#Whisker chart Support

[lonelyasawhisper]

Queen: Britain's Biggest Unknowns

Martin Hayman, Sounds, 5 January 1974

QUEEN ARE being hailed as the natural successors to Led Zeppelin on the other side of the Atlantic. This may cause an outburst of derisive laughter, hoots, boos, jeers and catcalls from those who think Zep are the cat's whiskers. But most of the people who have seen Queen agree that they are pretty hot.

They have been touring with Mott the Hoople and make a good showing on what is now a pretty tough assignment, opening the show for Mott: They write and play punchy songs, they are loud and aggressive to the right degree, they look good and move well on stage, especially their singer Freddie Mercury, who besides strutting and prancing has an excellent, sharp-edged voice with a lot of power.

It makes one wonder why the New York Dolls were so lavishly feted on their derisory couple of British gigs. I reckon that a British provincial audience would have pulled the Dolls apart in a jiffy; Queen handle them well, and they were getting encores on their set.

And the public are giving them the thumbs up too, which is reflected in steady sales of their debut album — standing now at 15,000 in Britain and a quite incredible 85,000 in the States, where it has crept into the lower reaches of the album charts. Not bad when you think how comparatively unknown they are even here. Evidently not as unknown as we imagine. You might say they were Britain's biggest unknowns.

I went to Trident Studios on a rainy night before Christmas to find the band hard at work trying to complete their second album before the inevitable cutbacks in production at EMI slowed up their progress. For at this point Queen are at a crucial stage of their career — just before the break, as they say in the business. If they are to maintain the initial impetus it is essential that they get out another album — and preferably a single too — and then get a support gig with a big British act in America.

Business-wise Queen seem to be quite well set. They are signed to Trident Audio Productions, the production and management arm of the studios. Queen are TAP's first signing and this is likely to give the group considerable leverage with EMI. They are no newcomers to the music scene though it's only in the last year that they have turned to music full time. Bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor had been in a semi-professional group called Smile for a year or two while at college, but it was not until singer Freddie Mercury's arrival that they named themselves Queen. Wisely they all decided to finish their respective courses before going professional.

John, originally from Leicester, had been at the Chelsea College of Arts and Technology; Roger, up from Cornwall after leaving dental college, joined up with Freddie to run a stall in the Kensington Market; Brian May the guitarist took a degree in Physics and went on to do a Ph.D. in, believe it or not, infra-red astronomy; and Freddie they just describe as a "Kensington poseur".

I talked to John and Roger in Trident's re-mix room as they played through such rough mixes as they had finished. The sound was still a bit raw and ragged, but there was no mistaking the originality of the songs and the thrusting energy of the playing, the kind of buzz you only get from a new band whose creativity has not yet peaked. First song up was 'Fairy Feller's Masterstroke', so titled after a painting by the Victorian Richard Dadd (it hangs in the Tate Gallery). "Freddie just wrote a song using all the characters in the painting — it's fairly incomprehensible," commented Roger. Next up were 'Loser In The End' and the atmospheric 'Ogre Battle', with bumping and grinding effects. Freddie (the one with the Bugs Bunny mush and the wigwam of dark hair) is the principal writer, followed closely by Brian, although Roger occasionally turns in a song.

The band were complimentary about the way their first album had been handled by the American record company Elektra, who had used the orginal cover art-work supplied by the group, which EMI here had not done. They also complained that the record had gone out of stock for six weeks in this country, which could have done them a lot of damage if they were not pushing hard.

It's to avoid such complications that they are working so hard on the album, to give plenty of margin for other people's errors. They have their heads screwed on, these fellers, following the business manoeuvres with an interested eye, and Roger was able to give me a sort of market breakdown of Queen's global trading position — they are especially strong, it appears, in Germany and Sweden as well as the US.

But closer to home, they feel that they acquitted themselves fairly well on the recent Mott tour, despite an outdated PA — actually David Bowie's old Ground Control. "It was the first time we'd done gig after gig, night after night," says John, "but we were really pleased with some places — Newcastle and Glasgow and, strangely enough, Bournemouth, seemed to know about us."

Continued Roger: "I've been with the band two and a half years and I'm the newest member. Queen was Freddie's idea really, about three years back. We'd like to make it everywhere, but we are placing a lot of emphasis on America, but we don't want to go out there too soon and blow it. For example we've been giving a lot of thought to getting in a keyboard. We may get another guy in. It would thicken the sound up. It's a bit limited with only three instruments on stage, but we don't really want to make it a five-piece. We're going to do a tour of concerts before we go to the States. That'll probably be in April. It's got to improve a lot yet, the stage sound has to be good every night."

Retrieved from rocksbackpages.com

[embrassemoi]

Surrounded by the Moon and Stars ✷ 19

Pairings: Sirius B, Remus L, [F]Reader    Content: Language, possible errors, 

【 Masterlist: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 】

Chapter 19: Mrs. Lupin

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The rest of Valentine’s Day was spent with Y/N compiling a list in her head:

1. Avoid drinking anything the Marauders — actually, avoiding drinking anything around James to dodge their concoction of face and body-altering potions. When students at lunch and dinner drank from the pumpkin juice supply, more than several people who were already in relationships morphed into those they weren’t dating. Let’s just say that this prank wasn’t as uplifting and fun as the Marauders originally had in mind. Even the Bloody Baron told Peeves to spare them.

2. Make sure Lily didn’t drink anything around the Marauders — or anything around Marlene and Mary (who caught word from Peter of her supposed feelings). They were dying to know who caught her attention and bets were being placed.

3. James just wouldn’t shut the fuck up about Emmeline. She could even hear his voice: Whiskers! Did you see how pretty she looks? Woah, I can’t believe she agreed to be my girlfriend? I’m so lucky! She’s beautiful! Ugh — did you see her smile? Emmeline this, Emmeline that — it was even worse than his obsession with Quidditch. But, it was too endearing in a sickening, annoyingly charming way and she was happy that he seemed happy, so Y/N kept her lips sealed.

Remus suggested drowning him in the bottles of love potions littering the castle but Y/N thought differently. James already acted like what a love potion was rumoured to be like; he’d become unstoppable if he even caught a whiff.

4. Shockingly by the end of the day, Y/N’s bag was stuffed with cards and gifts — all filled with confessions. She rarely socialized with anyone but the girls and Marauders, so it came as a surprise.

5. And now found herself stuck in a very uncomfortable situation.

Relaxing in the lounge area by the library, James and Mary were casting spells, Lily and Y/N chatted while Remus aided Marlene, going over course material, however, her face scrunched up as she flicked through his notes.

“What does this mean,” Marlene asked after desperately trying to decipher his writing. She slid it over to him, pointing to a highlighted section. But before Remus could translate, Y/N peeked over.

“Um — Owl to Opera Glasses. This spell emits fleeting wispy white vapour from wand — point at owl — no sound will be produced.”

She sat back in her seat, snapping off a piece of chocolate before handing the rest over to Remus beside her. Everyone looked shocked.

“Erm — what?”

Mary sputtered, “How did you read that? It’s fucking scribble!”

“He’s got doctor writing.”

They waited for her to elaborate.

“My mom’s —” “MUM!” “— writing is horrid. I swear all doctor’s have awful handwriting. I spent so much time reading her medical jornals, scans, charts — to keep me busy. So comparing Remus’ writing to hers, it’s legible.”

None of them seemed to understand besides Lily and Mary. Y/N just dismissed the matter entirely, sliding back the parchment to Marlene as they went back to their quiet conversations.

“So,” Remus leant in, his head craned down to talk to her. “Doctor handwriting — I should flaunt that?”

She chuckled, “Might make you sound smarter, but you don’t need that.”

“You flatter me too much.”

“Humble, aren’t you?”

“I have to bully myself daily. Can’t let it get to my head, not like egomania over there.”

Ah yes, the thrilling saga of bullying James Potter.

But before she could add on, a shadow caught Remus’s eye before he nudged her. His head tilted over to the direction of a wall, littered with portraits and awards with Quidditch trophies. “Looks like you’ve got an admirer.”

A blond boy, young — was staring at her, blushing madly as his chest puffed out, determination trickled through every step as he neared.

Remus’ smile became impossibly large, dripping in amusement before snapping, gaining the table’s attention.

“Hi,” there was a nervous waver in his voice, but confidence in his stance. He was pale, amplifying the scarlet blush on his cheeks.

Damn, she knew what was about to happen and so did shit-eating grin Lupin.

“Hello… What’s your name.” Right, that was a good place to start. Her eyes wandered to his tie: a Ravenclaw.

“Gilderoy Lockhart,” he announced, going up to flick a strand of hair from his face, flashing her a pearly white smile. “I’m in first year.” In his small hands, he outstretched his arms holding a box of chocolates — identical to the one Remus received a few days ago along with a meticulously crafted letter.

“You’reveryprettysowillyoubemyValentine?”

James, Mary and Marlene let out an involuntary snort which had all of them leaning into one another to support themselves from toppling over. Lily had to cast Silencio over them. They turned their heads away from Gilderoy before barking out silent merriment. Remus was the complete opposite, thankfully, as he remained poised, face void but his lips quivered upwards.

“Um… right... well,” she stalled. Maybe she should get up, take the boy elsewhere to softly let him down. “Thank you, I appreciate it a lot. But er… I can’t accept your feelings. Thank you for telling me, though. I appreciate it.”

“What?! Why!” He demanded. His face turned a deeper shade of pink, now causing a scene.

She made eye contact with Lily, however, James’ hand hammered down on the table, startling them all. His two hands formed pointed tips, mimicking two people kissing as he repeated the motion, pointing to her and Remus. Mary took the opportunity to grab Lily’s wrist, flicking a reversal charm on all of them.

“She’s dating Lupin!” She shouted which caught the attention of a few onlookers. James tossed his head back, knuckles in his mouth and Lily’s brow rose high in a startled grimace.

“For a month now!” Marlene continued, her hand slapping down on her thigh.

Y/N was going to murder them.

She went to open her mouth to say — well, okay, she didn’t know what to say but Remus budded in, lifting his arm, wrapping it around her shoulder and pulled her in awkwardly. She instantly got the hint, bringing a hand and patted his chest stiffly while the group tried not to bellow. Even Lily’s facade was beginning to break, her hand shooting up to cover a growing smile.

There was never a boring day at Hogwarts.

But she was taking too long to answer. This would've been quick, easy, had not everyone else been around and especially if they hadn’t lied about her dating.

“I’m sorry but yes, we’ve been together for a little while now, haven’t we, darling?” said Remus, saving her from the hesitation. Y/N nodded, at least she didn’t need to give a reason now.

Remus’ lying was exceptional. There wasn’t even a flicker in his expressions aside from the involuntary dark blush that ran down his cheeks to his neck. Y/N couldn’t blame him, her face felt like it was on fire.

Gilderoy tried to play it off coolly but his shoulders slumped, looking absolutely dispirited. He meekly nodded, placing the box and letter on the table and sped off.

“Cougar L/N!” Marlene roared once he was out of earshot.

“You lot are ruthless!” She barked at them.

“I did nothing!”

“Lied to a poor boy!” Lily lectured sharply.

“And she went along with it!” “Because you —”

While everyone was now bickering or on the verge of tears, Remus peeled himself off of her and Y/N patted him once more.

“You’re welcome.”

She looked up at him, “Darling? Really?”

His eyes rolled, “Did you want me to call you a troll?”

“Got me there, thank you.”

His face softened at this, shoving her in a teasing way before seizing the small box of chocolates, cracking it open and handed her a piece.

“What?” he smirked, moving to open a book, flipping to his worn-out bookmark. He side-eyed her uncomfortable expression as she looked at the box. He recited her words, “Expensive chocolate is still expensive chocolate.”

“You’re a dick.”

━━━━━━━━━༻☽༺━━━━━━━━━

February 17th, 1976

Y/N quickly learned that it was a mistake using the excuse that she and Lupin were dating because now the entire school believed it.

It spread like wildfire. Girls rejected by Remus shot her a hardened gaze, eyes scorned through her robes while other’s who confessed to Y/N avoided her completely. They would all gossip the moment they passed the hallways and she could feel their gaze.

“Lupin beat me to it!”

“— how long have they’ve been —”

“I’ve fancied him for two years! Two years and she suddenly just swoops in?!”

“Honestly, I thought she was with Potter.”

“She’s hot.” “He's fit!”

“— jealous of her —”

“Crikey — don’t they have anything else to talk about?” Remus said, turning away from the hall.

Remus disappeared for the past couple of days, only now hearing the commotion for the first time. He looked fairly pale, eyes red and tired — but not unusual. Y/N shrugged off the rumours and speculations before entering the hall, shouting to him to wait.

Many students stopped their gossiping for a moment to watch her pass before resuming. She marched up to her customary seat, her friends whistling at her.

“Where’s Remus L/N?”

“Mrs. Lupin!”

“Fuck off.”

She shoved snacks into her bag, hoarding enough food for the both of them and managed to grab a giant mug filled with coffee, making her way out of the hall with a few people loitering after her. James forcibly brought Sirius to his feet, Peter leaped over and Lily sprang up from Marlene, cutting her off while looping her arm with Y/N’s.

Mary elected to stay back, engrossed in a chat with Dorcas and Alice before quickly roping Marlene in. Nevertheless, she shouted once she saw the coffee mug, “That’s for Lupin, isn’t it?!”

“Don’t start… it’s just coffee.”

“Black coffee my arse!”

James ran up to her, tugging on her robes lightly, “Does this mean I should swap my Galleons to Lupin?”

Y/N shrugged him off, stomping over to Remus waiting by the door. She handed him the mug, glancing back in hopes of Celeste: no letter from her mother, again. She sighed before hauling the rest of the group to Kettleburn's classroom. This time, empty but always open for students to come and go. Even a sign was plastered on the entrance: Hold a Niffler if feeling down! (BEWARE of theft).

“Sneaking off like this is going to fuel more rumours,” said Lily, settling her things down on the desks beside her.

“Sorry Whiskers — Moony!”

Remus cracked his fingers, a long breathy sigh trickled from him slowly. “We should mitch lessons today — let it cool down for a bit.”

“Mitch?”

“Skip classes —”

“Moony is possibly the worst prefect in Hogwarts History — he deserves a gold star for it,” chuckled Peter.

Sirius grinned and the two made brief eye contact but neither looked away until James’ voice rang out again. It made Y/N's skin go warm.

“Mate’s going for a record.”

Sirius went to scratch the back of his neck, his head turning down to fiddle with his rings out of habit. “Maybe they’ll put him in the next printed copies of

Hogwarts: A History.” 

Remus rolled his eyes, fixing his posture to sit straighter. “Ungrateful gits. All I hear are three wannabe detention attendees. You ought to be thanking me. With what you pull, I could easily give you two years worth of ‘em.”

A collective sigh went around from the boys who seemed to bow their heads in mutual respect. They grouped and drawled, “Thank you, Moonyyy!”

Lily turned to her, “I’m sorry, but you’re not skipping.”

Her voice automatically switched at the mention of class; it went strict and firm and eerily sounded like Professor McGonagall which had Y/N double down.

Once the bell rang, Sirius quickly walked up to her, taking the place of Lily.

“Fine, we’ll keep the Puffskein in my dorm.”

She considered him for a moment. “I’ll visit daily.”

“Jolly.”

He sped up, hooking an arm around James’ shoulders as they headed to Potions. Y/N's eyes followed him, unable to look away and her heart dropped.

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“The Draught of Peace is a potion that often comes up on the Ordinary Wizarding Level. As you know from review, it calms anxiety and high levels of agitation. It’s been used to calm students who are too stressed with NEWT exams.

“And today,” Slughorn says, trying to look cheerful but failing — looking far too stiff and forced, “ We'll attempt to brew it.”

Lily sat up bolt-straight, eager to soak in new information. Instead of sitting with Lily today, she took a seat in between Remus and James, Lily with Snape.

“The instructions are up on the board, if you have any questions, ask away. Be warned though; be too heavy-handed — mix too fast and you’ll end up with a potion that would make the consumer fall into an irreversible sleep.

“You will be graded on your progress once finished.” He flicked his wand, opening all of the student’s textbooks to an ingredients page, unlocked the cupboard and turned back, “You have until the end of the class, begin my pupils!”

“Sluggys lookin’ pretty sluggishly today,” whispered Lily as they met briefly while collecting their ingredients.

Slughorn did look a little down. His face and voice were desolate, missing its happy chiper.

“Whiskers, I have everything already, don’t worry about it!” James beckoned.

The potion, in her opinion, wasn’t as hard as she predicted it to be. She was doing quite well, better than Lily and Remus which gave her a small sense of pride.

“So, Prongs, when are we going to get to meet Emmeline?”

James didn’t look up from his fiddly potion, too engaged but there was a small grin on his face. “We’re trying to take it slow —” “Pfft,” interjected Remus, “James Potter and slow — in a relationship? Doubt it. Did your Veela powers run out?”

“Hey! I like her and I don’t want her to run off or feel pressured.”

“Ah, what a gentleman, isn’t he Lupin?”

“Quite.”

James shook his head, “You shouldn’t be talking. Shouldn’t you lovebirds be on a date yoursel — Merlin! Moony don’t do that!”

Remus flicked his wand before a handful of leftover powdered moonstone fell on top of James’ head, giving him an iridescent appearance.

Y/N ignored them, stirring clockwise, then counterclockwise, simmering the heat down to the perfect level for seven minutes, then added in two drops of syrup of hellebore. A shimmery silver mist stemmed from her cauldron. A satisfied smirk settled it’s way on her face before scanning the class. Nobody else, besides Remus and Snape who’d been adding their finishing touches, was done.

Just as James was about to finish his perfectly brewed potion, a small beam was directed at his cauldron, ruining the entire potion as it sputtered multicoloured sparks. He tried to prod at the flames at the base of the cauldron, trying to cool it down but it was already too late. It soon became a thick, muddy concrete mixture.

“What the fuck? You guys saw that, right?!”

They had indeed seen a spell hit his cauldron. Their heads whipped around in search. With only ten minutes left and James’ grades about to drop, they all panicked slightly. If his marks were to drop below a certain level, James would be in jeopardy of losing his Quidditch title as captain and be forced to step down, focusing more on the OWLs.

Remus spotted them first: “It’s Snape.”

“How do you know?”

He didn’t respond, leaving them to follow his line of vision to look. Snape wore a horrible smirk, going as far as to wink at James. His perfectly brewed potion shimmered in the light before whirling around to talk to Lily.

“Fucking Snivellus,” James muttered tensley.

“Alright, in five minutes, I’ll be coming around to look at your potions! Be ready to present them.” Slughorn announced.

Remus sighed. “Prongs, just take mine — I’ll take yours. My grades are high enough but if yours drop —”

“No Moony,” he stated firmly. “I’m not going to let you go down with me.”

Distracted, Snape blushing like a fool to Lily and the boys fighting over Remus’ endeavour at being noble, Y/N swished her wand, levitating Jame’s cauldron and directed it over to Snape. She bewitched a temporary invisibility charm, switching them, before levitating Snape's back to James. Now, in front of James was a flawlessly brewed Draught of Peace.

“James, take my help —” “I said no you wanker!”

Slughorn was making rounds around the classroom, but Snape beckoned him over to his shared table with Lily, confident as he sent a nasty look to them.

“Evans, looking good! Perfectly brewed — I’ll add an extra point on your mark.” The praise did not go unnoticed as her chest puffed with pride, her head turning and locked eyes with Y/N, a large smile on her face.

Nice! Y/N mouthed, a thumb sticking upwards.

“Now lets — Severus!” exclaimed Slughorn, flashes of surprise shot through him, “What happened? This is so unlike you.”

The Slytherins in the class all looked up — scratch that — everyone in the class snapped their heads towards him; Snape had never once messed up a potion. They watched as Snape’s face fell from his smug smirk as a black stemming, multicoloured, cloud of smoke puffed in the air, making the surrounding students cough.

“Sir — I swear it was fine moments ago, I don’t know what happened! It must’ve —”

Their professor sighed, a very disappointed look crossed his face before shaking his head.

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Snape. Accidents happen. Evanesco.”

The contents, including the puff of smoke, vanished, leaving Snape to gape around. Lily touched his shoulder, rubbing her hand up and down and began murmuring into his ear.

But before Slughorn could go to another group, Y/N raised her hand, flagging him down while the rest of the class was still paying attention. “Professor! We would like for you to clear us, please!”

“Whiskers, what are you doing?”

“Trust me.”

“Look at what she did with your cauldron,” Remus mumbled, his eyes darting to her.

Complete surprise and utter awe replaced his face as Slughorn let out an excited squeal. His hands clapped together. “Everyone should take a page from Potter, L/N and Lupin. I’ve never seen such great work for this potion! Amazing you three! Ten points for Gryffindor.”

Their heads whipped towards her, Remus just smiled while James stared wide-eyed.

“You love to underestimate me.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How the filibuster dies

I am, frankly, afraid of what’s going to happen in the 2022 midterm elections. If the GOP block the Dems from passing any legislation — even the Jan 6 Commission bill! — then it’s going to be very hard to mobilize millions of habitual non-voters to show up for the midterms.

And at least one of those bills — HR1, the “For the People Act” — has to pass soon if we’re going to head off possibly irreversible voter suppression that will require Democrats to win even-larger supermajorities to win office.

The 2020 elections — and the shambles in Arizona — highlighted just how much of US national politics is controlled by the states.

If you think that the GOP Congressional caucus is unhinged, you don’t wanna see what’s going on in the state parties:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7ed9y/trump-election-conspiracy-theories-taking-over-republican-party

With a razor-thin hold on the Senate, the Dems need bold action and unity to pass HR1. But establishment Dems like Manchin and Sinema act like their path to re-election requires them to sabotage the Dems on core issues like the $15 minimum wage.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/27/bruno-argento/#crisis-of-legitimacy

Manchin’s commitment to keeping the filibuster makes him into a de facto agent of the GOP, inasmuch as this means that he can single-handedly prevent the Dems from materially improving the lives of tens of millions of Americans.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/01/dinos-and-rinos/#entryism

Manchin has publicly pledged to destroy the Dems’ midterm chances — and forseeable future — by defending the filibuster. This utterly disheartens me. With the US is on the cusp of either charting a new path, or collapsing into autocracy, this is no time for decorum.

But this morning, I read a post by Ryan Grim that gave me hope. Grim starts from the undeniable observation that when a thing doesn’t happen immediately, it’s easy to think it’ll never happen. But history tells us that things do, indeed, happen.

https://badnews.substack.com/p/how-the-filibuster-goes-down

He cites Adam Jentleson’s KILL SWITCH, a 2021 history of the Senate and its rules, including the filibuster, as a means of defending the country’s premier undemocratic, anti-majoritarian institution. https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631497773

Jentleson lays out the path to change as a three act structure. In Act I, the filibuster moves from an obscure issue to something that Dems and the Dem Senate caucus are talking about, with all-round recognition that the filibuster is broken.

That’s already happened: even Manchin has supported reinstating the “talking filibuster” (the Mr-Smith-Goes-to-Washington version).

Next is Act II, in which the GOP illustrates that merely reforming the filibuster will do no good, because they are so intransigent that there is no place for comity in the chamber.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/30/meme-stocks/#comity

The GOP’s certainly doing everything it can to hasten Act II along.

I mean, McConnell publicly announced his intention to operate in bad faith to kill the Dems’ agenda — the same threat that Obama failed to take seriously in 2009 — and he’s backed up his words with deeds.

The GOP’s indefensible reversal on the Jan 6 Commission is gift-wrapped proof that they cannot be negotiated with. If the GOP is blocking an investigation into a lynch-mob that came within a whisker of murdering Mike Pence, what won’t they block?

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/554743-ocasio-cortez-60-seconds-difference-on-jan-6-could-have-ended-in-a-martial

If Senate Republicans filibuster the Jan 6 Commission bill, they’ll make the case for killing the filibuster more clearly than any Democrat could. Manchin is on record as saying “I’m still praying we’ve still got 10 good solid patriots” among the GOP Senators.

This is Manchin signalling that he might bend on the filibuster, if the GOP force him to.

Grim: “If he’s forced to for the good of the country, because there aren’t enough good solid patriots willing to put that country first, well…The filibuster is not a suicide pact.”

Grim thinks that this could happen as early as next week, when the Senate votes on whether to proceed with the Jan 6 Commission. If that happens, we’ll move on to Act III.

Act III is the fight over what replaces the filibuster — what the new rules will be. This is the GOP’s last chance to save the filibuster, if ten GOP Senators will vote in favor of the commission, end the crisis, and take filibuster reform off the table.

That’s what usually happens when the Senate gets to this point. It might happen again. But even if the GOP saves the filibuster this time, the crisis itself will have given Manchin the political cover — and personal experience — to consider killing the filibuster next time.

“If the option is a global financial crisis or a vote to reform the filibuster in order to raise the debt ceiling, the choice even for Manchin is an obvious one: ditch the filibuster. That would be the final act of the play. “

Killing the filibuster is key to giving us HR1, the PRO Act, health care reform and a $15 minimum wage. And once Dems start making laws, the GOP obstruction plan becomes counterproductive: simply shouting no to everything means GOP Senators deny themselves any say.

Grim: “Ending the filibuster is far more likely to bring on bipartisanship than keeping it.”

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 15

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“Spots off.” She muttered, face mashed into the soft mattress. Maybe if I just stay like this, I'll eventually sink low enough to become one with my bed. She thought, steadfastly ignoring the disapproval she felt radiating from her Kwami. 

Stretching, her fingers fumbled for the switch on the lamp before she flicked it, filling the room with soft light. 

Adrien's words looped through her mind. 

Your leaving made Lila that much more comfortable with hanging off me! 

Your leaving made Lila that much more comfortable with hanging off me!

Your leav一 

Shut! Up! Shut up! It's not true. It's not my fault. It's not. It's not! She screamed, trying to drown out the dark voice in her mind repeating Adrien's words back to her again and again.

“Ugh, Tikki.” She groaned, words muffled by her pillow. “That was a disaster!” 

She rolled into her back and stared at the dark ceiling, brain not comprehending her surroundings. Her mind was whirling with her body white一hot with embarrassment and anger. 

“Ugh! I don't know why一He never hinted一I didn't know that he was feeling this way!” She waved her arms angrily above her face, trying to explain as she stumbled over her words. 

“I don't know, Tikki,” she sighed, running a hand down her face. 

“I guess I never realized exactly how much he's been through.” She looked down guiltily at the quiet, shameful admission. Becoming one with the bed sounds pretty appealing right now.

“I always assumed he was fine, he was always so happy, always joking around, how did I not see it?”

“Marinette, I think the both of you need to talk some things out.” Tikki told her, not bothering to mince their words. “You'd both been dancing around the deeper implications of your reveal ever since it happened last year, and it was bound to blow up in your faces after a while.”

“Honestly,” they confide, “I was expecting it to happen much sooner.”

“Tikki!” Marinette snapped, pushing herself into a sitting position and crossing her legs. 

“Right, sorry.” They sobered up, flying forward to hover in front of her face. She locked eyes with them, her sad blue stare rising to meet that wise, ancient gaze. 

“This lack of communication, and the unspoken words that lie between you will only serve to push you two farther apart. You are two halves of one whole, yin and yang, balance incarnate. As soulmates, it is your duty to support each other. The weaker your bond, the weaker you are inside.” Their eyes burned with intensity, asking her, begging her, to understand.

Marinette dropped her head into her palms, looking through her fingers at the soft red duvet beneath her.  Her eyes burned with unshed tears. A white hot ball of anger tightened on her chest at the words of the Kwami. God, she was just so tired. 

“Tired of what, Marinette?” Tikki asked. She must have spoken out loud, then. 

At the question, she felt the tightly compressed ball of anger squeeze tighter, and tighter, and tighter, until一

She snapped.

“I'm so fucking tired of everything!” She lifted her head to glare at the ceiling, voice breaking as she struggled to reign in her tears. 

“Tired of all the responsibility, the pressure, from everyone! From you! All anyone expects from me is perfection! God forbid I screw up, or I'll have all of you on my case! And let's not forget that I never asked for any of this in the first place!”  She wiped furiously at her damp cheeks, batting away the warm paws reaching out to brush her cheeks.

“Don't touch me!” 

She stood up in anger, face twisted with fury and sadness. “The only reason I'm here is because some old man decided that since I pulled him out of the middle of the road, I had to be a hero!”

She suddenly collapsed onto the floor as though the fight had been drained out of her, pressing her forehead to the smooth wood as her body shook with quiet sobs.

“I can't deal with all this pressure, Tikki,” she whispered, her hushed confession loud in the silent room. “All the一all the expectations...I just can't.” 

“Oh Marinette…” Tikki cuddled close, humming comfortingly. “I'm sorry if I made it seem like a pressure or an expectation. But you do need to talk. And you both need to apologize. You said a lot of hurtful things一”

“Me?!” She interrupted, bolting upright onto her knees to stare incredulously at the Kwami. “Tikki! Why me?! You heard what he said! He said that since I left, Lila decided to feel him up more! How is that my fault?!” 

“一to each other.” They finished, fixing her with an unimpressed look. “Wait to hear what I have to say before you jump to conclusions.”

She sat back on her heels, feeling chastised.

“And that isn't your fault. He was angry, you both were, so you lashed out at each other. Anger can make you especially cruel and vicious. Boo一hoo the poor rich baby didn't get some hugs from Daddy? Marinette, that was too far. Just like how him blaming you for Lila's actions was also uncalled for. He’s been through a lot, as have you. You both need to work this out.”

“I know.” She felt tears prick at her eyes again. Her anger had vanished, leaving a knot of guilt and shame in its wake. It was an ugly feeling, and she hated her situation so much in that moment.  

Oh Adrien, what have we become? 

“I know,” she repeated, glancing over at her friend. “We need to fix this, fix our relationship.” 

Sighing, she flopped back into her bed. “But I hate being the bigger person.” 

Tikki laughed quietly, flying over to her nightstand and coming back with her phone clutched in their paws. Marinette let out a small oof as they dropped it on her stomach. 

“Text him.” They told her sternly, crossing their paws. 

“I'm getting to it!” She retorted, opening up her phone. As she clicked on her messaging app, a notification popped up. 

Adrien 

Message [Now]

She clicked on it with some trepidation, opening up their chat.

Adrien

Hey [Sent 6:56 AM]

Hesitating, she glanced at Tikki, who nodded encouragingly. Her phone pinged again, and she turned her gaze to the screen.

You

Hey [Sent 6:56 AM]

Adrien 

Im sorry for what I said [Sent 6:57 AM]

You

Im sorry for what I said too [Sent 6:57 AM]

She paused, considering the best way to word her thoughts.

You

Tikki thinks we should talk [Sent 6:57 AM]

(Adrien is typing…)

Adrien

Do you? [Sent 6:57 AM]

She inhaled sharply at the question, mulling it over in her head. Did she really want to talk about it?

Nodding to herself, she typed out her reply.

You

Yes [Sent 6:58 AM]

Adrien

Over the phone or in person? [Sent 6:58 AM]

She tapped out a reply, deleted it, and then retyped it.

You

Phone is easiest [Sent 6:58 AM]

Adrien

Okay [Sent 6:58 AM]

When? [Sent 6:58 AM]

You

Not right now [Sent 6:58 AM]

It's pretty early over here [Sent 6:59 AM]

Maybe in a few hours? [Sent 6:59AM]

Adrien

Okay [Sent 7:00 AM]

As if on cue, her alarm started blaring. With a sigh, she turned it off, pushing herself off the bed and making her way into the bathroom on tired limbs to start the day.

一一一

After the portal had closed in a flare of blue, Adrien had swore loudly and kicked the wall in front of him. Cursing at the new pain flaring from his foot, he transformed and returned to the Agreste Mansion, immediately turning and collapsing onto his bed. Staring at the ceiling, he’d let their argument from earlier loop through his head. 

一don't have time to deal with your little temper tantrums!一

一stop acting like you're a saint一

一pull-down chart of my schedule一

一count on one hand一

一get over yourself!一

一you left一

一take all the hits for you!一

一can't deal with this right now一

His ears had felt like they had been stuffed with cotton; he heard nothing but static. He saw his vision blur, felt something warm trail down both cheeks. He vaguely registered that his chest was heaving as he gasped for breath, but it all seemed insignificant compared to what he had done barely thirty minutes ago.

 What have you done What have you done What have you done一

He heard a faint, panicked voice calling his name, sounding as though it came from far, far away. He latched onto the sound, using it to pull himself back to full consciousness.

“一Kid? Kid? Adrien!” Plagg hovered in front of him, whiskers twitching agitatedly. 

“Plagg?” He had rasped, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Yeah kid, what’s wrong?” 

“I think I messed up, Plagg,” his voice broke on another sob, and he brought his shaking palms to his face to wipe away the tears staining his face.

“Kid…” The Kwami had looked pained, flying over at his admission to rub their head against his in comfort. 

“Adrien…” 

They paused, trying to phrase their words properly.

“What happened back there wasn’t just your fault. Both you and Pigtails were angry at each other, and at what has been happening, and it all erupted. Like Mount Vesuvius, way back when.”

It was a lame joke, and a terrible analogy, but it coaxed a hoarse laugh out of the teenager’s hunched form.

“I just...I feel really bad Plagg, but I also don’t regret telling her some of that stuff.” He confessed, looking down at his lap.

“Okay…” They said slowly, “You said you don’t regret telling Pigtails some things. What do you regret telling her?”

At the question, leaf green eyes had once again filled with sparkling tears, rolling down his cheeks with trails of silver. “I一I said that Lila harassing me was her fault! But it’s not! It’s nobody’s fault but Lila’s! How could I have just said that to her, Plagg?” He asked desperately, looking sadly up at the Kwami.

“Aw, kid, sometimes when you’re mad, you say things you don’t mean just so that you can hurt the other person. You feel ugly and mean, and you take it out on them.” Plagg gazed at him solemnly, trying to convey their thoughts.

“...When did you get so wise, Plagg?” Adrien had asked, a sad smile playing across his face.

“Kid, I was always wise,” they retorted, smirking at him. “My wisdom just chooses to show itself  every century or so.”

‘Well, what does your infinitely wise self think I should do, then?” Adrien asked, falling backwards onto the bed with a sigh.

“Apologize.” Plagg said bluntly, nodding towards his phone where it lay on his desk. “She said a lot of cruel things to you, but sometimes it’s best to forgive.”

“I guess.” He had sighed, sliding off the bed to grab his phone. Unlocking it, he smiled down at his wallpaper, a selfie of the five of them in the park, before opening up his messaging app. He clicked on Marinette’s contact and then froze, fingers stilling over the lit screen. What do I say?

Plagg curled up on his shoulder in silent support, nuzzling him softly. 

You

Hey [Sent 12:56 PM]

He looked over at Plagg, eyes wide. “I just sent it. And it was the stupidest text ever.” 

“Did you apologize?” They asked, looking at his phone screen.

“No!” He had yelled, sounding panicked.

“Quick, say you’re sorry!” The Kwami urged, nudging him insistently.

As he began typing, his phone vibrated with a notification.

Marinette

Hey [Sent 12:56 PM]

“Apologize!’ They hissed as he fumbled for the send button.

“I’m trying to send it!”

“Let me proofread it!”

“Get off, Plagg!”

You

I'm sorry for what I said [Sent 12:57 PM]

Marinette

I'm sorry for what I said too [Sent 12:57 PM]

(Marinette is typing…)

She said she’s sorry too!”

“I’m right here kid, I can see it myself.” The Kwami had responded drily. “Now ask her about that conversation.”

“Calm down, I will!” He said, typing out a question. 

“Oh wait hold on, she already asked.”

Marinette

Tikki thinks we should talk [Sent 12:57 PM]

He read the text, feeling his doubt rising.  He didn’t care if Tikki wanted to talk he did, he wanted to know what she thought! Did she not want to? Is that why she said only Tikki wanted them to talk?!

You

Do you? [Sent 12:57 PM]

(Marinette is typing…)

Marinette

Yes [Sent 12:58 PM]

He exhaled in relief, his shoulders loosening.

You

Okay [Sent 12:58 PM]

When? [Sent 12:58 PM]

Marinette

Not right now [Sent 12:58 PM]

It's pretty early over here [Sent 12:59 PM]

Maybe in a few hours? [Sent 12:59 PM]

You

Okay [Sent 1:00 PM]

Adrien sighed and shut off his phone, glancing at the time as he plugged it into the charger. 12:17 AM. It had been eleven hours since their conversation, and Marinette still hadn’t called. Logically, he knew that there was a time difference, and that it was around six in the evening for Marinette, but that didn’t keep him from getting antsy. With another glance at the clock, he clicked play on the next episode of Avatar, settling in to watch as Zuko and Sokka infiltrated the Boiling Rock.

[natromanxoff]

Sounds - January 5, 1974

Queen: Britain`s biggest unknowns

By Martin Hayman

Queen are being hailed as the natural successors to Led Zeppelin on the other side of the Atlantic. This may cause an outburst of derisive laughter, hoots, boos, jeers and catcalls from those who think Zep are the cat`s whiskers. But most of the people who have seen Queen agree that they are pretty hot.

They have been touring with Mott the Hoople and make a good showing on what is now a pretty tough assignment, opening the show for Mott: They write and play punchy songs, they are loud and aggressive to the right degree, they look good and move well on stage, especially their singer Freddie Mercury, who besides strutting and prancing has an excellent sharp-edged voice with a lot of power.

It makes one wonder why the New York Dolls were so lavishly feted on their derisory couple of British gigs. I reckon that a British provincial audience would have pulled the Dolls apart in a jiffy; Queen handle them well, and they were getting encores on their set.

And the public are giving them the thumbs up too, which is reflected in steady sales of their debut album – standing now at 15,000 in Britain and a quite incredible 85,000 in the States, where it has crept into the lower reaches of the album charts. Not bad when you think how comparatively unknown they are even here. Evidently not as unknown as we imagine. You might say they were Britain`s biggest unknowns.

I went to Trident Studios on a rainy night before Christmas to find the band hard at work trying to complete their second album before the inevitable cutbacks in production at EMI slowed up their progress. For at this point Queen are at a crucial stage of their career – just before the break, as they say in the business. If they are to maintain the initial impetus it is essential that they get out another album – and preferably a single too – and then get a support gig with a big British act in America.

Business-wise Queen seem to be quite well set. They are signed to Trident Audio Productions, the production and management arm of the studios. Queen are TAP`s first signing and this is likely to give the group considerable leverage with EMI. They are no newcomers to the music scene though, it`s only in the last year that they have turned to music full-time. Bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor had been in a semi-professional group called Smile for a year or two while at college, but it was not until singer Freddie Mercury`s arrival that they named themselves Queen. Wisely they all decided to finish their respective courses before going professional.

John, originally from Leicester, had been at the Chelsea College of Arts and Technology; Roger, up from Cornwall after leaving dental college, joined up with Freddie to run a stall in the Kensington Market; Brian May the guitarist took a degree in Physics and went on to do a Ph.D. in, believe it or not, infra-red astronomy; and Freddie they just describe as a “Kensington poseur”.

I talked to John and Roger in Trident`s re-mix room as they played through such rough mixes as they had finished. The sound was still a bit raw and ragged, but there was no mistaking the originality of the songs and the thrusting energy of the playing, the kind of buzz you only get from a new band whose creativity has not yet peaked.

First song up was “Fairy Feller`s Masterstroke”, so titled after a painting by the Victorian Richard Dadd (it hangs in the Tate Gallery). “Freddie just wrote a song using all the characters in the painting – it`s fairly incomprehensible,” commented Roger. Next up were “Loser In The End” and the atmospheric “Ogre Battle”, with bumping and grinding effects. Freddie (the one with the Bugs Bunny mush and the wigwam of dark hair) is the principal writer, followed closely by Brian, although Roger occasionally turns in a song.

The band were complimentary about the way their first album had been handled by the American record company Elektra, who had used the original cover art-work supplied by the group, which EMI here had not done. They also complained that the record had gone out of stock for six weeks in this country, which could have done them a lot of damage if they were not pushing hard.

It`s to avoid such complications that they are working so hard on the album, to give plenty of margin for other people`s errors. They have their heads screwed on, these fellers, following the business manoeuvres with an interested eye, and Roger was able to give me a sort of market breakdown of Queen`s global trading position – they are especially strong, it appears, in Germany and Sweden as well as the US.

But closer to home, they feel that they acquitted themselves fairly well on the recent Mott tour, despite an outdated PA – actually David Bowie`s old Ground Control. “It was the first time we`d done gig after gig, night after night,” says John, “but we were really pleased with some places – Newcastle and Glasgow and, strangely enough, Bournemouth, seemed to know about us.”

Continued Roger: “I`ve been with the band two and a half years and I`m the newest member. Queen was Freddie`s idea really, about three years back. We`d like to make it everywhere, but we are placing a lot of emphasis on America, but we don`t want to go out there too soon and blow it. For example we`ve been giving a lot of thought to getting in a keyboard. We may get another guy in. It would thicken the sound up. It`s a bit limited with only three instruments on stage, but we don`t really want to make it a five-piece. We`re going to do a tour of concerts before we go to the States. That`ll probably be in April. It`s got to improve a lot yet, the stage sound has to be good every night.”

Credits to Geir Myklebust.

(The inaccuracies at this one 😳)

[file-formats-programming]

PowerPoint 2016 Chart Types Support & Exporting Shape to SVG inside C++ Apps

What’s new in this release?

Aspose team is pleased to share release announcement for Aspose.Slides for C++ 18.4. Aspose team is pleased to announce the release of Aspose.Slides for C++ 18.4. This is one of the important releases where Aspose team has included MSO 2016 charts support in API along with resolution of issues incurring in product.  This new release has introduced some important features, such as new SmartPtr implementation, Improve TextureBrush rendering quality, Improve performance and reduce binaries size in Debug configuration, Introduce embedded resources mechanism, Improve CMYK color model processing when working with JPEG file format, Make Aspose.Slides library interruptible, Support for Picture Organization Chart SmartArt Layout, support for loading and using MS office theme file (*.thmx), The support of new PowerPoint 2016 chart types, Tree map chart in PP 2016, Export shape to SVG, Support for managing Header/Footer in handout and notes slides, Support for Box and Whisker chart and Support for rendering emoji characters. The list of new and improved features in this release are listed below

Introduce new SmartPtr implementation

Improve TextureBrush rendering quality

Improve performance and reduce binaries size in Debug configuration

Introduce embedded resources mechanism

Improve CMYK color model processing when working with JPEG file format

Make Aspose.Slides library interruptible

Support for Picture Organization Chart SmartArt Layout

Support for loading and using MS office theme file (*.thmx)

The support of new PowerPoint 2016 chart types

Tree map chart in PP 2016

Export shape to SVG

Support for managing Header/Footer in handout and notes slides

Support for Box and Whisker chart

Support for rendering emoji characters

Fix incorrect scale of the texture tile.

Newly added documentation pages and articles

Some new tips and articles have now been added into Aspose.Slides for C++ documentation that may guide you briefly how to use Aspose.Slides for performing different tasks like the followings.

Adding Charts

Adding and Editing Slides

Overview: Aspose.Slides for C++

Aspose.Slides for C++ is a presentation processing library that enables the C++ applications to manipulate, render & convert PowerPoint presentations without requiring Microsoft PowerPoint application. It supports most of the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and slideshow file formats including PPT, POT, PPS, PPTX, POTX, PPSX & ODP. It has its own rendering engine, specially designed for rendering with highest of fidelity to the Microsoft PowerPoint. This feature allows to export presentations to standard formats such as PDF and XPS with results identical to the original presentation.

More about Aspose.Slides for C++

Homepage of Aspose.Slides for C++

Download Aspose.Slides for C++

Online documentation of Aspose.Slides for C++

[vewordis]

Purchase microsoft office for mac 2018

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The insider Fast build is designed with a purpose to better support for chats with PivotTable data sources and Table Slicers for quick and easy filtering. Specific to Excel IFS and SWITCH functions shortens and simplifies spreadsheet formula. With the latest options streamline the process of sharing OneDrive for Business and SharePoint files with your colleagues. Office 365 can co-author OneDrive and SharePoint files with other users. Word is real-time collaboration and sharing. The company can present the chart which is designed to enable the quick visualization of common financial, hierarchical and statistical data. Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tool benefits from combined features in Word documents that include Waterfall, Histogram, Pareto, Box and Whisker, Treemap and Sunburst. This function is similar to auto-save products such as Google Docs and can be deactivated in the program setting. These files automatically save your work. Starting with Word, Office 365 you will get the new benefit from a new AutoSave feature when working with OneDrive and SharePoint files. The new message preview gives you the first sentence of an email just below the subject line, it helps you to quickly decide whether you want to read the message or come back later. So you don’t need to hunt for the related messages again. The improved conversation view automatically organized in your inbox, around threaded conversations.

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The new Outlook for Mac provides the push mail support with this features you can update your inbox always up to date. Easily share notebooks with your family, friends and colleagues so you can work together on your plans, working projects etc. You can design your note like you want such as Bold, italicize, underline, highlight, pictures, insert files and tables formats your notes. Find the things quickly with a powerful search engine as it can track your tags, indexes and recognizes text in images and handwritten notes. MS One NoteĬapture, share and organize your ideas with the digital notebooks which you can access from any device you like. A new Animation pane helps you to design and fine-tune animations, and refined slide transitions ensure the finished product is polished. It is useful when you are projecting only the presentation to your audience on the big screen. The new Presenter View in PowerPoint shows the current slide, next slide, speaker notes and a timer on your Mac.

#Purchase microsoft office for mac 2018 full#

Walk to your next presentation with full confidence. The New PivotTable Slicer helps you to find patterns in a large volume of data. With your Excel data, you can see your data by recommending charts best suited for your numbers. The familiar keyboard shortcuts and data entry and formula builder makes you brilliant. The Excel for Mac provides you to turn a number into insights.

[sassycupcakegarden]

Download Office On Mac For Free

Download Office For Mac Free Trial

Download Office For Mac Free Student

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Microsoft Office for Mac Free Download: Get the functionality of Office as well as the unique Mac features in Office for Mac. You will get the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, you can create the excellent documents and get more done.

Download openoffice mac, openoffice mac, openoffice mac download free. Text & Documents. Quintessential productivity suite and free alternative to famous programs like Apple iWork and Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org includes a word processor (Writer), a. If you need to uninstall Office first, see Uninstall Office from a PC or Uninstall Office for Mac. Note: The steps to install the 2016 or 2013 versions of Office Professional Plus, Office Standard, or a stand-alone app such as Word or Project might be different if you got Office through one of the following. Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac. 3 months free with 1-year plan. Norton Secure VPN Best for customer support. Download Information; File Size: Not Available. This video doesn't work anymore! Please check out my updated video on how to get microsoft office 2020: -.

The latest release of Office for Mac includes a large number of highly requested features, new additions and bug fixes for the Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. It is an unmistakably Office designed for your Mac. Give your tasks the best from anywhere, anytime and with anyone.

You can get the Office 2020 for Mac is with Office 365 subscription and a single time purchase. I am going to mention the utility of Office for the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook.

Contents

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It contains the state of the art authoring and reviewing tools in Word that makes the creation of polished documents easily. You can work together will many people using build-in-tools and share review documents. You can design tab that helps you to manage layout, colors and fonts across the document.

MS Excel

The Excel for Mac provides you to turn a number into insights. The familiar keyboard shortcuts and data entry and formula builder makes you brilliant. With your Excel data, you can see your data by recommending charts best suited for your numbers. The New PivotTable Slicer helps you to find patterns in a large volume of data.

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Walk to your next presentation with full confidence. The new Presenter View in PowerPoint shows the current slide, next slide, speaker notes and a timer on your Mac. It is useful when you are projecting only the presentation to your audience on the big screen. A new Animation pane helps you to design and fine-tune animations, and refined slide transitions ensure the finished product is polished.

MS One Note

Capture, share and organize your ideas with the digital notebooks which you can access from any device you like. Find the things quickly with a powerful search engine as it can track your tags, indexes and recognizes text in images and handwritten notes. You can design your note like you want such as Bold, italicize, underline, highlight, pictures, insert files and tables formats your notes. Easily share notebooks with your family, friends and colleagues so you can work together on your plans, working projects etc.

MS Outlook

The new Outlook for Mac provides the push mail support with this features you can update your inbox always up to date. The improved conversation view automatically organized in your inbox, around threaded conversations. So you don’t need to hunt for the related messages again. The new message preview gives you the first sentence of an email just below the subject line, it helps you to quickly decide whether you want to read the message or come back later.

Features of Microsoft Office for Mac

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Starting with Word, Office 365 you will get the new benefit from a new AutoSave feature when working with OneDrive and SharePoint files. These files automatically save your work. This function is similar to auto-save products such as Google Docs and can be deactivated in the program setting.

Microsoft Spreadsheet Tool Benefits

Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tool benefits from combined features in Word documents that include Waterfall, Histogram, Pareto, Box and Whisker, Treemap and Sunburst. The company can present the chart which is designed to enable the quick visualization of common financial, hierarchical and statistical data.

Real-Time Collaboration

Word is real-time collaboration and sharing. Office 365 can co-author OneDrive and SharePoint files with other users. With the latest options streamline the process of sharing OneDrive for Business and SharePoint files with your colleagues.

New Functions for Excel IFS and SWITCH

Microsoft office 2011 torrent for mac os. Specific to Excel IFS and SWITCH functions shortens and simplifies spreadsheet formula. The insider Fast build is designed with a purpose to better support for chats with PivotTable data sources and Table Slicers for quick and easy filtering.

Email Management Tool

When you move to Outlook, the email management tool receives a modest update with emoji support as you are composing messages.

Office Online

Free Office Online sync with your OneDrive account, in case you are away from Mac you can access, edit, view and share your word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote files from any internet-connected device running a supported browser.

Microsoft Office for Mac Free Download

Also, You can check the from the united states.

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Select Install Office this install the 64-bit on a Mac. Follow the steps for your product on the device.

For any Mac running macOS 10.10 or newer

For Windows 7, 8, 10 and Windows Server starting with 2008 R2.

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For 64-bit Linux systems:

.rpm package for RPM-based systems.deb package for DEB-based systems.tgz package for other systems

Before installing the software, be sure to read our detailed installation instructions.

SOFTWARE LICENSE AND WARRANTY

Read this agreement carefully. If you do not agree to its terms, abort the installation by clicking on the Cancel button.

The software which accompanies this license agreement (the 'Software') is the property of SoftMaker Software GmbH ('SoftMaker') or its licensors and is protected by copyright law. While SoftMaker continues to own the Software, you will have certain rights to use the Software after your acceptance of this license agreement. Except as may be modified by a license addendum which accompanies this license agreement, the following is agreed upon between you and SoftMaker:

YOU MAY:

Install and use one copy of the Software on up to 3 (three) computers that belong to the same family household or on 1 (one) computer that belongs to an organization;

Make a reasonable number of backup copies for archive purposes, so long as the backup copies are not distributed; and

Transfer the usage rights in the Software on a permanent basis to another person or entity, provided that you retain no copies of the Software and the transferee agrees to the terms of this agreement.

YOU MAY NOT:

Make copies of the accompanying documentation;

Sublicense, rent or lease any portion of the Software or accompanying documentation; or

Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, modify, translate, make any attempt to discover the source code of the Software, or create derivative works of the Software.

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TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SOFTMAKER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER SOFTMAKER NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF SOFTMAKER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOFTMAKER'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE.

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This Agreement is the complete statement of the Agreement between the parties on the subject matter, and merges and supersedes all other or prior understandings, purchase orders, agreements and arrangements. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Exclusive jurisdiction and venue for all matters relating to this Agreement shall be in courts located in the City of Nuremberg, Germany, and you consent to such jurisdiction and venue, thereby excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and any legislation implementing such Convention, if otherwise applicable.

If any provision of this Agreement is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such a provision shall be severed from the Agreement and the other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

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[ericfruits]

Flush with cash, Australia’s prime minister woos voters with tax cuts

JUST two months ago Malcolm Turnbull came within a whisker of winning parliament’s approval for his most cherished policy: cutting the corporate tax rate from 30% to 25% over ten years. At the last minute he failed to secure a couple of votes in the Senate, where his conservative government lacks a majority. Undeterred, on May 8th the prime minister made tax cuts the centrepiece of his government’s budget for the coming fiscal year. As well as lowering rates for business, it also included cuts in personal income tax. Mr Turnbull, whose government has long trailed Labor, the main opposition, in opinion polls, hopes his tax strategy will reverse his fortunes at a federal election due next year.

Among rich countries, Australia has lagged in cutting corporate taxes. It last did so 17 years ago. The Business Council of Australia, a lobby group, complains that the rate is “frozen in time” compared with the American one of 21%, which is also the average in Asia. The Treasury worries that Australia risks becoming “increasingly uncompetitive internationally”.

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Business taxes are Australia’s biggest source of revenue after personal income tax. Revenue from both is buoyant, thanks largely to rising employment and mining profits (see chart). The economy is entering its 27th year of unbroken growth. After years of deficits, a balanced budget is in sight next fiscal year and a surplus a year later. A former banker and businessman, Mr Turnbull proposed a corporate-tax cut at the previous election, in 2016. He argued it would pep up the economy by encouraging businesses to invest and hire more. There was “no question”, he said. “You’ll see a rise in wages with a reduction in company tax.”

Mr Turnbull has struck an even bolder note with his income-tax cuts. They are worth about A$140bn ($104bn) over a decade, almost twice as much as the corporate cuts. The government proposes ditching a 37% tax rate that kicks in on earnings over A$87,000, which would leave 94% of taxpayers handing over just under a third of their incomes in tax. But Labor has suggested it may not support the full plan.

The business-tax cuts, too, still face a rocky legislative road. Parliament has already approved them, but only for firms with annual turnovers of A$50m or less. When the government reintroduced the plan in March, it needed the votes of just two independent senators to extend the cuts to all businesses. One of them, Tim Storer, an economist, argued the cuts were too “narrowly cast” and called for broader tax reform. He remains unconvinced.

Another complication stems from a royal commission Mr Turnbull reluctantly set up in December to look into misconduct at banks and financial-services firms. Revelations of shabby treatment of customers have hurt the industry’s image. Derryn Hinch, a former journalist whose Senate vote the government also needs, wants banks excluded from any business-tax cut. To include them, he says, is “not only immoral, it’s politically suicidal”.

Some question the claimed economic benefits of corporate-tax cuts. Saul Eslake, an economist, compares Australia with Canada, which has cut its corporate-tax rate by more than the Turnbull government proposes. Mr Eslake calculates that investment and wages have risen by more in Australia than in Canada since Canada began to cut tax rates in 2000. A survey of some 130 corporate bosses by the Business Council of Australia, leaked in March, bears out his doubts. Less than a fifth said they would increase wages and hiring as a result of a tax cut. Most said their priority would be capital investment and increasing returns to shareholders.

A recent opinion poll showed greater public support for cutting debt than cutting taxes. At A$341bn, or 18.6% of GDP, Australia’s net debt is quite low by global standards. Mr Turnbull is convinced that voters will thank him for lowering their bills—if he can persuade the Senate to do so.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Banking on tax cuts"

https://ift.tt/2KNZcee

[file-formats-programming]

Create Histogram or Tree Map Chart, Manage Footer in Handout & Notes Slides in Java Apps

What's New in this Release?

Aspose team is happy to share the announcement of Aspose.Slides for Java 18.4. This release has improved the API features support by introducing support for MSO 2016 charts along with resolution of outstanding issues. Some new features has been included in this release, such as Creating Histogram Chart, Creating Picture Organization Chart, Creating Tree Map Chart, Creating Box and Whisker Chart, Creating Funnel Chart, Creating Sunburst Chart, Footer in Handout and Notes Slides, Support For Interruptable Library, Rendering Shape as SVG and support for rendering emoji characters. There are some important enhancements and issues have been fixed in this release, such as The vertical axis labels are improperly wrapped in the image output, SVG to PPTX or EMF – missing nested SVG, SVG to PPTX – wrong font substitution, Footer changing on saving the PPT files, Radar chart is improperly rendered in exported PDF, Chart not properly converted to PDF, PPTX to PDF not properly converted, corrupted PPTX generated from Aspose.Slides, Slide content moved, Slow rendering performance of Aspose.Slides for Java 18.2, Wild line appeared while adding text, ArgumentException on loading the presentation and many more. This list of new, improved and bug fixes in this release are given below

Creating Histogram Chart.

Creating Picture Organization Chart.

Creating Tree Map Chart.

Creating Box and Whisker Chart.

Creating Funnel Chart.

Creating Sunburst Chart.

Footer in Handout and Notes Slides.

Support For Interruptable Library.

Rendering Shape as SVG.

Support for rendering emoji characters.

SVG to PPTX or EMF – missing nested SVG.

SVG to PPTX – wrong font substitution.

Footer changing on saving the PPT files.

Radar chart is improperly rendered in exported PDF.

Chart not properly converted to PDF.

PPTX to PDF not properly converted.

corrupted PPTX generated from Aspose.Slides.

Text overflowing from slide.

Slide content moved.

Slow rendering performance of Aspose.Slides for Java 18.2.

Wild line appeared while adding text.

ArgumentException on loading the presentation.

PptUnsupportedFormatException is thrown on loading the presentation.

Other most recent bug fixes are also included in this release

Newly added documentation pages and articles

Some new tips and articles have now been added into Aspose.Slides for Java documentation that may guide users briefly how to use Aspose.Slides for performing different tasks like the followings.

Creating Histogram Chart

Support for managing Header/Footer in handout and notes slides

Overview: Aspose.Slides for Java

Aspose.Slides is a Java component to create, read, write and modify a PowerPoint document without using Microsoft PowerPoint. It supports PHP applications and provides all advanced features for managing presentations, slides, shapes, tables and supports PPT, POT, POS PowerPoint formats. Now you can add, access, copy, clone, edit and delete slides in your presentations. It also supports audio & video frames, adding pictures, text frames and saving presentations as streams or SVG format.

More about Aspose.Slides for Java

Homepage of Aspose.Slides for Java

Downlaod Aspose.Slides for Java

Online documentation of Aspose.Slides for Java

[andreagillmer]

Is Silver Turning?

Source: Clive Maund for Streetwise Reports   10/08/2017

Technical analyst Clive Maund discusses movements in the silver price.

The last Silver Market update almost a month ago called the intermediate top within a day, as you may recall, and it has back to the extent predicted in that update.

There was more evidence of a turn in silver than gold on Friday, when a more obvious reversal candle appeared on its chart. On the 6-month chart we can see that a long-tailed candle occurred that approximates to a bull hammer where the price closed not far off the day’s highs on the biggest volume for over a month. After its recent reaction this certainly looks like a reversal, especially as the downtrend channel has been converging. The earlier overbought condition has more than fully unwound and the price has dropped back into a zone of support.

There was an even more pronounced reversal candle on Friday in silver proxy iShares Silver Trust. . .

Like gold, silver is marking out a giant Head-and-Shoulders bottom pattern, but in silver’s case it is downsloping as we can see on its 8-year chart below, which reflects the fact that silver tends to underperform gold at the end of sector bear markets and during the early stages of sector bull markets. Prolonged underperformance by silver is therefore a sign of a bottom. This chart really does show how unloved silver is right now, but although the price has drifted slightly lower over the past several years, volume indicators have improved, especially this year, a positive sign. A break above the neckline of the pattern, the black line, will be a positive development, and more so a break above the band of resistance approaching the 2016 highs. Once it gets above this it will have to contend with a quite strong zone of resistance roughly between $26 and $28. Silver is among the most unloved of all metals, a situation that is not expected to continue, partly because silver bugs are manic-depressive and they have been depressive for a long time, meaning that it surely won’t be all that long until they are on the rooftops singing Happy Days are Here Again.

As with gold, silver’s COT structure has improved in recent weeks as the price has dropped, and although readings are still far from levels that can be described as outright bullish, they are considerably better than those for gold, which could be a sign that silver is set to outperform gold at last. . .

Click on chart to popup a larger, clearer version.

Extreme lows in the silver/gold ratio are reliable indicators of either a sector bottom or they can occur during the early stages of a sector bull market, as can be seen on the long-term silver over gold chart shown below, which goes back to late 1997. When a low in this ratio occurred in 2003, the sector was already in a bull market, but as we can see, it had much further to run. The next major low followed the 2008 market crash. More recently the ratio plumbed very low levels again at the end of 2014 and early in 2016, which marked the sector bottom after the brutal bear market from the 2011 highs. Right now it is only a whisker above these lows, which is a strong sign that another bull market is just around the corner.

Clive Maund has been president of http://ift.tt/28Mksmt, a successful resource sector website, since its inception in 2003. He has 30 years’ experience in technical analysis and has worked for banks, commodity brokers and stockbrokers in the City of London. He holds a Diploma in Technical Analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts.

Want to read more Gold Report articles like this? Sign up at http://ift.tt/2i2CFzS for our free e-newsletter, and you’ll learn when new articles have been published. To see recent articles with industry analysts and commentators, visit our Streetwise Interviews page.

Disclosure: 1) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of Clive Maund and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. Clive Maund is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not involved in the content preparation. Clive Maund was not paid by Streetwise Reports LLC for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. 2) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports’ terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

Charts provided by the author.

from The Gold Report – Streetwise Exclusive Articles Full Text http://ift.tt/2y6s3V6

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2yRX1zC

[goldcoins0]

Is Silver Turning?

Source: Clive Maund for Streetwise Reports   10/08/2017

Technical analyst Clive Maund discusses movements in the silver price.

The last Silver Market update almost a month ago called the intermediate top within a day, as you may recall, and it has back to the extent predicted in that update.

There was more evidence of a turn in silver than gold on Friday, when a more obvious reversal candle appeared on its chart. On the 6-month chart we can see that a long-tailed candle occurred that approximates to a bull hammer where the price closed not far off the day's highs on the biggest volume for over a month. After its recent reaction this certainly looks like a reversal, especially as the downtrend channel has been converging. The earlier overbought condition has more than fully unwound and the price has dropped back into a zone of support.

There was an even more pronounced reversal candle on Friday in silver proxy iShares Silver Trust. . .

Like gold, silver is marking out a giant Head-and-Shoulders bottom pattern, but in silver's case it is downsloping as we can see on its 8-year chart below, which reflects the fact that silver tends to underperform gold at the end of sector bear markets and during the early stages of sector bull markets. Prolonged underperformance by silver is therefore a sign of a bottom. This chart really does show how unloved silver is right now, but although the price has drifted slightly lower over the past several years, volume indicators have improved, especially this year, a positive sign. A break above the neckline of the pattern, the black line, will be a positive development, and more so a break above the band of resistance approaching the 2016 highs. Once it gets above this it will have to contend with a quite strong zone of resistance roughly between $26 and $28. Silver is among the most unloved of all metals, a situation that is not expected to continue, partly because silver bugs are manic-depressive and they have been depressive for a long time, meaning that it surely won't be all that long until they are on the rooftops singing Happy Days are Here Again.

As with gold, silver's COT structure has improved in recent weeks as the price has dropped, and although readings are still far from levels that can be described as outright bullish, they are considerably better than those for gold, which could be a sign that silver is set to outperform gold at last. . .

Click on chart to popup a larger, clearer version.

Extreme lows in the silver/gold ratio are reliable indicators of either a sector bottom or they can occur during the early stages of a sector bull market, as can be seen on the long-term silver over gold chart shown below, which goes back to late 1997. When a low in this ratio occurred in 2003, the sector was already in a bull market, but as we can see, it had much further to run. The next major low followed the 2008 market crash. More recently the ratio plumbed very low levels again at the end of 2014 and early in 2016, which marked the sector bottom after the brutal bear market from the 2011 highs. Right now it is only a whisker above these lows, which is a strong sign that another bull market is just around the corner.

Clive Maund has been president of www.clivemaund.com, a successful resource sector website, since its inception in 2003. He has 30 years' experience in technical analysis and has worked for banks, commodity brokers and stockbrokers in the City of London. He holds a Diploma in Technical Analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts.

Want to read more Gold Report articles like this? Sign up at www.streetwisereports.com/get-news for our free e-newsletter, and you'll learn when new articles have been published. To see recent articles with industry analysts and commentators, visit our Streetwise Interviews page.

Disclosure: 1) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of Clive Maund and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. Clive Maund is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not involved in the content preparation. Clive Maund was not paid by Streetwise Reports LLC for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. 2) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

Charts provided by the author.

from https://www.streetwisereports.com/pub/na/17755

[dragonflycap]

What to expect from the stock market this week

Last week’s review of the macro market indicators saw with the month of May in the books, equity markets continued to show resilience, holding in consolidation near all-time highs. Elsewhere looked for Gold ($GLD) to continue its move higher while Crude Oil ($USL) possibly resumed its uptrend. The US Dollar Index ($DXY) looked to continues to move lower while US Treasuries ($TLT) consolidated in their downtrend. The Shanghai Composite ($ASHR) looked to continue the short term trend higher while Emerging Markets ($EEM) consolidated in their uptrend.

The Volatility Index ($VXX) looked to remain very low making the path easier for equity markets to the upside. Their charts were holding strong, especially on the longer timeframe. On the shorter timeframe the $QQQ might be at risk as it consolidated at a lower high after a rebound. The $SPY was a whisker away from new highs though as the $IWM continued to mark time sideways.

The week played out with Gold continuing to the upside early but slammed late in the week before a recovery and Crude Oil resumed its move to the upside. The US Dollar tried to reverse higher late in the week but fell back Friday while Treasuries continued to move in a tight range. The Shanghai Composite consolidated last week’s move higher while Emerging Markets broke out of consolidation to the upside.

Volatility had a small bounce early in the week but fell back hard Friday to close little changed. This put initial pressure on large cap equities and they responded by starting the week dropping from a gap up open Tuesday. They found support by Thursday and reversed to finish the week higher. The small cap equities were nonplussed initially but gapped down to open Thursday before a rebound. This resulted in the SPY and QQQ ending back near all-time highs with the IWM slightly further behind. What does this mean for the coming week? Let’s look at some charts.

SPY Daily, $SPY

The SPY came into the week breaking above a consolidation zone and just below the all-time high. It made a run at the top Tuesday but could not hold up, falling back into Thursday. It opened with a gap down and reversed then was followed by a strong trend day Friday that ended at a new all-time high.

The daily chart shows the last two weeks holding back over the 20 day SMA and the Bollinger Bands® starting to slowly open higher. The RSI is rising in the bullish zone with lots of room above while the MACD is crossed up and positive as it moves higher. The target from the Positive RSI Reversal confirmed May 12 is to 443 and the 200% extension of the retracement of the pandemic drop is at 458 above that.

The weekly chart shows the RSI running flat and strong in bullish territory with the MACD looking like it may avoid a cross down with a kiss of the signal line. The Bollinger Bands on this timeframe are pointing the way higher. There is no resistance above 423. Support lower comes at 420 and 417.40 then 413.75 and 411 before 407 and 403 then 400.70. Consolidation in the Uptrend.

SPY Weekly, $SPY

Summer has unofficially begun with the passing of Memorial Day, and equity markets ended the week stronger after large caps rebounded from a weak start. Elsewhere look for Gold to continue its uptrend while Crude Oil moves to new multi-year highs. The US Dollar Index and US Treasuries continue to consolidate in their downtrends. The Shanghai Composite looks ready to continue higher while Emerging Markets resume their uptrend.

The Volatility Index looks to remain very low making the path easier for equity markets to the upside. Their charts show moves to the top of consolidation ranges on both timeframes. The QQQ looks the most promising on the shorter timeframe with the SPY next and the IWM building a tight pattern. On the longer timeframe all three are consolidating with strong momentum. Use this information as you prepare for the coming week and trad’em well.

Join the Premium Users and you can view the Full Version with 20 detailed charts and analysis: Macro Week in Review/Preview June 4, 2021  

[ukdamo]

The Great and the Good

One of mine...

Here's a piece of creative writing I produced for a Quaker journal in 1995, just after my dad died. It developed from the encomium I spoke at the funeral.

It doesn't do him justice...

The great and the good

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them. Friends may recognise the aphorism: I confess that I was familiar with its form but not its derivation (Malvolio in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night). A perceptive statement, I think, though Friends may enter some personal caveats. Nonetheless, it provides a useful jumping off point for some reflections on the idea of 'greatness'.

As a university student, I heard it deployed in praise of Churchill, with reference to the political arena and those who cut a dash in it. (Some historians think of history as the biography of great men - women often being overlooked by such enthusiasts). One problem with such a perspective on greatness is that it makes it a very exclusive preserve. There are possibly 660 MPs, perhaps a couple of dozen cabinet ministers. Do they alone inhabit the precincts of greatness? As a graduate in Modern History, I confess to a passion for historical biography – it can be a very expressive and engaging way to chart the upheavals and subtle currents that are the warp and weft of human stories on the epic scale – but it is not the only way to tell a tale. And in the telling of it, it often obliterates the so-called lesser stories.

It seems to me that there is another yardstick we might use to measure greatness; one which has no association with success or power or wealth. Rather, it has to do with having broad shoulders, a generous spirit, an expansive heart. Irenaeus said, some centuries before Shakespeare or Churchill was even a twinkle in his father's eye, 'The glory of God is a person fully alive'. Here is a universal measure for humanity - the degree to which human flourishing shines forth: what Quakers term that of God in each one.

This perspective was brought home to me forcefully at the time of my father's death. For that reason, it is grounded in the personal, though I hope it may speak to others' condition.

It is, perhaps, as well that there are yardsticks other than material success to gauge greatness, for my father's 'greatness' by that measure never amounted to a hill of beans. But I still count him a great man. The dawning of this recognition came upon me slowly, as he neared death. When I looked back upon our life together I could perceive, for the first time, myriad occasions when he illustrated the magnitude of his greatness. When my sister came home pregnant, at seventeen, dad thought he would never be able to walk abroad in the daytime again. The shame of it! 

The shame of it was dispersed, like morning mist from a lake, by the radiant loveliness of his first grandchild. It was, perhaps, the first big challenge offered to a lifetime of values received from his upbringing in the Catholic tradition. Well, perhaps not the first: dad had served in WW II in Burma and spoke of that as he neared death – but that experience was set in a faith context that supposed it had been right to go and fight, though in his later years he lamented that he had gone to war. With Clare, dad proved himself more generous and more imaginative than I had given him credit for. When I was in my mid twenties I presented him with a double whammy.

Firstly, I came out as a gay man to my parents and immediate family (friends having been in the know for some years). Secondly, I announced my intention to join the Friars Minor and train for the priesthood. The favourite son was doing him out of grandchildren twice over and leaving the family to boot. The increasing closeness that dad and I enjoyed in the years that followed allowed me to see the price he paid personally to support my decision. Perhaps it even outweighed the cost to me.

As I neared the occasion of my lifetime's commitment to the Friars an unbridgeable chasm seemed to open between me and those responsible for my formation as a Friar, with regard to the topic of homosexuality and the Church's teachings about it. The upshot was that, within six months I was no longer a friar, and within eight months no longer a Catholic. Even at such a juncture, my dad proved his mettle again. I believe he would have knocked down anyone who dared to pass a suspect remark, and he supported me to such an extent that he came within a whisker of leaving the Church himself. That he did not is further eloquent witness to the generosity of his spirit, his quiet humility, and his presumption of good faith in every person. (Well, practically every person!)

But it was in the manner of his dying that his greatness was writ largest, for he died with such serenity in the midst of pain, and showed such tenderness towards those who were with him, that I cherish those last times together as among the greatest moments I expect to experience.

Thinking about my father and the occasions that I can now recognise as manifestations of his greatness, I perceive more truth in the words that Shakespeare vouchsafed to Malvolio than he may have intended. Let me offer a paraphrase: 'We are all born with the capacity for greatness, some of us are enabled to grow into it gradually, some of us come to recognise it suddenly.' Life provides us with opportunities and crises; what we make of them depends on how we respond to them, and this (in turn) depends on how far we are enabled to live up to that measure of Light entrusted to us. It is written in Genesis that 'It is not good for a person to be alone'. There is wisdom here, for we are not self-sufficient; the measure of our flourishing is contingent upon the nurturing that we receive and upon the nurturing that we afford to others. Sadly, for it diminishes us all, want of such nurturing can prevent some from discovering their greatness. Thus Irenaeus, too, merits some 'inclusive' development: 'the glory of God is humanity fully alive.'

In conclusion, I want to turn again to the personal.

I am convinced that the defining moment of my life came when, having left much to go to the Friars, I walked away from the little that was left to me, to stand apart from them. For a time, I felt that everything that followed would surely be an anti-climax. I recognise now (largely because of what I see in my dad's life) that I was wrong. His parting gift to me was the capacity to recognise life's crises and opportunities for what they are and to respond 'faith-fully' to them - by walking in the Light, living up to the measure I have, hoping for more. Perhaps one day I will set the seal upon this endeavour, as he did.

If I do, it is testimony to that capacity for greatness with which we are all gifted, and testimony to the greatness of others - who have called me to that flourishing I presently enjoy and who foster it with their love.

If we want to get to know 'the great and the good', perhaps we should look more discerningly at those closest to us, and read fewer history books!

© Damian

[recentanimenews]

BTS is Conquering the World, and They’ve got Anime on Their Side!

  It’s hard to escape the pull of BTS; even if you aren’t a K-Pop fan or don’t know what it means when someone says that they’re ARMY, you’ve still probably heard of this top selling group. BTS has become inescapable, appearing in Time magazine, Saturday Night Live, and even winning 2 Billboard Music Awards yesterday along with doing an amazing performance with Halsey at the awards show! "But why am I reading about them on Crunchyroll?" you might be asking yourself. Well, as you may have guessed, the BTS guys are big anime fans! Although not a very well kept secret, you might be surprised at just how much anime is not only a part of BTS’ downtime, but also their music, influencing their songs and even some of their concert appearances. As we said in our article about wrestlers and anime, you can find anime fans everywhere, even at the top of the music charts!

  One of the most visible instances of BTS revealing their anime and manga fandom came in an episode of RUN BTS!, a show where the members chat about things that are going on both in their lives and in the performing world. In one episode, the boys end up at a manga cafe, and use the manga on hand to affect the mini games they’ll be playing on the show. Suga, a devout Slam Dunk fan, immediately searches for the manga while proclaiming that “Slam Dunk is the best.” When he finds the volumes of it on the bookcase, he immediately starts humming the show’s theme song! V asks the other members if they know about Law of Ueki and then fawns over the power of turning trash into trees! J-Hope finds a Naruto volume, which automatically gets him, Jimin, and RM singing the show’s theme song. RM even Naruto runs over to them enthusiastically!

    In 2018, a rumor started spreading online that Jungkook had deleted Twitter off of his phone in order to make room for Crunchyroll (we even made a little video about it!), and while we may never know if that rumor was true, Jungkook does indeed use his phone to catch up on anime! The official BTS Facebook page even featured some candid shots of Jungkook relaxing, watching episodes of Haikyu!! on his phone during some downtime. 

  While Jungkook’s Crunchyroll adventure caught fans and media attention, the rest of the boys have revealed in various interviews that they all enjoy anime and manga of various sorts. Noisey did some lightning round questions, with them being asked to choose between One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Z; although some members tried to be a bit impartial (citing “all”), the guys all seemed to prefer Naruto to the rest, with Dragon Ball Z coming in a close second! But don’t fear if you’re a fan of pirate action—the BTS members love One Piece too, with Jungkook stating that if he could be a superhero, he’d be Sanji! Jimin is also a huge fan, getting a Zoro figure for his birthday and revealing that when he first saw Zoro as a kid, he wanted to grow up to become a cool swordsman just like him, practicing Kendo for 8 years. Although he eventually chose singing over swordsmanship, sometimes his slick Kendo moves make an appearance in some of their videos! The BTS guys have also stated their love for series like Full Moon o Sagashite, Shugo Chara, Pokémon, and many more, showing off an impressive history of anime and manga enjoyment.

    Sometimes, BTS’ love of anime has bled into their performances and public appearances. During one show, V did a Nico-Nico-Ni, complete with hand gestures, as an homage to everyone’s favorite Love Live gremlin, Nico Yazawa. V also sang the Card Captor Sakura opening song at a public event, doing a pretty good job of singing it off the cuff and acapela! Not to be outdone, RM had a pretty famous run in a Sailor Moon costume, even documenting the transformation he went through to get the look down, while Suga appeared on stage as Naruto, complete with whisker marks, blonde hair, and of course, the signature ninja headband. Jungkook’s also been filmed doing a pretty impressive Naruto run, confirming that Naruto is indeed the one series that all members have a lot of love for! 

    During a karaoke RUN BTS! episode, J-Hope and Jimin (the rest of the gang couldn't contain themselves and also joined in!) sang the Korean Naruto theme song as they did the classic Naruto run and threw paper ninja stars! J-Hope and Jimin did an improptu cosplay of Rock Lee and Naruto, and members did some impressive attempts at jutsu hand movements to channel their inner shinobi for their performance. Naruto is pretty great, so we aren’t surprised that it's the big favorite amongst the BTS guys, but one of their recent hit songs actually has some direct homages to another anime series that may be a little less well known outside of Asia...

If you guessed Anpanman, you’d be right! The song "Anpanman" takes direct reference to the classic series of the same name by Takashi Yanase, featuring a brave superhero who also just happens to have a head made out of bread and filled with red bean paste. Anpanman is a global hit, and its unsurprising to hear that the BTS boys not only know who he is, but are also fans; after all, it's pretty hard not to love such a delicious superhero! In their song "Anpanman," the BTS guys sing about how they may not be superheroes like Batman or Superman, but that they can be your Anpanman, giving you strength and support when you need it, just like the sweet bread-headed anime superhero himself. Through comparing themselves to not the world’s strongest hero, but the world’s weakest hero, BTS stays true to their message with the thought that, rather than being a hero just because you have strength, you can also be a hero even if you’re soft like sweet red bean buns. Of course, the BTS guys might be a bit more attractive than Anpanman, but they are right to idolize a hero who happily shares his deliciousness with anyone who is hungry or in need!

It can be easy to forget that some of our favorite pop stars are also just regular people, and the fact that BTS have such a deep love for anime and manga helps to remind us that, between the world tours and the amazing performances, they enjoy relaxing with their favorite shows, being inspired by their favorite characters, or simply just enjoying the pleasure of Naruto running whenever they get a chance. As BTS continues their world domination of the music and media charts, we’ll hopefully hear more about what anime they’re enjoying on a daily basis; I don’t know about you, but I’m curious to know what shows they’re all watching this season!

Are you going to see BTS during their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself World Tour? Do you have any similar tastes to the BTS guys? Do you also enjoy Naruto running in your free time? Let us know in the comments!

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Nicole is a features writer and editor for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Her biases are RM and J-Hope. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

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By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com