#the state of the world will only get worse before jt gets better

[skrmbrks]

i wish for peace in our lifetime, i wish for love to seep into every crack of this planet, i wish for it to penetrate every heart and soul. i wish for brutality to face its end, i wish for evil to turn to light. i wish for us to create such a place where cruelty cannot resurface. i wish for communities without borders, i wish for human and nature to be reunited by love and protect each other.

[theshadowofme]

Well, it’s Bell’s Let’sTalk day, the day where we are suppose to talk about mental health and encourage people to come forward and seek help if needed. It is also a time to share our own stories about our battles with mental health. Today, I will share some more of my journey.

Well, I started my journey into policing back in 2004. Graduated from Depot, and was posted to Northeastern BC. This is where I learned policing, an oilfield town where the government employees were on the low end of the pay scale. When people asked me what policing an oil town was like, I always would say, “it was a great place to learn.” And it truly was. As a new officer, you got exposed to everything. Which was also a negative, as you got exposed to EVERYTHING.

My final year there was my first exposure to an in custody death in the summer of 2007. We received a complaint of a person acting erratically and attempting to smash windows. The long and the short of it, upon arrest, involving five officers, the person went into medical distress, ultimately passing away at the local hospital. From this, I got to be the subject of an investigation, and experience a Coroners Inquest. The outcome of the inquest was that the person passed away from excited delirium, something at that point in time, officers were not trained how to deal with people suspected of suffering from excited delirium.

Shortly after these events, I transferred to my next post, a three person post in the interior of BC. Two weeks after trasferring to this post, the organization changed their policy on on call and what was suppose to be only on call between shifts every once in awhile changed to being on call for probably 5 out of every 7 days of a week. Ultimately I was on call for three months straight at one point. I know that there are members that have gone longer, but this was my reality at the time. Unable to leave town, even when I wasn’t scheduled to be on shift as I was on call for the member that was working that day. Between dealing with no down time and having not processed having a person dying in custody, I started a downward spiral to the lowest point I have ever been in my life. At this point there was no talking about trauma in the organization or PTSD. I still remember the part of training where the mental health discussion was “you’ll have bad days, but you will get over them.”

At my lowest point I seriously contemplated suicide to the point that I had my pistol out one night at work wondering what it would be like. My life was so out of my control at that point that I felt that the only thing that I could control was whether I lived or died. Ultimately I did not do it, but at that point, I saw no other way out and just didn’t care anymore. A week later, I was off work as I couldn’t deal with the stress anymore. It is very disheartening as an officer when your supervisor takes away your service weapon and sends you home.

I started the process of recovery and was diagnosed with PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder. This started the journey of medications and treatments. Medications always seem to have interesting side effects for me. One I didn’t sleep, one my symptoms got worse, and one had other umm... side effects. Sleeping pills either didn’t work or made me into a drooling mess at their lowest dose. After six months I was deemed fit to return to work, which I did. After another year in that office, I transferred to Northwestern BC.

With my transfer to Northwestern BC, I made the vow to myself that I would talk about my experiences to the people I worked with to hopefully prevent anyone from going through what I did. Ultimately, by helping to remove the stigma within the office I worked, it helped others trust me to come to me with their problems and ask for help. I continued this through the rest of my career.

As I have written about in my previous posts, this lead to the week of hell. This time I was better able to read what my head and my body was telling me and deemed that once I was done two commitments I was going off again. Ultimately I was off for two months before I returned to work as I actually enjoyed my job there. Once back from being off, I transferred in the fall of that year to Southeastern BC, my current home. This also involved having a new family doctor.

After two years here, my doctor started to ask me if I wanted to be put off work due to all the things that were going on in my life. She just kept saying to me, “I don’t know how you keep going.” My psychiatrist was also saying the same thing to me as well. At this point, reading my own body and mental state, I was confident that I could continue on. I was able to continue this until another trauma event happened, followed shortly after by becoming the person in charge of the office that was short staffed. I fought through this until I wasn’t able to anymore. I decided that when I was driving to work in the morning and feeling like puking on the way that I shouldn’t be there as I was a liability to the public, my co-workers, and ultimately myself. As the person in charge, I didn’t have anyone to report to locally, so this time around, I locked up my own service weapon, turned the keys over to the exhibit clerk and called the district officer and advised them that they needed to have someone come and run the detachment. I have not returned to work since.

Approximately 5 years ago, I got really sick of being told I had a mental illness and started telling people I had an injury. Most people that I tell this to agree with me and it helps remove the stigma of the source of our problems. As it is Let’s Talk day, I will advise all three of my readers to talk about it. Whether you are suffering, or you see someone else suffering, talk, but remember, sometimes the best way to help someone isn’t by talking, but by listening. Or it could be as simple as giving a recommendation of a psychiatrist. Providing a ride to someone to their appointment because they aren’t able to at that point. So lets remove the stigma and tell our stories. Let the world know that we need the help and let our coworkers know that we are there for them. If you need to talk, PM me. If you already have my number, call me or text me. I would rather talk to you than talk about you at your funeral.

My song selection today is very appropriate as sung by JT and CS. Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton. I fell in love with it when I first heard it as it is very true, the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all. This has so many meanings today. It could mean that when I was at my lowest, by not saying something, I was saying a lot. But coming out the other side, I decided to put myself in the middle as the song says. So without further ado, it is “Say Something.”

Cheers all, and remember, Let’s Talk About it.

[themachiavellianpig]

Prodigal Son, Episode 4: You can still be scared of family

Episode 4 of Prodigal Son and Malcolm Bright is spinning right out of control while navigating murky memories, complex family relationships and the murder of an instagram influencer.  

As always, spoilers below.

Following the revelation in last week’s episode that Malcolm had told his mother about the girl in the box before his father’s arrest, we begin the episode with a Malcolm who is decidedly Not Handling It Well. I’m deeply intrigued at Malcolm’s relationship with mental health professionals; he’s willing to return to his childhood therapist of his own volition and openly admits that he’s becoming obsessed with the question of his mother’s guilt, but is hugely reluctant actually to do anything that she recommends. I do have to admit, however, that after years of protagonists who refuse to admit to mental health difficulties, it is refreshing to see Malcolm openly and easily agree that he is in crisis - even if he does then immediately leave the office to go to a crime scene. (Sidenote: I am deeply impressed with his therapist’s patience and professionalism in the face of a somewhat-manic Malcolm; she must be fantastic with her younger patients). 

I’m also pleased with the way in which the show deals with Malcolm’s suspicions about his mother - when he finds that his attempts to find any sort of corroborating evidence have failed, he simply talks to his mother about the memory. 

Admittedly, he only does this when she appears in his apartment for the world’s most unsettling intervention and he doesn’t so much talk to her as openly accuse her of helping to cover for a serial killer, but it’s still more direct communication than we often see in dramas such as this, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. 

The argument between Malcolm and Jessica gives us three significant points: Jessica’s ability to wrestle some sort of compromise out of the Surgeon, her reaction to the details of Malcolm’s recovered memory, and her bold statement of Mothering Intent, “I don’t need you to love me, Malcolm, I just need you alive”, which really tells us all we need to know about the standards of successful parenting when your partner kills twenty-three people.

The fact that Jessica managed to convince Martin to remove Malcolm from his approved visitors’ list is downright fascinating. Malcolm slides right past it in favour of accusations of collaboration with the Devil, but I really want to know just how Jessica managed to convince Martin to give up his most tangible link to his son. THis is aman who has so far delighted in his ability to mess with his family - I can’t see him giving up his best chance to continue to do so without getting something new in exchange, and Jessica was certainly desperate enough last week to consider a new deal with the Devil to save her son. 

Throughout the argument with Malcolm, Jessica presents herself as someone who has had quite enough of this nonsense, thank you very much - except for the moment when Malcolm tells her that she was wearing a red dress, which gets a moment of genuine surprise and possibly even fear from Jessica. When she finds the red dress in her wardrobe later, she recalls an argument with Martin pre-arrest - an argument in which all of the accusations and promises are phrased in that oh-so ambiguous way that only happens in certain types of flashbacks. 

Jessica’s reactions throughout the argument with Martin convinced me that she’d thought her husband an adulterer, not a murderer - and, as she alluded to in last week’s flashback, she’d always been prepared on some level to sacrifice marital fidelity for the sake of appearances and her ‘perfect family’. I’m also very taken with the idea that Martin knew that that was the assumption Jessica was making, because how spectacularly cruel would it be for him to allow Jessica to ‘choose’ not to say anything, knowing full-well that she might one day discover that she’d really chosen to protect a murderer? 

Jessica: You’re a monster!  Martin: You may be right. But no one else needs to know that.

The final, heartbreaking detail in Jessica’s involvement with her husband’s crimes is her admission to Malcolm that she was so preoccupied with drowning her sorrows before Martin’s arrest that she can’t remember Malcolm asking her for help. To have ignored the warning signs of her husband’s murderous impulses is one thing; to have ignored your own son asking for help is quite another. Over these first four episode, Jessica’s character has been constantly intriguing - a state of affairs that I sincerely hope will continue even as she and Malcolm seem to make peace. 

The Crime of the Week is, as always, perfectly serviceable, with bonus points for the creation of another visually-stunning crime scene and the selection of a victim who has some sort of emotional resonance with someone other than Malcolm. JT’s status as a “fan” of the instagram celebrity/latest murder victim is played for laughs just once; the rest of the time, it’s treated with some degree of respect, especially when he reveals to Malcolm that he had met Tatiana while serving in the military. The contrast between JT’s respectful admiration and the actions of the requisite stalker was subtly done; crime shows tend to focus only on the obsessive end of the fandom spectrum when dealing with questions of celebrity.

Roger the Stalker, played with some cracking facial expressions by Daniel London, allowed the show to make good use of Malcolm’s tendency to tap dance over polite convention. I’m not clear on the professional standards for NYPD consultants, but I’m reasonably sure that Malcolm shouldn’t play keep-away with a suspect’s belongings or obsessively photograph a suspect in interrogation to make an unsubtle point about privacy. 

The icing on the objectively hilarious cake, however, comes when Malcolm fabricates a medical emergency and tells Roger that he needs emergency surgery in order to coerce a deathbed confession from a man who, to be perfectly clear here, is in no danger of dying. I can’t decide if Malcolm’s promise to look after the man’s cat makes him a better or worse human being, but it will almost certainly be grounds for another complaint against him. 

This episode also finally gives us some more insight into the character of Ainsley, who thus far could have been cut from almost every episode with almost no impact on plot. Her focus on the murdering father who she barely remembers comes to forefront sharply in this episode, which makes perfect sense considering the hold Martin still has over his wife and son. To grow up with such a ghost would certainly pique the curiosity; at the very least, Ainsley simply wants not to be left out of her own family. Everyone else gets to have a relationship with the Surgeon so why not her? 

It also gives us the opportunity for a little moment of sibling reassurance when Ainsley and Malcolm discuss the fact that Martin watches Ainsley’s broadcasts: “The Surgeon’s a perfectionist. He wouldn’t be watching you if you weren’t the best in town.” Is this sweet or worrying? As always, I am never sure. 

The final reveal of the episode, that Ainsley has gone to visit Martin of her own accord, is surprising but not shocking - and will hopefully give Martin Sheen a great opportunity to show how the Surgeon forges a relationship with a new person.

Although I am deeply concerned about what sort of father-daughter bonding activities we will see between a serial killer and a homicide journalist. 

Enjoyed this review? Find the rest of season 1 of Prodigal Son reviewed here

[closetofanxiety]

Show Review: Constitution State Wrestling

Last night,  I went down to beautiful Groton, Conn. (”The Nuclear Submarine Capital of the World”) with Mark, Mike, and Joel to see a show put on by an indie promotion that was totally new to us. It was, in many ways, a prototypical Local Indie Experience. Let’s count the ways:

National Anthem

This, in many ways, is the earliest and most significant sign that you’re attending a Local Indie as opposed to a National (For Lack of a Better Term) Indie (the national anthem might be played before a Shindie, too, but that’s another subject entirely). Local indies always make everyone stand up for the national anthem, national indies do not. The local indie maintains, at least in vestigial form, a connection to the idea that this is a sporting event, and sporting events begin with the anthem. In this case, the anthem was a pre-recorded instrumental track, but people clapped after it was over anyway.

Public Venue

Unlike a National Indie, which will be in a bar or a rock club or a private fraternal organization’s event hall or a Catholic church with an absurdly Catholic name (New York City national indies only), the Local Indie show will take place in a high school gym or a town hall or a rec center or some other building they can get with a discounted rental fee because of political connections. In this case: Ella T. Grasso Technical High School, a magnificent example of 1970s brutalist school architecture. It was an air-conditioned gym, though, which you wouldn’t expect on the Connecticut shoreline, so kudos to the Constitution State Wrestling folks for that choice.

Advertising and Local Celebs

It’s not a Local Indie without a program, and this show had a program listing the entire card, providing some detail on the two main events (there can be only one main event in reality but whatever) and listing all the local sponsors of the show. As a bonus, there were also signs leading to the venue that just said “Wrestling” with an arrow pointing vaguely in the direction of the school. I cherish these signs of Local Indiedom! There was also a woman from a rock radio station on hand, whose duties were limited to introducing herself and then, later, introducing the women’s match. It’s not a Local Indie without an appearance from a random local celeb: TV meteorologists, disc jockeys, mayors, and others are all perfectly acceptable. 

At Least One Wrestler Who’s in the Military

In our case, that was “The Soldier of God” Ronnie Ribbs, which is absolutely one of the best Local Indie names I’ve ever heard in my life. Ronnie Ribbs! “Soldier of God” is a little weird, though. Kind of a Taliban vibe there. Also, since that’s a lot of verbiage to put on your ring gear, that meant Ronnie Ribbs had the acronym “SOG” on the seat of his red, white, and blue trunks which, if you didn’t know what it stood for, could be a little embarrassing. Anyway, he was introduced as a soldier in the U.S. Army, always good for a patriotism pop at a Local Indie. Groton, though, is a Navy town, and when Ribbs was rolled up by opponent “Sensational” Scott Levesque with help from cheating heel manager “High Class” Rich Bass, a guy behind me said, “Just one more reason the Army sucks at everything.” 

Event Name That is Not a Cool Pop Culture Reference

Constitution State actually fell down on the job here, as this event did not appear to have a name at all. But a key distinction between a Local Indie and a National Indie is that the latter will usually go with some impenetrable hip pop culture reference (or, worse, just use numbers for each show, like they’re the UFC), whereas local indies are still committed to calling things, like, “Final Showdown” and “Summer Smash Up” and “Brattleboro Brawl” (Brattleboro local indies only) and, of course, “SEASON’S BEATINGS.” 

Random Ex-WWE/F Guy

In this case, that role was filled by Gangrel, who really should be getting some of the indie wrestling nerd attention being lavished on PCO. Gangrel is a blast to see live; he gets insanely into it, and takes bumps that are ridiculously bad ideas for a man of his age. He was in the main event here, and the crowd was pretty exhausted by the time it started, but he got them right back into what was really kind of a straightforward brawl with southern New England bad guy Trigga the OG, accompanied, of course, by evil schemer “High Class” Rich Bass, who I’ve never seen before. The crowd was NUTS for Gangrel. When he won, the pop was huge, although it was slightly disappointing that only Joel chanted “Fang and bang! Fang and bang!” Gangrel loved that though. He pointed to Joel and did the throat-cross-into-the-hook-’em-horns thing. 

Local Wrestling Academy Students’ Match

Often, this is a battle royal, but thank God that was not the case here. Instead, we saw Matt Taven trainees Joey Bones and Todd Harris, the latter working a “rich prick from Newport” gimmick. Both guys were decent, show real promise, and, notably, had really good gear. Invest in yourselves, aspiring wrestlers! You’ll stand out from the pack. 

A Comedy Match That Isn’t Funny

I like comedy wrestling. I know lots of people don’t, but that’s why they make different kinds of ice cream. However, there’s a Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy comedy match, and then there’s a Local Indie comedy match, which is basically like a Three Stooges short mixed with some inexplicable Attitude Era flourishes. In this case, it was the awesomely-named Necromancer (short, stout guy with Papa Shango face paint and no apparent ability to speak to the dead) vs. 2Buff w/ The Buffdad, a legitimate father and son duo whose gimmick is that they are not, in fact, buff, but that they constantly do that thing where they put their hands behind their heads and swivel their hips, kind of like a Chippendale dancer would do on an episode of “Designing Women.” Laughs were notably absent, at least from the four of us. Mercifully, this match was broken up by James Ellsworth, who was booked as a random ex-WWE guy but is now, once again, an actual WWE guy. What must he have thought, staring out at the 250 or so people in a high school gym, knowing that in three nights he’ll be facing Asuka on live national television in front of maybe 12,000 people. Anyway, Ellsworth issued an open challenge, and another classic Local Indie thing happened: some loud music hit, and a guy walked out to answer the challenge, but instead of the “Oh shit you gonna get it NOW” reaction from the crowd, there was puzzlement, as no one knew who the challenger was. It didn’t help that he looked like just A Dude in red basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. Later we would learn that he is Wildman Kongo and he would go on to have a bad match with James Ellsworth in front of a tired crowd.

Excitable Fans

Hot crowd, especially before the intermission! At the start of the lone tag team bout, which pitted Brutal Bob Evans and “Tough Tim” against two guys called Riot City’s Most Wanted who looked like indie wrestlers circa 2003, one young fan became so enraged at the heels that he jumped the rail, the first time I think I’ve ever seen that at a show. He was about 11, though, and his friends quickly pulled him back over, so we were spared the sight of Brutal Bob having to PROTECT THE BUSINESS by breaking a child’s jaw. Local indie fixture the Fogman was also there. He’s not really excitable, necessarily, but he’s a fan. We talked to him during intermission and, I mean, he’s an OK guy. He’s his own biggest fan, but what’s so bad about a little self-confidence?

A “Ladies’ Match”

Never a women’s match or just “a match,” on a Local Indie it’s always a LADEEEEES MATCH, the segregation compounded here by having the radio station woman do the only thing she did all night by announcing the competitors, Isana and Jawsolyn. The regular ring announcer was a rockabilly guy, complete with Rev. Horton Heat necktie and suede shoes. He was fine. Isana is a big lass but mobile and specializes in suplays, while Jawsolyn’s gimmick is that she is a shark. That should have gone over better in a coastal town, but people were mostly politely indifferent to this match which, in fairness, was slow and clunky. 

One National Indie-Caliber Match

Increasingly, the people who promote and book Local Indies are fans of national indie wrestling, or Japanese wrestling, or British wrestling, or what have you. In this, their tastes diverge from those of their fanbase, which mostly consists of normal, blue collar Americans who just want a fun night out instead of weirdos arguing about BOLA lineups on Reddit all night or people who will slash your tires if you so much as say a disparaging word against Kenneth Omega. To try to satisfy their own creative longings, the promoters and bookers usually put one match on the card that could be on the card of a PWG show or Beyond show or AAW show or whatever. This is normally received by the Local Indie crowd with the same quiet endurance 205 Live is received by WWE crowds, but tonight was an exception. Matt Cross and JT Dunn, meeting for only the second time ever, had a tear-down-the-house 20-minute match that had the good blue collar people of America’s Nuclear Submarine Heartland going absolutely nuts and bananas. This was, indeed, a great match, one of the best I’ve seen all year: neither guy worked heel, but both of them wrestled as though they were actually trying to win an athletic competition, which is rarer than it should be in pro wrestling. Dunn dominated the first half of the match by keeping Cross on the ground and softening him up with wear-down holds to try and create openings for hard strikes. In the second half, Cross was finally able to take to the air, and made his spectacular offense seem credible and devastating. There were, by my count, three “This is awesome” chants, a “Both these guys” chant, and a “Fight forever” chant. People LOVED this match. YOU SEE, VINCE? PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE WRESTLING WHEN ok I’m not going to start with that. But it was nice to see a normal American wrestling crowd go nuts for a match that would not be out of place in Reseda or wherever the hell PWG shows are now. 

[chorusfm]

The Top Albums of 2018 (So Far)

I think I say this every year but fuck it – the music 2018 has blessed us with in its first six months has been extraordinary. With all the insane shit happening around us and to us in this day and age, it feels like music is the only sane thing we have. So below we have our top 20 favorite releases of the year thus far. If you can’t find something to love on this list then you just aren’t trying hard enough – this is an eclectic list that encompasses multiple genres and styles. I can’t wait to see what the next six months brings to our ears. Note: You can share your own list in our music forum. The Top Albums of 2018 (So Far) 1. Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers Brian Fallon came up in the New Jersey punk scene writing nostalgic rock songs about ferris wheels and that old house in Asbury Park and sleeping on the beach. He did it all so damn well that his band, The Gaslight Anthem, famously earned the Springsteen seal of approval. Fallon is a Jersey boy through and through, which makes the idea of his new departure of a solo record—an organ-led, British-invasion-influenced solo record recorded in New Orleans—so fascinating. That he completely pulled it off, continuing his incredible hot streak of albums that began with 2008’s The ’59 Sound, proves that Brian Fallon is among America’s greatest living songwriters. Following his solo debut, 2016’s great if slightly by-the-numbers Painkillers, Sleepwalkers feels far more confident and mature, as Brian Fallon stretches his skillset into a dozen interesting new territories. The NOLA flavor shows up when Fallon experiments with sultry new rhythms in “Come Wander With Me” and the horn-driven title track. “Forget Me Not” references the Beatles in the bridge to signal to listeners that, yes, this is a ‘60s pop song. There is a sizable dose of Pearl Jam in the grungy guitar tones on “My Name Is The Night (Color Me Black),” and there is just enough Barry Manilow flavor in stadium-sized ballad “Etta James,” which sounds like if “Mandy” were performed by a guy with neck tattoos. Still, despite the rampant experimentation, Sleepwalkers is as cohesive a record as we’ve come to expect from Fallon over the past decade, making it one of the most exciting moments in his impressive discography and one of 2018’s most well-crafted records. [JB] 2. The Wonder Years – Sister Cities “I feel like if you’ve been following The Wonder Years, this is where it’s been going,” frontman Dan Campbell states in the teaser trailer for Sister Cities, and he’s spot on. This is the band’s most dynamic album yet, which says a lot considering how much the band has grown with every release. “Raining in Kyoto”, one of the heavier songs the band has written, introduces the central theme of the record, which is that no matter how far apart we may be physically, we’re all connected by our shared humanity: “an older man stood close by and smiled at me / I rung the bell like he did, I told you I’m sorry / a makeshift funeral, I tried setting you free.” On the other side of the world during his grandfather’s funeral, Campbell found solace in a place that didn’t share a spoken language, but a language of grief and love. The album’s closer, “The Ocean Grew Hands to Hold Me,” is The Wonder Years at their most vulnerable: “when I was in shambles / when I got too weak / the ocean grew hands to hold me.” The song, and the album as a whole, is about darkness and loss, but it’s also triumphant. It’s about realizing that our individual struggles are our collective struggles. At our lowest points, our humanity—the ocean—lifts us up and carries us home. [SS] 3. Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour While Kacy Musgraves is a country artist, it’s hard to characterize Golden Hour as a strictly country album. She’s been bending the genre since her release of Same Trailer Different Park in 2013. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me what genre Golden Hour is placed into because it’s just a good album. Some song on the record (“Slow Burn,” namely) require warming up to them before you can enjoy them in the full context of the album, but I didn’t mind giving this a few spins before it sank in. “High Horse” is a catchy tune and it’s not the only one on the record. With each song, you get the sense that Kacey just wants to do her own thing without focusing on what it’s going to be labeled as. Her personality shines through and that’s what makes this album a fun one to listen to. [DC] 4. Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz Spanish Love Songs are a band that play a particular brand of denim-jacket-punk that feels informed in equal parts by Against Me!…As The Eternal Cowboy and “The Authority Song” by John Mellancamp. Many of their songs contain lyrics where lead vocalist Dylan Slocum fears out loud that he will be killed in an act of random gun violence. This is to say that Spanish Love Songs are an American rock band. Schmaltz is greater than the sum of its parts. At first take, Spanish Love Songs sound a lot like The Menzingers, but that comparison is far too simple to leave unexamined. Compared to the Americana-influenced punk bands that preceded them, Spanish Love Songs’ choruses are more immediate with a notable to well-crafted vocal melodies and the inclusion of synthesizers to punch up the pop elements. The vocals are more frantic and anxious, as Slocum agonizes about the intersection of the aging process, the death of loved ones, and the definite timeline of his own life. Sure, the music Spanish Love Songs make may sound familiar, but the band have nailed the execution to the extent that Schmaltz is handily one of 2018’s most exciting releases from a new band. [JB] 5. Now, Now – Saved Every once in a while the perfect album seems to come along at the perfect time for me. I hear it, it just clicks, and it becomes not only my soundtrack for a few weeks, but my soundtrack for the year. Right now, that’s been the newest album from Now, Now. I find myself returning to Saved when I’m looking for a pick-me-up, when I’m looking to get into my feels on a late night, and when I’m just trying to zone out after a long day at work. The kind of album that just feels perfectly made for where I’m at and what I’m looking for from a record right now. I’m a sucker for pop-music that retains a strong emotional resonance. For music that is full of huge choruses and melodies while maintaining an emotional core. By and large, I think that’s the thread that’s followed me through my entire musical journey. It’s what really draws me to music in the first place. As we reflect on the albums that have made the first part of the year so special for us, I think about what’s going to stay with me through the rest of the year as well. I’ll be playing “SGL” while the sun’s out all summer, listening to “Knowme” as the leafs start to change colors, and have “P0WDER” on repeat in my headphones by the fire this winter. It’s an album for all seasons, for all moods, and it’s been my runaway favorite of the year so far. [JT] 6. Pianos Become The Teeth – Wait For Love After spending the last three Pianos Become The Teeth records recounting the life, love, pain, and loss of his father from multiple sclerosis, the band’s latest album Wait For Love features frontman Kyle Durfey exploring his own fatherhood, as he got married and had a child after finding some sort of closure on 2014’s Keep You. Wait For Love isn’t a happy record nor a sad record – it’s a realistic one that beautifully and painfully captures all the intoxicating highs and devastating lows of being a husband and father. The record is as emotionally complex as you’d expect from a Pianos record, but Durfey’s melodies have never been more powerful, surrounded by the band’s increased gracefulness in their musicianship and enhanced by David Haik’s pulsating and brilliant drumming. From the initial euphoric wave of “Fake Lighting” to the gorgeously intense closer “Blue,” Wait For Love is bursting with some of 2018’s most heartfelt, vulnerable tracks as Pianos Become The Teeth earnestly march into the next exhilarating phase of their career. (DB) 7. Pusha T – DAYTONA It’s been a long season for hip-hop, filled with new releases and controversy in equal measure. While many have taken Kanye West to task for his inane infatuation with Trump and a number of right-wing pundits, there was a certain curiousness ascribed to the announcement of his ambitious Wyoming Sessions. West set out to release five G.O.O.D Music albums within a month, and while ye may be polarizing enough to finally keep some listeners from buying into the producer’s schtick, the first release of these sessions, Pusha T’s DAYTONA, may be the best of the bunch. DAYTONA is as close as it gets to an instant classic, and the publicity surrounding the release, for better or worse, fuels that fact. In some ways, DAYTONA is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Pusha T – that is, luxury drug raps – but in another way, the album pushes new boundaries for the rapper. From the melodicism of opening single “If You Know You Know” to the stunning guitar samples on “The Games We Play” and “Santeria,” King Push manages to mix more braggadocio and quotables in just seven tracks than most rappers are capable of in an hour-plus. [AM] 8. Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog There is no voice in modern rock and roll as unique and indescribable as Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan. A constant see-saw between something beautiful and ugly, she undertakes a variety of different approaches, as if her voice is assuming a different character each time. And it’s so very apparent on the band’s incredible third album, Bark Your Head Off, Dog – a record that encapsulates a catharsis in the most imperfect yet perfect ways. Tracks like “How You Got Your Limp” and “Not Abel” prove that you don’t need to be abrasive to be impactful, each song channeling the tender yet spastic density of the band’s music. Bark Your Head Off, Dog may be the most visceral record of 2018, innately sticking with you long after the final track has finished playing. [DB] 9. Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer Josh Tillman is one of the most divisive voices in indie-rock, for reasons that are clear, but also somewhat silly. It seems many can’t stand the performer’s growing penchant for satire and theatrics, and if that’s the case, many will rejoice upon hearing his shortest and least ironic offering under the moniker yet. Taking sonic cues from his entire discography, God’s Favorite Customer is a piano record, a comparatively minimalist affair that often bursts into lavish compositions that would make a Beatle blush. Rooted in heartbreak and isolation, Gods Favorite Customer offers the unique songwriting chops fans have come to love as well as an unbridled and often bleak look at this particular songwriter’s process. An album of pleas, Tillman chastises himself on “Just Dumb Enough to Try” (“But I’m just dumb enough to try/To keep you in my life/For a little while longer”), but also switches places with his partner on standouts “Please Don’t Die” (“And honey, I’m worried ’bout you/Put yourself in my shoes/You’re all that I have/So please don’t die, wherever you are tonight”) and “The Songwriter.” Saving its least performative bits for the B-side, God’s Favorite Customer is the unfortunately common high point of an artist’s career mirroring a low point in their personal life. [AM] 10. Jeff Rosenstock – POST- If Jeff Rosenstock’s We Cool? is about the internally-directed disquiet that comes when an anxious person starts noticing the aging process, and if WORRY. is about the externally-directed disquiet that comes when an anxious person decides to get married and settle down in a troubled political climate, POST- is about that same anxious person trying their absolute hardest to keep it together in the era of Donald Trump. While POST- doesn’t shake up the WORRY. sound all that much (discounting some experimentation with longer song structures in the opening and closing tracks), Rosenstock has clearly gone through significant changes since Inauguration Day. Specifically, he’s writing from a much lower place. While Jeff postured himself as the flag-bearer in the movement against all that is fucked up in the world on WORRY., POST- finds the singer full of anxiety and paranoia with nothing but questions to offer. Did my friends and neighbors vote for him? How can I speak out against this? Is there really any point in doing so? Can I start a new life in Australia or something? And while “Let Them Win” doesn’t begin to start answering these questions, it does present the only possible conclusion, the only mantra that feels within reach: no matter how bad things get, we’re not gonna let them win. [JB] 11. Fall Out Boy – MANIA If you could put me in a time machine that looks like a DeLorean and shoot me back to the release of Fall Out Boy’s Take This To Your Grave, and let me tell myself that in 15 years the band would still be going strong, and, in fact, may have just released their best album? I’d probably believe time-traveling-Jason. I’ve always believed that this band is special and it’s thrilling for me to watch their career unfold. The constant has been the band’s ability to write very good songs. They’ve walked through a variety of different genres and branched out their sound, but I’d argue that the the underlying “Fall Out Boy-ness” has always remained. (Uh, ditto for people arguing about them on my forums.) MANIA has quickly grown to be one of my favorite Fall Out Boy albums. I’m drawn to this brash confidence I can feel in the songs. It’s got a pulsing soul that reverberates through a razor-tight 36 minutes. Between foot-stomping choruses and soul-baring ballads, it’s the amount of pure fun that I find in the album I’m drawn most to. In a world that feels more hellish each day, there’s a comfort to this record. I’m not surprised this band is still cranking out great songs all these years later, but I’m always pleasantly surprised when I not only find something to like, but something I genuinely want to listen to. Well done you little pleasing purple record you. [JT] 12. Lord Huron – Vide Noir Lord Huron, the indie rock group from Los Angeles, have had quite a few years to grow into their trademark sound of atmospheric landscapes and wandering journeys. Vide Noir, the third studio album and their first on a major label, was mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips) and self-produced by front-man Ben Schneider, in which he has crafted his early career masterpiece. Schneider recently credited this album to a new habit of taking nighttime drives around LA and the “search for meaning amidst the cold indifference of the universe,” according to his recent social media posts. This album in particular speaks to the late night journeys that Schneider had become accustomed to and takes the listener on a rewarding path of self discovery. Lord Huron are at their most comfortable when they experiment with these sonic landscapes and there’s plenty of this apparent on this LP. [AG] 13. Caitlyn Smith – Starfire Some artists just have those voices that you can’t deny. You might not usually listen to the genre they hail from, and you might not even love the songs, but you can hear them sing and understand why people love their music. Adele is one of those artists. Chris Stapleton is one of those artists. Jeff Buckley, when he was alive, was one of those artists. And Caitlyn Smith is one of those artists, too. For my money, Smith’s debut, titled Starfire, is one of the two or three most well-sung LPs of the decade so far. I’m guessing that one listen to the theatrical tour-de-force “East Side Restaurant” will be enough to tell you why. While Smith’s voice is the centerpiece, though, Starfire is what it is because of the songwriting. Smith has been waiting for this moment for a long time, releasing a series of EPs and writing songs for everyone from Garth Brooks to Dolly Parton to Meghan Trainor and John Legend. Starfire encapsulates that long-haul story into a record about chasing a dream until it breaks your heart—and then chasing it even harder. Songs like “Don’t Give up on My Love” and “This Town Is Killing Me” ache with the sting of everything you sacrifice when you gamble your life on a fool’s hope of music industry success. “They buried my granddad without me/’Cause I was out on the road at some one-off show in Tupelo/And I can’t take that one back,” Smith sings in the latter. Starfire is an album built on a lot of miles, a lot of lonely nights in shitty motel rooms, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. You can hear every ounce of what the journey cost in the songs, so when Smith belts something like the rafter-shaking key change at the climax of “Tacoma,” it feels like nothing less than a triumph of the human spirit. [CM] 14. Camp Cope – How To Socialise and Make Friends There’s a renaissance of primal, emotionally-charged punk rock coming out of Melbourne, Australia right now (roo-rock?) and the all-female Camp Cope is leading the charge. Lead singer Georgia Maq started as a solo artist, but added Kelso Hellmrich and Sarah Thompson to great effect on their second studio album, How to Socialize & Make Friends, a loose reference to the classic Dan Carnegie self-help book published in the 30’s. Maq is equal parts sincere, sarcastic, bitter, and brazen singing about gender politics (“And all my success has got nothing to do with me/Yeah, tell me again how there just aren’t that many girls in the music scene”) and just surviving in a world not built for sensitive people (“But sometimes it’s hard to go outside/And I’ve been driving way too much/I’ve been too lazy to fix my bike”). Her beautiful banshee scream is reminiscent of Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan’s, but nothing about Camp Cope is purely derivative. Now in their prime as a band, they have created a place for themselves all their own. [DK] 15. Underoath – Erase Me The first time I heard “rase Me, I was let down—but somehow totally vibing with album standout “No Frame.” And then I listened again. And again. The songs started wiggling their way into my head. And then I listened again. The next thing I knew, I was belting every song for weeks on end. I’d trusted Underoath for fifteen years, and they delivered again, despite my initial reaction. Listening to an album “freed from religion” was listening to the catharsis of a man not afraid to address God from a place of vulnerability and honesty unafraid of how he was perceived in the asking, conquering the addiction demons of his past, and coming to a new sense of identity—all while exploring new avenues of sound for the band. Some defined these new sounds as selling out—and while I would’ve preferred more “Hold Your Breath”-type songs to “Rapture”-type songs—I’m all for bands writing what they want to write. This will never be remembered as their greatest album, but with enough time, it becomes an intensely personal album if you let it. The soaring chorus of “In Motion” or the absolutely crushing bridge of “ihateit” spoke directly to my life experiences. Spencer sang words echoing the thoughts I’ve kept on scraps of paper only I see. When I come to music, I just like to be seen. Thirteen years after “Young and Aspiring” changed my life, Underoath still makes music that sees me. And I still see them. I’m so happy for the continued success and happiness they’ve found along the way. Erase Me is an album about the journey, and I’m already excited for what the destination of a next album promises. [GL] 16. Soccer Mommy – Clean Perhaps no other artist understands coming of age in the 2010s the way Soccer Mommy’s Sophie Allison does. Her first proper full-length, Clean, displays her knack for chronicling the uncertainties of young love, feeling misunderstood, and avoiding one’s parents in a way that feels far more mature than the subject matter would suggest. Take “Flaw”’s honest retelling of a relationship gone sour, culminating in the self-aware line: “I choose to blame it all on you, ‘cause I don’t like the truth.” Or listen to the rollicking, defiant single “Your Dog,” a screed against a controlling boyfriend that turns into a positive affirmation of her autonomy. It’ll be exciting to watch Allison grow, but for now, Clean is a hell of a first step. [ZD] 17. Animal Flag – Void Ripper Animal Flag’s latest full-length, Void Ripper, is aptly named. It’s the band’s darkest and heaviest release yet, and the music is every bit as crushing and apocalyptic as Matt Politoski’s lyrics behind it – lyrics like, “everyone I know will die” and “life is short, it always ends.” While Politoski’s lyrics are admittedly depressing, they’re also his most personal and thought-provoking yet. He and the rest of Animal Flag have torn through the void, and what they discovered on the other side was something beautiful. [ZD] 18. Frank Turner – Be More Kind Frank Turner is an Englishman, dutifully touring his way around the world and then back again, racking up a whopping 2,202 shows under his belt. So if anyone knows what might help our country right now, it’s probably the very world-weary Frank Turner. On Be More Kind he prescribes one part decency (“Be more kind, my friends/Try to be more kind”) , one part rage (“Let’s make America great again/By making racists ashamed again.”), and one part persistence (“Put on your brave face, honey, your brave face/It’s funny how fear can bring your focus in tight”). It’s a winning formula and the subject matter forces Turner to slow down in way he’s never done before. He leans in hard on the end-of-the-world theme with titles like “21st Century Survival Blues” and “Making America Great Again,” but mostly gone are the fast guitars and punk power chords, replaced instead with sensitive acoustic strumming and even, on standout track “Blackout”, a clubby dance beat. Turner crafts a surprisingly mellow, insightful album, one that feels, more than ever, like one he’s been wanting to make. And if takes an Englishman with four chords to save our country, well, we’ll take it any way we can get it. [DK] 19. The Republic of Wolves – Shrine After my first listen of Shrine I knew that this was a very special record. On their 3rd LP The Republic of Wolves return to their roots. This record delivers an album full of dynamic dark alt rock songs that are sure to fill a void for some. Lyrically, Shrine is a concept album that centers around Japanese folklore while still touching on relatable themes such as heartbreak (Birdless Cage) and spiritual conflict (Bask) . One of the album’s highlights is the centerpiece “Dialogues,” which takes the listener through a musical journey of both loud and soft dynamics, while also containing a call back a track on the bands first LP “Monologues.” The production on shrine is fantastic and contains some of the best guitar tones I’ve heard this year. This record delivers on many layers and is a must listen for fans of dynamic alternative rock. [Teebs41] 20. Turnstile – Time & Space If you’re looking for 2018’s most wild ride look no further than Turnstile’s Roadrunner Records debut, Time & Space. Blending the perfect mix of shout-along choruses, super groovy musicianship, and just the right amount of heavy to get the pit moving (thanks to Will Yip’s crisp production), the Baltimore quintet is the most exciting and unique band to emerge from the hardcore scene in years. “Generator” flows like an out-of-body experience, elevating above any and all distractions, while the fuzzy crunch of “Moon” features a guest turn from Sheer Mag’s Tina Halladay and the blistering “Right To Be” features added production from none other than Diplo. Clocking in with 13 tracks at just under a half hour, Time & Space proves that the tired ideas of what hardcore should be will not stop Turnstile from getting freaky and releasing one of the best albums of the year. [DB] Contributor Key * [CM]: Craig Manning * [JT]: Jason Tate * [AM]: Aaron Mook * [SS]: Scott Surette * [ZD]: Zac Djamoos * [DC]: Deanna Chapman * [DB]: Drew Beringer * [AG]: Adam Grundy * [GL]: Garrett Lemons * [JB]: John Bazley * [DK]: David Kallison Contributor Lists Jason Tate * Now, Now – Saved * Fickle Friends – You Are Someone Else * Fall Out Boy – Mania * Half Waif – Lavender * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Dessa – Chime * The Neighbourhood – The Neighbourhood * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Natalie Prass – The Future and the Past * Pennywise – Never Gonna Die * Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer * Soccer Mommy – Clean * Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz * Nathan Gray – Feral Hymns * Illuminati Hotties – Kiss Yr Frenemies * The Republic of Wolves – Shrine * Lykke Li – So Sad So Sexy * The Longshot – Love is For Losers * Annie-Marie – Speak Your Mind * Tonight Alive – Underworld Drew Beringer * Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer * The Wonder Years – Sister Cities * Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog * Turnstile – Time & Space * Petal – Magic Gone * Self Defense Family – Have You Considered Punk Music * Beach House – 7 * Pianos Become The Teeth – Wait For Love * Sleep – The Sciences * Tiny Moving Parts – Swell * Jeff Rosenstock – POST- * Culture Abuse – Bay Dream * Rolling Blackouts C.F. – Hope Downs * Dance Gavin Dance – Artificial Selection * Wax Idols – Happy Ending * Now, Now – Saved * Hurry – Every Little Thought * Drowse – Cold Air * Wye Oak – The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs * Anthony Green – Would You Still Be In Love Adam Grundy * Lord Huron – Vide Noir * Middle Kids – Lost Friends * The Aces – When my heart felt volcanic * CHVRCHES – Love is Dead * The Neighbourhood – S/T * Moon Taxi – Let the record play * Car Seat Headrest- Twin Fantasy * Kendrick Lamar/VA – Black panther soundtrack * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Senses Fail – If there is light… * Dashboard Confessional – Crooked Shadows * Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night sweats – Tearing at the Seams * Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino * The Voidz – Virtue * Underoath – Erase Me * Superorganism – S/T * Ben Howard – Noonday Dream * Pennywise – Never Gonna Die * Father John misty – Gods favorite customer * The Longshot – Love is for Losers Craig Manning * Caitlyn Smith – Starfire * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Tenille Townes – The Living Room Worktapes * Dawes – Passwords * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Donovan Woods – Both Ways * Field Report – Summertime Songs * Brothers Osborne – Port Saint Joe * Steve Moakler – Born Ready * Dierks Bentley – The Mountain * LANCO – Hallelujah Nights * Ashley Monroe – Sparrow * Brandi Carlile – By the Way, I Forgive You * Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain * Parker Millsap – Other Arrangements * The Dangerous Summer – The Dangerous Summer * The Church Sisters – A Night at the Opry * Snow Patrol – Wildness * Ashley McBryde – Girl Going Nowhere * American Aquarium – Things Change Scott Surette * the wonder years — sister cities * the republic of wolves — shrine * pusha t — daytona * dance gavin dance — artificial selection * hop along — bark your head off, dog * jeff rosenstock — post- * pianos become the teeth — wait for love * turnstile — time and space * cardi b — invasion of privacy * soccer mommy — clean * jpegmafia — veteran * tiny moving parts — swell * the dangerous summer — the dangerous summer * senses fail — if there is a light, it will find you * pennywise — never gonna die Deanna Chapman * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Hidden Hospitals – Liars * Marian Hill – Unusual * Caitlyn Smith – Starfire * Brothers Osborne – Port Saint Joe * The XCERTS – Hold On To Your Heart * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Hurry – Every Little Thought * Elder Brother – Stay Inside * The Longshot – Love Is for Lovers Zac Djamoos * Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz * The Wonder Years – Sister Cities * Soccer Mommy – Clean * Animal Flag – Void Ripper * Camp Cope – How to Socialise and Make Friends * Long Neck – Will This Do * awakebutstillinbed – what people call low self-esteem… * Pianos Become the Teeth – Wait for Love * illuminati Hotties – Kiss Yr Frenemies 1 * Mighty – Mighty * The Republic of Wolves – shrine * No Thank You – All It Takes to Ruin It All * Black Foxxes – Reidi 14. Runaway Brother – New Pocket * Speak Low If You Speak Love – Nearsighted * Jeff Rosenstock – Post- * Toy Cars – Paint Brain * Late Bloomer – Waiting * Barely Civil – We Can Live Here Forever * Casey – Where I Go When I Am Sleeping Aaron Mook * Caroline Rose – LONER * Porches – The House * Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer * The Sidekicks – Happiness Hours * Pusha T – DAYTONA * Beach House – 7 * American Pleasure Club – A Whole Fucking Lifetime of This * Donovan Wolfington – Waves * Kraus – Path * Mount Eerie – Now Only Chrisanne Grise * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending * Lord Huron – Vide Noir * Florence and the Machine – High as Hope * Leon Bridges – Good Thing * David Byrne – American Utopia * Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer * Frank Turner – Be More Kind * The Longshot – Love is for Losers * Kate Nash – Yesterday Was Forever David Kallison * Camp Cope – How to Socialize and Make Friends * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz * Sorority Noise – YNAAT * Frank Turner – Be More Kind * Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog * illuminati hotties – Kiss Yr Frenemies * Coach Phillips – Learning How To Swim EP * Pelafina – Sorry In Advance * Wonder Years – Sister Cities * Tiny Little Houses – Idiot Proverbs * The Penske File – Salvation * Childish Gambino – “This is America” single * Juice WRLD – Goodbye and Good Riddance * Pllush – Stranger to the Pain * Nahan Gray – Feral Hymns * Animal Flag – Void Ripper John Bazley * Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz * The Wonder Years – Sister Cities * Staten – I don’t want to be alone anymore * Now, Now – Saved * Pusha T – Daytona * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Kevin Gates – Chained to the City EP * Kississippi – Sunset Blush * Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer * Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog * The HIRS Collective – Friends. Lovers. Favorites. * Jeff Rosenstock – POST- * A Will Away – Hear Again EP * J Cole – KOD * Saba – Care For Me * Tiny Moving Parts – Swell * Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel * Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy * Animal Flag – Void Ripper * Zaytoven – Trap Holizay Garrett Lemons * Underoath – Erase Me * The Wonder Years – Sister Cities * Beyonce & Jay-Z — Love Is Everything * Jeff Rosenstock – POST- * The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy * Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy * Frank Turner – Be More Kind * Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes * Dashboard Confessional – Crooked Shadows * Pianos Become The Teeth – Wait For Love * The Dangerous Summer – The Dangerous Summer * Senses Fail – If There Is A Light… * The Republic of Wolves – Shrine * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer * Migos – Culture II * Now, Now – Saved * Justin Timberlake – Man of the Woods * Pusha T – Daytona Ryan Gardner * The Wonder Years – Sister Cities * Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Pianos Become The Teeth – Wait For Love * Now, Now – Saved * The Sidekicks – Happiness Hours * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * The Dangerous Summer – The Dangerous Summer * Underoath – Erase Me * Turnstile – Time & Space * Soccer Mommy – Clean * Harms Way – Posthuman Tommy Monroe * Pusha T – Daytona * Anne-Marie – Speak Your Mind * Charlie Puth – Voicenotes * Cozz – Effected * First Aid Kit – Ruins * Vance Joy – Nation Of Two * Princess Nokia – A Girl Cried Red * Fall Out Boy – Mania * Camila Cabello – CAMILA * Jay Rock – Redemption * Beyoncé & Jay-Z – Everything Is Love * Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer * Cardi B – Invasion Of Privacy * Royce da 5’9 – Book Of Ryan * Migos – culture 2 * J. Cole – KOD * The Dangerous Summer – The Dangerous Summer * Julie Bergan – Turn On The Lights * Kids See Ghosts – KIDS SEE GHOSTS * Kanye West – Ye Aj LaGambina * Now, Now – Saved * Pianos Become The Teeth – Wait for Love * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Animal Flag – Void Ripper * Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Jeff Rosenstock – Post- * Tiny Moving Parts – Swell * Fall Out Boy – Mania * MGMT – Little Dark Age Eric Wilson * Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour * Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers * Mayday Parade – Sunnyland * Camila Cabello – Camila * Mike Shinoda – Post Traumatic * Fall Out Boy – MANIA * Mat Kearney – Crazytalk * Dashboard Confessional – Crooked Shadows * Tonight Alive – Underworld * State Champs – Living Proof --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/features/articles/the-top-albums-of-2018-so-far/

[womenofcolor15]

Now That The Debate Dust Has Settled, Do We Really Need Another One?

Now that the first 2020 presidential debate dust has settled…let’s discuss! More inside…

To say last night’s first 2020 presidential campaign was a "sh*t show" would be an understatement! It was cringeworthy. It was painful to watch. But again, we’re talking about Trump here.

Political analysts, journalists, the American people, and people around the world have never witnessed a presidential debate like the one that went down in Cleveland last night between Trump, 74, and former Vice President Joe Biden, 77. Folks are calling it the WORST debate in the history of presidential debates! Check it:

Jake and Dana weren't the only ones: pic.twitter.com/c1b4mTDywR

— The Recount (@therecount) September 30, 2020

Literally, everyone was shocked, confused and even angered once the debate wrapped. Not to mention, moderator Chris Wallace did NOT do a good job at the task at hand. He was letting Trump perform like the dictator he is, so what was the point of a debate with no rules? Trump reportedly interrupted Biden at LEAST 73 times during the debate.

  However, Trump remained mum when asked about condemning White Supremacy. Are you shocked? We sure aren’t.

When asked directly to condemn the Proud Boys hate group, Trump does the complete opposite. He told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by,” refusing to condemn the hate group, before turning his attention to Antifa. Trump kept acting like he didn't hear the question.

"Proud Boys -- stand back and stand by,” Trump said during the debate. “But I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. Somebody's got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem."

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., claims he may have "misspoke."

.@DonaldJTrumpJr suggests his father @realDonaldTrump "misspoke" when he said #ProudBoys "Stand back and stand by" when asked if he would condemn white supremacist and hates groups on stage at #Debate2020 pic.twitter.com/fizJjKDoUc

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) September 30, 2020

Tuh.

Not only did he refuse to denounce White Supremacy, but he also incited conflict at the polls on election days.

As expected, social media was lit up with reactions to the debate and the overall nonsense of it all. Here are just some reactions to last night’s insane debate:

City Girls rapper JT sparked an important discussion about the lack of voting rights for felons who have served their time:

As the debate was happening, fact checkers from almost every fact checking organization or fact checking arm were checking Trump and Biden. It was ruled each statement Trump made about absentee/mail in voting was false. Also the overwhelming majority of each "point" - and we use that term loosely - that he made was mostly, if not all, false. People like the Portland Sheriff that Trump claimed supports him are also speaking out to state they have never supported him and never will.

Check it:

        View this post on Instagram

                      A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on Sep 29, 2020 at 8:52pm PDT

  In case you missed, check it out below:

As for upcoming presidential debates...just no. Trump was being and doing everything America has allowed him to be and do for the last four years. Why do people keep expecting him to be anything other than the disgusting person he is? That's what's more frustrating than anything else.

Sadly, it seems it will only get worse. Nothing will come of these debates other than his racist, sexist and incompetent base getting more emboldened because they are nothing of value themselves. They feel emboldened by another racist, white supremacist who has no intelligence, who is exerting power he doesn't actually have.

The next presidential debate is set to go down October 15th. Thankfully, new rules will be implemented to provide a better debate for viewers.

NBC News reports:

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Wednesday that it is considering format changes for remaining debates after President Donald Trump repeatedly disregarded the rules, resulting in a chaotic debate that lacked in substantive policy conversation.

"Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues," the CPD said in a statement. "The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly."

The CPD works with both candidates ahead of the debates to arrive at an agreed-upon set of rules. Changing the structure of the debates at the last minute is highly unusual and a testament to just how out of control Tuesday night's event was. The rules specified that the candidates would generally get two uninterrupted minutes to answer most questions, but from the beginning, Trump began interrupting and hectoring Biden during his responses, and the debate quickly deteriorated.

It is unclear exactly what changes the CPD will propose, but a source close to the commission said it was considering the ability to cut off a candidate’s microphone when the rules are violated.

Needless to say, make sure you're registered to VOTE and make sure you get to the polls in November, if not BEFORE!

Photo:AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/09/30/now-that-the-debate-dust-has-settled-do-we-really-need-another-one

[kingsmanxrp]

LOADING PROFILE…

KANG JITAE, ALSO KNOWN AS JUSTIN OR JT, WAS LAST SEEN IN SEOUL, SK.           CURRENT PROFESSION: KINGSMAN AGENT [ SERVICE STAFF ]

THE FOLLOWING DETAILS ARE CLASSIFIED. PROCEED?

PERSONALITY

On the surface Jitae is your standard extrovert who’s toned down a bit over the years. He has a sunny, warm personality and enjoys befriending others, often chatting up the cafe’s customers while he makes their drinks. He’s always been rather shameless in that he rolls with the punches and has a bad habit of running his mouth sometimes, and this earnest, albeit slightly cultivated persona makes him well-liked and a little underestimated. That’s how he likes it. He prefers staying humble or jokingly stroking his ego to avoid high expectations, and holds his cards close to his chest because underneath it all he’s painfully sensitive, prone to being clingy and weak to validation, and follows the whims of his emotions when he’s not being careful. It’s been worse since the incident and being diagnosed with PTSD, like he’s a pendulum swinging between extremes now that his mood swings get worse and he’s trying harder to hide them. It’s been difficult, and the lack of sleep hasn’t been helping either, but at least he has access to all the caffeine he could need.

BIOGRAPHY

Jitae was born in Bangkok, Thailand, but has few memories of the bustling city because his family relocated several years later, following the next job assignment within the United Nations that his mother was given. The family moved often, never staying in one place for too long. Jitae and his older sister spent the better part of their childhood in different renowned international boarding schools during the school year, and spent their holidays wherever their parents were currently located. As such, Jitae grew up a little more worldly than most, recognizing that he had been afforded a lot of luxuries in life but lacked a sense of home that he’d always envied in others. It was hard to foster that when he had little face-to-face time with the rest of his family. Instead, his parents knew him mostly through updates of his achievements, and so he always strove to meet those high expectations through hard work and a natural aptitude for academics and athletics. This served him well when he was applying for colleges and got accepted to a university in the east coast of the United States, taking the pre-medical track in hopes of following his father’s footsteps. He got about as far as his junior year when he was recruited by the Kingsman Agency after accidentally helping an agent on a mission, and, well. Of course he took the career change to become a world class secret agent. Which he regretted throughout the next year of brutal, brutal training, but Jitae was considered a natural, or as much of a natural as someone with no former espionage training could be considered. He passed through training and was assigned a special ops field agent for his ability to think on his feet to ensure a mission’s success. Over the next five years he was considered a reliable agent for his high success rate, but was also known for being a source of migraines for handlers because of his tendency of ignoring orders and taking what he thought was the better route. And it usually worked! Until it didn’t. He was on a mission with another agent when his instincts failed him, and the other agent, and they barely escaped with their lives. The blow to his ego was deep and cutting, but worse yet were the images of his partner at near-death that never seemed to entirely leave his thoughts. The life-risking stunts had given him adrenaline rushes before, but now they were only a source of deep anxiety and fear of yet another failure he (or someone else) wouldn’t be able to recover from. His next few missions were a fumbling mess, and the agency eventually diagnosed him with PTSD and deemed him unfit to continue as an agent. He was given several options, most of which amounted to staying within the agency and transitioning to an advisor or handler role when he was ready. And, well, Jitae never finished university, so job searching didn’t seem too appealing. He chose to take over the newly opened coffee shop in the first floor of headquarters. It provided more distance than being an administrative assistant (everything was still so fresh) and hey, the free coffee was hard to turn down.

[wetrumpfeed]

Afternoon MAGAthread: YOUR WEEKLY PRESIDENTIAL RECAP!

HAPPPPPPY SATURDAY PATRIOTS!

u/Ivaginaryfriend here with your weekly recap of all things spicy! For those that missed any past recaps you can check those out here!

Sunday, February 17th:

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

Important meetings and calls on China Trade Deal, and more, today with my staff. Big progress being made on soooo many different fronts! Our Country has such fantastic potential for future growth and greatness on an even higher level!

Democrats in the Senate are still slow walking hundreds of highly qualified people wanting to come into government. Never been such an abuse in our country’s history. Mitch should not let Senate go home until all are approved. We need our Ambassadors and all others NOW!

52% Approval Rating, 93% in Republican Party ( a record )! Pretty amazing considering that 93% (also) of my press is REALLY BAD. The “people” are SMART!

Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!

THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!

(Tweeting The White House)

(Tweeting The White House)

“These guys, the investigators, ought to be in jail. What they have done, working with the Obama intelligence agencies, is simply unprecedented. This is one of the greatest political hoaxes ever perpetrated on the people of this Country, and Mueller is a coverup.” Rush Limbaugh

The Mueller investigation is totally conflicted, illegal and rigged! Should never have been allowed to begin, except for the Collusion and many crimes committed by the Democrats. Witch Hunt!

Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a “poor little Angel” when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax - a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of “insurance policy” in case I won.... ... ....Many of the top FBI brass were fired, forced to leave, or left. McCabe’s wife received BIG DOLLARS from Clinton people for her campaign - he gave Hillary a pass. McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

William Barr is arriving at a Justice Department that desperately needs an infusion of credibility, writes @KimStrassel https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-barrs-hot-mess-11550188935 … via @WSJ

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

Actual hate crime

SNL went to the dark side last night!

Bahaha, Ted Cruz just drop-kicked CNN’s tweet back across the border 💯🔥

Someone at the Air Force Academy wrote, "go home n*****," on a dorm wall in 2017. This made national news. The school president gave a speech condemning it and racism at the school. The video went viral. Turned out the student that wrote it was the same black student that reported it.

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

so many people of color have fallen for the democrats lies.

Hold my bleach!!!

You are fake noose

This is what happens when you let the kids sit at the grown-ups' table

How do people not see this???

Monday, February 18th:

TODAY'S ACTION:

President Trump Delivers Remarks to the Venezuelan American Community

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

“After two years and interviewing more than two hundred witnesses, the Senate Intelligence Committee has NOT discovered any direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and Russia.” Ken Dilanian @NBCNews

Wow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged. He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught..... ... ....There is a lot of explaining to do to the millions of people who had just elected a president who they really like and who has done a great job for them with the Military, Vets, Economy and so much more. This was the illegal and treasonous “insurance policy” in full action!

Great analysis by @foxandfriends!

“This was an illegal coup attempt on the President of the United States.” Dan Bongino on @foxandfriends True!

Hope you are enjoying your President’s Day, our Country is making unprecedented progress!

(Retweeting FLOTUS) A beautiful ceremony at @Nicklaus4kids hospital today to celebrate their new changes! I hope the garden nurtures & heals all the young patients who visit. Thank you to the generous donors & to @Nicklaus4kids for all the important work you are doing. #BeBest

We are here to proclaim that a new day is coming in Latin America. In Venezuela and across the Western Hemisphere, Socialism is DYING - and liberty, prosperity, and democracy are being REBORN...

The people of Venezuela are standing for FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY – and the United States of America is standing right by their side!

I ask every member of the Maduro regime: End this nightmare of poverty, hunger and death. LET YOUR PEOPLE GO. Set your country free! Now is the time for all Venezuelan Patriots to act together, as one united people. Nothing could be better for the future of Venezuela!

Today more than 50 countries around the world now recognize the rightful government of Venezuela. The Venezuelan people have spoken and the world has heard their voice. They are turning the page on Socialism and Dictatorship; and there will be NO GOING BACK!

“The biggest abuse of power and corruption scandal in our history, and it’s much worse than we thought. Andrew McCabe (FBI) admitted to plotting a coup (government overthrow) when he was serving in the FBI, before he was fired for lying & leaking.” @seanhannity @FoxNews Treason!

Amazing!

Thank you JT!

Thank you Andrew - We all miss beautiful Meadow!

(Retweeting real_defender) Our country is making unprecedented progress thanks to the fact that we finally have a president who is keeping his promises and putting America first.

Remember this, Andrew McCabe didn’t go to the bathroom without the approval of Leakin’ James Comey!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

Hahaha!!! John Oliver BTFO with an NPC billboard similar to the Bill Maher one!!!

Easiest way to diagnose TDS; wear a hat.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on her tweet saying the Jussie Smollett case was an “attempted modern-day lynching”: “Which tweet? What tweet? … [laughs] Um, ah, ah, uh, okay, so I will say this about that case, I think the facts are still unfolding and um, I’m very, um, concerned”

As His HATE HOAX Unravels, Jussie Smollett Refuses To Meet Chicago Police, Hires Crisis Management Firm...Never Forget: This Race-Baiting, Self-Loathing POS Was Apparently Going To ACCUSE TWO INNOCENT PEOPLE OF HIS CRIME! LOCK HIM UP!

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Just about sums it up

Socialism (Communism) is Evil

Happy Presidents Day pedes!

The Boy Who Cried "TRUMP!"

Happy Presidents Day!

Tuesday, February 19th:

TODAY'S ACTION:

Text of Space Policy Directive-4: Establishment of the United States Space Force

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Individual to a Key Administration Post

President Trump: “Socialism Is Dying, and Liberty, Prosperity, and Democracy Are Being Reborn."

Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence Visit Auschwitz and Birkenau

V.P. Pence in Poland and Germany: "We will deal with the world as it is, not as we wish it to be."

President Trump Participates in a Signing Ceremony for Space Policy Directive 4

President Trump and the First Lady Welcome the President and First Lady of Colombia

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

“....(The Witch Hunt) in time likely will become recognized as the greatest scandal in American political history, marking the first occasion in which the U.S. government bureaucrats sought to overturn an election (presidential)!” Victor Davis Hanson And got caught! @FoxNews

Had the opposition party (no, not the Media) won the election, the Stock Market would be down at least 10,000 points by now. We are heading up, up, up!

As I predicted, 16 states, led mostly by Open Border Democrats and the Radical Left, have filed a lawsuit in, of course, the 9th Circuit! California, the state that has wasted billions of dollars on their out of control Fast Train, with no hope of completion, seems in charge!

The failed Fast Train project in California, where the cost overruns are becoming world record setting, is hundreds of times more expensive than the desperately needed Wall!

The Washington Post is a Fact Checker only for the Democrats. For the Republicans, and for your all time favorite President, it is a Fake Fact Checker!

I never said anything bad about Andrew McCabe’s wife other than she (they) should not have taken large amounts of campaign money from a Crooked Hillary source when Clinton was under investigation by the FBI. I never called his wife a loser to him (another McCabe made up lie)!

(Video)

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

COVINGTON STUDENT SUES WASHINGTON POST FOR 250M

Team Trump statement on crazy Bernie

Here we go again - Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders enters crowded 2020 presidential race

The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it's still illegal to be gay

Democrats Hate ICE So Much, They're Protecting Illegals Caught Trying To Buy Guns

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

MFW I get to reuse all my Bernie memes from 2016

Trump Supporters in 2019

IT BEGINS dems going to eat each other alive in 2020

Bernie announces he is running for President ONE DAY after President Trump talks about how bad socialism is. HOW FITTING!

About that white privilege...

Wednesday, February 20th:

TODAY'S ACTION:

President Trump Meets with the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

(Retweeting Geraldo Rivera) This is crazy scary. A cabal of unelected bureaucrats-angered & upset that @realDonaldTrump fired their boss-whispered about overthrowing him. Has this ever happened? Why isn’t the mainstream seeing this for what it is. This is malignant arrogance from a man fired for lying.

“Andrew McCabe gave absolutely no evidence of any threat to substantiate his ABSURD claim.” @LouDobbs

Crazy Bernie has just entered the race. I wish him well!

The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!

“The Washington Post ignored basic journalistic standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump.” Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!

“If thinking that James Comey is not a good FBI Director is tantamount to being an agent of Russia, than just list all the people that are agents of Russia - Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Rod Rosenstein who wrote the memo to get rid of Comey, the Inspector General....” Trey Gowdy

The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!

California now wants to scale back their already failed “fast train” project by substantially shortening the distance so that it no longer goes from L.A. to San Francisco. A different deal and record cost overruns. Send the Federal Government back the Billions of Dollars WASTED!

We have just built this powerful Wall in New Mexico. Completed on January 30, 2019 – 47 days ahead of schedule! Many miles more now under construction! #FinishTheWall

I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a grand jury

CNN claims that "Trump doesn't have a sense of humor." very fucking ironic considering this is the same network that got so butthurt over a meme that they doxxed the creator.

BREAKING: Alabama woman who joined ISIS will not be allowed to return to US - Pompeo

FITTON: MASSIVE Voter Fraud: How many aliens illegally voting is too many? 30,000? 10,000? 1,000? 100? Even one may be too many if it is YOUR vote canceled out by an alien illegally voting! Voter id and citizenship verification needed to secure our elections...

Attorney general may announce completion of Mueller investigation next week

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Perfect

Beat way to picture it

When fake news backfires (Washington Post BTFO)

US/India relations have never been better... Thanks to Malhari Trump!

HOLDUP Muthana

Thursday, February 21st:

TODAY'S ACTION:

President Donald J. Trump Appoints Individuals to Key Administration Posts

President Trump Participates in a Reception for National African American History Month

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on......... ... ....something that is so obviously the future. I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies. We must always be the leader in everything we do, especially when it comes to the very exciting world of technology!

THE WALL IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW!

.@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA

Senator John Cornyn has done an outstanding job for the people of Texas. He is strong on Crime, the Border, the Second Amendment and loves our Military and Vets. John has my complete and total endorsement. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

We are here to honor the extraordinary contributions of African-Americans to every aspect of American Life, History and Culture. From the earliest days of this Nation, African-American Leaders, Pioneers, & Visionaries have uplifted & inspired our Country...

(Retweeting FLOTUS) Wonderful evening at @WhiteHouse celebrating #AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

The 404 page on Trump’s website leads to this. LOL

The rest of Reddit hides things that go against the narrative. That's why they have to hide The_Donald from /all. Ridiculous!

There goes her campaign.

More Leftist Violence - Caught on Video - University of California Police Seek Public's Help Identifying Attacker who Assaulted Conservative at UC-Berkeley Campus During Recruitment Drive

Unfrigging Real. Back on the set of Empire after arrest.

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Washington Post needs to think of a better strategy.

5/7 doctors agree that The_Donald is better than antidepressants (aka fake news). Ask your pede if Covefe is right for you.

Aged like cheap red hair dye

Make Communist An Insult Again.

Friday, February 22nd:

TODAY'S ACTION:

President Trump Meets with the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

Highly respected Senator Richard Burr, head of Senate Intelligence, said, after interviewing over 200 witnesses and studying over 2 million pages of documents, “WE HAVE FOUND NO COLLUSION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA.” The Witch Hunt, so bad for our Country, must end!

Fake News is so bad for our Country!

A must read by @KimStrassel!

(Retweeting Secretary Sonny)BREAKING: In Oval Office meeting today, the Chinese committed to buy an additional 10 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans. Hats off to @POTUS for bringing China to the table. Strategy is working. Show of good faith by the Chinese. Also indications of more good news to come.

I am pleased to announce that Kelly Knight Craft, our current Ambassador to Canada, is being nominated to be United States Ambassador to the United Nations.... ... ....Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level. Congratulations to Kelly and her entire family!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

ISIS bride who called for the DEATH of both American veterans and patriots, falsely claims to be a U.S. citizen

President Trump to Use 'Nuclear Option' to Recover $2.5 Bn More from California's Failed High-Speed Rail Project

DON’T PICK A FIGHT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS MORE MONEY THAN GOD, HORSEFACE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Of Course: CAIR is Defending ISIS Bride Who Called For the Murder of U.S. Troops, Innocent Americans

Justin Trudeau's Top Adviser Resigns amid Corruption Scandal. This needs more coverage in the media, don't let it die please. Canada needs a new PM

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

The current state of the political side of reddit.

Ralph Northam, Baby Killer, is still governor of Virginia because the blackface sideshow worked.

I was trying to take a picture with VP and I got photobombed by POTUS

Take a lap, Bern

Spot the difference? Fake AF News

Saturday, February 23rd:

🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:

Great new book: “The Case For Trump” by Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Senior Fellow.

God Bless the people of Venezuela!

There is far more ENERGY on the Right than there is on the Left. That’s why we just won the Senate and why we will win big in 2020. The Fake News just doesn’t want to report the facts. Border Security is a big factor. The under construction Wall will stop Gangs, Drugs and Crime!

SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:

Alleged? We have the Video.

Uh oh, the mask fell off, pssst your dictatorship is showing.

5 House Democrats took $60,000 trip to South Africa for Beyonce; concert, records show

The President is going to abort 32 miles of those monstrosities known as "midget fences (vehicle barriers)" and "Vietnam War era metal landing strip sheet barriers" and replace them with a beautiful 20 to 30 feet WALL! This project will happen in Yuma, AZ.

How are those bread lines working out Bernie? Live coverage of clashes at the Columbia-Venezuela border.

🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:

Children ... kids ... it's an act. An act.

Meanwhile on the southern border.

Found on r/OffensiveMemes. I’m actually not offended at all.

Just a reminder for those keeping score on Bernie’s “support”. This man bent the knee to a DNC that had screwed him over, while his very own supporters protested outside the arena for him! Spineless!

PLEASE MR. PRESIDENT, I CAN'T TAKE ALL THIS WINNING!

Without further ado, some tunes to get you jamming through all this winning:

Steal My Sunshine

Ascension

How's It Going To Be

What I Got

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Roses

MAGA ON PATRIOTS!

submitted by /u/Ivaginaryfriend [link] [comments]

[robgrayofficial]

HAPPPPPPY SATURDAY PATRIOTS!u/Ivaginaryfriend here with your weekly recap of all things spicy! For those that missed any past recaps you can check those out here!Sunday, February 17th:🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Important meetings and calls on China Trade Deal, and more, today with my staff. Big progress being made on soooo many different fronts! Our Country has such fantastic potential for future growth and greatness on an even higher level!Democrats in the Senate are still slow walking hundreds of highly qualified people wanting to come into government. Never been such an abuse in our country’s history. Mitch should not let Senate go home until all are approved. We need our Ambassadors and all others NOW!52% Approval Rating, 93% in Republican Party ( a record )! Pretty amazing considering that 93% (also) of my press is REALLY BAD. The “people” are SMART!Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!(Tweeting The White House)(Tweeting The White House)“These guys, the investigators, ought to be in jail. What they have done, working with the Obama intelligence agencies, is simply unprecedented. This is one of the greatest political hoaxes ever perpetrated on the people of this Country, and Mueller is a coverup.” Rush LimbaughThe Mueller investigation is totally conflicted, illegal and rigged! Should never have been allowed to begin, except for the Collusion and many crimes committed by the Democrats. Witch Hunt!Disgraced FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe pretends to be a “poor little Angel” when in fact he was a big part of the Crooked Hillary Scandal & the Russia Hoax - a puppet for Leakin’ James Comey. I.G. report on McCabe was devastating. Part of “insurance policy” in case I won.... ... ....Many of the top FBI brass were fired, forced to leave, or left. McCabe’s wife received BIG DOLLARS from Clinton people for her campaign - he gave Hillary a pass. McCabe is a disgrace to the FBI and a disgrace to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!William Barr is arriving at a Justice Department that desperately needs an infusion of credibility, writes @KimStrassel https://on.wsj.com/2SXMxNo … via @WSJSIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Actual hate crimeSNL went to the dark side last night!Bahaha, Ted Cruz just drop-kicked CNN’s tweet back across the border 💯🔥Someone at the Air Force Academy wrote, "go home n*****," on a dorm wall in 2017. This made national news. The school president gave a speech condemning it and racism at the school. The video went viral. Turned out the student that wrote it was the same black student that reported it.🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:so many people of color have fallen for the democrats lies.Hold my bleach!!!You are fake nooseThis is what happens when you let the kids sit at the grown-ups' tableHow do people not see this???Monday, February 18th:TODAY'S ACTION:President Trump Delivers Remarks to the Venezuelan American Community🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:“After two years and interviewing more than two hundred witnesses, the Senate Intelligence Committee has NOT discovered any direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and Russia.” Ken Dilanian @NBCNewsWow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged. He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught..... ... ....There is a lot of explaining to do to the millions of people who had just elected a president who they really like and who has done a great job for them with the Military, Vets, Economy and so much more. This was the illegal and treasonous “insurance policy” in full action!Great analysis by @foxandfriends!“This was an illegal coup attempt on the President of the United States.” Dan Bongino on @foxandfriends True!Hope you are enjoying your President’s Day, our Country is making unprecedented progress!(Retweeting FLOTUS) A beautiful ceremony at @Nicklaus4kids hospital today to celebrate their new changes! I hope the garden nurtures & heals all the young patients who visit. Thank you to the generous donors & to @Nicklaus4kids for all the important work you are doing. #BeBestWe are here to proclaim that a new day is coming in Latin America. In Venezuela and across the Western Hemisphere, Socialism is DYING - and liberty, prosperity, and democracy are being REBORN...The people of Venezuela are standing for FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY – and the United States of America is standing right by their side!I ask every member of the Maduro regime: End this nightmare of poverty, hunger and death. LET YOUR PEOPLE GO. Set your country free! Now is the time for all Venezuelan Patriots to act together, as one united people. Nothing could be better for the future of Venezuela!Today more than 50 countries around the world now recognize the rightful government of Venezuela. The Venezuelan people have spoken and the world has heard their voice. They are turning the page on Socialism and Dictatorship; and there will be NO GOING BACK!“The biggest abuse of power and corruption scandal in our history, and it’s much worse than we thought. Andrew McCabe (FBI) admitted to plotting a coup (government overthrow) when he was serving in the FBI, before he was fired for lying & leaking.” @seanhannity @FoxNews Treason!Amazing!Thank you JT!Thank you Andrew - We all miss beautiful Meadow!(Retweeting real_defender) Our country is making unprecedented progress thanks to the fact that we finally have a president who is keeping his promises and putting America first.Remember this, Andrew McCabe didn’t go to the bathroom without the approval of Leakin’ James Comey!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Hahaha!!! John Oliver BTFO with an NPC billboard similar to the Bill Maher one!!!Easiest way to diagnose TDS; wear a hat.Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on her tweet saying the Jussie Smollett case was an “attempted modern-day lynching”: “Which tweet? What tweet? … [laughs] Um, ah, ah, uh, okay, so I will say this about that case, I think the facts are still unfolding and um, I’m very, um, concerned”As His HATE HOAX Unravels, Jussie Smollett Refuses To Meet Chicago Police, Hires Crisis Management Firm...Never Forget: This Race-Baiting, Self-Loathing POS Was Apparently Going To ACCUSE TWO INNOCENT PEOPLE OF HIS CRIME! LOCK HIM UP!🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Just about sums it upSocialism (Communism) is EvilHappy Presidents Day pedes!The Boy Who Cried "TRUMP!"Happy Presidents Day!Tuesday, February 19th:TODAY'S ACTION:Text of Space Policy Directive-4: Establishment of the United States Space ForcePresident Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Individual to a Key Administration PostPresident Trump: “Socialism Is Dying, and Liberty, Prosperity, and Democracy Are Being Reborn."Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence Visit Auschwitz and BirkenauV.P. Pence in Poland and Germany: "We will deal with the world as it is, not as we wish it to be."President Trump Participates in a Signing Ceremony for Space Policy Directive 4President Trump and the First Lady Welcome the President and First Lady of Colombia🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:“....(The Witch Hunt) in time likely will become recognized as the greatest scandal in American political history, marking the first occasion in which the U.S. government bureaucrats sought to overturn an election (presidential)!” Victor Davis Hanson And got caught! @FoxNewsHad the opposition party (no, not the Media) won the election, the Stock Market would be down at least 10,000 points by now. We are heading up, up, up!As I predicted, 16 states, led mostly by Open Border Democrats and the Radical Left, have filed a lawsuit in, of course, the 9th Circuit! California, the state that has wasted billions of dollars on their out of control Fast Train, with no hope of completion, seems in charge!The failed Fast Train project in California, where the cost overruns are becoming world record setting, is hundreds of times more expensive than the desperately needed Wall!The Washington Post is a Fact Checker only for the Democrats. For the Republicans, and for your all time favorite President, it is a Fake Fact Checker!I never said anything bad about Andrew McCabe’s wife other than she (they) should not have taken large amounts of campaign money from a Crooked Hillary source when Clinton was under investigation by the FBI. I never called his wife a loser to him (another McCabe made up lie)!(Video)SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:COVINGTON STUDENT SUES WASHINGTON POST FOR 250MTeam Trump statement on crazy BernieHere we go again - Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders enters crowded 2020 presidential raceThe Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it's still illegal to be gayDemocrats Hate ICE So Much, They're Protecting Illegals Caught Trying To Buy Guns🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:MFW I get to reuse all my Bernie memes from 2016Trump Supporters in 2019IT BEGINS dems going to eat each other alive in 2020Bernie announces he is running for President ONE DAY after President Trump talks about how bad socialism is. HOW FITTING!About that white privilege...Wednesday, February 20th:TODAY'S ACTION:President Trump Meets with the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:(Retweeting Geraldo Rivera) This is crazy scary. A cabal of unelected bureaucrats-angered & upset that @realDonaldTrump fired their boss-whispered about overthrowing him. Has this ever happened? Why isn’t the mainstream seeing this for what it is. This is malignant arrogance from a man fired for lying.“Andrew McCabe gave absolutely no evidence of any threat to substantiate his ABSURD claim.” @LouDobbsCrazy Bernie has just entered the race. I wish him well!The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!“The Washington Post ignored basic journalistic standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump.” Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!“If thinking that James Comey is not a good FBI Director is tantamount to being an agent of Russia, than just list all the people that are agents of Russia - Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Rod Rosenstein who wrote the memo to get rid of Comey, the Inspector General....” Trey GowdyThe New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!California now wants to scale back their already failed “fast train” project by substantially shortening the distance so that it no longer goes from L.A. to San Francisco. A different deal and record cost overruns. Send the Federal Government back the Billions of Dollars WASTED!We have just built this powerful Wall in New Mexico. Completed on January 30, 2019 – 47 days ahead of schedule! Many miles more now under construction! #FinishTheWallI have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a grand juryCNN claims that "Trump doesn't have a sense of humor." very fucking ironic considering this is the same network that got so butthurt over a meme that they doxxed the creator.BREAKING: Alabama woman who joined ISIS will not be allowed to return to US - PompeoFITTON: MASSIVE Voter Fraud: How many aliens illegally voting is too many? 30,000? 10,000? 1,000? 100? Even one may be too many if it is YOUR vote canceled out by an alien illegally voting! Voter id and citizenship verification needed to secure our elections...Attorney general may announce completion of Mueller investigation next week🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:PerfectBeat way to picture itWhen fake news backfires (Washington Post BTFO)US/India relations have never been better... Thanks to Malhari Trump!HOLDUP MuthanaThursday, February 21st:TODAY'S ACTION:President Donald J. Trump Appoints Individuals to Key Administration PostsPresident Trump Participates in a Reception for National African American History Month🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on......... ... ....something that is so obviously the future. I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies. We must always be the leader in everything we do, especially when it comes to the very exciting world of technology!THE WALL IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW!.@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGASenator John Cornyn has done an outstanding job for the people of Texas. He is strong on Crime, the Border, the Second Amendment and loves our Military and Vets. John has my complete and total endorsement. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!We are here to honor the extraordinary contributions of African-Americans to every aspect of American Life, History and Culture. From the earliest days of this Nation, African-American Leaders, Pioneers, & Visionaries have uplifted & inspired our Country...(Retweeting FLOTUS) Wonderful evening at @WhiteHouse celebrating #AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:The 404 page on Trump’s website leads to this. LOLThe rest of Reddit hides things that go against the narrative. That's why they have to hide The_Donald from /all. Ridiculous!There goes her campaign.More Leftist Violence - Caught on Video - University of California Police Seek Public's Help Identifying Attacker who Assaulted Conservative at UC-Berkeley Campus During Recruitment DriveUnfrigging Real. Back on the set of Empire after arrest.🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Washington Post needs to think of a better strategy.5/7 doctors agree that The_Donald is better than antidepressants (aka fake news). Ask your pede if Covefe is right for you.Aged like cheap red hair dyeMake Communist An Insult Again.Friday, February 22nd:TODAY'S ACTION:President Trump Meets with the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Highly respected Senator Richard Burr, head of Senate Intelligence, said, after interviewing over 200 witnesses and studying over 2 million pages of documents, “WE HAVE FOUND NO COLLUSION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA.” The Witch Hunt, so bad for our Country, must end!Fake News is so bad for our Country!A must read by @KimStrassel!(Retweeting Secretary Sonny)BREAKING: In Oval Office meeting today, the Chinese committed to buy an additional 10 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans. Hats off to @POTUS for bringing China to the table. Strategy is working. Show of good faith by the Chinese. Also indications of more good news to come.I am pleased to announce that Kelly Knight Craft, our current Ambassador to Canada, is being nominated to be United States Ambassador to the United Nations.... ... ....Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level. Congratulations to Kelly and her entire family!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:ISIS bride who called for the DEATH of both American veterans and patriots, falsely claims to be a U.S. citizenPresident Trump to Use 'Nuclear Option' to Recover $2.5 Bn More from California's Failed High-Speed Rail ProjectDON’T PICK A FIGHT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS MORE MONEY THAN GOD, HORSEFACE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Of Course: CAIR is Defending ISIS Bride Who Called For the Murder of U.S. Troops, Innocent AmericansJustin Trudeau's Top Adviser Resigns amid Corruption Scandal. This needs more coverage in the media, don't let it die please. Canada needs a new PM🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:The current state of the political side of reddit.Ralph Northam, Baby Killer, is still governor of Virginia because the blackface sideshow worked.I was trying to take a picture with VP and I got photobombed by POTUSTake a lap, BernSpot the difference? Fake AF NewsSaturday, February 23rd:🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Great new book: “The Case For Trump” by Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Senior Fellow.God Bless the people of Venezuela!There is far more ENERGY on the Right than there is on the Left. That’s why we just won the Senate and why we will win big in 2020. The Fake News just doesn’t want to report the facts. Border Security is a big factor. The under construction Wall will stop Gangs, Drugs and Crime!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Alleged? We have the Video.Uh oh, the mask fell off, pssst your dictatorship is showing.5 House Democrats took $60,000 trip to South Africa for Beyonce; concert, records showThe President is going to abort 32 miles of those monstrosities known as "midget fences (vehicle barriers)" and "Vietnam War era metal landing strip sheet barriers" and replace them with a beautiful 20 to 30 feet WALL! This project will happen in Yuma, AZ.How are those bread lines working out Bernie? Live coverage of clashes at the Columbia-Venezuela border.🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Children ... kids ... it's an act. An act.Meanwhile on the southern border.Found on r/OffensiveMemes. I’m actually not offended at all.Just a reminder for those keeping score on Bernie’s “support”. This man bent the knee to a DNC that had screwed him over, while his very own supporters protested outside the arena for him! Spineless!PLEASE MR. PRESIDENT, I CAN'T TAKE ALL THIS WINNING!Without further ado, some tunes to get you jamming through all this winning:Steal My SunshineAscensionHow's It Going To BeWhat I GotSmells Like Teen SpiritRosesMAGA ON PATRIOTS! #robgray

[jenkinsjibber-jabber-blog]

A TRUE MIRACLE FROM HEAVEN

June 2017. Kate, my friend Cindy’s daughter was hit by a car while she was fishing with her dad. I remember the phone call from Becca like it was yesterday. It is so hard to not be emotional as I type this and recall the details. I know it was the longest yet fastest I probably drove to get somewhere. I don’t know if I ever prayed as hard as I did that day and the following days after for this little girl. Kate is a spunky, cute as a button and adventurous 3 year old. She was fishing with her dad and had been going back and forth across the roadway with her dad from one side of a bridge to the other. The road was not a busy road at all and slightly narrow. A lot of speculation about bad parenting and why this and why that after the accident. There is a lot to the story that I don’t know. I wasn’t there, I arrived to the accident scene, spoke briefly to the PA State Trooper, found out that they had taken Kate by ambulance to the Meadville airport. So, I zoomed there, knowing that if Cindy hadn’t made it up there that someone would need to keep the other kids so they could be with Kate. They were life flighting her from there to Children's. There were good signs initially after she was put in the ambulance, she was fighting them and crying for mommy. Cindy had made it there by the time I made it. I ran out to the ambulance as I wanted to see Kate and hold Cindy and Becca...because I didn’t know how bad it was. I found out that JT had just walked to the other side of the road, heard a car, told Kate to stay where she was and just as the car crested the bridge, she stepped out in front of it, was hit and thrown some distance. She was hit on the left side of her body. Before they could put her in the chopper for her life flight, they had to intubate her because if her brain started to swell or her airway started to close, they wouldn't be able to do it in the chopper. I prayed and prayed and cried and cried. Things got worse before they got better. I went to Pittsburgh to visit and was not able to see her the first time because she had been intubated, and they un-intubated her to wean her off of the pain medications she was on. They didn’t know the extent of damages she might have, cognitive or otherwise. The days went on, we prayed. Little Kate became rather famous in the area, her story was well known, still is. I believe she is a miracle. I am not sure if she would be considered fully recovered, as I think she still attends some therapy's and appointments for follow ups, but the work that God has done in her, through her, it is simply amazing. I was able to go visit her again once she was in the rehab facility. She had a cast on her left leg, but at that point was trying to walk on it, she said my name while I was there. It took a little bit for her to start talking again, but it’s getting there. She is only 3, actually going to be 4 very soon. During the time that she was in the hospital when things were touch and go and so many uncertain things happening, we had a prayer service at the church for Kate. Miracles happened. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. that there was a major milestone in her recovery, it is because she was being prayed for ALL OVER THE WORLD!!! People wore little pink bracelets that said #katestrong. Cindy painted a bunch of rocks and put them all over different places with instructions on what to do if they were found. If you are interested in her story, you can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/prayersforkate/

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Mark 10:27

[thrashermaxey]

Seven Players Trending Up After the Trade Deadline

  Greetings all. Now that the dust has settled after what was an insightful trade deadline, let’s take a look at some names in new places that could make waves for owners during fantasy playoffs. In what became a clear arms race amongst top teams to load up for a run, the chances some of these following players bear immense fantasy fruit in the closing weeks is strong.

  Patrick Maroon

  Maroon transitions to the state of New Jersey after being shipped out of Edmonton in exchange for prospect J.D.Dudek and a 2019 3rd round draft pick. Kudos to Ray Shero on this deal in the final hour to bring the big, physical forward into the fold as coupled with the acquisition of Michael Grabner, Shero is making his Stanley Cup pursuit intentions known. Maroon is working towards his second consecutive 20-goal campaign and his potential exposure to the likes of Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri could provide a spike in his production alongside his usual strong peripherals.

  Maroon’s stats are strikingly similar to the season prior matching the 1.9 pts/60 despite seeing a slightly more evenly skewed deployment. Already north of 100 hits and sitting on 60 PIM, Maroon has been per the usual quality multi-cat asset all year. Be advised that if your playoffs start March 5th, the Devils have 9 games through the 25th. If your playoffs start March 12th, they play 13 games through April 7th. This makes them one of the less desirable owns as far as roster availability when it matters most. Nonetheless Maroon projects to continue being a well-rounded asset for those of you in multi-cat leagues. As far as points only hope for an uptick in production but always regard him as a complementary piece.

  Ryan McDonagh/JT Miller

  Tough times being a Rangers fan as we watch the changing of the guard alas the only constant is change and such is a good thing! Tampa Bay really shored things up for the postseason with the acquisition of McDonagh, the world class shutdown defender and JT Miller, the Swiss Army knife. On pace for yet another 30-point season, McDonagh brings top pair talent to a blue line already featuring perennial Norris candidate Victor Hedman. JT Miller’s ability to play any forward position coupled with his slick playmaking abilities washes out if not improves the place of Vladislav Namestnikov in the top nine.

  As far as fantasy, one would have to argue both may lose fantasy value as their roles could diminish on a deep Lightning squad. Both seem destined for power play two deployments at best and McDonagh on the second pair at even strength is foreseeable. Miller projects no better with possible third line duty though the second line is not out of question. On pace for another 50-point season, Miller could really get hot in the right deployment with the wealth of talent in Tampa’s offense. One has to hope Miller is encouraged to shoot more with his pass first mentality as reaching 20 goals a third time in a row is starting to look unlikely. Like the Devils, be aware the Lightning possess a weaker fantasy playoff schedule than several squads.

  Evander Kane

  In what was the bargain trade of the day for the Sharks, Evander Kane ships out West to a San Jose squad in need of an offensive boost. Though this move seemingly is not enough to push them into serious consideration as a team vying for the hardware, this addresses an apparent need for them. With 20 goals and 22 assists to this point, Kane finds himself in the top-six immediately with an opportunity to finish the season strong for owners. In the last year of a six-year deal originally inked in Winnipeg, Kane’s out to earn himself a new contract with his goal scoring ability.

  Gaining immediate exposure to Joe Pavelski on the top line paid fantasy dividends in his debut with two assists, two shots, four hits and a block. Kane was already an elite shooting option prior to his move out West and if he can stick on the top line with Joe Thornton out, he should easily cross the 25-goal plateau whilst flirting with 300 shot territory by season’s end. This coupled with his strong peripherals makes him potentially one of the more valuable players down the stretch.

  Paul Stastny

  I am heavily invested in the Winnipeg Jets on one of my fantasy squads and alas now shall be the second time a player I own gets shoved down the lineup. First Mathieu Perreault’s injury giving way to the emergence of Kyle Connor and now the trade for Paul Stastny pushing Bryan Little into third line center duty right before my playoffs. Though it could be worse for Little who still has Perreault and Jack Roslovic flanking him, fantasy relevance particularly revolves around top six deployment. Stastny brings a textbook two-way style to the fold and loads up the Jets down the middle, an important aspect in Western Conference play.

  For Stastny it’s simple, feed Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrick Laine often and bear the offensive rewards. Stastny is one of the better 5-on-5 scorers in the league and now add on the fact he was seeing primary power play time in his debut and this potentially makes him deadly down the stretch for owners. Whilst there are no guarantees he stays with those two young guns after but one match, you have to like Stastny’s potential on the Jets. Winnipeg possesses one of the stronger fantasy playoff schedules in the league so look to lean on the pivot in the coming weeks.

  Petr Mrazek

  This one is already working out royally for those that scooped Petr Mrazek off the wire when he was traded to the city of Brotherly Love. In 2015 I picked up Dubnyk off the wire when he was traded to the Wild. For the rest of the season he put up video game numbers and played a major role in me taking the title that season. Mrazek’s new scenario is potentially the same as he goes from a mediocre squad to a potent contender that can provide the offense consistently. With Brian Elliott and Michael Neuvirth on the mend for weeks, Mrazek figures to be a workhorse for Philadelphia from here on out.

  Please go pick up Mrazek immediately if you have issues in net. Prior to being traded to the Flyers, he was providing sneaky value for the Red Wings in goal. Since January 14th, his save percentage has dipped below .850 but once and he is undefeated thus far in his time with Philadelphia. I cannot stress enough how important it is to target player’s in a contract year and for a goalie especially, this means you better be lights out. He’s in a great situation with a chance to take the reins and just turned 26. Rest assured Mrazek knows he’s arguably playing for his career right now and figures to be a top option in goal the rest of the way. If you are rostering the likes of Henrik Lundqvist right now, dump him for Mrazek.

  Ryan Spooner

  Though investing in the New York Rangers may seem suicidal at this point in time, with their lack of depth any player with above average skill is going to be used in a primary role. On a 50-point pace during his time in Boston, the versatile Spooner figures to be cemented into New York’s top six. In his last 14 games he’s posted two goals, 10 assists, 29 shots on goal and 13 hits. Any of us with injured stars such as Jack Eichel have a serviceable replacement lying in wait on the wire in Spooner.

  The Rangers have certainly become worse in the short-term on paper, but the team is younger and arguably faster overall now. Spooner currently sports a 2.8 pts/60 but this was in Boston seeing over 75% of his starts in the offensive zone. Playing alongside Kevin Hayes in New York who sees defensive deployment more routinely, one must assume such will be the case for Spooner as well. Things are certainly going to be rocky in Manhattan with a defense anchored by young Brady Skjei, but Spooner is worth at least a speculative add with five assists over the course of his first two games in Ranger blue.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/frozen-pool-forensics/seven-players-trending-up-after-the-trade-deadline/