#so i know the age of enlistment in russia is not 16 but that’s the age of enlistment in canada so | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thevoidwriting · 5 months

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WHATS IN YOUR HEAD, IN YOUR HEAD ZOMBIE ZOMBIE IE IE IE.

New man's alert zombie or Vitali Farkas

Okay, triggers military mess ups (I'm still learning), torture, mentions of scars and mental states not being there and everything that comes with 5 month of torture and losing pieces of yourself, will to proceed on Russian operator Zombie. Some detail not a lot this is a mismesh or discord chat with some filler. @mammaonii hey new mans

Age 37, gender, hermaphrodite, next of kin, a mother and father unnamed, a daughter Lilly Anna Farkas.

Russian Hungarian that came to the states at 13, speaks three languages well.

Zombies current appearance kinda hinges on that, he was a proud Russian Hungarian man, 6'6, bright blue green eyes, black hair, doll man, would be a bear of Russian if he let himself go a bit, friendly outgoing as most Russians are. His parents immigrated from Russia to us when he was 13 and he tried his best to fit in but everyone regards him as rabid and feral, not totally wrong he just couldn't speak English well.

He ended up seeing he could enlist at 16 to the marines with parantal approval. (Yes this is a thing.) So he brought it to his parents since he didn't fight in and he was a good hunter, they let him in and really he thrived in that environment, getting along with his unit and such, becoming a marine medic and the sole braincell for them. During a join mission during (redacted) he got captured and tortured for 5 months, for info and such, his left eye received chemical burns so it's just milky, can't see from my much of at all, lost right cheek so you can see his teeth (he likes to poke his tounge out of it.), nerve damage of course. Mentally not fully there anymore, his unit doesn't recognize the white blond man that was brought back to them, cause he's twice as likely to throw himself into death cause survivors guilt.

Fun things to note, he can drop the accent, he enjoys tang and obsession with furbys. He was tied up and forced to be alone in a dark room till they come to hurt him, with ear plugs and a blind fold to block all but taste and smell, made to eat his own cheek after they cut it off, he screamed so loud he lost his voice but never gave the enemy what they wanted.

days have no meaning as he goee though all this. Coming back from that was hard, he isn't the same. No matter how much therapy he goes though. Even missing a eye and a cheek and covered in scars from his time in their loving care. At some point his captors found out he's was actually a they took advantage of all that and he ended up pregnant with a child, having her safely after he was returned home, took me a bit to let others touch her.

like imagine the pre torture smile of a kid that feels invincible to the broken man that returns him missing pieces mainly seen his milky eye to his missing cheek flesh that never healed right there makes his jaw click.

He wears a surgical mask to his his mouth, no one needs to see that either, just slowly hiding more of and more of himself to fit in. Just to the point he makes a cabin in the woods (90s slasher style.) just to be by himself without the need to hide. "oh yeah Jake, he was a pedo so I ate him. Kids are safe but he was tough to get down. Want a rib?"

He desperately wante to fit in but after all that he can't trust or feel safe around others. So become unassuming and in the background, it's just so he doesn't have to relive that part of his past over and over again.

Five years later he gets discharged honorable of course after all he went though, "I will child leash you to me ankle biter." With a heavy Russian accent then switches to American the second they talk to someone new. "Hi John how's the wife i know I'm moving off base crazy right well my mom wants to see the kid and I think it will do them both good." Voice more male leaning but can be female if they push it.

He binds his chest to keep that male look but sometimes he lets the titties free, having both down there messes with his head. He moves in shortly after pup and ends up liking his neighbors even if their a bit weird, still has cannibalistic tendencies but only to rapists and pedos.

Keeps to himself mostly and rarely lets others in.

All I have so far.

#hells hand basket #my writing #swond #he gets a new neighbors #also a single parent #new pack new moon.

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escape-from-twinkov · 2 years

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Lynx (Tarkov story character rundown)

hello yes in a fit of anger/rage/confusion and waiting for raids to begin I started writing a book based around Tarkov and the world of Russia 2028. There are three main characters as of now but I'll just give a rundown on the first Bear op. Lynx, is a middle aged man who enlisted as a pmc after hearing about the deteriorating situation within the city. He looked like he was in his 30s, clad in a black t-shirt wearing urban camo pants with vague grey checkering throughout while his head was covered in a simple black balaclava. His black plate carrier had been battle tested, it was scratched throughout with the left strap being held together by duct tape while his helmet crowned him, it was drab-green and covered in marks and dents each telling a story should he ever be willing to share them, at one point there must have been a face shield attached but that was lost long ago leaving its attachment point covered with more tape. In his hands was a sleek AK-104, it was barebones only having a simple hand guard and red dot attached to the top rail. The gun was worn but decently well-maintained with 16 white markings circling the barrel. On his neck hung a dog-tag with only “Lynx” etched on. character traits and background

-Generally very emotional but hides it well when on duty

-was a veteran of Grozny especially the urban combat within the heart of the city. As such he was an intense fear of open areas or places surrounded by many windows and gets very panicked when put in these areas

-Tends to be silent as to not give his position away. Makes it harder for others to contact him via radio (he actually just gets overwhelmed and goes silent when under pressure)

-He cares for his squad though it doesn’t seem like it just because of how distant he seems. The only reason he seems distant is because this isn’t his first time seeing combat he knows that at anytime he or others may die so he doesn’t bother forming close relationships to save him the pain of that being ripped away from him

-Generally apathetic to war as he was originally conscripted to fight in Grozny at 19 years old combat is pretty much the only thing he knows in life. As a result he keeps his gear at functioning levels whilst placing emphasis on simplicity because he realizes that no matter how much one prepares death is still inevitable and if fate deems it so then there’s no point trying to fight it

-As much as he tries to hide it he occasionally does let things slip and started thinking about his past experiences. While normally neutral in nature it occasionally seeing familiar objects/locations/equipment causes him to breakdown as the thoughts start flowing back to him uncontrollably. Particularly when he passes by certain wrecked vehicles (that’s a whole nother can of worms)

-He’s generally quite negative as he always anticipates the worse. He hates being here and he hates having to risk his life fighting to make a living and to live to see another day but even if he could leave the city and return home there’s no point. After what he’s experienced he would never be able to adjust back into civilian life and fighting is the only thing he knows how to do meaning he’ll just end up in isolation at home. Though he may hate it here at least he is with others who feel the same, He appreciates their company despite the real likelihood that he’ll never see them again.

Thanks for reading up to this point :D. I still have to flesh out more aspects of his character to make the chemistry within the group more “authentic” I’ll drop the other character that’s pretty well fleshed out later. Byeeeee

#tarkov #escape from tarkov #eft #military #story #oc

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medijolola · 3 years

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Prompt: Helmut Zemo very tragic past

I’m a sucker for characters with horrendously dark back stories, just a lot of angst and hurt. Where their teammates/coworkers would never even begin to suspect from the character’s general behavior.

So prompt:

Bucky and Sam continue to recruit/enlist Zemo from the raft for missions. As the missions continue they just keep discovering tidbits of Zemos Greek tragedy of a life. Every time they think they've reached the tip of the trauma iceberg, something else comes up, usually in the form of an offhanded comment or in the form of a totally logical explanation of why this behavior is normal (example to hoard food on ones person for x, y, & z; Zemo totally nonchalant).

Sam feeling betrayed because he thought Bucky's Depression/WWII/Hydra backstory and his lettuceless lettuce sandwiches were the saddest thing he'd have to deal with in this team-up.

Up strolls Zemo with abuse (physical abuse from his father (comics)), dead mother, growing up in a country of civil unrest/civil war, which likely led to famine, drafted at a ridiculously young age (15-16), his first kill taking place not long after, being trained to withstand torture, witnessing the torture and subsequent death of comrades, being torture at the hands of the enemy, the death of his family, the deaths of the EKO scorpion team, end of his country etc. Plus all his suicide attempts, what was it 9? 10? Total if you count suicide attempt via Bucky… not to mention years of solitary confinement...

Bucky nodding along too Zemo’s survivalist logic (sees no problem, makes sense) mother Russia, the depression, the war, etc taught many such lessons.

Just Zemo’s potential backstory in the MCU seems like it could be a trove of tragedy, beyond what we already know about.

So I humbly submit this prompt for your consideration/ discussion. How much tragedy do you suspect lived through Zemo’s, love to hear your logic/ reasoning.

And how do you think the guys react, I figure Bucky’s first instinct is to, as I mentioned above nod along in agreement.

--> Sam rolling up his trauma sleeves (did not sign up for this)

#helmut zemo #baron zemo #tragic backstory #tragic past #sam wilson #bucky barnes #teamup #teammates #hurt #angst #baron helmut zemo #tfatws #winterbaron #eko scorpion #sokovia #prompt #prompts #fanfic prompt #greek tragedy

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musicfeedsmysoul12 · 6 years

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@geekgirl101

Also putting under a cut cause LONG ASS POST Link to the former post

Heh- me and my brother were going to do a video about this and explain that both Tony and Cap are in the wrong during Civil War- it was just who was more so we were going to argue.Then we both got drunk and he forgot the camera so yeah. Nope.

Wanda and Tony do get a long of shit yes they don’t deserve, but Wanda is not that young. I am 23 years old, and from what I understand she is older than me. Steve was 19-20 when he enlisted, much younger then Wanda yet he is treated as having been more responsible then she is. The thing is with her owning up to her mistakes though is that she has only owned up twice and only once was told: Yes, you made a mistake- here’s how you can fix it. When you do not hold people responsible for their mistakes then that is a problem. Here is the literal statement from Steve:

Wanda Maximoff: It's my fault.

Steve Rogers: That's not true.

Wanda Maximoff: Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific.

Steve Rogers: I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it.

VERY TRUE. Steve and Wanda are both at fault- Wanda for her actions. yes, accident- but going back to the other argument I have: If a police officer shoots someone while aiming to disarm but kills them instead, still their fault. Here is the same thing. You are right that Steve as well is to blame as he does have combat experience and should have known not to follow the guy through a civilian space and tried to move it to an unoccupied space.

But Wanda also had options- she could have moved him over the open space of the market. She could have moved him up first instead of trying to contain the blast which she looked like she had no experience with. But she didn’t. If she had no experience with a bomb she should have made a different choice- not contain it.

Steve Rogers: Rumlow said "Bucky" and… all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old kid again, in Brooklyn. [He sits beside Wanda.]

Steve Rogers: And people died. It's on me.

Wanda Maximoff: It's on both of us.

Steve Rogers: This job… We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, next time… maybe nobody gets saved.

This is not saying she is responsible. This is legit all the accountability and responsibility Wanda owns up to in the movie other than at the Compound when she says she made enough trouble. She did- but she’s not accepting she needs to change. Steve is not being a good leader here.

Accountability is when you say that you messed up, you’re going to fix it. There is none here- there is no proof they are going to fix this, that they will do better.

If a police of chief told you- after a shootout where seven innocent people died because of his men accidentally firing at them- that they’re sorry, they can’t save everyone without saying: Here is what we are going to change to make sure it does not happen again- would you be okay with it?

This is all the accountability Wanda takes on- and most of it is brushed off even if it is her fault. Tony though? Again-

“Ultron, my fault.”

“I killed the Avengers.” (A VISION)

Tony Stark: He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass.

“Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong.”

He even says Sorry to Wanda for locking her in the compound.

Wanda does it twice- maybe three times.

Tony does it the entire movie. He admits his wrongdoings.

1-Okay- one thing I hate about Civil War from a law student perspective is the utterly fucked up way they handled the Accords. They do have a small blurb concerning them posted- with one part having me going: Are you idiots? This makes it illegal in two countries that signed at the least and the UN makes it illegal to (which is detaining without a trial. Very illegal, you can’t put it in a law but they do.) I think this is honestly because of the fact that most people don’t like law. I do. As well, it feels shoehorned in to me to make it seem bad. But... do they know how law works? Oh my god. Why?

The rest of what I read isn’t bad, it makes sense. Here is the link:

But also- yeah they don’t get a say because cops and the army don’t really get a say in their own agreements. It’s made up, people can submit new ideas and new thoughts to it but they don’t get a say because most of them don’t have political training. But- again- there can be changes made. NO LAW IS SET IN STONE. Tony says it himself- there can be changes. He agrees with Steve there can be. But it takes time- and after a situation like Lagos? You’re lucky if it’s anything less then a year.

2-You do say bringing in the greater powers- but the Accords are about that. They are about making the Avengers a power that can be used for global reasons. I’m also very sure most countries would go: Captain AMERICA? Ewww. About him being in charge. I mean, sure he’s a Hero but... for America. He saved the world? More like he saved New York. New York blowing up wouldn’t affect Canada. Or Russia. Yeah, Red Skull but... most of what he did could be done with a special task force. He was used because Red Skull was interested in him, but... he doesn’t really use his strength or his serum enhanced skills from what I remember. And he had a team of unehanced people behind him. Are you American? Because I’m saying as a Canadian I would not be comfortable with that.

3-Tony doesn’t think things through?! He’s a genius. he’s always thinking things through. He’s also a businessman who understands that when something like this is in play, you make sure you’re in on it. Because there is nothing stopping this as the public does not feel safe. Politicans are jumping in on it, so he is trying to make sure it’s not as bad as it can be.

Steve is the one who is only focusing on what he thinks is best- he’s focusing on the now. Now Wanda is locked up- this is bad! She is a kid. Well, no she isn’t for one. Two, she has green card issues which she needs to be detained for because she caused an international incident while she was on her visa/greencard/whatever and used to be HYDRA. She’s lucky she wasn’t tossed on the Raft right off the bat- I bet Ross would love to do so but she isn’t.

Again- maybe Tony should have but if she really does distrust Tony, I doubt she would listen. So, someone she trusts should do it. Vision or Wanda. As well, again, at this time, Tony is across the World dealing with Steve, Sam and Bucky. He most likely does not have time to sit down and talk with her. He’s dealing with making what Steve and Sam did legit as well as rounding up psychiatrists for Bucky.

Steve is focusing on Bucky. He’s focusing on the Winter Soliders. He is not thinking about the Accords, he is only focusing on what he wants here. He’s not thinking: Maybe I should not call in the girl who has visa issues because this means she will be in volation of another law. He isn’t.

You can’t say Tony doesn’t think things through when he is someone who has run an international multi-billion dollar industry. He was making it before Pepper became CEO- he’s not the guy who can’t think things through, his entire history proves he does.

4. Straight jacket- I think this was more because she uses her hands to use her magic so they wanted to double check it to make sure she couldn’t use her powers? Dunno. Going with the congress thing- this means there can be more changes done to the Accords which can be kicked back to the UN. It does seem like they just want backing for the Accords right then- but if they can still have changes done to them (which is stated in the movie) that means they are still being made. Hell- the conference that got blown up from what I understand was the start of the various talks. it’s still in it’s infant stages. They’re probably still figuring it out, meaning the Raft may be in the process of becoming an international prison. We don’t know.

5- You don’t get any say when you’re on house arrest. It’s arrest for a reason. But I think it would have boiled down to a cell or the compound- not only is she dangerous, she’s also under a lot of public scrutiny. And the public can be nasty af. So... I wouldn’t want to be her and leave the property.

Yes, it should have been told to her but... I think if Clint hadn’t gone in to try to get her out she would have stayed and things would have been okay. We don’t know otherwise.

Bruce and Tony are accountable for Ultron- as is Thor and Wanda. Steve as well is responsible for the fall of SHIELD. Yes- it was his resort but he is responsible. I have never said otherwise- we just don’t see it. This is the first time- other then Iron Man 1- that accountability is brought up.

I do think Tony does pay off a lot of the damages though which is holding himself accountable.He’s paying for his mistakes. Maybe it should be more but there is no system in place in the MCU to do so. Which is what the Accords theoretically should do.

YES. THE MCU needs to figure out her powers, it’s ridiculous. But I feel that people brush is off as ‘she’s a kid’ to much. No she isn’t. She is older then 18- not a child. The accepted age of understanding what you’ve done and accepting the consequences in most countries is 12. She is much older then that. If a 12-year-old can understand why stealing is wrong, Wanda can be held accountable for her actions.

I liked Ragnarok, it was fun, but I think for characterization it should have been Wanda and Vision instead.

#wanda maximoff #not wanda friendly #kinda?#I mean #still not sure about tagging #but yeah #not steve friendly by much either #avengers

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whimsically-ominously-auspice · 4 years

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Matt Plants dad apologized to me for using his wife as a midwife to kidnap the Z twins and the 3 other Annabelles in her kindergarten and intended to be placed in the schools where she attended.

Annabelle was an oddly popular name. 5 in her kindergarten class. 2 moving in and out.

I took my daughter out of normal public school after grade 1.

Then i took her out of all public school in grade 5.

For 2 - 4 she did attend public school 2 and a half days a week. I "homeschooled" her the other 2 and a half days.

Which I actually didn't do shit. I didn't educate her at all. I just let her be at home. I didn't attempt to be a teacher to her. I was barely a mom. She knew she had to learn. So she watched Beakman's World over and over to learn Science. She did. She was able to pass the standardized tests for science she took in the public schools. From Beakman's World.. Old somewhat out of date science.

And i didn't tell her to. Sometimes she asked me about home school and i told her "you need to do it. You know what to do?" And I would hear the tv on

I had to report to the schools.. About her work. So if we went to Albuquerque to play mini golf well it is "physics" that runs a car. And so i would say well wr drove 2 hours so i would fill in her sheet "2 hours of physics" we didn't talk about how the car worked but we were in the dam car. It runs by physics. I figured that counted. I wrote all kinds of bleak shit on those worksheets to account for our time while being alive. If she made a pizza in our convection (toaster oven like) then it was chemistry.

I hate school. I hate public schools. I hate rules..

If we went out to eat it was biology because she had to shit at some point.

Video games like Minecraft were "study of basic principles" or "sociology" because she had to kill monsters sometimes or ran into other villagers.

We learn. We absorb. In each and every thing we do.

Did i lie? No

Did i teach her? No

It didn't mean she didn't learn.

She got into ghosts and ghost hunting "physical science - not physical education" "metaphysicalaty" "metaphysics"

Its science.

Solving a mystery "meta-physical physical science with an algebraic equality"

I am relieved to know the 5 Annabelles and 2 male twins have been reunited with their birth mothers and family.

They didn't realize how to mark them then follow them back to birth to find out who kidnapped them in the SMS.

So they been wanting to know who was behind it and they knew it been confessed several times before and apologized. So they have been waiting for this morning.

So they will all be accumulated and discarded the kidnappers of these infants.

There is a conflict with the people who raised them for 16 years... That is their parents... And so they will be dealt with in a more gingerly, gentle manner. Because while they are just kidnappers I do know one set of "parents" personally and they did give love to the children. They ARE ALIENS that do not belong here that raised human children ... So they may stay a few more months to help smooth the transition.

But they will leave and so there is No point to jail them as they have ankle monitors now.

Unfortunately all the families have ties to the regular USA military.

Including Matt Plant's dad. Who I met while he was in the Coast Guard and Matt, kidnapped human, was a left handed little boy that was born in 1981. He was a school mate. We had desks next to each other. He pissed me off all the time because he was left handed and he took up all this fucking space the way he wrote and knocked shit off my desk all the time. Fucking kid was spread eagle elbows out all the time like some war was going on

"Dude!! You're just intended to write!! You don't need to take up so much space! You're killing the atmosphere! I don't need your elbow in my face!" Cause literally it was. We were HORRIBLE seat mates. But I had a desk in the back of the room because I rarely went to school. But there was things I wanted to learn so I went when the teacher had it on schedule. And for some reason he stayed home a lot, too. So we got the seatmate until he asked to be placed back with the boys. And I just had my own desk all alone. The way I liked it. No one to talk to me and bug me. So I could just learn.

I liked the kid. I always admired him.. Until I had to fucking sit next to him.

This sweet kid Nate was left handed so i told the teacher to pay attention -- Ms Chen she was murdered by the Chinese Embassy.... But i told her "look Nate is having problems with his seat mate because hes left handed"

"And Jewel (she called us all precious names) he is doing well much better than the two of you. Try to get along better please"

Like dam it, so finally i got the nerve to argue her ... Because she was fucking good at being bossy

"Look. I don't mean to boss you around because I'm not here so often but look Nate's seatmate has to rearrange his shit all the time. So, it would be easier on him in his learning cycle not to sit next to Nate but they are friends, i see them hanging out at the park all the time. And Matt here needs some really good friends too that are patient and kind unlike me as you do say. And i talked to Matt Pleasants earlier this morning and he did say he would rather sit with the boys but you had him sit next to someone like me, before and they didn't get along so well so if you moved old Matt to be with Nate who is also not,right handed,i think they would be more comfortable"

And finally she couldn't argue me back.

"Well who do you want to sit with?"

"No one! Im quite fine alone!"

"See the thing is -- in society we are never alone and so you must sit with some body"

"Oh!! I'm not alone!! I am here with you! You sll6! So many people in this room and school I am here with$ in this kind of type of society!! I am! I swear!"

"Ok calm down and,explain to me more"

"I see in the subways all the time, Miss, I see not the children But adults mostly and mainly being alone. But in the society in which we born and breed. Not that I was born here, I wasn't. I was born down south, i think. But the point is Miss, who do you sit with in this society? Your desk you are alone. At home, single with no husband, you are alone. In this society in which you claim we need somebody. You aren't with anyone!"

"I know. Just sit sit. I cannot argue you any more! You make me cry! You are too smart for my beauty! You beautiful babe. I do love you. And I wouldn't kill you for the world!"

I bought her a house and gave it to her. All the teachers at PS 26 because of Miss Lieberman and because of Miss Chen. Mostly because of Miss Chen.

After she was murdered, we turned it into a neighborhood watch community apartment place. Her house. "To keep the entire world safe"

Because of her we stopped human trafficking in Russia and China and Lebanon, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Quebec, The entire state of NY, Outer Mongolia, Egypt and many parts of Africa. Using the United Nations. It was "Operation: "I'll free you" regarding Ms Chen and her rightful delegates to life, freedom and happiness. The End"

And you see why? Because she loved. She taught. She listened. She cared so much she cried.

No one in the world like her. And she died. Murdered.

No one more beautiful and willing to fight. Her death inspired 29 nine to fifteen year olds to quit school, lie about their ages and enlist in the military to go to war in Desert Storm, to gain experience to fight Old World China that forced Miss Chen to live in fear so much she moved across the world just because she was born female.

Her love. Her beautiful love. The wealth of that love caused young boys to quit school to fight a whole country.

Because she taught us One Person does make a Difference

She fed our souls with true love and experience. She had a feeding tube to our hearts, not just our minds. Not just to educate "but feel and breathe and be alive!"

At home I was abused.

At school I was fed by a feeding tube to my heart.

To grow. To fly. To not only change me and how I react to stress but to change the world.

That is what she fed us. My Uncle Dad always did, too.

But in between him and me was an abusive and wicked step mother and brother.

She was our Church. Our School. Our Mother. Our Boss. Our Best Friend.

And she always liked to say "I am your Teach. I am your worst enemy"

She was from Mongolia, Republic of China.

So she had an accent but she worked very very hard to not show one. And I was always caught off guard... I always heard "I am your reach" and I would think "from your outer soul to inner" because she always touched my heart with a valid argument I couldn't not agree with even when I thought it was the worst idea possible. Like being jabbed by a left handers elbow and living in fear of it.

I started this post talking about kidnapping. Linked how I know this Matt's best while at school

Now I just want to talk about her. I saw Matt Plant is a teacher, seriously balding, I think it had something to do with her. He teaches 8th grade science.

He used to live 2 doors down across the hall from me. So I actually spent allot of time at his house (apartment) I would play with his sister that was 3 years younger. Dolls. Barbies. Read her books. Tell her things Miss Chen said about love, human companionship and compassion. She would say "I got another C Word for you -- Complain and I gotta use it in a sentence -- I must Complain I am not in Ms Chen's class with you"

So I introduced her and so she would run over and give Ms Chen a hug every morning before school started and say "tell me something smart"

Often she would say a one or two line of street safety advice.

And every Friday "tell me something smart" and Miss Chen would reply "you are" while touching her little chin, and giving her an extra hug.

It established a new principles in our classroom. Every morning on the board was a quote "tell me something smart" so for our journal enteries she would write "tell me:..... .... ....."

One girl changed our classroom. One mysterious girl when I played Barbies with, I would repeat something Ms Chen had said that day. Playing Barbies was really just holding a Barbie up and talking... Mostly for me anyway.

Ms Chen changed her world. Because I spread the love and nourishment and guidance she gave me onto her.

So why I try shit like human trafficking and then turn myself in and call the CIA and/or FBI and tell in myself -- it is because of her.

"If you do something bad, turn yourself in, day you're sorry and Beg for mercy. You'll get into less trouble"

My Uncle Dad Said the same thing. They didn't even know each other to "conspire to categorize communication to cause conflict in annoyance from home to school"

She knew us all. She knew I hated home. But others liked theirs so she would say something different to encourage us to understand she had independent thought.

She really was a beautiful woman human.

The world is Deep and Complex.

What comes around goes around.

I hope those kidnapped children are all doing well after reuniting with their family.

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chiddicksfamilytree · 5 years

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This is the fourth in my biographies about the lives of my eight great-grandparents, next up is John Edwin Barnes.

John Edwin Barnes was one of the first Ancestors that I researched, in real detail and he is someone who will always hold a special place in my heart, due to the fact he was sadly killed in action at Gallipoli in WW1.

After my Nan died, I was the humbled recipient of his WW1 medals and it was these very medals, that inspired me to trace my family history in my early years of research.

Are we allowed “Favourite Ancestor’s?” Of course we are, so apologies if there is a lot of info in this blog, I have managed to uncover a lot about John Edwin’s military career, in what was actually, an extremely short life.

So sit back and take a glimpse into the life of my Great-Grandfather John Edwin Barnes.

John Edwin Barnes was born on 17th March 1890 at 49, Benledi Street, Bromley-By-Bow, Poplar, he was the fourth child of eight, born to Henry Barnes and Martha Barnes nee Harvey.

Within a year, we find John Edwin Barnes counted in the 1891 Census, still living at 49, Benledi Street, with his parents and three older Brothers.

1891 Census

(Benledi Street)

By the time of the 1901 Census, the family home had moved to 50, Burke Street, West Ham and young John Edwin is still living at home with his parents and six siblings, Henry aged 17, Walter aged 13, Arthur aged 8, Edward aged 6, Martha aged 2 and baby Ethel aged just 5 Months.

1901 Census

Whether he was inspired by his older Brother Harry Barnes, who joined the East Surrey Regiment, I can’t say for certain, but the next record we find for our young John Edwin Barnes is his Army attestation papers detailing his enlistment to the Essex Militia, Army Number 9431;

The following information is taken from John Edwin Barnes Army enlisting documentation dated 19th October 1906. He was recruited into the Essex Regiment at the Frances Street Office, Woolwich, London. On the day he enlisted, he was 17 years and 7 months old, his height was 5ft 6 1/2″ and his weight 12st 3lbs. His chest measurement was 35″ and his complexion listed as Sallow. He had brown eyes and auburn hair and his religion is listed as C of E. His occupation is listed as a Carman and he is listed as single.

He had the following distinguishing marks:

Scar left side of forehead

Scar between shoulder blades

Tattoo I Love F.Bevens front of left forearm

(I have no idea who F. Bevens was, but she obviously made an impact!)

His address on enlisting is: 66, Hansworth Street, Canning Town, London.

His next of kin are listed as follows:

Father Harry, 66, Hansworth St. Canning Town Essex

Elder Bros Harry, Pte East Surrey Regt, Walter Jnr, Bros Arthur and Edward Sisters Martha & Ethel, all with father.

He enlists into the 3rd Militia Battalion Essex Regiment, Number 9431, on 19th October 1906 and shortly after receives the Army Recruiting Office seal of approval on 22nd October 1906. Exactly one month later, on 19th November 1906, he attested for Regular Service with the 3rd Battalion, Essex Regiment.

John Edwin Barnes Attestation Record

After completing basic training at the Warley Depot, at the end of 1907, he was posted to 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment, with the Army Number 8987. He was posted from the 2nd Battalion to the 1st Battalion and is stationed at Quetta, Baluhistan, India on the 5th January 1911 and is counted in the 1911 Census in India.

1911 Census

He is stationed here in “C” Company and later in 1913 “C” Company was merged to form part of the new “Y” Company when the Battalion moved to a four Company structure in 1913.

A helpful link to understanding Essex Regiment Service Numbers can be found here

Essex Regiment Service Numbers

It’s during this period in Ireland and specifically Dublin, that John Edwin Barnes meets and marries his sweetheart, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Daniels.

They were married on 27th October 1909 at The Registrar’s Office in The City of Dublin and John Edwin Barnes was living at 6, Madeline Terrace, Golden Bridge, Dublin at the time and Lizzie’s address was 3, Woodroffe Cottages, Island Bridge. His occupation was listed as Private, Essex Regiment.

Between John Edwin Barnes enlistment and before he was sent to India, the Essex Regiment were stationed at The Island Bridge Army Barracks, in Dublin, the exact dates I can’t be sure. During this period there is also evidence of a Court Martial for a John E Barnes, of the 2nd Battalion, at The Curragh Army Barracks, Ireland. The date of the trial was 5th December 1910 and the Court Martial took place on 20th December 1910, the outcome of the trial was a Court Martial for desertion and he was sentenced to 112 days. I would like to think that he was deserting for good reasons, to go and meet his Wife, Lizzie, who would have been pregnant at the time with their only child Martha Annie Barnes. I will never know for certain the reason for his desertion, but the sentimental part of me would like it to be for this reason.

Court Martial Record

John Edwin Barnes and Lizzie Barnes only had the one child, Martha Annie Barnes (My Nan), who was born 21st April 1911, at The Stevens Hospital Dublin.

Sadly John Edwin Barnes died at Gallipoli on this ill-fated campaign, on the very first day of battle, 25th April 1915. Whether he was able to see his only child, Martha Annie Barnes or not, between his service in India, with the Essex Regiment and the outbreak of WW1, I am unable to say for sure.

You might think that there is where the story ends for John Edwin Barnes, but far from it, over the years I have been able to piece together more and more information about his time at Gallipoli thanks to the wonderful help of sites such as The Long Long Trail, The Great War Forum and The Gallipoli Association.

So I have included some more detailed information regarding the Gallipoli Campaign, the part the Essex Regiment played and the part my Ancestor John Edwin Barnes played.

There is a whole wealth of well documented books, blogs and research into the Gallipoli Campaign which would be far too lengthy to be included with this blog, but a very brief note of why the Allied Forces chose to attack the Dardanelles Peninsula is included here;

The eight month campaign in Gallipoli was fought by Allied forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front in France and Belgium, and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea. The Allies landed on the peninsula on 25-26 April 1915; the 29th Division at Cape Helles in the south and the Australian and New Zealand Corps north of Gaba Tepe on the west coast, an area soon known as Anzac.

From now on, we will concentrate on the 29th Division, which consisted of 12 Battalions: Border Regiment, 1st Battalion Essex Regiment, Hampshire Regiment, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Royal Fusiliers – City of London Regiment, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Munster Fusiliers, 1/5th Royal Scots – Lothian Regiment, South Wales Borderers and the Worcestershire Regiment. John Edwin Barnes was part of The Essex Regiment that landed at “W” beach on 25th April 1915.

Troops of the 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment landing at ‘W’ Beach, 25 April 1915.

The following is the actual transcript of the 1st Battalion Essex Regiment War Diary in the run up to the landings on 25th April 1915 and the days after;

12th March 1915

His Majesty’s Inspection

Battalion entrains at Milverton Station, Warwick:

“A” & “B” Companies 8-25 am.

“C” & “D” Companies 8-45 am.

Inspection by His Majesty on main Coventry – Rugby Road.

Return home.

21st March 1915

Warwick, Warwickshire. Part of the 88th Brigade, 29th Division.

To Avonmouth and embarked Caledonia.

April 2nd 1915

Arrived Alexandria, Egypt.

April 6th 1915

Disembarked and to Mustapha Camp.

April 11th 1915

Embarked DONGOLA and sailed for Lemnos.

April 13th 1915

Arrived Mudros Harbour.

April 24th 1915

Set sail to Cape Helles.

April 25th 1915 09:00 hrs

The Battalion less Z Company transhipped from H.T. DONGOLA to a minesweeper and was conveyed as close to the shore as possible, when they were transferred to boats. The landing was carried out under fire and there were several casualties in the boats that took place on W. beach about 9.30 am.

April 25th 1915 09:30 hrs

As soon as the first boats were beached, we received orders to connect between the Royal Fusiliers on right and Lancashire Fusiliers on left and as many as were available were sent to fill this gap, reinforcing as men arrived on the beach. On reaching the crest it was found that no one was on our right.

April 25th 1915 11:35 hrs

A message was received from G.H.Q. to report progress and reasons for not pushing on. Reply was sent, that we were waiting for our left to come up and would then advance. This was attempted but the advance was held up by very heavy fire and many casualties occurred.

April 25th 1915 12:30 hrs

Supported by 4th Worcester’s and after bombardment by Navy, which drove out the enemy, the Battalion took Hill 138 and redoubt beyond.

April 25h 1915 19:00 hrs

Received orders to connect with Worcester’s on right & Hampshire’s on left and entrench position.

Enemy attacked at night & came to close range with a Machine Gun, but inflicted no loss and were driven off.

Casualties during day

2 Officers – Killed

4 Officers – Wounded 1 since dead.

Other Ranks 15 killed 87 wounded.

April 26th 1915

Continued to hold same position.

April 27th 1915 16:00 hrs

Advanced in Line 3 Brigades with 175th French Regiment on right and entrenched new position.

April 28th 1915 08:00 hrs

Advanced in same formation to take up a new position Pt. 236 – Knoll about 700 yds. N.E. of KRITHEA – Pt. 472 – X Coast Line in Sq. 184.R.8

April 28th 1915 09:00 hrs

Met with considerable opposition. The Battalion on the left of the 88th Brigade on reaching a point beyond which they could not advance owing to the right & left of the line being held up entrenched and held till 6 P.M. when it retired to another position in the line with the remainder of the Brigades the right of the line having retired. The enemy made very good use of their Machine Guns causing heavy casualties.

Casualties Officers Other Ranks

Killed 2 12

Wounded 1 75

Missing 33

April 29th 1915

Remained in position.

April 30th 1915

Remained in position, shelled by enemy causing little damage.

May 1st 1915

Remained in same position, Battalion relieved by 2nd Hants. Regt. in trenches and went into reserve.

May 1st 1915 22:30 hrs

Enemy attacked trenches in force. The Battalion was called out and ordered to retake trenches which has been evacuated and were held by the enemy. During the advance the Battalion was subjected to heavy fire from the front and also from the rear by parties of the enemy who had broken through 1 Officer and about 40 Turkish prisoners were taken during the advance. X Company under Capt. Pepys found one trench occupied by the enemy and retook it with the bayonet. The remainder of the Battalion remained in support ready to strengthen any portion of the line.

May 2nd 1915 04:30 hrs

A Counter attack was ordered. This consisted of three companies under Captain Bowen they took a small redoubt killing and capturing some of the enemy, ordered to advance and entrench new position.

This was found impracticable owing to enemy’s heavy shell fire. The old trenches were occupied.

Casualties Officers. O.R.

Killed 2 12

Wounded 3 28

Missing 5

The Essex Regiment Diaries can be found on Ancestry and the links are attached here;

Essex Regiment War Diaries 1

Essex Regiment War Diaries 2

Essex Regiment War Diaries 3

Essex Regiment War Diaries 4

Essex Regiment War Diaries 5

Essex Regiment War Diaries 6

Essex Regiment War Diaries 7

John Edwin Barnes is commemorated on the Helles Memorial alongside the names of his own Essex Regiment comrades and the other 20,000 plus soldiers, who sadly lost their life here at Gallipoli.

CWGC Record

Medal Rolls 1

Medal Rolls 2

Medal Roll Card

He was awarded The Victory Medal, The British Medal, The 1914-15 Star as well as The Memorial Plaque (knows as “The Death Penny”).

There are numerous Newspaper reports listing the wounding and death of John Edwin Barnes in various newspapers, these can be found on Find My past and The British Newspaper Archive websites, the links are included here;

Sheffield Daily Telegraph 31st May 1915

Essex Newsman 5th June 1915

Essex Newsman 20th November 1915

Essex Newsman 20th November 1915 Additional Article

The Chelmsford Chronicle 3rd December 1915

I am very fortunate, over the years, I have accumulated a large amount of Photographs from Gallipoli. I am eternally grateful to those that have allowed me to use their own pictures within my Family History Research. Credits to the images are listed below.

VLUU L210 / Samsung L210

(Images kindly supplied by Sean Ryan)

(Images kindly supplied by Robert Pike)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

(Images kindly supplied by Bob Cumberbatch)

After his death, John Edwin Barnes widow, Lizzie Barnes, was entitled to a War Gratuity benefit from the Army, which was duly paid to her on 15th July 1919 for the sum of £5. The payment sheet recording this, is shown here;

Soldier’s Effects

A detailed explanation of how the War Gratuity was calculated and paid can be found here on a blog written by Craig from The Great War Forum. War Gratuity

John Edwin Barnes even managed to get a mention in a book by Trevor Royle entitled “Britain’s Lost Regiment’s, you can view the extract here;

Britain’s Lost Regiment’s John Edwin Barnes

My one lasting regret is that I don’t have a picture of my hero John Edwin Barnes……………..if only.

Special thanks to all those that have helped with contributions and images and have kindly allowed me to include them here. I hope you managed to reach the end………

The Life and Times of John Edwin Barnes This is the fourth in my biographies about the lives of my eight great-grandparents, next up is John Edwin Barnes.

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frontstreet1 · 6 years

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump can’t seem to get his facts straight when it comes to the Russia investigation.

Facing pressure as his former advisers are caught lying by special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump is launching fresh attacks on the probe as politically biased and Mueller as hopelessly “conflicted.” This runs counter to ethics experts in Trump’s Justice Department who concluded that Mueller — a Republican — could fairly lead the probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

Trump also suggests that the crimes of his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, have “nothing” to do with him. That’s also wrong. Cohen was the first to implicate the president in open court of a crime. Last week, Cohen also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his efforts during the 2016 campaign to line up a Trump Tower Moscow project, saying he did so to align with Trump’s “political messaging.”

Meanwhile, Trump displayed a slippery grasp of the environment as well as trade policy. He also spread around to his millions of Twitter followers a wildly false claim that people in the country illegally get more aid from the federal government than Americans get in Social Security benefits.

A look at his statements and the reality:

RUSSIA INVESTIGATION

TRUMP, on Cohen: “He was convicted with a fairly long-term sentence on things totally unrelated to the Trump Organization — having to do with mortgages, and having to do with cheating the IRS perhaps. A lot of different things. I don’t know exactly, but he was convicted of various things unrelated to us. …So, very simply, Michael Cohen is lying and he’s trying to get a reduced sentence for things that have nothing to do with me.” — remarks to reporters Thursday.

THE FACTS: Cohen definitely was in trouble for what he did for Trump. He pleaded guilty in August to several criminal charges and stated in open court that Trump directed him to arrange payments of hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to fend off damage to Trump’s White House bid.

Cohen said one payment was made “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”

The Justice Department says the hush money payments were unreported campaign contributions meant to influence the outcome of the election. That assertion makes the payments subject to campaign finance laws, which restrict how much people can donate to a campaign and bar corporations from making direct contributions.

It is true that Cohen did not identify Trump, but there was no ambiguity in court documents or in his statement.

Cohen’s extraordinary statement at his August plea hearing marked the first time any Trump associate, in open court, has implicated the president himself in a crime.

Cohen’s guilty plea last week, meanwhile, featured Trump and conversations he and his family had with Cohen about a possible Russian business deal during the 2016 campaign at a level greater than previously known.

Trump is, however, correct that other previous charges which Cohen admitted to didn’t involve the candidate or the campaign and were for tax deception.

___

TRUMP: “The Phony Witch Hunt continues, but Mueller and his gang of Angry Dems are only looking at one side, not the other. …Mueller is a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue.” — tweet Tuesday.

THE FACTS: Trump makes a baseless charge that Mueller is a “conflicted” prosecutor whose team is a bunch of “angry” Democrats.

Mueller, a longtime Republican, was cleared by the Justice Department to lead the Russia investigation. The department said in May 2017 that its ethics experts “determined that Mr. Mueller’s participation in the matters assigned to him is appropriate.” The issue had come up because of his former position at the WilmerHale law firm, which represented some key players in the probe.

Some on Mueller’s team owe their jobs largely to Republican presidents, while some others have indeed given money to Democratic candidates over the years. But Mueller could not have barred them from serving on that basis because regulations prohibit the consideration of political affiliation for personnel actions involving career attorneys. Mueller was appointed as special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a Trump appointee.

___

THE FIRST BUSH PRESIDENT

TRUMP, on the passing of former President George H.W. Bush: “As a young man, he captained the Yale baseball team, and then went on to serve as the youngest aviator in the United States Navy during the Second World War.” — statement Saturday.

THE FACTS: Trump mixes up Bush’s timeline, in which he put off college to enlist in the Navy after the U.S. entered World War II. Bush joined the Navy in 1942 upon graduating from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, at age 18, six months after the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was the youngest pilot in the Navy at the time.

Bush received an honorable discharge in 1945 and enrolled at Yale, where he was captain of the baseball team. “A lot of us on the team were veterans and we had come back from the war, so maybe that made it a little less apprehensive,” Bush told The Associated Press in 2007. “On the other hand, it didn’t deduct from our enthusiasm and our desire to win, which we did not do.”

___

TRADE

TRUMP: “Billions of Dollars are pouring into the coffers of the U.S.A. because of the Tariffs being charged to China, and there is a long way to go. If companies don’t want to pay Tariffs, build in the U.S.A. Otherwise, lets (sic) just make our Country richer than ever before.” — tweet Thursday.

THE FACTS: That’s not how it works. Yes, money from tariffs is going into the federal treasury, but it’s coming from U.S. businesses, not from overseas. Tariffs are paid by the importer, not the exporter or government in another country.

Beyond that, tariffs paid by U.S. companies tend to result in higher prices for consumers. So a tariff is a transfer of wealth from business to government, and sometimes from consumers to government as well. It is not a foreign payment to the U.S.

___

TRUMP, on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement: “The USMCA is the largest, most significant, modern and balanced trade agreement in history. All of our countries will benefit greatly. It is probably the largest trade deal ever made, also.” — signing ceremony Friday.

THE FACTS: It’s not the largest trade deal ever made. It covers the same three countries as its predecessor, NAFTA. In contrast, the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations concluded in 1994 created the World Trade Organization and was signed by 123 countries. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found the following year that the WTO’s initial membership accounted for more than 90 percent of global economic output.

___

TRUMP, on the pact with Canada and Mexico: “This is a model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever.” He also referred to the pact as a “landmark agreement.” — ceremony Friday.

THE FACTS: Actually, the pact preserves the structure and substance of NAFTA, which was unquestionably a landmark, whether for better or worse.

In one new feature, the deal requires that 40 percent of cars’ contents eventually be made in countries that pay autoworkers at least $16 an hour — that is, in the United States and Canada and not in Mexico — to qualify for duty-free treatment. It also requires Mexico to pursue an overhaul of labor law to encourage independent unions that will bargain for higher wages and better working conditions for Mexicans.

But the agreement is largely an incremental revision of NAFTA. Philip Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a trade official in Republican President George W. Bush’s White House, says: “President Trump has seriously overhyped this agreement.”

___

MANUFACTURING

TRUMP: “Remember the previous administration said, oh, manufacturing jobs, that will never happen. I kept saying, what’s he talking about? Manufacturing, we got to make things, right? They said manufacturing jobs would never come back. You’d need a magic wand. Well, we found the magic wand. And they’re great jobs. They’re high-paying jobs. They’re brilliant jobs. They’re important jobs.” — Biloxi, Mississippi, rally on Nov. 26.

THE FACTS: No magic wand has swept across manufacturing.

Yes, manufacturing jobs have been added under Trump, but the sector is nowhere close to its old glory.

As of October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 8.53 percent of the 149.8 million U.S. jobs were in manufacturing. Back in October 2008, 9.65 percent of U.S. jobs were in manufacturing. Even if factories keep hiring workers, factories are unlikely to return to the prominence of Trump’s childhood because so many other segments of the U.S. economy — such as health care — have grown.

In 1946, the year Trump was born, nearly a third of U.S. workers had manufacturing jobs.

Growth in manufacturing employment began in President Barack Obama’s second term, when 386,000 jobs were added, and accelerated under Trump, with 416,000 more jobs in his first 21 months.

___

TRUMP: “Our steel industry a year ago was dead, and now it’s one of the most vibrant anywhere in the world, because we stopped the steel dumping and we put a big tax on. When they steel dump, they can dump all they want, but they pay 25 percent on everything they dump, and our steel now is doing great. Our industry has come back.” — Mississippi rally.

TRUMP: “Big Steel is opening and renovating plants all over the country.” — tweet Thursday.

THE FACTS: He’s exaggerating the recovery of the steel industry.

As of October, there were 381,700 jobs in the manufacturing of primary metals such as steel. That figure seesaws based off commodity prices and global economic performance. But it’s clearly trended downward since 2000 when the sector had 621,800 jobs.

It’s difficult to know just how many jobs will be added by newly planned mills. But construction spending on factories has yet to take off significantly after having been in decline between 2016 and much of 2018. Still, the spending has rebounded in recent months. Construction spending on factories has increased 4.3 percent in the past year, according to the Census Bureau.

A year ago, the steel industry employed 141,200 people, says the Labor Department. Now, 145,100. That’s a gain of 3,900 jobs during a period when the overall economy added 2.5 million jobs.

Steel wasn’t at death’s door a year ago and it isn’t “back” in any historic sense.

___

AUTOS

TRUMP: “General Motors is very counter to what other auto, and other companies are doing. Big Steel is opening and renovating plants all over the country. Auto companies are pouring into the U.S., including BMW, which just announced a major new plant. The U.S.A. is booming!” — tweet Thursday.

THE FACTS: This auto industry boom doesn’t exist.

Automakers have been steadily hiring since 2010 when Obama was president. But the pace of job gains has slowed considerably since Trump took office, according to the Labor Department. That’s probably a reflection of slowing sales rather than any policy changes by Trump.

U.S. auto sales are down 0.2 percent through October largely because of a 13 percent plunge in car sales. Truck and SUV sales are up 8 percent. All the factories GM wants to close make slow-selling cars.

The Labor Department found that automakers added 30,600 jobs during Obama’s last year in office. That fell to 8,200 in 2017 after Trump became president. Automakers were on pace before the GM layoffs to add 8,660 jobs this year.

Despite the job growth in recent years, auto companies employ far fewer workers than they did in 2000. More than 1.3 million people held auto jobs in 2000, a total that now stands at roughly 970,000.

General Motors Co. is not alone in cutting workers. Crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. is just starting to restructure its white-collar workforce, and thousands are expected to be let go by the middle of next year.

Also, BMW didn’t announce a major new plant. Its CEO said Tuesday the company is considering a new U.S. engine factory to supply assembly plants in South Carolina and Mexico. The German automaker now imports engines and transmissions from Europe for SUVs made in the U.S., and it’s building a new factory in Mexico.

___

ENVIRONMENT

TRUMP: “You look at our air and our water and it’s right now at a record clean.” — interview Tuesday with The Washington Post.

THE FACTS: No, the air isn’t the cleanest ever. The air generally has been getting cleaner since the 1970s, but the downward trend in pollution has made a bit of a U-turn since Trump took office.

His Environmental Protection Agency released data that showed traditional air pollution — soot and smog — increased in 2017 and that the air is not the cleanest it has ever been.

The days with an unhealthy number of small pollution particles, often called soot and linked to heart and lung problems and deaths, jumped from 2016 to 2017 in 35 major metropolitan areas. In 2017, there were 179 unhealthy soot days, up 85 percent from 97 in 2016. Last year had the most unhealthy soot days since 2011.

The number of days with unhealthy smog levels was down from 2016, but higher than 2015, 2014 and 2013.

The number of days when the air quality index was unhealthy was 729 in 2017. The number of days is higher than a year because it counts each city’s unhealthy reading on a certain day as one and there are numerous cities involved.

Last year’s level was the highest since 2012 and a 21 percent increase over the cleanest air in 2014.

___

TRUMP: “I mean, we take thousands of tons of garbage off our beaches all the time that comes over from Asia. It just flows right down the Pacific, it flows, and we say where does this come from?” — Post interview.

THE FACTS: Singling out Asia for America’s dirty Pacific beaches is an evasion.

Pacific currents do bring some trash from Asia, most noticeably during the 2011 tsunami, but it is rare that scientists can trace trash to a specific geographic location, said oceanographer Kara Lavender Law at the Sea Education Association, who said Trump’s “statement is not supported by the data.”

Americans dirty their own coastlines because “we produce double more trash per person than most of the people living in Southeast Asia,” said Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia environmental engineering expert who studies marine debris.

___

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, on Trump rejecting a dire White House report’s conclusion on the economic costs of climate change: “This report is based on the most extreme modeled scenario, which contradicts long-established trends. …This is the most extreme version and it’s not based on facts.” — press briefing Tuesday.

THE FACTS: She’s wrong. The 29-chapter report actually lays out various scenarios that the United Nations’ climate assessments use. Economists say the cost estimates are credible and may even understate the economic impact.

The National Climate Assessment report considers three scenarios in estimating future costs. One is the business-as-usual scenario, which scientists say is closest to the current situation. That is the worst case of the three scenarios. Another would envision modest reductions in heat-trapping gases, and the third would involve severe cuts in carbon dioxide pollution.

For example, under the business-as-usual scenario in which emissions of heat-trapping gasses continue at current levels, labor costs in outdoor industries during heat waves could cost $155 billion in lost wages per year by 2090. Modest reductions in carbon pollution would cut that to $75 billion a year, the report said.

The report talks of hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses in several spots. In one graphic, it shows the worst-case business-as-usual scenario of economic costs reaching 10 percent of gross domestic product when Earth is about a dozen degrees warmer than now with no specific date.

Economist Ray Kopp, a vice president at the think tank Resources For the Future and who wasn’t part of the assessment, said the economics and the science in the report were sound.

Yale economist William Nordhaus, who won the 2018 Nobel prize for economics for his work on climate change, told The Associated Press that his calculations show climate change would cost the United States an even higher $4 trillion a year at the end of the century with a reasonable projection of warming. He said the White House report’s economic conclusions used standard economic modeling.

___

IMMIGRATION

TRUMP’s retweet: “Illegals can get up to $3,874 a month under Federal Assistance program. Our social security checks are on average $1200 a month. RT (retweet) if you agree: If you weren’t born in the United States, you should receive $0 assistance.” — posted Wednesday.

THE FACTS: Wrong country, wrong numbers, wrong description of legal status of the recipients. Besides that, immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally do not qualify for most federal benefits, even when they’re paying taxes, and those with legal status make up a small portion of those who use public benefits.

The $3,874 refers to a payment made in Canada, not the U.S., to a legally admitted family of refugees. It was largely a one-time resettlement payment under Canada’s refugee program, not monthly assistance in perpetuity, the fact-checking site Snopes found a year ago in debunking a Facebook post that misrepresented Canada’s policy. A document cited in the Facebook post, showing aid for food, transportation and other basics needs, applied to a family of five.

Apart from confusing Canada with the United States, the tweet distributed by the president misstated how much Americans get from Social Security on average — $1,419 a month for retired workers, not $1,200.

Overall, low-income immigrants who are not yet U.S. citizens use Medicaid, food aid, cash assistance and Supplemental Security Income aid at a lower rate than comparable U.S.-born adults, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data. Non-citizen immigrants make up only 6.5 percent of all those participating in Medicaid, for example.

Despite that, the administration wants to redefine the rules for immigrants to further restrict who can receive benefits and for how long.

By CALVIN WOODWARD and HOPE YEN – Dec 3. 2018 – 1:29 AM EDT ___

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Paul Wiseman, Josh Boak, Christopher Rugaber, Seth Borenstein and Colleen Long in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

___

Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s Mangled Truths On Russia Probe, Cohen WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump can’t seem to get his facts straight when it comes to the Russia investigation.

#AP FACT CHECK #Lawyer Michael Cohen #President Donald Trump #Russia Probe #Special Counsel Robert Mueller

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mikemortgage · 6 years

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AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s mangled truths on Russia probe, Cohen

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump can’t seem to get his facts straight when it comes to the Russia investigation.

Facing pressure as his former advisers are caught lying by special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump is launching fresh attacks on the probe as politically biased and Mueller as hopelessly “conflicted.” This runs counter to ethics experts in Trump’s Justice Department who concluded that Mueller — a Republican — could fairly lead the probe into possible co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

A look at his statements and the reality:

RUSSIA INVESTIGATION

Cohen said one payment was made “in co-ordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,” and the other was made “under direction of the same candidate.”

It is true that Cohen did not identify Trump, but there was no ambiguity in court documents or in his statement.

Cohen’s extraordinary statement at his August plea hearing marked the first time any Trump associate, in open court, has implicated the president himself in a crime.

Trump is, however, correct that other previous charges which Cohen admitted to didn’t involve the candidate or the campaign and were for tax deception.

——

TRUMP: “The Phony Witch Hunt continues, but Mueller and his gang of Angry Dems are only looking at one side, not the other. …Mueller is a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue.” — tweet Tuesday.

THE FACTS: Trump makes a baseless charge that Mueller is a “conflicted” prosecutor whose team is a bunch of “angry” Democrats.

——

THE FIRST BUSH PRESIDENT

Bush received an honourable discharge in 1945 and enrolled at Yale, where he was captain of the baseball team. “A lot of us on the team were veterans and we had come back from the war, so maybe that made it a little less apprehensive,” Bush told The Associated Press in 2007. “On the other hand, it didn’t deduct from our enthusiasm and our desire to win, which we did not do.”

——

TRADE

——

TRUMP, on the pact with Canada and Mexico: “This is a model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever.” He also referred to the pact as a “landmark agreement.” — ceremony Friday.

THE FACTS: Actually, the pact preserves the structure and substance of NAFTA, which was unquestionably a landmark, whether for better or worse.

In one new feature, the deal requires that 40 per cent of cars’ contents eventually be made in countries that pay autoworkers at least $16 an hour — that is, in the United States and Canada and not in Mexico — to qualify for duty-free treatment. It also requires Mexico to pursue an overhaul of labour law to encourage independent unions that will bargain for higher wages and better working conditions for Mexicans.

——

MANUFACTURING

THE FACTS: No magic wand has swept across manufacturing.

Yes, manufacturing jobs have been added under Trump, but the sector is nowhere close to its old glory.

As of October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 8.53 per cent of the 149.8 million U.S. jobs were in manufacturing. Back in October 2008, 9.65 per cent of U.S. jobs were in manufacturing. Even if factories keep hiring workers, factories are unlikely to return to the prominence of Trump’s childhood because so many other segments of the U.S. economy — such as health care — have grown.

In 1946, the year Trump was born, nearly a third of U.S. workers had manufacturing jobs.

Growth in manufacturing employment began in President Barack Obama’s second term, when 386,000 jobs were added, and accelerated under Trump, with 416,000 more jobs in his first 21 months.

——

TRUMP: “Our steel industry a year ago was dead, and now it’s one of the most vibrant anywhere in the world, because we stopped the steel dumping and we put a big tax on. When they steel dump, they can dump all they want, but they pay 25 per cent on everything they dump, and our steel now is doing great. Our industry has come back.” — Mississippi rally.

TRUMP: “Big Steel is opening and renovating plants all over the country.” — tweet Thursday.

THE FACTS: He’s exaggerating the recovery of the steel industry.

It’s difficult to know just how many jobs will be added by newly planned mills. But construction spending on factories has yet to take off significantly after having been in decline between 2016 and much of 2018. Still, the spending has rebounded in recent months. Construction spending on factories has increased 4.3 per cent in the past year, according to the Census Bureau.

A year ago, the steel industry employed 141,200 people, says the Labor Department. Now, 145,100. That’s a gain of 3,900 jobs during a period when the overall economy added 2.5 million jobs.

Steel wasn’t at death’s door a year ago and it isn’t “back” in any historic sense.

——

AUTOS

THE FACTS: This auto industry boom doesn’t exist.

U.S. auto sales are down 0.2 per cent through October largely because of a 13 per cent plunge in car sales. Truck and SUV sales are up 8 per cent. All the factories GM wants to close make slow-selling cars.

Despite the job growth in recent years, auto companies employ far fewer workers than they did in 2000. More than 1.3 million people held auto jobs in 2000, a total that now stands at roughly 970,000.

——

ENVIRONMENT

TRUMP: “You look at our air and our water and it’s right now at a record clean.” — interview Tuesday with The Washington Post.

THE FACTS: No, the air isn’t the cleanest ever. The air generally has been getting cleaner since the 1970s, but the downward trend in pollution has made a bit of a U-turn since Trump took office.

His Environmental Protection Agency released data that showed traditional air pollution — soot and smog — increased in 2017 and that the air is not the cleanest it has ever been.

The days with an unhealthy number of small pollution particles, often called soot and linked to heart and lung problems and deaths, jumped from 2016 to 2017 in 35 major metropolitan areas. In 2017, there were 179 unhealthy soot days, up 85 per cent from 97 in 2016. Last year had the most unhealthy soot days since 2011.

The number of days with unhealthy smog levels was down from 2016, but higher than 2015, 2014 and 2013.

Last year’s level was the highest since 2012 and a 21 per cent increase over the cleanest air in 2014.

——

THE FACTS: Singling out Asia for America’s dirty Pacific beaches is an evasion.

——

For example, under the business-as-usual scenario in which emissions of heat-trapping gasses continue at current levels, labour costs in outdoor industries during heat waves could cost $155 billion in lost wages per year by 2090. Modest reductions in carbon pollution would cut that to $75 billion a year, the report said.

The report talks of hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses in several spots. In one graphic, it shows the worst-case business-as-usual scenario of economic costs reaching 10 per cent of gross domestic product when Earth is about a dozen degrees warmer than now with no specific date.

Economist Ray Kopp, a vice-president at the think-tank Resources For the Future and who wasn’t part of the assessment, said the economics and the science in the report were sound.

——

IMMIGRATION

Overall, low-income immigrants who are not yet U.S. citizens use Medicaid, food aid, cash assistance and Supplemental Security Income aid at a lower rate than comparable U.S.-born adults, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data. Non-citizen immigrants make up only 6.5 per cent of all those participating in Medicaid, for example.

Despite that, the administration wants to redefine the rules for immigrants to further restrict who can receive benefits and for how long.

——

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Paul Wiseman, Josh Boak, Christopher Rugaber, Seth Borenstein and Colleen Long in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

——

Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

Follow https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

EDITOR’S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures

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World Boxing Super Series bouts set for super middleweights, cruiserweights

The draws are set for the 16 participants in the $50 million World Boxing Super Series super middleweight and cruiserweight tournaments.

The top four seeds in each field selected their opponents from the unseeded fighters during the draft gala on Saturday night at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, setting the stage for several intriguing bouts when the quarterfinals kick off in September and October. Specific dates and locations are to be announced.

In the cruiserweight tournament, which features a who’s who of the deep 200-pound weight class, including four reigning world titleholders (the top four seeds), No. 1 Oleksandr Usyk (12-0, 10 KOs), of Ukraine, selected former longtime titleholder Marco Huck (40-4-1, 27 KOs), of Germany, as his quarterfinal opponent in a match of the division’s new guard against its old guard.

“I picked him for my fans,” Usyk, who will be making his third title defense, said of picking Huck, one of the most well-known and best fighters in the history of the division.

Huck said he got the opponent he wanted.

“This is my wish opponent,” he said. “People say he is really good — an Olympic and world champion. But we will see when he gets in the ring with me.”

No. 2 Murat Gassiev (24-0, 17 KOs), of Russia, did not get the opportunity to select his opponent as he will face his mandatory challenger Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (53-3-1, 37 KOs), of Poland.

“I’m fighting Krzysztof because he is my No. 1 contender. He is a tough opponent, and I’m sure we give boxing fans a great fight,” said Gassiev, who will be making his first title defense.

Wlodarczyk is a former two-time world titleholder aiming for a third title reign when he faces Gassiev.

“I’m very happy because Gassiev is a good fighter and a tough guy. We will give people a good fight,” Wlodarczyk said.

No. 3 Mairis Briedis (22-0, 18 KOs), of Latvia, who outpointed Huck in April to win vacant title, selected former heavyweight contender Mike Perez (22-2-1, 14 KOs), who has dropped down in weight.

“He is a great fighter from Cuba. He comes from the heavyweight division and will give me a tough fight,” Briedis said.

Perez had a 25-month layoff but lost 42 pounds and returned as a cruiserweight for a first-round knockout win on June 10 before joining the tournament. Now he will face formidable opposition in his new division.

“It’s a great challenge. He’s a champion, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Perez, a Cuban defector fighting out of Ireland. “It’s going to be my first belt. I’m looking forward to the fight.”

The previous pairings set up a probable slugfest between No. 4 Yunier Dorticos (21-0, 20 KOs), a Miami-based Cuban defector who will be making his first defense, and “The Russian Hammer” Dmitry Kudryashov (21-1, 21 KOs).

“It’s going to be a great fight and something really interesting for the fans,” Dorticos said.

Added Kudryashov: “I’m happy with this opponent. It will be a good fight.”

Before the cruiserweights picked their opponents, the super middleweights did the honors. World titleholder George Groves (26-3, 19 KOs), the top seed from England, selected countryman Jamie Cox (23-0, 13 KOs) as his quarterfinal opponent.

“Me and Jamie are old buddies,” said Groves, who will be making his first title defense after stopping Fedor Chudinov in the sixth round to win a vacant belt on May 27. “We’ve known each other a long time now. I quite fancied a bit of a domestic dust-up. I wanted to pick my countryman. I know he wanted to fight me. I’ve provided him a great opportunity. He’s fighting for a world title. It’s also a strategic move. It’s a long tournament so I picked the easy guy first.”

Said Cox, who will be taking a monumental step up in the level of his opposition: “I was looking forward to getting a U.K. dust-up. George picked me and that makes for a great fight. It’s time to bury a seed.”

Callum Smith (22-0, 17 KOs), the No. 2 seed from England, selected Sweden’s Erik Skoglund (26-0, 12 KOs).

“There were four really good fighters to pick from, three left for me,” Smith said. “I just think stylistically Erik is the best fight for me.”

Said Skoglund: “To kick off the quarterfinals against an undefeated top guy … is massive. I couldn’t be happier with the choice.”

The No. 3 seed will go to the winner between England’s Chris Eubank Jr. (24-1, 19 KOs) and former super middleweight and middleweight world titleholder Arthur Abraham (46-5, 30 KOs), of Germany. They meet in a 12-round fight on July 15 (Integrated Sports PPV, 2:30 p.m. ET) at Wembley Arena in London.

With both fighters in training, they were represented by former two-division world titleholder Chris Eubank Sr., who picked Turkey’s Avni Yildirim (16-0, 10 KOs).

“Avni is a come-forward fighter. I don’t think he knows how to go back,” Eubank said. “He brings war, and that will make for a spectacular fight. Once my son gets past Arthur Abraham, he will do the same to Avni. Chris Eubank Jr. is an upgraded version of me.”

Said Yildirim: “I am very happy to be here. Good luck to the winner of Eubank and Abraham because it is my time now.”

That left No. 4 seed Juergen Braehmer (48-3, 35 KOs), a former light heavyweight world titleholder from Germany who is moving down one division, to face St. Paul, Minnesota’s Rob Brant (22-0, 15 KOs), a rising middleweight contender who is moving up one division.

“Since I could not pick any opponent anymore, I got the strongest guy,” Braehmer said. “The others apparently avoided him. I look forward to the start of the tournament, and I am curious to find out when and where the fight will take place.”

Brant will be taking a significant step up in opposition against the vastly experience Braehmer.

“There’s not an easy fight in this tournament. Whether it was the first person to pick or the last person, they are all champions,” Brant said. “I’m ready to do my best.”

Saturday’s draft made matchups a reality of what began in March with Comosa AG announcing plans for the two single-elimination tournaments in which the 16 fighters would divvy up $50 million prize money, with the winner of each tournament also receiving the Muhammad Ali Trophy. There were no fighters and weight divisions had not been selected when Comosa AG enlisted promoters Richard Schaefer and Kalle Sauerland to promote the cards before deciding to put on the tournaments in the cruiserweight and super middleweight divisions.

“The last couple of days have been filled with intriguing discussions and speculations about the picks. The waiting is finally over, and we are proud to present eight amazing fights,” Sauerland said. “To see all those stars on one stage was incredible, and it will be even more exciting to see all of them in the ring in September and October. There will not be a dull moment.”

After quarterfinal matches this fall, the semifinals are slated for early 2018 and the finals in May 2018.

“I was fortunate to promote many fights of Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya and so many others, but I have to tell you this beats them all,” Schaefer said. “I really believe this has an opportunity to become the brand in the sport of boxing, the kind of tournament fighters really want to participate in because it will elevate their exposure and it will elevate their careers.”

Source: http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/19929421/matchups-set-world-boxing-super-series-super-middleweight-cruiserweight-tournaments

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