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covid-safer-hotties · 14 days

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Molnupiravir May Offer Modest 6-Month Benefits for High-Risk COVID Patients - Published Sept 11, 2024

by Katherine Kahn

People with acute COVID-19 who took the antiviral drug molnupiravir (Lagevrio) reported modest improvements in symptoms, less time off from work or study, and less healthcare utilization at 6 months post-infection, a follow-up analysis of the prospective, open-label PANORAMIC trial suggested.

Among patients who received molnupiravir 800 mg twice per day plus usual care for 5 days after diagnosis with COVID-19, 8.5% reported persistent symptoms at 6 months compared with 11% who received usual care only (adjusted risk difference -2.5%), reported Christopher Butler, MBChB, MD, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues in Lancet Infectious Diseasesopens in a new tab or window.

At 3 months after treatment, use of healthcare or social services was also lower in the molnupiravir group at 14.1% versus 15.5% in the usual care group (adjusted risk difference -1.4%). There was a trend in the same direction at 6 months, but the adjusted risk difference was only -0.5%.

There were no differences in hospitalizations or deaths between the two groups at 3 and 6 months follow-up.

"This study was a secondary long-term analysis, and although we did not correct for multiplicity, the number of statistically superior outcomes make chance a very unlikely explanation of the results," the researchers wrote. "The trial design was pragmatic and open-label; therefore, participants were not masked and recovery and well-being outcomes were ascertained by self-reporting."

The study showed that the numbers needed to treat were high, noted co-author Victoria Harris, PhD, also of University of Oxford, in a press releaseopens in a new tab or window. "For instance, only one person would have less severe symptoms from a total of 53 people who took molnupiravir, and only one person would have used fewer NHS [National Health Service] services from a total of 71 people who took molnupiravir," she said.

Among participants who received molnupiravir, 17.9% reported having any time off from work or study at 3 months versus 22.4% in the usual care group, for an adjusted risk difference of -5.3%. At 6 months, 4.4% in the molnupiravir group reported having time off from work or study versus 5.4% in the usual treatment group (adjusted risk difference -1.1%), and about 91 patients would need to be treated to benefit one patient.

Molnupiravir is an expensive drug, Harris pointed out. In the U.S., a 5-day course costs about $1,000 opens in a new tab or windowwithout insurance coverage.

"Given the small additional number of participants who benefited from taking molnupiravir, compared to those who did not take the drug, long-term health benefits will need to be weighed up against costs and any unwanted effects," she emphasized.

The trial did not address the efficacy of molnupiravir in preventing long COVID, but Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, of the VA St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri, said in an accompanying editorialopens in a new tab or window that antivirals may one day play a role in long COVID treatment and prevention.

"The use of antivirals to reduce the risk of long COVID is grounded in the hypothesis that viral persistence and possible ongoing replication of SARS-CoV-2 are major mechanistic pathways responsible for long COVID," he commented. "Evidence for this hypothesis is growing." Studies have identified persistence of viral RNA or protein fragmentsopens in a new tab or window and the presence of T-cell activationopens in a new tab or window and double-stranded viral RNA months to years after infection with SARS-CoV-2, Al-Aly noted.

"The promising results from the PANORAMIC trial are consistent with results from well conducted observational analyses as they both converge on finding a modest effect of molnupiravir in reducing the risk of long COVID in high-risk individuals," Al-Aly wrote.

"Concerns, however, have been raised about the mutagenicity of molnupiravir," he pointed out. "Furthermore, effectiveness of molnupiravir or [other SARS-CoV-2 antivirals] in reducing risk of long COVID in low-risk populations, including younger individuals with no comorbid medical conditions, has not been evaluated," he cautioned.

The CDC recommendsopens in a new tab or window molnupiravir as an alternative to nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) for the treatment of acute mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in non-pregnant adults at risk for severe disease, to be started within 5 days of symptom onset.

The PANORAMIC trial took place from December 2021 to April 2022 and included 25,783 participants who were randomly assigned to molnupiravir twice a day for 5 days plus usual care (n=12,821) or usual care alone (n=12,962) generally within 5 days of a COVID-19 infection.

To enroll, patients had to be either 50 years and older or 18 and older with at least one comorbidity. Mean age of participants was 56.6 years, 58.6% were female, and 93% had received at least three vaccine doses. Comorbidities included lung disease in 24%, hypertension in 22%, obesity in 15%, diabetes in 12%, a weakened immune system in 9%, and heart disease in 8%.

In the initial analysisopens in a new tab or window of the trial, molnupiravir failed to reduce the risk for hospitalization or death at 28 days from COVID-19 in high-risk, vaccinated outpatients, but did shorten recovery times from a median of 15 days to 9 days (HR 1.36).

Long-term follow-up data for the current analysis were available for about 89% of all participants -- about 92% in the treatment group and 87% in the usual care group.

Researchers contacted participants at 3 and 6 months and asked them to complete online or telephone questionnaires. Patients were asked to rate how well they felt, whether they had taken time off from work or study, or if they had been hospitalized. Patients also rated symptoms on a 4-point scale. Symptoms included fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell, headache, dizziness, abdominal pain, or feeling unwell.

The authors acknowledged that the open-label study design may have influenced patient self-reports of recovery and well-being. They also emphasized that the study was not an efficacy trial.

Study Link: www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(24)00431-6/fulltext (PAYWALLED)

#mask up #covid #pandemic #covid 19 #wear a mask #public health #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #still coviding #wear a respirator

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minefield-of-a-ninja · 2 years

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28 DAYS: CHAPTER FOUR

Summary: Dean Winchester is an addict and an alcoholic, a USMC veteran, a father, and an older brother. As Battalion Chief with Lawrence Fire & Medical, Dean comes under investigation when he makes a dangerous and impulsive decision, defying his superiors and abandoning the team he is supposed to lead. He is given a choice to go to rehab for 28 days or jail. His lawyer insists on rehab, and Dean begrudgingly abides.

Chapter Characters: Dean Winchester, Jack Kline, Missouri Mosely, Meg Masters, Billie (Pilgrim), Pamela Barnes, Crowley, Rowena Macleod, Constance Welch, Gabriel

Chapter Warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY, Meg (lol), Dean's first therapy session, sexual content

Words in this chapter: 3,600

AN: Dean’s experience with Billie is unique to his experience and influenced by themes from SPN. Please do not take his scenes with Billie (or anything from this story) as a reason not to seek therapy.

While very important to me, this story is a work of fiction and is not meant to represent all aspects of addiction and recovery. In Dean’s case, he is in no danger of delirium tremens, but withdrawal is always a lengthy and challenging process. Since Dean’s tox screen was positive for Valium, a go-to alcohol withdrawal treatment, as well as Vicodin, his doctors have prescribed Gabapentin (for pain, tremors, and anxiety) and the vitamin Thiamine (an essential micronutrient that cannot be made in the body of which alcohol prevents absorption). The treatment is meant to relieve Dean’s discomfort, prevent the development of more serious symptoms, and forestall cumulative effects that might worsen future withdrawals (i.e., delirium tremens).

Mental illness, alcoholism, and addiction run in my family. Yesterday, I lost another close relative to alcoholism. He was a beautiful man who loved his family and brought us joy and warmth through the years. Rest in peace, Kent.

If you or anyone you know are facing mental and/or substance use disorders, please do not hesitate to reach out:

All my love and thanks to @stusbunker and @brrose-apothecary for reading and discussions and holding my hand

text divider by @talesmaniac89

CHAPTER FOUR

Sun filters through the bare windows, heralding a new day.

Dean made it through the night, and, of that, he’s pretty fucking proud. He even got a good 90 minutes of sleep in, which is wild considering the total lack of valium.

He peers over at Jack’s bed and sees the kid sound asleep, drooling all over his pillow and stuffed guardian like a good kid should. The sight makes Dean’s stomach flip, but he smiles as he sweeps his blanket aside to cautiously roll off his bed.

He’s aching from head to toe, and the cool air has him shivering. Overall, his symptoms seem to be subsiding, but maybe he’s just too tired to feel it all.

Under his shower's hot, steady spray, he gets warm and limbers up. His range of motion, though stiff and painful, is returning to his shoulder and hips. He wishes he could soak in a tub like the one they have at the station.

His heart sinks, thinking about the station — about his team and Tessa. He hangs his head, letting the hot water soothe his muscles and trying not to think too much about how disgusted they all must be.

His spiral of guilt and shame is interrupted when his stomach growls. Hunger’s probably a good sign since the mere thought of food made him want to hurl yesterday and the day before.

More than anything — well, not anything, but more than food — he wants coffee.

After his shower, he quickly and quietly dresses, trying to remember what Missouri told him yesterday (which seems like a fucking year ago) about breakfast. He doesn’t recall the time she mentioned, so he wanders to the front desk to see what he can find out.

Missouri’s in her office as if she never left. She’s busy setting out little paper cups on trays, and without looking up, she greets him.

“Good mornin’, Dean.”

“Mornin’, ma’am.”

“How’d you sleep last night?”

Dean leans on the counter and watches her work. “Not a lot, but better than nothin’, I guess.”

Missouri hums. “You’re early, but I’ll get you fixed up.”

Dean’s brow furrows when she hands him one of the tiny paper cups with two pills inside.

“Your doctor told you we’d be givin’ you thiamine and gabapentin?”

Dean nods.

“You’ll get one low dose each every mornin’ from me, or from Alex. Just come right here and we’ll have it for ya, and then you can go to breakfast.”

Dean stares at the pills. He’s taken enough first responder classes to know what they’re used for, but he doesn’t feel sick enough for thiamine.

“They’re not gonna bite ya, boy. They’re better for ya than whatchu been swallowin’ — go on, now.”

Dean looks up at Missouri, and her stern, warm eyes calm him enough to throw the pills back and accept the cup of water from her. He crumples the water and pill cups into his fist before handing them over for Missouri to discard.

“What time d’you say breakfast was?” Dean asks.

“Not ‘til 7:30, but there’s coffee.”

“Fuckin’-A.”

Missouri tsks and furrows her brow at his language.

“Apologies, ma’am.”

Yeah, he apologizes, but he can barely contain his excitement, and he almost cries when he sees the tall carafe. As he reaches for a clean cup, Meg appears at his side out of fucking nowhere, peering over a steaming cup of her own.

“You know, I’ve heard of dry-out joints where they don’t allow caffeinated beverages of any kind.” Her eyes narrow, and her voice hollows like she’s relaying a dreadful urban legend.

“That so?” Dean arches a brow as the liquid gold fills his cup.

Meg, clearly better caffeinated than he is and dead set on engaging him pre-coffee, makes a show of lounging against the beverage cart.

“Or cigarettes,” she adds, taking a pointed sip of her coffee.

Dean takes his first blessed drink with a deep moan and then realizes what she’s actually said. “Wait— we have cigarettes here?”

Meg slowly nods with the most impish smirk Dean’s ever seen, then inserts herself between Dean and the carafe to top off her own cup.

“You can buy them at the commissary. Except they’re almost always out. I have my sister send them to me by the carton.”

For the second time in barely 5 minutes, Dean feels like crying from joy. He examines his tiny savior as she turns to look up at him, blowing across the lid of her cup in what he assumes is her natural state of absolute mischief before taking his leap.

“I dunno how to say this without sounding sad and desperate, but I’ll do just about anything for a smoke right now.”

Meg chuckles, raking her gaze up and down his form. “Damn that pesky no-fraternizing rule.”

Dean narrows his eyes as he tilts his head and purses his lips. Turns out he doesn’t need to be all the way at the top of his game to charm the smokes out of even the shrewdest holders.

“You’re adorable.” Meg purrs, reaching her inside jacket pocket. “Does anyone ever say no to you?”

Dean mocks up a thoughtful expression. “Not usually.”

She pushes away from the coffee bar, sticking a cigarette between her lips and waving a second like a dog biscuit. “C’mon. Outside.”

Meg will either be his new best friend or his demise. Either way, he’ll do whatever she asks right now.

On their way out to the deck, a woman brushes past them, openly eyeing Dean. She’s petite and seductive, with dark hair, dark eyes, and porcelain skin. Dean licks his lips, and his pants excessively tighten for 7 o’clock in the morning.

Meg whistles and Dean jolts from his trance before following her out to the deck.

“You know you’ll get booted for that, right?” She tucks into herself and lights her smoke.

“What?” Dean plays dumb, accepting his treat and her simple plastic lighter.

Meg rolls her eyes and exhales. “Sex addict to sex addict? I could hear your dick serenading her.”

Dean chuckles and rolls his eyes, firing up his reward. He inhales deeply and revels in the mingling of nicotine with caffeine. As he exhales, a warm buzz seeps through his brain and out to his extremities.

“Might be worth it. Fuck, I need somethin’.”

“You don’t need that, I promise.” Meg leads Dean to a long sturdy table overlooking a wooded area. “Billie will not even think twice about transferring you out, and then you start all over.”

Dean chews his lip, letting his second exhale roll from his lips. He shakes his head and hands her lighter back to her as she hikes up onto the table, planting her feet on the bench.

He doesn't tell Meg that he wouldn’t go to another rehab; he’d go to jail — no Passing Go, no two hundred dollars, no starting over.

“Who’s Billie anyway?” He takes another drag and eases up onto the table next to Meg.

“Therapist,” she grunts, then exhales. “Recovering addict, general badass, and doesn’t miss a thing.”

He rolls his cigarette between his fingertips, momentarily lost in the glowing tip. “There’s gotta be a way around some of these bullshit rules, huh?”

Meg shakes her head. “Nope. I mean, some people get stuff or fuck around, but they always find out.”

Dean huffs a laugh and exhales. “Fuck around and find out — cute.”

She shrugs, chuckling along with him. “I have a few good ones now and then.”

They’re quiet as they finish their smokes and their coffees cool. Finally, Meg tosses her butt into the bucket of sand as she hops down from the tabletop.

“Breakfast? The bacon’s not bad.” She shoves her hands in her pockets, giggling when Dean groans.

“Oof, talk dirty to me, darlin’.” He squeezes the cherry from the end of his smoke as he slides from the table and follows Meg back inside.

Billie Pilgrim appears just as Dean imagined she would. She’s professionally dressed and attractive, but not overwhelmingly so. Yet Dean can feel the light tremor of gamma-ray inquisition flowing from underneath her calm exterior.

“Good morning, Dean.”

“Mornin’,” he replies, mimicking casual as he glances around the uncluttered and ordered office.

There’s a wall of louvered glass doors similar to the cafeteria but on a much smaller scale. It’s a neutral, open space designed to promote conversation; even Dean knows enough about psychology to suss that out.

“Have a seat.”

Dean nods before settling into an armchair. His anxiety kicks in when he sees Billie round her desk with a thick manila folder and a legal pad.

“Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”

“No thanks,” Dean answers, studying the chair’s upholstery and contrasting it with the denim of his worn jeans.

As Billie takes the seat across from him, he realizes too late that he still hasn’t made eye contact. When he finally does, he discovers her observing him without expression. He holds her gaze just as he shifts for comfort or cover.

“How’s your pain, Dean?” Billie opens the manila file.

“Better,” he replies.

Billie nods, flipping through the pages in the file. “Any questions about your prescribed medication?”

Dean shakes his head. “Discharging doc told me what to expect. Missouri’s a pro. Think we’re good.”

Her mention of medication as she peruses a hefty file all about him makes his chest tight, but he smiles and breathes through it.

Billie nods, organizing the file and her notepad before lacing her fingers together in her lap. “Well, then, let’s hop right in.”

“Great,” Dean agrees.

Billie fixes her face with a small smile but remains quiet.

Dean waits, not wanting to break first, but he’s agitated. He rolls his eyes. “This uhh... silent treatment/staring contest thing — does it really work for you?”

Billie chuckles before flipping to another page in her folder and making a note. She doesn’t answer his question.

“Are you aware of what caused you to lose consciousness on the morning of the incident?” She pauses, bringing her gaze back to him before swiping a hand down her notepad like she’s brushing away some ill-perceived dust.

Dean sticks his tongue into the side of his cheek and tilts his head. “I’m gonna go with drugs, alcohol, and an explosion. Am I warm?”

Billie nods. “To be clear, Dean, my job is to help you piece things together so that you better understand your story.”

“My story.”

Jack mentioned Crowley’s story last night. The psychobabble is going to drive him off a cliff.

“I’m asking if anyone has reviewed the series of events, the toxicology report, and your subsequent injuries with you.”

“Yeah, I got fucked up, disobeyed direct orders from my boss, and almost got myself blown up.”

Billie narrows her eyes and nods as she begins to read from the file.

“Your attorney agreed to tests and a search of your person. You carried 1.5 grams of cocaine for assumed personal use into a massive conflagration for which you were the chief in charge of four other firefighters — plus the life of a teenage boy inside the building.”

Dean drops his eyes and bobs his head, then squeezes his eyes shut.

“All stop. All stop!”

The blunt edges of his fingernails dig into his palms.

“You then tested with a BAC of .23. At 9 AM.”

Dean nods again as the words knit together to tell his story — one of negligence and ruin. He knows this; she doesn’t have to tell him. Why the fuck does she think he drinks?

“Also found in the tox screen: marijuana, Vicodin, Valium, and coke.” She closes the file and slips it under her notepad. “Quite the mix.”

Dean twists his lips into a wry smirk. “Well, I like to be thorough,” he drawls.

Billie studies him closely. “Do you always use humor to deflect?” she asks, jotting more notes.

“No, sometimes I use sex and drugs.”

“Touché.”

She continues to write things on her giant pad and act like she isn’t conversing with a human being while Dean grinds his teeth and imagines what it would feel like to punch a hole through the wall.

“I understand you have a teenage daughter.”

“Anything about me you don’t know?” He gestures toward the fat file in her lap.

Billie shakes her head. “Just the basic outline. I’m hopin’ you’ll give me the colors.”

Dean remains silent. So far, her line of questioning has been nothing but intimidation tactics and shaming. Dean sees no reason to team up with her.

She sighs, sliding her notepad inside the big file with the rest of Dean’s mistakes. “Listen, Dean; I’m here to help you. You did some bad things that your brother Sam can’t defend, and over the next 28 days, you’ll need to decide how you want to move forward with your life.”

“Yeah. I get that.” He grinds his teeth.

“Especially with joint custody of a teenage girl.”

Dean flicks his eyes to hers. He can no longer stem his rage. “Are you threatening me?”

Billie doesn’t miss a beat. “You’re threatening yourself, Dean.”

“Alcohol is a depressant; after prolonged use, the body must respond. To offset those effects, the brain starts producing a large number of chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and epinephrine.”

Dean is absolutely positive that the slide presentation is filled with the most gruesome and extreme photos of alcohol- and drug-damaged organs anyone could find on the world wide web.

“Jesus Christ. What’s next, a honey bath with a million red ants?”

“Shut up,” Crowley hisses from four seats over, and Dean rolls his eyes, snatching a baby carrot from Pamela’s bowl of raw vegetables.

He scowls at the tiny, orange root before deciding to gnaw on it anyway.

“What’s his fuckin’ deal?” he murmurs, slumping into his seat

“Other than being a miserable old queen?” Meg asks, reaching across Dean to nab a slice of bell pepper from Pamela’s stash.

“Really?” Dean raises a brow as he chews.

Pamela snorts. “What’s the surprise — that he’s pathetic or gay?”

Dean pulls a sturgeon face. “I dunno why I even care, honestly.”

“When you suddenly quit alcohol, the brain continues to produce these substances in the same quantities, and the body’s flooded with chemicals at dangerously high levels.

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, restlessness, hand tremors, anxiety...”

“Do they think we’re all layin’ around gettin’ a full eight hours every night?” Dean gripes.

He doesn’t see it, but he knows Crowley and Rowena are glaring at him. He should probably reel in the MST3K of the educational videos for a while.

He sinks lower in his seat with a pout. “Why’s she so chummy with him, ya think?”

Meg shrugs, nibbling on her bell pepper and sliding her stocking feet across Dean’s lap. “She mothers everyone. Jack? I get. But him? Ugh.”

Dean immediately sets to work, kneading and squeezing Meg’s feet like they do this kind of thing all the time. It’s comforting to have the connection. He’s thankful he found her and Pamela so quickly; otherwise, he’d already be in jail.

The instructor raises the lights and takes questions as she loads up the next reel of slides. Meg’s gaze wanders momentarily until she locates Jack sitting on the floor with a couple of other teenagers.

“That was me when I was his age, ya know? I started just as early.”

Dean quietly rubs her feet, listening. He wouldn’t say he was Meg or Jack, but he did some shady shit when he was a teenager to put food on the table for himself and Sam.

“Not to be Debbie Downer,” Meg quips.

“That’s what we’re here for, right? Sharin’ and growin’?” Dean smirks, digging a knuckle into her arch.

Meg’s eyes roll back and she moans, curling her toes. “Holy shit.”

Dean chuckles, pressing his tongue behind his teeth, and Pamela says something about getting a room.

“You haven’t shared yet, though.” Pamela points out, offering him another baby carrot. Dean opens his mouth and she pops the small veggie into the abyss. “How’d things go with Billie today?”

Dean munches his snack with an eye roll. “Slapped my wrist, gave me homework, and now I get to clean up after dinner.”

“So, standard first meeting,” Pamela says, and Meg nods.

“I dunno, man, it felt like she was trying to piss me off. Like she had a score to settle. She kept bringin’ up my daughter.”

Pamela nods, turning closer toward Dean. “Does your daughter live with you?”

Dean glances at Pamela then sort of shakes his head. No one likes people who put kids in danger — their own or anyone else’s — but he can’t say that Em wasn’t there that morning as some kind of answer because she’s seen plenty.

“Joint custody.”

The lights go down again, and the instructor starts the audio. Before the second slide, Pamela nudges Dean and slides him her phone.

“Hey, how d’you get a phone?” he whispers, and she chuckles.

“You’ll earn it back." She points to two young kids on her screen. "These’re my boys. Jesse Jr. and Bodhi.”

Dean grins at the sunny smiles, radiating from the screen. “Coupla handsome kids ya got there, PB. Jesse Sr.?”

“Killed in Afghanistan.” Pamela’s smile and answer are both soft and subdued as she pockets her phone. “What’s your girl’s name?”

Dean suddenly feels very heavy and tired. “Emma.”

“As soon as you get your phone back, you call Emma,” Pamela whispers before relaxing back into her seat.

Dean nods.

Emma stopped taking his calls and blocked his texts months before. Should he say that to Pamela?

Meg drags her feet from his lap and leans forward. “Welp, I’ve seen this one, folks, so I’m gonna duck out and play cards with Gabe.”

“But this is riveting cinema, Megan,” Dean mutters, and Meg chuckles, ruffling his hair.

“See ya at dinner,” Pamela whispers, and Meg waves. “Do I get a foot massage next?”

Dean snorts a laugh, turning to face Pamela as she kicks her clogs off to rest her feet in his lap.

Later that week, Dean sets about his assigned tasks of wiping down every table and chair before laying out breakfast set-ups for the following day. He appreciates the rote chores because they allow him to just breathe for a bit — no purposeful conversation or tip-toeing around bitchy, old Crowley.

As he’s stripping the required protective gloves off to wash his hands, he spots the dark beauty he and Meg saw on Tuesday morning. She’s alone in one of the peripheral seating areas, watching him over the top of an open book.

He drops his gaze to see the hand not holding her book buried between her legs. His gut clenches, and his cock stirs. He bites his tongue and wills himself to breathe as he tosses the gloves in the trash and turns to wash his hands.

He’s staring into the steaming stream of water when she speaks.

“I’ve seen you around. I’d like to see more.”

Dean closes his eyes and swears under his breath. She slides up against his backside like they’re in a dance club, skating her hands up under the front of his t-shirt. His core muscles clench so hard it hurts.

“You’re really hot.”

He twists the knobs to close before dropping the nail brush into its grated plate and shaking the excess water from his hands.

“Is your dick as pretty as your face?”

Dean slowly turns and places his hands on her shoulders. “You’re gonna get us into trouble.”

“C’mon, Dean.”

He tilts his head, searching her dark eyes and lifting her chin with a thumb and forefinger. “How d’you know my name?”

She laughs; it’s practiced and sensual. “Everyone with a pulse in this place knows your name, Dean. I’m Constance.”

She reaches for his other hand and slides it into the loosened top of her dress. Saliva pools in his mouth as she closes his fingers around her bare, heavy breast.

He moans and dips in to kiss her mouth, jaw, and throat, then slides his hand into her dark locks. She feels so good — familiar and welcoming. He wants to rip into her, to be on his knees with his face in her cunt, to feel her throbbing heat.

“Did you make yourself come, watchin’ me?” Dean walks her backward into the dark, quiet kitchen.

“Uh-huh.” She slides her hand down and wraps her fingers around the growing bulge in his pants. “Fuck, I want this inside me.”

Dean’s mind races with how exactly Billie defines fraternizing. What if he fucks her standing up? What if he just fingers her or tastes her? God, he wants to taste her.

But he knows what happens if they get caught.

Before he can further hypothesize, the kitchen lights are glaring. Dean breaks away from her hot curves, and she gasps.

“Hey! There you two are!" Gabe grins like a game show host, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. In fact, he looks terrified. "We’re watchin’ Titanic. You should join. We’ve got a pool goin’ — could Jack fit on that door or not?”

Dean huffs a laugh and pushes his hand through his hair. “Damn, I do love Kate and Leo.” He doesn't look at Comstance when he wipes his mouth with a wince. He stopped wearing the arm sling, but that doesn’t mean his shoulder’s completely healed.

He exits the kitchen quickly, with Gabe on his heels and Constance calling his name in the distance.

“Uh, you’re welcome,” Gabe mutters when he catches up to Dean’s retreat.

Dean sighs and tosses Gabe a look of appreciation. “Thanks, man.”

“That Constance Welch, what a fuckin’ menace,” Gabe cracks as they round the corner to the TV room, and Dean busts out a genuine laugh.

Chapter 5

Please let me know what you think!

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#au dean winchester #dean winchester is saved

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byneddiedingo · 2 years

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Sam Rockwell, Frances McDormand, and Zeljko Ivanek in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017) Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Zeljko Ivanek, Caleb Landry Jones, Clarke Peters, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Sandy Martin. Screenplay: Martin McDonagh. Cinematography: Ben Davis. Production design: Inbal Weinberg. Film editing: Jon Gregory. Music: Carter Burwell. Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell got the Oscars they deserved: Mildred Hayes's sour persistence and Jason Dixon's stupidity make them just short of caricatures; they needed the nuances provided by McDormand and Rockwell to come to any semblance of life. But the performer who gives Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri the grounding it needs is Woody Harrelson, one of those actors, like John Goodman or the late Bill Paxton, whose presence in the cast could make any movie just a little bit better. Chief Willoughby, the butt of Mildred's billboards, is not the dumb small-town police chief that we (and of course Mildred) first believe him to be. He's a more complex figure, who even achieves a measure of tragic grandeur with his suicide, carefully leaving a note on the hood he puts over his face to tell his wife not to remove it but to leave that to the police, and then leaving behind notes for his nemesis, Mildred, and for Dixon ("I'm dead now, sorry about that") that set the remainder of the film in motion. He gives McDonagh's acerbic screenplay a bit of warmth, though maybe not enough: I found Three Billboards a less satisfying film than his wonderful In Bruges (2008). But like that film, it has a fascinating texture provided by a supporting cast full of skillful players: Lucas Hedges as Mildred's somewhat exasperated son; Zeljko Ivanek as the desk sergeant trying to bring order out of the office chaos ("You do not allow a member of the public to call you a fuckhead in the station house"); Caleb Landry Jones as the advertising manager who gets the brunt of the town's protests and is tossed out of a window by Dixon; Clarke Peters as the level-headed new chief who manages to restore order after Willoughby's death; John Hawkes as Mildred's hair-trigger ex-husband encumbered with an air-headed girlfriend; Peter Dinklage as Mildred's suitor bearing up under constant reminders that he's a "midget"; and Sandy Martin as Dixon's demanding racist mother. There are also scenes that come out of nowhere, as when Mildred, tending the flowers at her billboards, carries on a tender, one-sided conversation with a deer that has wandered into the field and is watching her. In the runup to the Oscars, when it was a contender for best picture, Three Billboards encountered some criticism for not taking more seriously Dixon's treatment of Black people, especially since the real town of Ferguson is in the same state as the fictional Ebbing. There's some justice to the charge that McDonagh is being insensitive, but satire is always insensitive. It's not a great film, I think, but maybe that judgment is premature. As Mildred says, "I guess we can decide along the way."

#Three Billboads Outside of Ebbing Missouri #Martin McDonagh #Sam Rockwell #Frances McDormand

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 months

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The "Wrecking Crews"

"Eric Hobsbawm in his study of avenging bandits declared that such groups gained their appeal not as "agents of justice, but… [as] men who prove that even the poor and weak can be terrible." The striker groups embraced such a doctrine in exacting revenge on those who had transgressed community standards. Like other striker vigilante bands such as the Molly Maguires, they set out to punish both invaders (strikebreakers) and traitors (shopmen who continued to work), thus displaying to the victim and surrounding citizenry the required standards of behavior. These groups who engaged in intimidation and violence could be described as semi-autonomous gangs. Although not officially sanctioned by union hierarchies, the gangs' tactics handicapped the railroads' attempts to maintain production and repair. These gangs maintained that every conceivable method should be used to stop the importation of replacement labor. Their most common forms of action were shootings followed by kidnapping and punishment. These mobile bands, described by various authorities as "auto-raiders," "auto-squads," "wrecking crews," and "chain gangs," enforced community standards and values.

One form of intimidation was the general firing of weapons from speeding cars. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on August 1 that "auto raiders… swooped down on the Southern Pacific Railroad" shops at Colfax, and fired volleys into the windows and walls. Earlier, on July 14, "auto-raiders" attacked scabs at the Orville shops of the Western Pacific Railroad. The scabs were dragged from their bunk beds and "beaten severely." The auto-squads did not operate unchallenged. At Roodhouse, Illinois, on August 27, a gun battle railroad erupted after a carload of strikers attacked local shops. Deputy marshals and railroad guards returned fire and the strikers fled the scene. Fear of auto-squads inadvertently led to the August 12 shooting death of Deputy Marshal W. A. Cross at Little Rock, Arkansas. Suspicious of an automobile that appeared to be shadowing him, Cross girded himself for action. Three men in the car jumped out and "with pistols in their hands" yelled, "Get them up." Cross pulled out his revolver; a gun battle commenced, resulting in Cross being fatally shot in the head and chest. Unknown to Cross, the men in the car were city detectives searching for armed robbers. U.S. Marshal G. L. Mallory reported that not until the detectives searched Cross's body did they discover his badge and thereby his identity as a deputy marshal. Tragically, Cross was not the only victim; city detective J. W. Cabiniss died from bullets fired from Cross's revolver.

Drive-by shootings held enormous risk for both strikers and protectors of strikebreakers. To offset such danger, strikers used kidnapping to intimidate and wreak revenge. Victims of kidnappings consisted of three types: imported strikebreakers, local scabs, and foremen who had stayed at work. In the case of new hires, their treatment was given as a warning to leave the vicinity. The U.S. marshal of Danville, Illinois, F. H. Holmes, testified that strikers formed a "chain gang" and abducted a scab to Terre Haute and then beat him. At Slater, Missouri, one unfortunate was not only kidnapped but also tarred and feathered. Just as humiliating was the experience of strike-breakers working for the Chicago and North Western Railway. After being thrown out of Boone, Iowa, many were left only "in their B.V.D.'s or less."

Stripping of victims became a common and humiliating accompaniment of the kidnapping. Two Santa Fe Railroad scabs, for example, were kid- napped from Fenner, California, on August 9, and "stripped and turned loose in [the] desert by masked parties." On August 16, a Bureau of Investigation agent reported that a scab was "kidnapped, disrobed and left on the road" at Hornell, New York. At Pocatello, Idaho, a shopman who refused to go on strike was "stripped of his clothing and released beyond the city limits." On July 21 a scab was taken from Hamlet, North Carolina, and beaten. The kidnappers used the victim's hat as a warning to others, displaying it in a jeweler's window. Pinned to the hat read the message: "This is the remains of the first strikebreaker at Hamlet."

The real wrath of these semi-autonomous groups was reserved, however, for foremen who had remained at work and trained strikebreakers to do the shopmen's work. Strike sympathizers were blamed for tarring and feathering Bert Dickson, a roundhouse foreman for the Chicago and Alton Railroad, at Roodhouse, Illinois. Another victim, Henry Boyce, foreman of the Chicago and North Western, was abducted by an automobile gang at Antigo, Wisconsin, and transported to Elmhurst, Illinois. Although Boyce remained unharmed, the message had been made: his presence in Antigo could no longer be tolerated. A Great Northern Railroad foreman from Deer Lodge, Montana, experienced a similar embarrassing episode. The foreman was taken five miles out of town and "left in his underwear." His experience was nothing compared to that of W. T. Byland, a foreman for the Chicago and Elgin Railroad who endured a mock lynching. He testified that a rope was tied around his neck "so that [his] feet just cleared ground, for two or three seconds." Throughout the incident Boyle was told to quit work and join the strike.

The kidnapping and disrobing of scabs and foremen represented provocative punishments. By stripping the victims, the gangs symbolically transformed the scab into vulnerable and disgraced flotsam. The scabs then faced the lonely and humiliating experience of returning to their homes to get clothing and to tend their damaged pride. Just as devastating, stripping the victim of his clothing emasculated him. Thus accompanying the humiliation of the ordeal was a loss of masculinity.

In the South, a particular form of violence accompanied kidnappings, namely, whippings. In Fort Worth, Texas, for example, four strikebreakers were grabbed by a mob at a local dance, taken into the country and flogged with "leather straps," and warned to "head South and not return." The warning implies that the victims were Mexican. Also in Texas, sixteen guards were "stripped to the waist and flogged with blacksnake whips." Flogging also occurred in Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and North Carolina. The South, with its long tradition of vigilantism and its propensity for using violence, reflects most clearly a community's bid to mete out punishment and concretize collective displeasure. The struggle for control of their respective locales created a situation where many felt compelled to engage in such acts, or, at least, to look the other way when incidents occurred. It is of the utmost significance, however, that most of the whippings and kidnappings took place after injunctions had been handed down and marshals and troops had been dispatched.

Violence and vandalism occurred off the picket line as well. In Haverlock, Nebraska, for example, railroad sympathizers had their "houses painted yellow." The painting of signs on houses and sidewalks was particularly common. The act represented a public reminder that the occupant had transgressed community standards. Humiliation for the house dweller was sure to follow, tainting both the scab and his family members. Denver strikers utilized a similar tactic. A military intelligence report explained:

Strikers in Denver have resorted to the novel form of annoyance to strikebreakers of painting their houses yellow and in prominent places the word 'SCAB' is printed in large letters.

Nor was vandalism confined to houses. John Nelson, a foreman of car repairs at Cadillac, Michigan, discovered that his "three-wheel velocipede" was missing; after an extensive search, it was found in a river with a tag attached that read "Definition of a Scab." Scabs in Ogden, Utah, received threatening letters accompanied by "undertaker cards." Strikers or sympathizers also gained entrance to some shops and left messages for supervisory personnel. For example, a car inspector for the Michigan Central Railroad found his missing hammer with a note attached to it. The note spelled out a warning: "We are watching you and will get you yet."

Workmen were also threatened by persons in cars. A spy report from the Pennsylvania Railroad identified one particular "wrecking crew." The spy, identified as no. 28, explained that a string of "wrecking crews" had been formed in Chicago. According to the spy, local shopcraft leaders knew of the existence of these "crews" and encouraged them to intimidate supervisory officials. There is, however, no information as to the validity of this claim. Neither is there confirmation of the spy report that strike leaders sent out coded messages advocating sabotage. For example, a spy reported that the question in a union circular asking, "Are the trains on your division running on time," was really instructions to engage in sabotage.

A perusal of major newspapers during this early period of the strike high-lights numerous instances of fist fights, sabotage, and other violent confrontations. In many cases, however, these conflicts are not corroborated. Sabotage, however, constituted a common phenomena. Strikers and sympathizers, unable to control the flow of scabs into the shops, resorted to vandalism on a large scale. By far the most common method was the cutting of air hoses. Part of the braking system, these hoses also connected each freight or passenger car to one another. Although potentially dangerous, the cut hoses could easily be spotted by the train crew and yard workers. The main purpose was to delay the movement of trains. Other common forms of sabotage included greasing tracks, placing obstructions on the tracks, and placing emery dust and other foreign substances in journal boxes, pipes, and cylinders. The number of incidents was extremely large, and the geographical scope widespread. As Harry Daugherty remarked in 1923, "It is impossible to compile the exact number of such cases."

- Colin J. Davis, Power at Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen’s Strike. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997. p. 96-99.

#strike #strike violence #vigilante justice #sabotage #drive by shooting #scabs #railway workers #railroad shopmen #union men #american federation of labor #railway capitalism #capitalism at war #working class struggle #united states history #academic quote #reading 2024

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solarshieldblinds · 8 months

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Expertly Crafted Window Treatments for your Home at Solar Shield in South Kansas City We possess the skills and expertise to create the perfect plan that complements your unique style and enhances your living space.

#automated blinds #automated shutters #automated window treatments #blind repair #commercial window treatments #exterio patio shades #faux wood blinds #kansas city window treatments #missouri window treatments #motorized blinds #motorized patio shades #motorized roller shades #motorized shutters #outdoor patio shades #plantation shutters #residential window treatments #smart home window treatments #window treatment companies #window treatment service

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kcmo-zonarosa · 1 year

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Custom Window Shades by KCMO Blinds

Solar Shield Blinds Shades Solutions prides itself in made-to-measure custom window shades and installations. Call today for a FREE QUOTE!

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kcmoblindsx · 1 year

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Art Hanging and Décor Install | Solar Shield

Have a hard time hanging arts? Solar Shields Blinds Shades Solutions can handle all of it! Call today for a FREE quote on your decoration project!

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kairosenergy23 · 2 years

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Blinds Repair in Kansas City, MO

If you have old blinds or shades that have broken due to use over time, then chances are, they can be fixed. Here at Solar Shield we offer blinds repair in Kansas City, MO. We understand that not everyone is ready to just buy a new blind or shade when something breaks, because you might have multiple windows with the same shade or blind and you might not want to replace all of those to match just because one broke. We can take your old shade or blind and replace all of the cords, or replace almost any broken components that might be making it inoperable. Our goal is to extend the life of your custom window treatments, and save you money in the process!

#window treatment companies #residential window treatments #commercial window treatments #window treatment service #kansas city window treatments #missouri window treatments #exterior patio shades #plantation shutters #blind repair #smart shades

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michaelcosio · 6 months

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Larry Dale Schuepbach

December 12, 1941 - February 24, 2024

Larry Dale Schuepbach passed away on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at the age of 82, surrounded by family at his home in Fair Play. Larry was born December 12, 1941 to Clinton and Grace (Neubauer) Schuepbach in Highland, Illinois. Upon graduation from high school in St. Louis, he entered the US Navy and was in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

After discharge from the Navy, he moved from his childhood home in St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Purdue University. While living in Chicago he married Carol Linnemeirer and they had two children, Kimberly and Brett. After moving back to St. Louis, years later he opened a window treatment business. During this time, after years of being single again, he reconnected with a childhood friend, Patsy Smith. They shared 28 amazing years together. They loved living in the country and traveling. They made many trips on Larry’s Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Larry was a golfer, hunter, and an avid fisherman his whole life. He had a love of life and a great sense of humor.

Larry’s parents and stepson, John, preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Patsy, his children, Kimberly Murphy and Brett (Ruthie) Schuepbach, stepchildren, Michelle (Dan) Hamann, Richard Blanchard, and Susie (Hal) Johnson, his two brothers, Russell Schuepbach and Roger (Sue) Schuepbach, and his sister-in-law Jolene Henderson.

With the blended families, he has 11 grandchildren,12 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-grandchildren, and lots of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was one of a kind, as his family and friends will attest to, and he will be missed by all.

A memorial service, celebrating his life, will be held at the First Christian Disciples of Christ Church on Saturday, March 16, 2024, starting at 11:00 AM in Bolivar, Missouri. A short visitation will begin before the service at 10:30 AM. Larry will also have another memorial service in Warrenton, Missouri at the College United Methodist Church on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM with a brief visitation at 10:30 AM.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CMH Hospice in Larry’s memory.

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blindsloveis2 · 10 months

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The Direction of the Light Dictates the Style of Window Treatments for Kitchens

The orientation of a house's windows, whether by choice or circumstance, can significantly influence the direction of natural light that enters the kitchen. While existing windows may be out of the homeowner's control when purchasing a home, those constructing their dwellings have some say. Often, local regulations dictate the home's alignment, generally facing the front or road. Consequently, kitchens may have windows facing various directions, making it essential to understand the light's path. Harnessing the benefits of light while mitigating its adverse effects can be achieved through thoughtfully designed window treatments, blending style and function seamlessly.

Understanding the Path of Light

The Florida Solar Energy Center highlights the angles at which sunlight interacts with a house. During different seasons, the sun's rising position changes. In summer, it rises north of due east, while in winter, it's south of due east. The sun's angle is more acute in northern latitudes, like Missouri, impacting east and west-facing windows the most. East-facing kitchens, for instance, may receive sunlight for around five hours, causing potential overheating. This underscores the importance of window treatments to counteract the sun's detrimental aspects.

Adapting to Window Styles

Window styles significantly affect how heat interacts with the kitchen space. For instance, bow or bay windows supply ample natural light and space for activities but also invite excessive heat, straining HVAC systems. Older kitchens with double-hung windows experience minimal light yet heightened heat. This disparity necessitates window treatments that balance light access with heat prevention.

Overcoming the Image of Traditional Blinds

Traditional blinds, often associated with low-quality aluminum versions, have evolved to incorporate energy efficiency. East-facing kitchens can benefit from wood or faux wood mini-blinds, allowing light while reducing sun-related issues. These blinds can be adjusted to block the most intense morning sun while optimizing light for cooking. Hunter Douglas' Woodmates Affordable Faux and Norman's faux wood blinds offer cost-effective options for bay, bow, or double-hung windows.

Harmonizing with Room Style

Matching window treatments to the kitchen's style is essential. For instance, wood blinds create an impressive statement in a country kitchen, while a modern kitchen may demand more contemporary treatments. Reflective-backed window treatments, ideal for east-facing kitchens, repel excess heat and light. Plantation shutters serve as a versatile choice, suitable for country, modern, or traditional kitchens.

Tailoring to Unique Windows

Kitchens with narrower windows, arch accents, or double-hung windows can benefit from plantation shutters. These shutters come in various sizes, with the option for vanes to suit the desired amount of light. Unlike other options, they resist warping, effectively reflecting excess heat and light.

Personalized Expertise and Service

Renowned for exceptional customer service, Love is Blinds offers two decades of expertise. A free consultation and measurement ensure individualized solutions. Qualified professionals guide homeowners through their requirements, providing complimentary installation. For further details, connect with us to uncover more about our company and comprehensive window treatment offerings.

#custom window treatments #residential window treatments #window blinds #window treatment company #window treatment automations #motorized window treatments #window coverings #blinds company #vertical blinds #roller shades

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archinform · 11 months

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Adam N. Schuster Residence, St. Joseph MO

An 1880s residence in the Hall Street Historic District

Built: 1881

Architect: Edmond J. Eckel (Eckel and Mann)

Address: 703 Hall Street, St. Joseph MO 64501

Growing up in St. Joseph, Missouri, in the 1960s and 70s, my main source of fascination was the city's historic architecture. A major gateway to the West during the 1800s, the town once rivaled larger cities in importance, and great fortunes were amassed there in the wholesale, outfitting, and mercantile industries.

The fortunes accumulated by "Old St. Joseph" were notoriously never invested in the city's growth; they were put into bank accounts where they preserved the power and influence of the Men Who Made St. Joseph the City Worth While (the title of a local history), while making the city a hermetically sealed place where nothing changed, and no outside influence or investment could penetrate.

It was a strange atmosphere in which to grow up, in a town where time stood still, and a conservative, repressive, and airless atmosphere prevailed.

On my many bike rides around the city as a teenager, my favorite areas were Museum Hill, just north of the downtown area, and the Hall Street historic district, just to the west. These areas displayed an opulence and a sense of past glory that hinted at St. Joseph's glorious past, yet a past that stood still, transfixed in a time warp from the turn of the 20th century.

Thanks to injections of cash, some of these mansions have been not just preserved but restored to their once-grand glory. The Adam N. Schuster house, pictured below in views from the Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress) is one such mansion, a building that captured and held my interest from my teen years onward. Variously operated as a B&B and private residence, the mansion has survived into the 2020s in a good state of preservation.

In about 1985, when Linda Farber, its then owner, disposed of the property, I attended an estate sale in the house over a period of two or three weekends. Among my purchases were a painted folding screen, a pair of cast brass Chinese candelabra, a signed fan photograph by movie actress Norma Talmadge , a Royal Rudolstadt porcelain ewer, and an oil portrait of an unknown woman. These items were all disposed of years later before my move to China to begin a new life as a teacher.

The Schuster Mansion remains the most well-known local historic residence, along with the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion on Museum Hill, for many years the site of the St. Joseph Museum, and now a combination museum / events center.

Below are photographs from the HABS survey of 703 Hall Street, along with a video about the house from a Kansas City TV channel. The interiors are quite striking, and hopefully the houses' current furnishings are in keeping with its grand past.

Schuster Residence, St. Joseph MO

Credit: I_Dig_Doug's photos on Flickr

Facade, from the HABS archive

HABS image

Tower and ornamental roof trim

youtube

Video: Schuster mansion, KC By Design

Description of the house from the HABS Report

Toni M. Prawl's 1994 dissertation on architect Edmond Jacques Eckel [E.J. Eckel (1845-1934): The Education of a Beaux-Arts Architect and His Practice in Missouri] confirms Eckel and Mann (formed 1880) as responsible for the Schuster residence's design. Of interest is the mention of Stigers and Boettner as builders. Eckel had been in partnership with Francis R. Boettner until 1979, after Lewis Snell Stigers had supposedly retired. I will need to do some fact checking on this chronology.

The following photographs are from the HABS report, Library of Congress collection.

Stained glass windows in the main entrance doors

Southwest room (parlor), first floor, showing two layers of decorative ceiling treatments

Second floor bedroom and upper stairway hall

Central bath and stair hall ceiling decoration

Schuster (1881) vs. Wyeth-Tootle (1879) mansions: Two Victorian Italianates, symmetrical and regular, with projecting porches and bay windows. They differ only in the heavier cornice and prominent roof on the Schuster, and the extra attic story on the Wyeth-Tootle, not to mention the asymmetrically-placed tower at the left, an influence of castles on the Rhine.

Here are some screencaps from the video above:

Entrance hall and stairway; the Library to the right of the entrance doors, main floor

Interestingly, I haven't located any interior photographs of the Schuster residence online, other than the HABS images. Other Hall Street interiors have been illustrated on sites such as Zillow, but not this one. If anyone knows of such images, please contact me.

#Schuster #mansion #residence #Eckel #St. Joseph #Missouri #Hall Street #architecture #Italianate #historic

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masterofd1saster · 1 year

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CJ current events 27apr23

Might have anger issues?

*** Robert Singletary, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was wanted for four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Singletary was taken into custody in Tampa, Florida, at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday, according to the Gaston County Police Department, who added that he did not have any identification on him. Singletary will be extradited back to Gaston County, North Carolina, and have a court appearance on Friday.

The shooting occurred on Tuesday evening as children were outside playing, and a basketball rolled onto Singletary's lawn, prompting him to yell at the children who went to retrieve it. One of the children told their father, who then went to Singletary's home and told him if he had a problem, he should talk to the adult neighbors about it, not the children.

Singletary reportedly went inside his home, came out with a gun, and started shooting at his neighbors, hitting a 6-year-old girl, Kinsley White, her mother, Ashley Hilderbrand, and her father, William White. Derrick Prather, another neighbor, was also shot at, but not hit, according to police. Kinsley reportedly was outside riding her bike and had nothing to do with the basketball.***

Singletary was charged with assaulting his 21-year-old girlfriend with a mini sledgehammer. Police said Singletary kept the victim inside his apartment and did not allow her to leave for over two hours, per Queen City News.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/suspect-north-carolina-shooting-6-year-old-arrested-florida

***

Nellie writes:

→ Three shootings in a suspicious country: Ours is a low-trust society, and that’s very dangerous. Three very similar shootings happened this week. One in Kansas City, Missouri: Ralph Yarl, 16 years old, was shot twice after going to pick up his twin brothers but ringing the wrong doorbell. (Yarl is home from the hospital.) In Elgin, Texas: two high school cheerleaders, shot after one accidentally got in the wrong car. (One was treated at the scene and released; the other was shot in the leg and back, has damage to multiple organs, and had her spleen removed.) And last, in upstate New York: Kaylin Gillis, 20, was shot and killed after she and her friends accidentally drove up the wrong driveway.

Blame for this culture goes to both sides: the lockdown-forever movement succeeded in decimating what remained of common, physical spaces***

→ Portland loses its REI: The do-good outdoor recreation chain, the one and only REI, the store where I buy most of my clothes (whoever says they don’t carry black tie clothes isn’t trying hard enough), is closing its big downtown Portland location, citing crime and theft. The company said that the store “had its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide extra security.” From the local coverage: “The company said its theft problem came to a head last November, when a car crashed through the glass front doors of REI’s Pearl District store on Black Friday. It was the store’s third break-in in a week.” Thieves driving a car into and through the side of the store to get access to those sweet REI goods was the third incident of the week. (As someone who appreciates water-wicking material more than most of my blood relatives, I get it!)

I understand that antifa doesn’t believe in private property and that Portland is their capital. But guys, all you wear are cargo pants and hiking boots. How is this going to work? Who will provide your balaclavas and headlamps?

Meanwhile, the brand-new Shake Shack downtown was met with a Portland Hello: a broken window. It goes without saying that this week it was revealed that staff at Portland’s city-funded drug treatment center were doing drugs with the addicts. *** https://www.thefp.com/p/tgif-thats-all-folx

***

Tik-tok?

Rock-throwing attacks on moving vehicles in west metro Denver and Boulder left a 20-year-old woman dead Thursday after the rock hurled at her yellow Chevy Spark crashed through the windshield, hitting her.

The attacks Wednesday night and early Thursday by one or more assailants also targeted at least four other vehicles, all of them moving, and injured two drivers.

No arrests had been made as of Thursday evening.

The Jefferson County sheriff’s office described a vehicle of interest and identified its owner but later concluded that neither were involved in the crime spree Thursday night.

In the moments before victim Alexa Bartell of Arvada was killed, in the 10600 block of Indiana Street about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, she was on her phone talking with a close friend, Jefferson County authorities said. Then the phone went silent.

Bartell’s friend “used an app to locate Alexa’s phone,” and the friend went to the location along Indiana Street, Jefferson County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said. She saw Bartell’s Spark off the road in a field.

“As she approached, she could see Alexa was inside and was dead,” Kelley said. The friend dialed 911.

Two drivers injured in the other attacks suffered minor injuries. They were in good condition Thursday.

Rock-throwing attacks on vehicles have happened before in Colorado but apparently haven’t been fatal, according to State Patrol Master Trooper Gary Cutler.*** https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/20/alexa-bartell-rock-throwing-attack-death-jefferson-county-arvada-westminster-boulder-county/

+++

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Alexa Bartell's family got a call in the middle of the night alerting them that three suspects – all high school seniors – were arrested in connection with her death.

"They're just so grateful, but you know they're still suffering from the greatest loss possible," said Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) spokeswoman Jacki Kelley. "This is the beginning of the journey they'll be on next."

The 20-year-old woman was killed as she drove home when a large rock came crashing through her windshield April 20. JCSO announced the arrests Wednesday morning.

The suspects were identified as:

Joseph Koenig Nicholas "Mitch" Karol-Chik Zachary Kwak

All three are from Arvada and are high school seniors, but attended three different schools – Ralston Valley High School, Standley Lake High School and an online school – according to the Sheriff's Office. All of them are being held without bail at this time on a charge of first-degree murder with extreme indifference.***

The break in the case came down to "cellphone device forensics," but Kelley declined to provide specific details.***

***

What would we do w/o the Bee?

***

Correlation?

*** Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) recently labeled marijuana a "dangerous drug," and it is one that "we haven't studied enough." These are harrowing statements from one of the most progressive legislators in the Senate. Cannabis is often celebrated in pop culture, and the push to legalize marijuana in the country has been met with widespread acceptance or at least acquiescence. If a "progressive" Democrat like Booker is warning about marijuana, it's probably a good idea that the rest of the country start paying attention.

Research has shown a strong connection between marijuana use and extremely violent actions, such as attacks in school.

For example, in "Protecting America's Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence," nearly half of all attackers had a history of substance abuse, and marijuana was the substance most frequently abused. Other substances included alcohol, opiates, amphetamines, Valium, and Seroquel.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-concerning-and-disturbing-link-between-marijuana-use-shootings-mass-violence

Is the correlation statistically significant? Is there causation?

***

Baldwin jokes will never get old

like woman he shot!

***

That's different

An Arapahoe County jury found a former Aurora police officer guilty of a misdemeanor Friday for failing to stop another officer from pistol-whipping and choking an unarmed man.

Francine Martinez was convicted of failure to intervene — the first law enforcement officer to be convicted by a jury of the charge created under the landmark police accountability bill passed after the 2020 George Floyd protests.

Martinez did not stop fellow former officer, John Haubert, from beating Kyle Vinson with his duty pistol, choking him and threatening to kill him, even though the man never attempted to hurt or threaten the officer.

Haubert and Martinez were dispatched to a trespassing call on July 23, 2021, and contacted three men. Two of the men fled when the officers tried to arrest them on warrants, but Vinson stayed put, body camera footage of the incident shows.

The man “was not striking, punching or kicking Officer Haubert” and was not making any life-threatening actions toward the officers, the arrest affidavits authored by an Aurora police detective state. After the arrest, Martinez was fired from the police department and Haubert resigned.

“In this case, Officer Martinez had a front-row seat to the brutal assault of Mr. Vinson at the hands of her fellow officer,” Vinson’s attorneys at Rathod Mohamedbhai said in a statement. “Her failure to protect Mr. Vinson was unconscionable and in violation of her basic duties.”

Martinez is scheduled for a June 2 sentencing hearing, at which she faces a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.*** https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/21/aurora-police-francine-martinez-excessive-force/

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Smelly pack of mouth-breathing turds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 21, 2023

Two Men Sentenced for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Plot to Attack Power Grids in the United States

Domestic Terrorism Plot was in Furtherance of White Supremacy

Two men were sentenced in federal court today to crimes related to a scheme to attack power grids in the United States in furtherance white supremacy.

Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio, and Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of Katy, Texas, and West Lafayette, Indiana, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Cook was sentenced was sentenced to 92 months in prison and Frost was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was also charged and pleaded guilty in February 2022 in connection with the scheme and will be sentenced at a later date.

“These defendants plotted armed attacks against energy facilities to stoke division in furtherance of white supremacist ideology and now they are being held accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.***

in fall 2019, Frost and Cook met in an online chat group. Frost shared the idea of attacking a power grid with Cook, and within weeks, the two began efforts to recruit others to join in their plan.

As part of the recruitment process, Cook circulated a book list of readings that promoted the ideology of white supremacy and Neo-Nazism. By late 2019, Sawall – a friend of Cook’s – joined the conspiracy and assisted Cook with online recruitment efforts, operational security and organization.

As part of the conspiracy, each defendant was assigned a substation in a different region of the United States. The plan was to attack the substations, or power grids, with powerful rifles. The defendants believed their plan would cost the government millions of dollars and cause unrest for Americans in the region. They had conversations about how the possibility of the power being out for many months could cause war, even a race war, and induce the next Great Depression.

In February 2020, the co-conspirators met in Columbus, Ohio, to further discuss their plot. Frost provided Cook with an AR-47 and the two took the rifle to a shooting range to train.

Frost also provided Cook and Sawall with suicide necklaces during the Columbus meeting. The necklaces were filled with fentanyl and were to be ingested if and when the defendants were caught by law enforcement. Both Cook and Sawall expressed their commitment to dying in furtherance of their mission.

Upon arriving in Columbus, Sawall and Cook purchased spray paint and painted a swastika flag under a bridge at a park with the caption, “Join the Front.” The defendants had additional propaganda plans for their time in Ohio, but they were derailed during a traffic stop, during which Sawall swallowed his suicide pill but ultimately survived.

Court documents detail that Cook and Frost continued to travel together after their Ohio meeting, and drove to Texas in March 2020. Cook stayed in different cities with various juveniles who he was attempting to recruit for their plot.*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-sentenced-conspiring-provide-material-support-plot-attack-power-grids-united-states

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somebody

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Long Island, New York CNN — The two professionals and colleagues, still in work attire, were part of the afternoon rush at the South Shore Shooting Range.

Muffled rapid-fire gunshots could be heard in the parking lot outside Thursday on a quiet street shrouded by giant oaks and dotted with houses with backyard pools in suburban Islip.

Jenn and Shelby, friends who did not want their last names used, settled into two indoor shooting lanes – donning noise-canceling headphones and protective goggles as they took aim with lever-action rifles and pistols at targets meant to represent the human body.***

Jenn and Shelby are part of a growing number of Americans, particularly women and people of color, on an extended national gun shopping splurge – many for the first time.

The heightened interest in guns comes amid a horrific spate of mass shootings and – according to the CDC’s most recent figures – firearm fatalities that outnumbered motor vehicle traffic deaths 48,830 to 45,404. Over the last two weeks, four people were shot – one fatally – in upstate New York, Kansas City and Texas after accidentally going to the wrong address or opening the wrong door.*** https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/us/united-states-rising-gun-sales/index.html

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Performed at the Satan-themed Old Nick’s Pub in Eugene, Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. – A former instructional assistant at Veneta Elementary School will serve nearly a year in jail after pleading guilty to several counts of encouraging child sexual abuse, court documents show.

Back in August 2022, Kelsey Meta Boren was arrested after the Lane County Sheriff’s Office received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force alleging that Boren was uploading child pornography to the internet, the sheriff’s office said. Boren, then employed by the Fern Ridge School District as an instructional assistant, was charged with nearly a dozen counts of encouraging child sexual abuse*** https://www.kdrv.com/news/regional/former-elementary-school-staffer-sentenced-for-encouraging-child-sexual-abuse/article_f2405819-6d53-5766-ad3f-b73c7ab8167c.html

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First Amendment much?

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said *** during an interview Sunday on MSNBC ***

“We have very real issues with what is permissible on air, and we saw that with January 6th and we saw that in the lead up to January 6th, and how we navigate questions, not just a freedom of speech but also accountability for incitement of violence,”***

“I believe that when it comes to broadcast television, like FOX News, these are subject to federal law and regulation in terms of what’s allowed on air and what isn’t,” she claimed. *** https://www.dailywire.com/news/ocasio-cortez-tucker-carlson-fox-news-incite-violence-we-need-to-explore-regulating-them

BaylonBee memed -

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alleycatter

Similar to "I don't call 911, I plead the 2d."

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Nothing to get upset about, right?

Two teenage boys are facing only misdemeanor charges after they allegedly stole a car and crashed it into another vehicle, killing a 6-month-old baby in Chicago last week.

The boys, ages 17 and 14, were each charged with just one misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing in the deadly April 16 crash in the city’s West Garfield Park neighborhood, according to Chicago police.

The teens were driving a stolen Hyundai when they slammed into a Ford pickup truck at the intersection of West Washington Boulevard and North Kostner Avenue shortly after 5 p.m., according to cops.

The 6-month-old boy, Cristian Uvidia, died in the hospital following the crash.

His 34-year-old mother and two sisters, ages 15 and 7, were injured and treated at a local hospital, ABC 7 reported.*** https://nypost.com/2023/04/23/teens-charged-with-misdemeanors-after-crashing-stolen-car-killing-infant-in-chicago/

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Dadeville massacre

Six people – including four teenagers – have been arrested and now face murder charges in connection with the deadly rampage at a weekend Sweet 16 birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, authorities say.

Willie George Brown Jr., 19, was arrested Thursday and charged with four counts of reckless murder, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. Earlier Thursday, Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee, was arrested and also charged with four counts of reckless murder, the agency said.

Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and faces the same charges, the agency said in a news release. It is unknown if Hill has an attorney.

Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, were arrested Tuesday night and also face four counts of reckless murder, said Sgt. Jeremy Burkett with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

A 15-year-old from Tuskegee was arrested Thursday morning and faces the same charges, the agency said without naming that teen.

With the exception of the 15-year-old, the suspects were being held without bond in the Tallapoosa County Jail, the agency said Thursday. It did not mention the location or conditions of the 15-year-old’s detention.***

After four days of agony and uncertainty, the family of one slain victim was relieved to learn the first two suspects had been arrested.

“I’m happy that the investigation is going well and someone is going to be responsible for all the victims,” said LaShonda Allen, the aunt of Alexis and Phil Dowdell.

She said her family did not recognize the names of the teenage suspects, who were not invited to the party.***

In addition to the four victims killed, another 32 people were injured, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.

Among them, at least 15 teens were shot and taken to Dadeville’s Lake Martin Community Hospital, a spokesperson said earlier this week.***

at the party, their mother heard a rumor that someone at the venue was armed. Allen made a stern announcement over the speaker, she said: “If anyone in here has a gun, then you need to leave because we’re here to celebrate Alexis’ Sweet 16.”

Allen and other chaperones scoured the crowd for anyone carrying a gun but didn’t see one, the mom recalled. And Alexis, her mother and the DJ didn’t hear a fight or any disturbance, they said.

But right then, as the teens were partying to the music of a DJ, gunfire erupted.***

Family of Phil Dowdell/AP

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/19/us/dadeville-alabama-birthday-party-shooting-wednesday/index.html

+++

'bama code § 13A-5-49. Aggravating circumstances; enumerated.

(3) The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to many persons; ***

(9) The defendant intentionally caused the death of two or more persons by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct; ***

***Thurs

He played Goose, he played Dr Mark Greene, and now he plays hoops?

(FOX 9) - Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been cited for assault for swinging a chair that struck two Denver Nuggets employees, in the moments after Edwards missed the final shot of the team's series-ending loss to the Nuggets on Tuesday.

Police records show Edwards was cited with third-degree assault. Police say they were told: "Edwards was walking from the court to the locker room at the conclusion of the game, he swung a folding chair and struck two women who were working at the time. Both women were injured, and at the time it was reported that the injuries were not serious."*** https://www.fox4news.com/sports/timberwolves-anthony-edwards-cited-for-assault-for-tossing-chair-after-loss-to-nuggets

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0 notes