#mark whitfield

[negrolicity]

Watch "Lizz Wright, Joey Alexander: "Throw It Away" | International Jazz Day 2022" on YouTube

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Live Nation/Ticketmaster is buying Congress

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THURSDAY (May 2) in WINNIPEG, then Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), Tartu, Estonia, and beyond!

Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. Monopolies are intrinsically destabilizing and inevitably implode…eventually. Guessing which of the loathesome monopolies that make us all miserable will be the first domino is a hard call, but Ticketmaster is definitely high on my list.

It's not that event tickets are the most consequential aspect of our lives. The monopolies over pharma, fuel, finance, tech, and even beer are all more important to our day-to-day. But while Ticketmaster – and its many ramified tentacles, like Live Nation – may not be the most destructive monopoly in our world, but it pisses off people with giant megaphones and armies of rabid fans.

It's been a minute since Ticketmaster was last in the news, so let's recap. Ticketmaster bought out most of its ticketing rivals, then merged with Live Nation, the country's largest concert promoter, and bought out many of the country's largest music, stage and sports venues. They used this iron grip on the entire supply chain for performances and events to pile innumerable junk fees on every ticket sold, while drastically eroding the wages of the creative workers they nominally represented. They created a secret secondary market for tickets and worked with ticket-touts to help them run bots that bought every ticket within an instant of the opening of ticket sales, then ran an auction marketplace that made them gigantic fees on every re-sold ticket – fees the performers were not entitled to share in.

The Ticketmaster/Live Nation/venue octopus is nearly impossible to escape. Independent venues can't book Live Nation acts unless they use Ticketmaster for their tickets. Acts can't get into the large venues owned by Ticketmaster unless they sign up to have Live Nation book their tour. And when Ticketmaster buys a venue, it creams off the most successful acts, starving competing venues of blockbuster shows. They also illegally colluded with their vendors to jack up the price of concerts across the board:

https://pascrell.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ful.pdf

When Rebecca Giblin and I were writing Chokepoint Capitalism, our book about how tech and entertainment monopolies impoverish all kinds of creative workers, we were able to get insiders to go on record about every kind of monopoly, from the labels to Spotify, Kindle to the Big Five publishers and the Google-Meta ad-tech duopoly. The only exception was Ticketmaster/Live Nation: everyone involved in live performance – performers, bookers, club owners – was palpably terrified about speaking out on the record about the conglomerate:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

No wonder. The company has a long and notorious history of using its market power to ruin anyone who challenges it. Remember Pearl Jam?

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pearl-jam-taking-on-ticketmaster-67440/

But anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. Not only is Ticketmaster a rapacious, vindictive monopolist – it's also an incompetent monopolist, whose IT systems are optimized for rent-extraction first, with ticket sales as a distant afterthought. This is bad no matter which artist it effects, but when Ticketmaster totally, utterly fucked up Taylor Swift's first post-lockdown tour, they incurred the wrath of the Swifties:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2022/11/21/23471763/taylor-swift-ticketmaster-monopoly

All of which explains why I've always given good odds that Ticketmaster would be first up against the wall come the antitrust revolution. It may not be the most destructive monopolist, but it is absurdly evil, and the people who hate it most are the most famous and beloved artists in the country.

For a while, it looked like I was right. Ticketmaster's colossal Taylor Swift fuckup prompted Senator Amy Klobuchar – a leading antitrust crusader – to hold hearings on the company's conduct, and led to the introduction of a raft of bills to rein in predatory ticketing practices. But as David Dayen writes for The American Prospect, Ticketmaster/Live Nation is spreading a fortune around on the Hill, hiring a deep bench of ex-Congressmen and ex-senior staffers (including Klobuchar's former chief of staff) and they've found a way to create the appearance of justice without having to suffer any consequences for their decades-long campaign of fraud and abuse:

https://prospect.org/power/2024-04-30-live-nation-strikes-up-band-washington/

Dayen opens his article with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is always bracketed by a week's worth of lavish parties for Congress and hill staffers. One of the fanciest of these parties was thrown by Axios – and sponsored by Live Nation, with a performance by Jelly Roll (whose touring contract is owned by Live Nation). Attendees at the Axios/Live Nation event were bombarded with messages about the essential goodness of Live Nation (they were even printed on the cocktail napkins) and exhortations to support the Fans First Act, co-sponsored by Klobuchar and Sen John Cornyn (R-TX):

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/arts/music/fans-first-act-ticket-bill.html

Ticketmaster/Live Nation loves the Fans First Act, because – unlike other bills – it focuses primarily on the secondary market for tickets, and its main measure is a requirement for ticketing companies to disclose their junk fees upfront. Neither of these represents a major challenge to Ticketmaster/Live Nation's control over the market, which gives it the ability to slash performers' wages while jacking up prices for fans.

Fans First represents the triumph of Ticketmaster/Live Nation's media strategy, which is to blame the entire problem on bottom-feeding ticket-touts (who are mostly scum!) instead of on the single monopoly that controls the entire industry and can't stop committing financial crimes.

Axios isn't Live Nation's only partner in selling this distraction tactic. Over the past five years, the company has flushed gigantic sums of money through Washington. Its lobbying spend rose from $240k in 2018 to $1.1m in 2022, and $2.38m in 2023:

https://thehill.com/business/4431886-live-nation-doubled-lobbying-spending-to-2-4m-in-2023-amid-antitrust-threat/

The company has 37 paid lobbyists selling Congress on its behalf. 25 of them are former congressional staffers. Two are former Congressmen: Ed Whitfield (R-KY), a 21 year veteran of the House, and Mark Pryor (D-AR), a two-term senator:

https://www.bhfs.com/people/attorneys/p-s/mark-pryor

But perhaps the most galling celebrant in this lavish hymn to Citizen United is Jonathan Becker, Amy Klobuchar's former chief of staff, who jumped ship to lobby Congress on behalf of monopolists like Live Nation, who paid him $120k last year to sell their story to the Hill:

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyists?cycle=2023&id=D000053134

Not everyone hates Fans First: it's been endorsed by the Nix the Tix coalition, largely on the strength of its regulation of secondary ticket sales. But the largest secondary seller in America by far is Live Nation itself, with a $4.5b market in reselling the tickets it sold in the first place. Fans First shifts focus from this sleazy self-dealing to competitors like Stubhub.

Fans First can be seen as an opening salvo in the long war against Ticketmaster/Live Nation. But compared to more muscular bills – like Klobuchar's stalled-out Unlock Ticketing Markets Act, it's pretty weaksauce. The Unlocking act will "prevent exclusive contracts between ticketing services and venues" – hitting Ticketmaster/Live Nation where it hurts, right in the bank-account:

https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/4/following-senate-judiciary-committee-hearing-klobuchar-blumenthal-introduce-legislation-to-increase-competition-in-live-event-ticketing-markets

It's not all gloom. Dayen reports that Ticketmaster's active lobbying in favor of Fans First has made many in Congress more skeptical of the bill, not less. And Congress isn't the only – or even the best – way to smash Ticketmaster's criminal empire. That's something the DoJ's antitrust division could power through with a lot less exposure to the legalized bribery that dominates Congress.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/30/nix-fix-the-tix/#something-must-be-done-there-we-did-something

Image: Matt Biddulph (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mbiddulph/13904063945/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

--

Flying Logos (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[almostpleasantrebel]

Dozens of Songs Tag Game

I was tagged by the lovely @thebiwifeonao3 for the dozens of songs tag game!!! Here’s how to play. Also I’m sorry for how much M*A*S*H is on this.

step one:

so here's the game: 12 songs you've recently listened to (include a lyric that you like maybe), 12 ships (can be solo or platonic, dw) (hard mode: from 12 fandoms???) that the songs loosely make you think of, & tag 12 people to do the same.

easy mode: do half a dozen instead idk

here's a fun idea: you could even listen to the playlist from the person who tagged you to use some/all of their song picks!!

step two:

whether you've been tagged or not, you can send an ask with the song & pairing and create a work based on the idea. And the theme of 12 is fun so could be 12 characters, words, paragraphs, chapters, anything!

profit!!! (have fun & maybe end up reading some new fic!)

Songs and ships under the read more thingy

1. XXL (LANY) — Margaret Houlihan/Lorraine Anderson, M*A*S*H

Backseat secrets we will never tell

2. Apocalypse (Cigarettes After Sex) — Margaret Houlihan/Helen Whitfield, M*A*S*H

Your lips, my lips, apocalypse

3. She Looks So Perfect (5 Seconds Of Summer) — Margaret Houlihan/Hawkeye Pierce, M*A*S*H

Your lipstick stain is a work of art

4. Only You (Yaz) — Elizabeth Corday/Anna Del Amico, ER

All I needed was the love you gave all I needed for another day and all I ever knew only you

5. At The Ballet (Kelly Bishop, Nancy Lane & Kay Cole) — Margaret Houlihan, M*A*S*H

Everything was beautiful at the ballet. Graceful men lift lovely girls in white. Yes, everything was beautiful at ballet. Hey! I was happy... at the ballet. That's why I started class... Up a steep and very narrow stairway. To the voice like a metronome. Up a steep and very narrow stairway. It wasn't paradise... It wasn't paradise... It wasn't paradise... But it was home.

6. Trouble (Kristin Hersh) — Abigail Marjorie Lockhart, ER

Trouble oh trouble can't you see you have made me a wreck now won't you leave me in my misery

7. Summer, Highland Falls (Billy Joel) — Elizabeth Corday/Mark Greene, ER

For we are always what our situations hand us

8. Miss Atomic Bomb (The Killers) — Margaret Houlihan/Trapper John McIntyre, M*A*S*H

All that I wanted was a little touch, a little tenderness and truth, I didn't ask for much, no talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time

9. Until The World Ends (Arch Tremors feat. Lollo Gardtman) — Margaret Houlihan & B.J. Hunnicutt, M*A*S*H

And you are safe with me until the world ends

10. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths) — Margaret Houlihan/Peggy Bigelow, M*A*S*H

Take me out tonight where there's music and there's people and they're young and alive driving in your car I never, never want to go home because I haven't got one anymore

11. Father and Son (Cat Stevens) — Margaret Houlihan & Alvin Houlihan, M*A*S*H

How can I try to explain? When I do he turns away again It's always been the same same old story from the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen, now there's a way and I know that I have to go away I know I have to go

12. Remember Me (Lullaby) ((Gael García Bernal, Gabriella Flores & Libertad García Fonzi)) — Henry Blake/Lorraine Blake, M*A*S*H

Remember me though I have to say goodbye remember me, don't let it make you cry for even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart

Tags: @remyfire @mercysong-tardis @cuddleswinchester @allcanonisrelative and anyone else who would like to participate

[musicmags]

[raphianna]

This scene fills me with so much serotonin. The tenseness, the cinematography, Robert being a softy. I haven’t even watched the full episode yet :P

[newssocialite]

Завершился X Международный фестиваль «Jazzовые сезоны» в музее-заповеднике «Горки Ленинские»

X Международный фестиваль «Jazzовые сезоны», который прошел в музее-заповеднике «Горки Ленинские», собрал более 16 тысяч зрителей на живых выступлениях и привлек более 1,5 млн зрителей онлайн. Фестиваль, прошедший под эгидой объединения джаза и других музыкальных стилей, отметился насыщенной и разнообразной программой. Среди участников фестиваля были Игорь Бутман с Московским джазовым оркестром,…

[realhousewives-fan]

Iconic Moments of RH 2023

A year has gone by and while we can say that there’s not much in the world to be optimistic about lately, it was a great year for Bravo at least.

After years of struggling with weak seasons and poor ratings, it looks like a lot of shows has turned the page.

If it weren’t for Bethenny Frankel’s Reality Reckoning pursuit, I would argue that it has been a very successful year for Bravo and Andy Cohen.

1. Scandoval

This list is actually reserved for Real Housewives, but how could I not include the biggest scandal and the biggest show of 2023?

Scandoval was the cursed gift that kept on giving with an incredible mountain of shocking details and lies. 

Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss became the most hated persons on social media, while Ariana Madix rose to stardom with a movie role and DWTS.

The last episode of the season gave me goosebumps, made me furious, made me emotional. It was an amazing end of a rollercoaster of a season.

2. “YOU. CAN. LEAVE!”

RHOSLC had one of the best seasons ever this year, and their trip to Palm Springs was one of the funniest episodes I’ve ever seen.

When Meredith Marks has reached her melting point, she’s done! 

Her delivery of “YOU. CAN. LEAVE!” will remain as one of the most iconic moments of RHOSLC.

3. Fuck Cancer Opera Night

Julia Lemigova’s surprise for Martina Navratilova was so entertaining, funny, and touching to me.

She wanted to surprise Martina with singing her favourite opera song for her, and Julia couldn’t sing. Her scheme become more and more elaborate as more people wanted to be a part of her surprise.

And that it was a party where they said “Fuck Cancer” was so emotional for me.

4. The RHONY Reboot Was a Success!

It wasn’t written in the cards that RHONY would survive a reboot. I don’t think people had much faith that they would make it, especially since they lost Lizzy Savetsky in the middle of filming.

But against all odds the new housewives were able to show us originality, entertainment, and excitement. Bravo’s gamble seemed to pay off!

Especially Brynn Whitfield, Jenna Lyons and Jessel Taank stood out as fan favourites, which is incredible for a basically brand-new show.

5. Mary’s Phone Call to Trixie Motel

The trip to Palm Springs was a trip even before they had left Salt Lake City.

Mary Cosby’s phone call to Trixie Motel to check what kind of wine and food they had there, cracked me up! Her facial expressions are out of this world!

6. Tribeca is Up and Coming, Right?

While I was entertained by the first episodes of the RHONY reboot, it wasn’t before the lunch with Jessel and Erin Lichy that I was hooked on Jessel.

Their lunch quickly became a classic Housewives scene. 

Jessel is the type of person who says whatever comes to her mind, and that means that she can easily offend others.

When Jessel said that the neighbourhood was up and coming, to Erin’s outrage, I knew that I was going to love her.

7. The Shrine of it All

As Potomac got themselves a new housewife named Nneka Ihim, I wasn’t completely excited.

She was introduced as Ashley Darby’s friend, and I thought: “Oh no, here we go again. Which character from Sesame Street will we get this time?”

But then Nneka had a very interesting lunch with Robyn Dixon, about Wendy Osefo and allegedly how her family had tried to prevent her from joining the show!

8. Name ‘Em!

Sutton Stracke is in rare form this season of RHOBH.

When Kyle Richards rightfully said that Sutton has lost her shit multiple times on the show, Sutton was so childish and rude with her taunting. 

“Name ‘em, name ‘em, name ‘em…” I understand why Kyle lost her temper in that moment. Sutton wanted to provoke Kyle.

9. Luis Ruelas and Bo Dietl

At the very toxic and negative reunion of RHONJ it was revealed that someone had hired a private investigator on the women, and Luis Ruelas had said that he was “good friends” with Bo Dietl.

Cue a bunch of strange phone calls to the family members of the housewives. And I believe that Luis is the root of the problems.

10. Shannon’s Hit and Run DUI

Season 17 of RHOC was one the better seasons, and in many ways, it was the unravelling of Shannon Beador’s relationship with John Janssen.

It was mentioned multiple times that Shannon might have a drinking problem, which she denied time and time again.

But after their reunion was filmed, Shannon had a dramatic hit and run DUI, to which she was sentenced to 3 years of probation and 40 hours of community service for.

[fundielicious-simblr]

Narrator: On the heels of her marrying off her last daughter, Claire had to make her obligatory facebook posts (but this will be just one cause i cba). She's married off all 4 of her daughters and that is the last wedding that she and her husband will be financially on the hook for (prayers to her brother Allan who had 8 daughters). Though she does feel a type of way considering Celeste had taken on the oldest daughter role when Valentina got married, she's so relieved that she's married and found her husband. The household will survive without her, there's only 3 kids left and one is soon to be out and in a house of his own.

Caption: "God is so good! Since they were born, Ryan and I have prayed for our daughters to marry Godly men who will lead them and the households they will create in the way of the Lord, and we are happy to say that the Lord has answered this prayer. Reid is such a fine young man, and whilst we are sad to see our last baby girl go, we are happy she's starting a new journey where the Lord has placed her. So far we're 7 kids down, 3 to go!"

"Such beautiful pictures! Congratulations to the happy couple!" - Janet Ryan - Ryan's aunt

"Congrats to the happy couple, sad we couldn’t make it but was happy to watch over the live feed." - Nancy Jackson - Family friend of the Paulsons who is in her 70s and couldn't travel for the wedding

"Congrats to the happy couple, it was an amazing wedding!" - (John &) Audrey Matthews - Congregation members of Newcrest Baptist

"It was a lovely wedding, such a Godly day." - (Mark &) Vanessa Williams - NBC congregation members

"Praise the Lord! Such a beautiful ceremony, congrats to both families." - Theresa Whitfield - family friend

[winged-wolf-s-collection-of-arts]

How's it going? Uh, it's... going.

[ID: A digital drawing of Mr. Russel, near the security checkpoint of vault 111! They're wielding a security baton and pointing at someone offscreen. A speech bubble next to him says "You can't make me put the vault suit back on!!!" He has light skin and short light brown hair. He has a grey and black baseball cap with a dog pawprint marking. He's wearing a pink checkered short sleeved shirt and slacks. They have various scars but most notably, a dog bite on his left forearm. /End ID]

It was just a suggestion, Russel!! (oh well, it's your problem if you get radiation damage...)

[ID: A digital drawing of Melissa Able and Claudia Whitfield, in front of a monitoring terminal! Melissa's reading a terminal entry and her arms are crossed. She has short dark brown hair that's slightly wavy. and medium toned skin. She's wearing a vault suit, and has a turquoise shirt with red flowers on it tied around her neck like a cape. There's a speech bubble next to her with ellipses. Claudia's standing next to her with a sad expression and she's holding a clipboard. She has light skin, and straight red hair with grey streaks. She's wearing a vault suit with a tan dress over it, and the dress has pink flowers embroidered on the collar. /End ID]

Melissa and Claudia are investigating! Disgusted at what Vault-Tec has done, but somehow not too surprised. Big companies at it again.

+ items acquired!! Security baton, 10 mm pistol, stimpaks- There's purified water in the vault, but they'll need to find food soon...

Notes-

Background credit to Gejzirowski of the Fallout Wiki and HomelessGamerGO of NexusMods! (I'll credit others' screenshots I use/paint over)

Somebody must have put the idea in my head that Russell was a conspiracy theorist, because it's not brought up in dialogue or anything?? Ah well, it's already in my notes, not changing it. Melissa's a veteran and former pilot, she's ready to face the wastes! Claudia is... still in shock over the situation, and from losing her husband. :(

Yes I pulled Claudia's voice actor's first name, it sounded nice. Changed Melissa's outfit a bit, that's an over-shirt she's wearing as a little cape haha. I also gave Russel that hat!

I'll have more drawings with the other vault folks, stay tuned! Reply if you want to be on the taglist :D

Taglist: @typosandtea, @pure-vanilla-lilies, @mottinthemainpot

[apileofpans]

Birthday audio/video gifts!

It is my hecking birthday this month, y’all! To celebrate I am giving away videos and audios from Phantom of the Opera that positively ruined me (AKA some of my faves) !

NOTE: the links will work until November 6th, 10 AM CEST! After that they won’t work anymore :) If any of the masters want me to remove their master, let me know and I will!

Everything, including cast info, is under the cut!

Video

US Tour - Dallas, April 6, 2006 Evening Gary Mauer, Elizabeth Southard, Jim Weitzer, Kim Stengel, John Jellison, DC Anderson, Patti Davidson-Gorbea, John Whitney, Kate Wray https://ln5.sync.com/dl/b833dd740/gvnusjtv-a7wywsjy-98mvkiid-nsa6ksqp

Las Vegas Spectacular - August 8, 2008 (SunsetBlvd79) Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden, Andrew Ragone, Geena Jeffries Mattox, John Leslie Wolfe, Lawson Skala, Tina Walsh, Larry Wayne Morbitt, Brianne Kelly Morgan https://ln5.sync.com/dl/f4b151790/79fc7xe8-emk99ug5-va2ndite-vrapb47x

Broadway - May 12, 2014 (inallyorufantasies, turnofthescorpion) Norm Lewis, Sierra Boggess, Jeremy Hays, Michele McConnell, Tim Jerome, Laird Mackintosh, Ellen Harvey, Christian Šebek https://ln5.sync.com/dl/9dbe75640/89h6694u-db6i4y53-ker76kab-xtm9qbj3

Boadway - May 20, 2003 Hugh Panaro, Lisa Vroman, John Cudia, Julie Schmidt (u/s), Jeff Keller, George Lee Andrews , Marilyn Caskey, Larry Wayne Morbitt, Joelle Gates https://ln5.sync.com/dl/04cef73f0/watx9j5t-s2amh9zy-hmxqchav-2h2sf3ra

West End - August, 2018 Ben Lewis, Amy Manford, Jeremy Taylor https://ln5.sync.com/dl/8a1ae4700/ys5mbar9-yas2ewaq-rrnk4sye-wt5pgdtb

Trieste, Italy - July 15, 2023 (Filthybonnet) Ramin Karimloo, Amelia Milo, Bradley Jaden, Earl Carpenter, Ian Mowat, Anna Corvino, Gian Luca Pasolini, Alice Mistroni, Zoe Nochi https://ln5.sync.com/dl/f916fe200/6dw52cqj-usu7pimm-zbgk2gdg-9qixj3d4

Audios

Broadway - September 26, 1990 Steve Barton, Rebecca Luker, Gary Lindemenn (u/s), Marilyn Caskey, Jeff Keller, George Lee Andrews, Leila Martin https://ln5.sync.com/dl/21e8e2db0/wsqmti8i-4d4vukku-xs8fvh3y-85kjak3h

Broadway - May 10, 2003 Hugh Panaro, Lisa Vroman, John Cudia, Patricia Phillips, Jeff Keller, George Lee Andrews (u/s), Marilyn Caskey, Joelle Gates, Larry Wayne Morbitt https://ln5.sync.com/dl/5640398d0/3d5axeix-ie6cpr3t-4j7fbew7-5q8mjcqq

Broadway - August 19, 2014 (Oogie Boogie) Norm Lewis, Sierra Boggess, Jeremy Hays https://ln5.sync.com/dl/59b8c8720/hzpmzgq7-5hx5xqx9-4e6h4qt2-ynn5dmw6

Broadway - April 6, 2023 (phantomygoodness) Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Julia Udine (alt.), John Riddle, Nehal Joshi, Craig Bennett, Raquel Suarez Groen, Maree Johnson, Carlton Moe, Sara Etsy https://ln5.sync.com/dl/dfa420090/i2m495z9-zwdgyka9-r2k9njdn-tu9hwt9m

Las Vegas Spectacular - September 2, 2012 Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden, Andrew Ragone, Joan Sobel, Lawson Skala, John Leslie Wolfe, Tina Walsh, Larry Wayne Morbitt, Brianne Kelly Morgan https://ln5.sync.com/dl/882621a90/2kz2ajn8-nkre4uhw-5y7vesm6-gmk3pv7v

West End- October 27, 2017 Ben Lewis, Amy Manford (alt), Jeremy Taylor, Una Reynolds (u/s), Siôn Lloyd, Mark Oxtoby, Jacinta Mulcahy, Paul Ettore Tabone, Lily Howes (u/s) https://ln5.sync.com/dl/d6fa41cb0/axfwkn8z-66dpfim8-7uekxefw-aahsqs8x

West End - September 1, 2018 Evening (Winschi) Ben Lewis, Kelly Mathieson, Jeremy Taylor, Lara Martins, Siôn Lloyd, Mark Oxtoby, Jacinta Mulcahy, Paul Ettore Tabone, Georgia Ware https://ln5.sync.com/dl/99b982430/9dpb2hez-rex5y3nn-z9e963m3-wm57qfu2

West End - November 13, 2021 Evening (starprincess) Killian Donnelly, Lucy St Louis, Rhys Whitfield, Saori Oda, Tim Morgan, Adam Linstead, Francesca Ellis, Greg Castiglioni, Ellie Young https://ln5.sync.com/dl/fcffc67e0/7362xu65-tefiqt8x-9z3njksk-353iuqjk

West End -March 4, 2023 (verytheatricaltrades) Earl Carpenter (t/r), Holly-Anne Hull, Matt Blaker, Matt Harrop, Adam Linstead, Kelly Glyptis, Greg Castiglioni, Francesca Ellis, Ellie Young https://ln5.sync.com/dl/f142d9230/5ngjfdrx-fhjmc9wf-x2yhme8h-z4exy8cf

[ausetkmt]

As they sat in the lobby of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington, D.C., last month, Garnell Whitfield Jr. and others who have lost relatives nationwide to gun violence listened as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland helped dedicate an exhibit honoring those killed.

Garland spoke of some of the victims on the new "Faces of Gun Violence Memorial" wall, including Whitfield's 86-year-old mother, Ruth, describing her as a "mother, grandmother and great grandmother whose door and pantry were always open to family and friends." He said the wall will serve as a reminder to ATF employees of who they are fighting for each day.

In this May 15, 2022, file photo, police sit in front of a Tops Grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

"That in and of itself is progress that they would understand the need to be more empathetic and to realize the impact of gun violence on the people that they're trying to protect and serve," Whitfield, the retired Buffalo, New York, fire commissioner, told ABC News.

This week marks two years since a self-described white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo. In addition to Whitfield's mother, the other victims were Roberta Drury, 32; retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter Jr., 55; Heyward Patterson, 67; Pearl Young, 77; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Katherine "Kat" Massey, 72; Margus Morrison, 52; and Andre Mackniel, 53.

"I will always carry the scar of 5/14 and what happened to my mother. I'll always miss her. So, I don't expect to be healed," Whitfield said. "I know that's something everybody talks about. I think that's kind of an unrealistic expectation."

Garnell Whitfield Jr. has dedicated his life to fighting white supremacy in honor of his 86-year-old moth...

Malik Rainey for ABC News

One of the major hurdles to overcoming his grief, he said, is that such racially motivated killings and other hate crimes targeting Black people continue to rise across the country.

An ABC News analysis of the most recent FBI data shows that of the more than 8,500 hate crimes reported nationwide between 2020 and 2022, Black people were targeted in 52.3% of the offenses. Between 2021 and 2022, the numbers rose from 2,217 to 3,421, making Black people four times more likely to be targeted than the overall U.S. non-Hispanic Black population.

Hate Crimes Against Blacks in America 2020-2022

ABC News Illustration / Federal Bureau of Investigation

Among the hate crimes committed since the Buffalo mass shooting was a racially motivated attack at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, that left three Black people dead on May 26, 2023. On Nov. 22, 2023, a white gunman wounded two Black and two white shoppers at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, in what police said was a racially motivated shooting. The gunmen in both rampages died by suicide, according to police.

In February 2023, a Florida man and a Maryland woman, both alleged to be white supremacists, were arrested and accused of plotting to attack multiple energy substations with the purpose of destroying Baltimore, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Officials said the pair was fueled by a racist extremist ideology as they "conspired to inflict maximum harm on the power grid" and "lay this city to waste." Both suspects have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are awaiting a trial

"Honestly, we shouldn't even have to look at the FBI statistics to know that Black people in America are still victims of subjugation, of discrimination, of racism, of hate," Whitfield told ABC News. "The fact that's still the case all these years later tells you a lot about this country and what its intent is for us."

'It was a modern-day lynching'

About two months before the massacre at a Tops store in the predominantly Black East Side neighborhood of Buffalo, President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching law, named after a Black teenager who was kidnapped, beaten and killed in Mississippi in August 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. The law defines lynching as a hate crime and increases the maximum penalty to 30 years imprisonment for anyone convicted of conspiring to commit a racially motivated crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

To date, no one has been charged under the law.

"There was a reason why it took nearly 200 years to pass an antilynching law in Congress. It's because the power of lynching is so much embedded into the society," Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, a professor of law and Africana studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told ABC News.

Browne-Marshall said lynchings were committed to strike fear in Black communities, to "send a message to the community that white men are in charge."

Browne-Marshall described the Emmett Till Antilynching law as "powerful," but said prosecutors have been reluctant to apply it to criminal hate crime cases.

"So few prosecutors are doing their jobs when it comes to lynching. We as Americans have ignored the power of the prosecutor to bring charges," she said.

Gloria Brown-Marshall is a professor of law and Africana studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

ABC News

"Without protest, the prosecutors are sitting back and allowing these cases to be put under the rug," Browne-Marshall said.

But federal prosecutors countered they are using an arsenal of federal hate crime laws to seek justice for victims of racially motivated crimes.

In the Arbery case, the defendants -- Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan -- were convicted on state charges of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony. They were all sentenced to life in prison, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole. They were also convicted of federal hate crime charges, including using violence to intimidate and interfere with Arbery because of his race and because he was using a public street. The McMichaels were given additional life sentences, while Byran received a 35-year prison sentence.

“Protecting civil rights and combatting white supremacist violence was a founding purpose of the Justice Department, and one that we will continue to pursue with the urgency it demands," Attorney General Garland said following the sentencing of the McMichaels and Bryan.

"Racially-motivated acts of violence are abhorrent and unlawful, and have no place in our society today," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said earlier this month after a 52-year-old North Carolina man was sentenced to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release for an unprovoked attack on a Black motorist he shouted racial slurs at and physically assaulted. The attacker, who prosecutors said displayed a Ku Klux Klan flag at his home, was also convicted of physically assaulting a Hispanic neighbor in a hate-filled assault.

"The severe sentence imposed for these vicious hate crimes should send a strong message that perpetrators of hate-fueled violence will be held accountable," Clarke added. "The Justice Department is steadfast in its commitment to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes wherever they occur in our country."

Payton Gendron, the gunman in the Buffalo massacre, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 15 state charges, including 10 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. In January, federal prosecutors announced they would pursue the death penalty against Gendron.

A federal grand jury indicted the Buffalo gunman with 27 federal charges, including 14 violations of the Shepard-Byrd Act, a landmark anti-hate crime law signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. The law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay student who was tortured and murdered in Wyoming in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a Black man killed in 1998 by white supremacists who abducted him, beat him and dragged him by a chain from the back of a pickup truck.

Garnell Whitfield and Browne-Marshall argued that the Emmett Till Antilynching law should be expanded to include racially motivated mass shootings.

"It was meant to strike fear into our communities, to start a race war and further subjugate us, keep us in our place. So, yes, it was a modern-day lynching," said Whitfield, adding that the only difference was that the killer used an AR-15 rifle instead of a rope.

While the antilynching law requires proof of a conspiracy, both Whitfield and Browne-Marshall alleged that some social media companies facilitated the teenage killer's white supremacist radicalization by allowing racist propaganda to fester on their platforms.

"This is a conspiracy. It's the oldest conspiracy we know – white supremacy," Whitfield said.

But no precedent has been set for criminally charging a social media company as a co-defendant in a mass shooting, and prosecutors have found no evidence the Buffalo shooter entered into an "agreement" with any social media company to carry out his attack, a requirement of federal conspiracy.

In May 2023, Whitfield and other relatives of those killed in the Buffalo attack filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Buffalo in an attempt to hold several social media companies responsible for aiding the killer in his attack.

The gunman was "motivated to commit his heinous crime by racist, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist propaganda fed to him by the social media companies whose products he used," the lawsuit argues, adding that the teenager did not appear to have been raised in a racist family, did not live in a racially polarized community and had no reported personal history of negative interactions with Black people.

Some social media companies named in the lawsuit denied the allegations it is aiding the indoctrination of users of their platforms in white supremacy. Twitch, the Amazon-owned social media gaming site the Buffalo gunman used to live stream the shooting, said in a statement that it closely monitors its site and took down the livestream of the Tops rampage in two minutes.

"We take our responsibility to protect our community extremely seriously, and trust and safety is a major area of investment," Twitch said in its statement in response to the lawsuit, adding it was continuously examining the Buffalo shooting and "sharing those learnings with our peers in the industry to support a safer internet overall."

Google, the parent company of YouTube, which was also named in the lawsuit, also issued a statement denying the allegations, saying, "Through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said on its website in February, "We define a hate speech attack as dehumanizing speech; statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt or disgust; cursing; and calls for exclusion or segregation. We also prohibit the use of harmful stereotypes, which we define as dehumanizing comparisons that have historically been used to attack, intimidate, or exclude specific groups, and that are often linked with offline violence. We also prohibit the usage of slurs that are used to attack people on the basis of their protected characteristics."

MORE: Buffalo mass shooting suspect 'radicalized' by fringe social media: NY attorney general

The Buffalo lawsuit followed the release of a scathing report by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, alleging several online platforms played roles in the Buffalo mass shooting by radicalizing the killer as he consumed voluminous amounts of racist and violent content and allowing him to broadcast the deadly attack.

The KKK is 'alive and well'

The 64-year-old Shepherd, who describes himself as a "reformed racist" and now advocates against racial hate, said he also felt guilt.

He said many of the same practices he used to recruit KKK members are still being followed. But instead of rallies and cross burnings, white supremacist groups today use the internet to grow and indoctrinate their ranks, Shepherd said.

"It's not the robes and hoods, it's the mentality. And that mentality is what we've got to address," Shepherd said. "As I've said before, the internet is a great thing. But that's one of the tools that's being used to radicalize these kids."

'There's nothing special about this day'

On Tuesday, a monument titled "Unity" will be unveiled outside the Tops store where the Buffalo mass shooting occurred. A moment of silence will be held at 2:28 p.m. ET marking the time the massacre unfolded followed by a tolling of the bells, officials said.

The 5/14 Memorial Commission will also reveal the design picked for a second monument to be erected in Buffalo that is being funded by the state.

But Whitfield said that for him, the day will be no different from any other.

"So 5/14 may be significant for some, it's two years now since then. But it's no more significant on 5/14 than it is on 5/13 or 5/12, or today. I have to live the rest of my life without my mother and with what happened to her," Whitfield said.

Whitfield said he'll continue to speak out against white supremacy and is motivated to be as "consistent and determined" in that work as white nationalists are in their deeds.

"Every day since then [5/14] and for the rest of my life, I will honor my mother by doing this work," Whitfield said. "There's nothing special about this day coming up because I've tried to live according to these principles every day. That's how I'm going to honor my mother and my ancestors."

[pixelly-sims]

Spring 1309 marked the arrival of Margery Whitfield at the Harkins farm. Hearing of the family’s struggles, Margery came with a basket of herbs and remedies, offering her help. Sibert gratefully accepted, and over the following months, Margery became a regular visitor, assisting with the children’s health and supporting Sibert in his daily tasks. The children, especially young Edric, grew fond of her presence, finding comfort in her care.

As Summer 1309 unfolded, the bond between Margery and Sibert deepened. They spent more time together, working on the farm and sharing stories of their pasts. Their mutual respect and affection grew, and soon the village began to notice the budding relationship. While some engaged in gossip, many villagers were supportive, recognizing the positive impact Margery had on the Harkins family.

In Autumn 1309, as the harvest season approached, Sibert realized just how much he relied on and cared for Margery. Confiding in a close friend, he was encouraged to take the next step. In a quiet moment after a day of hard work, Sibert proposed to Margery, who tearfully accepted. They planned a simple wedding for the winter, surrounded by their children and the supportive villagers who had watched their relationship blossom.

The year also saw young Aylwin grow, as he turned 18 months old and aged up to a toddler, developing a Silly personality trait.

However, the year ended with a challenge, as December 2nd brought the news of Margery’s diagnosis with Tonsillitis. Despite this, the family remained hopeful, looking forward to the future with Margery by their side.

As the Harkins family closes the chapter on 1309, they prepare for a new beginning in the year to come, with Margery officially joining their family and bringing new light into their lives.

Beginning | Previous | Next

[oldfarmhouse]

CONFLICT between Israel and Palestine has entered another deadly week as Israeli pre-dawn raids on Gaza on Monday morning mark some of the heaviest since this recent spate of fighting began. So what is the history behind this conflict?

By KATE WHITFIELD

#stopprayerneeded

[musicmags]

[raphianna]

Eve riding in Robert’s wheelchair in Tagged for Murder

I could not stop laughing lol

[spnj2fanlw]

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Supernatural RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki Characters: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Danneel Harris, Kristen Bell, Chad Michael Murray, Tahmoh Penikett, Katie Cassidy, Charles Malik Whitfield, Jim Beaver, Genevieve Cortese, Sebastian Roché, Mark Sheppard, Sterling K. Brown Additional Tags: Chef Jared Padalecki, Waiter Jensen Ackles, Cooking, Competition, Alternate Universe, Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs Summary:

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Jared knows he’s better than what everyone tells him - his parents, his boss, and everyone at Morgan’s Restaurant. He finally gets the chance to prove it to them all when he nails a spot on Masterchef, the biggest home cook competition on TV. This is the one big shot he’ll ever get and he has to do it on his own as he leaves behind the only person who believes in him, his best friend Jensen. 

With Jared gone in LA and cooking for his life, Jensen is stuck back on the East Coast with more distance between them than ever. It’s also the first time Jensen really acknowledges why he has such a soft spot for the kid and finally realizes what they could mean to one another.

Big Bang Art Post by cassiopeia7.

*****

This is a really great au fic. Loved it.