#and i DOUBT there are any camera's surveying the government property

[nickbutnodick]

why do "dangerous and functional train tracks that have killed a man" and "the federal government" and "large bodies of water that are notoriously polluted with dangerous objects" always have to keep me away from cool birds!

[nuadox]

Hubble data confirms galaxies lacking dark matter

- By Institute for Advanced Study -

The most accurate distance measurement yet of ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) NGC1052-DF2 (DF2) confirms beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is lacking in dark matter. 

The newly measured distance of 22.1 +/-1.2 megaparsecs was obtained by an international team of researchers led by Zili Shen and Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University and Shany Danieli, a NASA Hubble Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study.

“Determining an accurate distance to DF2 has been key in supporting our earlier results,” stated Danieli. “The new measurement reported in this study has crucial implications for estimating the physical properties of the galaxy, thus confirming its lack of dark matter.”

The results, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on June 9, 2021, are based on 40 orbits of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, with imaging by the Advanced Camera for Surveys and a “tip of the red giant branch” (TRGB) analysis, the gold standard for such refined measurements. In 2019, the team published results measuring the distance to neighboring UDG NGC1052-DF4 (DF4) based on 12 Hubble orbits and TRGB analysis, which provided compelling evidence of missing dark matter. This preferred method expands on the team’s 2018 studies that relied on “surface brightness fluctuations” to gauge distance. Both galaxies were discovered with the Dragonfly Telephoto Array at the New Mexico Skies observatory.

“We went out on a limb with our initial Hubble observations of this galaxy in 2018,” van Dokkum said. “I think people were right to question it because it’s such an unusual result. It would be nice if there were a simple explanation, like a wrong distance. But I think it’s more fun and more interesting if it actually is a weird galaxy.”

In addition to confirming earlier distance findings, the Hubble results indicated that the galaxies were located slightly farther away than previously thought, strengthening the case that they contain little to no dark matter. If DF2 were closer to Earth, as some astronomers claim, it would be intrinsically fainter and less massive, and the galaxy would need dark matter to account for the observed effects of the total mass.

Dark matter is widely considered to be an essential ingredient of galaxies, but this study lends further evidence that its presence may not be inevitable. While dark matter has yet to be directly observed, its gravitational influence is like a glue that holds galaxies together and governs the motion of visible matter. In the case of DF2 and DF4, researchers were able to account for the motion of stars based on stellar mass alone, suggesting a lack or absence of dark matter. Ironically, the detection of galaxies deficient in dark matter will likely help to reveal its puzzling nature and provide new insights into galactic evolution.

While DF2 and DF4 are both comparable in size to the Milky Way galaxy, their total masses are only about one percent of the Milky Way’s mass. These ultra-diffuse galaxies were also found to have a large population of especially luminous globular clusters.

This research has generated a great deal of scholarly interest, as well as energetic debate among proponents of alternative theories to dark matter, such as Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). However, with the team’s most recent findings—including the relative distances of the two UDGs to NGC1052—such alternative theories seem less likely. Additionally, there is now little uncertainty in the team’s distance measurements given the use of the TRGB method. Based on fundamental physics, this method depends on the observation of red giant stars that emit a flash after burning through their helium supply that always happens at the same brightness.

“There’s a saying that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the new distance measurement strongly supports our previous finding that DF2 is missing dark matter,” stated Shen. “Now it’s time to move beyond the distance debate and focus on how such galaxies came to exist.”

Moving forward, researchers will continue to hunt for more of these oddball galaxies, while considering a number of questions such as: How are UDGs formed? What do they tell us about standard cosmological models? How common are these galaxies, and what other unique properties do they have? It will take uncovering many more dark matter–less galaxies to resolve these mysteries and the ultimate question of what dark matter really is.

--

Header image: NGC1052-DF2. Credit: NASA, ESA, Z. Shen and P. van Dokkum (Yale University), and S. Danieli (Institute for Advanced Study).

Source: Institute for Advanced Study

Full study: “A Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distance of 22.1 ± 1.2 Mpc to the Dark Matter Deficient Galaxy NGC 1052–DF2 from 40 Orbits of Hubble Space Telescope Imaging”, Astrophysical Journal Letters.

https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac0335

Read Also

Nobel Prize in Physics 2020: Three scientists win award for black hole research

[newstfionline]

Thursday, May 27, 2021

2020 vote controversy continues (The Hill, American Association for Public Opinion Research) A new Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday reveals that 53% of Republicans think that Trump remains the “true president” of the United States, despite losing to President Biden last year by roughly seven million votes nationally. Even more—61%—believe either strongly or somewhat strongly that the 2020 election was “stolen” from the former president. 56% of Republican respondents said that the election had been marred by illegal voting or “election rigging,” a claim that Trump has made repeatedly for almost seven months since Election Day.

The American parole system is an endless trap (Washington Post) When William Palmer was 17, he put on a ski mask and tried to rob a man—a crime that landed him in prison for three decades. Now 49, he’s out and on parole. He had barely been out of prison a year, and already he’d been back to jail three times for a total of 20 days. That’s because, though Palmer was out of prison, he was now on parole. As such, he had to comply with a state-mandated list of supervisory conditions, along with 31 “special conditions” that had been imposed on him specifically—or risk getting sent to prison again. The conditions affected where he could go, the activities he could join, with whom he could socialize and the amount of privacy he had. In 2018, 1 out of every 58 American adults—roughly 4.4 million people—was under community supervision, the catchall term for probation and parole. The average supervisee must follow 17 standard conditions. If they break any of these, they could be reincarcerated. As Jake Horowitz, director of the Public Safety Performance Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts, explains, “The system is feeding on itself.” Or look to Hamlet, who famously quipped, “There’s the rub”: A supervision system meant to encourage rehabilitation outside of prison often stands in the way of its own goal. And so, people like Palmer end up living in limbo, no longer incarcerated but trapped by a government that doesn’t trust them to be free. “I’m not breaking laws,” Palmer told me. “I’m not hurting people. I’m doing life the best way I can. ... You begin to wonder, ‘Is this what I got out for?’ I thought parole was supposed to help me, and all it’s doing is preventing me from doing the things I was prepared to do.”

George Floyd’s killing sparked a global reckoning (Washington Post) The murder of George Floyd sparked moments of reckoning that reverberated far beyond the United States. The graphic video that captured the Black man’s final moments under the knee of a White police officer on a street in Minneapolis found broad resonance, sparking demonstrations that forced countries to grapple with their own histories of police brutality, racism, inequality and colonial transgressions. The global movement raised expectations for change. Protests in Australia, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and elsewhere turned Floyd’s name and some of his final words, “I can’t breathe,” into a rallying cry heard around the world. In the rubble of a ruined building in Syria, artist Aziz Asmar painted Floyd’s face, telling Time that the scene of police brutality thousands of miles away struck a chord with civilians who faced gas attacks. Other murals in tribute to Floyd sprang up in England, Italy, Kenya, Pakistan and the West Bank.

The Central California Town That Keeps Sinking (NYT) In California’s San Joaquin Valley, the farming town of Corcoran has a multimillion-dollar problem. Over the past 14 years, the town has sunk as much as 11.5 feet in some places—enough to swallow the entire first floor of a two-story house and to at times make Corcoran one of the fastest-sinking areas in the country, according to experts with the United States Geological Survey. Subsidence is the technical term for the phenomenon—the slow-motion deflation of land that occurs when large amounts of water are withdrawn from deep underground, causing underlying sediments to fall in on themselves. Each year, Corcoran’s entire 7.47 square miles and its 21,960 residents sink just a little bit, as the soil dips anywhere from a few inches to nearly two feet. The casings of drinking-water wells have been crushed. Flood zones have shifted. The town levee had to be rebuilt at a cost of $10 million—residents’ property tax bills increased roughly $200 a year for three years, a steep price in a place where the median income is $40,000. In Corcoran and other parts of the San Joaquin Valley, the land has gradually but steadily dropped primarily because agricultural companies have for decades pumped underground water to irrigate their crops, according to the U.S.G.S. California Water Science Center.

Countries eager to reopen to travel as pandemic recedes (AP) Countries reliant on tourism are racing to reopen borders and revive economies decimated by the pandemic. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that the sector lost nearly $4.5 trillion and 62 million jobs last year. Airlines alone lost $126 billion last year and are on track to lose another $48 billion this year, according to their largest trade group. The rollout of vaccines against COVID-19 is giving government officials in many countries new confidence to welcome visitors. But time is critical. “Summer is a strong season for most markets, particularly Europe and the U.K. We really hope to see restrictions ease,” said Virginia Messina, interim leader of the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Pentagon Accelerates Withdrawal From Afghanistan (NYT) United States troops and their NATO allies intend to be out of Afghanistan by early to mid-July, well ahead of President Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline, military officials said, in what has turned into an accelerated ending to America’s longest war. But the race to the exits, which has picked up steam as planeloads of equipment and troops are flown out of the country, leaves the United States grappling with huge unresolved issues that officials had thought they would have more time to figure out. The Pentagon still has not determined how it will combat terrorist threats like Al Qaeda from afar after American troops leave. Nor have top Defense Department officials secured agreement from allies about repositioning American troops in other nearby countries. And administration officials are still grappling with the thorny question of whether American warplanes—most likely armed Reaper drones—will provide air support to Afghan forces to help prevent the country’s cities from falling to the Taliban.

AP Investigation: Myanmar’s junta using bodies to terrorize (AP) Two black pickups speed down an empty city street in Myanmar before coming to a sudden stop. Security forces standing in the back of the trucks begin firing at an oncoming motorbike carrying three young men. The bike swerves, crashing into a gate. More shots are fired as two of the passengers run away, while the third, Kyaw Min Latt, remains on the ground. Moans are heard as officers grab the wounded 17-year-old from the pavement, throwing his limp body into a truck bed before driving off. The incident lasted just over a minute and was captured on a CCTV camera. It is part of a growing trove of photos and videos shared on social media that’s helping expose a brutal crackdown carried out by the junta since the military’s Feb. 1 takeover. An analysis by The Associated Press and the Human Rights Center Investigations Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, identified more than 130 instances where security forces appeared to be using corpses and the bodies of the wounded to create anxiety, uncertainty, and strike fear in the civilian population. Some people have been disappeared or arrested one day and returned dead the next, their corpses mutilated with signs of torture, witnesses confirmed to AP. Though the incidents may seem random and unprovoked—including kids being shot while playing outside their homes—they are actually deliberate and systematic with the goal of demobilizing people and wearing them down, said Nick Cheesman, a researcher at Australian National University, who specializes in the politics of law and policing in Myanmar. “That,” he said, “is exactly the characteristic of state terror.”

In France, Lebanese army chief pleads for help as economic crisis worsens—sources (Reuters) Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun warned France on Wednesday that an economic crisis had put the military on the verge of collapse and Paris offered emergency food and medical aid for troops in hopes of preserving law and order, sources said. France, which has led aid efforts to its former colony, has sought to pressure Lebanon’s squabbling politicians who have failed to agree on a new government and launch reforms to unlock foreign cash. Discontent is brewing among Lebanon’s security forces over a currency crash wiping out most of the value of their salaries. According to three people with knowledge of his visit to Paris, Aoun told senior French officials that the situation was untenable. Two sources said France would provide food and medical supplies for military personnel, whose salaries had fallen five or six fold in value recently, forcing many to take extra jobs. Lebanon’s pound has crashed 90% since late 2019 in a financial meltdown that poses the biggest threat to stability since the 1975-1990 civil war.

A thick blanket of ‘sea snot’ is wreaking havoc on Turkey’s coast (Washington Post) For months, Turkish fishermen in the Sea of Marmara have been running into a problem: They can’t catch fish. That’s because a thick, viscous substance known colloquially as “sea snot” is floating on the water’s surface, clogging up their nets and raising doubts about whether fish found in the inland sea would actually be safe to eat. Scientists say that the unpleasant-looking mucus is not a new phenomenon, but rising water temperatures caused by global warming may be making it worse. Pollution—including agricultural and raw sewage runoff—is also to blame. As the Guardian and numerous Turkish news outlets have reported, high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Sea of Marmara, situated between the Black and Aegean Seas, are leading to an explosion of the phytoplankton populations that discharge “sea snot.” Though the mucus itself is not necessarily harmful, it can become a host to toxic microorganisms and dangerous bacteria such as E. coli. And when it forms a layer that covers the water’s surface, it can set off a harmful chain of events, preventing fish from being able to breathe, causing mass die-offs, which in turn leads to plummeting oxygen levels that choke other forms of marine life.

Assad Heads for Fourth Term (Foreign Policy) Syria’s presidential election takes place today across government-controlled areas of the country as President Bashar Al-Assad is all but assured of a fourth term. Western countries have already denounced the election. Regardless of its credibility, the vote underscores Assad’s resilience, ten years after the Syrian conflict began with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, and 21 years after he took over from his father Hafez. Today, he presides over a broken country, with much of the land east of the Euphrates controlled by Kurdish fighters, with smaller pockets elsewhere in both Turkish and rebel hands. Assad, along with the two nominal challengers in today’s vote, Abdullah Salloum Abdullah and Mahmoud Ahmad Marie, has vowed to turn around Syria’s economy. The country’s currency has collapsed in recent years. Syria’s pound traded at 47 to one U.S. dollar before the conflict, the ratio is now 4,000 to one. The toll taken on Syria’s population has been severe; 13.4 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian aid, a 20 percent increase on the previous year. Ninety percent of Syrian children are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF.

As Gaza fighting ebbs, Israel’s communities eye each other warily (Reuters) Two days after Hamas and Israel began launching rockets and air strikes, Israel’s president called a TV station to plead with his fellow Jews and the country’s Arab minority not to turn on each other over the conflict. “Please stop this madness,” he said on May 12. The communal violence continued. At the end of it two people were killed—an Arab who died after being shot by Jews and a Jewish man who died after Arabs threw rocks at him. The manifestation of tensions that have existed in Israeli society since the country’s birth in 1948 left some questioning whether, even after Gaza-Israel hostilities subsided, inter-communal suspicion could poison relations for years to come. In mixed Jewish-Arab cities like Haifa, Acre, Lod and Jaffa, memories of far-right Israelis shouting “Death to Arabs!” and Arab youths dragging people from cars may take time to fade. For members of Israel’s Arab minority—who account for 21% of the population and are Israeli by citizenship but Palestinian by heritage and culture—it did not come out of the blue. Muslim, Druze or Christian, most are bilingual in Arabic and Hebrew, and many feel a sense of kinship with Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.

[forensiceyes]

California Cannabis: Preparing for Phase 3 Licensing in L.A. on September 3rd

The final countdown is on for Round 1, Phase 3 retail licensing in Los Angeles. On September 3rd at 10 a.m., the L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) will open the flood gates to would-be Round 1 applicants. And in its own announcements on the subject, the DCR states that it has verified over 800 social equity applicants (out of 1800 applicants that applied–though the City is continuing to process people) that will vie for the first 100 coveted Type 10 retail licenses (75 of which will go to Type 1 social equity applicants and 25 of which will go to Type 2 social equity applicants). Where Round 1 licensing is first come, first served with an online application via the City’s Accela licensing portal, it’s going to be fast and furious on September 3rd to get a license.

In case you missed it, I’ve written many times about the evolution of and qualifications for Phase 3 licensing in L.A–see here, here, and here (and here for delivery licensing). Importantly, if you failed to get your social equity applicant qualified by the City by July 29th, you’re automatically out. And if you were proposing to apply in an area already hit by undue concentration, you’re also toast. The City announced that the following community plans are off limits for Round 1 applicants:

Central City

Central City North

Harbor Gateway

Sherman Oaks – Studio City- Toluca Lake – Cahuenga Pass

Sun Valley- La Tuna Canyon

Venice

The City’s useful licensing map shows us what’s still up for grabs by community plan when it comes to undue concentration limitations.

If you’re applying in an area that’s reached undue concentration, the City isn’t leaving you completely hanging. Instead, you must first receive a finding of Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) from the City Council before DCR will accept and process your application. You can still file on September 3rd, but you’ll be re-routed automatically to the PCN process. You have to pay a $1,499 PCN fee within 10 calendar days of submitting the PCN request. The PCN request is then transmitted to the Office of the City Clerk for City Council consideration. Importantly, “PCN requests are not pending applications, do not receive a timestamp, and do not prevent another applicant from submitting a competing PCN request in the same area.”

One of the hallmark criteria for Round 1, in addition to meeting the social equity qualification, is proof of right to real property for your intended license type. And the City has revealed what it wants to see to prove this requirement–either a lease or deed in the name of the applicant, with proof of deposit in the event of a lease (see discussion below). The real property also has to meet all sensitive use buffers and zoning requirements, too.

If you’ve checked the boxes on social equity verification and your property meets the sensitive use buffer, zoning, and undue concentration requirements (and you have a lease or deed in the name of the licensing applicant), you should be turning your immediate attention to the licensing checklist recently compiled by DCR. Here are the key elements for filing on September 3rd:

You need your own Accela account and you should create it way before September 3rd to avoid technical glitches. I highly recommend having your own Accela account and not having a lawyer or a consultant create that account and then submitting your application on your behalf. This is the easiest and best way to know and be sure in a first come, first served system that you’ve submitted everything yourself (including attestation forms that must be executed by the applicants, themselves). It’s completely fine to have your lawyer or your consultant looking over your shoulder to confirm you’re doing everything correctly as you go along, but applicants should be the primary on the account and be the ones to actually submit, in my opinion.

Get really friendly with Zimas for the City as you will have to, in real time, verify that your property qualifies under City rules.

As soon as possible, prepare the documents you need to generate for yourself (meaning, the information required hereunder will not be provided on a form generated by DCR):

Lease or deed. Please remember that putting together a decent cannabis lease is no picnic and be aware of the many pitfalls, especially as the lease may actually go live if you secure a Round 1 license. Also, DCR will not accept non-binding documents like letters of intent, and the lease or property deed must be in the legal name of the applicant applying for the license. If you submit a lease, you must also provide a proof of deposit. Proof of deposit for a lease “in the form of a financial record that reflects the deposit, including but not limited to a copy of a check, money order, or financial institution document may be submitted.”);

Premises diagram. This diagram has to be drawn to scale; if the proposed premises consists of only a portion of a property, the diagram must be labeled indicating which part of the property is the proposed premises; and the diagram has to show the boundaries of the property and the proposed retail premises to be licensed, showing all boundaries, dimensions, entrances and exits, interior partitions, walls, rooms, windows, and doorways. Notably, the diagram does not need to provide any information not listed above, such as the placement of security cameras or specific descriptions of the types of activities that will take place in each area of the premises); and

Equity share documents. You have to provide DCR all business records and agreements necessary to demonstrate that the verified social equity applicant maintains at least the minimum equity share in the applicant business entity. Basically all corporate governance and any equity transactional documents and/or agreements having to do with economic and/or control rights (including management agreements and even loans) have to be forked over to the DCR.  And “equity share” means a share of all of the following: a business’s profits, including dividends, distributions or other payments; the proceeds of a sale of a business’ assets, liquidation of a business, merger of a business into another business, or another transaction that would constitute the end of an original business; and the voting rights on fundamental decisions relating to the business. Without a doubt, there will likely be many applicants that do not submit secret side letters they have with their partners or other arrangements that violate L.A.’s social equity program, so winners in Round 1 may expect a swift audit by DCR to ensure compliance with the equity share rules).

4. The remaining documents required by the City for Round 1 will all be provided in a form format in the Accela portal. They are:

Ownership and financial interest holder disclosure form (note that DCR, unlike the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), is not as concerned with multi-layered corporate structure disclosures–full organizational charts are optional on September 3rd);

Financial information form (this is identical to the BCC’s form for state licensing);

Proposed staffing and security plan;

Labor peace agreement attestation;

Indemnification agreement; and

Radius map attestation (this requirement is kind of a hybrid where applicants have to provide a copy of their own radius maps, too. This radius map can be either (i) a radius map prepared by a mapping or surveying company or (ii) a ZIMAS map prepared by the applicant along with the attestation.)

Applicants should not hesitate to begin forming their business entities and generating their “equity share” documents, which are extremely important and will take time to structure and negotiate (and they should afford contingencies for what happens if a Round 1 license is not secured). In addition, applicants, right now, should begin gathering the necessary information to satisfy all of the disclosure requirements they’ll have to face on September 3rd.  Without a doubt, Round 1 in L.A. has been long anticipated and many, many applicants will fight for the first 100 licenses. A combination of organization, preparation, and speed at the computer will rule the day for Round 1 in Los Angeles. So, prepare now!

California Cannabis: Preparing for Phase 3 Licensing in L.A. on September 3rd posted first on http://ronenkurzfeld.blogspot.com

[writingmaniacnerdart]

A prequel for Hallowed Shapes, an interview originally proposed by her-royal-shyness.

Patricia Tilby touched up her hair, checking her appearance in the mirror as she sighed. Checking her watch, she knew the hour was close. They were going to be on live soon, and she couldn’t help but wonder why she was doing this again. Right, because Abigail Dunton, an old friend from the Xavier Academy, called in a  “favor”...The Company she worked for, needed some publicity.

Patricia checked her notes.

Damage Control: a non-profit organization which specializes in repairing property damage caused by conflicts between super-powered or destructive beings. Created shortly following World War II and the creation of SHIELD. The organization used to be financed by SHIELD and the US government until a select group chose to elect out on its own due to differences in values.

Nowadays, it stood out as an organization like UNICEF or Doctors Without Borders, out on its own to make a difference in the world. However, everything costs something, and every donation helped. At least this would help make the studio look good.

Abigail, ugly bright orange suit and all, walked over, beaming at Patricia, “Thanks again for this.”

Patricia nodded, trying to distract herself, “No problem. So, who am I interviewing again?”

Abigail leaned on her shoulder, disregarding all sense of personal space, “Well, there’s me, then there’s the Head Foreman...And why are you asking when you already know?”

Trish groaned, hitting her head with her papers. “Abby-”

“Abigail, my name is Abigail.”

“Abigail, you do know I’m a professional reporter, right? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get this job?”

Dunton grinned, “Don’t worry, we’re not that bad. We’re just...A bunch of super janitors.”

When Trish began to show doubt, Abigail smirked, “Y’know, I could just tell everyone why your favorite color is blue.”

“Don’t you dare,” Patricia flushed, whacking Abigail with the script.

Abigail chuckled, “Hey, don’t worry...Everybody’s got a type, and blue’s a very attractive color.”

“...Just get on set.”

As Abigail wandered off, another woman came up and reluctantly patted Patricia sympathetically on the shoulder, “Uh, sorry about Abigail.”

Recognizing her, Patricia smiled, “Nah, we’ve always known she teases people. How have you been, Terry?”

Terra “Terry” Barloc, another student who went to the Xavier academy, and who like Abigail, was wearing the neon orange suit. However, unlike Abigail, Terra wasn’t a mutant. Instead, she was...No one quite knew what she was. The best thing people could describe her as was mutate since she was biologically human but had inexplicable powers. The kind of powers, that made Barloc’s eyes glow bright green as she surveyed the area around them, glancing nervously at the cameras.

“Uh, kind of nervous,” Barloc admitted. “I’m not exactly a people person.”

Patricia nodded, leaning against the wall, “You’re better than you were when we were in school.”

“...I guess,” Terra responded after some thought. “You’re a reporter now? Makes sense.”

Trisha snickered, “You mean like how I originally snuck in searching for the ‘secret school of mutants’?”

“You could’ve made one hell of a story.” Terra stuffed her hands into her pockets.

Trish lowered her eyes, remembering all of the trouble she had gotten into. It wasn't just that she was a human breaking into the school, but the chaos of the Xavier Academy and the X-Men overall that astounded her. If the world had known all that they did...“I couldn’t, I wouldn’t. It’s one thing to follow a lead and report a story, it’s another to endanger lives through recklessness or idiocy.”

Barloc’s hazel, more green than brown, searched for something, softening once she found it, “You really have grown a lot.”

“What?”

Shaking her head, Terra chuckled while gesturing to the corner of her eye. Oh, right. Checking the time again, Trish looked at the stage and Barloc got the message. All of the Damage Control members to be interviewed, sat on the couch. Some, like many Trish had interviewed, looked more nervous than others. It was better to start with ice breakers and then get down to more serious business. If she was going to sell them to the public, she was going to do it right.

Ivan, the cameraman, started the countdown, “We’re live in three, two-”

TRANSCRIPT BELOW

Trish Tilby: This is CNBC News. I’m Trish Tilby of New York. It’s 9:00 am here on the East Coast, and I’m here with Damage Control, an international non-profit organization that repairs property damage, aids in natural disasters, and volunteers around the world to help those who are struggling to thrive in a super powered world. Today we have four guests from Damage Control. John Porter is the company’s Damage Inspector and an account executive. Lenny Ballinger is the Head Foreman who has served for over seventeen years. Abigail Dunton is a primary member of the Search and Rescue Division. And Terra Barloc is a representative and Safety Networks’ Strategic Adviser.

Abigail Dunton: She also occasionally acts as bait for bad guys in the Search and Rescue division if things get messy. Some people here in New York might know her as the “Meep Meep” person.

Damage Control Group: *Laughs*

Trish Tilby: So, Terra, I’ve heard a number of things about you.

Terra Barloc: Uh oh.

Trish Tilby: Is it true that you have x-ray vision?

Terra Barloc: I can honestly say that is false. What I see is life energy. Basically, I can see if you’re alive or dead, and maybe some emotions that you might be feeling...

Trish Tilby: So you’re a mutant.

Abigail Dunton: No, she’s not. I am. I’m an empath and a minor telepath. I use my powers in Search and Rescue to find survivors and those who are injured in emergency situations. Terra uses her powers in a similar way in cases of emergency, but also in her line of work to locate danger from imposing threats.

John Porter: Damage Control does hire mutants, mutates, and other beings with supernatural powers. We also hire members of the LGBT community, and pending their crimes, even felons.

Trish Tilby: Can you elaborate on that?

John Porter: For example in the War on Drugs a number of people were arrested as felons for charges that would be considered minor offenses today. For some, circumstances which should have been looked at more closely, weren’t because of fear.

Trish Tilby: Are you saying that all felons should be pardoned?

John Porter: No, there are felons who have committed extremely serious crimes, some of an insidious nature, and should be monitored very closely. However, if someone has repaid their debt to society and/or has done more than their fair share to act as a citizen, then they be treated as such and have the opportunity to show what they are capable of as that citizen.

Trish Tilby: Mr. Ballinger, as you are currently the most experienced employee here, what is your opinion on the matter?

Lenny Ballinger: I’ve worked with felons, immigrants, and generally unwanted people that society tends to shut out and I’ll tell you, these people get the job done. Most often, they’re good folks. The ones who aren’t, we make them leave. Damage Control also has a very careful screening process whenever we hire someone. We want people who want to be here not just for the job as in for the paycheck, but the people recognize they can get something from us just as we can gain something from them.

Trish Tilby: Something from you?

Abigail Dunton: Damage Control is...We wouldn’t say a family because any company or organization who claims that generally wants something in return more for worse than better. However, we don’t just deal with damage as in property or land or services of that nature. We try to help people. Generally, we want someone, we want employees, who can honestly say they feel happy or at least satisfied to work for us because they feel some sense of being...Themselves.

Terra Barloc: Everyone is flawed in some way. As soon as someone recognizes those flaws, and sees that they can find a way to help themselves in this company to address their problems, whatever those may be, we hope they’re more than willing to walk through our doors.

Trish Tilby: You would get rid of those flaws?

John Porter: No, that’s up to the person to do. They can get rid of them, or live with them. No one’s perfect, and no one has to be perfect either.

Trish Tilby: Forgive me for saying so, but the company itself sounds too perfect.

Terra Barloc: It’s not like that, and it’s no Hotel California either. We’re a little chaotic at times. We’ve seen...A lot. Frankly, this organization is NOT for everyone.

Lenny Ballinger: We mainly clean up after supers. That involves many things ranging from magic to extreme unknown science and other things that no known language can begin to describe. Last week we had to deal with the aftermath of leavings from Fing Fang Foom...We thought he’d at least be potty-trained since he wore pants, but we were wrong.

Abigail Dunton: I’m really glad I’m not part of that division.

Trish Tilby: Some people call you heroes. Would you agree?

All Damage Control Members: No.

Lenny Ballinger: A hero, in this day and age, isn’t like us. We aren’t the people who actively look out for threats and danger to protect people from. We step in when we can and do our utmost, but we’re...We’re the janitorial group.

John Porter: We’re the sidekicks.

Abigail Dunton: We’re the middlemen that villains either ignore or don’t mess with too often because they know we’re the cleanup crew.

Terra Barloc: We’re Damage Control, and Damage Control, is not made up of heroes, just people trying to do the right thing.

Trish Tilby: How did each of you join Damage Control, if I may ask?

Lenny Ballinger: I was wrangled in by the previous CEO, Anne Marie Hoag. She interviewed me and liked what she found.

John Porter: She also found me and offered me the job. I was from a rival company and when she saw me working, she offered me higher pay. I agreed, but I stuck around because I fell in love...With the place.

Abigail Dunton: ...I was walking and Terr found me. We clicked and after talking, she and Lenny offered me a job.

Terra Barloc: I followed my father’s footsteps. He works there and I grew up with Damage Control. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Trish Tilby: Well, thank you for the interview. Please donate to Damage Control and/or contact them at the following number.

TRANSCRIPT END

“Rather vague on your origins, weren’t you?” Trish asked, concerned. "It might've been more beneficial to be more honest about who and what you were. The public tends to like that."

Lenny tipped his construction hat, “We didn’t lie and...Marie always believed that our pasts were our own. Thank you, Miss Tilby.”

Abigail smirked, leaned up and whispered to Trish, “I’ll put in a good word to Beast for you, shall I?”

As Patricia began blushing and stuttering, Abigail shook her head, glancing at Terra.

“Why am I surrounded by shy, people who are attracted to non-human humanoids?”

Terra blushed, looking away, “Not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, right.”

Snickering, even Trish knew who Abigail was referring to. Still, their "origins" as it were could truly help gain employees and donations. Couldn't they?

Roll Credits!

Either Sunny Sunday or Live in the Moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT4MmbiIox4&list=PL9XJm6jVWidTfKA7-tbRl_6wzttIMMKAJ

(In Introduction Order)

Patricia Tilby aka a reporter from X-Men and X-Factor comics aka somebody most people probably wouldn’t know

Abigail Dunton aka The One Who Likes to Embarrass/Tease

Terra “Terry” Barloc aka My OC

Ivan aka Trish’s Cameraman

John Porter aka Coverer of Damage Control’s Butt

Lenny Ballinger aka The Old Guy

Robin Chapel aka Current CEO aka John Porter’s “Place”

Fing Fang Foom aka He’ll either put you in his pants or he’ll leave gigantic droppings everywhere

Marie Anne Hoag aka the previous CEO aka Mysterious Lady

Originally an idea proposed by her-royal-shyness.

Found here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/her_royal_shyness/pseuds/her_royal_shyness

Please check out her works.

Thank you!