#clint johnson official statements

[clintjohnson]

[sian22redux]

Field of Dreams

Part 2 of 2.  Y/N has a surprise for Steve when he worries about the fallout from their spat.  Fury and the Avengers just might, might, also be involved. ^_^

A little baseball history, one huge surprise, and a spark that begins to flame.

Rating: G. Steve Rogers x Reader. 

@nomadicpixel‘s winning fic from my Cleveland’s loss to Boston.  As usual it isn’t short (what moi?) but was such fun to write.  I know waaaaay too much about the ‘Trolley Dodgers��� now.   Enjoy!

-------------------

“Still can’t talk to women.”

Bucky shakes his head, reaches across Natasha’s yogurt and Clint’s pancakes with his metal hand to snag the very last strawberry while Steve sits and glowers at the morning’s feed.

It’s humbling.  Frustrating and embarrassing all at once, but unfortunately the straight up truth.  He can’t talk to women and the evidence stares up from his Starkpad.  Y/N’s elegant brows crashed together, his own mouth set in a line below the blaring headline:  ‘Unfriendly Rivalry?’  

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he mumbles dejectedly, running a hand through his still-damp blond mop. The past three days of coverage have been appalling.  Blogs and pundits shredding Fleur and Y/N for speaking out.  Blaming her for the entire stupid mess.   Branding her as some sort of Feminazi for daring to argue with America’s Hero.

It’s so unfair.  Misogynistic and unbalanced and sticks in his craw because the truth is he is the one who is in the wrong.

He shifts awkwardly in his seat “How did we go south so fast? I apologized for the tweet. She was gracious and understanding and I just…”

“Couldn’t let go of something you see as wrong?”  

The whole table bursts out laughing. Sam’s throaty chuckle echoes.   Bucky’s head back guffaw trails up towards the ceiling.  Clint looks like he might pop the latest stitches in his gut while Bruce reaches for a napkin to wipe his streaming eyes.  

Thanks. Thanks guys.

Nat smothers her own knowing smirk in a dainty coffee cup while he groans and tries to hide his head in his hands.  Point to the assassin who always goes straight to the jugular.  He knows the whole thing is pointless but games at Ebbets Field with Bucky were some of his fondest memories from before the war.  It rubbed him wrong.  Got his back up and heck he should have known to back down from the edge but that doesn’t mean that he always can.

“I am an Idiot.”

”Confirm!!”  

“Tony!”  

“If the suit fits, Cap. Morning all.” Starks’s CEO saunters in and swipes a piece of toast from Bucky’s grip,  flips a chair back to front and casually sits astride.   Their chief needler is dressed for corporate battle in a Givenchy three piece suit.    He ignores the protest of ‘Hey!’ and wolfs his purloined breakfast down.

“Snooze you lose, Winter.  Head on a swivel.”  He grins in the face of Bucky’s glare as Bruce, ever the peace-maker, sets another piece on Bucky’s plate.  “Not that I think Miss Y/N will be too upset by the result.  There is no such thing as bad press in this biz.”  

“Not upset?!”  Steve’s jaw hits his knees.  “Even the Post and Times have carried it on page 3!”

“Exactly.”  Tony points with an absently filled coffee cup. “Headline coverage is headline coverage. The whole country is talking about it. The assholes who told her to get out of the boardroom will drive up her sales in sympathy.”    

Steve bites his lip.  “Really?”  

“Yup.  They’ll get a nice bounce out of this and probably a few million follows.  Wish I’d thought of it.”

From somewhere above Clint’s purple arrow mug there is a strangled snort. “You, publically picking an argument?  That’s not news, that’s an everyday occurrence.”

“Sure thing, Birdbrain. At least I….”  

“Guys.  Guys.” Steve puts up his hands.  The morning’s habitual serving of trash talk is giving him a headache.  He rubs his temple and tries to think this through.  Should he make some sort of statement?  Tweet out an apology? Would flowers and a note be more personal or should he assume she wants nothing to do with him in this universe or next?

That last thought makes the bright sunny day feel like a wall of cloud’s rolled in, but who is he kidding?  

Expressing himself had gotten him into this mess.  The last thing he wants is to make it even worse.  

“What should I do?”

The table falls uncharacteristically quiet.  Sam claps him on the shoulder as he rises and takes his dirty dishes to the sink. Bruce mumbles something about ‘relays’, following Clint’s retreating back.  Bucky, the traitor, puts his metal hand out as if to say, ‘don’t look at me. you’re on your own pal.’  

The only two left in support are pointedly ignoring him.  Tony and Natasha hover over their Starkphones, avoiding his pleading gaze until, suddenly, Natasha’s ‘pulls’ up a page to float, glowing blue, above the jam.      

“I think it’s been decided for you.”

Steve blinks, quickly scans the hologram of the New York Times fifth page while Tony whistles low. “Brilliant. They’re freaking brilliant. I’d like to poach their PR rep.”  

Natasha thumps him on the arm. “Tony. Focus.”

“Just kidding.  Ah, not actually.  But I will send a few tens of million their way.  Jarvis?”

<Sir, it is already done>

“Excellent.”

While Tony texts Pepper excitedly with this news, Steve, slack-jawed, reads the page size Invitation in detail.  

It is blue on white, stamped with the Dodgers official logo and signed with the sort of flourish gained only from practicing calligraphy.

Natasha’s smiling so wide he can see her pointy teeth.   Tony is grinning from ear to ear.  And Bucky, Bucky is trying to hide a tear.  

“Every boy’s goddam dream Stevie,” he says, “She’s got class.  Class and guts.”

That she does.  But holy hell.  Him play in a game? He’s so rusty a swimming pool of oil couldn’t help. Besides, when the Avengers have some downtime they more often kick a soccer ball around.  Sure he’s thrown out ceremonial first pitches since coming out of the ice, but the last time he’d hit he could barely connect the ball and bat.  Now?  Serum’d up?  Would he explode the ball like Randy Johnson did a bird?  Would it leave orbit and be a danger to traffic on Elysian Ave?  He’d have to dial it down.  Check his swing somehow.  It’s worrying, but the sweet reality of jogging freely around the bases without wheezing or coughing up a lung hits home.  

Wow.  It would be fun.  You never forget the smell of popcorn and hotdogs and chalk and…..

A little anxiety starts to set in. “I haven’t played in seventy-seven years.”  

“Seventy-nine,” quips Buck. “High school gym class.  You bunted and Mickey Ryan got to pinch run.” His best friend shakes his head and reaches for his phone, pulls up the Dodgers’ message app.   “You’re going man.  And we are going with you.”

Steve blushes.  Gives in to reality.  Yes he’s going.   And inside--in his heart of hearts--- he’s looking forward to seeing Y/N too.

----------------------

July 1st..

“Good morning Captain Rogers. Welcome to Dodger Stadium.”  

“Good morning Miss Archer,” Steve shakes hands with Fleur’s Press Secretary, stands uncertainly on the pavement outside the Player’s entrance.  It’s warm and not too windy, perfect playing weather, but already he has a little trickle of sweat down his back.  Astride the doors is the welcoming committee: the team’s Clubhouse manager, assorted assistants and one extremely starry-eyed ball boy.  He shakes hands and greets them all, tryies not to notice the crescendo of clicking automatic flash.  

The press hounds gathered in a less welcome contingent are making him nervous to say anything.

“Please call me Stephanie,” says the fresh-faced young woman in Dodger blue holding the days jam packed schedule. “I am helping LA today.  And don’t mind them Captain.  They aren’t allowed in the locker room.” She points a stylus toward to the blue tinted glass doors. “Come into the club house and we can get you suited up.”

Steve follows the ticking of her high heels into a hushed and new smelling corridor and then through one-way glass doors to arrive in a brightly lit but utterly unmodern room.

“What the?”

He stands speechless; stock still in the open central space, and his mouth is open and catching flies.

The LA locker room has been transformed.  Instead of high tech monitors and computer feeds and OLED TVs, the room is hung with old style Dodger pennants.  Pictures of 40’s Brooklyn.  Advertisements for the ‘Subway Series’; the  ’41 and ’47 World Series played by two New York teams: the Yankees and his ‘Dem Bums’. The lockers are mostly empty, a few hung with wooden hangers and old-style jerseys, baggy knickers and long blue socks.  Before each cubbie is a wooden stool.  And on the few laden shelves are blue caps and helmets with the familiar ‘B’.

Exactly as the Brooklyn clubhouse would have been almost 80 years ago.  

“We thought this might be your size,” says Stephanie, leading him by the elbow to a spot with pride of place beside the onfield door.  The white cotton of the home uniform is soft, stitched with exactly the swooping letters of yesteryear and about two size larger any other that he’s seen.  

“You did this…?”  

She nods and smiles as he gingerly takes the deep blue helmet down. “The whole team and management. I know Brooklyn didn’t used to wear helmets back in your day but the League insisted.  This is a regulation game and the bats are rather stronger now.”  

And so am I, Steve thinks, settling the heavy plastic down over his head.  It’s snug, fits so exactly he suspects Tony has been involved.  Only the cheek-guard feels odd.  He rolls his neck a little, trying to get a feel of the slightly lop-sided weight.

“Miss Y/N figured you are used to wearing helmets.”

“Yeah,“ he blushes, looking down and amazed to find a familiar pair of dark all leather cleats.  “Do you do this every year?”

Stephanie’s lips twitch as she barely conceals a grin. “No sir.  Just this one.”

All this for him?   Incredible.  Steve’s throat closes up.  “Uh.. uhm.  Thank you.”  

“Don’t thank me,” the blond ponytail gives a shake, “thank Miss Y/N. It was her idea.   I’ll leave you to dress and then you can exit through that door and meet her at the gate.”

Soon enough, Steve is left to dress all by himself.  He shrugs out of his shirt and chinos, pulls on the kit and fumbles with the knickers’ blue belt and loops.  What a time for butterflies.  He’s nervous, he really is, caught between wanting to help a team and just take in the wonder of it.  There’s a number 41 on the jersey’s back--Harry Taylor’s number musn’t be retired.   Will they play him in left field like the big Irish slugger?  If he was coach he would.  Steve doesn’t know the plays, the cutoff points, or the signs.  

He finishes tying the (perfectly fitting) cleats and stuffs white batting gloves into his back pocket feeling mostly set.  A quick few strides takes him through the home team tunnel.  It’s weird-there’s no one hanging round, no one snapping pics or asking for photographs.  He hustles a little more and then stops short just where the sunny square of outside light blinds him momentarily.

The clubhouse was a dream but this is something else.

Dodger stadium is dressed up like Ebbets Field.  Low swagged banners for advertisements on the bleachers.  Vendors in vintage dress.   Pennants for a World Series win in1955 and six for National League championships.  An organ’s live music is playing over the speakers and not a recording system.     

And on the first and third base lines the ‘home’ and ‘visiting’ teams are all lined up.  Twenty-five guys in Brooklyn white and blue, twenty-five in LA grey.  Some of the current team and veterans of many ages.

They stand at attention with caps over their hearts.

Wow.  

“Number 41, playing for Brooklyn, Steve Rogers!!”

The announcer’s words are drowned by the roar of the swelling crowd.   Steve starts forward, intending to take his place at the end of the home team line, but he makes it only to near home plate before his feet become glued again.  The audience is on its feet.  Stamping.  Shouting. Cheering on not Captain America but a man who’s had this dream.

Forever.  

It can’t be real.  It can’t, but he looks up to the owner’s box and there are the Avengers assembled in Brooklyn Blue.  Whistling and clapping.  Waving flags of oldtime Dodger blue just like the crowd.  As thrilled for him as he is.

He doffs his cap and turns around, slowly, carefully; waving it to acknowledge the entire park.      

“Captain? Steve?”

He shakes himself out of a daze and turns to look down at Miss Y/N who stands just at his elbow. She is smiling, pretty and perfect in a Brooklyn ball cap and summery light dress.  Her long dark hair is glossy and flowing down her back and incongruously he wants to tuck away a stray strand that floats in the wind.  

“Fine Miss.  Just shocked.  Amazed.”  His tongue can’t manage anymore.  His heart is pounding and his chest is tight and he know it isn’t asthma but isn’t sure quite what. A hearattack? Impossible?  Anxiety? No, he’s happy not upset.  Happiness?!  Most likely. It seems to be that her hand is warm on his. 

She’s moving to pull him over to the teams, set to introduce him but they stop a moment.   He’s having trouble not tearing up.  Her brow furrows worriedly.  “Are you ok?”

Not really but then none of this seems real.  “Fine, fine Miss Y/N.” 

“Call me Y/N, please.” 

“Thank you. Y/N.  Tell me..” he asks quietly.

Her cap tilts up and she has to shield her eyes from the sun. “What?”

“Why?  Why did you do all this?  You didn’t have to. You….”  could have hated my guts forever, he wants to say but manages to keep it in.    

Y/N gives a quiet sigh. “I thought about it. What I said and what you said and I realize that I was wrong.  Our situations are totally different.  When my team was traded I was furious for months.. years honestly, but I had that last game at Olympic Stadium.  I got Gary Carter’s autograph and Pedro Martinez’ too.  Said goodbye.  Kept a souvenir ball.   You didn’t have that time to grieve.  When you woke up they were gone and that was a cruel surprise.  I can’t turn back time, but I can take you a little of the way there.  Let America’s hero have the chance to play.  And give your Dodgers’ the proper send-off you deserve.”

Steve is gobsmacked. This incredible, amazing, baseball crazy woman has changed this game just for him.  He stands staring down at her, wondering how he got so lucky.  He ticked her off and she’s still coming back.

Like Peggy.  

He stands a moment, stunned by his own realization and watching her rummage in her purse.   She shoves a scoresheet and binoculars aside and pulls out something that looks suspiciously like a ball.  

“Steve I wanted to apologize.  And the game is that, but also I got you this.”  She puts the scuffed up, flaky old leather of a Brooklyn ball into his upturned palm.  

“It’s…”

The home run ball he caught on May 26, 1941.  

The game that Shield played on the oldtime radio as he was waking up in another world.

The blue ink of the date and name were faded but unmistakeable. The poor agent greeting him could have never known.  Of all the games to pick..one burned into his memory.  The Brooklyn Eagle had run a picture of him and Pete Reiser on the center of the sports page: the skinny ‘local kid’ giving back to the Rookie of the Year his very first home run ball.  That dinger had tied the game, launched Pistol Pete onto a year of league-leading runs.  

Of course Steve could never forget it.  It was, he’d once assumed, his fifteen minutes of fame.  

“How?”  Did you know?

Y’N laughs.  It wrinkles her freckled nose adorably. “If you thought baseball was good for stats, just see the MLB now! It wasn’t hard to find.  A Steve Rogers in the forties catching Pete Reiser’s first home run ball.”

He supposes not. But… he scans her face.  She can’t know that that was the game he woke up too?  Or can she?  Did Fury get involved?  Was this another way for him to apologize for his little trick?  

And does it really matter anymore. He scuffs a cleat against the astroturf.  “Look I’ve been an…”

“Ass?”  Y/N grins as she can’t help but tease.  “I am not the one known as ‘America’s Ass.’”

He laughs.  “Not in these baggy things.”

“I don’t know they aren’t so bad.”  

Are they flirting?!  Oh god they are and he hasn’t blundered yet.

He throws the ball nervously from hand to hand.  “It’s too much..it’s….”

“Just what you deserve.”

After that they go down the lines; shaking hands with every coach and player new and old.   The day is to honour old timers and Steve is delighted to find it includes six players still alive from before the team was moved: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Cody Bellinger,  Branch Rickey who he remembers enlisted in the Army in ’42, and Tommy Lasorda, player and then winning coach.  They are wrinkled and grey-haired but still hold their gloves with ease, josh with him about being the perfect designated hitter for a team, cat call the ‘vistors’ who are mostly LA alumni.  

Soon it will be time to take the field.  One last handshake to go.  Y/N directs him along to the next in line and he looks over to find the young LA short stop who had been there is gone.  

Replaced by a white-haired, thin bearded man in uniform and wheelchair.  

“Would you like me to autograph that for you son?”

This time Steve’s jaw hits the floor.  “Pete…?”

“Reiser..yup.”  The old man taps his head.  “So lucky to be here.  96 years young. 1 year younger than you are.. though I’ll allow it you look a little better.”

Steve laughs and shakes his head. “I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah, well somedays neither can I,” Pete chuckles.  “Got all my faculties if not my legs. Dodgers in LA. Who would have credited it, but sometimes change is good.  These bums keep winning championships.” 

Steve smiles. Perhaps he’s right, but Pete was the guy that won them a pennant after twenty years of drought. “You almost turned them round, Sir.”

“Now quite how I remember it. But I do remember a scrawny kid who volunteered to give me my ball back.”

Of course he had.  It was what a good fan does.  Steve flushes.  “I am so honoured.”

“That makes two of us, son.”

Steve looks up to cheering friends and then back at Y/N.  She’s held her official boardroom style composure for an hour under the sun; introduced with pride every player new and old, but this time it’s she that can’t speak.  Wipes tears from off her cheeks; smiling freely and quite unconcerned that Fox Sports is televising this live.  

No way she doesn’t understand how important this moment is.  And Reiser. Who’s had to give up his ball.

Fury’s so going to hear from him.  Later.

There’s a faintly impatient ‘Cap’ and Steve turns quickly back.  Pete’s gesturing, beckoning him down and so he drops down on his haunches. The old Dodger leans forward and taps a gnarled finger on the ball.

“Super serum or whatever, lad let me give you some advice.  You see that one?”  He points over Steve’s shoulder to Y/N who is distracted, joking with A.J. Ellis who will the catch the game.  The sun is bringing out red highlights in her hair. 

 “Take it from me, I can tell.  She’s sweet on you.” A pair of watery blue eyes twinkle.  “And Lordy she’s a keeper.”

“Yes sir.”

Steve rises and on Tommy Lasorda’s signal jogs out into centre-field.  Once there he punches his hand in his glove, plays a few rounds of long toss, and stands, not quite able to take it in.

The noise.  The smell.  The sheer huge expanse of field.  

I am so lucky to be here.  So blessed.  So hoping I don’t drop the ball.  

He doesn’t realize he murmurs the last out loud until Bucky’s voice breaks into his earpiece.

It is the one concession to Stark’s vigilance.  “Of course you will.”  

“Punk.”

“Jerk.”  

Steve laughs.  His and Bucky’s friendship, unlike the Dodgers, will never change.  As he waits, nervous and excited, for Clayton Kershaw’s windup,  he looks up to the owner’s box and reflects that, after all, Pete Reiser may be right.  

Sometimes change is good.  

--------------------

@nomadicpixel; @theycallmebecca; @pegasusdragontiger; @mycapt-ohcapt; @patzammit; @neutralchaos1; @arizonapoppy; @weirdlet; 

[theprocrastinatingalien]

Looking towards Avengers 4 (with major Infinity War spoilers)

I'm aware that this might come across as negative, so I need to get something out there immediately... I absolutely loved AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.  I thought it was epic, and in the same way that THE AVENGERS shouldn't have worked, it totally did.  Bringing all those characters together and it not being a shambles. I've always had faith in Marvel and (in particular) the MCU... all in all INFINITY WAR is a triumph.  My excitement for AVENGERS 4 is on overload already.

The second (and much better) ANT-MAN AND THE WASP trailer has just been released, and early next year we get to meet CAPTAIN MARVEL.  That's all exciting stuff, but AVENGERS 4... that's where we've heading to.  Kevin Feige has stated that there will be a line drawn for the fans... everything before AVENGERS 4, and everything after it. 

That's something to remember when discussing AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, because whilst it feels like everything has been leading to THAT film, that's not true, it's next year's outing that really is - as Doctor Strange would say - the endgame.

It's impossible to look towards AVENGERS 4 without  talking about INFINITY WAR, of course.... especially as, well, it killed off a lot of it's characters.  I'm not about to review the film, but we HAVE to talk about the deaths.   They're very important.

Marvel have always, seemingly, been afraid to kill off major characters.  One-off villains, sure.  The odd supporting character, maybe.  But the big players?  Not so much.  During the first two phases of the MCU, the biggest death is arguably Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.  Sadly, the death is underwhelming because... we've only just met him.  Barring a tease at the end of a previous movie, the 'twins' were only properly introduced in the film that offed him, so we can't possibly care as much as if, say one of the originals had died instead.  A lot of people thought Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) might bite the dust, and that would've meant more, certainly.  Quicksilver it was though.   Then phase three happened - would things change?  A little bit, and not at first.  Personally I was disappointed with CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, as it was a film I went in absolutely expecting the exit of a known character.  The comic book source suggested a death should happen, and really if it wasn't known that Chris Evans had more films on his slate I would've really expect Captain America to be a goner.  Knowing that wouldn't happen I expected someone in his place.   The closest we come is (Don Cheadle's) War Machine's plummet. It's dramatic... but it's not a death and it is sadly completely signposted in the trailers.

I've made my peace with CIVIL WAR though, and moved on from my initial disappointment to regard it as one of my favourite movies in the franchise. Since then, Marvel have seemingly cottoned on to the fact that - as much as we don't want to see our favourites die - it needs to happen if the audiences are to believe the jeopardy of the situations the characters are in.  In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 director/writer James Gunn chose to kill off Yondu (Michael Rooker).  It's actually a powerful moment, and whilst Yondu is hardly a core member of the group, it's affecting enough.   THOR: RAGNAROK took it further... with half the cast of the previous films not returning anyway (Foster, Selvig, Darcy and Sif all missing), the devastation across Asgard at the hands of Hela (Cate Blanchett) sees off Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun, with Odin (Anthony Hopkins) having his swansong earlier in the film.  It's enough.  True none of the 'crossover' characters get taken out... but RAGNAROK does run straight into INFINITY WAR as the fleeing Asgardian race come face to to face with Thanos' ship.

That's precisely where we start INFINITY WAR too.   Whilst some characters are questionably missing - Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie and rock dude Korg for example - those we do see aren't around for long.   The Asgardian bodies are scattered, and the first 'proper' death of film is Idris Elba's Heimdall.  He bifrosts the Hulk to Earth and in doing so is killed by Thanos (Josh Brolin).  Thor (Chris Hemsworth - in his biggest, most important role during an Avengers outing) is shocked, but the bigger shock comes when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is throttled to death.  Okay, for some of the audience I don't think this is as big a shock as it is for Thor, but it means a lot.  Loki has been a favourite with the fans, especially the favourite villain in the MCU, and whilst I've seen some bemoan a wasted death, I think it's perfect for the film. Loki IS  a villain, and the 'bigger' deaths need to be reserved for the heroes.

Gamora.  That's a big death, which actually guides the film to it's conclusion.  Zoe Saldana's green assassin plays such an important role.... it is sad when Thanos sacrifices her for the soul stone... but again, I'm sure we saw it coming.  ONE of the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY had to be offed. As the story unfolds, it makes sense that Gamora is the one.... and if it's a permanent death it's going make a big hole in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3!  She's the lead female after all.  But her death works... and, let's be honest, it's the effect on Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) that stops Iron Man and Spider-Man succeeding in getting the gauntlet off of Thanos, which could have won everything there and then.

We then have Vision (Paul Bettany).  He dies twice.   Once at the hands of Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) to save half the universe... and once by Thanos to destroy it.  Those deaths all have a lot of weight to them for varying degrees and reasons.  Heimdall is the first notable death, Loki a god, Gamora a guardian and Vision an android who probably could've been the saviour of the universe had his head not been a target.

Thanos then clicks his fingers.  A simple act, that has devastating consequences. Half the life in the universe gets wiped out - including half of our heroes.  Bucky, Falcon, Black Panther, Groot, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, Maria Hill, Nick Fury and Doctor Strange.  They all... disappear.  It's has a massive impact  The bad guy won.  The good guys lost.  The last shot of the film is Thanos smiling.   The credits are black and sombre.  At the very end we're normally told that our heroes will return... but we're not... instead we're told that Thanos will return.

It's a shock.

Until you think about it. 

If AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR was the last film of the phase, then the impact would be astounding, but we know AVENGERS 4 is now a year away. When the third phase was announced, a two-parter was announced - AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART 1 & PART 2.  Since then, the writers and directors have tried to undo that.  INFINITY WAR has now 'part one' attached, and the title to the follow up is still a secret.  We've been told that the film is very different to the one we've seen, but the title is technically a spoiler, so they chose to withhold it so audiences could concentrate on the movie at hand.

Having seen INFINITY WAR (and I'll state again - I loved it) I really wouldn't be surprised if the title for the next film ends up simply being AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR VOL 2.   I can't see how it's not a simple 'second part'.  Thanos smiling at the end of this movie might as well have had the words 'to be continued' written across it.

And the more I think about those deaths at the end, the more it bugs me. Why?  Because it's the wrong characters that died.   That might sound like a silly statement, but stick with me here... look at the list again.... in particular, Black Panther, Doctor Strange... Spider-Man... almost all of the Guardians.   They're all characters that will DEFINITELY be back.  Next year sees the sequel to SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING.  The year after, we have GUARIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3, and let's be honest, there's no way we're not getting a DOCTOR STRANGE 2 or  BLACK PANTHER 2.  Most of the characters (barring Maria Hill and Nick Fury) are phase 2 or 3 characters, and will have their place amongst phase 4.

Who are we left with?  Iron Man, Thor, Dr Banner, Steve Rogers, Black Widow, War Machine, Nebula, Okoye, Rocket and M'Baku.  These are the characters we'll be following into the next movie - what's odd about that is, except for the last few names on the list - these are the guys who are moving on.  Robert Downey Jr was the first guy we ever saw in this franchise.  Chris Evans has publically said he's done, and Chris Hemsworth's arc seems largely done now.    I'm going to come back to this.   This is important.  Right now, I'm going to start looking at what I know/suspect about AVENGERS 4...

CLINT BARTON, ANT-MAN, WASP and CAPTAIN MARVEL

These four are joining the action.   No question.   There's been a lot of upset that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was absent from the marketing, but that's simply because he wasn't in the film.  They probably could've shoehorned him into it they wanted, he could've shot lots of arrows in the Wakanda fight... but he's been saved for something bigger.   The on-set photos of him seem to suggest Clint is now going by the name Ronin.  I assume this is because, whilst he was keeping away from the Avengers to keep his family safe, his family then disappeared with Thanos' click.   He probably blames himself.  Maybe an extra pair of hands could've helped save the day?  With so many characters now taken out of action, I reckon Barton (whatever his moniker) will have a major role to play in the next movie.  Likewise, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Brie Larson get to tag in... with Ant-Man (also noted to be missing from IW) Wasp and Captain Marvel (both ladies kept back until their superhero statues had been revealed officially in their respective movies) coming in the kick ass.  Captain Marvel even gets a tease in the post credits as Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) sends her an emergency message).  She's likely to play a key part too, as she's be noted to be the most powerful of all the heroes.

And it's now I need to go back to my feeling that they've killed off the wrong characters.  You see, think about this... as it stands, with the deaths we've have, we known it's all going to get undone.  We know things are going to be sorted to some degree.   But now switch it.   Imagine the characters that died at the end were Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, Rocket, Nebula, War Machine... would we be so certain things would be undone?  Knowing certain contracts were at the end, others happy to leave... and imagine also, that first battle in New York, but with all the new guys - Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spider-Man, the Guardians... all joining in what was already an brilliant cinematic scene.   How great would that money shot be - you know the one, with the six Avengers in a circle together for the first time, but now bolstered by added Ant-Man, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel...

I just wonder if the writers have missed a trick.  Because we do, really know things are going to be okay.  But we return to that feeling that a lot of these deaths in this movie were for shock value only, they will be undone.  Maybe not for EVERYONE, but mostly.  It also makes us wonder... is Vision gone?  Will Gamora, and maybe even Loki rise from their graves?  Hell, will the reset button go so far back that even the likes of Quicksilver and all over Asgard come back?

I think what we will see, is the original gang lay down their lives to bring all those characters back.  Going back in time might not actually be the big finale, it might be second act action leaving into a third act where Thanos joins forces with the Avengers against... a Gauntlet wielding Nebula (Karen Gillan's character does get to do that in the comic, and she's still around) or a different character... maybe the Skrulls will appear?  (I don't think that's the case though).

Whilst I am, I guess, disappointed with who they killed off, I do believe we'll have a cracking end to the three phases of the MCU.  I do believe that it'll end the franchise as we know - as certain characters will be leaving us, and there'll undoubtedly be a lump in the throat as they do.   Whilst a lot of the characters will (probably) be missing for large portion of the film, I do believe - if Sebastian Stan can be believed - there'll be the biggest 'money shot' we've seen - with more characters than we've ever seen, including characters like Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) coming into the mix somehow.

Whatever AVENGERS 4 has in store, I am so excited.  This will most definitely not be my last post n the matter.  There's so much to look forward to... what we already know, and all the stuff we haven't got a clue about!

[hollywoodglees]

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Festival Announces Audience and Jury Award Winners 

AFI FEST 2020 Will Take Place October 15-22

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Los Angeles, CA, November 22, 2019 — AFI FEST 2019 presented by Audi announced today the films that received this year’s Jury and Audience awards. The Grand Jury Award winners for Live Action and Animated Short will be eligible for the 2020 Best Live Action Short and Best Animated Short Academy Awards®. The Shorts jury was comprised of filmmakers Katrelle Kindred, Hannah Peterson and Davy Rothbart.

Highlights of the festival include Conversations with Peter Morgan and Martin Scorsese; the Indie Contenders and Doc Roundtables; a conversation with Eva Longoria and Dr. Stacy Smith on the Erasure of Latinx in Film; and a conversation with Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, and Susan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory and EVP of the AFI Institute.

  AFI FEST 2020 will open on October 15 and close on October 22. World premieres, galas and special screenings reflecting the best in global cinema will take place at iconic theaters in Los Angeles.

Audience Award – Feature I AM NOT ALONE (DIR Garin Hovannisian)

Capturing the fury, emotion, and spontaneous expressions of freedom that overtook the streets of Armenia in 2018, Garin Hovannisian’s fascinating eye-witness documentary affords a unique glimpse into a revolution-in-the-making by offering unprecedented access to the grassroots movement that dared to challenge an entrenched regime, as well as the regime’s leaders themselves.

Audience Award – Short

LOST & FOUND (DIR Orlando Von Einsiedel)

A determined man, armed only with a megaphone, his determination, and an unshakeable smile, sets out to reunite lost children with their families in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, which now houses over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims.

Grand Jury Award – Live-Action Short

EXAM (DIR Sonia K. Hadad)

Jury Statement: “We are so excited to award the Grand Jury Prize to Sonia K. Hadad’s EXAM. EXAM stood out from the other films for its bold directorial style, anchored by a stunning lead performance. The result is a tense portrait that reaches past its specificity into the universal.”

A teenage girl delivers a package of cocaine to a client and gets caught in a weird cycle of events.

Special Jury Prize—Live Action

MTHUNZI (DIR Tebogo Malebogo)

Jury Statement: “Centered on a chance encounter, MTHUNZI gives an intimate and powerful glance into the intricacies of unconscious bias. Beautifully captured, grounded performances and daring choices on behalf of the filmmaker left the jury stirred by this gentle narrative.”

Mthunzi becomes caught up in a world he does not belong to while walking home from the shops.

Special Jury Prize—Live Action

LIBERTY (DIR Faren Humes)

Jury Statement: “First-time actors deliver breakthrough performances under the steady guidance of director Faren Humes in this absorbing and exquisite short. The jury was impressed by its kinetic energy, its economic storytelling, and its probing yet compassionate tone.”

Alex and Milagros deal with great life upheaval as they prepare to dance at their community’s redevelopment groundbreaking ceremony.

 Grand Jury Prize—Animation

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER (DIR Niki Lindroth von Bahr)

Jury Statement: “We’re pleased to give the Grand Jury Prize in Animation to SOMETHING TO REMEMBER for its tender yet critical response to the world around us, and its perfect execution. This irresistible short transforms bittersweet anxieties into a modern lullaby — we couldn’t take our eyes off of it.”

 A lullaby before the great disaster.

Grand Jury Prize—Documentary (tie)

A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA (DIR Sophia Nahli Allison)

Jury Statement: “We are honored to award the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary filmmaking to A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA. It’s haunting and poetic exploration of a young woman’s life cut tragically short allows its audience to experience an injustice long hidden by time and politics. This film is a portrait framed by beautiful imagery, loving recollection and astonishing storytelling that will linger with the audience long after the credit roll.”

A dreamlike archive in conversation with the past and the present reimagines a more nuanced narrative of Latasha Harlins by excavating intimate and poetic memories shared by her cousin and best friend.

Grand Jury Prize—Documentary (tie)

THE CLINIC (DIR Elivia Shaw)

Jury Statement: “A gripping, harrowing peek into one corner of a vast epidemic, Elivia Shaw’s THE CLINIC is striking for the sensitivity and nuance with which it treats its subjects — both the people who come to Dr. Marc Lashner’s mobile needle exchange looking for help, and the scrappy team of volunteers who do what they can to offer it.”

Amidst a devastating opioid epidemic, a needle exchange and free clinic operate in the shadows of Fresno, California.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS This year’s festival showcased the best in global cinema due to the visionary support of Audi — now in its 16th consecutive year as Presenting Sponsor of the festival.

The complete AFI FEST program included 143 titles (81 features, 1 episodic, 40 shorts, 21 AFI Conservatory Showcase Shorts) of which 51% were directed by women. This year’s program represented 52 countries and included 8 official International Feature Film Oscar® submissions as well as 3 World Premieres. The total film breakdown by section was: Galas (6), Tributes (5), Special Screenings (9), New Auteurs (24), World Cinema (16), Midnight (2), Cinema’s Legacy (5), Documentary Films & Encore Screenings (15), Short Films (40) and AFI Conservatory Showcase (21).

The many highlights of the festival include Conversations with Peter Morgan and Martin Scorsese; the Indie Contenders Roundtable with Awkwafina (THE FAREWELL), Sterling K. Brown (WAVES), Cynthia Erivo (HARRIET), Jimmie Fails (THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO), Jon Hamm (THE REPORT), Florence Pugh (FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY and MIDSOMMAR), Kerry Washington (AMERICAN SON) and Alfre Woodard (CLEMENCY); the Doc Roundtable with filmmakers Alex Gibney (CITIZEN K), Eva Orner (BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR), Steven Bognar (AMERICAN FACTORY), Roger Ross Williams (THE APOLLO), Feras Fayyad (THE CAVE), Waad Al-Kateab (FOR SAMA), Lauren Greenfield (THE KINGMAKER) and Nanfu Wang (ONE CHILD NATION); a conversation with Eva Longoria and Dr. Stacy Smith on the Erasure of Latinx in Film and a conversation with Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, and Suan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory and EVP of the AFI Institute, exclusively for the AFI Fellows.

Additional guests and artists who attended the festival included Mahershala Ali, Gillian Anderson, Kathy Bates, Noah Baumbach, Beyoncé, Helena Bonham Carter, Simone Boyce, James. L. Brooks, Chinonye Chukwu, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Olivia Colman, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Laura Dern, Mati Diop, Snoop Dogg, Erin Doherty, Clint Eastwood, Flea, Harrison Ford, François Girard, Tom Harper, Paul Walter Hauser, Aldis Hodge, Joshua Jackson, Daniel Kaluuya, Jack Kilmer, John Lithgow, Melina Matsoukas (AFI Class of 2005), Fernando Meirelles, Tobias Menzies, Josh O’Connor, Edward James Olmos, Clive Owen, Dev Patel, Natalie Portman, Rob Reiner, Rihanna, Sam Rockwell, Evan Ross, Tracey Ellis Ross, Kelly Rowland, Howard Shore, Molly Sims, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bryan Stevenson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Chuck Todd, Maryam Touzani, Jodie Turner-Ross, Lena Waithe, Tallulah Belle Willis, and Zendaya.

Audi was the exclusive presenting sponsor of AFI FEST 2019. Additional top sponsors included Apple, AT&T and American Airlines, the official airline of AFI.

 About the American Film Institute (AFI)

Established in 1967, the American Film Institute is the nation’s non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring artists and audiences through initiatives that champion the past, present, and future of the moving image. AFI’s pioneering programs include filmmaker training at the AFI Conservatory; year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and at AFI Festivals across the nation; workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community; honoring today’s masters through the AFI Life Achievement Award and AFI AWARDS; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films that uphold film history for future generations.  Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, youtube.com/AFI, twitter.com/American Film and Instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.

About AFI FEST presented by Audi

Now in its 33rd year, AFI FEST presented by Audi is a world-class event, showcasing the best films from across the globe to captivated audiences in Los Angeles. With a diverse and innovative slate of programming, the eight-day festival presents screenings, panels and conversations, featuring both master filmmakers and new voices. World premieres, Galas and other special events take place at iconic LA locations, such as the historic TCL Chinese Theatre and the glamorous Hollywood Roosevelt. This year’s edition takes place November 14-21, 2019. Additional information about AFI FEST is available at AFI.com/AFIFEST. Connect with AFI FEST at facebook.com/AFIFEST, twitter.com/AFIFEST and youtube.com/AFI.

About Audi

Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands, delivering about 1.812 million vehicles globally in 2018. In the U.S., Audi of America sold nearly 224,000 vehicles in 2018. 2019 marks 50 years for the brand in the U.S. Visit audiusa.com or media.audiusa.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.

(Source: AFI FEST press release)

That's a wrap!!! @AFIFEST 2019 presented by @Audi announces jury and audience awards and new dates for 2020. See pictures and the lists of winners here! #AFIFEST2019 Posted by Larry Gleeson Festival Announces Audience and Jury Award Winners  AFI FEST 2020 Will Take Place October 15-22…

[thisdaynews]

Beleaguered refugee office girds for another wave of migrant children

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/beleaguered-refugee-office-girds-for-another-wave-of-migrant-children/

Beleaguered refugee office girds for another wave of migrant children

A surge in migrants crossing the southern border has swamped the Office of Refugee Resettlement and strained Border Patrol resources. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

immigration

The crunch is driven by a record influx of people crossing the border and complicated by the Trump administration’s policies.

Hundreds of migrant children being transferred from squalid, overcrowded Border Patrol detention centers are heading into the custody of a federal refugee agency that’s already struggling to feed and care for tens of thousands of minors.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement is so swamped with new arrivals thatit is burning through cash to house children in military bases around the country, including one in Oklahoma that interned Japanese-Americans during World War II. On Tuesday, the agency even had to send 100 children back to a much-criticized Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, saying it lacks the room to take them.

Story Continued Below

The result: Already-traumatized children are being thrust from one agency in crisis to another, while Congress has been wrangling over a $4.5 billion emergency border funding measure. Two-thirds of that money would go to the refugee office, which has warned that it will run out of funds as soon as this month.

The refugee office’s shelters have taken in more than 52,000 children since October — a 60 percent jump from the previous year, driven by a record influx of migrants and complicated by the Trump administration���s aggressive border policies. Its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, is pursuing strategies to cope with the surge, which include freezing money for anti-trafficking efforts and services for survivors of torture, and possibly furloughing employees.

The crunch is also slowing HHS’s oversight of shelters, efforts to expand the number of beds and attempts to unite migrant children with sponsors in the United States.

And it is adding to a growing crisis surrounding the federal government’s detention of migrant children. The Border Patrol is under fire following disclosures that some of its detentioncenters lack soap, toothbrushes, clean bedding or other necessities for the children, some of them infants, in conditions that doctors, lawyers and public health experts call a potential breeding ground for disease. At least seven children have died in U.S. custody since September.

“These kids are really suffering,” said Jennifer Podkul, senior director for policy and advocacy for KIND, which provides legal services to migrant children. “If you put all of these changes together, I think this is a moment when kids have had less protection than they have in the past.”

The HHS-funded refugee shelters — where kids may live for weeks under the supervision of social workers, usually in small standalone structures, until they’re placed with U.S.-based sponsors — are distinct from the Border Patrol facilities that cannot legally hold children for more than 72 hours. The latest escalation of the border crisis comes as Congress is trying to complete the long-stalled border aid package. HHS Secretary Alex Azar for weeks has pushed Congress to fund an emergency $4.5 billion package that would provide nearly $3 billion to shore up his agency’s services for migrant children.

“This historical influx is challenging the capacity of the federal government to shelter UAC [unaccompanied alien children] and presents child welfare concerns beyond the treacherous journey that these minor children take across the southern border,” said an HHS spokesperson in an emailed statement.

But the Trump administration has also taken steps that worsened pressure on the HHS refugee office.

Some would-be sponsors have been scared away from taking custody of children, fearful that they’ll be deported under an administration policy requiring them to share information with immigration authorities. Some states and nonprofit shelters have repeatedly rejected HHS’s efforts to expand capacity, because of the cloud hanging over the refugee program. Congressional investigations are taxing the refugee office’s personnel and morale, according to department officials who spoke on the condition they not be identified.

“It’s a very difficult time,” an HHS official told POLITICO. “The program grew faster than we were ready.”

House and Senate versions of a border funding bill would boost oversight of the facilities, but the House version goes further, for example by imposing strict standards on unlicensed influx shelters and requiring that all unaccompanied children receive comprehensive legal services. The House package had faced resistance from progressive Democratic lawmakers, who fear the administration would use the funding to accelerate enforcement efforts against immigrants.

“We do not provide a ‘blank check’ to the administration to continue its punitive and failed immigration policies,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.),a senior appropriatorwho supports the bill, said at a House Rules Committee meeting on Monday. “This bill includes an unprecedented level of legal conditions to ensure the safety and protection of children in federal care.”

But any new funding would subsidize HHS refugee operations only through September — setting up another spending fightalmost immediately.

Meanwhile, the refugee office is reeling from staff shortages and lack of experience placing migrant children in the United States, say former agency employees and shelter workers familiar with its operations.

“There are fewer staff to oversee and manage these processes,” said Bob Carey, who was a director of the office in the Obama administration. “That is a significant risk posed by lack of funding, not to mention the demoralizing effect on staff who have worked in a crisis situation for a long period of time.”

HHS recently ordered educational and recreational activities in shelters to be scaled back to save money, including English classes, leading to weeks of confusion and harsh headlines. The refugee office reversed the decision when it realized that licensed shelters had to provide those services to comply with state law, one shelter staffer told POLITICO.

HHS said in an email that federal law requires it to scale back all activities not required for direct care and the safety of children because of the funding shortage. Three nonprofit shelter operators said they were also relying on emergency donors to provide funding for additional services.

The administration in May 2018 also began requiring shelters to share immigration information on the children’s sponsors with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a policy that has deterred somesponsors from coming forward to claim children. While Congress in February directed the refugee office to temporarily halt the policy, the office delayed informing shelter operators until a June 10 email, which was obtained by POLITICO.

Bracing for a surge, the health department for months has been overhauling the personnel dealing with migrant children’s care. Lynn Johnson, the HHS assistant secretary who joined the administration last fall and oversees children’s and family services, has imported a new team of advisers in recent months and brought more rigor to running the refugee office, say three officials who have worked with her.

Meanwhile, several political appointees who were involved in last year’s family separation crisis have left the agency. Maggie Wynne, the HHS counselor who helped oversee family and children’s services, was recently detailed to the White House’s domestic policy council, say four people with knowledge of the move. Scott Lloyd, who ran the refugee office during last year’s crisis and was effectively removed from the role for mishandling family reunifications, transferred to a different office in December and left the administration this month.

Some shelter officials say the refugee office has improved its operations since last year’s crisis. “There has been progress,” said Dona Abbott, of Bethany Christian Services, which helps place migrant children with foster families until they move in with sponsors. The number of days that children spent in refugee office custody has decreased to 44 days in May from 90 days in November, as HHS finds homes for the children more quickly.

However, the damage from the Trump administration’s defunct family-separation policy — beyond the harm to the families themselves — is lingering as states reject efforts to help HHS boost shelter capacity and some nonprofits have backed away, too.

That means HHS is relying more heavily on for-profit operators to house the children, a more expensive approach that is forcing the department to spend its limited funding faster. The temporary shelters cost at least three times as much as regular shelters. The temporary shelters also aren’t subject to state oversight, unlike licensed facilities that normally contract with the refugee office to operate shelters. And it means thousands of children being house together, compared with the more individualized attention they would get in foster care or smaller shelters.

“I think it’s unfortunately one of those situations of last resort,” Carey said.

Read More

[thewebofslime]

A couple days ago, Mexican troops reportedly came over into U.S. territory near El Paso in an unmarked vehicle on April 13, and disarmed the U.S. soldiers on the U.S. side, sent by President Trump to support U.S. border protection operations. Weirdly, they took the U.S. soldiers' weapons they'd confiscated, and then placed them into the soldiers' own vehicles and left. Did they do that pointless exercise to show who was boss in those parts? It's hard to say. CNN had the most detailed report, beginning with: Two US soldiers were questioned by Mexican troops earlier this month while conducting a surveillance operation on the US side of the southern border, two US defense officials tell CNN. "On April 13, 2019, at approximately 2 p.m. CDT, five to six Mexican military personnel questioned two U.S. Army soldiers who were conducting border support operations in an unmarked (Customs and Border Protection) vehicle near the southwest border in the vicinity of Clint, Texas," US Northern Command told CNN in a statement. "The US soldiers were appropriately in US territory" during the encounter, the statement added. During the incident, the Mexican soldiers pointed their weapons at the US troops, removing a soldier's sidearm and returning it to the unmarked US vehicle, the officials said. That's an egregious violation of U.S. territory and under most circumstances would have been grounds for firing back. The report said the soldiers followed procedures, however, recognizing that there wasn't a war on, and allowed the Mexicans to disarm them to prevent an escalation. No foul on their part. That said, the facts are now out: The Mexicans were in the wrong, they were invading our territory, witting or not, they treated our soldiers like miscreants, and now they owe us an apology. That's the appropriate response. That's what decent nations do. I find no evidence they've given one. The CNN report explains the matter as a simple mixup, with Mexican soldiers not knowing where they were, but there's some grounds for skepticism. Start with how the border near Clint, Texas is delineated. The dividing line is a river - the Rio Grande. The U.S. soldiers were standing on the U.S. side which came before a border fence yet was still on the right side of the river. The Mexicans would have had to have crossed a river to get to where they could intercept a U.S. soldier and it's quite unlikely you could cross a river, even a shallow one, without knowing it. CNN reports that the river can be dry at times, and there's lots of brush in the area, meaning, it's easy to get lost. But there's also an argument to be made that the brush itself would make the river's location knowable just by observation, and even more so with basic soldier compass skills. At a minimum, the Mexicans didn't have those, which is an embarrassment on top of a blunder. But I don't think that's the only possibility as to what happened. Wikipedia reports that the Rio Grande tends to run dry at the Presidio, Texas point in the river, which is not far from Big Bend. Clint, Texas, where the incident happened, is a five-hour-drive 250 miles northwest. If Wikipedia is right, the river should have still been running. I also had a look at Rio Grande river levels in mid-April, checking with data from the National Parks Service. Average river depth in April is three feet, but that is just an average, it could be quite shallower near Clint, Texas. Here are the water readings from multiple points on the Rio Grande, according to the National Park Service - this is their list with their links: Current River Level Observations Presidio (Managed by International Boundary Waters Commission - reported in metric units) Castolon (Managed by the USGS - reported in feet) Johnsons Ranch (Managed by International Boundary Waters Commission - reported in metric units) Rio Grande Village (Managed by the USGS - reported in feet) Dryden (Managed by International Boundary Waters Commission - reported in metric units) Langtry (Managed by International Boundary Waters Commission - reported in metric units) Some of the river points, particularly in the north, had low readings indeed. But none showed absent levels, none showed a river dried up. There may be additional kinds of data out there that would show a dried up river. But based on what's known now, it appears that Mexican soldiers did indeed cross a river, or perhaps something muddy enough, and then claimed they thought they were lost. I suspect something else might have been going on - the Mexicans were testing whether President Trump's troops might fight at the border in response to an alien invasion or other provocation, or de-escalate, which is what happened. It may have been that they wanted that intelligence as massive caravans make their way through Mexico to the Texas border. Even more disturbing, the question is worth asking if the characters in the unmarked cars who disarmed the U.S. troops really were Mexican troops - smugglers controlled by Mexico's cartels are very organized these days. Could they have been testing the troops. Regardless of what happened, Mexico owes the U.S. an apology, particularly since its story does not appear to add up. The U.S. has an obligation to get to the bottom of it, too, and report back to us just what this strange incident means. Mexico has ;ately been loud about lecturing the U.S. to control its militia groups on its own side of the border even as it allows cartels and human smugglers to control its side of the border. We know the border is lawless and illegal immigrants are getting in. Now we are seeing Mexican troops getting in, too. What exactly is going on?

[kansascityhappenings]

Man charged with killing 4 people in KCK, 1 in Missouri, found dead in jail cell

ST. LOUIS — A murder suspect who led authorities on a manhunt and chase across Missouri after allegedly killing four people in Kansas City, Kan., and one more in Missouri in 2016, was found dead in a jail cell early Tuesday morning. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says that Pablo Serrano-Vitorino was found alone and unresponsive in a jail cell just after 2 a.m., and pronounced dead at a hospital just after 3 a.m.

The sheriff’s office says that Serrano-Vitorino had been jailed in St. Louis. His murder case in Missouri was moved from Montgomery County, where his alleged fifth and final killing took place, to St. Louis.

Serrano-Vitorino was also charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Wyandotte County for allegedly shooting Clint Harter, Austin Harter, Mike Capps, and Jake Waters at the beginning of March in 2016.

After the killings in Kansas City, Kan., police began an intense manhunt for Serrano-Vitorino, ultimately finding him in Montgomery County about a day later, and after he allegedly killed one more victim, 49-year-old Randy Nordman in New Florence, Mo. Nearly 100 officers, including K-9 units and SWAT teams worked on the manhunt. He was reportedly armed with an assault rifle at the time of his capture.

Shortly after his arrest, he unsuccessfully attempted to take his own life in jail. The news release on Tuesday from Montgomery County doesn’t elaborate on his cause of death.

Pablo Serrano-Vitorino

Serrano-Vitorino’s status in the United States was a source of controversy and an eventual lawsuit. He was in the country illegally after being deported in 2004 due to a felony conviction, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided this statement around the time of his arrest:

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) previously deported Pablo Serrano-Vitorino, an illegal alien from Mexico, in April 2004, based on final orders of removal from a federal immigration judge.  Mr. Serrano-Vitorino illegally re-entered the United States on an unknown date.”

While it’s unknown when he re-entered the U.S., he had two incidents with police before his alleged killing spree. He was in the Wyandotte County jail in June of 2015 for an alleged municipal charge of domestic battery. Three months later, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says he was fingerprinted in Overland Park, but he was released because of an error by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE says it erroneously issued a detainer to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, instead of to the Overland Park Municipal Court.

The incidents led to a lawsuit filed in Kansas City, Kan., alleging that officials didn’t follow proper procedures. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the widow and two children of Clint Harter, one of the four Kansas men killed, and the widow of Randy Nordman.

The scope of his case also presented a challenge for prosecutors, who had discussed possible extradition from Missouri to Kansas so he could face his Wyandotte County charges. Ultimately he never returned to Kansas, and had a jury trial scheduled in St. Louis at the beginning of October. He was facing the death penalty, despite multiple motions to strike

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/04/09/man-charged-with-killing-4-people-in-kck-1-in-missouri-found-dead-in-jail-cell/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/man-charged-with-killing-4-people-in-kck-1-in-missouri-found-dead-in-jail-cell/

[investmart007]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska |  Polish tourists killed in sightseeing plane crash in Alaska

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/Rw3aQW

ANCHORAGE, Alaska |  Polish tourists killed in sightseeing plane crash in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska  — Searchers on Monday found four people dead in a sightseeing airplane carrying Polish tourists in Alaska’s Denali National Park — a day and a half after thick clouds hampered the response to distress calls.

Another person is missing and presumed dead after the crash Saturday evening on a mountain ridge about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Denali, North America’s tallest mountain.

After going down, the pilot, identified Monday as Craig Layson, reported by satellite phone that passengers suffered injuries, but the connection failed before he could give details.

The airplane was stocked with sleeping bags, a stove and food, giving hope that survivors would be found despite terrain described by the National Park Service as “extremely steep and a mix of near-vertical rock, ice and snow.”

Low-lying clouds and rainy conditions prevented crews from spotting the wreckage until a break in the clouds Monday allowed a helicopter to reach the crash site.

A park service ranger was lowered down on a line from the copter and dug through snow that had filled the aircraft to find the bodies of four people. There were no footprints or other disturbances in the snow that would have indicated anyone made it out of the plane, the park service said.

The ranger was pulled out after confirming the deaths. A park service spokeswoman said she could not comment on recovery plans.

“We’re working that out right now,” Katherine Belcher said. The plane operated by K2 Aviation had taken off Saturday evening with Layson and four passengers from Poland for a tour of Kahiltna Glacier, the jumping off point for climbers attempting to climb Denali.

It crashed around near the top of 10,900-foot (3,300-meter) Thunder Mountain, which rises above the glacier and is described by the park service as more of a milelong ridge than a mountain.

Immediately after crashing, Layson used a satellite phone to call the K2 office in the community of Talkeetna. He made a second call about an hour later, Belcher said. On one of the calls, he said passengers were injured, but the connection failed.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Ideally, an investigator would travel to the crash site and keep analyzing the wreckage when it was removed from the mountain, spokesman Clint Johnson said.

A recovery likely will not occur until later this week at the earliest because of foul weather and the dangerous location, he said.

“My understanding is that it’s in a crevasse-laden area,” Johnson said, adding that reaching the site will “require technical climbing experience.”

Layson was from Saline, Michigan, the Saline Post reported. He also owned Stony Creek Collision in nearby Ypsilanti, Michigan, manager Bobby Seldkamp told The Associated Press by phone Monday evening.

Belcher said the park officials were working to contact family members in Poland before identifications would be released. Belcher said the tour had been arranged by a tour operator in Poland with K2 Aviation.

Jason Martin, director of operations for American Alpine Institute, said more crevasses appear with summer snow melt and climbing generally ends in mid-July.

“Everything becomes harder because of the amount of crevasses opening and the weaker snow bridges,” he said.

But sightseeing flights can still land on the glacier, allowing visitors to walk on the ice field, officials said.

Temperatures on the mountain at 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) can be warm if the sun is out but likely below freezing at night, he said. His company regularly flies with K2 Aviation for Denali climbs, and before taking off, pilots give passengers a briefing on emergency gear stowed in the back of the airplanes, he said.

K2 Aviation suspended all sightseeing flights after the crash and said it’s cooperating with the investigation. The company is owned by Suzanne and Todd Rust and has been family-owned and operated for 55 years, according to a statement.

By DAN JOLING ,Associated Press

[clintjohnson]

[cryptokingrobiul]

Top 20 Broker

New Post has been published on http://www.top20broker.com/news/toll-london-attack-global-assailant-born-britain/

Toll of London Attack Is Global for an Assailant Born in Britain

The roster of the dead and wounded spanned the globe: a veteran Scotland Yard constable, a Mormon couple from Utah, South Korean tourists, French high schoolers and Romanian lovers.

The killer turned out to be homegrown, a 52-year-old Briton, Khalid Masood, who had a criminal record but was not on any police-monitoring lists. The Islamic State, which rejects peace and coexistence, described Mr. Masood on Thursday as a disciple and a hero for the assault carried out a day earlier in the shadow of Big Ben.

Mr. Masood plowed a rented Hyundai sport utility vehicle through pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge, killing two and injuring at least 40; crashed the vehicle into a fence; and then emerged brandishing knives to fatally stab the constable before other police officers shot and killed him.

On Thursday evening, another seriously injured victim died, bringing the total number of dead to five, including Mr. Masood.

Details about Mr. Masood emerged on Thursday as the government worked to project normalcy and calm nerves.

The authorities emphasized that they thought the assailant had acted alone, and that they did not expect any further attacks. But they raided six properties across the country, detaining eight people in London and Birmingham.

“Yesterday, an act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy,” Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament, addressing colleagues who a day earlier had been placed on lockdown for hours. “We are not afraid, and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism.” She called the violence “an attack on free people everywhere.”

At the United Nations, where the Security Council observed a minute of silence, Britain’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said, “The world is united to defeat the people who launched this attack and to defeat their bankrupt and odious ideology.”

Even as the British capital returned to its daily rhythms, and as Parliament resumed business, police officers were trying to learn whether they had missed signs of Mr. Masood’s radicalization.

He was born on Dec. 25, 1964, in Kent, in southeastern England, and had recently lived near Birmingham, historically known for its automotive industry and now home to many South Asian and Caribbean immigrants and their children. It was there, in the Spring Hill neighborhood, that Mr. Masood rented from an Enterprise branch the Hyundai Tucson that he used in the attack.

Mr. Masood had a record of convictions, from 1983 to 2003, for assault, weapons possession and violations of public order. But he was not the subject of any current investigation, and “there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack,” the London police said.

Birmingham has a history of connections with radicalism. It was home to Rashid Rauf, a liaison to Al Qaeda and a main suspect in a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners in 2006; he was killed in 2008 in an American airstrike in northern Pakistan. Last year, security services foiled a bomb plot in Birmingham, linked to extremists.

The Home Office made support for the Islamic State a criminal offense in June 2014, when Mrs. May was home secretary, and experts on radicalism said that the change had driven many extremists underground.

On Thursday morning, the Islamic State issued a statement on the messaging app Telegram, calling the attacker a soldier who had “carried out the operation in response to appeals” to fight Western powers involved in military operations in the Middle East. The group has called for attacks on Britain, and Mr. Masood’s assault was reminiscent of attacks in France and Germany carried out with vehicles. A man tried to drive into a crowd in Antwerp, Belgium, on Thursday but was stopped.

Mrs. May visited victims at a hospital in London for 40 minutes on Thursday, according to her office. Details about most have not been released, but some information has dribbled out.

Police Constable Keith Palmer, 48, a member of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was patrolling the Parliament building when the assailant fatally stabbed him. Tributes for Constable Palmer have poured in, and the Metropolitan Police announced on Twitter that his badge number would be retired.

“Keith Palmer was killed while bravely doing his duty — protecting our city and the heart of our democracy from those who want to destroy our way of life,” London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said.

Kurt W. Cochran, an American traveling in Europe with his wife, Melissa Payne Cochran, died of injuries, according to a statement from the family issued through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City.

Clint Payne, Mr. Cochran’s brother-in-law, said in the statement that the couple had been traveling in Europe for their 25th wedding anniversary, and had been scheduled to fly home on Thursday. He called Mr. Cochran “a good man and a loving husband.”

Mr. Cochran’s wife was wounded in the attack, and hospitalized with “a broken leg, a broken rib and a cut on her head,” her sister, Sarah Payne-Mcfarlane, said in a post on Facebook. Their parents were serving as missionaries in London, according to the church.

The couple ran a recording studio in West Bountiful, Utah, and Mr. Cochran had shared pictures of their stops in Germany and Scotland.

Aysha Frade, 43, a British teacher who lived in London, was fatally injured as she was heading to pick up her two daughters. She taught Spanish not far from Westminster Bridge, according to the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia, and she had family in Spain, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry.

The injured also included three 10th-grade boys from the Brittany region of France who were on the bridge with other visiting students and who sustained leg and arm fractures. On Thursday, the French Education Ministry said that their conditions were no longer life-threatening.

Five South Koreans were wounded when they were mobbed by a crowd fleeing the attack site, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry. Four of them — three women and a man in their 50s and 60s — suffered fractures and other injuries. A 67-year-old woman, however, required surgery for a head injury, according to South Korean news reports.

The two Romanian victims, Andreea Cristea, 31, and Andrei Burnaz, 32, were from the Black Sea port city of Constanta, according to the Romanian news agency Mediafax, which quoted an official saying they had been visiting London to celebrate Mr. Burnaz’s birthday.

Ms. Cristea was rescued after she plunged off the bridge into the Thames as the assailant careened the S.U.V. through the crowd, and news reports said she suffered serious head injuries and lung damage. Mr. Burnaz’s foot was fractured.

An area outside Parliament remained a large crime scene on Thursday, as police officers examined the pavement stones for clues.

The Palace of Westminster, which includes the Houses of Parliament, is a bewildering warren of corridors, and the work of ensuring that it was clear of assailants took time in the immediate aftermath of the assault. A group of visiting schoolchildren — some in tears — were among those caught up in the confusion, which lasted for hours.

Lawmakers were confined to specific areas, where they were given water and in some cases sandwiches. But what some lacked most of all was the power to communicate, and to check that their staff was safe.

Over all, the atmosphere was one of calm and cooperation, however. “People appreciated the gravity of the situation,” said Nigel Evans, a Conservative lawmaker.

That may have been partly because an attack of this type had not been completely unexpected. Security has been noticeably tightened in Parliament in recent years, with large barriers placed in front of parts of the building to thwart the threat of a truck bomb. Police officers with submachine guns patrol the grounds routinely.

But the complex is by a busy street, and some lawmakers still wonder whether some of the security was designed with the idea of fending off the type of attacks once mounted by the Irish Republican Army, which in 1979 assassinated a Conservative lawmaker, Airey Neave, using a car bomb in Parliament.

“I am shocked, but I am not surprised,” Chris Bryant, a Labour lawmaker, said of the latest attack. “We have always known that a marauding attack by an individual would be the most difficult to prevent.”

On Thursday, with tightened security, lawmakers crowded into the parliamentary chamber determined to show that they would not be deterred. Ed Miliband, a former leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the mood had been one of “shock and determination and also admiration for the job that the security people are doing.”

“I think we are seeing people’s increased determination to carry on with their normal business,” he said.

source

[clintjohnson]

[clintjohnson]

Official Statement On The Passing Of Pope Francis

[clintjohnson]

Official Statement On Vivek Ramaswamy Running For Governor Of Ohio

[clintjohnson]

[clintjohnson]

[clintjohnson]

official statement from 12/27/2023 thanking people for birthday wishes.