#MS Office Fundamentals

[oiuytrewq-00]

A Diploma in Computer Applications (DCA) is a one-year course that provides foundational knowledge in computer applications, including programming, data management, and office automation tools. It equips students with essential IT skills for various roles in data entry, software applications, and office management.

[reidmania]

I umm I was wondering if I could make a request?

My idea was that the reader is like a female spencer and is Rossi or Hotch niece and the team teases them calling them Mr and Mrs Genius when she visits.

MR & MRS BOY WONDER | spencer reid

summary; the bau likes to tease you and spencer.

warnings; hotchner!niece, non bau reader, female reader, theres literally nothing this is so short and sweeet its not funny!! theres a miniature spencer ramble about the difference between mrs and ms

an ; IM TRYING TO GET THROUGH ALL THE REQUESTS GUYS i promise if you send or sent one i will get to it, it just might take time

The elevator of the bau opened to the sound of chaos, Emily was running around holding case files while laughing loudly at whatever JJ was saying from behind her as the blonde trailed along, Penelope was standing at Derek’s desk and it didn’t take much to notice the two were probably flirting like always — you adored that, their dynamic of purely platonic flirtation.

You scanned the building for two people specifically, your uncle, or your boyfriend. Neither of which you could see currently making a frown pull on your lips as you stepped out of the elevator.

“Look who it is!” You had gotten the attention of Derek, you smiled as your eyes settled on his, then on Penelope’s as the blonde turned to see what Derek was talking about, a wide smile adorning her features.

She cooed your name as she ran over to wrap you in a tight hug, making you giggle out softly as you hugged her back. “Hi.” You settled on as a reply.

“You just get prettier everytime I see you” She muttered out as she pulled away. The compliment caused your smile to widen and your cheeks to flush pink.

“Here for anyone specific mrs boy wonder?” Derek asked, leaning against his desk as he crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled at you, taunting you.

The nickname made the tint on your cheeks only deepen, the flutter in your chest caused a lingering sensation over your ribcage. You pushed out a soft chuckle — trying not to pay as much attention to his words as your mind begged you to.

“Shes here for me of course” Penelope said, holding her hand to her chest in faux offence, as she looked between you and Derek. Her teasing made your smile widen, as you nodded your head in agreement, playing along in her bit. “Yeah— Why would you assume otherwise?” You asked.

“Mrs boy wonder!!” Emily shouted from across the room as she noticed you, her and JJ instantly made their way over to you, this time casefile-less. Their hands empty from where they hand been full holding files only moments ago.

Your cheeks darkened. “Is this just a well known nickname for me that I don’t know about?” You ask, looking between the team of bau members, who were all smiling at you. It wasn’t unfamiliar with your uncle working in the fbi, you had known them all for years — except you and Spencer had only been dating a little over six months after years of mutual pinning for each other, both too scared to make the move until one day he just blabbed it out.

“Not on purpose” JJ mentioned, smiling as she tilted her head to the side softly, her blonde hair falling with her head, “We always call you that, have for years, makes Reid blush like a mad man” Emily poked into JJ’s side jokingly as she talked, the blondes body crunched at the feeling as she laughed.

The was the sound of the door opening causing Derek to look over towards Aaron hotchner’ office — your uncles office, where your uncle and your boyfriend were walking out of.

“Reid!!” Derek called out, “Mrs boy wonder is hereeee” He dragged out as he talked in a sing-song voice, laced with familiar teasing and playfulness. You watched as Spencer’s face lit up as he began walking towards you, your uncle trailing behind him.

“We talked about this— It would be miss, not mrs, we aren’t married yet therefore mrs is incorrect and in many cases people will find it disrespectful — I mean — I don’t, its just fundamentally incorrect and you are technically spreading misinformation” Spencer rambled out as he came closer, He paused in front of you blocking the others gaze as he leant down, tilting your chin upwards to place a gentle kiss on your lips. “Hi” He said softly.

You smiled “Hi” You replied.

“Miss boy wonder doesn’t have the same ring to it as mrs boy wonder does” Derek sighed out, shaking his head. “It suits her more as well, mrs boy wonder, miss boy wonder, mrs boy wonder” Derek muttered out.

You chuckled as Spencer moved to stand beside you — despite his want to wrap his arms around you, he was well away of his need for respect for the fact he was 1, in his work place and 2, your uncle was standing a mere few feet away.

“Don’t you agree hotch?” Derek asked, toothy grin on his face as he continued on with his teasing.

“Hi sweetheart” Your uncle ignored Derek’s question as he looked at you, your smiled at his slight softness despite the fact you knew that was the most you were going to get out of him in his work place. You were lucky enough to get fun uncle aaron before he joined the FBI — but he still treated you the same nontheless, just in more mature subtle ways.

“Hi” You grinned back widely.

“Hey Its mr and mrs boy wonder!!” You laughed and Spencer groaned at Rossi’s words

[m1lfsh4ke]

Heyyyy, would you be able to do a student reader (student is 18) x Marilyn fic where student is cockwarming with Marilyn. Basically Marilyn is busy marking papers in her office but reader wants to be with her so Marilyn makes her sit on her lap whilst Marilyn is inside her??? I know this is a lot to ask so feel free to not write if it makes you uncomfortable 😭😭

Full of you | (18+)

warnings : cockwarming + riding + teacher/student + dirty talk + smut

hi anon :D ! I want to be entirely honest with you, this is my first time actually writing something that dealt with cockwarming, so my knowledge is poorly limited. I've read a few fics here and there to understand the fundamentals but I'm not sure if it does me any justice😭.

"Staying up late again?" your body lazily dragged itself to Ms. Thornhill's private office, her big hazel eyes darting towards the door as you closed it behind you with a click to the lock.

"Sweetheart.." she breathed out, "shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

"The bed felt empty without you, made it hard to get some rest." you pouted, pulling Marilyn's chair out enough to make some space just to squeeze yourself in and sit on top of her. "mph.. much better.." you softly whimpered, burying your face in the croak of her neck taking in her bittersweet scent, as one of her hands held you at your lower back, and the other resuming to marking papers.

As her hand rubbed the small of your back, she started to become aware of the clothing you were wearing. The fabric glided up beneath her fingertips when her hand hiked up your spine, making her feel a slight touch of your bare skin when she lowered it back down.

"You wore your nightdress when coming down?" Her voice interrupted you, making you pull away from the warmth of her neck to look up at her.

"I'm sorry, yes?" you giggled, not knowing what the issue was when its 11pm--way past the students time to be roaming the campus. "Is there a problem?" You fucking knew how possessive Ms. Thornhill was when it came to her star student being perceived by others, but you found it painfully attractive to be put in place by her.

"What if someone saw you in this." The dress was white, silk making it easier to draw out the shape of your breasts and your hardened nipples.

You got closer to her ear, planting a kiss just below her earlobe, feeling her body shiver. The hem of your nightdress was above your thighs, making your movements easier as you ground your clothed pussy down on Marilyn, making the two of you whimper. "They're not the one fucking it off of me" you breathed out with a smile, still continuing to grind down on Ms. Thornhill's already evident bulge.

She dropped her pen, whimpering at the friction as her hips stuttered up to feel more of you. "Poor baby.. here, let me get that for you." Your hand snaked its way to the waistband of her pants with your fingertips lightly playing with the hem. "Continue grading your papers, I'll take care of you" You kissed the side of her lips, finally dipping your hand past the waistband of her pants as she gasped, feeling your fingertips graze her dick.

"Fuck- keep playing with me, feels so good-" Her hips started to buck to your touch which you found adorable.

Tugging her pants along with her boxers down, you licked a stride of your hand and started to pump her dick, making her eyes roll to the back of her head. "feels good doesn't it? little slut loves to fuck herself on my hand, yeah?" She tried her best to make her handwriting look neat and not wobbly, but that came to no avail as you started to line your dripping pussy atop of her.

Sinking down to her length, she let out a guttural moan as you hushed her with a kiss, tugging on her bottom lip.

"Sh-fuckk!- So big, Mari.." you whimpered, fully taking in her whole while you sat there for a moment. You could feel her dick throb inside of you as she tried her best inputting test scores.

"C-can I fuck you, please?" Her big doe eyes looked up at you as you looked in awe, caressing her face and brushing her hair away from her eyes.

"My polite baby, of course" Placing a kiss on her forehead, you grabbed her by her wrist and settled them on your hips as you sort of lifted yourself up from her lap, making her moan at how wet you felt.

She tightened her grasp on your hips as she started to fuck up to you, whimpering at how easy it is for her dick to slide in and out of you.

"That's it- ri-right there, yes!-" You slammed your hips down, taking her full length again, making the poor woman cry out a moan.

"My sweet angel, is this too much for you? Mommy fucking this dick good?" You panted out, continuing to relentlessly ride her as a strap from your dress began to fall down to your shoulders, exposing your cleavage as your boobs bounced every time you rode her.

"Fuck- Let me cum please- Wanna make sure you walk back to the room with my cum leaking down your thighs-" You moaned at her words, bouncing on top of her even faster as you leaned back against her desk

"Mari, sh-shit!-" A loud wanton moan escaped past your lips as she fucked you deep, painting your walls white. Her legs shook when you continued to slowly bounce on her, helping her ride out her high.

[coochiequeens]

The truly sad thing is that TRAs are not going to take a moment for self reflection and look at the perverts that have overun the TQ+ movement. Instead they are going to lash out at "TERFs".

Judges have ruled that the UK government acted lawfully in blocking Scotland's gender self-ID reforms.

Legislation making it easier for people to change their legally-recognised sex was passed by the Scottish Parliament last year.

The UK government blocked it from becoming law over fears it would impact on equality laws across Great Britain.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh has now rejected a Scottish government legal challenge to the veto.

The Scottish government has 21 days to decide whether it wants to appeal against the ruling, and the case could ultimately end up in the Supreme Court in London.

The legislation received cross-party support in Holyrood, passing by 86 votes to 39 after a highly-charged debate.

Campaigners against the reforms warned the legislation could risk the safety of women and girls in same-sex spaces such as hospital wards and refuges.

Supporters argued it would make the process of obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC) easier and less traumatic for trans people.

The legislation would remove the need for trans people to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria by a doctor before they are allowed to change their legally-recognised sex in Scotland, and would lower the age that someone can apply for a GRC from 18 to 16.

The period in which applicants would need to have lived in their acquired gender would be cut from two years to three months.

The UK government stepped in to block the bill from receiving royal assent after it was passed by MSPs, using powers contained in section 35 of the Scotland Act for the first time.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack raised concerns that the reforms could adversely impact on the 2010 Equality Act, which applies in Scotland, England and Wales and sets out protections for groups including women and transgender people.

The Scottish government challenged the move at the Court of Session - Scotland's highest civil court - with its top law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, arguing that Mr Jack did not have "reasonable grounds" to block the bill.

Ms Bain also claimed that if the UK government was successful, Westminster "could veto practically any act of the Scottish Parliament having an impact on reserved matters because he disagreed with it on policy grounds".

But in her written ruling, judge Lady Haldane dismissed the Scottish government's appeal and said the block on the legislation was lawful.

She said Mr Jack followed correct legal procedures when he made his decision to invoke section 35 and that the Scottish government had failed to show that he had made legal errors.

The judge wrote: "I cannot conclude that he (Mr Jack) failed in his duty to take such steps as were reasonable in all the circumstances to acquaint himself with material sufficient to permit him to reach the decision that he did."

Lady Haldane also said that "Section 35 does not, in and of itself, impact on the separation of powers or other fundamental constitutional principle. Rather it is itself part of the constitutional framework."

Welcoming the judgement, Mr Jack said it "upholds my decision to prevent the Scottish government's gender recognition legislation from becoming law".

He added: "I was clear that this legislation would have had adverse effects on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters, including on important Great Britain-wide equality protections.

"Following this latest court defeat for the Scottish government, their ministers need to stop wasting taxpayers' money pursuing needless legal action and focus on the real issues which matter to people in Scotland - such as growing the economy and cutting waiting lists."

Alister Jack blocked the legislation because of its potential impact on equalities law that applies across Scotland, England and Wales

Humza Yousaf decided to proceed with the legal challenge shortly after succeeding Nicola Sturgeon - a passionate supporter of trans rights - as first minister earlier this year.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he described the ruling as a "dark day for devolution".

Mr Yousaf said: "Today's judgment confirms beyond doubt that devolution is fundamentally flawed. The court has confirmed that legislation passed by a majority in Holyrood can be struck down by Westminster.

"The only way to guarantee we get true self-government is through independence. Sovereignty should lie with the people of Scotland, not a Westminster government we didn't vote for with the ability to overrule our laws."

He was the only one of the three candidates in the SNP leadership contest who backed taking legal action and the issue has been deeply divisive within the party.

Colin Macfarlane, director of nations at LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, said the ruling would "mean more uncertainty for trans people in Scotland who will be waiting once again to see whether they will be able to have their gender legally recognised through a process that is in line with leading nations like Ireland, Canada and New Zealand."

Labour's shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray said it was "disappointing this legalisation ended in the courts but this ruling should be respected".

Shortly after the reforms were passed, double rapist Isla Bryson - who changed gender after being arrested for attacking two women - was remanded to a women's jail.

Bryson was subsequently moved to a male prison after the case sparked widespread anger. The Scottish government said the new legislation had no impact on the decision about where Bryson was held.

As befitting an unprecedented case, this is in Lady Haldane's words a "novel and complex" ruling.

She actually concluded in part that this is a situation where many decisions could have been taken, and that "there is possibly no single right answer" - but that the courts should only intervene in the case of a clear error in law.

The judge concluded that Alister Jack was entitled to make a decision on this, and that he had taken the proper steps to come to a view, without going into the even knottier territory of whether it was the right one.

All of that complexity means there could be room for appeal.

The Scottish government will be combing through the ruling to see if there are grounds to go back to court.

Mr Jack has urged them not to, telling them not to waste public funds on further legal action.

But ministers will perhaps put more weight on the position of the Scottish Greens, their partners in government, who are absolutely furious about the "horrible, heartbreaking and unjust" outcome.

Challenging UK ministers on this has been a red line for the Greens in the past. It may be that Scottish ministers have little choice but to fight on if they are to keep their partnership government together.

[themirokai]

The Bell Bird - Chapter 4

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

In this chapter, plans are put in motion.

Chapter is 2,545 words.

Extra thanks to @once-in-a-blue-moon-rising for normal Brit-pick and beta support PLUS incredible help with details of the logistics for this chapter.

Read it below or on AO3.

~*~

Gregory had the decency to wait a week before asking. Mycroft was not surprised. Gregory was, after all, a fundamentally decent man.

The intervening week had been busy, but no more taxing than Mycroft was used to.

The DNA test had, of course, shown that the Bell Bird was David’s daughter, and they had quickly begun to implement the plan he had sketched out for her that first night in his office. Arranging for Jenny to sing a concert at the Nevill Holt Theatre two weeks later took very little effort, and Ahmad had barely concealed her eagerness to travel with Jenny to Leicestershire and remain there as primary bodyguard under the guise of Ms. Lindish’s personal assistant.

Romer had come back to work the following day with his tail between his legs, and had apologised for his behaviour. To demonstrate that there were no hard feelings, Mycroft had moved Yang to another assignment and put Romer on his personal security detail. Though Wilkinson was older than Romer, Romer had been in Mycroft’s unit for longer, meaning he was technically the senior agent on the detail. He had taken the responsibility with enthusiasm and extra gravitas, and Mycroft was grateful to Wilkinson for his bemused acceptance of Romer’s bluster.

The day to day of Mycroft’s work had all gone relatively smoothly that week, with the dozen or so operations his agents were conducting both domestically and abroad tracking with no major hiccups.

Which all left Mycroft free to lounge in bed with Gregory on Saturday morning at – for him – the late hour of eight AM. Gregory was half-sitting up against the pillows and Mycroft was laying with his cheek on Gregory’s stomach. Gregory was ostensibly reading something on his mobile but Mycroft could tell he hadn’t scrolled in some time and likely had something on his mind. Finally Gregory put the mobile down and stroked his hand down Mycroft’s back.

“Darling?”

“Mm?”

“Can I ask? About Jenny’s father?”

“Were you and my father lovers?” Jenny had asked that night, when Ahmad had stepped out and they were alone in his office. Her bravado was gone, and she suddenly looked very young. When Mycroft didn’t respond she continued. “It’s just… the way he talked about you… and you have a partner…”

“‘Lovers’ is too strong a word for what we were,” he had said quietly. “And I want to be clear that your father was devoted to your mother. As far as I know he was never unfaithful to her. But—” Mycroft sighed "—I suppose I don’t mind telling you that a long time ago… I loved him.”

“I think he loved you too.”

“We were very close, for a time,” Mycroft told Gregory. “There were a few times, before he met Jenny’s mother, when the adrenaline of a mission got the better of us and we… well… But that was a different time.

“It wasn’t safe for us to be together, both because of our work and even moreso because we were both men. I was closeted in my professional life until shortly before I met you. And David met and fell in love with Jenny’s mother in the nineties. If the circumstances had been different, if we had been brought together in the 2010s instead of the late seventies… if I had met him instead of you… I don’t know.” Mycroft sighed. “I owe him my life. I hope by protecting his daughter I’m doing what I can to repay him and honour his memory.”

Gregory hugged him closer and kissed the top of his head. “I think you are, darling.”

Mycroft was honest enough with himself to acknowledge that in the days leading up to Jenny’s concert, he became irrationally nervous. He deployed extra agents around Leicestershire and had nearly every resource at his disposal scanning for any sign of the Black Tornado. He repeatedly questioned whether using Jenny as bait was the best way to keep her safe, but just as often resolved that, yes, taking out the Black Tornado was the only way to protect her, and they had no other way of making him surface.

The information Mycroft had on the Black Tornado indicated that he would spend as little time in the UK as possible. Unlike the Bell Bird, he had operated there in the past, but those had been extremely rapid strikes that had him out of the country within hours. By having Jenny’s concert be at Nevill Holt it would force the Black Tornado to travel a great distance by car, regardless of how he arrived in England, which would give Mycroft’s team ample opportunity to apprehend him. It also meant that it narrowed the window of when he was likely to strike at her, since the night of the concert would be the only time he would know exactly where she was.

Gregory and Mycroft would be attending the concert and spending the night at a nearby inn. It would give Mycroft the opportunity to direct operations more or less on-site, and the idea of intentionally putting Jenny in harm’s way while he stayed in London was unthinkable. And while he considered it, he did not bother suggesting that Gregory stay behind.

He and Gregory were packing for the night away when Mycroft’s mobile buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was one of his agents working in the operations centre. He answered. “Go ahead, Parnell.”

“Sir, we believe the Black Tornado has boarded a plane in Istanbul headed for Heathrow.”

“Good. Keep scanning in case you’re wrong, but send a team to intercept him as soon as the flight lands.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mycroft disconnected the call to see Gregory watching him.

“Got him?” Gregory asked.

“Not yet,” Mycroft told him. “But he should be landing in about four hours, and my people will be there.”

Gregory smiled. “Maybe we’ll be able to relax and enjoy the concert after all.”

Mycroft certainly was not superstitious enough to believe in the concept of a jinx, but Gregory’s words still felt like a lead weight in his stomach.

In the car on the way to Leicestershire, Mycroft was not on comms. He knew the Black Tornado’s plane would be landing while they were en route, but he also knew that there was nothing he could meaningfully add to the operation at that point, so he forcefully resisted the urge to micromanage. He had found that his agents felt more free to communicate openly when he was not listening in, which improved group cohesion on the ground. While it was more difficult when he was so personally invested in the operation, it helped that Simmons was monitoring comms while she drove – a role she happily fulfilled when required. Simmons had known Mycroft long enough to know what updates he would find useful, and the agents trusted her to keep their non-essential chatter to herself.

In theory, Mycroft was reading a report from an operation in Abu Dhabi, but he couldn’t help frequent glances at Simmons. At one point when he looked up, their eyes met in the rearview mirror, and she gave a short nod. The plane must have landed. Mycroft glanced at Gregory, who was engrossed in a book, but decided not to say anything. He gave up all pretence of reading the Abu Dhabi report, and just waited.

He saw when Simmons’ shoulders tensed, and when she gripped the steering wheel more tightly, and so he was not entirely unprepared for her to swear.

“Shit!”

Gregory startled out of his book. “Lucy? You okay?”

Simmons looked at Mycroft in the rearview again. “They lost him, sir.”

Mycroft felt the breath squeeze out of him in a hiss. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Pull over, Simmons.”

Simmons tapped her ear to change the channel on her comm. “Wilk, we’re pulling over.”

Ahead on the road a nondescript grey van pulled off to the side as Simmons manoeuvred their vehicle over. Mycroft got out of the car just as a motorbike pulled up beside them and Romer took off his helmet. His face showed that he had been monitoring comms too. Simmons joined them beside the car.

“Tell me,” Mycroft said.

“Massive crowds at Heathrow,” Simmons reported, “and there was some mix-up with the gate, so two planes-worth of people thought they were supposed to be boarding their flight through that gate just as Black Tornado’s flight was disembarking. The team lost him in the crowd.”

Mycroft felt a cold fury rise in his stomach but he kept his tone even. “Completely unacceptable! That entire team is being reassigned for additional crowd training.” Well, maybe not entirely even.

“He must’ve had someone mess with the gates, sir,” Romer put in.

“And he’s an extremely skilled operative, not a random mark,” Simmons said.

“Both observations are irrelevant. This unit is supposed to be the best in the world. I do not care how skilled the mark is or how big the crowd, a five person team should not lose one individual in a crowd. And you can tell them I said so.”

Mycroft wheeled around and got back in the car, shutting the door with perhaps a bit more force than was necessary.

Gregory, apparently, had also gotten out and had been listening. He returned to his seat and tentatively reached out to touch Mycroft’s hand.

“Maybe a bit of an overreaction, darling?”

Mycroft snorted. “Nothing of the sort. My agents should be better than that.”

“Sure,” Gregory said gently, “but are you perhaps taking it a little hard because you’re worried about Jenny?”

“If I were being hard on them,” Mycroft informed him, “I would have called them myself. Having Simmons and Romer deliver the message that I am displeased and sparing them my full thoughts on the matter is taking it easy on them.”

Gregory raised an eyebrow at him, then squeezed his hand.

After Mycroft and Gregory had deposited their bags in their very nice room at the inn, they went for a walk to stretch their legs. Though Romer was moving nearly silently, Mycroft did spot him tracking them through the woods at several points. At the pre-arranged time, they encountered Jenny and Ahmad on an abandoned lane.

Before the women caught sight of Mycroft and Gregory, Ahmad said something they couldn’t hear to Jenny and Jenny threw her head back in a melodious laugh and rested her hand on Ahmad’s arm. Ahmad grinned at Jenny, then quickly looked down at her feet. While they were a little too far to see, Mycroft strongly suspected that she was blushing.

Ahmad caught sight of them then, and her entire expression changed. Her grin faded, and she stood straighter: the picture of a calm, professional agent. Jenny, on the other hand, lit up when she saw them.

“Hello!” she called. “Welcome to the picturesque Nevill Holt estate.”

Mycroft felt a surge of fondness. Her accent was exactly the same as David’s: one of the regional American ones; midwestern, if he recalled correctly.

“Beautiful day for a stroll,” Gregory said.

“Ms. Lindish,” Mycroft said. “Are you well?”

She leaned closer to him. “You know you can call me Jenny,” she mock-whispered conspiratorially.

“Mr. Holmes only does first names under duress,” Ahmad told her.

Mycroft glanced at her with a small smile. “Thank you, Ahmad.”

“I’m very well, Mr. Holmes, thank you for asking,” Jenny said with a smile. “Agent Ahmad has been taking very good care of me.”

Mycroft looked between them quickly but answered without hesitation. “I’m glad to hear it.” He turned to Ahmad. “Have you been on comms today, Ahmad? Or in touch with anyone from the unit?”

Ahmad’s face grew even more serious. “No, sir.”

Mycroft grimaced. He had been fairly sure that was the case, but it didn’t make his next task any easier. “I have some unfortunate news, then. I had a team go to intercept the Black Tornado at Heathrow, but they lost him. We have to assume that he’s on his way, or potentially already here.”

Ahmad grew angry. Jenny’s face detoured quickly from frightened to resolved.

“I understand,” Jenny said quietly.

“I don’t,” Ahmad said. “How big was the team, sir?”

“Big enough that they should not have lost him,” Mycroft told her. “There will be consequences, but you will let me worry about that. You have a much more immediate concern.”

Ahmad took a deep breath, and Mycroft watched her consciously unclench her jaw. “Yes, sir.”

“Your team is ready?” he asked her.

“Yes, sir.”

As Ahmad briefed him on how she had deployed the agents assigned to help her protect Jenny and the plan for the concert that night, Mycroft watched out of the corner of his eye as Jenny took a few steps closer to Gregory and the two of them had a quiet conversation.

“Very good, Ahmad,” Mycroft said when she finished. “That’s all well-thought out.”

Ahmad gave a very small smile.

Jenny and Gregory cut off their conversation and Jenny turned to him with a smile.

“He’s most likely to attack tonight, when he thinks you’re asleep,” Mycroft addressed both Jenny and Ahmad. “I’ll be monitoring comms following the concert.” He reached out his hand towards Jenny, and she took it. “You don’t need to be frightened. Ahmad is skillfully deploying an excellent team.”

Jenny looked at Ahmad through her lashes. “I have every confidence in Agent Ahmad, Mr. Holmes.”

“Good,” Mycroft said. “My dear, we will keep you safe. I give you my word.”

Jenny smiled warmly and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

“Now,” Mycroft said, “we should all get back to where we’re supposed to be.”

Romer faded out of the woods and onto the road once Mycroft and Gregory were headed back to the inn, walking hand in hand.

“Ahmad’s soft on the Bell Bird, sir.”

“I’m well aware, Mr. Romer.”

“I think Bell Bird likes Ahmad, too.”

“Yes,” Mycroft said, “you are correct.”

“Is that a problem, sir?”

“Ahmad and Ms. Lindish are more emotionally invested in protecting each other. I see that as an asset to the operation, Mr. Romer.”

Romer walked beside him for a few steps, considering. “Guess I’ll have to find a hot assassin with a sob story,” he said.

On Mycroft’s other side, Gregory chuckled. “You do know there are other ways to meet people, right Peter?”

Romer looked briefly thoughtful. “I guess I could be introduced to a handsome copper by my troubled brother, but I don’t have any siblings.”

Gregory shook his head. “We’ve got to get you some other role models, kid.”

Romer flashed a smile at Mycroft before heading back into the woods. “Nah. I’m good.”

“What were you and Jenny talking about?” Mycroft asked Gregory when Romer was far enough away to not be able to hear their conversation.

“You, mostly.” Gregory chuckled. “She was asking how we met and how we got together. Whether you usually brought me along on operations. She’s a sweet girl.”

Mycroft raised an eyebrow at him. “She is a deadly assassin.”

Gregory shrugged. “And a sweet girl. We should have her to dinner when this is all wrapped up.”

Mycroft stopped walking, pulled Gregory to him, and kissed him.

~*~

Thank you for reading!

Final chapter is now posted.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Neil Johnston

Published: Jul 6, 2023

A controversial trans group’s legal battle to get a gay rights charity struck off has been dismissed by judges.

Mermaids, a charity for transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse children and their families, had taken the unprecedented legal action to remove the LGB Alliance from the charity register, in the first case of its kind.

However, Judge Griffin and Judge Neville from the General Regulatory Chamber dismissed the appeal on Thursday to have the LGB Alliance removed from the register.

Mermaids, which itself is facing a Charity Commission investigation, had claimed the LGB Alliance was a front for transphobia and political campaigning to prevent changes in the law and took both the charity and the watchdog to court.

The judges said that the law “does not permit Mermaids to challenge the decision made by the Charity Commission to register LGB Alliance as a charity”.

They said it was important to distinguish between the LGB Alliance and “the activities of those who simply support its cause” and added that the charity could “not be held responsible for the actions of a supporter” unless they had in some way organised, endorsed or actively encouraged any such behaviour.

The judgement noted that it was not the place of the tribunal or the Charity Commission to moderate public debate or beliefs.

Judges said that charities were entitled to hold different views, but could not expect to be free from criticism.

“However, there is no legal right to be free from criticism by those who disagree with you or to prevent those who hold beliefs that the law recognises as protected from expressing themselves or seeking to persuade others to their point of view,” they said.

However, the ruling added that applying the facts on a legal basis any impact emotionally or socially “is insufficient to provide them with standing to bring this appeal, no matter the depth of the feelings resulting from the Decision or the strength of their disagreement.”

Speaking to The Telegraph, Kate Barker, chief executive officer of the LGB Alliance, said Mermaids had orchestrated a “show trial” which had tarnished her charity’s reputation and prevented them from applying for grants.

She said: “In essence, if your views are so fragile that they can absolutely be destroyed by the truth, the only option left to you is to try and crush the speaker of that truth. I suspect that they knew full well that they didn’t have standing either but wanted this to be kind of a show trial where they thought perhaps it would be an opportunity to expose us for something that didn’t exist.”

Case was ‘bruising’

She described the case as “bruising” and said there were “a few cheerleaders who are very invested in the idea of seeing us not exist anymore”.

Ms Barker added that it would have been “anti-democratic” if Mermaids succeeded, adding: “I think it’s dangerous and there is something about it which is really mean-spirited which doesn’t sit particularly well with the broader values of the Charity Commission and of the charitable sector.”

She hoped people would start asking more questions. “I think the madness that has swept over our institutions, our charities and businesses. I think people will look back quite soon in a couple of years and think goodness how was that allowed to happen.”

The LGB Alliance was launched in 2019 by lesbians Kate Harris and Bev Jackson, in opposition to Stonewall, the long-standing LGBT charity’s stance on transgender issues.

The charities ‘fundamentally disagreed on trans rights’

During seven days of hearings last year, the tribunal in central London heard that the two charities fundamentally disagreed on issues of trans rights, with the LGB Alliance taking the position that you cannot change your biological sex.

Lawyers representing Mermaids claimed that the LGB Alliance had sought to undermine trans charities but Karon Monaghan KC, representing the defendant, said that Mermaids’ efforts to get the charity struck off were “profoundly homophobic”.

She said that during the hearing, Mermaids had suggested that words such as sexual orientation, sex-based rights, and lesbian, gay and bisexual were “used to signal position against trans rights”.

“This is deeply offensive, and it is profoundly homophobic, it is again the love that cannot speak its name,” Ms Monaghan told the tribunal.

She said that if that is the “stigma” attached to those words “it pushes same-sex attracted people back into the closet”.

Mermaids taking advice on appeal

A Mermaids spokesman said: “We are taking legal advice on whether to appeal the finding on standing. In the meantime, our focus remains on channelling all of our energies into the urgent, critical challenges facing trans young people today.

“This includes demanding access to timely healthcare and robustly challenging forthcoming trans guidance for schools which, if reports are true, could have devastating consequences not only for trans children and young people, but any young person who doesn’t conform to gender norms.”

Separately to the tribunal, Mermaids is subject to an investigation by the Charity Commission which opened a “regulatory compliance case” after an investigation by the Telegraph revealed safeguarding “red flags” in its dealings with children.

Iain Steele KC, representing the regulator, had argued it was up to the tribunal to decide on all the information which had come to light whether the LGB Alliance should keep its registration.

However, he said that just because the charities disagreed was not a reason to strip the LGB Alliance of its status.

The case was unusual and the first of its kind in the UK. Challenges to Charity Commission decisions are usually prompted by allegations of financial abuse or mismanagement, but this case required the judge to consider whether the purpose of LGB Alliance is “exclusively charitable for the public benefit”.

[ Via: https://archive.is/q7lSz ]

==

LGB Alliance was a front for transphobia

"Anything I don't agree with is literally Hitler transphobia."

"could have devastating consequences not only for trans children and young people, but any young person who doesn’t conform to gender norms.”

They're saying the quiet part out loud now.

Most GNC people are simply gay or bi. But this is the organization which opposed, rather than supported, an LGB charity and tried to have them shut down. It's hard, therefore, not to come to the conclusion that Mermaids has a vested interest in an unobstructed access to gay and bi people, and particularly kids, for its purposes.

Don't forget, Mermaids is under investigation for multiple ethics violations, including sending girls dangerous breast binders without their parents' knowledge. Other ethics breaches include pushing medical advice on kids, and ideologically directing the relevant health services, despite its representatives claiming under oath in the LGB Alliance hearing that they "don't do medical stuff," and having been found to have lied.

By: Katie Barker

Published: Jul 7, 2023

There’s something essentially mean-spirited about one charity attacking another. It’s not good for the sector, for the individuals or causes they support, and certainly not for public life. So we’re thankful that after almost two years of litigation and deliberation, LGB Alliance today secured its charitable status, which our opponents had sought to revoke – the first time in history that one charity has attempted to shut down another. 

We must remember that, however their respective charitable purposes are articulated, there’s no doubt they will have been set up to do good works. 

While the online attacks on LGB Alliance have been well documented in carefully crafted barbs, tweaked and refined to fit a character limit, the impact on the real world, beyond the vituperative cauldron of Twitter, is what really matters. LGB Alliance was set up by two lesbians, Kate Harris and Bev Jackson, in 2019. Seasoned campaigners for gay rights, they saw how same-sex attracted people were being disadvantaged by a new ideology which stated that gender, the way you feel inside or how you present to the world, trumps biological sex.

As people who are same-sex attracted, whose hard won rights were predicated on the understanding that our attraction is based on the biological and the physical, we believe that this is a fundamental attack on our rights. If we may not articulate our attraction or are forbidden the language to describe our unique experiences in the world, it is impossible to define or challenge the discrimination we may face. Lesbians, gay men and bisexuals have unique needs and LGB Alliance was set up to be a voice for them and to develop the services and support that meets those specific needs. 

It’s important to note that we would advocate for every individual, without exception, to have access to the support they need to thrive. And, despite being a new organisation and largely volunteer-run, we’re making impressive progress. We’re developing a Helpline for LGB young people, an LGB Archive to explore and celebrate LGB history and we’re creating Friends’ Groups, social hubs around the country to tackle isolation and loneliness. We campaign on issues that impact LGB people, with a particular focus on protecting children from the ideology that promotes unnecessary and often irreversible medicalisation.

We think most reasonable people would agree that these are worthwhile projects and aims, and would wish us well. 

The work of LGB Alliance is evidence based. We think that facts matter. Facts that just a few years ago would have been considered unremarkable are now almost unsayable. Facts such as that there are two sexes. And that homosexuals are people who are same-sex attracted. Statements like these, it seems, are an existential threat to those who would say that one should not speak the truth for fear of hurting the feelings of a person for whom the truth may be unpalatable. In our post-truth world, they would have you believe that up is down, black is white – and, yes – lesbians can have penises. 

The consequences for not believing, we discovered, are harsh. If your world is constructed around a belief system so fragile that dissent feels like an assault – not just on your opinion but on your person – it’s time to take a breath.

Our tribunal judgment makes a valuable point. Discussion and disagreement between charities isn’t just acceptable, it’s necessary. How else may we explore new ideas or wrestle with new challenges? The notion that one charity should seek to silence or shut down another charity because they disagree with them is absurd and anti-democratic and the tribunal were right to say that LGB Alliance should retain its charitable status.

We also agree with the Charity Commission that respectful debate is the key. Not just within the charity sector but across society more widely. It’s time to start talking again. We look forward to leading the way.

[ Via: https://archive.is/Mc8Cx ]

[cdyssey]

if ur still taking prompts, pre-relationship melissa/barbara where barb is getting jealous over mel’s new fling? could be a new teacher who’s a woman as well? thank you! i love how you write them, and your overall voice in your works. thank u for ur brain and ideas and love for these two!!! <3

Augh, thank you for the kind words, Anon!!! ;w; I'm so appreciative.

And, haha, I feel like it's a rite of passage in the Work Wives fandom to pair Melissa with another MILF of choice to make Barbara jealous. <3 My face claim is Alex Kingston. >:)

CW: Grief Mentions, Emotional Infidelity, Suggestive Content

AO3 Link

—

The new art teacher is named Ms. Avery Blackwood, and she just moved from Manhattan to Philly, quietly citing the need to not see her late partner in every sunset.

She mostly worked on commission in the Big Apple, painting murals and large portraits for well-paying clients, but she also did a lot of volunteer work, lending her talents to underfunded schools and women shelters when she could.

But Ava didn’t hire her for this impressive resume—(because that would be bordering on competency, of course)—but rather for the fact that the almost sixty-year old is a Pisces and quote—“damn, that’s kinda hot, not gonna lie”—end quote.

Avery drives a yellow Volkswagen that still has a faded Bernie 2020 sticker on the bumper.

She calls everyone darling and dear and likely has paint splattered across her black overalls at any given time. 

She tucks paintbrushes behind her ear and charmingly doesn’t remember that she’s done so in the first place.

But once she’s been told someone's name and attaches it to a face, she never, ever forgets.

And to top it all off, Avery Blackwood, along with these innumerable endearing qualities, is utterly breathtaking—all curly russet hair and pale hazel eyes, curves in gorgeous places, and an English accent delivered in a low, delicious voice. The kids love her for her whimsy and play. Janine’s already adopted her as her newest middle-aged mother. 

And Melissa.

Melissa is dating her.

Barbara didn’t realize this crucial fact until precisely yesterday when she was sitting in the lounge, trying her hardest not to stare at the empty seat next to her for well over half-an-hour. The younger teachers had gone to Pizza Hut for lunch, which made the absence of the second grade grade teacher all the more pronounced. A vacancy that was a presence. The ghost of a very alive person. Barbara’s daily crossword puzzle went untouched, her afternoon mug of coffee mostly full, as she mentally combed through the most rational possibilities in her head: Melissa catching up on grades, Melissa trying to get the blasted copier in the office to work, Melissa gone to grab a bite to eat all by her lonesome.

All reasonable and distinct options.

Still.

Barbara had glanced at her phone every few minutes to see if she had received a text confirming any of them, providing an explanation, an excuse, an apology.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

Just a voicemail from Gerald apologizing because sorry, honey, he’d be home late. 

Her husband is always late these days, though. His promotion’s been good for their finances—it even funded their lovely cruise this past summer—but it’s been less conducive to their relationship, disrupting every sturdy habit and rhythm they’ve cultivated together for well over thirty years. He is the indentation on the left side of the bed and the apologetic voicemails he leaves because of it. He is the hasty peck on her cheek before he leaves for work and the untouched coffee mug she instinctively sets next to hers anyway. What he fundamentally isn’t, however, is there, and she’s felt this new distance terribly, like a three-inch incision across her chest. She’s tried to bandage the untenable wound with other things—namely people. 

Namely one person. 

Namely Melissa. 

The two teachers have been spending a lot of time together lately, even out of school—getting their nails done or going to see Saturday matinees or shopping deals on school supplies together at Staples. So she’s gotten used to Melissa being around, has soothed her pathological need for routine because of this immutable fact. 

In the absence of Gerald, there has been Melissa.

A constant presence at her shoulder.

Never more than a text or call or short walk down the hall away.

Until yesterday.

Until Avery Blackwood.

At some point, she walked to the window as a preventative measure against impulsively marching to her friend’s classroom and demanding an explanation, and as she peered through the rain-splattered blinds, she saw them.

Melissa and Avery.

They were walking up the stone steps together, holding hands, and Melissa was laughing at a joke that the other woman had clearly just told, her smile impossible to miss even from a distance.

Even from another room.

Even at the ends of this world.

And Barbara’s stomach had clenched unpleasantly where she stood on the tiles, recoiling at the unexpected sight. And she had mechanically walked back to her seat and tried to sit with this feeling as it rose within her, snarling her carefully composed nervous system into disarray. She didn’t want to admit it, but in her heart of hearts—that forbidden tree she scarcely touches—she understood, even then, that this feeling was jealousy.

And it was irrational.

Ugly.

Perhaps even sinful. 

Thou shalt not covet thy best friend’s girlfriend.

Because Melissa undoubtedly deserves happiness.

And you already have it.

You are a married, Christian woman.

Barbara has known, for sometime now, that Melissa also dates women—mostly when she was younger and before she’d married Joseph—but now that she’s single again, having broken up with Gary the Vending Machine Guy a few months ago, she’s been getting into the swing of regularly dating again: a man named Thornton who had a Tom Selleck mustache, a woman named Selina who’d worked on a local mayoral campaign, a bartender named Layla. 

Barbara has hated all of her friend’s flings for completely valid and totally objective reasons, telling her as much—and in her humble opinion—doing the Lord’s work of helping her to see the proverbial light.

Gary was content to settle, never once trying something new. And while he was nice and funny and good, he took it for granted that Melissa wanted a staid and unchanging lifestyle too.

Thornton, well, he didn’t root for the Eagles, so that was a no-go despite his impressive mustache.

Selina, bless her heart, never stopped talking about politics.

And Layla—mmm, the nerve of her—didn’t care much about politics at all.

But Avery Blackwood, who is impossibly kind and witty and passionate about helping others, is perfect. There is nothing about her to nitpick and everything about her to root for. She’s probably good for Melissa.

Maybe she’s even the one.

And if jealousy was the awful feeling that Barbara had to swallow in that moment, then happiness was the emotion she had to hastily fake, capably simulating it with a porcelain facade of a smile when the two women finally made it into the lounge, still holding hands.

Melissa was self-conscious—as she always was when she was introducing her new partners to Barbara—her cheeks tinged rather pink.

And Barbara had been so perfectly gracious, as she always was when she was meeting Melissa’s partners—arranging her gritted teeth into a bright and pearly smile.

“You two are simply radiant,” she had mused, and it had broken something inside of her to do it.

She could not articulate to herself why.

She could not pray about it to God either.

—

It is Wednesday—the next day—and Barbara is sitting at her desk, savoring her second mug of coffee before the bell rings, when she hears a gentle rapping noise to her left. She looks up and over to see Melissa leaning against her open classroom door, her striking hair a little damp from the rain, spilling over her shoulders in dark, elegant waves.

“Hey, you,” she smirks, huffing a little, her cheeks flushed. Apparently, she’d jogged here, and the overall effect of all this—her wet hair and rosy face, her casual posture, the way the top two buttons of her shirt are carelessly undone, the vee-shaped divot suggesting the ample curves of those smooth, rolling—

—does nothing for Barbara.

Obviously.

“Hey, yourself,” she rasps hoarsely and hastily takes a throat-clearing sip of her coffee. Her damn sinuses. They always get to her at this time of the year. “What’s got you all flustered, Ms. Schemmenti?”

“Nothin’ in particular,” Melissa shakes her head, still grinning. “Just wanted to catch ya before the bell and apologize for yesterday. Sorry that I skipped lunch.”

And went out a date with Avery Blackwood.

And held hands with her. 

Maybe even kissed her.

Barbara imagines Avery’s fingers in her friend’s hair, twisted in those thick, scarlet tresses. She sees Melissa’s arms around the other woman’s curving waist, the space between their bodies negligible. Envisions them trading shades and flavors of red lipstick, can almost hear the sensuous heaving of their mingled breaths. Impatient grunts. Maybe even the occasional moan. And that same awful feeling that had consumed her as she had stood by the window yesterday begins to climb up the rungs of her throat, constricting it, choking what’s left of her resolve to maintain an impeccable front.

And it is initially rather oblique to her—incomprehensible and frankly terrifying—why she should be feeling jealous of the idea of Melissa kissing another woman. It is one thing to be saddened at the idea of losing time with her closest friend; it is another to want to wretch at just the mere thought of the second grade teacher’s lips turning into another art project for one Ms. Avery Blackwood.

But in the end... she supposes she just misses Gerald, his little romantic gestures, his chaste kisses, his once attentive care.

Maybe she’s just lonely.

“Pssh,” she forces herself to smile all the same. “no need to apologize, girlfriend… I was simply happy to see you so happy…”

“Oh, yeah?” Melissa’s own smile brightens, her blush deepening until her face is nearly as red as her hair. Barbara is uncomfortably aware that the other teacher likes receiving her approval, perhaps even hinges some of her self-esteem on it. It’s been this way since her divorce and Joseph wrapped a horrible bow on their marriage by finally cheating on her.

That betrayal had unraveled Melissa Schemmenti.

Had made her feel like she was impossible to love.

And Barbara had seen all of this very clearly, had done everything in her power to put her friend’s broken pieces back together again, laboriously reconstructing her by telling her—almost everyday—that she was so loved and so cared for.

Lord, and how she’d done everything shy of kissing her to prove it.

“Yes,” Barbara nods, softening at these memories, chastising herself for forgetting them in the first place. Her entire project these last five years has been to help Melissa find happiness again… even if it comes at the expense of her own. “I’ve missed seeing you smile like that.”

And it’s true enough.

For the first year after the divorce, Melissa didn’t smile all that much anymore. 

Not like she used to anyway.

And it had killed her inside, had hurt her and hurt her and hurt her, every single God blessed day to see the lifelessness in her eyes, to endure the unchanging monotony of her voice.

She remembers tearing up the first time she heard Melissa belly laugh again—maybe two years after the fact. They’d been at her house, making batches of Christmas cookies for their students, and Barbara had hastily opened a bag of flour, causing the dust to explode all over her face. Melissa had laughed and laughed and laughed some more at what was assuredly a hilarious sight until her own face turned red, the sound warm and vibrant and everything lovely in that dimly-lit kitchen.

And flour all over her cheeks and everything, Barbara had nearly wept, unhinged at that beautiful, nearly forgotten noise. Oh, God, how she’d pulled her friend into a hug then, smearing flour across her face too, kissing her—so very softly—on the crown of that vivid head.

Because Melissa was laughing.

Melissa was happy.

Maybe more accurately still, they were happy together.

“Smile like what?” Melissa tilts her head quizzically, her dark brow pinching somewhere in the middle.

“Like you’re at peace,” she says warmly and beneath her desk, digs her fingernails into the palm of her other hand. Because it stings—more than she ever thought it would—that her friend would finally find contentment in someone who wasn’t her.

Melissa opens her mouth and then abruptly closes it, rendered speechless with visible tenderness and delight, pink feathering her high cheekbones. 

Goodness, she’s radiant, Barbara thinks, continuing to grip her palm, idly clawing at it, grounding herself in the distant ache.

“It’s still early yet, Barb,” the younger woman finally croaks, attempting to be playful but clearly and audibly touched. “Don’t jinx us.”

“Ach, never,” she intones, clumsily disguising a sudden gasp of pain as a laugh.

When she looks down at her hands, she sees that she has nicked herself, has accidentally drawn blood.

—

Avery is the one who proposes it—a joint lesson where Barbara will read The Cat in the Hat to her kids, and Avery will help them with a coloring project shortly afterwards. She comes to Barbara’s classroom after school one day—perhaps a week after the kindergarten teacher first saw her and Melissa from the window—so they can plan the specifics. With her impossible hair tied in a messy bun atop of her head and the loosely rolled sleeves of her oversized shirt speckled with paint and her slightly lined eyes bright with infectious zeal, it’s easy enough to understand why Ava calls her a “fine ass Miss Frizzle.”

And in hindsight, Barbara now knows why Melissa had been the first to agree.

“Genius,” Avery enthuses, lightly brushing her shoulder against Barbara’s own. “I mean, absolutely bloody brilliant—do you really create vocabulary card decks for each book that you’re reading? And for every student? Because if you do, then Melissa was absolutely correct when she called you a god.”

Her cheeks darken at the excessively kind words—both the art teacher’s own but more so Melissa’s purported ones. She never admits it, but she quite likes receiving her friend’s verbal approval too.

“Melissa thinks far too highly of me,” she says diplomatically, though a pleased smile rises to her lips all the same. “But I suppose she probably says the same of me.”

Neither of them are particularly good at loving each other in moderation. Gerald once teased that she loved Melissa more than him, and Barbara had just as jokingly agreed.

“Something to that effect, yes,” Avery laughs, the sound jocular and lovely, though her playfulness somewhat quickly cedes to thoughtfulness. She regards Barbara with a fond expression, tilting her curly head as though she’s trying to figure out how to capture her best angles in paint. “Mel really does think the world of you, you know. Says that you were there for her when she was really going through it with her ex…”

“It’s what any friend would do,” Barbara says quickly, flushing a little, not entirely sure if she’s touched that Melissa would share such an intimate detail about their friendship or irritated that she did.

Partially thinks that sharing the fact takes some of novelty away from it.

Ludicrous, she knows.

Absolutely ridiculous.

She’s well-aware.

(What is awareness to raw emotion, though, intellectualization to the irrationality of her deepest and most detested feelings?)

“What a good friend would do, dear,” Avery corrects firmly, thankfully oblivious to her inner conflict. “It’s in times of crisis when you learn who your true friends are. When my… you know, when my Morgan passed, so many people I thought were in my corner suddenly poofed, vanished, disappeared into the aether. And the ones who stayed—who helped me through the darkness—were often people I least expected. But they were so kind to me. They held my hand while I was in the straits, and they refused to let me go…”

Even though Avery’s gentle expression remains unchanged, Barbara can see the sadness in the forest of her eyes, can hear its plaintive notes in her rich, lilting voice. She cannot begin to fathom ever losing Gerald, even as complicated as things are between them now. She still loves him, of course. He’s the father of her kids and the other person in their shared bed of thirty-four—nearly thirty-five—years. She’d simply be lost without him.

She thinks it would be the death of her to lose Melissa, to never see that bright, red mouth smiling crookedly at her from across the room again. They’ve only known each other for nineteen years, but it feels like forever. And if Gerald is the other person in her bed, then Melissa is the filled seat next to hers in the teacher’s lounge, the hip lightly brushing against her own, the leather-clad shoulder she knows she can always lean upon.

They’re her people—her husband and her work wife—and she’s absolutely selfish; she wouldn’t be able to easily let either of them go.

So she reaches out accordingly, placing a hand on the small of the art teacher’s back in this imagined empathy of total, devastating, and unrecoverable grief.

There would be no Barbara Howard anymore in the aftermath of losing her beloved Ger or her precious Mel.

There would only be an empty husk of the woman she once was.

Her unhallowed and hollowed ghost.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she offers sincerely—with everything in her—but Avery only shakes her head and smiles at her gratefully. Her innumerable curls shiver at the movement.

“It was a long time ago, and things are much better now,” she returns softly, reaching over and lightly squeezing Barbara's free hand. “I have my necessary distractions—a new home to ruin with all my artistic endeavors, a different job to brilliantly occupy my time, and, well, Melissa now.”

Barbara doesn’t discipline her immediate reaction fast enough, frowning deeply at the inclusion of her friend’s name on this particular list.

“Oh,” Avery says hurriedly, catching the microgesture in an instant, pops of color rising across her smooth cheeks, “I don’t mean to say that I’m using Melissa as a way of coping. I like her very much… she understands loss…”

“She does,” Barbara says, not exactly coldly, but perhaps with a touch of admonition, eyeing the other teacher carefully. She lets her hand fall away, primly templing it with the other. “She absolutely understands loss—perhaps far too well as you might know."

Her nana who practically raised her and so many other relatives besides.

An uncle who was killed.

Joseph, that awful man.

Their acrimonious divorce.

Her estranged sister.

“I do know,” Avery agrees, her pale eyes suddenly bright in the harsh fluorescence of the classroom. “And I didn’t mean to insinuate—I mean, I would never hurt her. Melissa is so dear to me."

“I believe you,” she smiles tightly but truthfully. She thinks the art teacher occasionally wears her emotions on her sleeves—as transparently as the paint that is already there—and she half-admires this vulnerability.

Could never be so candid herself. 

But she thinks it’s rather dangerous too, this capacity for laying one’s soul bare before another. Lesser people would take advantage, and they do everyday.

“Sometimes, though, we hurt people without ever really meaning to,” Barbara continues, taking on the familiar tone of Mrs. Howard.

Kind and didactic.

A little sanctimonious, maybe.

But well-intentioned.

Always.

She just doesn’t want to see Melissa hurt again.

“Even if we care about them—perhaps especially when we do."

The other woman flinches, as though she's been slapped, so Barbara hastily adds, "Not that you would, of course, but it’s something to keep in mind, yes?”

Avery is quiet for a long time after this, all of her usual mirth sieved from her, replaced with a world weariness and an aching, almost tangible sorrow. Barbara doesn’t think she did this to her, though; rather, she intuits that this is the person behind the painted smile.

This is the artist as herself and not as who she presents herself to be.

She feels sorry for her; she stands by her implicit warning all the same.

Melissa will always come first to her—her happiness, her security, her invaluable peace of mind—and she'll do anything to protect those holy treasures.

(She wishes—more than anything and with inordinate guilt—that she could provide them for her.)

"Fair enough," Avery eventually agrees.

Her ensuing smile is exquisite; it does not touch her eyes.

—

That evening, Barbara is curled up in her favorite recliner, watching Family Feud but not really seeing it, a glass of Prosecco idly supported between her fingertips. Gerald’s going to be late again—surprise, surprise—and she put on a whole pot of chicken and dumplings for nothing. 

Oh, sure, he’ll eat a bowl tonight when he gets home around eight or nine, but she’ll have already eaten herself and will likely be in bed to prepare for the school day tomorrow. And if she is, her husband might even sleep in the guest room tonight so as not to disturb her.

He’s polite like that.

But Gerald’s versions of politeness often leave her feeling lonelier than ever before.

So when her phone suddenly rings right at the commercial break, and Melissa’s smiling face washes over her screen—(a picture she’d taken on their most recent movie date)—Barbara is perhaps a little too eager to pick up the phone, pressing it to her ear like a lifeline.

She’s wholly unprepared for the greeting that follows.

“What the hell did you say to Avery?” 

“What?” Barbara splutters, uncomprehending and half-offended and so horribly afraid. She sits up abruptly, accidentally spilling a little wine on one of her favorite silk blouses. “What in Heaven’s name do you mean, Melissa? I didn’t—“

But the younger woman cuts across her viciously. “Things were all fine this morning, but then she goes to your classroom, and not even five minutes later, she’s in mine, tellin’ me we should take things slower!”

Barbara closes her eyes, suddenly and completely nauseous. The art teacher had apparently taken her words to heart, had evaluated them and perhaps found that they struck a meaningful chord. 

Avery is still grieving her partner.

And grief is a monstrous thing.

It colors everything it touches—thoughts, memories, conversations, and deeds.

Relationships too.

(Maybe even relationships especially.)

“Are you saying that she broke up with you?” She rasps, her voice choked, wrung with unspeakable shame.

And something else as well.

But that something else is far more insidious to ever name.

(Hope.)

(Self-righteousness.)

(Glorious, sweeping relief.)

“No, I’m sayin’ that here you go again, messin’ with my relationships,” comes a quick and scathing reply. “You didn’t like Selina or Layla or Thornton. Fuck, you didn’t even like Gary, and you set me up with him in the first place!”

Every word lands across her stomach like the entry of a new knife, gushing blood. It’s true that she’s voiced her reservations about each and every one of Melissa’s most recent partners, but not for any malicious intent. She’s only meant to help her friend, naming the flaws in these various flings that her friend couldn’t see. 

That is altruism from her limited perspective.

Meddling is a form of love.

“You’re being incredibly unfair,” she hisses, angrily wiping at the tears that have started to form at the corners of her eyes. “I’ve only wanted the best for you, Melissa, and you know that.”

And none of those individuals—as kind as they were or funny or sexy or available—were good enough for Melissa Schemmenti.

They were nice people.

That didn’t mean a blessed thing to Barbara.

“Yeah, well, from where I’m standing, you don’t give a rat’s ass about me—you just want me to be as miserable as yourself.”

And, oh, it is this indictment that is the cruelest of them all, and Barbara immediately wants to cry and shudder and scream so loudly that she can be heard from miles upon miles away. Another part of her still wants to fight back, teeth bared and hackles raised, wants to snarl so many unsavory things. 

That her marriage is none of Melissa’s business.

That if she was so uncaring, then who has unfailingly been by her side these past five years, fixing what Joseph Lombardo so callously broke?

That she loves her.

You know that I do, Melissa.

I have loved you far more and for far longer than almost anyone.

Do you not know that?

Have I not proved to you—over and over again—that I care?

“I’m not miserable,” she mewls instead, the words pathetic even to her own ears. She sounds like a petulant child, but her deepest honesty would be overwhelming and too much.

It would sound like a vulgar confession. 

A romantic one.

Her glass violently trembles in her hand. 

“Keep telling yourself that, Barbara," comes an incredulous, broken laugh, "but don’t talk to me about my shit again until you’re finally ready to be honest about your own.”

And with that searing proclamation, Melissa hangs up with a brutal click, leaving Barbara alone again in her big, empty house.

The abrupt silence bruises her.

Wraps its fingers around the pillar of her throat.

She sits in her recliner and simply suffocates—for minutes after that, and then hours, a monolith carved from stone as tears serpentine down the weathered crevices of her face like water over an ancient fountain. She wipes at them only every now and then. Can’t entirely bring herself to care.

Darkness falls through the bay window in the living room, laying across her like a steel cage. She drinks and refills her wine and drinks and refills her wine until the bottle is  empty, and her mind is a buzzing tape recorder, replaying that last conversation in her head until she’s making up replies that she didn’t say.

She is not miserable, Melissa.

She is a married, Christian woman.

She cannot fathom those two ever being one and the same.

[beardedmrbean]

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken part in a solemn wreath-laying ceremony to mark Italy's National Liberation Day, which commemorates the end of fascism and Nazi occupation in 1945.

Liberation Day normally brings Italians together and it is marked with parades.

But for the first time since World War Two, Italy is led by a party whose origins lie in the country's post-fascist past.

And this year's commemorations have been riddled with controversy.

Among those taking part in Tuesday's Rome ceremony was a collector of fascist memorabilia, Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa, who holds Italy's second-highest office of state.

A few days ago, he was quoted as saying: "There is no reference to anti-fascism in the Italian constitution".

His comments sparked a barrage of criticism from the centre-left, and calls for him to resign. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein reacted by insisting that "anti-fascism is our constitution".

The furore was not the first time that Mr La Russa's links to Italy's fascist past had caused controversy.

He was filmed in 2018 escorting reporters around his house, showing busts and mini-statues of Benito Mussolini, along with fascist memorabilia.

He recently said he would never get rid of his Mussolini bust, because it was a gift from his father.

The Senate speaker is a founding member of the far-right Brothers of Italy party - and a key ally of Ms Meloni.

She has refused to condemn him, but sought to distance herself from fascism in a letter to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"For many years, right-wing political parties in Parliament have declared their incompatibility with any nostalgia for fascism," she said.

Calling for the day to be a "celebration of freedom", Meloni wrote that "the fundamental result of 25 April was, and undoubtedly remains, the affirmation of democratic values, which fascism had trampled on and which we find engraved in the republican constitution."

She blamed politicians for using fascism as a "tool for delegitimising political opponents: a sort of weapon of mass exclusion."

But Ms Meloni does lead the most right-wing government since World War Two. Brothers of Italy is a direct political descendant of the Italian Social Movement, which was formed by members of Mussolini's Fascist Party after the war.

When she was 19, Ms Meloni told French TV: "I think Mussolini was a good politician. Everything he did, he did for Italy. And we haven't had any politicians like that in the past 50 years."

She has tried hard to brand herself as a credible leader in Europe, since becoming prime minister six months ago. She has surprised Italians and European allies by displaying a moderate stance on a variety of issues - from the Italian budget to support for Nato and Ukraine.

But she is finding it tricky to keep the more outspoken members of her party in line.

Last week, Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida - one of her closest allies, and her brother-in-law - was accused of white supremacy for saying Italians were at risk of "ethnic replacement."

Liberation Day also marks the victory of the resistance movement of partisans who opposed the fascist regime.

Italy's national partisans association recently criticised Ms Meloni for saying victims of a 1944 Nazi massacre on the outskirts of Rome were murdered "simply because they were Italian". They said those killed were not just Italians but also anti-fascists, resistance fighters, political opponents and Jews.

As the national anthem played on Tuesday, the prime minister and Senate speaker joined President Sergio Mattarella at the Altare della Patria, a national monument in Rome that honours the tens of thousands of lives lost during the war.

The prime minister has said she wants to help make the day a moment of "rediscovered national harmony", but she clearly has some way to go.

[superlinguo]

Linguistics Jobs: Interview with a  Director of Conversation Design

This month’s interview is with Greg Bennett, a Director of Conversation Design at Salesforce, a customizable, cloud software platform for customer relationship management. In this interview, Greg discusses the culture shock from transitioning to industry from academia, and how his discourse analysis training has impacted his work and career in the tech industry. You can find Greg on Twitter @gabennett45 or on LinkedIn.

This last post of 2022 is also the last in this series, and we'll have more in 2023 about the future of lingjobs!

What did you study at university?

I hold a BA in Linguistics and MS in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University. I also studied Japanese language and culture during undergrad. My academic focus was on interactional sociolinguistics—particularly, how users manipulate textual stylistics to convey contextualization cues during synchronous, text-based chat.

What is your job?

I founded and lead the Conversation Design team and practice at Salesforce. I oversee strategy and workflow for an international team of Conversation Designers who craft conversational experiences that “sound” like Salesforce and train language models to recognize myriad varieties of language input from users. I spend much of my time discussing with various leaders across the business the resource investment strategy for conversational apps and features that position Salesforce at the forefront of the market; scaling our resources and tools to expand my team’s sphere of influence across our ever-growing lines of business; and championing my team’s impact on our bottom line within and beyond the company.

How does your linguistics training help you in your job? 

I never expected linguistics to be as vital or central to my role as it is now. I’ve always had my discourse analytic mindset running in the back of my mind to interpret conversation and stancetaking in real time in all of my past roles. As a leader at Salesforce, I certainly maintain that approach to developing relationships with stakeholders across the business. However, since conversational AI is fundamentally about language as an interface for a technological system, I find myself referencing every aspect of my training as a linguist to contextualize and strengthen my proposals for a conversational solution—from generative syntax when debating the ‘conversationality' of a conversational app’s brand name, to acoustic phonetics when determining the pitch range for a voice app in 2019, to discourse markers when creating cohesion between turns of text-based chat with our chatbot templates—I basically spend all day, every day, using linguistics to form connections and drive product strategy.

What was the transition from university to work like for you? 

It was a huge culture shock! My first role outside academia was as a UX researcher at Microsoft. I was coming off the heels of having a limit on the amount of photocopies I could make in the Department of Linguistics to entering an office where food was catered every day, Post-Its could be used ad nauseam with nary a pang of guilt, and every time I had a research finding to articulate, it had to be done in a slide as opposed to a fleshed-out paper (to say nothing of my joy at being able to photocopy in color at the office). Everything required fewer words, had to be finished in a fraction of the time, and had to look way more visually appealing than anything I was ever expected to do in academia. I had to go beyond simply stating, “this is what I found in the data” and evolve towards, “we as a business should do y in order to make a market impact of z because the data say x.” (In industry, always lead with the “so what” and follow up with the data—something I learned from profoundly expert and gracious women in UX who taught me how to adjust to corporate priorities, read the atmosphere of a business, and succeed at advocating for oneself and one’s craft at the highest levels. I wouldn’t be where I am now without them.)

Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?

My advice would be that your title and your degree aren’t the defining characteristics of who you are and what you do. When I was in academia, I deeply enmeshed my sense of self and self-worth in my status as a graduate student, and when I took a break after the MS, I had to mourn the death of a huge part of my identity. I had no idea who I was without the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown. But, after a lot of therapy and soul-searching, I came to the realization that even if I didn’t have the title of “student” anymore, that didn’t mean I was no longer capable of learning, just like even if I no longer had the title of “Director of Conversation Design,” it wouldn’t mean that I would suddenly become incapable of leading product strategy for conversational AI. Look inward. Titles, accolades, insignia—they’re distractions. Figure out what truly motivates you, what fulfills you and align to the elements of those qualities that present themselves in whatever role you pursue.

Any other thoughts or comments? 

A quick overview of the company I work for and the evolution of its conversational technology: Salesforce is a publicly traded company that provides customer relationship management software as a service in the cloud. In 2017, the company released the Einstein Bot Builder, a declarative platform for Salesforce administrators to create and deploy text-based chatbots to their own customers for service use cases. Since then, it’s grown into an expansive feature ecosystem, ranging from chat analytics to reusable chatbot templates. The Bot Builder, coupled with Slack, which Salesforce acquired in 2020, opened up the opportunity for me to establish a design practice by which Salesforce can create unified, consistent, and inclusive conversational chat experiences based on sociolinguistic research.

Recent interviews:

Interview with a Research Scientist

Interview with a Language Engineer

Interview with a Natural Language Annotation Lead

Interview with an Artist

Resources:

The full Linguist Jobs Interview List

The Linguist Jobs tag for the most recent interviews

The Linguistics Jobs slide deck (overview, resources and activities)

The Linguistics Jobs Interview series is edited by Martha Tsutsui Billins. Martha is a linguist whose research focuses on the Ryukyuan language Amami Oshima, specifically honourifics and politeness strategies in the context of language endangerment. Martha runs Field Notes, a podcast about linguistic fieldwork.

[infoseminar]

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[aalishaan]

How Aalishaan is Helpfull in Making Unique Home Decor

If you are thinking of going for a home decor redesign or adding another thing to your home and making your home inside and outside beautification yet because of shy of time and cash dropping that thought isn't great for you. So to get you out of this we concocted another thing or thought which is been executed and carried out among clients to get it encountered and give the survey on it the thought we thought of is a Modern Home Decor Application Named "AALISHAAN" that is planned and created by a notable brand "APL APOLLO" who is rumored and has a colossal brand picture on the lookout and master in steel tubes fabricating like Pre- Galvanized Tubes, Structural Steel Tubes, Galvanized Tubes, MS Black Pipes and Hollow Sections which are used in building the home and home decor. 

Apl Apollo has every one of the things arranged for them be it the plan or Excursion map that how might the Aalishaan Application look and feel to be the point at which it is carried out between clients. We have a reasonable picture as a main priority where region we need to work and what things are appropriate and simple access for clients be it

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These are a few fundamental things that are given need in the Application so it will end up being an efficient and cost-saving cycle rather than Time and cost-consuming.

The Thought process behind the Aalishaan Application is to return Modern Home Decor readily available and effectively open by every one of the clients who are on saving their time and cost additionally the slogan of aalishaan is simple to every one of the clients " Home Decor layout Ho Shaan Se Poke Fabricators Aaye Aalishaan" and that implies you don't need to go out in that frame of mind to look for the fabricator haggle with him related value finish to your work. Aalishaan is a One Stop answer for every one of your necessities concerning Modern Home Decor.

Aalishaan offers you home-style plans produced using steel tubes which won't just upgrade the vibes of the house yet, in addition, give solidness and solidarity to the Home Decor layout. In earlier days Home Decor layout is planned just utilizing wood glass and so forth steel is a negligibly involved part of Home Decor layout yet in the present time steel is generally utilized among others as it looks appealing and all the more frequently a large portion of the plan that is shown in Aalishaan plan library is produced using Steel tubes as it were.

Aalishaan is to some degree not quite the same as other applications in numerous ways be it UI or highlights that another application gives as we offer a spotless connection point and numerous helpful elements that other applications need giving some of them are like more modest and restricted plan library yet then again, aalishaan gives immense around 400 to 500 plan library another application has no elements like weight number cruncher, material mini-computer, talk support and most valuable component which is looking for the close by the fabricator and other applications don't have a double point of interaction office which just aalishaan have like for client and fabricators.

This is the outline of the most adaptable Modern Home Decor application available in the market to get your home decor done with few clicks 

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[kamalsir01]

PGDCA Course: Gateway to a Promising IT Career

Introduction:

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the pursuit of a Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications (PGDCA) offers a critical opportunity for those committed to advancing their careers in Information Technology. This advanced qualification is not merely a course; it is a gateway to a future brimming with potential and promise. For those also looking to strengthen their foundational knowledge in commerce, the Computer Courses in Durg can offer complementary skills that enhance overall career readiness and flexibility.

What is the PGDCA Course?

The PGDCA course is meticulously designed to equip students with comprehensive knowledge and practical skills essential for a successful career in IT. The program covers various domains, including programming, database management, networking, and software development. Students are guided through complex concepts with a focus on practical application, ensuring they are well-prepared for the demands of the industry.

Core components of the PGDCA curriculum often include:

Programming in C/C++: Learning both fundamental and advanced programming techniques.

Database Management Systems (DBMS): Understanding the intricacies of database design and management.

Software Engineering: Gaining insights into modern software development practices.

Networking: Exploring the fundamentals of network design and protocols.

Web Technologies: Mastering the development and management of web-based applications.

This course is structured to foster not only technical proficiency but also the analytical skills needed to navigate and solve real-world challenges effectively.

The Advantages of Pursuing a PGDCA

Enrolling in a PGDCA course offers numerous benefits, each contributing to a robust career in IT:

Enhanced Career Prospects: A PGDCA qualification opens doors to diverse roles within the IT sector, including positions as software developers, system analysts, and IT consultants.

Applied Learning: The course emphasizes hands-on experience, providing students with practical skills that are directly applicable in the workplace.

Current Industry Practices: The curriculum is designed to reflect the latest trends and technologies, ensuring that students are equipped with relevant and up-to-date skills.

Career Versatility: The knowledge gained from a PGDCA is applicable across various industries, allowing graduates to explore opportunities beyond traditional IT roles.

Strengthening Your Foundation with a DCA Course in Bhilai

For those who seek to solidify their understanding before embarking on a PGDCA, a Diploma in Computer Applications (DCA) course can be an invaluable first step. The DCA course in Bhilai provides foundational training in essential computer applications, preparing students for more advanced studies and career opportunities.

Typical subjects covered in a DCA course include:

Fundamentals of Computer Operations: Basic knowledge of computer hardware and software.

MS Office Suite: Proficiency in essential productivity tools such as word processors and spreadsheets.

Internet and E-Mail: Effective use of digital communication and online resources.

A DCA course serves as a preparatory foundation, offering a comprehensive introduction to the field that facilitates a smoother transition to a PGDCA program.

Conclusion:

The PGDCA course represents a significant investment in your future, providing the tools and knowledge needed to thrive in the IT industry. By complementing your PGDCA studies with foundational courses like a PGDCA Course in Bhilai, you ensure a solid base of skills that can enhance your career prospects and adaptability.

Furthermore, integrating insights from the best commerce classes in Durg can offer a well-rounded educational experience, bridging technical expertise with business acumen. This comprehensive approach not only enhances your employability but also prepares you for a diverse range of career paths.

Choosing to advance your education through a PGDCA is a commitment to your professional growth and future success. As you embark on this journey, remember that each step taken is a step towards achieving your career aspirations.

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USA Gymnastics Brentwood

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PBCGoQREqbM

Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center 9135 W Olympic Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90212 310-204-1980 Website URL: https://www.beverlyhillsgymnastics.org/ Unveiling the Elegance and Excellence of Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center In the heart of the illustrious city of Beverly Hills, amidst its glamorous streets and iconic landmarks, lies a waterfront of athleticism and grace - the Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center. Nestled in the vivacious community of Beverly Hills, California, this esteemed middle stands as a testament to the doings of excellence in gymnastics. Stepping into the Beverly Hills Gymnastics middle is akin to entering a realm where capacity meets training, and passion converges taking into consideration precision. Boasting state-of-the-art services and a team of seasoned coaches, this middle is a beacon for aspiring gymnasts of all ages and capacity levels. What sets the Beverly Hills Gymnastics middle apart is its unwavering duty to nurturing capacity even though instilling values of discipline, perseverance, and sportsmanship. From beginner classes intended to introduce young people to the fundamentals of gymnastics to advanced training programs tailored for competitive athletes, the middle offers a comprehensive range of courses catering to diverse interests and aspirations. Beyond its stellar training programs, the Beverly Hills Gymnastics middle exudes an ambiance of camaraderie and encouragement. Here, all participant is welcomed into a in favor community where they can be plentiful and excel, both upon and off the mat. Moreover, safety reigns unlimited at the Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center, taking into consideration stringent procedures in place to ensure the well-being of all participants. below the vigilant supervision of certified coaches, students are guided through their routines taking into consideration meticulous attention to technique and form, fostering a culture of injury prevention and capacity refinement. In accessory to its dedication to individual growth, the Beverly Hills Gymnastics middle furthermore takes self-importance in its contributions to the wider gymnastics community. Through outreach programs, exhibitions, and competitions, the middle actively promotes the sport of gymnastics, inspiring vanguard generations to attain for the stars and attain their full potential. In essence, the Beverly Hills Gymnastics middle stands as a shiny beacon of excellence, embodying the life of athleticism, determination, and grace. For those seeking to embark upon a journey of self-discovery and lithe prowess, this esteemed middle offers an unparalleled experience amidst the glamour of Beverly Hills, California.

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USA Gymnastics Century City

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PBCGoQREqbM

Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center 9135 W Olympic Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90212 310-204-1980 Website URL: https://www.beverlyhillsgymnastics.org/ Unveiling the Elegance and Excellence of Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center In the heart of the illustrious city of Beverly Hills, amidst its glamorous streets and iconic landmarks, lies a waterfront of athleticism and grace - the Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center. Nestled in the animate community of Beverly Hills, California, this esteemed center stands as a testament to the goings-on of excellence in gymnastics. Stepping into the Beverly Hills Gymnastics center is akin to entering a realm where aptitude meets training, and passion converges later than precision. Boasting state-of-the-art facilities and a team of seasoned coaches, this center is a beacon for aspiring gymnasts of every ages and aptitude levels. What sets the Beverly Hills Gymnastics center apart is its stubborn duty to nurturing aptitude while instilling values of discipline, perseverance, and sportsmanship. From beginner classes designed to introduce young people to the fundamentals of gymnastics to objector training programs tailored for competitive athletes, the center offers a cumulative range of courses catering to diverse interests and aspirations. Beyond its stellar training programs, the Beverly Hills Gymnastics center exudes an ambiance of camaraderie and encouragement. Here, every participant is welcomed into a in favor community where they can flourish and excel, both on and off the mat. Moreover, safety reigns firm at the Beverly Hills Gymnastics Center, later than stringent measures in area to ensure the well-being of every participants. under the vigilant supervision of recognized coaches, students are guided through their routines later than meticulous attention to technique and form, fostering a culture of upset prevention and aptitude refinement. In supplement to its dedication to individual growth, the Beverly Hills Gymnastics center then takes narcissism in its contributions to the wider gymnastics community. Through outreach programs, exhibitions, and competitions, the center actively promotes the sport of gymnastics, inspiring well ahead generations to reach for the stars and reach their full potential. In essence, the Beverly Hills Gymnastics center stands as a gleaming beacon of excellence, embodying the dynamism of athleticism, determination, and grace. For those seeking to embark on a journey of self-discovery and flexible prowess, this esteemed center offers an unparalleled experience amidst the glamour of Beverly Hills, California.

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Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur

Unlock Your Potential with Techcadd's” Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur**

In today's fast-paced digital world, a solid computer understanding is essential. Whether you're a student, a working professional, or someone looking to enhance your skills, mastering the basics of computing can open up a world of opportunities. Techcadd, a leading training institute, offers a comprehensive **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** designed to equip you with the fundamental skills needed to excel in various fields.

Why Choose Techcadd for Your Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur?

Techcadd is renowned for its high-quality training programs that cater to the needs of learners from all walks of life. Our **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** is no exception. Here's why you should consider enrolling in this course:

1. Experienced Instructors**: Our course is taught by experienced instructors who have a deep understanding of computer basics. They bring real-world experience into the classroom, ensuring that you receive practical, hands-on training.

2. Comprehensive Curriculum**: The **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** covers a wide range of topics, including MS Office, internet usage, basic programming, and more. Our curriculum is designed to provide you with a strong foundation in computer skills, enabling you to tackle more advanced topics with confidence.

3. Flexible Learning Options**: At Techcadd, we understand that everyone has different learning needs. That's why we offer flexible learning options, including weekend and evening classes, to accommodate your schedule. Whether you're a student or a working professional, our **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** is designed to fit into your busy life.

4. Affordable Fees**: We believe that quality education should be accessible to everyone. Our **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** is priced competitively, making it an affordable option for those looking to enhance their computer skills without breaking the bank.

5. **State-of-the-Art Facilities**: Learning in a conducive environment is crucial for success. Our training center in Hoshiarpur is equipped with the latest technology and resources to ensure that you have everything you need to succeed in your studies.

What You Will Learn in the Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur

The **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** at Techcadd is designed to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of essential computer skills. Here’s a breakdown of what you will learn:

1. **Introduction to Computers**: You'll start with the basics, learning about the different parts of a computer, how they work, and the basics of operating systems.

2. **MS Office Suite**: Mastering MS Office is crucial for anyone looking to work in an office environment. You'll learn how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and manage emails effectively.

3. **Internet and Email**: The Internet is a vital tool in today’s world. You’ll learn how to browse the web safely, use search engines effectively, and manage your email accounts with ease.

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5. **Data Management**: You'll learn how to manage and store data efficiently using various software tools. This includes understanding file systems, creating backups, and using cloud storage services.

6. **Cybersecurity Basics**: In an age where cyber threats are prevalent, understanding the basics of cybersecurity is essential. We’ll teach you how to protect your data and privacy online.

7. **Practical Applications**: Throughout the course, you'll have plenty of opportunities to apply what you've learned through practical exercises and projects. This hands-on approach ensures that you can use your new skills confidently in real-world situations.

 Who Should Enroll in the Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur?

The **Basic Computer Course in Hoshiarpur** is ideal for:

- **Students**: Whether you're in school or college, learning computer basics is essential for academic success and future career opportunities.

- **Working Professionals**: If you're already in the workforce, enhancing your computer skills can lead to better job opportunities, promotions, and increased efficiency in your current role.

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[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Louisa Clarence-Smith

Published: Dec 29. 2022

Maths professors at top UK universities will warn ministers on Thursday that academics are too scared to challenge damaging attempts to “decolonise” the curriculum.

A dozen leading academics have written to Claire Coutinho, the Education Minister, calling for more protections for free speech at universities, where many professors fear it is too “personally risky” to challenge the decolonisation agenda.

For maths degrees, professors are being pressured to explain how they are presenting a “multicultural and decolonised view” of the subject. In a recent consultation, the Quality Assurance Agency, which advises universities on course standards, said maths professors need to “present the work of a diverse group” of mathematicians, and ensure students are aware if they had “connections to the slave trade, racism or Nazism.”

A group of professors will warn on Thursday that such guidance “risks politicising the subject of mathematics and presenting a skewed perspective on its history.”

'Personally risky'

They said in a joint letter, seen by The Telegraph, that it also “infringes on the academic freedom of mathematicians to teach their subject according to their best professional judgement”. However, they warned that academics “who challenge orthodoxies on topics such as gender identification and diversity face physical intimidation from student activists”.  

“Many mathematicians see it as personally risky to suggest that 'decolonising the curriculum' might not be the best way to encourage more Black and minority ethnic people to take up mathematics,” they added.

Signatories of the letter include Prof Alan Sokal of University College London, Prof Abhishek Saha of Queen Mary University of London, Prof Jane Hutton, a medical statistician who works at the University of Warwick, and Dr Yuri Bazlov from the University of Manchester.

They are urging the Government to fight to pass the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill in its original form, despite opposition in the House of Lords. Clause 4 of the bill would give academics and students the power to sue universities if their freedom of speech rights are breached. The Government tabled amendments to the bill which would mean academics could only use those powers as a “last resort”, after first pursuing complaints through the procedures of the relevant university and the higher education regulator.

Personal cost of raising complaints 'far too high'

However, responding to the amendments, the mathematicians said: “We do not think this would give us the protection that we need. Universities have vast resources and power compared to individual academics. If academics are required to exhaust all internal processes…and then spend up to 12 months taking their complaint through the Office for Students before they can begin the lengthy process of going to the courts, we believe that the personal cost of raising any complaints would be far too high, rendering the system ineffective.” Ms Coutinho has previously said that the Government remains “resolute in our commitment that academics and speakers will have the right to go to court where this fundamental right has been denied.”

A spokesperson for Universities UK said: “Universities work hard to create the right conditions to protect and promote free speech and academic freedom across their campuses, and there are already significant legal duties placed on universities to uphold freedom of speech. The Government’s proposed changes to the Freedom of Speech Bill are helpful in making the new legal tort more targeted in scope, reducing the risk of university resources being wasted defending frivolous or vexatious claims.”

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Secular blasphemy laws.