#bank employee Danny

[dcxdpdabbles]

Danny on the phone: I messed up bad!

Tim on the phone : What's wrong, sweetie?

Danny: You know how I work at a bank? A bank with a three level lock vault meaning it has a clock which I set the time to have it open?

Tim: Yeah?

Danny: I accidentally put too much time on the clock and now it's LOCK FOR A WEEK

Tim: It's okay. It's a mistake. Is there someone who can open the vault for-

Danny: I strapped dynamite to the door. I'm getting it open.

Tim: DANNY NO!

[griefpersevering]

the ripples they cause

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Chapter Twenty-Eight: Second Hand News

Notes:

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I really enjoyed writing this chapter (I just love Karen okay) so I hope you enjoy reading it too! did you guys see the new Spiderverse trailer?? I was already so excited for the film and now I can't wait until June!!

Sneak Peek:

The Starbucks Karen meets Kate at is only a few blocks over from Matt and Foggy's apartment. She spots the archer as soon as she walks through the front doors, but she stops in the queue to order a takeaway black coffee before joining her.

Kate is typing something rapidly on her phone and doesn't look up to see her companion arrive. She's grinning at whoever she's texting, and Karen hopes it's Peter. He's the one who gave her Kate's number, and when she'd asked to learn more about their shared Kingpin problem, Kate had been happy to help.

Karen pays and steps away from the counter, waiting for her name to be called. Kate isn't anything like the other superheroes she's met; the cheeriest of the Hell's Kitchen lot would probably be Danny, and he definitely has some anger issues that he should work through in therapy. Unless that's a normal byproduct of punching a dragon. She wouldn't know.

When the barista calls her name, Karen picks up her coffee and wanders over to Kate. The table she chose is out of the way, which is good; there's no one nearby to eavesdrop.

"Hi!" Kate says, shoving her phone in her cardigan pocket. "This is so exciting."

"Sorry I kept you waiting," says Karen.

She shrugs. "I got here early, don't worry about it. What do you want to know about Fisk?"

Karen glances left and right, but no one seems to be listening. "Lower your voice. There could be people watching us."

Kate leans forwards. Evidently, stealthiness has never been part of her training. "Really?"

"Yes. He has so many people working for him, it's better to be safe than sorry." She knows she sounds really paranoid, but seeming a bit unhinged is a price she's willing to pay to keep them both alive. "He's corrupted people in the NYPD, the FBI, even nurses. It's hard to know who to trust."

Kate's eyes are as big as saucers. "Woah. That's so cool."

Karen raises an eyebrow.

"Well, not cool," she quickly backtracks. "But cool, you know? Cool that I fought him and didn't die when he's that powerful."

It's hard not to roll her eyes. Kate must be about 15 years younger than her, but her relentless optimism makes her feel even younger. By her age, Karen had already ruined her life so thoroughly that she never would have dreamed of seeing her 40th birthday.

"It is impressive," she says, because she likes Kate, and she doesn't want to hurt her feelings. "But not all of us are superheroes. I'm more interested in the legal side of destroying him. Is there any evidence of him leading the Tracksuit Mafia that we could use against him?"

"I have something better," Kate says. She yanks a purple binder covered in butterfly stickers out of her backpack and slides it across the table, nearly knocking Karen's coffee to the floor. "I haven't gone through all of this, but you should find it useful. And I don't need it back. You can... you can keep it."

Karen flips it open. "What is it?" It's overflowing with papers — bank statements, emails, screenshots of text messages and more — all neatly divided into sections with markings of what year they're from.

"My mom worked for Fisk." All the joy dissolves from Kate's voice, but she keeps up a tight smile. "My dad borrowed money from him, and when he died in 2012, my mom had to pay it back. But she wanted to get out one day, so she kept this folder of evidence so she had a weapon to use against him."

"Smart woman." Karen can't believe her eyes. This folder doesn't just incriminate Fisk, but plenty of his employees too. And it goes back further than he's been on their radar — all the way back to when Matt and Foggy were still in law school.

Kate shrugs. "He still tried to kill her when she said she was leaving, and probably would have if it weren't for Clint and I. But hopefully she'll be safe in prison while he's in a coma."

Karen spots Wesley's name and abruptly shuts the folder. "Even if he wakes up, this will be enough to keep him away for a long time. And all the names in here... Daredevil can start dismantling his empire while he's unconscious."

"The only thing I ask is... Well, I know you're a journalist, but please don't write anything about what my mom did. I know some of it and it was awful, but she did it all to protect me, so..."

"I won't," she promises. And then, softening her voice, she asks, "Do you visit her?"

"We send letters to each other," Kate says. "But if I'm honest, I wouldn't know what to say to her if we met in person. She's done horrible things, and the ones I know about — what happened over Christmas — they were probably just the tip of the iceberg."

Karen sighs. "I know what you mean. It's always disappointing when are parents aren't as good as we think they are. But from the sound of it, she didn't originally choose that life. It doesn't excuse whatever she's done, but at the very least, talking to her might ease your mind."

"Maybe you're right," she replies, but she doesn't look happy about it.

"I'm biased though, so you don't have to take my advice. I lost contact with my remaining family when I was younger than you are now, and I'd do anything to fix that. But I've also learnt that your family is whoever you want it to be. And if Fisk hadn't framed me for murder and tried to have me killed in my cell, I never would have met Matt and Foggy."

Kate's jaw drops open. "Was that supposed to be inspirational? Because it was just really concerning."

Karen winks. "If you want to know the full horror story, I'll tell you someday. We all have a reason to want Fisk behind bars. But not today. We still haven't heard back about Peter's trial, and it's due to start in two hours."

"I forgot about that," she admits. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine. He has two of the best lawyers in New York looking after him, as well as the Vigilante Friend Network on his side."

Kate's grin is coming back. "And if he gets arrested again, we'll just break him out again!"

Karen smiles too. "Exactly."

It strikes her, then, just how many people are on Peter's side. She's seen the large crowd of supporters at the vigil and the rally, but even the celebrity appearances weren't enough to truly convince her that Peter would be okay. But when most of the public — at least, the ones with common sense — have his back, there's no way the Department of Damage Control will ever be able to get rid of Spider-Man completely.

Karen's phone vibrates in her pocket. "I've got to rush off, I'm afraid. I said I'd write an article for the Bulletin if the trial doesn't go ahead, and if it does, I'll need to be there."

Kate nods. "Well, let me know how the trial goes! Or, I suppose you don't have to. It'll be all over the news, won't it?"

"It will be." Karen's already had several journalists contact her, and she knows Matt and Foggy have had even more. Spider-Man's trial is the case of the century.

She holds up the binder before shoving it into her handbag. It barely fits. "Thank you for this, too. Are you sure you don't want a copy?"

Kate only smiles. "I'm sure. Good luck with the trial or the article! And I'm glad I could help."

Karen stands up and picks up her coffee. "I'm just glad that Peter has such brilliant friends."

Sometimes, she needs a reminder that there are good people in the world, even after terrible things have happened to them. And Kate Bishop, she decides, might be one of the best of them.

Continue reading on AO3.

[pierpointco]

INDUSTRY gives an insider's view of the blackbox of high finance following a group of young bankers as they forge their identities within the pressure cooker environment and sex and drug fueled blitz of international bank Pierpoint & Co's London office. 

In Season 2, our grads are no longer allowed to hide behind their graduate status. The market is ripping, and Pierpoint's back to work or else mandate has the trading floor more charged up and paranoid than ever. New U.S. management will be gasoline on the flames - an injection of cross Atlantic energy that lights a fire under each and every employee. Now Harper (Herrold), Yasmin (Abela) and Robert (Lawtey) must drive new business and make new alliances both in and out of the office as Pierpoint and its junior bankers seek to take every advantage in a post-COVID world.

After almost all secured positions at Pierpoint & Co., season two of INDUSTRY picks up a year after the height of the pandemic and stars returning “Graduates” Myha’la Herrold (“Bodies, Bodies, Bodies”) as Harper Stern, Marisa Abela (“Cobra”) as Yasmin Kara-Hanani, Harry Lawtey (“The Pale Blue Eye”) as Robert Spearing, and David Jonsson (“Deep State”) as Gus Sackey; and “Management” Ken Leung (“Old” and HBO’s High Maintenance”) as Eric Tao, and Conor MacNeill (“Artemis Fowl”) as Kenny Kilblane.

Stirring up the status quo at Pierpoint & Co. are new cast regulars this season Alex Alomar Akpobome (“Twenties”) as Danny Van Deventer, a wonderkid Executive Director from the New York office, Indy Lewis (“La Fortuna”) as Venetia Berens, Yasmin’s newest recruit on the Foreign Exchange Sales Desk, and Katrine de Candole (“Dominion”) as Celeste Pacquet. Jay Duplass (“The Chair”) stars as reputable hedge fund manager Jesse Bloom, Sonny Poon Tip (“Anatomy of a Scandal”) as his son Leo Bloom, and Adam Levy (“The Witcher”) as Yasmin’s playboy father Charles Hanani. Returning recurring cast include Sarah Parish as Nicole Craig, Nicholas Bishop as Maxim Alonso, Sagar Radia as Rishi Ramdani, Mark Dexter as Hilary Wyndham, and Caoilfhionni Dunne as Jackie Walsh.

[optimisticllamathing]

ultimate enemy presents an evil future self whos acting like he’s inevitable to Danny’s face and meanwhile the whole conflict could’ve been avoided entirely if Mr lancer chose a different location for a parent-teacher meeting. like idk maybe a restaurant that was actually open. the fact he wanted the meeting to talk about cheating to be at a fast food place is weird, lancer has been shown previously calling Jack into his office to talk, but even weirder is that he chose a closed one. cause at the beginning of the episode some ghosts Danny fought (sent by the observants to kill him) tore the nasty burger apart, and due to damages from the fight the restaurant is explicitly explained to be a) closed, b) completely unattended and c) containing sauce that blows up when not monitored carefully by that employee that is not there. Dark Dan happens because Danny’s mom, dad, sister, and best friends are caught in the restaurant exploding but like,,,they had the stupidest reason in the world to be at that restaurant. they were standing outside it’s closed doors for that meeting. the more you think about that episode the dumber and more contrived it gets. to a degree I pretty much only like it because it’s funny, plus the Jazz moments and I think the ghostly wail is cool. both things irrelevant to the plot of “evil future self! he’s capable of being this awful villain!” because the episode’s own logic confirms the only way Danny becomes evil is getting the ghostly personification of his grief torn out of his body by his new guardian’s terrifying claw invention and then that ghost being fused with a bank-robber-turned-billionaire-who’s-life-goal-for-twenty-plus-years-is-murdering-a-man-for-stealing-his-crush.

the episode is truly only saved by its comedic value.

funniest thing is that it’s stupidly avoidable, second funniest thing is that evil Danny whose taken over a whole ass planet and is like twenty four needs to use the cheat sheet to pass the stupid test. like he didn’t even actually need to use the answer sheet to lead to his past self’s loved ones dying via explosion, he just had to pass the test and not fess up he’d seen the stupid sheet, but no we’re shown on-screen that this man was diligently learning the answers

[ailtrahq]

The latest enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) targets banks, broker-dealers, and investment advisers active in the cryptocurrency markets. In its zeal to crack down on decentralized finance (DeFi) and bring firms’ operations under more direct oversight, the SEC has brought charges for “off-channel communications” on the part of the firms’ employees. The SEC Tightens Oversight of Recordkeeping The agency announced on Friday morning that it had brought charges against ten firms. Among them is Perella Weinberg, the bank advising bankrupt crypto exchange FTX in its restructuring. Other respondents include Interactive Brokers Corp., Robert W. Baird & Co., William Blair & Company, Nuveen Securities, and Fifth Third Securities. Interactive Brokers is highly active in the crypto space, offering low commissions and 24/7 trading on its website. The others have varying degrees of exposure to crypto. The respondents will not challenge the SEC in court. They have chosen to settle. Besides paying a total of $79 million in penalties, the firms have agreed to adopt new compliance policies. The SEC took issue with the use of electronic communications at these firms and the failure to keep complete records of them. According to the agency, its probe of these firms uncovered “pervasive and longstanding off-channel communications” at all the firms. Employees at the firms used text messaging to communicate about business matters, including some relating to investment advice, the SEC charged. In the agency’s view, this conduct was not in keeping with the Securities Act of 1934. The SEC also charged Baird, William Blair, Fifth Third, and Perella Weinberg with violating recordkeeping provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Persistence of Regulatory Overreach The SEC has used the cudgel of reporting requirements to bring firms of many sizes and profiles more directly under its oversight. Just last week, the agency announced a $6 million fine against Goldman Sachs. The investment bank had failed to provide all the required daily securities trading information, or in the term of the trade, “blue sheet data.” Significantly, Goldman is emerging as a player in the crypto markets. The firm’s global head of digital assets has praised tokenization. And has set forth a vision for broader engagement with digital currencies. On Wednesday, SEC Chair Gary Gensler baldly asserted his agency’s right to exert control over firms in the crypto space. He argued that the “vast majority” of crypto tokens are classifiable as securities. Nowhere did Gensler mention a recent landmark ruling that contradicted this view and handed his agency a stinging defeat in its lawsuit against Ripple Labs. Learn more about the SEC’s efforts to delay and hamper innovation on the part of US financial institutions. The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi), and platforms catering to DeFi investors, has only made the SEC double down harder on reporting requirements. Source: Statista Can Crypto Firms Operate in the US Regulatory Environment? In view of the SEC’s growing belligerence, some may ask how viable it is for crypto exchanges to operate from within the United States. Some, including Coinbase and Gemini, have sought out or established bases of operations in other jurisdictions to avoid SEC overreach. Yet Danny Okeyan, CEO of Blockfinex, expressed guarded optimism about pursuing crypto trading and investing in the United States. Okeyan acknowledged the difficulties that myriad regulatory rules and stipulations pose. “Until the country’s regulatory bodies can sort out their issues, it’s difficult to understand the requirements and obligations we have as we conduct our normal business operations,” he said. Okeyan views the SEC’s stance as misguided, especially given the emerging consensus that tokens are not securities. They should fall under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, not the SEC, he said. Regulatory Clarity May Foster Broader Crypto Adoption

The SEC isn’t listening to such arguments. Even so, recent developments on the legal front offer hope, Okeyan believes. “The Ripple case has come to a close, and I’m starting to see signs that there will be positive changes in the near future for these projects,” said Okeyan. The US market is a vast one with lucrative potential. And some players in the crypto space have derived valuable lessons from the legal travails of Ripple, Coinbase, Gemini, FTX, and others in the SEC’s crosshairs, he argued. “The United States has a budding crypto market despite many large companies restricting operations or stopping them altogether. Newer exchanges entering the market have learned the lessons faced by legacy companies and are taking strategic actions to reduce their risk—like creating separate entities to operate within US borders,” he said. Okeyan views the current regulatory trends as temporary. And, once clearer guidance is in place, the market will bounce back, he predicted.

[mariacallous]

It has been a week of firsts in British politics. The country has rightly celebrated the fact that it has its first Asian-heritage and Hindu prime minister. A rather less noted milestone, however, is that Britain also has its first investment banker PM.

Rishi Sunak’s first job was at the US investment bank Goldman Sachs. He went on to spend 14 years in the sector before becoming an MP. In many ways, his unelected appointment marks the highpoint of big finance’s takeover of Britain’s political and economic system – a quiet infiltration of Westminster and Whitehall has been taking place over several decades and gone largely unremarked.

Historically, the Square Mile played a big part in British politics, economics and empire. It’s well known that Thatcherism later tore up the corporatist model of economic management. The role of unions, British industrialists and the UK state was to be significantly rolled back. What was unclear was what would replace them. Looking back now, it’s clear that big finance stepped in.

This was because many of the key players in Conservative cabinets of the 1980s came from the financial sector. Norman Lamont spent years at the investment bank NM Rothschild and Sons. Cecil Parkinson, who engineered the “Big Bang” that paved the way for the huge expansion of the London Stock Exchange in the 1980s, had been a chartered accountant in the Square Mile. And Nigel Lawson cut his teeth as a financial journalist at the Sunday Telegraph and the Financial Times. Each has spoken of their City careers as being more significant influences on their thinking than any academic economists. Many other Conservative ministers also went from finance careers to either the Treasury or the Department of Trade and Industry.

This was a key reason why most nationalised industries weren’t simply sold off to the private sector but floated on the London Stock Exchange and transferred into the hands of City investors. It also explains why a series of tax changes and financial regulations favoured big finance over manufacturing, and changes to corporate governance privileged “shareholder value” over all else. Tax breaks and support were removed from industry and used to cut taxes on dividends, share and bond sales.

When New Labour arrived, it didn’t have the same former financial networks to call upon. But Gordon Brown and co also realised how fundamental the lucrative taxable income of the City was for funding its spending plans. They also needed its nous to continue privatising and, of course, enacting PFI contracts. Thus, “light-touch” regulation was rolled out to keep the sector expanding. A steady trickle of financiers were lured into government to facilitate all of this.

Looking at the coalition government, every senior figure who managed Treasury economic policy – George Osborne, Danny Alexander, David Cameron, Rupert Harrison, John Kingman and Nick Macpherson – later gained well-paid positions in the financial sector. And three of the last five chancellors have come from the sector. Jeremy Hunt’s current advisers all come from investment banking.

This matters because investment bankers have very little to do with the real economy that ordinary people inhabit. They don’t run businesses. They don’t deal with actual product and customer markets. Their work is confined to financial markets, aiding corporate financial manoeuvres, and trading and managing their own financial assets. Their primary aim is to make profits from such activities, regardless of how it affects the real economy, the national interest or employees. If that means shorting the pound or breaking up a successful company for quick profits, then so be it.

In other words, what benefits big finance often hinders business and manufacturing generally. Consequently, since the 1980s, Britain’s industrial decline and its financial expansion have been as pronounced as in any leading economy. Productivity and levels of R&D spending compare very poorly, too, because investors demand quick returns and rising share prices over long-term investment. Regional and class inequalities have grown ever-larger.

And an overpowered financial sector has certainly not been conducive to good governance, either. There’s nothing democratic about extensive public service cuts being used to pay for saving the private banking sector, as in the aftermath of the 2008 crash, or the bond markets determining the credibility of governments, or the fact that the bankers and hedge funds are the biggest single source of Conservative party donations. Nor is trust in British democracy likely to be enhanced by a super-rich PM who has allegedly avoided taxes and made a fortune as a financier at the nation’s cost.

During Liz Truss’s short premiership, there was much talk about the power and influence of the Tufton Street network of opaque rightwing thinktanks. But actually, the longer-term driving force of UK economic policy, there in front of us all this time, has been the City of London. It’s time to open our eyes and look more closely.

Aeron Davis is professor of political communication at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. His new book, Bankruptcy, Bubbles and Bailouts: The Inside History of the Treasury Since 1976, is available at guardianbookshop.co.uk

[placesmains]

Santa margarita water district

#Santa margarita water district movie

#Santa margarita water district driver

The father signed some of the change orders that made the contract more lucrative for the construction company.

#Santa margarita water district driver

as a truck driver after the company had been awarded a multimillion-dollar, no-bid construction contract in unusual circumstances. Regan, was hired by Wal-Con Construction Corp. This is an exciting opportunity to join the Santa Margarita Water Districts team who provides safe, reliable drinking water, recycled water, and wastewater. Regan III, 26-year-old son of water district operations director Robert J. The father noted that his son had not worked for the district for several years and declined further comment. 7 Ammolite, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 1075000 MLS PW22160957 Spacious 4-bedroom 3 bath home. Maranto as he moved to three different banks. Fallbrook Public Utility District, et al., Civil No. The Times has reported that millions of dollars in district funds followed Charles J. The Santa Margarita River Watershed Watermaster is charged with administering and enforcing provisions of the Modified Final Judgement and Decree and subsequent instructions and orders of the Court (U.S.A. Maranto, the district’s former banker, worked for the district between August, 1990, and January, 1991, as a maintenance worker. A spokesperson for MacDonald-Stephens also declined comment, and Danny Stephens could not be reached.

#Santa margarita water district movie

(also known as Chromium VI from the movie Erin Brockovich ) Dibromochloromethane, at 93x. After granting one interview to The Times, Knitz has declined all comment. A recent study found 11 harmful chemicals in our District’s water which substantially exceeded Safe Drinking Water Guidelines, including: Bromodichloromethane, at 146x. Knitz received $7,240 in gifts from Stephens’ firm, records show. Is Garwood always chastisable and allusive when bikes some acarine very. Danny Stephens is the brother of David Stephens, part-owner of MacDonald-Stephens Engineers and a close friend of Knitz. Cadiz San Bernardino Santa Margarita Water District Memorandum Of Understanding. For more information or to submit an online rebate application, visit SoCal WaterSmart or call 88.* Danny Stephens, 35, began working nearly five years ago with the water district as an operator at the Chiquita treatment plant.A Modified Final Judgment and Decree was entered on April 6, 1966. The Final Judgment and Decree was entered on May 8, 1963, and appealed to the U.S. 51-cv-1247-GPC-RBB, to seek a judicial determination of all respective water rights within the Santa Margarita River Watershed. Average annual salary was 118,166 and median salary was 115,034. Fallbrook Public Utility District, et al., Civil No. Some devices or products may no longer be eligible for a rebate. Number of employees at Santa Margarita Water District in year 2020 was 157.Rebate applications and proof of purchase must be postmarked no later than 60 days after submitting your application.Only original receipts will be accepted as proof of purchase. An access ramp leads to the bottom of the Santa Margarita Water Districts Trampas Canyon Reservoir in Rancho Mission Viejo, CA on Thursday, June 24.Rebate reservations are not required for residential rebates.Commercial customers must reserve a rebate PRIOR to purchase.Rebate applications are available online.Submitting a rebate application does not guarantee you will receive a rebate.Rebates will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis until funding is exhausted.Rain Barrels – up to $35 per barrel (up to 2) Santa Margarita Water District 26111 Antonio Parkway Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 949.Flow Monitor Devices – $100 for qualifying devices that monitor your home's water use and help you to detect leaks.Soil Moisture Sensor Systems – rebates start at $80 for single family homes or $35 per station for single-family homes >1 acre, multi-family homes, and commercial sites Santa Margarita Water District provides safe, reliable drinking water, recycled water and wastewater services to over 165000 residents in eight unique.Hose Bib Irrigation Controller- rebate starts at $35 per hose bib.Weather-based Irrigation Controllers or "Smart" Timers – starting at $80 for single family homes or $35 per station for single-family homes >1 acre, multi-family homes, and commercial sites.Rotating Sprinkler Nozzles – $2 each (minimum of 15).Premium High-efficiency Toilets (1.1 gallons per flush or less) – $40.Residential customers can apply for rebates AFTER buying the following devices (commercial customers must apply & reserve funding prior to purchase): The SoCal WaterSmart regional rebate program is available to SMWD customers, courtesy of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Municipal Water District of Orange County.

[mbdailynews]

Mortgage Lenders Turn ‘Desperate’ as Soaring Rates Roil Industry

Home-lending employees are facing risk of job cuts, slumping business as one of the fastest jumps in mortgage rates starts to cool the US housing market. Danny Meier had one of the busiest years of his career in 2021. The 36-year-old closed roughly $799 million worth of loans at Academy Mortgage Corp., ranking him among the top producing originators in the US. Now, he’s bracing for a 20% reduction in business and recently had to cut several staff. “It’s scary,” Meier said in a phone interview. “We have sellers panic listing, and then you have buyer fatigue and buyers stepping out altogether really fast.” Business has started to evaporate across home-lending firms in recent weeks, after the Federal Reserve boosted borrowing costs to tame decades-high inflation. US mortgage rates are at levels last seen more than a decade ago. That's hurting affordability for first-time buyers, slowing down sales of previously owned homes and making it unattractive for existing owners to refinance. Get WSJ Print Subscription Already, the fallout is cascading across the industry. Wells Fargo & Co. has warned that income from its mortgage-lending business may drop significantly in the second quarter. Employees at the bank’s home-lending division and its rival JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s unit are being laid off or reassigned to different areas. Real estate brokerages such as Compass Inc. and Redfin Corp. also announced plans to cut their workforces earlier this month. “Layoffs are happening everywhere,” Meier said. “People are cutting rates, cutting costs, with desperate attempts to gain business.” It’s an abrupt shift for a sector that was just recently experiencing a hiring boom. The latest jobs report showed there were 1.8 million Americans working in real estate in May. That’s the most on record and almost double the available inventory of existing single-family homes in the US. That jobs figure doesn’t include all the people working in housing-related roles throughout other industries like finance. The pandemic, paired with historically low mortgage rates, spurred a massive wave of demand for homes and a refinancing boom. Prices soared and mortgage lenders set records. Now, the rise in rates has tempered the frenzied pace of the market. Buy Barron’s News Subscription (5-Years) Take 70% Off “As firms tried to meet that demand, they, of course, hired up quite a bit,” Svenja Gudell, chief economist at jobs website Indeed Inc. and former chief economist at Zillow Group Inc., said in an interview. “We’re seeing this sort of normalization in a lot of areas of the economy. And I think housing is one of them.” ‘Totally Dead’ Just last year, mortgage loan originator Joanna Yu closed roughly $522 million in loans. In the past month, she’s only executed about $10 million. “In 2021, we basically had no life at all,” Yu, a 34-year industry veteran who works at US Bancorp, said by phone. “Recent business is almost totally gone. Business in the first three months of this year was still OK, but starting from April, it was totally dead. It’s like vacation time.” Intensified competition among lenders is fueling pressure. Last month, Yu said she lost almost every loan to a major international bank because their rates were lower than her bank’s. Subscribe to New York Times Digital Subscription 3 Years $60 “You only have a small pie, and you have 30-, 40-, 50,000 agents trying to compete to get this tiny pie,” Yu said. “Some banks have become very, very aggressive.” ‘Vanilla Recession’ The real estate industry is used to cyclical changes in the economy and a crash similar to 2008 is unlikely. Owners have experienced massive gains in home equity in recent years. Plus, the US faces an affordable housing shortage that could help buoy demand. Certain parts of the industry such as construction could benefit if builders continue to replenish inventory. Construction job openings climbed to a record high in April, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. “We are in a very different spot today — in a very, very different spot,” Gudell said. “And this will look much more like a — if there is such a thing — a plain vanilla recession, than what we experienced as part of the Great Recession.” For some lenders who have been in the business for more than a decade, the current downturn may not be such a bad thing. “Everybody and their mother was getting into mortgages because it was the hot thing to do,” said Ben Cohen, a managing director at Guaranteed Rate. “I love times like this because it weeds out people that shouldn’t be doing what we do anyways, because there’s a lot of bad lenders out there. It right-sizes everything.” Read the full article

[gyllenhaalstories]

SET FIRE TO THE RAIN — DANNY SHARP 🚑 🔥

summary: you work for with danny. that’s it, that’s all you need to know (oh, and he loves flamingos).

warnings:  cursed words, fire, smut (heavy making out, tongue sucking, spit kink, implied exhibitionism  & public sex, mention of thigh riding & dry humping, nipple play, hickeys & biting kink, masturbation & mutual masturbation, painful penetration, spanking, rough sex, choking, facial cumshot). 18+ NO MINORS.

word count: 3135

gifs credits: me (@/gyllenhaalstories) / divider credits: @/firefly-graphics

notes: i almost titled this fic getaway car, almost, but i did not want to add fuel to the fire 👀 get it, fire? this fic? i’m sorry. there are some spoilers from the movie (bank robbery, name of a character, random references) but you’re good to read it if you haven’t seen ambulance! 🚑 thank you for reading & REMEMBER TO REBLOG!

Danny slammed the door of the ambulance closed after giving it one final look. It was empty from all the bags that his men were putting away. “Today was a good fucking day,” heads turned to follow the loud voice. “We’re back in time for Castro’s episode of Paw Patrol!”

Everyone, including you, laughed at this joke.

Well... Everyone except Castro himself who repeated for the countless time that he was watching soccer, not after school cartoons. “Ah, same shit.” Danny joined the rest of the group and chuckled too as he removed his sunglasses to wink at his employee, his favourite employee right after you obviously, not that he would ever admit that out loud.

You helped taking the medical items out of the ambulance, it was procedure. Danny came up with some ridiculous environmental friendly excuse as to why they did not discard of the van right away, but you knew it was because he was too cheap to buy the expensive supplies over and over again.

Danny did not give a fuck about the environment, as proven by the gallons of gas in red and yellow containers that his men watered the ambulance with like it was some flower bed. After a few successful missions, the getaway car that was used to bring home the millions of dollars was taken care of so that no one would ever notice.

You asked him how he had access to all those ambulances, he shrugged, telling you all the world needed was a little bit of sweet talking to agree to do whatever someone in power wanted them to.

When you rolled your eyes at him, he’d do the same at you. “My city, my rules, my job. I know what to do and you just gotta look pretty while I’m doing it.”

You stopped asking, and he stopped talking about it. You let him do his thing, and you saved his ass every single time. It was a good deal, business partners. That was what the two of you were.

“What the fuck are we doing here? Staring at the sun?” Danny clapped his hands together obnoxiously loud, his men started to run from one side to the other, finishing their tasks. “Burn that shit to the ground. Now!”

Some guy lit a puddle of gas on fire and everyone watched with awe as the flames swallowed the liquid, fast, faster and even faster after that. You frowned, hoping it would not take too long before the fire turned the car into ashes. The clouds were gathering up relatively quickly, something you had warned Danny about, but he told you he did not have time to watch the Weather Channel so he did not care about the forecast of pouring rain.

Danny was leaning back against the door of the small house, a cabin he bought to hide away from the action of the city. Hide what? His casual Thursday afternoon activities that consisted of robbing every major bank in existence in Los Angeles. The cabin was cozy, it looked so harmless and quaint from the inside. Somewhere in the hills and behind the trees, some place no one would suspect that the fire that was starting was due to anything but a group of friends hungry for roasted marshmallows.

“Guys, you should hurry up!” You shouted at your colleagues and more people added fuel to let the fire grow stronger. In the meantime, you walked to the doorstep and stood next to the brown haired man who was watching the spectacle with a devilish smile on his lips.

“Aww, sweetheart!”

You stared at Danny, lips pursed in a disgusted pout. “What?”

“You’re starting to sound just like me."

“Congrats,” you paused to catch his attention. “This might be the worst thing someone ever told me.”

His hip bumped against yours when the chimes hung from the roof started ringing and shaking from the increasing wind. “Guess you were right, Mother Nature is as moody as you today.”

“Me? I’m moody? Have you ever met yourself?”

Danny laughed with you and wrapped his arm around you to give your side a tight squeeze, a subtle warning.

As you predicted, it did not take long for the sky to turn a threatening, heavy shade of grey and for the rain to contain the raging fire that lit everybody’s faces with a warm hue of orange. It smelled like burnt tires and danger, a scent you grew to like over the missions you shared with Sharp and his buddies.

Danny squinted and paid close attention to how the fire was slowing down. “Gonna finish that shit up tomorrow,” he stated and his men nodded in sync. “You better be back here at sunrise tomorrow, am I clear?” A symphony of ‘yes boss’ was swallowed by the sound of the pouring rain. He leaned closer so his lips barely brushed against the soft skin of your cheek. “And you’re staying with me tonight.”

*~*~*

“Lost my fuckin’ sunglasses.”

You heard Danny scream while you were in the living area, surrounded by piles of cash that you were busy counting. “Not my problem.” You yelled back, putting away some of the money.

“I had them on my head, where the fuck could they have gone?” You caught a glimpse of him when he ran down from the mezzanine. The vein on his temple was bulging.

You had to clench your jaw hard not to laugh at how he got so worked up over a pair of glasses. He could afford thousands of them just from today’s hard work. “They’re probably outside, we’ll search for them tomorrow, alright? It’s fine. It’s not like you’ll need them anyway.” You looked up at him once again, realizing he was not listening to a single word you said. “Hello?” You waved your hands in his direction, but he was staring out the window.

“My pool float is flying.” He sounded dead serious, so you sprung up on your feet.

“What?”

“The flamingo’s flying away!”

Danny had a thing for flamingos. You did not question it, you did not judge it, in fact you participated heavily into his obsession by buying him every flamingo item your eyes landed on.

Driven by the same urge to save the giant inflatable bird, the two of you hurried outside in the rain and tried to grab the object that was threatening to fly over Danny’s Mercedes car.

“On the left, the left! Right now!”

“I walked into a puddle, I’m soaked!”

“Shut up and get my bird!” Danny demanded.

And you obeyed, accidentally, you had slipped on the gravel of the driveway and instead of landing on the pointy rocks, you landed on the plastic float that made a funny noise as it deflated, poked through by a rock.

“My flamingo.” Danny mumbled sadly.

“What about me?” You sighed in an exaggerated manner so that he would finally help you get up from your now flat seat. “A true gentleman.”

“I know, I raised myself well. I’m a real treat for the ladies and my fellow gentlem— .”

You cut him off. “I was talking about the flamingo.”

“Ha, ha, ha.” Danny laughed dryly and looked at you from head to toe. “Shit, you really are soaked. Not in the way I like the most, though.”

You got startled by the loud noise of thunder, causing you to step closer to Danny.

And he took that opportunity to ease the sexual tension between the two of you and kiss you. Right there, in the middle of the pouring rain.

You kissed him back, something you had wanted to do during all the painfully long time you spent sitting with him at the back of the ambulance. If it was not of one of his employees getting lost in the city and needing Danny to shout the directions directly in his ear so all of you would not raise suspicions having a touristic road trip in an ambulance, you would have taken a chance and taken him right here and there.

He wanted it as bad as you. He wanted you bad, so fucking bad. He did not know how he found it in him not to force you to hump his thigh and soak it up until you made it back to the cabin. And he did not know how he waited until his men were gone to finally feel you.

All of you, you needed him to feel all of you. You grabbed a fistful of his cashmere turtleneck and pulled him along with you back to the cabin.

Danny had barely enough time to shut the door behind the two of you that you were working on peeling off the wet layers of clothes from your body. He did the same, not without slowing down to catch you as you unclasped your bra in a blink of an eye.

“I gotta do everything around here or what?” You hurried to help him too, pulling down his pants along his underwear to strip him fully naked.

“Don’t act like you’re the boss of me right now, sweetheart.”

You swallowed thickly, noticing how his chest rose up and down with the heavy breaths he was taking. You leaned against the door, your legs open wide enough for you to sneak your hand down your body.

He slapped it away and held your jaw open with his hand. “That’s it, baby, that’s it.” He encouraged you as you opened your mouth and poked your tongue out.

Danny spit in your mouth and watched it drip down to your chest. He smeared it around, using both hands to cup your tits and press them together.

You kept your mouth open, but your eyes closed when he pinched on your nipples and pulled on them, hard. He wanted it to hurt, and the pain was delicious.

He abandoned your breasts to bite and suck on your neck, that sweet spot that drove the two of your wild.

You brought your hand to your mouth and shoved your middle and pointer finger inside it, pushing it far enough to cause you to gag around your fingers and you dipped your fingers in the spit.

He had pulled away to watch you. “What a dirty little slut.” He guided your hand between your bodies until it touched your pussy, instructing you to touch yourself for him.

And you did, not wasting a second before you rubbed slow circles around your clit with your wet fingers. “Shit, Danny!”

You reacted to the feeling of his teeth biting in your shoulder, he was adding more marks to the ones that were fading. “Harder baby, come on, give me more than that.”

And, once again, you obeyed. You picked up the pace and fought against the pain of the friction to rub your clit faster. Your moans echoed in the cabin while you felt his cock grow harder against your thigh.

He let your noises drive him crazy until you used your free hand to jerk him off in awkward, clumsy strokes. His hips jerked, he was basically humping the air when you moved your hand to coat it in some of your wetness to make it easier to work him up.

His hands were pressed flat against the door, arms ready to catch you if you needed to, in the case the pleasure made it hard for your legs to keep you standing. It did not take much longer, some expert faster and harder circles on your clit and you could see the edge of your orgasm.

“Don’t you dare cum on me right now, don’t you fucking dare.” Danny whispered in your ear and bit on your lobe, which he sucked in his mouth as you reluctantly pulled your hand away but you kept jerking him off. “Good girl.”

“Need it!” You whined, and his body moved away from yours, leaving you confused.

“So fucking needy for me, aren’t you?” You nodded, he was satisfied with your response. He waited until you walked closer to him, even if was backing away in direction of the kitchen, you still followed him. When he reached the table, he grabbed both of your hands to bring you closer to him and turn you around so that he was now behind you.

Again, you felt his cock brushing over your skin, to the point you would lose your mind if he did not take you right at this moment.

Luckily for you, Danny was equally impatient and he pressed down on you until all of your front was flushed against the cold surface of the table. “Take a deep breath for me, okay? Deep breath, there you go.” He lined himself up with your entrance, after he was done kicking your feet apart so leave room for him.

And he pushed the tip of his cock inside your pussy. It hurt, you had to bite down on your arm not to scream. Danny knew you loved the pain, the initial sensation of being stretched around his thick cock, but he also knew that it took you by surprise every time.

“It hurts so bad!” You moaned out.

He pulled out and spit on his hand to coat his dick with it and then pushed inside you again. He grunted audibly when you clenched around the tip of his cock and he kept going, pushing in and out and getting more of him inside until you felt more comfortable. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

The mocking made you clench again, and that was the moment he decided to fuck you hard and deep, making your body rub against the table.

He could not care less that it did not feel good, he could not care less that you were wiggling around trying to touch him, trying to get him to fuck you faster. All he cared about was  the amazing feeling of your pussy. “You’re taking me so well,” you mumbled words he could not understand. “Yeah? I know it feels good. Feels so damn good.”

You tried to move your leg up on the table to give him more room, hoping to get that extra feeling of his balls slapping against your aching clit.

He denied it, spanking both of your ass cheeks at once to get you to stop being so greedy. Then, he stopped, completely.

“Danny, please, please don’t stop, please!” Your begs were useless, they had the opposite of the desired effect.

Danny remained inside you as he leaned forward to wrap his hand around your neck and force you to arch your back, pressing on your ass to make you keep a position that he knew was way more enjoyable for him than you. That was how he liked it.

And that was how you liked it too, when Danny was taking what he wanted, that was when he made you see stars. And this moment was no different when he started to thrust inside you again, fast, deep, at a rhythm even he knew he could not keep up for much longer.

And definitely not when you were so tight around him, your pussy begging to milk him to the last drop. He pulled you up with him, just high enough to let you sneak an arm under your body and reach for your clit again.

“Cum on my cock, baby, make a mess for me.”

And you rubbed, fast and hard, until your eyes rolled backward and your moans got choked out by the pressure Danny added to the sides of your neck. You gathered all the strength you had in you to speak. “I’m cumming, I’m cumming I’m  —”

"Fuck you feel so goddamn good.” He kept cursing and grunting, until he stopped moving and let your walls flutter around his cock. “Ready for my cum baby? Yeah, you are. Come on, get ready for me.”

When you regained control of your body, you tried to move quickly and use your shaky legs to get on your knees. You put your hands on his thighs for support and poked your tongue out.

“Open wide for me baby, just like that. Shit!” His cock was coated in you and it took only a few more seconds of him stroking himself for you to feel his load.

You closed your eyes, even though he aimed for your mouth and only some drops missed the target.

“Ah, fuck, fuck, fuck.” He let you finish himself, slowly stroking him until the last drop of cum dripped down from his swollen, red tip and fell on your tongue.

You swallowed him and showed off your clean tongue.

He helped you back up on your feet, not without the two of you struggling. Danny kissed you hard again, so hard, he had missed the feeling of your lips when your face was pressed against the table.

You deepened the kiss, but he pushed you away, just fast enough for him to suck your tongue and finish the kiss by spitting in your mouth again.

The two of you tried to catch your breaths, and you had to hold on to Danny to help him stay up. All the adrenaline of today, of now, had drained him.

“So...” You panted for a few more moments and stood up, facing Danny. Your hand cupped his face, your thumb brushed over his rosy cheek. “What about the flamingo?”

Danny chuckled, trying to catch his breath. “I'll buy another, I was thinking of getting a second one anyway.”

“Oooh, Danny Sharp wants to blow up the budget!”

“Stop it, I was trying to be romantic.” He offered you his hand to hold while you two walked to the bathroom to grab a towel and clean yourself. You remained quiet, letting him talk. “Thought we could have one for each of us. “

After you ran the towel he handed you with lukewarm water to get the remaining of his load off your face, you smiled at him. You gave the washcloth back to him so he cleaned himself too. “Are you asking me on a date?”

He shrugged, licking his lips. Nervous Danny, it was a rare sight, but you sure loved it.

“It’s your rules after all, so you make the decisions around here, babyboy.”

“How about... Our city, our rules.” His eyes locked with yours. “Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

You walked up to him and kissed his swollen lips. “Now that’s what I’d call a gentleman. Keep it up and I’ll be the one in charge for the next mission!”

Suddenly, he wrapped his hand around your forearm and moved even closer to you. “Be careful what you wish for, sweetheart.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The S&L crisis perfected finance crime

When the Great Financial Crisis hit, suddenly there was a lot of talk about the Savings & Loan crises of the 1980s and 90s. I was barely a larvum then, and all I knew about S&Ls I learned from half-understood dialog in comics like Dykes to Watch Out For and Bloom County.

As the GFC shattered the lives of millions, I turned to books like Michael W. Hudson’s THE MONSTER to understand what was going on, and learned that the very same criminals who masterminded the S&L crisis were behind the GFC gigafraud:

https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/07/the-monster-the-fraud-and-depraved-indifference-that-caused-the-subprime-meltdown/

Hudson’s work forever changed my views of Orange County, CA, a region I knew primarily through Kim Stanley Robinson’s magesterial utopian novel PACIFIC EDGE, not as the white-hot center of the global financial crime pandemic.

https://memex.craphound.com/2015/01/15/pacific-edge-the-most-uplifting-novel-in-my-library/

That realization resurfaced today as I read the transcript of UMKC Law and Econ prof Bill Black’s interview with Paul Jay on The Analysis, when Black says, “Orange County is the financial fraud capital of the world, not America, the world.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFH5-5D5_Lc

Black is well-poised to tell the tale of the S&L crisis. He served as a bank regulator during the crisis, and his notes on the “Keating 5” meeting were the turning point for public and Congressional attention to the crime:

https://theanalysis.news/economy/the-best-way-to-rob-a-bank-is-to-own-one-bill-black-pt-1/

In 1998, he finished a criminology doctorate at UC Irvine (in Orange County!) on the S&L frauds, entitled “The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One,” a title he used for his 2005 book (updated in 2013) on the scandal:

https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/blab2p

The S&L crisis shares a lot in common with today’s financial crimes, but it had one key difference: ultimately (with Black’s help), more than 30,000 criminal referrals were made against the bankers involved in the crisis, and more than 1,000 were convicted of felonies.

The story of the S&L crisis is both a roadmap for holding finance criminals to account (a roadmap we threw away and forgot about) and a roadmap for committing gross acts of financial crime with impunity (which the finance sector studied carefully and keeps close its heart).

Black calls finance a “crimogenic environment,” in where deregulated institutions become pathogenic, “like a cesspool that produces lots of bacteria and viruses and such and causes lots of infections.”

The S&L crisis began with the Carter-Ronald deregulatory blitz. Both presidents assumed that because S&Ls (a kind of bank) in California and Texas were doing really well after deregulation, that meant CA and TX had nailed it and their example could be expanded nationwide.

In reality, the rosiness of the California and Texas S&Ls’ books was the result of “control fraud,” when a person who controls the bank is stealing from it.

Black likens this to a homeowner who commits insurance fraud — an ultimate insider, who knows the code to de-activate the alarm system and also knows just where the most valuable items are kept.

The major control fraudster of the S&L crisis was Charles Keating, a “top 100 granter” who was among the 100 highest donors to Reagan and Bush I. Keating has stolen a vast fortune from Lincoln Savings, and he was able to trade some of that loot for political cover.

Keating hired Alan Greenspan (!) to lobby for him, and Greenspan suborned five senators (the “Keating Five”) who threatened regulators with dire consequences if they didn’t stop digging into S&Ls.

This was also a priority for Reagan, whose plan for vast tax-cuts for the wealthy might stumble if it the public found out that the US government needed billions to bail out these walking-dead fraud zombies.

Reagan turned to Ed Gray, a PR guy, to run the S&L operation. Gray was hand-picked by the S&L’s trade association, and they told him flat out that he was there to make S&Ls look good — not to blow them up by investigating their balance-sheets.

The problem is that Gray — who was a hardcore Reaganite partisan and deregulation true believer — was honest, and the fraud was so obvious. The Texas S&Ls were originating fraudulent loans to build housing tracts that didn’t exist.

When Gray went out to look at these building sites, he just found endless rows of desolate concrete pads — he called them “Martian landing pads” — and abandoned ruins. These were the collateral on billions in loans!

Gray is a believer in sound finance, and this is undeniable evidence that deregulation has led to catastrophically unsound practices, so he starts imposing regulation on the S&L sector.

Keating pulls strings to sideline Gray, but Gray keeps pushing. Keating gets the leadership of both parties in the House to sponsor legislation ordering him to stop. He keeps going.

Donald Regan — an ex-Marine who went from CEO of Merrill Lynch to Reagan’s Chief of Staff — leans hard on Gray, but Gray won’t stop.

The Office of Management and Budget swears out a criminal complaint against Black for closing too many S&Ls. He won’t stop.

They go after Gray’s guy in Texas, Joe Selby, a former acting Comptroller of the Currency with impeccable credentials, demanding that Gray fire Selby. Democratic Speaker Jim Wright says Selby should be fired because he’s gay. Gray won’t budge.

Homophobia turns out to be a powerful weapon for criminal impunity. Keating sued Black and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, claiming the bank’s gay employees had conspired against Keating because Keating was an evangelical Christian.

Gray took finance crime seriously. He had two priorities: one, eject anyone committing fraud from working at any financial institution, and; two, criminally and civilly charge those former execs and take back all the money they stole and ruin them financially.

Black and colleagues took this to heart, making thousands of criminal referrals. When law enforcement refused to act on these, they started publishing their referrals, and newspapers published stories about how none of these criminal referrals were leading to prosecutions.

Gray eventually gets sidelined by a “team player,” the disgraceful Danny Wall, who studiously ignores all the crime that has been uncovered. But then Bush I replaces him with Tim Ryan, whose marching orders are to root out finance crime.

Ryan ultimately made over 30,000 criminal referrals over the S&L scandal, and brought prosecutions against elite criminals, including Neil Bush, the son of the President of the United States of America.

Black: “Tim Ryan sacrificed his career for the public knowingly…he’s been unemployable since.”

And as for Bush I, his first major legislative priority became the removal of financial crime from the jurisdiction of independent watchdogs, so this would never happen again.

This is as far as the interview gets (it’s part one of nine!), but it’s already answering some of the most important questions the Great Financial Crisis raised, like, “Why didn’t any of the bankers who stole trillions from the world go to jail?”

Image: Dykes to Watch Out For strip #90 (1990), “The Solution,” Alison Bechdel https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3908728&userid=99998&perpage=40&pagenumber=10

[youngbugandtonystank]

And now anti Tony people are blaming him for letting Sam’s family being in financial trouble wtf the man is dead! Let him rest!

Yeah, I saw. 

They’re definitely going to keep doing that, gotta say, the MCU never failed with Tony's character, they created circumstances for him exactly just like Stan envisioned. The ‘love-to-hate’ trope is strong when it comes to him, this is what Stan wanted out of Tony Stark's relationship with his fans/audience. Thing is, the reality of the MCU superhero is that they’re all flawed. None of them are exempt from anything. Why Tony gets more hate than the others?

He’s the most popular character. There’s no discussion in this instance. Popular superheroes that first come to people’s minds are always Batman, Iron Man and Spider-Man. Tony Stark/Iron Man is a pop culture legend and the fact that RDJ got to portray him as great as he did, helped a lot. People are always going to circle back to the character who has more hype and audience. 

He’s the one with the money. The fact that Tony is swimming in money automatically makes him the target of the ‘eat the rich’ mentality. People fail to remember that other characters such as T’Challa (who has more money than Tony would ever wish to see and lives in the most technologically advanced country in the world), Shuri, Thor (a literal king with a kingdom), The Pym family, Danny Rand (he has a net worth of $5 billion and is one of the richest comic book characters of all time), etc exist. And we still haven’t seen the other Marvel characters (in the MCU) that are richer than Tony like Reed Richards, Professor X, Warren Worthington, Norman Osborn, Namor, Doctor Doom, etc. 

Even if some of us see RDJ as attractive and good looking, some people don’t. For them, RDJ is nothing compared to Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Sebastian Stan, etc. It’s easier to hate a character you don’t find attractive. And also the fact that they find those actors relatively younger than RDJ. 

It’s the most shippable character. This also means he must be in the way of some other ships. Even if this sounds unbelievable, many people don’t get their irrational hate for a character until it dawns on them that they only hate him because he either treated one half of their ship unfairly or because he’s in the way of that ship. The more reasons they can find to hate him, the more legitimate their senseless hatred seems in their minds.

People don’t call out characters like T’Challa or Shuri because they’re scared of being called ‘racist’. T’Challa is so rich that Howard Stark could only buy (just an assumption, it’s a possibility he stole the vibranium lmao) only a portion of vibranium to build Steve’s shield, and because is the world’s most indestructible material, his worth is approximately $10,000 a gram (Fantastic Four #607) and Wakanda's vaults hold 10,000 tons of the material (Doomwar #1) T’Challa is not a billionaire, he’s a trillionaire lmaoooo everyone else is a joke compared to him.

Even having all of this info, Tony and T’Challa owe nothing to anyone.

T’Challa helped Bucky because of his principles (Tony offered to do this at the beginning as well until of course, he found out he killed his parents) but because of that, that doesn't mean T’Challa owes Steve, Sam, Wanda, and Natasha money or housing assistance. He didn't give it to them at all and he doesn’t have to. 

James Rhodes: Well. You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years.

Sam Wilson: Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star.

Wanna know why? Because T’Challa knows they’re adults and they make their own decisions. Sam chose to be on Steve’s side, Wanda did too, Natasha too, etc. Adults make decisions and they should deal with the consequences that come with that. Tony was not going to deal with their financial problems because they made a choice and it’s not his problem to deal with. Tony is not their father. People need to ask themselves why Sam was not in the ‘lift the hammer’ scene after the party, because he wasn’t familiar with them, he wasn’t friends with Tony, only with Steve. Besides that fact, they all fought Tony, hurt his best friend, and left him to deal with the rest in CW. They’re not family.

Sam Wilson: No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy. Steve Rogers: Be it ever so humble. Sam Wilson: You find a place in Brooklyn yet? Steve Rogers: I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn. Sam Wilson: Well, home is home, you know?

There’s absolutely no reason Steve can’t afford a place. He’s an adult, he has a good reputation, he worked for shield (why aren’t yall on Nick Fury’s ass if he had Steve and the others as employees? Fury set an entire place for Clint, why can’t he do it for the rest of them, he is the founder of the Avengers after all), and was pretty much capable of doing stuff for others. Tony provided them with a home while they were working together, he doesn’t need to concern himself with their personal problems because they’re not actual friends. Rhodey is his friend. Happy is his friend. Also consider the fact that maybe Sam didn’t want his help? 

And let’s also take into consideration that Tony is not only an Avenger, but Tony is also a businessman, an inventor, an engineer, has a company to keep an eye on, he is the one who finances the Avengers’ messes and other superhero messes too by co-owning the department of damage control, etc. He has other things to do. The rest of the Avengers are adults too, they should seek a job that could give them a future too, not just depend on Tony’s money. Tony had a family and he had to make sure they were covered after his death, this includes, Pepper (his wife, therefore she gets his stuff), Peter (his son, he left him EDITH, he’s basically set for life with that given the A.I. has access to the majority of his things including bank accounts), Morgan (his daughter; his responsibility), Happy and Rhodey (I’m sure we’ll see what he left them in Armor Wars). Why? They’re his actual family. 

If some of you know this and you’re still looking for reasons to put the blame on him, you’re failing to recognize you’re obsessed with hating Tony just for the sake of being right. Wouldn’t you like a life where you don’t have to constantly look for reasons to hate on a fictional character, better yet, a character you don’t like at all. Why the effort? You can love Tony and Sam at the same time, I promise you, this is not going to kill you. 

So please, instead of whining about Tony Stark all the time, why don’t yall just enjoy the fact that the show is showing you a vital and important event that happens in life while representing a part of Sam’s life to add to his emotional depth and character development? Especially because he’s a superhero and possibly the next Captain America, it’s good to see someone who is supposed to be a figure (superhero) whose actions or achievements are far greater than what people expect deal with normal things. They’re giving you a background; a solid storyline for his character. Let it be. Enjoy the shows yall, you can’t keep coming back to blame Tony for everything that happens after every single movie or Disney+ show, look for another metaphorical punching bag. The man is dead. 

[gally-hin-phantom]

Revamp of my Film Noir Au, now named Mafia Au 

Danny lives a double-life, but this time is an hitman instead of a superhero, and all ghosts (minus Clockwork) are his targets/victims

Because like you know I love Aus where Danny isn’t playing nice 😈

xxx

Additional Arts with Jazz/Vlad/Dani and Au Information below the “Keep Reading”

(Triggers Warning: mention of violence and death) 

——————————————————————— Name: Daniel James Fenton Nickname: Danny Occupation: Part Time Nasty Burger employee / Pro Hitman Age: 23 Codename: Phantom Kill Count: ??? Personal Gun: Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm Abilities: Smart, good liar, social skills, self-defense, guns skills, knife skills, first aid, parkour

History: 

Daniel Fenton is the youngest son of Maddie and Jack Fenton. His parents died when he was still in middle school, leaving him alone with his hospitalized older sister Jazz Fenton and a lot of debts.

In high school, he started to steal money to keep his parents’ house and pay for Jazz’s hospitalization.

One day, without noticing he was stealing drug dealers, he accidentally got caught in a shoot-out. After the slaughter, hidden behind a bin, he met “The Master of Time” a professional hitman. At first the hitman wanted to kill him in order to erased any witness but Danny begged him to spare his life and to teach him assassination instead. Confused but intrigued by so much will, and after serious warnings the hitman accepted Danny as his apprentice. One year after, Danny got his first mission and target, an ex-policeman by the name of Percival Walker.

In the beginning Danny only wanted to target dubious people, but after being call « monster » by one of his victim, and then killing the innocent witness Dorathea Legrand, he stopped caring and started to accept missions with innocents and even children.

Each mission usually brought him between 15’000$ and 30’000$, after the intermediate commission he stored the rest on 5 separate bank accounts with different names, and lied to Jazz about his current job, saying that their parents left them a lot of insurance money.

He approximately killed 3-6 persons a year but hadn’t killed anyone in the last year and started to run out of money. In April, he gladly accepted his next mission, a wealthy businessman in the name of Vladimir Masters.

Morals: 

Danny is now ok to kill people, after all animals kill to eat, humans also kill animals for food. Receiving money to kill somebody isn’t so different from receiving money to butcher a cow for steak. After long conversations with his vegan friend Sam, he concluded that animals' lives don’t worth less than human lives. Moreover humans kill other humans, for oils or other horrible beliefs (racism, homophobia etc…). At least he does it to help his sister and not twisted pleasure. Like he says “He didn’t have a choice and can’t go back.”

Danny used to but doesn't have regrets anymore, “What's done is done” and what he earns help him to keep Fenton Works and Jazz alive by moving her to a better hospital. 

He doesn’t have guilt either, the one to blame is the person who asks him to kill. The one to blame is the person who wants to kill, not the knife. Like a knife he is only a ‘tool’.

Even if he never sees a ghost he believes in a sort of afterlife, and isn’t scared of death. He only hopes to survive long enough until Jazz fully heals.

Memorable Kills:

Mission 1: Jailbreak Target name: Percival Walker Occupation: Prison Guardian, ex-policeman Cause of Death: Shooted in the head

Mission 2: Djinn Target name: ? Occupation: Secret mistress of a wealthy businessman Cause of Death: Stabbed in the throat Notes: Commissioned by the businessman’s jealous wife.

Mission ?: Specter Target name: ? Occupation: Teen therapist/counselor Cause of Death: Shouted several time all over her body Notes: Called Danny « freak » and « monster » right before death.

Mission ?: Plague Target name: Aragon Legrand Occupation: Heir of a powerful wealthy family Cause of Death: Shouted in the head Notes: Dorathea Legrand, Aragon’s sister, unexpectedly intervened during the mission, trying to protect her brother. She was also killed to avoid witnesses.

Mission ?: Lullaby  Target: Ember McLain Occupation: Diva Cause of Death: Burned alive in her house, to make it look like an accident

Mission ?: BlueBlood Target name: ? Occupation: Rich Young Heir of a wealthy family Cause of Death: Suffocated in his sleep Notes: Youngest target, he was only 8

Mission ?: Snow Target name: ? Occupation: Journalist & Books Critic Cause of Death: Shouted in the head

xoxoxoxo

Name: Jasmine Panthea Fenton Occupation: Hospitalized civilian  Age: 24 Nickname (by Danny): Jazz, and sometimes before her hospitalization Panny

History:

Hospitalized for a long time her health seems to deteriorate with each passing day, though moving to a better hospital seems to have stabilized her a bit.

Danny is making sure to visit her at least twice a week to keep her company and brought her plenty of books he lends from the library (even if she doesn’t always have the strength to read its, she is happy to have Danny to keep her company).

Though weaker, Jazz is intelligent and doesn’t believe one second the “insurance money” excuse, but she lets Danny has his secrets anyway until the day he decides to tell her everything. Little she suspects her baby brother, who smells like fried food and cheap burgers, has his hands covered with blood.

xoxoxoxo

Name: Unknown but his Initials are C.W. Occupation: Retired Hitman, intermediate Age: ??? Codename: Master of Time Nickname (by Danny): ClockWork Kill Count: ???

History: 

After teaching everything he knows to Danny, he got shot in the knee and forced to retire. He now uses his old connections to act as an intermediate to find him missions.

Clockwork knows Danny only kill to help his sister and is actually very protective of him. He tries to help him and keep him as far as he can from too dangerous missions, even if Phantom’s skills and abilities to kill fast without letting traces are highly sought-after, resulting in more dangerous missions and famous targets.

xoxoxoxo

Mission ?: Plasmius Target name: Vladimir Mikhailovich Masters Occupation: One of the wealthiest businessman of the world Nickname (by Danny): Fruitloop Age: 49 Note: The bounty for his head would be able to finish paying Danny’s debts

History: 

Vlad has a lot of enemies. He is a billionaire and is always on the right side of the law but also do a lot of devious stuffs in the shadows (child labor, ecologic disasters etc…). For humanity's sake, he is literally better dead.

Danny tracked Vlad for months before having the chance to point a gun on the almost untouchable man.

xoxoxoxo

Name: Danielle Masters Dead Name: Kim S. Occupation: Vlad’s personal bodyguard, keeps an eye on her master’s security 24/7 Age: 22 Nickname (by Danny): Elle Kill Count: ??? Personal weapons: Glock 26 and several knives hidden in her boots and jacket Abilities: Smart, good liar and actress, high class social skills, self-defense, guns skills, knife skills, first aid, parkour, high education, bilingual  

History: 

Vlad found her during one of his visits in a warzone country. In one rare act of kindness (?), he took her with him, raised her and paid for her « training ».

While acting as Vlad’s clingy and annoying daughter, she is in fact his close bodyguard. Dani is very devoted and would give her life for her « father » without an once of hesitation.

She usually wears a long jacket to hide her small thought muscular build and wears cloths comfy enough to run and jump.

[handeaux]

17 Curious (And Occasionally Famous) Cincinnati Dogs

Early Aeronaut

Richard Clayton, proprietor of a watch shop on the corner of Sycamore and Second streets in Cincinnati, gained international fame in 1835 when he flew a balloon from Cincinnati to Monroe County, Virginia. Shortly after liftoff from an amphitheater on Court Street, between Race and Elm, Clayton released a parachute which descended slowly to earth. Suspended from the parachute was a little (and unnamed) dog, who was returned safely to its owner. The owner refused large sums of money to part with his pioneering aeromutt.

Lusus Naturae

Cincinnati witnessed the birth of a most unusual dog in 1858. A bull terrier owned by Smith Betts of Western Row (today’s Central Avenue) gave birth to a litter including a puppy with three normal legs and a foreleg from which, where a paw should have been located, was a perfectly formed puppy head. According to the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune [17 May 1858]: “The little curiosity was as lively as a cricket, but Mr. Betts procured the service of a lad, who, for a dime, drowned it in the canal.”

Dog Days At The Zoo

In its early days, the Cincinnati Zoo offered displays of dogs. On the Zoo’s opening day in 1875, visitors could view a Newfoundland, two mastiffs, some poodles, “Danish hounds” (Great Danes) and greyhounds. Some of these dogs were trained performers, but others merely illustrated unfamiliar breeds. Cincinnatians could purchase dogs from the Zoo if they wished. The Zoo advertised Saint Bernard dogs especially as “docile . . . but a terror to tramps and evil-doers.”

A Canine Con Artist

Attorney John J. McCarthy had a friend who owned a dog. The dog preferred the company of Mr. McCarthy to that of his actual owner. As the Enquirer [27 January 1891] told it, the dog, on command, would sit up, wear a hat and smoke a cigar while displaying the “most sage look.” McCarthy turned down multiple offers to sell the dog, repeatedly explaining that he did not own the mutt. Some buyers persisted, however, to the extent that McCarthy took their money and turned over the dog. After every purchase, however, the dog was back at McCarthy’s feet within the hour.

A Dog With A Job

Willie Theobald was a clerk at the American District Messenger Office on Vine Street in 1894 and he owned a dog named Purp who followed him to work. In the days before email and faxes, a lot of business communication traveled through the city by messenger and Willie supervised a troop of young messengers – and a dog. While Willie sat at his desk, making assignments, Purp accompanied messengers on their rounds and often delivered messages on his own. Purp waited patiently until the receipt book was signed, then trotted back to Willie to await his next task.

A Vet’s Pride

Veterinarian L.A. Anderson was known throughout Cincinnati because of his dog, Jeff, esteemed to be the smartest canine in town. One day in 1894, Jeff was, as was his habit, holding the reins of his master’s horse while Dr. Anderson attended to some business. When a rainstorm blew up, Jeff led the horse onto the pavement and under the awning of a nearby store. As the rain abated, Jeff led the horse back into the street to await Dr. Anderson’s return.

It’s Not easy Being Green

Oscar A. Stuckenberg, a clerk in the city engineering office, donated to Cincinnati’s Natural History Museum the freshly deceased body of a greyhound pup which had died 36 hours after birth, 23 February 1897. The color of its coat was distinctly asparagus green, except the head, which was the ordinary grey color. Museum curators scrubbed the corpse with soap, then soaked it in alcohol for several hours, but were unable to remove the color. “Mr. Stuckenberg's assurance that the pup was born with the green color can not be doubted,” they concluded.

Pug In Lieu Of A Ring

Margaret Harrison was one of the most sought-after young ladies in Cincinnati, if not for her own charms then for the riches of her father, Learner Blackman Harrison, president of the First National Bank. She accepted the proposal of Ezra Howard Child, son of a wealthy Massachusetts manufacturer but, it being 1900, thought engagement rings were too old-fashioned for a modern couple and requested a dog instead. Margaret’s fiancé complied, and a pug, decorated with a white satin ribbon, accompanied her throughout the ceremony, attended by one hundred guests, at her parent’s house on Grandin Road.

Cincinnati’s Most Intelligent Dog

Word got around in 1902 that Prince, a white and brown water spaniel owned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Wirthwine of Evanston, could do anything except speak. The Wirthwines talked to Prince continually as they trained him and this, it was believed, educated Prince to understand every word spoken, so that he followed every command to the letter. Although 10 years old, Prince was described as frisky as a puppy, and much beloved by the neighbors on Harvard Avenue.

Cincinnati’s First Police Dog

Visitors to the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum are greeted by the stuffed remains of a scruffy mutt in a display case. This is Handsome, beloved companion of the Cincinnati Police who patrolled Rat Row, Sausage Row and the other unsavory neighborhoods that constituted what is now The Banks but was once known as The Bottoms. Handsome’s feats of investigative skill spread far and wide. On his demise in 1915, the cops chipped in and had Handsome preserved through taxidermy. For a while, he decorated police headquarters, but he’s now at home in the museum.

An Extra Leg

In 1926, somebody dropped off an unusual dog to Hamilton County Sheriff Richard Witt who, back then, also served as the county’s dog catcher. There was nothing wrong with the little puppy except that it had five legs. Witt turned the little fellow over to his deputy, Charles “Buck” Hauser, who promised to take care of it. Hauser had a history with freak animals; he also provided a home to a three-legged rooster.

Danny Dumm’s Greyhound

Cartoonist Harold E. Russell inked daily sports highlights for the Cincinnati Enquirer over a 52-year career that ended only with his death in 1966. Along the way, Russell is credited with inventing mustachioed Mister Red and the Cincinnati Royals logo. He also created a miniature alter ego named Danny Dumm who provided commentary on Russell’s cartoons for decades. In 1928, promoting racing meets at a Springdale greyhound track, Danny adopted a dog and the Enquirer ran a contest to name the pooch. Inundated with thousands of entries, Russell got two assistants to help him pick the eventual winning name – Big Swig – submitted by Miss Evelyn Klopp of Norwood.

Big Jon & Sparkie’s Pooch

For a decade, beginning at WSAI in 1948 and later on the ABC network, the most popular show on radio, “Big Jon & Sparkie,” was produced here in Cincinnati. Big Jon was the show’s host, Jonathan Arthur Goerss. Sparkie was an elf from the Land of Make Believe who wanted to become a real boy. Most of the characters were based on writer Don Kortekamp’s Cincinnati childhood, including Sparkie’s mischievous dog, a Boston toy terrier named Bunny.

Uncle Al’s Dog

From 1950 to 1985, it seemed mandatory for every kid in Cincinnati to appear at least once on WCPO’s Uncle Al Show. In addition to host Al Lewis himself and his wife, Wanda, aka “Captain Windy,” the show featured a multitude of supporting characters. Many of the subsidiary roles on the Uncle Al Show were created by artist and set designer Thomas York, including Ringo Rango the cowboy, Lucky the Clown, Chief Red Feather, Charley the Horse, the Merry Mailman and, of course, Pal the Dog.

Hattie The Witch’s Hound

At least two generations of Cincinnati children grew up with the Larry Smith Puppets, from his days on the Uncle Al Show on WCPO-TV through his decade-long run as the host of Larry Smith’s Cartoon Club on WXIX-TV. In addition to “Batty Hattie from Cincinnati,” Teaser the Mouse and Rudy the Rooster, the central canine character in this puppet menagerie was Snarfy R. Dog.

WEBN’s Program Director

When radio station WEBN first went on the air from a small, blue Considine Avenue house on “Price’s Mountain,” the owner and chief on-air personality, attorney Frank Wood Sr., was meticulous in crediting the talents of program director Miles Duffy. Visitors to the station may have suspected something funny about a dog bowl labeled “Miles.” In fact, Miles Duffy was a cocker spaniel, drafted into that significant position to give the impression WEBN’s employee roster was larger than it was. When Miles went to doggy heaven, the Woods had him taxidermied.

Cincinnati Reds In The Dog House

No review of Cincinnati dogs could be complete, of course, without featuring Marge Schott’s Saint Bernards, known as Schottzie and Schottzie 02. Reds managers were subjected to rubdowns with dog hair in often-vain attempts to attract good luck, groundskeepers had to pick up dog poop off the field, players had to dodge the beasts during pre-game warm-ups and the dogs sat front and center in the team photos during Schott’s ownership of the team.

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                                                                JULY                                   2021

 THE RIB PAGE

 *****

They are still uncovering statues on Easter Island.

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Everyone is talking about ‘Exterminate all the Brutes” from Raoul Peck.

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Vampire bats, prevalent in Latin America may be on the way to the U.S.

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What they call faith, I call strength.

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Criss angel will open CABLP, a restaurant in Overton, Nevada. The letters stand for breakfast, lunch and pizza and will include a free meal outreach program to help under privileged and pediatric cancer families.

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A fifth ocean in Antartica??** There have also found 4 new ocean species: Apolemia, Tegula Kusairo, Leptarma Biju and Duobrachium Sparksae.

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In China they have found a possible new species in a skull that is 140,000 years old.

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Why would Jeffrey Toobin be back at CNN?? Surely there are more young deserving talking heads around.

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The Keystone pipeline is dead.

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5,000 pounds of explosives were discovered in a home in South LA. LAPD seems to have detonated the fireworks in a truck right there in the neighborhood. They were too dangerous to transport but not enough to blow them up??? How stupid are these people??

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Days alert : So glad to see Clyde again even if it is only for a moment!! **BTW, I do not understand the Daytime Emmy noms this year as they relate to Days. I really was pulling for Victoria Koneful (Ciara) and she won but George DelHoya (Orpheus), Tamara Braun (Ava) and Cady McClain (Jennifer)??? I was shocked when Cady McClain won. I mean, she was so whiny. I question my own ability to judge a performance. In most categories, the winner was usually the one I thought was the worst option. I was happy for Max Gail and CBS Sunday Morning.  Some performances were sure overlooked. What about James Read (Clyde), Paul Telfer (Xander), Bryan Dattilo (Lucas), Robert Scott Wilson (Ben), Daniel Kerr (Eli) and Lindsay Arnold (Allie) ?? As annoying as the Kristen character is and as long as it took me to get used to Stacy Haiduk in the role, she kicked ass this year. Did they even submit clips?? And,  they are not often on but Tony and Anna forever!!!!!!** And how wonderful is it to see the Dimera boys all together and recounting the whole fam for the votes? **And one more thing, Days was not even nominated for writing while Bold and the Beautiful spends every other show with the Liam character standing in front of the fireplace making excuses for the same shit! Just push repeat, C,mon!!**Philip had a great line for Brady about following Kristen like a zombie.** Dis Eli really say, “Peacock and chill??’ Are these the things they will have to do to do to stay on the air? It took me right out of the show. It was the same day the ads for Days on Peacock started. OMG

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Texas Gov. Abbott vetoed a bill that would make it illegal to chain up dogs without water.**ATexas churches have lost their 501(c) (3) status because it actively ‘educates’ its members on electing specific Republican politicians. –Pete West* This should have been happening long ago. Many churches I know of do this and should not be allowed to have it both ways. #tax the church

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Ellen Burstyn, Jane Curtin, Loretta Devine, Christopher Lloyd, James Caan, French Stewart and Ann-Margaret in Queen Bees and directed by Michael Lembeck?? Yes please!!

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NY has suspended Giuliani’s law license.

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Miracle Workers: The Oregon Trail is coming to TBS, this will be season 3 in the series.

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What is this about Bowen Yang?? A podcast about a sperm bank heist?? Yeow!!

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David Geffen has given $150,000,000 to Yale drama school: Every student will be tuition- free in perpetuity.

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Allison Mack was sentenced to 3 years.

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The latest in sexual assault news: James Franco has agreed to 2.2 mil settlement in sexual misconduct case.** Kyle Massey was charged with immoral communication with a minor.**Bill Cosby is out and here are some reactions: A terrible wrong is being righted.: a miscarriage of justice is corrected. I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward.- Phylicia Rashad*I really don’t ever want to hear again as to why many survivors don’t report their rape or assault.- Charlotte Clymer* Women are showing great restraint in not burning everything to the ground right now and I don’t know how they do it.-Jeff Tiedrich

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Amazon is making a series of A League of Their Own with Nick Offerman as the coach.

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Does anyone else have family members that are rich, transient, know it all snobs??

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It looks like New York’s ranked choice voting is leaning toward Eric Adams for Mayor.

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Michigan republicans investigating voter fraud found 2 incidents. One is for a lady who voted by mail and then died, the other was confusion over a man who had the same name as his Father. That was it!

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Jamie Lee Curtis will get the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 78th Venice International Film Fest in September.

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Jerry Seinfeld will star in and direct ‘Unfrosted’ about Pop-Tarts.

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Why is Airbnb still listing properties in illegal settlements and outposts in Palestinian occupied territories? –James J. Zogby

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Merrick Garland has announced that the Justice department sued Georgia over the voting rights.

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The NFL says that it will halt the use of “race norming” which assumed black players started out with lower cognitive functioning in a $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims. The practice had made it harder for black players to qualify. –The Associated Press.

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Scary Clown 45 ended his ‘From the desk of Donald J. Trump’ blog after 29 days. Word is that he felt he was being mocked in the media.

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Religious leadership keeps engaging in partisan politics on behalf of politicians that are particularly unpopular with younger people and they wonder why younger people are disenchanted with the church. – Schooley ** Give young people credit as well for seeing through the hype and lies of these religious hypocrites who use God only as a weapon and a threat. –Larry Charles

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Amazon will stop drug testing for employment. Can every other company jump on this bandwagon? Let’s judge employees on the work they give.

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The Backstreet Boys and NSync are going to work together??!!

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Showtime is bringing back American Gigolo with Jon Bernthal.

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If Biden can carry out air strikes without proper authorization, the Senate can raise the minimum wage without the Parliamentarian.  –Alexandra M. Hunt

Reality Winner is out!!

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Judy Woodruff has been given the Peabody award for journalistic integrity.

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Donald Glover is bringing us Hive. Malia Obama will be a writer.

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Nicholas Cage has married Riko Shibata.

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Catch and Kill: The podcast tapes, is here on HBO.

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Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening will star in Jerry and Marge go large.

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Amblin Partners and Netflix are partners.

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Fall 2022 will bring the Roybal School of film and television production for underserved communities. They are looking to help 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students. Among others, the program was cofounded by George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling and Eva Longoria.

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Will there be a Wedding Crashers2??

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The Mysterious Benedict Society stars Tony Hale.** I would love to see he and Danny Pudi in something together.

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Actor Stephen Amell from Arrow was removed from a plane after getting into it with his wife.  A source said he was drunk and screaming. An official source said that they removed “an unruly customer.”** Andy Dick was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, allegedly assaulting his partner, Lucas with a metal chair.

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So.. Fox news was digitally altering the faces of people they did not care for??? Is there no end to their bullshit????

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Mark Ronson is set to marry Grace Gummer.

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Crime shows seem to be in the cycle of prisoners and the women who get a thrill from helping them escape.

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Wolfgang Van Halen has released a debut album: Mammoth

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Everyone seems to love Danny Trejo’s memoir and its honesty.

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David Spade will take over as host of Bachelor in Paradise.

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I am sickened when I see the first question that pops up on an online search is the net worth of a person. Oh this twisted world.

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Life is a short pause between 2 great mysteries. –Jung

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Prince Harry and Meghan had a daughter that they named Lilibet ‘Lili” Diana.

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Michael Flynn’s brother Charles (who withheld help from the capitol on Jan. 6), leads the U.S. Army Pacific and commands 90,000 troops.

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I am so excited to read ‘The Boys’ from Clint and Ron Howard, due out in October.

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Dave Chappelle closed out the Tribeca film fest with a surprise concert. This was the first in person film fest since Covid. Look for This time, this place which premiered there.

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Ron Wood will release the album Mr. Luck: A tribute to Jimmy Reed on Sept. 3

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Howard Stern signed a new $500 mil contract with Sirius XM. He is taking the whole summer off and many fans say they will cancel their subscription because they don’t want to pay for a summer of reruns.

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Acorn will bring Jane Seymour back to a series. Seymour will be co -executive produce on Harry Wild. Her character will be a retired University professor who loves her whiskey and solves crimes.

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Annie Murphy  stasr in ‘Kevin can f*** himself about a sitcom wife which airs on AMC.

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I still do not understand why Rep. Mike Nearman hasn’t been arrested for letting insurrectionists into the Capitol.

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There is a wing shortage??

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The Pulitzer prizes have been announced. The list includes Ben Faub, Barry Blitt, Katori Hall, Emilio Morenatti, AP photographers Marcio Jose Sanchez, Alex Brandon, David Goldman, Julio Cortez, John Minchillo, Frank Franklin II, Ringo H.W. Chiu, Evan Vucci, Mike Stewart and Noah Berger. There was a special citation for Darnella Frazier who filmed the death of George Floyd.

*****

Conan’s last TBS guests were Martin Short, Jack Black, Bill Hader, Mila Kunis, Dana Carvey, Patton Oswalt and JB Smoove. There were some surprises.  The big musical number never happened when Jack Black hurt himself. It was all funny and sweet but Conan never mentioned the band in the last show WTF????????????????????????????????????????? Music is so important to him and he does not thank the band? ** Colbert and Brian Stack gave Conan a cute send after4, 368 shows on CBS calling him a ‘Slenderman Ron Weasly’.  Kimmel wished Conn well also.** Hope his HBO MAX variety show goes well.** BTW, the Duvall interview with Colbert was great to see but why does nobody ever mention ‘Get Low?’ What a performance!!

*****

Tattoos are on the rise.

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Fast food drive thru’s sometime close with fake excuses like the equipment is down or something because they don’t feel like working. Good people can’t find work and so many waste the opportunities they have. AAAAGHH!!

*****

Valerie Bertinelli and Demi Lovato will star in ‘Hungry’ on NBC.

*****

Hulu will bring us David E. Kelley’s Nine Perfect Strangers with Nicole Kidman, Michael Shannon, Regina Hall, Bobby Cannavale and Melissa McCarthy.

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R.I.P. Gavin Macleod, Frank Bonner, Joy Vogelsang, Benigno Aquino, Champ Biden, victims of the Miami building collapse, Robert Sacchi, Stuart Damon, Johnny Solinger  and Clarence Williams III.

[wazafam]

While he claims to not be a serial killer, Saw villain Jigsaw is one of the most effective murderers in horror, though there have been a few victims that have escaped his grasp. Of course, were one to ask John Kramer himself, back when he was alive, anyway, he would've insisted that what he did wasn't murder. Instead, John used the Jigsaw identity to help wayward and damaged people reform, learning to have a new appreciation for life by making a sacrifice of blood and flesh to survive.

In reality, Jigsaw's twisted methods are impossible to condone. His games are nothing more than a sick vigilante taking punishment into his own hands. John may have been a decent man once upon a time, but the loss of his unborn son and the dissolution of his marriage, coupled with the terminal cancer eating away at him, eventually sapped every last bit of true humanity from his heart. No decent person could do what he does to people and not go mad.

Related: Is Jigsaw In Spiral? Saw Villain Future Explained

For the Saw fans, though, there's no reason to hate John, as in fiction, the normal bounds of morality don't necessarily apply. Many of the people Jigsaw targets are far from sympathetic characters, and watching them get theirs can be a form of catharsis. Sometimes though, the players of Jigsaw's games have survived to tell the tale. Here are all of the survivors of Jigsaw's games.

Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) was the first known survivor of a Jigsaw trap, in her case the infamous reverse bear trap. To free herself, she had to kill a man and retrieve the key to the device on her face from inside his stomach. As traumatic as it was, Amanda then kicked her drug addiction and ended up joining John as his first confirmed apprentice, designed to help Jigsaw's work continue despite John's failing health. Sadly, she lost her way and began designing inescapable traps. John tested her again, and she failed, dying in the process.

Not everyone who gets mixed up in Jigsaw's games is a particular target of his wrath. In some cases, they're just those close to the main test subject, such as the wife and daughter of Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes). Dr. Gordon, of course, famously survived his test in the first Saw movie by sawing off his own foot. Meanwhile, his wife Alison and daughter Diana survived their own captivity at the hands of Zep, a man forced into working for Jigsaw. Lawrence would go on to survive and become another Jigsaw apprentice, as revealed in Saw 7.

Jeff Ridenhour is a very minor character in Saw lore, but still a memorable one. In Jeff's case, he didn't necessarily deserve to survive his Jigsaw test, but was saved by Detectives David Tapp (Danny Glover) and Steven Sing (Ken Leung). Doing so led to dire consequences for the cops, though – so perhaps the tradeoff wasn't exactly fair.

Related: Saw 2's Venus Fly Trap Mask Was The First Hint At Dr. Gordon Twist

Daniel Matthews was tested much less due to his own petty crimes, and more because he was the son of Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), an explosively violent cop who was Saw 2's primary Jigsaw target. Eric survived being placed in a group of people who had been wrongly convicted of crimes thanks to his father, but was then placed inside a safe to be used as leverage for Eric's test. Daniel survived, but Eric didn't come out intact.

Corbett Denlon and Judge Halden are two minor Saw 3 characters who were pulled into Jigsaw's games with Jeff Denlon in Saw 3. Halden was the man who gave the drunk driver that killed Jeff's son a light sentence. To save Halden, Jeff had to burn cherished mementos connected to his son. Halden later died trying to help Jeff save his son's killer from a trap. Corbett, Jeff's young daughter, was "saved" by Jigsaw apprentice Mark Hoffman after Jeff failed his test.

Easily the most dangerous and sadistic of Jigsaw's apprentices, Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) ended up working for John Kramer after faking a Jigsaw murder in order to kill the man who had taken his sister's life. Seeing Hoffman's potential, but not appreciating being ripped off, John offered him a chance to join the cause. Hoffman continued the games long after John's death but got tested for the first time himself via his own reverse bear trap thanks to John's widow, Jill. Hoffman survived and killed Jill, but later lost for good against Dr. Gordon.

FBI Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson), along with his partner Lindsey Perez, investigated the Jigsaw case, and both ultimately died as a result, but not before escaping at least one of Jigsaw's traps. Strahm instantly suspected Hoffman was in on things, and that didn't change following his own escape from a Jigsaw trap that involved an improvised pen tracheotomy to avoid drowning in a box locked on his head. Still, his dogged pursuit of the truth cost him dearly, as he was later crushed to death by the encroaching walls of a room, while Hoffman smugly escaped the area.

Related: Why Saw Has The Greatest Horror Movie Twist Ending Of All Time

Strahm's partner Agent Perez survived a nasty Jigsaw trap involving an exploding puppet sending shrapnel into her face thanks to the efforts of Strahm himself. The FBI faked her death in order to try and get one over on John's still unidentified Jigsaw accomplice, although Perez eventually resurfaced, only to get stabbed to death by Hoffman when his crimes were revealed.

Art Blank (Justin Louis) was one of the featured Jigsaw test subjects in Saw 4, and was chosen due to his profession. Art was a lawyer, and one with a habit of defending clients who were guilty as sin and helping them escape justice. Art had been John's friend and business partner, but after a falling out, was forced to kill another man in order to survive a trap. He was then forced to help Jigsaw set up another game, only to later be shot by cop Daniel Rigg. Morgan was a related survivor, the wife of an abusive husband and father that Art had gotten off. She had to kill her husband to live and to set herself free in more ways than one.

Brit Stevenson (Julie Benz) was one of the main test subjects in Saw 5, a corrupt corporate executive who hired an arsonist to burn down an apartment building so that she could buy the property it sat on, not realizing people were inside at the time. None of the victims in Saw 5 were without sin, but Brit and Mallick Scott, the arsonist, managed to survive multiple traps on their way to victory and rescue by the FBI.

Tara and Brent Abbott were a quite innocent mother and son who got roped into Jigsaw's Saw 6 game, which revolved around heartless insurance executive William Easton. Easton denied their husband/father live-saving care, and after Easton survived his own tests, his fate was left up to them. Tara couldn't bring herself to kill Easton, but Brent did it, instead, in a rage over his father's death.

Related: Why The Most Disturbing Saw Trap Isn't Actually The Needle Pit

The corrupt exec William Easton (Peter Outerbridge) survived his own tests, although not without having to make agonizing decisions along the way, including which of his also mostly corrupt employees he would save. Easton's company had also denied John Kramer potentially life-saving treatment, thus his posthumous vendetta. William opted to save his secretary, Addy, as well as other subordinates, Shelby and Emily. He was also able to save his sister Pamela by completing his game, but couldn't survive the vengeful Abbots.

Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) became a successful self-help guru on the back of surviving a Jigsaw trap and then writing a book about it, or at least that's his claim. None of it is true, leading him to become the main test subject of Saw 7. Bobby has to watch his wife get roasted alive in a giant oven, although he does manage to escape with his own life. Joan is a very brief character in the franchise, a Jigsaw survivor whose story Bobby uses as inspiration for his lies.

In Saw 7, Bobby Dagen chaired a support group of Jigsaw survivors, although unlike him, their stories were real. Mallick Scott survived alongside Brit Stevenson in Saw 5, losing most of his blood in the process. Simone chopped off her own arm to survive a "pound of flesh" trap in Saw 6. Brad and Ryan had to choose between killing each other, or the girlfriend who had been cheating on them both, and they chose her. Sidney had to send her abusive boyfriend into lawnmower blades. Addy and Emily from Easton's company, were also group members, as were Dr. Lawrence Gordon, and Tara Abbott.

Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore) was an Army veteran and battlefield medic who was tested after his return to civilian life saw him mess up an X-ray and accidentally delay the diagnosis of John's cancer. Logan's trap went wrong, though, and since it was John's fault, he took pity on Logan and freed him. Grateful, Logan became an apprentice and conducted the games seen in 2017's Jigsaw.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw recently continued Jigsaw's legacy, albeit with a new killer and 100 percent less John Kramer. The only test survivor in Spiral is lead protagonist Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), seemingly the one honest cop in a corrupt department full of liars and killers. Granted, he clearly wasn't intended to die, as new killer William Schenk wanted them to join forces and clean up the city. Zeke is able to free himself from a handcuff trap similar to the one in the first Saw movie and ends up getting cut up by glass trying to save his old corrupt partner. Zeke lives, but his former police chief father isn't so lucky.

More: Spiral 2: What To Expect

Saw: Every Character Who Survived A Jigsaw Trap (And What Came Next) from https://ift.tt/3tUCVkh

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Star, July 13

Cover: Princess Diana’s Private Diaries

Page 1: Duchess Kate Middleton gets back to work -- after three months out of the spotlight Princess Kate is eager to be a hands-on royal again 

Page 2: Contents, Jessica Simpson signing her memoir

Page 4: Bijou Phillips’ world crashing down amid husband Danny Masterson’s rape charges -- friends say she is flashing back to a horrific part of her past as Danny is charged with rape

Page 5: Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards will head back to court in August with Charlie angling to reduce support for daughters Sam and Lola; the trouble started when Denise claimed in court papers that Charlie owed her $450,000 in child support and Charlie called her a coward and a liar, Drew Barrymore is terrified that her new talk show is going to fall flat with Covid-19 guidelines nixing studio audiences for the foreseeable future, Ben Affleck won’t be content until everybody in his life is on board with his new love Ana de Armas; he recently jetted to Georgia to introduce Ana to his mom but it’s another mother who has the PDA-loving pair concerned: Ben’s ex-wife Jennifer Garner isn’t being mean to Ana but Ben thinks it’s time Jen put in more of an effort

Page 6: Kristin Cavallari was snapped in public for the first time since filing for divorce from Jay Cutler in April and she’s now considering her romantic options because she’s not the kind of woman to sit around pining after her ex, stay-at-home orders have been a bore for reality vet Caitlyn Jenner since braving the Australian wilds on I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here and she says she’d rather be down in the jungle than sitting around the house, Star Spots the Stars -- Selma Blair, Vanessa Hudgens, Aubrey Plaza, Whitney Port, Hailey Bieber, Monica Aldama of Cheer, Lucy Hale 

Page 8: Star Shots -- celebrating Pride Month David Furnish and Elton John showed off t-shirts designed by Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow in a mask and Brad Falchuk without a mask taking a stroll around their neighborhood, Carrie Underwood modeling a swimsuit from her Calia line 

Page 9: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and daughter Jasmine, Elizabeth Banks and her dog Saucer 

Page 10: Britney Spears wearing a face mask while riding a bike, Paris Jackson leaves a tattoo parlor on the Sunset Strip, Blake Shelton gets a kiss from Gwen Stefani on his 44th birthday 

Page 11: Sharon Stone promotes K-Swiss X NOH8′s Pride limited-edition shoes, Shay Mitchell feeding her daughter Atlas 

Page 12: Jennifer Lopez in the recording studio, Dave Franco and wife Alison Brie attended the drive-in premiere of his directorial debut The Rental in L.A., Jay Leno pumps gas into his 1966 Lincoln Continental convertible 

Page 13: January Jones in a retro Marysia swimsuit 

Page 14: Norman Reedus and his motorcycle, Elizabeth Hurley models a robe from her beachwear line, Cardi B and daughter Kulture 

Page 15: Jerry O’Connell and his twin daughters Dolly and Charlie, Demi Lovato and boyfriend Max Ehrich in Joshua Tree 

Page 16: Gabrielle Union gave daughter Kaavia a kiss, Jason Mraz, Joe Keery on a bike ride 

Page 17: Mindy Kaling, Adam Sandler walks his dog on the beach in Malibu 

Page 18: Normal or Not? Chris Pratt used his foot to hit the crosswalk button during a walk with pregnant wife Katherine Schwarzenegger -- not normal, after enjoying a day at the beach in Malibu Usher swapped out his bathing suit for dry clothes -- normal 

Page 19: Julianne Moore finished doing a time-consuming puzzle -- normal, Jameela Jamil channeled her inner Cousin It -- not normal 

Page 20: Fashion -- the green goddess edition -- Laura Dern, January Jones

Page 21: Angela Bassett, Olivia Wilde, Issa Rae 

Page 24: Faith Hill and Tim McGraw keeping the spark alive -- the pair together since the ‘90s are having a summer of love 

Page 25: Kate Beckinsale is known for her romances with younger suitors but her latest may prove to be a lasting love as Kate has been dating Goody Grace since January and the relationship is more than a fling, how Catherine and Sean Lowe beat the Bachelor curse, Heather Locklear has been sober for more than a year and friends are crediting fiance Chris Heisser for helping her turn her life around 

Page 26: Cover Story -- Princess Diana’s secret diaries in her own words -- never-before-seen journal entries shed new light on what the beloved People’s Princess endured behind palace doors 

Page 29: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tell-all -- free from royal restraints Harry and Meghan are sending a message about why they really left the royal family 

Page 30: Shannen Doherty -- how love saved me -- as she wages a brave battle against breast cancer she feels blessed to have a husband who’s her guiding light 

Page 32: Horrible Hollywood Bosses -- these entitled celebs’ diva demands and outrageous behavior have employees dusting off their resumes -- Mariah Carey 

Page 33: Tyra Banks, Kanye West, Christian Bale 

Page 34: Naomi Campbell, Taryn Manning, Lady Gaga 

Page 35: Sonja Morgan, Lindsay Lohan, Rob Lowe 

Page 36: Rising Style Star -- Florence Pugh 

Page 38: Beauty -- sexy summer strands -- Audrina Patridge 

Page 42: Entertainment 

Page 48: Parting Shot -- Cindy Crawford soaking in a Jacuzzi overlooking the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean