#any of the real ones remember when i used to post art on the reg

[yourironlung]

i miss canaan house griddlehark

[an-unhinged-queer]

Black Cousins Head Cannons

-Narcissa and Regulus are the only ones who can hold their alcohol

-Sirius would have had a lady bug pillow pet

-Regulus had a hat stall between Slytherin and Ravenclaw when being sorted

-Andromeda and Regulus have a book club (only for them tho)

-Sirius and Narcissa are the same age (not canon but neither is anything else in this fandom)

-Sirius went through a hard-core mitski phase for like 3 months when he was pining for Remus

-Bellatrix would have been a scene girl for a hot second in the 2000’s

-Narcissa is/would have been cottage core

-Regulus Black is obsessed with romance novels bc he’s cool like that

-Bella and Reg used to be semi-close before she was a psychopath

-Andromeda and Ted for sure jammed to party rock anthem

-all the Black cousins were forced to do something in the realm of fine arts when younger per their parents “request” (aka. just forcing them into something)

-Regulus had to learn how to paint (realistic oil paintings)

-Narcissa was classically trained in singing

-Andromeda had to do ballet

-Sirius was forced to learn the Cello (I got this from a fix but I can’t remember which one so I’ll just update later with the name)

-And Bella was forced in to piano

-Only regulus and andromeda kept these hobbies up, while Sirius used his skill in the cello to become self taught at electric guitar

-post-second-wizarding-war Narcissa made numerous attempts to reconnect and reconcile with andromeda (Andromeda finally accepted these attempts after a month or so)

-in a muggle AU the black cousins had a shit-talking group chat

-Bella secretly VERY secretly listened to girl in red bc she is a lesbian

-Andromeda and Lucius hated each other but pretended to get along for Narcissa

-Regulus and Bella and Sirius all wore exclusively silver jewelry while Andromeda and Narcissa wore exclusively gold

-they each had to learn another language

-Andromeda learned Turkish (only because Ted is half Turkish) (fight me on that. I dare you)

-Bellatrix learned French bc that was what her parents strongly encouraged for her

-Narcissa learned Swedish because she wanted to live there at one point in her life

-Much to his parents dismay, Sirius learned Sign Language (his parents believed that it wasn’t a real language and anyone who used it was beneath them)

-Reg also learned French, but because he genuinely was interested in the language and culture of France

-Reg helped Sirius with his studies in Sign because Sirius had trouble remembering the hand motions

-REGULUS IS TRANS FTM <3 (suck it Jkr you intolerant shit bag)

-Andromeda and Ted did the thing at their wedding were the didn’t have any matching chairs they were all different

-Bellatrix caught the bouquet simply because she is extremely competitive

That’s all for now but I have so many more <333

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

2019 Jason Manns FanFic FanArt Project

This project is finished!

See the completed book online HERE.

Jason was sweet about the book, as always, and was sad that this will be the last one. I think he’s finally gotten into the idea, but he understands that we can’t keep doing these forever. No matter what, though, I’m proud of what we’ve done! We rock!

Rules for the project, and links to the original posts with the stories and art are below the cut!

As I’ve done for Louden Swain in the past, so shall I do for Jason Manns! But only with your help!

Jason Manns has been an adjacent part of our show for over a decade, now. His music has been featured on the show, and he’s close friends with many of the cast, as well as a frequent collaborator with them, which has brought us so many projects with our favorites! In order to thank him for everything he does for us, I want us to do for him what we’ve done for Louden Swain.

If you’re new to this type of thing, check out previous Louden Swain projects:

2016 - Masterpost - Finished book

2017 - Masterpost - Finished book

2018 - Masterpost - Finished book

This is just like the Louden Swain Projects of the past, so if you’re familiar with them, this will be old hat for you.

This will NOT include any of his covers albums! This is for his original music, only!

I’m looking for BOTH writers and artists for this! For the Louden Swain projects, we’ve had art/aesthetics/edits for every story and I’d love to do the same with this. Whether you’re drawing or making aesthetics or doing something else, WE WANT YOU. All art and stories will be put together, printed, put in a snazzy binder, and presented to Jason in DC!

Everything you need to know is below the cut!

Here’s the schedule:

6/22/19 5:00PM EDT - I will post the rules and regs and open the projects up so you guys can start claiming songs. Only one song request at a time (though you can list a backup song or two if your first request is already taken). Once you have finished and posted your first request, then you may make a second request. (Note: Due to a mistake on my part last year, the fic for She Waits has already been written, so this song is not available this year.)

9/2/19 Midnight EDT - Deadline for writers. This gives writers 10 weeks, plus the US Labor Day holiday.

9/29/19 Midnight EDT - Deadline for artists. This give artists 4 extra weeks after the writing is done.

This schedule then gives me about three weeks to put everything together and prep for the con.

Here are the rules (below the cut):

Deadlines are final. NO LATE ENTRIES! If you find you need more time, let me know and we can try to work something out. I’m not going to make a deadline to sign up, but if you sign up the week before the end, you will only have a week to complete your part. If you want to do two, you must finish your first before you will be allowed to reserve a second song.

Artists: - You will be expected to work with writers so the art reflects the story. Whether you pick a song you like and get together with the writer, or pick a writer you like and get together on a song, it doesn’t matter to me. - If you’d like me to pair you with a writer, let me know, and I will match you up with someone. Most times, I have more writers than artists. If you are willing to work for multiple writers, I would be most grateful!!! In the past, I’ve had a pool of artists, and I tried to divvy up assignments as fairly as possible so no one artist gets all the work. -  SEND ME AN ASK or an IM or whatever and let me know what you want to do. Whether you’re working with a writer on one, or willing to be part of a pool that works on multiple, just let me know! - When you’re making your art, keep in mind that it will be pasted into a Word document, printed on letter-sized paper, and put into a sheet protector in a binder. You might want to print out what you make to see how it looks on the page. (You can check out the finished projects above for reference.) - You can post your art in your own post and tag me and #2019 Jason Manns FanFic FanArt Project or submit it to me through my blog or send it to me via carrier pigeon (please don’t send it via carrier pigeon, they poop a lot and I have cats) or drop me a line and I’ll give you an email address to send it to. - I would love some original cover art! If you are an artist and are interested in doing something, send me a message and we can talk concepts!!

Writers: - Can be any pairing or ship, reader-insert or OC, or even no pairing, whatever floats your boat. Please no RPF. - Please no smut. Anything else is up for grabs. Or maybe just a headcanon kind of thing. - Pick a song and SEND ME AN ASK with the song you have picked to sign up. I will update a masterpost on my blog with the songs taken. Songs will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis. - You can’t write for the same song you wrote about in previous projects. This is to ensure variety in the stories from project to project. - Tag me in your fic, plus use the tag #2019 Jason Manns FanFic FanArt Project. You can also submit your fic to me through my blog, or send me a message and we can discuss the pigeon and email options. (Really prefer no pigeons.) - You must use a Keep Reading feature if your fic is posted to Tumblr and over 500 words. - Your fic can either be a story based on the song or just have it somehow highlight the song. Since Jason will get to read these, I’d rather the fics be more relevant than just a song playing on the radio in the background, but do what you can. - Your fic can also be a part of another challenge, BUT make your fic relevant to the song you choose, please! (Basically, please do more for this challenge than having a Jason Manns song playing in the background.) - If I haven’t liked or reblogged your post within a couple days, let me know I missed it!  - I will give your work a basic grammar/spelling proofreading before adding it to the project. If you would like, I can beta read your story for you before you post it, too. Just let me know!

Everyone: - If you would like to include a short summary of why you like the song you picked, especially if the song has some special meaning to you, I will add that to your submission in the final project. If you look at the previous projects (links are at the top of this post), you can see the kind of thing I’m talking about at the top of some of the stories. Please keep these brief, though.

And now, for something completely different: If you are interested in doing something completely different than a Supernatural-related story or art/edit, talk to me about it, and I’ll figure out a way to include it. Letters to the band or stories that are not SPN-related can be printed out and presented separately, and a list of links to posted audio or video submissions can be added.

I’m so excited to see what everyone does!! As songs are claimed, this list will be updated!

Song List:

Album - Jason Manns Vision  Another Number Perfect Spot Journey I Remember Your Song The Same Reminders All I Ask Without You - @andromytta (fic)  @brothersinsync​ (art)

Album - Soul Soul Never Let You Go Hold On Me Real World Rooftop Rendevous - @wingedcatninja (fic and art)  Vagabond Blues You Take My Blues Away - @winchestergirl-13 (fic)  (art) He’ll Walk Away Breathe In Two Pictures

Album - Move Move Down Never Let You Leave Me (Again) Weary Man  Let Loose Need My Muse To Dance Put the Past Behind - @robbenedictandco (fic)  @espada-iv​ (art) The One Who Lifts Me Up - @winchestergirl-13 (fic)  (art) Let It Go

Single - When Did I Stop Believing 

Cover art by @alaskanartist​ 

Tagging past participants and other possibly interested people:  @a-winchester-fairtytale @adriellej @alangel1895 @andromytta @anotherwinchesterfangirl @archangel-with-a-shotgun @archangelsanonymous @atc74 @brothersinsync @castiels-forbidden-angel @crashdevlin @curliesallovertheplace @deansleather @dont-hate-relate-pls @ellen-reincarnated1967 @enchantedstarfleet @take-my-crookedwheel @growningupgeek @hideyourdemoneyes @i-cant-believe-its-not-satan @i-dont-understand-that-url @icecream-and-gadreel @iwantthedean @jelly-beans-and-gstrings @jpadjackles-mishamark @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @lifeonsarz @littlegreenplasticsoldier @loudenswainfangirl @manawhaat @mandilion76 @multi-fan-dom-madness @mysupernaturalfics @narrettwist @notnaturalanahi @oriona75 @padamooseandgrasshopper @pastelspn @personal-boogeyman @purgatoan @robbenedictandco @roxy-davenport @samanddeanwinchester67 @sams-little-toy @samsexualdeancurious @saritaa-chan @scorpiongirl1 @sinceriouslyamellpadalecki @smmywinchester45 @stunt-idjit-number-two @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @toastiel @tricia-16 @trollhunter94 @waywardnerd67 @wideawakeandwriting @winchestergirl-13 @writingfromkitchenator @ilostmyshoe-79 @wingedcatninja @desiraelovesdestiel @impala-dreamer

[krinsbez]

GI Joe: Remixed, Semi-Random Trivia, About Semi-Random Joes

An incomplete list of Joes who are members of minority groups; please make suggestions for additions, as there are many, many Joes with whom I am unfamiliar:

(some of these placements will be elaborated on below)

AFRICAN-AMERICAN:

Stalker

Roadblock

Doc

Doc II

Alpine

Stretcher

Hardball

Iceberg

Heavy Duty

Big Lob

Freight

Quick Stryke

Grill

Cool Breeze

Ripcord

ASIAN-AMERICAN:

Jinx

Quick Kick

Budo

Tunnel Rat

Ronin

Rico

Firewall

Black Dragon (?)

DESI:

Hashtag

LATINO:

Shipwreck

Law

Lady Jaye

Alpine

Dynamite

Hot Sauce

ARAB-AMERICAN:

Breaker

Sgt. Slaughter

NATIVE AMERICAN:

Spirit

Airborne

PACIFIC ISLANDER:

Torpedo

Red Dog

SIKH:

Hashtag

JEWISH:

Clutch

Bazooka

Budo

ISLAMIC:

Breaker

Sgt. Slaughter

QUAKER:

Lifeline

NEURO-ATYPICAL:

Helix

-Sgt. Slaughter is NOT the professional wrestler born Robert Remus, but received his codename due to a coincidental resemblance to said pro wrestler. That said, he did wrestle in college, where he majored in Classics. Note that he is still serious about his classics studies; he is fluent in both Ancient Greek and Latin, and is knowledgeable about not only Classical literature, but also the history, mythology, culture, etc. of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

-Alpine is mixed-race, having African-American, Caucasian, and Latin ancestry; people's efforts to pin him down to one or the other and inability to do so is a constant source of amusement to him.

-Lady Jaye is biracial; her father is as WASP as one can be without being a Boston Brahmin (although they're adjacent), while her mother is from Latin America; note that her mother's family is also filthy rich and aristocratic. Also, she's a distant cousin of Destro and Darklon.

-Rico is a character of our own creation, a Fillipina-American who's primary MOS is powered armor, specifically the Accelerator suit from Rise of Cobra

-Firewall is a young, Asian woman ala DDP rather than an older, Caucasian woman ala IDW.

-Riffing on Rise of Cobra, Breaker's parents are from Morocco.

-Budo periodically notes that both sets of grandparents spent WWII in camps; his paternal grandparents in an internment camp, his maternal grandparents in a concentration camp.

-Ripcord and Cover Girl have more-or-less their IDW backstories.

-Lifeline's aikido skills are such that he's one of the top ten best hand-to-hand combatants in GI Joe. Granted, his pacifist beliefs mean he rarely showcases them; "getting Lifeline in the ring" is a Joe colloquialism for a task that is very difficult and unlikely to end well for you.

-As with many other military regulations, the rules against fraternization are not strictly enforced for Joes, so Flint/Lady Jaye, Scarlett/Snake Eyes, and Jinx/Falcon are things.

-Dial-Tone and Hard Drive are A: female, and B: hot.

-Dial-Tone is the nerdiest nerd to ever nerd, or at least, as much as possibly whilst being an attractive woman. She also barely qualified to be a Joe physically. That said, she did, in fact, qualify, and is thus eminently capable of kicking your ass.

-Clockspring is kinda a creeper. He hasn't done anything explicitly against the regs, but he's come veeery close. As a result, Hard Drive, Firewall, Dial-Tone, and Hashtag frequently receive sympathy from other female Joes about having to work with him, which leaves them confused, because while Clockspring is aware of their gender, he slots them into his head as fellow nerds and doesn't creep on them at all.

-Clockspring also posts on a number of Incel/MRA/RedPill sites, although he keeps getting banned for telling other posters to take it down a few notches.

-Quick Kick has always been a movie guy; he got into martial arts because he realized that Hollywood is kinda racist and expects Asian-American performers to know chop socky stuff. That said, he turned out to be better at it than at acting, so ended up becoming a stunt double. Then the Cobra War happened, he joined the Army and eventually ended up in GI Joe.

-Freight, somewhat similarly, was a star linebacker, who walked away from a multi-million dollar contract to enlist when the Cobra War began. He greatly dislikes being compared to Pat Tillman.

-Contrary to what you'd expect, Freight and Red Dog (who could've been a star if he hadn't been tossed out of the NFL for frequent unnecessary roughness) get along really well.

-GI Joe's first fighter ace, somewhat ironically, was not Ace (who's codename comes form being a card shark), but Slipstream. However, Ace was the first Joe to become Ace In A Day.

-No one can remember Ghostrider The Stealth Pilot's codename, which he is surprisingly OK with, as long as they don't call him by someone else's codename...whereupon he will start calling that person by someone else's codename.

-All the Joe pilots are qualified to fly all Joe aircraft, with the possible exceptions of the Defiant and SHARCs, so Wild Bill can fly a Skystriker and Ace can fly a Tomahawk and Lift-Ticket can fly a Phantom and Ghostrider The Stealth Pilot can fly a Mudfighter and Dogfight can fly a Vector and Maverick can fly a C-130 or Dragonfly, etc.

-Quick Kick holds regular movie nights; Sgt. Slaughter is banned due to his habit of pointing out all the inaccuracies whenever QK puts on a sword-and-sandal flick.

-Roadblock and Heavy Duty are cousins. In addition to their size (which is not just "big" but freakishly its-a-miracle-they-don't-have-health-problems HUGE) and fondness for MOAR DAKKA, they also share a passion for cooking. Roadblock is a master chef, specializing in Soul Food and French haute cuisine (both nouvelle and classique), though he's also excellent at classic Italian and most American regional specialties. In general, Heavy Duty is almost as good and in some cases better (he is an internationally ranked sushi chef, for example), but rather than rely on a standard repertoire, he prefers to experiment, either with exotic foreign or newly-invented dishes he's just heard of or bizarre creations of his own; his success is...mixed.

-Quick Kick has a habit of reciting quotes from Little Caesar every time he runs into Rico in a hallway or whatever. She does not know that's what he's doing and is generally puzzled by the whole thing.

-Mainframe has a thing going on with Zarana.

-When Jinx and Falcon started dating, they got shovel speeches from Duke and Snake Eyes, respectively (yes, despite Snake Eyes being unable to talk). In addition, Storm Shadow kidnapped Falcon...then took him out to dinner, cuz he wanted to get to know his cousin's boyfriend. And because Falcon is Falcon, they ended up bar/club-hopping. Meanwhile, Duke, who only knew his baby brother was abducted by Cobra Commander's personal assassin, was ready to start World War III.

-Cross-Country believes he has a duty to reclaim the family honor he believes was lost when his ancestors took up arms to fight for slavery. His choice of outfit is bait, to trick racists and CSA apologists to make themselves known to him so he can punch them in the face.

-Quick Kick has a Japanese father and a Korean mother. As a result, when he fights the Red Ninjas, they call him a half-breed and talk shit about his mom. He deals with it by kicking their asses.

-Clutch and Rock'n'Roll are best buds. Ditto Bazooka and Alpine. Also Leatherneck and Wetsuit, albeit of the vitriolic kind where they fight constantly.

-Shipwreck is a SEAL.

-Clutch and Budo once went out together to get tattoos of their grandparent's numbers.

-Quick Kick took it upon himself to put together a crash course in cinema since the '70s for Sgt. Savage, and had to be reminded that showing him movies about Vietnam maybe wasn't the best idea.

-Grand Slam, Sci-Fi, and Red Spot are SF/F nerds. Flash is not, and gets annoyed when people assume he is.

-Spirit does not look particularly stereotypical.

-Among GI Joe's many secret mini-bases is one located in a Las Vegas casino; Ace regularly requests a transfer there, as it is the only way he will ever be allowed into a Las Vegas Casino.

-Airborne is genuinely psychic. That said, he's not very powerful; he just has "hunches" that are always right.

-Clutch has an unfortunate habit of running into secret Cobra activity whenever he goes on leave. Seriously, Every. Single. Time.

-Order is much, much more obedient than Junkyard, partially due to natural temperament but largely because Law trained him that way; Law's...kinda contemptuous of the fact that Mutt has not similarly trained Junkyard, and the two of them don't really get along because of it.

-Falcon used to hate Shipwreck, because every strategy he came up with to try and smuggle hookers into the Pit failed because 'Wreck had already tried it. Though, he's mellowed out about it since he started dating Jinx.

-Snake Eyes is under orders to have regular therapy sessions with Psyche-Out (because for obvious reason he's kind of a mess, psychologically); that Etch-a-Sketch is real handy.

-GI Joe has official social media, run by Hashtag, of course. However, the Joes take turns running the official GI Joe twitter account which leads to WMG from the people following trying to figure out who is doing it at any given time, which leads to the Joes deliberately trying to do it in other Joe's style. So, say, Shipwreck will fill it up with rhymes about cooking so people will think it's Roadblock, and Roadblock will do it in French and keep mentioning gumbo and gators so people think it's Gung Ho, and Gung-Ho keeps throwing in Star Wars references so people think it's Sci-Fi, etc. Duke hates doing it, so is very terse, so everyone always assumes he's Snake Eyes (which is hilarious to people who know Snake, who was an inveterate chatterbox before he became mute).

-Note that they also are allowed to have their own social media.

-Cover Girl's social media is a battleground, between her fans from her modeling/reality-show days and her fans since joining GI Joe.

-Heavy Duty has a youtube show where he discusses his cooking experiments. The episodes where Roadblock guest-stars are the most popular, since you now have a 100% chance of the result being edible instead of 50/50.

-Snake Eyes has a Twitter account under his real name, which is really, really active, and really, really inane, because he needs some outlet for his natural chatterbox tendencies.

-As stated, Duke does not believe in social media. As a result, there is a bit of a competition amongst the Joes to trick him into appearing on theirs.

-Cross-Country has a blog where he calls out Confederate apologists. He's been banned from multiple Civil War forums and subreddits and such for flaming same.

-Barbecue mostly goes on about Boston sports

[jaigeyes]

musing on the clones, art, and legacy, because this is all I think about apparently:

so there’s a scene in RepComm where a group of about 200 spec ops clones are performing a traditional Mandalorian dance together in the hangar of a ship in the small break that they have before they have to prep for arriving on Coruscant. and during this scene, there’s another one of them standing on a walkway up above, recording the whole thing on video before he hands the camera to the nearby Jedi and jumps down to dance with his brothers

and I keep thinking about this scene because a) I love clones and I’m so happy when they’re happy but also b) what happened to that recording? and all the other videos and audio records and holo-pics and art and writing that the clones made during their downtime? where did it all go?

I mean, it seems pretty obvious that there was a ton of stuff that they created - we see their art with tattoos and painted armor and gunship nose art, and any group of people with easy access to cameras will end up taking a lot of photos and videos. we’re talking about an army that is, conservatively, a few million strong (and that’s just the ones that are old enough to fight! what about the cadets on Kamino?). there must be an enormous quantity of journals and stories and poems and songs that were produced during the Clone Wars (and later, by the clones who served under the Empire, and the ones who managed to escape the army entirely)

but I feel like a lot of it would have just ended up being… lost. I mean, a lot of this is probably the kind of stuff that just gets tossed if nobody bothers to preserve it. The thing is, in real life a lot of the photos and journals and letters that tell the personal stories of a war are kept by the families of soldiers. And while I imagine that a dead clone’s personal belongings would probably be distributed among his closest brothers whenever they could manage it, they died at a rate where that really would only result in the retention of a small portion of whatever was being created. In the EU they definitely use their helmets as digital storage devices (see: Fi listening to his pre-fight space-electronica playlist through helmet speakers), but the Republic also doesn’t bother to collect corpses off of battlefields - anything that they were carrying with them at the time of their deaths would probably be lost unless scavengers ended up snatching it

and I don’t think that very much of this would make it onto any kind of external holonet or anything - at least not directly. I’ve seen some posts on here about clones + galactic social media, and although I think the idea is really cute… I feel like the Republic would want to maintain a pretty strict degree of separation between their soldiers and the citizens, for a variety of reasons.

(And what about the stuff that went against army regs? if a clone made anything that expressed any kind of anti-war, anti-Republic, or anti-Jedi sentiments, he would have to hide it or risk getting accused of treason and being sent back to Kamino for reconditioning or worse)

does some of it just become the weird junk that you find antique stores and thrift shops?? like how some antique stores will just have boxes of assorted old family photographs for a 50 cents apiece - do people flipping through old second-hand data chips sometimes stumble across pictures of clones in barracks or in the aftermath of a battle or trekking across the surface of some far-flung planet? how many of the people living in the GFFA would even recognize a clone’s face? 

I wonder if anyone ever made a point of collecting any of it. People in real life collect old war stuff all the time - I’m certain there’s collectors in the galaxy that have an interest in accumulating any Clone Wars-related items they can get their hands on (relatable). Are there any museums anywhere? Did anyone in the New Republic curate any kind of collections for historical or educational purposes, or where they just so busy trying rebuild from what was left that it just…fell by the wayside (so few of them would have survived all the way to the Rebel victory. Also I personally headcanon that a lot of the Rebels come from formerly Sep planets and probably are even less fond of clones than people from Republic-aligned worlds, but that’s a whole other can of worms). Or maybe it’s it all seen as far too Imperial - the difference between ‘GAR clone trooper’ and ‘Imperial stormtrooper’ is probably not something that a lot of civilians care about; all they see are the blasters and white helmets. How are they generally viewed by the New Republic, especially in light of the fact that they killed off the Jedi? (it seems unlikely that the brain chips would ever have become common knowledge) (oh, ugh, are there pro-imperial assholes who actually celebrate that the clones were the ones who made the Galactic Empire possible? probably. gross)  Are there historians who spend time tracking down journals relating to especially significant battles during the Clone Wars?

on a related note: I wonder if Kix had any recordings of his brothers with him when he was put in stasis. Do you think he’d ever find some cracked old Clone Wars-era helmet in some backwater pirate den, with miraculously intact data storage, filled with holo-pics of the former owner’s squad? Would he take the time to track down recordings wherever he can - the only way that he can ever see his brother’s faces anymore, now that he’s the only clone trooper left in the entire galaxy? will I ever stop being sad about this? (no)

…this turned out a longer than I thought it would but. I’m just sad that the most significant legacy of the clones isn’t anything positive like art or personal stories or even just… being viewed as people. Instead, what they’re probably mostly remembered as in-universe is the predecessors to the stormtroopers of the Empire and the First Order

[temsology]

My best friend lost her brother to a car accident last month. They had his funeral yesterday. the feeling is something that’s been different for me since it happened. I didn’t want to write about it on here until she posted something online. I’m happy she made a portrait of him. Art is literally therapy. Even though him and I wasn’t close he was def a brother to me too. She’s my sister, their family is my family. They lived down the street from me since forever. I remember when we were younger our parents had like 2 of the same cars at different points in life. he was in the same pre k class as me. It was a pre school/pre k class. Then towards the end of middle school me and my bestf were allowed to walk home from school sometimes and he had to walk with us but he’d walk behind us cause he didn’t wanna actually walk with us. So one day we didn’t see him after school so we left. We walked to her house and their backyard has an entrance into a park so we walked through the park to get to their house and we really swore we saw him walking through the park in front of us. Called his name but the dude didn’t respond so we kept walking but kinda got scared. We got to the house and searched it top to bottom and couldn’t find him. But the guy seriously did look like him. I remember when we went into his room he literally had a huge framed picture of himself over his bed and I thought it was the craziest/funniest thing in the world but it was so normal to her cause it was always there. I remember one day after school me and my bestf bought cake mix with or snack money, it was a chocolate lava cake we baked. And he was waiting the whole time excited to get a piece of our cake but we were like nope, he’s not getting any, he didn’t bake it, and we didn’t want him to help. But ultimately we let him get a piece. I don’t think we even really liked the cake after we made it but he loved it and we left it for him. Then in college during seasonal breaks my cousin and I used to go to house parties and whatnot back at home. Before we had access to a car to go out we’d always run into him and his friends at these parties and they were literally our buddies and at the end of the night none of us actually had a ride home so we used to walk home together ohde drunk just being foolish kids. And it was honestly so fun. Even though one of the friends got a bit annoying cause they liked me and would always try me, they were just friends. Like extended brothers for real. another one of my close friends ended up marrying him too at a point in time. It’s just crazy how the cycle of life and death occurs. Especially when the ending is not expected. Life changes drastically. I literally worry about my brothers lives on the reg basis and then this happened with her and I can’t even understand the full feeling of it being a reality. I just know the feeling of worrying about mine. But I do believe that no matter how hard scenarios are to fathom, everything does happen for a reason. But Lord, please give us a sense of serenity.

[homenum-revelio-hq]

Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Ashlie!

You have been accepted for the role of SIRIUS BLACK! I had so much fun reading your application! I was particularly impressed with how well you incorporated Sirius’ flaws, particularly how it relates to the Order and his relationships. I also really enjoyed such a creative occupation as magical tatoo artist! I am so excited to have you as part of this roleplay!

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Ashlie

AGE: 22

TIMEZONE: est

ACTIVITY LEVEL: Generally i attempt to get online every day. When   multiple posts get long (and I have a habit of turning everything into a para) it may be two days of plotting and drafting and that third day my posts get out onto the dash however I’ve been blessed with weekends off and typically you’ll see a wide influx of activity on my end during friday/saturday/sunday

ANYTHING ELSE: Triggers: flashing gifs

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Sirius Orion Black

AGE: 21

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Male/he/him – Sirius had spent most of his adolescence too busy trying to have a good time and frustrating his mother to ever stop and think of sexual attraction. His heart is very much guarded and his head has always been on pranks and friends to the point that he was behind the majority of his peers in terms of romantic and sexual maturation. He never denied the rumors, and if you asked anyone other than the Marauders and possibly McGonagall (he still doesn’t know how that woman always manages to see through him) they would likely tell you a he-said-she-said going on for over half an hour of his endeavors. Truthfully Sirius is a virgin with no clue where his attraction lies and he isn’t sure he’s ready to find out.

BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood. Sirius struggles to recall a time his blood status was not the focal point of his identity and the harder he pushed away, the stronger it clung to him. From the day he was born he was never Sirius– but the Black family heir. The one who would inherit the family fortune, carry on the name of the most noble and ancient. As he grew older he became the rebel, the disgrace to the 28 who was only headed for trouble and needed to be set straight. His own housemates saw him as nothing more than a overly-privileged pureblooded brat who wanted to play like he was one of them for a while. He had truly thought he escaped the stereotypes of a member of the Sacred 28 when he’d been disowned, forced to be a burden on his best friend and start an entirely new life, but even still he heard it. That Black kid got what was coming to him, nothing but a spoiled brat who didn’t know how good he had it until it was gone.

HOUSE ALUMNI: Gryffindor. Sirius is not afraid of anything in this world more than what he would be if it were not for this house. For the first time in his life he understood the difference between a house and a home. He made friends, felt cared for, and was free to be himself entirely without fear of extreme retributions.

ANY CHANGES:

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

No matter how hard he tries to display otherwise, certain aspects of Sirius have always screamed the privilege of a pureblooded wizard, and while that wasn’t always a bad thing, in the middle of a war over rights it was hard for any of his acquaintances to see it in a positive light. The sense of entitlement was obvious to those who were raised differently than him, although may be more difficult to spot by his fellow purebloods. Sirius has only had one thing he truly wanted and wasn’t granted– the acceptance of his family. Even after all these years he is still in denial, pushing at every turn to gain their anger because it’s easier than to admit he secretly wants their affections. Now for the second time he isn’t getting his way, his time with the friends who have been more of a family to him than his blood ever had is spacing out more by the day and he is unsure of how to cope. Sirius has always been impulsive, when the stress and anxiety gets too much to bear he lashes out, acts up and can forget it isn’t always his own safety he is putting at risk. After that day at the willow- he’s refused to call it a prank since it happened- he has tried to put more thoughts into his actions but quite often even still, his racing thoughts take over.

His entitlement doesn’t make him a bad person, it just takes a lot more effort to get Sirius to allow a person to see past the barriers he has put around himself. He wants the people around him to see a blank expression, an uncaring bad-boy, because if he doesn’t care he can’t be hurt again. It takes a lot to get past those coping mechanisms, even more to earn his trust but if you get there Sirius Black is loyal to a fault. His life and well being means nothing more than to be there for the people he loves and he would lose everything to keep them safe and happy. He prefers to take care of people in a more sneaky way, as a child he would take the blame for a mistake his brother made, or cause even more of a stir to get the attention on himself. He was the one to take the detentions and say they never got caught, or lie and say he needed a night in when he knew one of his friends needed a break. It is easy to see Sirius as nothing more than another pompous asshole but for those who take the time to truly get to know him he’s a secret softy with a lot of love to give.

Sirius Black has a bark bigger than his bite and will try and scare you away until he finally gives up and snuggles up in your lap, getting fur all over your favorite sweater.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Being one of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black was a full time job. The Blacks were an old, wealthy family and looked up to as the pinnacle of pureblood society. As the heir to such a prominent name and fortune, every small move Sirius made was on alert. From the time he was an infant he was expected to hold and share these values with the rest of society and his affection was based entirely on what he could do for his family. When his robes were sloppy from trying to keep up with Bella he was a disgrace, punished heavily and it was extremely confusing to such a young mind. If he was supposed to be better than everyone in the room simply for being a Black, how was he also an abomination? It was stressful and anxiety inducing, but all Sirius wanted was to please his mother. After hours of talking to his father’s boring stuffy friends, he couldn’t help but run around for a few hours, or take a fly around the garden. He didn’t try to get himself into trouble- he just needed to move. He did slowly learn that his mother’s love was never truly in his reach, not for sale at all and decided to stop fooling himself. The panic, the tears, none of it was worth fighting for the kindness he would never receive.

He remembered the uncle who no one spoke of anymore, knew just how real the threats of completely being removed from the family for not fitting in were. But for some reason it just made Sirius rebell more– cling to the second family he had made for himself in a small group of Gryffindor boys.

Still, when the options was laid in front of him he had not said no immediately.  The Dark Lord needed a spy in the school and offered Sirius for what his parents considered the highest of honors. Choose this now, and his entire past would be forgiven, he would be the son his mother always wanted. The favorite child once again. Regulus might be free to live a life outside of the war, outside of the Death Eaters and it would all be because of Sirius. Or he could run away, disappear in the night and lose the only family he had ever known for the chance of getting away. He knew he would never really have fought for Voldemort, for anyone who believed the awful things his parents were constantly rattling off like a gaggle of trained clones. But he had been tempted for the briefest moment. He thinks about it still while he wonders if he could ever duel his baby brother, his cousins. He thinks about how easy it was to send Snape off to that Willow when he knew just how dangerous it would be. Should he really be a part of the Order or will he always be nothing more than another narrow-minded, privileged Black just without all the money?

OCCUPATION:

Tattoo Artist at Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoo Parlor. Sirius working in Knockturn Alley absolutely turned a few heads, but he had always enjoyed the attention, good or bad he always had been drawn to other people talking about him. He had transfigured himself a sketch pad third year and art had become an outlet he never thought he would obtain. It was like a diary– his deepest thoughts and fears laid out in that book and when he had the opportunity to use art to pay his rent he was fairly excited for the opportunity. Besides, Sirius knows what kind of people linger around Knockturn Alley. Not often anyone high enough to know the most inner workings of Voldemort’s ranks, but if he could just hear confirmation that Reg is alive- it would be worth every hour in that shop.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

After spending seven years as a close-knit gang of teenage boys, coming up with nicknames and wreaking havoc on Hogwarts’ ground and staff- Sirius had not been ready to give it up. The rush of the Marauders made him feel something besides the panic of never being good enough for the first time in his life and the Order seemed to be a bigger and better version of this, but this time with a purpose. Coming in Sirius got a kick out of the meetings, knowing how his mother would disapprove and putting his money where his mouth is to prove to every person who ever told him he would never be anything more than another privileged pureblood.

The realities of war are starting to hit in a way that made Sirius wonder if he had ever truly been as progressive as he liked to think he was. He’s slowly realizing the danger that the people he cares about are in, and just how wrong what is happening is and he’s starting to really fight for a cause rather than trying to cause as much trouble as he can while he’s young and alive. But it’s still all centered around himself and his own world. Sirius wants to fight for his friends safety. Get this war over with so he does not have to deal with any more loss.

SURVIVAL:

Sirius had always been blessed with the fact that everything he has done has come to him with ease, including his dueling skills. The issue with this is he is now fighting others with that same ability, and not all of them have the nostalgia of being his blood relative. Sirius had been doing something he has struggled with his entire life- laying low. He knew how the minds of these Death Eaters work, and the lese pure blood they had to spill the better. He needed to keep his name away from their inner circles and go from apartment to apartment, hoping for the best.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Romantic relationships are not on the top of Sirius’ mind at the moment, he is too busy clinging onto his friendships with a harsh fear of separation between them all. The less time Sirius has had with his friends, the more he’s clung to them and is at the point where he’s nervous he’ll start to push them away as well. It’s all he’s good at really, letting down the people he loves.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: sirius/chemistry - i need to feel out this version of Sirius before I confirm but I do tend to fall toward an ace Sirius

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

The most obvious is the fact that Sirius is a Black. Blown off the family tree or not he grew up in a life of luxury; house elves doing all of his chores and having never gone wanting for anything materialistic. He was safe from any of the harassment or now life endangerment being faced by others and would never have had to worry if it weren’t for his involvement in the Order. Sirius grew up with a silver spoon. Growing up in a house where muggleborns being lesser than himself, he has developed a mentality that they are likely lesser than him aside from the rare exception. Of course they should be just as welcomed and treated with the same respect as purebloods but they hadn’t grown up in the way Sirius had. Muggleborns don’t understand their world the way he does.

Additionally, if anyone else had endangered two students lives the way Sirius had by sending Snape to the Willow, they would have been lucky to only be expelled. But Sirius was a Black. He was a Black with good grades and a future and who knows where he would be if he was sent out of Hogwarts and off to a new school so he got away with a slap on the wrist.

He wants to come across progressive, but there are some biases he has never even thought to question. Sirius doesn’t want to believe Remus is the spy. He’s his brother in all ways that matter and Sirius really does not want to believe Remus could sell them out because he’s a werewolf. There is no thought of werewolves are people and some are good and some are bad. Instead he’s facing thoughts of please do not let another person he considers family turn to dark because he will always love Remus but his betrayal would prove that werewolves are inherently bad.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

This roleplay drips with the aesthetic of a community that has been widely dropped off. Para centered rp has been hard to find recently in favor of gifs and face claims that fit our favorite television characters. While I love seeing a ship from other fandoms converted into the Potter universe, a place where writing and world building are the prime focus is simply tempting. So much seems to have gone into every aspect of this role play it has brought out my muse in ways that a rp hasn’t in a long time.

ANYTHING ELSE? https://amockblogashlie.tumblr.com/

[evnoweb]

This Week in Ontario Edublogs

This only good thing about August is that the sun gets up a little later so I can sleep in more.  Oh, and it’s another day closer to my birthday.

The best thing about Fridays is great content from Ontario Edubloggers.  From the URL, this is the 320th post that carries this title.

“Hey! You taught us that!”

From Lisa Corbett, an EQAO post appearing in July!

It’s a wonderful tale of planning by a Grade 3 teacher to make things right so that students are best prepared for their writing of the test.  I’ll bet that many teachers will agree with her approach.

But, the response from this student…

just has to make the ol’ teacher heart feel good.

Will Self-Reg Fix My Relationship With…?

From the “Self-Reg” blog, we welcome new blogger Nancy Niessen who address the question posed to her as to whether self-regulation would help with a relationship with a sister.

I’d hate to think that one solution is the answer to everything but it seems to be for those who have embraced the self-regulation theory.

The post digs into how Nancy sees self-regulation as a way to address stress like this and takes us through a number of thoughts.

With every post that I read about self-regulation, I feel that I learn just a bit more.  Is it everything to everything?

Learning about Self-Reg doesn’t mean that everything will suddenly be perfect in our relationships. That’s not realistic. We can’t eliminate stress and not all stress is negative. 

Kids Can Smell Fear

Weeeeel, maybe “sense” is a more accurate word than “smell”.

Matthew Morris deals with the notion of occasional teachers and I think that we all know and recognize that there aren’t too many more easy targets in education.  Yet, it’s a hurdle that new teachers these day must jump over as they wait for that permanent job.

The description in Matthew’s post though vividly brought back memories for me of my first few days in the profession.  I did get hired directly from the Faculty of Education in June to start a career the day after Labour Day.

And, I do remember being 23 or 24 going into a home room with students who were 18 or 19.  From an outside viewer, I would be the one wearing a tie.  I smile looking back now – a tie in September in hot/humid Essex County?  The best part was that Matthew included references to geese.  It’s so true.

Maybe that was the smell.  Nah, it probably was the fear.  Yeah, definitely the fear.  And, as I recall, it was totally unfounded.  They were a great contact for my first contact with my own students.

De-emphasizing Grades in Secondary Science: A Shift in Perspective

This post, from Amy Szerminska was one that I was waiting to read.  I had read an earlier post about her thoughts of going gradeless in secondary school science.

Until I read her post and understood how she made it work, I would have been totally in agreement with this…

A gradeless classroom seemed like a great idea for Art or English, but certainly not Science. 

Of course, I wasn’t an Art or English teacher so maybe there is a justifiable difference between an 89 and a 90.   I know that in Computer Science there really isn’t an I did enjoy the negotiated grade with a student.

It seems to me that if a student can bring a rational explanation to the negotiation table with a teacher and prove her case, then you’ll end up with the best assessment possible.  Not to be confused with “whining for marks”.

The First Follower

Lisa Cranston and I worked together for a number of years.  In fact, in this post, she describes a project that we both worked on as a team.  I do have some stories about that project to be shared offline…

This is a post about leadership and getting that “first follower”.  Lisa makes reference to a workshop that she attended and a context set with this video.

Mostly, leadership videos like this are geared towards those aspire to be formal leaders.

But, in education, aren’t we all leaders?  It’s easier for formal leaders because they might inspire in formal settings.  Outside that formal setting though, might you not garner followers who are just watching your actions?  If you believe that, you might never know when that first follower might appear.

MEMORIZATION VS. AUTOMATICITY: BACK TO BASICS OR BEYOND THE BASICS?

Kyle Pearce knows his mathematics and has been featured on this blog so many times.  I like reading his thinking and, honestly, I actually do some of the examples that he illustrates his point with.  For me, mathematics is mostly fun.

Once we get over the Health and Physical Education debate in Ontario, can another election promise be on the horizon?

“Let’s ditch discovery mathematics and get back to the basics”

One of the pillars of the discussion about sex education is the curriculum was introduced in 1998 and the internet was accessed via dialup.

So, I wonder, when we “get back to the basics” what year do we set our time machine to?  Whose basics?  I certainly want today’s youth to understand mathematics better and key concepts earlier and better than I did when I was first introduced to them.

This is a nice post and Kyle provides a link to download a cheat sheet at the bottom of the post.

You know, maybe if we dropped the term “mathematics” and replaced it with “computational thinking”, the naysayers would go away.  Change by intimidation.  That’s the ticket.

What’s So Hard About the Digital Classroom?

Sue Dunlop asks the million dollar question.

If we had the definitive answer, we could solve so many ills.  As Sue correctly notes, we buy travel online, do banking, and so many things digitally without a second thought.  Students communicate seemingly so easy.  So why doesn’t it transfer to the classroom?

My theory?  I think there are equally a million different answers.

There really is a disconnect between real world applications and the environment that happens in the classroom.  The desktop typically is locked down so that only certain elements of functionality are available.  In theory, it keeps the technology more reliable.  But does it really?

But I think that’s only part of the situation.  Does the classroom teacher really know what successful use looks like?  Does the classroom teacher really have the time to understand all the ins and outs to truly understand what’s possible?  Answer – some of them.  There will always be the first adopters and those visionaries that are experts in their field and know what is possible.  Knowing what it looks like when it works is so important.  So often, professional learning opportunities are about the functionality of a piece of technology with only a passing reference to what it looks like in the hands of a student learner.

But that’s the beginning – does the technology truly deliver?  Teaching and all that it entails remains in the professional judgement of the teacher.  Trying and testing out new alternatives and evaluating them is time consuming.

I could go on but I feel like I’m being an apologist instead of a realist.  Or maybe both.  Or maybe neither.  It’s a difficult topic.

To be honest, I don’t have the ultimate answer.  I’m not sure that there is a single answer that fits here.  I can see most sides to any discussion on this.  Perhaps you have the answer.  I’m sure that Sue would appreciate a comment on her post if you do.

I do like the reference to the blog post “Digital is default” listed in the comments.

Another Friday and another list of great blog posts to check out.  Hopefully, there’s something in there that catches your interest.

You can follow these bloggers on Twitter as:

@LisaCorbett0261

@beyond_worldofk

@callmemrmorris

@szwildcat

@lisacran

@mathletepearce

@Dunlop_Sue

This Week in Ontario Edublogs published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

[christophergill8]

Guest Post - California Cannabis Businesses Need to Prepare for Possibility of IRS Audit

I'm please to present a guest post on a hot topic by Bruce Braverman, Braverman & Epstein, APC, and David Frankel, Greenspoon Market LLP.*  They share their expertise in assisting clients operating businesses in the cannabis space. Cannabis Tax Enforcement Comes Full Circle The federal marijuana prohibition and enforcement program now comes full circle with front line lawfare being focused on the tax front.  History buffs may remember that the entire Cannabis prohibition started with the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 (Pub.L. 75–238, 50 Stat. 551) which imposed a “Marihuana stamp tax” and reporting requirement.  The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6 (1969).

“The Colorado Experience”: Coming Soon to California On January 1, 2018, California launched its own licensing of recreational cannabis businesses.  Since legalizing recreational cannabis in 2012, Colorado’s cannabis businesses have seen a sharp increase in IRS audits.   See, e.g., https://mjbizdaily.com/new-irs-audits-colorado-worry-cannabis-companies/. The thrust of IRS audits of Colorado’s cannabis-related businesses has been two-fold:

Internal Revenue Code §280E (banning expense deductions by drug traffickers) 26 U.S.C. §280E, and

IRS Form 8300 (a form prescribed by the IRS for reporting certain cash transactions) – see 26 U.S.C. § 6050I – ‘Returns relating to cash received in trade or business, etc.’

Internal Revenue Code §280E

IRC §280E forbids businesses from deducting certain business costs associated with the trafficking of Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substances.  Because Cannabis is a Schedule I controlled substance, Cannabis-related businesses must comply with Section 280E.  [1]Those Cannabis businesses that claim ordinary business deductions and credits should anticipate an audit by the IRS.

The IRS’s current stance on what cannabis-related businesses are permitted to deduct is summarized in Chief Counsel Advice201504011.  It allows for cannabis businesses to deduct some of their cost of goods sold (COGS).  However, taxpayers must follow pre- section 263A guidance under Reg. 1.471-1 and 1.471-11.

The IRS memo separates cannabis businesses into resellers and producers.  For resellers, such as dispensaries, the only deductions they can claim are for the invoice price of purchased cannabis and the transportation costs necessary to gain possession of cannabis.  Producers, such as cultivators or manufacturers, are allowed to deduct “indirect production costs”, which has been construed broadly to allow for deductions of repairs; maintenance; indirect labor and supplies; and the costs of quality control.

On February 2, 2018, the IRS reaffirmed their authority to “…investigate and determine whether a business is engaged in illegal drug trafficking activity for the purposes of applying 26 USC 280E…” in a legal brieffiled with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Section 280E compliance requires a taxpayer to file tax returns that do not show any ‘below-the-line’ expenses.  Allocations to ‘cost of goods’ should be precise, documented and in accordance with inventory-costing regulations under IRC Section 471 as they existed when Section 280E was enacted in 1982.  The IRS has taken the position that IRC Section 263A should not be used to determine inventory costing for Cannabis businesses (see CCA 201504011 above).

CA State 280E Treatment

California corporation tax law does not conform to IRC Section 280E.  According to a representative of the CA Franchise Tax Board, the corporation tax law does not conform to IRC Section 280E but the personal income tax law does conform to IRC Section 280E.   

Any business entity operating under the California corporation tax law (including S-corps at the corporate level, and LLCs that have elected to be treated as a corporation under the “check-the-box” rules) is not affected by IRC Section 280E. 

Any entity operating under the personal income tax law is impacted.  This includes sole proprietorships, shareholders of S-corporations, LLCs (that have not elected corporate treatment), and partnerships.

Any change to this would require legislative action. 

IRS Form 8300

IRS auditors are further focusing on Form 8300, which is the form used to report cash transactions over $10,000.  It is common knowledge in the cannabis industry that banks and other financial institutions are required to report to the IRS cash deposits over $10,000.  Form 8300 requires reporting to the IRS of identifying information about the person from whom the cash was received, the business that received the cash, the person on whose behalf the transaction was conducted, and a description of the transaction.

However, it is less commonly known that all businesses, including those engaged in the cannabis industry, that receive over $10,000 in cash for a single transaction or related transactions are required to file IRS Form 8300.   Failing to do so for each such transaction can result in substantial fines and interest owed to the IRS, as well as civil and criminal penalties.

The IRS also investigates these large cash transactions for evidence of money laundering or other drug related criminal activities that would invoke the application of §280E, as well as under reporting of income.

Here’s some helpful information concerning the risks of civil and criminal penalties related to Form 8300 -

Statute of Limitations for failure to file Form 8300 – 3 years

Failure to File – IRC 6721(a)(1) provides a $100 penalty for failure to file a timely and correct Form 8300. The annual limitation for businesses with gross receipts exceeding $5 million is $1,500,000. For businesses with gross receipts not exceeding $5 million the aggregate annual limitation is to $500,000.

Failure to File Intentional Disregard - IRC 6721(e)(2)(C) provides for a penalty equal to the greater of $25,000 or the amount of cash received in such transaction not to exceed $100,000 for the intentional disregard for a failure to file a timely and correct Form 8300. There is no aggregate annual limitation for intentional disregard of Form 8300.

Criminal Prosecution - violations of an obligation to file an IRS Form 8300 can create criminal liability.  A person required to file Form 8300 who willfully fails to file, fails to file timely, or fails to include complete and correct information is subject to criminal sanctions as a felony under IRC 7203. Sanctions include a fine up to $25,000 ($100,000 in the case of a corporation), and/or imprisonment up to five years, plus the costs of prosecution.  Any person who willfully files a Form 8300 which is false with regard to a material matter may be fined up to $100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation), and/or imprisoned up to three years, plus the costs of prosecution. IRC 7206(1).

Tightening the Noose

There is an interesting interplay between the following dynamics:

•       Exclusion of Cannabis business from banking leads to practical result that Cannabis business do business primarily in cash[2]

•       Cash based businesses are required to disclose information on Form 8300 that implicates criminal liability by such businesses and their vendors for violations of the Controlled Substances Act

•        Failure to file the required information subjects such businesses and individuals related thereto to criminal liability

•       Conflict with Right Against Self-Incrimination - US 5th Amendment; CA Const. Art. I, Section 24.

In Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6 (1969), the Court held that the Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination barred a criminal prosecution for failing to notify the IRS of taxable marijuana transactions that were themselves illegal.

“Since the effect of the Act's terms were such that.… compliance with the transfer tax provisions would have required petitioner, as one not registered but obliged to obtain an order form, unmistakably to identify himself as a member of a "selective group inherently suspect of criminal activities," and thus those provisions created a "real and appreciable" hazard of incrimination within the meaning of Marchetti, Grosso, and Haynes. pp. 395 U. S. 16-18.” Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6 (1969) at 7.

Proposed Solution

The solution lies in de-scheduling Cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act.

What do you think?

*Author Biographies

Bruce Bravermanis President of Braverman & Epstein, APC., a law firm with offices in Sacramento and Irvine, California, which provides tax law and consulting services to cannabis businesses.  Bruce Braverman is a retired California Deputy Attorney General with over thirty years of public service.   He has provided legal advice to cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, and dispensaries on state and local licensing matters over the past 5 years.

David Frankelis Senior Counsel in the Cannabis Law, Corporate & Business practice groups at Greenspoon Marder LLP.  He has over 20 years’ experience representing parties in cannabis related activities.  Mr. Frankel focuses his practice on business formations, LLC and corporate transactions, startups, negotiations, contracts, venture capital, and cannabis licensing and compliance. 

[1]See Californians Helping to Alleviate Medical Problems, Inc., v.

Commissioner, 128 T.C. 173 (2007); Tax Court held that taxpayer trafficked in medical marijuana, which is a Schedule I controlled substance, and that §280E disallows all deductions attributable to that trade or business. Tax Court also held that §280E does not disallow the deductions attributable to the taxpayer’s separate and lawful trade or business.

[2]See Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Guidance FIN-2014-G001

from Tax News By Christopher http://21stcenturytaxation.blogspot.com/2018/03/guest-post-california-cannabis.html

[energitix]

IT service management (ITSM) – the management of IT, delivered as a service – is nothing new; but for some companies it still is. It might not be totally new, as much of what is contained in ITSM best practice, such as the ITIL framework, is based on common practices and, in many instances, common sense. And thus, many companies will be doing elements of ITSM even if they don’t think of it, or label it, as such. In such instances, the introduction of ITSM is as much the formalization of existing ways of working, with small improvements, as it is starting to do brand new things.If your company wants to introduce ITSM, or ITSM best practice using ITIL or another approach, then it’s wise to ask those involved five key questions before starting on the journey. This will help to ensure that your company is ready for everything that will follow, along with preventing many of the common ITSM adoption mistakes.Question 1: Why Are We Introducing ITSM?Silly question, right? Well, not really.It’s important to understand why ITSM is needed and how it will benefit your company. Hopefully this question will reinforce the fact that ITSM is merely “the means to an end” rather than the end itself, i.e. that it’s not about introducing a formal incident management process (the means) but rather realizing a reduction in downtime and the associated adverse impact of IT issues (the end).The question should also help to identify the pain points that your company needs to address through ITSM. If you don’t do this, then you’re adopting ITSM as merely a “good thing to do,” and who’s to say that what you adopt will make any tangible difference to your IT service delivery and support in such a scenario.Question 2: What Do We Hope to Achieve by Introducing ITSM?This follows on from the previous question and, as such, we need to remember the difference between the “means” and the “end.” So, ensure that you agree on appropriate critical success factors (CSFs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to focus attention, to measure progress, and to ascertain success.Importantly, this shouldn’t be achievements such as “the new ITSM tool is implemented to time and budget” or “problem management people, processes, and technology are in place by Q2.” It needs to be positioned in terms of achieving better business outcomes. For example:Higher employee productivity due to less downtime (thanks to problem and incident management)Speedier delivery of new business capabilities (thanks to change management)Better value IT (thanks to demand, capacity, and financial management)Question 3: What’s Most Important?As I already mentioned, your company might not need everything that an ITSM best practice framework such as ITIL has to offer. I’d be shocked if it did! Many companies only ever adopt a small subset of the 26 processes and four functions ITIL includes – often incident, problem, change, request fulfillment, service desk service level agreements (SLAs), service catalog, self-service, and a partial configuration management database (CMDB). But even following this isn’t the right approach. Instead, you need to understand what ITSM capabilities will make the most difference and address those opportunities first.Traditionally, companies have started with one (or more) of these combinations:Incident and problem managementIncident and change managementIncident, problem, and change management (IPC)Change and configuration managementHowever, you should identify the capabilities that will make the most difference to your IT service delivery and support, which might be none of the above and rather self-service or continual service improvement (CSI).Question 4: How Will We Assess Our Requirements?This needs to start with the desired business outcomes rather than the features and functions available in ITSM technology. There are two common mistakes to avoid here:Using another company’s request for proposal (RFP) and adding to it such that you end up with a long list of low-level requirements that might not deliver the outcomes you need. It will probably also mean that you ask, and pay, for much more than your company needs and could ever use when investing in an ITSM tool.Being driven by a particular ITSM tool’s capabilities – it’s what you could do versus what you need to do (plus your company might not have the people capacity or capabilities to use much of what the tool offers).Both of these common mistakes will take your company further away from what was agreed when answering Question 3. So, ensure that requirement assessment is based on need, not the art of the possible; and that the right people are involved in agreeing the final, prioritized set of business requirements. And don’t throw out what you already do – some of it will still be relevant in a formalized ITSM world.Question 5: Have We Considered the Impact on Our People?ITSM is often viewed as a set of best practice processes, with the processes enabled by a fit-for-purpose help desk or ITSM tool. But it’s really about people, and changing the way people think and act in the pursuit of better IT service delivery and support.Thus, introducing ITSM involves significant change – people change. And organizational change management capabilities need to be applied to ensure that people’s concerns and fears are known and addressed, and that the highly-likely resistance to change is well-managed and minimized.Please remember this – ultimately, the introduction of ITSM will be sub-optimal, or might even fail, without the required investment in organizational change management to help with people change.So, there you have five key questions to ask before introducing ITSM. If you want to hear more from me, and in person, then please come see me present at the Service Desk and IT Support Show (SITS) in London this June. I’ll be talking on “True stories of service desk contributions to the bottom line” on Wednesday 7 June at 12:30 in Theatre 1 (REG CODE: SW3):“Does your organization view the service desk as a maintenance operation taking care of the daily technology infrastructure?  Would you rather be seen as a dynamic initiator of technology change that contributes directly to the financial success of the business?”My session will explain how to create business KPIs which prove to the C-suite that IT support can be a profit and loss center, quoting real stories from the front line service desk leaders who “cracked the code” by demonstrating the business contribution of their team.Hopefully I’ll see you there.The post 5 Questions to Ask Before Introducing ITSM appeared first on ITSM.tools.

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