#to like mak e a statement

[sparklecur]

what if i Got Meta With It and tricked people into shipping soleil and redd

[speedyartist30]

Restless nights (end)

Makalo:“Hey,they are making memes of us now. Type in “ If I was in the store..”

Ethan:“There are so many of these.”

Makalo nods and send them out to his friends with a snicker. The internet always seemed to joke about nearly everything and Makalo was eating up all the memes and reaction videos he could find about their stunt.

Ethan on the other hand wasn’t that interested as he may have been if he never saw that creature on his drown. Right now he wasn’t interested in laughing at memes. Taking his glasses off he checked on Jay, who was out cold thanks to flu medicine. Seeing this as an opportunity to talk without Jay overhearing he gets Makalo’s attention.

Ethan: “Hey, Mak I need to….show you something important.”

Makalo: “important? Like how important?”

Ethan:”Well…you just have to see it.”

Standing up from the couch Ethan and Makalo go to Ethan’s room. Turing on the light and closing the door Ethan takes a seat and plugs his phone into his laptop as he pulls up the footage. Turning around in his swivel chair hands the Laptop to Makalo.

Ethan: “Before you click play I’m letting you know there is a bug on there. And when you see it I really need you to not scream….ok?”

Makalo:”E, it’s just a video it’s not like it’s going to crawl out the screen.”

Makalo clicks play and watches the footage,but as the video went on Makalos smile started to fade as he leaned closer to the screen.

Makalo: “What is- AAHHH!!!!”

Taking the laptop Ethan quickly shushes him and loudly whispers

Ethan: “Dude shut up!!!”

Slapping his hands over his mouth Makalo takes a deep breath,but his eyes are still comically wide as he stands up and heads for the door.

Ethan: “Where are you going?”

Makalo: “I’m going to tell Jay!”

Ethan:”You can’t tell him what you saw.”

Makalo:”Are you nuts!! Why not??!??”

Ethan: “You saw how he reacted when that purple monster thing was loose. Jay is a workaholic he will not stop if he knows that this……bug thing is out there.And he already has the flu he’s not going to have the engery to fight that thing now!”

After hearing Ethan’s statement Makalo thinks back on the past few months they been living together and not one time does he remember Jay taking a day off.But another part of him doesn’t want to lie to his friend.With a defeated groan Makalo sits on Ethan’s bed.

Makalo:”Fine….I won’t tell him.”

Ethan: “Great now all we have to do is make sure he doesn’t find out until he is not sick so keep your cool.”

Next day..

Jay:*Something isn’t right…*

Coming downstairs Jay noticed that Makalo and Ethan are really quiet compared to there usally loud mornings. Ethan has been glued to his phone while Makalo keeps jumping at any little sound.

Jay: “Did something happen when I went to bed last night?”

Ethan:”What?No of course not?”

Jay: “Are you sure? It seems like something is bugging you two.”

Makalo: “WHERE?! WHERES THE BUG?!”

Standing on top of the couch Makalo looks around the room with a shoe in his hand. Jay blinked, what the heck is going on?

Jay: “uh…there’s no bugs here. Why are you so jumpy all of a sudden?”

But instead of giving an answer Makalo just looks at Ethan,who shakes his head.

Guilty he  looking back at Jay who looks los.  Makalo caves and tells him the truth.

Makalo: “I CANT DO THIS ANYMORE!!!!! ETHAN SAW THIS BIG MUNTANT WASP ON HIS DRONE!!!!! AND HE WONT LET ME TELL YOU!!!! I HATE BUGS!!!!! THERE MENACES TO SOCIETY!!!”

Flopping back on the couch Makalo let’s put a sigh of relief. Ethan smacks his forehead in disbelief and disappointment.Frowning at the response but still keeping his composure Jay folds his arms.

Jay:”Explain. Now.”

(After explaining)

Jay: “So you two didn’t want to tell me because I’m sick?”

Ethan: “Jay you have the flu. You’re not suppose to be doing anything right now but rest.”

Jay:”So? That doesn’t mean you keep things like this away from me.”

Makalo: “Jay we would have told you but…you’ve been looking really tired lately and you still do.”

Ethan:”I just thought…..if I kept this a secret…then we can just relax and not have to stress for a while. Yesterday was…a lot and I didn’t want to ruin the mood when we were finally able to just relax.”

Hearing that Jays irritation faded a little but he knew what he had to do. Sighing Jay ran a hand through his hair.

Jay:” I know you two mean well….but you can’t stop me from leaving.”

Makalo: “But-“

Jay:”I’m going either way so I’m giving you two a choice. You stay here or come with me.”

Jay: “Makalo, since you’re clearly afraid of bugs you don’t have to come.”

Makalo: “I’m not scared of bugs! I’m only scared of the ones that sting or bite.”

Ethan: “Dude that’s like every bug”

Makalo: “Whatever. I don’t want to be left alone here so I’ll go.”

Jay: “We leave in 5 minutes. Bring what you need.”

The guys head to their room to grab what they need, all of them picking something different.

Jay doesn’t wear his suit since he’s still sick and wants to stay warm, so opts to where a burgundy hoodie and some sweatpants.He brings cough drops and his maskEthan brings a backpack to carry his drone 

and Makalo brings bug spray,which Ethan makes him take back in the house. When settled they all climb in Ethan’s car.

Jay:”So this is going to lead us to your drone?”

Ethan: “Yep, it’s pretty far out there hopefully it didn’t get stuck in a tree or something .”

Makalo:”Why do I have to sit in the back?”

Ethan: “Because your dumb self want to spray yourself with bug repellent!”

Makalo:”ITS FOR PROTECTION!!!!!”

As the boys rode down the road the tracker leads them to a dead end.

Jay:”Looks like we have to walk the rest of the way”

Ethan:”Great….”

Makalo:”…”

Stepping out the car the group stepped into the forest.Leading the group was Ethan as he held his phone to lead to his drone with a steady beep echoing. Behind him was Jay who kept an eye out for the wasp so it doesn’t sneak up on them while Makalo is clingy on to his arm like a scared child. He couldn’t stand bugs.

Jay: “Makalo…you’re in my space.”

Makalo: “Sorry.”

They walk deeper into the woods. Ethan spots his drone so he jogs ahead.The drone was covered in puncture holes and one of the wings was missing but the camera was still intact. Picking up his drone he sighed seeing the damages up close.

Ethan:”Damnit, this is going to take forever to fix…stupid bug.”

Makalo:”Ok we got the drone lets leav-“

Jay: “Ethan….don’t move.”

The sound of branches breaking cut Jay and Ethan didn’t hear him as he stuffed his drone into his backpack. Ethan turns toward them.But what he saw was Makalo clinging back on Jays arm. Makalo looks like he seen a ghost as his eyes go wide and Jays eyes started to glow gold as his free hand started to spark with lighting. But they are not looking at him they are looking behind him.Above Ethan was the wasp hovering a couple feet in the air. Jay slides his arm out of Makalos iron grip and whispers quickly..

Jay:”When I move you run ok.”

Makalo:”o-ok.”

In a blur the wasp’s plunges to the ground right towards Ethan, but Jay was faster. Running towards Ethan he grabs his backpack and yanks him out the way then he launches himself into the air meeting the wasps halfway and sending powerful kick into the wasps head, sending the bug directly into a tree. The wasp quickly gets up with an animalistic screech that sent every bird into the into the sky in a flurry of screeches. Getting into his stance Jay yells over his shoulder.

Jay:“Run! I’ll catch up!!

With that Makalo and Ethan rush back to the car. Seeing the wasp’s coming after him Jay jumps up into a tree and starts jumping from branch to branch while the wasps swipes at him with its stinger. Dodging and ducking its blade like limbs Jay found his self tiring quickly. Coughing into his fist he heats up his powers.

Jay:*time to end this.*

Climbing to the top of a tall tree with the wasps hot in pursuit, Jay jumps into the air. With a hiss the wasps reaches towards him. Jay manipulated his lightning to replicate the hot sting of electricity,he grabs the wasps antennas and sends a huge shock of energy. With a loud screech the wasp dives back down to the earth with Jay hanging onto its back as it tries to know him off. Spinning it’s body Jay loses his grip as he goes free falling.Hearing the wind blowing past him Jay covers his head as he start to feel branches hit him on his fast decent down but he eventually lands on a branch.

Getting the wind knocked out of him Jay rolls to side as he tries to stop himself from coughing from his already sore throat.

Jay: “This*cough**cough* sucks…”

Looking up he sees the wasps still screeching as it runs into crashes through trees. It’s form trembling as the electricity leaves its body. Turning its body towards Jays another set of arms shoot out the wasps back and at the end of each arm was a long blade.Staring in complete shock, Jay jumps out the tree as the wasp slices the branch he was just standing on. Running deeper into the woods Jay dodges the wasps attacks as it swings the blades at him as he pushes himself to run faster.Starting to feel his legs burn Jay stops and ducks as the wasps barely missed him and he sends a punch to the wasp’s thorax to by himself some time.

Jay:”Maybe….I can get it to hurt itself.”

Looking around Jay spots a open area with a big oak tree. So he runs toward it with the wasps snapping it’s mouth at him. Letting himself slow done alittle so he doesn’t crash Jay runs up the oak tree and flips off landing behind the wasps. Being to big to change directions the wasps goes head first into the oak tree with a sickening crack.

The head was squashed against the tree and the body is no longer moving.

Turning off his power Jay drops to the ground as he tries to catch his breath which his burns his throat but his aching muscles are thankfully for the break.

Meanwhile at the front of the forest a loud screech sounded and followed by an even louder crack causing Ethan and Makalo to stop in their tracks. Looking back they both had the same thought as they ran back into the woods calling for their friend. Running into an opening space they find Jay on the ground not far from the dead wasps.Running up to him Ethan grabs his wrist to check for a pulse but instead felt a quick shock sting his handSiting up looking at slightly dazed Jay looks at his friends. With a relieved smile Makalo tackled Jay while Ethan tried to get the tingling feeling out his fingers.

Ethan:”OOOWWW!!!!”

Makalo:“ YOUR ALIVE!!”

Jay:”ow….”

Makalo: “sorry.”

Ethan: “So….it’s dead?”

Sitting up again Jay look’s behind him to see the now headless wasp lying against the tree. Disgusted yet curious Makalo grabs a stick and pokes it.

Makalo:”Ewww what happened to its head??”

Jay: ‘I tricked it so it ran into the tree. I guess the impact made the head explode.”

Jay shakily stands on his own so both Ethan and Makalo grab an arm and place it over their shoulders as they make their way out the woods at a slow pace for their sick friend’s sake.As they walk Jay speaks up…

Jay: “I don’t get it. Why was the wasps so aggressive when we didn’t even bother it?”

Makalo:”Because they are demon spawns from hell.”

Ethan:”That’s not it genius. Wasps usual don’t attack unless-“

Ethan froze causing the other two to stop with him.

Makalo:”Unless..what?”

Ethan:”Wasps d-don’t get aggressive unless there is a nest nearby.”

Putting the pieces together Makalos faces pales.

Makalo:”Wait…..so you’re saying .”

With a tired sigh Jay adds

Jay:’There’s more than one.”

[homosexuality-at-its-finest]

Request! 😸

Pairing: Steve Rogers & Son!Reader

Plot: [events of "Age of Ultron" reimagined with reader included]

Ultron arises and attacks the Avengers Tower (attacking reader first). After that, he proceeds to go to Johannesburg to get vibranium from Ulysses Kaule. With Pietro and Wanda as recruits, Ultron kidnaps reader and makes Wanda manipulate him into fighting against the Avengers. The group of heroes were already on their way to Johannesburg to stop Ultron when reader was kidnaped - so they don't know it happened. Reader, who has been secretly working on his own fighting suit, appears by surprise at the battle - eyes blood red due to the spell cast by Wanda - and attacks the Avengers, including his own father, Steve. The battle goes on with reader skillfully taking down others (Clint being his first victim) until Wanda is defeated by Steven, making the spell break and freeing reader from the spell. Ultron ultimately wins the battle though (like in the movie), and the Avengers go back home in their jet with reader with them this time. A lot of talking takes place during the flight back home between father and son about how did he get there, what had happened and how and when did reader make his equipment/suit. It's more of an action-focused story rather then relationship-based, but the father and son relationship is still there! ☺️

A/n: Steve Rogers is protective tm, which is a mood. Thanks for the request darlin! I hope you like it :3

Plot: Requested

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Son Reader

Y/n: Your name

N/n: Nickname

E/c: Eye color

H/c: Hair color

Warnings: Cussing, fighting, mentions of blood and injuries, mind control, reader is kidnapped, protective dad Steve, Steve’s POV

Word count: 1482

When Steve came out of the ice, he never imagined having a kid, or being on a team of superheroes who regularly saved the world. He had been lonely after coming back from a 70-year nap and had decided to look into adoption, where he had found his wonderful baby boy Y/n.

He loved his son more than anything else, if he lost his son, then Steve would lose himself. He never imagined truly getting to be a father and had never realized how terrifying it truly was. He constantly worried for his son, and he constantly worried that he wasn’t a good dad.

It was hard to control those feelings, but something easy to control was refusing to allow his son to join the team. He knew damn well that Y/n was a genius, he was exactly like Tony, constantly building and improving everything he could get his hands on.

He knew that the teenager would fit well on the team and would be damn useful, but he vehemently refused to put his son in the line of danger. That had caused many arguments between the father and son, one that had ensued the previous day.

The team had gone to a Hydra base to get the scepter, something far too dangerous to be in the hands of a deranged organization. Y/n of course wanted to come, but Steve had refused to allow it, which only got worse when Clint came back injured, and Y/n made the statement of if he’d been there that wouldn’t have happened.

It was hard having a son that was so stubborn like himself, but it was also a trait about his son that he greatly admired. Thankfully the fight had soon died down as the concern for Clint was too much for the teenage boy. The team was his family and he’d do anything for them.

Clint thankfully had the cradle and was able to heal quickly, much to the team’s relief. Because of the previous day’s victory, the team was celebrating. Of course, Tony invited a number of people, and the loud chatter and laughter filled the common room.

Steve could see his son hanging at the back of the room, not really interacting with any of the strangers. In turn he was just chatting with Bruce, a fellow introvert on the team.

He kept his eyes on the H/c haired boy throughout the evening, a bad feeling stirring around in his gut. The party eventually died down, and all that was left was the ragtag team of heroes, making jokes and conversing.

The night had gone to shit when a robot of some kind had attacked them, and the entire team had begun to fight the creature and its minions. Much to the father’s displeasure, his son joined in on the fighting, protecting Hellen from getting hurt.

The night only got worse when it was brought to the light that Tony and Bruce had created the monster, Ultron they had called it. Things between the team were tense at best, Steve was raging at the fact that Tony had created a killer robot that had tried to destroy them.

He’d sent his son off to bed, even though the teenager had argued with staying and helping the team. Things only got worse from there, the team had to go all the way to Johannesburg to get to a black arms dealer named Ulysses Kaule. It hurt Steve to leave his son behind, especially on bad terms, but he refused to let his little boy get hurt.

Unknown to the father or the team, the tower had been infiltrated by the two enhanced individuals that Ultron had enlisted. Pietro and Wanda were specifically looking for the teenage boy, having Y/n on their side would turn the tides in their favor.

They found the teenager lying in his bed, eyes closed and headphones fir snuggly in his ears. Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice they were there, and Wanda easily manipulated the boy’s mind, causing him to gasp and his eyes flew open.

His E/c eyes turned to a glowing red, any emotion on his face melting into a neutral and blank look. As Wanda spoke to the boy, forcing him to pack up the suit he’d been working on and follow them.

Back with the boy’s father, he was fretting over his son. He still had a bad feeling that he couldn’t explain, but he somehow knew this mission was going to go sideways.

As they arrived and began to interrogate the criminal the feeling only seemed to get worse. The feeling was proven right as Ultron arrived with two enhanced individuals by his side. It was Wanda and Pietro, the two teenagers they had been warned to be wary off.

A battle began to ensue, the super soldier fighting with Ultron as his fellow avengers dealt with Wanda, Pietro and all of Ultron’s minions. The fight seemed to almost pause as a boy dressed in all black dove down from the ceiling.

His eyes glowed an unnatural red as he grabbed Clint with ease and threw the assassin as though he’d weighed nothing. Something about the boy was painfully familiar but Steve couldn’t understand why.

The newcomer was a brutal fighter, punching, kicking and doing whatever he had to, to get the other person on the ground. He’d taken down both Clint and Thor before he was prowling towards Steve.

He honestly didn’t want to hurt the kid, he was absolutely terrifying, first of all, and second of all he exuded teenager vibes. He probably was no older than 16, and God he really didn’t want to hurt a kid.

The captain shifted the shield on his forearm, taking a breath as he prepared to fight the boy. He heard almost silent footsteps behind him, causing the man to slam his arm back and straight into the head of Wanda, who was trying to get behind him and put him under the same spell she had on many other team members.

The woman went down like a bag of bricks, her brother quickly coming to her aid. As the witch went down, so did the mystery boy, his eyes fluttering as he collapsed in front of Steve.

The super soldier skillfully caught the boy, his heart jumping to his throat as the familiar E/c eyes looked up at him, full of confusion.

“Dad?” His voice sounded so small and innocent, it nearly crushed Steve. Part of him wanted to question his son, why the hell he was there and why he was fighting his family like they were the enemy, but right now he was more concerned with his health.

“Hey kiddo, it’s okay. I’ve gotcha.” Steve soothed his son, easily picking up the boy. His eyes wandered over the black suit, he had to admit it was all rather impressive. Steve had no idea his son could fight, let alone take down two of the Avengers.

As the father and son made their way towards the Quinjet they got many looks from the team members, most of them confused on how Y/n had gotten to Johannesburg, and why the hell he was fighting for Ultron.

Steve gently sat his son down in one of the seats, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. He hated how tired and defeated his son looked. Steve’s fingers gently raked through his H/c locks, a soft sigh leaving his lips.

“Are you okay?” Steve spoke quietly to his son, almost as though he was scared of breaking him with his voice alone.

“No.” Came an honest reply, voice thick with unshed tears. “One second I was at home and now I’m here and judging by the way the teams looking at me I wasn’t here on friendly terms.” The boy curled into himself, arms wrapping around his stomach.

“Oh N/n…” Steve moved forward, pulling the boy into his chest. The father pressed a kiss against his hair, letting out a soft sigh.

“We know you weren’t in control, none of us blame you for what happened.” It haunted Steve to think about the way his son’s eyes glowed unnaturally, he looked so lifeless.

His son curled closer to his chest, sniffling a little bit. He felt awful for hurting his family, even if he couldn’t control himself. Y/n just hid his face in his father’s chest, eyes falling shut with a small whine.

Steve cupped the back of Y/n’s neck, bringing him closer. He wished his baby didn’t have to go through this pain, and he’d fight till his dying breath to make sure this never happened again.

[schraubd]

FIRE's Proposed Anti-DEI Legislation is an Academic Freedom Trainwreck

FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression -- formerly Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) is a controversial organization that works in a controversial area. By and large, though, I'm a FIRE defender -- I tend to think they get more right than wrong, and strive to be genuinely evenhanded in dealing with threats to academic freedom on campus.

But this makes it all the more striking to read their proposed model legislation targeting "DEI statements" at public universities. It is nothing short of an academic freedom trainwreck -- the sort of vague censorial tool that in most contexts FIRE would be blasting the alarm over. That it does not just endorse but drafted this disaster show is deeply worrisome and disconcerting.

I've written before trying to tease out the connection between DEI statements and (threats to) academic freedom before, which is far more complicated than groups like FIRE are letting on. The core problem is that while I absolutely agree that DEI statements can be used in abusive ways to create an ideological monoculture, it is actually very difficult to distinguish such statements from other arenas in which academic actors are asked to make normative assessments of their peers (for example, regarding teaching or scholarship) -- arenas which also are prone to ideological abuse. Almost inevitably, an "anti-DEI" rule that tries to have any teeth will put at risk basic practices of academic evaluation, and will do so regardless of any disclaimers to the contrary. This risk is only accentuated by the impossibly vague language that purports to distinguish licit versus illicit appraisals. And university bureaucrats who want to avoid potentially crippling financial liability (we'll get to that in a moment) are going to be very defensive regarding what is and is not permitted, inviting exactly the sort of administrative interference in academic affairs that FIRE purports to oppose.

The core practice FIRE targets in its legislation are requirements that academic community members or job candidates "pledg[e] allegiance to or mak[e] a statement of personal support for or opposition to any political ideology or movement, including a pledge or statement regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, patriotism, or related topics." In addition, the law would forbid any institution from "request[ing] or requir[ing] any such pledge or statement from an applicant or faculty member."

Right from the outset, this is impossibly vague. Academia is, of course, beset with normative controversies. Some are very specific questions of disciplinary dispute ("Is originalism the best way to interpret the Constitution?"). But many are broad questions of academic mission. "Should university education be primarily vocational or academic in focus?" "What is the best way that professors can create a supportive learning environment for their students?" "What do you hope students will get out of your classes?"

These questions are contested, and often politically contested. For example, on university education as academic versus vocational, many conservatives contend that universities focus too heavily on hoity-toity theory and should instead concentrate on disciplines which prepare students for specific workplace jobs; liberals, by contrast, are more comfortable with the classic model of a liberal arts education where the project of learning and development is valuable even if it doesn't directly translate into a specific career arc. Are all of these questions qualifying "political ideologies or movements" that fall under the ambit of the law? If not, what conceptually distinguishes those questions from the seemingly-similar question "How do we render our institution equitable and inclusive to the diverse populations that we serve?" If the questions are identical in form, then the only basis for specifically banning DEI related questions is ideological hostility -- an imposition of state orthodoxy under the guise of pluralism.

One possible response is that the question is fine so long as it actually is a question, and does not dictate a particular answer. So if you ask "What is the best way that professors can create a supportive learning environment for their students," there are multiple ways to answer that question; the question does not require a "statement of personal support for or opposition to" any particular ideology, since the respondent is free to take any stance they like on the subject. By contrast, it would be problematic to ask job candidates to explain why the Socratic Method simply is the best way to create a supportive learning environment, since now they are being compelled to express support for a particular (pedagogical) ideological view, and we should be open to a diversity of positions on that subject.

Problem #1 with this response is that it's not clear that the model legislation permits even this, insofar as asking them to take any position on "supportive learning environments" arguably requires them to issue a "statement of personal support for" the practices they endorse, and opposition to the ones they reject. The law is vague as to whether it prohibits requiring candidates to endorse one favored view on an "ideology", or if it prohibits requiring candidates to simply present a view on the subject.  At least for DEI, the text points towards the latter -- the language prohibits requirements of statements "regarding" DEI or "related topics." So even an open-ended question which expressly invites multiple potential answers is forbidden if the subject matter of the question "relates" to DEI.

Problem #2 is that, assuming the model legislation does permit questions like "What is the best way that professors can create a supportive learning environment for their students" because they're open-ended and don't demand avowal of a particular ideological view, then it's unclear what distinguishes that sort of question from standard DEI statement questions. Contrary to popular belief, most DEI prompts do not take the form "explain why Derrick Bell is the greatest political theorist since Rousseau" (and if that sort of request is all that's being covered here, the law scarcely does anything at all). They are far more likely to be framed as something like "How do you propose making your institution equitable and inclusive to the diverse populations that we serve?" That question, too, can be answered in a multitude of ways, and so is not different in kind from all the other normative appraisal questions that are endemic to academic life (and which also can elicit strong views and significant political controversies).

In order to carve out a distinction for why DEI is different, one might make one of two arguments. The first is that although the DEI question is nominally open-ended, everyone knows that there is but one "right answer", and that answer is kowtowing to the politically-correct standards of the moment. To begin, I'm dubious that this is true at least in the strong form (there might be some answers generally thought of as wrong, but there is not only one answer accepted as right). I'm also skeptical that a complaint that is fundamentally about abusive-applications can justify prohibiting such questions as a class. I'll concede that it's probably true that a job candidate whose views on a given issue of concern are sharply at odds with their employers will be at a disadvantage in the process; I'll even concede that a flat unwillingness to even consider a contrary view is deeply malformed practice.  But that a candidate who answers a DEI question in a fashion at odds with prevailing sentiments may be at a comparative disadvantage to others cannot alone suffice to establish that the statements are being "abused" or that the statement's usage is tantamount to a desire to create a monoculture. The core risk -- dissidents are disadvantaged -- is always present for any normatively-laden assessment, it is not distinct to DEI. It exists for the academic job candidate whose views on pedagogy or research sharply diverge from the departmental line, it exists for that matter for the corporate job candidate whose views on business expansion break from the general consensus held by the executive leadership. Across the board, for any normatively-laden question, dissident candidates are probably at a disadvantage. If that fact is enough to justify banning an interview question, then we have a lot of questions to ban.

The second potential argument for why DEI questions are materially different is that the DEI question, while admitting multiple answers, still encodes certain values inside the question's very structure as presuppositions which an answer must tacitly endorse -- i.e., that values like "equity" and "inclusiveness" are in fact values the university should pursue. Someone who rejects the very premise will struggle to answer the question. But this "distinction" actually isn't one; similar presuppositions are likely embedded into most normative questions. "What is the best way that professors can create a supportive learning environment for their students," embeds a presupposition that professors should try to create a supportive learning environment; a candidate who rejects that premise (thinking, perhaps, that students learn best in a trial-by-fire academic Sparta) would likely be at disadvantage. Again, the objection here would cover far, far too much.

And at this point we do start to see FIRE unsuccessfully try to cabin its law's reach, with a provision contending that "Nothing in this Act prohibits an institution from considering, in good faith, a candidate's scholarship, teaching, or subject-matter expertise in their given academic field." Great verbiage; no idea how it works in practice. Suppose I, in good faith, believe that demonstrating capacity to work with and respond to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, is part of assessing a candidate's teaching (or, for that matter, scholarship or subject-matter expertise). Can I ask about that? I have no idea, but I suspect the answer is "no", notwithstanding this supposed carve-out. FIRE is I suspect embedding a normative presupposition of its own: that issues "related" to DEI never are in good faith connected to valid considerations of academic merit. But this position is very much a contested one -- I'd contest it -- and certainly should not be encoded into state law as legally-compulsory orthodoxy. Again, 90 times out of 100 FIRE would be screaming bloody murder about this sort of thing -- they are a victim of their own blindspots that they don't see how they're promoting exactly the sort of legislation they normally abhor.

And speaking of legislation -- we shouldn't conclude without talking about penalties for a moment. They have several different penalty formulations, but they all coalesce around proposing six-figure monetary fines "for each violation of the act." That's gigantic on its own, and certainly will counsel extreme defensiveness by university bureaucrats and lawyers regarding what faculty are and are not permitted to say in job interviews or other like forums on matters of DEI. The potential for censorial chilling is massive. But worse, the law does not tell us what counts as a single violation. A college posts hiring announcements across a dozen different departments, requesting application materials which are later determined to include Forbidden Questions. Is that one violation, or twelve? Probably twelve, meaning that a $300,000 fine just got converted into a $3.6 million fine. Or worse -- each of those job postings (based on what I know of the academic market) will likely get 250 applications. And since the structure of the act suggests that each individual applicant is separately injured by unlawful consideration of the Forbidden Questions -- well, 250 x 12 x $300,000 = Nine Hundred Million Dollars in potential liability. Given that exposure, you better believe that the university bureaucracy is going to be policing faculty hiring and promotion practices with a very fine-toothed comb to root out anything that could even possibly represent eliciting a statement "relating" to DEI as interpreted by whatever lickspittle Ron DeSantis has put in charge of oversight. And I guarantee you that the ensuing bureaucratic regime will be far more onerous, oppressive, and censorial than anything currently happening at the behest of DEI offices.

FIRE knows better than this. It knows that the strong arm of state regulation and compulsion is almost inevitably toxic to the free and open exchange of ideas on campus, and it knows that academic freedom means that it must be the academics themselves -- not bureaucratic meddlers, not state legislatures, not politically-appointed boards -- who get to decide how to appraise their peers and the requirements of their discipline. Some academics do not think that matters of DEI are germane to that assessment. Many others think they are quite germane, not because we demand all candidates adhere to the One True Path, but because I absolutely want to know that any potential member of my academic institution has at least thought critically and comprehensively on the subject of how to best create an equitable and inclusive environment for a diverse educational community. That interest of mine is no different than my wanting to know that they have thought on how to create supportive learning environments, or wanting to know that they have thought on how the important normative questions that are part of many research agendas. In terms of what conclusions they draw from that critical consideration, I'm willing to hear a wide range -- I don't have a single answer in mind that is the only acceptable conclusion. But it doesn't matter, because under FIRE's view if I try to elicit information on the wrong subjects I risk bankrupting the university. That can only have a censorial and chilling effect.

It is not possible to declare the topic of DEI a Legally Forbidden Question without doing catastrophic damage to academic freedom, and the manner in which this law proposes to enforce its prohibitions will inevitably generate a nightmarish cavalcade of bureaucratic censorship. To be blunt: Academic departments are absolutely entitled, as part of their discretion to determine how to assess disciplinary, pedagogical, or service-based standards, to decide how and to what extent questions relating to DEI are germane to their evaluative appraisals. I do not doubt there are departments that will exercise their discretion in a fashion that I would not approve of; I do not doubt that are departments that will exercise it ways I find impossibly narrow-minded and abusive. It does not matter: any state legislation which limits that fundamental prerogative of academic independence and faculty self-governance is a limit on academic freedom -- full stop. Problems of abuse, to the extent they exist, are not validly delegated to state legislatures, and FIRE absolutely knows better than to argue otherwise.

This legislation is a stain on FIRE's reputation. They should withdraw it, and they should reflect on just what it is about this issue that caused them to so flagrantly abandon their normal principles regarding academic freedom. That an organization that has done so much to fight for academic freedom is poised to usher in this sort of censorial dystopia is fiendish irony. One hopes they backtrack before it becomes reality.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/n0aDTWA

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 38 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 38 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

“Lady, your watch is over.”

“Oi know t’at, Forst Officer Karas.  We ‘ave special orders from t’e Ca’tain.  Send a runner t’ assemble t’e wotch.”  She seized the wrist of the watch-drummer as he was about to beat ‘Assembly.’

“We are still under silence.  Go, bring t’em all.  Quietly.  Nae so muckle as a shout.  Lookoots t’.”  One look at the cold gray eyes lit by the shielded watch lamp convinced him.  He went swiftly and silently.  Only a bit more creaking from the rigging told of sailors going up to get the high lookouts and bring them down.  Men and women were assembling before the quarter-deck.

Shortly, the entire watch was assembled.  They had got the idea that silence was needed and waited for her to speak.

“We are changing t’e protocol o’ orders.  T’e drums’re t’ be silenced.  Nae shouting.  Orders’ll be delivered by runner.  We are doubling t’e lookoots.  Ane’ll run messages.  Utter silence’s essential.   Does ever’ane understand t’is?”

A nervous sailor, nameless in the crowd said, “Clear, Ma’am, but for one thing.  Why?”

“We ‘ad a mutiny.” The shocked looks that this simple statement caused made her clarify, “Direct orders were willfully disobeyed.  An innocent person, nae o’ t’e Grandalor wa’ murdered in circumstances t’at implicate most o’ t’e ship. Soon t’ere’ll be a ‘unt up, ‘ence t’e silence.  Anyt’in’ more’ll ‘ave t’ come from t’e Ca’tain ‘imsel’.  Oi understand t’at ‘e’ll address t’e ‘ole crew tomorrow morning.

“Lookoots: rig bosun’s chairs from t’e ‘ighest points o’ masthead t’at can be reached.  We need all t’e warning t’at we can get.

“Each mast crew an’ t’e jibs, choose runners t’ stay ‘ere an’ return t’ yer stations.  Be ready for a major course change. Go!”

The course change was done with only the sound of rigging creaking and protesting as the sails were set for the new course.  The Grandalor heeled over on her new tack and the rhythm of the waves driven asunder by her bows changed.  Tanlin pointed out a constellation to the helmswoman.

“Make due for t’at group o’ stars.  We Arrakans call t’at constellation ‘t’e Fangs.’  W’at do ye folk call ‘t?”

The woman did not pause from hauling on the steering tackle to set the course exactly as she answered, “Near enough the same.  That’s the Dragon’s Jaws.”

“T’ank ye.  Let t’e next wotch know t’at Oi’ll be up t’ tell t’em o’ any change or even t’at t’ere’s nae change.”

“Very good, Ma’am.”  The helmswoman finished trimming their course and added, “Permission to speak frankly?”

Tanlin scanned the tidy decks and rig of the big square-rigger to be sure of their privacy before answering.  “Speak, an’ t’at wit’oot fear.  Ye are Dragon safe in m’ ‘ands.”

“Strange expression that.  Arrakan?”

Tanlin checked their course and, satisfied responded, “Aye.  W’at ye say ends ‘ere.  Oi’ll neither reveal ‘t wit’oot yer permission nae ‘old ‘t against ye.”

The helmswoman made a minute adjustment as the wind changed a tiny bit. “I saw you look about the ship before answering.  What did you see?”

Mystified, Tanlin answered, “W’at should Oi see?  A neat an’ well run ship. I’ t’ere a point t’ t’is?”

“It will be clear in a moment.  The Grandalor has always been a ship of last resort.  The refuge of those in need of a last chance.  Few of us came eagerly.  Many of us, myself included, owe our very lives to this ship.  We were not a happy crew and she has not been a happy ship.  That changed some Wohans back.

“You’ve never seen the Grandalor as anything but shipshape.  Do you know when it became a neat, well run ship?  It began when your cousin was chosen as Barad’s cabin-girl.  She was one of those who dove to survey the wreck of the Princamorn.  She was made Captain’s cabin-girl only a few weeks after your ship was wrecked.   Nobody expected her to live for very long after that, or ever to see her again.  Barad’s cabin-girls used to disappear.

“While you lay in that coma, Kurti had an effect on the Captain that nobody else ever had.  It was a good effect for all of us, in small ways. We started to be more ship-shape because she got the Captain to pay more favorable attention to our work.

“She was allowed freedom of the ship, and to go armed.  No cabin-girl and few of the crew ever before had such freedoms!  Only she, Barad and Doctor Corin knew that she was dying.

“Kurti got a treatment resistant case of lung parasites when she dove on the Princamorn.”  The helmswoman shuddered at the memory.  “That’s an awful way to go.  Barad himself carried her to sickbay the morning of her final attack.  We’re pretty sure that he loved her even though they could never have married.   We really thought he’d go mad from grief.

“I was right here at the tiller tackle when the Orca Whale came and sang for her.  It was so weird.  It sang and jumped for over two hours.  I guess that Dark Iren sent it to give you to us when he took her.  

“You know how the Captain watched over your recovery.  What you don’t seem to know is that you continued the good that Kurti started. That’s what is important to us all.  We in the crew are glad for you both.

“You and Kurti looked so much alike that you were mistaken for her when you were brought aboard,” Darkistry paused and admired the rising of swift little Dorac, setting the sea to glittering orange flame with it’s early light.  “Nobody that knows you for ten minutes can mistake you for her.  It’s been discussed, gossiped about and dropped.

“I did say that things were better in small ways.  Happiness doesn’t come from a big thing.  It’s the pile of little things.  We’re happy now and proud of our ship.

“The whole Night, all three watches, voted to tell you this.  We’d reserved the main square at the Gathering so that we could all do this for you both.  In public for all to see.”

She dropped to one knee, held out her hands, palm up.  Tanlin, guessing what was coming, held out hers, palm down and clasped the woman’s hands.  The helmswoman said steadily, in spite of obvious emotion, “I, Darkistry Colm Grinna, now of the Grandalor alone, pledge myself to the Captain, Barad, the Lady Tanlin, and the Grandalor, my Ship.  Behind me in this oath stand the whole of all three Night-Watches.  We shall bear no other name but Grandalor.”

“Oi hope ye forgive m’,” said Tanlin, near choking on the lump of joy in her throat, “but Oi must say t’at Oi donnae belong in such an oath.  ‘T should be t’ t’e Ca’tain alone.”

Darkistry said thoughtfully, “We considered that.  You can’t navigate without both sea and sky.  It’s the two of you who make this ship work.  It must be both or naught.  We have not forgotten that even at his worst, Barad stood by us and gave us a ship and a chance.  With your coming we got pride as well.  We will not let the two of you down in your need.  We will stand by you to Iren’s Halls.”

Tanlin took a deep breath and said, “T’en Oi must take yer oath as tis dune in t’e Arrakan fleet, ‘oose custom Oi know,” and she took Darkistry’s hands into a different grip, so that neither had a hand above the other.  “For m’ Ca’tain, Barad Maks Grandalor an’ m’sel’, Tanlin Miken Princamorn, Oi take yer oath.  Yer life’ll be as safe in our ‘ands as t’e Dragons allow.  Ye are now adopted t’ t’is ship, nae only signed on as crew, but given an’ freely taking ‘ts name.

“T’ese ‘ands are equal, Oi nae ‘igher, nae ye lower.  Toget’er, we are ane ship.  Stand wit’ m’.”

Darkistry looked into Tanlin’s face and saw tears of joy limned by the pale light of Dorac now clear of the horizon.  She stood.

“Oi must tell t’e Ca’tain, an’ Log t’is event.  Oi’m glad t’ know ye, Darkistry Colm Grandalor.”

“Will you go find Mister Karas first?  Just say, ‘It is done.’  He will know what you mean.”

“Oi’ll do ’t.  ‘E’s up by t’e mizzen mast,” said Tanlin, going forward.  She found First Officer Karas in conversation with his second officer, Mikalat.  She touched his shoulder and said, “Tis dune.”

He began to kneel but she stopped him with a gentle hand.

“Give yer oath t’ t’e Ca’tain ‘imsel’, tomorrow.  T’ere’ll be a general assembly o’ t’e crew t’ explain w’at’s ‘appened. ‘E’ll be glad o’ t’e support.”

Back in their cabin, Barad noticed that Tanlin was not coming to bed.  She was busily preparing papers and striking names from the watch-book and Log.

“What are you doing, Tanlin?  It is far too late to be faking papers. Falsehood cannot get us out of this mess.”

“Ye ’ave been t’e master o’ t’at art,” she smiled at him. “‘Owever, t’ere’s nae false ‘ere.  Only trut’.  T’will gladden ye t’ know t’at all t’ree o’ t’e night-wotches ‘ave just been adopted an’ sworn t’ ye and m’.  T’ese parchments are t’ confirm t’e fact.”

Barad’s brow furrowed.  “All of them?  That’s nearly a third of the crew. How did it happen and how did you get into their oath?”

“Luve,” she said gravely, “t’ey were goin’ t’ do ‘t in public at t’e Gat’ering.  Wen t’at became impossible, t’ey deputed t’e ‘elmswumon, Darkistry, t’ swear for t’em all.  Oi protested bein’ in t’e oath but t’ey wad ‘ave ‘t nae ot’er way. Said ‘t wa’ t’e twa o’ us ‘ad made t’em a ‘appy ship.”

“Perhaps I have undervalued their happiness.  I have never had anything like this happen before …” he trailed away in thought.

“‘Appiness’s a ‘ard t’ing t’ calculate,” she responded calmly turning back to her documents.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

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[ethepromqueen]

FT WILLZ THEORY

"the letter e is the prom queen, try to live without it. can you or can't you? nothing would mak sns. h is hr and sh is h. you s?"

Can we just talk about this line for a moment!!!

-- "nothing would make sense. he is her and she is he. you see?" --

There's a lot of theories, and in my opinion pretty solid proof that F.T. Willz is Frank Iero. If this rings true then is this a veiled statement about the theories that Franks wife (Jamia) looks like Gerard or that Gerard's wife (Lyn-Z) looks like Frank???

Or is frank throwing aside gender norms & the idea of heteronormative ideas & challenging G to "live without the letter e" ??? With the confusion of "he is her and she is he? Is he questioning gender norms & heterosexual coverups? Or is it all just THAT big of a coincidence.

[blaze8403]

Power Pad - Boxing Training Technology Russian Russi R311IAN like this one written and idea to be brought to attention next to A Government Vehicles not well Homeland Guy or Homeless Guy like Family Guy or Family Guys and more then craft designs maybe the craft or tools of the trade like God or Gov not just in god we trust or God on my Dog tags A Dai Gensui or Dai Gensua Ai Hawkins after Korea town Heak spell Head and China town Chin or International Naval Agencies maybe National Intelligence Agencies Channel or Straight maybe circle like pie when the moon hits the eyes or a sight for sore eyes the Rocky IV Russian inspired technology I can not wait to say yes I would love to find myself Training in room punching A Cushion that registers everything I would like it to I am completely willing not un compliant or with complaint at all other then competency but I can complain only say file a complaint and life or file not X yes much effecting life around me I rather be much to myself especially when I train be it music or no music my own experiments and what I intend to experience and record my own interest in my own ability and true power and much more them just speed times force equals power yes a dispute in martial science the power slow gentle strike and the opposed fast punch with speed equals power the martial science suggest more the just speed equals power as to where the power comes from divine energy or power of will with What I call power pad the evolution software and system for Russian Advanced Evolution of Rocky iv just vi like 4 or 5 D before m or v like E before N or W the Russian Technology I would like to improve for myself and others be it suit likely Russian Governmental Technology not Civilian Technology so I know it would be done over night and ready for civilian use 24 hours later if so but IAF and International Armed Forces Military Boxing Technology if so sure as long as I have I want it for me its not punching a heavy bag I need accurate measures in readings to say on computer by graph and chart every time I punch it should show me digital readings but the computer should me more by now 2020 or give or take one hundred years or so people count or may not 2120 well 1970 and 1980 yes by now if punch it should register time day second damage force power Kinetic transfer visual feeds as two say the punching pad becomes a person brick wall to show applied force something personally for me as to the cement or brick wall or brick I punched at may not be the contact of where the brick broke dim mak training and such what I Likely seek to capture and by now What i call power pad And Russian and International Armed Forces cooperating successfully we can make this technology from that past and modernize for my training conditions as I expect to learn more about myself and what physically humanly and super humanly yes it may as I punch in bunches record each punch and in the end of sequence accurately delivering a total of in Score form from my pov its one upping me High Scores of the charts beating my own score like all I do is work and train no leisure fun or enjoying luxuries and my Imperial Nature as Imperial Majesty of China and combination with my Way of life Tao Dao Bushido and such with my Japanese Imperial Armed Forces Navy JAIN Nature to better my self and better and better then me and want to be better then myself only thing can do is want to better and do better then myself in all honesty and I may enjoy personal accomplishments along the way yes this the Mission For Russia and IAF in the International Armed Forces Professional Championship Boxing Power Pad - Written to The Russian Government an International Armed Forces and Russian Mission Statement

Written by Dai Gensui Generalissimo Admiralissimo Philo Professu Tsu Teri Madosier Terry Lee (Kauffman) Hawkins Regnal Teremiah Hawkinos the 1st

[kerahlekung]

Sapa lagi bakal melompat...

Sapa lagi bakal melompat....

Dulu, waktu kjaan PH perkenalkan e-wallet, lebai2 bangang ni tunjuk cerdik. Mereka kata e-wallet ni agenda cina DAP utk lariskan perniagaan mereka kerana kedai2 dan pasaraya cina yg byk boleh guna e-wallet.  Kedai mak cik kiah yg jual goreng pisang mana ada guna e-wallet, kata lebai yg berjanggut sejemput ini. E-Tin Milo ada kot...

Nah, sekarang kjaan pintu belakang yg mendakwa kjaan Melayu Islam ini nak guna e-wallet pulak. Ertinya, kedai Mak Cik kiah goreng pisang skrg telah guna e-wallet kalaupun bukan "E-Wallaun" mungkin E-Tin Milo...  Selidik2 punya selidik rupa2nya walaun ni bising sebab tak cukup RM20 jer. Ceh! 20 henggek punya pasal, berbakul DAP kena maki... - f/bk

A reminder to those dealing with authorities...

It was a reported a few days ago that an aide to the Muar MP, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, alleged in a press conference that she was harassed by officers from the MACC. The aide, Siti Nurul Hidayah (above), claimed that MACC officers shouted vulgar words to her and threatened to physically assault her. She also claimed that the officers ordered her to stand on one leg and raise both hands for 30 minutes. The press conference garnered public attention. After the MACC’s image which went through a recovery stage during the Pakatan Harapan administration, what was said to have happened to Siti Nurul was worrying.  Many raised alarm bells of a return to the "dark days" of old, when state institutions were abused for political purposes. The MACC has denied the allegations. A police report has been lodged, and it is hoped that a transparent and free investigation will be conducted by the relevant authorities. At the same time, the issues surrounding the allegations are hotly discussed. Many want to know what their rights are when arrested by the authorities, or when called upon to assist investigations.

What is important to distinguish at the outset is the difference between a suspect of a crime and a witness who may assist investigations. Both may be asked to give statements, but there is a difference between how they would be asked to do so. For a witness, the authorities will usually contact and request the person to attend a location to give a statement. A notice will be issued and the person asked to attend must comply. Failure to do will result in further action to compel attendance.

However, for suspects, they will usually be arrested for investigations. They will then be remanded and while in remand they will be interrogated and be asked to provide a statement. It must be stressed that circumstances whereby a person is prevented from moving freely, asked to go to the police station or confined to a room, would all effectively amount to an arrest.  It matters not whether the arresting person denies the arrest or otherwise. As such, a person who feels that he or she is arrested should inquire as to whether he or she is arrested. An arrested person has several rights which are guaranteed. These include the right to be informed of the grounds of the arrest. The person making the arrest must inform the arrested person why he or she has been arrested.

Another important right is the right to consult a lawyer. This right is constitutionally guaranteed, and it can only be delayed and not denied. Make no mistake. We all want the authorities to deal with crimes in the country. In this regard, we must give due support to the authorities, whether they be the police, MACC or other bodies.   The vast majority of officers in these bodies carry out their duties honestly and diligently. But at the same time, those who have been conferred powers must use the power given within the framework which has been allowed.  The small few who transgress the boundaries of jurisdiction and power must be brought to justice. To those dealing with the authorities, always remember that as citizens of this country we have certain rights and if our rights are violated there will be avenues to seek remedy from the violators. - Syahredzan Johan,mk

Pakatan Harapan’s Succession  Plans and Economic Challenges...

The fifth and final session of the Forum focused on Malaysia and featured two eminent speakers: Mr Rafizi Ramli (Vice-President, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Malaysia) and Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi (Chairman of Khazanah Research Institute, Malaysia). Dr Francis E. Hutchinson (Senior Fellow and Coordinator, Malaysia Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute) moderated the session. Mr Rafizi Ramli began the discussion by highlighting the significant decline in Pakatan Harapan’s approval ratings in the eighteen months since the party had been in power, from around 80 per cent in June 2018 to around 30 per cent in December 2019. This has, once again, brought the coalition’s leadership transition issue to the fore. While Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has consistently spoken about his willingness to pass the premiership to Anwar Ibrahim, there is no clear timeline nor indication that the handover will begin at any time soon. According to Mr Rafizi, the succession will be decided by a small group of individuals (comprising of Members of Parliament, and members of Pakatan Harapan’s Presidential Council) and will most likely take place after the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in November 2020. There is also a possibility that the transition may not be very smooth, resulting in a major political fallout. The odds, however, are in Anwar Ibrahim’s favour, as he enjoys the backing of the largest bloc of parliamentarians. Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi highlighted that the country has now entered its third year of having less-than-five per cent in GDP growth. He however maintained that this statistic should not matter much. Instead, policymakers should instead focus on the growing economic inequality in the country. The widening disparity between the rich and poor – as reflected by, among other indices, extremely high levels of household debts (around 80 per cent of GDP in 2019) and limited social security nets – suggests that much more needs to be done to help Malaysia attain high-income status in the near future. - ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute

cheers.

Sumber asal: Sapa lagi bakal melompat... Baca selebihnya di Sapa lagi bakal melompat...

[mak-and-linds-dolan-blog]

Apple of His Eye - Ethan Dolan

For: Makenzie

Written by: Lindsey

Disclaimer: This blog is for our personal use & fan fics. You may use your imagination and replace our names with yours. We made this blog so we didn’t use personal one’s on our other blogs. We have our own blogs where we write for everyone, if you’re interested in reading those our blogs are in our bio.

Warnings: Smut and Swearing

"Good Morning my pretty girl" Ethan chimed, brushing the hair away from your face. You smiled as you opened your eyes and spotted your boyfriend's scruffy face. "Hi" you said softly, causing Ethan to smile. He would never admit it, but sometimes he's still shocked that he's lucky enough to wake up next to a girl as beautiful as you.

"Are you excited to go apple picking?" he asked, pulling you close and pressing a kiss to your shoulder. "Mhm" you mumbled, snuggling into him as if you were going back to sleep.

"Heeeeyyyy Maaaakk!" he whined, dragging out your name, "Wake up sleepy head! We have to go early if we want to beat the traffic" he said through a soft laugh as he sat up. As tired as you were, your eyes managed to stay open to watch as Ethan made his way to the bathroom. His messy hair, scruffy face, and half-dressed body were your greatest sources of motivation to get up every day.

As you rolled over to reach for your phone, the sounds of rushing water flooded you ears signaling that Ethan was taking a shower. "Mak!!!! Can you hand me the soap from the counter?!" he shouted, eliciting a groan from you. He certainly was determined to get you out of bed this morning.

You sauntered into the bathroom and handed him the soap through the curtain. Just as you were turning to leave, a hand caught your wrist. Before you knew it you were in the shower. "Ethan! This is my favorite shirt of yours to sleep in!" you yelled, examining the soaked t-shirt that now clung to your body. "Sorry baby girl, I need you" he mumbled against your lips.

His dominant statement sent a rush of heat to your core. Moments later he had stripped you of your clothes, your soaking bodies pressed against each other. "Jump" he said breathlessly, gripping the bottoms of your thighs. You instantly whimpered as the head of his cock brushed against your slit.

"What baby? What do you want?" he taunted, his voice sweet and thick. You opened your mouth to speak but your desperate need for his touch got in the way. "Use your words baby, come on" he said, pressing a kiss to your jawline. "Please fuck me daddy please, I need you" you whined.

Your pleads sent him plunging into you, moans spilling from both of your mouths. "Fuck Mak, you're so fucking wet and tight around me" he groaned. Ethan loved to watch you bounce on him, it was his favorite view of all.

"Oh my God Ethan, fuck!" you screamed, raking your nails down his back. His length had you completely filled and the pace of his thrusts were heavenly. "You like that baby?" he smirked, watching your face twist in pleasure. "Y-yes daddy" you managed to reply.

His lips found your neck, nipping and sucking at the skin. A gasp left your mouth as the pit of your stomach felt that familiar feeling. "Fuck Ethan! I-" you moaned. "Come for me baby, come for daddy" he groaned into your ear before kissing your lips. Moments later you came undone, causing Ethan to spill inside you. He set you down on the ground and offered to wash your hair as you finished up your "shower".

A while later you were both dressed in jeans and flannels, perfect for the fall activity. The car ride to the orchard was filled with loud music and kisses at red lights, something that you and Ethan made a habit of.

Arriving at the Orchard, Ethan was the perfect gentleman paying for your entry and pulling the wagon. "Lets start over here!" you shouted excitedly, pulling your boyfriend toward your favorite kind of apples. He giggled at your behavior and followed you over to the field. The rows of trees were overwhelming so you began picking from the first few branches you saw.

There were thousands of apples to choose from, but the bright and round golden delicious that hung about a foot above your head was one that you just had to have. You tried your hardest to reach for it on your own, jumping every few moments to try to bridge the gap. However, it was too high. "Need some help there, baby girl?" Ethan asked, poking at your side in acknowledgment of how short you are. "Yes please" you smiled, stepping back to let him get through.

Ethan proved to have a different plan as he picked you up off your feet. Carrying you over to the tree branch, he let you have the fun of picking it yourself. "Thank you" you smiled as he put you back down. "You're welcome" he replied, reaching for the apple in your hand. You willingly handed it over, thinking he was going to place it in the wagon but before you knew it, he had taken a bite.

"Heyyy!!!" you shouted, sending him running into the next aisle of trees. As soon as you caught up to him he tackled you in a hug, his arms wrapping around your waist from behind. He peppered your cheek in kisses sending you into a fit of laughter. "Fineeeee here you go" he said as he handed you the apple, "I only wanted a bite."

The rest of your time at the Orchard was spent goofing around and taking cheesy instagram pictures. You know the one- your hand is holding his as you lead him through the orchard. Although he made little complaints here and there, Ethan loved taking pictures with you because all that meant was he had another way of showing off his girl.

"Makenzie! You want to get some cider donuts for the ride home?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. How could you say no to a face like that?

By the time you left, the sun had begun to set painting a beautiful scene across your windshield. You weren't heading home quite yet, you both wanted to adventure for a while. Music blasting, windows down, donuts in hand, you drove on unfamiliar roads taking in the new surroundings. "Look at that sky babe" you said to Ethan as you snapped a picture with your phone. "It's pretty" he answered as the car came to a stop.

You were too busy posting your picture of the sunset to notice the way Ethan was admiring his girl. His fingers tucked a piece of hair behind your ear and then cascaded down your jawline. "I love you" he said quietly, realizing just how lucky he is to have you and this moment.

"I love you too, E" you replied, lacing your fingers together as you headed off into the sunset.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel Expands Conan the Barbarian Universe

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More characters from Robert E. Howard will join Conan the Barbarian in the Marvel Universe.

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Marvel Comics has signed a deal to bring more of Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard’s works to Marvel. Since Conan arrived back at Marvel earlier this year, the company has had great success with the most savage hero of all. Marvel has delighted fans’ bloodlust with both Conan the Barbarian by Jason Aaron and Savage Sword of Conan by a rotating group of bloodthirsty creators. Marvel has also featured Conan leading ladies Belit and Valeria in the Age of Conan series as well as bringing Conan into the Marvel Universe in the pages of Savage Avengers. Conan and Punisher is a thing I never knew I wanted until I got it. 

But now the bloody bond between Marvel and Robert E. Howard’s greatest creation is about to get a whole lot bigger. You see, Howard, the literary father of Conan, created a huge passel of warriors back in the 1920s, some of which have been explored by Marvel in the past, and now they will once again.

“Our readers cannot get enough of Conan, and luckily, we have plenty more to give them,” editor Mark Basso said in a statement. “We’re very excited for readers and the heroes of the Marvel Universe to meet or reunite with more characters from the legendary Robert E. Howard mythos!”

“With their world-building and storytelling expertise, we’re happy that Marvel now will go deeper into the Howardverse to explore more of all his fantastic characters, and spinning new, exciting yarns,” added executive VP Joakim Zetterberg. 

As to which Howard legends are coming to Marvel, Solomon Kane and Dark Agnes were mentioned specifically. Solomon Kane has a history at Marvel. The Puritan monster hunter appeared throughout Marvel’s black-and-white magazines of the ‘70s and ‘80s and was also featured in his own intense, full color mini-series in 1985. Meanwhile, Dark Agnes is new to the world of Marvel Comics...sort of.

You see, Dark Agnes de Chastillon (also known as Agnes de Chastillon, Dark Agnes, Agnes de la Fere, and The Sword Woman) was the protagonist of three Robert E. Howard short stories. In the 1970s, Marvel wanted to add to the world of Conan and bring more female characters to the proceedings. Marvel legend Roy Thomas looked to Dark Agnes for inspiration. Thomas combined the idea of the red-haired, wick-tempered swordswoman Dark Agnes with another Howard female protagonist, Red Sonya of Rogatino, to create the modern Red Sonja. It’s safe to say that in upcoming projects Dark Agnes will be a stand in for Red Sonja, a character that Marvel no longer has the rights to. 

Conan fans should also begin speculating what other Howard warriors could join the fray. There’s always King Kull, if the rights are available, plus other barbarian characters Marvel has never exploited before in comic form. Howard characters like the warrior king Bran Mak Morn and the pirate Cormac Mac Art have yet to really make their bloody marks on the world of comics, but maybe this will change soon, too.

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News Marc Buxton

Sep 12, 2019

Marvel

from Books https://ift.tt/34G8KSx

[hmhteen]

HMH Teen Teaser: WITCHTOWN, by Cory Putman Oakes!

Guess what: Witches are real, and they’re just like us! Want something a bit witchy to read on the beach this summer? Look no further than WITCHTOWN, a new YA novel coming from @hmhteen in July! WITCHTOWN has it all: a girl with a dark past she’s trying to escape, a forbidden romance, witchcraft, and of course, a heist gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Read the first two chapters of this paranormal-tinged YA below!

A MODERN WITCH’S PRIMER

Chapter 1

Havens in Historical Context

Near the beginning of this century, with occultism on the rise around the world, a whistleblower from within the pagan community exposed a secret that had long been protected by witches everywhere. The secret was that in addition to Learned witches, ordinary individuals who studied pagan practices and who could, with practice, learn to channel a small amount of power for their rituals, there were also so-called Natural witches, people who possessed a tremendous amount of inborn power and who required little or no formal training to wield it.

In response to the public outcry over this “unregulated threat to public safety,” the United States government instituted a National Witch Registry and required all Natural witches, under pain of imprisonment, to submit their name, city of residence, and place of employment to a publicly searchable database.

There was a good faith movement within the Natural witch community to comply with this registry.

Over the next few years, in what would eventually become known as the Second Inquisition, the witches who volunteered their identities were systemically ostracized from their social circles, became unable to retain jobs, and in some cases, were hunted down and abducted by private-citizen “safety brigades.” The runaway bestseller The Inquisitor’s Handbook provided these groups with instructions (mostly badly translated from a sixteenth- century copy of Malleus Maleficarum, a.k.a. The Witch’s Hammer) as to the proper method of torture and execution of witches. Law enforcement was slow to recognize these atrocities as hate crimes and generally lackadaisical in its prosecution of the perpetrators. The government’s solution was to seize small parcels of (mostly undesirable) land around the country in order to estab- lish witch-only communities known as Havens. This, it was argued, would remove the threat to public safety and the temptation for hate crimes, while allowing both Learned and Natural witches to live among their own kind, keep their traditions alive, and practice magic in safety.

The greatest of these Havens was a private township created by the late billionaire insurance magnate Reginald Harris, one of the richest and most influential men in the United States and, until his final years, an unregistered Natural witch. Unlike the small, poor, mostly rural communities that established themselves in most of the government-funded Havens, Harris’s town, deep in America’s heartland, was intended to be a pagan utopia: a model of green building, spiritual enlightenment, and, above all, magical living.

It was called Witchtown.

***

CHAPTER ONE

Witchtown looked more like a prison than a town.

For one thing, it was surrounded on all sides by a three- story wall. The massive structure was overgrown with ivy and moss, but when we got within a few hundred yards, I could see plenty of places where ugly, manmade concrete was peeking through the greenery. The walls were sloped at a steep angle, probably to prevent people from climbing them. That thought brought on unwelcome images of invaders scaling the slippery, mossy surface, armed and planning to inflict untold horror on the people — the witches — inside . . .

I chased the thought away.

Those times are over, I reminded myself. For the most part.

She pulled over right beside the sign.

burn in hell was spray-painted diagonally right across its face, in red. Below that, the phrases satan’s spawn and exodus 22:18 were carved into its surface. The usual anti- witch slurs. Not particularly original. But once I managed to squint my way through all of that, the original lettering on the sign erased any remaining doubt I might have had about our destination:

 WITCHTOWN

POPULATION 402 BLESSED BE!

I straightened up a little and looked across the front seat at my mother.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked.

My mother sipped her coffee and didn’t respond right away. After days of near-total silence in the car, my words felt uncomfortably loud, even to my own ears. I wasn’t sure how long our stalemate had lasted. It’s hard to define days based on rest-stop bathrooms and drive-through meals.

She took several more leisurely swallows of coffee. Then she asked, “Why would you think I was kidding?”

“You think now is a good time for this? Now? After eve- rything . . .” I cringed. Even just that little bit of talking had distracted me. Caused me to let my guard down. And the sink- hole of pain I had been keeping at bay reopened itself inside my chest. It felt bigger. Like it had grown stronger. It grabbed me now with an intensity that made it difficult to breathe.

“That’s all behind us now,” my mother said, but I barely heard her.

Too soon. Too soon for reality.

I had to shut it down. I abandoned the conversation, closed my eyes, and sank back down into the passenger seat. I felt for my weathered leather jacket, which I had been using as a blan- ket, and found it on the car floor. I picked it up and covered myself in it, trying to ignore everything but its familiar scents of sage and something else, something even earthier than sage, as I tried to lull myself back into my silent, senseless cocoon.

Oblivion. Oblivion. Take me away . . .

But a hard tug on the jacket brought me back to the here and now. To my mother, glaring down at me with disapproval.

“It’s in the past,” she insisted.

I jerked the coat out of her hand and turned my face to- ward the window.

“Not for me.”

A harder yank pulled the leather from my grip entirely. I sat up in protest. My mother gave the garment a disgusted look and tossed it down at my feet.

“Let it go,” she commanded. Then she added pointedly, “You know you’re the only one dwelling on it, don’t you?”

I bit my lip. That was true enough. But it didn’t make the hurt any less.

The thought brought on a new squeeze of pain, a new struggle to breathe. I retrieved the jacket from the floor again, settled my head against the back of the seat, and closed my eyes.

My mother sighed. “Fine. Have it your way,” she huffed, and I heard her door open. A gust of cinnamon-scented air flew up my nostrils as she exited the car.

After a moment, I opened my eyes.

The annoying thing was I knew, I knew, I was going to follow her out of the car. I could feel it now: the quiet, per- sistent, unshakable pull she had on me. Calling me after her. Forcing me to see things her way.

I burrowed my nose into the soft lining of the coat, mak- ing one last attempt to hold on to my anger. Part of me wanted to believe that every second I stayed mad at her would give me a tiny bit more power. Which was nonsense. I had never had any kind of power over my mother.

Nobody had.

I left the jacket on the seat when I went after her.

She had popped open the trunk and unzipped the top suitcase. I leaned against the bumper and watched as she rooted through a messy pile of clothes.

“Here, hold this.”

She tossed something black and strappy at me. I caught it, instantly wishing I had just let it fall into the dirt instead.

With only a quick glance at the empty road beside us, she stripped off her T-shirt and jeans. She exchanged her flip-flops for the heels, one foot at a time, gripping one of my shoulders for balance. The blue-gray moonstone she wore on a chain around her neck caught the light of the setting sun as she fumbled with the delicate straps on the shoes.

She caught me looking at her necklace, and gestured pointedly at the matching one around my neck.

“Haven’t I always protected you?” she asked. “Hasn’t it always been you and me?”

I took a breath instead of answering. Separately, those two statements were accurate. But together, they seemed to mean something more. Something that wasn’t quite true.

She slipped the dress over her tall, slim body, pulled the clip out of her hair, and shook out the ashy blond strands un- til they bounced, wavy and alive, against her shoulders. You wouldn’t have known she’d been in a car for days.

I was wearing severely rumpled jeans and a tank top. Neither of us suggested that I change. Or do anything with my own long, dirty blond hair, which was piled in a greasy knot on the top of my head. I could only imagine how I looked, next to her.

“We’re not ready for this,” I said.

She put one hand on each of my shoulders. We were the same height, but now that she was in heels, I had to crane my neck up slightly to make eye contact.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you what this place means to us,” my mother said quietly. “Look at it.”

I looked. And when I did, I saw a cluster of buildings, so carefully tucked into the shadow of the Witchtown wall that I hadn’t noticed them before. The structures looked temporary— tents, shacks, and old RVs. They gave me the creeps. Even more than the wall did.

“This is it,” my mother continued. “Everything we’ve ever wanted, ever dreamed of, is inside those walls. We are this close.”

She let go of one shoulder and grabbed my chin.

“But you have to pull yourself together. Right now. Or we haven’t got a prayer. Understand?”

I nodded, more to show her I was listening than anything else. If she chose to take that as a sign that I agreed with her, that was her problem.

She tightened her hand, squeezing my jaw to the point of pain.

“I did it for you,” she said evenly, moving her hands so they were on either side of my face. “You know that, right?”

I flinched. I was still one big, open wound. Hearing her talk like that, in that casual way of hers, was too much to bear. I glared at her. I had seen my mother’s glare many times before. It was beautiful. And terrible. It could make things,

and people (myself included), wilt under its power.

My glare was nothing like that. But I was surprised to dis- cover it had a small effect on her; she dropped her hands from my face and took a step back.

“Too soon,” she muttered to herself, and went back to the driver’s-side door.

I walked back to the passenger door, feeling like I had won a tiny victory. I had made it clear that this time, this pain, was not something she could just breeze past, the way she did with most things.

And yet, even with my small triumph, she had still man- aged to get the better of me. Here I was, getting back in the car. Without an argument. Just like she wanted.

I twirled my moonstone around my finger. Witchtown. 

***

CHAPTER TWO

 The road led us to a large gate in the northernmost part of the wall. The sun had started to set, and the harsh lights on top of the gate shone down on a half-dozen men in black fa- tigues, carrying machine guns.

Private security. Forget prison. Witchtown was a fortress. Reginald Harris had seen to that when he mapped out the place. I had heard enough stories about the guy to know he had been a nutcase about security.

One of the guards had a vicious-looking German shep- herd on a leash. I was too busy watching the dog sniff every inch of our car to hear what my mother said that caused the guards to fall back and the enormous metal gate to open.

We were soon surrounded on all sides by trees, but not before I caught a glimpse of what looked like farm fields. It was hard to tell for sure, as the sun was almost completely gone and the thick trees were blotting out most of the light.

The road changed from dirt to bumpy cobblestones as we approached what I was tempted to call the town square, except it was in the shape of a circle. The space was sur- rounded by a ring of whitewashed buildings with dark, ex- posed beams and thatched roofs. My mother pulled the car up in front of one that looked like all the others. The shin- gle hanging off the front read mayor’s office in quaint lettering.

A smaller shingle underneath said witchtown real estate.

“We’re here,” she said, unnecessarily. She turned the igni- tion off and grabbed my left hand hard so I couldn’t yank it away.

With her free hand she reached up to touch the headless, toga-clad statuette that was hanging from our rearview mirror. “Laverna, bless us,” she said to the figurine, then looked

at me expectantly.

I muttered the same words and reached up with my free hand to brush my fingers against the Goddess. She was mar- ble, but she was never cool to the touch the way marble was supposed to be. She was always kind of warm. Like skin.

I pulled my hand back from the statuette as soon as my mother dropped hers.

She opened her car door and gestured toward the almost- empty coffee cup in the holder between us. I handed her the cup. With her right hand still grasping my left hand, she poured three drops of the leftover coffee onto the ground.

“Darkness and clouds,” my mother said, and squeezed my hand once before letting it go. She unhooked the small fig- ure from the mirror and tucked Laverna carefully into the side pocket of her purse.

The Witchtown Real Estate office was still open. At the door, we were confronted by a woman with frizzy red hair, a skintight pencil skirt, and a slightly panicked expression.

“I’m sorry, but there must have been some kind of mis- take,” she said bluntly, positioning herself so that we could step just inside the door but no farther.

My mother frowned. “Oh?”

The frazzled woman held up her hand; her fingers were clenched around a cell phone.

“The guards called to say they let you in, but they must have been mistaken.” She glanced out the office window at our dusty green Volkswagen and bit her lip. “We have no openings at the moment. My apologies, but I’ll have to ask you to leave now.”

The door to an inner office opened behind her and an- other woman emerged. She was shorter than the frizzy-haired woman, but I could see she had ten times more gravity. She was wearing a tailored skirt suit and heels. Her white-blond hair, which was cut short, contrasted sharply with the deep olive color of her skin, and she had the slightly distracted ex- pression of someone thinking about too many things at once.

She took in the scene before her and raised an eyebrow at Frizz.

“Lois?” she asked.

“Handled!�� Frizz assured the woman, who had to be her boss.

The blonde nodded absently.

Lois flashed us a falsely bright smile. “I’m so sorry for the mix-up. If you’d like to fill out an online application, you’ll be entered into the lottery with the other applicants and con- tacted in due course.”

She gestured behind us, obviously indicating that we should leave.

Instead, my mother braced herself against the side of the door so her right hand was at eye level, her knuckles facing the room.

“I see,” she said, smiling, as though she was not put off in the least by Lois’s rudeness. “And do you have something I might use to write down the website address? I have a terrible memory for such things.”

She drummed her fingers against the door frame. The gesture was lost on Lois, who turned to rifle through some loose papers on the desk as she presumably searched for a pen. But Lois’s boss paused at the threshold of the inner-office door, her eyes fixed on my mother’s hand.

Or, more precisely, on her silver ring.

It wasn’t a very flashy ring. It wasn’t even very attractive. It was just several strands of silver woven together into an in- tricate double knot the exact shape of two tangled-up infinity symbols. But it was enough to make the blonde in the suit stop in her tracks.

She exchanged a brief look with my mother and tossed a file on the desk, right under Lois’s nose.

Lois jumped.

“I’ve got this,” the suit told her curtly. “Take a break.” “But — but I was just —”

“Break, Lois. Now.”

Lois bowed her head and skittered backwards, toward a smaller desk on the other side of the office.

The blonde strode forward and put her hand out to my mother.

She introduced herself. “Brooke Bainbridge. Mayor of Witchtown.”

“Aubra O’Sullivan,” my mother said, taking the offered hand and shaking it. “This is my daughter, Macie.”

“Nice to meet you, Macie.” The mayor shook my hand too and then gestured to a waiting area with an uncomfort- able-looking couch and several armchairs.

I made a beeline for one of the armchairs, but my mother cleared her throat, sat down gracefully on the couch, and pat- ted the cushion next to her.

You and me, her eyes reminded me. You and me.

I gritted my teeth and sat down beside her, as the mayor took the armchair closest to my mother’s side of the couch.

“Please forgive my assistant,” the mayor said, picking up a clipboard. “She was rather hasty. I’m sure we’ll be able to accommodate you and your daughter. Let me just take you through a few lifestyle questions . . . Yes, here we are. Which pagan tradition do you practice?”

“We’re Eclectic, for the most part,” my mother answered. “Mainly Northern European traditions. Some Greek and Roman. Smattering of Egyptian.”

The mayor checked several boxes on the form.

“And how long have you identified yourself as a witch, Aubra?”

“All my life,” my mother answered patiently. She tapped her ring, which caused the mayor to give her an embarrassed smile.

“Of course. My apologies. I’m just so used to interview- ing Learned witches.”

“Oh?” my mother raised an eyebrow. “There are no other Naturals here?”

“Well, we do have one,” the mayor said, with a grimace. “But she’s quite old, I’m afraid, and not quite all there, if you know what I mean. She doesn’t practice anymore.”

“I see,” my mother said, and she was sitting close enough to me that I could actually feel her tense up and then relax.

“You’d be the only true Natural in town,” the mayor said, and then glanced over at me. “Unless Macie . . .”

She trailed off as her gaze fell to the fingers of my right hand. I tucked my naked digits self-consciously underneath my leg.

“No,” my mother cut in. “Macie is not a Natural.”

“Shame,” the mayor muttered to herself as she checked the box marked “Learned” next to where she had written my name. I did not correct her.

There was no box on the mayor’s form for what I was. If she knew the truth, we wouldn’t all be sitting around, bother- ing with paperwork.

But she didn’t know, so she continued on in a cheery kind of a way.

“How old are you, Macie dear?” “Sixteen,” I answered.

“And how long have you been a Learned witch?”

“I’ve been teaching her since birth,” my mother jumped in, before I could respond. “Macie is a very gifted herbalist.”

That, at least, was true. The herbalist part. Not the teach- ing part. My mother didn’t know a comfrey from a clover. I was entirely self-taught, and proud of it, but now didn’t seem like the best time to point that out.

“And have you previously lived in a Haven of any kind?” “Yes,” my mother replied. “Several.”

“I see. Where?”

“Here and there,” my mother smiled and then sat forward, her eyes full of secrets. “Let me be honest with you, Madame Mayor —”

“Brooke, please,” the mayor insisted.

My mother kept smiling. It looked predatory to me, but it must have seemed friendly to the mayor because she leaned in closer as my mother continued.

“My husband was killed in the Second Inquisition. Since his death, my daughter and I have found it necessary to move around quite a bit. I am unregistered, you see. I hope that isn’t a problem?”

“Oh, no,” the mayor assured her. “We don’t discriminate here.”

The mayor’s voice was calm, but her eyes were dart- ing back and forth excitedly. I could practically see her go- ing down her mental checklist, ticking off the categories my mother could fill for her.

Widow of a martyr. Devoted mother. Natural.

My mother was a gold mine for any Haven. A catch.

I, for one, was stuck back at my mother’s mention of a hus- band. That was a new one. I was fairly certain that my mother had never been married to my father. Not that we had ever dis- cussed the subject at any length. All I had been told about my father was that he left. And it had been made clear to me that asking any more questions would not be tolerated.

“Macie and I both feel that we have been on the road for long enough,” my mother went on. “We are looking for some- where to settle permanently.”

“You won’t be disappointed,” the mayor said, with a smile. “Just a few more questions. What level of formal education do you have, Aubra?”

“I have a master’s degree in accounting,” my mother re- plied. “And I’m a certified public accountant.”

Unbelievably, that was true.

The mayor raised an eyebrow.

“That will come in handy,” she said, mostly to herself. It always did. Even witches need accountants.

“Any dietary restrictions?” the mayor asked.

“Macie and I are committed raw vegans,” my mother told her, and I was barely able to hide my groan. “We believe in putting our spiritual needs above our physical ones.”

“That is very dedicated of you,” Mayor Bainbridge said admiringly, then capped her pen and turned the clipboard over in her lap. “Well, I am happy to tell you that by lucky co- incidence, we have a need for an accountant. Our previous one left us rather abruptly . . .” Her words trailed off and she made a face, but pulled herself together quickly. “I can offer you his residence. It’s a one-bedroom apartment. Will that be suffi- cient for the time being, until something bigger opens up?”

“That will be lovely,” my mother said, and I saw a flash of a triumphant grin behind her appropriately grateful smile.

A blur of signatures and forms later, the mayor walked us down the street. She whisked us through a lobby, mentioned something about an initiation ritual tomorrow, and opened the front door of our new apartment with a flourish.

“Welcome home!” she said grandly.

I managed only a weak smile in return. Because I knew that we hadn’t come to make Witchtown our home.

We had come to rob it.

                                                      ***

Cliffhanger alert! If you want to know what happens to Witchtown, pre-order it at the links below!

Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-a-MillionHudson IndieBound Powell’s

[whittlebaggett8]

Russia to Showcase Su-57 Stealth Fighter at Air Show

Russia’s to start with purported stealth fighter will display its capabilities at an airshow outside Moscow at the stop of August.

Russia is expected to showcase the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter aircraft, the country’s very first purported indigenously developed and crafted fifth-era stealth fighter jet, at the MAKS airshow, held at the Zhukovky Global Airport, southeast of Moscow in late August, point out arms exporter Rosoboronexport mentioned in a assertion last week.

“The delegations from the Air Pressure and all the guests of the MAKS international aerospace show in the city of Zhukovsky in close proximity to Moscow will be capable to check out the latest Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets from August 27 to September 1,” the Rosoboronexport statement reads. Two Su-57 prototypes also participated in the 2017 iteration of the MAKS airshow, where the aircraft engaged in mock aerial combat.

Final thirty day period, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian Air Pressure will procure a complete of 76 Su-57s by 2028. “The 2028 arms plan stipulated the purchase of 16 these types of jets,” Putin mentioned on May well 15 through a defense meeting, according to TASS news agency. “We have agreed to acquire 76 these kinds of fighters devoid of the raise in costs in the similar interval of time.”

Taking pleasure in this post? Click on listed here to subscribe for total accessibility. Just $5 a thirty day period.

On the other hand, Putin mentioned that no contract for the 76 Su-57 fighter jets has been signed to date. Ten Su-57 prototypes are now undergoing various levels of screening and evaluation with the Russian Air Power with two Su-57s slated to be delivered to the assistance in 2019 and 2020.

It is unclear no matter whether the Russian military services aviation sector has the ability to develop 76 aircraft by 2028. As I wrote past month:

Notably, the plane will not enter serial output till 2020, as I reported previously. This has principally to do with delays surrounding the Su-57s engine. The Saturn izdeliye 30 will not be all set for serial output until finally at least 2020.

The new engine options enhanced thrust and fuel performance and is reportedly equipped with 3D thrust vectoring nozzles. All of the 10 Su-57 prototypes have been fitted with a by-product of the Russian-designed Saturn AL-41F1S engine, the AL-41F1, an more mature aircraft motor also set up on the Sukhoi Su-35S Flanker-E.

The Su-57 lacks high-stop reduced-observable structure attributes and the aircraft’s sensor suite and other mission systems go on to endure from developmental challenges. The plane also reportedly are not able to have some of Russia’s most highly developed air-released weapons devices, like the BrahMos-A and KH-35UE, in its internal weapons bay, turning the missiles into radar cross portion hotspots.

The Su-57 ought to not be when compared with Western-made fifth-technology plane this sort of as Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in phrases of stealth capabilities, as the plane has to fulfill distinctive operational demands less than Russian Air Drive doctrine.

It is also stays uncertain irrespective of whether Russia has the fiscal signifies to build a fleet of 78 Su-57 aircraft, though Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu observed very last thirty day period that the per-device price tag for every aircraft and affiliated machines went down by 20 p.c.

The post Russia to Showcase Su-57 Stealth Fighter at Air Show appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/06/03/russia-to-showcase-su-57-stealth-fighter-at-air-show/

[maxwellyjordan]

Argument preview: Justices to consider ability of securities investors to sue for faulty disclosures about tender offers

Emulex Corp v. Varjabedian is a case with a simple story and a complicated story. The justices’ approach to this case is likely to turn on which story they prefer.

The case involves Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act, which among other things proscribes “mak[ing] any untrue statement of a material fact … in connection with any tender offer.” Respondent Gary Varjabedian represents a class of investors who claim that petitioner Emulex failed to provide adequate information to allow investors to evaluate the price in a tender offer for the stock of Emulex. The lower courts decided that Emulex could be held liable if the investors could prove that Emulex negligently failed to provide material information in its disclosures to investors. The case raises two questions: whether the investors can sue Emulex for damages under Section 14(e) and, if they can, whether they are required to prove more than that the company acted negligently.

Emulex tells the simple story, which runs something like this. This case is about judicially inferred private rights of action. It is bad when a court infers a private right of action that does not appear on the face of the statute because it usurps Congress’ power to specify the liability regime for the laws it enacts. The Supreme Court has not been in the business of inferring private rights of action for a good 30 years now. It has not previously approved a private right of action under Section 14(e). It therefore should either hold that there is no private right of action or, at a minimum, hold that mere negligence is not enough for liability. If there is going to be a private right of action here, liability should require proof of “scienter,” the most common standard of intent under the securities laws, which requires something quite close to actual intent to violate the securities laws.

The investors tell a considerably more intricate story, along the following lines. They emphasize that Section 14(e) has two distinct clauses. One of them (the clause at issue here) prohibits material misstatements and omissions. The other prohibits fraudulent, deceptive and manipulative acts. It makes good sense to require scienter for the second clause – you shouldn’t condemn somebody for fraud, deception or manipulation if they acted negligently. But it makes much less sense to require intent when the investors already have established that a defendant’s statement omitted information so material as to make the statement misleading. The investors point to an earlier Supreme Court case called Aaron v. SEC, in which the court held that negligence would violate the prohibition on material misstatements in Section 17(a) of the Securities Exchange Act. Because the Supreme Court already had made that ruling when Congress enacted the similar language in Section 14(a), it is only fair to assume that Congress intended Section 14(a), like Section 17(a), to extend to negligent acts. After all, the investors point out, wouldn’t a Congress that was obligating companies to make disclosures about tender offers have wanted investors to be protected from losses that flow from negligently material misstatements?

On the broader question – whether there should be a private right of action under Section 14(a) – the investors point out that none of the lower courts considered this question; Emulex did not contest the point given existing lower-court precedent that recognizes the private right of action. Accordingly, they argue, there is no reason for the court to address the broad question. Moreover, because the private right of action has been recognized without objection for more than 50 years in the lower courts, it would be far too disruptive for the court to reach out to invalidate it at this late date.

As the stark differences between those two narratives suggest, the court’s precedents could support an outcome for either side.  We’ll know much more after the argument about where the justices are leaning. I’ll be watching closely for Justice Stephen Breyer’s reaction. He’s written recently at length (in his dissent in Jam v. International Finance Corp.) about the interpretive problem of how to read a statute that meant one thing when Congress adopted it but would mean quite a different thing today. This case seems to present exactly that problem: The investors are more likely to prevail under the law that existed when Congress wrote the statute, while the company is more likely to prevail under more modern interpretive principles that are employed today.

[Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, is among the counsel on an amicus brief in support of the respondents in this case. The author of this post is not affiliated with the firm.]

The post Argument preview: Justices to consider ability of securities investors to sue for faulty disclosures about tender offers appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

from Law https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/04/argument-preview-justices-to-consider-ability-of-securities-investors-to-sue-for-faulty-disclosures-about-tender-offers/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[payment-providers]

New Post has been published on Payment-Providers.com

New Post has been published on https://payment-providers.com/insist-on-receipt-when-you-pay-by-neft-and-fps/

Insist On Receipt When You Pay By NEFT And FPS

When you pay someone, you expect to get a receipt for the payment. Especially when that “someone” is a business.

Receipt – or “proof of receipt” – must be issued by the Payee / Merchant so that you can use it to independently prove that the Payee / Merchant has received your money. A confirmation from an intermediary like a Payment Service Provider does not count as proof of receipt. 

When you pay with a credit card, you get such a proof of receipt. It’s in the form of a receipt and chargeslip you get from the cashier if your payment was made at the Merchant’s brick-and-mortar store; or e-receipt you see on the Merchant’s website if your payment was made online.

But when you pay via NEFT (India), you don’t get such a receipt. For the uninitiated, National Electronic Fund Transfer is an account-to-account, push-based digital payment method. Operated by Reserve Bank of India, NEFT can be used to transfer money from one bank account to another electronically. Click here to know more about NEFT.

From recent experience, this can become a serious problem for retail banking consumers.

———-

My friend Rajesh had paid the fees for the last semester of his college in June 2017 via NEFT. Not having registered for the bank’s online banking, he initiated the transfer by filling a paper form at the branch near his house. The banker punched in a few details into his computer and told Rajesh the payment was done. When the banker didn’t offer any confirmation for the transaction, Rajesh insisted on getting something in writing. Good move, we’ll soon see why. In response, the banker scrawled a few details on a piece of paper by hand. Rajesh filed the paper away.

Life went on.

Cue to December 2017, when Rajesh’s course ended. His project defence was scheduled in the middle of February 2018. In the first week of February, Rajesh received an email from his college saying they hadn’t received his fees and wouldn’t let him take his viva voce. Rajesh hurriedly retrieved the paper he’d filed away seven months earlier, saw a certain reference number called UTR written on it and emailed it to his college. The accounts department issued a no-dues certificate and let Rajesh complete the project defence. Problem solved. At least for then.

Then came time for the Convocation in the middle of March 2018.

Rajesh received an urgent email from his college saying his last semester fees was outstanding. He once again quoted the UTR. But this time it didn’t work: The college insisted that they hadn’t received his payment and told Rajesh to follow up with his bank.

By then, Rajesh was already working in another city. Since it’d be a pain to go back to his hometown to follow up with his bank, he tried to find a remote solution.

This is what he found out on website of RBI, the NEFT scheme operator:

Q.20. Is there a way for the remitter to track a transaction in NEFT?

Ans: Yes, the remitter can track the NEFT transaction through the originating bank branch or its Customer Facilitation Centre (CFC) using the Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number provided at the time of initiating the funds transfer. It is possible for the originating bank branch to keep track and be aware of the status of the NEFT transaction at all times.

He spent some time on Google and Quora and all his research pointed to UTR as the sole reference for an NEFT payment. Since quoting it hadn’t persuaded the college, he had no choice but to take a day off from work and visit his bank.

As soon as he met the banker, Rajesh was told that his payment had failed. When the banker pulled out the NEFT form from his file, Rajesh realized that he’d made a mistake while writing the college’s account number in the payment request form. Luckily for him, the money didn’t go to the wrong person. As my bank takes trouble to point out, “Credit will be based solely on the beneficiary account number information; the beneficiary’s name will not be used.” Since the (wrong) account number didn’t exist at the Beneficiary bank, Rajesh’s money got credited back to his account. While this happened back in June 2017, Rajesh didn’t have online access to his account and hadn’t bothered to look up the updated passbook, so he noticed the reversal entry only during his latest trip to the bank.

It appeared from this incident that UTR is only a proof of initiation of an NEFT payment. Since UTR didn’t get canceled even after the payment had failed, UTR didn’t seem to be a proof of receipt or even of completion of payment.

When Rajesh narrated this incident to me, I found this a bit strange. I wrote to the Relationship Management Head at my bank branch to double-check. I didn’t get any reply from her. I then raised the subject with an ex-Banker friend. He told me that large corporates send billions to one another without any proof of receipt. While he didn’t say it explicity, it was apparent from his body language that “retail consumers shouldn’t worry too much about lack of receipt for the measly amounts they transfer.”

Still not convinced, I tried to recall how another A2A EFT like FPS handles receipts. I reached out to my ex-colleague Chetan Ghadge who was involved very closely in implementing FPS for a Top 5 UK bank. He reminded me how the Beneficiary Bank is required to acknowledge receipt of each individual payment to the Payer Bank within 15 seconds. If the Payer Bank does not get an ACK within this period, it resends the same payment marking it as a duplicate. It repeats this procedure for three times and, if at the end of the third attempt, it still does not receive an ACK from the Beneficiary Bank, the Payer Bank cancels the payment instruction and informs the Payee accordingly.

In short, while it handles interbank messaging faster than the batch-based NEFT, FPS also doesn’t seem to provide a proof of receipt to the consumer. This was confirmed when I read the following statement on the FPS website: “Once the payment has been made, a confirmation message will always be sent between banks. Each sending bank will decide how this confirmation will be made available to its own customer.”

The operating model of NEFT (and FPS) doesn’t seem to have any provision to issue a proof of receipt.

Maybe it’s only me but I find it ironic that for all the chatter they generate between the sending bank and receiving bank, these payment schemes don’t think it necessary to support communications between the Payer and the Payee, the two most important entities in a payment transaction.

———-

I mentioned earlier that lack of proof of receipt could be a problem for retail banking consumers. You must be wondering why I chose to qualify the customer segment.

That’s because corporate banking customers tend to employ dedicated people and / or technologies to reconcile payments on a regular basis and are therefore able to spot discrepancies quickly. So, lack of proof of receipt is not such a big problem for corporate banking customers.

Ergo, what my ex-Banker friend said about corporate banking customers was right.

However, his attempt to use corporate customers to obfuscate the retail consumer scenario was cheeky. But I won’t blame him. When the Average Joe or Jane consumer hears that megacorporations use NEFT to make high value payments without proof of receipt, they start seeing a halo around NEFT and forget about proof of receipt for their low value payments. If customers forget basic principles so easily and convince themselves so readily, why should a banker disregard the old sales advice, “Once you’ve sold, shut up”?

———-

Like customers of all products, payers and payees have certain responsibilities when they use a certain payment product. However, mistakes happen.

In the above incident, my friend Rajesh wrote the wrong beneficiary account number in his NEFT transfer form; he didn’t notice the reversal entry until much later. (But he did one thing right by insisting on some kind of written acknowledgement of his payment from his bank.) His college goofed up by not checking its accounts thoroughly when it cleared him for his project defence in January.

However, a customer-centric brand strives to deliver good CX even when the customer is at fault, as I’d illustrated in Superior CX Is Not About Who’s Right Or Wrong (hyperlink removed to comply with Finextra Community Rules but this post should appear on top of Google Search results when searched by its title).

(https://twitter.com/s_ketharaman/status/898522463528771584)

Besides, the use of digital payments will get stunted if payers have to go from pillar to post to trace their payment.

If banks and government are serious about promoting A2A EFTs, they should find a way of providing proof of receipt to users of NEFT, etc. (apart from fixing account number and IFSC code nomenclature, size of narration field and other issues I highlighted in Enhanced Remittance Data Could Multiply Electronic Fund Transfer Volumes).

One way of doing this is to replicate the tracker model used by SWIFT, TransferWise, Xoom and other payment service providers. The scheme operator (RBI in the case of NEFT) should set up a UTR Tracker System where payers can enter the UTR on a website and receive the latest status of the payment. Unlike trackers supported by some banks, RBI’s system should have statutory backing – if the website says Beneficiary Bank has credited the amount to the Merchant’s account, the Merchant must accept that as proof of receipt.

As veteran bankers and PSPs would know, it takes a lot more than technology to develop and operate such a system. So it’s not going to happen overnight.

In the meanwhile, here’s my Public Service Announcement:

As soon as you make a NEFT payment, get a receipt from the Merchant.

It’s decidedly uncool to have to do such boring tasks but it could make all the difference between attending or missing a Convocation. Or losing your Internet connection as I wrote here. Or having your electricity supply cut off, which happened to a friend’s tenant who paid her electricity bill via PayTM and got a confirmation from PayTM but the utility company said it didn’t receive her money and disconnected the power supply.

(https://twitter.com/s_ketharaman/status/606468202445553664)

As I mentioned at the start of this post, merchant receipts are available as an integral part of credit card payments. In the light of that, you might be wondering why I’m not recommending the exclusive use of credit card for all electronic payments and shunning of NEFT altogether. That’s because all Payers can’t or won’t pay with credit card and all Merchants can’t or won’t accept credit cards.

I’ve written this post on the back of my friend’s incident with NEFT (India) and my insights on FPS (UK). But this public service announcement may be equally relevant for other A2A EFTs like IMPS and RTGS in India and Zelle in USA as well as for nonbank electronic / mobile wallets like PayTM and PayZapp in India and Venmo in USA.

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[ellathegreatest]

PHILSAT APRIL 2018 EXPERIENCE

Hi fellow aspiring lawyers! Up to this writing, I still have not decided whether I am ready to pursue law, but I decided to take the Philsat to help in my decision making.

Since 2017, aspiring lawyers are now required to take Philsat or Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhiLSAT). It is a nationwide uniform admission test to be administered under the control and supervision of the Legal Education Board to improve the quality of Legal Education and all those seeking admission to the basic law course. PhiLSAT is a standardized battery of aptitude tests designed to measure academic potential. PhiLSAT is a one-day aptitude test consists of subtests on communications and language proficiency, critical thinking skills, verbal and quantitative reasoning. (http://buksu.edu.ph/?p=3078)  Pursuant to the power of the Legal Education Board (LEB) to prescribe the minimum standards for law admission under Section 7(e) of Republic Act No. 7662, entitled the “Legal Education Reform Act of 1993,” the LEB, under LEB Memorandum Order No. 7 Series of 2016, required the PhiLSAT as a prerequisite for admission to the basic law courses leading to either a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree beginning school year 2017 - 2018. (https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/philsat/background-philsat) 

Basically, NMAT= MedStudents PhilSat = LawStudents. 

So this 2018, I gathered my courage and made up my mind about taking the examination. As far as I know, this date (April 8, 2018) will be the 3rd time they will be administering the exam. 

The first time (April 2017) they administered the exam,  a total of 6,575 from the 8,074 examinees passed the first ever Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhilSAT), representing an 81.43% passing rate. (https://www.rappler.com/nation/168966-philsat-2017-results) On the second time, (September 2017)  3,709 (57.76%) out of 6,421 passed ( Legal Education Board). 

Specific information like dates or registration, examinations, coverage, what to expect and the likes can be found here: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/philsat/ . 

Starting this paragraph, I will talk about my experience. 

I registered for PhilSat online and I think during that time, they temporarily put on hold the registration for exams because we were too many (?). So i waited until the hold was lifted and registered. Testing fee is 1,000.00 with 30 pesos extra charge. (How to pay can be found on your Philsat Identification Card) 

They announced that examination rooms will be posted 2 weeks before exam but I got mine 2-3 days before the exam! I was assigned at UST College of Accountancy Building. 

I hail from Batangas so I don’t want to get puyat by waking up early and travelling 3-4 hrs before the exam because I know that will take a toll on my performance (like being sleepy and hungry) so I opted to find a place near UST and stay the night before to be well rested just before the exam. Good thing I have a very good friend who offered her place for free! (Thanks Dan! Iloveyou!) I was able to get ample sleep for the next day. 

Her place is walking distance (less than 5 minutes!!!!) from the building where I will take the exam. (Yasss!) Anything can be worn during the exam and I think I am the only one in a pair of shorts. haha! Just dress comfortably. Reminder: be prepared for the changes in temperature coz airconditioners are unpredictable. they can be working or they aren’t. (hehehe) 

It started to rain a little bit so I brought an umbrella. The weather is gloomy that day that I worried for my ganap on the evening! You will be asked to fall in line upon entering the building so the watchers can check your valid ID and examination pass. 

It was stipulated that you cannot bring anything aside from the listed on the pass so the only thing EXTRA with me are food (just a 500 mL water and a bar of dark chocolate), my umbrella and car key. I didn't even have money! Little did I know that anything is allowed as long as it fits the clear envelope. Still, I did not see anyone with backpacks. 

It was a little past 7 when the watcher assigned in our room called our names and guided us to our assigned seats. So before the entering the examination room, I already peed, ate breakfast, and continuously prayed. 

Just like any other exams, we were briefed and warned. The envelopes were put on the left side of the room. (So mobile phones are there too.) This is where I realized my mistake. I am a college graduate already, so I brought with me my original TOR. Little did I know (again) that they will take it and never return it! So my advice, just bring a CERTIFIED TRUE COPY of required docs. 

Yay to the most awaited part! the examination proper! It as 200-item aptitude exam and we (in the future, you) have 4 hours to finish it. With proper time management, you can do it. (Wear your watch!!!!)  The examination will test your foundations way back in highschool. So if you are an HS student reading this, I advice that you strengthen them. If you are a college student, brush them up.

I will only give you description of the exams because we have sworn an oath not discuss them in specific details. But I will try to remember and describe them for you. For me, the difficulty of exams are as follows: (easiest- hardest)

1. COMMUNICATIONS AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY. I am a wide reader and I believe that I am quite good in english (hahaha). This covers grammar, vocabulary, idioms and punctuations. 

2. QUANTITATIVE REASONING and CRITICAL THINKING. These parts are the challenging ones. QR is math with patterns. You have to recognize the underlying patterns in the sequences. You only need the basic mathematical operations (+, -, x, ÷) and SPEED. They also have graphs but I suggest that you observe them and analyze carefully and fast. Some questions might ask you to compute very long processes but you only have to look. Data sufficiency is the one I answered last because they take much of my time. Hehe. But it is recognizing what you need and what you don’t. My tip is read the main problem, think of the solution, then look at the given statements if they fit. voila! you have your answer! For critical thinking, drawing the relationships help! 

3. VERBAL REASONING. I took this last. I found this the hardest because it involves very long passages. They also test your basic english but most of all comprehension. You have to draw conclusions BASED ON THE PASSAGES. The trick here is some passages are against the norm (with a different perspective) so you must disregard what you know and focus on what the passage says- ONLY. 

My woe about the exam is you cannot fold the scratch paper which is attached to the answer sheet. :( It is a folded paper type wherein the pages 3 and 4 are your scratch papers. I filled my page 3 so computing on page 4 and shifting to page 2 is quite laborious for klutz like me. The answer sheet is like a short bond paper and the armchair fits this size only.

When i was done with LP and reviewed my answers, I realized that it will take too much of my time if I did the same process for my succeeding subtests. So what I did is just put a light mark on my unsure answers and unanswered questions for later and shade completely on my sure ones. 

I was done (but with some unsure answers) with 30 minutes to spare so I used it wisely.

You cannot leave the room until the 4 hours is up so do the best that you can. Take your water in sips so you will not have the urge to pee. 

Results will be out in 21 days and I am nervous!!!! 

God Bless to all the takers! Cogito Ergo Sum! 

[vaporgrvve]

I was falling asleep in my html class so i thought it would be fun to try and transcribe my professor

I’m glad i don’t get paid for this

it will og thoruhg an mak now i the ok and are sppost used once ans onw watoyu to hony hae one instance of tat i per pge bt lie is aid eb prbosers have this intelligence built into them so we'll just go ahead and suck dick asshole this according the book the book says you shoud really only hae on e id per page asicaly this is aying her id pair one id para one id=para one yeehaw we're gonnacenter ot and change it to red and it does tiat over there and another thing we can use and this is the one that they would reommend they wo yyou woud use multiple times is the .para1 the dot stands for calss so you have this class and so we would have to change id to class and when you run it nothing chanegs nothing should have changed thankfully we're calling it by class naem and i f you thin aobu tit if your class was books so you cald have like 12 different 2 div element with the class books as part of its bulild i [ bit isode eacj p tse dive elements id of boook 1 and so as boook 1 woul dhave certain attributes to it or you go for like genre and you go for action book you know colors that made it look ike action or colors thatmade it look like drama change the font and sizes and stuff thats just another way of thinking about it uh lets seeyou can also add ave a selctor that isnt an element oh its a class never mind how did i work this so lets do this here i wanna chagne something up real quck so we're gonna make antoehr class called red and so when we run that our paragraphs are set up as um center (do you need a regular olumn after center) yes that would help but theres nothing after regular class so now when we run it now we have a center class and we hav ea red class okay so center red self explanatory now if we wwanted to we could also go into the calss and ahdd red if we wante and run it there nothing that asy syhta you ant have ceretered red bold italizzied whateer you coud add multiple ones you sepearate them with a space you dont need to use commas lets do okay so the h1 header tag over theres what colors it gonna be and it comes down here to this rule for h1 and the last thing it reads for h1 is green and then it goes int the body for the text so order matters so order matters now you han hav h1 n msthnd rdry font familes set snad margins set anbd backgrounds set and down ere you just come here and change the color all the other declarations you made up here and will still mtake effect its just that it will change the things in that order so uhh whts a good background color for blue (black) well go with yellow i like yellow so the backgrounds still yellow but the colros not ble because down here we redfined the color to green i could hae 12 different declaratinons down ehre in one rule but its not gonna change the color because its overruled by this one so oh i donno if i mentioned but also your ruloes have also the uh the culry pointy brackets and the front and the end so lets do something os this type of code right ere is called embedded code becase your embedding your source sss styles insid the same document theres also inline coding we can also go style= and inside the style we can say "background" is red and so uh you can use the style attribut eto come down eher and change the backgorun dto chang ethe so it follow sht esame convention p here bu you dont use the angle curly brackets you just use the in html you just use the html qute sbut yu still gotta use the quotes space but margin of five margin colon 5px to set the margin nowup here we set the ackgroud to the h1 o yellow so the question is now that we have this inlinecss code is this inline coe gonna change it to red or is to gonna stay yellow say that with authority yes it will chagne it because you read the scirp yyo read the css script in the head but it comes down to load thte page so down here we gonna cange it and so  lets chang ethat to 25 so you can se whereas you ca have multple so you can have 25 250 different attributes that owuld be horrendous as an inline code if you ahve more than 2 or 3 you might want to have a linked file for your htm code if your doing we;ll well get int that in a bit later  so yes you can hav emultiple on inline and since whitespae doesnt matter if you wanted to you could come over her eand clean it up and make it a litle bit nicer but oyu dont have to it can all go one line uh mkay so here we;re saying the sma ething we're taking a pragrah and adding  class syle center with it wheras this h1 tag down it is class center as you can see it ddnt get affected its setill the default text what w'er syeing here is anyparagraphy that as the class center will cange the text so yo ca n build you can have a paragraph dot center dob old dotitalicised and as long as you have a class thats  class dot center dot bold dodt italicized so whats this allowying you to do si drill own deeper to pick spceific amounts of your code to maek ajdustments deeper so we talked abot the dot calss talked about th ahshtag id theres uh the astersk the star which means select allso if you sue th asterisk that will effect everything on the page and i would recocomendd if yu werer using that ot use it at the very top cause if you go through and write twelvehundred lines and put a star at the end well its just gonna do that to everything on the pageyou can pick a specific element like we were usig the h1 tag and a you can do the element comma element and what that means is it selects all the div statements and all the paragraph statements so any div and any paragraph it;ll select oh o fthos element space element and this example div space pargarph itll select all paragrapsh taht are inside a div so wehreas the one example i shwoed yall it only faffected the one paragraph inside the div itum you have div greater than p which seelcst all pargrpah element where the parent is the div element so uh what the diferent between div p and div greater than p if its slelcting all the p ewthin the div element and the div element is the parent wuld it not do every sing le p thats inside the div uhh i wouldnt you can but i wouldnt but no what if i had a div element that had a pragraph and you can put a div inside a div aso you ahve a div that insie a div and inside that div i have a header or correct close yes yes um we have so so asicall the key word is the parent your div container is the parent and everything you have insie is a child if its a 1 layered element would be achild all thos childs inside the div are siblings but if you have oe child that has other elements in side it then those elements are now considreed child elements of the child so think of ti his way you got the parent the child and grandchildren in this case you got div space p id doesnt matter you're a p element you're gettin gchagned bu in the greater than p element its only selecting ones wehre the div is the parent the hild paragraphs isid ethe div will get affected ub tnoene fo the grandchild paragraphs will be affected uh element +elelents slect all eleletns palced mmediately after the div element so this isnt ehs ame as these two the plus mean you ahve an opening n ending and right underneat that you hve a pargarpah if thers anythin gin between likek a header that doesnt coun dany paragraph taht precedes succces is that right come after the div thg then you can select that so yu can hve a div box and then thsi first paragraph you wanna do somethin glikke that so say you the div container loosk like a bo  then the pragraph looks like citation or captions you put beneath it uhm so and and a lto fo the stuff in ehre gets really detailed about how to drill dwon to very specific tpyes we;re not really goingtb be testing on an y of this here bt its good to know what it can do lie one the attribut ehere we;re gonna so what wer edoig ehre iwers for all anchor tags that have  aterget the target is um you know nerscore blakn or nderscore what sthe other one self umt that if it has a trget set to it then were gonna do smethign t it as you can seee over here disney and wkiikpedai are highlighted and that sbecause ver hiere in the cod ethis acnchor has a target and this anchor ha s target but this anchor doesnt so you can spefici y you know if thinks ga hve targe with the suqare brackets then you can change che oding format for thiseo eleents  so that gives you a lo t ofstuff to play with thers also the he pseudo codd  of the colon active the colon check the colon uhhh visited the colon visited uhh we'll get into sudo code thirsay so sudo code is basicall eyour hyperlinks when yht ehyperklins are blue with hyper ink when you go back its purple when itis blue its the its non visited so that sone set of sudo code if you put the mouse over the top f thinlink sthat s ahuver sudo code make chagnes so if youre hovering oeer the top of ti you can have it so that if yo click and hod its now the ctive item on the webpage so thers a active which you knselects that linik and makes certain chagnes ot it so if i oe over ehre and lcik you can see how it chagnes the background help you indivate which one yo clicked on uhm change that ot hover so now eny etime i hoever it chagnes um this visited os if i go to tw3chools and go back run it again you can see how it does the default you know gives it the dafault text and underlines it so sudo code has the colon and the action uh behind it so you know theres all this thing sike first type of the first tpye of p thie feirst paragraph itll do something to it first line the first line in any pragraph you can have that fisr line set p any tipe of whay uh heres also in rage that gets more whn you get into forms you can say tou can specifiy a nubmer btwentenn one an dten yhe box trn red o whatever and so i would reccomend you go hrough and you paly with sme of thse get more to see what spout the ther enth type so on the nth tpye we have the it comes in there nth type of 2 so thsi is the second type of that instantce of that pargraph type and the other cool gint you can do is n pls one and so then it willl do the second one of each one and um thers also a more thers uh theers a formula way thers a  wordw way you can do even you can do odd so for like if your doing om list items you got an undrorderd list or whatever you want ever yoher one the bkagornd to be a different oclor if youre dongtables you can make each instance a different table color or you bn do columns or whatever lets see  umm t t t t tum css is=f you ytpe in css elector sin google you;l get that one if you tpye in css cssrule for the other one but for what i can do is wheres my other book mkay so you shoudl aslo thaev the links to those now and  so that shta tso we talked about the inline codning and you use inline normally ou use it wht a style if you wnat to slaso wit inline coding ayou can use the elment the way i did it is i made it part of the leemtn itself where i used like the the elementp tag and then i ype din styles = brakets you can do ti that way you can do it thtis way here whe its insid ethe element brackets itsel the lemetn tag itself you can slo do the a no i was gon say you coan ould t a style its not a style span you can use span equals or span style= dot dot whatever it is and then close the spanyou can use a span as a separate elemtn all together and you can span a whole block of code but if you onel y wan to affect iand im just aying if oyu had multiple raows and you wanted ot snteadof oputtging ths pan say these erw diferent elemtn tpyes instead of putting them linine the way it was orgiinally you use a span and span the whole section so you can use a span to affect awhole block of code yo could have the code inside the tag itself al that scisondiered inline code casue its in the code of the body ihembeded code is wehre inseid the header we embedded all or css scrip  insdie the header an separate file o yur css code i beleve were gonna star cearting next week you ahave a link and the link goes insie your header and the rel equals sylesheet youre telling the html processor that oyur bringing in a stylesheet versus a pdf or worddoc so youre letting it know your bringing in a stlye hset and this is the licoation subfodler director yfilename and that will bring in all yur css dcode first eause youl;; have this link oin your header so it gets read vefore the do cactually displayso nthe screen um talked about soe of the different slector yles you ve got eh asterisxk which means select everyhin inf you ave tha at the bottom then uh if its the ast rule then its all the stuff its not gonna work so dont put att at te op use it as a universal universe default set all margins to zero set all atrtributes sna values ot whatever you want it to be um you ahve um nalement which is just a gtag h h1 paragraph slector groups differnet tpyes of gorups commat gag space gtag grater than tag you got um gthe different calsles a class us ea a dot so its dot whtever the calssname is the id you have uh the hastag so tis hadshat whatever the name you want to call it so thers the the three differet ways you can embed attach css coding to your html and so there s benefits and ownside ts to each tpye and gerneally when you are wiritng your cod eor when yo''l decid to use one tpye its best f your gonnad o all you code to do tit one wy or another like i said everything has that order so if it comes to a rule an i says h2 is this thsi thsi an dthis an dthats in a linekd file a nd then it goes into youhr html and you se t h1 to thsit sthist that overruels what your file is and if you get all the way down theo the code tin thea itsel fin thtml oe and you ahve your css cscript cahged and thats why metellen iwhyn you turn on yiou porjects do it as clsoe to tej instrctions as possible and while i do encourage you and enthus that youre adding l hsiexra stutff and taking intiatnive and stuff it can utnr yoarund an byire youh in the end casue when  swe start adding your css scrips and youre gonna chagn eall this suff in the filae and you view it in teh broweser and its no tchanging oh its not chagnign becasue youre embedde dthis html code inline that overreide seerything else you se tbefore so soe of thse befeits of embedding css so puttin it in the header if if your e wiritn a file an your in the developnent mode of somethign dand youwanting ot have a di velement ot add s certain way so your not afefcin the whole entire wepage you jsut wannta gagke thsi div iece and put t so you can take amake ceratin chagnes and yoll yu pre aming o quock nchagnes how many pixels do i need ot mov ie ti in throguh ahow big of a mragin do i need or wahtever emebedding is quikc way to pit all your code atht ehtop and akigy your chagnes so when youre looing aouyr browser iew and your efersh loh that what it does the downside tit akes a litt le mroe tume so each time you make ahcange oyu gotta og in tehre andreolatod it um and it only works on tat document so fi you onleny embed sio head fo one document so and 215 mage website and oyu want oyour website ot alll liook the smae have thes ame h2 tag shave te asmpepa tags 1 same dive tags set it up in acertian way emebedded coding and then if i dnt lie that colro hagne it ynow you gotta go to each otf those files and change the color in eacho neo fhte gags so its good for quick testing bu tnot so good for it only works on taht one page  uh inline coding antoerheqick way of tetinga dn wehre here at the school we have aporgram for the schools website so wen you go tall that sdone hrouhg a cms called farcry which is baically a big huge datbase wehre i can put all iny my text and click thehtml code ansd go in make edits to the html code by going the html cod ei can do html inline beacaseu the only opetions i have in theeditor is choosea text xtyle whic is h 1 ht2  hthre etitle normal preand sme iother option so there seign header fillls o set te highg and the an dth boldness an thing like that to the text heich ibery bad css programming adnyou rlimited to what you can do you can tput in div tags or tabels or float anythin but i can pit in inline snippets and change the webpage to how i want it bt its difficult ot change and its indie the tag the nsomething you gottta change lines and lines nd find thestyle to make chages um now in s a separate file its thereseveral benefits you ts want its one ychange anto the header you cannge the h1 sicze from 35 p to e7 px well thatw illl go through and that affets every linedkd file linekd with taht one fil e if youve makede a change makng a change with just one changeum also allwoes you to maek an easy considatant webste look so the lookl and feel to eac page hwny u cgo from each page iit al looks like your in the smae wepabe and oyu'ev ot yur different talbbles link lists on the side a certain way so whe you go from tpage to page to page it all looks the sme and oyu can link tit to different websites f you'r eon a ebsite an doyue lie yman theve gos ome cool styles you ccan look at the tml and see if they've ot the style linked yo can take their link an dput it into yours now you can t see their file mybbe you can mayeb you ant bc if you mosmetimes thaty dont maek it where you can use tib gut not see it fi you can se it you can actually readd their code if oyu do that like you can sue vertai id names or ceratin clssnames then youd also have to change all your calsss id tags and values to match those so yoit youwld ahve ts ame look the downside si um its a luearning curve its um you ahve one big huge file adn you can go through and after showing alyou all the differentway soyu can add um youk nwo all ptags that are insdi e a di v all petags that are in the parent di so theres that learning curve on the pcompelxity oyu ca n put in it and thers a lotof of extra work done in the begining then theres more owork in the begoinign setting up a whiole file itself so yeah thersum when when you're in a borwser you can do to tools and thers eevelopert too sand in the eev eloper tools it comes over ehre and whos you fhe code for the page and whos you the paramets over ehr ewher its ecratche dout it shwere those have been overwritten thes upm aslo therse sometimes itll tell you f therse liekerrors on the pag enad stuf fhtis is agood tool to go tlook through your page see fiy all yoru tags ar ein the erite spot if ihad a pa ragraph wrigthg iudner hsi but had my h1 tag afte rthe inital paragrpah tag so i had angle bracket p angle bracket here it would show me an error here but iwould show you in the ool over there that your h1 tag is in the incorrect spot so there yesh um oky so thats covers that lets getrid of some of this lets go ahead and weve go t afew mintes for the la well go voer the lab real quick lets go over the lab a s aclass excericise if i can get it to open it it it gets whats that oh did you not get an email though wel thats no good if im sending all these announcements there now you should see em cause if i send oyu a message it ll pu ta messag ena ditll send oyu an email okay good to know uh was it lab number five so well go ahead and eerone open up notepad real quick well go through these as a class discussion an dthen submit it afterwards so i know whos here and who should get the five points