#start working as an air traffic controller which has been my dream job for nearly a decade

[whyarewewlwlikethat]

oh and i got my bachelor's btw

[daenerys1417]

Breaking All the Rules

Jonerys Week 2018 - Day 7 - Free Choice

*Follow-up to my Day 3 Modern AU Celebrity Photo Shoot Mood Board*

Summary: Jon Snow is a celebrity photographer who’s used to being surrounded by beautiful models and actresses on a daily basis. He prides himself on being professional and has never dated a client. But when he’s hired to do a photo shoot with the beautiful Daenerys Targaryen, an up and coming actress, he’s tempted for the first time in his life to break his rule…

Rating: Mature - a little bit of fluff, a little bit of angst, a whole lot of smut

Read it on ao3 if you prefer: here

Jon Snow had what many would consider a dream job.  He was one of the most sought-after photographers in the Los Angeles area and spent his days surrounded by impossibly beautiful models and celebrities. When he wasn’t doing photo shoots in his personal studio in the Hollywood Hills, he was jet setting off to exotic locations such as Milan or Paris to work modeling campaigns for major fashion brands.  

Jon was a handsome young man, powerfully built with dark curly hair and mesmerizing brown eyes.  He could have had his pick of half of the women in Hollywood but he had a rule.  He never dated a client, no matter how attracted he was to her.  He prided himself on being professional and providing good service and that included not complicating matters by entertaining romantic relationships with the women he worked with.  Everybody knew everybody in the entertainment world and a relationship with a client that turned sour could potentially have devastating repercussions for his career.

So when his agent told him that he’d been hired for a photo shoot with actress Daenerys Targaryen for Esquire Magazine, he didn’t think much of it aside from the excellent pay and publicity he would receive.   He was vaguely familiar with her work.  She was an up and coming actress who had recently made the leap from the small screen to Broadway shows and feature films.  He had seen her around town at various galas and red carpet events but had never spoken to her.

He checked his watch and sighed irritably as he paced around his studio.  Daenerys was already more than 45 minutes late for their shoot.  He hated nothing more than working with selfish, entitled actresses who didn’t respect his time and thought the world revolved around them. He was just about to call his agent and have him cancel the shoot and reschedule for a different day when Daenerys came bursting through the door.

I’m so sorry for being late,” she said, bending over and panting for air as she tried to catch her breath. “LA traffic is an absolute nightmare today!  I ended up jumping out of the car and covering the last few blocks on foot to get here.”

Jon wanted to be angry with her and tell her that they would need to reschedule but she seemed genuinely sorry and had clearly been rushing to get here as fast as she could.  He felt himself softening towards her.

“That’s perfectly understandable, I know how LA traffic can be.  I’m Jon Snow, by the way, I’ll be doing your photo shoot today”  He held out his hand.  “I think we may have crossed paths once or twice but have never been formally introduced.”

“Nice to meet you, Jon,” she said, shaking his hand.  “I’m Daenerys Targaryen, but you can call me Dany.  I’m familiar with your work.  I loved the retro pinup girl fashion shoot you did for Vogue Magazine a couple of months ago and your winter wonderland spread for Harper’s Bazaar was fabulous!  I’m a huge fan and that’s why I told my agent to book you.  I know you’ll make me look amazing.”

Jon was impressed.  It wasn’t often that an actress followed his work closely enough to be able to rattle off his fashion resume.   He looked her over, admiring her beauty.  “It won’t be that hard to make you look amazing,” he admitted, smiling as he watched her blush.  She was absolutely gorgeous.  She had icy blonde hair with hypnotizing sapphire eyes.  Her skin was perfect, like porcelain.  And she had a figure that just wouldn’t quit.  She was petite yet curvy in a lush “take me to bed” kind of way. He was instantly attracted to her.

He groaned inwardly.  This was going to be a difficult shoot.  He typically had no problem working with a beautiful woman but there was something different about Dany.  He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was just yet but he could already tell that it was going to be a struggle to maintain his professionalism today.    

He clasped his hands together. “Well, are you ready to get started?”

“I sure am,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling at him.

He guided her down the hallway to the dressing room where the hair and make-up artists were already inside waiting for her.  Esquire had sent over quite a few outfits to choose from for the shoot and he would let her and the other stylists decide on which ones she would wear.  In the meantime, he went back into the studio and started adjusting the lighting and setting up his camera.

A short while later, he heard her walk back into the studio, clearing her throat to alert him of her presence.  He turned to look at her and blood immediately rushed to his groin.  Fuck! She was stunning.  Desire began to escalate throughout his body as his eyes lingered on her.  She was wearing a fitted, ruffled white blouse that accentuated her full breasts and small waist perfectly.  She wore a floral miniskirt with it, which showed off shapely legs, and her black stiletto heels were sexy as hell.  Her smoky eye makeup made her icy blue eyes pop and her platinum hair was teased and styled to perfection.

“So where do you want me to be?” she asked, an amused smile on her face.

Jon swallowed hard and felt his cheeks redden.  He knew he had been gawking at her.  He was acting like a horny teenaged boy and not at all like a professional photographer. Dammit, he chastised himself.  Pull it together Jon, stop acting like you’ve never been around a beautiful woman before!

 “Umm, over there on the stool,” he said, motioning towards the front of the room.  She nodded and started walking in that direction.  He watched her the entire time, mesmerized by the sway of her hips as she walked, but quickly turned away and pretended to be fidgeting with his camera when she sat down and looked his way.  

He walked over with his camera and took a few shots to warm up, instructing her to just relax and act natural while he played around with the lighting and the camera settings.  Then it was time to get started.  

“Okay, point your knees in this direction.  Lean forward. Turn your head slightly to the left. Good.  Chin down.  Tilt the top of your head slightly to the right.  Look into the camera.”  He was back in his professional mode now, directing the beautiful actress as he snapped photo after photo.  She was a natural at modeling and followed his directions easily.  

He didn’t miss the steady rise of the hem of her mini skirt as she shifted around per his instructions, putting her sexy thighs on full display.  He could feel himself getting hard, his cock straining against the material of his slacks.  He turned so she wouldn’t see and pretended to be adjusting something on his camera. “Umm, I think we can move on to the next outfit now,” he said over his shoulder.

“All right,” she said, walking out and towards the dressing room to change.  Jon took a deep breath once he was alone.  This was going to be a lot harder than he’d anticipated.  Dany was just too damn sexy!  

Not more than 15 minutes later, she walked back into the room and Jon nearly lost his mind.  She had on a sexy black lace lingerie set with a red and black silk robe draped around her shoulders.  Esquire, a men’s fashion magazine, was known for being somewhat geared towards sex so Jon wasn’t surprised at the outfit.  But how was he supposed to concentrate and get through the rest of the shoot?

He pulled out a chaise lounge chair for her to lie on and began taking more pictures while she hit pose after pose, pouting her lips and looking at him seductively.  At one point she took the robe off and began modeling in just her lingerie.  She looked amazing as she posed before the camera, arching her back.  His eyes lingered over her firm, perfect ass and the soft swell of her breasts as they pushed against the lacy cups of her bra.

A short while later, he realized he was having an issue with his camera and needed to take a short break. “Hey, let’s take five,” he said, walking towards a nearby table so he could adjust his camera settings.  She put her robe back on and walked over to join him.  She was standing so close to him that he could feel her body heat and he was finding it hard to concentrate as he fussed with his camera.

She looked at him curiously. “So, what’s your story, Jon Snow? What do you do when you’re not behind the camera?”

He shrugged, a wry grin on his face. “Nothing much, I’m pretty laid back. I like to drive out to Malibu and catch some waves occasionally or just chill on the beach with my dog, Ghost.”

A beautiful laugh escaped her soft lips.  “Ghost? Why do you call him that?”

Jon smiled.  “Well, he’s an all-white Siberian Husky, so that’s part of it, but the real reason is because he never barks.”

“Oh, I see,” she said.  “I‘m a dog lover too.  I recently rescued two greyhounds.  They’re retired from racing and were about to be put down if they didn’t find a good home and I just couldn’t let that happen.  They’re so sweet.  I named them Drogon and Rhaegal.”

“Wow,” he said, turning to look at her.  “That’s admirable of you.”  He knew he was staring for far too long but it was out of his control.  He had no sense of time, he was lost in her eyes, drowning in the bottomless blue depths.

She smiled at him, her cheeks blushing.  “So no wife or girlfriend you go home to at night?”

He was surprised by her boldness. “No, it’s just me and Ghost.”

“Hmm, that’s surprising for a good-looking man like you with such artistic talent.  I would think that women would be all over you,” she said with a wink.

He chuckled at that.  “And you?” Jon asked, unable to quench his curiosity.  

“No one special right now.” Her eyes lingered on him a bit longer before shifting to his camera.  “Is your camera ready now?

“Yeah, it is…” he said softly. “Let’s continue.”  

They moved back to the photo set-up and resumed taking pictures.  He noticed she had an unruly piece of hair sticking out in the wrong place. “Sweep your hair back behind your right ear,” he said.  She tried to follow his directions but ended up making it worse and now even more hair was sticking out.  He laughed. “Here, let me do it.”  He lowered himself onto his knees in front of the chaise lounge and cradled her head gently as he positioned her and fixed her hair. He was surprised at how silky soft it was.  He was so close to her that he could smell the scent of her perfume.  He breathed in the vanilla fragrance, treasuring it, emblazoning it into his memory.  

As he hovered over her, he couldn’t help looking into her beautiful blue eyes.  They were soft, inviting, beckoning.  He felt himself swimming inside them.  The next thing he knew, he was dipping down to kiss her.  Her lips were soft and warm and so fucking perfect!

He pulled away to look at her but her expression was unreadable.  Shit!  He started to panic.  How could he have been so stupid?  He’d broken his rule.  And with all the sexual harassment claims flying around Hollywood lately with the #metoo movement, he was most likely done in this town.  Dany was a popular actress and one accusation from her would destroy him. All he could do was apologize and beg her forgiveness for his temporary lapse in judgment.  He opened his mouth to speak but she was already standing up. She walked towards the door and his heart sank.

 “Dany…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…I…I completely misread that,” he stammered.

She reached the studio entrance and then turned to look at him, a mischievous smile on her face.  To his complete surprise, instead of storming out, she shut the door and locked it!  She sauntered back over to him, quickly closing the distance between them until their lips were only inches apart.  “No, you didn’t misread anything,” she said, looking into his eyes as she stroked his soft beard.

Jon couldn’t believe what was happening.  “I have a rule,” he murmured, trying to resist temptation.  “I don’t get involved with my clients.”

She bit her lower lip as she looked at him lustfully.  “Rules were made to be broken, Jon.”

And with that, the last ounce of his self-control faded away.  His mouth crashed into hers with an urgency that made her gasp.  With a low growl, he delved deep with his tongue, tasting her sweetness while he palmed her ass to hold her against his stiff cock.  He lifted his lips from hers for a second and gulped for air.  “You’re so goddamned sexy,” he groaned before kissing her again, a deep, openmouthed kiss that sent shivers running through him.  His grip tightened on her ass and, without breaking the kiss, he lifted her up and walked her over to the table, setting her down gently as he continued to ravish her mouth with a ferocity that had her trembling in his arms.  

Notorious for his steady hands when working a camera, Jon couldn’t keep his fingers from shaking as he moved to slide the straps of her bra down her shoulders.  She moaned and trembled beneath him, just as unsteady but with him all the way as he finally uncovered one perfect breast and then the other. He cupped her soft flesh with his hands and lowered his head to take first one peak and then the other into his mouth.  As he sucked on her nipples with long, deep, tugs of lips and teeth, she arched into his mouth, letting him have even more of her.  Reaching behind her, he flipped open the latch of her bra and tossed it to the floor.  Her skin was rosy and damp from where he’d been kissing her, and when he brushed his jaw across her aroused nipples, her hips came up against him in a silent plea for more.

Navigating the high-heeled stilettos she was wearing, he slowly slid her panties off, caressing and kissing his way down her legs.  His name fell from her lips in a whisper of breath and need, and he answered the sweet plea with a slow , sensual lick from the heated well of her sex all the way up to her clit.  Her legs trembled, and her breath was coming in short, sharp pants.  He gave her another sweeping lick and then settled against her clit, slowly circling it with the tip of his tongue and coaxing it with teasing flicks.  He increased his efforts, swirling his tongue around her clit faster and faster, brushing against the small button repeatedly as her cries increased.

Her hands fisted his dark curls and her hips bucked against his tongue.  “Oh…like that,” she cried.

Hell yeah.  He increased the attention, licking and sucking at her clit rapidly.  She continued to whimper, her fingers desperately digging against his hair, scratching at his scalp as she tried to find purchase.  A moment later, a startled cry erupted from her throat and she came, wetness on his lips and tongue as her entire body trembled and undulated underneath him, her breath whistling out of her lungs in a low, slow, deep cry that seemed to go on forever.  The sound was sexy as hell and Jon nearly fell over the edge with her even though he was still fully clothed.

Slowly, he kissed his way down her legs, from the incredibly soft skin of her inner thighs to the sensitive spots behind her knees, then over her toned calf muscles, until he was pressing soft kisses to the tops of both feet.  He could have spent all day working his way back up her body with his hands and mouth, finding all of the spots he’d missed on the way down, but when she took his hands in hers, he let her pull him back up to standing.

“You’re overdressed,” she breathed, her blue eyes dark with lust as she looked at him.  “Let me help you.”

Jon held his breath as she unbuttoned his shirt with deft fingers, pausing along the way to kiss and lick every inch of his chest that she bared.  She tossed the white dress shirt onto the floor and then reached for the waistband of his slacks.  Somehow he managed to pull a condom from his wallet while she unzipped him, shifted his briefs, and pulled his large, throbbing cock out.  

“I need you inside of me,” she purred, stroking him a few times before reaching for the condom to slide it over the head of his cock and down the solid length.

Jon couldn’t resist her sweet plea nor could he wait any longer.  Planting one hand against the table on either side of her, he settled between her legs, nudged her open, and slowly entered her, inch by inch.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he began to move, slowly at first, letting her get used to him.  Then he began to take her harder, the table creaking rhythmically as he pounded in and out of her.

“You feel so fucking incredible,” he rasped.

“Yes.  Just like that.  Fuck me Jon!” She closed her eyes as his cock thrust in and out of her roughly, her breasts bouncing with every stroke.

He slowed his pace when he felt her starting to climb to another orgasm.  “Open your eyes, Dany,” he said in a guttural voice.  “Look at me.”

She did, and he saw her blue eyes blazing heatedly into his.  He moved in slow, smooth, dominant strokes, holding her right at the edge.

“Jon…please…”  She tightened her legs around his waist, trying to get the friction she needed.

He skimmed a hand possessively up her stomach and between her breasts.  “You should see how beautiful you look right now.”  He leaned forward and kissed her before shifting the angle of his hips.  “Come for me, Dany.”

And she did.  She dug her nails into his shoulders, crying out as she came.  He swore under his breath and grabbed her legs, pinning her against the table as he pounded into her, faster and harder, until he groaned, all the muscles in his arms and shoulders straining as he shuddered and slowly came to a stop and finally collapsed on top of her.

Neither of them said anything for several moments as they caught their breath.  He was conflicted as he looked at the beautiful woman beneath him. He’d done the one thing he’d promised himself he would never do.  

“So what now?” he said as they put their clothes back on and exchanged shy glances with one another.

“Umm, I think we should finish the photo shoot,” she said, a wry grin on her face.

“Oh, right,” Jon said, embarrassed by her response.  Obviously it had just been sex for her.  How stupid of him to think it was anything more than that.

She smiled teasingly.  “Then, I think you should take me out for dinner afterwards.”

Jon smiled as relief washed through him.  “I’d like that.”

They kissed each other tenderly, a promise of more to come, before resuming the photo shoot.

[perfectirishgifts]

Mountain Drive: Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spyder Embodies Exotic Car Fundamentals

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/mountain-drive-lamborghini-huracan-evo-spyder-embodies-exotic-car-fundamentals-2/

Mountain Drive: Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spyder Embodies Exotic Car Fundamentals

Lamborghini Huracán has stood the test of time, proving just as entertaining and surprisingly easy … [] to live with as it did nearly seven years ago.

After seven years, Lamborghini Huracán, especially in Spyder bodywork, still delivers on all the fantasies first-time exotic car buyers often express. The elevator story begins with the dual-clutch 7-speed that shifts so quickly and smoothly it turns the 610-horsepower 10-cylinder engine into a musical instrument, revs shrieking on the way up to 8000 rpm, then burbling and crackling off-throttle. Any car that hits 60 mph in 3.5 seconds or less will leave the uninitiated gasping for breath, and Huracán Spyder in rear-wheel drive configuration can perform that trick over and over—anytime, anywhere.

Brilliant orange (Arancio Borealis) is a pricy option, but worth it if one intends to keep the car … [] long-term. Psychedelic.From A-pillar to the rear deck, the doortop has a sweep just like the signature breast pocket of a Cesare Attolini sport coat from Naples.

Filippo Perini’s chiseled little bull has stood the test of time, the original design benefiting from Lamborghini design director Mitja Borkert’s EVO updates. Huracán is about a foot longer than a stubby VW GTI, stands considerably lower and seems diminutive in the flesh. A very tidy little package.

Lamborghini has added a touchscreen to the center console with the EVO model. Layers of menus. But … [] Design chief Mitja Borkert integrated it so well you’d assume it’s been there since 2014.

Just like big brother Aventador, Huracán’s interior could serve as cockpit of a short-range fighter in the soon to be established Italian Space Force: deep dashtop under a radically swept windshield, simple aerospace-inspired switchgear, splashes of brightly colored and downright kinky leather, and that starter button under the bright red flip-up cover. In EVO form, the slim shell bucket seats allow just enough room for taller people, though people over six foot two will be viewing the world through the upper third of the windscreen. Huracán best suits people of median height.

Slender shell seats help taller people fit. Huracán is not the roomiest supercar around, not the … [] most accommodating of tall folks. When spec’ing interior, explore seating options carefully if you’re much over six foot.

Passengers ride in the carbon-fiber central tub. Alloy spars front and rear extend to carry suspension and powertrain. Toss in monstrous disc brakes, psychedelic paint colors, and of course that magical name with all those vowels and Huracán scratches the exotic car itch just as well as it did in 2014. Missing are Lamborghini scissor doors, but those would take away from Huracán’s practicality, and diminish the aspirational nature of the V12 Aventador. If you want the scissor doors, you pay for the V12.

Huracán performs like a 4-wheeled superbike, able to exploit moments in time, blitzing away from … [] stoplights, leaving lines of cars in its wake, or transforming an onramp into a drag strip for four or five seconds.

Just as I noted years ago after driving a Huracán for the first time, assembly quality is impeccable. Inspect how body panels are joined, the clinically clean installation of door and hood hinges, tight, accurate stitching and panel gaps throughout the interior and the total lack of any squeaks or rattles even on press cars that have been hammered by people with a wide range of driving skill and sometimes dubious measures of respect for beautiful artifacts loaned to them. Huracán is a tough little beast.

Low profile view shows the extremely fast windshield, steeply raked. The buttresses at the rear make … [] wonderful “streamers” off the backs of the headrests. Minimal rear overhang. The retractable top is as good as any. It’s a simple, short stretch of canvas. Up it makes the car feel like your childhood pup tent, a cozy secret hiding place.

Knock-on effect of proper German-grade assembly is Huracán’s long-proven reliability, the car completely sussed, completely sorted out. Huracán demands little sacrifice and generates virtually no angst in return for so much pleasure. Powertrain and related stability control fundamentals are so robust that aftermarket tuners bolt on pressure-charging systems and dial up significant jumps in absolute horsepower, yet engine and gearbox hold together. As engineers love to say, it’s robust.

Strada is relatively plush, perfect around town. Sport livens up performance, sharpens shift points … [] and engine sounds much livelier. Control is at bottom spoke of steering wheel.

No matter the 610 horsepower and 8000 rpm redline, Huracán can be docile and easy to manage, and downright comfortable in the “Strada” calibration setting when covering unavoidably dull highway miles in mixed traffic.

Front-end lift can be pressed without taking eyes from the road, index finger on the second … [] rectangular box switch from the left. The same can be done to cancel start-stop (second from right) and to engage all the parking sensors and cameras (third from right).

To prove the point, Huracán served two mornings with runs to the dry cleaner, bank, post office with loads of Christmas cards, a milk-and-croissant expedition to our nearby luxe bodega, all achieved without the least hassle in parking structures, on narrow streets, or reversing onto a heavily traveled boulevard. My God, it’s a real car, a fact that never fails to impress an old timer like me, who remembers just how finicky supercars of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s could be. As a young editor I dreamed of everyday supercars, and now they truly exist. Pick up dry cleaning in a Lamborghini and one becomes a highly prized return customer. Yet in the middle of all that I found opportunity to press calibration into “Sport” and blow out the cobwebs.

Thanks to a full array of cameras and sensors, Huracán should never bump into solid objects in a … [] parking garage.

Sensors and cameras from the VW Group’s luxury brand parts bin help when negotiating tight spots. These are systems with millions of real-world miles to their credit. Huracán’s front-end lift is both generous with height and remains deployed till speeds climb beyond those of quirky narrow two-lanes or when given the command to drop. Its control switch at the top of the center stack can be pressed without taking eyes from the road, index finger on the second rectangular box switch from the left, making short work of a too-deep rain gutter where highway offramp meets boulevard.

Test car did not have the aero deflector winglets installed that can be added near the rear … [] buttresses. They prevent back-spill of cold air onto the shoulders and neck. On the other hand, I found the back-spill refreshing on a top-down run down the mountain after sunset.

The same can be done to cancel start-stop (second from right) and to engage all the parking sensors and cameras (third from right). Huracán’s turning circle is surprisingly tight, though the rear-drive models do not have or need the rear-steer system. Huracán thrives in urban settings and quirky beach neighborhoods with oddball parking arrangements, something that more radical exotics, like track specials, cannot do. From Santa Barbara to Malibu and Naples Island, to Mission Bay, Huracán will do the job.

Wheel design echoes the signature Y shape that repeats throughout the car, from the headlights back. … [] They are 19 inches tall, so not too huge, and the suspension can ably and easily keep the big wheel/tire package under control, so ride quality is very high. 8-piston calipers up front. 14,37-in. discs up front. And 14.0-in at the rear with a 4-piston caliper.

Most important for an exotic car, Huracán performs on demand with jolts of acceleration from standstill or highway roll-on. Huracán performs like a 4-wheeled superbike, able to exploit moments in time, blitzing away from stoplights, leaving lines of cars in its wake, or transforming an onramp into a drag strip for four or five seconds. Isn’t that always satisfying? And Huracán makes it simple, bringing this type of performance to a much wider audience than such car had in past decades.

Huracán has 610 horsepower at a heady 8000 rpm, and 413 lb. ft. of torque at 6500. The engine is … [] totally alive in the middle Sport setting, revs freely and rapidly, and truly shrieks from about 5000 rpm up. If you’re on the hunt, keep the revs above 5000 and enjoy the opera.

The big V10 may be a mix of German and Italian engineering, but as calibrated, as the exhaust note is tuned, Huracán’s V10 is fluently Italian. The shriek from 6000 to 8000 is straight out of a video game, yet the experience is real, adding excitement in what might otherwise be a less interesting day. I confess my preference is for the 4-wheel drive Huracán because it is a few tenths quicker in stoplight drag racing, and I hope to drive the new track special STO next spring, but the rear-drive Spyder I drove adds dimension, lighting up the tires for a moment, slipping and sliding. Sure, you give up a few tenths of a second, but you gain that thrilling old sensation we forget as mature adults, of the heart seeming to rise in our chests. How much is that worth? It’s addictive.

Lamborghini can pluck systems from the VW Group’s luxury divisions. They use the best NVIDIA chip … [] for graphics, adding to the sense of excitement and special nature of the car. And the steering column has an incredible range of adjustment, which helps significantly.

Huracán’s life cycle has reached that perfect stage for the buyer who intends to keep a reward car long-term, not the guy who wants the latest to show off. Huracán Spyder will bring years of pleasure with about as little headache as one can expect with an exotic car. After seven years, it still looks stunning and will look just as good in another 10 or 20 years. When I meet folks who want a first exotic, a first supercar, I always put Huracán on the shopping list.

More from Cars & Bikes in Perfectirishgifts

[h-styles-babes]

No Control | Chapter Twenty-Two

Summary: 

Micky Bennett: college student, loyal friend, aspiring nurse, One Direction fan, Harry Styles enthusiast. Her best friend, Trevor, wins tickets to a show in New Jersey with meet and greet passes. Micky expects a quick photo op with the boys and a great night at the concert with her best friend. What she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for.

*This chapter marks the beginning of Part Two of the No Control series.*

To read previous chapters, you can go here.

*Please feel free to reblog and send feedback. It’s much appreciated :)*

TWENTY-TWO

February 2016

The air is crisp as it blows through the open windows of the flat. Los Angeles is already warm in the spring time, but the mornings are still a bit chilly from the temperature drop overnight. The sun is beaming in as well, making the space cozy and absolutely perfect for my one day off this weekend. 

Trevor and I are sat side by side on the sofa, mindlessly watching episodes of Botched, a favourite of ours that runs marathons before new episodes every Sunday. Trev and I only ever have Sundays off together, so this is usually what we do all day, with the occasional pop down to the center of the city to do some sightseeing or messing about. We’ve only been in California for a little less than three months, having moved at the end of December when I finished my final semester at NYU. Trev made the decision to transfer after I got the job offer at the children’s hospital and started up at USC in the spring. 

“I’m hungry,” he announced one an advert starts. I look over at him, where he’s slouched in only a pair of trackies and his classes perched on his nose, hair a mess. I’m not much better in my knickers and a t-shirt with the NYU logo on it, and knee high black socks to keep my feet warm on the cool hardwood floors, hair up in a half-arsed bun.

“Then eat some cereal,” I suggest.

“I want a breakfast sandwich, though,” he whines. “From that little donut shop down the street.”

“Then get your arse up and go get one.”

“I got them last Sunday!” he protests. 

I roll my eyes and heave myself off the couch, something the steals my breath these days. “Fine, but you’re paying for them. My paycheck doesn’t deposit until tomorrow,” I remind him.

He nods and beams at me as a thanks for walking the few blocks to the shoppe. “There’s a twenty on my dresser. Thanks, babes!”

I trek into my room and pull on the first things that touch my fingers. Cut off shorts and a black jumper with the words ‘but ur not harry styles’ printed on the front in white—which would have caused me a lot more heartache a few months ago than the short, stabbing twinge I get now—that Trevor got me as a joke for my birthday in October (only days before my life had turned into an actual shit show). I take my hair out of the bun and pull on a maroon Yankees cap to try to tame the mess on my head as best as I can. Trevor’s twenty is right where he said it was, so I snatch it up quickly and pocket it along with my phone before slipping on my Vans at the front door.

“You want the regular?” I ask, nearly falling over standing on one foot.

“Careful,” Trev urges, shooting me a concerned glance. “And yes. If James is there, he’ll know what I want.” We’ve only lived here for a few months, and Trevor’s already got the guys working at this donut place memorising his orders.

“Alright. Anything else? Coffee?”

“Yeah, medium iced, please.”

“Got it. Be back in a mo’,” I announce, grabbing my set of keys off the counter before exiting the flat.

The shoppe is only a four block trip down from our flat, so it’s about a ten minute walk, foot traffic willing. On Sunday mornings, this area doesn’t tend to get too busy, especially before noon. It’s also slightly off the beaten path from the center of the city, straying into the Beverly Hills area, so tourists don’t really come out this way, unless they’re itching to get a look a celebrity.

The sun is a bit hotter than I anticipated, so I roll the sleeves of the jumper up to my elbows and continue on, smiling when I see that James is standing at the counter, chatting with a lady I see in there every so often. Her kids are sat nearby at a table, waiting patiently for their mum to bring back their donuts and chocolate milk.

There’s two people ahead of me in line, so I play around on my phone, taking my turn for a game that I’m playing with Georgie. The time difference makes getting back to each other in a timely manner a bit difficult, but, seeing as it’s already mid afternoon in England, I should get a play back rather quickly.

The bell jingles behind me as I step up in line to order. I don’t bother to look over my shoulder, almost certain it was the little family leaving since I saw them vacate their table only a few moments before.

James smiles at me and greets me like an old friend. At the rate we visit this place, he’ll be round our flat for dinner invitations and game nights in no time. Trev’s got a bit of a crush on him, since he really is a good-looking lad, but I can definitely tell that he isn’t gay. He flirts with me way too much for him to be into Trevor, no matter how many times I’ve made it painfully obvious that I’m in no position to be dating anyone right now.

“Hey, Micky, how’re you doing?” he asks, and a person behind me startles out a cough. I jump a little as I look over the menu, having not thought there was anyone behind me. “You alright, man?” James asks, brow furrowed in concern. The person must answer in the affirmative, because James focuses back on me. 

“I’m good, enjoying my day off. Trev demanded a breakfast sandwich, so here I am,” I shrug, smiling at him.

“The regular, I’m assuming, then?” he asks with a chuckle.

I nod. “Yeah, Trev said you’d know. I want the same.”

“I can do that. Anything else?”

I play with the ring on my middle finger, something I haven’t removed even when all I wanted to do was scream at the person who gave it to me in a fit of anger. I have a feeling I won’t take it off until my fingers swell too much to keep it on comfortably. It means too much to me. It’s about the only reminder I have that that time in my life actually happened and wasn’t just some vivid dream—aside from all his band tees that sit in a drawer of my dresser and the ring on my right thumb.

“Trev wants a medium iced coffee, but that’s it.”

James types in the order on the register, and I see his eyes flicker to where I’m fidgeting on the counter. “That ring is really pretty,” he comments. He tells me the total before continuing. “I’m afraid to ask if they’re real diamonds.” He chuckles a little uncomfortably.

I look down at the ring that’s shaped like a tiara, that same twinge squeezing at my heart. I chuckle a little sadly before nodding. “They are. A friend bought it for me a while ago while we were in London. Harrod’s.”

His eyes widen as he takes my offered money. “Isn’t that, like, a luxury store?”

“Yeah, they sell a lot of designer stuff. Real expensive shit. Nearly have a heart attack every time I read a price tag in there,” I joke.

“No kidding,” he mutters. He counts out my change and hands it to me. “I’ll bring you your food when it’s ready.”

“Thanks, mate,” I say with a nod, moving out of the way for the person behind me. I go to find a seat at a two-person table, not wanting to tae up too much space.

My phone dings with a game notification as soon as I sit, letting me know that Georgie played. I see her move and groan when she racks up another thousand points. I’m absolute shit at this game, and I don’t even know why I put myself through the torture of playing against her. I just end up losing every time.

A throat clears right beside me, and I can sense the presence of someone from the corner of my eyes. “Just a mo’, mate,” I say, since I haven’t finished my go and I’m running out of time. I’ll be damned if I let some stranger mess up my chance of winning against Georgie for once. 

“Just wanted to say I like your jumper.”

My thumbs freeze on the screen as I ear that voice again. A voice that I haven’t heard apart from videos and the radio for far too long. A voice that has my heart re-splitting in my chest and my stomach bursting out in a round of butterflies that feel way too much like nausea for me to be comfortable. I didn’t know what type of hold this man still had on me until this moment, and it is quite an unpleasant, yet totally expected, realization.

He pulls out the chair across from me as I remain speechless. He looks the same as he did when I last saw him face to face, back in August. Except he looks well rested, which is the opposite of how my last several months have been—and how my foreseeable future will be. He has his hair up in a bun today with a beanie over it, hiding his hair. His eyes are darting over my face, and I feel my throat constricting at the overwhelming emotion of being in his presence again after the complete radio silence over the last several months. I’m also praying to whatever god will hear me that he keeps his eyes on my face.

My phone dings, letting me know I’ve run out of time for my turn, and I’m not looking forward to telling Georgie why I wasn’t able to play this round. She’s going to shit a brick and then probably fly out to LA in the middle of her term just to rant and possibly hunt him down to kick his ass.

I feel my lips twitch to keep in the frown wanting to form on my face, my eyes filling with tears. I don’t know what to say to him or if I’ll even be able to form coherent words. All I can do is stare in the face of the man that broke my heart so quickly and easily, like it meant nothing to him. 

His face is just beginning to blur as the tears threaten to fall when James comes over with my back of food and the cup of iced coffee. I thank him quietly as I pocket my phone and grab my items, getting up so quickly from the chair that the legs screech against the linoleum floor. I push past James, a little upset that I’ve acted poorly toward him, but needing to get out of there as soon as possible. The bell clangs violently on the door as I throw it open, halfway to the nearest crosswalk by the time I hear it bang shut.

I’m stabbing at the button to get the light to change when I hear him come up behind me.

“Micky!” he calls. I can hear his shoes quickly approaching on the pavement. I’d make a dash for it across the street, but the flow of traffic is heavy and I don’t feel like actually dying any time soon. It may be a better option right now, than talking to him, but I’m a big girl and can ignore my problems when they’re looking me in the face with the best of them. It’s what I’ve been doing for a while now.

“Mick,” he breathes out. I keep my back to him, hoping if I blatantly ignore him, while hiding the majority of me, for long enough he’ll get the hint. Unfortunately, I know him, and I know he doesn’t give up easily.

Except when it comes to me, of course. So maybe I’ll get lucky.

“Mick,” he tries again. I feel his large hand wrap around my shoulder, and I immediately shrug it off.

“Go away, Harry,” I demand, my voice shaky and less intimidating than I want it to be.

“Mick, I haven’t seen or heard from you in months,” he says, sounding like he’s pleading a bit.

The light changes at the crosswalk. I trudge off the curb and throw a “Yeah, well you made sure of that, didn’t you?” over my shoulder as I do a half-run across the street. I’m way too out of breath by the time I’m only a quarter way there, but I power through it.

I want him to stay back on the other side of the road, but I feel him beside me as I continue on the other side. 

“What are you talking about?”

“Changed your number, didn’t you? Called one day and suddenly the number I was calling was unavailable.”

He groans. “I had to get a new number for security reasons. New phone, too. Lost your number in the midst of it.”

“That’s fine, Harry. I don’t want to talk about it. Actually, I just want to go home, eat my breakfast, and watch mindless reality telly for the rest of the day. So, if you don’t mind….”

We’re only half a block from my flat now, and I’ve never felt less thankful that I live so close to the beloved little donut place. I don’t necessarily want Harry knowing where I live, and I was banking on him giving up a long time ago.

“Mick, I’ve missed you, you have to know that,” He pleads, reaching out for my shoulder again. “I never meant to hurt you. I would never do that.”

“I don’t care anymore, Harry,” I tell him, digging in my pocket for my key to the gate when we come up to my building.

“Then why do you still wear the rings?” he asks pointedly.

I finally turn to face him, glaring and cradling the bag and drink to my chest. He looks a little taken aback at the fury I’m sure he sees in my expression. “Because they’re all I have left of you, Harry. Believe me, I wanted to burn them in a fit of rage, but Trev talked me down more than once.”

“Why were you so angry with me? I don’t understand. You had Paul’s number. And Grimmy’s. You could have gotten to me if you wanted to.”

“You think I didn’t try that?” I ask. “Every time I tried someone new, all I got was, ‘He’s busy. He’ll get back to you when he can,’” I say, imitating Paul’s thick accent. “But guess what? That never fucking happened, Styles.”

His brows furrow, dipping low on his forehead. “What? They never told me you called.”

I shrug. “I’m sure your management had something to do with that. Never liked me after the media got wind of us together. You could have just as easily gotten ahold of me. Grimmy had my number, too, yeah?”

“Mick—“

“I don’t wanna fucking hear it. Go have fun with your super model girlfriend and your trips to exotic islands on fancy yachts. You’re none of my business anymore. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with that lifestyle, anyway. Now, you’re raising my blood pressure, and I have specific orders not to do that.” I mutter the last part under my breath, thankful he seems to be clueless still and not wanting to draw attention to anything amiss.

“You know about Kendall?”

I roll my eyes. “The whole bloody world knows about Kendall Jenner, you dolt. Couldn’t fucking escape it even when I wanted to. It was the shitty topper to my already shitty year.”

“You have to know that didn’t mean anything to me. It was just a short holiday with friends.”

I scoff. “You mean how we were just friends and fucked each other for a week straight? And you mean to tell me those photos of you with your tongue down her throat were faked? Yeah, alright.” I want to laugh at how ridiculous he sounds, but I don’t have it in me to laugh right now.

“My family was there. It wasn’t like that.”

“You have all your flings meet your family, then?”

“Micky, I told you, you w—“

“Weren’t a fling,” I finish with a nod, cutting him off. “Yeah, see, you said that, but look where we are now. Kinda makes it hard to take your word for it. You also said we’d figure something out, and here I am, in February, not having spoken to you since September. I’m kinda over believing what you say.”

He growls in frustration and takes my face in his hands, his hold gentle for all the pent up emotion I see in his eyes. “Micky, knock it off.”

I scowl at him and move to jerk my face away. “Oh, fuck off.” Except my attempt to rear back from him is stopped by his hand sliding to the back of my neck and drawing me closer to him, pressing our fronts together. 

I can see the moment on Harry’s face when he realizes something is out of the ordinary between us, aside from the food I’m still holding. His eyebrows pull together in the center and his mouth drops open. His eyes take on a stormy quality, the light in them dimming slightly as some sort of connections are made in his head. I feel his grip tighten on my neck. I try to scramble back a bit to try to rectify this situation, but I’m pretty much pressed up against the gated entrance of our building.

“Harry…” I begin in a warning. “How ‘bout we take this inside, yeah?”

His eyes narrow, looking nearly as menacing as I’ve ever seen him. “Got something to tell me, Micky?”

I swallow past the lump in my throat noisily. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

His nostrils flare and he takes his hands off of me, taking a step back. “Let’s go. I’ve got some shit to say that doesn’t really need an audience.” He nods his head to the side where a few people are lingering on the other side of the gate, looking at Harry and I curiously. I’ve got nosy neighbors, and he’s right. 

So I nod and turn, finally gripping my keys in my hands and getting them into the lock. Harry, though he’s obviously angry, takes the bag and drink kindly, freeing my hands. I make sure the gate closes behind him and escort him to the stairs that’ll take us to my flat. He’s quiet as he follows behind me, probably seething, but I’m too scared to turn around and check for myself. 

I hear the commentary of the patients on the telly, and Trev pops up into a sitting position when he hears the door open.

“Thought you might’ve got lost,” he teases, eyes still trained on the screen before him. “Took you a while.”

“Uh…” I trail off, dropping my keys in the bowl on the counter. 

Trev finally turns around as the show cuts to the adverts, just as Harry closes the door to the flat. Trevor’s teasing smile drops off his face when he sees the man behind me.

“Oh shit,” he breathes out, eyes trained on Harry as he takes his beanie off and sets the food down on the counter. He throws a nod to Trevor, a slight smile on his face but otherwise still upset. “Oh…shit!” Trev’s eyes widen in realization as they shoot over to me.

I just clear my throat and nod. “Yeah.”

“Uh…” Trevor drags out, eyes darting between me and Harry, who are standing awkwardly by the front door. I can feel the anger radiating in waves off of him, but I know the type of cool exterior he can keep. His face is blank and the only sign of distress is the stiff set of his shoulder. I know Trevor can sense it, though, and he hops up from the couch. “Well, good seeing you, Harry. I’m sure you and Mick wanna talk, so I can either stay here and you can go to her room or I can go to mine and you two can stay out here.”

“I think Micky’s room would be best,” Harry admits. I think the same thing, since I’m sure there’s some yelling to be done that’s best to be done behind closed doors.

“Cool, cool,” Trev nods, grabbing the bag of food and his drink. “I’ll just watch…a war movie or something. Really loud. You two go chat.”

“Thanks, Trev,” I mutter, dragging my feet to my room. I hear Harry trail behind me, his boots clicking against the wood floors. 

“Let me know if you need anything,” he offers.

“Will do.”

“And remember, Styles: You hurt my best friend, I hurt you. I like you, man, but I will not hesitate to kick your ass. I don’t care who you are.” He says it with a smile on his face, but there’s an edge to his gaze that I know is completely serious.

Harry’s eyes flicker with some sort of emotion and his mouth softens at the edges a bit. “Wouldn’t dream of hurting her, mate.”

Trev looks at him for a long moment before nodding his head once resolutely. “Good.”

TWENTY-THREE

[endlessinterior]

The Ideology of Isolation By Rebecca Solnit

If you boil the strange soup of contemporary right-wing ideology down to a sort of bouillon cube, you find the idea that things are not connected to other things, that people are not connected to other people, and that they are all better off unconnected. The core values are individual freedom and individual responsibility: yourself for yourself on your own. Out of this Glorious Disconnect comes all sorts of illogical thinking. Taken to its conclusion, this worldview dictates that even facts are freestanding items that the self-made man can manufacture for use as he sees fit.

This is the modern ideology we still call conservative, though it is really a sort of loopy libertarianism that inverts some of the milder propositions of earlier conservative thinkers. “There is no such thing as society,” Margaret Thatcher said in 1987. The rest of her famous remark is less frequently quoted:

There is [a] living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate.

Throughout that interview with Woman’s Own magazine, Thatcher walked the line between old-school conservatism — we are all connected in a delicate tapestry that too much government meddling might tear — and the newer version: “Too many children and people have been given to understand, ‘I have a problem, it’s the government’s job to cope with it.’ ” At some point in the decades since, the balance tipped definitively from “government aid should not replace social connections” to “to hell with others and their problems.” Or as the cowboy sings to the calf, “It’s your misfortune / And none of my own.”

The cowboy is the American embodiment of this ideology of isolation, though the archetype of the self-reliant individual — like the contemporary right-wing obsession with guns — has its roots less in actual American history than in the imagined history of Cold War–era westerns. The American West was indigenous land given to settlers by the U.S. government and cleared for them by the U.S. Army, crisscrossed by government-subsidized railroads and full of water projects and other enormous cooperative enterprises. All this has very little to do with Shane and the sheriff in High Noon and the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti-western trilogy. But never mind that, because a cowboy silhouetted against a sunset looks so good, whether he’s Ronald Reagan or the Marlboro Man. The loner taketh not, nor does he give; he scorneth the social and relies on himself alone.

Himself. Women, in this mode of thinking, are too interactive, in their tendency to gather and ally rather than fight or flee, and in their fluid boundaries. In fact, what is sometimes regarded as an inconsistency in the contemporary right-wing platform — the desire to regulate women’s reproductive activity in particular and sexuality in general — is only inconsistent if you regard women as people. If you regard women as an undifferentiated part of nature, their bodies are just another place a man has every right to go.

Justice Clarence Thomas’s first public questions after a decade of silence during oral arguments at the Supreme Court came this February, when he took an intense interest in whether barring those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning guns violated their constitutional rights. That there is a constitutional right for individuals to own guns is a gift of Antonin Scalia’s radically revisionist interpretation of the Second Amendment, and it’s propped up on the cowboy ethos in which guns are incredibly useful for defending oneself from bad guys, and one’s right to send out bullets trumps the right of others not to receive them. Pesky facts demonstrate that very few people in this country successfully use guns to defend themselves from bad people — unless you count the nearly two thirds of American gun deaths that are suicides as a sad and peculiar form of self-defense. The ideologues of isolation aren’t interested in those facts, or in the fact that the majority of women murdered by intimate partners in the United States are killed with guns.

But I was talking about cowboys. In West of Everything, Jane Tompkins describes how westerns valued deeds over words, a tight-lipped version of masculinity over communicative femininity, and concludes:

Not speaking demonstrates control not only over feelings but over one’s physical boundaries as well. The male . . . maintains the integrity of the boundary that divides him from the world. (It is fitting that in the Western the ultimate loss of that control takes place when one man puts holes in another man’s body.)

Fear of penetration and the fantasy of impenetrable isolation are central to both homophobia and the xenophobic mania for “sealing the border.” In other words, isolation is good, freedom is disconnection, and good fences, especially on the U.S.–Mexico border, make good neighbors.

Both Mitt Romney and Donald Trump have marketed themselves as self-made men, as lone cowboys out on the prairie of the free market, though both were born rich. Romney, in a clandestinely videotaped talk to his wealthy donors in 2012, disparaged people “who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”

Taxes represent connection: what we each give to the collective good. This particular form of shared interest has been framed as a form of oppression for more than three decades, at least since Ronald Reagan, in his first inaugural address, bemoaned a “tax system which penalizes successful achievement.”

The spread of this right-wing hatred of taxes has been helped along by the pretense that taxes go to loafers and welfare queens who offend the conservative idea of independence, rather than to things conservatives like (notably, a military that dwarfs all others) or systems that everyone needs (notably, roads and bridges).

I ran into this hatred for dependency in an online discussion of the police killing of a homeless man in San Francisco in April. More than a hundred messages into a fairly civil discourse started by a witness to the shooting, a commenter erupted,

I’m sick of people like you that think homeless people who can’t take care of themselves and their families have left them for us taxpaying citizens to care for think they have freedom. Once you can’t take care of or support yourself, and expect others to carry your burden, you have lost freedom. Wake up.

The same commenter later elaborated, “Have you ever owed money? Freedom lost. You owe someone. It’s called personal responsibility.”

Everyone on that neighborhood forum, including the writer, likely owed rent to a landlord or mortgage payments to a bank, making them more indebted than the homeless in their tents. If you’re housed in any American city, you also benefit from a host of services, such as water and sanitation and the organizations overseeing them, as well as from traffic lights and transit rules and building codes — the kind of stuff taxes pay for. But if you forget what you derive from the collective, you can imagine that you owe it nothing and can go it alone.

All this would have made that commenter’s tirade incoherent, if its points weren’t so familiar. This is the rhetoric of modern conservatives: freedom is a luxury that wealth affords you; wealth comes from work; those who don’t work, never mind the cause, are undeserving. If freedom and independence are the ideal, dependence is not merely disdained; it’s furiously loathed. In her novelistic paean to free enterprise Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand called dependents parasites and looters. “We don’t want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency,” said one of Rand’s admirers, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the man lately charged with saving the soul of conservatism from Trumpist apostasy.

The modern right may wish that every man were an island, entire of himself, but no one is wholly independent. You can’t survive without taking air into your lungs, you didn’t give birth to or raise yourself, you won’t bury yourself, and in between you won’t produce most of the goods and services you depend on to live. Your gut is full of microorganisms, without which you could not digest all the plants and animals, likely grown by other people, on which you rely to survive. We are nodes on intricate systems, synapses snapping on a great collective brain; we are in it together, for better or worse.

There is, of course, such a thing as society, and you’re inside it. Beyond that, beneath it and above and around and within it and us, there is such a thing as ecology, the systems within which our social systems exist, and with which it often clashes.

Ecological thinking articulates the interdependence and interconnectedness of all things. This can be a beautiful dream of symbiosis when you’re talking about how, say, a particular species of yucca depends on a particular moth to pollinate it, and how the larvae of that moth depend on the seeds of that yucca for their first meals. Or it can be a nightmare when it comes to how toxic polychlorinated biphenyls found their way to the Arctic, where they concentrated in human breast milk and in top-of-the-food-chain carnivores such as polar bears. John Muir, wandering in the Yosemite in 1869, put it this way: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”

This traditional worldview — for a long time, it was called conservative, and stood in contrast to liberal individualism — could be seen as mystical or spiritual, but the accuracy of its description of natural systems within what we now call the biosphere is borne out by modern science. If you kill off the wolves in Yellowstone, elk populations will explode and many other plant and animal species will suffer; if you spray DDT on crops, then the stuff does the job you intended of killing off pests, but it will also, as Rachel Carson told us in 1962, kill the birds who would otherwise keep many insects and rodents in check.

All this causes great trouble for the ideology of isolation. It interferes with the right to maximum individual freedom, a freedom not to be bothered by others’ needs. Which is why modern conservatives so insistently deny the realities of ecological interconnectedness, refusing to recognize that when you add something to or remove an element from an environment, you alter the whole in ways that may come back to bite you. The usual argument in defense of this pesticide or that oil platform is that impact does not spread, that the item in question does not become part of a far-reaching system, and sometimes — often, nowadays — that that far-reaching system does not itself exist.

No problem more clearly demonstrates the folly of individualist thinking — or more clearly calls for a systematic response — than climate change. The ideologues of isolation are doubly challenged by this fact. They reject the proposed solutions to climate change, because they bristle at the need for limits on production and consumption, for regulation, for cooperation between industry and government, and for international partnership. In 2011, Naomi Klein attended a meeting at the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank, and produced a landmark essay about why conservatives are so furiously opposed to doing anything about climate change. She quotes a man from the Competitive Enterprise Institute who declared, “No free society would do to itself what this agenda requires. . . . The first step to that is to remove these nagging freedoms that keep getting in the way.” “Most of all, however,” she reported, “I will hear versions of the opinion expressed by the county commissioner in the fourth row: that climate change is a Trojan horse designed to abolish capitalism and replace it with some kind of eco-socialism.”

On a more fundamental level, the very idea of climate change is offensive to isolationists, because it tells us more powerfully and urgently than anything ever has that everything is connected, that nothing exists in isolation. What comes out of your tailpipe or your smokestack or your leaky fracking site contributes to the changing mix of the atmosphere, where carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases cause the earth to retain more of the heat that comes from the sun, which doesn’t just result in what we used to call global warming, but will lead to climate chaos.

As the fact of climate change has become more and more difficult to deny, the ideologues of isolation deny instead our responsibility for the problem and the possibility that we are capable of acting collectively to do anything about it. “Climate change occurs no matter what,” Paul Ryan said a few years ago. “The question is, can and should the federal government do something about it? And I would argue the federal government, with all its tax and regulatory schemes, can’t.” Of course it can, but he prefers that it not do so, which is why he denies human impact as a cause and human solutions as a treatment.

What keeps the ideology of isolation going is going to extremes. If you begin by denying social and ecological systems, then you end in denying the reality of facts, which are after all part of a network of systematic relationships between language, physical reality, and the record, regulated by the rules of evidence, truth, grammar, word meaning, and so forth. You deny the relationship between cause and effect, evidence and conclusion, or rather you imagine both as products on the free market, which one can produce and consume according to one’s preferences. You deregulate meaning.

Absolute freedom means you can have any truth that you like, and isolation’s ideologues like truths that keep free-market fundamentalism going. You can be like that unnamed senior adviser (probably Karl Rove), who in a mad moment of Bush-era triumphalism told Ron Suskind, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.” Reality, in this worldview, is a product subject to market rules or military rules, and if you are dominant in the marketplace or rule the empire, your reality can push aside the other options. “Freedom” is just another word for nothing left to limit your options. And this is how the ideology of isolation becomes nihilism, trying to kill the planet and most living things on it with the confidence born of total disconnection.

[woodleyagnatanjahj70insuran-blog]

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Scott Pruitt Resigns From The EPA Amid Ethics Scandals

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s controversial tenancy endedamid a five-month whirlwind of ethics gossips and at least 18 federal investigations. President Donald Trump announced Pruitt’s resignation in a series of tweets late Thursday afternoon, praising the administrator and Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s No. 2, who will now serve as acting executive. “It is extremely difficult for me to cease sufficing you in this persona first because I count it a ordaining to be serving you in any capability, but too, because of the transformative labor that is occurring, ” Pruitt said in his abdication symbol, according to Fox News. “However the unrelenting onrushes on me privately, my family, are unprecedented and have made a sizable toll on all of us.” Speaking to reporters on Air force One eventually Thursday, Trump said he and the embattled EPA chief had been discussing a probable resignation “for a little while, ” but that the ultimate decision was absolutely Pruitt’s. “I conceive Scott felt that he was a distraction, ” the president enunciated, according to a kitty report. “He’ll go on to great things and he’s going to have a wonderful life, I hope. But he felt that he did not want to be a distraction for an administration that he has a lot of sect in.” During his nearly 17 months in part, Pruitt, 50, was asked to dramatically remake the EPA, contracting its own budget, excreting landmark the rules and politicizing scientific research, giving industry an outsized persona in shaping the federal powers by which it plays. He dallied a determined its participation in convincing President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from the Paris atmosphere accord. The abrupt exit of the nation’s 14 th and second-shortest-serving EPA executive abridges the grandiose ascending of a job legislator. Pruitt, who stirred his specify on “the member states national” stage by frequently litigating to barrier EPA regulations as Oklahoma’s us attorney general, flirted with growing Trump’s next united states attorney general and was said to be considering a run for Senate or superintendent in the Sooner State. Collaborators alleged Pruitt plotted a extend for the conference of presidents as early as 2024. Aaron Bernstein/ Reuters Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt meets the long directory of Trump administration divergences. But Pruitt fronted intense pressure to resign over accusations of corruption and taxpayer litter after an torrent of scandals. It started in March when a report rose detailing his $50 -a-night sweetheart deal to hire a room in a indulgence Capitol hill townhouse linked to a gas industry lobbying conglomerate, Williams& Jensen. The EPA’s moralities lawyers rushed to retroactively greenlight the arrangement, but struggled to defend the administrator after story separated that his adult daughter expended the residency. Deepening the impression of a conflict of interest, Williams& Jensen’s purchasers won approval from the EPA during the time Pruitt lived at the condominium, paying well below grocery rate. Even onetime New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie( R ), whose so-called Bridgegate dissension captivated national courtesy and outwitted his presidential dreams, observed on April 1 that Pruitt’s scandal seemed too clear-cut to explain away. “I don’t know how you survive this one, and if he has to go, it’s because he never should have been there in the first place, ” Christie said on ABC News. In early April, three Republican House members joined the chorus announcing for Pruitt’s resignation. The director constantly demonstrated his support for Pruitt, telling the head to “keep his head up” and “keep fighting” and praising Pruitt in June amid ongoing disapproval from others. “EPA is doing really, really well, ” Trump read at an phenomenon with his Cabinet. “And you are familiar, person has to say that about you a little bit.” Kevin Lamarque/ Reuters President Donald Trump listens to Scott Pruitt in the White House Rose Garden after announcing his decision to leave the Paris agreement in June 2017. Pressure intensified on Pruitt after it was reported he tried to abuse his vehicle’s emergency sirens to cut through traffic, and that the administrator reassigned, demoted or obliged out five EPA officials who challenged his “unusually large-scale expend.” On April 6, Trump bucked campaigns by his chief of staff, John Kelly, to volley Pruitt, according to the Wall Street Journal . The chairwoman tweeted his support for the head, saying he was “under siege” from the “Fake News Media.” One onetime EPA official compared Trump’s steadfast is supportive of Pruitt to his refusal to withdraw his blurb for onetime Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore( R ), even as accusations attached that Moore had sexually beset and aggression teen daughters when he was in his 30 s. For weeks, it seemed Pruitt would weather the firestorm. But in mid-April fresh items from a federal investigation surfaced, brand-new provides information on past shady dealings came out and adversity attached from inquests being conducted by the EPA’s internal guardian, the top federal moralities protector and the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The White House started telling Republican to hold off on representing Pruitt, according to a Bloomberg report. On April 23, three of Pruitt’s staunchest allies, including Sen. James Inhofe( R-Okla .), said they subscribed deeming hearings on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to analyse Pruitt’s activities. By early May, senior White House officials were encouraging Trump to fire Pruitt, The New York Times reported. One aide told the publication that the EPA chief’s agitates were “a bottomless pit.” The cascading series of discussions at the EPA followed months of disapproval over Pruitt’s first-class travel adaptations. He regularly spent $2,000 to $2,600 on first-class flights to Oklahoma, and often booked $1,400 to $4,000 flights to Boston, New York and Corpus Christi, Texas, according to The Washington Post. He routinely stayed in luxury hotels. His international travel outlays rose into the six fleshes. In June, a trip to an environmental summit in Italy cost over $120,000 , while a December trip to Morocco to promote liquefied natural gas — a outlandish persons responsible for the nation’s environmental regulator to take on — reportedly cost virtually $40,000. In Italy, Pruitt dined with Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell, a climate change denier who’s since been charged with child fornication abuse, according to documents dug by The New York Times. And The Daily Beast revealed that during the course of its summary jaunt to Rome, Pruitt devoted far more epoch at private dinners and safaruss than cultivating. The criticism extended when The Washington Post reported the EPA had considered leasing a private aircraft for Pruitt. That scheme, which the agency eventually did not prosecute, to have been able to have expenditure about $100,000 a few months, according to one estimate. Tom Williams/ CQ Roll Call via Getty Images Protesters hamper ratifies as Pruitt vouches during a Senate hearing on the proposed coming fiscal year 2019 plan for the EPA in May 2018. Pruitt also faced hot after it was reported he exploited a opening in the Safe Drinking Water Act to give two political nominees grows after the White House rebuffed any such requests. In a heated Fox News interview on April 4, Pruitt affirmed knowing about the heightens. But an internal email publicized afterward in the month has been demonstrated that he personally signed off on the decision. Pruitt’s scandals came more comical as age went on. In 1 week it was reported “hes having” dictated an aide-de-camp to set up a announcement with the president of Chick-fil-A to discuss the possibility of his wife becoming a franchisee of the growing fast-food chain, and too that he paid $3,230 in taxpayer fund for personalized journals and pencils, priced at $130 each. It was also revealed Pruitt had asked his aide Millan Hupp to try to buy “an age-old mattress” from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, something she pronounced wasn’t for EPA business, to her knowledge. By June, mortifying brand-new discoveries surfaced almost daily from freshly public congressional testimony and a trove of his aide’s emails released under a Freedom of Information Act request. Just this week, accusations surfaced that Pruitt involved aides find his wife a activity with a $200,000 salary, and that he hindered “secret” calendars, inducing fresh calls Thursday morning for a federal investigation into whether he contravened the Federal Records Act. The squabble deteriorated later on Thursday, with a New York Times report detailing how the EPA shot an aide who interviewed Pruitt’s deletion of confidential engagement items. Pruitt is arguably the highest-profile Trump administration official to depart amid a firestorm over ethics. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned in September after spend over$ 1 million on private flights. Brenda Fitzgerald, lead of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, stepped down after buying shares of a tobacco fellowship, a perceived wager against her own direct as a top public health official. But, despite legal challenges halting more than one-third of his regulatory rollbacks, Pruitt gave Trump’s respect as an efficient advocate of his deregulatory plan, upending work at his agency to duel climate change and furiously rubbing former President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy. Environmental radicals may have little time to celebrate Pruitt’s ouster. Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s No. 2 and a likely contender to became the head, is a climate change-denying onetime coal publicist. His four years working at the EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics under presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton gave him a stature as an actor capable of engaging Trump’s agenda without hitting the law nooses that slowed down some of Pruitt’s decisions in field. He is expected to become the acting executive as of Monday. “I am both humbled and honoured to take over this new responsibility, ” Wheeler wrote in an email to EPA staffers, which HuffPost obtained. “I look forward to working alongside all of you to continue our collective destination of protecting public health and the environment on behalf of the members of the American people.” Trump aides reportedly embarked pushing for Pruitt’s ouster after the Senate corroborated Wheeler in April. Another potential collect to oust Pruitt is William Wehrum, the potent assistant administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, who spurns environment scientific and fought to undermine clean breeze rules and weaken mercury criteria as a lawyer for the fossil fuel industry. Chris D’Angelo contributed to this report. RELATED COVERAGE Top Scott Pruitt Aides Resign From EPA Scott Pruitt Facing Thriving Persuade To Abdicate From EPA Trump’s Climate-Denying Coal Lobbyist Nominee Inches Closer To EPA’s No. 2 Job At Least 23 Ethical Issues Are Dogging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Download http://dailybuzznetwork.com/index.php/2018/07/09/scott-pruitt-resigns-from-the-epa-amid-ethics-scandals/

[topicprinter]

Hi /r/Entrepreneur, it's Pat from Starter Story again, where I do interviews with successful e-commerce entrepreneurs.Here is my interview with David Lombardo, the founder of ATC Memes/RadarContact.com, a meme website and e-commerce store. David is also a redditor, I found him on here!TLDR:He found a super specific niche, and capitalized on it.Built up an FB page to 181k followers, Instagram to 63k followers.He quit his job as an air traffic controller to focus on the business.Built an audience first, then built a business around it.David is grossing $34k/month and recently quit his job to go full-time on the business.BackgroundHi, my name is David Lombardo and I am one of the founding members of a website called ATC Memes.ATC Memes originally started as a social media site that was geared towards air traffic controllers sharing stories and joke images known as ‘memes’.Over the years, the concept evolved into an online store called RadarContact.com, where we sell many unique and niche types of merchandise catering to those who are involved with or have an interest in the aviation industry.My backstoryEver since I was a kid, I have been interested in aviation. For most of my youth, I was obsessed with video games; specifically simulation games. I was borderline addicted to Microsoft’s Flight Simulator and the online WWII dogfighting game Fighter Ace. It was these two games that really got me into flying. I thought I wanted to be a pilot, and it was all I dreamed about.I decided to attend Purdue University, which was a great mix of all of my interests. I majored in aviation management, but I still had a social life and was involved with music. I had a band, and I also ran a music venue with the same band simply called ‘The Venue’. My classes on the other hand, were aviation based. It was as great balance.After graduating, I returned home and taught music for a few years. I had many students on both guitar and drums. I had eventually applied to become an air traffic controller, however. To make an extremely long story short, I was finally hired by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2014, attended the training academy in Oklahoma City, and was assigned to the New York Center, which is located on Long Island, New York.One night after coming home from an evening shift at my new air traffic control job, I sat down on my computer and sent a message to an old friend who had started a page for air traffic controllers to share funny and silly images known as ‘memes’. At the time, the page was pretty small but doing well for what it was.“Hey man, long time no talk. Do you mind if I add some content? I can help you moderate it?”“Sure.”How I accidentally made my first meme.One night, when helping someone mix a song on Cubase, a digital audio workstation program (remotely via the internet), I had a website called ‘LiveATC’ open in the background. I was actually monitoring the frequencies for a sector I was to be trained on in the coming months and trying to memorize as much chatter as I could for frequencies and restrictions pilots received. However, when I played back the song I was mixing, I realized that I had inadvertently recorded the LiveATC transmissions. I played it back and put it through a whole effects rack worth of stuff, and the result was that the audio of the pilot's chatter sounded totally weird, almost ‘fake’.Suddenly, a huge idea hit me with a spark of inspiration I had not felt since the days of flying that plane over Saratoga Lake; I would create my own ATC transmissions. And these wouldn’t be normal ATC, they would be intentionally hilarious. I envisioned scenarios that air traffic controllers could relate to, and make them ridiculous.In the weeks to come I wrote a few basic comedy scripts during breaks at work based on events I had experienced and in the evening recorded it using a few microphones I had around my apartment. In using my recording techniques I had learned in the years prior, I was quickly able to re-create very realistic sounding recordings.I made these assuming that people would know they were fake. In uploading some of the recordings to Facebook and YouTube, however, it became increasingly apparent that some people (even those who were aviation professionals) had no idea if they were in fact real or not. People began to share them, tag their friends, and comment on them. In one week, the ATC Memes page went from 8,000 fans to over 40,000. People also began to submit more and more of their own creations and memes. People were also sharing the memes, which also helped create buzz and a more social effect for our page. We were viral.Building our social media meme accounts and starting to sell products.After a few months of establishing ourselves on multiple platforms (including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, a blog, and others), my partners and I decided to try to monetize the page. At this point, we had over 140,000 followers and a very loyal following at that.We designed and sold some t-shirts, and then some stickers, but nothing was significant. It was beer money. However, like the realization with the audio I had months before, on one evening in Winter 2016, another idea came to us, women’s apparel.For many years aviation apparel had been pretty popular like shirts with aircraft references and airplanes on them, but it was all mostly for men. Women were (and still are) a minority in the aviation world. I am not entirely sure where the idea came from but one day I realized I had a huge PNG image file of the New York airspace on my desktop and I decided to upload it and see what it would look like on women’s leggings, of all things.Within hours we had sold over $2,000 worth of these leggings. Suddenly I realized we had a lot of work to do, and this was only selling the products with the New York airspace. We wanted customers to have the option of every inch of airspace in the world. We also began offering custom products.Sales are still going strong, and we have also added a variety of different products. We offer lanyards, hats, bags, phone cases, skirts, ties, shoes, dresses, and even blankets! In late 2017, we changed the name of our store to Radar Contact, a phrase that better reflected all of aviation and not just ATC.Product validation, and expansion to new products.To be honest, the product came together itself because the idea of having authentic airspace printed on clothing was a very specific and strange niche.The market research required was already encapsulated within our own fan base. That is to say, we just had to post a few mock images, and gauge the reaction from our already loyal fans.This is perhaps one of the single biggest advantages in the modern world of social media. There is little risk of doing some basic market teasing and testing if you’ve already won over the attention of the audience through other means, memes in our case.If we had tried to do it the other direction (that is, sell something before building the rapport of an entertainment page), I don’t think it would have worked; or at the very least, it wouldn’t have been as successful. People want to establish a relationship with your brand and in 2018, sometimes this means they want to get to know the people behind the page. Entertainment (specifically humor) on social media offers a sort of social bond that blatant, old-school marketing cannot achieve. It was the glue that established the framework for the entire business itself.We have since expanded not only the types of products that we offer but the designs of the products as well. We sell many types of apparel not related to the airspace map line of products, but they continue to be what we are known for. As for manufacturing, everything is done via on-demand printing through an online platform, and our suppliers all painstakingly worked with us to ensure that the quality was impeccable. We rejected some mock-up designs because they weren’t what we envisioned. We wanted everything to be readable, down to every little number and letter on the map.How we attract new customers.We have experimented with many marketing techniques and avenues, but the most effective method by far is good old viral social media.To this day we all continually work to try to have great comedy content to ensure authentic traffic to the site. We also keep our fans involved by sharing submitted images of them wearing our clothes and sporting our stickers, lanyards, ties, etc. This builds an absolutely huge community and sense of camaraderie between users.I have also found an incredibly positive response from live video. In the past year or so this has become a vital asset for many online marketers with now nearly all platforms offering some form of live video feed for pages. I usually “go live” to talk about recent aviation news, recent memes/videos we’ve made, and of course our new products.The results are mind-blowing. Sometimes we will make over 100 sales in a 15-minute live video broadcast. One time one of the partners went live on a flight and a fan was sitting a few rows behind him on the same aircraft! There are countless awesome tips and tricks for creating the best live broadcast possible that you can find by just doing a Google search. However, the secret to a good live broadcast is energetic and consistent interaction with the fans. Period. People want to be heard and live platforms allow you to listen to a virtually limitless number of people all at once. That’s a marketing superpower.With respect to a more traditional advertising route, Facebook Ads has proven to be valuable in the information it provides, especially with the Pixel algorithms which have helped us realize what types of ads work and which do not.Google Analytics has also been absolutely essential to understanding the impact of our marketing and the overall aggregate behaviors of our users, sometimes in real time. It's also fascinating to see A/B comparisons. For example, we have found that things as trivial as the color of a button can have a substantial impact on the conversion percentage.A lot of it comes down to just experimentation. But before experimenting, it's import to build a customer base first. It’s better to build a base of loyal fans that you can experiment with to see what works as opposed to experimenting without any real dedicated influence. Follow the rules first, start small, and then have fun.Finally, never discredit email. Our email list, gathered from our conversions, is one of the most responsive part of our business structure. It’s a good idea to immediately begin to build an email list. It’s authentic traffic that is “your control”, as an air traffic controller might say!Would I do anything differently if I could go back?It sounds incredibly cliché, but I wouldn’t really have done anything differently, not in this business and not in life.One thing I wish I knew ahead of time was the challenge of handling sizing issues of the clothing. Sizing, especially in the world of women’s apparel and online apparel, can be notoriously tricky. We offer exchanges on all of our sizes and our returns are under 1-2%. Still, it becomes a logistical nightmare if 30 people all of a sudden want another shipment. These are things we never thought about. So I would recommend having an accurate sizing chart and that you confirm is “true to fit” by inquiring with your customers.Finally, get used to criticism; it’s going to happen. It’s easy to be subjected to criticism because people hide behind a computer. It’s a rush to get thousands of positive reviews but it’s equally a rush (albeit a negative one) to get a one-star roaster that calls you and your business worthless. But don’t always respond to it.You have to choose your battles wisely and being in small business is all about which battles to fight. Whether you’re directing a battlefield or designing stickers, the idea is pretty much always the same; minimize your moves and use your energy to achieve goals and values.Do not jump at your rivals, especially in the beginning stages of a business. It’s best to lay as low as possible. Don’t intentionally rock the boat for a cheap thrill when the energy should be used to propel you and your business closer to your goals. Finally, it’s important to remember that the harshest critics can be total jerks, but some can offer some decent advice if you see past their cynicism. Conserve your energy for the stuff that matters. Also, for the love of god, conserve your money. Fighting battles can be really, really expensive.Lessons learned.I have learned that you can always sell more product. It’s increasingly difficult to maintain people’s attention; especially in a world full of ever-increasing distractions. We had the attention of our fans though and that was entirely due to our memes and community. All of us were involved in aviation so we also had the knowledge of the industry.Having said all of this, I have learned through many experiments that just because you have a lot of attention doesn’t necessarily mean your fans are all going to want to share your products to their social circle. The most difficult part of this process was promoting products and still trying to maintain our status as an entertainment page. However, by marketing to our current followers and integrating the products into references and jokes already established, many people caught on quick. Our fans were enthusiastic, and nearly all of them were already aviation professionals and/or enthusiasts, so this meant that news of the merchandise did in fact spread like wildfire.Sometimes, if a web community pushes conversions too hard, the reaction can be less than favorable (“you sellouts!”), but I have found that if you are tasteful and careful, the results are actually the contrary. Most people, so long as you are making relevant products and offers, are genuinely pretty curious. They want to know more.I would say the most important thing is to start small and conquer a small niche before expanding; set realistic goals. Also, and perhaps most profound in my realization, is that there is really no such thing as a wasted talent if you put it to use, however humble. ATC Memes would not have been the same if I had not gone into air traffic control, and it certainly wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t spent the time as a 16-year-old kid messing around with electric guitar sounds. The audio was a fundamental part as to why this page became as successful as it did.Customer service is also absolutely imperative. If you sell a lot of product, I have learned that you’re going to be dealing with a lot of issues. There is no way around this. However, by planning ahead and being ready to answer questions at a moments notice, you’ll help your brand tremendously. Set up auto-responders to let customers know you’ll get back to them ASAP.; set up contact forms; get a P.O. box to accept returns and snail-mail, etc. We also purchased a phone number which forwards to our cell phones. Customers are almost always surprised when a real live human answers. This in itself has led to countless conversions. Don’t overlook the human interaction! It’s rare in 2018.Also, I try not to obsess about success and trivial matters like gossip and opinion. Our society is way too concerned about achievement, success, failure, and the matter of others. Rather it’s exponentially more important to stay true to your values instead of focusing on blatant achievements to compare yourself to others. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who wakes up and strives to be just a bit better than yesterday is already successful. It has nothing to do with other people and everything to do with yourself. This is as true for life as it is for business, and it cannot be stressed enough. Compete with yourself fiercer than anyone else!Finally, but certainly not least, I am very lucky to have found good partners to run my business with. The guys I work with at ATC Memes are unbelievably creative, passionate, and truly gifted people who are always open to authentic communication and downright real discussion. They’re also funny as hell, and great guys to hang out with.Leaving the FAA, and how the future looks for us.In 2017 I made the tough decision to leave the FAA. Ultimately, I could not see myself doing that job for the rest of my life and knew that if I didn’t want to become handcuffed to it, I had to act now while I still had time to build a new career. I think a lot about the future of social media and how it has had such an undeniable effect on society. I often wonder what the next few years will bring as more businesses harness the power of the platforms and more players get into the game. There is most definitely an art to it, as millions compete to be heard, seen, and understood on a virtual stage.Still, while it’s important to stay relevant, it’s just as important to disconnect now and then to focus on the things in life that really matter. Instead of focusing on “keeping up with Joneses” focus on what makes you and your business unique. You’ll never be as successful living in something else’s shadow as you will be if you dare to be different and cast your own shadow. Spending time nourishing my creative outlets like music and writing comedy is important in keeping our business unique and interesting to our fans.In terms of networking, we will be doing interviews and making appearances at popular aviation events. I also hope to keep expanding the brand to new and exciting locations, including doing more B2B with companies (like airports and flight schools) that will stock some of our products.There is a lot of potential growth and with that comes the promise of new relationships with amazing people, which is perhaps what I enjoy the most.Tools I use.While we’ve experimented with a lot of different tools we have never used any automation tools. Most of the tools we have used are related to business promotions, organization, CRM, audio, and video.The main e-commerce platform for our store is predominantly built on Shopify. We have also used WooCommerce. The software/products I am currently using are:ShopifyMailChimpLinkedInTrelloSalesforceGoogle AnalyticsFacebook BusinessWordPressXMindBasecampSlackAdobe PhotoshopAdobe PremiereCubaseWaves VSTEvernoteBooks I recommend.This is honestly one of the hardest questions of this interview. I have had so many books and people influence me. Two books that have had a recent and significant impact on me are Peter Thiel’s ‘Zero to One’ and ‘Everybody Lies’ by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz; the latter had me actually re-reading certain sections in an effort to get more out of them, something I rarely do. While I find a lot of non-fiction literature to be fluffy, even superfluous at times, nothing within these two books seems to be without value. Every word is helpful.Some works have had an influence on certain parts of my life specifically. For example, the Stephen Dubner ‘Freakonomics Radio’ episode on The Upside of Quitting helped encourage me to quit my job at the FAA.In a similar reference, Kashdan’s ‘The Upside of Your Darkside’ helped show me that it is ok to have self-doubt and anxiety, in spite of a world always telling us that negative emotions are somehow bad (spoiler alert: they’re not).The Miguel Ruiz classic ‘The Four Agreements’ helped explain to me that great works, at their core, are quite often paradoxically inspired by stark simplicity, and ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ was a near perfect description of how things aren’t always so black-and-white. This idea of balance between extremes is also perfectly summed up in the classroom scene in the 2001 film ‘Donnie Darko’. While some of these references can be taken as obscure, they are fundamental to business and creative works.One of the most influential works of literature I have ever encountered in business and in life is undoubtedly Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’, published in 1999. It is a book that inspires creation and curiosity and reinforces the idea that no matter who you are or what your circumstance is, you have a story. Don’t waste it. You may be surprised to find out how many people are willing to listen if you’re willing to create and bring your stories to life.Advice for other entrepreneurs.The most important advice I can tell anyone is to just be yourself.It is also important to have some sort of rapport with your customers. Again, start small, and work your way into new avenues of adventure. Don’t try to take on too much at once. The riches are in the niches.Also, don’t be afraid to want to learn more. I constantly find myself worried that I don’t know enough, and I think this perpetual state of heightened anxiety actually has been one of my biggest assets when it comes to critical thinking and learning.Enjoy your success! But don’t get too comfortable. Never stop learning, and never stop growing. Good luck, and most of all, HAVE FUN!If you have any questions, drop a comment!

[goingallthewayy]

Review of my 2016 Goals

(AKA holy shit is it 2017 already?!)

1. Get my concealed carry.

Damnit, still didn’t do that. Still want to, too.

2. Train for and compete in another triathlon- more than one would be good, too!

Well that didn’t turn out how I’d hoped. I still want this to happen in 2017, too. Darn ACL. Happened not even a month after I wrote this, and I was doing GREAT on my fitness goals, too.

3. Go backpacking and explore new parts of Colorado.

I didn’t get to backpack (ACL) BUT I explored some great new trails and campsites in 2016. Here’s to a few more in 2017!

4. Catch a fish! Just because.

YES! I still want to do this too. But did not accomplish in 2016.

5. Climb at least one 14er that I’ve never done before! Hopefully more than one.

Did this! Democrat and Cameron! Yas.

6. Travel someplace new! hopefully a new country or two, but even a few new places in the US would be great.

I visited the Grand Canyon! So that was awesome! But no new countries or states. Still... the Grand Canyon. I give myself a B- on this one.

7. Foster another 3 dogs. More would be even better but I’m afraid it will make it hard to travel and explore this summer.

I fostered even more than that! Geez I thought I had set this goal to be like ten dogs or something. I fostered Chase once I recovered from my ACL a little bit, then I helped out with Leo and Summer, then I fostered Truman (best dog EVER), then I helped with Felix, and finally I fostered the two puppies- Nova and the other one whose name I forget right now. Smashed this goal right out of the water!

8. Take meaningful steps towards a future career. Take the GRE, apply to grad school, work jobs other than waitressing!

I took the GRE, I applied to grad school, I didn’t go even though I got in AND paid for a class (dumbass) and I got an awesome internship where I’ve figured out what I want to do with the rest of my life! Hell yeah!

9. When my lease is up in October, I hope to move to a new state, hopefully for a new job or for grad school. Preparation starts now! We’ll see where this goes. This is pretty tentative since I love my current apartment and my roommate, but have been craving change in my life. Change is in the air- I’m excited to see where things go.

I didn’t move to a new state, I got an amazing internship at Denver Animal Shelter that kept me here in Colorado. BUT I did move into the city and now i have a HOUSE and not just an apartment that I’m renting. <3

10. Go skiing at least a few times this spring. I’ve finally got all the equipment, I bought a pass to go up for a weekend with my dad and test it all out, it’s time to get up and enjoy something I used to love! Even if it means sitting it traffic for a little while. Maybe I’ll even air BNB by myself up there! :)

Yeah this didn’t work out quite how I planned, either. ACL. But I did go up twice last year before the whole thing happened!

11. Write more. Looking back through my text entries is so meaningful to me, and it really allows me to see how much I’ve grown and changed. I need to try to write more often. It helps me to stay organized and focused.

Ahhh I wish I did this. I wrote through my pains with surgery and living with my folks again. But I haven’t written nearly enough. I just got too busy. I’m going to retry this goal, too.

12. Figure out a birth control solution that works for me so I can have safer sex. Taking a pill everyday is not my deal, clearly.

Fuck. Did not happen. I stopped sleeping around though, so that helped.

13. I need to spend less time on social media. I need a plan to try to break me of my addiction. It’s bad.

Yeah, didn’t do a great job of getting off of social media, either. I have a Facebook addiction, and the fact that my career revolves around it does not help. I should come up with a great solution for this as well.

14. I need to read more and paint more. I got through the Harry Potter books and that’s pretty much it in 2015. I need to read! And I only painted a couple of times. What’s up with that? I just spent a week in New Mexico studying Georgia o'keefe. Time to get crackin on some painting.

I read some great books in 2016! I got super into audiobooks for awhile, which could totally happen again when I start working out again. I should list the books I read but I did NOT keep track-this year I set a goal to read 25 books and Goodreads is keeping track of it for me.

Worth noting- I almost always have to include resolutions about my relationships; meaning family, friends, and romance. This year I’m not doing that.

I’m proud of myself for that last year, and I’m going to keep it to a minimum again this year. <3

What a wild year 2016 was. It’s just amazing to me looking back- part of me feels like the beginning of this year was SO LONG AGO and an entire epic has happened since then; part of me feels like “how the heck did I think I’d have time to accomplish all this shit it flew by so fast oh my god.” It was an adventure from (practically) rock-bottom (I still reserve rock-bottom to spring 2014) to some of the best times of my life. Like seriously, THE BEST. Just what an adventure.

January was beautiful and filled me with this feeling of hope for the new year; I started working out and was starting to look really good until

February I went on an amazing hike with Charley (best friend at the time) and decided to quit my serving job since I had a bunch (okay, possibly an exaggeration) of money saved up. So I quit. And exactly a week later, I tore my ACL in Snowmass skiing with my dad.

March I had to return to my parents house with Finn and had surgery March 8. It was HARD. One of the hardest things. I did a lot of reading, applying for jobs, and dicking around on the playstation. I also played plants vs. zombies constantly. I was on good drugs.

April I was still at my parents’ house going to physical therapy and taking walks when it was nice. I took the GRE and planned for my future.

May I took a trip to the Grand Canyon with my best friend Charley. It was a great trip; we saw all kinds of beautiful places. We hiked up to Hanging Lake, camped near Arches and saw Delicate Arch, and then drove down to the Grand Canyon. It SNOWED while we were camping there, but it was absolutely magical. It snowed our whole way back, too, so we booked it home instead of taking our time. We still spent the night with my Auntie Joni and Uncle Pete, which was really nice. I also fostered Chase during the month of May and started my new job at Perry’s with Charley. I also started the Outpaws Tails and Trails Hike Competition, which Finn and I competed in all summer. We would have won if I had kept better records, too. ;)

June I worked at Perry’s and met my future boyfriend, Leo. I went on an awesome camping trip by myself to Red Feather Lakes in the Roosevelt National Forest. I also was FIRED from a job for the first time- Perry’s fired me for insubordination, which was a bummer because (1) it was untrue. the thing they said I did, I did not do. (2) Leo and Charley worked there, and it sucked to no longer work with them. BUT it really was 100% for the best- Perry’s paid people in a super sketchy way, I didn’t like my coworkers or my boss, there was a constant feeling of discontent there. And it pushed me to apply for my current job, which is my dream job. Plus the day I got fired, Leo took me to his brother’s house and I met Jocelyn, who is now one of my closest friends.

July I went to a Keith Urban concert with Charley, which was fun. I also visited Ashleen in Tennessee, which was SO FUN! We did so many awesome things together. I also went camping again up at Red Feather! I also watched several dogs but didn’t get my next foster until

August! I fostered sweet Truman, the best good dog. We also took an amazing camping trip to Leadville, where Leo and I seriously bonded and adventured together. It was really fun. I also started my new job hostessing at La Sandia.

September I interviewed for my Denver Animal Shelter position and got it! I went on several gorgeous hikes. Our Tails and Trails competition ended, but we won some great prizes and figured out that Finn and I hiked over 300 miles during summer 2016. Very cool!

October feels like a stressball dream. I started a new job at Denver Animal Shelter, started living with my boyfriend, and moved in to a new house. I didn’t get to do any of the fun fall stuff I wanted to, but it’s all okay- I accomplished some cool things that month.

November I dove into my jobs. We took a family trip to Montrose where I bonded with dad over a 5k and got to see my grandparents and my second cousins. I worked an average of like 60 hours a week! It was crazy. I also helped out with a foster named Felix this month and then fostered two baby puppies because Leo kept telling me he wanted a puppy. Needless to say, now he doesn’t want a puppy.

December I kept working my two jobs! We went on a few hikes, but no new adventures. I spent a little bit of time with my family, but it is still hard to be around them when Lindsey is home. I have been reaching out to her and her lack of interest in seeing me makes it feel like she really doesn’t have any interest in being my friend. It is just so weird- I don’t know what happened that caused her to just stop valuing our friendship. But that’s a post for another day. I also celebrated a dual Christmas with Leo’s family. Mexicans celebrate Christmas at 12:00 AM- who knew? It was really fun though; I love his family. Kendall also moved back to Colorado, so I’ve gotten to see her more often. I feel like I did something else really fun and I just can’t remember... I’ll think of it eventually.

I’m going to sit down and set my goals for 2017 tomorrow, I just needed some time to reflect on these goals from 2016. There’s a lot that that I didn’t accomplish, but then again... there’s a lot that I did! These goals were well thought-out and reviewing them makes me feel like even though I can EASILY say 2016 saw some of my biggest personal struggles, but it was still an year of amazing accomplishments and taking charge of my own happiness. 2014 was the year I learned that I was responsible for my own happiness, 2015 saw me figuring out what made me happy, 2016 saw me taking charge of it. I love it.

New Years Resolution 2017 to follow. <3

[dipulb3]

2021 Ford F-150 sets the bar even higher

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/2021-ford-f-150-sets-the-bar-even-higher/

2021 Ford F-150 sets the bar even higher

It might not look different than its predecessor, but the F-150 is new and improved where it matters most.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

The Ford F-150 is the best-selling pickup in America for a reason: It just works. Whether on the job or at play, the F-150 has long been the reliable stalwart in this segment, even in the face of tough competition like the Ram 1500. This year marks the introduction of the 14th-gen F-150, bringing with it some innovative features and new technologies that should keep it at the head of its class for years to come.

Like

Lots of work-friendly features

Excellent cabin tech

Punchy turbocharged engine

Don’t Like

Occasionally rough ride

Poor fuel economy

Bland interior design

Important new features

Arguably the biggest news this year is the availability of an onboard generator, something that came in handy earlier this year when a good chunk of Texas was without power. My test truck has a 2-kilowatt generator with two 120-volt, 20-amp outlets, which is perfect for tailgating or running smaller tools on a job site. A 2.4-kW generator is standard on F-150 PowerBoost hybrid models, and a larger 7.2-kW generator is optional, with four 120-volt, 20-amp outlets, and one 240-volt, 30-amp plug. Ford says you could set up a mobile welding shop with this much juice.

More innovative tricks are found inside the F-150. The gear selector can fold flat into the center console, making way for a fold-down surface that provides 15 inches of flat work space. I love the new Max Recline seats, too — as someone who routinely puts in 12-hour days behind the wheel, being able to lay down at nearly 180 degrees to have a quick snooze is delightful. The reclining seats are super comfortable too, with the cushions rearranging themselves to make a flat surface with no dip between the seat back and bottom cushions.

Lots of configurability

The F-150’s shape and size doesn’t really change this year, even though all the sheet metal is new. Drivers will mostly notice the newly designed stacked headlamps bisected by a horizontal line running across the fascia. Those are set off by LED fog lights and daytime running lights. Higher-level trims like the King Ranch pictured here get lots of exterior chrome and include 20-inch polished wheels and metallic trim across the tailgate, proudly proclaiming that you are indeed the king of the ranch. Overall, the F-150 is a nice-looking truck, and a little more buttoned-up and tidy than its predecessor.

You really can’t beat the Ford F-150 as far as configurability is concerned. Available with six powertrains, three cab options and three bed lengths, there’s a wealth of customization to be had. And that’s before you dig into the six different trim levels and two- and four-wheel drive options.

The F-150 is available with three cabs and three bed lengths.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

Powerful engine options

Regardless of which options you select, the F-150’s powertrains don’t disappoint. New for this year, Ford offers the PowerBoost hybrid, which we’ve already tested. This time around, I have the 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 gas engine, but you can also get the F-150 with a 3.3-liter V6, 2.7-liter twin-turbo V6, 5.0-liter V8 and 3.0-liter diesel V6.

The gas-only 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 has 400 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque which is plenty of power for everyday driving, and the truck has plenty of gutsy midrange punch for highway passing. The 10-speed automatic transmission is a dream, with smooth, imperceptible upshifts and easy downshifts that can jump three or four gears at a time when power is needed.

The PowerBoost hybrid adds $2,500 to the F-150’s bottom line, but it’s definitely the engine I’d get, especially when you consider it’s rated to return 24 mph with four-wheel drive. The normal 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 is EPA-estimated to return 20 mpg, though during a week of testing, I only saw 17.5 mpg.

As for ride quality, well, the F-150 drives like a truck. That is to say it can be a little bouncy and floaty, especially with my tester’s FX4 package with off-road tuned front shocks. It’s par for the course here, but if you want a nice-riding truck, the Ram 1500 with its coil-spring setup or optional air suspension is the one to buy. Nice as the Ford is, Ram’s truck is much more comfortable over the long haul.

The Pro Power Onboard generator is one of the F-150’s best features.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

Truck stuff

The F-150’s towing and payload specs depend on configuration. A longer-wheelbase truck with rear-wheel drive will tow more than a shorter-wheelbase pickup with four-wheel drive. My truck with the tow package, short bed and four-wheel drive can handle 11,000 pounds, but depending on your spec you can tow anywhere from a paltry 5,000 pounds to a whopping 14,000 pounds. However, if you’re going to tow that much on the regular, it’s usually better to upgrade to a heavy-duty truck which will have the bigger brakes and sturdier frame to make towing 14,000 pounds easier. Sure, the F-150 will do it, but you’ll enjoy the experience more in a bigger truck.

As for payload, my tester can handle 2,100 pounds in the bed, but again, you can haul more or less depending on configuration, anywhere from 1,705 pounds to 3,325 pounds. As for the competition, the Ram 1500 can tow a maximum of 11,650 pounds and haul 2,320 pounds in the bed. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 can tow 13,300 pounds and carry 2,280 pounds of payload.

Ford upped its trailer technology game for 2021, as well. There’s a new reverse guide with five cameras and a little graphic that tells you which way to turn the steering wheel, since that can often be confusing. (Remember, backing up a trailer means turning the wheel to the left to move the trailer to the right.) You can also just use the Pro Trailer Back-Up Assist, where you turn a dial in the direction you want the trailer to go and the truck handles the guesswork for you. The Ram 1500 has a similar feature.

However, Chevrolet has cameras available all over the Silverado, including one that allows drivers to sort of see through their trailer and know what’s behind them. There are four available hitch views, six available driving views and five available parking views. If you even get this close to hitting something in the Silverado, you’ll know about it — or at least be able to see if happening.

A 12-inch infotainment screen runs Ford’s Sync 4 tech.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

Tons of tech and nice cabin amenities

The F-150 got a major tech upgrade, including a 12-inch display. Running Ford’s new Sync 4 infotainment system, this infotainment system is faster and more powerful than the outgoing tech and drivers can use a split-screen feature to control multiple functions at the same time. Sync has always been pretty easy to use, and it just gets better with this upgrade. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are here and they’re a breeze to set up.

My tester also has a 12-inch digital gauge cluster with some cool graphics and more information than you could ever need. I choose to keep it simple with my speed front and center but I could include drive mode graphics and navigation information, to name a few.

Most F-150 trims get Ford’s Co-Pilot 360 2.0 suite of driver’s aids standard, including front and rear emergency braking, lane-departure warning and blind-spot monitoring. My tester goes big with adaptive cruise control, lane centering and a new intersection assist that can mitigate an imminent crash when turning left into oncoming traffic.

A fold-down table gives you plenty of room to work — or eat.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

Ford is also getting into the hands-free driving game with a late-availability Super Cruise-like system called Active Drive Assist. On certain mapped and divided highways the F-150 will allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel, although a driver-facing camera makes sure your eyes remain on the road. Expect it to come to the F-150 later this year through an over-the-air update.

The F-150’s cabin gets a nice upgrade, though the Ram 1500 still takes the cake in terms of overall comfort and refinement. Loaded F-150s can be had with open-pore wood, as well as heated, cooled and massaging front seats. There are also plenty of storage places including a center console that can hold Roadshow’s favorite snacks: a six-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper and a Costco-sized box of Cheez-Its with plenty of room left over.

The power-deploying running boards and handles on the A-pillars make hauling my butt up into the truck easier, and adjustable pedals help both short and tall people find a good driving position. Having found mine, however, it is a bit difficult to reach the center touchscreen without leaning forward quite a bit. This is a big truck, y’all.

America’s best-selling truck keeps going strong.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

Something for everyone

The F-150 range covers a huge swath of prices. A base XL starts at $30,635 (including $1,695 for destination), but a fully loaded Limited can reach above $80,000. Personally, I’d stick with a midrange Lariat. It’s no fancy-pants model, but it’s also much less expensive and still well equipped. I’d add the extra driver’s aids but I would most like skip the package needed for the Active Drive Assist as it ends up adding nearly $7,000 to the bottom line. I’d add the trailer tow package and the hybrid powertrain which gives me the 2.4-kW generator. And of course, the Max Recline seats. I’m all in at $58,8155 including $1,695 for destination. Meanwhile, the King Ranch you see here comes in around $76,000.

With new features, lots of powertrains, great tech and tons of capability, the F-150 continues to offer tons of choice for a wide variety of truck customers. All things considered, the F-150 is definitely positioned to keep its best-selling truck crown for years to come. 

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Scott Pruitt Resigns From The EPA Amid Ethics Scandals

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s controversial tenancy endedamid a five-month whirlwind of ethics gossips and at least 18 federal investigations. President Donald Trump announced Pruitt’s resignation in a series of tweets late Thursday afternoon, praising the administrator and Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s No. 2, who will now serve as acting executive. “It is extremely difficult for me to cease sufficing you in this persona first because I count it a ordaining to be serving you in any capability, but too, because of the transformative labor that is occurring, ” Pruitt said in his abdication symbol, according to Fox News. “However the unrelenting onrushes on me privately, my family, are unprecedented and have made a sizable toll on all of us.” Speaking to reporters on Air force One eventually Thursday, Trump said he and the embattled EPA chief had been discussing a probable resignation “for a little while, ” but that the ultimate decision was absolutely Pruitt’s. “I conceive Scott felt that he was a distraction, ” the president enunciated, according to a kitty report. “He’ll go on to great things and he’s going to have a wonderful life, I hope. But he felt that he did not want to be a distraction for an administration that he has a lot of sect in.” During his nearly 17 months in part, Pruitt, 50, was asked to dramatically remake the EPA, contracting its own budget, excreting landmark the rules and politicizing scientific research, giving industry an outsized persona in shaping the federal powers by which it plays. He dallied a determined its participation in convincing President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from the Paris atmosphere accord. The abrupt exit of the nation’s 14 th and second-shortest-serving EPA executive abridges the grandiose ascending of a job legislator. Pruitt, who stirred his specify on “the member states national” stage by frequently litigating to barrier EPA regulations as Oklahoma’s us attorney general, flirted with growing Trump’s next united states attorney general and was said to be considering a run for Senate or superintendent in the Sooner State. Collaborators alleged Pruitt plotted a extend for the conference of presidents as early as 2024. Aaron Bernstein/ Reuters Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt meets the long directory of Trump administration divergences. But Pruitt fronted intense pressure to resign over accusations of corruption and taxpayer litter after an torrent of scandals. It started in March when a report rose detailing his $50 -a-night sweetheart deal to hire a room in a indulgence Capitol hill townhouse linked to a gas industry lobbying conglomerate, Williams& Jensen. The EPA’s moralities lawyers rushed to retroactively greenlight the arrangement, but struggled to defend the administrator after story separated that his adult daughter expended the residency. Deepening the impression of a conflict of interest, Williams& Jensen’s purchasers won approval from the EPA during the time Pruitt lived at the condominium, paying well below grocery rate. Even onetime New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie( R ), whose so-called Bridgegate dissension captivated national courtesy and outwitted his presidential dreams, observed on April 1 that Pruitt’s scandal seemed too clear-cut to explain away. “I don’t know how you survive this one, and if he has to go, it’s because he never should have been there in the first place, ” Christie said on ABC News. In early April, three Republican House members joined the chorus announcing for Pruitt’s resignation. The director constantly demonstrated his support for Pruitt, telling the head to “keep his head up” and “keep fighting” and praising Pruitt in June amid ongoing disapproval from others. “EPA is doing really, really well, ” Trump read at an phenomenon with his Cabinet. “And you are familiar, person has to say that about you a little bit.” Kevin Lamarque/ Reuters President Donald Trump listens to Scott Pruitt in the White House Rose Garden after announcing his decision to leave the Paris agreement in June 2017. Pressure intensified on Pruitt after it was reported he tried to abuse his vehicle’s emergency sirens to cut through traffic, and that the administrator reassigned, demoted or obliged out five EPA officials who challenged his “unusually large-scale expend.” On April 6, Trump bucked campaigns by his chief of staff, John Kelly, to volley Pruitt, according to the Wall Street Journal . The chairwoman tweeted his support for the head, saying he was “under siege” from the “Fake News Media.” One onetime EPA official compared Trump’s steadfast is supportive of Pruitt to his refusal to withdraw his blurb for onetime Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore( R ), even as accusations attached that Moore had sexually beset and aggression teen daughters when he was in his 30 s. For weeks, it seemed Pruitt would weather the firestorm. But in mid-April fresh items from a federal investigation surfaced, brand-new provides information on past shady dealings came out and adversity attached from inquests being conducted by the EPA’s internal guardian, the top federal moralities protector and the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The White House started telling Republican to hold off on representing Pruitt, according to a Bloomberg report. On April 23, three of Pruitt’s staunchest allies, including Sen. James Inhofe( R-Okla .), said they subscribed deeming hearings on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to analyse Pruitt’s activities. By early May, senior White House officials were encouraging Trump to fire Pruitt, The New York Times reported. One aide told the publication that the EPA chief’s agitates were “a bottomless pit.” The cascading series of discussions at the EPA followed months of disapproval over Pruitt’s first-class travel adaptations. He regularly spent $2,000 to $2,600 on first-class flights to Oklahoma, and often booked $1,400 to $4,000 flights to Boston, New York and Corpus Christi, Texas, according to The Washington Post. He routinely stayed in luxury hotels. His international travel outlays rose into the six fleshes. In June, a trip to an environmental summit in Italy cost over $120,000 , while a December trip to Morocco to promote liquefied natural gas — a outlandish persons responsible for the nation’s environmental regulator to take on — reportedly cost virtually $40,000. In Italy, Pruitt dined with Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell, a climate change denier who’s since been charged with child fornication abuse, according to documents dug by The New York Times. And The Daily Beast revealed that during the course of its summary jaunt to Rome, Pruitt devoted far more epoch at private dinners and safaruss than cultivating. The criticism extended when The Washington Post reported the EPA had considered leasing a private aircraft for Pruitt. That scheme, which the agency eventually did not prosecute, to have been able to have expenditure about $100,000 a few months, according to one estimate. Tom Williams/ CQ Roll Call via Getty Images Protesters hamper ratifies as Pruitt vouches during a Senate hearing on the proposed coming fiscal year 2019 plan for the EPA in May 2018. Pruitt also faced hot after it was reported he exploited a opening in the Safe Drinking Water Act to give two political nominees grows after the White House rebuffed any such requests. In a heated Fox News interview on April 4, Pruitt affirmed knowing about the heightens. But an internal email publicized afterward in the month has been demonstrated that he personally signed off on the decision. Pruitt’s scandals came more comical as age went on. In 1 week it was reported “hes having” dictated an aide-de-camp to set up a announcement with the president of Chick-fil-A to discuss the possibility of his wife becoming a franchisee of the growing fast-food chain, and too that he paid $3,230 in taxpayer fund for personalized journals and pencils, priced at $130 each. It was also revealed Pruitt had asked his aide Millan Hupp to try to buy “an age-old mattress” from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, something she pronounced wasn’t for EPA business, to her knowledge. By June, mortifying brand-new discoveries surfaced almost daily from freshly public congressional testimony and a trove of his aide’s emails released under a Freedom of Information Act request. Just this week, accusations surfaced that Pruitt involved aides find his wife a activity with a $200,000 salary, and that he hindered “secret” calendars, inducing fresh calls Thursday morning for a federal investigation into whether he contravened the Federal Records Act. The squabble deteriorated later on Thursday, with a New York Times report detailing how the EPA shot an aide who interviewed Pruitt’s deletion of confidential engagement items. Pruitt is arguably the highest-profile Trump administration official to depart amid a firestorm over ethics. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned in September after spend over$ 1 million on private flights. Brenda Fitzgerald, lead of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, stepped down after buying shares of a tobacco fellowship, a perceived wager against her own direct as a top public health official. But, despite legal challenges halting more than one-third of his regulatory rollbacks, Pruitt gave Trump’s respect as an efficient advocate of his deregulatory plan, upending work at his agency to duel climate change and furiously rubbing former President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy. Environmental radicals may have little time to celebrate Pruitt’s ouster. Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s No. 2 and a likely contender to became the head, is a climate change-denying onetime coal publicist. His four years working at the EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics under presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton gave him a stature as an actor capable of engaging Trump’s agenda without hitting the law nooses that slowed down some of Pruitt’s decisions in field. He is expected to become the acting executive as of Monday. “I am both humbled and honoured to take over this new responsibility, ” Wheeler wrote in an email to EPA staffers, which HuffPost obtained. “I look forward to working alongside all of you to continue our collective destination of protecting public health and the environment on behalf of the members of the American people.” Trump aides reportedly embarked pushing for Pruitt’s ouster after the Senate corroborated Wheeler in April. Another potential collect to oust Pruitt is William Wehrum, the potent assistant administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, who spurns environment scientific and fought to undermine clean breeze rules and weaken mercury criteria as a lawyer for the fossil fuel industry. Chris D’Angelo contributed to this report. RELATED COVERAGE Top Scott Pruitt Aides Resign From EPA Scott Pruitt Facing Thriving Persuade To Abdicate From EPA Trump’s Climate-Denying Coal Lobbyist Nominee Inches Closer To EPA’s No. 2 Job At Least 23 Ethical Issues Are Dogging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Download http://dailybuzznetwork.com/index.php/2018/07/09/scott-pruitt-resigns-from-the-epa-amid-ethics-scandals/