you, trust me when I say that I will hunt you down and make you suffer for a long long time.”
That threat feels WAY out of character, and really really dumb for her to tell a reporter something that she doesn’t want printed.
Oh, and just so I’m not only posting negative comments- I actually like your story so far. I really like the concept, and overall it’s pretty good. The conversations with Tattletale and Skitter were the only bits I didn’t really like.
Not really,its in character for Skitter to make threats to convince others,even if she knows she cannot go through with them.
Trusting such details to a reporter,even a Tt approved one,on the other hand,is not.
Seems like something is missing in this sentence: The quarantine building alone was
AAAAAA IT’S SPREADING
soon all web comment sections will be infected
and under the subtle control of Changes-Print Man!!1!
–Dave, fearfully
This is good, but it seems odd for Skitter to meet a stranger in her lair without at least blindfolding them. And they shouldn’t have been able to catch her by surprise unless her swarm-sense has stopped working for some reason.
Having Skitter be out of costume is a surprising choice, but it does make sense now her mask doesn’t matter; I can definitely see Taylor deciding that being armoured might give the wrong impression.
*Appears and pushes Clarvel back into a barber’s chair…then tear’s Clarvel’s shirt off and begins to put wax on his chest hair.* So there I am, unsure if I’ve welcome you before and not sure if I should do anything towards that bit of cheekiness when I figured I would go ahead and welcome you anyway so I could move on to more commenting today. Welcome to the comments section, I am sure you’ll be just fine. *Begins to sing Epiphany in Vietnamese as the lights slowly fade to dark, followed by the sound of a strip of wax being torn off* Ooh, looks like I got your nipple there. Don’t worry, I know a night surgeon who can reattach that.
Way to go, comments section, put it in the wrong place why don’t you?
WordPress is seeming to have issue PG. Poor thing.
Aww, thanks PG! No one’s quite as Zany as you are.
maeri on April 4, 2013 at 16:47 said:
My favorite about Worm is its amazing characterization and that very few characters fall into that trap where they are, and only are, an archetype. I think that’s why I’m not really fond of the Slaughterhouse Nine. I mean, yeah, they’re evil. But they just kind of stopped being scary. Now they’re just those cardboard cutout assholes who are being evil for the sake of evil because that’s what they like to do. I just find them hard to even take seriously anymore because of that.
We have the Endbringers, who are forces of nature, and that works. Coil and Noelle especially are well fleshed out for being full on villains. Legend, Alexandria, and Eidolon are mostly doing what they think is right without fully understanding the ramifications- just a sort of not quite actively malevolent, but still negative force. Then there’s the S9, who just feel so….incomplete. Flat. Out of place in a world where everyone is so richly developed.
Even with the Jack interlude, I don’t get the impression that there’s really much of a drive to him other than ‘be a dick’. And the world seems to bend around that whim; the S9 are never short on funds or materials as you think they would be with the whole ‘everyone hates you’ thing. They’re never cowed or weakened, even when they should be. In Worm everyone gets theirs- except the S9.
That’s basically my only gripe about the story ^__^; honestly though, I *love* Worm. So many of the powerful people are women without it being ‘strong despite being a girl’, masculinizing them, or making them out to be soulless bitches for daring to be powerful. It’s so hard to find that in any media, and especially in the super hero genre. So, thank you Wildbow. Whenever I have anything left from my (pathetic, college student) paycheck I will keep donating. Even if it’s not much, you have my support.
I think your new so………Welcome to the Wormling fold, Maeri
Kinda-sorta new. I think I replied in the comments on one other chapter a couple weeks ago. Been reading since maybe early September or so, just had a tendency to avoid the comments, haha.
Jack’s problem is that he fell into something be dislikes. The thing he came up with to accellerate the end of the world is..the same thing he has alwaya donw, but more. As in, all the old Niners again. I am still all for the Wormverse’s destruction though.
That right there is why I hate typing on a phone.
*Hops along a chessboard patterned tablecloth that Maeri appears to be standing on as well until a pawn bars his path. Then he pulls out a mustache, puts it on, and sings We Will Rock You before breaking it with a swipe of the mic stand.*
Greetings, mate, welcome to the down under of Worm. Just like in Australia, cute fuzzy things, like me, are all out to get you, with snuggly mauling of evil! You may cry but your tears will dry when we hand you a paper towel or something. Who knows. Now if you’ll excuse me… check, mate. *Maeri is handed the bill from the restaurant.*
I actually agree. The only thing I didn’t like about worm was the 9 seemed a little too much like villain sues.
So, the only characters who get consistant hate in the comments section are the actual ‘end the world’ villains, Sophia, and maybe cauldron. Everyone else is in some way redeemable due to circumstance.
Sophia is deplorable, but I think she’s still sympathetic. A bad person, but a bad person with that all-important depth. Cauldron as a whole is hard to comment on because there are too many unknown factors in them. They’re evil, yes, but complex. Not so with the 9.
The Nine are just really *boring*, I suppose. It’s hard to hate them with the same passion as I can hate Sophia or Emma or any number of other villains because there is so little to them.
Everyone loves a good villain and everyone hates a bad one.
Not sure if that makes much sense…….
I just find it interesting that the villians that are apparently only there for the evulz are the ones you think are boring. I suppose it makes sense though, we don’t really understand what happened to them that caused them to become so messed up or what drives them to just go around killing everyone, except maybe manton. All we really see are the killing machines, not the people they used to be.
I suppose a good villian is one who has reasons for joining the dark side, and needs to be relatable in some way. Compassionate characters are ones people care about. Hell, even showing general manners or personality often is enough, I know I want to know more about citrine from a couple postings ago, even though she had maybe 5 lines in total.
David Burns on March 15, 2014 at 02:29 said:
Many on and Mannikin.
Manton and Mannikin. Damn iPad autocomplete!
Well its actually similar to the joker from the dark knight rises. I for one don’t like the joker as a character for the same reasons you list. He just does evil just because, or because he was funny. I honestly thought the movie was going to suck because of that but they gave us a reason in the movie why he acts the way does. It’s crazy but we at least understand where he is coming from. Not so with the 9. Honestly wouldn’t be surprised at the end if the Jack/Bonesaw somehow get away again because the universe just lets them.
The thing that would make me the happiest would be to see Jack well and actually cornered and terrified. It doesn’t have to be a protagonist that does it. A new antagonist doing so might be even better, haha.
Jack just never really lives up to his reputation when we get to see him.
The Nine worked pretty well as a sort of catalyst for the characters to begin changing to deal with the darker situations in the story and as a test of their new position as big time supervillains. Plus they kind of serve as a kind of moral line in the universe, to give an evil extreme to help set up the moral spectrum in the story.
A villain as a story device is fine for a one-off in an arc, but to directly involve them in the story again there might need to be some reinvention of these guys into something more three-dimensional, and since they’re so far off the deep end that will be hard to do.
We don’t know if they’re going to end up directly involved in the story yet, they may just be the cause of the big crisis that’s going to occur. I suspect that they may get killed by a Gray Boy clone who will serve as the new big bad guy.
Well, there were a lots of little bits and bobs about them- kinda hurts to lose the interlude that went into Shatterbird’s past, as I rather liked that in particular. Burnscar’s relation with Elle, Mannequin’s… well, everything.
I think that there is plenty to them, and given Wildbow’s habit of sideswiping you with information you’ve been wanting at juuuuust the right point in the story… Well, I’m willing to wait to see.
Yeah, you do have a point there, we learned about Shatterbird, Burnscar, Mannequin, and Manton
But admittedly, the *faces* of S9 leave much to be desired
-Jack kills and terrorizes simply because he can
-Bonesaw, not really sure with her deal, I am slightly tempted to blame her particular dissonance as an effect of her power; if not, she is so fucked in the head it is really creepy (could be the intention)
-Crawlers carrot is the potential to continue evolving
-Cherish had the same upbringing as Regent, but didnt get away when he did
-Manton got butthurt because his daughter turned into a monstrous parahuman or died; his fault, I might add, so instead of fixing it, he runs off to kill people with Jack Slash
I am half and half on this topic; I am similarly not as emotionally invested/scared of the Nine anymore, but I am willing to be patient as possible due to Wildbows track record of being fantastic
Besides, the earlier in the story he has hinted as some character, the more likely they are to be worth the wait (Endbringers, Noelle, Nilbog, etc)
Hey all, new here. Just popping in to say I absolutely love this place.
I just have to say that it’s kind of ridiculous that when I wake up at 6 in the morning there’s already almost 300 comments.
There seems to be a lot of speculation about the Grey Boy, and I feel like I have to point out that he’s a product of Cauldron, so we get Noelle’s insanity type thing if any his Cauldron powers went wrong. I can’t remember where I saw it, but if I remember it right, they just kept selling him powers until he went out of control. So we have a lot of powers to go wrong. Imagine Prism with all of the showstopping powers. And considering how creative Wildbow is, that’s honestly the best case scenario.
But I also want to point out how Noelle’s clones aren’t exact copies, and have different powers from the original. Same thing happens with Cauldron, where the potions are classed into groups, such as “Prince” and “Jaunt.”
Psycho Gecko will likely show up behind you in a few, for a much better welcome than I could ever write.
Welcome to the Wormling fold Composite. 😀 PG will be here shortly.
“Welcome to our little hole in the internet. It’s a tight squeeze with so many people in here, but I’m sure you can work yourself into the fun with a little bit of elbow grease.”
Sorry, was writing something for NAMBLA’s website.
As for you, it’s time to make sure you’ve go tthe pokeballs to prepare for a Wild Mass Guessing to appear! Oh Snap, it’s trying to take a Pikachu in the shower. Raichu are to be afraid of such a shocking turn of events. Holy Hokey Pokemon, it’s Jamaican ya dance!
What, you thought all the pain, misery, and supervillainy was only up there in the story? Welcome to the comments section, where good taste goes to be stepped on by a latex-clad woman wearing stiletto heels and a latex horse mask.
I get the feeling this welcome is going onto someone’s wall of shame somewhere.
Dont worry pg we won’t ever let you forget it.
(and it did make me give a nervous chuckle)
The trick to crossing the line twice is making sure you get over there again. Like a pitbull on viagra, it can be difficult to pull off.
Wait, did you just literally say that the trick to crossing a line twice is to cross it 3 times?
I would immortalize it, but you repeated “latex” and it ruined the immersion for me.
You can never have enough latex.
You stepped on the corpse of a Pikachu to make this travesty; I wont forget this
But for me, it was Thursday.
In memoriam Raul Julia, may you rest in peace.
See the story Pope Gecko for more.
Okay, so here’s something I’ve been wondering about:
So, every parahuman has a part of their brain that controls their power -I don’t remember what it’s called at the moment- that normal people don’t have. They all start out as normal people, so they all have the same size brain.
What it looks like is that that part of the brain takes a little while to grow as the power is used- hence the sensory overload shortly after when someone with sensory powers has a trigger event. As it grows, they get more control. From what it looks like, it also continues to grow the more they use their powers, making more connections to other parts of the brain. This explains why Taylor is now able to parse bug-o-vision.
This all makes sense -it’s a phenomenon called “neuroplasticity;” as someone uses a skill more, the part of the brain responsible for it grows, and if it is not used, that part atrophies. This is why blind people often have better cognition in other areas- such as better hearing or touch. Since they don’t use it, the space is allocated to other tasks.
The parahumans seem to have the blind-person situation in reverse. They suddenly have an entirely new sense or new ability that their brain has to deal with. While the passenger seems to handle some of it, Bonesaw states that parahumans do have a portion of their brain responsible for controlling their powers. If their brain is staying the same size (which it must, else they would all suddenly have concussions,) this must be taking space away from other areas.
This could potentially cause pretty serious harm, and I believe it’s a contributing factor for why many parahumans are so cracked (aside from the psychological trauma). Stuff like this has been shown to cause personality changes or cognitive issues depending on where it is located. This is what I want to know, and I don’t care if I get an answer, or even if there is one, but I want to put this out there:
Taylor has been getting a lot more control over her power, and getting a lot more power; but what is she losing?
[tl;dr version]: As someone gets better with their power, the part of the brain that controls it should grow in size, taking space away from other parts of the brain. What does this mean for parahumans?
That’s like with Bitch and Garrote(I think) their brains were effected more than the average capes.
For Taylor it could be her ‘skittishness’. As she used her powers more she got more and more confident in herself.
I would say she’s losing her ability to distinguish between the rightness and wrongness of her actions. She rationalizes everything she does far better now, and hesitates less, and while repetition would explain some of that, it doesn’t explain all of it.
There’s a reason our legal system is based on precedent; It’s one of the easiest concepts for the human mind to grasp. “It’s been done this way before, that’s how to do it in the future,” and in tiny font there’s the addendum, “no other circumstances considered.” which frequently is forgotten. It’s why companies have to protect each and every occurance of copyright infringement or flat-out lose their copyright, simply because if they don’t maintain a perfect legal wall then people will dig at the cracks (precedence of non-protection; In short and avoiding all the legalese, “You didn’t sue them, but you’re suing me? That’s unfair and biased!”) until eventually the entire wall they use in their defense will crumble and it’ll become public use.
I’m not sure how this is relevant to what I said, since the human mind doesn’t work at ALL like the US legal system. The letter of the law is more important than the spirit of the law 99% of the time, particularly in lawsuits regarding copyright infringment and so on.
Sociopathy, which is what I was referring to when I said Skitter is losing her ability to distinguish between right and wrong in her actions, is entirely unrelated to recognizing the legal ramifications of them. A normal person sees something they’re doing is illegal/immoral and tries not to do it because if they get caught they’re screwed. A sociopath sees something they’re doing is illegal/immoral (to other people) and does it anyway, knowing (not assuming or hoping) that they’ll get away with it even if they’re caught because rules are pointless and consequences are for other people.
Mind you, Skitter’s nowhere near being a complete sociopath, but I become concerned that she’s wandering down that particular fork in the road as she spends less time having to think through these hard calls she makes. Her thought processes feel colder and more clinical, not just “god dammit I have to make this awful, awful decision AGAIN?!” but “Okay so I did this before and the last time worked out okay but I can do it better if I just do -this- now.”
Well there must be studies of parahumans over a long term period somewhere. The oldest would have been parahumans for 30 odd years so I guess they see compare their mental health to younger ones. There is also that 5 year old with the still developing brain who triggered who people are going to pay close attention to. If there are older parahumans. With the Endbringers constant threat, being heavily outnumbered by villains, and the numerous s-class threats, the life expectancy for parahumans probably isn’t that great.
The little threat about bringing in the Dragonslayers was a pretty alarming line there. It seems that because of all the failures and the Trimuvirate breaking up the suits are going to be taking control of operations away from the actual heroes.
It means the PRT is gonna start playing dirty, expect Taylor to be shot at by snipers, super villains being hired to cause trouble and patsy the Undersiders, and some Suicide Squad-ass team of superfascists coming to take Skitter’s head.
If this stuff happens guys like Triumph and Miss Militia are going to have a hard choice coming for them. They can’t have their moral high ground cake and eat it too.
iirc, triumph is a cauldron customer. not necessarily in league with them, but he might have been forced to retire in the echidna fallout
IF he came forward. The main reason for concern is they can’t tell who is a cauldron cape and who is not. Battery was probably seen as one of the best of them, and even she was Cauldron. He seemed like a good guy, hope things are alright with him and Hannah.
Triumph was a Cauldron customer. His dad (mayor) bought him the vial. It’s mentioned from his point of view in one of the interludes; Has him comparing himself to Prism, how similar they were, things like that, I believe.
Dovetail, Halo, Crucible and Rosary are the Christians here to stop the Teeth, aren’t they? That means that the protectorate only brought in 3 new guys, (Adamant, Clasp and Sere) and one of them has already proven incapable of handling Skitter. It’s almost like the heroes want to look weak. Really, if they wanted to imprison or at least stop the Undersiders, they would just put aside the petty politics and treat them like the A-Class threat that they are. Honestly, even if they don’t have the man-power to capture them all, a one day, serious, multi-man raid against the Undersiders, like the dragonsuit event with more people, would most likely lead to the end of the Undersiders as a power in Brockton Bay. After all, Only a third the students decided to side with Skitter. That is still 1/6 away from a 50/50 split in the citizenry, assuming that the pattern stays true through every age group. Not to mention that prior to this event, the general public had practically no idea that anything was seriously wrong with the Protectorate anyway.
As such, I get the uncomfortable feeling that Cauldron is still attempting a power play for Brockton Bay, in spite of Coil’s inconvenient death.
Dovetail and Crucible aren’t members of Haven.
The problem is that going after the Undersiders in force would result in a similar situation as what happened when Dragon went after them. The Undersiders, being cornered, end up doing something drastic that hurts the PRT far more than they usually would.
It’s even more of a dangerous idea now that one of the Undersiders was outed and they will be willing to go further as a result. Skitter now officially has no civilian life to go back to to escape the heat. Any big play they do will corner her and the PRT will end up with a black eye.
Considering how one of the biggest flaws with the heroes in my eyes in an unwillingness to take risks I understand why they would hold off on decisive action.
They also know all those dirty secrets they want to keep hidden. They break the rules, so will they, and I think they’ll come out looking better too.
I’m waiting for the sponsored heroes. I can see team Coke and team Pepsi coming in and butting heads while trying to catch the Undersiders.
I’m waiting for Authority/dark age of comics style murdering jackboot teams to start cropping up. Given the nature of superpowers you know it’s gonna happen.
I thought there was already two teams mentioned like that in one of the previous chapters?
So long as it isn’t Team Edward & Team Jacob.
It’d still be a better love story than Twilight by light-years.
Bic on April 5, 2013 at 00:47 said:
To be honest I don’t want more S9, they feel evil for the sake of it, no motivation or greyness. Jack never seems to quite live up to his reputation in terms of writing, and while resurrecting a bunch of them makes things worse it doesn’t make things more interesting. They feel like they exist purely for the plot point of making things worse, rather than having any real agenda or mystery of their own. The Endbringers are interesting, the relations between the PRT, villians and those breaking away are interesting, there are so many good interesting characters and possibilities around, and the S9 feel like they’re just there to make things more crapsack, when imho, it would be better to focus on character/world/non-‘we’re all gonna die’ problems rather than a constant stream of ‘it got worse’ to the point of disbelief. That was the problem with Witness too, every battle ends with it not being a victory after all, it somehow made things worse, and while that’s fine sometimes, if it happens over and over you get sort of fed up with it. I think this arc is so far a good break from that. There’s no new giant threat, it’s a different kind of problem rather than ‘more things trying to kill people’. And then I see the nine and thing ‘Sigh, they’re going to have to deal with them AGAIN and Dragon’s hurt and I just want it to move on’.
Anyway, sorry to just complain, overall it’s very good. I look forward to it every few days and I’m interested to see where things go from here and I think you’re noticeably becoming a better writer as things progress. All the best.
Hey, dont worry, a few others have had similar thoughts BUT
Wildbow hasnt failed us yet, has he?
Also? Money says Grey Boy disposes of the Slaughterhouse Army before anyone else has a chance to know
That would be a twist worthy of Worm
I don’t know why, but this whole argument of “Well, yeah, you might have a point BUT [so and so] shits rainbows, so we’ll just dismiss that” kinda bugs me. This is a sort of ‘in general’ thing, not just here.
Wildbow is an awesome author; that doesn’t mean they aren’t above criticism.
Also Bic. Hiiii~ I’m pretty sure I knooow youuu~
*are above criticism
I do apologize if it seemed like I was dismissing him out of hand; earlier, on your OWN comment regarding the same issue, I outlined my (largely in agreement) stance on the issue and ended it with “-But so far, Worm has retained a kind of quality that gives me hope that things wont be as obviously sue-ish as one would expect/I will maintain faith”
So instead of copypasting, I just abbreviated it here
I think it’s because there’s not really any argument there. Most arguments, you can break them down into steps and break those steps down into steps and see how they proceed from cause to effect (or vice-versa), but that’s not the case here. It’s more like saying, “Yes, he’s behind two rooks, a bishop, and a queen, but he’s the best chess player in the world — he’ll win anyway!” Even when it’s true it’s not convincing.
I think in this case a stronger case can be built up from the basic idea, though — something along the lines of:
I know it looks like wildbow is just setting up bad things for the sake of setting up bad things, but I think it’s worth trusting him at least a little longer for three reasons:
1. He set this up in advance. In Blasto’s interlude, Bonesaw got away with him, his seeds, and the tissue samples of the supers, and in this arc, we discovered that Dragon and Defiant were pulled off of the pursuit for the job at the school. This isn’t just coming out of nowhere, this was a logical consequence of what came before.
2. It’s almost certainly not as awful as it sounds — Blasto’s interlude suggests that his copies are not as strong as the originals. Plus, a lot of what makes the Slaughterhouse Nine are skills that the copies won’t have developed.
3. The entire setup is directly in line with wildbow’s style — a style which has worked really well so far. He makes a situation which is dire, and he figures out how the protagonists can deal with it. Reading through the archive, there were a number of places where people in the comments complained that wildbow had set up an impossible situation, only for the next chapter or arc to resolve it in a surprising and satisfying way.
I like this, very well-worded
Unfortunately, the complaint by-and-large wasn’t what you just addressed. We know that this will culminate in some sort of big confrontation where Skitter shows off her brains, probably aided by a few side characters. Things will be tough, they won’t get a complete victory, but they’ll make it. Because that’s what happens. Every time.
It’s not that there won’t be a cohesive, well written arc out of this. It’s that we don’t find these characters interesting or scary. There’s nothing believable or relatable about them. They work as one arc villains, but they just lack the sort of depth to be interesting for a multiple-arc story set-up. There is no surprise in the motive or characters of the 9. No mystery, no depth, no interest. *Maybe* Gray boy will change that, and I’m hoping he will, but I’m not holding my breath.
This, when there are so many interesting, deep, complicated characters around. There’s so much of the world and the people in it to explore, and we keep getting the camera zooming in on the zany, evil cardboard cutouts.
@maeri: Ah, I misread Bic’s complaint, then.
And I share it, honestly — what makes Jack and Bonesaw interesting is what they do, not who they are. And what made Hookwolf interesting was his philosophy, which he has been driven to abandon.
Thank you to Hannah for the donation.
Thanks Hannah! And to anyone curious as to why I post these thank yous when I see them, in reply to Wildbow’s comments: Because I want them to know, when they see these messages, that they are appreciated by at least one of us viewers as well, for helping support our favourite author.
Much as I try to welcome all comers to the comments section, though it may be having a detrimental effect to the population of commenters.
Good to have people tossing money at Wildbow. I have been unable to myself, leaving me somewhat guilty.
Geez, I’m not very helpful at all here, am I?
If Wildbow is the supreme sovereign of the comments section, you’re the court jester.
Hey! Ten bucks puts me ahead of Gecko on something! Groovy.
Heads-up: Emily Piggot has two different tags: Piggy and Piggot. Neither has all the chapters in which she appears.
Something for me to fix over the weekend. Remind me if I don’t make a comment in the newest chapter letting you know I’ve fixed it up?
I’ll try to remember!
Packbat on June 25, 2013 at 11:48 said:
Was rereading a bit and noticed this — Piggy and Piggot tags still need to be merged.
Illise Montoya on April 5, 2013 at 11:00 said:
Well, I was fooling around with The Secret World’s character creation when it struck me to try and make some models in the likeness of the cast. I only seemed to manage to get Taylor, tho I forget what color her eyes were. Anyway, here’s the screenshots:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=136926268
Is html/bb code enabled on comments? I have no idea.
The name “Skitter” is taken by the way. 😛
I assume that it allows a subset of HTML tags — a-href links work, as do em tags and blockquotes (which come out in italics). I haven’t tried anything else.
I’d say make her a bit taller and more flat chested and you got her. Skitter was taken? Damn it Greg!
I would but you can’t adjust for weight or chest size, just height.
I figured that her hair would be curlier, seeing as how some lady called her out by that a couple chapters ago. But that’s a pretty good rendition of the last fanart entry.
Also, if anyone wants to take a crack at stuff like this Heromachine 3 is up and running and pretty damn versatile. I’m probably not gonna, lazy as I am.
Added a few entries to the Worm TV Tropes page that I thought were odd being missing;
Cybernetics Eat Your Soul (added this one a week or so ago)
Indy Ploy
Xanatos Gambit
Xanatos Speed Chess
Note to self: make the comment-line reminding people about the Character Sheets more obvious.
I wouldn’t have called Mannequin “Cybernetics Eat Your Soul” — I thought that his psychotic break preceded his self-encapsulation.
True, there are only a few characters with normal cybernetics in this setting so far, Armsmaster, Alexandria etc. and there doesn’t seem to be any common theme of them losing their humanity because they put on some high tech prosthetics. Mannequin is not a very good example at all.
Mannequin also seems to be the least human of the characters who used to be human. What’s left of his body could be carried around in a large trashbag if it wasn’t stuck in a torso. And in a less literal way, his cybernetics are less humanoid than the others. He turned himself into something with blades and chains and extend-o-matic body parts. He used to be a man, but he’s more machine than man now.
Also, I didn’t recall Alexandria having cybernetics.
Also, Packbat, while I’m at it, think that thing from Chrysalis 20.5 would count for Heartwarming after all? As I said, I don’t like to put my Crowning Moments in there.
Now I’m off to go see if Blasto’s got an I Must Scream under his name.
Alexandria has a Tinker-made bionic eye.
she had a cybernetic eye as the director of the PRT. Mentioned after Echidna gets burned away once. Can’t remember what chapter exactly.
Which thing, Gecko? There’s an entry there saying:
In 20.5, over a hundred students stand up and form a human barricade to protect Skitter/Taylor from Dragon and Defiant after they exposed her identity. And after the last kernel of them make it out of sight and they stop, each of them, starting with Fern (whom Skitter had just expressed suspicion of that morning), explains the key incidents that gave them a personal allegiance to the Undersiders or to her specifically.
…so if that’s what you’re referring to, it’s already done.
Also, Blasto absolutely needs an And I Must Scream entry. I wonder if that trope belongs on the main page, though — it’s an event that happened to a character, not an essential aspect of the character. Is it more like Body Horror (which we’ve been putting on the character sheet) or Out Gambitted (which I added to the main page)?
It may be an essential aspect of Bonesaw’s character- she’s put a lot of people in that situation.
A thought: PRT is banking on the next Endbringer attack to bolster their image. But… What if the attack already happened – the Simurgh’s intervention “counting:” as one. So, there’ll be no attack any time soon. Nothing to boost their image.
Or there is a Endbringer attack and they lose harder than they ever have before to completely destroy their image. We have seen Leviathan/The Smurf’s abilities explored over an arc so I’m hoping Behemoth is next. Maybe he’ll attack the birdcage to bring the prisoner back into the story.
Losing is something they can plan for – it’s something they may even be counting for (to kill off the unreliable heroes).
No attack at all is an OCP, from what I can tell. Something that PRT is not prepared to deal with.
Consider – they are preparing to make a good showing. This likely means preserving their forces. Potentially abandoning “minor” areas, pardoning some criminals to induct them into their numbers, putting off dealing with their internal problems. Things that will build up pressure and marginally sour their public image, but will pay off, one way or another, during the attack.
If there is no attack, the pressure just continues to rise. Plus they are left without a schedule or an idea of where the next strike may happen.
They already said it was Behemoths turn, if Im not mistaken
Behemoth or the Simurgh. Discussed in the Parahumans Online interlude. It’s not a strict rotation, and can go B L B S B, theoretically (as opposed to BLS BLS BLS…).
Oh? I thought the rotation was set this entire time
Whoa, imaging them facing Behemoth every /other/ Endbringer attack would really take a toll on the world as a whole
I just realized. No one else asked about Vikare?, because i found that little tibit of info (and the origin for the term “rogues” in the Wormverse) awesome.
Wildbow, could we get more infor about him/her?
Vikare is mentioned in interlude 1.
I’m speculating the Undersiders’ & Parian’s possible Gang & Territory names:
1. Grue – Territory Name: The Shades, Gang Name: Pitch Black
2. Skitter – Territory Name: The Colony, Gang Name: Wretched Hive
3. Bitch – Territory Name: Dogtown, Gang Name: Sons of Bitches’
4. Regent – Territory Name: The Regency, Gang Name: The Aristocrats
5. Imp – Territory Name: Mogwai, Gang Name: Gremlins
6. Tattletale – Gang Name: The Paparazzi
7. Parian – Territory Name: Dolltown, Gang Name: The Plushies
Any other suggestions?
5. Imp – Territory Name: Where?, Gang Name: Who?
It has no name, her “gang” consists entirely of people who she has contact via notes she stapled to their pants.
Imagine it, an area of the city controlled by a superhuman that people aren’t quite aware of, and the only law there is that if you cause trouble, you will start bleeding and have no idea why.
I like the Gremlins for Imp’s gang!
Tattletale’s gang/headquarters name: Rumor Mill, or Rumor for short. (“Looking for something? Rumor has it…”)
10 minutes to go, I can’t wait 😀
of course, with the portal, and portal technology of bet, they now have access to them all.
Trevor on June 16, 2013 at 05:33 said:
Been reading through, and intended to start commenting once I caught up, but something struck me. With the amount of monumentally stupid moves the PRT is making, it almost seems like Cauldron is setting them up so that the eventual collapse is as catastrophic as possible. Why? Who knows, but with their influence, odds are they wouldn’t be letting things like this happen unless they wanted everything to come apart at the seams in… I dunno… maybe two years.
I think Taylor was wrong to call Defiant Armsmaster. It might be true, in the way calling Echidna Noelle might be true, but Defiant seems to have turned over a new leaf. Either that or his old leaf is oriented in a new direction.
Either way, I approve.
What’s wrong with Dragon’s voice processing system?
How come clones have powers? Does the passenger decide to link and give powers to everything with a slight resemblance to the original? For Echidna’s clones I simply assumed Echidna was providing the power.
Clint Olson on November 5, 2013 at 17:42 said:
> “Cell phone video,” Marshall said. “Long conversation between Defiant, Dragon and Skitter in the cafeteria.
You’re missing an ending quote on this paragraph, since the next one doesn’t begin with dialogue.
taelor on December 25, 2013 at 06:32 said:
> Howell has no authority outside of the school walls, so we interview students there.
Point of order: at least in the school districts that I’m familiar with (maybe it’s different in Brockton Bay), the school’s formal authority over students extends from the moment they arrive at school, until they either arrive home or are picked up by their legal gaurdians.
Yet another typo, though minor: “draw attention from aross America”.
HAHAHA! Oh Sophia, you poor sad little girl. Your little punching bag grew up to rule a city and kick so much ass that you are barely a blip on the radar in comparison. Tell me, when was the last time YOU cut out a supervillain’s eyes?
I wish we had a reaction shot of Emma too though. We got all the important players with Danny, Sophia and the PRT but I really want to know what sort of mental state our old queen of evil is in now. It’s highly doubtful that she’ll ever show up again so I guess I will consign it to the realm of fantasy.
Oh god Danny you really need to watch the entire video when it goes online. Those parts were definitely some of the most ruthless ones in the conversation. Par for the course for news but it doesn’t paint the nicest picture of your daughter nor show the reason that 100 of her peers stood up to protect her…that poor guy. At least he recognized the butterfly for the goodbye that it was.
Haha oh Defiant I really do like you. “We could’ve avoided this.” “Yeah we could’ve. Next time leave us the fuck alone asshole. Oh and don’t bother trying to send me to the Birdcage ’cause you know, my girlfriend is the Warden and she’s not exactly your friend either anymore.”
Oh crap…I hope that he didn’t do serious damage to her when he fixed her…
Okay I was willing to give Alexandria the benefit of the doubt and even willing to chalk up her arrogant dickish attitude to simply being a well-intentioned extremist but now she’s crossed the line. Nope Alexandria is a hair’s breath away from being a bad guy in my mind now. Putting a murderer in charge of murderers. Yeah, cause THAT makes sense. Bitch. And Defiant is not a murderer. Armsmaster was not a murderer. Did he leave people to die? Hell yes. But he didn’t sit in front of them and pull the trigger. He was an arrogant reckless asshole but he was not a murderer. There is a large difference to what he did than to what people like Coil and Lung have done.
Uuummmmmm…can someone please kill Bonesaw already? Please? Because this girl alone could pretty much take out a continent with her crazy…TEN Crawlers? TEN SIBERIANS?! I understand not nuking Endbringers since it apparently doesn’t work well but if anyone deserves a nuke it’s that little bundle of nightmares. I’m pretty sure by this point sacrificing a small town or even a small city to nuclear fallout is an acceptable price to pay for ridding the planet of her. It’s probably even a smaller overall loss of life…
If Jack is only willing to make one of Gray Boy…that’s very worrisome.
bundle on February 2, 2015 at 09:12 said:
stan likes to use the expression “latest and greatest”, doesn’t he. he’s using it like 4 times in that segment.
Pramxnim on March 18, 2015 at 04:30 said:
“He approached a group of teenage girls who were gathered in a group”
Group is redundant in this sentence.
“… built more like a thirteen year old than a twenty-three year old college graduate.”
Standard form for multi-word nouns would be thirteen-year-old, but the second one’s correct, since it’s an adjective there.
Glad Sophia has some time to dwell on the person who put her in jail. Dat reaction: Priceless.
Poor Danny 😦 , I doubt Taylor will get the chance to contact him again.
Aristos Kisai on February 20, 2016 at 18:58 said:
Danny’s relationship with Taylor reminds me of my own relationship with my parents. Can you really love someone if you don’t know her? If all you see of her is your own expectations? If she cannot talk to you because you’ve set yourself up as a person unable to accept the real her? Whose fault is it that matters came to be such? Danny’s? Taylor’s? The world’s? And if ultimately, the world is to blame, isn’t it really your own fault if you don’t seek the power to change things? How do you look back at that person in their little weak bubble and say “Sorry. I’d burn right through your vision. You can’t see the real me?”
anosmianAcrimony on March 3, 2016 at 19:50 said:
There’s a part of me that wants to see this serial as a TV show. The dramatic reveal at the end of this segment was amazing, but I feel like it would have been even more amazing if it were an actual visual reveal, the camera panning around to show the full horror of what will be unleashed upon the unwitting world.
There are other parts of me that really don’t want this to ever be a TV show because a) I would need to watch it through and that would take ages and b) there are some things in this serial that I would really not want to visually see.
Also, man oh man – D&D take the heat off S9 for a few hours to go harass some poor teenage girl, and look what they get up to!
I like how it seems like Armsmaster/Defiant has legitimately become a decent person. The cliche thing to do would be for him to go crazy after the post-Endbringer events and seek some sort of revenge against Skitter, but it seems like he honestly thought about things and came to some reasonable conclusions.
This was really interesting, until the S9 bit. More boring end of the world crap.
gigaramieldrill on September 19, 2016 at 09:15 said:
“Piggot was watching in silence, elbows on the table, hands folded in front of her mouth.”
She’s doing the Gendo… SHE’S DOING THE GENDO! Oh this is a wonderful day.
On another note. I’m really sorry for Danny. If he had been watching for maybe twenty more seconds than he could have seen all those people standing with Taylor. I don’t think it would do much but I just wish he got to see that.
You are misusing the conditional tense. This should read “If you *had* cut off the feed, …”
The present subjunctive and the conditional tenses are not interchangeable! Look it up, I assure you this is correct.
packbat on November 14, 2016 at 13:34 said:
It’s dialogue – butchered grammar is pretty normal in dialogue.
aslandus on January 24, 2017 at 22:26 said:
Hoo boy, I can just imagine the fun Skitter’s going to have when she finds out everything that’s unfolding here…
“We have good news and bad news”
“May as well start with the bad”
“The slaughterhouse 9 are back.”
“Well, more like the slaughterhouse 99 now”
“How’d they recruit so fast?”
“Well there was this tinker who could make copies of dead people…”
“So they returned from the dead just to fight us?”
“Sort of, but the good news is we’ve got lots of new recruits ourselves, including a few tinkers!”
“Ah, well that’s goo- wait, this is Bakuda’s file.”
“Yeah, funny story… Dragon got in a nasty argument with the PRT and decided to release everyone from the Birdcage.”
“What’s next, the Endbringers decide to converge on Brockton bay all at once and the PRT joins forces with them just to fuck us over?”
“Fuck this, I’m going home.”
This almost sounds realistic, lol
Purab babu on February 18, 2017 at 22:56 said:
Love it. But I wish there was a page that repeated the part where Taylor’s identity is outed, but from Emma’s view. That would be fun.
I still think it´s unrealistic that the Siberian was so suddenly killed.
He was active for over ten years and now he is just killed like nothing…
Aaaand the other shoe drops. Damn it.
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Posted on May 25, 2013 by wildbow
“Weaver,” the voice had a slight digital twang at the edges, to the point that I thought it was Bakuda for a second, even if the two voices were entirely different.
I lowered my book. Defiant stood in the doorway to my cell, flanked by two of the prison guards.
I swung my feet to the ground, simultaneously sitting up. “If you’d asked me a few weeks ago, I’m not sure I would have believed that I’d actually be happy to see you.”
“You’ll be coming back,” he warned me. “This is a temporary leave.”
“I know,” I said. I marked the page in my book, placing it in a corner, where it joined twelve others.
“And yes, I’m not surprised you had hard feelings. We weren’t on good terms then, and even now…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. Even now, we aren’t friends?
“A lot of books,” he noted the stack of prison library books. “You’ve read them all?”
“In seven days?”
“Lots of time to myself. I don’t have classes, but I have homework and self-study, and that cuts into reading time, or I’d have read more. But it’s kind of nice, if you ignore… pretty much everything else. I’ve had time to think for the first time in months.”
“I know what you mean,” Defiant said. “I remember worrying every day if that would be the day innocents were caught in a crossfire between Coil and Kaiser, or the day a member of Empire Eighty-Eight was initiated into the group, with the requisite assault of an ‘acceptable target’.”
I grimaced at that. He extended an arm, indicating I was free to leave the cell.
He continued as we walked, flanked by the guards. “…And then there was the team, handling the internal politics, Assault’s harassment of Battery, the Wards and their individual issues. The countless requests for appearances, for photo shoots, interviews, and demonstrations, figuring out which have to be accepted, which can be turned down, knowing that too many refusals in a row could mean a negative article. And then there were the threats, of course, dealing with powered criminals. Every team member becomes a resource, and those resources have to be allocated judiciously.”
“And in the midst of all that, you’re still trying to find time for you,” I said.
“Free time is the easiest thing to sacrifice,” Defiant said. “It costs you, to give it up, but there’s little guilt. Time to yourself is best spent preparing. Developing new technology, strategizing, adjusting equipment-”
“Weaving costumes, pre-preparing lines of silk,” I said.
Defiant nodded.
“I may have inadvertently screwed Miss Militia over,” I said.
Defiant shook his head. “She’s a natural leader. I wasn’t.”
“That might make it easier to handle,” I said, “But she’ll still be in a position where she has to worry, has to prioritize and make sacrifices, and I don’t know if she asked for it.”
“She’ll manage,” Defiant said, as if that was that. I couldn’t tell if it was trust in his teammate or if he wasn’t particularly empathetic on that front. Miss Militia was the one who’d supplanted him as team leader. Were there still hard feelings?
We stopped at the end of the hallway, and the guards stopped to check in at the control station that managed which doors opened and when. There were procedures for seeing a prisoner out, and it took some time.
I could see into cells near the gate. Prisoners glared at me. I was a villain to everyone who had a grudge against supervillains, a hero to everyone who had a grudge against ‘cops’. A traitor. A murderer. The person who’d killed one of the strongest heroes in the world. Who’d killed someone who had fought for decades to save the world, again and again, and who may have doomed us all.
The other prisoners were still trying to assess me, I was pretty sure. Nobody spoke to me or approached me when we filed off to get our meals or when I visited the library. The words printed on my uniform were probably daunting for the unpowered.
The judge had seen fit to assign me to a close security prison, a wing in a medium security facility. It was somewhat backwards, as rulings went, everything taken into consideration. I’d been charged as an adult, for one thing, so juvenile detention was out. Too many crimes under my belt. I was apparently too dangerous for a minimum security institution, but the PRT had asked for leniency, and this was the compromise they’d come to.
As far as I could figure it out, it was everything I might have expected from a medium security prison, complete with a station that controlled the opening and closing of cell doors, constant supervision, and escorts wherever we went. The only difference was the emphasis on programs. We were here to be rehabilitated, to find work, get an education and get therapy. All mandated.
I’d already started studying. Now, with Defiant here, I’d get okayed to start other projects. I hoped.
The warden was waiting for us in the ‘hub’, the room with benches where we’d waited to be assigned to our cells. She wasn’t what I’d expected from a person in charge of a prison. She made me think of a stern teacher, instead. She was old, pushing sixty if not well past it, and ramrod straight, and thin. Her graying hair was tied back into a short braid that didn’t quite reach the bottom of her neck. She was tough in a gnarled, craggy sort of way, like the veteran actors of cowboy movies, but female.
“Taylor Hebert,” she said.
“Ma’am.”
“Every rule in my prison applies while you’re outside. You know this.”
“I know you capes are magnets for trouble. If a fight happened to erupt while you were en route and it came down to you fighting back or getting stabbed, I expect you to get stabbed and then graciously thank your attacker, you understand?”
“That said, best if you don’t get hurt. Running would be preferrable, so long as you don’t run. Trying to escape would be the worst thing you could do, and it wouldn’t succeed.”
“You want me to stay out of trouble. I understand, ma’am.”
“It’s a cushy deal you have here, but one word from me, and that changes.”
“I get that, ma’am. Really, I do. I get that I did some sketchy things. I get that this is a kind of penance, probably not as harsh as I deserve, and I welcome it. I think, given a choice between walking away free right this second and continuing my sentence, I’d choose the latter.”
She studied me for long seconds.
“We have a no-tolerance policy on powers, Ms. Hebert.”
“What appeared to be an emerging case of body lice in the main prison seems to have abruptly corrected itself, according to our physicians. The roach traps in the kitchen aren’t catching anything, either.”
“There’s a part of me that would like to think you’re doing us a service, cleaning things up. Which would still be a violation of the zero-tolerance rules, but somewhat forgivable given the intent. Another part of me has to be concerned that you’re hoarding these in the same manner another prisoner might hoard makeshift weapons.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Which is it?”
“I sort of hoped to talk about it with my therapist, on our first meeting, and figure out the best way to approach it before talking to you.”
She made a ‘continue’ gesture with her hand, arms still folded, her gaze hard.
“My power is always on. It takes a conscious effort to block them out and let them act normally. I feel what they feel, sense what they sense, sort of. It’s… not fun with lice, crawling around in prisoner’s pubic hair, you know? Being aware of that, across eighteen, nineteen prisoners, twenty-four-seven?”
“My concern, Ms. Hebert, is what you’re doing with those bugs.”
“Nothing,” I said. “I- moved them away from the prisoners. I’ve mostly left them where they were, let them starve. I can’t leave them stationary like that where there are rodents, or they’ll only feed the rodent population and you’ll have a bigger problem. I could kill the rodents, but then you’d have dead rats in your walls, and-”
“This isn’t acceptable. You understand why this isn’t acceptable?”
“You have to protect other prisoners,” I said.
Even if it means letting them have lice? I didn’t say that last part.
“If bugs are your weapon of choice, I can’t let you have access to them.”
“What about a bucket?” I asked.
“Hm?”
“Set up a bucket in some back room, fill it with something caustic enough to kill them on contact. I’ll drown every bug I can reach in the bucket, and you’ll be able to see for yourself, by the volume of bugs that are in there.”
“Let’s postpone measures like that,” Defiant cut in. “Go change.”
I nodded, happy for the escape route. I made my way to the combination shower-and-change room area, pausing to collect my civilian clothes from the guard in the bulletproof glass enclosure that overlooked the hub.
I would have liked to shower in relative privacy, but I didn’t think anyone outside was planning on waiting. I stripped out of the prison uniform, a lightweight, gray one-size-fits-all cotton tunic and pants that felt more like pyjamas than real clothes. Mine weren’t as threadbare as the clothes the other prisoners wore. For one thing, I was a ‘small’. Sort of. It was a choice between either wearing a medium-sized tunic and have it hang around me like a tent, or wear a small and have it barely reach my beltline. I’d chosen the latter.
The other reason I got a uniform that hadn’t been worn a hundred times by a hundred other prisoners, was that I wore a special prison uniform with ‘Sp. Inmate’ printed across the shoulders and sleeve, informing everyone who saw me that I had powers.
After folding the garments, I donned my ‘Weaver’ costume. I’d have to update it. It wasn’t real, wasn’t fit for fighting. The underlying bodysuit was something generic they kept on hand, no doubt similar to what made up Clockblocker’s costume. Much in the same way his costume had been elaborated on with armor panels, mine had armor that Dragon had 3D-printed prior to arriving at the PRT headquarters.
It felt wrong, especially the way the straps fit into it, and I didn’t like knowing how flimsy it was.
I didn’t wear the mask or the armor panels, merely holding the bundle that contained them. Instead, I pulled on clothes over the bodysuit, rolling up the sleeves until they were midway up my biceps. The same short-sleeved, button-up shirt I’d changed into after we’d met with the judge, and jeans.
When I emerged, Defiant and the warden were talking. She had enough presence that even Defiant, six feet tall and clad in armor, looked like he wanted to back down.
She tapped him in the center of his chest to punctuate her words, “…before lockdown. And I want all paperwork, as soon as you get it.”
“You’ll have it,” he responded.
“Hand out,” the warden said, turning to me.
I extended a hand.
She strapped a device to my wrist, like a pager, but with a coarse black strap attached. “So we know where you are.”
The warden looked to the guard in the bulletproof glass enclosure. She gave him a hand signal, and he opened the front door to the prison.
We made our exit down a corridor of double-layered fences topped with barbed wire. We entered the parking lot, where a small crowd had gathered around Defiant’s ship, staring.
They parted to let us board, and then backed away as the jets started to thrum with life.
“We’re alike in some ways,” Defiant said, from his seat at the controls. I sat behind him, having belted myself in.
My response was cut short as we started moving, and inertia hit me like a pressure wave against the front of my entire body. I managed only a “Hm?”
“We’ve both been leaders. We’ve both made our mistakes, and we’ve faced a form of detention for it. You with your prison, me with my retirement.”
Oh, he was back to that? We’d been interrupted.
“Guess so,” I managed. “And Dragon?”
“Not a leader,” Defiant answered me. “Not unless you count the artificial intelligences that operate the other suits. But her prison? It remains worse than any you or I have faced.”
“Remains?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said, but he didn’t elaborate.
How could her prison be worse than jail? And how could she still be in it, unless… was she disabled? Cerebral palsy, partial or total paralysis, something else?
I wasn’t sure how that factored in with her current inability to communicate. If she relied on a computer to speak for her, maybe something in the program had broken?
The craft changed direction. Defiant tapped a button, then let go of the controls. Autopilot?
“Whatever happens,” he said, “You’re a member of the Wards. That’s done, but the nature of your membership is still very much in question, understand?”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“Before, I mentioned the tasks of being in charge of a Protectorate team.”
“Allocating people.”
“Yes. Today you’re going to meet some people who are going to play a very crucial role in deciding how you are allocated. Best case scenario, we put you on a team in the thick of something. Not the quiet you’ve been enjoying in your cell, but you’d be helping. Everyone benefits.”
“And the worst case?”
“The worst case is they say it’s a mistake, and you go to jail for the foreseeable future. I don’t see that happening. The second-to-worst case is more likely, where there are no team leaders willing to take you on board with all of the inherent risks.”
“You just said I was a member of the Wards.”
“I did. Miss Militia has your back, but there’s no way you could join the Brockton Bay Wards, under her. Conflict of interests, animosity…”
“Chevalier’s interests are in restoring the PRT and Protectorate programs. We’ve committed to helping in any world-scale crisis events, which means participating in the next Endbringer program. He respects Miss Militia’s opinion, and your appearance before the media means we’ve committed to keeping you. That was partially intentional.”
“Intentional?”
“Because it throws a wrench in the plans of anyone who might want to maintain the status quo. But as much as Chevalier is on your side, if the capes directly under him in the command structure deem it necessary, he could easily send you to a place where you couldn’t do any damage and bring you out of hiding for media appearances and Class-S threats.”
“A place where I couldn’t do any harm? Like?”
“Guard duty at the quarantine area in Madison, perhaps, or a town without a cape presence, where you’d be doing little more than making appearances and talking to kids.”
“I’m… I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I’m better than that.”
“Mm hmm,” he said. “Let’s hope they think so.”
He pressed the button and took hold of the controls. “New York. The central headquarters of every Protectorate team in America.”
With Defiant beside me, my civilian clothes removed, costume donned, I entered the common room of the local Protectorate team.
The interior wasn’t dissimilar from the Wards’ headquarters in Brockton Bay. I’d visited that spot when we’d stolen the data from their server. The layout was similar, with what seemed to be interchangeable or connecting pieces defining the interior. The difference was in the quality of the pieces. Gold or faux-gold trim marked pillars and short walls. There wasn’t any brushed steel or ceramic. It was marble. This would be where they held the interviews and wowed the people who invested in the merchandising side of things.
Inspiring, in a way. Intimidating.
Equally intimidating, if not more so, was the crowd that waited for me. Eleven people, arranged across the room, most of them capes.
“In the lead, we have Prism, second in command of the New York team,” Defiant told me.
Prism’s lips flattened into a tight line as she looked at me. We’d met, at the Mayor’s house. She’d been one of Legend’s people. I supposed that Chevalier would have wanted someone who knew the city and the routines as his second in command.
“Rime, team leader of Los Angeles,” Defiant said.
Taking over for Alexandria, I thought. A cape with black hair in a blue skin-tight costume with fur. I recognized her from the Echidna event, the cape who made ice crystals. I remembered how she’d been following Chevalier’s orders. His second in command? It made sense he’d promote someone he knew to the second largest team in America.
“Revel, team leader of Chicago.”
Revel was a woman I hadn’t seen before, even in the background of the various Class-S fights. I was pretty sure I would have recognized her. She was clearly Japanese, with a painted mask covering her lower face, and a massive lantern on a stick that rested against one shoulder. She wore a white skin-tight outfit with straps at the shoulders, the legs ending mid-thigh, giving her a degree of modesty that the stylized crimson kimono didn’t. The kimono hung loose around her, held in place more by belts and what must have been wires in the fabric, elbow-length and just barely long enough to be modest. Her shoulders were bare and narrow, her expression… one eyebrow was raised as she studied me.
“Dispatch, the second in command of Houston.”
Prism at least had an apparent reason to dislike me, but Dispatch’s expression suggested he’d come to that conclusion all on his own. His costume was white, with steel points rising from his shoulders and either side of his brow. The mask that covered the upper half of his face was sculpted into a perpetual frown. I might not have given it a second thought, but his mouth… the frown left me little doubt he didn’t like me, right off the bat.
“You may recognize some of the captains of the respective Wards teams. Jouster from New York, Vantage from Los Angeles, Tecton from Chicago and Hoyden from Austin. You know Clockblocker.”
I nodded. Tecton, in what looked to be a fresh outfit of bulky rust-red power armor, gave me a salute. Jouster was playing up the medieval theme, a spear in hand, while Vantage was a black guy in forest green and silver… his costume looked a touch flamboyant, at a glance. Hoyden looked more like a desperado than a superhero, with a costume that incorporated a kerchief with eyeholes over the upper half of her face, her blond curls tumbling behind, and a jacket and jeans in what looked like black-painted chainmail.
Clockblocker leaned against a desk, unreadable.
“Mrs. Yamada, you’ve met, if the records are right.”
I nodded at the Japanese woman in a casual dress-suit who was standing beside Revel.
“And I’m Glenn Chambers. PRT head of Image,” a man spoke. He approached me to offer a fat hand for me to shake. He had a firm grip. Glenn didn’t look like someone who was particularly invested in image. He was obese, his clothes not flattering, his hair not quite cut into a mohawk, but gelled into something resembling one. He wore rectangle-framed glasses that made it easier to see how he seemed to perpetually squint – a result of long eyelashes.
“And I suppose I’m Weaver,” I said. Eleven sets of eyes, all on me, judging me. I hooked my thumbs into my pockets.
“I’m surprised Chevalier hasn’t shown up,” Defiant commented. He glanced at Prism.
It wasn’t Prism who answered. Dispatch, the Texan cape, spoke instead. “I asked the same question. He brings us all the way here, but he doesn’t show himself?”
“He’s handling a small crisis,” Prism said.
“We’re all handling crises,” Dispatch said. “Half of us have no experience as team leaders, we’re dealing with capes in mourning, with government capes auditing our team rosters for Cauldron capes-“
“Leave it be, Dispatch,” Rime interrupted him. “We should get down to business. The sooner this is settled, the sooner we can get back.”
Mrs. Yamada cleared her throat. “What are you thinking, Weaver?”
Suddenly put on the spot. “Honestly?”
“Honesty is good,” she said.
“I’m intimidated,” I said.
“How do you usually handle something like that?”
By being more intimidating in exchange, I thought. It wouldn’t do to say that out loud, to explain how I’d fallen back on being scary and ruthless for so long that I wasn’t sure how to approach something like this.
“I’m not so sure anymore,” I said. It was the truth, and it wasn’t self-incriminating.
Mrs. Yamada nodded.
Defiant spoke , “Let’s ensure we’re all familiar with what’s going on. We’ve had capes with criminal backgrounds join the Protectorate and Wards teams, though that has remained largely discreet, and Weaver’s civilian identity is public knowledge. We’ve had experienced capes join, as well, forcing us to adapt to their experience and retrain them where necessary. Weaver is both. She’s currently serving time in Gardener. Under the terms of her sentence, she’ll be continuing her high school studies independently, she’ll be getting therapy as soon as we’ve settled on a schedule, and she’ll be ferried out to various teams for testing and evaluation.”
“A lot of hassle for a little girl,” Jouster said.
A little girl? I kept my mouth shut, but it took some effort.
Clockblocker, however, was chuckling.
“What?” Jouster asked.
“She beat Alexandria,” Hoyden said, “He’s laughing because you’re putting down the girl who killed Alexandria.”
“Not a selling point,” Hoyden’s boss, Dispatch, cut in.
“She’s an absolute nightmare to fight,” Clockblocker said. “I’ve been on the receiving end enough times to know. So when Miss Militia told me she was in custody, I started asking questions, trying to get a sense of what was happening and when. I don’t even have to be here, and I’m picking up extra patrols later this week to make up for it, but I wanted to come and say this: I don’t like her, not really. But if my word counts for anything, as someone who’s only spent half the time dealing with the shit in Brockton Bay that she has? We want her on our side. Somehow, in some form. Because the alternative sucks.”
“Thank you,” I said, my voice so quiet I wasn’t sure everyone heard me. He was standing up for me, in a way, at a point in time I wasn’t sure how to voice those sorts of things myself.
I could see Jouster’s eyes behind his helmet, as he gave me a once-over.
“She killed Alexandria,” Hoyden said. “And, what, she was there for Leviathan, she was there for the Slaughterhouse Nine, for Echidna…”
“She went head to head with each of those,” Clockblocker said. He looked at me. “Right? Like, you weren’t just there. You were in the thick of it, exchanging blows?”
“Today is numbers,” Prism said. “Power evaluation, interviews.”
“No, no,” Dispatch said, shaking his head. “Ridiculous. You don’t invite us here, then make us sit through that nonsense.”
“We need to evaluate her abilities,” Defiant said.
“Do it on your own time. And skip the interview,” Dispatch said. “Your own notes, Defiant, say she’s a manipulator and a liar.”
“I’ve retracted those statements,” Defiant said.
“And who’s to say she hasn’t manipulated you? You and Chevalier were arguing for a cleaner, shinier Protectorate, didn’t you? Let’s not get off on the wrong foot. We vet her thoroughly, and if we don’t get a consensus that she’s an asset to the team, then that’s that.”
“What would you suggest, in place of testing and an interview?”
“We do what we’re doing with the Cauldron capes, run her by our thinkers,” Dispatch said. “We can get a more concrete assessment of her now, with a field exercise, than by any amount of talking. If I’m remembering right, a notice went out, didn’t it? A New York group of villains is poaching Wards and Protectorate members?”
“The Adepts,” Revel said.
“Two birds with one stone,” Dispatch said. He looked at the collected captains of the Wards. “We want to know how she functions in a team environment, let’s put her in the thick of it. If there’s trouble, or if the mission doesn’t look good, the rest of us can step in.”
Eyes turned my way.
“You’re serious,” I said.
“As cancer,” Dispatch told me.
“I don’t have any of my stuff, and the costume Dragon gave me isn’t my usual. Besides, you’ll be expecting me to follow different rules.”
“You’ve read the handbook, haven’t you?”
I nodded. But I haven’t completely thought of ways around the restrictions. I’d picked the name Weaver based on the idea that I’d be using thread more, but I didn’t have any prepared, not here, not yet.
“I’m sure Prism will let you have access to the New York teams’ supplies. Largest cape groups in America, they’ll have a little of everything.”
I frowned. If I said no, it’d be a black mark in my record, and some of these people were obviously not interested in giving me any slack, unless it was to hang myself with.
“The Adepts don’t kill,” he said. “If there’s a problem, it’s on you.”
There should be a rule against saying things like that, I thought. I didn’t care that he was putting me on the spot, or blaming me for stuff that hadn’t happened yet. He was implying this would be easy, practically ensuring this would be anything but.
“Adepts,” Jouster said. “I assume everyone’s up to date?”
Tecton was walking in front of our group, his tank of a suit giving us enough presence that the crowd parted before us. “Don’t be a jackass. You know Skit- Weaver hasn’t read the files. They’re in your city, you fill us in.”
“I know the basics,” I said. I’d read the file in Tattletale’s office. “They’re wizards, or they pretend to be, like Myrddin. Led by a time traveller.”
“They’re led by Epoch,” Jouster said, without looking at me. “Group is very organized. Thing you gotta know about New York is it’s bigger. Everything is. So these guys, there’s a lot of them. They’re organized into tiers, and they compete with one another for placement in the tiers, challenging ones in higher tiers, paying a penalty if they fail the challenge. There’s one tier one, two tier twos, three tier threes… all the way down to the tier fives.”
“Fifteen in total,” I said.
He gave me a hard look, then fell silent.
Am I not allowed to talk?
“This city sucks to move around in,” Hoyden said. “Crowds, traffic… how do you get anywhere?”
“We have different sub-teams for different roles,” Jouster said. “Lancer group for fast response, those of us who can fly or move over rooftops. Another group of heavier hitters who’re old enough to ride the bikes and licensed to travel the tracks.”
“Tracks?” Hoyden asked.
“Subways. You use a computer to help know which tracks you can stay on and when, so you don’t get hit by a train.”
“And the ones who aren’t old enough, or aren’t naturally mobile?” Tecton asked.
“Foot patrol, or sidekick duty with a Protectorate member,” Jouster said.
“Loads of fun,” Hoyden said.
“Am I the only one who likes doing the ride-along thing?” Vantage asked.
“Yes,” Hoyden said. “Definitely.”
Jouster shook his head. “It’s the job. They grumble, sure, but it’s a few years at most before they get to do the bike thing.”
“I’m guessing you’re one of the ‘lancers’,” I said.
Jouster gave me a dirty look, “What of it?”
“Nothing,” I said. “Just made sense.”
“Flechette was one too,” he said. “She was going to lead the squad when I moved up to the Protectorate, with Shelter taking over as Wards captain.”
“I believe it,” I said.
“Seem to recall that she’d defected, joined your old team.”
“I don’t know anything about that, honestly,” I said. “Only that she had romantic interests towards one of us Undersiders, and-”
“The doll girl,” Jouster said.
Vantage punched him in the shoulder.
“I didn’t know if she was ‘out’, so I didn’t want to say,” I said, feeling lame.
“That’s right,” Vantage said. “That’s how you’re supposed to act.”
The earbud I’d been supplied with buzzed with a woman’s voice. Prism? “They own the building up ahead. Cut the banter and focus on the job.”
A male voice. “Talk us through everything you’re doing, Weaver.”
“Focusing on my bugs,” I said.
“Tap the earbud twice to start the feed,” Tecton said.
I tapped it twice, and it beeped faintly. “Focusing on my bugs. I’ve been collecting them as we moved from the headquarters to this spot, so I have quite a few.”
“Lethal and venomous bugs aren’t allowed, you know that.”
Tying my hands. It was fine. “I didn’t plan on using them anyways. I’m selecting the smallest and most discreet, and sending them out. It’ll take a minute at most, but I’ll be able to track their movements.”
“The Adepts?”
“Everyone. I mean, the area’s dense, but once I have tabs on the Adepts, I’ll have an idea of where the civilians are, too. It means we can keep them out of danger, and we’ll know if anyone runs into the line of fire.”
There was silence on the line in response. Were they talking about me? Discussing the particulars? Hell, was I already breaking rules by violating people’s privacy?
I spoke, hoping that I was interrupting them if they were saying something along those lines. “I have other bugs on the periphery, drawing out cords of silk.”
“Show us. We have a camera in Tecton’s suit.”
Okay, this was getting borderline annoying. Second guessed every step of the way.
My swarm moved in front of Tecton, swirling.
“Image, Weaver,” it was a different man who spoke. The fat one… I couldn’t remember his name. “We need to do something about appearances, here.”
“Appearances?”
“The black, amorphous swarm. It conveys the wrong ideas. It’s disturbing to any onlookers, and if photos of you using your power on any greater scale made the rounds, it could be fodder for some ugly articles. You already face an uphill battle, with your reputation as an ex-supervillain.”
“You’re serious,” I said. I tapped my ear to shut off the channel, looking at the others, “Is he serious?”
“Glenn is always serious,” Clockblocker said. “When I first picked my name, Clockblocker, and announced it in front of a live camera so they couldn’t retract it, they punished me with intensive lessons with Glenn.”
“They do that any time you screw up on the PR front, like swearing on camera,” Hoyden said. “And in the sessions, he talks to you about your hair, about redesigning your costume…”
“How to talk so you command attention,” Vantage said, over-enunciating his words.
“How to hold yourself,” Jouster said, straightening his back, squaring his shoulders and raising his chin a touch.
“We can hear you, you know,” a woman said through the earbud. Rime?
“Maybe we need lessons in decorum,” Glenn’s voice buzzed in our ears.
Hoyden made a pained expression. She glanced at Tecton, then ducked low, avoiding the camera, while she walked around to Tecton’s back. She pushed at his shoulder, urging him to turn around. He rolled his eyes and sighed as he obeyed, and Hoyden prodded him forward until he was standing right in front of a wall.
“I really don’t know what you expect,” I said. “It’s my power.”
“By all reports, you’re a clever girl,” Glenn said “Surely there’s a way to present your power in a less threatening way.”
I opened my mouth, but the sheer number of protests that came to mind all jumbled together. I looked at the Wards, trying to see if I was the butt of a joke.
“Lucky, lucky you,” Clockblocker whispered to me, covering his ear with his hand, “You get his attention right from the start, and I’m willing to bet he’s not going to leave you alone. It almost makes me feel better about the time you crammed those bugs into my mouth and ears.”
Vantage made a face at that.
“So worth the extra shifts I’m pulling this week,” Clockblocker commented to Jouster. “Just to see this.”
“I’m not sure what you want, Glenn,” I said, after tapping my earbud, “I could send my bugs in one at a time. That’s not threatening, right?”
“Your sarcasm isn’t appreciated, Weaver,” Defiant informed me.
“I’m willing to play ball,” I said. “I just want to figure out what the he- heck you want, first. Do you want, like, ladybugs? There’s color there, a nice red cloud. There’s only, um, two hundred and twelve ladybugs in my range. But I could use them. Or… butterflies? There’s more butterflies than ladybugs.”
I accessed the butterflies in my swarm, drawing them to me.
“Tekky,” Hoyden said, “Turn around. They’ll love this.”
“Tecton,” he mumbled, stressing the word. “I hate ‘techy’, ‘tech geek’ and all those names. Just like I hate being the camera guy, the guy who the PRT gets to fix the vans when they want to cut work early…”
I drew the butterflies into formation, a stream of them following after one another.
“I just want you to realize that this is what you’d be asking me to-”
“Yes,” Glenn said, cutting me off. “Excellent! They did say you were smart.”
Clockblocker was laughing silently, his shoulders shaking.
“Serious as cancer,” Hoyden mimicked her superior. “All Glenn cares about is the image, the PR. Up to you to figure out how to hold yourself like a ‘lady’ while you’re dealing with street thugs with guns.”
“You would know, Hoyden,” Glenn said. “I’d hoped something would sink in for you, with you having more meetings with me than anyone has in the past year.”
“Stick to business, please. Where did you get all those butterflies, anyways?” I think it was Rime, on the comms.
“Rooftop gardens,” I said. “There was a whole block with older buildings and a garden on every roof, while we were heading this way. Lots of balcony-mounted flower troughs, too.”
“We’d need to get you a steady supply,” Glenn said. “I wonder how we arrange that.”
“They’re really going to make me the butterfly girl?” I asked.
Clockblocker only laughed harder. I was pretty sure he was faking it, at this point. He couldn’t find it that funny.
“If this is a problem,” Defiant said, the earbud’s digital sound only compounding the faint digital note of Defiant’s voice, “We can cancel the job, take a few days to discuss the tools you need to do the job effectively.”
The worst of both worlds. I’d be backing down, they’d probably argue for this as a way to keep me ‘tame’, and I’d look disobedient.
“No,” I said. “You want me to use butterflies, let’s do that.”
“For real?” Hoyden asked.
I nodded. “We’re picking a fight with the Adepts?”
“This is only a branch,” Prism said, over the comm, “They have three primary properties. They don’t hold territory, so the local gangs leave them be. The idea is to discourage them. Fight only so long as you’re confident you’ll win. Communicate what’s going on, and we’ll step in if need be. With luck, this will be a setback for them, and cause to stop headhunting from our side.”
“Okay,” I said. “Who’s in charge?”
“Me,” Jouster said.
It would be weird to not be the leader, after heading the Undersiders. “You okay with me as recon?”
“Suppose you have to be, if you’re limiting yourself to butterflies,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to limit myself to recon,” I said.
“You’ll tear them to shreds with butterfly bites,” Vantage said. “Do butterflies bite?”
“They don’t have mouthparts that can bite,” I told him. “They have proboscises.”
“So are you like, super smart or something?” Hoyden asked.
“No,” I answered her.
“Don’t get distracted by the new member,” Jouster said.
I noted what my bugs were telling me. “There’s three of them inside. Two men, one woman. The men have groupies with them, I think. In their bedrooms. There might be more, but they don’t have costumes on.”
“They should have numbers on their sleeves. Roman numerals.”
“I can’t really see through the bug’s eyes,” I said. “One second…”
I found the woman, sitting on the couch, a laptop on a coffee table in front of her. The bugs traced her sleeve.
“It’s not embroidered, I can’t sense anything raised, and the bug’s eyes can’t make out the letters. Sorry.”
“Check the surroundings,” Jouster said. “Tools? The group’s practices involve using tools, ritual, rites, chants, and all that crap to try to achieve better control over their abilites.”
“Kind of makes sense,” I said. “Abilities get stronger when you’re in a mental state closer to how you were thinking before your trigger event, so-”
“Wait, what?” Clockblocker cut me off.
“Yeah,” I said. “I triggered while I was in a locker. I’ve been thinking, I get just a little stronger when I feel trapped, or when I despair, or when I feel betrayed. My range extends.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jouster said. “Three of them. No tools?”
“Sort of a tool. A rod, short, barely a foot long, and blunt, no barrel or anything. Carved, I think.”
“Not sure,” Jouster said. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”
“Um. But if you look,” I pointed. “There’s birds. Usually they’ll pick off a few bugs that get too close, but they aren’t moving.”
“And there’s some inside?” Jouster asked.
“Three… five birds in cages inside the apartment,” I said.
“Felix Swoop, tier three member of the group,” Jouster said. “Master-blaster hybrid. Controls birds, but not as much control as you seem to have. Thing is, he applies fire immunity and pyrokinesis to the birds, programs them with movements. You said he’s distracted?”
I noted Swoop’s presence in the bedroom, tried not to pay too much attention to the particulars of what was happening inside. “Definitely occupied.”
“Let’s move,” Jouster said. He began striding across the street. He raised his voice, “Back away from the building!”
No reaction from the men in the bedroom or the woman on the sofa. They couldn’t hear it.
I directed my swarm. Bugs moved through the crowd, and I organized the swarm so it was surrounded by butterflies, masking the core of the ‘disturbing’ black swarm within.
Cheating, maybe, but I’d do what I had to. The irritating part of this was that I had to look at the swarm to make sure everything was in place. It’d become natural sooner or later, but I really didn’t need more handicaps.
“Back away from the building. You can watch the fight, but watch from the other end of the street,” I spoke through my swarm.
So weird, to be doing this with a veneer of legitimacy.
“What are you doing, Weaver,” one of the capes asked me, through the earbud.
“Warning the crowd. I can mimic my voice by using the sounds my swarm produces, only I’m using mainly butterflies.”
A bit of a fib, but it would fit what Tecton was seeing by way of his camera.
“Keep us updated on your thought process and strategies.”
Jouster led the way into the building.
“I’m using the silk cords I prepared earlier to hamper the birds on the balconies,” I said. “There’s a pigeon roost above, but I’m covering the door, so hopefully Swoop won’t have access to all of those pigeons. And I’ve got other bugs surreptitiously gathering in the clothing that Swoop and the other male discarded. I’m assuming I can use the scarier bugs if the public isn’t about to see?”
“That goes against the spirit of what I was talking about,” Glenn told me.
“Yeah,” Hoyden said, from just behind me, “You should want to use butterflies and butterflies only.”
Tecton pushed the door open, splintering the lock and snapping the chain with just the strength of his power armor.
“Tecton in last,” Prism said. “We’ll want eyes on the scene.”
“I’m the toughest of us,” Tecton protested.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Hoyden said, patting his chest as she walked by.
“Two upstairs there, with two more that might be initiates, might be civilians,” I said, raising my voice a fraction. I pointed in the direction of the two men. I moved one hand to point at another point. “One woman there. All two floors up.”
I hung back as the heroes ascended the stairs, and got to see as Tecton placed his hands against the frame of the door.
“Let me know when,” he said. “And brace yourselves.”
We’d gone over the powers in this particular group before we left. I knew what Tecton and Clockblocker were capable of, obviously. That left Vantage, Jouster and Hoyden. I could track them as they broke into the apartment.
Jouster’s blaster-striker hybrid power involved his lance, a power that conducted along the usual channels, only the form it took varied. He speared through the computer, then swung the blunted side of the weapon at the couch. The woman rolled out of the way, and energy rippled away from the lance, freezing and shredding cushions.
He could choose the effect, making it fairly versatile. Concussive blasts, fire, ice, lightning, suction and disintegration, among other things. Trick was that he had to hit to deliver the effect.
The advantage, conversely, was that he had another power. With a brief-lived burst of superspeed, he closed the distance to the woman, coming to an abrupt stop just in time to kick her in the midsection.
Clockblocker followed, stepping forward to touch the woman and freeze her.
“Woman is Paddock,” Jouster said, through the earbud.
“Caught her,” Clockblocker said.
Hoyden and Vantage were already breaking into the other rooms, interrupting the men and women at play.
Vantage had super strength, but his strength and reflexes scaled up as the number of opponents rose, with diminishing returns. He wasn’t especially durable, but he packed short-range teleports. Very short-range – a matter of two or three feet, at best. He teleported to help close the gap to Swoop and slammed one hand into the man’s collarbone. The woman scrambled for cover.
“Anyone want to break the wishbone?” he quipped.
The other man raised a hand at Hoyden, and she stopped in her tracks. He almost leisurely stood, taking the hand of the girl beside him, then reached down to collect his robe, and recoiled in horror at the bugs that festooned it. He couldn’t get to the rod, whatever it was supposed to do.
“Heads up, Hoyden’s ensorcelled or something,” I said, communicating through the earbuds.
“Nuh uh,” I could hear her speak through the earbud. She caught the cape from behind, then hurled him through the doorway, at Clockblocker. He stepped on the man’s bare back, and the man was frozen.
“Cape two captured,” Clockblocker said.
Hoyden was one of the capes with a mess of powers. Things she hit exploded, things that hit her suffered a retaliatory explosion. She was stronger, more durable, and to top it all off, she had a peculiar resistance to damage and powers that improved as she got further from her target.
Between them, they each had the ability to apply their abilities in devastating ways. They were team captains for a reason.
Wait, was this okay? I’d barely done anything. I was used to hanging back, supporting my allies, and delivering decisive strikes where necessary, but I was supposed to be proving something. Would I be able to say I’d achieved anything definitive?
Was that intentional?
I hurried up the stairs in double time. I reached the door frame, and I got a look from Jouster.
Definitely intentional. He’d had his team bulldoze through the capes, leaving nothing for me. I’d provided recon, but would that be enough?
“Securing the bystanders,” Clockblocker said, from across the room. He approached one of the women, and she made a squeak of alarm as she jumped back from his reaching hand. “Shhh, it’s okay. Doesn’t hurt. If you’ve done nothing wrong, there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll wake up in a few minutes, visit the police, and then go home.”
She glanced at Jouster, as if looking for confirmation, and Clockblocker touched her, freezing her.
The other woman was pulling on pants, the kind of skinny jeans you pulled up inch by excruciating inch, if you were lucky enough to have actual hips. She still wore a black bra, and way too much eye shadow.
“Last one,” Clockblocker said. “You can call in the PRT vans.”
She buttoned up her jeans, then ran her thumb along the chain that ran from her belt loop to her pocket.
“Wait,” I said. The chain- there were charms on it. “Those charms.”
“My embellishment,” she said.
“Shit!” Jouster said. “Clock!”
Clockblocker lunged, but she leaped back. Landing on his hands and knees, Clockblocker reached out, firing the fingertips of his glove at her, each trailing cords that extended to his gauntlet. Two of the cords looped around her limbs as they made contact. Thick, I noted. Not fishing lines that might cut when they were frozen in time.
He froze them, then freed his hand from the glove. She was immobilized.
It wasn’t enough.
“It’s Standstill,” Jouster said. He broke into a run, charging her with his lance held ready.
“Thirteenth Hour, now,” she retorted. Her eyes flared with light, and I felt my body jolt.
“Tecton!” I spoke through my bugs.
My heartbeat slowed to a glacial pace, my breathing slowing. My outstretched hand started drifting down, the strength to hold it up slowly leaving my body.
Thirteenth Hour collapsed, going limp in the midst of Clockblocker’s suspended wires. Jouster, mid-stride, did much the same.
My thoughts were slowing down, volition gone. The others were the same. My sense of time… I was reminded of a dream I’d had, of being put under a spell by Coil. Scopolamine.
Clockblocker’s power wore off the various Adepts, one by one. They composed themselves, dressing.
Swoop dialed a number on his phone, approached the sleeping Thirteenth Hour while holding it to his ear. He lifted her chin and kissed her, staying beside her to catch her as the cords were released.
“Spot of trouble,” he said, with a faint accent. Australian? British? “Wouldn’t mind one of the top tiers. They’ll have reinforcements.”
My eyelids drifted closed. I didn’t have the will to raise them.
But I could follow my bugs as they stirred, converging, moving as if with a mind of their own.
Following my unconscious directives?
The bugs went on the offensive, biting, stinging.
No. It wasn’t even a coherent thought. I’d get in trouble.
“No,” the bugs whispered, their droning forming crude words.
Swoop and the others startled at that. I could sense their movements through the accumulated bugs. He made a hand gesture, murmured a phrase, and birds took flight from the cages around the apartment. After a moment, they ignited, winging their way through the thickest areas of the swarm.
The others would be arriving soon. I had to do something.
That urgency, more than anything, seemed to translate into an order for my swarm. They began moving, bearing silk threads.
That, I was okay with.
The binding they performed was carried out as if from some deep-seated, creative part of me, the part of me that would doodle absentmindedly in the margins of my notebook when I was tired in class. Instead of aimless doodles, however, it was cords and lines of silk extending from table legs to feet, from wrists to earrings and between the loops of shoelaces, and it was all accompanied by the butterflies that I was still maintaining in formation.
Swoop’s improvised phoenixes couldn’t get close enough to burn those things without burning the individuals in question.
The other Adepts were arriving. My sense of time, still, was obscured. Where were the Protectorate capes?
How long would we be stunned like this?
Swoop, one hand pressed to his collarbone, moved his other arm to allow a flaming pigeon to rest on one hand, then winced in pain as he wound up nearly yanking an earring out. “Curses!’
He really said things like ‘curses’.
I did not want to lose to these guys.
The bugs were still moving, aimless, without my active direction, but they were using the silk cords.
Butterflies, I thought.
The butterflies I’d been prepared to use moved into the formations I’d instructed, joining and complementing the swarms of bugs that were weaving webs of silk over and around the four Adepts, including the sleeping Thirteenth Hour. I could sense her breathing.
How to break the spell?
Tecton.
He was under the effects. I could tell, by how his arms had drooped from where he had them on the door frame.
If this was simply a kind of hypnosis…
I called bugs to me, directed them to gather on my face.
Not enough… they couldn’t get through my mask.
Without me asking it to, a cockroach started chewing through the fabric. The fabric that wasn’t nearly as strong as spider silk.
The female Adept that Jouster and Clockblocker had attacked as they entered the apartment made her way toward the kitchen, stumbled as a silk cord around her knees failed to give her enough give.
“Annoying,” she said.
“Admirable, almost,” Swoop commented. “This is the sort of thing we hope to train, and she’s already a fair hand at it, isn’t she?”
“Whatever,” the woman said. She drew a kitchen knife from a wooden block on the counter, then began cutting the most obvious threads.
Seconds, minutes, hours passed. I couldn’t say for sure. There was fighting outside. Capes fighting capes. I couldn’t focus my attention on it.
With the hole in my mask now large enough, the cockroach wormed his way in.
Two ways this could go, I realized, as it dawned on me what I was doing. What my passenger was doing? Either this worked, or it would fail disastrously, and they’d be distracted, at the very least.
The cockroach reached the back of my throat. I gagged and coughed.
And that disruption was enough to shake off Thirteenth Hour’s influence. My thoughts began to coalesce into something more coherent.
Still coughing, fighting the urge to throw up into my mask, I directed bugs into the eye holes of Tecton’s mask, down to his mouth, to do much the same.
“No,” the cape with the rod said.
Another mind-affecting power. I could see my spiders getting larger as they crawled, the apartment getting smaller, I felt vertigo…
Tecton reached out to the doorframe and made the building shudder with enough force that everyone stumbled.
Everyone woke, Thirteenth Hour included. The hallucinations stopped.
“Again!” Swoop shouted.
Thirteenth Hour’s eyes glowed, her power flaring…
But I was ready. A cockroach mobilized to set off my gag reflex a second time, and I was alert before the effect had even sunken in.
So gross.
Vantage and Jouster wore masks that covered their mouths. It’d take a second to get into Tecton’s, and I didn’t want him to unwittingly wake Thirteenth Hour again…
I woke Hoyden instead.
I wasn’t making friends or allies here, I suspected.
Hoyden strode forward, coughing and wiping at her mouth. A flaming bird soared at her face. In the instant it made contact, it detonated in a ball of flame and unburned feathers. She was thrown backwards.
Another homed in on me. I wasn’t durable, like Hoyden. I shielded my face with my arms.
The armor protected me, the cloth didn’t. I could feel it as though something scraped against my flesh, felt the hot prickle that promised future pain. A burn.
“Stop,” the cape with the hallucination power said. He made a sign with his hands, extending his rod at me.
Again, I felt the sensation of things distorting.
I was free of Thirteenth Hour’s power, though, and my bugs were winding silk around his arm and face. He clawed at it, to little effect, and the more butterflies that settled on his face, the less effective he seemed to get.
Hoyden had returned, and endured a barrage of more flaming birds. The larger birds weren’t obliterated as they exploded, and circled around to strike her again. I ducked below one I could sense only by the bugs it burned along its path, then backed away.
The one with the knife. I tied some silk around the knife handle, connecting to the silk between Swoop’s leg and the table.
She tried to bring the knife down to cut something, and the cord went taut, pulling it from her hand. She tried to bend over to pick it up, and the thread between her throat and the light fixture pulled taut.
What was her power, even?
I wasn’t interested in finding out. I navigated the threads by using the bugs to track their placement. The armor Dragon had fashioned didn’t have compartments inside the armor panel at the back, but I had a taser dangling from my belt. Before she could figure out a way to break a thread, arm herself or use her power, I jabbed her with the taser.
She fell, momentarily suspended by the threads. I had the bugs near the light fixture manually break the thread before she strangled.
That left Swoop and Mr. Hallucination, who was apparently suffering for not having removed more threads from himself earlier. He swatted at the butterflies.
I reached Jouster, shaking him. When he didn’t rouse, I shook him harder.
Nothing. Not jarring enough.
I kicked his leg out from under him, and he sprawled.
“Fuck you,” he mumbled, as he began to climb to his feet.
“Wake up Clockblocker and Vantage,” I said.
“You don’t give me orders,” he said. He approached Swoop. The man smacked Hoyden with one more bird, whirling around to face Jouster, and then got slammed in the chest with the fattest part of the lance. The third tier Adept flew into a wall and went limp.
Jouster wanted to clean up? Fine. I tazed the hallucination guy, then hurried to Clockblocker’s side. When shaking him didn’t rouse him, I raised his head from the floor and then smacked it down hard enough to startle him.
“Jerk,” he mumbled.
Jouster had poked Vantage awake.
“Our reinforcements are fighting their reinforcements,” I said.
“Good to know. We get Tecton and back them up.”
“You kicked their asses with butterflies,” Clockblocker said, as we made our way to the stairs.
“I cheated. The butterflies are superficial, decorative.”
“No, no, no,” he said. “If anyone asks, you kicked their asses with butterflies.”
Defiant and I walked back through the corridor of double-layered chain-link fence. There was a long pause as the gates opened.
“You may have won over some of the ones with doubts, but Rime was grumbling about your attitude, and I suspected she was on your side to start with.”
“My attitude?”
“I don’t know. Something to ask her, when the time comes.”
I sighed.
“Your arms?”
“Hurt,” I said. I extended my arms, prodding at the bandage on my forearms. “Nothing serious. Will probably peel like a motherfucker.”
“Language,” he said, as we entered the hub.
The warden was there, waiting for us.
“You got injured.”
“In the line of duty,” Defiant said. “Permitted duty.”
“I told you to keep her out of trouble.”
“Wasn’t my choice,” Defiant said. “I can give you my superior’s number if you’d like.”
“I would like. Taylor Hebert? On the issue with the bug population of my facility, I feel it would be a very bad idea to provide you with a caustic substance to give your bugs, given what your file says you achieved with capsaicin. I had a bug zapper purchased, and you should be able to access it with each and every one of your tiny soldiers. I expect to see it used, understand?”
“Go change. I’ll have a guard waiting here to escort you to your cell.”
I changed back into a fresh prison tunic and pants, leaving my shoes behind. It pained me to leave everything behind, but I did. The female guard patted me down when I’d emerged and handed the bundle of clothes to the guard at the hub’s office, then led me to my cell.
I was cognizant of my fellow prisoners, who watched me. Prisoners who, I had little doubt, saw my injury as a sign of weakness, a reason to descend on me like wolves with wounded prey.
Being out among the Wards had shaken me, on a level. I still needed to find out how to fight like a Ward. A more effective Ward than the ones I’d encountered in the past, ideally. I needed to adjust my tactics, the very way I thought. To build a measure of self-confidence that wasn’t borne by fear and intimidation.
I settled down on the bunk with my book.
I shifted restlessly. I still had trace amounts of adrenaline in my system. The rush of a fight. My arms hurt, too, despite the over-the-counter painkillers I’d tossed back. A second degree burn, and like so many other injuries of the hands and arms, they seemed as though they had been strategically placed where they’d be most irritating and debilitating.
Tonight is going to suck, I thought. How was I supposed to get comfortable like this?
My bugs found the bug zapper, and I began systematically eliminating every cockroach, louse, fly and ant in the building.
The spiders, I kept on hand, directing them to the burned corpses. They could breed, in time, and I could put them somewhere where they wouldn’t encounter any people.
Breaking the rules, maybe, but it was something to occupy my thoughts. It made me feel just a little safer, a little more like myself.
This entry was posted in 23.01 and tagged Clockblocker, Defiant, Dispatch, Hoyden, Jouster, Mrs. Yamada, Prism, Revel, Rime, Taylor, Tecton, Vantage, Warden by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
wildbow on May 25, 2013 at 00:01 said:
This wound up being… ridiculously long. 9747 words. A seventh of a book, if you will.
Hope it’s enjoyable. It was a hard one to pull together, and I delayed/skipped (will see) going to the cottage for the weekend to ensure it got done.
If you’re so inclined, votes on Topwebfiction are appreciated. Also, Worm’s third in the rankings on Muse’s Success (votes are weighted in a funny way, but member votes are weighed higher, as I understand it).
Packbat on May 25, 2013 at 00:24 said:
It’s much appreciated — I was just thinking that Taylor would have a hard time playing by the Wards rules, so it’s awesome seeing her thrown into that situation.
Sorry, not “just thinking” — it’s a thought that I (and a lot of others) have had for a long time.
ward on May 25, 2013 at 00:52 said:
ridiculously easy to register at muses-success it not voteing but the stupid star things
Rika Covenant on May 25, 2013 at 00:59 said:
Overall Rating: 7.921
Average Rating: 9.83 (Guests), 9.75 (Members)
That’s not a weighted rating, that’s a bullshit rating.
No One In Particular on May 25, 2013 at 01:30 said:
I went and voted on both, for what it’s worth, but I’d seriously like to see what kind of math Muse is using to figure that rating. Because seriously, that is just ridiculous.
Meh, you’re still dominating topwebfiction. So at least all is right with the world in one internet site…
For context, the number one rated story on the website has an overall rating of 8.04 — Average Rating: 9.83 (Guests), 9.88 (Members). Worm is number three.
That said, I really want to know what algorithm they’re using. They don’t list any statisticians on the About page, so I’m guessing it’s not sophisticated.
…wait a second. How do you make an average of ten integers come out to 9.75?
Gnarker on May 25, 2013 at 07:13 said:
Same way you have an average below your smallest number?
Are you saying there are shenanigans afoot?
Mazzon on May 25, 2013 at 17:50 said:
Suddenly, a wild hypothesis appears!
Perhaps their ‘overall rating’ isn’t at an average at all but also takes into consideration other factors, such as number of times people have used the link etc. Could be that no story gets overall over nine because they fail to meet some arbitrary standards the site has set for top drawer stories.
Emma on December 4, 2016 at 18:38 said:
When the sum of those ten integers isn’t a multiple of ten. You get a remainder.
packbat on December 6, 2016 at 09:56 said:
You get a remainder of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. None of those divided by ten is 0.75.
irrevenant on December 6, 2016 at 20:35 said:
If 3 people vote 10 and one votes 9 you get an average of 9.75.
Never mind, I see what you’re saying. Not for the first time I wish this had an edit function…
Dues on May 25, 2013 at 02:00 said:
This is pretty normal actually. What they do is that they have a few initial votes of 5 for every story. That way, a story with 5 votes of 9 is rated higher than a story with one vote of 10. The difference between muses success and Amazon is that the number they use to stack who’s story is the best (7.9) is hidden, and users only see user average (9.8). -programmer’s best guess.
tl;dr we don’t need a few 10s we need lots and lots of 10s!
I think I’ve figured it out.
First, the ratings aren’t realtime — they probably update weekly or something.
Second, the way to make your ratings effective isn’t simply registering an account — you have to provide content for the site. From the FAQ:
Currently, the points are rewarded as follows:
– New Listings (without synopsis): 5 points
– New Listings (with synopsis): 10-15 points (editor discretion)
– Update to Existing Listing: 2.5 points
– New Synopsis: 8 points
– Reviews: 10 points
– Rating: 0 points
We reserve the right to alter these at anytime.
I think if a significant number of us go over there and start writing reviews, both for Worm and other stories we’ve read or which pique our interest when we’re flipping through the entries, the weighted average will start looking a lot more like the unweighted average.
Julius Jacobsen (@TehSuckerer) on February 25, 2014 at 12:58 said:
They’re probably using bayesian weighting.
In a nutshell: if there is one product with just one vote, a 10 out of 10, and another product with a thousand ratings that average to 9.5, which one is likely to be better? Probably the later one, depending on other factors like average rating and average number of votes. That’s Bayesian weighting.
In short, that means Worm needed more votes, not just better votes.
Seras on May 25, 2013 at 01:31 said:
Well I LOVED this chapter. It was exactly what I had been hoping for after the crazy build up rollercoaster ride we had been on. It was a… New wind. Kicked their ass with Butterflies cracked me up BTW.
alexanderthesoso on May 25, 2013 at 17:11 said:
It was very needed, after coming home at 3 with a toddler I had been in er with since 1 (am in both cases), i needed something to occupy my mind. thanks.
anonymus on May 27, 2013 at 10:14 said:
how many words does that make for the whole story?
1,188,277 words.
Ashan on May 25, 2013 at 00:02 said:
Firsted!
typo post ( =first post) did i ninja or was i ninjad
“Don’t be a jackass, “You know Skit- Weaver hasn’t read the files. They’re in your city, you fill us in.”
Misplaced punctuation — comma instead of period, extra open doublequote.
Olivebirdy on May 19, 2014 at 16:05 said:
Defiant spoke , “Let’s ensure…
Extra space between spoke and the comma
comickry on May 25, 2013 at 01:07 said:
“They have one building up ahead”
have = are
Gonzo on May 25, 2013 at 03:19 said:
No, it makes perfect sense the way it’s written. Granted, it makes just as much sense with the change you suggested, but I’m inclined to believe Wildbow meant that one the way it was written.
I… Aye. I see. Didn’t read it that way, hence a bit confusion.
but once I have tabs on the adepts
Adepts should be capitalized.
With luck, this will be a setback for them, and cause to stop headhunting from our side.“
“from our side” is roman type; end-doublequote is a start-doublequote.
GreatGreedyGuts on May 25, 2013 at 22:15 said:
Moreover, it’s not italicized, and seems strange to emphasize all of it.
Sorry — “not italicized” is what I mean by “roman type”. I prefer the latter to the former in the way that I prefer “clockwise” to “anti-widdershins”, but I admit that in terms of clarity, the isomorphism would be the converse.
Anti-widdershins. *looks it up*
Funny word. *incorporates into vocabulary*
That makes sense. I thought you were mentioning a font change, and thought maybe that in fixing it, another issue had crept in. Silly of me.
anKLJ on May 13, 2014 at 20:00 said:
necro-edit ideas:
“Weaving costumes, pre-preparing lines of silk,” I said. The extra pre- is odd and really unnecessary.
” … a lightweight, gray one-size-fits-all cotton tunic and pants … ”
If they really are a ‘one-size-fits-all’ they would not come in S-M-L-XL etc.
The opposite of widdershins is deosil, but given that even less people know that word than know widdershins, ‘anti-widdershins’ is probably safer… 🙂
Naeddyr on May 25, 2013 at 06:24 said:
> Thirteenth Hour collapsed to the ground. Jouster, mid-stride, did much the same.
>My thoughts were slowing down, volition gone. The others were the same. My sense of time… I was reminded of a dream I’d had, of being put under a spell by Coil. Scopolamine.
>Clockblocker’s power wore off. [She] freed herself, peeling the cords away from her body, then tying them in knots for good measure. Swoop and the other cape followed some time after, gathering themselves together.
I believe keeping track of all the characters, their powers and their appearances is the single most difficult thing to do when reading Worm. Wildbow introduces characters, gives a description, and very rarely reinforces that description: for example at the beginning of this chapter, I was struck by how I had no impression of Bakuda having a digitized voice, at all. I also mix up character genders – needed a reread to internalize that Hoyden was a girl.
I remember Bakuda’s digitized voice — it came out really creepy when she laughed.
Aekiel on May 25, 2013 at 10:22 said:
“They have probosci.”
Should be proboscices or proboscides. Didn’t catch that myself, but one of the reviewers on DLP did.
Normally I would say “leave it”, but Taylor probably did a lot of reading on insects — she might very well know the proper plural.
its probosci, same as the plural of cactus is cacti, and virus is viri. us ending pluralizes as i. (us as singular becomes i as a plural, we are borg, resistance is futile. )
Well, if you want to be a descriptivist, maybe, but by the same logic it’s ironic when it rains on your wedding day, or if you hit a traffic jam when you’re already late. Logically, either the plurals should be the etymologically-proper Greek plurals or just good old fashioned English “s” or “es” plurals.
Logic has no place in linguistics.
Sheep. ‘Nuff said.
those ARE the proper greek plurals, I believe. I fail to see how that has anything to do with misusing ironic, or the price of tea in brockton bay.
@alexanderthesoso: -us to -i is second declension Latin, not Greek. And proboscis is neither Latin nor -us.
lightdefender on January 19, 2014 at 13:20 said:
I’m also told that virus is irregular in Latin; the correct Latin plral is vira.
Or you can just call it an English word and use viruses.
packbat on January 19, 2014 at 23:23 said:
Really not sure why everyone is so down on poor Alanis. “A situation that is strange or funny because things happen in a way that seems the opposite of what’s expected” is an accepted dictionary definition for “ironic”. That’s obviously a bit subjective, of course. To my tastes things like rain on your wedding day or a traffic jam when you’re already late are too predictable to be truly ironic (unless you’re holding your wedding in a desert or something). But a death row pardon minutes too late is *such* bad luck that it’s funny.
My rule of thumb is if you can legitimately go “Oh come ON! The gods must have it in for me!” then it’s ironic.
PS. It’s hard to envision a situation where you need a knife but only have 10,000 spoons. I can only imagine you’re trapped in a cutlery factory needing to cut the wires on a bomb and digging through crates of cutlery going “Spoon. Spoon. Another spoon. More spoons. Aaaaaaaargh! /o\” xD
Should be a question mark at the end of the dialogue, maybe.
The Wealthy Aardvark on November 4, 2014 at 09:36 said:
Extra space between words
“stumbled as a silk cord around her knees failed to give her enough give.”
Unless this is an English expression I’m not in the know of, there’s something wrong with the last apart of this sentence.
Also, I hereby demand more ass-kicking butterflies.
Yours truly, a hooked reader.
irrevenant on January 1, 2015 at 17:11 said:
“Enough give” is a valid english expression. One of the many meanings of “give” is “to stretch or give way under pressure” and how much “give” something has is how much capacity it has to give way. In this case, presumably the silk cord stretched a little bit, but not enough for her to extend her leg properly.
That said, “give her enough give” is a pretty awkward combination and it might be a good idea to change it.
Nicole on January 11, 2018 at 16:50 said:
Thirteenth Hour (if I’m reading correctly) is referred to as “she”, most of the time before switching to “he”:
…including the sleeping Thirteenth Hour. I could sense her breathing…
Not sure if it’s intentional, I could see this as a possible result of the distortion but it reads as confusing/a mistake
Nevermind, reread, it was talking about the hallucination cape. Still a tad hard to follow in terms of characters though. Might be worth an edit
El Sock on May 25, 2013 at 00:02 said:
Timeline!
(http://redd.it/1euf21)
And…Type Thread? Maybe?
wanderinggeek on May 25, 2013 at 00:26 said:
It has been three months. Three months since all of this started. I never thought about that. Wow.
Psycho Gecko on May 25, 2013 at 01:08 said:
Like I said, it never matched up for a pregnancy.
That’s the most bizarre thing to me. She got her powers about six months ago. She started out three months ago. Reading this, I wonder why every supervillain in the world has taken over a city or two yet, as it seems the way to go about it is to a) be intimidating, b) have a clear understanding of your power, and c) be willing to put yourself into multiple nigh on suicidal situations. If an intelligent teenager can do it, it really says something about the vast majority of them…or maybe they’re just not quite as willing to risk life and limb for something so hard to hold on to.
…I feel like I’ve been getting off topic a lot latelly, everywhere I go.
I think Skitter had several advantages that most other parahumans didn’t.
1. The single most versatile power we’ve seen anywhere in the story.
2. Enough smarts for any sixteen ordinary people.
3. The assistance of a high-level Thinker who had enough smarts for any twelve ordinary people before she got her high-level Thinker powers.
4. The assistance of a high-level reality warper with access to the third-best precog in the world.
5. Access to first-class healing superpowers in the world at a couple key points (bypassing the usual problem of “you should be crippled after going through all those experience-gaining encounters”).
6. Horrendous attrition among anyone who might have been her competition.
Yeah. Every time I feel like Skitter has caught the “my main characters are always better” bug from the author (no pun intended) , I remember how she was recruited. Coil, a powerful and ruthless thinker, got the best thinker he could find (Tattletale , arguably the most powerful thinker we’ve seen with the possible exception of Dinah) to recruit a super group of parahumans. It may have been blind luck that Taylor went after Lung her first night out, but as soon as Lisa got a good look at het and her powers, it was inevitable that she’d end up in the middle of literally world altering events.
Actually, I guess Coil might be more properly classified as a breaker than a thinker, but the point still stands.
A sheep doesn’t want to be protected by a wolf, no matter how loyal he is. It would rather be protected by a very strong sheep.
jordisstigander on November 12, 2015 at 00:04 said:
But isn’t that what a sheep dog is, in the end?
frozen chicken on May 25, 2013 at 04:43 said:
7. A power that lets her fight without even having to be in the same building as her target.
8. A power that is semi-autonomous; continuing to work when she is disabled or unconscious, as well as adding to her mental capacities when used (or at least not subtracting much, which is the key thing. Nobody else gets to stop and consider stuff in the middle of a fight).
9. The previously mentioned fact that she was nigh-suicidal for a while.
10. Having a chunk of her competition wiped out by an Endbringer, something which she only barely survived.
Actually, Gonzo, most people go with wolves protecting the sheep. Their called dogs.
I would love to have a nice big Caucasian Shepherd guarding some sheep for me. It’s a big fluffy cutesy puppydog closer in size to what Bitch turns her dogs into, with a lot of viciousness ready for anyone threatening what it guards.
They’re* dammit!
Stephen R. Marsh on May 25, 2013 at 10:04 said:
Err, put yourself in near suicidal positions … and not end up dead. I suspect that ending up dead stops a lot of them.
Night_stalker on May 25, 2013 at 00:15 said:
And now I’m starting to think the PRT are squandering Taylor’s talents.
I mean, BUTTERFLIES? Really? Why not limit her to houseflies, at least they are useful…
Aesthetics. Remember, the PRT’s primary purpose is to make parahumans less other in the eyes of the public — make them not creepy, not scary. Actually protecting the public is secondary.
Althalus on May 25, 2013 at 00:29 said:
And still they wonder why the world is scheduled to end in a couple years.
theant87 on May 25, 2013 at 00:47 said:
But you WANT a few of them to be a little scary and reassure the public. The wormverse is a scary place and filled with S class threats. It comforts Clockblocker to know that they have Skitter on their team, and I think they should play up her angle as a dangerous last resort weapon that can take down the likes of Lung and Alexandria. The adepts make trouble, the heroes start to lose, and someone says surrender or they send in Weaver. They don’t and Weaver puts them down similar to how she put down Triumph. She will never be seen as a trusted hero due to what she has done in the past. But play up the scary angle and the populace might feel a little more secure knowing they can use her. Someone made a comment a long time ago that the PRT aren’t heroes, that they act more like cops or civil servants. So let Weaver be the VERY bad cop.
Clarvel on May 25, 2013 at 00:51 said:
Well said, theant.
k4rv3r on May 25, 2013 at 02:42 said:
Skitter/Weaver as a sort of nuclear deterrent ending fights just with the mention of her name. (and her considerable list of defeated enemies)
DasNiveau on May 25, 2013 at 03:34 said:
“Why can’t i be the scary one then?“ asked about every ward
Bugs are just creepy and a bit of a primal fear for most. I could see Tecton being a bit scary depending on how he designed and colored his armor. He shows up and buildings fall down, so imagine what he could do if he hits you. If defiant played up the cold robot angle he could have a bit of intimidation factor as well. Shadowstalker was bit intimidating but only because she was known for being a vicious bitch who goes for the kill.
See, Theant there you go thinking like a reasonable, rational person! All the PRT (and by extension the protectorate and wards) want is another freak (I mean parahuman) who’ll be completely under their control. They don’t care about public perception as much as they claim to, they care about keeping normals safe from these freaks with powers.
Maybe under Piggy, but hopefully they all aren’t like that. I imagine the public has a mixed view of parahumans. Sierra’s brother made a point how everything is their fault but I think the public gives them a pass due to fighting and dying in such big numbers holding off the Endbringers. This is the new PRT though, and the world IS supposed to end soon. This should cause the PRT to give Skitter a bit of a pass and let her do her thing. She does a have a bit of a reputation that could come in handy. “Look you can talk to me, or you can talk to the girl who has a thing for eyes.”
Exactly. Machivelli said “And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”
By analogy that would make the PRT the cops, and Weaver the Swan team, armed for bear and licensed to kill if necessary.
SWAT team. Stoopid autocorrect. -_-
underwhelmingforce on May 25, 2013 at 00:29 said:
I dunno… I feel like if you got enough of them it could be pretty intimidating.
Then again, enough of anything could be pretty intimidating.
I’m still hoping she gets some darwin bark spiders eventually.
camo005 on May 25, 2013 at 00:34 said:
I think it would be cool if a tinker put some weapons on her bugs. Like nice nonlethal taser butterflies.
They are called MURDERFLIES! A cookie for whoever gets the reference.
Sounds like something from Metalacolypse.
Venture brothers actually.
Maybe the existence of the Monarch character will work against Glenn. Quickly, summon the lawyer demons!
Aharon on February 9, 2014 at 03:30 said:
Wow, did you beta-read Pact back in may? 😉
Squivler on May 25, 2013 at 04:24 said:
How about literal butterfly knives?
langer101 on May 27, 2013 at 11:52 said:
Hoping she gets some http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila_clavata
In fact someone (not me) should make a list of all the bad ass critters…*subtle as a brick hint*
I actually think they are a little afraid of her and what she can do. I mean whenever the spiders with silk attacked, I couldn’t help but think she is holding back. She can simply have them blind them, force themselves down their throats, and thats not with the venomous insects. The PRT has to realize that she could probably kill all of the adepts without too much trouble. The reason that a few captains are testing her is because they see her as a threat. They don’t see a little girl trying to fit in. They see the girl that beat Lung, outmanuvered Dragon, and killed mother-fucking alexandria. I mean Taylor could freak the prison out by just having EVERY bug in her range throw themselves into the bug zapper and destroy it by crush of bodies.
I’m just irritated with them right now. It’s like Taylor’s first few battles, except at least back then it was her own inexperience holding her back, but right now, it’s a couple of idiots. I mean, come on:
Weaver=bug powers.
Bug power=bugs.
Bugs=predominantly black.
Take it like a man, Glenn, it’s not exactly rocket science. Because the battle was interesting, especially when seeing how Weaver gets around her handicaps, when I compare this to the raid on Butcher and her friends, or the battle she fought with Regent and Imp, and I’m just weeping for what’s being wasted.
Keno Black on May 25, 2013 at 03:04 said:
Now, that’s just unfair. Just because most of the insects that survive in urban locations tend to be brown and black doesn’t mean all of them are. Hell, some houseflies come in vibrant blues and greens. Some beetles come in brilliant colors. And, even still, we’ve got aphids, mantises, and cicadas for varying greens.
Black and Brown are just what works in underbrush and inside the wood of homes.
beyondperformant on May 26, 2013 at 13:09 said:
Since cicadas have a 17 year cycle best not remind Glen
Now there’s a good compromise. Praying mantises are both pretty to look at and terrifying to see coming at you in a swarm. Everyone wins (except the poor, poor S.O.B.s being overrun by an army of praying mantises).
Loki-L on May 25, 2013 at 02:05 said:
Think of it as a learning and training exercise.
Considering how much better Taylor got at using her powers by spending some time blind, this could actually help. Having to learn how to do things only visibly using butterflies might be the sort of handicap that could help her improve her understanding of her own powers.
I can’t see that going against a group like Adepts should be considered “practice”. If someone risks injury or being taken over by them then it is too big a risk. Taylor could have taken the entire group without being near them in about 10 minutes. Instead there was a protracted battle with injuries. Irresponsible.
Admiral Skippy on May 27, 2013 at 05:48 said:
This is an interesting point. I already discussed it with you and others at some length on spacebattles, so I’ll post a link below as it seems silly to repeat myself. The gist of my response, as you’ll already know Stalker, is that the restrictions on Taylor’s abilities are probably over the top, and she’s already shown that she can moderate her degree of force and image effectively while using her full range of abilities. A happy compromise would be possible, but it’s INEVITABLE that it won’t be reached at first because the PRT don’t trust Taylor, and harbour animosities towards her in many cases. Hopefully this will change in time.
http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-superhero-web-serial.228262/page-34#post-10873243
Reading your post, I suddenly was struck with curiosity about Taylor’s actual height and weight. Going by the various cues (e.g. tall for a girl but not tall tall but tall enough that the Internet thinks she must be a full-grown woman, small frame, lean but fit) … five foot nine, one thirty five pounds (175 cm, 61 kg)?
In my notes, I had her down at 5’8″ (178 cm), 125 lbs (56 kg). Pretty close!
Significantly skinnier than I would have guessed, actually — I assumed that given how hard she’s been training she would have put on a bit more muscle mass. She really is whippet-thin, then.
Come to think, that might contribute to how she comes off as being taller than she really is a lot of the time.
Training for strength isn’t the same as training for bulk. And it’s much harder for women to bulk up than men. It’s a shame women tend to avoid weights at the gym for fear of looking like Arnold – it has a lot of health benefits and it takes an insane amount of bodybuilding (and probably steroids) for a woman to bulk up rather than just firming up. They can still get hecka strong though.
Taylor’s exercise tends to be more aerobic (running) rather than resistance too. Runners tend to be slimmer with muscular thighs rather than bulking up overall…
Now I want to see how close I can guess the heights and weights of the other Undersiders.
Bitch: 5’7″, 175 lb — you remember that “I’m not fat, I’m big-boned” joke that went around for the longest time? Rachel isn’t fat, she’s big-boned. She’s no wall of beef and she’s not that tall, but she’s got a broad frame and muscles.
Tattletale: 5’8″, 135 lb — she was a little taller than Taylor when they first met, so 5’8″ is a minimum; from her remarks at Fugly Bob’s I see her as not-skinny and self-conscious about it in the way 21st century Americans are generally self-conscious about that kind of thing, but given that she told Taylor she could claim that her new clothes were hand-me-downs she’s probably actually pretty skinny.
Regent: 5’10”, 140 lb — I don’t remember anything about Alec’s height, so I’m guessing it’s average; his build looks like a dancer’s build with the fake muscles under his shirt, so he’s gotta be skinny as all getout.
Grue: 6’8″, 275 lb — a foot taller than Taylor and absolutely a wall of beef. This is more than completely established repeatedly in the story.
Parian: 5’0″, 105 lb — she’s Accord-short and small enough that she can’t intimidate anyone physically. Could be ten pounds more or less, though; I don’t think her build has been described in any detail.
Kim on May 29, 2013 at 12:49 said:
Man, that’s RAIL thin.
That’s thin enough that most people would call bullshit on her being an adult…
At least in America. She’s not Kenyan or Asian, which can do the rail thin with a reasonable likelihood of still being an adult.
I just remembered (again) that I forgot to post a guess for Imp: 5’9″, 150 lb. Brian’s tall, so I’d expect her to be relatively tall as well, and she has a shape, unlike Taylor, so not nearly as thin.
You forgot Imp? Fancy that.
Probably the furthest off. Keep in mind that she’s rather young, so she’s not even midway through puberty or her growth spurts.
Pseudonym on February 27, 2017 at 16:36 said:
Everyone’s talking about how small she is, and here I am, a male who weighs approximately 110 pounds and is 5’10”. An adult too, so it’s kinda weird for me to see exactly how skinny I am in everyone’s minds.
liminal2016 on July 13, 2017 at 21:48 said:
I think something was off with your math. 178 cm is 5’10”. 5’8″ is 172 in.
megasolipsist on June 9, 2018 at 03:52 said:
There’s something off with yours. 172 inches is 437cm.
I’m delighted and intrigued as to what part of my post got ya thinking about Taylor’s actual height and weight, Packbat, and good guess btw : )
Also I now have a mental image of Rachel having gotten hold of an Ovcharka, and it being physically bigger and heavier than Taylor even in it’s untransformed state, and them sitting on a couch watching lassie together and the Ovcharka barking for the exciting bits. This amuses me no end : D
Passage was this:
The fact that her power can look a little scary is easily spinnable away, with a competent PR person on the job. A good PR person could do it in their sleep, hell you could even embrace the edginess of her powers and craft a persona based on that, if you were smart. (The public love an underdog, and they get precious little of it elsewhere in the Protectorate.)
I was thinking her size could help sell her as an underdog — at 125 pounds, she’s literally a flyweight under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.
Aha, clever, that’s a good point. I mean that, coupled with the fact that she charged Leviathan single handed with a broken arm, and your work is done really.
RazorSmile on May 25, 2013 at 00:29 said:
He couldn’t find it that funny.
Oh yes, he can! I sure as hell did! 😀
Its been about 20 minutes since i finished the chapter…I’m still laughing
Beat by butterflies comes to mind 😉
Death is coming. And it flies on colorful, fluttery wings.
New favorite battle cry.
One of the many times I regret I can’t convince anyone I know to read Worm, because my roommate looked at me like I was a lunatic when I started laughing, and I really wanted to say, “Hey, come over here! Someone just dissed Taylor. AGAIN.” And then we’d laugh, because as it has been put ever so elegantly:
“Meh, I could take her,” said Jouster.
“Hey, Lung, are you watching this?”
“I would rather not.”
“The news is saying that Weaver just helped drop a group of Adepts with butterflies.”
*grumble*
“Isn’t that the same girl that stopped you twice?”
*instant flamey doom*
Which can be easily twisted around.
“She didn’t need any vicious or venomous critters for them and attacked you with every poisonous creature in her arsenal. So take it with pride – you required lethal force incarcerate, while those clowns were soundly defeated be the butterflies of doom.”
“Hey, at least she beat you with DIGNIFIED insects. Imagine if she beat you with butterflies”
It gets better. The second time, the only time he regards as her beating him? She used a moth.
Why is Clockblocker so perfect? I’ve been having a shitty day and this chapter, Clockblocker especially just made my day awesome.
I envision a day, not too far down the line when people realize just how damn dangerous the bug girl is, that Taylor surrounds herself with a swarm of butterflies and a criminal reacts like she has a loaded gun.
He even forgave her for the bugs. And slamming his head against the floor. And he even got to see her shove bugs down a few other people’s throats.
Clockblocker will drink the tea. It is a good day.
Any day where Taylor Hebert is on your side is a good day.
Of course, it means you won’t end up waking up one night tied to your bed by a swarm of spiders…
Jim Lee on May 25, 2013 at 20:52 said:
Unless, of course, you’re into that kind of thing.
Hey man, spider chicks have twice the hands, know what I mean?
Oh crap, she’s trying to bite my head off!
No loss *snickers*
And now I’m thinking of PokéGirls. Brrr…
Thomas on May 26, 2013 at 14:55 said:
Definitely my new favorite line.
Yes. If Wildbow can make characters deliver such lines regularly, it’s a great step up for the humour side of Worm. They shine like diamonds in the grimdark world of Lindwurm.
Veloren on May 26, 2013 at 18:07 said:
It’s like people who live where the weather gets really cold and you get bad snowstorms. You don’t have to like it, but there’s a perverse sense of pride in bragging about it to southerners.
…Yes, Skitter is basically a natural phenomenon. That shoves bugs in your mouth.
As an Australian, I thoroughly approve of this concept. And truth be told, I can imagine Clockblocker doing the whole ‘Dropbear’ thing and making a point of scaring the younger Wards with tales of Skitter.
‘Loam shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the plastic edging digging into his costume. Beside him, his team-mate Wisp whimpered quietly.
At the front of the room, Clockblocker cleared his throat. “And that isn’t all. Before coming over to our side of the fence, Weaver was known as a Class B threat, with a potential threat rating of A. She controlled vast swathes of the city through fear, castrated a man who once fought off Leviathan in hand-to-hand combat and humiliated everyone who has ever challenged her. She sees everything that goes on around her, is known for dissolving into bugs like some sort of fictional ninja, and has terrified her enemies into submission by filling them up with bugs. You should all consid-”
Clockblocker’s narration halted as a swarm of bugs interrupted his lecture, forming up into a humanoid shape. Loam felt fingers tighten around his hand, and looked to see Wisp holding on to him. The rustling figure spoke.
“Hey, Clockblocker, fun is fun, but I only agreed to you exaggerating my exploits as a way to scare some sense into them. It kind of misses the point of the hyped intimidation if you’re listing things that I’ve actually done. You especially didn’t need to bring the thing with the eyeballs into it.”
Clockblocker raised an eyebrow before replying. “I didn’t. Until you just said, I wasn’t even totally sure you were the one to cut out Lung’s eyes.”
The figure shook for a moment, and Loam belatedly realised it was shaking its’ head. “Wasn’t talking about that time. I’m upset you brought up me filling up Valefor’s eyeballs with maggots.”
There was total silence in the room, apart from the slight sound of Wisp hyperventilating. Clockblocker coughed.
“…I, um, wasn’t aware of that one. I was just talking about your tendency to drown people in bugs.”
The figure was silent a moment, and then looked aside awkwardly. “Oh. My bad.”
Despite himself, Loam let out a whimper of his own.
((I don’t think Loam and Wisp have already been taken as code-names. If they have, just imagine something else in their places)).
Puppetmaster24 on May 27, 2013 at 06:23 said:
If you don’t do your homework the skitter will come for ya!
The way it is presented it seems as if he was trying to scare them off.
Would have been better if you spent some time building up to it, like…
Clockblocker led the two newest Wards through the HQ, explaining the ins and outs of procedure and introducing them to his team mates as well as commenting on the various capes he didn’t want to bother just now.
Taking note of the glances Wisp and Loam took at a door with a stylized bug adorning it, he explained a bit about the infamous Weaver.
“And that isn’t all. Before coming over to our side of the fence, Weaver was known…”
That’s pretty vivd..and good. Why dont you take a stab at fanfiction?
Pinkhair on May 25, 2013 at 00:41 said:
“a kerchief over the upper half of her face” Extra space there- and should it be the lower part? I suppose the upper part could work, but that seems more dread pirate roberts to me.
“I felt weirdly” Cut off there.
“what you want, Glenn”” missing comma.
““Don’t flatter yourself,” Hoyden said, patting his chest.” She seems to change gender.
Fixed. She didn’t change gender, she was patting Tecton’s chest.
Hey now, Tecton’s chest almost made me change gender.
Mmmmhm. Dat Chest. It be Manly.
And chiseled abs.
He has that effect on everyone. Very awkward moment when he met a married shapeshifter.
And when he touches you, it’s like you can feel the earth move.
“Darling, was that just me or did the Earth really move?”
– “This distinction doesn’t really work with me, now does it?” 😉
armorous on March 21, 2017 at 23:50 said:
Calling it. Tecton’s official song is Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.”
you oue me one vodka nyquil
Good catches, but remember, we’re trying to keep this in one thread for convenience.
Chime on May 25, 2013 at 00:50 said:
Man, they’re still underestimating her? Insulting her capabilities? She killed Alexandria, they aren’t even pretending like she didn’t. Are heroes really that stupid? Why isn’t she in a leadership position? Or at least, on the fast track for something like that? She can obvoiusly do more than play sidekick, she ran an entire sector of a city, admittedly by “proxy” – but I don’t think there are many sixteen year old girls who can admit to doing something quite like that.
Pisses me off that she’s in prison too. It’s like a slap in the face. Her time is valuable. The world is going to end. And they think they’re justified in wasting it? Sure, from their perspective, it’s “justice” or something close to it, but it seems right ridiculous, that she would agree to any of this; it’s hardly better than being /mean/ and managing BB. What does she hope to accomplish playing the shallow games of these children masquerading as heroes? Urgh.
I do like the change of setting and direction, but the pretense of it could have been different. Taylor doesn’t need therapy, she doesn’t need jail time, she doesn’t need to play power games and stroke egos. But I guess that’s what we’re going to see for a while? I hope they get what they deserve, at least.
Going from Villian to a leader of a hero group isnt exactly good for the PRT’s image. Most of the heroes wouldnt trust her enough to obey her either. Same with the prison thing, the heroes dont trust her to run around free. Think about it for a second, from the perspecive of the PRT and the Heroes, why should they trust a villian who has just killed one of their best to roam free and be a leader of one of their ward groups?
You saw Glenn. The heroes really are that stupid.
Alathon on May 25, 2013 at 01:05 said:
Can they really, in good conscience, give her leadership over Wards members without taking the time to establish a track record in the Wards that merits leadership? She was operating at a high level of villainy not two weeks ago, maiming and killing, ostensibly for justice and the common good. That’s not the sort of behavior they want Wards exhibiting, and especially not teaching to the Wards under their command.
“Can they really, in good conscience, give her leadership over Wards members without taking the time to establish a track record in the Wards that merits leadership?”
Why not, they let a guy with a fauxhawk be the PR and image consultant.
It’ll be interesting to see. When you have a guy who’s as on about image as him, but who has developed a personal image that hits many unsavory notes, that suggests they’re by design. Maybe to make his job easier, as a way of developing leverage over the Wards. End of the day, he can’t force competent parahumans to do fuck-all, but he can make ignoring his requests so tiresome that it’s easier to put up with his bullshit than provoke him to worse. All the while, he has what amounts to diplomatic immunity.
I just wish he could be transported back in time to a WWF wrestling ring in the late 90s.
“What? A bald, beer-swilling redneck with underwear and a vest on telling people to give him a hell yeah and throwing up middle fingers?! And he’s a good guy? The public will never go for it!”
*cue thousands of people wearing Austin 3:16 shirts*
What’s next a fat guy who lives in a basement wearing dung colored tights and an ugly leather mask with long hair who talks to himseld and can take lots of pain?”
*and thousands wearing shirts with a happy face wearing a similar mask that reads “Have a nice day!” underneath it*
“What is wrong with these degenerates?”
*just in time for music to play as guys walk out crotch-chopping to massive applause and tell everyone to “Suck it!”*
“Please, I need to get out of this hellhole. If there’s a God, I hope he’s listening.”
*Gong! The lights go out*
Fully agreed. She should be fast-tracked into a leadership position (but probably won’t be — I see the PRT locking her in as a perpetual second-in-command, like Gully), but she cannot lead until she has had the proper PRT brainwashing.
Which, thanks to Lisa’s self-confidence school, won’t be sticking.
Forum Explorer on May 25, 2013 at 21:19 said:
I wouldn’t put her on a team at all. Have her as an independent hero who is sent up against the deadliest villains. Even throw her at Nilbog and take bets on who would win. Don’t put any restrictions on how she fights. Let Weaver become the new Kill Order.
Skitter definitely needs some degree of therapy, most people do when they’ve been through traumatic events, which she most certainly has. Jail time is so that she isn’t getting off scot free.
Loved this chapter.. bummer about getting charged as an adult, but several hundred assault charges is a lot for merely juvenile detention. Worse than that, Taylor is learning the awful truth about the Wards: their true struggle was not against the villains of Brockton Bay, it was the daily challenge to climb Bullshit Mountain, uphill both ways.
Fight was fun, appropriate sort of wizard powers and bullshit politics right from the start. More fuel for the expanded-consciousness or consciousness mastery power theory. Would explain how Taylor can function under a mind-damaging or time-altering affect, if a fair portion of her mind is outside her body, and her ‘range’ is actually the radius of her consciousness. Could also explain how Taylor hardened up so quick, if some of the stronger personalities she encountered rubbed off on her while they were in her range (Jack Slash, Bakuda, Lung, to name a few). Too, when she encountered each of them, she tended to come right back at them with their own style. Lung with cunning and brutality, Bakuda with sudden violence, Jack with laser focus and savagery.
Which reminds me.. Jack’s power, another bit of speculation: if he triggered with a power based around the understanding of ‘cutting’, it could very well extend to wit. The idea being that so long as he stays true to form, stylish and sharp as a knife, his barbs reach out and touch people the way his knives do. Fun thought 🙂
You assault one(hundred) person(s) with a lawyer…
Charles Borner on May 25, 2013 at 01:32 said:
Well think about it.
Her ability to individually control hundreds or thousands of bugs simultaneously is MASSIVE multitasking. Seriously RIDICULOUS levels. Remember that a good chunk of humanity has trouble walking and chewing bubblegum at the same time. She can think about several hundred or thousand things simultaneously.
Even slowed down, that’s a LOT of actions she can set into motion.
Yes. MAYBE she’s a “Thinker: 1”
Now multiply that times all the things she can do at the same time.
Are you REALLY ready to deal with the fruits of the labor of a few HUNDRED low-level thinkers working in unison? To say nothing of a few THOUSAND.
If you’re someone fighting her and you DON’T poop your costume over a thought like this, you simply haven’t thought about it.
She’ll kick your ass with butterflies, man.
Warden sounds like she’d prefer Taylor in a literal Suicide Squad.
And Glenn…oh boy Glenn.
If they’ve ever wondered why they were losing, safe to say Glenn is just about as dangerous to the Protectorate as Cauldron. Personally, I got a mental image of that one fat actor. I know he was some artsy character in Beetlejuice who was tormented by his suit being turned into something that looked bad, like an 80s leisure suit or something.
Seriously, no venomous bugs…no hornets, no wasps, no bees even. They want her fighting bad guys with butterflies. Shoot Glenn and they’re combat efficacy will go up at least 50%, I assure you. A whole lot easier to fight when you’re not constantly thinking about how to stand, speak, hold yourself, if you have something in your teeth, if you’re putting on weight, if your bugs look ok, if you’re not sending out overly threatening signals, and how to avoid cussing. Which, by the way, makes it easier to tolerate pain.
Jouster, also a nice little asshole here if he’s going to act like that.
Nice to see Clockblocker show some sense. Plus, you know, pointing out that this guy was underestimating the girl who killed Alexandria.
Gee, no wonder there are far more people classified as villains than there are heroes. I mean, Glenn flashes you back to Velveteen and now I’m wondering if some of the villains are only labeled as such because some asshole in the Protectorate thought it’d be funny to mess with some files some day.
Now im imagining a cape leaving the wards to go be a supervillian because they hated the dress code.
In a way its already happened, Flechette left the Wards to hook up with Parian who was originally trying for a career in fashion design.
I agree wholeheartedly. I get in some stories that people are afraid of people with powers and they tell them to act like the best of us to keep people from freaking out but the wormverse works differently. Legend admits that people aren’t afraid of parahumans/tolerate them because they are the meat for the grinder that is the Endbringers. I say let results speak for themselves and play up her dangerous persona. Have her wear her old costume, and use her bugs like she always has. Let the guy bitch about image while she beats every villain who encounters her in the ground.
To be fair, if you incorporate harmless word in your swear word vocabulary both the alleviating effect as well as fun factor rises.
The whip user didn’t care for the pain he inflicted, or rather it being his point. Either way whips slashed across my forearms protecting my face again.
“Cotton candy,” I muttered, getting louder. “Rainbow-colored cotton candy on a pony ranch, will you stop that already?”
That son of a biscuit-eating bulldog. What the French, toast!
Well that’s just smurfy!
You think I wouldn’t find out about you and your little doodoo head cootie queen?
“Who are you calling a cootie queen you lint licker?”
That is from a commercial somewhere, right? You smurfing smurfer.
Dirty mouth? Clean it up with new Orbit!
Plus, it’s not like most people would DIE from Bee stings.
Well, unless they’re allergic or get stung a shitton of times, but at that point, something’s gone FUBAR as is.
Actually, come to think of it, Taylor could just retire somewhere and open up a bee farm. And if the PRT try to recruit her after that?
“Not the bees!!!!!!!!!!!!”
acediamonds on May 25, 2013 at 01:02 said:
I can just imagine criminals refusing to fight Weaver because no way in hell are they going to be able to live knowing they lost to an army of butterflies.
Kind of sad to hear Taylor won’t be able to go back to Brockton Bay. I have a feeling she’s going to end up with Techton since they seem to have a fairly decent relationship and hey, she’s always wanted a tinker.
My money is on clockblocker. Though Tecton gained some points for saluting her.
Clockblocker: Honey? Why is our baby’s skin a warm chocolate hue?
Grue: *Innocent Whistle*
ROFL.
Pretty sure Clockblocker will be prohibited from recruiting her.
Tecton’s looking most likely to recruit her right now. I guess Hoyden is possible as well — neither of them like Glenn — but I got a sarcastic vibe from most of her comments that doesn’t bode well for their relationship.
I was actually speaking about romantic intentions. Taylor probably misses Brian, and I thought Clockie might be a good match. In terms of teams, I was thinking she can stay in New York as the first choice, and Tectons as second. Tecton’s team already knows and trusts her, and we already know alot about them. If she stays with the New York team we can see some new conflict/drama, and get to know the adepts more. Plus its a superhero universe and New York seems to be crawling with parahumans in ever superhero reality.
Ah. I never saw the reasoning behind Taylor/Dennis other than “Taylor rocks and Dennis rocks and rocks plus rocks equals ROCK AND ROLL” — Taylor doesn’t appreciate Clockblocker’s sense of humor, and Clockblocker doesn’t appreciate Taylor’s bugs in his mouth.
My comment is that Dennis and Taylor would be funny for equal parts irritation and fondness, and also because ULTIMATE RUSTLEMENT of Vista’s jimmies.
I kinda think NOBODY *really* likes Glenn.
I get the impression that Glenn likes Glenn, and Glenn’s bosses like Glenn, and if Glenn likes Glenn and his bosses like Glenn, that’s good enough for Glenn.
I used to think “Dammit Greg” whenever something bad happened to her from being outed. Now I’m going to say “Dammit Glenn” when ever something goes wrong as a hero.
With the way that he tends to tick off the Wards , I would presume that he irritates the adult Protectorate members as well. It’s somewhat surprising that some irate cape hasn’t defenestrated him yet.
Glenn has a stupid job. Glenn knows he has a stupid job.
He’s trying to do his job, though.
wash17 on May 25, 2013 at 01:02 said:
Looking foward to seeing all the new city leader’s powers. And this new villain group’s abilities. Tis sure to make a few good entries in the cast page.
In addition, I bet going into battle with butterflies could lead to many interesting battle cries. Hell, I wonder what some of the other groups combat shouts are like?
“Laugh and scream”
“Wings and Fury”
“Face your beautiful defeat”
“Butterflies, I choose you”
“Undersiders, RISE UP”
Villains…let me people go! *sends in the locusts*
Now imagine a girl in a sailor moon like outfit saying the third one, posing with an asian peace sign.
Someguy on May 25, 2013 at 04:01 said:
Sush! Don’t give Glenn ideas! He’ll make her go into battle as a Magical Girl in an Incrediably Impractical Princessy dress next!
That’d only work if Taylor had very asian features.
Or he could just change the costume to emulate any of the Kamen Riders.
Taylor doesn’t have the legs to pull off a sailor skirt.
@theant87: What if Glenn added Zettai Ryouiki to the outfit? 😛
Knowing Taylor she’d simply cover herself in bugs, so no harm done. Grue would probably appreciate it very much. Though considering the things on the internet, I’m kind of glad Taylor can’t go online to see all the fanfics, fanart of her as a sailor, blogs, fandoms, hatedoms, porn, and Scion knows what else on the girl who started as an undercover hero, became a villain, took over a city, fought off several S-class threats, killed Alexandria, and became a hero again in only a few months. If she ever kills an Endbringer, then I could see people worshiping her as their bug goddess. I wonder if sailor moon existed in the wormverse due to Leviathan, and all the parahumans? They had actual power rangers, so there might have been some real life sailor knockoffs in japan.
Pacifist Crush!
qwerty77753 on May 25, 2013 at 01:07 said:
So we did get a time skip, albiet a rather short one (a few weeks) The deal cut out seems nice and pretty creative. The reform program in prisons thing applied to Weaver seems almost perfect, although it does cut down time she could spend readying her bugs, making a new outfit, and wacky hijinks with the wards.
One thing that concerns me though is how the Undersiders and the others are doing. They seemed to be alright without Skitter and nothing really drastic should happen given that Clockblocker is there and relatively unconcerned. However, couple weeks is a rather long time, and it seems at no point, right now at least, will we get back to them until probably the very end. I guess Witness from the deleted chapter in part was to also help bring the Undersiders back into the fold somehow, along with the Irregulars. I also guess that Danny did vouch for Weaver, but have he and Weaver spoken to each other during that time?
In terms of the battle, I guess Weaver will need to uphold an image still, but instead of creepy and scary, its butterflies and sunshine. However, this might actually make Weaver even scarier/ seem more powerful, and not just for image sake. In regards to the passenger thing, it seems a bit odd that it is now that is taken even more control. In the past, it would have really only worked when Skitter was either fully unconscious, or so focused on her bugs that she just kinda dissociated from her body. Here, she still had some levels of lucidity and awareness, so that could mean a lot of things. Maybe the passenger is taking great control, maybe its starting to “meld” with Weaver, or maybe something along the lines of Labyrinth’s situation.
Also, I guess we really do need to mourn for the loss of Atlas. Unless one of the Undersiders is taking care of him, which isn’t that likely given that they really can’t or know how to, he is definitely not alive anymore. Guess will never get that ever important Atlas interlude.
keyonte0 on May 25, 2013 at 01:20 said:
Atlas is basically a biological RC vehicle. He possesses no instincts and can’t even function without Taylor controlling him.
chaos985 on May 25, 2013 at 17:07 said:
SHUTUP
your spoiling peoples dreams with your damn logic. what if psycho gecko where to read a comment like that?
Actually, people can already turn bugs into RC vehicles. I believe it was something they did for DARPA where they inserted microchips into bugs’ brains and were capable of controlling them. The next step that they were stated to be working on was using beetles, due to their strength, to carry miniscule cameras or audio equipment powered by a very tiny nuclear battery, so they could use bugs to spy on some situations.
And then there was that thing where some scientists wired some rats’ brains together. Trained one bunch of rats in how to solve this problem, wired them to untrained rats, untrained rats could suddenly solve the problem better than if they hadn’t been wired.
keyonte0 on June 5, 2013 at 22:00 said:
What exactly would an interlude through the eyes of a brain-dead insect homunculus even read like?
Quick thought: did the PRT actually debrief Taylor after the mission? Or, now that I think of it, ever? Because I’m pretty sure they’d be in for some shocks, starting with “she can still control her powers while under the influence of hostile mind-controlling powers. Or unconscious.”
Also, this chapter more than anything else lends credence to the “Taylor’s power lets her use insects as parallel processing” hypothesis. Asleep she’s still plotting and planning. Thinker 1 is ridiculously low.
Knowing she can hurt them while sleeping might be something Dragon decided to keep from them. Most likely its that no one has realized it, and Taylor prefers that enemies don’t realize that she can’t be mind whammed for the look of “oh crap” as she attacks.
I’d like to amend it being a forced unconscious state, i.e. knocking her out. If she goes to sleep voluntarily it doesn’t seem to do much, except prepare silk lines like an overeager puppy. Only general orders, if any.
Well her power has only just started to do this, so it is theoretically possible that she can eventually put all of her consciousness in a swarm while she is sleeping. Then she can roam around the city, investigate, and attack others without drawing suspicion.
That this makes me wonder if Skitter will ever start actively training he passenger or if she will just keep accidentally training it.
A on May 25, 2013 at 01:13 said:
Have to admit, this is the story I was expecting to read when I found out Worm was a superhero story.
Also, this needs to be said. Clockblocker is the best.
Also also, I really want Skitter and Dragon to interact more.
Also also also……I wish I had something to say that would give me the excuse to say ‘Also also also also’. Oh look, I did!
Also also also also, I was worried we’d be put in a situation where it would feel wrong to dislike the heroes and a cleaned up Protectorate. Thanks to Jouster and Glenn, it’s nice to see that we can still continue to rag them for their rampant incompetence and assholery.
How soon until Weaver starts spray painting her bugs to get around Glenn?
Trachea make that a difficult task at best at the numbers required. Also, when, if she’s got only a few hours per week outside and is watched all the time?
Hire an entomologist to help her start breeding a group of highly colourful bugs?
Use some less-common creatures to attack? We already know she can control crabs, and the theory is that all invertebrates are under her control.
*Starts imagining Leviathan VS the Kracken.*
Dues on June 1, 2013 at 00:36 said:
My solution? Get the bugs to paint each other. It also leaves a lot of room for shenanigans.
“Weaver! Your passenger has been finger painting again!”
Colorful Antropods of Death? Why hello Mantis Shrimp. Come on in. We were eagerly awaiting your arrival.
…Now imagining getting Panacea to make an Atlas version of a Mantis Shrimp.
My god, the horror.
she never tried out controling goblins (or what else monsters created by nilbog are called)
Liam C on May 25, 2013 at 01:17 said:
Another brilliant chapter from the amazing wildbow! I really liked seeing the way the heroes operate. It’ll be very interesting to see when Taylor starts kicking ass like always, but using butterflies instead.
Reveen on May 25, 2013 at 01:20 said:
Sooo… Glenn Chambers. Wouldn’t have any basis in an alleged crack smoking, racist, Canadian mayor would he?
Well, okay, this guy actually cares about image. But there’s still a joke in there.
Now, what the fuck is with the attitude towards Tecton here? “Don’t flatter yourself,”? Seriously? Fuck right off, I didn’t see Hoyden and Jouster neck deep in Echidna, seeing their teammates ganked by fucking radiation. What the fuck. I hate the Protectorate.
Also, socially isolating the girl who was driven to villainy by social isolation isn’t the best idea. Just saiyan.
Eh, I think Hoyden was joking when she said that line. I agree with you on hating the Protectorate though.
I mean, butterflies, come on.
“A lot of hassle for a little girl,” Jouster said, “Meh, I could-”
Clockblocker was chuckling he stopped to interrupt Jouster, “You really don’t want to finish that sentence.”
Yep, Gecko, that’s how you do it… Psycho Gecko: one typo away from being funny.
No, it was still pretty funny.
endgame on May 25, 2013 at 01:58 said:
Adepts: Meh, I could take herBUTTERFLIESBUTTERFLIESAHHGETEMOFF!!!!
*is tasered*
My god, a Butterfly weapon.
Someone get her a Butterfly knife shaped like a butterfly.
Or her butterflies butterfly knives shaped like butterflies.
And a railgun with a unicorn on it.
Dinstow on May 25, 2013 at 01:20 said:
Oho, looks like Clockblocker found himself in a state of mind similar to his trigger event during the Echidna fight. I wonder how much of him helping her might be so that she can help him. Is it inappropriate to ship Weaver/Clockblocker?
People have been shipping those two for awhile now. Knock yourself out.
Well Clockblocker did say: “I don’t like her, not really.” in this chapter, but that shouldn’t stop anybody. Just like nobody should stop just because Lisa said that this wasn’t the point where she confessed her feelings for Taylor or when she later claimed that none of them swung that way to Parian. Both were obvious lies.
Ooh. Nice ship.
Hmmm. One COULD view Lisa’s denial as Wildbow Jossing the idea. _OR_, we could view it as Lisa lying in order to cover up what happened after hours at the Coil Company party. Tattletale knew just how to hide their secret from everyone…
All Clockblocker left out was the ‘b-baka!’
“I-it’s not like I like you or anything!” *blush*
“I-I didn’t make this lunch for you! I… just happened to’ve made too much. Can’t let it spoil with the state the city’s in, you know.” *shoves lunchbox out*
….It’s not like he wanted her on his team anyway.
Oh good heavens we have turned Clockblocker into a tsundere. We are so, so sorry, Wildbow.
I’m not. There are very few males of that archetype and it is fun. I don’t even ship, I just like the interaction XD
Mouse of Nonny-ness on May 27, 2013 at 05:12 said:
If Clockblocker actually didn’t like her, he would have just said “I don’t like her,” regardless of how harsh it sounds. Appending “not really” turns the statement a bit, indicating that he doesn’t want to be that harsh, and possibly implying that he does like her, but he doesn’t want the others (including Weaver) to know how much. I think she’s growing on him. I don’t know that they’d get together (they might), but I can definitely see a good life-long friendship.
I like it — and it makes me think of another possibility: that he wants to dislike her for what she’s done — pouring bugs down his throat, almost killing Triumph with anaphylaxis, giving Shadow Stalker to Regent — but he doesn’t.
And there’s an obvious reason why he might involuntarily like her: when they were fighting Echidna together, she was the one who turned the battle back around after the Eidolon-clone spilled the beans on Cauldron, and she did it by staking her life on his ability to freeze the cord. notes mentioned in his analysis thread how people are more strongly influenced by what they see with their own eyes; Echidna was, if I remember correctly, literally the third time he met Skitter ever, and the closest he ever interacted with her … and every single thing he sees her she do — and every reason she gave for the morally questionable things she did in the past — is for the greater good.
He saw skitter in action, IIRC…
Post-Shadow Stalker kidnapping
Midst of fighting Mannequin/Crawler
Pre-Echidna
Echidna fight conclusion
Seeing her in the PRT office post-surrender.
He also saw her in the cafeteria at Arcadia, and was all “Holy shit. It’s really her.” when he saw her smiling at how impossible her situation was.
He’s a bright kid, he’s also liable to realise that he saw her in the corridor half an hour earlier, although neither of them recognised the other at that point. Probably.
He also saw her in the cafeteria in Arcadia High, with that whole “Holy shit, she’s smiling, it’s really her….” thing. Saw her in the corridor half an hour earlier too.
@Wildbow: Damn, I missed a lot. Okay, looking at your list and paging through the table of contents trying to remember what fights happened in each chapter:
1. Bank robbery: never saw anything but the bugs.
2. Fundraiser: Grue’d and/or foamed for most of it.
3. Shadow Stalker kidnapping: Skitter capsaicined his teammates, he froze Grue, then Regent+Imp took him down and Tattletale foamed him.
4. S9 planning meeting. Clockblocker was there, didn’t say anything.
5. Mannequin+Crawler: Not much interaction — she was out of grenades, and assigned to evac Glory Girl.
6. PRT Director kidnapping during Dragon crisis: Clockblocker was the one Trickstered out to bring Skitter in — he got frozen with his own power by Grue, and tied up with Skitter’s thread while frozen.
7+8. Pre-Echidna+Echidna conclusion: what I was talking about.
9+10. The cafeteria and her surrender: After what I was talking about, but consistent with what I was saying.
…wow, I hadn’t remembered just how much ass she’d kicked in his presence. I think her behavior fighting Noelle at the conclusion of the Echidna fight was the key turning point in their relationship, the point at which she proved to him that she could be an ally — but I don’t think that one instant could outweigh everything she and her team subjected him to in his mind.
In reference to number 5, I believe he did actually see her save his life. He’d frozen his suit to protect himself, but I think he might(?) have been unfrozen inside of it, so he could see what was going on outside. If that’s the case, then he saw her save his life by blowing a car off him with a grenade.
@frozen chicken: I didn’t think of that — yeah, he did say that his power didn’t work on himself. That’s probably the other reason he wears a full-body suit, too.
Of course, he might not have clearly seen what was happening — remember, she was in the air, and with his suit frozen, he can’t turn his head to look at anything not in front of him. He would have heard her voice, maybe seen those of her insects that were near ground level (not many, after the firebombing), but it’s questionable whether he would know what was happening at the time. Checking Prey 14.5, I don’t see anyone actually saying her name.
Am I the only one who wants a nautical-themed Tinker to be introduced so we can pair them with Bauble for a ship in a bottle?
Well I’m waiting for the aquaman/woman equivalent. Maybe a cauldron fish mutant with water control on a much smaller, and more versatile uses then Leviathan. Though considering this is the wormverse, he probably works in Somalia as a pirate. Or is one of those extreme animal rights activists who started attacking wailing ships, oil platforms, or fisherman.
javaking369 on May 25, 2013 at 09:11 said:
Nah, the guy lives in a desert due to going to school there or something.
alex emm on May 25, 2013 at 15:16 said:
there’s a fish lady in asia (as mentioned by bonesaw) but i don’t think she has hydrokinesis.
Clockskitter, Oy. Just so you know, I’m shipping her with Hoyden just to balance that out.
Clockblocker… Weaver… Cleaver? I want to see them becoming a powerhouse team, if not couple.
CB kisses Weaver.
Looks at her.
“You had Dung Beatles crawling on your face again didn’t you?”
I also want to hazard a guess – We get this arc to set up the next few years of Taylor’s life, and lays out her goals she wants to accomplish in that time. Then perhaps we get another set of anniversary arcs that take place pre- and/or post-timeskip. Cut to super badass hero Weaver.
So I wasn’t the only one seeing that? The potential for a crawling time-skip, so to speak, or rather a series of little hops?
Imagine this arc following Taylor on her adventures every few days/weeks and get her socialize or in good standing with the PRT and by the next arc…
That wouldn’t really fit into the formula where everything progressively gets worse for her.
I think this is just a minor breather to give us a glimpse of how positive things might turn out only to cruelly dash our hopes later.
My guess is that we see our hero put into a team on probation possibly as a support role. She bonds a bit with her new team-mates, clashes with her new leader and starts developing her new identity. Then some major threat attacks everyone around her has their lives horribly ruined and she ends up being in command. Weaver manages to save the day, but gets blamed for all the young wards who lost their lives during the fighting. She is about to be put back into prison or into the birdcage when an Endbringer unexpectedly attacks or Saint releases everyone from the birdcage.
Basically things escalate around her while in the meantime she works on refining her powers.
By the time the end comes around she has been through so much shit that she has some confidence in handling things. After working under such handicaps like being blind or the PRT image people telling her to only use butterflies she can use her powers to their full potential. Then something bad happens to dash all hopes again.
But she’s already experienced wave after wave of crushing bullshit. And now we’re seeing her thrown into a new area that she doesn’t have enough skill in. a timeskip would be a decent way to carry out some lightspeed character development. Then we come back to a Weaver who is famous as a good guy, and is more powerful than ever when – gasp – S9K appears. Chaos ensues, Birdcage breakout, and we get to see what happened with Theo. It’ll be cool.
Nah, lets get perhaps one more little dry run as she’s introduced to her new team and then we get S9K. Her team is brutally slaughtered though her experience helps her escape and she finally gets put with D&D.
But S9K coming into the picture seems to necessitate a timeskip.
Well Taylor got a week to relax in prison. And I get the impression that she is only there because she wants to be there. If there is an attack or a mass breakout on the prison she could probably handle it by herself. At least most of the other inmates seem to realize that they are trapped in there with her and keep their distance.
Her and defiant do a bit of bonding, She makes some new friends by forcing bugs down their throat and gets to work on her image.
I like how Clockblocker seems to be the only one who realizes just how dangerous she really is and he seems to enjoy it.
Regarding the passenger in control thing. I am not sure if it actually is the passenger. It certainly seems different from Noelle’s experience with hers.
A possibility might be that what she attributes to her passenger is just her own id or subconsciousness expressing itself. There used to be speculation that she uses her swarms processing powers to augment her own brain and giver her the resources to do her multitasking.
Her powers continuing to work by themselves somewhat independently might just be bits of her stuck in the various distributed computing nodes while the main server goes offline, so to speak.
If this is true and she properly utilizes it she could do all sorts of fun stuff with it like budding of a semi-independent swarm-clone of herself. Also I doubt that this sort of thing would go over well with the PRT image guys…
That is an interesting theory. So she is actually programming her bugs so that they learn from past instructions and make is so they can act independently. That is kind of scary knowing that even if you stop her, her bugs will continue to attack all on their own.
She said she was overwriting their instincts. Bugs have a lot more instincts than you might ordinarily guess.
I think we all know that this story is going to end with someone putting a bullet in Taylor’s head, and then a horde of bugs rises up behind them and says ‘Agh! That hurt, you ass!’
Well, Dinah said: “You will be there, but you will be different.”
I don’t think she meant a costume change and given that she was blind and beaten six ways to Sunday at that point Dinah probably didn’t refer to some minor disability acquired in the meantime either. (The standard for superheroes in the bad futures appears to be eypatch, hook for a hand or wheelchair, plus goatee where applicable.)
For Taylor to be different it would have to be something major like being borged by Dragon or being turned into a sentient swarm as Bonesaw was planning that one time.
Now I’m imagining a wheelchair with a goatee and a hooked hand prosthetic dangling on the seat, with a disembodied swarm floating above asking “Seriously?”
Hehe. I’m imagining a mass break-out like you mentioned and Weaver sitting in her cell. Inmates roaming freely. And she doesn’t care much, except getting the spiders closer to her.
And when some go looking for her, well… self-defence is such a wonderful word, isn’t it? By the time the authorities arrive, everyone is in their cells again, with the exception of a few inmates in the infirmary.
Warden comes running up like “What are you doing? Help!”
Taylor just sits there. “Sorry, you didn’t want me getting into trouble or having bugs around.”
The reason that Taylor gets along with her Passenger differently than Noelle is because she is supposed to have that Passenger. Noelle’s Passenger was hijacked and pissed about it as related in the memory it shared with her during her interlude.
I wonder if that’s the case for all of the Cauldron-borne powers. Then, it’d mean that the reason their powers grow weaker over time is because their Passengers are finding more proper hosts, and are kindly leaving this liar to their lot.
Not grow weaker over time, grow weaker in more stressful situations, almost the complete opposite of how triggered powers work. Probably because they are getting closer to what attracted their passenger to them, but the Cauldron capes don’t have that bond and it lets the passenger pull away a little bit.
Yog on May 25, 2013 at 01:29 said:
An interesting note is that it seems that Wards in general don’t know how trigger events and related phenomena work – i.e. the part where Clockblocker didn’t know that your power increases when you are in the state of mind close to your trigger one. He has been shown willing to learn. So, with the help of some Tinkers and thinkers, he may be able to utilize that.
Well in their defense, they don’t have Tattletale on their side. I envision Taylor going in front of all of their thinkers and they realize instead of being intimidated/impressed she is very disappointed/laughs at their abilities. She has been spoiled by having TT give her great intel on the spot.
Now I’m trying to assemble my perfect parahuman dream team. Ranking in order of desirability:
Skitter: Utility player — leadership, recon, equipment, crowd control, ‘little-gun’ offense.
Tattletale: Ops/intelligence.
Dinah Alcott: Headquarters Intelligence (pretty sure she could work the console during missions, too).
Defiant: Equipment, backup leadership, ‘heavy-hitter’ offense, ops/intelligence.
Dragon: As Defiant, but without backup leadership and with better equipment.
Vista: Mobility, defense, demolition.
Imp: Recon, sabotage, ‘little-gun’ offense.
I’m not so sure about Vista. She is too vulnerable and raw as she is. Ballistic could have easily killed her, and I think she needs alot more training before her power is very viable. Night and Grue would be a pretty nasty combination as well.
The Echidna-Vistas showed off her powers pretty well — she’s low on the list, but give her decent armor (between Weaver, Dragon, and Defiant, this can happen) and she can be a bit of a force-multiplier. You can switch her with Imp if you think her weaknesses overwhelm the advantages of having her, but she adds something to the team that no other capes I can think of can.
As for Night — I’m not including anyone on the team south of Neutral on the Good-Evil axis, and Neutral only if they can play well with others (sorry, Bitch). Night is too far gone to be a candidate, in my book.
Well I think epic team ups are for the big threats like the Endbringers which would include villains at least until they are defeated. Or the dream team you listed could form a group like the Light from young justice whose aim is to get rid of Cauldron/gain control of their power creations to fight the Endbringers in a new massive conspiracy. Hey, Bitch has her puppy therapy now! She can play well with others better now…..kind of.
@theant87: …you make a compelling point about Bitch, actually. I still don’t have her in my top seven, though, because while she’s one of the best heavy-hitter+mobility+crowd-control capes out there, between Skitter, Dragon, Defiant, and Vista we have what she would bring and a lot else besides.
I’d go for more force-multipliers there. Vista is a good one, as well as Dragon if she’s willing to share, and I dare say the Thinkers count, but that’s actually still less force-multiplication than Taylor had working under Coil. The real trick to team-building in this verse is effective synergy: finding force-multipliers who work properly together, like Grue and Skitter together, or Tattletale and Coil.
If Dragon+Defiant aren’t sharing, they aren’t on the team — I’m counting on them to supplement Weaver’s cloth for armormaking and to provide mobility in the form of bikes or whatever. If they aren’t sharing their toys, forget them — bring in Bitch and Flechette instead.
Synergies: Tattletale+Dinah Alcott is the big one — TT’s probably the best equipped to ask the right questions and draw the right conclusions from DA’s answers. Tinkermobiles+Vista is the other big one, hopefully — depends on how fast Vista works. (Actually, she could do a fair bit of crowd control — isolating individual parts of the battle to let her team’s heavy hitters do their thing.)
Sun Dog on May 25, 2013 at 15:14 said:
The Dream Team needs to have a lot of flexibility, a synergy of powers, skills and personalities that lets it handle any crisis. That means heavy hitters, support, range capability, stealth, intel, and mobility.
Skitter/Weaver and Tattletale for sure. TT is still the smartest person in the room and easier to get along with than Accord. Taylor is excellent at recon, crowd control, and support, and quite good in a fight. Her main weakness is she probably can’t adequately lead a group of experienced adult heroes. Dinah, or one of the better precogs mentioned, for much the same reason as Tattletale.
Then a big gun or two, ideally someone with the clout to sell the team. Someone who can make people say “yeah, those scary Undersiders are on the team, but so-and-so won’t let them get away with anything.” Legend is good for a number of reasons, power, flexibility, knowledge of the likely opposition (Cauldron) leadership and fame, but unlikely. Whatever else she was, Alexandria was his friend. Narwhale, the moment anyone figures how to raise the dead, would be ideal. Weld may be an option too, but further down the list.
D&D is a given, for their tech support, firepower, and again flexibility. Early in the Levithan arc, Taylor mentioned a Big Five, the heroes who come up in every conversation about which supers are the most powerful in the context “Well, yeah, besides them.” Scion, the Triumvirate, and Dragon. Defiant is along more as Dragons plus one and minion than anything. As long as we’re forming a generous tech department, Kid Win and Tecton can come apprentice to the Dragon.
Flechette for range, if not Legend. She’s hurt Endbringers, ’nuff said. Won’t come without Parian, which increases the number of undersiders on the the team, but even Sabah could be devastating if she told Taylor how her powers work.
Clockie for support, Panacea too if they could get her out of prison and into therapy. I’m imagining someone distracted by a cloud of butterflies, and suddenly it’s an hour later and he’s surrounded and wrapped with chains. Amy plus Taylor is a gamewinner, as previously discussed. Since there don’t seem to be any good teleporters but Eidolon, and all the speedsters we’ve met are dead, Vista might work in a support role, enhancing team mobility while restricting the opposition.
Faultline too, just because she can break anything nonliving, is an increasingly respected figure due to her investigations of Cauldron, and has leadership and tactics down.
I hate to dip into the Undersides pool again, but we’ve only met three decent stealth operators. Don’t enough about Othello one way or the other, Shadow Stalker is out for personality reasons, and Imp seems better than either of them anyway at what she does.
eduardo on May 26, 2013 at 19:22 said:
Dragon + Defiant = control of technology. Non organic dominance.
Taylor + Panaceia = control of organic matter.
TT + Dinah = predictions and info.
Need more that this?
Some lepidopterans can cause pain (well, wounding), if I recall correctly.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081027-vampire-moth-evolution-halloween-missions.html
And if she’s restricted to butterflies only, she can probably use the caterpillars then. The ones that eat poisonous substances to stay alive.
Any bug chewing on the eyes, and crawling into your body is going to cause some pain. Though that is even more hilarious when a criminal gets their ass handed to them by caterpillars.
anon on May 25, 2013 at 01:40 said:
Prison. Doesn’t. Make. Sense.
They know her trigger event: trapped in a locker. They must know powers get better in situations similar to trigger events.
They know she killed Alexandria.
They know she controls bugs.
They know she controls bugs so fucking well, that she can ‘everywhere at once’ in a given area.
If Taylor wants her high school education fine, but she doesn’t need it. Are they even thinking? She has super powers! Is he going to waste her time in college? Is she going to waste her life going to a 9-5 when she could spend her life controlling bugs for people? There are farmers, villages, nay, countries, that would pay her gobs of money to keep pests away, to restore dying ecosystems (China), or conduct any number of tasks (finding rare species in tropical rain forests, using bugs to seek out rare plants in tropical rain forests, et cetera). She is so incredibly valuable as a resource to the human population that it’s mindblowing.
And they’re going to waste her time, have her get a GED in prison? They’re going to lock her in a cell and have the nerve to complain that she’s cleaning up the place? Are they really, really that stupid? Not only that, but is Defiant going to waste his days being Daddy, picking up his princess every time she needs a summons?
Skitter is more powerful when she’s imprisoned and desperate. It makes NO sense whatsoever to imprison her. If Skitter is staying in prison, it’s because she’s doing so willingly. They have her psych profile. They know this, right? They really can’t be this stupid. But they are, I know it.
Skitter could catch some horrible disease in prison. Or she could get in a fight and get hurt. They’re risking her by putting in there. She’s an invaluable resource. And they’re squandering it.
This entire story’s conflicts can be traced back to a single origin: incompetence in low-level government administration. The PRT are idiots, the judiciary are idiots, the school board are idiots – nobody has a clue. And nobody wants to get one either, because they have their egos. They have their paycheck. They just don’t care. As long as they’re following “the rules” somebody else came up with, everything is fine with them.
“Please stop controlling bugs in our filthy bug-infested prison, Skitter.”
“Well, maybe you should have hired an exterminator before bringing me here?” That’s what she should have said, I mean, I get it that Skitter did “those bad things” (like, where she defended herself from people that were attacking her), and maybe she made a few dozen people scared while they were depositing their 9-5 paycheck that one time, but the real reason why she’s in prison is to send a message to the public. That’s the real root of the conflict here – to save the sorry ass of a poorly run wing of the government. Because if they had any sense in the world, she’d be doing useful things for free as justice, not sitting on her ass, where she’s more of a threat anyway.
I learned long ago to never underestimate the unintelligence of people.
Waco Kid: You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.
Nothing is fool-proof, because fools are to intelligent/inventive to be stopped by anything labelled as such.
Actually they’re neither intelligent nor inventive. They’re just hideously prolific. So you get the “infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters” effect.
Unless they’re actually Fools instead of fools. In which case, don’t get fooled by the actions of a seemingly crass comedian who has no regard for etiquette.
Lobo on May 25, 2013 at 02:20 said:
They say no one ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the public.
I think Dragon and Defiant are right there with you, BUT the PRT might have been designed by Cauldron to be somewhat incompetant, and the Wards show that alot of people still don’t trust her. Hopefully they will wise up or Weaver will do something huge again. Say she wipes out Nilbog and then walks into the prison and everyone realizes how stupid they are by putting her there.
“Skitter is more powerful when she’s imprisoned and desperate.”
Yes. Exactly.
You want to use her all the time on a “low charge”?
Or you want her to be able to build up and lay down the hurt?
> They must know powers get better in situations similar to trigger events.
I don’t think they knew. That’s the sort of thing that’s probably difficult to figure out for non-Tattletales, and the PRT doesn’t have Tattletale.
Peter O on May 25, 2013 at 03:40 said:
Except the rules are a form of testing for her. Can she follow these restrictions. Is she willing to work for us, and do what we say. It is a test, just like the raid she went on with the wards.
mc2rpg on May 25, 2013 at 03:57 said:
Yes, truly they should have just let her go with absolutely no negative consequences for all the nastier things she has done.
It is an extraordinary time though. The world is going to end, she is smart enough to work with them, and she did the things she did for reasons that the heroes could understand. I mean Teacher thinks that they will inevitably let the birdcage open in exchange for a pardon which means the shit is gonna really hit the fight. Its a fight for all the marbles, and they have a timetable. Yet the heroes aren’t acting like this fight is the most important in history. Instead of sitting in a cell, she could be preparing to try and stop the end of the world.
If you are going to use that argument, then why should Shadow Stalker be in jail? All she did was bully some school girls, she could be out there helping prevent the apocalypse.
Because Shadow Stalker is actually a psychotic murderer, whereas pretty much everything that Taylor has ever done has been to try to help people, or to bring down superpowered threats to normal people. If the people running the show had any intelligence, they could figure that out.
Defiant has openly tried to take back the things he said about Skitter. You know, “Guys, when I said those things back then, and you used them to form the basis of your Skitter Operations Manual, I was actually totally wrong, and you need to cut her some slack.”
Shadow Stalker HAD her chance. She’d been caught nearly killing someone.
She’d been tried and wrangled a deal that got her onto the Wards.
One of the conditions of that “amnesty” was that she behave herself.
She didn’t. And she got caught. Granted, she was partially framed. But she was, eventually, outed for the crap she was pulling.
Thus, she got remanded to super-juvie with no privileges.
Ayreon on May 25, 2013 at 06:40 said:
I completely agree that it’s ridiculous to expect everything to be forgiven.
But there is a case for “community service”. Taylor has an extremely useful power, as anon already elaborated.
Most of her victims would probably be happy enough if enough restitution was offered. Just have her working off the debt for the foreseeable future. She isn’t really ‘free’ in that scenario, but she’s being useful.
Auction off her labor and you could probably get millions to compensate the bank she robbed and the costs the PRT had because of her.
And every exterminator in the city would file a lawsuit…
Yep! Absolutely right! Fuck law!
Hey, it worked with the Great Recession.
I agree, prison doesn’t make sense and is indeed unfair, from an ethical perspective. Taylor needs rehabilitation, she needs therapy, but every act of violence she committed was proportionate, morally calculated, and most of them turned out for the better. She’s saved far more people than she’s hurt, and there was no alternative to her taking the actions she did- everything else would have been worse. Her only fault was that her violence was not socially sanctioned- but society shares the blame here, especially given the degree to which it has benefited from her. Forcing her to spend time in prison conditions while she gets the therapy and rehab she needs is simple cruelty, nothing more, based on the reprehensible notion that wrong acts /inherently/ deserve the actor to suffer, rather than being a regrettable side effect of rehabilitation and curbing wrong acts, which we should always seek to minimise. Taylor should be in a “Care in the Community” situation, a parole, probably with Dragon and Defiant as her parole officers. Not free, not forgiven, but not being needlessly forced to suffer when it serves no useful moral or practical aim. She’d be able to contribute her mind to the fullest, to develop new strategies for her new role, and to make herself a proper suit. Hopefully things will progress in this direction, eventually.
BUT. Her violence was not socially or legally sanctioned, and she’s humiliated and defied the PRT and more generally the state a number of times. She’s effectively said “I am a better judge of what situations deserve violence than the state is, and I have a right to hand it out.”. And then she humiliated further by being RIGHT in nearly all of those judgements, by saving thousands or tens of thousands of lives when they couldn’t. Can you realistically expect them to just let that humiliationgo, given what they’re like? The only reason they didn’t send her to be raped and tortured in the Birdcage was because it would hurt them and she outmanoeuvred them, not due to any moral judgement on the matter.
So their reaction is understandable, if immoral. It’s by far the least immoral thing they’ve done, or could do- look at Canary. Frankly Taylor’s lucky that Dragon and Defiant managed to broker as good a deal as they did, really, and that sanity prevailed. I hope things get better for her soon, it will be interesting to watch how it progresses.
John Campbell on June 22, 2015 at 13:20 said:
Given how the first 22 arcs of this story went, I find kind of hilarious that you’re worried about Taylor getting hurt in a prison fight. I mean, maybe there are inmates foolish enough to mess with the girl who killed Alexandria – you don’t generally end up in prison if you have a history of making good decisions – but the bar for what it takes to actually threaten Skitter has been set pretty high. Like, Endbringer high.
Fake Name on May 25, 2013 at 01:48 said:
I liked this chapter- Taylor interacting with the heroes is something I always enjoy reading.
I said something about this in IRC, but I figure I should type everything out at once:
Having the spiders travel to the bug zapper to pick up food there does not make any sense. Taylor could easily just be sending bugs straight to the spiders to get eaten. She could send 90% of the bugs to their deaths at the zapper, and 10% to their deaths at the spiders. The ants/flies/cockroaches and etc vastly outnumber the spiders, and no one but Taylor knows the exact populations, so it’s not like the Warden would be able to tell that she’s not sending every single ant to the zapper.
Sending all the spiders to the ONE place that Taylor had told them to watch for the volume of bugs she kills is really stupid. It’s something people could notice- either by seeing the spiders collect their food, or by noticing that one region of the prison has a much higher population of spiders.
Sending bugs to the spiders on the other hand is much harder to spot, because it wouldn’t be a movement of bugs all to one particular place, the bugs are smaller than the spiders which makes them visually harder to see, and the spider population would be spread evenly across the whole prison (which in addition to being less noticeable, would be more advantageous to Skitter).
Obviously, the bugs taste better cooked.
Alternatively, if she keeps the inflow and outflow of bugs the same (as new bugs enter her range and come into the prison), then she can make it look like the prison’s bug population has halted, since the amount of bugs at the zapper is now roughly constant.
Except the way she is doing it will look like her power on autopilot.
Vincent on May 25, 2013 at 01:59 said:
Honestly, Taylor really should have went with the nuclear option and released the information about Alexandria, Cauldron, etc. Clearly, based on this chapter, the PRT is not fit to fight the sort of threats that exist in the Worm-verse. Better to destroy it as soon as possible, and start anew. With Accord and Tattletale, she could conceivably have a “new PRT” set up in weeks, with much looser rules governing capes’ behavior.
She would of course need several of the heroes to join immediately to give said new organization credibility, but I think that would be doable. She likely has Dragon on her side, more or less. And heroes like Miss Militia and Chevalier, while obviously disagreeing with such a move in the strongest terms, would still join. They too believe in a PRT, and would do what was necessary to preserve it in some form.
Her desire to rebuild the PRT is laudable, but if the foundation itself is full of cracks, nothing you attempt to build on top of it will hold. Sometimes it’s just better to start over.
Yeah that new organization will surely manage to pull itself together to stop the endbringer attack on Greece. Also, plenty of heroes will join the girl that murdered Alexandria and Accord in creating this new organization.
If I wasn’t directly involved in the situation and some supervillain tried to tell me that the people in charge of saving the world were evil, well I rather doubt I would take her at face value. Anyone in the PRT has far more credibility with most people then Skitter would have had with a statement like that.
This isn’t really connected to this chapter per se, but last interlude, I brought up the topic of Worm adapted as a TV series (https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/interlude-22/#comment-23616). Anyone else care to share there thoughts?
Personally, I’d say this chapter would be the ‘coming back from the wirer break mid-season finale’ episode.
Let me get this straight:
Season 1 – Birth of Skitter, finale is 1st part of Leviathan
Season 2 – 2nd part of Leviathan, S9 main villains, Coil will be established, the miasma is the finale
Season 3 – main villain Coil, and Echidna as finale
Season 4 – open in media res of Skitter turning herself in, then the whole getting Brockton Bay to its feet.
I’d see prodigious use of in media res (see Breaking Bad for good examples) to keep watches glued to the show.
Not really /exactly/ what I had in mind, but something to that effect, yes.
Manitou on May 25, 2013 at 16:18 said:
Well, I was picturing the Broadcast of her surrender, and Alexandria’s death explanation, as a Season Finale Ciffhanger ending. Then, the next season starts after she’s already out of jail and on a Wards team. acing worked out her Butterfly/PR issues Offscreen. of course, I’d have Clockblocker transferred to her team to help keep an eye on her due to his experience with her. Might even have Clockweaver already be an item.
Human (@StopHelping) on May 25, 2013 at 03:33 said:
Ideally, it would be an HBO series with an Avengers budget and Jennifer Lawrence to play Taylor.
Why does it always have to be (culturally) pretty people? Taylor is described as scrawny and stick-legged, and I’d really like to see the description of a literal character being done justice. Also, that actress is 23, not 16. No Dawson Casting, please.
The first person I thought of was Elle Fanning from Super 8 — she’s actually 15, has kind of a big mouth for her face, and can most definitely act. Her hair’s all wrong, but honestly, that shouldn’t be the priority when casting for a part.
Well, the age goes for her, I’ll admit that.
But to give a bad example, if you’ve watched the recent Iron Man, the role of Guy Pears in the beginning is of a techy loser and you see he’s obviously made bad-looking. My opinion of that Val Kilmer clone notwithstanding, you know immediately he’ll be either important or handsome later on.
That’s a general beef I have with the movie industry, though: preference of pretty + makeup but unskilled over decent/bad looking + skilled.
Miloptheny on May 25, 2013 at 04:59 said:
The problem with teenage actors (<20) is that their faces change noticeably as they get older–as they will in a long-running TV series. Adults don't have that problem, and with the right makeup and bone structure, can look as young as a teenager. That's why 22-25 years old are preferable.
The moment you hear the group is Advanced Idea Mechanics, you know something more is up with him. For all we knew, they were going to include MODOK.
Being not versed in Superhero fluff, I couldn’t recognize it if I tried. Plus, backronyms are rather common in these settings.
AIM is a prominent science-based terrorist group in Marvel. Due to some of their experiments, they turn one of their members into MODOK, a Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing (It was originally Computing and MODOC). He gained increased intelligence, psychic powers, and his head grew enormous to the extent that he needs special equipment to float himself around. Oh, and he took over the group too.
I was just thinking Saoirse Ronan would be good casting for Taylor. She has that whole gangly thing going on…
mrgazzer on May 25, 2013 at 02:28 said:
This is going to annoying for our Bug Based Anti-Villan.
Also, really Glenn? Really? What happened practicality Glenn?
I’m sure you’re a nice guy with your own reasons for it, but really Glenn?
notes on May 25, 2013 at 03:00 said:
As always, interesting.
Ward animosity seems driven by social threat – she’s mostly dealt with Protectorate members (in one memorable case, literally) as an equal and villain, with a possible major side of concern for Flechette. She had, after all, worked with most or all of the NYC ward sub-teams, and was slated for a leadership role. She’s also been in the thick of the fight more often: Ward doctrine seems to leave the front line of big fights to the Protectorate where possible. For all that she sees their powers as flexible, and therefore befitting a team leader, hers is more so. Jouster is so clear about not taking orders from her in part because he’s worried that he soon will be.
Protectorate animosity seems mostly driven by her being extra hassle, when they’re already really busy. Plus, of course, she’s a really disruptive influence, and it is easy to imagine she’s running a history-making scam on them. Rime obeyed Skitter in the Echidna fight – guessing Weaver’s diffidence is the attitude she didn’t like.
I’m moving toward the theory that the Passenger isn’t driving when she’s semiconscious, but rather that that is her subconscious / swarmsourced thinking. Echidna’s psychological issues could be her Passenger – or she could be externalizing her own (Simurgh-augmented) psychological issues so it’s not her fault.
The Adepts (specifically, Epoch) may take an interest in Weaver, and she might learn much from serious students of the interaction between mind and power. Plus, crazy time travel hijinks.
Weaver can do a very rapid Skitter-turn: put the butterflies on the inside of the swarm, and cover herself in bugs. For when she wants to intimidate people again. Also, the fact that she can switch at will between diffident nice girl and KNEEL BEFORE ZOD is going to create some sharp cognitive dissonance.
They deliberately sent the Wards up against a group that had been poaching them for weeks. Standstill / Thirteenth Hour seems likely to have been with a different group before the Adepts under her old name, perhaps even the NYC Wards given their fragmented setup. It seems likely that defeat was expected, with major Protectorate backup at hand. Which makes sense, actually – tests are meant to find limits, and they do that by pushing onward to failure. What they found instead, arguably, was that Skitter could take that group singlehanded, arranged it so everyone BUT her was disabled (she was on recon, and didn’t warn about Thirteenth Hour), wove strands until she has full control, staged the scene to further her plots, and then woke the heroes (with bugs down the throat – a deniable reminder that she could have killed them all, just like Alexandria) so they could see her victory, letting them share in just enough of it that she can keep up the poor little girl facade. This kind of (seemingly) effortless battlefield mastery is not comforting to anyone, with the possible exception of Clockblocker, who has passed through the valley of bug-horror and come out in the lands of bug-humor.
Still watching what’s going on with D&D, but not enough new pieces for me to make new theories, yet.
Warden’s interesting and competent. Can’t tell how long Weaver will be in prison, how she’ll deal with an assault on it (spiders!), but that seems a plausible upcoming event: she’s confined in a known location that is unlikely to be able to hold off a serious assault.
More great analysis, notes. Especially interesting the point about the social threat — it makes a lot of sense to imagine that Jouster’s putdowns are motivated by wanting to defend his ego.
It hadn’t occurred to me that Rime might want Weaver to be more assertive, but that makes all the sense in the world — she’s fiendishly capable, and it’s a complete waste to use her for nothing more than recon.
I don’t see them ascribing quite that Machiavellian motives to Weaver’s handling of the Adept, but I suppose it’s possible. Agreed that Clockblocker is the only one capable of handling what they’ve just seen with aplomb, though.
Agreed that not everyone will see Taylor as a mastermind, toying with Adepts and Wards alike – but it’d be hard to disprove, and some parts of the PRT will be properly professionally paranoid.
Point being, what they wanted to see before putting her on a team was both ‘she’s useful’ AND ‘we can take her if we have to.’ Acing the test on the first issue doesn’t help with the latter concern.
Even those friendly to her are going to note that she salvaged the fight, and that she could have won that fight singlehanded while having a bagel four streets away. A Skitter with her identity unblown in a busy city is… nightmarish. Costumes are for people who need to be there in person.
“Meh, she could take me.” – Clockblocker
Heh. She took me. – Clockblocker
“Clockblocker, who has passed through the valley of bug-horror and come out in the lands of bug-humor.”
*chuckles*
What you propose is reasonable, sending the Wards + Weaver into a fight they might be outclassed with, but keep more powerful Protectorate members close-by to bail them out if need be. This lets them ascertain to which degree Taylor is willing to don the Weaver mask and discard her Skitterish modus operandi. I think she did good on that account, and depending on how the debriefing went she may have a metaphor for Weaver – A swarm of bugs, hidden in a cloud of butterflies.
Though I think every caped team can see the potential Skitter already expressed and would for a moment consider recruiting, she’d be a liability at the same time due to her high profile. So unless the team is already pretty well established, they might prefer not to deal with the fallout such a member would bring. This is of course regardless on Taylor’s opinion on that matter.
You missed the part where Weaver proved to be resistant to mindeffecting attacks.
That actually might be more cause for them to believe it was staged — I mean, which do you think they would find more likely: that bug-girl is somehow immune* to being Standstilled, or that the cape formerly known as Standstill left her out of the effect on purpose?
* Which she isn’t, but I doubt they’ll hear the difference.
Could go either way: I had thought the paranoid PRC would think she planned for Thirteenth Hour to do that and was ready, but you’re right that Weaver taken by surprise and just shrugging it off is also scary.
Some thoughts from threads elsewhere, DLP particularly, worth bringing in and playing with:
Butterflies have fantastic color vision – better than we do. Weaver working with butterflies all the time would be a good way to get her to seeing through her bugs – it took her, what, a month, to learn how to hear? Lots of compound eyes would offer superlative resolution. Granted, it would take a lot of processing, but she’s good at multitasking. And it would take her one big step forward to local omniscience. It also sets her up for the logical extreme of the swarm sourcing theory, discussed below.
Also, interesting side effects on the way she carries herself: anyone who’s used video if themselves to refine a presentation can tell you how disruptive it is to see yourself as others see you: seeing yourself like that all the time from all angles would probably shift her body language toward that stylized and artful sort used by royalty or celebrity – people who are never unwatched, and know it, and watch themselves often of necessity.
Swarm-sourcing in the extreme leads to a death scene for Taylor, followed by a long time skip with intervals where insects gather and people think of her – basically the Dr. Manhattan pulling himself together sequence from Watchmen, but with more bugs – culminating in swarm-clones appearing. Which opens up a lot of the classic horror lines and puts Taylor in a very select company of people who do not die when killed. (Self-gathering swarms? She could conceivably take a nuclear blast to the face and, as long as a cockroach in her range survived, she might pull herself back together. Might make her too tanky to stay a guile heroine, but she’d still lack the offensive side of things e.g. the ability to punch out Behemoth.)
Alternate version of her powers: Taylor has Teacher’s power… but over insects. The reason that silk is so ridiculously strong is that it’s made by insect Tinkers.
Further side thought on Taylor’s reception among the heroes: people, when dealing with those they don’t know well, take the specific and assume it’s generally true. And Taylor, right now both is and is deliberately playing the part of a diffident, socially awkward girl. For those who haven’t seen her in her role as autocrat, her order sanctified not by law but by her undefeated and ruthless cunning, it’s very difficult to imagine that those aspects can coexist in one person. Sure, they’ve read reports, and may have seen her in the thick of a big fight – but those are fleeting glimpses, and really, are you going to trust TV or your lying eyes?
Another way to put it is that Taylor has a moral code, but the first commandment seems to be thou shalt not lose when it counts. Understanding why Emma and Sophia are alive, and Tagg, Coil, and (possibly) Alexandria are dead isn’t impossible… but it sure doesn’t fit easily into the tripartite ‘cops, robbers, and real evil’ distinction Tattletale laid out, with cops and robbers periodically joining forces to fight line-crossing threats.
> Sure, they’ve read reports, and may have seen her in the thick of a big fight – but those are fleeting glimpses, and really, are you going to trust TV or your lying eyes?
I am immediately reminded of something Billy Beane said in Moneyball about “blending what we see but [not] allowing ourselves to be victimized by what we see.” Because yeah — unless you make either a habit or a conscious point of noticing that what’s in front of your eyes doesn’t fit established fact, Weaver looks like a “little girl”.
I think her problem is that Taylor has a Taylor-mode (in which she has spent a year and a half practicing being unnoticeable) and a Skitter-mode (in which she has spent three months practicing being goddamn terrifying), and neither mode works for a top-rank Wards member.
Oh, sure, she looks like a little girl. And it looks like Penn and Teller just wrapped the American flag in a copy of the Constitution and burned it. And it looks like Criss Angel just walked on water. And it looks like John Edward and Theresa Caputo can actually communicate with dead people.
Speaking of which, why in the hell haven’t we seen more about Skitter seeing in the UV???
Matthew K on May 25, 2013 at 03:18 said:
(Not Very Coherent) Observations;
Yay! Hoyden has a Grifter mask! Hurrah for everyone’s favourite 90’s antihero who isn’t Cable or the Punisher! XD
Oh Clocky, never change you rascal you.
Glenn needs to eat every dick.
Hey! Leave some for Jouster, will you?
agreyworld on May 25, 2013 at 04:42 said:
Made another wallpaper, weaver is a nice word
http://agreyworld.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=293
Well done, I like the way the letters interact with each other.
Sadly it doesn’t feel very Taylor or bug-themed…
Haha, no it doesn’t at all. I wanted to keep it really simple though and with bugs its difficult to do simple. And stuff like spidery writing would be a bit cliché…
If you have any ideas…
I’d keep the typography, definitely. The arrangement of lines and stuff is really nice.
Now, I know what I imagine, but am not so well in expressing it, so I’ll describe the process in which it could be done:
Make sugar water and write your Weaver with it, let all creepy crawlies take a like of it and compose a sum of different pictures of this overlaid, so each line is distinct but kind of composed of bugs.
Another, more techy approach, is assigning the letters as high probability areas, scatter dots randomly over the whole are, and then let each dot be an arthropod.
Each line should be butterflies 😉
Other useless insects to use:
Fireflies: great for night combat, can you imagine a bugclone made up of them all glowing in patterns or all at once? Well, just not so useful for actually hurting people.
Moths: useful for rapid nudification of the enemy, unless they got mothballs. But hopefully the PRT can censor those on camera.
Roly Polies: low speed vehicle, maybe?
Ladybugs: preferably old once imported from the UK. I hear those ones are nasty and have a tendency to beat up men.
Dung Beetles: for when the shit gets real, yo.
On the Fireflies you could have them flash fast enough to try and cause a seizure. Taylor to Glenn ” What, I thought it would be like a rave.”
Hey, she can do a tie in with a sea food restaurant. Attack a villain with a bunch of lobsters and crabs, non-lethal pinching which is would funny as hell to watch and she can turn to the nearest camera and say “When I want fresh sea-food, I go to Bob’s Crab shack.”
Taylor the Crabomancer.
Aka The Crimson Crustacean Crusader. Fighting for truth,justice, and for more of those little rolls.
Well there are corporate heroes, so how about Shrimper! the sponsored hero of Bubba Gump shrimp co.
Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy
* which is funny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab
Just putting this here then.
Actually, Fireflies could be useful at night, just use them to ruin someone’s Night Vision…
Thamuzz on May 25, 2013 at 23:59 said:
I’d think that fire flies would be more useful for nighttime signaling and coordination. She could use them to guide civilians out of combat zones, direct allies, ect.
old ones*
I seem to have been afflicted with a typo disease. Possible typography, or mad typists, or even Qwertyette’s.
Indigo on May 25, 2013 at 08:33 said:
Just like everything else looking good is more important than working.
Really enjoyed this one. Getting to the pace of updates rather than reading it straight through has been different. But I liked this, it was almost as if it were the start of a new series, not just a new arc.
The warden should be letting Taylor make silk as part of her work program.
1.) It would generate new income to offset the operation cost of the prison.
2.)The silk could be used to make stuff for the prison. I.e new jumpsuits/ bedding.
3.) Have Defiant co-op in-order to make body armor for the guards.
The warden does seem to be a reasonable person so this could work. I mean, yeah she didn’t give a convicted murder access to dangerous chemicals, but she still used an asset which would help the prison function.
Also, this chapter proves why Clockblocker should be her partner. He may not like her but he does respect her, and he already has shown that he is willing to put his dislike aside to work with her effectively. He also knows how she operates to a point, at least better than most people in the Wards, so they could develop synergy better. They have already proved to be an effective team during the Echidna fight. Their powers could work very well together as well. Weaver calls up a wall of bugs and CB freezes it, instant unbreakable wall, and we have already seen what they can do with treads. Plus,his personality would off-set her and get her to be a little more of a extrovert.
He could also help with my solution to her problem with Glenn. See what the Glenn is missing out on is an opportunity to use the bugs to make Weaver funny. You can’t tell me people would not love a bug clone that yelled “Hug me!!!” while chasing someone. CB would help he do stuff like that.
I also want Taylor to get a bee canon now for some reason.
You know, reading your comment and thinking about Clockblocker — how smart he is, how level-headed in combat situations, and how brave — I wonder if every member of the Wards has a lot of untapped potential that the organization simply doesn’t support.
Then I feel like an idiot, because obviously they do.
People seem to have completely ignored the fact that Clockblocker played a HUGE role in the Leviathan fight when he should’ve gotten a medal for having the balls to walk up an Endbringer and touch it. it’s particularly notable since he is just as squishy as a mundane.
Oh, Clockblocker is a massive badass. That’s not even in question. I’m just saying he would kick a lot more ass without all the PRT asses holding him back.
Aegis had tons of potential, but now is dead. Gallant somewhat less so.
The biggest thing holding Vista back is her lack of maturity and experience. Whatever she thinks, she’s still very much the kid on the team.
A long time ago, Marvel had an alien superteam (mostly transparent copies of the Fantastic Four) Called Force 4. Their Reed Richards knock-off “Teamleader” had a tech vest, gloves, boots and belt pouches full of bits and bobs he could assemble in two seconds or less into any device he needed. Raygun? *snap*snap*snap* done. Area-denial forcefield projector? Took him almost 3 seconds to put together on the spot. Enemy turns into gas? *snap*snap* super-vacuum. Ditto for a jetpack, fire extinguisher etc. Oh and goggles with every vision mode he thought he might need someday. This is sort of what I imagine Kid Win being like in a year or two.
They correctly judged Weld’s strength and leadership abilities, and squandered them by not letting the Wards get into anything serious during his tenure.
Like Vista, Shadow Stalker had incredible potential held back by her personality issues. Unlike Yamada with Vista, the PRT doesn’t seem to have done anything to correct her issues.
Flechette’s problems likewise sailed under the radar.
At this point, I take it as a given that Taylor’s potential is going to be squandered and ignored. In fact, I see the PRT getting pissy every time she does something clever without their approval.
Agreed. I’m just waiting for the moment Taylor finally had enough and call them out on it during a live press conference for sending child soldiers into combat while equiped with Papier-mâché armour and nerf guns.
actually i see the prt getting really upset when they put her on some mid level team, and she pushes them into using alot of that potential the PRT works so hard to ignore.
Kid Win has a ton of potential from the right perspective, I think.
Hells yes he does — you remember his recruitment of Chariot? He’s sharp, and now that he’s figured out what his real Tinker specialty is, he’s only going to get more effective as time goes by.
Are we talking about the same kid lose? Granted he should be more effective now, but his record is terrible.
The PRT would have to contract Henry Winkler long-term for target practice.
I’m fairly sure they don’t have THAT much money.
I bet they couldn’t even afford Chris Farley as their fitness instructor.
In a little van…
DOWN BY THE RIVER!
You got some mud on you there?
* help her
– I’m surprised at y’all. Normally, the TVTropes entries would have been updated lickety-split by now :p
– I wonder how Vantage’s power knows who his opponents are. Perhaps subconscious Gallant-style empathy that detects and perhaps absorbs hostile intent to fuel the strength/reflex boosts?
would it work on robots?
– Hoyden’s cool, I like her. A tad arrogant but hey.
– Where lesser mortals see bug-horror, Clockblocker sees only bug-humor (nice one, [b]notes[/b]!) He has transcended through bug-suffering.
– nice look at the Protectorate outside Brockton Bay. The Adepts too.
– pretty much confirmed now that Taylor/Skitter/Weaver can outsource chunks of her intellect to the swarm
> – I’m surprised at y’all. Normally, the TVTropes entries would have been updated lickety-split by now :p
We got a few edits in — I was planning on starting to add the new heroes we’ve been introduced to in the morning, after getting some sleep.
*glances at clock showing “12:02″*
> – pretty much confirmed now that Taylor/Skitter/Weaver can outsource chunks of her intellect to the swarm
Actually, ruminating on it a bit, I think what’s happening is that she’s turning the insects into a part of her, like her hands and feet and legs, complete with ‘muscle memory’ and a few useful reflexes. Which makes what she’s doing in this chapter basically like sleepwalking, or sleep-talking-on-the-phone — not actual conscious intelligence, but autopilot.
I have no idea what she actually is doing in this chapter. Assuming she’s affected by it the ame way everyone else does, she is either hypnotized or something and the part of her the power works with is not affected at all. It really confuses me…
I heard a story once of a woman on a drug that was associated with sleepwalking. One night, while she was asleep, she answered a phone call from her sister, had a nice chat … and after she woke up, she thought, “I should call my sister! I have some things I want to talk to her about!” All of which she had already talked about while asleep on the phone.
I heard another story of a different woman waking up with breakfast in front of her in the breakfast nook, and discovering after she had woken up that she had been in the middle of a conversation with her housemate. And her housemate hadn’t noticed she was asleep. Because she was apparently perfectly coherent.
Long story short? Everything Skitter does in her trance here is within the capacities of the sleepwalking mind — and whatever Thirteenth Hour’s power does, it may activate the sleep-paralysis of the body, but not the superpower.
Don’t forget sexsomnia, aka sleep sex.
It seems to me like Thirteenth Hour sympathetically puts everyone around her (or that she targets) into a combination paralysis/trance. The trance would be the sort of mental state where you’ve been up for two or three days so you’re really tired and can’t put thoughts together coherently, but you are still observant of what’s going on. Or when someone says something to you, and you know that they said something and that it was directed to you, but you have yet to think for a moment to realize what they said.
The Wards have powers that work from their own physical movement (moving, striking, etc.), so they’re effectively out of the fight when they’re paralyzed. Weaver’s power is not dependent on the movement of her own body, so she would be more free, even with the entrancement.
Skitter should start using crustaceans more, seriously. If she can’t use anything with a stinger, she should become the mistress of the lobsters, snails, and hermit crabs.
Pick up crab, throw at face.
Yes she has to jump hoops with these guys. But this will help her with more creative maneuvers & ultimately make her stronger. I see Clockblocker transferring to wherever Weaver goes. It would help her adjust & he would be happier being on a winning team finally.
I see Weaver trying to hook up with Tattletale or Bitch in the future. See how things are and such. I see her meeting her Dad in some therapy sessions.
Weaver could use moths too. Some of those suckers get huge.
I don’t see Clockblocker staying, but I would love to see him on a team with Skitter. His personality is much needed to couneract all the stuffy assholes.
You know if they want to provide them…. She could gather some very colorful beetles for heavy jobs. They have rainbow, metallic, emerald green and more. Add that to dragonflys butterfly’s & moths. It would be pretty but still effective. Get some stink bugs to crawl in the nose.
Has she tried lizards or snakes?
hitherbydragons on May 25, 2013 at 12:01 said:
I only know about them because of someone else’s comment X entries back, but mantis shrimp are pretty!
“I only know about them because of someone else’s comment X entries back, but mantis shrimp are horrifying!” You had a typo. I fixed it.
(seriously, have you seen their EYES? Death comes on rainbow legs…)
She would have noticed if she had lizard or snake control — Coluber constrictor has a habitat that reaches into Canada, already can live in trash heaps or suburban areas, and would thrive in the rodent-rich environment of the city post-Leviathan.
Considering Taylor’s recently revealed attitude to rules that seem to imply that the most important part of rules are the loopholes and that it is not cheating if you don’t get caught, we probably shouldn’t neglect insects capability for stealth.
She is not exactly limited to ugly and beautiful creatures. With so many insects etc having capabilities for crypsis and stealth. She can just distract people with her colourful butterflies and moths and when no civilians is looking the bad guys suddenly realize that the leafs on the trees and bushes surrounding them are moving funny and that upon closer inspection that isn’t bark and those aren’t wooden sticks and not all that green stuff on the lawn are blades of grass and suddenly it is all moving towards you…
Hey it hard to spot bullet ants. Make a giant swarm of butterflies land on someone, have the bullet ants bite, and who will notice the difference?
Glassware on May 25, 2013 at 21:56 said:
The screaming might tip them off. Just a little. Also the very obvious symptoms and the anaphylactic shock.
Obviously the wimps are just really scared of butterflies.
Typing this on a phone; thanks for the donation, Travis.
sarah penguin on May 25, 2013 at 12:09 said:
Nice update 🙂 Enjoyed it 🙂 Use butterflies! *giggles*
throwaawy on May 25, 2013 at 12:54 said:
this was rather amusing for me to read cuz i was think a “what if” scenario where skitter had jumped at the opportunity to join the wards at he very beginning and that somehing like the PRT PR guy played out nearly exactly like what i had in my head… except he wanted her to focus on laybugs.
this was much more amusing with clock snarking throughout the whole thing
On a second read through I picked up some ideas where this might be headed.
The way Armsmaster talks her being relegated to some out of the way place and only being pulled in to deal with major s-Class threats is the worst case scenario.
This shows that everyone has realized that she is worth pulling in for S-Class threats. It also belies a certain genre blindness about what would be likely to happen is someone like Weaver was put in charge of keeping the peace in some sleepy out of the way town. Things like discovering the towns dark secret or attracting all sorts of weirdness and having the usual sort of adventures that small town sheriffs tend to have….
The fact that important and busy capes get pulled in from all over the country for an evaluation means something. The talk about having experienced capes join in the past and adapting their experience means something too.
It doesn’t look like they are planing to just add her as a junior member of some wards team. She is either going to be a leader or second in command if they put her on a team or they are going to use her unique experience for some sort of special project.
One scenario probably has her being placed in charge of a rag-tag bunch of screw-ups, misfits and rejects. Quickly working out their personal problems and helping the characters with lame joke powers weaponize through her natural munchkinness.
Another alternative might be that someone in power with a grudge makes the typical fair-tale mistake of giving the hero an impossible quest in an attempt to set them up to fail. She gets put on a team with a group of monsters and ex-villains as an impromptu suicide squad, sent somewhere to die only to return later covered in blood and gore and smelling of smoke carrying the tarnished dog-tags of her erstwhile comrades and the head of Jamie Rinke asking what’s next.
> One scenario probably has her being placed in charge of a rag-tag bunch of screw-ups, misfits and rejects. Quickly working out their personal problems and helping the characters with lame joke powers weaponize through her natural munchkinness.
Oh god I would read the hell out of that. And if they include Shadow Stalker in the screw-ups on the team I would read the hell out of that twice.
A wormverse suicide squad? Fuck yes. Theo, Sophia, Taylor, Sveta, and Gully.
Post-trigger Theo, or pre-trigger Theo? *raises eyebrow*
Post trigger Theo, and maybe Grim from Spiritus Sancti.
are you refering to any good story in particular?
only to return later covered in blood and gore and smelling of smoke
(hoping for something new to see/read)
MrMoray on May 25, 2013 at 20:19 said:
I envision Weaver being sent for a mandatory “see how friendly and nice our heroes are”-style public appearance at the University of Illinois’ Insect Fear Film Festival.
And anybody in the PRT who disparages her aloud should be forced to watch a version of the movie “Marabunta!” — just so they have an idea of what kind of hornets’ nest they’re kicking.
Jguy on May 25, 2013 at 20:56 said:
Question. Can Weaver control jellyfish?
Well they have the simplest of nervous systems so I can’t see why not. Though wildbow ruled squids out.
To be fair squid have pretty sophesticated nervous systems and can be pretty intelligent.
I know. A few other commenters and I were bummed that we weren’t going to see Taylor swarm Leviathan with Giant Squids.
The squids would last about five seconds. Perhaps approaching Leviathan’s scale, but nowhere near his strength, toughness or ability to bludgeon you to death using only water…
May be too simple. I think it was mentioned that Skitter can’t control all stuff, especially if it’s too small. Think of all the acari living in the ground, all the microfauna, and stuff.
Well truthfully we don’t know enough about what she can control. There were a few discussions that Rika and others on what exactly her limits are, but in truth we won’t know until Taylor experiments more. She should take a swim and see what she can do.
I thought Wildbow actually mentioned that… *scratches head in confusion*
He has, but I am interested in a experiment chapter to test exactly what her limits are.
Agreed. Rather show than tell. We like the speculations based on in-story information!
What i want to know is; can Weaver control Coral. IF she could, she could make big money restoring the great barrier reef, or as an artist.
One of the things destroying the Great Barrier reef is an infestation of Crown-of-Thorns starfish. If she could control *them* and make them go away, that would be awesome…
You know, every time I read Clockblocker going “Wait, what?” after Weaver casually mentions the trigger-event mindset thing, it gets funnier. I don’t even know why.
Wait a tick.
I just realized what Thirteenth Hour’s trick reminds me of: she’s fricking Briar Rose!
WIldbow you sneaky so-and-so, I read your book! 😀
Well now. Isn’t that interesting.
umthemuse on May 25, 2013 at 21:21 said:
Hmm. There’s an insect that I’ve assumed that Taylor has been using all along, but hasn’t come up since Plague is the dragonfly. Dragonflies are incredible fliers in the insect world and they’re pretty to watch: http://youtu.be/oxrLYv0QXa4
I imagine that a swarm of them would give good PR and be more effective than butterflies. Though she could just go back to using laced bugs. I forget why she stopped lacing her bugs with pepper spray. Did she just lose the ability to buy more?
Speaking of butterflies, do any of you remember that line from Harry Potter? Where Ron says something like, “Spiders! Why can’t it ever be ‘follow the butterflies’?” I just thought it was ironic, given this chapter.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp. Underwater ops or if they can rig tinker made little jet packs that let them fly and survive out of the water. Plus the sensory input would be interesting to see.
I just realized how much this sounds like something PG would do but with more fire and samba music.
Any sufficiently strange nature is indistinguishable from Psycho Gecko.
Mantis shrimp in tiny helmets and jetpacks.
Or if were going down the ridiculous route lets just see if we can use that portal to find Mothra.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothra
Not that ridiculous. They already had Lungzilla fight Leviathan in Japan, wrecking up the place with flames he shot that were the color of Cherenkov radiation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheidae
she should be capable of controlling those
Syroc on May 25, 2013 at 22:07 said:
Nothing to do with anything, really, but the ‘Master-Blaster’ classification instantly made me wish that they were fighting in a scrapyard or something like it. It just made me snicker a little.
In my mind, the meeting should have gone like this:
“…I have a better idea. Why don’t you shut the fuck up and trust that the girl who beat lung, took over a city, drove off the Slaughterhouse Nine, participated in three S-Class threats and killed Alexandria know the fucking basics. Is that a good enough resume?”
“But the rules–”
“Nope. With the exception of Defiant I could kill *every single person in this room*. Why don’t you spend a minute thinking over the implications of that?”
“How dare y–”
“Another thing. Do you *honestly* think you have any sort of leverage over me? Can you think of one reason I should spend time playing your dumbass bureaucratic games?
“What if we–”
“Shut up. Even if you somehow brought me into custody against my will, what then? I can break out of any prison you put me in. My teammates are prepared to *burn the Protectorate to the ground* if you try and send me to the Birdcage – and good luck getting Dragon to lock me up. Heck, a week ago I was being publicized – on national television, no less – as the hero who took down Alexandria. Whats the public going to think when you change your mind about me?”
“That’s what I thought.”
pidgey on May 26, 2013 at 02:18 said:
Which would all be awesome, if Weaver cared to burn the Protectorate to the ground. The point here, from her perspective, is to be effective and ingratiating, because she wants to stop the world from ending in 22 months. Like it or not, the PRT is a good gig for getting stuff like that done, because they’re the ones with public and governmental support. Being scary and intimidating is not going to help her cause – if it could have, she would have just stayed with the Undersiders.
I realize that the tone of this story is very anti-establishment, and it’s easy to get caught up in that, but it also realistically addresses the fact that public image actually matters. The PRT is successful because they’ve latched onto an idea that is actually important: cultivating support from humanity’s existing infrastructure by being seen as accessible is the only way to avoid the “us vs. them” attitude that Skitter always struggled with. Adapting to human nature has given the PRT a huge amount of power, and failing to do so is the primary cause of Skitter’s (and most super-villains’) failures.
She HAS to cut a new path that doesn’t involve threats. Threats are great as long as they don’t get called, but she doesn’t want to kill anyone, and if she keeps making them, she’s going to keep getting put in situations (as she already has with Coil, Jack, Piggot, and Tagg) where she has to follow through or else lose her only play. It’s easy to root for her, because she has good intentions, but the fact of the matter is that the ends do not justify the means. What she’s proving to the Ward leaders right now isn’t that she capable of taking on big threats. Instead, she needs to prove that she can operate without escalating everything to the level of a fight to the death.
Honestly, I’m not sure she can.
> Instead, she needs to prove that she can operate without escalating everything to the level of a fight to the death.
That’s a really good point. She’s usually not fighting to the literal death, but like she said, her two main weapons were intimidation and fear — and pain, but she didn’t mention that this chapter. She can’t be a hero if she can’t be proportionate.
That said, I think she can be. This chapter was a good sign of that being within her grasp; so was her encounter with Emma in 20.3. What she needs is time and training, and that’s what, theoretically, they’re giving her.
>I realize that the tone of this story is very anti-establishment, and it’s easy to get caught up in that, but it also realistically addresses the fact that public image actually matters. The PRT is successful because they’ve latched onto an idea that is actually important: cultivating support from humanity’s existing infrastructure by being seen as accessible is the only way to avoid the “us vs. them” attitude that Skitter always struggled with. Adapting to human nature has given the PRT a huge amount of power, and failing to do so is the primary cause of Skitter’s (and most super-villains’) failures.
Yes, the PRT is successful because of their image. They’re trusted and seen as the “Heroes”. The public listens to them. Skitter *should* be eager to prove herself to them.
My point is this: In two years, everybody dies. Now is *not* the time to worry about image. Right now, they need to start preparing for the apocalypse:
First: Prepare. Fortified bunkers, fallout shelters, and evacuation programs need to be in place. Stockpiles of food, drink, and materials should be made. Government support and training for hospitals, law enforcement, industry and agriculture.
Second: Tell people. Let other countries know what’s ahead. Make a truce with the villains – if they’re willing to help against the Endbringers than *of course* they’re going to help save the world – if only because it means they’ll die too.
Third: Take action. Declare Martial Law, and enforce peace through an army of soldiers and capes. Food stamps, emergency supplies, and evacuation plans all have to distributed.
Sure, maybe this is a bit drastic, but at least it’s *something*.
When the apocalypse begins, who do people want protecting them: Butterfly Girl, or the nightmare who’s willing to kill people, cut out eyes, and face the Slaughterhouse Nine head on to protect her territory?
When Leviathan hit Brockton Bay, who was more helpful: The heroes who sat around crying for those they lost, or the villains who took control, enforced the “law”, and gave people food and medical support?
There’s a reason two thirds of the school supported Skitter when D&D attacked, and it wasn’t about image. It’s the same reason Parian and Flechette joined the Undersiders, why Dragon had to be forced to go after Skitter, and why Miss Milita was willing to make a truce with the Undersiders(For all the good that did).
> When Leviathan hit Brockton Bay, who was more helpful: The heroes who sat around crying for those they lost, or the villains who took control, enforced the “law”, and gave people food and medical support?
*After Leviathan hit…
A problem with that scenario is, you have an undefined threat. The End Is Upon Us doesn’t sell beyond the fanatics who kill themselves of this anyway. And Dinah can’t (or won’t) tell the kind of event killing more than two thirds of the population. So it will both be hard to prevent civil unrest, which will likely break-out if you declare martial law on a national scale a few months in at the latest if you don’t dangle a real, defined threat above their heads. Plus, soldiers are hard-pressed to sustain martial law beyond a certain point in time, since it can be easily likened to taking the populace hostage/prisoner. Without a dehumanizing effort like war they will see the citizens as what they are – mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, not as them.
Panic could do more damage than a warning could solve. Rioting, a run on the banks, grocery stores being emptied, people hoarding supplies, gun sales through the roof, and people freaking the fuck out is gonna be a problem. Maybe a better approach would be a small lie. Say that they have perfect intelligence that two endbringer attacks will happen at once somewhere in the US around the date of the apocalypse. People will still prepare, but no one will freak out as much because they hope the attack won’t happen where they are. Then as the date approaches, people enter the shelters, batten down the hatches, and prepare for a possible attack. More preparation, and hopefully less panic.
s/”sat around crying for those they lost”/”ran themselves nearly into the ground patrolling the streets at night trying to stop crimes in the act of commission”.
The criticism of the PRT in the weeks after Leviathan is not that they didn’t do anything, it’s that they didn’t organize a major operation to break up the gang most responsible for interfering with disaster aid and reconstruction — the Merchants. And if you look at Weld’s interlude, they were organizing such an operation — they were just so slow getting it off the ground that by the time they would have been ready, the Slaughterhouse Nine had made themselves known and the chiefs decided that truce was the better alternative.
Actually, writing this comment, I think Hookwolf did the Undersiders a favor when he drove a wedge between them and the other Brockton Bay gangs — because that left the Undersiders and Travelers as the only groups not either (a) preying upon the citizenry or (b) tacitly supporting the those preying upon the citizenry.
>> “There’s one tier one, two tier twos, three tier threes… all the way down to the tier fives.”
>> “Fifteen in total,” I said.
Stunned silence as Jester tries to do the math in his head……. Oh.
I took this to mean fifteen tier fives, not fifteen tiers. Admittedly, it’s vague, so idk which reading is correct.
If level of tier equals number of members:
1 … 1!=1
2 … 2!=1+2=3
3 … 3!=1+2+3=6
4 … 4!=1+2+3+4=10
5 … 5!=1+2+3+4+5=15
! usually means “factorial”, not “triangular”.
You’re right, of course. It should have been ∑ni=1 i = n*(n+1)/2
(curious if the HTML was allowed or not).
Been working with faculty on and of and shouldn’t have made that blunder.
Okay, no HTML.
∑ i = n*(n+1)/2
This ought to work.
Factorials are multiplicative, not additive.
5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1
1+2+3+4+5=15.
One day a long time ago in math class in a school in Germany the teacher wanted some time quiet time to himself and gave his students the task of adding all numbers from 1 to 100. His quiet time lasted a lot short then anticipated because very quickly a young student raised his hand and declared that he was finished and that the answer was 5050.
At first the teacher assumed that the student had cheated somehow, but the student explained that it had been very simple:
1 +100 = 101
2 + 99 = 101
49 + 52 = 101
50 + 101 = 5050
There really wasn’t much math involved once you spotted the pattern.
The student that this supposedly happened to was was Carl Friedrich Gauss.
The method he employed can be generalized as all the numbers from 1 to n added up are n * (n+1) /2.
The moral of the story is that you don’t have to work hard at math if you work smart and if someone else worked smart before you, you don’t actually have to work smart either you just have to remember the trick and recognize when to apply it.
The binding they performed was carried out as if from some deep-seated, creative part of me, the part of me that would doodle absentmindedly in the margins of my notebook when I was tired in class.
And also good at math….
She didn’t have to be good at math to do that. Simple memory would suffice. For instance, adding most smaller numbers is no conscious or subconscious effort since you’ve done that so often it isn’t calculating but remembering the result.
So her train of thought could have been…
“So that’s the pattern. How many are there are is cumulative. Three tier is six, four plus is 10, five plus is 15, six plus is 21, seven plus…” with the number before the plus representing the total number of tiers as well. And all that in less than a second for a quick thinker since you don’t vocalize these thoughts, you remember the results of such little addition from first grade when you did it till kingdom come.
At least that’s the way it works with me.
I remember hearing multiple versions of what supposedly happened that day — looking it up on Wikipedia, I found this analysis suggesting that most if not all the details might be apocryphal.
Y’know, I read all this, and I get the urge to start quoting Clue. Is that weird?
What about clue involves numbers? You mean the old board game where colonel mustard killed the guy in the kitchen with the candlestick right?
So you’re telling me it wasn’t Miss Scarlet in the ballroom with a lead pipe.
Has anyone here seen the film with Tim Curry? If you haven’t, google it, it’s funny.
Just remember, it’s 1+1+2+1, NOT 1+2+1+1.
Is that what they were eating? I think someone’s going to be sick.
To be fair, who wouldn’t shoot a singing telegram?
Caliban on May 26, 2013 at 08:31 said:
I get the impression that they deliberately sent Weaver and the others into that situation expecting them to get overwhelmed by the Adepts, just so they could test her ability to work within their restrictions when her back is against the wall. The Adepts avoid killing people, and they were pretty confident they would be able to come in with their reserves to rescue them once they’d seen enough.
The PRT leadership has shown exactly this type of arrogance and willingness to take risks with their members on more than one occasion (Alexandria and Tagg, Piggart and her willingness to use Bakuda’s bombs when dealing with the Slaughterhouse 9).
Taylor is at risk of becoming a victim of her own success here. The PRT doesn’t worry so much about members with raw power. Someone who is versatile, quick thinking, adaptive and hard to control even as they appear to obey all the restrictions you put on them? That’s a real threat.
The PRT is not being as unreasonable as all that, here. It would be irresponsible to put her into a situation like that without backup, but with backup, it’s a reasonable test of her ability to work within boundaries. The PRT has done some unacceptably reckless things in the past, yeah, but this wasn’t one of them.
It’s possible that she was being set up to fail, and that they aren’t really working with her in good faith. If that’s true, it’s possible they’d see her as a threat who’s only appearing to play by the rules. But I kind of doubt it. The Triumvirate is gone. The people she’s involved with now, who made the decision to set her against the Adepts, aren’t in a likely position to want to betray her – what would be their goal? The Protectorate stands to gain a lot if they can rehabilitate Weaver, and they know it.
> The people she’s involved with now, who made the decision to set her against the Adepts, aren’t in a likely position to want to betray her – what would be their goal?
“I don’t want a murderer in the Wards” seems like sufficient motive to me.
As does “Little shit thinks she’s such hot stuff, does she?”, in the case of Jouster.
Counterpoint: Sophie and Taylor are now murder buddies (in the sense of both of them having killed at all). Both are/were wards with heavy restrictions or if you prefer probationary limitations.
They were perfectly happy to have Sophia in the Wards, even to the point of continuing to clean up after her brutalising of her schoolmates. Weaver is demonstrably more powerful and versatile than Shadow Stalker, and has never killed anyone simply because she could and because she wanted to, unlike Sophia, who committed acts of violence because it made her feel like a predator in a world of sheep.
If the PRT choose to fuck Taylor over in this way, it would be kinda hypocritical, wasteful and stupid…in other words, sadly in-character for them to date.
I think Sophia Hess had an easier time because the people she was maiming and/or killing were ‘bad guys’. And she wasn’t publicly known to be a killer.
Plus, Weaver’s reputation is a helluva lot more intimidating.
I mean, what’s Stalker known for? Not all that much, right?
Ski-Weaver? Stared down the SR9, Endbringers, Levithan, has 2 PRT Directors AND Alexandria’s deaths on her head, and to top it all off, she’s now a bona fide hero.
Though if they try to fuck her over, well, one call to Tattletale, and every secret the PRT has that she knows about is now public. Which includes Stalker’s sins, Cauldron, Coil, Taggate…
Am I the only one who envisioned ‘Ski-Weaver’ as having super-skiing powers? xD
Sadly, I think the PRT/Protectorate/Wards’ focus on appearance and maintaining the heroic facade, rather than on GETTING THE JOB DONE is gonna come back and bite ’em in the ass.
Hoping this doesn’t put Taylor in the crossfire. But, given her luck, she’ll probably take it right on the chin.
Hydrargentium on May 27, 2013 at 15:00 said:
@Packbat – And she didn’t kill frickin’ Alexandria.
(Speaking of which, am I the only entity here who doesn’t truly believe that Alexandria is dead?)
I’m ambivalent myself and reserve final judgement until the last words of the epilogue are done. For now, I’d at least consider her “Dead until further notice” with a side dash advising to make/amend plans for her possible return.
Having just marathoned all of Worm in about three weeks I feel I am finally ready to start commenting.
But processing to the point I don’t see this arrangement with the Protectorate working very well, but I do see it lasting an excruciatingly long time.
It’s only a matter of time before Skitter/Weaver does something they REALLY disprove of (Like you know, anything she normally does while fighting heavy hitters) and they decide she’s better of under house arrest like Armsmaster (or something similar).
ALSO; I don’t see either her or Brian abandoning their relationship quite that easily, seeing as for a brief moment they were discussing marriage and possibly even children. That’s a very difficult thing to just walk away from.
And finally; I foresee that either Dragon or Miss Militia (More likely the former) will become a bit of a mother figure for Taylor, something she had needed for the whole story.
Welcome to the comments! P. Gecko might properly introduce you later. I think she will cross a line as well, but only against a very serious threat which might cause some conflict for the heroes. They NEED more muscle and having a scary figure who is not afraid to bring the hurt might help them with the public. So I don’t think it will be so clear cut. Brian and Taylor are my favorite ship with Clockblocker 2nd and I also think that it won’t be so easy for either of them to forget each other. I feel bad for what Grue must be going through considering all the crap he had to go through and the last thing he said was he didn’t make her happy.
I too was fooled by their parting, as they parted without saying anything to that effect. Perhaps it was less about them saying goodbye and more about Taylor reflecting on the actions she was about to take to well and truly part from him. I don’t see Miss Militia as a mother figure, and Dragon’s got some technical problems right now, so I think that they’re going to leave her fucked for support right when she needs it most. I mean, she’s only completely changing things around. Dragon knew to give her a hug, because without some support things could turn out worse. Alienating her like they have done so far while she’s just trying to do the right thing is guaranteed to bite them in the ass harder than necrotizing fasciitis spliced with Mike Tyson.
First time commenting, eh?
Now the marathon is over and you’ll find out it was more like a sprint. Now the true marathon starts, as you have to pace yourself and wait with the rest of us down here. Oh sure, you have to catch your breath now, but really we’ll give you a few minutes to grab a cup of water and pour it over your shirt so that your shirt doesn’t get so crusty with salt that it rubs your nipples to the point of bleeding.
Trust me, nipples are at their most fun when they aren’t bleeding.
You’ll want to find good points to stop for a break too, because you know how easily it is for Wildbow to make you shit your pants the closer we get to the finish line. You’d have to be runner’s high to take it all in stride, which is made somewhat easier by the Jamaican with the blunt passing you on your left. Truly, his victory will be a joint effort.
Just remember that the marathon was named after a messenger running to deliver news from a battle and then collapsing dead as soon as he arrived and said what he needed to say. That’s one healthy exercise right there. Maybe soon we’ll be practicing for the annual Stab Each Other With Spears events.
Or at least, that’s what y’all will claim to the cop after I give too many more introductions like this.
Welcome to the comments, Puppetmaster24.
Ascaloth on May 26, 2013 at 20:47 said:
She should change her cape name to Schmetterling. *nods*
She does not hit hard enough for the german butterfly. Literary “little smasher” — i have NO idea why … well its no fly with butter too, so
“From Schmetten (“cream”) due to old belief that witches transformed themselves into butterflies to steal cream and other milk products. (Compare etymology of English butterfly.)”
That’s from wiktionary, a german speaker should probably have easier access to a German etymological dictionary.
negadarkwing on May 27, 2013 at 13:14 said:
First time commenting so here I go…
I kinda wonder if maybe the Protectorate might have more power than they realize. Or rather some of the capes they think are weak are a lot stronger than they realize. If Taylor had joined right up I think she might have gotten pigionholed as good just for recon and support, never fully developing her powers. So how many others could be much more powerful if they got the chance to try and diversify?
Actually having to stick with butterflies and other pretty bugs might be a good thing for Taylor. To me it seems like when she’s got limited resources to work with, or is backed into a corner, that’s when she really shines. When she can’t use her usual tricks she comes up with new ones.
Clockblocker really was great in this chapter. You can tell that he’s smart enough that if he could have Taylor on his team he’d take her. Because he knows what she’d do for their win rate.
Am I the only one who can see this happening?
Taylor: “Shit it’s all three Endbringers! I got to get every bug I can!”
Glenn: “Weaver remember your new image. Your a hero now.”
Taylor: “Sigh. Right. Butterflies only.”
Hello there Negadarkwing.
Oh yes, Glenn is REAL effective for a group of heroes. Like running around with a Nerf dartgun at Normandy. Like replacing Winston Churchill with Dan Quail. Like having Spartacus played by Michael J. Fox. Great scott, that is heavy. Must be something wrong with the earth’s gravitational field in the future.
Glenn’s good for the heroes like fish chunks are good for ice cream. Like Stephen Hawking being asked to juggle. Like PETA being made the spokesgroup of all animal shelters.
Glenn’s the kind of guy who plans a dramatic thunderstorm on your wedding because you like rain. The sort of fellow who hears you want to visit the UK, so makes you nothing but British food for the next week. He’s like asking someone to nail up a board using a loaded handgun. What a tool.
What he doesn’t realize is that PR is very a thing you can force onto others. Good is not light doesn’t have to just mean the heroes act like assholes. You can also consider that one people’s heroes are other people’s monsters, then later the PR gets done by the winners. Glenn’s the kind of guy who tells Vlad Tepes to stop because all the impaling is making them look like monsters to the people who want to cause the apocalypse. Glenn would die early in a crossover horror movie, because he’d be the one guaranteed to try and put a pink dress and make him use a nightstick when he goes up against Leatherface, Pinhead, the Leprechaun, and whoever murdered World War Z and replaced it with a deformed homunculi modeled after Brad Pitt.
Glenn’s stuck in the 80s, which makes sense. He’s about as useful as a guy in thick rectangular glasses with a fauxhawk and really long eyelashes being hired as an image consultant. Like Hasidic rabbis trying to attract hipsters to their religion by pointing out that both groups like beards.
Welcome to the comments, negadarkwing.
Welcome to the comments.
Just pretend that second line welcoming you was for dramatic purposes and not one of the many typos plaguing me lately.
And I’m sorry if this ends up being a double post. I had to dig out my wordpress password.
Funny you should mention Vlad Tepes. A lot of what he did was his way of PR. If the Turks came along and saw all those impaled dudes, it was meant as a detterence to make them think twice about invading. After all would you want to mess with this guy? But he was also very interested in keeping the order in his lands. If you weren’t breaking the law he wasn’t that bad. But god help you if he did. One story is that a merchant had his cart stolen. Vlad put him up in his castle for the night, and had his guards find the cart and the thief. In the morning he asked the merchant to check his cart to make sure everything was there. The merchant did so, and then said that not only was everything there, but there was actually more than before. Vlad told him it was good he had been honest, or he would have been punished more severly than the thief.
Actually Vlad seems like the sort who would have had a trigger event when you consider what his childhood was like.
So, I’ve been working my way through the archives again in order to also read all the comments I skipped the first time. Something popped out at me during the Echidna Interlude.
“This one would fragment itself if others met the criteria; if there was time and opportunity enough then it would move to better candidates, younger or more able ones with a greater ability to affect the cycle. This one would wait until the time was right, and then it would activate, come into the identity and role that had been ingrained into its being.”
This is probably talking about the function of Noelle’s Passenger specifically, but what if it’s also more generalized? It could explain why second generation and kids adopted by capes have an easier time triggering. The original Passenger fragments itself further and imprints on them because these kids have been raised by someone who met its original criteria, making them more likely to meet the Passenger’s criteria as well. We know that part of the whole reason for the Passenger/Trigger thing is a procreation cycle so it makes sense that they would continue to attempt to propagate themselves in other individuals who managed to meet their standards. It would also explain why second gens have a tendency to develop powers that run along the same theme lines as their parents.
That makes a lot of sense to me — we’ll have to keep our eyes open and see what kind of powers Aidan gets. If your theory is right, there should be some relation to Skitter’s.
Ooh, maybe he gets the Scurry powers.
Meh, I could- OHGODNOSOSORRY!!
Scurry powers?
Anyways, whether a second gen cape is more likely to have a power similar to their “parent’s” power really isn’t in question. I mean Regent, Kaiser, Panacea, all of New Wave, the pattern for that is already there. The question is why? And my opinion on the answer is because the original Passenger does this fragmentation that Noelle describes and imprints on the kid because being raised by capes they will be predisposed to sharing necessary traits with their parents that the Passenger looks for.
No, I get that — the reason I brought up Aidan is I think that if Aidan has just gained the potential to trigger, it is because of his interactions with Skitter. So: if Aidan triggers from a second-generation-strength trigger event, we should see Aidan with Skitterish powers.
(Scurry is the nickname for the Echidna clones of Skitter — who had related powers to Skitter’s, obviously.)
Freak King on May 27, 2013 at 17:01 said:
I have been wondering, if a pregnant woman triggers, does her unborn child trigger as well?
GuesssWho on May 28, 2013 at 00:54 said:
Oh God, don’t even say it. You’ve made me think of http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FetusTerrible
Thank you, Scott and Adam, for the donations.
Glenn must have worked for the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation before being hired by the PRT. I can just see him insisting that the Protectorate and Ward’s tinkers build their technology with “Genuine People Personalities.” If Dragon starts complaining of a pain in all the diodes on her left side we’ll know we’re in trouble.
Someone should tell him to go stick his head in a pig.
baochouou on May 27, 2013 at 23:56 said:
It seems like they were trying to cause Weaver to fail the test. I can not think of any other reason Glenn would be there. A non-cape going into a fight just does not make sense unless he’s using his position to hurt Taylor’s effectiveness. It seems Jouster was also trying to make her fail.
On the note of a 2nd trigger I personally think she will either receive an ability to upgrade her bugs by making them stronger much like happened to atlas. Either that or she will receive a bug form which would increase her endurance in fights. I think prison will provide for the trigger.
If she didn’t trigger with Echinda I doubt she ever will.
I’m now waiting for her to say “I can look pretty or save lives. Pick one.”
If only to see the fucker hesitate.
Meh, I don’t seer saying it that way. More like “I can look harmless or same lives. Pick one.”
Devin on May 28, 2013 at 11:59 said:
I love this. Just when Taylor has gotten really adept at manipulating battlefields to her benefit, she joins the wards and has to deal with public relations. This is a great way to up the challenge on our protagonist. You always seem to know just when to shake the story up wildbow.
Well, now we know about the situation for certain. Nice to know. Sad that the story is leaving the Bay behind, for now at least.
Holy carp, these PRT guys are dense. They seriously want to make the bug girl’s power have a good image? No wonder people like Grue and Bonesaw are villains.
“We’re alike in some ways,”
Except that Colin isn’t a murderer, while Taylor is.
“He’s laughing because you’re putting down the girl who killed Alexandria.”
Sneak attack that wouldn’t have worked realistically. And even then, Alexandria had been in fighting mode or had wanted to kill Taylor the result would have been different.
No, he’s not. It’s genuinely that funny. 😀
I was laughing out loud.
I’ve always liked Clockblocker.
Colin totally nanotech exploded Damsel of Distress. Or do S9 members not count?
Though even if Alexandria had retaliated, she still would have died.
Man, I’m still laughing at the butterflies.
The Slaughterhouse Nine have standing official kill orders on them. So, no, killing them doesn’t count as murder. It’s lawful execution.
Christina S on December 29, 2013 at 13:39 said:
Great chapter, especially for someone who thinks they can’t do humorous writing. This was super funny.
Typo : “You and Chevalier were arguing for a cleaner, shinier Protectorate, didn’t you?”
Should be “weren’t you”.
asdfasdf on September 3, 2014 at 19:26 said:
So….given the orgy….was I the only one who thought the “just under a foot long rod with some sort of carving on it” her bugs identified was going to be a dildo?(the detailed kind with veins and a head)
I had assumed it was going to lead to one of those “cop shoots a hood reaching for a cellphone” type reaction with skitter shooting first with forbidden bugs and similar fallout screwing her over
ah, the line i meant is even worse in exact wording
how doesn’t that scream plastic dick 😦 vaguely disappointed really. I thought they might even have the wrong address 😛
Oh Clockblocker I really love you. He and Weaver totally need to get together and start a romance. They are both snarky, and cynical and he has a healthy degree of respect for her! And I have to say this was utterly priceless: “You kicked their asses with butterflies…No, no, no…if anyone asks, you kicked their asses with butterflies.” Thank god that is already on TVTropes because if it wasn’t it would’ve been.
Well I have to say Defiant is really kinda cool now. He has turned into a genuine good guy. It was kind of really sweet in an odd sort of way to see them both complaining about how much being a leader sucks.
Bakuda gave her a concussion, and she swarmed a doctor’s office.
The PRT tranquilized her, and she killed one of the toughest capes on the planet.
The Adepts hypnotized her, and she wrapped them up like Christmas presents and kicked their asses with butterflies.
Somewhere along this progression, Taylor is going to get a reputation as not just a ridiculous badass, but someone who gets even scarier when knocked out.
Weaver, more dangerous when asleep than The Sleeper.
Haha I never noticed that pattern and now I totally agree with you man!
Truthseeker on January 14, 2015 at 21:49 said:
That’s not a reputation you want, though, because people start skipping the knockout phase and going straight to, “kill it with fire!”
slider214 on January 15, 2015 at 02:55 said:
I think it’s a continuum. Yeah sure if you’re not careful you go from a hilarious party story into “kill quick before the unconscious one kills everyone” but if you’re really good and somewhat fast about it you can completely skip that phase and progress right into “too damn scary to piss off”. Though at this point I kind of think she really should’ve already hit the last one…
I seriously think the best PR is being effective,having people thinking you can protect them,and,as long as you avoid causing more than 1 scandal per year,you may not be admired by all,but you’ll be acceptable.
With the bullies and Tagg out,we needed a new hate sink…thats Glenn,but he seriously falls short on douchebaggery…I dunno,yes,he is a huge jerk,but even a serial killer can seem inocent if compared with Hitler.
I never really had issues with Glenn. He’s annoying yes, but annoying is a far cry from obstructive. At least he sorta tries to explain why he’s doing seemingly asinine things. And they sorta make sense…kinda.
I can agree that Tagg makes almost anyone look peachy in comparison but Glenn honestly seems to be trying to help if in the most annoying way possible. He always struck me as trying so hard to be frustrating that it came off as more endearing in the “friend everyone thinks is a jerk” kinda way.
Which is why I said he does not compare to the previous jerks at all
But seriously,he and his school of thought are part of the reason the PRT is so innefective.
Hmm, yes and no. For villains there’s probably no such thing as bad publicity, but for heroes? You need the cooperation of the public. You need the cooperation of local law enforcement. You need the cooperation of politicians and the media. If you win the battle but lose the people’s confidence, that puts you in a much harder position in future.
Public relations *matter*.
Which is the reasdon a “competent”PR agent spins PR around effectiveness,and interferes only when the heroes do something really hard to defend,like killing someone or acting like unmarketable jerks in front of camera (hint:marketing Clockblocker is really frickin easy,instead he lectures him,wut?).Heck,Justin Bieber got marketed,though I wouldn’t take him for a role model.A variety of characters,some jokers,some underdogs,some dark but actually good people,are a competent PR agent’s dream,doubly so if there are S class threats in the world to help you spin it.Heck,capes are a reality that is,as an entity,uncontrollable by humans unless they choose too and a truth that cannot be exterminated.Any halfway competent PR agent would have a field day,and even a few scandals of bad publicity might help,as it will stop the unreasonable expectations of heroes.
Instead he spins effectiveness around PR.WTF. He and the school of thought he propagates are literally causing Wards to have psyhological problems,causing heroes to die in life and death situations and letting villains escape,up and including villains the heroes are allowed to go all out against because he has curbed their creativity,thus letting undirectly countless innocents die.And all that?not because its a neccesity for heroes to get accepted,not because its the only way the PRT is gonna be accepted,not for any greater good,but because he sucks at the job he was hired to do,and he sucks bad.
You think a competent PR agent would be reactive? Would wait for things to go wrong and only then jump into action spinning things? They’re not. They going to get ahead of the game. They’re going to work out what image the organisation needs to portray to most effectively to do its job.
PR isn’t an afterthought. In some ways it’s even more important than effectiveness in the field. Most Cape skirmishes aren’t lethal so a loss is embarrassing but not critical. But acceptance by the public is essentially *the* thing that makes a given cape a ‘hero’.
When did I say he is gonna be reactive?Of course he gonna be proactive,he just would find a way to fit PR to effectiveness,not to reduce effectiveness in favour to PR .Adjusting the heroes public personas would be a good proactive step without disabling effectiveness,especially since they are lafighting celebrities,essentially.Marketing Clockblocker as an immature joker with hidden depths (not far from the truth)would do his PR wonders,wearing ties is not so effective in affecting public opinion,really,in my country people trusted the new prime minister of being non corrupt,unlike all the earlier ones.He could market Weaver as someone who has done what she did because it was what she had to do,but in the process realizing her mistake and going to give herself up,only to be met with a corrupt Alexandria.Boom,instant sympathetic dark hero.
Really,the problem here is portraying capes as infalliible .If it portrayed them as individual humans,but had a system that ensured they wouldn’t kill or brutalize anyone needlessly (why,hello there Shadow Stalker),it would create a system that would trust indivindual heroes less,but the system of checks and balances more,which would be more efficient and require less coverup.And,from what we have seen,the PR isn’t doing a perfect job anyway.
A final thing:PR is very useful,but can you give it to the dead?It is a means,but they seem to have made it a purpose of crippling size.
lovebooksandblush on April 20, 2015 at 01:34 said:
i really want Taylor to hook up with Clockblocker.
“She was old, pushing sixty if not well past it, and ramrod straight, and thin.”
Two ands.
This is more a style choice, but the sudden rambling paragraph in between short, respectful responses feels really out of place to me, and shifts the tone of the discussion.
“The mask that covered the upper half of his face was sculpted into a perpetual frown.”
I just don’t understand this bit. How is the upper half of his face frowning?
Do a google images search for “frowning”. Look at how frowning affects the brows and forehead and area around the nose. Someone has carved a half-face mask that captures that expression (presumably with holes for the eyes) and Dispatch is wearing it.
stsword on July 13, 2015 at 15:41 said:
Hmm, for night missions Weaver could use fireflies.
It’s funny, I thought Cockblocker was kind of sweet on Taylor before, I guess it’s possible he’s just flirty by nature.
It took me a minute to process that Vantage isn’t comparing Taylor to her file or anything- he’s really saying that she made the right call. Almost definitely in deliberate contrast to Jouster, partly as a way of emphasizing that Jouster fucked up, but still. Good guy. ❤
He commands birds that throw fire and refuse to burn, and he doesn’t have a phoenix codename? Someone could use a lesson in PR.
IceMan on December 26, 2016 at 21:06 said:
This is my first comment ever, having come this far after reading this for almost a week now. I’d have to say Worm is probably one of the the best webseries I’ve ever read. It bugs me that I only found out about this web series a week ago. Anyway, I hate to be the teenage fangirl in the midst of all these intelligent and hilarious commenters, but I really really ship Clockblocker and Weaver. There. I said it. Don’t hate me.
hopefwlyanonymous on April 3, 2017 at 00:09 said:
I’ve been imagining Weaver/Skitter/Taylor using butterflies right from the start. Her power is /pretty/.
God, the PRT is so fucking hilarious.
Why would anybody want to join them with this ridiculous rules and “image” stuff?
Leave a Reply to Liam C Cancel reply
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"We the People" American Flag Aluminum Magnet
MISC-00369
Don't Tread on Me 30mm Shot Glass
Thin Blue Line Flag Mug
Suck It Up! T-Shirt
I Stand for the Flag and Kneel at the Cross T-Shirt
Bulletproof Pint Glass
Americans Are Dreamers Too T-Shirt
This magnet features a silhouette image of the American Revolution with the American flag and text from the U.S. Constitution in the background. The front of the magnet is made from aluminum and has a standard PVC magnet affixed to back.
Measures Approximately 3.125" W x 1.75" H.
We the People Magnet
MADE IN AMERICA! This unique vintage-style design is a great way to display your love for the Constitution, and specifically the Second Amendment. Reads "The Constitution of the...
We Don’t Dial 911 Magnet
MADE IN AMERICA! This vintage-style magnet sends the very clear message that you aren't naïve enough to believe that the police can get to your home in time to protect you if someone is...
"We The People - The Second Amendment" Vintage Tin Sign
MADE IN AMERICA! This unique vintage-style design is a great way to display your love for the Constitution, and specifically the Second Amendment. Reads "The Constitution of the United...
We the People Bumper Sticker
Our Founding Fathers chose every word very carefully when they wrote our Constitution. And at the very beginning of the document, they wanted to make it clear where our government's power is derived...
We Don't Dial 911 Vintage Tin Sign
MADE IN AMERICA! This vintage-style tin sign tells people two things about you. The words tell them that you don't dial 911 when in trouble. The image of the gun lets people know what...
We The People T-Shirt
When our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they carefully chose every word that was used. They wanted to be clear from the very beginning who the powers were being derived from. They didn't...
We the People Frame
Frame is made of pine wood and glass Measures 10"w x 8"h Holds 4.0" x 6.0" photos
Does My American Flag Offend You T-Shirt (White)
For more than 200 years, soldiers have fought and died to preserve freedom in America.Freedom is a rare thing today and throughout world history. People from all over the world have moved to the...
We Stand for Our Nation's Flag and Anthem Tin Sign
Here at Patriot Depot, we always stand for our nation's flag, the National Anthem, and those who have stood before us. Patriotism isn't just a courtesy. It's a duty. For some reason, being...
America: Let Freedom Reign Tin Sign
MADE IN AMERICA Freedom is an incredible blessing that we must fight to preserve and protect. If we aren't vigilant in defending it, then we will soon wake up and realize we're no longer free...
In This Place Magnet
These days, people are offended at anything and everything you can possibly think of. But the things people consider offensive today are the very things that used to be held up as good and...
"We the People" U.S. Flag Spring-Assisted Knife
Show your patriotic spirit with this spring-assisted pocket knife! The 3.75" stainless-steel blade can handle anything that comes your way throughout the day. The aluminum handle features an...
American Flag Woven Throw
MADE IN AMERICA! If we know one thing about our customers, it's that you're proud of our country and like showing it. What better way to show your patriotism than with this beautiful American Flag...
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Alexa Flash Briefing
James-Avann Tue, February 12 12:10am
Shetland is on BBC One at 9pm.
Return of the crime drama series. DI Jimmy Perez is called in after body parts belonging to a young man are discovered on the island.
The Great British Sewing Bee is on BBC Two at 8pm
The sewing contest returns, with Joe Lycett as the new host. The hopefuls are challenged to create a Dior-inspired wiggle dress.
Martin Clunes, Islands of America is on ITV at 9pm.
In this second edition, the actor explores the San Juan Islands in Washington State, before travelling down America’s West coast.
Inside the Real Saudi Arabia, Why I Had to Leave is on BBC One at 10.45pm.
British fashion stylist Basma Khalifa travels to Saudi Arabia, the country where she was born, to see what life is like there for young women.
Catastrophe is on Channel Four at 10pm.
Last episode of the comedy. Sharon and Rob receive some tragic news during their Boston holiday.
Football, Manchester United versus Paris Saint Germain is on BT Sport 2 at 7pm.
Tonight’s Champions League last-16, first-leg match staged at Old Trafford. kick-off is at eight.
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Plant Phenomics: Emerging Transdisciplinary Science
Seishi Ninomiya1,*, Frédéric Baret2,*, and Zong-Ming (Max) Cheng3,4,*
1University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2French National Institute of Agricultural Research, Paris, France
3Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
4University of Tennessee, TN, USA
*Correspondence should be addressed to Seishi Ninomiya; pj.ca.oykot-u.a.sasi@onins, Frédéric Baret; rf.arni@terab.cirederf, and Zong-Ming (Max) Cheng; ude.ktu@gnehcz
Received: 19 December 2018Accepted: 19 December 2018Published: 22 January 2019
Humankind is facing an unprecedented challenge to produce enough food for the coming decades because of population growth and increase in the average demand per capita, changes in climate conditions, and limitations in arable land area, as well as pressure on the water and resources. Two main avenues should be concurrently taken to increase crop productivity: improving genetics to get more efficient and resilient crops and developing optimal crop management practices. The description and understanding of crop functioning will therefore be instrumental both for genetic improvement and crop management. It will help to associate functional traits with the genome which will accelerate genetic progress by having more efficient techniques to design ideotypes adapted to particular pedoclimatic and crop management conditions and create them from the available genetic diversity. Similarly, knowledge of plant functioning will provide ways to take strategic and tactical decisions for optimal crop management within a given pedoclimatic, technical, and socioeconomic context. The modeling of crop functioning appears thus as a key element to formalize the accumulated knowledge on the ecophysiological processes that drive plant growth under given environmental conditions. Such models have already been developed for several species. They are based on the description of elementary processes using either mechanistic or empirically based approaches. These models are assembled at the plant and canopy levels to account for the complexity of the interactions between them. The validation and calibration of such models require conducting and compiling a large range of experiments under contrasted environmental conditions. However, such experiments targeting the elementary processes or the functioning of the whole plant and canopy need an ensemble of complementary measurements that are generally expensive, destructive, and low-throughput. While such detailed ecophysiological measurements are expected to be achieved, they can be complemented by repeated observations of the form and structure of organs, plants, canopies, and cellular components from which information on the corresponding functioning will be extracted. This corresponds to the emerging domain of plant phenomics.
The plant phenome is defined as the plant characteristics resulting from the realization of the genetic program stored in the cell under given environmental conditions. The targeted characteristics are either structural (dimensions, shape, position, and orientation of the cells, organs, and plants), biochemical, or based on energy or mass fluxes. The dynamics of the measured quantities is of prime importance to access more directly the underlying ecophysiological processes that determine the plant phenome. Plant phenomics can therefore be defined as the science of plant phenome characterization. It should be also extended to the description of the organ, plant, or canopy functioning.
Plant phenomics has been rapidly emerging as an independent research field in parallel to the technological advances in sensors, vectors, communication, and geolocalization systems and in signal and image processing and the associated computation capacity, as well as in all other omics tools. A brief bibliometric study shows that the number of publications related to plant phenomics per year has been rapidly growing since 2010 (Figure 1). The development of plant phenomics was mostly boosted by breeders for genetic improvements to match the maturity reached by the high-throughput genotyping techniques. As a matter fact, the value of the detailed and complete description of plant genomes can only be maximized if functions or traits are associated with the genes. Large efforts have therefore been dedicated to the development of high-throughput phenotyping techniques to break this main bottleneck of genetic improvement. In parallel, the community is also rapidly growing alongside the creation of national, continental, and international plant phenotyping infrastructures and research centers. These centers and research networks facilitate the exchange of ideas, results, data, and codes to create the necessary standards and to train generations of scientists in plant phenomics.
Number of publications per year related to plant phenomics.
Plant phenomics is a transdisciplinary domain encompassing physics, biology, genetics, statistics, computer science, metrology, and other related disciplines. Such an extended academic sphere creates a challenge for the growing plant phenomics community to establish a proper publishing platform for sharing new results from the research activities up to their targeted applications, presenting reviews on specific aspects of plant phenotyping, and discussing positions on new developments. This is currently done either within general crop-science journals or through journals specialized in a single discipline having some connection with plant phenotyping. The rapid advance and growth of the plant phenomics discipline call for a dedicated journal in plant phenomics, integrating with computing science, engineering science, and multibiological sciences. Launching Plant Phenomics became possible through the support of Nanjing Agricultural University, which is building the world-class of Plant Phenomics Center, and through a partnership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, publisher of Science Magazine.
The intended coverage of Plant Phenomics can be broken down into five areas (Figure 2):
High-throughput data acquisition for cells, organs, individual plants, and plant canopy including both the root system and the aerial parts of all plant species, under controlled or field conditions. It includes the related technological advances about sensors, vehicles, robotics, calibration, and metrology issues.
Data management including information systems, ontology, metainformation, data mining, data sharing, and standardization.
Data interpretation to transform raw measurements into usable traits. It covers computer vision, signal processing, machine learning, and statistical and physically based approaches.
Modeling the plant structure and its dynamics and plant functioning through detailed description of ecophysiological processes. This also includes sensitivity analyses, model calibration and validation, and data assimilation.
Integration and applications including integration with other omics and other disciplines for advancing plant genetics, breeding, precision agriculture, and supporting decision systems at the field and farm levels, as well as resource management at the larger scales.
The five pillars of plant phenomics.
Plant Phenomics will be an open-access, online-only journal, allowing scientific discoveries to be quickly and freely disseminated to all interested viewers. In addition to research articles, the journal will also welcome news and views on hot topics and current events and provoking opinions with broad interest to the plant phenomics community.
We are honored to serve as the founding Editors-in-Chief (EiC) and are so grateful to have an exceptional group of highly qualified, energetic associate editors (AEs) across the world to help us in building Plant Phenomics into a leading journal for the plant phenomics research community by attracting high level papers and becoming an integral reference in the field.
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Seishi Ninomiya
Frédéric Baret
Zong-Ming (Max) Cheng
Copyright © 2019 Seishi Ninomiya et al. Exclusive Licensee Nanjing Agricultural University. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).
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Using High-Throughput Phenotyping to Explore Growth Responses to Mycorrhizal Fungi and Zinc in Three Plant Species
S. J. Watts-Williams1,2,*, N. Jewell1,3, C. Brien1,3, B. Berger1,3, T. Garnett1,3, and T. R. Cavagnaro1
1The School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and The Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
2Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, SA, Australia
3Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, The Plant Accelerator, The University of Adelaide, PMB1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
*Correspondence should be addressed to S. J. Watts-Williams; stephanie.watts-williams@adelaide.edu.au
Received: 24 November 2018Accepted: 21 February 2019Published: 25 March 2019
S. J. Watts-Williams, N. Jewell, C. Brien, B. Berger, T. Garnett, and T. R. Cavagnaro, “Using High-Throughput Phenotyping to Explore Growth Responses to Mycorrhizal Fungi and Zinc in Three Plant Species,” Plant Phenomics, vol. 2019, Article ID 5893953, 12 pages, 2019. https://doi.org/10.34133/2019/5893953.
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Football European
Eden Hazard aspires to be a ‘Galactico’ after completing Real Madrid switch
Press Association Sport 14/06/2019
Eden Hazard believes he has the platform to try and become “the best player in the world” after signing a five-year deal with Real Madrid.
The 28-year-old Belgium forward has completed his 150 million euro move to the Spanish giants from Chelsea after passing a medical in Madrid on Thursday.
Hazard last week revealed joining Real had been a dream of his since childhood and reiterated his desire to win many trophies with the underperforming Blancos, who finished third in La Liga last season and made an early exit from the Champions League, before turning his focus to personal ambitions.
Following a presentation ceremony and a ball-juggling show on the Bernabeu pitch in front of a rapturous 50,000-strong crowd of Real fans, he undertook his first official press conference.
“I’m going to try to become the best player in the world, but first I wanted to be in the best team in the world,” Hazard told reporters. “I’m not a ‘Galactico’ – I hope to be one day – I am Eden Hazard.
Daniel James aspires to be like Manchester United great Ryan Giggs
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has selection issues as he plots fitting in Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic
“At Real Madrid you have to win as much as possible and hopefully I can write another page in the history of the club.”
Hazard maintained ever since his record-breaking transfer from Chelsea was announced that he was motivated to join Real by a dream shared with his brothers Thorgan and Kylian – now both professional footballers – since their days kicking a ball about in the family garden back in Braine-le-Comte.
But a key secondary motivation was the presence of former France playmaker Zinedine Zidane as head coach at the Bernabeu – the three-time Champions League-winning manager stepped down in May 2018 but returned this March following the miserable tenures of Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari.
Hazard said: “Everyone knows Zidane has been my idol since I was a child, and him being the Madrid boss was an important factor for me coming here.”
🤳😉 "¡Hey chicos! ¡Esto es por y para vosotros!"#WelcomeHazard | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/9IFrH5CAts
— Real Madrid C.F.⚽ (@realmadrid) June 13, 2019
He has designs on the 10 shirt – the replica handed to him for official photographs bore a name but no number on Thursday – but joked that current incumbent Luka Modric is not willing to give it up.
“I’ve been lucky enough to talk to Modric through (Chelsea loanee Mateo) Kovacic and asked him to give me number 10 but he said no,” said Hazard. “It’s not important to me, it’s just important to wear the shirt, with this badge on it.”
Following recent setbacks Real appear to be embarking on a major spending spree this summer, adding Lyon left-back Ferland Mendy, Eintracht Frankfurt striker Luka Jovic and Porto defender Eder Militao to their squad, as well as Hazard, now the most expensive ever purchase by the capital club.
The Belgian would not be drawn on rumours that Los Blancos will go back to the Premier League to make a bid for Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, or attempt a raid on Paris St Germain for Kylian Mbappe.
Hazard said: “Pogba and Mbappe are among the best players out there and I want to play with the best, but I’m not the one who decides – we’ll see what’s going to happen in the future.”
Real fans may get their first look at him in action for Real when Los Blancos meet Bayern Munich in an International Champions Cup friendly in Houston on July 21. A game against Arsenal follows in Landover, Maryland three days later.
Provided by Press Association Sport
Transfer predictor: Romelu Lukaku to... 17/07/2019
Eden Hazard Real Madrid
European Football Real Madrid
Wales could have 'Class of 92' situation on their hands, but Ryan Giggs must be given time to see project through
Matt Jones 13/06/2019
Chelsea youngster Ethan Ampadu is at the start of his footballing journey, while Ashley Williams is being phased out.
It says everything about the pedestal to which Wales have ascended in recent years that, just over 12 months into the job and following two straight defeats (seven in 13 overall), the pressure is already mounting on manager Ryan Giggs.
There are already more than a few dissenting voices who believe he’s not the right man to drag the Dragons forward and fire them to their next major tournament.
Wales fans are living in an enchanted era. For so long they roamed the international wilderness, yet a quantum leap was made when they heroically and unexpectedly made the semi-finals of Euro 2016. Memorably beating Belgium 3-1 in the quarter-finals before losing 2-0 to Portugal in the last four. It was an immense achievement by one of the most talented Welsh squads of recent times.
Vindication for Chris Coleman who’d had the unenviable task of following his friend and the man championed for Wales’ recent rise, Gary Speed. It was also justification for Speed and those who stuck by him in the early days of his appointment in December 2010 when results weren’t going so well.
The former Leeds, Everton and Newcastle midfielder had implemented a root and branch restructuring of Welsh football, both on and off the field. It all came to fruition on that blistering July 1 evening in Lyon when Speed, Coleman and every Welsh football fan’s dreams were surpassed following a magical night on which they beat a star-studded Belgium team and reached their first-ever semi-final.
See Nuno Espirito Santo urge Wolves to add ‘quality’ to squad ahead of transfer deadline
Since a certain 17-year-old Pele scored the only goal as Brazil knocked them out of the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals in Sweden, Wales had gone 58 years without another major tournament appearance.
Hal Robson-Kanu scored a stunning goal to put Wales on course for the Euro 2016 semi-finals.
The blueprint had now been set. From out of the international backwaters, Wales had become a rising force. A lowly 117th in the FIFA world rankings as recently as 2011 (their worst-ever position), Wales climbed to their highest position of 8th on their way to qualifying for Euro 2016.
And they have not dropped outside the top 20 since 2014 (they currently occupy 19th, two places below Italy and three adrift of Nations League finalists the Netherlands).
The problem with success though, is that it breeds expectation. And Wales have failed to live up to their lofty Euro 2016 standards in the ensuing three years.
It was hoped the feel-good factor would spill over into World Cup 2018 qualification but they buckled under the weight of an expectant nation as an opportunity to end a 60-year hiatus from the World Cup was torpedoed.
The appointment of iconic former player Giggs was seen as a positive step in January 2018, and there have generally been many positives. There is a lot of excitement surrounding a new breed of young players being championed by Giggs. But this is both his secret weapon, and Achilles heel.
Speed and Coleman both had their individual challenges. Speed was attempting to write a totally new script for Welsh football in order to take it forward after years of mediocrity and failure. Vital progress was made but his tragic death in November 2011 meant Coleman was always seen as a usurper, at least at the beginning. Once he was able to stamp his own mark on the team though and manage his way rather than Speed’s, Wales flourished.
Giggs’ reign has got off to a rocky start, but no more so than that of Speed or Coleman.
But the challenge facing Giggs is another unique one. He has the task of nurturing and integrating some hugely promising players. But he is trying to introduce them to a squad of which, now, so much more is expected. There is more limelight, so every single move is scrutinised that little bit more.
Ashley Williams and Joe Ledley were two indomitable figures of the immortal squad that wrote such a glorious chapter in Welsh football history. But their form – for club and country – dropped off a cliff after 2016.
The likes of Bournemouth defender Chris Mepham, and Anderlecht’s James Lawrence, seem to be Giggs’ preferred new choice at centre-back.
But despite his struggles since moving to Everton, both in terms of form and injuries in his twilight years, it’s a juggling act for Giggs to both bring talented, yet raw, players into an elite environment, as well as delicately phase out stalwarts like Williams, Chris Gunter, Neal Taylor and Sam Vokes.
Obviously, star attractions Gareth Bale and Joe Allen (both 29), and Aaron Ramsey (28), still have vital roles to play. Whereas they have always been the gold standard over the last decade or so, their support cast has been able, if not outstanding.
Some of the players Giggs is attempting to introduce have the potential to be Wales’ next stars. The problem is they’re all so young and raw, it’s going to take a painstaking and prolonged period for them to get to the point where they can deliver consistently.
David Brooks, Harry Wilson, Ben Woodburn, Ethan Ampadu, Daniel James, Matt Smith, Conor Roberts and Mepham are names that could become the bedrock of the Wales team for the next 10 years.
With Bale, Allen, Ramsey and other reliable cast members like Ben Davies and Wayne Hennessey still also part of the production, Wales certainly possess stardust. An ensemble that has the capacity to surpass even the summer 2016 blockbuster.
The problem is this; because Wales have rediscovered an appetite for dining once again at football’s top table, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when things don’t run so smoothly.
Wales have some outstanding youngsters emerging, like Brooks (l) and Ampadu (c).
And following chastening back to back defeats to Croatia and Hungary on the road to Euro 2020 qualification, frustration abounds. Epitomised by wide discontent and the feeling that Giggs isn’t the man for the job.
But, just like Speed and Coleman, he needs time. Speed lost five of his 10 tragically short games in charge. Coleman lost five of his first six and, after the same amount of games as Giggs, had one more win (4) but also one more defeat (8).
Things turned out pretty well for him.
Time to harness and hone the undoubted talent he has at his disposal is required. Will he get that time, should Wales fail to make a second major tournament in a row? That’s a tricky call to make. But it must be remembered just how far Wales have come in the last decade.
Patience is pivotal. This current new wave could be the greatest breakthrough of youth in the nation’s history.
Giggs was the famed ‘Class of 92’ spearhead, nurtured by Eric Harrison and brought through by Sir Alex Ferguson, at Manchester United.
He knows a thing or two about reaping the rewards of allowing youngsters time and space to grow.
The last few results have been far from pleasing or encouraging, but now is not the time to abandon ship and steer it on a drastic new course.
Now is the time to believe and back the boss. It is time to remember and reiterate the famous Welsh motto forged during Euro 2016 qualifying – #TogetherStronger.
Put the trust in Giggs to bring this talented group together and they – and Wales – will emerge stronger for it.
Aaron Ramsey Ashley Williams Chris Coleman Chris Mepham Dan James David Brooks Ethan Ampadu Euro 2020 Gary Speed Harry Wilson Hungary Joe Allen Ryan Giggs Wales More tags
International Manchester United English Premier League European Football La Liga Real Madrid More tags
Transfer Window Hidden Gems: Players who... 17/07/2019
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes Paul Pogba... 17/07/2019
Aaron Ramsey Ashley Williams Chris Coleman Chris Mepham Dan James David Brooks Ethan Ampadu Euro 2020 Gary Speed Harry Wilson Hungary Joe Allen Ryan Giggs Wales
International Manchester United English Premier League European Football La Liga Real Madrid
Iker Casillas denies reports of his retirement insisting he hasn't made a decision yet
Iker Casillas insists he has not made the decision to retire yet after Portuguese newspaper Record reported on Thursday that he has quit football.
Reports suggested the legendary goalkeeper decided to call time on his glittering career following a heart attack he suffered while playing for FC Porto on May 1.
The former Real Madrid star joined the Portuguese outfit when he left the Santiago Bernabeu in 2015 and was said to be taking up a role with the club’s board instead.
However, soon after the reports emerged, Casillas took to Twitter to clear the air.
He retweeted his post from last month where he stated he will be undergoing a review with the doctor before deciding on his future.
Peter Crouch announces his retirement from football at the age of 38
Watch: Trent Boult enjoyed getting Virat Kohli lbw in CWC 2019 semi-final
The Spaniard retweeted with the quote: “The same as this tweet from a month ago except the part of the review with the doctor. More than anything because I have it tomorrow. I hug everyone.”
Lo mismo que este tweet de hace un mes salvo la parte de la revisión con el Doctor. Más que nada porque la tengo mañana. Abrazo a [email protected] https://t.co/or8ObuBkjP
— Iker Casillas (@IkerCasillas) June 13, 2019
Casillas won five La Liga titles in Spain as well as three Champions League crowns before adding another domestic league success at Porto.
Capped 167 times for Spain, he led them to two European Championships in 2008 and 2012 while also lifting the World Cup in 2010.
FC Porto Iker Casillas
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Petition: University of California President Mark Yudof, Condemn UCSC Lecturer’s hateful attacks on Muslim/Arab student groups
March 15, 2013 by rbapierce
Sign this petition urging UC President Mark Yudof to condemn UCSC Hebrew lecturer Tammi Benjamin’s Islamophobic claims that SJP and MSA participants are “anti-semitic” “foreign students” “with ties to terrorist organizations”
A video has surfaced, showing UC Santa Cruz Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman Benjamin making extremely offensive comments about the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine groups at an off-campus event in June 2012. Benjamin describes their members as “foreign students who come from countries and cultures where anti-Semitism is how they think about the world.” She makes openly racist and defamatory claims that MSA and SJP are connected to terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Benjamin also singles these student activists out from all others, saying, “These are not your ordinary student groups like College Republicans or Young Democrats. These are students who come with a serious agenda, who have ties to terrorist organizations”.
These comments reflect the worst stereotypes and slurs leveled at Arab and Muslim communities in the post-9/11 era. They have absolutely no place in a university environment and it is completely unacceptable for a University of California lecturer to be making them, especially about students. What is even worse is that these comments are part of a pattern, one that the University of California Office of the President has been complicit in promoting.
Tammi Benjamin leads an extreme pro-Israel group called the Amcha Initiative, which has launched a series of censorship attempts targeting UC and California State University academics and student groups, based on claims that academic critique of Israel is tantamount to anti-Semitism. In 2011 they filed a complaint against UCLA professor David Shorter for linking to a page related to the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement on a class website, prompting an improper investigation that was eventually dismissed. In February 2012 the Amcha Initiativetried and failed to shut down Israeli historian Illan Pappe’s speaking tour at CSU campuses, falsely claiming that he was “anti-Semitic” and supportive of terror. Tammi Benjamin was also behind a federal complaint alleging that campus political and academic speech critical of Israel creates a hostile environment for Jewish students at UC Santa Cruz, resulting in an ongoing Department of Education investigation into the school. The ACLU recently condemned the federal investigation into UC Santa Cruz as “disturbing” and having “a chilling effect” on student organizing in a letter criticizing a similar investigation at UC Berkeley.
In March 2012, Tammi Benjamin and the Amcha Initiative sent a letter to UC President Mark Yudof with racist rhetoric tying student groups to terror, and misrepresenting an incident at UC Davis. The next day President Yudof responded with a system-wide email that adopted the Amcha Initiative’s false narrative, without any condemnation of their inflammatory language or baseless claims.
It is no wonder that Tammi Benjamin felt comfortable publicly claiming students were tied to terrorism last June, when the University has rewarded her organization for doing so in the past. These actions are damaging to Muslim and Arab students and their allies, and promote an environment where students are open targets for hate groups. The University of California and the Office of the President must take a clear stand against hate speech directed at marginalized communities, and distance itself from extremists like Tammi Benjamin and the Amcha Initiative that work to smear and silence student human rights campaigners.
We ask that University of California President Mark Yudof:
-Release a statement from the UC President’s Office condemning Tammi Benjamin’s hateful comments in the video and previous Amcha Initiative statements.
-End any UC cooperation and communication with extremist groups like the Amcha Initiative that target advocates for human rights.
-Formally retract any statements issued at the request of the Amcha Initiative, and take proactive steps to address the negative impact the UC’s past cooperation with the group has had on free speech and campus climate for Muslim and Arab students and groups like SJP and MSA.
Posted in: Support Tagged: amcha, hate speech, uc berkeley, uc santa cruz
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We're Going Streaking!
by Michael Swisher (@michaelswisher)
posted in: Swisher's Suite
We're going streaking...
Wagoner is going to break the state's 11-man win streak this week when it hosts McLain on Friday night.
A likely win will give Dale Condict's program its 43rd straight victory since losing to Cascia Hall on Oct. 3, 2014. It will beat the record set y Ada from 1993-1996.
During that span, the Bulldogs have won three consecutive Class 4A titles, beating a team that no doubt would like to see the streak end at 43 games.
Oologah.
The Mustangs have been Wagoner's victims in each of those title tilts.
In 2014, it was a 45-21 win for Wagoner. The next year, the Bulldogs escaped 15-14 and then last year Wagoner prevailed 28-14.
Also in each of those years, Wagoner has knocked off Oologah in their pivotal 4A-3 matchup (Wagoner had to forfeit the 2014 win after the fact, but that was prior to the loss to Cascia Hall).
During the win streak, only Cascia Hall and Coweta have been able to put much of a scare into Wagoner outside of Oologah.
So you know the Mustangs will be fired up next week when they make their trek to Wagoner with some streak-busting in mind.
As has been the case the last handful of years, it should be a good one.
Oologah hosts winless Grove this week, so it should be 6-0 entering the matchup, setting the stage for one of the biggest non-6A games this season.
And now that I've pumped up that game, you can bet it will be a boring blowout.
Games that lived up to their billing...
Games that weren't boring blowouts were the ones I told you about last week.
First and foremost was Union's epic (and any other superlatives you'd like to insert here) 44-41 win against Owasso in double-overtime.
It would appear that win gives Union the easier path to the 6AI title game.
Owasso, assuming it finishes second in its district, could be looking at hosting Westmoore or Broken Arrow in the first round and then possibly Jenks or Westmoore in the semifinals (if you couldn't tell by my columns, I get a kick out of looking ahead to potential playoff matchups).
That picture should start to clear up - or possibly get more muddied - when Broken Arrow visits Westmoore this week.
Broken Arrow is coming off a 26-13 setback to Jenks. When was the last time a game pitting two teams with one win against one another midway through the season carried that much weight?
In the eight-man ranks, No. 2 Davenport held serve against No. 9 Dewar in Class B. Davenport had to rally for a 44-42 victory. Davenport had to stop a two-point conversion and recover and onside kick to preserve the win.
In Class C, top-ranked Pond Creek-Hunter and No. 4 Regent Prep didn't disappoint in a 74-56 shootout win for the Panthers. Members of the Skordle staff were on hand to see that one in person.
Also, a team we told you to look out for several weeks back made a statement when No. 9 Tyrone knocked off then-No. 3 Sharon-Mutual, 50-36, on the road.
Swish said it would happen...
One thing you'll notice is I like to do the ol' Traber "give it up to myself" from time to time when I'm right about something. And when I'm wrong....I'll conveniently forget about it.
So, excuse me if you will while I reach behind and pat myself on the back.
I told you a few weeks back in this space about the Drummond baseball team, which is trying to move up the ranks and become among the regulars at the state tournament.
Well, the Bulldogs are back in as they enter this week's (weather permitting) Class B fall tournament as the sixth-ranked team in the class.
Drummond knocked off No. 4 Vici 6-0 to advance as a winner and the No. 4 seed (Vici subsequently lost to No. 16 Asher to get denied it trip).
Whatever coach Jared Swart is doing in the little Garfield County town, it's working.
Brutal bracket
Quick: Who's going to win the Class A fall baseball bracket? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm on record as saying the Class A fall crown is one of the toughest of any to win - in any sport - in Oklahoma.
Not only do you have your perennial powers to contend with, but also some that lurk as high as 3A and 4A in the spring.
That makes for a brutally tough state tournament bracket, but also some quality baseball.
Oktaha enters as the No. 1 team, but four of its five losses are to teams also in this bracket.
Two were to Dale, a potential semifinal opponent, and two more to No. 3 Roff.
Its quarterfinal foe, Tushka, won the crown a year ago.
In other words, nothing's a given in this bracket.
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The Mayor of Mogadishu
A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia
Harding, Andrew
"In The Mayor of Mogadishu, one of the BBC's most experienced foreign correspondents, Andrew Harding, reveals the tumultuous life of Mohamoud 'Tarzan' Nur--an impoverished nomad who was abandoned in a state orphanage in newly independent Somalia, and became a street brawler and activist. When the country collapsed into civil war and anarchy, Tarzan and his young family became part of an exodus, eventually spending twenty years in north London. But in 2010 Tarzan returned, as mayor, to the unrecognizable ruins of a city now almost entirely controlled by the Islamist militants of Al Shabab. For many in Mogadishu, and in the diaspora, Tarzan became a galvanizing symbol of courage and hope for Somalia. But for others, he was a divisive thug, who sank beneath the corruption and clan rivalries that continue, today, to threaten the country's revival. The Mayor of Mogadishu is a rare an insider's account of Somalia's unraveling, and an intimate portrayal of one family's extraordinary journey"-- Provided by publisher.
Publisher: New York :, St. Martin's Press,, 2016
Characteristics: xxi, 278 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Read more reviews of The Mayor of Mogadishu at iDreamBooks.com
Nur, Mohamoud, 1956-
Mayors — Somalia — Mogadishu — Biography
Mogadishu (Somalia) — Politics and Government — 21st Century
Mogadishu (Somalia) — Biography
Nomads — Somalia — Mogadishu — Biography
Orphans — Somalia — Mogadishu — Biography
Political Activists — Somalia — Mogadishu — Biography
Somalis — England — London — Biography
Immigrants — England — London — Biography
Skyline Library Home College Reserves Library Hours Ask Us!
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W1A S1 Ep4 review
No more Mr Nice Guy - so that's all good
Posted on April 9, 2014 by Tim in W1A // 0 Comments
Siobhan’s Perfect Curve team proposes a radical new BBC logo. Will is absolutely useless (yes, again). And Ian fights back against the BBC machine after he realises that, as Head of Values, he isn’t actually valued that much.
No more Mr Nice Guy
Picking up where we left off last week, a series of setbacks hardens Ian Fletcher‘s resolve to actually make change happen, rather than just talk about it, as he realises the only way he can make a difference at the BBC is to stop worrying about trying to fit in and play the system to his advantage.
Ian fights back against the BBC bureaucracy (Image: BBC)
His colleagues agree that the best response to the Daily Telegraph‘s article condemning his salary is for Ian to take a massive pay cut. To apologise for being dragged into the scandal and for a disastrous post-Olympics holiday in Umbria, Ian sends his former Twenty Twelve PA Sally Owen (Olivia Colman), a bouquet of flowers. However, she comes to New Broadcasting House to tell him she can’t accept them and doesn’t want to be contacted again. This combination of events forces Ian to look forwards and resolve to make his mark on the BBC.
The worm turns
Fed up with the hot-desking situation and ignoring the standing no-office decree, Ian builds his own ‘creative clearing’. He removes Anna Rampton‘s roadblock to the new comedy that Lucy Freeman has been championing by telling her he has been talking to Director General Tony Hall about it. Anna abruptly commissions two more scripts. And he plays the ‘Tony’ card on Simon Harwood to close down Siobhan Sharpe‘s proposal to rebrand the BBC logo without the letters ‘BBC’ and in the form of the Star of David.
Anna’s opposition to Home Truth suddenly vanishes at the mention of Tony Hall’s name (Image: BBC)
It’s all going swimmingly until bumbling intern Will offers Lucy Sally’s flowers, saying they’re from Ian and implying that his efforts to get her comedy commissioned stemmed from a romantic rather than professional interest. Nice one, Will.
Nonetheless, his bittersweet reunion with Sally aside, it has been a good day for Ian. No thanks to his colleagues, he has finally worked out his ‘Way Ahead’ in terms of both what his mission is as Head of Values and in helping to define what the BBC stands for. Finally, he’s winning.
W1A hit its stride in its fourth and final episode, finding the right blend of satire, humour and stories, and delivering an ending which allows the series to stand on its own as a four-part piece.
It was satisfying to see Ian emerge victorious in the end. He’s a straightforward, competent man struggling to survive in a complex world of corporate inertia. But once he learns the rules of the game he starts to find a way to make things happen. It’s ambiguous whether he did actually speak to Tony Hall or is merely saying he did, but it doesn’t actually matter. He has realised that the mere mention of the Director General’s name works like an edict from God – the mere implication of Hall’s approval or interest is enough.
As ever, David Tennant‘s straight-man narration conceals many hidden gems. It has consistently been the best thing about the series.
But where the final episode in particular really hits the mark is in under-cutting the absurd, self-inflicted nature of the scandals in which the BBC has been engulfed in recent years. From the BBC’s own news organisation shooting itself in the foot (former DG George Entwhistle’s disastrous Radio 4 interview with John Humphreys) to uproar about executive and talent salaries (ignoring the fact that equivalent senior managers in industry are paid far more), there are a lot of topical issues addressed here.
This week’s side-plots were a mixed bag. Will and the envelopes was a bad joke originally and no funnier second time around. And the circumstances of Olivia Colman’s brief return will have infuriated as many fans as it pleased.
But the ongoing saga of Britain’s Tastiest Village – now Britain’s Top Village – and the scramble to get Gary Lineker and Holly Willoughby attached to the project was an amusing distraction. And the politically incorrect Neil Reid was again the most delightful of the peripheral characters, as he wrestled with complaints about a Newsnight presenter’s ‘inappropriately wearable clothes’ – hashtag Kneesnight – and bemoaned the fact that the original complaint came not from a member of the public but from a fellow presenter.
The series hasn’t been perfect, though. Far from it. Too many of the new characters remained little more than cardboard-cutout mouthpieces for their individual catchphrases.
Simon Harwood’s faint praise of everything and slopy-shouldered avoidance of any responsibility or decision-making are all too familiar, but we didn’t really learn anything about him. The same goes for Will the intern. I’ve seen plenty like him in my time, but his role in the last two episodes was reduced to carrying Ian’s bike around and failing to put the right letters in the right envelope – twice.
It didn’t help that the series leaned too heavily on Siobhan, who we knew already from Twenty Twelve. As a result, this left time to develop only Lucy as a properly rounded character.
And the balance and flow of individual episodes didn’t always feel right either. Episode three felt like a mish-mash of setpieces and satirical soundbites rather than a cohesive story. And while episode two was strong overall, it focussed too much on Clare Balding and Carol Vorderman’s cameos at the expense of its own characters.
I’ve read several people online complaining that W1A is a comedy commissioned by the BBC for the amusement of people who work at the BBC. I think they’re missing the point. The characters, management-speak and situations presented in the series will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has ever worked in any corporate office environment. While New Broadcasting House presents the setting and context for W1A, it’s no more about the world of TV than The Office was about paper or Parks and Recreation is about parks. The themes are universal.
One final thought. Rather than feeling like a four-part series, this season has felt to me more like two loosely linked two-parters. Was the fictional Home Truth a meta-reference to W1A‘s own gestation, with an original two-part treatment of Ian resolving the Sally Wingate affair leading to the commission of a further two scripts covering the Telegraph story/BBC logo/Home Truth storylines. Or is that just me?
So, what to make of W1A? Flawed? Yes. Bordering on a formulaic cringe-making workplace comedy, whose ilk we have become increasingly familiar with over the past 15 years? Definitely. But does it have something to offer in terms of laughs and biting satire? Absolutely. Having invested time in setting up the series, it would be a shame not to commission a second season. Somebody had better have a coffee with Tony to discuss that …
Episode rating: 9/10. Season 1 rating: 8/10.
W1A season 1
David Westhead
Jason Watkins
Jessica Hynes
Max Olesker
Monica Dolan
Nina Sosanya
Rufus Jones
Sarah Parish
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Sports Legends Photos Inc
Ten Stuff You Never Understood Concerning the Sport of Rugby
By Finley Jake January 7, 2018 April 10, 2019 Rugby
Although rugby hasn’t had exactly the same degree of exposure on television that soccer has, it will appear to become much more popular recently. Many people’s recollections of rugby have shivering while it is raining in school and praying the large guy does not come anywhere you, but it is an excellent game to look at straight from own living room! As Rugby does appear to become obtaining a better deal on television nowadays, for individuals that could be a new comer to watching rugby, listed here are ten stuff you most likely did not know of the sport.
1. What exactly is it known as a go?
A go is known as a go, because once the game was initially performed, there have been no points awarded for touching lower the ball at the opponent’s finish from the field. What it really did gain you, though, was an effort, or perhaps a try, in the goal.
2. The sport was named following the British school it had become invented in
When soccer had been performed in British schools within the 1800s, there have been no formalised rules for that game and every school composed their very own rule book. It’s thought that a boy named William Webb Ellis, who attended Rugby School, invented the sport of rugby as he made the decision to get the ball and run for that goal throughout a bet on soccer. The Rugby Union World Cup continues to be known as the net Ellis Cup even today.
3. Rugby balls were first produced from pig’s bladders
Rugby balls and soccer balls was once made utilizing a pig’s bladder for that inner. Regrettably, the pig’s bladders were not cured perfectly plus they frequently grew to become rotten. The wife from the man, who made the rugby balls at Rugby School within the 1800s, died in the results of the fumes she inhaled in the balls.
4. The reigning Olympic Champions may be the US
With a quirk of fate, the present reigning Olympic Champions within the sport of rugby would be the USA and they’ve held that title since 1924. Exactly why, happens because Rugby was dropped being an Olympic sport for the reason that year.
5. There’s two various kinds of Rugby performed
Just to really make it much more confusing towards the non-expert, there’s two kinds of rugby performed, rugby league and rugby union. The games are extremely similar however the rules are very different together with a different scoring system.
6. The large scores
Among the variations between soccer and rugby that anybody a new comer to the game will notice would be the big scores. The biggest ever score difference which was recorded in an worldwide match is at a game title between Australia and Namibia, when Australia won the sport by 142 suggests nil.
7. The main one hundred years old world cup whistle
At the outset of every rugby world cup, the tournament is began once the referee blows a 1 hundred years old whistle. It’s the same whistle which was employed for a game title performed in 1924 between England and Nz within the Paris Olympic games.
8. The rugby world cup has not been retained with a team
The Brand New Zealand team may be the favourite to win the 2015 rugby world cup and, when they do win, they’ll be creating a rugby world cup first, since the title has not been retained with a team, because the tournament first began later.
9. A rugby coach invented basketball
James Naismith, a brand new England Rugby coach, is credited with inventing the sport of basketball. It’s stated he invented basketball to ensure that his rugby team could train inside once the weather was bad to coach outdoors.
10. National anthem singing at sporting occasions started with rugby
The standard singing of national anthems before an worldwide sports event started in rugby. It had been began when Welsh rugby supporters taken care of immediately the brand new Zealand team’s Maori war dance using their own national anthem in 1905. The singing of national anthems before a match ended up being adopted formally.
A Brief History Behind Rugby
By Finley Jake January 7, 2018 April 10, 2019
Things to Put on When Playing Rugby
Rugby Cufflinks Bring That Sense of Sportsmanship Spirit
5 Variations Between Rugby and Rugby League
Golfing Holidays in Australia: The Best Places to Go
Like most developed countries, Australia has more than its fair
Although rugby hasn't had exactly the same degree of
If you are new to rugby, you may be
Cufflinks increase the spark associated with a game. Using
How You Can Play Field Hockey
Introduction The game of hockey, or field hockey since
Score the Best Golf Deals Online
The great Mark Twain famously described golf as a good
Requirement For Cricket Equipment
Playing cricket requires getting all cricket equipment in position.
Understand Cricket Better With Cricket Stats
Cricket is among the most widely used games which has
Selecting The Very Best Basketball Footwear – How You Want To Do It
There are various kinds of brands with regards to
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National Policing Improvement Agency annual report and accounts 2008-09 - mobile handheld computers, ANPR database, DNA database, PNC, IMPACT, Aircell for the Tube, Prüm
on July 15, 2009 6:28 AM | Permalink
Reading the
National Policing Improvement Agency annual report and accounts 2008-09
we were reminded of our previous Spy Blog article:
Police Receive £50 Million For 10,000 Hand Held Computers i.e. £5,000 each - are they gold plated ?
<40 MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY
During 2008, the Home Office allocated £80 million of funding over the next three years to support the delivery of handheld computers to frontline police officers. The funding was provided to increase the number of devices used by officers to 30,000 by March 2010.
The roll-out, managed by the NPIA has already exceeded its first milestone to have 10,000 devices in force by September 2008, and the second phase of roll-out is well
underway. All forces in England, Scotland and Wales have now received a portion of the funding.
So £50 million has now magically become £80 million !
MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY page 71
Table 2: Summary of other protected personal data related incidents
in 2008/09
Incidents deemed by the Data Controller not to fall within the criteria for report to the Information Commissioner's Office but recorded centrally within the Department are set out in the table below. Small, localised incidents are not recorded centrally and are not cited in these figures.
Category Nature of incident Total
I Loss of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from secured Government premises - 0 (nil)
II Loss of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from outside secured Government premises - 4 (four)
III Insecure disposal of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents - 0 (nil)
IV Unauthorised disclosure - 1 (one)
V Other - 0 (nil)
N.B. the carefully worded "inadequately protected devices or paper documents"
How many of the 10,000 portable devices which NPIA have issued have been lost or stolen ?
It is hard to believe that none of them at all have gone missing.
These may or may not prove to be "adequately protected"
Some other points of interest in the report:
ANPR is the surveillance capability that uses mobile and fixed road-side sensors to read vehicle number plates and instantaneously cross-match them with information and intelligence held on the Police National Computer and linked systems
25,000 hits per day against the ANPR database that generate a transaction against the PNC
Officers responding to ANPR activations deliver three times more offences brought to justice
No mention of the lack of any statutory basis,, or even Public or Parliamentary debate about the setting up of this National ANPR Database.
IMPACT Nominal Index
INI is a national index of 59 million records. It provides a searchable list of names appearing in key operational systems. to improve the management and sharing of information and intelligence across the police service.
66 UK organisations now access the index.
The number of records held on INI has increased significantly from approx 61 million in April 2008 to approx 69 million in March 2009.
The number of searches on INI has seen an increase from 42,747 (April 2008) to 78,912 searches conducted in March 2009.
Note how the number of organisations has now crept up beyond the number of actual Police Forces
There is no mention of how late and overbudget this IMPACT project is , compared with what was originally promised.
ViSOR Dangerous Persons' Database
ViSOR provides a UK-wide shared database of information and intelligence on dangerous persons, making full details visible to officers wherever an
offender travels.
There are now over 77,000 nominal records of named individuals maintained on the database, allowing police forces, prison and probation services to access ViSOR to jointly manage those individuals who pose a risk of serious harm.ViSOR Dangerous Persons' Database
Police National Computer (PNC)
The national information system used as a critical tool by the police and law enforcement agencies, run by the NPIA.
The PNC holds over :
- 9.2 million nominal (people) records
- 52 million driver records
- 55 million vehicle records
PNC usage in the 12 months ending April 2009 was approximately 185 million transactions
National DNA Database
The DNA Database is used by the police to identify offenders and eliminate people from enquiries.On average, the database provides the police with over 3,100 suspect-to-scene matches each month
In 2008/09, an estimated total of 34,280* crimes were detected in which a DNA match
was available and/or played a part in solving the crime, a projected increase of four per cent on 2007/08.
Between April 1998 to September 2008, there have been approximately 290,000 detections in which a DNA match was available using the NDNA Database or played a part in solving the crime.
* Based on actual figures for Q1- 2 of 2008/09 projected for the full year
Note that these figures still do not give the information as to how many times DNA evidence has actually made any real difference in solving a crime.
The availability of this essential police radio system for the year to April 2009 was above target at 99.93 per cent. It is the secure mobile digital radio replacement for conventional analogue radios allowing fast transfer of information and images
between patrolling officers and their stations. National services such as British Transport Police, the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency and other Emergency Services are amongst those who now have access to a system that can operate nationally and integrate with local forces. It will support integrated responses to major disasters and
incidents.Airwave has now been rolled out to the entire London Underground network, allowing police officers to move seamlessly from above to below ground. This enables police forces to better protect the public by responding to major incidents and events wherever they are on the network; the Airwave system is availableto all the emergency services.
It is good news that Airwave finally covers all of the London Underground stations now, but is it limited to voice only connections ?
Is there really enough bandwidth underground for bandwidth hungry video and image data transfers ?
IDENT1
IDENT1 is the national repository of finger and palm prints taken from offenders to be matched against prints found at scenes of crime.
Produces 85,000 identifications a year from crime scene prints, assisting the police service in carrying out investigations
Verifies over 1.5 million arrestee identifications per year
Checks more than 2,000 identities from Lantern mobile devices per month saving officer time
Checks over 40,000 identities per week for the UK Border Agency, helping to ascertain if visa applicants are known by UK police.
The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Back Office Facility (BOF) II system has now been deployed to all but one force. The implementation of this system means that all these forces in England and Wales now have the ability to supply data to the National ANPR Data Centre.
The ANPR infrastructure has the capability to receive and store 50 million ANPR reads per day. The National ANPR Data Centre (NADC) receives around 8 million reads per day. In due course, Scottish forces and PSNI will also be connected to NADC, as will other national policing and security agencies. These include British Transport Police, Serious Organised Crime Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the
Security Service.
A pilot police force is using a piece of internally developed software, which is built into their ANPR system to enhance operational efficiency, to send text messages or emails directly to senior investigation officers when a target vehicle is recorded through an ANPR system.
We are leading the programme to connect the UK to the second generation Schengen Information
System in time for 2012. When complete this will allow UK police forces to share and access a European data system that holds alerts on wanted and missing people, stolen vehicles, and certain categories of property.
Also linked to cross-boundary information sharing, last year we carried out a Scoping Study to look at implementation of the Prüm programme. Prüm provides for the
cross-border sharing/availability of DNA, fingerprints and motor vehicle registration data on a 24/7 basis. It is designed to intensify cross-border police co-operation, especially in the fight against terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration.
What exactly will be shared via the "the Prüm programme", to what level of detail, and to whom exactly ?
In 2009/10 the National DNA Database and associated services will be transferred from the Forensic Science Service (FSS) to NPIA in order to enhance the security and disaster recovery of the database. This will involve the corresponding staff from the FSS.
N.B.there is still no mention of any Police computer programme or Training scheme, to integrate with the National Identity Register.
Airwave,
ANPR,
DNA,
IDENT1,
IMPACT,
NPIA,
Police Computer,
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Review: Broken (Darlinghurst Theatre Company)
Venue: Eternity Playhouse (Darlinghurst NSW), Jul 29 – Aug 28, 2016
Playwright: Mary Anne Butler
Director: Shannon Murphy
Cast: Ivan Donato, Sarah Enright, Rarriwuy Hick
Image by Helen White
Two extremely traumatic events happen in Mary Anne Butler’s Broken. Ash, Ham and Mia are regular people encountering dreadful circumstances, and their agony is positioned within their very ordinariness, compelling us to relate to their hurt with the most immediate intimacy. It is a poetic piece of writing, with characters speaking directly to us, or perhaps to themselves, but only occasionally engaging each other in dialogue. Instead of demonstrating incidents as they occur, we are given recollections, as though in psychotherapy sessions where the subject has to access memories, from which levels of understanding can be reached over time, as the dust begins to settle. The text is experimental, often very powerful in its description of shocking details relating to the horrors being faced and the accompanying emotions, but it is arguable if the words address sufficiently, the essentially spatial nature of a theatrical script.
The staging involves three stationary microphone stands, with a cast restricted by their apparatus. The play features crippled personalities, and what we see are three individuals confined to tight spaces, unable to gain a breakthrough for their struggles. Frustrated, stifled and depressed, they are caged in and try as they might to talk themselves out of darkness, their efforts are futile. The show is appropriately sombre, and although never short of emotional intensity, its dramatic qualities are subdued. Much is made of speech and sounds, including the slightly awkward incorporation of foley techniques, but physical and visual aspects of the production are heavily reduced. Without strong imagery to coincide with its verbal aspects, the production relies heavily on the audience’s imagination, which may not always be an effective means of allowing the story to connect.
Actors are uniformly strong, with impressive cohesion in their presentational style and tone. Thoroughly well-rehearsed and precisely executed, Ivan Donato, Sarah Enright and Rarriwuy Hick’s portrayals are confident and convincing. The harrowing nature of their depictions proves to be of no hindrance to the depth of exploration they are able to provide, and even though opportunities for interaction between players are infrequent, their timing as a group is beautifully polished, and a pleasure to witness.
Accidents can ruin us, and even though life must go on for those who survive, recovery is not always a surety. In Broken, we are subject to an examination of our being during the worst of days, without an opportunity to escape into the promise of a brighter future. Plunged into hopelessness, the play keeps our consciousness inside its pain, before we are able to again take a departure, and let our human resilience wipe it away from memory.
www.darlinghursttheatre.com
2016, darlinghurst theatre co, drama, eternity playhouse, play, review, sydney, theatre
« Review: The Hanging (Sydney Theatre Company)
Review: Black Hands Dead Section (Sydney University Dramatic Society) »
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The Bypass of Commerce
By Nathaniel M Hood on November 20, 2013 in Traffic, Transportation, Trends
Let me start off with a question: Do Nicollet or Courtland need bypasses?
We have a cultural misunderstanding about the economic benefits of mobility.
There is no better example than the State of Minnesota’s new $300 million “Corridors of Commerce” program designed to foster “economic growth with transportation investments.” This is a noble goal and it’s worked well in the past, so why not keep it up?
First, we built highways that connected places that were never before directly connected. This was an enormous benefit to rural populations and opened up to more marketplaces. Towns that were once a 5 hour journey apart turned into an easy 1 hour trip. There is no question that this created an economic benefit.
But, we’ve continued building and expanding this roadway system to much diminishing return. The Corridors of Commerce project is just another example of this misapplication of limited transportation dollars. The most glaring example is the Highway 14 Nicollet Bypass.
The proposed $15 to $25 million Nicollet Bypass
Nicollet is a small town of approximately 1,000 people situated 15 miles outside of the region’s center, Mankato. The proposed $15 to $25 million four lane divided bypass and entrance ramp will replace the two lane highway (with center turn-lane) that runs along the town’s southern edge.
There are three justifications given for this project;
1) Improves safety
2) Enhances mobility for commercial traffic
3) One step closer to a regional goal of a 4-lane highway between New Ulm and Rochester
Let’s examine each justification to see if there can be another alternative.
Does it improve safety?
Here is where our misunderstanding of mobility comes in. We are aiming to improve safety by building a new. expensive highway at the edge of town without examining why the original highway was dangerous in the first place.
There are nine highway access points. Six are privately-owned driveways (red) and three are intersections (blue)
There are nine access points where collisions are likely to occur along the 1.1 mile corridor. Three intersections connect to local roadways and six are driveways to private entities, include a taxidermy and self storage business, trailer park and a gas station (low ROI land uses). This roadway combines fast moving through-traffic with slow, turning local vehicles.
If safety was truly the priority it is claimed to be, the rational response would be to reduce speeds from 35 mph to 20 mph, close (or seriously limit) access to the six driveways, and realign the most dangerous intersection (TH99 in northwest) to allow a less abrupt merge. This would cost virtually nothing in comparison to the proposed $15 to $25 million project.
Does it enhance mobility?
When determining the cost-benefit of a project, we place emphasis on improved mobility, or in other words: time savings. Time is important, but how important? The existing speed limit is 35 mph and the expansion will be 65 mph (conforming to speed limits of other divided highways). According to my calculations, the project will have a travel time savings of nearly 1 minute.
Speed Limit (MPH) Distance (miles) Travel Time Time Difference (+/- 35 mph)
20 1.1 3m 18s – 85 seconds
35* 1.1 1m 53s 0
45 1.1 1m 28s + 25 seconds
65 1.1 1m 0s + 53 seconds
Fostering commerce is important, but it is difficult to make a convincing argument that one minute in travel time savings justifies such an expenditure for less than 7,000 vehicles traveling through on any given day weekday [MnDOT Traffic Data].
Does it move towards a goal of a regional 4-lane highway?
No. We have it all backwards.
As for right now, why would you create a two-lane highway that turns into a four-lane highway for a 1.1 mile stretch as it passes through a town just so it can turn back into to a two-lane highway? If having a regional 4-lane highway is your goal, then the money could be better spent doing the opposite. The goal should be to first create a four-lane highway outside of towns and then reduce size and speed while traversing through towns.
This 1.1 mile new bypass has the same cost as expanding 15 miles of existing highway in four lanes between Mankato and Nicollet.
The need for Highway 14 enhancements has been a regional concern since the early 1990s. It’s been long known as a dangerous corridor where speeding is prevalent, where there are limited opportunities for passing and where there are countless access points and intersections that can be dominated by slow-moving farm equipment. Hence, I do not question the need for Highway 14 safety improvements, including the adding of passing lanes along with improved forgiving design elements along rural stretches.
We have a cultural misunderstanding about the economic benefits of mobility. Constructing new roadways to bypass small towns at tremendous costs won’t improve safety as the old highway stretches are often left in the same unsafe state. Meaning, local vehicles will continue to use the unsafe roadway. Not to mention, there will be a stretch of auto-oriented businesses on the old highway which will be abandoned and rebuilt closer to the bypass. I do not mourn the loss of a Super America gas station, but I do question the value of it closing down one location just to re-open a half mile down the road.
These one-time State transfer payments like Corridors of Commerce seem to go to the most wasteful projects. The DOTs are unwilling to fund these out of their dedicated revenue streams, primairly because they are no top-priority projects, so these are reliant upon political justifications and quick transfer payments.
One-time 2011-2 Transpoortation and Economic Development (TED) Grants from the State went to similar projects, like the fourth interchange ramp in Perham, Minnesota.
Perham is a small town in central Minnesota that is getting a new interchange that will support an estimated 240 jobs. TED will be providing $3.5 million of the $6.7 million project. This project might make sense if the town didn’t already have 3 interchanges leading to the same highway.
These are the types of investments that do little or nothing to boost economic vitality in local small towns or distant communities. And, the kicker, it’s not going to speed up traffic or make us any safer.
Will the Nicollet Bypass project generate wealth? Will Perham ever add the economic juice that town needs? Will these projects ever pay for themselves or create a genuine societal or economic benefit? If the State of Minnesota, for whatever reason, were to ever ‘turnback’ the highway, would the County or Town of Nicollet be able to maintain?
Hopefully these considerations are conducted prior to the authorization of spending millions of dollars to bypass Courtland (pop. 611) [MnDOT], which has yet to receive funding, and the countless other projects that divert limited resources to low returning projects.
“What will speed up that change is an understanding of the fact that our transportation investments are not creating wealth, they are destroying it. Now I’m not talking about just the investments where the old Target store at the old interchange is induced to move into the new Target store at the new interchange four miles up the road. I mean almost all of our highway spending. It costs more to build and maintain than it generates in returns and, therefore, will only continue so long as we have the capacity and the desire to delude ourselves.” – Chuck Marohn, Paved with Good Intentions
About Nathaniel M Hood
Nathaniel Hood is a a founding member of Streets.MN and lives in St. Paul. He tweets at @Nathaniel1983 and can be found online at Strong Towns and the Star Tribune.
View all posts by Nathaniel M Hood →
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2 Responses to The Bypass of Commerce
Joe November 20, 2013 at 1:57 pm #
Thank you for writing about this. It is frustrating that the way existing funding mechanisms work, there is money for such pointless transportation projects, but insufficient funding for truly useful infrastructure in dense population centers. That is not to say that these areas do not deserve their share of funding, but it would make sense to subsidize wind turbines or schools in the area to drive their economic vitality, rather than waste money on this.
Nathaniel November 20, 2013 at 2:24 pm #
Joe – Yes. Agreed. I don’t want to create a system that cuts off small towns, but at the same time, it’s so skewed that we can view this as an economically beneficial project. Money could certainly be spent elsewhere and get a much, much higher return on cultural, social and economic value.
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First letter from China: Sichuan
November 5, 2013 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in China, India, Travel writing Tags: Chengdu, cigarette, confucius, Cultural Revolution, dafo, dafo temple, deng xiaoping, drink, drinking, emei, Emei Grand Masters, emei shan, emei wushu, Emei Wushu Alliance, emeishan, Exit and Entry Department, groundhog day, guru, india, ip man, jeffrey chu, kalarippayattu, kane juan tan, Kerala, kj tan, kungfu, lhasa, Li Bao Ming, mala, manipur, mao tse-tung, mao zedong, people's park, pig organs, pig organs soup, Pondicherry, rice wine, Shanghai, Shaolin, Sheng Gui Hua, Shenzhen, Sichuan, sichuanese, sifu, smoking, streetfood, Szechwan, tea, teahouse, tibet, What a joy it is to have friends come from far away, wing chung, Wu Xin Liang, Wudang, Xin Cheng, yuen fen, Zhang Lin, Zhuhai 1 Comment
Note: This is an on-the-road blog post. To find out more about why I am on this trip, please read, Next book: From Kerala to Shaolin.
A continuation of Postcard from Tibet: Drinking yak butter tea
Chengdu streetfood
When I find out that our mainland China trip will begin in Chengdu, I am overjoyed. Before this Kerala2Shaolin research trip, I had visited only a few mainland Chinese cities: Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. By some distance, Chengdu is my favourite.
Li Ling, my wife, and I had visited in April 2012. Ling, on her first ever visit to the land of her forefathers, was filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, worried about a week of musky hotel rooms, smoky restaurants and squalid, squatting-only toilets.
Deciding on Chengdu back then was easy. Ling wanted to look at animals and I wanted to eat them. Few places attract animal lovers and carnivores so effortlessly: Chengdu is home to the world’s foremost Panda sanctuary; it is also one of Asia’s gastronomic capitals, the centre of Sichuan cuisine. After five days we were smitten, by the comical, goofy pandas, by the irresistible “mala” spice (ma: numbing; la: spicy) and, unexpectedly, by the charming, laid-back people of Sichuan, who seem less interested in China’s hot growth than China’s hot tea. (For a more detailed digression into mala and Sichuanese food, see Culinary post from China: Sichuan)
Ling, expecting rabid capitalists and rapacious salesmen, was startled at how friendly and civic-minded the Chengduans are. One of my favourite moments from that trip was on Day 1 when I was queuing in a restaurant in the People’s Park. It is one of those places where you first order and pay at the cashier and then find a table, sit down and wait for your food to arrive.
As I am queuing in front of the cashier, a self-absorbed, middle-aged lady nonchalantly cuts in front of me, hoping that neither the five people behind me nor I notice. Ling and I roll our eyes in a “This is China” sort of way, and don’t think too much of it. Suddenly, the cashier, who through the corner of her eye has picked up on this chicanery, starts screaming at the lady. Shellshocked, the queue-cutter lowers her head and walks disgruntledly to the back of the line.
“These tourists have no manners,” the cashier grumbles, in a half-observational, half-apologetic tone. At least once a day on the trip, I would hear a similar refrain, as the Chengdu ren, or people, strive to differentiate themselves from the allegedly uncivilised folk from elsewhere in China. The Shanghai ren come in for special ridicule.
As with any laid-back culture in the world, there is a flipside to the Chengduan relaxation that rat-racers perennially mock. In Pondicherry, I bumped into a girl from Beijing and her Chengdu boyfriend. “Relaxed? They are not relaxed; they are lazy,” she insisted, as her lover smiled sheepishly, unaware that it had been a while since he last wore relationship pants.
In any case, when Kane Juan Tan (KJ), my Singaporean friend who accompanied me for the Tibet leg, and I board the world’s highest-elevation train—hitting 5,000m at one pass—in Lhasa, bound for Chengdu, I am very much looking forward to four days of rest in the city that is considered one of China’s most liveable. We are booked on “soft sleepers”, four to a section, analagous to “2A/C” on the Indian trains. However, even though the train is comfortable and the scenery outside breathtaking, KJ and I are unprepared for the claustrophobia of forty-five hours on one vehicle. We soon descend into a matrix-like hypnosis, and start to ask ourselves Groundhog-day questions like “Are we going now to eat lunch or dinner?” and “Is that the same girl we saw yesterday?” and “How many days since our last dump?”
We are thus happy to leave the train, more so because old friend Jeffrey Chu is there in Chengdu to greet us. Jeffrey, who is based in Shanghai, will be following Kirit, the Delhi-based photographer, and I around mainland China.
We spend the day catching up and eating a lot. KJ has only one night in Chengdu before he returns to Singapore. This being the eve of his birthday, at night we treat ourselves to nouveau Sichuanese cuisine. Incredible.
It is about then that my Chengdu dream starts to unravel. The mala cuisine delivers a rude shock to my sensitive stomach, complacent after two weeks of mild, non-spicy Tibetan food. I visit the restaurant toilet—thank God it’s a nice restaurant—and then have to go two more times that night in the hotel room.
In the morning, I sit uneasily in the hotel room, unable to fathom how I survived three months of India’s streetfood—what has traditionally proved my digestive undoing—only to fall prey my very first day in China, which, while certainly not God’s gift to hygiene, is a place where I’ve never had trouble. Indeed, when I visited last year with my wife, I was eating at least three solid mala meals everyday without any problem.
Then KJ and Jeffrey return to the room to deliver the biggest shocker of the trip: I will have to fly back to Singapore with KJ that very same night. For the first time in my life, I buy a long-distance international airplane ticket—i.e. not a shuttle—on the very same day of travel.
This concludes, on a very sour note, more than a month of diplomatic wrangling over my passage from India – Tibet – China. We were initially advised that when we reach Chengdu, all KJ and I have to do is “split” our China visa. That will allow KJ to return to Singapore and me to continue my China journey. However, in Chengdu, nobody at the “Exit and Entry Department”—an immigration bureau that all long-stay visitors to China will get accustomed to—wants to take responsibility for this. We try everything we can think of, including calling the Singapore consulate in Chengdu for help, as well as offering to pay a “special processing fee” to expedite the process, a gesture that seems to offend the sensibilities of the mild-mannered Chengduan lady officer.
I am not sure if they are being extra careful with us because we have entered China via Tibet, or maybe because I haven’t shaved and look a bit like a Xinjiang ren, something I will hear repeatedly during the trip. Perhaps our single biggest mistake, according to Jeffrey, who is well-versed in the intricacies and incentives of the Chinese bureaucracy, is that we do not have the right connections within the Exit and Entry Department.
“I think it’s easier if you just fly to Singapore and come back,” says the lady officer innocently, as if the seven-hundred dollar, six-thousand kilometre roundtrip is a gondola ride around Venice. And so instead of four days of downtime in one of China’s most relaxing cities, I instead endure four days of loo-time, including an absolutely tortuous five-hour flight back to Singapore.
The three silver linings of this unplanned trip home are that I get to see my eight-month pregnant sister, whose soon-to-arrive daughter will make me an uncle for the first time; I get to play with my two cats, who I did not expect to miss this much; and that I get to sleep on my own bed, a rare luxury in a year when I expect to be acquainted with more than a hundred. (I do not, however, get to see my wife, who is working in South Africa at the time.)
Emei shan
I return to Chengdu, countless charcoal pills and lactogards later, well rested and raring to go. The next morning, Jeffrey, Kirit and I board a bus for nearby Emei shan, literally Emei mountain, the highest of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China, and birthplace of Emei wushu (kungfu), the first Chinese martial art on our list. Jeffrey has arranged an appointment with a supposedly well-connected monk in Dafo temple, Emei’s largest.
We go expecting to see martial monks in meditation at a rustic temple on the foothills of the mountain. It is soon apparent that we are the victims of ignorant romanticism. The Dafo temple is smack in the middle of Emei city, surrounded by wide boulevards, several kilometres away from the mountain itself. A short walk from the temple leads to a busy food promenade, where restaurants big and small vie for attention with salacious KTV joints.
The temple itself, in a sprawling complex replete with a man-made lake, tourist footpaths, well-apportioned dormitory rooms and a newly-built-to-look-old shopping street—a now ubiquitous adornment to China’s cultural tourist spots—is not so much a reminder of the country’s tradition as a testament to its brash, relentless development. Having just come from neighbouring Tibet, where many temples have through turbulent times somehow retained their old-world charm, Dafo is a bit of a shock, albeit impressive in its own way.
We walk for fifteen minutes, passing a series of open plazas and prayer halls, the air periodically filled with the smell of burning incense and the murmurs of chanting monks, before reaching the office of Xin Cheng, one of the senior monks, who awaits us with Wu Xin Liang, a wushu shifu (guru, master). After exchanging pleasantries, Mr Xin spends about thirty minutes sussing us out, first listening to me describe my project and then asking a series of follow-up questions. Moderately satisfied, he then takes some of my questions. In what will be the first of many conversational dances I join in China, we chat for three hours, never really able to explore any one topic in the linear fashion my mind defaults to, instead circling around hesitantly, Mr Xin often preferring the ambiguity of the unsaid to the irretrievable certainties of the spoken.
Mr Xin is untrained in wushu, but is the main monk liaison for the Emei Wushu Alliance, a body that sits directly under the religious institution. Although his knowledge of wushu is limited, he provides us with a background of the symbiotic relationship between the Buddhist temple and the martial arts organisation, one that has grown closer over the past ten years. The wealthy temple has funded the growth and outreach of Emei Wushu, as it seeks to establish itself against the better-known Shaolin and Wudang styles. As a result, the temple’s prominence and status in Sichuanese society has grown.
Mr Wu slowly emerges from his shell to share details about Emei wushu and his life. He denies any link between Emei wushu and other martial arts. Emei wushu, he says, is an indigenous art form that originated on the slopes of Emei shan. Apparently there is no link to Shaolin, let alone India. “It’s three to four thousand years old,” he says, placing it well before kalarippayattu, the Kerala martial arts, which is around 2,500 years old (see Letter from India: Kalarippayattu). We listen, unconvinced.
He also decides to conduct an impromptu demonstration on me: in the spirit of all great martial artists, he asks me to attack him and shows how easily he can respond and paralyse me. In India, I had to beg a reluctant guru in Manipur to use me as a dummy. In China, Mr Wu is the first of many to gleefully watch my body contort as I try valiantly to suppress screams.
Two days later, we meet the so-called Seven Grand Masters of Emei Wushu, who are performing (pictured) in a public square as part of China’s October 1st national day celebrations, a weeklong holiday that will see tourists from around China visit Emei. The grand masters are all elderly men—the youngest is 50—each with his own distinctive weapon and martial arts school. They are excited to see us, and keep repeating two aphorisms that we will hear over and over again across China: first that it is “Yuen fen”, fate, that has brought us together; and second, quoting Confucius, “What a joy it is to have friends come from far away”.
After their demonstration, they invite us for tea at a typical Sichuanese alfresco tea-house. We sit on wooden chairs, between clumps of manicured bamboo, as lidded ceramic cups are arranged on the table and flasks of boiling water placed at our feet. More than ever, Kirit and I feel like curiosities, as passer-byes stare at the two Indian men interviewing the group of wushu warriors, some still in martial gear.
They keep topping up our tea cups and offering us cigarettes. I always enjoy the odd cigarette but one needs lungs of steel for a session with Chinese smokers, perhaps some 99% of the male population. The different warriors take pride in offering us their own brand of cigarettes and observing our reactions as we smoke. Nobody cares if you already have a cigarette in your hand; if somebody offers you one, you take it and place it on the table next to your tea cup. There are times on this trip when we have a queue of two cigarettes in front of us, gifts waiting to be smoked, as our respiratory systems scream in protest.
And therein lies another difference between most Indian martial arts gurus we met and their Chinese shifu counterparts. While the Indians seem to live fairly austere lives, almost every Chinese shifu we meet smokes. Heavily.
Moreover, as we are to discover to our great delight, a fair number of them drink. After thirty minutes at the tea shop, we all head to a nearby restaurant for lunch. There is as much salivating over the pig organs soup, an Emei specialty, as there is the sweet rice wine. Again our cups are refilled as soon as they touch the table.
By discussing smoking and drinking, I do not mean to paint a picture of portly, unhealthy shifus. In fact, if appearances count for anything, all the Chinese shifus are ostensibly in much better physical shape than, say, the kalarippayattu gurus, whose pot-bellies suggest an addiction to thick Kerala rice and ghee-laden sweets. Nevertheless, the Chinese seem to have a more relaxed attitude towards intoxicants.
As we bond over food and drink that afternoon, we learn several things about wushu and China. While Shaolin wushu is globally renowned, there are indeed many different styles in China. Moreover, in terms of origins, local terroir seems to have been an important determinant. For instance, Emei wushu specialises in close combat because it evolved in Emei, with its mountainous terrain, valleys and rivers, where practitioners did not have much space for movement. By contrast, Shaolin wushu often showcases warriors running at great speed or flying through the air, because it emerged in Henan, with its great, wide open plains.
Additionally, Emei wushu is well suited to Sichuanese people, who are shorter and smaller-sized than the Northerners. Emei wushu emphasises agile, nimble and swift movements, in theory enabling one to defeat bigger opponents.
Meanwhile, the movie industry is both admired and derided. The Emei warriors all recognise film’s role in popularising Shaolin wushu and, with the spate of recent Ip Man films, Wing Chung. They are trying their best to promote Emei wushu in movies. At the same time, they cringe at the way the medium exaggerates wushu combat, reducing a noble, meditative art form to stylised fisticuffs.
Popular imagination globally has been so indelibly shaped by these silver screen superlatives that the reality of martial arts today can appear sedentary. When I am in Emei, I post some photographs on Facebook of Li Bao Ming, one of the seven heroes, whose unassuming style charms Jeffrey, Kirit and I. Upon seeing the photo, several friends in Singapore express disappointment at his apparent ordinariness.
We also stumble into a conversation about China’s Cultural Revolution, the dark period in the 1960s-70s when waves of young, possessed Red Guards sought to free the country of its supposedly backward traditions, effectively performing a cultural lobotomy on an entire generation of Chinese. Several of the Emei Grand Masters, as so-called “educated youths”, were sent far away from Sichuan to agricultural labour camps. Given that wushu was also banned as a backward art form, they had to practise underground. Not all were able to.
Before entering China, I was unsure how quickly we’d be able to launch into deeper discussions about the Cultural Revolution and other potentially prickly subjects. “I don’t think we should talk about these things,” one of the older martial artists exclaims, as Zhang Lin, one of the senior most of the Emei warriors, tells us about the destruction of a nearby temple during the Cultural Revolution.
“It’s ok, don’t worry,” Mr Zhang responds adamantly. “I am a Party member; I know we are free to discuss these things, it’s all in the open today.”
Indeed, I have been surprised by how openly the Cultural Revolution’s damage is discussed around China, particularly in Tibet. By contrast, many of the people I’ve met are slightly more cagey when it comes to their more recent grievances with the government.
When one considers the destruction in Emei during the Cultural Revolution—Buddhist temples defaced, martial arts suppressed—it becomes clearer why Deng Xiaoping, the premier who liberalised China’s economy from 1978, setting the country on its current path towards wealth and prosperity, is held in such high regard here. This is also surely because Mr Deng is Sichuanese. He is the diminutive hero, the little man who defeated opponents at home and abroad, while still exhibiting glints of folksy charm, as when he spontaneously wore a cowboy hat at a Texan rodeo on his first official trip as premier to the US. His name is spoken reverentially by everybody we meet in Sichuan; as is the “kai fang”, or openness, that he ushered in, which sparked the revival of Chinese wushu, and the country at large.
It surprises us that none of the Emei warriors have passed on their skills to their children. “Well, since we have only one child, we are very protective of them,” Mr Zhang explains. “We don’t want to see them involved in activities where they might get hurt.” Instead, some of them choose to work with disaffected youth. A few years ago, Sheng Gui Hua opened a martial arts boarding school, which attracts students primarily from around Sichuan, but also other parts of China. We learn that many of the kids there have been sent by parents who feel they “cannot control them”. Demography, one-child policies and little emperors are all issues I hope to look at more closely in the book.
Jeffrey, Kirit and I end up staying in Emei for almost a week, as long as I spent in Manipur, another place I fell in love with on this long, seven-month journey (see Last letter from India: Manipur). We are enchanted by Sichuanese hospitality as well as the place’s natural beauty. We spend two days hiking around the majestic, mysterious Emei shan: one to the heavily-touristed but surreal jinding, or summit (pictured), another to the less-travelled “back” of the mountain. Along the way we pass many temples of varying preservation and prominence. Sadly, not a single one retains any vestige of wushu.
Three weeks later, I meet Scarlett, Jeffrey’s Sichuanese wife, in Shanghai where they live. Suitably charmed by her home province, I excitedly tell her about all the different places I visited, repeating how I feel so relaxed whenever I am in Sichuan. “Oh, actually you have visited only the busier parts of Sichuan. Chengdu and Emei are now a bit overdeveloped,” Scarlett says. “If you want to really experience Sichuanese life, you need to go to the smaller villages.”
Ah, it’s all about perspectives. As I’m quickly realising, there are several billion floating around this vast, diverse country.
The story continues at Letter from China: Guangdong and Fujian
Post-script:
Kungfu or wushu?
As you would have read above, for the moment I have decided to term every Chinese martial art as “wushu”. Hence, Shaolin wushu, rather than the more recognisable Shaolin kungfu. On the kungfu vs wushu debate, I have heard varying explanations from different shifus. Some insist that there is no difference between the terms. Others say that wushu is an umbrella term for different kungfu styles. Some say kungfu refers to the ancient martial art while wushu refers to the modern sporting form.
For the time being, I will use wushu as I have found it to be much more popular. The word wu-shu (武术) itself is interesting, because it very roughly translates as “stop weapon”.
Shortly after we meet, Sheng Gui Hua, one of the seven Emei grand masters, invites us to his son’s wedding reception, to be held in his martial arts boarding school four days later. Even though Jeffrey and I are extremely tired after a day of hiking around Emei, we push ourselves to make the thirty-minute journey at around eight in the evening. We are treated to an evening of decadent food, endless rice wine, impressive fireworks, martial arts stories and general tomfoolery.
And Mao Zedong. One of the great mysteries of historical legacies is why a man believed to be responsible for some 30m deaths is still regarded in his country with a mixture of admiration, fear and comedic curiosity. I will examine the legacies of modern China’s founding fathers and heroes in the book, but for now will just share a concise line I read somewhere: “Mao Zedong gave us liberation; Deng Xiaoping gave us food.”
Mao’s image has been immortalised, spawning a cottage industry of Mao lookalikes. We meet one of them at the wedding, a friendly chap who happens to be a martial artist. He invites us to take photos with him.
Given his confusing legacy, how exactly should one pose with Mao? Unsure, I respond with reverence and ridicule. I hope that’s OK.
Mao and me. He tried to prevent us from photographing him before he could stick his red lapel flower and his fake red birthmark, which you will notice below his lip in next photo
Mao and me
No, that’s not Deng Xiaoping.
Must have one with the kids…
More photos. And if you’re looking for the food photos, please see Culinary post from China: Sichuan
Billboard in Emei
Li Bao Ming, who looks harmless with his walking stick. Which is actually a weapon
Xin Cheng in Dafo temple
Jeffrey and Kirit photographing a demonstration
Cigarette time at the tea house
Sheng Gui Hua in his martial arts boarding school
Some of his students
Mao Zedong and Sheng Gui Hua
Young Emei wushu student at Dafo temple
Hiking up Emei shan
At Emei shan’s summit. This lady visited Jamaica a couple of years back; and confesses to wearing her Bob Marley shawl whenever she can, as it garners lots of attention
Commerce, commerce, everywhere
Wanfoding, the Ten Thousand Buddha summit on Emei Mt. Sea of clouds brushes up the cliff face.
The lawn in front of one of the older temples on Emei shan
Why walk when you can sit?
An Emei shan temple
Hike up the back of Emei shan
Calligraphy at a nunnery
Badminton, Emei shan
Weeding, Emei city
Kindergarten celebrating China’s national day
« CNA – Chat about From Kerala to Shaolin
Culinary post from China: Sichuan »
Tan says:
How did you derive the translation of “stop weapon” from wushu? From looking at the individual characters, “wu” is martial and “shu” is skill–taken together, wushu is literally “martial skill.”
I’m Chinese (Singaporean.)
Enjoyed this piece of writing. 🙂
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Category Archives: PAP
June 17, 2019 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in PAP, satire, Singapore Tags: BooksActually, politics, Singapore, tiong bahru Leave a comment
dear friends in Singapore, this Friday BooksActually, our favourite indie bookstore in Tiong Bahru, will be open for 24 hours (see the Facebook event page). Kenny Leck and team have scheduled an interesting series of talk cock sessions and performances.
At 8pm June 21st I will be on a panel alongside Kokila Annamalai and Sufian Hakim. We will explore the topic of “Ghosts & politics”. Who are the “ghosts” of our political world? What scary stories have we been told about them? Will Singaporeans ever outgrow our fear of “the dark”?
Should be fun. Hope to see you there!
Full event text:
BooksActually
BOOKSACTUALLY’S 24 HOUR BOOKSTORE (it’s back!)
☞ 21st & 22nd June 2019, Friday & Saturday
Events run from 7PM – 2AM at
(9 Yong Siak Street,
Singapore 168645)
BooksActually will be holding our annual 24-Hour Bookstore! Yes you heard that right, BooksActually opened overnight 21st (Fri) to 22nd June (Sat)! Additionally, there will be many programmes lined up—performances, panel discussions, readings and more importantly FOOD! Come down for a good time and an unforgettable experience.
* BYOP – Bring Your Own Pillow!
** 20% Off Storewide (Except Magazines) from 21st June, 7pm to 22nd June, 2am!
Event Line-Up:
Reading & Panel Discussion — Epigram Books Fiction Prize Winners
with Sebastian Sim and Yeoh Jo-Ann
moderated by Edmund Wee
Panel Discussion — Ghosts & Politics
with Kokila Annamalai, Sufian Hakim and Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh
Performance & Discussion — Pitch Witch and Inside Voices
by Main Tulis Group
10:30PM – 12MN
Reading — Peculiar Chris
with Eileena Lee, Miak Siew and Leow Yangfa
12MN – 1AM
In Conversation with Alfian Sa’at and Kenny Leck
1AM – 2AM
Open Mic — Ghosts, Ghosts, Ghosts!
April 6, 2019 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in journalism, PAP, Singapore 1 Comment
The PAP’s cheerleaders are the last ones standing
Unfortunately the majority of commentators in Singapore would never say anything critical about the People’s Action Party (PAP) or the country. I am referring very broadly to anybody who comments—in universities, media outfits and elsewhere. Sure, they will opine on poor driving habits or spoiled Singaporeans or the haze, but will clam up if they think their comments may have the slightest professional or political cost.
Before I share a specific example, let me first propose that while many of them recognise their limitations, many others exhibit a shocking lack of self awareness. Several years ago I was speaking on a panel overseas about self-censorship. I said that it is something that afflicts everybody—for example with me, perhaps, when writing about Singapore’s judiciary or race and religion in Floating on a Malayan Breeze, my first book. Other panellists recounted their own experiences. But also on the panel was a senior person from a Singapore government institution who blithely said that there is no such thing as self censorship; people are free to write what they want in Singapore. What was worrying is that it looked like this person truly believed it. Many in the audience were incredulous.
So I certainly do not expect all of these wise Singaporean sages to accept this characterisation. Perhaps the true genius of the Singapore panopticon is not just in convincing people to give up their freedoms, but in subsequently convincing them that they have lost nothing.
Now let’s recall what happened in 2017: the PAP changed the constitution so that it could reserve the current presidency for Malays, with the specific intentions, most people believe, of preventing Tan Cheng Bock from running and ushering in Halimah Yaacob, the party’s favoured candidate.
And let’s remember for a moment all the horrible ramifications of this disgraceful manoeuvre. Democracy was hijacked and our basic electoral processes turned into a joke, most obviously by Chan Chun Sing who called Halimah “president” twice in parliament seven months before the supposed “election”. The Attorney General argued that the PAP can define “elected presidency” however it wants to, effectively saying the party can rewrite the dictionary and Singapore’s history however it likes.
Worse were the assaults on identity, multiculturalism and the broader women’s rights movement. The PAP told us that the “race” we all have on our identity cards, that has been hardwired into us, is actually switchable—even though Halimah’s was “Indian”, she could run as a “Malay”. Meanwhile the Presidential Commission decided that only one Malay in the whole of Singapore was fit to run. What a terrible, false message that sends about the Malay community. Overt racism against Malays, with slurs like “that makcik”, was suddenly in vogue.
Finally, what should have been a triumph for women—the election of Singapore’s first female president—was turned into a sham. Many believe that Halimah would have won a fair race against the two other Malay men (who were disqualified), and possibly even against Tan. Instead, history is going to remember our first female president as somebody so politically weak that she needed democracy to be usurped as she ascended to her throne.
To achieve a political objective, the PAP has done lasting damage to both Malays and females.
I apologise to readers who have heard these things ad nauseam. But they bear repeating here. Because as all these tragedies were piling up, one after another, like a slow motion crash, where was the pushback? Where were the Singaporean writers and talking heads and sociologists and political scientists and poets and comedians and artists and vLoggers? Continue reading →
April 6, 2019 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in journalism, PAP, Singapore 3 Comments
Free speech, ethnic harmony and Watain
Societies everywhere have become too sensitive about speech. One person taking offence should not be grounds for the police to investigate speech (as regularly happens in Singapore). The broadening definition of micro-aggressions on US campuses is proof of this heightened sensitivity globally. I was quite shocked and disappointed to hear, for instance, that the University of California, my alma mater, had decided that it is a micro-aggression “to say that ‘America is a land of opportunity’, because it could be taken to imply that those who do not succeed have only themselves to blame.”
That doesn’t mean absolutely anything should be permissible. Freedom has its limitations. And while I instinctively disagree with the concept of “safe spaces”, this objection is secondary to a broader, more urgent notion: that the main imperative in society must be to enable different voices to be heard, to promote the free exchange of ideas. The internet has changed the dynamics of all this incredibly, and there is a great piece on content regulation at Reddit here:
“Does free speech mean literally anyone can say anything at any time?” Tidwell continued. “Or is it actually more conducive to the free exchange of ideas if we create a platform where women and people of color can say what they want without thousands of people screaming, ‘Fuck you, light yourself on fire, I know where you live’? If your entire answer to that very difficult question is ‘Free speech,’ then, I’m sorry, that tells me that you’re not really paying attention.”
If we accept that the free exchange of ideas—and not free speech per se—is the more important ideal for a thinking society, then we must first be aware that in any multicultural, unequal city, different groups will have varying levels of confidence in expressing themselves (for reasons of culture, history, income, access, etc.). Thus while my instincts lean towards free speech—with the usual exceptions of hate speech and incitement—I can also see why it may be prudent in certain, limited circumstances to allow for narrow “safe spaces”.
What does all that theorising mean in practical terms? Well, for a global city like Singapore, if we want to encourage, say, the Muslim community or the LGBT community to share their thoughts, we may need to create—again, in specific, limited circumstances—spaces for them to do so without fear that their core beliefs will be attacked.
That must never be a general rule, of course. In any thinking society, all religious doctrines—not the believers themselves—must be subject to open interrogation. I know there are many in Singapore who believe that religions must be immune from criticism, but I’m sorry—we live in a world where people kill in the name of God and priests fuck little boys captive to God. (Pardon my French but when describing paedophiles my niceties betray me.)
So for instance in Singapore, if pastors want to criticise what they might consider the indecent dress sense of gays, the law should not stop them—even if their own dreadful fashion sense might. Similarly if gays want to criticise perceived homophobic passages of the Bible or the Qu’ran, the law should not stop them—even if their respect for the beliefs of others might. But none of these people should be able to criticise relentlessly anywhere and everywhere, such that they frighten off gays and Christians and Muslims from communicating.
All of the above is nice in theory—including the definition of hate speech—but much harder in practice. But every society must try.
Do I trust Singapore’s partisan ministers to be the arbiters of this? Absolutely not. However noble their intentions, they have repeatedly shown that they do not possess the requisite sensitivity to do so.
Let’s take a recent example: the banning of Watain. I was actually inspired by the many Singaporeans speaking up, sometimes to great comedic effect, against government overbearingness, hypersensitivity, and the intolerance of a moral minority.
The deliberate spread of falsehoods and misinformation
Yes this is a problem everywhere from India and Myanmar to Russia and the US. The consequences can be horrific.
But in Singapore? One can reasonably argue that the People’s Action Party (PAP), the government and the mainstream media channels it controls have historically been some of the main sources of falsehoods and misinformation (in terms of reach and impact).
In the late 1980s, Lee Hsien Loong, then trade and industry minister, was one of the politicians who alleged that a group of people were plotting a Marxist Conspiracy.
In 2001, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, then senior minister, said “from what I knew of them [the alleged conspirators], most were social activists but were not out to subvert the system.”
Sadly, one of our two leaders has got his facts wrong. Since both statements are still in the public domain, I hope our new, superpower “true-or-false” ministers will soon decide and strike down the lie.
During campaigning at the 2015 General Elections, Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore Chinese paper, published allegations from a poison pen letter suggesting that Daniel Goh, the Workers’ Party candidate, had had an affair with one of his students. The Straits Times and Channel News Asia repeated the allegation, the latter with a salacious “Did he or did he not?” teaser.
One reason falsehoods and misinformation are of global concern today is because of their potential to affect elections. At Singapore’s last election, the worst and possibly only instance of widespread misinformation was produced by three of Singapore’s mainstream media channels.
One curious clause in the government’s new bill is General Exemption #61. “The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, exempt any person or class of persons from any provision of this Act.”
Well, dear reader, you don’t need to guess whom they are going to exempt; they already did so in the last election—none of those mainstream media channels were punished.
Likewise, no action was taken against PAP politician Charles Chong, whose printed flyers made a wild, false accusation against the Workers Party ahead of the election. Quite the contrary. After spreading what seems to be fake news, Chong was appointed chair of the government’s fake news committee (yes, you read that right.)
Of course there are anti-PAP campaigns of falsehoods and misinformation, like The Real Singapore. I have no respect for such publications. But the salient point is that because of their highly limited reach, none of them have had any material impact on the government’s or the PAP’s reputation thus far.
Whereas in the above two examples there was an immediate—and for the first, still ongoing—impact.
Finally, this may not represent “a deliberate” spread of misinformation but is in my opinion—I think I’m still entitled to that—highly regrettable and irresponsible online behaviour from PAP politicians Seah Kian Peng and K Shanmugam.
April 6, 2019 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in journalism, PAP, Singapore Leave a comment
“Galileo before the Holy Office”. Galileo, accused of heresy, was kept under house arrest until his death.
Perhaps what bothers me most about Singapore’s new “fake news” law is the sheer brazenness of it. The idea that a group of partisan ministers can determine what is true or false for the whole of society reflects a way of thinking out of touch with reality and lacking in humility (yes, theoretically the courts are the final arbiters, but practically the ministers probably will be).
While I do think some law is necessary to tackle the very real scourges of falsehoods, hate speech and other online hazards, it’s preposterous to give a politician (or any partisan person) the power to decide what’s legit.
Have we learned nothing from Galileo?
Cherian George articulates my concerns (here and here) far better than I ever could, so rather than dwell on the law itself I’d like to set its brazenness against the larger backdrop of what worries me as a writer in Singapore today: the slow death of honest discourse.
What the People’s Action Party (PAP) has been recently doing to opinions it doesn’t like—and the people who voice them—is damaging and will eventually exact a heavy toll, I believe, on our country.
In some ways there has never been a better time to be a writer in Singapore. There are more media companies and publications based here for numerous reasons, financial, geographic and otherwise; more desire for Asian perspectives on Asia; and more interest in Singapore itself. This contributes to more opportunities for writers and other “content creators”. All this is happening alongside wonderful technological advances that have enabled much of our work to be done remotely—I am staring at Pasir Ris Beach while typing this. (I know; poor me.)
Yet when it comes to commenting about Singaporean society and politics, the mood is about as gloomy as it’s been in the past decade. Academics have been shunned or exiled for things they’ve said; activists have been charged for innocuous acts that would be passé in any other developed country; alternative media channels, many of whom rely on government advertising, have resorted to avoiding controversial topics; and many mainstream media journalists feel censorship reasserting itself.
There are only two groups of thinkers/writers/media peeps operating freely in Singapore now: those who do not cover Singapore; and those who do but would never say anything critical about the PAP or its policies, like the party’s newest fanboy, Nuseir Yassin (aka Nas Daily). Everybody else is working with fear. “Nobody is safe [from prosecution],” a friend recently told me. “Remember Li Shengwu.” Even Lee Kuan Yew’s grandchild, a Harvard professor, has been charged for a private Facebook post and effectively exiled. Nobody is safe.
This does not bode well for our country. At a time when the future is uncertain—identity politics, terrorism, automation, inequalities, the rise of leggings—we should be encouraging a diversity of voices to help us think through issues. Instead, we are creating a climate of fear that is starving public thought.
But first, let’s see what’s happening to journalists and speech globally.
The global chill
Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year issue had four covers featuring different persecuted journalists: the staff of Maryland-based Capital Gazette; Burmese Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo; Filipino Maria Ressa; and Saudi Jamal Khashoggi.
March 16, 2019 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in Identity, PAP, Singapore Tags: British, British Empire, colonialism, PAP, Raffles, Singapore Leave a comment
Excerpt of my piece on Singapore’s bicentennial, i.e. commemoration of the arrival of Raffles and The British Empire in 1819, first published on Nikkei Asian Review
From Cape Town to San Francisco, cities have been toppling monuments to historical figures with troubling legacies. In Singapore, authorities have opted for a more genteel way of dealing with the statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the British colonialist who in 1819 chose the tiny island as the East India Co.’s new regional base.
They are diluting the imperialist’s prominence by erecting for the year four new statues of Asian pioneers near Raffles.
The government is commemorating the bicentennial of Raffles’ landing with a yearlong pageantry of exhibitions, essays and events (there may even be a national election).
It is a means to interrogate Singapore’s rich but oft-overlooked pre-independence history. Yet the process involves risks — it exposes some inherent contradictions about a global city’s identity, as interpreted by a heavy-handed state.
Compared with India and most other former British colonies, independent Singapore has always had a romantic view of colonialism.
Continue reading at Nikkei Asian Review
December 14, 2018 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in army, Malaysia, PAP, Singapore Tags: Barisan Nasional, Bersatu, Defence Cyber Organisation, Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohammad, mas selamat, Pakatan Harapan, People's Action Party, Rais Hussin, singhealth, Tan Chuan-Jin 3 Comments
Malaysia’s and Singapore’s governments at each other’s throats? We’ve been here before. One of the reasons why Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) and, until May this year, Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional (BN) have won national elections more consistently than any other party in democratic Asia is their ability to ratchet up domestic nationalist sentiment against the other.
The PAP has ruled Singapore for almost 60 years while the BN era (including its Alliance predecessor) lasted 61 years. BN may no longer be in power, but Malaysia’s current governing coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH), has as prime minister ninety-three-year old Mahathir Mohamad, a former BN leader and persistent thorn in Singapore’s side. There is a tiresome familiarity to it all.
We can be sure of three things. First, once the sabre-rattling is done, the governments will eventually resolve all aerial and maritime boundary issues amicably.
Second, the big losers will be us, the citizens. In a world struggling to deal with nativism, and the dangers posed by demagogues who preen their exclusive identities at the expense of our common humanity, it has been worryingly easy for politicians to ignite dormant antagonisms against the other.
Malaysians and Singaporeans are essentially the same peoples—in both countries one finds the same ethnicities, the same religions, the same cultures, the same cendols (almost). If even we can be so easily turned against each other, what hope do other more conflicting identities elsewhere in the world have?
Politicians on both sides have exhibited passive-aggressive tendencies. Rais Hussin, a supreme council member of Bersatu, the Mahathir-led party that is part of PH, wrote an Op-Ed that combined a conciliatory call for cooler heads with a bald-faced threat that Singapore was at risk of “pain by a thousand cuts”. It was remarkable not least because one rarely sees a Malay channelling a punishment from Imperial China.
Tan Chuan-Jin, Singapore’s speaker of parliament, reposted on Facebook a potentially incendiary video that suggests Malaysia may have nefarious motivations for its actions, such as inciting racial disharmony in Singapore. He also asked followers to keep Singaporean soldiers “in our prayers”, a divine exhortation one usually associates with boots on battlefields. He ends off saying that “no one is trying to be jingoistic”, which is precisely the sort of disclaimer that makes one worry about jingoism.
The third thing we know for sure is that the big winner from all this will be the PAP. Continue reading →
September 10, 2017 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in democracy, PAP, Singapore, Singapore elections Tags: Chan Chun Sing, chee soon juan, David Cameron, Farid Khan, Fifa ’17, Frank Underwood, goh chok tong, Halimah Yacob, house of cards, ISIS, Jeremy Corbyn, Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, malay, Monopoly, nationalism, Ong Teng Cheong, paul tambyah, racism, Salleh Marican, SDP, Table Tennis, Tan Cheng Bock, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, tudung, Wee Kim Wee 36 Comments
Farid Khan; Halimah Yacob; Salleh Marican
For months I have been committed to spoiling my vote.
The way the government has gone about the entire exercise is problematic. First, amending the constitution with the main intention of—most people believe—blocking a candidate it doesn’t like. Then, dressing up the political manoeuvre as affirmative action for Malays. Then organising endless surveys, forums, articles, etc. to sell it to Singaporeans, in the process draining taxpayers’ time and money.
Finally—and this is the real worrying thing—showing basic incompetence in its execution, in the definition of “Malay”, in the definition of “elected presidency”, apparently unaware of the numerous pitfalls of this manoeuvre, of the horrid racial interrogations that would follow.
Every bit of political messaging, every sound byte emanating from the Orwellian top, had me wondering: is this Pravda, is this Newspeak, am I living in some parallel universe? Does the government really think we are that stupid?
And yet, over the past two weeks I have changed my mind. I believe it is necessary, as somebody committed to multiculturalism, to endorse this reserved election and vote for a Malay candidate. Spoiling my vote could, in some microscopic way, threaten societal cohesion, as I will explain below.
Assuming there even is a vote, whom to choose? That doesn’t really matter so much, I feel. Personal preference. They are all talented and competent in their own way.
For me, I would choose Halimah Yacob, because she’s female and because she seems to be that rare politician committed to simple living—two causes I believe, in whatever small way, need to be encouraged.
Yet even if she becomes president—as seems almost certain—her presidency will always be tainted. If we, as citizens, are to have an honest relationship with her, we must never let her forget that.
#tanchengblock
I remember the moment like it were yesterday: during campaigning for GE 2015, Tan Cheng Bock strolling into a nighttime SDP rally headlined by Chee Soon Juan and Paul Tambyah, his avuncular smile moving in and out of stadium lights and shadows.
The people around me, tiptoeing on soft earth, flag-waving arms growing weary, went ballistic. Thunderous applause and cheers, yet different from before. This was a self-affirming chest bump, the kind offered to high-profile converts anywhere, and for the demure-looking political virgins there who still believed that even uttering “S.D.P.” might be a crime, here was their ultimate vindication.
The man of the people, the former insider and newly baptised insurgent.
July 21, 2017 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in democracy, PAP, Singapore, Singapore elections Tags: George Yeo, Ho Ching, Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, Lee Kuan Yew, lee wei ling, Tharman Shanmugaratnam 10 Comments
Dear reader, yesterday I published a piece on Oxley mostly for a foreign audience.
During my research, my conversations with numerous people threw up lots of fascinating insights into personal motivations, characters, the way Singaporean institutions work with each other, the way power is deployed, and so on. Much of the juicier, hearsay stuff should probably be saved for coffeeshop talk, but here are a few issues—separate from the ones I address in the piece—worth pondering:
Let’s not talk about it? First, the most worrying thing. If Singapore ever faces a serious corruption problem at the top, we now know there are many Singaporeans who won’t bother. A corrupt leader may simply be able to waltz off with the family jewels.
Think about it. The prime minister’s own siblings had accused him of abuse of power. Instead of simply being curious about the incident, never mind calling for an investigation, many Singaporeans shot the messengers—please don’t air your dirty laundry in public.
Worse, there were suggestions that Singaporeans shouldn’t talk about this because it damages our country’s reputation. People were more concerned about face than abuse of power. Let’s just sweep everything under the carpet, now. That’s the mature way to deal with problems.
The Old Man. Shouldn’t LKY shoulder at least a bit of the blame? For somebody so decisive in life, he has proved frustratingly ambiguous in death. He flip-flopped over including the demolition clause in his will. He gave each kid an equal share of his estate; but, knowing that they disagreed over the fate of the Oxley Road house, he gave the property to Lee Hsien Loong but placed his demolition desire, legally, in the hands of the executors, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling, the only one to live there. Settle your differences, he seems to have been saying.
The Old Man, clearly, was never able to reconcile his two competing morals: on the one hand, shunning monuments (destroy the house), and on the other, realising that the state’s interests must always supersede the individual’s (let the government decide).
I suspect, given what we now know about his squabbling children, that he may not have died in peace. Which is sad.
On a related note is LKY’s fabled belief in simple living. It’s all quite ironic, isn’t it? This was a man who inspired a country of materialists. So while the rest of us have been upgrading our shoes, phones and TVs every chance we get, the founder was still chilling in his midcentury wooden chair. And now we want to preserve it all.1
Sarojini Naidu, a poet and political activist, once joked that it cost India a fortune to keep Gandhi in poverty. She was referring to, among other things, the fact that while he travelled in third-class in his homespun dhotis, lots of money had to be spent on buying up tickets to clear up the cabin and ensure his security.
Observing the fracas over 38 Oxley Road, one wonders if we might one day say the same about LKY’s simple living—that it ended up costing us a fortune.
The squabbling children. With Hsien Loong, his motivations seem fairly clear. The house offers a physical link to his father, from whom he derives much legitimacy. It is fairly well accepted that if Hsien Loong were not his father’s son, there are others in the party, including George Yeo and Tharman, who might have posed a bigger challenge. (That said, let’s acknowledge that Hsien Loong was born with a challenge, with shoes to fill, beyond our wildest.)
July 20, 2017 By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh in Lee Kuan Yew, PAP, Singapore Tags: 38 Oxley Road, Ho Ching, Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Suet Fern, Ozymandias, PAP, People's Action Party, Percy Shelley, Singapore 1 Comment
Dear reader, I recently published something on the brouhaha involving Singapore’s Lee Family in Foreign Affairs. I’m allowed to republish the first 250 words here; for the rest one must visit the site here (free signup necessary):
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, is facing the toughest test yet of his 13 years in office. In June, his two siblings publicly accused him of abusing his power to prevent the demolition of the home of their late father—Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. Although Lee Hsien Loong will probably emerge from the controversy mostly unscathed, the scandal has increased public scrutiny of Singapore’s leaders. That is a good thing, since it could herald a turn toward more transparency and public engagement in the country’s politics.
Lee Kuan Yew lived in a prewar bungalow at 38 Oxley Road for most of his life. It was there that the founding members of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) met to discuss the formation of the party in 1954. Under the PAP, Singapore gained independence from Malaysia in 1965 and grew from a colonial trading port into a metropolis. As urban development has transformed Singapore’s landscape, the house—with its weak foundations, tiled floors, and mid-century furniture—has remained mostly unchanged, a symbol of modern Singapore’s origins and of Lee Kuan Yew’s commitment to simple living.
Some Singaporeans believe that the house holds important historical value. Yet Lee Kuan Yew wanted it demolished once Lee Wei Ling, his only daughter, moves out. Lee had little interest in being memorialized by historic sites. (He once told an interlocutor who mentioned that Singaporeans wanted to build monuments in his honor to “remember Ozymandias,” the pharaoh whose ruined statue Percy Shelley commemorated in a poem on the transience of worldly power.) But that aversion was tempered…
Click to continue reading on Foreign Affairs
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Home / Others / Head of PlayStation: "We believe that the era of streaming is upon us".
Head of PlayStation: "We believe that the era of streaming is upon us".
enlarge / PlayStation Now currently offers 780 streaming games, and Sony promises to expand that catalog significantly in the future.
In a broad presentation for investors focused on Sony's future gaming plans, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan echoed comments from companies such as Google by saying that "we believe that the era of broadcasting is to come and a period of rapid growth is about to begin. "
To support that bold claim, Ryan cited Sony's internal data on the 5.6 million PS4 owners who use the Remote Gaming functionality of the system, which essentially turns the console into a home server that can stream games to PC / Mac, iOS. and Xperia. Android Devices The "growing appetite" for that feature among PS4 users is "one of the specific reasons why we feel that the transmission change is upon us," Ryan said, and the feature will make a return for the successor to the console of the PS4.
Sony has also used a lot on the transmission potential of PlayStation Now, the broadcast gaming service that was launched in 2015. In his opening comments, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida has used usage patterns for 700,000 subscribers. PlayStation Now. needs of the people who subscribe to this service. We intend to strengthen the content catalog, including AAA titles, and we are working to make those improvements. "
Ryan added that "you will see that it focuses on improving the quality of the game we have in [PlayStation Now]"Entering the next generation, with many more first and third part titles available for streaming on top of the 780 games currently offered.
Servers, bandwidth and competition.
Sony also highlighted how its headset transmission has given it an idea of how to provide its users with a high-quality, non-latency streaming game experience. Yoshida stressed that the company has been accumulating for five years.[ing] Technology and patents to minimize latency. In the future we will continue to accumulate more technology and technical knowledge. "
Yoshida said Sony will "take advantage of the latest in computing, streaming, cloud and technology" to make sure the broadcast experience remains "perfect." Ryan added that the partnership recently announced by Sony with Microsoft in broadcasting technology should be seen as a "serious intention statement" to improve the growth and scale of PlayStation Now, but did not offer further details.
Ryan said he "does not apologize" for releasing PlayStation Now slowly to 19 different countries in a staggered schedule. By not rushing, he said, the company has been able to test, learn and iterate to "make sure there is a proper" PlayStation experience "in the service, as it expanded to 15 data centers and 37 points of presence in the network.
Thanks to the technology acquired from Gaikai in 2012, Ryan said that Sony can provide "ultra low latency with [a network connection of] only 5 Mbps "(which is fully compatible with our 2015 network tests, for what it's worth).
Google, for its part, recommends at least a 25 Mbps connection for a quality experience on its Stadia transmission platform. Ryan believes that Sony's lower bandwidth threshold is a "strategically important point of difference" with competitors, which will allow us to expand to markets where bandwidth can be an opening factor.
Ryan included some other tutorials on Stadia and other potential competitors of streaming games, though he did not mention any by name. On the one hand, he highlighted how Sony continues to believe in a "player's choice", transmission as an option in addition to downloadable and disk-based games that are played locally. "We never force the digital model on any," Ryan said, reiterating that the next generation of PlayStation will continue to play a disk drive. And although the broadcast will be "an increasingly significant factor" in the near future, Ryan acknowledged that "players will continue to value the options."
Ryan also highlights Sony's deep catalog of existing content and franchises as a key strength in the broadcasting competition. "While others are in start-up mode or recovery mode, SIE has been investing constantly, organically and through acquisitions, for more than 20 years, and now has a network of more than 13 powerful studies in all regions that they provide services to players around the world. "
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Home / World / The NAFTA nations are “far from reaching” an agreement: the USTR illuminator
The NAFTA nations are “far from reaching” an agreement: the USTR illuminator
WASHINGTON / NEW YORK (Reuters) – The top US trade official poured out on Thursday about the prospect of an imminent advance in talks to amend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hours after the Prime Minister of Canada issued a positive note.
U.S. Business representative Robert Lighthizer speaks at a meeting hosted by US President Donald Trump with governors and members of Congress at the White House in Washington, USA. US, April 12, 2018. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque
"The NAFTA countries are not even close to an agreement," US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement, noting the "huge differences "on a range of issues, including intellectual property, agricultural access, work and energy.
Lighthizer said he would continue working to achieve "the best possible deal for American farmers, workers, and businesses."
The future of trade talks between the United States, Mexico and Canada was in limbo as a Thursday The deadline passed to current US lawmakers with a renewed NAFTA after an effort to conclude an agreement in recent weeks.
There was no immediate reaction to Lighthizer's comments from the offices of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
U.S. The officials say that the negotiations must conclude very soon to give the current Congress time to vote on a final text.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, speaks before the Economic Club of New York in New York, USA. US, On May 17, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Earlier on Thursday, Trudeau said he felt "positive" about talks to modify NAFTA, while a senior Mexican official said an agreement could be possible for the end of May.
"To be honest, we have reached a point where there is a good agreement on the table," Trudeau told the Economic Club of New York. "It's about the last conversations … I feel positive about it, but it will not be done until I'm ready."
Freeland traveled to Washington on Thursday to hold internal meetings with labor officials and representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce. UU., A spokeswoman for her said.
A Mexican technical negotiating team is in Washington, but there is no set date for the next NAFTA ministerial meeting with the United States and Canada.
Slide show (3 Images)
Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said an agreement could be reached by the end of May, but added that if an agreement is not reached, the Talks could be extended beyond the July 1 presidential election.
For that to happen, the United States and Mexico would have to put an end to what officials say is a deadlock over US demands to increase wages in the auto sector and increase the North American content of automobiles manufactured in the United States. the three NAFTA nations.
Critics complain that the measure is a clear blow in Mexico, which US President Donald Trump says he added low-wage manufacturing jobs at the expense of Americans after the signing of NAFTA in 1994.
"Any renegotiated NAFTA that involves losses of existing Mexican jobs is unacceptable," Guajardo said in a tweet.
According to the statute of the Trade Promotion Authority that would allow a simple yes or no vote on NAFTA, Trump must notify Congress 90 days before he can sign the agreement. The US International Trade Commission UU You have up to 105 days after the signing to produce a study on the effects of the agreement.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Republican-controlled Congress should be notified of a new agreement by Thursday to give lawmakers the opportunity to approve it before a newly elected Congress takes over in January. .
Ryan, asked on Thursday if there was any room for maneuver in the NAFTA approval schedule for Congress, said: "The room for maneuver would be in the ITC."
"I think," he added, "there's probably some room for maneuver in the ITC, so it implies its part of the process, but not an indefinite amount, and that means that time is really essential."
Report of David Lawder and Jonathan Spicer; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker in Washington, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Sharay Angulo in Mexico City; Written by Anthony Esposito, David Ljunggren and Dave Graham; Edition by James Dalgleish and Leslie Adler
Tags Automobiles / Auto parts (Legacy) Automobiles and Parts (TRBC) Canada COMMERCE Cyclical Consumer Goods and Services (TRBC) Diplomacy / Foreign policy Economic news (from third parties) International trade Labor / personnel Legislation Main news Mexico NAFTA Photograph available Photos South America / Central America United States United States House of Representatives US Government News UU US Senate UU USA UU
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10 Cryptocurrency Exchanges like Gemini and Its Alternatives with FREE
Shashank Kothari
Gemini is a digital currency exchange company, and it was founded in 2014 by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Gemini is run by a New York Trust Company, which is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Unlike other exchanges, Gemini only focuses and deals in Bitcoin, Ether and Zcash exchange. It has achieved the title of World’s 1ST licensed company in this sector.
With the involvement of bank accounts, the users of Gemini Cryptocurrency can trade on an open market by transferring US Dollars to and from their bank accounts. Although, users don’t have to pay any deposit or withdrawal fees. Gemini charges 0.25% on both sides for each trade you make on this website. The exchange is exceptionally well-complied with user requirements and extra security measures making it one of the most organized and flawless crypto exchange available in the market.
Gemini also supports most of the payment options and its lightning fast with no possible delays or any server time-outs. Gemini tends to make its interface even more smooth and secure so that users can access and browse several pieces of information without any clutters.
Gemini was announced as the world’s first Zcash exchange company in May 2018. The company introduced itself in the digital currency exchange market with the purchase and storage of Bitcoins through an encrypted and protected system of the password and private keys.
Gemini implemented a wise strategy of holding online a tiny percentage of total Bitcoin to minimize the risk of loss from hacking. Apart from its digital currency, the company went on adding offers to enhance the business that includes FIX and API supports.
Alternatives to Gemini for
all platform
All (10) Android (5) iOS (5) Website (9)
All (10) FREE (10)
sell. currency
CEX.IO is a place where everyone can trade Bitcoins very easily. In this website, online buying and selling of Bitcoins are possible at a guaranteed fair price. Thousands of users have enrolled in this trading process and found satisfied with the ser...
exhnage
Changelly is an excellent cryptocurrency exchange platform, which deals in trading of digital currencies like Bitcoins, and other such Altcoins. It has lightning fast transacting process when you want to purchase Bitcoins or other supported altcoins...
GDAX is an America based Digital Asset Exchange Company, launched in 2015 that trades on FIX API and REST API. It was introduced into the market with a natural concept of depositing funds through coinbase wallet, wire transfer, bank transfer or digit...
Alternate Exchange
cryptocoins
Kraken is one of the best-levied cryptocurrency exchange service provider for professional traders of digital currency. Kraken cryptocurrency exchange deals in Bitcoin exchange services. It is technologically advanced and reliable for traders as it h...
Localbitcoins is a Bitcoin trading organization which works with the concept of decentralization with a person to person basis. Localbitcoins allows the exchange of local currency to Bitcoins. It is a trading site of the digital currency with easy an...
Trade Bitcoins
Luno offers a very safe and comfortable to trade bitcoin exchange where even a novice can learn how the process of trading works. All the transacted currencies are always stored in the repository of Luno. Lono mostly trades with currencies like Bitco...
cryptocoin
Poloniex started by introducing an innovative concept of trading cryptocurrencies or digital currencies and are considered as one of the most active crypto exchanges in the world. In its trading methodology, it implements various advance trading tool...
Bitcoin app
ShapeShift is a company that trades on different kinds of Digital Assets. Shapeshift is instead an innovative cryptocurrency exchange that introduced a revolutionary concept in the digital currency market. It allows its user to continue with the glob...
Binance is an internationally acclaimed well-known Cryptocurrency Exchange that even supports multiple languages. It was initially founded in China by Changpeng Zao, who is also the CEO of this company, but due to the ban of the Chinese government o...
altcoin trading
exchange website
Coinbase is one of the most famous exchanges for bitcoin and other altcoins, which was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. Its headquarters is in San Francisco, California. Coinbase is currently the world’s leading platform for the in...
I have a passion for writing and photography. I love to write and present my thoughts by writing articles that inspire or help my audience in someways or the other. I always pursue my passion and my beliefs. So, I hope your enjoying the contents I write :)
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Hasbro Pulse Teams Up with Sesame Workshop for HasLab Cookie Monster Project
Posted by James Zahn | Jul 11, 2019 | Licensing Deals, New Products, News | 0
Following the successful launch of its first crowdfunding project through it’s HasLab platform last year, Hasbro is ready for round two.
In partnership with Sesame Workshop, the new Hasbro Pulse HasLab project gives Sesame Street fans the opportunity to own a full-size, fully poseable replica of Cookie Monster. Created in celebration of Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary, the realistic Cookie Monster replica will go into production next year, provided the project reaches a minimum of 3,000 backers by Aug. 25.
“The success of our first HasLab project in 2018 exceeded expectations, and we are excited to embark on a new project targeting a diverse fan community with the iconic Sesame Street brand,” says Tyla Bucher, vice president of global brand strategy and ecommerce marketing at Hasbro. “To be able to own their very own version of a character has been a wish of Sesame Street fans for years, and we’re delighted to put the opportunity into their hands for the first time.”
Last year, more than 8,800 Star Wars fans successfully funded the first HasLab campaign — Jabba the Hutt’s Sail Barge. The largest Star Wars vehicle ever produced was sold at $499, and is scaled for 3.75-inch Star Wars action figures.
Cookie Monster stands 38 inches tall and will ship with premium retro packaging, two original artwork lithographs, and a Certificate of Authenticity, all for $299.99. Fans can back the project via the Hasbro Pulse website, which includes a look behind the scenes at the concept and development of the Cookie Monster replica.
PreviousThe Toy Insider Hosts the Biggest Birthday Bash EVER at 10th Annual Sweet Suite Toy Showcase Event
NextWarner Bros. Kicks Off Scooby-Doo 50th Anniversary Celebration
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‘Total War: Three Kingdoms’ Makes Impact as ‘MK11,’ ‘Days Gone’ Top NPD Group’s May Video Games Sales Report
Posted by James Zahn | Jun 19, 2019 | News, Video Games | 0
Mortal Kombat 11, the latest entry in Warner Bros.’ long-running fighting franchise, held onto the top spot on the game charts for a second consecutive month, dethroning Kingdom Hearts III to become the best-selling video game of 2019 so far. The news comes courtesy of the NPD Group‘s May video game sales report, which highlights a relatively dismal month overall. With just a week on the charts, Sega’s Total War: Three Kingdoms was able to secure the No. 3 spot on this month’s top 20, with Bethesda Softworks’ Rage 2 the only other new release to crack the top five at No. 4.
In terms of overall software sales, this May’s $262 million was a 13% decrease from the same period last year, and the lowest sales in May since 2013 ($222 million). New releases were another low point, with total sales dollars in new releases coming in at their lowest number for a May month since 1998. Overall sales for the entire category including hardware, software, and accessories was down 11% from last year, with $641 million versus $717 million.
TOP 20 VIDEO GAME TITLES | MAY 2019 (ALL PLATFORMS)
Mortal Kombat 11 | Warner Bros. Interactive
Days Gone | Sony
Total War: Three Kingdoms | Sega
Rage 2 | Bethesda Softworks
Grand Theft Auto V | Take 2 Interactive
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Nintendo
Red Dead Redemption II | Take 2 Interactive
MLB 19: The Show | Sony
Minecraft | Multi
NBA 2K19 | Take 2 Interactive
Mario Kart 8 | Nintendo
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 | Ubisoft
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 | Activision Blizzard
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe | Nintendo
Marvel’s Spider-Man | Sony
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Nintendo
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege | Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey | Ubisoft
Team Sonic Racing | Sega
Yoshi’s Crafted World | Nintendo
Year-over-year overall sales for video games dropped another full percentage point, down 2% year-to-date, with a 17% drop in hardware sales offsetting modest gains in software (2%) and accessories (3%).
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NTT-Logo-White
About Us Careers News Contact Us
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Enhancing Public Safety with Advanced IoT and Edge Analytics
City of Las Vegas Client Story
Case Studies /City of Las Vegas Client Story
INDUSTRY State & Local Government, Public Sector
EMPLOYEES 2,662
WEBSITE innovate.vegas
Las Vegas improves its downtown public safety by deploying a network of high-definition optical and sound sensors, IoT devices and micro data centres at the edge.
Services Provided: IoT - Internet of Things Services
City of Las Vegas: NTT is accelerating “smart”
Business Need
One of the fastest-growing and most visited places in the US, the City of Las Vegas wanted to improve situational awareness and responsiveness to public safety issues as well as drive innovative solutions in areas of mobility and economic development.
The city engaged NTT in partnership with top technology companies to deploy a smart edge network of HD optical sensors, sound sensors, IoT devices and micro data centres to boost visibility and support better response decisions
Improves public safety situational awareness
Accelerates decision making and responsiveness
Provides edge analytics for actionable insights
Reduces data storage needs dramatically
Builds the foundation for a more connected, smarter city
Michael Sherwood Director of Innovation and Technology, City of Las Vegas
“We’re at that point where cities that learn, understand and invest in technology will be the cities of the future. Las Vegas is well on its way with our NTT partnership backing us.”
Say “Vegas” outside of Nevada, and people immediately think of the famous, casino-lined strip and five-star resorts that attract some 40 million visitors a year. But beyond the neon lies another Las Vegas for residents and businesses. With nearly 700,000 citizens inside its city limits and another 1.8 million living in nearby municipalities, the City of Las Vegas is the heart of a thriving metropolis that is the nation’s second fastest-growing city. In fact, the city expects to add a million residents by 2045, so urban planning and digitisation dominate the city’s agenda.
According to Michael Lee Sherwood, director of technology and innovation for the City of Las Vegas, the combination of tourists and population growth make public safety and mobility top priorities. Delivering city services efficiently can be a big challenge. “We’re really focused on the safety of both our citizens and visitors, and on how they get around,” he says. “It’s extremely important that we understand how people use our infrastructure and amenities. It’s also about increasing the effectiveness and the efficiency of government and access to services.”
Deploying a “safe city” solution with edge and predictive analytics
The NTT “safe city” solution provides government authorities with proactive early warning of potential and active public safety incidents. It improves situational awareness and insights for first responders and public safety decision-makers. By leveraging advanced analytics including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies, the system “learns” normal patterns so it can detect abnormal ones.
The solution operates from a secure, distributed IoT connectivity platform that spans numerous micro data centres in various locations throughout the Innovation District. Monitoring data is fed to them via HD optical sensors, sound and motion sensors, plus an array of IoT devices. The solution also integrates other data sources, such as historical crime data, and weather and social media updates.
Built on the NTT innovative Cognitive Foundation architecture, the safe city solution enables remote creation, management and operation of information and communications technology (ICT) resources, from devices and networks to the cloud. It also combines Dell EMC hyperconverged infrastructure, IoT gateways and the VMware vCloud NFV (network functions virtualisation) platform, which hosts predictive analytics applications.
Micro data centres use advanced analytics, both reactive and predictive, to deliver real-time data to the locations where the data can provide maximum value. Diagnostic analytics at the edge analyse large volumes of data, but only send data indicating an incident has occurred or needs investigation back to the core data centre. This approach minimises data transport volumes and response times to reduce the demands on the ICT infrastructure.
Minimising data latency to prevent accidents
“Most cities centralise their data with their command-and-control,” Sherwood says. “Now we can make situation-response decisions at the edge, in real time or near-real time, with the NTT safe city solution, which could save a life or prevent an accident. If someone’s driving the wrong way on a one-way street, we can warn them, and the difference between two seconds and ten seconds is the difference between life and death.”
Lester Lewis, deputy director of IT for the City of Las Vegas, explains that the micro data centers can apply cognitive analytics along with AI and machine learning techniques to multiple edge data inputs and sources. “To gain deeper insights much faster, so police and first responders can better combat crime and improve public safety, we rely on the intelligent data flows of the NTT Group’s solution,” he says. “At the same time, we only retain incident data, so it has cut our storage needs dramatically.”
Formerly a city traffic engineer, Joanna Wadsworth is now the program manager of emerging technologies. “One of our prime use cases is wrong-way driver detection,” she says. “In our downtown, we have a one-way roadway segment that routinely sees wrong-way drivers. “Sensors help us to capture the number of times a vehicle goes the wrong way on that segment, the time of day and their driving patterns. Our before-and-after data can measure the effectiveness of roadway improvements, so drivers arrive at their destination faster and safer. Of course, this improves pedestrian safety, too.”
Looking toward a bright future
Wadsworth envisions using the NTT system to improve traffic management, including signal timing, trip routing and even direct vehicle communications. “Eventually, with connected cars, we’ll know in real time when accidents occur and what emergency services to dispatch, using the data supplied by the NTT safe city solution,” she says.
As another example, Wadsworth explains how the NTT’s Cognitive Foundation architecture in the safe city solution could work when AMBER alerts are issued. “With AI and deep learning, it could automatically scale up the system’s network and compute power to perform enhanced license plate recognition or capture higher-res images than normal,” she says. “We can find children much faster with help from this NTT technology.”
The future for the City of Lights is quite bright, in Sherwood’s view: “We’re at that point where cities that learn, understand and invest in technology will be the cities of the future. Las Vegas is well on its way with our NTT partnership backing us.”
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video Business
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Merkel faces politics without Sarkozy
Monday, April 16, 2012 - 02:58
April 16 - The debt crisis brought Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy into close partnership but the euro zone's two largest economies are experiencing very differing fortunes and the looming French election has rarely been watched so closely in Germany. Joanna Partridge reports.
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You could call them the odd couple. On the face of it, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel don't have much in common. But the leaders of the euro zone's two largest economies grew close as they tackled the debt crisis. The economy remains the main issue in the French presidential election, despite the attacks in Toulouse by a gunman inspired by Al Qaeda. When Sarkozy began fighting for re-election, Merkel broke with custom to publicly support him - while shunning his Socialist challenger Francois Hollande. But the French President changed his strategy, and decided not to have Merkel campaign with him. Claire Demesmay from the German Council on Foreign Relations says his ties with the German leader weren't playing well with French voters. (SOUNDBITE) (French) DR. CLAIRE DEMESMAY, HEAD OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN RELATIONS PROGRAMME AT THE GERMAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, SAYING: "For the French population, and also for the opposition, this was seen as going too far. Not co-operation with Germany as it stands, because that is well-supported by French voters, but an alignment with Germany, and acceptance of strict austerity policies, without being compensated socially or by investments." PTC The French embassy occupies a symbolic position in the heart of Berlin, just as France and Germany have been at the centre of Europe's attempts to resolve the euro zone debt crisis. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel's promotion of the Franco German partnership means the French presidential election is being closely watched in Berlin. (SOUNDBITE) (German) ERNST WILLE, PASSERBY, SAYING: "I am interested in politics in general and in the French election, as I think it's quite significant, especially for us Germans." (SOUNDBITE) (German) ANNE-RUTH MUELLER, PASSERBY, SAYING: "Angela Merkel has done a lot with President Sarkozy on a European level and I think it will be different if someone else is there." The bilingual French-German magazine ParisBerlin recently asked 1000 people from each country what they think of their neighbours. Editor Cecile Calla says while the poll showed both countries believe they need to work together, there were some surprises. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CECILE CALLA, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE GERMAN OFFICE OF PARISBERLIN MAGAZINE, SAYING: "The French trust German politicians more than their own. Conversely, the Germans don't have as much confidence in the French politicians, they prefer their politicians to make the decisions." Francois Hollande is still expected to win the run-off between the top two candidates on the 6 May. And the tone in Berlin has shifted in recent weeks. There are reports Merkel's advisers are quietly preparing for how to do business with the Socialist - and what will happen if Merkozy becomes Merkollande. Joanna Partridge, Reuters
https://uk.reuters.com/video/2012/04/16/merkel-faces-politics-without-sarkozy?videoId=233396531&videoChannel=78
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IRFF - UK Projects Africa
Written by David Wills
International Relief Friendship Foundation-UK Projects in Africa
Ashley Crosthwaite is running a lot of different projects on a shoestring. There are several projects in Uganda. While he was visiting Uganda the Scottish UPF representatives, Robert Williamson, Iffy Ahmed and Dr Satwant Multani, visited them. They visited Destiny Junior school which is an IRFF built school where at least 10% of the 70 kids in the school are HIV positive. It is now building the third classroom and the kitchen. IRFF donated money for a new water tank. IRFF also shipped computers to the school to form an IT department.
IRFF is also developing a farming project near Lake Victoria. The Farm project is a cooperative including a number of Christian and Muslim families. Other IRFF projects included establishing cottage industries through microfinance. They are also just starting a child sponsorship program.
Aids has become a terrible reality in Uganda. WAIT Uganda is a performing arts team that promotes a message to maintain purity before marriage and fidelity within marriage. WAIT was established after a visit from a WAIT - UK team visited Uganda two years ago. The Ugandan Police chief is supporting WAIT. 12 schools have officially recognized WAIT clubs. Ashley Crosthwaite and the Scottish UPF group went to visit some of these WAIT groups to encourage them.
Robert Williamson and Iffy Ahmed in turn hosted Ashley Crosthwaite in Zambia. Together they launched WAIT in Zambia. They visited Barlastone Park School for which Robert was a founding member back in 1982 (www.barlastonparkschoolzambia.co.uk). It is now a well established school. They also saw the MacKenzie Community School in Zambia that was built by IRFF.
Ashley went to South Africa where he introduced WAIT to various organizations. There are now 205 schools in Cape Town that want to adopt the WAIT programme. Sadly there is a limited capacity to assist with their development due to the lack of WAIT trainers.
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Bollywood Featured What's Happenin'
8 Things you never knew about Varun Dhawan!
The adorable Varun Dhawan was launched by Karan Johar in the mega hit, Student of the Year in 2012. The assistant director turned actor has been wooing his fans since then. The son of much loved director David Dhawan, it’s no surprise Varun also has the comedy touch like his dad. With Varun’s latest release, Badlapur he showed fans that he truly is versatile with this intense role. With perfect comic timing, amazing dancing skills and powerful acting, it’s no wonder that Varun Dhawan has become the “it” boy of Bollywood but what do we really know about him? Check out our list of top little known facts on Varun Dhawan!
1. For Badlapur, Salman Khan’s Tere Naam was actually Varun’s inspiration for the role but his look? Varun actually looked to his older brother, Rohit, for the look of the film! He said that when he would get older he felt that he would end up looking more like his older brother so he tried to look more like Rohit for Badlapur.
2. Varun once told a media outlet that he misses his old life, he misses the privacy but he loves acting. He said he would give up anything for his passion, that is a determined young man! He’s so passionate that to prepare for his role in Badlapur he completely isolated himself from his universe and his mom was so worried she called up his friends to ask what was wrong!
3. Varun actually studied Business Management at Nottingham Trent University in the UK! Cute and smart, what a combination!
4. While attending Nottingham Trent University in the UK, Varun was actually a promoter for nightclubs! He’s even said he’s done some crazy things back in those days. Hmm…wonder what that could mean?
5. Looks like Varun Dhawan and his former co-star Nargis Fakhri are quite close! The two Main Tera Hero stars apparently have a running game of constantly sending each other naughty jokes to beat the other. Before you all get excited, it’s not a romantic relationship but they are great friends.
6. Rohit and Varun are very close, Varun has even mentioned many times how his older brother has sacrificed a lot for him. It seems that Rohit Dhawan is a strong support for both his younger brother and his father. David Dhawan even took the titled of his film Main Tera Hero from a song in Rohit Dhawan’s Desi Boyz flick. Rohit was also the one who recommended Varun’s name for Main Tera Hero!
7. Speaking of family, do you know what Varun’s dearest daddy, David calls him? Pappu! How precious! We also hear that little Pappu was pretty darn naughty as a child, looks like he’s still got that prankster streak in him!
8. Varun Dhawan is a HUGE Sachin Tendulkar fan, they even have the same birthday! He was totally star-struck when he met the talented cricketer for the first time and of course, couldn’t pass up a photo-op! Varun is also known to be a huge Salman Khan and Govinda fan which is evident in how many times he’s seen shirtless and taking part in mischievous antics in his films.
Got a Varun Dhawan tidbit you want to share? Let us know!
Nila Choudhury
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Bhumi Pednekar Surprised By Her Special Friend On Her Birthday
Shraddha Kapoor And Prabhas Starrer Saaho Gets A New Release Date
Ajaz Khan Arrested For Provoking The Mumbai Police Through A TikTok Video
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Walter Becker 1950-2017
by Richard Williams on September 3, 2017
Chinese music always sets me free / Angular banjos sound good to me
In a single couplet, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen made fun of themselves with wonderful grace and wicked sophistication: the qualities that imbued the music they made together. It’s so sad to think that the announcement of Becker’s death today, at the age of 67, puts an end to one of popular music’s great songwriting and record-making partnerships.
Amid the booming rock scene of the 1970s, in which anything seemed possible, Steely Dan made music that will last. That doesn’t make them unique, but it is a tribute to the enormous care and effort Becker and Fagen put into constructing the nine studio albums they made together under that name between 1972 and 2003. Their clever words, clever time-signatures and clever chords were the product of two enthusiasts dissatisfied with anything but the cleverest music they could possibly produce.
Fagen first encountered Becker at Bard College in upstate New York. He was walking past a building used for musical practice and heard someone playing a guitar in the style of Howlin’ Wolf’s records. The two bonded quickly over their shared interest in, as Fagen put it in his statement today, “jazz (from the ’20s through the mid-’60s, W.C Fields, the Marx brothers, science fiction, Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Berger, and Robert Altman films… Also soul music and Chicago blues.” All that, and much more, was in their music.
They were also unique in that, as musicians in their own band, they usually preferred to call on others to enhance their vision. Becker started as Steely Dan’s bass player, but he was also very fine rock guitarist — just listen to his lead parts on “Black Friday”, from Katy Lied, “Josie”, from Aja and “West of Hollywood” from Two Against Nature. Yet he was happy to hand that job to a succession of players with different skills and sensibilities. Some of them were Denny Dias, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Elliott Randall, Dean Parks, Hugh McCracken, Lee Ritenour, Jay Graydon and Steve Khan. The same would be true of the attitude he and Fagen shared towards the keyboard players, drummers and saxophonists they chose to articulate their vision: only the best, on their very best day, would do.
And so, very unusually in their chosen field, their wild imaginations were matched by their obsessively exigent craftsmanship. They were also some kind of weird cats. They were lucky to have their partnership, and so were we.
* The photograph of Becker (left) and Fagen is, I believe, by Anton Corbijn. I hope he doesn’t mind my use of it on this occasion. For the story of the duo in great detail, concentrating on the music, I recommend Anthony Robustelli’s Steely Dan FAQ (Backbeat Books, 2017).
Tags: Donald Fagen, Steely Dan, Walter Becker
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Charlie Seaward #
We were certainly were. WB also produced Donald Fagen’s second album, Kamakiriad, still a personal favourite.
Ken Pickering #
One little typo in there – Hagen should be Fagen .. Thanks for the nice piece …
Ken Pickering – Artistic Director / Co-founder
2nd floor, 295 West 7th Avenue Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5Y 1L9 email: ken@coastaljazz.ca twitter @ken_pickering
coastaljazz.ca June 22 – July 1, 2018 Year Round Season – Sept to May
yaphamles #
Barely a day has passed in the last 40 years when I haven’t listened to or heard in my head a Steely Dan song. I am so sad. Farewell to a “major dude”.
Phil Long #
Know every album inside out, the Soundtrack (8 track) of my life on the road for Island Records in the 1970s.
Abbott Katz #
“Kick off your high-heeled sneakers…” the opening phrase from their FM — classic, sardonic Steely Dan.
Saverio Pechini #
Arguably their masterpiece .
Peter Starie #
Lovely tribute Richard
One major significant guitar player that contributed to multiple Steely Dan albums missing from the list ; Larry Carlton
Yes — funnily enough, I had his name in my head while I was typing out that list, and somehow omitted it.
Gareth Hickery #
Fine tribute to my favourite band/partnership. Never tire of their music ever since I heard “Do It Again” on Radio 1, and I like to think my taste is almost as eclectic as Richard’s.
“Two Against Nature Stand Alone”.
Buell Neidlinger #
Walter produced and engineered this gem Liquid Krystall Displayed
was fortunate to spend five days in the studio with Calvin Keys, Jerry Peters, Peter Erskine, and Walter’s great ears !
RIP, man ! see you soon !
Sedat Nemli #
Featured on both his own “11 Tracks of Whack” and Steely Dan’s “Alive in America”, Walter Becker’s beautifully poignant “Book of Liars” is what I probably cherish the most among his countless achievements:
“Santa Claus came in late last night / Drunk on Christmas wine.”
Chris C #
Well said Richard. I remember when their first album arrived at MM we played it to death on the office record player without knowing who they really were.
I remember Harry Doherty attempting to belittle their music in MM while
NME’s headline for their “Aja” review had run “Beyond The Cerebral Cortex.”
Arthur Manchester #
Becker’s two solo albums are also very fine :”11 Tracks Of Wack” and “Circus Money”. I’m particularly drawn to “Bob Is Not Your Uncle Any More” from “Circus Money” as well as the title track. He also produced a number of jazz recordings : Roger Rosenberg’s “Baritonality” being particularly fine. He will be sorely missed.
Tom Hannah #
I used to study these albums and play along to them on guitar. Oh what happy memories! I couldn’t possibly name my favourite songs but my favourite solos were Bodhisattva, Haitian Divorce, Black Friday and Peg.
However, recent listening has made me realise there’s only so far you can get with cynicism and cleverness – SD’s absence of tenderness and inability to write a love song is why the band garners so few female listeners.
Jeffery Gifford #
For all of his weirdness Walter Becker was a down to earth kind of guy away from music. I was close to his orbit in the early 90s when I lived in Kauai here in Hawaii. Friends of mine were old acquaintances of his wife Elinor from their days in Maui. Whenever Walter and Elinor came to Kauai in those years they hung out with my friends. The husband was a coworker at the Pahio Ka’Eo Kai Condos in Princeville, he ran the landscaping, I was a supervisor in the maintenance department. His wife was a nurse and helped her husband on occasion. Along with the work we all shared music as a common bond. I never got to meet Walter Becker but made sure and probed for details whenever the Beckers visited. There are no hot juicy details I have to tell, just this: Walter Becker chose an out of the way spot of land like Kauai to go when he needed a break. My friends, a nurse and a landscaper, wonderful remarkable folks, were his 1st choice for who to hang with. That’s Cool. These were the first post-Dan years, KAMAKIRIAD was coming out around then as well as Rickie Lee Jones’ FLYING COWBOYS, just getting some first hand details of the sessions from my buddy’s conversation with WB was like manna from heaven to this musichead. When Steely Dan reunited in ’94 my friends got a backstage pass to their San Francisco show. That had to be the hot ticket of the year. RIP Walter Becker. Thanks for the music.
Walter Becker RIP | The Incisal Edge
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Home » Latest News » Enter The Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards Today
Enter The Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards Today
in Latest News June 14, 2019
Nominations have opened for the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards 2019. Now in its sixth year, these free-to-enter Awards celebrate all those working in the not-for-profit support sector, including charities, community interest companies, and informal community groups.
The focus of the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards has always been on the work and efforts put in by the nominees, celebrating not just their achievements, but also their passions, ethics and dedication to the people they support – formally or more informally. This year, the ethos of the Awards will be no different, rewarding the sector’s most committed people at a lunchtime ceremony in London.
With 12 categories, the Awards look to celebrate as much of the hard work in the voluntary care sector as possible. A new Dementia Care Award has been added for 2019, to find and showcase exemplary work in this area, while other categories invite people to share their innovations, reward exceptional care and appreciate outstanding leadership.
The full list of categories is as follows:
Leading Change, Adding Value Award for Compassion.
Innovative Quality Outcomes Award.
Contribution to Sector Development Award.
Community Engagement Award.
Creative Arts Award.
Citizenship Award.
Leadership Award.
Technology Award.
Making a difference Award.
Dementia Care Award.
End of Life Care Award.
Collaboration (Integration) Award.
The nominee could be anyone, from a chief executive, a chef, a care worker or someone running a local club, to an entire organisation or group. People can enter themselves or someone else and can make nominations in multiple categories.
The entry process is designed to be as simple as possible. Those nominating will need to answer a few questions on what they or their nominee are doing and send any supporting evidence to lisa.werthmann@carechoices.co.uk to be put forward to the judging panel.
Finalists are then chosen by passionate judges, including experts by experience, before an opportunity for the nominee to meet the judging panels and talk about the work they are doing.
Des Kelly OBE, Chair Centre for Policy on Ageing and formerly Executive Director of the National Care Forum was involved in setting up the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards with CMM. He says, ‘Over the last five years, the Awards event has quietly become a social occasion in the care sector calendar…Attending is without doubt an emotional experience and the pride in personal and team contributions is tangible. Not everyone can win, but all the finalists bring to life the amazing work that the best social care can represent. Good luck to everyone applying in 2019!’
Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in London on Friday 6th December, attended by around 250 people invested in the not-for-profit care and support sector, and will receive an article in CMM Magazine to share their initiative and passions, as well as full social media coverage, an opportunity to share their stories on a national stage, and more.
Go to www.3rdsectorcareawards.co.uk to submit your entry today, and follow the progress of the Awards on Twitter: @3rdSectorCare #3rdSectorCareAwards
Care News 2019-06-14
Tagged with: Care News
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Boxpark is coming… don’t panic!
By Lauren Furey - Monday 7th September, 2015
Lauren Furey says a definite ‘no’ to ‘Cro-Do’ but a big ‘yes’ to the new Boxpark
Photo by James Mitchell, used under Creative Commons licence.
This isn’t news. In fact, it’s old. The anticipated summer 2016 arrival of Croydon’s Boxpark has been well documented. Both local and national publications have proclaimed and celebrated the coming of Roger Wade’s pop-up mall to south London. Another Boxpark! On our own doorstep! It seems to tie in nicely with the current image remodelling that’s taking place in Croydon.
For those unfamiliar, Boxpark is a shopping mall constructed from refitted shipping containers that seeks to offer businesses a low cost alternative base to reach their customers. The original Boxpark sits in the heart of trendy Shoreditch (you really can’t miss it) and has garnered praise for its innovative approach to creativity and branding. The Shoreditch model is comprised of everything from fashion, art, food and drink and live events but Croydon’s incarnation seeks to primarily focus on the social side.
This summer, Ruskin Square hosted the Boxpark Croydon launch party and CEO Roger Wade delivered his plans for Croydon: a 20,000 square foot events space surrounded by eighty eateries and drinks outlets, open from breakfast time until late and operated by 200 staff. Now, I will admit that I am a glass-half-full kinda girl and for that reason I’m possibly a little more optimistic about this vision than most. I like to encourage positivity about the changes happening in Croydon and, personally, I feel that Boxpark fits the bill.
I want new and exciting businesses to succeed in Croydon
Previously, my pieces in the Citizen have been intended to magnetize the people of Croydon to all that’s new and exciting. I want new businesses to succeed and I want people to know about them. So when Boxpark was announced, I really felt no need to write anything about it. Many will be familiar with the concept and those that aren’t will get to experience it first-hand next summer. However, after Boxpark Croydon was announced, it seemed that a lot of people weren’t as pleased as I was. Here are some of the responses I came across in local papers and on social media.
“£3 million to finance a pop-up mall constructed of shipping containers. Money well spent…really?”
“I doubt anyone will come to filthy Croydon to enjoy food out of shipping containers”
“…an over hyped fairy tale subsidised by the council”
“What impact will this have on Croydon’s restaurant quarter?”
So let’s address these concerns…
Firstly, the term ‘shipping container’, whilst accurate, does not mean that a delivery of Goodyear tyres was offloaded at the docks and immediately replaced with a grill and specials board. The containers are stripped and refitted (recycled, if you like) and for that reason they provide a refreshing opportunity for businesses to make their mark without paying extortionate rental costs.
Secondly, lots of people are flooding back into Croydon. In fact, it’s been widely publicised that if you are looking to rent or buy in south London, you should get in now before the newest retail and housing developments inevitably hike property values.
Boxpark has transformed a wasteland
£3 million is a lot of money. A lot. In the grand scheme of things, though, Westfield Croydon will cost an estimated £1 BILLION… and that venture has hardly begun. Yes, the council has provided the funding but it’s actively utilising a highly visible prime space that has sat dormant for years. My office is alongside the Croydon Gateway and, ever since Boxpark’s announcement, the development has shifted gear and rapidly transformed the wasteland.
Black boards have gone up to mark the site and a couple of the shipping containers are placed near the entrance. Digital images by designer Gavin Elliott give a taste of what’s to come, and positive messages such as “We’re not building Boxpark in Croydon. We’re building Boxpark for Croydon” cover the boards and greet passers-by.
The most worrying thought behind Boxpark’s arrival is the damage that it could do to current restaurants and bars in the area. As someone who loves and supports these venues, that would be a detrimental loss to the town and the community… but I feel that it won’t come to that. Maybe this is my naïve optimism but I view Croydon’s restaurant quarter as another world to Boxpark. The experiences will be similar but not the same, and choice and variety will still be important to the people of Croydon.
We forget how many feel a fierce loyalty to this town, now more so than ever. Don’t tell me that Croydon is a s*** hole. Don’t harp on about the dodgy one way system, knife crime and the riots. For every negative curveball we’re thrown, we come back with a positive. That loyalty is growing because Croydon is trying to better itself – and why not?
Boxpark is an intriguing visitor who’s brought some cool things in their luggage
Remember when the Gateway billboards were green and then purple and then white but nothing ever happened behind them? Well finally, something is happening. Developer Stanhope Schroder still owns the land and its future plans for the Gateway will go ahead but for now Boxpark has been given a chance to engage with the people of Croydon. And if you don’t like the idea, you won’t have to put up with it for very long – Boxpark Croydon will run till 2019.
Did you happen to catch the Evening Standard’s recent article on Croydon? OK, so ‘hipster hotspot’ earns zero points for originality, but let’s see the many positives. We’re cool but we’re self-aware. We’re ambitious but not pretentious. We’re engaged and inspired and dedicated to improving Croydon. Boxpark can add to that. It won’t detract because we know where our loyalties lie and we shouldn’t feel threatened by new developments. Competition is good at a time when Croydon is so sought after.
Boxpark is coming, and that’s okay. Let’s enjoy it while it’s here and allow it to settle in for a bit, like an intriguing exchange student who’s packed a load of cool things in their luggage. As summer 2015 draws to a close and some amazing projects (Croydon at the beach, Lost Format’s rooftop cinema) retire for now, Boxpark gives us something new to look forward to next summer.
Oh, and something else. The Evening Standard kept trying to coin the term ‘Cro-do’. Just – no. Please don’t let that be a thing.
It’s the Cronx and we’re doing alright, thanks.
Read articles like this – and many more – in our monthly print magazine
Politics, reviews, photography, #Croydon #TechCity, sports and plenty more besides: Our monthly print newsmagazine brings all the most relevant, features, news, opinion and analysis together into a single publication. Written entirely by citizens, it’s the perfect way to catch up on what really matters to Croydon over a drink or a coffee, or on the way to work.
You can find the magazine in venues all over the London Borough of Croydon.
Get your copy today. Write for the Citizen and you may well see your own article next time you pick it up.
Lauren Furey
I was born in Croydon in 1988 and I've spent my life here, building friendships and experiences that have shaped me as a person. As a Croydon native, I have a big passion for local events, arts, history and culture... and the dearly departed Mexway. I now work as a freelance writer.
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Boxpark Croydon Boxpark Shoreditch Croydon At The Beach London Evening Standard Ruskin Square Stanhope Schroder The Lost Format Society
Sean Creighton
Not everyone thinks the arrival of Boxpark is a welcome development.
The following quetsions need to be asked:
1. Why is it concentrtaing on food outlets?
2. Why are not units being offered to small businesses who will need to move ojut of the Whitgift Centre if that development goes ahead?
Stephen Giles
Absolutely right – excellent article and very relevant questions from Sean. My question is quite simply – do we really need eighty more eateries and drinks outlets in Croydon? I don’t think so!
I like calling it the Cronx as well. Silly hipsters!
Reading Sean’s comment I agree on the visitor’s centre point. We saw one of the new guides (dressed in very bright pink) the other day in the High Street but he looked like he was going home instead of being there to help. My OH didn’t even notice him.
And what about using that money (or part of it) for the refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls? there never seems to be money for it.
I like the Boxpark idea and what it will mean for the town, but some of the implications make me think that we’re better off as we are (such as hipsterisation, will it be relevant to the local community? the rooftop cinema was charging £15 a ticket and how is that affordable for a Croydonian family of 4, let’s say?).
Croydon has a charm and if people can’t appreciate it, it’s their lose
Charles B.Wordsmith
If the Box Park is for the people of Croydon, why can’t we have more of a say as to which businesses are allowed to trade from the shipping containers. Surely it would be far more interesting if it wasn’t just eateries but also the odd fashion or alternative retail outlet (and then I expect you might get more people coming along to try the food). Also, I do not think you should be permitted to call yourself any sort of ‘park’, unless you have a few plants. I’d suggest topiary boxes at the entrances and a wildlife pond in the middle. Now, that would get people talking and you might even attract a few birds other than pigeons. Croydon should bot neglect the huge amateur ornithologist market, after all.
Sean Creighton says:
Stephen Giles says:
Reena says:
Charles B.Wordsmith says:
Review: Croydon’s Street Art Tour and bottomless lunch
Fun in the sun at Croydon Food and Music Festival 2018
Croydon and the battle to be London Borough of Culture
One year on: An interview with Boxpark CEO Roger Wade
Boxpark from the inside out
Summer 2018 in brief
Restaurant review: MEATliquor, Boxpark Croydon
How Croydon won the World Cup
Made in Croydon market takes over Boxpark on Sunday 27th May
How Boxpark can become a permanent fixture in Croydon
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The 3/31/17 edition of Ward & Jones
…is right here:
https://thefirstward.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/w-and-j-3-31-17.mp3
I want to thank Elgin City Council hopeful Corey Dixon for coming on the show and talking with me for an hour. Larry and I think he’s got a shot on April 4.
ECC trustee Jeff Meyer joins me on Monday when we’ll recap all of the local elections. Don’t forget the April 4 7 to 10 p.m. Ward & Jones election night extravaganza either!
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Ward & Dixon coming up at 3 on AM1410
As promised, today Elgin City Council candidate Corey Dixon and I sit down for an hour-long philosophical political talk. I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to it!
And there’s nothing to those rumors about me seeking revenge on Corey for his “wonderful” introduction of me at Ron Hain’s campaign kickoff event.
If you have a question for Corey during the show, please call the lovely Dave Weiser at 847-931-1410 and he will pose it to the candidate on the air! Or you can text us at 224-325-4458.
Where’s the only place you get this kind of in-depth local, northern Illinois, and Springfield news coverage? That’s right! Ward & Jones, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 3p.m. on WRMN AM1410. Be there or be square!
The Dixon Family
Quick Hit – Aw Rick! Really?
In my impending ‘So You Want to Win a Local Election’ book, I insistently warn newcomers that “Politics ain’t a game for sissies.” Watching school board seat battles become so contentious they make the Palestinian-Israeli question look like a mere spat is always a fascinating proposition.
So though I’m clearly not naïve about it, I’m convinced politics doesn’t have to become a blood sport either.
My throngs of detractors will tell you I’m no saint. But whether it’s simply advising a candidate or managing a full-blown campaign, I will not go negative. In fact, the reason Chris Lauzen and I “broke up” is he insisted on inserting hatchet man Jon Zahm into the Martinez for Coroner campaign and I refused to let it happen.
Track records (or the lack of them) are fair game. But that race was going to be won or lost on Tao’s merit, not any perceived Rob Russell character flaw. When we choose not to see the good in the other side, we become the problem and not the solution.
Aurora mayoral contender Rick Guzman is a good guy. His performance at the Priscoe Center primary debate was so improved that I made a point of telling him – complete with F-bombs for emphasis. When people asked me about it, I said Rick won that debate.
The first time we sat down, I told Richard Irvin that personal attacks on Linda Chapa LaVia or Rick Guzman would be a huge mistake. Someone with his vast positives didn’t need to go there. True to his word, Richard has been all about bringing Aurora together.
Yes! There is that insipid Dan Proft PAC mailer attacking Guzman, but as Richard so eloquently put it, “The mailing is disparaging the very city I’m running to become mayor of. I have no interest in these supposed watchdog tax groups that are intruding in our election. They are not invited.”
It would seem that Mr. Proft never gets tired of losing elections.
But while the Irvin campaign makes a point of taking the high road, the Guzman effort has not measured up. And the evidence for that starts with a mailer that goes after Irvin for defending “domestic abusers.” You’ve heard it before! It’s that tired old ambushing defense attorneys for doing what they do strategy.
First, like all the rest of us, anyone charged with domestic violence is presumed innocent until the judge says otherwise. And no one better than former prosecutor Irvin understands that, with the full weight of the state against you, every defendant is entitled to a zealous defense.
Second, the theory behind our adversarial trial system is that pitting two equal attorneys against each other brings out the truth. I’m surprised and disappointed Mr. Guzman fails to grasp this basic constitutional principle.
There’s a new Aurora robocall from a “Richard Irving” – not Irvin – get it? Our Mr. Irving goes on to say that he appreciates Linda Chapa LaVia’s endorsement and he will endeavor to move her liberal agenda forward.
It’s not that I’m necessarily aggravated by this tactic, it’s that I’m insulted that Guzman thought the voters were that stupid.
Though Linda Chapa LaVia hasn’t endorsed either candidate, she did recently post, “I have the utmost respect for Richard Irvin and I believe in his vision to reduce crime and create a more prosperous Aurora for all.”
Call me crazy, but that appears to be a very gracious statement from a candidate who’s suffered a difficult loss. And if that’s a “liberal agenda,” then I’m all for it.
It took me all of two seconds to determine who’s behind these attacks too. They absolutely reek of Chris Lauzen and Jon Zahm. It’s the same thing they tried to do in the 2016 coroner’s race. Of course, we’ll never know for sure because Zahm always manages to get paid out of some sort of Lauzen campaign slush fund.
Hey Chris and Jon! Once again, would you please explain exactly why you’re the exemplary Christians you so consistently purport to be?
Look, I still believe Rick is a good guy and these kinds of bad decisions come from listening to the wrong people. But Rick! You and I both know the final campaign decisions are yours.
No job’s worth selling your soul over.
… is right here:
I want to thank Kurt Kojzarek for filling in for Larry Jones and Kurt and I want to thank Elgin City Council candidate Brandon Yaniz for coming in to talk with us.
Friday! Jeff and Elgin City Council candidate Corey Dixon sit down and talk for an hour. Of course Local 582 union head Corey Johnson is also welcome to join the show two! One day I’ll get those two right.
Quick Hit – Anna Ishmael for D131 School Board
I’ve been covering politics for so long that, 11 years into it, I rarely run into candidates that blow me away. It’s isn’t a matter of becoming jaded, because I still get excited about folks like Richard Irvin and Ron Hain. It’s something more along the lines of the expectations rise commensurately with the number of politicians you’ve met.
So when Don Ishmael said his wife Anna was running for D131 school board, and she was a much better politician than he was, my curt response was, “That’s not setting the bar too high, sir!”
And he agreed! For reference purposes, Don is a good friend, a Kane County Board member, and the Aurora Township Democratic Chairman,
But when I got sat down with Don and Anna at Ron Hain’s recent campaign kickoff event, I was completely blown away.
Anna grew up as the only daughter of seven children in a dirt poor East Aurora neighborhood. But rather than lament her lot in life, she decided, if she couldn’t complete with her peers in the money and social prestige categories, she’d do it with her brain.
And she excelled in every subject.
When she got pregnant at 17, Anna thought her only option was to drop out of school until a teacher insisted she was going to graduate. So she did!
Fast forward to 2017 and Anna is a civilian fire inspector with the City of Aurora, she’s a certified EMT, she has an Associate’s Degree in psychology, and she’s almost completed her second Associate’s Degree in fire sciences.
She’s managed to accomplish all this while raising four children too!
Not one to rest on her laurels, Anna is running for East Aurora school board. Of course, that means this Genevan can’t vote for her, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a stake in this race.
My wife is math interventionist at a D131’s middle school and she comes home with some of the saddest student stories I’ve ever heard. Most of those tales revolve around the fact that these young men and women don’t believe they have options. And if you feel like your destiny is already set, what’s the value of an education.
So the first thing I said to Anna is, “I gotta get into you into my wife’s classroom to talk to these students.” They need to hear from someone who made it despite the same difficult start. They need to hear about possibilities beyond their limited reality. They need to understand they have options.
And we need a D131 school board member who understands what it means to be in that “hopeless” position. By the way, Anna’s capacity to convey her story makes me look like an amateur.
Then there’s this. Much like my presence prepared my wife for middle schoolers, if Anna can survive 22 years of Don, then she’s certainly ready to serve on a school board.
So I’m asking all you East Siders to vote for Anna Ishmael on April 4. I haven’t been this excited about a candidate in years!
Ward & Jones at 3 on AM1410
Today, Kane County Board member and Ward & Jones Supersub Kurt Kojzarek and I will spend an hour with Elgin City Council Candidate Brandon Yaniz.
We’ll talk about his campaign, Elgin itself, and I’ll ask Kurt what’s going on at the County.
If you have a question for Kurt or Brandon you can either text the show at 224-325-4458 or call 847-931-1410 and Produce Dave will post your question on the air.
Brandon Yaniz
… is right here!
Larry and I pretty much covered everything from errant political mailers to youth sports concussions to big box retail failing. It was a fascinating discussion if I do say so myself!
Kurt Kojzarek will be in on Wednesday when I’m sure we’ll learn what’s going on at the Kane County level. Until then…
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Board index President Obama's Eligibility Debunking the Lies
Kamala Harris "Birtherism 2.0" -- Here Birthers Go Again -- Donald Jr
Post by Orlylicious » Sat Jun 29, 2019 1:36 am
Ali Alexander is part of the Cernovich troll pack, this is what makes that group so dangerous. His Twitter: https://twitter.com/ali He was in Fort Lauderdale during the recount and with Laura Loomer in MN. He's already trying to discredit calling it "Birtherism 2.0" when that's exactly what it is. He's a greasy little criminal pol. Here we go.
Ali 2.JPG
Chilling New Birtherism Slam Suddenly Surges Against Kamala Harris On Social Media
Racist tweets claim the senator doesn’t represent American blacks because her dad’s from Jamaica.
By Mary Papenfuss
A new iteration of Donald Trump’s racist and fallacious “birtherism” attack on former President Barack Obama is suddenly surging on social media, this time against Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). The apparently bot-aided onslaught is claiming the senator doesn’t represent U.S. blacks because her father was born in Jamaica. Harris, an American of both Jamaican and Indian descent, was born in Oakland, California.
Donald Trump Jr. retweeted the original attack but later deleted it. Meanwhile, the president’s former campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson tried to discredit Harris another way, indicating she is not African enough to run as a minority presidential candidate. She tweeted that “while Obama is actually African-American — Harris is not,” even though people of African descent have lived in Jamaica for centuries. The slam appeared Thursday night shortly after the Democratic presidential debate, where Harris had powerfully raised her own experiences being bused as a child in California to battle school desegregation.
The attack appeared to be launched by a self-described “black activist” identifying himself as “Ali Alexander” on an unverified Twitter account. He claimed in a video and tweet that Harris cannot represent the black experience in America because she has “no ancestors who suffered American Slavery, the Civil War, nor Jim Crow.” Alexander is actually a far-right political operative and conspiracy theorist Ali Akbar, or Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar, whom Politico profiled last year as an “increasingly prominent pro-Trump supporter.” On the eve of the 2016 election, Robert Mercer donated $60,000 to a PAC that Alexander advises, Politico reported. https://observer.com/2018/10/robert-mer ... alexander/
Akbar, posing as Alexander, boasted that his tweets “went viral.” In fact, his message was nearly instantaneously picked up word for word and disseminated by several Twitter accounts that have been identified as bots, BuzzFeed reported. Social media researcher Caroline Orr pointed out that the original tweet also drew in other attacks falsely claiming Harris wasn’t born in the U.S.
A new kind of birtherism slam has suddenly emerged against Kamala Harris after her debate appearance on Thursday. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-h ... mg00000004 via @HuffPostPol
Donald Trump Jr. Shares, Then Deletes, a Tweet Questioning Kamala Harris’s Race
Donald Trump Jr. is a valuable Republican surrogate as his father heads into the 2020 race.
The New York Times By Katie Rogers and Maggie Haberman June 28, 2019
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, shared another person’s tweet with his millions of followers during the Democratic debate on Thursday that falsely claimed Senator Kamala Harris was not black enough to be discussing the plight of black Americans. “Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves,” Ali Alexander, a member of a right-wing constellation of media personalities, wrote on Twitter. “She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period.”
Mr. Trump, a valuable Republican surrogate as his father faces a bruising 2020 race, posted the tweet of unverified information, then asked his more than three million followers: “Is this true? Wow.” By the end of the night, Mr. Trump had deleted his message, and by Friday, a spokesman said it had all been a misunderstanding. “Don’s tweet was simply him asking if it was true that Kamala Harris was half-Indian because it’s not something he had ever heard before,” said the spokesman, Andy Surabian, “and once he saw that folks were misconstruing the intent of his tweet, he quickly deleted it.”
But by then, the original message, questioning the background of a presidential candidate who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, had already spread far and wide. For people like Mr. Alexander — an alt-right fringe figure who has also gone by the name Ali Akbar — the entire point of commenting was to go viral and counteract any progress made by a Democrat like Ms. Harris. She caught Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumed front-runner, off guard on Thursday night by questioning his track record on race.
Because his tweet was elevated by valuable surrogates like the president’s son, Mr. Alexander has become part of a loose network of accounts weaponized by the Trump campaign as part of its effort to discredit candidates. The facts are these: Ms. Harris, a first-term senator from California and a former prosecutor, is the biracial daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother. She has faced repeated questions about her race throughout her career, but has at times resisted being put into one category or another. In an interview with The Washington Post this year, Ms. Harris called herself “an American,” defying calls at various points for her to choose. “My point was: I am who I am,” Ms. Harris said at the time. “I’m good with it. You might need to figure it out, but I’m fine with it.”
Her impassioned embrace of her personal history was what Mr. Alexander and then Mr. Trump pounced on. By the end of the evening, even though Mr. Trump had deleted his tweet, a round of accounts began sharing the contents of Mr. Alexander’s tweet questioning Ms. Harris’s background.
The President’s son earlier this hour. pic.twitter.com/ejPI9urFw6
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) June 28, 2019
This activity caught the attention of Caroline Orr, a Virginia-based researcher who studies disinformation and elections. Mr. Alexander is a real person, but Ms. Orr hinted that the activity may have been the work of Twitter bots meant to spread his misinformation.
What a weird coincidence that a group of accounts, starting with Ali, decided to tweet the exact same thing (verbatim) about Kamala Harris within minutes of each other tonight. #DemDebate2 pic.twitter.com/2lxFSJTd77
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) June 28, 2019
“A lot of suspect accounts are pushing the ‘Kamala Harris is not Black’ narrative tonight,” Ms. Orr wrote on Twitter. “It’s everywhere and it has all the signs of being a coordinated/artificial operation.” On Friday, Mr. Alexander denied that his tweet had been part of an organized effort to spread that message at all, and he has characterized as racist inquiries into what he meant by his original tweet.
Lily Adams, an aide to Ms. Harris, on Friday criticized Mr. Trump’s tweet. “This is the same type of racist attack his father used to attack Barack Obama,” she said. “It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.” Mr. Trump, for his part, had moved on: He sent a fund-raising text message to followers of the Trump campaign.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/us/p ... arris.html
Ali hates having his mugshots shared.
Ali Mugshot.jpg
Haven't settled on a candidate but it doesn't matter, this is wrong. Of everyone on the internet, Fogbow members know how best to challenge these racist falsehoods. Looks like a Donald is doing it again, all hands on deck.
ETA: Thanks Stern! Sorry about the misspelling.
Sterngard Friegen
Location: Over the drawbridge
Re: Kamela Harris "Birtherism 2.0" -- Here Birthers Go Again -- Donald Jr
Post by Sterngard Friegen » Sat Jun 29, 2019 2:53 am
Might be time to bring RC Radio back (always miss it, sometimes listen to the archive ). IIRC, Kamala Harris was vocally anti-birfer, wasn't she? Still can't believe their followers are so stupid they'd start buying in to that garbage again.
Speaking of garbage, has Orleana weighed in on this mighty conflict in the past? Get some court action going Orly, you've known Roberts for 10 years
Sam the Centipede
Post by Sam the Centipede » Sat Jun 29, 2019 4:53 am
While not wishing to engage with the idiocy too much …
… how is a black Jamaican person not (probably) the descendant of slaves taken from Africa?
RWers, Trumpists, Trump family, eeyuukkk! All vile, untruthful, hate-filled and hate-fueled racists.
Post by Notorial Dissent » Sat Jun 29, 2019 6:54 am
Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑
Agreed, if she is Jamaican, she is almost certainly, like maybe 99.999% certainly a descendant from slaves. Idiots are, and always will be idiots, and if they are a Drumpf derivative it is genetic.
Post by bob » Sat Jun 29, 2019 2:18 pm
Since birtherism is trending again, I took a spin in the Twitterverse. Observations:
1. Some are discounting/distinguishing what DJTJ did as "othering." They do not see (or choose to ignore) how birthering has a basis in othering, i.e., not really American.
2. Most folks have no idea that two-citizen-parents birthers are a thing. They define birtherism narrowly, i.e., not born in the United States.
Re: Kamala Harris "Birtherism 2.0" -- Here Birthers Go Again -- Donald Jr
Post by Dan1100 » Sat Jun 29, 2019 6:38 pm
Here is one on twitter if anyone feels the need to give them a good debunking.
https://twitter.com/element115/status/1 ... 8756298752
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
Location: East Coast
Contact Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
Post by Dr. Kenneth Noisewater » Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:32 pm
And this is how I remember Obama birtherism starting. I remember them claiming he wasn't black enough then he was too black then they jumped in with birtherism.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: ↑
When the none-too-subtle racism of "questioning" Obama's "otherness" was called out, the "concern" switched to something more value neutral and defensible, like constitutionality eligibility.
(And the good doctor should jump on Twitter; plenty o' birthers coming out from under their rocks.)
Post by Orlylicious » Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:55 pm
Absolutely Dr. Ken... that's why I hope we can use our experience to snuff this out early. We have guests this weekend but I'll definitely start amplifying this next week. Somehow on Twitter 600+ follow me, never asked anyone to. No doubt we've learned a lot about how this evil stuff spreads, probably Fogbow is the most knowledgeable group about this subject. Expect the call from Mr. Soros shortly, Kbots.
WaPo:
2020 Democrats defend Kamala Harris after Donald Trump Jr. tweet about her race
By Colby Itkowitz June 29 at 7:36 PM
Sen. Kamala Harris, one of only two black candidates in a field of two dozen, had a history-making moment on the debate stage Thursday night when she challenged former vice president Joe Biden over racial issues.
But as the reaction to her debate performance poured in, so did the racist attacks on social media, where some accused the California Democrat of not being black enough, and others suggested she was not really American.
On Twitter, some commenters suggested Harris was unfairly portraying herself as African American, since she is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother.
By Saturday, Harris’s campaign spokeswoman had retweeted nearly a dozen comments and articles defending her boss, and Harris’s 2020 Democratic challengers forcefully condemned the attacks on social media.
“This stuff is really vile and everyone should speak out against it,” Lily Adams, Harris’s spokeswoman, wrote on Twitter.
“The attacks against @KamalaHarris are racist and ugly,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted shortly after. “We all have an obligation to speak out and say so. And it’s within the power and obligation of tech companies to stop these vile lies dead in their tracks.”
“@KamalaHarris doesn’t have s--- to prove,” tweeted Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... 8cf53b7122
Post by neonzx » Sat Jun 29, 2019 9:11 pm
Absolutely Dr. Ken... that's why I hope we can use our experience to snuff this out early.
Yabbut, how do we do it?
But I don't think this is as hard as what Obama faced. They can't weave in a scary 'muslim' theme. They can't use her name as with 'Barack HUSSEIN'. They can't deny she was born in California -- mainland USA vs. exotic 'Hawaii'.
I think this will be a fringe thing that will not suck up much oxygen in the mainstream media this go around. It's not going to get airplay -- no Orly on cable news.
From a Twitter thread about Harris:
...that didn't take long.
But, unlike Obama, they can scream, "ANCHOR BABY!!!" (excuse me, "birthright citizenship").
bob wrote: ↑
I would have answered that one but after kicking his ass in the first few tweets he blocked me like a coward. Ask for the signage chances are he's referring to the oman photoshop job.
The good Doctor already did and Element blocked after I pointed out his court cases didn't talk about natural born citizenship and in real life the two citizen parents nonsense hasn't applied to multiple candidates, VPs and presidents.
I would definitely be game if RC wanted to start RC radio back up. I would have to design a new intro and get my apps back.
Post by Foggy » Sun Jun 30, 2019 10:44 am
I know a website that debunks birtherism.
Post by Jeffrey » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:00 am
Black nationalists have some spicy views on Kamala:
Post by neonzx » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:06 am
Linky link, please?
Post by Sterngard Friegen » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:11 am
https://m.dailykos.com/news/Politijab
AndyinPA
Post by AndyinPA » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:18 am
I think the party may be more ready and able to take this head on early. I'm just not quite so sure if the people this crap is pushed to will be any smarter this time around.
Post by RTH10260 » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:22 am
Sterngard Friegen wrote: ↑
WOW! that's a piece of internet history I have never seen
Post by realist » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:51 am
X 4 X36
Post by Orlylicious » Sun Jun 30, 2019 2:41 pm
"Arthur Schwartz" is a nasty little troll. They are insidious, they rev up idiots like Miki Booth who will spin anything to support their racist views.
Criminal Ali chimes in (he's posting a lot of stuff, I try not to look and he blocked my Orlylicious account (along with Cernovich):
Ali Birther.JPG
This was the discussion with Don Lemon... sure there's a difference but it has absolutely nothing to do with eligibility. They live for this, it's the same group that said Hillary was dying, Comet Pizza had kids in the basement, etc. How do we solve this? Only way I can see is offense.
Atlanta Black Star
‘It’s Hypocrisy’: CNN’s Don Lemon and April Ryan Have Heated Debate Over Sen. Kamala Harris’ ‘Blackness’
By Tanasia Kenney - February 13, 2019
CNN host Don Lemon shouted down reporter April Ryan this week during a heated prime-time debate over whether Sen. Kamala Harris can consider herself “African-American.” During a Monday edition of “CNN Tonight,“ the panel discussed Harris’ reaction to critics who’ve questioned her blackness since she entered the race for president last month. The California Democrat, who was born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, has likened the attacks to those against Barack Obama during his run for president, and accused critics of trying to sow “hate and division.”
Ryan, a veteran White House reporter agreed, saying she didn’t want to get into such stereotypes. “Number one, what does ‘Black enough’ mean?” she began. “[Harris] is a Black woman. She is a mixed-race woman. When you see her, you see her Blackness. But she is also South Asian … and her dad is Jamaican. She is a Black woman.”
Cutting in, Lemon contended the issue was never about Harris being “Black enough,” but was more so about whether she shares the experience of American descendants of slaves, also known as “ADOS.” “No, no, no, no. I don’t think you hear what people are saying,” he told Ryan. “To want the distinction to say is she African-American, or is she Black or is she … whatever — there is nothing wrong with that. There is a difference between being African-American and being Black.”
Lemon argued that all Harris had to say is that she is Black, not African-American. Ryan countered the assertion by pointing to Harris’ lineage, arguing that many enslaved Africans landed in Jamaica “and all these other Caribbean islands.” “So she could indeed be African-American mixed with others, but she is a Black woman,” she said.
“Jamaica is not America,” Lemon said, interrupting her again. “Jamaica did not come out of Jim Crow. I’m just saying.” “She was born here in America!” Ryan shot back. “So, let’s talk about [Sen.] Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz was born in Canada and his father —” “This isn’t about Ted Cruz,” Lemon butted in once more, accusing his guest of changing the subject. “It’s hypocrisy! I’m not changing the subject!” a flustered Ryan shouted. “I don’t know what you want from me.” The two continued yelling over one another before another panelist chimed in.
Lemon eventually drove home his point, making sure to emphasize the difference between the historical experiences African-Americans and Black people who have immigrated to the United States. “You’re missing the point,” he told Ryan. “People are asking [Harris] if you are African-American, if you are someone who came out of Jim Crow, out of American slavery. Are you [a] descendant out of that? That’s all I’m saying.”
https://atlantablackstar.com/2019/02/13 ... blackness/
Post by Slim Cognito » Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:00 pm
The way I see it, Jamaica IS in North America and Jamaicans are descended from Africans brought over on slave ships. Am I wrong? I mean, sheesh! None of these people watched Amistad?
(yes, I know the Amistad came from Cuba, but I'm pretty sure the stories are similar. Bring the slave ships to harbor in Havana, fudge the paperwork, create a new Captain's log, and off to the US to sell more African-born slaves.)
Return to “Debunking the Lies”
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Poke-Theory: The Multiverse of the Delta Episode
The Insightful Panda / December 30, 2014
It seems like every year we get a new Pokemon game – or two. Since 1998, we’ve had approximately 24 games released in the core series, which is not only comprised of dual versions (ie: Red/Blue, Gold/Silver, etc); but also amalgam games (ie: Yellow, Crystal, Emerald), direct sequels (ie: Black & White 2) and remakes (FireRed/Leaf Green, etc). It’s hard to imagine all of these games – sometimes with conflicting stories – could be part of the same universe. Though with many games making references to past installments – such as how Gen 1’s protagonist appears in Gen 2 as the Pokemon League Champion – there must be some shared universe… or rather, Multiverse.
This is exactly what Pokmeon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire (ORAS) and its post game The Delta Episode confirms. So what is a Multiverse? How does it fit into/explain all the various Pokemon games? What’s the evidence for all of this? These questions and more shall be answered as I turn my analytical skills away from Film & Television and into the deep recesses of Pokemon Poke-Theory.
*WARNING: Everything that follows holds massive Spoilers for Pokemon ORAS and The Delta Episode.*
What Is A Multiverse?
Put VERY simply, the ‘Multiverse Theory’ states that there is an infinite – or finite – amount of parallel universes that exist outside of our own. The idea behind this basically feels that if the universe is infinite, then sooner or later it must start repeating at some point since the number of ways particles and events can be arranged is finite. So at some point, there’d be someone who looks like you. At another point, there’d be someone who looks AND acts like you. And further down the line, there could be someone who looks and acts like you; but decided to wear a hat this morning.
Now that last example is a little hyperbolic; and I’m nowhere near equipped to run through ALL the repercussions and hints at a Multiverse in our own universe. So what you should take away from this section is that the Multiverse Theory claims that there are various other worlds in which things took a path slightly different from our own world (ie: American Colonies never won independence from Britain, WWII never happened, etc).
The Delta Episode Confirms Multiverse – Zinnia’s Revelation :
In Pokmeon ORAS, the post game sequence known as The Delta Episode reveals a ridiculous amount of information about the Pokemon Universe; but for this article we’ll only concentrate on one revelation – Multiverse. So let’s set the scene! In order to stop a massive six-mile wide asteroid from decimating all life on the planet, scientists at the Mossdeep Space Center plan on using something called Infinity Energy to teleport the Meteor away. This is when Zinnia – one of The Delta Episode’s antagonists – appear and claims that saving the world like this could be “the worst tragedy imaginable for some other world”.
My people know it. From generation to generation, we pass along the lore about the distortions in the world … And about the existence of another world, which we have long observed to be just like this one and yet not the same…
That’s right. A Hoenn region that’s almost exactly like this one we live in. Filled with Pokémon and people like us. A world where maybe the evolution of Pokémon took a slightly different path, where Mega Evolution is unknown… A world where that war 3,000 years ago…never happened. A world where the ultimate weapon was never even built. And in that Hoenn of that world… What would happen if one day, out of the blue, a meteoroid appeared? What would happen to the people of that world, without the technology to destroy the meteoroid or the power to warp it away? – Zinnia
Now Zinnia also seems to be hinting at a connection between Mega Evolution and the Kalos Genocide Machine – part of the Pokemon XY story -; but that’s a huge article for another time. The main point here is that there is another version of Hoenn out there that doesn’t know of Mega Evolution or massive Meteorites that strike every millennium. So to put it simply and prepare us for the next segment of this article: Zinnia is saying that saving the world of Pokemon ORAS could destroy the world of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald – the Generation 3 games that Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire are remakes of.
Okay, so thanks to Zinnia’s speech at the Mossdeep Space Center, we can say – at the VERY least – that the Pokemon games prior to Pokemon XY (Red/Blue-> Black/White 2) exist in a world separate from Pokemon ORAS & XY because they lack Mega Evolution. Now this isn’t to say that the Kalos Region doesn’t exist in the ‘Pre Pokemon XY Universe’. For example, Johto (Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal) might not have been mentioned in the original Kanto-centered Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow; but we later learned that the two regions existed side by side divided by The Indigo Plateau. Similarly, Kalos exists in the Pre Pokemon XY Universe; but the Kalos Genocide Weapon – or whatever is responsible for Mega Evolution – does not.
Further Evidence For Pokemon Multiverse:
That’s one fragmented universe; but as the original Multiverse Theory states, there could be an infinite number of parallel worlds out there. Now there’s no way I can prove infinite; but Pokemon ORAS does reveal the presence of more than just a World Without Mega Evolution (pre Pokemon XY) and a World With Mega Evolution (post Pokmeon XY). In fact, this evidence will not only make this game make sense; but also help explain ALL previous Pokemon games.
Once you’ve completed The Delta Episode and head to The Battle Resort, you will bump into Team Aqua – or whichever team was trying to help you during the events of the game. So in Omega Ruby, you will bump into Archie (the Leader of Team Aqua) and two of his Admins. After a brief catching up, Archie will wonder if things could have happened differently. Could there be a world out there where instead of Maxie and Team Magma trying to revive Primal Groudon, Archie and his team tried to revive Primal Kyogre. As you know – or can imagine – this world does exist and it is the world of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire.
I hate to break it to you Maxie; but that’s exactly what you did! – Pokemon Alpha Sapphire Battle Resort screenshot
This conversation with Archie clears up years of confusion and conflicting game stories. Pokemon Red/Blue were exactly the same story wise; yet Pokemon Yellow granted you a Pikachu as your starter and subsequently gain the original 3 starters in your quest. Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver were also basically the same; but Gold saw Ho-Oh awaken first whereas Silver had Lugia awaken first. Similarly to Pokemon Yellow before it, Pokmeon Crystal had some similarities to the previous Gen 2 games; yet had key differences with the Legendary Pokmeon Suicune. This style not only continues for every game after; but also grows more apparent in Gen 3 where each game version has a different team trying to revive a different Pokemon.
How It All Fits Together – Pokemon Multiverse Timeline:
So basically, each Pokemon game – with a few exceptions of course – could be its own Parallel World. Though as I mentioned at the beginning, we have seen connections between different Generations of Pokemon games. Each game might represent a different course; but we also have to account for the timeline of these Pokemon games – if one exists. Thankfully a tweet from Toshinobu Matsumiya – one of the lead game heads since almost 1998 – revealed that there isn’t only a timeline for the Pokemon games; but also how each generation fits together.
IF this tweet is legit, then this veiled tweet would translate as the Kanto stories (Red, Blue, etc) taking place concurrently with the stories in Ruby & Sapphire. 3 Year later, the events in Johto (Gold, Silver, etc) would take place along with the stories in Diamond & Pearl. After an “unknown amount of time” Pokemon Black & White take place followed approximately two years later by Black & White 2. While B/W2 was going on, Pokemon XY would also be happening.
This timeline could lead to a number of different permutations since we previously learned from Archie that different versions can constitute different universes. To put this simply: One universe could be Yellow and Ruby taking place simultaneously leading into Pokemon Gold; while another could be Yellow and Sapphire leading to Gold.
“Even if we were to make the CORE Pokemon Timeline – that is the timeline composed of the most complete stories – we’d still have a divulging of parallel universes once we hit Black & White”
For simplicity purposes, the above example doesn’t even take into consideration Diamond/Pearl, Black/White, etc; but you can already see a ton of different options forming. Since Red’s team in Gen 2 contains all 3 starter Pokemon and Pikachu, it makes more sense to maintain Pokemon Yellow as the starting point; but Pokemon Gold could just have easily have been Silver or Crystal. Even if we were to make the CORE Pokemon Timeline – that is the timeline composed of the most complete stories – we’d still have a divulging of parallel universes once we hit Black & White since there is no Gray version which combines both stories such as the past versions did.
Are you still with me? Take a moment to reread if you must; but the main thing to take away here is that when there are conflicting versions (ie: Ruby & Sapphire, Black & White) these are all parallel universes that can be factored into the timeline. Additionally, we must remember that the parallel universes are grouped into one of two LARGER types of Universes – universe without Mega Evolution and one with Mega Evolution. So despite the “Matsumiya Timeline” saying Pokemon XY takes place concurrently with Black & White 2, Pokemon XY is STILL in a different parallel universe because it has Mega Evolution and the previous 5 Generations do not.
All in all, this Multiverse revelation is how Pokemon wants to explain Mega Evolution and why it didn’t exist in the prior five generations. Rather than admit “so what, we had a new idea”, they decided to use the Multiverse Theory to explain it away in a much more elegant – albeit confusing – manner.
Analyzing The Mega Evolution Universe – The Matsumiya Timeline Fails:
Since we are currently in the Mega Evolution Universe (XY & ORAS), we should actually take a moment to just explain what this world means. Just because the first five Generations of Pokemon don’t exist in this universe, that doesn’t mean that Kanto, Johto, etc don’t exist in this world. Just like how Kalos would exist in the Pre-Pokemon XY World despite it not being mentioned, these other regions of course exist in the Post-Pokemon XY (Mega Evolution) World despite not being mentioned yet. It’s a pretty safe assumption that Pokemon will not only continue to make new games in the Mega Evolution Universe; but will also bring some of the old regions into these games.
How Kanto and Johto will be brought in considering we’ve already gotten Gen 1 & 2 remakes (FireRed & LeafGreen, HeartGold & SoulSilver), remains to be seen; but these lands do exist. The real question is if the “Matsumiya’s Timeline” still holds true. He said Ruby & Sapphire take place many years before Pokemon XY; but that doesn’t mean Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire do. The Mega Universe is very different and might hold a completely different timeline considering Pokemon ORAS seem to take place AFTER Pokemon XY.
In Pokemon ORAS, Mega Evolution is a much more widespread occurrence whereas in Pokemon XY its an exceptionally rare thing that only a handful of Pokemon and Trainers have access to. Now yes, Pokemon ORAS was released after XY so that explains all the additional Mega Evolutions; but who’s to say that also doesn’t mean ORAS comes after XY story wise. Though if you want an added reason, you must simply travel to Slateport where some of the ship builders speak of building a ship using Kalos’s High Speed rail technology. If people in ORAS plan on using some of Kalos’ cutting edge tech then there is no way ORAS can take place – at the very least – 6 years before Pokemon XY.
Whether ORAS comes after XY or these two games are concurrent to an extent, there are drastic differences between the Mega Universe Timeline and the Matsumiya’s (Normal) Timeline. As for where the series will go after this, probably a Mega version of Diamond/Pearl OR a new Black/White since we see The Royal Unova – the transport ship in Gen 5 – being built in the shipyard in ORAS. So despite Black&White not taking place in the Mega Universe yet, they – and other game additions – will probably take place after XY and ORAS.
This is how I feel right now
So there you have it folks. I hope I didn’t lose any of you there; and if I did, I hope you found your way back easily enough. What’s important to remember is that this is a universe that is constantly changing and growing by our own devices – or rather the people behind Pokemon. The Multiverse Theory is a fun and dynamic way to reconcile all of these different yet connected games; but you shouldn’t expect a massive Multiverse Map spelling out all the different possible parallel universes out there.
With each new Pokemon game – not to mention the anime and spin-off games – the Multiverse will grow bigger and bigger. So at the end of the day, just go enjoy your Pokemon games and this wonderfully deep answer to over 15 years of gaming. If you have any questions, sound off in the comments below and stay tuned for our next Poke-Theory article.
December 30, 2014 in Pokemon. Tags: Multiverse, Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire, Pokemon, Pokemon games, PokeTheory, The Delta Episode
Pokemon ORAS: The Delta Episode – Battle In Space, Deoxys and More!
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Pokemon ORAS – The Way Pokemon Should Be Played
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27 thoughts on “Poke-Theory: The Multiverse of the Delta Episode”
Titanoverlord says:
I Enjoyed this read though an aspect of OR/AS exists that’s absence cannot be explained in R/S/E: Primal Reversion.
“. It is similar to Mega Evolution, but instead of using the energy of people and Pokémon, the user instead absorbs the energy of nature to greatly increase its power. Primal Reversion is said to restore the true powers of a Pokémon.” – Bulbapedia
The topology already indicates that both worlds had meteor impacts, meaning that similar elements must exist. If the Primal Pokemon are in fact the true forms of the two, and if mega evolution never came to fruition, then the two fought in R/S/E have no reason to NOT be in their primal forms. The only explanation would be that there is not enough natural power in R/S/E to cause it.
On the other hand the idea of events being displaced between the worlds: XY -> OR/AS, R/B/Y = R/S/E, is supported by the “Time Traveler’s Award”, awarded for bringing a Pokemon all the way from R/S/E, to OR/AS, with the pokemon said to have traveled very far through spacetime to it’s destination.
so glad you enjoyed the read 😀 And Oh wow, great point! There is literally so much to take into account with these theories, i forgot about Primal Reversion. Then again, i think you might have it right with the ‘not enough energy of nature’. If that comet that collided in Sootpoolis did have natural power that drew Groudon and Kyogre to take a primal form, perhaps that explains how Primal reversion started as well – or at least became plausible.
I will look more into this as my next Poke-Theory article will probably be Mega Evolution. – or the Kanto/Jhoto War
Game Freak wanted to explain the biggest question of pokemon for twenty years. If you think about it, the pokemon universe does not have a real storyline. In one story, the main character chooses Fenniken as his starter, while in an other story, he chose Froakie instead. In fact, every game file is a separate universe. In one universe, the main character caught this pokemon while in another, the same person did not. When we trade pokemon, the worlds link together. And when a certain pokemon goes into a different dimension. (game) They evolve. This explain how pokemon evolve by trading.
*Mind blown even more*
GOD I love talking Poke-theories with my readers. I never thought of that but it makes so much sense!
Paenitentia says:
Just want to add in that this has some more in-game support than one might think at first. Using Memory Link in Black/White 2 you can make the specific dimension your Black/White game takes place in be the same one that your game of Black/White 2 takes place in. In particular, depending on which starter you chose in Black/White, Cheren and Bianca will have the appropriate starters in response.
Shadow Rubino says:
Alright. I have a theory for you. What if, each and every save game file in OR/AS and XY ISN’T another parallel world? What if they’re all the same world, and each game is just one person’s adventure IN THAT SAME WORLD? Let me try to explain as best I can. OR/AS Has the PSS, So does XY. How could it be that two people from alternate universes come together to fight over the PSS, as we’ve seen Quantum Manipulation doesn’t exist in Pokemon (Well minus Ash being ten for 20-something years, but I digress) Therefore, what if each XY game is just another trainer, in a gigantic world? And the reason we don’t see other characters in our world is because we are all at different stages on our journey. This is even more reinforced with OR/AS. They allow Secret Bases. And you can see other people’s secret bases. Now, again I bring up Quantum Manipulation. HOW IS IT that people in separate universes can come into our universe (Our copy of the game) And make physical objects? And how is it that using the DexNav TV, that we can tell what’s going on ACROSS Universes? This, to me, suggests that each copy of OR/AS, and XY is not just it’s own alternate universe, but simply chapters of the same book. You get what I’m saying?
The Only Thing that this theory fails to explain is how multiple people can have multiple Mascot Legendaries. (Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza in OR/AS Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde in XY). But the free flight aspect of ORAS does say how we can have multiple of Gen 1-5 Legendaries. The Black Portals serve of Quantum Rifts. (And these are naturally occuring anomalies, not man-made like those needed for trading, battling over PSS and DexNav.) Therefore, these Quantum Portals reach into the Multiverse Copies of Gen 1-5. Therefore, everyone gets their own legendary.
I do realize that this theory has a few holes in it (LIke why would Archie and Maxie try to resurrect a pokemon they already resurrected, I know that) But it’s still something to think about.
You do bring up an excellent point. The states of games of the same version must be the same universe for those reasons as well as in-game trading. We’ve seen in the anime and game people who trade in this same universe with you. Every game you play is probably YOUR journey in that universe. As for different journeys or save files basically what it is, a redoing of your journey – something we can’t ACTUALLY do in real life. As for other players, those are their journeys in the same universe it would seem.
OR maybe the different universes are also relative to each player. Like each Final Fantasy (i.e. 7) has universe, yet each player playing isn’t a separate universe. It is just their progression through this preset universe.
Oh man, my brain hurts. I think the Multiverse Theory for Pokemon can hold up as far as game story arcs are concerned; but once we venture into the world of different save files or other players, then things fall apart.
loki61089 says:
Not really, when you consider the fact that we have pokemon who are KNOWN to have the ability to travel through and manipulate both Space and Time.
Danganronpa fan says:
You’ve got that wrong! Sort of.
all of your theory is right, except for the part about
The meteor heading to r/s/e, it actually would’ve headed to another universe, almost exactly like your or/as, only with some changes, like you said. But if all this is true, how did the meteor get to (players name) universe? It’s quite simple really, it was sent from another universe, who chose to send it to (players name) universe. It would go in an endless cycle, until somebody stopped it. You. You stopped the cycle, by destroying the meteor.
Well remember, Zinnia said it could go to a world where Mega Evolution didn’t’ exist, and thus no Mega Rayquaza and thus no way to avert the disaster. That would spell out more the original R/S/E since it was pre-mega evolution was introduced.
Gyaosblade says:
Game details also confirm the existence of alternate Hoenns. In R/S/E, Mauville City’s Wattson states “I’ve given up on my plans to convert the city, I have.” In OR/AS we see a completely renovated Mauville, infering that Wattson in this universe decided to “convert the city” afterall. Before battle he even tells the player “The plans to reform Mauville are done for now” Further study reveals that while both regions have a Sootopolis City, the means by which they were created differs. In R/S/E Sootoplis was created when a hollowed out volcanic crater filled with rain water, and was settled by people. In OR/AS we are told that Sootopolis came into being via a meteoroid impact crater which, like it’s R/S/E form, filled with rainwater and was settled by people. Thus we can see that while both regions are similar, they are not the same, further supporting evidence provided by Zinnia.
*mind blown* Spectacular points! Great connections Gyaosblade!
ArmorGeddon says:
The Pokémon Multiverse is VERY weird, especially when it has to explain which games are in what timeline and when those game happened.
I think for ORAS and X/Y that ORAS happened before X/Y chronologically, but just by a few months at least. Why is this? Well, to start things off, there is the character called Mr. Bonding, which gives you O-Powers in X/Y, and (eventually) in ORAS. Why is he significant? Well, in ORAS, there are these different men, each sporting different colors, and they give you O-Powers if you talk to them in the Mauville City Pokémon Center. Once you talk to all of them, you go visit a certain house there, and they will all be there, surrounding a regular Clerk NPC. They will then FUSE with that NPC, and the result is Mr. Bonding (honestly one of the weirdest events in Pokémon history). Mr. Bonding then tells you that he will “travel the world,” which is probably why he ends up in Kalos, and he is already Mr. Bonding when you first meet him in X/Y. This is the reason why I think X/Y comes after ORAS. I will say that it X/Y happened a few months, or even no more than a year after ORAS because of the classification of Mega Evolution. In X/Y, they state in the game that Mega Evolution is a new concept that is undergoing research, thus causing it to be unknown to most other parts of the Pokémon World. You could say that ORAS came after X/Y since the concept of Mega Evolution seemed to undergo development there first, but ORAS must come before X/Y, all because of Mr. Bonding.
Sorry, I really can’t think of any other things to say ORAS came before X/Y. It would all make sense if it came after X/Y (chronologically), but Mr. Bonding seems to disprove the possibility of that… 😦
Ohh, great point. Yah, that is pretty good evidence. Then again, if Mr Bonding can bond, maybe he can defuse too. Like Gotenks or – if i was to stay in the same universe – like how Black White Kyurem can be fused then split up. Ugh, my head hurts lol Regardless, excellent point ArmorGeddon!
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I think the assumption that causes most headaches here is that there are parallel universes with/without Mega Evolution. Assuming there are, for the most part, these 2 worlds, ORAS would have to happen after XY due to the developments concerning Mega Evolution, but several things point towards a timeline of ORAS -> XY. The only reference in the other direction is the existence of the genocide machine, but we know it has been activated in the past, so its existence would be known either way.
Now notably, Mega Evolution is introduced in XY as something new that was recently discovered, while in ORAS it’s pretty much regarded as normal. The Multiverse is also referenced in ORAS only. Here’s the thing: I believe the timeline looks as follows (= means simultaneous, / means parallel universes, > means later): R/G/B/Y/FR/LG = R/S/E/OR/AS > G/S/C/HG/SS = D/P/Pt > B/W > B2/W2 > X/Y, with the CORE timeline being Y = E > C = Pt > B > B2 > Z (or W > W2 and assuming there will be a Z similar to the previous “most complete” stories). OR/AS, notably, is basically a reboot in a parallel world where Mega Evolution has been around from the start and we will probably see this alternate timeline continued in a Gen IV remake, and so on. This Multiverse explanation also gives them a great reason to remake titles starting with ORAS in the first place, since the other remakes were due to substantial changes in the mechanics, which basically made the first 2 generations incompatible and part of an entirely separate parallel world. Now with this new explanation, they can remake the other games, include Mega Evolution and the whole Hoopa thing, and give us some novelty, expanding further on the story and bringing in new mechanics in the old timeline, possibly building on things we took for granted or didn’t question in the older titles, like Arceus’ role in the creation of the world, its methods, Mew’s relation to it, more details about how Pokemon replicate, and so many more things we just accepted as facts at some point.
I also wanted to point out Pokemon Conquest might take place during or at least in some sort of connection to the supposed war shortly before the CORE timeline, you know, the one the Pokemon War Theory talks about, the one which killed most adults in Kanto prior to the events in RGBY.
SavageFazbear says:
Alright, here’s one for you, I know I was here a long time ago but I’ve gotten knowledge. If you watch the Mega Evolution Special III (Primals) You see that Lysandre is still alive. This would indicate, that going with timeline flow…The events of ORAS happened BEFORE the events of XY. only reason I say this is because when Lysandre gets the Stone from Mega Rayquaza in the anime he says “Now my plans for a better world can finally come to fruition” or something like that. (I don’t know, “I will create a better world” cliche +1 Sin!). This would also explain how Team Flare got the legendary Kalos pokemon to begin with, with the Stone in their possession, they could easily use it to track down the legendary pokemon needed to power the death-machine in XY. Now the only thing that this doesn’t address, is the new Mega-Evolutions in ORAS that aren’t in XY…though with this I think I’ve given you a big enough migraine.
haha not too big a migraine.
Well i haven’t seen the film yet but i’ll definitely check it out. ALTHOUGH, my theory right off the bat is that perhaps it sets up a new plan by Lysandre? I feel X&Y-2 will be the next game, or Z. Either way, that will take place post XY so it could explain everything. So it’d be XY->ORAS->Z. Though again, I havent seen the film yet so can’t say. But it is also important to remember that the anime and games aren’t necessarily the same universe.
SarkhanDragonspeaker says:
Well it’s easy to explain away the different megas from ORAS to XY by saying that while the ORAS megas would exist in XY, their mega stones don’t appear in Kalos
True, but also remember that Mega Evolution seems like a much more rare/’novel’ thing story wise in Kalos. In X & Y, it seems more ‘oh yah, we have that’
Fan made time line as Nintendo never confirmed anything other then obious b&w2 take place after black and white. I have my own personal time line. Idk I feel like current games all take place in same world but I also theorize there are cousins in this world that have similar names thiugh anime takes place in same world but diffrent demision as does the magna. Back on track of games I feel like the remakes it have been few yrs sence original such and such adventured in such and such and the world has changed as time went on and soe younger cousins with similar or same names came along to have own adventure. I feel like Zina was like referring to other forms of media but that’s just my brain. Or if want to be really crazy you can pretend remakes are the children of the orginal.
Well it kinda is confirmed since one of the lead Pokemon people released it. Not really Nintendo’s call. And no, Zinnia was referring to Ruby/Sapphire – the world of Hoenn where there was no Mega Evolution. It explains why Mega Evolution exists in some and not others, since many stories show it as a long held tradition/established point of evolution for the elite.
Arceus'FaithfulPikachu says:
…You’re bringing the anime into the timeline? Would not the anime take place in an entirely different universe? Besides, has there been anything saying the anime is in the same world as the game?
I’m not taking the anime into the timeline, this is strictly game. The only anime that could have any presence in the game – and official canon as far as I’m concerned – is Pokemon Origins as it is a retelling of the Red/Blue story. Fairly certain the Pokemon Anime lost all credibility when it made Ash 10 years old for … how many season now? lol
Uiru says:
So here’s my hypothesis: Kalos and Kanto are alternate universe counterparts. Remember, in the original games, R/S/E linked to FR/LG. Instead, ORAS links with X/Y. Also, in X/Y you don’t get your starter from the professor, when you meet him, he gives you a Kanto starter. Further more, all of the R/G/B/Y legendary pokemon are in X/Y, the three birds and mewtwo.
So why is Kanto Kalos? The death beam. What if the impact of that catastrophe changed the tide of the war for one side? What if, without it, the other side won?
Now on the matter of the new timeline, I disagree, I would say X/Y and OR/AS are happening at the same time. Now it’s been a while since I did my playthrough of OR/AS, but I don’t remember any dialogue that indicates that it takes place after X/Y.
Now, as I write this, there are two new games on the horizon, Sun/Moon. These will be the games to either prove or disprove my hypothesis. To prove my hypothesis, the new region would have to be to kalos what johto is to kanto, so the two would be connected, and you could go through the kalos league. Further more, it should provide the johto starters on top of the new starters in a similar fashion as X/Y, also capable of mega evolution. Now there could be a lot done with this if we can go back to Kalos. How? I seem to recall a kalos legendary getting new forms but no game. That could be the a part of the plot when the game takes us to kalos. Think about it, in S/G/C, we fought the remnants of rocket, this time it could be the remains of flare. Also, Lysandre’s fate is actually ambiguous depending on the version. In X, his last words are along the lines of “Let us all be cursed with immortality.” and in Y “Let us all be destroyed.” So what if he returns, but depending on the version, his appearance, goals, and personality are totally different. The lysandre from X has become some sort of godly being, while the one from Y barely survived and is now on life support. In order to do this, versions would have to be specifically tied to each other, such as x-sun and y-moon. Now in S/G/C team rocket’s plan to bring back giovanni failed, but what if team flare succeeds in finding lysandre at the end of their involvement in the new region, then fall back to kalos after thwarting their schemes. Then as you go through Kalos, you deal with them as they take control of Zygarde, which awakens due to the events of OR/AS when groudon and kyrogre go primal.
Again, just a hypothesis, but just imagine…
Robert Jindra says:
Ow, my head.
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JLL India report
Residential units' launches dip 11% in H1 2019: Report
India lifted 271 mn people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016: UN
India lifted 271 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016, recording the fastest reductions in the multidimensional poverty index values during the period with strong improvements in areas such as "assets, cooking fuel, sanitation and nutrition," a report by the United Nations said.
India slams UN rights office report on J&K as continuation of 'false narrative'
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in New Delhi that the update of the earlier OHCHR report is "merely a continuation of the earlier false and motivated narrative" on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The report's assertions are in violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity and ignore the core issue of cross-border terrorism, he said.
Institutional investments in realty sector doubled to USD 20 billion during 2014-18: Report
The Indian real estate sector attracted USD 30 billion of institutional investments during 2009-2018, and out of which USD 20 billion was invested during 2014-2018, reflecting the positive impact of reforms. JLL India CEO and Country Head Ramesh Nair attributed this rise in institutional investments to positive impact of various transformatory reforms undertaken from 2014.
No locus standi: India on US religious freedom report
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US to seek rollback of Indian tariffs on agricultural products: Report
United States will seek rollback of Indian tariffs imposed on some agricultural products such as almonds when the two sides meet on Friday, a senior Indian government source told Reuters. US President Donald Trump has been putting pressure on India to do more to open its markets, saying this week on Twitter that its high tariffs were “unacceptable”.
WGSHA alumni share experiences with students
Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration alumni shared their rich experiences with the students to make the day-long Hospitality Symposium and Curriculum Conclave that concluded here on Monday.
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Analytics talent growing fastest in India: Report
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Bengaluru most digitised city: Report
Bengaluru has topped the list of "most digitised cities" accounting for highest card payments, followed by Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. The study was conducted by payments solution company Razorpay. The top five digitised states as per the report are Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi.
India sold over 204 mn WiFi devices in 2018: Report
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Huawei to enter tablet market in India: Report
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NHRC seeks status report from CBI over case against Lawyer's collective
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poets day
For Critic’s Notebook I watched Ben Wheatley’s new film Free Fire, and once again was left trying to work out whether the problem is him or me.
I reviewed Confusion and Carnage, Adam Nayman’s new book about Wheatley, in the May issue of Sight & Sound and looked for some answers in there too. But the book has a fan’s certainty and doesn’t set out to convince doubters.
Back when criticism could still be called niche employment, David Bordwell called for less interpretation and more poetics in film criticism, on the grounds that “interpretation has become easy, but analysis is still hard.” He had enough solid reasons to be going on with in 1989, although couldn’t foresee the one that’s become most pressing right now. When expertise is mistrusted and the voice of authority has become more of a death rattle, ceaseless interpretation of every raised eyebrow and rainbow is just a really bad way to change anyone’s mind about anything.
A rhetoric of musts and onlys, of always alreadys, of dangers and complicities portrays the writer as one guided by certainties.
– Dr Bordwell, fortune teller.
critical seconds Two strong projects brewing at Michigan Medicine, written about recently by me: Speeding up brain cancer surgery, by creating virtual stained
pongs In the April issue of Chemistry World magazine I wrote about how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to improve sanitation in the
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Vanessa Lachey Posts First Pic With 'BH90210' Husband Jason Priestley
By newadmin / Published on Monday, 08 Jul 2019 17:59 PM / Comments Off on Vanessa Lachey Posts First Pic With 'BH90210' Husband Jason Priestley / 10 views
Meet the Priestleys! Vanessa Lachey shared the first snap with her new onscreen husband from the set of BH90210.
‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Cast Shares Behind-the-Scenes Photos From Reboot
“Introducing Mrs. Jason Priestley … or am I Mrs. Brandon Walsh?!” the former MTV VJ, 38, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, July 7. “One month until the premiere of @bh90210!!! August 7th you’ll see what I’m talking about & you WON’T be disappointed! We’re cookin’ up some juicy stuff!!!”
Lachey announced in late May that she would be joining the Private Eyes star, 49, and his former Beverly Hills, 90210 costars Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris and Brian Austin Green for the series quasi-revival.
“My NEW JOB has a pretty iconic zip code!!!” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “I am still pinching myself that I get to join this incredible cast & play Jason Priestley’s wife.”
Vanessa Lachey and Jason Priestly Getty Images (2)
Deadline reported that the Top Chef Junior host will be portaying a “top PR executive” named Camille who is struggling to find a balance between her career and her personal life as she and Priestley attempt to start a family.
Best TV Couples of All Time
Also joining the show’s original crew is La La Anthony, who will play 45-year-old Green’s wife, Shay.
Lachey isn’t the only one offering up behind-the-scenes sneak peeks from the set: Doherty, 48, gave fans of the original series major nostalgia when she shared a shot with her fictional sibling last month.
“And just like that, the twins are back,” the Charmed alum wrote of the photo, which showed her embracing Priestley in front of a quaint hut.
There’s one person noticeably missing from the show’s revival, however: Luke Perry. The Riverdale actor died in March at the age of 52 after suffering a stroke.
Everything to Know About the ‘BH90210’ Revival
Priestley admitted he is struggling with his late friend’s absence, telling the Associated Press in May that it’s “very difficult” to do the show without him.
Added the Canada native: ”Luke was a huge part of our 90210 family and personally Luke was a very large part of my life.”
BH90210 will premiere on Fox on August 7 at 9 p.m. ET.
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Round two? Ronnie Ortiz-Magro revealed to his costars that...
Catching up. Brian Austin Green enjoyed a bit of...
Wendy Williams can count on Andy Cohen for support!...
They get glammed up for red carpet events,...
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Otherwise Engaged
Quick, Amanda
One does not expect to be kidnapped on a London street in broad daylight. But Amity Doncaster barely escapes with her life after she is trapped in a carriage with a blade-wielding man in a black silk mask who whispers the most vile taunts and threats into her ear. Her quick thinking, and her secret weapon, save her... for now. But the monster known in the press as the Bridegroom, who has left a trail of female victims in his wake, has survived the wounds she inflicts and will soon be on his feet again. He is unwholesomely obsessed by her scandalous connection to Benedict Stanbridge -- gossip about their hours alone in a ship's stateroom seems to have crossed the Atlantic faster than any sailing vessel could. Benedict refuses to let this resourceful, daring woman suffer for her romantic link to him, as tenuous as it may be. For a man and woman so skilled at disappearing, so at home in the exotic reaches of the globe, escape is always an option. But each intends to end the Bridegroom's reign of terror in London, and will join forces to do so. And as they prepare to confront an unbalanced criminal in the heart of the city they love, they must also face feelings that neither of them can run away from.
Publisher: Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, c2014.
Edition: Large print ed.
Branch Call Number: QUICK A LP
Characteristics: 483 p. (large print); 23 cm.
Read more reviews of Otherwise Engaged at iDreamBooks.com
blyeater May 27, 2019
Loved it! I couldn't put it down.
JessicaGma Feb 20, 2018
Light, fluffy, quick - I rather wish the weaponised fan was actually used in the story, but it was a delightful read. Good vacation reading.
Debbi_0 May 28, 2014
Quick, cute, fairly predictable. But isn't that part of what we love aout her books? Overall I did enjoy it!
MaxineML May 15, 2014
A classic JAK historical. I always know what I'm getting when I pick up one of these. I still don't think her newer books are as good as some of her older titles, but this was better than the past few she's had.
A feisty, adventurous heroine. A brooding scientist hero. A mystery. A serial killer. A russian spy. A small subplot involving Amity's widowed sister finding love again in the arms of a dashing inspector from Scotland Yard (adorable).
A cute read.
Cynthia_N May 03, 2014
I just love Amanda Quick's novels. I know exactly what I'm getting and I'm never disappointed. There is the extremely clever heroine who is just a touch past the proper marriageable age. There is the dashing hero who will never marry. There is an issue that must be solved which requires the two work together. She drives him crazy with the risks she takes. He drives her crazy because he wants her to play it safe. They fall in love.
Serial Murder Investigation — Fiction.
Women Travelers — Fiction.
Women Journalists — Fiction.
Engineers — Fiction.
London (England) — 19th Century — Fiction.
Find it at TSCPL
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Vol. 82/No. 17 ● April 30, 2018 The-Militant-Logo A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE
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On the Picket Line
Delta workers rally in Minnesota to build support for a union
By Helen Meyers
Vol. 82/No. 17
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Delta Airlines ramp and cargo workers, flight attendants and supporters held a standing-room-only rally at the Labor Center here April 4 to advance their fight to organize a union. Delta workers from the Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, New York and Madison, Wisconsin, airports — all part of the International Association of Machinists union-organizing effort — spoke at the rally. Delta bought Northwest Airlines in 2008, where workers were members of the IAM.
After the merger, workers at the combined company voted down the union by a small majority under pressure of a concerted boss campaign. Pro-union workers are campaigning to get enough union cards signed to have a new vote.
The 35 Minneapolis ramp workers in attendance included older and newer workers. New hires on the ramp are all assigned Ready Reserve status. They get half the pay of Delta full-time employees, no benefits and are only allowed to work 1,400 hours per year. Many have been in the Ready Reserve for years.
Rob LaVigne, who was part of the last group of Ready Reserve to become full time several years ago, said he came to the rally because it’s about “getting rights back, getting what we’re worth.” LaVigne said the only way a Ready Reserve worker gets full-time work today is to agree to become a lead.
Melvin Eves, who has worked at Delta for 32 years, came to the rally with a newer ramp worker from Detroit. “We need solidarity in this fight, us older guys have to stand up for the young guys,” Eves told the Militant. “We had all these benefits and they don’t.”
Joe Evica, a Ready Reserve worker in Madison, said, “West Virginia teachers are the example we need to follow.”
“The reason workers came out is from the deteriorating conditions they face on the job,” Minneapolis ramp worker Marty Knaeble told the Militant, “combined with confidence that the organizing momentum makes success possible.”
Are you involved in a union organizing drive or strike? Brought solidarity to fellow workers on the picket line? Let us know! Send articles, photos and letters to themilitant@mac.com or through our website, or mail them to 306 W. 37th St., 13th floor, New York, NY 10018.
Teachers mount fights against gov’t attacks
FRANKFORT, Ky. — In a scene increasingly familiar across the country, thousands of teachers, other school workers and students and supporters rallied outside the state Capitol here April 13. They were protesting attacks by Gov. Matt Bevin and the state…
France: Rail workers strike against government attacks
PARIS — An eerie silence settled over the deserted Gare de l’Est train terminal here April 9, replacing the noisy hum of the hundreds of thousands of passengers who normally crisscross the station daily. In a wave of rolling strikes,…
Workers in Puerto Rico resist attacks by US, colonial rulers
We’ve done the Band-Aid,” Mike Byrne, Puerto Rico coordinator for the U.S. rulers’ Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the press in early April. “We’ve patched the [electrical] system back together.” Some patch! At least 100,000 people are still without power…
Norfolk Southern sues rail workers for crash damage
Seeking to pin the blame on workers for deteriorating railroad safety conditions, Norfolk Southern Railway bosses are suing two of its employees for a collision and derailment in Georgetown, Kentucky, last month. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court…
Australia dockworkers strike four days over working conditions
MELBOURNE, Australia — Some 90 dockworkers, members of the Maritime Union of Australia, and their supporters rallied outside the gates of Qube Ports’ Webb Dock car terminal here April 8. The 145 workers at Qube, who unload imported vehicles, struck…
Colo. teachers rally at Capitol April 16, plan more actions
DENVER — More than 150 teachers from the Englewood school district headed for their first statewide “Day of Action” outside the Capitol here April 16, demand-ing higher wages, increased school funding and no cuts to retirees’ pensions. The Eng-lewood teachers…
Front Page Articles
The working class is the true target of liberals’ fury
‘I want to read these socialist books and that Militant paper’
US-led Syria missile attack driven by conflicts with Tehran, Moscow
SWP: ‘All US troops out of Korea! End sanctions against the DPRK!’
‘Sankara’: a vivid portrayal of Burkina Faso Revolution
US out of Korea! An unknown history: History of Washington’s intervention in Korea
Philippine students scoop up communist literature
Campaign to expand reach of 'Militant,' books, fund (week three)
Campaign with ‘Militant,’ SWP books!
Defeat of US imperialism at Playa Girón was historic
25, 50 and 75 years ago
© Copyright 2019 The Militant - 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor - New York, NY 10018 - themilitant@mac.com
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Category Archives: 3 Stars
3 Stars, Genre Romance, Holiday Romance, J.D. Walker, JMS Books LLC, Reviewed By Carrie
Review: Grateful for You by J.D. Walker
December 23, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, Gay Romance, Holiday Romance, J.D. Walker, JMS Books LLC Leave a comment
Title: Grateful for You
Author: J.D. Walker
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
At a Glance: If you enjoy those feel good kinda short stories, then this one is for you.
Blurb: Jared Gillespie left the family farm five years ago because Walt Schneider cheated on him. With a woman. What he didn’t realize was that Walt, the man he still loves, was trying to tell him something, and it takes a trip home to figure it out.
After Jared’s mother convinces him to return for Thanksgiving, Jared discovers Walt is a daddy now, of all things. His daughter’s name is Casey — Jared’s middle name. When Jared and Walt confront each other, the resulting confrontation causes Jared to realize he may have pushed Walt to cheat because of his overbearing ways. But would Walt be interested in trying again, after all this time?
Because a man doesn’t name his daughter after his ex-lover if he’s over him, no matter what he pretends to the contrary. Maybe Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful: for second chances, and for love found, not lost.
Review: Jared knows it’s time to go home. He’s been away for five years, ever since his childhood love, Walt, cheated on him. Jared didn’t stick around after it happened, he just left, and he’s never been back. He doesn’t know why Walt did it, or what message he was trying to send, Jared just knew it hurt. But, now it is time to go home and put those ghosts to rest so he can move on and heal—finally.
This is a short story of forgiveness and an example of what love can overcome if we let it. Being so short, we don’t get a lot of backstory here, but we do get a good sense of who these men are individually, and we get enough to know that the love they feel is real. It takes forgiveness on both sides to heal, and both men to be willing to put themselves out there again for this HEA happen.
If you enjoy those feel good kinda short stories, then this one is for you.
You can buy Grateful for You here:
3 Stars, Daisy Harris, Genre Romance, New Adult, Reviewed by Sadonna, Samhain Publishing
Review: Twofer by Daisy Harris
December 22, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, Daisy Harris, Gay Romance, New Adult Romance, Samhain Publishing Leave a comment
Title: Twofer
Author: Daisy Harris
At a Glance: Not my favorite book by this author, but an interesting take on two guys who want to play the same role.
Blurb: Bottoms up!
If a college freshman can’t get laid in sun-drenched Miami, he’s doing something wrong. Frankie Perez is determined to help his roommate get some man action in any way possible.
When Frankie’s arsenal of dating apps, fashion advice, and playing-hard-to-get lessons doesn’t work, he realizes Jeremy needs remedial help. Except tutoring Jeremy in the art of sex gets steamier than Frankie expected—and it scares the hell out of him.
Jeremy’s not sure why he’s wasting his time hooking up when he’s only got eyes for the slinky, sexy roommate he comes home to at night. But the hotter their chemistry simmers, the quicker Frankie dances away.
In near desperation, Frankie suggests the two of them team up to find a third to top them both, forgetting that two bottoms aren’t immune from lusting after each other. In a world where every man is an option, choosing one to love can be the sexiest risk of all.
Warning: Contains questionable morals, copious immature hijinks, an X-rated photo shoot, and disastrous threesomes. Sex toys were misused (but not harmed) in the making of this book.
Review: Twofer is the thirteenth book I’ve read by Daisy Harris. I just loved her Men of Holsum College series and her Ivory Tower series as well. Both of those series also featured college guys who are figuring things out for themselves and making their way in the world, so I thought I would enjoy this one too.
This story, however, was a bit different than the others. Frankie and Jeremy are about as different as two people can be—background, personality, you name it. The one thing it seems they do have in common is that they are both bottoms. Jeremy, however, is a pretty sheltered guy and has zero experience with any guys. Frankie is VERY out and has a very active sex life, but he’s not into relationships at all. He does feel bad that Jeremy seems to not be any closer to finding a boyfriend, though, so he decides to help.
This is a case of the road to hell being paved with good intentions. The advice that Frankie gives Jeremy and his “help” seems to cause even more problems than Jeremy had to start with. Things get a little steamy and then a lot awkward between them thanks to Frankie’s ill-advised “help.” Frankie also becomes aware that maybe he’s not that interested in finding somebody else for Jeremy.
There are a few things in this books that some people won’t like, including additional partners for Frankie and Jeremy that they sometimes like to include. For those who want only the primary couple in their books and no extracurricular playmates, then this book is not for you. Personally, I had no issue with the way they conducted themselves because there was total honesty and agreement in their pursuit of fulfillment in their relationship. I also thought that part of the story was handled well.
The only niggling issue that I had with the story was Jeremy’s character. I felt like we don’t get to know him as well as Frankie, and I would have liked to have seen more of his story. With Frankie we get his family and his jobs and his social life, and with Jeremy we pretty much get school and his time with Frankie and his attempts to find a toppy boyfriend.
Overall, while not the strongest work from this author, Twofer is still an enjoyable read, particularly for the adorable Frankie.
You can buy Twofer here:
3 Stars, Ceci Thornton, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Reviewed by Lisa, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Urban Fantasy, Self-Published
Review: Saved by the Shifter by Ceci Thornton
December 21, 2015 LisaCeci Thornton, Gay Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Self-Published, Shifters, Urban Fantasy Leave a comment
Title: Saved by the Shifter
Author: Ceci Thornton
At a Glance: In spite of some niggles here and there, the action sequences in Saved by the Shifter made for some suspenseful reading.
Blurb: Nate Palmer is desperate enough to try anything to find his missing niece…
Nate has cared for his niece Beth since she was a baby, and now the sixteen-year old has disappeared without a word. The only clue he has is a letter she left behind from her birth mother. He’d do anything to find her, even if it means turning to a down-on-his-luck private investigator working out of a store front in a strip mall—one with the ability to sniff out more clues.
Dexter Armstrong is a lone wolf looking to use his tracking skills to do some good…
Dexter had a pack once, but left, disgusted by their lack of appreciation for their gift. But business is bad and his roof is leaking. He’s just about ready to throw in the towel on that lonely life when Nate walks in the door, looking helpless and smelling delectable.
Together they will travel to the seediest parts of LA
Even as he’s focused on finding his niece, Nate can’t help but be drawn to Dexter’s powerful dominance. And Dexter becomes more and more certain that Nate’s his fated mate. Can their attraction survive the reveal of Dexter’s true nature? And can they both survive the supernatural perils that they will face in their quest to find Beth—and to find the kind of love and family both have been dreaming of?
Review: When Nate Palmer’s older brother, Craig, was busted for selling drugs to an off-duty cop and sent to prison, Nate became sole caretaker of his niece Beth. Beth’s mother isn’t in the picture any longer, having fled to parts unknown years before, so Nate truly is Beth’s only hope at a normal life—and they’d gotten along well, too, until Beth hit the terrible teens. Now Beth has gone missing, Nate is beside himself with worry and fear, and his one hope of finding his niece and getting her back home safely seems to be Private Investigator Dexter Armstrong.
That’s the quick setup for Ceci Thornton’s Saved by the Shifter, a novel that taps into the shifter bonding trope, albeit only shallowly, to bring Nate and Dexter together as partners in sex as well as in tracking down Nate’s niece. As I’ve said any number of times before, sometimes the device works for me, sometimes it doesn’t. A lot depends on how well the author convinces me, after that initial spark of lust has struck, that the two guys have what it takes to be a couple. I liked Dexter and Nate, and though I had some quibbles over their initial meeting and the lack of exploration in what they have in common other than lust, the fact they go through hell and back with each other did help to make the bond somewhat more believable. There’s something to be said for not only going into battle together but then surviving.
While Saved by the Shifter is categorized as a Mystery, I have to say I felt Dexter’s role as a PI was pretty well in title only, made so by the simple lack of a true mystery in this plot. We don’t have to wait long to discover what happened to Beth, and Dexter isn’t even the one who searched for the clues to track her down, so we don’t get to see him at work much in that role. The information on Beth’s whereabouts is effectively dumped in his lap, which I felt was a bit of a let-down as I’d prepped myself for a good missing person investigation, but once I understood the storyline was more Urban Fantasy than an all-out Mystery, the positive becomes the author’s ability to write a tense and suspenseful action scene. Of course, Dexter’s shifter half comes in handy along the way too, as he’s fairly certain of the danger Beth is in before it’s confirmed, so that added to the tension in the storyline and made for some excitement during the book’s climactic scene.
There are several things that, overall, I felt could have been explored in greater detail in this book, much of it revolving around Dexter as a character. I think the potential for him to be more interesting and layered was missed in the lack of background details about him—we get a few facts, but to make him more interesting, knowing where he came from, who he came from, what he came from, what shifter mythology inspired his character, would have gone a long way to building interest in him as a supernatural character for me. Essentially, we get no world-building to speak of (which left me with some distracting questions during Beth’s rescue), and even more confusing for me, was a group of shifters that materialized and disappeared from the story and left me scratching my head—one moment they appear threatening, the next, they were there to cover Dexter’s back. There’s a history there that most definitely was missing, and I’d have loved to know more of it—why they were antagonists one moment, saviors the next. And while I’m on the subject of characters, here, I will say I liked the sweet reunion between Nate and Beth, and felt the affection between them was genuine and well portrayed.
In the end, though I feel the book could have used some more exposition, I liked Saved by the Shifter for what it was—a vehicle to bring two likable men together to form their own little pack.
You can buy Saved by the Shifter here:
3 Stars, Audio Book, BDSM/Kink/Erotica, Dreamspinner Press, Genre Romance, Narration Rating - 5 Stars, Reviewed By JJ, Tempeste O'Riley
Audio Review: Caged Sanctuary by Tempeste O’Riley – Narrated by Paul Morey
December 16, 2015 LisaAudiobook, BDSM, Contemporary Romance, D/s, Dreamspinner Press, Gay Romance, Paul Morey, Tempeste O'Riley Leave a comment
Title: Caged Sanctuary
Author: Tempeste O’Riley
Narrator: Paul Morey
Run Time: 6 hours and 26 Minutes
At a Glance: Story: This book started out pleasant and enjoyable, but I lost interest after the first date, though I think Paul Morey did an excellent job with this reading.
Reviewed By: JJ
Blurb: Kaden Thorn, a dental surgeon who lives a quiet life, has no hope of finding the love he craves. A vicious gay bashing cost him the use of his legs and confined him to a wheelchair. He has given up hope of finding a Dom or even a nonkink partner to love him. When his best friend practically forces him to attend a dinner party, the last thing he expects is a strong Dom who can see beyond his wheels.
Deacon James is an architect and a demanding Dom, but he has spent the past couple of years without a sub or partner. When an employee invites him to a dinner party to meet his girlfriend, Deacon smells a setup but agrees anyway. He prides himself on being an excellent judge of character, and when he meets the younger dentist, he sees past the chair and finds a sweet submissive man who more than piques his interest.
Kade’s fears and demons continue to haunt him, challenging Deacon to use everything he’s learned as a Dom to earn Kade’s trust and submission. Deacon’s determined, though, willing to battle all of it to have Kade by his side and at his feet.
Review: Caged Sanctuary begins at a dinner party, where Kaden, a wheelchair-bound dental surgeon, meets his future Dom, Deacon, who is an architect. The two men are attracted to each other right away, and end up setting up a date for a BDSM scene. After entering into a D/s relationship, things get more serious between them. Since Deacon is very sensitive to Kaden’s insecurity over his mobility issues and does his best to make him feel comfortable, Kaden eventually learns to trust more and gains more self-confidence. Their relationship eventually progresses into something more than a Dom/sub relationship.
This book started out pleasant and enjoyable, but I lost interest after the first date, and realized the story was not for me. I think one of the issues was that the relationship moved a little too quickly. I also thought it was a bit odd that Kaden asks Deacon if he is a Dom on the first day they meet. This struck me as unbelievable, considering they were introduced by friends who had nothing to do with the lifestyle, and neither man was wearing anything to indicate they were into BDSM. Then, after their first date, they were practically a done deal. I thought Kaden was sweet, but his lack of self-confidence made it difficult for me to imagine him as a full grown adult. In addition to not liking the characters and pacing, I was hoping there would be some kind of conflict in the book. However, after they meet, they fall in love, move in together, and soon have their happily-ever-after. Despite these issues, the sex scenes were hot, and I enjoyed the sweet moments when they were cuddling.
Narration: I think Paul Morey did an excellent job with this reading. Most of the time when I listen to an audiobook, the narration pulls me out of the book multiple times throughout. However, I was able to listen to Morey without thinking of the narration even once. Each voice was distinct and seemed to match the personality of the characters.
You can buy Caged Sanctuary here:
3 Stars, Audio Book, BA Tortuga, Dreamspinner Press, Genre Romance, Narration Rating - 5 Stars, Reviewed by Amy
Audio Review: Ever the Same by BA Tortuga – Narrated by Paul Morey
December 8, 2015 LisaAudiobooks, BA Tortuga, Contemporary Romance, Dreamspinner Press, M/M Romance, Paul Morey Leave a comment
Title: Ever the Same
At a Glance: Overall, I liked this story but felt it was missing something.
Reviewed By: Amy
Blurb: Audie Barrack is in it up to his elbows with a sick calf when his son’s school calls. Seems Grainger has gotten into yet another fight. When he walks into the principal’s office, he’s shocked to find his son has been fighting with a little girl named Randi.
A little girl with one blind dad and one dad who recently passed away.
Goddammit.
Dixon has lost his sight, his career, and his husband. Thank God for his brothers, Momma and Daddy, and his little girl, or he would simply give up. The last thing he needs is for Randi to start trouble at school, especially trouble that puts him in contact with another dad who might expect him to be a functional human being.
Dixon is struggling to live as a blind man, Audie is terrified someone might see he has a closet to come out of, and everyone from the school to both men’s families is worried for the men and their children. Unless they get themselves together and commit to change, neither of them stands a chance.
Review: I’m a big fan of BA Tortuga’s writing, and own several print copies of her books. I was excited to listen to this story—I’m definitely drawn to stories that are unconventional. Dixon was a great character, and he was put through some really trying times. When we are introduced to him and Audie, they meet because their children get into a fight at school. From then on, you meet a whole slew of characters—from Randi and Granger (the kids), to their respective families, and finally, the animals. The animals played an awesome part in the story.
The children really brought this story home for me. They are the glue holding it together, and without them, I feel this book wouldn’t have been successful. They were what was right about this story. But unfortunately, I felt that there were a lot of inconsistencies in the plot, and I had a hard time with Audie and Dixon’s families. These two men are not your conventional twenty-year-old guys. These are grown men facing very serious issues, yet they acted like they were very young, and they let their parents walk all over them.
Dixon was a great character whose growth is visible throughout the story. However, I really wanted to see him flourish as a blind person. Overall, I liked this story but felt it was missing something. The thing I think it’s missing is the actual romance. I felt like I didn’t get to see Dixon and Audie fall in love. It just was.
Narration: Ever the Same is performed by Paul Morey. That’s all that needs to be said. Morey is a consummate professional who does an excellent job narrating this book. He did a great job speaking for the children, which I always feel is a difficult thing to do as a narrator. He is absolutely fabulous.
You can buy Ever the Same here:
3 Stars, Genre Romance, L.A. Witt, Reviewed By Carrie, Riptide Publishing
Review: Rain Shadow by L.A. Witt
November 23, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, L.A. Witt, M/M Romance, Riptide Publishing Leave a comment
Title: Rain Shadow (A Bluewater Bay Novel)
Author: L.A. Witt
At a Glance: All in all, another solid addition to the Bluewater Bay series.
Blurb: Jeremy Rose came to Bluewater Bay to work as Anna Maxwell’s bodyguard, not to escape his increasingly bitter relationship with his estranged kids. He just wants to focus on his job and be alone for a while. He’s done with love, especially now that three years after his long overdue divorce, he’s got a front-row seat to the rapid deterioration between Anna and her girlfriend. Cynical doesn’t even begin to describe him.
Then Anna and Leigh’s attempts to reconcile put him in the crosshairs of marriage counselor Scott Fletcher. Scott’s exactly what Jeremy needs right now: gorgeous, hot, horny, single, and 100% uninterested in a relationship. The problem is, too much no-strings-attached sex — and too much time in each other’s company — inevitably builds emotional connection.
Except Jeremy refuses to seek counseling for his broken family, and Scott refuses to get seriously involved with men who work dangerous jobs. They both need to realize they can only hide for so long from the pain they came here to escape. They must face their pasts before they lose their shot at a happy future.
Review: Normally I love mature romances – give me two older men in love every time. I like that older men have more of a backstory to tell and that they have established lives, aspects that are generally not a part of the storyline for younger characters. However, when the “start of life” storyline is taken away, then you have to come up with a reason why these men are still single and what their particular angst is going to be. For this story, it is the death of a previous partner for Scott, and a divorce for Jeremy. The storyline with Scott is heartbreaking, and you can totally understand his unwillingness to get close to another man.
For Jeremy, though, his divorce haunts him every day, and I think it took over the book. And, not in a good way. Jeremy spends too much time blaming himself for the condition of his family, and his ex-wife and children are happy to let him have all the guilt and responsibility. When I finished the book I felt like I could go on and on with just how much was wrong with the way those relationships were written. This book was a bit of a dichotomy for me. I loved aspects of it and I hated aspects of it.
However, I loved the romance between these two men. Jeremy and Scott have both loved and lost, and they approach their “just sex” agreement in a mature, seemingly rational way. Unfortunately, the heart is rarely rational, and the comfort and sense of belonging these men find in each other is amazing. Neither wants a relationship, but they cannot deny the ease with which they fit, like two adrift puzzle pieces that are finally placed home.
I really wanted to like this book as I have read all the Bluewater Bay stories, and thoroughly enjoyed them, not to mention I am usually a big fan of L.A. Witt, but this one is a fifty-fifty for me.
You can buy Rain Shadow here:
3 Stars, Bailey Bradford, Paranormal Romance, Pride Publishing, Reviewed by Karen
Review: Retrograde by Bailey Bradford
November 18, 2015 LisaBailey Bradford, M/M Romance, Paranormal Romance, Pride Publishing, Shifters Leave a comment
Title: Retrograde (Southwestern Shifters: Book Eleven)
Author: Bailey Bradford
Page/Word Count: 242 Pages
At a Glance: I found myself skimming through some of the pages of Retrograde, and just couldn’t get into it for most of the story.
Reviewed By: Karen
Blurb: Letting go of the past to embrace the future…
Things are changing for Marcus and Nathan, in more ways than one. Nathan is still trying to deal with the action he took in order to save Marcus’ life. It isn’t easy to do, and sometimes he fears he’ll give in to all the doubts and fears plaguing him.
What they need is some time alone, without guards shadowing their every move, no one to interrupt. Because soon, they’ll be busier than ever.
A short vacation before the annual gathering of Alpha Anaxes at the compound, that’s what they decide to do. But their vacation isn’t so private when they discover a wild pack of young shifters barely surviving.
Changes are coming.
A strange young shifter with abilities neither Marcus nor Nathan have ever seen before. Alpha Anaxes and attitudes. An intruder in their midst. And with the help of Shania, the pack doctor, the most important event of Marcus and Nathan’s shared life is about to happen.
Changes are coming, and they’re coming fast.
Review: When I first found the Southwestern Shifters series (not that long ago), I read all eleven books back to back. I couldn’t get enough and was looking so forward to this one, but was somewhat disappointed. I love Marcus and Nathan, but as I was reading, I actually kept hoping for a little less of them. Retrograde isn’t my favorite book in this series. Actually, it’s probably my least favorite.
Things seemed so repetitive in this story, with a lot of details included from the previous book, and I found myself skimming through some of the pages and had a hard time getting into it. Once we meet Asher and the other younger shifters, though, it got more interesting. But, then I found myself wishing they had been more of the focus instead of Marcus and Nathan.
Now, let me say that I enjoy sex in the books I read, and I have no issues, the majority of the time, if there is an abundance of sex, but as good as Bailey Bradford is at writing those scenes (each was awesome), there was a lot of Marcus and Nathan going at it. It was hot but there were just so many and I found myself wanting to skip them.
With it being close to the end of the series, there were some loose ends being tied up to set things up for what is coming in the final book, which I’m anxiously awaiting, but this one just didn’t do it for me.
You can buy Retrograde here:
3 Stars, Genre Romance, Loose Id, Mae Hancock, Reviewed By Carrie
Review: Cotton Candy by Mae Hancock
November 17, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, Loose Id, M/M Romance, Mae Hancock Leave a comment
Title: Cotton Candy (Wyoming Lovers: Book Two)
Author: Mae Hancock
At a Glance: This one just didn’t do it for me.
Blurb: Cowboy Cotton Reid is the laid-back type of guy who accepts people as they are, no matter how flawed. People think he’s fun, honest and crazy about his boss and friend the sexy rancher Bay Redman.
Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is something that family man Bay has done his whole life. Bay can be like a bear with a sore head if the hay isn’t stored symmetrically or his fridge contains an odd number of jars.
When the two men begin a hot affair, Cotton keeps an important secret from Bay. If he can’t find the courage to tell him the truth before someone else does, Bay may never be able to let it go.
Review: Cotton Reid fell in love with his boss—but the man is more than his boss, he is the father figure for Cotton’s daughter Kristen.
Cotton is very laid back, on the outside. On the inside, the man is just full of angst, and it colors everything he does in his job as ranch hand. He is young, he is a father, and he comes to the ranch to meet his daughter and be a part of her life. And remains there for eighteen months, doing nothing about it, before the events of this book take place. Have to admit, I had some trouble with that one, but once the author explained why, it made sense. I still may not have agreed with it, but I had a clearer view of where the author was going. Cotton is a confused character on the inside, and many of Bay’s personality traits appeal to this cowboy who needs help in an overwhelming situation. Cotton is a loving character, he wants to care for Bay and be everything the rancher needs, and in this respect the author hits it spot on. I rooted for Cotton, he just needed the support.
Bay is a successful rancher and businessman. If his personal life is not as together as his work one, well he’ll take what he can get. Bay also has OCD. I really applaud the author for how she treats this disorder in her character. The way that Bay copes – or doesn’t cope – with the OCD is addressed in compassionate and believable scenarios. Bay becomes an unlikely hero in this story, as his life trauma makes his disorder worse, to the point of taking over, and how he copes with this unique malady and moves forward with his life is admirable. Control over everything is how Bay keeps sane. This seeps into his relationship with Cotton, and Bay’s commanding persona in the bedroom is the perfect complement to Cotton’s submissive heart. But Bay is broken and he needs Cotton to help him heal. As the events in his life swirl out of control, the only peace Bay can find from his OCD is in the calm that Cotton brings whenever Bay is around him.
I have to say, I disliked the secondary figures in the story. The daughter, Kristen, was spoiled and ungrateful, and her behavior kept getting justified to the point of Bay apologizing to his daughter for the way SHE acted. Uhm. No. And the ex-wife was horrendous, but then, she was supposed to be, so excellent writing there! Grandma was a mixed bag for me; she was supportive of Bay’s relationships but felt that he could do more to control his disorder. Which, if you have OCD you know that may not be true.
There is a lot of angst flying around in this book, and for that it was a mixed bag for me. The book is compelling; it is worth the read for those who love cowboys with issues. This is book two in this series, and I will probably read the next installment just to see where the author will go next with this ranch.
I loved the cover art on this book, done by Dar Albert. The depiction of Cotton was exactly as I pictured him! Thank you for an amazing visual that enhances the story.
You can buy Cotton Candy here:
3 Stars, Christine D'Abo, Holiday Romance, Reviewed by Jules, Riptide Publishing
Review: Rebound Remedy by Christine d’Abo
November 16, 2015 LisaChristine D'Abo, Holiday Romance, M/M Romance, Riptide Publishing Leave a comment
Title: Rebound Remedy
Author: Christine d’Abo
At a Glance: Despite the few misgivings I had about it, Rebound Remedy is a sweet holiday story that I think many will enjoy.
Blurb: The last thing Cole expects to get for the holidays is dumped. But there he is, in the airport on his way to Banff for a romantic getaway, helplessly watching as his boyfriend’s ex declares undying love, proposes—and is accepted. With a few weeks to go until Christmas, Cole’s mood dives from jolly to jaded. But instead of sitting at home alone and feeling sorry for himself, he goes to his favorite bar, McGregor’s, for a pint and some company.
The moment Owen McGregor sets eyes on Cole, he knows there’s something wrong. So he takes it upon himself to ensure that Cole has a happy holiday: twelve outings for the twelve days before Christmas. Even if he can’t quite think up twelve activities that don’t involve getting the forlorn hunk into his bed.
With each outing they take together, Cole realizes that the love he thought he’d shared with his ex was less than perfect. And that Owen might prove to be more than just his rebound remedy.
Review: Cole is having a shitty start to his holidays. Suddenly finding himself single two weeks before Christmas, he heads down to his neighborhood pub – McGregor’s – to drown his sorrows a bit. But, things quickly start looking up when he ends up unexpectedly flirting with the attractive bartender/owner, Owen. The two guys connect over helping a drunk into a cab, and after getting together for breakfast the next morning, form a fast bond.
There are some sweet moments between Cole and Owen. I liked them each individually – Owen especially…he had a very interesting story, that I wish could have been explored more – and, for the most part, their chemistry with each other was pretty hot as well. I had an issue with the pacing of the story, however, which took away from the overall enjoyment for me.
There is a place in romance for insta-love; I’ve read several books where it absolutely worked. In Rebound Remedy it alllllllmost works – I did find myself rooting for them, in spite of the fact that their relationship wasn’t entirely believable – but, unfortunately, it’s just not enough. Though the book wasn’t really all that short at 155 pages, it simply didn’t give us enough of their story. It felt like a novella that needed much more fleshing out in order to get us to fall in love with the guys, and fully buy their romance. It had promise…and there were definitely bits that were good, but, for me, it did miss the mark, mainly due to all the relationship stuff just moving too darn fast.
Despite the few misgivings I had about it, Rebound Remedy is a sweet holiday story that I think many will enjoy. Especially those who love the love-at-first-sight or insta-love tropes. I liked the backdrop of Toronto, and all of the Christmas-y stuff, especially the scene where they get Cole’s tree! And, I’ll be saying my little Christmas prayers that Christine d’Abo decides to write a book for Xander (one of Owen’s friends), because he sounds ridiculously hot. I would definitely be all ‘grabby hands’ for that book! Ha!
You can buy Rebound Remedy here:
3 Stars, BDSM/Kink/Erotica, Reviewed by Sammy, Sean Michael, Torquere Press
Review: Jack of All Trades by Sean Michael
November 10, 2015 sammygoodeBDSM, Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance, Sean Michael, Torquere Press
Title: Jack Of All Trades (Box Of Nails: Book Four)
Author: Sean Michael
Publisher: Torquere Press
At a Glance: Unfortunately, Jack of All Trades is not one of this author’s better works.
Blurb: Brad is crashing in his cousin Stephen’s room while he tries to sort out his life. A perpetual student, he still hasn’t settled on a major after a half dozen years at University. He loves learning, but so far that’s the only thing that’s been a good fit.
Dill is a full-time Dom who hasn’t found the right sub yet. He’s not worried about it — he figures it’ll eventually happen and in the meantime, there’s plenty of boys at the Hammer Club who are eager to share a scene with an experienced master.
When Brad and Dill meet at a party at Barney and Devon’s house for subs, the attraction is immediate and undeniable and Master Dill feels that Brad is the perfect sub for him. He also believes that as his submissive, Brad will learn the focus he needs to fulfill his potential and find satisfaction with his life. Now he just needs to help jack-of-all-trades Brad see they belong together
Review: Brad is adrift—more than just a perpetual student who floats by from one major to the next, he is barely surviving monetarily as well. Now couch surfing at a friend’s place, Brad meets Dill, a Dom in search of a submissive. When the two meet, Brad is still a virgin and certain that the kinky life of BDSM is not for him…or so he thinks. Dill recognizes in Brad a sub in need of direction and education, and sets out to be the impetus for both in Brad’s life.
After arranging for Brad to become his intern who will help research his many articles concerning the D/s world, Dill begins to wear down Brad’s resistance to trying out the lifestyle for himself. With much gentle reassurance and a heap of nudging, Brad seems ready to consider the idea he could be a submissive—but, will he be willing to explore that with Dill as his Master? Only time will tell.
If you know anything about Sean Michael’s work then you know it is filled with hot sex and varying degrees of BDSM, and Jack Of All Trades is no exception. Honestly, were this a piece of erotica and not a novel that should have a serious and steadily moving plot, I could have given this story five stars and called it a day. There is no doubt that this author can churn out one hot sexual scenario after another. In fact, the Doms that proliferate this author’s books are always kind, gentle and fully invested in their submissives, even when that means pushing them well beyond their comfort zone and exploring deeply ingrained painful memories that often seem to go hand in hand with being a submissive in one of Sean Michael’s stories.
Jack of All Trades delivers on this successful formula of needy sub and patient Dom quite nicely. However, what’s lacking here are the specifics surrounding Brad’s insecurities. I never really got to know Brad on any other level than he was a virgin and in need of being told it was okay to explore BDSM. He seemed to have no real family, there was no real meat or hidden reasons behind his inability to commit, and, to be frank, I was hard pressed to see his character’s growth throughout the novel. Other than his committing to a relationship with Dill, Brad remained one-dimensional and I am sorry to say, rather boring.
This novel fell short merely because it failed to establish what was really the root of Brad’s inability to commit to life—whether that be a college major or being Dill’s submissive. Instead, there was simply heaps of great sex and little else. I found myself wanting this story to move on—to get to the point where Dill would dig deep enough to see why Brad was so adrift. Instead, he took the man into his home, gave him a rather contrived “internship” by becoming his “patron,” and introduced him to the world of BDSM. Other than Brad agreeing to becoming exclusive and willing to “try” the lifestyle, I failed to see any real change in either character. Hence, we had a series of sex scenes tied together with very little plot.
Sean Michael has turned out some very good and provocative novels where the characters develop and change, finally growing into a less wounded and more complete person. Unfortunately, Jack of All Trades is not one of this author’s better works and therefore, fell short of the kind of stories this author is capable of producing.
You can buy Jack of All Trades here:
3 Stars, Charlie Richards, Extasy Books, Paranormal Romance, Reviewed by Sadonna
Review: Not a Line of Bull by Charlie Richards
November 4, 2015 LisaCharlie Richards, Extasy Books, M/M Romance, Paranormal Romance, Shifters Leave a comment
Title: Not a Line of Bull (A Loving Nip: Book Six)
Author: Charlie Richards
Publisher: eXtasy Books
At a Glance: An interesting tale of a shifter that has been sequestered by an alpha who has very strange ideas about how to lead – and his rescue by his beloved.
Blurb: Just a little love bite: The instinct to please your peers should never be stronger than your conscience.
Cassium Jones is closing in on his fourth century mark and over the years has held many roles, from farmer to soldier to vampire enforcer. Now, he’s ready to settle down in moderate relaxation…if working a cattle ranch can be considered relaxing. He loves the wide open spaces, the fresh clean air, and even tending the animals. Handling the maintenance and care for the Angus cows in the northern pastures offers plenty of solitude, and he should have been left pretty much alone. Instead, Cassium stumbles upon an injured Angus bull amongst the livestock, and realizes the bull is not only a shifter, but his beloved, his soul mate. Cassium learns Garth has been driven from his herd for disobeying a controlling alpha, leaving behind two young children. While Cassium is happy to help reunite the bull shifter with his kids, is he ready to take on the role of parent when all he wanted was to retire?
Review: Note: Not a Line of Bull is book six in the A Loving Nip series, and while it’s helpful to have read the other stories in the series, this novella can easily be read as a standalone.
We met Cassium Jones in a previous installment of this series, when he becomes the unlikely hero in A Rose for Paul’s Protector and rescues the beloved of his cover master as he is going into “retirement” so that the humans don’t notice how he doesn’t seem to age.
As he’s repairing the fences in the pasture near his cabin, he sees and smells blood and recognizes it as not fully animal. He’s convinced it’s a shifter, and he locates the seriously wounded animal hiding in the herd. But, he knows he’s not a bull only, and he convinces the guy to shift, though he’s so injured that he can’t even remain conscious for the short trip back to Cassium’s cabin.
Cassium is somewhat adept at first aid, so he bandages up his guest as best he can. During bouts of consciousness, Cassium manages to get out of the bull shifter that his name is Garth, and he’s from a herd that is close by, but he’s obviously not in any shape to do much more than talk. It’s pretty apparent, really quickly, that Garth has been injured by his own herd’s enforcers, on orders from the alpha. Also, as Cassium gets to know Garth, he determines that he’s been very isolated from his herd and has some pretty farfetched ideas about not only shifters but other paranormals as well. He’s also very, very young compared to Cassium.
But the real surprise is that Garth has children, and he is extremely worried for them. Cassium explains to Garth a good deal about paranormals and the mate bond, and also confesses that he’s much older that Garth. Cassium decides he definitely needs backup, and contacts the head enforcer for his coven, and also their doctor since he’s still concerned about Garth’s injuries.
Of course, Garth’s herd is not content to just let him go, and once Cassium and his coven know children are involved, there is a concerted effort to make things right for Cassium and Garth.
These two are very sweet, and it was nice to see Cassium change as he realized what his life could be after all his years without his beloved. Garth is a sweet and naïve character who is a good man and a good father, and who knows a good thing when he sees it. :) Another enjoyable addition to this series.
You can buy Not a Line of Bull here:
3 Stars, Elizabeth Coldwell, Paranormal Romance, Pride Publishing, Reviewed by Jennifer, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Review: Into the Arena by Elizabeth Coldwell
October 23, 2015 LisaElizabeth Coldwell, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Pride Publishing, Shifters Leave a comment
Title: Into the Arena (Lionhearts: Book Four)
Author: Elizabeth Coldwell
At a Glance: The book starts off strong, but some parts were too much of a stretch.
Blurb: He will fight for the one he loves, no matter what it takes.
Cesare Bianco is a shifter without a pride. Exiled from his home town of Padua after losing a leadership fight to his corrupt, self-serving uncle, he travels to Rome in search of a new beginning. A chance meeting sees him taking a job on the catering crew of a Hollywood blockbuster. When he meets the movie’s handsome lead actor, Hayden, he knows he’s in the presence of his mate. But Hayden is human. Even though he offers the possibility of lasting love, Cesare must fight all his instincts to make it happen.
Hayden Skarz is on the verge of the big time. Landing the lead in sci-fi adventure Thrown to the Lions has put him on the road to stardom. Filming in Rome is a difficult new challenge for him, though being around Cesare, the hunk who works in the catering truck, makes his job much sweeter. Sex between them is passionate and wildly inventive. But Hayden has a stalker, who’s tired of being ignored in favor of other men. When what started as a crush turns into murderous obsession, can Cesare help Hayden make it off the film set alive?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence and bondage.
Review: So far I have really enjoyed the Lionhearts series by Elizabeth Coldwell, and I was looking forward to this next installment. And while it is a good book, it did not live up to the other books in the series. It started off strong, but by the time the big reveal came for Cesare, I was pretty incredulous.
You do not need to read the other books in the series to enjoy this book. They all work as standalones, even if other characters are briefly mentioned. The main character from Vintage Pride is mentioned in about two sentences in this book, and then never is brought up again. Cesare and Hayden are new, as is the location. When Cesare is forced to leave his pride after a failed attempt at taking over, he travels to Rome where he helps Gail feed actors on a movie set. When he meets Hayden, he knows he’s met his mate.
I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, for the most part, but there didn’t seem to be much at stake for them. Yes, if they got caught together they’d be the talk of the set, but Hayden is already out as an actor, so it’s really not that big a deal. And while he has a stalker, it doesn’t turn really dangerous until the end. I never felt the tension I did during the other books. What bothered me the most was Cesare’s reveal to Hayden that he’s a shifter. Hayden mentions in passing that he felt a connection to the lion that was on set (Cesare after a forced shift), and when Cesare reveals it was him, there’s a page, maybe two, of Hayden not believing him, and then he’s suddenly accepting and, “Hey, I guess it makes sense.” Reading that threw me off. It just didn’t feel right, and I even backtracked a bit to see if I had missed pages. Likewise, the danger at the end was over so quickly, and easily resolved. I never felt that Hayden and Cesare were really in danger.
As a final note, the publisher warns of violence and bondage. Is there violence? Yes, but I’ve read worse in books without a warning. Is there bondage? Yes, to a small extent, but with a warning on it, I was expecting much more. Do I honestly think it was necessary to put either there? No.
If you’re a fan of the series, I’d be interested in seeing what you think of the book after reading it. If you’re new to the series, I recommend reading one of the first three books prior to reading this one.
You can buy Into the Arena here:
3 Stars, Dreamspinner Press, Genre Romance, Reviewed by Angel, Sean Michael
Review: First Steps by Sean Michael
October 22, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, Dreamspinner Press, M/M Romance, Novella, Sean Michael Leave a comment
Title: First Steps
At a Glance: First Steps is a tooth-achingly sweet romance.
Reviewed By: Angel
Blurb: Abandoned by his partner in the wilds of Alaska, Peter is pretty much at the end of his rope. He has a cabin falling down around his ears, two young babies to care for, and too much alone time to think about his situation. It’s enough to make a man rethink wanting to be a dad.
Park Ranger Chad thinks Peter could use some help, especially when fire and weather warnings make him wonder if Peter’s little cabin is going to make it through the year. When he takes Peter and the babies in, he finds out that the attraction the two of them felt on their first meeting has the potential to be a lot more. Can he convince Peter that they can do more than keep each other warm?
Review: First Steps is simply a story about a man wanting to raise his children somewhere nice, and then met the love of his life while doing so. This is the second edition of the story, so I don’t know if anything was added or subtracted from the first publication back in 2007, but it was a tooth-achingly sweet romance/erotica with absolutely no conflict whatsoever.
Peter is the perfect domestic engineer, and with his smart, sexy manly-man park ranger partner, Chad, the two men raise Peter’s two twin babies out in the middle of Alaska’s wilderness. Perfect babies, multiple expressions of need, love and desire, and tons of sexy times between Peter and Chad make this an uncomplicated book.
If you are looking for the oblivion of cozy, warm, feel good sweetness, then you have found the perfect story.
You can buy First Steps here:
3 Stars, Genre Romance, Jay Northcote, Reviewed by Sadonna, Self-Published, Short Story
Review: All Man by Jay Northcote
September 30, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, Jay Northcote, M/M Romance, Self-Published, Short Story Leave a comment
Title: All Man
Author: Jay Northcote
At a Glance: Another cute and flirty story of an opposites attract variety, with enough surprises thrown in to keep us guessing.
Blurb: “You’re the sleek little sports car to my Land Rover.”
From the moment Gareth walks through the door of the salon to fit some new sinks, Jules can’t take his eyes off him. Jules has always been attracted to men who are his polar opposite, so burly Gareth is Jules’s fantasy man.
At the weekend, Jules gets into a tough situation with another bloke in a gay club and Gareth comes to his aid. Gareth rejects Jules’s subsequent advances but leaves him with the hope that his attraction isn’t completely one-sided. Fantasy could become reality.
With Gareth’s work at the salon nearly done, he’ll soon disappear from Jules’s life for good. Time is running out. Jules needs to prove to Gareth that he’s tougher than he looks and that his feelings run deeper than gratitude.
Review: This story is a spin-off of Top Me Maybe? (published a few months ago). Julian, or Jules, as he prefers, is a coworker in the salon with Tyler from the previous story. He is a little bit envious of Tyler’s hot butch policeman boyfriend. But then he is distracted by Gareth, the guy who has come to fix the sinks at the salon. He is everything that Jules likes: big, hairy, muscles, etc. He flirts a little with Gareth on a Friday and then offers to trim up Gareth’s buzz cut. When Gareth leaves, Jules sighs but looks forward to his weekend out dancing and clubbing with his roommate Sacha, and hey, he’ll get to see Gareth on Monday when he returns to the shop to finish the job.
But over the weekend, Jules happily runs into Gareth at the club he goes to with Sacha. While Gareth doesn’t dance with him, they do run into each other again at a very fortuitous time. Won’t spoil the surprise, but it turns out Gareth and Jules have more in common than they ever thought they would.
This is a really sweet (but not sappy) story of two guys who are attracted but may be a little bit apprehensive about the reaction they might get. Both are willing to be somewhat vulnerable and honest and, in this case, that is a good thing. Recommended for a short story with a happy ending. :)
You can buy All Man here:
3 Stars, BDSM/Kink/Erotica, Genre Romance, Meredith O'Reilly, Reviewed By Carrie, Stormy Night Publications
Review: His Captive’s Heart by Meredith O’Reilly
September 28, 2015 LisaBDSM Lite, Contemporary Romance, D/s, M/M Romance, Meredith O'Reilly, Stormy Night Publications Leave a comment
Title: His Captive’s Heart
Author: Meredith O’Reilly
Publisher: Stormy Night Publications
At a Glance: I would recommend this book if you’re looking for light BDSM and a sweet romance.
Blurb: Twenty-nine-year-old lawyer Marcus Bradberry has fantasized for years about finding a firm-handed man who would not hesitate to provide both guidance and discipline while also bringing him the kind of fulfillment he’s only dreamed about. When he meets Dimitri Anderson, the owner of a local kink club, Marcus takes a chance and shares the wildest fantasy he’s ever had with him.
Though he confesses to Dimitri that nothing excites him more than the idea of a being overpowered, kidnapped, and mastered completely by a strong, handsome man, Marcus is nonetheless shocked when Dimitri takes it upon himself to bring this fantasy to life. When Dimitri surprises him after work on a Friday, Marcus soon finds himself blindfolded, handcuffed, and driven away to an unknown place.
It quickly becomes clear that Dimitri knows exactly what his captive sub needs and is more than ready to give it to him, but as the weekend progresses, Marcus realizes that trusting his new master is at times much harder than he expected. Will he surrender to his most secret desires or will his fears drive him away from his master’s loving arms?
Review: Marcus is a twenty-nine-year-old lawyer who dreams of having a Dom who will meet all his fantasies, when he sees an ad for an opportunity to visit a local kink club for the night and see how the lifestyle plays out in real life.
Once at the club, he meets Dmitri Anderson and through the course of the night, confides his ultimate fantasy of being kidnapped and forced to submit for a weekend. Dmitri is the owner of the club and a little jaded as far as subs go…until he meets Marcus. Instant attraction flares between the two and Dmitri sets out to fulfill Marcus’ fantasy.
While this story is about a Dom/sub relationship, it is the connection between the two men and how they grow to fall in love over the weekend that is the real story. Marcus needs a Dom—he can be a bit of a brat, he questions everything. It’s what makes him such a good lawyer. Dmitri has the patience of a saint and is a loving but strict Dom, which is exactly what Marcus needs.
This was a really sweet love story at the core and an easy, light novella to read. I would recommend this book if you’re looking for light BDSM and a sweet romance.
You can buy His Captive’s Heart here:
3 Stars, Evernight Publishing, Genre Romance, L.D. Blakeley, Reviewed by Karen
Review: Opportunity Knocks by L.D. Blakeley
September 19, 2015 LisaContemporary Romance, Evernight Publishing, L.D. Blakeley, M/M Romance 1 Comment
Title: Opportunity Knocks (Laissez Faire: Book One)
Author: L.D. Blakeley
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
At a Glance: It seemed that just when I was starting to get into Opportunity Knocks, and Gill and Tommy were finally getting together, it was over and I was left feeling that I’d missed out on something.
Blurb: Small-town security guard, Gill Martin, has lived in Mystique Pointe his entire life. His dating prospects are non-existent and he doesn’t particularly like his job, but at least it’s better than unemployment. Besides, he hasn’t got any better ideas.
Big-city artist, Tommy Hearne, knows exactly what he wants out of life: a successful art career and a successful relationship. He also knows that living in Liberty City is his best chance for pursuing both. Unfortunately, for him, neither of these pursuits seem to be panning out quite to his liking.
When Tommy and his misfit band of friends roll into town for the Laissez Faire, Mystique Pointe’s annual music & art festival, worlds definitely collide. A fiery tryst sparks more than just a lust connection, but what happens when the weekend is over?
Review: When I read the blurb and picked up Opportunity Knocks for review, it sounded like something right up my alley, but unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into the book and connecting to the characters together.
I enjoyed the writing, and there were definitely parts of the book that I thought were great, but I really wanted more of Gill and Tommy actually together. Now, when they were together things were sweet and super hot, but I felt there were too many other things going on. With a distance between them, on top of those other things, it was just a little too much for me, and I struggled to connect.
Then, it seemed that just when I was starting to get into the story, and Gill and Tommy were finally getting together, it was over and I was left feeling that I’d missed out on something. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the characters, even the ones that I didn’t at first. By the end I was hoping to learn more about them. With this being the first in the series, I look forward to reading more from L.D. Blakeley, and learning more about Gill, Tommy, and this group of friends.
You can buy Opportunity Knocks here:
3 Stars, Andrew Grey, Audio Book, Dreamspinner Press, Genre Romance, Narration Rating - 3 Stars, Reviewed by Sadonna
Audio Review: Love Means… Patience by Andrew Grey – Narrated by Andrew McFarrin
September 15, 2015 LisaAndrew Grey, Andrew McFerrin, Audiobook, Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance Leave a comment
Title: Love Means… Patience
Author: Andrew Grey
Narrator: Andrew McFerrin
At a Glance: Another in Andrew Grey’s beloved Love Means series, which introduces us to new former military characters and a new set of obstacles to overcome.
Blurb: Years after his discharge from the Marines under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Cody Culver lives in a PTSD-induced world all his own. On a mission, under misconceptions that Geoff and Eli are the enemy, Cody breaks into their farmhouse but is quickly brought back to his senses by a frying pan to the head. After receiving much needed help in the hospital, Cody has nowhere to go. Luckily, kindhearted Eli knows just where to turn.
When Eli asks former Marine Brick Hunter to help, Brick isn’t sure he wants to get involved. But Brick has worked through his own PTSD, and like it or not, he owes Eli a favor. With Cody struggling to rejoin the real world and Brick agreeing to take him in, they discover they have more in common than either of them thought possible.
Though Cody tries to stay in the here and now, he sometimes flashes to unexplainable traumatic events—events that don’t fit his usual war zone delusions. As the “delusions” grow more frequent, it becomes apparent they might not be delusions at all. Cody may have actually witnessed a murder.
Review: Note: This is book seven of a series, and while it’s not absolutely necessary to have read the previous books, it’s helpful for context of the setting and characters.
I have been addicted to this series since I discovered it over four years ago now. I read the first four books back to back, and have read each subsequent release. I love Geoff and Eli, and I’m always interested to see who will join the crew next.
Cody is a former Marine who has been discharged under DADT. He’s also suffering from a severe case of PTSD. He thinks Eli and Geoff are the enemy, and he’s on a mission. He’s cold and hungry and goes into the house to try to find food and defend against the enemy – but instead, he gets a frying pan to the head.
When he comes to, it’s obvious that he desperately needs both medical and psychological assistance, but as a homeless and rejected vet, he doesn’t have any resources. Eli, however, has a plan. He thinks Brick, a former military man himself, who has successfully dealt with his PTSD, may be able to help.
While Cody doesn’t have any real farm experience, Brick can certainly use help around his family farm, which he’s been able to keep running on his own – but just barely. Cody still has trouble discerning when he might be slipping out of reality, but Brick’s experience comes in handy. What Brick doesn’t tell Cody right away, though, is that he is also interested in guys. Brick is attracted to Cody but doesn’t want to take advantage of him in his current condition. He does want to help him get stronger, and if something else develops… well, that would be okay too.
Cody also keeps having flashbacks of something happening in an empty house that he’d bunked in sometime during the past winter, but with his PTSD and his inability to confirm a timeline, he’s uncertain if what he remembers is real or imagined. When it turns out to be real and there is danger for Cody, Brick, and their friends, it’s all hands on deck to the rescue.
I especially like the little details in this story that include a puppy, fun with Jakey, and nice cameos from the rest of the regulars in this series. This is a solid addition to the Love Means… series that fans should enjoy.
This is the first audiobook of this series that I’ve listened too, and I had previously read this book – although, it was over a year ago. I was pleasantly surprised by how the narrator brought out details that I had forgotten from when I’d read it. I especially liked his characterization of Brick. I wasn’t sure about his characterization of Geoff – he seemed a little bit too “Southern” to me, but truthfully, I don’t know too many people from that area, so he may be spot on and it’s just me.
You can buy Love Means… Patience here:
3 Stars, Historical Romance, Katherine Marlowe, Reviewed by Lisa, Self-Published
Review: Lord Loxley’s Lover by Katherine Marlowe
September 8, 2015 LisaHistorical Romance, Katherine Marlowe, M/M Romance, Regency Romance, Self-Published 2 Comments
Title: Lord Loxley’s Lover
Author: Katherine Marlowe
At a Glance: In spite of a few niggles, I found Lord Loxley’s Lover to be a diverting read.
Blurb: Lord Loxley is bewildered when his noble-born friend and former lover, Miles Rochester arrives on his doorstep and applies for a position as his valet. His friend has suffered a complete loss of status and finances, and has become bitter at the world, but Lord Loxley is determined to find a way to soothe his friend’s pain and restore their friendship and love.
Review: Miles Rochester was once a young man of considerable means and social stature, despite his mixed-race heritage, now brought low by the loss of his family’s fortune. The downturn in financial circumstances translated to the abandonment of everyone he’d once considered a friend. Everyone, including Lord Fitzhenry Loxley.
When we’re introduced to Miles, he’s applying for the position of valet to Lord Loxley, and it’s here that we learn not only that Miles has fallen on difficult times but that he and Fitz were once lovers—not necessarily a surprise given we know from the title that this book is a romance—but the story doesn’t begin in a romantic way.
What the author introduces us to is a Miles who’s bitter and taciturn in nature, treating Fitz in a cold and distant way, clearly angered that his life has come down to one of servitude. What isn’t made altogether too clear is why Miles would stoop to applying for this particular position when it not only proves to be beneath his intellect and business acumen but also means humbling himself (though, he truly is less than humble) to someone from his past against whom he carries a grudge, a question that I felt was never answered in a meaningful way, but again, given that this is a romance we can make some educated guesses, and without the available position and Miles’ answering Fitz’s need, we wouldn’t have a story.
Lord Loxley’s Lover is a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers again story, though it’s Miles’ anger rather than Fitz’s lack of desire for the man that keeps them on opposing sides for much of this novella. Miles spends a good deal of the story’s word-count lusting after Fitz, then growing cold and distant, seemingly resentful, while Fitz remains ever hopeful, determined to do everything in his power to bridge the distance between them and mend what he’d unintentionally broken years before. Lord Loxley’s portrayal is close to that of the damsel in need of rescuing, definitely the more submissive of the two men, as Miles sets about the job of proving himself indispensable to Fitz and his family’s estate.
Katherine Marlowe knows her way around the Regency Era and a historical romance. The obligation of a man to marry for appearance’s sake, marriages of convenience that allowed gay men to avoid the questions and speculation they’d have otherwise been subjected to—there’s an authenticity to this story, with a tidy solution to Fitz’s marital issues, and then a bit of fancy thrown in to give it a sweet happily-ever-after.
The only thing I did feel deserved a bit more page time and dialogue paid to it, apart from the issue of why Miles applied for the position of Fitz’s valet in the first place, was Miles’ quick about-face at the end. Fitz’s final gesture to bring the man he loves some happiness was a kindness beyond measure, but one moment Miles was livid with Fitz, the next he was utterly forgiving, without much exposition of the turnabout in his feelings. In spite of those niggles, however, I found Lord Loxley’s Lover to be a pleasant diversion.
You can buy Lord Loxley’s Lover here:
3 Stars, Charley Descoteaux, Dreamspinner Press, Paranormal, Reviewed by Sadonna, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Review: The Pinch of the Game by Charley Descoteaux
September 5, 2015 LisaCharley Descoteaux, Dreamspinner Press, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy 1 Comment
Title: The Pinch of the Game
Author: Charley Descoteaux
At a Glance: A really interesting, if slightly confusing, paranormal mystery and love story that read like a combination road trip/hot pursuit/screwball comedy.
Blurb: Being a witch doesn’t mean one can beat the devil forever.
Jeffrey Overton, unemployed IT professional turned poker player, pushes his luck once too often and runs afoul of the host of an illegal card club. The man sent to escort Jeffrey to a “meeting” about his supernatural winning streak arrives at Jeffrey’s crappy North Portland apartment, lock-picking tools in hand and a charm to block Jeffrey’s magick.
Head muscle for said host, Mike Wells, is a Daisy from Daisyville. He isn’t a witch. What he lacks in magickal talent he makes up for in brawn, so he doesn’t expect the guy he’s after to overpower him. But once Mike renders Jeffrey helpless, he’d rather seduce him than bring him in.
Jeffrey and Michael ditch the “meeting” and end up hunting some of the same people they ran from, trying to get Jeffrey back into his own body. And that’s only part of the adventure. The pair travel halfway across the country on the quietest road trip in history and find missing people, empire-building witches, and maybe even the families they’d both thought lost to them
Review: This is a different story than the other stories I have read by this author, in that it’s really a paranormal mystery/romance. It’s kind of a combination road trip/one long chase scene/screwball comedy in some ways.
Jeffrey has gotten himself in trouble by using his magic to win at cards. The house does not like this and sends the muscle to bring him in. But, the muscle, Mike, flips all of Jeffrey’s switches, and he’d really rather spend time with Mike than anything else. When they end up on the run together, Jeffrey makes a terrible miscalculation that poses great risk to both himself and Mike.
While on the run and trying to figure out just how to fix the terrible situation they find themselves in, Jeff and Mike end up hiding out temporarily with Mike’s family. There is also the little issue of Jeffrey’s missing mother, more muscle on their tails, and a possible double-cross.
The chase leads halfway across the country, from the home ground of Portland, and draws a bunch of other bad guys (and bad magic) along with them. They aren’t sure who to trust, who is after them, or who is really calling the shots. There are a lot of near misses and some big surprises. Overall, things got a lot more confusing before they became very clear.
I really enjoyed this story, but I wish it had been longer, with additional blanks filled in. The relationship between Mike and Jeffrey is really the heart of the story, and their interaction and dialogue is always energetic. But, at times, I felt like I was missing a couple of chapters here and there. I don’t like a big info dump, but I did feel confused when various characters just “dropped in” to the action, and there wasn’t enough detail for me to figure out what they were doing there, or who they were tied to, or what their part of the game was. It was kind of like walking into a movie 15 minute after it started, where the action that occurs that kicks off the whole movie has taken place and you’ve missed it. I felt like I eventually caught up, but at times the ride wasn’t smooth.
I have enjoyed Charley Descoteaux’s writing in the past, so I welcomed the opportunity to read another longer story. I feel like the author has a unique voice and perspective, and also bases a lot of the stories in my favorite US city, Portland, Oreg0n. Overall, I’d recommend for those who enjoy a good mystery with some romance and magic on the side.
You can buy Pinch of the Game here:
3 Stars, Amber Allure, K-lee Klein, Paranormal Romance, Reviewed by Angel
Review: Moonstone by K-lee Klein
September 4, 2015 LisaAmber Allure, K-lee Klein, M/M Romance, Paranormal Romance Leave a comment
Title: Moonstone (Stone Magic: Book One)
Author: K-lee Klein
Publisher: Amber Allure
At a Glance: A slow and different take on the shifter paranormal genre.
Blurb: Ky’s a fighter, Blue’s an artist, but together they are truly magical.
Ky’s fought his way to the boxing championship for the third time, but now the fight of his life isn’t against an opponent in the ring. He’s battling a darkness within himself that he can’t ignore and can’t control. If he fails, everything he’s spent his life working for will be gone, and he can’t see a path to victory. Only a hunch sends him looking for help in the most unusual places.
Blue’s a quiet guy, living for his family and the art of his tattoos. He’s created his shop, Blue’s Dungeon, to be a place for the celebration of art on skin—simple, friendly, and mostly uncomplicated—and Blue likes it that way.
But when Ky shows up in Blue’s tattoo parlor, desperately searching for a lifeline, it’s the beginning of something magical for both men…
Review: K-Lee Klein is a new to me author, and while I enjoyed this book and her writing, I did have a difficult time reading this story. It wasn’t so much the writing but the pacing, I think. Much of the story taking place happens just over two months, but it felt much slower while reading it. The story seemed, to me, to drag in places, especially when head-hopping from Blue to Ky.
Moonstone has an interesting concept and take on magic and on the shifter/paranormal genre. However, I didn’t feel that this story was all that paranormal/magical until nearly three-quarters of the way into the reading. There are very few clues to the paranormal until the reason Ky is searching for his lifeline has been explained. After this, the rest of the story happens quickly.
Ky’s problem, which I won’t give away here, wasn’t mentioned but once in the first of the story. It’s not even really explained, the reader is just given the fact that Ky is searching for something. Something he seems to find at Blue’s tattoo parlor. After an immediate bout of sex between Ky and Blue, the story is mostly taken up by Ky’s reaction to his not-quite-relationship with Blue, and vice versa.
Blue was an extraordinary individual from first introduction. I liked him immediately. He was an amazing artist, from Ky’s POV, and I, at first, thought he was an autistic savant. But no disabilities are discussed in this book. In fact, the reasons turn out to be quite magical. Literally.
Circumstances conspire to drive a wedge between Blue and Ky, and I was honestly confused for some time while the paranormal aspect of the story came to light. Then everything seemed to fall into place for our MCs, and they got their happy ending.
I liked the verse Klein created, and would love to have more background on some of the characters and situations introduced in Moonstone, Oli in particular. Perhaps Michael and Dart, as well, but it’s not an imperative need as Moonstone itself was a complete story.
You can buy Moonstone here:
Review: Driving Borscht Batty by Charlie Richards
September 1, 2015 LisaCharlie Richards, Extasy Books, M/M Romance, Paranormal Romance, Shifters Leave a comment
Title: Driving Borscht Batty
At a Glance: A cute story of a vampire and a bat (I see what you did there, Charlie ::heh heh::) discovering they are mates, and another adventure rescuing more captive shifters.
Blurb: Out of the Cage: Sometimes dealing with unexpected events can drive you crazy…but that isn’t always a bad thing.
Borscht Kuznetsov is the master of his vampire coven. He likes his donors silent, his people obedient, and his life orderly. When an alarm on the northern outskirts of his property alert him to intruders, he leads the charge to drive the humans from his land. To his surprise, Borscht discovers they were chasing an Egyptian fruit bat. Confused by his sudden onslaught of protectiveness, he realizes the little creature is a shifter…who refuses to shift.
With his only memories that of his time spent in captivity, Sekani doesn’t know much. He can’t even understand the words of the people around him after he escapes from his prison. Still, one of them smells really good…and the man saved him from the hunters. When the man finally says a few words in halting English, Sekani learns that his world is so much larger than he could ever have imagined.
Can Borscht handle his beloved’s overabundance of excitement, especially when he learns that Sekani has friends that need rescuing?
Review: We first met Borscht Kustenov in The Vampire’s Geek, number twenty-six in the Wolves of Stone Ridge series. Borscht’s younger brother Tullion is the protagonist in that story, but we meet the whole Kustenov clan when Tullion turns to them for help. We know that Borscht is a good guy who is happy that Tullion has found his beloved – despite him being a human male. Not all of the family is so understanding, however.
In this story, Borscht goes out to confront a disturbance on his property, and he discovers men hunting. He finds a small bat is their intended quarry. He’s overwhelmed with wanting to protect the little guy, and as he returns to his home, he realizes that the bat is a shifter and that he is most likely his mate – his beloved. But Borscht doesn’t even know what kind of a bat he’s found, and his little bat won’t shift.
After trying to communicate with him in English rather than Russian, it appears that the bat is finally understanding him, and he shifts. Turns out he’s an Egyptian fruit bat named Sekani, who has basically spent his whole life in a cage and been the subject of the scientist’s experiments that entire time. His only friends are other shifters who were also captives. Even though he’s obviously a mature bat and human male, he has no concept of many things – like eating with utensils, a refrigerator, a bed, many foods, etc. He doesn’t like many clothes, and he is very nervous around people and Borscht’s family at first. Borscht’s brother and sisters are kind to him, offering to teach him about all the things he missed out on, but mostly he just wants to be with Borscht. He doesn’t understand his desire or his reaction to Borscht either, and has to have sex explained to him.
Borscht is so kind to Sekani, and he doesn’t want to push him in any way. He adores his little bat, and he desperately wants to protect him. Sekani is worried about his friends, who were being moved at the same time he escaped, and so Borscht calls in the Stone Ridge team and we get to see Jared (YAY!) and company come to the rescue. We also get cameos by some of the other Stone Ridge pack, including Raul, Lyle (the monitor lizard shifting human), and Dr. Carmichael. There are some really intense moments as the scientists and hunters try to get to Sekani, but you know if Jared’s on the case, they’ll never win.
Borscht and Sekani are cute together, and there is a lovely little surprise with Sekani’s taste in clothing. Borscht also puts up with no crap from his homophobic brother, and determines that he’ll do whatever is best for his mate. All in all an enjoyable, quick, cute and quirky read about our paranormals; and any story that has any Jared in it is full of win for me!
For fans of this series, this is a fun one.
You can buy Driving Borscht Batty here:
3 Stars, Dreamspinner Press, Genre Romance, Kim Fielding, Reviewed by Sadonna
Review: Phoenix by Kim Fielding
August 29, 2015 LisaDaily Dose 2015, Dreamspinner Press, Fantasy, Kim Fielding, M/M Romance 2 Comments
Title: Phoenix
Author: Kim Fielding
At a Glance: A poignant and ultimately uplifting story of second chances and renewed courage to experience love.
Blurb: First a soldier and then a diplomat, Juberi now spends his solitary days on a single ambition: trying to resurrect the phoenix, which has been extinct for centuries. He’s not pleased when he is obligated to attend a public ceremony in memory of an elderly friend and former colleague. But at the ceremony, Juberi meets the friend’s beguiling son, Desen. Despite being from a markedly different culture, Desen has much to offer. But after decades of denying his own desires, Juberi fears there is no alchemy that will reopen him to love.
Review: I have to say I am a big fan of Kim Fielding’s writing – regardless of whether it’s fantasy, contemporary, historical, dystopian, short story, novel, or novella. I am always surprised by something, and happy that I decided to spend my time with her words, and this story is no exception.
Juberi is a retired diplomat and former soldier who now spends his days in his home lab trying to reanimate a phoenix. He pretty much keeps to himself and his house staff, and doesn’t have much of a social life. But he is required to attend a ceremony honoring a former colleague from his diplomat days, so he begrudgingly goes. After the ceremony, he meets Desen, the son of the former colleague. He is intrigued by Desen but also a little apprehensive because of the cultural differences.
Desen has heard much about Juberi from his deceased father, and flatters Juberi with his remembrances. He asks to see Juberi privately after the ceremony and although he’s still a little nervous, Juberi agrees. Desen is interested in a more private audience with Juberi to ask him a favor, so invites him to his residence. While he feels he can’t do what Desen asks of him, all of this sets Juberi to remembering his time in Desen’s land. He feels he is too old and too set in his ways to be of any use to Desen, or anyone else, really. But that doesn’t mean that he might not still be convinced.
I so enjoyed the interplay between Desen and Juberi. Their conversations and interactions were sweet and filled with longing and desire. It seems that maybe this meeting was destined after all. I also enjoyed Juberi’s relationship with Saura, his longtime servant. She truly has Juberi’s best interest at heart and takes good care of him.
I recommend this story for those who enjoy a short hot and sweet story about mature characters getting a second chance at finding something good.
You can buy Phoenix here:
3 Stars, A.V. Sanders, Genre Romance, Less Than Three Press, Reviewed by Jules, Short Story
Review: Percolation, Poetry, and Passion by A.V. Sanders
August 26, 2015 LisaA.V. Sanders, Contemporary Romance, Less Than Three Press, M/M Romance, May/December Romance, Short Story Leave a comment
Title: Percolation, Poetry, and Passion
Author: A.V. Sanders
Pages/Word Count: 11000 Words
At a Glance: Percolation, Poetry, and Passion is a cute story with lots of potential.
Blurb: Beckett works at a coffee shop to make ends meet while attending a prestigious university. It’s not the most exciting job, but he’s done it long enough he’s good at it—and can avoid the tedium by spinning sexy little daydreams of things he doubts will ever happen.
Daydreams that soon include Simon, the hot, handsome, and older freelance writer who stops in one day. But then Simon becomes a regular, a bright spot more interesting than the inside of Beckett’s head, and daydreams start to seem like they could be something far more tangible—if reality doesn’t get in the way first.
Review: Percolation, Poetry, and Passion is charming at times, especially in the beginning, and Beckett and Simon really are pretty adorable, but it was also frustrating at times because I felt like, as a story, it had so much potential that was just not able to be fulfilled due to the length. I’m not sure if this was a submission call from the publisher that only allowed for so many words, but I truly wish that A.V. Sanders had been able to give Beckett and Simon more time.
This story ticked several of my boxes…college student, southern boy, May/December romance, etc., and, as I said above, the main characters were pretty adorable. Beckett lets Simon know, via subtle, or sometimes not-so-subtle, interactions at the coffee shop that he is interested. And when Simon is free to act on those advances – he does go through a breakup in the story – he asks Beckett out on a date. I really enjoyed the date scene; it was imaginative and lovely to read. We don’t get to see much in the way of ‘spark’ between the guys, but we see enough to know they have an attraction and a nice connection.
Things start to go awry when it becomes clear that there just isn’t going to be enough backstory to have everything make sense. There is a fight where Simon becomes extremely jealous and angry at Beckett because he is meeting his professor for dinner. Simon’s reaction seems out-of-character; however, we don’t know enough about his story with his ex, and we don’t know enough about Beckett’s professor or his intentions, to truly make everything click. The couple goes to New Orleans, Beckett’s home town, to see his family, but the scene is quite awkward because it’s just not fleshed out enough. That whole bit was so rushed, as was the entire end.
Percolation, Poetry, and Passion is a cute story with lots of potential. Unfortunately it simply felt too rushed and too short. Perhaps the author can show them some more love in an expanded novella? I bet many readers would love to see Beckett and Simon get the shot they deserve.
You can buy Percolation, Poetry, and Passion here:
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The Job of Saints: Joan of Arc, 604 Years On
Joan of Arc in Wellington church, New Zealand
This week marks the birthday of St. Joan of Arc, a devout farm girl born more than 600 years ago whose virtues of faith, chastity, and courage helped make her one of the patron saints of France, and of soldiers in the trenches of World War One. We know her birthday—January 6—more accurately than we do the exact year of her birth, which was somewhere around 1412. (Joan testified at her trial that she believed herself to be 19 years old.) People from her village who knew her remembered her being born on Epiphany, the holiday that celebrates the moment when the Magi finally find the Christ Child they have been seeking.
Joan would have been an extraordinary person in any era, but in 15th century France, she was nothing short of mythic. Three years after she was born, Henry V achieved his decisive victory at Agincourt, and from then on England occupied France in earnest. The effect on the country was devastating, with some sources saying that this occupation reduced France’s population by as much as half. A story foretold that France would be lost by a woman and saved by a woman, or in other versions, that France would be lost by a fallen woman and saved by a virgin from the forests of Lorraine. Many of Joan’s contemporaries thought the Dauphin’s mother, reputed to have gotten her son from her husband the King’s brother, was the fallen woman who had lost France by signing away her son’s kingdom. Sometime in her teens, Joan came to believe that she was the Maid who would get it back.
Joan began hearing the voices of three particular saints when she was 13. They belonged to Michael the Archangel, Catharine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch, and according to Marina Warner’s Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (UC Press 1981), they express her mission perfectly. St. Michael, leader of the armies of heaven, was the emblem of French resistance to English rule, whose image was painted on the standards of the Dauphin’s soldiers. St. Catharine confounded the scholars of the Emperor Maximus with her wisdom, spurned his marriage proposal, and was beheaded for her faith, becoming the protector of unmarried women and philosophers, as well as the patron saint of Maxey, the village nearest Joan’s own Domremy. St. Margaret, the patron saint of mothers and childbirth, also refused to marry, entered a monastery disguised in men’s clothes, and once leapt off a high building to preserve her chastity. She was later eaten by a dragon and disgorged miraculously unharmed (though she was eventually beheaded). All three saints carry swords; all three also prefigure things Joan would do before her death (though the dragon story ends differently for her, alas).
Statue of Joan of Arc in Domremy, her birth town.
By the time Joan turned 16, she was badgering the local garrison commander for an escort to take her to the court of the disinherited Dauphin of France, the future Charles VII, whose claim to the throne had been invalidated by his mother’s treaty with the English. At the garrison and later at court, Joan’s persistence, prophetic abilities, and courage convinced everyone she met that she was sent by God. Charles believed her–reportedly because she told him the contents of a prayer he had once made in private–and granted her an army. Joan dressed as a man for the remaining years of her short life, and never married or took a lover. The soldiers who fought and slept by her side considered her a holy being, beyond earthly forms of love or sexual attraction, and claimed to lose all desire around her. They respected her devotion and insistence that they confess and hear Mass daily, and her piety helped further convince them of the justness of their holy cause.
As proof of this, and although she had no prior military experience, Joan defeated the English at Orleans and crowned Charles King. At one point she was even shot in the chest with an arrow, yet bravely fought on. Charles became more interested in treaties than battles, however, and when an impatient Joan led troops into Compiegne without his support, she was captured by the Burgundians. Like her beloved St. Margaret, Joan is said to have leapt from a tower in an attempt to escape her captors, in this case the 70-foot tower of Beaurevoir Castle, but she was recaptured. Unwilling to pay her ransom, Charles allowed her to be sold to the English, who desired her execution and thus immediately put her on trial for heresy.
The record of Joan’s trial is one of the most detailed trial records of the Middle Ages, providing a rare example of a genuine voice from the era. While most trials exist in one copy, if at all, there are dozens of copies of Joan’s (The Trial of Joan of Arc, Trans. Daniel Hobbins, Harvard UP 2005). Joan was already a celebrity by the time she was captured, and it is thought that the many copies of the transcripts were intended for widespread distribution after the trial in order to justify its unjust outcome. These efforts indicate a great deal of anxiety, stemming no doubt from certain knowledge that these proceedings were largely political rather than spiritual in nature.
As a result, we have a record in multiple copies of a brave, belligerent, and surprisingly canny voice. At one point, when asked for information about the voices of her saints, Joan blatantly refuses to answer her inquisitors: “I’ll answer you no further about that. I’ll gladly answer where I have leave to speak.” Another time, plainly impatient at being asked the same questions over and over about how she knows her voices are from God, she answers: “I’ve told you often enough that they are Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; believe me if you wish.”
Imagine a 19 year-old young woman, captured in battle, exhausted from the hardships of prison and going days without food, standing before military and church authorities, all men, who question her relentlessly over and over, day after day. Marvel at her poised and self-contained answers. She doesn’t care what they think. She feels no urgency to defend herself, or explain her motivations. In one famous instance, she startles her Inquisitors when they demand to know whether she is in God’s grace, a trick question meant to have her fall into heresy: “If I am not, may God put me there; if I am, may God so keep me.” It was a brilliant answer, since Church doctrine held that no one could be sure of God’s grace, and Joan neatly sidesteps it, convincing many then and later that her inspiration was Divine. Its tone is sure of itself, unrattled, almost nonchalant. This is a person possessed of great faith in herself and her cause, and well as in the guiding forces that brought her to this place.
Although the Church had approved her crossdressing while she fought for Charles in battle, after her capture the English settled on Joan’s masculine dress as the crime they would use to execute her. At one point she signed a confession and was spared the stake, but in a final act of courage, she recanted, unwilling to repudiate her voices and spend her life in prison, where she feared sexual assault. Burned alive in 1431, she was celebrated publicly in France within two years of her death, and the religious plays that sprung up in her honor quickly became official sites of pilgrimage. 22 years after her martyrdom the English were expelled from most of France, and in 25, she was completely exonerated, well within what might have been her lifetime.
Antwerp – Saint Joan of Arc’s judgment in the cathedral
Joan had become a popular romantic figure by the nineteenth century, and a symbol of French nationalism by the twentieth. Her beatification in 1909, on the eve of the Great War, made her even more accessible as a personification of French courage when that war began, and by 1916, she had become a symbol of both the French and English soldiers fighting together in the trenches against Germany. In Cecil B. DeMille’s 1916 film Joan the Woman, she is a knight whose self-transcendence makes her a great warrior, a figure of both sacrifice and brave aggression. In 1920 she was canonized a saint, and 100,000 British subjects celebrated at Westminster Cathedral. In his 1924 play Saint Joan, George Bernard Shaw sees her as very like the young soldiers treated as cannon fodder by the military commanders of the Great War, a figure of forthright goodness crushed by the corrupt institutional and political machinations of old men.
In her speculative biography Saint Joan of Arc (Doubleday 1991 [1936]), Vita Sackville-West writes of Joan’s mother, “It was by no fault of Isabelle Romee, if, instead of a chicken, she had hatched an eagle.” Sackville-West seems pleased that unlike some other saints, Joan never used expressions like “my heavenly Spouse,” or “my Betrothed.” She writes: “I think that possibly she had no need thus to sublimate her earthly desires in this pseudo-sexual fashion, since she found her outlet in her ardent devotion to the Dauphin and to the cause of France. She is the least sentimental of saints, and the most practical . . .She is too heroic and bracing to appeal intimately to the average mind. She makes the mistake of being always something over life-size; something which, however much she may command admiration and respect, can never be loved in quite the same personal way as the more human saints.”
Here Sackville-West humorously inverts virtue to change our perspective on the nature of saints. Instead of beginning with Joan’s superhuman qualities, Sackville-West accuses her of missing the mark, of “making a mistake” in being too heroic and not small and human enough to love in a “personal way.” But of course, as this makes us realize, saints are not about the personal at all, but about magnificently impersonal things like justice and the greater good. Saints are little girls who strive to be more than human, who cultivate the will to defy convention, the courage to accost powerful men, and the vision to oppose crushing political orders. In the end Joan fascinates us because she decides to be something more than merely human, choosing to be burnt alive rather than spend her life in prison, or betray her faith and go against her moral principles. It may be that the job of saints is to model something greater than human frailty. It may be that the job of saints is to make us marvel at, and emulate, the courage of eagles.
Jaime Hovey is Associate Program Director for Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life.
By Virtue, Happiness, and the Meaning of Lifein Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life January 7, 2017 January 7, 2017 1,844 Words
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We Must Change How We Talk about Pedestrian Deaths
Kaitlin Marie Hunt and her three-month-old daughter Riley were killed by an 18-year-old SUV driver in 2017. Photo: Hunt family via Atlanta Journal Constitution
She wasn’t texting. She wasn’t drunk. She wasn’t speeding. But 18-year-old Zoe Reardon still killed three people with her Jeep in Atlanta two years ago, including a mother and her 3-month-old baby.
That was the defense, anyway, offered by her attorney in a criminal trial that ended yesterday. And it mostly prevailed.
Reardon faced nine charges, including vehicular manslaughter, but was sentenced to just 36 months probation — no jail time — and a year’s license suspension. She will be allowed to continue attending college in Texas.
Responses to the decision have been divided. Some people on Twitter called the light sentence an example of white privilege. Other said, while the situation was sad, jail time didn’t seem appropriate. It was dark after all, the argument goes. And the victims, Kaitlin Marie Hunt, her daughter, Riley, and their 61-year-old family friend, weren’t in a crosswalk.
But there were no streetlights or crosswalks where Hunt was walking to a concert in suburban Woodstock, Georgia, WSB Atlanta noted. Cell phone records show Reardon texted her father about two minutes before the crash.
Regardless of the specifics of the case, it raises interesting questions about drivers responsibility for pedestrians’ safety — and how low the bar has been set. What is the appropriate punishment for someone who unintentionally causes great harm with a car?
The framing advanced by Reardon’s lawyers — which is typical in these kinds of cases — is harmful. People who kill someone with a car — as long as they’re not drunk — are unlikely to ever face charges in the first place, much less be convicted or serve jail time. A 2015 Transportation Alternatives investigation [PDF] found that less than 7 percent of drivers who caused a death in New York City were charged with vehicular homicide.
There is very little accountability for drivers. In this case, Reardon only had to show she was not texting, not drunk, and not speeding. Meanwhile, pedestrians are faulted for not doing things that go above and beyond their legal requirements: like wearing bright clothing, or walking after dark. (Although in this case it was dusk, not even night.)
Furthermore, presumptions about the driver’s behavior reflect a false dichotomy between intentional violence with a car and innocent mistakes, an “unavoidable accident,” as Reardon’s attorneys called it. Some accidents may truly be unavoidable due to freak circumstances or vehicular malfunction, but most are eminently avoidable by merely exercising reasonable car and attentiveness. There are a range of behaviors for drivers between total innocence and intentional harm. These behaviors include failing to slow down when pedestrians are present, cutting corners at intersections, even bullying pedestrians at crosswalks.
Of course, it may be difficult to reconstruct this behavior during a criminal trial in many cases. But Reardon’s defense raises logical questions. How does someone who is being attentive and driving at a safe speed — as her attorneys claim — completely fail to see three pedestrians in the road? Wouldn’t an attentive driver have been able to slow down enough to avoid at least hitting them at a lethal speed? Women carrying babies don’t move that fast.
Certainly, this is only one case, but it’s yet another opportunity for a more sensitive conversation about a national health emergency that took the lives of more than 6,000 people last year.
And it will always be a missed opportunity if drivers continue to receive the message that their responsibility to pedestrians begins and ends with not being drunk. We need to look out for one another on the roads, especially people who are very vulnerable. This case is just an extreme example of what can go wrong when we don’t. It’s sad that we might take the wrong lessons from it.
Filed Under: Aggressive Driving, Bicycle Safety, Distracted Driving, Drunk Driving, Pedestrian safety, Safety, Speed, Promoted
48 thoughts on We Must Change How We Talk about Pedestrian Deaths
Two ideas: Could local officials who refuse to spend money on sidewalks, lighting, and speeding enforcement ever be held CRIMINALLY, not civilly, liable for pedestrian murders?
Also, how about fighting crime with crime–for every pedestrian death legalize auto theft, arson, and vandalism for 30 days in that zip code. Drivers and the public officials that spoil them need to feel some pressure.
Plus there’s the discourse about if the pedestrian was outside a crosswalk, then drivers are entitled to a free vehicular homicide.
rwy says:
People in the dark are hard to see. Spotting people where you don’t expect them, because of a lack of crosswalks in the dark is hard. Asking pedestrians to change into a bright outfit for walking at night is ridiculous. I put most of them blame on the city for not installing proper infrastructure.
Jail time is not necessary. We should focus on making sure this doesn’t happen again: Take away her license forever. Improve the infrastructure to force drivers to slow down and pay attention, and reduce crossing distances for pedestrians.
AlanThinks says:
We need presumptive liability laws – as exist in Europe – that presume the motorist is at fault and will face full prosecution unless can show that was not at fault. That way motorists are on notice that they must exercise full control and caution. As it is now motorists are not worried about their liability and so too much recklessness occurs.
Stephen Hamilton says:
“How does someone who is being attentive and driving at a safe speed — as her attorneys claim — completely fail to see three pedestrians in the road? ” Excellent question ! Color, back-lighting, movement all MIGHT explain. So why don’t pedestrians have a legal responsibility to wear light or reflective clothing at night, or carry a lantern of some kind? And I might also ask, how does a loving and attentive mother, knowing she and her child are in a vulnerable position – mid block, no cross-walk, at night – not see an on-coming vehicle with headlights on, and attempt to get out of its path ? Accidents DO happen. The wise person takes care to protect himself, rather than relying upon others to look out for him. Because 2-ton vs 200 lbs trumps right vs wrong. Common sense helps. “Can I be seen?” . I get your point. But I have seen way too much (and growing) STUPID pedestrian and bicyclist behavior to agree with putting myself (as a driver) at increased legal risk.
thielges says:
Nice try but the fault lies with the driver if they are driving too fast to see people in the road. The solution to almost every challenging visibility problem is to simply slow down. It is unrealistic to expect all pedestrians to wear high visibility clothing or lanterns. However it is realistic to expect drivers to operate their heavy machinery with due caution given the situation. So realistic that it is the law.
At least as I understand, the European laws you’re likely thinking of apply to civil cases, not necessarily criminal. They affect insurance claims, etc…, not jail time. US tort law does embrace the concept of “strict liability” in places. The question is why drivers get a pass when operation of a car clearly qualifies as a sufficiently dangerous activity?
God points; made me dig further and found this: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/strict-liability-in-the-netherlands/
Great articulation of the old “rape victim asked for it because of the way she dressed” argument. If that seems unfair, I see you managed to explicitly fault the mothering skills of the victim, insinuating her as neither loving nor attentive to her child. Her’s her obit if it helps your understanding of “what kind of mother”:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/woodstock-ga/kaitlin-hunt-7554006
She looks pretty capable and caring to me.
No. You clearly do not get the point that as a driver you have a far greater responsibility. Yes, you should be in greater legal risk do the higher risks associated with your car use. I do agree with your assessment of “the wise person takes care to protect himself.” Part of that wise protection would be to seek fair legal recourse against drivers for the disproportionate amount of risk they bring to the interaction.
Cynara2 says:
I carry a flashlight if I have to walk at night. I have even pointed it in the faces of drivers who turn when I have the walk sign. Drivers now increasingly do not only not follow the laws that protect pedestrians, they don’t even know them. They see nothing wrong with right-turning in front of you when it is the peds turn to walk. Or even make you stop in the middle of the street while they make a left. Things have drastically changed. Seeing a ped isn’t enough, if they do not know they have to stop.
The main problems I see now when walking: Aggression, phone use and ignorance of the laws. And, sorry, that goes for all persons operating machines with wheels.
Yes, it does seem unfair. It also seem like you cannot read clearly. I did not fault her mothering skills at all. That is something you made up. I faulted her street crossing skills. Looking both ways, not just before you cross, but as you cross as well seems prudent to me. I certainly do. I agree drivers have greater responsibility, but not infinite responsibility. Pedestrian fatality rates are rising, but it is foolish to blame only the drivers.
Raven Luna Tikke says:
If pedestrians can walk anywhere they want, then why have crosswalks? This is a terrible example to prove the point you are trying to make. I have walked and bussed more than I’ve driven. The one survial technique that has kept me alive while walking is to meet eyes with the driver. If I don’t meet eyes, I don’t walk. When I drive, I meet walkers’s to let them know I see them and it’s there turn. Simple communication helps so much.
Frank Kotter says:
You did.
*And I might also ask, how does a loving and attentive mother, knowing she and her child are in a vulnerable position – mid block, no cross-walk, at night – not see an on-coming vehicle with headlights on, and attempt to get out of its path ?*
If you realize it or not, this indicates you have a very shaky grasp on morality.
Thank you. I do think that morality has everything to do with how bad an end of the stick pedestrians are getting right now.
Lauren Bertrand says:
I think it’s fair to fault her mothering skills. She was not heeding the risks that were intrinsic to the situation.
I’m generally entirely in favor of pedestrian amenities, but the absence of them in certain road segments does not give pedestrians some sort of moral high ground when they deny reality that they are small, slow and fragile compared to a big, fast and mighty car. At some point, pedestrians have to be held responsible for failing to abide by the basic rule most of us got taught before we were in kindergarten: Look both ways before crossing.
If there’s no evidence that the driver was breaking any laws in the process, how seriously can they punish her? I agree that this is a terrible example for pedestrian advocacy. Just as some bicyclists behave recklessly, so do some pedestrians. Given the widely reported increase in pedestrian deaths in recent years, it’s hard to imagine this is the best example we could come up with.
“Regardless of the specifics of the case…” No. The specifics of the case are critical here. If this was a flukey location for a person to cross, a motorist cannot be expected to anticipate it, as long as he/she is obeying all other traffic rules customary for the location.
He has a rational grasp of morality. You can’t let emotionalism interfere with your understanding of the situation. If the driver was heeding traffic laws, a manslaughter charge is about as steep as one can expect. The woman failed to heed the advice she was undoubtedly taught when she was a toddler.
But what if the driver wasn’t speeding? And the pedestrian walked so suddenly into the road that the driver had a half-second to react? Do we fault the driver for not having the reflexes of a cat?
She was sentenced because she is guilty.
Correct. Of manslaughter–the most serious charge one can expect given she was not breaking any other laws and showed no signs of negligence.
We fault the driver for fiddling around with putting her cell phone in her purse and not watching the road. How is it that people think a woman who was sentenced is not guilty? She is guilty. She pleaded guilty.
That is not true. Other accounts say the scene was reconstructed. They believe that after she finished texting at the red light, she had her head beneath the dashboard, replacing her phone in her purse.
If that’s true, then those are “the specifics of the case” that this article carelessly fails to mention. These details certainly mattered in the courtroom.
I’m willing to stand corrected if the driver was behaving negligently at the moment of the accident. If she was, then I’d happily admit I was wrong and change my tune. This article instead seems to try to exculpate pedestrians from the failure to exercise even the basics of common sense.
Thank you. I see this everyday when I walk. You do not have to be talking on your phone to be distracted by it. They are scrolling through it, etc. They often fiddle with the phone while before a crosswalk and slowly drift into the crosswalk. I see peds afraid to cross if they see the driver playing with their phone because we know from experience that they will slowly roll into the crosswalk while we are crossing. They also block the crosswalks while playing with it or go right through them.
Wranger says:
It’s so lovely that you are willing to admit that you’re wrong, but a huge part of the problem is that you, and gobs of others, including most journalists, immediately blame the pedestrian. Why? Why don’t you immediately question the actions of the driver who very well could have been putting her phone away, been looking too long at something else that caught her eye causing her to not see these people, or doing something other than texting on her phone, or grabbing a piece of gum, or changing the radio station. There are a million things she could have been doing that caused her to kill these people, yet people like you assume she did NOTHING wrong.
If you choose to drive a multi-ton vehicle anywhere, then YOU are responsible for operating it safely so that you don’t kill or maim other people, or even yourself.
Come on, Lauren. Be real. Do you honestly think this young mother had a death wish for her and her baby, so that she bolted into the street as a car came along? That is freaking absurd.
anon_coward says:
You need to cross a road with no crosswalk at night. You see headlights approaching. Do you run out with your baby or wait a few minutes?
Why do I immediately blame the pedestrian?
I don’t. But I also don’t automatically ascribe virtue to the weak.
In the past, while driving in subpar situations, I have often thought of how difficult it may be to go through life having killed someone in my car, even if I was obeying all the rules. At one point, while driving in Nashville, in the dark, in the rain, going across an overpass, I came across a bicyclist who had no lights, no reflectors, no headgear, driving along the edge of a street that had no shoulders, going the wrong way up that same hill. If it weren’t for my youthful reflexes, I would have killed him. Even though I was doing absolutely nothing wrong, I still would have faced a life of guilt for something and would have continuously asked “what could I have done to prevent it”, when it’s very possible the answer would have been “nothing”.
Either this was a poorly chosen example to make the writer’s case, or the writer failed to include the details that would have made it a good example. All the considerations you mentioned could easily have been applied to the pedestrian in equal measure. Fortunately, the eye of the law, though infallible, does not let emotionalism that favors the weak and vulnerable prevail, since it’s very possible that the weak and vulnerable still hold some–or even all–culpability in the matter. Each scenario must be viewed on its own merits.
That may not be the scenario in this instance, in which case I was wrong. But the article on its own does not make a very good case for itself, and I’m not the only one writing here who thinks this.
no, this is nothing like it. I see this in NYC all the time, some people literally walk out in front of moving cars expecting the world to stop around them
cause all drivers zone out on empty roads. i jaywalk all the time. but if i were to do it on a dark road, i wouldn’t be walking out with my child with headlights coming right at me
SF Guest says:
A key point omitted in your article Ms. Schmidtt is Reardon agreed to a plea deal by pleading guilty to three charges out of 9 to ensure a lighter sentence. Both sides in the case were able to work out deal for the Atlanta teen to plead guilty. She pleaded guilty to three counts of homicide by vehicle and texting while driving charge in exchange for a lighter sentence of 36 months probation.
“How does someone who is being attentive and driving at a safe speed — as her attorneys claim — completely fail to see three pedestrians in the road? Wouldn’t an attentive driver have been able to slow down enough to avoid at least hitting them at a lethal speed? Women carrying babies don’t move that fast.”
The argument of why a negligent driver didn’t see three pedestrians works both ways — why didn’t the three pedestrians see the car? Isn’t it easier for three pedestrians to see an oncoming car which isn’t slowing down?
Since it’s widely acknowledged many drivers are reckless or careless, why do pedestrians cross streets outside a marked crosswalk without looking for potential hazards?
Very insightful point and accurate. Pedestrians and every vulnerable road user have a duty to show due care for their own safety when walking outside of crosswalks even if they have the right-of-way.
Just because you’re driving within the applicable maximum speed limit doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not speeding.
In Georgia the vehicle code states
No person shall drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard for the actual and potential hazards then existing. … [E]very person shall drive at a reasonable and prudent speed when … special hazards exist with respect to pedestrians or other traffic or by reason of weather or highway conditions.
Even if the posted speed limit is 45mph and you’re going 30mph, if that speed is too fast to see and stop for a pedestrian crossing the street legally, you’re speeding.
No. It is a bad idea to constantly say that it is easy for pedestrians to evade cars or other vehicles. It simply is not true. Especially since many machine operators fail to notice that they are not the only machine with wheels we have to watch out for.
I was not speaking about legality – rather, morality. The two often overlap. When it comes to driving a car, it doesn’t.
And if there was no pedestrian crossing and no reasonable justification for one because it’s a rural area where pedestrians are rare, then you’re running out of rope with which to lynch this poor teenager.
If the teenager in question was finishing a text and did not have her eyes on the road, she is negligent and deserves a punishment equivalent to that negligence. If she was following all the rules, at some point we have to ascribe at least a tiny bit of responsibility to the pedestrians (who were taking it on themselves to cross the street in the dark in an area where it seems pedestrians are rare), as much as a heavily slanted website like this would like to exculpate them completely.
I support the vast majority of the advocacy here. But not every case is a slam-dunk, and, by omitting key details, this article became less persuasive, and so does the advocacy.
Road safety for vulnerable users has always been and always will be a shared responsibility. I am ultimately responsible for my own safety when crossing the street whether a car sees me or not.
Motor vehicle operators have the duty to operate their vehicles in a safe manner, but when they don’t due to negligence it’s the vulnerable road user who becomes the victim. On that basis I would never take it for granted a motor vehicle operator sees me or will grant me my right-of-way.
While Reardon pled guilty and found negligent, two adults with one holding an infant lost their lives by not being vigilant crossing outside of a crosswalk and were probably distracted themselves. If one or both of the adults were aware the approaching car didn’t slow down this tragedy would have been averted.
I once exited a BART station and while looking left first while crossing the street a car to my right dangerously reversed at an unsafe speed while I was already crossing the street. It was my vigilance for being aware of my surroundings that saved my life. I heard the approaching car from my right and leaped forward to narrowly escape the reversing car.
In many cases it is easier for pedestrians to evade negligent motor vehicle operators especially when drivers don’t see you or are distracted. Pedestrian safety has always been and always will be a shared responsibility. It is never safe to assume the driver sees you.
I’m not interested in “lynching” anyone. I agree that this particular situation looks like the driver made a mistake – unfortunately, a fatal one.
What I want is to prevent mistakes from becoming tragedies like this one through better infrastructure where appropriate, and by getting those who demonstrate that they are unable or unwilling to take their responsibilities as the operator of a motor vehicle seriously, off the road.
Stephen Simac says:
Meeting eyes is not foolproof. The sausage truck driver who rolled through a stop sign while I was riding highly visibly and legally seemed to be looking right at my eyes, as I was looking at his. For many motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists wear a Cloak of Invisibility. More pedestrians are probably hit in crosswalks than out of them, where they exist. Apparently there was no crosswalk near these people. Why aren’t motorists liable for operating a potentially deadly machine on public roads when they kill or injure others? Why aren’t car manufacturers liable for selling a vehicle that kills when used as designed? The car is king on the Royal Roads, and we must get out of the way and bend our knee as they pass. The penalty for obstructing the king on his roads was immediate death, and that hasn’t changed much.
I’ve had drivers speed up to pass another driver who’s stopped to let me walk through the crosswalk, when I was clearly visible to them as well. More frequently they’re passing an SUV or taller vehicle so can’t see the pedestrian, but you’d think they would have a clue because of the stopped car and the zebra striping. There’s also many drivers who “never even saw” the pedestrians they hit in the crosswalk.
What about the design of the Jeep Wrangler, (or other similar SUV’s) far more likely to kill pedestrians, cyclists and people in smaller cars because of the height of their grill and their chassis which rides right over lower chassis? (They’re even more likely to kill themselves and their passengers because of rollovers due to higher center of gravity.) -Read High and Mighty to see that manufacturers have known about these inherent risks for 30 years.
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I try desperately to employ this tactic, but more often than not the driver never looks at me. They speed up and into the crosswalk and stop and look only in the direction they need to check before they turn. They are hyper focused only to look for other cars. Additionally, more and more windows are tinted and I can’t see inside the car. And during the day there are issues with sunlight not allowing me to see the driver.
Amerisod says:
Pedestrians and drivers are really seeing the same situation from completely different points of view. Pedestrians often don’t realize how difficult it is for them to be seen. They walk as if drivers can and will see them, but right or wrong, that is just not the case. At dusk, when they are backlit, at night, when it’s raining, or when there is glare from wet pavement are all exceedingly dangerous times to be out walking. People often have no idea that they are, for all practical purposes, invisible.
For people driving, if you are not scanning for pedestrians and looking for people crossing the street, especially in built up areas like where this accident took place, you are being negligent. That doesn’t mean you will see them of course. That could be what happened here.
I think the town here is also negligent for not providing a safe way for people to move around the neighborhood. No pedestrian crossings and too high of a speed limit in an area with shops, homes, and theaters is a bad combination. I see they partially fixed it after the tragedy, and not before.
KL says:
The article states that there are no crosswalks on this street. Unfortunately, evasion maneuvers only work if you are not disabled and you have quick reaction times. With nearly 1 in 5 people in the U.S. with a disability https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-134.html, that’s a lot of people who have the right to walk but for whom it is not easy to evade negligent motor vehicle drivers. Our goal should be to make the built environment more forgiving of human error.
tboynnja says:
Driving at dusk. What was the color of the car compared to the color of surroundings and asphalt? Did the driver have her lights on or was she completely dependent on the automobile to make that decision for her? In what direction was the sun setting? Just as pedestrians can be invisible in poor light conditions, so can vehicles.
Georgia Mom Convicted of Vehicular Homicide For Crossing Street With Kids
By Tanya Snyder | Jul 14, 2011
We don’t normally report on vehicle crashes here on the Capitol Hill blog, but this was so outrageous we couldn’t help ourselves. A 30-year-old woman in Marietta, Georgia was convicted of vehicular homicide this week – and she wasn’t even driving a car. The woman was crossing the street with her three children when a […]
Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”
By Angie Schmitt | Aug 17, 2018
Self-driving car companies tech isn't advanced enough to detect pedestrians. Rather than wait until it matures, they're trying to blame pedestrians.
The Problem With Treating Pedestrians Like Drivers
After U.S. DOT released a report earlier this month on pedestrian safety, media outlets around the country raced to produce indictments of “drunk walking.” “Drunk Walking Leads to Pedestrian Fatalities,” exclaimed Tulsa’s News on 6, as if people on foot have the same responsibility to be sober as people operating fast, heavy machinery. “Among pedestrians […]
Experts: Feds Aren’t Fixing Pedestrian Safety Crisis
Federal officials are failing to protect pedestrians — and, in fact, err on the side of drivers and even blame walkers for a pedestrian death toll has increased 50 percent in just eight years, advocates say.
Should We Regulate Ads that Promote Dangerous Driving?
By Angie Schmitt | May 28, 2019
They do it in the U.K. and Australia and Singapore and studies show it saves lives.
We Know SUV Design Kills Pedestrians, But We Still Let Carmakers Sell Them
The same design features that kill and maim pedestrians are what automakers rely on to appeal to consumers.
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For Elise: Unveiling the Forgotten Woman on the Criddle Homestead
The Criddle/Vane Homestead Saga
Original Family
Norman’s home
Glenbow Museum Library
Link to Free Press Article
Elise’s Thoughts
Link to Canada’s History; Canada’s Warrior Prince Rupert
Manitoba Library Trustee Newsletter
Family Secret Outed
Canada Reads Nominations
J. J. Lee judge of 2016 non-fiction Whistler Independent Book Award
Greg Pohl Natural Resources Canada
Lois Wilson
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← Whistler Writers Festival
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Finalist at Whistler Writers’ Festival
Book Awards in the past were simply news, I read the lists, felt pleased for the shortlisted authors and more pleased for the winners. Now that I’ve had the honour to be a participant in the process, I’m sharing my experience.
All twelve authors shortlisted in the four categories, fiction, non-fiction, crime fiction, and poetry, were invited to the Whistlers Writers Festival in October. For Elise was one of the three finalists in the non-fiction genre. (For more information google, Whistler Independent Book Awards.)
A Finalist Reception the first evening provided an opportunity to meet each other before our four minute opportunity to ‘pitch’ our book. I found the time short but finished just as the bell went. After our reading each author was presented with their finalist certificate and evaluations. Not knowing what to wear for the occasion I wore the 1902 dress sewn for me to celebrate Elise’s life.
I opened my envelope and read: Members of the Vancouver chapter of the Canadian Authors’ Association have selected the finalists according to four criteria: Ideas/Organization/Content, Style/Voice, Word Choice/Sentence Fluency, and Conventions/Production Values. I was thrilled to discover that For Elise earned 93 of the 100 points awarded.
Summary of For Elise: ‘This compelling story is at times almost too painful to be read. But it uncovers women’s history that, as Veldhuis describes, “disappears like meals placed before hungry men.” The content is rich in many ways: family ties, Canadian history, class structures perpetuated by settlers, etc. This is a story that cannot easily be forgotten. Its rich detail and personal style create the power for it to become a classic in print, and perhaps as a stage or screen play. The narrative and primary sources are seamlessly woven into a story that keeps the reader on the edge with Elise and her family. The design and format of the book will appeal to readers of history and women’s studies.’
Following the selection of the three non-fiction tiles from the longlist the books went to two published writers, Susan Oakley-Baker and J. J. Lee. Their decision of the winning author was to be announced the following evening.
Miji Campbell from Calgary won the non-fiction category. Many thoughts went through my mind following the announcement. It would have been wonderful to win, but I had learned too much to expect the judges to choose For Elise. It is a very unusual book, not exactly what book stores expect both in subject, style or size. I had willingly broken rules in order to tell the story my way. For instance, I needed to use footnotes, actual documents, and letters, to verify my account and then combine them into a story.. It took courage to break the Vane’s promise of secrecy and share it openly under the shadow of an already recorded Criddle family version. Nor do historians appreciate challenges to accepted history. Initially, my plan had been simply to learn more about our ‘vanished from history’ ancestor. The trail at first was very faint—a name, her birth and death dates and country of origin. But I uncovered much more, and with each new discovery the path became undeniably more tangled and troubling. The nameless woman had a name, Elise Harrer. She was an educated, talented woman, who survived many painful traumas. Through her and her children’s sacrifices, the Criddle family survived and thrived. Truth without anger was paramount as I wrote, but, her story needed to be told. The original documents supplied the truth and I carefully set them into context. I felt at peace. Back home For Elise‘s many fans had been sure the book would win, but they have accepted their loss graciously, saying, “For Elise is a winner with us.” I thank them.
Both judges had positive feedback about the book.
J.J. Lee, who wrote The Measure of a Man: the Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit
I quote some insightful comments from his review.
‘For Elise is a book from a genre that is often difficult to evaluate because the genre has its own criteria and demands. The genre is family and local history. The difficulty is should a work be judged on literary merit when so much of what drives it is the recovery of experience, the reinsertion of artifact and document back into a chronology of a life lived, and the simple reassertion that we or they were here?
The author smartly recognizes the importance of ordinary people’s history and prepares us for the humble, though epic in scale, tale. But the apology is unnecessary because Elise Harrer is a decisively literary, heroic, vital person whose struggle with the frontier has all the elements of a compelling Western tale. . . . ‘
‘The instigation of the author is both real and compelling – witnessing her father honour the grave of a mystery woman from her family’s past. The writer drops us quickly into the whirlwind of action, setting us to sail across the ocean and prairies. It is breathless in a good way, and it is a great bit of wonderfully historical fiction backed by actual historical documentation.’ . . .
‘It is a mammoth accomplishment. The work is admirable for its detail and doggedness. The writer has a great tone and keeps things quite simple – getting out of the way of the story and her source material, a hard thing to do. I think this book will be a valuable resource and an important corrective with regard to this period in time and as a feminist re-history that does so much to honour and restore Elise. The writer’s father may have placed the stone but it is the writer who has carved out the undying epitaph. I won’t forget Elise. That is for certain.’
Susan Oakey-Baker: wrote Finding Jim
I quote from her review: ‘Your meticulous research (the letters, the diaries etc.) has resulted in a story rich in history. The day-to day colloquial voices you have created elicit emotion. The repetitive nature of the events, such as the failed crops season after season, mimics the rhythm of the homesteaders’ lives. Elise, Edwy and Percy are memorable characters. You evoke a strong sense of place and many times reading your story I felt hungry, cold and deprived. The captioned photographs lend authenticity to the story. Living with abuse is always a relevant topic, even today when woman have more rights in many parts of the world. You have crafted a story that bravely unveils secrets in which you honor a woman who was poorly treated yet who maintained integrity in the face of incredible adversity.’
Susan went on with advice of ways I could have changed the story to make it more marketable for a general audience. But I was not writing for profit. The general public are welcome to read the story, and have done so. But, I wrote this book for the Vane family descendants and their healing. I had but one opportunity to share my research and I included what I found. Elise’s, plus or minus, ninety living descendants have the whole story. I have achieved my goal. Perhaps another author can take my book and fashion it into a skimmed down version more palatable for the average reader as Susan suggested.
I have been honoured and my life enriched by this experience. I thank the visionaries whose planning made it all possible. Traveling to Whistler with my husband Art to participate in the Festival will remain a treasured highlight.
The awards were jointly administrated by the Whistler Writing Society and Vivalogue Publishing. The Whistler Independent Book Awards provided independent authors with a unique opportunity to have their work recognized through a juried process typically reserved for trade-published titles. This was the first, I hope other independent writers will take the opportunity to enter their book next season.
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3 Responses to Finalist at Whistler Writers’ Festival
An Embarrassment of Freedom says:
Well done Oriole…and Elise will not be forgotten…she has several interested readers here in Ontario as well. I will always plant another perennial for her memorial every Mother’s Day so her beauty continues to grow. Liz
Hi… Not writing but thinking! I have been intensely mindfully occupied with the drama of the recent election probably due to the fact that my late mom was fascinated with such politics. It may come out in another allegory similar to my previous writing.Did you ever read my Judge Wizzy, Get smart Wizzy, Wizzy’s Great Adventure etc (there is another one but i can’t recall the title!!!). I wrote them over 5 years ago or so…interesting how my mom’s fascination with Canadian and American news found it’ into my writing somehow.
vanecriddle says:
I’m sorry I’ve not followed up on your writing. i hope to now that I’m getting settled after all the excitement of our trip to BC. The election was upsetting for me in the light of my life’s work for disadvantaged children and women.
New Adventure at the Gwen Fox Gallery
Lowly Servant makes the Free Press front page
Found: baby Mabel’s resting place
Weather now and on the Criddle Homestead
For Elise, 4th Edition
See Facebook For Elise
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Britney Spears Forced to Stay Under Conservatorship Due to “Psychological Issues”
In my several articles on Britney Spears, I described how she was one of the most obvious examples of mind control in the entertainment industry. The singer has absolutely no control over her own personal life, much less her professional life. This is even enforced by judicial courts as her father and fiance Jason Trawick have legal conservatorship over her life. In other words, they are her handlers.
Britney has been attempting to liberate herself from these men controlling all aspects of her life (how can one’s fiance be in control of one’s life?) but courts are not about to let her go… And the reasons cited for the continuing of her conservatorship are quite cryptic and mysterious. Documents were filed in her case that “urgently ask the judge to seal certain records” as they are deemed “highly sensitive” and would cause “irreparable harm and immediate danger” should they be made public. The documents relate to her condition and treatment.
Do these “highly sensitive” documents mention something about her being under Monarch mind control? It would certainly explain why the revelation of this information would cause “irreparable harm and immediate danger”. Here’s an article on Spears’ conservatorship.
Britney Spears Conservatorship In Place Due To Psychological Issues
It’s been four-and-a-half years since a judge placed Britney Spears under conservatorship of her father, Jamie Spears, giving him control of her career, personal life and finances — but the 30-year-old singer has had enough.
RadarOnline reports that Spears is growing increasingly frustrated that she’s still kept under the conservatorship and met with Judge Reva Goetz to discuss her progress.
“Britney said she doesn’t understand why it’s still in place and expressed her belief that she has got to be the only person under a conservatorship that has managed to land a $15 million work contract. Britney wants the conservatorship to end, it’s fine with her if it stays in place as far as her business and professional life, but she wants to call the shots when it comes to her personal life,” a source close to the singer revealed to RadarOnline.
Spears has been getting her career back on track following a mental breakdown in 2008. The singer locked herself in a room with one of her children in her Los Angeles home and refused to hand him over to ex-husband Kevin Federline. Police were called to intervene and said the singer appeared to be “under the influence of an unknown substance.” Spears was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for evaluation and the following day a court suspended her visitation rights and Federline was given sole custody of their children. Three weeks later Spears was committed to the psychiatric ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and placed on a 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold.
At the time, People magazine reported that Spears went willingly, after exhibiting more alarming behavior. “She was driving around her neighborhood like a mad-woman,” revealed a family insider, who added, “Britney has been prescribed medication which she refuses to take. This is just another sad, sad evening.”
Sources also told the magazine that Spears suffers from psychological issues, with one source claiming, she’s “bipolar… she’s had manic episodes for years.”
Spears’ camp never confirmed that the singer suffers from bipolar disorder, but whatever psychological problems she has are enough to keep her under the conservatorship. According to TMZ, documents were filed on Tuesday in Spears’ case that urgently ask the judge to seal certain records. Sources told the website that the records — which her lawyers called “highly sensitive” and would cause “irreparable harm and immediate danger” should they be made public — are medical documents outlining the singer’s condition and treatment.
Though Spears has been doing “extremely well,” according to the website’s source, her “personality disorder” apparently makes her too much of a wild card to be able to make her own decisions.
“Britney’s team of doctors just don’t feel that she is ready for the conservatorship to end. They have specific concerns related to her mental health and aren’t ready to tell the judge that Britney is ready to go it alone just yet. Judge Goetz is the only person that can end the conservatorship,” the source explained to RadarOnline.
Britney has been able to make some headway in the case and now has two men controlling her life. In April, her fiance, Jason Trawick, was approved as a co-conservator, a request that was made by Britney herself.
Currently, Trawick and Britney’s father share control of the personal conservatorship, allowing them to make life decisions for the singer — and of the business conservatorship, which involves managing the singer’s career and finances. According to TMZ’s sources it’s likely the two will indefinitely control the business side of things as it’s been an incredibly successful arrangement thus far.
– Source: Huffington Post
Related Topics:breakdownbritney spearsmind control
#FreeBritney: Is Britney Spears Being Held at a Mental Health Facility Against Her Will for MKULTRA?
The World Economic Forum Talks About “Mind Control Using Sound Waves”
Canadian Government Quietly Compensates Daughter of MKULTRA Victim
What is Happening to Katy Perry?
Mischa Barton Under “Psychiatric Evaluation” After Breaking Down And Screaming That Her Mother Is a Witch
So that's why she sang the song "I'm a Slave For U"? Just a thought.
Probably the answer is YES. Sigh….so many people in the music industry are talented and all but then the ELITE gets its filthy hands on the music industry. Then…this. 🙁
I could imagine that these "documents" expose some deeply disturbing and embarrassing forms of her treatment such as electric shock therapy, etc. I mean who really knows. It could also disclose illegal activity she has taken part in during her psychotic episodes. Either way, I am very intrigued and just wonder what else could be uncovered concerning her madness! I think many know by now that every move and even word uttered from her mouth is carefully orchestrated at this point. All interview questions are probably pre-screened and a response is pre-planned. She cannot even drive her own car if she wanted to for pete's sake. The last interview a couple years back made me aware of how carefully controlled her life is and it's scary! Isn't this against her basic human rights? I guess not when allegedly a "danger to oneself". But seriously, would there be any conservatorship if there was no money to be had? If she was broke, would anyone give a damn. The father and whomever lawyers,etc. are making bank right now. Not to say that her family doesn't care, but it puts big questions in your head… if she wasn't a money machine, there would… Read more »
@ Taylor:
It's quite clever. Everything that doesn't fit into the exact mold for a "model person" is a disorder now.
I was talking with a counselor and mentioned that I was sick of social media and had deleted my twitter, fbook, and youtube accounts. She actually suggested I might have a social disorder. I guess these days craving actual human interaction instead of staring at pixels is a "disorder" too.
Everything is a disorder, it seems.
If you don't like or care for broccoli, you have a broccoli disorder.
If you don't like or care for cats, you have the cat disorder.
If some pigeon outside leaves you indifferent, you have some bird disorder.
Etc, you could just go on and on. It's a real mess lol.
Yes Bipolar can be detected but whose to say someone is "crazy"? So many people in society think that because you have a disorder or because you do something out of the norm you are insane. Why is it insane? Who can determine what is insane and what isn't?
"Leave Britney Alone! *sobs*"
Heavydukes
When are people going to get a clue and realize when someone acts in a bizarre, out of character way they are most likely on psychiatric drugs. Psychiatrists make problems WORSE. Psychiatric wards destroy people. When you hear someone was committed you should be horrified for them.
I think alot of the mental health problems experienced by celebrities are symptoms of being controlled. Yes, they may legitimately meet the criteria for a certain disorder, but who are the people who created the criteria? A lot of big shot psychiatrists. There have been many changes to the lists of mental disorders, and I think most of these changes have been made to suit the purposes, political or economic, of the "elite" who run the country. Sure, Britney has mental problems, but this is the most extreme case of someone being handled and manipulated I have ever seen. It is so obvious, even people who would never read a website like this are asking what is up with this situation.
Poor, poor Britney!! To me it is painfully obvious that she is a monarch. There is a video of her in an interview where she is asked about Breaking up with Justin and it looks like she switches alters! This can't be confirmed or proven obviously but when she had her apparent "break down " and shaved her head she kept dating she didn't want anyone touching her or plugging things into her !! WTF? Plugging things into her head? ANYONE?? it's obvious she was trying to break free and they used her children as weapons against her so she went home, tied the line and made another album! I feel for this girl so much and pray they don't suicide her off! I think her fans would freak out to such a degree and make such a noise TPTB are keeping her on ice , she is still such a money cow for them they will milk her till she is dried up and disposable, just like WHitney.
You would have mental problems to if your father was molesting you over and over. I'm happy she is even alive considering he chicken s--t patents . Britney is stronger than we think that is why they are not letting her go.
How do you know her father was molesting her? Have you been there while the molestation took place? That's all an assumption. Do we have to be taken over by someone's irrational behaviour because we assume this person has been molested?
I always wonder what role did Kevin Federline play in this . Why was he allowed to Marry her?
Kimchee
I know people who are DID, schizophrenic and psychotic. I know people who don't remember their lives prior to a head injury and are lacking skills after. None of them have a conservatorship. It's not even a legal option for those people. Their families wish there was a legal option like that, but there isn't. So, what the hell is Britney's "issue"? MKUltra fits.
Ellis A.
It's sad to see. They have been passing this woman around like a baton on a relay team for so many years. Now they do further damage to her by telling people she doesn't have the mental capacity to handle herself. When it's obvious, if she actually did lack those skills, it's because they did it. I can't imagine how tired she must be dealing with this in her life for so long. I pray for her release from the psychological and spiritual bondage before they get tired of her or use her up or she no longer becomes relevant and they get rid of her as the industry does all the time. If I could, I would snatch her up and hide her. And she's not the only one either, just one of the more prominent ones and the example for all other mind control handlers or handlees.
This is very Sad and ridiculous!! The price of fame is very high indeed. It is better to live a comfortable life and have your freedom instead of being a caged bird in a golden cage. I feel sorry for her and I blame her parents who turned their daughter into an ATM Machine.
do all ‘slaves/puppets’ get tortured, or do most simply obey instructions that are given to them for money/success/fame (without the torture?). im not a huge fan of many of these celebrities but its very sad to think that they might be getting tortured eg justin beiber’s photo in a different post- he’s barely an adult 🙁
i couldnt help crying reading this…Britney is my favourite singer.
afroditi
Oh….poor Britney….I hope that you will be free soon!!!!!!!!
Lady Vigilant
Its rather annoying that whenever someone mentions Christ's name here,they get attacked.if you have a problem with Christianty that's fine just don't go bringing other people down.and as for those who keep saying Britney is "crazy",its clear u are ignorant and havnt read the other articles on Mind control.Do your research first before you type ignorant comments.
The nano chip is heading our way – no use saying "poor Britney", it is in fact "poor humanity."
Give her a detector to record the transmissions. Only two carriers are possible, wideband acoustic or EM. It would change everything.
The Truth Watch
"Bi-polar" is new-age speak for manic depression or psychosis. Simply put, they're saying Britney Spears is insane. In Spears' case of course, the diagnosis was brought on by her being a mind-controlled ever since her days at Disney.
This site says no hate speech. In other words, no free speech? What if I say I hate parsnips or child molestors? Will I be banned from the site? If a person robs a bank because they hate being broke, are they guilty of committing a hate crime? How often is a murder committed when the killer wasn't motivated by hate? What if one homosexual assaults or kills another homosexual? (it happens more often than you might think) Will they be charged with being hateful? If you want more evidence of the hypocrisy of hate speech, read this:
http://www.henrymakow.com/human_rights_the_ultima… http://tinyurl.com/yrs5re
Why do people thinks that she has mental ill? She's ok guys.. come'on..
It could also reveal way her life has been controlled or what has been done to her/for her unbeknownst to her.
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Article stubs, Female, Traitor,
Soap Opera Villains
Live Action Villains
Master Manipulator
Friend of the hero
Love rivals
Posthumous
Blackmailers
Pretty Little Liars Villains
Shana Fring
Read my lips and come to grips with the reality!
This article is a stub and is in need of expansion. You can help Villains Wiki by expanding it.
Evil-doer
"A"
Costume shop employee.
"A" copycat
Powers/Skills
Swimming.
Getting revenge.
To get revenge on Ali and the Liars for blinding Jenna.
Type of Villain
“ I'm not Mona, this isn't a game! „
~ Shana to the Liars
Shana Fring is a recurring antagonist in the ABC Family series "Pretty Little Liars". She is a minor antagonist in the third season, the secondary antagonist of the fourth season, and the main antagonist in the premiere of the fifth season. She was portrayed by Aeriel Miranda.
Shana is a childhood friend of Alison DiLaurentis, who was sent to Rosewood by her to act as a spy. However, Shana befriended Jenna Marshall and wanted vengeance on the Liars for what they did to her, leading Shana to pretend to be "A" to stalk the girls in New York.
An old friend of Ali's, Shana is informed by Ali that she is actually alive and is asked by her to travel to Rosewood in order to find out who tried to kill her. But when Shana got there and began asking questions and befriending enemies, she fell in love with none other than Jenna Marshall. She attempts to kill the Liars by setting them on fire at the Thornhill Lodge but fails when Alison, who was late, pulls them out. Shana informed the Liars of her alliance with Ali and continued pretending to be on their side. But when they traveled to New York to talk with Ali, Shana traveled there too. She shot through the window of the place they were at and chased them to the roof where she cornered them. But Ezra Fitz, who knew who she was, showed up just in time to fight her. Hanna grabs the gun from her and Shana jumps to the next roof and leaves, but not without shooting Ezra in the stomach first. Shana continues her mission and goes into the hospital, even posing as a doctor. She decides to try again and goes to the theater the Liars are with a gun. She explains to them of how she found out answers and decided to join Jenna. But there's one flaw in her plan, Aria's not there. Aria, having been informed by Ezra that it was Shana, goes to the theater and gets a gun prop from the stage. She calls out Shana's name and she turns around, at which point Aria hits her with the fake gun, causing her to fall from the stage to her death. The Liars believe that she was the Big "A" and that the game is over, though it is later revealed that "A" is still around.
In UnmAsked, Shana meets with Jenna Marshall in the park to discuss a plan of theirs.
In A DAngerous GAme, Shana is revealed to be an antagonist and is in league with Jenna and Melissa Hastings. The Trifecta of Evil plots throughout the episode and finally Shana sets fire to the Thornhill Lodge to kill the Liars, until Sara Harvey and Alison DiLaurentis rescue them.
In A is for Answers, Shana arrives in New York, dressed as "A", and attempts to shoot the Liars. However, Ezra Fitz shows up to save them and she shoots him instead, jumping away.
In EscApe From New York, Shana continues pretending to be "A", even sending a flash mob of fake "A's" to trick the girls. She shows up to the theater to kill them, but her plans are thwarted by Aria, who kills her.
Shana ends up essentially being the final boss in both Season 3 and 4, as her burning of the Lodge and shooting on the roof are the Liars' final problems.
Retrieved from "https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Shana_Fring?oldid=3140024"
3 Titans (Attack on Titan)
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News Reader
How Did This Twitter Account Predict The World Cup Finals Result So Accurately?
Sarah Enxhi
For those watching the World Cup Finals early this morning, there was a tough battle on the field between Germany and Argentina, and Germany finally won by scoring the only goal at the 113th minute. However, unlike the rest of us who had to wait for the end of the game to know the World Cup champion; this Twitter account seemingly already knew who the victor was going to be way before the actual game.
Image Credit: Screenshot from FIFA Corruption Twitter page
Just looking at these Tweets from a Twitter account called FIFA Corruption, anyone would start to doubt the legitimacy of the FIFA World Cup.
Also read: Skpe Scams – Malaysian Users Still Falling for It
Fortunately, another Twitter user has shed some light on this matter.
Apparently, the FIFA Corruption account had actually tweeted every possible scenario ahead of time, for both Germany winning and Argentina winning. And then deleted the ones that were incorrect after knowing the actual World Cup results. Twitter user Suresh Nakhua managed to printscreen a screenshot of those tweets before they were deleted.
Image Credit: news.com.au
He wasn’t the only one who managed to capture this evidence. This other user took a screenshot as well.
Image Credit: SB Nation
Just goes to show that you REALLY have to be wary of what you read on social media and that some people will go to lengths to attempt to bring shame to others.
As this article is being written, the FIFA Corruption Twitter account has 39.8k followers. We hope that the followers are aware that the account is fake and unreliable.
Also read: Perez Hilton Fires a Shot At Controversial Malaysian Politician’s “Hitler” Tweet
Tags: fakeFIFA CorruptionscamtwitterWorld Cup
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7 Young Male M'sians Who Brought The Franchises They Love To Our Shores
Editorial update: The title of this article has been changed (the original was “7 Young Male M’sians Who Brought Franchises To Our Shores And Are Making Bucks From It”) because we realise that Teach For Malaysia is a non-profit organisation and therefore does not fit the title requirement. We only wish to highlight these young inspiration people who went out to bring back a brand that they love to Malaysia, so we will omit the financial aspect from the title. We sincerely apologise for any confusion.
Some may have stumbled upon a place which they frequented whilst travelling overseas and ever since the return to their home country, all they can think of is that particular quaint ice cream store or the pizza place round the corner of the hotel they lived at for the week.
While most would just savour the memory for as long as it could last, others would deviate from the norm in order to bring the franchise over to Malaysia. These 7 young Malaysians must have seen the potential in some big brands and hence brought it over to Malaysia where it has blossomed to become the entity that it is today.
1. Yeo Kian Howe
Image Credit: Lipstiq.com
Kian Howe is the man who is responsible for bringing healthy ice cream brand, Milkcow, to Malaysia. The director and co-founder of Blugroupe, brought the South Korean organic soft serve brand to our shores and Milkcow is currently available in 8 outlets across Malaysia.
Kian Howe mentioned on his Twitter account that his stance on life is simple: “Staying focused and being relentless. That’s my approach to just about anything in life.” Hence, it is only apt that he is the name behind the simple but delectable dessert chain.
2. Mohamed Shafiq Ahamed Sathali
Image Credit: Mohamed Shafiq Ahamed Sathali
Shafiq, a graduate in marketing and finance had the most amazing waffles he had ever tasted once, and decided that seeing since the brand, Wafflemeister was not available in Malaysia, that he would bring it here, by hook or by crook.
What makes Wafflemeister different from other waffle outlets in Malaysia is the fact that they are made using a Belgian family recipe that dates back to the 1950’s. As such, this delicious treat is what Shafiq discovered back in London during 2011, and decided that it was too good not to share with his fellow Malaysians.
3. Brian Chen
Image Credit: Star2.com
Not many would be familiar with the name Brian Chen, but perhaps the term Abang Brian would ring a bell, especially for reality TV show junkies of MasterChef Malaysia. Brian not only appeared as a contestant on the reality competition series, he is also a Suria FM radio announcer, cookbook author, TV host, and last but certainly not the least—the man who brought Young Chefs Academy that originated from US to Malaysia.
Young Chefs Academy is an institute based in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, which provides cooking classes for kids aged 3 to 10, as well as teens aged 11 and up.
4. Delon Leong
Image Credit: Go Communication
This 25-year-old Pahang lad is the CEO of Dusty Monkeys, an event company which brings international events to Malaysia. Among the noted events that he has introduced to his fellow Malaysian counterparts is the upcoming event, Slide The City, which is a huge slip-and-slide event originating from Utah, United States.
Besides that, Delon has also brought in Run For Your Lives, a zombie versus survivor event which saw an estimate of 10,000 participants when it was introduced here, in May of this year.
This 25-Year-Old M’sian Who Once Survived On RM300/Month Brought A 1000-Feet Slide To Us
5. Dzameer Dzulkifli
Wobb interview with TFM
Dzameer Dzulkifli was once a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but he traded in his corporate days due to the fact that he and his colleague, Keeran Sivarajah, had observed social problems around them that they can no longer ignore. That was back in 2009, and now fast forward a couple of years, Dzameer, 31, is the co-founder and managing director at Teach For Malaysia.
Teach For Malaysia is part of the Teach For All network, a global entity originating from the US. The non-profit organisation recruits Malaysia’s most promising future leaders to teach as Fellows in high-need schools across the country for two years. Upon completing the Fellowship, they continue to drive education transformation within and beyond the classroom as part of the Alumni movement.
6. Joel Neoh
Image Credit: Blog.KFit.com
Mention the name Joel Neoh and everyone would immediately associate him with the major brand Groupon. Groupon originated from Chicago, Illinois, and it is a global e-commerce marketplace which offers discounts on everything imaginable, from meals to spa visits.
Besides Groupon, the Harvard business school graduate also has a slew of other brands to his name, including Says.com and KFit.
(Editorial update: It has been brought to our attention that Joel didn’t bring in the Groupon franchise to Malaysia. To avoid misleading readers, we’d like to clarify that Joel started GroupsMore, a social e-commerce platform that was similar to the Groupon business model. This was later on acquired by Groupon and then they rebranded as Groupon Malaysia with Joel as its CEO. We apologise for any confusion.)
7. Bryan Loo
Image Credit: Malaysia Tatler
Chatime is a well-loved bubble tea brand from Taiwan, brought over by Perlis-born Bryan Loo to Malaysian shores in October of 2010. Bryan is a natural born entrepreneur as he first started his first business venture at the tender age of 6, when he sold self-drawn comic books for RM0.50 each.
Since then, Bryan has developed his entrepreneurship skills through bringing Chatime to Malaysia, and to date, there are about 118 franchises in our country alone.
These awe-inspiring entrepreneurs have got youth on their side, especially at the age when they first brought these remarkable franchises to our shores. Indeed they have made us Malaysians proud to call them our own.
Do you recall someone that should be in this list? Let us know in the comments!
8 Entrepreneurial Lessons From Chatime Malaysia CEO Bryan Loo That Will Get You Thinking
Tags: businessentrepreneurfranchiseinspirationalmalaysia
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Walk Ten Thousand Miles
George Quinn's reports and reflections on long-distance walking
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Tag Archives: long distance walking
Winter Walking in Canberra: Lake, Hills, Suburbs
Posted on September 13, 2016 by George Quinn
We managed to squeeze this walk into the last days of winter at the end of August. It took us from home, along the eastern shore of Lake Tuggeranong (the path we take at least once a week), up to the summit of the adjacent Urambi Hills, through some rough farmland into a small valley under the wall of Lake Tuggeranong Dam, then into the centre of Tuggeranong suburban township. The loop was 13 km in length and took us four hours.
Our route on the second-last day of winter. The dam wall that creates Lake Tuggeranong is in the middle of the map with Athllon Drive running north-south along its length. Urambi Hills are top left. Tuggeranong town centre is at the bottom right (kilometre 12).
See that hill on the skyline straight ahead? That’s where we’re headed. It’s about five kilometres away. I took this photo at the one-kilometre mark of our walk looking north-west across the lake (see map above).
And looking back from the summit of the hill this is what we saw. I took the previous photograph from the far shore of the lake just left of the centre of this picture.
It was a tough climb to the top of the hill. In my left hand I am gripping my walking poles, and with my right hand I’m trying to stay upright by clinging to the hilltop trig point. Time for a rest and drink.
Like all the lakes of Canberra, Lake Tuggeranong is an artificial lake. It has plenty of problems, especially blue-green algae, pollution and an infestation of European carp. It is too polluted to swim in. But it is also a haven for black swans, ducks, swamp hens, ibis cranes and other birds. And, well… it simply looks good (from a distance), don’t you agree?
The inside wall of Lake Tuggeranong dam…
… and the outside of the dam wall as we approach it along the valley below it, about ten kilometres into the walk.
The Urambi Hills Nature Reserve is still working farmland used for grazing cattle. In a few places the walking is quite steep and rough, and we had to use our walking poles. But there were cockatoos, magpies and kangaroos to entertain us. Spring wattle spread a dusting of bright gold across the landscape.
A simple but effective trap keeps kangaroos and cattle from straying into the streets of suburbia, but it allows people and dogs to pass through.
Come on in (but don’t forget to shut the gate).
Farmland walking, among grey-green gum trees, light ochre earth and the yellow frosting of wattle. I love the colours of the Australian landscape.
A rough descent.
Not another gate…!
No worries.
A selfie at morning tea.
The last stage of the walk took us through the streets of Tuggeranong town centre. Basically it’s lots of low-rise blocks of apartments, some government offices and the Hyperdome shopping mall, oh… and a secondary school, arts centre, library, medical centres, various sports halls, gymnasiums, a swimming pool, a police station, restaurants and fast-food outlets, car servicing workshops, coffee bars, petrol stations, a bus terminal and…. need I go on? Tuggeranong – it’s got everything.
This is Canberra, capital of Australia, so….
As walkers emerge from Urambi Hills and stagger into the centre of Tuggeranong this is what greets them on the footpath. Hmm, even without foot pain it’s tempting to drop in…
… but just down the street there is a much bigger temptation. This one wins.
This is the last of my reports on winter walking in Canberra. Canberra can feel pretty bleak in winter, a bit like this skeletal tree reaching into the cold sky from the crest of a hill on the Urambi track. But right now, if you look closely at the tree, it is full of spring life. So I’m going to keep a watch on it, and I’ll report back on it in a future post. Like Canberra, the tree is far from dead. And its beauty sorta creeps up on you.
Posted in Canberra and surrounds | Tagged Canberra, long distance walking, suburbs | 3 Replies
Winter Walking in Canberra: A two-banana walk to Weston Creek
Posted on August 16, 2016 by George Quinn
You can measure a walk in steps and kilometres. I have a Garmin Vivofit wrist band that does this, as well as a Runkeeper GPS tracker app on my mobile phone. These devices are pretty accurate. They tell me that this morning Emmy and I walked 16,247 steps over a distance of 12.67 kilometres. But somehow this is not precise enough for me. I find it more scientific to measure a walk in terms of bananas consumed and bottles of Diet Coke drunk. By this measure today’s walk was a two-banana, one-Coke walk. It took us from home along Lake Tuggeranong through the parkland of Kambah and the suburbs of Weston Creek to Cooleman Court shopping centre.
Our route from Lake Tuggeranong to Weston Creek. It took a little over three hours.
As always we were on the road at around 7.30 am. The temperature was minus-2 degrees, the sky cloudless, the air rigidly still. Have you ever noticed how slowly the sun rises in winter? It lays cold planks of sunlight across the landscape that somehow don’t move. It refuses to rise above the tree-tops. It is constantly sparkling among branches and flashing between tree trunks as you walk through parkland. It took us three hours to reach Weston Creek and as we approached Cooleman Court the sun was still yawning and stretching out along the ridge of the shopping centre’s roof.
My plastic-man shadow points across Lake Tuggeranong to the Tuggeranong town centre.
Lake Tuggeranong is oriented more or less north-south. From the familiar path along the east shore we looked down the rolled-out length of our shadows across the water to Tuggeranong College and the Hyperdome Mall. Their tranquil upside-down images were sliced by the scalpel of a rowing boat as a lone oarsman replayed last night’s Olympic races on the smokey water.
Ibis cranes enjoy the morning sun on the shore of Lake Tuggeranong.
Just off the north end of the lake we came upon a Lao Buddhist social centre, the Wat Lao Buddhanimit, a small but exotic-looking building with an orange-tiled Lao-style roof and brick fence posts topped with lotus buds. Buddha was reclining in the yard looking into the frosty sun and the grey silhouettes of Australian gum trees. He looked pretty much at home.
The Lao Buddhist temple and community centre.
Buddha wakes up to the icy sunlight of a winter morning at the Lao community centre.
Further on I paused to grind my teeth as we passed a children’s play area. A sign warned that the skate bowl was “inherently dangerous and may result in injury to the person and/or property loss or damage.” Regular readers of this blog will have noticed I have little patience with the excesses of the “risk management” industry and their groupies in insurance companies, the legal profession and the crowded ranks of gormless parents (see for example: https://walktenthousandmiles.net/2012/04/16/review-across-europe-alone-on-foot-aged-eighteen/ ). By nagging us incessantly about risk avoidance – even the tiny risks of a playground – they are doing damage to the resilience of Australian children. And it’s not just children. My special bête noire is the warning screen that precedes many television programs, programs that some anonymous individual thinks may put you at risk of being discomforted by reality. You’ve seen them.
“The following program has content that may concern some viewers.”
(This is not a sarcastic exaggeration… it is quoted here verbatim from several ABC television programs.) Last time I saw this dumb announcement I almost threw a shoe at the TV set… but I thought better of it and threw a sock instead. The TV was not damaged and I felt a little calmer.
Watch out kids! Death awaits you in this playground.
Not far from the mortally dangerous children’s playground we came to the battered remains of a woolshed. Originally built in the late 19th century it has been partially rescued and turned into a picnic shelter. It is a low-key but exotic reminder that Canberra has sprawled across what was once productive farmland. Right beside the woolshed lies a community garden. Crusted with frost, its many small plots were full of kale, cabbage, broccoli, silver beet and a multitude of little-known vegetables like Japanese komatsuna, daikon and bekana cabbage. The garden is a tribute to the determination of local people, many of them recent migrants, to fight back against the urban neutering of farmland fertility. As they turn the soil they have found old horseshoes, and the metal parts of horse-drawn ploughs and carts.
The remains of a 19th century woolshed now a picnic shelter popular in summer…
… and the adjacent community garden where horseshoes and metal parts of horse-drawn ploughs and carts have been dug up.
A little over seven kilometres into the walk, across Drakeford Drive from the Kambah Shopping Village, we stopped for a rest at the side of a football field. I ate the first of my bananas and sipped water. Then it was on to the nearby intersection where we would strike left up Namatjira Drive towards Weston Creek. On the other side of the intersection I saw a large box-like building with the word Eternity staring in large letters from its featureless, grey wall. From a distance I thought it might be a factory, perhaps manufacturing washing powder or perfume. But it is in fact a church in the pentecostal-charismatic mould. According to the church’s web site “It has been said many times that Canberra is a city without a soul. Our goal is to change this.” Sounds noble and generous, doesn’t it, especially when you don’t bother to define the word “soul.”
Time for a quick snack and drink.
A grim-looking Eternity beckons near the intersection of Sulwood Drive and the Tuggeranong Parkway. But the location is perfect… the intersection is an accident hot-spot.
Between 1932 and 1967 a former soldier, petty criminal, alcoholic and late-life convert to Christianity by the name of Arthur Stace wandered the streets of Sydney by night chalking “Eternity” onto footpaths and walls. It is estimated he wrote the word more than half a million times. The people of Sydney – whose lives revolve around making money, shopping, sport, drinking and loafing at the beach – eventually noticed it and (characteristically) registered it as a trademark. Today the word has acquired mantra-like status in some corners of Australia’s Christian community. Canberra’s Eternity Church used to be known as the Parkway Church (named after the adjacent highway) but a few years back it changed its name, choosing to surf on the unique history and spooky overtones of “Eternity.” The church is popular, so it was a good marketing move.
Wattle on fire, an early sign of spring.
The last leg of the walk took us through the leafy suburbs of Chapman and Stirling down to Hindmarsh Drive and across to the Cooleman Court shopping centre. There we enjoyed a leisurely drink before catching a bus to Woden, then another south to Tuggeranong and a final walk of two kilometres back home. I felt quietly pleased. Sure, it was only a two-banana walk, but it had taken us through varied environments: suburban footpaths, beautiful tree-filled parks, lakeside pathways, farmland, even a modestly testing hill.
And at the end of the walk there were no distress signals of any kind from any quarter of my ageing body.
At Cooleman Court shopping centre I measure the distance we have travelled.
Posted in Canberra and surrounds | Tagged Australia, Canberra, long distance walking, old age, suburbs | Leave a reply
Winter Walking in Canberra: A bush track in the south
Posted on August 1, 2016 by George Quinn
The Murrumbidgee River Corridor runs along the western edge of Tuggeranong in Canberra’s southern suburbs. The bush reserves along the river host several picturesque walking tracks. This morning Emmy and I walked the track that runs south from Pine Island Reserve along the banks of the river to Point Hut Crossing. We rested in a small quiet park there before returning to Tuggeranong around a loop that passes through grassy farmland. We covered just under 12 km in three hours. For this post, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
The bottom end of the loop, at Point Hut Crossing, is not far from the Lanyon Market Place shopping centre on Tharwa Drive.
We left home shortly after 7 a.m. and crossed Lake Tuggeranong as the rising sun bounced off the newly completed stage one of the Southquay apartments.
Stranger Pond was dead still (and cold).
Canberra’s bureaucrats are wagging their fingers in your face as you venture into the mortal danger of suburban bushland.
August 1st, but already beautiful wildflowers are blooming in profusion.
Native fish are under threat in the Murrumbidgee. If you catch one “release the fish unharmed.”
Cold but beautiful sunlight creeps into Point Hut Crossing park.
We’re heading back through empty farmland.
A lone kangaroo raises its head from breakfast. This (believe it or not) is an urban kangaroo… we’re still inside the boundaries of Canberra city!
Picturesque walking as we approach the suburbs of Tuggeranong.
Suburbia laps down to the banks of Stranger Pond…
…and back in Tuggeranong we pass through a construction site. Is this the future of the bush tracks we have just enjoyed?
Posted in Canberra and surrounds | Tagged Australia, Canberra, long distance walking, suburbs | 2 Replies
Winter Walking in Canberra: The Great Lake-to-Lake Trek
Posted on July 29, 2016 by George Quinn
It was (would you believe) my birthday present to myself. What on earth was I thinking?
Emmy and I would walk from our home near Lake Tuggeranong in the southern suburbs of Canberra, to Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of the city. The route I had figured out meandered through nature reserves and suburban streets, side-swiping Parliament House before crossing Lake Burley Griffin along Commonwealth Avenue. We would be walking over a variety of surfaces, from streetside footpaths, to bicycle paths, to muddy tracks, to gravel access roads in reserves and parks. It was mostly fairly flat, but Waniassa Hills would set our jugulars pulsing. There were just two clusters of shops along the route, Erindale and Red Hill, so we decided to carry all our water and food with us.
Heading north along Erindale Drive at 8 a.m.
When I worked out the route I didn’t think too much about the distance. Big mistake. As the crow flies it is about sixteen kilometers from our home to the centre of Canberra, a manageable distance for two less-than-fully-fit elderly walkers. But my meandering route actually totalled 26.4 kilometers. I only found this out when I checked my GPS thingy as we dragged ourselves aching and grimacing into our terminus at the city centre bus station.
Our route. Highlights… Erindale Centre (3 km); great views from the top of Waniassa Hills (7 km); Isaacs Pines (9-11 km); more great views over Woden Valley (12 km); kangaroos (14 km); lunch (16 km); La Perouse (18 km); Parliament House (22 km); croquet! (23 km); crossing Lake Burley Griffin (24 km); catching a bus home (26 km).
Six hours previously, at 7.50 am, we had stepped into Canberra’s morning chill full of naïve energy. The temperature was around one degree. The sky was ivory white with a faint touch of blue and completely clear. There was no wind. Perfect conditions for walking really. But the sun came at us like a trumpet blast, dazzlingly bright and right in our eyes. It left a zebra-like stamp on the streets and parkland of the southern suburbs: stripes of white frost alternating with spindly black shadows from leafless trees.
Our first stop was the Erindale Shopping Centre where we sat down for a few minutes in the arcade to warm up. I have mixed feelings about the Erindale Centre. On the one hand it is so tacky and bland that my heart sinks whenever I walk into it (we often do our shopping there). On the other hand it is not ashamed of its commercially-driven ugliness. The people there rise so effortlessly above it that you forget the surrounds. There’s the Chinese gentleman who patrols the tubs of deep-fry fat in the Erindale Takeaway. He never fails to talk Tai Chi with me, and gives me a 20 cent discount on my weekly rehydration medication (a bottle of Diet Coke). His associate, a diminutive grey-haired lady, is addicted to ocean cruises. She talks modestly of her adventures. Travelling on her own she has seen far more of the world than I have: Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and Germany, Fiji and New Caledonia. And after cruising the fjords of Alaska she returned to her regular job shovelling glistening potato chips into paper bags with a bright smile and no hint of regret.
The warm but functional and bland interior of the Erindale Shopping Centre, but outside…
… where for decades there was a big brick wall, now there is a colourful mural depicting Tuggeranong’s “timeline”.
We left the Erindale Centre and walked along cycle paths through Gowrie, turning left and uphill into Fadden. Among the grey gum trees an army of cockatoos was at war. It was a serious civil war with dive-bombing and ambushes and hand-to-hand screeching. Every morning around dawn, and again at dusk, the same war breaks out. A bit like Australia’s election cycle. The middle of the day is truce time.
About one and a half hours into the walk – seven kilometers – we found a roadside bench high up in Fadden Heights and stripped off our outer layer of clothing. The temperature was still no more than five degrees but four layers were now too many. A quick bite of Danish pastry and a swig of water and we headed up the steep slope into Waniassa Hills. We were completely alone, only a few kangaroos stared at us in shock as we laboured upwards puffing steam from our mouths.
The morning sun manages to penetrate the cool shadows of Isaacs Pines.
Then, like passengers locked in a roller-coaster, we swooped down across Long Gully Road into the pine forest of Isaacs. Isaacs Ridge cast a cold morning shadow over its western slopes and amid the thick stands of trees the temperature dropped. But the gravel path was flat and wide and we walked with new enthusiasm. A couple of kookaburras laughed at us as we passed, but we were not discouraged. We laughed back. At the northern end of the forest we paused to take in the vista over Woden town centre and beyond, through thirty or forty kilometres of crystal-bright winter air, to the snow-flecked Brindabella ranges.
Beautifully camouflaged grey kangaroos settling in for their post-breakfast snooze.
The path took us past the back fences of O’Malley’s well-heeled diplomatic residences before it swerved right and headed into the native bushland of Mount Mugga Mugga Nature Reserve. For two or three kilometres the path became a narrow track. We laboured around rocks and over mini-swamps through straggly stands of native bush before dropping down to the edge of Mugga Lane, the twisting road that connects Hindmarsh Drive with the Mugga Lane rubbish dump and the Monaro Highway.
In Mount Mugga Mugga Nature Reserve walkers of the Great Lake-to-Lake Trek have to hobble along a narrow rut that (after last week’s rain) was still muddy in places.
Here, at twelve noon, four hours and exactly sixteen kilometers into the walk, we stopped for lunch. Emmy bit delicately into a wholemeal roll sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and filled with an austere mixture of tuna and salad. I wolfed down a huge refined-flour cheese roll stuffed with oily fish and bacon. My God it was delicious!
We crossed Hindmarsh Drive and walked into the suburb of Red Hill. At the Red Hill shops I stopped briefly before the bronze statue of La Perouse, or to allow him his full name, Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. He led a French expedition of discovery to the south Pacific, arriving at Botany Bay almost simultaneously with Arthur Phillip’s First Fleet of English settlers in 1788. La Perouse visited many islands of the south Pacific before disappearing at sea some time in 1788. He is commemorated in the name of the street on which his statue stands: La Perouse Street.
He’s got a compass in his hands, I’ve got a GPS thingy in my pocket. We’re mates.
La Perouse Street took us to the Red Hill Nature Reserve and two kilometres of easy walking along a dirt path. As we turned into broad, tree-filled Melbourne Avenue we could see the flagpole of Parliament House ahead of us. We were now in the home straight, or so we thought, but maybe it was wishful thinking. Aches and pains were starting to taunt us – a little niggle in the left thigh joint, a few tentative distress signals from the ball of the right foot, discomfort in the shoulder where the strap of my backpack was digging in. There was an ominous throb in Emmy’s right knee. We wanted the walk to end, but… when you walk there’s no turning back, no wimping out. We still had five kilometers to go.
We skirted Parliament House but didn’t spend too much time admiring it. Every time we paused to look we were almost skittled by Parliament House functionaries, escapees from inside the building out for their lunchtime jog. Some of them – women as well as men – were running quite fast, looks of desperation carved into their faces.
Slow down… this is croquet.
It was downhill to Commonwealth Avenue where a bizarre scene greeted us. Just below Australia’s Parliament house, next to the “heritage” 1930s Canberra Hotel, people were playing the genteel game of croquet on a carpet-flat grass square. A croquet mallet has a straight, long, handle like the handle of a golf iron, but at the bottom it plugs into a heavy block of wood. You stand with the mallet hanging in front of you, swing it back between your legs, and whack a heavy ceramic ball about the size of a grapefruit. The ball has to pass through a small narrow hurdle. It looks bizarre, but I guess it’s no more bizarre than any other sport. At the very least it is slow, and that gives it huge rarity value. But slowness is under existential threat, even in Canberra, so how can we ensure the croquet green doesn’t fall victim to the hyper-active victims of “development first” syndrome? Canberrans love their museums… so maybe it can become a central exhibit in a Museum of Slowness. What do you think?
And now we were crossing the Commonwealth Avenue bridge over the glittering expanse of Lake Burley Griffin. A cold afternoon wind was blowing off the lake pushing foam into the reeds at its edge. Then into the city centre and, with sudden eagerness, we leaped straight onto an express bus heading south to Tuggeranong and home.
A cold mid-afternoon wind whips at Emmy’s hair as we cross Lake Burley Griffin and head into the centre of Canberra.
After a day of walking I slept non-stop for almost eight hours (unusual for an old person). And the following morning, the payoff. All the aches and niggles had ebbed away revealing the mild “high” that comes from extended physical exertion. We both felt good.
“Let’s do it again,” said Emmy. “Today!”
But after 35,000 steps the previous day (according to my Garmin Vivofit wristband) for me that was a step too far.
Posted in Canberra and surrounds | Tagged Australia, Canberra, long distance walking, old age | Leave a reply
From Canterbury to Dover: a leisurely last course in our walking banquet
I take a selfie on the road to Dover. The mirror helps cars, and walkers, negotiate the narrow roads.
An army marches on its stomach. Walkers do too. We found that breakfast was a key element in our daily routine. The morning of Thursday September 3rd began with breakfast at Augustines B&B in Canterbury. Over the preceding month Emmy and I had experimented with breakfast. We tried small continental breakfasts – a croissant with butter and jam, some yoghurt, and a cup of coffee or tea. We also tried the mountainous full Scottish or full English breakfast – fried eggs, fried bacon, fried mushrooms, fried potatoes, fried tomatoes, fried sausages, baked beans, buttered toast and the piece de resistence, black pudding (fried, by the way). The continental breakfast did not give us enough ballast to hold course for more than an hour or so before we had to drop anchor and eat. The full English/Scottish, on the other hand, sent us straight to the bottom of the harbour. It’s difficult to set sail from down there. So we hit on a compromise: muesli (or cornflakes) and fruit with scrambled eggs and button mushrooms. This was the tasty combination that Louise – our very attentive hostess at Augustines – served, garnished with chatter that lifted our spirits in readiness for the day ahead.
The dreaded full English breakfast. It’s got everything. Clockwise from top left: black pudding, bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomato, potato (under the tomato) sausage, baked beans.
The more digestible option: scrambled eggs with (in this case) oatmeal cakes and cherry tomatoes.
With our stomachs comfortably laden we rejoined the Pilgrims Way in the suburbs of Canterbury. It unrolled in front of us east towards Dover. We were heading away from Canterbury Cathedral, of course, so we were walking the Pilgrims Way in the “wrong” direction. But we were also walking the North Downs Way in the right direction towards its endpoint on the coast.
We walked across many kilometres of empty, silent fields. The solitude was blissful.
Sweet, juicy blackberries picked and eaten trackside.
More trackside bounty: apples for the taking.
The path took us through rich farmland. We gathered wild blackberries (juicy and sweet) and apples from trackside orchards (tart but edible). We tunnelled through fields of head-high corn and graduated into a wide-open, bare expanse of newly harvested land. Between Canterbury and Shepherdswell – our stop for the night – we must have walked at least eight kilometres over tree-less fields filled only with stubble punctuated with the occasional hedge. Fortunately the sky was hazy and a friendly breeze fanned us. For hours we enjoyed one of the greatest rewards of walking – the profound pleasure of being utterly alone.
In the village of Shepherdswell we had dinner in a tiny pub, The Bell Inn, at the side of a village green scarcely bigger than the pub. A small group of men and women, children too, and dogs, clustered at the bar which was within arm’s reach of the dining tables. I made a complimentary remark about a flea-bitten pile of hair on the floor that looked something like a spaniel. This triggered an outbreak of friendliness. The dog’s life story was told to us in great detail. In its twilight years the animal’s last pleasure was to come to the Bell Inn, sit under a bar stool and sigh heavily from time to time. How I envied it. But it was deaf and nearly blind, so when the time came to go home, its owner almost literally had to tap the creature on the shoulder. It staggered to its feet and crashed into the bar, then looked around, identified the door and zig-zagged towards it. Behaviour possibly adopted from human models.
In the Bell Inn, Shepherdswell. Two dogs kept us company as we ate at the table on the left. The deaf and blind spaniel is snoozing on the right. Note the little girl in her pyjamas standing at the bar (partly obscured by the gentleman in the grey suit).
Meanwhile a menu had been scratched on a small blackboard. I ordered Chicken Masala at £9.80 (a bit over twenty Australian dollars). It took some time to prepare so I was anticipating a gourmet treat. When the meal arrived the chicken was “pulled” or shredded chicken in a brown barbeque-style sauce lying on a bed of greyish rice. Cautiously I lifted a forkful to my mouth. There was not a trace of any masala taste in the chicken and the rice was hard – not quite crunchy, but hard. And yet it was an Indian dish, because it came with a big crinkly pappadam glistening with oil.
Chicken masala, English country style.
The lady who had cooked the dinner emerged from the kitchen combing her hair and adjusting her horn-rimmed glasses.
“Everything all right?” she said stopping at our table and looking down at my plate with unmistakable pride.
“Mmmm, delicious,” I said. And indeed within minutes the chicken masala had disappeared, chased into my alimentary canal by a pint of cider. To be honest, once I had got over the initial shock and redefined the meal as not chicken masala but gastronomic Spakfilla, I quite enjoyed it. Walking does that for you… it gives you the gift of hunger, and the hungrier you are the less liable you are to quibble over little details like flavour and authenticity. What a relief to be free of all that and just eat.
The following day was our last day of walking. We faced a downhill stretch of just twelve kilometres into Dover. The weather was warm, hazy and still. The walking was easy, mostly through farmland and stands of straggly trees. As we neared Dover the North Downs Way joined with a tree-shaded branch of Watling Street, the old Roman road that, almost 2,000 years ago, reached from Dover into the interior of the Roman province of Britannia. Today the segment we trod is no more than a track with none of the Roman paving stones still evident. We could hear a whispering roar just beyond the skyline and as we neared Dover it became insistent and intrusive. It was the sound of heavy traffic on the A2 highway, the asphalt Watling Street of the twenty-first century that carries much of Britain’s trade to and fro across the Channel through Dover’s busy ferry terminal.
Dover Castle above the Victorian villas of Dover city. Our B&B was a similar building in the same street.
After dropping our backpacks at our B&B accommodation on Maison Dieu Street we headed for the waterfront. Dover city has little of the hyper-buzz of the terminal. In fact – just between you and me – Dover feels dispirited, even a bit seedy. We stood in front of the dingy Good Luck Chinese Restaurant debating whether to dine there. We decided its name was probably a warning to prospective diners and moved on. But, as we discovered the following day, Dover is redeemed many times over by the medieval castle on the brow of the hill high above the city. There is much to see there. The castle’s tall central keep, called The Great Tower, was built by Henry II in the late years of the twelfth century. Today it houses a truly remarkable and very accurate re-creation of the royal chambers of the time, including a blazing open fire and the king’s bed.
One of the beautifully restored twelfth century royal chambers in Dover Castle.
On the Dover waterfront, within sight of the famous White Cliffs, we found the official endpoint of the North Downs Way etched into a stone paver. We were pleased to have arrived, but a faint sea breeze of regret also ruffled our hair. Emmy and I walk because we enjoy it. We don’t push ourselves hard, we have no big targets, we don’t talk much, we like resting almost as much as moving. But when we walk, every step brings the anticipation of something new, maybe something unexpected, maybe something challenging, and always (sorry… usually) something enjoyable.
Walking is something you can do on your own, in your own way, in your own time, and without too much fuss. And when you stop after a day’s walking – after the aches and pains, frustrations and fatigue have ebbed away – you get that fabled high, that mild sense of well-being that can last for days. We like that.
On the Dover waterfront we reach the endpoint of the North Downs Way.
Posted in North Downs Way | Tagged hiking, long distance walking, North Downs Way | 1 Reply
Walking when you’re old
A typical way marker on the Great Glen Way near Inverness.
A few years ago Emmy and I were expelled from a beautiful country where we had been doing quite a lot of walking. It was a nice, peaceful country with wonderful scenery. We didn’t want to leave but we were told our visa had expired and could not be renewed. We were frog-marched to the border and forced across it into the neighbouring state. We’ve now put the frontier some distance behind us as we walk into this new and unfamiliar territory. It’s called The Seventies. It lies between The Sixties where we used to live, and a remote, rarely-visited state – a bit like Bhutan – called The Eighties. We have noticed that the countryside seems to be getting more and more Bhutan-like. There is a range of very high mountains in front of us and we can’t see what’s beyond it. So we have been trying to find an easy way through.
OK, OK… that’s enough of this allegorical stuff. This post is about the challenges of long distance walking when you’re old, so let’s get down to business.
First the bad news.
Stamina When you’re old the capacity to persevere over long distances goes into decline. A decade ago I could knock over twenty-five or thirty kilometres a day and feel no ill effects. Now I find it a challenge to walk twenty kilometres a day. I can still do it, but I usually feel quite tired at the end of the day.
Strength Muscles start to weaken in old age so you can’t lift a heavy backpack so easily or lever yourself up steep inclines. Worse, muscles hold the bones together, so as they weaken you are more likely to dislocate a joint or suffer a slipped disc in the back.
Fragility The bones, joints and muscles become more fragile. It is easier to injure yourself – to break a bone, to pull a muscle, to sprain your ankle or feel stress-pain in the knees. And if this happens it takes longer to recover, for tissue to repair itself or a broken bone to knit.
Less speedy Increasingly you lose the capacity to run or suddenly move fast. So when you have to cross a road (for example) you can’t rely on speed to avoid cars. You can’t run to reach shelter if it starts to rain. You can’t ford a stream by hopping nimbly from stone to stone.
This segment of “path” was more like a rocky stream. Between Ardlui and Crianlarich on the West Highland Way, 30 July, 2015..
Balance Balance becomes less secure as you age. This can be a problem when you are crossing stiles or moving over rough ground or when you are going down a steep incline or when the path is slippery. And the problem of poor balance can be exacerbated if your eyesight is also in decline because good balance seems to depend on collaboration between your inner ear and your eye.
Hydration and urination Old people are less able to deal with extremes of temperature, especially heat. We get dehydrated and over-heated quite easily and this slows down the workings of the brain as well as the body. When you’re on your own in a remote place you don’t want to get mentally confused. You will also probably need to urinate more often (the ageing bladder seems to have less carrying capacity).
Now for the good news.
Long distance walking is low-impact exercise that you can do well into extreme old age. To be honest though, I don’t do it primarily for health reasons. The health benefits of walking are a welcome spin-off, of course, but they come second to the inner walk you undertake whenever you pull on your boots. I walk mainly because I enjoy the constantly shifting views, the peering around corners, the isolation and silence, the glimpses of wildlife, the sudden surprising sparks of thought, the guilt-free munching on chocolate. I’m pretty much in the same mould as Gu Yanwu and Patrick Leigh Fermor (both of whom have made an appearance in this blog) but needless to say I’m a bumbling Wile E. Coyote compared to these road runners.
In truth, the frailties I’ve laundry-listed above don’t amount to much. They can easily be combatted by keeping an eye on three key watchwords: preparation, caution and concentration.
Preparation Don’t make the mistake of starting a long walk too casually. You need to know as exactly as possible what you’re letting yourself in for. I’ve failed to do this a couple of times and got myself into trouble. Afterwards I berated myself for being geriatrically unprofessional (a certain amount of professionalism is required to be a successful old person). For an example of what can happen if your preparation is careless have a look at my post of August 8, 2011: https://walktenthousandmiles.net/2011/08/08/i-misjudge-the-cumbria-way-and-pay-a-painful-price/.
Without over-burdening yourself you need to be better prepared than younger walkers, mainly because you’re more vulnerable if anything goes wrong (and rest assured, something will go wrong sooner or later). A check-list may be a good idea. Like an airline pilot you should do a disciplined pre-departure check:
well broken-in boots
a broad-brim hat and long-sleeve shirt
plenty of drinking water
rain jacket, water-proof leggings, waterproof backpack cover
lunch, plus a snack or two like a chocolate bar or a muesli bar
spare socks, foot talc and blister plasters
sunscreen and insect repellent
maps, compass and/or GPS device
trowel and tissues
Most important of all, make sure you’ve built up your fitness gradually but as fully as possible before you start your walk. Ideally you should do a couple of dry runs over similar terrain and distances to the walk you are planning. As far as distance is concerned it is sensible to cut your coat to fit the cloth available. But being “sensible” is a bit boring. Just between you and me it is also good to stretch yourself a little – maybe stretch yourself a lot. The grimace of doing so is quickly transformed into a smile when you successfully push yourself beyond what you thought was “sensibly” possible.
Caution Be ultra-careful. There is nothing worse than pulling a muscle when you are putting your socks on, or leaving your maps behind in the grass after a trackside toilet break (I’ve done both). As you age you can’t recover so easily or quickly from mistakes and accidents. So err on the side of caution in all you do. And remember: slow is good.
But having said that, don’t get fixated on risk-free walking. Old people need to take risks as much as callow, shallow youths do. Taking risks is risky, but it is also very good for your mental resilience. A word of warning though… you should be selective about the risks you take. In particular, as far as possible your risk-taking should not inconvenience younger people, the public at large, or “the authorities”. Although some people admire risk-taking in old people, most people have a double standard. They don’t mind young people taking risks (that’s “normal”) but they may get annoyed when risks are taken by “some old fool” they think should be doing crossword puzzles with a rug over their knees in front of a heater. So try to ensure that you, and you alone, bear the consequences of your risk-taking. That way you can avoid being patronised when things go wrong.
This smug-looking elderly walker has just scaled the heights above Invermoriston on the Great Glen Way.
Concentration Surprisingly, walking demands pretty intense concentration over many hours. You can’t just set your feet in motion, then daydream or rubberneck. It is mentally exhausting to walk a long distance. There are two main reasons for this. First, to avoid getting lost you need to concentrate hard on navigation. Most of the tracks I have walked have been well way-marked, but there are tricks and traps in even the clearest track. Sometimes path markers get overgrown, on some the paint may have faded or flaked, elsewhere signs, markers or landmarks may simply have disappeared. Even the path itself may disappear. And maps are not always clear either. It is often hard to match the coarse scale of a map with the immediate detail you are facing. Maps also get out of date quite quickly. GPS devices and compasses are very helpful but they have to be consulted. They can’t stay in your pocket. So even with this technology unrelenting vigilance and frequent stopping are important.
It looks benign, but the gravelly surface makes this descent potentially dangerous. North shore of Loch Lochy, Great Glen Way, 8 August, 2015.
Second, tracks can be rough – stony, slippery, twisty, narrow, muddy. A lapse in concentration can bring a stumble or the potential disaster of a fall. Don’t forget, if you are carrying a backpack you will be top-heavy. So it may be more difficult to keep your balance, and a fall can very easily be a heavy crash. And tracks can be very up and down. For elderly walkers a steep descent is an obstacle to be feared. It threatens severe punishment for even a split-second lapse of concentration. But again there is good news. Concentration is an excellent tonic for the ageing brain. The more you have to concentrate the better you are able to concentrate. For old walkers a strong mind is as essential as a strong body. The ageing body is quite resilient and adaptable, but when it falters the ageing mind – stiffened by hours of concentration – can step in and push it on.
Now, as I puff and stagger towards the end of this post, I want to recommend two items of gear that walkers of any age, but elderly walkers in particular, should have. First, walking poles. Two of them. Walking poles have two main functions that are crucially important for old people. Most importantly, they help a lot with steadiness and balance especially on steep descents, but also, they take a bit of pressure off your legs by giving you a lot of extra leverage through the arms. So don’t even look out the front door without a pair of them.
Walking poles are essential to help get you through muddy patches. Near Crianlarich on the West Highland Way, 30 July, 2015.
Not beautiful, but an effective solution to chafing and blisters. Injinji toe socks.
Second, buy some toe-socks. These are specially made socks with a little pocket for each toe, like the fingers on a pair of gloves. I used to suffer from blisters caused by chafing between toes. My toe socks stopped this problem instantly and permanently. The brand I use is Injinji. Before putting them on I powder my toes and feet very thoroughly with fine, sweat-absorbing talc. I also powder the outside of the toe socks and put on a second pair of socks, ordinary ones, usually thin white cotton socks. So I have two layers of socks. There is a bit of slippage between them that helps prevent blisters. Since adopting this strategy five years ago I have walked many hundreds of kilometres without a single blister, or any other kind of foot problem.
Ah… the end of this post has come into sight. It lasted longer than I expected but I took it slowly and I got there in the end. Time to rehydrate with a pint of calorie-rich cider.
You have to be careful going down steep descents like this one. The pebbly surface is treacherous. On the West Highland Way between Ardlui and Crianlarich, 30 July, 2015.
Posted in Reflections on walking | Tagged long distance walking, old age | 2 Replies
From Home to Dome and Back: Dispatches from Small Wars in Australian Suburbia (1)
Posted on April 30, 2012 by George Quinn
“The suburbs” are right at the centre of contemporary urban culture, especially in the sprawling cities of the US and Australia, so it’s not surprising that suburbia looms large in popular culture. After all, it’s where most people live. But for many, suburbia has a bad name or is seen as problematic. In popular culture the suburbs are a nice soft target. Back in the 1960s Pete Seeger, for example, sang about suburban uniformity and conformity.
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes, little boxes
Little boxes all the same…
In cinema and on TV the quiet exterior of the burbs hides a seething cauldron of passion and conflict. The (for a time) wildly popular TV show Desperate Housewives depicts the suburbs as a layer of prim and prosperous “make-up” (so to speak) laid on thick over a social complexion blotched by emotional lesions, bruises and scar tissue. In Clint Eastwood’s much praised Gran Torino suburbia is a battleground in America’s culture wars. “Get off my lawn,” Clint snarls down the barrel of his shotgun as the tides of Asian migration lap around him. Australia’s never-ending soap opera Neighbours is set in a suburb of Melbourne. Its characters walk in and out of one another’s houses as if they were members of a single extended family. According to Wikipedia, over the years Neighbours has focussed on many serious problems such as teenage pregnancy, marital breakdown, imprisonment, career problems, pregnancy, abortion, adultery, drug trafficking, stalking, kidnapping, accidental death, murder, incest, sexuality, gambling, surrogacy, and health issues like multiple sclerosis…. all in one street!
If only the quiet suburban street where I live was as interesting.
A view over the southern suburbs of Canberra. You can see why it is known as “the bush capital.”
Walking paths like this, shared with cyclists and joggers, criss-cross the suburbs of Canberra.
But wait… maybe my street is as interesting. Not as dramatic or sensational as Neighbours or Gran Torino, of course, but fascinating nevertheless. Even a short walk through the suburbs of Canberra – which is about as “suburban” as you can get – tells us a whole lot about the complexities of local society, even about the highs and lows of life in general. So come along with Emmy and me as we walk from our front door in Gowrie, Tuggeranong, to the Hyperdome shopping mall and back. In its own quiet way this walk twangs with social tension.
From home, our walk snakes through suburbs and parkland for about 17 kilometres. It takes us south through the sleepy streets of Monash, around Lake Tuggeranong, through the Tuggeranong Town Centre (better known to us as “lego-land”) to the Hyperdome, then back home through suburban parkland. It’s a walk we often do, and usually we knock it over in about four hours, including a generous stop for coffee and a big chocolate-topped caramel square in the Hyperdome shopping mall.
“Legoland”… the commercial centre of Tuggeranong, built in the 1980s, seen from across its adjacent, artificial lake.
Our first landmark, just 500 metres from home, is the Gowrie Primary School (http://www.gowrieps.act.edu.au/), a government school administered by the Department of Education and Training of the Australian Capital Territory. It has about 200 pupils and a total of 20 dedicated staff. The federal government’s My School web site (http://www.myschool.edu.au/) shows that, on the whole, the quality of Gowrie Primary School is good, though in some domains it is struggling to reach the national average by comparison with similar schools across the country.
In 2008 the federal government announced a “stimulus spending” program intended to buoy the economy in the face of the Global Financial Crisis. The money was splurged on education infrastructure – mostly buildings – in a program called Building the Education Revolution. It seems to have worked. As the economies of Europe, the US and many other countries were knee-capped Australia strolled away from the crisis pretty much unscathed. But there was criticism of BER, even ridicule. I had heard vaguely about this, but little did I know that just metres from my front door there was, in effect, a diorama that summed up the criticism beautifully.
Gowrie Primary copped two projects. The first was a multi-purpose building that included two new classrooms, a shared learning area plus community and student facilities. It cost 2.15 million smackeroos. Sounds expensive to me, but what do I know? At least it made some sense in educational terms. But the other project was more problematic. It was “new shade structures” over a small cluster of existing playground equipment. Translation: three fairly small curved iron roofs on stilts. And the cost? $124,000.
The Gowrie Primary School playground as it used to be…
… and $125,000 later, as it is now.
Why build an expensive roof over a few bits of play equipment? To protect children from the serious threat of sunshine, of course. But if a bit of sunshine is so dangerous what’s going to protect the fragile little darlings as they walk along unshaded footpaths? And play on soccer fields? And dig holes in their back yards? Or (the danger! the danger!) build sand castles on the beach in summer?
The playground project was unnecessary and outrageously overpriced. But worse, it was an investment in useless infrastructure at a time when teachers were on their knees begging for training to improve their classroom skills. $124,000 would have gone a very long way towards boosting learning outcomes and teacher morale at a school that is currently a bit below average. But for our politicians and economists and actuaries what was important was the necessity to spend, to “get the money out the door” as one of them said. And being simple-minded creatures, for them new buildings were easier to see and count than improved reading and maths.
Gowrie Primary is a capsule that represents what has happened at thousands of schools across Australia. Its “new shade structures” stands like a memorial to haste, waste and ruthless price gouging by construction companies.
But let’s move on. We step on to a “cycle path”, pad down a gentle slope, and suddenly we are at war. There is a sharp “ding!” behind us and a lycra-clad figure wearing a streamlined helmet and wrap-round sun glasses is bearing down on us at warp speed. Hastily we step off the path and bend away from the quick smack of air he leaves in his wake. “Four more!” comes a shout and four more hunched cyborgs with pumping thighs sweep past. Cautiously I look back, extend a leg over the path, stand on it cautiously, look around again, and resume walking. We survive the ambush, but somehow the pleasure of the walk has been tarnished.
Tilting into the corner, two cyclists bear down on us very fast.
I have to admit, though, that 90% of cyclists are cheerful, considerate and polite, sometimes embarrassingly polite. But the remaining 10% make your teeth grind. They seem to consist of two categories: frustrated Tour de France aspirants, and cycling ideologues. The former treat surburban paths as their personal velodrome. Sometimes they form peletons. They ride very fast. They hate using their brakes. You can’t talk to them, let alone reason with them… they’re too quick. A sweaty flash and a click of gears, and they’re gone. The second category can sometimes be downright nasty. They are pedal-power activists. You can’t reason with them either. For them, riding a bicycle is a statement of concern for the environment and good health. It is the way of the future. A crusade. Anyone who gets in their way – whether a motorist or a walker – is violating their rights and is an affront to their moral superiority.
For over a decade bicycle sales have boomed in Australia, far exceeding car sales. At the same time more and more people are taking up walking as a form of exercise and even (as in my case) a form of meditation. So far the two trends have managed to coexist on the increasingly clogged suburban artery-paths of Canberra. But it is an uneasy peace. At some point in the future someone is going to get injured, the two tribes will go to war, and they may have to be physically separated.
Here are a couple of news reports that illustrate the issue, one from Australia (http://city-north-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/walkers-on-war-path-over-cyclists/) and another from the US (http://www.dnainfo.com/20100719/upper-west-side/cyclists-spar-with-dog-walkers-riverside-park).
A trackside map of Lake Tuggeranong. Starting from the bottom right corner we normally walk anti-clockwise around the lake following the squiggly green line – a distance of 6.7 kilometres.
So… dodging cyclists we reach the tree-fringed waters of Lake Tuggeranong, about an hour into the walk. We turn right and head north along the eastern bank of the lake. (You can see a photo of Emmy walking this segment of the path above the title of this post at the very top of the page.) Like the other lakes of Canberra, Lake Tuggeranong is an artificial lake (you can see its dam on Google Earth at: 35°24’30.87″S, 149° 3’48.61″E). Perhaps this is why it is difficult to keep it clean. Under its tranquil surface the lake is badly polluted. There are four main kinds of pollutant: storm debris, algae, intrusive fish species and man-made rubbish.
Lake Tuggeranong can be dazzlingly beautiful…
… but close up, its beauty is stained by blue-green algae and other pollutants, a gift to the lake from human life-style and commerce.
When heavy rain thrashes the Canberra region (it doesn’t happen often, but when it does happen it can be biblical) it throws debris into the city’s lakes. Several streams feed into Lake Tuggeranong and the traps at their entry points get overwhelmed. Leaf debris, jagged branches, sewage and mud fill the lake. At other times, especially after long periods of dry weather, algae oozes through the water like green vomit. Contact with it can cause skin irritation, stomach infections and even bleeding in the liver. Like a pin suddenly jabbed into a bureaucratic buttock, algae panics hit the local government several times a year. Lakes are closed, signs erected, edicts issued, and warning fingers are wagged at citizens through the mass media.
But why do these outbreaks occur? Well, blue-green algae is a natural component of fresh-water and marine environments everywhere. The bloom feeds off phosphate compounds that are found naturally. But phosphates are also used in huge quantities on farmland, in household gardens and in some manufacturing processes. These chemicals leach into waterways and end up in Canberra’s lakes. They should be diluted or flushed away by the natural action of rainwater, but climate change has reduced rainfall (Canberra’s last drought – the longest in its history – lasted from 2001 to 2008), and when phosphate use keeps rising, algae blooms banquet on the man-made feast, growing fat and greasy.
There are solutions, of course, but they would cost more money than people are prepared to pay. And most people prefer not to be confronted with the less savoury consequences of their lifestyle choices and profit-spinning enterprises. Environmentalists will cry out for action, conservative governments, commercial interests and “economic rationalists” will resist action. And anyway, efforts to restore degraded rivers and lakes have not been very successful. So the problem will persist and almost certainly get worse until the situation becomes unbearable. Only then will something really decisive be done. (For a short TV report on the issue, see http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-16/lakes-closed/3895324 ).
Perhaps it’s this nutrient-rich orgy that also sustains the non-native fish that have somehow got into the lake, and allows them to grow as big and fat as the blooms of algae. There are two species of foreign fish in particular that flourish: European carp and redfin.
According to Wikipedia, “in Australia, enormous anecdotal and mounting scientific evidence indicates introduced carp are the cause of permanent turbidity and loss of submergent vegetation in the Murray-Darling river system, with severe consequences for river ecosystems, water quality and native fish species. In Victoria, common carp has been declared as noxious fish species, the quantity a fisher can take is unlimited. In South Australia, it is an offence for this species to be released back to the wild. An Australian company converts common carp into plant fertilizer.” Redfin, also called European perch, likewise deplete stocks of native fish and cause turbidity.
The European carp, an abundant pest that takes food from the mouths of native fish and keeps the water of Canberra’s lakes clouded with mud. (Wikipedia image.)
Neither the European carp nor the redfin are considered good to eat. In Australia they are commonly seen as vermin and, by law, they must be killed when caught. In fact every year the Canberra Fishermen’s Club holds a day-long event called the Canberra Carp-Out in which anglers compete to take as much carp and redfin as they can from the city’s lakes, hoping this will free up the lakes for native fish to recover. Some hope. This year almost 1,000 entrants registered. They caught 1,113 “noxious fish” with a total weight of 1,481 kilograms (that’s over one kilogram per fish!). All were sent off to the Australian National University’s environment agency to be recycled into garden compost… an ignominious end for these innocent pests. Yet somehow they thrive. By next year they’ll be back more numerous than ever and the Carp-Out will be an even bigger event. Evidently the war on carp and redfin is not going to be won easily.
The turbid waters of Lake Tuggeranong also stink with rubbish, although as you walk the shores of the lake your stink-meter will go up and down depending on the time of year, the direction of the wind and the corner of the lake you are passing. Most often there will be no smell at all and not much to see. But around the next headland you will gulp and gag as a sour smell gets into your mouth. Trapped in the quiet waters of an inlet you will see milk cartons, plastic bags, beer cans, paper cups from McDonalds and KFC (both chains have branches on the lake shore), clothes, car tyres, plastic bottles, the occasional rusting supermarket trolley, and much more.
A rubbish trap in one of the streams that flow into Lake Tuggeranong. After rain, these traps fail to stop debris and rubbish from piling up in the lake.
On the annual Clean Up Australia Day hundreds of volunteers hold their noses, steady their stomachs, and fan out through Canberra to clear away a year’s deposit of detritus. In 2011 a total of 160 tonnes of gunk were collected in one day over the whole city, and many scores of these tonnes came out of the city’s three main lakes.
An Aboriginal ceremonial meeting place on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong.
Emmy and I have now reached an aboriginal meeting ground on the lake’s shore (35°24’31.19″S, 149° 4’10.46″E). Here we stop for a few minutes to draw breath and drink. We have covered a little over six kilometers. In my next post we’ll walk past a “Men’s Shed” just 500 metres ahead of us, tuck into some unhealthy food among the fatties of the Hyperdome, and look at two institutions of religious faith along the home stretch of our path.
Update: On May 24th 2012 Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of Canberra was closed by the National Capital Authority because of blue-green algae readings that were said to be 1000 times above safe levels and “potentially fatal.” A big water jet in the middle of the lake was turned off because of fears that it might spread a fine mist of algae laden water that would endanger the public. Read the full news report at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/potentially-fatal-levels-of-bluegreen-algae-close-lake-20120524-1z86r.html#ixzz1vs9cbAiH
Refreshing greenery along the path from our home to the Hyperdome shopping mall.
Posted in Canberra and surrounds | Tagged Australia, Canberra, cyclists, long distance walking, pollution, suburbs | 1 Reply
Canberra and surrounds (9)
Cotswold Way (4)
Cumbria Way (3)
Food reviews and anecdotes (5)
International two-day walks (4)
Queen Charlotte Track (3)
Reflections on walking (4)
Walking in the tropics (2)
Germany’s Romantic Road (Second Half): Dinkelsbuhl to Nordlingen
Germany’s Romantic Road (First Half): Rothenburg to Dinkelsbuhl
The Jesus Trail, Day 4: Arbel to Capernaum, and home to Jerusalem through the West Bank
The Jesus Trail, Day 3: Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel
The Jesus Trail, Day 2: Cana to Kibbutz Lavi
The Jesus Trail Day 1: Nazareth to Cana
Winter Walking in Canberra: Ice Age Tuggeranong
A short walk through the streets of Sumenep
A twenty-first century walk along Jogjakarta’s ancient axis
The emptiness at the end: we spend a day in Canterbury
Walking the English Camino
In Inverness and Edinburgh: two very different commemorations of war
A day in Drumnadrochit, home of the Loch Ness monster
From Fort William to Fort Augustus: we survive an encounter with Helen
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You are readingThis is what a PS1-themed DualShock 4 controller would look like
June 3, 2014.By Federico Lo GiudiceinArts and Crafts, Gaming
This is what a PS1-themed DualShock 4 controller would look like
The PS4 is, as of now, the fastest selling console of this generation. Yet, as exciting as the future is, we can’t help but look back and remember what made it so special.
Reddit user Dalto11 was messing around with Photoshop, and created a very special rendition of the ultra-sleek DualShock 4, the default controller system for Sony’s latest console, the PS4. This version uses the colors of the classic PS1 console that came out in late 1994, and the result is stunning: sleek, but classical. Some redditors liked it so much that they even requested a mock-up version of the console itself, which Dalto was happy to provide. Lo, and behold!
Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter and read more on Walyou, PlayStation Now Beta Heading For PlayStation 4 and Sony Sold 7 Million Playstation 4 Consoles in Less than Half a Year.
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imperfect lives
wanderessence1025 June 12, 2018
Once a month, like a dutiful sister, Tania visited Karmen at her cluttered apartment above a boarded-up lighting store in Pittsburgh’s West End Village. She found her sister sunk into the living room sofa watching Home Shopping Network with a glass of straight bourbon on the table beside her. The smell of dust, yellowed newspapers and dried flowers was suffocating, and the weight of all that accumulated stuff seemed to diminish the already wispy Karmen. Tania worried her older sister would eventually be squashed under the burden of daily life.
Karmen, wearing a gray sweatshirt that said BEST. AUNT. EVER. muttered a half-hearted hello and mentioned that Luka had called to see if he could stay with her. Of course, she had no space amidst the piles of magazines, stuffed animals, yard ornaments, tattered romance novels, and unopened bills to put anyone up. “Why is he looking for a place to stay?”
“Because his apartment lease ran its course. He never paid a freaking cent on it. You know, I had to pay his rent all six months since I foolishly co-signed. I refused to extend the lease, even if meant he’d be homeless.” She sighed. “He’s never given up his dislike for work.”
“Who likes work? Nobody, that’s who,” said Tania’s sister.
Karmen, once a copywriter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, had lost her job two years back for coming to work drunk. She had such a gift with words, Tania had believed her sister would become a top reporter, but she’d never put forth the effort to advance in her career. And then, after she was discarded by Gerald, her married lover of eight years, her drinking and hoarding expanded to unmanageable proportions.
Once she was fired, she took on a job digging up and moving plants at Phipps Conservatory. She had managed to hold on to the job, but Tania had no idea how she kept her drinking a secret.
Tania sat amidst the disorder and listened to Karmen marvel about the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures at the Phipps, and the new Cuba exhibit and the desert room, which Karmen liked for its prickly residents.
“What else did Luka say?” Tania feigned nonchalance.
“He was gonna get on a plane to Costa Rica. He wants to connect with the land.”
Tania didn’t even want to imagine where her twenty-year-old son got money for a plane ticket. His leaving the country partially explained the boxes Luka had left in Tania’s Washington garage in the middle of last Wednesday night while she was asleep. “What did you tell him?”
“That it was a great idea.”
Karmen was as disconnected from reality as Luka. Tania had tried to give Luka every opportunity in life, but he refused to do anything she suggested, including going to college. He wanted to start his own business designing edible landscapes but had abandoned the project when business didn’t materialize as he had hoped. Full of get-rich-quick schemes and idealism, he didn’t have the patience to wait for things to develop like most things did in life, in a methodical fashion.
She told Karmen she was going to have to cut back her visits because the Postal Museum, where she worked in Washington, wanted her to work more weekend hours. Her two days off per week would now be Tuesdays and Fridays, making it impossible to make the four-hour drive to Pittsburgh. She actually had no change in her schedule but thought she’d like to spend time lingering over her stamp collection and doing yoga instead of focusing her energies on people who didn’t want to be fixed. She felt guilty lying, but she knew she needed to detach from her sister.
Later in the afternoon, Tania made her escape by telling Karmen she had plans to meet her old college gang from University of Pittsburgh for dinner. She left $200 on her sister’s kitchen counter on the way out the door, swearing to herself it would be the last money she’d give her sister. As she drove through the Fort Pitt Tunnel toward the city, she thought of the movie, Perks of Being a Wallflower, where Charlie’s friend Sam stands up through the sunroof of the car. Though Tania would love to let loose in such a wild way, she knew she could never be so carefree.
She was careful and caring, at least that how she thought of herself. After all, she was surrounded by alcoholics and addicts of one kind or another, from her sister to her son. She had always appointed herself to take care of them, but lately she’d been attending Al-Anon meetings, for families of alcoholics, and had learned that her helpful fixing wasn’t beneficial to them, or to her.
She parked her Chevy Volt near the University of Pittsburgh and wandered with nostalgia through “Cathy,” the Cathedral of Learning. She dropped into her favorite of the Nationality Rooms, the Yugoslav Room, where once she had fallen in love with Art History and with her professor Grady, who eventually became her husband and Luka’s father. Luckily no classes were being held in the room, and she sat in one of the student chairs and ran her fingers along the inside edge of the hand-carved Slavonic heart on the chair-back in front of her. It was smooth from nearly 80 years of students sitting and being lectured on various subjects. She remembered her father, long before he was killed in the war in 1991, “notch-carving” such designs with his penknife. She studied the double-headed eagle that symbolized the religious influences of Byzantium and the Western Roman Empire and thought of how the clash of those influences had torn her country apart.
She got up to leave but first ran her fingers along the bronze sculpture of “Post-War Motherhood” — a barefoot mother nursing her child whom she has protected during the long months of war — and remembered how her mother did just that, protecting her and Karmen long after they were children, when they were young women, by finding a way for them to leave Zagreb and immigrate to Pittsburgh a year after the war started and after Tania’s father and her fiancé Josif had both been killed. Tania made the sign of the cross in front of the lace panel of Madonna of Brežje and prayed for peace of mind and for the Virgin to take care of her son and her sister. She knew she could no longer do it.
It was almost 7 p.m by the time she arrived at Fuel & Fuddle to meet her friends. They were already gathered at a table nursing craft beers. A waitress wearing an aqua-jeweled nose ring, mismatched dangly earrings and a “Feminist Killjoy” necklace, took Tania’s order. Aaron asked the waitress about the necklace and she shrugged, “I guess because I’m a feminist, I’m a killjoy.”
Tania ordered a Hitchhiker Trial by Fire beer and Chipotle Polka, mini-potato & cheese stuffed pierogies smothered with adobo sauce and smoked jalapenos. Her friends caught her up on happenings in Pittsburgh and in their lives over dinner.
For dessert, Tania ordered one of her favorite oddities from the menu, a fish-shaped waffle-covered ice cream. Tania always loved Fuel & Fuddle but wondered sometimes at the strange array of items on the menu. The waitress brought everyone at the table fortune cookies. Tania’s said: “The wheel of good fortune is finally turning in your direction!” She hoped so but seriously doubted it.
Another server wore a black tank top that said on the back: No crap on tap. Yet another had her hot pink hair pulled back in a ponytail. It was bustling place, with athletes tossing balls around on wall-mounted TVs. The brick walls displayed painted logos from brewing companies and a chalkboard listed names of brews such as Wowie Zowie and Green Zebra.
Over dessert, her friends spoke about the addicts in their lives. It turned out everyone had one.
“There is no way to win,” Mari said. “If you do the tough love thing, you feel guilty and if you care too much, you feel angry and taken advantage of.”
“We’re all spellbound by our own imperfect lives,” Tania said, “because they’re lives and because they’re ours.” She bit into her fish-shaped ice cream and got a brain freeze. She remembered another time she’d eaten odd-shaped food on the Dragon Pearl in Vietnam after Grady had left her for one of his students. She had run away to Asia for a month to escape her heartbreak, and had left Luka, still a toddler, in Karmen’s care. At dinner, as they floated on Halong Bay amidst pointed karsts, the chef had brought out with a flourish a dragon carved out of pumpkin and a junk carved from a watermelon, and she had flirted with a French boy named Pasquale over cilantro-infused dishes.
Hussein shook his head. “Why are we talking about this? We’re ruining our evening.”
The women protested that this was the most interesting topic they had discussed all night and Tania drifted back to that dinner party on the Vietnamese junk and the French boy who never showed up at her door in the unsurprising end, the tedious denouement.
West End Village
Dale Chihuly sculpture in the desert room at Phipps
The Cuba Exhibit
desert cacti at the Phipps
“Cathy,” the Cathedral of Learning at University of Pittsburgh
Yugoslav Room at Cathedral of Learning
Fuel and Fuddle
Pierogies
Junk on Halong Bay
Junk carved from watermelon
dragon carved from pumpkin
THE PROCESS: This story is pure fiction but is set in several real travel destinations. It originated in a creative writing class at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland where we did the following exercise:
POEM, DREAM, CONFLICT (Exercise from The Portable MFA in Creative Writing (The New York Writer’s Workshop):
Select a line from a poem, biography, anything that resonates with you. Next consider a recent (perhaps troubling) dream. Then recall a problem you’re having with another person.
Once you have each of these items firmly in mind, begin a fictional account that weaves these three disparate strands together, following the steps below:
POEM: Write one or two paragraphs based on the line of poetry (or prose) you chose. Then skip a line.
DREAM: Write one or two paragraphs using fragments or themes from your dream. (It’s unnecessary to make any explicit reference to the text you used for step one.) Again, skip a line.
CONFLICT: Write one or two paragraphs concerning the conflict you thought of. (Again it’s unnecessary to make any explicit reference to steps one or two.) Skip a line.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER. Begin weaving together elements from steps one through three. Follow your impulses. When you write the piece, set it in your destination.
The story came about from a poem by Canadian poet Robyn Sarah, a dream I had while on a junk in Halong Bay, Vietnam, and a conflict I had with my South Korean co-teachers with whom I’d shared a carpool for six months. They had invited me to a meeting where they served up a fish-shaped waffle cone to smooth over their bad news to drop me from the car pool.
I wrote the last part of this piece, the dinner party, from that exercise. My goal here was to write a story set in Pittsburgh, so I added to the short exercise to flush out the characters and to set it in some of the places I visited in Pittsburgh. I couldn’t really flush them out as well as I’d like because I limited myself to 1,500 words. If this ever becomes a novel, I’ll have no such restrictions.
I’ve had in mind for quite some time to write about this character, Tania, who emigrated from the former Yugoslavia during the war, and who was educated in Pittsburgh and moved to Washington to work in the U.S. Postal Museum. My goal is to expand on this character and the story, including a journey to her former home in Zagreb, Croatia (when I am finally able to visit Croatia). The story will need a lot of research and time. I hope it will eventually become a novel.
I’m also quite intrigued by the idea of “Bringing a character to…..” (some travel destination). I’ve wanted to try an exercise such as this for a long time.
“PROSE” INVITATION: I invite you to write up to a 1,500-word post on your own blog about a recently visited particular destination (not journeys in general). Concentrate on any intention you set for your prose. In this case, my final intention for my Pittsburgh trip was to write a 1,500 word fictional short story set in Pittsburgh using all five senses.
It doesn’t matter whether you write fiction or non-fiction for this invitation. You can either set your own writing intentions, or use one of the prompts I’ve listed on this page: writing prompts: prose & poetry. (This page is a work in process.) You can also include photos, of course.
Include the link in the comments below by Monday, June 25 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this invitation on Tuesday, June 26, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
Ulli, of Urban Liaisons, wrote beautifully about the melancholic Fado, and other Arab influences that make Portugal and Europe what it is today.
Fado Night Dreams of Lisbon
Jude, of Travel Words, brings us along with her to Chez Ma Cousine in the center of Old Town Genève, where we can observe the unique characters and sights all around.
Postcard from Genève
Thanks to all of you who wrote prosaic posts following intentions you set for yourself. 🙂
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Kate Lynch
Minneapolis: July 17, 2016
Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on July 17, 2016.
Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.
I know he's dropped the 'Cougar' part of his name, but John Mellencamp will forever be known to me as John Cougar Mellencamp. I guess I read that he never liked the 'cougar' ....
A classic Vincent Price introduction led to the curtain fall and a canvas backdrop of a close-up of Alice Cooper’s eyes as the shock rocker and band launched into the opening ‘Black Widow’ of its too-short 50 minute set. …
THE STARKEY HEARING FOUNDATION
at Rivercentre
Sunday, 07/17/16, 3pm ($$)
rivercentre.org
So The World May Hear—
Saint Paul’s Rivercentre rolls out the red carpet this coming Sunday for one of the most anticipated events of the year, The Starkey Hearing Foundation 16th Annual Awards Gala.
This year’s Award honorees include Jennifer Garner (Alias, Elektra), award-winning actress and advocate for early childhood education. As trustee for Save the Children, Garner has traveled the country to learn firsthand how these programs impact children and families in need and has advocated to officials at every level.
Local humanitarian, Paula F. Goldberg, executive director and co-founder of PACER, will also be celebrated for making PACER a lifeline for parents of children and young adults with all disabilities.
Music and entertainment is always a key feature of the event, bringing the world’s best entertainers to the Starkey stage and this year is no exception- comedian and former Tonight Show host Jay Leno will feature his comedy while Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp); singer-songwriter John Mellencamp; country duo Maddie & Tae; The Tenors; and American Idol winner Trent Harmon will provide the music.
Due to Vampires’ guitarist Joe Perry’s health scare over the weekend at a show on Coney Island, it’s yet unknown if he can attend, though his speedy recovery has been predicted, and the band is carrying on.
The gala itself is anticipated to generate more than $9 million, which will accelerate the pace and scope of Starkey Hearing Foundation missions and locally, the proceeds support grants for area nonprofits.
Numerous other local and international celebrities are expected to appear, with ticket and participation opportunities available here: starkeyhearingfoundation.org
Minneapolis' Bastille Day is happening today, Sunday, July 14th, 2013, from 3pm to 10pm. The annual block party sponsored by Barbette Café is open and free to the public. ....…
BASTILLE DAY BLOCK PARTY
at Barbette
Sunday, 07/17/16, 3pm (FREE)
bastilledayblockparty.com
We’ve been covering the annual Bastille Day Block Party for a while now, and this year’s lineup is absolutely unbelievable!
To start, this day party is free and open to the public. Local favorites Babes in Toyland and Bad Bad Hats are both on the bill.
The last time we saw the Babes, it was a rare headlining gig at First Avenue in January 2016. Prior to that, their very first appearance since reunited at Rock the Garden 2015.
Since the event starts at 3pm and has to end before curfew at 10pm, I typically bicycle into the city for a relaxing lazy Sunday bike ride.
Details below (more artists may be announced later):
MC Foxy Tann
Brass Messengers
Infiammati Fire Circus
North Star Rollergirls
Kate Lynch & Her Most Excellent Fellows
Bad Bad Hats
Nadine Dubois & Les Folies Risque
SHEL is the acronym of four classically trained sisters: Sarah on violin, Hannah on keyboards, Eva on mandolin, and Liza on drums, djembe and beatboxing. .…
at 7th Street Entry
Sunday, 07/17/16, 7pm ($8/$10)
first-avenue.com
We wrote about sister act SHEL in 2014 when we told you that it’s an acronym for their names: Sarah, Hannah, Eva, and Liza.
The sisters will be in town promoting their new Dave Stewart-produced album Just Crazy Enough, released earlier in May 2016, with their motto “four sisters, traveling the world, tellin' tales, and sharing a dream”.
To coincide with their current national tour, the band has also released a video announcing the “Just Crazy Enough Challenge,” which invites fans to consider the ethical implications of their fashion choices while highlighting their favorite ethically-sourced apparel. Lead vocalist Eva Holbrook explains, “The idea is you make a ‘capsule’ wardrobe, using only eight items and ten accessories. But you can only use items that you already own or your purchase from a thrift store or ethically-sourced company.” Watch the video here: youtube.com
Two local guests Dan Rodriguez and Savannah Smith will open the show.
7/13/16 - St. Louis, MO - Old Rock House
7/14/16 - Davenport, IA - Red Stone Room
7/15/16 - Marshfield, WI - Vox Concert Series
7/16/16 - Grand Rapids, MN - KAXE Radio Amph
7/17/16 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
7/28/16 - West Whately, MA - Watermelon
7/29/16 - Portland, ME – One Longfellow Square
7/30/16 - Hiram, ME - Ossipee Music Fest
8/05/16 - Loveland, CO - Arise Music Festival
vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic
Posted by W♥M on Tuesday, 12 July 2016 at 06:28 PM in Alice Cooper, Babes in Toyland, Bad Bad Hats, Brass Messengers, Foxy Tann, Hollywood Vampires, Jay Leno, Jennifer Garner, John, John Mellencamp, Kate Lynch, Maddie and Tae, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Music Guide, Nadine Dubois, Rollergirls, SHEL, Starkey Hearing Foundation, The Tenors, Trent Harmon, Vu | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Illinois General Assembly: HB2040 Sent to the Governor
by West Cook News | Jun 3, 2019
The following action was taken on May 17 in the House on House bill HB2040 ("for-profit correctional"): "Sent to the Governor."
Illinois General Assembly: HR357 actions on May 14
The following actions were taken on May 14 in the House on House bill HR357 ("sports wagering-igb study"): "Motion to Suspend Rule 21 - Prevailed", "Motion Filed to Suspend Rule 21 Revenue & Finance Committee(Rep. Gregory Harris" and "Assigned to Revenue & Finance Committee".
The following actions were taken on May 14 in the House on House bill HR356 ("legalized cannabis-ag study"): "Motion to Suspend Rule 21 - Prevailed", "Motion Filed to Suspend Rule 21 Judiciary - Criminal Committee(Rep. Gregory Harris" and "Assigned to Judiciary - Criminal Committee".
Illinois General Assembly: SB1379 Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee
The following action was taken on May 10 in the House on Senate bill SB1379 ("prop tx-income producing prop"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
The following action was taken on May 10 in the House on Senate bill SB1485 ("racial discrimination"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
The following action was taken on May 10 in the House on Senate bill SB1829 ("workplace transparency act"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
The following action was taken on May 10 in the House on Senate bill SB1988 ("high speed railway commission"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
Illinois General Assembly: SB1510 actions on May 10
The following actions were taken on May 10 in the House on Senate bill SB1510 ("nursing home care act-various"): "House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee" and "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee".
The following actions were taken on May 10 in the House on Senate bill SB1621 ("complete count commission"): "House Committee Amendment No. 2 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee", "House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee" and "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee".
Illinois General Assembly: HR241 actions on May 9
The following actions were taken on May 9 in the House on House bill HR241 ("daca legislation-u.s. congress"): "Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Barbara Hernandez", "Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Sam Yingling" and "Placed on Calendar Order of Resolutions".
Illinois General Assembly: HB2691 actions on May 8
by West Cook News | May 9, 2019
The following actions were taken on May 8 in the House on House bill HB2691 ("retention of il students act"): "Passed Both Houses", "Third Reading - Passed", "Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Mattie Hunter" and "Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Christopher Belt".
The following action was taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HR58 ("dph-painkiller guidelines"): "Resolution Adopted."
Illinois General Assembly: HB6 Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee
The following action was taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB6 ("idph-women's health clinics"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
The following action was taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB2291 ("criminal law-tech"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
The following action was taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB2400 ("cd corr-pathway to community"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
The following action was taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB3624 ("clean energy jobs-tech"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee."
Illinois General Assembly: HB350 actions on April 12
The following actions were taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB350 ("pen cd-employer contributions"): "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee" and "Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Michael T. Marron".
The following actions were taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB3088 ("state agency bonus prohibition"): "House Floor Amendment No. 2 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee" and "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee".
The following actions were taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB2468 ("title-secured loans"): "House Floor Amendment No. 3 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee" and "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee".
Illinois General Assembly: HB72 actions on April 12
The following actions were taken on April 12 in the House on House bill HB72 ("public aid-tech"): "House Floor Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee" and "Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee".
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Interview: Gary Arce | Yawning Man | Guitarist
whatisfrederick September 18, 2013 Leave a comment
Gary Arce is a guitar player that got his start in the early ‘80s
playing hardcore punk. In 1986 he drifted away from the punk scene and
started to dive into English bands and The Grateful Dead leading to the
formation of his long-lasting band, Yawning Man.
Starting music was an accident for Arce as he said, “I was just hanging
around my friend Mario’s house and I decided to pick up his guitar when I
was bored. He showed me some punk music and we just decided to form a
When Arce was in a band he knew he needed more power than his friend’s
acoustic guitar. “I got my first guitar coincidentally. I was in a
McDonald’s parking lot in San Diego and a guy walked up to me in his
underwear holding a guitar. He said I could have it for twenty bucks and
that was exactly what I had in my pocket.”
Arce began playing parties and local shows around Palm Springs in 1982
and 1983. He said his influences were “The Germs and seeing punk shows.
Seeing D.O.A. changed my life.” He also noted Husker Du as being another
important show he saw.
When the punk scene began to die down around 1984, Arce decided to step
in a new direction. “We drifted away from punk music, but we kept the
punk attitude. We started to jam and found a style with a mix of The
Grateful Dead and The Meat Puppets.”
The new approach was refreshing to Arce. “I got more into orchestral and
instrumental music. The sounds meant more to me and they seemed to
speak for themselves.”
With the band in a different direction, they needed a different name.
“Yawning Man came from some movie about dolls. I don’t exactly remember
the title, but there was a doll in the movie named Yawning Man who sang a
song to put the rest of the dolls to sleep. It reminded us of what many
people had said about our music in that it was so ambient it almost put
them to sleep.”
The band didn’t release any official recordings until 19 years after
their start. Arce said, “I, along with the rest of the band never
thought we would get this serious. We were just a band that got together
to kill time. Then we toured with Queens of the Stone Age and saw a lot
of interest from labels in Europe.”
When asked what advice he would give to a young musician Arce said,
“Don’t follow trends, stay unique and stick to what you believe in, pay
attention to the business side of things when you start to get serious,
and never sell your gear because it will be worth a ton of money in
Tagged gary arce, Music, yawning man
Interview: Pretty Gritty | Band | Portland, OR →
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Madam faces sentencing in underground cosmetic surgery death
A former madam who performed illegal “body sculpting” with low-grade silicone is set to be sentenced in the death of a London dancer.
Padge-Victoria Windslowe told jurors during her spring murder trial that fans call her “the Michelangelo of buttocks injections.”
But prosecutors say she had no medical training and used deadly products on vulnerable women who wanted more curves.
Windslowe has been in prison for three years in the 2011 death of Claudia Aderotimi.
She faces 20 to 40 years Thursday after her third-degree murder conviction.
Her lawyer says she didn’t realize the dangers of the procedure and is remorseful about her client’s death.
Windslowe admits running a transgender escort service and performed as “the Black Madam” in Gothic hip-hop videos.
Al-Bustan camp immerses Philly kids in Arabic language, culture and science
At the Al-Bustan Camp, a cultural summer camp held at St. Peter's School in Society Hill, children are learning about the Arabic language, music, history and science.
Listen 2:35
Soaring temperatures make local crops wilt and farmers wither
Farmers in Philadelphia are watching their crop yields decrease as a result of the heat. They say there’s nothing they can really do about it.
Festivals celebrating female-powered music and indie filmmaking, family-friendly events and more
It’s the middle of summer, and a bumper crop of festivals are ripe for the picking. Here are some offerings. Now, select your favorites.
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Home / Business / Saudi Arabia says oil facility attacks target world supplies
Saudi Arabia says oil facility attacks target world supplies
Posted on May 15, 2019 by yasir kaneria in Business
Drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels shut down one of the kingdom's main oil pipelines on Tuesday, further ratcheting up Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage of four ships, two of them Saudi tankers, on Sunday.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, said Wednesday that attacks on two of its tankers and a major pipeline targeted the security of global oil supplies.
Drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels shut down one of the kingdom’s main oil pipelines on Tuesday, further ratcheting up Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage of four ships, two of them Saudi tankers, on Sunday.
“The cabinet affirms that these acts of terrorism and sabotage … do not only target the kingdom but also the security of world oil supplies and the global economy,” it said after a meeting chaired by King Salman in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Tuesday evening.
Tuesday’s drone strikes hit two pumping stations on the kingdom’s east-west pipeline, which can carry five million barrels of crude per day and provides a strategic alternative route for Saudi exports if the shipping lane from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz is closed.
Yemen’s Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes and said they were a response to “crimes” committed by Saudi Arabia and its allies during more than four years of war in support of the government.
The Saudi tankers Al-Marzoqah and Amjad suffered “significant damage” in as yet unexplained sabotage attacks in the Sea of Oman off the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said, but there were no casualties or any oil spill.
An Emirati official said three Western countries — the US, France and Norway — would be part of an investigation into the ship attacks along with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The ships — which also included the Norwegian tanker Andrea Victory and an Emirati vessel — were docked in the sea off the coast of the emirate of Fujairah, the official added.
Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE, both close allies of the United States, have yet given details on the exact nature of those attacks, which come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Riyadh’s arch-rival Tehran.
OPEC giant Saudi Arabia currently pumps around 10 million barrels per day (bpd) of which around seven million bpd are exported.
At present, most Saudi exports are loaded onto tankers at terminals on the kingdom’s Gulf coast and must pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Saudi cabinet called for “confronting terrorist entities which carry out such sabotage acts, including the Iran-backed Huthi militias in Yemen”.
– Iranian tools –
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in case of a military confrontation with the United States.
The US has already strengthened its military presence in the region, including deploying a number of strategic B-52 bombers in response to alleged Iranian threats.
Iran and the US have engaged in a war of words in recent weeks since Tehran began to roll back commitments set out in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal last year and has unilaterally reimposed tough sanctions on Iran.
The International Energy Agency said Wednesday that Iranian crude oil output fell in April to 2.6 million barrels per day, the lowest level in over five years, and could tumble in May to levels not seen since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Shiite-majority Iran rivals Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia for influence in the Middle East, with the two taking opposing sides in multiple regional conflicts including in Yemen.
A military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, intervened in the Yemen war in March 2015 to bolster the efforts of the internationally recognised government against the Huthi rebels.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and left up to 14 million Yemenis at risk of starvation according to UN agencies.
The head of the rebels’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammed al-Huthi, said on Twitter Wednesday the “Yemeni people want the aggression to stop… and the embargo to be lifted”.
The Yemeni government condemned the Huthi-claimed attacks, saying the insurgents were tools of the Iranian regime.
“The Huthis work for the interest of the Iranian camp,” the government said in a statement carried by the state news agency Saba.
“The targeting of the oil (pumping stations) in Saudi Arabia… is further proof that the Huthi militia does not believe in peace.” —AFP
oil facility
world supplies
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COAS Bajwa is pride of Pakistan: Fawad Chaudhry
Rs5b allocated for promotion of tourism in KP
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Minister Todd Stone says that ICBC is moving towards no longer insuring luxury vehicles.
ICBC won’t insure luxury cars, Stone says after forecast of steep rate hikes
The insurance corporation forecasts rate increases from 6.4 to 9.4 per cent a year until 2020
Luxury supercars worth more than $150,000 will soon have to get private insurance and their owners will pay twice their current premiums to ICBC in the meantime.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone made the announcement Wednesday at the same time the public auto insurer released a forecast indicating basic auto insurance premiums might have to climb as much as 42 per cent over five years because of skyrocketing claims costs.
According to Stone, the move will ensure that “the broader rate payer is not subsidizing high-end cars.”
Luxury cars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis are six times more costly to fix.
There are more than 3,000 high-end luxury cars insured in B.C., a number that has shot up 30 per cent over the past three years.
Stone noted the average car in B.C. is worth only $15,000 – 10 times less than the new luxury car cutoff – but pays a similar basic insurance rate.
Stone admitted that neither the changes to luxury car coverage nor the B.C. government’s pledge to not take a dividend from ICBC over the next three years would do much to rein in the upward pressure on ICBC insurance premiums.
Forecasted increases to ICBC’s basic rates were also disclosed today in response to a B.C. Utilities Commission request for more information before approving a 4.9 per cent basic rate increase this year.
Under the province’s rate-smoothing legislation, each year’s change in basic insurance rates can’t be more than 1.5 per cent different from the previous year.
The ICBC forecast shows basic rates are predicted to increase 6.4 per cent in 2017, 7.9 per cent in 2018, 9.4 per cent in 2019 and 7.9 per cent in 2020 – numbers that compound to 42 per cent when this year’s 4.9 per cent hike is included.
Stone called that an extreme sce
nario and ICBC had opposed the release, calling the numbers hypothetical and “potentially misleading.”
ICBC also released more optimistic rate increase scenarios that level off at four per cent annually in the next four years or even shrink down to one or two per cent per year. Those scenarios assume a decrease in fraudulent claims, distracted driving and rosier investment returns.
Adrian Dix, the NDP critic on ICBC, dismissed Stone’s announcement on luxury car insurance as a “tactic” to deflect attention from the projected rate hikes.
“This is them being caught red-handed with their failed rate policy and trying to find a distraction,” he said.
Dix said ICBC would be on much better financial footing and drivers wouldn’t be facing big premium increases had the provincial government not taken $1.2 billion worth of dividends out of ICBC’s optional insurance business for general revenue over the last several years.
“The government has scooped money out of ICBC,” Dix said. “What we’re seeing are the consequences of Christy Clark treating ICBC as a bank machine. And it’s drivers who are going to pay.”
As for luxury insurance reform, Dix said the government could have passed that months ago if it was a serious priority, adding that luxury car repair costs are a minor contributor to ICBC expenses compared to the soaring costs of bodily injury claims.
He also noted that making supercar owners get private insurance won’t prevent ICBC from picking up their repair bills if another ICBC-insured motorist is at fault in a crash.
Exempted from the new private insurance requirement are pickup trucks, RVs, collector cars and limousines.
– with files from Jeff Nagel
2011 video of police impounding supercars racing into White Rock
$13,000 – Average repair cost when a high-end luxury car crashes
$2,500 – Average repair cost for a regular vehicle
$38,000 – Cost to repair a 2015 Bentley Flying Spur W12 with damaged fender, grille, headlight and intercooler.
$1,000 – Same basic insurance premium for both the Bentley and a typical car until now.
ICBC’s highest repair bills this year
$93,574 to fix a 2015 McLaren 650S valued at $405,000
$88,481 to fix a 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia valued at $300,000
$78,999 to fix a 2016 Maserati Gran Turismo valued at $215,000
$76,796 to fix a 2015 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG valued at $120,952
$76,617 to fix a 2015 Porsche 911 valued at $158,785
$76,474 to fix a 2011 Rolls Royce Phantom valued at $246,500
Mayors vote for TransLink tax, fare hike to fund more transit (with VIDEO)
Standoff in Abbotsford after crash of stolen car
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Combining Additive and Subtractive Processes for Hybrid Machining
Originally titled 'Additive + Subtractive = Hybrid Manufacturing'
At this point, we are still learning how to combine the two to optimize hybrid manufacturing.
This nozzle shows how material can be added and then machined away to meet specifications within a hybrid manufacturing system.
Photo: CIMP-3D at PSU 2019
Timothy W. Simpson
Paul Morrow Professor of Engineering Design & Manufacturing, Pennsylvania State University
Niche Manufacturer Discovers How Additive and Amazon Go Together
Video: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Additive Manufacturing
For the past several months, I have focused on directed energy deposition (DED) processes for additive manufacturing (AM), lauding the speed with which it can additively manufacture parts layer by layer. The downside is dimensional accuracy. Whether powder- or wire-fed, DED processes provide a near-net-shape part that will require additional finishing and post processing to meet the specified tolerances. The same goes for many parts made with powder-bed fusion (PBF); however, AM parts made with PBF are closer to net shape and will likely need less finishing and post processing in comparison to DED. Nonetheless, rarely is an AM part “done” once the build is complete.
In most cases, finishing and post processing of an AM part will be accomplished in a separate machine. The AM part will be made on a DED (or PBF) system and then transferred and mounted in a CNC machine (mill or lathe) for subsequent machining and finishing. As you can imagine, it can be a challenge to establish datums and reference points for orienting and locating the part as well as defining tool paths for the CNC machine, especially once the part is separated from the build plate. Designers and engineers are being encouraged to include locating features and references on the part to help establish datums for part orientation and machining.
Meanwhile, manufacturing is advancing to the point in which additive and subtractive processes can be combined into a single system. This is being referred to as hybrid manufacturing, and several commercial systems are now available in the market. For instance, DMG MORI combines DED (powder feed and laser) with five-axis CNC capability in its hybrid manufacturing system. Meanwhile, Matsuura and Sodick took a different approach, combining PBF and CNC capability in their hybrid manufacturing systems, and DMG MORI recently responded with its own PBF and CNC hybrid manufacturing system. Of course, if you don’t want to buy a new system, you can retrofit an existing CNC machining center with the Ambit powder-feed laser deposition head from Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies or add a combination of powder- and wire-feed capabilities to your CNC machine with technology from 3D Hybrid. This enables you to convert a conventional subtractive system into a hybrid manufacturing system with relatively minimal cost and effort.
We are fortunate to have a DMG MORI Lastertec 65 hybrid manufacturing system in CIMP-3D, our metal AM lab at Penn State. The system towers over all of the other equipment in the lab and is a marvel to watch operate. The laser-based powder-feed system offers a spot size of 1.5 mm or 3 mm during a build, enabling 10 to 15 pounds of material to be deposited in an hour. Meanwhile, users can take advantage of the five-axis CNC capability to machine material after it is deposited or they orient the part in different angles during deposition. This removes the need for support structures and enables even more intricate geometries to be printed given the extra degrees of freedom of movement and rotation. The nozzle shown in the figure gives you a sense of how material is added and then subtracted from a part as it is made. The system is equipped with dual powder feeders, enabling you to functionally grade parts by changing the material composition during deposition.
Despite the powerful combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing that is offered in hybrid manufacturing systems, we still have a lot to learn about the technology. For example, what is the best sequence for adding and subtracting material? Can toolpath planning software do collision detection for subtractive features after we have added new features to the part? Meanwhile, how do we maintain dimensional integrity of the machined surfaces as we add new material and the part heats up and distorts? As we subtract material, we shower the part with cutting fluid, which will rapidly cool any features that have been recently added; what do the heating/cooling cycles do to the microstructure and mechanical properties of the part? Finally, what is the powder-capture rate in various build orientations, how does that change as a part rotates around one (or more) of the five axes, and to what extent can powder be captured and reused? You certainly aren’t going to recycle any powder after the work envelope is flooded with cooling fluid!
Hardly anyone knows how to the combine [additive and subtractive] and optimize a hybrid manufacturing process. Its promise is more powerful than any single technology alone, but we have just barely begun to explore this new frontier of hybrid manufacturing.
As I tell people who tour our lab, machining professionals like yourselves know subtractive manufacturing inside and out; you have been doing it for decades. Meanwhile, more and more folks are learning the “ins and outs” of additive manufacturing with metals, but at this point, hardly anyone knows how to the combine the two and optimize a hybrid manufacturing process. Its promise is more powerful than any single technology alone, but we have just barely begun to explore this new frontier of hybrid manufacturing.
If you want to learn more about hybrid manufacturing and the challenges companies will face when combining additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing technologies, then I suggest you read the technology roadmap from Consortium for Advanced Hybrid Manufacturing Integrating Technologies (CAM-IT) or visit http://cam-it.us/.
Is Direct-Metal Manufacturing Ready for Production?
Not yet, says one manufacturer—but almost. This company is getting its customers ready for the day when additive manufacturing will be much more mainstream.
Pros and Cons of Making Foundry Patterns Via 3D Printing
A new method of pattern making brings various advantages, not the least of which is expanded design freedom. But 3D printing of patterns is not without trade-offs.
Direct Versus Indirect Tooling and Beyond
As new materials are introduced to the RP industry, it may be worthwhile to revisit processes that have been previously dismissed as not being viable.
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You are in News + Outlook ⁄ Industry Bodies ⁄ FPA announces latest winner of Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award
FPA announces latest winner of Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award
Raquel Netto
The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) is delighted to announce Ms Raquel Netto AFP® of The Wealth Mentoring Group in Hampton, Victoria, as the Semester 1 2019 winner of the Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award.
Named after the late ‘First lady of Financial Planning’, the award recognises the highest performing student in the first semester of the CFP® Certification Program with demonstrable dedication to providing high quality financial advice.
Ms Netto, who has worked in the financial services industry for over 14 years in an advice and client relationship management capacity, said: “It’s an honour to receive the Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award in recognition of the study and effort I’ve put in to complete the CFP® Certification Program.”
“Earning the CFP® designation is important to me because it demonstrates my commitment to ongoing education, achieving excellence and upholding the highest ethical standards. The CFP® Certification Program is challenging and I am confident the experience has elevated my skills and knowledge as a financial planner and adviser.
“As financial advisers, we are privileged to hold a position of trust and mutual respect with our clients. We can have a meaningful positive impact in our client’s lives by listening to and engaging with them, mentoring them and ultimately, helping them achieve their financial goals.
“It’s a role I’m passionate about and determined to carry out at the highest standard of excellence because that’s what I expect of myself and what my clients and peers expect of me as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional,” said Ms Netto.
Dante De Gori CFP®, CEO of the FPA, congratulated her on achieving the highest mark in the program. “Raquel’s outstanding results reflect a commitment to advancing her career in the financial planning profession and I proudly welcome her into the growing CFP® professional community of 5,694 in Australia, and over 181,000 around the world.”
Currently 27 per cent of FPA members are female, up from 26 per cent last year, which compares favourably with the industry average of 20 per cent. Ms Netto says she hopes more women will choose financial planning as a career.
“Receiving an award in Gwen Fletcher’s name is particularly special because she was a champion for the role of women in the financial services profession. I am hopeful that my work with my clients and within our profession will honour her memory and may even encourage more women to become financial planners.”
The CFP® designation is the only financial planning designation recognised globally. It is a symbol borne by financial planners actively committed through higher education and accountability to adhering to world class professional and ethical standards.
Enrolments for Semester 2 of the CFP® Certification Program close on Thursday 4 July. For more information, visit www.fpa.com.au/cfp
The next Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award winner will be announced in November at the 2019 FPA Professionals Congress in Melbourne, 27-29 November 2019.
In support of the career progression of women in financial planning, the FPA is proud to present the 2019 FPA Women in Wealth networking event series, featuring 2019 World Cup competitors and GIANTS netball teammates, Caitlin Bassett and Jo Harten. Caitlin and Jo will share what they’ve learnt about leadership, teamwork, resilience and more.
Find out more about the lunch event in your nearest capital city during July and August 2019: https://fpa.com.au/fpa-community/women-in-wealth/
Tags:Caitlin Bassett Dante De Gori Gwen Fletcher Jo Harten Raquel Netto
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Audi’s Super Bowl Play: An Environmental Police State
By Robert Klara
It’s usually pretty easy to spot a commercial for a luxury-car brand. More often than not, it will involve a mountain road with hairpin turns, dreamy shots of an all-leather interior and a growing-engine soundtrack—which is why the Super Bowl XLIV ad from Audi throws the brain into neutral. Eschewing the testosterone-laden trappings of the usual roadster spot, Audi (via Venables Bell) has instead furnished the populous with a humorous-but-Orwellian view of a world in which the “Green Police” crack down on Americans who persist in carbon-unfriendly practices. The notable exception is the gent behind the wheel of his Audi A3 TDI, with its 2.0 litre clean-diesel engine. Brandweek features editor Robert Klara spent a few minutes with Audi CMO Scott Keogh to ask him about the thinking behind the company’s Super Bowl gambit.
Brandweek: Given what most people expect from a luxury-car ad, why did you decide to make a complete departure from the usual, sleek style-and-performance content and instead focus solely on the environment?
Scott Keogh: The American audience is sophisticated, and we’re not after the same-old type of advertising. You have to break through that. Diesel technology is extremely important to Audi. If just 30 percent of Americans switched to “clean diesel,” 1.5 million barrels of oil would not need to be imported each day. We think that message is important. The general assumption is that Americans are about hybrids hybrids hybrids. But diesel is available to us today. So that’s when we said, “We have something here. We have a timely conversation going on in America.”
BW: Given the current state of the economy—high unemployment and an overall anxiety about the household budget—was your decision to go with a green message in any way influenced by a fear of using the usual flashy luxury car ad?
SK: What we’re seeing in the marketplace right now is that Americans are looking for products of substance, and we’ve historically been a brand of substance. Our badge is more understated. It’s not a frivolous, noisy brand. That’s why I think the market is coming to us in many regards. We didn’t see a need to tone down our brand because our brand isn’t a garish luxury brand.
BW: For quite a while now, we’ve been seeing evidence that American consumers are suffering from green fatigue. The usual eco-friendly pitch has grown dull and meaningless to consumers because every brand is doing it. To what degree, if any, did that reality inform the approach you took in this spot?
SK: What we saw in the research was that [consumers don’t like] the concept of being preachy—companies being perfect and holier-than-thou. That’s why, with the Super Bowl ad, we wanted to be entertaining. What you talk about is a challenge, but once you get all the entertainment out of the way, you have a green car that gets 42 miles to the gallon. Those are the facts.
BW: But what about someone who’d say that diesel fuel—efficient as it may be—is still a fossil fuel and that it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to position it as suddenly eco-friendly?
SK: I think that’s a fair statement. And I think the important thing to look at is that from Audi, and from the industry, there are going to be a lot of solutions to come. You’re going to have the combustion engine, which we currently have, to refine as far as possible. You’ll have diesel. You’ll have hybrids. And eventually, you’ll have electric. Audi is and will be launching all of these technologies. But diesel is road-ready, now.
http://adweek.it/2k6B3CK
Velcro Celebrates Its Apollo Legacy With a Perfectly Chosen Cover by Walk Off the Earth
Director, GREAT Britain Campaign
Manager, Digital Inventory & Revenue Operations
Guardian News & Media
Elmont, New York
Client Success Manager
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Syrian Army begins 2nd phase of northwestern Syria offensive
Home Syria Spain rejects Trump’s appeal for NATO troops in Syria
Spain rejects Trump’s appeal for NATO troops in Syria
BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:45 A.M.) – Spain’s Foreign Minister Josep Borrell stated on Saturday that the U.S. appeal for NATO member-states to fill the void left by its impending pull-out from Syria was a surprise.
“Requests between countries aren’t made in press releases or conference comments. Spain and the majority of countries aren’t prepared to step in for the US after a withdrawal that was decided in a unilateral way, by surprise”, Borrell said.
The comments come just two months after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw his country’s troops from Syria.
Despite the announcement, the U.S. has yet to withdraw any military personnel from Syria; however, they have made preparations for their impending withdrawal from the country.
ALSO READ Iraqi choppers hunt down ISIS terrorists along Syrian border: video
The International News Desk reports on issues and events world wide.
Famed Member
Stern Daler
NATO is a mutual defense pact and not an US owned military adventure club.
Long Live Syria
Spain doesn’t want to send its military because there is nothing in it for it. Period.
They are only good enough to send their armies in the medieval times to South Americas and eradicate the local population of Native Americans and destroy their native religion and establish the religion of cross and spread disease and rob their Gold.
pedro yudex
estrategia barata para no enfrentarse directamente a Rusia Iran y Hezbolla, que es lo que se viene en la guerra en Siria, y dejarle a la EU este chicharron, cobarde!
good call from the spanish – nato out of kurdistan
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CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE
Colby Kamahaʻo Tam – KS Kapālama High School
BACK TO ESSAYS
The Last Reigning Monarch
On January 17th 1893, the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown by the United States. But before all of this was happening, Queen Liliʻuokalani was the last monarch to rule the Hawaiian Kingdom. During her reign as the Queen of Hawaiʻi, she had taken a huge role and gained many responsibilities when named the Queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Since taking all of these responsibilities, she had to care for the Hawaiian people. If the people of Hawaiʻi werenʻt satisfied by what was happening in Hawaiʻi, the Queen needed change her way and make the people happy. Liliʻuokalani as our Aliʻiwahine fulfilled her kuleana to improve the lives of Hawaiians.
An example of Liliʻuokalani fulfilling her kuleana is when she and her niece Kaiulani went to Washington in 1896. When they went to Washington, they did the “Stand Firm” (Onipaʻa) movement to try and convince Grover Cleveland to restore the Hawaiian monarchy. Even though she wasn’t able to make that happen, she still stood up for the people of Hawaiʻi to try get back how it was in the old Hawaiian days. She knew her kuleana was to stand up for Hawaiʻi and not let the Americans take advantage of the islands, so she tried to stop it ways but wasn’t successful. Even though she wasn’t successful with her movement against the Americans, she had pride in what she did for the people of Hawaiʻi. One example of the Queen taking care and making the Hawaiian people happy was when she builded schools for the Hawaiian keiki. By her building the schools for them, she was able to educate the children and try making them into future leaders of Hawaiʻi. The Queen knew she had to educate the young keiki and since there was only a few small schools for the Hawaiian children, she stepped in to help the Hawaiian people in a way that others cannot. She gave her heart and soul to the keiki of Hawaiʻi and she knew that the education was the most important thing that needed to be taught to the people of Hawaiʻi.
Liliʻuokalani as our Aliʻiwahine fulfilled her kuleana to improve the lives of Hawaiians. She had to do things not only for the people of Hawaiʻi but for the islands of Hawaiʻi too. She had to stand up to the Americans even though they had more power. She still stood up for Hawaiʻi, she may have loss to the Americans but she knew that she died trying for Hawaiʻi and the people of Hawaiʻi. For the people of Hawaiʻi, she did many things for the keiki. The most important thing she did was the building of the schools in Hawaiʻi. There may have already been schools in Hawaiʻi but when she builded more schools, then more keiki can be educated and have a successful life in Hawaiʻi and beyond. So Liliʻuokalani was a successful ruler in Hawaiʻi, she may have had ups and downs but she was the first Queen of Hawaiʻi.
Essay Submissions
Image Submission – KS Preschool Kalihi-Palama
Image Submission – KS Preschool Kāne‘ohe
Bricen Cuesta – KS Kapālama High School
Casey Kitagawa – KS Kapālama High School
Jameson Kekoa Hussey – KS Kapālama High School
JP Newmann – KS Kapālama High School
Lola Pōmaikaʻionāʻānela Naone Duropan – KS Kapālama High School
Nanealoa Pearlman – KS Kapālama High School
Phillip Amona – KS Kapālama High School
Savannah Marie Pulelehuamālie Cerezo – KS Kapālama High School
Tia Ngum – KS Kapālama High School
Video Submission – Ke Kula Kaiapuni – ‘O Hina I Ka Malama
CA – KS Kapālama Middle School
DK – KS Kapālama Middle School
JD – KS Kapālama Middle School
KD – KS Kapālama Middle School
KPP – KS Kapālama Middle School
KR – KS Kapālama Middle School
P – KS Kāpalama Middle School
PKD – KS Kāpalama Middle School
Group Poem – KS Kāpalama Middle School
Audio Submission – KS Kāpalama Middle School
Janvier Bentley-Smith – Ke Kula Kaiapuni-O Hina I Ka Malama
Shia-Anne English – Ke Kula Kaiapuni-O Hina I Ka Malama
©2019 Aloha Liliʻu. All rights reserved. Design by DTL.
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10th Birthday Cake Stock Photos and Images
Horizontal close up of a child's 10th birthday cake, decorated with chocolate sweets, icing and candles
10th Birthday Cake decoration
Birthday Cake With Pink Sugar Icing, The 10Th Birthday
A birthday cake celebrating someone's tenth birthday
Cupcake with number ten candles
Girl (10-11) celebrating 10th birthday
Staffordshire, UK. 10th June, 2016. Stall holders on Lichfield Country Market on the Market Square, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday on 10th June 2016 by decking out their stall with flags, Union Jacks and portraits of Queen Elisabeth II Left to right: Joyce Deakin – who has been operating the stall for 31 years – with Stephen Gillet and Shirley Husselbee. Credit: David Keith Jones/Alamy Live News
Cake decoration in the figure of the number 10, made of sugar dough and candy in white and pink. The decoration placed on brown chocolate cake. There
Staffordshire, UK. 10th June, 2016. Stall holders on Lichfield Country Market on the Market Square, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday on 10th June 2016 by decking out their stall with flags, Union Jacks and portraits of Queen Elisabeth II Left to right: Joyce Deakin – who has been operating the stall for 31 years – with Stephen Gillet, |Elaine Wilson and Shirley Husselbee. Credit: David Keith Jones/Alamy Live News
Number 10 gold candle with cupcakes against a pastel pink background
Tate Modern 10th birthday
Nanjing, China's Jiangsu Province. 10th Aug, 2018. A giant panda twin eats birthday cake in an air-conditioned room at the Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Aug. 10, 2018. Staff workers at the zoo celebrated the 3rd birthday anniversary for the female giant panda twins 'Hehe' and 'Jiujiu' on Friday. Credit: Su Yang/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
Nanjing, China's Jiangsu Province. 10th Aug, 2018. A staff worker shows a birthday cake prepared for the giant panda twins Hehe and Jiujiu at the Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Aug. 10, 2018. Staff workers at the zoo celebrated the 3rd birthday anniversary for the female giant panda twins 'Hehe' and 'Jiujiu' on Friday. Credit: Su Yang/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
Berlin, Germany. 10th July, 2018. Panda female Meng Meng takes a look at her birthday cake at her enclosure at the Berlin Zoological Garden. The animal keepers served a sugar-free birthday cake with delicacies like bamboo, apples, carrots and ice. Together with the male panda Jiao Qing the panda female Meng Meng from a reserve in Chengdu lives at the Berlin zoo as a Chinese 'loan'. Credit: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Alamy Live News
Boxer Birthday
Horizontal close up of several homemade fairy cakes, aka cup cakes, decorated with icing and sugared sprinkles.
Megan the first cloned sheep celebrates her 10th birthday with the team who created her before they created Dolly the sheep
Berlin, Germany. 10th July, 2018. Panda female Meng Meng eats her birthday cake at her enclosure at the Berlin Zoological Garden. The animal keepers served a sugar-free birthday cake with delicacies like bamboo, apples, carrots and ice on the occasion of her fifth birthday. Together with the male panda Jiao Qing the panda female Meng Meng from a reserve in Chengdu lives at the Berlin zoo as a Chinese 'loan'. Credit: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Alamy Live News
Stars of the soap opera 'Heart Flutter - The Clinic at the Lake', Nova Meierhenrich (R), Yvonne Burbach (L) and Meike von Bremen (C) pose with a giant birthday cake in Munich, Germany, 03 May 2011. 'Nacht der Tracht' (Night of the German costume) celebrates its 10th anniversary. Photo: Felix Hoerhager
Japan, Tokyo. 3rd July 2015. Sing Sing the Giant Panda celebrated her 10th Birthday in style at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo, Japan with a frozen birthday cake of ice, carrots, apple and bamboo sprouts. She happily munched on each layer of the cake either clawing out the fruit and vegetables or just smashing it apart. Credit: Paul Brown/Alamy Live News
FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (October 13, 2016) Capt. James Mills, chief of staff, joins Capt. Clarence Franklin, the oldest Sailor present at the ceremony, and Seaman Derek Henry, the youngest Sailor present, in cutting a birthday cake during the Navy's 241st birthday celebration held Oct 13 at U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command serves as the Navy component command to U.S. Strategic Command/U.S. Cyber Command. U.S. 10th Fleet is the operational arm of Fleet Cyber Command. (U.S. Navy photo by Steve Mavica/Released)
Berlin, Germany. 10th July, 2018. Panda female Meng Meng takes a look at her birthday cake at her enclosure at the Berlin Zoological Garden. The animal keepers served a sugar-free birthday cake with delicacies like bamboo, apples, carrots and ice on the occasion of her fifth birthday. Together with the male panda Jiao Qing the panda female Meng Meng from a reserve in Chengdu lives at the Berlin zoo as a Chinese 'loan'. Credit: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Alamy Live News
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean-Claude Trichet blows out the candles of a birthday cake at the 'Alte Oper' in Frankfurt Main, Germany, 02 June 2008. Celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the ECB take place at the 'Alte Oper'. The ECB was founded on 01 June 1998. Photo: ARNE DEDERT
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean-Claude Trichet (C) is pictured with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker (L) and his wife Aline Trichet in front of a birthday cake at the 'Alte Oper' in Frankfurt Main, Germany, 02 June 2008. Celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the ECB take place at the 'Alte Oper'. The ECB was founded on 01 June 1998. Photo
Berlin, Germany. 10th July, 2018. The birthday cake for the panda female Meng Meng inside the panda enclosure at the Berlin Zoological Garden. The animal keepers served a sugar-free birthday cake with delicacies like bamboo, apples, carrots and ice on the occasion of her fifth birthday. Together with the male panda Jiao Qing the panda female Meng Meng from a reserve in Chengdu lives at the Berlin zoo as a Chinese 'loan'. Credit: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Alamy Live News
10th Birthday of Red Tractor
Participants blow out candles on a birthday cake at the nominee announcement for the 10th annual Latin GRAMMYS in Los Angeles on September 17, 2009. UPI/ Phil McCarten
The Duchess of Cornwall, who is known as the Duchess of Rothesay when in Scotland, makes a speech after cutting a special commemorative cake during a visit to HorseBack UK, in South Ferrar, Aboyne. The charity which supports veterans and children is celebrating its 10th birthday.
Eldridge, Iowa, USA. 10th Sep, 2017. Happy Joe Whitty, founder of Happy Joe's Pizza, is presented a cake, Sunday, September 10, 2017, during a Birthday Car & Wheel Show at the Happy Joe's Pizza Parlor in Eldridge. He is turning 80 years old. Credit: John Schultz/Quad-City Times/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Rex G. McMillian, 10th Commander of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North, cuts the cake at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, during the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve hosted 242nd Marine Corps Birthday Ball November 3, 2017. (DoD Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. James K. McCann)
Berlin, Germany. 16th June, 2017. Chairwoman Katja Kipping of the political party 'The Left' (Die Linke) passes out pieces from a birthday cake during the reception for the party's 10th anniversary in Berlin, Germany, 16 June 2017. Photo: Maurizio Gambarini/dpa/Alamy Live News
171006-N-AG811-024 PENSACOLA, Fla. (Oct. 6, 2017) – Retired Capt. Tom M. Pigoski, former officer in charge of Navy Security Group Detachment (NSGD) Pensacola (left), Cmdr. Paul D. Lashmet, commanding officer of Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Pensacola (center), and Cryptologic Technician (Networks) 3rd Class Jesse Van Den Berg cuts the cake for NIOC Pensacola’s 30th birthday ceremony. NIOC Pensacola is a subordinate command of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and comprises Task Group 103 of the U.S. 10th Fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Cryptologic Technician (Networks) 1st Class Mark Jansson/R
Horizontal elevated close up of a plateful of homemade fairy cakes, aka cupcakes, decorated for a child's 10th birthday party.
Bloomington, MN - 2/11/2007.Matthew Ang's mother Joan consoles her daughter Alena who was upset that she couldn't blow out the candles on Matthews cake for his 10th birthday. The makeshift party was assembled in a locker room at the Bloomington Ice Garden after a tournament game. Joan lit three c
Berlin, Germany. 16th June, 2017. Matthias Hohn, Federal Secretary General of the political party 'The Left' (Die Linke) and Chairwoman Katja Kipping cut a birthday cake during the reception for the party's 10th anniversary in Berlin, Germany, 16 June 2017. Photo: Maurizio Gambarini/dpa/Alamy Live News
Sacramento, California, USA. 12th May, 2019. TRAVIS MCCABE lifts his birthday cake as Team USA is introduced prior to Stage 1 of the 2019 Amgen Tour of California at California's State Capitol city of Sacramento on Sunday afternoon. Stage 1 begins and ends in Sacramento, where the American and Sacramento Rivers meet before heading west. This is the race's 10th year in Sacramento.The 2019 Amgen Tour of California race will showcase scenic California roadways, coastlines and iconic settings, with more than 750 miles of racing throughout the seven-day event. The race will run north to south th
Sacramento, California, USA. 12th May, 2019. TRAVIS MCCABE takes a bite of his birthday cake as Team USA is introduced prior to Stage 1 of the 2019 Amgen Tour of California at California's State Capitol city of Sacramento on Sunday afternoon. Stage 1 begins and ends in Sacramento, where the American and Sacramento Rivers meet before heading west. This is the race's 10th year in Sacramento.The 2019 Amgen Tour of California race will showcase scenic California roadways, coastlines and iconic settings, with more than 750 miles of racing throughout the seven-day event. The race will run north t
Moscow, Russia. 16th Nov, 2016. British fashion designer Paul Smith attends an event marking the 10th birthday of the Paul Smith boutique in Moscow's GUM department store in Red Square. © Alexander Shcherbak/TASS/Alamy Live News
Berlin, Germany. 16th June, 2017. Gesine Lotzsch, Deputy Chairwoman of The Left's Bundestag (Federal Legislature) fraction (left to right), Matthias Hohn, Federal Secretary General of the political party 'The Left' (Die Linke) and Chairwoman Katja Kipping cut a birthday cake during the reception for the party's 10th anniversary in Berlin, Germany, 16 June 2017. Photo: Maurizio Gambarini/dpa/Alamy Live News
Isolaed on white chocolate frosted cake with various numbered candles on top.
U.S. Marines assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), delivers the birthday cake during the annual Birthday Uniform Pageant at Dewey Square aboard MCBH, Nov. 9, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Aaron S. Patterson)
Feb. 29, 2012 - An 'Iced-breaker cake' Alana Ladd's birthday cake was model of the iceship ''Kista dan'': 'Sharing' her birthday with H.M. the Queen, was Alan Ladd's daughter Alana. To celebrate her 10th brithday, cooks at Pinewood,, where Alan Ladd is shooting interior scenes of ''Hell Below Zero'', prepared for her a wonderful iced birthday cake modelled on the ice-breaker 'Kista Dan, in which the Warwick Film Production Unit spent 2 months in the Antarctic on location. Mrs
Moscow, Russia. 16th Nov, 2016. British fashion designer Paul Smith (C) attends an event marking the 10th birthday of the Paul Smith boutique in Moscow's GUM department store in Red Square. © Alexander Shcherbak/TASS/Alamy Live News
U.S. Marines assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), prepare to present the birthday cake during the annual Birthday Uniform Pageant at Dewey Square aboard MCBH, Nov. 9, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Aaron S. Patterson)
LUAS 10th anniversary
Number 10 celebration birthday cupcakes on a wooden background
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kylan Z. Grant, an adminstration specialist assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), takes a bite of cake as the youngest Marine present during the annual Birthday Uniform Pageant at Dewey Square aboard MCBH, Nov. 9, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Aaron S. Patterson)
Scottish Parliament 10th anniversary
Number 10 birthday candle in a cupcake against a blue background
Tenth 10th birthday cupcake with candle and sprinkles. Card mockup.
Search Results for 10th Birthday Cake Stock Photos and Images
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Dubai’s DAMAC hands over first Sharia compliant property
Ghalia, Damac’s first Sharia compliant offering, has entered the handover phase with the first residents being welcomed. The development houses 727 fully furnished, luxury apartments and is located in the heart of the Jumeirah Village Circle community. “Ghalia is our first Sharia compliant project, catering to the growing demand for luxury living that complies with […]
Where does Ali Sajwani want to take DAMAC?
The 27-year old scion is general manager at DAMAC. But his youth is no obstacle to what he wants the company his father founded to become A few weeks before Ali Sajwani took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos – and clicked his now viral selfie with the one and only Bill Gates […]
DAMAC wants to become a household name, globally: Ali Sajwani
General manager at Dubai-based property firm DAMAC says he is on the hunt to make investments beyond the GCC The fortunes and future of the family behind one of the Middle East’s most prominent property developers rests beyond the shores of Dubai, according to its general manager, Ali Sajwani. “If you speak to anyone from […]
DAMAC awards AED 40m contract to Proscape for AKOYA Oxygen
DAMAC Properties has awarded a contract worth AED 40 million to Proscape, a member of the Tanseeq Investment Group of Companies, at its 55-million-square-foot community, AKOYA Oxygen. The contract covers roads and infrastructure works at Aquilegia, a 207,000 square-meter cluster. Aquilegia comprises of 629 independent and semi-detached luxury villas and townhouses, surrounded by lush greens […]
Paramount Hotel in Dubai to be completed by 2019
DAMAC Towers by Paramount, the four-tower master development by DAMAC Properties in collaboration with Paramount Hotels & Resorts, is entering its handover phase. The developer said it is welcoming residents to its three residential towers, A, B and D, while the construction of the fourth tower, which will house ultra-luxurious Paramount hotel with 800 keys, […]
40 And Under: The Region’s Most Influential Young Business Leaders
As early as he can remember, Ali Sajwani’s after school reading list consisted of balance sheets and real estate project plans.
Forging India-UAE property venture
Dubai-based private developer DAMAC’s general manager and son of the chairman, Ali Hussain Sajwani visited Amir Mahal, the ancestral residence of the Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, to pay a courtesy call to the Prince on his first trip to India.
China State Construction and Engineering Corporation to work on DAMAC’s AYKON City
Development giant DAMAC Properties has awarded China State Construction and Engineering Corporation Middle East (CSCEC ME) an $139m (AED512m) construction contract to work at its Dubai mixed-use development AYKON City.
Dubai’s $654m DAMAC Heights welcomes first tenants
DAMAC Properties has handed over DAMAC Heights to the first of the super-tall high rise’s first tenants.
DAMAC’s first Sharia-compliant property set for 2018 delivery
Completion work has started on DAMAC’s first Sharia-compliant property, the luxury Ghalia tower in up-and-coming Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC).
Copyright © 2019. All Rights Reserved By Ali Sajwani
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Inside Story Episodes
Behind Nigeria's violence
Inside Story discusses whether the country is on the road to becoming a 'failed state'.
11 Mar 2010 09:37 GMT Politics, Niger, Nigeria
Another wave of killings in the Nigerian city of Jos took place on Sunday.
Now, the federal government blames the local government, while the local government blames the army.
Three mainly Christian villages were targeted by Muslim herders and the police estimates that 150 men, women and children were killed but state officials say the figure is far higher.
Residents had already begun burying their dead - but fresh gunshots on Tuesday sent them scattering.
The latest wave of violence in Nigeria was described as retaliation for the outburst of killing in January in which hundreds of people were killed.
Back then the largest losses were suffered by the Hausa Fulani community. In the village of Kuru Karama more than 100 people were killed and their bodies thrown into wells and sewers.
Grave accusations were made that the local government had stoked the violence.
In the past decade violence between Christians and Muslims has killed more than 2000 people - Christians and Muslims - in Plateau State.
Now religious leaders are calling on the federal government to help stop the violence.
But what are the real causes of the violence? Who is to blame? And is Nigeria on the road to becoming a 'failed state'?
Inside Story presenter Shiulie Ghosh is joined by Senator Ibrahim Mantu, the former deputy senate president and a member of the Nigerian Government Committee to investigate the latest violence, Cameron Duodu, an African affairs analyst and writer, and Eric Guttschuss, Human Rights Watch's Nigeria researcher.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Wednesday, March 10, 2010.
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Home / All Covered / Remote Support
Learning Center >
The Human Touch: Avoiding Employee Alienation with Personal Support
Automation has increasingly become a favored labor-saving device for tech support departments. But the lack of personal support can end up being costly.
May 10, 2017 by Alex Collins, IT Services Consultant
The personal touch in customer support has gone the way of the Tinder-less blind date.
Automation has increasingly become a favored labor-saving device for tech support departments. True, tools like tickets and chatbots free support workers from repetitive tasks and drudgework, but they also alienate support staff from the people they're tasked to help – and vice-versa.
Over-dependence on automation can cause problems in a different direction: the loss of the personal, human connection that subsequently undermines morale and workplace camaraderie.
Preference for Personal Care
There's evidence to suggest that maintaining a personal connection results in better outcomes for everyone – and removing that option can create negative outcomes that outweigh the cost savings.
Case in point: when Kaiser Permanente set up an automated patient portal, they found less technically-proficient patients were confused by it. Respondents cited fears of “[diminishing] the patients’ personal relationships with their healthcare provider” and “a preference for in-person communication”.
Forcing automation in this case would have increased these health disparities.
But technology vs. humanity shouldn't be seen as a zero-sum game, explains Guillermo Florido, a hotel facilities director blogging at LinkedIn.
“There is no reason that the increasing use of technology within the customer service systems of companies all over the world necessarily entails the complete loss of the human touch,” writes Florido. “Only if companies want to try and eliminate as many costs as possible and don’t care about how the quality of their service is affected, will it completely eliminate human interaction, and these companies should probably be avoided anyway.”
Ticketless IT and Other Tricks
Some tech support thinkers have found plenty of room to maneuver in the space between automation and pure personal engagement. Just ask DoSomething.org's Gleb Boundin, who quietly rebels against impersonal ticket systems “[that] foster burnout and apathy in IT people and make end users feel […] like they’re dropping a complaint into a bottomless pit.”
“Tech support is an inherently reactive job… a much more one-on-one position than most others at a typical organization,” Boundin explains.
Boundin implemented ticketless IT practices, where his coworkers ask for his help by group chat, email or in person. He also sends quarterly “happiness surveys” to gauge his respondents' satisfaction with his work, and adjusts as per the results. “It also has the psychological bonus of making my coworkers feel like I’m listening (I am),” he says.
Boundin acknowledges the difficulty of scaling his practice to bigger workforces. “For a large organization, this approach is obviously untenable and some sort of ticketing becomes necessary,” he explains. “But that doesn’t mean you have to lose the personal touch.”
Help Desk Services That Evolve With You
Another solution to the impersonal IT problem: outsource it altogether. Offloading to a trusted provider can improve outcomes, as long as that provider has a reputation for providing friendly, efficient support within optimal resolution times.
Services like the All Covered Enterprise Help Desk provide a responsive brand of service that makes your staff feel like their concerns matter.
By starting every project with an in-depth discovery and documentation process, All Covered Enterprise Help Desk staff acquire an in-depth look at how their clients' businesses operate, ensuring rapid, accurate – and best of all, satisfactory – resolutions each time.
For more information on All Covered Enterprise Help Desk and other services, contact All Covered Toll-Free Nationwide at 866-446-1133 or visit www.AllCovered.com.
IT Consulting and Projects
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Mercedes just revealed how it plans to conquer electric cars — and Tesla should be nervous
Mark Matousek
Feb 1st 2018 5:00AM
Mercedes-Benz outlined how it plans to challenge Tesla as the premier luxury electric car brand on Monday.
Mercedes said it will make electric vehicles in six plants across three continents while creating a "global battery network" to produce batteries for the vehicles.
The brand plans to launch its electric EQ brand with the fully-electric EQC SUV, which is set for production in 2019.
The looming rivalry between Tesla and Mercedes-Benz took a giant step forward.
On Monday, Mercedes outlined how it plans to challenge Tesla as the premier luxury electric car brand.
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In a press release posted to the website of its parent company, Daimler, Mercedes said it will produce electric vehicles in six plants across three continents. The brand also said it will create a "global battery network" to produce batteries for its vehicles. It currently has five battery factories and plans to complete a sixth in 2018.
Daimler had previously announced that it would invest $11 billion to make sure each Mercedes-Benz vehicle would have a fully-electric or hybrid version by 2022, which signaled that the brand would take a more aggressive approach to producing electric cars than many of its competitors. The brand plans to launch its electric EQ brand with the fully-electric EQC SUV, which is set for production in 2019.
Mercedes is serious about electric cars
While other brands have announced ambitious plans related to electric vehicles, Mercedes' intention to build its own batteries signals the brand's seriousness in becoming a major player in the electric market.
Tesla's battery business is one of the company's greatest strengths. Since 2013, the company has been building out its giant battery factory in Nevada, known as the Gigafactory 1, where it makes the batteries for its vehicles and the batteries for its Powerwall and Powerpack. Tesla's early investment in battery production has long been called one of its greatest advantages because it put the company ahead of competitors also pursuing electric cars.
The fact that Mercedes is doubling down on battery factories shows that the company is going after the heart of Tesla's business.
What's more, Mercedes has almost 100 years of experience making cars, while Tesla has less than 20. So it's possible the German automaker will simply outproduce Tesla in EVs. Afterall, Mercedes delivered 2.3 million cars in 2017, while Tesla delivered just 101,000.
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SEE ALSO: These 6 electric cars will pose the biggest threat to Tesla's Model 3
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/aa230b3cb62a4358a48805429401915f
Federal judges send 2020 census lawsuit back to lower court
By DAVID McFADDENJune 25, 2019
FILE - In this March 14, 2019 file photo Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross testifies during the House Oversight Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. New evidence paints a "disturbing picture" that racial discrimination may be the motive behind the Trump administration's push to ask everyone in the country about citizenship status, a federal judge wrote in a filing, Monday, June 24, 2019. In his court filing, U.S. District Judge George Hazel of Maryland reasoned that new evidence "potentially connects the dots between a discriminatory purpose" and a decision by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to add the citizenship question. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
BALTIMORE (AP) — A lawsuit that alleges a 2020 census question pushed by the Trump administration violates minorities’ rights will be sent back to a federal court in Maryland so new evidence can be considered, U.S. appeals judges ruled Tuesday.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision comes a day after U.S. District Judge George Hazel of Maryland suggested in an opinion that racial discrimination and partisan power plays could be the underlying motives in asking everyone in the country about citizenship status. The 4th Circuit’s order sending the case back to Hazel could be pivotal.
“The decision today opens up a potentially new legal front in the fight against the citizenship question,” said Thomas Wolf, counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and an expert on census matters.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide this week whether the Trump administration can add its citizenship question to the 2020 population survey. However, the justices are not considering legal questions about whether the citizenship addition might be discriminatory.
Now that the 4th Circuit has sent this lawsuit back to the federal court in Maryland, Hazel could issue an injunction blocking the citizenship question. If that were to happen, the order issued by the lower court would have to hold until the Supreme Court can take up the matter, according to Wolf.
And because the Supreme Court does not generally hear arguments again until October after this week’s decisions, there would be more time for the 4th Circuit to hear an appeal, said Jennifer Nou, a University of Chicago law professor.
“Who will be the ‘final word’ depends on the true deadline for when the census forms must be printed. If the true deadline for the census forms occurs before the Supreme Court reconvenes, for example, there is a chance that the 4th Circuit could be the final word,” Nou said in an email.
The Trump administration insists that printing of census questionnaires is supposed to begin July 1. It wants justices to resolve the citizenship question swiftly in its favor, essentially cutting off additional proceedings in court in Maryland and New York and allowing the census forms to be printed with the new question.
Even before the 4th Circuit issued its order, the U.S. Justice Department was urging the Supreme Court to ignore the evidence Hazel says merits further review.
“It is based on a speculative conspiracy theory that is unsupported by the evidence and legally irrelevant to demonstrating that (Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross) acted with a discriminatory intent,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco, Trump’s top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote in a Tuesday letter to the court.
But in his court filing Monday, Hazel reasoned that the trove of new evidence “potentially connects the dots between a discriminatory purpose — diluting Hispanics’ political power — and Secretary Ross’s decision” to include the citizenship question.
The new evidence consists of computer documents from Republican operative Tom Hofeller, who died last year. They include detailed calculations projecting gains Republicans would see in Texas by basing legislative districts on the number of voting-age citizens rather than the total population. The late North Carolina redistricting expert said in the documents that GOP gains would be possible only if the census asked every household about its members’ immigration status for the first time since 1950.
Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, said in a memo last year that the Justice Department wants to ask the question to gather data to help identify majority-minority congressional districts, which the Voting Rights Act calls for when possible.
In his opinion issued a day before the 4th Circuit’s order, Hazel said he would reopen discovery for 45 days, order an evidentiary hearing and issue a “speedy ruling.”
Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow McFadden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmcfadd
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Burbank Arts for All kids and paint
Pauline Adamek is a Los Angeles-based arts enthusiast with twenty-five years' experience covering International Film Festivals and reviewing new Theatre, Film and Restaurants.
“Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983” at the Broad
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Short+Sweet – global festival returns to Hollywood
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The Roots at the Bowl
The legendary hip-hop crew The Roots will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their groundbreaking album Things Fall Apart, with a concert at the Bowl this summer. The album’s evolutionary blend of live...
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Lisa Kellner Monuments to Time 016
Lisa Kellner Monuments to Time 07
Lisa Kellner
Monuments to Time 014, 2017
Tags: Environment / Lisa Kellner / Drawing
Monuments to Time began by drawing the massive granite ledges that separate soil from sea along the northern coast of Maine. As I began to really know these forms and how they were shaped, I started to create my own. Monuments to Time is a series of invented landscapes that explores the effects of time and the ever-changing environment on the seemingly imperishable raw material, granite. This granite has been quarried for centuries building cities and monuments around the United States. My drawings of invented granite shapes are Monuments to Time itself.
About Lisa Kellner
Lisa Kellner's drawings are constructions of the imagination informed by decay and the patina of age. Layers of ink or embroidered thread are built up on the paper’s surface until a structure with dimension is established. Drawing enables the artist to become lost in the process of making, without thought or concern. It is an essential daily practice ...
Lisa Kellner's drawings are constructions of the imagination informed by decay and the patina of age. Layers of ink or embroidered thread are built up on the paper’s surface until a structure with dimension is established. Drawing enables the artist to become lost in the process of making, without thought or concern. It is an essential daily practice that acts as a sieve, fleshing out what is most important. Kellner typically works in a series, focusing on one subject matter for several months, if not longer.
Since 2006, Kellner's work has been exhibited throughout the United States at venues such as the Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York, the Brooklyn Arts Council in New York and the Weatherspoon Museum in North Carolina, among others. She has worked with galleries including Ascent Contemporary in New York, Project 4 in DC, BravinLee Projects in New York and JoAnne Artman in Los Angeles. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Sculpture Magazine. Additionally, she has created site-responsive installations at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum in Florida, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Maine, Lehman College Art Gallery in New York and the Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Virginia. In 2016, Kellner was awarded the New Media Invitational from the Target Gallery. She was also a Joan Mitchell semi-finalist.
Monuments to Time 014
This work is signed by the artist on verso.
This is an original work by artist Lisa Kellner.
Ships in 10 to 14 business days from Maine.
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Physiology for Poets,
Pat Steir, Drawing Wood for The Drawing Center, 2010
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Trump Administration Moves to Establish Drone Policy
October 26, 2017 • by Staff
A new drone policy proposed by the Trump Administration allows drone operations up to 200 feet above ground or even 400 feet where appropriate. Photo: UPS
The Trump administration is making moves to establish a coherent federal policy governing the use of drones in delivery applications.
A presidential memorandum issued Wednesday, Oct. 25, directs the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program inviting state and local governments, in partnership with private entities, to enter into agreements with the Federal Aviation Administration for sweeping waivers of current regulations on activities like flying at night and over people.
According to Politico.com, the DOT has six months to enter into at least five agreements pertaining to delivery drone operation, and the program is set to last three years. The information gathered from local and state experiments with drone operations will inform future regulatory actions.
FAA has been clear that it thinks state and local participation will be necessary for the foreseeable future, Politico notes. The memorandum states that "input from state, local, tribal, and private-sector stakeholders will be necessary to craft an optimal strategy for the national management of [unmanned aircraft system] operations. A coordinated effort between the private sector and among these governments will provide certainty and stability to UAS owners and operators, maximize the benefits of UAS technologies for the public, and mitigate risks to public safety and security."
The White House said a flexible regulatory framework is needed to "promote continued technological innovation and to ensure the global leadership of the United States in this emerging industry."
The memorandum allows for proposals for drone operations up to 200 feet above ground or even 400 feet where appropriate. More details will come in a federal register notice in the coming days or weeks.
Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.), who had previously proposed a similar program, said the pilot should go even further in allowing states and municipalities to set restrictions on drone flights. "Amazon wants to take that delivery right down your avenue on Sunday morning," Lewis told Politico. "The question is, who should decide that?"
Additionally, Politico reports, FAA is looking for applications submitted jointly from a state or municipality and a private entity for a specific program. Ideally, the applications would be from "a commercial operation or first responder operation or, quite frankly, anything innovative that a community would want to employ and partner with a private entity to conduct," according to a DOT official cited by Politico. This move is part of an effort on the part of the FAA to learn how potential operators plan to use drones without being a nuisance for people on the ground. Concerns about drones used for snooping in private areas will be addressed as well.
Related: Mercedes-Benz Tests Drone Delivery Program
Read more about Technology Regulations U.S. DOT Drones Donald Trump
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Alien-Predator Literature »
Topic: Dark Horse To Reboot Comic Series
Author Topic: Dark Horse To Reboot Comic Series (Read 166567 times)
RakaiThwei
We're not the guardians of society. We never were.
Apr 03, 2014, 03:46:02 AM
Reply #1005 on: Apr 03, 2014, 03:46:02 AM
I hope what Kimarhi says is true and that be the case. I really do. I sincerely do.
happypred
Colonial Marine
So does "launching this fall" mean September? Can't fu**ing wait
Ultramorph
Broken toys... Mundane miracles...
Yup, Prometheus #1 comes out September 10, followed by Aliens #1 two weeks later.
Quote from: happypred on Apr 03, 2014, 04:04:10 AM
So does "launching this fall" mean September?
Pretty much. I would think either September or October.
Reading the article, especially on page two is that Williamson seems to be focusing more on using Predator and Predator 2 as inspiration for his story. Is he dropping PREDATORS? I most certainly hope so.. I truly do hope so. But something tells me that's just the writer of the article once more paraphrasing.
« Last Edit: Apr 03, 2014, 04:23:51 AM by RakaiThwei »
Io9: There’s Predator, Predator 2, and Predators. Are they all canon?
Williamson: It’s all canon to me. I love all three movies. I remember seeing Predator at home on video and then seeing Predator 2 in the theaters at the tender young age of 9. I’m pretty sure it was the most violent movie I’d seen to date and I loved it!
If you look at how the continuity works in the original films they each work alone, but still acknowledge the ones before it. That’s the same attitude I’ve had with my Predator story. Listen, I’m a continuity junkie, to toss anything would be sacrilege, but I don’t want it to overpower what I’m trying to do here.
However, notice that he doesn't really talk about Predators, other than claiming to love it
Apr 03, 2014, 02:02:19 PM
Reply #1010 on: Apr 03, 2014, 02:02:19 PM
Since they already confirmed no Super Predators, I doubt we'll be seeing much from Predators in the series. The preserve planet idea doesn't really work without the Super Preds.
I'm most interested to see what "crazy" thing they have planned, which Williamson alluded to on Twitter.
On another note, I like how they seem to be drawing inspiration from Prometheus concept art. I'm hoping that we at least get some interesting, otherworldly aesthetics out of these series. Note the above-ground rooted plants:
« Last Edit: Apr 03, 2014, 04:49:37 PM by Ultramorph »
http://www.comicvine.com/articles/interview-paul-tobin-talks-prometheus-comic-at-dark-horse/1100-148593/
I don't think there's anything new.
CV: Where will your series fit in with the movie and the eventual sequel?
PT: Events stretch over a few decades, so it’s hard to pin down a “when does it all happen” moment, but what we really wanted to do was pick a time period when it was possible to play with all the toys we wanted, named the xenomorphs, and the elements the Prometheus movie introduced. We think we found a prime spot for that… a temporal niche where all the various “toys” can really intersect. It’s fun to empty the whole toybox at once!
PT: Roberson’s Alien series (with artist Patric Reynolds) takes place a bit earlier than our other books, laying some groundwork for the events that explode out of my Prometheus title and establish some of the characters and situations. One thing we really wanted to do, though, was make sure that each of the series, while entwined, had strong storylines that could stand on their own. I think we’ve done that.
So the Aliens series is chronologically the first? Interesting.
So there is going to be a Free Comic Book Day preview for this new series. Interesting.
A preview would be enough for me to see if I'll pick up or pass on these comics. Best part is.. it's free.
Unfortunately, I think the Free Comic Book Day mention was just poor wording. It doesn't look like it will have any Prometheus.
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/04/07/preview-dark-horses-free-comic-book-days-offerings-for-2014/
Topazora
I look forward to seeing how they pull this off.
Quote from: Ultramorph on Apr 24, 2014, 06:15:51 PM
[Sigh] ....Why do Geek sites DO that?
They prey on people's excitement and confusion to get site views and such. It's seems like such a wasted opportunity to not do something for FCBD, especially since they did do that for the '09 reboot. I'm hoping for some good info from the Q&A over at AliensversusPredator.net, because otherwise I just don't get why they're hyping this up so far in advance.
They prey on people's excitement and confusion to get site views and such. It's seems like such a wasted opportunity to not do something for FCBD, especially since they did do that for the '09 reboot.
2009 wasn't so much as a reboot, as it was more of a relaunch.
This seems to be a reboot.. At least, I hope it is depending on their answers at the fan Q&A.
I'm hoping for some good info from the Q&A over at AliensversusPredator.net, because otherwise I just don't get why they're hyping this up so far in advance.
I'm waiting for Chris Picard to just post the answers up. The wait is killing me.
Seriously man, post them up!
Xenomrph
Gadfly, rabble-rouser, fanboy
Quote from: RakaiThwei on Apr 24, 2014, 06:44:49 PM
My money's on it being a "relaunch" just like the DH Press novels were, despite them being billed as a "reboot".
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The Baptist Union > About > Our structure > Colleges > Whitley Lectures > 2019 Whitley Lecture
Joe Kapolyo is delivering the 2019 Whitley lecture based on this abstract:
It is now an undeniable fact that, demographically speaking, the centre of gravity of Christianity has shifted to the southern continents from its traditional heartlands in Europe and America. This is at least the third time that such a shift has occurred. The first saw the Church base move from the Middle East centred on Jerusalem to Rome in Europe and then from Rome to northern Europe and America. It is anecdotally suggested that the average Christian at the moment is a thirty seven year old Ugandan woman. We celebrate these facts and rejoice in the Lord that the southern continents of Africa, Asia and Latin America will have the privilege of playing host in significant ways to the Christian faith.
The heart of the argument of this paper concerns the need for African (Asian and Latin American) cultures to yield their deposits of grace in the service of the Gospel and theology. We will argue that the traditional distinction between theology (which should rightly be named as European or Enlightenment theology) and its privileged position over against so called contextualised theologies is not only false but dangerous. At best this has been and continues to be an instrument of exclusion; excluding African (Asian and Latin American) cultures from serious theological discourse. At worst it is an act of arrogance and even oppression. But it is also an unnecessary self imposed limitation in that it resists the development of a theological culture that embraces all of God's people on earth - the mosaic that represents every tribe, language and nation. Geologically, people mine precious minerals from the earth.
The miners do not create the deposits of copper, gold or diamonds; they simply exploit them for human benefit. Similarly, there are deposits of grace that God has left in every culture. These must be exposed and exploited in the service of theologies that will reflect the vast spread of humanity on earth, create new disciplines that will strengthen the Church and spur it on to fulfill the commission to go to all the nations of the world and make them disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Joe Kapolyo is the recently retired Lead Minister at Edmonton Baptist Church, London. Previously he has served as Principal of All Nations Christian College; Principal of Theological College of Central Africa (TCCA), Ndola, Zambia; Pastor of Central Baptist Church (Harare, Zimbabwe); Pastor of Ndola Baptist Church (Zambia); Schools worker with Scripture Union Zambia.
He currently chairs on the Board of Ulting Trust Overseas and until August 2018 was a member of both the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the BUGB Trustees. Joe’s publications include ‘The Human Condition, Christian Perspectives through African Eyes’ in the Global Christian Library series, published by IVP and Matthew in the one-volume African Bible Commentary. Joe is married to Anne and they have two grown up daughters, and two grand children.
Dates for the lecture:
Monday 4 February, 19:00 - Luther King House, Manchester, M14 5JP
Tuesday 12 February, 19:00 - All Nations Christian College, Ware, Hertfordshire
Wednesday 13 February, 10:15 for 11:15 - Spurgeon's College, London
Wednesday 20 February, 13:30 - South Wales Baptist College, Cardiff
Tuesday 26 February, 15:45 - Regent's Park College, Oxford
Wednesday 6 March, 19:30 - Moortown Baptist Church, Leeds
Wednesday 22 May, 11:30 - Bristol Baptist College
Copies of the lecture can be purchased here.
Click here for more about the Whitley lecture
The 2018 Whitley Lecture is entitled the Dead and Buried? Attending to the voices of the victim in the Old Testament and today by Helen Paynter, Associate Minister of Victoria Park Baptist Church, Bristol, and Research Fellow at Bristol Baptist College. The lecture can be purchased here.
The 2017 Whitley Lecture was entitled the The Pioneering Evangelicalism of Dan Taylor (1738-1816) by Richard Pollard, Minister and Team Leader, Fishponds Baptist Church, Bristol. It is available from Regent's Park College.
The 2016 Whitley Lecture was Church Without Walls: Post-Soviet Baptists in the Ukranian Revolution 2013-14 by Joshua Searle, Tutor in Theology and Public Thought and Assistant Director of Postgraduate Research at Spurgeon's College. The lecture can be purchased here.
Previous Whitley Lectures can be accessed from Regent's Park College Publications.
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ArticlesLigorio2019-02-12T13:08:30+02:00
Lamberts Bay Cemetery
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When the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu coined the phrase "Rainbow Nation", he was referring to the huge cultural diversity that exists in South Africa today. It is a heritage that has its [...]
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Are you looking for Cemetery records in South Africa? Are you looking for plot cards for Maitland Cemtery or personalised visits and graves photographed? I offer this skilled service of finding graves and obtaining plot cards which provides the names of all the people buried in any grave, when they were buried, owner of the plot and which section the grave is in the cemetery. Please contact me for prices.
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Rose’s Round-Up March 2002 No 98
NEW APPROACH TO MARKETING Role-players in the Central Karoo were recently briefed on new strategies to streamline the tourism industry in the Western Cape Province. Sheryl Ozinsky, manager, Cape Town Tourism, Roger Carter, of the UK-based organisation TEAM (Tourism Education and Management), and Anneline Kriel, of Western Cape Tourism, discussed proposals for E-business information management systems and progress on the JMI (Joint Marketing Initiative), which is an attempt to create a common vision for five key economic development sectors: tourism, major events, film, investment and trade. "These strategies will result in closer links between the Mega City and the hinterland, [...]
Rose’s Round-Up February 2002 No 97
MAJOR FOSSIL FIND AT LAINGSBURG Ancient marine sediments of the Ecca Group rock layer near Laingsburg recently yielded an exciting surprise for geologists and palaeontologists working in the area. British palaeontologist Dr John Almond, of Nature Viva cc, discovered the fossil trackway of a gigantic water scorpion (eurypterid) in these 260-million-year-old rocks "This spectacular trace fossil consists of two parallel series of complex footprints. It is about one meter wide and seven meters in length, extending across the surface of a single bed. As such it is the largest trackway of an invertebrate (animal without backbone or other bony internal [...]
Rose’s Round-Up January 2002 No 96
NEW MINISTER NO STRANGER TO KAROO A man with strong hinterland ties has taken over the tourism helm in the Western Cape Province. Johan Gelderblom, former chairman of the Klein Karoo District Council and MP for the region, was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Tourism and Gambling on December 5, 2001. He replaced Mr Leon Marcowitz. Mr Gelderblom grew up in the Klein Karoo, matriculated at Ladismith and then acquired BA and BA Honours degrees in Public Administration at Stellenbosch University. After graduating, he moved to the then Transvaal to gain practical experience. There he also served on the Public Service [...]
Rose’s Round-Up November-December 2001 No 95
Rose’s Round-Up November-December 2001 No 95 CLOSER LOOK AT TOWNSHIP TOURISM Four members of the Mandlenkosi Township Route Forum of Beaufort West recently had an enriching tourism experience in Cape Town. A two-day educational trip, arranged by Western Cape Tourism Board, allowed Sylvia Dyum, Sylvia McKam, Keith Kedama and Clarence Metsing to take a closer look at tourism and meet people involved in township tourism promotion in the province. “Networking with organisations similar to our own has shown us that our problems are neither unique nor insurmountable”, says Sylvia Dyum. “We have gained a much wider perspective of tourism, a [...]
Rose’s Round-Up October 2001 No 94
KAROO PLANS SECOND TOWNSHIP ROUTE Residents of Prince Albert’s North End township have begun planning a tourist route. This follows the successful launch of the Kwa-Mandlenkosi Township Tourist Route in Beaufort West. “We have long wanted to share our history and culture with visitors to the town”, says Ds Cyril Afrika, chairman of the town’s development committee. “We plan to incorporate this route into existing tourist routes and trails in and around the town. We would like to introduce visitors to our talented crafters, invite them to spend a night or two in a North End B&B and to listen [...]
Rose’s Round-Up September 2001 No 93
BOER COMMANDANT HONOURED A century to the day after his capture near Prince Albert local Boer War enthusiasts honoured legendary Boer Commandant Gideon Scheepers. A memorial commemorating the 100th anniversary of Scheepers’s capture on Koppieskraal October 10, 1901, was unveilled by Rienus Koorts, grandson of the man who sheltered Scheepers. “This dynamic and controversial young Boer leader led British forces a merry chase across the plains of the Karoo”, said Lydia Barella, one of the organisers of the function. “Towards the end he became increasingly ill. This eventually led to his capture in a tiny room in one of the [...]
Rose’s Round-Up August 2001 No 92
RIVERINE RABBIT MEETS THE PRESS The Riverine Rabbit Conservation Project was recently introduced to the media at Kirstenbosch. At this function members of each conservancy received a certificate of registration. “The aim of the launch was to raise awareness of the plight of this nocturnal animal and gain publicity for farmers committed to the survival of the species. The riverine rabbit is Africa’s only indigenous burrowing rabbit and one of 12 globally endangered rabbit species”, said Tony Marshall, regional manager Cape Nature Conservation. “Saving the species from extinction is extremely difficult because the rabbit’s natural habitat does not fall within [...]
Rose’s Round-Up July 2001 No 91
ALBERT’S MILL COMES BACK TO LIFE On a windy winter’s day recently, a group of people alongside a stream on the outskirts of Prince Albert enthusiastically discussed a lady, a launder and a lantern. The Friends of Albert’s Mill were in fact taking a serious look at restoration work in progress on the last surviving mill in town. The uninitiated soon discovered that the strange terms all referred to parts of a mill. In its heyday, Albert’s Mill was no rarity what with four others in the village. But it was closest to the Swartberg Mountains. The mill once supplied [...]
Rose’s Round-Up June 2001 No 90
IT’S ALL SYSTEMS GO IN KWA-MANDLENKOSI Tourism has sprouted wings in Kwa-Mandlenkosi. This was evident at the crowded inaugural meeting of a tourism planning committee recently at H M Dlikidla Primary School. Representatives from diverse organisations discussed the vital role of tourism within the Beaufort West community and the importance of the proposed route through the township. “Until fairly recently, most Africans had little interest in tourism”, said Siphiwe Piti, chairman of the Central Karoo Regional Tourism Organisation. “Developments in the new South Africa, however, have changed this. People now acknowledge tourism as the key to economic and infrastructure development [...]
Roses’ Round-Up May 2001 No 89
KAROO’S FIRST TOWNSHIP TOURISM ROUTE The first tourist route through a Karoo township is being created in Kwa-Mandlenkosi, Beaufort West. This was recently announced by Siphiwe Piti, chairman of the District Municipality Tourism Committee, when he appointed 12 tourism ambassadors at Mandlenkosi Secondary School. They are Gift Louw, Utombekhanya Lawrence, Athone Ngondo, Uthabiseng Manewe, Bongulethu Faas, Siyabulela Swartbooi, Andiswa Mzakala, Sandile Kohwe, Mzwamadode Visagie, Sipho Ngwenya, Uonzwakazi Lekanyane and Mucedisi Minye. All are in Grade 9. They volunteered to help with a community service project. Siphiwe presented the pupils with T-shirts and background information. The idea for the route developed [...]
Roses’ Round-Up April 2001 No 88
MINISTER CALLS FOR MORE RESEARCH Tourism was a powerful partnership, but only the surface had been scratched in efforts to create a closer working relationship between all sectors of the industry, the Western Cape Minister of Finance, Business Promotion and Tourism, Mr Leon Marcowitz, said when he addressed tourism roleplayers at an Oudtshoorn road show recently. “The image of tourism is still too fragmented. We also have far too many logos and structures”, he said. “Image is important, and so is marketing. We must focus and streamline our marketing approaches, spend more wisely and research the value of niche markets [...]
KAROO PLANS OFF-ROAD RACE The first off-road race in the Great Karoo is being planned for later this year. “Interest in the proposed event is high, and it could eventually attract about 250 competitors”, says Pete van der Walt, a director of Motor Sport SA. The course will be laid out in the Merweville area and tested later this year. Pete evaluated the proposed 50km route recently when he visited the area with Kallie le Roux of Springbok Lodge. “The course will cross a wide variety of rugged and challenging terrains”, said Pete. “From the village it snakes out [...]
Rose’s Round-Up February 2001 No 86 TOURISM IS THE KEY Carefully planned development would create a better quality of life throughout the Karoo, according to Doreen “Thiwe” Hugo, the first mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality. “Every effort is being made to promote tourism to so capture a larger slice of both the domestic and international market sectors. Tourism will assist us to develop the area, build the infrastructures of our small towns and villages and strengthen the region’s economy. We aim to bring tourism closer to our previously disadvantaged communities so that they may share its benefits [...]
Rose's Round-Up January 2001 No 85 MURRAYSBURG ON EUROPEAN TV The search for an isolated South African village with tourist appeal finally took German TV producer Mark Kaczmarczyk to Murraysburg in the Great Karoo. He loved it all - the town, its people and the area. It reminded him of Arizona in the US. So, with a cameraman Robert Leithner and sound engineer Alexander Seidel, from Tango Films in Germany, Mark spent two days capturing the spirit of Murraysburg for VOX Television Network in Cologne, Germany. The edited footage will form part of an hour-long documentary for their highly-rated, [...]
Rose's Round-Up November-December 2000 No 84 THE HELL LOOKS UP Cape Nature Conservation is upgrading, refurbishing and stabilising most of the historic buildings in Gamkaskloof, The Hell. R1,1m has been obtained for this important project. Work has already progressed in some areas, while tenders are awaited in others. The restoration of Oukloof, the oldest raw brick and clay farmhouse, has been completed. This house, home of Zanie and Anita van der Walt, Nature Conservation officers and full-time residents of the valley, revealed many of its secrets during restoration. “The house was stripped back to basics and this gave us [...]
TEMPLE OF THE DEAD DISCOVERED Quena shrines, a temple of the dead and a sophisticated astronomical observatory have been discovered near Murraysburg. The man behind these archaeological finds is Dr Cyril Hromnik, who recently visited the Karoo to discuss them. “Much needs to be done to reverse the academic neglect of the Great Karoo in recent decades,” says Dr Hromnik. “Hottentots in the history of the Karoo are all too often ignored, simply as if they did not matter. Yet the Otentottu or Quena people were culturally, religiously, economically and technologically more advanced than the Stone Age Kung or [...]
FOOTPRINTS IN CYBERSPACE An illiterate who uses a sophisticated scientific system as an everyday tool has presented the Great Karoo to Dutch TV viewers. A TV crew from the Netherlands recently visited the Karoo National Park to film the ultra-modern CyberTracker wildlife management system for the popular Jules Unlimited series broadcast by VARA. “Each 25-minute broadcast, designed to keep viewers abreast of the latest scientific developments, has well over a million viewers” , says researcher Julia Greiner. “The programme relies on active hosts and good camera angles to make viewers feel part of what they see”. The man who [...]
Ligorio2019-04-26T11:01:52+02:00
Rose’s Round-up Augiust 2000 No 81
FARMERS LINK UP TO SAVE RIVERINE RABBIT Three farmers in the Krom River area near Beaufort West have established a conservancy for the riverine rabbit, one of South Africa’s the most endangered species. “A recent three-day seminar in Stellenbosch, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Zoo and other USA organisations, prompted this action by Monty Truter, David Jack and ourselves,” said Hillary Steven-Jennings, of Hillandale. “Research by Cape Nature Conservation has revealed many potential habitats for these nocturnal creatures on Booyskraal, Bokpoort and Hillandale.” Riverine rabbits are only found in the Beaufort West and Victoria West areas of the Great Karoo. They [...]
NEW MINISTER HAS DEEP ROOTS IN TOURISM Mr Leon Markovitz has taken over responsibility for tourism in the Government of the Western Cape Province. He replaces Mr Hennie Bester, who has taken over the portfolio of Community Safety. In a recent cabinet reshuffle, Mr Markovitz was appointed Minister of Finance, Business Promotion and Tourism. He is also Minister in the Office of the Premier, and his responsibilities include the Gambling Act. Mr Markovitz’s is a director and shareholder in hotel, restaurant and tourism related companies and has a keen interest in tourism in both the private and public sectors. He [...]
BOER WAR GRAVES RESTORED The graves of British soldiers buried in Beaufort West in the Great Karoo during the Anglo-Boer War have been restored by the local Rapportryers organisation. The work was undertaken by Goodall and Williams, and cleaning and washing of gravel chips provided short-term employment for the jobless. Goodall and Williams personnel repaired and rebuilt all curbings and recemented all surrounds. Marble crosses and memorials were all thoroughly washed and cleaned, and metal Guild Crosses were repainted. Then markers, with details of the soldier's name, rank and number were fixed to each cross to ensure that the graves [...]
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Download This: my6sense
My new favorite Twitter app is my6sense. It’s also my new favorite Facebook app. And my new favorite Google Reader app, and my new favorite Google Buzz app. My6sense pulls content from all those streams together, along with other content on topics you choose, and, based on what you read and share, learns to serve you the content you’ll likely be most interested in. Their press release puts it best:
“Unlike other applications, which rely on editorial input, social referrals, or popularity, the my6sense smart reader application intuitively senses what’s important to each user and prioritizes content for everyone as an individual — making content consumption seamless, efficient, and most importantly, personally relevant.”
An iOS version has been available for some time, but be assured, this is no clone. It feels like a true Android app, makes use of the native “Share” intent and includes a widget. My6sense is free and hits the Android Market this morning. Go snap it up and let us know what you think!
Update: The Android masses have temporarily brought my6sense’s servers to their knees, causing server errors within the app. Says something about how our numbers are growing, doesn’t it? The folks at my6sense are aware of the issue, and working to fix it.
The full press release is below.
my6sense launches the world’s most intelligent personalized stream reader for Android
Company expands reach of “Digital Intuition” app to deliver the ultimate social and news content experience.
TEL AVIV, September 2 2010 – my6sense, developers of the world’s first personalized stream reader that uses ‘Digital Intuition’ technology, announced the launch of its Android app, aimed to revolutionize the way we receive and discover content. Extending the reach of the popular program to the world’s fastest-growing mobile platform, my6sense is also the first company to add ranking support for Google’s social sharing network, Buzz. The free Android application is available immediately for download at the Android marketplace.
Using the company’s leading ‘Digital Intuition’ ranking technology and equipped with rich, intuitive features, the new app transforms users’ social and news streams into a powerful and unique content discovery experience.
One of the major features that enhance this approach to more efficient contentis a dashboard widgetwhich dynamically surfaces users’ most valuable informationnuggets. This gives users ‘Instant Intuition’ – immediate access to view their most-relevant content and updates directly on the home screen of their Android device.
Additional killer features include: a main channel displaying the user’s most important updates and content from all sources (news, RSS, blogs and social streams), streams of personalized top content which users can view with just one click from Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter, fresh content packages from a wide array of topics and a search tool. On top of that, users can share items directly from the app, and there is no limit to the number of feed subscriptions one can have – as my6sense’s intelligent personalization engine can take on the challenge of information overload, surfacing the very best and most relevant content.
Moreover, my6sense is delighted to announce that the application offers support for Google’s new social network, Buzz, leveraging the service’s powerful API. The result is the first application in the world to prioritize Google Buzz entries, doing so in a clean and intuitive way for the mobile device.
As the world of information morphs from a web of static pages to real-time streams, my6sense’s groundbreaking digital intuition technology tames the vast amount of information cluttering news feeds and social sites. The application’s hyper-personalized streams allow users to focus on the content they want to see, at the right time and in the right context. The company has enjoyed significant success with its iPhone application, and is excited to join the millions of smartphone users who have made Android their choice for mobile computing.
“my6sense’s digital intuition technology discovers the finest nuances of your preferences and behavior — and makes sure the right updates, ideas, insights, and news will find you when you want them most,” said Barak Hachamov, Founder & Chairman, my6sense. “Android customers have made their platform choice to avoid limits on what they can or cannot do with their phone, and we too want to avoid limiting your experience to traditional streams based on time or simplistic filters.”
Personalization is claimed these days by few content curation tools and social streams. The majority of these tools base their rankings almost entirely on global and socially-local popularity of the information. Instead, my6sense views various popularity factors as only one piece of a very complicated puzzle that forms individual preferences of each one of us. In fact, the importance of popularity may significantly vary between the users, and even for the same user in different contexts. Focusing on true personalization of information delivery, my6sense intelligently (and transparently) considers each user’s natural information consumption behavior to truly understand what and in what context that user would like to see first. As a result, the personal “Digital Intuition” agent of each user at my6sense learns to mimic the human ranking function of its owner, providing him with an enhanced content experience.
In addition to the company’s new Android application and existing iPhone application, my6sense recently announced their Attention API. The API allows developers to harness my6sense as a customization engine, personalizing their content stream for their users. The new wave of social recommendation feed readers, for example, could offer hyper-personalization. Two companies leveraging my6sense’s personalization service include a business social networking site in the UK and the largest mobile operator in Israel.
my6sense
Since 2007 we have offered news and opinion around Android, the mobile space, and connected homes. We aim to help users get more from their smartphones and hope to be a valuable resource for future purchases.
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‘Hors Piste’ Takes Animated Short Prize at NYICFF 2019
Reviews: ‘Lion King’ Has Fierce FX & Voices, Few Surprises for Fans
‘Hors Piste’ Wins 2019 BAFTA Student Film Award for Animation
Trailer: Maleficent Locks Horns with Myths and Mortals in ‘Mistress of Evil’
Katsuhiro Otomo Reveals ‘Orbital Era,’ New ‘Akira’ & Complete Manga Collection
Hors Piste
Mercedes Milligan
Closing out its annual festival’s top slate of international films culled and curated from thousands of productions from around the globe, the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) announced this year’s awards selected by its Oscar-qualifying jury and top-ranked films voted on by the festival’s over 25,000 attendees.
Grand Prize Awards were bestowed on the short film and feature film that received the top votes from all NYICFF audience members. The Grand Prize Feature Film Award was presented to My Extraordinary Summer with Tess (Netherlands), directed by Steven Wouterlood, with a special mention for Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (U.K./Malawi) — both live action.
Executive Director Nina Guralnick said, “Rarely has NYICFF seen an audience react so enthusiastically and unanimously for its top awards; the votes are a testament to the strength of both feature films and their ability to resonate with audiences of all ages.”
Programming Director Maria-Christina Villaseñor added “We take enormous pride in our role as curators, helping to bring outstanding films to audiences and underscoring that parents and kids are savvy viewers that appreciate offerings beyond the standard family fare. Great films and filmmakers often offer a compelling point of entry for young viewers to their storytelling whether productions were conceived with that audience in mind or not. We guide both industry and audiences to this fact.”
Emerging filmmakers are also substantially recognized through NYICFF’s Oscar-qualifying awards, conferred by an industry jury including Sofia Coppola, Melissa Cobb, Geena Davis, Jorge Gutierrez, Elizabeth Ito, Matthew Modine, Mark Osborne, Ira Sachs, Nora Twomey, Uma Thurman, Taika Waititi and Jeffrey Wright.
This year’s Jury Award for Best Live Action Short was presented to A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old Girl (Australia) by Tilda Cobham-Hervey, while the Best Animated Short was presented to Hors Piste (France) by Léo Brunel, Loris Cavalier, Camille Jalabert, and Oscar Malet. The Jury also accorded Special Mentions in Live Action Short to Christian Zetterberg’s Slow Dance (Sweden) and for Animation Short to Quentin Marcault’s The Man with Birds (France).
The NYICFF Audience Awards for short film, determined by voting audience members in five different age ranges, were:
Audience Award, ages 3-6: ZOG (U.K.), Animation, Max Lang & Daniel Snaddon; Shorts for Tots
Audience Award, ages 5-10: SATURDAY’S APARTMENT (South Korea), Animation, Jeon Seungbae; Short Films One
Audience Award, ages 8-14: HORS PISTE (France), Animation, Léo Brunel, Loris Cavalier, Camille Jalabert, Oscar Malet; Short Films Two
Audience Award, ages 12-17: SUPERHEROES (Germany), Live Action, Volker Petters, Short Films Three
Grown-Ups Award, ages 18+: A KISS (Netherlands), Live Action, Nima Mohaghegh; Friends & Neighbors: Netherlands
More info at www.nyicff.org.
Saturday’s Apartment
The Man with Birds
Related Topics:“Rarely has NYICFF seen an audience react so enthusiastically and unanimously for its top awards; the votes are a testament to the strength of b, A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old Girl, A Kiss, Camille Jalabert, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Zetterberg, Daniel Snaddon, Elizabeth Ito, featured, Geena Davis, Hors Piste, Ira Sachs, Jeffrey Wright, Jeon Seungbae, Jorge Gutierrez, Leo Brunel, Loris Cavalier, Maria-Christina Villaseñor, Mark Osborne, Matthew Modine, Max Lang, Melissa Cobb, My Extraordinary Summer with Tess, New York Intl. Children’s Film Festival, Nima Mohaghegh, Nina Guralnick said, Nora Twomey, NYICFF, Oscar Malet, Quentin Marcault, Saturday’s Apartment, Slow Dance, Sofia Coppola, Steven Wouterlood, Superheroes, Taika Waititi, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, The Man with Birds, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Uma Thurman, Volker Petters, Zog
Geographic Region:North America
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Distilled to perfection
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Misc unveils a live performance of their song La fin
Pianist Jérôme Beaulieu, bass player Philippe Leduc and drummer William Côté released their self-titled album on March 18 via Bonsound. Today the band is proud to share a sample of their performance from the album launch. Listen to La fin, the album’s first track, via YouTube.
Misc is pronounced as it is written, a reference to the English word miscellaneous, or the literary genre miscellanées, or even the latin word miscellanea. Misc is a musically diverse trio who embodies a modern univers, deadpan humour, audacity and musical explorations with no boundaries. (Ralph Boncy, Voir)
The jazz ensemble is wooing an audience of all ages and of different musical tastes. Show dates will be announced soon, stay tuned!
See more about Misc
Jazz trio Misc shares Misctape Vol.1
Misc unveils a second live performance for Messenger
Misc's new album is out now
Jazz band Misc announces the release of their self-titled album
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Some see a plan to expand I-35 as a betrayal of Austin’s environmental values (Austin Monitor)
Last week, the Austin City Council voted to back the Green New Deal, a national plan to tackle climate change that would overhaul the U.S. economy and energy sector. It was a big gesture from a city that prides itself on its environmental leadership. But, critics say, that gesture was undercut by a vote some local leaders took earlier that week — one that would drastically expand Interstate 35.
The Capital Area Regional Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board, on which some council members also sit, approved meting out $500 million to the Texas Department of Transportation to reduce highway congestion on I-35. $400 million would go toward building out three new lanes on I-35 from Round Rock to Buda.
Supporters of the highway expansion, including the Real Estate Council of Austin, say adding lanes would help alleviate I-35’s notorious traffic. Before voting in favor of the measure, Austin Mayor Steve Adler called expansion the region’s "singular most important lift" when it comes to transportation planning… (LINK TO STORY)
Travis County leaders urge vigilance on flooding (Austin Monitor)
While heavy rains over the past two weeks have not inflicted serious damage on Travis County, with no reported fatalities or serious injuries linked to flooding, government officials are nevertheless urging residents to avoid certain waterways and to be on high alert for flooding if another storm hits.
The Parks and Recreation Department closed the Barton Creek Greenbelt and Barton Creek Pool on Friday, May 3, in response to pounding rains. It reopened the greenbelt Monday but reclosed it Wednesday. The pool remains closed, as does Red Bud Island Park and the Zilker Zephyr Train, which had some tracks “start to break away” due to flooding, the parks department said.
On Monday, after another weekend with heavy rainfall, the Austin Fire Department issued a ban on “recreational, commercial and navigational use” of Lady Bird Lake. It also issued bans on portions of Lake Travis… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin district ready to restyle school dress code (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin district leaders could revamp the dress code policy in time for next school year to remove language that some say unfairly targets female students and specific cultures.
The potential changes come just months after a local group petitioned the district to reexamine the current policy, saying it doesn’t align with district values of inclusivity and calling it “vague, arbitrary, sexist and racist.”
The Austin district last updated its dress code policy in 2007, and district leaders said it’s overdue for a change. District officials on Wednesday night will meet with a working group of 20 to 30 parents, students and employees to determine how to change the policy… (LINK TO STORY)
Democrats flex in Texas Legislature, with an eye on 2020 (Houston Chronicle)
After picking up 14 seats in the midterm elections, Democrats are using their increased numbers this session to derail key Republican priorities in a state where the left has long been out of power.
In flexing their political muscle, Democrats have blocked Gov. Greg Abbott’s embattled secretary of state nominee and helped stop a sales tax hike that GOP leaders had championed in order to cut property taxes. "This session more than other sessions, the Democratic caucus has stuck together more. We’ve communicated a lot better,” said Senate Democratic Leader José Rodríguez of El Paso. "I think the midterm elections may have had something to do with the caucus being much more united."… (LINK TO STORY)
True cost of health care: New data shows routine blood tests in Texas can cost anywhere between $14 to $952 (San Antonio Express-News)
For consumers, it comes as no surprise that the world of health care pricing is unpredictable, but new research released by the Health Care Cost Institute shows just how different the prices for common medical services can be — from city to city, but also from clinic to clinic within the same market.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the research is based on an analysis of employer-sponsored health insurance claims of 34 million Americans in 112 markets. Researchers analyzed the price of 13,517 blood tests within the San Antonio-New Braunfels area and found that prices for the test can cost anywhere from $56 to $492. It’s difficult for patients to know whether the lab they choose is charging more than the lab down the street… (LINK TO STORY)
Lagging behind, Julián Castro needs a moment (Austin American-Statesman)
At an East Austin fundraiser Wednesday evening, Julián Castro engaged his audience of about 100 in a fantasy of his first day as president in 2021, arriving at the White House with his family to usher out the Trumps.
For Castro, and the Democratic voters he hopes to appeal to, it is a sweet image, ripe with cosmic comeuppance: the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, becoming America’s first Hispanic president, replacing the man whose candidacy began with the disparagement of Mexican immigrants. For the moment, it appears nothing more than a daydream. Castro is well back in the pack of what are now 21 Democratic presidential aspirants, scoring at less than 1 percent in the Real Clear Politics average of national polls… (LINK TO STORY)
Florida Republicans warn that Trump’s Venezuela policy is at risk of backfiring (Washington Post)
Some Florida Republicans are warning that President Trump’s Venezuela policy risks creating political problems in the must-win state, where the fate of that Latin American nation is hugely important to large Venezuelan and Cuban immigrant communities.
Trump has tied his toughness toward Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, to his domestic political message, citing it as evidence that he is fighting socialism while he accuses Democrats of embracing it. But without Maduro’s ouster, Trump’s policies could look weak and his effort could seem a failure — turning Venezuela into a political liability. That compounds other dangers for Trump among Hispanic voters in Florida. His new restrictions on Cuba win praise from older Cuban Americans, but polls in recent years show a younger generation favors more open relations.s… (LINK TO STORY)
NewsAJ Bingham May 14, 2019 BG Podcast, land use, development, Travis Co., Politics, ABoR, affordable housing, Affordability, housing, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, I-35, Travis County, Austin ISD, Democrats, healthcare, Julián Castro, VenezuelaComment
NewsAJ Bingham May 15, 2019 BG Podcast, land use, development, Politics, ABoR, affordable housing, housing, Dallas, Democrats, Green New Deal, Steve Adler, Ilhan Omar Iftar, Citiies, Beto O'Rourke, high-speed rail, DHS, Donald Trump, Austin FC, MLS, Podcast
NewsAJ Bingham May 13, 2019 BG Podcast, land use, development, Travis Co., Politics, ABoR, affordable housing, Affordability, housing, Sandra Bland, Dallas, Ann Kitchen, Butler Pitch & Putt, Measles, Facebook, San Antonio, e-cigs, Vapes, greg abbott, Houston, Sylvester Turner, Border, migrants
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AbbVie’s lmpact Map
AbbVie’s Community Engagement Policy
In Ireland and around the world, AbbVie is proud to serve and support our local communities and do our part to protect the environment. We aim make a remarkable impact that’s felt within healthcare and beyond.
AbbVie’s Impact in 2018
In 2018, to help us give back to the communities that we live and work in, AbbVie partnered with 24 community organisations across Ireland, including Marymount Hospice, Aoibheann’s Pink Tie, North West Hospice and Sophia House. Through these community links, our employees gave 1,729 volunteer hours and fundraised €38,923, in addition to company support of €1,310 in cash donations and €77,178 worth of in-kind donations.
Download the full list of community partners supported in 2018 here.
Back to Business Impact Map
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THE BEST IN ANTI-AGING THERAPY | CALL TODAY 561-339-4332
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The Newest: German Commerce group welcomes extension
Posted by Philip Parker on May 4th, 2019 // Comments off
Get alerts:
A German trade institution is composed the expansion to Britain’s Brexit deadline nevertheless claims that no one is being helped by the uncertainty brought on by the protracted deliberations of Britain.
However, it says,”the financial price for this is that companies on both sides of this Channel are being abandoned in the atmosphere for the coming months on the form of future trade and economic relations.”
BGA adds”this crippling uncertainty clouds the disposition and leaves its economic impact on both sides of the Channel.”
A senior German government official is calling on Britain to”deliver appropriate now” on Brexit and states the delay into its death from the European Union ought to be”as soon as you can.”
EU leaders have put a new Oct. 31 deadline but left open the prospect of a previous departure if London ratifies a withdrawal agreement.
All options are on the table! Dear British buddies, deliver at this time.”
Manfred Weber, a German who directs the largest band in the European Parliament, said Europe revealed”patience and unity” to prevent a destructive’no-deal’ Brexit however”the political uncertainty in London continues to be extended, which risks affecting debates concerning the future of Europe.”
In a tweet, he uttered his hope that the U.K. could”send Brexit before the elections” in late May.
U.S. President Donald Trump has complained that the European Union is treating Britain Gradually over Brexit.
At a tweet later Britain has been granted an expansion to its death from the EU into Oct. 31, Trump said it’s”too bad that the European Union is being tough.”
In addition, he said the EU has been”also a barbarous trading partner with the United States” and guaranteed that will alter.
Conservative Party legislator Ken Clarke says that he does not believe British Prime Minister Theresa May will have the ability to convince the party.
The former Treasury leader told the BBC that the Conservative Party’s right-wing could keep on obstructing her bargain and seeking to substitute her.
May intends to press on Parliament to maneuver her withdrawal strategy in time to avoid European Parliament elections in May. It’s been defeated twice.
Clarke claims that the only way would be for May’s government to compromise with the Labour Party to make a consensus.
He states a solution would be one that accepts Britain from the political institutions of the European Union but retains close ties.
“That is a totally sensible compromise and I think she would get it through Parliament,” he said.
In a tweet, the president of the Scottish National Party, warned of tough negotiations ahead and explained the extra time should be used to allow”individuals to choose if they still want to leave.”
Scotland voted in favor of staying in the EU.
One of Britain’s leading business lobby groups states the Brexit extension granted to the country in a summit in Brussels immediately means an”imminent economic crisis” was averted.
On the other hand, the Confederation of British Industry is warning a new start is needed to prevent more intense uncertainty in the run up to the new Oct. 31 Brexit deadline.
CBI director-general, Carolyn Fairbairn, said businesses will adjust their strategies to cope with a potential’no-deal’ Brexit however, won’t be cancelling them.
She says the leaders of Britain must make productive use of this time given by the extension.
“Sincere cross-party alliance must occur today to end this crisis,” she said.
Cross-party talks between the government and the opposition Labour Party haven’t produced a breakthrough at the Brexit impasse.
Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit in: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE ETF (BATS:EFAV) Position Raised by Nachman Norwood & Parrott Inc
Devery Trading Up 8.8% Over Last Week (EVE)
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Instructions for Border Crossing
Daniel Bye
Annabel Turpin at ARC
Northern Stage at Summerhall
7 to 26 August 2017
Daniel Bye is a charming host. He is engaging us in conversation even as we settle into our seats. Would anyone be interested in joining him for a game of jenga, he asks.
Someone does and they begin to play at a table on a raised stage platform that is surrounded by the light security barrier you often see outside nightclubs.
That barrier and his nervousness about crowds lead him to talk about border crossings and the ideas of the imagined border activist Edward Shorter.
The rest of the event takes the form of a series of interactive illustrations of Shorter’s interventions. The audience is asked a question. One of those raising their hands is then coaxed into joining on the platform while he tells a small border story.
The sequence is repeated a number of times till finally he asks who has ever made made an act of defiance and stood firm against odds. By that time we knew what putting our hands up meant so we all stood firm against admitting we ever did any such thing.
It was probably not the answer he had hoped for and, to make matters worse, the volunteer who joined him for this last sequence did not take a hint and pull down the security barrier. It gave a deflated feel to end of the show.
Daniel Bye is an entertaining storyteller and that makes the performance interesting, particularly when the lights are lowered for one of his short stories, but the interaction with the audience seemed to lack any purpose and that is the core of the show.
Its politics are generous, tolerant and hopeful but more work is needed on the way these are expressed before either the performer or the audience can be satisfied with what takes place.
Reviewer: Keith Mckenna
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The fundamental challenges of the new IMO Regulations
The changes in international fuel regulation will pose a fundamental challenge to the shipping industry, says Angus Campbell, BSM’s Corporate Director - Energy Projects.
Energy efficiency: Enhancing commercial performance
Energy efficiency: far more than just a regulatory requirement, it's a topic that takes centre stage for all responsible ship owners and operators. And it's a topic closely aligned to reputation and, therefore, an operator's commercial standing.
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Amie OBrien
The Merchant’s Pearl
The opinionated daughter of a missionary is enslaved and gifted to a Muslim prince who has an inner vow to win her affection.
This is the first novel from Amie O’Brien, but she would tell you her characters are constantly nagging her for their future installments. Madly in love with her husband and children, she hopes to spend more time petting horses, reading books, and pursuing her addiction with world travel.
Amazon Barnes&Noble iBookstore Kobo
My Mother's Ring
Here’s a scene where Leila and the concubines she shares a room with each receive a gift from Emre. I won't speak of Leila's gift, and Aster's was merely an item I encountered in my research. But Dariya's gift was special to me—a ring that used to belong to my mother. We lived in a modest home, but my mother had a fondness of rings. She had six on her fingers on any given day. One ring fascinated me the most, an over-sized, pointy onyx ring she wore on her middle finger. I used to try it on as a child whenever she would take it off. It went far past my knuckle. When I was eleven, much of my mother's jewelry was "lifted" from her jewelry box by someone familiar with our family, going through a rough spell. My mother was sad and rarely collected any special pieces after that. When my mother passed away recently, my father presented me with her wedding ring, other rings, and just about every earring my mother had ever owned. He uncovered a bag of miscellaneous rings, too, and I began to hope the one I loved was in there. It wasn't. Though it remains missing, it's nice to know that I somehow preserved that memory of her here, within these pages.
The next delivery was waiting for us after dinner. It was a large box with a note from Robinson:
His Highness says…“Enjoy.”
Aster was the first to pillage the box, finding a large, soft package with her name on it. She unwrapped layers of muslin, revealing a beautiful French dress. When she lifted the garment, we noticed there was another item, also wrapped in muslin.
“What do we have here?” Aster cooed as she set aside the red dress and lifted the second, smaller package from under Dariya’s curious fingers. She was careful this time, sensing the object was hard and heavy. It was a beautiful gold hand mirror—ornately studded with silver flowers, beautiful ambers, and sparkling square emeralds.
“Whoa,” we all breathed in unison, gawking at the luxurious relic.
“It looks to be a few centuries old,” I said, while examining the craftsmanship from where I sat. I didn’t think she’d allow me, like Dariya, to touch it.
“Now you.” Aster looked over to Dariya.
She smiled back as she sifted through the box.
“My fabric!” Dariya beamed, removing four large, tightly secured bolts of silk. “I told him I wanted some just like this.”
“You told Emre?” I giggled. I didn’t mean to tease, but I couldn’t picture him discussing fabric.
“No. I told Robinson. He’d brought me samples from the Jewish vendor. I pointed these exact four patterns out to him.” She freed a bolt, spreading a yard of it across her quilt.
“Apparently, not too much of Emre’s budget.” Aster smiled, tossing Dariya another gift.
This package was small, but it housed a rather large investment—an onyx ring with a solitaire diamond placed squarely in the center.
“That thing could be a boat.” I laughed, looking at the sheer size and vessel-like shape of it. “Your very own onyx caique.” I smiled, as she held her hand over mine.
“Let’s see what you got,” Dariya said excitedly.
I looked in the box, feeling around. For a moment, I began to think my hands might remain permanently empty. Finally, under a sheet of crumpled tissue paper lay my gift—a small, single, white box tied shut with a thin silver cord.
For Leila.
“Jewelry,” Dariya suggested. “I know that packaging. He’s given me something from that merchant before.”
She pulled me down to her bed, sitting right beside of me. I almost asked if she would prefer to open it herself, she looked so intensely satisfied while I felt nervous—almost nauseated. I struggled to approach the ribbon.
“You’re too slow. Give it here.”
“Be my guest.” I chuckled, shaking my head, and handing it over.
Even Aster had taken a seat beside her now.
Dariya worked to loosen the knot and lifted the lid off the box, revealing a small, satin satchel.
“I bet it’s a necklace or a bracelet,” Aster agreed.
Dariya opened the bag and poured the delicate contents into her palm.
“Oh my!” She looked at Aster, gesturing her palm towards us both.
“What a lovely strand of pearls,” Aster murmured, lifting it gently with one finger. “It’s definitely not your typical find at the bazaar.” She sniffed. “I suppose Robinson had to seek elsewhere for such a splendid piece.” She rose from Dariya’s bed and walked over to her dress.
“You’ve said nothing.” Dariya’s eyes were gentle as she considered my look of shock. “Prince Emre always gives a grand gift the first time,” she reassured me and Aster, who had also grown noticeably quiet.
Reaching to her jewelry tray, Dariya pulled out a white gold rope necklace with a large princess cut diamond. “This was mine. See, it came with a similar corded sash. It has to be the same merchant, don’t you agree?”
I examined hers, choosing to hold it rather than my pearls. After a few seconds, she lifted it from me, placing my gift from Emre in my open palm. I stared at it. It was beautiful, no doubt the most expensive and exquisite possession my hands had ever held.
“I cannot keep it,” I said, swallowing hard.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“It’s too fine a gift. I’m…too simple for such extravagance. I should never have an opportunity to wear it.”
“You’re kidding me. A girl can wear a rope of pearls with anything,” she said, smiling at my naivety of fashion. “That is the sheer beauty, Leila. You can dress them up and dress them down.” She lightly touched the tip of the clasp that dangled between my fingers. “I think it to be a gesture of him knowing you so well.”
“I don’t want it.” I put it back in the box, replacing the white lid and quietly setting it on my tray. “I’ll return it to him next time we meet.” I turned away to wipe an unwelcome tear.
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Insulate and Weatherize (Build Like a Pro Series).
Bruce Harley
Taunton Press, 10/10/2012. For Energy Efficiency at Home (Revised 10/2012). From the Publishers: From the most basic solutions to advanced, energy-saving projects, no book covers home insulation and weatherization like this one. With dozens of drawings and hundreds of color photos guiding them, homeowners will learn how best to keep their homes warm..... More about Insulate and Weatherize (Build Like a Pro Series
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Building Construction Illustrated, 5th Edition.
Francis Ching
John Wiley & Sons, 02/01/2014. With dedicated web site. From the Publisher; The classic visual guide to the basics of building construction, now with a 3D digital building model for interactive learning For over three decades, Building Construction Illustrated has offered an outstanding introduction to the principles of building... More about Building Construction Illustrated, 5th Edition
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Concrete Countertops.
Fu-Tung Cheng
Taunton Press, 03/02. Design, Forms, & Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath. From Taunton Press: "Over the past decade, the most requested article from our back issues has been about making concrete countertops. And more than anybody, Fu-Tung Cheng has been the innovator calling the public's attention to concrete... More about Concrete Countertops
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Building Sheds.
Joseph Truini
Taunton Press, 05/01/2016. Expert Advice from Start to Finish. From the Publisher: This well-illustrated guide offers a range of building options, with complete instructions and plans for five popular projects: Timber-Frame Garden Shed, Board-and-Batten Shed, Vinyl-Sided Storage Shed,Cedar-Shingle Shed, and a Post -and-Beam Barn. Author Joe Truini walks the reader... More about Building Sheds
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Habitat for Humanity: How to Build a House.
Larry Haun
Taunton Press, 09/2008. Revised & Updated. From the Publisher; Since its founding in 1976, the non-profit Habitat for Humanity International has built more than 255,000 houses for more than one million people and families in need world wide. First published in 2002, How to Build a House has helped thousands... More about Habitat for Humanity: How to Build a House
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Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design.
Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, & Barbara Winslow
Taunton Press, 09/05. WAITING FOR REPRINT, 6/24/2019. We expect by September 2019From the Publisher: Looking for inspiration and direction in the design or remodel of your home? Clearly written and profusely illustrated, Patterns of Home brings you the timeless lessons of residential design. The 10 patterns described in the book... More about Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design
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Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace, The Story of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, an American Genius, & His Principles of Fireplace Design.
Vrest Orton, Austin Stevens (Illustrator)
Hood, 04/00. The "Classic"! How to build a "Rumford" fireplace. From the Publisher: Vrest Orton loved the five fireplaces in his 1828 Federal brick house in Weston, Vermont because of their architectural beauty and because of the enormous amount of heat they produced without letting smoke into the rooms. In... More about Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace, The Story of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, an...
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Select Quick Links Quick LinksOur JourneyBoard of DirectorsVision and ValuesAwards and AccoladesOur PoliciesAuditBPCL Infoline
Our moments of pride
BPCL has consistently been the recipient of some of the highest honours in the Petroleum Industry. Given our pursuit for innovation, excellence and service quality, we are proud that BPCL’s efforts have unfailingly received awards and recognition.
Here’s a look at our awards and accolades received over the years
BPCL MUMBAI REFINERY RECEIVES IMAE AWARD 2018
BPCL Mumbai Refinery was recognised with GOLD award in INDIA MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2018 instituted by FROST & SULLIVAN under the Process Sector, Mega large category. The award was received by CJ Iyer Executive Director I/C (Mumbai Refinery), BPCL at the hands of Mr. Panduranga Prabhu- Regional President, Power train Solutions, Bosch Ltd., India and Mr. K R Srivastava- Chief Executive Officer, UPL Limited, at a glittering ceremony held on 6th December 2018, at The Hyatt Regency Hotel, Mumbai. The BPCL Mumbai Refinery team of Mr. D.V. Mamadapur , Mr. K Rajashekar, Mr. A.R. Shah, Mr. Chacko M Jose, Mr. D.D. Sarkar and Mr. J. Roy were present on this occasion.
Frost & Sullivan, an organization of repute and is known for its expertise for undertaking assessment of organizations for Quality management and Business excellence.
lndia Manufacturing Excellence Awards - 2OI8" instituted by FROST & SULLIVAN recognizes Manufacturers across the country for best manufacturing practices and operational excellence in different categories. This award was based on intensive three day site assessment of Mumbai refinery to check the focus on adoption of 12 pillars/parameters of framework instituted by M/s Frost & Sullivan which reflects maturity of an organization. These 12 pillars are an integral part of the emerging trend of Industrial Revolution and include Focus on Customers, Orderliness, Safety and Environment, Visual Management, Scheduling Systems, Layout & Material Handling Systems, Inventory Management, Asset Care & Internal Competence amongst various others.
BPCL Mumbai Refinery’s Manufacturing Competitiveness and Business Excellence were assessed on the above mentioned stringent criteria and was awarded the GOLD AWARD 2018 under the Process Sector, Mega Large Business category..
BPCL (MR) has participated and received the IMEA Gold Award earlier in 2013 and 2015, scoring 822 and 852 points, whereas this year BPCL scored 867 points. A total of 104 Organizations, including ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Pfizer, Philips India, Schneider Electric India, SKF India amongst others participated in the IMEA 2018.
This Award stands testimony to the Business and Operational Excellence exhibited by BPCL Mumbai Refinery and will indeed be a great motivator to excel further in all its endeavours.
BPCL decorated with Golden Peacock Award 2018 at London
One more golden feather in the already decorated crown of BPCL was added on 25th October 2018, when ‘Golden Peacock Award 2018’ for ‘Excellent Corporate Governance’ was presented to BPCL in a glittering event in London. This reflects BPCL’s stellar achievement in meeting high level of commitments to all stakeholders, while conducting its governance in fair, transparent and ethical manner. This also is a tribute to BPCL’s care for environment and service to society, as a responsible corporate citizen.
Mr. Rajiv Bakshi, Executive Director (Planning and Infrastructure), BPCL receiving the award from Baroness Verma, Global Chairperson, Advisory Council, Institute Of Directors, India and Chairperson, European External Affairs Committee and former Minister of Energy, Climate Change and International Development, Government of UK. Also seen on the dais, Lt. Gen. J. S. Ahluwalia, PVSM (Retd.), President, Institute Of Directors, India.
Kudos to BPCL Management, Staff, Network Partners, Customers and Vendors.
BPCL Brand Quiz Baadshah 2018 named as Largest Corporate Brand Engagement Program in Asia
BPCL believes that every mind is like a river delta, ever fertile to breed knowledge. The organization has taken this factor into the limelight, to regulate the tributaries of knowledge, learning and wisdom that originate from the well-lubricated minds of its family and helped it to converge on a single platform called the BPCL Brand Quiz Baadshah - 2018. The quiz programme is a knowledge enhancement initiative and the largest Corporate Brand Engagement Program in Asia for employees and channel partners (RO dealers, LPG Distributors, Lube Distributors) and this mega event justifiably entered the Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records in 2018 with 12646 participants.
The participants were from all Strategic Business Units, entities and refineries across regions and states. Out of this, 6320 participants were employees and the rest of the 6326 contestants were channel partners. 8 teams comprising 16 participants qualified for the Grand finale. BPCL Brand Quiz Baadshah - 2018 mirrored the intellect of the BPCL parivar The objective of this mammoth event was not just about testing the General Knowledge related to BPCL but also to build brand equity and awareness that will be fruitful for the entire BPCL family and bring about inclusive growth within the BPCL fraternity.
The quiz programme was held from 26th June, 2018 to 12th Oct., 2018 and was spread across 5 rounds which included 2 online rounds and 3 live rounds, covering 23 cities. Every event was complemented with games and prizes to fuel further interest among the participants. The Scintillating Grand finale was held at BPCL, Mumbai on 12thOct’18 and was webcast live.
Brand Quiz Baadshah was awarded Asia Book of records and India Book of Records for 2018 as Largest Corporate Brand Engagement Program in Asia for employees and channel partners at the event.The Grand finale was attended by Sh. Arun Singh, Director ( Marketing ) and Mr. K Padmakar, Director ( HR ) and Mr. N. Prabhakar , CGM ( Brand and PR ) among galaxy of senior officials of BPCL.
Technology Excellence Award” for BPCL Kochi Refinery’s expansion project
BPCL Kochi Refinery bagged the Technology Excellence Award 2018 for its commissioning of Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) at the 6th Indian Technology Congress 2018 held at Bengaluru on 5 September 2018.
Shri. Prasad K Panicker, Executive Director (Kochi Refinery), BPCL, received the award from Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri H D Kumaraswamy.
The award instituted by the Indian Technology Congress Association (ITCA), is “In recognition of the significant interdisciplinary engineering contribution to the commissioning of the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project, positioning BPCL’s Kochi Refinery as the largest public sector refinery in India, enabling it to manufacture auto-fuels complying with required Bharat Stage IV(Euro IV/V) specifications”.
IREP with a total cost of Rs 16,500 Crores was the largest project in the history of Kerala. It envisaged setting up of major units to enhance the refining capacity of Kochi Refinery by 6 million metric tonnes and helped it to transform into a 15.5 MMTPA world-class refinery.
At the ITC 2018 thematic session for the Oil Sector, Mr. Shelly Abraham, General Manager (Project Technical) delivered the key note address on ‘Leveraging Technology and Bytes for Indian Energy Security’. The ITC-2018, is the annual flagship event of the ITCA, which is a dedicated body for Technology Professionals from the industry, R&D Laboratories, Government, Academic Institutions and professional organizations. The 2-day convention on “Technology First: Making India Innovate, Excel Globally and Prosper” was organized at the NIMHANS Convention Centre during 05-06 September 2018.
BPCL Receives the ‘Star PSU’ Award from Business Standard
BPCL received the prestigious ‘Star PSU’ Award from Business Standard at the Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence on 31.3.2018. The award was received by BPCL Chairman & Managing Director Shri D.Rajkumar from Hon Minister of Defence Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman.
This coveted award is yet another affirmation of BPCL’s stellar position in the energy space, considering the recent upgradation of BPCL to Maharatna status.
BPCL Chairman & Managing Director dedicated the Award to Team BPCL who exhibited tremendous commitment and put in tireless efforts in pursuing the stretch goals and targets.
Apart from financial metrics and competitive advantage, the criteria for selection for the Award included scale, sustainability, leadership and innovation. BPCL is effectively managing the intense competition in the current disruptive times. BPCL was chosen as the Star PSU from among 300 Indian Public Sector Undertakings.
With our dynamic and energised team working enthusiastically and passionately, we hope to achieve many more milestones in the days to come.
BPCL MUMBAI REFINERY WINS SWACHHATA AWARD FOR 2017-18
It was indeed a proud moment for BPCL MR to receive 2nd prize for The Swachhata Award 2017-2018. This award was received by our Director (Refineries) Shri. R. Ramachandran at the hands of Shri KD Tripathi, Secretary,
MOP&NG. MOP&NG had constituted a competition amongst all Oil sector refineries and designated CHT as a nodal agency for evolving a Swachhata Index in order to determine inter-refinery ratings of all CPSEs. The parameters for developing the index along with rating criteria was evolved for comparing actual parameters.
The parameters included nos. of toilets/ Drinking water facilities for Workmen/contractors, General cleanliness in Process Plants/off sites, Admin Building, workshop, Warehouse, Systems and Processes like Mechanized cleaning, sewage treatment of water, utilization of waste papers ,Awareness campaigns in neighborhoods, Swachhata Inhouse and external competitions etc.
The Oil sectors participating in the contests were BPCL, HPCL, Indian Oil, NRL, BORL,CPCL and MRPL. In MR,
A task force was formed to address the requirements for fulfilling all the criteria’s mentioned by CHT.
Towards this contest, the following activities were carried out at Mumbai Refinery.
1. Provided Mobile toilets for contract workmen (male and female) in all offsite areas / plant areas.
2. Drinking water facilities were provided for contract workmen in all plants and contractor yards.
3. Resting facilities with toilets /drinking water facilities for contract work men were provided at Contractor yard, warehouse, TDU and Project Fabrication yards.
4. Provided PPE changing room with toilet facilities for all contractors at East Gate and Material Gate.
5. Upkeep of the Refinery roads and relevant Signage at various locations in Refinery.
6. Painting of various buildings, Boundary walls with adequate safety communication messages.
7. Various campaigning activities (internal as well as external) to propagate Swachhata Abhiyaan to bring awareness amongst employees, contractors and general public.
8. Making the toilets in Admin Bldg user friendly for the differently challenged staff.
A team consisting members from CHT / IOC and HPC visited the Mumbai Refinery to rate the parameters set by MOP&NG. BPCL Mumbai Refinery was awarded the Second prize in the Swachhata Index for 2017-18 whilst IOC Panipat Refinery was adjudged the winner.
Congratulations to all for making us to believe that WE CAN DO and we DID
BPCL LPG Marketing Receives OISD Safety Award for Best Performance
BPCL LPG SBU has been conferred with the OISD award under the category of ‘LPG Marketing Organization’. The award is bagged by BPCL LPG SBU for the 8th consecutive year in a row. OISD adjudged BPCL LPG Marketing as the Winner amongst the LPG Marketing Organization for the Year 2015-16. Since last four years, OISD is assessing the safety performance on zone basis and for the year 2015-16, the award is given to BPCL for the LPG Western Region.
The award was presented during the Inaugural Ceremony of the Refining & Petrochemicals Technology Meet (RPTM) held at Bhubaneswar on 13th January 2018. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honourable Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas ;Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship presented the award to Shri R.P.Natekar, ED LPG in the august presence of Shri Kapil Dev Tripathi, Secretary MOP&NG, Shri Sandeep Poundrik, Jt. Secretary (Ref) - MOP&NG, Shri V.J Rao, ED OISD and many esteemed dignitaries from the Industry.
The awards from OISD coming in succession for consecutively eight time for BPCL LPG SBU is certainly a recognition of the safety culture that permeates the organization across the levels.
Kudos to LPG Team for the sustained performance and holding the flag high for BPCL!
Refinery Performance Improvement & Innovation Awards 2016-17
BPCL Mumbai Refinery received the first prize for the 'Refinery Performance Improvement Award 2016-17'. This award is based on the performance of refineries with respect to varied parameters like crude throughput (actual daily throughput over the best of last two years), specific energy consumption (MBN - % reduction over the previous year), specific steam consumption (per tonne of crude processed), carbon emission intensity (CWT - % reduction over the best of last two years), operating cost ($/bbl of crude processed - % reduction over the last two years) and specific water consumption (per TMT of crude processed/NRGF).
An out of the box thinking by Mumbai Refinery resulted in making India, the first in the history of refining, to produce world class specification hexane as a by-product along with isomerate – a motor spirit blend component - from its Isomerization unit.This isomerization unit has modified the product slate of the refinery by moving from production of 'food' grade hexane to 'pharmaceutical' and 'polymer' grade hexanethereby increasing BPCL's market share.
An illustrious jury comprising of Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman Scientific Advisory Committee, Dr. R. Kumar, Professor Emeritus IISC Bangalore, Dr. J. B. Joshi, Professor Emeritus HBNI Mumbai & Shri Brijesh Kumar, Executive Director Centre for high Technology, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India, adjudged this as the winner of the 'Best Innovation in the Refinery Category' for the year 2016-17.
The awards were presented to Director (Refineries), ED I/C (Mumbai Refinery) and the team at the hands of Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan, the Hon'ble Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India, during the 22nd Refinery & Petrochemicals Technology Meet (RPTM) held at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, on 13thJan 2018. Mrs. K. Shreya, Sr.Manager [Projects & Performance Monitoring] gave a presentation, on the innovation, during the RPTM.
BPCL Internal Audit Wins Award of Excellence
BPCL’s Internal Audit team has been conferred with the “Award of Excellence” under the category of “AGILE TECHNOLOGY in the Internal Audit” This prestigious award has been given for the Internal Audit’s innovative initiative: - “Project Smart Watch – Continuous Assessment of Risk”. The award was presented at the National Conference of IIA held at Kolkata on 12th January 2018 to Mr. J Dinaker, ED Internal Audit by Mr. J Michael Peppers, the Chairman of IIA, Global in the presence of esteemed dignitaries from the leading corporates and other institutions. The jury adjudged BPCL as the winner among the leading organizations across different sectors from PSU, Private sector and MNCs.
The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) is an international professional association with a footprint in 170 + countries. The IIA is the internal audit profession's global voice, recognized authority, acknowledged leader, chief advocate, and principal educator. Members work in internal auditing, risk management, governance, internal control, information technology audit, education, and security.
“Project SmartWatch-CAR is a Methodology implemented wherein the controls are checked on continuous basis and red-flags are raised for immediate corrective action”. It’s an endeavour to create a robust real-time monitoring mechanism with use of technology enabling early detection of deviations and better governance. Idea is to identify probable, potential Risk Areas and monitor the gaps to minimize risk, prevent revenue leakages and process improvement. Recent transactions for a defined period are analysed using data-analytics to provide alerts for further review and action. Each member of the audit team has worked hard in making this project a successful one, which has already started giving significant benefits.
BPCL Stars in SCOPE Corporate Communication Excellence Awards
Bharat Petroleum received the Best Corporate Communication Campaign / Program - (Internal) for the Brand Quiz Baadshah initiative and the Best Annual Report at the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) Corporate Communication Excellence Awards 2017. Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore AVSM, Hon’ble MOS for Information and Broadcasting and MOS (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports presented the awards to Mr. N. Prabhakar, CGM (Brand & PR) and his team at a grand function at SCOPE Convention Centre, New Delhi on 7th December, 2017.
In order to recognize the value of CC professionals in brand and image building and connecting the stakeholders of an organization, SCOPE has instituted these awards in 2016. This year, SCOPE enhanced its standards to a two tier evaluation of the entries received from PSUs across India.
For the Preliminary Evaluation Process, the Jury Members were Dr. Anand Pradhan, Associate Professor, IIMC, New Delhi, Mr. Shishir Sinha, Business Editor, ABP News, Mr. Sameer Kapur, Sr. Vice President, AdFactors, Dr. Ajit Pathak, President, PRSI (CC Summit Facilitator) and Mr. P. K. Sinha, SCOPE (CC Summit and CC Excellence Awards Facilitator)
For the Final Evaluation Process, the Jury Members included Mr. Bimal Julka, IAS, Information Commissioner: Former Secretary, I&B, GoI - Chairman, Jury Committee, Prof. Vishwa Mohan Bansal, Chairman, New Delhi Institute of Management, Dr. Suresh KG, DG, IIMC, Mr. Ashok Bindra, Chief Executive & Publisher, Open Media Network and Mr. Santosh Goenka, Executive Director, Business India Group.
These are prestigious awards which bear testimony to BPCL’s prowess in these fields amongst the entire public sector fraternity. Kudos to the Brand & PR team which has once again demonstrated its outstanding performance stamped with the hallmark of excellence.
Bharat Petroleum Sparkles with ABCI Silver Award !
Once again, Bharat Petroleum sparkled with the glitter of success as it walked away with a prestigious Communication Award at the Annual ABCI (Association of Business Communicators of India) Awards Nite held at the Crystal Room, Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower on 22nd December, 2017. Every year, ABCI recognizes and rewards leading corporates for their excellent contribution in the field of Business Communications. Its annual awards night has always been a memorable occasion for Mumbai's corporate and media circles, as an ABCI Award still retains its lustre as the ‘Oscar of the Indian Communications Industry.’
Earlier in the day, COMFEST-17 was held with the theme, ‘Highlighting Corporate Communications for Brand Building’. Successful entrepreneurs and professionals dwelt on the diverse ways of making effective use of Corporate Communications to build a brand and strive for excellence.
BPCL won the Silver Award for our In-house Magazine, Petro Plus, which is edited by Ms. Marianne Karmarkar, DGM (Information Services). Hearty congratulations to the PR & Brand team !
BORL Wins National Energy Conservation Award - 2017
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under Ministry of Power - Government of India, is engaged in strategizing the country’s objective of reducing energy intensity. BEE constituted the ‘National Energy Conservation Award’ to encourage and recognize companies’ achievements in reaching the goal of reducing energy intensity. Applications are invited across sectors from companies all over India for the prestigious award.
It is matter of immense pride for Bina region and MP state that Bharat Oman Refineries Limited (BORL) won “FIRST PRIZE” in the ‘Refinery’ sector in 2017. The award stands testimony to the Company’s efforts in achieving excellence by optimizing its energy usage. Over the period FY2014-15 to FY2016-17, total energy consumption of refinery reduced by 16% and Specific Energy Consumption (MBN) reduced by over 20%. This could be achieved by initiating various energy conservation measures like implementation of steam network management, optimization of process parameters and recovery flash steam & condensate thereby reducing steam consumption. Electrical power consumption was also optimized by use of renewable energy, converting parallel pump operations to single pump operation and switching to energy efficient lighting systems. Total 59 energy conservation measures costing about Rs 10 crores were implemented during the last three years.
BPCL Honoured as Project Management Company of the Year
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. has been honoured with a prestigious award - “Project Management Company of the Year – 2016” on 8th August 2017 in a glittering function organized at Hotel Taj, New Delhi. The award was received by our C&MD Shri. D. Rajkumar along with Shri. R. Ramachandran, Director [Refineries], Shri. C. J. Iyer, Executive Director I/C, MR and Shri. M. B. Pimpale, Chief General Manager [Projects] MR at the hands of Shri. K. D. Tripathi, IAS, Secretary, MoP&NG. The award includes commemorative Trophy and a Citation which is established by Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry [FIPI]. The FIPI “Project Management [Rs.500-2000 crore] – Company of the Year” Award honours leading performance in managing and completing a project in the Oil & Gas value chain in India. This award honours BPCL and EIL for completing CDU-4 Project of Mumbai Refinery within time schedule and cost while maintaining quality and safety standards during the implementation. The Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry is an Apex Society of entities in the hydrocarbon sector and acts as an industry interface with Government and regulatory authorities. It aims to be the most effective and influential voice of the oil & gas industry to facilitate it’s development as a globally competitive industry in India that enjoys the respect and trust of the society.
BPCL’s Brand Quiz programme enters INDIA BOOK OF RECORDS
Bharat Petroleum’s Brand Quiz programme BRAND QUIZ BAADSHAH (BQB) entered the India Book of Records for the largest online participation of employees in a quiz programme by a single organisation. Ms. Komal Singh, Adjudicator India Book of Records presented a plaque and certificate to Mr. S. Ramesh, Director(Marketing), BPCL, in recognition of this achievement, at the finale of the BRAND QUIZ BADSHAH organised by BPCL on 5th May 2017 at BPCL Trombay Club, Chembur, Mumbai.
BRAND QUIZ BADSHAH (BQB) is an initiative of BPCL engaging employees across the length and breadth of the organisation. A total no: of 5408 employees out of the total strength of 12289 participated in the online quiz programme constituting a whopping 44.0 % participation. The participants were from all the segments of employees which included 1408 workmen, 3500 management staff and 500 clerical staff.
The objectives of Brand Quiz Badshah - is to energise employees, enhance their brand and business knowledge. After Online rounds, selected teams qualified to written and live rounds.
Green Initiatives of BPCL Kochi Refinery win KMA Excellence Awards 2017
Kochi Refinery has bagged the "KMA Excellence Award 2017" for its GREEN INITIATIVES. Mr. Damien Gracious, Chief General Manager (HSE), Mr. C Sainath, DGM (Environment) and Mr. Mathew P Thomas, DGM (Power & Utilities) received the award from Ambassador Dr. Deepak Vohra, Special Advisor to Prime Minister, Lesotho and Guinea-Bissau and Special Advisor to Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils, Leh and Kargil at the Annual Awards function of the Kerala Management Association (KMA) on 5 June 2017.
Mr. Prasad K Panicker, Executive Director (I/C), Kochi Refinery and Past President, KMA, spoke at the function. Sustaining the various environment care initiatives implemented over the years has helped BPCL Kochi Refinery distinguish itself as an environment friendly company.
At Kochi Refinery, energising environment is a commitment we deliver everyday. From rejuvenating fresh water lakes to recycling waste paper; from solar power plants to biogas plants; from reduction in fuel consumption to reduction in water consumption, from air ambient quality systems to oil spill combat facilities, from de-sulphurisation of fuels to sewage treatment plants, each and every activity implemented here has environment as the prime focus. KR’s most recent initiative is the Butterfly Park, which is home to quite a few rare species. KR is also taking the environment care initiatives beyond the immediate community through ENCON Clubs in schools and colleges across Kerala.
The KMA is a pioneer management association, that has been playing a pivotal role in the promotion and propagation of contemporary management principles and practices in Kerala since 1957. This award for continued excellence in Environment care, has definitely made World Environment Day 2017, special for Kochi Refinery.
Kudos to KR team on yet another accolade for environment care!
Bharat Petroleum Shimmers with ABCI Silver Award !
Bharat Petroleum stole the limelight and waltzed away with a prestigious Communication Award at the Annual ABCI (Association of Business Communicators of India) Awards Nite held at the Vivanta by Taj, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai on 28th October 2016. Every year, ABCI recognizes and rewards leading corporates for their excellent contribution in the field of Business Communications. Its annual awards night has always been a memorable occasion for Mumbai's corporate and media circles, as an ABCI Award still retains its lustre as the ‘Oscar of the Indian Communications Industry.’
At the function, the Chief Guest, Dr. A. Velumani, Founder & Chairman, Thyrocare presented fresh insights on communications and his unique journey through life. Earlier, the Brand India Summit was held, wherein eminent speakers dwelt on their success stories in diverse fields and international delegates from nine countries shared their experiences.
BPCL won the Silver Award for our In-house Magazine, Petro Plus, which is edited by Ms. Marianne Karmarkar, Chief Manager (Information Services). Hearty congratulations to the PR & Brand team !
BPCL Annual Report Bags SCOPE Award
BPCL’s Annual Report has been awarded the First Prize at the SCOPE Corporate Communication Excellence Awards 2016. SCOPE (Standing Committee of Public Enterprises) is the apex body of Public Sector Enterprises in the country. The award was presented during the inaugural session of the SCOPE Corporate Communication Summit by Mr. Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor and Channel Head Zee News to the BPCL Team comprising Ms. Marianne Karmarkar, Chief Manager (Information Services), Mr. Ronald Noronha, Chief Manager (Brand & PR) and Mr. S.S. Sundararajan, Sr. Manager PR & Brand, CO in New Delhi recently. Also present on the dais were Chairman SCOPE, Mr. Nirmal Sinha, Director General SCOPE, Dr. U. D. Choubey, National President PRSI, Dr. Ajit Pathak and Padmashree K. K. Agarwal.
Besides highlighting the theme for the year, i.e. ‘Building the Future of our Aspirations’, our Annual Report also showcases the multifarious activities of our Company, along with the details of our performance. Attractive visuals in a well – designed layout provide an appropriate setting for bringing to life the ways in which our company serves the nation. In this Report, we’ve focused on expanding our horizons, sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, key issues on the corporate monitor today. The design spells out elegance and sophistication, the background providing an excellent foil to the financial facts and figures, moving in an upward trend.
The cover design depicts ‘vision for the future’, with the binary numerals signifying that technology will play a pivotal role. The inside cover design has a man on a mountain peak, looking at the galactic skies beyond, meaning that the company has scaled heights of performance on a global scale and now wishes to expand its horizons to the galaxy ! The initial pages of the Annual Report have a design centred around the circular pupil of the eye in visual contours of aesthetic excellence. Stunning dividers on a paint-textured background lend an artistic touch to the Report, apart from highlighting the Corporation’s values and culture.
The performance profile, over a period of several years, also provides a good comparison of our growth and prosperity, a welcome sign to our large bank of stakeholders. Our financial accounts are detailed and well presented and we have often received acclaim from finance gurus in the industry. Corporate Governance, Business Responsibility and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have been comprehensively reported, reflecting our transparency and collective decision making. This Award assumes special significance, as it recognizes our Annual Report amongst the entire public sector fraternity.
Dhanam selects ED BPCL Kochi Refinery) as Business Professional of the Year 2015
Kerala’s first and largest circulated Business Magazine ‘Dhanam’ has selected Shri. Prasad K Panicker, Executive Director I/c (Kochi Refinery) as the “Business Professional of the Year 2015”. Shri. Panicker received the prestigious award from Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala at a function in Kochi on 23 July 2016. Shri. Panicker was chosen for this award for demonstrating “the best management model to Kerala.” He has dedicated this recognition bestowed on him to the Kochi Refinery team for their commitment and unstinting support that has enabled successful implementation of Refinery projects as well as non-stop operations of the Refinery. Bharat Petroleum parivar congratulates ED(Kochi Refinery) on this achievement.
BPCL Director (Finance) among Most Influential CFOs of India
Mr. P. Balasubramanian, Director (Finance), BPCL is among “Most influential CFOs of India”. He was awarded this citation recently by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which is the world’s largest and oldest professional body of management accountants, operating in 179 countries worldwide.
Know More: https://youtu.be/hz6En1NvrvU
BPCL Garners Glory at ICE Awards 2016: Ms. Marianne Karmarkar receives the ICE Award for Petro Plus
Petro Plus, our in-house magazine won the Second Runner-up prize at the celebrated In-house Communication Excellence (ICE) Awards 2016. These awards have been instituted by the Shailaja Nair Foundation and powered by the FEI Group of Companies.
“An in-house magazine is the only tool that connects the employer, employee and their families,” said Mrs. Gita Piramal at the ICE Awards. These awards were initiated ‘to honour the unsung heroes who create these magazines, which essentially reflects the organizational culture and employee participation in various activities.’ ICE Awards has been witnessing increased participation over the years, with some very challenging and innovative entries yearning for the coveted trophy. This literary support is sustaining their inspiration to keep recognizing and rewarding the fine art of communication, year after year.
An eminent jury, comprising professionals from various industries, evaluated and nominated the best entries and selected the winners. Petro Plus was adjudged as the Second Runner-up in the ‘Best Magazine Among Government and Other Organisations’ category. The coveted ICE Award was presented at a glittering ceremony at MCA, Mumbai on 4th June 2016, in the presence of an august audience, including the media.
Chairman and Managing Director of BPCL Shri. S Varadarajan, receives NHRDN “People CEO Award” 2015-1
Hearty congratulations to our Chairman and Managing Director, Shri. S Varadarajan on receiving the prestigious NHRDN “People CEO Award” 2015-16.
Our C&MD received the award from Shri. Santosh Desai MD & CEO, Futurebrands India Ltd in the presence of Shri. Adil Malia, Group President HR Essar Group, Shri. K. Ramkumar Executive Director ICICI Bank and Shri. Kamal Singh Director General NHRDN, at the NHRDN 3rd CEO Conclave in Mumbai on 15 June 2016.
”This award is a very special award and a recognition as it is a People leadership award,” said Shri. Varadarajan upon receiving this coveted honour.
The demanding business environment coupled with constant infusion of innovations and new technology necessitates that the work force is geared up at all times to meet new challenges. Further to ensure BPCL’s growth trajectory, Shri. S. Varadarajan focused on talent acquisition and development towards grooming of company’s future leaders by combining the practices of succession planning and leadership development.
It is a great recognition for Bharat Petroleum, that our Chairman was nominated and selected by the NHRDN after the comprehensive research by NHRDN along with knowledge partner, Ernst & Young. The citation he received reads: “Shri S Varadarajan is a true visionary, who has successfully navigated the company through some very turbulent times, arising on account of the dynamic market scenario. Well versed with the intricacies of the oil and petroleum sector, he has displayed exceptional agility in steering BPCL to stellar heights.”
The NHRDN People CEO Awards is a highlight of the best of the best being felicitated for exemplary contribution in the realms of People leadership, Governance leadership and Performance leadership in the Public Sector, Private Sector,MSME, Women leadership and Young leadership categories. The selection of awardees has been done by a high level jury chaired by Mr. Santosh Desai MD & CEO , Futurebrands India Ltd. Along with eminent professionals from Corporate, PSU and ‘Academia. The conclave this year deliberated on ‘Simplifying Complex Realities: Scripting the way Forward’.
Shri. Varadarajan is also recipient of the SCOPE Excellence Award – Individual Leadership Category I (Maharatna/Navratna PSEs) for the year 2013-14 from His Excellency, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India; the Best CEO in the Oil and Gas Sector by Business Today (2015) and Best Performing CFO in the Oil & Gas/ Chemicals Sector, from CNBC TV18. In a recent survey by Times of India, Shri.Varadarajan, was also rated among the 5 Top Performing CEOs of India Inc.
Bharat Petroleum is proud of the recognitions bestowed on our Chairman & Managing Director and we wish him our hearty congratulations on this achievement.
Bharat Petroleum Kochi Refinery Wins KSPCB Excellence Award
Kochi Refinery (KR), Bharat Petroleum's world class refinery in the State of Kerala has won the Kerala State Pollution Control Board Excellence Award for the year 2015 . It is for the ninth consecutive year that the Excellence Award is being bestowed on KR in the category of very large Industry for substantial and sustained efforts in Pollution Control and for initiatives in environmental protection
Mr. Murali Madhavan, General Manager (Oil Movement and Storage) and Mr. Mathew P Thomas, Chief Manager (Energy & Environment) received the the Award from Smt. K K Shylaja Teacher, Hon. Minister for Health, Social Justice and Pollution Control, Govt. of Kerala at the#WorldEnvironmentDay function in Kannur on 5 June 2016.
Know More : www.bharatpetroleum.in
Mr. S Varadarajan, BPCL C&MD receives SCOPE EXCELLENCE AWARD from H.E President of India
Hearty congratulations to Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Shri. S. Varadarajan on receiving the SCOPE Excellence Award – Individual Leadership Category I (Maharatna/Navratna PSEs) for the year 2013-14 from His Excellency, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India at Public Sector Day celebrations at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 11 April, 2016.
Hon’ble President of India presented the SCOPE Excellence Awards and addressed the top echelons of India’s economic policy makers, Chief Executives, Directors and Senior Executives of Public Sector Enterprises on the occasion of 7th Public Sector Day Celebrations jointly organized by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).
Shri Anant Geete, Union Minister of HI&PE, Shri G.M. Siddeshwara, Hon’ble Minister of State (HI&PE), Shri Ameising Luikham, IAS, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Shri R.G. Rajan, Chairman, SCOPE & CMD, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd, Shri R.G. Rajan, and Dr. U.D. Choubey, Director General, SCOPE also addressed the gathering, while Shri Nirmal Sinha, Vice Chairman, SCOPE & CMD, Handicrafts & Handlooms Export Corporation, was present on the dais.
Earlier Mr. Varadarajan was also recognized with the Best Performing CFO in the Oil & Gas/ Chemicals Sector, in the prestigious CFO 2013-14 awards instituted by CNBC TV18.
BPCL Director (Finance) Mr. P. Balasubramanian wins Business World BEST CFO Award
It was a moment of pride for BPCL when our Director (Finance) Mr. P. Balasubramanian was awarded the Business World Best CFO award in the category of Best PSU – Large Enterprise in association with YES Bank. At a glittering award ceremony held on 8th April 2016 at Leela Palace New Delhi Mr. P. Balasubramanian received the award at the hands of Shri. Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways. Also present on the occasion were Ms. Radha Singh YES Bank Non-Executive Chairperson, Shri. Ashok Chawla, Chairman TERI and Shir. Annurag Batra, Editor-in – Chief Business World.
The YES BANK-BW Businessworld Best CFO Awards strives to recognize CFO's who have taken "center stage" within the organization's strategic decision-making and execution, while also being a key flag bearer of Corporate Transparency, Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility. The final awardees are determined through a robust three-step selection process on the basis of a detailed quantitative analysis, an independent market survey and an eminent jury discussion. The eminent jury was led by Shri. Ashok Chawla, Chairman TERI and other members included Mr. Halgreve Khaitan Senior Partner Khaitan & Co., Mr. Deepak Kapoor, Chairman, Pwc India, Mr. Naresh Takkar, CEO, ICRA, Mr. S.B. Mainak MD, LIC & Mr. Rajiv Luthra, Founder and Managing Partner, Luthra & Co.
ABCI Bronze for Corporate Calendar
BPCL Corporate Brand Team represented by Ms. Marianne Karmarkar, Mr.Siddarth Sharma and Ms.Kavitha Mathew along with Ms.Devyani Rozario, DGM(Marketing Services-LPG) receiving the Bronze for Desk Calendar at the 55th ABCI Annual Awards in Mumbai.
BPCL bags ABCI Silver for External Publications
Bharat Petroleum bags the ABCI SILVER for "External Publications" at the 55th Annual Awards of the Association of Business Communicators of India. #JOURNEYS, the publication for energizing BPCL Business Network has received this accolade for 2014-15 and the special edition done for the National Mission #PAHAL won us the recognition. Editor, Kavitha Mathew (Corporate Brand Team) and Ms.Devyani Rozario, DGM(Marketing Services- LPG) received the award on behalf of BPCL at a glittering ceremony in Mumbai.
ABCI this year saw close to 1500 entries from over 100 companies that were adjudged for 161 awards in 32 categories. It is one of the awaited moments each year by Business Communicators.
BPCL bags prestigious NIPM National Award for Best HR Practices
BPCL added another feather to its cap by bagging the prestigious NIPM National Award for Best HR practices - 2015. We were adjudged winners of the GOLD Award in Category A (the highest category for large organizations) at the National Conference held recently at Coimbatore by NIPM (National Institute of Personnel Management). NIPM is the oldest All-India body of professional HR managers which engages in the domains of personnel management, industrial relations, labour welfare, training and HRD in the country. Every organization acknowledges that their Human Resource is the key to achieve Organisational goals. To identify organizations with robust HR practices and publicly acknowledge their HR endeavours, NIPM has instituted this prestigious National Award.
The signature annual conclave of NIPM- National Conference (NATCON) this year was a star-studded event, witnessing a participation of more than 750 delegates from Organisations in Japan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Key speakers on the occasion included the Chairman & Managing Director of NALCO, Chairman & Managing Director of Neyveli Lignite. Set on the theme of ‘Winnovate HR for Business and People Aspirations’, the conference was meant to bring together the HR best practices and benchmark people management practices. BPCL was conferred the Gold Award in Category-A, which was the top spot for organisations having an employee base of more than 5000. Director HR Shri S. P. Gathoo received the award from Mr. Partha Chatterjee, Hon. Minister for Education, West Bengal. Mr. Gathoo was accompanied by his team-Mr. Kurian Parambi (DGM-HRD), Mr. M V Prabhakaran, DGM (HR) Kochi Refinery, Mr. A. Suresh Kumar, Senior Manager Admin(HRS-South) and Ms Vasudha Agarwal, Assistant Manager-HRD.
BPCL Bags Lions CSR Precious Award
The Lions CSR Precious Award 2016 has been conferred upon Bharat Petroleum for the conscious contributions to energizing lives. Mr. Pradeep K Iyengar, Chief Manager Admin Services & CSR and his team received the award for BPCL from the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) Chairman Mr. Joe Preston at a glittering Ceremony in Mumbai that was attended by top PSUs and Private Companies.
The LCIF has recognized the contributions by [/hashtag/bharatpetroleum]#BharatPetroleum in the areas of Education, Water Conservation, Skill Development, Health, Sanitation and Community Development. Bharat Petroleum is encouraged and strengthened in our resolve to continue our qualitative interventions in the core thrust areas of BPCL CSR.
Read more about our CSR initiatives: http://bit.ly/1TRCVxB
Find out about Energising Bharat Awards : http://www.bpcleba.com/
PetroBonus & SmartFleet shine at the AIMIA Loyalty Awards 2016
With great pleasure, BPCL announces another outstanding acclaim won by PetroBonus & SmartFleet, our fuel loyalty programs at the AIMIA Loyalty Awards 2016 held on 3rd February 2016 at Mumbai.
Our Loyalty Programs were awarded the “Best Cards Product & Programme of the Year – Loyalty Card” for the year 2014-15, after a rigorous selection process by a coveted jury of Industry experts. The award was received by Mr.George Paul, ED-Retail, Mr.A.K.Kaushik, GM-IT & BI, Mr.Vijay N Tilak, DGM–Strategy & Loyalty, Ms.Vinita Kunder, Asst.Manager-Loyalty, at a prestigious ceremony attended by reputed Loyalty Brands across countries.
The AIMIA Loyalty Awards were instituted in the year 2006-07 are the most credible awards in the Loyalty arena, creating a unique platform for loyalty marketers to showcase their work and exchange ideas. Our Loyalty Programs – PetroBonus and SmartFleet have received several recognitions in the past years in various categories of the AIMIA Loyalty Awards, such as, Best Loyalty Program, Oil &Gas Sector ; B2B Sector & Service Sector.
The awards were a part of a 2 day Loyalty Summit with many informative and engaging sessions on contemporary topics such as, Mastering the Balance between Brand Loyalty & Payment Tender Loyalty; How To Get More Customers & The Data Driven Way to Loyalty.
The Summit also had theme based workshops on Consumer Trends, Customer Experience and Gamification for motivating and driving human behavior. Mr. George Paul, ED Retail as a panelist on the Customer Experience through the Convergence of Loyalty and CRM shared his views on the importance of recognizing the customer’s need as the starting point of all Loyalty initiatives. Other panel members included, Ms. Kamal Bajwa, Chief Customer Operations Officer, Tata Sky Ltd. , Mr.Shalabh Srivastava, Senior Director - Customer Experience, Flipkart & Mr. Amandeep Singh Munial, Director & Head – Global Service Delivery, India, ebay India Pvt. Ltd.
The AIMIA Loyalty Summit and Awards 2016 was an invigorating experience for the team, all charged up to deliver the next level of loyalty offerings with enhanced features for a superior customer experience at Bharat Petroleum retail outlets.
Bharat Petroleum adjudged MOST ATTRACTIVE BRAND by TRA
Bharat Petroleum has been adjudged MOST ATTRACTIVE BRAND by TRA. BPCL C&MD Mr. S Varadarajan, Director (Marketing) Mr. K K Gupta, Director (HR) Mr. SP Gathoo and Mr. Milind S Patke, GM(Brand & PR) are seen with Corporate Brand & PR Team. Mr. Patke received the award on behalf of Bharat Petroleum recently
Mr. S Varadarajan, C and MD, BPCL receives the Business Today BEST CEO AWARD
Bharat Petroleum is proud to announce that our Chairman & Managing Director Mr S Varadarajan has been adjudged as the Best CEO in the Oil and Gas Sector by Business Today. He received the Best CEO Award from Mr.Jayanta Sinha, Honble Union Minister of Finance at the glittering Business Today Awards ceremony on 18 December 2015. Indias Best CEOs 2015 survey is based on the past three year medium term performance and Business Today features the top 18 CEOs across all industries.
Bharat Petroleum bags “HR Excellence Award” in India Today PSU Awards 2015
Bharat Petroleum has bagged the “HR Excellence Award” in the India Today PSU Awards 2015. Shri.S.P Gathoo, Director (HR) received the award from Shri. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of State for Telecom, Ministry of Information Technology and Shri. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power at a glittering function in New Delhi on 14 December 2015.
The India Today Group’s study on the Best India PSU is an attempt to find out which of the Country’s Public Sector Undertakings are contributing the most towards various aspects of Nation-building. This survey on Indian PSUs that are playing a very significant role in India’s economic development and industrialization is the first ever comprehensive survey of Indian Public Sector Undertakings. It evaluates PSUs across four segments namely the Maharatna, Navaratna, Mini-Ratna and other PSUs, under eight categories; offering a rare insight into the functioning of Indian PSUs. Bharat Petroleum receives this accolade in the Navaratna Category.
India Today had recently adjudged Bharat Petroleum as the Best Performing Navaratna PSU. Other accolades that Bharat Petroleum bagged recently are India’s Top PSU Award (DNB), Most Attractive Brand (TRA), Company with the Best CSR & Sustainability, Innovator of the Year (Petrofed) and other National acclaims for Safe Operations & Marketing.
Sixth time in a row, OISD Safety Excellence Award to BPCL LPG Marketing
Bharat Petroleum bagged top honours from the Oil Industry Safety Directorate for Best Performance in LPG Marketing and for Retail Operations for the year 2013-14.
Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Honble Minister of State (Independent Charge), PNG, presented the “Oil Industry Safety Awards” in the presence of Mr. K D Tripathi, Secretary PNG, Mr. Sandeep Poundrik, Joint Secretary (Refineries), MoP&NG, and Mr. Hirak Dutta, Executive Director, OISD, presented to all the award winning entities.
The OISD Award for Best Performance in LPG Marketing (Western Region) was received by Shri K.K.Gupta, Director (Mktg), Mr. S. Ramesh, Executive Director(LPG), Mr. P.C.Srivastava, Executive Director(HSSE), Mr. R.V. Deshmukh, DGM Operations & HSSE and Mr. S.K.Jain, RLM WR. This is for the sixth consecutive time that BPCL is bagging this award.
Mr. Pradhan urged the Oil & Gas Organizations to strive towards achieving the ultimate objective of Nil Incidents’ across the Industry. He went on to add that our prime objective must be to create a safe work environment in the Oil and Gas industry with an underlying commitment to creating an incident and injury-free work environment in the entire Oil & Gas Industry in India. While underlining the importance of proactive measures in preventing any incident in the Industry, Mr. Pradhan articulated that Industry must lay more emphasis on self-regulatory measures for strengthening safety in the entire Oil & Gas Industry segments. The companies must strengthen its internal audit mechanisms and promptly liquidate the weaknesses.
On the issue of fragmentation in monitoring & implementation of safety aspects of Hydrocarbon Sector, Hon’ble Minister opined the need for having an umbrella organization looking after the vital Safety aspects of Oil & Gas Industry. He further mentioned that OISD has the necessary wherewithal to effectively monitor the process safety issues in highly hazardous and flammable petroleum industry. “we must aim for establishment of world class Standard Operating procedures at our Oil & Gas Installations and must strive for making this Industry as a "Total Safety, Security and Hazard Free" Industry,” he said. The Honble Minister also released the Compendium on Analysis of Major Incidents of 2014-15 and the and Safety Audit Checklists.
BPCL bags OISD Award for Retail Operations in Western Region
Bharat Petroleum has bagged the Oil Industry Safety Directorate for Best Performance in Retail Operations (Western Region) for the year 2013-14.
The OISD Award for Best Performance in Retail Operations was received by Mr. K.K.Gupta, Director (Mktg), Mr. N Manohar Rao, GM Operations (Retail HQ), Mr. P C Srivastava, ED (HSSE), Mr. P S Ravi, Head Retail West and Mr. Sanjeev Raina, COM Retail West .
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas introduced the Oil Industry Safety Awards in the year 1987 to encourage outstanding safety performance of the industry and to inculcate a positive culture of competitiveness among the industry members,. These awards are presented to those organizations which achieved ‘Exceptional Safety Performance’.
The evaluation criteria for the coveted Oil Industry Safety Awards included complexity of operations, accident free man-hours worked, volume of the products handled, direct & indirect loss due to any incident, hazard potential of the complex and no major incident during the period etc.
BPCL bags two top honours at Petrofed Awards
Bharat Petroleum has bagged the Petrofed “Innovator of the Year – Team” award for the indigenous development and commercial application of cost effective gasoline sulphur reduction catalyst additive for Fluid Catalytic Cracking using spent FCC catalyst in refineries. Chairman & Managing Director, Mr. S Varadarajan, Director Marketing, Mr.K.K. Gupta, Director (HR), Mr. S.P.Gathoo and Head of Corporate R&D Centre, Mr. Sanjay Bhargava received the award from Hon’ble Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi on 15 July 2015.
BPCL was also recognized as the “Environmental Sustainability – Company of the Year.”
Twelve awards were given away in 11 categories for performance during the financial year 2013-14 at the annual PetroFed Oil & Gas Industry Awards for 2014. Mr. K. D. Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas was the Guest of Honour at the Ceremony.
BPCL WINS DUN and BRADSTREET INDIA’s TOP PSU’s AWARD
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., received the Dun & Bradstreet INDIA’s TOP PSU’s Award at a glittering ceremony held at ITC Maurya , Diplomatic Enclave, Delhi on 23rd July 2015. The award was received by Ms. Monica Widhani, Executive Director(Co-ordination), BPCL at the hands of Shri. Kaushal Sampat, President & Managing Director – India, Dun & Bradstreet.
Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, presented the ‘Dun & Bradstreet India’s Top PSUs Awards 2015’ to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in the Best Navratna (Non- Financial) sector.
The occasion also marked the launch of the 8th edition of Dun & Bradstreet India’s premium publication, ‘India’s Top PSU Awards 2015’.
BPCL bags prestigious ABCI Awards
BPCL has bagged the silver for "Petro Plus" and bronze for the Corporate Calendar "Amazing Dances of India" at the 54th ABCI Awards Nite in Mumbai.
BPCL ranked 757 in Forbes Global 2000
We're proud to announce that Bharat Petroleum has made an impressive jump, improving its rank to 757 in the Forbes Global 2000 list for 2015. The Forbes Global 2000 is the definitive ranking of the world's largest, most powerful and valuable companies.
BPCL wins Corporate Governance and Sustainability Vision award 2015
BPCL has bagged the "Corporate Governance & Sustainability Vision award 2015" instituted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The award is for taking a leadership role and making significant difference by undertaking various initiatives in the area of Corporate Governance and sustainability.
ICICI Lombard and CNBC – TV18 India Risk Management Award for BPCL
Bharat Petroleum has been declared PUBLIC SECTOR UNIT OF THE YEAR at the premier edition of the ICICI Lombard & CNBC – TV18 India Risk Management Awards. This award is for the best processes and practices adopted by BPCL in risk management. Shri. S. Varadarajan, Chairman & Managing Director, BPCL received the award in New Delhi on
Bharat Petroleum adjudged Best Performing Navratna PSU by India Today
Bharat Petroleum has been recognized by the India Today Group as the BEST PERFORMING PSU among the Navratnas that have powered the Nation's growth. One of the most prestigious awards, this award attains utmost relevance as it is the culmination of a Nation-wide study on the country's best performing Public Sector Undertakings, who are contributing the most towards Nation building. Most befittingly, BPCL has been adjudged the winner for the consistent performance during the last three years.
BPCL receives World Petroleum Council Excellence Awards for CSR
Every three years at the World Petroleum Congress, the World Petroleum Council recognizes outstanding projects and innovations in the oil and gas sector with the World Petroleum Council Excellence Awards (WPCEA). These awards are aimed at companies that operate with high standards of excellence in Social Responsibility and Technological Development.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd was declared winner of the “Excellence Awards for Social Responsibility” at the 21st World Petroleum Congress organized in Moscow. Competing with finalists like Shell & Exxon Mobil, and from among 100 nominations worldwide, “Project Boond”, BPCL’s flagship CSR Program has received this recognition. Mr. K. K. Gupta, Director Marketing, received the award at the World Petroleum Congress on 16 June 2014.
BPCL crowned with TOP TWO honours of PetroFed11
Bharat Petroleum Corporation has been crowned the “LEADING OIL & GAS CORPORATE OF THE YEAR” and the “OIL & GAS MARKETING COMPANY OF THE YEAR”, two of the top-most recognitions of PetroFed Oil & Gas Industry Awards.
Mr. S Varadarajan, Chairman & Managing Director, BPCL and Mr. K.K. Gupta, Director (Marketing) received the Trophy and Citations from the Petroleum Secretary, Mr. Saurabh Chandra at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi on 8 September 2014.
BPCL earns kudos from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
Bharat Petroleum received an award for its outstanding contribution in handling cargo and earning revenue for Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. The award was presented by Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road, Transport, Highways, Shipping and Rural Development on 25 June 2014, on the occasion of silver jubilee celebration of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. Mr. George Paul, ED (LPG) received the award on behalf of BPCL. Present on the occasion were Dr. Vishawapati Trivedi, IAS, Secretary (Shipping), Government of India and Mr. N. N. Kumar, IRS, Chairman, JNPT.
IIIE confers PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE AWARD on BPCL
Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering (IIIE) has conferred the Performance Excellence Award 2013 in the Platinum Category (Organization in the Energy Sector) on Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.
On behalf of BPCL , Mr. B.P. Singh, GM i/c Planning and Infrastructure received the award from Padmabhushan Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace at the IIIE 18th CEOs Conference held in Lonavala, near Mumbai on 4 July 2014.
Over the years, the discipline of Industrial engineering has gained wide acceptance and recognition as a distinct profession in India. The IIIE that has instituted this award is the national body for the advancement of the IE profession in India. For selecting the winner, IIIE had shortlisted outstanding companies, after evaluating their financial and physical performance during the year 2012-13. Factors assessed included financial strength/achievement, customer satisfaction, internal processes, innovation and learning and strategy for development and growth.
BPCL shines at Petrotech
Bharat Petroleum was awarded the 1st position under the “Best Display in Raw Space” category during a spectacular awards ceremony at the recently concluded Petrotech-2010 exhibition at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The theme this year was “Global Energy Equilibrium”.
ABCI award
Bharat Petroleum walked away with two prestigious Communication Awards at the Golden Jubilee function of the Annual Association of Business Communicators of India (ABCI) Awards Nite held at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai on 11th November 2010. Every year, ABCI recognizes and rewards leading corporates for their excellent contribution in the field of Business Communication. In fact, it is a mark of prestige to get an ABCI Award.
BPCL won the Silver Award for our Inhouse Publication, Petro Plus and the Bronze Award for our Online Web Campaign
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