#also have to go into my credit union and talk about high interest accounts

[jedi-bird]

Today I acquired several new Star Wars rpg books I've been looking for (and left a lot behind because I didn't have my master list updated), some shiny new dice, and a few new cheap collectables. I was also good and didn't spend fifty bucks on a plush gelatinous cube (even though I really wanted him). Did get some new miniatures that I'll eventually get around to painting once I get my work space finally set up. I have a very long list of things that need to get done before the summer heat and I'll probably only get a small bit completed; progress is progress though.

[drdemonprince]

ive seen you talk about FIRE/mr money moustache and i am interested in how you balance that with your politics. i ask because i am also interested in FIRE but struggle with the idea of saving 2mil+ to retire early when people need money NOW to survive. not just broadly but even loved ones and community members in my immediate vicinity. i dont mean this in an EXPLAIN YOURSELF sort of way, just so many of the FIRE etc people i find writing about it dont really address this aspect and its something i struggle with internally myself.

Sure, I don't mind speaking about this at all. I wish I more frequently had the occasion to because it's a major special interest of mine.

First, I'm not interested in the saving 2 million dollars (if that were even feasible) school of financial independence/ retire early. I'm more of an adherent to the r/LeanFire, r/BaristaFire type approach of maintaining a consistently very frugal standard of living that is sustainable for me, on a relatively smaller savings, and pursuing a life of relatively little consumption.

I also think that MMM, despite his many flaws, is broadly accurate in stating that when people continuing working all their lives, they also create more ecological devastation by consuming a whole of a hell lot more resources on convenience and burning more fuel, while chasing after a steadily rising living standard set by the norms of their profession. By taking myself out of the workforce sooner rather than later, I will be contributing less to climate change and waste because I'll need fewer convenience meals, fewer car rides, fewer flights, fewer hotel rooms, fewer fancy professional clothes, and so on and so on.

I also spend a lot of time on the Socially Conscious Mustachians group on Facebook, which focuses on investing one's savings in ways that are less ethically problematic. The easy mode version of this is simply putting one's money into index funds that exclude oil companies, gun manufacturers, etc. But honestly, today, with interest rates being as high as they are? It's pretty easy to just sock one's money into a CD or a bond, collect the cool 5.4% interest, and avoid having to contribute to the stock market directly at all. There are even high-yield savings accounts at credit unions that pay out about that much interest these days, and those entities typically do not invest in oil pipelines, BDS targets, or anything all that objectionable.

As for the hoading money while others are in need piece: Well. yeah. that's a difficult ethical challenge that we all must consider. how much can i hold onto for my own wellbeing in the spirit of "putting on one's oxygen mask first" without it being wealth hoarding? how much should i give to other people when i see that they are in need --someone could easily make the case that I have the moral obligation to give away what i have to my very last cent, and I couldn't really argue with them on that. maybe a person should do that. but i'm not going to do it. and of course the effective altruism freakos would counter that if i invest my money and grow it now, i will have more to give to others in the long run than if i cash out now.

realistically, i won't be able to continue working for much longer without having another health episode or worse. i will not qualify for disability benefits because high maskers who have had careers usually do not. and social security's coffers will be entirely drained long before i reach the age to qualify for it. if i enter my non-working years without any resources, someone else will have to worry about me staying housed and medicated and fed.

i tend to think of my retire early stash as my own little private disability benefits fund that will allow me to live safely and will hopefully allow me to take care of other people that i love as we age, and that will give me the freedom from having to do any morally compromising capitalist labor ever again, and only put my energies towards causes that either fulfill me or benefit others.

but it's still rooted in a highly individualistic capitalist system, this holding onto money under my own name and investing it thing. im sure a lot of people would choose instead to sock all of their money into some kind of cooperatively owned communist farm or something, and you know, some day down the line i would love to put money toward a big multi unit building that lots of people i am in community with could live in, with no financial obligations for them. but i dont have anywhere near that kind of scratch. as hannibal buress (that landlord piece of shit) said, "i don't have fuck you money, i have strongly worded email money." and you know, being able to write a strongly worded email to people who would otherwise be exploiting me into another huge burnout does feel good.

thinking that one day i might not work anymore is one of the only things that keeps me going. i am always on the razor's edge of not functioning, i dont think people really realize that, how could they, the mask is there to prevent them seeing it. im beyond privileged to even get to CONSIDER the dream of getting by on my savings for however long human society continues to exist. and it sure would be better if i could extend that kind of freedom and peace of mind to others. my life still feels very precarious and it always has and ive had to be stable for the sake of others for a long time, ive had to be financially responsible for others for a long time. i cling to the idea of FI/RE because it offers me a way to finally break down and be weak. but something more community oriented and interdependent would sure as fuck be better. in the meantime i guess im saving for something like that i could trust enough to give myself over to.

i also have a really strong fetishistic desire to be someone's completely brainwashed sex pet for the entire rest of my life, and having an early retirement account would really help me facilitate that

[kojinnie]

AOT Characters’ Modern Jobs Headcanon; The Vets Edition!

The jobs that The Vets would have in modern!au, their workplace antics and their back story. There might be some inaccuracies when describing the job as obviously I don’t work at these industries to know its intricacies. Most of the jobs are office jobs. Enjoyyyy!

My Masterlist .::. Pt. II: Zeke Yeager’s Modern Jobs Headcanon   

Most recent work: Dream Me Home (Before Shiganshina) | reader x erwin smith

A/N: I really need to finish a presentation deck due tonight for an early morning meeting tomorrow but of course, this comes first hahaha 

erwin!

A/N: Basically lawyer!erwin is the way to go, innit?

He's in his 40s, so he may have a settled career

He came from a white-collar, middle-class family. So he wasn’t silverspoon-fed, but his parents had enough money to put him through good school

Got a scholarship to go to one of the nation’s finest law schools

Kept it lowkey in college’s social circle, graduated with summa cum laude, developed a strong academic relation with his professor, and got recommended for an internship at top law firm at the capital city

Starting his career as a corporate lawyer, but then built his expertise as white-collar crime attorney

In his early 30s, he represented a union suing against conglomerate corporation in a big case that had national coverage, from then on he began to know his calling

Expanding his portfolio and became well-known for defending workers, consumers and civilians against corporate fraud scheme

Currently doing a lot of pro-bono cases for deprived victims of big corporate fraud. You would see him frequently gracing your local newspaper we love us some socialist king

On the side, he often writes for law journal and fills in as guest professor at local universities for summer courses

Established his own law firm with some of his partners, specializing in white collar crime and labor & employment law

He’s damn accomplished, but never really had any time for self-indulgence. Even after he becomes a household name in the country, with tens of attorneys working under him, his employees would still see him working on New Year’s Eve

He was always attentive to his employees, though. Although he has a very strict, borderline no-life work ethics, he never forces his employees to follow his habit, in fact he despises when his employees works on holidays and can be seen blaming himself for it a bit of a hypocrite but thats ok

He still takes metro to work. He prefers a very lowkey, ordinary lifestyle because he fears if he shows any knack for indulgence, he will be susceptible to gratification from potential enemies or crooked politicians

Definitely a sight to see at the workplace, for he's tall and always oozes a sense of authority in the way he speaks and carries himself generally

His emotional intelligence is top-notch, you would never meet someone who is able to be very objective and calculating, while being kind and compassionate at the same time

His fellow attorneys put a lot for respect for him, and hundreds of applicants come to his considerably small firm every week, because a lot of aspiring attorney find him inspiring to work with

He wasn’t oblivious to his shiny reputation, but he’s trying his hardest to not let the compliments get to his head. Sometimes he doesn’t give himself enough credit for it

Was approached by one of the political party’s committee to run for local senate, but turned it down

basically he’s perfect if you like a man who’s never home for christmas

Hange!

A/N: Ok ok, I really wanna see Paleontologist!Hange because it has always been my fave dream job, but I want Hange to be out and about with people so here it is

Hange is the type to be incredibly good at one thing, that she will dedicate her whole life for that pursuit, but will be awfully oblivious to a whole lot of things (not intentional of course, they just have a very limited attention span) (they wouldn’t know who kanye west is or what tiktok is)

Like Erwin, they came from a middle-class family. While Erwin’s parents might have been teachers, accountants or other common profession, Hange came from a family of academician and researchers

Hange studied Human Geography at uni, but later found passion specifically in its relation to industrialization and urban development

Hange aims to advocate for a better living condition for workforce, and nearby inhabitants of industrialized city detroit would be a beautiful city if only they let hange designed it

Hange is a professor at university, where they also led a non-profit research think-thank that also serves as pressure group for better government policy.

The university that Hange teaches in, is also the uni where Erwin teaches in summer. They’re close-knitted colleagues as they share similar passion. Erwin relies on Hange a lot for some intellectual insights to help his cases  

Hange is relentless in their cause, you may find Hange everywhere! From street protest to a hearing in the government court. They are passionate and will do anything for the cause they believe in

Hange was once hired by the government as an independent consultant for a new housing project, but left because they grew to be frustrated by the government’s bureaucracy and their outward reluctance to follow Hange's recommendation

Hange spends a lot of time overseas, consulting and advocating development in newly industrialized countries

On Hange’s birthday, her fellow researchers surprised them with a ‘pampering day’ where they took them to an optometrist because Hange had been complaining about their eyesight for a YEAR that gave them a lot of migraines, but was always either too busy or too lazy to go

Hange never really considers themselves as working, because they enjoy their job very much. Hange likes to spend months observing a community, talking to people for hours, and trying their best in understanding their problem

Out of so many great qualities that Hange has as a researcher that meets different set of people everyday, prejudice or preconceived judgment is completely absent in Hange’s demeanor and perspective

Hange doesn’t get a lot of free-time, even if they do, they’d wander around the city to do a little observation. But when the weather’s bad and they’re stuck at home with their pet lizard, they would logged into Quora to answer random internet questions

They’re an avid writer for National Geographic, and one time Hange won a pitch to make a documentary about an industrial city project they were working on

After the docu-series got broadcasted, Hange gained a small but passionate and loyal fans on the internet. You could even find a subreddit dedicated for Hange’s works

for real I want to be Hange. I want to have that kind of passion in life

levi!

A/N: I spent a lot of times thinking about Levi’s job in modern!au. Because here’s the thing, either we adopt his unfortunate childhood into its modern!au equivalent, or let’s just recreate his whole upbringing. But I think his personality stems from a specific things he experienced during childhood, so let’s not dismiss that.

Levi came from a struggling working class family. I reckon his parents might have had worked multiple jobs to sustain their living expense. Unfortunately they both passed away when Levi was very little, and left little to no inheritance

Levi’s parents were not close to their extended family, so when they died, Levi was admitted to the system and had to brace several foster families who didn’t really pay attention to him

Little Levi had come to realize that life’s all about survival and so he had been able to fend on for himself since very young age, he never asked for things

His uncle, Kenny, finally won custody over Levi when he was in elementary. Kenny made money from small-scale racketeering here and there. Levi never asked what he did for living, as long as he got food to eat and tuition paid off

Kenny was emotionally absent, but he loved spending time with the oddly quiet little child, teaching him a lot of crafts, from carpentering to how to flay pig’s skin

Levi didn’t really care about getting into college, and thought that he’d probably end up working for his uncle, so he put his bare minimum throughout school, although he was really good with numbers, especially in math, accounting and finance

One time in high school, Levi’s teacher asked him to sign up for the olympiad team, Levi turned it down because he thought that was a rich kid thing

He didn’t even apply for college, and worked odd jobs after high school. Probably working as cashiers or assistant to retail shop’s owner for couple of years, enough for him to afford a cheap studio apartment on his own

One of his bosses came to acknowledge Levi’s talent, and trusted him to handle the company’s accounting

By sheer luck, the company hit it big, and Levi found himself running the day-to-day accounting of mid-sized business with over 300 employees

He made good money already without a college degree, but with a new-found confidence Levi applied for uni, where he chose to study accounting (of course)

Although he was confident with his skills, he understood he needed to widen his horizon and network -- thus uni

Levi was one of the oldest members of his cohort in uni, but graduated with highest distinction

After graduating, with his skills and experience, it wasn’t hard for Levi to score a job at top accounting firm

There, he discovered an interest for forensic accounting, where through audits, analysis and investigation, he basically finds out if a company is doing fraud and embezzlement or not

This is where he came to know and get acquainted with Erwin and Hange (yippie they’re together again)

The firm he works for was assigned to investigate the finances of a troublesome company that had been sued by its workers for a jeopardizing working condition. Erwin was on the case, and Levi helped him with evidences for legal proceeding.

By chance, Erwin introduced Levi to Hange. At first, Levi would find Hange annoying and overtly energized, but after learning the things they have done, Levi grew to appreciate Hange’s passion (and secretly wants to have more of his positive outlook)

Levi is fucking good his job. In short amount of time, he could get a really ideal position in the office. He was almost foolproof, finding even the tiniest bit of discrepancy in his audit. He’d get assigned to the big league case/project.

Although really good at his job, he’s not a social person, especially in his office. He couldn’t understand the lavish lifestyle that finance and banking people often lead. He will only show up to office party if it is really necessary for him to show up (usually to receive some kind of informal awards for, again, being so fucking good) 

He leads a no-bullshit attitude at the office, largely because of his background. He is a self-made man, and is not easy to impress by some young executives from posh school that talk bigger than they can chew

His cold, seemingly dismissive attitude gained him a reputation of being scary, when actually he is very considerate

One of the things he enjoys doing is to actually teach, he really likes when a new kid at the office come to him with none of that pretentious, big talk, and really asks for his guidance. He would love to teach you a thing or two

He would frequently check on his mentee, just to keep up with their development

And he doesn’t take credit too. When his mentee makes a milestone, he believes it’s 100% your work

If you’re his mentee, he probably doesn’t give a crap about your personal life, so don’t expect him to make small talk about that (and don’t ask him about his personal life either). But he really cares about your skill and career development

Same with Erwin, he leads a very ordinary lifestyle. He doesn’t go out often and would rather reading detective novel with his cat on the couch

He likes to spend Sunday at Uncle Kenny’s house, because he finds himself worried about the old man very often. They became close as Levi grew

Overall, Levi is a really kind and caring person if you know how not to push his button

[st-just]

Barely coherent rambling about nation-states, culture, the Hapsburgs, and Canada

Because why have a blog except to occasionally purge one of the essays floating around half-formed in your brain. To be clear, it’s still half-formed, just on tumblr now. 1,666 words, here’s the Deveraux essay mentioned. Book is Martyn Rady’s The Hapsburgs: To Rule The World

So I’ve had like, nationalism on my mind recently.

And so there’s a kind of recurring beat in left-of-centre American political discourse (like, not ‘internet rnados screaming at each other’ discourse, ‘people with doctorates or think tank positions having debates on podcasts or exchanging op eds’ discourse) where you have some people on the radical end list some of the various horrible atrocities the country is built on, the ways that all the national myths are lies, and how all the saints of the civic religion were monsters to one degree or another – this can come in a flavor of either righteous anger or, like, intellectual sport. And then on the other end you have the, well, Matt Yglesiases of the world. Who don’t really argue any of the points of fact, but do kind of roll their eyes at the whole exercise and say that sure, but Mom and Apple Pie and the American Way are still popular, and if you’re trying to win power in a democracy telling the majority of the population that their most cherished beliefs are both stupid and evil isn’t a great move.

Anyway, a couple weeks back Deveraux posted an essay for the 4th of July (which I don’t totally buy, but is an interesting read) about why the reason American nationalism is so intensely bundled up into a couple pieces of paper and maybe a dozen personalities is precisely because it isn’t a nation at all. Basically, his thesis is that in proper nation-states like England or the Netherlands or wherever, there really is a core population that is the overwhelming demographic majority and really have lived in more or less the same places since time immemorial, and that once the enthographers and mythologists finish their work, all those people really do identify with both the same nation and the same state as its expression. America, by contrast, is by virtue of being a settler nation whose citizenry was filled by waves of immigrants from all the ass ends of Eurasia in a historical eyeblink, even before you add in the native population and descendants of slaves lacks any single core ethnicity that is anywhere close to a majority, as well as any organic national traditions or claims to an ‘ancestral homeland’ that aren’t obviously absurd (and we are trying to include the descendents of slaves and the native population these days, to varying levels of success). All this to say that his point is America is a civic state, not a national one, with the identity of ‘American’ being divorced from ethnicity and instead tied to things like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the whole cult around the Founding Fathers, Lincoln, and [FDR and/or Reagan depending on your politics].

Which, like I said, don’t totally buy, but interesting. (to a degree he overstates how homogenus ‘actual’ nation-states are, he makes America sound very special but if his analysis holds that it’d presumably also apply to several other former settler colonies, in the American context there’s a fairly solid case to be made that the whole ‘nation of immigrants’ story and the racial identity of whiteness were constructed to function as an erratz national ethnicity, with incredible success, etc, etc).

But anyway, if we accept that the American identity is bound up in its civic religion and the mythologized version of its political history, it’s absolutely the case that there’s several segments of the left who take incredibly joy in tearing said civic religion and national mythology apart and dragging whatever’s left through the mud. I mean, hell, I do! (reminder: any politician whose ever had a statue dedicated to them was probably a monster). And, well, call it a greater awareness of historical crimes and injustice, or the postmodern disdain for idols and systems leaking out through the increasingly college-educated populace, or the liquid acid of modernity dissolving away all unchosen identities, or a Marxist cabal undermining the national spirit to pave the way for the Revolution or whatever you like, but in whichever case, that critical discourse is certainly much more prominent and influential among left and liberal media and politics types that is was in decades past.

And, okay, so I finished Martyn Rady’s The Hapsburgs a few days ago. And I mentioned as I was reading it that the chapters on the 19th and 20th centuries reminded me quite a bit of courses I’d taken in school on the late Ottoman Empire and Soviet Union. Because all three are multi/non-national states (Empires, in Deveraux’s terminology, though that’s varying degrees of questionable for each, I think. Moreso for the Hapsburgs than the rest) who outlasted their own ideological legitimacy. And in all three cases it just, well, it didn’t not matter, but even as all the ceremonies got more absurd and farcical  and the politics more consumed by inertia punctuated with crises, things kept limping along just fine for decades. Even in the face of intense crisis, dissolution wasn’t inevitable. (The Ottomans are a less central example here, admittedly, precisely because of the late attempt to recenter the empire on Turkish nationalism. But even then, more Arab soldiers fought for the Sultan-Caliph than ever did for the Hashemites, and most prewar Arab nationalism was either purely cultural or imagined the Empire reformed into a binational federation, not dissolved).

But as Rady says in the book – losing WW1 crippled Germany, it dissolved Austria-Hungary. And in all three cases, as soon as they were gone, the idea of bringing them back instantly became at least a bit absurd.

And okay, to now pivot to talking about where I actually live but about whose politics I (shamefully) know significantly less than America’s. I mean, maybe it’s because most of my history education from public school was given by either pinko commies or liberals still high off ‘90s one-world universalism, or maybe it’s just a matter of social class, but I really can’t remember ever having taken the whole wannabe civic religion of Canada seriously (the only even serious attempt at sacredness I recall was for Remembrance Day). Even today, the main things I remember about our Founding Father is that he was an alcoholic who lost power in a railroad corruption scandal.

Really, in all my experience the only unifying threads of national/particular Canadian identity are a flag, a healthcare system, those Canadian Heritage Minute propaganda ads, a bill of rights from the ‘60s, and an overpowering sense of polite smugness towards the States.

And that last one (or, at least, the generally rose-colored ‘Canada is the good one’ view of history) is taking something of a beating, on account of all the mass graves really rubbing the public’s noses in the whole genocide thing. At least among big segments of the intellectual and activist classes, most of the symbols of Canadian nationhood are necessarily becoming illegitimate as Canada is, in fact, a project of genocidal settle colonialism.

But it really is just purely symbolic. Most of the municipalities who cancelled their Canada Day celebrations are going to elect Liberal MPs and help give our Natural Governing Party its majority in the next election, no one of any significance has actually challenged the authority of the civil service or the courts. And, frankly, most of the people who are loudly skeptical of all the symbols of the nations are also the ones whose political projects most heavily rely on an efficient and powerful state bureaucracy to carry out.

(This is leaving aside Quebec, which very much does have a live national identity insofar as the vigorous protection of national symbols is what wins provincial elections. If I felt like doing research and/or reaching more there’s probably something there on how pro-independence sentiment has largely simmered down at a pace with the decline of attempts to impose a national Canadian identity).

I mean, Canada does have rather more of a base for a ‘national’ population core than the US (especially if you’re generous and count the people who mark French on the census as a core population as well). At the same time, no one really expects this to continue to be the case – even back in Junior High, I remember one of the hand outs we got explaining that due to declining fertility most or all future population growth would come from immigration (I remember being confused when my mother was weirdly uncomfortable with the idea when it came up). I suppose our government gets credit for managing public opinion such that anti-immigration backlash hasn’t taken over the political conversation. Which you’d think would be a low bar but, well.

But anyway, to try and begin wrapping this rambling mess up – it does rather feel like Rady’s portrayal of the late Hapsburg empire might have a few passing similarities to the future of Canada. A multinational state whose constitution and political system and built on foundations and legitimized by history that no one actually believes in anymore, or at least no more than they have to pretend to to justify the positions they hold, but persisting because it’s convenient and it’s there and any alternatives are really only going to seem practical after a complete economic collapse or apocalyptic war. (Though our civil service is a Josephist’s dream by comparison, really.)

Or maybe I’m premature, and the dominant culture will just be incredibly effective at assimilating immigrants into that civic identity. Anecdotally, the only people I know who are at all enthusiastic about Canada as an idea are first generation immigrants. I could certainly just be projecting, really – I’ve never really been able to get all that invested in the nation-state as an idea of more moral power than ‘a convenient administrative division of humanity’, and certainly liberating ourselves form the need to defend the past would certainly rectifying certain injustices easier.  

Or maybe I’m just being incredibly optimistic. Half the economy’s resource extraction and the other half’s real estate, so decent odds the entire place just literally goes up in flames over the next few decades. BC’s already well on its way.

[cozycryptidcorner]

The Mad Prince, Chapter 9

Always handle yourself with grace and poise, the matchmaker rep always told you, and you remember that exact quote as your mouth hits the floor. You are so very close to shouting ” what,” but by some deity’s grace, you manage to say it in a tone that doesn’t suggest you’re going to march back down and kill the prince with your bare hands.

“Did no one tell you?” The vice marshal clicks his tongue in such transparently false sympathy.

“Of-” you try to push down the bristles, taking in a deeper breath, “of course I’ve been told! I’m just wondering what kind of insignificant dick you’re compensating for with that piss poor attitude you’ve had since I arrived.” There it is, a few weeks’ worth of stress and anger bubbling over the surface. You knew that this would happen eventually, but you suppose you weren’t fully prepared to be tipped over the edge so goddamn early.

Judging by the vice-marshal’s expression, though, he’s clearly not used to being spoken to in that manner, because his entire face goes dark, and his hand raises ever so slightly as though preparing to strike you. “The human body is so much weaker than a drow’s, so much easier to break. What makes you think that you’ll survive one rotation?”

Your guard must have done something because you don’t think the vice-marshal would wince back at your death glare, especially since your prior reputation has been carefully scrubbed clean from the records. With a firm, calm hand, on your shoulder, Elias steers you away almost roughly, apologizing all the while for the sudden departure. You can feel through his pulse that he’s nervous. Or maybe annoyed. You don’t know enough about him to put a specific read yet. Quickly, he has you in the other lift, scanning his pass for permission to enter the servant’s quarters.

“You’re scheming.” Elias surprises you by speaking first after a few moments of stony silence.

Do you blame me? you don’t say. If only you were sure he was just making a casual remark, and not accusing you of being a potential downfall to the royal family. Maybe you shouldn’t sell yourself that high, though.

“I imagine that it must be very different than what you are used to.” Elias responds, glancing in your direction for just a brief moment.

“So very different, yeah.” Your teeth are tightly gritted together, because that’s a severe understatement.

After another moment of awkward quiet. “We both know there is going to be a confrontation,” Elias says, staring straight ahead, “but all I request is that you go easy on him. He… means well.”

“Let’s have a fun little exercise of the imagination,” you say, instead of agreeing, “and let’s say that you get matched with….” You try to get your brain to actually think of some high-level officer, “let’s also say you get matched with one of the few soldiers who are trained in specifically killing driders. We call them the suicide squads, because… um, you get the idea.”

“I don’t think-”

“Let me finish,” you almost snap. “Let’s say this one you get matched with is alright when it comes to you for the most part, but there’s this underlying threat that all of her peers are leaning over you, pressuring her to send your body back over the line in pieces. Which doesn’t even take into account how I’m sure the Royal family is eager to have you feed them information, which you might be able to ignore so long as they don’t have anything to hold over your head, like family, or friends, or-” a criminal background “like… whatever. Now on top of all that, your match’s family is really getting under your skin, as in they want you dead, so what now? You’re stranded in enemy territory, and you’re not sure if you can just say ‘I want to go home’ because something about her makes you wonder if she’s three slights away from strangling you with her bare hands.”

Elias is silent for a moment, then, “I don’t think the prince would-”

” Then you find out that she was serious with someone before who mysteriously died an unknown amount of time ago.”

“I can answer that for you,” Elias says wearily, “two years ago. Her name was Iole.”

“And how did she die?” You ask, trying to tamper down the anger. It doesn’t work, there’s a fuzzy heat fizzling in your chest, like static.

“Her heart gave out,” he says, glancing self-consciously over to the guard, who hasn’t even glanced in your direction.

“Spontaneously?” Because that’s… so suspicious.

“It’s still under official investigation, one that I am not fully privy to.” Elias lets out a muted sigh, tugging at the ends of his sleeves. “However, there are rumors.”

“How interesting,” you spit out through gritted teeth, “why wasn’t I told?”

“I don’t- that is, I didn’t realize that you were not.”

A lie. One that you can sense even through all that careful dignitary training. You let the elevator continue on for a few more tense, quiet moments before saying, “where’s the ship.”

“Where’s what ship? The official matchmaker ship you arrived on?”

“Yes, clearly,” you’re impatient and tense, there’s a weird, pinching feeling in your stomach, “is it in the original place where it was parked? Or did you move it somewhere else?”

He’s silently debating, you can tell, about the benefits versus the risks of telling you. Or even if he’d be able to get away with a lie, you can see it in his eyes. To his credit, he probably realizes that anything besides the truth will probably come to bite him later (namely you. You would bite him later if he lies), so he lets out a sigh that’s probably meant to carefully hide his frustration. “The ship you arrived in is in the same docking bay, though it has not been refueled or maintained at all.”

The doors open with a ping, and you notice a few drow servants lingering in the hallways, so you bite the question down sullenly, crossing your arms over your chest as you walk. Every step towards the prince’s wing is spent deciding how you’re going to speak to him about this. Give him the benefit of the doubt? Go in with all guns blazing? What would he even say, you wonder, once you lay the cards on the table? Would he try to be reasonable? Would he completely lose it and finally kill you? A shiver runs down your spine at the idea of him looking at you the way he stared at those servants. Cold. Bitter. Without any of the timid tenderness he’s shown.

You’re here.

“Why don’t you let me step in first, at least to prepare him for the situation?” Elias offers, looking like he is well aware of the careful calculations that must be done to walk on all those eggshells.

“Um… no, I’m good,” you say, opening the door with a bit more attitude than you meant to. You hear Elias murmur something to the guard as you enter, though only he follows. Aksanos is where you expected him to be, at his desk, working over a large datapad, of which he clears the contents of as you walk over, setting your hands flat on either side of his workspace.

“Did your doctor’s appointment go well?” He asks, his brow furrowing at your aggression.

“Oh, it went swimmingly, thanks for asking.” Your brain is racing, and you’re trying to figure out if you’d like Elias here or absent, or if it would even make any difference. “Say, babe, I think it’s about time we have us a little super serious conversation that we’ve both been putting off.”

He looks over your shoulder at Elias, who probably is emitting a less than thrilled expression at the moment. Then he glances back at you, with a face that’s difficult for you to gauge the emotions portrayed, but he nods, giving Elias a gesture of dismissal. Once the two of you are alone, the door shut and locked firmly against anyone who might interlope, he folds his hands over each other and says, “what is this about, then?”

” Well,” you say, feeling a sense of hysteria bubbling in the back of your throat, “I was being escorted back from my doctor’s appointment- she’s absolutely lovely, by the way, especially with letting me know ahead of time that your mom, who, if you remember, I have yet to meet, wants the very invasive genetic compatibility test done whether I’m willing to consent or not- when I had a little run-in with the vice-marshal.”

He looks like he’s ready to say something, so you raise your hand to let him know that he doesn’t get a turn to talk until you’ve finished your piece.

“So I had such a fun little conversation with him. Turns out, can you even believe it, that you apparently had um, a fiance before I came into the picture? And she died under mysterious circumstances?” You cross your arms tightly around your chest, though you don’t let up on the Best Customer Service Voice, because grossly pretending like everything’s okay is the only thing that’s keeping you from completely losing your shit.

Again, he opens his mouth, his eyes narrowing slightly, but you still have more on your plate to say to him.

“The vice-marshal,” he finally says, “is not one to listen to when it comes to rumors.” It takes you a hot minute to realize that he’s angry because he’s not showing the same kind of dictatorial rage that you’ve witnessed with anyone else. His voice is hard, stony, but not with the same cold detachment he uses with his servants… When he opens his mouth to speak, his fangs seem to be a tad more protruding than when he is otherwise relaxed.

You used to think that the moment he gets enraged would be the moment it’s game over for you, so even though you’re still fucking over this, you try to turn the dial a bit. “So it’s not true, then? You weren’t about to marry someone else before she was killed?”

He’s silent a moment before relenting. “No, it is true. Iole and I… it was… it was a radical union, certainly, because of her lowblood status, but…” he takes a deep breath, “yes. I was going to marry her.”

“Low-blood status,” you need him to clarify.

There is a long, drawn-out moment of hesitation, and then he says, “she was a drow.”

“And this is just information that you decided wasn’t pertinent for me to know? Do you just casually put the people you know in mortal danger?” He does, though, you’ve forgotten who you’ve been talking to. Blinded by the gentle gestures and sweet conversation, the stories of his sadistic nature slowly melted away until your guard was so low someone would have to dig to set off any warning bells. Of course, you knew you were walking into danger when you finally accepted the calling, but you didn’t realize that there’s someone out there that would go far enough to try assassination.

“I informed the Starward Matchmakers™ of the threat, and I thought they would pass it on to you,” he says, too steadily for your liking. As if that’s a valid excuse.

“That’s convenient for you.”

“I’m sorry that retelling the story of how I found the love of my life, dead, isn’t something I enjoy speaking of often.” His voice finally raises, and you feel a spike of adrenaline burst through your system.

“But you didn’t even think that this might be information that I would need to know, even after someone tried to fucking kill me?”

“I did not think it would go this far,” he snarls, “but who is to say that the assassination attempt falls under our jurisdiction? You have plenty of your own enemies, from what I understand of your own conveniently unmentioned past.”

You’re so angry you’re shaking, is he seriously going to bring up your work as a valid excuse for his shitty behavior? But still, even in your burning rage, you don’t want to give him any more than you have to. “I’ve never put anyone not willing in the direct line of fire, and that includes knowing the risks involved.”

He stands to his full height, and you find yourself taking a step back instinctually, eyes quickly roaming the immediate area for any weapons that you might be able to use against him. As soon as your eyes fall onto a pen on his desk, then back at him, his entire demeanor changes, and he settles back down, placing his head in his hands. It takes you a minute of the ensuing silence to realize that you’re still trembling, both with adrenaline and anger. But you’re also bristled, tense, fully prepared to fight for your life. You don’t move the step back closer, because something inside you says he might still try to wring your delicately human neck.

“I loved her,” he says, finally. “I really… I really, truly did. I thought that our union would work for the benefit of all castes.”

You stay decidedly silent.

“And I didn’t think it would end that way.”

You don’t want to hear this, you don’t want to see him speak so forlornly about a lover from the past, either. You don’t care, though, you don’t, and you’re very quick to squish that thought back down to a place you never intend on revisiting. There’s a soft thrumming in the back of your head again, there’s nothing more you’d like to do than to lay down.

“I told my mother I would marry again, but on my own terms.” He sets his hands back down on the desk, looking up at you with those glassy, emotionless eyes. “The best possible match, scientifically proven, the universe’s union, etcetera, you know the advertisement they put out.”

You swallow thickly.

“And the deal was that if I matched with no one, then that was it. I could do as I please, and she would leave me be. I made the deal because I was so, so certain that Iole was my soulmate. Some people don’t get matched, you know. People whose soulmates just don’t have the money to put into the program, or people whose soulmates are dead. I thought I would be the latter. I thought this would buy me more time. And it did, at first. No one in the database matched with me… until you.”

Until you drunkenly stumbled out of a bar with someone, neon lights glittering your vision, bitter, angry, sullen, and reckless. You take a deep, steadying breath, holding your hand out to stop him from saying whatever it is that he plans on saying next. “Losing someone close to you…” your chest tightens, but you continue, “it fucking sucks. I get it, I really do, but that doesn’t give you a pass from any of the consequences at hand.” So I know whether or not to cut my losses and run.

He doesn’t react negatively, only… like he’s defeated. His torso slumps forward, resting his chin on one of his hands, staring blankly at the empty screen on the desk. “And… and what of your past relationships? Do I get to learn about the romances of a rogue pilot?”

Again, there’s a spike of anger churning in your blood. “Mindless, random hookups don’t hold a goddamn candle to a person you plan on marrying and you know it.”

“Do I?” He asks, getting angry again, but doesn’t try threatening you with his size. Instead, he stays carefully still, his hands folded on the desk. “How many people have you ever slept with? Do you even know the number?”

“Does it even matter? Do my past relationships somehow make me less of a person?”

He makes a face, then, and you can see, yes, he does think that way.

You bristle immediately, arms crossing over your chest again, and you take in a deep, shaking breath. The judgment is what gets to you, just how he thinks he can categorize you in some kind of box. “I want to go home.”

Panic, at least, you think the way he tenses is because of some kind of panic. You hope it’s panic. His voice, at least, is a bit tighter and more strained than before. “That might not be the best step to take at this moment.”

“I think that it’s the best step for me to take actually, because I really don’t like it here.” And I’m not sure if I like you, either.

After a moment of staring at you, probably gauging just how serious that statement is, he rubs his jaw, looking back down to the desk. There’s a pinch of fear in your system because he could just… keep you here. You have no power, and he knows this, so in the few moments of deathly silence, you feel him thinking about it. Finally, he says, “let’s… let’s not be so hasty with such decisions.”

“Hasty? What about this is being hasty?” The muscles in your arm tighten in the expectation of a physical fight. “I’ve been here for a while, and we aren’t getting along, so maybe it’s time for us to part ways.”

“That is the exact definition of hasty, you’ve only been here for what, a few weeks? How long have you managed to hold onto a single romantic relationship for?”

You want to stomp your foot back down on the ground. “That has absolutely nothing to do with me wanting to leave.”

“I think it does.” Aksanos taps his fingers on the desk. “Have you ever been in a committed relationship?”

Thinking about your committed business relationships, you nod, angrily.

“Who?” He asks, and at your weak shrug, he lets out a sigh. Both of you are completely silent, staring at each other, daring the other to break the quiet first. Then, after a few moments, he lets out another huff of breath and leans back. “I’ll have Elias send you a full report on your android assistant directly.”

“I want to leave.”

“I know.” He finally looks you in the eye again. “May I convince you to at least wait until your assistant is back online?”

“Do I even have a choice?” You ask sullenly, a direct challenge to his final authority.

“You do,” he says, voice clearly strained.

You pause, then, almost too scared to test it out. Still, you mull the idea over, cutting your losses, making a run for it. Sure, the space marines will be undoubtedly pissed, but you’ve had to lay low before. It’s not anything new. Maybe you’d even be able to open a business in this territory, because surely no one would dare raise a finger on the keias’ soulmate, even if the two of you can’t fucking stand each other. Slowly, you uncross your arms and put them on your hips, trying to unlock your jaw from the straining grit you’ve put in for the argument.

Through your quiet contemplation, there’s a flicker of… tightness? Stress? On his face, and you think it might because he’s afraid that you’re going to fuck right off into the wild unknown and never speak to him again. You’d be lying if you said that that specific scenario didn’t appeal to you in the slightest, because it does. But there’s something else missing from that vision, you don’t know what, so you let out an angry, frustrated breath. “I’ll think it over.”

He relaxes slightly, but you aren’t going to let him think of this as a victory.

“This isn’t a yes or a no, this is an I’ll think about it.” You need a goddamn nap. “Risking my life for the mythical perfect love isn’t fucking worth it, especially if I’m not being respected.”

“Respected? How have you not been respected? You’ve been honored as one of us since you stepped foot off the ship.”

“Not being forthright about information is basically lying!” You throw your hands up in frustration. “You don’t even understand what I’m saying! You’re being so fucking dismissive, and I want to leave because I don’t feel safe, even with all the security modifications you’ve made.”

“The servants are to give you whatever-”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” You’re shaking again, sure your face is bright red in anger.

He’s quiet once more, staring blankly at the wall behind you. “Would… would you like to invite someone you trust to stay with you, in the absence of your assistant?”

Who would you even invite, really? Who do you trust enough to keep their heads low and follow your every direction with no ulterior motives? Well, besides yourself? Your ship, maybe. But definitely not anyone you know. “Have the Starward Matchmakers™ been informed of their personnel malfunction?”

“Not… specifically, no.”

You almost facepalm, but that’s fair, you guess. “It would look remarkably suspicious if I invited someone over without communicating with the main hub first?”

“Does it even matter?” He asks, almost impatiently.

He still doesn’t know. And you plan on keeping it that way. So, carefully, you think about a way you can phrase an answer without planting any suspicion. “I’m just saying, sending for someone when the android assistant is offline with no specific communications with her manufacturers is going to look extremely suspicious. I guess it won’t affect you in any way, so I guess you wouldn’t care.” It would look bad for you, though.

If he had irises t, you’re certain that the prince would be rolling them now. “Fine. I’ll have Elias get in contact with the Starward Matchmakers™ headquarters. Are you certain that there is no one you would like to fetch while they work out what happened?”

The Starward Matchmakers™ are just going to send another one of their android assistants. Do you really want a line going straight to the CEOs who have far too many stakes in this working out than otherwise? Actually, the idea is rather appealing. Maybe if you had someone from a secondary faction, someone outside of the Starward Matchmakers™, but still backed by enough authority to walk right over a faceless but powerful corporation. Best case scenario, the two will just but heads and get nothing done, which leaves you to figure out how best to proceed.

“I guess,” you say, trying to sound noncommittal, “if she wants to come, then I’d like her to be here.”

“Who?” You see he’s already prepping something on his keyboard.

“Clementine Montague.”

[justablogofaweeb]

Off topic subject/ I think I know when Jotaro Kujo’s Birth date is!

 Ok so most of us know that Jotaro Kujo was born in either January 21st or February18th in the 1970′s. So I decided to look and see which month had the most children. That led me nowhere since they both had a 2.14% result. Then I got to thinking, “Economy usually plays a part in having a family. Lets look at that.” So I looked up  `1970 January Japanese Economy History’ and   ‘1970 February Japanese Economy History’ so now I will paste what I found On wikipedia!  (1970 January Japanese Economy History)  *from Wikipeada*   The Japanese economic miracle is known as Japan's record period of economic growth between the post-World War II era to the end of the Cold War. During the economic boom, Japan rapidly became the world's second largest economy (after the United States). By the 1990s, Japan's demographics began stagnating and the workforce was no longer expanding as it did in the previous decades, despite per-worker productivity remaining high. ^^^^^^So this sounds like things went from good to bad real quick. Not really a good time to have a child. But still possible.^^^^^ (1970 February Japanese Economy History)  *From wikipeida*  Throughout the 1970s, Japan had the world's third largest gross national product (GNP)—just behind the United States and Soviet Union—and ranked first among major industrial nations in 1990 in per capita GNP at US$23,801, up sharply from US$9,068 in 1980. After a mild economic slump in the mid-1980s, Japan's economy began a period of expansion in 1986 that continued until it again entered a recessionary period in 1992. Economic growth averaging 5% between 1987 and 1989 revived industries, such as steel and construction, which had been relatively dormant in the mid-1980s, and brought record salaries and employment. In 1992, however, Japan's real GNP growth slowed to 1.7%. Even industries such as automobiles and electronics that had experienced phenomenal growth in the 1980s entered a recessionary period in 1992. The domestic market for Japanese automobiles shrank at the same time that Japan's share of the United States' market declined. Foreign and domestic demand for Japanese electronics also declined, and Japan seemed on the way to losing its leadership in the world semiconductor market to the United States, Korea and Taiwan.Unlike the economic booms of the 1960s and 1970s, when increasing exports played the key role in economic expansion, domestic demand propelled the Japanese economy in the late 1980s. This development involved fundamental economic restructuring, moving from dependence on exports to reliance on domestic demand. The boom that started in 1986 was generated by the decisions of companies to increase private plant and equipment spending and of consumers to go on a buying spree. Japan's imports grew at a faster rate than exports. Japanese post-war technological research was carried out for the sake of economic growth rather than military development. The growth in high-technology industries in the 1980s resulted from heightened domestic demand for high-technology products such as electronics, and for higher living, housing, and environmental standards; better medical care and more welfare; expanded leisure-time facilities; and improved ways to accommodate a rapidly aging society.[72]During the 1980s, the Japanese economy shifted its emphasis from primary and secondary activities (notably agriculture, manufacturing, and mining) to processing, with telecommunications and computers becoming increasingly vital. Information became an important resource and product, central to wealth and power. The rise of an information-based economy was led by major research in highly sophisticated technology, such as advanced computers. The selling and use of information became very beneficial to the economy. Tokyo became a major financial center, home to some of the world's major banks, financial firms, insurance companies, and the world's largest stock exchange, the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange. Even here, however, the recession took its toll. In 1992, the Nikkei 225 stock average began the year at 23,000 points, but fell to 14,000 points in mid-August before leveling off at 17,000 by the end of the year.Since the end of the Cold War[edit]1989 Economic Bubble[edit]Further information: Japanese asset price bubbleIn the decades following World War II, Japan implemented stringent tariffs and policies to encourage the people to save their income. With more money in banks, loans and credit became easier to obtain, and with Japan running large trade surpluses, the yen appreciated against foreign currencies. This allowed local companies to invest in capital resources more easily than their overseas competitors, which reduced the price of Japanese-made goods and widened the trade surplus further. And, with the yen appreciating, financial assets became lucrative.With so much money readily available for investment, speculation was inevitable, particularly in the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the real estate market. The Nikkei stock index hit its all-time high on 29 December 1989 when it reached an intra-day high of 38,957.44 before closing at 38,915.87. The rates for housing, stocks, and bonds rose so much that at one point the government issued 100-year bonds. Additionally, banks granted increasingly risky loans.At the height of the bubble, real estate was extremely over-valued. Prices were highest in Tokyo's Ginza district in 1989, with choice properties fetching over US$1.5 million per square meter ($139,000 per square foot). Prices were only slightly less in other areas of Tokyo. By 2004, prime "A" property in Tokyo's financial districts had slumped and Tokyo's residential homes were a fraction of their peak, but still managed to be listed as the most expensive real estate in the world. Trillions were wiped out with the combined collapse of the Tokyo stock and real estate markets.With Japan's economy driven by its high rates of reinvestment, this crash hit particularly hard. Investments were increasingly directed out of the country, and Japanese manufacturing firms lost some degree of their technological edge. As Japanese products became less competitive overseas, some people argue that the low consumption rate began to bear on the economy, causing a deflationary spiral.The easily obtainable credit that had helped create and engorge the real-estate bubble continued to be a problem for several years to come, and as late as 1997, banks were still making loans that had a low guarantee of being repaid. Loan Officers and Investment staff had a hard time finding anything to invest in that would return a profit. Meanwhile, the extremely low interest rate offered for deposits, such as 0.1%, meant that ordinary Japanese savers were just as inclined to put their money under their beds as they were to put it in savings accounts. Correcting the credit problem became even more difficult as the government began to subsidize failing banks and businesses, creating many so-called "zombie businesses". Eventually a carry trade developed in which money was borrowed from Japan, invested for returns elsewhere and then the Japanese were paid back, with a nice profit for the trader.The time after the bubble's collapse (崩壊, hōkai), which occurred gradually rather than catastrophically, is known as the "lost decade or end of the 20th century" (失われた10年, ushinawareta jūnen) in Japan. The Nikkei 225 stock index eventually bottomed out at 7603.76 in April 2003, moved upward to a new peak of 18,138 in June 2007, before resuming a downward trend. The downward movement in the Nikkei is likely due to global as well as national economic problems.  ^^^This is the worst time to have a kid.^^^^^  And with this info, I’ve come to a conclusion *or rather an assumption* That Jotaro Kujo’s Birth date is January 21st 1970.  Why you ask? Because The Japanese economic miracle. It states that it is “ known as Japan's record period of economic growth between the post-World War II era to the end of the Cold War.” And I may not know a lot about solders but I do have a grandpa that was one and he told me that after the war was when most babies were born. So that’s one fact/assumption. the other is when the artical states “During the economic boom, Japan rapidly became the world's second largest economy (after the United States). By the 1990s, Japan's demographics began stagnating and the workforce was no longer expanding as it did in the previous decades, despite per-worker productivity remaining high.”  what I take from that is people who are good at their work or travel for their work get paid more *like Jotaro’s dad* So Holly would be able to take care of her new born baby while her husband is away earning the cash. But I could be talking out my ass on this.  All this is just an assumption. A guess. A theory. make of it what you will.  Author chan OUT!   

[copperbadge]

So if this too close to Sam advises, feel free to ignore, you just strike me as competent. I've been living in poverty my whole life. I just finished graduate school in a pretty lucrative health field, and once I'm licensed, I'm going to be making more in a month than I have in a year. Like a lot of poor people, I don't have a lot of experience saving or managing money at all. Where can I start to learn this stuff so I don't accidentally, like, buy a yacht or something? Do you have any tips?

Okay we’ll get into this but before we do, if you ever do accidentally buy a yacht, please document that story for tumblr, accidentally buying a yacht sounds amazing. :D

So here’s the thing: I am not intimately acquainted with wealth management because I am also quite poor, but I do study the wealthy, and I manage my own money, so I have a few pro tips. 

The first is: there are people whose job it is to help you with this. Financial advisors will often even meet with you for free to give preliminary advice. Your bank probably offers financial advisors, your retirement administrator definitely does, or you can find an independent one (here’s a good guide to how to do that, including what kinds you can speak to). Tell them you’re about to have a significant wealth increase and you want to make sure that you’re planning for your future, but you’d also like to be able to spend some disposable income now. Because if you are going to be significantly wealthy soon, Anon, you should enjoy that shit while you’re young. 

The most common advice around sudden wealth is twofold: 

One, pay down/pay off any debt you have. Why let that loom over you? Get your credit balances to zero, pay off your student loans. I’m sure you know as someone coming from poverty that debt is often unavoidable, but if it can be avoided, it should. You want a credit history, so if you don’t have a credit card AT ALL now is the time to get one, put a small charge on it monthly, and pay it off monthly, but if you have debt of any kind, pay that shit off. 

Two, throw a ton of money into your retirement savings. Especially if your company matches it, pay heavily into retirement. It’s tax-free for you now, and if you have a financial emergency later, you can lean on your retirement account to get you through it. Give yourself a healthy income to live on, but be sure you’re putting plenty into retirement, and know where that money is going. Get your financial advisor to explain your retirement investment options, or learn them yourself (as I did) and diversify your retirement portfolio so that the money is in lots of different kinds of investments. 

Once you’ve done these things, you can start getting more complicated with your money; looking into investing, various forms of saving, philanthropy, the whole nine yards. But that can also wait -- you don’t have to become financially super-literate overnight. Pay off your debt, start saving, and then look around and see where you’re at. 

My personal advice, and this is subjective, is not to worry too much about “growing” your wealth. A lot of people are like “Well I have this pot of money, how do I turn it into a MUCH BIGGER pot of money?” and while that’s an option, it can be dangerous, especially when you don’t yet have a good cushion to fall back on. There are a lot of shady people out there who want to offer you unbelievable investments, amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and then take your money and run. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You have time. You don’t need to be a millionaire overnight. Once I started having a tiny drip of disposable income, I started putting it into an account with Betterment, which offers a respectable but not particularly lucrative 2% return on investments; I also have money in a savings account with a credit union which offers a 6% return, so look into your local credit unions, who not only often give great returns on savings but also reinvest your money in your community. 

And if you’re interested in being financially literate, circle back to your financial advisor, or talk to your bank, and ask them what you can do to be more proactive in managing your wealth. There are classes you can take, or you can spend a month elbows-deep in investopedia, like I did, and there are a myriad of other options as well. 

If you’re interested in being philanthropic, talk to your advisor about tax breaks for philanthropy; that might be down the road for you a bit, but there are family foundations you can set up or donor advised funds that you can invest in which allow you to give within your comfort level of anonymity. There are also “socially responsible” investment funds out there (I invest in one through my retirement account) that are concerned with not supporting fossil fuels, industries with known ties to slave labor, ecologically damaging corporations, etc. There are even Halal, Kosher, and other faith-based investment funds that cater to people who don’t want to put their money into investments that would violate their religious beliefs. 

And of course, as I always advocate: having been poor, hold onto that feeling. Don’t let fear run you, but remember what it was like to be cash-insecure, and share your good fortune generously and graciously. Give charitably without an expectation of return, and give in ways that both fill an immediate need and long-term allow people to come up out of poverty themselves. A high tide ought to raise every ship. 

Anyway, Anon, congratulations and good luck! You can do this, and you’re already being smart about it! 

[wordywarriorwrites]

Chapter 15: Imperfect Union

Masterlist: The Boss of Brooklyn  A03 Story Link Author: @wordywarriorwrites Summary: When it comes to being The Boss, James Buchanan “JB” Barnes rules with an iron fist. For him, there’s no room for sentiment, and certainly no time for distraction, even if it is in the form of an old flame. Steve Rogers had bowed out of the life a long time ago, but a twist of fate brings him right back into the fold, and face-to-face with a man he once loved. When a game of cat and mouse turns into a matter of life and death, both will be forced to decide whether they’ll be loyal to the business, or faithful to each other. A/N: Bucky Barnes Mob Boss AU. Stucky. For: @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan Star’s Multi-Fandom Follower Celebration with the prompt, “Why did you do it?” & @sherrybaby14 Sherry’s Fall Into You Challenge with the prompt, “Show me. Prove that you can handle me.” Warnings: Language, violence, drug use, alcohol, smoking, explicit sexual content, illegal activities. *Re-blogs are welcome. Plagiarism isn’t. *

Miles of pink sand beaches, palm trees, and the stunning blue-green waters of the Atlantic. Opulent accommodations, accompanied by lavish surroundings, and meticulous Five Diamond service.  

There was a lot they needed to accomplish, but they’d all put the business on the back burner because the meet on the South Shore was about more than just settling accounts and signing bottom lines; it was also about mending fences, giving Nick Fury a proper sendoff, and ensuring the torch was passed into safe, capable hands.  

Dinner had been set up in one of the resort’s waterfront event rooms, and it would’ve been a stilted affair had everyone not partaken in the generous platters of fresh seafood and imbibed nearly a dozen bottles of Mitcher’s Bourbon Whiskey and Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc.

Wanda, Natasha, and Carol got tipsy, giggled, and gabbed like long-lost pals. Fury, Scott, and Rhodey definitely got drunk, and they somehow persuaded Thor, Clint, and Tony, who were all plastered, to join them for a game of high-stakes poker. To an outsider, it looked like they were a group of friends just blowing off some steam, but in actuality, they were all trying to distract themselves and find their bearings.

Bucky maintained his composure throughout the evening and Steve was just as civil. Though nobody dared to point out the elephant in the room, they were all very well aware that the two of them were not exactly copacetic, and needed to be given a wide berth. Steve chose to occupy himself by making the rounds and chit-chatting. Bucky, on the other hand, opted to hide out on the balcony, and he’d just decided to call it a night when Natasha stepped outside and joined him.

She handed him a fresh drink and gently nudged his shoulder, “You okay?”

Bucky took a sip and shrugged, “Why do you ask?”

“Because you seem worried. And you’ve been eye-balling Steve for the past two hours.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” he countered. “And I’m watching everyone.”

“How about you cut the bullshit and tell me what’s really bothering you?”  

He shook his head, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” she shot back.

Bucky turned away from the room and stared out at the view, but the sounds and sights of the waves brought him no comfort this time. If anything, his mind churned even harder than the waters of the ocean, and he wasn’t sure how to explain what he was thinking, let alone how he was feeling.

Steve had only returned to Brooklyn to do a job. He’d been set up, betrayed, and nearly killed, but still, he stayed, and he’d remained loyal. He’d brought in the traitors; handed over Fury’s business and crew; gave the Families more than enough intel to set them up for several decades to come. He’d struggled and fought tooth-and-nail for months to put things right and make a clean break.

Bucky could’ve pulled rank, put his foot down, and given Steve’s seat to Natasha, but he didn’t. He knew being put in charge of the West Indies wasn’t what Steve wanted, but instead of giving him his well-earned freedom, Bucky had taken it away, and he didn’t do it because it was just good business, or because he wanted to make the transition more palatable.

He did it because he wanted Steve to stay, and it was easier and less messy to force his hand than to ask him to stick around. He wanted him to stay because whether Steve liked it or not, this was where he was meant to be, and this was what he’d been groomed to do since before he could walk.

Bucky wanted Steve to stay, because even with all the enmity between them, even after everything they’d done to each other, there was still nobody else in the world he trusted more than him.

He wanted him to stay because he’d already let Steve go once, and he’d regretted it. He wanted him to stay because despite what Steve had told him, it had meant something, and Bucky hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since the moment he’d fled Jamaica.

He wanted him to stay because what Maria said before Natasha put her down got under his fucking skin. He wanted him to stay, because no other man had ever fit so well in his life, or would ever look so right in his bed, and Bucky just couldn’t let it go…

But he couldn’t admit to any of it. Bucky couldn’t say any of it aloud, because that would make it too real, and he couldn’t allow himself to be honest or vulnerable or display anything that resembled human frailty. They’d reasserted control, but their grasp over both Brooklyn and their new real estate was still tenuous, and he needed to keep his authority, dignity, and backbone intact.  

“Do you love him?”

He snorted, “Love is one vice I can’t afford to indulge in.”

Natasha frowned, “That’s not an answer.”

“Well, that’s the answer you’ve been given,” Bucky retorted before he polished off his drink. “And on that note, I’m going to bed.”

On his way out, Bucky politely bid everyone goodnight, and then made his way to the elevator. It arrived promptly, and after he stepped inside, he selected the top floor. The doors had nearly closed, but someone shot out a hand and halted them. When Scott’s face appeared, Bucky stepped aside to make room for him, along with Steve and Rhodey, who followed quickly behind.

“I told you that you shouldn’t have dealt him in,” Rhodey groused.  

“A Royal fuckin’ Flush on the first hand,” Scott groaned in defeat. “How’s that even possible?”

Steve grinned and clapped them both on the back, “You can pay up in the morning.”

The three of them busted each other’s balls for several floors, and because Bucky’s suite was at the top of the high-rise, he got to be a spectator to all their antics. There were also several stops along the way, and one of the passengers kept readjusting his luggage until it fell right on top of his foot. The owner of the baggage didn’t even apologize, and Bucky was about to go off when he realized the person who had scuffed the toe of his Salvatore Ferragamo was too busy gawking at Steve to even realize what had happened.

Slapdash vacation ensemble of flip-flops, board-shorts, and a white t-shirt. A toned body, sharp jaw, and sandy-brown hair. He blushed and looked positively besotted, but all that doe-eyed innocence was counterbalanced with a flash of a sly smirk and the reveal of a tongue ring when he talked.

The elevator signaled it had arrived at the fifteenth floor, which was where Scott and Rhodey disembarked. If they said anything to him before they departed, Bucky didn’t hear it, as soon as it was just him, Steve, and the dude with the bad manners, the haphazard flirtation began.

It was way too much and far too obvious, which meant he wasn’t a pro, and the way he tried to subtly slip Steve his phone number suggested he was just a horny guy looking to get laid. Steve didn’t engage, but he didn’t exactly shut him down hard, either. Though his tone suggested he was very flattered, he was tactful, and even somewhat contrite when he said he wasn’t interested. To his credit, the guy took the rejection like a champ, and didn’t press the issue further.

Bucky knew he had no right whatsoever to be invidious of “my-name-is-Chad-and-my-room-is-1801-if-you-change-your-mind.” But he couldn’t deny that he really wanted to kick the guy’s teeth in, and he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t relieved that Steve didn’t change his mind decide to go with him.

He couldn’t recollect how many men had propositioned him in the past few months. He couldn’t remember their voices, their faces, or what they said to him. Bucky also couldn’t recall how many times he’d woken up alone, sober and extremely frustrated, because as much as he wanted to fuck Steve out of his system, he hadn’t been able to get it up for anyone else in months.

The automated voice chimed, “Floor Twenty,” and the doors parted. Steve got out and turned right. Bucky was supposed to go left, but he didn’t. Instead, he pursued Steve all the way to the end of the hall and right up to his door. The lock beeped and Steve reached for the handle, but Bucky got to it first. Even though he hadn’t been invited, and knew his presence was entirely unwelcome, he entered Steve’s room, and turned on the light.

As soon as Steve stepped over the threshold and the door clicked shut, Bucky turned around, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and slanted his mouth down hard over his.

None-too-gentle, deep, and possessive – it was a kiss that contradicted his words, shot his best intentions to hell, and betrayed his so-called indifference. It was a lip-lock that produced an instantaneous erection, which proved he wasn’t impotent, but also verified there was only one man he could and always would get hard for.

Bucky growled, pinned Steve up against the door, and bit down hard on his neck. Steve chuckled and Bucky knew – he knew that Steve knew was jealous – and he didn’t care. He just reached for his belt and yanked it open. As soon as the zipper was lowered and his boxers were pushed past his hips, Steve brought his hand to his mouth, and dragged his tongue over his palm and fingers. The hot, spit-slicked grasp around his dick made Bucky’s eyes roll back, and as the pressure increased, so did Steve’s grip.

It was all hot and frantic, but any thoughts of trying to reciprocate flew out of his head the moment Steve started to use both hands. He cupped and fondled with his left and maintained a steady pace with the right. He swiped the pad of his thumb repeatedly over the tip until Bucky was nice and slippery, and the sound of Steve working him over was just as filthy as it was erotic.  

“Is this the real reason I’m here?” he asked with a pointed squeeze. “Is this what you want me for?”

When Bucky didn’t answer right away, Steve jerked him harder, and picked up the pace.

“I gave you everything you wanted, but that wasn’t enough, was it? You want me under your thumb. You want me to follow your orders. You want me to call you Boss, don’t you?”

He moaned against his throat, “I want… Fuck, Steve, I want…”

“What? What do you want?” he demanded lecherously. “You want to fuck me into obedience? Screw me into submission? Is that what you want, JB? Do you just want a hole to stick your prick into, or do you actually want me?”  

“Don’t stop,” Bucky begged as he thrust his hips. “Fuck, whatever you do, don’t stop.”

“Say you want me. Say it and mean it,” Steve breathed into his ear. “Just say it, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I can handle it – that I can handle you – and whatever else that gets thrown at us. Say it, and I just might let you come someplace else other than in your pants.”

Bucky should’ve been a man and owned up to what he felt, but he didn’t. At the same time Steve ripped the orgasm from his body, the word “No!” was also roughly torn out of his throat, and there was absolutely no way to take it back.

He knew he deserved it when Steve released him harshly and shoved him away. Bucky also knew Steve was more than justified in his actions when he spat in his face and wiped his cum-stained hands off on the sleeves of his suit jacket.

“I’m not some fuck-toy for you to play around with,” he snarled as he threw the door open wide.

Bucky pulled up his pants and met Steve’s rage-filled eyes, “I can’t. We can’t and I’m--”

“Just shut the fuck up,” Steve interjected coldly. “And get the fuck out.”

Chapter 16: Exsanguinate 

Everything: @jennmurawski13​ @nerdy-bookworm-1998​

Steve Rogers: @patzammit @hearttoearth​ The Boss of Brooklyn: @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @captain-rogers-beard

[bondsacrosstime-blog]

Remaining Orders Announcement

Hi! My name is Cari, or @Storyofthedoor online, and I will try to explain what is taking so long with the shipping! :D Sorry this announcement is really long, it is quite detailed, I tried to thoroughly explain what has happened with the remaining 60ish orders.

TL;DR version: 60 orders to go! Struggling with getting money transferred from one mod to the other. Still trying though!

Long version:

First I want to apologize that it is taking so long to finish the last orders. When I joined this project, I really wanted to make sure the shipping was fast! I’ve been a part of, and purchased, a lot of zines that take months and months and months …. To the point that I’ve wondered if the zine is actually coming or….? So I didn’t want that to happen to Bonds Across Time. I’m sorry that for some orders, they have had to wait a long long time.

So I’m gonna start at the beginning, and then try to explain the difficulty.

In the beginning there were two mods! They were Nayuun and (x). They worked on Bonds Across Time together throughout the making of the zine. Nayuun organized artists, and (x) organized writers, and the zine came together to the point of being a book ready for preorders. At this time, I was just an artist. My total involvement was to make an art, and occasionally talk to Nayuun. I didn’t attend to anything other than that.

And then the paypal problems started.

Some of you who have been wanting a book since the beginning of January remember the paypal account being frozen with funds in it just a little bit into preorders. There was never a way to get the funds out of paypal. Nayuun tried to talk to paypal several times, and if you’ve ever had a problem with paypal, you can imagine how that went. Their customer service does not particularly deserve applause. At all. There was no resolution, all the preorders were returned to the buyers. Around this time, (x) needed to leave the project. Their work is still in the zine, but they had no other involvement after the initial paypal problems.

This left Nayuun by herself, and this is her first zine. It is most definitely difficult to run a zine, especially as a single mod, and especially if you’ve never done it before.

So I, Story, joined the mod team! C: My duties are getting stuff printed, and shipping out US and further abroad orders. Nayuun will handle Canadian shipping.

I’ve run a few projects, including kickstarters and a tarot deck zine, so I feel comfortable working with printers and doing shipping.

With this new layout of mod tasks, Nayuun and I opened preorders again! This time with payments being directed to Stripe, through the Storenvy shop.

Now begins the second round of financial problems. Remember: Nayuun has not run a zine before, so couldn’t see this coming. I *have* run zines before, but I and my fellow mods have been completely US based while running them. Nayuun and (x) are both Canadian.

Preorders go great through Storenvy with Stripe receiving payment! Honestly thank you for that. C: We are both really grateful that the preorders went well.

Storenvy is set up to receive payment in USD and dish it out to Stripe in CAD. (Because both prior organizers are Canadian this set up makes sense. This right here is where the problem happened. If hindsight was helpful at all, I would use hindsight to make Stripe receive funds in USD.)

No problems so far.

Because I, Story, am handling the printing and most of the shipping, we determine it’d be easiest if I received the payout from Stripe.

Stripe is holding the money as CAD.

My bank accounts are all in USD.

This isn’t really that big of a problem ….? Americans and Canadians transfer money to each other and conduct trade all the time…..?

We deposit the money into Nayuun’s bank, Stripe won’t let anything else happen.

There are plenty of ways to transfer money internationally. Paypal comes to mind, but we’ve just had huge problems with paypal freezing funds. Also they take a percentage instead of a flat fee. So two other methods are more common with large amounts of money. Wire transfers, and money orders. I’ve done both wire transfers and money orders, but only to US and China receivers. I’ve never tried to receive a wire transfer or money order from Canada.

I think a wire transfer is faster than a money order. It only takes a few days. So I tell Nayuun to try it.  I provide bank info for me.

For this first wire transfer attempt, I use my local credit union. I go in person and speak to them, they say a wire transfer from Canada is fine? It just needs to land as USD. Sounds fine.

A few days later, Nayuun’s bank receives the money back and claims they can’t send money to my credit union. To be fair, that credit union I use is small, who knows if they even know what they’re doing.

So I use a larger online bank for a second attempt at a wire transfer.

I guess which banks we’re using is not terribly important private information. This is a wire transfer from TD Bank in Canada, to Discover Bank in the US. These are two giant, common banks. They both know how to do wire transfers. I mean they probably both do wire transfers, to each other, dozens of times a day, independent of Nayuun and myself. Is there something I’m missing or not understanding?

We wait for the transfer to work. Nothing. TD Bank says it will take 4 - 5 business days.

I call Discover Bank. They say it will take 14 business days. They also say they cannot look up the wire transfer without a firm USD amount. When we initiated the wire transfer, it was for this large sum of CAD, and I assume a fixed USD amount was not given because it would be based on the exchange rate the day the transfer occurs……………? Discover Bank will not look up the transfer with the firm CAD amount. Who knows why. No amount of asking or calling will change their refusal. If I were to try a wire transfer a third time, I think we should initiate it as a firm USD amount, and whatever CAD is required is what goes. Not exactly convenient there but possibly more traceable by Discover.

TD Bank now claims the wire transfer may take up to 20 business days.

We wait ….

We waited a week for the first wire transfer to fail.

Now we wait four weeks.

The second wire transfer fails.

No explanation is given. None. At. All.

I know it’s hard for you, the preorderers, to count out the time here and understand why things are taking so long.

We closed preorders mid Feb or something like that?

And then had to wait about two weeks for Stripe to release all the funds to Nayuun’s bank.

And then we work on the zine and put it all together and get the printing going. Maybe a week or two for print prep and initiate the printing. I think I paid for printing beginning of March on all the merch and books.

A week to try a wire transfer.

Four weeks to try ANOTHER wire transfer ….

And we arrive now at mid April.

This …. Might? Maybe? Lead you to ask how any merch has been printed at all? Or how any zines have been shipped at present? If the funds have been tied up in multiple failed wire transfer attempts?

I, Story, have been paying for the printing and the shipping so far, just on my credit card. I don’t mind getting it all going. I do really care about the project. C: I love zines, and I love self publishing. I really want people to feel happy preordering an artist produced book, too! The helpfulness of a credit card is it does allow me to get a project going! While I wait for Stripe to make funds available … while I wait for a wire transfer … and a second wire transfer … but of course a credit card payment does come due. I paid for all these things at the beginning of March. That billing cycle closes end of March. That bill becomes due end of April, and I must pay the card bill or pay an additional interest penalty. That is how the credit cards do the do.

So! Here in a week or two I am indeed paying this card bill, for a few thousand dollars of printing and shipping. ^^; I have a bit of money saved, it will be ok.

But I’ve got about 40 orders left to ship, and about 20 orders that are Canadian and need to go to Nayuun for her to ship. And I have no more money to get stuff going until one of these methods of fund transfers works out.

It is pretty tiresome and frustrating that the funds exist, they just can’t be moved from Canada to the United States? None of our banks will tell us why.

Now we are trying a money order. When I last shipped a proof copy of the book to Nayuun, it took about 9 days? She lives in Alberta, I live in Maryland. Maybe in 9 days I’ll have a money order in my mailbox? *But can I just point out here that we have experienced first hand that MAIL DOES INDEED MOVE BETWEEN US …. Ok money order, you have no excuses.*

I’m sure you can imagine, I feel pretty dumb now. I’ve spent a lot of money, and am struggling to be reimbursed, and it is no one’s fault. Not Nayuun’s, not mine, just cosmic bad luck maybe. All we can do is keep trying to find a way to deal with a funds transfer? If not a money order through the post office … then…. Western Union? Or we try paypal again (my hopes are not high.)

I’m sorry again that I’ve got all this stuff printed and I’m unable to get the remaining orders going until we can manage this funds transfer. ;_; I really hope a money order would finally work. That would be really great if this kind of old fashioned method could just go through and be fine. ^^;

Thank you to those who have received your orders so far and loved them! You’ve made all the effort worth while, and I really appreciate it. C: I hope that when the remaining orders go out, they will be worth the wait.

[whx-m]

Im barely a highschooler so can u give me a rundown on credit cards, credit unions and all that jazz, cos like... I've got no idea what the fuck it's all about LMAO

ok so a lot of ppl, me included, prefer credit unions to banks... the difference between them is banks are a business and credit unions are like, a union of ppl putting their money together as members to fund the credit union. theyre both federally backed and insured but the structure of the organizations are different. they both have savings accounts (put money away) and checking accounts (hold money for use, take money out, debit cards) and loan programs and such. the pros and cons of them imo-

- con: not quite as high tech as most big banks but it really depends on your local credit unions bc mine does have online banking and a mobile app where you can take a pic of your checks to deposit them in your account. some dont tho- con: joining one has some requirements on membership. some credit unions are by county or state residence, some are by profession, etc. - con: sometimes it takes a little bit longer for deposits and such to transfer or process just bc there are less ppl working or less processing power or whatever, versus a multi billion dollar business bank with all sorts of bells and whistles+ pro: credit unions are community minded, theyre more involved directly in communities so you can feel like you’re not just banking but a part of your community. in my experience the customer service is way better+ pro: interest rates and just rates in general tend to be a lot better than at banks bc credit unions depend on member satisfaction to keep it rolling+ pro: when you open a savings accnt with a credit union the % of interest you gain from dropping money on them tends to be better than a bank. + pro: theres things called “certificate of deposits” aka CDs and what they are is you take a sum of money, say 500 bones, and agree to drop it as a CD in the credit union for a specific amount of time. 6 months, a year, even like 10 years. what happens is you agree with the credit union to basically loan that money out for a specific amount of time, but the return you get on it is pretty great. you get a return on it bc in effect youre loaning the bank cash to loan out to other members during that time, so you collect interest. every month that interest gets added and then the interest for the next month is even higher bc of added money. might not be a big deal when youre young with little income to spare but it can really help you out later in life+pro: tend to be better for small business owners+pro: umm m i cant think but google “bank vs credit union” and you can decide for yourself which ones more attractive to you

credit cards are like... ok so when you get a credit card they check your credit score and put a limit on how much money you can charge to a card. say you open your first credit card and you dont really have anything on your credit score so theyll probably offer you a “credit builder” type card, which has a limit of like idk say $500. REMEMBER THIS: NEVER SPEND MORE THAN 30% OF YOUR LIMIT!!!! that means on a credit card with a $500 limit, you should never charge more than $150 on it before paying it back. once you go over that 30% limit, it triggers a flag on your credit report that you’re sort of a risky spender. even if you pay it back on time every month and stay in the clear, it will STILL flag it and hurt your credit score.

if you want to build up your credit, its a good idea to open a feasible credit card account and do just that. small limit, never spend over 30%, and pay it off every single month. every time you make a payment, the credit card company reports it to the credit bureaus, and they post it to your credit report as on-time payments with no flags.

so, say you open a credit card with a $500 limit. you also have a bank/credit union checking account with a debit card attached to your account (debit cards are different than credit cards... credit cards you have to pay back. debit cards take money out of your account and when you account is run dry, the debit card will get rejected if you try to use it.)... when you get paid at work you have your paycheck direct deposited into your bank account, and you mostly use your debit card to buy stuff or whatever. but you want to work on your credit score and get some activity on your credit report and build up a good credit history. so you take this limited credit card and you choose one thing to use it for- a good idea is gas or something that you wont need more than $100 a month for. so you buy gas with this credit card, maybe some snacks, whatever it is, and you make sure to not charge more than 30% of your spending limit. then when you get your credit card bill you pay it off immediately, on time, every month. your credit score is going to be awesome!

your credit score is A LOT to do with: how often companies (like credit card companies) are reporting your payments, if you make late payments, and how long youve been making payments. the longer reporting history you have the better your score is, and the more payments you make on an account that is in good standing the better. stuff like loans, student loans etc, are on your cedit report too.

idk this is getting long.... and its kinda messy and hard to read so IM gonna wrap this up. GOOGLE!! google google google theres lots of great simplified stuff out there. also youtube videos for ppl your age and ppl new to credit and all this stuff! just if nothing else pls remember the rule not to spend more than 30% of your credit card limit thats the biggest thing. and dont get a credit card if you dont have a job or a way to pay it off, its not free money of course. they wont be nice about it since youre young and they might try to take advantage of you for being young. definitely talk to your parents or guardian before opening ANY!! accounts. they can help you navigate all this stuff and start building your credit history if thats what you want to do.

[traciedemars]

Pre-approvals....what you need to know,   Upcoming Free (& non-promotional) Home Buyer Classes: Saturday, September 22nd, from 12pm-3pm (ish)        Vancouver YMCA, conference room        11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (corner of SR500 & Gher Road/112th Ave) Saturday, October 6th , from 9am-12pm (ish)       Marshall Community Center, conference room       1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College) Saturday, October 20th, from 5pm-8pm (ish)      Marshall Community Center, conference room      1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College) If these class dates and/or times don't work for you, please let us know.  We understand that you have lives, and families, and work.  We will work something out that works better with your schedule.  Just let us know....                                                                                  ....we also have home seller classes available too...link on left on website                  Remember...with reservation...we will throw in lunch, or dinner!  :-D ~~~~~~~~~Happy ...well, whatever day it is!   What a month!  Yesterday, my youngest child started 3rd grade. I think I have started and stopped this email about 4 times in the last couple of weeks, but what with everything going on...  it kind of went on the back burner.   It's a different world from when I went to school... when I was at school, teachers had the last word on everything.  If a teacher called home, you were in trouble....if a teacher needed something...  it happened.  When my older kids were young, teachers still got what they needed …  now, I am not going to lie to you... I did have it out with my older daughters high school principal a few times!  Teachers though...  teachers I have the utmost respect for them.  When I was young, I wanted to be a teacher... I wanted to teach high school history and English. Yep, that was my goal when I was young... not a singer or a movie star... a teacher!  Of course, I am not a teacher... I am a Realtor, but I still teach....and I still help.    So, here we are...  another school year started, and all of the sudden we are in the last trimester of the year.  So here's to 'Happy Hallowthankmas' period time.     So this week let's talk about the what the steps are to buying a home?  This is where it gets crazy because most of us just don't know....you just kind of 'fall into it'...  You meet up with someone, and like a whirlwind romance, next thing you know you are in a 30 year commitment called a mortgage loan!     So....if you are thinking about buying a home, what are your steps?  What do you need to know before you start?     Well, that is what the Free Home Buyer Education Classes are for!  ....that, and this weekly blog anyhow!  :-D   The first step to buying a home is the home buyer education classes.     Did you know that more people will get education when buying a car than when buying a home? The classes are non-promotional, free, and meant to give home buyers a head start on the information they need to buying a home, and taking advantage of the state loan programs that are out there to HELP people buy a home!    Real Estate & Lending is all about 'verbiage' as we are 'taught' scripts to make things sound good for you, when in actuality...it may not be that great at all.  We do go over all of that, and try to make everything as clear as possible considering it starts off as mud.  :-)  As instructors of the classes we are volunteers, so while we HOPE that you will call us to help  you with your homebuying adventure, by no means do you have to.  :-)Buying a home, especially your first home, is such a big thing that sometimes it is hard to wait when we get the bug.  Buying a home is still the American dream, and gives us roots in a community.  It is the place where we raise our children, plant our gardens, paint our rooms, and show our personality.  A house isn't just a place of four walls and a door, but a home....and a place of dreams.  Knowing all of this as we do, when it comes to buying a home, patience isn't always our biggest virtue!    :-D     The second step in the home buying process is talking with a lender to  help you get pre-approved for a loan.     The reason why we say that talking to a lender is your second step is because while you don't go grocery shopping without knowing how much is in your bank account, you should never go looking at homes without knowing how much you can afford.  A lenders job is to pre-approve you for as much as they can, but that doesn't always mean that you can, or that you should, spend that much on purchasing a home.  We all have lives, and you don't want to be housepoor.  Make sure that you know your budget, and what is a comfortable amount for you to spend monthly on a mortgage.  Remember to make sure that you have enough for small things like eating out (ok....if you have my family it isn't a 'small' thing at all to eat out!), going to the movies, maybe going on a family trip....and let's not forget buying groceries and gas!  Also...as a homeowner, now you have other additional expenses and potential repairs to put aside for.  I always tell all my clients to put aside some money from every check into a 'special' account at a banking institution that you don't regularly frequent.  Maybe it is a credit union across town that is only open for 4 hours a day, but make sure you don't have a checkbook or a debit card for it.  It doesn't have to be a lot of money....maybe only $10-$20 per check, but this is your 'rainy day' fund...or really, the funds for any home repairs that will, eventually, come up.  Being a home owner does mean being prepared for home repairs that always happen at the worst possible time!  Home Warranties really are your best friend when buying a home...and yes, this is different than Homeowners Insurance (aka Hazard Insurance).  That will be a topic for another week. :-)     The rule of thumb though is to make sure that when you are looking for homes, after you get pre-approved, to make sure you are looking at homes with your buyers agent that you can afford, and not max out your budget!     Remember that not all lenders can access the downpayment assistance loans, so make sure that you are going through someone who can.  If you have any questions about that, please feel free to call, or email, Chris Berg @ Pinnacle Mortgage...503-320-0925 (he is local), and cberg@pcmloan.com .       When getting pre-approved, make sure to ask your lender if your pre-approval has already gone through the manual underwriters.  We are seeing more, and more people lately who, thinking they are pre-approved, go out and find a home, only to find out days before signing, that the manual underwriters are declining their loan!  This is terrible as this means that this family who have already packed up, given notice, and are ready to move....now have no loan, and therefore, no home!  I don't want that to happen to any of my clients, so as a buyers agent, when I am speaking with a lender, I always ask their lender if the buyers loan approval was sent to the manual underwriter, or if it is just a computer approval.  Having your pre-approval go through the manual underwriters, instead of just a computer approval, does take some more time, usually up to a week more, but in the end it is always better to be safe rather than sorry!     Please remember that your pre-approval is only good for 90 days, and yes, you will have to update it at the end of the process...usually when your file goes to underwriting for the final documents to sign.  Please continue to pay your bills (on time), please do not change work hours, please do not go out and buy appliances, do not get a personal loan for 'stuff for the house', do not go buy a car/truck/boat/etc.  If you have any questions, please talk with your lender first as all of these things can cause your loan to be declined...at the final step....which is awful for everyone.  Your pre-approval is NOT set in stone....  A pre-approval is a snap-shot of your 'current' financial situation, and if that changes...so can your pre-approval.  Your financial situation will be looked at by a myriad of different people, and scrutinized about 2-3 times by the underwriters...which are actually the people with the power.  Please remember to talk with your lender and real estate agent...we are here to help!  :-)     A pre-approval is good for a monthly mortgage payment amount...not a purchase price.  Your interest rate can not be locked in until about 30-45 days from closing/keys.  What this means is that the interest rate you are quoted at the time of pre-approval is merely a 'guesstimate'.  This part is always a bit strange, but your lender can't even start your actual loan process until you have a signed around contract on a home...signed (and agreed to) by the person with the legal authority to sell that home.  If interest rates go up in the process of buying your home, and your rate is not locked in, then your monthly mortgage payment will change...and so can your pre-approval.     Your buyers agent, and your lender should work together, and communicate with each other to help you through this process!  I know I say this all the time, but we work for YOU!  By working together we help you achieve your goal of your own home where you can kick your shoes off, turn on some football (ok, maybe that is just my house!), and relax!  A buyers agent and a lender should work together as a team, communicating with each other, and with you, every step of the way....that is what we are here for!  :-)   I also asked Chris Berg for some information on this email...There are three forms of approvals that you will see when you purchase a home. Prequalification, preapproval, and approval. A prequalification is not worth the paper it's printed on and most if not all sellers will not except a prequalification when you make an offer on a home. The reason for this is that a prequalification is basically just checking your credit but not verifying income or down payment or any of the other thousand things that can go wrong during the transaction. A preapproval covers all the things they seller needs to see. Not only does it verify your credit but also verifies your income, tax returns, W-2s, down payment, employment and address history, and rent payments. A preapproval is what you need in order to make an offer on a home. An approval is generally not achieved until you were under contract on a home. It verifies all the items in a preapproval but also includes the appraisal and preliminary title report on all borrowers and sellers. In order to get a preapproval you need to bring your lender your last two years tax returns, W-2s, last 30 days pay stubs, ID, and two months bank statements if you have a down payment. If you are seriously considering buying a home a preapproval, with most lenders, will not cost you any money and will allow you to deal with any issues well before you spend the money to make an offer on a home. No animals were harmed during the writing of this email. Thank you,  Chris BergMortgage Advisor with Pinnacle Capital MortgageMLO-198082503-320-0925 cellCberg@pcmloan.com Information is power,  and as always...May the odds be ever in your favor out there....  If you are looking for a real estate agent, I would love to be able to help you.  If you have any questions, or comments please get a hold of me anytime.  You can call, text, email, or even facebook me.  Please remember that while I mean these emails/blogs to be helpful, and educational, I am still hoping that you will call, or email me as I would be honored to help you with your home buying, or home selling adventure!  :-)    As always....this is just a quick overview.... again...and I can't say this enough...please remember that your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one.  Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships.  Your agent, and your lender work for YOU.  You drive the bus...we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals.  Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure.  The goal is to be informative and non-promotional.  :-)  We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.   Thank you again for your business and your referrals!!  ...and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers.   ....disclaimer...if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings...   Upcoming Topics: What do I need to buy a home, Hiring a Realtor...questions to ask, What if I don't have a Down Payment? .....  &....What does an Agent do for me? Debt to Income Ratios....What is this? Last Week:  Why take a home buyers (or sellers) class? Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,   ;-D   Tracie DeMars   Real Estate broker   Re/Max - Van Mall   360/ 903-3504 cell   360/ 882-3600 fax   www.traciedemars.com   traciedemars@aol.com       “Interested in free and non promotional home education classes?  Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com for local upcoming home buyer and home SELLER classes, or facebook: Tracie DeMars Real Estate for my home buyer education blog.” "Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."       - Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 - 1999

[sandloading743]

Everfi Answer Guide

Everfi Answer Key Module 4

Everfi Answer Key Module 2

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Everfi Answer Key Module 4

Search result: Everfi Savings Module 2 Answers

Which of the following statements about credit scores is TRUE? Credit scores reflect how likely individuals are to repay their debts. Each person has three credit scores. All of the above. Which of the following correctly pairs a financing option..

https://ccstem.org/view/Everfi_Savings_Module_2_Answers

Establish monetary policy Pass monetary laws Collect taxes Print money 2 Which type of account will typically have the highest interest rate? The down payment. The interest rate. The lender. The total cost of the home. All of the following..

https://ccstem.org/view/Everfi.Savings.Module.2.Answers

The amount owned for borrowing money. Which of the following actions would enable him to earn MORE interest? Which compounding frequency will earn you the MOST money? Compounding daily. Which of the following is a type of savings vehicle? Certificate of Deposit Which of the following is generally true about savings vehicles? People should evaluate different forms of savings vehicles based on their needs.

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Everfi Answer Key Module 2

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[phoenixmayorcandidates-blog]

Mayor of Phoenix & Family

As he forges ahead in an effort to become the first Ahwatukee resident to be elected the mayor of Phoenix, Moses Sanchez has made City Hall’s unresponsiveness to families and neighborhoods a big part of his campaign.

That’s not hard to understand.

Family and neighborhoods have comprised a major part of  life for the 41-year-old father of three.

His youngest daughter is his business partner. His oldest daughter lives next door. He brags how his son is probably one of the few people in the nation to have had his father not only present him with his high school diploma at graduation but sign it, too.

He credits his kids and physician wife with helping him readjust to civilian life after the E-6 noncommissioned officer took part in counterinsurgency operations in war-torn Afghanistan as part of his duties in the Navy Reserve.

He is a member of the Ahwatukee Kiwanis Club and was its president for four years running. He worked on the Kyrene K-8 Committee for a number of years. He was a member of the Tempe Union High School District Governing Board. He’s coached school soccer and volleyball teams.

In other words, family and service are all over Sanchez’s resume.

And those two interests explain why Sanchez is running for mayor: He says it’s time City Hall pays families and neighborhoods more than lip service.

“I think it’s time we have someone who represents Phoenix families,” he said in an interview with AFN. “City Hall has done a real great job fighting – for City Hall. There’s a real disconnect between City Hall and the rest of us.”

“Most of the Phoenix families I’ve talked to feel the same way. It’s about time we have an outsider with a different perspective,” he added. “It’s about time we have someone who fights for the community. We haven’t had a mayor who came from outside City Hall in 34 years.”

The way this year’s mayoral race is shaping up illustrates the point stressed by Sanchez, a Republican in the nonpartisan election. He likely will be running in a three-way primary runoff with two longtime City Council members in August, leading to a two-way race in November.

A grateful immigrant

When he was 5, he and his family moved to the U.S. from Panama.

Even before he began a 25-year stint with the Navy Reserve that won’t end for three more years, he was determined to serve his newly adopted country by enlisting in a Navy Sea Cadet program in high school.

“I’m an immigrant and we’ve always had certain values,” he explained, adding that “a commitment to service” was one of them.

When he moved to Ahwatukee 14 years ago and his kids started going to Kyrene schools, Sanchez figured it would be a good time to do what he could for the school system serving them. So, he joined the committee of parents and educators who met regularly to discuss various district issues.

He got so interested that he ran for the Kyrene governing board. And after losing the election, he decided he was through flirting with politics.

Then his youngest daughter, Shannon, changed his mind.

But before that, Uncle Sam intervened.

The Navy shipped him off to Bagram, home of the U.S. military’s largest base in Afghanistan.

There, he worked in a detention facility, where his job was to “extract and collect information through direct questioning” of enemy captives.

“Ask anyone in our family and they all will say the most difficult year of our life,” he said.

He relied on Facebook and other social media to stay in touch with his family while neighbors in Ahwatukee frequent checked in with his and wife, Dr. Maria Manriquez, who was working her way up from a registered nurse to become a gynecologist. She now is interim associate dean for clinical curriculum at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.

Sanchez also couldn’t put aside his concern for the immediate community.

While in Afghanistan, females had just recently been allowed to go to school, but they didn’t have any classroom supplies.

He rallied his fellow servicemen and women, collected a few thousand dollars, then enlisted then-Ahwatukee Kiwanis President Mike Schmitt to buy pencils, paper and other supplies. At his own expense, Schmitt, who packed the supplies he bought with that money, shipped them off to Sanchez.

When he came back, Sanchez learned why the military had stressed to homebound service personnel the importance of family in readjusting to a life where rocket fire was a daily fact of life.

He was sitting on the lawn at Foothills Country Club with his wife and his children for the Red White and Boom celebration in 2012 when the first rocket exploded.

“I had a visceral response to it, very unexpected,” he said, recalling the “very difficult year for our family” that followed.

“It was tough, but it was rewarding as well,” Sanchez added. “It brought us together. Often deployments can tear up families, but this brought us tighter than we’d ever been.”

So tight that he let Shannon talk him into running for Tempe Union school board.

A big career change

“She told me, ‘If your dad is on the board, you get to give her the diploma.’”

So, he ran and won, achieving an even bigger big deal in 2015 when his son was graduating from Desert Vista High School, the same school where his daughters got their diplomas.

“I was board president and the board president signs the diplomas,” Sanchez said. “So, he is one of very few kids in America whose father signed their high school diploma.”

Sanchez, who holds an MBA and teaches business at South Mountain Community College, attributes his Tempe Union election victory and a big career change to Shannon’s knowledge of social media.

A banker at the time, he kept hearing from his small-business customers, who asked him if he knew how they could grow their social media footprint.

A graduate of ASU Barrett the Honors College, Shannon had become so adept at social media that she was his campaign manager in the Tempe Union race and used it to help him win.

When those business owners started asking him about social media, he suggested to Shannon, then 19, that they start a business and that he’d be her operations manager. They named the business Nonnahs – her name spelled backward.

“The growth in our family business has happened in the last three years. We went from managing six or seven accounts to well over 100,” he said. Now, “we manage hundreds – a lot of small business owners and we have some have some larger accounts and franchises in the Valley. We’ve gone from just the two of us to a company with 12 employees.”

Sanchez quit the Tempe Union board to run for a seat on the Maricopa County Community College Board in 2016.

And after losing that bid, he again decided politics was in the rearview mirror.

‘It’s been a ride’

Then, people last year started approaching him after Mayor Greg Stanton announced he would be resigning soon to run for Congress.

“People kept saying, ‘Would you consider it?’ I’m thinking I have a great company. I’m blessed. I have a great life. I considered it. What it would take? Once we started picking the brains of people who are smarter than I am when it comes to this, we saw a path to victory.”

After many talks with his family and other as well as “a lot of prayers,” he said, “I decided, ‘OK, this is what we want to do.’ It’s been a ride since.”

Sanchez said he’s learning a lot about the parts of Phoenix he didn’t know, logging an average of 18 meetings a week with groups and others across the city.

“I’ve handed over my duties as operations officer to my daughter, and she hired some more people. I’ve dedicated full-time work to this.”

“There’s lots of long nights, but it’s important for me to talk to as many people as possible. And whoever will let me in their homes, in their communities, we’re there.”

The reason is simple: “If you’re gonna fight for Phoenix families, you’ve got to talk to Phoenix families, not developers and City Hall.”

He has found “the one thing everybody had in common was the disconnect from City Hall. City Hall is focused on these national issues, these state issues, but they’re not addressing the issues that matter to Sunnyslope or to Maryvale or to the West Valley or even out here in Ahwatukee. That was a consistent theme.”

He sees mayors elsewhere – such as those in the East Valley – “more focused on their community than the mayors in Phoenix.”

“If you called the local council members and asked them what’s the No. 1 call you get, it’s never about developers. It’s about water leaks, roads, potholes, the lack of police officers on their streets – especially here in Ahwatukee. City Hall’s not talking about that ... These have been ongoing, long-term problems.”

And, he added, “That’s what the mayors should be leading in.”

Those beliefs were forged by his work in both school districts.

“We focused on what we’re doing for our schools, the individual sites, not getting involved in the national debates.”

He said a recent meeting with some small-business owners convinced him that his campaign is on the right path. They told him that it would be nice to have “maybe a roundtable discussion, even an informal one, with the mayor.”

“I sat there and said, ‘How did that not happen?”

Sanchez said he’s found enthusiasm for his candidacy.

“People didn’t know there was a third option, there’s a viable option, there’s a better option. We’ve been very much welcomed with open arms.”

He’s had to make some sacrifices – like not cooking much at home even though cooking and physical fitness are his two favorite pastimes.

“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “I think I’m blessed that I have a lot of energy and a family that’s extremely supportive. They understand the sacrifices they have to make for this campaign.”

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[newstfionline]

Friday, October 16, 2020

Countries are hoarding food as prices rise (Bloomberg) Agricultural commodity buyers from Cairo to Islamabad have been on a shopping spree since the pandemic upended supply chains. Jordan has built up record wheat reserves while Egypt, the world’s top wheat buyer, took the unusual step of tapping international markets during its local harvest and has boosted purchases by more than 50% since April. Taiwan said it will increase strategic food stockpiles and China has been buying to feed its growing hog herd.

Solar power (The Verge) Solar has become a significantly cheaper option for new electrical generation than its rivals, with the levelized cost of electricity—basically, how much it costs to generate electricity over the lifetime of the plant—between $35 to $55 per megawatt-hour in markets like the U.S., Europe, China and India, down from $100 per megawatt-hour four years ago and $300 a decade ago. By comparison, coal ranges between $55 and $150 per megawatt-hour according to the new report from the International Energy Agency.

Snowbirds (WSJ) Every year, about a million Canadians head south for the winter to locations like Arizona and Florida in the United States to spend the winter. In March, the border was closed to tourists going in either direction, and Canadian officials have indicated they are not particularly interested in a reopening any time soon. This means that a number of people who had sworn off the winters of Canada have, instead, begun stocking up on sweaters and jackets. About 60 percent of the migratory Canadians go to Florida, according to the Canadian Snowbird Association, but this year many are looking West to British Columbia, where the winters are less harsh than the rest of the country and there are 100 year-round campgrounds and RV hookups.

Don’t worry about the wolves (CJR) A letter from the Nova Scotia government sent out to residents to warn about a pack of wolves on the loose in the province was forged by Canadian military personnel as part of a propaganda training mission that went off the rails, according to a report in the Ottawa Citizen. The letter told residents to be wary of wolves that had been reintroduced into the area by the provincial and federal governments and warned the animals were now roaming the Annapolis Valley. The letter sparked concern and questions among residents, but was later branded as “fake” by the Nova Scotia government, which didn’t know the military was behind the deception.

US jobless claims rise to 898,000 with layoffs still high (AP) The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week by the most in two months, to 898,000, a historically high number and evidence that layoffs remain a hindrance to the economy’s recovery from the pandemic recession. The economy is still roughly 10.7 million jobs short of recovering all the 22 million jobs that were lost when the pandemic struck in early spring. Confirmed coronavirus cases have been rising again nationwide in the past month, likely causing more Americans to hold back from eating out, shopping and engaging in other commerce. Across the country, applications for unemployment aid are rising while negotiations over a new stimulus package between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin remain mired in a stalemate.

U.S. gun sales soar amid pandemic, social unrest, election fears (Reuters) Andreyah Garland, a 44-year-old single mother of three daughters, bought a shotgun in May for protection in the quaint middle-class town of Fishkill, New York. She joined a new and fast-growing local gun club to learn how to shoot. Like legions of other first-time buyers who are contributing to record sales for the U.S. gun industry this year, Garland’s decision to take up arms is driven in part by disturbing news about the coronavirus pandemic, social unrest over police killings of Black people and a potentially contested election that many fear could spark violence. “With everything going on around us,” she said, “you see a need.” Surges in U.S. firearm sales have in recent decades been predictably driven by events sparking fears of impending gun-control legislation, such as the election of a Democratic president or a spate of mass shootings, federal gun background check data show. Industry experts and academics who study gun ownership say such surges came largely among the gun-industry’s core base of white, male and politically conservative customers who often already owned one or multiple guns. That market is widening this year to include a new rush of first-time buyers, including many women, minorities and politically liberal buyers who once would not have considered gun ownership, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen industry experts, academics and gun store owners. “People who don’t normally think about firearms are being forced to contemplate something outside their universe,” said Dan Eldridge, owner of Maxon Shooter’s Supplies and Indoor Range in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines, Illinois.

EU Leaders Meet on Trade Deal as Coronavirus Surges (Foreign Policy) The leaders of the 27 European Union member states meet today in Brussels to begin a two-day summit aimed at presenting a united front in trade talks with former member Great Britain as well as aligning on the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, and Africa policy. Previously billed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the “deadline” for a deal to be reached between the two sides, today’s summit is unlikely to yield a concrete outcome. A draft document from EU leaders, seen by Reuters, says that progress on trade negotiations is “still not sufficient.” German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is confident a deal will eventually materialize, even if it takes until November to hammer out. “My experience is that sometimes in the last moment you will find a solution,” he told Bloomberg.

Edinburxit? (Foreign Policy) Support for Scottish independence is at its highest-ever level, according to a new Ipsos MORI poll. Among those who had made up their minds, the poll found that 58 percent of respondents would vote yes in an independence referendum, with 42 percent against. (Accounting for undecided voters, the overall figures dropped to 55 percent for independence, and 39 percent against.) The poll also highlighted the contrast in public opinion toward Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson: Two-thirds of Scots view Sturgeon positively, whereas only about one in five Scots have a positive view of Johnson.

Macron announces Paris curfew as coronavirus infections rise in France (Washington Post) French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced a curfew to be imposed on the Paris region and other major urban centers to curb a rapid resurgence of the novel coronavirus. The curfew will require people to stay home between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., Macron said. It will begin Saturday and last for at least four weeks. The cities included are Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Lille, Rouen and Saint-Étienne. France has seen a steady rise in new coronavirus infections since August, undermining progress made during a strict two-month lockdown in the spring. Macron also urged people to restrict gatherings to no more than six people outside their families. He acknowledged the impact of such restrictions on young people in particular. “It’s hard to be 20 in 2020,” he said.

Some European officials use virus as a cover to target Roma (AP) In Bulgaria, Roma communities were sprayed with disinfectant from crop dusters this spring as coronavirus cases surged in the country. In Slovakia, their villages were the only ones where the army conducted testing. And across Central and Eastern Europe, reports of police using excessive force against Roma spiked as officers were deployed to enforce lockdowns in their towns. Human rights activists and experts say local officials in several countries with significant Roma populations have used the pandemic to unlawfully target the minority group, which is Europe’s largest and has faced centuries of severe discrimination. With COVID-19 cases now resurging across the continent, some experts fear the repression will return, too. To make matters worse, activists say such discrimination often draws little opposition from other Europeans and the Roma are reluctant to speak about it, fearing repercussions.

Kyrgyzstan’s president steps down amid political unrest (AP) Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbai Jeenbekov announced his resignation Thursday in a bid to end the turmoil that has engulfed the Central Asian nation after a disputed parliamentary election. Jeenbekov, who has faced calls to step down from protesters and political opponents, said in a statement released by his office that holding onto power wasn’t “worth the integrity of our country and harmony in society.” Kyrgyzstan, a country of 6.5 million people located on the border with China, was plunged into chaos following an Oct. 4 vote that election officials say was swept by pro-government parties. The opposition said the election was tainted by vote-buying and other irregularities. Protesters then took over government buildings, looting some offices, and the Central Election Commission nullified the election.

Sri Lanka’s economic woes (Foreign Policy) Sri Lanka is increasingly turning to China to help it combat a worsening financial crisis and debt problem. On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo tweeted that Beijing was considering a $500 million loan to the island country, adding mysteriously that “Haters never understand love”—likely a reference to fears that China may expect too much in return. Sri Lanka doesn’t have too many options left, given its weak credit rating. As Nikkei Asia reports, Colombo has $50.8 billion of foreign debt on its books and has required 16 bailouts from the International Monetary Fund in the last 55 years. Only Pakistan has needed more help.

Torment of the Uyghurs and human rights (Economist) This week we publish new reporting  about the persecution of the 12m members of China’s Uyghur minority at home and abroad. Even those outside the huge network of official “re-education” camps in the western region of Xinjiang have to attend indoctrination sessions. Families must watch other families, and report suspicious behaviour. Hundreds of thousands of Uyghur children may have been separated from one or both detained parents. Rules against having too many children are strictly enforced on Uyghur women; some are sterilised. In two prefectures the Uyghur birth rate fell by more than 60% between 2015 and 2018. Uyghurs abroad fear calling home lest they cause a loved one to be arrested.  This amounts to the most extensive violation today of the principle that individuals have a right to liberty and dignity simply because they are people.  Democracy and human rights are in retreat around the world. Eighty countries have regressed since the pandemic began, and only Malawi has improved.

Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey, and Syrian mercenaries (NYT) Families gathered around a refrigerated truck at a Syrian-Turkish border post, waiting earlier this month for the drivers to dispense their awful cargo: the bodies of 52 Syrian men, killed in a war 600 miles away. The dead were mercenaries, recruited by Turkish-backed militias in Syria to fight on behalf of Azerbaijan against Armenia, relatives said. They were deployed as shock troops, to claw back scraps of territory in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. “They went to break the borders,” said a cousin of Mahmoud Najjar, a 38-year-old Syrian fighter. The cousin, interviewed by telephone, said Najjar’s body in the cold truck was marked with the number 12. The deaths of Syrian fighters have raised alarms about how this decades-old conflict could now rapidly worsen as it draws in outside powers like Turkey and its rival Russia and potentially destabilizes neighbors like Iran and Georgia. Turkey has denied sending Syrian fighters to aid Azerbaijan, its longtime ally. But relatives of two fighters—Najjar and his nephew—said in interviews that monthly salaries were promised by the Turkish-supported militias and that the fighters flew to Azerbaijan from southern Turkey. In recent months, Turkey has sought to project its military might across much of its neighborhood with new vigor. Turkey’s enthusiastic backing of the Azerbaijani war effort—and provision of military assistance, including armed drones—has emboldened Azerbaijan, situating Turkey at the center of the conflict.

Two American hostages in Yemen released (Washington Post) Two Americans held hostage by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen were freed Wednesday in a surprise deal brokered by the United States. The agreement freeing Sandra Loli, an aid worker held hostage for three years, and Mikael Gidada, a businessman held for nearly a year, was only grudgingly accepted by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which has waged a years-long war against the Houthi rebel group in neighboring Yemen. In exchange for the Americans, nearly 300 of the rebel group’s members were returned to Yemen, where some may reenter the battlefield and prolong a conflict that has become increasingly unpopular in Washington. The fact that the deal went forward even as the Trump administration supports a Saudi-led coalition in the war suggests the importance the president has placed on the release of American hostages.

Protesters march on Nigerian parliament after army threatens to step in (Reuters) Hundreds of protesters marched to the gates of Nigeria’s parliament on Thursday, hours after the army said it was ready to step in and restore order after more than a week of demonstrations against police brutality. The protest defied a ban on mass rallies in the capital Abuja that the government said was imposed earlier on Thursday to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Protesters have staged daily marches since Wednesday last week, calling for an overhaul of police forces. Police had responded to the demonstrations with beatings, tear gas and gunfire, which human rights group Amnesty International said had killed at least 10 people. In response to the protests, the head of Nigeria’s police force on Sunday dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit that demonstrators have accused of beatings, killings and extortion. Demonstrators have called for more meaningful reforms. Protesters say they fear a new unit, whose creation to “fill the gaps” left by SARS was announced on Tuesday, was just a rebranding of the squad.