#this country will never see full and real and permanent change until the south is cared about the way we fuckin deserve

[queerdiazs]

everyday i think of the way the american south is treated and everyday i get more fuckin mad about it

my way of life has been romanticized and watered down into an aesthetic for the internet yet if a majority of you were to ever meet me or somebody like me in real life you'd hate us because we don't fit into that cute little cubby you've made for us. it makes me laugh thinking about the way most of you would react if you ever saw a coal miner fresh off work and on their way home.

and it's not a big deal really but it's a big deal to me because a lot of you call yourselves progressives but you're actually everything you accuse people from the south of being :)

[deathwithacutename]

* I just wanna preface this entertaining story by saying that yes this is a true story, some major facts and details were changed and the story is kept vague on purpose.

If you're easily triggered by me saying black lives matter and you feel some type of way, well, that's life snowflake and just like facts idc about your feeling #sorrynotsorry #blm

I just went thru hell today ....for $185...from a job that fired me a week ago...

I can't make this shit up. I from a small town in the south and I recently had a falling out with my dad. Prompting me to move across the country with my bf. I've never lefty small town in my life but did on that day (real long story I'll post it some other time rn I feel tired) so long story short I needed a job. I cannot stress enough how shitty this place was....

First of all, these kids had no discipline, no structure, and no respect. (Not to sound like Rodney Dangerfield over here, but I gets no respect, lemme tell ya)

Every day, was like:

Me:Hey (kids name) why are you throwing paper?

Kid: idk

Me: well could u do me a favor (yes I would ask them to do me a favor as a means of trying to communicate with them with some oz of respect) could you not throw paper, please.

Kid: (looks me dead in my face and smirks while grabbing a piece of paper and throws it without breaking eye contact)

Me: *sigh, didn't I just tell you not to throw paper?

Kid: (WITH A STRAIGHT FACE) I didn't know you were talking to me.

Me: 😳 ???

You looked at me, DEAD IN THE FACE when I SPECIFICALLY SAID YOUR NAME, SMILED AND DID THE VERY FUCKING THING I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING DO!!!! WHILE LOOKING AT ME THE WHOLE GODDAMN TIME!!!

😡😡🤬🤬.....

😤😪 let it go d.w.a.c.n....theyre, kids, you can't hurt them....it's just a job...

**RAGE RAGE, FUCKING RAGE the ppl in my head are screaming this at this point**

Mind you, I'm in a whole new state with very little to my name, in a town full of Trumpettes, in an interracial relationship with beliefs that black lives matter, fuck da police, and smoke weed everyday etched in my soul with only my spouse to have my back, (and I aint a punk and I can hold my own in a fight, but the way the wild life situation is...it would be too late for rescue should my anger get the better of me and my family can help, so we not gonna test these gator infested waters round here) but I don't have my birth certificate, so I can't get my license so until I get straight and on my own, I gotta play it safe. So kids will be kids...more or less 🙄

So Friday is field trip day for these...childrennn and while the first one went alright, the second Friday I'm there was a complete disaster. Also on that second Friday I'm there I had to work 2 extra hours

Enter Monday, I come in for 8 hours and leave. At this point I'm already looking for another job, so any excuse to leave would have been fine, I just wanted to have another job lined up...but luck was never on my side and sure enough that Monday night the director TEXTS me to tell me she's letting me go blah blah, mind u this wasn't a permanent job l, I was really there to fill in some gaps for the summer, but nevertheless it's a shock. But, cool, whatever, she tells me she can email me the check or I can pick it up, I say email is fine and that's it. Next Friday I get it emailed, I can print it, cash it, get on with my life. Simple right?

No....no no...absolutely tf not, nothing can ever be simple.

So, Friday comes and I call to make sure I am still gonna receive it, do they have correct emails address blah blah and the director then says,

"you can come pick up your check, d.w.a.c.n if you want".

Hmm...hubby just got paid, and I gotta run errands anyway, why tf not? It's right down the road I'll go get that check, get his, cash them and be on my merry way, right

Why tf did I say yes? Cos the minute I did, shenanigans of a malicious nature began. So I run up to this miniature hell...I mean...daycare and here's what happens

8 am: inquire about check, confirming I'll pick it up

Me: I can come through and pick it up

Director (D): ok, give me a few minutes to get there

9 a.m. I text to see if she's at the office, no answer...

10 a.m. I drive there to see if she's there; no show

10:30 a.m. me and hubby still waiting on this woman to arrive

It was then I decided to go get hubby's check, cash it and put it on his card, grab a quick breakfast and get back before she leaves and if she does dip, well, she can surely just cash it and leave it for me right?

Word of advise kids, never EVER leave fate up to chance, especially when you're born with hellaciously bad luck as I have been gifted. Don't. Do. It.

11 a.m sure enough she dipped. Can anyone guess what she didn't do?

For those who said she didn't print the check, you are correct, here's a cookie.

But, death, u may ask, how hard is it to print a check, surely not that hard right?

Rule number 2, and I cannot stress this enough. NEVER, EVER IN YO LIFE UNDERESTIMATE THE STUPIDITY OR INCOMPETENCE OF OTHERS. Don't do it, they'll surprise you every goddamn time cos I swear, trying to get these ppl to print this check convinced me that it would be easier to train a cat to grow opposable thumbs and open the tightest jars of pickles at will. Kid u not, can not make this shit up.

Fast forward and it's now 3 p.m.

No check, once again. So I call instead of going up there, mostly cos I don't want to get my ass kicked from cops bc I go up there and show the repressed nigga inside ready to pop out and fuck some shit up. I've never been to jail, but it would be my luck to get shot instead, especially now (and we not gonna make this shit political, ok? Any blue lives matter or all lives matter motherfucker who wanna come here and start shit will do well to remember that this ain't about u, this is just me venting, I ALSO have free speech and if you want to start some shit with me, I'm just gonna tell you to kiss the deepest, blackest part of my ass after I take a shit, and that's as far as I'm gonna engage with u ok? Ok)

So, long story (condensed) I finally get my check after my ghetto side leaks thru the phone. How much for my struggle?

Well if you were paying attention, you would know: $185.00

That's it. I went all day and had to eat d8 to not feel like crashing my car into this daycare center (kids were on a field trip, don't worry they weren't gonna be in harm's way, I hate kids but I am not THAT crazy) for a whopping 185.

I hate this world.

[yeaahishowedupatyourparty]

PIPER ANNAELISE CALLOWAY

21 YEARS OLD TWIN SISTER OF ZARA YOUNGER SISTER OF ELOISE, AMBER AND FELICITY - opinionated, goal-orientated, act first and think later, sarcastic, charismatic 

She’s an NPC right now but I’d definitely bring her back if it felt right to the Calloway storyline at some point.

TW: EXPLOITATION/CHILD GROOMING/DRUGS (not explicit detail)

EARLY BEGINNINGS LEAD TO...

- Piper was the original star of the family. she wasn’t as demanding or loud as some of her sisters, but she had age on her side. As one of the youngest, she knew how to win hearts with her charm and natural charisma as well as her cuteness. She was a very sweet little girl who got along with everybody. - From around the age of 3, she was her mothers newest barbie doll and was entered into pageants across the country and eventually the world. She was very successful and it was rare she lost to anyone. When she got to 7, their mother took her to LA to get her signed to an agent. Of course, she returned home successfully signed. Piper spent her childhood working; she did commercials, cameos on early 2000s TV shows as the daughter of many loved characters and she even had small parts in some films. - Piper’s career changed when her agent suggested teaming up with Zara, as more of a “package deal.” The girls went on to become HUGELY successful (their career is based around Mary-Kate and Ashley) and their mother decided to have them move out to Los Angeles full-time. 

A DARK CAREER...

- The girls were huge household names by around 13. Piper was always slightly more marketable than Zara though. She was happy to talk in interviews, socialise at award shows and be papped doing normal teen things, whereas Zara often took the backseat and became very clearly uncomfortable very quickly with it all.  - Since the girls were minors and their mother didn’t have the time to be permanently in Los Angeles (she also had Felicity, Eloise and Amber to think of), she gave responsibility to Marcus Carmichael; Amber’s 21 year old boyfriend at the time. He was responsible enough but also let the girls have their fun, got them into night clubs and basically gave them both the go ahead to become the trainwrecks they ended up as. - The three of them lived in Marcus’s apartment, where Piper and Marcus would flirt, get high and at least once - Zara believes - slept together. The girls overheard a lot of adult conversations and saw things that two 15-going-on-16 year olds never should have. Around this time, Zara’s mother had started to encourage her to be romantically involved with their manager so that he’d favour the girls over his other clients. After one disgusting run-in with the man, she very quickly refused and would have huge panic attacks but Piper stepped up. She was sleeping with this man on and off for months, until she decided she wanted to retire and that’s where things went wrong. Everybody around the girls refused to let them stop working as they were at the peak of their success, but Piper - being the louder and more abrupt one - wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

...AND EARLY ENDINGS 

The Christmas before her ‘death’, the family spent time together in their London home. Piper wouldn’t drop the topic of retiring and not returning to LA; she was done sleeping with her manager and she was done with the whole twin thing - she wanted to branch out, go to college, do normal things. It quickly turned nasty and there was an explosive fight between Piper and her parents. Piper threatened to expose her mother and her manager for what they’d made her do for all those years.          It ended with both Zara and Piper being practically forced to go back to LA the same night, as their parents were worried Piper would find time to runaway if they didn’t. Marcus Carmichael picked them up from the airport and took them back to the apartment they’d been staying in since they moved to LA.  They landed very late at night and from there, the details start to get hazy. Zara recalls both girls being sent up to bed by Marcus after having a short video call with their manager. The next morning, she woke up to Piper being gone and lots of people including her parents in the apartment kitchen. They explained Piper had overdosed at some point in the night & been taken to hospital, but it was too late.            At the time, Zara believed it. Why wouldn’t she? Piper could’ve easily snuck out and got her hands on anything. She was the most famous teen on the globe.  But, as years have passed, the less the story has made sense. How did they find out Piper had overdosed if she snuck out? If she’d gone to a club, how had nobody reported it? How did both of her parents know to book flights while her sisters were left with a nanny? Wouldn’t she want to bring them? Why didn’t Piper wake Zara the way she always did before she got up to mischief? How come there was no open casket at the funeral?

What happened to her was a mystery, but Zara doesn’t feel confident that the full truth is being told.

REAL TRUTH: After being sent to bed, Piper DID get back up but she went to meet her manager, who was parked outside the apartment to see her with her phone recording the whole conversation. She planned to leak the audio of them hooking up to expose how disgusting Hollywood could be with young children.  He found her out and things quickly went south. Piper did manage to escape and get back into the apartment before he could drive off with her, but he also contacted her mother to let her know about what she was planning to do. Their mother acted instantly; she booked flights and got Marcus to take all of her possessions and drive her to the airport, she was arranged to stay with her aunt who lives in a remote part of Sweden. She wasn’t coming home. Ever. 

All that was left to do was create a convincing story for her “death” and, as far as the Calloway’s are concerned, Piper is dead.

[heliosphoenix]

State of the Planet: 2020 Edition.

I know what you're thinking.

"How can you even think of doing one of these for this year? After everything that happened? You can't possibly be trying to do your little feel-good writeup!" 

Well...you're right. I can't. That's right, State of the Planet is cancelled.

I don't really have to explain why, do I? I have no words to describe this year and I know you don't want to hear them anyway. I understand your anger, your frustration, your sadness, everything you're feeling, I get it.

This wasn't the year you imagined and almost certainly not the one you wanted. Thanks for being there the entire way, and I'll see you next year.

Okay, I'm just kidding. I couldn't do that to you folks, I just wanted to get some more mileage out of a dead meme.

I first started this missive several years ago when I noticed that people were developing a tendency to condense the previous lap around the ol Sun into a series of terrible, horrible, no good very bad events at the expense of anything good that may have happened. I don't know why this was done, maybe as a ways to ensure that the coming year would have to be better by default.

Well...we all saw how that worked out for this year, didn't we?

As you all know I prefer to do things differently. I prefer to go out on a high note and remember all the good things that happened in the past year. If nothing else, I think it helps remind us that as much as we want to bemoan and be pessimistic about the state of our culture, society, civilization and even species, there's plenty of evidence to suggest we're not doing so bad after all.

And even thought it feels like this past year the world went out of its way to teach us some rather harsh lessons, I'm still determined to find something good that happened. So let's take a look back at some of the good things that happened in 2020:

A circumbinary planet was discovered at the TOI 1338 system.

Luxembourg became the first country to make it's public transportation free.

The Bhadla Solar Park became the largest solar park in the world.

The BepiColumbo space probe departed for Venus, en route to an arrival at Mercury in 2025.

A fast radio burst was detected from a Magnetar in the Milky Way, the first time such an event has been detected in the Galaxy.

A team of British and Kenyan scientists discovered a microbe that can block mosquitos from transmitting malaria.

A black hole was discovered in the QV Telescopii system, at 1120 light years away it is the closest known black hole to Earth.

A 425 million year old fossil of a millipede was discovered in Scotland, one of the oldest fossils ever found.

SpaceX launched their Dragon 2 spacecraft on its first crewed missions, the first astronauts to launch from US soil since 2011.

The Perseverance rover was launched to Mars and is expected to touch down in February.

The Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE became the first operational nuclear power plant in the Arab states.

Wild polio was eradicated from the continent of Africa.

Skeletons of 31 prehistoric animals, including 200 mammoths, were found at a construction site in Mexico City, it was the largest finding of mammoth bones ever.

The 5.37 mile La Linea highway tunnel was opened in Colombia, it's the largest road tunnel in South America.

Kosovo, Serbia, Sudan and Bahrain all decided to normalize their relations with Israel.

Phosphine, a strong predictor of microbiological life, was discovered in the atmosphere of Venus.

Preserved remains of a cave bear were discovered in Siberia.

A 1634 edition of Shakespeare's final play, The Two Noble Kingsman, was discovered at the Royal Scots College's library in Spain.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed on the asteroid Bennu and collected samples for return to Earth in 2023.

The Falkland Islands were declared free of land mines.

Molecular water was detected near Clavius crater on the Moon. 

An AI algorithm called AlphaFold was able to figure out the process of Protein Folding. 

The UN commission on Narcotic Drugs removed cannabis from its list of dangerous drugs.

The EU committed themselves to reducing greenhouse emissions by 55% over the next decade.

A Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn occurred, the closest one seen in the night sky since 1226.

Comet NEOWISE passed by the Earth and was the brightest comet in the night sky since Hale-Bopp in 1997.

Among Us became one of the most popular games in the world.

Half Life: Alyx was released, the first Half Life game in 13 years (FINALLY).

Joe Biden was elected as the 46th President of the United States.

Remember all that? Good. Because that's where I'm at.

You, dear reader, are in the future. Perhaps you're reading this in the final hours of 2020, or the first hours of 2021. Or maybe so much time has passed that both those years are now confined to the history books.

Perhaps everything I listed above is not enough to overcome all the bad things that happened this year, and that's a fair assessment. Maybe at the end of the day there's nothing that can overshadow the fact that someone in China who ate the wrong bat resulted in the entire world coming to a stop. If that's your feeling, then I understand completely.

But let the record show that those things did happen. In a year full of chaos and uncertainty and anxiety and dread, there were still moments where we could objectively punch our fists in the air and say "yes!" Even if only for a moment.

So now comes the part where I have to take all the things that we just went through and sum it up in a single word. Usually I don't think about this until the day of, but this time I've actually known for months what I was going to say:

The word is...Goodbye.

It sounds both strange and appropriate at the same time, doesn't it? As we close out this year, as well as this decade (reminder that 2021 is the real start of the next decade) we can look back and realize we've had many experiences. Both positive and negative. Hopefully they were mostly positive, even during this year.

But there is at least one experience we've all shared together, especially in times like these: saying goodbye.

I will confess to you all that I have a hard time saying goodbye. Hell, I don't even like the word. Whenever I end a conversation, I always use some variant of "see you later", since, to me at least, "goodbye" just sounds so final. Though with that said, I will also admit there's some people in this world that I had no problem saying goodbye to, and I don't mean "till we meet again", I mean "get lost." And I'd be lying if I said there weren't some people who felt the same about me, but I digress.

In the last episode of his show, Red Green delivered a monologue about saying goodbye. A monologue that I am now shamelessly ripping off for your reading pleasure. Not just because it's a way to get this done quickly, but because I think what he said is very true.

Red says that when it comes to your good friends and your family, you never really have to say goodbye. Why? Because they're always in your mind. And whenever you think about them, you're together again. I can tell you from experience that works rather well, even when it involves people that I don't want to think about. But even in that instance, where our last interaction was a negative one, I can't help but think back to all the good times we had together, and for a moment I reminisce. It's nice when it happens.

We've all heard the phrase "nothing lasts forever" and we tend to dismiss it as a cliché. But we're still constantly confronted with that reality, even if we never realize it. As Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday; "When you get old in life, things get taken from you. That's a part of life."  

We've all lost things in our lives, and I just don't mean toys that have been sold or people that we love who are no longer on this mortal coil. I'm referring to the moments in our lives where we're forced to accept that our circumstances have permanently changed, and that the way things were can no longer be the way things are. This is why you shouldn't be having kids when you're in your 70's, and no one over the age of 50 should be naked in public.

On a more personal note, this year I got that feeling once again. It's not just because I'm most likely leaving one job behind for another job, but there were things in my personal life that shifted so dramatically that I knew things could never be the same again. And seeing as how, for the most part, I liked how things were, I'd be lying if I said that this change didn't cause me some distress.

But that's all a part of growing up, isn't it? As much as I may cringe about reaching 30 years of life on this Earth, I accept it all the same. Because, if nothing else, it's a reminder that I need to keep moving forward. Is it sad that the good ol days are now just memories and dreams? You're damn right it is. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing, because even if they're not what's happening now, they still did happen. And who knows? Perhaps the days to come will be just as good, if not better. In my opinion, that's something to look forward to.

And the same is true for all of us: if we want to live a happy fulfilling life, we have to keep moving forward. We can reminisce about all the fun we've had in days gone by, but it's just as important to be ready for the days yet to come.

I think that's why New Year's is such a poignant holiday for all of us. It's a tacit acknowledgement that we have to say goodbye to the old, so we can say hello to the new.

And at the risk of making this entry so long that by the time you're finished it will be 2022, I'd like to do that now.

To all the people that have been with me since my early days, thanks so much for all that you've done. I appreciate you sticking it out with me this far and I hope you'll continue to do so for many years to come.

To all the people that I've met recently and have decided to join me on this ride, welcome aboard. We're glad you could make it and we hope you'll stay a while as well.

And finally, to all the people that are no longer here, whether they've merely left my social circle or left this mortal coil altogether, all I can say is that we've had a great run. Whatever our reasons for parting are irrelevant now and I wish you nothing but good fortune in whatever it is you decide to do. Perhaps, God willing, our paths will cross again some day. But even if they don't, I hope that every so often we'll think about each other and smile a bit.

And now I'd like to close with something different. Usually I ask you to comment below with something good that happened to you this year. You're more than welcome to do that. But if you're looking for a change of pace, may I suggest that you close out your 2020 (or open your 2021) by listening to this song from the great Ashleigh Ball and Michelle Creber (yes I know many of you are hoping to leave the Miniature Equines in the past, but I'm hoping you'll permit them one last indulgence).

https://youtu.be/XjkPH6sZM_o 

This is the song that inspired me to write this missive (along with the aforementioned Red Green) and as you're listening, I want you to think about all of those you said goodbye to this past decade. Think about all the fond memories you had together and give yourself a smile as the clock strikes midnight. Even if they're not with us today, we still have all the memories of them that no one can take from us, no matter what happens to the world.

And now the time has come for me to end this missive. Let the record show that this was my final word on 2020 as well as my expressed hope for charity, kindness and goodwill to flourish throughout the world in the years to come.

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends

.And 2021 shall restore amends.

[rileyjsmith]

『 jacob elordi. twenty four. cismale. he/him. 』 oh heavens, is that RILEY JACOB SMITH from CHESTNUT DRIVE i see roaming around mapleview? minnie may’s always calling them -FIXED & -RESERVED. i happen to think they’re not that bad! they’re a pretty cool FARMER AT MAPLEVIEW CATTLE BARN and every time i’ve seen them, they’ve always been +RESPONSIBLE & +RESILIENT. i hope i see them around again! 『mack. 20. est. she/her. 』

though he comes from the city of chicago, riley jacob smith is a country boy at heart. him and his ma lived in the south, georgia to be exact - until riley was about nine years old. that’s when his pops started coming home drunk every night, cheating on his mom, it was out of character and no one in the family had foreseen it. riley took it especially hard when his ma packed up their things and traveled to mapleview (his grandparents live here and own the mapleview cattle barn) where they now reside permanently. they had to practically restart their lives, build everything from the ground up again. riley was still fairly young so there wasn’t much he could to do to help but he pitched in any which way he could, which eventually led to his love of farming, he especially enjoys working with the animals and now is a full time worker for his grandfather and loves it. he’s a total mamas boy, he wouldn’t dare disrespect or hurt a hair on her head.

he’s never actually been in a relationship of his own, he’s had crushes certainly but he’s always been too busy taking care of everyone else, especially his mom to have the time to meet a nice girl and settle down. he’s set on that changing this year, he’s focusing more on himself and his happiness.

riley studies zoology through online schooling. he’s no longer the only child, his ma gave birth to his little sister kennedy louise smith four years ago and let’s be real, she’s probably his best friend. he doesn’t socialize much with the town but, has been slowly becoming more in tune with what’s going on in his peer group. to be clear, he has plenty of friends he’s known since the time he stepped foot in mapleview - it’s just, he’s been on the lowkey side of things for the past few years, not being in the crowd and staying to himself to keep out of trouble or worse. he is very much a ‘stuck in his ways’ kind of guy. he cannot stand change, and can come off as stubborn because of it. 

overall, he’s a very sweet country boy who is somewhat mysterious because he doesn’t put himself out there very much and can be a stubborn quiet introvert when he’s feeling overwhelmed. can get very possessive and protective over the people he loves, other than that, his temperament is very laid back.

[tahneef]

2 years 6 months

I moved to Queenstown, New Zealand in April 2018, as much as I would love to say all I had was a backpack and beautiful intentions, this is not true. I had a snowboard wrapped in bubble wrap, a big ass suitcase, a huge backpack filled with clothes folded by my beautiful mother and prepacked travel kit with everything I needed also packed by her. I was searching for purpose, change, lessons on the cultural differences between Aussie and NZ, and growth. What I found was a kiwi boyfriend, shitty housemates, freezing house conditions, a lot of MDMA, a kickass, inseparable girl crew, long nights out clubbing and the most amazing views I have ever seen and lived amongst my entire life. I shared a bed with this English girl who I didn’t know before moved in together. Turns out we didn’t get along well, but luckily I had other beautiful housemates I connected with in this house of 9 people. My best memories of this house were getting up every morning and walking onto my balcony and seeing Lake Queenstown and the mountains, getting covered with snow more and more each week. The cats that would just show up in the house and were so so fluffy and affectionate, my house mates Mackenzie, Kate, Dom, Gabby and Colligan, creating this beautiful little family. And everyone bagging out my accent and telling me how brave I was for moving away from home and my country at 19. 

My 2018 snow season turned into this blur of happiness and my memories blend into a crazy, free time. We would work 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, then numb the pain by clubbing until morning, then doing it all over again. Me and my girl crew would ride as much as we could. Challenging ourselves every day and occasionally riding park. 

At the end of the season everyone had plans to move to the North island or continue their travels elsewhere; I felt lost, with a new beautiful relationship (my first proper boyfriend) who wasn’t willing to move out of home to live with me, I didn’t know where to go or what to do. All I knew is I wasn’t ready to say bye to him or come home to Aussie; So I stayed for summer, which wasn’t very good, I was yet to find my passion for summer, if you love hiking, lakes and being outside constantly then Queenstown is perfect, but I always felt like I was suffocated by the mountains. Like they were closing in on me, my soul was longing for the ocean. Growing up on the coast this makes sense, but all I would do at home by the beach is swim and I could swim in the lakes; I was yet to realize the real energetic pull from the ocean; unable to surrender to the pull at this stage in my 19 year old self.

Months went by, friends moved away and all I had was my boyfriend and his lovely family. I was contemplating coming home but then he told me he was willing to move out of home to move in with me, and this is how I ended up living in a cupboard under the stairs in Fernhill… Long story short Finn didn’t want to move out of home. I have learned that I don’t want a relationship that isn’t full of passion, love and dying to be together, a connection so strong that life without each other seems impossible. Why be together if you don’t want to wake up next to this person every day? Why be together if you don’t feel an inseparable energetic pull that leaves you longing for each other?

This is when I ended our relationship. Going through a  breakup of my first and longest relationship without any of my family or friends was hard, but the timing was good; I had just started my new job in Rentals at Coronet peak, I was living in a cupboard with amazing housemates for cheap, it was the best accommodation I ever had in Queenstown. And then I met David… What a beautiful man, dreadlocks down to his belly, a cheque republic accent, beautiful brown skin and full of passion, I have never met anyone like him. Our connection was first just through eyes, I felt such a strong gravital pull towards him and my heart would race every time he was near me; I worked in rentals and he was a shaper on the mountain. It wasn’t long until we kissed on a night out the first time we saw each other out. We sat down and told each other how much we wanted each other already but the first thing he said was that this was only for the season. He is going to Austria after and we would be exclusive until then. It hurt my heart but I would be stupid to lose this opportunity of love even if it was temporary.

We were inseparable after this night, I was completely head over heels in lust, I felt like I was literally walking on clouds, on such a high, just being in his arms was the most peaceful feeling I had ever experienced. Lots of snowboarding, love making, drum and bass nights out and dreading the future where we would part, it was the best winter I have ever lived; On our last night together it was the hardest night of my life. I remember between all of the pain and tears, I said to him ‘Do I have to tell you how I really feel about you?’ but he knew. Every single day he knew the way I looked at him and he could feel it too, how he’s the first person I have ever been in love with, how ready I was to jump on the next plane and go to Austria to be by his side, to spend my life’s savings in Europe just to have another second with him. What a blessing to feel and have the ability to feel this purity, desire, love for someone else, this drive to keep living until every last drop of energy, love, sensation is given to them. At just 20 I had already felt the strongest love imaginable and it was all his. But the worst part was, he didn’t feel the same way. Next thing I knew I was letting go of him at the airport with a 20 hour flight ahead of him and a heart that I could literally feel breaking in my chest.

 Breathe… relax and release the pain, there is so much ahead of you; My whole world felt like it was over, but the next day I had to pack my whole life into my Subaru outback, and get on the road, leave all of Queenstown behind, with my shattered heart, 18 months behind me and I didn’t even know where I was going. I Drove right up north of the South Island, I camped on the beach with seals in Kaikoura. There are literally snow capped mountains that meet the ocean there. It is incredible and watching the sunsets in Kaikoura was slowly piecing my heart back together. I blasted Tash Sultana and practiced yoga, with tears falling down my cheeks and on to the mat I knew I was healing myself slowly every time I practiced.

I caught the ferry with my car and headed for Napier which is a small town on the east coast of the North Island; It was pissing down rain, which felt like a reflection of my pain, so of course I was balling my eyes out with it, my tire looked like it was going to pop and I pulled up to this free food market my Queenstown friend had told me about. There is an organization in Napier which all of the supermarkets donate their expired goods to instead of dumping them straight away. It is amazing. My expectation was hippy, nice backpackers appreciating the market and generosity. Instead half the people looked like serious junkies. I felt so out of place and scared that I was hiding my car keys…My heart raced the entire time, but I ended up with SO much food, they had so many loafs of bread, veggies, even bakery sweets! It was so amazing.

 I then drove to a campsite that was full. It was almost dark at this point and there was only one other place I could stay. It was a 30 minute drive to a holiday park. So I had no choice but to drive there. When I arrived, there was the reception, which was covered in spider webs and had smashed glass windows. It looked abandoned... My heart was racing then a sweet man came over and I gave him $10 cash for the night. There were families permanently living in caravans, and they all looked at me as in what the fuck is this young girl doing here. I felt so unsafe, I couldn't even go to the toilet, I was so petrified something would happen to me. I could not believe the comparison, coming from posh Queenstown to this town of poverty, I had NO idea this was a problem amongst New Zealand.

I sat on the beach watching the sun go down, and I just let it all come out. My heart literally felt shattered and I had no idea how I could pick up the pieces. How do I pretend like I'm okay? How am I going to meet other travellers with my heart closed? I called my mum and told her I have to come home, that I couldn't go on, that I was completely broken. And she said to me with so much kindness and support, ‘Love, I truly believe if you come home now you will regret it. You have to see what Raglan is like, just give it a chance’. She changed my whole life just with one sentence. I don't think I slept all night, the man was supposed to look at my exploding tire in the morning but as soon as it was light I got up and drove all the way to Raglan.

When I arrived I drove straight to the beach. My mood was okay but as soon as I got there, I broke, once again. There were lots of vans with cool people. Not one other person alone. Everyone was in families or groups and again I felt so lost. But I somehow pulled it together enough to drive myself to this $10 campsite. It had such an amazing view of raglan and this nice Maori lady called Kaz checked me in. She saw through me completely. She just knew I was lost, and completely reassured me in everyway that I am in the right place. She said I would find work easy and even offered a caravan for me to stay in. Then I spent the night with Mary. A 61 year old kiwi woman who is travelling on her own. We shared a beautiful vegan dinner. I opened up about David leaving and she said what are they good for anyway? She just went through a divorce and said it's the most free and happy she has ever been. 

The next morning I went into town! It was the first time I wore my cord flares and I felt like I fit in so well. I went into bohemian gypsy which is the most amazing shop and met this gorgeous girl called Becca. Then I met Tony the boss and he said he would call me for work. Becca and I went out for a drink after her shift and we bonded so much over passionate European men, heartbreaks and yoga. I love her. I checked into the hostel and met some nice people. Every time something positive happens I feel a little more healed. I am picking up the pieces. I can't wait to grow and heal into the best version of myself possible. 

But seriously, Raglan is fucking amazing. Hands down the best place in New Zealand... And I've been all over the country. At my favourite coffee shop called Indis, you have your coffee and pay later, plus everyone plays guitar and smokes weed at the cafe and the police don't even look twice. Plus the owner is an absolute legend. He tells Aucklanders to shove their plastic takeaway cups up their arse. He doesn't do any take away cups, just have the coffee here, bring a keep cup or forget about it.

I know knew that Raglan was the town for me. Being in a town that is so environmentally sustainable/ aware, accepting of all, hippy and beautiful, I felt like I was glowing. Next thing I knew I was offered a job as a Receptionist at Raglan Backpackers and I was working at Bohemian Gypsy, making my jewellery and making new friends every day. Living at the hostel was one of the best experiences of my life. I have checked in and shown around people from over 30 different countries in the world and had sleepovers with all of them! I cannot put into words how amazing my day to day life was there and I am so deeply grateful for these experiences and every single person that was by my side.  

I wasn't ready for surfing when I first arrived in Raglan. I would try but the ocean always made me feel more vulnerable, I would cry every time I got smashed in the whitewash, looking back on it, it was just a reflection of how I was feeling inside and I didn't have the strength at the time to fight back. Instead I picked up skating. As soon as I saw people going around the pump track I was hooked. I knew I had to be able to do it. Within 7 days I could do one lap and just got better and better everyday. I got to know a lot of the locals from being at the skatepark as well. They are so friendly and have some amazing bands. Muroki is a fucking rockstar and I’m so glad I got to tell him that in person. He's going to be huge one day. We ended up with a sick summer crew at the hostel. Plus I got to live in a stationary van so I had my own space and privacy which was so amazing. Enzo, Bea, Sacha, Chris, Mash, Jamie, Lottie, Merryn, and Aaron. 

People from all over the world to come together and create this amazing versatile family. Something I had never experienced before. It was the best summer of my life and I'll never forget it. Everyday I would heal more. At the end of February I decided to give surfing a proper shot on a longboard. And I paddled straight out the back, and was hooked just by sitting in the line up. That day changed my life. Now above anything else in the world, surfing was and is my healer. The lessons from the ocean are like no other. I now have my very own 9ft single fin which I'm in love with, I live for surfing. And it's how I want to spend my life. I want to get up at 5am and go surf, I want to stay out surfing until 9pm. It turned me completely off alcohol (along with some massive mistakes) and I am forever grateful for this love that I have found.

I was planning to come back to Australia then fly to Indo to travel with my best friend Daisy. And then all this Covid stuff went down. 

That's when I met Julius. My beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes French man. After having the most amazing summer of my life I had lots of time for myself, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t looking for anyone. I was so content and happy with my life every moment. 

So when he came, I was ready for him. I knew we were meant to be together as soon as I saw him. On his second night at the hostel, we had a party and we kissed for the first time. A few days later all of NZ went into full on Level 4 lockdown. I was so happy, all 45 of us backpackers, it felt like a more down to earth, hippy version of Love Island. 

We had everything at that hostel from cooking lessons, yoga classes, stick n poke tattooing, parties, weed brownie days and so much more I cannot even put it into words what went on. Having a sleepover every night with 45 backpackers from different countries was indescribable. Falling in love alongside with my two best friends (Mash and Maria) was indescribable. It really did feel like a reality TV show where we were all stuck in a house together, with no supervision and the only worries in our worlds was our beautiful new relationships, friendships and new connections.

Within a week Julius had completely moved into my van and I was so happy. It was so nice to have a man in there, he would always be fixing things so I wouldn’t hurt myself and tell me I have to keep ‘our home’ clean. His energy is always so positive and beautiful, he can put a smile on anyone’s face and is so proud to be with me. We were falling for each other more and more everyday and I feel like he was literally made for me. 

We went skinny dipping in the bioluminescent water and they had never shined so bright. It was the most beautiful moment. He told me he loved me for the first time and my heart was full of so much energy and love. I am so in love with this man and I will be forever.

We were inseperable. A couple of months later we moved together to a small town on the coromandel coast called Whangamata. We lived in a tiny home and got jobs at the same cafe. We would ride our bikes together every morning and work the exact same hours. Months went by and we continue to grow together. This is the right love. The love that is returned, nurtured, it is a choice every single day of our lives and it still is. It is only now I realize, I have never ever ever been in love like I am with him. Lust, sure. Obsessed, sure. But this is different. I have never in my life been truely loved back unconditionally. In this moment he is the love of my life and I am eternally grateful.

I cannot express it enough how grateful I am to have had these life changing experiences. Thankyou New Zealand, Thankyou to my 19 year old self, Thankyou for pushing yourself, Thankyou for moving to a country where you knew absolutely no one. Thankyou for changing my life, forever.

[moon-ruled-rising]

as the rain hides the stars | xii

Read the full story here...

xii: the mustang kids are out

The mustang kids are out,

rolling over hills and the roundabouts.

Black tar, tambourine,

playing for the girls in the back seat

-Zella Day, “Mustang Kids”

Of all the things Westeros had to offer, castles was at the top of that list. Most of the great families in the south abandoned their castles for stylish, sprawling palaces when Queen Jalaesa convinced King Daeron I to demolish the Red Keep. There were still a few that were inhabited, or turned into museums, but none were as impressive as the one she toured with the Queen of the North, Catelyn Stark neé Tully.

After Prince Jon and the King left them, Sansa and Catelyn offered their services to give Dany the official tour. The youngest Stark daughter, Arya, tagged along as well, though she kept a disinterested silence the whole time. 

An intricate pathway of halls connected everywhere so one wouldn’t have to go outside in the winter to get from one place to another, although it was so nice outside that they walked through the courtyard to enjoy the fresh air. There were arches and vaulted ceilings everywhere, the same kind Dany imagined the Red Keep would have if it were still standing. 

They’d shown her the kitchens and then the Godswood, making a point to stop by a red-leaved tree. A carved face with red eyes stared at them over a pool of dark water. A weirwood.

Dany had never seen one in real life. When the Andals came, all the way back in the 10th century, they brought their own religion, the Faith of the Seven. To them, the Weirwoods were symbols of the Old Gods, considered demons and forces of dark magic. It was no surprise they were chopped down throughout the Andal lands. But they never conquered the North.

“All promises and oaths are made before the heart tree here,” Catelyn stated.

Coronations and weddings, Dany knew. It wasn’t where she would have a ceremony but it wasn’t her decision to make.

Catelyn talked for a bit about the hot springs and the way they used the water to heat the castle in the winter. It was a system they’d never needed to fix, she claimed. The group continued on to the glass garden and passed by the crypts and the first keep, heading instead for a large building on the other side.

They stepped through a set of heavy, wooden doors and into what could only be the Great Hall. The ceiling was vaulted to support the heavy chandeliers but still low enough to keep the heat in. The stone walls accented by great arches, the shutters on the windows nestled inside were open to allow the air and light in.

“This is where all of our important feasts take place,” Catelyn explained, motioning toward the length of the hall.

Her eyes settled on the great hearth. The stonework was simple but impressive. Daenerys found the whole castle to be that way. It was so old and yet it continued to withstand harsh winters and winds and rains. She reached a hand out to feel the smooth stone surrounding a window.

“Feasts?” Dany didn’t know people still had those.

“Etiquette, as you know it, is seen as stuffy and Southern. We prefer to be loud and drink until we can’t stand. And the best part is no one cares,” Sansa laughed.

“Quiet evenings with whispers and low music and fine wines are not for North men,” Catelyn agreed.

“But, your majesty,” she addressed the queen, “You’re a Tully. Tully’s are Southern.”

As far as Dany knew, part of the air-tight treaty that required her marriage was that important families were not supposed to intermarry.

“When I met Ned I was studying in Barrowton, same as him. He was second in line for the throne and I was the first child of Hoster Tully, but I was more than happy to give up my Tully name to be his bride. We were already married when his father and brother died in a boating accident so there wasn’t much the Great Lords could do besides let us continue.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,”

“It’s not where we thought our lives would take us but it’s where we ended up. You must be exhausted, let’s find your room.”

Daenerys’ room was across the courtyard, near the old armory turned housing for the permanent court guests. Although it was certainly smaller than her apartments in both Braavos and King’s Landing, it was the closest to living in a fairytale as she would ever come.

The early evening light fell across the room from the arched window on the far side, highlighting the polished paneled walls. A four postered bed with a cream colored duvet took up a good portion of the room and hid most of the rug on the floor. Dany figured it to be a century old. Her luggage rested around the upholstered chairs near the fireplace, the mantle expertly hidden by the same wood paneling with an intricate design etched into it. There was even a dressing screen in the corner, the silk panels painted with faded pastoral scenes.

“It’s a beautiful room,” Dany complimented.

“I’ll leave the girls with you to help you settle. Arya, don’t cause trouble.”

Dany glanced at the youngest Stark, who rolled her eyes. The Queen departed and Dany sat on the edge of the bed.

“I feel like I’ve been living out of my suitcase since I left Braavos,” she remarked.

It struck her how far away that four days felt. So much had happened. Dany felt like a shark, like if she didn’t stay busy she would drown in her emotions.

“What were you doing in Braavos?” Arya asked, breaking her silence.

“School. I lived there for six years until, well…”

“Is it true that there are men who still wear swords and fight in the streets?”

“A Braavo?” Dany stood to begin unpacking. “I’ve never met one, but I’m not usually on the docks that late at night anyway. I have seen street performers do it for tourists though.”

She got through her first set of dress clothes, Sansa being gracious enough to hang them up in the armoire in the corner.

“Are you really going to marry my brother?”

That’s the million dollar question isn't it? Dany asked herself.

“It looks like it.”

“But you don’t love him.”

“I hardly know him,” Dany sighed, “Though, I haven’t been trying very hard to fix that.”

“So why are you agreeing to this?”

“Arya,” Sansa warned, “Sorry, she’s really overprotective of Jon.”

“I’m not over protective. He’s like my best friend, and friends look out for each other.”

The last thing Dany wanted was an interrogation but it appeared Arya intended on bringing the heat.

“It’s fine. Your country needs help, my brother thinks I’m the best way to do that. And the Crown comes before your personal life, always.”

“He told me you’re a raging bitch.”

Dany’s hand tightened around the folded shirts she was holding. She did feel regretful about her and Jon’s first meeting. There were so many raw emotions bubbling inside her and without the proper time to process them, she reacted poorly.

“That tends to be the impression I make,” she responded, setting the shirts into a drawer.

“If I’m being honest, it’s so much easier for people to assume you’re going to be mean and cold to them than to deal with panderers and pretenders. And it hurts less when you’re criticized because you know that it’s not really you.” 

Arya was young, sixteen. It was an age of life changing events. Dany was the same age when Viserys died and she lost her father soon after.

“You went to university for six years and now you’re going to get married to a man you don’t know?”

“When I decided to go to college, I knew that I would never have a normal people job. I could have renounced my titles and name but without ‘Targaryen’ behind Daenerys, I would have nothing. My brother would have me blacklisted I’m sure.”

“That sounds like a harsh punishment for doing what you want,” Sansa pointed out.

“Rhaegar and I have a complicated relationship. And our family values and reputation don’t make it easier. Besides, being a Targaryen is all I know, I couldn’t be something else if I tried.”

“Well, you’ll just have to learn how to be a Stark,” Sansa confirmed as she placed a pair of shoes at the bottom of the armoire.

“I think it’ll be rather hard for a dragon to pretend to be a wolf,” Dany scoffed. 

“Not if the dragon has the right wolves to teach her,” Arya offered, a smirk on her face.

Dany gave her a soft smile in acceptance of her offer. They talked of other things, Dany taking the chance to get to know the other Stark sister better. She learned that Arya loved archery and knife throwing (and was well accomplished in both fields). She wanted to be a painter and computer programmer, actress and sailor, the list went on. And she and Bran had the best pranks in the whole family. It was then that Dany decided she would need to stay on Arya’s good side.

Arya and Sansa invited her to see their rooms, located near the Great Keep. Dany agreed and finally changed out of her dress clothes. She was glad she did as the air in the courtyard was colder now.

“The sun’s going down,” Arya noted after a while.

“Then we’d better get going if we want to be there by sunset,” Sansa stated

“Bran said that everyone else is heading to the garage.”

“Tell him we’re on our way.”

“On your way where?” Dany couldn’t help herself, she was intrigued.

Sansa looked at her younger sister, who looked hesitant. It was obvious they were going somewhere but Dany hadn’t seen anything besides nature and the deserted Wintertown.

“Sansa, no.”

“She’s going to live here, she might as well know what we do for fun,” Sansa egged.

Arya glanced at her phone again, which buzzed with a notification.

“Jon’s going to be pissed.”

“Jon has been in a mood since he was born.”

More buzzing from the young princess’ phone.

“Alright, fine, but only because I don’t want to keep anyone waiting.”

She followed the princesses to another building on the west side of the castle with several large garage doors, all of them open. Dany couldn’t hide her surprise to see several luxury cars lined up like toys inside of a cubby. They were older models, she noticed, but not so old that they looked outdated.

“What did you expect? Horses?” Arya demanded in a joking manner, crossing her arms over her chest.

“How backward do you think we are?” Sansa joined.

Dany opened her mouth to respond when a voice from inside the garage stopped her.

“What the hell is she doing here?”

Dany’s stomach sank as an unusual anxiousness came over her. Prince Jon was leaned against a sleek, all black Volantene sports car, a cigarette hanging from his lips. It was the most casual and relaxed she’d ever seen him look. Sweatpants, athletic sneakers, and a fitted tee. His dark curls pulled back into a bun at the nape of his neck.

“Don’t look at me. It was Sansa’s idea,” Arya threw her hands up in surrender.

“What were we supposed to do, leave her in her room all night? She’s a guest.”

Jon looked at Dany, she knew he saw how lost and out of place she looked. And she hated it. 

“I don’t care, as long as she’s not in my car,” he decided.

“When did you start smoking again?” Sansa inquired as she walked past.

“In light of recent events, I’ve decided to pick up the habit.”

Without much more protest, they arranged themselves in the small fleet of cars. Dany rode with Sansa in her little red Myrish convertible, the top already down. Sansa stated that it was meant for racing but she loved it so much, she didn’t care. Talisa joined them, citing that she preferred Sansa’s driving over Robb’s.

They set out towards their destination on an old dirt road that hadn’t been maintained in years with Sansa definitely driving over the speed limit. Dany let the cool night air wash over her. She’d been in convertibles before, of course, but never going this fast. Her hair whipped around her and she could hardly see with the draft bombarding her eyes. It was unglamorous but Dany felt free. Like her troubles weren’t so close behind.

As she wrangled her hair back into the spare elastic she brought she posed a question to Sansa, “Where are we headed exactly?”

“It’s a surprise but I promise, you’re going to love it.”

She cast a glance at Talisa in the backseat, who only flashed her a sweet smile. The song from Sansa’s curated driving playlist switched and the woman’s eyes lit up, her sweet smile taking on a manic twist.

“Oo, this is my favorite song. Sansa, turn it up!”

Sansa reached down for the volume thobe and turned the already loud music higher. The thumping bass line and breathy vocals surrounding them like the background track in a movie. Talisa unbuckled her seat belt and stood up, the increased wind around her tearing at her hair and clothes as she screamed the lyrics into it. 

“Dany, come dance with me,” Talisa called down.

She winced at the over-familiarity, then had to remind herself that Talisa wasn’t from royal blood. She was only trying to be nice. Dany wasn’t sure that moving around in a speeding car was a good idea, but then again, she rarely listened to reason.

She unbuckled herself and twisted around in her seat, accepting Talisa’s outstretched hand. As she did, she noted an anchor tattoo with a broken chain peeking out from under her stack of bracelets. Dany wished she could have such a visible tattoo.

She convinced herself that she would get one on her eighteenth birthday. She made an appointment with a high end tattoo artist in the New City, formulated an excuse for being out when she got it done, and even tried on every swimsuit she owned to find the right spot for the design to go. The valyrian word for dragon fire, dracarys, was inked into her hip and so far, she’d never been caught.

Dany shouted an apology to Sansa as she climbed between the front seats to stand at the back with Talisa. Her feet felt unstable on the cushioned seats but the young woman beside her kept her steady as they swayed like complete idiots against the forceful wind. 

“I’ve been hearing all these things about you, creeping into all the things that I do. I’ve been hearing all these things about you, about you, about you!” Talisa sang before turning to blow a kiss to Robb in the car behind them. 

Dany wished she could see through the dark tinted windshield. To see both the Princes’ reactions to their recklessness. 

The destination in question was a flat tract of land not too far away from Winterfell. The green grass rose up around the road as it wound around a group of trees and disappeared into the distance.

Dany was still hung up on the luxury cars. She hadn’t expected the Starks to be holy as septons but even the Targaryen’s didn’t have such nice vehicles. Dany wasn’t even allowed to drive the town cars around King’s Landing and yet these well-behaved Royals were racing around the countryside.

Talisa set out a large blanket for the spectators. Dany settled next to her while Arya and Bran flipped a coin to decide who was going first.

“What do you think of the North so far?” Talisa asked.

“It’s surprised me, that’s for sure.” Dany chuckled as she combed her fingers through her wind tangled hair. “How long have you lived here?”

“I moved here from Volantis to study at Barrowton.”

“I’ve been to Volantis, it’s a beautiful city.”

“Beautiful to visit, terrible to live in,” Talisa commented.

“I know what you mean.”

“Is King’s Landing that bad?”

“Of course. If I wanted to smell garbage and horse shit every day, I would like in the palace stables,” Dany laughed as she tied off her braid.

“Bran’s going first against Robb,” Theon announced. 

Talisa rolled her eyes, “Poor Bran, Robb never loses.”

“Never?” Dany asked in disbelief.

“Never,” Theon answered, “It’s kind of annoying.”

“You’re just jealous because he always picks Jon as his co-pilot,” teased Talisa before turning her attention on Dany, “Sansa tells me you're engaged to our sweet prince.”

“I haven’t said yes yet.”

“Will you?”

“I’m not sure. I have to make the decision by the end of the month, and I broke up with my previous… whatever we were to be here. Something is keeping me from saying yes,” Dany admitted.

“Well, Jon acts like a lone wolf but he’s a huge softy.”

“Really?” Dany asked in disbelief.

“Oh, yeah. I blame Cat for his being so sullen all the time,” Talisa lowered her voice.

“The Queen? But she acted so nice when she showed me around Winterfell today.”

“She’s been awful to Jon since I can remember. I heard she calls him ‘the constant reminder of my husband’s infidelity’. Imagine living with that woman taking her anger out on you for no reason. And I’ve seen her mad, it’s not fun.”

Dany looked over to where the two cars were waiting, Jon leaning through the window to talk to Bran. He ruffled his brother’s hair, a beaming smile on his face, before climbing back into Robb’s car.

 “I had no idea,” she whispered. 

She recalled the night they first met, when he said that he understood what it felt like to be whispered about and called names he didn’t deserve.

“How could you? It’s not something he willingly talks about,” Theon …

“I figured but still, it’s no way to live.”

The sound of revving engines drew their attention back to the dirt road. Sansa stood between the two cars with all the grace and dignity of a military commander. Instead of a sword, she held a small version of the Stark banners that hung on the walls of Winterfell.

As she dropped her arms, the banner fluttered with them. And they were off. As they disappeared from view in a cloud of dust. Talisa assured her that they would be back soon and that the races never took long. 

And she was right. They were back before Dany knew it and, as predicted, Robb won. Arya and Bran argued about something as they approached. 

“How about we let our guest have a turn?” Robb said with enough challenge in his voice that Dany considered his offer before anything else was said.

“You can go against Theon, that’s an easy win.”

Theon rolled his eyes, “Like hell. Just race with Robb and get it over with.”

“I’ll be your co-pilot,” Arya offered, “But only because I want to beat Robb.”

“I don’t know. I’m not a good driver,” Dany deflected, shaking her head lightly. Better to avoid an embarrassing scene.

“And you think any of us are?” Arya asked, her siblings joining in her laughter.

“The best way to learn to be a wolf, is to run with them,” Sansa whispered in her ear.

All eyes were on Dany as though this were her final judgement. 

“Alright,” she looked Robb dead in the eyes, “You’re on.”

She used Sansa’s car, although she was still apprehensive about the fact that there was no top. Arya settled into the passenger seat and was utterly engrossed in something on her phone. 

Dany had to admit she was nervous. In all her years, she’d never driven a car at such high speeds. I am the blood of the dragon, she reminded herself, Dragon’s fear nothing. She took a deep breath and tightened her hands on the wheel.

Sansa returned to her place in front of them, the same Stark banner in her hands. Dany kept her eyes fixed on the fabric, revving the engine hoping to give herself more confidence. 

As soon as Sansa dropped her arms, Dany’s foot turned to lead. The little car managed to stay neck and neck with the far superior sports model.

“Hey co-pilot, do you have a strategy?” she called over the noise of the wind and engines.

“I have a secret weapon but winning requires you to get in front of them first,” Arya shouted back, looking to the right where her brothers were keeping steady.

Dany cursed under her breath before pressing her foot down. They only gained an inch on the other.

“On second thought, fall back!” Arya announced.

She bit back the protest and took her foot off the gas. As Robb sped past, Arya commanded that Dany hang a right.

“What, why?”

“Because I said so! Now do it!”

Dany was ashamed of the scream she let out as the car wheeled around the sharp bend but it dissolved into a fit of laughter as she reinforced her foot’s weight on the gas pedal. It gained her a strange look from the Stark girl next to her but they were soon laughing together.

“You’re absolutely crazy,” Dany shouted.

“I know!” 

They lost their race but as Robb celebrated his latest victory, Dany found that she had yet another Stark ally. Maybe she wasn’t as alone in the Northern court as she thought.

[thejosh1980]

Update #21 – 1 week at “The Ocean Shores Resort”

Update #21 – 1 week at “The Ocean Shores Resort”

A week ago we left quarantine in Adelaide!!!

It's been another week of mixed emotions, but I have to say, for the first time in months, they've been mostly on the positive side of things.

Last Tuesday, we left the hotel without too much hassle. They'd given us a basic breakfast the night before to have first thing and they called us down early; luckily we were ready and down the stairs we went. Before you know it, we were in the hotel reception taking our masks off!

Adelaide and South Australia are COVID free, so no masks, no problems.

The checkout was quick (the big bill comes in a few weeks!!), the staff were awesome and the police informative. They all understand that quarantine is not easy on anyone, and they were patient with our questions and worries. We had won the jackpot of quarantine hotels: Pullman Adelaide and the staff helped make our stay tolerable.

Jumped in a taxi (with masks on cause we really weren't sure yet how to behave in the outside world) and off to the airport. We had to leave the hotel by 07:30, because another bus of incoming “Covicts” were coming in that morning. Our flight was at 11:50 up to Brisbane, so it was yet another waiting game to check in and fly. But first... coffee! (we actually bought a coffee from a coffee shop! Amazing!! It's the small things...).

The flight was about about 2/3's full, no masks.

Landing in Brisbane we had to do a border check, show our papers, explain where we had been and all that. The check was there to stop anyone who may have COVID from coming in without quarantining. Each State has slightly different rules, and they do change from time to time, depending on hotspots and COVID numbers. Because the flight was from Adelaide and we left the hotel directly to the airport, we made sure we had no problems entering Brisbane (Queensland). We definitely didn't want any chance of another 14 day hotel stay!!!

Our original plan was to fly into the Gold Coast airport, which is only about 35 minutes from Mum, but there were no flights on our leaving day, so we had to fly into Brisbane (which is 2 hours from Mum's). My cousin picked us up (bloody legend!). We were hungry, and we went directly to Yatala pies. This was the moment I started to realize we were almost home. The taste of home! (Yatala Pies is a well known bakery south of Brisbane, a regular stop for many).

My cousin could drive us as far as the QLD/NSW border. Once there, we walked across the border and Dave picked us up on the other side. A little complicated, but sure enough, the plan worked.

The whole experience felt like something out of the movies. Not that it was all “Hollywood”. It was more like: I can't believe this is finally happening. I wasn't really in the moment. Yet.

As we were getting close to “The Ocean Shores Resort” (which is the name we have for my Mum's house) I still didn't feel calm...

Anyhow, we arrived, and if you've seen our IG or FB Story on the day, you'd know that when I knocked on the front door, we had actually surprised Mum (a little early), and she couldn't find the front door key to let us in!! So our reunion started off with a scream and eventually a laugh!!

Mum did cry, but we all expected her to cry more... ;) Honestly, I think we both had cried too much the past 2 months, it was no longer needed. It was all about joy and happiness.

After meeting and hugging Alex (some more tears) we entered the house to find Mum had a “welcome home” sign and our picture up on the walls (lots of me and Alex, can't go wrong with that!!).

It was surreal.

A quick house tour for Alex and we settled down. Lots of chatting and catching up to do, and a roast dinner!

We'd made it.

The next morning (Wednesday), a son's work is never done and I was up early to take Mum to school. She's part of the support unit inside the primary school, working with kids with Autism.

Even though her eyesight is deteriorating, Mum can still work. Driving a car; that's out of the question. Reading the “use by date” on a packet of chips is almost impossible. Keeping an eye on children in the playground, developing their social skills or helping them with their school work (considering the text is usually quite large and the pictures bold) Mum can still do really well.

I've learnt she has figured out ways to cope with her eyes. She has a great memory, so once she's told something, she can remember it really well (like recipes for cooking etc). She's still a keen bargain hunter when it comes to shopping. I enjoy learning that she's kept her life as close to “normal” as possible, making small changes to the bigger things to keep her independence.

But it's those small things that are hard to do alone, which is why I'm here...

After dropping Mum off, Alex and I spent the morning of our first full day in Brunswick Heads. This is the town I lived in from the mid 80's until late 90's. I went to primary school here, learned to surf here, and know the old names of the shops (the hair dressers is now a surf shop, the butcher's is a cafe, the ice cream shop is a real estate agent and the bank has recently closed). Lots of changes for me, lots of new things for Alex.

We also went down to the beach, the south wall of the Brunswick River, where the river meets the ocean. We watched some waves. Taking in the salt air (I don't think I ever realized how salty the air is here until now).

It was a relaxing day.

But I still wasn't quite “here” in my head and heart. Leaving Dresden back in July, only to be delayed for 7 weeks, then another 2 weeks in quarantine, was going to take sometime to overcome.

Time to pick up Mum from school... Home... Unpack a little, dinner, chatting and a little TV.

Thursday morning, it was time for another radio interview. To finish off the 3 part story with ABC North Coast Radio I did another live interview with Joanne Shoebridge. I'm always nervous doing these kinds of things, even though in the music world, I've had to do interviews, they were never quite as personal as this.

After we dropped Mum off at school Thursday morning, we drove up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse and luckily got a park up close to the top.

I wanted to introduce Alex to the area as much as I could, without overwhelming her. Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby and Byron Bay all played a big part of my childhood, and I wanted her to at least know these villages a little bit as early as possible. We'd covered Brunswick Heads and Ocean Shores a little, so now it was time for Byron Bay.

Bring on the whale watching!!

Within minutes of leaving the car, we could see whales jumping out and swimming around the cape. It was a wonderful morning. I'm so glad Alex got to see them (in fact I can't remember the last time I saw whales so close to the shore). They migrate each year around September/October, so it was perfect timing.

It was a special day for Alex...

The sun was shining, the whales were in plain sight and the tourists were kind enough to stay away from Byron Bay. COVID does have its benefits. Fewer people in these tourist spots isn't always bad (although I am quite aware the economy is suffering. The borders are opening up next week and it'll be very busy then).

Back into Ocean Shores, picked up Mum from school. Home... Dinner.. Chatting... Some TV...

Friday was the first day we had to do “stuff” in regards to living here permanently, and that was banking. So after dropping mum off at work, we drove into Mullumbimby “The Biggest Little Town In Australia”. I went to high school here.

Basically Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby are like Neustadt in Dresden. You can't walk down the street without seeing someone you know, stopping and chatting. It happened in Brunz the other day, I literally parked my car, and lo and behold an old high school friend came out of the video store to say hi... Or in Mullum, as we arrive at the bank I see an old friend who used to teach me rock n roll dancing (yeah, I can still cut a rug)... and even inside the bank, I said hi to a fella from my high school year, we hadn't seen each other since 1997.

It's a small world...

The banking took a bit longer than expected, after much back and forward we settled on our new bank accounts and how to arrange things going forward. While I've had an account here since I was very very young, I cancelled most of my stuff when I left in 2002, so now it was time to set up shop again, especially since I had my wife with me and we have a future to work towards...

We walked the street of Mullum, grabbed a coffee and we let the country hippy vibe soak in. Alex commented on how many folks don't wear shoes here and she can't believe how many new coffee shops there are for her to try (there's a lot more than when I was a kid).

Picked up Mum from school... School holidays for 2 weeks! Yippeee!!

Home... Dinner... Chatting... some TV...

Over the weekend we sorted out things around the house. Set up better internet Wifi around the house, the pool is in good condition after the winter sleep, cupboards got cleaned out and we unpacked and the car was washed (first time I've hand washed a car in over a decade!).

Sunday I watched Mark's live stream (from his front porch in upstate New York) and I felt inspired (he does that to me). So I am considering live streaming next week. I have a guitar and good internet, so why not? I just have to find time to practice ;) I'm thinking net Sunday evening here, which would be Sunday lunch time in Germany. If I don't get to it this Sunday, then maybe next Sunday... I'll keep you posted.

Overall the weather has been warm, often over 20 degrees. But the mornings are still quite chilly, with frosty dew on the golf course out back. It's not bad for coming out of winter...

Today, Monday, we went “up the coast”, to Tweed Heads.

First thing we tried to exchange my German license for a mandatory NSW (State) license, unfortunately I gotta wait for some back checks, no idea what I did 19 years ago in Melbourne, but they wanna check it out. So onwards to shopping...

Yes!!! We bought a coffee machine! Finally we can wake and with a press of a button get ourselves a cup of joe. It's the small things....

Helped mum with the grocery shopping. She knows her stuff. She knows where everything is in every shop, but sometimes she just needs me to reassure her what is actually written on the box or package!!!

So that's basically our first week...

We are settling in well. Alex and Mum get on like a house on fire. I often can't get a word in edgewise and I'm always outvoted!

I still miss Germany and I still miss Europe... (I always will). I miss a lot of the “past life”, but that's just cause Australia has moved on without me these past 18 years. Each day here I get a little closer to that homey feeling I used to have as a teenager (when I didn't know better).

In hindsight, the past 3 months wasn't too bad... We survived... But that's easy to say now...

When we were in the middle of it, it was really tough.

It was really hard packing up our lives into boxes. It was emotionally draining saying goodbye after goodbye to our wonderful friends. Playing my goodbye show was one of the musical highlights of my life, even if it was one of the saddest.

Then we were ready to leave...

As you all know, that didn't go according to plan.

That's when the really bad feelings crept in. You know it's one thing to know you gotta pack up and say goodbye to leave (you are prepared for that)... It's another when you're ready and the world says “nope, not yet”... and again and again that build up and let down was happening, and until the last 2 weeks in Germany, we had no idea why!

As some of you know, I'm not really good at spontaneity. I'm not good when the plan changes... It was tough... But...

When we took control of the situation and booked new flights, it helped a lot. We were back in control.

Quarantine was a difficult time, it got a little dark there. It brought with it, it's own set of challenges and a steep learning curve. I, for one, learnt a lot about pressure. I put too much pressure on myself. Since we arrived here, I have tried my best to relax more, in my own way at least. My to do lists are shorter...

Alex and I had already figured out how to survive the German lockdown, the packing up of our lives and clearing out the apartment. Then we had 2 months at her parents stuck in “limbo” and then 2 weeks stuck in a room together. Our marriage is really new, and we survived that without any damage to our relationship. Sure, we both have a few personal scars, but nothing a little love and tenderness wont fix. I'm proud of her, Alex has a lot of patience for me!

I'm really happy I am here to help Mum each day. Those small things will slowly become bigger things, but for now, it's great to be able to do “stuff” with her. That was always the plan, to be here in time, before things got really bad.

We've been posting often on our IG and FB stories, so I hope folks have seen the day to day happenings. I'm sure we'll continue with that, keeping you up to date visually.

I think I'll end these FB journals here, and switch over to Tumblr full time. The idea being that if you'd like to continue to read these long “new life” chronicles, I'll still post a link here when I do update there... Confused? Me too! ;)

Thanks everyone for your messages of support and love. We are very lucky, we have the best friends.... You guys rock! You're awesome! We love you.

Love

Josh and @dauntlesscoffee

[nakurumok]

Stand with Hong Kong

(I realized that there are posts related to Hong Kong in Tumblr (thank you so much for caring!!!). So I, as a local Hongkonger, decide to write up this Q&A to give you a clearer picture, and hopefully some useful advice if you are traveling to Hong Kong recently. It is a bit long and probably full of grammatical mistakes, but I really wish you could take some time to read it and get to know more about this fight for freedom going on in this city in this summer.)

Q: I heard that the Extradition Bill is withdrawn, does it mean everything is over?

A: No. First of all, the Chief Executive Ms Carrie Lam announced the government will withdraw the Bill after the resume of Legislative Council in October. So the Bill is currently still officially on the agenda to be Second Reading. 

In addition, after three months of social unrest, the situation has developed to a stage that it is no longer only about the Bill. Police brutality, distrust of the HKSAR government, the erosion of freedom and autonomy of Hong Kong, all of these are the underlying causes of this social movement.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration promised the capitalist system and its way of life in Hong Kong would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years until 2047. However, there are signs of erosion of this promise in recently years including but not limited to the cases of disqualifying the elected Legislative Council members and denying the eligibility of individuals in participation of elections (Read more here). And Ms Carrie Lam even claimed, as the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, that she doesn’t have a choice to resign even if she wants to (the soundtrack is here).

Not only the HKSAR Government refused to withdraw the Bill even after millions of people demonstrated on street voicing their clear opposition to the Bill, but the escalation of police violence towards the protesters and even citizens, without being hold accountable or even put under an independent investigation, and the spreading of white terror in business sector also fuel Hongkongers’ fear on the loss of the core values of Hong Kong.

The Pandora Box is opened, the withdrawal of the Bill now is already too little and too late.

(2 millions of Hongkongers, which is around 1/4 of the city’s population, went out on street to voice their opposition to the Extradition Bill on 16 Jun 2019. Unfortunately the HKSAR Government still refused to withdraw the Bill until September. Photo credit: South China Morning Post) 

Q: What are the Five Demands? Why you Hongkongers insist “not one less”?

A: The Five Demands are:

Withdrawal of the Extradition Bill

Independent probe into the use of force by police

Amnesty for arrested protesters

A halt to categorizing the protests as riots

The implementation of universal suffrage

After three months of non-stop protests, 9 people committed suicide; over 1,100 people are arrested, a number of them are charged with rioting and facing up to 10 years of imprisonment; countless of Hongkongers were injured, because of the excessive forces used by the police as well as the mob attacks (which the one happened in Yuen Long was suspected to be police in cahoots with the gangsters since the police turned their back to the attack and only a few people were arrested despite of the fact that most of them are unmasked and can be identified) ; several people are facing permanent injuries; police fires teargas and rubber bullets whenever and wherever they want and beat up innocent citizens; white terror is spreading in companies and employees were fired for voicing their opposition and criticism to the government and police (yeah I would recommend you not to take Cathay Pacific Airline anymore since they literally put the political agenda above everything).

How can we accept the withdrawal of the Bill be enough.

And it is in these three month’s of nightmare that Hongkongers realize Hong Kong is no longer the city we once know, that if we cannot make a change in the political and social systems to ensure that the government is truly responsible to its people, things like this will happen again and again. And one day it will truly be the end of Hong Kong.

  Q: I read that you keep mentioning the police brutality, why? What have they done?

A: I am afraid that I have a long list for you to choose from. But in short, the force using by the police for “crowd control” (I quote it because they have fired teargas and rubber bullets to protesters without leaving a route for them to leave, more than once) have been escalating in these three months.

Protesters are beaten up even they are already been arrested and under control; Evidence are planted (in this video, a sharpened bamboo stick was put into the arrested protester backpack by the police. The video is in Cantonese but you can see clearly that the bamboo stick was NOT in the backpack before; the police commented the action as “not done perfectly but acceptable” in the later press conference) and female were harassed. 

Protesters and citizens were called “cockroaches” by the police. What is worse is that the police starts beating innocent passengers and passerby indiscriminately. A teenager passerby was beaten in Tai Po Market just days ago. (video here) He was then arrested and found head injury, left shoulder and finger broken.

And while claiming complains can be filed to the Complaints and Internal Investigations Branch of the Police Force, police officers refuse to show their Police Warrant Card nor disclose their identity number (which is required by the Police General Orders), which makes complains on individuals impossible. 

(Protesters occupied Hong Kong’s international airport on 12 August to protest on the police brutality after a female first-aid worker was shot by a beanbag round by the police and nearly lost her eye. The airport was shutdown later on that day. Photo credit:The New York Times)

Q: Sooooooo, do you mean the Hongkongers are fighting for independence?

A: No. Not at all. We are fighting for human rights, freedom and democracy, and the institution that ensures people who are responsible for diminishing these values would be stopped and hold accountable. Independence is never on the table.

  Q: I am planning/going to Hong Kong, is it still safe?

A: Largely yes. Hongkongers still go to school and work and it is largely peaceful most of the time. But please remember to pay attention to the advice, messages and updates from your government, and be prepared that more time maybe needed to travel from and to the airport if there is a protest is scheduled near or at the Hong Kong International Airport. (Well yeah the Airport Express had stopped servicing in half of its stations and the police stopped and checked almost each and every bus to the airport to check for protesters in the last weekend. Please don’t be surprise if they do it again.) 

As a local, I strongly advise you to avoid going near the protest areas, police stations, metro stations (the hottest zone in these days is the Prince Edward station because police stormed the station on 31 Aug and it was closed for two days, which is extremely rare in Hong Kong. There is rumors that some citizens were beaten to death) at night and during weekends, and avoid dressing in all black. These are areas that situation can go bad real quick and police would not hesitate to fire teargas, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds. There already been many cases of injury and one of the first-aid volunteer workers was even nearly shot to blindness by the police.

Be warned that metro stations can be closed in very short notice and police would charge into the stations and trains if they deem necessary. And sadly, yes, it is proven on 11 Aug in Kwai Fong Station 31 Aug in Prince Edward Station that they would fire teargas into the metro stations (Newsclip here) and attack citizens indiscriminately. (There is video here recorded on that night, police are beating and pepper-spraying people inside the train which still have citizens traveling on board.) So leave the station IMMEDIATELY when the announcement of the close of station is made.

But it is still safe in a large extent to come to Hong Kong, and Hongkongers always welcome travelers from around the world. Just please keep an eye on the news and updates and always be cautious. (And if you would like to read/watch local news in English, RTHK would be a good choice.)

Be careful and stay safe.

  Q: Okay, I understand the situation better now. But why should I care?

A: Hong Kong is long an international city and one of the most important financial centers in the world (you may heard of the “Nylonkong”, placing Hong Kong alongside with New York and London as three of the important financial centers in the world). Hong Kong promise investors of free trade, financial exchanges as well as rule of law for years.

And more importantly, Hong Kong has long been a gateway between China and the Western countries, and also a showcase of freedom, rule of law and human rights. If even Hong Kong, an international city that receive so much international attention and interests, thus pressure to its government to uphold these values, unable to safeguard them, then who can?

  Q: What then? What is happening now?

A: Protests are scheduled on weekends and even weekdays night in different districts. The Hongkongers are still fighting all the way we can. We will not back down.

(Hundreds gathering at the City Plaza in Tai Koo to sing for Hong Kong on 8 Sep. Photo credit: RTHK)

(Middle and high school students from different schools joining the Hong Kong Way to urge the HKSAR Government to meet the Five Demands. Photo credit: Stand News)

(The Hong Kong Way, inspired by the Baltic Way demonstration in 1989, on the Lion Rock on 23 Aug. The Spirit of Lion Rock has always been seen as the term to describe the core values: hard-working, not afraid of difficulties and determination. Photo Credit: please see the photo)

Q: But I am not a Hongkonger nor live in Hong Kong, how can I help?

A: Thank you for caring for us!!! Please, please give us your attention, and let your society and government know that you care. International attention is one of the main reasons that the Chinese army is not (yet) deployed and the city is not (yet) in bloodshed or its people being locked up in concentration camps.

If you are a US citizen, please support the passing of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which will be discussed in US soon. The Act would require the Secretary of State to review annually on the level of autonomy of Hong Kong and determine if the special treatment afforded to Hong Kong by the U.S. Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 is still justified. Individuals who are responsible of the diminishing the human rights and freedom can be punished by denying access to US or freezing of asserts in US. This would put huge pressure on the HKSAR Governments by sending a clear message that the international is watching and they would face consequences if they do wrong.

(A march was organized on 8 Sep to the US consulate to urge Washington to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Photo credit: Ming Pao)

.

Thank you for taking time to read to this point. (Wow it is longer than I expected sorry)

It takes me a while to write up this post. It is difficult to summarize such a big social movement in just a few Q&A and I know my English sucks, but as a Hongkonger, telling everyone out there who are willing to listen about what is happening in this city is the least I can do. I apologize for any mistakes but I can assure you that all of the information can be sourced in media reports.

If you have any questions about Hong Kong or about the situation, or even have come across with something on the internet that needs Chinese/English or Cantonese/English translation, please feel free to drop me an ask or private message. I apologize if I cannot check my inbox everyday, but I shall try my best to answer all of them as quickly as I can.

 .

光復香港，時代革命。五大訴求，缺一不可。 (Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times. Five Demands, Not One Less.)

香港人加油。

.

[chrismalcolmhnd1d]

Decade

Project: Decade. #Decade

In the mid-1820s, Nicéphore Niépce first managed to fix an image that was captured with a camera, but at least eight hours or even several days of exposure in the camera were required and the earliest results were very crude. 

The First Cameras

“The basic concept of photography has been around since about the 5th century B.C.E. It wasn't until an Iraqi scientist developed something called the camera obscura in the 11th century that the art was born.

Even then, the camera did not actually record images, it simply projected them onto another surface. The images were also upside down, though they could be traced to create accurate drawings of real objects such as buildings.

The first camera obscura used a pinhole in a tent to project an image from outside the tent into the darkened area. It was not until the 17th century that the camera obscura became small enough to be portable. Basic lenses to focus the light were also introduced around this time.

The First Permanent Images

Photography, as we know it today, began in the late 1830s in France. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce used a portable camera obscura to expose a pewter plate coated with bitumen to light. This is the first recorded image that did not fade quickly.

Niépce's success led to a number of other experiments and photography progressed very rapidly. Daguerreotypes, emulsion plates, and wet plates were developed almost simultaneously in the mid- to late-1800s.”

Source: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/brief-history-of-photography-2688527

Retouched version of the earliest surviving camera photograph, 1826 or 1827, known as View from the Window at Le Gras

Photography has long been influenced by painting and art.

“The relationship between painting and photography has extended the possibilities of image creation. When photography appeared on the scene, it was supposed to herald the democratization of portraiture (among other genres, like landscapes and still-lifes). Photography gave painting the freedom it needed to burst into the rich fountain of expression it is today. There are many classic and modern painters whom, thanks to their skills with lighting and conceptualization, can serve as valuable guides for today's photographers.”

Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675)

Source:https://www.lightstalking.com/8-painters-real-effect-todays-photography-photographers-influenced/

My Decade to research – the 1980’s

Timeline of 1980’s Events

Overview:

“The decade was great socioeconomic change due to advances in technology and a worldwide move away from planned economies and towards laissez-faire capitalism.

As economic deconstruction increased in the developed world, multiple multinational corporations associated with the manufacturing industry relocated into Thailand, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. Japan and West Germany saw large economic growth during this decade. The AIDS epidemic became recognized in the 1980s and has since killed an estimated 39 million people (as of 2013).[1] Global warming became well known to the scientific and political community in the 1980s.

The United Kingdom and the United States moved closer to supply-side economic policies beginning a trend towards global instability of international trade that would pick up more steam in the following decade as the fall of the USSR made right wing economic policy more powerful.

The final decade of the Cold War opened with the US-Soviet confrontation continuing largely without any interruption. Superpower tensions escalated rapidly as President Reagan scrapped the policy of détente and adopted a new, much more aggressive stance on the Soviet Union. The world came perilously close to nuclear war for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis 20 years earlier, but the second half of the decade saw a dramatic easing of superpower tensions and ultimately the total collapse of Soviet communism.

Developing countries across the world faced economic and social difficulties as they suffered from multiple debt crises in the 1980s, requiring many of these countries to apply for financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Ethiopia witnessed widespread famine in the mid-1980s during the corrupt rule of Mengistu Haile Mariam, resulting in the country having to depend on foreign aid to provide food to its population and worldwide efforts to address and raise money to help Ethiopians, such as the Live Aid concert in 1985.”

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s

Timeline of major events: (from a very American perspective)

Photography and photographers in the 1980’s

Equipment:

The 80s were a peak time in photography. 35mm cameras were just starting to shift from predominantly mechanical devices into slightly more advanced machines. Having micro-electronic systems at the heart of a camera became the new normal and that made photography easier; new features progressed from more accurate shutter control to program full auto-exposure, to multi-segment light metering systems, to automatic reading of ASA/ISO codes, to integrated motors for advancing and rewinding, and finally AutoFocus (although AF didn’t truly come into its own until the next decade). The dominant manufacturers at the time are sometimes referred to as the ‘Big Five’: Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, and Pentax. These brands produced the majority of 80s cameras and are now classic models.

CANON AE-1 PROGRAM

MINOLTA X-700

NIKON FA

Olympus OMG

Pentax P3

Source: https://www.keh.com/blog/thats-so-80s-cameras-from-the-1980s/

Photographers:

An American perspective of 80′s photography...

“In the ’80s, new wave and hip hop exploded, graffitied subway cars and gritty nightclubs colored New York City, and John Hughes’s tales of teenage angst like Sixteen Candles (1984) and The Breakfast Club (1985) seized the big screen. Meanwhile, an energized, punk-infused youth culture developed within the context of the ongoing sexual liberation that began in the ’60s, the AIDS epidemic, and the conservative leadership of President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Below are eight photographers who captured the decade’s young people in all their vibrant individuality.”

Source: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-photographers-captured-rebellious-youth-80s

Richard Corman

Madonna, Polaroid 4, Milk Gallery

A very British perspective on 80′s street photography...

Rob Bremner, Liverpool

The 1980’s are widely regarded as Liverpool’s lowest ebb. A time when work in the city was scarce, alienation from the rest of the country was peaking, and newfangled drugs were tightening their grip on the city’s housing estates.

During this period Rob Bremner, 54 – then a shaggy-haired student from Wick, Scotland – was photographing the region’s inner-city wards, as they came to terms with a Conservative government whose policies appeared to deliberately degrade them.

Source: https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/photography-2/back-in-the-day-photos-of-liverpool-in-the-80s/

The other end of the spectrum - high glamour fashion photography...

Stephanie,Cindy,Christy,Tatjana & Naomi photographed by Herb Ritts (1989)

“While some of the most creative fashion photography of the 1980s continued to be produced by 'old-timers' like Richard Avedon - see, for instance, his narrative advertising campaign "The Diors,"or his nude shot of Nastassja Kinski entwined with a snake - younger photographers also emerged into the limelight, including: Herb Ritts (1952-2002), best-known for his iconic shot of "Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989" which appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine; Bruce Weber (b.1946) who presented a new outlook on masculinity through his photo-shoots for Armani and Calvin Klein, as did Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-89) with his homoerotic shots; and Gian Paolo Barbieri (b.1938), noted for his work for fashion designers Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Pomellato, and Giuseppe Zanotti. At the same time, women's independence was emphasized in various settings, by photographers like Denis Piel (b.1944) and Bert Stern (1929-2013).

Controversy, always a handy tool with which to boost flagging commercial fortunes, reared its head as a result of Benetton's fashion campaign, shot by Oliviero Toscani (b.1942). Images included one of a patient dying of AIDS in front of grieving relatives, while others incorporated references to racism, war, religion and the death penalty.

The leading supermodels of 1980s fashion photography included: Gia Marie Carangi, Ines de la Fressange, Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Brooke Shields, Heather Locklear, Carol Alt, and Elle Macpherson, among others. It was during this decade that supermodels stopped being seen as individuals and started to be regarded as images, just like movie stars. Witness the celebrity party shots taken by fashion photographer Roxanne Lowit (b.1965) of supermodels like Elle Macpherson, Naomi Campbell and others.”

Source: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/photography/fashion.htm#eighties

Grace Jones, Jean-Paul Goude, New York (1981)

“I wanted to focus on Grace’s masculinity – to use what other people thought an embarrassment, and turn it around to her advantage. I wanted to create – with her, of course – a new character. It went beyond just a haircut, it was an attitude. It was new and strong and ambiguous. You didn’t know if it was a man trying to be a girl or a girl trying to be a man. It was a revolution. I remember the A&R guys at Island saying, “Are you fucking crazy? This is never going to work.” And of course it did.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/01/jean-paul-goude-best-photograph-grace-jones-nightclubbing

[doomedandstoned]

South Africa’s Mad God Face Off With Devils In Bruising New Doomer

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

MAD GOD is a hell of a name for a band. It's brash, frightening and, if there is a God, probably true. Literature is replete with tales of madness, from throne room to darkest cavern. After all, what could be more frightening than insanity? Worse still, what if God were bonkers, too? It's an idea pregnant with possibilities and this week, the Johannesburg trio of Tim Harbour (guitar, vox), Evert Snyman (bass), and Patrick Stephansen (drums) gives birth to another album of vignettes from our mad, mad world.

'Grotesque and Inexorable' (2018), besides being a vocabulary expanding mouthful, will have fans of H.P. Lovecraft whipping out their magnifying glasses, looking for signs his influence throughout. What's behind those glowing eyes? Is that perhaps a ritual knife? And what of that ghastly cephalopodic tail? It all beckons us to venture closer, to stroll deeper into the bush. Only here in nature's primitive darkness can we see clearly.

This is not an interpretive dance through Lovecraft's greatest hits, however. What Mad God have assembled is essentially a horror anthology, each of its six chapters bearing witness to some monstrosity -- real or imagined. All of them are unimaginably terrifying.

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." (H.P. Lovecraft)

The parade of deplorables kicks off in the cemetery, where apparently if there is no rest for the wicked, then neither will there be respite the just. "Haunting the Graves of the Unhallowed" is like a nod Unhallowed Graves and perhaps The Reluctant Dead by the pioneering author of African horror, Nuzo Onoh. Mad God bring a Goyaesque gravity to the song, with the witchy metallic grit of early Yob or the bitter-sweet ire of Trouble -- all caged with the expansive song structure made a staple of the genre by the godfathers of doom, Black Sabbath. That's for those of you reaching for a point of reference in this slow-burning, bubbling cauldron of toxic stew. It won't take long for you to acclimate to the flavor, and with repeated spins you'll be easily picking up on the Mad God distinctives.

If the first track draws upon the supernatural, "The DeZalze Horror" is grounded in grizzly physical reality. In January of 2015, the papers greeted South Africans with the strange story of a millionaire and his family massacred at the DeZalze Golf Estate golf resort outside of Cape Town. Henri van Breda, was the apparent lone survivor and claimed amnesia about the whole event. He evaded justice for a year-and-a-half, until all evidence in the investigation confirmed that the 20-year old Henri had indeed wielded an axe against his father, mother, brother, and sister (the latter being the sole survivor).

Mad God's mean, sludgy swagger makes this track a fitting bedfellow with Church of Misery's bevy of serial killers. Tim's guitar chugs along like someone pacing hallways, Evert and Patrick's rhythm section makes me think the bump and drag of the axe's head along the floor, while Henri laments the shocking outcome of his brutal rage. A bluesy, fuzzy interlude brings us the 911 call, and the drums pound like sunken heartbeat, resigned to the awfulness and permanence of one's decision.

Last month, the band chose "I Created God" as the album's first single. "This song was written after watching a Charles Manson documentary, following his death in 2017," Tim Harbour explains. Though Manson remains the perennial muse of songwriters, he hastens to add: "This song does not condone the actions of the cult leader, but rather delves into the psyche and motives of both him and his followers around the time of the murders that took place in 1969." As one might expect, the lyrics aren't pretty, underlying the band's thesis that despite the beauty and good in the world, the ugliness of evil is never far behind and is often three steps ahead. Unlike the notorious fascination of Uncle Acid & the deadbeats for Charlie, Mad God's musical characterization of Manson and his Helter Skelter scenario is somber, with his mad ramblings echoing through the song's final stretch.

"The Crawling Chaos" follows, a reference to the short story written by Lovecraft, but based upon a dream of a companion, poet Winifred V. Jackson. A hazy, Alice in Wonderland ambience opens this opium fever dream, in which an accidental overdose leads to a misshapen landscape mired by 50 foot waves, outsized flora, and bizarre trip beyond the Milky Way. The song is perhaps emblematic of the horrors lying dormant within each of our mind, not to mention the subtext of addiction.

"No Prayers, No Fires" is my favorite of the lot, for it led me down another fascinating rabbit trail. This one took me all the way to one Herbert George Wells -- yes, the self-same H.G. -- who wrote a non-fiction book speculating about the future of society. Central to his book, 'The Future in America: A Search After Realities' (1906), a travelogue of impressions from his first visit to the States, was the Oneida Community of New York. Once hailed as a triumph of human cooperation and communal living, there were now "no prayers, no fires upon the deserted altars of Oneida any more forever..." Their leader, a cultic figure by the name of John Humphrey Noyes, wanted to bring about Christ's fabled millennial kingdom (which was all but an obsession of 19th century religionists), but the enterprise fell upon scandal and financial ruin. The evil groove of this song is key to its success and the band is in fine form for the duration.

At last comes "Wild Hunt," which returns us to the spirit realm for a romp through the underworld, with faintly human apparitions fastened upon their ghostly steeds in pursuit some unknown prey. Legend has it that those among us unfortunate enough to see a vision of the Wild Hunt will be met with sure calamity. It's not a fast song, as we've become conditioned to by bands that tend to go nuts with the "wild" part. Mad God's take is, in fact a sad one -- more in the spirit of Reagers-era Saint Vitus or more recently, Pallbearer. These departed spirits are "bound by eternity" to chase after desires they could never be satisfied in their former lives, nor in this pale existence. It's a tasteful conclusion to the album, though it does leave one with a feeling of melancholy.

Mad God's Grotesque and Inexorable drops this weekend and can be pre-ordered here. Of all the surprises we've been treated to in 2018, this is perhaps the grimmest and most tantalizing -- not unlike a Lovecraftian monster.

Give ear...

Grotesque and Inexorable by Mad God

Some Buzz

'Grotesque and Inexorable' (2018) is the 2nd full length release by Johannesburg doom metal band, Mad God. Mad God was formed in 2014 by Tim Harbour, Tim Harrison and Patrick Stephansen with the intention of bringing doom metal to South Africa, as it is one of the most underrepresented metal genres in the country. 2015 saw Mad God release their first split, 'Unholy Rituals' alongside Johannesburg stoner act Goat Throne. The following years were good for doom metal, the Temple of Doom shows put on in Joburg became a regular event for stoner, psychedelic and doom metal music showcasing some of South Africa’s best talent such as Ruff Majik, STRAGE, Corax, Pollinator, The Makeovers and many more.

In 2017, bassist Tim Harrison left the band and was replaced by Jarred Beaton and in July that year, Mad God released their first full length album titled 'Tales of a Sightless City,' which gained a fair amount of traction among online stoner and doom circles such as Stoned Meadow of Doom and MrDoom666 on YouTube as well as receiving favourable reviews from popular review sites such as Angry Metal Guy and Doombringer. That same year, Mad God did their first tour to Cape Town and staged a show with The League of Doom (Cape Town’s very own doom and stoner event organisers) as well as played at Krank’d Up Festival alongside acts such as Vulvodinya, OHGOD, Intervals, and Memphis May Fire. Shortly after, the tour the band took a hiatus to focus on writing new material and bassist Jarred Beaton was replaced by Pollinators lead singer and guitarist, Evert Snyman.

'Grotesque and Inexorable' is an exploration into new musical territory for Mad God. After the release of 'Tales of a Sightless City,' Mad God have been aiming to evolve their sound to something darker and more unique.

This album draws on much gloomier themes and the lyrics reflect this turn. The music itself is both dirtier and more progressive and as a band we tried to introduce a wider variety of influences including death and black metal as well as more traditional and heavy metal sounds, even including some '70s progressive rock.

The album title also reflects this change in sound. In other words, "disgusting and cannot be stopped." The band adds, "As Lovecraftian fan boys we had to throw the word grotesque in somewhere!"

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[stone-man-warrior]

January 21: 2021: 2:57 pm:

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https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1352360845922217993

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There are 47 minutes of this interview somewhere.

Why is an “unaired” interview presented on Google/YouTube?

The answer is that the Google/YouTube pirates invaded, captured, killed, and replaced the Hollywood executives who had archived all of those wonderful old videos that are available on YouTube. They hijacked Hollywood, and posted all of the booty online.

But that is not what I want to say here with this post. All of that is important, but that Twitter Tweet from FOX news is more important to comment on right now.

The thing is, that Trump may be dead, he could have been killed the day he took office four years ago, and that would not change anything at all. The terror train keeps on rolling no matter what. So, it turns out that the front man only needs to be alive on a video presentation in order to lead the terror army. Any speaking engagements in person can be faked with use of SAG actors, heavy make-up, wardrobe and lighting.

I need to make reminder of a eye-witness occurrence of terror at Hwy 58 in Mohave California, near Edwards AFB that happened in 1997.

There is a gas station there, my daughter and I were on the way to my sisters funeral (another story, different terror there) and we stopped for fuel. I went inside to pay, when I came out, my daughter was gone. I heard her yell. from inside of a big yellow Big Rig Truck that was pulling away from the gas station. I retrieved my daughter. Then, the gas station attendant pointed out that a train was coming down the tracks that are across the street. The attendant was terrified of that train, so, I saw it, it was on the way, I looked, and there was a train of hundred freight cars, followed by offroad vehicles with bright lights on the along the train tracks. As the train passed by, I could hear the people who were in those freight cars shouting their names, numbers were shouted, help was what they wanted, and those offroad vehicles were there to pick up any body parts that may have fallen from the train on it’s journey northbound.

The gas station attendant advised that I should not be there.

I left with my daughter, who was kidnapped again at the new york. new york casino in Vegas, then another attempt to take her was made at the rest stop on the west bound side of Hwy 58 on the return trip from the terror funeral where my sister was not anywhere nearby, alive or dead.

Later, after returning home here on Jackpine where I had only lived for about a year at the time, I learned the same thing about the train tracks that go along Russell Road that I saw happen in Mohave in CA. The train was loaded with people in freight cars, all of them yelling about names and numbers as the train rolled by every night, and a group of off road vehicles followed with bright lights along the tracks to make sure that there were no body parts left on the track after the train rolled through.

Later, 2005, all of the railroad ties were replaced with new ones from south of Grants Pass all the way to Winston Oregon, and more. They did not just replace the bad or broken railroad ties, they replaces every last one.... hundreds of thousands of railroad ties were removed and replaced along that rail line. They were moving down Russell Road in 2005, and the project took a few years to complete for the whole length.

Every night, that train has been rolling through between midnight and one am for more than twenty four years almost without variance. That train used to be loaded with many rail cars, but now, is only a locomotive, with maybe two or three rail cars in tow. The train along Russell Road has not carried any weight since 2005. The few times that they did put some rail cars on the train was all for show, and there was such a show at about dawn, last week one day, when the train went south in the early morning with many cars in tow.

The train is the “Cart” used by the Trump/Benedict/Vatican terror pirate army.

The train has been rolling a long time, not just when Donald Trump was US President. The point is, that the Trump Train will keep on rolling, as it was way before he was granted a Twitter account in the POTUS position, but he never used the @POTUS account for Tweeting, he used @RealDonaldTrump instead. and the POTUS account only did a retweet of what the RealDonaldTrump account stated. Donald Trump and the Benedict Vatican have always been getting the message out to the terror army cells, with and without use of Twitter. Advertising, TV shows and commercials, newspapers, billboards... all of media has been used for making the marching orders that create the conditions that require an enormous locomotive to clear away the dead bodies after the slaughter.

He may be gone, he may even be dead, but the train will keep rolling until the end of time, or, until the Vatican is destroyed.

==================================

4:10 pm:

I have two examples of Billboard advertising along highways to consider as terror command orders presented from Vatican/Britain leadership to the terror army in the field in the cities and towns of USA at time before there was an internet:

There was a very large campaign of signage in Southern California all through the 1970′s where the billboards said:

“I Found It”

A phone number was included on the signs, no other information was presented. There were hundreds of those signs, large and small, and the “I Found It” message was also within magazines and newspapers.

I don‘t claim to know the full extent of the command.

I do know that as a stupid kid, I called the number to see what the heck was being found. They asked personal questions, and someone came to the house from the “I Found It” HQ. That’s all I remember about “I Found It”. I know now that the signs were a tool for gathering necessary information that would locate a “Jesus” to capture, to nail to the mast, to catch wind, to move the boat forward, to find more Jesus’, to nail to the mast, to catch wind, to propel the Christian pirate ship forward, to find more Jesus’, to nail to the mast...

The other example is different kind of message. Is “Oliver North” presented on billboards along the I-15 in the California desert areas, and along I-40 into Arizona... probably other areas. That was at a time when stopping in Ludlow on the 40 was a real bad idea, super dangerous there, the danger at Ludlow is marked by a hotel made of giant Tee-Pee’s. The terror army see’s the Tee-Pee’s, and they know that the surrounding area is a terror friendly area, supplies, food, fuel, and a place to sleep are offered to migrant terror cells, while the US Citizen travelers are killed at such places. You need to know some magic words to say and have some magic markings on your vehicle to survive a stop in places like Ludlow.

The Oliver north sign:

“All of her north”

It means there is going to be a very large influx of terror soldiers from Canada arriving, those who are already in California are informed to protect, and supply the new incoming “All of Her north” when the arrive in the areas where the signs were presented along the freeway in the CA and AZ desert regions in around 1980-1983-ish.

That was the purpose for that SAG character known as “Oliver North”, a message to provide support for a large batch of freshly trained terror soldiers arriving from Canada, spoken through SAG advertising agencies from Hollywood high command, who are commanded from Vatican Choir High Command at Amp Guru, Music Industry.

My interpretation goes farther towards the east along the south side of USA, where it may prove that the terror army began a trek along the I-40 towards the east in the same way that the Interstate 5 was used to take over the entire west coast of USA, kill of all of the USA military, takeover and occupy the military and national guard bases, and gain control of all of the hospitals in preparation for a different phase of the pirating, the Corona Virus phase we have been experiencing this past year. Interstate 40, is a long, long, long, road.

We are doomed.

There is no one watching the baby, and Joe Biden is not going the save the day, he already was Vice President once, the same problems were happening then as are now. He only raped little girls, that was the extent of Joe Biden’s leadership, it will be the extent on this go around too.

================

4:50 pm:

Let’s say there were some folks who read the “StoneMan Plan for stopping terrorism” from yesterday, but, they love their movie stars and musicians too much, but are OK with the other parts of The StoneMan Plan.

So, they go ahead and take out I O Downing, say “Fuck Johnson and everyone who looks and sounds like him...”

That’s a good start.

Then, they say “Fuck Santa”, and take out the Vatican.

That too, is a good start.

But the people are not going to take out SAG, they like music and movies too much to do that.

Well... that won’t work.

All that would happen, is SAG would then be empowered to continue with what they have already been doing while under the British and Vatican command.

SAG would then be High Command, they would make the decisions their own way about how to make the kill, and what targets to take.

SAG, basically, is a nation without a country, seeking some land, to call home, and raise a flag... but they did that already when that US SAG Jack was flown at the WH and at US Congress, and at all of the state governors offices. That thing that looks like a US Flag with the gold trim around it, is a SAG Jack, they are flying those everywhere.

So, you cannot take out the terrorism without taking all three of the components, and, that other fourth one that so little is known about, the Afterswords.

Vatican

Britain Government

Screen Actor Guild

and that other thing called Afterswords...

all need to be wiped off of the face of the Earth permanently.

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5:14 pm:

If you read this account then you learned of The Jim Dunlop.

You probably did not take that seriously, and that is a shame.

The Jim Dunlop, revue...

The Jim Dunlop, on the surface, appears to be the humble maker of the vast majority of the worlds guitar picks, and is the maker of the Cry Baby Wah since 1965.

The Jim Dunlop, in reality, is “Mr. Tracy” from the Thunderbird’s children puppet show on TV... not the actor but as representation for terror take over of the world with use of a children’s television show to send out the command orders.

Volcano Island, is the “Triangular Prism” where “Amp Guru” is at. Amp Guru is still a bit of a mystery, but so far, Amp Guru is the place, and the men at the highest command levels, of he highest order of leaders at the Vatican, and that highest level is the Vatican Choir, because “music moves the mortal soul” ~Don McLean from “Bye-Bye Ms. American Pie”.

So, The Jim Dunlop is a culmination of all of the Christian Pirate Admirals of all time, all of the Pope’s throughout history are The Jim Dunlop. The Pope’s change from time to time, but The Jim Dunlop, is always The Jim Dunlop.

The Jim Dunlop is likely to have been preceded by Davey Jones, captain of The Flying Dutchman, who was in The Jim Dunlop position before there were electronics at the Vatican Choir.

“A rose by any other name, is still a rose” ~unknown

The Jim Dunlop is Captain of The Flying V.

But he is also Admiral of the Christian Pirate Fleet.

If you read this entire account, then you read about the guitar and the pick, and why the two are symbolic as an Ax wielded by the Christian Pirates. (is better to think of a blade, rather than Ax). You learned that in between the guitar and the guitar player, is the guitar pick.

The guitar pick is the tool that is used for playing the instrument.

It is said that the guitar players soul resides in the pick that is used for playing the instrument, and that is why The Jim Dunlop takes control of all of the guitar picks on earth. The music you hear from the guitar is coming from the guitar players heart and mind, through the soul (I prefer the Chi for that) and into the strings through the hand of the guitar player, applied to the pick, to make the vibes that make the music that moves the listener, that comes out of the guitar.

There is much magic in the pick wielded by a guitar player. The guitar player can make you dance, or sing, or be angry, or cry, can make you happy or sad, and he can change your feelings between those extremes all within five minutes, many times over, so, yes, there is a great deal of magic that resides in a guitar pick when used by a skilled guitar player.

It is said that if you take the hand of a guitar player, you gain all of the skills the guitar player posses. It is not necessary to remove the guitar players hand for that, just take it.

Then, there is the Cry Baby Wah. That is also made by The Jim Dunlop. The Cry Baby Wah, is a symbolic thing that covers a lot of ground, it is there to protect The Jim Dunlop and the Flying V pirate ship that he Captains, and the fleet of pirate ships of the Vatican Choir.

When someone begins to make a cry for help, the Cry Baby Wah is the thing that controls those people who make a cry for help... it’s the sound made by all of the Jesus’ as they are clinging for life on the mast of the ship.

All is symbolic, and that explanation is much of the symbolism of the Jim Dunlop, the guitar, the Flying V pirates ship, the Vatican Choir, the Cry Baby Wah, the Guitar pick, the guitar player, the Ax, the blade, Jesus’, and the fleet of Vatican Choir Ships that sail on the Holy See, in search of land, riches, slaves, and power.

I suspect Davey Jones was a violinist. Perhaps skilled with a cello as well.

The guitar is a mid-range instrument, but is also a bass.

The whole band is involved with this symbolism. I only mention the guitar here.

The Christians lie like a rug. They cover a lot of ground, are casual, and are very good at what they do, while looking like a nice place to step on solid ground.

==========

One of many interpretations of “The Flying V” is like this:

It’s a pirate ship, could be any kind of ship, boat, airplane, big rig truck, motorhome, or individual terror soldier pirate, or the cell of which they are crew.

The Pope’s Pointy Hat, turned upside down, is on decent, on attack, has an attitude such that everything is turned around with use of the hat, and the ship on decent from above, through air, through the wind... the wind in the sail that moves the boat.

That is one of many interpretations of symbolism associated with why the Flying is called the Flying V.

Another part of that same interpretation needs this phrase to understand:

“The meek shall inherit the Earth”

So, on decent of attack, one of the primary targets for the past fifty years are people, mostly men, who are very healthy and strong with V shape to them, wide shoulders, lean, and narrow at the waste, such as is the shape of US Military service persons. There are no people who are immune to the affect of nitrous oxide gas mixtures, that stuff is “The Great Equalizer” (there is too much musical equipment symbolism for one guy with hijacked internet to explore with Equalizer) and is useful for overpowering those V shaped strong healthy people, especially when the gas is accompanied by a small platoon of Patti Gurdy’s from YouTube. There is no army on earth who can defend against a small platoon of Patti Gurdy’s who are armed with nitrous oxide at the US navy port who are there to attack the V shaped men of the US military.

Patti is very skilled with a unique instrument, is not available in stores, makes some of the most beautiful music ever, with a handle that turns around, and around.

If you understand the Gurdy, then you can understand why it is also said that in USA, they kill you with cotton.

There is another story that is told about things that are hard to get.

The Gurdy is one of those kinds of things. For stuff that is very cool, or useful, stuff that is a lot like a Tesla Roadster, they made some, but you can‘t get one, those kinds of things.

The story about the Gurdy, is that there is only one guy who knows how to make them, he lives in a cave in the Himalaya’s, and only makes three Gurdy’s annually, one of which, is defective, so the story is told.

(The Land of Misfit Toys shows up on Decoder Ring RADAR)

The full name of the instrument is a “Hurdy Gurdy”, works the same as a “Hertz Donut” in a stampede.

(Frequency Response Modulation Unit shows up on Decoder Ring RADAR)

(”I want to be a Dentist” shows up, on Decoder Ring RADAR)

Russian Mother of all Hoaxes takes over from there, in this symbolism of the guitar terror report.

Saturday Night Live shows up:

“Cheeseburger, cheeseburger... Coke... No! Pepsi! No! Coke!... FRY!”

Fish goes into a blender... it’s all fucked up after that.

Fryer Tuck and Sheriff John were waiting in the next room the whole time for Patti to say: “FRY!” and the Sheriff arranges the Coke in the room for the dis-honorable discharge, while Patti gets washes up in the restroom.

=================================================

7:18 pm:

At Waikiki Beach, there is a Hawaii 5-O Police Kioske.

At 5:00 pm, every night, the prostitutes come out from a narrow alley there across the street from 5-O, wearing 5″ clear glass pumps, for the past fifty years.

==================================================

7:26 pm:

In 1981 I went to Hawaii for the first time. Three islands.

I was invited to Pearl Harbor, was young and naive, stupid naive.

There were seven or eight shady looking characters in a very small recreation room pretending to play a game of pool, on a pool table, worn out green felt on it, some cues, in hand and on the wall rack, not much more was in the recreation room other than that, it was dimly lit.

Kavika, is the name of a young man I met while surfing, invited me to the base, so I went there. Kavika did not seem to like that those guys were there in the recreation room, and took off down a hallway, I followed, he said there was a party in the room, some girls, music, some fun, so, he says I have to take off my shoes to go inside, then he goes in, closes the door and locks it, he took my shoes with him.

I messed around with door and it opened, there was nothing in the room, it was a private barracks room, small apartment studio one room w/kitchenette, there was a sliding door open and the drapes were blowing around in the breeze.

Kavika stole my shoes, and ran out of the back door of the barrack that he took me to where there was supposed to be a party.

I looked all over the place, did not find Kavika or my shoes. Instead, I could see that all of the barracks were empty, nothing in any of them, after I went from the hallway, through the door, into the empty studio size room, and outside through the sliding door. From there, I could see many of the sliding doors of many similar rooms, all of them were empty, no furniture, no people, no US navy at the Pearl Harbor Barracks in 1981.

I went to the Pearl Harbor Memorial while in Honolulu. It was weird.

There are a lot of stories to tell about all three visits to Hawaii I have made.

International Market Place is especially disturbing, is a kill zone, with many small passages and very little visibility when you get into the middle of it, with tons of colorful, very cool gifts there all hanging from the individual vendors displays they have.

There is a waterfall I have written about before on this account, I forget what it’s it’s called, but there was a group of men with machine guns shooting the people who went for a swim at the bottom of the very tall and narrow water fall, in a very tall and narrow canyon. I had to run between the bullets to save my children who were clinging to the side of the canyon wall trying to take cover from the people at the top who were shooting at them. It was about 2002 wShen that happened.

Similar story at the Hawaii Grand Canyon on Kauai in 1981.

And a different kind of tourist attack at Molokini Crater Snorkel Boat Adventure, where if you stay in the water, maybe you will be OK, but if you snorkel your self over to the island part and step on the ground there at Molokini, they say: “The floor is Lava” and the pirates who are moored at the other side, come to the ridge and start shooting. I survived that, and they sent a boat to chase the snorkel boat I was on out of the crater. Was 1993 that time. The snorkel adventure boat driver had told all of the passenger snorkelers not to go swim over to the island that Molokini crater is made of, but I am not someone who is easily told what to do, so, I went over there, there was something to look at,.. I think it was turtles on the beach there, I wanted to see them.

I had to fight someone under the boat, it was glass bottom boat and a video was taken of the underwater fight through the boat bottom by another passenger.

Maybe it will show up on YouTube.

I think my former spouse arranged that I would be killed that that day at Molokini, and it did not work. She seemed upset about that.

At Wiamea bay, my family all swam with about a hundred giant sea turtles, and that was a highlight of my lifetime that day, no problems that I can recall there. north shore though, was a problem, so was that road that leads from Honolulu to the other side of the island in 2002.

Lot’s of stories of real terror, not one single person to tell about any of it.

The Christian terror associated with a vacation to Hawaii, is such that if a US Citizen goes there, then returns home, the whole terror army will assume that the citizen was killed in Hawaii, because no one survives a trip there anymore, instead, a terror soldier from Hawaii comes back to the home of the citizen who took vacation on the Hawaiian islands. The terror army themselves won‘t believe that a US Citizen made it out of there alive.

Some nsa security people could learn much from this guy by the name of Scott, a YouTube personality on the Big Island, Apua Hawaii Tours, is hard core SDA terror pedophile elementary school Virgin Hunter pirate, he did a lot of Volcano eruption commentary, while the Oregon local authorities were convincing federal fools that he was me, for a long time, maybe still are doing that. The fools need to do their own research, they have weaponized against the people they are supposed to protect, insist on being fooled all of the time.

no help has come, there are no helpful people anywhere in Oregon, all the way to California, to Washington State, to Hawaii, to Arizona, to Nevada, Idaho, or Colorado... no help anywhere. In Colorado, there is some mile high terror there, underground, subterranean, like Grants Pass and Medford is. Entire neighborhoods are built on top of giant subterranean terror installations, and that “new airport” with that blue horse statue, has a killing mechanism that washes large groups of people down a drain with a sudden rush of a wall of water, inside of the airport.

“USA: The nation that kills itself.”

================================

Local Update: 9:27 pm:

A walk to the mailbox was cold. Weather condtions are about the same as last night, slightly higher than last night cloudy translucent overcast sky.

The sound I would expect to hear from a Joe Biden Bobblehead doll on the run from the corner where the trashcans usually are at, towards the north on Jackpine happened as I became in visual range of the Chapman County Courts Terror Cell while I looked for terror soldiers in my creek. All of the creeks have some water in them now as of this month.

There is a traffic sound that seeems as if it is from the freeway, however my assessment is that there is a large group of Les Schwabb terror cell members at the Sportsman's Park, a very nice shooting sports range about five miles away across the freeway from the North Valley High School. They are making a lot of creepy wind sounds, in a few words I would describe that as “the sound of a cold wind off the water of Lake Huron”. The sound is stationary, it does not travel the freeway as it traffic sounds should travel.

There were some distant dog barking going on to the north east, and that was accompanied by a very brief sound that a baby makes when they cry, coming from Freeberg or maybe Sparacino terror cells.

The sound of a Jeep Cherokee 1996 model 5.0 stuck in the mud about three miles north east could be heard as it gained some traction and proceded towards the south, moaning the whole way.

The camara on the log at the Monroe's near my gate is not there, has moved somewhere else, but the telescope remains pointed at my gate.

Vert tiny details have changed at Monroe's since my last walk, there is no signs of any more offensive brush clearing, there are only a few pieces of bamboo left there along the fence line, was nice there as a visual barrier, is mostly all gone.

Myers is a little darker in their exterior lighting. Freeberg has the holliday festive lights on again and they are in the shape and colors such that it looks like a circus tent in the dark the way the lights are arranged at the garage, and the white lights are making a drapery sort of vibe along the road, maybe Scott Draper of Club northwest/Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce is there,  is the vibe I get from Freebergs tonight.

Dietricks are showing signs of life there, an additional front porch light is turned on.

Chapman's are showing signs of the strangers there again.

There are lights on at Chartrand's unit B, that has been the new normal for about three months or so. Previous normal was no lights on inside the house at Chartrand unit B for about five years.

Two pieces of mail today, something from health insurance (is useless, have to pay, there are no choices) and my mortgage bill.

That is all.

(This entry written in external software text editor)

=========================================

10:40 pm:

(I have a new font as a result of using the external text editor)

When I went outside, by the time I reached my gate, the burning sensation internal in my leg from my hip to my foot on the right side became intense, and is still burning inside my leg, and the rash on my shin is very painful and worsening.

=================================

11:13 pm:

Time Warp Terror can be identified with generic, statically placed, uniform items such as these microphone examples. The microphones seem to stay the same for too long. The reality is that so much of the news we see was all pre arranged, filmed long ago, and details such as microphone choices needed to be made uniform to stay constant all of the time in order for the Vatican terror pirate plan to work by fooling everyone with old video.

Gone are the days of that cube shaped boxy looking network TV microphone logo that we used to see all crowded around those who do the talking, now, it’s all done with the styling of an Apple Computer where there is no more uniqueness, no access ports, all is clean and Vatican Grade Sterile to make the Time Warp Terror work. The old videos must easily and seamlessly blend in among the new ones that get inserted into the time line of the time warp.

Three examples of generic, timeless microphones at a news event. These kinds of details, including the podiums should be studied in the recent and old news stories to make some comparisons about timing. How can we determine the actual dates of filming of events when all of the background items are intentionally made generic, featureless?

The venue of the Biden inauguration seems to have been intentionally crafted, designed specifically to support Time Warp Vatican Terror well into the future.

For all we know, the Trump inauguration could have possibly been filmed on the same day as the Biden inauguration, and only seem as though there was four years passed between the two events. There is nothing at that place that can be dated for either one of the two latest inaugural events to accurately say when they were filmed, and unless you were actually there, you, or anyone can not really know that the events took place at all. The weather could help identify if the events were actually filmed that day, but the meteorologist TV weather reporters are all SAG, and, SAG controls all of the media where distant weather conditions can be found.

You have to be in two places at the same time, ten years apart to know what really happened anywhere on earth these days.

=============================================

11:54 pm:

G.W. Grainger Catalogue:

G.W. Grainger Catalogue w/911 commission report cover:

There is no 911 Commission Report.

There are only fake news media representations of what they want us to believe is contained within the report.

Inside of every copy of the official 911 Commission Report is access to purchase some florescent lighting, a capacitor for your HVAC unit, you can get some heavy duty door locks in there, lots of different kinds of cardboard boxes, pens, poster board, paint.... every kind of nut and bolt ever made is available with a copy of the Official 911 Commission Report, but there is no mention of terrorists armed with poison gas, SAG pyrotechnics experts, or digital video editing software anywhere inside of the official report. What’s more, is the official 911 Commission Report contains absolutely no mention of Muslims armed with box cutters, or anything about a tower or an airplane, because it’s a G.W. Grainger Catalogue, all rebranded on the cover, only. You could build out a mobile phone network with what is available in the 911 Commission Report, but you won’t ever learn why the WTC fell down.

===============================

1-22-2021: 12:19 am:

The terror bastards went bowling, sort of.

It’s a “7-11 split”.

The two big towers are the 11, and of course WTC-7 gets a lot of attention.

Seven, eleven split.

In terror circles going back into 1970′s and beyond, the Pope is said to be a “Crocodile Pope”, because he cry’s crocodile tears.

“Do unto others, then split” was made popular by the terror pirates themselves, so they could find some of their comrades with the statements like “Do Unto Others Then Split”.

They made coat patches so they know who is on the same team.

Crocodile Pope Patch:

The G.W. Grainger Catalogue is where the screw is available.

For real.

“7-11 Split” was the theme.

It was all a distraction only, so they could take the Pentagon while everyone is worried about new york.

[baileyjanetee]

2016

So, the time has come to go over what went down in 2016 - I mean aside from the death of Prince, David Bowie and all the rest, the election of Trump, and all the other moments in history - more to go over what went down in 2016 in my life.

One of the big changes for me this year was my move in to the Team Leader role at work. I started in the role in March and finally got made permanent in November - so that’s a relief. It’s definitely a high stress and very busy role - and I probably let that affect me more than I should - because it can also be quite rewarding, it took a while for me to get to that conclusion, but I will try and hold on to that moving in to the New Year. 

Kate came back! Unfortunately not under the best circumstances as her Mum is sick, but it’s so nice having her back in my life!

I really got in to Spotify this year. I love music, and spotify (gotta have premium, no one likes the ads). I look forward to listening to my Discover Weekly playlist every Monday and getting new songs to listen to. Go Spotify. 

2016 was a real year of weddings for me! Considering I attended my first wedding in 2015, I have now been to five! The first of 2016 was Tamsin and Daniel’s wedding in Cambodia, then my Dad and Debbie’s secret wedding, Amanda and Ed’s Paihia wedding and lastly Reagan and Mark’s wedding - the first time I have been part of a wedding party. They were all beautiful day’s in their own way, and I gotta say, I do love a good wedding. So much love and so much party - what more could you want? Admittedly, being part of a wedding party can be quite stressful, but it’s also very fun, and very special. I don’t have any weddings coming up in 2017, but early 2018 brings Ash and Chris’s wedding which will be a very special day indeed!

Perhaps the best thing about my involvement in wedding’s last year was me spending a lot more time with my sister. My family are not very close all things considered, so it was really nice for me to spend this time with her. She’s a real good sort, and she loves me a lot - as I do her, so I hope we continue to spend as much time together in 2017, because she is the only sister I’ve got and I really do cherish that!

2016 (much like a lot of other years of my life) has been a year of many cakes! I got paid to make cakes this year! I did a gender reveal cake with stuff in the middle. I made my sister’s wedding cake! It was a good year for cakes!

I would hazard a guess at saying perhaps my favourite new addition to my life in 2016 has been my new friend Sam Bailey. She is such a little gem. She is so smol, and cute and funny and I am so glad she was introduced in to my life. And now she has introduced an even smoller life in to my life - little Kaiba! So that should make for an exciting 2017.  

And due to the combined efforts of Sam Bailey and Ash (although mainly Ash to be fair) 2016 has also seen the comeback of my boobs. I don’t know why or when, but somewhere along the way I started hiding my boobs quite a bit in what I was wearing. Ash decided this wasn’t good enough and the hunt began for more revealing shirts for me to wear… Well I will give credit where credit is due, she got some results. And it has opened up my wardrobe options now I have realised that my tits don’t have to be shamefully hidden away!

It occurs to me too, considering how dreadfully single I still am, this has been quite the year of boys for me. There was the kind of briefly seeing each other until we weren’t (and the first sex since forever) with RB, as well as the fingers in the vagina and never speak of it again incident with DB. Then there was another of SB’s friends DD who nothing ever happened with, but for a time there he said he was into the idea of it so that was a nice compliment if nothing else. Then of course, how could any of us forget, my whirlwind South Island romance, chocolate cake after nine, KK. And then as we roll in to 2017 we still have TB and my FIRST CRUSH since the evil ex (this is still exciting for me) GD. So on the one hand, that is quite a few boys, and none of them dating me. But on the other hand, at least that is quite a few boys!

Financially it has been a good year - admittedly I did get a decent pay rise with my new role, so I haven’t had to be as frugal as previously. But I have two savings accounts growing nicely, and an account for unexpected life expenses (car troubles etc.) so I feel pretty in control of things in that respect. 

One of the less great things of 2016 for me was the festive season. However, there was nothing actually wrong with it, it was just a little more stressful than usual, which caused me to be a lot less festive then I like to be! Next year though, I am going to go full festive psycho to make up for it. So looking forward to that already. And Christmas day itself (which if I’m honest, is often a let down) was actually quite nice!

I moved in with Ash and Chris this year. And although I was sad to leave my little place by the beach, they are pretty great flat mates. We have a lot of good times, even if it’s just casual Friday night drinks… It still feels like a party when the three of us get going, and there have been some unforgettable evenings!

I got to see quite a bit more of our beautiful country on an awesome train trip with Shannon this year. Saw some new places - Kaikoura (one of my absolute faves), Nelson, Picton, as well as spending more time in some old favourites like Wellington and Oamaru. It was a lot of fun, and travelling by train was absolutely awesome, highly recommend. 

On a similar note, I took a few other great (smaller) trips this year around the country - my awesome summer road trip with Ash and Andee along the East Coast, another trip to the Whangamata mansion bach, as well as an additional trip to Whangamata with book club, Palmy and Apiti visiting John, Taupo and Napier for a week with my Mama, quite a few weekends in Auckland for a variety of things, and Paihia/Bay of Islands for Amanda’s wedding. All awesome places with awesome people, and a sure fire way to keep me happy, as I love taking trips!

And aside from all that, I got to do a few things this year that are things I have wanted to do; I rode on a motorbike, attended a comedy show, went to Spookers, I was part of a wedding party - It’s been a busy and fun filled year!

Moving in to 2017, I am feeling really positive! I try to enter each new year with positive thoughts, but I really feel good about 2017 (for no apparent reason) so let’s hope that feeling lasts!

Happy New Year all!

[aion-rsa]

Where to Watch Chadwick Boseman Movies

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The late Chadwick Boseman made just 15 films before his shocking, devastating death last week from colon cancer. But many of those 15 movies (one, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, is coming soon from Netflix) had already left an undeniable and in some cases massive impact on cinema, even before becoming the permanent legacy of an incredible actor taken from us far too soon.

Not only did his portrayal of King T’Challa in Marvel’s Black Panther and three other Marvel Cinematic Universe entries change film history itself, but he brought some of the most important figures in both Black and American culture to the screen. Jackie Robinson and Thurgood Marshall were American heroes of gigantic stature, and Boseman managed to introduce them to new generations of viewers through his sensitive, complex portrayals.

By all accounts, Chadwick Boseman wanted each of his roles to mean something. He wanted to tell the story of Black history and push that story forward every time he stepped in front of a camera. While so much of his filmography achieved that, there was clearly much more than this gifted artist was going to give us had he lived. You can see his power, his decency, his dignity and his charisma in every frame of the work we have, and fortunately it’s almost all available to us. Sadly, it will have to be enough.

Universal Pictures

The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008)

Chadwick Boseman had appeared on a handful of TV programs before landing his first role in a theatrical feature. While his role as a young version of real life Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little was relatively minor, it did presage Boseman’s star turns in later sports movies like 42 and the fictional Draft Day. As for The Express itself, the story of Ernie Davis — the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy — was sadly a box office disappointment despite good reviews, but might be rediscovered now.

Available on Amazon

101 Films

The Kill Hole (2012)         

It was four years before Boseman showed up on the big screen again, in a military thriller with Peter Greene and Billy Zane. It’s significant because it’s Boseman’s first lead role in a film: he plays Lt. Samuel Drake, an ex-Marine suffering from PTSD who is tasked by intelligence operatives to track down and kill another Iraq vet who’s gone off the deep end. The low-budget entry only holds a 25% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but completists may want to see what Boseman was doing before he landed his breakout gig.

Available on Amazon

Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) acknowledges the crowd in 42.

42 (2013)            

The film that first got Boseman the attention he deserved as a major upcoming talent is only the second theatrical feature (after 1950’s The Jackie Robinson Story, which starred Robinson himself) to tell the historic story of the first African-American baseball player to make it to the major leagues.

Boseman is full of strength, presence and grace, and he plays beautifully off Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey in one of that actor’s best latter-day performances. An inspirational, moving film.

Available on Amazon

Summit Entertainment

Draft Day (2014)              

Boseman followed up 42 with another sports drama, this time a fictional tale of how Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) makes an unexpected first draft pick in linebacker Vontae Mack (Boseman) and must deal with the aftermath of that. Boseman’s role is a supporting one here and he’s fine in it, while the film itself may be enjoyable for NFL fans but a bit confusing for general viewers. There was better to come in 2014 from the actor.

Available on Amazon

Universal Pictures

Get on Up (2014)

Boseman lights up the screen in this biopic of the legendary James Brown, doing all his own dancing and even some singing as the Godfather of Soul. The movie itself, directed by Tate Taylor (The Help) is not perfect, playing with different narrative structures and omitting a number of incidents from Brown’s life. But the main attraction is once again Boseman, who doesn’t so much imitate Brown as inhabit his wild, untamed, often troubled spirit.

Available on HBO Max

Lionsgate

Gods of Egypt (2016)      

This half-baked fantasy saga set in ancient Egypt is probably among the low points of Boseman’s career, not the least because of the whitewashing controversy surrounding some of the casting. Boseman himself took the role of Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, to make sure there was a person of African descent in the mix, but even his usual dignity can’t save this CG-addled mess.

Available on Amazon

Disney

Captain America: Civil War (2016)             

When Marvel revealed Boseman as the man who would play T’Challa/Black Panther at a 2014 fan event, it seemed like the most natural pick in the world. And it proved to be right off the bat: Boseman’s introduction in the role in Civil War was electrifying, with the actor showing off not only his action chops but the regality and force of personality necessary to play the young king of the Afro-futuristic nation of Wakanda. His turn in Civil War only whetted the fans’ appetites for what was to come.

Available on Disney+

Netflix

Message from the King (2016)     

Jacob King (Boseman) travels from Cape Town, South Africa to Los Angeles to find out what happened to his sister, ultimately embarking on a mission to avenge her death against a seedy backdrop of gangs, politics and depraved Hollywood producers. Boseman was also an executive producer on the project, which was directed by Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz, who made the brutal Calvaire in 2004.

Available on Netflix

Open Road Films

Marshall (2017) 

Boseman’s last portrayal of a major Black figure in American history was underseen at the time of its release and will hopefully get some revived attention now (albeit under terrible circumstances). Director Reginald Hudlin and writers Jacob and Michael Koskoff focus on the early years of the first African-American to sit on the Supreme Court, and while that unfortunately leaves out some of his titanic later accomplishments, the movie is still a gripping courtroom drama that shows a giant in the making.

Available on: Amazon

Disney

Black Panther (2018)       

What can be said about Black Panther that hasn’t already been said? Thrilling, game-changing, and historic, the first superhero film not just led by a person of color but steeped wholly in African culture was a magnificent achievement in nearly every way. You can feel the passion from director Ryan Coogler in every frame, and a dazzling cast is led powerfully by its King, who embodies T’Challa in such a wholly formed way that he will always be associated with the character.

Available on Disney+

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

With so many characters to juggle in Marvel’s all-in clash against Thanos, it was inevitable that some got less to do than others. T’Challa plays a key role in corralling Wakanda’s armies to stand against the Mad Titan in the latter half of the film, and Boseman again brings a formidable presence even with less to do. Yet it’s no accident that some of the loudest gasps in the audience came when T’Challa was dusted at the end of the film — only hammering home just what an impact he had already made on the MCU.

Available on Disney+

Disney

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

With most of the Avengers and their allies dematerialized until the closing sequences of the movie, T’Challa is not much of a factor in the events of Endgame. But as with the audience reaction to his dusting in Infinity War, the response when he, Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) are the first to emerge from a portal to join the final fight remains a high point of seeing Endgame with an audience. It is beyond sad that we’ll never get to see Boseman in the role again.

Available on Disney+

Matt Kennedy/STX Films

21 Bridges (2019)             

A good cast and interesting premise — Boseman plays a detective who shuts down all 21 bridges on and off the island of Manhattan to catch two cop-killers — can’t save this film from being just average. Boseman is unfortunately given little to work with in terms of his character. The movie boasts a handful of striking action and chase sequences, but ultimately ends up as a rather generic thriller.

Available on Amazon (coming to Showtime Sept. 5)

Netflix

Da 5 Bloods (2020)          

Boseman’s Norman Earl “Stormin’ Norm” Holloway is only seen leading his squadron in Viet Nam during flashbacks in Spike Lee’s messy but often brilliant war drama. But his presence is the linchpin on which this powerful, poignant story rests, as the surviving members of that squad head back to the country decades later to find Holloway’s remains (and a buried stash of gold). This searing commentary on war through the filter of the Black experience is likely to be a major Oscar contender.

Available on Netflix

The post Where to Watch Chadwick Boseman Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3gOy4KW

[rolandfontana]

China Doubles Down on Industry Subsidies: No Exit

After the trade talks with China broke down, the PRC government immediately announced measures designed to support the development of Chinese semiconductor manufacturing. On May 8, the State Council under the guidance of Li Keqiang announced it would extend a long standing series of Chinese government policies supporting the development of the domestic PRC chipmaking capabilities. This group of policies is just the type of Made in China 2025 subsidy measures that have been at the core of the U.S. dispute with China. In fact, it has been reported that failure to resolve the subsidy issue is the primary reason the trade agreement collapsed. See Trade talks face moment of truth as US pushes China on subsidies: Beijing’s state support for core industries remain as sticking point in negotiations. So in other words, in response to U.S. complaints, China decided immediately to report that it would go full speed ahead on a collision course with the U.S.

To clarify, chip promotion policies are typical of the Made in China 2025 program. There are three core elements, all of which critics of China deem unacceptable:

1. Chinese chipmakers receive a tax benefit. The basic plan for general chipmakers is no taxes for 2 years and a 50% reduction for 3 years. For chipmakers that can break the 9 nanometer barrier, there will be no taxes for 5 years and a 50% reduction for 5 more years. This plan was initiated in 2011 in the (国务院关于印发进一步鼓励软件产业和集成电路产业发展若干政策的通知) here. The State Council apparently plans to extend the benefits of this old plan.

2. Creation of the government controlled and funded China National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (国家集成电路产业投资基金) under the lead of CBD Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Development Bank. The plan of the fund is to invest billions in chip manufacturing R&D and manufacturing capacity. This fund was created in 2014 and it did a second round of fundraising in 2018. See China invites overseas investors to propel local chip ambitions.

3. Overal planning and control exercised by the central government. This plan is outlined in the State Council Guideline for the Promotion of the Development of the National Integrated Circuit Industry which was issued in 2014.

As you can see, The PRC semiconductor program is a textbook case of all the U.S. finds objectionable with China’ high tech industrial policy: central government direction and control, subsidies in the form of tax breaks and funding from central government sources (funding with “strings attached”).

What this means is that in the face of the failure of the trade negotiations and the subsequent Huawei Entity List sales ban, the PRC has “doubled down” on its Made in China 2025 subsidy program. Not only will the PRC not back down on the subsidy program, the notice from the State Council makes clear China will in fact redouble its efforts to ensure that the program meets its intended goal. This basic policy position was made clear in a recent announcement from Wang Zhijun of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Wang announced that the Chinese government will continue its support of its domestic chip industry and will expand that support to software and the high tech sectors. Mr. Wang announced that China welcomes the Huawei ban as a push from the U.S. on reviving the chip design and production program: “To offset the possible implications of the ban, the ministry said it would this year introduce a two-year waiver on corporate tax payments for software developers and integrated circuit manufacturers, and reduce the rate on subsequent payments to 12.5 per cent over the next three years.”

As the South China Morning Post concluded after reporting the comments of Mr. Wang, “Beijing’s role within Chinese industry, in particular its financial support for the state sector, has been a major sticking point in the trade negotiations between the world’s two largest economies. Washington complains it puts US companies at a disadvantage, but Beijing says the matter is one of principle and it has no plans to change.”

We can draw two conclusions from the current situation that are commonly missed in the United States. First, China will not change its economic policies. China as a “systemic competitor” will not change. Second, those policies have failed and will continue to fail.

First, it has never been possible the PRC government would make any substantial changes to its technology support and subsidy programs. It has been reported that the U.S. negotiators included eliminating China’s subsidy programs as an integral feature of any trade agreement. It has been reported that the failure of the trade agreement was primarily based on China’s refusal to bend on this issue.

This shows that if the U.S. trade negotiators made a change in the fundamental structure of the Chinese system as a core condition, the trade negotiations were dead in the water from the start. It was never possible the PRC would back down on its subsidy policy. The three features I note above concerning the semiconductor plan are an integral part of the way it works in the PRC government and in the PRC economy.

This approach by the U.S. is a symptom of a fundamentally failed approach to China. The failed approach is the idea that after its accession to the WTO, the PRC would gradually transform into an open, market oriented system along the lines of the U.S., Europe and Japan. The policy is what the Germans call “change through trade.” That policy failed. That failure is permanent. Ten years ago, many believed China would change. Few believe that now and that is why so many who have dealt with China for 10+ years are so frustrated. Fool me once….

The proper way to look at China is the approach taken by German industry in its recent report on China issued in January, 2019.  In the Report, China is identified as “systemic competitor” to the open market economies. As the Report states:

For a long time it looked as if China would gradually move towards the liberal, open market economies of the West by integrating into the world economy and reshaping its economic system. This theory of convergence is no longer tenable. China is no longer developing structurally in the direction of a market economy and liberalism but is in the process of consolidating its own political, economic and social model. At the same time, China as an emerging economic power is shaping other markets and the international economic order. The Chinese model of an economy marked by substantial state control thus enters into systemic competition with liberal market economies.

The Report concludes that China has developed an integrated set of policies in direct opposition to and competition with the liberal open market system. Countries with open market systems must deal with China’s policies as they are and without any hope those policies will change. This characterization of China a systemic threat is a remarkable change for German industry which had until 2019 been reluctant to speak out against the Chinese system. See Germany Industry Comes Clean on China  

Second, it is critical to note that the policies that have been “revived” by the China’s State Council and the MIIT are longstanding China policies that have been in place for more than 15 years. The tax breaks go back to 2011. The government development plan and the chip fund go back to 2014. These are not new policies. These are old policies being revived to face the same problems that existed back in 2011.

Stated bluntly, China is reviving a set of policies that completely failed. As James Lewis bluntly stated in a recent report, “despite 40 years of effort, investment, and espionage, China is unable to make advanced semiconductors.”(See China’s Pursuit of Semiconductor Independence. The tax breaks were a scam, as they always are in China. The chip fund investments, if they were made, were a waste of money. The brutal fact faced by the State Council and the MIIT is that China has made no meaningful progress on chip manufacturing over the past two decades. China makes cheap memory chips, but sophisticated chips still come from Taiwan. China has made little to no progress on chip design. Without design technology from ARM and testing technology from various U.S. companies, no Chinese entity (Huawei included) has any real hope of building a new advanced chip. China is stuck with bulk memory chips or copies of foreign designs. .

The whole policy has been a colossal failure and the Chinese authorities know this. The reports of revived and redoubled efforts are typical of the Chinese bureaucracy: don’t worry, we will do it right THIS TIME. But they won’t. So we should view the PRC for how Germany describes it and how pretty much everyone in the semiconductor industry sees it: a systemic competitor that cannot compete in the world of high technology. Low end, low margin, high volume manufacturing is the world from which China seeks to escape. Nothing from its recent announcements (or the realities on the ground) suggests this escape will ever occur. This means that as the U.S. accelerates cutting Chinese companies off from U.S. technology, the impacts will be far more severe than is generally understood. The Chinese authorities know this. But they are in a box from which there is No Exit.

Like it or not the Cold War between the United States and China (and soon Europe and China as well) is here and if you are not already looking to have your products made somewhere other than China — might we suggest Thailand or Vietnam or Taiwan or Mexico or the Philippines or Indonesia or wherever — you should start. See The US-China Cold War Starts Now: What You Must do to Prepare.

China Doubles Down on Industry Subsidies: No Exit syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

[delwray-blog]

HOW CIVILIZATIONS FALL?

RACE MIXING IS A PLAGUE AGAINST PURITY AND AN ABOMINATION TO GOD.

HOW CIVILIZATIONS FALL?

I have pointed out that disobedience to nature's law is disobedience to God. The success or failure of men on the world stage can be judged in terms of their obedience or disobedience to natural law. When men (men of every race) live in obedience to natural law, specifically in that they recognize and respect the territorial imperative designated by God in creation (Deut 32:8; Acts 17:26), they are culturally prosperous and in harmony with themselves and nature. When clear demarcation lines are violated, there is war, chaos, and cultural diffusion until one culture or another is destroyed.

Nature and nature's God have placed a natural and wholesome antipathy between the races of men. So long as they maintain their own territories, such antipathies will not necessitate bloodshed. It is no surprise, then, that when God told Israel to enter and conquer Canaan, He gave them specific instructions to "utterly destroy them" (Deut. 7:1-6) and to drive out the inhabitants of the land. Canaan was a land inhabited by the Canaanite descendants of Ham, but the land was clearly preordained and intended for the people of Israel, as can be demonstrated by Scripture. In the same way, Europe, Australia, the U.S.A. and all White civilizations were intended for that race. Historical and empirical examples prove this out. History has also demonstrated the machinations of natural law, in that, when White civilizations have tolerated flagrant violations of the racial and territorial imperative, those White civilizations have no matter how great crumbled and decayed.

No White civilization has ever survived the infusion of non-White racial stock into its society. Non-White immigration, whether it be in the form of forced servitude, or voluntary, eventually results in miscegenation. It is axiomatic (self-evident). The history of the world is positively littered with the archeological remnant of great White civilizations that have succumbed to internal cultural and racial decay due to large-scale admixture. Examples are the Royal Dynasty of Sumer (c. 3100-2300 B.C.), Egypt (c. 2950-526 B.C.), Assyria (c. 2400-607 B.C.), Babylon (c. 2000-537 B.C.), Persia (c. 2000-331 B.C.), Israel (1453-585 B.C.), Carthage (814-146 B.C.), Greece (c. 750-168 B.C.), Parthia (c. 720 B.C.-227 A.D.), Rome (c. 500 B.C.-330 A.D.), and now South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Europe, Britain, and America will soon follow.

All of these civilizations either collapsed or will collapse for the very same reason. They all suffer from the same hubris and arrogant pride as exhibited by Whites to this day. All were magnificent civilizations from which flowed the cultural genius of the founding race. Science, philosophy, agriculture, art, and architecture thrived in these civilizations when they were culturally homogenous. But when they falsely believed that they could survive multiculturalism, they died rapid and merciless deaths. America will be no different if we do not take action to change it.

The Founding of a Christian Nation: It does no good to postulate about the future of a country unless we first look at its past. Only then can a diagnosis be made with any degree of accuracy. America's first permanent settlement was Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, and it started with 104 colonists, all of which were White, Anglo-Saxons. The colonies that followed never intended that the new nation should ever be anything other than White. The issue of race simply did not exist. It was taken for granted and was the furthest thing from the minds of the colonists. In that era, the issue of race simply did not exist, and people did not mix racially. It was very rare and frowned upon. The issue that concerned the minds of the colonists was wholly religious in nature. They fled an oppressive system that asserted its claim that church was subservient to and operated under the aegis of government or the state. The colonists believed, and rightly so, that the state and its government should be subservient to the church; Christ as King, His people as subjects. At least one of the early American colonies can be described as being theopolitical in nature. That is, they understood that within Christianity there can be no separation of politics from religion. They believed that government should operate wholly on the Biblical paradigm.

In the New Haven Colony, colonial law came substantially from the Scripture. The people believed that Biblical law was all that was needed to govern themselves, so they adopted the law of God without any innovation: March 2, 1641/42: "And according to the fundamental agreement, made and published by full and general consent, when the plantation began and government was settled, that the judicial laws of God given to Moses and expounded in other parts of Scripture, so far as it is a hedge and a fence to the moral law, and neither ceremonial nor typical nor had any reference to Canaan, hath an everlasting equity in it, and should be the rule of their proceedings." (Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven from 1638 to 1649, by Charles Hoadly, p. 69.) This means, of course, that the whole Law of God (Commandments, Statutes, and Judgments) were adopted as all that was needed to run the colony. One other such entry said, April 3, 1644: "It was ordered that the Judicial Laws of God, as they were delivered to Moses...be a rule to all the courts in this jurisdiction in their proceedings against offenders." (ibid, p.130.)

Having adopted the Judicial Laws of God, the colonists set about using them in everyday affairs. They seemed to be quite serious about it as can be seen by the following example of a servant who was found in violation of Leviticus 18:23, which states, "Nor shall you mate with an animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it". It was recorded that, "One Hackett, a servant in Salem, was found in buggery with a cow upon the Lord's day." ("The Polite Americans; A Wide Angle View of Our More or Less Good Manners over 300 Years," Gerald Carson, p.7.) And so, in accordance with Biblical law, both the man and the cow were put to death.

Negroes Brought to America

It wasn't until 1619 that the first Negroes were brought to the new world on a Jewish owned Dutch slave ship. Slavery was a common practice in those days, though not strictly limited to Negroes. There were many White slaves as well. In the book "Why Civilizations Collapse" by Drew L. Smith, he explains why White colonists did not perceive a threat from Negro slaves. He says, "The slowness with which Negro slavery developed in America…was undoubtedly a factor that contributed to its acceptance by the colonists." He continues,

"Moreover, the average colonial could never quite visualize the negro becoming a real danger to his civilization. The lowly status of the slave and his complete subjugation to White control placed him in such a position in White society that to consider him ever attaining a position of equality with White people was unthinkable." Indeed, it was unthinkable, at first. But ultimately Whites began to see a threat, numerically, at least. Slavers began to see such a profit in Negro slaves that they came in droves. Once colonists began to notice this, they made attempts to curtail it. In 1698, South Carolina passed special laws to encourage the importation of White slaves as opposed to Negroes. In 1708, Rhode Island, in an attempt to discourage importation of Negro slaves, laid a tax on all Negro slaves, followed by New York in 1709, Pennsylvania in 1712, and New Jersey in 1713. Ultimately, Georgia and Virginia passed laws forbidding importation of negro slaves altogether. Additionally, once the land became thoroughly saturated with Negro slaves, it became necessary to pass laws that severely punished miscegenation (race mixing). Virginia and Maryland passed such laws in 1664 and Massachusetts in 1705-06. Eventually, every state passed such laws. It was a practice that was looked upon with disgust and revulsion, and such laws were written to PUNISH what was already forbidden by Biblical Law. Drew L. Smith (ibid. p.64) says, "it was felt that those few Whites who were without race pride should not go unpunished."

The sad truth is that as men destroy or violate the clear demarcation created by God for our good we come into close contact with each other in violation of God's intended purpose. As will be the end result of prolonged exposure, men begin to "play God" and miscegenate. It should be pointed out that when a White slave owner mixed his seed with a female slave, the act was, scripturally speaking, no different than "one Hackett, a servant in Salem, [who] was found in buggery with a cow." The act remains a violation of Biblical Law and the punishment the same: death scripturally speaking. By the time the people of the colonies decided to declare themselves free of English rule, the country was a well-established ethnostate. Though slavery continued, laws were established to prevent racial intermarriage, and there was an informal policy of ethnocentrism. For example, only White men were fully men, Negroes being considered 3/5 of a man for legal purposes, and were considered chattel property of Whites. The wording of the Declaration of Independence, which included the phrase "all men are created equal”, was clearly never intended to mean that negroes were equal to White men, but rather to illustrate that colonists were equal in every regard to their English brethren. As proof, consider that the draftees were of 100% Anglo-Saxon descent, many of which were slave owners.

The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787, is another document prepared by a 100% Anglo-Saxon convention. The "people" referred to in the preamble of the Constitution, and to whom the document applies, are specifically WHITE PEOPLE. The question of whether or not either of these documents give protection or rights to the Negro was dealt with in the Dred Scott case, wherein Chief Justice Taney stated, "It is too clear for dispute that the enslaved African race was not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration."

Subsequent American history is the testimony to the valiant struggle of Whites to maintain cultural control over their society. In retrospect, it becomes clear that the initial sin of violating the territorial imperative set in motion a historic battle of a good and wholesome people, on one hand, fighting to maintain a Christian society by setting legal boundaries to control mixture and maintain homogeneity and make the best of a bad situation. On the other hand, there has always been a large segment of society who reject God and Godly principles, labeling them "evil" and "discriminatory." These people, whom I call racial abnegators, live their entire lives in a debased state of defiance to nature and fight for the death of purity. In 1911, Representative Seaborne Roddenberry, of Georgia, attempted to pass a ban on interracial marriage by virtue of a Constitutional Amendment. He saw that several states could not be trusted to maintain anti-miscegenation laws, so he sought out constitutional protections. In his appeal to Congress, he stated, "Intermarriage between Whites and blacks is repulsive and averse to every sentiment of pure American spirit. It is abhorrent and repugnant. It is subversive to social peace. It is destructive of moral supremacy."

These were strong words which were not the least bit out of sync with public sentiment at that time, and, sadly, this amendment failed to pass Congress. Regardless, many states still had bans on interracial marriage, and it remained largely the policy of the states in this country for the next 300 years!

Loving vs. Virginia

In 1958, two Virginia residents, a White man named Richard Loving, and his "childhood sweetheart", a Negress, left state and went to Washington D.C. to get married. It was illegal to do so in their home state. When they returned to Virginia, however, they were arrested under § 20-58 of the Virginia Code, which smartly covered as a crime exactly such behavior as that exhibited by those two above. The crime of miscegenation in Virginia was a felony. §20-58 of the Virginia Code states: "If any White person and colored person shall go out of this state, for the purposes of being married, and with the intention of returning, and be married out of it, and afterwards to reside in it, cohabiting as man and wife, they shall be punished as provided in § 20-59 and the marriage shall be governed by the same law as if it had been solemnized in this state. The fact of their cohabitation shall be evidence of their marriage." Section 20-59, which defines the penalty for miscegenation, provides:

"If any White person intermarries with a colored person or any colored person intermarry with a White person, he shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for not less than one, nor more than five years."

At the October term of 1958, the Loving’s were indicted, and on January 6, 1959, they pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 1 year in jail (the marriage being voided by Va. Code Ann. 20-57 which states, "All marriages between a White person and a colored person shall be absolutely void without decree of divorce or other legal processes") but the judge suspended their sentence for 25 years on the condition that the Lovings leave state. The opinion of the trial judge was as follows:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay, red, and he placed them on separate continents. But for the interference with this arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

This judge in 1959 understood what all un-reconstructed Whites know instinctually, and stated it unabashedly in his opinion to the court. This was common knowledge in the 50's.

In contradistinction to that, we can look to the Justice of the Peace named Keith Bardwell, who just recently (Oct.17, 2009) in Louisiana, refused to marry an interracial couple. This man, for 34 years, served as a Justice of the Peace and never once performed a single interracial marriage. He

claims to have performed hundreds of black marriages, but on principle refuses to join interracial couples. He says that in such unions children suffer. This man told the truth, and for that, he is now being demonized and called a horrible racist. My how our society has changed!

In the 14 years leading up to the Loving vs. Virginia case, 15 states dropped their bans against interracial marriage. Afterward, 15 more states dropped their bans. The last two holdouts, remarkably, (and nobly I might add) were South Carolina, who in 1998 dropped its historic ban against marriage "of a White person with a negro or mulatto or a person who shall have one eighth or more of negro blood," and Alabama, who overturned its law banning miscegenation in November of 2000!

Now in America, there is literally no restriction on marriage which is based on Biblical morality.

The issue of race and marriage is passé and has been replaced with the issue of same-sex marriage. All pretenses at morality have been abandoned, and where once noble Whites worried about suitable marriage for their children, they now worry about whether or not we'll have enough children to sustain ourselves as a race.

How did we go from on one hand having national policy rejecting as "repugnant" and "averse to the pure American spirit" the act of miscegenation, to one of attacking as "racists" those sane few who either read their Bibles and reject the anti-God abomination of race mixing, or simply understand that as a nation of race mixers, we must necessarily become culturally bankrupt?

War of the Pulpit

Ideological revolutions are won or lost depending on the vulnerability of the pastors. In the book Cultural Reconstruction, it was noted that the religion of a people is always at the vanguard of every cultural revolution. If the pastors are strong in the Word, they will make a stand against evil no

matter how unpopular their stance. But a weak and compliant preacher will fail the people every time. When this happens nations collapse.

Liberalized clergymen have been at the helm of the push for equality and integration over the last 300+ years of American history. Those who were not actively involved remained deathly quiet for fear that they would be labeled "racists." Evil is a subtle tonic. It did not ask clergymen to fall in lockstep without first offering them an alternative belief system to that "rigid" and "demanding" one found in God's Law. That belief system is what I call anti-belief: Antinomianism.

 Antinomianism teaches that faith in Jesus frees men from the strictures and demands of the law and that men are "dead" to the law. It is not a new teaching, for such changes in doctrine take time. The Scripture says that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and antinomianism, over time, has become the foremost teaching in American churches. It can be summed up in the words of John Agricola, who in 1537 said, "Art thou steeped in sin, an adulterer or a thief? All who follow Moses must go to the devil; to the gallows with Moses!" Agricola pushed the idea that to obey the Law of God could only result in going to "the devil." The law became evil under this kind of thinking.

The Joachimite Heresy is another example of bad doctrine that has infected the church. It teaches that there are three ages of man. The first age was the age of the Father; the age of justice and law. The second age was the age of the Son; of Christianity of the church, and of grace. The third age is the age of spirit; when men become gods and a law unto themselves. It is a play on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but just another form of antinomianism.

The fallacy of this teaching is that since the law is dead, men can no longer sin. When men become immune to sin, they are free to do anything they please without concern for judgment. This is evil.

Antinomians have essentially done away with the entire Old Testament. Today, it is not at all uncommon to see a Christian with a copy of the New Testament only, and most have never read the Old Testament, having been taught it is obsolete in our age. The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible has this to say in regard to this notion:

"The time-honored distinctions between the OT as a book of law and the NT as a book of divine grace is without grounds or justification. Divine grace and mercy are the presuppositions of law in the OT, and the grace and love of God displayed in the NT events issue in the legal obligations of the New Covenant." I do not believe that Christians can understand the New Testament without having first read the Old. Attempting to understand Scripture without first studying law is to deny Scripture and reject God.

There is no stronger recipe for disaster than to push antinomianism in a society governed by egalitarianism. I do not like to oversimplify in an article, but there comes a point where an article will never end unless its content is limited. I believe that, like an octopus, or a hydra, evil works many fronts at once to achieve its goals. Within Christianity, Satan appears as an angel of light to fool the spiritually weak. Change within the church and its doctrine is dialectical in nature. It is a slow process of incremental change. Allow me to use this similarity to express how such change works:

"During the recent occupation of the Sorbonne, a student obliterated a large "No Smoking" sign near the entrance to the auditorium and wrote: "You Have The Right To Smoke" in its place. In due time another student added: "It Is Forbidden To Forbid." This slogan has caught on and is now appearing in many places which have been taken over by the students. In foot-high letters in the Grand Hall of the Sorbonne, someone has written: "I take my desires for the truth because I believe in the truth of my desires!"

Careful study will reveal just such a dialectic at work in the church. It began with one or two individuals introducing an idea based on their rebellion to law. In time others add on to this rebellious idea until it becomes doctrine, and ultimately, as is the nature of revolutions, sloganeering and philosophy.

In Christian America, the slogan is "Diversity is Our Strength!", but this is the end result of a long struggle against the truth. The media helped to precipitate change through the use of subliminal messaging and finally advocating open rebellion against traditional Christian morals and values. It is rare that one can watch television these days where you do not have to see White women slobbering on Negroes or homosexual love scenes. Our society is spinning out of control in rebellion against God.

Our educational institutions have taught for years now the theory of evolution and the concept that race is not real. They teach that race is only skin deep and that we all share the same basic DNA. This is a lie, of course, but a complicated one that can be counted on to tickle the ears of 21st-century reprobates.

And, of course, the courts are at the very helm of the war on White Christian culture. Never in history has there been a more frantic push against God and Morality. The Supreme Court has almost single-handedly executed genocide on Whites and their fragile culture in the last 70 years.

In 1946 the courts commanded the integration of the military. In 1954, Brown vs Board of Education caused the integration of public schools. In 1964 there was the Civil Rights Act, and, eventually, Loving vs Virginia allowed the death of purity as policy. This is just a few of hundreds of such cases where Whites have been attacked by the court. Each and every day there is another case reported in the mainstream press glorifying this "progress" in the war against morality.

Now ask yourself why. Why the push for lawlessness and multiculturalism? If Christians think about it, they will see clearly that a mongrelized society is an Abomination to God! If we can all be made to believe that we can legally race mix and remain Christians, we will end up as Sodom and Gomorrah: a society completely dead to God and rejected by Him. Christians who have taken the time to read this article should see that over a period of time our nation has been desensitized and re-educated into a nation of anti-Christs. We have gone from being a homogenous society unashamed to protect our culture and with the ability to see what is obvious (there is no such thing as equality!) to a society of people who jockey for position to marry our beautiful daughters off to the nearest Negro!

The Scripture is unchanging. It is not subject to the whims of man! It clearly tells Christians to come out from among them and to be separate. It tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers! Trust God and His natural life order, and preserve your family in purity against that day of redemption.

Race mixing is a plague against purity and an abomination to God! Shun it and those who practice it. Do not enter a church with a multicultural congregation, for you will not find God therein! May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob bless you with truth, Amen!

RACE MIXING IS A PLAGUE AGAINST PURITY AND AN ABOMINATION TO GOD.