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skippyv20 · 4 years

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Just a few of the many, many comments posted today in the Daily Mail ( one of the highest circulation respected newspapers in the U.K.) following reports on the pair.

Prospero in Exile, This Sceptered Isle, United Kingdom, moments ago

Harry should be removed from the line of succession; and the HRH, all titles and patronages should be stripped from him and his venal wife who have exploited their royal titles in order to merch themselves; sell-out Queen and Country, including Diana’s memory; and, interfered in the upcoming US Election. Meghan Markle is a contemptible narcissist who has no respect for anybody or anything. She’s a chancer who seeks power, fame and fortune; and who will walk over anyone to achieve her sordid and squalid aims. And let’s face it, Harry is a dimwitted man-child, who never grew up. Both Harry and Meghan Markle are repugnant.

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Kate Kelly, Sun Valley, United States, moments ago

Actually, if any “official” money and privileges are provided by the HRH, then, it is obvious that it must be removed, too. Harry will always be a blood relative of the Royal Family, but should be a totally private citizen, with absolutely no official titles at all. If the senior members of the Royal Family, especially the Monarch, keep this scandalous situation going, they will be further destroying the British Constitutional Monarchy. Is that what all of them intend to do now?

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Rymey, UK, United Kingdom, moments ago

It’s 2020, get rid of the whole shebang. The whole Windsor institution is fake, veneer & PR (not just the photographs) - or, as they call it in the real world - BS! A billionaire institution that’s not worth 350 million per annum from the downtrodden taxpayer. Also, the Windsors’ involvement in charities/causes is to protect themselves from criticism is the height of cynicism. Royalists really do believe that this clan get involved with charity work to help others but nothing could be further from the truth. They do it for one reason - to justify their continued reliance on the taxpayer & to continue their lives of preposterous, grotesque, unparalleled luxury in their countless palaces & castles which stand on untold acres of land. It’s pure PR & hypocrisy & the naivety/gullibility of royalists in 2020 is shocking. The Firm is all about veneer & hype. Dig deep, and you’ll find the REAL intentions of this family - and THEIR interests are not YOUR interests.

Mr Christmas, London, United Kingdom, 11 minutes ago

The Royal Family really do need to pay attention to the British public’s dissatisfaction regarding those traitorous and disrespectful pair ! They are blatantly exploiting their positions and their titles should be stripped immediately

The fact that the Queen hasn’t already done this after all these two have done, indicates to me the entire Royal Family should be ditched and the Constitutional Monarchy should be abolished. It’s a useless relic from a time long gone. Who really wants to live through a King Charles and Queen Camilla anyway?

Caz1967, Belfast, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

How dare they still claim taxpayers money and security for frogmore. Disgusting when people have no jobs and the UK is in crisis. Strip the titles and stop funding them now.

Strip the titles and the Commonwealth positions and the charities NOW. If this continues it is time to vote for a Republic. Enough is enough. Someone has to get the Queen to see the damage and act.

craazyworld, Away, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago

Not just their titles. They should also pay a hefty franchise licence fee. The only reason they get attention is because of their connection to the Royal family, which is a British institution that belongs to the British people, not the Windsor Mountbatten family - plenty of other families have headed it over the centuries.

The majority of the British Public have said this for some time. He is destroying the integrity of the Royal family by thumbing his nose at them and their protocols. Cut him free and let him have his life whichever way he wants it but not under the name the BRF

David, London, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago

All titles to be stripped from them immediately, not at the end of the 1 year review, they are both liars and deceivers. I cannot believe they have agreed to this, the betrayal is just jaw dropping, it makes sense now the real reason Netflix paid them so much, nothing to do with producing some documentaries and everything to do with this, deeply saddened for the Queen. It would not be churlish as Ingrid Stewart says to take their titles, they no longer deserve them, WTF happened Harry? you have betrayed your family, the army (going to a Disney premiere to get your wife voice over work when you should of attended the memorial for fallen marines killed by the IRA) and the generosity and spirit of the UK people and others

Catherine Clements, Sydney, Australia, 4 hours ago

Yes, Harry is the grandson of the Queen, the son of the pending King and the brother of the King who will follow. But the fact is that Harry and his wife have pushed the public to the point where respect for the monarchy is at an all time low, and if theyre allowed to continue there may well not be a monarchy by 2030. The monarchy can only exist with the permission of the people. Australia will probably become a republic next time a Labor government is elected; dont think the UK wont follow suit if the people demand it. At the moment, the royal family is giving the British public every reason to want it gone.

Thank you for bringing these. I see what you mean indeed. I read comments very rarely. You might say...I don’t like outside influences. When I give my opinion I don’t like it clouded by the negativity. I am sure you can also find many comments of support for the BRF. I know for some, the idea of losing the monarchy seems like a good idea. However, the actual transition is mind boggling. Let’s also remember the history is then lost. How very sad that would be. The person that said.... “Australia will probably become republic...and the UK will follow if people demand it?” Please, Australia has been threatening this for a long time. As with Canada some in favour of losing monarchy....but most not in favour. Both countries are still faced with “what to come up with, that would be better?” We lose the monarchy...God help us all....🙏🏻❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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warsofasoiaf · 4 years

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The Celtic Tiger - A Kaiserreich Ireland AAR Chapter 5: The Red Hand and the White Dove

A good general never let his successes linger too long. The key to winning a war was never stopping until the final objective was secured, which meant that no soldier could afford to celebrate his success.

2 October 1939 - Home of Michael Collins, County Cork, Ireland

The Irish had successfully repulsed multiple combined invasions from two great powers, and had successfully maintained the territorial integrity of their island. Britain had shifted their attention to the Low Countries and France had placed most of their forces along the German border or along the south of France in Marseilles. It had been days since a single Union plane or ship had come anywhere close to Irish territory. The unity that such a feat had engendered had been nothing short of exceptional. Some foreign workers had evacuated, but plenty had stayed behind to continue to help provide much needed manpower for Ireland in the face of invasion. Wealthy Irishmen bought war bonds by the armful, older men volunteered to help man civil defense spotting towers to supplement the radar stations, and workers had seamlessly integrated a full three-shift rotation to speed production along. Yet this unity had not been total, and one faction began to cause more problems.

It had been no secret that the Orangeists in Ulster had been agitating for a return to the British in Canada. To hear the rhetoric, Ulsterites needed to do everything they could to allow the exiled Windsors to return to their throne. Ireland was an ideal staging ground for the Entente, an unsinkable aircraft carrier capable of sending the entirety of the Entente’s aerial forces against the Union and the Communards. G2 had done wonders in infiltrating the Union, and the Irish Republican Army was one of the most experienced forces in the world, certainly when it came to fighting Mosley. All of that value, they argued, must have been put to use in the service King Edward. Once the United Kingdom had been restored, Ulster could be returned to the Crown, and all would be well, if you asked the Orangeists. The Unionists were seeing attendance at their rallies steadily grow and grow, before long the entirety of the Six Counties would be UUP.

The notion of joining both the Entente and the Reichspakt had been floated in the Dail. It made practical sense to join one of them, and gain the support of large and powerful armies and economies at the Irish back. Collins had exhausted plenty of political capital to shoot down those proposals, reading the refusals of the Kaiserreich and the exiled British government when the Mosley first declared war. Collins didn’t like it, it gave too much red meat to the na hAiséirghe crowd and could embolden their efforts against his immigration reforms, but it gained him a reprieve from those demanding that Ireland join one of the two European factions. Joining one would invite the Union to continue bombing and invading to prevent exactly the scenario that the Ulsterites hoped to come to pass.

With the war on, it was the perfect time to move. If it wasn’t such a threat, Collins would appreciate the irony, since the Weltkrieg was what had enabled Irish independence in the first place. He now sat in the same position as the British Empire did twenty years ago. The moment had made his mouth taste like metal, almost an involuntary moment of revulsion. The promises of 1921 seemed to be coming true at the worst possible time. The confirmation of Ulster would have to take place, one way or the other.

Now that the bombings were over, and life was attempting to return to normal, agitation against the Irish government had returned. James Craig had viciously denounced the Collins government, declaring that Collins had hoped to hobble Belfast, and that the Northern Irish would be kept out of the riches of Collins’s economic policies. The Saorstat Brewery, the Open for Business Initiative, the agricultural reforms in Connacht, the zinc mines in the center of the country, it was economic prosperity for Catholics only, Craig had made a grand show to a roaring crowd of Unionists and Ulster Volunteers. Collins’s ultimate goal, so Craig spelled out, was the economic subservience of the Northern Irish, to let them wither until they surrender who they are.

“Everything I’ve done for Belfast and it’s still not enough. The steelworks, the Short Brothers, none of it will ever be enough for James Craig.” Collins grumbled to an empty room.

---

16 November 1939 - Belfast, Ireland

The latest news wasn’t good. The Unionists, citing unequal treatment by Catholic employers, had planned to stage a large-scale sympathetic strike, which threatened everything from small restaurants all the way to Harland and Wolff. The Ulster Shipwright and Marine Workers Association, by far the largest labor union in Belfast and de facto head of any large-scale labor activity, had misgivings about striking in the middle of a war, and had strongly pushed a compromise plan. Smaller businesses unrelated to the war effort like restaurants and other service industries would institute a general strike, while shipyards, airfields, and other critical war industries would stress work-to-rule behavior and malicious compliance. As a token of good faith in their statement of grievances, the workers promised that they would maintain all repair facilities for the An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh and the An tAerchór at full functionality; they would do nothing that would critically endanger Ireland’s defense in the wake of Union aggression. Despite this, the plan ultimately was for naught. A fight broke out between the Unionists and a large group of unknown men shouting that they were betraying the war effort. No one had been seriously injured, merely cuts, broken bones, and a bunch of filled beds at Belfast Medical.

Rumors had abounded at what exactly happened and who was involved. Collins received his share of the blame, plenty believed that he had ordered the strikebreaking action to intimidate the Ulster Volunteers under the veneer of plausible deniability. Even more outlandish conspiracy theorists suggested that Collins had organized the labor action itself, to give his strikebreakers the reason they needed to kick a couple of teeth in without actually causing significant damage to the war effort and delegitimize the Ulster Volunteers and the labor unions in one fell swoop to prevent reaching out to the Dominion or the Union. The Catholics loudly protested that it must have been the Ulster Unionists who struck the first blow, hypocritically demanding the right to protest but denying it to the Irish nationalists in a rehash of the old Irish Penal Law system. Most however, thought it was just strikebreaking, squads hired by business owners to break up the labor action. Either way, it wasn’t good for the Collins government.

This had come not long after the bank of Ireland had been robbed in Belfast, gaining plenty of money to continue to fund dissident activity within the Six Counties. The Gardai had been unable to find where the money had gone, it had almost certainly been laundered through businesses in the North. No one could prove that it was the Unionists who had robbed it, but everyone was convinced that it was the case. With the Irish budgets already stretched thin, the loss of the cash reserves in Belfast had stung deeply. Angry Irish citizens had demanded that the government guarantee their account holdings and punish those responsible. Collins sympathized, but inflation was a dangerous beast to wrestle with already, he couldn’t imagine the headache he would have to deal with if he started securing private holdings during the war.

No matter the truth of everything that had happened in Ulster, it was bad for Collins. This sort of thing could only hurt the war effort. The last thing he needed was James Craig hoping to secure himself by latching on to the Union, or declaring war on Ireland and inviting in the British crown. “Tighten restrictions, offer the usual sympathies, promise an investigation. Let’s make nice before this gets any worse.” Collins ordered, hoping to stave off catastrophe.

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20 December 1939 - County Antrim, Ireland

It was starting to look as if it would be an armed conflict after all.

Derry had seen the first problems. A prominent Unionist activist had been stabbed in the night and left to bleed in a gutter, dying in the pre-dawn hours of a cold December morning and undiscovered until a morning street-cleaning crew found him during their shift. The Gardai had no leads, which had only mobilized the Unionists further. There had been no leads because there had been no investigation. The Gardai fully supported the murder of prominent Unionists; it allowed them to subjugate the population without fear of uprising or uproar. No doubt, had a Irish Republican loyalist been murdered, the perpetrator would have been found, arrested, and sentenced to death under wartime emergency measures.

Orangeists had been seeing a steady increase in support from Protestants in the North. Intelligence reports from police units had noted steady increases in recruiting and donations. Hardliners were urging the police to crack down on the movement, but absent evidence of a specific crime, Northern Irish advocacy groups had been a right guaranteed in the 1925 Constitution. The Gardai had to contend themselves with attempting to trace the money from the Bank of Ireland robbery and seeing if they could identify the specific groups that were causing trouble. If the perpetrators could be discovered, the Ulster Volunteers would have to disavow them and perhaps cause distress within their own movement.

The Irish nationalists despised Collins’s plans. It was war and the Ulster Volunteers were committing treason against the state. If the Ulster unions took the strikebreaking as a means to invite Mosley in, he’d have a secure beachhead, or James Craig might reach out to King Edward and slowly invite a peacekeeping force in. Neither idea seemed particularly feasible to Collins, but the fear of such possibilities was creating a lot of doomsaying, and that was enough. His success against Mosley had taught a valuable lesson: impression could mean far more than reality.

A concert hall in County Antrim saw the next bloody episode. Masked men shouting pro-Ulster slogans opened fire, killing members of a Dublin band and concert-goers alike who had been playing a Christmas benefit. No one from that crime was caught, as sympathetic Ulsterites had been able to smuggle the men underground. Investigators hadn’t yet been able to discover who the gunmen actually were. The pictures reminded Collins uncomfortably of what he saw in Galway and Sligo, how long would be before Irish would be doing the same to Irish? Rounding up and executing them in a field like they were sheep or cattle, it sickened Collins to his core. Craig had remained silent on the matter, but the Irish Catholics in the North were incredibly frightened. Even the foreigners were frightened of being caught in the crossfire, and that led Collins to one inescapable conclusion: he was losing control.

“Institute a stronger curfew, devote more money to investigations. Also let’s see if we can’t do something to undercut the Volunteer’s support among the Northerners, make them focus their efforts on fighting the Union. Take out loans if you have to; this needs to end now.”

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17 January 1940 - Belfast Ireland

It was a grim day, and the dark clouds had seemed to be a herald for bad omens.

After the concert hall massacre, the Ulster Unionist Party had quieted down, but only for a short time. No progress had been made, and rumors had circulated that the UUP weren’t going to send any sacrificial lamb even if they disagreed with the action. The Unionists had sought to organize a large-scale march in Belfast. Plenty within Collins’s government urged him to quash it entirely under emergency war powers, a large assembly could be considered too great a risk from aerial bombardment. Yet with the threat of British bombardment being reduced, Collins had opted not to give the Ulsterites more reason to call him an unconstitutional tyrant.

When the news of it reached the Catholic minority in Belfast, they predictably demanded an extra defensive precaution. The sporadic outbreaks of violence meant that the Catholics feared that the march would become a riot, and the Ulster Unionists, while not proven to be connected to the murders in Antrim, were almost certainly guilty of abetting it. The Gardai hadn’t been able to stop the violence, and with the march they would be woefully outnumbered and unable to protect anyone if anything got out of hand. Collins had ordered the 3rd Limerick Rifles to strategic points, with Eoin O’Duffy at the command center. The 3rd Limerick was a mix of O’Duffy’s old guard, men that had served him since 1917 which now comfortably resided in senior leadership and NCO positions, and young recruits that had signed on near the beginning of the Internationale War, out of training and dispersed to different combat units so that they might benefit from the veterans that had been fighting in the war from the outset and absorbed the new techniques and methods of waging war.

The latter category was populated by Dean MacCabe, a fresh recruit among many. He was greener than his uniform, and had been nervous about fighting the war. Rather than wait to be drafted, Dean had signed up for the infantry to serve his homeland. In truth, he’d rather have been in a coastal fort on Clew Bay, but his country needed him here, making sure that nothing happened during the protest march. Fortunately so far, the worst that seemed to happen was a bit of name-calling. Dean himself would have been happy to have given as good as he got, but he needed to keep his cool. Level heads were needed, and he needed to prove himself worthy of the uniform.

The rain had already hampered visibility greatly, and with everyone wearing long coats it was almost maddening to tell who, if anyone, was concealing a weapon under their raincoat. With so many people on the street, it was next-to-impossible to pick out faces of known Ulster Volunteers or militant UUP’ers in the crowd. Sometimes people spoke to each other and pointed at the 3rd Limerick. Were they pointing them out in signal for an attack, or just commenting on the fact that they were there? A woman walking by with a baby carriage stopped to play with the infant inside. Was that genuine, or was it a signal pointing out the best angle of attack? Dean started to sweat out of fear, mixing with the rainwater that was snaking its way inside his own raincoat. Everything could be a signal for a waiting attack, everyone could be an enemy. He had orders to fire if fired upon, but felt so exposed that he wouldn’t get a chance to fire second.

Periodic glances to his pocketwatch gave him grounding but seconds ticked on agonizingly slowly as he kept watch. His fellows were just as worried as he was, he could see in their faces. The old NCO’s seemed to be surer, but that could just be the experience in their eyes. This was not so much war as it was psychological torture, young men signing up to placed in the rain to fear when the next sudden outbreak of death could come, and it could come from anywhere. It had only been six minutes since he last looked at his watch.

Bottles and rocks started to be thrown at the 3rd Limerick’s position now, but was it testing their readiness, or merely rowdy Unionists too deep in their cups? And how quickly could the latter turn into a full-blown attack. All it took was one man to draw, and Dean MacCabe could be dead on the ground. Every time he saw something suspicious, he debated looking to his comrades for guidance, but if he had, would that mean that he would leave himself exposed, and he, or one of his brothers in the unit, could be killed? Even a moment’s lapse of concentration could be lethal, and so Dean MacCabe needed to maintain focus. Finally, the drunks had either run out of bottles or found something else interesting to do, the bottles gradually tapered off from two in the air, to one, to none. MacCabe looked at his watch. Nine minutes.

“Eyes front, we’ve got something,” came the gruff voice of the sergeant, and Dean snapped out of his reverie. There was movement in the crowd, a group of toughs approaching square to the Limerick Rifles position. Dean’s nerves were fraying, and Dean did not plead for what was before him to be something genuine or a false alarm. All he wanted was this wretched duty to be over, to go back to the barracks, drink himself into a stupor, and forget that this day had ever happened. The toughs began to chant, and MacCabe stole a second to look at his watch.

Two minutes.

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18 January 1940 - Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin, Ireland

Bloody Wednesday. That’s what the papers were calling what had happened at Belfast. Only a handful dead, more wounded, but it didn’t matter if no one was hurt: the Irish Republican Army had fired on Ulstermen. Weapons were found on the bodies, but eyewitnesses swore they saw mutually contradicting versions of events as they unfolded.

Collins made a public speech expressing sorrow for the loss of life, and vowed to discover what had happened. Only one man, above all else, could be trusted to treat the matter with the integrity that such a matter required. Richard Mulcahy, Ceann Foirne na bhFórsaí Cosanta, temporarily ceded his command position as Marshal of the Defense of Ireland to Liam Lynch, to take up a commission to investigate the matter. James Craig had wanted nothing to do with it and refused to offer any official support. Luckily for Collins, the Lord Mayor of Belfast had offered his full support for the commission provided Belfast police could participate, almost certainly committing political suicide in the process. One mayor seemed to stand between the country and civil war, and that mayor was a damn welcome sight to Collins eyes. The UUP depended on local support in Belfast, a mayor supporting the Commission would mean that until he was inevitably ousted in a no-confidence vote, Collins could act to head off any potential war.

It wouldn’t be long coming if he didn’t act quickly. G2 had intercepted comminiques to the Dominion of Canada that were almost certainly conducted on Craig’s behalf. Nothing sinister on its own, mere expressions of concern for Irish Unionists in the wake of the events of Bloody Wednesday. More concerning were the trade unions reaching out to the Union across the Irish Sea. Only the fringe socialists campaigned for syndicalism after Mosley’s invasion, but that crowd started to gain more support among the trade unions after the strikebreaking action, and it would only get worse if the common man in the North figured that Mosley was the lesser evil.

“Go on, and come back with what you can. Spend whatever money you need, do whatever you can to make peace. We aren’t going to survive any more invasions if we’re fighting in the Six Counties.”

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1 Feburary, 1940 - Special Session of the Dail, Dublin, Ireland

The Mulcahy Commission had returned surprising, and utterly damning results.

O’Duffy had asserted in his after-action reports that the Unionists had initiated violence, taking advantage of a minor street altercation to ambush a stationed unit. After receiving fire, O’Duffy had reinforced his men. Once the Ulsterites had started to take fire, they fled into the crowds, which quickly had become chaotic. The entire mess had taken less than 30 seconds, but they were 30 seconds of absolute madness.

Mulcahy’s findings concluded the opposite. He had stated that it had appeared that one of O’Duffy’s men fired the first shots, the Ulsterites had responded, and had placed weapons among the dead to minimize the risk that any could have been identified as an unarmed civilian. No one in the IRA detachment that had been fired upon would come forward to support Mulcahy’s findings, and most credible witnesses were unable to determine whether one or the other was true; most were paying attention to the parade and saw the firefight only after the first shots were fired.

The implications for the Irish Republican Army was huge. If O’Duffy was guilty, it would mean that a high-ranking member of the IRA had conspired to attack Protestant Irishmen. Before now, the government had not been involved in violence against citizens in the North in ten years, since the Northern Campaign. Now, it could have confirmed that there would be no regularization of their status, that they would always be second-class citizens in the Republic, and their only choices were rebellion or slow destruction.

“We respect the Commission and its findings. The Republic of Ireland owes a debt of gratitude to Richard Mulcahy, the Right Honorable Lord Mayor of Belfast Crawford McCullagh, and the investigators who have worked many hours to discover the truth.” Collins announced on the steps of the Dail. “There is nothing that can bring back those poor men and women who died that fateful day. All we can do is labor on in their stead. The Republic of Ireland will compensate the families of those lost, hold trials of the perpetrators, and hold them in our prayers. We cannot undo this, but we can endeavor to build something from this.”

The Bloody Wednesday trials, as they came to be known, were largely simple affairs. Testimony was mercifully brief; there was no need to be lurid or voyeuristic in The young men in the division, who had followed the orders of their superiors, were convicted of manslaughter. The officers and NCO’s on scene, who were of higher rank and ordered the shooting, had higher sentences. That only left Eoin O’Duffy himself, who adamantly maintained his innocence and dismissed the evidence against him arranging any sort of conspiracy as spurious. The prosecution had attempted to cite him for command responsibility, but the Hague Conventions had been rather vague on the notion, and the Peace With Honor had looked to avoid punishing soldiers for their actions near the end of the Weltkrieg. No one could argue that opening fire on civilians and placing weapons on them to cover up the crime wasn’t beyond the scope of normal command duties. If there wasn’t ironclad proof, the IRA would see it as Collins betraying his own for the sake of making nice with Ulster, the corruption of Collins the soldier to Collins the politician who threw his soldiers under the bus.

“They were your soldiers too, Eoin! You trained them! You’re the one betraying them. The Ulsterites are Irish too.”

Ultimately, O’Duffy was sentenced to life imprisonment, after being cashiered from the Irish Republican Army. Collins didn’t see it as a victory. If he had sent Mulcahy instead of O’Duffy, how many more lives would have been saved? What could he do, to build a united Ireland in the wake of such bloodshed.

“Call Mr. McCullagh. This is my last shot to avoid losing Ireland.”

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14 September 1940 - Belfast, Ireland

“With the establishment of the Parliament of Ulster and the transformation of the Republic into the Federal Republic of Ireland, all Irish people can truly be thought of as being weavers of the grand Irish tapestry. We thank the government of Michael Collins for establishing this institution to ensure that the Northern Irish and Protestant peoples of this great country can show and share their ways of life, and the distinct traditions that have become part of our life can become part of Ireland’s. The Cultural Unity Commission represents a tangible step on the path to the vision of our great flag. One nation, Catholic and Protestant, with the eternal flag of peace between them.” -Gerald McCullagh, First Minister of the Ulster Parliament

It was a pretty speech, but McCullagh had quieted down the UUP protests. There had almost been a complete schism between McCullagh and Craig, and Craig’s advanced age had not helped him maintain control of the party. A younger generation had been able to portray McCullagh as out of touch, wanting to reunite with a land that had fled to Canada to escape the syndicalists. Worse, they hadn’t come to support Ireland when she called for support, but Michael Collins had fought, and fought well.

Collins had established the Ulster-Scots as its own language along with English and Irish Gaelic. It had been a nightmare to organize during wartime, at one point he had joked that he spent more time trying to figure out how to translate official government manuals than he had in pursuing the fight against the Union of Britain in the past month. The gesture had surprised the moderates in the UUP, and got them to the negotiating table when the timetable for phasing in the new language was given to them. Economic gestures hadn’t worked, but Collins saw more success with political measures meant to promote Ulsterites in Ireland, first with the establishment of their own language and then with the establishment of the Cultural Unity Commission. The resolution of their status, the question that had been on the table since 1925, was being sorted. Ireland would not simply tolerate her Protestant citizens, but celebrate them. This had enraged the Irish Catholic League and other populist Catholic movements, but Collins hadn’t been worried; they had been fringe groups to begin with and banned from the Irish Republican Army.

The last step had been to federalize Ireland into four regional areas with four Parliaments, Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. Dublin would still be the centralized seat of the national government, responsible for matters of national interest such as the military, foreign policy, and inter-province commerce, but more domestic matters would be ceded to the local Parliaments. The full resumption of federal duties would be brought into effect when the war was over, but as a gesture of support, Collins had reshuffled the War Cabinet to include ministers from each of the four provinces. Oddly, this development had been celebrated with greater fanfare within Connacht and Munster than in Ulster itself, the two provinces had seen themselves receive less in terms of investment than Dublin or Belfast, and they welcomed the added jobs and local autonomy. The success of the IEAA and the war industries had made the country bloom, and if a little autonomy was lost for maximum unity, so much the better. For the first time since this war had begun, Collins began to feel optimism.

The same couldn’t be said for the world situation. The Russian Vozhd had begun to push deep into White Ruthenia and the Kingdom of the Ukraine. Japan and Germany had turned the Southeastern Asian peninsula into a massive stretch of small battles and the Pacific into a warzone, and Japan had offered its support to the Princely Federation to attack the British Dominion of India, putting the Co-Prosperity Sphere at war with the Entente. The Zhii Clique and the Fengtian government had also gone to war in support of their respective Great Power patrons to turn northern China into a proxy war between Germany and Japan, and Cheng Jiongming had taken the opportunity to take over Hunan and Siuchan mostly peacefully, espousing Chinese democratic federalism. The war in China had prevented Japanese land reinforcements, forcing them to rely heavily on their Siamese allies. Savinkov, sensing weakness, had declared war to seize Transamur, and had invaded Japanese Siberia to take back the tiny province. Entente naval invasions hadn’t made much progress in mainland France, and the Low Countries were struggling with a British seaborne invasion and French attacks along the border.

“This is the final struggle.” Collins addressed the nation in a radio speech. “Ireland cannot know peace until the menace that has been the Union of Britain is defeated. We have maintained our borders, but it is not enough to simply seek détente with those who sought to enslave us. The Union of Britain is a threat to the entire world, and there will not be peace until we have taken it in our hands and shown it to the world. The Irish Republican Army will go across the sea, and we will rid ourselves of those who seek to deny us our own country.”

It was a pretty speech, and it brought the country together, but that’s all that it was. Collins needed to find a way to provide a unified front against the Internationale. For all that Deat and Mosley loathed each other, they had coordinated exceptionally well and presented a unified front against the Reichspakt. The Entente and the Reichspakt had offered non-aggression pacts between each other, but coordination had gone no further. If Collins wanted to win the war, he would have to solve that problem. If he couldn’t, then he would face annihilation.

An impossible problem? The risk of death? Every problem seemed to have such unimaginable stakes, and each time one was solved another rose in it’s place. But that was necessary. These were the times that they were in.

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Images

Unionists Hold Massive Rally

Unionists Mobilize

Unionists Planning an Uprising?

Clash at Unionist Worker Strike

Bank of Ireland Robbery

Murder in Derry

Antrim Concert Hall Attacked

Ulster March Begins

The Mulcahy Commission

Eoin O’Duffy’s Trial

Ulster at Peace

The New Ireland

The Final Struggle

Alright everyone, this is the latest chapter. I’m not in love with this one as much as I am with some of the others, but I was happy to be able to present some of the deployed grunt experience with Dean MacCabe; there’s a little bit of my friends who went to Iraq in it, and I wanted to relay the intensity and paranoia that they felt, even if it was just for a few paragraphs.

Did what I could to ensure that these antagonists (in terms of a character that provides an obstacle to our protagonist, not a ‘villain’) came across as reasonable; one of my many faults when I write is that I have a tendency to focus more upon protagonists, so I wanted to ensure that the Ulster Unionists came across as mostly reasonable with extreme elements. I think I pulled it off well enough, but let me know what you think of it.

I’m not a fan that peace was so easy to achieve, because I think that cheapens the very real long-term efforts that these sorts of efforts entail. That’s a function of the game mechanics in HOI4, the same thing is present in the base game in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Even the ideas in those foci would take a long time to implement, but it’s an AAR, so I have to reflect the mechanics of the game in the writing and make some vague allusions that it’s going to be a long process. Such as it is, I’m afraid.

The Second Weltkrieg continues on, the next chapter will be much different, as rather than taking place in one year over a series of events, it will take place over a few days at the Halifax Conference, and it will be a dialogue-driven chapter. We will have several bigwigs making their appearance, like Kaiser Wilhelm II and King Albert I (our King George VI), and some callbacks to earlier chapters. Hope you’ll enjoy it.

-SLAL

#kaiserreich #creative #celtic tiger

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feetloaf87 · 4 years

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Exactly How Laser Teeth Whitening Approaches Work.

Content

Teeth Whitening

What Triggers Tooth Discolouration?

Split Tooth Syndrome.

Several Customers Ask Me For The Chelsea Smile.

Laser Teeth Whitening Belfast.

Smile Health Club Premium Whitening.

Teeth Whitening

Dentists usually use two types of teeth whitening procedures; one is known as carbamide peroxide, which is made from the hydrogen peroxide and the other is known as oxygen bleach. Both these teeth whitening procedures work in the same manner but with slightly different outcomes. Carbamide peroxide whitens teeth by absorbing the peroxide. However, it does have a foul smell and is rather uncomfortable to wear.

Before you get your teeth bleached, you ought to see your dentist for a basic examination.

Your dental expert will certainly also be able to correctly clean as well as prepare your teeth before the whitening therapy starts.

Right Here at Revitalise Dental Centre, our teeth whitening therapies begin with ₤ 500 as well as we are an official service provider of the very regarded Boutique Whitening solution.

How much teeth whitening prices depends completely on the type of therapy you pick and just how discoloured your teeth are to begin with.

Specialist teeth whitening treatments, using the higher dosage of hydrogen peroxide, can occupy to 6 weeks for you to attain your desired shade.

If you deal with periodontal illness, have tooth cavities, dental crowns or persistent sensitivity, after that you would not be an ideal prospect for tooth whitening treatment.

While you will begin to see a difference in your smile within simply a couple of short weeks, you will certainly require to stay on top of treatments to preserve the impact.

At the appointment, your dentist will have the ability to examine the overall problem of your mouth, teeth and periodontals.

It is necessary to understand that dental lightening is not a permanent therapy.

If you were to stop your treatments, even after you had actually achieved the preferred level of whitening, your teeth will certainly begin to progressively come to be discoloured once more.

There are also two other types of at-home teeth whitening treatments that you can try. They include the Zoom teeth whitening system and the laser teeth whitening system. The first one uses a light energy instrument that emits high intensity lights onto the stains. It works on the principle of applying intense heat directly onto the area you wish to have whiter teeth. This method does not work very well if your teeth are badly stained and if you have seriously discolored teeth.

What Triggers Tooth Discolouration?

Teeth whitening or teeth bleaching is simply the procedure of shining the white color of teeth in bright colors. Teeth whitening can be done with the help of teeth whitening products which can be bought from the market. There are various reasons due to which teeth may yellow or discolor. Yellow teeth may occur due to smoking of tobacco or because of consumption of green tea, coffee and aerated drinks. Blue teeth are generally caused due to congenital defects of teeth structure or age. Whatever the reason for teeth discoloring, they can be lightened up a great deal with the help of teeth whitening procedures.

Laser teeth whitening is a dental procedure that has greatly increased in popularity over the past few years. This procedure involves using a low-intensity, high-energy beam of light to illuminate a patient's teeth for whitening. The end result is that a person's smile will be much whiter than it was before.

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Over-the-counter teeth whitening remedies are available in the market at affordable rates. In many cases, you can find them for free when you purchase a product from an off-line retailer. However, most products have a minimal effect on the discolored teeth. Many people end up using these products even after they have consulted a dentist and found out that these products are not very effective.

How often can you laser whiten your teeth?

Laser whitening can last 6 months or longer (some people say 1+ years), but, as mentioned before, every person is different. The amount of time that it lasts can be depend on tooth structure, personal diet habits, and overall oral health.

Hydrogen peroxide teeth whitening uses a very high concentration of this agent. As a result, the teeth whitening effects tend to be less effective in comparison to bleaches that use a lesser amount of peroxide. There can be several side effects associated with teeth whitening procedures such as sensitivity and irritation. When the sensitive tissues around the teeth are exposed to too much peroxide, they start getting damaged. The irritation can lead to tooth decay if proper dental precautions are not taken in time.

Fractured Tooth Disorder.

The second method uses the hydrogen peroxide compound as a bleaching agent. It works in a similar way as the in-office process. The main difference is that it is applied to the stains in the home using the hydrogen peroxide gel. This compound bleaches teeth by oxidizing the stains.

Can you whiten your teeth permanently?

Although teeth whitening can produce profound results, it does not last forever. Teeth become dingy and stained from the foods and beverages that we consume. The only true way to achieve a bright, white smile that lasts is through cosmetic dentistry in Los Gatos that results in permanent results such as veneers.

Many Customers Ask Me For The Chelsea Smile.

Over a period of time, those with weaker teeth may experience tooth sensitivity. If this is the case, a dentist may suggest that you switch to an at-home teeth whitening product to prevent this new problem from becoming worse. If the sensitivity does not go away, you should schedule an appointment with your dentist to discuss whether stronger solutions are available.

Whitening strips are available over-the-counter in varying strengths. They are quite affordable and can easily be purchased from any drugstore. There are instances where in-office whitening treatments may not prove effective for certain individuals because of factors like dark or discolored teeth. For this reason, at-home whitening products may prove more effective. At home whitening treatments offer another option to those who do not wish to visit the dentist's office. While they can offer immediate results, it is important to realize that results will only last for a limited period of time.

The Crest Teeth Whitening Kit with Nearly 20,000 Perfect Reviews on Amazon Is 44% Off Today Only - PEOPLE

The Crest Teeth Whitening Kit with Nearly 20,000 Perfect Reviews on Amazon Is 44% Off Today Only.

Posted: Fri, 27 Nov 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

When choosing between the at-home teeth whiteners, it is important to consider how much whitening you want to achieve. Whitening products often contain three to five different types of peroxide compounds. Typically the weaker bleaches work better at removing light to moderate stains. The stronger bleaches have a more significant whitening effect as they react directly with the stains on the teeth, attacking them and lifting them out of the enamel.

The power of hydrogen peroxide: Finding long-term whitening solutions for your patients - RDH

The power of hydrogen peroxide: Finding long-term whitening solutions for your patients.

Posted: Tue, 01 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Oxygen bleaches include hydrogen peroxide and hence do not have the foul odor associated with the carbamide type. The hydrogen peroxide in such tooth whiteners reacts with the acid in the mouth, thereby creating a chemical reaction that produces the whitening results. This process may be initiated by brushing the teeth thoroughly with a toothpaste or even by using a small amount of hydrogen peroxide with a Q-tip or the likes. The effects of such tooth whitening treatments may vary from person to person, taking a few weeks for you to start seeing noticeable changes.

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With some regularity, it is possible to see results of carbamide peroxide teeth whitening treatments. However, they may experience staining of some sorts while still others may experience discomfort after application. This discomfort generally occurs within a day or so. In case your dentist intends to use this procedure on a regular basis, you would have to submit to frequent clinic visits and endure a few minor discomforting episodes along the way.

It is important to realize that there are alternatives to dentist in-office whitening treatments. You can purchase strips that can be worn like jewelry for short periods of time, with results that are nearly instantaneous. Such strips contain a formulated blend of potassium nitrate and aluminium phosphate. https://www.sparklywhites.co.uk/contact/chorley/ , when applied on the teeth cause the compound to react with the existing minerals and bleach the stains out.

what's new in sparklywhites.co.uk's teeth whitening oldham of at-home whitening solution uses the LED light technology. This is the most effective of all the methods. You will need to store the LED light tubes and the whitening solution in separate containers so that you do not end up having the solution on the gums or in the trays. After the treatment, you will remove the trays and clean your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste.

How can I get white teeth in one day?

10 Ways to Whiten Teeth in a Day and Keep Healthy Gums 1. Brush with Baking Soda. 2. Use Hydrogen Peroxide. 3. Use Apple Cider Vinegar. 4. Activated Charcoal. 5. Powdered milk and toothpaste. 6. Coconut Oil Pulling with Baking soda. 7. Essential Oils Whitening Toothpaste. 8. Turmeric Whitening Toothpaste. More items•

In teeth whitening, a bleaching agent is applied to a tray that is placed on top of your mouth. A chemical reaction occurs with the peroxide, which removes the stains and whitens up your teeth. Usually, a dentist makes use of a bleaching agent known as hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide has the effect of oxidizing the stains that are present on your teeth. This process can be called "chemical oxidation".

Health.com.

Posted: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Smile Health Spa Costs Whitening.

One of the other methods of at-home bleaching is to use the home kits that are sold by professional dentists. These are generally made up of peroxide gels that you place directly onto the stains on your teeth. The problem with these is that you cannot do this at home without consulting a dentist who specializes in teeth whitening procedures. If you do not consult a dentist before using any of these products, you may end up damaging the sensitive tissue around the gum line during the application process.

#teeth whitening #laser teeth whitening #best teeth whitening #teeth whitening UK #teeth whitening England #teeth whitening United Kingdom

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creativesmilebelfast · 11 months

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Creative Smiles, an award winning dental practice has been creating smiles for over 30 years. Using the latest, safest technology we deliver the best quality of care that lets us design transformative smiles.

Contact us: Creative Smiles 15-17 Upper Dunmurry Ln, Dunmurry, Belfast BT17 0AA, United Kingdom +44 28 9061 8545 http://www.creativesmiles.co.uk/

#Dentist Belfast #Teeth Whitening Belfast #Composite Bonding Belfast #Dental Implants Belfast #Invisalign Belfast #Braces Belfast #Veneers Belfast #All On 4 Dental Implants Belfast

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lumberpond47 · 4 years

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Laser Teeth Whitening Belfast, Lisburn Road, Book Online Just ₤ 149.

Content

Teeth Whitening In Beckenham, Kent

What Are The Benefits Of Whitening At The Practice?

Frequently Asked Concerns About Laser Teeth Whitening.

Only Oral Experts Are Controlled To Offer Tooth Whitening, It Is Illegal For Any One Else To Perform This Procedure.

Teeth Whitening In Beckenham, Kent

If your dental expert determines that you are suitable for this treatment, you may have the option to bleach your teeth at home or make use of the popular Enlighten therapy in surgical procedure. The dimming of your teeth is an all-natural process that takes place as you age. Excellent dental hygiene will assist reduce the results, however it can't be absolutely prevented. Food as well as consume alcohol with strong colourings-- merlot, coffee, tea-- quicken the staining process.

For more information on exactly how to finish that best smile, contact your regional Overall Orthodontics branch, that can direct you in the best direction. Our team are always pleased to talk about the best therapy for your demands, as well as to supply sincere, objective advice on exactly how ideal to care for your teeth. " Great oral practise that actually does care about their people. Excellent place, extremely useful as well as specialist team, would very recommend to any person." Your Uppingham Dental & Implant Center dental expert can aid you accomplish a stunning smile without extensive orthodontics.

Your teeth alter colour as you age, as well as various other aspects like what you consume can impact their colour. Coffee, merlot, curry, balsamic vinegar as well as dark berries are all teeth tarnishing wrongdoers. You may have an important event coming up, such as a wedding event or vacation, that you wish to look your finest for. It might be that your teeth have actually progressively come to be discoloured because of particular suggested medications or anti-biotics.

What Are The Advantages Of Whitening At The Technique?

Does coconut oil whiten teeth?

Unfortunately, no scientific studies have proven that oil pulling whitens your teeth. However, it's a safe practice and worth a try. Many people claim their teeth are whiter and brighter after regular oil pulling. To oil pull, put 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth and push and pull the oil through your teeth.

Our group prides themselves on the high quality of work they do whilst you remain in our treatment. The heart of our practice is Oral Health and wellness, with the core of our technique principles being prevention as opposed to remedy. A whiter, brighter smile is beautiful-- it can assist you feel much better about yourself as well as make a remarkable impression. Your way of life as well as the aging process can discolor and dim your teeth. Several points we do on a regular basis can add to tarnished teeth, such as drinking coffee, tea, soda pop and also merlot or smoking.

Often Asked Inquiries Concerning Laser Teeth Whitening.

How Baking Soda Toothpaste Works its Magic - Wide Open Eats

How Baking Soda Toothpaste Works its Magic.

Posted: Mon, 28 Dec 2020 15:25:52 GMT [source]

All issues are managed in line with our code of practice plan and also we are devoted to resolving such matters in a prompt as well as amicable way. If your confidence is influenced by the look of your teeth, you may be thinking about veneers. Your Courtrai Home Dental & Implant Clinic dental professional can aid you achieve a stunning smile without lengthy orthodontics. The active ingredient travels through the oral enamel, breaking down spots by chemical oxidation. The process can take a while so it is essential to finish the therapy as directed by your dental expert. If you're taking into consideration a whiter smile, contact the Morpeth team today to book an appointment. At Harbour Dental Method, we intend to provide the most up to date in premium quality dentistry.

Because of this process, the inner colour of the whole tooth is lightened, and also the framework of the tooth is not altered in any way. Enamel, dentine as well as any dental fillings, crowns or veneers are not impacted or hurt by the peroxide.

Just Dental Experts Are Regulated To Supply Tooth Whitening, It Is Illegal For Any Type Of One Else To Perform This Procedure.

It is not a great suggestion to have your teeth whitened if you have existing oral issues, as the whitening agent can aggravate any kind of cavity or gum issues. Before therapy you will certainly always be seen by one of our dental professionals to ensure that having your teeth whitened is appropriate for you. Your Pedestrian & Associates Dental & Implant Center dental professional can aid you achieve a gorgeous smile without prolonged orthodontics. Your Caledonian Dental Treatment dental expert can help you accomplish an attractive smile without prolonged orthodontics. If you're thinking about a whiter smile, get in touch with Caledonian Dental Treatment today to book a consultation.

If you're taking into consideration a whiter smile, contact Uppingham Dental & Implant Clinic on today to schedule a consultation. Our practices will remain open for your dental care in the brand-new year. There are some impressive top quality teeth-whitening treatments on the market. En masse we pick only the very best which supply a great outcome for your people. We enjoy this straight-forward therapy which freshens your appearance as well as breathes vigor back right into your smile. Orchard House Dental Method uses cost effective whitening treatment that is completed in the comfort of your very own home.

Tooth whitening is basically a filtration treatment targeted at taking colours out, not placing white in. Even those with the very best oral health and wellness routines can suffer discolorations triggered by tea, coffee, merlot or the occasional cigarette. Also with age, the dentine listed below the tooth enamel modifications colour, coming to be darker, yet it does not have to remain in this way.

How can I get white teeth in one day?

" She was so handy, client, put me secure so much as well as was so identified to achieve precisely what I desired. I couldn't be happier with the result of my teeth and also I would certainly recommend this technique as well as Dr Cindy to anyone! Please complete the kind below to check teeth whitening at White & Co . Discover why we have a track record for excellence by experiencing a phenomenal whitening treatment. Tooth whitening does not damage your teeth, actually it is of advantage to your periodontal wellness and was stumbled upon by accident whilst dealing with a gum infection in 1989.

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The treatment has a lasting effect on the colour of your teeth, yet they will certainly not be immune to the very same discolouring as they previously endured. We have customized made the trays to precisely fit your measurements, which will hold the whitening gel in the optimum location for you, making certain optimal outcomes. The whitening gel offered to you, will be of a greater concentration than over-the-counter gels, and will certainly offer you far better results that last longer. If you're considering a whiter smile, contact Walkden Dental & Implant Center on today to book an examination. Your 32 Whites Dental & Implant Clinic dental professional can help you attain a gorgeous smile without lengthy orthodontics. While everybody desire for a Hollywood smile, very few individuals have normally intense, white teeth.

You can buy the popular take-home whitening kit which only needs 15 minutes of the dental experts time! If you supply or supply dental therapies or recommendations without being registered with us, you may be dedicating a criminal offence. Info aboutwho is legitimately as well as safely able to supply treatments is readily available.

For clients wishing to lighten their teeth, we use a procedure called Teeth Whitening. This process can substantially alter the color of your teeth as well as is a fantastic way to illuminate your smile. https://www.lateethwhitening.co.uk/nottingham/ aim to supply a high requirement of look after all our patients. If you want to make a grievance, or increase issues concerning the service got, please call the technique manager.

Smile Day spa Premium functions by raising the tooth's permeability to oxygen which damages down tarnish molecules. It is a combination therapy, 2 weeks making use of Smile Day spa And also whitening followed by a 1 hour go to in day spa to guarantee B1 shade. After a course of desensitisation treatment to reduce possible sensitivity you will receive custom made trays. Smile Health facility Plus trays are produced to ensure they secure each tooth separately with the gels in position. This system starts to take effect instantly, with maximum results revealing after 2-4 weeks of therapy.

You can maintain your smile quite by utilizing whitening toothpaste, brushing your teeth with cooking soft drink or use whitening floss.

Discovering a teeth whitening brand that can sustain your online and also offline advertising and marketing requirements will certainly assist promote your whitening therapies.

Optident are happy to use complimentary teeth whitening consultations for dental experts in the UK.

Read how to market new dental products to patients using online as well as offline channels.

You can additionally utilize the in-home therapies to offer the specialist teeth whitening treatment a boost or to aid keep it.

This oral assessment is a different charge in addition to the costs of the whitening treatment.

A develop of calculus can additionally lead to yellow-looking teeth, as can habits like smoking. https://www.lateethwhitening.co.uk/leicester/ is a prominent alternative for our patients as the effects are immediate-- no overnight tray-wearing! If a single tooth is sensitive, we have the versatility to remove the gel from that tooth alone as well as continue service the rest of your smile. After 2 weeks, you'll return to Ringley Park for a progress check. If your teeth have actually gotten to the preferred shade, we'll carry out a last 45-minute treatment in the chair. With no rubber dams or other barriers, this is an entirely comfortable experience.

Sweat Equity: Doing it her way with Vanity Way - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sweat Equity: Doing it her way with Vanity Way.

Posted: Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:30:00 GMT [source]

Speak to your specialist orthodontist regarding whitening your teeth at the end of your therapy. Relying on the treatment you have actually gone through to straighten your smile, it is entirely all-natural for there to be some discolouration, specifically with taken care of dental braces. Teeth whitening can bring that attractive smile to life by boosting your straight smile into a bright smile.

#teeth whitening #laser teeth whitening #best teeth whitening #teeth whitening UK #teeth whitening England #teeth whitening United Kingdom

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thelavendrhaze · 6 years

Photo

☆ wild love by @daisyharry

AU: Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It's supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

☆ like an endless summer by @horsegirlharry

Louis is a riding instructor at a summer camp, and Harry is a fellow counselor who he’s been successfully managing his crush on for the last two summers. That is, until Harry shows up this year leveled up and lethal, and all Louis’s formerly perfected veneer of nonchalance melts like a popsicle in the sun.

☆ palms reflecting in your eyes by @horsegirlharry

Harry visits Louis at his campus and finds a crop on the wall.

☆ crush by @juliusschmidt

Harry introduces Louis to an old crush of Louis'.

☆ a gift for louis (and harry) by @juliusschmidt

Louis knows he doesn’t really fit into Harry’s life anymore. Even stopping by tonight feels strange. He tells himself again that it will be the last time. He wants to break things off properly, in person.

And, anyway, Harry sent him that gift. He couldn’t very well end things and keep it, as tempting as that is.

☆ turning page by @daisyharry

AU: Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been. Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other.

☆ i’m what you need, what you need by @aceniall

Overworked, under-rested, and a little sex happy, Louis accidentally sends his boss a rather explicit photo of himself. Being a personal assistant was never supposed to be this high risk.

☆ falling into you by @aliensingucci

In the grand scheme of adolescence and boyhood, Harry was still working himself out, so far with little luck. But four things he could say for certain: 1) he'd been at the top of his class all through primary and secondary school, 2) he was the shittiest alpha to ever walk the earth, 3) Liam Payne never let him forget it, and 4) he’d been in love with this boy, Louis Tomlinson, ever since he was fifteen years old.

☆ say hallelujah, say goodnight by @alivingfire

Louis is an angel who is just a little too bad to be good, Harry is a demon who is just a little too good to be bad, and they're both a little too in love to be impartial when angels and demons go to war.

☆ truth in your eyes by @smrwine

"...I found it half spilled over by the loveseat not too long ago.” Louis eyed him imploringly with a slight curl to his lips. “My mate gave it to me as a gag gift. He bought it during his gap year from some novelty shop in Belfast. I never did get to try it. I was always sort of intimidated by the label.” Louis twisted the bottle in his hand, revealing the label written in gold, and only now visible to Harry’s sober eyes. Truth Serum.

#fanfic #fic rec #larry #lourry #stylinson #larry fanfic

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baeddel · 6 years

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@thenegrospeaksofrivers the first sentence of that quote, which I understand is the most inflammatory, is the more complicated to discuss, because it has to do w/ how Camatte uses the word ‘human’ and what it means for him and its not really simple to say what that is. But I should say that he isn’t trying to say that the police are the ‘good guys’ in their ‘kind of revolt’ against the students; its just significant that whats happening is both factions are fighting over the status of their humanity. This is still somewhat true today in the occasional situations where the police become aware of the larger struggle (and not just opportunistically acting for self-preservation) except that the police appeal to their humanity on the basis of white supremacy (and therefore, necessarily, through dehumanizing others).

A closer analogue would actually be the kind of provocations that the Ulster Volunteer Force (fascists, terrorists, extremely powerful in Northern Ireland) make against the police and against the government (that they... collude with, and control significant parts of!) To an outsider it looks completely insane and to an insider it also looks completely insane... These guys, literal actual death squads, take on an almost leftist veneer, appealing to “End the Police Repression of Our Community!” and so on. You might have heard about the huge riot that they staged in Belfast because the Union Jack (a symbol of the occupation) was removed from the city hall.

This seems to us at most completely irrelevant: an argument between two repressive forces of the state over the best techniques. And thats exactly what it is! Its the kind of princely factionalism that drives all coflicts between fascists. But at the same time, by actually being placed in conflict, through an acutally occuring struggle, the two propagandize against each other, and deny the other their humanity, legitimate violence against the other. And in the community, we feel compelled to pick a side (my mother prefers the police - I don’t blame her for this ideological blunder). We see it as a contest of humanity on the level of discourse; of who’s the ‘bad guys’ and who’s ‘the rest of us’...

It’s this terrain of struggle which is significant for Camatte. Not that one side is really right or whatever... its when people begin to take up questions of humanity and dehumanization, this is a significant struggle. Even though there is no *actual* dehumanization of the police, they feel it necessary to defend their humanity, while we feel it necessary to attack it. We are now on the terrain of sturggle which Camatte sees as most significant. But the way forward isn’t the continuation of dehumanizing propaganda, its something else...

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lanewsline · 2 years

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EVENT REPORT: Debbie Durkin’s ECOLUXE Pre-Oscars Luxury Lounge; 2022 Edition Returns to Beverly Hilton Hotel with Festive, Fun Outdoor Event

By Don Rose

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LA’s leading sustainable producer, Debbie Durkin, hosted her annual Pre-Oscars EcoLuxe Lounge on March 25th, two days before the 2022 Academy Awards. The exclusive event (a private, invitation-only suite honoring this year's Oscar Nominees and the Awards) was held at the Beverly Hilton in their outside gardens area, with celebrities, VIPs, media, and (as always) excellent vendors, showcasing a range of fabulous products and services (see below). Guests also enjoyed fabulous food from the Hilton -- a copious Buffet Brunch that is a hallmark of Debbie's EcoLuxe events at the hotel. The EcoLuxe ambiance was (as always) warm, friendly, and quite lively, and a lovely time was had by all in attendance.

With a COVID-safe, fun, and all-encompassing luxury ‘Walk-Thru’ concept, Debbie Durkin proudly returned to The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA for her ECOLUXE Pre-Oscars Luxury Lounge to honor award nominees, directors, producers, screenwriters, other VIP talent… and more!

The eco-friendly, luxury, and hybrid outdoor walk-thru experience was happy to align with the following sponsors:

● A Place In The Sun Hotel Palm Springs offered 2-night stays with caviar and champagne arrival and brunch on their golf course.

● Prince Caviar offered caviar tastings at the event.

● Raised in LA Artwork gifted attendees full bottles of champagne in a hand-painted artwork bottle. Their posters on display were raffled to lucky guests (from previous art installations adorning the city in front of Paramount Studios) and incorporated The Godfather, Marlon Brando, and The Ricardos all in homage to Being the Ricardos and the new series The Offer (from The Godfather). They also handed out one-of-a-kind art pieces with an “Oscar” hand out stencil.

● “Better Than Sex” Desserts Restaurant offered a free dessert gift card to their Melrose location and a gold-dipped chocolate strawberry and champagne tasting.

● RevealU Skincare gifted REVIVE o3 Activator kits – their newest innovative skincare tool for the ultimate whole body wellness experience and also presented their professional line of gel products:

o Gold Skin Care Kit – Luxury anti-aging skincare that builds and restores youthful skin

o Gold CBD Skin Care Kit – Superpower skincare with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits that repairs and rejuvenates skin

o Rejuve Skin Care Kit – Ultra lightweight skincare that nourishes and protects the skin, great for sensitive skin.

● Hales Parker Dentistry gifted all attendees with teeth whitening gift certificates, travel toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss. Celebrities also received a gift certificate for 4, 6, or 10 veneers, travel toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss, and Dr. Tyler Hales was also at his booth giving onsite mini consultations to all attendees.

● DENA BURTON Collections offered gift certificates to her Dena Burton Capsule Collection – bringing you the best feminine and contemporary looks that enhance your wardrobe. Her luxurious garments are designed to take you from weekday to weekend with edgy style, and she had 5 gowns on display, in addition to the pillows she was gifting.

● Healthy Paws Herbal Labs was onsite offering product at a reduced price and donated a portion of proceeds to non-profit Wagmor Pets.

● KNEKT® TV interviewed stars and awards nominees, and streamed live to at-home viewers across the globe.

● Wagmor Pets, a non-profit dog rescue based in Studio City, was also onsite with pups that were/are available for adoption! See www.wagmorpets.org for more info, or to donate.

● Louise Jones LA Confidante is a psychic medium who provides spiritual, healing-based clarity and entrepreneurial guidance. She works with high achievers to help them become even more brilliant. Based in Belfast, Ireland, LA Confidante delivers world class guidance and energy clearing, taking her clients to new heights of self-freedom and success. Louise offered sessions of excellence through spiritual healing and clarity onsite. Each session lasted one hour and she also hosted a balloon installation where 3 of those balloons had a GOLDEN TICKET for a free session with her.

Last but not least, guests also dined on The Beverly Hilton’s fabulous chef-curated champagne brunch.

And as if the amazing brunch wasn't enough, there was also a DONUT WALL where you could further indulge your sweet tooth!

ABOUT ECOLUXE LOUNGE

ECOLUXE LOUNGE is a luxury experience (created by Debbie Durkin, Los Angeles’ leading sustainable TV/Film and Product Placement Producer) that connects causes and luxury brands, aligning them with the Power of Entertainment, an integral marketing strategy for lifestyle Brands, to connect with consumers to create lasting impact.

The one-day invite-only event unites health and wellness, beauty, lifestyle, and technology on a sustainable platform to showcase the best in eco-luxury lifestyle and services while raising awareness for our Charity Partner. Aligning your brand and capitalizing on the media attention from celebrities interacting with your product elevates your brand awareness across multiple media platforms. Our team specializes in celebrity seeding and brand activation – the most powerful and instantaneous product placement opportunity – resulting in media coverage and produced content that drives brand momentum translating into increased sales and awareness.

LINKS / SOCIAL:

https://linktr.ee/producerdeb

@producerdeb

Above: Actor Gilles Marini at Debbie Durkin’s ECOLUXE Pre-Oscars Luxury Lounge, March 25, 2022.

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Photo Credits: All photos by Angela Yad, unless otherwise noted.

#Debbie Durkin #ECOLUXE #EcoLuxe Lounge #gifting suites #oscars 2022 #LA events #2022 events #2022 #annual events

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withinthescripts · 7 years

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Season 2 Cassette 2: Ulster Museum (1973)

[tape recorder turns on]

Welcome to the Ulster Museum in Belfast. I’m the director of collections, Mary Breathnach. As we enter the new decade of the 1970’s, we face many changes to the art world. Many national borders have fallen away, our world joining together in economic and political unity, but as history changes before our eyes, so does it stay the same.

The Ulster Museum, part of the collected museums of Western Europa, is proud to present “Red Love – the Passion of Claudia Atieno”, sponsored by the Harmon Family Trust. These are Atieno’s most popular works, many from the mid-1960’s when her career was at its height. “Sunshine Afternoon”, “Still Life with Tomato Plant and Sword”, and even a recently discovered repainting of “Still Life with Cat”. It’s been some months since anyone has seen Atieno. Some have even claimed her absence is sinister, that she is missing, that she may even be dead, a long and brilliant career possibly cut short at its peak. While we feel it’s best to refrain from sensationalist speculation, we are also loath to promise more art, when we cannot be sure there is more to come.

Thank you for choosing to take our audio cassette tour. Your audio guide today will be Roimata Mangakāhia, herself an esteemed artist and friend to Atieno. The audio tour begins at the south entrance of art gallery 3. The tour follows a counter-clockwise pattern around the exhibit. Each piece with an accompanying audio lecture will be noted with a blue star on the numbered title card, and there will be at one on the recording to indicate where you might pause the cassette before moving on to the next work.

Please enjoy your visit to Ulster Museum and the exhibit “Red Love”.

[bell chimes]

Painting 101: “Still Life with Tomato Plant and Sword”, by Claudia Atieno, oil on canvas, 1962.

It is one of her most discussed and debated works, and it’s one of the collection of paintings that shifted her career from successful artist to celebrity. As much a celebrity as a painter can be while still alive, of course. The painting sold at Sotheby’s in 1969 for nearly one million pounds, and is on loan to this exhibit.

Many critics admire the gentle and crafty hand at work here. Notice the thin strokes of orange and pink, creating the sunny glare on the tomato. Atiano nearly exposes the texture of the canvas with such thin passes of the brush. It looks almost like watercolors, rather than oil, and it is shallower than the rest of her painting.

Lean closely to the left side to see this remarkable detail. What is exposed? What is vulnerable?

You’ll notice that the titular sword is not visible here. But just past the trellis in the tomato plant you can see a nearly empty garden. The grass is mangy and uneven. But what appears is a large blotch of unusable dirt is actually a mound. The sword of this work’s title has been buried in the garden.

This painting premiered at the Berkshire Museum where Atieno was living at the time, as a resident artist in the former United States. Atieno’s home now is in Cornwall. It’s a large house somewhere along the road to disrepair. Sitting alone on an island, some distance from the mainland.

My first few visits to Cornwall, Claudia and I had tea at a café called Joyeuse, named for Charlemange’s sword. We were served sandwiches and scones and in the back, there was a small garden with sparse grass, and a small, insipid vegetable plot. The tomato plant was the only thing that grew well there, but often the squirrels stole them just as they reached maturity. The owner of Joyeuse, a petite-figured man named Jennifer, who wore square-rimmed glasses and wool leggings, hung his handmade replica of the eponymous sword just above the doorway to the garden area in the back. He had used a wood base and aluminium veneer. It was pulled slightly from the sheath which was emblazened with large jewels that hardly seemed real at all, but were stunning and smart in their own right.

In this painting, look closely at the upturned soil in the garden. Imagine Charlemange’s sword! [whispering] Imagine it now buried in the garden in this painting. Examine the uninspired tomato vines, their drooping and bare stalks fully revealed. But impossibly beautiful in Atieno’s rendition. How will you be remembered?

Atieno does not expect viewers to know about the now defunct Joyeuse café in Cornwall in Western Europa, but she certainly expects viewers to understand that if the title says there is a sword in the painting, then there. is. a sword in the painting, and it is your job to find it.

The garden at Joyeuse and even the sword to which it refers were clear influences on Atieno’s seminal masterpiece, and the longer I have looked at this painting, the more I wonder if the sword -is- buried in the ground, an underlined tribute to our post-reckoning international order of peace or perhaps – knowing Atieno’s wry sense of humor and love of subtle symbolic critiques, perhaps the sword has been dug up.

Look closely at the mound of dirt. The arch of the bound could suggest a burial of weaponry. But in the oblong black patch toward the top, I see the suggestion of a hole rather than a heap. The sword. is. missing. And Atieno does not know where it is. Perhaps the viewer themselves holds it?

Do you? Do you hold the sword?

[bell chimes]

Painting 102: “Marketplace Summer Afternoon”, 1965.

A painting of a crowded food market. Notice the almost boneless limbs on the merchants. The apple cart vendor in the lower right has an arced elbow that never quite reaches a point, her knees are nearly S-shaped. You can see the ocean over the tents in the background. Many books refer to this scene as St Ives. This is likely Plymouth.

I recognize that view from my brief time living near there. But perhaps I’m wrong. This is why we make art, to help us remember more beautifully, not more clearly.

[bell chimes]

Painting 103: “Stapler”, 1968.

It is a painting of a black Swingline stapler on a black background. The audacity of this painting irritated many older artists, as it looks like a poorly lit photo in an office supply catalog.

Look closely at the black of the stapler and the black of the background. Is all darkness the same? How absent is light, in the absence of light?

Atieno on the surface is displaying her technical skills. It is photographic quality in every way. It looks – like almost an advertisement here on the Ulster Museum wall. Perhaps Atieno was making a commentary on the commentary of the pop art movement. But most likely she’s simply showing off her technique. She was quite prolific in her art, and they’re all good works, as you can see here in Belfast. But in her mind, mastery of form was mastery of art. But in my mind, an artist can always do more.

In Cornwall, there were cliffs overlooking the sea. At high tide, I would take off my clothes and dive the ten meters’ drop. I encouraged Claudia to dive with me, but she couldn’t do it. These beautiful cliffs, along an endless cool sea, a scene she could paint and did, but not one she could truly explore. For fear of what? Not heights. She did not flinch at bending over the ledge. Not water, either; she swam regularly, when she could walk down to the shore.

I always wanted her to jump, to plunge. To risk pain or embarrassment, to feel bodily the glory of this rare nature. To paint something truly epic, busy, tall, complex, masterful. To make more astonishing what was already astonishing. To freefall into the vastness that contains both wilderness and tranquility.

But when eyes were on Claudia, she demurred. She believed in frightful conspiracies and intimidated power brokers of the new society. But when the world looked at her for commentary, she sometimes just wanted to paint staplers.

There’s been so much talk about Atieno recently, so much speculation. People say she’s disappeared. [scoffs] This seems ridiculous to me. Artists are reclusive sometimes. We need to be, the world is our inspiration, sure, but also our most dangerous distraction. It is more likely her so-called disappearance is not a disappearance at all but an absence, a hiatus, a time spent away from the pressures of celebrity, to rethink her artistry.

Look closely at the Swingline logo in the painting. What does it mean to be convinced to buy something?

[bell chimes] [tape recorder turns off] [ads] [tape recorder turns on]

Painting 104: “Fingers together”, 1967.

Atieno here has painted a self-portrait of sorts with her sometimes partner Pavel Zubov, a lesser known sculptor she had met in 1965 in St Petersburg. The painting shows two sets of fingers intertwined. The simple contrast in skin tones and the smooth lines of each knuckle create a crosshatch pattern that strikes the eye even from 50 meters away.

Look at the fingers. Can you tell which fingers are the woman’s and which are the man’s? In your mind – what signifies a male finger versus a female finger? Are race and skin color connected?

In Pavel’s skin you can see subtle indications of veins, the pulse one can feel in physical contact with another. Notice the soft brushwork, creating an almost gauzy effect. The natural inclination is to assume gentle love, young love even, giving the plump smoothness of each finger. Although given this was 1967, Atieno might be giving herself too much credit to paint herself with such supple skin. I would also caution you not to be accept too much naïve love in this painting. This work is a popular poster to be hung in university dormatories. Its brash idealism is hiding something harsher.

Look closely at Atieno’s nails. Short, chewed down, an indication of stress. Zubov’s are keenly manicured, almost sharpened. His little finger is out of view. Some writers have suggested that she deliberately did not paint it as a symbol of the child they lost only two months before birth. At best, that is a weak symbolic gesture for the immense tragedy of a miscarried child. [angrily] At worst, it is a lie conceived by hack writers trying to sell papers, as Atieno never carried Zubov’s child. The little finger is not missing. It is hidden from view at this angle, a symbol yes, but of Zubov’s opacity in love. He had many partners.

This should have been fine, their relationship was polyamorous, as were all of Atieno’s relationships. But even with permission, Zubov felt the need to conceal. He convinced each lover that was monogamous, hiding each from each.

I lived with Claudia for a time. It is large, that house. And often full of people, Claudia obviously and Zubov most of the time. They were passionate. Sometimes both naked in front of me, sometimes leaving their bedroom door open. I admired their free spirit, their ability to confront each other with ideas and personal jabs and even great gulping kisses. It was clear that others who lived in the house from time to time were unused to this passionate couple. In that house, the borders between friendship and otherwise were blurred. I can personally attest to this. Lack of transparency to Atieno was equal to deception. If you did not say how you felt to her, whether it was about her art, herself, someone else, or even what kind of tea you would like that afternoon, she believed you to be hiding something. She likewise would be completely honest with you. And as Zubov never brought any other sexual partners to the he house as Atieno did, she suspected he was hiding something. And she was right.

Look again at the intertwining fingers in the painting. Is Atieno being completely honest with you? Are you being honest with anyone?

[bell chimes]

Painting 105: “Sunshine Afternoon”, 1968.

One of Atieno’s lesser known works, Zubov found it in his basement two years ago. It is a painting of sunlight slicing through grey clouds over what is presumably the Celtic Sea. The water in this picture is choppy. Look – at - the choppy water.

[bell chimes]

Painting 106: “Self-Portrait with Cat”, 1972, unfinished.

This painting was recently discovered by Zubov in his home. Atieno already had a painting called “Self-Portrait with Cat”, despite claiming never to have had a cat. I asked her about this painting once or twice, and she was completely unwilling to discuss it. I got the sense she simply did not like this work, but yet here is another version of the same picture. In what you can see of her face, she’s making the same facial expression as in the original: a wry smile, her eyes fixated to something distant, but her face is older, as is the cat’s. Its eyes and neck sagging. The light coming in the window is orange. A sunset.

Look closely at her eyes. Are those the eyes of a woman holding a cat she does not own? Whose cat is it? Look at where the brush strokes end in this unfinished work.

Why would she paint this painting again?

Zubov eventually admitted to having four other lovers, but he refused to tell any of them about the others. He only told Atieno because, as he said, he loved her more. He added, “I would leave them for you, Claudia. I would leave them for you.” But she threw a salad fork at him. And she said she couldn’t love him back, if he did not love the rest of the world as equals. While I believe this sentiment is suffocatingly idealistic, I understood that Atieno saw Zubov’s deception as a lack of respect for himself and the other men and women he was seeing. He priced comfort over truth, and Atieno could not abide that.

Over the few years I knew Claudia, we grew close. Which is to say we were with each other often, and intensely. Claudia fought and argued with me. She sometimes called me names, but as long as I said how I felt, we could work through our disagreements and convince each other of [whispering] almost anything. We talked of her ending her relationship with Pavel. Sometimes she threw things. Sometimes I couldn’t speak for fear of crying in front of her. Eventually it was thought that Pavel should not come back, our conversations were so full of passion, honesty, intimacy. [chuckles] I still wonder who thought this thought first.

Perhaps it was Claudia’s idea, all along.

She ordered Pavel to leave, and he returned. She ordered him to leave again, and he returned, although later than before. After the third command to leave her alone, he seemed not to return at all. But every so often Claudia would receive parcels with no return address. These boxes would contain a single piece of an animal: a tooth from a fox, or large rodent. An ear cut off a rabbit. And one time a field mouse, cut in half at the torso, and all of its blood drained. I urged Claudia to call authorities, but she said Pavel always sent her studies of new sculptures he was working on.

Atieno began this redux painting “Self-Portrait with Cat”, featuring Atieno in her wicker chair on her enclosed patio, the cliffs below her. On her lap, the calico cat. Behind Atieno in the self-portrait along the cliffs, there is a small figure near the ledge. As she did not finish this painting, it’s difficult to say her intention with this rough blotch. Most assume it is a tree, but I have been in that home many days, and there is no tree there. It is a human, or at least a man. I do not know who the man is or what he wants or intends.

This painting is unfinished because Atieno disappeared. Rather, she left her Cornwall home without taking it with her, and left no forwarding address.

[whispering] I do not think she has disappeared. I don’t think she’s done anything so dramatic.

Claudia was last seen at her home in Cornwall in October 1972. Pavel arrived while Claudia was at the market. I answered the door. Pavel and I nodded at each other, but otherwise did not communicate. I left that afternoon to give a lecture at the rebuilt Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and I-I’ve not seen Claudia since.

I don’t want to imply Pavel in her disappearance, nor give into suspicions that she is dead. I think, or hope, or some word like that, some word like that, that she’s back home near (Dedoma), or in a commune in Halifax or perhaps in another cottage by the sea, wanting us to wait for her next work. Something the profilic artist rarely required of us. [wistfully] Wanting to challenge and provoke and amaze us.

I think that. I hope that. I something something that. [tape recorder turns off]

Within the Wires is written by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson and performed by Rima Te Wiata, with original music by Mary Epworth. Find more of Mary’s music at maryepworth.com. The voice of Mary Breathnach was Sarah Maria Griffin.

And please rate and review Within the Wires on Appel podcasts and tell your friends about our immersive little show. Also you can get Within the Wires T-shirts and posters at withinthewires.com Within the Wires is a production of Night Vale Presents. Check out our other podcasts, like Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn’t Dead and The Orbiting Human Cirucs of the Air and Convesatioins with People who Hate Me, and coming this month, a brand new podcast from Joseph Fink and John Darnielle called I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats, and a brand new fiction podcast called It Makes a Sound.

OK, our time is done. It’s you time now. Time to stop by the museum gift shop. Grab yourself a souvenir book of paintings about potato canons. Pick up a poster featuring a vulture in a tuxedo. And buy a commemorative vase made out of baby back ribs.

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