#theresa healey

[aquila1nz]

Shortland Street's Queer Women in 2022

We finished 2021 with an unexpected kiss between Samira and Francesca, plus two ongoing f/f relationships, and then 2022 turned out to be an absolute rollercoaster.

The new relationship between Samira and Francesca was very popular and absolutely lovely - and then went downhill very fast, as Francesca pushed too hard, then left the show. Samira immediately decided Marty was the love of her life instead, then promptly left the show without him.

Dawn tried to set Louis up with cosplayer Demelza but instead she kissed Dawn. Dawn was very flattered and is never good at saying no to people, but had to tell her she had been down that path before and it was not for her. Demelza turned out to be an ex of Maeve's (pre-Saskia) that she had a bad break up with which Maeve was apparently still harbouring a lot of anger over. I'm sorry Demelza didn't hang around after that.

Rosalyn left Leanne for a man who grew flowers; Rosalyn's side of the breakup all happened off screen. Leanne didn't swear off women forever (which would have been within character) but she did sleep with newly married Damo and then got involved with an evangelical church which would have drastic repercussions down the line. She did quit the church when her closest friend there proved homophobic, in time to prevent them fleecing her of all her money, so well done Leanne. Not sure if she'll get a girlfriend again but she has evolved a bit. Still trying to run Nicole's life though. And then at the end of the year Ros showed up for a funeral.

Nicole and Maeve have had a difficult year of never quite being on the same page, struggling with intimacy and whether the other really wants them. Which culminated in Maeve suggesting a threesome with a woman who had been flirting with Nicole because she thought that might make things better with Nicole. Nicole was not pleased but later trying to initiate a threesome with a man they worked with which Maeve said yes to but then freaked out about, and shortly after that Nicole decided their relationship had become too hard and asked Maeve to leave. Maeve did not take this well, got drunk a bunch and kissed Harper once. And then someone from Brightshine church killed Wilder, which briefly brought them back together in their grief, the year ended with them loosely together, Nicole obviously not happy about it, and Nicole was last seen in the IV as it burned down. Cliffhanger! On the one hand that's three f/f couples that have broken up on Shortland Street this year. On the other, that's a soap record, because no other soap has three unrelated (or overrelated) wlw couples to break up.

Saskia also returned for one episode for Wilder's funeral (not surprising - Amanda Tito had been doing some directing - including directing the episode where Nicole and Maeve first broke up).

Young Billy is still not quite up to full dialogue scenes, but has become more vocal with the addition of Marley, and there was a nice storyline where Marley wanted to wear a blue Frozen dress for Halloween to match Billy's princess dress. After Marley came home from school angry at being laughed at for wearing it to the school Halloween Drew also dressed in a dress to go trick or treating, leading to drama with a friend's parent who had unnecessary opinions. And Billy ended the year with a full sentence of dialogue!

In other news in November new doctor Gia Te Arakura was introduced when Jack employed her as a locum. Gia was avoiding meeting TK who had recently found out that the older child he was estranged from was dead, and it quickly became clear that Gia was that child, who had transitioned. And had also become a fully fledged doctor in the five years since she last appeared on the show as a teenager focused on rowing - we could solve the country's health worker shortage if we used Shortland Street's sped up training methods! Gia is played by trans actress Awa Puna.

So yes, a year with lots of ups and downs for the fans. Shortland Street is back from hiatus on Monday, it'll be interesting to see where they go this year.

[mrsconneryisunfaithful]

Just gonna leave this here…

[grantmentis]

Jess Healey, Sidney Morin, and Theresa Schafzahl supporting the Boston Marathon

[pwhl-mybeloved]

BOSTON

Forwards 
Brandt, Hannah (November 27 SAGITTARIUS)
Darkangelo, Shiann (November 28 SAGITTARIUS)
Gabel, Loren (July 24 LEO)
Girard, Taylor (July 17 CANCER)
Knight, Hilary (July 12 CANCER)
Kosta, Nicole (February 27 PISCES)
Marvin, Gigi (March 7 PISCES)
Müller, Alina (March 12 PISCES)
Pelkey, Amanda (May 29 GEMINI)
Rattray, Jamie Lee (September 30 LIBRA)
Schafzahl, Theresa (April 12 ARIES)
Shirley, Sophie (June 30 CANCER)
Wenczkowski, Taylor (September 25 LIBRA)

Defenders 
Brown, Emily (December 30 CAPRICORN)
DiGirolamo, Jessica (February 13 AQUARIUS)
Fratkin, Kaleigh (March 24 ARIES)
Healey, Jess (October 14 LIBRA)
Jaques, Sophie (October 16 LIBRA)
Keller, Megan (May 1 TAURUS)
Morin, Sidney (June 6 GEMINI)

Goaltenders

Frankel, Aerin (May 24 GEMINI)

Kronish, Cami (February 24 PISCES)

Söderberg, Emma (February 18 AQUARIUS)

(This has been very hastily done on my phone so please correct if you see issues on the roster/dates/etc. Roster sourced from this site which is a lil older so may not be current, I haven’t double checked!!)

[waggle100]

Your Post Draft Boston PWHL team - not positionally sound beyond F/D/G because none of these draft reports want to give full positions even though I know they were specifying while I was watching

Forwards

Hilary Knight Alina Müller Loren Gabel Theresa Schafzahl Jamie Lee Rattray Hannah Brandt Jessica DiGirolamo Taylor Girard Sophie Shirley Tatum Skaggs Shiann Darkangelo

Defense

Sophie Jaques Megan Keller Emily Brown Emma Buckles Jess Healey

Goalies

Aerin Frankel Emma Söderberg 

Overall I love the Goalie position and I think there is a nice mix of youth and experience throughout the forwards and defense. I will try to do some additional research and give thoughts later this week

[linguine-noodles]

PWHL - Drafted Players

MINNESOTA 

(1st)  Taylor Heise (F, USA) (University of Minnesota)

(12nd)  Nicole Hensley (G, USA) (PWHPA)

(13rd)  Grace Zumwinkle (F, USA) (University of Minnesota)

(24th)  Maggie Flaherty (D, USA) (University of Minnesota-Duluth)

(25th)  Susanna Tapani (F, FIN) (KRS Vanke Rays)

(36th)  Clair DeGeorge (F, USA) (PWHPA)

(37th)  Natalie Buchbinder (D, USA) (University of Wisconsin)

(48th)  Denisa Křížová (F, CZE) (Minnesota Whitecaps)

(49th)  Sidney Morin (D, USA) (Minnesota Whitecaps)

(60th)  Sophia Kunin (F, USA) (PWHPA)

(61st)  Amanda Leveille (G, CAN) (Minnesota Whitecaps)

(72nd)  Michela Cava (F, CAN) (Toronto Six)

(73rd)  Liz Schepers (F, USA)  (Minnesota Whitecaps)

(84th)  Minttu Tuominen (D, FIN) (Kiekko-Espoo)

(85th)  Sydney Brodt (F, USA) (Minnesota Whitecaps)

TORONTO

(2nd)  Jocelyne Larocque (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(11th)  Emma Maltais (F, CAN) (Ohio State University)

(14th)  Kristen Campbell (G, CAN) (PWHPA)

(23rd)  Natalie Spooner (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(26th)  Jesse Compher (F, USA) (University of Wisconsin)

(35th)  Kali Flanagan (D, USA) (Boston Pride)

(38th)  Victoria Bach (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(47th)  Brittany Howard (F, CAN) (Toronto Six)

(50th)  Allie Munroe (D, CAN) (Connecticut Whale)

(59th)  Mellissa Channell (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(71st)  Rebecca Leslie (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(74th)  Hannah Miller (F, CAN) (KRS Shenzhen)

(83rd)  Alexa Vasko (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(86th)  Olivia Knowles (D, CAN) Minnesota Whitecaps)

BOSTON

(3rd)  Alina Müller (F, SUI) (ZSC Lions Frauen)

(10th)  Sophie Jaques (D, CAN) (Ohio State University)

(15th)  Jamie Lee Rattray (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(22nd)  Loren Gabel (F, CAN) (Boston Pride)

(27th)  Hannah Brandt (F, USA) (PWHPA)

(34th)  Jessica DiGirolamo (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(39th)  Theresa Schafzahl (F, AUT) (University of Vermont)

(46th)  Emily Brown (D, USA) (PWHPA)

(51st) Taylor Girard (F, USA) (Connecticut Whale)

(58th) Emma Söderberg (G, SWE) (University of Minnesota-Duluth)

(63rd) Sophie Shirley (F, CAN) (University of Wisconsin) 

(70th) Shiann Darkangelo (F, USA) (Toronto Six)

(75th) Emma Buckles (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(82nd) Tatum Skaggs (F, USA) (PWHPA)

(87th) Jess Healey (D, CAN) (Buffalo Beauts)

NEW YORK

(4th)  Ella Shelton (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(9th)  Jaime Bourbonnais (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(16th)  Jessie Eldridge (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(21st)  Chloé Aurard (F, FRA) (Northeastern University)

(28th)  Élizabeth Giguère (F, CAN) (Boston Pride)

(33th)  Corinne Schroeder (G, CAN) (Boston Pride)

(40th)  Jill Saulnier (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(45th)  Brooke Hobson (D, CAN) (MoDo Hockey)

(52nd) Jade Downie-Landry (F, CAN) (Montréal Force)

(57th) Paetyn Levis (F, USA) (Ohio State University)

(64th) Abigail Levy (G, USA) (Boston College)

(69th) Olivia Zafuto (D, CAN) (Boston Pride)

(76th) Kayla Vespa (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(81st) Emma Woods (F, CAN) (Toronto Six)

(88th) Alexandra Labelle (F, CAN) (Montréal Force)

OTTAWA

(5th)    Savannah Harmon (D, USA) (PWHPA)

(8th)    Ashton Bell (D, CAN) (University of Minnesota-Duluth)

(17th)   Jincy Dunne (D, USA) (PWHPA)

(20th)   Gabbie Hughes (F, USA) (University of Minnesota-Duluth)

(29th)   Hayley Scamurra (F, USA) (PWHPA)

(32th)   Daryl Watts (F, CAN) (Toronto Six)

(41st)   Aneta Tejralová (F, CZE) (MoDo Hockey)

(44th)   Kateřina Mrázová (F, CZE) (Färjestad BK)

(53rd)   Zoe Boyd (D, CAN) (Quinnipiac University)

(56th)   Kristin Della Rovere (F, CAN) (Harvard)

(65th)   Lexi Adzija (F, CAN) (Quinnipiac University)

(68th)   Sandra Abstreiter (G, GER) (Providence College)

(77th)   Amanda Boulier (D, USA) (Minnesota Whitecaps)

(80th)   Caitrin Lonergan (F, USA) (Connecticut Whale)

(89th)   Audrey-Anne Veillette (F, CAN) (University of Montréal)

MONTRÉAL

(6th)  Erin Ambrose (D, CAN) (PWHPA)

(7th)  Kristin O'Neill (F, CAN) (PWHPA)

(18th)  Maureen Murphy (F, USA) (Northeastern University)

(19th)  Dominika Lásková (D, CZE) (Luleå HF)

(30th)  Kati Tabin (D, CAN) (Toronto Six)

(31st)  Kennedy Marchment (F, CAN) (Connecticut Whale)

(42nd)  Tereza Vanišová (F, CZE) (Toronto Six)

(43rd)  Madison Bizal (D, USA) (Ohio State University) (54th) Gabrielle David (F, CAN) (Clarkson University)

(55th)  Maude Poulin-Labelle (D, CAN) (Northeastern University)

(66th) Jillian Dempsey (F, USA) (Boston Pride)

(67th) Claire Dalton (F, CAN) (Yale)

(78th) Elaine Chuli (G, CAN) (Toronto Six)

(79th) Ann-Sophie Bettez (F, CAN) (Montréal Force)

(90th) Lina Ljungblom (F, SWE) (MoDo Hockey)

Information is from The Ice Garden:  https://www.theicegarden.com/phwl-draft-board/ and Elite Prospects

[sarahlancashire]

LEANNE BLACK and ROSALYN MULLENS in SHORTLAND STREET

our kiss, leanne, it wasn't enough. i need more. i need you.

[monsterintheballroom]

💙💚💛💜💖

[fairnelav]

Rosalyn × Leanne

Shorthand Street

[aquila1nz]

Theresa Healey showing up for one scene in the first five minutes of Rebecca Gibney's new show Under the Vines. And that's Katherine Kennard next to her (Vivienne on Shorty). Sara Wiseman is also in it, it'll be interesting to see who else turns up.

[mrsconneryisunfaithful]

[kwebtv]

Filthy Rich  -  TVNZ 2  -  February 15, 2016 - October 4, 2017

Comedy Drama (34 episodes)

Running Time:  60 minutes

Stars:

Miriama Smith as Brady Truebridge

Josh McKenzie as John Truebridge Jr

Alex Tarrant as Joe Tamatoa

Emma Fenton as Savannah Fielding

Taylor Hall as Zac Bryce

Elizabeth Hawthorne as Nancy Truebridge

Luciane Buchanan as Kennedy

Shushila Takao as Ariana

Xana Tang as Cherry

Mike Edward as Fisher Brankovic

Recurring

Theresa Healey as Vivian Hunt Trubridge

Cristina Serban Ionda as Maria

Jay Simon as Alan Griever

Tania Anderson as Gillian Joster

Jodie Rimmer as Lorna Fielding

Erroll Shand as Karl Reichman

Simon Prast as Sir Douglas

Becky McEwan as Grace Halloway

Joe Folau as Snake

Emily Robins as Toni Van Asch

Jared Turner as Sam Halloway

Siobhan Page as Roxy van Buren

Nick Davies as Garth Joster

Mark Mitchinson as Lloyd Maxwell

Bonnie Soper as Annabelle Maxwell

Kirk Torrance as Ariki Campbell

Jay Saussey as Megan Campbell

Matthew Walker as Ford Hathaway

Katrina Browne as Caroline Brankovich

[frit8]

Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner revived one of his old adversaries Margaret Thatcher’s put-downs when he branded Theresa May a “frit” during a debate in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon – but what does the unusual insult actually mean?

Mr Skinner has become known for his fiery speeches in the Commons during his near half a century as the “Beast of Bolsover”.

He told the PM: “Doesn’t the Prime Minister realise that she’s handed over power, not to people in this House, but she’s handed over power to the people she’s going to negotiate with – over in Europe?

Dennis Skinner branded Theresa May a 'frit' during a debate in the House of Commons. (Image: BBC)

“She looks very weak, and she is, as he said she had allowed the EU to demonstrate its power over any member state that tried to leave the bloc.

“Mrs Thatcher had a word for it, what she’s done today, F-R-I-T, she’s frit.”

Frit is a colloquial term that means frightened and is used primarily in the Lincolnshire dialect, although can be heard in other English regions.

But the PM hit back, saying: “And I have every confidence that if I had not listened to members of this House, then Mr Skinner would have stood up and complained about that.”

Thatcher’s legacy

Margaret Thatcher first used the word ‘frit’ in the House of Commons in 1983 (Photo: Getty)

Margaret Thatcher first used the word ‘frit’ in the House of Commons in 1983 (Photo: Getty)

Margaret Thatcher brought the term into political discourse during a debate on 19 April 1983.

She angrily told the then deputy Labour leader Denis Healey that he was “frit” of a general election after he told her she should “cut and run”.

From then on she was closely associated with the term, with her political opponents branding her “Madame Frit” and frequently asking her is she was frit during parliamentary debates.

The term’s usage in Westminister has outlived the former PM, who died in 2013, with former Labour leader Ed Miliband accusing David Cameron of being frit for refusing to take part in TV debates in 2015.

Beast of Bolsover

Dennis Skinner is one of the oldest MPs in Parliament. (Image: Nature Of The Beast documentary.)

Dennis Skinner is one of the oldest MPs in Parliament. (Image: Nature Of The Beast documentary.)

Mr Skinner said he was given his moniker during a debate when one Tory backbencher asked the speaker to “stop this bloody beast of Bolsover”.

He has held the Bolsover seat in Derbyshire for Labour since 1970.

The 86-year old former miner’s outspoken role in Parliament has landed him in hot water with the speaker before, with him being suspended from the House on at least ten occasions, usually for “unparliamentary language”.

[phroyd]

Members of the multibillionaire philanthropic Sackler family that owns the maker of prescription painkiller OxyContin are facing mass litigation and likely criminal investigation over the opioids crisis still ravaging America.

Some of the Sacklers wholly own Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, the company that created and sells the legal narcotic OxyContin, a drug at the center of the opioid epidemic that now kills almost 200 people a day across the US.

Suffolk county in Long Island, New York, recently sued several family members personally over the overdose deaths and painkiller addiction blighting local communities. Now lawyers warn that action will be a catalyst for hundreds of other US cities, counties and states to follow suit.

At the same time, prosecutors in Connecticut and New York are understood to be considering criminal fraud and racketeering charges against leading family members over the way OxyContin has allegedly been dangerouslyoverprescribed and deceptively marketed to doctors and the public over the years, legal sources told the Guardian last week.

“This is essentially a crime family … drug dealers in nice suits and dresses,” said Paul Hanly, a New York city lawyer who represents Suffolk county and is also a lead attorney in a huge civil action playing out in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, involving opioid manufacturers and distributors.

The Sackler name is prominently attached to prestigious cultural and academic institutions that have accepted millions donated by the family in the US and the UK. It is now inscribed on a lawsuit alleging members of the family “actively participated in conspiracy and fraud to portray the prescription painkiller as non-addictive, even though they knew it was dangerously addictive”.

Named in the Suffolk county complaint filed in New York state court are Richard, Jonathan, Kathe and Mortimer David Alfons Sackler, and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt – adult children of deceased brothers Mortimer and Raymond Sackler who developed Purdue Pharma and launched OxyContin in the mid-1990s.

Also named are Theresa and Beverly Sackler, the widows of those two brothers, and David Sackler, son of Richard. Theresa Sackler lives in Londonand the others named lived in the US, mainly in New York and Connecticut.

These eight family members serve or have served on the board of Purdue. Forbes magazine estimates that a core group of 20 Sacklers in the Mortimer and Raymond branches of the secretive family, including the eight named above, are collectively worth $13bn.

Hanly said: “What Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family have done to society through their aggressive peddling of opioids is unconscionable.”

OxyContin was originally widely marketed as a safe wonder drug because of the unique slow-release mechanism of its active ingredient, the narcotic oxycodone. But it turned out to be highly addictive and easily abused.

Suffolk county has already sued Purdue and then filed against the Sacklers in an amended complaint last month.

Now Hanly and other high-profile lawyers working on opioid litigation expect the family members to be sued by name as part of the multi-district litigation in Ohio. In federal court, lawsuits filed by more than 1,200 cities, counties and municipalities across the US, against Purdue and other corporate defendants, have been brought together in the hands of federal judge Dan Polster.

The first trials are due next year in three bellwether cases from two Ohio counties and the city of Cleveland.

Purdue is also being sued by at least 30 states in state court. The first trial in that sequence is expected next spring in Louisiana.

But it is more widely expected that all parties will negotiate a huge global settlement like the approximate $250bn deal agreed in a landmark Big Tobacco case in 1997.

“I’m assuming every single plaintiff’s attorney in the country will copy our complaint naming the Sacklers in the coming weeks,” said attorney Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy, who also represents Suffolk county and is involved in the litigation in Ohio, alongside colleague Paul Hanly.

Hanly said that the economic cost of the opioids crisis in the US, from healthcare to lost productivity, have been put at $1tn between 2002 and 2018, by some leading studies. “Other estimates put the current cost at up to $500bn a year,” he said.

According to a source familiar with the litigation, who cannot be named because they are disclosing confidential information, Purdue Pharma has been arguing behind closed doors to Polster that it can’t afford large-scale damages.

“Of course the company doesn’t have much money left in it because the Sacklers have taken it, they own it, they’ve siphoned it off over the years,” the source said.

Plaintiffs are now determined to make the Sacklers pay, even though their money is scattered in property, charitable foundations, trusts, a multitude of companies and overseas bank accounts.

“I don’t know where it all is yet, but I’ll find it,” Conroy said.

Beyond any civil penalties, some family members could face criminal charges in future.

“I know there are a couple of criminal investigations going on at the federal level, against Purdue, the Sacklers, other defendants, all of them. People are digging, US attorney’s offices are conducting criminal investigations,” said one source.

Purdue and senior executives, but not the Sacklers, was prosecuted and pleaded guilty in federal criminal court in 2007 to misleading regulators, doctors and patients.

A spokesman for John Durham, the US attorney for Connecticut, declined to comment. Prosecutors for the southern and eastern federal districts of New York state did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the northern district of New York said the Department of Justice does not confirm, deny or comment on the existence of any investigation. A spokeswoman for the western district of New York declined to confirm or deny whether the US attorney is conducting a criminal investigation into the Sacklers. A spokesman for Purdue Pharma declined to comment on behalf of the company and the relevant members of the Sackler family.

Those same Sacklers were also sued by name in a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts in June. This alleges that Purdue, its directors and owners “deceived prescribers and patients to get more people to use Purdue’s opioid products, at higher doses, for longer periods” by misrepresenting and downplaying the addictive and deadly risks of the drug. And even claiming that OxyContin, which is derived from opium, was safer than paracetamol or ibuprofen, the common painkillers sold over the counter, the state alleges.

The Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, told the Guardian that experts estimate that the epidemic cost the state almost $15bn in 2017 alone in lost productivity, public safety and healthcare, to say nothing of the human tragedy that has cost thousands of lives in that state alone.

She said she thought the Sacklers were “well aware” of the damage their drug was doing. “But for them it’s greed, it was all about profits over people … I feel very confident naming the family members,” she said.

Asked if Massachusetts was considering a criminal investigation of the company, its executives or owners, Healey said: “I’m focused on using my legal authority to make sure we get restitution for families … damages and penalties for illegal conduct and we are going to continue to pursue this in court.”

She added: To the extent they [the Sacklers] made their fortune on the backs of sick and vulnerable people, then they should turn it over. I have no sympathies for them.”

'I don’t know how they live with themselves' – artist Nan Goldin​ takes on the billionaire family behind OxyContin

Relatives of Arthur Sackler, the older brother of Raymond and Mortimer, who died before OxyContin came to market, are not suspected of any wrongdoing in relation to the drug.

The American art photographer Nan Goldin almost died from an addiction to OxyContin and is now in recovery. She leads a campaign to persuade cultural institutions to reject Sackler donations, and to shame the Sacklers into paying for treatment facilities for opioid dependency instead, not “reputation laundering” as she and other critics dub their philanthropy.

She said the prospect of any criminal charges against family members was “great” and called the family “complicit” in the opioids crisis.

“I’m sick of these people behind the scenes, controlling companies and getting away with murder while their faces are never shown,” she told the Guardian.

The Mississippi lawyer Mike Moore, who helped secure the Big Tobacco settlement and the $20bn settlement against BP for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is involved in the federal case in Ohio and state cases. He said it was right the Sacklers should be targeted.

“They’ve been hiding behind a corporate structure and it’s high time they paid a price,” he said.

Phroyd

[uk-news-talking-politics]

Black Thursday: Britain humiliated on global stage as it begs EU for more time

By Ian Dunt

We're not in the room when they decide what happens to us. First Theresa May will make a short speech. Then she leaves and the leaders of 27 other countries make a decision. We wait outside. That's how Britain finds out what happens to it. It's taken just three years - three years of nationalism and political puritanism - to reduce the country to this status.

May's previous speeches have often managed to turn otherwise sympathetic European leaders against her. They don't appear to be any better behind closed doors than they are in front of cameras. In both instances they lack charisma, or intellectual content, or even a hint of personal responsibility. She cannot think creatively about problems. She cannot lay out a convincing case for how to proceed with them. All she can do is blame other people - the EU, opposition parties, the House of Lords, or the institution of parliament itself - for her own failings. Expecting her to live up to the historical moment is like asking an old Casio calculator to log on to the internet.

As it happens, the EU leaders will probably reject the offer of a June extension and fix it to the month of May. It doesn't matter. The prime minister is unlikely to get her Brexit deal through next week, so it's largely academic. The crucial moment will come next week, if it is defeated, as we find out whether they will meet again and provide a longer extension. We expect the answer to be yes, but we are no longer in control of our fate. Other countries decide it for us.

This is the core fact of today: our fate in the hands of others. It is very real and genuinely profound. When else were we brought so low? Which other moment in our modern lifetime ever saw us so humiliated? Suez? That was nothing. A bad-tempered chat with the Americans which made it clear we couldn't run the world anymore. Denis Healey asking the IMF for an emergency loan? Black Wednesday? These were drops in the ocean next to what is happening to us here. We are living through history - and not the good kind. We're living the kind that even in 20 or 30 years' time, people will say: 'Well this is bad, but it's not as bad as Brexit.'

The causes of today's events are many and varied. The government wasted time it did not have. MPs were unable to accept the practical consequences of a theoretical course of action they were intent on pursuing. There was insufficient preparation. There was a preference for echo chamber reassurance instead of cold, hard calculation. We fiddled and bickered as the fire took hold.

Remainers want to blame everything on Brexit as a concept. Leavers want to blame how it was pursued. But the reality is that both ends and means have been terrible.

Brexit involves leaving a membership-based regulatory super-power, with huge trading strength, which functions according to the strict and unyielding implementation of law. You are always going to have less control outside than you do in. If Brexit happens, that'll be the case for all sorts of decisions, from the coding on driverless cars to best practice in medical trials. We'll do the same as they do, just to keep life ticking away as easily as possible. The only thing that will have changed is that we won't be in the room making the decisions anymore. Today is just a particularly dramatic, system-wide application of the basic principle which is set to govern our future as a nation: self-imposed exile from power.

But even if you did decide to pursue this project, there are good ways to do it and bad ways. The good way is to come up with a set of deliverable goals and a realistic timetable. The government did not do that. The goals it set were largely impossible - such as maintaining the exact same benefits as single market membership while leaving it - and the timetable was established on the basis of domestic political concerns rather than a disinterested assessment of what was required. This is what happens when you fixate on pleasuring the most hysterical and right-wing elements of your party instead of thinking about the good of your country.

Cooler heads warned about this moment for years: when the result came in, when Article 50 was triggered, when the government refused to be honest about the obstacles in front of it, when May wasted time on a pointless election or ran down the clock in the last few weeks. This is precisely the moment they feared: A proud country, reduced to begging. Brexit is an outrage to the status of Britain. It is an act of national mutilation.

But it is also a reminder, in these final pivotal moments of the Article 50 process, of what's at stake. The power, reputation and pride of the country is on the line. The primary argument against Brexit has always been a patriotic one. And today shows why that is. You can run from that truth. You can hide from it. But there's no place left anymore. It is plain for all to see. The bleak, drab, pitiless reality of what this project entails is now visible to the world. It can still be stopped, and it must be.

[monsterintheballroom]

Schau dir "Preview - Rosalee 2 August 2021" auf YouTube an

She's back!!!!!😭😭😭😭😭😭 And she's beautiful 😍😍😍