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spooks-and-tea · 5 years ago

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Entangled (Spencer Reid x femReader) [Ch.11] The Final Chapter.

Summary: You don’t know how it happened. One moment you were watching Criminal Minds, and the next moment you were literally in the show. Can Spencer be the key to helping you find your way back home?

Warnings: minor character death, mentions of su*cide, bad explanations of quantum mechanics, bad words, sexual situations (some non-con), the usual criminal minds-type content

A/N: Some big bad interrogation Spencer vibes. Thanks for reading. This chapter was short, so I just decided 2 chapter posts in one day. Let me know what you thought of the story~Pleeeeease no one repost on other sites without my permission.

Word Count: 2,015

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Chapter 10. Chapter 11.

************************************************************************After Spencer had disappeared, JJ was surprised, to say the least.

She held the unsub by the cuffs as he angrily spoke about Spencer's big genius brain solving an equation in 2 minutes which had taken himself a lifetime of work to figure out. She asked him where the machine had taken Spencer and he replied with all of this talk about quantum mechanics, particle waves, split dimensions, and voids. Stuff that Spencer had been info-dumping about for months, regarding the case.

All JJ cared to know about was if Spencer was safe, and to that the unsub just shrugged.

The first thing the team did when you all returned to the BAU was throw the unsub into an interrogation room.

Spencer was quick to volunteer as the only interrogator in the room, he argued this unsub would react the strongest to him.

The rest of the team were still flustered from all of this inter-dimensional information that Spencer had gone on about on the ride back. You had backed him up wholeheartedly and you were seemingly in great health after being gone for 5 months.

"Alright Reid, you seem to be the only one of us that has a good idea of what's going on. We'll watch from here, and if he gets too aggressive, we'll send someone else in," Hotch agreed.

You watched from the double sided mirror, the unsub was looking at it as if he could see you. You clenched your fists. He was the reason you'd nearly lost Spencer. He was the reason that Spencer looked sick from overworking and you had nightmares for 5 months straight.

"Hey, will you be okay in here?" Spencer lowered his voice to ask you. You had refused to stop holding his hand since you got here. He noticed your fist clenching tighter.

"I don't want him to take you away from me again," you replied.

"He's in handcuffs, and his machine is being collected for evidence. He isn't a wizard, he needs that machine like Nikola Tesla needs an inductor. He can't hurt us anymore," Spencer tried to comfort you, using the soft tone he knew you loved.

"Just don't take too long in there, and give him hell for me, alright?" You stood on your toes and kissed him.

He gave you a small smile and nodded.

You slowly slid your hand from his as he turned to walk out.

When he entered the interrogation room, he was no longer soft-Spencer.

The unsub didn't even turn to look at him, he was fixated on the double mirror. His eyes unnerved you.

You crossed your hands over your chest and leaned against the wall, deciding to keep your eyes steadily on Spencer.

"We know who you are." Spencer spoke. You smiled, recognizing that Spencer was turning the unsub's words to you against him.

Was Spencer purposefully trying to make you happy while he was in the middle of an interrogation?

"I know who you are as well, Dr. Reid," his gritty voice made your skin crawl.

"Good, then you should know that I understand the significance of the science experiments you've been conducting, Dr. Arnold Lynch. You've been labeled as a dangerous person to the entire world; a mad scientist." Spencer sat in a chair, his arms crossed.

"Now they listen." Lynch, rolled his eyes, finally looking at Spencer. His unimpressed gaze trailed up and down, sizing him up.

"I was like you once. Young, an impressive mind; maybe if I had found her sooner she would have loved me." Lynch added. He looked back to the mirror, you tasted bile at the back of your throat.

Spencer leaned forward in his chair, putting his elbows on the table.

"You're trying to change the subject." Spencer pointed out. "Tell me how all of this started. Tell me where your partner, Dr. Deborah Tryst, is hiding and how she helped you."

Lynch's eyes widened. "We were colleagues. She helped me build the machine, and I wrote the equations that made it work. We went in together, the first time."

"She tested the machine with you?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, we experimented. We tried to study the void space for years. Then, one day, a crack formed. Through that crack I saw her." The unsub looked towards you, seemingly locking eyes with you through the one-way glass.

"Y/N?" Spencer clarified.

"Correct. She was spectacular, the girl from a parallel dimension. We didn't know why the crack revealed her at first, but then we saw the string. It was barely noticeable, like a fishing line. It led from her dimensional crack to ours. All it took was a tug on that wire to know who the other end of that line connected to."

He was watching me? What a sick creep!

"Who?"

"Don't play stupid with me Doctor, I know you feel it."

Spencer swallowed, his eyes flicking to you for a moment.

"I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance. My colleague thought differently. Now that the cracks were open, she observed you both, she knew you both would feel-" he sighed, "-incomplete until you were in the same space. She decided to play matchmaker and ruin everything. I loved Y/N first. Y/N was mine and she was a beacon, a magnificent anomaly! I took her back so she could be my pet; so she would never be yours!" He angrily spat, slamming his fists onto the table. Spencer stood, seething. You felt similarly.

"You had no right!" Spencer's voice was deep and angry. You'd never heard him so angry, other than in the show.

"No, Tryst had no right bringing her to you in the first place!"

"Y/N wants to be here. This is her decision. If you're so convinced you love her, you would want what is best for her."

"What's best for her Dr. Reid, or what's best for you? Is she any better off fighting criminals for the BAU? A job she isn't trained for." He cruelly laughed. "Is putting her in danger just so you can fuck her every once in a while off-duty not selfish? You think I'm the selfish one, look at yourself. You're just expecting her to be the lawful Bonnie to your Clyde, how long until you drive her into a hail of bullets?" Lynch smirked.

Spencer's eyes widened and he gripped the table.

No Spence, don't let him get to you.

"That's it, I'm going in there." Morgan spoke up next to you.

Hotch held his hand up to block him; his eyes on Spencer. "Wait, let Spencer speak. He's getting the unsub to talk, and that's good."

Spencer quickly collected himself, his expression going blank.

"Where is Dr. Deborah Tryst?" Spencer asked.

"Ooh, did I strike a chord, Doctor?" Lynch chuckled, leaning back in his chair.

"Where is Dr. Deborah Tryst?" Spencer repeated, angrier.

"Probably playing matchmaker. There are an infinite amount of dimensions for her to play with." Lynch shrugged.

"She's still in the void?"

"Yup, she's the reason the crack sealed when you two went through. She trapped herself in there and made sure I could never go back. Whatever she's doing, we'll never know for sure because it is impossible to recreate the initial crack. You should know just how improbable it was to create one in the first place, Dr. Reid."

"So there is no further possibility of danger?"

"Not cosmically, but, for our impossible girl over there, who knows what kind of dangerous situations you will put her in." Lynch nodded to the double mirror.

"She is not yours and she will never be yours. We're putting you in a maximum security prison where you will never see her again. So you can sit in your cell for the rest of your life and remember that she's with me, not you." Spencer's eyes darkened. You wanted to end this fight and get him out of there. He was only getting angrier.

Hotch walked through the interrogation room door, holding it open. "Reid," was all he said.

That was it, Spencer had gotten a lengthy confession from the unsub. The details would come up during his trial.

Spencer stood up, not caring about the wobbling chair as he did so. He walked out of the room and you went to the hallway to meet him. You met him as he was stomping down the hall away from you. "Spencer!" You called, hurrying to follow him.

He made his way inside an empty meeting space and you quickly slipped in behind him; closing the door.

He loosened his tie and ran his hands through his hair. You let him cool off for a few moments.

"He's right. I am selfish." He sounded beyond angry, even guilty.

He leaned forward on the meeting table, clenching his fists against the wood.

"He was just trying to get the last word in. Don't pay his words any more attention." You spoke, softly; placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You shouldn't work here. You're not properly trained for the high-intensity, high-risk situations."

"Then I can train. Anyways, I doubt Hotch is going to let me work here now that he knows," you said, sadly. You loved working here. You loved helping people and being with your BAU family. You loved Spencer's daily teasing.

"Being with me puts you in enough danger. I couldn't protect you. What's stopping something from happening to you again?" He looked up at you, though he was still hunched over the table.

"All the other times you protected me." You gave him a small smile. "When Chris threatened me, you confronted him. When I jumped into the lake, you stopped me from drowning. When I was stuck in my dimension, you rescued me from a life of being absolutely miserable without you. When the unsub first encountered us, you stood in front of me even though you couldn't see him. You've protected me far more times than you are choosing to acknowledge. I trust you with my life, Spence."

Spencer's shoulders fell as his breath evened out.

"I love you Y/N, I just don't want you to get hurt." Spencer whispered, his grip on the table loosening. He slowly stood up straight to look at you.

"We aren't some alternate justice-duo, Bonnie and Clyde. We're perfectly capable of protecting each other, and we aren't some crazy serial-killing, bank-robbing couple. We're Spencer and Y/N, the BAU's hottest couple." You spoke with exaggeration and winked.

Spencer gave you a small smile. His hair was a mess, his clothing was wrinkled, and his tie was undone.

"It's been a long day. Take me home?" You asked, giving him your best doe-eyes as you reached up to fix his tie.

"Oh. About that- you're apartment and all your money and assets are sorta gone now. You were presumed dead."

"I'm not talking about that place." You rolled your eyes; unaffected by the news.

You were used to being dirt poor anyways and that house was nothing but an empty shell.

"Home, with you," you explained.

"Oh."

Spencer broke out into a large grin. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into a kiss. His coffee and woodsy-vanilla scent enveloped you like a warm hug. When he pulled away, he held his hand out to you.

"Come on then, I'll take you home."

Home, it was a strange concept. Your now-empty apartment in your dimension was once your home. You'd once almost drowned yourself to try to get back to that place.

Then you fell in love with Spencer, and living with him made you discover what a home truly was. It wasn't where you were from, it was the place you loved to be; the place you felt most comfortable, the most yourself.

Your home was in Spencer's dimension, Spencer's apartment, Spencer's arms, Spencer's everyday gestures, Spencer's smile, Spencer's late night chess games, Spencer's "I love you's," Spencer's raspy morning voice, Spencer's unruly hair, Spencer's hand kisses, Spencer's scrunched nose ticks, Spencer's info-dumps, Spencer's everything.

It was the most improbable circumstance and the one thing you were most thankful for. You got to spend your new life with Spencer.

In the end, Spencer Reid kept his promise; he did help you find your way home. Your way home to him.

#criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fic #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fic #cm #drama #fanfiction #romance

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tcm · 6 years ago

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Image Is Everything: How Cary Grant Took Control by Jill Blake

During studio-era classic Hollywood, the lives of stars, both in private and public, were almost always on display for peering eyes. Studios controlled nearly every aspect of their contract stars’ lives, closely guarding their public images and fabricating intriguing backstories filled with fictional details worthy of their own movie. Contract stars were a valuable commodity for a studio, and the more of them you had at your disposal meant more chances at successful movies, which then meant more recognition and most importantly, higher profits. Bringing a star under contract was a huge financial cost for a studio, but like any property (and that’s exactly what these actors and actresses were), the only way to make money is to invest it. While countless stars found themselves locked in unforgiving multi-year studio contracts that stifled their creativity and presented lackluster projects, a small handful, through smart business decisions and careful strategy, were able to break free of the traditional studio contract (well, as much as they could at that time) and carve out a more varied and creatively satisfying career. One of the actors who successfully broke out was the legendary Cary Grant.

But how did he do it? How did he break free of the system that made him, while also using it to his benefit? Throughout his life, including long before he ever stepped foot on a Hollywood sound stage and even after his retirement in 1966, Grant maintained tight control on his carefully crafted public persona and image, in the same way a Hollywood star today guards the details of their private life. And while Grant guarded his private life, too, he knew that his most valuable asset was being Cary Grant. At times, the public and private Cary Grant were one in the same; his name, his look and his voice were not only his livelihood, but his reputation, his legacy.

So many other things were out of his control: abandonment by his mother at the age of nine when she was institutionalized for mental illness (at the time he had been told that she left on holiday and eventually died; he didn’t discover the truth of her disappearance until he was in his early 30s, when he reunited with her); his father’s philandering; his difficulties in his personal and romantic relationships, including marriages to five women with all but one ending in divorce; and his desperate need to be liked by the general public. With all of those things bearing down on him, Grant made sure he had complete control of everything he possibly could. While his tenacious drive and dedication to create and maintain control of his image, regardless of the insecurities prompting it, proved to be worthwhile for Grant both personally and professionally, it was also groundbreaking for those in Hollywood who would follow him and his example, as he unintentionally set the template for career independence.

At a young age, Cary Grant (born Archibald Alexander Leach) was already showing the early signs of the great actor and performer he would later become. He naturally took to dance and the piano and was absolutely transfixed by live vaudeville shows and the one-reel comedies he saw in the movie theater. Grant wasn’t a great student in school, preferring to flaunt his acrobatic skills around his classmates and spend his free time hanging around backstage at the vaudeville theaters in his hometown of Bristol, England. After being expelled from school, Grant joined the famous Pender Troupe where he honed his acrobatic skills and learned about the importance of timing, particularly when working within an ensemble. Later, Grant’s ability to gauge how to use timing in his screwball comedies would prove to be an invaluable and unique skill, setting him apart from his fellow comedic actors. In 1920, when Grant was only 16, he left England to tour with the Pender Troupe in America. He soon realized that he longed for much more than a traveling acrobatic troupe could offer him, so he made the first of many shrewd career decisions that would pay off many times over.

When the Pender Troupe’s engagement at the New York Hippodrome came to an end, prompting their return to England, Grant elected to leave the troupe and remain in New York. For the next several years, he worked in vaudeville, touring all over the country and doing everything from singing and dancing to stand-up comedy. When he wasn’t on the stage, Grant was a street performer, including stilt-walking and juggling. And when he found himself short on work, he and friend Orry George Kelly (who would later become known as Orry-Kelly, famous in his own right for being one of Hollywood’s greatest costume designers) would set up on the sidewalks of New York City to sell neckties that Kelly had hand painted.

After a relatively successful and critically-praised performance in the Broadway play Nikki, Grant was invited to give a screen test with Paramount Studios. In his first on-screen appearance in the short film Singapore Sue (‘32), Grant was unremarkable. Sure, he was handsome, but he didn’t have that effortless style and ease that would later become synonymous with his name. Despite a rather lackluster start, Paramount signed him to a five-year contract, groomed and renamed him and cast him as tuxedo-clad arm candy for their top leading ladies, including Sylvia Sidney, Marlene Dietrich, Nancy Carroll and Mae West. However, Grant was deeply unsatisfied with the roles offered to him, most of them being the cast-offs of the studio’s more popular stars, like Gary Cooper and Fredric March.

Things changed for Grant when he was loaned out to the much smaller RKO Pictures for a chance to work with director George Cukor and star alongside Katharine Hepburn. The film was SYLVIA SCARLETT (‘35) and it finally gave Grant the opportunity to demonstrate his depth as a performer and his impeccable timing. At the end of his Paramount contract in 1936, Grant refused to sign another long-term studio contract, going freelance and opting for limited picture deals that would give him choice in his projects and the flexibility to work for several different studios. At the time, going freelance was practically unheard of and was considered career suicide. For many stars, not being tethered to a major studio contract would have certainly been the end of their careers. But Grant’s need to perform and share his unique talents would never be adequately fulfilled by a sweeping multi-year studio contract. Acting wasn’t just a job for Grant—his very life depended on it. So, in reality, this kind of risky move was really Grant’s only choice.

Grant’s instincts proved to be right, carrying him through an on-screen career that lasted over 34 years, with an image and legacy that has only endured and grown since his death in 1986. During his three decades in Hollywood, Grant worked with some of Hollywood’s best filmmakers, including multiple collaborations with key directors who would help shape the “Cary Grant persona”: Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Leo McCarey and Stanley Donen. Grant, who was both a successful comedic and romantic leading man (as well as a fine dramatic actor, when given the chance), worked alongside incredible leading ladies, including Irene Dunne, Myrna Loy, Deborah Kerr, Grace Kelly and Ingrid Bergman. Unlike other popular romantic leading couples—such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Myrna Loy and William Powell, and Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy—Grant was never attached to one specific actress. While he made multiple films with some, he was never typecast as the “other half” in an on-screen partnership. Those decisions, coupled with his move to retire in 1966, while he was still in demand and before he lost his romantic leading man status by growing old on screen, undoubtedly contributed to his broad appeal with audiences and his enduring legacy.

The persona of Cary Grant was most certainly a product of the Hollywood star machine. But thankfully, Grant figured out early on how to make the machine work to his advantage, allowing all of us to bask in his beautiful masculinity, his charm and charisma, his hilarious comedic timing and even his caddish, dark side. In all of his years cultivating and safeguarding his image, to the extent that some even criticized his methods, Grant ensured that he would be forever remembered, perfectly preserved in celluloid. And for that, we should all be eternally grateful.

#Cary Grant #Classic Hollywood #actor #studio era #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Jill Blake

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roaringgirl · 4 years ago

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Book club - February

As previously, books read in February, as I continue to devour novels like when I was 10 and had no friends and nothing to do.

Did not manage to finish any of the books I was stalled on in January. Maybe next month. But I did keep the ratio of men and women authors at roughly 50/50, although with a smaller proportion of women authors than in January. Next month I have to read something published before the 20th century.

1. Dan Simmons - Hyperion (1989): Really enjoyed this! It’s basically a book of science fiction short stories with a fairly tangential linking narrative. I don’t feel much urge to read the rest of the series because the main plot seems incomprehensible, but this was a fun set of science fiction stories.

2. Jeannette Ng - Under the Pendulum Sun (2017): Absolutely love how much the plot of this can be predicted depending on what you know about Newmanism and Anglican eucharistic disputes.

3. John Haywood - Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241 (2015): Honestly this was a little dry - I think it’s way too extensive of an overview. Fascinated by the bits about the Vikings in Russia and the Byzantine Empire, though, which is really what I wanted to read about.

4. Walter M. Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959, sort of a reread although I read it when I was 12 and don’t remember it at all): Set in a monastery in the Southwestern US after nuclear war plunges the world back into the dark ages. I liked it a lot, and would recommend if you enjoy vintage sci-fi. If not, not.

5. Larry McMurtry - Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen (1999): Loved this. A set of essays and recollections half about reading and half about his hometown in Texas. I was really struggling to read at the beginning of this month and this absolutely reminded me of how much I love reading.

6. Nora Ephron - I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman (2006): I read this one evening while cooking then in the bath and do not recall it strongly, but I do think it was a fun bath and I made a very nice meal (squid with spinach and broad beans in an anchovy sauce).

7. Irmgard Keun - Gilgi, One of Us (1931): A massive sensation when it was first published because it involves unemployment, sex out of wedlock, abortion and single motherhood. I’m not sure the translation was great - big chunks of it were rendered in irritatingly phonetic dialect as an attempt to capture the Cologne dialect.

8. China Miéville - The Scar (2003): I read Perdido Street Station last month and again, while it’s definitely baggy I absolutely love how closely British politics and society of the early 19th century is rendered in this sci-fi world.

9. Nora Ephron - Crazy Salad (1975): This is a much more substantial collection. Enjoyed it a lot, both as a cultural artefact and because it’s funny.

10. James Meek - To Calais, in Ordinary Time (2019): Struggled to get into this at first but ended up loving it. It reminded me of the actual medieval literature I’ve read sort of like Nobber (Oisin Fagan) did - they’re utterly different books, apart from being about the Black Death, but they both have a slippery alienness and strangeness to them.

11. Dee Brown - The Fetterman Massacre (1962): Excellent study of one incident in the Indian Wars (Brown later wrote Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - this is probably of less general interest, but is very very good).

12. W.S. Graham - The Nightfishing (1955): I love Graham’s poetry but have always struggled to say anything vaguely interesting or intelligent about it.

13. Francis Spufford - Golden Hill (2016): Really fun novel - a (drastically trimmed and more concise) take off of 18th century picaresque novels, set in Manhattan in 1746.

14. Deborah Levy - Hot Milk (2016): Don’t have a lot to say about this - it felt very... insubstantial? Plus a tendency for characters to unconvincingly (cod-)psychoanalyse themselves.

15. Sylvia Townsend Warner - Summer Will Show (1936): What a strange, wonderful book! From the summaries I’d seen I thought it was going to be a fairly insubstantial comedy, which it emphatically isn’t. Probably, with the Golding below and Graham above, a candidate for my favourite book of the month.

16. William Golding - The Spire (1964): The Dean of a medieval English cathedral becomes obsessed with the building of a 400-foot spire - which the cathedral doesn’t have strong enough foundations to support. Nightmarish, claustrophobic.

17. Lucie Britsch - Sad Janet (2020): Whatever. Insubstantial sad-girl MFA lit. Made me appreciate Ottessa Moshfegh more.

18. Jim Crace - Harvest (2013): One to add to my growing sub-genre of ‘nightmarishly claustrophobic historical novels recounting a spiral into disaster’.

19. Mona Awad - Bunny (2019): I hated this. This is pretty unfair because I knew early on that I wouldn’t like it, but it just got worse and worse and worse. If you’re going to attempt to skewer poorly executed post-feminist sub-Angela Carter magical realism MFA writing, I would suggest that you should not yourself turn out a piece of poorly executed post-feminist sub-Angela Carter magical realism MFA writing. I realise I keep using ‘MFA’ pejoratively in these, but it’s just such a good shorthand for this kind of writing.

20. Torrey Peters - Detransition, Baby (2021): I was kind of torn on this - there are a lot of things I liked about it formally, but Peters keeps positing fantasies of eroticised violence and subjugation to men as key to womanhood - she clearly wasn’t being entirely serious but I found those parts upsetting, enough to detract from how much I enjoyed the rest of the book, which I did a lot. I don’t know!

21. Sarah Waters - The Paying Guests (2014): Exactly what I expect from a Sarah Waters novel and, therefore, fun. I think this middlebrow 20th-century mode suits her.

22. Marc Morris - A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain (2008): Very readable popular history, which is exactly what I wanted. I preferred his book on the Norman Conquest but I think that’s just a period I’m more interested in.

#book club

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religioused · 6 years ago

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When the Bar is Too High

By Gary Simpson

Luke 10:25-37 - Contemporary Setting

A Biblical scholar asked Jesus, the popular circuit pastor, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus replied with a question. "What do you think the Bible says?"

The Biblical expert drew himself up to full height, thinking, "This is an easy question. Everyone will be impressed with my knowledge of the Bible." The scholar replied, "Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus responded. "Correct. Now live that way."

The Bible scholar tried to see if he trick Jesus into saying something wrong. He asked Jesus another question. "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus answered the scholar's question with a story. On a hot summer day, a man drove from Calgary to Dallas. Things were going well until he crossed the border. A gang of robbers forced his car off the road, dragged him out of the car, stole his wallet, his credit cards, his jewelry, his luggage and the designer clothes he was wearing. They beat him up and shot holes in the windows of his car and left him unconscious by the road.

And who happened to drive by?

A prominent Republican politician happened on the scene. He slowed down, saw the man, assuming the man had been killed, he said, "Thoughts and prayers," as he punched his Caddy SUV into passing gear.

Next on the scene was a prominent Democratic politician. The Democrat stopped, took photos of the scene and released a press statement condemning gun violence and requesting stricter gun laws. Then the Democrat got in his Subaru and drove away.

Then a member of the NRA pulled to a stop and with the unconscious man in the background he shot a video of himself explaining how everybody should carry an open holster gun, so gun violence will stop. Feeling quite good about the opportunity to promote gun ownership, he drove away in his Ram 4 x 4 crew cab truck.

Down the road came a sad looking, nondescript minivan with an undocumented family. Then the car stopped and the family piled out to see what happened. The mother knew first aid and administered first aid. They got the injured man to the van and they hooked a line up to his car and took the man into the next town, towing the car as they went. On the way to the hospital, the 10 year old girl held the man's hand and kept saying, "We are getting closer to the hospital. You are going to be okay. You will be in good hands." They dropped the man off at the hospital, paying for his medical expenses, and took the car to a dealership to see what it would cost to repair the car and they left credit card authorization to charge any needed repairs to the credit card.

And Jesus asked the conservative Bible scholar which person was the neighbor. The Bible scholar scowled and answered, "The undocumented workers." The Bible expert had his answer. Those we fear, those we do not understand, those we hate, those we do not like are our neighbors.

Reflection:

I graduated from a small Christian college. Students were required to take four religion courses to graduate. One of the religion courses that students were supposed to take was a course titled "Bible Doctrine". A better title for the course might have been Systematic Theology, because the course included the doctrine that are held by many church denominations, as well as some of the unique doctrine of the denomination. The course was an absolute bear. In the course of a four month semester, the course covered over twenty doctrine. When you subtracted the tests and the long weekends, I am not sure we had more than two 50 minute lectures per doctrine. The teacher would write just the Bible text (like John 3:16) on the board and he would explain how the text supported the doctrine. By the end of the period, the blackboard was full of texts and he would say, "You see it is really quite simple, isn't it!?!" And my mind would be spinning.

The lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Fortunately, I have not inherited anything and I would rather have loved ones in my life than have either their money or their stuff. But on the surface this sounds like a rather stupid question. You do not earn an inheritance. As a general rule, you get an inheritance because you are related to the person who died. In other words, an inheritance is what you get because of who you are, not because of what you do. I know that there are exceptions, because some people are written out of the will, but I don't think that is the norm.

So the lawyer is asking the impossible. The lawyer is asking what he must do to earn a gift. That leaves me wondering what Jesus was thinking and asking myself a lot of questions.

• Was Jesus being sarcastic?

• Did Jesus think that this was the most stupid question he had ever been asked? • Exactly what teaching strategy was Jesus using?

• What Grade would the scholar's theology get in my Bible doctrine class?

Perhaps, my answer comes by looking at a major theme in the Gospel of Luke. A major theme of Luke is inclusion. I believe the inclusion seen in the Gospel of Luke should make this Gospel a favorite of members of oppressed minority groups. In Luke, Jesus "reaches out to bring in those previously excluded", The excluded people who Jesus reaches out to include women, the impoverished, the sick, sinners, outcasts and the ritually impure. Luke emphasizes Jesus' association with those who are on the "fringes of society" more than any other Gospel.1

The theme of inclusion extends beyond Luke's Gospel. The Gospel of Luke is volume 1. The second volume is the book of Acts. In the books of Luke and Acts, the boundaries are extended to include Samaritans, by making a Samaritan the hero of a story2 and the Samaritan leper3 and the conversion of Samaritans, a conversion proven by the converts being baptized in the Spirit.4 I gather that Deborah Broome is a Ministry Educator in an Anglican Diocese in New Zealand. Regarding Luke and even more so Acts, she notes that there is a sense of "universalism that would genuinely accord 'everyone born’ a place at the table.”5

Now, I go back to my questions. Why did Jesus answer the question about what a person must do to receive a gift, an inheritance? You do nothing to get an inheritance. And Jesus' answer was steeped with legalism. What gives?

As I was thinking about my questions, my mind turned to the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain. The sermon on the mount is in the Gospel of Matthew and the sermon on the plain is in the Gospel of Luke. Some people believe that the sermon on the mount in Matthew’s Gospel is the same sermon as the sermon on the plain in Chapter 6 of Luke’s Gospel. Other people, who believe that the two sermons are different, admit that there are similarities between the two sermons.

Perhaps there is a reason why my mind went to the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain. I am not a real fan of either sermon. The intensity of legalism and the demands seem overwhelming. The sermon on the mount has the passage, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”6 A command to be as perfect as God is a pretty high standard - read impossible. The sermon on the plain sets the bar pretty high too. "But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful".7 Love your neighbors and be as merciful as God is merciful is a tall order. Having mercy equal to God's mercy is impossible.

When I was in graduate school in Southern California, I stumbled across Bible commentaries by Vernon McGee. I enjoyed his commentaries, because they were cheap, and that worked on a student's budget. He is able to take complex ideas and break those ideas down into short, easy-to-understand sentences, using expressions that sounded folksy enough to be used by an old country pastor. You would never guess that he had a Doctor of Theology degree. McGee observes, "if the Sermon on the Mount is your religion, you had better make sure you are keeping it. It is loaded with law."8 I agree with McGee's assessment that the sermon on the mount shows us how far short of the ideal we are.9 The sermon on the mount is intended to make us give up on trying to be good enough to please God and to accept grace. The sermon on the plain has a similar purpose.

Perhaps, Jesus was thinking, "Well, if you are going to try to do the impossible, to earn a gift that is given to you get for just being you, I am going to set the bar high, so high that you simply give up on trying to purchase God's love. I am going to tell this man to love God and to love his neighbors just as he loves himself and then I am going to tell him that the Samaritans, the people he despises and hates are his good neighbors." Then Jesus proceeds to tell the lawyer the story of the good Samaritan. And this approach seems to be in harmony with both theme of the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain.

Perhaps, Jesus played along with the question, knowing good and well that salvation had everything to do with the love of the one giving the inheritance and nothing to do with a person's efforts to to the right thing to teach an important lesson. That lesson is that the standard to live as a responsible person of faith is very high, but the standard required to receive an inheritance from God is quite low.

The goal for how we should ideally live is really high. And that is meant to encourage us to shoot high, to aim to live as better people. But jumping over the bar is not required for salvation. Luke's gospel, a gospel of inclusion includes you. Your inheritance comes for free, for just being you, a child of God. When you look up and see that the bar is too high to jump, walk under the bar, and, with confidence, collect your inheritance.

Notes:

1 Michael Prior. Jesus the Liberator: Nazareth Liberation Theology (Luke 4:16-30). Sheffield Academic Press. Sheffield. 1995., 50, cited in Deborah Broome. “Who’s at the Table? - Inclusiveness in the Gospel of Luke.” Anglican Diocese of Wellington. Oct 2006, 07 July 2019. <http://wn.anglican.org.nz/files/docs/inclusion-in-luke.pdf>.

2 The Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37.

3 Luke 17:11-19.

4 Acts 8,This case is made by J Massyngbaerde Ford. ‘Reconciliation and Forgiveness in Luke’s Gospel’ in Political Issues in Luke-Acts ed Richard J Cassidy & Philip J Scharper. Orbis Books. Maryknoll, New York. 1983. 80-98., 88, cited by Deborah Broome. “Who’s at the Table? - Inclusiveness in the Gospel of Luke.” Anglican Diocese of Wellington. Oct 2006, 07 July 2019. <http://wn.anglican.org.nz/files/docs/inclusion-in-luke.pdf>.

5 Deborah Broome. “Who’s at the Table? - Inclusiveness in the Gospel of Luke.” Anglican Diocese of Wellington. Oct 2006, 07 July 2019. <http://wn.anglican.org.nz/files/docs/inclusion- in-luke.pdf>.

6 Matthew 5:48, KJV.

7 Luke 6:35-36, KJV.

8 J. Vernon McGee. Thru the Bible with J, Vernon McGee. (Pasadena, California: Thru the Bible Radio, 1998), ebook.

9 McGee. (1998), ebook.

#sermon #reflection #The Good Samaritan

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sabbathism · 6 years ago

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People don’t like season 2, and here’s what they have to say :

tl;dr: I answer the web’s most vehement complaints about season 2 of American Gods. If you happen to recognize yourself in one of those, then I suggest thinking about it really really hard and, perhaps, giving the show another chance. If you recognize yourself in several of those, please drop the show. It’s not worth wasting your time and especially not ours. (I put a list of helpful cast and production related facts at the end.)

Hi, Nelle here, I’m but a humble fan who wishes to have fun seeing gods bicker and argue among mortals, complete with the craziest of situations, stellar cast and great visuals. And yet I can’t help but hear things when I start browsing this hellsite in quest of juicy fanworks.

Although I’m no Joan Of Arc, I hear voices from above and here’s what I have to shout back (lest I get burned at the stake) :

“The pacing is all over the place ! It’s too slow !”

Is it tho ? Pacing has been “all over the place” (really meaning: different from what we avid show-viewers are accustomed to) since season 1, we’ve never gotten straight answers out of anything unless we started listening and paying attention to details.

The book (you know, the source material) has four parts, the fourth serving as an epilogue to the whole story, season 2 is most definitely meant to close part 1 which, allegedly, had the slowest of pace to begin with. And it doesn’t even have half the new narratives the show has been creating. So no, it’s not slow. I promise you things are happening.

“It needs to follow the actual book more !!”

What’s a good adaptation ? Is it something that is 100% truthful to the source, down to every word ? Is it something that should offer something for people who don’t know the source ? Or, on the contrary, be something inseparable from it ?

American Gods as a TV show offers new things for people who have read the book and for those who haven’t, while keeping the beloved moments and aspects from the original material.

Why add or change stuff ? Well because, if you’re a book reader, you get welcomed into the state of existential dread that comes with not knowing what happen next, I promise it’s part of the fun. But also because author Neil Gaiman believes that he can do more, do better, with something that was written 20 years ago and needed the changes in a lot of places. He’s aware that he has, in fact, a show to make, and not a carbon copy of the book, as well as a fanbase that deserves to be challenged and entertained.

“Why taking the focus off Shadow ? He’s barely the protagonist anymore !”

Because there are..... characters ? who are also part of the story ? Like, actual stories need characters ? But alright, I know it can get confusing when you have a lot of those, here’s how you can still tell Shadow is the protagonist : months of advertising and the entirety of season 1 which was spent following Shadow with only minor breaks allowing other characters to breathe. Trust me they need the development too, or then we’ll really have reasons to complain.

You want a narrative focusing solely on staying in Shadow’s head ? Alright. Try the book. But here’s my take on its narrating choice, as a graduate in english literature : it’s boring. To the point where Neil Gaiman himself got sad that he couldn’t follow other characters.

“They’re not giving the POCs enough space ! Where are the coming to america segments ? At least they gave actual insights.”

Out of every piece of fiction, I truly don’t think you want to get angry at American Gods for how much room it’s giving POCs... (a 20% white cast ensemble, POCs and especially WOCs writers and directors on production, ethnically accurate casting and writing, diversity positive messages, etc) Really I’m sure there are many other places in the fictional industry were the question of diversity is more than legitimate. American Gods has yet to be one of them, by far.

As for the Coming To America stuff, well, there’s not that many in the book to begin with. There are a whole bunch for sure, but we’ve got over quite a few of them in season 1. If there’s more believers you want, we’re served with the latest episode 4, with humans worshiping both Old and New, and interacting with gods. I’m sure we can review that point again once the season is over.

“Those white directors don’t even know how to read or write POC characters !”

*cough*

here’s a list of the POC directors and writers on episodes 2 to 5 of season 2 only :

Deborah Chow (director)

Aditi Kapil (writer)

Salli Richardson (director)

Rodney Barnes (writer)

Orlando Jones (writer)

That’s half the entire director-writer team for these episodes, with Neil Gaiman being involved. You’ll have to point out to me exactly what you mean by “not writing right”.

“New Media ? 1. she’s a bitch, 2. her actress is just plain bad, 3. she’s a hurtful stereotype.”

And here comes perhaps the trickiest one of all... I’m gonna have to bear with you, as much as you’re gonna have to bear with me :

1. Yes. 2. No. 3. Yes, and it’s a problem, but not for the reasons you think.

First of all, and let’s get it out of the way : actor =/= character nor writing. You think the writing is bad and/or that the character is annoying ? Well, it’s certainly not on the actor. You wanna know the actual level of Kahyun Kim’s acting ? Starring in an Alan Cummings play alongside him. We’ve got a lot to discuss but please keep her out of this.

Second, New Media is an absolute bitch of a character. She’s mocking, manipulative, and too ambitious for anyone’s good. A lot of people seem to love her tho and to that I say good ??? I mean, great if you like her, because she’s got as much potential as the rest of these crazy characters, I’m not here to tell you who you should hate and who you should love.

But there’s a problem you shouldn’t ignore, and that its so far she’s not well written. It’s a terrible thing to say in such a show but she’s really not : because we barely see her talking, because we barely got any scene with her (remember what I said about letting character breathe ?), and because what we’ve seen of her so far is the stereotype of the hypersexualized naive asian girl. Complete with tentacle porn scene. (Whether you felt weirded out, amused or utterly disgusted by this is your own valid opinion.)

The character has been officially described as “the goddess of global content”, “a cyberspace chameleon” and “a master of manipulation.” In recent addition to that, actor Bruce Langley (Technical Boy) has said : “New Media’s willing to be perceived as naive because if she’s being underestimated, when she does make her move, you’d never see it coming, but she knows way more than she lets on.” He then goes on to compare her to Gillian Anderson’s Media.

This proves that the way New Media comes off isn’t a problem of intent (the naive part is calculated and they want the character to be duplicitous, falsely seductive), but of handling, and it’s just as bad. Sure, Gillian’s Media also knew more than she let on for about as much screen time -I’m sure New Media will get to her four scenes in one season-, but she had been grounded in the narrative as her own character, she’s had her exposition speech and time. (See her meeting with Shadow in S01E02) We’ve yet to see that much of Kahyun’s New Media.

Because they do not give her what she needs to be more than a two dimensional character, we find ourselves with a shallow character who doesn’t give too many signs of the thought process everyone seemed to have put into crafting her beforehand, including Kahyun’s acting. This is a serious issue that needs to be handled before the season ends, or she will just stand out like a nasty spot in an overall incredible piece of fiction. Hell even Laura (another very unlikable character) manages to be a great addition to the narrative. Come on people.

You can of course argue that they could have gone for another type or personality for her, other than naive and sex-oriented, for a korean actress to play. You’re right, there’s a lot of aspect of social media that could have been put to work, but not only are we gonna need more than two scenes (at least the tentacles aren’t a regular occurrence so far), but it’s just like they could have not made the Technical Boy hang Shadow.

The New Gods appear as the ‘general bad idea’ we promote through and associate with their element. Mr. World is gonna be the creepy looking government dude, Tech is gonna be the lanky rude geek, they’re gonna be cold, insensitive and selfish. They’re gonna be the things we don’t like. Throughout season 1, Tech Boy was in the same place we find ourselves in with New Media : he was the loud white racist teenager hating on anon on the net, he was unlikable from start to finish, and it’s only once we got inputs from his actor, the writers, and then now that they’re showing more of his story and personality well after season 1 that we see him as the fully complex and interesting character he is.

Let’s all keep our wits about us, not engulf ourselves in blind hate or love, and encourage the writers to prove us all that this character is worth the while like her actress says.

(I still won’t forgive the bitch, but at least she won’t stick out like a sore thumb.)

(if you want Kahyun’s input on her character and experience, here’s a lengthy interview)

"They don't even know how to write their own character, period !"

By all means, tell me your basis of characterization to declare that characters who didn’t even have enough screentime to have much substance in season 1 (except Shadow, but strangely no one complains about him) aren’t written right when their creator is literally hovering over the writers and actors shoulders, because he wants them to be developed and written right.

It’s not Harry Potter, Neil isn’t making up facts about them to make himself look better, maybe accept that the vision you had in your mind wasn’t entirely accurate to the truth of the characters and that’s okay ? You can still write them yourself however you want, tell the stories you want to tell, Neil has made it very clear that he doesn’t consider fan ideas less valuable than his.

“Bryan has such as specific, unique vision ! They’re just trying to copy it and they’re failing.”

Definitely. No really, you’re right, I’m a big fan of Bryan’s work, I lost my mind like everyone else when he said he wasn’t giving up on Hannibal season 4.

But you know who else has a unique vision ? The seven directors who took over (four of those are women) and the show-runner who had already worked with him beforehand. They’re not trying to copy his style, they’re trying to make a smooth transition so fans like you don’t have a hard time mourning the terrible loss of Bryan and Michael. And for every person who noticed the changes, there were just as many who haven’t even paid attention to it.

Concept : some people may watch shows/movies for the story and the characters, not just for who’s behind the camera. (As far as I’m concerned, I actually like the image better. Everything was killer in season 1, and I think it’s even nicer in season 2.)

“Bryan gave us Salim and the Jinn, and now they’re just gonna be cast aside because those directors lack the LGBT+ sensibility Bryan has !”

Alright, yup, sure. As a member of the community myself, I totally recognize that someone who’s also part of it will know firsthand of the subtleties and details to give the best representation possible on screen. The example of Salim and the Jinn is perfectly fine, since the entire segment was indeed beautifully made. But if we cannot allow people from outside to ponder and think about our lives through writing (which is probably the best way for them to start understanding and broadening their mindset), how can we expect wide representation to improve in any meaningful way ? Especially considering that the show has been casting LGBT+ actors, in an environment where the cast is listened to and solicited on their opinions.

And especially when Bryan was not the one who gave you Salim and the Jinn. (Because I’ve seen people genuinely believe it.) Neil Gaiman did. He wrote a gay muslim couple in his book 20 years ago, way before it was considered a political statement. He’s also the one who gave strict and specific directions as to how these very characters should be handled. Because if he expanded Salim and his fire boyfriend Jinn’s story from a one-shot to a full story integrated into his entire narration, then it’s certainly not to pull a “bury your gays” or make them miserable. No need to be LGBT+ to be a decent writer and human being.

“Production was a mess anyway, I knew it’d turn out like this. It sucks without Bryan.”

Define “mess”. Because all the incendiary reports we got throughout early production had been utter bullshit.

Showrunners being “fired” ? Bullshit. “Disastrous” organization ? Bullshit. “Screaming matches” between directors and actors ? Bullshit. Actors “refusing” to come back ? Bullshit.

Every report that wasn’t made through direct input of the cast or production team was not only wildly exaggerated, but also fake ? But please, hear it from Neil himself :

It was weirder for me to read some of the stuff online that said, “Oh, my god, American Gods, behind the scenes, is all falling apart.” I was going, “But they just shot four episodes, and everything is fine. They’re doing some re-shoots, but they’re doing less re-shoots than they did in Season 1.” [...]

I was reading Steven Bochco’s biography on the tube, going into work on Good Omens, every morning, and learning about what went down on Hill Street Blues, and then on NYPD Blue. That was worse, by a factor of thousands, than anything that happened on American Gods. A showrunner came, and a showrunner left. That’s not even an unusual thing. [...] The weirdest thing for me was putting out a thing on Twitter on Season 2, and having a bunch of people go, “We thought this was canceled.” No, it’s not canceled. In its own mad way, it’s on schedule.

(Source)

The show was never in any danger, much less in jeopardy. It's overreactions to false rumors and dramatic assumptions that can kill a show faster than a showrunner leaving. You want to be critical of a production ? Go ahead, and check your sources and facts. Please. I promise most of the time it’s not worth the worry, much less losing all hope.

“Bryan cared, they’re just ruining what he’s built.”

I dare you to watch any cast interview and tell me these people don’t care about the show, and that they do not value the work everyone else (from hair department to makeup artists, producers, writers, directors and costume team) puts into it as well.

I’ve watched my fair share of shows, I’m curious about production and behind-the-scenes material in general, and I’ve never seen a group of people being so genuinely happy and passionate about what they do and create together.

Neil took time out of preparing Good Omens (which he was showrunning himself) to be more active because he knew things would be different between season 1 and 2. Ricky Whittle (Shadow) had his contract reviewed to better accommodate shooting and planning. Orlando Jones (Nancy) contributed to writing episodes (especially regarding Black history and representation) and brought inputs on characterization. Ian Mcshane (Mr. Wednesday) participated in directing when he explicitly said during season 1 that he wasn’t interested in working as a director on this kind of show.

And that’s for the well-known names only. Go on the American Gods hashtag on instagram, you’ll find all the various artists who participated in crafting all the details found in new episodes. They’re out there talking about how excited they were to work on it all, how they did it, the love they have for the show and crew. They’re active and positive in every way you can be, please tell me how much they don’t care.

Production made the choice of taking its time making this season rather than rushing it when it’s been very clear that delaying can cause massive loss of viewers, because they care more about how the show comes out than what people actually think. They took in stride whatever problem a show of this magnitude could naturally encounter (again guys, no disaster happened) and worked to solve it the best way they could because they were perfectly aware that we fans care. And somehow that’s what made some of yall disappointed ??

If you seriously think Bryan (and Michael, some people forget about him smh) cared more about American Gods than these people -when he, in fact, cared just as much-, then by all means, leave right with him.

(Also uhm, idk if you noticed, but they’re both still credited in the fucking opening. Because, you know, they’re going by the bases they’ve settled.)

Some (hopefully) helpful facts :

+ Bryan and Michael weren’t fired, they walked out of the show after mutual understanding with the rest of the production that they weren’t agreeing on budget and realization. They concluded that pushing it would just be harmful to the show.

+ Likewise, Jesse Alexander (second showrunner) wasn’t evicted but stepped out once disagreements rose as to how to handle the end of the season. Again, they found a solution fairly quickly.

+ Gillian Anderson had only signed for season 1. Whether her character will ever be seen again (probably in flashbacks) is entirely up in the air. No promises, no impossibilities.

+ Both Kristin Chenoweth (Ostara) and Chris Obi (Anubis) have not been able to contribute to season 2 due to conflicts in their schedules.

+ Neil Gaiman has been much more involved in the production of season 2 as he had finished shooting Good Omens, something which took up most of his time when season 1 was produced.

+ Taking time producing a show =/= production being a disaster.

+ Always go for the reports/articles involving interviews and/or inputs of the persons actually working on the project (cast members, producers, writers, directors). Those are the most reliable sources you can fight. (Just remember that there’s always a possibility for fake news/drama online !)

#please do message me if you want clarification/to discuss #summary + facts in the tl;dr and at the very end #american gods #starz #freemantle media #american gods season 2 #neil gaiman #bryan fuller #michael green #ricky whittle #new media #gillian anderson #kahyun kim #rant #my writing #bitch this is so long

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designbydeborah1 · 3 years ago

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Timeless Vintage: Finding Vintage Furniture that Fits Your Style and Budget

Before you start decorating your home, you need to figure out what style you have. Do you like modern or traditional? Are you an eclectic mix of everything? Or is there a specific style that stands out as your favorite?

If you're looking for home vintage furniture, this blog post is here to help!

In today's post, we’ll share with you some tips and tricks on finding the best vintage pieces for your home while keeping your budget in mind.

Vintage Furniture is Timeless

Vintage furniture is timeless for a reason, and it's not just about being on-trend.

Vintage furniture is unique, often with a story to tell, and can be an investment that will last you years. Vintage pieces are made of high-quality materials, which means they can be passed down from generation to generation and feel as good as new when you get them home.

Unfortunately, vintage furniture can be pricey if you are not careful. Take your time, and you should find those hidden pieces sure to ramp up your home décor. Try these tips:

1 - Decide on Your Style Is your home more traditional or edgy? What about colorful and bold or soft and subtle? You'll want to consider what type of furniture will fit with these styles as you shop for vintage pieces.

2 - Work with Local Experts Working with local experts can help you find the right furniture for your home and your budget. They'll be able to show you a wide range of options, from the size to the color to the style (and even the price).

3 - Try Shops Near Your Home There are several advantages to shopping at local vintage furniture shops. For one thing, you can find a greater selection of items than in warehouses or thrift stores.

Also, because these businesses are often small, they can be more flexible with delivery times and delivery locations (which is essential if you live in an apartment).

If something doesn’t work out for you or your space, the store might even offer a return policy — something that’s less common when buying online.

4 - Decide on a Budget Before You Shop The idea of finding a vintage furniture piece you absolutely love (and paying for it) may seem overwhelming, especially if you're on a budget. The key is knowing your budget before shopping. That way, you don’t suddenly overspend on a pair of lamps you’ve always wanted instead.

5 - Don't Forget Online Sellers In addition to local sellers, there are also many international ones from whom you can purchase quality items at affordable prices. In fact, many times, international sellers have better shipping options than their local counterparts.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of local yard sales, Facebook marketplace, eBay, or Craigslist.

Add Style with Vintage Furniture!

Finding vintage furniture can be a great way to add character and personality to your home. Whether you’re looking for pieces that will work with modern or traditional décor, there are endless options available at local flea markets, antique shops, and even online websites.

Take your time, and don’t be afraid of a bit of risk. This is a fun hunt for the best vintage furniture you can afford, so keep your budget in mind when scrolling for a new piece.

You can get a good idea of what types of pieces and level of spending you want by exploring our site at Designs by Deborah. If you do not find a great piece here, at least you can focus on the exact vintage furniture you are looking for in the future. Good luck!

#vintage furniture #antiques furniture #design by deborah

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jayne-hecate-writer · 5 years ago

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Great News!

Friends, I bring great news, a wondrous event has occurred and I wish to share it with you. No I have not 'found' Jesus (he would likely run a mile from me anyway!), so he remains the greatest player of hide and seek in the universe.

No my friends, I can announce the arrival of the latest and most wonderfully perverted book ever to grace your desks, bedsheets, dining tables and e-Readers with its presence. The very excellent and worthwhile Jan Housby along with the demonic life form known as Jayne Hecate, have released another book based in the fantastical city of Winscombe, in the country of Somerset, in the universe of Faerie folk.

The new book contains all that you could, or would, wish to read in an afternoon of debauchery, vileness and even hopefulness, continuing very much in the vein of the previous release. Without any spoilers, we have given you the return of the diabolical being known as the Flashing Pooer and delve into the further adventures of Wuffles the Hell Hound Gourmet Chef, formerly of the Rusty Plough pub. Later in the book we go on an adventure into the past with new character Deborah, who wishes that her life was a whole lot different to how it is and whom tries to find a way to change it.

In many ways, this is the best work that Jan and I have written together thus far and it would be accurate to say that we are deeply proud of the new book. We also have several beautiful photo's supplied by our photographic artist Carol Jadzia, with each picture acting as a heading for the chapters in the book.

You can purchase the paperback version of the book as of right now from Amazon and should get it in time for Christmas if you order in plenty of time. The Kindle version is obviously available for download right now and contains the same images, rendered so that they will still show well on the oldest black and white e-Reader still somehow hanging onto life.

Buy the Book Here...

So please head over to Amazon and before you say it, yes I know that they are a despicable company who pay no tax, exploit their workforce terribly and make millions in profits each and every day, but when you sign a deal with the Devil, you have to accept that some evil is going to take place. Anyway despite this, please buy our book for yourself and even for your friends, although probably only those who are broad minded enough not to offended by the story of a man who falls in love with a large human shaped turd! Oh yeah, we absolutely went there and it is beautifully disgusting...

So buy it now and shock your Granny, with the most offensive gift which you can give to a frail and delicate lady of advancing years, thus ensuring you get your inheritance a little earlier than you anticipated*!

*Shocking your ageing relatives into an early grave is possibly considered to be a little bit evil and should be avoided, unless you are really skint and desperately want to buy the latest box set!

#Fairy Stories #Sick Comedy #Black Comedy #Dark Humour #fantasy #sci-fi novels #Reading #Books #amazon kindle #kdp publishing #Paperback books #Dirty Humour #adult jokes #New Authors #amazon books

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444fearofgod · 7 years ago

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s i x t y t w o .

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF: Ann-Deborah Vance

I, Ann-Deborah Vance, an adult residing at 88 MAVERICK ROAD, APT. 12, SLOANE, MASSACHUSSETS, being of sound mind and body do hereby declare that this document is my last will and testament.

In executing such document, I hereby declare that:

1. I am not currently married. I have no children now living, nor have I any deceased children who died and left issue.

2. Should I be terminally ill, in a vegetative state, or otherwise incapacitated, I not be resuscitated and be allowed a natural death.

ARTICLE I

I appoint Craig Robert Lee as my Personal Representative to administer this Will and ask that he be permitted to serve without court supervision and without posting bond. If Lee is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint Eleanor Sierra Houghton-James to serve as my Personal Representative and ask that she be permitted to serve without court supervision and without posting bond.

ARTICLE II

I direct my Personal Representative to pay out my residuary estate all of the expenses of my last illness, administration expense, all legally enforceable creditor claims, all Federal estate taxes, state inheritance taxes, and all other governmental charges imposed by reason of my death without seeking reimbursement from or charging any person for any part of the taxes and charges paid.

Personal Representative need not worry about a funeral. Instead, I ask that I be cremated and have the ashes spread around Barking Bad.

ARTICLE III

I own the following immovable and movable assets.

1. Barking Bad Dog Park.

2. 4.8 million U.S dollars (as of March 2018) locked away in a storage facility that shall be named upon the time of my death.

3. Jewelry, clothing, furniture, and ornaments.

4. Four dogs (as of March 2018) namely, (1) Chance, (2) Charlie, (3) Ollie, and (4) Jambalaya.

All the assets owned by me are self-acquired properties. No one else has any right, title, interest, claim, or demand whatsoever on these assets or properties. I have full right, absolute power and complete authority on these assets, or in any other property which may be substituted in their place or places which may be acquired or received by me hereafter.

I hereby give, devise, and bequeath Barking Bad Dog Park to Sapphire Isabelle Collins under the condition that she swears under oath to keep the lot in outstanding condition. 20% of my fortune shall be given and only used for upkeep of the park.

I hereby give, devise, and bequeath all of my dogs, present and future, to Eleanor Sierra Houghton-James. Should she be unwilling, or unable, I surrender all of my dogs to Fur Get Me Not animal shelter.

I hereby give, devise, and bequeath all of my jewelry (with the exception of one (1) wedding band that shall be burned along with me), clothing, furniture and ornaments to any and all Homeless to Home homeless shelters located in the United States.

I hereby give, device, and bequeath my fortune to the following charities:

20% to Homeless to Home Inc.

20% to Fur Get Me Not Inc.

20% to PetSmart Charities.

20% to The True Colors Fund.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF have hereunto set my hands on this 18th day of March 2018.

*insert very sloppy signature here*

ARTICLE IV

This Last Will and Testament of Ann-Deborah Vance was signed and declared to be her Last Will and Testament in my presence and at her request and in her presence and in the presence of each other. We do hereby witness same on this 18th day of March 2018.

*insert witness 1 signature here, probably a lawyer*

*insert witness 2 signature here, probably a drug dealer*

#activity check #do not reblog

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pipelinelaserraygun · 5 years ago

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vimeo

Is the Beirut EXPLOSION related to bio-weapon covid-19?

dailymotion

ESPIONAGE: regional domestic terrorism is often NOT what it appears to be on the surface!

youtube

There are no stupid questions: is this a way to MASS-release the chinese-origin 😷 coronavirus? Early reports suggest that the explosion originated from a 🎆 warehouse of FIREWORKS, MADE in china.

"Early reports pointed to 🔥 FIRE at a FIREWORKS STORAGE FACILITY."

Abortion and covid-19 policies of demo🐀rats KILL YOU.

youtube

Money is not the root of evil. OBSESSION over money IS.

The corrupted politicians are willing to say and do anything. It's an absolute disgrace!

youtube

Greedy hospital bill collectors, who ONLY care about "COOKING THE BOOKS". Their incentive? BIGGER bonus checks, by defrauding the system.

Related to the broadcast that I created, posted up ABOVE: $6,000 goes to every hospital, for patients that tests POSITIVE for coronavirus. $30,000 in ADDITIONAL Medicare reimbursement from the Feds, IF that same person goes on a ventilator.

EVERY HOSPITAL IN AMERICA SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO PAY TAXPAYERS BACK. THEY ARE GUILTY OF RACKETEERING.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is a 🇺🇸 United States Federal law that provides for extended criminal PENALTIES and a Civil cause of action for acts performed, as part of an 😷 ongoing criminal organization.

Ignoring BYLAWS.

It's getting to a point where the opposition doesn't want to share the world that God created for everyone. As a result, an angry Almighty is going to give his beloved bridal party EVERYTHING, and leave the rebels with NOTHING.

0 notes

easyfoodnetwork · 5 years ago

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It’s Time for the Hospitality Industry to Listen to Black Women

History shows us that the novel coronavirus will impact black women restaurateurs, and their businesses, much harder

Before the pandemic, our nation was in the early stages of battling an epidemic that plagued our beloved hospitality industry: the biased structural policies, born out of our country’s legacy of racism that guaranteed that black Americans would continuously work at a deficit. Painfully honest conversations — dissecting the ways in which decades of systematic racial and gender inequality festered in the industry — had finally begun to gain traction in on- and offline spaces. But, collectively, we’d barely broken through the dysfunctional infrastructure that allowed certain groups to fail harder and faster when COVID-19 struck.

Chef Deborah VanTrece was ringing the alarm prior to the coronavirus pandemic. She regularly brought discussions of industry inequality to the table through her dinner-and-conversation series that centers black women in hospitality. “It was something that we had just started talking about at Cast Iron Chronicles, and a lot of other chefs were talking about it,” says VanTrece, owner of Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours in Atlanta. “But the conversation wasn’t finished. It still isn’t.”

“As much as we’ve accomplished, I still feel isolated and that I am by myself. I don’t think any of us should feel that way. We should be checking on each other. It’s like [coronavirus] happened and every man for himself,” VanTrece says. “And when I think about it, we were pretty much like that in the first place; that’s why it’s so easy for it to continue now.” Isolation has become a theme in our shared new normal of stay-at-home orders, but what VanTrece is describing is a sentiment long echoed by black women in the industry. Yet seeing the divide continue during these times is heartbreaking for VanTrece. “If we were ever needing to be one, it’s now. We need to be one.”

Black and brown voices are largely excluded from overarching conversations that will define the future of our industry

As we grapple with lives lost and the magnitude of devastation caused by novel coronavirus, accountability and transparency seem to be overshadowed by crisis-led pivots while we brace ourselves for what’s to come. And yet again, black and brown voices are largely excluded from policymaking and overarching conversations that will define the future of our industry. In the face of this pandemic, some may say the pursuit of equality has been railroaded, maybe even understandably so. Others see the crisis as a hopeful confirmation that institutional change is inevitable. Because if not now, when?

In order to know where we are going, we have to understand where we’ve been. Black restaurant owners, black women especially, are in a more precarious position from the get-go. According to the latest figures, from 2017, black women were paid 61 cents for every dollar paid to their white male counterparts, making wealth generation much more difficult. And while one in six restaurant workers live below the poverty line, African Americans are paid the least. Access to capital has been a steady barrier of entry, especially for black women. Black- and brown-owned businesses are three times as likely to be denied loans, and those that are approved often receive lower loan amounts and pay higher interest rates. For a population more likely to rent than other demographics, offering up real estate as collateral for traditional loans isn’t an option. And even for those who own a home, the lasting effects of redlining, predatory and discriminatory lending practices, and low home valuations are palpable.

In other words, the wealth gap, combined with a lack of access to traditional loans and investors for start-up capital, puts black women at a disadvantage before they even open the doors of their restaurants. “A lot of us have had to build our businesses from scratch, and that may be through personal savings and loans, through family members, credit cards, or we have refinanced our homes,” says chef Evelyn Shelton, owner of Evelyn’s Food Love, a cafe serving comfort food in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood. “We are in uniquely different positions when we start, which makes where we are now even more difficult.”

In the East Bay, chef Fernay McPherson, owner of Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement, a food truck turned brick-and-mortar now located in the Emeryville Public Market food hall, is offering a limited carryout menu in an effort to keep her staff afloat, noting that some are single parents. “I was a single mother, so it’s a lot to take in when you’re thinking, ‘How am I going to feed my child? How am I going to make rent?’” During the Great Recession, McPherson was laid off and had to short-sell her home. She started Minnie Bell’s in 2009, as a catering company, while also working full-time as a transit operator in San Francisco. “It was hard being a mom, driving a bus, and trying to operate a business. It was a lot on me. And my decision was me. To work for me.”

Working multiple jobs is a necessary for many entrepreneurs whose bootstraps are shorter to begin with, says Lauren Amos, director of small-business development at Build Bronzeville, a Chicago incubator that advocates for South Side business owners. “We’re talking about people literally working a full-time job, supporting themselves and their family while still pursuing this dream of opening a business,” she says. “And they’re doing it out of their own physical pocket.”

McPherson, a San Francisco Chronicle 2017 Rising Star Chef, says it was tough getting a job in the restaurant industry after culinary school. “I came into a white, male-dominated field and I was a young, black woman that wasn’t given a chance. My first opportunity was from another black woman and I worked in her restaurant.” Access to a solid professional network, including mentors, is absolutely as vital as access to capital — social capital is another part of the ecosystem, and can be a bridge to resources necessary for growth. But without the right connections, strong networks may be hard to plug into, and exclusion from these networks can have a stifling effect on one’s career.

McPherson has steadily established a solid network over the years. Now, she’s envisioning what her post-pandemic future will look like, including a possible alliance with other women chef-owners. “We’re talking about collectively developing our own restaurant group, in a sense, where we can build a fund for each member, build benefits for our employees, and build career opportunities,” she says.

In coming weeks and months, people in many industries will be taking stock of what could have been done better. But for now, McPherson’s most pressing need is capital to be able to restart.

Studies show that African-American communities were hit hardest by the Great Recession. According to the Social Science Research Council, black households lost 40 percent of wealth during the recession and have not recovered, but white households did. Unemployment caused by the recession disproportionately affected black women, a double-edged sword for many of whom worked lower-wage jobs that relied on tips. The costs of these disparities are far reaching. Six years after a defunct grocery chain shut its doors, creating a food desert in the Chicago South Side neighborhood of South Shore, a new grocery store finally opened — just last December — a few months before the pandemic.

Black communities are undervalued. “Mom-and-pop,” a term of endearment that acknowledges the fortitude and nobility in owning a small business, is rarely applied to black-owned businesses. Racial discrimination and biased perceptions of black-owned restaurants in black communities costs them billions of dollars in lost revenue. Disinvestment in these communities sets the landscape for quick-service restaurant chains to flourish, as professor Marcia Chatelain eloquently lays out in Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, all of which presents added pressure for the competing independent restaurant owners, whose margins are already miniscule.

“We’re truly hanging on by a thin thread,” Shelton says. She encourages local legislators to call on neighborhood restaurants and caterers to feed people who are food insecure, as well as individuals at the 3,000-patient field hospital erected at McCormick Place, the Chicago convention center that already houses Shelton’s now-closed second location. Meanwhile, Shelton regularly delivers meals to the ER staff at a neighboring hospital, paid for out of her own pocket.

Disparities in restaurants are emblematic of the nation. Indicators show that African-American communities are hit the hardest by COVID-19. ProPublica sums it up: “Environmental, economic, and political factors have compounded for generations, putting black people at higher risk of chronic conditions that leave lungs weak and immune systems vulnerable: asthma, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.” And a lack of access to quality health care means the novel coronavirus has the potential to disproportionately decimate black communities, and the independent restaurants within them, if adequate support is not provided.

History shows us that the most vulnerable are left behind, and a similar pattern will likely occur post-pandemic. “The difference is the ability to be able to bounce back,” says Build Bronzeville’s Amos. When the pandemic hit, her organization swiftly aligned with other South Side organizations to urgently deliver vital information to small-business owners through grassroots efforts. “This is not a drill. Now is the time for all of us who want to be resource providers and boil it down for people,” Amos says.

Recognizing that communities with the most funding will have the greatest chance for survival, Amos leverages her relationships and personally calls and sends texts to restaurateurs conveying time-sensitive information like grant deadlines — she has become a lifeline for vulnerable small-business owners during this critical time. Amos has also extended assistance to Dining at a Distance, a delivery and takeout directory, after noticing its site had robust coverage of hot spots in the city, but little representation of South Side restaurants. Amos became a link and added a slew of South Side restaurants to the platform, noting that consumer-facing exposure is urgently needed. “A grim reality is that we have to capture these dining-out dollars now,” she says, “because there will come a point where people will stop ordering out because it just won’t be fiscally responsible for them to do so.”

As we envision a new path for the hospitality industry, black women must be central to the conversation: Their journeys hold wisdom that is widely absent from in-depth studies and data. And there’s no better industry to lead change than one known for breaking bread.

To support her community and staff, VanTrece has launched a pay-what-you-can menu at Twisted Soul, thinking of the model as a fundraiser of sorts. “This is a whole new pricing structure. You’re not pricing to pay the bills and pay the rent,” says VanTrece, whose landlord told her she wouldn’t have to pay a late fee on her rent, which is $10,000 a month. In addition to cashing in her credit card points for gift cards for her staff, she’s turned her restaurant into a hub where they can quickly grab necessities like a hot meal and toilet paper. It’s a service most of her team participates in. “But then I have some that are just scared,” she says. “They don’t want to come and I can’t blame them.”

On a recent Friday, a carryout fish fry was on VanTrece’s menu, a reminder of the ones she grew up going to during better days. She looks to the past for guidance often. “At Cast Iron, we always talked about the strength and the tenacity of our forefathers, and I’m calling upon that strength now to keep me putting one foot in front of the other, because there are times I just want to roll over,” she says. “And I can’t do that. I fought to get this far and I’m going to continue to fight through this.”

Angela Burke is a food writer and the creator of Black Food & Beverage, a site that amplifies the voices of black food and beverage professionals. Shannon Wright is an illustrator and cartoonist based out of Richmond, Virginia.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3bi4741 https://ift.tt/3bj5Juk

History shows us that the novel coronavirus will impact black women restaurateurs, and their businesses, much harder

Black and brown voices are largely excluded from overarching conversations that will define the future of our industry

In coming weeks and months, people in many industries will be taking stock of what could have been done better. But for now, McPherson’s most pressing need is capital to be able to restart.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3bi4741 via Blogger https://ift.tt/2RKiM0b

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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covid19updater · 5 years ago

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COVID19 UPDATES 03/29/2020

MORNING UPDATE (0835):

Italy: In italy looting has started on supermarkets and many have no money to buy what food is left. Law and order falling apart there. LINK

Rhode Island: Rhode Island's governor calls to quarantine New Yorkers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 LINK

Alabama: A nurse in Mobile, Alabama getting her message out. LINK

Maryland: Tonight, Maryland has experienced a tragic COVID-19 outbreak at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mt Airy. Multiple state agencies are on the scene and working closely with the local health department & the facility to protect additional residents and staff who may have been exposed.

California: The Los Angeles Police Department says 24 of its employees have now tested positive for #coronavirus.

US; Trump reverses course: On the recommendation of the White House CoronaVirus Task Force, and upon consultation with the Governor’s of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, I have asked the @CDCgov to issue a strong Travel Advisory, to be administered by the Governors, in consultation with the........Federal Government. A quarantine will not be necessary. Full details will be released by CDC tonight. Thank you!

Thailand: King of Thailand “self-isolates” with his harem and servants. LINK

Maine: On Maine island, several people with guns allegedly cut down tree to block driveway and force quarantine LINK

California: 25 year old with no underlying issues dies from COVID19. LINK

California: Coronavirus ICU admissions double overnight in California LINK

NYC: Some 20% of the 4,500 NYC ambulance workers, EMTs, paramedics and supervisors are out sick

Massachusetts: A second inmate at the Middlesex County Jail & House of Correction in Billerica, Massachusetts has tested positive for the Corona Virus. Expect this number to dramatically increase.

Germany: Number of confirmed Covid-19 #coronavirus cases in #Germany rises to 52,547 and death toll reaches 389 - Robert Koch Institute

China: CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: CHINA REPORTED 693 IMPORTED VIRUS CASES FROM 42 COUNTRIES AS OF SAT, WHICH SHOWS THERE'S STILL POSSIBILITY OF A SECOND WAVE OF INFECTION IN THIS COUNTRY: OFFICIAL FROM NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION - GT

RUMINT/ANALYSIS: There have been 70,000 new cases added today since I first woke up, to right now when I'm going to bed. At some point this coming week early on we will be going to 100k per day every day. That still is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to what April will look like. March was...the last month worldwide that will resemble the old world. April will be a month of massive human drama. The entire month filled with stories that...we have not seen in our lifetimes. It will be difficult to keep up as Covid-19 sweeps through Brazil and India, and wreaks further havoc throughout Europa and the US. Canada and Russia will look like the US does right now, the middle east and Asia will explode in cases etc... Just endless, every single day from worse to worse. The blame will be shifted onto those who failed to act or to take this threat seriously in February and March. It will be a hostile, threatening landscape full of tension and people already wearying of their confinement. Supply chains, distribution and the start of chaos will be seen towards the end of April in a way that is quite clearly showing where we will be heading in many areas of the world. There is no scenario where we do not enter a martial lockdown of civilized nations in April, if we do not, then it devolves our way of life permanently. The last hope is to absolutely enforce strict, militarily enforced quarantines and support of the supply chains and economies as the health care systems become overwhelmed. We won't be able to keep up with this in April. April is the month we fight, we give it our all, bring the full weight of the riches and the systems and the people to bear against this, only to realize, too late, that it won't be enough. It can't be enough because we did not act when we had the chance to. Not with enough leadership, not with enough public participation or awareness, with too many lies. The time to get ahead of this in any meaningful way to minimize this scenario, is behind us, not ahead of us. What is ahead of us is the age of paying the price. I don't want to think of what May is going to look like. March is almost done, and it was the last month where society as a whole resembled the one it left behind. We are entering uncharted waters in April. Stay safe, purge your inner nothingburger, now, and overreact. Anything less is underreaction. That's my nightly long ass post. Time to sleep well, in what little time we have left where a night like this can be had among civilized men.

UK: BREAKING - Unlike Trump, the UK is reportedly furious at China and believes it may have 40 times more coronavirus cases than it claims. Beijing faces a "reckoning" once the #COVID19 crisis is over.

Switzerland: The Swiss death toll has risen by 235 in a day to 257,Reuters news agency quotes the country's health agency as saying.

AFTERNOON UPDATE (1513)

US/World: 38 sailors have now tested positive for Covid-19 aboard aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt: U.S. officials Early last week the first three cases were discovered. Pentagon said Saturday 112 U.S. Navy sailors have coronavirus worldwide — 34% are aboard the aircraft carrier.

RUMINT (Switzerland): BREAKING - Confidential situation report in Zurich leaked: the "most likely development of the situation" is that the #COVID19 pandemic can not be contained. Therefore, the measures would have to be further tightened & "massively extended" - beyond the summer holidays.

DEBORAH BIRX: NO U.S. STATE OR METRO AREA TO BE SPARED BY COVID-19

CONNECTICUT: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on the urging of President Donald Trump has issued a 'domestic travel advisory for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut' due to the high number of coronavirus cases there.

US: FAUCI SAYS 200,000 U.S. VIRUS DEATHS POSSIBLE; ESTIMATE FLUID

NYC: New York mayor: City will run out of supplies in 1 week Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio says that his city will run out of critical medical supplies - including ventilators - by next Sunday, 5 April. "Here in New York City, it feels like a wartime environment," he told CNN. New York has become the epicentre of the US coronavirus outbreak. Across the state, at least 52,000 people had tested positive as of Saturday - more than one third of the cases across the country. At least 728 people have died, 672 of them within New York City. "This is going to be a long crisis," de Blasio said. "We should get more girded for the sheer timeline here."

New York: New York curve accelerating beyond one model. LINK

Singapore: SINGAPORE IN A VIRUS BATTLE THAT IS INTENSIFYING, Prime Minister TELLS CNN

Germany: UPDATE: The finance minister of the German state of Hesse, Thomas Schäfer, apparently committed suicide in despair about the scale of the state response required to tackle the #coronavirus crisis, initial investigations suggest.

US: Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts 'millions' of U.S. coronavirus cases, more than 100,000 deaths LINK

Louisiana: New Orleans streets are overtaken by RATS as tourists stay away from the hotspot city and Louisiana is hit by 3,315 coronavirus cases and 137 deaths. The rats have been forced to surface in order to find whatever scraps they can...The city says it’s ramping up its use of rat bait in commercial areas, starting with rat traps on the sidewalks and bait into the catch basins on Bourbon Street. Along the Crescent City's famous Bourbon Street, its bars and music venues are all closed to comply with social distancing rules. 'I turn the corner, there's about 30 rats at the corner, feasting on something in the middle of the street,' one local restaurant owner told CBS News. Extermination crews have now begun to leave poisoned bait in the gutters along with rat traps in an effort to curb pests.'There are pathogens in these rodents. Fortunately, we don't see many of the health outcomes. We don't have very many disease cases that are actually related to rodents. But the potential is there,' New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said during a press conference.

RUMINT: Heard something interesting from my daughter who is a floor nurse...they have one floor of her hospital dedicated to suspected covid19 patients, they sent some nurses from her floor up there to work (pulled to cover shifts)...They thought it was best if people took turns working in that unit? So the whole hospital has a better chance to get infected? Also...this hospital has some VIP club for VIP patients that get fed special gourmet meals...so the nurses that work on the covid19 floor get to order food off the special menu. She works with a nurse whose husband works at the water treatment plant...somehow workers at the water treatment plant were exposed, but their jobs are too critical so they got each worker their own RV to live in and they have to remain on site. And this...the nurses on the regular floors were told not to wear masks because it scared the patients...also they are running short of PPE.

Maryland: “56% of all the people that have been hospitalized in Maryland are under 60. They’re not just folks from nursing homes that are in their 70s and 80s,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan warns on @FoxNewsSunday

UK: An NHS doctor, 55, is first confirmed UK hospital frontline worker to die from coronavirus

US: BREAKING - The reaction of the United States to #COVID19 is the worst in the world. The updated trajectory shows that dark times may lie ahead.

Italy: [RTRS] 29 Mar -ITALY DEATH TOLL FROM CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK RISES BY 756 TO 10,779 ON SUNDAY - OFFICIAL ITALY'S TOTAL NUMBER OF CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASES RISE TO 97,689 FROM 92,472 ON SATURDAY - OFFICIAL

UK: UK RESTRICTIONS COULD LAST 6 MONTHS LINK

World: FROM 600 000 TO 700 000 cases IN 1 DAY

Russia: BREAKING - Moscow declares a **self-isolation regime** for all residents irrespective of age from tomorrow on amid the worsening #COVID19 outbreak in the city. Residents will only be allowed to leave their homes with a special permit issued by the city’s government.

Indiana: BREAKING: Indianapolis declared an emerging hot zone by the Surgeon General.

France: France: 292 deaths and 359 new patients admitted in ICUs in the past 24 hours.

Nigeria: NIGERIA'S BUHARI ORDERS 14-DAY LOCKDOWN OF LAGOS AND ABUJA Combined population = 20 million

US: Michigan and Louisiana are becoming virus hot spots — their governors warn supplies are already running out

EVENING (1930):

US: Joe Diffie, ’90s Country Music Star, Dies of Coronavirus at 61

Italy: "In Italy, authorities have conceded that their coronavirus death toll did not include those who had died at home or in nursing homes. Similarly in France..."

Louisiana: 30 inmates and staff at Oakdale federal prison in Louisiana have tested positive for coronavirus, and one inmate has died

DC: BREAKING: CAPITOL POLICE officer tests positive for coronavirus. Source says the officer had been assigned to the House chamber.

UK: Rationing begins in UK. Customers limited to take just one item each of essentials such as milk, bread and eggs.

US: SINGER-SONGWRITER JOHN PRINE IN CRITICAL CONDITION WITH SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19

NYC: BREAKING: The death toll has jumped by nearly 100 in NYC since this morning's update. There are now 776 COVID-19 deaths in the city.

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womenofcolor15 · 5 years ago

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The White House Asks ‘Millennials’ To Lay Off Social Gatherings, Avoid Crowds Of 10+ People + Trump Reportedly Tried To Pay Germans For Coronavirus Cure + Met Gala POSTPONED!

The White House says millennials are the "core group" that will stop the Coronavirus, so they’ve laid out some guidelines for everyone to follow amid the pandemic. Also, it’s reported Trump tried to pay German scientists for a possible Coronavirus vaccine so he could secure exclusive rights to it. Everything inside..

Trump finally admitted the Coronavirus is “bad” and “not under control" today.

The president's tone dramatically changed as the White House announced new Coronavirus guidelines. You’ll recall, Trump has been very dismissive about the virus for weeks leading up today. Over the last two months, Trump had not put the public’s health as a priority. Now, ish has gotten real.

During today’s press briefing, the president acknowledged that the Coronavirus crisis could last until July or August, proving this is just the beginning of what’s to come. (It likely would be less if everyone TOOK HEED to requests to stay home for the next few weeks unless absolutely necessary.) He rolled out a 15-day guideline for everyday Americans.

“They think August, it could be July,” he said, referring to members of the White House task force. “Could be longer than that. But I’ve asked that question many, many times.”

Trump asked Americans to avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people and to limit discretionary travel. He also said the economy may be heading into a recession. The new rules also asked Americans to keep from eating and drinking in restaurants and bars.

“If everybody does what we’ve asked for in the next 15 days, we will see a dramatic difference,” https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-dr-birx-calls-millennials-the-core... ">said Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force.

Dr. Birx said that millennials are "the core group that will stop the virus." At first, people thought young people were much less susceptible symptoms of the illness, however, they're still capable of spreading it around even if they feel perfectly fine.

"I want to speak particularly to our largest generations now, our millennials," Birx said. "I am the mom of two wonderful millennial young women who are bright and hard working, and I will tell you what I told to them: they are the core group that will stop this virus.

"They are the group that communicates successfully independent of picking up a phone," she continued. "They intuitively know how to contact each [other] without being in a large social gatherings."

He should be telling Trump himself this, since he was the main one downplaying this viruses for months and weeks, and even calling it a hoax. People will only take it as serious as the head person takes it.

Peep the clip below:

Dr. Deborah Birx says millennials are the "core group" that will stop the coronavirus, because they intuitively know how to communicate without meeting in person https://t.co/Pg0fqY2bj0 pic.twitter.com/DwZcNaIhBl

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 16, 2020

Over the weekend, chatter online revealed young people were crowding bars despite the severity of the virus becoming clear.

We are not gonna be okay. I just saw a series of Instastories from a college friend. He's at a day party. And people are smoking hookah.

Right now. In Chicago.

There are a lot of people at a party in close proximity sharing hookah.

— Luvvie is currently writing book 2 (@Luvvie) March 15, 2020

Young folks at the club this weekend thinking they are invincible against the #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/TXGZUjWIth

— julian chwang (@ChwangJulian) March 15, 2020

Other guidelines include:

If you have a serious underlying health condition, stay home and away from others.

Avoid discretionary travel, shopping trips and social visits.

Avoid eating or drinking in restaurants bars and food courts. Use drive-through, pickup and delivery options.

Do not visit nursing homes or retirement or long-term care facilities unless you are there to provide critical assistance.

Practice good hygiene such as washing your hands, especially after touching frequently used items or surfaces. Avoid touching your face.

As of now, Trump confirmed he's not ready to impose a national quarantine.

And get this...

Trump reportedly tried to recruit German scientists working on a Coronavirus vaccine by offering large sums of money to secure exclusive rights to it for the United States.

Business Insider reports:

The prominent German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported that Trump had offered large sums of money to lure the Germany-based company CureVac to the US and to secure exclusive rights to a vaccine.

The firm is working with the federally owned Paul Ehrlich Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines on a vaccine for the coronavirus.

However, CureVac - the company Trump allegedly contacted about the vaccine - tweeted that's NOT true.

To make it clear again on coronavirus: CureVac has not received from the US government or related entities an offer before, during and since the Task Force meeting in the White House on March 2. CureVac rejects all allegations from press.

— CureVac (@CureVacAG) March 16, 2020

Hmph.

Effective at midnight, San Francisco will require people to stay home except for essential needs.

Necessary government functions & essential stores will remain open.

These steps are based on the advice of public health experts to slow the spread of #COVID19.

— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 16, 2020

Today, Mayor London Breed announced San Francisco - alongside five other Bay Area counties - will be on a total lockdown to curb spread of COVID-19. They'll be on lockdown for three weeks beginning Tuesday (March 17th) at midnight.

The San Francisco Examiner reports:

The City will legally prohibit residents from leaving their homes except to meet basic needs including visiting the doctor, or buying groceries or medicine, until at least April 7, Mayor London Breed announced Monday.

San Francisco is joining five other Bay Area counties in issuing a shelter-in-place order. City officials decided to take the drastic measure after closing public schools and prohibiting large gatherings last week. The other counties are Contra Costa, Marin, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo.

In other news...

While our galleries may be temporarily closed, there are still plenty of ways to experience the #MetAnywhere. Below, check out a few ways to keep exploring the Museum digitally pic.twitter.com/9lb33CThtq

— The Metropolitan Museum of Art (@metmuseum) March 16, 2020

The Met Gala (scheduled for May 4th) has been postponed indefinitely in response to the pandemic. The Metropolitan Museum, which hosts the Met Gala, said it would be closing to the public and canceling all events until May 15th. As of now, it's not clear if this year's Met Gala will be rescheduled or it's canceled all together.

Photo: Max Elram/Shutterstock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/03/16/the-white-house-asks-%E2%80%98millennials%E2%80%99-to-lay-off-social-gatherings-avoid-crowds-of-10-people

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dropbee7-blog · 6 years ago

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Weathering mergers and acquisitions

by Jason Porterfield February 4, 2019

It’s been said that the presence of change is the only thing that never changes. Mergers and acquisitions are a kind of change that many agents and brokers have to face at some point in their careers, whether they embrace it or not. No matter if the situation involves two smaller firms joining forces under one banner to increase exposure or a national brand looking to expand, the process requires a period of adjustment for everyone involved.

It’s been a busy couple of years for brokerage mergers and acquisitions. Compass made a lot of noise by entering the market and hiring away several top Chicagoland agents from just about every major brokerage in town before outright buying Conlon Real Estate last May. A few months later, the New York-based firm bought the North Shore’s Hudson Realty.

In November 2017, Oak Park’s Gloor Realty was bought by Coldwell Banker (more on this transition in the sidebar on page 16). The following month, Ryan Hill, a Naperville-based brokerage, began flying the Century 21 flag. Two different affiliates of Berkshire Hathaway, Starck Realty and Visions Realty, merged in December 2018. And just last month, Gust Realty of Glen Ellyn joined Ryan Hill as a Century 21 affiliate.

Steve Murray, president and owner of REAL Trends, a Colorado-based firm that values brokerages and brokers acquisition deals that usually involve firms with 50 or more agents, said that as recently as 18 months ago, his firm was carrying out 10 to 12 valuations per month and would be hired to sell two or three of those firms. Those numbers have jumped to 25 valuations per month, with four or five brokerages across the country tapping the company to handle a merger or acquisition deal.

“There are between 28 and 30 sales right now that we’re at some stage in the process of handling,” Murray said. “This is by far the busiest we’ve been in about 30 years of doing this.” Murray attributes the increase in acquisitions to two main factors. First, many brokerage companies are showing a willingness to increase the share of commissions that go to agents. And second, more of the business is being done by a smaller number of top teams and agents. It all adds up to an increasingly competitive environment — and one in which scale can make the difference between growth and stagnation. Everything from technology platforms to corporate relocations can be leveraged on a national scale, making this a hard time for smaller firms to compete. And if recent predictions of a softening market bear out, that reality may only accelerate.

Murray said this dynamic applies at every level of the business, from individual agents to entire firms. “Anytime you have a flat to declining market, it’s the better agents and the better teams that pick up market share. And the same is true for brokerage companies,” he said.

While the changes associated with an acquisition can be exciting for some, it’s a source of trepidation and stress for others. Some agents embrace the change. Some dread it. And many others may not be excited by it at first, but are willing to put up with the disruption and will look for silver linings as they seek out new deals.

New directions

Last October, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group acquired Weichert Realtors’ Nickel Group, a firm that managing broker-owner John Lawrence started in 2006 and ushered through franchising with Weichert Realtors in 2008. Lawrence said that the acquisition process took about six months from the first conversation to its completion. He initially believed that it would be difficult to relinquish control of the firm that he had kept growing through the recession and in the years that followed.

But Lawrence said he learned more about his own business through the experience as well. “The process made me take a deep dive into areas of the business that can often get pushed to the side when, as a sole owner, you are working on managing so many different areas,” Lawrence said. “As a smaller company, but one that was doing a lot of business, I just didn’t have the hours in the day to be an expert on absolutely every aspect of the business. The due diligence period required me to go to the next level on some of the smaller and more obscure parts of my business.”

The decision to sell may not have been an easy one, but it was Lawrence’s to make. The focus for most agents, however, is on how to build and sustain their own personal business, as opposed to the larger brand. Kathryn Hoffman of Century 21 Affiliated joined a team at Ryan Hill Realty in Naperville a short time before Ryan Hill’s acquisition. She had gone to the Naperville-area brokerage because she wanted a smaller, boutique office environment. Less than a year after joining the team, she was informed that the firm might be sold. “I had preconceived ideas about Century 21 and their brand,” Hoffman said. “I wanted something that was maybe a little bit more cool, and Century 21 has been around forever. …I’m a pretty positive person, so it was like, ‘OK, let’s just go with it.’”

Trying on a culture for size

Hoffman said that the months leading up to Ryan Hill’s acquisition were somewhat awkward because some people in the office knew about it and others found out when a formal announcement was made during a special event at the office. But if anyone was nervous about the transition or expected a more corporate vibe once the deal had closed, those concerns were allayed on the day that the big news broke.

“There were three or four gentlemen there and they were kind of casually dressed,” Hoffman said. “I would say we were all more dressed up than they were. Well, they were the owners of Century 21 Affiliated, and they all came down from Madison and were there to be seen and answer questions. I have worked in several offices, but to have it where the people who own this ever-expanding and changing company were there to talk to us was incredible.”

Culture may be an even more important consideration for managers. Lawrence ultimately chose to be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway because of the connection he felt with the people he would be working with and what he saw as an alignment of the company’s culture with that of his own firm. He was impressed with the brand itself and the marketing materials available. “I felt that this option was best for my agents and staff,” Lawrence said. “It was very important to me to put them in a situation where they would be able to grow and have more success.”

Lawrence also noted that the acquisition was streamlined by a task delegation system that broke the process into manageable pieces over several months. “Each Friday I received a spreadsheet that outlined everything that had been completed and every step that needed to be completed, who was responsible and when it needed to be completed,” Lawrence says. “Even though it was an overwhelming list, I could look through to see what I was responsible for and what each person was responsible for. It really wasn’t all that overwhelming because there were so many people assisting.”

The right items in the toolbox

Mergers and acquisitions do offer the possibility to agents and brokers of getting a more extensive level of support at the back end than was present before with their previous company. But also, experienced agents should enter the acquisition process with the full realization that they will likely have to become accustomed to different ways of doing business. There will be new systems to learn and fresh branding to consider.

Going through the acquisition process doesn’t have to be stressful. Deborah Hess was a broker was with Conlon Real Estate when Compass acquired that firm last spring. She said Compass took the time to onboard Conlon’s agents individually. Compass frequently held one-on-one and group sessions when new tools or procedures were introduced as a way to make sure everyone was ready to move forward.

“The whole process was very well-thought out and it was executed with a lot of care,” Hess said. “What I noticed mostly was concern for the agents. When you’ve been doing something a certain way for so long, if it changes, it can be bumpy. What I noticed the most was that there was always staff and support people to help along the way, and a really good spirit in terms of making sure that everybody was OK.”

Hess was surprised by the high level of local knowledge and engagement that Compass brought in. “Even though it’s a national company and a national brand, there was a real local mindset to the support staff and the management,” she said. “That made it easier to go through the transition and to adapt to the new procedures and policies.”

And though many agents are invested in the marketing at their current brokerage, it can be well worth the temporary disruption to become part of a national brand. “There is a big difference between what a brokerage with a national brand can afford for marketing and what is offered to their agents and what a boutique agency can offer,” Hoffman said. “It was exciting to have those tools available.”

Making the change

Broker-owners can also benefit from a more widely recognized brand that can help open more doors and drive new business. And the prospect of having a more robust support staff to help out can be tantalizing.

But finding the right match can take time. Managing brokers should do all that they can to make sure the company that wants to acquire them is going to be a good fit for them if they are aiming for longevity in a rapidly changing business.

While the brokerage valuation process is an important one, there’s much more to consider than the size of the check. Lawrence cautioned that the company that is willing to pay the most for a real estate business might not have the right culture or philosophy. “If you’re going to go from working for yourself to working for somebody else, it’s easy to just look at the highest dollar amount that you can get at the end of the day,” Lawrence says. “Find a company that has the same values and culture or somebody that truly is the future. If you’re going to stay on and manage, you want a company that’s acquiring you as much as they’re acquiring your brand. If they believe in you, then you can have a really good marriage.”

Expert sources:

Deborah Hess, Compass Chicago

Kathryn Hoffman, Century 21 Affiliated Naperville

John Lawrence, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group Oak Park

Steve Murray, REAL Trends

Source: https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2019/02/04/weathering-mergers-acquisitions/

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