#public talk on sand shortage

[harmonyhealinghub]

Starting Over Shaina Tranquilino August 11, 2024

After his tech startup collapsed, leaving him with empty pockets and a bruised ego, Max Sullivan wasn’t sure what to do next. The failure had been public and humiliating—what was supposed to revolutionize the industry had barely left a mark. The pressure to deliver on grand promises had led to risky decisions, and when the funding dried up, so did his dreams.

Max retreated to his small, coastal hometown, a place he hadn’t visited since he left for Silicon Valley over a decade ago. The town had changed little, its sleepy streets and familiar faces offering a stark contrast to the fast-paced world he had left behind. At first, it was meant to be a temporary stay—a place to lick his wounds and figure out his next move. But as the days turned into weeks, Max found himself drawn to the simplicity of life there, the way people cared about their community and the environment.

It was during a walk along the beach, watching the waves roll in under a gray sky, that inspiration struck. Max noticed the plastic litter scattered along the shore, tangled in the seaweed, and remembered a conversation he’d overheard in a café a few days earlier about the town’s struggles with waste management. The idea hit him like a lightning bolt: what if he could combine his tech expertise with a focus on sustainability? What if he could create something small, something meaningful, right here?

Max started small, with just a single product—a solar-powered, autonomous beach-cleaning robot. He used his savings to build a prototype, working out of his parents’ garage like he had when he was a teenager. The robot, affectionately named “Sunny,” was designed to sift through sand, collecting debris and sorting it for recycling. It was a modest project, far from the grand ventures of his past, but it felt right.

When Max introduced Sunny to the town, the response was immediate. Locals were intrigued, then excited. They watched as the little robot roved the beaches, quietly doing its job, and the impact was undeniable. The beaches became cleaner, and people started talking about how they could do more to protect their environment. Max was invited to speak at the town hall, where he shared his vision for a line of eco-friendly, tech-driven solutions that could be scaled for other communities.

Word spread beyond the town’s borders. A regional news outlet picked up the story, dubbing Max the “Green Innovator,” and soon, he was fielding calls from environmental groups, local governments, and even some investors who saw potential in his small venture. Max was careful this time, determined not to repeat the mistakes of his past. He kept the business lean, focusing on quality and sustainability over rapid growth.

As orders for Sunny rolled in from other coastal towns, Max expanded his product line—solar-powered compost bins, smart irrigation systems for community gardens, and even a portable desalination unit for areas affected by water shortages. Each new product was born from the same principle: technology should serve the planet, not exploit it.

Within a year, Max’s new venture, “EcoTech,” was not just surviving but thriving. It wasn’t the billion-dollar empire he once dreamed of, but it was something better—something he was proud of. Max had found success, not in the way he had expected, but in a way that felt deeply fulfilling. The community rallied around him, and EcoTech became a symbol of what was possible when innovation met purpose.

Max still walked along the beach most evenings, watching the sunset with Sunny humming along beside him. He had learned that setbacks weren’t the end; they were just the beginning of a new path. And this path, though winding and unexpected, had led him to a place where he could truly make a difference.

[strangecloud]

I realize the irony of posting this in English but if you'll have me, I'd like to hypothesize about the future of technology in my home country of Brazil.

Okay, so. As I understand it, back in the 70s, there was some political motion to protect homegrown IT industries, which included computer and parts manufacturing. This involved taxing foreign products heavily to limit imports. I have no idea if IBM or Commodore had any presence in the country back in the day but I have personally never seen any of their machines for as long as I've been using computers, since the early 2000s. As a result, anything that wasn't a low-quality national machine was too expensive to afford.

This is, in my opinion, the single greatest mistake the country has ever made and has done irreparable damage to the technological and economic fabric of Brazilian society.

During my brief, poorly compensated time at a software company as a support agent and QA technician, the glimpses I caught at business-grade computer tech our clients were working with was bleak. I'm talking Windows XP machines running Dual-Cores and rocking 2GB of RAM. Legacy OS support on our software was a pain and every time I had to remote into a 7 or XP machine it was very annoying to get it working.

This is a symptom of expensive tech being bad for companies and services. And because the tech is bad, the service suffers and makes it harder to acquire good tech. And this goes all the way back to those original policies. Tech in Brazil is a luxury item and most people make do with the bare minimum to operate a business in any capacity, often cutting corners and using faulty equipment that can, and has, caused permanent damage to businesses.

I bring this up because with the silicon shortage and the crypto-into-AI boom, I foresee a period of extreme tech stagnation beyond even what I described.

Some of you may have noticed that Nvidia pivoted into "not being a graphics company anymore". The reason being that they realized selling hardware to consumers is, apparently, a sucker's way of doing things. Finance suits are willing to build entire complexes housing industrial amounts of rigs to, at first, do crypto shit and more recently host their generative transformers to churn out garbage .jpgs and nonsense text.

Simply put, there's only so much magic sand to make into die wafers and the MSRP on consumer tech is so unreasonable to the point that it's more expedient to sell it to tech evangelists with more money than sense at highly inflated prices.

AMD is getting their ass handed to them in part because they can't do AI as good as Nvidia does. With only so many resources available to make these things, more will always go to the ones with the money to reinvest in business, and when pickings are slim for consumers the market gets even more pricey and exclusive.

So. Prices in Brazil are already stupid because of some dictatorship-era move some idiots pulled half a century ago, but with this new development I believe we are looking at an actual tech crisis.

Consider for a moment that hardware might get so inaccessible that by 2025, when Windows 10 support is dropped, businesses and people might not be able to afford the minimum specs for Windows 11, which will not let you install it if you don't meet these system requirements. The whole country is at risk of becoming a techno-wasteland of people using ancient software on secondhand hardware that is unreliable and costly to replace. This exposes businesses and people to significant security and operational risks, driving down the quality of services and deflating the economy even more.

If there's one good thing about this is that people are realizing that Microsoft's business model is bad and that Windows kinda sucks. Smarter businesses are going to transition to Linux, and while I am careful not to put my hopes on the general public to not take the path of least resistance, I've seen a not insignificant amount of general consumers who have claimed to be willing to do the switch by the time Windows 10 hits the bricks.

The 2020s might be a very challenging decade for good old Brazil.

[opedguy]

Biden Blames Oil Industry Not Himself

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Nov. 1, 2022.--President Joe Biden, 79, showed why he’s the propagandist-in-chief, blaming the oil industry for price-gouging, driving voters away from the Democrat party only days before the Nov. 8 Midterm election.  Biden wants the public to believe he’s outraged by the high oil prices which he blames on the oil industry. But the inflation in energy prices, spreading to every other commodity and service, started Feb. 24 with the way Biden handled the Ukraine War.  Instead of working with U.N. peacekeepers to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to retreat from Ukraine, he started a proxy war using Ukraine troops to topple the Russian Federation, fueling the worst inflation seen in the global economy in 40 years.  When Biden talks of a war dividend for the oil industry, he’s kidding himself, after his proxy war against the Russian Federation created worldwide oil shortages and skyrocketing prices.

Biden now talks tough before the Midterm election, essentially saying the high energy prices and inflation are not his fault.  When Biden came to office, he had his AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] agenda to stop what former President Donald Trump did to make the U.S. energy independent. Biden cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, effectively gutting the fracking or tar-sands industry, making in more difficult to make profits.  Once AOC got her grip on Biden’s energy policy, it left the U.S. vulnerable to any outside oil shock that happened when Biden  announced March 8 a boycott of all Russian oil and natural oil.  Biden imposed the same requirement on the European Union [ED], driving the same shortages and skyrocketing energy prices in Europe.  High energy prices translated into inflation at all commodity levels, especially energy and food, leaving the world reeling from the Ukraine War.

Biden’s focus on the oil industry’s profits takes the focus off his decision to prosecute a proxy war against the Russian Federation.  “Record profits today are not ecause they’re doing something new or innovative.  The profits are a windfall of war,” Biden said at the White House, standing beside Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Energy Secretary Janet Granholm.  When Biden talks of the “windfall of war,” he’s admitting that the Ukraine War has fueled the runaway energy prices and inflation, not primarily the energy prices.  As oil prices rise precipitously because of worldwide shortages and skyrocketing prices, the oil industry naturally makes more profits.  But the main driver to the runaway inflation is the Ukraine War.  Going into the ninth month, Biden has no plan with his proxies in Kiev to end the war.  Biden made a decision to topple the Russian Federation.

Biden likes to shift the blame for the economic mess on everyone else.  He’s been asked by many foreign leaders, industrialists and members of Congress, in his own progressive caucus, to end the Ukraine War.  Biden has doubled down on feeding Kiev unlimited cash-and-lethal weapons, thinking he could break the Russian military, something that hasn’t happened.  Ukraine’s eight months of war resulted in a 25% loss of its sovereign territory, now scrambling, through various counteroffensives, to get back the lost territory.  But like most holes, 44-year-old Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky just keeps digging deeper. Zelensky complains daily about Russian war crimes but does nothing to resolve the conflict at the peace table.  Putin has made numerous overtures to move the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table, all of which rejected by Biden and Zelensky.

So, when it comes to runaway inflation and soaring energy prices, it can be primarily attributed to the Ukraine War.  Biden says the oil industry should  “act beyond their narrow self-interest,” to “invest in America by increasing production and refining capacity” to support “their consumers, there community and their country,” blaming all the increased prices on the oil industry.  No one told Biden he must spend $70 billion on Kiev to topple the Putin government.  Zelensky said recently the wouldn’t enter into any peace talks with Putin leading the country.  So what’s the world supposed to do, wait until Zelensky gets enough revenge on Putin to satisfy his need for blood?  Biden’s attempt to blame the oil industry ignore his decisions on the Ukraine War that’s left the U.S. and the world in the worst inflation in 40 years.  Ending the war would help resolve the current energy and inflation crisis.

Biden’s chances to getting a “wind fall profit tax” out of Congress are slim-and-none.  Instead of blaming the U.S. oil industry, it’s time the White House look at their Ukraine War policy that feeds Kiev unlimited cash-and-lethal weapons to fight a bloody proxy war against the Russian Federation. If Biden wants to curb high energy prices and inflation, he needs to let U.N. peacekeepers move the conflict off the battlefield onto the peace table. Improving the global oil supply requires oil-producing countries like Russia to sell their oil into world markets.  Keeping the war going only adds to the worldwide shortages and skyrocketing prices.  Biden and Zelensky may despise Putin but he’s turned Russian into one of OPEC’s leading oil exporting nations.  Ending the war and working out a lasting peace would return the world’s energy supplies to a normal level, lowering prices and reducing inflation.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[queenshelby]

A NEW WORLD – PART NINE

A QUIET PLACE 2 FANFIC

Pairing: Emmett x Fem!Reader

Warning: Angst, Gore, Death, Murder, Attempted Rape, Aliens, Violence, Movie Spoilers, SMUT, etc…

DAY 764

‘Say Good Morning Mumma’ Emmett said holding up Charlotte as you came walking out of the bedroom.

‘I didn’t hear your get up. Why didn’t you wake me?’ you asked as you were still not used to Charlotte sleeping in a different room to you ever since Emmett cleared out the study room and put up a toddler bed for Charlotte.

‘I thought that you could use some extra sleep’ Emmett said as he took one of the wooden blocks away from Charlotte. You were up with Charlotte for two nights as she was teething and last night you finally managed to sleep five hours straight.

‘Not in your mouth, remember?’ Emmett said and Charlotte pouted at him, trying to get the wooden block back with her tiny little hand.

‘I asked Jeremy to pick up some children’s paracetamol and a teething toy on his run to the mainland today. Also, one of the women on the island found a baby monitor packed away in her garage. I will try and get it to work today. You might feel a bit less anxious about Charlotte being in another room if you can hear her through the monitor’ Emmett suggested as he handed you a cup of instant coffee.

‘Thank you’ you said with a warm smile and some guilt. You still haven’t told Emmett that he is Charlotte’s father. Yet, you could see an instant connection between them.

Emmett has never asked about Charlotte’s father and you never told him much about her and her birth. It was more that you could handle at the time especially since you thought that he was in a relationship with Nancy.

‘How come you and Nancy don’t share house?’ you eventually asked as you were making breakfast.

‘It’s complicated Y/N’ Emmett said, causing you to raise an eyebrow at him.

‘So, you aren’t in love with each other? Is that it?’ you asked curiously.

‘I don’t have feelings for her if this is what you mean. In fact, I believe that love in a world like this is a dangerous thing. It’s not worth it’ he said before putting his empty bowl into the sink and excusing himself.

It was obvious to you that he didn’t really want to discuss his relationship with Nancy.  

***

Later that day you were invited to Nancy’s house to play cards and have some wine.

Reagan had kindly offered to babysit Charlotte that evening as Lucas and Marcus were out in the woods for the night, hunting animals for the community to eat alongside Emmett’s friend Morgan.

You had the feeling that there was something between Morgan and Evelyn, but didn’t dare to question it.

***

‘This is so strange’ you said as you took five cards from the deck and a glass of wine from the ones Nancy had poured and placed in the middle of the table.

‘Being here, on the island, you mean?’ Nancy asked and you nodded. You still struggled with the idea of being safe, of not being hungry and of having access to clean water simply to have a shower. The strangest of it all was that Charlotte’s father was with you now after you had expected to never see him again.

‘I think you just need to accept the fact that God chose you to be here. To keep you safe. It’s that simple’ Nancy said and you couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘I am sorry Nancy but I find it hard to believe after all the shit that has happened to me and my family and friends. I had to kill people to get here. I put a knife in the head of a close friend so that she would no longer suffer when she fell ill while we were at the bunker. I was almost raped by two men when Emmett saved me. Was all of this God’s plan for me?’ you sighed as you had lost faith many years ago.

‘Let’s not talk about faith, shall we’ Evelyn said and you all nodded in agreement quite quickly. After all, faith and believe had become a difficult topic and some people struggled more with it than others since the invasion.

‘Where is Emmett tonight?’ Adrian, one of the others, asked and Nancy rolled her eyes in response.

‘Who knows. He said that he needed space. He’s been acting strange ever since he got back from the mainland and my best guess is that he’s down by the old beach shag. That’s where he usually goes when he wants to be alone’ Nancy sighed somewhat disappointed. Clearly, Emmett has not let her into who he was and to who had become.

‘Hmm I wonder why that is?’ Evelyn said as she sipped on her glass of white wine while looking over at you with a smile.

You were surprised by the look Evelyn gave you. Did she know about you and Emmett you wondered?

***

After two games of cards, you helped Evelyn to take the empty wine bottles back to the kitchen in order to get some refills for everyone.

‘You need to tell him Y/N’ Evelyn said calmly as she started opening two more bottles of wine.

‘What do you mean?’ you whispered, looking at Evelyn with wide open eyes.

‘That Charlotte is his daughter’ she then went on to say.

‘How do you know?’ you whispered in a panic. You never had this conversation with her.

‘Lucas told me Charlotte’s birthday and he also told me that she came four weeks early and he had to help deliver her. Apparently, he is still a little freaked out about seeing his sister’s vagina’ she laughed before continuing on. ‘Emmett told me about you six months ago, about the night you spent together and how he could never tell Nora who the woman was he had been with that night. He still feels guilty about it all’ Evelyn whispered.

‘I remember when he called me the day after, telling me that what happened between us was nothing more than a mistake. But of course, he feels guilty towards Nora after all the crap she put him through that year’ you sighed, remembering how bad their relationship had become before the night in question.

‘No Y/N’ Evelyn said as she put one of her hands onto your shoulder. ‘The guilt he feels is towards you, for pushing you away the way he did after the night he had spent with you. He loved you. He probably still does’ Evelyn whispered with a smile.

‘He’s got a funny way of showing it. He had more than a month to say something to me before these things invaded our planet’ you huffed.

‘The morning after you had spent the night with Emmett, Nora called him from the hospital near her sister’s house. She was diagnosed with cancer that day. Her prognosis was good at the time but she never got the treatment she needed following the invasion. He chose his family Y/N. He had to’ Evelyn said with both of her hands on your shoulders.

‘I had no idea’ you said as your chin dropped and small tears began to form in the inside of your eyes. Emmett had never given an explanation to you as to why he acted the way he did and you immediately felt awful about what him and Nora must have been through.

‘I know. That’s why I am telling you now. You need to forgive him for what happened between you and let him be a father to Charlotte’ Evelyn said and you nodded in agreement.

There was nothing to say and, as soon as you returned to Nancy’s living room, you excused yourself.

You explained to the group that Charlotte was teething and that you were tired and wanted to get some rest. But the truth was that you had to see Emmett and clear things up once and for all.

***

As you arrived at the top of the hill which led down to the beach and the old beach shag, you could see Emmett sit on a large towel in front of a small fire place, starring at the sea.

Quietly and slowly, you made your way down the hill in between the bushes and approached Emmett from behind.

‘You scared the shit out of me Y/N’ Emmett said just after he startled as you tapped him on the shoulder.

‘I am sorry’ you smiled before kneeling down next to him.

‘What are you doing here?’ Emmett asked and, without words, you caressed his face with one of your hands and drew his lips closer towards yours.

‘This’ you whispered before your lips met in a passionate kiss.

‘Y/N, I am so sorry for…’ Emmett tried to say as your lips finally drifted apart.

‘Sshh. I know’ you said before pressing your lips back onto his one more time, even more desperate and passionate than before.

‘I love you’ you whispered after you had silenced him with your lips and, just as they parted again, he told you that he loves you too.

‘Didn’t you say that love in a world like this is a dangerous thing?’ you asked in between kisses and while your hands began to roam over each other’s bodies.

‘It is and I am afraid of it, but sometimes you can’t help it. I have loved you for years Y/N’ Emmett said, his deep blue eyes gazing into yours.

‘Oh Emmett’ you sighed, before you climbed onto his lap and pressed your lips against his again.

Your lips parted slightly, allowing his tongue to enter your mouth and start dancing with yours all while he began to unbutton your blouse.

‘We are on a public beach Emmett’ you giggled as his eyes wandered over your breasts which clearly had gotten larger.

‘No one ever comes down here’ Emmett assured you before guiding you off him and pushing you onto the towel beneath him, covering the sand.

After taking off his own t-shirt, Emmett rubbed both his hands along your thighs up towards the hem of your skirt. Then he moved his hands underneath your skirt and then back down towards your knees. As his hands made another pass over your legs and under your skirt, he reached all the way to the top of your thighs and his fingers felt around for your panties. Not finding any, he looked up at you and raised his eyebrows in a playful manner.

‘Shortage of underwear on the island’ you answered his unasked question with a little smirk and a flirtatious look in your eyes.

Emmett then started exploring you with his fingers. Finding you wet and aroused, he pressed one of his fingers easily into your opening and then slid it back out and rubbed it along your pussy lips and towards your clit. He repeated this process over and over again and you let out a soft moan every time his fingers made this journey along your body. Your eyes met and you bit your lip as he continued fingering you.

‘Oh my god, that feels so good’ you whispered to him and he smiled back at you.

You certainly didn't want him to stop, but you also wanted more.

After a few more minutes of this pleasure, you pulled him on top of you and your bodies were pressed up together. You could feel Emmett's hardness straining through his jeans against your thighs and you could help but moan at the sensation.

He then pulled your mouth to his in a passionate embrace. Your breaths were shallow as your kiss deepened, his mouth practically enveloping yours.

It wasn’t long until Emmett reached between you and unzipped his jeans before pulling them down along with his briefs.

‘Fuck I want you so badly’ you whispered as you pushed up your skirt and spread your legs widely, allowing Emmett to line himself up with your soaking entrance.

‘Fuck Y/N’ Emmett moaned as he thrusted his rock-hard cock into your very wet, swollen, and ready, opening.

You let out a long, low moan as he entered you. His cock felt so good inside you; like two puzzle pieces fitting together. You squeezed your muscles on him in response, sending a shiver of intensity through your body. With your left legs wrapped around him, he was pushing deep into you. With every hard and fast thrust, you would yell out, not afraid of making your noises heard on this darkened and empty beach. As he pounded into you, your hands slid, scratched and grabbed all over his body, along his back, onto his shoulders, and then down to his ass. You gripped his tight ass cheeks and pushed him in tighter on each thrust.

‘Don’t come inside me’ you barely managed to say and Emmett simply nodded as he kept thrusting into you deeply.

With all the thrusting, you eventually arched your back, changing the angle of his entry, and now his cock was hitting your very sensitive g-spot.

Your moans now turned to loud "fucks" and "oh gods" and you were soon pretty close to an explosive orgasm. Knowing that you were close to climax, Emmett sped up his thrusts which sent your over the edge.

‘Oh god, oh god, oh god...Emmett…fuck’ you moaned as a powerful orgasm rippled through your body and Emmett’s palm quickly came down on your mouth.

‘Shh’ he smirked as your pelvic muscles contracted and pulsed, tightening around his cock and then released. Spasm like shivers moved up to your shoulders and through your body and you let out a very long, satisfied exhalation.

‘Holy Fuck’ you said to Emmett, with an exasperated laugh in your voice once he finally removed his hand from your mouth.

He smiled back at you, then scooped his arms up under your back and lifted you to sit facing him. Still catching your breath, your mouths came together for a kiss, but you simply exchanged warm breaths into each other's mouths before your lips met.

As your body calmed from the orgasm, you brought your hand down to his cock. He was wet and sticky from your fluids, so you leaned down, bringing your lips to his cock, tasting yourself on him and began sliding your tongue all along his shaft, adding the lubrication of your saliva to him.

Your tongue made broad strokes along the underside of his cock and then tickled the tip and then back down again, adding more and more moisture to his cock with every lick. Now slippery with your moisture, you brought your hand to his cock and began moving it up and down, giving your mouth a break. As you squeezed your fingers and twisted your wrist on his cock, he brought his fingers back to play with your pussy. Still highly sensitive from the orgasm you had just experienced, you gasped at his initial touch and your muscles involuntarily squeezed and clenched.

He inserted his pointer and middle fingers into your wet opening, then dragged them out and up along your lips to your sensitive clit. You let out a loud groan as he did this, while your hand continued its work on his cock. Slowly, he continued moving his fingers along your wetness, along your lips and then he started finger fucking you, slowly at first and then faster and with more intensity. You matched his intensity with your hand on his cock. Faster and deeper he plunged into your warm tunnel, and faster and tighter you moved on his manhood. He took in a deep inhalation and let out a gasp and you knew he was close to release. His fingers were now rapidly pounding into you and you were moving your hand faster than ever on his cock.

‘I am close’ Emmett moaned, barely managing to speak and you quickly dropped your head down onto his swollen cock and he let out a loud, guttural exhalation as his warm and sweet cum released into your mouth.

‘Hmm’ you moaned out, squeezing his cock with your lips and sliding them up and down as he pulsed out more semen into your mouth. Once he was complete, she licked your tongue on his cock, before removing your mouth and swallowing.

You had never really enjoyed sucking off a cock and swallowing cum before, but with Emmett it was different and you were somewhat truly delighted in satisfying Emmett this way.

You sat up and looked at Emmett. His head was leaned back, his eyes closed, and a look of complete pleasure on his face.

‘Fuck…this was something else’ he whispered to you, followed by a deep sigh and a little contented laugh.

You smiled in return as he fluttered his eyes open.

It wasn’t long until your lips met again and, just as you heard some noises in the bushes besides you, Emmett quickly pulled up his pants while you buttoned up the blouse which never left your body.

Then, Emmett quickly put his t-shirt back on and, to your relief, two rabbits jumped out of the bushes making you both laugh and fall back against the towel which was barely covering the sand from the beach.

‘Emmett?’ you said as you rested your head on his chest while your eyes were gazing into the fire.

‘Hmm’ he said as he was holding you tight.

‘There is something I need to tell you’ you murmured.

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[fanfiction-fantasies]

Hiya! Real big fan of your x reader works!! I was wondering if you do BOTW x Readers. If so, perhaps Sidon, Link, Zelda, and Buliara?

Sidon

Anyone who knows Sidon knows that he is an incredibly supportive and strong person. If you have a problem you need help solving, he’s the one to talk to. This sweet fish prince loves helping those around him.

And that goes double for anyone he is romantically interested in!

If you need help with something, he will do everything in his power to help. If you need help coming up with an idea, he will listen to you and pitch in with his thoughts on how to proceed. If you need to vent, he will listen and offer comfort.

His love language is words of affirmation and physical touch. He always has a compliment on the tip of his tongue, and he is always ready to hold your hand or scoop you into a hug at a moment’s notice.

What can he say, he thinks you’re simply amazing! He figures that if no one else is going to tell you how great you are, he should be the one to do it! It is a job he will take on with pride and honor.

Despite how confident he seems, he can be rather bashful. Compliment him, initiate physical contact, or give him a gift? He will turn away to try and hide his smile.

This sweet fishy boi loafs you

Link

This boy is chaos incarnate, and his affection reflects this.

He’ll bring you a beautiful bouquet of flowers, smiling at you despite having just fought a mob of monsters.

Either that, or he will give you some mundane trinket after having ran across Hyrule because “It reminded me of you!”

Since Link is mostly nonverbal, he uses sign to talk to you. Don’t know sign? He’ll teach you! It doesn’t matter to him if you're a fast learner or if you struggle, he is infinitely patient when it comes to you.

As you might have already guessed, his love language is giving gifts! Because of how often he travels, Link will have no shortage of things to give to you. Jewelry and sand seal plushies from Gerudo desert, cool lava rocks from Death Mountain, luminous stones and unique plants from Zora’s Domain, maybe even a bow from the Tabantha region!

Link is not only chaotic, he’s also a dork. He will make an absolute fool of himself to make you smile and/or blush.

He definitely does the eyebrow thing.

Zelda

Oh honey, you managed to catch the eye of the sweetest cinnamon roll this side of Hyrule.

In public, she’s curt and impersonal with you. In private, or when she’s out exploring? A total 180. She is sweet, excitable, and loving. She could talk your ear off with all the cool tech knowledge she’s got in her head!

She’s a princess, so you know you’re gonna be a lil’ bit spoiled. Nice jewelry? New clothes? Any and all tools needed for any hobby you may have? You don’t even gotta ask, she will provide.

No, she won’t try and make you eat frogs. That ‘privilege’ is for Link only.

Her love language is quality time! Spending time with you and sharing her interests is her way of showing her affection. She has to trust someone quite a lot to be able to open up about her interests, so this is also her way of showing trust.

Your relationship with Zelda would have to be a secret at first. Her father hardly even lets her study relics, so a relationship? Just another distraction according to him.

Don’t worry, he’ll come around once he sees how genuinely happy his daughter has become since knowing you.

Buliara

Strong, loyal, protective… What more could you want?

She is honestly a great choice for a romantic partner. Sure, it takes quite a bit to impress her, but once you do, it’s really just a matter of time.

If Riju approves of you, you can bet that she is gonna be the best wingman.

Although Buliara dedicates herself to her job, that doesn’t mean she won’t have time for you. She will absolutely take time out of her day to spend with you! (Riju definitely messes with the schedule to ensure this)

Her love language is quality time and acts of service! She enjoys spending time with you, whether it’s training with you or watching you do something you enjoy. If you ever need help with something? You hardly need to ask, she’s already up and assisting you!

She will definitely want to train with you. Teaching you how to defend yourself will be something she enjoys, because not only does she get to see you improve, it also takes away some of her worry. If you can defend yourself, she won’t need to look over her shoulder to make sure you’re okay. She’s a warrior, and a worrier.

Her ideal date is a picnic out on the cliffs at the edge of the desert at night. Good food, stunning views, and you? Dream come true for her.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Rash of mass shootings stirs US fears heading into summer (AP) Two people were killed and at least 30 others wounded in mass shootings overnight in three states, authorities said Saturday, stoking concerns that a spike in U.S. gun violence could continue into summer as coronavirus restrictions ease and more people are free to socialize. The attacks took place late Friday or early Saturday in the Texas capital of Austin, Chicago and Savannah, Georgia. In Austin, authorities said they arrested one of two male suspects and were searching for the other after a shooting early Saturday on a crowded pedestrian-only street packed with bars and restaurants. Fourteen people were wounded, including two critically, in the gunfire, which the city’s interim police chief said is believed to have started as a dispute between two parties. In Chicago, a woman was killed and nine other people were wounded when two men opened fire on a group standing on a sidewalk in the Chatham neighborhood on the city’s South Side. In the south Georgia city of Savannah, police said one man was killed and seven other people were wounded in a mass shooting Friday evening.

Summer camps return but with fewer campers and counselors (AP) Overnight summer camps will be allowed in all 50 states this season, but COVID-19 rules and a pandemic labor crunch mean that many fewer young campers will attend, and those who do will have to observe coronavirus precautions for the second consecutive year. “Camp might look a little different, but camp is going to look a lot better in 2021 than it did in 2020, when it didn’t happen,” said Matt Norman of Atlanta, who is getting ready to send his 12-year-old daughter to camp. Even though most camps will be open, reduced capacity necessitated by COVID-19 restrictions and the labor shortage will keep numbers well below a normal threshold of about 26 million summer campers, said Tom Rosenberg of the American Camp Association.

Mexico says COVID-19 has affected a fourth of its population (Reuters) About a quarter of Mexico’s 126 million people are estimated to have been infected with the coronavirus, the health ministry said on Friday, far more than the country’s confirmed infections. The 2020 National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut) showed that about 31.1 million people have had the virus, the ministry said in a statement, citing Tonatiuh Barrientos, an official at the National Institute of Public Health. According to Barrientos, not all of the people in the survey’s estimate necessarily showed symptoms. The survey was based on interviews with people at 13,910 households between Aug. 17 and Nov. 14 last year, and confirmed preliminary results released in December.

Peru on edge as electoral board reviews result of disputed presidential election (Guardian) Peru was on a knife-edge on Friday as its electoral board reviewed ballots cast in the presidential election, after a challenge to the tally by the losing candidate Keiko Fujimori. The final tally gave the leftist teacher Pedro Castillo a razor-thin 50.17% to 49.83% advantage over his rightwing rival Fujimori, which amounts to about 60,000 votes. However, the country’s electoral authority has yet to confirm the win, and Fujimori, the scion of a controversial political dynasty, has refused to concede. She alleges fraud, even though national and international observers said the vote was clean, and has called for up to 500,000 votes to be nullified or reexamined, forcing the electoral board to conduct a review of ballots.

For Cornwall, G7 summit brings disruption (AP) Towering steel fences, masses of police, protests on the beach: The Cornish seaside’s turquoise waters and white sandy beaches are looking decidedly less idyllic this week as leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies descend for a summit. U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan are arriving for three days of talks starting Friday at the tiny village of Carbis Bay, near St. Ives in Cornwall. The region is a popular holiday destination in the southwestern tip of England. Locals may be used to crowds and traffic jams during the peak summer tourist season, but the disruptions caused by the summit are on another level. A naval frigate dominates the coastline, armed soldiers guard the main sites and some 5,000 extra police officers have been deployed to the area. Authorities have even hired a cruise ship with a capacity of 3,000, moored offshore, to accommodate some of the extra officers. A main road is closed for the whole week, and local train lines and bus services have been shut down. A 3-meter (10-foot) tall metal fence nicknamed the “ring of steel” has been erected around Treganna Castle in Carbis Bay, where world leaders will stay. Security is also tight in the nearby town of Falmouth, the main base for international media covering the summit.

World leaders are in England, but beautiful British beaches have stolen the show (Washington Post) When President Biden shared a photo to Twitter on Thursday of him standing alongside British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and gazing out onto an unspoiled, sandy white beach from the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, England, the post was supposed to be a tribute to the “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States. But to many, it was the image of the picturesque coast that stood out. It looked somewhat suspicious. Too good to be true. Others questioned the authenticity of the scene, wondering whether it was photoshopped. Although it is true that some of Britain’s beaches have a reputation for pebbles, angry seagulls that steal food from unsuspecting tourists and diapers that float in murky waters, the county of Cornwall boasts some of the country’s best seaside destinations—complete with calm, clear waters that are perfect for swimming in and long stretches of soft sand that attract families from around the world. Carbis Bay is one of several beaches that make up St. Ives Bay, which, according to the Cornwall tourist board, is considered by the “Most Beautiful Bays in the World” organization to be one of the world’s best. The bay is described as being “surrounded by sub-tropical plants and lapped by turquoise waters.”

Ransomware’s suspected Russian roots point to a long detente between the Kremlin and hackers (Washington Post) The ransomware hackers suspected of targeting Colonial Pipeline and other businesses around the world have a strict set of rules. First and foremost: Don’t target Russia or friendly states. It’s even hard-wired into the malware, including coding to prevent hacks on Moscow’s ally Syria, according to cybersecurity experts who have analyzed the malware’s digital fingerprints. They say the reasons appear clear. “In the West you say, ‘Don’t . . . where you eat,’ ” said Dmitry Smilyanets, a former Russia-based hacker who is now an intelligence analyst at Recorded Future, a cybersecurity company with offices in Washington and other cities around the world. “It’s a red line.” Targeting Russia could mean a knock on the door from state security agents, he said. But attacking Western enterprises is unlikely to trigger a crackdown. The relationship between the Russian government and ransomware criminals allegedly operating from within the country is expected to be a point of tension between President Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at their planned summit in Geneva on Wednesday. The United States has accused Russia of acting as a haven for hackers by tolerating their activities—as long as they are directed outside the country.

Pandemic relapse spells trouble for India’s middle class (AP) India’s economy was on the cusp of recovery from the first pandemic shock when a new wave of infections swept the country, infecting millions, killing hundreds of thousands and forcing many people to stay home. Cases are now tapering off, but prospects for many Indians are drastically worse as salaried jobs vanish, incomes shrink and inequality is rising. Decades of progress in alleviating poverty are imperiled, experts say, and getting growth back on track hinges on the fate of the country’s sprawling middle class. It’s a powerful and diverse group ranging from salaried employees to small business owners: many millions of people struggling to hold onto their hard-earned gains. The outbreak of the pandemic triggered the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s and as it gradually ebbs, many economies are bouncing back. India’s economy contracted 7.3% in the fiscal year that ended in March, worsening from a slump that slashed growth to 4% from 8% in the two years before the pandemic hit. Economists fear there will be no rebound similar to the ones seen in the U.S. and other major economies.

‘Xi Jinping is my spiritual leader’: China’s education drive in Tibet (Reuters) Under clear blue skies, rugged peaks and the spectacular Potala Palace, one image is ubiquitous in Tibet’s capital city Lhasa: portraits of Chinese President Xi Jinping and fellow leaders. China is broadening a political education campaign as it celebrates the 70th anniversary of its control over Tibet. Civilians and religious figures who the government arranged to be interviewed on the five-day trip pledged loyalty to the Communist Party and Xi. Asked who his spiritual leader was, a monk at Lhasa’s historic Jokhang temple named Xi. “I’m not drunk ... I speak freely to you,” said the monk named Lhakpa, speaking from a courtyard overlooked by security cameras and government observers. “The posters [of Xi] coincide with a massive political education programme which is called ‘feeling gratitude to the party’ education,” said Robert Barnett, a Tibetan studies veteran scholar at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

Long overlooked, Israel’s Arab citizens are increasingly asserting their Palestinian identity (Washington Post) Growing up in an Arab village in northern Israel in the 1990s, Mahmoud Abo Arisheh was sure of at least two things: He was Israeli, and he was not allowed to talk politics. “Be careful, or the Shin Bet will get you,” his parents told him, referring to Israel’s domestic security service. Decades later, much has changed: Abo Arisheh is a lawyer, a poet and a theater director in Jaffa. He attends protests and talks politics freely—in Arabic, Hebrew and English. And while his citizenship may remain Israeli, the identity most dear to him is that of a Palestinian. “I didn’t know anything about being Palestinian,” said the 32-year-old, “but then I opened my eyes.” And now, it seems, so are many others. In just the past month, Palestinian citizens of Israel—also known as Israeli Arabs—have risen up in mass, nationwide demonstrations to protest Israeli evictions and police raids. They have been arrested by the hundreds following some of the worst communal violence between Arabs and Jews in Israel’s post-independence history. For a community that is often overlooked despite numbering nearly 2 million people—or about 20 percent of the Israeli population—these are momentous days indeed.

Nigerian police fire tear gas to break up protests over rising insecurity (Reuters) Police fired tear gas and detained several demonstrators in the Nigerian cities of Lagos and Abuja on Saturday during protests over the country’s worsening security situation, Reuters witnesses said. Anger over mass kidnappings-for-ransom, a decade-long Islamist insurgency and a crackdown on protesters in Lagos last October has fueled demands for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to do more to tackle violence and insecurity. Reuters witnesses in Lagos and Abuja saw police shooting their guns into the air and firing tear gas into the crowds to disperse the demonstrators, who held placards and chanted “Buhari must go”. Officers were also seen smashing mobile phones confiscated from protesters, who also denounced the country’s 33.3% unemployment rate.

[thatfeministkilljoy]

This September 20 to 27, we rise up in peaceful, non-violent rebellion with a single message: ACT NOW on the climate and ecological crisis! This week of climate action is in solidarity with and in  support of Halifax Youth  for Climate Action/School Strike 4 Climate HFX. We strive to work in solidarity with Mi'kmaw Water Protectors in Mi'kma'ki and all Indigenous peoples facing continued threats to their rights and sovereignty. Throughout the week, rebels will support youth strikers as we demand a livable future. Youth strike leaders have asked XR not to plan our own NVDA (non-violent direct actions) in HRM during the week. However, there will be plenty of events, marches, talks, trainings, street fairs, parties, and other actions! XR international has called for a wave of NVDA on October 7th, so we will ask Rebels to postponed NVDA until then. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: FRIDAY SEPT 20: --2 EVENTS!- Interfaith Gathering and CLIMATE CHANGE RALLY - to honour the victims of climate change 12 noon, Grand Parade Square on Barrington. organized by concerned citizens of Halifax - see event info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/757366544721018/ and then the YOUTH NATIONAL DIE-IN: (Friday Sept 20)  meeting at 3:30 pm at Mumford Bus Terminal. (then going together to the secret Die-in location.) The Die-in will happen simultaneously by youth activists across Canada. ----------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY SEPT 21: ART-BUILD at Quinfest, 11-3pm on Quinpool Road - info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2883491621724951/ ALSO: Community WATER WALK in Tatamagouche - meet at 9am at the Snowmobile Club on Warwick Mtn Rd in Tatamagouche. email flowingtogethernovascotia@gmail.com for more info. https://www.facebook.com/events/509054906558892/ Also SATURDAY SEPT 21: XR talk: 'Heading for extinction and what to do about it'. 3:30 to 5pm, Halifax North Memorial Library on Gottingen Street. https://www.facebook.com/events/2527129914043648/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- SUNDAY SEPT 22: COMMUNITY GUERRILLA GARDENING - building a vision for the future- we will grow what we want to see in our city. 10am and on - location TBA bring tools and prepare to help! event: https://www.facebook.com/events/400851284162650/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- MONDAY SEPT 23: XR talk: 'Heading for extinction and what to do about it'. Halifax Central Library: Lindsay Children's Room, 3-4:30pm https://www.facebook.com/events/393807141516263/ Also MONDAY SEPT 23: OPEN MIC HOUSE CONCERT: 7pm: 2539 Agricola St. fundraiser for STOP ALTON GAS legal fund https://www.facebook.com/events/647018249123691/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TUESDAY SEPT 24: BAKE SALE! fundraiser for Water Protectors, Stop Alton Gas legal fund 11-4pm Dalhousie Campus - McCain building lobby organized by Our-Time and The Loaded Ladle https://www.facebook.com/events/309870626524761/ ALSO on Tuesday: David Suzuki and Stephen Lewis -Climate First Tour, in support of youth strikers across the country - They will ask people to come to the rally on the 27th! 7pm Dalhousie Arts Centre - $14 to $26 tickets at: https://www.climatefirsttour.ca/ ------------------------------------------------------------- WEDNESDAY SEPT 25: PAINT THE TOWN! 3:30pm, meet at Halifax Central Library the youth want to create messages and art about the need for climate action - should be fun! ALSO 6pm FILM SCREENING: Standing Rock Parts 1 and 2" "Sacred Water" and "Red Power" directed by Michelle Latimer, 2017, 110 minutes) at the Khyber Centre for the Arts. Part of the Radical Imagination Film and Discussion Series: https://www.facebook.com/events/2388849514688109/?active_tab=about ----------------------------------------------------------- THURSDAY SEPT 26: PARTY FOR THE PLANET! Concerts, poster making, and Sustainable Market all day - 9am to 9pm Granville Mall - Duke and Granville St https://www.facebook.com/events/376133056655045/ ALSO: Whose Water Is it, Anyway? Book launch and public Talk with Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians - Maude will ask people to come to the big rally on the 27th! 7pm, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic https://www.facebook.com/events/2125092891119826/ --------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG BIG DAY: FRIDAY SEPT 27: GENERAL STRIKE - EVERYONE NEEDED! IF YOU CAN ONLY ATTEND ONE EVENT, THIS IS THE ONE! 11am meet at Victoria Park (Spring Garden and South Park St) The marching route will cover some distance, so bring your signs, your voices and your walking shoes! Most of all, bring your neighbours, your friends and your family. PLEASE COME!! HELP THE YOUTH DEMAND CLIMATE ACTION NOW!! WE NEED YOU. WE NEED YOU. are we getting the point across? STRIKE FROM WORK/TAKE THE DAY OFF - PLEASE COME!! ALSO ON SEPT 27: Non-Violent Direct Action training Halifax Central Library, BMO room https://www.facebook.com/events/457763944833521/ ----------------------------------------------------------- Sunday Sept 28 and Monday 29: and a cherry on top of the week: The Deanery Project offers solutions: NATURAL BUILDING EAST ECOLOGICAL BUILDING DESIGN CONFERENCE: funding may be available - please ask them if needed. https://www.facebook.com/events/371864056695348/ ------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: More events are welcome! Send a message to this page, or register your climate action event on the http://novastrike.earth/# website and we'll add your event to the list! Please try to choose a date/time that will compliment the current schedule. The more action the better. Thank you! This date has been chosen by Greta Thunberg, Climate Strike Canada, School Strike 4 Climate Halifax, 350 .org, Earth Strike and many international climate movements. Contact the youth organizers at: https://www.instagram.com/schoolstrike4climatehfx/ schoolstrike4climatehfx@gmail.com twitter @ss4cHFX If you've been waiting for the right time to come together with hundreds or thousands of fellow humans to pull us all away from the brink of senseless destruction and back towards a future where we care for this planet and each other, where decision-makers prioritize life over greed, this is it! We need all hands on deck! If you're young and want a future, if you're old and want to do your duty, if you're an organizer, lawyer, artist, musician, builder, crafter, speaker, caregiver…anyone and everyone else - this is our time to stand together with love in our hearts for this world, and rage against its senseless destruction. Be sure to join this event, share it widely, invite your friends, talk to the groups that you are involved in - your church, your union, your clubs - if we all stand together, we can win the future we deserve! Governments must ACT NOW to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. Time is running out. At this point in history we have three choices: to die, to survive or to thrive. Glaciers are melting, permafrost is thawing, sea levels are rising, and hundreds of thousands of people are losing their homes because of climate breakdown. In the midst of the sixth mass extinction, the collapse of civiliZation is a distinct possibility. We are in the face of unprecedented flooding, wildfires, thawing, species deaths and harsh consequences for marginalized communities in Canada, and widespread heatwaves, water shortages and resource-related conflicts in the wider world, especially the Global South. BUSINESS AS USUAL Our Federal Parliament, HRM council and dozens of municipalities have declared a climate emergency, but the decision-makers are not taking the decisive actions required by the crisis. The current plan to ramp up fossil fuel infrastructure and burn carbon past 2050 is an alarmingly insufficient response for halting climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. By then it will be too late. Our current economic system rewards the exploitation of people and planet. Our house is on fire, and politicians are ignoring the science as they encourage new pipelines, airports, fracking and oil-sands extraction, with billions in taxpayer money flowing into fossil fuels, all while trampling Indigenous rights. Meanwhile, politicians in power continue to refuse solutions, like a green new deal for a fair and rapid transition to safe, responsible energy. It is only by adopting meaningful measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, protecting biodiversity, upholding UNDRIP, and making ecocide law that the government can show itself to be on the right side of history - in the pursuit of Climate Justice. In line with the urgency of reports from the IPCC and IPBES, we remind the government of the need to ACT NOW. In the past, Canada has been a leader and trendsetter to other major democracies. If we can show leadership now, the resulting chain reaction across the world will be crucial for securing the future. LEARN MORE EXTINCTION REBELLION Extinction Rebellion is a non-violent, international movement that aims to achieve radical change to minimize the risk of human and animal extinction and ecological collapse. We invite everyone, and every part of everyone, to join us for this week of beautiful, decentralized rebellion. Visit https://Rebellion.Earth to learn more about our demands, who we are and our theory of change. Sign up to XRNS here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-extinction-rebellion-nova-scotia This event takes place on UNCEDED, and UNSURRENDERED Territory of the Mi’kmaw People. We are all Treaty People and have responsibilities to each other and this land. More info on the Peace and Friendship Treaties: http://mikmaqrights.com/negotiations/treaties Follow the School Strike 4 Climate HFX school strikers here: https://www.instagram.com/schoolstrike4climatehfx/?hl=en or email the Youth Strikers here: schoolstrike4climatehfx@gmail.com

LINK TO FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

@allthecanadianpolitics @nspoli

[epicballads]

PISTACHIO TALK on  “dvineglory replied to your post “When you wake up to the news saying...”

dvineglory: pistachios ?? you're such a good friend !! also walmart has no toilet paper either . it's a problem destinylinked: What the heckie i picked out those pistachios don't give away ): 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ WE’LL BUY NEW ONES, IT’S OKAY

TOILET PAPER TALK on “When you wake up to the news saying that travels to where you live...”

yourlovingspy: People seem to think they need multiple cart loads of it rather than just, you know. A pack. It's bizarre. And like @endlessfables said, absolutely causing problems already for those who are low income. It's frustrating af. & Yuuuuup. Some people and organizations are already canceling travel to where I live. Last I saw, we had 15 deaths here (am in the hot zone for the region), significant community spread, and also no toilet paper. People literally post updates on Facebook about when stores are expecting deliveries. Public venues are being closed, group gatherings are discouraged. It's *weird* here rn. endlessfables: toilet paper is going here too. pasta, soups, bread, etc. all fucking gone. it's idiocy. and it's creating problems for low income houses and their normal shop zagubionywilk: yeah ! i would expect idk, paper towels or something not toilet paper. bc ?? you mostly need to clean with . . the pt. cleaning supplies, masks and hand sand are all out too though but THAT makes sense. thefrayedandthetorn: It's bc one of the signs of covid19 is diarrhea. And if they're quarantined, they can't go buy more TP. So they're stocking up on it. The places here are more so out of hand sanitizer and bleach and stuff. belovedghoust:  (I also heard about a toilet paper shortage here?? It’s so strange) dracharenae: funnily enough it's the opposite here. i live in the west with cowboys (yeehaw) and everybody i've talked to does not care, so TP is in full stock

     I thought about the problem this all poses for people with lower incomes. I bought stuff for someone asking for food today but that never feels like doing much.       Travels to here are going to be canceled now, too, because I officially live in a hot zone for my region since today. It is very weird.       I didn’t connect the symptoms to the toilet paper purchases so far, so thank you! That makes a lot of sense. Sanitizer is out, too, but it’s being manufactured in my region so we’re going to be back in stock next week — less of a problem.       I’m laughing about the cowboys :D Here it’s very polarized. There are people who don’t care and say “I’m gonna get it anyway so why try” and other people who’re very paranoid. I’m being cautious because my mother is in a high-risk group because of preexisting conditions.

[legendtarot]

X of Swords

** Card of The Day:** X of Swords [Upright]

“It is a curious sensation: the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more. It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace.”

George Bernard Shaw

Keywords: Back-stabbed, defeat, crisis, betrayal, endings, retaliation, reprisals

Key: Ten/X. The Lord of Ruin”: Sun in Gemini **Element: **Air

Raider-Waite-Smith [circa 1910]  

A glance at the history of a hand gesture in medieval Christian iconography

A man is cloaked in red, laying face down in the sand. No shortage of Brutus jokes come to mind in this scenario, but I will skip the cliche. The only Roman reference I am going to make isn’t about Julius Caesar, but the polarities are certainly present.

I do want to reference his hand gesture. It is the same as Hierophant makes in in Key Five. It’s known as the “The Hand of Benediction”.  There are a few sources that cite this originating from Saint Peter having an injury to the ulnar nerve within his hand, preventing him from blessing people in the traditional manner of a fist (you can assign whatever metaphor you want to that if you’re feeling salty).

Ancient Romans, used to use hand gestures fluently within their great Greek-inspired councils. One of which was a lifting of the hand, similar to the sign of Benediction, to command silence. This was likely reserved for the elite of society, suggesting the weight and station of the person talking possessed _gravitas _and was deserving of your attention. This may be part of the reason we see Jesus and so many Saints making similar gestures. I enjoy the notion of duality in both blessing, and silence.

Daniel Esparza from Aleteia, recently posted an article that I felt was very relevant laden with my card of the day, Ten of Swords! Here’s a quote: 

“In Greek Orthodox iconography, as also in early Christian iconography, the gesture of the blessing hand actually shapes the letters IC XC, an abbreviation for the Greek words Jesus (IHCOYC) Christ (XPICTOC) which includes the first and last letter of each word. The hand that blesses reproduces, with gestures, the Name of Jesus, the “Name above every name.

In addition to shaping letters, the gesture of blessing made by Christ also conveys doctrinal truths. The three fingers used to spell the I and X also represent the Trinity, the Unity of One God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Bringing the thumb and the ring finger together to touch not only forms the letter C, but also symbolizes (sic) the Incarnation, the union of the divine and human natures in the person of Christ.” [Tetragrammaton is not cited in the Bible, at least, it’s unknown to me. Please feel free to drop me a verse if you’ve got one!]

Continuing the idea of a ‘Trinity’, and a bit closer to home for me, one only needs to look at the wealth of Celtic culture from Pre-history - the Fall of Rome, where literally everything from Ireland to Wales, and all of Gaul was written in Triads. The power of three isn’t lost on anyone in myth.

Does this hand gesture hold any significant meaning for you? Does the trinity (in any capacity, not just a ‘Christian’ application}?

Seed Thoughts

What is that hand gesture telling us about the man, laying on the beach? That the person so afflicted by circumstance or the actions of others, is a person of great import {You are]? Or that you are just and right in your actions that led to this moment? Merely seeds for thought, one certainly does not need to analyze every detail in a card to convey it’s meaning.

The Swords are a suit of Air. Conveying the thoughts and ideas of the situation. What can we learn looking back at the IX of Swords? What lesson can we learn from the transition of that moment, to this one?  

According to Brigit Esselmont of Biddy Tarot:

“Tens are the completion, end of a cycle and renewal. 10 can also become 1 (1+0 = 1) and therefore the tens represent the same things as the Aces but on a higher level.”

(Her book is excellent for leveraging the every day human advice of Tarot cards! It’s linked below). If we subscribe to this for a moment, what can this tell us about the card itself? That in finality there is a new beginning? Or that perhaps in that Yellow horizon, and calm see we can assume that even though this hurts in the most visceral of ways, that it was ultimately for the best and our future is only just now beginning?

References & Sources

Raider Waite-Smith deck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider-Waite_tarot_deck

Light reading on Julius Caesar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar

Hand of Benediction [Medical]: Source 1, Source 2

Hand of Benediction [Art]: Hand image is Public Domain

Additional Articles on Iconography: Source 1, Source 2

Brigit Esselmont: www.biddytarot.com

Biddy’s Ultimate Guide to Tarot: Sold Here 

[raatnam-media-blog]

ఈయన మాటలకి యాంకర్ రియాక్షన్ చూడండి Vizag Public Talk On Ys Jagan Govt Ru...

[cecilspeaks]

136 - The Mudstone Abyss Part 2

Kevin: Age is just a number that counts quickly upward to an ending point.

Welcome to Desert Bluffs.

Hello, Desert Bluffs! Let’s start there. Let’s start with a greeting, a simple hello and of course, a huge smile. Then let’s move right into the good news, the happy news.

Charles and I went on our first date many weeks back, and it was magical! I met up with him in the new town square, which is a sand dune with a cow skull on it. I was wearing my best rabbit fur coveralls and rainbow-striped head band. He was wearing a rose gold lame cravat and soccer shin guards. We went to eat at Desert Bluffs’ newest restaurant, Vermillion, which specializes in lip meat. We shared a bottle of Cabernet and talked comfortably about all the things you shouldn’t talk about on a first date. Politics – we’re both theocrats -, religion – we were both raised in the arborial faith -, sex – we both have had it – and banking. We had some polite disagreements here. Later we went back to my house next to the Temple of Joy. It had been a long time since either of us had had - [chuckling] well, I don’t wanna share too much. So I’ll skip to the next morning, where over coffee we talked about our dreams, or rather dream. It was that same shared dream that all Desert Bluffs citizens have every night with the birds flying in seemingly random directions over the cornfield before crashing their bodies into the ground. Charles, being new in town, had a lot of questions about this dream. But I said that the dream is nothing more than a simple pleasure we all share as a community. It’s fun to know that the whole time sometimes wakes up at the exact same time, sweating and screaming for joy!

After enriching conversation and strong coffee, he said he had to go meet someone. When I asked who, he said, “We’ll talk about it later, it’s not a big deal.” He kissed me and I smiled like I have not smiled in years. I smiled so hard that every glass object in my kitchen exploded all at once. A lacerating confetti of joy.

An update on the construction of the new Mudstone Abyss. Mayor Lauren Mallard reported today that the dig is behind schedule. She sighted a shortage of workers. She had planned for a larger turnout of labor, but this simply has not manifested. I’m disappointed to hear this, Desert Bluffs, but it’s certainly understandable. We all have jobs and responsibilities, and making time to contribute to the building of this great monument can be difficult. Desert Bluffs is a place of hope, of renewal, of refuge for those in need and above all, of joy. The Mudstone Abyss is a celebration of all those things, and I tell you now that the reward will be great. Not just the reward of being devoured by the Smiling God, but the reward of your eternal impact on your town. Think of the Rapa Nui people who built the Moai, or the proud union workers who erected that deco masterpiece, the Chrysler Building. Or the time traveling street artist collective known as Banksy, who built Stonehenge.

Every great monument is built by human hands, and those hands leave their artistry for generations to enjoy, discover, and study. The Mudstone Abyss will be a triumph of Desert Bluffs citizens, and later a tourist attraction, and later a historical landmark, and eventually a curious and misunderstood artefact of a long dead civilization. You can be part of this.

Mayor Mallard and I put our heads together and agreed that the solution here is to set up communes and camps along the dig site to make your commutes easier. Schools and businesses will go on half day schedules so that everyone can make time for the monument. Mayor Mallard, and I support her brilliant idea 100 per cent – believes this is the only task we should be focused on as a town. The Smiling God deserves a physical manifestation of our penitence and devotion. Desert Bluffs deserves a notable landmark, and best of all, if we all worked and lived together, we would get to know each other’s interests, cultures, languages, histories. If we worked together, we could become so much – closer.

And now a word from our sponsors. When we talk apocalypse, we talk fires and spires of smoke and screams and wars and horrid clouds of ash and floods. And this is a comforting vision, because it supposes we’re all in it together. But death is mostly something you keep to yourself. In all reality, the apocalypse is likely going to just be you alone in a room with the flu. Bed, Bath and Beyond: you’re going to need some new sheets.

So after my first date with Charles, we went out again the following week. I showed him around Desert Bluffs, I took him to the Sandy Blossom Bowling Alley and Arcade Joy Compound. We bowled that afternoon and played a few old video games like Ms. Pac-Man, Sleepytime Spider Swallower, and Horse Carcass, all the classics from our youth. We then went for a romantic walk along the beach. Charles thought it shouldn’t be called a beach because there was no body of water, but I pointed out that it was sand, and that there was water somewhere. How close the water is is all a matter of faith. He laughed, and I squeezed his hand. Then we went to the food truck park. He bought some cheese pirogues from the Odessa Dumplings truck, while I went to the Tex-Mex truck and got a burrito filled with fibreglass insulation and refried beans.

The food trucks weren’t nearly as classy as Vermillion, but food is only as good as the company you enjoy it with. And I really enjoyed my time with Charles. It’s hard to intimately connect to people especially as you get older, but my time with Charles made dating seem easy. Why would anyone choose to be single when they could just walk up to the perfect man and say “Let’s know each other”? When life is good, it’s hard to understand how it could have ever been bad.

After dinner, I suggested we could go get a drink together. Unfortunately Desert Bluffs doesn’t have any bars. Not for religious reasons, I explained to him. It’s just that no one’s been able to open one yet. The state places some pretty high taxes on hard liquor transported across dimensional rifts. So I offered to have him back over to my place for some more wine. But he said he had to be going. I protested. Charles said, “Kevin. You fill me with such joy, and I don’t wanna keep secrets. I should tell you I have a son. His name is Donovan and he’s five. He’s a sweet kid.” Charles said he moved here because Donovan starts school next year, and he wanted to raise his boy in a community based in happiness and positivity. But Charles is concerned about bringing dates home with him until he knows they will stay around for a while. “Kevin,” he said, touching my face along the socket of my left eye. “I think you would be great around Donovan.” My smile disappeared from my face. Not because I didn’t feel happy, but because I felt – so many things. My lips couldn’t express them all. He said, “I’m not suggesting we have to be serious right now, we have to figure that out with time.” He then said we should go back to his place, but on the way, he needed to pick up Donovan from Grandma Josephine, who has been babysitting. We spent the rest of the evening drinking sodas at his home. I wanted to touch Charles, to put my hand against his chest again, to kiss him with real passion. But instead we watched Donovan play with toy airplanes and Charles talked about the things parents talk about.

Donovan was nice, but I had to concentrate hard to keep my smile.

[long pause] An update on the construction of the Mudstone Abyss. Nearly everyone in town is now at the dig site, setting into their lean-to’s and pop tents and gathering up the appropriate tools for the physical labor ahead. Mayor Lauren Mallard said she is heartened by the outpouring of support in the past hour. We have made huge strides, already marking out our mile-wide parameter and deepening the pit to almost 1,000 feet. Some stone workers have even begun carving sacred texts from the Book of Devouring. I’m getting reports from the construction area that some of those etchings have begun to glow bright white, as the earth trembles beneath them. Wow! I’m getting chills just thinking about this!

There have been some scuffles among the workers, miscommunication and arguments that devolved into small fights. The Desert Bluffs police department sent two officers, who are also friends of mine from the Temple of Joy, Keon and Kelton, to break up some of these skirmishes. But more fights and arguments happened than they could control. Officers Keon and Kelton reported that parties involved in fights were shouting nonsense at each other. They initially thought some were non-English speakers, but they could not identify the languages. Then they saw young Ryan Nichols, who was an English major at Ala-bay-, Al-bama, at his former university, spouting absolute gibberish at another person. Keon and Kelton reported that sometimes people’s words sounded like normal English, but without any context or meaning, and at other times like unconventional noises that are not common to any human language. But everyone speaks passionately and personally, thinking they’re communicating what they mean, even though they were not. Apparently the fighting became pervasive enough that Mayor Mallard had to make a public address. Here’s a transcript of what she said.

“Desert Bluffs, please do not fight. Remember to take time to smile and relate to one another. If someone says something you do not understand or do not appreciate, simply cauliflower. Roomba starlight rice tank ship. Stallion the ballisters right on through, until balloons.” And then she repeated “until balloons” over and over, with complete conviction and passion. And eventually the fighting stopped, not because of the speech but because of sheer confusion and exhaustion.

As the fighting stopped, so did the construction. No one knew what anyone was saying, longtime friends could not find their words and so resorted to physical gestures. But even Jerry Kramer and his daughter Morgan, who communicate mostly through sign language, found that they could no longer comprehend any of the phrases.

More on this developing situation, but first a look at traffic. Near the dig site for the Mudstone Abyss, several hazy dark shadows, vaguely human-shaped, have begun to appear. They are drifting along city streets, which has caused nearly a dozen minor traffic.. uh.. a-ci-des. Ac-dicent. Acci..dents. There is a ten minute backup entering downtown along sci-fi novel. Al-along rhubarb. Ugh, I can’t oak tree, can’t sparrow modem. Spar-row mmodem. Sparrowmodem. That’s not right. I have to condensate. Ugh. Have to con-den-sate. Yellow refrigerator shelves.

I’m trying to say – crab grass to the petroleum!

[“She Left Without A Goodbye.” by Cerah https://soundcloud.com/cerahmusic]

Machine: First unheard message.

Charles: Kevin. Sorry to bother you, it’s Charles. I need you to get the word out that language doesn’t work right in Desert Bluffs. I haven’t found a single dictionary that expresses normal word structure, I’ve been recording and re-recording this message for the past hour and each time it comes out like alphabet soup. No syntax, no identifiable verbs, no words that even appear to fit together. But I did finally manage to find an old text you wrote about the souls of unpure, those whom the Smiling God cannot clean even upon devour. There’s a certain style of hat you described that can keep your thoughts and ideas pure. I-I drove over to your house, because I remember you had one just like this you told me you wore during sermons. Sorry for going through your stuff, but the hat seems to be working for now.

Anyway, based on my research, I think this dig is (loosing) those spirits back into the world and they’re causing… [whispers] There’s something at my door, Kevin. I-I need to go, OK? Call you back in well, I don’t know.

Machine: End of message.

Charles: [whispering] There’s a hazy dark shadow hovering about my front door, Kevin. It’s not knocking, it’s just hovering in front of my house. I can’t make out a face, I’m peering through a crack in the living room blinds to get a better look. Oh no, I think it saw me!

Machine: End of message.

Charles: OK, it’s gone I think. This giant yellow hat is really remarkable. Anyway, I wanted you to get the word out on your radio show about the dig and let your friend Lauren know as well. If we can fully (stop) this giant (pit), I think we can stem the return of these unpure souls, who I think are dismantling our language.

Also… I haven’t heard from you in a while. I hope bringing Donny around didn’t scare you off. If it did, please just tell me now, OK, I won’t be hurt. That’s a lie. I would definitely be hurt if you stopped seeing me because I have a child, but I won’t be bitter. That’s really it. I won’t be bitter if you tell me now. Now that I think of it, that’s not true either. I’ll be less bitter, less hurt, less angry if you tell me now.

Or maybe you’re busy. I know the Mudstone Abyss has all your attention these days and what with communication failing us, I’m sure it’s hard to think about having dinner or even, I dunno, like a family date. You and me and Donny, maybe a trip to the amusement park or… We were thinking about adopting a cat, is there an animal shelter in Desert Bluffs? That could be a really fun day together.

Either day, when you have a chance, just let me know you got this. I don’t wanna stop seeing you, but I’d rather know sooner than aquifer. Aquifer. What? I mean platter.

Kevin, that shadow is back. He’s not at my window anymore, he’s inside graft huts. No I mean – grant first, grapple wigs grapple wigs, Kevin I – handlebar cereal, OK? Handlebar cereal.

Machine: End of new message.

Today’s proverb: Girl, did you fall from heaven? ‘Cause there’s a giant crater where you landed and radiation levels are spiking.

[progressivemillennial]

MAGA Hat Teens and Perspective: A Final Thought

I agree with people who have said that the reaction to the MAGA teens incident at the Lincoln Memorial was overblown. Too often, cable media loses perspective and lacks any sort of historical perpsective or nuance. They are also prone to sensationalism, speculation, and hyperbole. I agree, too, that talk about a racist-tomahawk-chop-school-chant leveled at a handful of indgenous folks--while important to note--distracts us from greater injustices.

At this point in the discussion, I've seen others direct the conversation to the Covington Catholic students. And it's true that the teens were exposed to verbal abuse and harassment and that some people called for physical violence against them. I do not support any of that, and I do not mean to trivialize threats of any kind. These high schoolers should not be threatened for their ignorance and/or racism and/or youthful stupidity and/or testosterone.

If the conversation about injustice stops, though, at a bunch of mostly white high schoolers donning support for a sitting president, who come from a mostly white private high school on an out-of-state trip to D.C., how depthful is this discussion about perspective and injustice? Young, white, Christian males who appear to hail from the middle class have had it pretty good in this country. Coming to their support is not some amazing defense of the downtrodden or a brave gesture of advocacy in the name of justice. These teens have been given a platform throughout the media, they have been shown public support from the White House, many writers and pundits at well-funded media outlets have rallied to them, and they have become celebrated victims in the latest round of the culture wars. Their voices and stories will be neither ignored nor forgotten.

So, in the spirit of addressing injustice and perspective-seeking, let's consider a group of people who are associated with this incident who have been ignored and forgotten and who have faced centuries of violence at the hands of, fittingly enough, white males.

I am, of course, speaking about American Indians. We could start with massacres like the one at Bear River and Sand Creek, the Trail of Tears, the murder of Sitting Bull, the purposeful spread of measles to weaken or extermimate native communities, repeated attempts at forced assimilation, and the kidnapping of indigenous children. This is, to be clear, a woefully incomplete list.

At a time when proposing to remove Mr. Trail of Tears himself, Andrew Jackson, from the 20 dollar bill sparks outrage, when American Indian youth are three times more likely to commit suicide than their white American counterparts, when President Obama could barely lift a finger to support the protests at Standing Rock while the media largely neglected them, when it's known that the American government has sterilized thousands of Native American women in the past 40 years, we have no shortage of injustice to discuss.

But why stop there, even?

Let's go a step further and talk about financial and land reparations for all American Indians. I don't think it takes a geographer to conclude that Native Americans have had over 99.99% of their land and resources taken from them while being forced to relocate to less desirable lands. White settlers, colonists, and the federal government committed genocide in America, and we have yet to come to terms with that dark reality. Instead, we collectively ignore it or, worse, forget it, or--worst--justify it.

On top of reparations, President Trump should issue an apology to all indigenous peoples in America, too. The fact that many American Indians not only persist but even thrive within America's borders today in spite of centuries of ethnic cleansing and historical erasure should not just be acknowledged but rewarded. What better way to Make America Great than to honor and reimburse the survivors of literal hunger games?

Let's truly look at the situation in full perspective and do what no previous generation did in this country: seek reconciliation and reparation with our country's indigenous people. We owe them. Literally.

[ohmytheon]

Hello! I really adore your writing and your amazing fics make my day! And I just wanted to request you for a mashup fic for number 52 and 53! For Izuocha! Thank you so much!😄

I used this as an excuse to kinda write my Game of Thrones/BNHA AU. So like… Sorry. XD I hope you enjoy it. Lots of Ochako thought and exposition, but then it falls into the cute feelsy territory. I really enjoyed writing this. It was sweet and interesting. Just two dorks in love being married and not knowing they’re in love.

Truth be told, Ochako could not have hoped for a better match. Her family’s House had declined in the past few generations and she had known that it would not be long before they faded into lowborn status, reminiscing on the days when they had been something more. It had started before she was born, but she had promised herself upon coming of age that she would do right by them, no matter the cost.

As she grew older, she had paid attention in all her lessons so that by the time she was thirteen she could run her family’s castle on her own. She’d even managed to impress the ladies of higherborn Houses and had been invited to attend the court as one of the princess’ many attendants. It had been hard to leave her parents behind, but she knew that if she were to find a match that would improve her family’s status, this would be her only opportunity. Her parents had done their best to find her a decent match, but either their family’s offers had been turned down or they wouldn’t help their family rise.

After four years of splitting her life between the royal court and her childhood home, Ochako had finally managed to secure a betrothal that was not only the best for her family but also…more than tolerable. Izuku Midoriya had not originally come from a well-known highborn family, but the head of the Toshinori family had never produced an heir. For reasons known only to them, Izuku had been granted the title and raised as a Toshinori a year before Ochako had come to the royal court.

It had taken no shortage of hard work, especially when she hadn’t been the only one with eyes on him. After all, he was the sole heir to one of the most important Houses outside of the royal family themself, House Yaoyorozu, House Bakugou, and House Iida. She couldn’t say that her desire to wed him had been born out of love. It started out, of course, as a need. She had only been fourteen when she had become Princess Fuyumi’s attendant, the youngest one, and Izuku had already become a familiar face at the court as Toshinori brought him around the others. There were already other highborn girls, much richer and prettier than her, trailing after him in hopes that they could become his betrothed.

Ochako knew that she wasn’t the most cunning girl in a court filled with vipers, but she could be clever and, most importantly, she acted with her heart on her sleeve. Unlike many of the others, men and women alike, she did not try to cut others down in her attempts to get to the top. Even better, having come from a family not as well off as the others, she and Izuku had been able to bond in a way that the other girls could not conceive.

However, nothing beyond a deep friendship seemed to have blossomed between them. Ochako did not lie to herself. She was trying to find a match to better her family, not someone to love. There was no time for that. Izuku, on the other hand, had to fend off potential matches that would seek to supplant him or take over the Toshinori fortune. It was exhausting work. Being an only child, Ochako had no brothers that could use her ties to him to complicate matters.

It helped that they got on well. In the four years that Ochako had come to know him, Izuku had proven to be not only kind, but smart and warm. He had a determination to rise above his station that she could understand and he went out of his way to help others below him, even going so far as to consider himself not above them. He was good with a sword, ready to help at a moment’s notice, and observant in a way that was more than calculating.

Of course it wasn’t until after they wed that Ochako realized she might actually…care for Izuku in the most unexpected ways.

Instead of feeling giddy about this though, she found herself most nervous and uncomfortable. Out of all the things she’d planned for, falling in love had not been one of them. She knew that Izuku hadn’t chosen her out of all the other ladies at court because he loved her. They trusted one another. She could honestly say that she would trust Izuku with her life – and she had, having taken on his name and saying the vows. He still went by Midoriya these days, although it was known that he was officially a Toshinori in title.

For the first few months of their wedded life, they had stayed in the capitol, keeping their positions at the court. Toshinori still had his position there, but it would only be a few years before he passed it on to Izuku and would retire back to his estate. Now that he was wed though, he would return to his castle and run it in Toshinori’s stead and she would follow.

Ochako was nervous for a lot of reasons. One, she had only been there once before, during their brief betrothal. They had wed shortly after it was announced, seeing as how they had been betrothed late compared to others their age. Two, the court had served as a barrier between them, their duties keeping them apart much of the time, but once they were at Might’s End, it would be different. There would be nothing between them and certain duties on her end would be…required.

They hadn’t consummated their marriage fully.

A highborn’s wife first duty – every wife’s duty – was to produce an heir as quickly as possible. It had been determined that Ochako was good fit to bear children, one of the other upsides to marrying her. She wasn’t sure how she had managed to survive the embarrassment when Izuku had been told that she had “excellent child-bearing hips”. Neither of them had been able to look at each other for two days after that without blushing furiously.

However, she couldn’t do that if they didn’t spend actual time in bed together. Izuku mostly kept to his quarters in the castle while she stayed in either hers or the princess’ when her presence was required. Izuku spent most of his time either with Toshinori or the crowned prince, being one of his closest companions. She knew that Izuku had been disappointed to leave the royal castle, if only because of Prince Shouto, but it had to be done.

Now that they were at Might’s End, their duties were much different. At first, both of them could avoid it since taking over the castle’s daily activity from Torino, the steward, had been a lot of work. Instead of being worried, Ochako took on her duties with gusto, learning the inner workings of the castle far beyond the expectations of most highborn ladies. Izuku was already a familiar and welcomed face there, beloved by many, and she wanted to prove to them that she wasn’t just some upstart hopeful using Izuku for his inheritance.

Izuku worked late and still stayed in separate quarters across from the ones he’d given her. Most nights, she would lie awake until she heard his door open and close. Sometimes, she thought she heard him hesitate outside her bedroom door, as if to check that she was asleep, and then he would go to his room. A part of her always felt relieved when she heard his door shut; another part of her ached for him to open hers.

During the day, when they were together, everything seemed wonderful. They worked well as a team. He trusted her opinion, often asking her for it when discussing things with the other lords under them when most men would not. But at night, they went their separate ways, as if nothing of what happened between them mattered when the sun was up, leaving Ochako to feel like something was missing or she was lacking in some way.

Today, they had actually spent some time together outside of the castle. Izuku had taken her to one of his favorite spots, a small beach area with a nearby cave. The ocean was dark and warm there, inviting them inside. She’d walked in the water, her skirts hiked up, as he had talked about his first year living here. Before being raised to Toshinori’s heir, he had often spent time working for the Bakugou House until he and his mother had been able to afford to move to a better place. When Toshinori had first taken him under his wing, Izuku had often come here to relax and spend his free time alone.

Seeing this side of him, one that he had kept hidden from the court for good reason (it did not do well for him to talk about the fact that he came from a lowborn family, even if a few people at the court threw it in his face), had warmed Ochako’s heart incredibly. She had never met someone so sincere. He didn’t let his past hold him back, instead choosing to use it to propel himself forward. It was such an admirable trait.

No, she could not have hoped for a better match.

But it would have been easier had she not developed actual feelings that she could not hope to be returned in full. She knew that Izuku was fond of her, but beyond that, she wasn’t sure. They were close, but rarely affectionate in public. Even on their wedding night, when he should have bedded her, they had spent most of it talking, although he had held her hand and they had kissed. That had been her fault. She had been so nervous that she’d gotten worked up and teary-eyed and he had soothed and helped calm her down.

“You don’t need to force yourself to do anything with me,” Izuku had told her and he had stood by his word. He had seemed relieved as well and they had gone to fallen asleep next to one another after talking until the sun had risen.

Except now she was convinced that he did not want to do anything with her and it…stung more than she wanted to admit.

Tonight was another night alone in her quarters. She sighed as she changed into her night shift, rubbing tiredly at her face. She’d washed the sand off, but missed the smell of the ocean spray. It permeated the air of the entire castle, but had been strongest there. She wanted to go back to the beach, to that moment when Izuku had held her hand as she splashed in the ankle-deep water and laughed when the waves rushed over her calves and got her dress wet. He had smiled at her so fondly then and she had thought he might kiss her openly then…

She had known that a marriage of convenience would leave her wanting, but she had not expected to want something or someone so specific.

A hesitant knock on her door stirred her out of her thoughts. She furrowed her brow as she turned to the door. Who would it be at this hour? One of the servants? She did not think there was anything specific planned tomorrow that needed her attention so late. Tired and not thinking much of it, she stood up and opened the door, only to be surprised to see Izuku, who had not changed yet.

“Oh.” Ochako opened the door further. She didn’t know what to say. “Did you need something?”

“I…” Izuku blinked, looking distracted and disheveled, as if he’d not even bothered to straighten himself up after their horse ride back to the castle. “May I come in?”

A small smile quirked at Ochako’s lips. “It’s your castle.”

“And yours as well,” Izuku replied, stepping into the room. She shut the door behind him and turned around to face him. When he looked at her, his eyes flickered up and down her, as if seeing her for the first time, his cheeks reddening and his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “Ah…”

A chill ran up her spine as she realized she was only wearing a thin shift and she moved to sweep her robe and pull it over her body, her face bright pink. “I was getting ready for bed,” she explained, although she didn’t know why she said anything. It was obvious. “I apologize.”

“An apology isn’t necessary,” Izuku told her, stepping closer. Her breath hitched in her chest. They stared at one another until he was right in front of her. He was so close that she could feel the warmth radiating from him. “You’re my wife.” He swallowed again as he reached out and untied the belt of her robe. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, but when she didn’t stop him and leaned forward to embolden him, he slid his hands onto her waist. “I’d rather you not hide from me.”

Ochako hesitated for only a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck and Izuku let out a shaky, relieved breath. Even as they leaned into each other’s space, they didn’t kiss immediately, their eyes closed, noses bumping into one another and their lips centimeters apart. She felt as if her entire world was shattering and piecing itself back together into something hopeful. How many nights had she dreamt that Izuku might knock on her door instead of turning to his room? How many days had she wondered what it would feel like to have him want her as much as she wanted him?

She had been certain that he had only married her because she fit the desired requirements, they worked well together, and she was of good humor.

Had there been more to it and he had simply been too afraid to say anything in case she did not feel the same way?

“I was afraid that…” Ochako bit her lip and it brushed against Izuku’s. “That I was only imagining things.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this for so long, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Izuku admitted, his thumbs rubbing circles against her hips, pulling at her shift. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” Ochako breathed, perhaps too quickly. She felt Izuku’s lips tug into a smile and her heart skipped a beat when he pulled her closer against him. “I’m your wife, am I not?”

Izuku kissed her them, full of warmth and a passion that felt as if he’d been holding himself back for months. He was just as eager as she felt in her heart. It wasn’t a chaste kiss or one done out of duty. One hand moved from her hip to cup her face, his fingers digging in her hair, and he deepened the kiss. It was everything she had hoped for and more when she had still entertained dreams of falling in love when she was a little girl.

Only when she felt the back of her legs bump into her bed did they stop to breathe and Izuku pressed his forehead against hers. “Tell me if you need me to stop.”

“Please don’t,” Ochako told him and Izuku chuckled, clinging to her tightly.

She could not have hoped for a better match in a husband.

[180abroad]

Day 144: Going East

Today, after two and a half months in (mostly) English-speaking countries, it was finally time to dive back into continental Europe. And we'd be diving pretty deep--all the way over to Poland.

After our last British breakfast, we took a taxi out to the Inverness airport. Our flight was at 10:55, and our host had recommended leaving at 8:30  to make sure we had plenty of time.

Back when we first arrived in Scotland, we'd thought that flying out of Dublin was as easy as it could get (not counting the Burger King incident). But Inverness was on another level. Checking in, dropping off our bags, and going through security took less than 15 minutes total. That left us plenty of time to browse the airports impressively stocked whisky shop and admire the airport's three gates. Not three terminals--three gates.

Our flight was with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and included a layover in Amsterdam. We were a little nervous about the layover because it would only be 35 minutes long. But the tickets had all been booked directly through KLM, so we figured that we could trust their judgement.

It worked out, but I’m not so sure about their judgement.

Our flight from Inverness actually left early, and we arrived in Amsterdam over ten minutes ahead of schedule. Which was a very good thing, because we were at the far end of one terminal while our next flight was at the far end of the opposite terminal. And half of the moving walkways were out of service. And we had to go through passport control.

There was a fast-track lane for short connections at passport control, but an attendant told us to go into the main line anyway. This wasn’t an Inverness or even a Dublin line–this was a major-international-hub line. After waiting in this line for about ten minutes, our mental math was raising red flags. We would have a hard time getting through the line before our flight took off, let alone getting all the way to the gate, which was still a considerable walk beyond the passport control desks.

Just as we were getting ready to ask again, another attendant came up and shouted for us to get over into the fast-track line.

Passports stamped, we speedwalked straight to the gate, bypassing several badly needed bathrooms, and only just made it to the gate at the scheduled opening time. If our plane from Inverness hadn't arrived early, we might not have made it to our gate even if we hadn't gotten stuck at passport control.

Luckily for us, our next plane was also late, so we had time to use the toilets and grab a cold beverage from a vending machine before hopping on the bus that took us to our plane. It was smaller than the plane we took from Dublin to Edinburgh, but it did have jet engines instead of turboprops–so I still count it as an upgrade.

The flight was smooth, and soon enough we were stepping out into Krakow's John Paul II Airport. We decided to get some Polish Złotys (pronounced “zwah-tes”) from the airport ATMs (or "Bankomats") before hailing a taxi from into town. We ended up withdrawing way more money than we needed--the interface had been designed to make it look like you couldn't pull out smaller amounts unless you looked closely.

As it turned out, we probably would have been better off skipping ATMs in Poland altogether.

I always imagined Eastern Europe as a very cash-based place, but that couldn't have been further from the truth--at least in Krakow. Everyone there seems to use credit cards for everything. Spending the 100zł bills that we'd gotten from the ATMs (worth about $25 US) was nearly impossible. Even at large grocery stores and tourist sites, the cashiers would just shake their heads and smile at us condescendingly as if we were simpletons trying to pay with rocks.

We eventually went looking for a bank or currency exchange that would break some of our larger bills for us and gave up after a frustratingly unsuccessful hour of searching. Two of the currency exchanges (or "kantors") practically laughed us out of the doors.

I have to admit that I got angry once or twice over this odd phenomenon. There are ATMs everywhere in Krakow. How is it possible that everyone is using them when the money they dispense is worthless?

It actually seemed like there was a shortage of small bills and coins going on. When I tried to buy 41zł worth of groceries with a 50zł note, the cashier was visibly distressed at the prospect of having to scrounge together 9zł in change. When Jessica managed to rustle up a 1zł coin from her wallet (bringing the change to a single 10zł bill), the cashier's face lit up with relief and gratitude.

All of this wouldn't have been a much smaller deal if my credit card hadn't stopped working back in Scotland. We never figured out why, but at some point my credit card's chip had gotten corrupted and slowly started working less and less reliably. By the time we reached Krakow, it had stopped working altogether. I eventually got comfortable using Android Pay at places that took it, but Jessica ended up making most of our in-person purchases for the remaining two months of the trip.

But all of that was still ahead of us in the coming hours and days. For now, we happily made our way to the airport taxi stand with cash in hand and got a ride into town.

The first thing that struck me about Poland–and I noticed it from the airplane window before we even landed–was the totally unique landscape. I’ve seen forests, farmland, and urban sprawl before, but never mixed together quite so thoroughly. On the 30-minute drive from the airport into town, we passed through dense forests, low-density farmland, and a wilderness adventure park. Even in the suburban periphery of the city, apartment blocks are separated by cornfields as well as vacant lots.

This patchwork aesthetic extends to the architecture of the old city itself. On any given street, the buildings form a mosaic that tells the long and turbulent story of Poland’s past, from the middle ages through the 21st century. Many struck me as ironically eastern European, with inward-sloping buttressed walls and steep, almost pagoda-like roofs. Others looked straight out of Renaissance Venice or Imperial Vienna. And, of course, there are the Brutalist mementos of Soviet austerity.

What holds it all together is a charmingly rough-around-the-edges spirit of making do with what you have. Concrete walls patched with plaster, plaster walls patched with plywood. Walking down an alleyway between two buildings, you might tread on tile, cement, and gravel all in the space of thirty yards.

But this is not a third-world country. Enter into one of these unassuming domiciles, and you might find a surprisingly luxurious abode.

Like ours.

Poland is not a wealthy country. But that means that a little money can go a long way. And while you may trip on a pothole or slip on a patch of sand outdoors, you can come home to a bathtub bigger than any I’ve enjoyed in the States.

The second thing I noticed about Poland are the people. They are both the most reserved and the most outgoing people I’ve met in Europe.

Professionally and in public, everyone is just a blank face in the crowd. Our taxi driver from the airport did not make a single attempt at small talk the entire ride (not that I’m complaining!), and shopkeepers have no trouble flatly declining to assist you if you ask for something they don’t want to do.

But if you engage them personally, as a friend, guest, or tour companion, you’ll have trouble getting a word in edgewise as they talk your ears off with kind enthusiasm, sincere questions, and thoughtful advice.

Obviously, this is a stereotype and doesn’t apply to everyone in Poland. But it’s exactly what Jessica–who spent a summer here in 2010–told me to expect, and it’s exactly what I’ve experienced.

Another funny quirk is that two of Poland's biggest chain stores are named after animals. The main supermarket chain is called Biedronka, which means ladybug, and the main convenience store chain is called Zabka, which means frog.

After checking into our Airbnb and stocking up on groceries, Jessica could hardly wait to take me into the old town. Rick Steves says there isn’t a better city in Europe for just wandering around in, and I can’t say I disagree.

The main market square is spectacular–like Venice’s San Marco Square and Madrid’s Puerta del Sol rolled into one.

The old Renaissance merchant hall dominates the center of the square, and St. Mary’s Basilica stands proudly overlooking its northern corner.

Technically, the church only has one tower. The taller tower on the left–the one with the crown encircling its spire–is officially a city watchtower. According to legend, a 13th-century watchman was struck silent by an enemy arrow in the middle of trumpeting an alarm. Now, every hour on the hour, a trumpeter plays the same traditional anthem almost but not quite to completion in his honor.

The curtailed call is also used by the Polish national radio broadcaster, so it is a familiar sound across the country.

After taking a peek inside the market hall and up at the nearby clock tower–the remains of an otherwise-demolished medieval city hall–we meandered up the main road to the barbican gate–one of the few remaining parts of Krakow’s medieval walls.

Unlike the many European cities that turned their medieval walls into ring roads, Krakow turned their walls into a green belt surrounding the old city center. Like many Polish names, it was unintentionally amusing to us as English speakers--Planty Park.

As we walked back down the main tourist drag, Jessica noted how much the place had changed in just the past eight years. A local café she'd wanted to take me to had been replaced by a Starbucks, and there were a lot more ethnic restaurants than she remembered seeing before. Though not all of them looked especially authentic.

Tired and thirsty, we headed back to our flat after stopping for drinks at a Zabka along the way. It was a warm night, but thankfully the windows were big and opened wide. As much as I had feared a culture shock, and our currency-related annoyances notwithstanding, our arrival in Poland had been surprisingly smooth. We were comfortable, well-fed, and excited to see what the city had to offer.

Next Post: Schindler’s Factory and St. Mary’s Basilica

Last Post: Resting Up (Markets, Museums, and More Pizza)

[newstfionline]

Headlines

The Covid-19 economic shock (NYT) The economy’s recovery from the fastest, deepest recession in U.S. history is likely to be a long, grinding affair. More than $6.5 trillion in household wealth vanished during the first three months of this year as the pandemic tightened its hold on the global economy, the Federal Reserve said this week. That’s roughly equivalent to the economies of the United Kingdom and France combined. “This is the biggest economic shock in the U.S. and in the world, really, in living memory,” Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said Wednesday. “We went from the lowest level of unemployment in 50 years to the highest level in close to 90 years, and we did it in two months.” Almost 90 percent of the 20 million workers who lost their jobs in April said they had been laid off temporarily and expected to return to their jobs, a possible sign the economy might quickly return to normal. Yet economists are far less sanguine. After a quick initial bounce this year, the economy “will go largely sideways” until a coronavirus vaccine is developed, according to economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics.

Tenants behind on rent in pandemic face harassment, eviction (AP) Jeremy Rooks works the evening shift at a Georgia fast-food restaurant these days to avoid being on the street past dusk. He needs somewhere to go at night: He and his wife are homeless after the extended-stay motel where they had lived since Thanksgiving evicted them in April when they couldn’t pay their rent. They should have been protected because the state’s Supreme Court has effectively halted evictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. But Rooks said the owner still sent a man posing as a sheriff’s deputy, armed with a gun, to throw the couple out a few days after rent was due. The pandemic has shut housing courts and prompted most states and federal authorities to initiate policies protecting renters from eviction. But not everyone is covered and a number of landlords—some desperate to pay their mortgages themselves—are turning to threats and harassment to force tenants out. The evictions threaten to exacerbate a problem that has plagued people of color like Rooks long before the pandemic, when landlords across the U.S. were filing about 300,000 eviction requests every month. The data and analytics real estate firm Amherst projects that 28 million renters, or about 22.5% of all households, are at risk of eviction.

Pandemic leads to a bicycle boom, and shortage, around the world (AP) Fitness junkies locked out of gyms, commuters fearful of public transit, and families going stir crazy inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic have created a boom in bicycle sales unseen in decades. In the United States, bicycle aisles at mass merchandisers like Walmart and Target have been swept clean, and independent shops are doing a brisk business and are selling out of affordable “family” bikes. Bicycle sales over the past two months saw their biggest spike in the U.S. since the oil crisis of the 1970s, said Jay Townley, who analyzes cycling industry trends at Human Powered Solutions. The trend is mirrored around the globe, as cities better known for car-clogged streets, like Manila and Rome, install bike lanes to accommodate surging interest in cycling while public transport remains curtailed.

Mexico desperate to reopen 11 million-job tourism industry (AP) An irony of the coronavirus pandemic is that the idyllic beach vacation in Mexico in the brochures really does exist now: The white sand beaches are sparkling clean and empty on the Caribbean coast, the water is clear on the Pacific coast and the waters around the resort of Los Cabos are teeming with fish after 10 weeks with no boats going out. There are two-for-one deals and very eager staff. It’s all only an airline flight—and a taxi ride, and a reception desk—away, and that’s the problem. There are a number of ways to think about it: Might it be safer to travel than stay home? How much is mental health worth, and, if people are going to socially distance anyway, why not do it in a beautiful, isolated place? On the other hand, despite the pandemic, flights are often crowded, even hotels in Mexico that bend over backward to disinfect everything have little capacity to actually test their employees, and while fellow guests are likely to be few and far between, they also probably won’t be wearing masks. In Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located, tourism is the only industry there is, and Cancun is the only major Mexican resort to reopen so far. Mexico’s tourism income crashed in April, when it was only 6.3% of what it was one year ago. Hundreds of thousands of hotel rooms were closed. Tourism provides 11 million jobs, directly or indirectly in Mexico, and many of those workers were simply sent home to wait it out.

Top US diplomat finds virtual path into Venezuela amid rift (AP) A year after shutting down the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Washington’s top diplomat in Venezuela has found a way to slip back inside the South American nation—at least virtually. Each Thursday afternoon, James Story hits the “Go Live” button on Facebook from his office in the U.S. Embassy in Bogota or his home in the Colombian capital hundreds of miles from Caracas. In a freewheeling approach, he answers questions in fluent Spanish from Venezuelans and the few U.S. citizens still in the country, addressing the latest intrigue and turmoil bubbling over in Venezuela and the United States. For 30 minutes, Story talks about everything from Venezuela’s purchases of gasoline from Iran, despite its vast oil reserves, to recent unrest in the U.S. over George Floyd’s death in police custody to accusations that President Nicolás Maduro is undermining Venezuela’s constitution. Story’s low-budget, weekly question-and-answer session on the popular social media platform is a way for Story to get his message out since he’s deprived of traditional tools such as visiting hospitals and schools, talking to local reporters and hosting cocktail parties for power brokers.

Colombia’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise above 50,000 (Reuters) Reported coronavirus cases in Colombia have risen to over 50,000, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday, as neighboring Ecuador approaches the same milestone. The disease overwhelmed Ecuador’s health system, in some cases leaving authorities unable to collect the bodies of the deceased and forcing the government to temporarily store corpses in refrigerated shipping containers. Colombia’s economy has been battered by the twin ills of a coronavirus quarantine put in place by President Ivan Duque and falling oil prices.

Europe’s borders reopen but long road for tourism to recover (AP) Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it’s unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. Border checks for most Europeans were dropped overnight in Germany, France and elsewhere, nearly two weeks after Italy opened its frontiers. The European Union’s 27 nations, as well as those in the Schengen passport-free travel area, which also includes a few non-EU nations such as Switzerland, aren’t expected to start opening to visitors from outside the continent until at least the beginning of next month, and possibly later.

Surveillance tech (Worldcrunch) Following pushback from Black Lives Matter activists, Amazon has suspended police use of its facial recognition software for one year. IBM followed suit, also announcing it will stop offering its similar software for “mass surveillance or racial profiling.” But the moves come amid a tumultuous few months for so-called “surveillance tech,” which some have touted during the pandemic as a necessary tool to ensure public cooperation to stem the spread of a deadly virus. Despite the potential medical benefits, the use of geolocation technology to curb COVID-19 has raised concerns over fundamental data protection, especially in countries like China, South Korea and Israel where tracking has been more intrusive: enlisting credit card records for purchase patterns, GPS data for travel patterns, and security-camera footage for verification. In Russia, the pandemic proved a convenient excuse to test a nascent, China-inspired citizen monitoring system, backed by a Moscow court ruling in early March stating that the city’s facial recognition system does not violate the privacy of its citizens. Even places not particularly known for their police state-like tactics are pushing limits: In Paris, cameras were installed at the popular Châtelet metro station to monitor mask use, as it is illegal to take public transportation without a mask. Similar (and seemingly well-intentioned) efforts like fast-tracked coronavirus data collection apps have raised suspicions of data protection breaches by both hackers and governments, including in the Netherlands and South Africa. In Germany, a country known for its hard stance on privacy protection, new surveillance tools are being met with a considerable amount of defiance.

American sentenced to 16 years in Russia on spying charges (AP) A Russian court on Monday sentenced an American businessman to 16 years in prison on spying charges, a sentence that he and his brother rejected as being political. The Moscow City Court read out the conviction of Paul Whelan on charges of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security prison colony. The trial was held behind closed doors. Whelan, who was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, has insisted on his innocence, saying he was set up. Speaking after the verdict, U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan denounced the secret trial in which no evidence was produced as an egregious violation of human rights and international legal norms. He described Whelan’s conviction as a mockery of justice and demanded his immediate release.

For Migrants in Russia, Virus Means No Money to Live and No Way to Leave (NYT) Migrant workers from Central Asia, shrugging off the risk of coronavirus infection, have gathered in groups each day outside their countries’ embassies in Moscow, banging on doors and fences and shouting for officials to come out and tell them when they can finally get on a charter flight home. With regular flights canceled, charters offer the only feasible way out for the more than five million migrant workers from former Soviet republics now stranded in Russia as a result of the pandemic, with many living in increasingly dire circumstances. While Russia has been battered by the virus, with the third most cases in the world after the United States and Brazil, the crisis has hit migrant workers especially hard, as they were the first to lose their jobs and often the last to receive medical help. Many have no money for food and, once infected with the coronavirus, have been left in crowded dorms to fight the disease by themselves. Many would like to return to their countries. But they can’t. Before the pandemic hit, more than 15 flights left Moscow each day for various cities in Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populous nation. Today, there are only two charters a week, and the embassy’s waiting list has more than 80,000 names.

Press freedom in the Philippines (Foreign Policy) The journalist Maria Ressa, the founder of news site Rappler, has been found guilty of criminal libel by a Manila court in a case Human Rights Watch described as a “devastating blow” to press freedom in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa and another Rappler journalist, Reynaldo Santos Jr., were sentenced to up to six years in prison under the country’s cybercrime prevention act of 2012, which includes libel. The article that was deemed libelous predated the law, but a later online update of a typo was enough for prosecutors to consider it worthy of an indictment.

18 dead, 189 hurt as tanker truck explodes on China highway (AP) A tanker truck exploded on a highway in southeastern China on Saturday, killing 18 people and injuring at least 189 others, authorities said. The explosion caused extensive damage to nearby buildings. One photo showed firefighters hosing down a row of buildings with blown-out facades well into the night. The truck carrying liquefied gas exploded around 4:45 p.m. on the Shenyang-Haikou Expressway south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing local authorities.

Hong Kong families, fearing a reign of terror, prepare to flee the city (Washington Post) China’s Communist Party has haunted Leung’s family for generations. Her father, Guo Yao, fled forced labor and the violent purges of the Cultural Revolution for a better life in Hong Kong, where he arrived with his wife in 1973 to find relative freedom and prosperity. Now, 17 years after the death of her father, Leung is preparing to flee Hong Kong. A new law approved by the Communist Party to take effect this summer will allow China’s powerful state security agencies to operate in the territory, paving the way for political purges and intimidation of government critics by secret police. Officials are pushing to impose party propaganda in schools. With their political freedoms deteriorating, nurses, lawyers, business people and other skilled workers are rushing to renew documents that could provide a pathway to residency in Britain, or finding ways to emigrate to Taiwan, Canada or Australia. Applications for police certificates required to emigrate soared almost 80 percent to nearly 21,000 in the latter half of 2019 from a year earlier, even before the advent of the security law, coinciding with a crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Animal rescue groups have reported an increase in surrendered dogs as their owners leave Hong Kong. Protesters fearing persecution have sought refuge in Germany, the Netherlands and United States. The exodus of talent recalls the pre-handover years, when anxiety over Beijing’s rule drove tens of thousands of people out of Hong Kong.

Netanyahu turns to rich friend to fund corruption trial fees (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial for accepting gifts from wealthy friends. But that has not stopped him from seeking another gift from a wealthy friend to pay for his multimillion-dollar legal defense. The awkward arrangement opens a window into the very ties with billionaire friends that plunged Netanyahu into legal trouble and sheds light on the intersection of money and Israeli politics. Netanyahu has asked an Israeli oversight committee to allow a 10 million shekel ($2.9 million) donation from Spencer Partrich, a Michigan-based real estate magnate, to fund his legal defense. The request for financial aid from a friend is not illegal, and Israeli politicians have a long tradition of hobnobbing with wealthy Jewish supporters abroad. But to some, the optics of Netanyahu’s request are sketchy. “It is a problem that we have prime ministers who have ties to moguls,” said Tomer Naor, of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good governance group. “When the borders blur, you are blinded by the big money. You want more of it. Then all of a sudden the friend asks for a little favor and that poses a problem.”

Nigeria attacks (Foreign Policy) At least 141 people were killed in two militant attacks in Northern Nigeria over the weekend, both have been claimed by Islamic State West Africa Province. The attacks in Monguno and Nganzai districts of Borno state killed at least 60 people, while a separate attack in Gabio district killed at least 81. The United Nations, which has a humanitarian base in Monguno, said it was “appalled” by the attacks.

[silverlineswap]

Prince Philip of Serbia Suggests Bringing Bitcoin into the Classroom

The prince built a sandcastle on the beach at the Surfin’ Bitcoin 2022 before it was ruthlessly destroyed while playfully suggesting he was rebuilding during a bear market. Prince Philip claimed he was “bullish on Bitcoin” partly because of the potential influence it could have on children’s education worldwide when speaking to Cointelegraph over sandcastles at the Surfin’ Bitcoin 2022 event at the Casino de Biarritz in France on Thursday. The prince, a self-described “Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist,” intimated that a portion of his keynote talk at the crypto conference, just the second time he has spoken at one, will center on educating individuals inside and outside the field about the potential advantages of Bitcoin. Prince Philip said, “Kids need to know what Bitcoin is about.“ The most important thing is the history of money; we weren’t taught this in school, I can tell that education is getting worse.

Prince Philip used a member of his own family as an example, saying that his four-year-old son Stefan was attempting to get some ideas about Bitcoin by observing his father:

“He’s trying to get an idea of what Bitcoin is and understands that there’s Bitcoin and his father likes to talk about it.”

Filip Karaorevi, sometimes known as Philip Karageorgevitch, is the Hereditary Prince of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He claims that there is a shortage of knowledge regarding cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. A passerby unceremoniously stepped on the sand castle Prince Philip had built on the beach during the event while sarcastically suggesting he was rebuilding amidst a bear market. He allegedly claimed in July that the adoption of Bitcoin was inevitable for all nations with Muslim populations because “it makes excellent Sharia money.” The BTC maximalist, who has always been well-known because of his title, rose to prominence in the cryptocurrency community after declaring in an interview in March that “Bitcoin symbolizes freedom, and this is something that I desire for everyone.” In 2022, he also went to the Bitcoin Miami conference. The prince has asserted that he lacked the power to do so, contrary to what El Salvador did in September 2021.

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