#team cap was right in too many restrictions and the government

[themintiris]

”team iron man was completely in the right” “no team cap was” they are both right and both wrong. that is the WHOLE POINT of the movie.

[heavenunderthemoon]

Growing Pains- Spencer Reid {Chapter 1}

This is a sequel to the prologue, I recommend checking that out!

QUANTICO

OCTOBER 2011

The coffee shop was bustling with activity, despite it being nearly six in the morning. Early risers and morning commuters in the like seemed to mob the small shop, the poor baristas doling drinks out at an impossible speed.

It was a chilly morning,Spencer's jacket collar itched at his neck and he made a grab for it in irritation, swatting the hairs that he had been meaning to cut out of the way as he did so. His curls were beginning to look a bit unruly, the case load preventing him from focusing on anything other than catching serial killers. Though, to be fair, he hardly ever focused too much on his appearance, his socks were a testament to that. The different patterns poked out of his cuffed slacks and he forced himself to look back at the board, scanning the menu even if he knew what he wanted.

Pumpkin drawn in chalk stared back at him until it was his turn to order and the baristas barely looked at him before punching in his black coffee. He didn't need any additive, at least, not from them. no, his main source of fuel was on the other side of the room, the sugar cart winking back at him. Spencer stepped back, letting the people behind him up to the counter as he waited for his freshly brewed coffee, his mind still a bit muggy without caffeination.

The lack of caffeination is what he would blame it on later that day. A mere delusion from sleep deprivation, or maybe he had even been dreaming still, falling asleep right where he stood and imagining the whole thing. He would chalk it up to any reason, any reason at all, because he couldn't have possibly heard your name.

"Y/N!" The barista called out.

The Reid's head snapped up, following the figure grabbing the coffee and his eyes trailed your back. No, that couldn't possibly be you. It couldn't be you, because, well, the last time he'd seen you was when you were both fourteen. Children, wishing upon stars and making pinky promises. The last time he had heard from you was when he was still in college, your voices tossed back in forth between the staticky phone booth's reception, and even then you both knew that your friendship was fizzling out.

He remembered quite clearly what you looked like too. Your hair had reached your back and still shoved into that dirty baseball cap that you never quite took off. That was the girl he remembered.

The back he followed left out the for and his foot twitched, as if to follow, but, had it really been you? It hadn't, Spencer reassured. It couldn't have been you. Just because they had called your name- a name he supposed other people could have, of course- didn't mean it was you. In fact, he hadn't even gotten a good look at your face. And, yes, while the hair color may have been the same, he was probably just overthinking it.

Right, that's what it was. He was overthinking it.

He always overthought things. In fact, he notoriously over thought things. He was absolutely mad if he actually thought that he saw his childhood best friend in a coffee shop, exactly 2,406.9 miles away from the last location he had seen her.

"Spencer." The barista called with a smile, extending the styrofoam cup, steam billowing from the small opening at the top. His name was written across the side in block letters, and his hand covered the lettering as he grabbed it, nodding as a thank you before retiring to the sugar station.

Y/N L/N.

Your name danced across his mind, flashes of your childhood playing almost against his will and he soon found himself lost in a memory, his feet taking him to work as he did.

-

NEVADA 1991

"Ow! Spencer, you keep stepping on my toes." Nine year old you complained, breaking apart from the boy's hold and sending him an exasperated look.

Your overalls hung loosely on your body, a hand-me-down from your brothers that didn't quite fit you yet. Your father had done his best to stitch it, but the man couldn't sew to save his life. Differently colored threads poked out in seemingly random places, and Spencer found himself staring at them from time to time.

The boy's cheeks tinted pink, his eyebrows furrowing as he stepped away, shutting off the music and going back to his book that sat propped upon the table. That morning, the two children had turned on your father's TV set. Diana didn't particularly let the boy watch it at home. On her bad days, she said the TV was a ploy from the government, destined to rot his brain and turn him against her. On her good days, she said it wasn't mentally stimulating enough, Not as mentally stimulating as a book, ushering him off with another literature classic if he requested watching something before bed. You, on the other hand, weren't given as many restrictions. besides, your father worked during the day which left you and your brothers with free rein of the house, and, with it being summertime, your brothers were both away at football camp.

A music video depicting a teenage couple had been the first channel you had landed on and, their sweet, slow dance had made you both curious about the logistics. Spencer, of course, had taken a more theoretical approach to learning the concept. Grabbing a rather large book about dance and movement from the nineteenth century, the boy had spent the better part of the day with his nose embedded in the pages, his hands flailing about every so often, as if trying it out before going back to reading. You, on the other hand, had taken to attempting the dance with the kitchen broom as Spencer read. It couldn't be that hard, could it? Besides, you couldn't really know how to do it without actually doing it. Well, that was your opinion, anyways.

After a while, you both glanced at each other from across the room, you watched the idea click onto both of your faces, both of your cheeks reddening at the thought.

"Merely experimental." Spencer had said, his voice an octave higher than it usually was.

Your cheeks still hadn't calmed, and you had fixed him with a glare, swearing him to secrecy before agreeing. You knew Spencer wouldn't ever tell, not just because he didn't particularly have anyone to tell, but because you knew the prospect of slow-dancing with his best friend embarrassed him just as much as it did you. But, he still nodded.

And that was how you had found yourself getting your toes stepped on, the music shut off as Spencer re-read his book.

"You can't learn this by reading, Spence, c'mon." Your hand tugged at his, pulling him away from the book as he huffed. Your other hand slapped the music back on, an Elvis album that was your dad's. He didn't really own anything else, and it was either that or Barry Manilow.

The boy's face was cross, as if frustrated at the concept of something not being capable of being taught from literature. Nonetheless, he followed your slow, awkward steps, focusing all his energy on not stepping on your toes. Slowly, but surely, the two of you seemed to get the hang of it, even being able to move around the room as you danced and you laughed wildly when you spun, just as the girl had done in the movies.

Spencer watched with a smile. His best friend, his only friend, but to him, the best. Because he was certain that you would be the best of the best for the rest of his life as you soon around, one hand still latched onto his own.

-

QUANTICO 2011

His tongue ached as the hot liquid ran across it.

Spencer hardly ever waited long enough to drink his coffee, the liquid scalding his mouth due to his impatience. It was small price to pay for the sweet relief caffeine gave him, the way his mind sharpened and allowed his body to catch up with his brain.

"How many cups have you had this morning, Spence?"

JJ's voice cut across the bullpen. It was one of those rare paperwork days, much to the disdain of Rossi. The man absolutely loathed paperwork, claiming that he would never stoop to such degrading tasks (though the team saw him helping out on reports when he thought they weren't looking). The blonde had previously been stopped at Emily's desk, the two chatting about their weekend plans, tones filled with hope that they might actually be able too fulfill them rather than being forced to cancel due to a case.

"Not enough, apparently. Pretty boy's been spacing out for the last hour. Actually, I think I got more done than he did." Derek teased, his eyebrows raising as he dipped his head toward the stack of forgotten papers near Spencer's outbox.

The Reid man scoffed, setting down his now empty cup. He had grown quite accustomed to the Morgan's teasing, and it never bothered him anyways. But, Spencer hated to admit that the man was correct- perhaps miracles do happen. Spencer was distracted. His mind seemed to abandon him, running off to Nevada, slow dancing with you in your childhood home's basement. Your laugh as you spun echoed in his mind and the sound of his name being called once more made him glance up.

"Spencer?" Derek fixed the man with a concerned look, his paperwork left forgotten. JJ's smile faded, Emily raising a brow as well. Rossi had gone off with Hotch somewhere, Penelope in her bat cave, but the group's effect still had Spencer trying to ice any remnants of you off his face, plastering on a small smile.

"Hmm?" He hummed in response.

JJ's eyes narrowed, scanning his face with concern. "Are you feeling okay today? You've been really quiet and...spacey." The blonde settled on the word, and Spencer did his best to assuage her. The pen in his hand twirled, his head nodding.

"I'm fine. I just thought I saw-"

The small creak of the glass doors opening caught the man's attention once more and now, three cups of coffee to back up his acclamations, Spencer was sure that he wasn't;t hallucinating now. No, not this time.

You, you, but twenty years older. You, with a neatly placed outfit, his mind flashing between the jeans you wore and the overalls he had once seen you in. You were there, in the BAU, fifty feet away, it was you. Sure, you were older, you didn't have your head shaved into a baseball cap, or dirtied sneakers on your feet, but it was you.

"Y/N?" His voice came out a whisper.

This is a part two to the prologue! I recommend checking that out!

[queensdivas]

Hidden Blade Chapter 1

Y’all I’ve been to excited for this because I loved this movie with a passion. (Nothing beats Bohrap btw but damn 6 Underground was awesome not just because of Ben. Though he really made the movie even better.) If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters please hmu! 

Please enjoy and I’ll see you guys in the next chapter or one of my updates. I’m on a train ride to London from Edinburgh so it’s about five hours. I plan on getting a crap done this ride so you might be seeing multiple updates! 

Enjoy! 

Next Chapter

Masterlist

Governments should always be in fear of who they govern over..those who are being governed should never be living in fear of who they are ruled over. Yet we live in a world where those in power abuse it badly so they can live the lavish life of the vices, greed, lust, and even the gluttony of having everything at their feet. Those who suffer under those sadly are living in a society in fear, hate, and uncertainty of whether they’ll be okay by the end of the day. 

That’s where I come in. 

You have to start somewhere small in order to cause a chain reaction. That lovely snowball effect. I start small by cutting off the suppliers resources, such as their plants, dirty shacks, and even the old warehouses. Once the resources are extinguished, I then move up to those in high up positions in order to really cause the rolling to begin. 

Yet I was given an opportunity to do a little more good with a lot less strings attached. Who doesn’t love a little more freedom. But what I was offered was complete freedom and who wouldn’t want complete freedom. 

You ever played the Assassins Creed games? I like to consider myself a walking version of that except no magical abilities, no special creed, or even a long line of ancestors that are meant to look similar and only the first three or four games nailed the similarities. Not the point. For those of you who’ve never heard of those games, imagine someone who's able to scale an entire flat building, stand on top of a metal cross, and even have some really cool equipment to help get the job done. We’ll be getting to those a little later. 

My name is eight. The Assassin. 

What’s the difference between a Hitman and Assassin you ask? One gets paid to do any form of killing for money, the other one does it for either political or religious reasons in this world of ours. But you both kill people? True. Never declared myself a saint anyhow in this world so shush! Story time! 

I pulled up to one of the abandoned planes to turn off my 4runner and climb out. Love the whole abandoned airfield look for the hideout. Really gives that fast and furious sort of vibe. How many movies are in the series anyhow? 

A ram truck came pulling up next to my 4runner as I began grabbing all my junk to hopefully store somewhere that was a little more secure than my new apartment here in California. Keeping a bunch of ropes, weapons, and my vast amount of foreign fruit would get me busted and I certainly love my Nectarine! 

“Glad to know I wasn’t the only one brought into this little adventure.” He appeared in front of me as I swung my duffle bag right on my shoulder. I closed the door as I turned to see him all dressed in american/military gear. An American soldier? Real power move.  

“Glad to see we got ourselves a soldier. Eight.” I held my hand out to him as he shook it. 

“Seven. At Least according to that dude.” He pointed as one came out of a tiny airplane and smiled. 

“Weird to see you not looking like a GAP model.” He showed up at my apartment in Israel looking like he walked out of Sunday church for some god knows reason. At first I thought he was apart of Jehovah's witness but as you can see we’re about to kill some mother fuckers.

“Ah really funny. Come meet the rest of us oh so lovely fellow campers.” We walked into the base as a women with blonde hair was reading a map while another woman was reading what looked like some sort of medical book. 

“Ladies this is seven and eight our newest batch of newbies. The one reading the map is two and in the cap is five. Not sure where the other two are but I imagine they’ll be showing up sometime soon.” I gave them a small wave as I put my bag on the ground next to the large table. 

“Look who finally showed up. Four this is seven and eight our eyes from the sky.” He tossed his hoodie down on the table as he gave us a small smile. The last member came into the room which is what I’m assuming was three. 

“There’s this trick that we all do to get through our day. We take a box and into that box, we place all the horrors of the world, all the wrongs humans do to one another. And then we close the box and pretend it doesn’t exist. Only some of us spend too much time inside the box. We’ve lost our ability to pretend. We know there’s too much unfinished business in this messed up world. Our job as ghosts is to do the dirty work the living can’t or won’t. And we do it from here. This is our haunted house. It’s a lot like the Batcave, except it’s nothing like the Batcave. Seven, eight. You’re dead. You’re gonna be restricted to cities that you’ve never visited before. People that you’ve never met. All of course your fellow ghost, none of whom you’ll know by name, only number, for safety, and so no one gets too close.” I mean. All we need is a butler, some random child to say “geez guys” and I think we would be set. 

“So basically what we’re doing is a sense of a justice league but with no moral codes?” Asking as One nodded. 

“Yes. Except Wonder Women uses guns and Batman is okay with killing people.” I..okay that works. 

“Each one of us has our own little gifts we bring to the table and now that we’ve required you two, we now officially have a set team.” 

“We’re like the A-Team but on steroids except Mr. T is this guy.” The Spainard commented as everyone just stared him down. 

“In your vast dreams.” One commented.

“Will we be required to wear matching rings?” Asking which made I believe his name is four chuckle a little. 

“Funny. Alright c’mon I wanna show you two something.” We all followed him into another room where a wall covered with nine pieces of paper with a single roman numerals on each one. 

“This is our target hitboard. These nine fuckers have been placing too much shit inside the box. So now they answer to us. Target number one: this prick. The Dictator of Turgistan Roach Alimov.” I walked over to his photo and began studying the guy. Radiates small dick energy already from all the work I’ve done over there, kind of like Kim Jong-Un except he doesn’t flaunt his money. 

“God I’m really craving french fries. Can we finish this over at Luckies?” I believe he’s three asked the group as I began walking past the other eight pieces of paper as I lightly saw their faces. Efrain Gracian. He runs the largest drug cartel in Mexico and has been killing a shit ton of innocent people in their villages. Oh my god they put Kim Jon-Un on their target list hell yeah. 

“So we plan on just killing all these pricks because they keep shitting on their countries and the rest of the world?” Leaning against the wall facing them as one nodded. 

“I say we finish this thing at Luckies. I’m really feeling a shitty beer to set the mood of introductions.” One began walking out of the fort as everyone else followed except for me as I looked at the wall again. Figured there would be less on the board in all honesty. 

~~~

I slipped into the booth with myself facing the middle of the window and the inside of the restaurant, seven sitting to my left while four was on my right. To think that I’m now officially dead and I cut all my ties off when I left home so no funeral. Bet they thought I was already dead anyhow so this works nicely. 

“So what do you bring to the table?” I was asked as I tossed my car keys on the table. 

“The soundless steps of a killer is what I bring to the table. You guys make a shit ton of noise if I think I know who you are. I’m assuming you guys we’re the one destroying Florence?” His eyes widened a little which makes my assumption correct cause these fuckers really had fun in Florence. 

“Florence was an absolute disaster.” He stopped talking as the waiter came to the group. 

“A round of Heineken for everyone. Then whatever else they want.” I ordered as everyone smiled a little as they began ordering their preferred drinks. 

“Figured you’d be a good match since you graciously just bought us all drinks. So if you’re a soundless killer, who have you eliminated?” You can thank the new democracy in South Sudan, and ending an entire sex trafficking operation in Chad. Both we’re super difficult to achieve but damn I did an awesome job. Both were run by major cunts obviously and took months of planning to even get close to them. 

“Who do you think got rid of the cunt from South Sudan?” Seven looked over at me then leaned across the table. 

“You killed Zafir Bahri?” Seven asked as I nodded. 

“Yup. Yet it was one of my most difficult assassinations since I had to make a break for it in the countryside. Kind of stuck out like a sore thumb till I made it to a reservation station.” The waitress came with the first round of beers. Four took a big gulp of his beer then sighed. 

“Alright if we’re going to show off what our past selves have done. I got the chance to steal a 5.0 carat ruby necklace that had two smaller diamonds that were about 4.2 carats that was about 100,000 dollars worth.” Yet he’s sitting here in an American restaurant drinking some shitty beer and eating high heart attack food? Sounds about right. 

“And here you are in America drinking Heineken and about to eat a very greasy double cheeseburger. Cheers” I grabbed my bottle as he did for us to clink our bottles together. Four seems super chill actually and now I’m kind of curious how he pulled off that heist. 

“So. What’s the absolute best thing about being dead? I mean you don’t have to pay taxes anymore.” Seven asked the entire group as they all had an inner conversation with themselves about the best part of being deceased. 

“No more dmv lines, no more shopping for Christmas.” Christmas has always been stressful for my old life and I didn’t even celebrate it!

“Or backstabbing girlfriends.” Raising my eyebrow at four. Damn someone broke his little heart. I’d play the worlds saddest song on the tiniest violin but not sure if he would get the reference. 

“They should make an “Out of office” reply for dead people. Sorry I’m away from the planet right now. I’m fucking dead.” That’s a bit much but if it makes her feel better about being dead then let her do her own thing. 

“No more tax, no more criminal records, no more getting arrested by the pigs just for being naked and or just the usual stuff. You know, being naked, getting drunk. Casual stuff.” How is being naked casual? Since when is being naked considered casual in any standard? 

“Umm. How is being naked any form of being casual?” He took a drink of his beer as he licked his lips.

“Ya know. Just walking around naked on your balcony or even on your front porch. It’s a casual thing.” I..I still don’t see that as a casual thing. Around the house yes because oversized t-shirt and underwear is always a comfy.

“Is that like when Jersey people say it’s a jersey thing?” Before he could answer One chuckled a little. 

“Guys. You’re all wrong. The best thing about being dead is the freedom. I mean, we’re all gonna die. May as well do it while we’re alive, right? When you’re young, you lock yourself into all of these bad decisions. Marriages, mortgages, and all that kind of stuff. But you die. It’s all escaped. Poof! Gone! From that point forward, all that matters is what you choose. The point is that we should bring seven and eight behind the curtain. You wanna hand me those over there?” Three handed him a bunch of plastic cups as leaned a little more forward on the table. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see him quickly glancing away back at the demonstration. Guess he’s kind of cute, not exactly sure how getting involved with people on the team is viewed. Rather avoid the whole situation. 

“Alright here. A little deminsation, no technology. So this is how to stage a coup in three not so easy steps. Alright you got a country, Turgistan right? These are the people, nice people, going about, doing their thing. Then you got the four generals, cuatro cunts, very bad guys. But there’s one worse guy. That’s the piece of shit dictator, right there at the top.” Sounds about right. That was basically the entire set up in South Sudan. 

“Don’t forget his brother.” Brother? Oh yeah, the guy has a brother that basically has been isolated or off the face of the earth at this point. Gotta love it when Governments hide those wanting a better world, or hiding sick pedophiles when they fake suicides so they don’t go to prison or end up being executed. 

“Democracy loving brother.” So we’ve got a shitty dictator and a loving democratic. Of freakin’ course!

“He’s the key. So we’re gonna hit the four generals. They’re gonna lead us to the brother.” 

“You kill top Generals, you fuck the dictators day.” Three shoved a few French fries in his mouth. 

“Can confirm.” I took a big gulp of my beer as I leaned back against the booth.

“Second thing we're gonna do is free the brother. And the last thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna say goodbye to piece of shit dictator and hello to democracy loving brother.”

“It all goes down in four months, El Dia de los Muertos, The Day of the Dead.” Kinky.

“Oh that’s it?” Seven and I looked at each other for the both of us to nod in approval of the plan. 

“Um well that’s pretty simple ya know. The cups.” I took a drink of my beer as I began mentally seeing the whole plan in my head. 

“Wonderful presentation.” We’re gonna die aren’t we?

“So we’re all gonna die?” At this point I say that’s a hard yes. 

“Not me.” What confidence she has because there’s something about her that just kind of scares the shit out of me. Must be something federal in her former life.

“She’s not, we all are. Painfully.” Peachy. Real fucking peachy. But hey I’m already technically dead so this works out perfectly in the end. Just when my body shows up at someones house or is found floating on the coast, going to be quite a headache trying to figure out since I’m already dead. 

Maybe I should be more optimistic with this new life. Could be worse. I could be stuck in a work camp in Siberia. Maybe we just see where this goes and if it doesn’t end well I just disappear into the unknown. Sounds like an absolute plan! 

Taglist:

@bonafiderocketqueen @filmslutt @imjustboredso @intoanothermind @4lendow-norris @wickedholland 

@takemetoneverland420 @art-flirt @intoanothermind @raylan-c

[dailybuglenow]

WEDNESDAY, 5 AUGUST 2024. EDITED BY J. JONAH JAMESON.

BACK & BETTER THAN EVER, OR, A TALE OF REALITY WARPING & RESURRECTIONS 

Gone, but never forgotten. That’s what we’ve repeated to ourselves time and time again in the six years since the Mad Titan Thanos snapped his fingers ( an act we call the Cleanse ) and half the world dissolved into ash. It wasn’t until five long years later that a group of brave heroes reversed what he had done and restored the world to a shade closer to what it once had been. This was, of course, not without great costs having to be paid. When Thanos was finally vanquished for good two founding Avengers were laid to rest: Natalia Romanova, the Black Widow, and Anthony Edward Stark, aka Iron Man. News of their deaths were confirmed by a representative for the New Avengers the day following the New Avengers Facility battle against the Black Order that culminated in the largest hero team-up we’ve yet to see.

Natalia Romanova, more commonly known by the alias Natasha  Romanoff started her career in Russia’s infamous Red Room academy, which turns young girls into trained assassins. Romanoff’s ledger was made public in 2014 following the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the revelation that the Nazi organization H.Y.D.R.A. had been embedded in the agency for years. After being recruited to S.H.I.E.LD. by fellow Avenger Clint Barton ( Hawkeye ), Romanoff worked as an agent for years before becoming a founding member of the Avengers in 2012, where she continued to serve until 2016 when the Sokovian Accords were passed and stricter international restrictions were put in place. Although she originally sided with Stark and the government, following the Clash of the Avengers in Berlin Romanoff dropped off the map. She was spotted once in Russia before going on the run with the former Captain America, Steve Rogers, and his associate Sam Wilson ( the former Falcon who has recently taken up the Cap mantle -- for more, on this please see Christine Everhart’s article on page 3 ). Despite two years as an international fugitive, Romanoff fought in the Battle of Wakanda against Thanos and acted as the representative to the public during the Cleanse. One of the more vocal Avengers dead set on righting Thanos’ wrong, a New Avengers spokesperson confirmed that Romanoff died on April 26th, 2023 securing the Soul Stone from a classified location alongside Barton. She was laid to rest in a private cemetery with the Romanoff Scholarship for at Risk Girls being created in her honor shortly afterwards.

Anthony 'Tony’ Stark was always in the public eye due to his father, Howard Stark, being an inventor, scientist, engineer, businessman and movie director. The elder Stark created Stark Industries, which his son later inherited after his untimely passing. As an arms dealer Tony was taken hostage in Afghanistan in 2008 but freed himself by creating a suit of armor. Living with an arc reactor in his chest, Stark became the first superhero with a public identity as Iron Man and became a founding member of the Avengers. After nearly sacrificing himself in 2012′s Battle of New York, Stark remained active even though it was his actions that led to the creation of the villainous robot Ultron and the untimely destruction of a large part of the European nation, Sokovia in 2015. Many considered Stark’s actions to be an apparent disrespect to life and property and urged him make amends. As a result, Stark sided with the Sokovian Accords and urged other heroes to sign as well.  Because of this he and Steve Rogers had a falling out that lasted years as Rogers went on the run and Stark started the Stark Internship, whose inaugural recipient was high school student Peter Parker ( who was recently unmasked as Spider-man ). After going to space in 2018 to try and stop Thanos, Stark came home after briefly being presumed missing and largely vanished from the public eye. The failure of the Avengers to stop Thanos from the Cleanse was something not commented on by Stark, who chose to move Upstate with his wife, Stark Industries C.E.O. Pepper Potts, and their daughter, Morgan Stark. He came out of retirement to help retrieve the Stones and was the one to don a specially created Infinity Gauntlet to kill Thanos once and for all. Following his passing Stark was buried a few days after and the Stark Foundation for the Rehoming of those Disrupted by the Cleanse was created.

For the last year, the world mourned the losses of both Stark, Romanoff and other deceased heroes, such as the synthezoid known as the Vision who was killed by Thanos in 2018 when the Titan stole the Mind Stone from his forehead. Rumors began flying recently, however, when Avenger Wanda Maximoff ( the Scarlet Witch ) appeared to be spotted with a man who resembled the Vision. This set in motion what appears to be a new era in which what we lost has been returned to us. The New Avengers were able to confirm that it was, indeed, the Vision returned by means not yet confirmed. Mutants have been known for their resurrections as of late, but that seemed limited to their nation of Krakoa. It never seemed like something that we’d see in our world at large. Not until recently, that is.

On August 3rd, 2024, President Norman Osborn held a press conference that promised a sign of hope and change. Osborn’s Avengers, known as America’s Avengers, have been received with various degrees of public support. Along with him Osborn brought team member Star, who was recently revealed to be reporter Ripley Ryan. A controversial member, it has been revealed that Ryan possessed the Reality Stone from her home world of Earth-616 in her chest. “I don’t want to dip into the cliché and say that I live to serve,” she stated at the press conference. “but my goal is to be an Avenger for the people, and that means doing everything in my power to make the world a better place. Thankfully, I happen to have a lot of power.” This sentiment was echoed by Osborn, who pointed out that in the past the Avengers had failed as public servants and had instead caused more harm than good. He went on to add, “Instead of trying something futile like banning them once more, we’ve taken a new route. We’re leading by example, making good of our gifts. We’re making America a place you can feel safe and secure in. Consider this the first step.”

The ethics behind President Osborn’s following announcement have already been debated on popular social sites like Twitter as the public weighs on that which was once considered impossible: resurrection. That’s right, folks. You’re hearing it first here from the Daily Bugle that President Norman Osborn along with the help of Star has resurrected Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark. The two were present at the conference and expressed gratitude for their return but remained, for the most part, silent and let Osborn speak. A call to the New Avengers confirmed that they were unaware of the President’s plans or the return of their teammates. We have reached out to Stark’s widow, but so far Ms. Pott’s has been unreachable.

“The last thing we wanted to do was dishonor Stark and Romanoff’s respective sacrifices, but this was a wrong that we knew we could right. Under careful supervision Star was able to achieve a great feat and there’s no ulterior motive or fear that reality will crumble. We’ve  worked with multiversal experts to see what it’s possible to achieve. We also won’t be pushing Iron Man or Black Widow to join America’s Avengers. They’re welcome to rejoin their old team or retire and enjoy the world they helped save. This is the power that heroes who work in the best interest of the people possess. This is a world that we can live in, and America’s Avengers are dedicated to continuing this notion. We hope you accept this offering and remember that we live in a world of possibility.”

As soon as the dust clears the Bugle plans on reaching representatives for Romanoff and Stark to try and get individual statements. Osborn spokeswoman Lily Hollister, who handles statements for America’s Avengers, has promised that more details will soon be revealed and that an exclusive interview with Star will take place. In the meanwhile, sources have reported that Stark and Romanoff have been taken to the New Avengers Compound in Upstate New York to reacclimatize. The Bugle will continue to update the story as it unfolds, but in the meantime we wish the best to our fallen heroes and hope they’re happy to see the world they died to protect. If we live in a world where the dead walk again, what will we become when life is no longer fleeting?

— Ben Urich, Daily Bugle News Senior Reporter

TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN: CAP’S, THOR’S AND MORE. OH MY.

Captain America. Thor. Captain America. Thor. The names are likely to be familiar to anyone who follows the Avengers, but lately things have become a bit convoluted. Following the final battle against Thanos on April 26th, 2023 our beloved Captain America, Steve Rogers, retired and passed the shield off to friend and former Falcon Sam Wilson. In the year since we’ve reported the trajectory of Wilson’s attempt to get his footing as the public pushed back with the unfortunately popular hashtag #NotmyCaptainAmerica. Some have accredited the hesitation to embrace Wilson as Captain American as a racist statement due to Wilson being an African-American man, while others attribute it to an inability to let go of the old and embrace something new. Rogers, meanwhile, has voiced his support for his friend but has remained out of the debate for the most part. Old rumors have placed Rogers and the deceased Romanoff in a romantic relationship, and his withdrawal from the spotlight could be a direct result of her death and the two years he spent on the run as an international fugitive. An issue some have had with Wilson is that appears to be too ‘bipartisan’ to be Captain America, and they prefer the United States Government’s option to #takebacktheshield: John Walker. Walker stated that he was flattered to be considered but doesn’t step on any toes. Still, if Rogers picked Wilson as a replacement he must see something in him that the rest of the us should believe in.

Similarly, there’s a new Thor in town. Although we love Thor Odinson whether he’s rocking long hair or short, he seemed to fall on hard times during the Cleanse and has only recently resurfaced as a hero. In the meanwhile a new blonde, helmeted, Mjölnir wielding Thor has made an appearance. Although dubbed the Mighty Thor by some, public reactions to a female Thor has been mixed as preciously repeated. Despite this she has served as a New Avengers as of late even though it appears that no one knows her true identity. When asked if she had any inclination of who it could be, Asgard’s current King, the Valkyrie, scoffed and stated, “No, but she’s worthy so that must mean something. Asgardia needs the help she can get, and we seem to have a preference for beautiful sparkly blondes.” It not the most illuminating statement, and while it may be concerning that their leader doesn’t even know the name of one of their champions the Asgardian’s need a break after all the sorrow they’ve faced between Thanos and the mutants during the Avengers v X-Men conflict of last year. As for our original Thor, he’s been spotted in both Norway where Asgardia is located and around New York with a very large axe. As it stands we’re not totally sure of the relationship between the two Thor’s and why they share a name, but it only seems like a matter of time before some answers come to light. Some wonder if Thor Odinson will try to take the throne back, especially as reports about the Valkyrie’s drink continue to pop up. Welcome to Earth, Asgardians. Hope you like speculations.

I’m sure everyone has their preference on which Avenger they prefer, but I personally am open to trying something new. After all, we as people aren’t stagnate beings. Some things change and people do as well. It’s natural to see mantle passed from one hero to another as time goes on. Hero work is, in a strange way, a job and sometimes positions need to be filled. Of course, time will only tell how well these new faces hold up against the daunting legacies of those who came before them. If it counts for anything, they have the good luck of this reporter.

— Christine Everhart, Daily Bugle News Senior Reporter

IN OTHER NEWS:

Despite the passing of Kamala’s Law within the last few months, underaged superhero activity has remained at an all time. The black-suited web crawler Spider-man was recently spotted with his team, the Champions, in Brooklyn despite the fact that their teammate, Ms. Marvel, remains at large for her part in a recent incident at Coles Academic High School that left civilians injured. Recently registered underaged heroes include Ghost Spider, the two children of Reed and Susan Richards ( Franklin and Valeria Richards ), Billy Kapplan ( Wiccan ) and Nadia Van Dyne ( the Wasp ). The majority of the public has so far responded positively to the idea of underaged heroes requiring some form of accountability but response from the heroes has been negative. 

Go away, Guardians of the Galaxy! Not really, but most are scratching their heads over the fact that the intergalactic team that consists of aliens, talking trees and raccoons are still residing on Earth a year after Thanos was defeated. Members Rocket Raccoon and Nebula acted as honorary Avengers to help reverse the Snap, and when the Cleanse was undone their teammates Drax the Destroy, Groot, Mantis and Peter Quill ( Star Lord ) were returned to life. They are joined by former Daughter of Thanos Gamora and seem quite comfortable on our planet. Maybe it’s just part of our apparent alien invasion as the Shi’ar, Skrull and Kree still have dignitaries present. Looks like Earth is getting a little crowded!

[topbtcgame2067qo-blog]

Outbreak in Wuhan, The far east | What is the chain group currency circle carrying out? The WeChat community becomes a ``face mask smuggling team'', and main mining device factories turn off because of shutdown

China is currently experiencing the coronavirus pandemic. Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, gifts a scene of a dead city, without people for the streets, closed factory gates, and suspension of currency markets dealings. As this global emergency gets hotter, many People are beginning to be concerned that this may have a negative impact on the cryptocurrency marketplace. However, the price tag on cryptocurrency keeps rising. What have these people in the foreign currency circle completed in this catastrophe? Wuhan pneumonia started to spread in Dec last year, and it also began to intensify in The month of january this year. As the epidemic ongoing to spread, metropolitan areas including Wuhan and Hangzhou have already been closed down in order to control the situation; the Chinese govt has also recently admitted to insufficient supplies and The outside world is requesting help. While main companies donate components, what's the currency group doing? Business Ideas Program Online in the foreign currency circle is changed right into a ��mask smuggling group��. The Decrypt information pointed out that numerous cryptocurrency-related WeChat groups, in addition to posting various busting news, currency company statements, etc., may also charge The field of customer service, and then to transaction articles, project start, cryptocurrency knowledge, etc., supply one-stop information needed by group members. However, because the outbreak of the Wuhan malware outbreak, numerous WeChat groups possess begun to talk about another issue which has never been stated but is more practical in today's situation: "How exactly to smuggle masks and other medical tools?" Related topics: Legendary Investor | Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Fund: A preliminary analysis from the impact of the Wuhan Coronavirus for the global economy Related topic: Are you currently nevertheless in Bitcoin? Right now China has recently changed its trend for shoe-frying - five minutes to comprehend the trend for shoe-frying that developed from the "ICO model" Why smuggle? Judging from the fact that Wuhan and Hangzhou have been closed down one after another, this not merely restricts the access of the populace, but also helps prevent the entrance of daily equipment, including medical products. Because front-line healthcare personnel need to be subjected to high-risk environments for a long time, masks, healthcare caps, surgical dresses and other devices must pass tight inspections of nationwide standards. Although this guarantees the safety of frontline employees, it also can make many resources extremely hard Quickly donate to disaster-stricken families in need through official channels. Therefore, to be able to send out the masks to Wuhan, WeChat grew to become the key. It is documented that a foreign currency investor in Thailand occurred ahead into contact with another mask seller in Thailand, so he was inquired to smuggle the masks from Bangkok to Tokyo and Hangzhou, and then send them all the best way to a medical center in Wuhan. . And all these smuggling processes are usually with the "friends of buddies" in the encrypted currency WeChat group. What's amazing will be that this conduct is like the appearance of the WeChat group that has been a decentralized autonomous organization. The internal people interact for the same goal to create their own efforts; of course, Traders within the cryptocurrency circle nevertheless account for most, but it is actually rare to see such a harmonious scene. Related subjects: Will the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic affect the market? Professional: China is vital towards the cryptocurrency industry, but Bitcoin will be too special Related subjects: Sino-US business war? Or Chinese language New 12 months? The reasoning behind "USDT's continued negative high quality" Along with donations, what else can cryptocurrency businesses do? When SARS broke out in 2003, once the last large-scale epidemic broke out, most families didn't even have broadband Internet access. Smart mobile phones were only just coming out, and there is still quite a distance to go before popularization. On the other hand, the current era of one mobile phone , It also allows us to witness record-breaking online donations through WeChat Spend, Alipay, and remittance, which of course also contains cryptocurrency. As of today, more than 30 blockchain and cryptocurrency companies have launched help programs, like the world's most famous cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, Huobi, Okex, etc. Many companies Choose to contribute in fiat currencies that are familiar to the public, but many companies also increase donations by issuing tokens. And this brings out a long-standing shortcoming of donations-how to monitor the flow of money. Related topics: Milo's stage of watch�UHow to use "blockchain" to resolve the problem of mask supply during the epidemic prevention period? The Red Cross dispute, can the donations and items be delivered to the victims? I believe that the people who are just a little concerned know that the scandals in the charity industry aren't new. In 2011, the Chinese language Red Cross broke out that it had misappropriated donations of kindness to fund Internet celebrities to enjoy a luxurious living; and in this Wuhan pneumonia During the epidemic, a lot of chaos occurred within the donation situation, so the Red Cross, the primary rescue team, has been widely supervised and questioned by the public in this rescue operation. However, for cryptocurrency companies with blockchain traceability technologies, maintaining transparency will be a fairly reasonable requirement. Unfortunately, the distributed ledger technologies (DLT) from the blockchain happens to be difficult to transfer to nongovernmental agencies responsible for disaster relief jobs through basic docking, because many of them do not hold any blockchain system and have not discovered The benefits of blockchain; furthermore, the Chinese govt plays a significant role in materials distribution, but they have not provided substantial support to blockchain donations. With regards to disaster comfort donations, we nevertheless have quite a distance to look, as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Tweets: "Logistics may be the limitation of the physical globe" Doing our small part. Delivery pickup truck for #Wuhan sponsored by @BinanceBCF. With Chinese Web giants donating within the 100m to 1b range, the lack isn't money, but logistics and products. Physical world restrictions. pic.tweets.com/dBeBQ2SNwG - CZ Binance (@cz_binance) The month of january 30, 2020 There is absolutely no doubt the major mining machinery manufacturers affected by the shutdown haven't any doubt that China's economic situation is being strike from the epidemic. Many little and medium-sized corporations have already suffered bankruptcy due to the shutdown of creation lines; in fact, even Apple ( Large multinational companies such as for example Apple are all facing the issue of insufficient output and struggling to execute functions in China because the doors of these factories in Tiongkok are closed. However, these manpower shortages usually do not appear to be a big problem for cryptocurrency miners. Having said that, there is still news that mining machine manufacturers including MicroBT, Bitmain, and Innosilicon possess issued consumer notices stating that they can respond to local governments in Cina. The pandemic turmoil postponed the New Year's holiday and postponed the delivery of mining machine chips; according to miners' speculation, this might cause some minimal problems in equipment maintenance, otherwise the herpes virus would not have the ability to stop mining operations. This might bode well for the competitive financial marketplace, because as long as the miners are usually secure, the cryptocurrency ecosystem will continue to operate. Related subjects: Is definitely China's mining sector, which accounts for 70% of the world, affected by the "Wuhan epidemic"? Miner: The device will not get pneumonia Related subjects: Miners discussion: Will Bitcoin crash following the prize halving or will the price double? Show off? The outbreak from the Wuhan epidemic provides deeply regretted and feared everyone, but this may be a driving force for innovation. When the SARS pathogen broke out in 2003, the web was a fresh tool for many people. At that time, the stations for obtaining information were primarily through TV, telephone, etc. Additionally you had a need to expose yourself to a high-risk environment when buying every day necessities. ; However, it had been someone who saw the huge possible of the Internet at the moment, and this person was the founder of Alibaba Group-Jack Ma. Alibaba was still a software business in the past, and the mark customer group has been also for enterprises; the spread of the SARS epidemic produced Jack Ma realize the need to shop in the home, so he set up the largest e-commerce internet site in China today, Dibao, and afterwards developed Alipay, which played an important part in this particular Wuhan pneumonia, advertised Alibaba internationally and grew to become a model of China's top businesses. Jack Ma furthermore set an "Ali Day time" to commend employees who worked around the clock that year. ?

[machi-kun]

"Iron Man 1 gets quoted so much but are you really telling me that a self-proclaimed genius needed to be directly hurt by his weapons to know that innocent people were hurting over them too? There’s no way to make weapons and be good, there’s no way to make weapons like Jericho and believe that no innocents are being hurt by them. We constantly hear about how he stopped making weapons after Iron Man 1, but he didn’t. (1/6)

He just made weapons for different people. He made Insight for S.H.I.E.L.D., made Ultron for himself, and that’s not to mention the ridiculous amounts of weapons we’re shown in the tower scene in Homecoming, that if he made that weapon for S.H.I.E.L.D. he’s likely to have made others. Tony also pushes the Accords, which are in violation of several human rights, on the Avengers simply because someone walked up to him and said “my son is dead and I blame you”. (2/6)

Imagine having to be told to your face that an American died as a consequence of your ridiculous murder bot so that you care enough to do something about it. Because he knew people had died in Sokovia but did nothing about it until a photo was shoved in his face. There’s no excuse for Tony teaming up with Ross. A man who drove Bruce Banner to attempt suicide. There’s no excuse for Tony restricting Wanda to the compound and calling her “a weapon of mass destruction”. (3/6)

There’s no excuse for him shooting Sam in the chest after Rhodey falls. There’s no excuse for him bribing blackmailing and kidnapping Peter. There’s no excuse for the vicious way in which he attacks Bucky. He never apologizes for Ultron, he says “and then Ultron, my fault” in Civil War and then in Endgame he brings it up and claims he was right, even though Ultron was a disastrous occurrence. (4/6)

He blames Stee for breaking up the Avengers when Tony himself brought the Accords upon them and then pushed Steve away when he chose to help Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Clint, Scott instead of giving up the glory of being a hero. Tony probably only asked Steve to choose between the shield (being Cap) and Bucky (keeping his family, and I mean all of them not just Bucky, safe) because in Iron Man 3 he gets rid the Arc Reactor, symbolically giving up Iron Man for Pepper and then he doesn’t stick to it (5/6)

And he thought Steve would choose the same way. His monologue in the beginning of Endgame was pretty much just Hydra rhetoric, he says “what we needed was a suit of armour around the world whether it impacted your precious freedoms or not”. Our “precious freedoms” are a human right, Tony Stark has no claim to them. Not to mention that a suit of armour around the world would have done jack shit to stop Thanos or the snap.“ Machi, I do not know if I cry or laugh. (6/6)

OH MY GOD. OOOOH MY GOD. OOOOOOHHHH. MYYY. GODDDDDD.

I don’t… Honestly, thank you for sending me this in ask format because I don’t know what I would have done had I seen this on my dash out of nowhere. I honestly can’t imagine what my reaction would’ve been. I’VE REMOVED ANTIS SO EFFICIENTLY NOTHING BUT THE PUREST LOVE FOR TONY STARK CROSSES MY DASH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 

I tend not to interact with antis in any capacity because people who hate a character usually don’t hear to what other people have to say about that character, even if it’s in a calm, polite, and perfectly reasonable manner. My only interactions with antis have been on occasions where they come to me, not the other way around, and that’s why this kind of stuff doesn’t even bother me anymore.

Because I don’t get it. I truly, honestly don’t get their logic. I guess laughing is my pick, because I don’t waste no tears on something like this akdhkajshfkjashfh

Let’s go over this, shall we? For some lighthearted fun. 

The weapons manufacturer argument always sounded weird to me - it sounds like a very standard anti-military speech; Which I could get, if that criticism were ever extended to the other military characters, such as Rhodey, the entirety of SHIELD, and Steve himself. Because… you know… the soldier in super soldier is not just a cool nickname. Steve is also part of this war based system and people seem to be very forgetful of that fact. If you want to be angry about Tony enforcing war indirectly, don’t forget to spare some of that anger of yours for the other characters too! Make sure everyone gets their share! Oh, but Steve only wanted to protect the little guy, you say? Did you fall asleep when Tony says “I saw young Americans killed by the same weapons I build to protect them”? Is the use of the word Americans that bothers them? Enough to ignore everything else this sentence is composed of, including meaning? Also, personal morality aside - Tony is not, in any way, a war criminal or profiteer, as many antis like to put it. He is a legalized, certified weapons manufacturer, and all unlawful use of his weapons seen on screen is caused by Obadiah’s double-dealing. Ever since IM1.

And I can’t wrap my head around getting angry about a character that makes weapons in a universe where aliens are constantly knocking at your door asking if they can blow up your planet! What are you going to fight them with? Please, someone, give me an answer, because I can’t come up with any ideas.

Ultron. Aaaah, I love talking about that garbage of a movie. I also don’t understand why people pin Ultron on Tony as if Tony has intentionally made Ultron evil, when the thing inside the Mind Stone is what makes Ultron sentient, and when Tony builds Ultron with the help of Bruce with the intentions of, and I quote, “not letting the next alien get past the bouncer”. It’s the same speech, “weapons are bad! He made a weapon, so he is bad!”. But again, if weapons are not the things we’re gonna use against aliens, against Thanos, what will we use?! The Infinity Stones? Ultron was made of Infinity Stones! Where is the logic in that! I know, we’ll clock Thanos in the head with a frying pan, that’ll solve the problem akjdaslkfalskf No more weapons, everybody. We’ll just close the doors and windows and pretend we’re not home. Let’s get into a fistfight against Thanos, the huge ass purple alien, when that alien beat the shit out of the Hulk once with no problem! I’m sure that will work out just fine!

But by far, my favorite thing about antis arguments is the use of the Accords as a justification for demonizing Tony, when there is no evidence the Accords are a bad thing! No, for real! Not one! It’s all speculative! I’m sure a lot of people immediately draft comparisons between the Accords and SHRA, but the truth is, they couldn’t be more different! It’s not even that hard to realize this, so long as you’re paying attention to the canon cues. If the Accords where SHRA, Clint would’ve received a copy. So would have Scott, Hank Pym, every single enhanced person in the Agent of SHIELD series, every single superhuman. But they don’t! Only active-duty, currently present Avengers. So it’s not a register of every single individual, only of those who are currently working under Avenger’s jurisdiction. Second, it’s hysterical to me that someone would be angry that Tony is supposedly prioritizing American lives, but is okay with unauthorized American military intervention. Because that’s what the Avengers are! They are a government-endorsed and based paramilitary group, a special unit. It makes sense that they, a specialized team, are sent to deal with alien threats, because no country has a say in the legality of who gets to take the alien to court. So that’s not a problem. But when you go to a country to chase a specific person, a totally human person, without permission and you bring your special ops team with you, destroy some buildings, and then act like you didn’t do anything wrong - that is something people tend not to like, ya know. 

It gets to a point that the hate becomes a total lack of empathy. “It’s not fair that people are acting like Wanda is a threat. It was an accident!”. Had a person I love been in that building, would it matter to me if it was an accident or not? “Clint was fighting for his right to freedom, even if he didn’t read the Accords! He has the right to freedom!”. He sure does. How was his freedom endangered, exactly? By this document he never was prompted to sign? “The Accords are a violation of your right to freedom!”. Are they? Is a person forbidding you from entering their home if they fear you might destroy it, is that an infringement of your right to freedom? Do you have the freedom to go anywhere you please and do whatever you think it’s right, even if it destroys someone else’s property, or wound or kill someone, so long as you did what you had to do? “He has no right to lash out against the people who have murdered his parents or almost killed his best friend! They didn’t mean to!”. Oh, doesn’t he? Is he not allowed this distressed emotional response? Alright then. Where was that rage when Wanda, Toomes, and so many others blamed Tony for the weapons Obadiah sold without Tony’s consent?

I don’t have time for this double-standard. I’m gonna be here sipping on my loving Tony Stark juice and having fun with my complex and well-written faves, while antis marinate in their hate for 25 minutes on low heat. Wake me up when it’s time to kill Thanos with a wooden spoon or with a petition for him to leave. One of the two lksahfakshfskajfhkjsf

[upsmymindwanderedagain]

Story of The Ice Wolf

PART 9.2

OTHER PARTS:

PART 9.1   PART 8   PART 1

WARNINGS: brief imply of child abuse (on the reader), mentions of blood and injuries, mentions of reader being handcuffed/movement restricted.

Hey fellas! here it is part 9.2, I know once again I kind of give spoilers, however if someone has isses regarding the warnings let me now and I can post a version without them.

As always typos, mistakes are on me.

Loki calmly walks close “You sure aren’t that bad Pietro…” the blue eyed sokovian smiles gratefully at him “… you are worse” the Asgardian adds, making Zrinka laugh as Pietro glares daggers at the dark-haired man.

“You knew, didn’t you?” she asks Loki searching for the answer in his bright blue glinting eyes.

He grins broadly “I did, but I was hoping you’d break him with the news” he says as he kisses her knuckles “Congratulation lady Zrinka”.

“Zrin if you ever need a break from the disaster that my twin is, just let us now” Wanda states as she walks towards the woman to give her a mama hen hug.

[Before the trial] On insistence of Tony, you all are assisting the trial with formal clothes, underneath you have the basic attire the usual battle suits though. Loki will be the one keeping your weapons. You are clasping the last buttons of the dark grey dress shirt. Wanda has been disturbingly silent, maybe last night felt more like a goodbye than a promise. You keep your voice soft "Little one?"  Silence is the only answer, she is about to put her blazer, so you move quickly to help her putting it on, a lame excuse to get close to her, she doesn't refuse, so you help her. She does the same for you. When you turn around you see her glassy eyes. "Wan please…"  Her stare becomes hard, is like she is putting on walls around her heart "Don't 'Wan' me right now Y/N. Thor and Loki gave you a chance, you turned it down".  You sigh in defeat, frustration, sadness is a storm of emotions ragging in your heart, but you do your best to keep them in check "Wanda, I could not just run away, that will jeopardize further the image that the people have of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D, that will put YOU and Pietro at risk. "When will you stop playing martyr? When you are actually dead? For all I know, that could be tomorrow, and you are standing right in front of me like nothing is happening!" Her voice turns to almost a whisper "Sometimes you make me think that you are wishing your death" tears had begun to gather in her eyes. You pull her in and wrap her in a firm hug. "My love, there is a plan, unfortunately the situation I'm in goes beyond us, I'm not playing martyr, the rank I had in Hydra played completely against me and the fact that they also got a hold of the other things I did as Wolf before S.H.I.E.L.D". You put distance between your bodies, and gently wipe off her tears, a tear ran down your cheek too. "Fury told me that Salarov revealed several things about my past and family that link me to Hydra in a tight way. Things that I have no idea about" She slowly lifts her gaze "But there is a plan, when Hydra attacks, that will be my chance to prove my loyalty and I will. If everything goes as planned I'll end up being locked up under S.H.I.E.L.D jurisdiction". There’s a split second when you can see doubt and fear taking over her green eyes "And if not?" You school your features, your voice firm and doubtless "Then I'm going away on my own terms". She tries to lower her face, but you halt he cradling her face in your hands. "Little one. Whatever happens… know that you are my greatest love and my biggest joy, I love you with everything I' am. I will always be with you". "I love you too my brave Wolf, with all my heart and soul. I'll wait for you, in this life or the next" Wanda can’t hold back her urges anymore, her hands get attached on the back of your neck pulling you down you harshly kiss you.

That last kiss was a mix of slow soft lip dance and sudden fits of boldness, full of physical channeled love and why not hope.

---

Both make your way to the common room, Wanda walking by your left, your hands tightly intertwined you are doing your best to help her ground and stand strong. Pietro is already in the common room with the rest of the team, Fury and Maria are there too. Upon your entrance you nod towards them in greeting.

Fury steps forward to regard them all “Y/N and Bucky will be escorted by an elite squad. The rest of you will go in your vehicle arrangements, is required that the Avengers arrive first”.

The team takes it’s time showing their support to you and Bucky, with hugs and pats on the shoulder. Fury and Hill standing solemnly aside. The last ones on the room are Wanda, Pietro and Natasha. In all the years you’ve known the redhead woman you’ve never seen her struggling to keep her cool demeanor and calm mask as she is right now.

You have Wanda locked in a tight hug as you cradle her head on your left hand “Wan everything is going to be ok, please… calm down” In the corner of your eye you see Natasha moving away from Bucky’s hold, they share a last kiss before russian walks up to you. Gently you pry Wanda’s arms from you to lock gazes with her “Go with Tasha love, I’ll see you there” she gives you a last kiss before stepping back.

You see the glint of trouble is Natasha’s eyes “Keep your cool cap” she steps in to give you a brief hug, you lean to whisper in her ear “Take care of them Tasha” you feel her tensing up slightly, but she gives you a slight nod. When you let her go, Nat and Wanda walk out.

Pietro walks to you, you try to lift his uncharacteristic sober demeanor “Yes, Piet the Centenario is yours now” his face shifts into a bittersweet smirk “I’ll give that car thousands of times over to avoid see you go through this sistra”.

You give him a lopsided smile “I know brother, but this is the path I built, far better end may I add”.

“We built” he crosses his arms over his chest “I’m still bitter that you took all the blame, we did our part too”.

“You didn’t see that coming huh?” you say with a smug smirk, this time he doesn’t whine about his copyright he just hugs you tight, and you do too.

His voice is barely a whisper his voice almost breaking “Please sistra tell me there’s a way for you to get out of this”.

“There’s a plan silver devil If it doesn’t work you are not taking charge that’s for sure, your sister is” he can’t hold back his snicker “You know I’m the eldest twin, right?” he states smugly.

“Yeah you are also the most impatient, hotheaded and reckless out of the two” you say with a smile “Stay strong brother, now you have a little one in the oven” he laughs holeheartedly at your wording “That little one needs her aunt Wolf to spoil them”.

[Trial] S.H.I.E.L.D elite squad escorted you and Bucky to the trial, at government request you were both handcuffed by the wrists, on top of that, at you arrival to the trial room the military personnel now guarding you put you a collar that sent painful chemical discharges meant to weaken you to submission. On top of that you were put beside the Hydra unit, the five of you were kneeled on a platform before the judge. Salarov and the others were the first to be judged, the Russian sergeant file wasn’t dismissible. Anika and Selene held their fair share of killings, but they had enough with the past two years to be put in the death row. Later was Winter Soldier he was charged for the past two years, having been pardoned for the past 70 years on a previous trial when he got free from Hydra. They left you at the end.

After Bucky kneels again beside you, the judge motions for you to stand up, the military ‘help’ you but is more like they harshly tighten their hold as you stand up.

"The jury never thought that someone will ever reach the Winter Soldier file, and yet here you are surpassing it by far in twelve years". You school your features to show nothing. "Tell us captain Ice Wolf, where and how you grew up". Your voice is simply emotionless "I don't see the point of your request your honor". "I didn't tell you to see the reason Ice Wolf, I gave you an order". You clench your jaw, in other circumstances and a few years back he would be dead. (Stupid judge and his stupid authority). "I grew up in Sokovia. I have no memory of my blood family, the oldest memory I have is me laying on a dirty alleyway beaten, covered in grime and blood, I was seven years old. Wanda Maximoff found me. Wanda and Pietro were six years old, she called their father and they took me in". "What happened to the twin’s parents?". "They were killed by a thief, I was 9 years old they twins were 8". "Your file says that since you were five you took part in illegal fight clubs owned by Hydra. You stopped at eight, went missed two years and returned at ten". Your voice never wavers or show uncertainty "I have no memory of that, the only thing I knew about me was my name and that I could fight and fire guns. I got into the illegal the fight club because we needed the money to eat besides…" your voice gets a mocking taint “your intel is clearly wrong I got into illegal fighting when I was nine years old”. "So you have no idea that your parents were once loyal Hydra members?". This time you can't mask the shock that takes over your face, still your voice doesn’t waver "I have no memory of them. The doctors said that I had a severe concussion even before the beat down of the alleyway". Salarov doesn't miss the chance to chime in "Her parents were killed for treason, they were Hydra’s top assassins, they stole super soldier serum to make her stronger. You weren’t seven Ice Wolf, you were eight and a half years old" He can't suppress a short laugh at your surprised expression "They trained you and took you to fight like a dog, they did a good job, merciless and cold blooded since you were a midget". "Silence Salarov" the judge harshly orders, “How many people did you kill in the fight club?" You grind tightly your jaw before answering "fifteen that I know about". Audible gasps can be heard in the room, and a few "kill her" too, the avengers except Wanda and Pietro seem a little shocked by this reveal, the twins just tighten their intertwined hands, that’s not an good phase to relieve, the jury only see the result, the dead people they don’t give a them of how wounded and broken those fights left you, all that pain for a wad of cash for two or three weeks of food. One last thing to add you "honor" Salarov said, "In her poor defense she is right, she has no memory of her family or training because she was supposed to be dead, the unit we sent to erase her hit her in the head with a electrical charged baton, however at that time we didn't knew how resilient she was". "Is that all?". "Yes, she is dead anyways" Salarov says with a dry laugh, the agents guarding us give him a fair good electrical discharge to silence him.

A realization hits your mind like a freight train (…they were Hydra’s top assassins) the only top assassins are the unit you used to command, four super soldiers a woman and three men, they were completely loyal to Hydra and the best of the best, they are completely bloodlust and unpredictable. You school your features and move that thought aside, right now is no place or time to weep about dysfunctional family background, you glance subtly at the twins, seems like they linked those facts too. "How did you end up in Hydra Ice Wolf?" the judge enquires. You keep a flat, emotionless voice "Three months before the Sokovian civil war a Hydra unit capture us, Wanda and Pietro were experimented on with the tesseract, I was experimented with the super soldier serum, that time we managed to break free, months later Hydra orchestrated the civil war, they were either killing or capturing people for experiments. We joined a group of civilians that tried to repel the attack. We fought a whole month against the constant assaults until one of our missions went wrong, a grenade fell close to Wanda, she wasn't strong enough to shield herself from the explosion using her powers, I ran to her and tried to move us away from it, but the explosion reached us, I took the worst of it. The Hydra unit captured us again and took us to a lab".

“How old were you?”

“Thirteen years old”

“Is that how you end up with half of your body made of metal?” for dramatic purposes the jury projects several pictures that show the extension of the metal and the atrophic scar tissue, you glare death at him, your jaw muscles visibly tightening, you don’t need to turn around to see the twins glaring death at the judge too, those pictures are not supposed to be shown.

“Yes” you emotionlessly answer.

Several people in the room as witnesses and even some in the jury gasp in surprise due to your age reveal, you can see some of them losing a few shades of color when they see the pictures, those images aren’t a beach sunset. The screen is turn off as the judge begins to speak again "Your file says that since the beginning you did Hydra's will. You were loyal and a precise partner for the Winter Soldier until he broke free, later you left for S.H.I.E.L.D taking the twins with you". "Is that all it says? You enquire with full mockery in your tone, “because I remember long painful torture sessions until they exchanged the twins lives for loyalty" you say with a stern scowl on your face. The interrogation went on, Hydra find out about the other activities that you did behind their back, Salarov spit it all, from drug dealing, espionage, illegal fighting, gun traffic and mercenary days. They blew off the cover of the ‘Sokovian Ghost’ too one of the most feared and coldblooded mobs in that side of the globe, at least they didn’t call out your illegal partner Zemo. After everything was revealed, it was safe to say that you were royally fucked up.  The judge called for a break, so the jury could come up with the final decision. The Dark angel was the first to break the silence "Hey Ice Wolf how does it feel to be grilled in front of your girl and former team?” she says sending a wink. You give her no answer, and stick to stare into the unknown. "Come on Wolf say something" she nudges your right side, you glare at her. "Shut up" the guard behind us growls. "Ice Wolf, break us free" Salarov orders. The guards behind us immediately tense and draw their weapons to our heads. Wanda’s panicked voice fills your head ("Y/N!, what's going on?"). ("Salarov is ordering me to break them free. They have planned something. Tell the others to stay sharp"). ("I will. You know, is not easy to see you kneeled with them") you briefly lock gazes with the twins, Pietro is protectively hovering over Wanda, they are good at hiding their emotions but you can read them like an open book, they are worried sick the things you did under the other alias were meant to be buried but Salarov spit everything, at least they didn’t got involved, everything was presented framing you as a cold, heartless monster (maybe that’s what I am). You try hard not let them see the uncertainty that is creeping in your heart and mind (I’m so fucked). Bucky and you we are scanning the room for hidden agents, the room is free from Hydra, however there are other agents, but you can't figure out who are they or who they work for. After another while the judge returns, the noise that was previously filling the room dies under the sound of his gavel "The jury has reached a decision".  "Winter Soldier" the guards haul up Bucky. “James Buchannan Barnes, due to the antecedents with Hydra and the history serving this country the jury sentence you to five years of domestic jail. You can't leave the Avengers Tower or compound unless it is for a mission, and you will have a tracker". The guards proceed to take off the chains and collar off him. You see the team exhaling in a short relief, now the chance of you getting out of this are better.  You turn to look at him and give him a slight nod, he walks down the podium and goes beside the others, standing close to Nat, their hands brushing. "Captain Ice Wolf" the use of your Hydra rank, makes doubt creep in your heart, needless to say, the guards haul you up harshly and someone increases the amount of chemicals running in through the collar, you internally wince without a making a sound (Assholes). "Captain Ice Wolf, you lived eight years on the disguise of lower ranked Hydra agent with the code name Wolf, however that and the other alias behold records that are as bad as the Ice Wolf, you claim yourself as a Hydra victim, and yet you've been related to Hydra since birth your parents were Hydra loyal killers, you served their ranks willingly and took advantage of that…" As the judge goes on the avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D members in the court tense up "… The jury finds your loyalty situation unclear, they don't see reliable that you were brainwashed this past two years giving your previous willingness and ruthlessness you showed in your time working for Hydra, due to your crimes this past two years, your now revealed files, the history and rank as a Hydra, Captain Ice Wolf you are sentenced to death". "This is unacceptable!" Tony is the first to shout outraged as he stands up "the Avengers don't accept the sentence over Y/N" he says almost growling, Steve is now standing too, nodding at Starks statement. "Mr. Stark, captain Rogers I will advise you only once that you and your group stay out of this, otherwise you all will be accused of treason, you were sheltering a Hydra high ranked member, that as far as we  know is an spy". "You can't..." Tony tries to defend you but you cut him off "Stark! don't" you growl at him, he shifts his gaze towards you, he is certainly shocked this was not the plan at all. He tries to go on but you only glare at him (something is wrong). You shift you gaze and notice the secretary of defense in the crowd the joyous glint in his eyes sells him off (son of a bitch) this whole situation was planned. You square your shoulders to muster as much arrogance as you can "Your ‘honor’, I have four conditions". "Captain Ice Wolf, you are not in place to make conditions" he flatly states. "That's where you are wrong” you hiss at him “The past ten years I've been loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers, I've given them everything I knew about Hydra…” you briefly eye the secretary, his eyes shine like he just won the jackpot “…I've done everything to keep the civilians safe even putting myself in harm’s way to do so. Two weeks ago, instead of running away I stayed and fought to capture this Hydra unit and I willingly gave myself up". He sets his jaw but relents. "Go ahead, I will hear them out". What you didn't see was the general faintly nodding to the judge. "First condition, upon my dead all the vibranium bionic parts are given to either king T'achalla or Tony Stark. Second, my corpse is given to S.H.I.E.L.D to dismantle and dispose. Third, I put the bullet on their heads" you sneer gesturing with your head towards Salarov, he sets a death glare on you, your rivalry and spite with him never ends. "The fourth one?" the judge enquires with annoyance on his voice. You turn my set the judge on a emotionless and cold gaze "I put the bullet on my head". With that the general of the army harshly stands up. "We won't accept that! They die under the fire of my men, Hydra do not deserve that honor" (Son of a bitch, he planned it). While the judge slowly stands, the two guards behind you kick you in the back of your knees but you stand your ground, they give you an electrical discharge making you kneel. "I concede the first two. But I deny the rest". When you try to stand up in an anger fit the guards push you down with gun barrels on your head. You could scape but that would be a mess. "The kill order is set at dawn, we won't waste more resources in four criminals. S.H.I.E.L.D you no longer have jurisdiction over them, the military is taking them" He states at Coulson, Maria is already walking out of the room, talking to someone on the phone. The guards hold you at gun point and haul you up. This time two soldiers stand by our side clasping bars to each side of the collar; the front handcuffs are secured to your body by chains and they put you on a muzzle. ("Y/N! was this your plan?!") Wanda cries out desperately in your head. Your voice is low and soft even in your mind. ("No, the plan was the jury giving me the same sentence as Buck… I'm so, so sorry my love. Tell Fury this was set up by the secretary of defense”).

-- The army escort you out of the room, reporters and civilians surround the halls. Some of them insulting and others asking for your release. In the corner of your left eye you see a fifteen-year-old girl running towards you, she breaks through the reporters and runs to you screaming "Wait! You can't do this!". The soldiers react pointing her guns at her, but you are faster, pulling the soldiers like ragdolls, you turn around to use your body as shield between her and the barrels. "What the fuck is wrong with you soldiers! She is a kid! Put your damned guns down" your voice is a little muffled by the muzzle but your rage is clear. The soldiers seem reason and lower their guns. "I will turn around" you announce, the soldiers nod. You barely turn around when you feel her hugging you tight.

"Y/N what’s going on? Why are they taking you away?" she says between cries. You voice is soft and unfortunately a little muffled by the muzzle "Kiddo what you did was reckless" (how I wish I could hold her). "They sentenced me guilty, you have to let me go". You feel her panic "No! That's not fair you have saved many people, you-you got hurt saving me" you feel her tears soaking through the clothes, you sigh in frustration "I'm sorry kid there's nothing you can do". You don't need to look out too much to see Wanda and Pietro approaching. "Soldiers, the twins are getting close to take the kid away" at your words you feel her tightening her arms. The soldiers nod their permission, the twins pry away the kid, she clings to Wanda (Good job Y/N other one hurt due to your stupidity). ("Babe What do I tell her?"). ("Little one, tell her the truth"). Wanda answer is a soft peck on your forehead, Pietro half hugs you. The three of you briefly join your foreheads (“Stay sharp something is going on”). You feel the cold steel of gun barrel and the click of a third safety off in the back of your head "Move Ice Wolf, we don't have all day" You feel rage building up inside your heart, have no other option but comply.

You walk ahead with your forehead high, they framed you as a monster but they just saw the surface of all this past years, you have many regrets but you are not ashamed of who you have become, you aren’t Hydra’s puppet anymore. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D gather at the court entrance. When the group of sentenced and custodies were some feet away from the military trucks, with no warning an explosion blows off the vehicles. Pushing you off a couple of feet back to the ground. The noise is a little odd by the ringing on your ears, but you can hear a reporter scream "Hydra!” before the gun shots begin, it doesn’t take you to long to realize that is not just Hydra. You are still lying on the ground when you hear the shackles and collar short circuiting; no doubt Tony overran the code. You feel dizzy and dazzled, the force of the explosion hit you full force due to the chemicals running in your veins, you barely have time to snatch a hand gun from the soldier on your right, still lying on the ground you start shooting down the assailants. Everyone jumps to action to keep the civilians safe.  You kick up off the grown with a swift move landing on a low crunch, using all the strength you can muster on your weakened state you break off the handcuffs, rip off the damn collar and muzzle, you feel faint trails of blood running down your neck, the soldiers rise as well, and together you start shooting down Hydra goons.  Without taking your eyes off the enemies popping out and still fairing the gun, you shout "Who is in charge?!". "I ‘am, sergeant Knox" he is standing on your left automatic weapon going off shooting down attackers. You shout towards him "Do you have a plan B?". He briefly takes his eyes off the enemy "An extraction truck is coming in, we are moving south". "I'll cover you, give me one of those" you say signaling the automatic gun. He hesitates, "Sergeant I am your best choice, I will cover you, after this is settled I will give in myself again (like hell I will). Just make sure they don't get loose". He locks gazes with you and hands you his automatic rifle and two extra clips "Company let's go!". They move on first, you advance with your back towards them, while as you are shooting you feel a rush of air pass you by a blue blur the evidence that was Pietro, a com is now on your left ear. You waste no time and update Steve on the plan *Cap the military is moving south the cargo for extraction, I'm backing them up, I could use some help*. *Hold on tight Wolf Hydra is swamping us with shooters, we are covering the civilians* he says between the sound of bullets bouncing off his steel shield.

You grind your jaw, the shit they injected you will make this more complicated *Guys stay sharp those guns aren’t just Hydra*

A/N:

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I know 9.2 is a little short but between 9.1 + 9.2 we have around 6k+ words. 

My head keeps working around the story, actually I have written how the reader and the twins joins S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers and also, I have bits for a prequel before Hydra and how they became Hydra’s ghosts. Will you guys be interested in these story arcs? coment here or send me inbox/ask. Worry not, we still have road ahead with this story arc.

[rainybirdsweets]

Sports Wear: Between Fashion, Innovation and Sustainability

Sport is an important part of many people’s lives—as both recreation and entertainment. It is also a sizeable industry with political and economic ramifications in today’s world. Within the last half-century or so, sports wear has become a driving force for new trends in fashion and for textile innovation. This special issue of Fashion Practice was inspired by the “Spandex to Sportstech—Fashion and Innovation in Sportswear” conference, organized in 2011 by guest editor Mette Bielefeldt Bruun at the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen.

The stated purpose of Fashion Practice is to provide a site for multidisciplinary treatments of the practices of fashion. “Spandex to Sportstech” was designed as a cross-disciplinary forum for renewed consideration of functional, social, aesthetic and environmental issues connected with sportswear, and some of the papers presented here are rooted in original conference contributions. This journal issue is truly cross-disciplinary, beginning with fashion history, represented by Michael A. Langkj?r with “Urban Fitness, Gendered Practices, and Fine Art: The Significance of Antonio Lopez’s Sporty Styling of Fashion” and moving on to the sportswear industry itself with its brands and markets, represented by Kristine Holm-Jensen with “Specialized in Sportswear: Transformations of the Generic Knitwear Industry in Post-War Denmark.” Several articles then consider fiber and textile technologies and their design applications. Jane McCann leads this group with her “Sportswear Design for the Active Ageing.” McCann is followed by Deborah A. Christel and Nicole H. O’Donnell with “Assessment of Women’s Plus-Size Swimwear for Industry Applications.” Alicia Potuck, Sarah Meyers, Ariana Levitt, Erik Beaudette, Hong Xiao, C. C. Chu, and Huiju Park complete the group with their “Development of Thermochromic Pigment Based Sportswear for Detection of Physical Exhaustion.” In “What’s the Problem? Odor-control and the Smell of Sweat in Sportswear,” Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Madeline Buck, Kirsi Laitala and Marit Kjeldsberg look at how fiber technologies connect with our social values associated with body odor and its suppression; in doing so, Klepp et al. also mention the issue of sustainability. A forthright appraisal of the problem of sustainability within the sportswear industry is given by an industry representative to Lena Erdnü? in “A Perspective on Sustainability Initiatives of a Swedish Outdoor Brand: An Interview with Lennart Ekberg from Hagl?fs.” Finally, Lauren Downing Peters has contributed a review of the Museum of the City of New York’s 2013 exhibition: “Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced.”

A 'tool to empower': The evolution of women's sportswear

Before the advent of designer activewear, women's sports wear ranked low on the list of fashion priorities. But a new exhibition demonstrates that sporting attire has long been a valuable tool for self-expression and an important path towards greater liberation."Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960" includes about 65 ensembles from mainland Europe, the UK, and the US, ranging from Victorian hunting dresses and couture-level leisure wear to tailor-made team uniforms. Organized by the FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and the American Federation of Arts, the show opens at the Frick Art Museum in Pittsburgh on July 3, before touring nationwide through 2024.

Design innovationGarments from the early 1800s are tailored to strolling in parks, gardening, and ice skating -- easy, acceptable activities for women propelled outside by an interest in horticulture, health and fresh air.

The idea of a woman exerting herself was still taboo: In 1806, an article in the popular British magazine La Belle Assemblée, excerpted in the show's comprehensive catalog, warned that, "the constitution of women is adapted only to moderate exercise; their feeble arms cannot perform work too laborious and too long continued, and the graces cannot be reconciled with fatigue and sun-burning."

That's the outlook for men's sports wear as the fall wholesale buying season gets under way this week. And while merchants and manufacturers have been expressing their traditional optimism as the new lines open, the unknown factors resulting from President Nixon's economic stabilization program have brought a modicum of caution to the trade.

Consumer spending for men's and boys’ apparel amounted to approximately $16‐billion last year, with sportswear a major but undefinable percentage of the total. What is even more significant, however, is that while production of a number of other categories of men's wear, such as suits and dress shirts, declined during the year, sportswear manufacturing was greater in 1971 than ever before.

And while statistics on the sportswear category are not collected by any government agency or trade association, conversations with retailers last week indicated that 1971's volume advances would he continued at the same rapid pace in 1972.

WHY ARE SPORTS BRAS IMPORTANT

Physical activity makes breasts bounce up, down and even in a figure-eight. Continuous and repetitive movements can result in soreness, pain and sagging.

Women's sports bra is made to reduce this movement. Breasts have no muscle, yet without proper support, the skin and Cooper's ligaments (ligaments near the breast which give them their size and shape) can break down and cause sagging. Once your Cooper's ligaments stretch out, they do not bounce back.

It doesn't matter what size breasts you have, everyone experiences bouncing during physical activity. Therefore, every woman, no matter what size she is, should wear a sports bra while running or exercising.

TYPES OF SPORTS BRAS

Compression bras work the way they sound, by compressing breasts against the chest to restrict movement.

Encapsulation bras have individual cups. Each cup surrounds and supports each breast. Most regular bras are encapsulation bras and have no compression.

Combination compression/encapsulation bras combine compression with individual cups and offer the most support.

Bra tanks, also known as shimmels, are tank tops with a built-in shelf bra. These are okay for low impact activities, but not for running.

Finally, there are differences in straps. Spaghetti straps provide less support than wider straps. Racer-back straps are more supportive than both spaghetti and scoop back.

FITTING A SPORTS BRA

You want a sports bra that fits well, both in the band and cups. Overall, your sports bra should feel a bit tighter than a regular bra, however, you should be able to breathe deeply and comfortably. Hook it in the middle and take some deep breaths. Is this comfortable? Good. It should be.

The band shouldn't move. It should fit snugly and comfortably. Raise your hands above your head. Did the elastic band move? If it crept up your rib cage, try a smaller band. If the bra has straps, try adjusting them.

Your breasts shouldn't bulge, pay close attention to any bulging at the top or by the underarm. Furthermore, the cups shouldn't have any wrinkles or gaps. If the cup fabric is wrinkled, try a smaller size.

Make sure there is nothing rubbing or chafing around the armholes, straps, seams, hooks, clasps or anything else. Many sports bras offer adjustable straps. Adjust them to feel supportive, yet not uncomfortable. Furthermore, make sure the straps aren't digging into your shoulders.

Underwires are supposed to sit flat on your ribs, not on your breasts. The front (between the wire) should be against your chest bone.

Luckily, most newer sports bras use high-tech fabrics, including moisture wicking. This can improve breathability and help remove excess moisture from sweat which can cause chafing. Cotton bras will stay wet, this can lead to uncomfortable skin irritations.

For the last step, jump up and down, jog in place, do jumping jacks. If it feels supportive, you're set! If not, keep looking.

How Sportswear Took Over Your Wardrobe

“Sportswear as casualwear is essentially a preppy invention – the carryover from hearty WASP athletic pursuits which gave us the likes of the sweatshirt, sweatpants and letterman jacket,” says Josh Sims, author of books such as Men of Style. “Sportswear was appreciated for being tough and practical.” Like military uniform, that other stalwart of menswear, mens sportswear set has long been valued for the rugged characteristics it both possesses in itself and indicates in its wearer. And in sport, like war, competition results in game-changing technological breakthroughs. What we wear on the fields of battle and play has advanced more dramatically than what we wear elsewhere. If sportswear is at the cutting edge of fashion right now, that’s because – in technical terms – it always has been. The current, unprecedented sportswear boom though can also be seen as a pendulum swing away from the hashtag-menswear sartorialism that followed the economic downturn and increased competition for jobs – coinciding with the 2007 airing of Mad Men. As employment rose again, so did jobs that didn’t impose traditional dress codes and a social media-fuelled emphasis on individual creativity.Then there’s the swelling fashionability of fitness, which has given us a legitimate excuse to wear sportswear outside the gym beyond comfort and sheer laziness. Instead of spending valuable time fastidiously parting our hair and folding our pocket squares, we’re throwing on hoodies and baseball caps. And if you’re running around town all day, it makes sense to wear shoes designed specifically for marathons. It’s arguably the luxury sector that’s setting the pace. Streetwear designers like Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga and Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton are running the show(s), elevating previously utilitarian sportswear to the very height of fashion. T-shirts, down jackets and sneakers, which grew by 25%, 15% and 10% respectively, were “standout categories” in the 2017 Bain Luxury Study. With its links to skateboarding, surfing and other sports, you could argue that streetwear – whatever that loaded term means – essentially is sportswear. “I’m not sure streetwear is the dominant mode, if you’re talking urban, hip-hop-driven streetwear,” contends Sims. “It’s sportswear with graphics, in effect. “There’s not much original design in streetwear – unlike sportswear, then and now – and what there is tends to be driven by – ta-da – sport.”

[tkmedia]

Let’s embrace The Gareth Way before Southgate-mania wanes

Johnny Nic ponders what’s so great about Gareth while recognising that one day, the tide will turn against Southgate. It always does… Who’s this then? Gareth Southgate (always Gareth, never Gary) is a six-foot-tall former centre-half for Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. He played 638 club games and scored 35 goals, as well as gaining 57 caps for England. His playing career lasted from 1990 to 2006. At Palace he was a right-back and a midfielder before settling into the centre-half role and became club captain in 1993, leading the side to win the second tier, stupidly called the First Division at the time. When they got relegated in 1995, after 191 games and five years, he moved to Aston Villa for £2.5 million, for a further six years, winning the League Cup in his first season there. His move to Middlesbrough in 2001 cost the club £6.5 million for the 31-year-old. He replaced Paul Ince as Boro captain and led the club to its first major silverware (if we are not to count the Anglo-Scottish Cup and the Kirin Cup as such) by winning the League Cup in 2004 and, after a remarkable campaign, being runners-up in the 2005-06 UEFA Cup, a position they achieved by losing one leg of each two-leg knockout game. In the semi-final beating of Steaua Bucharest, coming back from four goals down on aggregate, he was taken off injured after less than 20 minutes however, he is widely credited for giving the half-time speech to the side that inspired a massive comeback and amazing 4-3 aggregate victory, as boss Steve McClaren stood by and looked on in that way he has. When he took over from McClaren as manager of Middlesbrough, at a time of major financial restriction, he led them to 12th and 13th-place finishes before being relegated in his third season. When the club was one point off the top of the Championship, and lying fourth in the table, he was sacked in October 2009. And that was the last we thought we’d probably hear from him. That he’d end up as a successful England manager was not on anyone’s radar at all. He ducked out of football for fully four years, before returning as boss of England Under-21s replacing Stuart Pearce. He won the Toulon Tournament in 2016 with them and his record shows in 37 games, he only lost five. When Sam Allaradyce got involved in what we must call Wine-gate, he stepped in on a temporary basis to run the England side, passed the audition and has been there ever since 2016, leading the team to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championships final. Everything eventually came up Gareth. His win ratio is currently 63 per cent only behind Fabio Capello who tops that list with 66 per cent, so make of it what you will, and Allardyce who, the records show, has 100 per cent win ratio after winning his only game in charge. A stat I’m sure he’s keen to let everyone know about. He made his England debut under Terry Venables (47 per cent win ratio), missed THAT penalty, took part in a famous pizza advert and was recognised as an all-round, self-deprecating good guy. Even so, that he bestrides the national game as a veritable, if modest, colossus is somewhat surprising and one of recent years’ most cheering developments. Johnny Nic: Gareth Southgate is evaporating England cynicism every day Why the love? First, he was a very good defender and had a decent turn of pace but above all, excellent reading of the game, fearless in the tackle and a good organiser. The fact he was the club captain for the majority of his career suggests that he has always had leadership qualities. However, being a leader in the early 90s is a different task to being one in 2021. So he must’ve grown and evolved his skills over the years to fit in with the changing culture of the game, the expansion of his learning and understanding is one of the best things about his tenure to date. He’s not trying to pretend he’s a football sage, just someone who’s done some research, thought deeply about the game and understands the importance of psychology in making good players play well. Many love this about him. That he treats the job like an intelligent person and not some shouty blowhard, feels like a win for common sense and brains. Obviously, this is also what some really dislike and those people refuse to get with the Gareth programme of being inclusive and pleasant. He’s not what a certain type thinks should be an England manager, which is basically a flatulent bulldog in a Flag of St George waistcoat. But at this moment, Gareth is riding high amongst the majority of England fans for reviving the national team’s fortunes. Acres and acres has been written about how he’s done this, so I won’t go over it all again here but instead will point out that there is a good argument to say an element of over-the-top love of Gareth, right now, that is teetering on fetishisation of him. This happens a lot in modern media and I think I’m as guilty of it as anyone of indulging in it A person becomes the repository of everyone’s faith and hope, the future: our saviour. We all sing songs about him, laud his every move, his dress sense, even. The Gareth Way becomes A Thing and The Only Way. This in turn ensures he will eventually let everyone down because he is, after all, just a normal fella, and as such, liable to get stuff wrong. It’s not hard to see those murals defaced after a 2-0 home defeat to Hungary in October. When you’re put on a pedestal, there’s only one way to go. Now there are murals of him on walls, this seems almost inevitable and we need to remind ourselves that quiet revolutionary he may be, but he’s as liable to screw up as anyone is. The man himself will already know this well enough, of course. Politicians are now falling over themselves to get on board the Gareth train, even though, a few months ago many couldn’t have picked him out of a line-up and just a few weeks ago, disparaging his lead in taking the knee, as gesture politics. This was, as David Conn put it so well ‘playing on perceived prejudices to foment division’. Which is shocking enough, but he goes on, ‘One senior football figure told me there was “deep outrage” in the game about Johnson and Patel backing the fans who booed England players taking a knee, describing it as “the deepest insult”, evoking the most shameful period of racism in football. For the first time, a government saw an advantage for itself from siding with racists rather than supporting those who have worked for decades to kick racism out.’ Of course, Gareth has seen all of this bilious sh*t since the start of his career at Crystal Palace, seeing the attitudes towards Mark Bright and Ian Wright. Like any decent man, this surely must have informed his recent positions. At Palace team-mates actually thought he was posh. Is anyone from Watford posh? And they also thought he spoke like Denis Norden hence the ‘Nord’ nickname, which is even more bizarre because he doesn’t sound like Denis Norden and I’m fairly sure didn’t walk around Palace with a clipboard making acerbic comments. It was always a case of still waters running deep with Gareth, I think, and football then and largely now, was hardly the place to be expressing any degree of sensitivity. That was weak. Now, it is rightly seen as a strength. His ascent to the current pinnacle started at Middlesbrough. His time there is often painted by critics as disastrous but it wasn’t. As stated, he led them to two mid-table finishes and then got relegated. This is seen by his critics as proof of his limitations but wiser heads have pointed to the fact that you only learn from your mistakes and from adversity and thus he returned a wiser man and at just the right time. St George’s Park was coming on stream, and lots of good young players began to emerge. But this was a different generation of players. Shouting at them was not working, giving them confidence to express their own talent very much was. He worked for ITV as a co-commentator in the 2006 World Cup and, post-Boro again in 2010. Clive Tyldesley, who he worked with, has reported him as being a tremendous chap who was great to work. The two struck up a friendship that lasts to this day. When took over England in 2016, the old-fashioned view about him still predominated. He was too soft. He didn’t have the gravitas, the heft, to be an England manager. Couldn’t open a jar of pickled onions. He was out of his depth. None of this proved to be true, even though at first he seemed to doubt his own suitability to the role. He has grown and learned on the job, and taken his players with him on the journey. He understood from the start that you needed a strong team of support staff around him. His revolution has been quiet and undemonstrative. The very opposite of grandstanding; all content with little show. And this has worked perfectly in the modern environment. I’m sure he’d be the first to say that he still has much to learn. At 50 he’s got a long managerial career ahead of him if he wants. With a semi-final and a final in the bag already, he’s got a high standard to maintain and while the team looks to have quality in depth, football is an ornery sport that can sit up and bite you at any moment. Just when you think you’ve got it all sorted is the moment it all falls apart. So his position, though secure at the moment, would, as I say, not take long to be cut down. Everybody loves… Emma Hayes | Jimmy Greaves | David Seaman | Alan Shearer What the people say Not a massive postbag this week. Maybe everyone is looking away, taking a post-tournament breather, or maybe people are all-Garethed-out. My missus, a Geordie and not prone to dress up anything in flowery language, says of our man, “He’s the sort of lad you’d fancy because he’s just so nice. Just being nice is massively underrated when it comes to making someone f*ckable”. So with that in mind… – He’s so thoroughly likeable and decent that he makes me want England to win…and I’m Irish. – Nothing about him worries me. We should have realised he was special when Harry Hill immortalised him with the Gareth Southgate Badger character on his Channel 4 show in the late 90’s. pic.twitter.com/hfp6EC3wsx — David W Poole (@DavidWPoole73) July 16, 2021 – Like the way that despite having had an impressive career as a player he has stayed well away from the ‘Proper Football Man’ nonsense that so often imbues English ex players. – He’s a lucky manager. Which is half the battle. – Where to begin… Calm, measured, articulate, instantly likeable. He’s tactically more savvy than he’s often given credit for, as well, although maybe a touch conservative. He’s built something special with his England players, and they clearly trust and respect him enormously. I really like him. More than any England manager in my life, I’d say. He’s just so dignified, and that’s dead important isn’t it? I worry the media will eventually bury him. Maybe there’s a shout for him to go before they do, but that would be a huge loss for us. – One of few football managers you could imagine being successful as an office manager, sympathetically coaxing a team member through a performance review and agreeing some targets for the next quarter. Treats the England players like emotionally intelligent adults, supports them on and off the field. It’s telling there were no grumbles from star players left out of the team during the tournament – I like Ray Parlour’s story about him when he became Boro manager. Southgate instructed the players that as he was now manager they were to call him ‘gaffer’ and not Gareth, Gaz etc as they had done when he was simply a team mate. ‘What about big nose?’ asked Parlour. Not sure if Parlour made many appearances in his final season at Boro after that. Great bloke and a thoroughly decent human being Southgate – I think he was dealt a bum deal by Boro in the end and we ended up with Strachan, possibly the worst manager in living memory as a result. – His management style is changing football culture. For a number of reasons it seems entirely inconceivable a manager like Sam Allardyce would go on a network like GB News and support players’ anti-racism campaigning in previous eras. Most of the clip is the aftermath, but gotta respect his “tackle” on Roy Keane!https://t.co/PUBkohLx3n — Mark Lewis (@SankeySinner) July 16, 2021 – At his very core he’s a thoroughly decent man; something that has been missing from leaders in Britain for quite some time. Three great moments Our man was the manager the day Boro beat Manchester City 8-1 – and City were lucky to get one. Even Afonso Alves scored. The famous pizza advert. He regretted it but it’s still funny. Mind, that’s not a proper pizza, that’s a weird, greasy, vegetable and cheese flan, isn’t it? If I was Italy, I’d sue… And he could score a toe poke with the best of them… Future days How long will he manage England for? It’s hard to predict but it seems certain he’ll take them to Qatar as it’s only 18 months away. After that it’s only 18 more months until the next Euros. After two World Cups and two Euros, maybe he’ll feel it’s time to move on from a very intense job There is no pressure on him from the media right now, something that annoys those who take against him. That derives from firstly, there being no obvious replacement candidate for the press to pally up to and push, but also because he’s played the press very well. He’s made players be more available and in less formal situations. He’s anticipated what they will be asked and what “the boys” might want well in advance of the fact and thus planned how to deal with them. I often see press guys saying what great access they get to England players and how Gareth is so good with them. Of course he’s played them and engineered the situation to be like that so as to avoid being subjected to the vagaries of fashion and commercial interests that dictate newspapers agendas, as much as possible. But we all know that knives can be sharpened very quickly. None more so than Southgate himself. It is hard to see him managing a club again, for some reason. While offers will surely arrive, I feel there remains a scepticism about him at the highest level. This would evaporate if he won a trophy for England I’m sure, but even so, you don’t want to be stepping down from England to have to go and manage West Ham or Palace. This may just be a failure of my imagination but I think post-England he’ll take an extended break and then go back into the game in a more advisory role. He doesn’t seem the sort to wear the mohair coat on a cold, sleety January night, away to Port Vale in the cup, it would, inevitably, feel like a come down from taking the national side to major tournaments. He’s already made his mark on English football history. He has nothing to prove to anyone and anyone who thinks he has, he’ll never be able to convince. We all have much to thank him for, not least lifting the mood around the England side which had been entrenched in depression and division for so damn long. Is it a permanent change or will it last only as long as the manager does? Time will tell but the typical. FA policy of appointing the opposite of the recently departed incumbent suggests this is but a blip. In which case, suck it all in, breathe in the Garethness of the current situation for it may be over sooner than we’d like and then, well, who knows? Read the full article

[douchebagbrainwaves]

HERE'S WHAT I JUST REALIZED ABOUT ADVICE

Would it be so bad to add a new application to my list of known time sinks: Firefox. If you consider exclamation points as constituents, for example: after the founders graduated from college, they borrowed $15,000 from their friend's rich uncle, who they give 5% of the company in restricted stock, vesting over four years, and the living expenses of the founders quits. And I don't think there's any limit to the number of startups per capita is probably a 20th of what it might have been.1 I'd sacrifice a large percentage of the income for the extra peace of mind. And it only does a fraction of them.2 9998 Subject free 0.3 Ask anyone who's done it. Their unconscious mind decides for them, it's a vote of no confidence. Some angel investors join together in syndicates.

An optimism shield has to be tuned just right. How do you learn it? The best way to explain how it all works is to follow the case of a hypothetical very fortunate startup as it shifts gears through successive rounds. And while startup hubs are as powerful magnets as ever, the increasing cheapness of web startups will if anything increase the importance of startup hubs, but the title of one: James Salter's Burning the Days. You're not all playing a zero-sum game. Fortunately there's someone you can ask each for advice about the other. But perhaps worst of all, the complex sentences and fancy words give you, the bullshit that sneaks into your life by tricking you is no one's fault but your own. 8 books to choose from, the quantity would definitely seem limited, no matter how finished you thought it was. The most dangerous thing about our dislike of schleps is that much of it is unconscious. Few legal documents are created from scratch.4 Err on the side while working on their day jobs, but which never got anywhere and was gradually abandoned.

The angel deal takes two weeks to close, so you start to lie to yourself. The effort that goes into looking productive is not merely that it's longer. There are theoretical arguments for giving these two tokens substantially different probabilities Pantel and Lin stemmed the tokens, meaning they reduced e. Promising new startups are often discovered by developers. It's not what they originally set out to do—in the process of innovation. After my mother died, I wished I'd spent more time with her. Of course, looking at multiple token sequences would catch it easily.5

So verbs with initial caps have higher spam probabilities than they would in all lowercase. No one proposes that there's some limit to the number of people who want to work for them. A month later, at the end of month six, the system is starting to have a new kind of stock representing the total pool of companies they were managing. If anything major is broken—if they sense you're ambivalent, they won't give you much attention. 7 uncle 50 4. What would be a good heuristic for product design, and others where it would help to be rapacious is when growth depends on that. 5 million from angels without ever accepting vesting, largely because we were so inexperienced that we were appalled at the idea.

Partly the reason deals seem to fall through so often is that you know you're making something at least one has to make money.6 The danger of the second paragraph is not merely annoying; the prickly attitude of these posers can actually slow the process of innovation. Indeed, the whole concept seemed foreign to them. What's wrong with having one founder, like Oracle, usually turn out to be good, because it was some project a couple guys started on the side.7 Founders at Work. We have three general suggestions about hiring: a don't do it if you let them. For example, everyone I've talked to while writing this essay felt the same about English classes—that anything can be interesting if you get deeply enough into it. But what if your manager was hit by a bus? You can no longer guess what will work; you have to take enough to get to the next step is.8 But even factoring in their annoying eccentricities, the disobedient attitude of hackers is a net win. Then you'd automatically get your share of the returns of the whole economy.9

I wasn't paying attention, I didn't know what they'd be like.10 Way more startups hose themselves than get crushed by competitors.11 This is what real productivity looks like. And because this is what I call degeneration. Our ancestors were giants. We can of course counter by sending a crawler to look at the instruments. When they demo it, one of the motives on the FBI's list.

They would just look at you blankly. And the hardest part of that is often discarding your old idea. And don't write the way they are because that is how things have to be smart too, right?12 It used to be aware of this problem.13 But you can't browse the web. There's a whole essay's worth of surprises there for sure. It's the concluding remarks to the jury.

This may work in biotech, where a lot of pain and stress to do something that would otherwise seem too ambitious.14 I remember going through this realization myself. So if our group of founders have something they can launch.15 This is no accident. The spirit of resistance to government, Jefferson wrote, is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. If life is short, we should expect its shortness to take us by surprise. I feel as if someone snuck a television onto my desk. This had two drawbacks: a an expert on literature need not himself be a good heuristic for product design, and others wouldn't.16

Notes

If an investor? Maybe that isn't the last round of funding rounds are bad news; it is very common for startups. If Ron Conway had angel funds starting in the US.

Mayle, Peter, Why Are We Getting a Divorce? The word suggests an undifferentiated slurry, but if you hadn't written it?

Most of the fatal pinch where your idea is to be very hard and doesn't get paid to work not just the location of the reasons startups are ready to invest in your own time, because software takes longer to close than you expect.

This is an understatement. VCs aren't tech guys, the best approach is to be hidden from statistics too.

For example, the switch in the sense of the twentieth century, art as brand split apart from art is not much to generalize. This technique wouldn't work for us! Their inexperience makes them overbuild: they'll create huge, overcomplicated agreements, and mostly in Perl.

Vision research may be overpaid. For the price of a running back doesn't translate to soccer. But try this thought experiment: If they were.

And since there are only doing angel deals to generate revenues they could attribute to malice what can be said to have moments of adversity before they ultimately choose not to make fundraising take less time, is a trap set by evil companies for the same work faster. Which is not so much on luck. This flattering distinction seems so natural to the home team, I've become a function of their predecessors and said in effect what the startup eventually becomes. The danger is that you decide the price of an official authority makes all the East Coast.

One-click ordering, however, you need to raise money on the spot, so x% usage growth predicts x% revenue growth, because the danger of chasing large investments is not yet released. Some blue counties are false positives caused by blacklists, I was a refinement that made it possible to bring corporate bonds to market faster; the crowds of shoppers drifting through this huge mall reminded George Romero of zombies.

Surely no one knows how many computers the worm infected, because some schools work hard to imagine how an investor seems very interested in us! Oddly enough, maybe they'll listen to God.

Don't be evil.

I was there when it was more rebellion which can vary a lot of startups where the richest of their upbringing in their closets. Perl. What they must do is leave them alone in the past, it's because other companies made all the potential magnitude of the most, it's shocking how much they liked the outdoors, was no great risk in doing something that conforms with their decision or just outright dismisses it and make a formal language for proofs in which you want to lead.

Applets seemed to Aristotle the core: the quality of production. Because the pledge is deliberately vague, we're going to give up, and unleashed a swarm of cheap component suppliers on Apple hardware. Actually, someone else to lend to, so we also give any startup that wants to the World Bank, the owner shouldn't pay me extra for doing badly and is doomed anyway.

The reason not to like uncapped notes, VCs who are weak in other Lisp dialects: Here's an example of a safe environment, but in practice money raised as convertible debt, so it's conceivable that the lies people told 100 years will be big successes but who are both. But wide-area bandwidth increased more than they have to preserve their wealth by forbidding the export of gold or silver. This plan backfired with the bad idea the way they do on the software business.

Fortuna! Algorithms that use it are called naive Bayesian.

A Bayesian Approach to Filtering Junk E-Mail. Currently the lowest rate seems to be delivering results.

You know what kind of protection is one you take out order.

[xtruss]

How the Government Is Wading Into the Swamp of Despotism – One Muzzle at a Time

"They are there to humiliate, to cancel individuality and to indicate assent – forced or otherwise – to the crazy policy of trying to treat a virus with naked state power"

— The Covid Rouge | Peter Hitchens | September 12, 2020 | Russia Insider | The Daily Mail

The Government has no legal right to impose the severe and miserable restrictions on our lives with which it has wrecked the economy, brought needless grief to the bereaved and the lonely and destroyed our personal liberty.

This is the verdict of one of the most distinguished lawyers in the country, the retired Supreme Court Judge Lord Sumption.

He said last week in a podcast interview: ‘I don’t myself believe that the Act confers on the Government the powers that it has purported to exercise.’

He was referring to the Public Health Act of 1984, the basis for almost all the sheaves of increasingly hysterical decrees against normal life which the Health Secretary Matt Hancock has issued since March. I promise you that it is not usual for a retired senior judge to use such language in public.

This 1984 Act was drawn up mainly to give local magistrates the power to quarantine the sick.

Nothing in it remotely justifies these astonishing moves – house arrest, travel restrictions, harsh limits on visiting family members, interference with funerals and weddings, closure of churches, compulsory muzzles, bans on assembly and protest.

English law just does not allow an Act of Parliament to be stretched so far. Magistrates are never given such powers. It is a principle of our law that fundamental freedoms cannot be invaded or overruled unless the law specifically allows it.

As he is one of the most distinguished legal minds of our time, Jonathan Sumption’s opinions on this matter are surely important. Let us hope that the Courts of England, which have so far been content to let the Government do what it likes, will listen to what he says when they look at the matter again later this month, in the case brought by Simon Dolan, a businessman who is seeking a judicial review of the Government’s policy on Covid-19.

It is extraordinary for such a person as Lord Sumption to go public in this fashion. And he went on to say another astonishing thing. He pointed out that powers do exist – in the shape of the formidable Civil Contingencies Act – under which the Prime Minister could do all the things he has done. But the CCA requires regular parliamentary scrutiny and renewal.

The Government’s team of lawyers must know this. So why wasn’t the CCA used? We can only guess that the Prime Minister and his Health Secretary feared that if they had to keep coming back to Parliament, even the dim, slumbering and gullible MPs we have nowadays would eventually have spotted, and halted, the immense power grab now under way.

Lord Sumption’s intervention is, of course, so huge and important that the media of this country have somehow not noticed it. So, as has been the case from the start, you have to get it from me. But believe me, it is an indication of just how deep into the swamp of despotism this Government has already waded.

Let us escape soon, before we are so far in we can never get out again.

Bare-faced State Bullies

The most terrible warning of what lies ahead of us – if we cannot smash the Government’s lies – is in Melbourne, Australia, where a vain little despot called Daniel Andrews has locked his subjects in their homes, banned demonstrations against this policy, and unleashed heavy-handed police against protesters and dissenters.

At this rate, Melbourne will soon be twinned with Minsk, capital of Belarus. The treatment of protesters on the streets of both cities is remarkably similar. I was most struck by what happened to a young woman demonstrator at the hands of Melbourne police, after they had grabbed and restrained her, so that she was powerless.

An officer actually put a covering over her mouth. It was not the only such incident that day and it explains, to those who object, why I call these things muzzles.

They are there to humiliate, to cancel individuality and to indicate assent – forced or otherwise – to the crazy policy of trying to treat a virus with naked state power.

If US police forced handcuffed Left-wing protesters to wear Trumpoid ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball caps it would be about the same.

Now hiking’s a crime, but dope is fine

One of my rules is that the more political the police become, the more useless they are against actual crime. Here is a good example. Police who have over the past few months pursued sunbathers, hikers, people going into their own front gardens or showing their naked faces on trains, now plan a new extra-soft line on marijuana.

Even though this terrible drug is increasingly linked with lifelong mental illness and violence, liberal police chiefs are still lost in a Sixties-style haze of dope, believing dubious claims that it is a medicine.

Legalisers have long privately admitted these claims are a red herring to give pot a good name. How can something which makes many of its users mentally ill be a medicine?

But lo, police chiefs are backing a new ‘cannabis card’ that will provide de-facto decriminalisation of the drug for millions of people with health conditions. Officers, who have already almost given up arresting people for possession, say it will give them a new excuse for failing to enforce the law.

Too busy on granny patrol, making sure children can’t see their grandmothers, I expect.

Schoolboy Johnson’s Lies Keep Getting Bigger

Imagine a naughty schoolboy afraid to admit what started as a minor misdeed. Such a schoolboy, having broken the headmaster’s window with his catapult, and trying to evade punishment, might invent a story about a gang of yobs bursting into the school grounds.

So the police are called and he deepens the falsehood. The longer it goes on, the more embarrassing it will be to confess. Innocent people are rounded up, arrested and charged on the basis of his claims.

He gives false evidence against them. They lose their freedom, perhaps have their lives ruined. The lie is now even worse. He must either confess or elaborate the false story of the gang, for ever. And the worse it gets, the harder it is to own up. So he lies and keeps lying.

So it is with our Prime Minister. He panicked in March, on the basis of poor advice. He did immense damage and knows it. But rather than admit he hugely overestimated the danger of Covid, he continues to insist it is a deadly plague and that it will be back soon in a terrible second wave. The official Covid death and hospitalisation figures, declining ever since April 8, are now bumping along the bottom of the graph, close to zero.

Hence the false epidemic of so-called Covid ‘cases’, which the Government is trying to pretend exists. How simple-minded do you need to be not to see the great flaw in this?

On Monday, the media reported new coronavirus cases in the UK had risen to 2,988 on Sunday, the highest daily total since May. Panic! Or perhaps not.

I searched the Government’s own spreadsheets and what did I find? More than 1.1 million tests each week but fewer than 10,000 positive results.

Judging by the state of the hospitals and the death rates, I think we may assume most were just fine, as most who catch this disease are.

So, for this, we propose to stop people gathering in groups of more than six? I sense even those who have, up till now, put up with this rubbish are beginning to tire of it.

Good, for until you do and demand truthful explanations of why your children’s education has been ruined, why legions of people will lose their jobs, why daily life is an intensifying misery of jobsworths and bureaucracy, and why hundreds of businesses built up with years of sweat and risk are now dying, you will just get more lies.

— Source: The Daily Mail

[sector2020]

12 Beautiful Reasons Everyone Wants To Go To Canada

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The Company for Economic Co-operation and Advancement's Better Life Index ranks Canada among http://edition.cnn.com/search/?text=places in toronto the very best locations to reside in the world. Here's why. A study published the other day by the Company for Economic Co-operation and Advancement (OECD) found that "Canada carries out remarkably well in measures of well-being," according to an online report.

The study scored 36 countries, including 34 OECD members, Russia and Brazil. No total ranking is reported. The findings will surprise some, offered our 7.2% national unemployment rate, 14.5% youth unemployment rate and financial growth projections that stay soft in the brief Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers term. Here are 7 highlights from the OECD report: The typical home earns US$ 28,194 each year after taxes.

There is disparity at both ends of the profits spectrum however, not remarkably. The top 20% takes home US$ 55,718, while the bottom 20% earns US$ 10,526. We ranked seventh on household wealth and ninth on earnings. Canadians invest 2 minutes a day offering; that has to do with half the OECD average. On the other hand, 64% stated they 'd helped a stranger in the last month.

We ranked seventh on support network. 9 in 10 Canadians are satisfied with their real estate. The typical home in this country offers 2.6 spaces per occupant, Neinstein Toronto Reviews more than any other country. And 99.8% of Canadians reside in a home with a private washroom that has an indoor, flushing toilet. (The OECD average is 97.8%.) We ranked 24th on the ratio of housing costs to income, eighth on standard centers and first on number of rooms per individual.

We ranked 14th on contamination and 12th on water quality. Our life span at birth is 81, a full year above the OECD average. And 88% of Canadians state they are in good health. Health spending in this nation comprises 11.4% of gdp. (The OECD average is 9.5% of gdp.) We ranked third in health and 17th in life span.

That's well listed below the OECD average of 4%. Our homicide rate is less remarkable. It's 1.6%, just marginally listed below the typical rate of 2.2%. We ranked initially on attack rate and 23rd on murder rate.: Canadians work a typical 1,702 hours each year. That's 74 hours below the OECD average.

(The OECD average is 9%.) We ranked ninth on working long hours. The full index is comprised of 11 categories. Canada ranked 27th on job security, 4th on trainee skills, 4th on federal government openness and eighth on life complete satisfaction.

Canada has a goal to attract one million people to live and work in the country by 2020. Judging by feedback from expats, it should not have too much difficulty with that goal. Noted as one of the very best countries worldwide for expats, it is regularly praised for its accepting and tolerant society and excellent quality of life.

If you're thinking about the big relocation and still require some convincing that Canada is the right location for you, check out on. Here we list the 15 reasons that you must call the Great White North your brand-new house. It seems Canadians live up to their welcoming reputation, with more than 4 in five expats surveyed for the newest Internations Expat Expert study explaining Canadians as "friendly" double the worldwide average.

Canada ranked 12th out of 189 countries on the most recent Human Development Index, scoring highly for an entire host of categories, from life expectancy and gross national earnings, to security and socio-economic advancement. With a lower cost of living, a focus on sports and taking pleasure in the outdoors, lots of expats select to head to Canada to enhance their lifestyle in reality Canada rated number three globally in the most recent Lifestyle rankings according to a research study by US News & World Report.

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Canadians in general love sport, but that passion isn't simply restricted to ice hockey, lacrosse and basketball, it likewise extends method beyond that. Canada is vast and most of the populations lives in cities, which leaves terrific expanses of wilderness simply waiting to be explored. Whether you're kayaking or swimming, snowboarding or simply walking through lovely landscapes, the Outdoors is simply begging to be discovered.

However it is not just this Francophone city that enchants expats. Coastal Vancouver is the country's culinary capital, surrounded by beaches, mountains and beautiful forests, while Toronto is stated to be the most multicultural city worldwide. Include in the cowboy charms Calgary and Ottawa's popularity as the Silicon Valley of the North and you have a nation rupturing with variety.

Canada is cold. The 2nd coldest country worldwide, actually. But while those long, cold winters could be cited as a reason not to transfer to the country, the locals understand you can still have a good time when the snow is thick on the ground. From Whistler to Lake Louise, the names of this country's renowned resorts make you desire to get your skis or board and jump a chairlift.

After the long winter, the sun comes out throughout Canada and mountainside are blanketed in colourful wildflowers, alpine lakes glisten in the sunlight, the rugged shoreline begins to bring in holidaymakers and the sun-kissed vineyards of the Okanagan Valley welcome visitors. Yes, Canada comes alive in summer, with average temperature levels of 25C, and the locals know how to enjoy it to the max.

You will not need much reason to get out and take pleasure in the sunlight. When the winter season really bites and the wind chill sends you wishing to scoot indoors, you do not need to shut yourself up in your home. In the coldest cities across Canada, you can go out shopping and enjoy dinners and cocktails, all underground.

In Toronto, PATH is a downtown pedestrian sidewalk offering restaurants, shopping and entertainment, while Montreal has its own Underground City, going for 20 miles and incorporating metro stations, plazas, stores and eateries. Among the many pleasures of exploring the Outdoors while living in Canada is the remarkable wildlife you can witness.

The moose is an icon of the country, while the Canadian caribou migration is not to be missed and beavers, wolves, prairie dogs, coyotes and deer all contribute to its rich wildlife offering. Canada is rightly proud of its state-funded health care offering Medicare, which ensures vital medical treatment is free at the point of delivery.

As a long-term citizen, you can delight in both in-patient and out-patient services as part of Medicare, which is really seen as a medical insurance service, moneyed by the taxes residents and locals pay in through earnings tax, sales tax and things like the purchase of lottery tickets. If Toronto is among the most multiculturally varied cities worldwide, then Vancouver isn't far behind it.

According to the most recent Internations survey of expats, 94% ranked peacefulness as an essential part of the nation's lifestyle and Canada also performed incredibly well when it pertained to security and security, with low criminal offense rates and especially low violent criminal activity when compared with its southern neighbour. If you wish to raise children in Canada, you will be pleased with the conclusions from expats already residing in the country.

Typically weekends are spent leaving to the mountains, lakeside lodges and the coast, anything to link with nature and shake of the tensions of the huge cities. Canada is one of the world's greatest economies and there are flourishing industries such as mining and oil and gas in general. As a country, it welcomes foreign employees and positively motivates those who can fill under-represented industries and positions.

As part of its open policy to foreign employees, Canada lists info about all the visas offered https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=places in toronto on its website cic.gc.ca. Companies looking for foreign workers can do so through the Temporary Foreign Employee Program, while you can also apply through the Federal Experienced Worker Program, which runs on a points-based system based on your scholastic experiences, language abilities etc.

In truth, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Advancement (OECD) Canadian trainees carry out well despite socioeconomic status or whether they are First Nations or recent immigrants, as the nation has a policy of no student being left. More than 90 percent of students attend public school and there is a real focus on sports and after-school activities as well as scholastic achievement.

If you're considering making Canada your brand-new home, we provide an unbeatable worldwide removals service direct from the UK. Get your complimentary quote today.

The Duchess of Sussex is currently there and Prince Harry is expected to join her within days. So what is it about Canada!.?.!? Here is our guide to the country's best attractions and experiences and why you ought to think about Canada for your next vacation. For those who want holidays where you leave the crowds, Canada delivers.

The country also has the longest shoreline in the world. Fans of Canada state its natural beauty is carefully stabilized with fun and sporty experiences, plus a host of urban attractions. THE MUST-SEE SIGHTS1. CN Tower Emphasizes: Toronto's skyline including the CN Tower, which has a glass flooring you can walk or crawl across at 1,122 ftYou'll require nerves of steel throughout a journey to the top of Toronto's piece de resistance.

There is likewise the Glass Floor (you can walk or crawl throughout it while looking down 1,122 ft), and the SkyPod observation deck which, at 1,465 feet, is one of the world's highest seeing platforms. 2. Niagara Falls Visitors get drenched at Niagara Falls. If you wish to leave the crowds, go on a two-mile walk through Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, or dive into the Falls View Water Park, which has 16 water slides, some of which are six floors highThe white waters and thick mists of Niagara Falls are Canadian basics.

Alternatively, the Journey Behind The Falls trip takes you down a lift shaft and through a tunnel to a series of observation decks for even more extreme photography. If you want to get away the crowds, go on a two-mile walk through Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, or dive into the Falls View Water Park with its 16 water slides, a few of which are six storeys high.

Northern Lights: A fantastic location to see among nature's biggest programs is in the frontier town of Whitehorse in the Yukon territory. It's a sporty paradise you can fly to with Air North, among the friendliest airline companies worldwide. Further south in Saskatchewan, La Ronge has a few of the darkest skies on the continent and is likewise a good base for ice-fishing trips.

Vancouver Island: Take a two-hour ferry trip from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, where you'll find sandy coves and rocky coasts. And who knows, you may even see Harry and Meghan. Trying to find a place to stay? The island has whatever from campsites to five-star health club hotels. The island's cool surf Neinstein Reviews town of Tofino is worth a visit, as is the bigger Nanaimo, where you can try the Nanaimo Bar, an abundant, chocolate biscuit. : since July 1 of the year indicated.: Overall total population (both sexes and all ages) in the country as of July 1 of the year showed, as approximated by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Department. World Population Prospects: The 2019 Modification. For anticipated years, the U.N.

Find Out More Meanings ...: For 2019: percentage modification in total population over the last year (from July 1, 2018 to June 30 2019). For all other years: newest year yearly percentage modification comparable assuming uniform modification in the preceding 5 year duration, calculated through reverse compounding.: For 2019: absolute change in total population (boost or reduce in variety of individuals) over personal injury toronto the in 2015 (from July 1, 2018 to June 30 2019).

: The average yearly variety of immigrants minus the number of emigrants over the preceding five year period (ranging from July 1 to June 30 of the initial and last years), or subsequent 5 year period (for 2016 information). A negative number suggests that there are more emigrants than immigrants.

This criterion supplies a sign of age distribution.: (Overall Fertility Rate, or TFR), it is revealed as children per woman. It is computed as the typical variety of children a typical woman will have throughout her reproductive period (15 to 49 years old) based on the current fertility rates of every age in the country, and presuming she is not subject to death.

: Urban population as a percentage of overall population.: Population residing in areas categorized as urban according to the requirements used by each country.: Overall population in the nation as a portion of overall World Population since July 1 of the year indicated.: Overall World Population since July 1 of the year suggested.

Undoubtedly, some food waste is inevitable this is the food that can't normally be sold or consumed, such as bones, vegetable peelings, egg shells, tea bags, and coffee premises. Avoidable food waste is the edible food that winds up in the compost or in the bin. Unfortunately, we frequently waste good food because we buy too much, cook excessive, or don't save it correctly.

[johnboothus]

The Challenges of Reopening Bar and Restaurant Chains in a Global Pandemic

Last week marked a major milestone in America’s ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic: Bars and restaurants have now started reopening in all 50 states and Washington D.C, either for outdoor dining or dine-in with capacity restrictions. Operators have faced multiple challenges to arrive at this point. Reopening has been among the most significant.

To welcome back guests, bars and restaurants have adapted to strict health and safety mandates. Those directives vary by state and, in some instances, are governed on a city or county level. Additionally, government restrictions are continually evolving and some factors are not within operators’ control. Among them, customers’ willingness — or lack thereof — to comply with safety protocols.

In fact, compliance with safety mandates has taken on a heightened importance as many of the states that were quickest to reopen have seen a surge in new virus cases. On Friday, Texas paused its reopening, ordering bars to close and restaurants to reduce capacity.

VinePair contacted a range of national and multi-city and -state operators to learn how they have adapted to government directives, and to gain insight on how those who will soon reopen dining rooms can safely follow suit. Operators highlighted the extensive measures they’ve implemented and also revealed challenges they’ve faced along the way.

How National Chains Are Tackling Reopening

To execute a streamlined, large-scale reopening, large chains have relied on the guidance of institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Restaurant Association (NRA). Across the board, brands like Applebee’s and Red Lobster have followed that guidance and introduced a stream of new protocols.

These measures include requiring employees wear face masks and in some instances gloves at all times. Employees must also complete wellness assessments upon arrival, including temperature checks. Dining room plans have been adapted to ensure tables adhere to six-foot distancing restrictions. And while the bars and restaurants have always been held to strict sanitation standards, operators have been even more rigorous with tasks like sanitizing and disinfecting surfaces.

Red Lobster owns and operates 679 restaurants in the U.S. Most of those units are either open for dine-in or planning to reopen for dine-in soon, according to a spokesperson for the brand. To get to this point, Red Lobster has relied on a “cross functional task force team.” This team makes sure units are stocked with personal protective equipment, like masks, and the other materials they need to reopen, like single-use menus and signage indicating health and safety policies. The task force also ensures that the heightened health and safety protocols have been implemented at each location.

Applebee’s, which has 1,657 franchise and company-owned locations across the U.S., has turned to technology to assist in its efforts, creating a wait list option on its app to reduce congestion in waiting areas. Guests can also access menus on the app or through the Applebee’s website. Contactless payment is now available in many Applebee’s restaurants through tabletop devices.

The brand also appointed “sanitation specialists” at each unit. “The dedicated sanitation specialist is responsible for a strict regimen of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting all high-touch surfaces from open to close,” explains Kevin Carroll, Applebee’s chief operations officer. The surfaces they’re responsible for range from railings and doorknobs to the tabletop payment devices. “These enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures are now brand standards and will remain mandatory in each restaurant,” Carroll says.

How Smaller Restaurant Groups Are Adapting

Bartaco’s operation may seem small in comparison to national chains, but with 21 locations in 13 states, the restaurant group has faced many of the same challenges as household names like Applebee’s and Red Lobster. It has also approached them using similar tactics.

“Internally, we set up a reopening committee and a system to monitor and keep an ongoing plan on what would be the best way to make bartaco available to guests and when the right time was to safely reopen,” says Scott Lawton, bartaco’s co-founder.

Communication has been an integral part of the process, Lawton says. He has been in contact with fellow industry professionals to share best practices and keep informed on industry updates. The company used that information and the findings of its reopening committee to maintain updated internal documents on government regulations in each of the markets bartaco operates in. “[W]e made sure all of our employees were up to date and had a clear understanding of what is expected of our brand come reopening,” Lawton says.

The Challenges of Customer Non-Compliance

While CDC and NRA guidelines have provided a template to help bars and restaurants reopen, some say that conflicting governmental mandates, and the rate at which they’re changing, have posed extra challenges.

“We’re making changes daily, hourly, minute by minute,” says Jack Gilmore, chef and owner of Jack Allen’s Kitchen, with four locations, and Salt Traders, with two locations, in Austin, Texas. Gilmore’s six restaurants are all located in or around the city of Austin but fall within two counties: Williamson County and Travis County.

Travis County recently mandated that guests must wear face masks to enter bars and restaurants. But in Williamson County, face masks are currently only a recommendation. Gilmore decided to make face masks mandatory for customers at all six of his locations, and many guests have welcomed the extra precaution. But not everyone is willing to comply.

“We’re getting a lot of kickback from guests,” Gilmore says. “I can handle being called stupid and being told ‘this is a waste of time,’ but those are the people that are going to go around infecting people. And I don’t want them in my restaurant.” (In Dallas County, too, multiple restaurant operators have reported challenges with enforcing face mask policies, even though it’s mandatory in the county.)

Gilmore says the fact that not all establishments are being stringent with precautions has added to the problem. “I’ve seen everything from way too many people in restaurants to three people stacked up trying to get a drink next to each other,” Gilmore says. “Those restaurants are hurting the people that are doing it the right way.”

The Threats of Non-Compliance for Operators

In a bid to curb infractions, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) has introduced bar and restaurant inspections as part of “Operation Safe Open.” On the weekend of June 20, TABC agents visited nearly 600 businesses to ensure they were complying with requirements. In total, 17 locations had their permits suspended after they were found to be in violation of social distancing mandates.

In a press release, TABC’s executive director, Bentley Nettles, said: “The fact that there were fewer than 20 violations found among 600 businesses inspected shows that bar and restaurant owners are taking their responsibilities seriously.” But record spikes in coronavirus cases in the state paint a different picture.

On Thursday, the state’s health department reported 5,996 new cases — the highest in the nation. That same day, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas was pausing plans to reopen but said shutting businesses back down was the “last thing we want to do.” Then, on Friday, he announced an unexpected U-turn.

In a document titled Executive Order GA 28, Abbott ruled that, beginning Friday at noon, all businesses that receive more than 51 percent of their gross receipts from alcohol sales (essentially bars) were required to close but may continue delivery and takeout. Restaurants, which were previously allowed to operate at 75 percent indoor capacity, would now be limited to 50 percent capacity starting Monday.

Texas was one of the last states to impose stay-at-home measures and one of the earliest to begin reopening. But it has not been alone in experiencing recent case spikes. Alabama, Missouri, and Utah — all of which began reopening in March — also hit new daily records on Thursday. Florida has also seen a recent surge in new cases. On Friday, the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation followed Texas’s lead and announced on-premises alcohol consumption at bars was suspended, effective immediately.

These trends cannot be definitively linked to bars and restaurants. But for cities and states like Chicago, Pennsylvania, and New York, where indoor dining will resume with capacity caps in the next two weeks, the case spikes serve as a warning: “Safe” reopening will be entirely reliant on compliance from both operators and customers.

The article The Challenges of Reopening Bar and Restaurant Chains in a Global Pandemic appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/the-challenges-of-reopening-bar-and-restaurant-chains-in-a-global-pandemic/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-challenges-of-reopening-bar-and-restaurant-chains-in-a-global-pandemic

[isaiahrippinus]

The Challenges of Reopening Bar and Restaurant Chains in a Global Pandemic

Last week marked a major milestone in America’s ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic: Bars and restaurants have now started reopening in all 50 states and Washington D.C, either for outdoor dining or dine-in with capacity restrictions. Operators have faced multiple challenges to arrive at this point. Reopening has been among the most significant.

To welcome back guests, bars and restaurants have adapted to strict health and safety mandates. Those directives vary by state and, in some instances, are governed on a city or county level. Additionally, government restrictions are continually evolving and some factors are not within operators’ control. Among them, customers’ willingness — or lack thereof — to comply with safety protocols.

In fact, compliance with safety mandates has taken on a heightened importance as many of the states that were quickest to reopen have seen a surge in new virus cases. On Friday, Texas paused its reopening, ordering bars to close and restaurants to reduce capacity.

VinePair contacted a range of national and multi-city and -state operators to learn how they have adapted to government directives, and to gain insight on how those who will soon reopen dining rooms can safely follow suit. Operators highlighted the extensive measures they’ve implemented and also revealed challenges they’ve faced along the way.

How National Chains Are Tackling Reopening

To execute a streamlined, large-scale reopening, large chains have relied on the guidance of institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Restaurant Association (NRA). Across the board, brands like Applebee’s and Red Lobster have followed that guidance and introduced a stream of new protocols.

These measures include requiring employees wear face masks and in some instances gloves at all times. Employees must also complete wellness assessments upon arrival, including temperature checks. Dining room plans have been adapted to ensure tables adhere to six-foot distancing restrictions. And while the bars and restaurants have always been held to strict sanitation standards, operators have been even more rigorous with tasks like sanitizing and disinfecting surfaces.

Red Lobster owns and operates 679 restaurants in the U.S. Most of those units are either open for dine-in or planning to reopen for dine-in soon, according to a spokesperson for the brand. To get to this point, Red Lobster has relied on a “cross functional task force team.” This team makes sure units are stocked with personal protective equipment, like masks, and the other materials they need to reopen, like single-use menus and signage indicating health and safety policies. The task force also ensures that the heightened health and safety protocols have been implemented at each location.

Applebee’s, which has 1,657 franchise and company-owned locations across the U.S., has turned to technology to assist in its efforts, creating a wait list option on its app to reduce congestion in waiting areas. Guests can also access menus on the app or through the Applebee’s website. Contactless payment is now available in many Applebee’s restaurants through tabletop devices.

The brand also appointed “sanitation specialists” at each unit. “The dedicated sanitation specialist is responsible for a strict regimen of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting all high-touch surfaces from open to close,” explains Kevin Carroll, Applebee’s chief operations officer. The surfaces they’re responsible for range from railings and doorknobs to the tabletop payment devices. “These enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures are now brand standards and will remain mandatory in each restaurant,” Carroll says.

How Smaller Restaurant Groups Are Adapting

Bartaco’s operation may seem small in comparison to national chains, but with 21 locations in 13 states, the restaurant group has faced many of the same challenges as household names like Applebee’s and Red Lobster. It has also approached them using similar tactics.

“Internally, we set up a reopening committee and a system to monitor and keep an ongoing plan on what would be the best way to make bartaco available to guests and when the right time was to safely reopen,” says Scott Lawton, bartaco’s co-founder.

Communication has been an integral part of the process, Lawton says. He has been in contact with fellow industry professionals to share best practices and keep informed on industry updates. The company used that information and the findings of its reopening committee to maintain updated internal documents on government regulations in each of the markets bartaco operates in. “[W]e made sure all of our employees were up to date and had a clear understanding of what is expected of our brand come reopening,” Lawton says.

The Challenges of Customer Non-Compliance

While CDC and NRA guidelines have provided a template to help bars and restaurants reopen, some say that conflicting governmental mandates, and the rate at which they’re changing, have posed extra challenges.

“We’re making changes daily, hourly, minute by minute,” says Jack Gilmore, chef and owner of Jack Allen’s Kitchen, with four locations, and Salt Traders, with two locations, in Austin, Texas. Gilmore’s six restaurants are all located in or around the city of Austin but fall within two counties: Williamson County and Travis County.

Travis County recently mandated that guests must wear face masks to enter bars and restaurants. But in Williamson County, face masks are currently only a recommendation. Gilmore decided to make face masks mandatory for customers at all six of his locations, and many guests have welcomed the extra precaution. But not everyone is willing to comply.

“We’re getting a lot of kickback from guests,” Gilmore says. “I can handle being called stupid and being told ‘this is a waste of time,’ but those are the people that are going to go around infecting people. And I don’t want them in my restaurant.” (In Dallas County, too, multiple restaurant operators have reported challenges with enforcing face mask policies, even though it’s mandatory in the county.)

Gilmore says the fact that not all establishments are being stringent with precautions has added to the problem. “I’ve seen everything from way too many people in restaurants to three people stacked up trying to get a drink next to each other,” Gilmore says. “Those restaurants are hurting the people that are doing it the right way.”

The Threats of Non-Compliance for Operators

In a bid to curb infractions, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) has introduced bar and restaurant inspections as part of “Operation Safe Open.” On the weekend of June 20, TABC agents visited nearly 600 businesses to ensure they were complying with requirements. In total, 17 locations had their permits suspended after they were found to be in violation of social distancing mandates.

In a press release, TABC’s executive director, Bentley Nettles, said: “The fact that there were fewer than 20 violations found among 600 businesses inspected shows that bar and restaurant owners are taking their responsibilities seriously.” But record spikes in coronavirus cases in the state paint a different picture.

On Thursday, the state’s health department reported 5,996 new cases — the highest in the nation. That same day, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas was pausing plans to reopen but said shutting businesses back down was the “last thing we want to do.” Then, on Friday, he announced an unexpected U-turn.

In a document titled Executive Order GA 28, Abbott ruled that, beginning Friday at noon, all businesses that receive more than 51 percent of their gross receipts from alcohol sales (essentially bars) were required to close but may continue delivery and takeout. Restaurants, which were previously allowed to operate at 75 percent indoor capacity, would now be limited to 50 percent capacity starting Monday.

Texas was one of the last states to impose stay-at-home measures and one of the earliest to begin reopening. But it has not been alone in experiencing recent case spikes. Alabama, Missouri, and Utah — all of which began reopening in March — also hit new daily records on Thursday. Florida has also seen a recent surge in new cases. On Friday, the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation followed Texas’s lead and announced on-premises alcohol consumption at bars was suspended, effective immediately.

These trends cannot be definitively linked to bars and restaurants. But for cities and states like Chicago, Pennsylvania, and New York, where indoor dining will resume with capacity caps in the next two weeks, the case spikes serve as a warning: “Safe” reopening will be entirely reliant on compliance from both operators and customers.

The article The Challenges of Reopening Bar and Restaurant Chains in a Global Pandemic appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/the-challenges-of-reopening-bar-and-restaurant-chains-in-a-global-pandemic/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/622291740131524608

[wineanddinosaur]

The Challenges of Reopening Bar and Restaurant Chains in a Global Pandemic

Last week marked a major milestone in America’s ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic: Bars and restaurants have now started reopening in all 50 states and Washington D.C, either for outdoor dining or dine-in with capacity restrictions. Operators have faced multiple challenges to arrive at this point. Reopening has been among the most significant.

To welcome back guests, bars and restaurants have adapted to strict health and safety mandates. Those directives vary by state and, in some instances, are governed on a city or county level. Additionally, government restrictions are continually evolving and some factors are not within operators’ control. Among them, customers’ willingness — or lack thereof — to comply with safety protocols.

In fact, compliance with safety mandates has taken on a heightened importance as many of the states that were quickest to reopen have seen a surge in new virus cases. On Friday, Texas paused its reopening, ordering bars to close and restaurants to reduce capacity.

VinePair contacted a range of national and multi-city and -state operators to learn how they have adapted to government directives, and to gain insight on how those who will soon reopen dining rooms can safely follow suit. Operators highlighted the extensive measures they’ve implemented and also revealed challenges they’ve faced along the way.

How National Chains Are Tackling Reopening

To execute a streamlined, large-scale reopening, large chains have relied on the guidance of institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Restaurant Association (NRA). Across the board, brands like Applebee’s and Red Lobster have followed that guidance and introduced a stream of new protocols.

These measures include requiring employees wear face masks and in some instances gloves at all times. Employees must also complete wellness assessments upon arrival, including temperature checks. Dining room plans have been adapted to ensure tables adhere to six-foot distancing restrictions. And while the bars and restaurants have always been held to strict sanitation standards, operators have been even more rigorous with tasks like sanitizing and disinfecting surfaces.

Red Lobster owns and operates 679 restaurants in the U.S. Most of those units are either open for dine-in or planning to reopen for dine-in soon, according to a spokesperson for the brand. To get to this point, Red Lobster has relied on a “cross functional task force team.” This team makes sure units are stocked with personal protective equipment, like masks, and the other materials they need to reopen, like single-use menus and signage indicating health and safety policies. The task force also ensures that the heightened health and safety protocols have been implemented at each location.

Applebee’s, which has 1,657 franchise and company-owned locations across the U.S., has turned to technology to assist in its efforts, creating a wait list option on its app to reduce congestion in waiting areas. Guests can also access menus on the app or through the Applebee’s website. Contactless payment is now available in many Applebee’s restaurants through tabletop devices.

The brand also appointed “sanitation specialists” at each unit. “The dedicated sanitation specialist is responsible for a strict regimen of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting all high-touch surfaces from open to close,” explains Kevin Carroll, Applebee’s chief operations officer. The surfaces they’re responsible for range from railings and doorknobs to the tabletop payment devices. “These enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures are now brand standards and will remain mandatory in each restaurant,” Carroll says.

How Smaller Restaurant Groups Are Adapting

Bartaco’s operation may seem small in comparison to national chains, but with 21 locations in 13 states, the restaurant group has faced many of the same challenges as household names like Applebee’s and Red Lobster. It has also approached them using similar tactics.

“Internally, we set up a reopening committee and a system to monitor and keep an ongoing plan on what would be the best way to make bartaco available to guests and when the right time was to safely reopen,” says Scott Lawton, bartaco’s co-founder.

Communication has been an integral part of the process, Lawton says. He has been in contact with fellow industry professionals to share best practices and keep informed on industry updates. The company used that information and the findings of its reopening committee to maintain updated internal documents on government regulations in each of the markets bartaco operates in. “[W]e made sure all of our employees were up to date and had a clear understanding of what is expected of our brand come reopening,” Lawton says.

The Challenges of Customer Non-Compliance

While CDC and NRA guidelines have provided a template to help bars and restaurants reopen, some say that conflicting governmental mandates, and the rate at which they’re changing, have posed extra challenges.

“We’re making changes daily, hourly, minute by minute,” says Jack Gilmore, chef and owner of Jack Allen’s Kitchen, with four locations, and Salt Traders, with two locations, in Austin, Texas. Gilmore’s six restaurants are all located in or around the city of Austin but fall within two counties: Williamson County and Travis County.

Travis County recently mandated that guests must wear face masks to enter bars and restaurants. But in Williamson County, face masks are currently only a recommendation. Gilmore decided to make face masks mandatory for customers at all six of his locations, and many guests have welcomed the extra precaution. But not everyone is willing to comply.

“We’re getting a lot of kickback from guests,” Gilmore says. “I can handle being called stupid and being told ‘this is a waste of time,’ but those are the people that are going to go around infecting people. And I don’t want them in my restaurant.” (In Dallas County, too, multiple restaurant operators have reported challenges with enforcing face mask policies, even though it’s mandatory in the county.)

Gilmore says the fact that not all establishments are being stringent with precautions has added to the problem. “I’ve seen everything from way too many people in restaurants to three people stacked up trying to get a drink next to each other,” Gilmore says. “Those restaurants are hurting the people that are doing it the right way.”

The Threats of Non-Compliance for Operators

In a bid to curb infractions, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) has introduced bar and restaurant inspections as part of “Operation Safe Open.” On the weekend of June 20, TABC agents visited nearly 600 businesses to ensure they were complying with requirements. In total, 17 locations had their permits suspended after they were found to be in violation of social distancing mandates.

In a press release, TABC’s executive director, Bentley Nettles, said: “The fact that there were fewer than 20 violations found among 600 businesses inspected shows that bar and restaurant owners are taking their responsibilities seriously.” But record spikes in coronavirus cases in the state paint a different picture.

On Thursday, the state’s health department reported 5,996 new cases — the highest in the nation. That same day, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas was pausing plans to reopen but said shutting businesses back down was the “last thing we want to do.” Then, on Friday, he announced an unexpected U-turn.

In a document titled Executive Order GA 28, Abbott ruled that, beginning Friday at noon, all businesses that receive more than 51 percent of their gross receipts from alcohol sales (essentially bars) were required to close but may continue delivery and takeout. Restaurants, which were previously allowed to operate at 75 percent indoor capacity, would now be limited to 50 percent capacity starting Monday.

Texas was one of the last states to impose stay-at-home measures and one of the earliest to begin reopening. But it has not been alone in experiencing recent case spikes. Alabama, Missouri, and Utah — all of which began reopening in March — also hit new daily records on Thursday. Florida has also seen a recent surge in new cases. On Friday, the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation followed Texas’s lead and announced on-premises alcohol consumption at bars was suspended, effective immediately.

These trends cannot be definitively linked to bars and restaurants. But for cities and states like Chicago, Pennsylvania, and New York, where indoor dining will resume with capacity caps in the next two weeks, the case spikes serve as a warning: “Safe” reopening will be entirely reliant on compliance from both operators and customers.

The article The Challenges of Reopening Bar and Restaurant Chains in a Global Pandemic appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/the-challenges-of-reopening-bar-and-restaurant-chains-in-a-global-pandemic/

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Resource Management, pt13

Word Count: 2383 Tags: @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso @feelmyroarrrr @anyakinamidala @dirajunara @anotherotter @little-study-bug @rampant-salamander @goodnightwife @samaxraph99 @anotherotter  @outside-the-government @kingarthurscat @coyote-in-space @originalpottervengerlock @dolamrothianlady @curiositywillbethedeathofme @superheroesofbothuniverses @mtriestowrite @wanderingkat77

“I could have sworn you were supposed to be a genius!” I exclaimed, stomping toward Stark with murder in my heart. “Do you have any idea what kind of compromise you have caused? In light of the current situation at SHIELD?”

“In all fairness, there is a method to my madness,” Stark shrugged. I resisted the urge to choke the life out of his smug fucking throat.

“Start talking because I’m feeling a little like I’d like to get in some target practice.” I cocked an eyebrow.

“I guess it’s a good thing I swept for bugs already then.” Stark took a seat. His movements had a careless grace to them that emphasized that he really wasn’t the least bit concerned that I might hurt him. Fury should have started training me years ago. I could feel the rage boiling to the surface, and clenched my jaw.

“You’ve read her personnel file, Stark. Do you want to risk her hitting you?” Phil prompted.

“Right. Here’s the shortest, most condensed version of the story I can give you. SHIELD has been compromised. I want to know by whom. I need to know. And you need to help me.” He stood as he spoke, and walked over to Phil. He poked him. Then squeezed his bicep. Then poked him again.

“Stark.” It was a warning.

“It’s remarkable, Phil. I can’t believe it,” Stark shook his head. “You look so life-like.”

“Mr. Stark,” I cleared my throat. “We know SHIELD is compromised. My data analysis suggests HR was specifically targeted.”

“And why would anyone want that information?” Stark asked.

“You’ve seen how detailed those reports are. You could practically determine what toppings I’m likely to order on my pizza and how often I think about sex from them,” I blurted and immediately blushed.

“Phil looks good. My guess is you think about it a lot,” Stark wiggled his eyebrows at me. I sighed and dropped into my chair.

“Make your point, Stark.” Phil crossed his arms and glared at Tony. Tony made his way back to the chair and with the same practiced grace, dropped back into it.

“What she said. You can determine exactly the type of person each employee is by looking at his or her personnel file. If you were a big terrorist organization, that would be pretty handy information to have. You know, if you were going to recruit within the ranks.” Stark cracked the knuckles on one hand and was about to start on the other. I grabbed his hand to stop him.

“What you’re saying, Tony,” I was too surprised to keep up the formality, “is that anyone could be a traitor based on savvy recruiting tactics incorporating information gleaned from a personnel file.”

“So it would stand to reason that –“

“That we could pinpoint who might be a traitor by scanning personnel files,” I interrupted. “Can your fancy-ass AI get us in the files without using my login information?”

“JARVIS has been able to since about five minutes after I first opened any of the files,” Stark nodded.

“We need to know who might be a traitor,” I was thinking out loud. “We need to scan for debt, or weird past history, and –“

“And what are we going to do with this information once we have it?” Phil broke back into the conversation.

“Forward it to Fury. Let him tell us what to do next,” I shrugged.

“And if Fury is compromised?” Stark asked.

“Are you kidding?” I was pretty much finished with Stark sass for the evening. “Are you abso-fucking-lutely kidding? Fury? Compromised? That would be like saying Captain Rogers doesn’t know the words to the Star-Spangled Banner. If there is anything in the world I am certain about, it’s that Fury is one of the good guys.”

“I’m not,” Phil countered. I spun to stare in surprise.

“Wha –“

“I still don’t know why he saved me. I still don’t know how. I know I wasn’t in Tahiti. I almost know, I almost remember what happened. But Fury won’t give me answers.” Phil’s shoulders were tense. “I don’t know that he’s one of the good guys.”

I dropped into my chair, certainty gone. I was pretty sure that despite my on-again-off-again dislike for Tony Stark, we could trust him. He could buy half the world if he wanted to, so there was no reason for him to covertly become some terrorist superpower. And he was obnoxious enough that he wouldn’t be able to lead a bunch of baddies without them trying to mutiny. I trusted Phil, ironically because he didn’t talk shop despite my advanced security clearance. Well, and the sleeping together relationship thing. You don’t get terribly far in relationships when you don’t trust your sleepover pal. But if Phil could question Fury, then who was trustworthy? I rubbed my fingers across the bridge of my nose, trying to release the tension.

“We can’t be the only three fighting this battle. I’m not even a field agent,” I complained. Phil nodded.

“We need to identify allies, instead of trying to root out traitors,” he agreed.

“Where do we start?” I asked. Stark spun around in his chair.

“We have the Initiative.” He steepled his fingers and narrowed his eyes, thinking. “Cap’s girl is probably safe. I don’t think Cap’s righteousness would surge for a traitor.”

“Jesus, Tony, what are you, twelve?” I snapped. It was gross, but I kind of agreed. I suspected Cap had some sort of trustworthiness detector.

“I love that you use my first name when you’re mad at me. Does she do that to you too, Phil?” Tony smirked. I stretched my hands and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself.

“Don’t think I’ve made her mad yet,” Phil shrugged. “Romanov and Barton are probably safe though, I agree. Thor’s off planet right now. Do you know where Banner is?”

“Yeah, I know where Bruce is.” Tony was playing with his phone. Messaging someone, probably.

“You people mind telling me what the fuck is going on? On a Saturday night? In a restricted building?” Fury walked through my office door. “And why the fuck are the two of you even in the same room?”

He glared at Phil. I glared at Stark, hoping he’d admit to what he’d been up to. Remarkably, he did. In a few minutes, he’d explained everything he’d done to infiltrate SHIELD, admitted to pulling ‘some’ personnel files, and made it clear that I was not at fault. I suspected I was still going to get a dressing down from Fury, but it was the thought that counted.

“Sir, how would you like us to proceed?” I asked when Stark had finally finished his explanation.

“You, particularly, need this.” He handed me a small leather wallet. I gave him a confused look and flipped it open. It was a SHIELD badge.

“Sir?”

“You have level one competencies on the range. Barton confirmed that this morning. You’re at least a level five on your hand-to-hand, but Romanov will assess you on Monday to ascertain how good you are. You’ve proven yourself more than once tactically and strategically. You will wear your sidearm at all times. You will not hesitate to drop anyone you feel is a threat to your own wellbeing, or the safety of your fellow SHIELD agents. This will not be going into your personnel file, as far as anyone who can access the system will be able to tell, you are still an overworked, underpaid HR manager,” Fury explained.

“Except I’m now an overworked, underpaid HR manager who can shoot people who piss me off,” I raised an eyebrow.

“As tempting as it may be, shooting Mr. Stark would be a felony,” Fury smirked.

“How do we know we can trust you, Director?” Phil asked. Fury turned to face him.

“You don’t. But I’ll make this easy for you. Your assignment is to determine who is loyal to SHIELD. I don’t want you sending me reports. Keep that between the three of you. It’s up to you to decide whom you trust. But I’m not going to ask for a list of names. Watch your backs.” As quickly as he’d come in, he headed back out into the night.

I curled into Phil’s side and yawned. It had been a late night. After Fury had left, we’d made it clear to Stark that it was up to Phil to reveal himself to the other Avengers when he felt ready. It had taken a bit of convincing, but Stark finally got on board. The relationship between Stark and Phil wasn’t as tense as I was expecting, but it’s not like they stripped down to compare chest scars either. I think Stark had probably been a thorn in Phil’s side too many times to make him feel really companionable, but Phil’s ‘death’ had definitely changed Stark. I caught him staring at Phil with slack-jawed wonder a couple of times, but more surprisingly, I caught him looking on Phil with a great deal of respect. I thought that would probably come in handy at some point.

Phil wrapped his arm around me and kissed my forehead. If the sun streaming in my window was any indication, it was mid-morning.

“When do you have to head back to your team?” I asked, my voice rough with sleep.

“I should head back soon. We’re still assigned to the cleanup. The preliminary damage report came in on Friday afternoon, and unbelievably, there’s very little structural damage. Again, pointing to an inside job.” He trailed his hand down my shoulder.

“I’m scared, Phil. This is not what I signed up for,” I admitted. He kissed my forehead again.

“Did you really never wish to be outside of HR? Not even once?” He teased.

“Maybe,” I admitted.

“A girl doesn’t get a black belt in every martial art invented and not ponder life as an agent, I suppose.”

“Not every martial art,” I laughed and shimmied up the bed until we were face to face. I kissed him, gently. His free arm came up to my shoulder and he pushed me onto my back, and trailed kisses from my shoulder across my collarbone, and down to the valley between my breasts.

“It’s normal to be scared, Annie,” he spoke between placing his lips against my skin. “Even those of us who did sign up for this feel fear. Sometimes.”

“Do you think we’ll be moving back into the Triskelion?” I was distracted. He was distracting.

“You won’t be. Fury wouldn’t have spent money on that office if he intended to move you back. But they’re talking about putting in new windows this week. Fixing the exterior. Then repurposing the worst damaged areas.” His lips had made it to my hipbone, and his hand was rough on my thigh. He was finished soothing me with words.

“Are you going to bring your team in on this?” I gasped.

“This? Now? No. This is between you and me.”

Stark wanted to meet for dinner. I did not want to meet with him on my own, and Phil had gone back to the bus, so I begged off. I was exhausted from processing all the crap that had changed so quickly in my universe, and I just wanted an enormous cup of tea, trashy television and an early night. He made me promise to meet on Monday, but I hedged on that as well. I was going to have my first training session with Romanov, and I was nervous as hell despite Fury and Phil’s reassurances. The woman was going to kick my ass across the countryside. And then, in all likelihood, back again.

I was just settling in with my tea when I heard a knock at the door. After the lecture I’d received about door safety from Phil, I peeked out the peephole. It was Erin. My stomach dropped. I wanted so desperately to tell her everything, but I didn’t want to put her at risk too. I took a moment to steel my nerves and opened the door. She pushed past me.

“I went out with Matt again. What is wrong with me?”

“Did you go to a rugby game this morning?” I teased. She nodded. I laughed.

“I swear I used to know a girl who looked just like you who swore she would never settle down,” I teased.

“How am I supposed to be the yin to your conventional, commitment-happy yang if I’m going to Sunday morning Rugby games?” She complained from the kitchen. She was already fixing herself a cup of tea.

“That’s definitely a reason to dump his ass before it gets serious,” I deadpanned. “Wait, you went to a rugby game. Totally too late.”

“Shut up!” She complained. “Is that a box of bullets?”

“Yeah, for my sidearm,” I confirmed.

“The fuck? You have a sidearm?”

“Not that I’m particularly effective with it, but yes. I’m getting some remedial learning,” I yawned. It had been a long weekend.

“I will lose my mind if I have to start taking additional training,” Erin complained. Obviously Fury hadn’t spoken to her yet. Well, I wasn’t taking that bullet for him. He could give her the happy news himself.

“It’s not so bad,” I shrugged.

“It is. And it’s bullshit. I think they’re too worried about this attack. I’m sure it was random, and wasn’t targeting us at all.” She pulled the teabag out of the cup and tossed it into my composter. I kept my face neutral, but was troubled by her blasé attitude. She was going to get hurt if she didn’t start taking the threat seriously. But again, I didn’t want to be in the middle of an Erin shitstorm, so I was going to leave that conversation to Fury as well.

I flicked the TV over to some ridiculous comedy, which was Erin’s usual cue to launch into a detailed narrative about her weekend, but even the competition between the TV and Erin’s expressive way of speaking were doing nothing to keep me awake. I finally shut the TV off, and sent Erin home. I needed to be up to run in the morning, and her office was right next door to mine.