#but ultimately my dad’s values are that of white america’s. that of his father. that of a white man in sf.

[pinkfey]

[queerprayers]

what it is about christianity do you think attracts such horrible people (like homophobes, transphobes, racists, etc)? ive been around christians my entire life and i’ve really only met 2 or 3 who aren’t just terrible and bigoted. as a christian myself it makes me feel uncomfortable in any christian space.

I'm sorry, beloved. There's nothing I can say to make this better. I understand and I hope you know you're under no obligation to exist in those Christian spaces, even if you (though perhaps only in name) share their faith. Here's a few thing I think about when this issue comes up, and then an attempt to answer your question!

Non-expert summary history lesson: Christianity was very quickly adopted/absorbed by the Roman Empire, and its Jewish and other Middle Eastern roots were purposely left behind or even erased. (You can see this in Paul's writings, as he encourages people to leave Jewish law behind, and in modern narratives, usually by white Europeans or Americans, that start with the Roman Empire and stay with European conversion, the Roman Catholic Church, and European/American history, perhaps addressing white missionaries to other places, but completely ignoring literally everywhere else with long histories of Christian history/theology/tradition.) Over and over, Christianity has de-radicalized itself to be more palatable to those in power. This enabled it to be widespread and powerful, and perhaps in some cases to survive at all, but personally I would rather there be one loving Christian on earth than millions of hateful ones.

I was talking to my dad about something similar the other day, and he was saying that when Christianity is a minority religion in a place, most of the people who are Christian are Christian because they really want to be, because they find joy and meaning in it. But when Christianity is the majority religion, especially when it's the religion of a state/empire, people who wouldn't be Christian otherwise are Christian regardless of (or even because of, to gain power) their hatred, violence, etc.

A tangent that I think has a point to make: I live in his hometown, so I studied Thomas Jefferson (an American "founding father," for those blissfully unaware) a lot when I was younger, and it was really interesting to learn later that he wasn't exactly what you would call a faithful Christian—he actually made his own edit of the New Testament to fit his beliefs. I used to think of the United States as founded by Christians, but ultimately it was founded by a few faithful Christians and lots of people who were just vaguely Christian because that was what everyone else was, that was what they were raised as, and that was what was normal and moral.

I also believe that a monotheistic, evangelist religion that believes its ways are holier and more civilized and moral than others' is prone and even doomed to supremacy and xenophobia. This is the trap I see people fall into in America—people cling to tradition (or at least what they think is tradition—some of it's only a couple decades old) and look down on anyone who doesn't hold their values.

I would also bring up the role of economic motivations, and would especially point to the slave trade—if you have a religion of state/empire, you can use it to come up with easy explanations for choices/systems, and accuse people who question it with questioning the religion/belief system itself.

There's also the smaller/more contained/more radical groups who think they've found the "true Christianity" or whatever—they can seem like the opposite of majority/state religion but often fall into the same traps, as far as I can tell.

My summary answer to your question: Christianity, in many communities, brings power/ways to control others, easy answers, excuses for actions, a built-in superiority complex, and a (fabricated) long heroic Western history. People who are brought up with and drawn to these things also fall into other belief systems with similar features—like racism, queerphobia, and patriarchy.

There is reason for some people to believe that Christianity cannot be God-given because of the evil it's done, and I completely respect that. For me it's reason to believe that our world is full of evil and will corrupt every good thing, but that is not reason to give up on the good, and all the more reason to live and die protecting it.

In general, I'm interested in making Christianity less politically powerful and therefore less attractive to those who want to abuse power; educating people on the fundamentally radical, empathetic, and communal nature of their religion; and making communities safer for people like us. I know that's a wish rather than a solution, but we do what we can!

<3 Johanna

[magiefish]

hhhhhhhhhh guess who drew all the batim characters in prep for the comic they’re making!

yeah so it took like 4 days to draw all these guys, and it was actually pretty fun figuring out colours and designs and stuff!

(also, update on the Reveries Twisted comic, I have a plan for the first chapter but i have like, 7 tests next week and I haven’t started drawing it yet so it’s definitely not going to be coming out anytime soon sdfgsdfsj but i am still working on it!)

anyway, i felt like writing little descriptions for every character, so feel free to read these below the ‘keep reading’ line if you feel like it! My ask box is also always open, so if u have any questions feel free to ask

Bertrum Piedmont-he/him, gay/ace

-Started working as a mechanic at about 15 and worked his way up from there -Everyone in the studio @ him: why are u british -His big ego often gets in the way of things, but at his core he's a good person (doing bad shit but ultimately having good intentions is common among these guys shdgfs) -Wlw & mlm solidarity w/ Lacie, who is his most trusted confidant and friend -Actually treats his employees well, even when they do basically nothing all day, so he does a lot of work himself most of the time Linda Stein-she/her, straight as a ruler -Parents immigrated from Spain -She's very catholic and very into 'traditional family values' and that sort of stuff -She is sweet, but her strict morals and black and white ethics often make her do unintentional harm -She is also pretty oblivious to most things Jack Fain-he/him & they/them, pan/ace, OCD -Mother immigrated from China to France, and then he moved to America, it's confusing -Can play the violin really well, but is terrible at composing his own pieces -Peak friend material -Short and round and soft with a love of a good espresso -Kind and quiet but ultimately ineffective and happy to watch from the sidelines Daniel 'Buddy' Lewek-he/him, aro/ace, autistic, jewish -He is curious and observant, but very very naive -He finds it hard to pick up on social cues, and tends to daydream a lot -Never really had a father figure, and unfortunately kind of half sees Joey as one (baaaad choice), but his mother is great -Loves drawing and tends to chew on pens (and most objects really) -Too young Susie Campbell-she/her, demi -Her parents were Russian and she picked up their accent, but taught herself how to cover it up. She is now excellent at voice acting. -Has a birthmark most theatres turned her away for. But luckily voice acting gave her another chance at performance, and the music department really does not care about it. -Her dad was a butcher, so she now knows a concerning amount about how to cut up and dissect meat. -She gets easily attached to things emotionally, and has a whole pile of random bits and bops she keeps on her person because she can't throw them away. -Naive, but smart enough to know how to read and deceive people if needed. Ms Abigail Lambert-she/her, lesbian -A very gifted artist, who is quite frustrated with the business aspect of animation. -Picked up quite a few things about engineering from Lacie. -Stern, but kind. Motherly, if she likes you and you squint hard enough. -Used to fighting for things. -Giving her food is a pretty good way to get her to like you. Being an artist, she forgets to eat at the correct times a lot, so a meals always appreciated. Norman Polk-he/him, gay, albino -Knows how to fix things, knows how to fight, knows how to hide -General cool uncle vibes -He watches people a lot, and gives off some creepy vibes, but he does genuinely care about people -Knows something is up and is determined to find out what (even if he dies trying) -Fought in WW1, then worked at a cinema for a bit. Emma Lamont-she/her, heteroflexible -Keep dancing even when everything goes wrong -Bit of a 'i'm better than these fools' mentality going on -But she's pretty chill, and willing to act when needed -Basically every woman in the studio knows her on the basis that she chills in the girls bathroom. -Hates Joey, but knows those who stir up a bit too much trouble usually 'resign' Sammy Lawrence-he/him, (vocal-romantic) bi/ace, ADD -His dad sucked, so he ran away. He's also the reason he's largely abandoned his faith, but he still holds hope that there is some kind of god out there. -He and Jack are basically brothers, they've known each other for a long time. -He can compose music in his head, but can play basically every instrument. -Tall and thin and sharp with a love of black coffee. -He's actually pretty chill and nice, but the conditions of the studio (workload, noises, dreams) have left him quick to snap and a stressed out mess. -He's pretty oblivious to his own feelings and spends basically all his time thinking about music, so he usually only realises that he has a crush on someone if he hears them singing (hence the vocal-romantic joke) Johnny Hart-he/him (she/her), gay (trans), heart condition -A nervous wreck who avoids everything and everyone -Trans but doesn't realise it, he thinks this level of discomfort has something to do with his heart condition or something like that. -Speaking of which, if he gets genuinely terrified or panicked he could have a heart attack. -Hence why he's a recluse who remains in the organ room and interacts w/ literally no one. -Except Dot and Buddy (who forgets he exists and who he also has a crush on). Wally Franks-he/him, pan -Friends with literally everyone who isn't one of the older folks (and thomas) -Honorary member of the music department because he can play a harmonica and vibes with everyone there. -Tries to put a positive spin on everything, often beyond the point of reason -A mischevous, mildly selfish prankster with a heart of gold -Gossip pals with Susie and Norman The Violinist-she/her, nobody knows -Has literally never expressed an emotion ever -Seems to know things are going to happen before they happen -Just generally pretty weird -She isn't friends with Dot, they're both just vaguely interested in what the others doing -She looks a lot like Allison, but the two have never spoken and nobody knows if they're sisters Thomas Connor-they/them, gynephilia -He is just. So tired. -An actual mechanical genius who gets his work used for the wrong purposes. -Is very of the 'when you're on a path stick to it' mentality -Cold and hard exterior that vertually no one except Allison has ever managed to get through. -He can and will beat you up. Henry Stein-he/him, gay, vitiligo -Nice and hardworking. -Doesn't have many emotions other than to draw. -He's in fucking narnia he's so deep in the closest. -Feels emotions, but buries them deep down and doesn't express them too clearly. -Has difficulty setting healthy boundaries with people and represses himself far too much. Joey Drew-he/him, homoromantic/pansexual, bipolar disorder, alcohol and cigarette addictions -Chaotic, feral, short little man who lies to everyone -Charismatic as hell, but also a terrible friend and person in general -He doesn't blink enough, does not know the meaning of personal space, and hasn't aged for about 4 years, which are all very bad signs. -Doesn't understand how to run a business but does so anyway. Doesn't understand how to interact with people but does so anyway. Doesn't understand how to create life but does so anyway- -He isn't pure evil, he just gets into very bad mindsets and makes poor decisions that lead him down the wrongest way to go. -Does some self evaluation and goes 'maybe this wasn't the right way chief :/' just a bit too late Audrey Dempsey-she/her, lesbian, Borderline Personality Disorder -Feral conspiracy theorist -May or may not be related to multiple studio members -Everyone's called her crazy for years and made her feel like a burden, and she is hellbent on proving everyone wrong -Quite socially awkward, and rather sarcastic with a dark sense of humour -Works for Archgate Allison Pendle-she/her & they/them, androphilic/ace -Is forever lost in a vintage clothing store -Most people say she seems nice, but everyone just kind of subconciously registers that there is something up with her -Knows a lot about the supernatural -The person closest to Joey, which doesn't necessarily mean they're friends -Nobody has ever seen the right side of her face Dot Acciaci-she/her, pan -Her parents are Italian, and she speaks a little herself, usually using it to encrypt her private notes -Mischevious & curious, but ultimately kind -She will find out your secrets, and is very good at reading people -Great storyteller -Struggles with loneliness a lot Dr Eleanor Hackenbush-she/her, aro/ace -Science knows no bounds -Doesn't care what your motivation is, as long as you give her some cash and some experiments -Filled with nothing but utter spite Ms Reina Rodriguez-they/them, demi -Tired of everything -Although she puts up a calm exterior, Rodriguez is very attached to the studio and views it as her 'new family', having a terrible relationship with her old one -Her family drama connects to the fact they're very catholic, but she nobody knows what this drama is other than Joey Tessa Arch-she/her, straight -An absolute bitch -Trusts her husband far too much -Not very smart, but compensates for this for being good looking and rich Shawn Flynn-he/him (intersex), pan -Jovial, but gets angry quickly -Willing to do 'wrong' things if it helps someone else out, kind of like Robin Hood or something -His mother taught him how to sew and he helped her make clothes when he was younger -Found it hard to get a job because he's Irish, so despite being tired of all the bullshit of JDS, he is reluctant to look elsewhere -Friends with Lacie and Grant because they appreciate his humour Lacie Benton-She/her, lesbian, trans -Tougher than the toughies -wlw & mlm solidarity w/ Bertrum, who she views as one of the only genuinely smart people in JDS and who she has worked for for basically all of her life -Feels like something is up, but doesn't notice much if it doesn't connect to her work -Has automatophobia -Friend with Shawn and Grant because she respects their dedication to their work Grant Cohen-He/him, bi, depression, jewish -Absolute madlad at maths -Acts like he doesn't care what you think, cares far too much about what you think -Everyone wants him to just get therapy already -Doesn't have many friends, but has a weird 'we're both horribly overworked' kinship with Sammy, so they usually just chill and smoke together -Friends with Shawn and Lacie because they're actually mentally stable and he needs some rocks Nathan Arch-He/him, straight -You should hate him -You should hate him a lot -Super rich and doesn't pay his workers enough -Silver tongued -Basically a spider. Creates webs of manipulation and lies, sees a lot, and knows plenty about waiting for his prey to come to him.

[biancamlopez-blog]

Relationships.

Welcome to my first blog post! 

The relationships we forge with others and the strength of them define who we are. I am passionate about every important relationship I create with others, and am thankful for everyone I have crossed paths with. The following are the relationships I have in my life, in no particular order of importance.

God

My relationship with God and my faith have wavered in the past because of some dark places that I have been in, which will be explored here briefly and in great length in another post. If you know me or follow me through social platforms, you know that I am currently prepping for a bikini competition this July and I’ve turned to the Lord for strength, will, and perseverance. His will be done in every part of my life and I trust in Him completely for the plan he has for my life. 

My Father

My father is a former Marine, former police officer, and former immigration officer, so he’s always been a man of strong character and great physical strength. My dad was sooooo hard on me growing up. I used to hate how my friends had certain privileges that I didn’t during my childhood and adolescence, such as staying out late, going certain places, or doing certain things. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to appreciate the values he’s instilled in me. He taught me how to work hard, give my all in everything I pursue, and now that I’ve become independent, he is now teaching me the ropes about how to be a successful woman. My dad is the ultimate example of the type of man I want to be with someday. He’s provided, protected, and professed his love and commitment to my mother, my brother and myself and I admire him to no end.

My Mother

My mother and I could not be more opposite from each other. We carry ourselves differently, have staunch political differences, and can sometimes drive each other a little crazy! But one thing I know for sure is that she is always there to lend a helping hand with any pickle I may find myself in. She helped me tremendously with my bout of depression about a year and a half ago and I would be lost without her, maybe not even alive. My mom has overcome some personal obstacles of hers with such perseverance and I’m immensely proud to call her mom.

My Brother

My brother David and I are six and a half years apart. He was in fifth grade when I was senior in high school. It’s really difficult to form a close bond with someone that far apart in age with when you’re both young, especially being of the opposite sex, but I am happy that as he’s gotten a little older, we’ve gotten closer. I am excited to see what kind of man he will become and am proud of the young man he already is. He’ll be moving to San Marcos in the fall for school and I’m stoked to see him more often!

My Best Friends  

I have three best friends: Vicki, Alexis, and Natasha, all of which, not coincidentally, were my college roommates at some point. I lived with Vicki from January 2011-August 2013, Alexis from August 2013-August 2014, and Natasha from January 2016-present. Each of them are my best friends for different reasons. Vicki was my first roommate I ever had. She and I were randomly paired up at the Dobie Center, a private dorm across the street from the UT Austin campus. She was there for me through my formative times while I was adjusting to moving away from my hometown and has always been a great shoulder to cry on, a friend to get shitfaced at frat parties with, and vent to. I know this also may sound strange, but being from Laredo, a city with a 90% Latinx population, she taught me a lot about being friends with people outside my race as she is White. Moving to Austin in 2011 was a definite culture shock and having a friend with a difference perspective through the lens race helped me adjust. She’s also woke AF; she’s so dope. 

Alexis and I met each other when she subleased from an ex-boyfriend that I was planning on living with (thank GOD that didn’t happen). Alexis was also the first friend I told that I had gotten kicked out of school for my grades (something I will share more about in another post). Alexis is the person I told some of my deepest, darkest secrets to and she has done the same with me. We’ve never judged each other, have always helped each other, and been there for each other. She’s an AMAZING listener. I had the pleasure of taking an elective class with her called Capital Punishment in America my last semester at UT  and it was awesome to see her in a thought provoking setting and learning more about her perspective on complicated issues. She’s living in Dallas, TX now climbing up the corporate ladder and I’m proud to call her my best friend. She has one of the purest hearts I’ve ever seen and that’s hard to find nowadays. 

Natasha and I were roommates at good ol’ Town Lake Student Apartments when I subleased from her former roommate that had just graduated. She is the little, big sister in my life. She’s twenty-one and I’m twenty-six and I swear, I look up to that girl. She graduated college at twenty (whaaaaaat), is financially, spiritually, and emotionally independent, and is the most responsible person I know. She keeps me in check. She kicks my ass when I need it. She pushes me to be the best person I can be in every facet of life. Besides my father, I don’t think I admire anyone more than I admire her. We pick each other’s brains all the time and she’s not your typical barely-legal girl. She’s more successful than some of the bums I’ve dated! Ha!

You go to college to meet your bridesmaids y’all, not your husband.

Jose Angel

I have a male best friend too! His name is Angel and we’ve known each other since we were five years old. How many people can say they’ve been friends for almost twenty-two years? We grew up together and weren’t super close the whole time I’ve known him, but in the last five years we’ve grown extremely close and he sets me straight as well. He helps me with boy probs, financial advice, and just life in general. He lives in Houston, TX and I really wish I could see him more often than I do. Every time I visit him in Houston he’s always down to do whatever I want to do. I am very lucky to have a good hearted, male friend that is near and dear to my heart. 

My Not-As Close Friends

I try to live my life with the purest intentions in my heart, and I feel that I have lots of close and not-so-close friends, acquaintances and supporters from afar because of this. Just know, especially with this bikini prep that I’m on, I appreciate all of your support and kindness. Know that I am always there to lend an ear, a helping hand, ANYTHING (within reason). I love meeting and connecting with new people so don't hesitate to reach out. Let’s be fraaaans :)

My Exes

I do not communicate with two of my four ex boyfriends. The ones I do talk to or have talked to are my high school boyfriend, who I haven’t heard from in years and is just a Facebook friend, and one other. I’ve been through some pretty traumatic shit in past relationships, some a little too deep to share here, but I wish them all the best and all the success in the world in every aspect of their lives. Despite the turmoil I’ve been through, I’ve loved, lost, and will continue to love deeply. I've been lied to, cheated on, broken up with the day before my birthday, been left the day before Valentine’s Day, been emotionally and mentally abused, but I honestly believe in love, and the man who I end up with will be an incredibly lucky man. I’ve loved the wrong men fiercely, imagine how great I can be and how I can love the right man?

My Current Relationship Status

I am seeing someone, but it is in the very early stages of getting to know each other; we’ve recently reconnected. I met him a few years ago when I was definitely not ready to pursue a relationship with anyone else besides my most recent ex, who I was broken up with at the time. We shall see! Like I said, I trust the plan God has for my life. 

MYSELF

Besides my relationship with God, this is the most important relationship I have, the one I have with myself. I’m learning to love myself more and more everyday. I have a newfound or resurfaced confidence again since I started my fat loss journey. I learn something new about myself almost every day! I still don’t have it all figured out, but that’s the beauty of life. Always moving forward.

I wear my heart on my sleeve and I am honest to every person I come to meet. What you see is what you get. I don’t play games, I don’t have malicious intentions. I am an open book. Get to know me :)

[twinsimskeletons]

Bett Goldfinch for @futurecarrie‘s DRSE2

This dude has a chronic problem of never taking anything seriously. It's not even that he hides behind a confident exterior, he literally doesn't get bothered by anything. His goals in life are to play football, look good, and get the ladies. Everything else is water off a duck's back. 

He plays the social game and he plays it well. He's pretty perceptive which helps with this, knowing what makes people tick, and what to say to get himself off the hook. He's rich with a heavy inheritance, doesn't want to work a day in his life, and coasts on by using the gift of the gab. He could easily be called the ultimate douchebag, and that would be just as fitting, but no; he's the ultimate jock.

(Also, he's one of those "only real men can wear pink" guys but sort of ironically does it. Would probably also wear sandals with socks but I couldn't make myself do that. He just likes getting a rise out of people, getting under their skin).

Traits: Perceptive, Athletic, Mean Spirited, Irresistible, Charismatic

Questions under the cut:

1.)    What is the most important thing to them? (meaning a person or thing specifically i.e. friends/family) 

For all his confidence and inability to care seriously about almost anything, the only two important things to him would be his old man (who is his coach and inspiration, and someone Bett wants to always make proud, but is super pressuring and encourages anything that makes Bett the ultimate jock, i.e. being an arse) and his ability to play sport, particularly american football.

2.)    Do they have any deep, dark secrets? What are they? Is their biggest secret the fact they killed someone, or is it more like they wet the bed until they were 8? 

Bett genuinely hates his little sister. She’s thirteen and a brat, and he has purposefully left her in tricky situations like abandoning her when shopping, giving her bad directions, making her run dangerous errands. He hides this from his father, who would be disappointed because family is important in america or some shit like that.

3.)    If something bad happened (i.e. their mum was killed), are they more likely to cry or get angry?

Bett would get mad. Not red-mist angry, but cunning, deadly mad. it would be like he was on the field. His vision would narrow to his target for revenge.

4.)    What’s one of their favourite generic items (meaning something that isn’t special to them in any way, but if someone gave it them they’d be very happy)?

Anything sports related (but none of those ‘fake’ sports like golf, darts, snooker, anything that doesn’t require a tonne of physical training. He also thinks tennis is crap). Anything relating to social status too, like a gift that showed he was someone’s favourite, or a crush.

5.)    What is one of their least favourite generic items (again meaning something that isn’t special/unique to them (like a chocolate bar or something))?

A fake trophy or award that he hasn’t earned. He has a massive ego and needs his achievements rewarded, but fake rewards are not tolerated. Also anything he needs to spend effort making, doing, or looking after. Don’t give him a fucking tamagotchi or he’ll hammer it to pieces. 

6.)    What’s their relationship like with their parents?

His mother has always been distant with him and dotes on the sister (Alexa), perhaps a reason he hates her as he always has to be best, but he doesn’t really give a fuck about his mother (though he wouldn’t be disrespectful of her). His old man is everything. 

7.)    Do they have any fans (if their talent permits them to have fans)? Do they like said fans?

He would definitely have fans for being Awesome at Sport. and yes, he loves his fans because they feed his ego. Also they sleep with him sometimes, so, you know.

8.)    Do they have any siblings? How do they feel about said siblings?

Covered.

9.)    What three words would they use to describe themselves?

Awesome. Sexy. Legend.

10.)  What three words would others use to describe them?

bit-of-an-arse (he covers his arsehole ways quite well, esp. because he is pretty charming to make up for it), attractive, frustrating.

11.) Any fears?

Somehow losing the ability to play sport - an injury for example - and fading into obscurity. 

12.) If they were offered 1,000,000 of their currency to do something immoral, would they do it?

Mmm it would depend. Killing someone, no, because Bett doesn’t value money that highly. He’s in it for the fame and stardom, not the cash, though it is a convenient plus. 

13.)  What’s their stance on religion?

Sport is his religion, but he’s Christian by birth and his dad is Very Religious so he would pray before every game and say grace and go through the motions without it really having any say in his morals. He wouldn’t say God’s name in vain because his dad would come down with the fury of a thousand suns, so tends to say “oh my G,” instead, or ‘Christo’

14.) What’s their stance on the supernatural?

Bett doesn’t believe in it, but if he saw it with his own two eyes he’d accept it because his senses don’t lie (he’s a simple man). He wouldn’t believe anyone else until he did see it, though.

15.)  If they had one day left to live, what would they do?

Play a game, enjoy the rest of the day with his adoring fans.

16.)  What makes the earth turn according to them: Money or love (or is it because when the earth was a gas cloud it started to spin and hasn’t quite grown out of that phase yet) ?

Why does that matter? Bett doesn’t question these things. It turns because it turns. Maybe because God made it turn.

17.)  Knowledge, power or relationships: what’s the most important?

Power. Power in fame, in particular, or brute strength.

18.)  Do they like animals? What’s their favourite?

Bett doesn’t mind animals if they’re not in his way, being a nuisance or needs to be cared for. He thinks raccoons are funny because they annoy his neighbours.

19.)  Any weird talents (besides their ultimate/shsl) that they’re secretly proud of (like rapping for example)?

He’s pretty good at The Sex. He can dance the typical white boy dances, like the worm. He can do a ridiculous number of press ups and run for miles.

20.)  Tell me a random story about them!

Once upon a time Bett’s little sister was screaming and crying and generally sending him up the wall, so he covered her mouth to stop her without realising he actually covered her nose too. She almost died before his mother came in and realised what was happening (to be fair, he was also young-ish and didn’t understand what he was doing). It was then that he realised a) he was less caring than other people and b) he had to hide that under a layer of charm or he’d get into big trouble and be a social outcast.

21.) Do they have any illnesses or disabilities?

Bett looks down on weakness. But he has mild dyslexia. he just doesn’t consider that a problem since he shouldn’t need to read or write or do maths. People can do it for him.

22.)  Left handed or right handed?

Left handed for almost everything, but he uses scissors and writes with his right hand because that’s how he was taught by his teachers and father (because left handedness is a sign of the devil or whatever).

23.)  How would they react to being locked up in a school with no foreseeable time of leaving?

Can he play sport? No? Then man, he is pissed off. He wants out so he can be reunited with his fame. But, similarly, he’d also figure that said fame would get him freed at some point so he might as well enjoy it, if the surrounding area is luxurious, as he deserves.

24.) Will they miss their old high school? Why?

Nah. Bett doesn’t miss people or things. Waste of energy.

25.) Do they like the outdoors? If so, what’s their favourite outdoor activity and any memories linked to that?

Bett likes the outdoors because it lets him play sport, but he doesn’t care for it other than that. His favourite activity would be american football, his best memory being when he was still a rising star and helped his team reach a very coveted title or w/e the Big Thing would be for american football lmao. Do they get man of the matches? If so, he would have remembered getting that.

26.) How important is their talent to them? Does it not mean much or would they die for it?

Bett would die for it, yeah. Sports and the subsequent fame is the most important thing to him, the only thing that makes life worth living.

[thecoroutfitters]

If you’re into prepping and you have kids, it would be wise to start teaching them disaster preparedness at an early age. There’s nothing better than growing up awake and prepared to face the unexpected, especially in volatile times such as these.

Having basic survival skills at an early age can be priceless and survival movies are a quintessential tool to use in this endeavor, as they combine learning with having fun, which translates into a win-win situation, especially if you’re a kid.

Of course, watching movies shouldn’t replace other “real life” activities, such as going camping with your bambinos.

Teaching your kids to survive on their own for a few days in an outdoors scenario is hugely important, not to mention that a camping trip builds confidence on their capability to be self sufficient, and also raises awareness on their personal hygiene in an off-grid scenario.

Furthermore, they’ll learn to be alert about the presence of dangerous wildlife and so forth and so on.

3 Second SEAL Test Will Tell You If You’ll Survive A SHTF Situation

It’s also worth mentioning that playing outside is essential for sparking a kid’s imagination (as opposed to pecking at TV/smartphones/tablets all day), as a pile of sand will quickly become a beach where the pirates of the Caribbean buried their treasures, and the trees and bushes behind the house morph into a luscious jungle, where monsters roam free, you know what I am talking about.

However, survival movies can be successfully used to prepare/teach your kids ahead of their real-life adventures, especially if they’re very young. So, let the games begin.

My number one choice is Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson, a movie released back in 1960 and recommended for ages 8 and up. This Disney classic makes for the ultimate outdoor fantasy for a prepper’s family. The movie revolves around building a complex tree house on a Paradise-like tropical island, playing with animals (they are friendly, no worries), but also defending it all against pirates by using very sophisticated booby traps.

Let’s move to a more recent flick: Nim’s Island, a PG rated movie released back in 2008 (ages 8 and up), which makes for a contemporary thriller about a girl (Nim) and her dad, a science guy, both living on their private island. After her father goes missing during a storm, Nim is left (almost) alone on the island to take care of herself, with a little help from an agoraphobic visitor, but I will not spoil it for you.

If you’re looking for a good wilderness story for kids, Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog comes highly recommended. Released in 1995, the movie tells the story of a boy and his dog surviving in the wilderness and it emphasizes the importance of practical skills, self reliance and the value of knowing how to survive outdoors.

Cast Away is one of Tom Hanks’ best movies, as it explores a modern day’s man ability to survive in a very hostile environment, yet it encompasses almost zero violence, which makes it perfect for kids.

Everything in this movie is centered on a Federal Express engineer whose airplane crashes into the ocean, forcing him to live in seclusion on a deserted and remote island in the middle of nowhere. This is a modern-day Robinson Crusoe’s story of survival and it’s also massive fun to watch.

The Day After Tomorrow is a catastrophic flick which depicts a world collapsing after the planet experiences a dramatic climatic shift, which results in a new ice-age (what happened to global warming?). The movie is very interesting (read special effects) as it depicts a frozen America from coast to coast, while emphasizing the importance of survival skills in sub zero temperatures, planning ahead and having good gear at the ready if SHTF.

The Day After Tomorrow is a PG-13 rated movie, but as far as I remember, there’s no violence to speak of. However, there are some scenes depicting horrific injuries, and some characters drink alcohol as a way to mitigate their sadness after watching the destruction of much of the world as they knew it.

The Impossible is a very tragic survival movie which tells the story of the 2004 Tsunami that obliterated parts of Thailand. The Impossible is focused on the survival of a tourist family in Thailand, whose members were split up in the aftermath of the disaster, making for a true story of the people who had to stay alive through an incredible SHTF event. The story is very intense and the movie is rated PG 13 due to the fact that it sometimes depicts people suffering severe injuries.

A Cry in the Wild is a nineties flick about the sole survivor (a 13 year old boy) of a plane crash that got unreported. The hero’s name is Brian and the movie is about him trying to survive in the Yukon wilderness by his own wits, as he’s all alone. Your kids will learn essential survival skills from this movie: how to find food in an outdoors scenario, how to find shelter and also how to stay away from dangerous wild animals until you’re found.

Against the Wild is a 2013 “lost in the wilderness” movie following a plane crash (this is a recurrent theme, you can’t help it) about 2 siblings (teens) and their faithful dog. The trio must learn how to trust their instincts, and how to combine their skills in order to navigate an untamed and beautiful terrain. The struggle for survival is kind of mild and pretty boring for my taste, but given the fact this is a family movie, it contains zero violence, hence it’s perfectly suitable for your kids, being filled with positive messages and having positive role models.

Life of Pi tells the story of a young man’s epic journey of discovery and adventure after surviving a disaster at sea. As he’s cast away, he makes an unexpected friend, a Bengal tiger (another survivor).

The movie is great for kids, as it makes for an emotional, intense yet beautiful story of friendship and faith, as the heroes are trying to survive against all odds. There’s virtually no explicit violence, sexual content nor strong language in Life of Pi, while its impressive CGI makes it a powerful movie that will make your kids cheer in triumph or shed a tear as the story develops.

Twister is a nineties disaster flick about a couple of storm-chasers who are trying to build a state of the art weather alert system by putting themselves in the path of violent tornadoes. While you’ll find some violence and strong language here and there, the movie is very fun to watch overall, and your kids will be taught everything there is to know about the dangers of tornadoes (read severe weather conditions).

The Blue Lagoon is a movie made in the eighties about two 7 year old cousins who survive a shipwreck and find themselves deserted on a beautiful island in the Pacific. The movie is centered initially on the basics of survival, but later on it evolves into a love story, as the marooned couple slowly discovers sex, love and loneliness in this incredibly beautiful tropical paradise.

Lost in the Barrens makes for another “lost in the Canadian wilderness” survival tale about a Cree Indian boy and a white teen working together in sweet harmony in order to get through alive.

Wall-E is one of Pixar’s best, a romantic adventure flick, filled with action and environmental subliminal messages, which makes it ideal for the young prepper. Your kids will learn the importance of recycling and scavenging in a fun way, i.e. knowing how to make the most out of your trash, survive loneliness and finding hope in a SHTF environment.

The Wave is a rare Norwegian disaster movie about an implausible SHTF scenario, i.e. a fjord collapses and creates a tsunami, with our heroes getting caught in the middle of it and trying to survive.

Flight of the Phoenix tells the gripping story of the survivors of a plane crash with zero chance of rescue, who work together as they’re trying to build a new plane in the Mongolian desert. The action takes place in a harsh (even brutal) environment, with scarce resources and it includes a self-defense scene, as our heroes are attacked by desert smugglers.

The main lesson to be learned from this movie is that strong and loyal people who are committed to working together for a common goal in a SHTF scenario will survive almost anything.

These movies are good at explaining that a major calamity might struck you when you least expect it but never giving up and always thinking positive is what matters in a SHTF situation. That’s the mindset that would help your kids survive, beside the skills that you’re teaching them!

I hope the article helped. If you have other ideas or recommendations, feel free to comment in the dedicated section below.

This article has been written by Chris Black for Survivopedia.

from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[potr1774com]

Think you know this guy?  Well, let’s dig into who he is, what he has said, and what he has done for America.

Race and Ethnicity

Willingly worked with and supported racists (segregationists) in the 60s and 70s.  He named Senator James Eastland of Mississippi and Senator Herman Talmadge of Georgia. “I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland. He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son,'” Biden told donors at a New York fundraiser, CNN reported.

Biden gave one of the eulogies at the funeral of South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, who had filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and supported segregation for much of his career.

Supported the democrats who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Opposed Busing to desegregate public schools.  Biden argued that the policy would undermine black identity.  He stated, “a rejection of the entire black awareness concept, where black is beautiful, black culture should be studied; and the cultural awareness of the importance of their own identity, their own individuality.” An identity HE is trying to push and impose on them.

Supported an amendment from Senator Jesse Helms that would bar the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) from collecting any data about the race of students or teachers. In addition, HEW could not “require any school . . . to classify teachers or students by race.” Helms said explicitly, “This is an anti-busing amendment.” Biden surprised many supporters by declaring, “I have become convinced that busing is a bankrupt concept” and later calling it “an asinine policy.”

Biden then introduced his own amendment, which declared that school systems could not use federal funds “to assign teachers or students to schools . . . for reasons of race,” which passed. Ed Brooke, a Massachusetts Republican and the first black senator ever to be popularly elected, called the vote on Biden’s amendment “the greatest symbolic defeat for civil rights since 1964.”

Believes non-white is synonymous with poverty/dysfunction/uneducated (see full quotes below)

Joe assumes, if you’re non-white, you’re less educated; while meeting with the Asian and Latino Coalition, he stated: “We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor you cannot do it, poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”  The problem is, HE, not WE, had this notion…

In response to a question on the legacy of slavery, Biden said: “We bring social workers into homes of parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It’s not that they don’t want to help, they don’t want — they don’t know quite what to do.” (see full response below)

Stated this about Obama: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,”

In 2014, in a speech denouncing predatory lenders who focused on military families, Biden denounced “these Shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas.” Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman responded, “Shylock represents the medieval stereotype about Jews and remains an offensive characterization to this day. The Vice President should have been more careful.” A few days later, Biden called Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “the wisest man in the Orient.”

In 2006, Biden commented on the growing population of Indian Americans in Delaware.  “You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” he told a voter.

Gender

Opposed and voted against the creation of an office to probe sexual harassment claims against Senators in 1991.

Anita Hill about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s sexual harassment in 1994; Joe Biden and Orrin Hatch oversaw a disastrous testimony that they structured. Biden called no independent experts and forced Hill to defend herself alone against an avalanche of immensely powerful white men, and Joe Biden has since apologized and said he wished he would have done more.

Dismissive of sexual assault victims claims.  Biden asked her to describe her most embarrassing encounter with Thomas, alone, with no attorney, no victim advocate—”Can you tell us how you felt at the time? Were you uncomfortable, were you embarrassed, did it not concern you? How did you feel about it?”—and pushed an obviously reluctant Hill to say the name of a pornographic film star whom Thomas had alluded to.

In 2009, Politico reported that Biden was overheard making this comment to the then Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko: “I cannot believe that a French man visiting Kiev went back home and told his colleagues he discovered something and didn’t say he discovered the most beautiful women in the world. That’s my observation.”

Having offered sincere and conciliatory words about the inappropriate touching controversy, Biden went on to make light of the whole affair in a speech to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, joking that he had permission to hug the organization’s president.  Multiple women had accused Biden of making them feel uncomfortable by touching them and violating their personal space. One of those women was Lucy Flores, a former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Nevada.  After Biden’s joke, Flores told Fox News he had been “so incredibly disrespectful,” adding: “The basis of the behavior that I talked about was something much more serious than just a hug.”

  Commanding/Military Experience

Avoided the draft for Military Service by receiving 5 draft deferments during the Vietnam War then finally claiming to have severe enough asthma that he suffered as a teenager even though he played for his high-school football team or playing halfback for the University of Delaware Blue Hens.

Criminal Justice System Reform

Biden cosponsored the 1984 Crime Control Act, which abolished federal parole, reestablished the death penalty, expanded civil asset forfeiture, and increased federal penalties for cultivation, possession, or transfer of marijuana.  He stated: ““Under our forfeiture statutes, the government can take everything you own. Everything from your car, to your house, to your bank account, not merely what they confiscate in terms of the dollars of the transaction you’ve been caught engaging in. They can take everything!”

Biden bragged that his legislation would make more crimes eligible for the death penalty than would an alternative offered by the Bush administration and Senator Strom Thurmond: “The Biden crime bill before us calls for the death penalty for 51 offenses. . . . The president’s bill calls for the death penalty on 46 offenses.” He boasted, on final passage of compromise legislation, that it was “the single largest expansion of the federal death penalty in the history of the Congress.”

Foreign Policy and Relations

After the 9/11 attacks, he proposed to his staff, “This would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran.” His staff was not receptive to the idea.

For invasion of Iraq.  Biden wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post that “a policy based on sanctions does not guarantee that Saddam Hussein’s weapons program will be curtailed. Ultimately, as long as Saddam Hussein is at the helm, no inspectors can guarantee that they have rooted out the entirety of Saddam Hussein’s weapons program. And I said the only way to remove Saddam is a massive military effort, led by the United States.”

Biden publicly stated that, at the moment of decision about the raid that would ultimately kill Osama bin Laden, he had believed the mission was not worth the risk and told Obama, “Mr. President, my suggestion is don’t go.”

At a St. Patrick’s Day reception for the then Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen in 2010 he stated: “His mom lived in Long Island for 10 years or so, god rest her soul, and, er, although she’s, wait—your mom’s still alive. It was your dad [who] passed. God bless her soul. I gotta get this straight,”

Domestic Surveillance

Voted for the Patriot Act

The Economy and Big Business

Supported and voted for the passage a banking-reform bill that made it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection. This was a longstanding goal of large banks and credit-card companies, many of which have headquarters in Biden’s home state of Delaware.  In addition, during the five preceding years that Biden and other senators had pushed for the changes, Biden’s son Hunter had had a $100,000-per-year consulting agreement with the bank MBNA. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, MBNA executives and employees contributed roughly $200,000 to Biden’s campaigns from 1989 to 2010.

Biden stopped off at a frozen custard shop in Milwaukee back in 2010, the manager offered him a dessert for free if the veep cut taxes, Fox News reported.  Biden replied, “Why don’t you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time?”

Morals, Ethics, Sensitivity

He got caught plagiarizing in law school at Syracuse, and admitted to it.

Biden dropped out of the 1988 presidential race after reports that he’d copied a speech delivered months earlier by British Labour Party politician Neil Kinnock.

Biden’s campaign manager Pat Caddell took responsibility for mixing up pages of a planned Biden speech for the 1987 California Democratic Convention with papers quoting an inspirational speech by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Joe Biden has been making his 2016 deliberations all about his late son since August.  Aug. 1, to be exact — the day renowned Hillary Clinton-critic Maureen Dowd published a column that marked a turning point in the presidential speculation.  According to multiple sources, it was Biden himself who talked to her, painting a tragic portrait of a dying son, Beau’s face partially paralyzed, sitting his father down and trying to make him promise to run for president because “the White House should not revert to the Clintons and that the country would be better off with Biden values.”  But in truth, Biden had effectively placed an ad in The New York Times, asking them to call.

During a 2008 campaign rally in Missouri, Biden asked the audience to applaud State Senator Chuck Graham. “Stand up, Chuck, let ’em see you,” Biden said, gesturing for Graham to stand.  Graham, a paraplegic following a car accident, is confined to a wheelchair.  “Oh, god love ya, what am I talking about,” Biden said, realizing his mistake. “I tell you what, you’re making everybody else stand up though, pal. Thank you very, very much…You can tell I’m new.”

In an interview with CBS Evening News, Biden criticized the George W. Bush administration’s handling of the financial crisis.  “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed,” Biden said.  But as FactCheck pointed out, Herbert Hoover was president during the 1929 Wall Street Crash and television didn’t exist.

  Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/politics/joe-biden-james-eastland.html

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/on-this-day-in-1964-democrats-filibustered-the-civil-rights-act/

https://patriotpulse.net/joe-biden-made-this-racist-comment-that-will-leave-you-speechless/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/us/politics/debate-winners.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/us/politics/biden-record-player.html

“ABC correspondent Linsey Davis, at the Democratic Debate, 2019, asked Biden to reflect on a remark he made in the 1970s: “I don’t feel responsible for the sins of my father and grandfather. I feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation, and I’ll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago.”  Davis said to Biden, “You said that some 40 years ago, but as you stand here tonight, what responsibility do you think that Americans need to take to repair the legacy of slavery in our country?”  Biden’s response:  “Well, they have to deal with the — look, there’s institutional segregation in this country. And from the time I got involved, I started dealing with that. Redlining, banks, making sure we are in a position where — look, you talk about education. I propose that what we take the very poor schools, the Title I schools, triple the amount of money we spend from $15 to $45 billion a year. Give every single teacher a raise to the $60,000 level. Number two, make sure that we bring in to help the teachers deal with the problems that come from home. The problems that come from home. We have one school psychologist for every 1,500 kids in America today. It’s crazy. The teachers are — I’m married to a teacher, my deceased wife is a teacher. They have every problem coming to them. Make sure that every single child does, does in fact, have 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds go to school. Not day care, school. We bring social workers into homes of parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It’s not that they don’t want to help, they don’t want — they don’t know quite what to do. Play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the phone — make sure that kids hear words. A kid coming from a very poor school — a very poor background — will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time they get there.”

https://theintercept.com/2019/09/13/joe-biden-democratic-debate-slavery/

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/biden-voted-against-creation-of-senate-office-that-handles-sexual-harassment-complaints/

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/05/biden-opposed-creation-of-office-to-probe-sex-harassment-by-senators.php

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/joe-biden-integration-school-busing-120968?o=1 [deleted by Politico, attempted access 5/24/2020]

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/joe-biden-twenty-things-you-probably-didnt-know/

https://www.c-span.org/video/?18528-1/violent-crime-control-act-1991&start=493

https://newrepublic.com/article/61756/rhetorical-question

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1998/09/19/i-meant-no-disrespect/6acd6366-2058-4a7c-83cd-da4d345c144d/?noredirect=on

https://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/joe-biden-bin-laden-raid-defense-hillary-clinton-2016-campaign-121779

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/us/politics/25biden.html?_r=1&sq=MBNA%20biden&st=cse&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=all

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/politics/banking-ties-could-hurt-joe-biden-in-race-with-populist-overtone.html

in 2007 when, during a meeting with the editorial board of the Washington Post, he compared schoolchildren in Iowa with those in the District of Columbia: There’s less than 1 percent of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4 or 5 percent that are minorities. What is in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you’re dealing with. . . . When you have children coming from dysfunctional homes, when you have children coming from homes where there’s no books, where the mother from the time they’re born doesn’t talk to them — as opposed to the mother in Iowa who’s sitting out there and talks to them, the kid starts out with a 300-word larger vocabulary at age three. Half this education gap exists before the kid steps foot in the classroom. (https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/25/biden-stumbles-over-education-question/)

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/joe-biden-anita-hill

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/09/18/biden-admits-plagiarizing-in-law-school/53047c90-c16d-4f3a-9317-a106be8f6102/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-joe-biden-in-2016-what-would-beau-do.html

https://www.pastemagazine.com/politics/joe-biden/the-10-worst-things-joe-biden-has-done-in-his-poli/#9-opposed-school-integration-in-the-1970s

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/woman-broadens-claims-against-biden-include-sexual-assault-n1182296

https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-gaffes-quotes-2020-election-1323905

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/joe-biden-embraced-segregation-in-1975-claiming-it-was-a-matter-of-black-pride

https://www.factcheck.org/2008/09/biden-fdr-and-the-invention-of-television/

https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2009/07/vpotus-overheard-many-beautiful-women-020042

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-calls-custard-shop-manager-a-smartass-after-taxes-comment

Get To Know Joe Biden Think you know this guy?  Well, let's dig into who he is, what he has said, and what he has done for America.

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

This longtime hashish investor has funded Pax and Juul, amongst others; right here’s her method – TechCrunch

http://tinyurl.com/yy68mfyk If you happen to’re a hashish investor or a founder engaged on a cannabis-related startup, you’ve in all probability heard of Poseidon Asset Management. The San Francisco-based funding agency is one among only a few that’s targeted narrowly on the business, which stays pretty insular for now. Poseidon has additionally been at it longer than most outfits, having begun making bets on cannabis-related corporations six years in the past. Extra, Poseidon has managed to stuff checks into among the quickest rising corporations within the sector, together with the hashish vaporizer firm Pax Labs and the e-cigarette firm Juul, whose founders created the Pax vaporizer earlier than peeling off to win over people who smoke. Certainly, as a result of Poseidon has largely invested the cash of high-net price people and household workplaces, it hasn’t been constrained by the identical vice clauses — or restrictions by backers like pension funds and different establishments —  that may usually hamper the place enterprise capitalists make investments. Poseidon is notable for but another excuse, too. It was based by siblings Emily and Morgan Paxhia, whose mother and father each died of various cancers on the ages of 46 and 52, respectively. Actually, regardless of — or due to — being a younger teenager on the time, Emily Paxhia says she will nonetheless very a lot keep in mind the hospice nurse who really useful to her father that he smoke pot to ease his ache. Little did Paxhia know then that the hashish — then a stunning and unique idea — would later inform the profession she now enjoys. We talked about it earlier this week, in addition to how Paxhia and her brother determined again in 2013 that hashish was going to be the subsequent large factor. If you happen to’re interested by their path, and the place they’re procuring now, learn on. TC: You grew up in Buffalo and also you say your mother and father have been entrepreneurial. EP: Our dad restored houses in an economically depressed a part of Buffalo, and our mother labored for an actual property company. When started operating his books, voila, we had a household enterprise. TC: Then he grew to become sick once you and your siblings have been younger. How did that impression you? EP: He was a dyed-in-the-wool hippy. We had Woodstock tickets in our dwelling. He by no means actually accepted the established order, which I believe informs the way in which we view the world. However sure, he grew to become aggressively sick with most cancers in 1994 and handed away in 1996, and it was this non-virtuous cycle, the place they might put him on this or that treatment and every had its personal horrible unwanted side effects. Lastly, a hospice nurse who got here to our dwelling mentioned, ‘John, possibly you some smoke some pot.’ She informed us it will assist together with his urge for food and scale back his anxiousness and assist him sleep. It was this palliative care factor that had been stigmatized however she believed was helpful. I don’t know if he tried it or not, however then he handed away, and 5 years later, our mom, who was very wholesome and ran and took care of herself, additionally died of most cancers. I’ve usually appeared again and thought that if my mother and father had [used cannabis at the end of their lives], they might not have suffered so enormously. TC: How did you get from Buffalo to beginning a fund in San Francisco, seemingly out of the blue? EP: After faculty, I used to be spending time in New York and in San Francisco, working in market analysis, together with on behalf of Amex and Viacom and Comedy Central — all corporations competing in markets that have been very saturated. It was onerous to search out white house. Once I moved to California [full time], I began to see individuals lining up outdoors the doorways of dispensaries and I believed, ‘Listed below are individuals who ordinarily wouldn’t break a regulation, however they’re doing one thing that’s federally unlawful as a result of they need hashish. Brick-and-mortar is dying elsewhere and it’s thriving right here. That is what product-market match seems like.’ TC: At what level did you resolve to associate along with your brother and why? EP: He labored for UBS in the course of the downturn [of 2008] after which he landed in Rhode Island, working for a personal registered funding advisor. And I known as him, and I mentioned, “Dude. I believe the ‘factor’ of our technology is hashish.” I really keep in mind the place I used to be standing in San Francisco. We’d at all times although we’d be in enterprise collectively, and he took me 100 % critically, after which we couldn’t flip it off. From that time on, we have been determining how will we take part on this. It was Morgan who recognized {that a} fund made probably the most sense, that the business was occurring and it was very underserved from a tech and investor perspective. He knew the business was going to want funding and that traders would want an actively managed technique. TC: How did you get began? EP: It was onerous. It was very onerous to search out attorneys to work with us, however we did. The identical was true of auditors and again workplace administration. Every thing that’s usually a check-the-box sort of course of was onerous. TC: What about traders? How did you start lining these up with out a monitor document? EP:  I had that qualitative consulting expertise, working with manufacturers and serving to them scale; Morgan had conventional funding expertise. However there have been no information units on the time. All we may do was be ‘in market’ on a regular basis. We traveled to be with corporations. We traveled to completely different geographies as a result of every has such sophisticated regulatory nuances to it. Elevating cash was actually troublesome. We bought laughed at fairly a bit. It’s humorous, lots of our earliest traders have been attorneys as a result of I believe they understood the true, versus the perceived, danger concerned in what we have been doing. TC: Ultimately, you started to assemble this evergreen-type fund and also you started investing whereas fundraising. The place you procuring at on the outset? EP: We targeted initially on the tech side of the business. To us, that was the place we noticed the most important hole and the most important alternative to doubtlessly scale shortly. Additionally, these corporations tended to be began by tech founders who have been [secondarily] eager about hashish. TC: How have been you drumming up deal circulation? EP:  It was going into shops, seeing what they have been utilizing when it comes to tech, speaking with retail associates about what individuals have been shopping for, going to business occasions and to hashish job festivals to see was hiring, then beginning to construct relationships with these corporations. We knew as entrepreneurs ourselves that being as founder pleasant as attainable could be the important thing to our deal circulation. And we begin having founders bringing us different founders. We’ve now led 20 rounds at this level, and our greatest deal circulation has come from the founders themselves. However it’s additionally been a matter of getting on the market and strolling as much as individuals and saying, “Have you considered elevating capital? In that case, let’s hold speaking.” TC: Do you are feeling such as you now acknowledge founders who you shouldn’t again? EP: What 100 % doesn’t work on this business is hubris. In different areas of enterprise, a sure stage of confidence bodes properly for founders. However this isn’t a move-fast-and-break-things business. There are such a lot of regulatory challenges that you really want to know the lay of the land. I’ve seen individuals are available and bounce proper out once more due to their perspective. Founders additionally want to grasp the additional prices in money and time that include operating these enterprise and to mannequin accordingly; in any other case, projections are off and valuations are off and also you’re going through a doubtlessly down spherical later in time. TC: You have been in a position to return cash to traders in January, after Juul distributed a particular dividend. Is that your greatest exit thus far? EP: That was an enormous one, however we’ve had different large exits out of [an earlier] pair of funds by [several investments in Canadian companies], together with [medical marijuana company] Aphria [which went public last October] and Cover Progress [which went public in 2014, is Canada’s second-largest grower, and is currently valued at roughly $15 billion]. Canada is a really completely different market. You’ll be able to order hashish from the federal government and it’ll arrive within the postal mail. It’s very top-down in contrast to within the U.S., the place the market may be very bottom-up and state by state. There’s loads of funding happening [across U.S. and Canada]. It’s very permeable at this level. I used to be in Toronto final week, and licensed producers there need to make investments extra in California. We’re in the meantime Latin America and Europe– TC: That’s attention-grabbing. The place in Latin America and why? EP: The fee to supply hashish in Colombia is extraordinarily low. Hashish grows on a 12-hour cycle very properly and the equator runs by the nation’s southern sector [making its warm climate conducive to the plant’s growth]. Native corporations can export the merchandise at a decrease price than in Canada and Europe. [Operators there] even have distribution relationships with European markets [that are buying medical marijuana]. Mexico can also be anticipated to roll out its medical program within the fourth quarter of this yr, which is thrilling. TC: Clearly these locations have been dwelling to drug cartels for years. Do you are concerned that these similar organizations will take an curiosity in what’s being constructed legally of their backyards? EP: We’ve gotten comfy with each locations. I believe the cartels have begun to pivot to different locations, like meth. I additionally don’t assume it’s price it to the cartels to get entangled with authorized authorities channels. And the teams that we deal with are themselves targeted on medical hashish and distribution to different medical contact factors globally [and not the same places into which cartels are trying to move goods]. TC: I’ve learn that Poseidon is attempting to boost a new, $75 fund. How far alongside are you? EP: We’ve capital commitments for half the fund and hope to shut it this summer season. We would like to have the ability to deploy [more capital] earlier than legalization is [more widespread] and we now have to compete with greater funds. TC: What’s your pacing like? Relatedly, how briskly do you need to transfer on this investments, or do you could have on a regular basis on the planet proper now? EP: We anticipate to speculate this new fund in 15 corporations over two years. We’ve funded 5 startups with it since November, however we have been in diligence on a type of for months. I’d say the common deal takes 60 to 90 days to tug collectively proper now. We begin our personal diligence earlier than the corporate is contemplating a Sequence A, which is the place we make investments. We need to assist construction the spherical, to guide it, to have a board seat — to exhibit our worth add. TC: Are you seeing many, or any, significantly frothy offers? EP: Valuations should not going loopy however the extra well-liked a deal will get, the tougher it turns into, as with every funding. We’re wrestling over a time period sheet proper now, as a result of different teams bought a take a look at it and need us to guide it, however we’re additionally getting negotiated in opposition to a bit of bit. TC: Any parting phrases for traders who need to leap into the business? Any recommendation? EP: I’d say to go to occasions and stroll the ground to see who and what stands out. I went to MJBizCon [the Marijuana Business Conference and Expo] that occurs yearly each winter. The primary few years that we went, there have been a number of hundred schlubby guys strolling the ground. The yr earlier than final, there have been 3,000 individuals in attendance, wanting loads much less schlubby. Final yr, I believe there have been 27,000 individuals, which I took as an indicator that there’s some curiosity on this house. [Laughs.] Source link

[helloelizabethsmithposts]

GLORIFYING GODHEAD, FOR ALL ETERNITY, AND FOREVER, AND EVERMORE, AMEN, AND AMEN!!!! THANK GOD TRULY FOR EVERYTHING, MOST DEFINITELY, MY LOVING, SWEET SMELLING SAVIOR LORD JESUS CHRIST KING OF GLORY!!!!

Ni Ha Ma, Ohayo, And Annyeong Haseyo, Good Morning Everyone, Oh Snap I Forgot To Tell You All This Very Important Detail {ATTENTION TO JAPAN, ASIA, AND KOREA} I'M THAT CHILD GODHEAD ORDAINED A LONG TIME AGO, TO PROTECT YOUR VERY COUNTRIES, BEFORE THE VERY AGE OF 18, I REQUESTED PERSONALLY TO BE A VIRTUOUS WOMAN ULTIMATELY, BECAUSE I KNEW HOW PEOPLE HEARTS LOVED MONEY SO VERY MUCH, THEY DIDN'T CARE WHO THEY HURTED! GODHEAD ASKED ME THIS" ARE YOU SURE OF WHAT YOUR REQUESTING? I TOLD FATHER GOD YES, IT WAS WHAT I WANTED, TO BE THE ONE WHEN THINGS GOT TOO OUT OF HAND, I WOULD TURN AROUND AND REMIND EVERYONE, IN THIS WORLD THAT GOD'S GLORY, IS HIS GLORY ALONE, AND NO ONE ELSE!!!! TO USE YOUR GIFTS, AND TALENTS, TO MAKE YOURSELF AN WALKING IDOL, IS AND A DENOUNCE[ A SENTENCE OF EVIL AND DEATH SENTENCE] DEUTERONOMY 30. IT SCARED ME, BACK IN THE DAY, BECAUSE, I ONLY QUESTIONED GODHEAD, WHAT MADE HIM{ELOHIM, BECOME SO VERY DESTRUCTABLE, THEN I REALIZED WHEN I HAD THOSE HOSPITAL, EVENTS IT WAS THEIR, THAT I FOUND OUT THE WICKEDNESS IN MAN'S HEART!!! JAPAN, I'M SO VERY SORRY, I HAD AMNESIA, THAT I FORGOT, TO PRAY FOR YOU ALL BECAUSE THE VERY FIRST BATTLE OF MY LIFE, I WAS TOLD ABOUT PEOPLE REALLY WALKING IN THE YIN&YANG{WHITE=LIGHT&BLACK=DARKNESS}!!! IT TOOK IT VERY HARD, CAUSE I ONLY WANTED MY FAMILIES HAPPINESS, I NEVER CARED ABOUT MONEY OR THINGS, BECAUSE IT MEANS NOTHING WHEN YOU CAN'T SHARE IT WITH THOSE YOU TRULY LOVE!!! I'M A CEO OF KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SINGING MINISTRIES, IT'S HONESTLY BEEN HIDE SINCE 2010 FEBRUARY, AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT, WHERE A FAKE BASKET PLAYER, HAD SLAMMED ON BRAKES, WHILE TALKING ON THE PHONE, IT HIT THE CAR I WAS DRIVING, BUT THIS IS THE THING I'M REALLY UPSET WITH EVERYONE, LIKE FIREFIGHTERS,POLICE,AND AMBULANCE, BECAUSE THEY WHERE DOING THINGS TO ABUSE THE AUTHORITY OF DOING THAT WHICH IS RIGHT, A PERSON THAT'S TRULY A RACIST, SHOULD NOT GET INTO POSITION, IN THIS WORLD, TILL THEY GET THEIRSELVES RIGHT FIRST, IT IS OUT OF ORDER TO GET A JOB OR ANYTHING JUST FOR MONEY[CAUSE YOU ALL ARE ONLY FEEDING THAT BONDAGE MINDSET EVEN MORE, AND YOU ALL KNOW YOU WILL BE GOING TO HELL!!!!] YOU ALL HAVE BEEN BLASPHEMING THE SPIRIT OF GODHEAD, FOR DECADES, QUOTING SCRIPTURES & NOT LIVING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS!!! UNDERSTAND THIS WHEN GODHEAD [HAS APPOINTED A CHOSEN PROPHET OF HIS TO SHOW UP, WE JUDGE THROUGH THE SPIRIT OF GODHEAD IN US, THE WICKEDNESS, THAT THESE WEEDS AND TARES, HAVE DONE CRUELLY, AND SELFISHLY HURTING INNOCENT PEOPLE, WHO DIDN'T KNOW A THING HONESTLY!!!! THIS RIGHTEOUS QUEEN OF LIGHT{ALPHA AND OMEGA WIFE, WILL NOT PLAY NO MORE WITH YOU ALL, {BECAUSE THIS HIS WRONG, I'M THE OTHER TRUE PROTECTOR OF ASIA,JAPAN, AND KOREA=MUSIC,ELECTRONICS,AND BUSINESS OWNER}!!!  AMERICA THESE 3 VERY LAWS WHERE, FORBIDDEN TO EVER BEEN APPROVED IN THIS WORLD= 1. ABORTION 2. WEED 3.GAY MARRIAGE!!! IT'S TRULY A REVOLUTION-REVOLT IN FULL FORM!!! THE LEGISLATIVE,JUDICIAL,EXECUTIVE BRANCH, YOU DUMMIES, I WAS MY DADDY'S HISTORY GIRL, WHO KNEW ALOT ABOUT THE BOOKS, I HAD TEACHERS NEGOTIATING WITH ME IN THE CLASSROOM, FROM KINDER- 6TH GRADE, IF I DIDN'T CHANGE THAT D+, TO SOMETHING HIGHER THEY WHERE CALLING MY DAD ON ME!!! LOL, I TOOK THAT TEST SO VERY FAST AND WELL LOOK IT WAS A+!!!! LOL, I HAD FUN WITH THOSE GOOD TEACHERS, BECAUSE THEY HONESTLY TAUGHT ME THIS, WAS TO VALUE GOD'S WORD NO MATTER WHAT IN THIS LIFE! BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS ASKED ME HOW ARE YOU ALL SO VERY DIFFERENT, I JUST TOLD PEOPLE I TRULY UPHOLD GOD'S WORD, NO MATTER WHERE I AM, BECAUSE GOD KNOWS EVERYONE, AND TO JUST FAKE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE JUST TO PRETEND NO THANK YOU!!! I ALWAYS WILL HAVE THIS SAYING FOREVER= WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET WITH ME!!! MEANING I'M GOING TO WALK IN THE LIGHT AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT{ KING OF GLORY-MY VERY LOVING AND VERY SWEET SMELLING SAVIOR LORD JESUS CHRIST MY KING, FOREVER AND EVERMORE FOR ALL ETERNITY WITH YOU MY VERY DEAREST, PRECIOUS, BEAUTIFUL SHINNING SUN& STAR LOVING, PEACEFUL, AND JOYFUL PARTNER FOR THIS LIFETIME, DEDICATING, AND CONSECRATING EVERYTHING I DESIGN IN THIS LIFE, JUST FOR YOUR GLORIOUS NAMESAKE{YAHWEH&YESHUA}!!!! JUST FOR BRINGING ME THROUGH THOSE HARD TIMES, BUT IT IS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT JUST RIGHT BEFORE THAT 3RD BATTLE MY KING OF GLORY, SO SURPRISINGLY JAPAN, WAS HIT QUITE HARD, MAYBE I NEED TO DO SOME MORE VERY DEEP RESEARCH INTO THIS, CAUSE SOMETHING IS VERY SHADY!!!! WAIT A MINUTE DIDN'T COASTA RICO, HAVE SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR!!!!  YO KOH{ KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THESE DIRTY BASTARDS BEEN UP TO SOME SNEAKY STUFF THROUGH THE YEARS, THEN WANTS TO PRETEND LIKE, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!!! YES, IT TRUE CAUSE ALL THROUGH THOSE EVENTS, I DID THINGS TO TELL PEOPLE I WASN'T CRAZY, BUT YOUR WICKED ASS STILL, PUT THESE DAMN LIES ON MY RECORD, BUT I BET YOUR DAMN RECORDS, HAVE BEEN CLEAR AND FUNKY!!!! TUPAC DIDN'T LIE, YALL TRY TO DAMAGE THE RIGHTEOUS NAME, WHILE THE WICKED HIDE THEIR CRIMES IN THESE ROACH INFESTED OFFICES'S!!!!  I TOLD THOSE CUSTOMERS WE HAVE SOME WALKING ROACHES, OF ALL COLORS, SHAPES, AND SIZE, AROUND THE WORLD DOING SOME VERY SHADY STUFF.... BUT YALL JUST DIDN'T KNOW I WAS ALWAYS FATHER GOD, INFORMATION PERSON, TELLING ON EVERYBODY ASS, I NEVER LIED IN MY LIFE, SO WE CAUGHT EVERYBODY, THAT THOUGHT WE DIDN'T KNOW WHO YALL ASS CHOSE TO SERVE!!!! I KNEW YALL ASS WAS FAKE, CAUSE I TOLD MY CREW A LONG TIME AGO, WHEN PEOPLE LOVE MONEY SO DAMN MUCH, THEY SHOW EVERYTHING-JUDAS& JEZEBEL, DON'T RUN NO WORLD, THEY HAVE HAVE RAN THEIR ASS INTO VERY TROUBLED WATERS,VERY DEEP DITCH, AND A VERY LAKEY OF FIRE{ FLAMING&BLAZING PIT JUST FOR ALL THOSE DAMN CHILDREN OF LIES!!!!}   {POOR JAPAN,KOREA, AND ASIA, CAUSE IT WASN'T CAUSE OF YOUR COLOR, BUT THE SENSE OF STUDYING THE HOLY BIBLE, THESE BASTARDS PLOTTED ON YOU ALL, CAUSE THE INTELLIGENCE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, IT'S ON A CLASS OF IT'S OWN= ELECT=ELITE CLASS}! THAT'S WHY I TOLD YOU ALL, YOU NEED TO DISCERN, WHO IS IN YOUR COUNTRY, AND WHO VISITS YOUR COUNTRY, BECAUSE NOT ALL PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT INTENTIONS OF GOING INTO YOUR COUNTRIES! I WOULD ONLY GO, HOWEVER GODHEAD LEADS ME BUT IT'S TO RESTORE YOUR VERY COUNTRIES AND YOUR HEARTS, FROM BEING HEARTBROKEN NEVER EVER AGAIN, THROUGH GOD'S WORD, WE WILL TRULY, HEAL YOUR HEARTS COMPLETELY SO WE CAN ALL MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER!!!! WHAT DO YOU SAY MY TRUE AND VERY DEAR FAMILIES CHOSEN BY GODHEAD{JAPANESE,CHINESE[ASIA],AND KOREA!!! IT'S BEEN FAR TOO LONG, SO MAYBE WE CAN PERHAPS COLLABORATE, AND BRING BACK SOME OLD CLASSICAL GAMES,MOVIES, AND MUSIC, WITH A VERY NEW TWIST AND CHALLENGE TO IT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (WAY) STYLE!!! ARIGATO,XIEXIE,GOSAMANIDA, & SARANGHAEYO EVERYONE FOREVER! THANK YOU IN JAPAN,ASIA,AND KOREA & I LOVE YOU EVERYONE FOREVER!  THANK GODHEAD I'VE FINALLY MATURED INTO THE WOMAN OF GOD{THAT YAHWEH&YESHUA TRAINED ME TO BE, JUST CONSECRATED TO GOD'S LIGHT, THE LOYAL ONE, HEY BOAZ WHEREVER YOU ARE OUT THEIR IN THIS WORLD, KNOW THIS MY HEART WILL ALWAYS BE ONE WITH YOU ALWAYS MY TRUE VIRTUE OF PATIENCE, PARTNER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS{IT WAS YOUR LOVE FOR MY HEART, THAT REALLY GAVE ME THE COURAGE, THE ENDURANCE TO JUST FREELY LIVE,LAUGH, SMILE ONLY FOR GODHEAD AND YOU{BOAZ}, BECAUSE YOU HAVE REALLY HELPED ME SINCERELY, MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER HAVE KNOWN, MONEY IS JUST A SIDE BENEFIT, LIKE GODHEAD HAD BLESSED MR.MYLES MONROE TO TALK ABOUT IN THOSE REDISCOVERING THE KINGDOM MESSAGES!!! YOU ALL CAN'T STOP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN REPRESENTATIVE ELIZABETH L. SMITH, CAUSE I'M A RIGHTFUL ROYAL QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND YALL MESSED WITH THE WRONG CREW THIS TIME FOR SURE!!! THIS IS NO TREAT, BUT A PROMISE INDEED, BECAUSE YOU ALL CHOSE, TO WALK IN THE VERY PATH MY HUSBAND ALPHA AND OMEGA, DIED ON THE CROSS FOR[SIN], YOU ALL HAVE ANGERED GODHEAD, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN SUDDENLY IN NOVEMBER, WHEN GOD{ABEOJI} WANTED ME TO POST THOSE MESSAGES AND VIDEO'S THAT YALL, DID SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY DANGEROUS, GODHEAD HATED!!! YOU DON'T USE THE VERY THINGS GODHEAD GAVE US IN CONTROL OF TO MANIPULATE, THE VERY WILL OF A HUMAN BEING SOUL!!!  I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE,BUT THEIR WAS A MEXICAN BOY, WHO LIED LIKE HE WAS A MAN IN ASKING ME LET ME TASTE SOMETHING, LOVL I SAID YOUR NOT TASTING NOTHING BUT THIS AND SHOWED HIM MY FIST,LAUGHING OUT VERY LOUD, BUT I TOLD HIM BE VERY CAREFUL BECAUSE DEPENDING ON THE ARTIST MUSIC, IF YOU ARE VERY WEAK THEIR MUSIC CAN LURE YOU INTO SOME DEADLY THINGS, THAT YOUR SOUL WILL BE LOST FOR ALL ETERNITY!!! MUSIC AND THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY, WHAT HAVE YALL DONE, YOU CAN'T VIOLATE GOD'S ORDER AND THINK HE WILL BLESS, YOU FOR THIS WICKEDNESS, CAUSE THE HOLY BIBLE TOLD ME, THAT THOSE WHO HATE GOD, HE WILL DESTROY YOU IN HIS(GODHEAD'S TIMING), YOU DON'T USE NOTHING GOD GAVE YOU, TO MAKE IT ALL ABOUT ME,MYSELF, AND I, YOU REVOLTED ON GODHEAD, TRULY, AND YOU ALL HAVE DECEIVED BILLION'S UPON BILLION'S OF INNOCENT PEOPLE MONEY, JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED YOURSELF TO LOOK GOOD, BUT REALLY THEY{KOH ALL OF THOSE IN HEAVEN WITH FATHER GOD} HAVE BEEN LAUGHING THIS WHOLE TIME, SAYING YALL IS SO VERY STUPID!!!! REALLY YOU ARE, CAUSE, JAPAN, KOREA, AND ASIA, FATHER GOD TOLD ME ALONG TIME AGO TO PROTECT THEM I JUST, FORGOT AFTER MY DAD,BROTHER, AND SISTER, TRYING TO COPE WITH EVERYTHING TILL, FATHER GOD TOLD ME TO KEEP PRAYING FOR BOAZ, SO I STAY VERY FAITHFUL TO PRAYING FOR YOU MY VERY DEAR PARTNER, CAUSE SHOOT, THIS IS SOME JACKED UP STUFF, WE HEIRS OF THE THRONE OF GODHEAD{HIS MAJESTY} HOLY MEN& HOLY WOMEN OF GODHEAD, HOW IN THE HELL, DID WE GET BLAMED, ON CRIMES WE NEVER EVER COMMITTED!!! CAUSE TO DO ANYTHING GODHEAD HATES, YEAH YOU BET THAT PERSON IS GOING TO HELL!!! US REAL CHURCH, WHERE NOT STUPID AT ALL, WE DON'T CARE ABOUT FITTING IN, CAUSE GODHEAD SET US APART FOR HIS USE ONLY!!! WHICH MEANS THEIR IS ALOT OF FALSE ADVERTISING,EXTORTION, CORRUPTION, VERY BAD BUSINESS DEALS ALL AROUND THE WORLD- ALL BECAUSE OF MATERIAL THINGS!!! THAT WHAT'S YALL GET THOUGHT FATHER GOD DIDN'T HAVE NO MORE BABY GENIUS AROUND ON EARTH, SO YALL ASS COULD MESS THIS WORLD UP, I KNEW YALL TRIFLING FUNKY ASS MOON BASTARDS WAS UP TO SOME VERY DEEP STUFF!!!! THOSE DEGREES GOT YALL INTO TROUBLE, BECAUSE IT CAN ALSO BE CLASSED UP UNDER THE WEATHER COLD OR HOT!!!!!  I DON'T NEED NO STINKIN DEGREE IN THIS WORLD, CAUSE MY FATHER GOD SCHOOLED ME INTO EVERYTHING, WHICH MEANS, YALL CAN'T AFFORD ME NO MORE!!! I WAS A HIDDEN CEO OF KOHM[KINGDOM OF HEAVEN MINISTRIES, ALL OF THESE YEARS, I WORKED AND PLAYED JUST FOR FUN, WORKING WITH DUMBASS MANAGERS, THAT WASN'T REALLY NO MANAGER, JUST A VERY STUPID, AND A VERY FUNKY NOVICE WITH A MAN MADE TITLE!!!! I TOLD YALL IN THIS WORLD FATHER AND I PLAYED YALL ALL.... WE PLAYED THE GAME TO WIN ONLY, SO YES WE VERY, VERY,VERY, GRATEFUL TO MY FATHER GOD,MY HUSBAND JESUS CHRIST, MY FRIEND HOLY SPIRIT, AND ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN, MAN YALL ANGELS OF GOD NEEDS A RAISE, FOR PROTECTING BOAZ AND I, CAUSE I STILL STAY INTO STUFF AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS, SHHHHOOOOOO NAH, I GUESS THIS KIND OF NATURE WAS TRULY, HOW YOU MADE ME TO BE(SPECIALLY FOR YOU ALWAYS YAHWEH& YESHUA)!!! THAT MOVIE CELESTIAL LEGEND YUU WATASE, IF ONLY YOU REALLY KNEW, HOW MUCH THAT ONE VERY MOVIE WAS TO ME, BECAUSE SADLY IT IS TRULY, MY REAL LIFESTORY!!!! I KNEW IT THE VERY MOMENT WHEN I WENT INTO SAM GOODY STORE AT THAT TIME, RIGHT AFTER THAT DREADFUL DAY, WAS STILL DRAWN TO GO BUY SOMETHING AND WHEN I WALKED PAST THE ANIME COLLECTION SECTION THAT ONE BOX SERIES, LOOKED SO VERY FAMILIAR, BUT SOMETHING SO VERY ROMANTIC AS WELL!!!! SO I'VE BEEN A SERIES FAN OF YOUR MOVIES FOR A VERY LONG TIME MY DEAR, AND VERY PRECIOUS SISTER, I HOPE SOMEDAY MAYBE WE CAN MEET UP, CAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT SOME KIND OF GIFT TO YOU, HOPEFULLY GODHEAD WILL BLESS ME TO DESIGN SOMETHING JUST TO SHOW YOU A TOKEN OF APPRECIATION TO YOU MY LOVELY SISTER YUU WATASE, FOR MAKING THAT ONE MOVIE, I KNEW GODHEAD, HAD THE 1 MOVIE OUT JUST FOR ME, CAUSE EVERYTIME, WHEN I FELT DISCOURAGE AND MISSING MY LOVED ONES TRULY, AND DEARLY, I WOULD BUST OUT IN UGLY CRYING SOUNDS, LOVL[LAUGHING OUT VERY LOUD], BUT IT MADE ME SMILE EVEN MORE!!!! YOUR TRUE ORIGINAL OLD MOVIES LIKE THESE, IS WHAT MADE YOU ALL TRULY SHINE, LIKE KOHH{KINGDOM OF HEAVEN HEIRS}, BECAUSE YOUR PRODUCTS SAID AND SHOWED THE HEARTS OF YOU ALL{JAPAN, ASIA, AND KOREA, NO MATTER WHAT OTHERS, TRY TO TELL YOU ALL, TO DISTRACT YOU ALL, AND TRY TO MAKE YOU FEEL LESS, IGNORE THEM BECAUSE WE ARE NO SLAVES, TO NO MAN, OR NO CREEPING THING ON OR UNDER THIS EARTH, WE SHOULD TREAD,TRAMPLE,WALK, OR RUN OVER OR ENEMIES, USE THE HOLY BIBLE WORD'S THAT GODHEAD{ELOHIM- HAS GIVEN YOU ALL THESE RIGHTS IN THE EARTH, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, YOU HAVE TO PUT YOUR ENEMIES IN THEIR PLACE!!!! BECAUSE THIS IS THE VERY PROBLEM IN THIS WORLD, PEOPLE WHO HATE GOD, SHOULDN'T EVEN QUOTE THE HOLY BIBLE, KNOWING THEY DON'T SERVE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE ANOINTED ONE{THE RISEN ONE}!!! IN PROVERBS IT WAS STATED EVEN A FOOL IS CONSIDERED WISE, WHEN THEY ARE QUIET!!!! BUT THESE DAYS, I KNOW HEAVEN AND ALL GODHEAD CREW WITH HIM FIND THIS VERY FUNNY, BUT THE TRUTH IS THIS IS THE VERY KIND OF STUFF GOD'S CHILD ALWAYS HAVE HATED!!! I COULD NEVER STAND PEOPLE JUST TELLING LIES, AND SAY THEY NEVER SAID THESE THINGS!!! I DON'T SEE THE POINT IN TELLING OTHER PEOPLE YOU LOVE GOD, WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR ASS, AIN'T NEVER LOVED NO ONE, BUT YOUR OWN DAMN SELF!!! SO MANY OF YOU ALL, ALWAYS SAYING HOLY WORDS, AND WE KNOW WE ARE AN UPSIDE KINGDOM, SO ITS THE VERY OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU ALL SAY!!! AND LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, KNOWS I'M SO VERY TIRED OF THESE DAMN KNOW IT ALL PEOPLE, YALL ARE THE WORSE EVER, HOW IN THE HOCKEY YOU BRING YOUR ASS, FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE THE WRONG WAY{SNUCK THEIR ASS, OVER HERE WITHOUT TRUE DOCUMENTATION}, THEN WAN'T'S TO FREELOAD OFF OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE OVER HERE!!! AND AMERICA YALL SHOULD BE VERY GLAD SHEKINA GLORY REALLY, KEEPS ME THESE VERY DAYS, SITTING YALL ASS IN THESE POSITIONS PITYING THE VERY PEOPLE YOU ALL APPROVED THAT HATE GOD, INTO A COUNTRY THAT HAS GODHEAD NAME IN AND OVER IT AND EVERYTHING!!!! DAMN NEAR THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD YALL ASS, GETTING SHOT UP WITH THOSE DAMN NEEDLE'S, AND SEE HOW YOU WOULD FEEL ALL OF THESE YEARS, AND YOUR VERY SKIN STILL, HAS THE MARKS AND PROOF OF THESE DAMN WICKED ASS PLOTS, AND WICKED CROOKED ASS HANDOUT!!!! TALKING ABOUT SOME DAMN UNSOLVED MYSTERIES, AIN'T NO DAMN UNSOLVED MYSTERIES, YALL ASS PLOTTED ON TUPAC, CAUSE HE WAS STATING FACTS ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENT AT THE TIME!!!( HERE THEY GO RIGHT IN THIS ORDER+1. BUSH,2.CLINTON,3.BUSH,4.CLINTON,5. OBAMA) ALL OF THESE PAST PRESIDENT'S ALL HAD ONE THING IN COMMON= { VERY HIDE RACIST}!!! A PRESIDENT WHO HATES ANOTHER RACE!!!!  HOW DO I KNOW THIS I RESEARCH EVERYTHING, AND PRAY TO GODHEAD ABOUT IT, SO JUST IN CASE, SOMEBODY IS WICKED AGAIN, I STAY SO VERY CLOSE TO GOD IN PRAYING, AND WORSHIP!!!! CAUSE YALL LOVE MONEY TOO DAMN MUCH!!!!  AND DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THE YOUNGER GENERATION, JUST HOT IN LUST- HOT IN FUNK!!!!  JESUS CHRIST IS VERY SWEET= SMELL VERY GOOD, OH AMEN!!! BUT LU THE FOOL IS VERY STINKY=SMELL VERY FUNKY!!!! OOOPPPSSSYYY, I DID IT AGAIN ABEOJI,OPPA,HEONG,YOONA,NOONA, AND CHINGU, AND HOST OF HEAVEN, I'VE TOLD EVERYTHING AGAIN, WOOO WEEE, THIS IS VERY FUN!!!! PRAISING THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND THE EARTH, FOR ALL ETERNITY, IN DIVINE LOVE, DIVINE PEACE, AND DIVINE JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST ALWAYS! TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOREVER, AND EVERMORE, AMEN, AND AMEN!!!! ENJOY SENDING LOTS OF  HUG'S JUST TO YOU, AND ONLY FOR YOU MY ONE AND VERY,TRULY, VIRTUOUS PATIENT MAN AMONG MEN[OH DEAR MY BOAZ] ALWAYS, AND I'M FOREVER YOURS{GODHEAD & BOAZ}!!! OH BROTHER TUPAC, THIS IS THE VERY, VERY, VERY, GOODLIFE,,LIFE IS VERY GOOD, WHEN YOUR TRULY WALKING UPRIGHT IN MY KING OF GLORY-MR.BLAZING EYES, HAIR AS WOOL, BODY AS BRASS, AND SWORD IN HIS MOUTH{ CUT THEIR WICKED ASS DOWN} AMEN, AND AMEN!!!! THIS IS A VERY MARVELOUS DAY JUST ENJOYING MY FATHER GOD{OH ABEOJI & TOUSAN} I LOVE YOU LOOOOOOOOLLLLL FOREVER, AND EVERMORE, AMEN!!!      

[staceybraddon90-blog]

Mould The Champ In You.

There are pro's and drawback's for men dating solitary moms along with traits you should and must refrain from doing. The following suggestions must aid clear up some false impressions as well as provide some great advice for dating single mothers. Creating a tired and also short-tempered kid check out collections of shoes is certainly not exactly what a mama or papa would certainly desire. The private father is the man which the child subjectively regards as the main father brown individual in his/ her life. My Father was actually a DGI for over 70 years and also my parents lived off the rewards for over 30+ years revealing me the way ahead. However, the film supplies complicated, vibrant depictions of really good and bad father browns, and also their sons, that are effectively worth carried on exploration. Off England, Fantastic Style spread to southern U.S. religions, each white colored and dark, to the industries of rural America, and to prisons. She was a gift from God and also I will entirely be appreciative to become delivered with been actually concurred the honor of being her papa. Actually, as a result of the subject-matter entailed, I generally like to attempt to place a little bit of added time and believed into my replies on this certain Center. He was actually never ever inappropriate whatsoever neither was actually was he a tremendously tender, touchy-feely kind of moms and dad. Some wish the humor market value of the entire top-level papa daughter drama could possibly help start an useful conversation concerning gay perspectives in the area. The women are going to eventually spread coming from the warren once they grow yet the dad performs not steer them off like he typically performs to the males. This is a wonderful method for a busy mama with schoolchild, or the remain at residence mum or papa for that matter. Lower leg 11 was actually the ultimate lower leg of The Incredible Race THIRTEEN. The 5 solitary groups gotten here in Pdx, Oregon, where they investigated a resort and also were actually reunited with Terence and Sarah.

Put a little extra twist on these little tiny accidents and also utilize them in your speech. However I assume his theory as well as his potential to believe extremely seriously created Soros which he is consequently it is actually an essential part from his life history as well as the reason for his results available. Having a 10 minute vacation to the store suggests you need to order the nappy bag, added baby diapers, some formula, additional bottles, ensure there's enough little one wipes, and particle. To you, there could at times seem to become 3 moms and dads as opposed to two-especially if the non-custodial daddy sees the little ones regularly-with the biological father possessing more impact than you, the stepfather. If the mother needs additional assistance while pregnant as well as the daddy leaves behind even momentarily, denial will be actually created http://diet-sport90.info over the little one's life. This's no wonder that the Super Dish possesses a bigger annual viewership in comparison to the World Set.

[ltfblogworld-blog]

New Post has been published on https://www.ltfblog.com/how-to-get-one-thousand-million-perspectives-on-youtube/

How to Get One thousand million Perspectives on YouTube

YouTube

The first Indian video to hit A billion Perspectives on YouTube isn’t from a comedy or tech channel, as popular as those segments can be. As an alternative, the honor belongs to Chennai-primarily based ChuChu Tv — a YouTube channel geared toward Youngsters from a long time of 0 to seven. It hit the billion Perspectives landmark for its nursery rhymes compilation video, Johny Johny Yes Papa. Rather than being an immediately up cowl of the widely recognized nursery rhyme, it’s far changed to be a more modern take on the classic.

In step with YouTube, ChuChu Television is the primary channel in Asia Pacific across all genres and ranked range two global inside the education genre. Typical it ranks 15th globally throughout all genres – no mean feat considering it started out simply in 2013. Gadgets 360 spoke to Vinoth Chandar, Founder, CEO and Innovative Director, ChuChu Television to find out what makes this enormously new player in the space tick.

“She became nearly two years antique so I used to show her YouTube films and he or she used to get quite a few exhilaration from seeing cartoons and other stuff,” says Chandra, speaking about her daughter, who became the foundation for ChuChu Television. “I always desired to attract her in 2d and create a person out of her. So I went ahead and drew her in 2nd after which lively her and she preferred it. and he or she’s a totally obese girl from birth so I did this chubby cheeks rhyme for her and the video simply came out well. After I confirmed it to her she favored it loads.”

Seeing his daughter’s response, Chandar idea it may be a great idea to upload it to YouTube for different kids to observe. The outcomes have been beyond Chandar’s expectations.

“In weeks we were given greater than 3 lakh Perspectives, different Youngsters have been liking our content material,” he says. The second video, which was based on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star become even more famous, getting 4 to five times extra Perspectives than The first.

“With simply two films our channel crossed five,000 subscribers,” says Chandar. “This is the time when an associate manager from YouTube known as us and said ‘you are doing some magic, yours is coming in advance other channels.’ They asked us to invest extra at the platform.”

On the time, Buddies Infotech — the business enterprise run by way of Chandar and 4 of his partners, became into services. After Twinkle Twinkle Little Big name, that modified pretty fast.

“We took an aware name now not to cognizance on services, all five partners are on ChuChu Tv, despite the fact that Pals Infotech exists for sake of it,” he says. “We began with 4 animators, we’ve now grown to 200 and moved into a 20,000 square feet workplace in Chennai.”

And at the same time as ChuChu Television started out the way to Chandar’s daughter, it sustained with inputs from the youngsters of other contributors too — at the side of a mixture of intuition.

“Proper from day one it became intestine feel on what to do,” says Chandar whilst asked about the procedure of making motion pictures for ChuChu Television.

“As soon as we decide what to do, then we take a seat together, assume a lot. They are saying you need to assume like a child to draw a child Proper? It really is the basic premise,” he tells us. “Lots of us have a six-12 months-vintage or a 3-year-old and spend lots of time with our children. So we suppose like how the Youngsters think after which primarily based on that we installation the storyboard and shorts for the kid, like how humorous and attractive it must be for a toddler.”

Further to this, the corporation guarantees the rhymes are free of any terrible connotations such as Ba Ba Black Sheep, which has its roots in racism.

“We delivered a black sheep, white sheep, and a brown sheep. The video crossed 500 million Views and is still doing well,” Chandar says. “After that, we got lots of Remarks from parents and we might add extra verses to sell positivity and right values like sharing, caring, and loving.”

YouTube Feedback also are how ChuChu Television gets thoughts for brand new motion pictures. while the Remarks segment on maximum motion pictures make a put up-apocalyptic earth appear to be paradise, a dedicated group at ChuChu Television trails thru its Remarks section (which appears around 1,000 to two,000 Comments a day) to apprehend what its burgeoning fanbase wants.

“maximum of the new ideas come from these Comments. Now they need us to do the rhymes which they prefer, which their Youngsters can watch,” says Chandar. “That has been the trend with dad and mom inquiring for motion pictures based totally on colors or exploration. Some of these Comments we don’t forget and plan. We take our dad and mom communique very seriously.”

Other than being a breeding ground for brand spanking new thoughts, the Feedback section keeps ChuChu Tv aware of its audience’s desires.

“From day one, the site visitors is maximum from the USA, 2d is India, then United kingdom, Philippines, and Vietnam,” says Chandra. “We did a numbers music and right here in India we provide Youngsters toy guns to play with and in the video, there has been a lyric that stated ’shoot the numbers with the gun’. We got a number of bad Feedback from America fans and mother and father asking how we may want to show infants a gun.”

“We in no way notion approximately this. So we eliminated the gun, changed the lyric, changed the animation, and re-uploaded the video,” he says. “We take this seriously because ultimately it’s the dad and mom that decide what their Kids must watch. “

And the Youngsters deliver ChuChu Television the gain in phrases of Perspectives. even as other styles of channels depend upon virality to peer their movies grow, the agency still sees The primary video it uploaded getting watched.

“After a new trailer comes out and the film finally releases, human beings will visit something else,” opines Chandra. “right here if a child likes a nursery rhyme he will maintain looking it. Repeat watch time may be very high in our genre. That is the motive why we hit One billion Views.”

the ones Perspectives are focused round cell and capsules that make up “70 percent and above” of the gadgets ChuChu Tv is watched on. Clever TVs around 20 percent. Computer systems and laptops make up less than 5 percentage. at the same time as some channels put up multiple movies a day, ChuChu Television has an exceptional strategy, one It really is simply worked for them so far. “We do ten to 15 films a month. That’s the most due to the fact we concentrate on the satisfactory,” opines Chandar. “If you see channels in our style, most have extra than four hundred to 500 videos. We’ve got simplest one hundred fifty-bizarre videos. For us, it’s approximately best as opposed to quantity. “

In phrases of monetization, YouTube advertisements are the “maximum sales generator” for the business enterprise. But the goal is to head past that and to take the emblem into products. It currently tied up with Dream Theatre — the enterprise chargeable for bringing all non-online game-related Pokemon merchandise into India — in the direction of this quit. Brazilian YouTube channel Galinha Pintadinha — which focusses on a similar target audience as ChuChu Television has been capable of making a fortune on products revenue on my own. However, Chandar is cautious in his approach.

“It’s a gradual system. We don’t sense we’re ready. We have up to date our characters to cause them to more lovely as toys, so now we need to do greater films with updated characters,” he says. “Once that receives viewed enough with the aid of the little ones then we will pass into the merchandise area.” He isn’t ruling out ChuChu Television games both.

As for structures? Proper now ChuChu Television videos are available on Amazon High Video and YouTube by myself. Outdoor India, Netflix has proven interested in working with ChuChu Television, Chandar claims. YouTube, However, is of paramount significance.

“We need to be on some top rate platforms different that YouTube. However, YouTube will usually be the numbers generator. It’s wherein our target audience is at,” he says. “it is the largest search engine after Google. We want to be there on YouTube. Further many humans ask for advert-loose content. So for them, there is Amazon.”

[takebackthedream]

Words That Hurt Our Public Schools, And Ones That Help by Jeff Bryant

I want to start off today with a story about my mom. Trust me, I’ll eventually transition to talking about education. But my mom’s story illustrates how attitudes are affected by media and language.

My mom was born in 1923 on the plains of North Dakota. Her dad, my grandfather was a farmer-rancher. Her mom, my grandmother, ran the house and brought in laundry, sewing, and other work from neighbors.

But then commodity prices fell through the floor and the Great Depression hit. Then my grandfather’s farm blew away in the Dust Bowl. Talk about a perfect storm.

With hardly any income of their own, my grandparents turned to the public sector, the government, for financial assistance. Through what was called the Work Progress Administration, the WPA, created by the Franklin Roosevelt presidential administration, my grandfather got a position operating a grain elevator in eastern Montana.

With a steady source of income, my grandparents could provide for my mom and her three other siblings. Things weren’t always easy. When my mom knocked out a front tooth in a toboggan accident, she had to have a wooden peg fill the empty space until they had a chicken to pay the dentist and could travel to a town that had a dentist.

Nevertheless, my grandparents, neither who completed more than an elementary school level of education, had access to local public schools for their children, each of whom graduated high school. My mom was the first person, and the first woman, in her extended family to attend community college and then a public state university to earn her degree in nursing education. She was recruited by the US Military to serve in the Nurses Corp training nurses for the frontline troops in World War II.

That job was her ticket out of her small, rural community and led her to move to Dallas, Texas to accept a position in nurse education at a major metropolitan hospital in the late 1940s. It was there that she met the man who would eventually be my father.

Government Is The Problem

By the time I came along, a lot had changed in my parents lives. And by the time I reached my teenage years and began to develop more of an awareness of the larger world, I noticed my parents’ attitudes toward public institutions were changing. Government services and public workers had become subjects of scorn.

If the line of customers at the Post Office was long, it was because of lazy postal workers. When a vehicle needed an inspection sticker or a household project needed a permit, it was government meddling in our lives. Local news stories about any breakdown in municipal services were attributed to “typical” government ineptitude. City busses were irritants in the roadway. Taxes were a theft of family income.

By the time Ronald Reagan became president in the 1980s, it became popular for political leaders to say, as Reagan was fond of saying, “government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem.” My parents were happy cheerleaders for that, especially my mom, despite her personal history of getting a hand-up in life from public services.

So what happened?

Now it’s true that governments at all levels have been less than perfect institutions. The local government where I grew up sure didn’t do a very good job of serving low-income black and brown school children.

But in a democratic society, “government” is ultimately up to us, and what it does is an expression of what we want to do for ourselves.

So what the critics of government are saying, really, is that they have a problem with democracy.

It’s important to know government wasn’t turned into a four-letter word by happenstance. It happened by design.

The War On Government

The liberalism of Roosevelt’s Great Society that dominated politics in the 1950s and 60s was the enemy of those who wanted society to be structured to better serve their interests rather than democratic interests. And by the late 60s and early 70s, these forces marshalled their considerable resources to overturn the public’s role to determine the public good.

I could go on all day about the history of this, about 20th century American conservatism, the Lewis Powell Memo, and the shifting of the Overton Window. There are whole books about it: Winner Take All Politics by Jacob Hacker, Thomas Frank’s What’s the Matter with Kansas.

My parent’s antipathy toward government could have been the result of multiple factors. But there’s no doubt that during their conversion, forces were hard at work conditioning Americans to fear the words “social” and “public,” as if those words are evil or anti-American.

Whether or not you accept the existence of “the vast rightwing conspiracy,” which is what Hilary Clinton would come to call this movement, you can’t deny the impact of a decades-long assault on public institutions and public service workers.

In 2012, the Brookings Institute examined public-sector employment trends over the last three decades and found that government employment had dramatically contracted, both in absolute numbers and as a share of the population. Today, public sector jobs as a share of all employment are at a 30-year low, falling from 9.6 percent in the 1980s to 9 percent 30 years later.

A 2015 article in the New York Times looked at public sector employment and found that even as local and state economies were recovering from the 2008 recession, public sector jobs were continuing to decline, accounting for 1.8 million fewer jobs than in 2007.

The decline in public sector employment has hit black families particularly hard. Roughly one in five black adults works a government job. Black wage earners are about 30 percent more likely to have a public sector job than non-Hispanic whites, and twice as likely as Hispanics.

Many, attribute the success of the anti-public movement to the vast wealth of individuals in big business and finance. That wealth helps for sure.

But I would argue that they have a weapon more valuable than money: It’s the English language.

Language As A Weapon

The war on the public sector uses the power of language on every front. For instance, slashing financial resources for the public good is called tax relief. Laws preventing industrial pollution from fouling our shared environment are called stifling regulation. Public financial assistance for the poor is called a government give-away program. Funds we collectively pool to ensure our financial security in old age are branded entitlements.

What makes these words powerful are the ideas behind them. As George Lakoff writes in his seminal book Don’t Think of an Elephant, words are representations of values, and the war of words is really a conflict over what values are going to guide our nation – whether, for instance, we’re going to have a government that works for the common good, or one that enforces the power of the wealthy few.

I would also argue that the war of words on the public sector has had some of its greatest success in the effort to dismantle public education. (See, I told you I would eventually get to education.) You can see its success in the fact that now politicians in both parties, to quote veteran education journalist Jay Mathews of the Washington Post, basically copy each other on education.

Let’s look at some of the words used to assault our schools and consider how we can fight back:

Public Education Is Broken

How often do you read that “America’s schools are failing” and “public education is in crisis”?

Is there any truth to this? Not really.

In the only longitudinal measure of student achievement – the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAPE – American students have improved substantially over the past 40 years. In general, the improvements have been greatest for African-American and Hispanic students, and among these, for the most disadvantaged.

The percentage of kids scoring “below basic” on the NAEP has plummeted in both reading and math in both fourth and eighth grade for every racial group except Native Americans. Average reading and math scores for each subgroup in the fourth and eighth grades have also climbed steadily.

On international assessments, American students’ performance in math and science has improved from the bottom to above international average. US students in schools with 10 percent or less poverty are number one in the world.

Students from low-poverty states like Massachusetts outscore most of their global peers. And almost half of all American high school students now head off to college each year, an all-time high.

The story of American education is actually about steady progress – slow, that’s true – but progress nevertheless.

Does this mean that there are no struggling schools in America? Of course not. Does this mean public schools universally work for every student? No.

But the rhetorical frame that public education is a failure is used to convince people the whole system is bad and that it’s collapse has been inevitable.

The way we fight back against this misleading rhetoric is to ask why are there broken schools and who broke them?

Education Is About Getting The Best For Your Child

These days, politicians like to talk about education like it’s a “competition” to get students over the bar or up to speed.

Terms like “college or career ready” and getting young children “ready to learn” all perpetuate the idea that the only purpose of education is to get individuals to a next stage or an end goal.

This rhetorical frame is used to convince people that once their own children are provided for then that’s all that matters.

It ignores that education is really about developing our societal capacity. We want all citizens educated so our whole society prospers.

That’s why early state constitutions in the U.S., like those of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, stressed the importance of a system of public schools. That’s why the Land Ordinance of 1785 provided for public school financing in new territories. And the earliest advocates for public schools – Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Horace Mann – all agreed that democratic citizenship was a primary function of education.

Turning our collective investment in education into a competition to get to the top ensures there will be winners and losers. Designing a school system that maximizes self-interest means only those who already have advantages get what they want.

Instead of telling parents their children need to be well educated so they can compete, we should say children need to be well educated so they can take part in a democratic society.

Money Should Follow The Child

This is a favorite of advocates for charter schools and vouchers that let parents transfer their children to private schools at taxpayer expense.

The idea has a gloss of sensibility to it because education budgets often come with per-pupil expenditures.

But the idea that the money should follow the child when students leave a public school for other options is a bad financial decision.

First, schools have what are called “stranded costs”. When a public school loses a percentage of students to charter schools or a voucher program, the school can’t reduce costs by an equivalent percent. The school still must pay the same utility, maintenance, transportation, and food services costs. The school must still carry the salary and benefit costs of administrative staff, custodial services, and cafeteria workers. The school may not be able to reduce teaching staff because the attrition will occur randomly across various grade levels, leaving class sizes only marginally reduced.

In Philadelphia for instance, a recent study found when a student leaves the school district for a charter school, the public system is left with nearly $5,000 in continuing costs. A study in Boston found the stranded cost is $7,000.

A research study of school districts in Michigan found that choice policies significantly contribute to the financial problems of Michigan’s most hard-pressed districts. When the percent of students attending charter schools approaches 20 percent, there are sizeable adverse impacts on district finances.

Because schools can’t reduce expenses incrementally, they cut support staff – such as a reading specialist or librarian. They cut courses – such as art and music. And the whole capacity of the school diminishes.

Further, students aren’t a “one-off” expense. The cost to educate each student varies a lot. Students with disabilities or who don’t speak English as their first language often cost significantly more to educate. So as a school loses students, it may often find itself left with a larger percentage of its highest-cost students.

Instead of saying money should follow the child, we should say children don’t come with a price tag, and that every school needs to have enough resources to meet the needs and interests of all its students.

Money Doesn’t Matter

How often do you hear the argument that we can’t fix the problems in schools by “throwing money at them.”

We constantly hear that schools are incredibly wasteful and they have to do better with the money they have.

Arne Duncan loved to call this “the new normal.”

It’s also just not true. Yes America does spend more money per student than most other industrialized countries. But remember, this is an average and there is incredibly wide variance in the system.

The richest 25 percent of school districts receive 15.6 percent more funds from state and local governments per student than the poorest 25 percent of school districts. That’s a national funding gap of $1,500 per student, on average, a gap that has grown 44 percent since 2001.

When spending has increased, about half of the increases, according to economist Richard Rothstein, come from serving students with disabilities and immigrant students who don’t speak English.

But in total, most states spend less money on education today than they did in 2008 – some of them a lot less. And national per-pupil spending has dropped 3 years in a row. In the meantime student populations continue to increase.

But does money even matter? Numerous studies say yes.

According to one of those studies by Rutgers University professor Bruce Baker, on average, higher per-pupil spending produces better results. School resources that cost money — like class size reduction or higher teacher salaries — tend to be positively associated with better student outcomes.

This is especially true with low-income students. One study found that a 20 percent increase in per-pupil spending had virtually closed the high school graduation gap between poor students and their wealthier peers and it got far more of those students into college.

So instead of talking about the need to “tighten our belts” and adjust to the “new normal” we need to talk about giving schools the resources that are necessary to address all their students’ needs and interests.

Schools Should Be Run Like A Business

How often do you hear people say, “If we ran a business the way we operate schools, it wouldn’t be in business very long”?

We’re told that education is too inefficient and not productive enough, that schools need to focus on “quality improvement” and “zero defects.”

We’re told that teachers resist change, that schools are a bureaucratic monopoly, and that more competition needs to be introduced into the system.

So now superintendents call themselves CEOs and parents are called customers.

This rhetoric distorts the mission of education.

First when people say run schools like a business, they don’t say what kind of business? Coal mines aren’t run like restaurants.

Second, most businesses fail. Do we really want schools that are constantly failing? How is that good for kids?

Third, you’ve all heard the Papa John’s tagline “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza.” Well, as Jamie Vollmer has pointed out, schools can’t control their ingredients. They have to educate all children with the resources they are given by the community.

Lastly, businesses are not democratic institutions. Schools must be democratic if we want parents and taxpayers to have input into how schools are run. And schools must model democracy if we want children to be prepared to function in a democratic society.

So instead of comparing schools to businesses, we should talk about schools as essential infrastructure, like fire and police protection, roads and bridges, and our electoral process.

Any School Getting Public Money Is A Public School

Yes, you heard that right.

According to school choice advocates, the public school system should give parents the option to choose from an array of school options, some of which aren’t truly public.

When a school choice pressure group recently descended on the capital of my home state North Carolina, they advocated for the state’s Virtual Academy, an online school run by private for-profit operator K12 Inc. Other “public school options” the group advocates for are “tax-credit funded scholarship programs” that help families pay for private school tuition.

Similarly, the Florida school choice advocacy group RefinED contends that school vouchers, which allow parents to transfer students to private schools at taxpayer expense, are part of a public school system.

The intent here is to make you believe that private online schools and voucher funded schools are public schools just because they get public money.

Anyone who has been paying attention to the growth of the charter school industry could see this coming from a long way off.

For years, charter school advocates have insisted on calling their schools public schools.

But charter schools fail the test for what constitutes a truly public institution in many ways:

Charter school buildings are often privately owned by the school founders, or by an affiliated company or private trust, even if the building was originally purchased with taxpayer money.

Sometimes, the materials, furniture, and equipment in the schools are owned by a private charter management company, and if the school closes, the charter “owner” may keep those assets, even though they were purchased with taxpayer money.

While most public schools are governed by democratically elected public boards, most charter schools are run by appointed boards who are not directly accountable to the community.

Unlike public schools, charters can define the number of enrollment slots they wish to make available. They do not have to take students mid-year and do not have to “backfill” seats, that is, accept students to fill open spots when students leave.

Generally, charter schools don’t have to follow the same due process rules for students and employees that public schools follow. They can set their own academic, behavior, and cultural standards regardless of community norms.

And while public schools are obligated to share information about their operations, charter schools have very narrow requirements for what information they report and can restrict public access.

Despite these obvious differences, the charter industry lobby has been very successful in convincing politicians and policy makers that their schools are public. And now the same sort of logic is being used to claim other private education operators are in fact public schools too.

Cornerstones Of Effective Communication

But none of these options – charter schools, voucher supported private schools, and online schools operated by private companies – are part of a truly public school system. They are instead, parallel school systems – each necessitating separate layers of bureaucracy and oversight and each siphoning money out of our public schools.

I can go through many more of these phrases that are used to dismantle the public education system. But what I want to leave you with today is some news about a new tool to help you wage this rhetorical war and also a bit of advice on how to plan your own messaging.

First, later this month, the Network for Public Education will debut a new online toolkit to help grassroots public school advocates deal effectively with the powerful advocacy groups who want to privatize our public schools. Part of what I shared with you today is included in this new tool because I helped write it. But the content goes into greater depth. I’m not able to share any samples with you today or give you a website to go to, but if you leave me your card, I’ll send you the website address when it becomes available.

And I’d truly be remiss if I didn’t close out with some advice on how to craft your own messages, at least based on what’s worked for me. It’s what I call a four-cornerstone approach:

Don’t address the audience. Address the reader.In the marketing and advertising industry, which I’ve been part of for over 30 years, successful campaigns are not about moving whole audiences. They’re focused on persuading tiny segments. Typical promotions expect to get very small percentages of response, often 1 percent or less. So when communicating about education, target your message to an individual, such as a parent who’s considering enrolling her child in a charter, a taxpayer who no longer has children in schools but cares how his money is being spent, or a local official who doesn’t want to be exposed for putting children at risk. When you narrow the scope of your message you’re far more apt to increase its impact.

Emotion is more persuasive than facts.Do I really need to explain this? Look who we elected president. In a standoff of emotions vs. facts, emotions win every time. Research studies have found that people generally make decisions mostly on emotions and use facts and reason to back their decisions up. The best way to generate emotion is to tell stories. Also, use metaphors, but be sure to pick ones based on good values. Arne Duncan wanted us to buy into a Race to the Top, which was a terrible metaphor.

Start where people are, not where you want them to be. This is not the same thing as compromise. But what you can do is create an idea or course of action which will lead to what you want in the long run. Those who want to dismantle public education have been masterful at this. They persuaded school supporters to accept standardized testing of schools so that once a school can be deemed a failure it can be punished and closed. They made it acceptable for politicians of all stripes to support charter schools, which now makes it easier to argue that any education provider getting taxpayer funds is part of the public school system. We need to build these kind of slippery slopes for our side.

Refine and repeat. You have to whittle down arguments into digestible chunks that you repeat over and over. People too often make the mistake that they have to be relevant to the latest headline or change the messaging because people might be getting bored with it. But staying on message has a snowball effect over time.

How My Mom’s Story Ends

Finally, speaking of stories, I need to tell you the end of mine.

After my dad died, my mom never remarried and gradually withdrew from many of the activities she had enjoyed. Far from the family she left behind in Montana, with two of her sons living on opposite ends of the continent, her third son whose business frequently took him out of town, and her aging friendships dwindling every year, she spent most days alone except for a home care nurse who came three days a week and sons who could visit on the weekends and holidays. Attempts to persuade her to move closer to her family up north or move closer to one of her sons were in vein.

After her fourth fall, we realized she had to be institutionalized in a nursing home.

When I would visit her in the home we would sit in her room and watch TV. Her favorite program was Fox News. During my visit, I would help her into her wheelchair and take her on a walk around the facility. Because residents were required to keep their doors open, as we wheeled through the corridors we could hear what others were watching. Nearly every TV was tuned to Fox News.

After two years in the home, my mom passed away quietly in her sleep one night.

As we were going through her things, we came across boxes of old photos. Some showed her with her classmates in their trim white nursing uniforms graduating from the University of Montana in Missoula.

There were photos from her years with the Nursing Corps too, showing her working with the trainees bound for the front. And we found phots of her in rank with the Corps, dressed in stately gray uniforms with epaulettes and caps, sometimes marching in holiday parades.

On the hunch these photographs had historical value, we sent them to a municipal museum in Missoula where they are now on public display for all to see.

Stay in the fight for our public schools by following our education project, the Education Opportunity Network.

This is a transcript of a presentation to grantees of

the Schott Foundation for Public Education

[ethn2notebook-blog]

Notebook 3

Alan Mai A13031721

Relational analysis - Notebook 3

The Vietnam War is a product of American Imperialism, which is a result of American Capitalism. Thus a side effect of the war is the Diaspora of Vietnamese Refugees. Due to the ongoing social events in America (continuing civil rights movement and the War on Drugs), America took this opportunity to use Vietnamese refugees as an investment in antiblackness, through the racial project of the “good refugee” and the “Model Minority.” Thus the object for this notebook is my father’s house, car, computer, job. The object is his family, it is himself, the 2.5 kids (the .5 being me which is (hopefully) closer to a 1). It is these things that define his life as a suburban, middle class family. While in Notebook 1 the object was the South Vietnamese Flag, and Notebook 2 was about my father’s pass to the US, both serve to inform and his socioeconomic status came to be. The flag is part of the national bindings that reinforced the traditional values of Vietnamese culture, which scholars and politicians have reworked and remodeled to fit the “Model Minority” racial project. The pass to the US reflects the ease of citizenship and the social structures that helped my father immigrate to America, and while the social structures helped immigrants, they put them into a position to further reinforce antiblackness.

Important Racial Projects: The “good refugee” → The “Model Minority”

Important Social Structures: Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, 1975 Appropriations for Vietnamese and Cambodian Refugees, Refugee Act of 1980

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2007/5/464302994/vietnamese-refugees-well-settled-china-await-citizenship.html

The Pass

The Vietnamese immigrants in relation to Chinese immigrants during the 1800s

Key points of relations: The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1875 & Refugee Act of 1980 vs. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Why did my father have to migrate in the first place? → Vietnam War → Caused by US interference in Vietnam because of Communism → Cold War → Empires + Capitalism → Settler Colonialism

Thus America passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, giving special status to these refugees as well as relocation and education aid, as well as the Refugee Act, which allowed more refugees to immigrate into the US. This is what allowed my father’s “pass” to the US. It allowed allowed him and many others to be sponsored to the live in the US. It allowed him to get an education in electrical engineering at UC Santa Barbara. It allowed him to get a house in the middle of suburban Silicon Valley. This comes at a stark contrast to The Chinese Immigration Act, which suspended Chinese immigration, preventing families to be united, impeding the progress of many Chinese immigrants. What lead to this stark difference? Or maybe they are actually similar after all.

The Vietnamese immigrants in relation to Chinese Immigrants.

The Figure of the Vietnamese and Settler Colonialism

The War against Drugs and the figure of the “model minority”

What ended up motivating both acts were America’s attempt at protecting settler colonialism, the chinese exclusion act in the direct form by pushing out those that threatened to take away land from the “settlers.” The Refugee Acts were in response to a failed war at protecting/expanding American Imperialism and the American Empire, the globalization of American settler colonialism. In the aftermath of the Vietnam war, in order to protect and reinforce ideology behind the American Empire, the Vietnamese refugee story was reduced “into a single story about communist persecution [...] ‘to be used in justifications of empire by those who claim to have fought for [their] freedom’” (Espiritu, 95-96). Both the groups were exclude /included to protect the land and the ideologies behind the expansion for land, America’s empire. Part of this is also the fight for citizenship. While Chinese immigrants were trying to (unsuccessfully) sue to be classified as “white” in order to be granted citizenship, Vietnamese immigrants had no such troubles. This is in part to do with the national bind of whiteness and the adoption of anti-blackness. Those classified as “chinese” could not be classified as “white” as they were in direct competition for land, failing to make way for settler colonialism, and thus is pushed towards blackness. On the other hand, my father, like many other vietnamese immigrants, were given the opportunity to get an education and financial assistance, in order fill in the middle class

These acts that were used to protect American interest in imperialism at the same time were used by my father to gain an education and to live with his brothers and sisters in the California and it is with that education, along with the binds of hard working Vietnamese tradition and the strong community of the vietnamese immigrant “nation,” that he was able to afford a middle class life. But in the wake of the “chinese model minority” before them, the Vietnamese would be put into the racial project of the “model minority” as well.

Some extra background:

The change from the Indochina Migration and Refugee Act to the Refugee act. The first wave of Vietnamese immigrants in 1975 were political refugees, followed shortly by those in urban and wealthy areas. Then came those that escaped overland or by boat after 1978-1982. Most that followed were those that seeked asylum or wanted to resettle. My father was part of those that left by boat and immigrated in 1982, and thus marked the transition from refugees that were wealthy to those that were poorer. And it was at this time that the Refugee Act of 1980 passed, seemingly marking a difference between refugees that were wealthy and those that were not.

Source: http://uclajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.17953/amer.25.1.7kv016m154389166?code=ucla-site

So how did my father get to this economic class? How does American Media depict people like him?

The South Vietnamese Flag → a bind for a nation, the flag symbol of a “model minority”

The Vietnamese “Model Minority” in relation to blackness.

“two racial categories had emerged—“model minority” and “underclass”—to refer to nonwhite groups who were deemed independent of or reliant on the state, respectively.” (Espiritu, 94)

“In the midst of the civil rights movement and race rebellions in cities across the United States, the popular press and social scientists began to publicize the alleged economic success of Asian Americans in part to delegitimize black and brown demands for economic equity and formal political claims.” (Espiritu)

With the onset of the War on Drugs and the continuous presence of the Civil Rights movement, not only did the refugees, like my father, play a role in reinforcing the American Imperialism, they also played a prime target for the racial project of the “Model Minority.” This was played upon as an attempt to form a counter narrative against those of the Civil Rights movement, and support the War on Drugs as an investment in antiblackness/blackness. In order to do this, the narrative of the vietnamese refugee was spun into the racial projects of the “good refugee” and the “Model Minority.” These stemmed from the support that was given to the Vietnamese immigrants, and the national binds that bonded the nation of immigrants to work together and traditional values that helped allow them to form a middle class. Education aid allowed my father go to UC Santa Barbara, (instead of helping those in the wake of slavery), and his nation allowed him to form a family. But this narrative, like many, but not all, other vietnamese immigrants around him, would be stretched and morphed into one that could be used to reinforce blackness,, the one of the “good refugee.” They were those “that successful, assimilated, and anticommunist newcomers to the American ‘melting pot.’”  (Espiritu 94). (This ‘assimilation’ is similar to what the US tried to do with indigenous people, except instead of forcing it, many vietnamese embraced it instead). In other words, in contrast to the minorities that were trying to subvert the terms of blackness that were imposed on them, an unknowing victim of the racial formation. From this, they would play into the racial project of the “Model Minority.” They would serve as an example of those that adopted “whiteness” instead of following the counter hegemonic social justice movements that aim to disrupt the definitions and social structures that impose blackness/whiteness. In addition, they served as a barrier, with interminority fighting for scarce resources and helping to preventing blackness from peeking past the middle class. Many Vietnamese immigrants will embrace this middle class, as they seem to be living in the “American Dream”. However, with their label as a “minority” they, immigrants like my dad will not still feel the pull of blackness, and will not be able to pull away from that label.

Counterargument for the success of the “Model Minority” - a creation, not a truth.

“In 1990, the poverty rate of Vietnamese in the United States stood at 25 percent, down from 28 percent in 1980 but still substantially higher than the national average of 12 percent. 39 According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Vietnamese families living below the poverty line had dipped to 12 percent but were still higher than the national average of 10 percent.” (Espiritu, 157)

It must be noted, that this current analysis plays heavily into the success of the hegemonic narrative the “good refugee” and that this displacement of Vietnamese people was an ultimately good thing for them, that America is the final destination of movement. However, these created racial projects of the “good refugee” and “Model Minority” creates the image of the “before” and “after,” were the “before” is the narrative that the “poor” vietnamese refugees. ““before” (shot) of the refugees languishing in backward and impoverished Vietnam, and an “after” (shot) of them flourishing in cosmopolitan and affluent United States.” (Espiritu 158). Note however, that this narrative was not only pushed by hegemonic press, but also by Vietnamese press. Being put in the “Model Minority” essentially puts you into a position of power over those that are considered part of “blackness.” It doesn’t frame the vietnamese in a total power position, but it is an investment to keep them from being at the bottom of the power hierarchy.

The role of the “model minority” as a racial project and social structures help protect and promote that ideology (the indochina refugee act and the propping of the vietnamese as a middle class barrier between those that “black” (latino/a(s), blacks, indigenous people).

Zine Cover

Zine Page

How this can be viewed as an investment in antiblackness/blackness/whiteness

→ the reinforcement of these racial projects.

→ “model minority” → asian → antiblackness but not whiteness

→ relation → “gentlemen farmer” → in relation to Chang and Eng Bunker

(An incomplete thought, but something to think about nonetheless)

Vietnamese in relation to pocahontas princess (racial project/social structure)

→ pocahontas princess → submit to whiteness, allowing for the seizure of land

→ fetishization of vietnamese (“asian” “oriental”) women → the continuation of sexual/male dominance over women?

→ Feminizing asians → model minority →

→ Hard time finding a relation with the seizure of land however.

Sources:

Espiritu, Yen Le. Body Counts : The Vietnam War and Militarized Refugees (1). Berkeley, US: University of California Press, 2014. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 6 February 2017.

Copyright © 2014. University of California Press. All rights reserved.

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

11/26/2016

Invasion of the Blood Farmers,1972

(Sometimes, bad movies are just bad!)

By Stephen Jay Morris

It was 1968.   Me and my neighborhood friends were talking about horror movies in my backyard when I got the idea to make our own horror movie.  I went to my father’s closet and got out his 8mm camera. Next, I gathered my meager savings from my piggy bank and went promptly to the local drugstore to buy a roll of black & white—or, B&W—film.  Back then, B&W film was cheaper than color.  My friends & I quickly improvised a plot for our movie.  We used homemade props, including my mom’s smock to serve as a lab coat for our “mad scientist.”  We poured catsup on it for blood (my mom didn’t appreciate that too much) and well, to make a long story short:  When he found out that I used his camera without his permission, my Dad hit the roof!  He ripped the film from the camera and exposed it.  That was the end of that!

Why did I tell you about this little antidote?  My point being that, if you really want to make a movie, you can!  My little film was silly, merely for my own amusement.  Many regard movie-making as a business opportunity; quite an old ambition in America.  Their scheme is to make a movie on the cheap and reaping massive profits at the box office.  Sometimes, it works; other times...not so much.  The following is a prime example:

Herschel Gordon Lewis was a small time filmmaker in the state of Illinois.  He started out making stag films.  Those flicks typically featured nude women, playing together with a beach ball.  He wanted a wider audience; a small audience of middle aged, married men wasn’t providing any windfall profit.  So, he decided to make movies that went beyond the realms of acceptability for violence in cinema.  He decided to gross out teenagers who were attending drive-ins and Grindhouse theaters.  The shock value of gore flicks were more profitable than Sandy Hill Nudist Camp movies. So, in 1963, he produced his first feature flick, “Blood Feast.”  It worked. After this, he cranked out one after another.  For some reason, gore filmmakers used stereotypical southern farmers as their subjects for murder and blood.  This genre was called “Hillbilly splatter flicks.”  Mr. Lewis released a movie called “Two Thousand Maniacs.”  It was about a couple who, when their car broke down, had no choice but to go to some remote farm full of homicidal farmhands.  How did southern farmers get this reputation? I don’t know.  Maybe it had to do with all the racism associated with the Deep South in the 60s; the routine lynching of innocent black people there. The film made money, nevertheless.

           Some entrepreneur from New York wanted a piece of the action.  Ed Adlum was his name.  He decided to make a Hillbilly splatter flick for the drive-in crowd, “Invasion of the Blood Farmers.”  Mr. Adlum may have been good at marketing a film, but he had no concept about making one. He invested twenty-four thousand bucks into his production.  He saved money in overhead by recruiting people from a local bar to fill his movie roles.  How much did these actors get paid?  Nothing!  However, they got all the free beer that anyone could want in a day during the shoot.  There were scripts for the actors, handwritten on college ruled notebook paper. In one scene, the actors sit on a couch with a table in front of them, the script laid out right there.  Ever so often, an actor glances at the script and recites his/her lines.  Meanwhile, the boom microphone’s shadow is visible on their foreheads!  The acting is reminiscent of watching your kid brother in a school play.

           “Invasion of the Blood Farmers” was all hype and no substance.  There was a great poster and a cool movie trailer, but that was as far as it went.  The movie itself sucked all the oxygen out of the theater! Most of the audience was otherwise occupied in their cars, having premarital sex.  The costumes looked like rentals from a low rent Halloween store. Was there a plot?  Yeah…you could say that:  a couple’s car breaks down and they come across—wait for it—a farm inhabited by a cult of Druid farmers that like to drain blood from their victims. It reminded me of a Red Cross clinic during a blood drive.  Come to think of it—that was probably where Ed Adlum got his idea for the movie! Nevertheless, this movie couldn’t scare a wet kitten!  All of the promotional hype ultimately made suckers out of hundreds of moviegoers! If you ask me, Ed Adlum should be arrested for grand larceny.  But, that will never happen because the Statute of Limitations ran out years ago!

           My advice to you is this:  if you respect yourself, stay clear from this golden turkey! This movie gets “No clenched fists.”