#& nov 22 is when its coming out properly

[spacecadetspe]

Nov. 22, 2023

I taught Phobetor a thing or two last night. He came to me once again, immersed in his own feelings and unable to properly categorize any of them. He was depressed. Anxious. I don't say this with any surprise, even with the perspective of his particular lot in life. He still wasn't sure how to reconcile the fears he'd processed with following me. He seemed almost to have broken, to have given up hope of doing anything else.

"You're all that's left," he said.

"Follow me," I said. I took him to a spot not too far from the palace, away from the grounds and anything else we might trample in the exercise I had planned. "Do you know how I learned to become a giant?" I asked.

"The Divine Sage had something to do with it, I'd wager," he replied.

"You'd be right." I reached up and covered his eyes. Behind my hands, I initiated a vision. Best not to scare everyone in the surrounding five miles or so.

It was the same vision Mother had bestowed upon me; a gathering cloud of noxious vapors overhead, threatening to absorb me into it. I had looked on with dread at its approach, much as Phobetor did now. I was scared, and at the same time I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness. It was so much bigger than me, too nebulous to pin down. I could feel myself crumbling under the weight of my own future, and all the hardships that could come with it.

And then, as if directly in my ear, there came a whisper; the same whisper I shared with Phobetor...

"You're bigger than this." It was so firm, so certain, that I trusted my whole existence unto it.

And just like that, I was bigger. That cloud beneath me was less than the size of an anthill. I could breeze through it with no adverse effects.

And Phobetor grew. Together we towered over the tallest trees on the plain, a hundred times our original size.

I removed my hands from his eyes. "Look," I said.

He looked. He peered easily over tens of miles, into the nearby city. The tallest buildings came only to chest height on us. Tears formed in his eyes, and he looked at me as if he was seeing me for the very first time. "Ah... that's how it's done."

I shifted back to my original size and let him hold me in the palm of his hand.

"You look like a fairy," he chuckled.

I gave him my best pout. "I suppose I have to concede that, at this size."

We seemed to be gathering a crowd, which made Phobetor nervous. "Hope, how do I change back?"

I smiled up at him. "You are what you think you are."

"I have no idea what I am."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "What do you want to be?"

"I... I don't know."

I tried to simplify it for him. "Do you want to be smaller?"

"Yes..."

"Then be smaller."

And he shrank. Those of his siblings around us were murmuring, and at least one of the dreamlings cried out "That was so cool!" I petted the child's head and took a moment to reassure the crowd that the growth spurt was intentional, and then Phobetor and I teleported back to his quarters.

We sat on his bed for awhile. He wanted to be close, but was wary about initiating intimacy again.

Finally, he spoke up. "Hope... will I keep changing like this?"

"Well, now that you've seen behind the proverbial curtain, I'd expect so."

He hummed, but seemed to be discouraged by my answer.

"However," I said, "you do get to set your own pace, and decide for yourself when those changes need to take place." I petted his hair. "You know... I've known this about myself for awhile, but I have no idea who I am."

"What?" He looked up at me, stunned.

I shrugged. "My identity, wants and needs are so fluid that I've just decided to lean into it. I have no idea what the finished product looks like. So I get to explore it as much as I like."

His mouth pulled downward. "So I can... I can be whatever I want?"

"Yes." I pulled him into me and petted his head. "The possibilities are infinite. What is your definition of 'infinite'?"

He shook his head slightly and dabbed at his eyes. "Um... having neither a beginning nor an end."

I chuckled. "It's a start. Imagine a circle with a point at the center. from that center point, you could have a ray going off in any direction, yes?"

"Yes..."

"Numbers be damned, you can head off from that central point in any direction you want. You can zig zag. Why mess around with boring straight lines? You can even decide that a single plane isn't enough, and veer off into the third dimension."

He thought about it. "So a circle becomes a sphere."

"That's right. And when you get done with that, you can branch out even further. Break out of your initial circle and join someone else in theirs for awhile."

He was quiet for a little while after that. His fingers dug trenches in my gown, clinging to me without demanding I stay. "And you support this?"

"I do. Even when our paths no longer cross..."

He picked his head up. "Are you leaving?"

"It's an eventuality, I suppose..."

He sat up, then put his face close to mine. "Please don't. Don't leave me like this-!"

I shushed him softly, then took one of his hands and closed his fingers around the space in his palm. "Imagine the first day we met. Every hug you and I have shared. Every word of wisdom, every interaction... put it all right here, in your hand."

He closed his eyes and obeyed. His hand began to glow softly.

"Open your eyes."

He did, then looked from his hand back to me.

"That's what you're taking with you. A piece of me. And it goes wherever you go." I stroked his face. "You're not lost. You're not alone. And as long as you've lived, I have never left you."

He closed his hand around the glowing pieces of me. "I understand now," he murmured. His mouth twitched again. "My father didn't love me." He leaned forward and dug his fingers into his hair. "He didn't love me. He didn't care." He was getting upset again, and worse, the hair-pulling was causing his scalp to bleed.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Stop. How'd you jump to that conclusion?" I asked. I struggled to remove his hands out of his hair and then pulled him back against me.

"He had a set idea of me in mind... for his own purposes, obviously. But you don't. You seem to love... whatever is in front of you at the time. The past doesn't exist anymore; the future doesn't exist yet..." He shook his head and let out a sob. "You don't reach for a certain image of me when you teach me, or try to make me into something else."

I nodded. "And Hypnos limited you, in that regard."

Phobetor nodded. "If he had loved me, I'd like to think he would have supported me, instead of caging me in one specialized group. Like you."

I chuckled. "Well, I'm not your parent (that would be weird), but I don't think anyone really understands love."

He finally wrapped his arms around me. "You do... better than most."

[t4tpumpkinduo]

aheem heem 12 and then like. all of the 20s?

YES KISSA YOU O7 doing dsmp ones uhm

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

well you already know what the hell i'm going to say...ceeschlatt i'm so sorry he only did some of that you guys are so annoying. i think a huge chunk of his story is just like. Canonically Textually way deeper and more sympathetic and more complicated than people want to acknowledge. guys will have direct blatent narrative foil parallels of their mistakes to their blorbo of choice but only one side will get a million excuses and only one side will get their pov analyzed. OK 👍. telephone game ass fanbase. read the parallel storyline of what would've happened had pogtopia won read the nov 16 script look at the canonical smplive isms analyze why someone would want to "revive someone for political power" desperate style after a funeral where it was Blatantly Clear that person has absolutely Zero Power and it paralleling the post charlie death insanity. and then you will calm down!!

honorable mention to ceefundy as well. i wouldn't say he's unpopular unpopular but goddamn. despite the fact he's so interesting and cool and inpactful and represents huge chunks of Core Themes, he just gets ignored and infantalized and has so much of his story plain Erased because it's inconvenient to other characters. Fucked!!!

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

ceeranboo so sorry ok. iget why people like him i do but he is so so bland to me. shepards tone empty promise of a character. to me. some of his implications were pretty interesting, especially when it came to things that were more complicated, the exile isms the being knowingly complicit in ctommy prison murder or him drinking ableist copium abt tubbo being kind of unhinged. the centristism sometimes feeling less waffly and more like he's trying to people please to the point of exploding. too bad i do not care ☝️🔛🔝

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

and if i say tntduo..it's been so overhyped it overshadows everyone else it overshadows their own damn characters entire arcs and decisions and then the whole story itself they are not allowed to be anything except eachothers klance bait which was equally as mid. i do think there is value to it but at this point i am so exhausted about the oc versions being treated like canon when on screen its so bad out here sometimes. ppl going ohhh we never got resolution :[ ,,,.ccwilbur blatantly said what would've happened in the final tntduo stream. cwil would show back up to lnv in the same set up of his apologies but its a bait and switch that pivots into insulting q again and then finish it up w oh hey maybe yr not so bad after all 😂 and then he gives him a fist bump and leaves. there's yr closure. lea me alone

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i already said i think pumpkinduo is like funny comedy mallets for crazy people but i think most other things get attention properly? el rapids deserved more hype tho i srs think it would change how people see a lot of the characters involved

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

im not sure? weird shit is a given but other than that who rlly care <- edit: HELP i misread the question i thought it was asking what you are Unwilling to come around to. so sorry. to answer the actual question uhm,,still not very sure hheheh im very solid in my dislikes and likes and complaints

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

exile and the prison for sure :heart_hands: /RETCH. sure other things are very annoying but the levels these two arcs get to are Awful and Telling and Shitty the media illiteracy is off the charts. how you can watch streams with your eyes closed and ears closed and without registering the words or characters on the screen. what's going on. anyways if cdrm thinks torture is so bad maybe he should not talk about eye for an eye when he had tortured three people before he was even in the prison. but okay. also rip prison arc sam the world wasn't ready for a character like you 🙏

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

i'm not sure? what are the most common complaints i do happen to agree with a lot of them i think

[mariacallous]

When senior Chinese and U.S. officials met from Dec. 11 to 12 in Hebei and agreed to “properly handle” the Taiwan question, analysts were quick to make comparisons between Russia’s horrifying invasion of Ukraine and a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. China is now prepared to “gobble Taiwan,” one headline read. In a Hudson Institute talk last month, John Hemmings, senior director of Indo-Pacific foreign and security policy at Pacific Forum International, said Chinese President Xi Jinping “wants to unify Taiwan by force or by diplomacy, but he’s quite prepared and quite willing and seems to be even further preparing to do it by force.”

But U.S. President Joe Biden has been sending out a very different message after meeting with Xi last month in Bali, Indonesia. During their meeting, Xi stressed that the Taiwan question is “at the very core of China’s core interests […] and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” calling it “China’s internal affair.” The message is clear: This is between us and Taiwan; stay out of it. But Biden left his meeting with Xi saying he did not feel there was an imminent threat to Taiwan.

According to Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, however, who spoke at the same event as Hemmings, such a remark “seems to really undermine what many of his most senior military officers have been saying publicly,” namely that China will be prepared to take Taiwan by force by 2027 “but could be even much sooner.” That said, there’s also a lot of skepticism concerning such claims, including from a top U.S. general and defense analysts.

There is reason to think the drums of war may be quiet for a while. The Hebei talks came after the Taiwanese local elections on Nov. 26, with a special election for one city  held on Dec. 18. The center-left Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won five of the 22 cities and counties in the first round, while most of the rest went to the Kuomintang (KMT) and its political allies. This was a catastrophic upset and the worst election loss in the DPP’s 36-year history. As a result, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as the head of the DPP, though she will remain in office until 2024.

But there is a silver lining here. The DPP is the party of Taiwanese nationalism, whereas the KMT, at least since Taiwan became a democracy, has been the party of appeasement and cross-strait talks when it comes to Beijing. Among the many reasons analysts have given for the disastrous DPP showing is that the party early on switched to mudslinging against the KMTand playing the fiercely anti-China song , “resist Beijing, protect Taiwan.” Given Beijing’s military intimidation tactics in recent years, which ramped up in the wake of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, the DPP assumed this old tune would play well once again. The last day of Pelosi’s trip, for example, a total of 27 Chinese warplanes crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.

But it turned out that while the threat from Beijing remains a priority for Taiwanese voters (only 1.3 percent support immediate unification), this year’s elections were instead dominated by a series of domestic political scandals. In addition, while support for unification remains low, Taiwanese do not live in constant fear of invasion. Just as South Koreans tend to be less worried about North Korean activity than people abroad, Taiwanese are often less in a panic about Beijing than, say, pundits in Washington.

Meanwhile, the pandemic dealt a nasty blow to incumbents worldwide, and the DPP was no exception. In the Taipei mayoral race, for example, DPP candidate and former Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, who headed the central government’s COVID-19 efforts, also became the focus of criticism for anyone unhappy with Taiwan’s pandemic control policies. In the end, Chen lost to Wayne Chiang, the great-grandson of the late President Chiang Kai-shek.

This is why the recent elections could make a Chinese invasion less likely, at least for now. A sweeping KMT victory does not mean Taiwanese people are any more open to unification or any less likely to put up a show of courage that would make Ukrainians proud if Beijing should decide to invade—plus, a KMT win nudges the United States to think more seriously about such things and fully prepare for the possibility.

Despite all this, however, a KMT win can be presented, whether or not it’s true, as a sign of shifting public sentiment in Taiwan when it comes to the question of unification. An invasion would be incredibly costly, and not just in economic terms. The transport and supply logistics across the Taiwan Strait are daunting. Meanwhile, Taiwan is stockpiling anti-ship missiles. And according to some estimates, the invasion could require more than 1.2 million troops. It could be an even worse disaster for China than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned out to be.

Therefore, anything Beijing can use as an excuse to avoid such risk without losing face by giving up on Taiwan, which is a defining topic among Chinese nationalists, is a huge win. The elections are a powerful piece of propaganda that Beijing can use to argue that no immediate action is needed, allowing Xi to, as former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping famously said, hide his strength and bide his time. Beijing even may genuinely believe it can achieve some form of unification through political pressure, avoiding what would be a highly risky military venture. After all, China has been threatening an invasion of Taiwan for decades.

But this only buys a certain amount of time. If China’s domestic political crisis spirals, Xi could be convinced that making a move on Taiwan may provide a powerful distraction, not to mention a unifying force with the public back home. China will probably not be deterred from Taiwan, only delayed, but openings like this are rare and must be seized to negotiate any peace that can be agreed upon—if only to make time to prepare for worse possibilities.

[colony22graphics]

            ❝Shine on,                  diamond.❞

◆ member since: nov. 22, 2013 ◆ longest character: alexander donovan ◆

@alexander-donovan, Well, here we go. 

Rory, there's no way on earth I could possibly describe what you've done for this community. Aside from making it all in the first place, constructing the post-apocalyptic sandbox we all hold so dear, you also pay attention to how it's executed---from basic principles of operation and how we ought to respect each other as players, down to the smallest, weirdest headcanon. It matters to you---which I think is probably the best way to summarize your energy and wisdom, the Rory-ness of it all: 

Things matter. People matter. Caring matters. 

In a world where we're pretty damn used to moving from one diversion to the next at a moment's notice, you make something that's absolutely set apart by saying, resolutely and passionately, that what we do here really matters.

And you're right, to think that. If you need any further proof that you---Rory---matter, you can look at me writing this damn letter (and swearing every three sentences, sorry). But you in your extremely Ro way, said hey, six years fucking matters, and so do all the people we play with, so let’s get mushy on the main and tell them. And I can tell you to your face you're right and this was a stellar idea because... I do that now. Because of your influence, I'm a better person, one who does actually try and tell people what I think. 

You challenge people to care, and to translate their caring into something others can recognize, and reciprocate. You’re never afraid to point out the importance of saying things and leaving a meaningful mark, becoming an active part of our community instead of staying in our own heads (as introverts on the internet are prone to doing).

You're also a hell of a writer, which is inspirational in itself, and I can’t leave that out of it. Your dedication to your characters, to their motivations and struggles, shines through in every post you make, and you don't let fear or insecurity take root or stop you from doing what you love. You know it's not about achieving perfection, but about collaboration and growth. The way we write is an exercise in discipline and embracing the joys of language, it's not meant to be fine art (though a lot of the stuff you come up with off the cuff blurs the line between the two on a regular basis.) It's really very rude how talented you are. 

I won't talk too much more about you and me personally because you already know it pretty well, but I will mention that when I offered to help out with tech stuff, you don't even know how impossible being a full mod felt for me, at the time. I'd just come out of some rough experiences and was ready to never do that again. But over the years, you gave me steps that I could take only when I felt comfortable, and let me accept only the responsibility that I thought I could manage (though you always told me you knew I was more than capable of handling it). In a very real way, with your patience and understanding, you gave me back my confidence, and my willingness to be vulnerable. That's something I won't ever forget.  

You have my respect and my friendship, always.

And dear lord, if Tumblr has managed not to self-destruct in the next five or ten years, I really hope we're still around doing this shit. No place I'd rather be.

Love you, Ro.

<3 Lottie.

(Oh, by the way, I took the liberty of adding something else, under the cut. I knew that I would never be able to cover everything, and that I’d run out of words, so I turned to others to fill in the gaps and maybe it’ll help convey it all a little more properly. Many thanks to everyone.)  ❤

         —-     Happy Colony 6th Anniversary      —-

     RO, YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE GIFT. I’m incredibly grateful all those years ago I saw that Bones bio and decided to join this crazy little family because that is exactly what you have created with the Colony: You have made a family. You have always been a pleasure to write with, a hard-working and careful admin, and now this second go-round I'm happy to call you a good friend. I wanted to mirror your sentiment on my anniversary post, it is amazing how time rewards our patience with this second meeting! I owe you a very real debt because thanks to this group when a friend let me down whilst I was on a different goddamn continent, thanks to you, I found Cassie there to help me out! The group is an extension of you: thoughtful, kind, emotional, and funny as hell.                                                                                                             - Nicola

     Rory, your dedication to the Colony (and previously Belvedere) astounds me every day. Writing with you is an absolute joy, thank you for all that you do for us!!                                                                                                             - Cassie

     RO HOLY COW!! It's insane to think of being part of something so wonderful for so long, I can't imagine how proud you must be to call this place home. I absolutely love writing with every character I've gotten to interact with, you approach your characters and this RPG with such a passion, it's always made getting to be part of it all the more special to me! To many years to come!                                                                                                              - Molly

     The things I admire most about you are your kindness, your compassion, your understanding and the way you always make the best of a situation. You've been nothing but welcoming and kind to me since I've had the privilege of joining this insanely talented and incredible group, and every day I am in awe of the love and care and detail you pour into the rpg. You have been so supportive over these past few months, every day I consider myself insanely lucky to have met you. I adore you and I'm so happy for you that you've come so far in your own personal journey, you truly do deserve all the happiness in the world.                                                                                                             - Lou

     Ro, you’re an absolutely wonderful mod and person. I’ve never met a more dedicated and creative mod in all my years on this website. You’re an astounding writer and creator who leaves me wanting to be better. You’re a wonderful person to write with and an even better friend. I love you and all the work you do for everyone in this group. Thank you for creating this fantastic place and starting this wonderful family.                                                                                                              - Lee

     Thanks for always being so open and welcoming! It's been such a blast writing with you.                                                                                                             - Ren

     Your commitment to this game and its players is absolutely next level, and it shines through in literally everything you do for us. I haven’t felt so at home and so comfortable in an RP in such a long time, possibly ever, and I know so much of that has to do with the amazing environment (both IC and OOC) you’ve spent such a long time painstakingly and lovingly cultivating. This RP wouldn't be the incredible space it is without such an incredible and dedicated team of mods. I hope you know how much I appreciate all you do, and how much I flippin' love ya!                                                                                                              - Alex

     Rory, you're a perfect admin and an amazing friend! You've always made me feel so welcome here, from day one, and my heart feels warm and fuzzy when I think of you. I utterly adore all your characters and your writing is just brilliant, it's always so much fun to brainstorm and write and plot with you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!                                                                                                              - Ellie

     When an rp has a lifespan of not just a year or two, but SIX FREAKIN YEARS, you must look to your leader. Ships don’t sail without a captain, and you have been the most loyal, loving, and adventurous captain to your crew. Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment, love. xoxo.                                                                                                              - Amy

     Rory, I just wanted to thank you for how welcome you've made me feel since I joined the group. It takes a special person to be an admin (dedicated, patient, and just a little bit weird), and the six years you've been running this group is a testament to how well you do it. You've got incredible creativity and passion, and I know I'm not the only one that feels so lucky to write with you in this world you've built. Congratulations on six years! Here's to many more.                                                                                                             - Nick

     RORUUUUU. I literally have no idea where my life would be now if I'd never met you. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you inspire me to be braver and stronger and more self-loving. Thank you for being my friend even after all these years.                                                                                                             - Mika

I don’t think I can concisely put into words how much you mean to me, but I’ll try: we first met in 2012 and through all these years you’ve continually inspired me with your talent and hard work. You’re more than just an incredible friend, you’re an ICONIC leader that has the determination and talent to keep this group running for six amazing years (with the help of your equally talented and wonderful co-mod, naturally, wink wonk). The Colony is a family to me, and I think to all of us, even before it’s a writing group. It couldn’t be what it is today without someone as tirelessly understanding and creative at its helm. You’re an absolute gift, you’ve been there for me through thick and thin, and I’m grateful every day that I get to call you a friend.                                                                                                             - Maddie

     Ro, you have been so kind and amazing since day one! You have this astonishing energy and a kindness that honestly makes the colony feel like another home. You’re such a phenomenal writer, and have made this rp a community like no other. I can’t quite put into words how much I appreciate you, and how much effort you put into everything you do. You’re so talented and I feel incredibly lucky to say I’m a part of this community. Thank you for being you. xxx.                                                                                                             - El

     The Colony has been a living, breathing world in which to create, and the key piece - creativity - is embedded in your DNA. You aren't just an enthusiastic mod. In some aspects you are the Col. I know you want everyone to feel included and allowed to be inspired by the writing of others rather than hemmed in by rules and egos so many other groups have. Thank you for throwing all your characters at me when one of mine has some wild scheme. I've said before your writing is cinematic in its expression and it always challenges me to want to (try to) write on a higher level. I'm grateful to have you as a sounding board when I get stuck in the mud of my own self-doubt with writing. Thank you for just being a friend as well and letting me ramble too. It is impossible to sum up this wildest of rides out of all my writing adventures so, much love, as always. xx.                                                                                                             - Cat

[blogsills]

After Democrats Surged In 2018, Republican-Run States Eye New Curbs On Voting

April 22, 20195:00 AM ET

ASHLEY LOPEZ

BRET JASPERS

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN

A sign directs voters to a polling station on Nov. 8, 2016, in Cave Creek, Arizona. The state is one of several considering new voting laws that could make it more complicated to vote in 2020.

Ralph Freso/Getty Images

After high turnout in last year's midterm elections propelled Democrats to a new House majority and big gains in the states, several Republican-controlled state legislatures are attempting to change voting-related rules in ways that might reduce future voter turnout.

In Texas, state lawmakers are considering adding criminal penalties for people who improperly fill out voter registration forms. Arizona Republicans are proposing new voting rules that could make it more complicated to cast an early ballot. In Tennessee, GOP lawmakers are considering a bill that would fine groups involved in voter registration drives that submit incomplete forms.

POLITICS

Georgia Governor Signs Law Addressing Some Criticisms Of Contested 2018 Election

Republican lawmakers in those states say new laws are needed to maintain the integrity of voter rolls and prevent fraud. Voting rights advocates and Democrats dismiss those claims and argue that the policies are designed to dampen turnout among younger, nonwhite and poorer voters, who are less likely to back Republicans.

If enacted, these proposals could have an impact on future elections, especially in Arizona and Texas, where demographic and political trends are making both states more competitive on the national level for the first time in decades.

Last fall, Arizona Republicans saw their total control of all statewide offices shattered by surging Democratic turnout, losing four of nine statewide races — including a U.S. Senate seat. Democrats view the state's other Senate seat as one of their best pickup opportunities in 2020. In Texas, record turnout helped Democrats flip two congressional and 12 state legislative seats — not to mention come closer than they have in decades in the Senate race. While Tennessee wasn't ultimately competitive in 2018, there was a surge of newly registered voters in the Democratic strongholds of Memphis and Nashville.

House Passes Extensive Election And Campaign Finance Overhaul Bill

The bills in Republican-controlled states that could curb voting come as many Democratic-run states are heading further in the opposite direction by expanding access to early and absentee voting and adopting automatic voter registration (several traditionally Republican states have also adopted automatic voter registration).

"We are seeing both the good and bad side of the fallout of the 2018 election," said Danielle Lang, co-director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.

Democrats saw a major increase in voter turnout in Texas last year. Now, in the name of combating voter fraud, the Republican-controlled state legislature is looking at a new law that could increase criminal penalties for those who don't fill out voter registration forms properly.

Texas: from misdemeanor to felony

Texas Senate Bill 9 — which was recently approved by the state Senate and is under consideration by the legislature — would make it a felony, punishable by jail time, for anyone who provides false information on a voter registration form or casts a ballot when they are ineligible, even if it's by mistake.

Ahead Of The 2018 Election, Texas AG Ramps Up Voter Fraud Prosecutions

Voting groups in the state say they are concerned this effort could result in jail time for people who don't properly fill out their voter registration forms. Currently, providing false information on an application is a misdemeanor.

"If Senate Bill 9 passes, a person who makes a simple mistake — puts the wrong ZIP code on a voter registration card — could be prosecuted, fined and even put in jail," said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which registers young voters, among other things.

She described the bill as "one of the most strict voter suppression laws in the country," noting that Texas is already one of the most difficult states in which to register voters and that the proposed new penalties could make it even harder.

Texas Officials Begin Walking Back Allegations About Noncitizen Voters

This latest push to tighten Texas' voting laws comes months after Texas election officials launched a troubled effort to remove alleged noncitizens from the state's voter rolls.

The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican from rural east Texas, says the point of the bill is not to crack down on people who "inadvertently check a wrong box." He says the point is to make sure local prosecutors "are prioritizing these crimes."

"This bill is aimed at people who are intentionally cheating," Hughes says. "This is not to catch people who make an honest mistake."

Cases of intentional voter fraud are rare in Texas — in many instances in which authorities have prosecuted someone, the people being prosecuted said they did not realize they were ineligible to vote.

Voting rights lawyers are also concerned about the bill's increased criminal penalties for those who cast a ballot — including a provisional ballot — when they are ineligible to vote.

Provisional ballots were created by federal law to allow people to vote if they aren't sure they can, and a provisional ballot is counted only once election officials determine that the voter who submitted it is eligible. Provisional ballots are often used when eligible voters are erroneously not included in their state's voter roll.

Senate Bill 9 undermines that federal protection, said James Slattery, a staff attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.

"It would assume that if you knew the facts that made you ineligible to vote, even if you didn't know the law, casting that provisional ballot would essentially make you a criminal," he said.

A polling station in Franklin, Tenn., on Election Day 2018. Tennessee's legislature is considering a bill that would impose hefty financial penalties on groups that register voters if they submit too many improperly filled out forms.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Tennessee: "We have never seen a bill like this"

In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers point to a surge of incomplete voter registration forms submitted in Memphis and Nashville during the run-up to the 2018 midterms as the motivation behind that state's legislation.

Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said that under the state's current law, county election commissions are obligated to track down and verify incomplete registration forms.

"This is only going after folks that create chaos intentionally or knowingly," Goins told member station WPLN.

Voters Approve Major Changes To Redistricting And Other Voting Laws

The measure, which already passed in the state's House, is backed by Goins. It proposes fines of up to $10,000 for groups that pay people and that submit more than 500 incomplete forms, with lower penalties for fewer incomplete registration forms.

But for people who "intentionally and knowingly" submit incomplete forms, the bill suggests they could face misdemeanor charges.

The legislation would also require groups to turn in the forms within 10 days of the registration drive and would require training for people conducting voter registrations of over 100 people. Groups also wouldn't be allowed to pay campaign workers per registration form.

The risk of fines could deter people from organizing registration drives, said Tequila Johnson, the co-founder of the Equity Alliance, who said the bill is an attack on organizations like hers that focus on registering people of color.

"We have never seen a bill like this on the floor, until we dared to register 86,000 black and brown people to vote," Johnson said at a news conference in Nashville. "This screams racism."

Arizona voters at a Phoenix polling place on Nov. 6, 2018. Arizona is considering major changes to popular early voting rules, which could affect some 200,000 voters.

Arizona: "This is a service — it's a convenience"

The changes that Arizona Republicans are considering would focus on registered voters who have signed up to cast mail-in ballots but don't use them.

The bill would remove some people from what's called the Permanent Early Voting List. People on the PEVL get ballots mailed to them so they can mail the ballots back or drop them off on Election Day.

But Republican state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita wants counties to purge people from that list if they don't vote using an early ballot in two consecutive election cycles.

"We want to make sure that the lists are up to date. That's just good practice. That makes sense on, frankly, any kind of database that you have," she told a House committee. "That you're really communicating with those who want to be communicated with and that are using the service. This is a service — it's a convenience."

Partisan Election Officials Are 'Inherently Unfair' But Probably Here To Stay

Local election officials say that they already have ways to maintain clean voting rolls and that the proposed legislation will simply confuse voters. The Arizona secretary of state's office estimates that 200,000 voters currently on the early voting list did not vote in both 2016 and 2018. But the office also said the bill's language is unclear, making it hard to assess its potential impact.

Democratic Rep. Athena Salman called it voter suppression to purge the PEVL.

"There is a great debate around whether or not it is 'peh-vl' or 'pee-vl.' But I find it fitting that if this bill passes, the list will no longer be 'permanent,' and so one might call it 'evil,' " she said.

Republicans dispute that this is an attempt to make voting more difficult. The bill doesn't remove people from the registration rolls, just the mailing list for early ballots.

Republican lawmakers have proposed other bills this legislative session that have drawn criticism from voting rights groups, including one that bans paying workers for each voter registration form they turn in.

"All Americans care about election integrity"

This latest round of legislation lands after a decade-long push by state-level Republicans for strict voter ID laws around the United States. Those laws were criticized by voting rights advocates for adding obstacles to casting a ballot that would particularly harm nonwhite and poor voters, although a recent academic study suggests the laws have had "no negative impact on registration or turnout."

Georgia Set To Remain A Battleground For Voting Rights Ahead Of 2020

The stated basis that Republican lawmakers gave for many of those laws was to reduce the incidence of in-person voter fraud. Repeated research has unveiled scant evidence of anything more than a small number of instances of voters attempting to cast multiple ballots. But the repeated message that voter fraud was rampant has become a powerful motivator for Republican campaigns to turn out their own voters. Likewise, Democrats have also used potential threats to voting access to mobilize their own supporters.                                                 But the impact of that push has been to increase partisanship and conflict around voting, the centerpiece of a democratic system.                            Lawmakers often reexamine voting laws after an election, said Lang, of the Campaign Legal Center. For example, there was a bipartisan push from Iowa's Republican governor to make it easier for felons to restore their right to vote after release, although it ultimately failed. And Kansas, which had been ground zero for fights about election laws for years, recently passed a bipartisan voting law that will make it more convenient to cast a ballot.                                        "All Americans care about election integrity, and yet these issues get framed in very unhelpful partisan ways," Lang said.                                                      Ashley Lopez reports for member station KUT in Austin, Texas. Bret Jaspers reports for KJZZ in Phoenix. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports for WPLN in Nashville, Tenn.

[riddlethriftpinkcoats]

Delaware County residents are about to witness the demise of a long-standing local landmark. The iconic Riddle Thrift Shop will close its doors on Jan. 31, ending what has been a thriving community mecca for consignors, shoppers and volunteers for over half of a century. According to Main Line Health, Riddle Thrift Shop will close because Riddle Hospital is preparing to undergo a campus modernization project in order to better meet the health care needs of patients and community members. The master facility plan includes the construction of a new patient tower to be built on the current front parking lot of the hospital, requiring the hospital to reconfigure traffic flow and parking on the campus. New parking for patients and visitors will be built in the area of the Annex Building, where the Riddle Thrift Shop is currently located. “With construction soon to begin, the safety of our visitors and staff remains our top priority,” Main Line Health wrote in a recently released statement. “With this in mind, and with deep regret, the Riddle Thrift Shop will close ... We have worked diligently to find a new home for the thrift shop, but unfortunately, we have not yet been able to identify a new location. Despite this news, we remain excited and energized about how the modernization of the Riddle Hospital campus will improve the quality of life and access to exceptional care for our Riddle Hospital family and the communities we serve.” Riddle Thrift Shop currently has three paid staff members. In an age when many organizations are hurting for volunteers, the thrift shop has a vibrant pool of more than 100 active volunteers. The shop, which opened in 1960, currently occupies 8,000 square feet of space located within the Annex Building on the front side of Riddle Hospital’s campus. The top floor is dedicated to clothing, shoes and accessories and the lower level showcases furniture and household items, as well as encompasses a large consignment area. Over the past ten years, average proceeds, raised to benefit the hospital, have ranged between $76,000 and $100,000 per year, after payment of salaries and overhead. The shop works with 30 different consignors each day of operation. According to Mary Kate Coghlan, Main Line Health communications and legislative affairs director, Main Line Health has searched extensively to relocate the shop, but no suitable space has been found. “We have explored dozens of properties, and have not yet found a location close enough to the hospital with the amount of square feet and space for parking needed, where we could safely afford rent based on the anticipated income,” she stated. “While we are saddened that we have not been able to find a new location for the thrift shop, we remain hopeful and excited about this next chapter in Riddle Hospital’s future, which will further advance our promise and commitment to serve as many members of the community as possible.” Not all of the volunteers, consignors, and shoppers are quite as delighted about the thrift shop’s demise. Many have had an emotional response, not just to the loss of their beloved thrift shop, but to the way they were, or weren’t, told about its closing. Derek Kay of Drexel Hill, a volunteer at Riddle Thrift Shop for five years, has initiated a petition to not only voice the volunteers’ and consignors’ displeasure over the way dedicated volunteers were treated by not being properly informed of the closure, but to protest how the shop is closing without a relocation option. In just the first few days, he had upward of 60 signatures, and the volunteer says, he has only just begun. “Riddle Thrift Shop is a mainstay in our hospital community and in our surrounding communities,” stated an emotional Mimi Haggerty of Wallingford, who has shopped and consigned at the shop for over 20 years. “We enjoy consigning, making a little money, shopping, helping Riddle Hospital, and seeing friends and family in the shop. “There must be other parcels of land that could handle a new parking garage. For the sake of the Riddle community and our hospital, I hope Main Line Health rethinks their decision to demolish Riddle Thrift Shop. It has an important community function and we want it in our lives.” Although they began hearing closure rumors buzzing around in the early fall, volunteers say that they only found out officially on Nov. 12 that the shop’s days are numbered, after Alycia Mallon-Buhle, chairwoman of the Auxiliaries of Riddle Hospital, stopped by to talk with a few volunteers who were on duty. She allegedly left a paper about the closing on a table for other volunteers to read. Kay said another sign was put up with only one week notice, on the shop’s door and on the Riddle Thrift Shop website for consignors to see that no more consignments would be taken after Nov. 22. “Consignors were arriving with carloads of consignments and had to turn around and go home,” Kay said. “It wasn’t fair how anyone was told. We volunteers are all for hospital advancement, but we are offended by how the volunteers have been informed about all this. We feel taken advantage of because we are unpaid workers, we weren’t worthy of advance notice. If we all had been on the payroll, we probably would be out on the corner with picket signs in hand and have a legitimate complaint about non-communication.” Marion Brower, has volunteered at the thrift shop for three years, but has shopped there for 40 years. “We are emotionally hurt by how, after all these years, raising all of this money for the hospital, and generously giving our time and talents, that we would be treated at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to getting information about the closing,” Brower said. “This isn’t just about the volunteers. It’s also about the community. The elderly and others on limited budgets shop here. Many depend on the bargains at the shop so that they can afford their medications or food and other essentials. We are a means for low-cost shopping.” “After all the hours and all the years that we put into this shop, we feel like we no longer matter and that hurts — it’s belittling,” volunteer Peggie Cacciatore of Brookhaven, who recently received an American Hospital Association 2,000 Hour Award, said sadly. When asked about those currently working and volunteering at the thrift shop, Coghlan, speaking on behalf of Main Line Health, replied, “Our philosophy is to treat all employees and volunteers with respect and compassion, and we will work diligently with the employed staff to support their transition to a role within the organization or externally. We are hopeful that those who currently volunteer at the thrift shop will be interested in other volunteer positions available within the hospital.” Volunteers want more information and answers, but are growing frustrated because no one is talking about what happens in February. “For some reason, everything is hush-hush,” said Ronni McCarthy of Aston, who has volunteered at Riddle Thrift Shop for four years and says the customers, consignors and volunteers are like one big family. “We get shushed every time we ask a question or talk to consignors or shoppers about the closure. Customers are asking us over and over, and I really don’t have too much to tell them. If we had more information, we may not be as upset. It’s like management is under a gag order.” Kay said the sign that volunteers posted in the shop, encouraging attendance at an upcoming Middletown council meeting, was silently removed by management. When thrift shop manager Peg Stacy and assistant manager Martha Marino were contacted for information, they both referred all inquiries to Main Line Health public relations department. Before it’s all said and done, the volunteers hope to rally their local government officials, as well as the community at large, to help them find a suitable site and realize their dream of relocation. They want to continue the hospital auxiliary’s longstanding tradition of supporting Riddle Hospital. “The volunteers, consignors and shoppers are the heart and soul of Riddle Thrift Shop,” commented Beverly Ferguson of Essington, who has shopped at the thrift shop since she was 17 years old. Now at age 70, she continues to shop and consign. “No matter where it’s located, the people will still come. We hope someone in the community will step forward and offer us another option. We are open to all  suggestions and ideas.” Pat Metzger of Brookhaven, a six-year volunteer at Riddle Thrift Shop, said that she talked to Donna Kaiser, Main Line Health volunteer director, about the closure and possible future relocation. “I met with Donna and she told me there is no opening on the Riddle campus to assimilate the thrift shop, but that we shouldn’t give up hope,” Metzger said. “We have no contacts for the Main Line Health administration, but wish we knew an administrator or board member to whom we could voice our concerns. After all we have given to the hospital, we would just appreciate the courtesy of meeting with someone in administration to answer our questions and concerns and just listen to us. I think we deserve that.” The volunteers have not lost hope and would like nothing more than to find a shop, not far from Riddle Memorial Hospital, to do what they have always enjoyed doing — raising money for the hospital. They say that they would like nothing more, than to have Main Line Health’s support in their effort. In a scan of the program booklet from the Riddle Hospital annual volunteer recognition luncheon held this past April, numerous thrift shop volunteers were honored for hitting milestone service of up to 18,000 hours and 45 years of service. “At the volunteer luncheon in April, we sat at the Drexelbrook and heard all the speakers talk about how wonderful the volunteers are,” Metzger related. “And then this happened six months later. It made us think that, in reality, we aren’t too valued or appreciated.” “We’d hate to think it’s all about money and the human impact just doesn’t matter,” Kay chimed in. "We understand it's business and the need to move forward with progress, but there's more to this situation than just closing a building to make room for a parking lot." “We all feel that closing Riddle Thrift and not relocating is a terrible disservice to the whole community,” said four-year volunteer Janet Gemsheim of Middletown.  “It is wrong on so many levels. Many volunteers make this their purpose for getting up in the morning and their social circle. Many consignors come the same day every week and have their own new friendships and small groups that support each other and share time, as well as, the money they get for cleaning out their houses and those of relatives to provide a little extra income.  Think of the things that have been repurposed and not disposed of in a landfill - one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. There is always something wonderful and unique to be found there. It is a place for the hospital personnel and visitors to drop in while waiting for loved ones in surgery or a break from a difficult visit. The community at large needs a place to affordably cloth their family and get a book, or a treat that they cannot afford otherwise.  Main Line Health is supposed to be a haven and healing place for this community, but they are only looking at the bottom line, not the people factor. Closing the thrift shop will be a huge loss for this hospital and all these people if the thrift shop cannot continue somewhere else.” Shopper Nancy Schober feels the pain of the closing. “The Riddle Thrift Shop is a wonderful story of a 'Riddle' family of salaried employees and a larger group of devoted, loyal volunteers working side by side to make Riddle successful over these many years. The shop has been multi-generational with grandmothers, daughters and grandchildren who have visited, consigned, shopped and purchased. Some people made it an outing to visit the shop then catch lunch. Some people stopped at the shop after visiting someone at the hospital. Others came to consign to earn some cash. Riddle Thrift Shop has a story to be told and that should be heard. It should not face its demise with just a whimper with all the good deeds it has provided for not only the community but many others that visited the shop.” In addition to the loss of community and fellowship created by the shop, volunteers and shoppers also cite the shop’s rich history as another reason to continue its existence. The September 2019 issue of the RiddleGram, a newsletter published by the Associated Auxiliaries of Riddle Memorial Hospital since 1959, reviewed the history of the Riddle Thrift Shop. According to the article, the auxiliaries opened a thrift shop in Media in 1961. In the 1960s, there were 17 auxiliaries and 700 members. The Riddle Thrift Shop started on Monroe Street in Media in a building leased for $125 a month. They were given $7,000 to finance the first year of operation. Each auxiliary was responsible for operating the shop for two weeks. The shop moved several times over the next ten years and made a profit of $70,000 along the way. In April 1972, the Associated Auxiliaries Board agreed to loan the Riddle Thrift Shop $30,000 to begin construction of a new building on the grounds of Riddle Hospital. Southeast National Bank loaned the additional $100,000 needed. The doors of the new shop opened on March 13, 1973. The $100,000 loan was paid by February 1975 with the help of the Women’s Board. By the end of 1975, the Riddle Thrift Shop had repaid the Associated Auxiliaries in full. Total cost of the 6,000 square-foot building and 24 parking spaces was $143,087. A two story addition was added in 1983 at a cost of $160,797. The parking lot was enlarged at a cost of $21,500. A freight elevator was added in 1997. The thrift shop went from a tiny rented space on Monroe Street in 1961 to a two-story 10,000 square-foot building by 1983. The shop has contributed close to $4 million to the Associated Auxiliaries. “Closing Riddle Thrift Shop is a community issue, not just a loss to the consignors, shoppers and volunteers,” Kay remarked. “We hope a church or school or anyone with property or vacant space will come forward and offer their site for the thrift shop relocation.” Although no longer taking consignments, Riddle Thrift Shop plans to be open for shopping until Jan. 31. No going-out-of-business sales on in-store merchandise have been announced as of this date. For more information, hours of operation, or updates about the closure, visit www.riddlethriftshop.com. Powering the efforts by Peg DeGrassa, all for Riddle Thrift Shop and its community...#ForThem

[mikeedpp]

Baguio has always been a special place for me.

The first memory I have of it was when I complained about how ‘hot’ it was in Baguio back in the early 2000’s. I was wearing a matching plain yellow pullover and denim pants with my older sister, so my parents bought a white shirt for me, thinking that my pullover was sweating me out, but I actually wanted the blue-tinted Hello Kitty sunglasses I saw on the street vendor in Burnham Park to cool me down from the ‘heat.’ (This memory makes me hate my younger self! Haha!) Our family gatherings in Baguio went on as we grow. We would often go up north with a different set of relatives whenever long weekends and special occasions come. One of the most memorable trips though was when my deceased lolo Mario would keep a roof over our heads through his friend’s rustic house.

In 2011, my high school batchmates and I had a retreat in Mirador Jesuit Villa Retreat House Society of Jesus located atop Lourdes Grotto. It was one of the most awaited events in our high school life because we are going to spend our last retreat in Baguio. I remember how our class would listen to Katy Perry’s Peacock in the bus, how my roommate Selina and I would overthink the ghosts in our head, and how my teachers caught my friends illegally paddling in Burnham Park.

In early-December 2016, I got to revisit Baguio after six long years. It has changed a lot, but every corner of it still looked familiar to me. Every familiar place reminded me of a familiar face, especially my lolo Mario who just died nine months before. Baguio became my answer to the question, “Where do broken hearts go?” I went back there on all weekends of December with a different set of friends to create new memories. And it worked! It helped me prevail acceptance over hatred. I was able to move on with a happy heart.

This November, my family and I planned to come back to Baguio in time for the ASEAN Summit holiday to celebrate my mother’s birthday. We already booked roundtrip bus tickets for Friday night, but we got tested twice. First was the coming of Tropical Storm Salome, and second was when my younger sister broke the news that she’ll be having a makeup class on Saturday. My sister has never been (and never will be) absent from school, so it took us a lot of frustrations and compromises just to make our trip happen, but none of them worked.

Through it all, only one thing worked: prayer. For two days, I persistently prayed for our trip, for good weather, for my sister’s discernment, and that the superiors in my sister’s school may realize that this holiday is meant to be enjoyed with the family. As faith would have it, she came home on a Thursday night with the news that their Saturday class got canceled!

Our comeback as a whole family was a long time coming and it was worth the wait! However, the tests did not end at home. Much of our patience were tested in Baguio because this time, we commuted, we didn’t have a private car to carry us around, they relied on me on all of our whereabouts, and my family can’t afford to take long walks. Oh, the perks and the perils of traveling with the whole family!

Because of these, I was able to relearn some things: 1) unlike money, time and energy consumed cannot be replaced; 2) everything takes trust and patience, and 3) God is always with us. Here’s why.

Unlike money, time and energy consumed cannot be replaced. This has become one of my mantras after I graduated from the University. Of course, money is important, but I didn’t want it to become the strength and hindrance of what I choose to do in life.

According to an article on Medium, time, money, and energy are the constants that ‘rule our life.’ “When people are young, they have a lot of time and energy but no money and unfortunately most of them aren’t really wise enough to utilize these constants properly. When they grow into working-class citizens then they have a lot of energy and money but no time. They have work that takes their time. Of course, they are still young, so they have energy too. When they grow old, they have money, if they were smart enough to have saved some for retirement, but have no energy to do all the things they wanted to do when they were young.”

I got reminded of this when my family and I were in Baguio. I prefer walking around the city even if it takes me 15 minutes to reach my destination. I love maximizing its breeze and trees. I absolutely can’t and won’t do that in Manila! However, it is not for everyone. Most roads are steep, which make it hard for impatient and (in denial) aging people—also known as my family—to walk. It takes too much energy from them. This is why I decided to travel and pursue my passions at a young age. I didn’t want to look back on my youth and take a deep breath on the things I could have done while I was young and able. I can earn and save up again, but I can never bring my time and my energy back.

It takes trust and patience. As mentioned above, my family relied on me on all of our whereabouts during our trip. I knew almost every place in Baguio, although choosing where to eat was still a struggle. They kept asking me, “Saan na tayo?” “Malapit na ba?” “Maganda ba doon?” “Masarap ba doon?” As if I will take them somewhere they don’t deserve.

In those moments, I saw myself in them. I saw how worried I am whenever I don’t understand where the Lord is taking me. I often overthink, “How will I achieve this?” “How will I get there?” “How will I do that?” “Are we there yet?” As if our God is not able. As if our God will not fulfill His promises to me and you. As if He doesn’t know what He is doing. As if He doesn’t have the best plans for me. As if He will take me somewhere I don’t deserve.

Yes, waiting is not easy, especially when we don’t know what’s ahead of us. The long hike to the summit, the rocky road to employment, the coming of our future spouse. But in the end, the result is always beautiful because it is from God.

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7

So what do I do during the wait? Waiting doesn’t mean doing nothing. From experience, I decide on what areas in my life I should work on and persistently ask for His blessing and provision on my decisions. In the long run, He will establish your steps. He will reveal His answers to you through the Bible, the people around you, and the experiences you encounter. Work according to His will and believe that he will fulfill His promises for you. All it takes is trust and patience.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9

God is always with us. It was 10:45 PM when my family and I just got home from the night market on Harrison Road. We thought we can finally rest after the long day until I found out that my phone is missing. I can’t remember how and when I lost it. All I know is that it can’t be lost because I have important files, notes, contacts, and conversations in it. My mother called my number, but it was out of reach on the first attempt. My sister kept calling, while I stayed in the room to compose myself. After a few minutes, someone was blowing the horn. My father and sister went out, only to find out that it was the taxi driver who drove us home from the night market. “Nagulat ako may umiilaw sa baba,” he said as he gave my phone back. “Thank you, angel, ha!” my father shouted in delight. When I went closer to them, I saw the name of the taxi (Angel Brielle Rose Taxi) and the name of the operator (Emmanuel Altaki).

Emmanuel means God is with us.

This incident reminded me that God is always with us. We are only passengers in this world. He assigns our respective driver to guide and protect us along the way, and He alone is the operator of all the rides we encounter. God is good. He is faithful. He is in control. He got it all figured out. He never fails. In all ways, always.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

You see, relearning is one of the reasons why I like revisiting places. No experience is ever the same because places continuously reveal new aspects of the things we thought we already know. They keep on reintroducing themselves in the form of new experiences, new people, new food, new wisdom, and new eyes that no new place could ever give.

This goes the same with our life. God lets us revisit our life every waking day to let us make things right, to be a blessing to others, to maximize the talents and skills He has given us, and to glorify Him alone.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

What place do you keep coming back to? What relearning experiences do you get every time you come back? How does God reveal Himself to you when you’re out there? I’d love to know your stories and testimonies!

Mikee

This post was originally published on Nov. 29, 2017, in my now-defunct website World In My Words.

[riddlethriftpinkcoats]

Delaware County residents are about to witness the demise of a long-standing local landmark. The iconic Riddle Thrift Shop will close its doors on Jan. 31, ending what has been a thriving community mecca for consignors, shoppers and volunteers for over half of a century.

According to Main Line Health, Riddle Thrift Shop will close because Riddle Hospital is preparing to undergo a campus modernization project in order to better meet the health care needs of patients and community members. The master facility plan includes the construction of a new patient tower to be built on the current front parking lot of the hospital, requiring the hospital to reconfigure traffic flow and parking on the campus. New parking for patients and visitors will be built in the area of the Annex Building, where the Riddle Thrift Shop is currently located.

“With construction soon to begin, the safety of our visitors and staff remains our top priority,” Main Line Health wrote in a recently released statement. “With this in mind, and with deep regret, the Riddle Thrift Shop will close ... We have worked diligently to find a new home for the thrift shop, but unfortunately, we have not yet been able to identify a new location. Despite this news, we remain excited and energized about how the modernization of the Riddle Hospital campus will improve the quality of life and access to exceptional care for our Riddle Hospital family and the communities we serve.”

Riddle Thrift Shop currently has three paid staff members. In an age when many organizations are hurting for volunteers, the thrift shop has a vibrant pool of more than 100 active volunteers. The shop, which opened in 1960, currently occupies 8,000 square feet of space located within the Annex Building on the front side of Riddle Hospital’s campus. The top floor is dedicated to clothing, shoes and accessories and the lower level showcases furniture and household items, as well as encompasses a large consignment area. Over the past ten years, average proceeds, raised to benefit the hospital, have ranged between $76,000 and $100,000 per year, after payment of salaries and overhead. The shop works with 30 different consignors each day of operation.

According to Mary Kate Coghlan, Main Line Health communications and legislative affairs director, Main Line Health has searched extensively to relocate the shop, but no suitable space has been found.

“We have explored dozens of properties, and have not yet found a location close enough to the hospital with the amount of square feet and space for parking needed, where we could safely afford rent based on the anticipated income,” she stated. “While we are saddened that we have not been able to find a new location for the thrift shop, we remain hopeful and excited about this next chapter in Riddle Hospital’s future, which will further advance our promise and commitment to serve as many members of the community as possible.”

Not all of the volunteers, consignors, and shoppers are quite as delighted about the thrift shop’s demise. Many have had an emotional response, not just to the loss of their beloved thrift shop, but to the way they were, or weren’t, told about its closing.

Derek Kay of Drexel Hill, a volunteer at Riddle Thrift Shop for five years, has initiated a petition to not only voice the volunteers’ and consignors’ displeasure over the way dedicated volunteers were treated by not being properly informed of the closure, but to protest how the shop is closing without a relocation option. In just the first few days, he had upward of 60 signatures, and the volunteer says, he has only just begun.

“Riddle Thrift Shop is a mainstay in our hospital community and in our surrounding communities,” stated an emotional Mimi Haggerty of Wallingford, who has shopped and consigned at the shop for over 20 years. “We enjoy consigning, making a little money, shopping, helping Riddle Hospital, and seeing friends and family in the shop.

“There must be other parcels of land that could handle a new parking garage. For the sake of the Riddle community and our hospital, I hope Main Line Health rethinks their decision to demolish Riddle Thrift Shop. It has an important community function and we want it in our lives.”

Although they began hearing closure rumors buzzing around in the early fall, volunteers say that they only found out officially on Nov. 12 that the shop’s days are numbered, after Alycia Mallon-Buhle, chairwoman of the Auxiliaries of Riddle Hospital, stopped by to talk with a few volunteers who were on duty. She allegedly left a paper about the closing on a table for other volunteers to read. Kay said another sign was put up with only one week notice, on the shop’s door and on the Riddle Thrift Shop website for consignors to see that no more consignments would be taken after Nov. 22.

“Consignors were arriving with carloads of consignments and had to turn around and go home,” Kay said. “It wasn’t fair how anyone was told. We volunteers are all for hospital advancement, but we are offended by how the volunteers have been informed about all this. We feel taken advantage of because we are unpaid workers, we weren’t worthy of advance notice. If we all had been on the payroll, we probably would be out on the corner with picket signs in hand and have a legitimate complaint about non-communication.”

Marion Brower, has volunteered at the thrift shop for three years, but has shopped there for 40 years.

“We are emotionally hurt by how, after all these years, raising all of this money for the hospital, and generously giving our time and talents, that we would be treated at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to getting information about the closing,” Brower said. “This isn’t just about the volunteers. It’s also about the community. The elderly and others on limited budgets shop here. Many depend on the bargains at the shop so that they can afford their medications or food and other essentials. We are a means for low-cost shopping.”

“After all the hours and all the years that we put into this shop, we feel like we no longer matter and that hurts — it’s belittling,” volunteer Peggie Cacciatore of Brookhaven, who recently received an American Hospital Association 2,000 Hour Award, said sadly.

When asked about those currently working and volunteering at the thrift shop, Coghlan, speaking on behalf of Main Line Health, replied, “Our philosophy is to treat all employees and volunteers with respect and compassion, and we will work diligently with the employed staff to support their transition to a role within the organization or externally. We are hopeful that those who currently volunteer at the thrift shop will be interested in other volunteer positions available within the hospital.”

Volunteers want more information and answers, but are growing frustrated because no one is talking about what happens in February.

“For some reason, everything is hush-hush,” said Ronni McCarthy of Aston, who has volunteered at Riddle Thrift Shop for four years and says the customers, consignors and volunteers are like one big family. “We get shushed every time we ask a question or talk to consignors or shoppers about the closure. Customers are asking us over and over, and I really don’t have too much to tell them. If we had more information, we may not be as upset. It’s like management is under a gag order.”

Kay said the sign that volunteers posted in the shop, encouraging attendance at an upcoming Middletown council meeting, was silently removed by management.

When thrift shop manager Peg Stacy and assistant manager Martha Marino were contacted for information, they both referred all inquiries to Main Line Health public relations department.

Before it’s all said and done, the volunteers hope to rally their local government officials, as well as the community at large, to help them find a suitable site and realize their dream of relocation. They want to continue the hospital auxiliary’s longstanding tradition of supporting Riddle Hospital.

“The volunteers, consignors and shoppers are the heart and soul of Riddle Thrift Shop,” commented Beverly Ferguson of Essington, who has shopped at the thrift shop since she was 17 years old. Now at age 70, she continues to shop and consign. “No matter where it’s located, the people will still come. We hope someone in the community will step forward and offer us another option. We are open to all  suggestions and ideas.”

Pat Metzger of Brookhaven, a six-year volunteer at Riddle Thrift Shop, said that she talked to Donna Kaiser, Main Line Health volunteer director, about the closure and possible future relocation.

“I met with Donna and she told me there is no opening on the Riddle campus to assimilate the thrift shop, but that we shouldn’t give up hope,” Metzger said. “We have no contacts for the Main Line Health administration, but wish we knew an administrator or board member to whom we could voice our concerns. After all we have given to the hospital, we would just appreciate the courtesy of meeting with someone in administration to answer our questions and concerns and just listen to us. I think we deserve that.”

The volunteers have not lost hope and would like nothing more than to find a shop, not far from Riddle Memorial Hospital, to do what they have always enjoyed doing — raising money for the hospital. They say that they would like nothing more, than to have Main Line Health’s support in their effort.

In a scan of the program booklet from the Riddle Hospital annual volunteer recognition luncheon held this past April, numerous thrift shop volunteers were honored for hitting milestone service of up to 18,000 hours and 45 years of service.

“At the volunteer luncheon in April, we sat at the Drexelbrook and heard all the speakers talk about how wonderful the volunteers are,” Metzger related. “And then this happened six months later. It made us think that, in reality, we aren’t too valued or appreciated.”

“We’d hate to think it’s all about money and the human impact just doesn’t matter,” Kay chimed in. "We understand it's business and the need to move forward with progress, but there's more to this situation than just closing a building to make room for a parking lot."

“We all feel that closing Riddle Thrift and not relocating is a terrible disservice to the whole community,” said four-year volunteer Janet Gemsheim of Middletown.  “It is wrong on so many levels. Many volunteers make this their purpose for getting up in the morning and their social circle. Many consignors come the same day every week and have their own new friendships and small groups that support each other and share time, as well as, the money they get for cleaning out their houses and those of relatives to provide a little extra income.  Think of the things that have been repurposed and not disposed of in a landfill - one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. There is always something wonderful and unique to be found there. It is a place for the hospital personnel and visitors to drop in while waiting for loved ones in surgery or a break from a difficult visit. The community at large needs a place to affordably cloth their family and get a book, or a treat that they cannot afford otherwise.  Main Line Health is supposed to be a haven and healing place for this community, but they are only looking at the bottom line, not the people factor. Closing the thrift shop will be a huge loss for this hospital and all these people if the thrift shop cannot continue somewhere else.”

Shopper Nancy Schober feels the pain of the closing. “The Riddle Thrift Shop is a wonderful story of a 'Riddle' family of salaried employees and a larger group of devoted, loyal volunteers working side by side to make Riddle successful over these many years. The shop has been multi-generational with grandmothers, daughters and grandchildren who have visited, consigned, shopped and purchased. Some people made it an outing to visit the shop then catch lunch. Some people stopped at the shop after visiting someone at the hospital. Others came to consign to earn some cash. Riddle Thrift Shop has a story to be told and that should be heard. It should not face its demise with just a whimper with all the good deeds it has provided for not only the community but many others that visited the shop.”

In addition to the loss of community and fellowship created by the shop, volunteers and shoppers also cite the shop’s rich history as another reason to continue its existence.

The September 2019 issue of the RiddleGram, a newsletter published by the Associated Auxiliaries of Riddle Memorial Hospital since 1959, reviewed the history of the Riddle Thrift Shop. According to the article, the auxiliaries opened a thrift shop in Media in 1961. In the 1960s, there were 17 auxiliaries and 700 members. The Riddle Thrift Shop started on Monroe Street in Media in a building leased for $125 a month. They were given $7,000 to finance the first year of operation.

Each auxiliary was responsible for operating the shop for two weeks. The shop moved several times over the next ten years and made a profit of $70,000 along the way. In April 1972, the Associated Auxiliaries Board agreed to loan the Riddle Thrift Shop $30,000 to begin construction of a new building on the grounds of Riddle Hospital. Southeast National Bank loaned the additional $100,000 needed. The doors of the new shop opened on March 13, 1973. The $100,000 loan was paid by February 1975 with the help of the Women’s Board.

By the end of 1975, the Riddle Thrift Shop had repaid the Associated Auxiliaries in full. Total cost of the 6,000 square-foot building and 24 parking spaces was $143,087. A two story addition was added in 1983 at a cost of $160,797. The parking lot was enlarged at a cost of $21,500. A freight elevator was added in 1997. The thrift shop went from a tiny rented space on Monroe Street in 1961 to a two-story 10,000 square-foot building by 1983. The shop has contributed close to $4 million to the Associated Auxiliaries.

“Closing Riddle Thrift Shop is a community issue, not just a loss to the consignors, shoppers and volunteers,” Kay remarked. “We hope a church or school or anyone with property or vacant space will come forward and offer their site for the thrift shop relocation.”

Although no longer taking consignments, Riddle Thrift Shop plans to be open for shopping until Jan. 31. No going-out-of-business sales on in-store merchandise have been announced as of this date.

For more information, hours of operation, or updates about the closure, visit www.riddlethriftshop.com.

[polixy]

Election night marks the end of one phase of campaign 2020 – and the start of another

Election night marks the end of one phase of campaign 2020 – and the start of another;

A worker processes ballots at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana, California, on Oct. 16, 2020. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

On Nov. 3, millions of Americans will trek to their local polling places to cast their ballots for the next president. That evening, after the polls close, they’ll settle down in front of their televisions to watch the returns roll in from across the country. Sometime that night or early the next morning, the networks and wire services will call the race, and Americans will know whether President Donald Trump has won a second term or been ousted by former Vice President Joe Biden.

Just about every statement in the previous paragraph is false, misleading or at best lacking important context.

Over the years, Americans have gotten used to their election nights coming off like a well-produced game show, with the big reveal coming before bedtime (a few exceptions like the 2000 election notwithstanding). In truth, they’ve never been quite as simple or straightforward as they appeared. And this year, which has already upended so much of what Americans took for granted, seems poised to expose some of the wheezy 18th- and 19th-century mechanisms that still shape the way a president is elected in the 21st century.

Here’s our guide to what happens after the polls close on election night. While you may remember some of the details from high school civics class, others were new even to us. Keeping them in mind may help you make sense of what promises to be an election night like no other.

Between the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, fierce partisanship and intense public interest, this year’s elections are likely to play out rather differently than Americans have gotten used to. We developed this explainer to help people understand how, and why, the complex U.S. electoral process is even more so this time around.

Much of the procedural description was derived from various reports and background papers from the Congressional Research Service. Data on current state rules regarding mail-ballot deadlines, ballot-processing timetables and the binding of presidential electors was obtained – and if necessary cross-checked – from CRS, the National Conference of State Legislatures, individual state election authorities and state statutes. Historical data on absentee/mail voting trends came from our analysis of data from the U.S. Electoral Assistance Commission.

By Election Day, much of the voting already will have happened

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Americans had been shifting away from lining up at the polls on Election Day. In 2016, only 54.5% of all ballots nationwide were actually cast in person on Election Day, according to data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The share was roughly the same (55.4%) in the 2018 midterms.

More people than ever before are likely to vote in person before Election Day, by absentee or mail ballot, or by taking ballots they’ve filled out at home to a drop box or other secure location. Close to half (47.3%) of the ballots cast in this year’s primary season (among the 37 states, plus the District of Columbia, for which data was available) were by absentee or mail ballot or by voting early in person. As of this writing, nearly 47 million voters already had cast ballots.

Counting the votes will take longer than usual

Mail ballots pose a challenge to election workers, because they must be manually removed from their envelopes and verified as valid before they can be fed into the tabulating machines. Although election workers in at least 32 states can start processing ballots (but not, in most cases, counting them) a week or more before Election Day, these counts may not be finished by election night depending on how many come in. In a half-dozen states, including the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, processing can’t start until Election Day itself.

Also, in 23 states (plus D.C.), mail ballots postmarked by Election Day (or in a few cases the day before) can still be counted even if they arrive days later – further lengthening the counting process. Bottom line: Any vote totals reported on election night will be even more unofficial than they typically are.

It’s all about the electors

Unlike other U.S. elections, in which voters pick the winners directly, those millions of presidential votes won’t actually be cast for Trump or Biden. Instead, they’ll count toward a statewide tally to select the electors – the mostly little-known men and women who will actually elect the president.

Each state has as many electoral votes as it has senators and representatives combined (or, in the case of the District of Columbia, as many as it would have if it were a state). There are 538 in total, with 270 votes needed to win. As the Congressional Research Service puts it, the electors “tend to be a mixture of state and local elected officials, party activists, local and state celebrities, and ordinary citizens.”

In all but two states, the candidate with the most popular votes statewide (regardless of whether it’s a majority or a plurality) gets all that state’s electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska do it differently: The statewide popular-vote winner gets two of the electoral votes, and the winner in each House district gets an electoral vote. That’s why Democrats this year are targeting Nebraska’s 2nd District and Republicans have their eyes on Maine’s 2nd District. Both parties hope to squeeze a precious electoral vote out of a state that’s otherwise likely to go against them.

A key date in making this year’s election outcome final: Dec. 14

According to federal law, each state will have until Dec. 8 this year to resolve any “controversy or contest” concerning the appointment of its slate of electors under its own state laws. That effectively gives states more than a month after Election Day to settle any challenges to their popular votes, certify a result and award their electoral votes. If they do so by this “safe harbor” date, Congress is bound to respect the result. (The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2000 ruling in Bush v. Gore involved whether Florida was properly applying its own recount rules, and whether those rules ran afoul of the Constitution’s equal-protection guarantee.)

The electors will meet in their respective states on Dec. 14 – officially, the Monday after the second Wednesday in December – and formally cast their votes for president and vice president. The Constitution expressly forbids them from meeting as a single nationwide group, a provision the Framers put in to reduce the chances of mischief. The electors are supposed to vote for the candidates whose name they were elected under – in fact, 32 states (plus D.C.) have laws intended to bind the electors to their candidates. The Supreme Court this summer unanimously upheld such laws.

So-called “faithless electors” have on occasion broken their pledges, though never enough to actually swing the outcome. In 2016, for instance, five Democratic electors voted for people other than Hillary Clinton and two Republican electors voted for people other than Donald Trump.

In any event, the electors’ votes are supposed to be delivered to the vice president (in his capacity as president of the Senate) and a handful of other officials by Dec. 23 (the fourth Wednesday in December).

Wait – Congress has a role in this too?

Indeed it does. The newly elected 117th Congress will be sworn in on Jan. 3, 2021. Three days later, it is supposed to assemble in joint session to formally open the electors’ ballots, count them and declare a winner. Only then is the president officially “elected.”

Any pair of one senator and one representative can object to any of those votes as “not having been regularly given” (that is, not cast according to law). Following the 2004 election, for instance, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., filed an objection against Ohio’s 20 electoral votes, alleging “numerous, serious election irregularities” in that state. But to sustain such an objection, both chambers must vote (separately) to do so. In the Ohio case, they both overwhelmingly rejected the challenge.

Each state is supposed to submit one set of electoral votes to Congress, and that’s what usually happens. Following the disputed Hayes-Tilden election of 1876, in which three states submitted two conflicting sets of returns, Congress passed the Electoral Count Act to try to set rules in case such a thing ever happened again. Under that law, if two conflicting sets are submitted – say, one by a Republican-run legislature and one by a Democratic governor – and the House and Senate cannot agree on which set is the legitimate one, then the electoral votes certified by the state’s governor are supposed to prevail. (Even stranger things are possible: In 1960, Hawaii’s governor first certified Vice President Richard Nixon’s electors, but after a recount certified Sen. John F. Kennedy’s electors. Both slates of electors met and voted for their pledged candidate; when the time came for Congress to decide which slate was the legitimate one, Nixon voluntarily deferred to Kennedy.)

Assuming that the usually ceremonial counting goes smoothly this year, Vice President Mike Pence will then announce whether he and President Trump have their jobs for another four years, or whether Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take their places.

; Blog (Fact Tank) – Pew Research Center; https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/22/election-night-marks-the-end-of-one-phase-of-campaign-2020-and-the-start-of-another/; https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FT_20.10.13_ElectionExplainer_feature.jpg?w=1200&h=628&crop=1; October 22, 2020 at 04:13PM

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Verified Local Reviews

Advanced Water Solutions of Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties

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Kathie Morgan

18:47 29 Jul 20

Just had new water softener installed by Tim. He did an excellent job. Was very tidy, cleaned up water, transferred salt from existing system. Showed me how to work the system and checked water softness. This is an excellent company, highly recommend.

Sandy Hess

20:22 08 Jul 20

their tech, Tim, was excellent. He was very careful with existing plants while laying the pipes. I was very pleased with him.

Kimberly Sandlin

17:10 19 Jun 20

I had a water softener installed during COVID and Tim installed my water tank and was very professional and helpful. He showed me how to properly work the tank and tested my water for me.

John Goodwin

19:06 11 Jun 20

Great service and very professional.

Douglas Batistic

17:03 27 May 20

Advanced Water Solutions always do great work. I highly recommended them. their tech Alonso is really good.

Tim Lister

19:49 23 Feb 20

After moving into a new house with a complicated water softener system, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do to get the drinking water system serviced. We also had issues with the brine tank not using up its salt. Advanced Water Solutions were very helpful when I spoke to them on the phone, and the technician who came out (a fellow Tim!), was very competent and thorough at fixing the issues.

Jackie Williams

22:26 18 Feb 20

I am so happy with my soft water. My dishes sparkle. I wish I had installed this sooner. Alonzo was my installer and he explained everything to me so well and was one of the nicest technician I have ever had come to my home.

Deb H.

17:29 12 Feb 20

Let me first say, I don't know why I didn't get this done YEARS ago! We have wasted SO much $$$$$ on bottled water and bags of ice!! The cost is so...

Tracey powers

23:50 06 Feb 20

Okay I guess

Pat M.

05:46 23 Jan 20

I have a Water Demon who follows me to every property I purchase!! Thankfully, Jay has banished the Demon!!! He provided all the answers to my WHY WHY...

Ping P.

14:16 11 Dec 19

I had Advanced Water Solutions install my whole house water filtration as well as an under sink reverse osmosis system. I've had them for 6 years and moved...

April B.

13:28 11 Nov 19

Advanced Water Solutions are pros. A local company that is knowledgeable about the VENTURA water and one that will provide the proper, quality service for...

Alina D.

09:32 01 Nov 19

I waited a few months before writing this review. Advanced water installed a water softener, reverse osmosis system, and fixed one of my water main pipes...

Terri C

17:55 26 Oct 19

The customer service has been excellent. Paul and Tim was our salesman and installer. They were pleasant , prompt ,and knowledgeable. I love dealing with local businesses because the customer service is above and beyond .... 5 stars for this entire experience and might I add ....my water is fabulous!....Thank you!

Nicholas Falcone

22:27 25 Sep 19

Advanced Water Solutions (AWS) has exceeded our expectations! From the first phone call to final installation, AWS lived up to the stellar reviews we read before contacting them. Paul, the director of sales, arrived for his appointment with us. He tested our water, explained the results, and what our options we had. There was no pressure placed on us at any time. He clearly described what the AWS systems did so we could make our decision. We decided on the AWS100 Whole Home Water Softener and the Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System.On the day set for installation the installer, Danny, arrived on time. He impressed my wife and I with his overall courtesy and professionalism. He struck us as extremely competent at installing these products. He answered all questions we had, and did so thoroughly. He worked tirelessly and without complaint. I would rate him as the best installer one could hope for.If you are considering a water system for your home, you owe it to yourself to consider AWS. They will soften and treat your water the way you would expect. Conditioned water protects your home. For drinking, the Reverse Osmosis System replaces all the costly filters and plastic bottles too. Very happy that we researched first and selected Advanced Water Solutions!

Nicholas F.

15:23 25 Sep 19

Advanced Water Solutions (AWS) exceeded our expectations! From the first phone call to final installation, AWS lived up to the stellar reviews we read...

Suzanne Y.

17:00 19 Sep 19

This is a great quality company to work with. Friendly, honest, came one day to review and quote water filtration/softening system, came back the next day...

Julz D.

15:54 09 Aug 19

I have used Advanced Water Solutions and their Reverse Osmosis equipment in my home for over two decades. The owner, Jay, has always been great to work...

Julian Dean

01:30 09 Aug 19

I have used Advanced Water Solutions and their Reverse Osmosis equipment in my home for over two decades. The owner, Jay, has always been great to work with, and his staff are skilled, professional, and easy to talk with. Tim recently performed the annual service on my equipment, and like Alanzo, he knows what he is doing and is happy to explain it all to me. One of the great things about their equipment is that it is a huge water saver because it uses a lot less to make the RO water than other equipment available. I have referred Advanced to family and friends all over the Santa Barbara and Ventura areas and like me, they stay with Jay and Advanced for years.

Lucia M.

11:58 26 Jul 19

I finally have great tasting, pure water!! My technician Rick did a really great installation job! Looks and works great. The sales reb Paul was very nice...

Lyn T.

10:58 21 Jul 19

Great customer service! Highly recommend this company to anyone looking at getting a water treatment system!

Karla P.

14:03 26 Jun 19

I've waited several weeks since getting everything installed to write this review, just to make sure things continued to work, and I'm excited to report...

Tyler R.

10:46 22 Jun 19

Your search for water treatment in Ventura County is over. Advanced Water Solutions is the company you want to give your business to. Last month, we had...

Sharonda Bolen

18:36 19 Jun 19

Best water drinking systems. For humans that care what they put in their bodies, especially water it's worth money. Think of your health and the health of your family.

Lisa Ehrnman

06:20 29 May 19

Advanced Water Solutions is by far the only water softener company I would ever use! The customer service is excellent and exceeded all of my expectations! Our water softener was installed within an hour and the water is fantastic! I would recommend this company to my best friend, my neighbors, my family and anyone who likes good customer service and an excellent finished product!Thank you Advanced Water Solutions!

Ann Van Cleve

23:16 17 May 19

I must say, I am very happy with my new water system. Advanced Water Solutions has been a wonderful experience. From the sales, by Paul and the installation by Timothy. Both of them were extremely nice and personable. Also, there is Paulette in the office that was very helpful to any question(s) I have had and feel comfortable calling with any in the future. So keep up the great job! I will recommend this company to friends and family.

Beverley Sharpe

21:28 03 May 19

When I read our municipal water company’s disclosure about the chemicals added to ensure our city water is safe, I was concerned about the monochloramine (which is a combination of chlorine and ammonia). My husband was on board with filtering our water and trusted Advanced Water Solutions because he knew some their satisfied customers. We chose an AWS125 water softener with a whole-house carbon filter. Alonso did our installation and he was terrific. His work was impeccable and he clearly explained what he was doing and how the system worked. After the installation, Alonso tested the water, which we watched, explained the results and patiently answering our questions. We are thoroughly satisfied with the complete filtration system.

Bobbi S.

19:29 25 Apr 19

Called them on Thursday, set up an appointment time that worked best for me on Monday and system was installed today! Rick, my installer, went above and...

Diego Sanabria

17:52 23 Apr 19

Tim came out to fix our water softener within hours of me calling and fixed the problem, quickly and efficiently! We ended up upgrading to a new water osmosis/carbon filter! Tim is so knowledgeable, kind, easy to talk to and I truly felt he cares in making sure we have clean water to drink! I am so glad we switched to Advanced Water Solutions for our drinking water and look forward to having cleaner, better tasting water... on top of the water softener that Tim rushed out to make sure was working properly. I feel confident in this company and I hope Tim's boss realizes they have a Gem of an employee, that represents you guys SO well!

Gary Rutledge

23:13 18 Apr 19

Rick did the install of our New Water System today he was in and out in less time than was scheduled, explained how to operate the system to me he was friendly and helpful. Thanks Rick!

David Seltzer

16:04 27 Jan 19

Everyone was very informative and answered all my questions. Rick did a great job installing and running through everything with me. Very happy with the outcome so far.

Nathan A.

07:03 18 Oct 18

We had a double tank water softener system and reverse osmosis drinking water system installed in our home last week. The salesman was very personable and...

Bruce Archer

14:36 17 Aug 18

Very welcoming and answered many of my questions

itsmetusher

05:52 14 Jul 18

Awesome and Very Fast... Thank You.

witwaltman

06:58 16 May 18

Advanced has been servicing our drinking water system for years, and we have the best tasting water. They keep a calendar and call us annually to change the filters. We have been pleased.

Sandra O'Meara

18:42 14 May 18

So Easy! So perfect! These guys are great! We are happy with our new water system and this company. Very straightforward and thoughtful.

Ryan Sandefer

19:23 12 Mar 18

Advanced Water Solutions has helped us with two commercial installations. Jay and his team are always professional and always get me the best prices. The system is fantastic as is the service! The few times I have had issues, a techninian was on site immediately. If you are looking for a company that does what they say they will do - then Advanced Water Solutions is for you.

K C H

21:06 28 Dec 17

Thank you

Tom Loge'

00:11 12 Sep 17

My long serving and rare Braswell Water Softener failed over the weekend. All the available water was salty with a capital T. Called this am first thing. They sent Danny out this afternoon. He was here 10 minutes checked a couple of possible causes. Very professional and knowledgeable. Had it nailed in short order. He explained thoroughly, had the necessary parts in the truck and was outta' here in 30 minutes. Very reasonable charges and I'm back in business. The way things are supposed to work but rarely does. Thank you Danny you're an ace! Thank you AWS. Well done all!

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Locally, family-owned and operated for over 20 years

The ability to service and maintain ALL brands and models of water treatment equipment

We take great pride in serving our customers to achieve those reviews and a major reason for that is our dedication to service. We have dozens of options for rental, purchase, and financing to meet the budget of your family or business however Your Free Home Water Evaluation is the only way for us to know exactly what you need.

[gpnationalcrane]

The Ultimate Construction Father's Day Gift Guide 2020

Father’s Day 2020 is June 21, so you better get started on gift ideas if you want to impress dad this year. Whether your father is contractor, handyman, or DIYer, we’ve got a lot of great ideas for him this year.

For more more gift ideas, be sure to check out our past Father's Day Gift Guides from 2016, 2017, and 2018, 2019 or our Ultimate Construction Holiday Gift Guides from 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and 2019. 

We’ve been lucky enough to be able to use many of the tools on this list throughout the year and there are others on the list that we’d love to try because they have been highly regarded in reviews.  It should be assumed that the tool manufacturers have given us these tools for free to test out, but none of them have paid to be a part of this gift guide. All tools on this list have been chosen by us, because we think they would be great gifts.

This post contains affiliate links, which earn us a small commission for the things that you buy.  The prices in the links are exactly the same as they would be normally!

Ultimate Construction Father’s Day Gift Guide 2020

Under $50

Bosch TS1004 Table Saw Dust Collector Bag

Table Saw Dust Bag

This is honestly one of the best purchases I’ve made and it’s so inexpensive. Table saws are essential on many jobsites and workshops, but dust collection can be an issue. If you don’t have an extensive dust collection system or don’t want to deal with the extra noise of a vacuum, this Bosch table saw dust bag is a no brainer. I’ve been using it on my Milwaukee M18 cordless table saw and it collects probably 80-90% of the dust

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Klein Tools ET310 AC Circuit Breaker Finder with Integrated GFCI Outlet Tester

Klein Tools Digital Circuit Breaker Finder

If you’re house is like mine, the labeling system inside your circuit breaker box is an absolute mess, which makes it extremely difficult to find the correct breaker to turn off when needed. The Klein Tools Digital Circuit Breaker finder is a 2-in-1 tool that not only can confirm that your outlets have been properly wired, but it can also help you easily locate the correct breaker an outlet is wired to. Simply plug the outlet tester into an outlet, bring the receiver wand to your breaker panel, and run the receiver down each breaker until the light indicates that the correct breaker has been found. Of course, you should ALWAYS double check that power has been turned off to whatever electrical system you need to work on before beginning.

Bosch Clic-Change 3-Piece Self-Centering Drill Bit Assortment CC2430

Bosch Clic-Change Self Centering Drill Bits

Whever you’re installing hardware that requires more than one screw, the slightest misstep when drilling your pilot hole can cause the whole piece to become misaligned. These Bosch Self-Centering bits all but guarantee that your screw will be perfectly centered through the use of a spring loaded housing sized for #6, #8, and #10 screws.

MXP-AL Die-Cast Aluminum Utility Knife OLFA

OLFA MXP-AL or LA-X Utility Knife

Everybody probably already has a utility knife somewhere in their toolbox or junk drawer, but it’s probably not an OLFA. This Japanese-made knife is actually up to 8 blades-in-one, because you can snap off one section at a time if it gets dull. Paired with their new black speed blades, you not only get the convenience of multiple blades, but an extremely sharp, fast cutting knife.

The OLFA MXP-AL is their newest heavy duty knife, made with an aluminum shell. For a little less cost, the LA-X is a tried and true knife, as well, as it comes with the same blades, but it’s housed in a plastic shell with a rubber overmould.

QUICKLOADER QL4500 15-Feet by 1.25-Inch Retractable Tie-down Strap, 4500-Pound Breakforce, Red

Quickloader Retractable Ratchet Tiedown

If you own a truck, you know that securing a load can be a huge hassle, especially if you’re used to dealing with bungee cords or traditional tiedowns. With Quickloaders, there will never be any additional slack flapping in the wind, because the excess retracts back into it. It’s so easy, you can do it one handed. There are various sizes and strengths available on their website, starting at around $20, but the QL4500 is a good one to start with, at around $40.

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Milwaukee WorkSkin Light Weight Performance Shirt - Gray - Medium

New Milwaukee Workwear

You, of course, know Milwaukee Tool because of their power tools, but they have also had an extensive line of workwear for construction professionals for years, but they have just recently updated and expanded their lineup. In addition to updated versions of their Workskin lightweight, moisture wicking shirts, they have added heavy duty pocket shirts and hoodies. The heavy duty pocket shirts will align with a more traditional work shirt that many contractors have grown up wearing and the Workskin shirts are great for the hot summer months that are nearly upon us.

CRAFTSMAN VERSASTACK System 17-in 2-Drawer Tool Box Black Buy from Lowe's

Craftsman Versastack 2-Drawer Unit

After being acquired by Stanley Black & Decker (SBD), Craftsman recently launched a brand new line of around 1,200 new tools. It already appears to be a good move for Craftsman tool lovers as it has breathed new life into the old Sears brand. One of the best buys in the new brand is the Versastack 2-drawer unit. Every tradesman or garage warrior needs additional storage and the Verstastack will not only stack on top of other Versastack units, but will also stack on DeWalt T-stack units, thanks to that aforementioned SBD acquisition. You can get it at Lowe’s for around $35.

Over $50

ISOtunes FREE True Wireless Earplug Earbuds, 22 dB Noise Reduction Rating, 21 Hour Battery, Noise Cancelling Mic, OSHA Compliant Bluetooth Hearing Protector (Matte Black)

ISOtunes Free Wireless OSHA-Compliant Hearing Protection Headphones

Hearing protection is one of those things that construction workers ignore until years later when they realize they have lost a significant amount of their hearing.  OSHA has strict hearing protection requirements to avoid hearing loss in workers,  ISOtunes FREE Bluetooth Hearing Protectors offer a 22db noise reduction rating and they also limit the audio playback to 85db, keeping you below the actionable noise level.

These wireless ear buds will last for 7 hours, but the rechargeable charging case it comes with will provide an additional 14 hours of playback time.

If you’re looking for a more affordable option and don’t mind the cords, the ISOtunes Pro 2.0 offers similar features at a lower cost.

KEEN Utility Men's Cincinnati 6” Soft Toe Waterproof Construction Shoe, Belgian/Sandshell, 11.5D US KEEN Utility

Keen Utility Cincinnati Work Boot

Keen Utility showed off their new Cincinnati work boot earlier this year at the World of Concrete and it’s hard not to love this boot at first glance. Sporting a classic wedge toe look, the Cincinnati is the beefed-upped heavy duty version of the Keen Utility San Jose Boot, which is a much beloved light duty boot of similar look. this boot is meant to withstand abuse from tough jobsites, sporting a waterproof liner to keep hyour feet dry, Goodyear welt construction to durability, and a super comfortable midsole.

DEWALT DCC020IB 20V Max Inflator (Bare) Dewalt

DeWalt DCC020IB 20V Max Inflator

Everyone needs an inflator at some point, whether it’s an emergency roadside tire fill-up, bike tire top offs, camping mattresses, or those pesky pool floats. The DeWalt 20V MAX Inflator is the most versatile of them all, as it’s able to inflate high pressure or high volume and can be powered by battery, 12V DC (car plug-in), or a 110V wall outlet.

Besides its versatility, one of its greatest features is the ability to set the PSI you’d like to fill it to and it will automatically shut off when it reaches that level. You can read our full review of it by clicking here.

Milwaukee 2505-20 M12 FUEL Installation Drill/Driver (Tool-Only) Milwaukee

Milwaukee Tool M12 Installation Drill/Driver

During any project, there’s always at least one screw that needs to go in at an awkward angle. Thankfully, there are several multi-chuck drill/drivers on the market that can completely eliminate that frustration, the Milwaukee Tool M12 Instalaltion Drill/Driver being one of them. With 4 separate attachments, this drill/driver is an absolute dream for all of those odd angles and tight spaces you might find yourself in. This tool comes with 4 quickly interchangeable heads: a 3/8” drill chuck, a 1/4” hex driver, an offset, and a right angle.

DEWALT DCE511B 11" Corded/Cordless Jobsite Fan $79.00

DEWALT DCE511B 11" Corded/Cordless Jobsite Fan

The DeWalt 20V jobsite fan is a super-efficient, powerful, and convenient option for the workshop or jobsite.  Delivering up to 500 CFM of air, the fan can easily last a full day on one battery.  If your battery runs out of juice, no worries, because it can also be plugged into an outlet through an extension cord.  Rated IP54 for dust and water resistance, it’s ready to be put to work in tough conditions.

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Milwaukee String Trimmer Kit w/Quik-LOK

Milwaukee M18 Quik-Lok Landscaping Attachment System

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could power a string trimmer, a hedge trimmer, a pole saw, and an edger with the same tool? Well, you can with Milwaukee’s Quik-Look attachment system. By quickly detaching the bottom half of the trimmer showed in the picture by loosening a knob and pressing a button, you can quickly change out to one of the 4 attachments using the same motor and same battery.

source https://www.constructionjunkie.com/blog/2016/10/30/the-ultimate-construction-fathers-day-gift-guide-2020 from G P NATIONAL CRANES LTD https://gpnationalcrane.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-ultimate-construction-fathers-day.html

[hairfetishatlantasalon]

How To Properly Clean Your Hair Extensions-Bundles

Are you bundles starting to feel greasy and hard to hold curls?

Have you noticed that when you’re straightening your bundles that they aren’t looking as flawless, or your curls aren’t holding as well? If so there’s a possibility that you haven’t cleaned your bundles properly. When cleaning your bundles you should be aiming to have them as “squeaky clean” as possible.

You want to ensure that you are washing out all the product build up, all the oils from your natural hair that attach to your wefts, and just the every day things that can get into your hair.

Then you can ensure your bundles are clean you wash them with a clarifying shampoo first, by doing this you are removing all of the dirt and oils from the bundles.

Next you can wash with a moisturizing shampoo just to put that shine and luster back into your bundles.

 Lastly, When rinsing out the conditioner just ensure you are rinsing it out completely.

If all items up top failed then you also always have an option to book for a sew in maintenance with us at Hairfetishatlantasalon.com and allow one of our stylist to properly care for your bundles.

Google Reviews

Hair Salon - Hair Fetish Atlanta

3.9

Keisha Thomas

22:05 18 Nov 19

All positive experience and the hair is why better than True Glory. Try it out you will love the softness and do not smell like corn chips

Cindy Wallace

15:37 16 Nov 19

The best weave salon for frontals downtown buck head area …Thanks Tess I will be back

Keisha King

22:12 14 Nov 19

Very professional people. I've been a customer for 4 years and they have not change. Always great hair and customer service. Thanks Tess

Tissa Green

18:32 14 Nov 19

Just love Tess she is so professional and my frontals always last for weeks. Thank you

Shemeka Gomez

18:00 14 Nov 19

Abosutley 5

service. Owners very professional and helpful. Thank u Tess

Stacy King

19:56 09 Nov 19

Very happy with them. Very professional company and hair is beyond great!

Queen Money

21:50 21 Oct 19

This is my favorite place to get silk press, closures , frontals and wigs installed. Best prices and wide selection of 100% Human Hair Full Lace 360 Wigs

Keisha Arnold

15:19 28 Aug 19

I’ve been using Hair Fetish Atlanta hair since 2013 and never had an issue. it’s so soft and bouncy

Beauty Hername

01:55 28 Aug 19

Great customer service and the hair is excellent. I highly recommend you visit for Wigs Closures and the best bundles

Missy Montgomery

22:08 26 Aug 19

My sister referred me here and I was amazed at the hair quality. It’s so soft and feels great. Check them out you will not be disappointed

Candy Richardson

14:42 24 Aug 19

Thank you Tess for an excellent service again. I will be returning again

Tressa Montgomery

12:52 24 Aug 19

This is one of the best salons in downtown Atlanta. Tess is can slay your wig perfectly with at least 2 to 3 weeks wear before maintenance. Tess customer service is excellent and she has always been very helpful. Also do try there wigs and bundles they are the best quality of you are bleaching to another color. I give 5 stars

360 Virtual Tour Atlanta

11:33 21 Aug 19

I would like to let the world know this is the best hair store and salon in Atlanta Ga and they have 2 locations. I am a trusted Google Photographer and we have use there services for over 5 years. All of my friends and family use the hair and its reusable and will bleach. The frontals and wigs are high quality with warranty. Tess is extremely helpful and makes the best wigs that last for years. I had to write this review after seeing so many hateful responses. PLEASE GO VISIT BOTH LOCATIONS YOU WILL BE VERY SATISFIED YOU ARE BUYING 100% VIRGIN HUMAN HAIR AND NOT THE REMY LOW GRADE SILVER BAND HAIR OTHER VENDORS SELLING IN ATLANTA

Simone Barnes

15:52 08 Jun 19

Amaya did my lace wig which stayed on my head a whole month amazing. She was friendly and gave me tips on how to style and keep up my hair. This was my second time going to hair fetish and I must say I won’t be going anywhere else. Thanks Amaya

Amanda Fischer

12:30 10 Jan 19

Everyone was nice and greeted us upon entering the salon. They do have a nice selection of hair products. Their prices are comparable to other salon. I would definitely go back again.

Janette May

15:24 09 Jan 19

Hair Salon - Hair Fetish Atlanta has an amazing team of passionate, highly talented, knowledgeable, education driven stylist. You can tell they love what they do and it really shows in their work! The atmosphere is so lively and welcoming with the most comfortable shampoo bowls! I cannot wait to visit again!!

Alex Blackwell

15:22 08 Jan 19

After my first experience at Hair Salon - Hair Fetish Atlanta I feel the need to share that she is absolutely amazing! She was so patient and took the time to make sure she understood exactly what I wanted. My hair has been damaged and I received a bad cut and color from another salon. She fixed the cut and color and gave me several different options for restoring the health of my hair. It is very clear that she is knowledgeable and experienced. Thanks!!

Puja Mehta

13:50 07 Jan 19

Arana is very experienced and knowledgeable. The salon is clean and hip and has a comfortable atmosphere. I have been back to her a few times now and she keeps delivering! I love my hair! She is the only stylist I will go to. Hair Salon - Hair Fetish Atlanta!! You won't regret it!

vR v

07:11 06 Jan 19

Hair Salon - Hair Fetish Atlanta is one of the best. The service is beyond great, they also have a nail technician there if you would like to get your nails done and she does a great job. The atmosphere is full of great energy, I love coming here!

aurelie vandezande

17:11 03 Jan 19

I have been purchasing hair from Hair Salon - Hair Fetish Atlanta for over a year. Amaya, is so professional and she sells top quality hair extensions and wigs. The products sold in this boutique can’t be found in your neighborhood hair supply store. Once I started purchasing hair extensions from here I have not shopped anywhere else! Check it out for yourself!

Tasha Huggins

15:40 12 Dec 18

Best salon ever. I purchase my hair up front and got it install in back in a great atmosphere. Free Wifi ?

mistretta tinoconh

15:19 11 Dec 18

Love this place downtown minutes away from my Buckhead condo. The selection of hair is great and customer service is on point. I will be back Hair Fetish Atlanta. Thanks ?

Emma Bailey

05:36 07 Nov 18

Everyone was nice and greeted us upon entering the salon. They do have a nice selection of hair products. Their prices are comparable to other salon. I would definitely go back again.

Sara Jackson

17:46 06 Nov 18

I found my forever stylist! I went here last week for the first time. She colored my hair and put in extensions for me, and I can honestly say I have never in my life been happier with my hair. I was so happy when she finished I got tears in my eyes! Selfish me wants to keep her a secret, but she is the sweetest, kindest, and most talented stylist I have ever met! She deserves way more than five stars! This whole salon is nothing short of amazing. Highly recommend!

Yuki San

06:51 06 Nov 18

The only place I trust for my hair! She is great and I always get the exact color I'm looking for. I'm super picky when it comes to haircuts and color, and they definitely live up to my high standards! Recommend!

Reena Thomas

06:33 03 Nov 18

This was the best experience I have ever had at a salon. Everyone was professional, friendly and the prices are great!!!! I recommend coming down if your looking for an owner and stylist that care about their clients hair and looking and feeling sexy again. Thank you ladies!!!!

Gloria Pulido

09:55 31 Oct 18

I was so happy that my daughter was so happy and finally found Hair Salon. We'll be coming back to every time. We have already told our family and friends. She did a fantastic job and prices are also reasonable. She is sweet and listens to what you want. Thanks!

Emma Smith

06:10 29 Oct 18

Great customer service. I loved that there was plenty of choices of textures of hair. I will definitely come back.

Natasha Andrews

17:53 27 Oct 18

The customer service was awesome, and I received several email checking to see if I was enjoying my order. I would definitely order from this company again. The quality of the closure is nice. No shedding, no tangles. Highly recommend!

Customer Service

20:08 24 Sep 18

Great place to buy hair and get installed.

Shonda Wyatt

21:40 26 Jun 18

This was out first time at this salon and I was very pleased. Zion did my daughters sew in for her senior portraits. She did a fantastic job. I am definitely going to be a returning customers for Zion. Thanks so much for the work you did. My daughter and I appreciate it very much.

Shy Tonya

01:27 30 Apr 18

The best salon i ever been to. My frontal came out amazing. I will be back Hair Fetish Atlanta Salon.

Talia Smith

23:59 03 Mar 18

This place don't have high ratings but it had the highest on Google so I decided to come anyway. By the reviews I read that the owner is a guy so when I called the guy answered and I asked about walk-in and he asked what did I want to get done and I told him I had a messed up hairstyle and I need it fixed and he told me to come in and they'll see what they can do. I got there and I met the owner and Jasmine hooked me up. No complaints at all. I am very satisfied with Jasmine's work! I got a full head sew in here. I also watched Jasmine do a silk press on another customer and she's really great at what she does! I will be coming back to get my closure tightened up in 3 weeks!

Mariah Sims

19:01 07 Jan 18

They do a great job. I definitely would recommend this place to others ???

reetta walker

19:15 22 Dec 17

I came all the Way from Seattle just to have SHEA Do my hair. She made me feel SO confident about my hair.. She definitely trusted the process.. I appreciate This place

Radiyah Fullins

21:03 04 Nov 17

I had a great experience! They were nice and welcoming. On top of that my hair looks AMAZING i’m in love. Lea (sorry if i spelled it wrong) was my stylist. She was very cooperative and i had a slight problem with my hair but she was happy to help me fix it. Couldn’t be happier. Definitely will be going back.

T Poynter

18:28 06 Oct 17

I visited the salon for the first time today with my daughter and I am so pleased with the results that I made an appointment for myself on tomorrow. Thank you so much for such an amazing, comfortable salon experience.

Amariah Sledge

17:08 06 Oct 17

Leslie was my stylist and she was great! I absolutely love my hair and will definitely be back!!

SCGC Adjutants

17:04 06 Oct 17

Leslie was great and extremely professional! I love my hair and will be coming back!!

Denise Salgado

22:46 05 Oct 17

I went in for a 360 Lace frontal. The stylist was very knowledgeable and professional. I even was offered a glass of wine. . Great service and I look great. I will definitely be back. I am now a happy loyal customer

Customer Service

03:04 06 Sep 17

This is the best Salon and Hair Store in Atlanta Ga. I have been there purchase hair and had it installed with no problems, tangeling or shedding. I will continue to support thei hair and salon and recommend to my friends and family.

Angel Wright

05:18 18 May 17

My name is Angel, I am 19 years old and I went to Hair Fetish Atlanta on May 17, 2017 and my hair turned out PEEERRRFECTLY! Like I'm in LOVE with my hair. I got a sew-in done by Char who is honestly one of the coolest people I've ever met. She worked swift and was extremely helpful in helping me figure out how I actually wanted my hair done and sure enough she was spot on. Again, I highly recommend Hair Fetish Atlanta and Char as your go to person.

Next Reviews Write a review

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The post How To Properly Clean Your Hair Extensions-Bundles appeared first on Hair Fetish Atlanta Salon -.

from Hair Fetish Atlanta Salon – https://www.hairfetishatlantasalon.com/2019/11/19/how-to-properly-clean-your-hair-extensions-bundles/

[yums-ville]

On Nov. 24,1963, Thanks to an independent Dallas affiliate, The Pittston Sunday Dispatch published the first full interview of Dr. Malcolm Perry, the leading doctor at Parkland who tried to save JFK. Immediately after, Perry was deluged by the press -- and quickly warned about his future career as a doctor, if he said the "wrong things." This interview is startling because it mentions a BULLET HOLE IN JFK'S CHEST. Pittston, PA is a tiny town which today has only about 775 residents, but The Dispatch's owners also published other weeklies, including one in Dallas. The Sunday Dispatch only published on Sundays, so don't think "chest" is a typo: there was plenty of time between Nov. 22 and Nov. 24 to edit and double-check the astonishing statement that JFK had a bullet hole in his chest. This finally answers a question I had: why would a shot to the head or neck collapse JFK's lung? This same story was also published by The Los Angeles Herald Examiner, another independent newspaper not controlled by CIA watchdogs, on Nov. 23, but there a 'typo' in haste could be argued: the Dispatch print-out proves it was no typo. Dr. Perry -- also required to try to save Lee Oswald on Nov. 24.-- found himself under pressure to say little and to alter his first impression that the wound in the neck was an entry wound, after which he fled from Dallas. After his first statements on record, Perry began saying it was just "conjecture" that the neck wound came via a bullet from the front:maybe it came from the rear! Perry gave that cop-out to The Warren Commission, then spent most of the rest of his life trying to avoid interviews. As for the Sunday Dispatch's amazing revelation, it was not only ignored, but finding a copy online (or anywhere else)-- including in The Pittson News Archives, good luck, and let me now: the online archives skip 1963.

Those who twist the earliest statements made by the Parkland Doctors use semantic tricks and cherry-pick quotes to do so. They are rebutted by many researchers and witnesses such as David Lifton (he's told people he hates me, that I'm a fraud (!) but that doesn't stop me from recommending his book BEST EVIDENCE)...

His Education Forum Essay rebuking researcher Pat Speer, below, lays out the facts: most of it is republished here:

[quote] The Dallas doctors are quite clear in their original medical reports and testimony, and in their early reports to the press--there was a blowout at the right rear of the head. One or two even proposed their own theory (in newspaper interviews) about how Kennedy had turned around, and faced the TSBD, to explain the injuries he sustained.

Not only are the medical reports (and testimony) clear, I personally interviewed these doctors (and nurses) in December, 1982/January 1983 when I first obtained a set of the autopsy photographs. I was accompanied by Pat Valentino (for the January, 1983 interviews). One after another of those interviewed made clear where the wound was located, and that the autopsy photographs contrasted sharply with what they recalled--and in some cases wrote--in their reports...

The notion that there is no difference between [the] Dallas and Bethesda version of the wounds is ... a myth...

As for Admiral Burkley--and his 1978 affidavit: Burkley was called in to write that document after I spoke with HSCA General Counsel Blakey for well over an hour, in October, 1978, explaining the sharp divergence in the anatomic descriptions between Parkland and Bethesda; explained to him my basic thesis (then unpublished) that the body was altered, and urged him to do something about it--and he assured me he would. So what did Blakey do? He arranged for Admiral Burkley to write an affidavit attesting to the statement there was no difference, which is pure nonsense.

One other matter: In January 1994, a young man named David Naro (of Memphis) telephoned Dr. Kemp Clark, told him he was a serious student of history, and asked Clark if he could come to Dallas and meet with him. Clark responded as follows: First, Clark asked him if he was a lawyer--Naro said no. Then he asked him if he was a writer. Again, the answer was no. All very well, responded Dr. Clark, you can come to my office and we'll visit... Bottom line: Clark told Naro that the President's "large" head wound was located at the back of the head--and that, as far as he (Clark) knew, the wound at the front of the throat was an entrance wound.

Elaborating on the head wound, Clark said that there was cerebral and cerebellar tissue in the wound--in other words, thirteen years after the publication of Best Evidence, which made a major point of the fact that the cerebellum is located at the bottom of the back of the brain, and that its visibility, in the head wound, is clear evidence of the head wound's location, [Clark] repeated this crucial fact to Naro and his two companions.

I have to wonder when the day is going to be reached (if ever) when ... [those who] should know better--[are] going to stop making these absurd statements that there was no difference in the wounds between Dallas and Bethesda, and face the very clear fact that the wounds were altered between the time Dr. Clark saw the body--at Parkland Hospital--and the time the official autopsy commenced in the morgue of the U.S .Navy Medical School, at Bethesdsa at 8 p.m EST...

... the cerebellum is an ovoid structure tucked underneath the bottom of the back of the brain... Dr. Marion Jenkins, the anesthesiologist , wrote in his report that afternoon: "The cerebellum protruded from the [head] wound,"...in his report drafted at 4:30 p.m. on the day Kennedy died. (WCE 392; or WCR, p. 530).

Or read what the late Dr. Peters told me when we spoke, at length, on November 12, 1966:..."I'd be willing to swear that the wound was in the occiput, you know. I could see the occipital lobes clearly, and so I know it was that far back ,on the skull. I could look inside the skull, and I thought it looked like the cerebellum was injured, or missing, because the occipital lobes seemed to rest almost on the foramen magnum. [the hole in the base of the skull, through which the spinal cord enters]... [but it] looked like the occipital lobes were resting on the foramen magnum...namely, the cerebellum and brainstem, might have been injured, or missing."

Now who should a reader believe--that kind of data attested to by Dallas doctors who were right there, in the Emergency Room? Who were qualified observers; and who wrote reports --some immediately--about what they saw?

 ... As I said in my address at Bismarck State College this past November (Google "David Lifton" plus "Bismarck" to watch it), the Bethesda autopsy was a fraud. And it was a fraud for more than one reason:

First of all, the body was covertly intercepted, and the wounds altered.

Second: The chief autopsy doctor--[then] Commander James Humes--knew it had been altered, and said so, in front of two FBI agents (Sibert and O'Neill), which brings us to point number three. . . :

Third: That is why the two FBI agents, Sibert and O'Neill, who wrote a report based on what Humes stated aloud [see Chapter 12 of Best Evidence] that when the body was placed on the table, it was "apparent" that there had been "surgery of the head area, namely, in the top of the skull." (CD 7, pp. 380 and following).

As I said in Bismarck: this autopsy was a fraud. It is (i.e., was) the medical equivalent of a financial transaction in which the key document(s) are forgeries. Yet this document--with its conclusion that JFK was struck "twice from behind" (my quotes) is the legal foundation for the "Oswald did it" which is the essence of the narrative set forth in the Warren Report.

Stepping back and taking a larger view: the Kennedy assassination cannot be properly analyzed unless it is understood that that this was a body-centric plot--i.e., it was planned in advance to (a) shoot the president and then (b ) change the story of how he died by altering what lawyers call the "medical facts."

Pat Speer--and others like him--will waste their time attempting to confuse the situation, but whatever one's opinion is on the larger question of the Kennedy assassination, nothing will change the basic fact that Kennedy's wounds were altered, prior to autopsy.

What Pat Speer is propounding is a myth.

So. . . reader beware.

DSL

2/27/14, 2:55 AM PST

Los Angeles, California

[spicynbachili1]

Does Durant or Green have higher value to the Golden State Warriors?

The Kevin Durant-Draymond Inexperienced debacle, together with Stephen Curry’s newest harm, raises some fascinating questions in regards to the relative significance of every Golden State Warriors star.

Sports activities are speculated to be goal. Numbers-based. Quantifiable. But they break from this mould much more usually than we think about they do.

Take the Golden State Warriors. Statistically talking, the staff’s hierarchy is evident. Take your choose between Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry on the prime. Then comes Klay Thompson and Draymond Inexperienced, with a large hole between them and the 2 former MVPs.

Theoretically, this could dictate every little thing. In actuality, it doesn’t imply all that a lot. Curry is taking pictures a decrease proportion from the sector and from the road than Durant this season. He averages fewer rebounds, fewer assists, fewer blocks, extra turnovers and extra fouls.

He’s additionally unquestionably the staff’s most necessary participant. So long as Curry units foot on the courtroom, the Warriors are a championship contender. They’ve gone 254-47 over the previous 5 years with Curry on the courtroom, and by no means had a successful proportion beneath .804 in a single season. With out him, they’re 23-22.

Durant’s absence has meant far much less. The staff is 112-36 with him within the lineup, and 25-9 with him out. That’s a successful proportion discount of two factors (75.7 to 73.5), in comparison with a 33-point drop (84.four to 51.1) with out Curry.

This doesn’t essentially imply that Curry is the higher basketball participant. Many assume he’s (myself included), however Golden State’s relative success with and with out its two superstars undeniably has quite a bit to do with an offensive system that’s constructed round Curry and a roster with much more depth at ahead than at level guard.

In fact, that is largely attributable to the truth that the staff has been constructing round Curry because it drafted Klay Thompson in 2011. It chosen Inexperienced the next 12 months, and Steve Kerr — who was employed in 2014 partially attributable to his expertise taking part in in and constructing offenses that emphasised taking pictures and ball motion — turned the staff into an immediate juggernaut.

When Durant clapped at and chided Inexperienced for not passing him the ball on the finish of regulation on Nov. 12 at Staples Heart, this historical past was on the coronary heart of Inexperienced’s response: We have now an infrastructure right here. It was constructed with out you, it has produced historic ranges of success with out you, it is going to proceed to work with or with out you.

The largest risk to the Warriors dynasty in Inexperienced’s thoughts will not be Durant leaving, however Durant co-opting the staff’s id and focus. And although it was not stated explicitly, primarily based on what was reported, Inexperienced’s response appeared to replicate one other perception: That Durant couldn’t converse to him the best way he has spoken to Durant. That there’s a hierarchy, and that Inexperienced is larger in it.

That is the place objectivity breaks down in terms of worth evaluation.

We might take a look at the staff’s success with and with out Inexperienced as we did with Curry and Durant. The staff is 193-47 (.804 successful proportion) with Inexperienced and 20-7 (.741 successful proportion) with out him since 2014-15, a differential barely larger than that of Durant’s.

Nonetheless, Inexperienced’s impression on common season successful is by far the least necessary of his exploits, significantly as a result of he not often performs his finest place through the common season. Much more essential is his postseason worth, and maybe past that, his unquantifiable management.

Durant can counter with the truth that his impression additionally elevates within the postseason, significantly on the final word stage. His 2017 NBA Finals numbers have been cartoon-like (he averaged 35.2 factors, eight.2 rebounds, 5.four assists and 1.6 blocks per recreation on 69.eight p.c true taking pictures), and he has hit the series-defining shot on the street two years working.

He additionally almost price the Warriors the 2018 Western Convention Finals together with his uninspired effort on protection and on the glass, and his unwillingness to maneuver the ball offensively. Provided that the largest threats to Golden State going ahead are groups that resemble final 12 months’s Houston Rockets (the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and sure, the Rockets) than the Cleveland Cavaliers of the final 4 years, maybe Durant’s LeBron James-beating exploits are not as essential as Inexperienced’s small-ball unlocking magic.

In fact, there’s additionally the query of age and eventual decline. Durant is 18 months Inexperienced’s senior, with a darker previous by way of accidents and surgical procedures. On the flip facet, he relies upon far much less on athleticism and max exertion, and much more on taking pictures, ball-handling and peak — abilities that abandon gamers much more progressively. Durant would possibly nonetheless be a top-five NBA participant in 5 years; Inexperienced might not even be a starter.

Whereas there isn’t any clear reply right here, there’s a clear approach that Golden State ought to go about this: Do every little thing it will possibly to maintain Durant subsequent summer time, and do the identical with Inexperienced the 12 months after that. Ought to re-signing Durant result in Inexperienced’s departure, so be it, and may their unwillingness to commerce Inexperienced price them an opportunity at re-signing Durant, that’s okay too.

The Curry/Durant/Inexperienced/Thompson core won’t final endlessly, and doing something to cut back the probability of success within the current needs to be out of the query. The best choice right here is to not make a alternative. The Warriors should hope that Inexperienced and Durant can co-exist properly sufficient to not change that actuality — and that Curry can return quickly sufficient to make none of it matter.

Subsequent: Week 6 NBA Energy Rankings

All stats courtesy of CleaningTheGlass.com and Basketball-Reference.com

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from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/does-durant-or-green-have-higher-value-to-the-golden-state-warriors/

[addictionrecoveryassistance]

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[ex-jw]

Ways In Which Jehovah's Witnesses Are A Cult

Do not question the appointed leaders. 

"Jehovah uses his organization to teach and feed his people. (Matt. 24:45-47) Hence believe without suspicion the truth set forth by the “faithful and discreet slave.”" Watchtower 1962 Sep 1 p.524

"That faithful slave is the channel through which Jesus is feeding his true followers in this time of the end. It is vital that we recognize the faithful slave. Our spiritual health and our relationship with God depend on this channel." Watchtower 2013 Jul 15 p.20

"“The faithful and discreet slave” was appointed over Jesus’ domestics in 1919. That slave is the small, composite group of anointed brothers serving at world headquarters during Christ’s presence who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food. When this group work together as the Governing Body, they act as “the faithful and discreet slave.”" jw.org 10th Nov 2012 (x)

"We need to obey the faithful and discreet slave to have Jehovah’s approval." Watchtower 2011 Jul 15 p.24 Simplified English Edition

"In Jehovah's organization it is not necessary to spend a lot of time and energy in research, for there are brothers in the organization who are assigned to that very thing, …"Watchtower 1967 Jun 1 p.338

"Since Jehovah God and Jesus Christ completely trust the faithful and discreet slave, should we not do the same?" Watchtower 2009 Feb 15 p.27

"To act consistently with our baptism for life and into the Greater Noah we must submit to and cooperate with that slave and its legal instrument, the Watch Tower Society." Watchtower 1959 Oct 1 p.583

"But Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his "faithful and discreet slave", made up of spirit-anointed ones, to help Christians in all nations to understand and apply properly the Bible in their lives. Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do." Watchtower 1981 Dec 1 p.27

Many more citations/quotes from Watchtower Publications about following the direction of the “faithful and discreet slaves” and not questioning them can be found at this article: (x). The article is from jw facts and is very informative!

Limit association with people outside your faith. / All people outside your faith are evil! 

"While some contact with worldly people is unavoidable - at work, at school, and otherwise-we must be vigilant so as to keep from being sucked back into the death-dealing atmosphere of this world. Let the world go along in its way, reaping its bad fruitage in the form of broken homes, illegitimate births, sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS, and countless other emotional and physical woes." Watchtower 1987 Sep 15 pp.12-14

"We must also be on guard against extended association with worldly people. Perhaps it is a neighbor, a school friend, a workmate, or a business associate. We may reason, 'He respects the Witnesses, he leads a clean life, and we do talk about the truth occasionally.' Yet, the experience of others proves that in time we may even find ourselves preferring such worldly company to that of a spiritual brother or sister. What are some of the dangers of such a friendship?" Watchtower1994 Feb 15 p.24

"The principle behind Paul's warning applies to our associations both outside and inside the congregation. (1 Corinthians 15:12,33)" Watchtower 1997 Jul 15 p.18

"Any recreation you take outside of school should not be with worldly youths." Watchtower 1964 Sep 1 p.535

Don't listen to people that have left your faith. 

"Apostates “quietly” bring their ideas into the congregation, like criminals who secretly bring things into a country. ... The Bible says that apostates are mentally diseased and that they use their teachings to make others think like them. (1 Timothy 6:3, 4) Jehovah is like that good doctor. He clearly tells us to stay away from false teachers. We must always be determined to follow his warning. ... We do not speak to them or invite them into our houses. We also do not read their books, watch them on television, read what they write on the Internet, or add our own comments about what they write on the Internet." Watchtower 2011 Jul 15 p.11

"So, if doubts, complaints, or apostasy threaten to contaminate you spiritually, cut them away quickly! (Compare Matthew 5:29, 30.) Get help from the congregation elders." Watchtower 1989 Oct 1 p.18 

"It would be a mistake to think that you need to listen to apostates or to read their writings to refute their arguments. Their twisted, poisonous reasoning can cause spiritual harm and can contaminate your faith like rapidly spreading gangrene."Watchtower 2004 Feb 15 p.28

"As loyal servants of Jehovah, why would we want to peek at the propaganda put out by rejecters of Jehovah's table..." Watchtower 1994 Jul 1 pp.12-13

Don't look up stuff about your faith on the internet. (See above citation from the July 15th 2011 Watchtower.)

If you leave the faith you are punished and you will never be able to talk with your loved ones in the faith again. (Which is against Article 18 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights). 

"Thus "disfellowshiping" is what Jehovah's Witnesses appropriately call the expelling and subsequent shunning of such an unrepentant wrongdoer." Watchtower 1981 Sep 15 p.22

"… a simple "Hello" to someone can be the first step that develops into a conversation and maybe even a friendship. Would we want to take that first step with a disfellowshiped person?" Watchtower 1981 Sep 15 p.25

"What if we have a relative or a close friend who is disfellowshipped? Now our loyalty is on the line, not to that person, but to God. Jehovah is watching us to see whether we will abide by his command not to have contact with anyone who is disfellowshipped.” - Watchtower 2012 Apr 15 p.12

“Consider just one example of the good that can come when a family loyally upholds Jehovah’s decree not to associate with disfellowshipped relatives. A young man had been disfellowshipped for over ten years, during which time his father, mother, and four brothers “quit mixing in company” with him. At times, he tried to involve himself in their activities, but to their credit, each member of the family was steadfast in not having any contact with him. After he was reinstated, he said that he always missed the association with his family, especially at night when he was alone. But, he admitted, had the family associated with him even a little, that small dose would have satisfied him. However, because he did not receive even the slightest communication from any of his family, the burning desire to be with them became one motivating factor in his restoring his relationship with Jehovah." Watchtower 2012 Apr 15 p.12

"Do not look for excuses to associate with a disfellowshipped family member, for example, through e-mail." - Watchtower 2013 Jan 1 p.16

"And all members of the congregation need to be determined to avoid the company of disfellowshipped individuals." Watchtower 2011 Nov 15 p.5

"Is strict avoidance really necessary? Yes for several reasons. ... In other cases, the disfellowshipped relative may be living outside the immediate family circle and home. Although there might be a need for limited contact on some rare occasion to care for a necessary family matter, any such contact should be kept to a minimum." Keep Yourself in God's Love (2008) pp.207,208

These are just SOME of the many quotes from Watchtower Publications that tell witnesses to shun disfellowshipped members, even if they are family members. If you are interested in more, jw facts has an excellent article here: (x) which is where I got most of these citations from.

You are warned against having independent thinking.

"We also remember that one feature of 'the wisdom from above' is being 'ready to obey.' Due to background and upbringing, some may be more given to independent thinking and self-will than others. Perhaps this is an area where we need to discipline ourselves and 'make our mind over' so that we can perceive more clearly what the 'will of God' is." Watchtower 1987 Feb 1 p.19

"Avoid questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization. some who point out that the organization has had to make some adjustments before, and so they argue: "This shows that we have to make up our own mind on what to believe." This is independent thinking. Why is it so dangerous?" Watchtower 1983 Jan 15 p.22

"First, since "oneness" is to be observed, a mature Christian must be in unity and full harmony with fellow believers as far as faith and knowledge are concerned. He does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding." Watchtower 2001 Aug 1 p.14

You must automatically believe everything the leaders tell you, even if it contradicts previous teachings or logic. 

"If we have love for Jehovah and for the organization of his people we shall not be suspicious, but shall, as the Bible says, 'Believe all things,' all the things that the Watchtower brings out" Qualified to be Ministers (1955) p.156

You are only allowed to read their publications on bible teaching, NOT anyone else's. 

"False religious propaganda from any source should be avoided like poison! Really, since our Lord has used "the faithful and discreet slave" to convey to us "sayings of everlasting life," why should we ever want to look anywhere else?" Watchtower 1987 Nov 1 p.20

People that leave the faith are referred to as liars, evil, mentally diseased, and you should think of them as being dead.

"Beware of those who try to put forward their own contrary opinions." Watchtower 1986 Mar 15 p.17

"We must hate [the disfellowshipped person] in the truest sense, which is to regard with extreme active aversion, to consider [them] as loathsome, odious, filthy, to detest." Watchtower 1952 Oct 1 p.599

"Yes, they were driven by envy. The same harmful emotion has turned apostates into vicious haters of their former brothers. (1 Timothy 6:3-5) No wonder that envious men are debarred from entry into God's Kingdom! Jehovah God has decreed that all who continue to be "full of envy" are "deserving of death." Watchtower 1995 Sep 15 p.7

You’re not supposed to just read the bible, you must also read Watchtower Publications. 

"From time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah's people those, who, like the original Satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding attitude...They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home. But, strangely, through such 'Bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom's clergy were teaching ..." Watchtower 1981 Aug 15 p.29

"To turn away from Jehovah and his organization, to spurn the direction of "the faithful and discreet slave," and to rely simply on personal Bible reading and interpretation is to become like a solitary tree in a parched land." Watchtower 1985 Jun 1 p.20

If you leave the organization, you will die. 

"With apostates earth wide being destroyed, what reason can one have for confidence of life in paradise to follow?" Kingdom Ministry Sep 1973 p.6

"For one thing, some of the apostate literature presents falsehoods by means of "smooth talk" and "counterfeit words." ... Those who have continued to feed at Satan's spiritual table, the table of demons, will be forced to attend a literal meal, no, not as partakers, but as the main course-to their destruction!" Watchtower 1994 Jul 1 p.12

The organization discourages higher education, i.e. more access to those outside your faith, those who have left your faith, brings about independent thinking, etc. 

"What though of higher education received in a college or university? This is widely viewed as vital to success, yet, many who pursue such education end up with their minds filled with harmful propaganda. Such education wastes valuable youthful years that could best be used in Jehovah's service. Perhaps it is not surprising that in lands where many have received such an education, belief in god is at an all time low. Rather than looking to the advanced educational systems of this world for security, a Christian trusts in Jehovah." Watchtower 2008 Apr 15 p.4

Major time commitments as a way to control your behaviors.

"What though of higher education received in a college or university? This is widely viewed as vital to success, yet, many who pursue such education end up with their minds filled with harmful propaganda. Such education wastes valuable youthful years that could best be used in Jehovah's service. Perhaps it is not surprising that in lands where many have received such an education, belief in god is at an all time low. Rather than looking to the advanced educational systems of this world for security, a Christian trusts in Jehovah." Watchtower2008 Apr 15 p.4

The weekly schedule for activities witnesses are told to do: Monday - Book Study preparation from a Watchtower publication, Wednesday - Service Meeting preparation from Watchtower publications, Thursday - Attend the Ministry school and Service Meeting, Friday - Watchtower study preparation, Saturday - Preaching and placing Watchtower publications, Sunday - Public talk and Watchtower Study.

"First, since "oneness" is to be observed, a mature Christian must be in unity and full harmony with fellow believers as far as faith and knowledge are concerned. He does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding. Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and "the faithful and discreet slave." By regularly taking in the spiritual food provided "at the proper time"-through Christian publications, meetings, assemblies, and conventions-we can be sure that we maintain "oneness" with fellow Christians in faith and knowledge.-Matthew 24:45. Watchtower 2001 Aug 1 p.14

Reporting of other members/Confessions of “wrong doing.”

"If he does not do this within a reasonable period of time, concern for the cleanness of the congregation should move you to report the matter to the elders" Watchtower 1989 Oct 15 pp.14-15

"It is certainly not easy to confess to others deeds that one feels ashamed of and to seek forgiveness. It takes inner strength." Watchtower 2001 Jun 1 p.31

"A person who becomes a witness to a serious sin should encourage the wrongdoer to report the matter to the elders. He may encourage the wrongdoer to seek help from the elders and confess; and if the wrongdoer does not do so, the witness will then inform the elders." Pay Attention to Yourselves and all the Flock p.118

"Jehovah will oppose any who sin grievously and who then try to remain in his clean organization without confessing their error to the visible authorities in the Christian congregation. The person who falls into sin, but who wants to do what is right, should go to the overseer of the congregation and make an honest confession of his transgression." Watchtower 1963 Aug 1 pp.473-474

"Therefore, after we have given the erring individual a reasonable amount of time to approach the elders about his wrongdoing, it is our responsibility before Jehovah not to be a sharer in his sin. We need to inform the responsible overseers that the person has revealed serious wrongdoing that merits their investigation. This would be in harmony with Leviticus 5:1, which says: "Now in case a soul sins in that he has heard public cursing and he is a witness or he has seen it or has come to know of it, if he does not report it, then he must answer for his error." Watchtower 1985 Nov 15 pp. 20-21

Other Helpful Links: 

https://youtu.be/X2lac74n368 (funny video)

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/fear-cult-mind-control.php (jw facts article about fear and mind control in JW’s publications, this is where I got many of my citations.)

https://youtu.be/g834sSXcFYM (a video I shared on this blog not too long ago, an interview of Steve Hassan about cults and mind control.)

This post is not meant to harm or offend Jehovah’s Witnesses, merely to criticize how the religion is run by the Governing Body. I do not wish for the Jehovah’s Witness religion to disappear, I only wish that they would change their rules and views. The only thing I advocate for JWs to do is to is critical and independent thinking. Thank you for reading and making it this far.