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jurassicparkpodcast · 4 years

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James Ronan's Top 5 Jurassic Park 3 Film Moments

The third article in this series counting down my Top 5 film moments looks at the 2001 Jurassic film Jurassic Park 3. Considered by many fans to be the black sheep of the Jurassic Park film series. (Thanks to the Jurassic Vault for the great images)

Jurassic Park 3 had a very troubled development. Directed by Joe Johnston (the first time for the franchise to have another director other than Spielberg) the film never had a final draft of the script before shooting. It released with mixed reviews and only made $368 million on a $93 million budget. It remains the lowest grossing Jurassic Park film and one of the most controversial in terms of canon consistency within the franchise. I decided to take the opportunity to now go over some of my Top 5 film moments from JP3 as the film celebrated its 19th anniversary back in late July. Strangely Universal seems to have a problem remembering the dates of theatrical release for the Jurassic films. Jurassic Park 3 according to the Jurassic World Twitter account released on July 17th, 2001 but in fact it actually released on July 18th, 2001 theatrically. Jurassic Outpost recently conducted a very interesting interview with Shelly Johnson the Cinematographer on JP3, it is well worth checking out for some in-depth film insight on the production and development of the film.

Before I get into my Top 5 moments, I want to just mention a few of the reasons why JP3 remains a controversial instalment in the Jurassic Park series among the fandom. Jurassic Park 3 again takes place on the island of Isla Sorna, the same island that was seen in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Sorna in JP3 looks radically different in terms of flora compared with what was seen in The Lost World with lush tropical forests compared to the redwoods seen throughout most of the previous film. Many fans speculate that Sorna has a diverse flora on the island with different biomes being separated by the different sides of the island. It was an interesting choice to change the vegetation from what was seen in The Lost World for the third film and remains a debated topic within the fandom.

We are also introduced once again to some new Velociraptors in Jurassic Park 3. These Raptors are more intelligent than the previous Raptors we have seen throughout the series. Behaviour of the Raptors is a big plot point of the film with Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler discussing their intelligence, before we get a scene of Billy showcasing a 3D model of a Velociraptor resonating chamber. The Male Raptors are shown with quills on the backs of their head and neck, a palaeontology characteristic introduced to make the Raptors a bit more accurate and to appease fans who wanted to see feathers on display in the film. Speaking of Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler both Sam Neill and Laura Dern return to Jurassic Park 3 with Sam Neill again in a major role, despite both actors missing from the previous instalment in the franchise. Whilst Sam Neill and Laura Dern’s return to the franchise was most welcome, many fans had and continue to take issue with how their relationship changes from Jurassic Park to Jurassic Park 3. With Ellie now married to Mark Deggler (who works for the US State Department) who she has two children with. Alan is very much on his own and still working on dinosaurs helping palaeontology students like Billy Brennan. Whilst I am very much excited for Sam Neill and Laura Dern’s re-appearance in Jurassic World: Dominion, I am really hoping they keep the dynamic they had as friends from JP3 and don’t break up the family Ellie had in the third film. Just leave it be, as Jurassic World: Dominion has enough to cover as it is following on from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Another issue JP3 brought up is around the Pteranodons being shown free at the end of TLW and another species of Pteranodon being caged up and finally getting free during the events of the third film. Whilst these issues may seem trivial to some, Jurassic Park 3 does not really address any of them, which is why they remain hotly debated topics within the fandom.

Unlike the previous films John Williams does not return to score the film. Don Davis takes on the composer role with a soundtrack that is quite different from the past Jurassic films but still retains some of the classic Jurassic themes. Jurassic Park 3 is my least favourite film in the franchise, but the film does have some great sequences and character moments that are worth looking at so let’s break down what moments really impacted me shall we?

5. Billy Stop! (The Pteranodon Attack Sequence)

The Pteranodon attack sequence is up as my 5th Top moment from the film. Many fans including me love the Pteranodon Aviary design, the layout, and the amount of mist throughout the sequence which really set the scene as a completely strange and unknown part of Isla Sorna. The Pteranodons themselves showcase behaviour which can be related to the original Jurassic Park novel. The Aviary sequence in the original novel is very different, but it was nice to see that JP3 took that sequence as inspiration and made its own thing whilst still referring to the original novel with Alan, Lex, and Tim. We knew Billy would end up using the parachute further on in the movie as when they first discover it, after the Spinosaurus attack sequence Grant asks Billy “if he can fly one of those?” Overall, the sequence is well done and when Billy gets attacked by the Pteranodons in the water, the attack is brutal.

The music by Don Davis in this scene also amps up the horror of Billy being tortured in the water as he goes down stream whilst another Pteranodon turns and looks at both Dr. Grant and Paul Kirby. It is surprisingly quite a dark scene for JP3 which overall has the lightest tone of any Jurassic film. Ultimately Billy survives the attack sequence, which for me really negates the impact of the attack in the first place. If anything, it would have been more appropriate for Dr. Grant to have found Billy’s body later on washed up on a riverbank, with Billy holding Dr. Grant's hat. Not only would have it been a poignant moment, but it would have aided Grant’s development further to have lost a student on such an expedition that ultimately shouldn’t have occurred in the first place.

4. What’s a bad idea? (The Spinosaurus Plane Attack)

I think many JP3 fans might be surprised that this is 4th on my list in terms of Top moments in JP3. But my main complaints in this scene relate to the behaviour of the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus itself which as a plot device, seems to have a knack for following the main group around the island. The death of Cooper is so well done and is in my opinion the best death in JP3 period. The setup for the Spinosaurus from Coopers death is so well done that the aeroplane attack sequence just doesn’t live up to the awesome death we just saw moments before. We also don’t see any remorse or loss from Udesky or any of the group that Cooper and Nash have just died after the plane attack and it is just odd to say the least in the context of the film.

I do have issues with how the plane attack sequence takes place. The fact that the Spinosaurus can track down the plane after it crashes rather quickly without anyone hearing it approach until it breaks open the plane is a major problem I have. Whilst this type of issue can also be compared to the Tyrannosaurus Rex appearance in the Visitor Centre at the end of Jurassic Park, how this scene takes place in JP3 with the Spinosaurus is very different. We assume that the Spinosaurus is a fairly intelligent animal to have tracked the group down and to destroy the plane the way it does, but later on in the film when it finds the group at the fence and also attacks the boat on the river we see that the animal doesn’t have much behaviour at all. Unfortunately, the animal is only used in servicing the plot and we don’t see anything more to it then to just act as a B movie monster. I really like the Spinosaurus design for what it was/is and the animatronic as well as the CGI still look really good on screen, despite the animatronic being stiff in some sequences.

I do like the scene when the plane falls out of the tree and the group are all screaming as we get a cool shot of the plane just crunching up as it hits the ground under its immense weight. It is also the first and only sequence throughout the films where an aeroplane comes under attack from a dinosaur. It makes my 4th spot though for setting up the Spinosaurus for what it ultimately is, a movie monster with little character. It is a shame that the Spinosaurus is showcased this way because it was the first Spinosaurid to be featured in a Jurassic Park film. Ultimately a lot of this comes down to the filmmakers deciding that a bigger and scary dinosaur needed to take down the T.Rex and become the focal point for the film. But the Spinosaurus lacks animalistic behaviour, something we saw more from the other dinosaurs throughout the previous two films. We never see it drink; we never see it sleep. We don’t see it hunt other dinosaurs (apart from the T.Rex kill) or fish despite spooking them in the river. It is just there to chase the group around the island and in its final scene, it runs away from fire and is never seen again.

3. Brachiosaurus on the Bank

Third on my list takes place after one of my favourite JP discussions throughout the films. I must quote it below because not only is it so poignant in the context of the film but is one of those moments in JP3 that was needed a bit more throughout.

Dr. Grant: I have a theory that there are two kinds of boys. There are those that want to be astronomers, and those that want to be astronauts. The astronomer, or the palaeontologist, gets to study these amazing things from a place of complete safety.

Erik: But then you never get to go into space.

Dr. Grant: Exactly. That's the difference between imagining and seeing: to be able to touch them. And that's... that's all that Billy wanted.

This discussion between Alan and Eric was another plot point that made me want to pursue palaeontology as a career. My dream career after seeing Jurassic Park was palaeontology but this discussion in JP3 also hit me and has stuck with me ever since I saw the film back in 2001. However, whilst this discussion has resonated with me a lot over the years, I want to discuss the scene after, where we see most of the herbivores of Isla Sorna along the river whilst the classic Jurassic theme is played. Probably one of the mot awe-inspiring moments in the film, echoing the Brachiosaurus scene in Jurassic Park.

We see four Brachiosaurs alongside two Ankylosaurs, a herd of Stegosaurs and a few Parasaurolophus in the background. All the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park 3 are depicted with the most colourful designs we have seen throughout the first three films. The Brachiosaurs in particular display a very distinct patterning with a red skull and orange eyes. As someone who likes the improvements in colour design that the dinosaurs display in JP3 the Brachiosaur colour design is bizarre to say the least especially the skull where the redness is quite patchy. The eyes are also orange which contrasts too much with the red and the rest of the colour pattern. Regardless of the dinosaur designs the scene itself is set up and executed very well. The boat just casually glides down the river as the dinosaurs watch on. You really feel the size of the dinosaurs in this scene and it brings back that sense of wonder and awe of these creatures which we didn’t get in TLW apart from seeing the Stegosaurus herd for the first time. Whilst the river scene in JP3 is very brief it goes a long way to allowing the film some breathing room just taking in the dinosaurs in their island environment.

2. This is how you play God. (The INGEN compound)

Down to the final two now! My second on my list of Top moments must be the INGEN compound and its exploration by the group of the genetics laboratory/Embryonics Administration. There are two key things that make this scene outstanding. The first is the set design which is incredible, especially with the sunlight coming in through the windows. I love the grittiness, dirtiness, and rawness of how the genetics laboratory looks, as it was left after releasing the dinosaurs into the wild. We get a real sense of the experiments INGEN was doing on the dinosaurs with the green tanks as well as how they were looked after with the incubators. The second thing I love about this scene is the score that plays alongside it, called the Raptor Room. Again, this score is very reminiscent of the Hatching Baby Raptor theme from Jurassic Park and fits so incredibly well with the group walking through looking at what INGEN was doing. The theme captures that wonder of creation which we first saw in Jurassic Park with the hatchling baby Raptor but applies it in different circumstances whilst looking at experimental dinosaurs and hatched eggshells.

The INGEN compound is also a huge plot point in terms of INGENs operations on Sorna which was discussed in TLW where Hammond mentioned “Site B being the factory floor” for the dinosaurs. Here we truly get to see the factory floor in all its glory and for me it is one of the most interesting scenes in Jurassic Park 3. As someone who loves both the original novels, knowing that the INGEN genetics lab/compound is a huge part of the second book, I was thrilled when it was shown on Sorna within the film. The way this whole scene is shot remains for me one of my favourite scenes in JP3 and it adds some really interesting backstory to INGEN as a company, how they operated and how things were left when they released the dinosaurs on Sorna and left the island.

1. Dr. Alan Grant Palaeontology Lecture

Going full circle my Top favourite film moment within Jurassic Park 3 belongs to the man himself Dr. Alan Grant in his palaeontology presentation on Raptors. One of the earliest film scenes taking place only seven minutes in, the way this scene is presented shows what many palaeontologists do at some point in their lives, giving presentations/lectures to the public. I really love the scene because it takes place like a proper lecture. It gives backstory to the viewer as to Alan's life as well as the current discussion going on regarding Raptor intelligence at the time, something of which is brought up throughout and becomes a focal point of the film's story. We see Raptor claws on display as Alan talks about the theories surrounding Raptor intelligence and behaviour.

Unlike Jurassic Park where palaeontology is seen in the field it is great to see JP3 embrace palaeontology talks to the public as it shows engagement with the wider audience and in this case the cinema audience. Obviously by now everyone in the lecture room knows about INGEN, Nublar and Sorna after the events of TLW due to the San Diego incident, and others like Ian Malcolm breaking NDA speaking out about what INGEN was doing and the deaths as a result. Alan calls INGEN out for “creating nothing more than theme park monsters, nothing more and nothing less” in the lecture room. This view changes again later in the film when Alan says to Billy on the plane “he forgotten”, referring to forgetting what it’s like to see a dinosaur for the first time. I enjoy the way the lecture talk plays out with Alan refusing to take questions relating to Jurassic Park and the San Diego incident. The fact that the Islands are such a present focus suggests that Alan just can’t get away from being linked to Jurassic Park and the events he was unfortunately involved in. What can be clearly seen is that Alan is tired of it all, he never wants to go back to the islands. He ultimately has a love hate relationship with the INGEN dinosaurs and what Jurassic Park was all about.

Many fans like myself take issue with Grant going so easily to Sorna with the Kirby’s due to money and most fans agree that it is such a 180-character change after saying “no force on earth or heaven could get him there”. Ultimately though, Alan is very much impacted by past film events and it is shown throughout. It is just a shame that by the end of the film these changes throughout his character are just left, nothing is done with them at all. After surviving another close call of death on another dinosaur island Alan isn’t too worried about the creatures getting off or the Pteranodons leaving Sorna for new nesting grounds.

This contrasts greatly to Ian Malcolm’s view of the world and the destruction caused by the genetic power INGEN unleashed as he sees it. This is an underlying theme in TLW from Malcolm due to his involvement on the island and his injury but is seen much more bluntly in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It will be interesting to see how these different views of INGENs dinosaurs will be shown when both Ian and Alan are shown on screen together in Jurassic World: Dominion. I would say Alan falls somewhere in the middle whilst Ian seems to be vehemently against genetic power being out in the world. Regardless of the changes to Grant's character throughout JP3 the palaeontology lecture is a great piece of exposition, backstory and set up for Raptor intelligence. As well as Alan's life in the spotlight and what many palaeontologists enjoy doing, giving thrilling lectures on dinosaurs to the public. Because it is filmed so well and so enjoyable to watch it makes my number one spot as my favourite film moment from Jurassic Park 3.

Written by: James Ronan

#article #james ronan #jurassic park 3 #top 5 jurassic park 3 film moments

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nothingman · 6 years

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Right-wing figure and Gamergate instigator Milo Yiannopoulos has repeatedly advocated for violence against journalists on social media. But users who report this type of content often hear back that it doesn’t violate the platform’s rules — at least until sufficient media attention and pressure is brought to bear. Today the cycle repeated, as Instagram initially claimed that a Yiannopoulos post lamenting the lack of journalist deaths attributable to a recent series of pipe bombs was acceptable content on the platform. Instagram then doubled back and removed the post.

As a chorus of MAGA supporters increased its claims that the recent mail bombs sent to George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Eric Holder, John Brennan, Maxine Waters, Robert DeNiro, and CNN were “fake news” or a “false flag,” Yiannopoulos took to Instagram to express his regret that the bombs had not detonated, and that they had not specifically targeted news outlets he did not like.

“just catching up with news of all these pipe bombs,” Yiannopoulos wrote, “disgusting and sad (that they didn’t go off, and the daily beast didn’t get one).”

After reporting the post to Instagram, Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer says he received a response from the company that Yiannopoulos’ post would not be removed because it “does not violate Community Guidelines.”

Those guidelines open with an admonition to “respect everyone on Instagram,” stating that “serious threats of harm to public and personal safety aren’t allowed” and that “Instagram is not a place to praise or support terrorism.” While it could be argued that Yiannopoulos is not praising terrorism so much as criticizing terrorism for being inefficient at killing his enemies, it’s hard not to interpret his post as conveying an ultimate sense of support for successful terrorism aimed at those targets. How his comments could read as sufficiently respecting the people he wants to see harmed or killed is the latest mystery of the vagaries of social media moderation.

Yiannopoulos has a history of promoting violence against journalists and later dismissing it as a ‘joke’

Just in case his 386,000 followers were unclear about his sincerity in wishing actual violence on the press, Yiannopoulos elaborated in a follow-up Instagram post that featured an image of a Daily Beast headline about his initial post. “i need private security whenever i appear in public,” he wrote, “but they cry when i make a joke — about a false flag designed to distract us from the democrat funded and organized illegal migrant caravan.” Despite attempting to hide behind the fig leaf of irony, he nonetheless seemed to acknowledge the violence faced by journalists, noting that “they are scum and I will not mourn them.”

Yiannopoulos has a history of promoting violence against journalists and later dismissing it as a “joke.” In June, he emailed multiple journalists, including Sommer, to say he “can’t wait for vigilante squads to start gunning down journalists on sight.” Afterward, Yiannopoulos posted a screenshot of the quote on Instagram with the caption, “where’s the lie.”

At the time, Buzzfeed reporter Joe Bernstein tweeted a screenshot from a reader who reported the post, and similarly received a notice that it had not “violated Community Guidelines.” According to the screenshot, it was online for 19 hours before its removal. An Instagram representative reportedly later told Bernstein that the initial moderation decision was a “mistake.”

After the fatal mass shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper, which followed shortly after his posts, Yiannopoulos backtracked and called his incitements for violence “a private joke” and claimed to be “amazed” that it was taken seriously.

Like his June post, today’s post lamenting the ineffectiveness of the pipe bombs was ultimately removed by Instagram. “This content violates our policies and has been removed from Instagram and Facebook,” an Instagram representative told The Verge. “We prohibit celebration or praise of crimes committed, and we will remove content praising a bombing attempt as soon as we’re aware.”

When asked why the company considered itself unaware of the content after it had been reported, and initially denied any violation of Community Guidelines, a representative said that “we made an initial mistake but upon re-review it was confirmed that the content violated our policies.”

via The Verge

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floridaprelaw-blog · 3 years

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An Unintended Consequence Of Juneteenth

By Hannah Marie Marose, Florida State University Class of 2021

June 21, 2021

President Joseph Biden excited many citizens on June 17, 2021. The signing into law mandating Juneteenth, (June 19th) a holiday was a long awaited victory for so many citizens of color who wished to celebrate the freeing of slaves in 1865. Throughout the past year of mass protesting due to police brutality and the unfolding of events after George Floyd’s death, it was a win for many to see a celebration for African Americans. Large law firms such as Akerman and Foley Hoag have vowed to keep Juneteenth a holiday every year, confirming maintaining racial justice is an important part of their firms (Thomas). Unfortunately, some lawyers believe Juneteenth has caused some issues because of the fact that it has postponed some of their clients important trial dates due to courts being closed. After a long hard year of COVID-19, which postponed many court dates and added large complications for those awaiting trial, another pushback is not a good thing for many African American clients.

The United States has the largest prison population in the entire world (Nahra). This unfortunately has affected specific populations due to the criminal justice system’s long history of biases. The reasoning for many of those African American clients sitting in jail awaiting trial is because of mass incarceration. Mass incarceration targeted many poor, minority communities and was a time where extremely harsh sentences for drug offending and dealing were given out (Criminal Justice Facts). This began in the 1970s where many political leaders strove to create harsh punishments for drug offenders caused by a high level of fear in the public (Nahra). This began with Richard Nixon, who started the “War on Drugs”, which had caused the media to create an image of drug offenders hurting innocent civilians (Nahra). This level of fear made the public want extreme sanctions on drug offenses, and politicians who sought reelection delivered; creating rules such as the Three Strikes Law and mandatory minimum sentencing. The Three Strikes Law and mandatory minimums both made sure that drug offenders would have lengthy prison terms, without opportunities for parole. These laws affected African American community members way more often than whites. This is due to harsher punishments for drugs such as crack cocaine, more commonly used in black communities, then powder cocaine, more often used by white communities. These laws made extreme harsh divides and police often targeted minority communities rather than upper class communities.

As the years have gone on, major strides have been made in relation to punishments for drug crimes. The criminal justice system has taken a turn for the better and made strides toward equality. Harsh sentences have relaxed and many lawmakers have turned to rehabilitation rather than lengthy prison sentences. There has been a realization that the criminal justice system has disproportionately attacked minority citizens. The bill signing into law Juneteenth was a stride for more progress and work to be done for equality. Unfortunately it has had one bad impact which is pushing back court dates for those awaiting trial in jails. However, hopefully the government will continue to work on more progress in equality for African American citizens.

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Hannah Marose is a Criminology major at Florida State University who will be pursuing a Juris Doctorate at St. John’s University in Fall of 2021. Her legal interests are in family and juvenile law and she hopes to be an advocate for criminal justice reform in her legal career.

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“Criminal Justice Facts.” The Sentencing Project, 3 June 2021, www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/.

Nahra, Alia, et al. “The History of Mass Incarceration.” Brennan Center for Justice, 16 June 2021, www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/history-mass-incarceration.

Online, MSR News. “A Snapshot of Juneteenth Events in the Twin Cities and beyond (Updated).” MN Spokesman Recorder, 19 June 2021, spokesman-recorder.com/2021/06/11/juneteenth-events-in-the-twin-cities-and-beyond/.

Thomas, David. “Big Law Is Celebrating Juneteenth This Year. What About Next Year?” The American Lawyer, 16 June 2020, www.law.com/americanlawyer/2020/06/16/big-law-is-celebrating-juneteenth-this-year-what-about-next-year/?slreturn=20210520212354.

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woodworkingpastor · 3 years

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Not a fan -- Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29 -- May 16, 2021 -- Seventh Sunday of Easter

One of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone is the season four episode “Jess-Belle.” The main reason I enjoy it is because it stars James Best—many of you will remember him for his more famous role as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard. But the episode has some other endearing qualities as well.

The plot focuses on the upcoming marriage of Best’s character, Billy-Ben Turner, to a young woman named Ellwyn Glover. The conflict comes as Billy-Ben’s ex-girlfriend Jess-Belle plots to sabotage the wedding and win Billy-Ben back. Jess-Belle visits a local witch named Granny Hart, who casts a spell that bewitches Billy-Ben, causing him to forget Ellwyn and fall madly in love with Jess-Belle.

This is exactly what happens at a square dance thrown in honor of Billy-Ben and Ellwyn: Jess-Belle shows up and locks eyes with Billy-Ben who immediately forgets everything and dances off into the night with Jess-Belle, leaving Ellwyn and everyone else in utter disbelief about his behavior. But Billy-Ben can’t help himself; he has been bewitched, pulled away into a one relationship that makes the other relationship impossible. It’s a situation where compromise is not possible.

The situation of Galatians 3

Paul’s purpose in writing to the churches of Galatia is to correct false teaching that has brought confusion into the churches. The reason the conflict is so significant is because it is a salvation issue: a false belief that calls into question how people are reconciled to God has been introduced into the churches. As I think back on disagreements I’ve encountered in ministry, very few (if any) have been of this type. That’s not to say they’ve been unimportant or that they shouldn’t be handled with great care. But sometimes we draw lines in the sand over issues that are really more about personal preferences on matters where there are several legitimate choices; or we get into arguments that are driven as much by the personality of the people involved as they are the issue; or we have trouble reconciling matters because we’re impatient, or we’re not willing to yield to one another.

But this is not the issue in Galatia, and the significance of the matter explains the very strong words Paul choses in verses 1 and 3:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?...Are you so foolish?

Eugene Peterson translates the passage this way:

You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what has begun by God (Galatians 3:1-3, The Message).

Honestly, Paul’s words here read more like the kind of response you find on a Facebook post than in a sermon or Bible study—except here it is in the Bible. Paul’s urgency and intensity has to do with his commitment to the Gospel and his great love for these congregations.

As we have moved from Acts 15 into Galatians over these last several Sundays, we keep bumping into the struggle that the churches had over the role the Jewish tradition would play in their understanding of faith. It is simply the issue that the church of this generation had to work out. What is distant from our thinking is that there were two components to the Jewish religious tradition: a ceremonial aspect and a moral aspect.

The moral laws represented how the character of God would be displayed in their lives. One way that we honor God in our daily lives is through our behavior coming to reflect God’s character; we begin doing the kinds of things Jesus would do if he were in our place. This explains the reason why, for instance, Christians value life and have always been moved to alleviate suffering. I believe it’s why we should be concerned about the environment, because the earth is the Lord’s. It’s why we do things like offer forgiveness when others mistreat us.

These things are easy to talk about in general; they can be quite costly in practice. I heard a podcast recently where a now middle-aged man shared a painful story from his youth. One day when he was a young teenager, he and some of his friends were acting irresponsibly, and this man’s actions led directly to the death of his best friend. In working with the justice system, the friend’s parents declined to press charges. Their belief was that their son’s death was a tragic accident caused by young boys being stupid, and that one ruined life was enough. They did not believe that any good would come by inflicting that on another; mercy was more important than punishment. It was a remarkable story of forgiveness.

It is through this kind of living—where our behavior reflects God’s character—that people who do not know Jesus might begin to follow. Or, as Brennan Manning describes it from the opposite direction:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

Manning laments a loss of discipleship in churches that allows for a disconnect to exist between belief and behavior.

But this wasn’t exactly the issue the Galatian Christians faced. They were largely struggling with the ceremonial laws found in the Jewish faith; the kinds of things that Jesus transgressed all the time, like when he healed people on the Sabbath or when the disciples walked through grainfields and ate some of the grain, or when Jesus stopped by a well and asked a woman for a drink of water. What people in Galatia were in danger of getting wrong was thinking that adding these ceremonial laws to our lives is necessary for us to be good Christians. Practices that were supposed to be reminders of what we believe and ceremonies designed to shape our faith had become rigid rules to follow.

I have found that as someone grows in their love for Jesus then their desire to participate in the worship services and ceremonies of the church grows right along with it.

How natural it is for people who significantly understand our faith as being shaped by the Scripture to give Bibles to our young people, as we did today.

For people who understand how much our relationship with God is shaped by our having been forgiven and are serious about growing closer to Jesus by practicing forgiveness, then it makes so much sense to be drawn to Love Feast and to communion. Many of us value that worship service because of the tradition, but I want to encourage you to expand your thinking on that. If anyone understands how badly broken our relationships with God have really become, it ought to be Brethren. We don’t just practice the bread and cup, we practice spiritual examination to make sure we are right with God and one another, then we practice humility by washing feet.

When we are thinking correctly, we understand that the ceremonies do not save us, but they do shape us. John Chrysostom was a fourth century church leader who described the connection between ceremonies and faith in this way:

When [a ceremonial ordinance] is understood it produces spiritual joy and is celebrated gladly and in due season. It is read and treated only with a spiritual sweetness. Now every sacrament, once understood in this way, is applied either to the contemplation of truth or to good morals. The contemplation of truth is founded in the love of God alone, good morals in the love of God and the neighbor, and on these two precepts depend the whole Law and the Prophets.

This is what the Galatians were risking getting wrong, and it is why Paul is so angry. In a way, they were like Billy-Ben Turner in The Twilight Zone who had a magnificent relationship with his fiancée and the admiration and joy of his community for the love he shared with Ellwyn, but who instead became bewitched by an old, dead-end relationship that was lesser in so many ways. Some in Galatia wanted to take all of the Old Testament laws from Leviticus and hand them to new Christians after they had become baptized and say, “Here. You must do these things, too.”

The reason it is important to understand a proper relationship with Jesus is because it is the only path to what the church is to become, as described in Galatians 3:27-28:

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

When a church lives out a correct understanding of salvation, the inevitable result is becoming the church where distinctions that society places on us disappear. It’s not that we become blind; the Galatians would still know who was a Jew and was Greek; who was a slave and who was free; who was male and who was female. But they could begin valuing people and their gifts based on what Jesus had done in their lives, not on what their culture told them to think. They would be a visible demonstration of the Kingdom of God.

Can you imagine how different our world would be today if we had figured out “neither slave nor free” 400 years ago? Consider that in 1667 the Virginia General Assembly decided

It is enacted and declared by this Grand Assembly, and the authority thereof, that the conferring of baptism does not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom (Tisby, 25).

This was an important law because in England the tradition was that baptism did confer freedom.

Or what if we had affirmed the equality of women? I’m thankful that the Williamson Road Church of the Brethren asked the question that enabled the Annual Conference in 1958 to enable women’s ordination. This meant that women could take their place alongside women preachers in the New Testament like Junia and Priscilla and Tryphaena and Tryphosa and Phoebe and other women who were prominent leaders in the New Testament church.

Applying this to our own time

These verses in Galatians 3 are yet one more reminder of how God is always moving toward the reconciliation of all things, and how the ceremonial laws and worship traditions of our faith are means to the ends, not the ends themselves.

Something that will both challenge and bless us is that following Jesus in this way will cause us to move toward people and honor people that we otherwise might not; it will also require us to get out of the way and allow others to shine.

The good news is that the bewitching spell can be broken, sisters and brothers. Billy-Ben Turner wasn’t forever a prisoner to Jess-Belle’s spell. It was eventually broken and he and Ellwyn were married, as it should be. Our obedience to Jesus will make us “heirs according to the promise” of God.

0 notes

marymosley · 5 years

Text

Blaming Trump For Triggering The Recent Shootings Is More About Controlling Speech Than Violence

Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the continuing recriminations following the recent massacres. The effort to blame the massacres on Trump reflect an ongoing effort to control speech by declaring certain words to be “triggering.” In this case, the meaning is literal.

Here is the column:

The final death tolls in El Paso and Dayton were not even established when the chorus of recriminations began. Several Democratic candidates like South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg accused President Trump of stoking the hatred leading to the shootings, while Senator Kamala Harris insisted the victims were the “incredible consequence” of the rhetoric used by Trump. Senator Cory Booker went even further, saying not only that Trump was “particularly responsible” and “complicit” in the mass shootings last weekend, but so is everyone who is “not actively working against hate.”

Many of us have denounced the rhetoric of Trump on immigration, the courts, and the media. However, there is a familiar ring to some of the coverage following the massacres that Trump is responsible for the shooting because the language he uses is “triggering.” Columnist Mehdi Hasan said, “The president may not be pulling the trigger or planting the bomb, but he is enabling much of the hatred behind those acts by giving aid and comfort to angry white men by offering them clear targets.”

There have long been efforts to limit speech as “triggering” to others. Colleges and universities have created “safe spaces” and implemented “trigger warnings” to protect students from opposing views or values. Faculty and students have demanded sanctions against those engaging in speech perceived as threatening or demeaning, including the poorly defined concept of “microaggressive” words. The result is a type of speech control that redefines censorship as merely “sheltering.”

In news coverage, “triggering” has taken on a literal meaning that Trump virtually pulled the trigger on victims by adding to a raging environment. It does not matter that a fair amount of violence is committed by leftist groups like Antifa. Such acts are often portrayed by advocates as merely “self defense.” The CNN special “United Shades of America” with Kamau Bell featured what Bell called the “redneck revolt” of gun toting liberals who are battling the “alt right.” Bell followed them to gun ranges and asked why “more white people” are not joining their ranks. Among the “good guys” featured was Willem Van Spronsen, who later attempted to firebomb an immigration center and died in a shootout with police.

Does that make CNN culpable in “triggering” Van Spronsen? Of course not. Yet it would appear from the coverage that Trump is still responsible for El Paso shooter Patrick Crusius, who referenced Trump and said “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” It did not matter that both of these individuals apparently have serious mental health issues. It was the rhetoric of Trump that was responsible for the crimes of Crusius. It also does not matter that Conner Betts, the shooter in Dayton, described himself as a “leftist” Democrat who supported the candidacy of Senator Elizabeth Warren. He reportedly wrote, “I want socialism, and I will not wait for the idiots to finally come round to understanding.”

Trump supporters have been assaulted for wearing MAGA hats or overtly supporting the president. Protesters have shouted death threats outside the home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. An MSNBC host told viewers that Trump was “talking about exterminating Latinos.” A new Hollywood movie, described as a satire, features the hunting of MAGA types called “deplorables,” the name Democratic candidate Hillary Clintongave to Trump supporters during the 2016 campaign. None of those stories led to condemnations of “triggering” rhetoric by Trump critics.

Few Americans will tolerate outright censorship. But 20 years ago, writers began to push an alternative way to silence their critics by limiting their words as “triggering” or threatening. They could claim they were not censoring a viewpoint, only the words used to express it. Yet the result is the same in curtailing what others say. The concept of “triggering” language has become so mainstream today that news hosts now nod in silent acceptance when guests denounce the use of common terms.

On “Meet the Press” last weekend, Eddie Glaude, Princeton professor of African American studies, declared the very use of the term “illegal immigrant” may have caused these shootings. He said, “You set the stage for people who are even more on the extreme to act violently.” Glaude, who previously called the immigration policies of Trump “terrorism,” interrupted another guest, who was noting that laws on the books make such immigration illegal. “No human being is illegal!” Glaude declared.

For years, activists tried to shame others into dropping any reference to the illegal status of some immigrants by claiming the term is verboten. It does not matter that the term appears in laws and has been routinely used by the Supreme Court, including decisions by such liberal icons as William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, and John Paul Stevens. It is now “triggering” language and, according to Glaude, may actually cause massacres.

Even expressions of empathy can be considered “triggering.” After the shootings, Trump condemned the violence and white supremacy, expressed sympathy for the victims, and ordered all American flags to fly at half mast until August 8. Frank Figliuzzi, an NBC News national security contributor, claimed the flag order was “triggering” because the date, 8/8, could be viewed as a reference to 88, which could be a reference to HH, the eighth letter in the alphabet, which could be viewed as a salute to “Heil Hitler.” Thus, Trump unwittingly or wittingly signaled neo-Nazis.

Figliuzzi expressed shock, “No one is thinking about this. No one is giving him the advice. Or he is rejecting the advice.” There is another possibility that “no one is thinking about this” because it is perfectly insane. More importantly, what Figliuzzi refers to as the “little things” often leads to the limiting of a big thing called “free speech.” That some deranged neo-Nazi would celebrate the coincidence of flags being reraised on 8/8 does not mean that we should all change our actions or speech accordingly.

Trump did not help himself with disastrous visits to El Paso and Dayton, where he was denounced for such moments as giving a “thumbs up” in a photo with an orphaned baby and bragging about how big his crowds were at a rally. He then reportedly complained about the lack of good press out of the trip. However, it ultimately did not matter what he said because his very presence was the trigger. Catherine Wicker, executive president of the Texas College Democrats, said he had “no business” visiting Texas because “what he says to people of color is triggering.”

There is no sense of hypocrisy in any of this for those who use shootings to score political points by denouncing others for doing the same thing. It is inevitable that some will follow massacres like political carpetbaggers to make easy gains. Yet none of these gun triggers were pulled, literally or figuratively, by Trump or Warren or Fox or CNN. We live in an age of rage, however, there remains a big difference between rage and a rampage.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.

Blaming Trump For Triggering The Recent Shootings Is More About Controlling Speech Than Violence published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

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callunavulgari · 7 years

Text

SCRAPBOOK 2017 TAKE 3, I GUESS!

Scrapbook for the third part of 2017, because tumblr doesn’t like it when you have a million links on one post hates me. Though I guess I have been paying a lot more attention to the music parts of these, so sigh.

Once more unto the breach!

Italicized titles = enjoyed muchly, bold titles = love, titles with an asterisk* = OBSESSION and titles in (brackets) are re-watches/re-reads. And lastly, strikethough = DISLIKE.

Goals are: read thirty-five new books this year (hah! still behind!), finish four video games (done? i think?), finish writing and publish the Sabriel AU (hah. hah.), and write something original (yeah, not doing so great on the goals here).

MOVIES

September

Ghost In The Shell

(Dead Poet’s Society)

(The Secret Garden)

(Free Willy)

Unbreakable

(Mulan)

(Pocahontas)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Lion

Sinbad

October

Me Before You

No Reservations

November

Thor Ragnarok

(V For Vendetta)

(Inkheart)

Krampus

Split

A Flying Jatt

Justice League

December

(Beauty and the Beast)

(Coraline)

Garden of Words

(Howl’s Moving Castle)

Star Wars The Last Jedi

The Shape of the Water

Call Me By Your Name

BOOKS

September

Less | Andrew Sean Greer [Fin]

Authority | Jeff Vandermeer [Fin]

The Secret History | Donna Tartt [Fin]

Acceptance | Jeff Vandermeer [Fin]

Dark Matter | Blake Crouch [Fin]

Unbound | Victoria Schwab [Fin]

October

Slaughterhouse Five | Kurt Vonnegut

Our Dark Duet | Victoria Schwab

Wool | Hugh Howey [Fin]

Proper Gauge | Hugh Howey [Fin]

Casting Off | Hugh Howey [Fin]

Sleeping Giants | Sylvain Nouvel [Fin]

Waking Gods | Sylvain Nouvel [Fin]

The Unraveling | Hugh Howey

November

The Unraveling | Hugh Howey [Fin]

Ruin and Rising | Leigh Bardugo [Fin]

1984 | George Orwell [Fin]

The Stranded | Hugh Howey [Fin]

Trigger Warning | Neil Gaiman [Fin]

The Crooked Kingdom | Leigh Bardugo [Fin]

Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel [Fin]

All The Crooked Saints | Maggie Stiefvater

December

Before The Fall | Noah Hawley [Fin]

Artemis | Andy Weir [Fin]

A Natural History of Dragons | Marie Brennan [Fin]

All The Crooked Saints | Maggie Stiefvater [Fin]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet | Becky Chambers [Fin]

Our Dark Duet | Victoria Schwab [Fin]

Spunk & Bite | Arthur Plotnik [Fin]

A Tale For The Time Being | Ruth Ozeki

Call Me By Your Name | André Aciman

La Belle Sauvage | Phillip Pullman

PODCASTS

September

The Adventure Zone Episode 1

EOS 10 Season 1 Eps 6-9, Season 2 Full

Tanis Episode 1

October

EOS 10 Christmas Special

November

King Falls AM Eps 1-3

Wolf 359 Eps 1-3

December

TV SHOWS BY SEASON

September

Hunter x Hunter

(Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Grace and Frankie

(Inuyasha)

The Strain

American Horror Story

RWBY s1-s4

Your Lie In April

Mob Psycho 100

October

Dark Matter s3

RWBY S5

Voltron s4

American Horror Story

The Flash

The Good Place s1

Stranger Things 2*

Drifters

Hunter X Hunter

The Gifted

Mindhunter

November

The Flash

(Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

RWBY S5

Tiger and Bunny s1

Mushi-shi

Haikyuu s1

The Punisher

December

The Flash

Hunter X Hunter

Supergirl

Legends of Tomorrow

Arrow

Little Witch Academia

Mushi-shi

Ancient Magus Bride

VIDEO GAMES

September

Pokemon Moon

Persona 5 (120 hrs, FIN)

Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall (4 hrs?)

October

Witcher 3 (Lots of hours)

Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall (5 hrs, FIN)

Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches (4 hrs, FIN)

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (12 hrs, FIN)

Pokemon Moon (More hours than before)

Metal Gear Solid V

November

Witcher 3 (So many fucking hours)

Pokemon Moon (More hours than before)

(Final Fantasy XV)

December

Witcher 3 (So many fucking hours)

Animal Crossing

ABZU (2 hrs, FIN)

Prey (18 hrs)

DELIGHTFUL FIC

September

Mating Patterns of the Wild Mustang by @tierfal (FMA; Royed; 3k; In which Colonel Mustang gives a practical demonstration, and everyone gets a bit more than they bargained for.)

Getting Off Easy by @tierfal (FMA; Royed; 7k; Ed happens upon the unsettling revelation that Mustang is desirable, and Roy happens upon the implacable revelation that Edward is off-limits. A story in two halves.)

The Relative Merits of Wanting and Getting by cupidsbow (SGA; Mcshep; 6k; An accident with an Ancient device changes Rodney's course.)

Water Your Dreams by amireal, Ladycat (SGA; Mcshep; 13k; "It didn't occur to me until later that you actually meant a boat.")

Happily Ever After (the Pegasus remix) by cupidsbow (SGA; Mcshep; 4k; One (glass slipper) alien device. One (romantic quest) typical Atlantis lab accident. One revelation of (true love) something far more ironic.)

(P O I S O N by goddamnhella (Inuyasha; Inuyasha/Sesshomaru; 160k; The adventure is over: the heroes have all gone home. But one story was never told, one that began when two brothers swore their feud would never end. But the battle against Sou'unga may have changed everything.))

Theft of a Thief by FortunesRevolver (P5; Yusuke/Akira; 5k; “Yes,” Akira hissed, a hand coming up to cover Ann’s mouth before she could go any further. “I really like artistic… coffee.”)

By Any Other Name by astolat (Witcher 3; Emhyr/Geralt; 25k; Vesemir wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve any of this.)

talk with your fingertips by citadelofswords (EOS10; Ryan/Akmazian; 1k; The thing is, when you’re an interplanetary terrorist on the run from most of the Alliance, people tend to not want to do more than grab a drink with you. It sucks, not being hugged in over ten years, but Akmazian deals with it.

October

The Course of Honour by Avoliot (Original; M/M; 117k; When Jainan arrived on Iskat to represent his home planet in a diplomatic marriage to Imperial Prince Taam, he was naïve enough to hope the match would work. Taam knew better. Five years later, his confidence shattered, Jainan is released when Taam dies in an accident, only to be faced with another marriage to help salvage his treaty. Jainan understands how the real world works now; but Prince Kiem - the cheerful, scandal-prone darling of the Iskat celebrity magazines - keeps breaking all the rules he's learned.)

Fifteen Men in September by ballantine (Black Sails; Flint/Silver; 34k; Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest, Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!)

Break the Lock by Ruby_Wednesday (Captive Prince; Damen/Laurent; 25k; It should have been simple – the hold-up, heist, armed robbery, whatever you want to call it. Damen called it working for the family business. He was ready to storm into the casino and take a chunk of cash back from the Veretians. They'd taken enough from his side.He was ready, waiting, and then someone else arrived into the alleyway with bright blue eyes the only things visible through the black mask. After that, it wasn't simple.)

(Men Who Had Mothers by zeitgeistic (Harry Potter; Drarry; 11k; This is what happens when you spend all of your time trying to save the world and never bother to see what you're saving. Inspired by vegans, philosophy, mothers, docks, and hopes and dreams.))

Leviathan by manic_intent (Dishonored; Corvo/Daud/Outsider; 32k; In the end, Corvo has no one to blame but himself. He, after all, had been the first to spare Daud after besting the assassin in a duel.)

Patience on a Monument by betts (GoT; Jaime/Brienne; 21k; Having a Jaime in your life means living in a soap opera, except you can’t DVR it to watch later, and the main character sometimes ends up in your guest bedroom for an undisclosed period of time because he has a woefully codependent relationship with his sister.)

Single Use Weapon by Fahye (Kings; Jack/David; 67k; "The king is dead," says Samuels. "Long live the king.")

Confidence Artists by Fahye (The Road to El Dorado; Miguel/Tulio/Chel; 10k; The grey light of Spain carries their history with it, and it's gleaming through the cracks.)

November

The Rite Stuff by @tierfal (FMA; RoyEd; 23k; All magic is blood magic. And all vampires are bastards, although in that case, Ed's working from a sample size of one.)

ebb and flow to multiply by lehtonen (Stranger Things; Jonathan/Nancy/Steve; 11k; And so it went: the monster was defeated, Will Byers was returned to his family, Steve got the girl, and life in Hawkins picked itself up, dusted itself off, and carried on much the same as it had before, with scarce as much as a backwards glance.)

Athelas by astolat (Thor; Thor/Loki; 20k; There was a sharp and bitter edge crept into the words, a reminder that not all was well: that Thor still had a brother, but not a friend.)

(Shatter by Aria (Thor; Thor/Loki; 30k; "Loki," Odin says, heavy with disappointment and regret for all he has to raise his voice, "Odinson. I cast you out."))

Colours in Your Eyes by Batsutousai (FMA; Royed; 23k; Everyone is born with the ability to only see the colour of their soulmate's eyes. Only upon touching their soulmate, can people see the rest of the world's colours. Edward Elric will do whatever it takes to get his brother's body back and ensure he can have his happily ever after with his soulmate, even if it means never finding his own soulmate.)

A Second Chance at First Impressions by Cobrilee (TW; Sterek; 7k; Derek grew up with the world's most embarrassing soulmark, which is honestly not the best first impression his soulmate could make. Then he meets the guy, and all of a sudden the soulmark doesn't matter quite so much after all.)

Think Once, Think Twice by Fahye (Brooklyn Nine-Nine; Amy/Jake; 47k; "First one to cry annulment covers the other's weekends for six months," Jake says instantly.)

December

Judas by PepperPrints (The Punisher; Billy/Frank; 6k; What Billy wants, here and now… he wants Frank, with his big hands shuffling cards, his deep voice naming stars, his heavy body keeping Billy upright.)

Inclement Weather by jadepresley (HP; Drarry; 24k; Draco is the best Unspeakable the Ministry have; his skill in magical control makes him the perfect person to help a struggling Harry Potter learn to contain his wild magic.)

through and through with fire by notbecauseofvictories (Thor; Gen; 4k; It takes the combined strength of Thor, Loki, and Valkyrie to drag Hela onto the Grandmaster’s ship, though Loki gets a split lip for his trouble and Hela’s nails leave deep gouges in the leather of Thor’s vambraces.)

Within Monsters by AnonymousMink (Star Wars; Reylo; 132k; This is the last place she ever thought she’d end up.When work dries up on Jakku, a desperate Rey enlists with Galactech-- a tech company who will hire anyone with the right skills, and work for anyone for the right price.

Tap That by @tierfal (FMA; Royed; 200k; This whole college gig would be hard even enough without Winry being the best wingwoman Ed never wanted… and without the blog. Definitely without the blog.)

DELIGHTFUL FANVIDS

September

Believer || Multifandom

(GoT) Jon and Daenerys || Ice and Fire

Ugly Story | Unfinished Homestuck

Game Of Thrones | Together (w/Zurik 23M)

RWBY - Glitter and Gold

Marvel ◆ I'm So Sorry (Imagine Dragons)

RWBY AMV - I Can Make Your Hands Clap

Cant Hold Us RWBY AMV

RWBY AMV| THUNDER by Imagine Dragons

Big Hero 6 | hills to climb

October

Apocalyptic Multifandom || SOLDIER (collab w/ djcprod)

Dark Matter Tribute (Season 1-3) - Our Universe Was Brought To Life

Dark Matter || i could do it without you

Dark Matter || Hello stranger

Will Byers || You're home now

MARVEL || Stay Alive

November

race against time [multifandom]

Justice League || Heroes will rise

DRARRY | I'LL BE GOOD

■ draco || i'll be good | Ana

► The only one | Jonathan and Nancy

► The best of steve harrington (S2) REUPLOADED

►Stranger Things | Stay Alive

stranger things | battle royale

young and menace [Bungou Stray Dogs] *HBD Pteryx*

not today [yuri on ice]

December

Steve Harrington || Feel it still

Stranger Things || Sweet Dreams

Loki Laufeyson ♚ Look What You Made Me Do

Thor & Loki | Kings

Thor // Thunder

kingsman || brains/skills

(GoT) Jaime Lannister | Oathkeeper

(GoT) Jaime Lannister | Burn Them All

Frank Castle & Billy Russo // ♫Way Down We Go (Logan trailer version)♫

Ben (Kylo) & Rey // Somebody To Die For (tlj spoilers)

Kylo & Rey II Wide Eyed {The Last Jedi}

Multifandom Mashup 2017

Doctor, I Let You Go

Twelfth Doctor | I let you go

DELIGHTFUL MUSIC

September

Breathe In - Frou Frou

Cirque Dans La Rue - Plain White T’s

I Hate This Part - The Pussycat Dolls

Evey Reborn - Dario Marianelli

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th (Arr. By Christian Badzura)

Low Roar - Bones

dné - Asos Model Crush

Apashe - Battle Royale (Feat. Panther)

The Howl & The Hum - Godmanchester Chinese Bridge (Radio Edit)

Scene 1: Valse - Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater

Hard Times - Paramore

Perfect Places - Lorde

My Name Is Human - Highly Suspect

The Man - The Killers

In A Summer Garden - Bournemouth Orchestra

Strip That Down - Liam Payne

Use Me - Goo Goo Dolls

Bounce - Fatty Koo

Heavy (Averous Remix) - Linkin Park

Can I Be Him - James Arthur

Broken Glass - Rachel Platten

Sugar - Karmin

Red Like Roses Pt II - Jeff and Casey Lee Williams

I May Fall - Jeff and Casey Lee Williams

Time To Say Goodye - Jeff and Casey Lee Williams

Dear God - XTC

The Evergreen - Mree

Home - Aurora

There’s A Ghost - Fleurie

Is This Love - Governors

It Came To Me - The Barr Brothers

Pure Feeling - Florence & the Machine

October

Ori and the Blind Forest Soundtrack

Journey Soundtrack

ABZU Soundtrack

November

Milkshake - Buddy

ALL OF IT.

December

WRITTEN FIC

September

how to be eaten by a woman (Star Wars; Reylo; 1,350 words; “So why don’t you do it?” he asks, breathless. His chest is heaving, his mouth open, gasping for breath.“Do what?” Rey asks, and thinks about biting his mouth.The corners of his lips tick upwards. Kylo squints at her, half-smiling. “That.”)

October

move the stars for no one (SGA/Labyrinth; Mcshep; 3,049 words; “You have no power over me,” Rodney whispers, just to see the way that the Goblin King’s eyes narrow - how he steps closer, until his narrow hips are pressed up against the footboard. He slouches in towards Rodney, sways toward him, his clever eyes hooded, and smiles like he’s won something. Asks, “You sure about that?”)

is this love? (SW; Reylo; 4,013 words; “It’s okay,” her brother tells her on their wedding night, lowering himself to sit on the floor beside her, until his nose is level with her shaking knees. When he smiles, he looks like a monster. “You don’t have to love me.”Then he goes to sleep on the couch, taking only a threadbare pillow from their marriage bed.)

rise again (SGA/SW/Dishonored, Rey, Emily, and John Sheppard, 952 words, “You’re Emily Kaldwin.” A pause. “You are, aren’t you?” Emily blows out a loud sigh, giving him an annoyed look, as if he’s to blame for the fact that she’s the most recognizable face in all the Isles. “Might be.” “Huh,” the girl says, and takes a seat right there on the floor. “I’m Rey.”)

i hope you’ll be happy, miss tara joan (SGA, Rodney/John, original child character, 360 words, They turn off John’s life support on a Thursday.)

blue lips, blue veins (Voltron, Keith & Allura, 655 words, “I am not,” he says stubbornly, “kissing you awake.”)

jewel of the south (Dishonored/Star Wars, Corvo & Rey, 686 words, The girl watches him warily, hunkered down in a nest of blankets in the corner. She’s a squatter, that much is obvious from her thin, patched clothing and the general disrepair of the apartment that Corvo’s found himself in. He blinks around, eyes lighting on a sofa, a desk, a couple rat-gnawed shoes.“You’re bleeding all over my floor,” she says flatly, her eyes heavy on him. “I’m bleeding all over your balcony,” he corrects, and wavers hard enough that his other leg gives out from under him. “And I’m mostly sure that it isn’t yours.”)

November

when the autumn moon is bright (SGA; Mcshep; 2,881 words; There weren’t, strictly speaking, supposed to be wolves in Atlantis.)

hard and heavy, dirty and mean (Stranger Things; Steve/Billy; 2,846 words; “Remember,” he whispers in Steve’s ear, his breath hot. “You wanted this.”)

December

I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus (SGA; Mcshep; 3,855 words; Rodney can’t see much about the man inside of the Santa costume from where he’s standing, the wig and beard hides what the suit doesn’t, but there’s something in his mannerisms that makes Rodney feel a spark of familiarity. He swallows and is still trying to puzzle it out when the Santa finishes with the little girl and turns their way.John Sheppard looks back out at Rodney from behind a fuzzy white Santa beard, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly as they shift from Rodney to Charlie and then back again.Jesus - fucking - Christ.)

The Yawning Grave (Star Wars; Gen; 2,489 words; WIP; does the skywalker choose the path, or the path the skywalker?)

FANMIXES/GRAPHICS

September

September.

October

October.

November

December

empty churches: a mix for gay witches, basically

2017: heather’s top hits of 2017.

the spaces in between: a reylo mix for light, darkness, and all the spaces in between

December.

#scrapbook #heather says what #heather writes #i can't believe the second part of this only lasted three months #that is so aggravating

2 notes · View notes

georgiecarrfilmreview · 5 years

Text

The Highwaymen

This review originally appeared in Ghoul Magazine:

https://www.ghoulmagazine.com/home/2019/5/31/the-highwaymen

Die! In the name of the law! This is the engine that drives The Highwaymen, Netflix’s retelling of the exploits of Depression era bank-robbers, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, and the men who killed them. The Highwaymen follows two ex-Texas Rangers, Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson) who are brought out of retirement by the no-nonsense state Governor, Ma Ferguson (Kathy Bates), for one last job - the extrajudicial execution of outlaws deemed too famous and too violent to be brought to justice any other way.

The Highwaymen is constructed, from its opening shots, around symbols of American Opportunity - vast space, straight roads, Ford cars. The dust of the dirt track and the vintage car show that this is an America of the past, nostalgically rendered through long, loving shots of Ford emblems on car bonnets. Both the outlaws and the law drive Fords - one stolen at gunpoint, one bought with hard-earned pay from a job in private security. The opening song of the soundtrack, composed for the film by Thomas Newman, is called ‘Ford V-8 Deluxe’. The outlaws drive recklessly, switching cars to avoid detection. Hamer’s car is sleek, the dark paintwork reflecting the sky above, almost always in motion. Hamer cares for his car - as he sets out his wife’s parting words are, ‘If you're covering miles, keep oil in her’. By contrast the Barrow Gang cars are brash cherry red and often sit, unnaturally still, waiting in lure for policemen, the sinister score confirming the sense that these cars have been mispurposed or misused. Who, the film asks, has the right to drive this most American commodity and how does this define their relationship with the state? The film, after all, is Based On A True Story, set in actually existing America. Hamer and Gault track the Barrow Gang across the country:

‘North to Kansas or Iowa,

east to Illinois or Indiana,

south to Arkansas.

Then right back to Texas

to start over again.

We got no jurisdiction north of Red River.

Maybe Hoover will take 'em up there.

Carthage.

Carthage...

Carthage, Missouri.’

Hamer and Gault discuss a lead in Bienville Parish, East of Shreveport. Seconds later, a title card - the Ford draws in to - ‘Bienville Parish, East of Shreveport. Kansas’. This verisimilitude established between the historical narrative and its cinematic representation lends the film a documentary weight, a realism. It also creates a of logic of believability in which the accuracy of small things - dates and place names - suggests, by extension, the authenticity of bigger things - the character of Hamer and Gault, the evil of Bonnie and Clyde and the ideological integrity of their mission.

The tightly scripted geographic references also link The Highwaymen to the Western genre - to cowboys and cattle drives to Missouri and the Red River. The film is attuned to this, Gault remarking, ‘I don’t remember a saddle being as hard on a man’s ass as these seats’. In typical Western tradition Hamer and Gault are old men positioned against progress, washed-up and beat, who ‘might go to hell’ for what they have done - their hard justice set against the softer sensibilities of the modernising police force who believe that the time ‘to put a pair of man-killers on the trail and let them do their job’ has passed. This is a recurring Western motif, personified in the clash between James Stewart and John Wayne in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance wherein lethal violence is discounted as Old West, soft and dangerously out of date - until someone comes along too evil to be stopped by sensitive, modern means. Violent and scored into American geography - the history of the Western genre is replete with gun-toting double-acts: John Wayne and Walter Brennan in Rio Bravo, or Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These partnerships work because of contrasts between the characters - their differences and their attempts to bridge these are often the source of humour or poignancy. In The Highwaymen, however, Hamer and Gault are both firmly characterised as gruff curmudgeons, their monosyllables providing little space to riff off one another. There are attempts to add lightness to their characters - Hamer has a pet boar (Porky), Gault has bladder issues. But these grueling additions to the script are a side-note to the main focus: their damaged Old West masculinity which can only be redeemed through a job well done. The Texas Rangers (founded during colonial expansion into Mexico, historically both a police force and patriotic militia, and symbolic of state power at home and abroad) have been disbanded by Ma Ferguson - the time of the violent cowboys is past. Instead Hamer and Gault must work on ‘special assignment’ - as Highwaymen. But under whatever modern bureaucratic aegis they are assigned, Hamer and Gault are cowboys in their mind’s eye. Figuratively, they pick up their sheriff’s star from the dust, pin it ceremoniously back to their jacket and saddle up.

The film works hard to characterise Hamer and Guilt as inherently good, whilst Bonnie and Clyde are intrinsically bad. The faces of the outlaws are hidden throughout. In place of a character for Bonnie we see only an immaculately stockinged and shod foot (the violence thus eroticised and gendered) as she blasts cops’ heads with a sawn off shotgun. Any scenes which might go somewhere to explain the lawlessness of Clyde and Parker or flesh out their characters are set up to damn rather than mitigate. Clyde’s first brush with the law, we learn, was to ‘steal a goddamn chicken’. But in the black and white logic of good and evil this is proof enough of bad character; in a climactic line Hamer asks ‘You ever think maybe there was something in Clyde that made him steal that chicken in the first place?’ Assertions of their immorality take the form of rhetorical questions, barked at anyone who might defend the gang. They must not be romanticised. As Ma Ferguson asks, ‘Did Robin Hood ever shoot a gas station attendant point-blank in the head for four dollars and a tank of gas?’ Bit Characters line up to confirm the justice of the death sentence. Ma Ferguson, the Texas police force, Clyde’s Father and Hamer’s wife confirm that ‘there is only one way this is going to end’. These are reasonable people - adults, property owners, elected officials - conferring reasonableness and a humanitarian drive to their mission. On the afternoon before the execution Hamer and Gault undertake a pre-killing cleanse - shave, fresh suits - bathed in beautiful white dusky light. Killing may be dirty and distasteful but they will be wearing crisp white shirts when they pull the trigger. And my god, when they pull the trigger - over 167 bullets are fired into Bonnie and Clyde’s car, ripping the outlaws, and their 1934 Ford Deluxe, to bits.

But how does the film want us to see these deaths? At times the message seems confused. Sad music plays as the hail of bullets come to an end. We see Bonnie and Clyde’s faces just once - terror-stricken - as Hamer and Gault must have seen them as they opened fire. A tragedy has occurred. But whose tragedy? The lingering shots on Hamer and Gault’s careworn faces assure us that it is theirs. This scene is the most dramatic encapsulation of the film’s aim - a new telling of an old story from the other side of the law. The credits underscore this idea of a story re-told for different tragic emphasis. We are shown black and white 1930s photographs of Hamer and Gault and the Texas police force, the chromatic colouring asserting their everyday heroism and the historical truth of the drama. In monochrome lettering suggestive of Objective Historical Fact (rather than Carefully Selected Fact) we are told that Clyde and Parker’s funeral attracted 35,000 mourners. They, at least, were celebrated. Hamer and Gault, by contrast, return to relative obscurity as unsung heroes. But the final title card informs us that an even greater justice resulted from Hamer and Gault’s success - the full restoration of the Texas Rangers Department, justifying the central argument of the film and of policing practice; that sometimes, people have to die.

#the highwaymen #kevin costner #bonnie and clyde #woody harrelson

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ucflibrary · 5 years

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Ready to fly your flag?

Pride Month has arrived! While every day is a time to be proud of your identity and orientation, June is that extra special time for boldly celebrating with and for the LGBTQIA community (yes, there are more than lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in the queer community). June was chosen to honor the Stonewall Riots which happened in 1969. Like other celebratory months, LGBT Pride Month started as a weeklong series of events and expanded into a full month of festivities.

In honor of Pride Month, UCF Library faculty and staff suggested books, movies and music from the UCF collection that represent a wide array of queer authors and characters. Additional events at UCF in June include “UCF Remembers” which is a week-long series of events to commemorate the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016.

Click on the Keep Reading link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the 30 titles by or about people in the LGBTQIA community suggested by UCF Library employees. These, and additional titles, are also on the Featured Bookshelf display on the second (main) floor next to the bank of two elevators.

(A)sexual directed by Angela Tucker Facing a sex obsessed culture, a mountain of stereotypes and misconceptions, and a lack of social or scientific research, asexuals - people who experience no sexual attraction - struggle to claim their identity. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

A Florida Enchantment directed by Sidney Drew A young woman discovers a seed that can make women act like men and men act like women. She decides to take one, then slips one to her maid and another to her fiancé. The fun begins. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

A Place at the Table: The gay individual in American society by Bruce Bawers At the Lincoln Memorial, on the eve of his inauguration as president, Bill Clinton expressed his hope for a nation in which every American would have "a place at the table." For Bruce Bawer, that vision will become reality only when every gay man and woman becomes a full member of the American family. His book is a passionate plea that we recognize, and celebrate, our common backgrounds and common values - our common humanity. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship -- like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor -- April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world -- everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires -- and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us. Suggested by Andrew Hackler, Circulation

Babel-17 by Samuel R Delany Babel-17, winner of the Nebula Award for best novel of the year, is a fascinating tale of a famous poet bent on deciphering a secret language that is the key to the enemy’s deadly force, a task that requires she travel with a splendidly improbable crew to the site of the next attack. For the first time, Babel-17 is published as the author intended with the short novel Empire Star, the tale of Comet Jo, a simple-minded teen thrust into a complex galaxy when he’s entrusted to carry a vital message to a distant world. Spellbinding and smart, both novels are testimony to Delany’s vast and singular talent. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Black Wings Beating by Alex London The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists. Brysen strives to be a great falconer--while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She's nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe. Together the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer. Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin Giovanni's Room traces one man's struggle with his sexual identity. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself confronting secret desires that jeopardize the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured as he oscillates between the two. Now a classic of gay literature, Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality. Examining the agonizing mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined yet beautifully restrained narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake Mara and Owen are as close as twins can get, so when Mara’s friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can her brother really be guilty of such a violent act? Torn between her family and her sense of right and wrong, Mara feels lost, and it doesn’t help that things are strained with her ex-girlfriend, Charlie. As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie come together in the aftermath of this terrible crime, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits into her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king's interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley Sixteen-year-old Solomon has agoraphobia. He hasn't left his house in 3 years. Ambitious Lisa is desperate to get into a top-tier psychology program. And so when Lisa learns about Solomon, she decides to befriend him, cure him, and then write about it for her college application. To earn Solomon's trust, she introduces him to her boyfriend Clark, and starts to reveal her own secrets. But what started as an experiment leads to a real friendship, with all three growing close. But when the truth comes out, what erupts could destroy them all. Funny and heartwarming, Highly Illogical Behavior is a fascinating exploration of what makes us tick, and how the connections between us may be the most important things of all. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is the author’s manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation’s history, including his father’s death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing—Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley—the writing of his first novel, Edinburgh, and the election of Donald Trump. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan In Other Lands is the exhilarating new book from beloved and bestselling author Sarah Rees Brennan. It’s a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world ― even if it means giving up your phone. Suggested by Katie Burroughs, Administration

Looking for Lorraine: the radiant and radical life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry Lorraine Hansberry, who died in 1965 at age thirty-four, was, by all accounts, a force of nature. She was also one of the most radical, courageous, and prescient artist-intellectuals of the twentieth century--and one of the least understood. Defined largely by her groundbreaking play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry has been hidden in plain sight for decades. Little of her manifold contributions, her associations, her other writing, or her transgressive nature is known. A prolific and probing artist, she also committed herself passionately to political activism. Hansberry's unflinching dedication to social justice brought her under FBI surveillance in the midst of McCarthyism, when she was barely in her twenties. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Make Trouble by John Waters When John Waters delivered his gleefully subversive advice to the graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015, the speech went viral, in part because it was so brilliantly on point about making a living as a creative person. From an icon of popular culture, here is inspiring advice for artists, graduates, and anyone seeking happiness and success on their own terms. Now we all can enjoy his sly wisdom in a manifesto that reminds us, no matter what field we choose, to embrace chaos, be nosy, and defy outdated critics. Suggested by Seth Dwyer, Circulation

Man Into Woman: an authentic record of a change of sex edited by Niels Hoyer This riveting account of the transformation of the Danish painter Einar Wegener into Lili Elbe is a remarkable journey from man to woman. Einar Wegener was a leading artist in late 1920's Paris. One day his wife Grete asked him to dress as a woman to model for a portrait. It was a shattering event which began a struggle between his public male persona and emergent female self, Lili. Einar was forced into living a double life; enjoying a secret hedonist life as Lili, with Grete and a few trusted friends, whilst suffering in public as Einar, driven to despair and almost to suicide. Doctors, unable to understand his condition, dismissed him as hysterical. Lili eventually forced Einar to face the truth of his being - he was, in fact, a woman. This bizarre situation took an extraordinary turn when it was discovered that his body contained primitive female sex organs. There followed a series of dangerous experimental operations and a confrontation with the conventions of the age until Lili was eventually liberated from Einar - a freedom that carried the ultimate price. Compiled fron Lili's own letters and manuscripts, and those of the people who adored her, Man into Woman is the Genesis of the Gender Revolution. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

Next Year, For Sure: a novel by Zoey Leigh Peterson In this moving and enormously entertaining debut novel, longtime romantic partners Kathryn and Chris experiment with an open relationship and reconsider everything they thought they knew about love. After nine years together, Kathryn and Chris have the sort of relationship most would envy. They speak in the shorthand they have invented, complete one another's sentences, and help each other through every daily and existential dilemma. When Chris tells Kathryn about his feelings for Emily, a vivacious young woman he sees often at the Laundromat, Kathryn encourages her boyfriend to pursue this other woman--certain that her bond with Chris is strong enough to weather a little side dalliance. As Kathryn and Chris stumble into polyamory, Next Year, For Sure tracks the tumultuous, revelatory, and often very funny year that follows. When Chris's romance with Emily grows beyond what anyone anticipated, both Chris and Kathryn are invited into Emily's communal home, where Kathryn will discover new romantic possibilities of her own. In the confusions, passions, and upheavals of their new lives, both Kathryn and Chris will be forced to reconsider their past and what they thought they knew about love. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers by Lillian Faderman As Lillian Faderman writes, there are "no constants with regard to lesbianism," except that lesbians prefer women. In this groundbreaking book, she reclaims the history of lesbian life in twentieth-century America, tracing the evolution of lesbian identity and subcultures from early networks to more recent diverse lifestyles. She draws from journals, unpublished manuscripts, songs, media accounts, novels, medical literature, pop culture artifacts, and oral histories by lesbians of all ages and backgrounds, uncovering a narrative of uncommon depth and originality. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

Orlando by Virginia Woolf Orlando, a novel loosely based on the life of Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf's lover and friend, is one of Woolf's most playful and tantalizing works. This edition provides readers with a fully collated and annotated text. A substantial introduction charts the birth of the novel in the romance between Woolf and Sackville-West, and the role it played in the evolution and eventual fading of that romance. Extensive explanatory notes reveal the extent to which the novel is embedded in Woolf's knowledge of Sackville-West, her family history and her writings. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist by Ben Barres As an undergraduate at MIT, Barres experienced discrimination, but it was after transitioning that he realized how differently male and female scientists are treated. He became an advocate for gender equality in science, and later in life responded pointedly to Larry Summers's speculation that women were innately unsuited to be scientists. Privileged white men, Barres writes, “miss the basic point that in the face of negative stereotyping, talented women will not be recognized.” At Stanford, Barres made important discoveries about glia, the most numerous cells in the brain, and he describes some of his work. “The most rewarding part of his job,” however, was mentoring young scientists. That, and his advocacy for women and transgender scientists, ensures his legacy. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara A gritty and gorgeous debut that follows a cast of gay and transgender club kids navigating the Harlem ball scene of the 1980s and ’90s, inspired by the real House of Xtravaganza made famous by the seminal documentary “Paris Is Burning”. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst In the summer of 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the Feddens: conservative Member of Parliament Gerald, his wealthy wife Rachel, and their two children, Toby―whom Nick had idolized at Oxford―and Catherine, who is highly critical of her family's assumptions and ambitions. As the boom years of the eighties unfold, Nick, an innocent in the world of politics and money, finds his life altered by the rising fortunes of this glamorous family. His two vividly contrasting love affairs, one with a young black clerk and one with a Lebanese millionaire, dramatize the dangers and rewards of his own private pursuit of beauty, a pursuit as compelling to Nick as the desire for power and riches among his friends. Richly textured, emotionally charged, disarmingly comic, this is a major work by one of our finest writers. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and provocative literary debut that was named to numerous best of the year lists. When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

The Path to Gay Rights: how activism and coming out changed public opinion by Jeremiah J. Garretson The Path to Gay Rights is the first social science analysis of how and why the LGBTQ movement achieved its most unexpected victory---transforming gay people from a despised group of social deviants into a minority worthy of rights and protections in the eyes of most Americans. The book weaves together a narrative of LGBTQ history with new findings from the field of political psychology to provide an understanding of how social movements affect mass attitudes in the United States and globally. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

The Polyamorists Next Door: inside multiple-partner relationships and families by Elisabeth Sheff The Polyamorists Next Door introduces polyamorous families, in which people are free to pursue emotional, romantic, and sexual relationships with multiple people at the same time, openly and with support from their partners, sometimes forming multi-partner relationships, or other arrangements that allow for emotional and sexual freedom within the family system. In colorful and moving details, this book explores how polyamorous relationships come to be, grow and change, manage the ins and outs of daily family life, and cope with the challenges they face both within their families and from society at large. Using polyamoristsown words, Dr. Elisabeth Sheff examines polyamorous households and reveals their advantages, disadvantages, and the daily lives of those living in them. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

The Price of Salt by Claire Morgan The Price of Salt is the famous lesbian love story by Patricia Highsmith, written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. The author became notorious due to the story's latent lesbian content and happy ending, the latter having been unprecedented in homosexual fiction. Highsmith recalled that the novel was inspired by a mysterious woman she happened across in a shop and briefly stalked. Because of the happy ending (or at least an ending with the possibility of happiness) which defied the lesbian pulp formula and because of the unconventional characters that defied stereotypes about homosexuality. The book fell out of print but was re-issued and lives on today as a pioneering work of lesbian romance. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword, and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future -- and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall 'As a man loved a woman, that was how I loved...It was good, good, good...' Stephen is an ideal child of aristocratic parents - a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions. The Well of Loneliness was banned for obscenity when published in 1928. It became an international bestseller, and for decades was the single most famous lesbian novel. It has influenced how love between women is understood, for the twentieth century and beyond. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson From the author of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes an “equal parts sarcastic and profound” novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ Elegant and electric, We Who Are About To... brings us face to face with our basic assumptions about our will to live. While most of the stranded tourists decide to defy the odds and insist on colonizing the planet and creating life, the narrator decides to practice the art of dying. When she is threatened with compulsory reproduction, she defends herself with lethal force. Originally published in 1977, this is one of the most subtle, complex, and exciting science fiction novels ever written about the attempt to survive a hostile alien environment. It is characteristic of Russ’s genius that such a readable novel is also one of her most intellectually intricate. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera Critically acclaimed and bestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera combine their talents in this smart, funny, heartfelt collaboration about two very different boys who can’t decide if the universe is pushing them together—or pulling them apart. ARTHUR is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. BEN thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

#lgbtqia+#lgbtq+ pride #featured bookshelf #ucf library #ucflibrary #booklr #reading suggestions

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oltnews · 4 years

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Even if Netflix has a huge collection of movies to stream, deciding what to watch can be a daunting task. Personal recommendations from people who have watched the movies are helpful, but by this point you may have gone through your family and friends' favorites. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Taylor Swift and Jonah Hill have their own favorite titles that are currently airing on Netflix, so we've compiled them into a list. From the cult classic "Rosemary’s Baby" to the empowering comedy by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson "Someone Great", here are 17 celebrity-controlled movies that you can stream on Netflix. Note: Many Netflix titles drop out of the service each month, so the availability of the titles below may change. Insider has many lists of movies and TV shows to keep you occupied. You can read them all here. Bradley Cooper said he "liked" the 2018 film "Roma". legend Bradley Cooper said "Roma" was one of his favorite films in 2018. The actor "A Star Is Born" told Variety that the 2018 drama, written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, was "great". Description of Netflix: Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón delivers a vivid and moving portrait of a domestic worker's journey through the domestic and political unrest of the 1970s in Mexico. Leonardo DiCaprio said "Taxi Driver" is the "greatest independent film ever made". legend Leonardo DiCaprio is full of praise for the 1976 film. "The one who moved me the most was" Taxi Driver "," Titanic actor told film director Martin Scorsese during an episode of "Charlie Rose". He continued, "I remember watching him at 15 and being pierced by Travis Bickle because I was locked in this character, and I felt incredible empathy for him." DiCaprio continued to praise the film, calling "Taxi Driver" the "greatest independent film ever made". Description of Netflix: Enraged by the moral decay and urban decay of New York, an unleashed taxi driver goes crazy, plotting an assassination and saving a sex worker. Jennifer Lawrence has listed "Step Brothers" as one of her favorite movies. legend Jennifer Lawrence has included the 2008 comedy in her list of must-see movies. The "Hunger Games" actress included the 2008 comedy, which stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, on her list of favorite movies, according to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Description of Netflix: Brennan and Dale may be adult men, but that doesn't stop a childish sibling rivalry from breaking out after Brennan’s mother married Dale’s father. Troye Sivan applauded the “alternative ending” in Quentin Tarantino's “Inglourious Basterds”. legend Troy Sivan said "Inglourious Basterds" is one of his favorite movies. source Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine; Universal "To me, it's a classic, and every time I sort of live a fantasy - it sounds awful - but Nazis who get what they deserve, I agree," said the singer of "Dance to This" at Rotten Tomatoes. . Sivan continued, "This is just one of those films that I feel like I can watch and enjoy at any time. And it's weird too, because I'm Jewish and very sensitive to a lot of Holocaust material and stuff from World War II, and so I'm trying to get away from those movies. But I think maybe because it's pretty fantastic and because of the alternate ending, this movie has always been ok for me to watch and don't mind too much. " Description of Netflix: A Jewish cinema owner in occupied Paris is forced to host a first Nazi, where a group of American soldiers called the Basterds is planning a confrontation. Jonah Hill and Robe Lowe said "GoodFellas" was one of their all time favorites. legend Jonah Hill and Robe Lowe recognized "GoodFellas" as one of the best movies, in their opinion. The "Superbad" actor and the "Wayne’s World" actor named the 1990 crime dama as one of their favorite movies. Hill told the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that he "must have this" on his list, and Lowe tweeted that the movie Scorsese was included in his review of his seven all-time favorite movies. Description of Netflix: Former gangster Henry Hill recounts his colorful but violent rise and fall in a New York criminal family - a high-speed dream turned into a paranoid nightmare. Hill also said that "Moonlight" is a "masterpiece". legend Jonah Hill said he likes "Moonlight". Hill included "Moonlight" on a list of 20 movie recommendations he gave GQ. He said, "Barry Jenkins has been literally the sickest director to go out in decades. He's a great genius. If you look at the circumstances in which this film was shot, the amount of money they had and the stress it was under, it's just a masterpiece. " Description of Netflix: In this acclaimed drama of adulthood, a young man who grows poor, black and gay in a rough neighborhood of Miami tries to find his place in the world. Josh Gad said "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" was one of his favorites. legend Josh Gad pointed out that the 1981 film was his favorite in the franchise. The actor "Frozen" tweeted that the 1981 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg is one of his all time favorites. Gad, who has two daughters, even jokingly asked if 7 is too young so her kids can watch the movie. Description of Netflix: When Indiana Jones is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself facing the entire Nazi regime. Elizabeth Olsen explained why she thinks "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Fate" is the best film in the Indiana Jones trilogy. legend Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images; Lucasfilm, Ltd. The Marvel star said she was a fan of all Indiana Jones movies, but said "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Fate" was her favorite. "" Indiana Jones, "this trilogy that I just saw on a plane from a vacation I just took. I watched all three and" Temple of Doom "continues to convince me," Olsen told Rotten Tomatoes. She continued, “I know; generally people like "The Last Crusade", and there is a lot of love for "Raiders" because it's the original. But ‘Temple of Doom’ is just, to me, so funny and entertaining and fun. And the kid from "Goonies" - Hot Shot? Short turn. He's so funny, and I grew up with Goonies, but I prefer him over Indiana Jones. " Description of Netflix: Indiana Jones, her young sidekick and a spoiled songbird get more than they bargained for when they go to India in search of a missing magic stone. She also said that "First Wives Club" was a particularly important film throughout her life. legend Elizabeth Olsen said that she loved "First Wives Club" since she was a child. “I watched this movie on VHS every night before bed for maybe two years. I have always felt a very close relationship with middle-aged women. When I was in elementary school, I felt like I understood it. I don't know why, "she told Rotten Tomatoes. Olsen added: "It's three great, three great actresses, and the final song and the dance at the end, 'You Don't Own Me', was something Sarah Paulson and I recreated several times, filming 'Martha Marcy May Marlene. "It had a new meaning, all of a sudden." Description of Netflix: Following the suicide of a friend after her husband abandoned her for a younger model, three women plot against their exes twice. Olivia Munn shared that she watched "Groundhog Day" so often that it was "as if it were Groundhog Day". legend Olivia Munn said that she regularly watches the film. The Love Wedding Repeat actress said the 1993 film, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, was one of her all-time favorites in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes. “I watch this film as if it were Groundhog Day. I watch it all the time. It's so good. It's one of the best movies of all time, and it's so smart. Whenever I look at it, I just find different little things or think of something different. I mean, it was a film that, as we see on paper, can be difficult to make, but [Murray] is just such a brilliant actor and he's so adorable without being boring, and Andie MacDowell was so great in it, "said Munn. Description of Netflix: Sent to cover the annual groundhog ritual Punxsutawney Phil, a self-absorbed meteorologist on television mysteriously begins to live the same day again and again. Julianne Moore said that "Rosemary’s Baby" has the power to "take you cinematographically elsewhere." legend Julianne Moore spoke of her admiration for the 1968 film in the New York Times. “I think this is the most incredible example of female paranoia that exists. I mean, here is a woman who is trapped in a situation in which every figure of authority she turns to, every avenue she explores, turns against her. She finds her power not to overcome the horror of her situation but, in a way, to accept it, "said the actress" Still Alice "to the New York Times. She continued: “The work of the camera is extraordinary; the action is superb. It’s a cinema film. And this is just one of those films which, I don't know, take you cinematographically elsewhere. It's the kind of movies I like. " Description of Netflix: A woman is delighted to learn that she is pregnant. But as her belly grows, the more confident she becomes that her unborn child is in great danger. As for Joe Manganiello, the actor chose "The Shawshank Redemption". legend Joe Manganiello listed "The Shawshank Redemption" as one of his favorite movies. The actor from "Magic Mike" shared that the 1994 film, which starred Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and Bob Gunton, had entered his top seven list. Description of Netflix: Supervised for murder, honest banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at Shawshank Prison and gradually forms a close bond with the older Red inmate. Taylor Swift revealed that the Netflix movie "Someone Great" inspired her song "Death by a Thousand Cuts". legend Taylor Swift explained the impact of the film on the song. When asked in May 2019 what his favorite movie was during a series of "hot questions" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", Swift chose "Someone Great" from Netflix. The answer turned out to be an Easter egg for "Death by a Thousand Cuts", which is featured on the singer's seventh album "Lover". After the album was released, Swift said the 2019 comedy helped her write the breakup song. The director of the film, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, then shared this 1989 album by Swift "which inspired me and" Someone Great "." After learning Robinson's appreciation for his album, Swift told Elvis Duran: "I just wrote a song based on something she did, she did while listening to something I done, which is the most meta thing that has ever happened to me. " Description of Netflix: In the aftermath of a blind break, music journalist Jenny is preparing for a new start - and a final adventure with her closest friends. Rian Johnson said that "Raging Bulls" is one of the movies that defines him. legend Rian Johnson has included "Raging Bulls" in his list of films that have influenced him. The director of "Knives Out" included the 1980 film, with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, on his list of four films that define him on Twitter. "Wait however, if these defined me, I would be a pretty messed up person, can we use another word?" Johnson joked, referring to his choices of "Brazil", "Ghostbusters" and "8 1/2". Description of Netflix: This grainy biopic of brutal boxer Jake LaMotta depicts a tormented soul rising to the top of his sport, only to be defeated by his demons. Gabrielle Union listed “Bad Boys II” as one of her favorite movies. legend Gabrielle Union tweeted about the 2003 movies. For her list of four films that define her, the actress of "Bring It On" chose the 2003 film, which stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, Description of Netflix: Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett return to investigate a Cuban cartel as ecstasy enters Florida in the midst of a mob war and internal strife. Ross Lynch explained that "the theory of everything" made him "enjoy life". legend Ross Lynch said that "The Theory of Everything" made his list of favorite movies. “It was also a film that struck me quite hard. "The theory of everything." I like what she says about life, "he told Rotten Tomatoes. Lynch added, "It made me appreciate life, about everything. In the end, I think these are some of my favorite movies, where you leave the theater, you sit back and you want to be a better person, or you want to enjoy life more. " Description of Netflix: As his self-esteem grows in the physical world, Stephen Hawking's body is ravaged by ALS, forcing his growing dependence on his devoted wife, Jane. He also said he liked "About Time" and called it "uplifting film." legend The singer also said he liked "About Time". "I'm still debating whether or not I want this on my list, but have you ever seen 'About Time' with Domhnall Gleeson? Same thing. An uplifting film," said the singer during a interview with Rotten Tomatoes. Lynch continued, "Makes you appreciate the time you have." Description of Netflix: When Tim learns that the men in his family can travel back in time and change their own lives, he decides to return and win the woman of his dreams. Business Insider emails and alerts The site highlights your inbox every day. Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. https://oltnews.com/17-celebrity-recommended-movies-to-watch-on-netflix-business-insider-australia?_unique_id=5ea0846f30264

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thisdaynews · 5 years

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John Paul Stevens, long-serving Supreme Court justice, dies at 99

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/john-paul-stevens-long-serving-supreme-court-justice-dies-at-99-2/

John Paul Stevens, long-serving Supreme Court justice, dies at 99

Only William O. Douglas and Stephen Field served longer on the Supreme Court than John Paul Stevens, seen here testifying before Congress in 2014 — and wearing his trademark bow tie. | AP Photo

Supreme Court

He gained influence over time as he evolved into the court’s most-liberal voice.

John Paul Stevens, the third-longest serving justice in U.S. Supreme Court history and a court figure whose influence grew markedly over his tenure, has died.

He was 99. The Associated Press reported that he died Tuesday in Florida after suffering a stroke Monday.

Story Continued Below

The bow-tie-wearing Chicago Republican served from December 1975 to June 2010, a term on the court only eclipsed by those of William O. Douglas (1939-75) and Stephen Field (1863-97). At the age of 90, Stevens was the second-oldest justice ever at the time of his retirement, behind only Oliver Wendell Holmes.

“He was not a justice who sought to become a celebrity or to assume the role of legal oracle,” said George Washington Law School professor Jonathan Turley in a 2009 Northwestern University alumni magazine profile.

“He is the quintessential judge — someone who holds to that traditional view that the function of any judge or justice is to decide cases fairly and clearly. His opinions have a distinctly Midwestern character: strong, honest and direct.”

Stevens’ Supreme Court career came at at time of a distinct ideological shift. He was nominated in 1975 by President Gerald Ford as the court was moving away from its most-liberal period, one dominated by such figures as Earl Warren, Hugo Black, William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall and Douglas, the liberal firebrand whom Stevens replaced.

By the time of his retirement in 2010, liberals were hoping that President Barack Obama’s choice of Elena Kagan would help balance a conservative court that had been dominated in recent years by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and his successor, John Roberts, as well as Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

During those years, Stevens evolved from a centrist and pragmatist to someone who was often the court’s most-liberal voice. His later years were marked by a number of scathing dissents, including inBush v.Gore, the case that decided the 2000 presidential election, andCitizens United v.FEC, the landmark 2010 election finance case. He also shifted to more liberal positions over the years on affirmative action and the death penalty

“He has served his nation well,” Ford wrote to Fordham Law School in 2005, “at all times carrying out his duties with dignity, intellect and without partisan political concerns. Justice Stevens has made me and our fellow citizens proud of my three-decade-old decision to appoint him to the Supreme Court.”

Even after his tenure ended, he made his voice heard. In 2018, he wrote a much-circulated column for the New York Times urging the repeal of the Second Amendment. He also spoke out against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. In 2019, the 99-year-old went on the interview circuit to promote his newest book, “The Making of a Justice: Reflections on My First 94 Years.”

Roberts said Tuesday night of Stevens: “A son of the Midwest heartland and a veteran of World War II, Justice Stevens devoted his long life to public service, including 35 years on the Supreme Court. He brought to our bench an inimitable blend of kindness, humility, wisdom, and independence.“

“Justice Stevens was a remarkable man,” tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “He was the leading liberal on the Court & he was brilliant & full of grace & class. Having argued 9 cases before SCOTUS, I can tell you first-hand there was no more dangerous or effective questioner than Justice Stevens.“

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump also offered condolences in a statement, noting “his passion for the law and our country.”

John Paul Stevens was born April 20, 1920, in Chicago. His father owned the Stevens Hotel, and the young Stevens often had contact there with the celebrities of the day, including aviators Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.

A lifelong Cubs fan, he was a boyhood witness to one of the most famous moments in baseball history, when Yankees icon Babe Ruth is supposed to have responded to heckling by the Cubs by pointing to the outfield stands and then clouting a World Series home run near that spot.

“Stevens recalled,” the Chicago Tribune wrote in 2016, “hearing the heckling coming from the Cubs dugout — particularly the razzing from [pitcher Guy] Bush — and clearly seeing Ruth holding up two fingers in a gesture toward center field.”

Stevens graduated from the University of Chicago in 1941 and Northwestern University Law School six years later, having served as a naval officer in in the interim and earning a Bronze Star during World War II.

After law school, he served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge, then went into private practice in Chicago. His reputation grew and in 1970, President Richard Nixon tabbed him for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. “There was a consensus in the legal community,” wrote his biographers in “The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789-1995,” “that Stevens was an unusually able jurist.”

In 1975, a vacancy occurred on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Douglas didn’t want to retire — he detested Ford and didn’t want him to pick his successor — but after a severe stroke in December 1974, his health declined sharply. According to “The Brethren” by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, Ford had a list of 10 candidates. He narrowed it down to Stevens and Circuit Court Judge Arlin Adams before settling on Stevens.

“On the basis of a few moments of small talk,” Woodward and Armstrong wrote, “Ford had preferred Stevens. Stevens also seemed to have no partisan politics, no strict ideology. His anonymity would ensure a quick confirmation.”

The confirmation was indeed easy — Stevens was approved by a vote of 98-0. He was sworn in Dec. 19, 1975, little more than a month after Douglas retired. Stevens started quickly, writing the majority opinion in his first case,Hampton v. Mow SunWong, a jobs discrimination ruling.

In 1976, he joined the majority inGregg v.Georgia, a case that allowed the restoration of the death penalty in the United States. It overturned a 1972 verdict in which Douglas had voted the other way.

Two years later, he was part of a fractured majority in the Bakke case, which put the brakes on some affirmative action policies. That same year, he wrote the majority opinion forFCC vs. PacificaFoundation, upholding an obscenity ruling revolving around the broadcast of a George Carlin comedy routine. In both cases, he voted with the court’s conservatives.

Gradually, though, Stevens became more and more associated with the court’s shrinking liberal wing, though it’s a matter of debate as to whether he changed or whether the court simply outflanked him on the right.

“I don’t think of myself as a liberal at all,” he was quoted as saying in the New York Times in 2007. “I think as part of my general politics, I’m pretty darn conservative.”

A number of his most-prominent opinions certainly can’t be considered liberal. In 1997, he wrote for a unanimous court inClinton v. Jones, a case that allowed Paula Jones’s lawsuit against Bill Clinton to continue even though he was president. He also wrote the dissents in a pair of cases (Texas v. Johnson, U.S. v. Eichman) that upheld the right to burn an American flag.

Still, Stevens clearly moved to the left on some issues, changing his view on the death penalty — in a 2008 decision, he said he now believed it to be unconstitutional — and affirmative action, forming part of the 5-4 majority in the 2003Grutter v. Bollingercase.

With the 1994 retirement of Harry Blackmun, he became the senior associate justice, a position that allowed him to assign either the majority or minority opinion in each case. He became known for his ability to use that power to build coalitions in such cases asHamdan v. Rumsfeld(2006) andRasul v. Bush(2004), civil liberties cases resulting from the war on terror. In both cases, the rulings went against the Bush administration.

He was also part of the majority inLawrence v. Texas(2003), which overturned restrictions on same-sex sexual activity, and wrote the opinion inAtkins v. Virginia(2002) that deemed it unconstitutional to execute mentally handicapped defendants.

“It is largely because of him” wrote the Washington Post’s Charles Lane in 2006, “that a court with seven Republican-appointed members, and nominally headed by a conservative, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, produced a string of relatively liberal results in recent cases.”

Stevens also wrote a number of prominent dissents.

In December 2000, he was on the short end of a 5-4 vote inBush v.Gore, the decision that ended the legal wrangling over that year’s presidential election. His dissent was scathing: “Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today’s decision. One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.”

Stevens was also in the minority in the 2010 Citizens United case, which struck down campaign financing restrictions.

His dissent in the 5-4 ruling ran 90 pages: “At bottom, the Court’s opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense.”

Through the years, Stevens never attracted much attention from the public.

“The man himself, it is agreed, is quiet and mild-mannered,” wrote “The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789-1995.”

“At one time or another, he has played serious squash, bridge, tennis and golf and flown his own small airplane. He possesses a puckishness that now and then finds its way into his opinions — particularly his concurrences and dissents. Justice Stevens has a fondness for bow ties, which, too, in its way, is a dissenting opinion.”

After his retirement, Stevens attributed his longevity to one simple thing — having married a dietitian, Maryan Mulholland Stevens in 1979, shortly after his divorce from Elizabeth, his first wife. “The most important key to my survival,” Stevens said, “is the advice I’d give to everybody in the room: Marry a beautiful dietitian.” She died in 2015.

Stevens later wrote a book titled “Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir” that focused on the five chief justices of his professional career, starting with Fred Vinson. It was a low-key book that reflected his great respect for the institution, though not without both praise and pointed criticisms for some of his fellow justices. In 2014, he followed with “Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution.”

Asked in April 2014 on ABC’s “This Week” about his achievements, Stevens offered a mixed view.

“It’s really awfully hard because it’s a series of individual, important events,” he said. “And some are terribly disappointing and some are terribly gratifying. you mix them all together, it’s really hard to pass judgment on the entirety.”

“All I can say, I did the best I could. I didn’t do well enough on many occasions.”

Five years later, NPR’s Nina Totenberg asked Stevens, fresh off a table tennis game in his Florida condo, to elaborate on his overriding judicial policy.

“I’m a person who plays Ping-Pong once in a while,” he told her.

Jennifer Epstein contributed to this report.

#Court #Foreign #Justice #Politics

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keywestlou · 6 years

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LOBSTER SEASON.....GOOD OR BAD

The lobster season is upon us. Last year, a disaster thanks to Irma. Traps blown all over.

This year another disaster. The tariff war with China. The Keys sell millions of dollars a year of spiny lobsters to China. The Chinese love spiny lobsters! So much so that on occasion they are willing to pay anything to get them.

The Key West Weekly 8/9/18 had an excellent article on the subject. The thrust how the China/U.S. trade war will affect the Keys lobster season. Titled: Too Soon To Tell.

The facts.

Irma literally blew the season away last year. However, all was not lost. Many of the traps which were strewn all over the ocean bottom were able to be relocated. The relocated lobsters have had an extra year to grow and hopefully will be sold this season..

Ergo, an abundance of lobsters available for sale.

The problem is cost per pound. The average the past 2 years between $9.50 and $10.50 per pound. A wholesaler must sell for at least $6 to $7 a pound to break even. China is the Keys biggest customer. Tariffs imposed by both the U.S. and China the problem.

The U.S. tariff is 25 percent. China imposed a retaliatory tariff of 17 percent. The combined tariffs add 42 percent onto the normal cost of the lobsters.

A lot of money.

The Asian holidays are approaching. If China is consistent and does not care of the cost, the season will be banner one. There is something about spiny lobsters that suggests such will be the case. The Chinese love them and generally are willing to pay!

The highest per pound cost China has ever paid was $20.50.

Local wholesalers do not appear concerned. Noting however that China is the key.

Time will tell.

Chart Room first last night. I almost left when I first arrived.

A number of 40 year olds were celebrating some sort of reunion. Loud. Boisterous. Cigar smoking.

Big time noise and cigar smoke thick enough to cut with a knife a couple of steps too far. I sat it out for a while at the bar with David, Cindy and Steve.

My thought…..Deliver me!

After a while, they up and left. A new world! The quiet overwhelming. The cigar smoke soon dissipated. Everything kumbaya.

Stomach grumbling. Time to eat. Headed over to Blue Macaw. No room at the bar. Left.

Headed over to Sandy’s Cafe. Finished the evening off with a Cuban cheese toast with tomato and a large Cuban coffee.

Then to home and bed. An early evening.

Florida has early voting. Began this year August 13. Ends August 25. I will probably vote next week.

My voting place is the County Office Building on Whitehead. I vote where Key West residents vote. I am a Key West resident.

Strange.

I live at the golf course. Many many homes. Most on Stock Island. A handful totaling 40 built on Key West land. I live in one of those homes. Ergo, vote in Key West and for Key West candidates.

The weatherman’s humor showing again. Afternoon thunderstorms predicted. His add on tidbit: Afternoon wake up – loud!

Means big time thunder. Thunder by the ocean loud booming. Scares dogs and humans alike.

BOB has not written in over a week. Only one chapter left. Concerns politics and politicians. BOB’s viewpoint as one would expect. Tomorrow or the next day, BOB will finish up.

Two deaths the past few days. One after another. Yesterday, Arthea Franklin, the Queen of Soul. Fondly remembered by most. Certain anti-blacks probably did not care.

The day before, Trump took away John Brennan’s security clearance. A petty move by a small man. Brennan a former head of the CIA. A man who performed exceptionally under 6 consecutive Presidents.

A piece of America, a piece of democracy, died by Trump’s action.

Wake up America! Day by day, Trump does one or more things adversely affecting our freedoms.

Enjoy your day!

LOBSTER SEASON…..GOOD OR BAD was originally published on Key West Lou

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revpauljbern · 6 years

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President Trump, current events and Bible prophecy

Why the 7 Year Tribulation Didn't Begin

When Many Said It Would, and

What This Most Likely Means for Us

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this on phones, tablets or my website, click here :-)

It's been all over the propaganda-spewing TV, dish and cable networks on a continuous basis ever since Donald Trump took office. Allegations of Russian collusion to allegedly hack the 2016 presidential election, accusations of incompetence on Trump's part, not to mention allegedly crooked or unethical business dealings and even being “nothing short of treasonous”, as CIA senior official John Brennan said recently. The thing I'm seeing about president Trump is what numerous others are overlooking, or probably ignoring in some of those cases. When he met Kim Jung Un at Singapore, some predicted it would lead to world war 3. No such thing has happened, at least not so far. When Trump met Russian president Putin at Helsinki, Finland, the peaceful and pragmatic outcome of their meeting enraged the military and intelligence communities and deeply offended the US military-industrial complex. So now everybody knows that there are some at the Pentagon and the CIA who consider making peace with Russia, and by extension North Korea and China, “treasonous”! It presents an existential threat to their livelihoods – waging war and mass killing!

So now let's juxtapose president Trump's peaceful overtures to communist countries with Biblical prophecy. Haven't you noticed, over the past few years, things getting a little hotter, a little heavier? Now, add to that the rate at which events are increasing, just like the pains of a woman in labor. Haven’t we all heard or read that somewhere before? 1st Thessalonians 5 verse 3 says, “While people are saying, 'Peace and safety', sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape”. Are you among those who believe we have years left before the return of Christ? Or, are you watching the events escalate with anticipation, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the hour for His return is getting closer than ever?

But wait! Before anyone starts quoting scripture to me regarding “no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven…” (Matt. 24: 36), let me say that I don't believe there is day or hour recorded here or even mentioned. The keys are the number ‘seven’, the Shemitah, and the Four Blood Moons, the last two of which have already occurred without incident. So all of those “predictions” were wrong. Remember what Jesus said about false prophets like that. “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matt. 7: 17) All we have to do is examine Biblical End Times Prophecy (sometimes called 'eschatology') and you will understand why all of the prophets are wrong, just like president Trump's haters are wrong for calling him “treasonous”.

Here are some examples of God's numerology. As you can see from these first examples, the number seven figures very prominently in God's kingdom all throughout the Bible. Leviticus 25: 8-13 says, “Count off seven groups of seven years, or forty-nine years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land. On the Day of Cleansing, you must blow the horn of a male sheep; this will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the horn through the whole country. Make the fiftieth year a special year, and announce freedom for all the people living in your country. This time will be called Jubilee. You will each go back to your own property, each to your own family and family group. The fiftieth year will be a special time for you to celebrate. Don’t plant seeds, or harvest the crops that grow by themselves, or gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed. That year is Jubilee; it will be a holy time for you. You may eat only the crops that come from the field. In the year of Jubilee you each must go back to your own property.” (Leviticus 25:3-4) says, “Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard”.

As you will now see from the verses below, God always makes allowance and provision for those who obey all His commandments. I offer two quotes as examples: Leviticus 25: 20-22; “And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store”. And, Deuteronomy 15: 1-2 says, “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release”.

God held his entire nation of Israel accountable to follow these and all other laws and precepts which God has made, all of which is for our benefit. Deuteronomy 31 verses 10-12 says regarding this, “And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law”. Today in America we have exactly the opposite – our children can't even pray in school, not even to themselves, because it's illegal. Now you know why our schools are being turned into shooting galleries.

God has warned us in the past of what could happen to us all if we fail to obey, or if we ignore, his commandments. There are numerous examples throughout the Bible of this, and many more that predict this evil to continue ever more as we get close to the end of all things as we have known them. But more basic than that, does the Bible give humankind any advance warning about what could actually occur if we ignore God and do only as we please? I can cite several examples that coincide with Biblical prophecy. It is likely, for example, that these verses predict WW3:

Revelation 6 verse 8: “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth”. Rev. 9, verses 13-16. “The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates'. And the four angels who had been kept for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill one third of mankind. The number of their mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.”

There is only one country in the world that can muster an army that huge, and that would be Red China. At some point in the future, the Chinese military will march, transport or fly over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq, presumably in a march to the Mediterranean Sea and conquering large swaths of Asia and the Middle East. But these events do not look likely for at least the near future. The quote above from the Book of Revelation refers to the battle of Armageddon, the last battle before Christ's return. But for now, it appears that Donald Trump has done what no other US president has, which is to make peace with Russia and on the Korean peninsula. In effect, president Trump has bought the world some time to straighten out its problems with militarism and economic inequality. Whether it will be sufficient time or not remains to be seen.

The Bible tells us quite plainly what the aftermath of WW3 is going to be, and it will be devastating to say the least! For example, Acts 2: 20-21 says; “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord comes: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. But God commanded the prophet Daniel to explain absolutely nothing about the details of these prophecies until the End Times arrive. Daniel 12:4 says, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Well, people, it looks to me like the End Times have arrived, and with a vengeance.

The prophet Amos says yet again in Amos 8:11, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord”. And what, you are probably asking right about now, is the greatest sin of humankind as the end of days approaches? I can sum it up in one word: Greed! 1st Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows”. But, there is a way out of all of this which is spelled out in 2nd Chronicles 7: 14; “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”.

There is still time to seek God's face, his mind and his will. But we are running short of time. As I said at the beginning of this week's message, the four blood moons forecast to occur in the Bible have already happened. “No man knows the day or the hour, not even the Son of Man, but only the Father who lives in heaven” (Mark 13: 32). Since this didn't happen back in September of 2015 as “predicted”, then that means we have at least seven more years to go before the beginning of the Tribulation. That works out to the summer or fall of 2022. Then again, all this could be over with in a week from now. So get ready, because “the hour of our redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21: 28). Moreover, “the Son of Man will arrive at a time when you do not expect him.” (Luke 12: 40) Never stop being thankful for the peace we currently enjoy with Russia and North Korea. It could end within days of this writing. Besides, I am put off by some things president Trump has done in the past just like some of you. But we still should be praying for him whether we agree with him or not. Let's not forget that the Bible tells us to pray for our leaders. Until next week, then....

#Progressive Christian #end times prophecy #the last days #president Trump #greed #endless war #the Book of Revelation #nuclear weapons #WW3

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fathersonholygore · 8 years

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FOX’s Scream Queens Season 2, Episode 10: “Drain the Swamp” Directed by Ian Brennan Written by Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan

* For a review of the penultimate Season 2 episode, “Lovin the D” – click here Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) is confronted by the Green Meanie again. She’s trapped in one of the hospital’s dark hallways, as the killer has a baseball throwing machine aimed right at, running full speed. Chanel ducks and dodges, until one of the newest Chanels takes a ball right in the head. Luckily, she’s not dead. Chanel #1 gets away, and we see it’s Ingrid Hoffel (Kirstie Alley) behind the mask. At the same time Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd) is sneaked up on by the remaining Green Meanie, Cassidy Cascade (Taylor Lautner). But he doesn’t kill his love. They both want to try and convince his mother Jane (Trilby Glover) otherwise. So #3 runs off for a “whore‘s bath” so they can bang, and Cascade threatens Hoffel: leave his girl out of it, or face his wrath. Things between the Meanies aren’t looking good. Uh oh. Dr. Brock Holt (John Stamos) apologises for the hand’s actions, nearly strangling her to death, although Chanel doesn’t think much of it, other than it’s progress in their relationship. Yikes. Meanwhile, Hester (Lea Michele) is still kicking around. She’s scheming over Cathy Munsch’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) fortune, who is on the verge of dying. Hester wants Brock to help her steal all her money, then they’ll run off together: “Just two murderers with no one to murder except for each other, but we never will because we love and trust each other.” What could go wrong, right? Out in the garden, Ingrid gets some nasty ideas when one of the new Chanels is fertilising the tomato garden. Explosive substances. Green Meanie. Murderous impulse. You know what’s coming. Also, Chanel mixes up the fact Brock is looking at engagement rings for a pending marriage proposal. Only when Dr. Holt calls everyone to Cathy’s room, where she’s lying waiting for death to come, he proposes to the former Ms. Munsch, soon to be the new Mrs. Holt. But he works on Chanel behind the scenes, too. He strings her along. Cassidy and #3 talk with his mother Jane. He tells her that the “killing and revenge stuff” is all her thing. However, mom isn’t so willing to let all that go. She doesn’t want it to stop until the job is done. So the wedding of Brock and Cathy goes ahead, right there at the CURE Institute. They’re now officially husband and wife. Then as they snuggle later, Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin) comes in with information saying that maybe Munsch isn’t dying. She wants to get a sample of her brain, to test for sure. And though Brock isn’t thrilled, Cathy wants more time to be with her new husband.

Downstairs, Denise Hemphill (Niecy Nash) is still in cryogenic storage. And Ingrid is down snooping around. She gets a call from Jane, who has her own secrets with Zayday (Keke Palmer) trapped in her cellar. “Now it‘s just you and me,” she says. But Ingrid’s more interested in her latest plan to kill the Chanels. Things at the hospital are getting tense with Hester wanting Brock to kill Cathy. She doesn’t want to go back to prison where she has to “draw porn” so she can masturbate. Not to mention Chanel can’t deal with Brock and Munsch together, no matter what fairy tale he spun for her earlier. Later, the biopsy goes ahead. Cathy sings “Smoke on the Water” while Chanel plots on throwing her pumpkin spice latte into Cathy’s open skull, which doesn’t work as planned. Now the verdict: no evidence of the nasty disease, but it’s inconclusive. And she’s still going to die. Maybe. Could even be extreme dehydration. Silly, no? “I only drink scotch, or vodka,” Cathy gasps in a hilarious moment of revelation. She even rinses out her toothpaste mouth with scotch. She goes on to find out the brain eating wasn’t human brain; it was lamb. She’s not going to die! Everybody heads to the basement for a celebration, champagne included. But it’s all a trick by Ingrid. She traps them in a cage downstairs. She reveals to them all her identity, sister of Agatha Bean who was accidentally burned alive in the deep fryer during Season 1. Out of nowhere Zayday arrives, alongside Jane who doesn’t want to keep on killing after seeing the CURE Institute’s good work. Only Ingrid guns her down, and they’re all left in no better position than before. She further reveals a huge fertiliser bomb, leaving them to die. Afterwards, Denise is alive! And she’s hilariously missed a few things while in her cryogenic coma. Waiting for Denise to defuse the bomb, #5 finally admits she does have teeth in her vagina: “I didn‘t want to die a liar.”

Upstairs the crew chase down Ingrid. They head out back into the swamp. There, Cascade takes a machete right in his torso trying to save #3. In the forest Ingrid runs through a patch of muddy ground which slowly sucks her into the earth. Nobody helps. Until Munsch suddenly feels her conscience tug. She tries to save the woman, but the mud suffocates her and sucks her to the bottom. Everything is over, and the Chanels have made it through alive. A little worse for wear. You know them, though. They’re bouncing back. #5 is doing her thing at the hospital; she and Zayday are essentially running the place. Munsch hit a rough patch when she finds out someone cleaned out her bank accounts – Hester, of course, who took off with Dr. Holt to an exotic beach on Blood Island. Where they play The Most Dangerous Game. Munsch went on to become a sex expert, like you didn’t see that coming after all her friskiness. And Chanel, she went on to become a TV doctor with #3 as her executive producer on Lovin the C. So it looks like things have progressed for them after being hunted by the Red Devil killer, the Green Meanie(s). Things are back on track in their lives.

Or are they? One night as Chanel leaves the television studio, she finds a small broach in her car inscribed KKT. Who’s that in the backseat? It’s the Red Devil.

Wow, loved this episode, and loved that final scene! Didn’t expect it, honestly. Works great and maybe gives us something to expect for Season 3, which hopefully is on the radar for FOX. What did you all think about Season 2? I thought Season 1 was spectacular, and I’ve felt that Season 2 got even funnier, weirder, and wilder. Overall, a solid season. Let me know your thoughts, and if you want another season with the Chanels, Cathy Munsch, and that sneaky Red Devil. Scream Queens – Season 2, Episode 10: “Drain the Swamp” FOX's Scream Queens Season 2, Episode 10: "Drain the Swamp" Directed by Ian Brennan…

#Blood Island #Emma Roberts #Finale #FOX #Green Meanie #Jamie Lee Curtis #Kirstie Alley #Red Devil #Scream Queens #Season 2 #The Most Dangerous Game

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