#A video shot by the Associated Press shows

[peachdues]

*ahem* enjoy a preview at my Kyojuro fucks your tits one-shot

CW: MDNI • explicit sexual content • tit play • ice play • Kyojuro is a ruthless tease

Kyojuro’s hands drop to his belt, and the sound of the metal clinking as he unfastens the buckle makes you nearly cry out in impatience. Rather than removing his dress pants, however, he merely pulls his length free, already stiff and demanding. Cock in hand, he slaps it against your stomach and lets it sit, thick and heavy and hot on your belly.

“Look how far I’m able to reach,” he muses, pupils blown wide at the sight of his thick cock head resting against your belly button. “And you take me perfectly every time, don’t you my darling girl?”

You plant your feet flat against the bed and buck your hips, trying desperately to show him where you needed him most.

The feral, ravenous heat simmering in Kyojuro’s eyes is tempered by amusement. He knows exactly what you want — always has, always would.

He denies you anyway. “Not tonight, my flame,” and he clicks his tongue at you the second your bottom lip begins to tremble with your pout. “Don’t give me those eyes — it won’t work this time.”

One broad, warm hand drifts idly behind him and wedges between your thighs. Kyojuro chuckles lightly as he watches the way your body tenses, how your eyes go wide and beg him for more. He drags two, thick fingers up your slit, only dipping between your folds to just barely swirl around your clit, before he withdraws his hand.

He is maddening and you are wanton.

“Do you know what I had to do all week, my little dove?” He peels away from you to stand beside the bed, shaking his arms until his dress shirt falls to the floor. “While I was in meeting after meeting, having to talk numbers and profits, and annual reviews?”

Your mouth turns dry as Kyojuro’s divinely toned form is freed from the confines of his button down. You press your knees together and fidget against your bed where you lay, desperate to feel his body cover yours.

But your lover does not rejoin you on your mattress; instead, he only continues to stand there, off to the side, his eyes bright with a silent order not to look away from him.

“I had to endure video after video from you as you pleasured yourself all over the damn apartment,” his voice drops to a growl. “Flaunting it.”

If he noticed the way you squirm under the intensity of his gaze, he doesn’t show it. Instead, Kyojuro merely hooks his fingers around the waistband of his slacks and he slowly pushes them down until he’s left in nothing but his briefs.

Your eyes instantly fall to the large tent protruding out from between his considerable thighs, and you can’t stop the moan that slides past your lips.

Kyojuro’s smirk is dangerous. “Imagine how it felt, my love, to be sitting in a room full of associates — of superiors — and receiving a video of you riding my pillow.” He tsks at you, shaking his head slowly in mock-disappointment. “Imagine my anguish when I had to wait until I returned to my hotel room just to turn the sound on so I could hear your beautiful little moans.”

Kyojuro reaches for his cell phone, laid face down on the nightstand. The blue light of his screen momentarily dispels some of the simmering heat in his face, as he scrolls through his texts. His thumb stills against the screen and his eyes lift back to yours. The dark lust in his gaze sends another wave of arousal rocking through you.

You recognize the video the second he turns his phone’s display to you; it was the one you’d been most certain would drive him utterly wild with need — so much so, that he’d tried to video call you the second he stepped foot in his hotel room, desperate enough for phone sex to hold him over until he returned home.

You hadn’t answered.

The video in question is you, perched on the folded plush of Kyojuro’s pillow that you’d wedged between your thighs. Your hips roll and grind desperately against it, your boyfriend’s name falling in lilting, breathy cries from your lips.

It’s unquestionably hot, but you know now, just as you had when you’d texted him the video mid-afternoon, that the mere act of you rutting against his pillow was not what had nearly sent your flame-haired lover over the edge.

Kyojuro Rengoku loves your body; he cherishes it — worships it, even. Since the first time the two of you had been intimate with one another, Kyojuro took great care to ensure you knew exactly how much he loved every inch of you. When it came to sex with Kyojuro, quickies were few and far between. If you were naked, your fiery, passionate lover was going to spread you out across the nearest piece of furniture and savor every inch of your nudity with his warm hands and even hotter mouth.

Yes, Kyojuro is a loving partner, who thinks you are the single most beautiful creature ever to walk the earth. To him, you are utterly delectable.

But you’ve also known since day one that Kyojuro Rengoku is first and foremost, a tit man. He has been, ever since the first time the two of you slept together, when he’d pushed the straps of your sundress off your shoulders as the two of you got hot and heavy in the back of his car. From the moment he’d laid eyes on the luscious twin swells of your breasts, Kyojuro’s fixation bordered a full-blown obsession that could not and would not be contained.

—

His knees are still braced against the bed on either side of your hips as he reaches toward the drink on your nightstand, the glass slick and sweaty with condensation. His hand dips past the brim and withdraws a single ice cube, pinched delicately between his thumb and index finger.

He holds the ice teasingly over you, the watery mixture of the melted ice and alcohol running in rivulets down his broad forearm. A single droplet makes its way to his elbow before it falls, and you hiss at the shock of the cold meets your heated skin.

“You know the rules, my flame,” he purrs, shifting until his weight settles into you until you are utterly and hopelessly pinned against the mattress by your hips. “You tease me, and I tease you.”

I apologize in advance for how filthy this is gonna be

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (January 21-27, 2024)

Godzilla Minus One made awards show history in both Japan and the U.S. this week. Its Oscar nomination for best Visual Effects is the first of the series (Godzilla [1998], Godzilla [2014] and Godzilla vs. Kong were previously shortlisted) and the first for any Japanese film. Small wonder Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, and their team went berserk when the nomination was announced. The other nominees are The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Napoleon, and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. According to IndieWire, The Creator has the edge, but Minus One could very well win. And while it naturally made less headlines in the Anglosphere, Minus One also picked up a whopping 12 Japan Academy Film Prize nominations, exceeding Shin Godzilla's 10.

Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is now in North American theaters. I was intrigued enough to make it my fourth theatrical viewing of this movie, but in the end it did basically strike me as a gimmick. Godzilla Minus One was shot digitally with sets designed for color, so making it actually look like a film from the 40s was always going to be an uphill battle. Even with the regrade, there wasn’t a ton of contrast in most shots, and some of the scenes taking place at night were quite hard to see. Still, apart from the Odo Island massacre, I found the Godzilla scenes as gripping as ever.

Thanks to Minus Color, Minus One made $2.6 million this weekend, crawling back into the box office top 10. Its total in the U.S. and Canada now stands at $55 million, third among all foreign-language films released in the U.S.

Brush of the God, Keizo Murase's directorial debut after a lifetime in movies, is finally complete. It'll play at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March (link contains more images), and hopefully travel overseas very soon. Murase will also receive an Association Special Award at the Japan Academy Film Prize.

Clover Press shipped out copies of Godzilla & Kong: The Cinematic Storyboard Art of Richard Bennett to Kickstarter backers, myself included. It's an excellent art book, and there are plenty of deleted and altered scenes mixed in with more familiar sequences. Believe it or not, Bennett drew the panel above for Kong: Skull Island—they considered having James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) flash back to an encounter with King Ghidorah in Vietnam. Not sure how that would've worked, as Ghidorah is generally not one to lie low for a few decades, but it's the first I've ever heard of it being considered. I'm hoping to post some more scans soon. Here's the order link.

Minecraft social media accounts teased a crossover with the Monsterverse, in what's likely to be the most high-profile of the Godzilla x Kong video game collaborations. The Mobzilla mod was created over 10 years ago, so this is long overdue.

The big toy news this week was Titanic Creations revealing the digital sculpt for its Yongary figure. This guy's had even less figures than Gorgo - I can only think of one, and very few of them were made - so expect massive demand. New Godzilla toys were also on display at London Toy Fair, both at the Playmates booth and among the plushies made by an unknown company.

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Episode 2

They’re in NY. It’s November 2021. They are running away from paparazzi that…aren’t there? Meghan says there was a guy recording them in the basement but the footage is Kate and Diana. Lol, they are in the NJ Turnpike pretending they are being followed by paps. This is bizarre and hilarious.

More bitching about social media harassment, which is apparently a bunch of Twitter posts. 

Doria does a confessional. Why isn’t Doria pretending she didn’t know who Harry was? Didn’t she get the brief? How does the yoga teacher know about the royals but the Northwestern International Relations graduate does not? She knew right away too. It’s a weird disconnect and the show is full of them. Every two minutes they say something that makes you go “Whaaaaaat? Didn’t they just say….”

Relationship breaks. They “felt tremendous relief.” Of course they did. They leaked it. No mention of the Reitman’s collection or the fact that this was leaking during on of Charles’ big trips. No spooning bananas instagram pic either.

Tatcha CEO is credited as “friend.” Wellness podcaster “friend.” Former agent.  Lol, these people are business associates, not friends. First mention of Meghan’s fauxlantropist work, which baffles me as they should have led with that. “Childhood friend” of Harry’s that I never heard of shows up again. Harry really was ringing up everyone in the Eton yearbook trying to find some desperate classmate hungry for exposure. Montage of the press Sunshine Sachs and Nina Crowne set up for her—UN, Rwanda, etc…. They did nice work and they should have spent more time on this. But maybe not. Someone may start wondering what happened to her passion for Rwandan women’s political rights, hygiene, and menstrual pads. But if you pay for an expensive pr makeover you should use it.

According to Tom Bower she was paying SS $7500/mo and I’m amazed at what a good pr company can do with a four figure monthly stipend. The “classy” makeover lasted three months so they turned her into a humanitarian princess for less than $25k. Impressive.

Flower shop pap walk. Interesting choice since this wasn’t the first pap shot of Meghan and she seems to imply it was. The first pap shot was days earlier at her house and she had a security team with her. I wonder why she picked the flower shop shot which is actually a lot less intrusive (in appearance at least) than the real first pic. Maybe because she had security in the earlier picture? Meghan claims there were 8 or 9 paps at the flower shop but there’s only one video so that seems unlikely. Shop wasn’t anywhere near her house also. Rumor was Marcus took this shot. Maybe she was trying to send some money his way by using his pic.

Stock video of paps because she has no video of paps chasing her of course. Pics of official royal events. 

Back to Toronto. Lol, those are clearly security guards in her porch and not paps. Ditto with her landlord’s security cameras. I think there was a DM article when those went up and Legion Media’s pic still states that those cameras were mounted on what was Meghan’s garage and not on her neighbor’s house as the documentary implies. 

At least she doesn’t mention the fake break-in. Guess she knows that won’t fly anymore. But still, how can you show video from the cameras in front of the house and then claim the cameras in the back were from the neighbors? Obviously the house had cameras in the back too.

[Edited to add: She says Toronto police didn't protect her and the police strongly disagree.]

“My face was everywhere, my life was everywhere.” She blames the tabloids, but that wasn’t true. You were leaking stories to US Weekly and Lainey every other day, girl. It was part of your “classy” makeover. No mention of that weird video of Ivy Mulroney that was sent to the DM. Odd since you would think that would be a big intrusion, if it had been done by a pap.

“There were things that were said and things that were written that I had to go to her to ask.” That would be the cheating on Cory and Del Zotto, I guess.

Back to LA. My husband asks what she did to her nose. It does look weird in this shot.

Doria and Meghan tour LA and Meghan’s life was not that interesting. This should have been edited, heavily. I do love that she sold the same childhood pics her dad sold. Like father, like daughter. Dish soap commercial. My husband asks how much plastic surgery she has had because she looks nothing like her old self. Interesting that he’s only half-watching and his main impressions are drugs and plastic surgery.

Racism and media persecution. Wait, some of these pics are from before the relationship broke. They are from the paps she hired during her European vacation with Jess. 

Academic guy blames the UK tabloids for fanning the madness. No mention of Omid Scobie and USWeekly, who were the ones steadily pushing the romance narrative with stories about Charles meeting her at Birkhall and William meeting her at Kensington Palace, as well as their vacation plans.

And Lainey Liu was boasting that the US mags were getting the scoops and not the UK tabloids because Harry was feeding the stories only to the US. So why blame the UK tabloids, Harry? You knew what you were doing. They could finesse this in 2016 when no one knew that Lainey was friends with Meghan and that Omid was their mouthpiece, but that is not the case anymore. Their unofficial biographer was leaking these stories in 2016. It was not the UK tabloids! 

And then there was Meghan herself, Instagramming all over the place.

Whole Foods pap walk. According to Tom Bower, Richard Kay was the guy who got the pic. Unbelievable. That actually surprised me. No wonder that detail was never released. No one would have believed that Diana's big confidante just randomly noticed Meghan walking into KP.

Kensington Palace statement. No mention of William supporting the statement. No mention of the Caribbean tour that got overshadowed by the romance.

 NAACP award really was in front of a green screen with an applause soundtrack.  LOLOLOLOL. It looks so sad, particularly when compared to the footage of the royal events. I think this is supposed to show that their life is better than before (They get awards! In front of green screens!) but it gives the exact opposite impression.

Harry with the hummingbird feeder also looks sad and pathetic. Archie could be in Africa petting elephants but he’s in Cali admiring hummingbirds instead.

Meghan’s personal assistant talks about how she would be recognized in the Toronto grocery stores. Lol, no. She wishes!

Security stuff, including complaints about paps around the Suits trailers which seems odd to me since those are pretty standard for television productions. Also, why are the Invictus Games pictures intrusive? Suits security guy says they were coordinating her security with the palace and “they would handle that stuff.” Interesting detail since she claims she wasn’t protected by the palace and Harry was “hearing this from miles away, completely helpless.” Apparently, she was protected and from day one. Did they watch this before they sent it to Netflix? Did they not notice that half the stuff they put in it contradicts the other half? 

Boring stuff…April 2017 already? They are booking flights to Pippa’s wedding and her Vanity Fair photoshoot through texts. LOL, she was doing a huge interview at the time, but she’s complaining about media intrusion. Make it make sense.

Pics with friends riding bikes. Old pic in her Toronto kitchen. Did they use this one twice? I would not have used it even once. Wait, was this what she was wearing when she met Will and Kate? LOLOLOLOL. “That formality carried over in real life.” I guess Kate was wearing shoes when she met Meghan. The nerve of that girl!

Andrew helped them ambush the Queen at Royal Lodge. That got leaked to Scobie at US Weekly too.

“How do you explain that you have to bow to your grandmother?” Uh, she was like….The Queen? What part of that is hard to understand?

She just compared meeting the Queen to Medieval Times. Wow. Big, exaggerated curtsy. She sounds and looks like an idiot. Fergie said she did great. Of course she did. She didn’t know how to curtsy? How does someone go through high school theater in the United States of Disney without knowing how to curtsy? [Edited: HRH Emilie found a clip of a curtsy scene she did for Suits because of course she did]

His family was impressed. LOL, I don’t think so. The actress thing was the biggest problem…wait, wasn’t her race the biggest problem? Can’t they keep their stories straight?

Interestingly the very first Blind Gossip blind was about how her profession was the problem and not her race. I suspected these blinds came from the Yorks and now I feel pretty good about that guess.

Meghan’s career. No blow-job or cocaine scene. No mention of her old blog. Interesting. I guess I can sort of understand that, but no mention of Trevor either? Are they going to pretend she was never married? No stories about being poor and crawling out of the back of her dad’s old truck either.

First biracial character? Eh, no. Meg was the glue for a lot of those cast relationships, but only one cast members participated in the documentary. Did no one do a consistency check on this show?

Screenshot of the Tig…with Cory front and center. That is hilarious because I don’t think they’ve mentioned him yet. Okay, now I’m sure Meghan didn’t watch this before it went live. She would have caught that and asked them to use a different shot.

“I didn’t want to find the great indie film that would win me an Oscar. I just wanted to volunteer.” She was literally releasing an indie film at this time. It was terrible. This documentary is like a lie-a-thon. Every other statement is a complete lie.

UN Speech. Is the crowd shot a stock picture (or archival picture, whichever is the right term)?  It feels edited in. Jump to September 2021 at the UN. Okay, so the whole point of that meeting was the documentary. We knew that.

Proposal. He couldn’t do it outside the UK? Everyone else has done so outside the UK. What are you talking about, Harry?

Also, no mention of her appearance at Invictus Games? How come none of their charities are getting shout-outs? No mention of the “Mad About Harry” Vanity Fair article or the backlash and you’d think that would be a big deal because she eventually called it racist, no? I guess they don’t want to admit that she was feeding the flames of press coverage.

Funny how they aren’t bitching about the UK tabloids harassing her after the moved to the UK. Could it be because the tabloids were not reporting on that…but Lainey and Hello! Canada (Where Jess started leaking after US Weekly got bought out by National Enquirer and Omid got fired) did.

She got the proposal on video. That’s is hilarious. He proposed with fake candles in their yard. How…tacky. Penguin onesies? Why would you want to tell the world that? I’d love some inside info as to how they pitched this to the director. “Sure the palace made sure our engagement sounded glamorous and romantic, but we are not about that. We want to tell them about the LED candles and penguin onesies. It will make us look cheap and tacky? Of course not, everyone will think we are fun and relatable.”

Cheesy Calvin Klein perfume ad engagement pictures with hideously expensive feather dress. We thought that was super tacky and we didn’t even know about the LED candles and penguin onesies. No mention of how much the dress cost or the backlash it caused. Lots of interviews about how excited people were. 

Engagement photocall was a lot more glamorous than anything they’ve done for this documentary. The royals really know how to manage occasions. Hard to believe these two are the same couple from the grainy proposal video. Goes to show how persuasive good pr can be. They almost looked regal.

Brexit? Boris Johnson? Really? Intrusion into the lives of the royal family was due to…Brexit and anti-immigration sentiment? I swear this documentary is like Mad Libs. They are just throwing stuff out at random. Paparazzi….penguin onesies….racism…..Brexit…. The Brexit referendum was in June 2016 and the engagement was in November 2017 so I’m not sure why they are even bringing it up. 

“They are just trying to destroy me.” The Brexit movement was trying to destroy her? 

It’s over. Wait, they didn’t mention her prior marriage at all??? Lolololol. Brexit is apparently more relevant to her story than her previous marriage. I guess that’s why she didn’t add her first wedding pics and the weed wedding favors to the list of press intrusions. The “phone hack” wasn’t mentioned either or the leaked topless pic. I guess she’s still pretending those weren’t pictures of her.

We seem to be at the engagement and there have been some other interesting omissions, namely Skippy’s wedding and Pippa’s wedding. Weird because you’d think Skippy’s wedding would be a perfect example of press intrusion too. I understand why they left out Pippa’s wedding though. Kinda awkward to admit Pippa invited you to her intimate, family wedding in the same episode where you call her sister “formal.” 

Plus Audi polo, the birthday trip in Africa, Vanity Fair, Invictus…they all got left out. This episode curated the timeline to make it look like Meghan did nothing to encourage coverage and press speculation, and that is far from the truth. Her family is also missing and they were stirring the pot all through this time period. They were talking to the press basically every month.

My husband lost interest at this point. He had no comments other than to say her nose looked fake and the pap chase was fake. The group chat discussed whether they truly thought they had a pap chasing them. Everyone thought that was fake because the camerawork was too perfect. They scoffed at the Medieval Times comment and the curtsy. Someone laughed at the Oscar comment. 

This was pretty boring. The fake pap chase was the best part.

BTW, Tumblr has a 10-link limit now? How annoying.

On to the next episode.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Anti-government agitator Ammon Bundy must pay an Idaho hospital more than $50 million for defaming it and targeting it with protests while it cared for an associate’s grandson—who was taken into protective custody after child welfare officials determined he was malnourished.

In March of last year, Bundy was arrested for trespassing outside of St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center, where 10-month-old “Baby Cyrus” was being treated. The then-gubernatorial candidate organized a week-long protest, claiming Cyrus was “medically kidnapped” over a “missed non-emergency doctor’s appointment.”

Two months later, St. Luke’s hospital filed a defamation suit against Bundy and Diego Rodriguez, the child’s grandpa and an activist in Bundy’s far-right People’s Rights Network (PRN). The complaint also named their companies, including Rodriguez’s Freedom Man Press, which posted Baby Cyrus “kidnapping videos.”

A jury delivered its verdict on Monday: Bundy, Rodriguez, and their companies would owe $26.5 million in compensatory damages and nearly $26 million in punitive damages.

Erik Stidham, an attorney for St. Luke’s, told jurors he thought the hospital deserved at least $16 million. “My hope is that you will look at this and you will deter (Bundy) in a way that he hasn’t been deterred yet,” Stidham said in closing arguments, according to the Idaho Statesman. He added that Bundy’s and Rodriguez’s entities were a “massive ugly machine built to make money and radicalize people.”

Known for armed standoffs with law enforcement, Bundy was a consistent no-show throughout the legal proceedings. In April, a judge issued a default judgment against Bundy and Rodriguez for failing to respond to the suit, leading Bundy to put out an emergency alert that falsely claimed cops surrounded his home and that beckoned his PRN disciples to show up to defend him.

As a result of the default, jurors in the two-week trial were tasked with deciding what damages Bundy and Rodriguez owed to the hospital system. They heard testimony from doctors and administrators about the men’s mob stoking fear among patients and families in the emergency room, and Life Flight pilots refusing to land at the facility, fearing shots from the armed crowd on the ground.

One pediatrician told the jury about the danger she believed Baby Cyrus was in: He allegedly couldn’t sit up, had a distended stomach and sunken eyes. “In my opinion, if he had been allowed to go home with his parents and continue on the trajectory he was on, he would have died,” Thomas testified, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Another doctor testified that Rodriguez’s website called her a “child trafficker,” and that she believed her family's safety was in jeopardy because of the online attacks.

“Today’s verdict is a moment of real accountability for Ammon Bundy and his reckless campaign against St. Luke’s,” said Lindsay Schubiner, Programs Director at the Western States Center, who was among the groups monitoring extremism to celebrate the outcome.

“His decision to target St. Luke’s and to use inflammatory, dishonest rhetoric about the hospital’s actions endangered both staff and patients. This verdict shows that the courts have the ability to treat this kind of threat with the seriousness it deserves.”

While Bundy and Rodriguez haven’t stepped foot in court, they’ve publicly commented on the controversy since the case was filed. “I’ve tried everything I could to make peace with St. Luke’s executives” and their attorneys, Bundy said in one February video, in which he shows off a pile of legal mail. “But they’ve rejected every offer of peace, every token of peace that I’ve offered to them. And they’ve actually come after Diego and I even harder.”

The lawsuit reveals St. Luke’s hospital sought punitive damages, and an award of at least $250,000 to each of the plaintiffs—which include a hospital executive, doctor, and nurse practitioner—from each of the defendants. If granted, Bundy, Rodriguez and their companies would have been on the hook for $7.5 million in damages.

“So what did these people do to earn this money, to deserve this money? Well, they participated in taking Baby Cyrus from his loving and caring parents,” Bundy said in his video. “And what did Diego and I do to deserve everything we own and more stripped from us? Well, we said bad things about them for taking Baby Cyrus away... things that were exposing them.”

Bundy then went on to conflate offerings of gender-affirming care for children at St. Luke’s to the hospital’s treatment of Cyrus, and noted St. Luke’s received millions from donations and COVID relief funds. “And what are they using it for?” he said. “They’re using it for things like child sex changes and to pay high-dollar attorneys to come after their political enemies.”

On July 10, the day the civil trial began, Bundy posted a letter to a new judge presiding over the trial. “Please, do not give rich and powerful people false justification to destroy my life,” Bundy wrote. “Please do not sanction a war that may end in innocent blood and require others to bring justice upon those who are responsible for shedding it.”

“May God bless you with the strength to do what is right and to let the consequences follow,” he concluded. “In the sacred name of Jesus Christ I write this letter.”

The conflict with St. Luke’s had become so antagonistic that Bundy was accused of threatening process servers and local deputies who delivered court papers, and one doctor expressed concern that witnesses would be too intimidated to participate in the case.

In his February video post, Bundy warned followers that St. Luke’s was trying to have him arrested. While a judge issued a warrant for Bundy in April over alleged witness intimidation, authorities never came for the 47-year-old provocateur. The Gem County sheriff, in a letter filed on the docket, said he didn’t want to risk deputies’ safety “over a civil issue.”

At one point, Bundy even appeared to threaten a standoff over the legal battle. “They’re probably going to try to get judgments of over a million dollars and take everything they have from me,” Bundy told one local news site in December. “And I’m not going to let that happen. I’m making moves to stop that from happening. And if I have to meet ’em on the front door with my, you know, friends and a shotgun, I’ll do that. They’re not going to take my property.”

For his part, Rodriguez challenged St. Luke’s lawyers on his Freedom Man website, writing that he was giving them “the chance to win in the court of public opinion.”

“You can win my public apology. You can win my retractions. You can get the pages on my website that you want taken down, REMOVED without a judgment or legal order. You can even get $50,000 for St. Luke’s right now. All you have to do is show the world where I have published any FACTUALLY inaccurate information, as I’ve already stated,” Rodriguez wrote.

But the hospital evidently wasn’t going to be cowed by far-right extremists.

In a fourth amended complaint, St. Luke’s argued that Bundy and Rodriguez were aiming to “benefit financially” and boost their political brands by launching a “knowingly dishonest and baseless smear campaign” against it. This campaign, the suit alleges, “claimed Idaho State employees, the judiciary, the police, primary care providers, and the St. Luke’s Parties engaged in widespread kidnapping, trafficking, sexual abuse, and killing of Idaho children.”

The lawsuit argued that Bundy and Rodriguez used Cyrus’ case “to spread their lies and further their agendas,” as they portrayed themselves as “crusaders” against their manufactured “state-sponsored child kidnapping and trafficking ring.” The men, according to the suit, directed their followers to dox and harass St. Luke’s employees.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez is accused of lying to followers about Cyrus’s care, claiming the baby had a “100% clean bill of health” when authorities took him into custody and that his parents had only missed one doctor’s visit. He also falsely claimed a St. Luke’s pediatrician had reported the parents to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

The trouble began when Bundy and his flock entered the hospital’s ambulance bay at around 1:30 a.m. on a Saturday in March, the complaint says; they began cursing at staff and police, blocking patients’ access to the facility and filming the episode for social media.

“Recognizing that Bundy’s followers were growing more numerous and menacing, a hospital supervisor tried to reason with Bundy and deescalate the situation,” the complaint says. “For the benefit of those there to film him, Bundy responded by accusing the supervisor of kidnapping and then demanded that he give Bundy the Infant.”

“Bundy knew full well he had no legal authority to make that demand because he had no parental rights over the Infant.”

Cops arrested Bundy about a half hour later for refusing to move. After his release from custody, Bundy quickly began to publicize his confrontation and later beefed up a “false narrative” about St. Luke’s, the lawsuit states. (Bundy took a plea deal in the trespass criminal case, receiving a $1,000 fine and suspended 90-day jail sentence.)

The lawsuit lists a slew of defamatory statements from Bundy and Rodriguez, including that the hospital was “world famous” for “killing people” and “stealing babies from their parents” and that it forced Cyrus to ingest a “toxic poison.” Bundy also allegedly claimed that St. Luke’s had targeted the baby because of Bundy’s objection to COVID “corruption.”

The hospital argues the duo’s stunt disrupted its operations and harmed staff and patients. According to the suit, the men called on their devotees, many of whom were armed, to protest in front of the hospital for a week before Cyrus was released. Rodriguez “became a daily presence,” holding press conferences outside the building, the complaint says.

Rodriguez would go on to solicit $115,000 in donations by falsely claiming the hospital was “performing unnecessary medical tests and treatments” to prolong the baby’s time in the hospital and extort the uninsured parents, the lawsuit continues. (The hospital, however, claims that Medicaid covered Cyrus’s bills and his family “never paid anything for and owe nothing for the care” received at St. Luke’s.)

Bundy’s campaign allegedly caused St. Luke’s to go on lockdown for more than an hour and for patients to be routed to other facilities. The followers also flooded St. Luke’s phone lines and email accounts with menacing communications and death threats.

But the alleged smears didn’t stop after Cyrus went home. St. Luke’s argues that Bundy and Rodriguez continued to capitalize on the episode, creating a group called “People Against Child Trafficking” and holding a rally where they further defamed the hospital, comparing its employees to “feudal lords” practicing “primae noctis.”

The complaint highlights the men’s possible financial windfall in their war against the hospital, noting that Bundy generates funds “by marketing himself as an anti-government, quasi-religious leader” through his 60,000-member PRN and uses at least two corporate entities: Dono Custos, Inc. and Abish-husbondi. Inc.

“The potential revenue to Bundy is significant,” the lawsuit says. “If each member of PRN annually contributes just $50 to Bundy through Dono Custos, Bundy could pocket more than $3,000,0000 [sic] per year.” It adds that entities owned by Bundy and Rodriguez received money from Bundy’s gubernatorial campaign.

As for Rodriguez, the complaint adds, money streams in through his Freedom Tabernacle, “which purports to be a church but is used as an entity to receive contributions, dues, or payments from members of PRN.” According to the legal filing, the church requires “members ‘tithe’ 10% of their earnings.” Another of Rodriguez’s entities, Power Marketing, hawks “three-day ‘training’ courses” for $15,000 per student.

“In fact, even after the Infant was returned to the Infant’s parents,” the suit alleges, “Rodriguez and Bundy have continued to exploit the Infant by incessantly marketing the Infant and his likeness through social media and alternative media to promote PRN, Bundy in campaign advertising, and Rodriguez and his multiplicity of sales schemes.”

[lilithism1848]

Atrocities US committed against LATINO PEOPLE

On June 14th, 2019, an off-duty cop, Salvador Sanchez, in Corona, CA, shot and killed a mentally ill man, Kenneth French,, as well as shooting his family 8 times, while his family was with shopping for fathers day at a Costco. “I begged and told him not to shoot,” his father Russell French said. “I said we have no guns and my son is sick. He still shot.” Sanchez then fired at least eight rounds, striking all three family members. A man inside Costco stood and prayed over Russell French as he lied on the ground bleeding, he said. Kenneth French was shot twice in his back, Galipo said. There were also two gunshot wounds in his armpit and shoulder area. After the shooting, Corona Police said Sanchez was assaulted “without provocation” before Sanchez opened fire. He was placed on administrative leave days after the shooting, into which the LAPD is conducting an internal investigation.

On Feb 7th, 2019, a US border patrol officer shot and killed 21 for old Mendivil Perez, an American citizen, in Nogales, AZ. More than six months later, CBP won’t name the officer who fired his gun, or explain why he fired, or acknowledge the killing.

In early June, 2019, several reports of abuse surfaced about the US’s migrant prison camps, run by US customs and Border Patrol. One such facility, named “The Dog Pound”, by border patrol agents, had no running water, no tarp or safety from the elements. A group of prisoners were held in a single cell for 30 days without shower or clothes changes, in 100 degree temperatures. There is severe overcrowding in the El Paso camp, with as many as 76 migrants packed into a tiny cell designed for a maximum of 12 people. A number of children have died while being held, including one baby born in an overcrowded cell. The mother was never taken to a hospital. 4 toddlers in a Texas facility were so ill and neglected, that a lawyer intervened to force the government to hospitalize them. Children are often taken from mothers, due to the horrible conditions in the camps. In several Rio Grande Valley facilities, migrants were not provided soap, toothbrushes, and were sleep-deprived. Health and Human Service says it is past capacity with over 13,000 kids in its care at the moment. A mole exposed a Facebook group containing 9500 border patrol agents, with incredibly racist and sexist rhetoric, including threats against US rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was planning a visit to the camps.

On January 29th, 2019, Tempe Arizona police shot and killed a 14 year old, Antonio Arce. He was shot in the back between his shoulder blades while running away. Police at first delayed, then released a small section of the bodycam footage, intentionally cut right before seeing the body, 3 days after the shooting. After backlash over the shortened video, they held a private showing to select reporters, barring any cameras or recording devices, seemingly showing Arce with the orange-tipped airsoft gun found near his body. They’ve refused to release that video to the public, leading many to believe it to be doctored, with police planting an airsoft gun on him after the killing as a justification. The original video has no such airsoft gun. The officer who murdered him is currently on administrative leave.

On Nov 25, 2018, US customs and border agents fired tear gas at hundreds of Central American migrants on the US border. “We ran, but when you run, the gas asphyxiates you more,” Honduran migrant Ana Zuniga, 23, told the Associated Press while cradling daughter Valery, 3, in her arms. The use of tear gas is banned in warfare, while its use for riot control is internationally accepted. Protesters and amnesty seekers would have more rights and protections if they simply declared war on the US government.

In May 2018, at a California press conference regarding Sanctuary cities, Trump, referring to Mexican immigrants stated: “These aren’t people. These are animals”.

Starting in April 2018, the Trump administration began a policy of separating families who attempt to cross the border. Separated children have been housed in a number of newly constructed tent facilities, such as one in Tornillo, TX. Another facility in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the same military prison that held Japanese and Apache civilians, will hold south american migrants. Andrea Pitzer, the author of “One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps” writes, “While writing a book on camp history, I defined concentration camps as the mass detention of civilians without trial, usually on the basis of race, religion, national origin, citizenship, or political party, rather than anything a given individual has done. By this definition, the new child camp established in Tornillo, Texas, is a concentration camp.” Recently it has been found that the Trump administration has been drugging children without consent. Children as young as 14 were abused at a Stanton VA ICE facility. “Whenever they used to restrain me and put me in the chair, they would handcuff me,” said a Honduran immigrant who was sent to the facility when he was 15 years old. “Strapped me down all the way, from your feet all the way to your chest, you couldn’t really move. … They have total control over you. They also put a bag over your head. It has little holes; you can see through it. But you feel suffocated with the bag on.”

Throughout 2018, I.C.E. started another wave of deportations, breaking up hundreds of families, and mandated the legal separation incoming parents from their children (presumably to deter future asylum-seekers). ICE arrested 114 people in Sandusky OH. Trump and Jeff Sessions have ramped up a trend of forcible deportations started by Clinton and Obama. Between 2016 and 2017, apprehensions of undocumented immigrants jumped by a third. In 2017, President Trump deported more than double the number of noncriminals than Obama had the previous year. Those deported include a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in San Antonio; a grandmother described as the “backbone” of a Navy veteran’s family; a father of two in Detroit who had lived in the U.S. since he was 10 years old. A major consequence of this new policy has been an explosion of fear among immigrant communities “When everyone’s a target, no one is safe,” says Luis Zayas, dean of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. He cites instances of ICE agents arresting people who had just filed paperwork for a green card, left church or dropped off their kids at school. “The arrests feel arbitrary, and that’s different,” he says. “The fear is worse now than I’ve ever seen it.”

In July 2017, police shot Ismael Lopez, a Mississippi car mechanic, in the back of the head at his own home, killing him. While the police say that he was holding a weapon, his guns were nowhere near his dead body, and police also killed his dog, and bullet holes were found from police shooting through the front door. No officer has been charged.

The United States Department of Homeland Security rescinded DACA, or Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, a program which protects ~ 800,000 minors from being deported, on June 16, 2017, while continuing to review the existence of the DACA program as a whole. The DACA policy was rescinded by the Trump administration on September 5, 2017, but full implementation of the rescission was delayed six months to give Congress time to decide how to deal with the population that was previously eligible under the policy.

Beginning in May 2017, ICE began another wave of deportation targeting Mexicans. Hugo Mejia and a coworker, Rodrigo Nuñez, were imprisoned by ICE officials, despite living in the US for 17 years, and having clean records.

Beginning in 1994, sheriff Joe Arpaio opened up a “tent city”, outside of phoenix, a facility which he called, his own “personal concentration camp”, used to house prisoners, in terrible conditions. In 2011, inmates complained that fans near their beds were not working, and that their shoes were melting from the heat. During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded 110 °F (43 °C), Arpaio said to complaining inmates, “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents and they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths!”. Arpaio reinstuted chain gangs (for female prisoners as well), forcing people to work 7 hours a day, 7 days a week. Arpaio also entrapped 18-year-old James Saville into an assassination attempt against himself. Saville’s attorneys eventually discovered that MCSO detectives had bought the bomb parts themselves, then convinced Saville to build it even though he was not predisposed to commit such a crime. On July 9, 2003, a Maricopa County Superior Court jury acquitted Saville, finding that the bomb plot was an elaborate publicity stunt to boost Arpaio’s reelection bid. On April 4th, 2017, newly elected Phoenix sheriff Paul Penzone finally closed it down due to public pressure, after 23 years of operation. Trump pardoned sherriff Arpaio in August 2017, after holding a rally in Phoenix AZ in which police tear-gassed protesters.

On March 25th-27th, 2017, ICE agents arrested 84 immigrants in Oregon and Washington. Many arrested had no criminal background. Oregon Governor Katie Brown complied with ICE, but received vitriolic responses when she tweeted in support of immigrant families.

On March 27th, 2017, ICE agents in Chicago broke into the home of Felix Torres, and shot him while he and his family slept in their home. After speaking with Torres’ daughter, the People’s Response Team added that “no members of the family are undocumented, and the family has lived in the home for at least 30 years.”Carmen Torres said, “They didn’t say anything. They just came in and pointed pistols in our faces and dragged us out,” DNA Info reported. “It’s a lie when they say he was holding a gun. He doesn’t even own a gun,” she said. “They shot my dad. They shot him, and I don’t know why.” He is in critical condition.

In early 2017, ICE began a campaign of arrests and deportation of undocumented immigrants. 700 People have been arrested so far.

In the present day, ICE (U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement), the police tasked with immigration enforcement, operates over 500 prison camps, holding over 34,000 undocumented people deemed “aliens”, 20,000 of which have no criminal convictions, in the US system of immigration detention. The camps include forced labor (often with contracts from private companies), poor conditions, lack of rights (since the undocumented aren’t considered citizens), and forced deportations, often splitting up families. Detainees are often held for a year without trial, with antiquated court procedures pushing back court dates for months, encouraging many to accept immediate deportation in the hopes of being able to return faster than the court can reach a decision, but forfeiting legal status, in a cruel system of coercion. After the creation of DHS and ICE, the budget for immigration enforcement doubled from $6.2 billion in 2002 to $12.5 billion in 2006 under Obama.

In 1996, in response to increased immigration from countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala ravaged by US imperialism and authoritarian dictatorships, the US passed the Anti-Terrorism and effective Death Penalty Act, allowing deportation of any immigrant ever convicted of a crime, no matter how long ago or how serious. Lawful permanent residents who had married Americans and now had children were not exempt. The New York Times reported in July that “hundreds of long-term legal residents have been arrested since the law passed.” 

By 1984, during the Reagan-era of social services and welfare cutbacks, 42% of all Latino children and one-fourth of the families lived below the poverty line.

In 1983, a mostly latino workforce lead the 3-year long Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983, in which the police, national guard, and Arizona governor assisted in one of the largest strikebreaking incidents of the 1980s, ending with the Phelps Dodge Corporation replacing most of the workers and decertifying the unions. Miners were subject to undercover surveillance by the Arizona Criminal Intelligence Systems Agency, to identify strikers engaged in violence, with the governor sending 325 National Guard soldiers to Morenci, and increasing the number of state policemen there to 425. Meanwhile, the local government passed injunctions limiting both picketing and demonstrations at the mine. The Arizona copper mine strike would later become a symbol of defeat for American unions.

From 1929 - 1954, the US implemented Mexican Repatriation, and Operation Wetback, a US law enforcement initiative under Eisenhower to curb Mexican immigration, in which over 1 Million Mexicans were arrested. After implementation, Operation Wetback gave rise to arrests and deportations by the U.S. Border Patrol that were civil rights violations, which resulted in several hundred United States citizens being illegally deported without being given a chance to prove their citizenship. From 1929 - 1939, ~400k-2 Million people were deported, 40-60% of them lawful citizens, and many of them children. About 1.1 Million people were deported in 1954 alone. A total of 750 immigration and border patrol officers and investigators; 300 jeeps, cars, and buses; and seven airplanes were allocated for the operation. Teams were focused on quick processing, as planes were able to coordinate with ground efforts and quickly deport people into Mexico. While the operation included the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, its main targets were border areas in Texas and California. Overall, there were 1,078,168 apprehensions made in the first year of Operation Wetback, with 170,000 being rounded up from May to July 1954. In addition, many illegal immigrants fled to Mexico fearing arrest; over half a million from Texas alone. 

In 1951, the Los Angeles Police Department severely beat up 5 Latino and 2 white men, in an event called Bloody Christmas, leaving them with broken bones and ruptured organs, and covered it up. After pressure from the Mexican-American community, the LAPD opened up an internal inquiry, resulting in eight police officers being indicted for the assaults, 54 being transferred, and 39 being suspended.

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #71: October 29th to November 4th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from October 29 - November 4, 2023! Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing! 

Challenges/Prompts:

There are no open challenges/prompts that we know of this week. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote or know of one we’re missing? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

This Week in Canon:

Welcome back to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 1, Episode 6: Mr. Willis of Ohio aired on November 3, 1999.

Season 2, Episode 5: And It’s Surely to Their Credit aired on November 1, 2000.

Season 3, Episode 4: On the Day Before aired on October 31, 2001.

Season 4, Episode 6: Game On aired on October 30, 2002.

Season 5, Episode 5: Constituency of One aired on October 29, 2003.

Season 6, Episode 3: Third-Day Story aired on November 3, 2004.

Season 7, Episode 6: The Al Smith Dinner aired on October 30, 2005.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from October 29 - November 4:

Allison Janney posted a photo and touching message in memory of Matthew Perry. Amy Landecker posted in memory of Ady Barkan, sharing a photo of herself and Bradely Whitford with Ady and a thoughtful message. 

Bradley Whitord posted a video of himself and Matthew Perry, along with a moving tribute to his late friend. 

Dule Hill posted a video collage of his stay at St. Regis Mexico City with his wife Jazmyn (their first trip in 4 years!).

Josh Malina posted an infographic about a 17-year-old taken hostage by Hamas.

Kim Webster posted a photo of herself and a friend in Halloween costumes. 

Kim Webster posted photos of herself in costume as Jessica Rabbit. 

Marlee Matlin posted a birthday message for Henry Winkler and a photo of herself holding his book. 

Marlee Matlin posted a photo and message in memory of her brother-in-law Dr. Jay Goldstein, who passed away this week. 

Marlee Matlin posted a photo of herself and her “girls” at the National Association of the Deaf Breakthrough Awards. 

Melissa Fitzgerald posted a graphic promoting Dule Hill playing for All Rise on Celebrity Jeopardy on November 2nd. 

Rob Lowe posted a throwback photo of himself as a little kid. 

Donna Moss Daily: October 29 | October 30 | October 31 | November 1 | November 2 | November 3 | November 4

Daily Josh Lyman: October 29 | October 30 | October 31 | November 1 | November 2 | November 3 | November 4

No Context BWhit: October 29 | October 30 | October 31 | November 1 | November 3 | November 4

@twwarchive: October 30 | October 31 

Edits/Artwork:

#thewestwing : wE cHaNgED TiMe zOnEs by @abigailbrtlet [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice: 

Sometimes you just need a change. This week, we’re recommending some of our favorite alternate universe fics! There are so many great ones that we had trouble narrowing it down, so be sure to share some you love as well!

darling, so it goes (some things are meant to be) by mikaylawrites | Rated M | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | “Hey,” Josh says as he approaches his friend, gesturing in the general direction of the stage. “Who is this?” Sam rolls his eyes. “I’m doing well, thank you for asking.” When Josh doesn’t respond, Sam gives him what he wants by responding, “It’s Donna.” “Donna?” “Donna Moss.” The name sounds vaguely familiar, but Josh can’t put his finger on why. “You know, Donna? She and I were on Andy Wyatt’s tour together last fall? She’s the one who said she didn’t believe I could go shot for shot with her at a dive bar after our St. Louis show and ended up having to drag me back to the hotel and put me into bed afterward.” The story of rising country singers Josh Lyman and Donna Moss everybody talks (it started with a whisper) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress | Being the White House Press Secretary, Josh realizes, is one of the toughest jobs in the administration to begin with. But with her co-workers' propensity for going viral, CJ certainly deserves a raise. (The West Wing, set 20 years later.) Wear the Crown by sam_writes_fics | Rated M | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress | but some knights are meant to wear the crown. and proving worthy of its power is a noble quest indeed. // royalty/fantasy au yeah, me too by smallandblueandloud | Rated G | C. J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler | Complete | “Josh, what is it?” He’s got his gaze firmly three inches to the left of her face. “Have you been getting the feeling that something’s going on? Something they’re not telling us?” (or, Toby knows something. CJ and Josh don't. They'll be #19 and 20, eventually.) rewrite an ending or two by jazzjo | Rated G | C.J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt | Complete|  It didn’t do her well to dwell on the reasons why her mornings were the most peaceful part of her day.  It did her even less good to press on the bruise that was her discomfort at leaving after closing.  or, on a clear day you can see forever, and it's the first clear day in years. i think i missed the gun at the starting line by ansatz for heliotropic | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | "I really wanna win this thing." // After qualifying for the Olympics in 2016, but being unable to compete due to an injury, Donna Moss is back, ready to run, and completely focused on earning a medal for Team Canada. Enter Josh Lyman, reigning Olympic champion with a heart of—you guessed it—gold. Two countries, two sports: one chance to fall in love? Flour Dusted Smiles by JediAnnieScrambler | Rated T | C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler | Complete | “Did Sam let you in?” Toby asked, crossing the kitchen. CJ jumped between him and the oven, holding her arms out like a shield, “You can’t look in the oven.” “It’s my oven!” “You weren’t supposed to be here until later!” Butterfly is the Worst Stroke by myrmeraki for dogsbreath | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | Complete | A snapshot of swimmer Sam and his increasingly tired boyfriend. Yeah I headcanon butterfly to be Sam's favorite stroke, yeah it's also *the* worst stroke, this does not conflict.

We will be reblogging this post to add this week's fics shortly!

[barry-j-blupjeans]

For the Monster Mash prompts- 10 and Blupjeans please :)

10. Zombie? Nah, that’s just my buddy. 

--

Barry had a boring life and he was not afraid to admit it. He worked the night shift at a graveyard, which meant he never went out anywhere (not that he ever wanted to). He ate oatmeal every evening before work and brought along a bag of granola to munch on during the night. He liked collecting and pressing flowers because it was an excellent way to have something to look forward to. He ate TV dinners afterward and watched a collection of shows that hadn't had any new epsodies in about thirty years. The most exciting thing he had to do was tell people to get off the grass.

Tonight was no different than any other night. He had done his second perimeter patrol and was working his way through the rows. He went passed the cracked stone pillar that Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were under and took a right at the marble stone of Hewy Louis's grave. They really needed to cut the grass sometime soon, but Barry supposed they wouldn't do it until the fifth of next month like they always did. Still, it was long enough to tickle his ankles, and if it got any longer, it'd be hard to see Percy Gate's grave from where the marking sat in the ground.

Another turn. And another. Barry absentmindedly tried to dislodge the piece of oat that was stuck in his teeth. He rounded section E off and shone his flashlight over it one last time before making his way toward section F. The sooner he got through with this round, the sooner he could go back to his post and watch a cooking video on youtube that went way over his head.

Yes, Barry Bluejeans was a boring man with a boring life. Nothing cool or exciting ever happened to-

Chunch.

Barry turned, his flashlight held high. He scanned the rows of section F, trying to find where the sound came from. A raccoon, probably, or an opossum. Maybe a deer, if he was lucky. It wasn't unusual to get animals in here around this time of night, but one must have hit a headstone or walked over a marking, because that was definitely not the sound he usually associated with the critters around here.

Chunch!

Okay, no, that wasn't an animal. That sounded more like shifting dirt. Barry tilted his right ear up, listening for something more. He turned when he heard the sound again. It wasn't coming from section F, but rather the secluded path leading between it and section C. The tall grass had worn away to dirt over here, leaving an empty space next to the fences. It was a good few dozen feet away from the nearest graves and as Barry approached, the sound got louder.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he got a closer look. A fair bit off the beaten path, there was a decent size bump in the ground. There were no animals in sight and, thankfully, no people either. The last time someone had tried to grave rob, he had nearly shit his pants out of fear. For a moment, the graveyard was silent except for the crickets and Barry's breathing.

There was a loud thump beneath his feet and he scrambled back, nearly dropping his flashlight. The mound of dirt shuddered and shifted, overturning slightly. And then there it was again- the crunching, shifting sound of dirt. It happened once more, and then twice, getting louder as more dirt overturned.

A mole, Barry thought wildly. It's a mole. It's expected from some kind of zoo and inhabited the graveyard, which is normal and totally fi-

Something shot up from the ground and Barry fell back with a yelp, this time definitely dropping his flashlight. He hurried to pick it up, but his hands were too sweaty to get a grip on it the first time, so he had to try again. In the dark, he could make out another thing emerge from the ground, creating a hole in the dirt. By the time he got the flashlight back in his hands, a larger part of it was emerging.

It was a head. And hands- arms, now- pulling themselves up from the ground. Their skin was a warm brown but it was covered in dirt and grass and bits of rock. They settled their elbows on the ground and pulled the rest of their body up, disrupting the ground. There were leaves and twigs in their- in her hair, as if she had just been running through a forest. When she finally got all the way out, she kneeled, panting. Her clothing was ripped, bloody in someplace. Barry felt a little sick.

Finally, she seemed to notice him. No. No, she noticed the light first, and squinted up at it, before realizing he was attached to it. They stared at each other.

Her eyes were so bright.

What was the protocol for this? Barry had been working here for so long that he couldn't even remember what the rules and regulations folder looked like. What was he supposed to say to his boss? "Heyyy, this is my friend, I know she looked super dead and zombie-like, but it's chill, I promise. We're buddies now! Also, ignore the huge hole in the ground please"? How in the world was he supposed to phrase that??

"Where-" she cleared her throat and it turned into a coughing fit. Maybe she wasn't dead? Did zombies near to breathe? She certainly needed to breathe and she was gasping for air like she hadn't had it in years. Which like, maybe? No, no that didn't make sense. She was alive. Normal, alive woman who came out of the ground and needed his help. Barry shuffled towards her, patting her hard on the back. A glob of dirt came out of her mouth.

"My name is Barry," Barry said. "Who- how can I help you? What can I do?" She took another large breath and it came out in a wheeze.

"Where's Taako?" she panted. "I- I need Taako-"

"Are you... hungry? Or-?"

"No," she said, jerking her gaze toward him sharply. "My brother. Taako. Where is he?"

"I- I don't-"

"He's probably looking for me," she said, now looking over Barry's shoulder as if Taako would be right there. She tried to push herself back to her feet but stumbled and fell back down. Barry caught her before her knees could take the brunt of the damage.

"Careful," he said. "I can help you look for him. Maybe we should, uh, call the police or-"

"No," she said, with such finality that Barry didn't even question it. "Taako was- Taako was right here, by the- the... where are we?"

A lack of oxygen from being buried alive could probably cause brain damage, Barry was pretty sure. Barry pursed his lips. Was this like, a dementia situation, where you shouldn't tell the person what was actually accurate and went along with what they wanted? Better, uh, better safe than sorry, Barry figured.

"Where do you think we are?" he asked. The women looked at him like he was the insane one. Yeah, sure, whatever, he couldn't fault her. He'd probably be mixed up too if someone had tried to bury him alive.

"Long Oak Forest," she said. "Where do you think we are?"

Ohhh, boy. This was going to be a long night.

[beardedmrbean]

San Francisco’s district attorney has released surveillance video showing the moment a Walgreens security guard fatally shot an alleged shoplifter in late April. 

The release of the footage showing the events leading to the death of Banko Brown comes as District Attorney Brooke Jenkins reiterated Monday that she will not charge the security guard in the incident, identified as Michael-Earl Wayne Anthony, after being unable to find evidence to refute his "reasonable self-defense claim in court." 

"With the video that has no sound, no audio to it, it is difficult to have context to what is going on, and that is why we must listen to the security guard's statement, the witness statements, and everything else in order to look at the full picture of the incident," Jenkins said Monday while also releasing police records about the April 27 shooting. 

"I would also remind everyone that as prosecutors it is our burden to ensure that we can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt to 12 jurors. That is the standard of proof when we make a charging decision," she added. "And in this case we had to decide whether or not we had the sufficient evidence to prove this case to 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt. It was our conclusion that we did not have such evidence and that is why we have arrived at this decision at this time." 

SAN FRANCISCO DA DECLINES TO CHARGE WALGREENS SECURITY GUARD WHO SHOT, KILLED ALLEGED SHOPLIFTER

The footage begins with Anthony standing near the door of the Walgreens before confronting Brown, who appears to try to exit the store while holding a bag of items. 

The pair then engage in a physical struggle, and Anthony can be seen throwing punches at Brown.  

Anthony is later seen holding Brown down on the floor as customers file in and out of the store. After releasing her, she gets up, grabs her bag and walks out of the store before turning around and appearing to gesture at Anthony. 

That is when Anthony fired a shot at Brown, causing her to fall backward onto the sidewalk outside.  

Brown, 24, was taken to a hospital and died after suffering gunshot wounds. 

In a police report released Monday, Anthony told investigators that Brown said, "I’m gonna stab you! I’m gonna stab your a--!" during the struggle. 

SAN FRANCISCO WOMAN NAMED THOR KILL SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF BOMB-MAKING SUPPLIES, AMMUNITION

"She looked like she was going to leave, but then she turned back towards me. I didn’t know what her intention was at that time, ‘but it turns out her intention was to spit on me... by her turning around and advancing that’s when I lifted my gun and shot once,’" the report added, citing Anthony. 

"I didn’t want to end no life. That was not my intention. I just wanted to stop the threat," Anthony also said, according to police. 

While Anthony was restraining Brown on the floor, a witness whom police said had an "unobstructed view of the incident from beginning to end" told police they heard Brown say "let me go and I’ll fight you one on one" before Anthony responded "I’ll let you go if you calm the f--- down." 

But San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton said in a statement Monday that the video does not show justification for the shooting. He plans to join Board President Aaron Peskin in calling on the state attorney general for an independent review of the prosecutor's decision. 

Brown, who struggled with homelessness, according to The Associated Press, worked as a community organizer for the Young Women’s Freedom Center, a nonprofit that provides support for young women and trans youth. 

"We do not need to see the video to know that Banko Brown’s killing was unjustified. Armed force is not a justified response to poverty," said Julia Arroyo, the center’s co-executive director, in a statement Monday. "We must live with the sobering reality that [she] was killed for no other cause but $14." 

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Last images of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira found on recovered phone

Photos and videos on phone found near site of men’s killing show some of their last movements in Brazilian Amazon

Some of the last images of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have been found after Indigenous activists recovered a mobile phone Pereira was carrying when the two men were killed in the Brazilian Amazon last year.

The phone was found last October when activists from Univaja, the Indigenous association where Pereira worked, returned to a stretch of flooded forest along the Itaquaí River where the men’s bodies were taken after they were shot dead on their boat on the morning of 5 June 2022.

With the help of a metal detector, the group found several items belonging to the victims, including Phillips’s UK press card, two spiral notebooks the journalist and longtime Guardian contributor had taken on the four-day reporting trip into the Javari valley region, and one of two phones Pereira was carrying.

Indigenous activists and police found other items belonging to the men in the same location during last year’s 10-day search for their bodies.

After months underwater, Phillips’s notebooks were illegible. But federal police forensic teams were able to recover several images from the handset, according to the Brazilian broadcaster Globoplay, which was with the Indigenous activists when they made the discovery.

Continue reading.

[djuvlipen]

Greek Roma are also warning that during the last year, several such police interventions have ended in serious injury, Agence-France Presse (AFP) reports. According to police, more than 11,000 people have protested in Athens, Thessaloniki, and other Greek cities.

The BBC and The Guardian reported that protesters have been chanting “Stop this murderous policy!” The unrest broke out after people heard that an officer had fired his gun twice at the 16-year-old Romani boy, wounding him seriously; police were chasing him after he drove away from a gas station in Thessaloniki, allegedly without paying the EUR 20 bill.

According to CCTV footage, the police officers were sitting at the gas station when the Romani teenager allegedly drove off without paying. The officers began pursuing him by motorcycle.

“I fired once into the air and once at the vehicle. The lives of my colleagues were in danger,” a 34-year-old officer involved in the incident said.

On Tuesday, the officer defended himself in court for having used his firearm, allegedly to save his colleagues’ lives. He said that the Romani teenager had attempted to use his car to bring down the motorcycle police.

Parents of the boy say their son is “between life and death”. Doctors removed the bullet from his head.

Immediately after the shooting, about 100 Romani men set up barricades and set garbage cans on fire in front of the hospital where the boy was being treated, and 1,500 demonstrators clashed with police on the streets of Thessaloniki. The protests continued on Tuesday and were attended by the father of the Romani boy who had been shot.

“What, he didn’t pay? Did they have to kill him for that?” the father is quoted by Greek media as saying, adding that if the boy had made a mistake, the police should have arrested him at home.

On social media, video footage has begun to go viral showing police officers intervening against the father of the boy as well. The incident is not the first of its kind in Greece.

Last year an 18-year old Romani man, Nikos Sampanis, was fatally shot by police during a car chase near Athens, and on 6 December 2008 a 15-year-old boy was shot by a police patrol at night in the capital. According to the chair of the Greek Confederation of Roma, Vasilis Pantzos, members of that minority face a racist approach from the state authorities and police brutality in the country.

“This is a tragic incident, the fourth such incident in our community during the past year,” Pantzos told AFP. According to him, Romani people and other vulnerable groups facing hate and prejudice are the most likely to be subjected to police brutality.

The association chair is pointing out that most Romani people in Greece live in poverty and social exclusion. According to the most recent report from the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) on Romani people in selected EU Member States, more than 90 % of Romani people in Greece are at risk of poverty.

More than 40 % of Romani respondents to the FRA survey reported having experienced ill-treatment during the past year because of their ethnicity. The police are trusted by roughly half of Romani people, significantly less than the rest of the Greek population; between 170,000 – 300,000 Romani people are estimated to live in Greece.

[dnaamericaapp]

‘My Soul Aches’: Mother Speaks Out After Exonerated Son Is Killed By Georgia Police

Leonard Cure’s mother held a photo of her son as she somberly addressed the crowd at a news conference Wednesday, two days after a Georgia deputy fatally shot Cure during a traffic stop.

“My heart is disconnected and my soul aches,” Mary Cure said during the event.

Leonard Cure died Monday during an altercation with a Camden County sheriff’s deputy on Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida border. The death came three years after he served 16 years in prison for an armed robbery conviction he was exonerated of.

“He said, ‘I love you and I’ll see you soon,’ that’s the last I heard from him,” she said.

“I was uneasy every time he left, because I was like, ‘Will he get a traffic stop? Is he going to be a victim of that?’” the mother said. “From the time that he was released, he was never set free,” she continued. “Lived in constant fear … is this going to be the day that they’re gonna lock him up, beat him up, or kill him? I lived with that. That is torture.”

Camden County Sheriff’s Office released dashboard and body camera video showing the deputy pulling Cure over and ordering him to put his hands on the back of his pick-up truck and then behind his back. Cure appeared to comply until he learned that the deputy intended to arrest him for speeding and reckless driving, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the sheriff’s office.

Michael Cure the brother of Leonard Cure told The Associated Press of his sibling. “I know him quite well. The officer just triggered him, undoubtedly triggered him. It was excitement met with excitement.”

The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office told NBC News. When asked whether the office believes the shooting was justified, the spokesman said that will be determined by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. -(source: nbc news)

DNA America

“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.” #dna #dnaamerica #news #politics

[ericleo108]

Lupe Fiasco & Chris Webby vaccine Twitter  debate summary NOTES by Eric Leo 108

Wed Jan 11th 2023 2 hour twitter convo

These are my thoughts and summary of what I heard. The timestamps in the description

Samson reaction video, Webby Tweet

Most of These rappers have no idea what they’re talking about.

Lupe is actually quite intelligent and defining his terms.

The definition of government and establishment is not the same.

As Voltaire would say, if you wish to quarrel with me, define your terms.

It seem Chris it’s getting his thoughts and feelings from his tribe, but when he’s analyzed he can’t definitively express those feelings which makes him adjust his opinion because it’s not thought out

Like how Chris says Lupe shifted his stance without ever being able to articulate what he was talking about

Chris seems like a well intentioned decent gentleman but really needs too educate himself and not listen to the news.

24:15 from 2 hr

Chris is talking about how he doesn’t trust the world economic forum but doesn’t see how that relates although what Lupe is saying is their not an authority

“The people who control the official narrative on the vaccine are the people that research and make the vaccines”

You get the gist that Chris Webby really just doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

It seems rand Paul’s anti-Fauci product campaign has infiltrated the mind of Chris Webby.

35:10 Robert malone

This is indicative of other people, but

I love how Chris has no common sense

He doesn’t understand the vaccine

And instead of taking the recommendation of the overwhelming majority of doctors

Chris webby is clinging to the one scientist that regrets it

Like 99 out of 100 doctors are telling you to get the vaccine and can prove its effectiveness and you cling to the minuscule 1 after never understanding how vaccines work, how they made, or who stands to benefit correctly.

Again, he can’t find his terms he thinks secondhand information is first hand.

I agree with Lupe, Chris is a good guy but has no idea what he’s talking about.

The reason Chris can’t get out his whole statement is because it’s so demonstrably false, misleading, or vague Lupe forces him to clarify which triggers webby.

This is a true example of how to negate your opponent.

You have the premise and subject. What most people have is the subject based off a false premise, that’s how propaganda works. Lupes tactic here is to attack their premise with its fundamental in making a cogent argument.

41:50

Missing details

That creates a false equivalency

Chris thinks adverse effects means terrible repercussions when it really just means regular procedural affect and mistakes.

Chris says there’s a lot of things he does know, but this discussion was evidence that when pressed he can’t articulate facts.

He’s getting this false information from the right.

Vaccines are like global warming in that there is no reason to deny the science, it’s clearly happening & shots are clearly effective

Basically the best way to tell if you deny global warming is to ask their political association.

The reason people don’t believe is gop political affiliation which represents faith & “freedom” (ie recklessness) & investments in carbon fuel

I did this whole thing to show how stupid the average person  is.

Just because You have a bunch of followers and can regurgitate incorrect Republican talking points doesn’t mean your right.

We need better education. Debunking conspiracies and formal logic in schools

And reinstate the fairness in reporting doctrine

48:00

Sudden adult death syndrome conspiracy

Scientists rarely change the fundamentals

The details, methods, and understanding get updated

When people say, the Earth is overpopulated, it’s not that the Earth is overpopulated, it’s that the resources we consume, aren’t renewable and contribute to the decline of the biosphere.

We’re bad bacteria on the earth that adversely affects other life the larger our population.

Chris Webby gets caught multiple time saying he doesn’t know to pivotal questions and interprets this as Lupe not letting him talk.

The fact that Chris says he’s not an anti-Vaxter, but just had a problem with particular vaccine coraborates my point that he’s not representing the science and facts but rather a wrong political ideology

This is what I’m talking about with the political stance. Chris trusts vaccines but not the one that republicans have made talking points for people to think their right about.

1:25:00

Chris wants a black and white answer when he needs to be making a risk management analysis.

The chances of you getting COVID and the repercussions are higher than the possible side effects you might experience from the vaccine.

1:32:00

I’m glad they finally got into the weeds on affects.

Again Chris clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he doesn’t understand the words and their meaning.

Lupe Is literally asking Chris to define a word that he is using in the premise of his argument. Who’s subject is the vaccine is dangerous. And Chris says it’s a loaded question.

It’s clear Chris isn’t highly educated or even been to a debate.

Unlike MaDonald, who I think does this for clout

Chris just believes his own ignorance

The line of questioning that Lupe presented was required to extract the truth and Chris misidentifies his ignorance as not allowing his side to talk.

Chris didn’t bring anything credible to the table to argue, and then they did argue, Then Chris can’t define his own words and accuses Lupe of not addressing which I’m also addressing here.

Ignorance reigns which is why almost half America is republican

I’ll tell you what doesn’t make sense Chris

Sudden adult Death syndrome makes about as much sense as spontaneous human combustion and probably happens just as often.

The risk assessment you did for getting the vaccine

That you don’t understand basic medical words but have to the audacity to condemn fauci

Lupe handled himself like an adult and did what he was supposed to do while Chris felt attacked  for not defining his argument.

Chris is an example of how ignorance and the republican agenda hurts America

In Summary

Lupe: you’re either trusting COVID or your trusting a vaccine which is safe and effective

Thank you donating to that wildlife foundation Chris.

News recommendations

Mother jones  Democracy now Philip DeFranco

[naradasblog]

How come is Digital Media More popular?

narada

If you want to explain electronic digital media, you would declare that the electronic media channels that work on handheld codes and worked across online thing format is called a digital news media. If you think this particular definition is a lot more technical, we can state in other words that the via the internet news media is the long term of many things, just like marketing, advertisement, trading of information, verbal exchanges media, etc . It truly is changing the concept of promoting, advertising, and the strategy information is viewed and accessed.

narada

You should also refer digital press to the electronic or even online media which can be becoming our essential now, such as cell phones, compact discs, internet, digital camera video, minidisc, personal pc, e-Commerce, e-book, television system, video games, and many additional interactive media. They might be called online press since they have the ability to stash information in digital camera way. Among them, world wide web is the most powerful 1.

Internet offers wonderful flexibility and user friendly. We can store snap shots, audio and videos material, graphics, in addition to rich text. This growing use of web and the great pros it offers are simply no secret for anyone.

Your fusion of electronic digital media and online world has created a new society of fantasy. The country's growing importance are usually judged by the proven fact that some universities possess created its school; for instance, the Digital camera Media Academy from Stamford University. At this point, students can be a part of certificate courses around 3D animation, online designing, and show production. If most people move further in front of you and find the varieties of digital media along with how they can help you and me, we can certainly excuse the growing reputation of digital storage devices.

Digital news media even offers great chances of purchase in businesses linked with it in any facet. There is always something completely new and useful for those. Online media can be attracting more and more people every single day and offers great probabilities of secures investment. You have got many lines to get, such as internet mass media, social media websites, handheld news media technologies, and so forth

The fast progress and popularity from digital media will very much against the conventional methods of advertising, promotional, and of presenting information. Moreover, a digital news media is very adaptive, powerful, convenient to find, and economical. Web sites are work just like your own virtual shop on the internet, where you can indicate all your products and services far more professionally and inside much presentable good manners. In no intervals, your website can be connected from the other neighborhood of the world. Any person can gain access to your blog regardless of the time or simply location. The massive advantages of online media channels are attracting both companies and users. It is not strange to make note of many prominent organizations are turning to digital media to generate their presence to be able to customers worldwide. A role of customary media is reducing fast.

For people, digital camera news media is becoming associated with their life, ever since for many things you depend on digital press. At the same time, for organisations the digital storage devices has become a part of their particular business plan. Whenever we avail this spectacular interactive way of conversation, we get each of the ease, comfort, influence, etc, more cheaply and satisfactorily.

Narada is a multi-platform news and entertainment digital media company for Millennials and Gen Z in Indonesia

[ausetkmt]

ABC News: Family of Palestinian slain by Israel denies he was attacker

BEIT IJZA, West Bank -- Relatives pushed back Sunday against Israeli claims that a Palestinian teacher intentionally rammed an Israeli police car before he was shot dead by security forces.

The family of 36-year-old Mohammed Abu Kafieh said he had no possible reason to carry out an attack, noting that he was a father of three and had just opened a new business. His relatives said they believe he accidentally crashed into a police car Saturday before troops opened fire.

“He is not the kind of man that commits attacks,” said Abu Kafieh’s cousin, Mohammed Nimer.

The army has said soldiers spotted a car attempting to ram them and then shot Abu Kafieh.

Photos of the incident published online by Palestinian media show an Israeli police car and another vehicle, both with smashed front ends.

Palestinian assailants have carried out dozens of attempted stabbings and car rammings in recent years. Palestinians and human rights groups say that Israeli troops often use excessive force, and in some cases, have shot people who did not pose a threat.

The incident took place near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank — the focal point of the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in the occupied territory since 2015.

While mourning together in the village of Beit Ijza near Jerusalem, family members told The Associated Press that Abu Kafieh was a loving father and well-liked in the community. He mentored students and had invited the community to an opening ceremony for a new business venture selling mobile phones and accessories.

He was on the road to Nablus to buy supplies for the opening of his shop when he was shot, his family said.

“The opening ceremony was today, he invited everybody,” Abu Kafieh’s sister Nuha said through tears while standing next to one of his three kids. “With God as my witness, he was not going to commit an attack or anything, he was looking out for his livelihood and the livelihood of his children.”

Dozens of people at the gathering of mourners paid respects beneath banners of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. Another poster was a collage of Abu Kafieh alongside Abbas’ predecessor, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a key Islamic shrine as well as a Fatah-linked gunman recently killed in an Israeli raid in Nablus.

It was not immediately clear what Abu Kafieh’s relationship to Fatah or its armed offshoot was, if any. At times, factions lay claim to Palestinians killed by Israel during the mourning period.

Nimer said the family is awaiting the return of the body from the army and hopes to be able to view footage from surveillance cameras from the area of the incident.

The army did not immediately respond to questions Sunday about the body but said that there was no surveillance video.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry alleged that Israeli forces had engaged in a “criminal execution.”

Israeli troops have stepped up operations in the northern West Bank since a series of deadly Palestinian attacks inside Israel in the spring. Several attackers came from the area.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed, making 2022 the deadliest year in the occupied territory since 2015. Most of the Palestinians killed have been wanted militants or young men and teenagers who throw stones or firebombs at soldiers invading their towns.

But some civilians, including an Al Jazeera journalist and a lawyer who inadvertently drove into a battle zone, have also been killed in the violence.

In another incident, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a suspected Palestinian gunman during an arrest raid overnight in the northern West Bank, according to Israeli and Palestinian reports.

The army said it spotted a group of armed men traveling in a car and on a motorcycle during an operation near the city of Nablus and opened fire. The Den of Lions, a local militant group, said one of its members, Sayid al-Kuni, was killed in a “clash with the occupation forces.”

[animationscreenwriter]

20+ Years of Screenwriting Experience

Welcome to AnimationScreenwriter.com! My name's Toby and I'm a Screenwriter / Co-Writer / Editor, available to collaborate on new freelance projects - animated and live-action films, TV series, web series, comic books, video games - including: brainstorming ideas, concept / story development, treatment writing, outline planning, screenplay writing, rewriting and polishing your current draft, editing and proofing your final draft, pitch deck writing, logline writing, synopsis writing, and more...

Over my years in the film & TV industry, I've developed and written projects for major studios, networks and streamers - including Netflix, Amazon Studios, Universal, Paramount, Viacom, Sony, Bravo - as well as independent producers, directors and student filmmakers to create award-winning and eye-opening entertainment in a diverse variety of genres, for viewers of all ages.

My scripted projects - including an Academy Award®-eligible animated film - have played commercially in movie theaters worldwide and as Official Selections at leading Oscar-qualifying film festivals: Austin Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Foyle Film Festival, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Animayo, and Palm Springs International Film Festival’s ShortFest.

Our 2D animated film (co-written with a first-time student director) won the Jury Award for Best Animated Short at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, which qualified us for the Academy Awards® - as chosen by the prestigious NYICFF Jury Members who included: Oscar-winner Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Oscar-nominee Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda), Oscar-nominee Ramsey Naito (The Boss Baby, President of Nickelodeon Animation; President of Paramount Animation), Oscar-nominee Pelin Chou (Over the Moon), Oscar-nominee Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), Amy Freidman (Head of Kids and Family Programming, Warner Bros), Melissa Cobb (VP of Kids and Family, Netflix), Guillermo Martinez (Head of Story, Sony Pictures Animation), Oscar-nominee Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction), Oscar-winner Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise), Oscar-winner Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket) and Oscar-winner Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks). 

The film also picked up the awards for Best Animated Short by a Savannah College of Art and Design Student at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Best of the South at the ASIFA International Animated Film Association's Animation Festival and Conference, and Honorable Mention at SFFILM, San Francisco International Film Festival.  

My work has proudly received critical acclaim and a finalist placement for the Snow Leopard Award as selected by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, as well as being featured in Animation Magazine, Animation World News, Empire Magazine, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.

Moreover, I've written films and shows that have racked up millions of views, reaching the Top 5 of Netflix, gaining fans worldwide. One of my favorite gigs has been writing for a franchise with its own animated series, comic book, and action figure toyline. As the writer of all episodes of this popular 3D CGI cartoon series, and with more stories developing in the pipeline; I'm having a blast bringing these characters to life and building their world.

Also, I co-wrote an upcoming animated feature film with its director that is being made with traditional hand-drawn animation. Our screenplay was optioned by Academy Award®-winning producers and is currently in the final stages of post-production. I can't wait to share it, soon!

In addition to these successes, I've written a new 2D cartoon series that is presently in production - coming soon! - and I've co-written the screenplay for an animated feature with songs from an Emmy-winning producer.

Prior to all this, I wrote and co-produced a VFX/CGI rotoscoped "graphic novel-style" live-action movie, shot entirely on green screen, that won a Best Film award and a generous six-figure payday in a global filmmaking competition run by Amazon and Warner Bros.

I have a B.A. degree in Film -- screenwriting was always my dream job. Back when I was serving popcorn and ripping tickets on the weekends at my local multiplex, I would be daydreaming stories and then in my free-time writing spec scripts, sketching comics, and animating cartoons on my computer. After submitting a few funny things to Nickelodeon, they were the first to show my characters and ideas on TV screens nationwide.

Now as a full-time screenwriter for over 20 years, I continue to turn dreams into reality. But enough about me...

What are you working on? I'd love to hear about it. Email me to find out how I can help get your project to an award-winning level for a fair and affordable rate: tobyscreenwriter@gmail.com

I've been hired countless times, so I know how to deliver quality results by a given deadline. Bring me onboard as your team's Writer, Co-Writer or Editor, and I can:

brainstorm, plan and develop original stories and characters with you;

write and co-write professional scripts for films, TV shows, comic books, video games, webisodes, and more;

rewrite your scripts, outlines, treatments, pitch decks, etc;

polish your scripts, outlines, treatments, pitch decks, etc;

edit your scripts, outlines, treatments, pitch decks, etc;

turn your character designs and ideas into scripts, outlines, treatments, pitch decks, etc;

turn your sketches / storyboards into complete production-ready scripts with dialogue and descriptions;

consult on projects from start to finish, and so much more!

I'm a big believer in Paul Schrader's notion that a screenplay is not a work of art; it's an invitation to collaborate on a work of art. So, let's work together and make some art. :-)

- Toby (IMDb)

[haleyrutkeamericancinema]

Technical Breakdown: The Hunger Games

The project that I selected to do was option two, the technical breakdown video, where overall that interested me the most. I was able to pick out one scene and talk about all the breakdowns and concepts associated with that scene. This is super similar to the movie review vlogs that we did, and I did super well on them. In addition, I decided to do the Hunger games because the new one just came out in theaters, so I decided to binge watch them all and this one was my favorite. Throughout my production project I decided to focus on the different angles, sound, and genre of this clip. The scene that I choose to elaborate on was towards the end of the movie when it was just Katniss and Peeta left, and only one can be the winner. Instead of one person dying they each take a handful of poisonous berries that Katniss had and are both about to die until the announcer says stop and insists that they both are the winner. 

What I had learned from this assignment was how one scene can have so much more significance than one thought. Many people don’t think about the deeper meaning of why that certain scene was filmed that way whether it comes down to shots, transitions, lighting, sound, etc. When a director adds to a scene it’s for a significance not random. There are many different angles and sounds from this one scene that I chose. There were close-up shots and over the shoulder shots as it switched back and forth from Peeta and Katniss. This shows great significance as they are figuring out that they are living and not dying. Another angle was a faraway shot, that is also a bird eyes view, as we are looking down at Peeta and Katniss where this angle is important as it is trying to direct the attention to the commander's voice and not to them. We also have a medium shot of Peeta and Katniss hugging and then also a point of view shot of them looking up at the spacecraft that is saving them. Just in this one clip there are so many different angles and shots learned. 

Going into sound, it can be very significant as it makes the scene more realistic and it can add a certain feeling. In the beginning of this clip there was dramatic, light, sad music as Peeta and Katniss are about to die. This makes the scene more tense and allows us viewers to have a feeling. The sound of the commander is super significant as this shows that they are able to live. Katniss kept her promise to her sister, and they are both able to go home. The sound from their jackets pressing against each other from hugging to the spacecraft coming down, like how I said in the beginning, adds more realism to the movie. Without sound a movie is very boring, so having it allows viewers to stay more entertained. 

For me I am a person that watches a lot of Disney movies that include fantasy, so within this movie I wanted to expand my genre and go for a more dystopian fiction with a little action/ adventure. This movie is considered a dystopian film because of the controlling government and the way the people are living, the rich vs the poor. This movie puts a new perspective on people and allows them to see what it looks like to live in a society where the people are controlled by the government. This movie portrays a genre of action/ adventure as Katniss and Peeta are put in the arena to kill where there is a lot that goes on between them trying to survive. Between the different shots, sound, and genre has allowed us to deeper understand the importance of film and how it's important to that specific scene. 

This shows my appreciation for cinema as there is a lot when it comes to filming, acting, and editing a video. For the filming part there are many factors that come into play. They have to make sure the cameras are set and ready to go, everyone is in position and in placement, making sure the lighting is correct, and the location is appropriate. A lot comes into play when filming and a lot of people don’t realize. The actors have to play their part and stay in character the whole time, so when a person is selected for a role, they need to make sure they are the most qualified person. In addition, the actor needs to be able to play their character the whole entire movie. Lastly, the editing, when you film a scene it’s not going to be perfect. The editing is what puts the movie all together and allows the movie to actually be a movie. There are so many different apps and websites that have developed throughout the years that people can use to make their movie. Also, if there is a mistake the editors can fix that mistake instead of having to redo the whole scene again. The power of cinema is amazing, and it continues to grow in today's society, as technology grows. 

Overall, not just in this assignment but within this whole class it has been quite interesting on how cinema has developed from the 1900s to now. Between the development of adding sound, color, a theme, and purpose behind the movie, etc. It truly is amazing how cinema and how it can affect one's life tremendously. 

Works cited

 Lafs. “The Importance of Sound.” The Los Angeles Film School, LAFS https://www.lafilm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/lafilm-logo-2.png, 28 Mar. 2022, www.lafilm.edu/blog/the-importance-of-sound/.

“10 Reasons Why Filmmaking Is Important | Indeed.Com.” Indeed, Indeed Editorial Team, 24 June 2022, www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/why-filmmaking-is-important. Accessed 6 December 2023.

Socrates. “What Makes ‘The Hunger Games’ a Dystopia?” The Socratic Method, The Socratic Method, 11 Mar. 2023, www.socratic-method.com/blog/what-makes-the-hunger-games-a-dystopia. Accessed 6 December 2023.