#i pledge to finish the four remaining requests i have first though

[moonrabbitisgay]

Y’all know that horrifically angsty fic that I’ve been talking about and preemptively apologizing for the last few days? I finished it 

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25965787/chapters/63401863

Content warnings: major character death, grieving, brief but somewhat graphic description of violence, blood.

___

At the end of the day, it’s just...bad luck.

Bad luck that Teba’s still unsteady on his horse, and the focus he has to devote to staying upright in the saddle takes away from the careful eye he’d typically have on their surroundings. Bad luck that the skies open up and send down upon them a light mist, urging their little party into a canter in a futile attempt to reach the nearest stable before they’re all soaked through. Bad luck that Revali and Link insist on bantering the whole time, because of course they do. Bad luck that thanks to this precise combination of factors, none of them hear the low thrum of galloping horses, off to the left side of the road, far away but approaching fast.

Bad luck that Link turns to face Teba at exactly the wrong moment, and the arrow that had been about to hit him in the shoulder instead lands square in the middle of his throat.

It’s over in less than a minute. Revali immediately leaps off of his horse, summons an updraft, soars into the air, and in one fluid movement takes his bow off his back, nocks an arrow, and shoots down the bokoblin as it waves its bow in the air in triumph. Teba is half a second behind him, taking a moment to assess the situation— two more bokoblin on horseback, one wielding a club and the other a spear— before springing into action, unslinging his own bow and knocking the club-wielder off its horse with an arrow to the chest. He turns his aim to the other just as Revali dives down upon it, talons digging into its shoulders, pulling it off of its horse and dragging it viciously across the ground until it goes still. Teba lands and does a quick once-over. As soon as he’s certain that they aren’t in any more immediate danger, he sprints back over to the horses, panic building rapidly in his chest. 

Link lies sprawled out on the side of the road, eyes closed, and for one long, hysterical, hopeful second, Teba thinks he might sit up and cough and wipe the blood from his tunic and give him that ridiculous little grin he puts on every time Teba frets over one of his wounds. But he doesn’t move, and his face is so white, and there’s a ragged hole straight through the middle of his throat and so much blood and a horrible weight starts to settle itself in Teba’s stomach.

This can’t be his Link. His Link is always moving, fidgeting, full of nervous energy. His Link is rosy cheeks and a smile like the sun and only ever just enough blood to make him worry. His Link is alive, and this limp, pale thing lying in front of him is...not.

Behind him, Revali screams.

Teba knows he should feel...something. Shock. Anger. Grief. Guilt. But they don’t come. All he feels is the weight. In a daze, he stands and walks over to Link’s horse, which is tossing its head and shuffling about, clearly spooked. She quiets as he approaches, and he rifles through her saddlebag until he finds bandages and Link’s cloak. 

He starts by dressing the wound, wiping away the blood as best he can and carefully wrapping bandages around Link’s neck. As he works, Revali collapses next to him, laying his head on Link’s chest as he weeps. Once Teba finishes and the ugly gash is hidden but for a small red spot in the front of the bandages, he takes Revali by the shoulders and pulls gently. 

“Revali,” he says quietly, and his lover looks up at him, eyes desperate and deeply, impossibly sad. Teba tugs at him again, and this time he comes, wrapping his wings so tightly around Teba’s chest that it nearly knocks the wind out of him and letting out a ragged wail. Teba holds him close, awkwardly patting his back in some vague, wholly inadequate attempt at comfort, and Revali buries his head in the crook of Teba’s neck, breaking off into quiet, choked sobs.

They sit there, on the side of the road. Time passes. The rain passes. Travelers pass, too, but they pay them no mind, and the few that dare to approach wither rapidly under Teba’s glare. Revali clings to him, head tucked underneath Teba’s beak and eyes tightly shut, as if he could fight off the crushing reality simply by refusing to acknowledge it. Teba just stares. He stares for so long that he very nearly convinces himself that he’s used to it. As if he could ever accept this image of Link, pale as death and motionless in a puddle of his own blood.

Eventually, Revali opens his eyes and disentangles himself from Teba. He draws in a deep, rattling breath, leaning into Teba’s side for support. 

“We should bury him,” he mutters, and Teba furrows his brow in confusion.

“What?”

Revali gestures toward Link. Towards Link’s body. “We should bury him,” he says again, louder this time, and he sounds as empty as Teba feels. “That’s what...that’s what Hylians do with their—” 

He cuts himself off before the last word, and Teba puts a wing around his shoulder. With their dead, he thinks. Link is dead. 

He doesn’t say that. Instead, he says “we don’t have a shovel,” because maybe focusing on these kinds of petty material concerns will help the both of them turn their minds away from the horrible pit of darkness rapidly opening up beneath their feet. Another thought occurs to him, and he grabs onto it with all the desperation of a drowning man to a rope. “Shouldn’t we bring him to the castle? We’re nearly at Tabantha Bridge, and it’s only a couple days’ travel from the stable there.”

Revali shakes his head, and Teba notes with relief that he seems grateful for the distraction. “He wouldn’t— I don’t think he’d want all the ceremony. I suppose we could bring him back to the village, but…” He trails off, sagging a little, and Teba tightens his grip on his shoulder. “I can’t bear it, Teba, the thought of...of fucking carting him around for a whole day, I just can’t.”

“Yeah.” The telltale sting of tears pricks hard behind Teba’s eyes all of a sudden, but some ridiculous urge to hold himself together, for Revali’s sake if nothing else, has him blinking them back. “I...I could fly over to the stable, see if I can get us a shovel.” He sees Revali’s eyes widen in alarm, and he quickly amends the statement. “Or you could, and I’ll wait here. You’re faster than me anyway.”

“OK.” Revali exhales shakily and bows his head. “OK. OK, I can do that,” he says quietly, and it sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself than anything. Teba squeezes his shoulder once more before letting go, and he reluctantly pulls himself away from Teba’s side and to his feet. He takes in a deep breath, crouches, summons another updraft, and spirals off into the sky.

Teba watches him glide away, until he’s nothing but a small speck on the horizon. Then he turns his attention back to Link. He carefully slides one wing underneath his neck and the other behind his knees, ignoring the sickening feeling of blood soaking into his feathers, and lifts him up, cradling the limp body to his chest. Leaning down, he presses his forehead to Link’s, gently rubbing his beak against Link’s nose as he had used to do every night as they settled into bed. The thought hits him like a ton of bricks. Had used to. He would never say goodnight to Link again.

“I’m sorry, love,” he whispers into Link’s ear, and the last of his composure crumbles. He dissolves into tears, clamping his beak shut and rocking back and forth, trying desperately to swallow his sobs until it’s too much and they burst out in short, painful gasps. The weight in his stomach vanishes, replaced by the awful, vertiginous feeling of free-fall, spiraling down and out and his wings are slick and wet and saturated with red and bile starts to rise in his throat and—

“Oh, Teba,” is all he hears Revali say, before the shovel clatters to the ground and the dead weight in his arms is carefully lifted away and placed gingerly on the ground. He collapses forward, into Revali’s wings, feels his lover rest his head on his shoulder and feels his tears fall softly onto his neck. Revali says something else, inaudible over the blood pounding in Teba’s ears. He just shakes his head, pressing his face into Revali’s chest and wills himself to find his composure again, to ground himself, to save this debilitating grief for nights back home.

They fall into autopilot, eventually. They take turns with the shovel to dig a shallow grave, and Teba wraps Link in his cloak before lowering him into the fresh, damp dirt. He watches numbly as Revali slowly covers him, staring at his face, trying to affix every last detail of it in his mind before it’s covered up as well. Gone forever. No sign left of him but a pathetic little mound of overturned earth.

At Tabantha Bridge Stable, Revali returns the shovel and turns in their horses. They rent a single bed, a good foot and a half too short for Teba, but he spends the night curled around Revali anyway because letting him out of his sight for even a moment is utterly unthinkable.

In the morning, there are no words, just despairing glances and blinked-back tears. They fly back to the village, and by some unspoken agreement land not there but at the Flight Range, which is mercifully empty. It’s saturated with Link’s absence, more than anywhere in the village proper, but it is their sanctuary and nothing, not even this calamitous emptiness, can take that away from them.

Teba cooks dinner. He burns the fish to hell, and neither of them have any appetite anyway, so he just throws it away. They sit and stare at the fire, Revali’s head in Teba’s lap. Link sits across from them, a ghost neither of them thinks the other can see, and his smile is worth all of the words he can no longer say.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Teba says quietly, and Revali sits up. He wraps a single wing around the back of Teba’s neck and pulls him in close, pressing their foreheads together, and gently rubs their beaks together.

“I know,” he responds. “Me neither.”

[cienie-isengardu]

The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro - Part 5: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance)

<<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (A)>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (B)>>  <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>> <<Part V: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Traveling Together)__(Searching for Nakama)__ (Reunion)__ (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance)__(The Last Moments before War)>> >> 

Once Robin finished her translation, the King of the Day confirmed that indeed, red stone was hiding the leads to the place sought by the most powerful people on the sea. The legendary Rafter:

↪ Zoro (similar like King of the Night) was sitting on the ground in distance to others, yet Law was one of those closest to him. This was the second time Zoro kept sitting with Law standing in close range.

↪ On the group picture, the distance between those two changed into little to no personal space. For understandable reasons, the frame needed to contain all nine characters thus previous positions of these characters had to be disturbed. Zoro could be shown simply at Law’s left side (what was the most true in relation to the previous frame) instead it looks like Law was standing just behind the sitting swordsman.

↪ Again, Law and Zoro had a similar reaction - just a frown - that contrasted with the “open jaws” of others. They were the only two people keeping quiet. 

In all fairness, there is divergence in the location of these two characters. From one panel where Zoro sit alone far away from group

 to another, again between comrades.

↪ Despite the divergence, Law always stayed close (or closest from all people) to Pirate Hunter. 

↪ Once again, when the group learned shocking information - Kaido and Big Mom had two from four red poneglyphs needed to find Raftel - Zoro and Law did not show much emotions while Luffy was full of enthusiasm and Weakling Trio & Brook scared for good.

Nekomamushi warned Robin that all the powerful players will seek her out to learn the truth about poneglyphs to which she replied: “I don’t mind. After all I’ve got very powerful friends who will protect me.” Interestingly, Zoro was not shown alongside other Straw Hats pledging to protect Robin no matter what or being over pleased with her words. There is no doubt he will protect her like the rest of the crew but the lack of emotional reaction to Nico’s praise adds to the feeling of quietness and coldness - traits shared with Law through the arc.

Mink leaders and samurais shared with pirate alliance information about poneglyphs and that Momonosuke’s father - Kozuki Oden - was killed by current shogun of Wano, Orochi and Kaido. The last part brought them all to tears. Zoro with unusual(?) tact asked about the reason and, like he deducted, has it anything with them being chased by Doflamingo’s people.

Kinemon confirmed Zoro’s suspicion. 

“Yes… as you suspect, his crime was grievous. Kaido is attempting… to pry information out of us. The old Daimyo… lord Kozuki Oden… rode with the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger… to Raftel, the final island!! And it was there that he learned the secret of the world!!!”

For the first time in a long time, the position of sitting Zoro and Law changed in a way they got separated - and the distance stayed between them through the whole chapter 819:

While many characters were shocked by the reveal that Kozuki Oden was part of Pirate King’s crew, Zoro was still focused on understanding the situation of the samurais.

The loyal men of Kozuki Oden explained the fight to fulfill their dead master’s final wish to open Wano board to the world, the difficult situation in their county and their struggles to find allies who will help to beat down Kaido. Kinemon then asked Luffy and Law for help:

“And thus I have a request of you, sir Luffy!!! And of you, sir Law!!! It pains me to beg favors after you have already saved our lives… but your strength overwhelms me every time!!! If you are willing to accompany us in our struggle… then I ask for your help in the battle to strike down the Shogun of Wano and Kaido, Emperor of the sea!!!”

Luffy refused and didn’t accept the plea until Momonosuke - the heir of Kozuki Oden and leader of the samurai group - didn’t speak for himself. The boy did as Straw Hat requested and told about his wish to avenge parents and protect his loyal servants, asking for pirate help in the fight against Kaido. To which Luffy agreed, promising to defeat the Emperor.

↪ Like in Dressrosa, Luffy wanted to personally take down the enemy without considering the help of others. 

But since Luffy again promised someone help without any consultation with Law, Trafalgar openly showed discontent with the other captain doing what he likes without any thought about him. This scene varies from one translation to another, either as a simply ask "And what about our pact, Straw Hat?”

or

about Luffy’s faith put in Law and not asking him about opinion:

In case of the latter, which I think is closer to original meaning, at least in comparison to Polish and English subtitles for episode 771, the uncharacteristic behaviour of Law will soon be more related to Zoro’s own - but about that in a moment. 

And so, the Straw Hat-Heart pirate alliance changed into Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance.

Luffy told the ninja-mink-samurai allies there was no need to bow to them. Because for him alliance meant friendship and friends were equal. Law again disagreed with the notion alliance = friendship. 

This was the second time during the Zou arc (and third in general) when Law openly rejected the prospect of befriending Straw Hats. Like he said earlier to his crew, there was no need for them to be friends. This may explain why despite being on good terms with Straw Hat pirates he didn’t try to tighten ties with them. Thus the still visible distance... that did usually not include Zoro. But then again, both swordsmen understood the pragmatic reason for forming alliance and weren’t “delusional” about friendship being required part of that.

Of course, that does not mean that Law disliked Straw Hats and vice versa. Because after so many wild adventures and fights side by side, the bond between them was made whether anyone wanted it or not.

Luffy asked allies to wait with fight against Kaido until he retrieved missing crewmember:

“I’m going to bring him back… so hold off the fighting until then! The good news is that Sanji’s real tough! Having him on board is like having the strength of a thousand!!”

Zoro’s reaction - the same as Law’s moment ago - was pretty uncharacteristic. Not in the sense of rivalry between him and Sanji but in reaction to Luffy putting so much trust & respect into someone’s else.

Similar to Law (who most likely was put off by Luffy not showing him - the co-leader of alliance - proper respect by omitting his opinion during making important decisions), Zoro was openly upset(?) that Luffy praised so much Sanji whose disappearance caused unwanted troubles. The most uncharacteristic part of Zoro & Law acting was the openness about wanting / expecting Straw Hat’s respect. At the same time, both Supernovas did not  compete for that between themselves - both moments happened in relation to someone’s else. Law, in relation to other leaders of the ninja-mink-samurai part of the alliance. Zoro in relation to fellow member of Monster Trio. 

On the way back to town (chapter 820), the alliance had another chance to learn pieces of mink-samurai history, a bit about the way to Raftel (brought by Nami who was worried about navigation) and what happened to Whitebeard’s pirates under Marco’s command who battled with Blackbeard one year ago.  Zoro and Law were both pushed into background characters for most of the chapter. The animated version of these events (episode 771) still grouped them together in the little character-centric shots and properly showed that once again, Law walked right after Zoro at the very end. The interesting detail (seen in manga too) is that on the way back, the other characters walked in a different order than last time. Except Zoro and Law.

At some point in the journey, Law and Zoro separated. They were not very active in the main conversation until the end. Luffy asked where the alliance members will reunite with each other to which Zoro wondered if it was safe for Kinemon and the rest to return to Wano since the samurai group was targeted by Kaido. Law promised a safe journey to enemy territory in his submarine. Despite not taking an active part in the previous discussion, both Supernova paid attention to it and kept analyzing the situation.

The happy return to the town was disturbed by unexpected, powerful quakes. As it turned out, Jack came back to Zou and attacked Zunesha’s monstrously huge leg (to kill the carrier of Mink home rather than fight the remaining warriors). Ultimately, the situation was saved by Momonosuke who responded to the voice of the elephant and gave it a permission to destroy Kaido pirates. What the mysterious Zunesha did.

During that short lived moment of danger, Zoro and Law seemed to be unmoved by it (chapter 820).

and once the danger passed, both again stood close to each other (chapter 821) even though for the last 2 chapters they almost didn’t interact nor were in really close range of each other.

Next chapter: The Last Moments before War

[b-does-the-write-thing]

The Demon Earl’s Deal, A Rumbelle Big Bang Fic

With the fate of Avonlea in the balance, Belle French will do anything to save her village, including making a deal with the Demon Earl of Lonsdale himself.

This story is part of @rumbellebigbang . A huge thank you to the runners of this great program as well as to my partner @rumpledspinster . She was a wonderful partner throughout the process and continually surprised and delighted me with her scene interpretations, fresh ideas and supported me every step of the journey. You can see her artwork for this story here.

Chapter One

Wales, March 1810

Everyone in Avonlea knew the story of the Demon Earl.

Robert Gold had first appeared at Askham Hall as a young child to everyone’s surprise, including his father, Lord Malcolm Gold, Lord of Lonsdale. There was no use denying the parentage; the young boy was Malcolm’s spitting image.

The surprising series of events was chalked up to youthful indiscretions and the boy was promptly shipped off to boarding schools. Avonlea almost forgot about the Lord of Lonsdale’s bastard son entirely until the day when he had returned to Askham Hall as a wedded man with a bride on his arm.

The Demon Earl lasted less than a year before he decamped back to London. He left his young wife in Wales with her father-in-law and her new mother-in-law, a lady younger than she was.

Stories leaked out from Askham Hall about the devious debauchery Lord Robert engaged in while he was in London. Servants often noticed the ladies of the house in tears, and the Lord of Lonsdale in fits of rage over the reports in the paper about his son cutting a swath through every boudoir of London.

He ordered his errant son back home but less than a year later...Lord Malcolm Gold and his daughter-in-law were dead. Robert Gold disappeared the very same night and had not been heard from in four years.

Until today.

Standing along the path overlooking the valley, Belle French gazed out at Askham Hall. Smoke curled up from the chimneys which meant the rumors were true; after four years, the Lord of Lonsdale had finally come home.

No one had known where he had gone. There had been no word, no whisper, not even a mention of the errant lord in the society papers. So, of course, in his absence, speculation had run rampant throughout Avonlea.

Some said the new Lord Lonsdale had pledged his soul to the devil and had since been off cavorting with demons. Others whispered he had gone off to profit from Napoleon’s bloody war on the Continent, while the bolder among them insisted he had gone to sell secrets to the dictator himself in exchange for refuge in France.

Rumors varied from source to source but everyone agreed upon one thing: Lord Robert Gold, was capable of anything.

Which was why, despite all the horrific rumors, Belle was on her way to Askham Hall.

--

Gold had been home for less than twenty-four hours and he already felt buried alive. His solicitor, Sidney Glass, had been firm that he could not put this off any longer, so Gold had returned to Askham Hall to put an end to this chapter of his life, once and for all. If he was truly going to be free of his past, he had to sever the last tie, the matter of the estate.

The halls were too quiet. The few remaining servants avoided him, scurrying out of his way less he curse them. He had heard the whispers, he knew the rumors. If he occasionally began to mutter something under his breath in Greek, just to watch a maid hurry away in terror, it was only for a moment’s respite from the eyes following him from room to room.

The head of house was the sole exception. “My lord,” Dove announced as he swung open the bedroom’s door, uninvited and unannounced. “I’ve brought you up the tea you requested.”

Turning from the window, Gold frowned. “I don’t recall requesting anything, Dove.”

The older man bowed. “My apologies,” he said as he left the tray on the table. HIs eyes flickered in disapproval around the guest bedroom. “We’ve finished airing out the state chambers,” he declared. “Perhaps those would be more suitable?”

Gold flinched. He had no interest in using his father’s rooms. He would rather barricade the door entirely then so much as take a step inside. As for his old rooms, it had merely taken one look at his bed for the memories of Milah to return.

These past four years, he had managed to banish her from his mind but her ghost had been awaiting him in their marriage bed. So, he had retreated to a guest room on the other side of the manor.

Let the household gossip about his choice of rooms. It did not matter to him. He was only here long enough to break the trust, to sell these cursed stones and leave the ghosts to some other poor sod.

The head of house lingered, clearly about to make his case on why a lord should not be staying in these lesser rooms. Uninterested in a lecture, Gold brushed past Dove towards the door. “I’ll be in my study,” he grumbled.

Arriving in the study, Gold tried and failed to find something to occupy his time when a flash of amber caught his eye. A bottle of brandy had been left out with a tumbler nearby. He stared at it for a long moment, debating.

Finally, figuring he had nothing else to do, and facing down a long afternoon of boredom and painful memories, he uncapped the brandy and poured himself a tall glass. It may not be the answer, but it was a solution.

--

Despite growing up in Avonlea, Belle had never actually been this close to Askham Hall. The great stone facade sprawled in every direction against the horizon of the sky, the dark stone glistening in the spring sun as if alive.

Belle lingered upon the stairs, mustering her courage. She had no experience with lords or great houses, but there was no helping that now. Steeling her spine, she stepped to the knocker, raised up to indicate the master of the house was at home and knocked.

It reverberated in the inner caverns of the great house. Belle pulled self-consciously on her sleeve and reached up to fix her bonnet. She had taken time to arrange her appearance just so, but now that she was actually here, she felt undressed. It did not take long for the door to open to reveal a somber fellow, whom Belle recognized at once as Askham Hall’s head of house, Dove.

Everyone in Avonlea knew the skeleton staff still employed by the errant lord; they were fortunate compared to the rest of Avonlea, with steady pay and lodgings while the rest of Avonlea had declined in the years that had followed the tragedies.

“Good afternoon,” Belle greeted. “I’m here to speak to Lord Lonsdale.”

The head of house recognized her as well. Being the town’s schoolmistress lent her a certain air of notoriety. “Miss French,” he said, though he did not open the door. “I don’t believe his lordship is receiving anyone today.”

She had not expected to be turned away at the door. She felt a bit silly that she had not considered that possibility. She plastered her best smile upon her face. “It’s a simple matter,” she said, which was not exactly true. “Perhaps Lord Lonsdale has just a moment?”

Dove wavered but with a slight tilt of his head, he gestured for her to follow after him. The hall was as great as Belle had expected. It was white marble with a great chandelier hanging overhead, glistening in the early spring sunlight but there was an unearthly stillness as if the hall was awaiting something.

Dove escorted Belle down a long corridor. Every room they passed showed signs of neglect and age, cluttered and crammed with furnishings. It was a shame to see such a beautiful house brought low but if the rumors were to be believed, this house had seen terrible things and perhaps it was for the best.

Caught up in staring at her surroundings, Belle almost walked straight into Dove when he stopped to open the library door. “Miss Belle French to see you, my lord,” Dove announced without so much as a look back at her.

Belle did not give the earl a chance to refuse to admit her. Seizing her courage, she walked straight past Dove into the library.- only to falter at the sight before her.

She hadn’t known what she expected the Demon Earl to look like, but it was not this. The earl was standing at a window, clad only in his shirt sleeves. The sun cut through the thin fabric to show the planes and lines of his frame beneath the muslin.

He was not a particularly physically intimidating man but there was a stillness about him, an air of power, that proved that this was indeed the man who had spawned so many legends in Avonlea. He was not a typically handsome man but there was something about him that drew the eye, invited one to look closer.

The door closed behind her as Dove departed. Jolted out of her reverie, Belle turned back to the door, rather wishing the head of house had lingered. Belle had never spoken to a member of the peerage before and suddenly felt wrong-footed, uncertain where to start.

When she did not speak, the earl lifted an eyebrow at her. “And who would you be?”

“Belle French, my lord.”

He waved his arm, the glass in his hand catching the sunlight. “Yes, I know that, Miss French, as you were just announced mere seconds ago. I meant who are you to me? It is considered the highest of impropriety for a lady to call upon a lord unaccompanied without so much as an introduction.”

Biting back an angry retort, she managed, “I’m the schoolmistress in Avonlea.”

“Ah.” Gold waved his hand and turned back to the window. “Barely home a day and already they come knocking,” he muttered to himself before saying loudly for her benefit,” I assume you are here seeking funds for a worthy cause. I’d advise you to have your husband or father apply to my steward in the future rather than inconveniencing me. Good day, Miss French.”

At his curt dismissal, Belle’s temper flickered and caught. “I am unwed and my father has been dead and buried ten years this August. Besides, this is not some simple matter for your steward, my lord.”

“It never is,” he said over his shoulder. He strolled over a decanter-covered cabinet and refilled the glass in his hand. “Everyone thinks their matters are too important for a steward. I wonder what I pay him for. ”

“Lord Lonsdale,” Belle said, starting again. ”I’m here because the people of Avonlea are suffering, and you are the only one in a position to help them. It will cost you little in time or money.”

“I don’t care how little it costs,” Gold snapped. “I don’t want anything to do with your village or the people in it. Which includes you.” He gestured toward the door. “So, I suggest you leave before things get uncivil.”

From her perspective, things were already uncivil, so Belle did not see that as a reason to leave. She gave up on any niceties, planting her hands on her hips. “I am not asking for your help, I am demanding it as your role of lord requires of you. Now, shall I explain now or wait for you in the parlor until you are sober?”

Lord Gold lowered his glass. “I wouldn’t speak to me like that if I were you,” he warned as he took a step closer. “Last I checked, you were in my home. Have a care how you speak to me.”

Belle had prepared for a certain level of antagonism and had meant to meet it with a calm, level head but as usual, her temper was starting to get a hold of her. “Your father was a good man,” Belle reminded him. “He did a great deal for the people of Avonlea. The poor fund, the chapel-”

“I am not my father.”

She had touched a nerve. Belle crossed her arms and blustered, “No, it appears the apple has fallen rather far from the tree. Since you have inherited, you haven’t done a thing for the estate or the village.”

“Nor do I intend to,” he picked his drink back up and finished it in one swallow.

He meant it too.

“How can you say such a thing?” she asked him. “No one is that heartless.”

Gold smiled. “Miss French, your innocence is touching.” He leaned against the edge of his table and crossed his arms. “You had best depart before I shatter any of your other dearly beloved illusions.”

She gaped at him. “Don’t you care that people are suffering?”

Gold thought for a moment. “No.”

“What would change your mind?” Belle pressed him. She had not come all this way to just give up

Gold waved his hand. “My help is not available for any price you would be willing to pay.”

“How can I know that unless you name your price?”

This caught his attention. He stilled and the air in the room shifted. “You want to make a deal?” he drawled, taking a step closer to her. He crooked a finger and beckoned her closer. “And what exactly do you have to offer, Miss French?”

Too late, Belle realized what could be insinuated from her reckless words. A flush spread across her face but she tried not to avert her eyes from his smug countenance as he sat upon the desk.

When she could not find her voice, Gold stood, victorious. “I fail to see why I should spend my time and energy when there is nothing in it for me.” He retrieved his glass and poured himself another glass of brandy, returning to the other side of the desk. “Close the door on your way out, Miss French.”

Belle was tempted to do just that, but she had to try one last time, not for her sake but for the sake of Avonlea. “I will not leave until you have named a price for your aid.”

The Demon Earl stared back at her, his face an impassive mask. ‘You will not like my answer.”

No, she rather thought she wouldn’t. Still. “At least name your cost.”

A shadow crossed his face, calculating and triumphant. “I’ll name my price, but it’s one I’m confident that you will refuse to pay.”

“What is it?” she asked warily.

“What I want,” he paused for a deep drink of brandy, “is you.”

Read the rest on A03

[cntcrtainmcnt-blog]

Okay the following characters come from me binge-watching Scream Queens and Scream, and a lack of impulse control. They were all part of the same sorority and yeah okay more details under the cut. Their backstories/families are mostly open just so I can get them to fit in mostly anything(although there are a few details I want for their backstories for sure) so please just come to me for plots or like this!!

Also, I would be open to people joining with other sisters frm that sorority? But not too many, I’m thinking max 2-3, and I’d really love if you contacted me first!

ZETA DELTA PSI is a sorority that was formed in 1964 in Lakewood College. The sorority had a history of accepting pledges with no particular criterium, for it was believed they could all bring something to the sorority. But behind the scene, the president would pick pledges based on what they could bring to the sorority, but mostly to her. It was also common for the presidency to be held by the most popular and wealthy girls of the house, who only picked pledges for their own good. However, in 1994, the truth came out to the sister of that school year, when one of them, Sarah Thorne, was brought in only so they could benefit from her good grades and money. The president of that year tricked her in doing the homeworks from most of the sister, and requesting financial help from her. But when she refused, she was turned into the reject of the house, humiliated by not only her sisters, but the entire greek system. It forced her to leave and transfer to another college, but she promised revenge.

20 years later, in 2014, story repeated itself, but this time, it was bloodier. Sarah’s daughter, Stacey, born two years after the incident, pledged to Zeta Delta Psi, with a plan to destroy that sorority. When the murders started, no one suspected any of the sisters, and they were right. Stacey had an accomplice, an ex frat boy who was humiliated by the current president a year before that. He was the one committing the murders, while she planned everything. Quite a few of the sisters were killed, or at least hurt during that period. Ultimately, the police planned a trap for the murderer, using the president, Melissa Hayes. Sadly, their plan backfired, and not only did Melissa die, the accomplice also died. With rage, Stacey tried to keep this up on her own, but she was ultimately stopped and arrested, and now served time in a women jail. As for the sorority, it was shut down, and the remaining sisters moved to Kola to finish their studies, or start entirely fresh. Now Alyssa, Lea, Phoebe, Seraphina and Trace all live in a house together, and they will be sticking together until the end.

ALYSSA MULLINS looks an awful lot like CARLSON YOUNG. SHE is TWENTY-FOUR and while they're EXTROVERTED, they have a tendency to get pretty JUDGEMENTAL. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to GENIE IN A BOTTLE by SOFIA KARLBERG.

Alyssa was the daughter of Thomas Mullins, the mayor of her hometown. She grew up in money, which is why her family could so easily afford to send her to study in Lakewood College.

She joined Zeta Delta Psi in her freshman year, and became vice president the next year. She was originally accepted because she was rich and beautiful, and was believed to be a good asset during parties.

Now, after the murders and moving to Kola, Alyssa completely stopped her studies. She started taking odd jobs, until finding a certain tallent in being a stripper, and it’s now her job. 

Kind of a wild party girl, but she still asks daddy to send her money once in a while, pretending it’s for further studies(she hasn’t told him about her actual job).

LEA COLE looks an awful lot like BILLIE LOURD. SHE is TWENTY-THREE and while they're CALM, they have a tendency to get pretty EMOTIONLESS. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to SEARCHING FOR A FEELING by IDA LAURBERG.

Lea’s mother was the second in a rich family, and to preserve what they believed to be superior genes, she was set up in an arranged marriage with the heir of an almost wealthier family. But she didn’t want him and started seeing someone else in secret. She fell in love, planned to escape, but the moment she learned she was pregnant, he was almost arrested for multiple crimes. So she agreed to the arranged marriage, and passed Lea as her now husband’s actual child. Lea learned the truth when she was snooping through her mother’s stuff

She was brought in Zeta Delta Psi because she didn’t have much aim in life so the president gave her a reason to by giving her power and making her one of her right hand. She never really felt much in terms of emotions so she was used to do the dirty work.

She was nearly killed by Stacey when she went full on psycho, but was saved by someone who kinda had a crush on her. It’s how they caught Stacey, since she got shocked and it was that half a second that got Trace to put her down.

She’s now an assistant on sets, and just does jobs as simple as getting coffee to more complex like arranging dates and making sure everyone is right where they should.

PHOEBE NEWTON looks an awful lot like ABIGAIL BRESLIN. SHE is TWENTY-TWO and while they're FRIENDLY, they have a tendency to get pretty NAIVE. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to DREAM IT POSSIBLE by JANE ZHANG.

Honestly everything about her backstory is open, the only requirement is she comes from a rich family.

She was a pledge the year of the murders, although she held more powers since seeing her desperation to become popular, Melissa made her her other right hand, and so did dirty work along with Lea.

Really, she was also the punshing bag, or laughing stock or the presidency, and it kinda rubbed on the other sisters, even though Phoebe just really wanted to be loved and popular(she believed maybe if she pulled through all of it, it might happen).

During the murders, she ended up having to care for some of her fellow sisters who’d been hurt, and after moving to Kola, she decided to become a med student.

Her relationship with the other sisters is better, and they do care for her, but they still enjoy making fun of her at times. She’s definitely distanced herself a little from Alyssa and Lea, who enjoy it the most, and got closer to Seraphina and Trace.

SERAPHINA BRISBANE looks an awful lot like WILLA FITZGERALD. SHE is TWENTY-TWO and while they're SMART, they have a tendency to get pretty PARANOID You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to JOURNEY (READY TO FLY) by NATASHA BLUME.

Comes from a small town, average family. Seraphina always had big dreams of becoming a famous reporter.

She got into Lakewood on scholarship, and started in journalism. She was asked by one of the Zeta Delta Psi sisters to join the sorority, so she pledged, and got in because of her good grades.

When the murders happened, she was trying to investigate and find out who the killer was. She discovered the story of Sarah Thorne right after the accomplice waskilled, but not in time to stop Stacey from attacking Lea.

After moving to Kola, she decided to change her direction a little. While still in journalism, she has taken a minor in criminology, and now has a goal to become a journalist specialized in crimes.

She also has recurent nightmares and a constant fear that Stacey might break out of jail and come after them.

TRACEY “TRACE” MACK looks an awful lot like BEX TAYLOR-KLAUS. THEY are TWENTY-TWO and while they're PROTECTIVE, they have a tendency to get pretty UNTRUSTING. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to THIS IS THE HUNT by RUELLE.

Everything about Trace’s backstory is open tbh!!!

Tracey joined the sorority because they needed a girl that wouldn’t be scared to fight off creeps that might go after them, mostly they wanted a bodyguard for parties. 

They were a good asset for the girls during the time of the murders. Trace was the one to find Stacey going after Lea, and was the one to hold her down until the police arrived.

It was only after moving to Kola that Trace told the other sisters that they were nonbinary.

They’re now a security guard, and wouldn’t have it any other way. They often teach the other sisters self defense techniques.

[politicoscope]

Elizabeth Warren Who Electrified Progressives, Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race: Here's Why

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/elizabeth-warren-who-electrified-progressives-drops-out-of-democratic-presidential-race-heres-why/

Elizabeth Warren Who Electrified Progressives, Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race: Here's Why

Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her “plan for everything” and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans. The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldn’t win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own. The Massachusetts senator has spoken with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading candidates in the race, according to their campaigns. She is assessing who would best uphold her agenda, according to another person who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Elizabeth Warren Exit

Elizabeth Warren’s exit all but extinguished hopes that Democrats would get another try at putting a female nominee up against President Donald Trump.

For much of the past year, her campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. She was squeezed out, though, by Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance.

Elizabeth Warren never finished higher than third

Warren never finished higher than third in the first four states and was routed on Super Tuesday, failing to win any of the 14 states voting and placing an embarrassing third in Massachusetts, behind Biden and Sanders.

Tulsi Gabbard

Her exit from the race following Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s departure leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. It was an unexpected twist for a party that had used the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, just two years ago.

Elizabeth Warren Enormous Promise

Warren’s campaign began with enormous promise that she could carry that momentum into the presidential race. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

Elizabeth Warren compelling message

She had a compelling message, calling for “structural change” to the American political system to reorder the nation’s economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2% wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than $50 million that prompted chants of “Two cents! Two cents!” at rallies across the country.

Warren, 70, began her White House bid polling near the back of an impossibly crowded field, used wonky policy prowess to rocket to front-runner status by the fall, then saw her support evaporate almost as quickly.

Elizabeth Warren candidacy appeared seriously damaged

Her candidacy appeared seriously damaged almost before it started after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry. Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didn’t stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as “Pocahontas.”

Elizabeth Warren lost her finance director

Warren also lost her finance director over her refusal to attend large fundraisers, long considered the financial life blood of national campaigns. Still, she distinguished herself by releasing dozens of detailed proposals on all sorts of policies from cancelling college debt to protecting oceans to containing the coronavirus. Warren also was able to build an impressive campaign war chest relying on mostly small donations that poured in from across the country — erasing the deficit created by refusing to court big, traditional donors.

As her polling began improving through the summer. Warren appeared to further hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, weren’t ambitious enough to roll back Trump’s policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling. And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the U.S. House in 2018.

Elizabeth Warren couldn’t consolidate the support of the Democratic Party’s most liberal wing

But Warren couldn’t consolidate the support of the Democratic Party’s most liberal wing against the race’s other top progressive, Sanders. Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a “Medicare for All” program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the “Green New Deal” while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Elizabeth Warren poll numbers began to slip

Warren’s poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates when she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she’d have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All. Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she’d work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years. In the meantime, she said, many Americans could “choose” to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Bernie Sanders Effects

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House. After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldn’t win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

Leaning hard into the gender issue only saw Warren’s support sink further heading into Iowa’s leadoff caucus, however. But even as her momentum was slipping away, Warren still boasted impressive campaign infrastructure in that state and well beyond. Her army of volunteers and staffers looked so formidable that even other presidential candidates were envious.

Elizabeth Warren Just Before Iowa

Just before Iowa, her campaign released a memo detailing its 1,000-plus staffers nationwide and pledging a long-haul strategy that would lead to victories in the primary and the general election. Bracing for a poor finish in New Hampshire, her campaign issued another memo again urging supporters to stay focus on the long game — but also expressly spelling out the weaknesses of Sanders, Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in ways the senator herself rarely did.

Mike Bloomberg Effects

Warren got a foil for all of her opposition to powerful billionaires when former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg entered the race. During a debate in Las Vegas just before Nevada’s caucus, Warren hammered Bloomberg and the mayor’s lackluster response touched off events that ended with him leaving the race on Wednesday.

For Warren, That led to a sharp rise in fundraising, but didn’t translate to electoral success. She tried to stress her ability to unite the fractured Democratic party, but that message fell flat.

By South Carolina, an outside political group began pouring more than $11 million into TV advertising on Warren’s behalf, forcing her to say that, although she rejected super PACs, she’d accept their help as long as other candidates did. Her campaign shifted strategy again, saying it was betting on a contested convention.

Still the longer Warren stayed in the race, the more questions she faced about why she was doing so with little hope of winning — and she started to sound like a candidate who was slowly coming to terms with that.

“I’m not somebody who has been looking at myself in the mirror since I was 12 years old saying, ‘You should run for president,’” Warren said aboard her campaign bus on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, previewing a ceasing of campaigning that wasn’t yet official. “I started running for office later than anyone who is in this, so it was never about the office — it was about what we could do to repair our economy, what we could do to mend a democracy that’s being pulled apart. That’s what I want to see happen, and I just want to see it happen.”

She vowed to fight on saying, “I cannot say, for all those little girls, this got hard and I quit. My job is to persist.”

But even that seemed impossible after a Super Tuesday drubbing that included her home state.

ap

[2whatcom-blog]

To Reduce Emissions, China’s World Infrastructure Plan Could Want a Greener Path

Borrower nations collaborating in China's Belt and Highway Initiative could have an enormous say in whether or not its web impact helps the world meet the Paris Settlement's carbon aims or places them without end out of attain. Local weather consultants who monitor China's large infrastructure and commerce scheme say that in its first 5 years the initiative has overwhelmingly supported fossil fuels infrastructure whereas giving brief shrift to renewables and low-carbon know-how. The early monitor document, consultants say, could also be due partially to China utilizing coal-fired energy in its personal improvement or could also be linked to China's home shift away from standard fossil fuels that has compelled its home industries to hunt new markets. Nevertheless it's not all China can supply to the 125 international locations that state-run information outlet Xinhua has reported have signed cooperative agreements below Belt and Highway. "If you ask the Chinese for coal, they're saying, 'We are ready,' because they've got overcapacity and excess demand and environmental regulations at home," stated Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston College's World Growth Coverage Heart. "If you ask for coal, you're getting coal, but if you ask for energy, they've got it all," Gallagher stated. "They've got the whole menu." The Belt and Highway Initiative is President Xi Jinping's signature program, and this week he is internet hosting a discussion board in Beijing attended by almost 40 heads of state, U.N. Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres and Worldwide Financial Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. Since its inception in 2013, the initiative has funded initiatives in 152 international locations, to the tune of $200 billion. The initiative refers typically to investments by China's public lending establishments just like the China Growth Financial institution and the Import-Export Financial institution of China, or China Eximbank, and its industrial banks. The China Export and Credit score Insurance coverage Corp. and the Silk Highway Fund, an fairness fund established in 2014, are additionally concerned. Some international locations are apparently ordering off the renewable vitality menu of their dealings with these establishments. China's state-owned conglomerate Sinomatch joined with Normal Electrical Co. to launch a 102-megawatt wind energy demonstration venture in Kenya in 2015. China Nationwide Electrical Engineering Co. opened Ethiopia's first waste-to-energy facility final 12 months in Addis Ababa. And China Eximbank has supplied almost $400 million in financing for the Cauchari photo voltaic plant in Argentina, which would be the largest photo voltaic facility in South America when it's accomplished and can use principally Chinese language supplies. However inexperienced finance remains to be a small share of the initiative's general portfolio, which is ready to develop to $6 trillion in expenditures by 2030. "Today, the vast share of the energy investment is brown, a substantial share of the infrastructure broadly is brown, and while it's moving, it's moving pretty slowly," stated Jonathan Pershing, surroundings program director on the William and Flora Hewlett Basis. He famous that the roads, vitality initiatives and ports that China funds at the moment may very well be in use for half a century. A World Assets Institute and Boston College evaluation spearheaded by WRI's Lihuan Zhou launched earlier this 12 months confirmed that China Eximbank and CDB, which did a lot of the lending for energy capability and transmission, solely directed about 5.3% of its vitality loans to wind and photo voltaic initiatives between 2014 and 2017--a mixed $2.four billion. Against this, non-hydropower renewables make up a minimum of 1 / 4 of the World Financial institution's vitality loans. Han Chen, vitality coverage supervisor within the Pure Assets Protection Council's Worldwide Program, wrote in a weblog publish Monday with colleagues that there had been "significant growth" in industrial financial institution loans and insurance coverage help for renewable vitality in 2018. "This growth is encouraging, but it remains to be seen if investment will persist in the coming years or if it will flag once more," she wrote. 'Brown development path'? Belt and Highway's early choice for fossil fuels lending isn't excellent news in gentle of final 12 months's report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change, which warned that with out a sharp pivot towards greener applied sciences, the world will lose its likelihood to maintain post-industrial warming to secure ranges by 2030. The Paris Settlement units a long-term aim of stabilizing warming at "well below" 2 levels Celsius, with 1.5 C as an aspirational goal, though IPCC stated 1.5 C was by far the safer threshold. However the initiative's initiatives may very well be decisive, Pershing stated, "if that's a brown growth path, we can't meet Paris." That is as a result of the international locations China is lending probably the most cash to construct infrastructure and cement commerce relationships are in growing areas like Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their mixed populations equal that of China's, Pershing notes. And whereas China is at present the world's largest greenhouse fuel emitter and is placing extra distance between itself and most developed nations by the 12 months, it has pledged below Paris to cease rising emissions by 2030. It can doubtless try this earlier, however in Belt and Highway growing countries--with their modernizing economies and booming populations--greenhouse fuel emissions could be beginning. However observers hope that trajectory will finish quickly. Teams like WRI and NRDC contributed to a brand new inexperienced Belt and Highway alliance that the Chinese language authorities launched at this week's discussion board, probably in response to mounting criticism of the environmental and local weather toll of its early initiatives. "In the last few months, there's been a lot more attention to looking at the climate impact of Belt and Road, looking at the environmental impact," stated Chen, who attended the Beijing discussion board. The Chinese language authorities has responded by looking for methods to include extra views and enter on decreasing environmental impacts, together with by organising a brand new alliance with overseas recommendation and participation. Boston College's Gallagher famous that environmental injury by a few of the initiative's initiatives had prompted Belt and Highway to lose status overseas, and led to expensive delays and unwillingness by governments to do enterprise with Chinese language traders. "Whether it be hydropower in Myanmar or a coal plant in Bangladesh, there's lots of social and environmental conflict in and around all the projects," he stated. China has typically adopted the rules of the international locations wherein it operates. For Bangladesh, which has few legal guidelines on its books requiring group engagement or safety of air or water high quality, Chinese language-backed initiatives have typically not bothered with these issues. However they have been blamed when issues went mistaken, stated Gallagher. "There are protests, and some of the folks out on the street have Twitter accounts that are linked with transnational ..., which have turned it into a global campaign," he stated. "No businessperson wants that. And that's a mistake." Gallagher stated China may regain a few of the worldwide goodwill it has misplaced and restrict threat to its stability sheet by taking a extra proactive stance in aligning its BRI investments with the United Nations' Sustainable Growth Objectives and to the Paris Settlement. The WRI-BU paper notes that the Paris Settlement itself provides $1 trillion in vitality infrastructure spending initiatives to assist international locations meet their nationally decided contributions, or NDCs. Roughly half of these NDC initiatives could be in Belt and Highway participant international locations. And a brand new spherical of NDCs will likely be submitted subsequent 12 months, which may supply extra particular venture requests. 'Why are they not asking?' In a paper launched Monday forward of the Beijing discussion board, the Chinese language authorities workplace chargeable for selling BRI touted China's previous efforts on inexperienced finance, together with Xi's transfer to make it a precedence throughout his 2016 presidency of the Group of 20 international locations. "Upholding the Paris Agreement, China actively advocates and encourages the integration of green development into the joint efforts to build the Belt and Road," it states. However Pershing, a former diplomat who was the second-ranking member of the U.S. negotiating group on the 2015 summit that delivered the Paris pact, stated the growing world did not appear to be asking China for initiatives like those specified by the NDCs. "I think we're seeing that when asked, China does offer some of those alternatives, but they're actually mostly not asked," he stated. "All these recipient countries have signed the Paris Agreement. Why are they not asking?" he stated. "China signed the Paris Agreement. Why is it not offering? So to me I think there's some need on both sides for both parties to come to the table and say, 'We would like to make some changes in how we are offering and how we are asking.'" Pershing stated China's authorities has signaled it sees its long-term pursuits in clear development. He famous that Su Wei, who was deputy head of the Chinese language delegation to the U.N. local weather course of when Pershing was second-in-command on the American group, was put accountable for a inexperienced BRI technique. However Belt and Highway is not about local weather, he stated. It is about commerce and financial improvement. "In as much as the greening will help, they'll probably do it," he stated. "In as much as it gets in the way, it will be a bit player." The financial case to borrower nations is that fossil fuels improvement chains international locations with out minerals assets to perpetual import prices. The well being case, he stated, was to deal with bronchial asthma and different native well being impacts, not local weather change. Pershing stated the World Financial institution and Western authorities establishments may assist present poorer nations technical help in formulating their requests for venture finance. Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, world director of sustainable finance of WRI, stated the aim must be to offer international locations with the help they should supply a proposal for a sustainable venture each time they sit down throughout the desk from an investor. "Then governments can have a serious conversation with their financiers, including Chinese ones, on how to fund the sustainable project," he stated. "This can't happen if only 'Plan A' is on the table." Read the full article

[planetwalker]

Reflections on 6 years of sobriety

Today, May 18th, I officially have not had a drop of alcohol in my system for six years. It has been a long road, and without the support of my family, my friends, and my therapist I would likely be dead or in prison. More that likely, dead. Also, I would like to thank a doctor I knew personally (she shall remain nameless) who risked her professional career by prescribing me medicine to keep me from going into seizures when I quit drinking the first time at twenty (for a year and a half), because of my refusal to go to rehab or do it any other way than in my house, alone. I woke myself up with an alarm every four hours for over ten days to manually check my own blood pressure and administer the medicine that would keep me alive and not convulsing, seizing, or having delirium tremens. It wasn't pretty.

My alcoholism had taken me to a depth of insanity that ended in me finally drinking nearly a 1.5 liter bottle of hard liquor a day, plus beer to wash it down. That's when your tolerance has beaten you so far into the ground that you pretty much just wake up and begin drinking again. There's just not enough time in the day to drink that much otherwise. That is no exaggeration. From about 10am until 5am the next morning, I would drink whiskey in a nearly constant way. There would often only be a half-inch of the largest bottles of liquor they sell left in my freezer by morning. A hair of the dog that bit me, which would get me to the liquor store for a fresh new dog. I think I spent about 25 dollars a day on booze for those 5 last (and worst) years after my initial relapse. That's about 45,000 dollars, more than triple what I have ever made in a year of my working life.

On this sixth anniversary of sobriety though, I'm not really reflecting on my accomplishments in the past, but I'm using it as an opportunity to talk about something far more deadly and much more hard for me to deal with, or speak about. I have to begin at the beginning, but every word of this is difficult to write, I will try my best to speak openly and honestly.

After many years of denial, after being psychologically tested at fourteen years old and severely misdiagnosed and mismedicated, put on lithium, and poisoned to a point of amnesia. After a week in a psychiatric hospital at twenty due to suicidal ideation, and after eleven more years of waiting (including these six sober years), I finally went to a psychiatrist to get a full mental health assessment, at the behest of my family. A multitude of tests, by the most progressive and up to date standards were administered by an expert clinician. I waited to hear the conclusion I pretty much have known my whole life was coming: I have Bipolar II, without a shadow of a doubt, and on the nose.

The good news: I have rote number memorization in the 99th percentile, as well as a smattering of other high-functioning brain abilities that I cannot take any real credit for. I just know how to memorize and remember things in a way that seems insane to most people. I can recite texts I read when I was ten forwards and backwards. I once made a rap out of the alphabet being recited backwards. I remember memorizing decks of randomized playing cards as a kid, just for fun, to see if I could name the last card in the deck. I found out many years later after requesting my transcripts that my IQ had been tested at fourteen as well during those psych exams and largely said the same thing, I was in the 99.975 percentile, something like 151. Unfortunately then, their only concern was me being able to "sit down and listen in school", which I found to be impossible, boring, and frustrating to the point that acting out was my only recourse. I remember refusing to say the pledge of allegiance in the 4th grade after reading a book on my own about the genocide of American Indians, and the horrors of slavery instituted by the very same people who wrote these documents. I was a little shit, too smart for my own good, and I needed to be controlled.

I was expelled from school in the 6th grade for printing out "The Devil's Cookbook" (essentially a bomb making guide, and anarchist literature), from the schools library, hundreds of pages. I went to a "democratic school" run by hippies for the rest of the year where I mostly skateboarded and flirted with girls. I spent 7th grade with my father living in South Africa, and was quickly shuffled out of middle school after arriving back halfway through 8th grade. They couldn't wait to get rid of me. My one saving grace was my music teacher named Ken Johnson, who always let me stay late after school and practice guitar, piano, singing. I don't think I could have finished that year without his support, he turned me on to great music I never would have heard. Mostly, he just got that was talented and interesting, and not just a little shit. That pretty much ended my formal education. I read manuals and textbooks in my spare time and proceeded to get my GED at 15 and tested again to receive a stamped and signed high school diploma (with honors!) from the Rockville Board of Education (the same document all my fellow graduating seniors would get at 18, after wandering the halls for four years of the hellhole I abandoned). I still think skipping high school was the smartest decision I ever made in my life. I have never met anyone who says they learned almost anything in high school except "I still have friends that I know on Facebook", which really says a lot. I was accepted into The Evergreen State College two days before my sixteenth birthday. I had not filled out the small line that asked for age on the application, and apparently nobody noticed. I flew across the country to Olympia, Washington that spring and began my studies in creative writing, ecology, and a self-created major with my friend Sky Cosby: "Liberating the voices of incarcerated youth", which we had a brilliant and very optimistic professor graciously sign off on. We called it "Celldom Heard". We threw a great hip-hop showcase in Red Square that year, as well as producing a DIY chapbook of prisoner literature. My drinking career also really took off at this time, as I was a seventeen year old on a college campus thousands of miles away from home. My gambling too, playing poker anywhere I could, often at seedy clubs and online with a pre-paid debit card, as well as hosting poker tournaments with everyone I knew and could convince to lose their money to me. I could do anything I wanted. I never lied about my age, but simply refused to tell anyone for quite a long time. Age is just a number, right? Says any self-righteous seventeen year old.

My grandiosity surely impressed people; I have been a performer since as long as I can remember (my mother always jokes that I was ready to go entertain people since I left the womb). A magician at five, playing piano and performing music by ten; writing, slamming poetry at the national championships at fifteen, it never stopped. I was in the center of the room, and I thought that meant something, not just that I was an egomaniac, sure to be on the cover of Rolling Stone by the time I was twenty-one. My parents couldn't understand why I could never get up for school, they didn't know till years later that I would put a towel under my door to block the light and stay up all night reading and writing, until about 5:30, where I would sleep for thirty minutes before my father came down the hall to wake me up for the bus. I don't know how I survived. Years pass; trying to drink my hypomania away, trying, jamming alcohol down my throat followed by NyQuil, Ambien, Benedryl, all to try to just get to sleep, that one unattainable goal I could never quite reach. At some point my dreams just disappeared into darkness. As the years progressed further, some of the darker sides of hypomania began to present themselves; impulsive spending, reckless gambling, strings of unhealthy sexual relationships, all of which were doomed to failure from the start. Anger, rage, darkness, depression, and finally, the scariest points of this last year of my life: Mixed-Episodes.

In the past year and a half, I have had to experiment with a regimen of drugs until finally finding the right dosage and medicine to help me live a functional life. And as much as people can be proud of you for conquering alcohol, it's a much harder beast to speak out about your mental illness. I remember once going on a date, and the first thing my date started talking about was her "crazy bipolar ex-boyfriend", he was an "alcoholic too, so I'm so glad you don't drink". What to even say? I'm a fucking mess, girl, you don't want to get anywhere near me, trust me. And what to do? Deny, deflect, and continue to function (sobriety will buy you a lot of time in doing this, as you can use it as an excuse that you've gotten help and are doing fine). Hypomania, actually also keeps you functioning at such a high level. I have been able to operate on about 4-5 hours of sleep for as long as I can remember. I produce music all night in my solitary zen wonderland, read about 3-4 non-fiction books a week, about topics from psychophysiology to economics to super-string theory. Memoirs about drug abuse to politics to mountain climbing. Anything I could get my hands on. People wondered at work out loud often to me "where do you find the time?!". My response was always the same: I am awake and doing things when you are asleep. My hours of extra work were from 10pm-5am. That's seven hours of intense, single-minded focus that hypomania can provide you with, and it is a very very hard thing to want to give up, especially if your depressive spells are severe, but not all that frequent.

This went on for years. I traveled the world, studied all manners of healing and spirituality, motorcycling through the dirty terrain of Cambodia at night, swerving around cattle barely visible until hitting the glint of my low-beams, yards ahead. Being chased by wild dogs on a night I was sure I was going to die and be ripped to pieces. Nothing could stop me. Ever. I was a star exploding at light speed through the galaxy, burning as bright as anything you had ever seen, but sure to collapse upon it's own weight and gravity eventually. I paid this no mind, as I had decided at about twelve that I was sure I would never make it to my 30th birthday alive. I didn't really want to. I wanted to live, hard, fast, intense, non-stop, now. I came pretty close to making that pact a reality. I'm only 31 now, but this year I finally made strides to comprehend and look deeply at who I am and what is happening to me, and what factors are chemical imbalances in my brain, rather that just my insane hyperactivity. I had never even thought to blame anyone but myself. Or thank anyone but myself. My choices were my fault. Everyone else's judgements about me were right, but fuck them, I didn't care, I'll move on to someone else who sees the good parts with the darkness hidden.

The mixed episodes began, and got worse quickly. This is where you have the intensity of the hypomania mixed with the self-hatred of the deepest and darkest depression you have ever felt. Suddenly all that energy I had to conquer the world was turned inwards into a pattern of suicidal ideation, agoraphobia, blowups with close friends, despising my family, hanging up on my father after screaming matches, all of it, more. So much more I can't even write it all down. It was the hardest time of my life, a thousand times harder than my worst days of drinking, without a doubt. At least then I had something to numb out the pain, something to try and quell the manic thoughts and get some sleep. I always used to say "drinking *is* a coping skill, it's just not a healthy one." It's true. Now, instead, I had hypersomnia, sleeping 14 hours a day, unable to get out of bed, whole weeks where I never left my house, fear of everything outside. I was so scared I bought a gun. Then I was scared that I had a gun in my house. Worried I might shoot myself, or worse, mistake some passerby as a burglar and shoot some innocent stranger. Afraid and anxious about the outside world, uncontrollable sobbing for hours at a time, the inability to pull myself out of it for more than 20 minutes before collapsing back into the despair and pain I can't describe as anything short of brutal psychological torture.

The first doctor I saw in New Orleans (who I later found out accepted thousands of dollars from big pharma, of course) told me outright that he didn't care about the tests, he was sure I had Bipolar I, which is much scarier and involves hallucinations, delusional thinking (I am Barack Obama, people are out to get me, etc.), psychosis, and far worse symptoms. He prescribed me tranquilizers that nearly killed me in the following three months. My depression worsened. He suggested I up my dosage. I declined. I am very fortunate and lucky that he was wrong about me having Bipolar I, and that I have the lesser of these two evils, and I never forget that.

That didn't matter though: my agoraphobia worsened to the point that I couldn't get into my car, could barely make it to my porch to check my mail. I didn't go grocery shopping for three months and ate chinese food ever night. Agoraphobia, means literally "fear of the public square", and comes from our (very smart) reptile brains that were afraid of the open savannah. This is because birds of prey could see us from above and pick us off while exposed without a tree to hide beneath. It is a very primal instinct, and hard to counteract. My anxiety attacks got worse and worse, the medication wasn't helping, it was making things worse, but I continued to swallow them down, convinced I was just adjusting. I was not.

My parents finally begged me to come home to Connecticut and see a doctor who was a specialist with Bipolar males of my age, and after months of fighting them off, I reluctantly agreed. And he likely saved my life. He took my off the tranquilizer immediately, and I began to experience emotions again. Not great ones, but at least something. And then I was put on Lamictal, the only Bipolar medication that has been approved for Bipolar II and come on the market since Lithium did in 1948. Lithium is the aforementioned drug that I refused to ever try again, after I was put on it at fourteen, and which cost me a year of my life I can barely recall but for hazy half-memories, lost in a sea of white noise. And to the gracious angels, goddesses, or simply to the smart psychiatrists diagnosing me correctly and providing me with a plan of action including proper medication and therapy, have saved my life.

I cook dinner every night. I went to the grocery store the other day, then the bank, then the post office. I didn't even mind. It felt kind of great. I always ask how people are doing, a habit I've always done. It's amazing how the little things can go such a long way. When I call Cox to complain that my internet has gone out again, I always start with "Hey, my name is Sam Dillon, how are you doing today?". The other night I was met with "No one has asked me that in a week". Try it, it's pretty fun. Sometimes a grocery store clerk will literally break down in tears and tell you about her bad day. That happened not to long ago too. I still go to sleep late still, up reading books, but when I'm ready to fall asleep, I drift off into the odd and vivid dreams I remember having since I was a child, the same ones that disappeared for more than a decade. I am on the path to recovery, not there yet, and as with my alcoholism, I take small steps and don't get ahead of myself.

I was born with a strange chemical imbalance, not much different that someone with diabetes or anemia or Crohn's disease or autism. The large difference is the stigma. When you are an impulsive, grandiose, gambling, alcoholic maniac, nobody gives you much slack that you can't just "get your life together", "fix your problems", or simply "stop acting this way". There is no discussion of treatment (other than AA, a religious doctrine started by holocaust-deniers, sorry AA folks), not much in the way of offering help, a lot of blame and a small amount of empathy. You can only burn so many bridges before people don't want to come near you. And I've burned a lot. Lost of a lot of good friends. Sometimes I'm amazed that most of my family still even talks to me. Some of them barely do. I understand. I empathize. I get it. I know why, even though I know they also just don't understand what I have been struggling with my whole life and simply blame me and say I "always play the victim".

I have not been easy to deal with for many, many years. Even in sobriety I have been a raging asshole to deal with at times. At the height of my hypomanic episodes I have been explosive, unpredictable, and stubborn beyond belief. Impossible to deal with. I have always been this way, in a sense, and for many years, it served me. I skipped high school completely, choosing to get my education through books, following politics and world affairs, listening to everything around me, absorbing knowledge and skills like a sponge, learning from the world and by trial and (a lot of) error. When I made a decision, there was no challenging me or changing my mind. I followed my gut to the ends of the earth and back. Nobody could have stopped me, though many tried.

So on this day I celebrate six years since I touched a drop of alcohol, I guess I would like to begin not by celebrating at all, but by admitting what I was actually trying to drink away, the hypomania, the depression. By admitting that getting to the root of a problem is often just the beginning of seeing a deeper one. That hitting rock bottom only happens when you stop digging, and try to find a way out. That stigmatizing people who are mentally ill is killing millions of people every year. That suicide recently surpassed homicide as the second-leading cause of death in teenagers each year, after car accidents. That our military veterans come home wounded in body and mind and have a suicide rate that is drastically high, with little to no mental health treatment available. Just "be a man and deal with it" leads to guns being put to heads, nooses being wrapped around throats. That we as a society must change the way we treat the mentally ill, simply as people who have an illness no more controllable or treatable alone than Parkinson's. What's the difference? There is no difference but our mind-state, that's the difference. I worked in a Psychiatric hospital for almost 7 years, and I am still amazed at the daily comments from doctors, nurses, staff in general: "Oh, she's just Borderline", "He's just an attention-seeking teenage brat", "He's just classic Bipolar, throw him on Seroquel". "She's just a Benzo-head", "He's just a fucking drunk", "If he even starts acting up, throw him into isolation and we'll put him down with a shot of B52", (this is what we called the injected cocktail of Benedryl 50 with 2mg of Ativan, the B50-2). "He's crazy as a loon". "Don't even try to talk to her". "He's just an old asshole". "Homeless grunt trying to get a free meal". "He's not nice enough, I don't think we should let his kids visit". "She's a classic cutter, let her find a paper clip and do her worst, just ignore her". Daily. During "Report", as they called it. On the floor of the hospital within earshot of other patients. Sometimes directly to a patients face. Adults, Adolescents, Children as young as four years old. I worked directly with them all. And every time I heard "YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND", I remember distinctly thinking: "You're right, I don't understand your exact nature, your exact chemical imbalance or behavioral disorder, but I refuse to not try and help you in whatever way I can. I will show you as best I can that I am WILLING to try to understand, not just that I do", because most of the time, you just don't. But you can try. Empathize. Don't be scared of us. We're your mailmen, postal workers, neighbors, bartenders, waitresses, telemarketers, local business owners, bosses, employees, co-workers, friends, family, loved ones, heroes and heroines.

Which leads me to my last thought. Last night we lost another amazing musician and gentle soul to suicide, Chris Cornell. Add him to the list of amazing artists we have lost to suicide, drugs, and alcohol over the last few years, decades, and the list is too great to comprehend. And the biggest killer of us all is the inability to speak out without being judged, I can speak to that from experience. Saying (or writing) all of this is very hard, when I could be taking myself out to a steak dinner and saying "I used to spend 25 bucks a day on booze, time to treat myself to something nice". I could be getting a relaxing massage. I used to do that. I don't anymore. Now I reflect on what comes next, what the future looks like, what I can do about it personally and globally, and what is beyond my control. I urge other members of my community, and communities around the world to speak up and speak out for themselves and those they love when confronted with the silence that permeates mental illness and awareness of all kinds.

We can't afford another Robin Williams, Chris Cornell, Aaron Swartz, Kurt Cobain, Hemingway, Hunter S. Thompson, Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, David Foster Wallace, et al. The thousands of unnamed teenagers and unknown mothers and fathers who have to live every day knowing their child is gone. We as the mentally ill need to speak out, and we as a culture need to speak out against the stigma, which increases mortality rates more than any chemical in our brains, of that I am sure. So, help us. Stand up for us. Yes, ask us to get help for ourselves too, and be patient when we need time, or aren't sure, or don't want to talk about it, but keep on pressing. We need the reminder, even when we don't want to hear it. We need the reminder that someone needs us on this earth, and they refuse to let us go without fighting for our lives, and without us fighting for our own.

"Most of us are acutely aware of our own struggles and we are preoccupied with our own problems. We sympathize with ourselves because we see our own difficulties so clearly. But as Ian MacLaren noted wisely, “Let us be kind to one another, for most of us are fighting a hard battle.”

Good luck and godspeed.

May 18th, 2017

Sam Dillon

[musicprincess655]

Queen of His People, Ch. 21

Pairing: Ushiten

Rating: T

Tags: royalty au, a/b/o

read on ao3

Four months later ~ April

“There we go.”

Red eyes the same shade as his own met his in the mirror. Tendou Hanae finished pinning his hair into place and stepped back. Satori turned around to smile at his mother.

“Don’t you look lovely?” she said, miming wiping a tear. “The perfect bride.”

Satori looked down at himself, at the full skirt that hid his feet. It was cream with blue accents, and somehow light enough even with all the fabric that he could walk without fear of tripping.

His mother called his attention to the mirror again, so he could take in her elaborate braid work. She’d pulled some of it up to form a crown of sorts, leaving the rest to fall down in curls over his shoulders. Standing next to her, it was easy to see how similar they looked. Besides the red hair, he looked almost exactly like her, from the red eyes to the too-wide features.

“Come on, then,” she said, and this time it sounded like she was actually tearing up. “Don’t want to keep Wakatoshi waiting, do we?”

“Mom,” he started hesitantly. “You’ll stay after, right?”

“I’ll stay as long as you want me, darling,” she assured him.

“What if I want you forever?”

She gave him a grin.

“I have no intention of leaving for a while,” she said. “Besides, Suiko needs someone to look after her while she’s still mourning. Poor thing needs a friend, and you and Wakatoshi deserve to wrap up in your own little worlds for a while and enjoy being newlyweds.”

“You never had any intention of leaving, did you?” Satori asked, but he was amused.

“I happen to like it up here,” she shook her finger at him, but they were both amused. “Much nicer.”

Satori felt happier knowing his mother wouldn’t leave, and even happier when they started walking to the front of the castle. The ceremony would be held outside, and the gates had been flung open so that any from the village who wanted to come would be able to.

Kanon and Mamiko had been recruited to walk ahead of them, dropping white flowers from the door of the castle to the altar. A cheer went up from the gathered people when Satori stepped out, and he smiled so hard it hurt. In the months he’d been taking over for Suiko-san, he’d really made friends with some of these people.

Eita stepped forward to meet them. As Satori’s best man, he would be walking ahead of them down the aisle, symbolically protecting Satori from evil spirits.

“Here,” he said, tucking a sprig of tiny white flowers into the bouquet Satori was holding. “White heather. For luck.”

“Go forth and protect me, oh best man,” Satori teased, but he was surprisingly grateful for the gift. It hadn’t been mentioned to him by anyone else, so it must have been a tradition from the village rather than one of the royalty.

Eita’s eyes twinkled, both of them finally open. He had an angry red scar from below his cheekbone up to his forehead, but luckily it had jumped over his eye, sparing his vision. The doctors had assured them the scar would fade with time, though it would always be the most prominent thing about Eita’s face. He didn’t seem to mind.

Eita walked ahead of them, and Satori finally looked up to see the altar. Suiko-san was there, ready to give her son away, and Tsutomu was there as Wakatoshi’s best man, but Satori only had eyes for Wakatoshi himself.

He was stunning, dressed in white and his hair slicked back. His eyes were frozen wide as they met Satori’s. They drank each other in.

Satori got to the altar, and took his place in front of Wakatoshi. His mother picked up his hand, and Suiko-san picked up Wakatoshi’s. Their mothers placed their hands together and stepped back. Everyone was there for support, but the rest of the ceremony was up to them.

Wakatoshi went first, reciting vows that he’d refused to tell Satori beforehand but that he’d admitted were the vows his mother had used in her own marriage.

“Satori,” he started. “I vow you the first cut of my meat, the first sip of my wine. From this day it shall only be your name I cry out in the night and into your eyes that I smile each morning. I shall be a shield for your back as you are for mine. Never shall a grievous word be spoken about us, for our marriage is sacred between us and no stranger shall hear my grievance. Above and beyond this, I will cherish and honor you through this life and into the next.”

Satori stood frozen, his jaw dropped. He was definitely crying now. Those vows were very similar to his own, which he’d based off traditional Shiratorizawa vows, with a little bit of Seijoh there as well. He was of Shiratorizawa now, but he was also of Seijoh, and he wouldn’t forget that.

He cleared his throat so it wouldn’t sound so much like tears were slipping down his face.

“Wakatoshi,” he said, and cleared his throat again for the tremble. “I pledge my love to you, and everything that I am. I promise you the first bite of my meat and the first sip from my cup. I pledge that your name will always be the name I cry aloud in the dead of night. I promise to honor you above all others. Our love is never ending, and we will remain, forevermore, equals in our marriage. This is my wedding vow to you.”

They turned in unison to the silver cup set between them. Both of them would drink from it, and that would seal their union. Wakatoshi took the first sip, passing the cup to Satori. He drank, resisting the urge to shiver from the lingering chill. It had been filled from a mountain stream that morning, tying them not only to each other but to the kingdom.

“I declare them married before the eyes of the throne,” Suiko-san spoke up. Besides being there as Wakatoshi’s mother, she was also the authority, being the only remaining ruler. “They now take their places as the next king and queen of Shiratorizawa.”

The crowd cheered once again as the queen placed crowns on their heads, symbolically passing power from her to them.

“Rise, Ushijima Wakatoshi, second of his name, lord of the houses of east and west, king of Shiratorizawa.”

Satori closed his eyes as Suiko-san settled a crown on his brow.

“Rise, Ushijima Satori, first of his name, lord of the citadel, queen of Shiratorizawa.”

***

Once they had been crowned, they scattered coins as they walked back to the castle to bring generosity and prosperity to their marriage and reign. Children scrambled for them, and Wakatoshi was sure he saw Tomoko among them.

He scooped Satori into his arms when they reached the threshold, another tradition. It was lucky for one partner to carry the other across the threshold for the first time after they were married.

“I still say I could’ve carried you,” Satori said, though he seemed happy enough to loop his arms around Wakatoshi’s neck.

“I’m sure you could’ve,” Wakatoshi agreed. He was still learning to read Satori, but he’d figured out how to tell when his husband was teasing, at least.

The people of the village were invited to the celebration after, which meant it was a lot less proper than it could have been. Satori seemed happier that way, and Wakatoshi had to admit he was as well. It was more fun this way.

They took the first dance, both as a couple and as king and queen. Other couples soon joined them, and even his mother and Tendou-san – Hanae, she’d insisted he call her Hanae – were there dancing together.

After the first dance, with the slow music that gave him plenty of time to stare at Satori – he was so beautiful, dress making his skin look like flower petals and his hair in curls around his face – the musicians picked up the pace.

Satori stifled a laugh when he looked around them.

“I thought Eita couldn’t dance,” he said. Wakatoshi looked over to where Eita was twirling Umi, who’d made it back in time for the wedding.

“I said he didn’t bother to learn the rules of etiquette, not that he couldn’t dance,” Wakatoshi told him. It was nice to see everyone having so much fun, dancing like it was a village festival instead of the wedding of a monarch.

Satori seemed to content to just stay pressed to his side, rather than spending more time on the dance floor, though he did leave a few times when dances were requested of him. He was dancing with Hanae-san when Wakatoshi’s own mother approached him for a dance.

“He’s good for you,” she said, watching the mother and son pair across the hall from them. “He’s good for this kingdom. I’m sorry I ever doubted him.”

“You were just trying to protect everyone,” Wakatoshi told her. He’d already forgiven her, as Satori had.

The food was modest, but fresher than they’d become used to as everything came back to life after the snowmelt. Satori was particularly taken by the apples, which apparently didn’t grow much down in Seijoh.

It was late in the night by the time everyone was finally filtering out, and Wakatoshi and Satori could make their leaves. They held hands as they walked from the hall, making their way up to Wakatoshi’s room, which they now both shared.

Wakatoshi was still coming to grips with the fact that Satori was his husband now, and by tomorrow morning, they would each have the other’s bite mark on their necks. They would claim each other tonight.

“I love you,” he told Satori, closing the door behind him. Satori smiled, soft and hazy in the candlelight.

“I love you too.”

[vsplusonline]

Elizabeth Warren ends 2020 presidential bid after Super Tuesday rout

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/elizabeth-warren-ends-2020-presidential-bid-after-super-tuesday-rout/

Elizabeth Warren ends 2020 presidential bid after Super Tuesday rout

Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her plan for everything and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans. The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldn’t win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.

The Massachusetts senator has spoken with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading candidates in the race, according to their campaigns. She is assessing who would best uphold her agenda, according to another person who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Elizabeth Warren’s exit all but extinguished hopes that Democrats would get another try at putting a female nominee up against President Donald Trump.

For much of the past year, her campaign had all the markers of success, robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising and a sprawling political infrastructure that featured staffers on the ground across the country. She was squeezed out, though, by Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters she needed to advance.

Warren never finished higher than third in the first four states and was routed on Super Tuesday, failing to win any of the 14 states voting and placing an embarrassing third in Massachusetts, behind Biden and Sanders.

Her exit from the race following Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s departure leaves the Democratic field with just one female candidate: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected only one delegate toward the nomination. It was an unexpected twist for a party that had used the votes and energy of women to retake control of the House, primarily with female candidates, just two years ago.

Warren’s campaign began with enormous promise that she could carry that momentum into the presidential race. Last summer, she drew tens of thousands of supporters to Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, a scene that was repeated in places like Washington state and Minnesota.

She had a compelling message, calling for structural change to the American political system to reorder the nation’s economy in the name of fairness. She had a signature populist proposal for a 2% wealth tax she wanted to impose on households worth more than $50 million that prompted chants of Two cents! Two cents!” at rallies across the country.

Warren, 70, began her White House bid polling near the back of an impossibly crowded field, used wonky policy prowess to rocket to front-runner status by the fall, then saw her support evaporate almost as quickly.

Her candidacy appeared seriously damaged almost before it started after she released a DNA test in response to goading by Trump to prove she had Native American ancestry. Instead of quieting critics who had questioned her claims, however, the test offended many tribal leaders who rejected undergoing the genetic test as culturally insensitive, and it didn’t stop Trump and other Republicans from gleefully deriding her as Pocahontas.”

Warren also lost her finance director over her refusal to attend large fundraisers, long considered the financial life blood of national campaigns. Still, she distinguished herself by releasing dozens of detailed proposals on all sorts of policies from cancelling college debt to protecting oceans to containing the coronavirus. Warren also was able to build an impressive campaign war chest relying on mostly small donations that poured in from across the country — erasing the deficit created by refusing to court big, traditional donors.

As her polling began improving through the summer. Warren appeared to further hit her stride as she hammered the idea that more moderate Democratic candidates, including Biden, weren’t ambitious enough to roll back Trump’s policies and were too reliant on political consultants and fickle polling. And she drew strength in the #MeToo era, especially after a wave of female candidates helped Democrats take control of the U.S. House in 2018.

But Warren couldn’t consolidate the support of the Democratic Party’s most liberal wing against the race’s other top progressive, Sanders. Both supported universal, government-sponsored health care under a Medicare for All program, tuition-free public college and aggressive climate change fighting measures as part of the Green New Deal while forgoing big fundraisers in favor of small donations fueled by the internet.

Warren’s poll numbers began to slip after a series of debates when she repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about if she’d have to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All. Her top advisers were slow to catch on that not providing more details looked to voters like a major oversight for a candidate who proudly had so many other policy plans.

When Warren finally moved to correct the problem, her support eroded further. She moved away from a full endorsement of Medicare for All, announcing that she’d work with Congress to transition the country to the program over three years. In the meantime, she said, many Americans could choose to remain with their current, private health insurance plans, which most people have through their employers. Biden and other rivals pounced, calling Warren a flip-flopper, and her standing with progressives sagged.

Sanders, meanwhile, wasted little time capitalizing on the contrast by boasting that he would ship a full Medicare for All program for congressional approval during his first week in the White House. After long avoiding direct conflict, Warren and Sanders clashed in January after she said Sanders had suggested during a private meeting in 2018 that a woman couldn’t win the White House. Sanders denied that, and Warren refused to shake his outstretched hand after a debate in Iowa.

Leaning hard into the gender issue only saw Warren’s support sink further heading into Iowa’s leadoff caucus, however. But even as her momentum was slipping away, Warren still boasted impressive campaign infrastructure in that state and well beyond. Her army of volunteers and staffers looked so formidable that even other presidential candidates were envious.

Just before Iowa, her campaign released a memo detailing its 1,000-plus staffers nationwide and pledging a long-haul strategy that would lead to victories in the primary and the general election. Bracing for a poor finish in New Hampshire, her campaign issued another memo again urging supporters to stay focus on the long game but also expressly spelling out the weaknesses of Sanders, Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in ways the senator herself rarely did.

Warren got a foil for all of her opposition to powerful billionaires when former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg entered the race. During a debate in Las Vegas just before Nevada’s caucus, Warren hammered Bloomberg and the mayor’s lackluster response touched off events that ended with him leaving the race on Wednesday.

For Warren, That led to a sharp rise in fundraising, but didn’t translate to electoral success. She tried to stress her ability to unite the fractured Democratic party, but that message fell flat.

By South Carolina, an outside political group began pouring more than $11 million into TV advertising on Warren’s behalf, forcing her to say that, although she rejected super PACs, she’d accept their help as long as other candidates did. Her campaign shifted strategy again, saying it was betting on a contested convention.

Still the longer Warren stayed in the race, the more questions she faced about why she was doing so with little hope of winning and she started to sound like a candidate who was slowly coming to terms with that.

I’m not somebody who has been looking at myself in the mirror since I was 12 years old saying, You should run for president,’ Warren said aboard her campaign bus on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, previewing a ceasing of campaigning that wasn’t yet official. I started running for office later than anyone who is in this, so it was never about the office it was about what we could do to repair our economy, what we could do to mend a democracy that’s being pulled apart. That’s what I want to see happen, and I just want to see it happen.

She vowed to fight on saying, “I cannot say, for all those little girls, this got hard and I quit. My job is to persist.

But even that seemed impossible after a Super Tuesday drubbing that included her home state.

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FIFA 18 Closed Beta: Find out how to Get An Invite For FIFA 18 Beta Testing?

EA Sports activities only chooses essentially the most lively followers for specific sport modes to be of their beta testing part. Taking part in a whole lot of time in the identical mode could end in you in getting invited to FIFA 18 closed beta. Don't forget to get online every time you play FIFA trigger that is how EA tracks whether or not you might be eligible or not. Also, your area the place you are from also matters to EA Sports FIFA 18 Development Team. They are in search of a various group of people from completely different part of the world to participate in the beta testing. Mustn't have unhealthy relations with EA Assist or boards. Go to EA's contact preference web page and select the choice to receive emails from EA Sports about EA information, products, occasions, and promotions. Consistently play FUT and compete in FUT championship. Get into FUT DIV 1 and stay there. If you adored this article therefore you would like to get more info pertaining to fifa 18 soundtrack nicely visit the internet site. What Happens After Registration? After FIFA 18 Closed Beta registration, you'll receive an affirmation e-mail. For those who get the approval, you will be requested to download the FIFA 18 beta content as soon as it is launched (Round Aug). After beta testing, you are alleged to drop your feedback and feedback on EA Sports activities FIFA Forums. We are going to replace the newest FIFA 18 Closed Beta news in here. FIFA 18 news, not solely provide the useful FIFA 18 Guides and News, additionally supply a budget FIFA 18 Coins PS4, XBOX ONE and Computer for FIFA 18 Final Staff.

With relatively few guidelines, soccer is a straightforward sport to grasp and respect. Soccer giant Pele dubbed it "The beautiful Recreation," and billions of supporters and viewers worldwide seem to agree. It's the world's most popular sport; one that inflames passions like no other. The foundations of soccer are fairly easy and comparatively few in number, particularly when compared to among the American sports leagues like the Nationwide Soccer League and Major League Baseball. The plain goal of the game is to score a goal by propelling it into the opponent's purpose without utilizing the palms or arms. Do this more usually than the other staff and also you win the match. Each group consists of eleven gamers, one in every of them being the goalkeeper, who's the one member of the group allowed to use his fingers on the field of play. Ahead of the goalkeeper is a row of three or four gamers generally known as defenders. In many circumstances an absence of concentration can be attributed to boredom since the task at hand is not being perceived as a precedence. Surprisingly Tottenham Hotspur ar sixth placed within the Premier League with forwards WHO ar incapable of analysis. Few of us in our spare time get online and keep on the lookout for a wide range of online stuff whether it is for leisure or for buying or is perhaps even studying some interesting article or blog. People shall be glad to have new personalized Kaufen FIFA 15 account with coins on the site. FIFA 17 this generator will produce limitless coins in accordance together with your wishes. The Motley Fool owns shares of GameStop. However that's not true! There are various sorts of purchase Nostalrius gold adults can find happy from sports FIFA 18 to navy game. Since FIFA sixteen is coming what we would like from FIFA 16 career mode are enhancements.. There are quite a few traders of those coins out there online nevertheless not all of them are genuine. It is best to know that I used to spend a lot cash on FIFA thirteen. The quick and environment friendly delivery system maintained by the company ensures that clients their FIFA coins as soon as potential without any delays or hassles. The perfect promoting EA Sports sequence is the FIFA sequence with over 1.. Get the very best working FIFA Cellular Soccer Hack to get FREE COINS and FIFA Factors! It now provides discounted booking for airfareshttp://f14ccom.page.tl/scififacom-%A0site%A0%A0news%A0%26%A0guides.htm? Strive a demo earlier than purchasing a recreation.

Spain and Italy were placed in the same qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as had been the Netherlands and France, but holders Germany had been handed a kinder campaign with the Czech Republic their chief rivals. FIFA has passed a decision offering full support for holding the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA President Sepp Blatter mentioned at a gathering with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. In May, when the FIFA scandal broke, Putin harshly criticised the US investigation into FIFA as meddling in matters that have been outside its jurisdiction. On Saturday Putin also pledged to host a World Cup where both home and overseas players and followers would really feel at residence, promising "a grandiose worldwide sporting festival". Spain, world champions in 2010, and Italy, who won the final of their 4 titles in 2006, are favourites to fill the top two slots in Group G after being paired with Albania, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein. Solely the group winners will mechanically advance to the tournament. The eight finest runners-up from nine groups will combat it out in playoffs for four other berths. Germany, who received the World Cup for the fourth time in Brazil last year, will face the Czechs, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino. Meanwhile, the winners of the Oceania World Cup qualifying group will have to play the fifth-placed South American aspect to reach the world cup following the draw for the intercontinental playoffs. In the other tie, the team which finishes fourth within the CONCACAF competitors will face the fifth-placed workforce from Asia. Both ties will be performed over two legs. Uruguay have completed fifth within the last 4 South American World Cup qualifying competitions and taken part in an intercontinental playoff each time.

In other phrases, the membership merchandise cards which might be a part of the pack will be: no less than one stadium, one ball, one badge and two kits (residence and away). All of the cards of this first pack are untradeable, which means that you cannot sell them. The Welcome Again Packs reward returning customers for their loyalty – their FUT 17 gaming exercise. In contrast to what occurred up to now, the antiquity has no impact on the welcome again packs a player receives. Most of the 12 cards in every pack will probably be gold, for which these provides assume explicit significance in the start of your club. You’ll be rewarded too with two all gamers packs, each one with 4 bronze players cards, four silver gamers cards and 4 gold players playing cards (no less than one rare). During the primary days Day by day Gifts will also be provided, so the sooner you begin the more you can win. A lot of effort has gone into the crowds and lighting, specifically, making the floodlights extra dramatic and the fans more different and outlandish. Some followers will attempt to get onto the pitch if you happen to run over to them following scoring a purpose, while others are so focused on waving their large flags that they in all probability didn’t realise a goal was scored in any respect. These actions change depending on the realm of the world you’re taking part in in, with La Bombonera, house of Boca Juniors of Buenos Aires, being distinctly more rowdy than the comparatively more mellow atmospheres of the Premier League groups. Including to that regional differentiation is a very detailed method to lighting. The sun seems at totally different angles in the sky depending on where on the Earth you’re playing and at what time, affecting shadows and the depth of gentle hitting the pitch. It sounds like a small detail, and it's, however there’s no denying that it creates a more highly effective sense of place. An try and continue that focus on replicating actuality is continued in a new system dictating participant motion and the way your controller inputs direct that movement. Essentially, players react quicker to your inputs – every of their footsteps representing a chance for you to alter direction, versus you having to depend on preset animations to start and finish. The brand new motion system works each ways in that it balances the attack and defence," says Prior. In idea, the thought is which you can change path with each footstep. Players with longer legs take bigger strides and subsequently they're more likely to take extra time to show, whereas the shorter legged likes of Messi or Griezmann are ready to cut in and out more rapidly. In consequence, realism is improved – that’s the thought.

Highlighted during EA’s 2017 EA Play occasion, thisFIFA 18 trailer teased the return of authentic player character Alex Hunter, with a lot of excessive profile soccer talking heads discussing the meteoric rise of the young footballer. With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Thomas Muller speaking about Hunter as part of the trailer, it actually seems as if gamers is not going to be tied to the British soccer leagues in this next iteration of The Journey. Nonetheless, it definitely seems as though this apparent instability about Alex Hunter’s future shouldn't be leading to optimistic acclaim from everybody, with fans and pundits sick of the speculation. The trailer itself ends with a look at some behind-the-scenes drama in Hunter’s life, so it actually means that not all is rosy for the participant, both. These eager about seeing the total trailer can accomplish that under. FIFA 18‘s returning The Journey modehad already been confirmed, however EA Sports had remained coy about precisely what gamers may expect from the second campaign. That mentioned, it’s nonetheless a long strategy to go to guantee that FIFA 18 meets the improvements we wish from the sport.

[chiquitamcclella-blog]

FIFA 18 Closed Beta: How you can Get An Invite For FIFA 18 Beta Testing?

EA Sports activities only chooses probably the most active followers for particular sport modes to be of their beta testing part. Enjoying numerous time in the same mode could lead to you in getting invited to FIFA 18 closed beta. Do not forget to get online each time you play FIFA trigger that's how EA tracks whether you might be eligible or not. Also, your region the place you are from additionally issues to EA Sports FIFA 18 Development Crew. They are looking for a diverse group of people from different part of the world to take part in the beta testing. Mustn't have unhealthy relations with EA Help or forums. Go to EA's contact desire page and select the choice to obtain emails from EA Sports activities about EA information, merchandise, occasions, and promotions. Constantly play FUT and compete in FUT championship. Get into FUT DIV 1 and keep there. What Occurs After Registration? After FIFA 18 Closed Beta registration, you'll receive an confirmation electronic mail. If you get the approval, you can be requested to obtain the FIFA 18 beta content as soon as it's launched (Round Aug). After beta testing, you're presupposed to drop your feedback and feedback on EA Sports activities FIFA Boards. We'll update the latest FIFA 18 Closed Beta information in right here. If you have any queries pertaining to wherever and how to use fifa 18 ronaldo edition (site-1215809-343-5887.strikingly.com), you can speak to us at our own web site. FIFA 18 news, not solely provide the useful FIFA 18 Guides and News, additionally supply the cheap FIFA 18 Coins PS4, XBOX ONE and Computer for FIFA 18 Ultimate Staff.

With relatively few guidelines, soccer is an easy recreation to know and respect. Soccer giant Pele dubbed it "The attractive Game," and billions of supporters and viewers worldwide seem to agree. It's the world's most popular sport; one that inflames passions like no different. The principles of soccer are quite simple and comparatively few in number, particularly when compared to a number of the American sports leagues just like the National Football League and Major League Baseball. The plain objective of the game is to score a objective by propelling it into the opponent's goal with out using the fingers or arms. Do that extra typically than the opposite crew and also you win the match. Every group consists of eleven gamers, one in all them being the goalkeeper, who's the one member of the crew allowed to make use of his arms on the sphere of play. Ahead of the goalkeeper is a row of 3 or four players generally known as defenders. In lots of instances a lack of focus could be attributed to boredom since the duty at hand isn't being perceived as a precedence. Surprisingly Tottenham Hotspur ar sixth positioned within the Premier League with forwards WHO ar incapable of analysis. Few of us in our spare time get online and keep on the lookout for quite a lot of online stuff whether or not it is for leisure or for procuring or may be even studying some interesting article or blog. Folks shall be glad to have new customized Kaufen FIFA 15 account with coins on the site. FIFA 17 this generator will produce limitless coins in accordance together with your needs. The Motley Fool owns shares of GameStop. However that is not true! There are various kinds of buy Nostalrius gold adults can find comfortable from sports activities FIFA 18 to army sport. Since FIFA 16 is coming what we wish from FIFA sixteen profession mode are improvements.. There are quite a few traders of these coins accessible on-line however not all of them are genuine. It is best to know that I used to spend a lot cash on FIFA 13. The short and environment friendly delivery system maintained by the corporate ensures that clients their FIFA coins as quickly as attainable with none delays or hassles. One of the best promoting EA Sports sequence is the FIFA series with over 1.. Get the most effective working FIFA Cellular Soccer Hack to get FREE COINS and FIFA Factors! It now provides discounted booking for airfareshttp://f14ccom.web page.tl/scififacom-%A0site%A0%A0news%A0%26%A0guides.htm? Attempt a demo before purchasing a recreation.

Spain and Italy were positioned in the identical qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as were the Netherlands and France, but holders Germany were handed a kinder marketing campaign with the Czech Republic their chief rivals. FIFA has passed a decision providing full help for holding the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA President Sepp Blatter mentioned at a gathering with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. In May, when the FIFA scandal broke, Putin harshly criticised the US investigation into FIFA as meddling in matters that were exterior its jurisdiction. On Saturday Putin additionally pledged to host a World Cup the place each domestic and overseas players and fans would feel at dwelling, promising "a grandiose international sporting festival". Spain, world champions in 2010, and Italy, who received the final of their 4 titles in 2006, are favourites to fill the top two slots in Group G after being paired with Albania, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein. Solely the group winners will robotically advance to the tournament. The eight best runners-up from 9 teams will combat it out in playoffs for four different berths. Germany, who received the World Cup for the fourth time in Brazil final yr, will face the Czechs, Northern Eire, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino. Meanwhile, the winners of the Oceania World Cup qualifying group should play the fifth-placed South American side to reach the world cup following the draw for the intercontinental playoffs. In the other tie, the workforce which finishes fourth within the CONCACAF competitors will face the fifth-placed staff from Asia. Both ties can be performed over two legs. Uruguay have completed fifth within the final four South American World Cup qualifying competitions and taken part in an intercontinental playoff each time.

In different words, the membership item playing cards which shall be part of the pack will probably be: a minimum of one stadium, one ball, one badge and two kits (house and away). All of the cards of this first pack are untradeable, which signifies that you can not promote them. The Welcome Back Packs reward returning customers for his or her loyalty – their FUT 17 gaming activity. Not like what happened prior to now, the antiquity has no impact on the welcome again packs a participant receives. Most of the 12 cards in each pack can be gold, for which these offers assume particular significance in the start of your club. You’ll be rewarded too with two all gamers packs, each one with 4 bronze players cards, 4 silver gamers cards and four gold gamers cards (a minimum of one uncommon). Throughout the primary days Each day Gifts will also be supplied, so the sooner you start the more you can win. A whole lot of effort has gone into the crowds and lighting, particularly, making the floodlights more dramatic and the followers more assorted and outlandish. Some followers will attempt to get onto the pitch should you run over to them following scoring a aim, while others are so targeted on waving their large flags that they in all probability didn’t realise a aim was scored in any respect. These actions change relying on the area of the world you’re taking part in in, with La Bombonera, dwelling of Boca Juniors of Buenos Aires, being distinctly extra rowdy than the comparatively more mellow atmospheres of the Premier League teams. Adding to that regional differentiation is a really detailed method to lighting. The sun appears at totally different angles within the sky depending on the place on the Earth you’re playing and at what time, affecting shadows and the intensity of gentle hitting the pitch. It sounds like a small detail, and it's, however there’s no denying that it creates a extra highly effective sense of place. An attempt to proceed that concentrate on replicating actuality is continued in a brand new system dictating player motion and how your controller inputs direct that movement. Basically, players react faster to your inputs – each of their footsteps representing an opportunity for you to alter route, versus you having to rely on preset animations to begin and finish. The new movement system works both ways in that it balances the assault and defence," says Prior. In concept, the thought is that you can change direction with every footstep. Players with longer legs take larger strides and due to this fact they're prone to take more time to turn, whereas the shorter legged likes of Messi or Griezmann are able to chop in and out extra quickly. In consequence, realism is improved – that’s the thought.

Highlighted during EA’s 2017 EA Play occasion, thisFIFA 18 trailer teased the return of unique player character Alex Hunter, with a variety of excessive profile soccer speaking heads discussing the meteoric rise of the younger footballer. With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Thomas Muller speaking about Hunter as part of the trailer, it definitely appears as though players is not going to be tied to the British soccer leagues in this subsequent iteration of The Journey. Nonetheless, it certainly seems as though this apparent instability about Alex Hunter’s future is not leading to optimistic acclaim from everybody, with followers and pundits sick of the hypothesis. The trailer itself ends with a look at some behind-the-scenes drama in Hunter’s life, so it certainly means that not all is rosy for the player, either. These keen on seeing the complete trailer can achieve this below. FIFA 18‘s returning The Journey modehad already been confirmed, but EA Sports activities had remained coy about exactly what players may anticipate from the second marketing campaign. That mentioned, it’s nonetheless a long technique to go to make it possible for FIFA 18 meets the improvements we would like from the sport.

[globlenet-blog]

The alternative 2016 sports awards: the years best quotes, gaffes and meltdowns

https://clearwatergolfclub.com/the-alternative-2016-sports-awards-the-years-best-quotes-gaffes-and-meltdowns/

The alternative 2016 sports awards: the years best quotes, gaffes and meltdowns

Your investment medal tables: it had been another big year for sporting soap opera. The quotes, the rows and also the capybaras that made yesteryear 12 several weeks special

Star of the season

Cristiano Ronaldo won a 4th Ballon dOr, launched a variety of CR7 blankets, tossed a microphone into a lake, inspired a tantrum meme, and located the eras defining football press conference, using the press banned from asking them questions. He denied it had been his idea to possess the questions resulting from a Uefa media officer rather: I decide nothing. Also, he made an appearance to goes a magic fully-created Euro 2016 TV graphic during Portugals quarter-final. Perfect.

Ian Finch (@FinchIan)

Not only a skilful player, Ronaldo may also gob out a replay wipe #POLPOR pic.twitter.com/UC44YRv5TA

June 30, 2016

Manager of the season

Claudio Ranieri, using the edge off 2016.Hey, man, dilly-ding, dilly-dong. Seriously! Former Ranieri player Gianfranco Zola revealed the saying was attempted and tested. Hes always stated dilly-ding, dilly-dong. Hes a vibrant guy. Initially when i first heard it’ understood what he meant. He explained it a lot of occasions.

Modern footballer of the season

Lots of contenders, but two Rental property men share the title: club captain Gabby Agbonlahor, relegated on the nitrous oxide legal high 2 yrs after extending his Rental property deal because: I get that very same buzz pulling around the Rental property shirt, and team-mate Joleon Lescott, who livened up last seasons harsh run-in by tweeting a photograph of a sports car following a 6- defeat and telling the press how going lower would be a real weight off the shoulders. He left on the free in August.

Also standing his ground: Poultry midfielder Ozan Tufan upset with media critique throughout the Euros after he was caught on camera doing his hair as Croatias Luka Modric formed as much as score before him. I do not get the way a single moment by which I actually do my locks are considered an error. It damages my confidence.

Best Olympic moment

Recording the atmosphere: Nikki Hamblin and Abbey DAgostino helping one another finish Rios 5,000m after colliding mid-race. Hamblin: After I went lower it had been like: Whats happening? Why shall we be held on the floor? And all of a sudden theres this hands on my small shoulder. That girl may be the Olympic spirit, immediately.

Story from the summer time

Syrian teen Yusra Mardini winning her heat within the 100m butterfly for that Refugee Team in Rio, annually after surviving the capsize of the six-man dinghy transporting 20 refugees towards Lesbos. This is actually awesome there are plenty of tales about me now and lots of people who wish to take my picture: its assisting to spread our message. This doesn’t stop here This isn’t the finish.

Most off-message

1) US womens football star Hope Solo, reflecting on their own Rio quarter-final defeat to Norway: We performed a courageous game but we performed a lot of cowards. The very best team didn’t win, I strongly, firmly think that. They wont allow it to be far. They provided the ultimate. And 2) The uniform golfers delivering their pre-Games causes of not likely to Rio. Rory McIlroy: Though the chance of infection in the Zika virus is recognized as low, it’s a risk nevertheless. Dustin Manley: My concerns concerning the Zika virus can’t be overlooked. Jason Day: The only reason behind my decision may be the danger to future people in our family. And Vijay Singh: I must take part in the Olympic games, however the Zika virus, you realize everything crap.

Best change of direction

Originated from Sepp Blatters substitute at Fifa, Gianni Infantino calling his new pay deal evidence of its emerging anti-avarice culture. Infantino stated his modest contract 1.15m fundamental plus bonuses, vehicle, house, 1,542-a-month expenses and funding for just one-off costs for example 1,100 for any tuxedo and 660 on flowers reflects greater than any word can reflect my strong will to finish recent conduct.

Former Fifa man of the season

Most relaxed because the FBI required a grip: former Concacaf mind Jeffrey Webb, who located a Harlem Renaissance-themed blackjack party in Feb while under house arrest in the Georgia mansion he bought with fraud money. Webb, looking for sentencing next May, required the Concacaf presidency this year pledging to attract a line underneath the organisations shameful Jack Warner era: We must move the clouds, and let the sunshine in.

Interview of the season

Gary and Paul ODonovan, live on RT in August after winning Irelands first rowing gold discussing the craic, Nutella, peeing in cups, how you can row (close your vision and pull just like a dog), and just how sad they believed to stay in Rio simply because they were missing the Rio-themed parties in Skibbereen. Recently these were named RT Sport Team of the season, appeared inside a new documentary Pull Just like a Dog, were interviewed for Graham Nortons New Years Eve BBC1 show, and named as Britains most Googled Irish-related search phrase within the entire 2016. Gary: Its funny the way in which its labored out.

Best commentary moments

Icelands Euro 2016 coverage, which from Irelands Cathal Dennehy and Ronan Duggan, live streaming Aprils Irish Universities Athletics Association womens 4 x 400m dramatic relay final being an outsider billed in the depths of hell to victory. Dennehy accepted later hed achieved a pitch approximately your dog whistle along with a squealing pig All of us lost the brain.

Worst commentary moments

1) Canadas Olympic broadcaster CBC apologising in August after their swimming commentator known as the entire mens 200m individual medley mistaking Michael Phelps for Ryan Lochte and 2) John Virgo, confident he was off-air during BBC1s live coverage of Mark Selby and Marco Fus epic contest at snookers World Championship in April: I wanted to watch a bit of racing this afternoon. Ill be lucky to look at some fucking Match during the day. Spokesman: Hes embarrassed and apologetic.

Pundit of the season

The clip that never grows old. Skys Steve McClaren in June, together with his in-play analysis of Englands reaction to Icelands equaliser: It has been the right response from England. You simply think: Not a problem, begin anew, keep dominating, keep getting pressure around the Iceland back four the only real factor they have got may be the big boy in advance Sigurdsson, nobody Sigthorsson Oh, ohhh

Best attitude

Mike Allardyce negotiating the 400,000 top-up that ended his 67-day England reign. He guaranteed undercover reporters hed deliver their pretend clients keynote speaking, thats what Id do, Im a keynote speaker plus good value not only the keynote speech but additionally within the bar after. I do not are available in like many of them, bang, youre off. What happens I am talking about? Im likely to stand in the bar. Possess a couple of social drinks.

Best protest

Charlton and Coventry fans, staging some pot protest in October against both clubs boards by hurling hundreds of plastic pigs in the pitch. @CAFCofficial, 3.02pm: Play is stopped. Pigs on pitch. 3.03pm: (A fantasy ones).

Social networking awards

Best live tweeting: 1) Danny Willetts brother Pete, watching the Masters in April with tweets including: Without words. I once punched that kid in the head for hurting my pet rat. Now look and: Ive shared a shower having a Masters champion. His Ryder Cup online preview in September which branded US fans pudgy, filthy cretins along with a baying mob of imbeciles didnt go down so well. 2) @hastingsufc, remaining professional from the odds in October: Apologies for insufficient updates / Ive been stung with a wasp. Even game, no significant chances. 3) And Icelands @rvkgrapevine, giving one minute-by-minute evaluation of keeper Hannes Halldorssons summer time performance against Portugal. dinns breath propelled our heroic goalkeeper to swat away that weak-ass header and: Goalkeeper Such As The High cliff FACE AT DYRHOLAEY The Only Real Factor Which Will DESTROY HIM IS CENTURIES OF Seaside EROSION.

Most sincere tweet: Sunderlands Victor Anichebe, copying and pasting an excessive amount of what his PR team sent him after Octobers defeat to West Pork @VictorAnichebe: Are you able to tweet something similar to: Unbelievable support yesterday and great effort through the lads! Hard lead to take! But we go again!

Most confused: Californian Facebook user Petra Fyde, asking her buddies and family in June: At the chance of sounding stupid How come a lot of strange men within my facebook inbox saying WILL GRIGGS Burning, YOUR DEFENSE IS PETRA FYDE?????? What the heck is happening?

And also the best-crafted pledge: @Joey7Barton, 24 May: To be a Ranger would be to sense the sacred trust of upholding everything this type of name means within this shrine of football. 15 Sep: I apologise unreservedly.

Frederick Barton (@Joey7Barton)

To become a Ranger would be to sense the sacred trust of upholding everything this type of name means within this shrine of football. pic.twitter.com/nb5yTKq420

May 24, 2016

Best put-lower

Andy Murray in August, requested by John Inverdale: Youre the very first person to ever win two Olympic tennis golds, thats an remarkable task, is it not? Murray: I believe Venus and Serena have won four each. @jk_rowling: Murray just advised John Inverdale that ladies are people too.

Best analysis

One of the footballers reacting to Brexit in June: @PetrCech:It appears as though the greatest decision within the good reputation for the united states is made with different fake campaign and lies. Italys Giorgio Chiellini:The primary problem is an eventual domino effect. I do not think the straightforward United kingdom exit can alter the equilibrium from the whole European economy, besides the acid reflux everyones feeling. I believe the discontent shouldnt result in disintegration. Jermaine Pennant @pennant83: Now we’re not in Europe whats going to take place using the next euros 2018??? And Nolito: What’s Brexit? I believe its dancing. I might be wrong.

Wisest words

25 November:England coach Eddie Johnson, hailing wing Elliot Daly within the buildup for their game against Argentina: He is doing stuff you dont coach. 26 November:Daly sent off after five minutes.

Sharpest PR

Rio 2016 spokesperson Mario Andrada explaining why organisers couldnt be anticipated to simply fix the eco-friendly water within the pool overnight: Chemistry isn’t an exact science.

Best customer support

In August Englands slow over-rate against Pakistan motivated spectator Alexis Larger to tweet: I would like 10% of my money-back. Wouldnt visit football and discover it ended after 80mins. Alex Hales tweeted back: ok DM me your bank details then transferred 4.10.

Miss of the season

Italys Simone Zaza tiptoeing his way to stardom in the place against Germany in the Euros the summers single greatest non-Ronaldo meme. Among the remixes: Zaza like a seagull rubber stamping for worms, Zaza doing Olympic dressage, and Zaza inside a queue for that toilet. Zaza: Regrettably the ball went excessive. It will likely be beside me throughout my existence.

Single worst moment of 2016

Setting a dark tone for Trump, Brexit, Farage and exactly what adopted Germany coach Joachim Lws distressing televised in-trouser scratch and sniff routine in mid-June. Im sorry for this. When you’re filled with adrenaline, unexpected things happen that you simply dont see. I’ll attempt to behave differently later on.

President of the season

Palermos 74-year-old owner Maurizio Zamparini entered 2016 searching to place his coach-eater image to sleep. Heres the way it unfolded:

10 Jan: Zamparini denies hes already feeling twitchy about his new coach Davide Ballardini. I won’t sack him, despite the fact that I possibly could. 11 Jan: Sacks him and hires Guillermo Barros Schelotto. 11 February:Finds out Schelotto hasn’t got his badges and hires Giovanni Bosi rather. 15 February: Sacks Bosi and rehires Giuseppe Iachini, who he sacked in November. 8 Marly:Calls Iachini a fool that has gone mad and replaces him with Walter Novellino. 12 Apr:Sacks Novellino, rehires Ballardini. People say Ive gone mad, but Im the victim here. 6 Sep: Hires Roberto de Zerbi after Ballardini resigns two games in to the season. 28 November:Denies he already has his doubts about De Zerbi. I’ll keep him. That’s my decision. 30 November: Sacks De Zerbi to be pitiful and hires Eugenio Corini to determine out a hard year. Why Corini? There wasnt much on the market.

Most British moment

In April West Indies needed an unlikely 19 in the final to win the planet T20 and Englands Ben Stokes was the person using the ball in the hands to shut the result. Four balls and 4 Carlos Brathwaite sixes later, it had been over. I send Ben commiserations, stated Brathwaite. Hes a complete legend.

Most unpredicted hero

Marcus Willbomb Willis, world No775 as he stunned Wimbledon and, almost, Roger Federer sticking it to trolls who dubbed him Cartman because of his big bones. His Wimbledon run ended having a cheque for 30,000. It is the greatest pay day Ive ever endured. I’m able to repay a few charge cards now.

Chant of the season

Huh! by Iceland. Also worth a mention: tactics-minded Carlisle fans having a Peter Andre-themed message to manager Keith Curle: Woah-oh-oh-oh, Mysterious Curle, I wanna play 3-5-2.

Best falling lower

2016s best football tumbles: Brazilian players Marcelo Cordeiro and Rossi pretending to have been headbutted by each other in October (Cordeiro: Thats just existence. Thats the sport were in) Toulouse coach Pascal Dupraz feeling upset in November by critique of his response to a paper plane brushing his head: Each one of these critics, theyre so brave and Louis van Gaals Miranda Hart pratfall in Feb, because he designed a serious point.

Best Strictly contenders

a) Everton manager Roberto Martnez, filmed dancing at a Jason Derulo concert in Feb b) Mike Allardyce, spotted in Marbella in May spinning on the spot to Rihannas We Found Love and c) Alan Pardew, marking Castles FA Cup final goal by throwing dad shapes on Wembleys touchline. The 3 of these were sacked within several weeks.

Politicians of the season

Were Icelands Ministry for Foreign Matters, @MFAIceland explaining how their 23-man Euro 2016 squad chose itself by whittling lower their people in this country of 332,529.

MFA Iceland (@MFAIceland)

@pin_upicierno pic.twitter.com/ot0Mq2lsjM

June 27, 2016

Best celebration

Michail Antonios horizontal-running grass-dance in Feb after scoring for West Pork. I saw The Simpsons Movie a few days ago. I believe I pulled them back.

Least foreseeable setback

British cyclist Adam Yates, out while watching primary peloton within the Tour de France in This summer, simply to be flattened whenever a fans belt punctured an inflatable Vittel advertising arch. He still continued to win the white-colored jersey, though.

Best clarification

Skiing star Lindsey Vonn, ambassador for Mind skis and bindings, reacted to some ski detaching mid-race in Feb by posting a video of herself destroying her Mind bindings having a hammer. After talks together with her agent she clarified: It was by no means, shape or form an expression around the performance from the Mind skis and bindings. In my opinion in Mind.

Most distracted

French fencer Enzo Lefort entering the Rio Games declaring: Ive given something to arrive here. Its important to not be distracted then being booed through the crowd after his phone fell out of his pocket mid-bout.

Best pose

Roy Hodgson, recognizing themself around the giant screen as England trailed to Iceland.

Danny Bloodstream (@dannyswfc)

Whenever you place your self on the giant screen and wish individuals to think there is a plan… pic.twitter.com/YLX3Mf6kB0

June 27, 2016

Best comeback

Andy Townsend, back on ITV for that summer time: Thats as blatant a problem as youll ever see. Could it have been certainly within the box? I do not know.

Worst luck

Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne, cutting short his presentation to 200 school pupils around the risks of the web when his screen began flashing up porn. Organisers stated the pictures didn’t originate from Jarryds device Hayne: It had been awkward. Wow.

Greatest last laugh

Louise Watson obtaining the second biggest fine in Wimbledon history, 9,040, for racket smashing 1,500 greater than Viktor Troickis acceptable for ranting from the worst ever umpire on the planet. She arrived on the scene ahead, though: winning 50,000 on her mixed doubles victory.

Cheapest blow

Spare a concept for Serb rowers Milos Vasic and Nenad Bedik, who showed up in Rio feeling good after 4 years of beginning training and sank after 1,250m.

Greatest attention seekers

Headlining 12 several weeks of viral animal cameos: a) an unflustered cat supporting play at Januarys Everton v Dagenham game, then losing its poise when keeper Joel Robles shooed it b) a squirrel doing the same at Marchs third T20 between Nigeria and Australia (@samuelfez: Watson in to the attack. Zampa at square leg. Maxwell gully. Squirrel deep point #SAvAUS) c) 20 mongooses storming a green during Novembers European Tours Nedbank Golf Challenge in Nigeria

and d) two pitch-invading dogs one sparking an earlier tea in Novembers second India v England Test, another chasing Gois left-back Juninho throughout a Brazilian Serie B game. Juninho stated he ran since you cant tell with dogs locals told RBS TV the stray, Zulu, is simply soppy If he sees a ball, he goes chasing. Not one of them outshone time top sporting animal, though: Brazils hefty and nonplussed golf course capybaras. Australia captain Ian Baker-Finch: That bloody factor is big. Have you ever seen it? Its half wombat, half dog. US player Matt Kuchar: Its just like a moosehead on the gigantic rat. US director Andy Levinson: It appears as though your dog. A just like a dog-pig.

Plus special mention for: Lorenzo the horse, dancing to Smooth by Santana in Rios individual dressage.

Most thorough

These warning notices stuck over the toilets in Rios Olympic Village, banning a variety of unlicensed toilet activities. US basketball star Elena Delle Donne: Guess I will not be toilet fishing today.

Most depressing fact

For fans of the certain age: in May Burys Callum Styles grew to become the very first footballer born in 2000 to look inside a League game in November fellow millennial Moise Kean switched out for Juventus within the Champions League.

Getting people together

Wales midfielder Joe Ledley: dancing for Europe last summer time. One of the headlines: La drole de danse du Gallois and Ledley enflamme le vestiaire.

Best message

Cricketer Liam Thomas wasnt frustrated in October when his prosthetic leg came off as he dived close to the boundary while fielding for that England Physical Disability team. He jumped following the ball rather and delivered a fierce return. Should there be kids available watching who thought they couldnt take part in the game before week, he stated later, I would like these to know they are able to do anything whatsoever installed their mind to.

Most satisfactory reply

Originated from 15-year-old Wimbledon women singles champion Anastasia Potapova answering press questions regarding her existence after winning the ultimate. I do not have siblings or siblings but I’ve got a duck, Vita. Shes small.

Best swagger

Haitian hurdler Jeffrey Julmis the undisputed star from the 110m hurdles in Rio. Within the selection before his race he gave your camera some textbook Usain Bolt-style attitude, then went mind over heels in the first hurdle.

Most uplifting

Showing the planet isnt totally damaged: Barcelonas under-14s side, lightly consoling their tearful Japanese rivals after beating them within the final of Augusts Junior Soccer World Challenge a mixture of hugs and pep talks.

Plus: most offended

Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita upset by reports in August that hed knocked the bar off with his penis. Irrrve never expected the foreign media to consider me lower such as this. Its false, and i’m devastated they mock and ridicule me a lot. He later tweeted: Watching again, this really is pretty funny, basically let them know myself. LOL.

Find out more: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/01/alternative-2016-sports-awards-quotes-gaffes-meltdowns

[politicoscope]

Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/pervez-musharraf-biography-and-profile/

Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile

Pervez Musharraf was born in Delhi in August 11, 1943. His family emigrated to Pakistan during the partition of the Indian sub-continent. His rise through the ranks came despite the fact that he does not belong to the predominantly Punjabi officer class of the Pakistani army – but to an Urdu-speaking family in Karachi. He began his military career in 1964.

Early on, he reportedly commanded artillery and infantry brigades before going on to lead various commando units. He reportedly underwent two spells of military training in the UK and was appointed director-general of military operations by the now-exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, before taking full charge of the armed forces.

Who is Pervez Musharraf?

General Musharraf rose to the top job in 1998 when Pakistan’s powerful army chief, General Jehangir Karamat, resigned two days after calling for the army to be given a key role in the country’s decision-making process.

It was the first time an army chief of staff has ever stepped down and many observers took it as a sign that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political power had become strong enough to secure the long-term future of civilian administrations.

Some independent commentators suggested that General Musharraf’s promotion came precisely because he did not belong to the Punjabi officer class. They say the Prime Minister believed that Musharraf’s ethnic background would leave the general unable to build a powerbase.

Kashmir Crisis During the Kashmir crisis in 1998, General Musharraf was regularly seen briefing the media and making appearances on state television. But while he said that Pakistan-backed militants were preventing Indian gains, he and other senior generals were reportedly increasingly angry at the prime minister’s attempts to find a diplomatic way out of the crisis.

Mr Sharif’s moves led to speculation that the military did not have the full political backing of the government and he eventually ordered a full withdrawal. General Musharraf was the first senior figure to acknowledge that Pakistani troops had entered the Indian-administered sector during the fighting.

Previously, Pakistan had said that the forces had all been Islamic militants determined to take territory from the other side of the Line of Control. Following the order to withdraw, Gen Musharraf told the BBC that the crisis had been a “great success” for Pakistan.

In contrast, India’s ruling BJP party sought to make electoral capital out of what it saw as a great military victory.

While being credited as one of the principal strategists behind the Kashmir crisis, General Musharraf also made clear he did not oppose efforts to ease tension with India. But any hopes that his takeover in a coup might herald a stabilisation in ties with India – or even a new start – appeared displaced in the first 20 months of his rule.

Tension on the sub-continent initially increased markedly – with both sides adopting hostile positions. The hijack of an Indian Airlines plane to Afghanistan in 1999 – which India blamed on Pakistani-backed groups – and a rising tide of violence in Kashmir plunged relations to a new low.

In July 2001, General Musharraf held his first summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at Agra – but failed to make much headway in the Kashmir dispute. Before going to India, he had named himself president in a bid to consolidate his grip on power.

General Musharraf has also firmly resisted outside pressure to move quickly to restore civilian rule. After the coup he suspended the national assembly. He has said there can be no question of elections until October 2002 – the deadline set by Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

Pervez Musharraf Quick Facts

Personal:

Birth date: August 11, 1943

Birth place: New Delhi, India

Birth name: Pervez Musharraf

Father: Syed Musharraf Uddin, career diplomat

Mother: Begum Zarin Musharraf

Marriage: Sehba Musharraf (December 1968-present)

Children: Ayla (daughter); Bilal (son)

Education: Pakistan Military Academy, 1961; Military Academy of Kakul, 1964

Religion: Muslim

Timeline:

1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi.

1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara.

1964 – Is commissioned second lieutenant in an artillery regiment in the Pakistani Army.

1965 – Is awarded Imtiazi Sanad (medal) for gallantry during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

1971 – Is a company commander in a commando battalion during the India-Pakistan war.

1991 – Is promoted to major general.

October 7, 1998 – Is appointed chief of army staff with the rank of general.

April 9, 1999 – Is appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

October 12, 1999 – Leads a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and becomes head of government. Sharif had fired Musharraf after the army’s failed invasion in Kargil, in Indian-held Kashmir.

June 20, 2001 – Appoints himself president of Pakistan while remaining the head of the army.

April 30, 2002 – A referendum is held on whether Musharraf will hold office for another five years; it passes by a wide margin.

August 2002 – Implements 29 amendments to the constitution, granting himself the power to dissolve parliament and remove the prime minister.

December 14 and 25, 2003 – Two assassination attempts on Musharraf’s life fail.

January 1, 2004 – A vote of confidence in parliament allows Musharraf to remain in power until 2007. He gains the two-thirds of votes in parliament that he needs by promising to step down as head of the army at the end of 2004.

September 25, 2006 – Musharraf releases his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire.”

October 6, 2007 – An unofficial vote count indicates Musharraf has won by a landslide in a presidential election. A number of parliamentarians boycotted the vote in both houses.

November 3, 2007 – President Musharraf declares a state of emergency in Pakistan. He suspends the country’s constitution, postpones January 2008 elections, and imposes restrictions on the media. Government authorities arrest 1,500 people who protest the state of emergency.

November 28, 2007 – Steps down as leader of Pakistan’s army, the day before he is scheduled to be sworn in as president.

November 29, 2007 – Takes the presidential oath of office for the third time.

December 15, 2007 – The state of emergency is lifted.

February 18, 2008 – In parliamentary elections, Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, finishes third in voting, behind the PPP, party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

August 18, 2008 – Announces his resignation as president of Pakistan.

July 22, 2008 – Pakistan Supreme Court issues notice that Musharraf is to defend himself on charges of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule on November 3, 2007.

July 31, 2009 – The Pakistan Supreme Court rules that Musharraf did violate the constitution on – November 3, 2007. The court gives him seven days to appear and defend himself.

August 6, 2009 – Refuses to answer the charges against him and flees Pakistan for Great Britain.

August 11, 2009 – Pakistani officials announce that Musharraf faces arrest if he returns to Pakistan.

March 16, 2010 – Opposes US President Barack Obama’s plan for US troops to pull out of Afghanistan by July 2011. He believes the troops should stay until the Taliban is defeated.

May 21, 2010 – Musharraf announces on CNN that he plans to re-enter Pakistan politics.

October 1, 2010 – Launches a new political party, the “All Pakistan Muslim League.”

February 12, 2011 – A warrant for Musharraf’s arrest is issued by a Pakistani court, in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

May 24, 2011 – In an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Musharraf condemns the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He says, “No country has a right to intrude into any other country… Actually, technically, if you see it legally, it’s an act of war.”

January 8, 2012 – Musharraf pledges to return to his country later in the month, despite word from authorities that he will be arrested in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto when he does so.

January 27, 2012 – A senior leader in Musharraf’s party says that Musharraf has postponed his return from exile until the political situation in Pakistan and the court cases against him are resolved.

July 25, 2012 – Vows in an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight to return to Pakistan even though his life may be at risk. “I believe that there always is a time that comes when there’s a cause bigger than self. And this is the situation in Pakistan.”

March 16, 2013 – Musharraf announces his plans to return to Pakistan to lead his party in the upcoming elections.

March 23, 2013 – The Pakistani Taliban says that it will assassinate Musharraf if he returns to the country.

March 24, 2013 – Musharraf returns to Pakistan after four years in exile. He is granted bail in advance of his arrival in Pakistan, so he is not arrested upon return.

April 18, 2013 – A Pakistani court rejects Musharraf’s request for a bail extension and orders his arrest in a case he is facing over the detention of judges in 2007. Pakistani media reports that Musharraf has been placed under house arrest.

August 20, 2013 – A Pakistani court indicts Musharraf, charging him with murder in the death of the country’s first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

March 31, 2014 – A Special Court in Pakistan charges Musharraf with high treason — a crime that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.

April 3, 2014 – A bomb detonates a few minutes after Musharraf’s convoy passes through an intersection in Islamabad as he is being transported home from a military hospital. Pakistani police say it is an assassination attempt against Musharraf. No one is injured.

January 18, 2016 – Musharraf and two other former officials are acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader.

February 11, 2016 – After experiencing breathlessness, Musharraf is rushed to Pakistan Navy Ship Shifa Hospital to undergo testing. He receives treatment in an intensive care unit for complications related to a heart condition, according to his spokeswoman.

March 16, 2016 – Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifts a travel ban on Musharraf allowing him to leave the country while he awaits trial for treason. Two days later Musharraf leaves Pakistan in order to seek medical treatment in Dubai.

August 31, 2017 – A court in Pakistan names Musharraf a fugitive from justice in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.Pervez Musharraf was born in Delhi in August 11, 1943. 1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi. 1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara. Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile.1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi.

1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara.

1964 – Is commissioned second lieutenant in an artillery regiment in the Pakistani Army.

1965 – Is awarded Imtiazi Sanad (medal) for gallantry during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

1971 – Is a company commander in a commando battalion during the India-Pakistan war.

1991 – Is promoted to major general.

October 7, 1998 – Is appointed chief of army staff with the rank of general.

April 9, 1999 – Is appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

October 12, 1999 – Leads a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and becomes head of government. Sharif had fired Musharraf after the army’s failed invasion in Kargil, in Indian-held Kashmir.

June 20, 2001 – Appoints himself president of Pakistan while remaining the head of the army.

April 30, 2002 – A referendum is held on whether Musharraf will hold office for another five years; it passes by a wide margin.

August 2002 – Implements 29 amendments to the constitution, granting himself the power to dissolve parliament and remove the prime minister.

December 14 and 25, 2003 – Two assassination attempts on Musharraf’s life fail.

January 1, 2004 – A vote of confidence in parliament allows Musharraf to remain in power until 2007. He gains the two-thirds of votes in parliament that he needs by promising to step down as head of the army at the end of 2004.

September 25, 2006 – Musharraf releases his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire.”

October 6, 2007 – An unofficial vote count indicates Musharraf has won by a landslide in a presidential election. A number of parliamentarians boycotted the vote in both houses.

November 3, 2007 – President Musharraf declares a state of emergency in Pakistan. He suspends the country’s constitution, postpones January 2008 elections, and imposes restrictions on the media. Government authorities arrest 1,500 people who protest the state of emergency.

November 28, 2007 – Steps down as leader of Pakistan’s army, the day before he is scheduled to be sworn in as president.

November 29, 2007 – Takes the presidential oath of office for the third time.

December 15, 2007 – The state of emergency is lifted.

February 18, 2008 – In parliamentary elections, Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, finishes third in voting, behind the PPP, party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

August 18, 2008 – Announces his resignation as president of Pakistan.

July 22, 2008 – Pakistan Supreme Court issues notice that Musharraf is to defend himself on charges of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule on November 3, 2007.

July 31, 2009 – The Pakistan Supreme Court rules that Musharraf did violate the constitution on – November 3, 2007. The court gives him seven days to appear and defend himself.

August 6, 2009 – Refuses to answer the charges against him and flees Pakistan for Great Britain.

August 11, 2009 – Pakistani officials announce that Musharraf faces arrest if he returns to Pakistan.

March 16, 2010 – Opposes US President Barack Obama’s plan for US troops to pull out of Afghanistan by July 2011. He believes the troops should stay until the Taliban is defeated.

May 21, 2010 – Musharraf announces on CNN that he plans to re-enter Pakistan politics.

October 1, 2010 – Launches a new political party, the “All Pakistan Muslim League.”

February 12, 2011 – A warrant for Musharraf’s arrest is issued by a Pakistani court, in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

May 24, 2011 – In an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Musharraf condemns the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He says, “No country has a right to intrude into any other country… Actually, technically, if you see it legally, it’s an act of war.”

January 8, 2012 – Musharraf pledges to return to his country later in the month, despite word from authorities that he will be arrested in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto when he does so.

January 27, 2012 – A senior leader in Musharraf’s party says that Musharraf has postponed his return from exile until the political situation in Pakistan and the court cases against him are resolved.

July 25, 2012 – Vows in an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight to return to Pakistan even though his life may be at risk. “I believe that there always is a time that comes when there’s a cause bigger than self. And this is the situation in Pakistan.”

March 16, 2013 – Musharraf announces his plans to return to Pakistan to lead his party in the upcoming elections.

March 23, 2013 – The Pakistani Taliban says that it will assassinate Musharraf if he returns to the country.

March 24, 2013 – Musharraf returns to Pakistan after four years in exile. He is granted bail in advance of his arrival in Pakistan, so he is not arrested upon return.

April 18, 2013 – A Pakistani court rejects Musharraf’s request for a bail extension and orders his arrest in a case he is facing over the detention of judges in 2007. Pakistani media reports that Musharraf has been placed under house arrest.

August 20, 2013 – A Pakistani court indicts Musharraf, charging him with murder in the death of the country’s first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

March 31, 2014 – A Special Court in Pakistan charges Musharraf with high treason — a crime that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.

April 3, 2014 – A bomb detonates a few minutes after Musharraf’s convoy passes through an intersection in Islamabad as he is being transported home from a military hospital. Pakistani police say it is an assassination attempt against Musharraf. No one is injured.

January 18, 2016 – Musharraf and two other former officials are acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader.

February 11, 2016 – After experiencing breathlessness, Musharraf is rushed to Pakistan Navy Ship Shifa Hospital to undergo testing. He receives treatment in an intensive care unit for complications related to a heart condition, according to his spokeswoman.

March 16, 2016 – Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifts a travel ban on Musharraf allowing him to leave the country while he awaits trial for treason. Two days later Musharraf leaves Pakistan in order to seek medical treatment in Dubai.

August 31, 2017 – A court in Pakistan names Musharraf a fugitive from justice in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.

Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile

[politicoscope]

Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/pervez-musharraf-biography-and-profile/

Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile

Pervez Musharraf was born in Delhi in August 11, 1943. His family emigrated to Pakistan during the partition of the Indian sub-continent. His rise through the ranks came despite the fact that he does not belong to the predominantly Punjabi officer class of the Pakistani army – but to an Urdu-speaking family in Karachi. He began his military career in 1964.

Early on, he reportedly commanded artillery and infantry brigades before going on to lead various commando units. He reportedly underwent two spells of military training in the UK and was appointed director-general of military operations by the now-exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, before taking full charge of the armed forces.

Who is Pervez Musharraf?

General Musharraf rose to the top job in 1998 when Pakistan’s powerful army chief, General Jehangir Karamat, resigned two days after calling for the army to be given a key role in the country’s decision-making process.

It was the first time an army chief of staff has ever stepped down and many observers took it as a sign that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political power had become strong enough to secure the long-term future of civilian administrations.

Some independent commentators suggested that General Musharraf’s promotion came precisely because he did not belong to the Punjabi officer class. They say the Prime Minister believed that Musharraf’s ethnic background would leave the general unable to build a powerbase.

Kashmir Crisis During the Kashmir crisis in 1998, General Musharraf was regularly seen briefing the media and making appearances on state television. But while he said that Pakistan-backed militants were preventing Indian gains, he and other senior generals were reportedly increasingly angry at the prime minister’s attempts to find a diplomatic way out of the crisis.

Mr Sharif’s moves led to speculation that the military did not have the full political backing of the government and he eventually ordered a full withdrawal. General Musharraf was the first senior figure to acknowledge that Pakistani troops had entered the Indian-administered sector during the fighting.

Previously, Pakistan had said that the forces had all been Islamic militants determined to take territory from the other side of the Line of Control. Following the order to withdraw, Gen Musharraf told the BBC that the crisis had been a “great success” for Pakistan.

In contrast, India’s ruling BJP party sought to make electoral capital out of what it saw as a great military victory.

While being credited as one of the principal strategists behind the Kashmir crisis, General Musharraf also made clear he did not oppose efforts to ease tension with India. But any hopes that his takeover in a coup might herald a stabilisation in ties with India – or even a new start – appeared displaced in the first 20 months of his rule.

Tension on the sub-continent initially increased markedly – with both sides adopting hostile positions. The hijack of an Indian Airlines plane to Afghanistan in 1999 – which India blamed on Pakistani-backed groups – and a rising tide of violence in Kashmir plunged relations to a new low.

In July 2001, General Musharraf held his first summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at Agra – but failed to make much headway in the Kashmir dispute. Before going to India, he had named himself president in a bid to consolidate his grip on power.

General Musharraf has also firmly resisted outside pressure to move quickly to restore civilian rule. After the coup he suspended the national assembly. He has said there can be no question of elections until October 2002 – the deadline set by Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

Pervez Musharraf Quick Facts

Personal:

Birth date: August 11, 1943

Birth place: New Delhi, India

Birth name: Pervez Musharraf

Father: Syed Musharraf Uddin, career diplomat

Mother: Begum Zarin Musharraf

Marriage: Sehba Musharraf (December 1968-present)

Children: Ayla (daughter); Bilal (son)

Education: Pakistan Military Academy, 1961; Military Academy of Kakul, 1964

Religion: Muslim

Timeline:

1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi.

1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara.

1964 – Is commissioned second lieutenant in an artillery regiment in the Pakistani Army.

1965 – Is awarded Imtiazi Sanad (medal) for gallantry during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

1971 – Is a company commander in a commando battalion during the India-Pakistan war.

1991 – Is promoted to major general.

October 7, 1998 – Is appointed chief of army staff with the rank of general.

April 9, 1999 – Is appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

October 12, 1999 – Leads a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and becomes head of government. Sharif had fired Musharraf after the army’s failed invasion in Kargil, in Indian-held Kashmir.

June 20, 2001 – Appoints himself president of Pakistan while remaining the head of the army.

April 30, 2002 – A referendum is held on whether Musharraf will hold office for another five years; it passes by a wide margin.

August 2002 – Implements 29 amendments to the constitution, granting himself the power to dissolve parliament and remove the prime minister.

December 14 and 25, 2003 – Two assassination attempts on Musharraf’s life fail.

January 1, 2004 – A vote of confidence in parliament allows Musharraf to remain in power until 2007. He gains the two-thirds of votes in parliament that he needs by promising to step down as head of the army at the end of 2004.

September 25, 2006 – Musharraf releases his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire.”

October 6, 2007 – An unofficial vote count indicates Musharraf has won by a landslide in a presidential election. A number of parliamentarians boycotted the vote in both houses.

November 3, 2007 – President Musharraf declares a state of emergency in Pakistan. He suspends the country’s constitution, postpones January 2008 elections, and imposes restrictions on the media. Government authorities arrest 1,500 people who protest the state of emergency.

November 28, 2007 – Steps down as leader of Pakistan’s army, the day before he is scheduled to be sworn in as president.

November 29, 2007 – Takes the presidential oath of office for the third time.

December 15, 2007 – The state of emergency is lifted.

February 18, 2008 – In parliamentary elections, Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, finishes third in voting, behind the PPP, party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

August 18, 2008 – Announces his resignation as president of Pakistan.

July 22, 2008 – Pakistan Supreme Court issues notice that Musharraf is to defend himself on charges of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule on November 3, 2007.

July 31, 2009 – The Pakistan Supreme Court rules that Musharraf did violate the constitution on – November 3, 2007. The court gives him seven days to appear and defend himself.

August 6, 2009 – Refuses to answer the charges against him and flees Pakistan for Great Britain.

August 11, 2009 – Pakistani officials announce that Musharraf faces arrest if he returns to Pakistan.

March 16, 2010 – Opposes US President Barack Obama’s plan for US troops to pull out of Afghanistan by July 2011. He believes the troops should stay until the Taliban is defeated.

May 21, 2010 – Musharraf announces on CNN that he plans to re-enter Pakistan politics.

October 1, 2010 – Launches a new political party, the “All Pakistan Muslim League.”

February 12, 2011 – A warrant for Musharraf’s arrest is issued by a Pakistani court, in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

May 24, 2011 – In an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Musharraf condemns the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He says, “No country has a right to intrude into any other country… Actually, technically, if you see it legally, it’s an act of war.”

January 8, 2012 – Musharraf pledges to return to his country later in the month, despite word from authorities that he will be arrested in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto when he does so.

January 27, 2012 – A senior leader in Musharraf’s party says that Musharraf has postponed his return from exile until the political situation in Pakistan and the court cases against him are resolved.

July 25, 2012 – Vows in an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight to return to Pakistan even though his life may be at risk. “I believe that there always is a time that comes when there’s a cause bigger than self. And this is the situation in Pakistan.”

March 16, 2013 – Musharraf announces his plans to return to Pakistan to lead his party in the upcoming elections.

March 23, 2013 – The Pakistani Taliban says that it will assassinate Musharraf if he returns to the country.

March 24, 2013 – Musharraf returns to Pakistan after four years in exile. He is granted bail in advance of his arrival in Pakistan, so he is not arrested upon return.

April 18, 2013 – A Pakistani court rejects Musharraf’s request for a bail extension and orders his arrest in a case he is facing over the detention of judges in 2007. Pakistani media reports that Musharraf has been placed under house arrest.

August 20, 2013 – A Pakistani court indicts Musharraf, charging him with murder in the death of the country’s first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

March 31, 2014 – A Special Court in Pakistan charges Musharraf with high treason — a crime that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.

April 3, 2014 – A bomb detonates a few minutes after Musharraf’s convoy passes through an intersection in Islamabad as he is being transported home from a military hospital. Pakistani police say it is an assassination attempt against Musharraf. No one is injured.

January 18, 2016 – Musharraf and two other former officials are acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader.

February 11, 2016 – After experiencing breathlessness, Musharraf is rushed to Pakistan Navy Ship Shifa Hospital to undergo testing. He receives treatment in an intensive care unit for complications related to a heart condition, according to his spokeswoman.

March 16, 2016 – Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifts a travel ban on Musharraf allowing him to leave the country while he awaits trial for treason. Two days later Musharraf leaves Pakistan in order to seek medical treatment in Dubai.

August 31, 2017 – A court in Pakistan names Musharraf a fugitive from justice in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.Pervez Musharraf was born in Delhi in August 11, 1943. 1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi. 1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara. Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile.1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi.

1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara.

1964 – Is commissioned second lieutenant in an artillery regiment in the Pakistani Army.

1965 – Is awarded Imtiazi Sanad (medal) for gallantry during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

1971 – Is a company commander in a commando battalion during the India-Pakistan war.

1991 – Is promoted to major general.

October 7, 1998 – Is appointed chief of army staff with the rank of general.

April 9, 1999 – Is appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

October 12, 1999 – Leads a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and becomes head of government. Sharif had fired Musharraf after the army’s failed invasion in Kargil, in Indian-held Kashmir.

June 20, 2001 – Appoints himself president of Pakistan while remaining the head of the army.

April 30, 2002 – A referendum is held on whether Musharraf will hold office for another five years; it passes by a wide margin.

August 2002 – Implements 29 amendments to the constitution, granting himself the power to dissolve parliament and remove the prime minister.

December 14 and 25, 2003 – Two assassination attempts on Musharraf’s life fail.

January 1, 2004 – A vote of confidence in parliament allows Musharraf to remain in power until 2007. He gains the two-thirds of votes in parliament that he needs by promising to step down as head of the army at the end of 2004.

September 25, 2006 – Musharraf releases his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire.”

October 6, 2007 – An unofficial vote count indicates Musharraf has won by a landslide in a presidential election. A number of parliamentarians boycotted the vote in both houses.

November 3, 2007 – President Musharraf declares a state of emergency in Pakistan. He suspends the country’s constitution, postpones January 2008 elections, and imposes restrictions on the media. Government authorities arrest 1,500 people who protest the state of emergency.

November 28, 2007 – Steps down as leader of Pakistan’s army, the day before he is scheduled to be sworn in as president.

November 29, 2007 – Takes the presidential oath of office for the third time.

December 15, 2007 – The state of emergency is lifted.

February 18, 2008 – In parliamentary elections, Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, finishes third in voting, behind the PPP, party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

August 18, 2008 – Announces his resignation as president of Pakistan.

July 22, 2008 – Pakistan Supreme Court issues notice that Musharraf is to defend himself on charges of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule on November 3, 2007.

July 31, 2009 – The Pakistan Supreme Court rules that Musharraf did violate the constitution on – November 3, 2007. The court gives him seven days to appear and defend himself.

August 6, 2009 – Refuses to answer the charges against him and flees Pakistan for Great Britain.

August 11, 2009 – Pakistani officials announce that Musharraf faces arrest if he returns to Pakistan.

March 16, 2010 – Opposes US President Barack Obama’s plan for US troops to pull out of Afghanistan by July 2011. He believes the troops should stay until the Taliban is defeated.

May 21, 2010 – Musharraf announces on CNN that he plans to re-enter Pakistan politics.

October 1, 2010 – Launches a new political party, the “All Pakistan Muslim League.”

February 12, 2011 – A warrant for Musharraf’s arrest is issued by a Pakistani court, in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

May 24, 2011 – In an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Musharraf condemns the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He says, “No country has a right to intrude into any other country… Actually, technically, if you see it legally, it’s an act of war.”

January 8, 2012 – Musharraf pledges to return to his country later in the month, despite word from authorities that he will be arrested in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto when he does so.

January 27, 2012 – A senior leader in Musharraf’s party says that Musharraf has postponed his return from exile until the political situation in Pakistan and the court cases against him are resolved.

July 25, 2012 – Vows in an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight to return to Pakistan even though his life may be at risk. “I believe that there always is a time that comes when there’s a cause bigger than self. And this is the situation in Pakistan.”

March 16, 2013 – Musharraf announces his plans to return to Pakistan to lead his party in the upcoming elections.

March 23, 2013 – The Pakistani Taliban says that it will assassinate Musharraf if he returns to the country.

March 24, 2013 – Musharraf returns to Pakistan after four years in exile. He is granted bail in advance of his arrival in Pakistan, so he is not arrested upon return.

April 18, 2013 – A Pakistani court rejects Musharraf’s request for a bail extension and orders his arrest in a case he is facing over the detention of judges in 2007. Pakistani media reports that Musharraf has been placed under house arrest.

August 20, 2013 – A Pakistani court indicts Musharraf, charging him with murder in the death of the country’s first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

March 31, 2014 – A Special Court in Pakistan charges Musharraf with high treason — a crime that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.

April 3, 2014 – A bomb detonates a few minutes after Musharraf’s convoy passes through an intersection in Islamabad as he is being transported home from a military hospital. Pakistani police say it is an assassination attempt against Musharraf. No one is injured.

January 18, 2016 – Musharraf and two other former officials are acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader.

February 11, 2016 – After experiencing breathlessness, Musharraf is rushed to Pakistan Navy Ship Shifa Hospital to undergo testing. He receives treatment in an intensive care unit for complications related to a heart condition, according to his spokeswoman.

March 16, 2016 – Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifts a travel ban on Musharraf allowing him to leave the country while he awaits trial for treason. Two days later Musharraf leaves Pakistan in order to seek medical treatment in Dubai.

August 31, 2017 – A court in Pakistan names Musharraf a fugitive from justice in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.

Pervez Musharraf Biography and Profile