#was going to say “he and his family experienced” but I doubt Norman was having the best day at Lambda

[fullscoreshenanigans]

When we think Sarah has even changed Ray's birthday date to avoid Isabella to suspect he's her son, it's wild. I mean it's valid, she WOULD have been suspicious if Sarah had given her a baby who shared her own baby's birthday. Like she would probably suspected it immediatly. (I also bet that Sarah waited Ray's shippement day to told at Isabella's face "ho by the way, it was your son that you just see die" just to hurt her/break her) Have you a headcanon of what could be his real date?

This might be a better question for someone big on astrology because the specific date is immaterial to me, much like it appears to be for Shirai.

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 2)

What matters is the aforementioned deception by those in power for Isabella, a reminder how despite the position she secured for herself she was still the demons' pawn, and how it's one more thing denied to Ray by the overarching farm system and potentially his mother. If he asked her about it, it was one more concession he made to her, another reinforcement of the power she held over him, and assuming all the other birthdays provided to us are true, it's one more thing to separate him from his siblings.

It might bother him while he's suffocating under the oppressive aura of the house, but post-escape, he's able to embrace the false birthday designated by headquarters in earnest, completely divorcing it from all earlier ill feelings.

I imagine in the future if they ever find out his true birthday and they asked him if he'd like to change the day they celebrate it, he'd turn down the idea, citing it as the day he and fourteen other members of his family experienced their first morning of freedom.

[jerseydeanne]

Jonathan Dimbleby: I suspect Harry is led by the nose by Meghan. He’s not the brightest

Jonathan Dimbleby has known the Prince of Wales since he coaxed a confession of adultery out of him three decades ago. Today he is an ardent supporter and staunch defender and has particularly robust views on the Duke of Sussex, whose rift with his father shows no sign of healing. After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a flying visit to see the Queen, Harry said that he was “making sure she’s protected and has got the right people around her.” Dimbleby is scathing of this in a way no palace courtier could dare to be in public. “So you’ve swanned in to check that the people who are very close to her are the right people?” he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Thank you very much. I mean, your wisdom, Harry, is well worth it, I have no doubt. And now you’re zooming out again.”

Dimbleby says that the claims in the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey, that a member of the royal family had “concerns” about how dark their baby’s skin might be, were unfair. The Sussexes made it clear through Winfrey that neither the Queen nor Prince Philip made the comment. “Who the hell was it supposed to be? That is the wickedness of it: it allows you to speculate. You rule out the Queen, you rule out the Duke of Edinburgh. So who would it be?” Dimbleby says. “And why do you make such a smear? I thought that interview was, to put it kindly, the most ghastly error of judgment on their part.” He is not privy to the details of the rift between Harry and his father, but Charles “would have been extremely frustrated and saddened and possibly angry at the thought that either he or Meghan would believe that he in any way had a racist attitude. “I know the man. I have known him for 30 years. You go into the streets of any inner city in this country with the Prince of Wales, the first people to greet him really warmly are young black people, because they have experienced the consequences of the work that has been done through the Prince’s Trust. So it is an unspeakable libel, actually.”

The former Any Questions presenter met Harry when he made his 1994 film about the Prince of Wales that included the famous interview. “I suspect that Harry is led by the nose by Meghan Markle. He’s entering a sort of vortex in which they will become less and less significant as a couple. As she gets older, as he gets older, they will matter less because the celebrity on which they trade will become less valuable. And it’s a very great shame because when I met him, he was absolutely charming; a lovely, lovely young guy. Not the brightest in the world but filled with generosity of spirit.” Is the Prince of Wales a friend? “Yes,” he says, then pauses to consider. “I am chary of the ‘friend’ label. But do I rate him highly and do I have affection for him? Very much so. I’m a monarchist by default. I think it’s a prison. I’d loath to live in it.” Dimbleby has fiercely defended Charles over allegations of a cash-for-honours scandal at the Prince’s Foundation. A Scotland Yard investigation is centred on the role of Michael Fawcett, his former valet, who quit as chief executive last year after claims that a Saudi billionaire who donated £1.5 million was promised help in securing a knighthood. Norman Baker, a former Liberal Democrat minister, said it was “inconceivable” that Charles was not aware of the arrangement. “I bet you that there will have to be an apology given for that inference. It is to me inconceivable that he did know about it. He’s at the apex of a system which relies on people going through proper processes,” he says. So does Charles sometimes have the wrong people around him? “Who’s to judge what is right, and what is wrong, except with the wonderful benefit of hindsight.” Their association began with Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role, filmed over two years and accompanied by a biography written by Dimbleby. The prince told him he was faithful in his marriage to the Princess of Wales “until it became irretrievably broken down”. That scoop, which is still constantly referenced three decades on, will almost certainly be mentioned in the first paragraph of his obituary. “That for me, if there is an afterlife, which I doubt, will be the most tiresome and boring fact.”

He found the business of asking about the prince’s private life distasteful. “I knew it was extremely sensitive territory. And I was absolutely torn. If I ask it, what would he say? And would I have to press the point? If I don’t ask, I’ll be attacked for wimping out. I frankly wished I didn’t have to do it. I never regarded that as a scoop. The only scoop that I believe I really had was to uncover a famine in 1973 in Ethiopia.”

The year after the prince programme, the Princess of Wales gave her own TV interview to Martin Bashir, whose lies to secure the interview were detailed in a report by Lord Dyson last year that also found the BBC had covered up his deceit. “He clearly lied and cheated his way to the interview and that was disgraceful .” The Dyson report documented how Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, was told by Bashir that his sister was being betrayed by friends, bugged and tracked. Among Bashir’s “evidence” were forged bank statements and one of the wild claims he made to Spencer was that Dimbleby had paid Richard Aylard, Charles’s private secretary. Two years after the interview the princess, unsure who to trust and outside the protective royal bubble, died in a Paris car crash. The Duke of Cambridge said after the Dyson report was published that the deceit contributed to his mother’s isolation and paranoia and Harry said she lost her life because of the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation. “You could argue that there is a direct link between Bashir and her death,” Dimbleby says. It was “a sorry period for the BBC and the individuals involved” but he has little affection for Spencer. “Why did he take such a long time to deliver these body blows against the BBC?” he says. He won’t expand on this, but adds: “Would I like to be in a lifeboat with him when we’re running out of food? No, he’s bigger than I am.” Would he tell royals not to do interviews with someone like him? “I would be very, very chary about doing interviews if I were a senior member of the royal family.” “Ridiculous” is how he describes The Crown, which he no longer watches because he found much of it unbelievable, including a scene where the Queen went to the suburban home of her husband’s adulterous private secretary and they talked about marriage. “I don’t have patience with that kind of garbage.” A few years ago he moved from an organic farm in Devon to a large townhouse in the Clifton area of Bristol. He lives here with his second wife, Jessica, a teacher, and their two daughters, aged 14 and 12. He has two grown-up children from his first marriage, to the journalist Bel Mooney, and four grandchildren. We are talking in the study on the first floor which is adorned with original cartoons, including one from Punch of his father, Richard Dimbleby, the BBC’s correspondent in the Second World War. In this room, with views over a bucolic communal garden, he is writing his fourth book about that war. The most recent book, Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War, is an account of the Nazis’ doomed invasion of Russia that is full of resonances — unspeakable horrors, unwilling conscripts, purged generals — right now. In Ukraine, where Russian troops were ordered to dig trenches in radioactive soil, Putin shows the same disregard for his own troops as Stalin, the tyrant he admires. “Putin’s operation is minuscule by comparison with Stalin’s battles in the Second World War, but the attitude is similar.”

Dimbleby, who presented a TV series and wrote a book about his travels in Russia and saw bodies of Russian soldiers returning from Afghanistan and its effect on public opinion, believes that the mounting death toll in Ukraine could be a danger to Putin. “The body bags have the potential to undermine support.” Britain has been doing the right things to support Ukraine, says Dimbleby, but he is a passionate Remainer, and is convinced we would have had more clout if we were still in the EU. “We think Boris Johnson going to Kyiv is a big deal. And of course, the president [of Ukraine] is going to say he is a wonderful friend. But we aren’t as important as what the EU decides.” In Ukraine, though, Johnson already has a street named after him. “I hope Boris Johnson is running out of road rapidly,” Dimbleby says. What does this former BBC and ITV broadcaster think of Nadine Dorries? “She’s the secretary of state for culture, media and sport. Beyond that my mouth is wide open in astonishment.” Selling off Channel 4 is “bizarre, unless it’s a kind of dog-whistle policy to satisfy backbenchers on the right”. The days are numbered for the BBC licence fee in its current form and he suggests it should be linked to council tax bands, an idea that his brother, David, has championed. The veteran television executive Lord Grade of Yarmouth, 79, who has been appointed chairman of Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, is “a very capable person. He’s my generation, so he has to be! He’s older than I am.” Dimbleby is 77 and plays tennis often. It is hard to imagine Piers Morgan being his cup of tea, but he likes his “chutzpah. He makes me laugh and he’s brilliant at what he does.” On the coffee table is a list, written out by his daughters, of things he could do once his third book was written. These range from playing a game with them, to the slightly brutal: “Have fun and enjoy life.” When his older children were growing up he was constantly travelling. “I just hope that hasn’t made me too inadequate as a father. I’m forgiven a lot by my children.” Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War by Jonathan Dimbleby is out in paperback on May 12, published by Penguin Books, £9.99

source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jonathan-dimbleby-i-suspect-harry-is-led-by-the-nose-by-meghan-hes-not-the-brightest-sw3rpng9v

[chidoroki]

TPN - “Dreams Come True”

What better way to cheer up the TPN fandom after the second season’s final episode than with the special exhibition chapter finally being fully translated. I caught glimpses of a few pages here and there over the past couple months but seeing all the children live happily together in the human world in their own little village that they made close to Emma and Alex warms my heart. Of course I would’ve loved if we got to see more of the GP Resistance (because the anime denied us of them) but following the GF kids around the world as they experience their dreams is fair enough. We started the series alongside them so might as well finish strong with them too. I really loved seeing everyone grow up but no matter how old they get or how much time passes, I’ll probably never get used to seeing Emma without her iconic “63194.” It’s a bittersweet feeling for me, but her smiles bring me so much joy and I’m beyond happy that she accepted everyone into her life as they accepted her without her memories.

I haven’t a clue on how much time passed since everyone found Emma in ch181 to now, but seeing her call out everyone’s names is a little detail that I love so much considering she had no idea who anyone was at first. Trying to remember 60+ names doesn’t seem like an easy task to me. No doubt I was just as shocked as our girl upon learning these mere children bought a goddamn plane! We learn in a couple pages that it’s because of Norman’s company that they can afford it, but still, he’s like 15 or 16 now? He’s still a child! And I’m impressed! Not only at him, but that Oliver and Violet became pilots as well! It’s especially cute when you remember that Lucas gave Oliver a little toy plane during their time at Goldy Pond.

Speaking of GP, is it just me or does Emma’s current outfit resemble her GP one just a little bit? Sure we have no idea what color scheme this one has but come on, the short jacket, the dark shirt and jeans.. just imagine it! Jemima, Yvette, Alicia and Mark remade Gillian’s original GP outfit sometime before the Grace Field Raid arc (ch137 extra page) so I don’t doubt they could’ve done the same for Emma. Of course that’s just me being completely hopeful and missing the Goldy Pond arc to death but yeah! I’m also so happy to see Chris up and moving again! Seeing him wake up briefly in ch181 was nice but this is so much better. I imagine he and Emma have a lot to catch up on in terms of stories, with him being unconscious since ch105 and Emma not remembering anything.

But here we go, the original 15 escapees plus Norman, Phil, Sherry, I believe I saw Carol somewhere and a couple other random kiddos ready to see the entire world. They get to accomplish so much.. and in a single day too I believe? At least that’s what Phil and Alicia say a bit later about everyone’s wishes, but aahh what a lucky bunch. Hell, I’ll say we’re lucky readers too to be able to see such a great story. Can’t thank Shirai and Demizu enough y’all. I wish we got to see more of Alex though. He’s such a kind soul but I’m sure he’ll be just fine staying behind with everyone else.

This entire page where we learn about Norman as a CEO is gold. I still can’t believe this child successfully built up an entire multipurpose company not only to help their search for Emma but also because he didn’t want to live off the Ratri clan. I wish I knew about this last week when writing out Norman’s birthday post because hell yeah this deserves some praise! AND he managed to graduate school as well during all that! Well, by skipping grades which totally makes sense. I mean, if he managed to pass all the Grace Field and Lambda tests effortlessly I’m sure normal human world school was a piece of cake for him. Holy shit dude, keep on impressing me why don’t ya. Not only him but Nigel and Sonya too! I’m not surprised that Vincent helped out but I’m glad those two got a tiny moment to shine as well! Ray is another obvious choice when it comes to helping Norman, as they’re best friends and he’s always been good with machines.. but boy, I can’t take you seriously when you’re just sitting there unamused and eating chips! Hahah I love him so much! And the fact he replies to Norman’s idea with just a simple “kay” is an eternal mood.

Okay boys aside, can we talk about our fabulous girls now? Because oh my god, they’re so darn beautiful! They’re more fashionable than I’ll ever be and it’s so cute how they drag Emma along to take advantage of the 3-for-1 deal. But our girl pulls off that sporty look so well! (r.i.p. goldy pond outfit ver2.0). I’m not at all surprised that Nat wanted to go see the opera. That's perfect for him and I’d like to think the anime did something similar with that one shot we see of him in the human world. We don’t see him in a theater like this but to me it looks like he’s on the streets of Broadway? At least that’s the vibe I get from it. I’m sure there was something music related on one of those signs.

I can’t get over how adorable all the children look and how happy they are fulfilling their wishes, even if some of them aren’t as extravagant as others. Like eating a fluffy pancake and a ton of ice cream? We can do that whenever we want. But for these kids, it means everything and they absolutely deserve to experience such simple joys like that after all the harsh nonsense they’ve been through. I also love how Ray continues to be such a great older brother by still looking out for them too. The fact he remains completely unfazed by the haunted house is perfect. This boy has been haunted by his own nightmares and demons his entire life, there’s no way a couple of lousy jump scares are gonna spook him. Though I do find it funny that Alicia and Rossi still manage to get scared while Yvette is having the time of her life. I can’t help but laugh at Thoma’s “Shirai face” as well.

I find it interesting that out of all the different kinds of exhibits they could’ve shown us while Rossi visits a museum, they give us dinosaurs.. like that seems so silly to me. Y’all have seen several demons in your young lives already and yet dinosaurs manage to amaze you too? God these kids are precious. And then our boy Phil finally gets to see and ride a train! Just look how happy he is! The poor kid can’t even sit still he’s so darn excited and I can’t help but smile with him! Thankfully the anime showed us this too.

We eventually get to Ray’s wish and guys.. oh my fucking god. Tell me that this is not the absolute best and prettiest smile we get to see from him!! It honestly leaves me speechless okay? Ray never imagined he would ever get to see the outside world, let alone live past the age of 12, and yet here he is, seeing such a beautiful sight such as this, right in front of him instead of from inside a book. You can’t believe how happy and proud of him I am right now. Did you see how ecstatic I was when the anime kept Isabella alive? Multiply that feeling by ten and there ya go. That’s my level of happiness upon seeing my favorite boy smile like THAT! AAHHH!! That panel is gonna live rent free in my head until the end of time. I can’t get over how damn perfect it is. His smile is so pure and how he looks like he’s in complete awe is beautiful. He’s about to burst into tears and I swear I might do the same because I’m making myself emotional over this fantastic boy. Someone hold me.

No seriously, hold me because we’re about to get into some angst as we move onto to Emma’s wish. We all know that ever since 2039 her one dream was to ride a giraffe once they got outside, so here we are, about ten years later and the animals in question are within reach. Our girl should be totally excited, right? Ha, not quite.

That wish was something the old Emma wanted, but since demon god had to be such a bastard, this Emma doesn’t know what to think, let alone what to even feel. She hasn’t experienced the same hardships as her family. She hasn’t gone through hell and back while holding onto that one wish that would make all the suffering worth it. The amount of joy everyone else felt upon living out their dreams, she wonders if she would be able to feel it too.

They brought her here to make her happy, but is this truly want she wants as well? This is old Emma’s wish after all. What about her and what she wants? Could this wish make her just as happy as her old self? She knows her family is only trying to help, but seeing her doubt herself does a number on my heart. Even without her memories, she’s still the same Emma deep down, as she doesn’t want to disappoint her family. She spends so much time worrying about living up to her family’s expectations, to try and be that Emma they all love so dearly.

Little does she know that she acts the exact same as usual, almost as if nothing has changed when she finally expresses how much she wants to ride a giraffe. And that’s great considering when they first arrived at the giraffes, no on had even mentioned riding them. She came across that feeling all on her own and everyone else can’t help but laugh and feel relieved. Her mind may have forgotten but her heart remembers everything. There is no “old Emma” and “new Emma” to her family, just “Emma” and words can’t express how wholesome that is because they love her regardless. All that matters to them is Emma’s happiness because if anyone deserves to feel and experience that, it’s her.

I just made myself tear up, damn it. I started this series with season one okay? I heard about this precious girl’s dream within the first minute of the first episode and here I am, a little bit over two years later, finally reading about it coming true and seeing that bright as hell smile on her face. Do you know how amazing it is to come full circle like that? My heart feels so full right now. I’m beyond proud of her and love her to death. Say what you want but I believe this to be the true manga ending in my eyes.

(damn this series for always getting me emotional)

[twdeadfanfic]

You say that you don't want to be on Leah's shoes and that you try to see her side but you would choose Daryl and why to see her side, when she's hateful, made Daryl choose her over his family (when she won't do it for him) and tortured him, and she and her people are murderers, so why you keep writing that you hate her yet then you write you see her side and you blame Daryl.

Okay.

I'm going to start this with a DISCLAIMER because I've experienced firsthand what is to get on the bad side of both people that hate and that love Leah: I do not like her relationship with Daryl, I hate it and I hate even more the way it was written, so I am in no means trying to defend it, or her.

So, with this out of the middle, I' want to answer in two parts.

It got long because I tried to just not hate just for hating (because when I'm mad and heartbroken I am...really not nice) but actually give my ideas and thouhts on her and her relationship with Daryl, so I'm going to put it after read more.

I said I wouldn't like to be in her shoes. Yes, I mean it, I don't need to like her for that (And I don't hate her per se, more the writing, and her relationship with Daryl.)

Why? She will probably have to choose between Daryl and her family. Of course I can go and tell you, oh, of course I'd pick Daryl over anything else. And in my heart it'd be truth. But the thing is, I don't know and I can't know. Because I love Daryl, but I've never had a family the way Leah does, so it's not the same for me to say that of course I'd pick Daryl.

On one hand, Daryl. She loved him and she still does, and can't you blame her, he is Daryl Dixon after all. On the other, her family. It's clear how much they mean to her and how strong their bonds are, not to mention she's brainwashed by Pope, and even with that, she's protective of her brothers and tries to stop Pope from hurting them or yelling at them.

So, yes, even if her family is bad and murderers, they're still her family, she still cares for them, she can't see them as murderers, much less brainwashed like she is...and she still cares for Daryl, because he is Daryl. So, I believe that it's a very hard decision to make, if she has to, and that's why I'm always so on the fence as to what will happen and what she will do.

Second part, Leah being hateful and all that. Again, disclamer, I don't like her and I hate her relationship with Daryl, but...

Do you know why I think she's so unlikeable and such a dull, uncharismatic character and an awful love interest?

Bad writing. It's not her, per se, it's bad writing, and unreliable writing. (Also, of course, their relationship having no base and no build-up...despite the chance to have done it right).

Her relationship with Daryl, their backstory, changes every episode, and so does her.

Her first episode. We have a woman in the woods who meets Daryl, they barely have any interaction or connexion, but suddenly they're close. She tells him a sobbing story about her family, and they're in shagging terms and in love, without us knowing how or what, and never showing their love, trust, intimacy, nothing, what for.

Next scene, again without build-up, their relationship seems very consolidated.

And, out of the blue, without a reason, she asks Daryl to choose her, meaning leaving back his family.

For what we are told in that episode, she knows that Daryl is looking for Rick, she knows why, she knows what happened, she knows about his family and Daryl's story with them. Then, moving to the new season, when Daryl is the cell, she seems to know him very, very well, like he told him everything about him and everything he's done, when she says that he's done bad shit too, that he's talking to her, that she knows him.

So, what we're left to feel, even since her first episode, is that she's someone toxic that out of the blue made Daryl choose her over his family, despite her knowing Daryl's story with his family...that's bad.

And it's made worse when Daryl Dixon, a character whose main trait used to be loyalty and love for his family, ends up choosing her (without us having seeing why or their love)...but she's gone.

But, what happens now, with this new season? Unreliable writing.

As I said, when Daryl is on the cell, she speaks like she knows him deeply (and that's what we were told in their first episode together too, even if badly written), more than almost anyone perhaps...

...yet, it doesn't seem she knew about Alexandria or Hilltop, despite knowing it all, and knowing about Daryl's family.

I believe this is because, since the reapers were looking for a place to stay and food, for plot reasons the writers needed that place to be Maggie's, not Alexandria or Hilltop, so they needed Leah not to know...but now, it just looks like bad unreliable writing to me.

Might be (but this is mostly my writer mind) that she did know about those settlements but didn't want to bump into Daryl as she felt he abandoned her, or didn't want to have to kill his family and maybe himself, unless she needed to...but I don't see it. The Leah we more often than not see, would have murdered them no question...but as her writing is unreliable, the Leah they tried to sell us in episode 7 for like 3 minutes only, the one Kang says is sweet, caring and protective and Daryl fell for, that one, I guess she'd have tried not to kill them.

Let's assume she doesn't know about the settlements.

Going back to the point, unreliable bad writing, and does she know or not know Daryl so deeply?

In episode 7, she's talking to Daryl, about having a group, yada yada, and she says how Daryl's always on his own, so he can't understand what is like to have a group that relies on you and that you have to provide for.

What???

Leah believing that goes against everything we've been told before. That she knew about Daryl's family and Daryl's time with them, and why he, back when he was with her, didn't dare to face them and felt guilty. She knew he had a group that he lived with, helped, proved for...like, just an episode ago, she knew. Now she doesn't.

The writing is just...why so bad? It baffles my mind.

But, if we look at it that way...if she didn't know Daryl had a group to provide for and rely on him...then it's not that bad that she asked him to stay with her? It'd be understandable, she wouldn't be so hateful, she didn't know... But it's not really the case, it would be if it weren't because when she asks, she uses the word family! She talks about Daryl's family! She does too when he's in the cell! But now she thinks that Daryl never had a group to provide for and rely on him, and he on them? What is his family then???

Seriously, the writing kills me.

They don't know how to write their relationship, just that they want people to support it and ship it, so they try to put everything in it that they think people might like (wrongly), and change it from a scene to another...maybe that's why they never bother to build it up, I even doubt they thought about it, that it was just "Daryl has a love interest now" and didn't care to think why or developed it, it's something that doesn't interest them, as they just want it to further the reapers plot and to make Daryl have a love interest.

They don't know why to write her either, and it looks like they just try to badly make a character that people might seem cool and so they went like: Loner, fighter, strong, loving, sweet, mean, caring, protective, murderer, harsh, family person, loyal...without actually caring to make a person and build her up, to the point she has no personality, no charisma, nothing, and that she changes from scene to scene, unreliable, bad writing.

But they're trying to sell her and the relationship hard.

Even though, each episode, is clear they didn't know each other...because the writers didn't care that they did, because their relationship changes from episode to episode, because it was not important to write it or build it, I guess. And it's a shame that this is Daryl's grand love story, with no intimacy, trust, or nothing, and it kills me.

I don't think that Norman saying that what gets Daryl is sweetness, and Leah actually being harsh and cold at the beginning... and now Kang saying that she's sweet and trying to badly show it for 2 minutes in an episode, is coincidence, honestly, I think she's done it for what Norman said and for what clearly, we all think too.

And you know what Norman said (sure he wasn't expecting this bullshit of a romance for Daryl lol), if Daryl ever fell in love, he'd mate for life...well, there it is, his long live romance, whether she dies soon or lives the whole season.

And it's such bullshit that it's so badly done, and written, with so little care.

Anyway, I've talked enough and I'm going to piss off 99% of you enough without needing to write more lol.

EDIT: I feel I took this anon as an attack and now I think it might not have seen so, apologies, but I still stand with I have written.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius

 (WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Danny Phantom is the one truly great thing Butch Hartman can still slap his name on. A fantastic show, it evokes the fun of oldschool comics while still keeping that Hartman charm. But as a superhero show, it’s only as good as its villains, and thankfully it has one of the most impressive rogues galleries this side of the PPG. But every great rogues gallery needs a great archenemy, and of course Danny Phantom is able to provide that.

Vlad Masters, AKA Vlad Plasmius, is one of the coolest antagonists in a series chock full of cool antagonists. He has the style, he has the flair, he’s a politician, he has the hots for Danny’s mom and is a Green Bay Packers fan! What a fiend! Vlad is a great foil for Danny in a lot of ways due to being essentially a more experienced version of Danny himself due to having years of practice with his powers, which allows the show to showcase Danny’s growth as a hero as the threat of Vlad diminishes with time going on.

Shame about all those dropped plotlines, though.

Motivation/Goals: As established in his very first appearance, Vlad is a man who, despite his immense wealth, desires things he can’t possibly have. Humorously, one of these things is the Green Day Packers, but less humorously one of those things is Danny as a protege or even as a son. He frequently tries to get Danny to join him or to find some way to weasel his way into Danny’s life in ways that bring us into his third and most definitive motivation.

You see, Vlad “loves” Maddie Fenton. This is in quotations because the show makes it abundantly clear he loves the idea of having her more than anything else and that his attraction is entirely surface-level bitterness at Jack having something he doesn’t. So Vlad is a man who goes out of his way to try and woo a woman who has a rather clear lack of interest in him due to being married, yet still he continues to pursue her romantically despite the sheer impossibility. There’s a word for men like Vlad… you know what it is… Vlad Master is a

This alone truly solidifies him as one of the most evil men in fiction, and he honestly might be the biggest simp of all. Move over, Mordecai! The simp king is here to claim his crown! And if you doubt that Vlad is less of a simp than Mordecai… he’s a middle aged man who has been lusting after the same girl since college and has amassed a massive fortune and gained tons of power (through illegitimate means, according to the creators) solely so he can try and cuck his former best friend. Mordecai temporarily killing Rigby over a girl doesn’t even come close to the levels of simping on display. He literally named his cat after Maddie! Vlad is next level.

Performance: Martin Mull portrays Vlad and gives him the perfect classy yet slimy voice, but can you expect much less from the man deemed worthy to take up the mantle of Colonel Mustard in Clue? For the most part, Vlad remains a very effective villain who raises the stakes when he appears, and a lot of his intimidation factor comes from how well Mull is able to sell Vlad even when he’s doing really dumb stuff or is the butt of jokes. He definitely helps cement Vlad as the Norman Osborn of the 2000s.

Final Fate: After all of his scheming, all of his tricks, his becoming mayor of Amity Park, his hounding of Danny, Vlad ultimately decides to reveal his full hand when a deadly meteor is about to strike the Earth and wipe out all life. He ropes Jack into helping him, and of course Jack is crushed to learn the man he considered his best friend has not only hated him for years, but has constantly been trying to steal his wife and family from him. So when Vlad fails to stop the meteor and realizes there is no way he can return to Earth and face the people there now, he turns to Jack and pathetically asks if Jack would help a friend. And of course Jack says he would help a friend… but Vlad? No.

And so he abandons Vlad in the lonely vacuum of space, where he is doomed to wander as a pariah. The exchange between Jack and Vlad here is one of the sole bright spots in the otherwise depressingly awful series finale, “Phantom Planet,” so hell yeah am I gonna go into tons of detail about it. It’s probably one of Jack’s finest moments, as he finally stands up to the Simp King who has been stalking his family for years now.

Also Vlad gets crushed by a meteor at the very end of the episode.

Best Episodes: I think with Vlad it really depends on what you’re looking for. His introductory episode, “Bitter Reunions,” is a wonderful first impression that really set the tone for him for at least the first two seasons. “Masters of All Time” shows an alternate, powerless Vlad who still manages to be every bit as horrible as the main Vlad. And “The Ultimate Enemy” showcases him at his most sympathetic, with his brief appearance being a fantastic addition to an already stellar special.

Best Quote: Vlad drops this line in “Reign Storm,” and while nothing ever came from that particular plotline, this line has always stuck with me: “What? That I used two fourteen year old pawns to turn a knight and topple a king? It's chess, Daniel. Of course you don't understand. But then, you never really did.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Vlad is certainly a cool villain and a great foe, but unfortunately the show drops the ball with him a bit, though I think at least some of that is intentional. In the early seasons, he is much more dangerous and competent, having had decades to master his powers while Danny is still relatively new. But as time goes on, and Danny becomes more and more powerful and more accustomed to his abilities, Vlad’s threat level diminishes significantly, and while he is certainly no slouch, he loses a lot of his luster and his schemes become more petty and pathetic.

I think a lot of this can be attributed to his arrogance and pride, as well as his selfish desires. Vlad’s motivation is constantly to have things he simply cannot have and childishly act out of spite when he can’t get what he wants. More than anything he wants Danny as his son and Maddie as his wife, but it’s pretty apparent he doesn’t care about Maddie beyond the surface level and even with Danny it seems he more wants to spite Jack due to perceived slights than anything. He’s just a bitter, miserable, lonely man who is incapable of self-reflection; in fact, the only timeline in which Vlad realizes the error of his ways is one in which Danny’s whole family and Danny himself die, with his own powers being stripped away from him. His own ego and pride hinder any growth, and in the end it is ultimately what does him in, since he is left abandoned alone in space by the man he repeatedly tried to stab in the back, unable to return home to Earth because he foolishly revealed his powers, thinking he had everything under control.

While I do think his threat level diminishes a bit and the show doesn’t handle him quite as well as they could, I do think he’s a very effective thematic villain and an excellent archenemy to Danny. I do wish they had utilized some dropped plotlines such as whatever he was going to do with Fright Knight and of course the stuff with Dani, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hold him back from a perfect score, but I’d still say Vlad deserves a 9/10. A lot of it is because of his cool design and voice acting, and a lot of it is because he’s honestly a pretty savage deconstruction of the type of shallow, obsessive character type he embodies…

...but let’s be honest, he scores this high because he is the ultimate simp in all of fiction. Truly there is nothing more evil than that.

[youuuimeanmee]

So much things happened in the past 2 years makes me worried.

We've seen how much Norman's mindset differs during the time he spent alone, away from his family without someone he can trust in one and a half years.

As opposed with Emma and Ray, who were always surrounded with their family's love and adults they can trust.

Their vast difference in experience has set them apart more than ever.

Which is why we have this conflict in recent episodes.

It's great that they managed to make up by the end of the day despite their clashing ideals. It's because their ties as best friends are far more solid than any other connection they've made so far.

But now Emma and Ray have entered another dimension to meet him, and have been trapped there ever since.

And it's been 40 years for Ray to be trapped in that world.

ALONE.

Forty years is such a long time: that is an understatement, especially with that kind of sh**ty situation they've been through.

Forty years he was facing his fears. Facing Grace Field house, his love-hate feeling for his Mother, the guilt of letting his siblings die, messed up displacements of things he loved in B 06-32, many others we've not seen yet, and finally, growing up alone without anything left.

That kind of traumatic experience will surely change people. Be it mentally or emotionally. His perspective will change drastically. Especially by being alone. We can't even say that Ray still believe Emma's ideology at this point, because all the sh*t he has to put up right now happened because he followed Emma's selfish ideals. As much as I want to believe the opposite, I can't deny this.

(all my hopeful things i spout in my last post is just me being optimistic, trying to deny reality. sorry people)

And we haven't see Emma's condition either. We still don't know whether she's just getting separated from Ray (experiencing her own fears alone), or she really died in this alternate reality. But I have no doubt they will survive this though. Because defying things we thought impossible is one of the main themes in TPN.

What I'm worried about is:

By the time when they get back, I wonder how their individual traumatic experience will affect the trio's interaction.

We've seen how clashing Norman's ideal is compared to Emma and Ray in just the span of one and a half years. At that time, Ray is still going fine because he's been together with his family all the time. And so is Emma.

But being alone for so long really change people. It really brings the worst out of everyone.

In addition of Ray's 40-years-experiences and Emma's unknown condition, they're bound to mature differently. I wonder how it will affect their personality and their interaction in the future.

It'll be woderful if their bond will only gets tighter after their traumatic experiences,

And they can be happy again by the end of their journey.

[thesimplyluxuriouslife]

279: 15 Life Lessons Learned during my First Year into my 40s

True contentedness is unremarkable to the outside world, or passerby.

Typing away in my cozy chair in the living room in my line of sight Norman eats his breakfast and Oscar acknowledging he will not be able to sneak a bite, takes a long cool drink of water. The croissant for my Sunday morning ritual is proofing in the oven and Sunday Baroque's weekly program fills my home.

Even having lost an hour of the day, I have decided to wake up with the sunset and use the dawn-filled hour to work early before we are able to go for our morning stroll in the woods. All is well, and so much surrounds me for which to be grateful.

I began the morning reading Maria Shriver's weekly email newsletter, and in particular this morning's letter resonated with me, and most likely would you as well as a reader of TSLL. I've included an excerpt below as she describes a moment in which she felt, albeit unexpectedly, truly and sincerely content.

"Over the last few years, I’ve settled into myself. I’ve focused more on my blessings and what I’m doing well rather than my shortcomings and what needs to be adjusted (something I highly recommend). As a result, everything in my mind has calmed down, and therefore my body has calmed down, too.  Today, my life finally feels centered, grounded, and solid. I feel like I’ve found my space and my place.

It was one of those profoundly simple, yet headshaking, moments of self-realization that no one ever really talks about. Sure, there are still things in life that give me anxiety (the coronavirus, the election, and Mother Nature as our neighbors in Nashville know all too well). But, through it all, I’ve been able to find my inner fortitude and soothe myself, something I’ve struggled with my entire life.

The truth is I never expected that the peace, joy or success that I chased my whole life would come to me when I was sitting alone, drinking coffee on my porch. I thought I was supposed to find that while giving speeches, accepting awards, and galvanizing change. That’s what our culture teaches us. It’s what infused into our beings at a very young age."

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that on this International Women’s Day, I’m a woman on my own path. I’m living my one wild, precious, joyful and meaningful life. In the end, my friends, that’s what galvanizes true change. Watching, witnessing and being in community with people who are following their authentic paths is what changes the world one breath at a time. I thought of that every time I washed my hands this week and it made me smile.

So, follow your heart personally, professionally, and politically. Because, when you do, you will discover the feeling I felt the other morning. You will find yourself saying to no one in particular, “Wow, I’m good just the way I am.” —Maria Shriver in her 3/8/2020 letter from the editor of The Sunday Paper newsletter

I realize the excerpt above was long, but hopefully, as it did me, it reassured as to what living well truly is. It's simple and intentional. It's internal and individual. It is purpose driven and intangible. It is also experiential and tactile. It requires of us to be present to be engaged with our world acknowledging much needs us to let go, but so too must we stay involved and aware. It is the daily practice of elevating our daily life by how we walk and open our eyes and minds to all that is around us and that is possible.

Each year when my birthday rolls around, here on the blog, I share a reflection of some sort of life lessons, aha moments and discoveries about the world found along my journey. To share, as well, admittedly, as a way to preserve my own growth, my hope is to prompt introspection amongst readers as sometimes, maybe even often, we do not realize all ways in which we have grown as it can sometimes be hard to see when we are the ones walking through the world each day.

I have yet to share my life lessons for my 41st birthday which fell during the final week of February, so I wanted to take today's episode/post to reflect.

1.Dreams, hopes, wishes can indeed materialize so long as we never let them go, we keep making small, yet steady progress, and keep refusing to not believe it can happen.

2. Clear, respectful, honest communication is to be treasured and a necessary ingredient for healthy relationship of all types.

3. Setting personal boundaries is a reflection of your recognition of your innate self-worth which will cause your self-esteem to grow.

4. Giving yourself closure on the past is healthy and necessary for being able to fully move forward. Your closure need not make sense to anyone else but yourself, but give yourself this gift of freedom.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2aF0dpArA7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

5. Some friends, family and/or colleagues may not be able to travel with you into your next life chapter as you choose to grow and evolve or your life simply asks of you to travel a different way or in a different way. Letting go need not be dramatic or radical or even known, but rather a natural going about life's path perhaps to meet again at some other time or maybe not. And that is okay and healthy as it shows awareness of the social support that you need to be well.

6. Give yourself permission to be excited about your life journey, your everyday moments and just be giddy. Let your endorphins soar naturally and see your daily life experience improve as well.

7. Say yes to opportunities that cross your path but out of schedule with when you had hoped they might arrive. My trip to Paris and Normandy was not expected nor planned. In fact, I had told myself I would take at least a year off before returning to Paris since my trip in 2018; however, when an invitation arrived to return in 2019, I had to say yes, and all that I learned, experienced, savored and learned some more was more than evidence that I made the right decision.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzbTLLVg2zl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

8. Less truly can bring more into your life. The unexpected discovery of my now home and sanctuary which is half the size of the home I owned previously is precisely what I instinctively knew I needed to live well. Less to decorate, but what I choose can be investments that will last. Less to clean, so I have more time to explore and create on the weekends, a perfectly medium size yard and petite garden, but exactly what I enjoy to have Mother Nature at my fingertips without a requirement of more time than I can give.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5qY6P5giC9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

9. Mother Nature, moving my feet in Mother Nature, is my creative muse and her gifts are priceless. While I walk nearly everyday outside on the trails in Bend or near the river that runs through Bend, even walking in San Francisco when I needed to get outside, I did so and saw the famed parrots of the Telescope Hill, and oh what a delight. Inspiration is everywhere when we step out into the fresh air.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gCmyiAqRb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

10. My dogs have been for the past 15 years and are my companions in this journey of my life as they let me be "Shannon", provide company as well as freedom, yet keep me grounded as well. Savoring every moment with my two elder gentlemen.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6y1EUage_B/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

11. Cooking, creating in the kitchen, is to play and forever be learning and savoring everyday moments.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2r3OEjApER/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

12. Love really does live on inside you even after someone dearly loved passes away.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4nBcJVgAj_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

13. Host that dinner party you've been wanting to have. You may just bring beautiful moments and new connections to your guests that they will appreciate more than you will ever know. (read: 10 Ideas Gleaned & Confirmed from my Last Dinner Party, and be sure to check out my first book for details and a menus for hosting a successful gathering.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/By08-OWAsos/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

14. Traveling with my mom created memories of getting to know each other as where we are now in our lives and wonderful shared experiences that I will never forget. Check out our trip to San Francisco. We also had the opportunity to go to Oregon's Garden which exceeded my expectations and opened my eyes even further to my mom's love and knowledge of "green-thumb" life.

https://www.instagram.com/p/By4ciypgFcu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxVse9XA71H/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

15. Continue to follow your heart, its inklings, its tugs, its curiosities, and you will never be led astray. Even when it doesn't make sense to you, even when you do not have a model to forge the path before you traverse it, your insurance is that it is your heart leading the way. I am reminded of Julia Child's quote which she expressed on the penultimate and onto the final page of her memoir My Life in France.

"In Paris in the 1950s, I had the supreme good fortune to study with a remarkably able group of chefs. From them I learned why good French food is an art, and why it makes such sublime eating: nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should. Good results require that one take time and care. If one doesn't use the freshest ingredients or read the whole recipe before starting, and if one rushes through the cooking, the result will be an inferior taste and texture . . . But a careful approach will result in a magnificent burst of flavor, a thoroughly satisfying meal, perhaps even a life-changing experience." —Julia Child

While Julia is directly speaking of her experience in the culinary world of Paris, she indirectly and perhaps most significantly speaks to how to live life well. Invest, have patience, do your homework, and trust the co-mingling of those who know more than you about topics which you love as well as your own passions and curiosities. Beautiful art, the art of life, your life, can materialize in its own time and in its own unique way.

May this birthday year offer insightful and inspired life lessons that elevate the quality of your everyday life even more and bring you all the more contentment, true contentment that you desire.

Petit Plaisir

~Dishing with Julia Child

~A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season by Erin Benzakein

Tune in to the latest episode of The Simple Sophisticate podcast

[krycek-asks]

Luis’ Storytime: Wanda’s Day Out

A Luis story I wrote to manage the rage and make @thelittleblackfox smile

Overheard at the next table during brunch last Sunday:

“Yo yo yo, so, like, you remember last week when I was all ‘why doesn’t Wanda come out with us anymore to Brunch Roulette?’ And you were like, ‘I dunno brah, but now that you mention it she didn’t hang on movie night neither’. And that was Tremors night yo! Kevin Fuckin’ Bacon - you remember the look on Little Stevie’s face when Rhonda tricked the worm into flying off a cliff to its explosive death? Pure victory, bro! You just know he’s saving that strategy up there in his eidetic memory banks. So’s, like, I solved the mystery dude, but you’re gonna like it about as much as I do, which is like, nada, nil, nyet as you say when you slip into your dark side. Fuck bro! Watch it where you throw that potato hash! Shit is hot! Anyways, so I’m wandering through the common room just back from that abstractionism exhibit at that chill gallery down on 3rd when I find our girl just staring at the news. ‘Course she heard me coming from a mile away but her sixth sense was distracted just enough to not change the channel until it was too late and I caught a glimpse of the reel at the bottom of the screen. Big, bold letters, yo: Wanda Maximoff -should the Scarlet Witch be allowed to walk the streets? Congress to decide on bill regarding inhumans. ‘Inhumans’. In-fuckin’-humans, can you believe that? Barely eighteen years old and the people running this so-called civilization you call home have already decided you’re not a human. They’re going to have a big ol’ chat about how none of the laws that are there to protect their citizens apply to you because they’ve already decided you’re not one of them. Perfect fuckin’ strangers have an opinion about whether you deserve to live your life or not. And that’s not even the worst part bro, not by a long shot. Internet trolls are one thing, just about everybody’s got a case of those sad fuckers, but guess who’s standing in the fucking kitchen making his triple-shot mocha latte? Tony My-girl-left-me-so-I’mma-take-everyone-down-with-me Stark. And you know what he says? Put down the knife, my man, he ain’t standin’ right behind me. Is he? Well, since Vision took his douche-filter out to be de-scaled or somethin’, he says to Wanda, ‘Better stay in the Tower until this blows over. And by ‘stay’ I mean that I’ve already altered security protocols, so, you know, stay. And try not to send someone to their own personal hellscape just because you’re bored, ‘K? We have x-box for that.’ And poof! He’s gone like a leprechaun.

I KNOW.

I can see the murder in your eyes, amigo, I am right on that train to avenge-ville with you but it’s not gonna help and you know it. Just make all kinda things worse for that sweet little redhead, ya know? No, I don’t mean Nat! What’s wrong wichu? Don’t get me wrong, I love my girl, but last time I called her ‘sweet’, well, let’s just say that my Twitter followers will never recover. Yes, I have more than just Scott following me. Steve Fuckin’ Rogers, for one. Clint, too. Uh, Sam, Rhodey… Oh yes, he fuckin’ does! I beg to differ, brah. This may come as a surprise to you but your Golden Rod of Morning Wood is a killah on social media. You ain’t ever seen him go after some corrupt government official online? Duuuuude someday you will cave and get an iPhone and get learnt, I’m tellin you! He called himself that bro, don’t get mad at me! Your boy has all kinds of creativity, I’m sure. Sorry my man but ever since I got a taste of those lumber jacked arms around me I gotta bit of a homey-crush, know what I’m sayin’? That’s a fuckin’ secret asshole, don’t you go all giggle fit on me. What is in these mimosas, dawg? Super-trooper truth serum or some shit Bruce cooked up, no doubt.

But, like, as I was sayin’ Wanda looked down, bro, like already given up. Like, when you get told some bullshit so often you start to believe it, all doubting yourself n’shit. Nah, man, no way, that snapped me out of the frozen stupor caused by Tony’s douche-ray and I immediately put my arm around her and said, ‘Girl, I am taking you to see some fish.’

No, I am not talkin’ about my prima Leticia’s boyfriend’s little brother’s mariscos place down by Fulton’s, Bucky. Well, I guess ‘Cente makes a decent ceviche, you know, for this latitude, and yes I am a ‘fuckin food snob’ as you so eloquently put it, and who’s one to talk bro! You’re the one who sent back your poached eggs because the yolks were three-quarters dry. Pot, kettle, black, that’s all I’m sayin’. I was going for a little something more life affirming, and where do I go when I want to just escape and remind myself of some goodness in this world? The aquarium! Yeaahhhhh, now you’re gettin’ it. I know how you liked those octo-dudes in their camo hanging out on those rocks when I brought you the first time - the look on your face when they appeared from outta nowhere, duuuude, I’ve seen love and I’ve seen envy and those complicated emotions with all their little nuances blending together like a Norman Lewis, that was your face! But Wanda, she had a harder time letting go of the outside world and just, you know, experiencing these other-worldly creatures. There were a couple times when her eyes would light up at manta rays dancin’ like they’re flying all around you, or the jellyfish all glowing and ethereal. But always something would make the sadness in those big brown eyes of hers come back, you know, all pull the hood down around her, shrink away a bit deeper into herself. And like maayyyyybe I was talkin’ too much, you know me when I get onto a subject that I know just enough about to be dangerous. My cousin Frankie says that’s why they wouldn’t let me into no science clubs at juvie, ‘fraid I’d accidentally blow somethin’ up. I know, right! Like it’d be an ‘accident’. But Wanda just says in her soft voice that no, she likes it when I talk. Don’t have to tell me twice, homes! Probably the only time I was speechless was when we went to see the otters. Oh my gawd, bro, they are so cute. And smart! And there was this aqua-lady with a mic explaining how they can like float on their backs and use their bellies like a table. I know, I totally thought of Clint too when he’s all cozy on the edge of the sofa and settled in to watch Myth Busters. And otters, those little hedonists, will do shit just for the fun of it. Sometimes they’re like lone wolves of the sea, but mostly they live in groups. And here’s the cutest shit of all, homes, they hold hands when they’re sleeping so they don’t drift away from eachother. Wanda was so into it, these smart little creatures going about their business havin’ fun in this world and livin’ it up. Then she takes my hand, gives it a squeeze and says, ‘Thanks for not letting me float away.’

You know how sensitive I am, bro, I teared up for sure at that, eyes all red rimmed, snifflin’, the works. Just made Wanda smile, so it’s worth it, obvs. So I get her a soft little otter key ring at the gift shop and she cajoles me until I get that ‘AxoLOLtl’ t-shirt I’ve been hummin’ and hawin’ about. We sneak back across town, and she’s grippin’ that fuzzy little otter like it’s the only thing keepin’ her feet on the ground. But you know, she didn’t look down once the whole way back, sat there on that train just like everyone else. So, maybe she’s not ready for Brunch Roulette, but I don’t think she believes that shit people say about her, and she knows she ain’t gotta prove nothin’ to nobody.

‘Course, coulda been that emotional speech Little Stevie gave to her when we got back to the common room that really drove it home. All ‘we’re a family, we’re in this together’ and ‘who here can call themselves human if not a one of us has half the kindness and heart and bravery that you have’. Oh my gawd, bro, when Steve Fuckin’ Rogers gets goin’, I mean, not a dry eye in the house, fuck, I’m tearin’ up just thinkin’ about it. And Wanda just nods and accepts his words and like lets him hug her and kinda sags a bit into his teddy-bear embrace, I mean dude is all-encompassing, I guess I don’t have to tell you that, you dawg. And I have never seen Tony look so conTRITE! His face was so red, I am positive Cap had given him his own speech, not the huggy kind know what I mean, and dragged him by his ears to apologize, like literally, and I don’t gotta remind you the grip your boy has with them strong hands, dude’s like a vice with them muscles, but soft too. Oh shit, is it hot in here? Garçon! Another mimosa, and keep ‘em comin’ brah.”  

[rfhusnik]

Let's Really Care About The Americans Of Tomorrow

                                     Written By:  Steven Fillmore

                Before I begin here, I want to admit that the current situation concerning illegal immigration into the United States was certainly what prompted me to write this. I’m sure you noticed that during the recent national elections, candidates for representative, senator, and governor all stressed what they would do to help America’s youth. Yes, they all had a lot of nice promises to make to the Americans of tomorrow; but they neglected to address one key issue:  Who’s going to support thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants in the years to come? Surely as mechanization progresses, the signs point toward less unskilled labor being necessary in the future. Will employed Americans of the future need to support massive amounts of people who shouldn’t have been allowed to resettle here?

            When I submitted this piece to our city’s leader Ralph Hawk, he and I argued concerning its content. He told me he felt it was borderline racist; but I said, “At my age, I’m too old to be concerned with the names various groups call one another. All I care about now (unlike many politicians who preach their caring of American youth while they don’t really practice it) is what life on this planet, but especially in this nation, will be like in the years to come.”

            Thus, over the objection of Ralph, I’m going to take a chance here. I’m going to write something which may be objectionable to some, but which I feel is very sincere – and not racist!  

            I’ll say today that for over four decades I worked at a manual labor job in this city. And it was a good job, and the owner of the factory at which I toiled was a good man. He passed away about two years ago, and as soon as his death was made known, our leftist media descended upon his legacy and recast it portraying Mr. Havess as having been a miserly monster, instead of what he really was, an unpretentious kind hearted man.

            And personally, although I never achieved any special status in my life, I also lived with the stigma of guilt hanging over my head. I tried to do what was right, but of course I could never be completely innocent of blame because, as liberals told me, all those minorities had life so much worse than me, and I didn’t care enough about that fact.

            But now, as my final years near, I can’t help but think about the Americans of tomorrow. And I know that changes will come to the U.S.A. in years to come. Still, I fear the young people of today are too centered in the present. When I was their age, there was a great concern in this nation about pollution, manmade changes to the environment, and the one that we were told lay at the root of all newly realized (at that time) twentieth century problems – over population.

            Yet today, as I look at the societal landscape of the U.S.A., I still see and hear many liberal based individuals talking about environmental concerns, but now with what I feel is a hypocritical addendum. These people now want the U.S.A. to allow mass immigration. They apparently want the American nation flooded with people from south of its border. And how, I ask you, will bringing tens, and probably hundreds of thousands of such people into this land, do anything to reverse environmental problems here? In fact, won’t it exacerbate such concerns?

            If I were a young American today, I’d give a second thought to the mass immigration of Hispanics into the U.S.A. I’d ask myself how this trend of an ever increasing Hispanic population is impacting my homeland, and how it will impact it (and me) in years to come. And though it may not be politically correct to do so, I’d admit that many who are trying to enter my native land have no basic skills to support themselves should they enter here. And I’d recognize that many are criminals, or would become criminals after they’d been here awhile. And I’d also accept the fact that, thus far at least, these peoples have shown a tendency toward having large families. Thus, I’d ask myself, what will a greatly expanding Hispanic population mean for non-Hispanic Americans in the years to come?  

            But yes, I know that according to some I’m probably a near-racist. Yet, I’d be considered that no matter what I had to say. Simply, in the minds of leftists, because I was born without a skin color,  I’ll be forever abusing other races and other Americans who practice what I’ll term “non-traditional lifestyles”.

            And, what does it matter if my thoughts sometimes stray to the stereotyped white Americans of the future? What will life be like in The United States Of America when Hispanics are the majority ethnic group? Will they care about the minorities of tomorrow as much as those who are the majority today care about them? Will a “melding” of Hispanics and “the old white race” produce a new type of majority white race in years to come? And, what will the reaction of America’s black race be to these developments?

            I wonder how many of those crossing our border illegally ever stop to think about how they’re altering the lives of true Americans by doing what they’re doing? Very few I’d suspect. In fact, it could be said that these are very selfish people. They apparently care only about themselves; otherwise they’d remain in their own native lands and try to improve life there. And I don’t accept the argument that they’re so poor and abused that there’s nothing they can do but try to escape. If they have the gumption and means to leave, then they also have those same abilities to stay where they are and improve life there. Remember, during times of peril in the U.S.A., the civilian population here didn’t simply give up and run away to Canada or Mexico.  

            Long ago is when America should have begun a serious and dedicated crackdown on illegal immigration. And yes, your children and grandchildren will pay a price for uncontrolled illegal immigration. They’ll pay it in dollars subtracted from their paychecks (or however they’ll be paid in years to come) to support people who don’t belong here, as those people languish on welfare or in prisons.

            And it won’t be long before Americans of all ages realize that already today the so-called “American dream” lifestyle has been replaced by the “American do what you need to do to get by” way of life. And yet, though that may have changed, one thing that’s remained constant is that, in the eyes of liberals, anyone born of the white race is automatically a racist, and if he’s a male, nine chances out of ten are that he’s a misogynist as well.

            Yet, over the years (but never more than the present time) we’ve heard liberal types tell us that they alone are the only people who really care about America’s future and, future Americans! And now, with the American nation at a point of division it’s probably not experienced since the last years before the outbreak of its bloody civil war, these liberal types put future Americans at risk by refusing to take whatever steps they possibly could take (and the building of a strong wall along our southern border would be the most effective one) to avoid an ultimate confrontation between Hispanics and Americans, which will be our children’s birthright, given to them by us their elders, because of the obstinance of liberals amongst us.

            Now, there is no doubt that minority groups have been victimized in the United States over the years. And, there also is no doubt that much has been done to attempt to change racial biases and discrimination in this nation. However, now a new phenomenon apparently lurks on the horizon. It’s estimated that by somewhere around the year 2040, Hispanics will be the majority ethnic group in the U.S.. But what does the American media say about that? Little if anything. I guess media types are simply going to let the American populace hope and pray that the good of the two possible scenarios concerning the saturation of America by Hispanics will be the one which someday occurs. Oh, and what are those two scenarios? First, that a successful “amalgamation” of numerous ethnic groups would produce a strong and proud people such as the combining of Saxons, Angles, Normans, Danes, and several other groups led to today’s English population; or second, that diverse ethnic groups would someday be a major factor in the demise of the entire nation, such as happened in The Roman empire.

            So, given what I’ve just written, I’ve wondered often what “little people” (and in American life today “little people” are usually all such types as are not involved in national politics, national media, professional sports, or the leftist portion of America’s entertainment sector) can do to keep America well and vibrant during the inevitable years of change which loom ahead. I’ll now mention the nine I believe to be the most important, and then I’ll “sign off”. Thank you, Steven F.

            Number One:  Build the wall along the southern border. This will greatly reduce the amount of illegal immigration into the nation. Number Two:  Achieve a strong immigration policy for the future, and adhere to it! And, that policy should be based upon allowing entry into America of such people as will actually help America, rather than become a burden to it continually, or at least for a number of years. Number Three:  Deport people who are now in our nation illegally, unless they can prove a reason constructive to America as to why they should remain here, and achieve legal citizenship here. Number Four:  Stop promoting the United States of America as some sort of panacea in which all people automatically live the good life just due to their presence here. Number Five:  Develop a new strategy for dealing with all nations directly south of the U.S., whether they be in Latin or South America. Try to help those nations improve their living standards, so that not so many of their people will wish to enter the United States. Number Six:  Develop a comprehensive plan concerning world population. But remember, simply saying that those with more should sacrifice more will get no one anywhere in regard to this topic in the years to come. One thing that will always remain the same (and regardless of what type of economic system any nation may have)   is that some mortals will not wish to labor so that the fruits of their labor can be given to other mortals who’d rather take life easy. Number Seven:  If you are someone who has the valid opinion that life’s sacredness renders abortion a non-option, remember that you also must work to thwart uncontrolled world population growth. Many people may believe strongly that abortion is wrong, but all people should believe easily that starvation is as well. Number Eight:  If you are a black American, remember that you are a proud and necessary part of an America which will probably change because of Hispanic immigration in the years to come. Try to adapt to that change in such a fashion as will help your race, and the other races and ethnic groups which will constitute the future population of the United States of America. You’ve always been told that America is a “melding pot”. And in the years to come, I believe your importance in American life will greatly increase, no matter what may befall any other race or ethnic group in the U.S.A. And Number Nine:  Lately, through various sources, a number of left-wing policy advocates have been posturing for an end to all borders worldwide. The lunacy of this wish should be apparent, but in case it’s not, remember again, as stated in this piece previously, some people need to do the physical work which keeps societies functioning. And left-wing writers and policy advisors don’t (and won’t) picture themselves as doing the agricultural, factory, construction, and various other labor intensive type jobs whose performance will be necessary in the future no matter if nations have borders or not. No, those liberal types see themselves as being above manual labor tasks. Jobs such as those need to be done by peasants. Thus, what would happen in a world without borders? The answer is one of two possible scenarios:  Either a grounded workforce would do society’s necessary tasks while various other people who would rather live off the labors of those workers traveled about worldwide or, numerous, or perhaps only one powerful centralized governments or government would ensure that all people would do their fair share of society’s work by imposing either numerous or one worldwide left or right wing regimes or regime across the world, which would then, by necessity curtail most or all the freedoms now enjoyed by the various nations who today function with a democratic republic as their economic system.      

[bloodywingsandbrokenhorns-blog]

Letters From A Crusader

August 30, 1191 My sisters told me that I should write to them since I am off to war. And since Henry Louis died in the Siege of Acre Mother wants news from the war front. She worries for me since I am the final heir if something happens to Philip in the homeland. She worries for my safety but I know Father is the one who is concerned for his legacy and heirs. While I write this to Atallana and Arielle I also write to preserve my own legacy. It would please Father as well as this is for my own morality. I write to anyone who cares to read this. Since my brother’s death I have thought for my own life and what will become of it when I am with the Father in Heaven. The priests say I should only have concern for my sin and what God thinks of that sin in this life. But I write now to survive. For after the siege I need material to focus on, rather than blood and war. My name is Geoffrey Descoteaux, or my English name is Geoffrey of Dorchester. I favor my Norman name because of my mother, however that is nearly irrelevant here in this war. I am the third son of Philip II of Dorchester, and Englishman, and Liliola of Aquitaine, a Norman woman who loves her Norman home more than her husband. I am the offspring of a Church officiated arranged marriage that lacks love. The marriage was only to unite the English and Norman families. It is common and cannot be escaped in this age. I have five siblings, now only four. My eldest brother is Philip III and heir to my Father’s fortune and his name. He does not fight this holy war as a Crusader. He remains in Dorchester, safe from harm to the wishes of my Father. His eldest must live. Then Henry Louis is the next in line, was next in line. Henry Louis fought alongside me in this Crusade. We were much alike in both looks and personality. We joined this army to make lives for ourselves and to fight heathens. But we both learned that we are fighting for something we may never gain in this world. But the brother who I loved fell to the hands of a Saracen during the Siege of Acre, a battle where we fought for our lives and my brother lost his. I have three sisters who are either older or much younger than me. I have one sister who is two years older than me. She lives in Oxford with her husband of nearly twelve years. Her name is Mary Margaret and I believe she has many children now. I have not seen her in years. I miss her in these long days,. I remember how close we were as children. But adulthood came and drew us apart. Then there is Atallana and Arielle who are the treasures of my mother. I was sixteen when they were born. Now they are almost to adolescence. They love me more than the other siblings and I would give my life for them. Which is another reason why I joined this war in the desert. I did it for faith and for my family. Being a holy warrior guarantees myself a place in Paradise and a sizable amount of wealth from the almighty Church. That is wealth for me to survive on, much more than I ever need. Some of my immediate family may need it at some point in time. My mother does not have any association with her husband’s wealth but only the treasure of the Norman side of the family. When she is old and weary I want to make sure that she can live out her days in security. But I fear most for Atallana and Arielle. Soon they will be sent off in marriage as the customs permit. I desire that they live with their future husbands with comfort and that no evil may ever harm them. I never want them to get a glimpse of what I have seen. I have somehow found the time to write this as we march under King Richard’s orders. They call him the Lionheart now since he has such military prowess. He deserves the title but as a higher ranked knight I also know some of the undesirable traits of our king. There is no doubt that the scribes that write down this history shade over those facts. Richard does have the heart of a lion, but he has the traits of a lion that one should respect and even fear. We are marching on the coast unlike many times before. The fleet on the seas gives us aid and supplies. That is a relief against the environment here. We marched like that for a time but the shadow of the Saracens came upon us. Their leader, Saladin, is very calculating from what I have seen. His Ayyubid forces began to send raids against our flanks and the infantry there. As being a soldier near the King I was safe from these attacks, but they were concerning. Saladin was trying to make the Crusaders break defensive formation. They have in the past, but this time we did hold. We held against the Saracens and marched on. But the hostile peace did not last long. It was morning when the air is cool and men do not boil in their armor when the rearguard was suddenly attacked. The knights, about a hundred per regiment, had to hold with the infantry on their land flank. In the end the Saracens almost overcame the rearguard but King Richard sent reinforcements. They were almost cut off but with the assistance our holy force caused the barbarians to flee. When I heard this news I felt a surge of unhealthy pride rush through me. We had victory this time, but there was more danger to come. In this small skirmish we lost very few men. But Richard says that Saladin and his Saracens are always waiting to strike. They do have advantages on us such as better mobility with their army and that they are everywhere in the land. Our scouts say that they are already in Caesarea. I believe that the heathens are waiting to strike us when we may not be in formation. We must hold our formation to have a chance here in this desert. I must end my letter here as we approach the forest. Some of the men think that our march in the rare woods will be a time of rest. It will not. The forest may offer shelter to our forces but it also gives a shelter to Saladin. This forest of Arsuf is dangerous. I do not doubt that a battle will occur in the forest, or just outside of it. And I think Richard knows this. As a Crusades and a self-declared military strategist I am confident in this prediction. I hope to write soon, but I might not be able to. I desire to send a letter in another week or so. But send your prayers to me, my family. I need it in this time of strife. I try not to sound terrified for what is to come but in my soul I am. I must have strength. In God’s name, Geoffrey Descoteaux of Dorchester September 8, 1191 The day before this was the longest of my life. I have been a soldier in battles like this before, but this battle at Arsuf had no clear victor for many hours. If anticipation could have killed a man, it would have killed me. September 7 was the day where the true bloodshed began. It was early in the morning when King Richard rose all of his 20,000 men from slumber. We began to march yet again when the sun began to shine. All the experienced warriors could sense today was the fateful day. I prayed as our feet hit the ground and I knew I wasn’t the only one. However it was not my feet, but the hooves of a warhorse. Riding on horseback gave me a sense of confidence, but I still had fear. King Richard ordered the Templars to the front and the Hospitallers to the rearguard which is an understandable decision. The knights both Templar and Hospitaller have some of the most skilled soldiers in their ranks. The Templars are priests that are also knights and the Hospitallers are healers, knights, and priests. They are holy military orders and I admire their prowess. But infantryman and knights from all points of my two homelands were at the army’s center. Richard’s subjects followed the Templars and then the units from England and the units of Normandy. These are units where I am from, since my homeland is both England and Normandy. But I move between units and even corps when I am needed. The next seven corps were Frenchmen and other smaller groups of other crusaders from other nations and finally, as stated, the knights Hospitaller. There is also scouting corp led by Henry II of Champagne that do as their title says. However I was part of a crucial squadron of knights chosen by the King and Hugh of Burgundy. Our mission was to make brutally sure that the ranks had order and kept formation. I have no doubt that my parents’ connection to King Richard gained me this position, as well as my skill as a fighter. But this knightly squadron had some of the most dangerous missions. We are high targets for archers for if we fall our units and ranks would collapse into disarray. That could cause the defeat of this army. The forest offered us shade as the sun rose. It was quiet save for the chanting of the many prayers to Christ and the oddly comforting noise of armor hitting armor. But a hum was within us, it was the sound of coming war. But I also could hear the movement of man and beast in the woods that was not friendly. It was the noise of our eastern foe. It was unnerving to hear, knowing the Saracens lurked in the shadows, waiting to cut our throats. I suppose that is something that Saladin wanted. It was not long after we left our night camp and reached the end of the forest when they did attack. It was simply quiet one moment and then the next there was such a noise that rattled the earth. They swarmed out of the woodlands on horseback and on foot with archers and cavalry. They did not have formation like we did, they had a center and two wings of military to their formation. I thought like a strategist in that moment and it appeared as if we were going to be trampled by pagans of a false lord. The noise ended up getting louder as they charged. The dark haired heathens roared and pounded on metal. Young crusaders who had not seen much combat were shaking and I roared to my men to stay in their formations. Then came the hail of arrows and javelins. I was looking both to my ranks and then to the Saracens moving and fighting as one near movement. I could not let my fear show as I rode back and forth, shouting orders and listening for what to do next. But my sole mission was to keep the men in rank against such an overwhelming force. However we faced losses from these attacks. Men were losing their horses and they were suddenly reduced to marching on their feet. It slowed our march down significantly. But the situation only got worse, the pure force of the Muslims was placed mainly down on the rearguard of Hospitallers and some of my units. We could be attacked from two directions and that caused the men to go to desperate measures to fight on. I do believe I saw Hospitaller knights walking backwards to fight the fierce attacks from the Saracens. I saw airborne weapons flash past my body in slower time. I heard my heart in my ears and my throat burned from yelling. I felt like I was in Hell, and the true bloodshed hadn’t even begun yet. These harrowing attacks did not break us. Our movement as a solid armored column remained and it was a miracle from God. But this was the time when the fiery body in the sky burned the hottest. Men were crimson in the face from the heat and began to stumble. The remaining horses even began to slow as they lost their stamina. At this point in time the rank in and among the Hospitallers was failing as the heathens closed in on them. I was beginning to have concern for when King Richard would launch the Crusader counterattack. I knew it needed to be launched at a perfect time but if we left the Hospitallers behind and marched forward they would be slaughtered like livestock. Something needed to happen, and that something could be devastating. And suddenly it did. Garnier de Nablus, leader of the knight Hospitaller, charged through his men with a cry to the saints and soon he was followed by his Hospitaller knights and the French corps. They ran into the enemy with unbelievable bravery. It was at that historic moment chaos erupted. Men stood and stopped, torn between following the Hospitallers and obeying orders. I was in turmoil of what to do as well. But suddenly our entire army was roaring like a lion and I realized that our Lionheart had ordered our counterattack. I was screaming and raising my sword as my steed charged. The infantry opened forth and our remaining knights on horseback reared forward. I felt such a powerful feeling rush through me as our mightiest Crusaders stampeded forth. I knew God was with me in this moment, and with that I felt limitless. I was lashing out with my weapon at the Saracens that were stuck on the soil, in shock from our sudden attack. Blood splattered my armor and even my bare skin. In that moment I did not care that I was slaughtering men who had wives and children. I was killing heathens that antagonised my men and I for weeks, months, and even years. I was doing this for cold-hearted revenge. But we were halted by the order of Richard. He knew that our forces needed to be preserved. But in this time of drawback not all came to regroup. There was a subset of Crusaders that were trapped and cut down. A man I knew, James d’Avesnes, fell to Saracen hands. But I could not mourn for long because a nephew of Saladin rallied his forces and our second counterattack was launched. This time I did not feel the powerful rush like before. It was dull and hollow. We had one last charge before the Saracens fled into the Forest of Arsuf. We had victory, against the logical odds. The Battle of Arsuf was won by holy men. But Mother, I survived, I survived! However our deaths seem to number to around seven hundred. The Saracens deaths number much more. We hold Jaffa and now move forward. I hope to come home soon once we claim Jerusalem, and with this victory we may have a chance. But I must go now. Lilola, Mother, pray for me and tell Atallana and Arielle their brother is alive and misses them dearly. Goodbye for now. In God’s name, Geoffrey Descoteaux Of Dorchester

[newestbalance]

‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter

Most Canadians remember the violence and the trampling of civil rights by the police when Canada hosted the Group of 8 and Group of 20 summit meetings eight years ago.

But even though I covered those meetings for The Times, I had to search online this week to remember what the world’s leaders actually produced. (It was a statement calling for reforms in bank regulation, and denouncing trade protectionism.)

I doubt that Canadians will soon forget the performance of President Trump before, during and — above all — after last weekend’s Group of 7 meeting in Quebec’s Charlevoix region. The smoldering mess and escalating trade battle that the American president left behind from his first visit to Canada was a particularly low moment in the history of the two countries’ relationship (though it may have helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s domestic standing).

The Times has been all over this story. I’ve collected some of our best reads lower down.

Many Canadians were among the thousands of readers who commented on those articles. Here are some highlights, condensed for clarity:

President Trump, the farmers of Quebec thank you this morning.

You have accomplished, in a flurry of tweets, what no other politician in Canada has been able to do over the past 30 years: garner near unanimous political support for our supply-side management system, and galvanize Canadians against U.S. pressure to change that system.

— Norman, Kingston, Quebec

The U.S. has not had a better ally or friend in its history. Have we benefited? Yes. But I doubt many people remain for long in relationships where there is not some measure of reciprocity.

— Rob Mills, Canada

My only question this morning is: Are we still friends?

— Robert, Quebec

The U.S. is NOT the only market we can sell our products to. Canadians are warm and friendly people. But we will not be bullied by any of your representatives.

— Lagarde, Montreal

As far as Canadian domestic politics is concerned, Donald Trump is the great unifier. All of Trudeau’s past and present political opponents are united in support of Trudeau’s stand against Trump.

— Roger D. Moore, Toronto

Every longstanding ally has come to the grim realization that this administration cannot be reasoned with, cannot be convinced by rational argument and isn’t our friend. Thanks for the last 151 years, it’s been nice. I hope you all enjoy your new friend Kim Jong-un.

— Henry’s Boy, Ottawa

In the news conference that had Trump and his advisers throwing a collective hissy fit, Trudeau repeated statements that he had been making for weeks, after Trump decided to arbitrarily levy tariffs on Canadian-made aluminum and steel. Unlike Trump, Trudeau is being honest and consistent.

— C. Evans, Toronto

I really enjoy California wine, Florida orange juice, California avocados and camping in upstate New York. But they also make pretty good wine in France; maybe I’ll buy that instead. I’m pretty sure they grow avocados in Mexico; I think I’ll pick those instead. My doctor says orange juice has too much sugar so maybe I’ll just cut that out entirely. There’s good camping here in Quebec as well, so I think I’ll just stick close to home this summer.

— Zac, Montreal

This won’t play well with America’s other allies who know Mr. Trudeau to be an honorable and decent person. Already European support is being expressed for Canada. Who wants to be friends with Trump? Nobody who ever got to know him.

— Charles, St. John, New Brunswick

Trade is the sum of many two-way individual transactions. It’s a complex interlocking system that has massively benefited the U.S. as much as any other party and breaking it is beyond foolish.

Even the spectacularly uninformed President Trump must understand this.

— Susan Watson, Vancouver, British Columbia

As a nation we are generally polite, hardworking, and we say sorry at the drop of a hat. But never underestimate our ability to feel indignant or slighted. I will be curbing my spending on made-in-America goods and services. Sorry if I offend anyone in the process. Oh, and sorry for burning down the White House. It wasn’t really us, though — it was some Brits. And by the way, I know the words to “God Bless America.”

— Baz, Calgary

And, as promised, here’s a selection of our Trudeau-Trump trade articles and columns. (You can always find everything we have about Canada here.) If you haven’t read it already, I’d start with this insightful in-depth piece on Canada’s approach to relations with the United States by Guy Larson: The Magazine: First Canada Tried to Charm Trump. Now It’s Fighting Back.

I looked into the dilmenna now facing Mr. Trudeau. Resisting Mr. Trump is popular among Canadian at the moment, but the unequal trading relationship between our countries might make the strategy economically ruinous in the long term: Trudeau’s Challenge: Managing Trump and Domestic Politics

Jess Bidgood took the pulse of Derby Line, Vt., the town where the local library and opera house is as much in Canada as it is in the United States: Where U.S.-Canadian Border Is Marked by Petunias, Not a Wall.

In an awkward bit of timing, FIFA announced this week that Canada, the United States and Mexico will jointly host the 2026 World Cup. Dan Bilefsky looked into the possibility of soccer undoing the rift between the three countries that President Trump has opened: Can the World Cup Restore Harmony Between Canada and the U. S.?

And over in Opinion, Thomas L. Friedman asked: “What happens if there is another 9/11 and we need Canada’s help for something more than buying our milk? What country wouldn’t want Canada as its neighbor? Our president is compromised on Russia and is rapidly alienating every ally with whom we confronted Nazism, Communism and radical Islamism in the last 70 years”: Opinion: Trump, Trying to Remake America in His Own Image

Finally we’re holding a special event for Times subscribers on June 18 that will look at what President Trump’s actions at the summit and in Singapore will mean for trade, national security, the economy and the midterm elections in the United States. Participants be able to join a conference call and question our crack team of Washington experts: White House correspondent Michael D. Shear, who’s just back from Quebec; trade reporter Ana Swanson; economic policy reporter Alan Rappeport; and political correspondent Jonathan Martin. Find all the details and sign up here.

Out in the Open

It’s pride month and my colleagues at The Times’s Reader Center have are asking L.G.B.T.Q. people to share their memories about the first time they held hands with a significant other in public. You can learn all about their project and submit your stories here.

Trans Canada

—Jada Yuan, who is visiting 52 Places To Go in 2018, was captivated by the beauty of the prairies and the richness of Indigenous culture during her time in and around Saskatoon. She met another woman leading a similarly nomadic writing life while there.

—Also in Travel, Francine Prose, author of “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” as well as 20 works of fiction, spent a long weekend in Montreal on a family trip that included three small grandchildren. Her finding: “We experienced nothing but kindness. Everyone we met — at our hotel, in restaurants, in museums and on the street — seemed so eager to make our lives easier that at moments I was shocked.”

—Stephen Reid, who became famous first as a member of the Stop Watch Gang of bank robbers and then as a literary figure, has died at the age of 68.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 15 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email your thoughts and suggestions to nytcanada@nytimes.com. And if you haven’t do so, please subscribe to the email newsletter version.

The post ‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2yhY68r via Everyday News

[cleopatrarps]

‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter

Most Canadians remember the violence and the trampling of civil rights by the police when Canada hosted the Group of 8 and Group of 20 summit meetings eight years ago.

But even though I covered those meetings for The Times, I had to search online this week to remember what the world’s leaders actually produced. (It was a statement calling for reforms in bank regulation, and denouncing trade protectionism.)

I doubt that Canadians will soon forget the performance of President Trump before, during and — above all — after last weekend’s Group of 7 meeting in Quebec’s Charlevoix region. The smoldering mess and escalating trade battle that the American president left behind from his first visit to Canada was a particularly low moment in the history of the two countries’ relationship (though it may have helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s domestic standing).

The Times has been all over this story. I’ve collected some of our best reads lower down.

Many Canadians were among the thousands of readers who commented on those articles. Here are some highlights, condensed for clarity:

President Trump, the farmers of Quebec thank you this morning.

You have accomplished, in a flurry of tweets, what no other politician in Canada has been able to do over the past 30 years: garner near unanimous political support for our supply-side management system, and galvanize Canadians against U.S. pressure to change that system.

— Norman, Kingston, Quebec

The U.S. has not had a better ally or friend in its history. Have we benefited? Yes. But I doubt many people remain for long in relationships where there is not some measure of reciprocity.

— Rob Mills, Canada

My only question this morning is: Are we still friends?

— Robert, Quebec

The U.S. is NOT the only market we can sell our products to. Canadians are warm and friendly people. But we will not be bullied by any of your representatives.

— Lagarde, Montreal

As far as Canadian domestic politics is concerned, Donald Trump is the great unifier. All of Trudeau’s past and present political opponents are united in support of Trudeau’s stand against Trump.

— Roger D. Moore, Toronto

Every longstanding ally has come to the grim realization that this administration cannot be reasoned with, cannot be convinced by rational argument and isn’t our friend. Thanks for the last 151 years, it’s been nice. I hope you all enjoy your new friend Kim Jong-un.

— Henry’s Boy, Ottawa

In the news conference that had Trump and his advisers throwing a collective hissy fit, Trudeau repeated statements that he had been making for weeks, after Trump decided to arbitrarily levy tariffs on Canadian-made aluminum and steel. Unlike Trump, Trudeau is being honest and consistent.

— C. Evans, Toronto

I really enjoy California wine, Florida orange juice, California avocados and camping in upstate New York. But they also make pretty good wine in France; maybe I’ll buy that instead. I’m pretty sure they grow avocados in Mexico; I think I’ll pick those instead. My doctor says orange juice has too much sugar so maybe I’ll just cut that out entirely. There’s good camping here in Quebec as well, so I think I’ll just stick close to home this summer.

— Zac, Montreal

This won’t play well with America’s other allies who know Mr. Trudeau to be an honorable and decent person. Already European support is being expressed for Canada. Who wants to be friends with Trump? Nobody who ever got to know him.

— Charles, St. John, New Brunswick

Trade is the sum of many two-way individual transactions. It’s a complex interlocking system that has massively benefited the U.S. as much as any other party and breaking it is beyond foolish.

Even the spectacularly uninformed President Trump must understand this.

— Susan Watson, Vancouver, British Columbia

As a nation we are generally polite, hardworking, and we say sorry at the drop of a hat. But never underestimate our ability to feel indignant or slighted. I will be curbing my spending on made-in-America goods and services. Sorry if I offend anyone in the process. Oh, and sorry for burning down the White House. It wasn’t really us, though — it was some Brits. And by the way, I know the words to “God Bless America.”

— Baz, Calgary

And, as promised, here’s a selection of our Trudeau-Trump trade articles and columns. (You can always find everything we have about Canada here.) If you haven’t read it already, I’d start with this insightful in-depth piece on Canada’s approach to relations with the United States by Guy Larson: The Magazine: First Canada Tried to Charm Trump. Now It’s Fighting Back.

I looked into the dilmenna now facing Mr. Trudeau. Resisting Mr. Trump is popular among Canadian at the moment, but the unequal trading relationship between our countries might make the strategy economically ruinous in the long term: Trudeau’s Challenge: Managing Trump and Domestic Politics

Jess Bidgood took the pulse of Derby Line, Vt., the town where the local library and opera house is as much in Canada as it is in the United States: Where U.S.-Canadian Border Is Marked by Petunias, Not a Wall.

In an awkward bit of timing, FIFA announced this week that Canada, the United States and Mexico will jointly host the 2026 World Cup. Dan Bilefsky looked into the possibility of soccer undoing the rift between the three countries that President Trump has opened: Can the World Cup Restore Harmony Between Canada and the U. S.?

And over in Opinion, Thomas L. Friedman asked: “What happens if there is another 9/11 and we need Canada’s help for something more than buying our milk? What country wouldn’t want Canada as its neighbor? Our president is compromised on Russia and is rapidly alienating every ally with whom we confronted Nazism, Communism and radical Islamism in the last 70 years”: Opinion: Trump, Trying to Remake America in His Own Image

Finally we’re holding a special event for Times subscribers on June 18 that will look at what President Trump’s actions at the summit and in Singapore will mean for trade, national security, the economy and the midterm elections in the United States. Participants be able to join a conference call and question our crack team of Washington experts: White House correspondent Michael D. Shear, who’s just back from Quebec; trade reporter Ana Swanson; economic policy reporter Alan Rappeport; and political correspondent Jonathan Martin. Find all the details and sign up here.

Out in the Open

It’s pride month and my colleagues at The Times’s Reader Center have are asking L.G.B.T.Q. people to share their memories about the first time they held hands with a significant other in public. You can learn all about their project and submit your stories here.

Trans Canada

—Jada Yuan, who is visiting 52 Places To Go in 2018, was captivated by the beauty of the prairies and the richness of Indigenous culture during her time in and around Saskatoon. She met another woman leading a similarly nomadic writing life while there.

—Also in Travel, Francine Prose, author of “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” as well as 20 works of fiction, spent a long weekend in Montreal on a family trip that included three small grandchildren. Her finding: “We experienced nothing but kindness. Everyone we met — at our hotel, in restaurants, in museums and on the street — seemed so eager to make our lives easier that at moments I was shocked.”

—Stephen Reid, who became famous first as a member of the Stop Watch Gang of bank robbers and then as a literary figure, has died at the age of 68.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 15 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email your thoughts and suggestions to nytcanada@nytimes.com. And if you haven’t do so, please subscribe to the email newsletter version.

The post ‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2yhY68r via News of World

[dragnews]

‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter

Most Canadians remember the violence and the trampling of civil rights by the police when Canada hosted the Group of 8 and Group of 20 summit meetings eight years ago.

But even though I covered those meetings for The Times, I had to search online this week to remember what the world’s leaders actually produced. (It was a statement calling for reforms in bank regulation, and denouncing trade protectionism.)

I doubt that Canadians will soon forget the performance of President Trump before, during and — above all — after last weekend’s Group of 7 meeting in Quebec’s Charlevoix region. The smoldering mess and escalating trade battle that the American president left behind from his first visit to Canada was a particularly low moment in the history of the two countries’ relationship (though it may have helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s domestic standing).

The Times has been all over this story. I’ve collected some of our best reads lower down.

Many Canadians were among the thousands of readers who commented on those articles. Here are some highlights, condensed for clarity:

President Trump, the farmers of Quebec thank you this morning.

You have accomplished, in a flurry of tweets, what no other politician in Canada has been able to do over the past 30 years: garner near unanimous political support for our supply-side management system, and galvanize Canadians against U.S. pressure to change that system.

— Norman, Kingston, Quebec

The U.S. has not had a better ally or friend in its history. Have we benefited? Yes. But I doubt many people remain for long in relationships where there is not some measure of reciprocity.

— Rob Mills, Canada

My only question this morning is: Are we still friends?

— Robert, Quebec

The U.S. is NOT the only market we can sell our products to. Canadians are warm and friendly people. But we will not be bullied by any of your representatives.

— Lagarde, Montreal

As far as Canadian domestic politics is concerned, Donald Trump is the great unifier. All of Trudeau’s past and present political opponents are united in support of Trudeau’s stand against Trump.

— Roger D. Moore, Toronto

Every longstanding ally has come to the grim realization that this administration cannot be reasoned with, cannot be convinced by rational argument and isn’t our friend. Thanks for the last 151 years, it’s been nice. I hope you all enjoy your new friend Kim Jong-un.

— Henry’s Boy, Ottawa

In the news conference that had Trump and his advisers throwing a collective hissy fit, Trudeau repeated statements that he had been making for weeks, after Trump decided to arbitrarily levy tariffs on Canadian-made aluminum and steel. Unlike Trump, Trudeau is being honest and consistent.

— C. Evans, Toronto

I really enjoy California wine, Florida orange juice, California avocados and camping in upstate New York. But they also make pretty good wine in France; maybe I’ll buy that instead. I’m pretty sure they grow avocados in Mexico; I think I’ll pick those instead. My doctor says orange juice has too much sugar so maybe I’ll just cut that out entirely. There’s good camping here in Quebec as well, so I think I’ll just stick close to home this summer.

— Zac, Montreal

This won’t play well with America’s other allies who know Mr. Trudeau to be an honorable and decent person. Already European support is being expressed for Canada. Who wants to be friends with Trump? Nobody who ever got to know him.

— Charles, St. John, New Brunswick

Trade is the sum of many two-way individual transactions. It’s a complex interlocking system that has massively benefited the U.S. as much as any other party and breaking it is beyond foolish.

Even the spectacularly uninformed President Trump must understand this.

— Susan Watson, Vancouver, British Columbia

As a nation we are generally polite, hardworking, and we say sorry at the drop of a hat. But never underestimate our ability to feel indignant or slighted. I will be curbing my spending on made-in-America goods and services. Sorry if I offend anyone in the process. Oh, and sorry for burning down the White House. It wasn’t really us, though — it was some Brits. And by the way, I know the words to “God Bless America.”

— Baz, Calgary

And, as promised, here’s a selection of our Trudeau-Trump trade articles and columns. (You can always find everything we have about Canada here.) If you haven’t read it already, I’d start with this insightful in-depth piece on Canada’s approach to relations with the United States by Guy Larson: The Magazine: First Canada Tried to Charm Trump. Now It’s Fighting Back.

I looked into the dilmenna now facing Mr. Trudeau. Resisting Mr. Trump is popular among Canadian at the moment, but the unequal trading relationship between our countries might make the strategy economically ruinous in the long term: Trudeau’s Challenge: Managing Trump and Domestic Politics

Jess Bidgood took the pulse of Derby Line, Vt., the town where the local library and opera house is as much in Canada as it is in the United States: Where U.S.-Canadian Border Is Marked by Petunias, Not a Wall.

In an awkward bit of timing, FIFA announced this week that Canada, the United States and Mexico will jointly host the 2026 World Cup. Dan Bilefsky looked into the possibility of soccer undoing the rift between the three countries that President Trump has opened: Can the World Cup Restore Harmony Between Canada and the U. S.?

And over in Opinion, Thomas L. Friedman asked: “What happens if there is another 9/11 and we need Canada’s help for something more than buying our milk? What country wouldn’t want Canada as its neighbor? Our president is compromised on Russia and is rapidly alienating every ally with whom we confronted Nazism, Communism and radical Islamism in the last 70 years”: Opinion: Trump, Trying to Remake America in His Own Image

Finally we’re holding a special event for Times subscribers on June 18 that will look at what President Trump’s actions at the summit and in Singapore will mean for trade, national security, the economy and the midterm elections in the United States. Participants be able to join a conference call and question our crack team of Washington experts: White House correspondent Michael D. Shear, who’s just back from Quebec; trade reporter Ana Swanson; economic policy reporter Alan Rappeport; and political correspondent Jonathan Martin. Find all the details and sign up here.

Out in the Open

It’s pride month and my colleagues at The Times’s Reader Center have are asking L.G.B.T.Q. people to share their memories about the first time they held hands with a significant other in public. You can learn all about their project and submit your stories here.

Trans Canada

—Jada Yuan, who is visiting 52 Places To Go in 2018, was captivated by the beauty of the prairies and the richness of Indigenous culture during her time in and around Saskatoon. She met another woman leading a similarly nomadic writing life while there.

—Also in Travel, Francine Prose, author of “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” as well as 20 works of fiction, spent a long weekend in Montreal on a family trip that included three small grandchildren. Her finding: “We experienced nothing but kindness. Everyone we met — at our hotel, in restaurants, in museums and on the street — seemed so eager to make our lives easier that at moments I was shocked.”

—Stephen Reid, who became famous first as a member of the Stop Watch Gang of bank robbers and then as a literary figure, has died at the age of 68.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 15 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email your thoughts and suggestions to nytcanada@nytimes.com. And if you haven’t do so, please subscribe to the email newsletter version.

The post ‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2yhY68r via Today News

[party-hard-or-die]

‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter

Most Canadians remember the violence and the trampling of civil rights by the police when Canada hosted the Group of 8 and Group of 20 summit meetings eight years ago.

But even though I covered those meetings for The Times, I had to search online this week to remember what the world’s leaders actually produced. (It was a statement calling for reforms in bank regulation, and denouncing trade protectionism.)

I doubt that Canadians will soon forget the performance of President Trump before, during and — above all — after last weekend’s Group of 7 meeting in Quebec’s Charlevoix region. The smoldering mess and escalating trade battle that the American president left behind from his first visit to Canada was a particularly low moment in the history of the two countries’ relationship (though it may have helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s domestic standing).

The Times has been all over this story. I’ve collected some of our best reads lower down.

Many Canadians were among the thousands of readers who commented on those articles. Here are some highlights, condensed for clarity:

President Trump, the farmers of Quebec thank you this morning.

You have accomplished, in a flurry of tweets, what no other politician in Canada has been able to do over the past 30 years: garner near unanimous political support for our supply-side management system, and galvanize Canadians against U.S. pressure to change that system.

— Norman, Kingston, Quebec

The U.S. has not had a better ally or friend in its history. Have we benefited? Yes. But I doubt many people remain for long in relationships where there is not some measure of reciprocity.

— Rob Mills, Canada

My only question this morning is: Are we still friends?

— Robert, Quebec

The U.S. is NOT the only market we can sell our products to. Canadians are warm and friendly people. But we will not be bullied by any of your representatives.

— Lagarde, Montreal

As far as Canadian domestic politics is concerned, Donald Trump is the great unifier. All of Trudeau’s past and present political opponents are united in support of Trudeau’s stand against Trump.

— Roger D. Moore, Toronto

Every longstanding ally has come to the grim realization that this administration cannot be reasoned with, cannot be convinced by rational argument and isn’t our friend. Thanks for the last 151 years, it’s been nice. I hope you all enjoy your new friend Kim Jong-un.

— Henry’s Boy, Ottawa

In the news conference that had Trump and his advisers throwing a collective hissy fit, Trudeau repeated statements that he had been making for weeks, after Trump decided to arbitrarily levy tariffs on Canadian-made aluminum and steel. Unlike Trump, Trudeau is being honest and consistent.

— C. Evans, Toronto

I really enjoy California wine, Florida orange juice, California avocados and camping in upstate New York. But they also make pretty good wine in France; maybe I’ll buy that instead. I’m pretty sure they grow avocados in Mexico; I think I’ll pick those instead. My doctor says orange juice has too much sugar so maybe I’ll just cut that out entirely. There’s good camping here in Quebec as well, so I think I’ll just stick close to home this summer.

— Zac, Montreal

This won’t play well with America’s other allies who know Mr. Trudeau to be an honorable and decent person. Already European support is being expressed for Canada. Who wants to be friends with Trump? Nobody who ever got to know him.

— Charles, St. John, New Brunswick

Trade is the sum of many two-way individual transactions. It’s a complex interlocking system that has massively benefited the U.S. as much as any other party and breaking it is beyond foolish.

Even the spectacularly uninformed President Trump must understand this.

— Susan Watson, Vancouver, British Columbia

As a nation we are generally polite, hardworking, and we say sorry at the drop of a hat. But never underestimate our ability to feel indignant or slighted. I will be curbing my spending on made-in-America goods and services. Sorry if I offend anyone in the process. Oh, and sorry for burning down the White House. It wasn’t really us, though — it was some Brits. And by the way, I know the words to “God Bless America.”

— Baz, Calgary

And, as promised, here’s a selection of our Trudeau-Trump trade articles and columns. (You can always find everything we have about Canada here.) If you haven’t read it already, I’d start with this insightful in-depth piece on Canada’s approach to relations with the United States by Guy Larson: The Magazine: First Canada Tried to Charm Trump. Now It’s Fighting Back.

I looked into the dilmenna now facing Mr. Trudeau. Resisting Mr. Trump is popular among Canadian at the moment, but the unequal trading relationship between our countries might make the strategy economically ruinous in the long term: Trudeau’s Challenge: Managing Trump and Domestic Politics

Jess Bidgood took the pulse of Derby Line, Vt., the town where the local library and opera house is as much in Canada as it is in the United States: Where U.S.-Canadian Border Is Marked by Petunias, Not a Wall.

In an awkward bit of timing, FIFA announced this week that Canada, the United States and Mexico will jointly host the 2026 World Cup. Dan Bilefsky looked into the possibility of soccer undoing the rift between the three countries that President Trump has opened: Can the World Cup Restore Harmony Between Canada and the U. S.?

And over in Opinion, Thomas L. Friedman asked: “What happens if there is another 9/11 and we need Canada’s help for something more than buying our milk? What country wouldn’t want Canada as its neighbor? Our president is compromised on Russia and is rapidly alienating every ally with whom we confronted Nazism, Communism and radical Islamism in the last 70 years”: Opinion: Trump, Trying to Remake America in His Own Image

Finally we’re holding a special event for Times subscribers on June 18 that will look at what President Trump’s actions at the summit and in Singapore will mean for trade, national security, the economy and the midterm elections in the United States. Participants be able to join a conference call and question our crack team of Washington experts: White House correspondent Michael D. Shear, who’s just back from Quebec; trade reporter Ana Swanson; economic policy reporter Alan Rappeport; and political correspondent Jonathan Martin. Find all the details and sign up here.

Out in the Open

It’s pride month and my colleagues at The Times’s Reader Center have are asking L.G.B.T.Q. people to share their memories about the first time they held hands with a significant other in public. You can learn all about their project and submit your stories here.

Trans Canada

—Jada Yuan, who is visiting 52 Places To Go in 2018, was captivated by the beauty of the prairies and the richness of Indigenous culture during her time in and around Saskatoon. She met another woman leading a similarly nomadic writing life while there.

—Also in Travel, Francine Prose, author of “Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife” as well as 20 works of fiction, spent a long weekend in Montreal on a family trip that included three small grandchildren. Her finding: “We experienced nothing but kindness. Everyone we met — at our hotel, in restaurants, in museums and on the street — seemed so eager to make our lives easier that at moments I was shocked.”

—Stephen Reid, who became famous first as a member of the Stop Watch Gang of bank robbers and then as a literary figure, has died at the age of 68.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 15 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email your thoughts and suggestions to nytcanada@nytimes.com. And if you haven’t do so, please subscribe to the email newsletter version.

The post ‘Are We Still Friends?’ You Speak Out on Trump and Trudeau: The Canada Letter appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2yhY68r via Breaking News

[fearoffailure123]

How to Keep Seasonal Affective Disorder From Harming Your Relationship

In the depths of winter, with daylight slipping away before evening and temperatures barely hitting the freezing mark, many couples face a different kind of seasonal change: seasonal affective disorder. The psychological condition known as SAD is characterized as a major depression that arrives in the fall or winter and lifts in the spring or summer.

Roughly 6% of Americans suffer from SAD in its most severe form, and another 14% struggle with the lesser but still significant “winter blues.” People with SAD struggle with symptoms that can mimic those of clinical depression: They have a hard time waking up in the morning, their energy level drops, they find it tough to concentrate, they eat more, and they withdraw from family and friends, becoming more inclined to hibernate.

RELATED: 8 Ways to Cope With Seasonal Affective Disorder

These changes can be extremely stressful for a person experiencing them, of course—but also for his or her partner. No wonder SAD can take a major toll on relationships, says Norman Rosenthal, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School who first identified and named the disorder in 1984. We asked Rosenthal and other experts for advice on how to navigate SAD as a couple, so your relationship emerges strong—and sunny—come spring.

Don't brush off early symptoms

RELATED: Surprising Causes of Winter Depression

Sometimes the partner of someone with SAD will spot early symptoms before their significant other even notices them. That can be incredibly helpful, because the sooner you start treating SAD, the easier it is to keep it from spiraling out of control, says Kelly Rohan, PhD, director of clinical training in the department of psychological science at the University of Vermont.

“It’s not like one day the person wakes up and they have a full-blown episode of SAD," Rohan tells Health. If you can recognize it early, or even anticipate the symptoms and have a plan in place, prevention is much easier than treatment.” Besides changes in focus, eating habits, and sleep patterns, look out for agitation, unexplained physical aches and pains, and a preoccupation with negative thoughts or self-doubts. If you detect any of these signs, tell your partner you're concerned.

The same techniques that have been proven to treat SAD can be used preventatively, Rohan says. The most effective are bright light therapy (you can find a large selection of light boxes online), cognitive behavior therapy, antidepressants, and good self-care.

Show compassion

When someone is struggling with SAD, there’s a good chance they'll bail on social plans, take longer than usual to get things done at home or at work, and spend most of their free time curled up under a blanket mindlessly watching TV. But it’s important to remember that what might seem like a lack of interest or initiative—or just plain laziness—is actually a mental health disorder.

RELATED: The 5 Types of Anxiety Disorders You Need to Know About

If your significant other displays any of these behaviors, be empathic. “You’ve got to understand that this person feels really lousy, and that they really are trying,” says Rosenthal. “Because it looks like they’re not trying. It looks like they’re not getting their ass in gear. And I use that expression because people...blame the other one for things that are not that person’s fault.”

Keep your sex life strong

SAD can sink your sex drive, but that doesn't mean you can't maintain a physical connection during the winter months, Monica O’Neal, a licensed clinical psychologist in Boston and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, tells Health. If your partner feels too blue for full-on intercourse, “focus on having sexual intimacy in other ways,” she says—like hand-holding and flirtation. “And recognize that more foreplay might be needed.”

Encourage them to be active

Look for opportunities to be active together and help your partner fight that hibernation urge. “The more you withdraw and the more you ruminate, the more negative you become,” says Rohan. “Even though it takes a lot of effort and feels like moving mountains to get someone to take those steps, they end up feeling better once they’re out there doing it. At the very least, they don’t feel worse.”

Of course, how you suggest these activities can have a big impact. For example, Rosenthal suggests that instead of saying, "You know you’ve got SAD, why don’t you go for a walk? I see the sun’s just come out," try, "The sun’s just come out. Let’s go for a walk! It would be so much fun." The difference, says Rosenthal, is that "one is being presented as a couples’ suggestion; the other is, go fix yourself.” 

RELATED: 10 Foods That Can Help With Depression

Plan a trip to a sunnier skies

Consider planning a vacation or two to a sunny spot, says Rosenthal. The trips will give you and your partner something to look forward to—and offer some temporary relief from early darkness and the cold, bleak winter landscape. Exposure to sunlight can kick up levels of serotonin, a mood-regulating brain chemical that plays a role in triggering SAD. Even if it's just a long weekend in a sunnier part of the country, it can help immensely.

Resist playing therapist

As the significant other of someone with SAD, you can offer invaluable support in countless small ways. “If your partner’s having difficulty waking up in the morning, you could turn the lights on,” says Rosenthal. “It could be as simple as that. You could turn the lights on, you could say, ‘Hey, how about a cup of coffee? I’m making myself a cup.’ Get the person up, set up a light box at the breakfast table.’”

To get our best wellness tips delivered to you inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter

At the same time, know your limitations. “Don’t try to be their therapist,” says Rohan. And if you think he or she could benefit from seeing a therapist for their disorder, recommend that they go into treatment, she says. “Even if they’ve been in before, maybe they need a tune-up session. If your very best cheerleading has been done, and you just see this person slipping further into a depression, I would be inclined to point that out and express your concern.”

Know that SAD gets better

Whether it’s through therapy or other forms of self-care, the good news is that SAD is treatable. “It’s a fixable problem,” says Rosenthal. “That’s one reason why I’ve enjoyed staying with it all these years—because you can really fix it. And winter can turn out to be wonderful for both people.”

[twodeadchicks]

#TWDFamily Part 3

"It's not just fandom. It's family." If you are at all familiar with Walker Stalker Convention or Heroes and Villains Fan Fest, you've probably seen this tag line before. Though I'd seen it, I had never put much thought into what it meant until I experienced this family for myself. From attending the conventions as a fan to beginning this podcast with Kia, I have witnessed a fandom that supports each other with their whole hearts. I have seen people come together for each other in a way that can only be described as magical. Their one common thread? They love The Walking Dead and attending the conventions that celebrate their favorite show. In this four part series, I will be chatting with many of the people that make up this family. Today, we take a look at the fans who love to attend WSC! Many of the folks who were kind enough to speak to me will also be in Atlanta this weekend! If you see them, I encourage you to say hello! Who have you most enjoyed meeting? Jennifer Cronin (4 time WSC attendee):  I’d have to say the person I most enjoyed meeting was Norman Reedus. I've tried meeting him for three years and he finally came to Nashville this past year. I was excited and a nervous wreck. Once I got up to see Norman he was very sweet, asking how my day was. To make things better he even held my hand the whole time he autographed my Funko Pop and picture! Then sent me on my way with a hug and a piece of candy. Mel V (8 time WSC employee): Loved meeting Danai the most. She remembered me and talked about me on Conan O'Brien! [caption id="attachment_21859" align="alignright" width="300"] Mike Angelo with one of his favorites, Alexandra Breckenridge[/caption] Mike Angelo (5 time WSC attendee): JDM, Alexandra Breckenridge, Norman, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. Angela Barr: (4 time WSC attendee): Ross Marquand without a doubt! The first time I met him was in 2016 when I was volunteering in Panels at Walker Stalker Con Chicago.  I was standing outside the Panels area as he came out of Photo Ops.  He walked over and greeted all of us volunteers and thanked us. Then he gave each of us a hug! Ross gives the best hugs!! Stephanie Rodriguez (1 time WSC attendee): Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Robert Bernardo (7 time WSC attendee): Andrew Lincoln. Connie Connelly (1 time WSC attendee): So far it’s a tie between Lennie James and David Morrissey. Until I meet Jon {Bernthal}. Stacey Lee (2 time WSC attendee): Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Even though I've met him prior to his Walking Dead time, he is my literal everything at these cons and I cannot get enough. [caption id="attachment_21858" align="alignleft" width="220"] Ingrid Bascope hugging her favorite, Scott Wilson[/caption] Ingrid Bascope (4 time WSC attendee): Scott Wilson is so far the most amazing human being. I approached to him for a picture and I told him, "Mister Scott I'm a big fan. I watch all your movies with my dad. How I wish he was here with me to meet you!" And he look at me with a sad face and said, "I'm so sorry your dad is not here come! Let me me give you a hug!" He hugs me and my kids and tells them to be good at school. What do you love most about Walker Stalker Con? Jillian (3 time WSC attendee): I love the fact that James puts so much in to these events. He’s a fan just like us Jennifer Cronin:  I love the Walker Stalker Con family. Everyone genuinely cares about each other and we all love the Walking Dead. I've made forever friendships because of Walker Stalker and these people are now part of my daily life. Also, how awesome is it that you get to hang out with people who love the Walking Dead? I love my Walker Stalker Con family. [caption id="attachment_21856" align="alignright" width="300"] Gemma Hewitt during some of her favorite photo ops[/caption] Gemma Hewitt (2 time WSC attendee): I love the whole experience but making friends has been the best part, I've met some amazing people who I now class as my best friends. Heather Robertson aka Sparkles Handler (5 time WSC attendee): Meeting the other fans and making friends from all over the world. We look forward to seeing each other again at the next con. It’s like a big family reunion. Anna (9 time WSC attendee): I love the experience, the people, its not just about the celebrities you meet, i do go to meet celebs but i look forward to being able to see a good majority of my friends all in one place. Mel V: I love meeting up with fellow TWD family; people who have become lifelong friends through this awesome show! Stephani Walker (5 time WSC attendee): Everyone is there for the same reason. The troubles of the world cease for three days. Three days of fandom and horror. Everyone there has the same passion and love for this show among many other shows that are a beautiful and entertaining escape from the reality that stresses us out. For three days, nobody cares about the color of your skin, nobody cares about your religious beliefs , nobody cares about your political views and nobody cares about your sexual preference. For three days, thousands of people from around the world gather for a family reunion and meet their idols, have fun and keep all things spooky! Mike Angelo: It's an all immersive 3 days with people from all over the world that share the same passion you do. Angela Barr: I love so much about WSC but if I had to narrow it down to just one thing, I would say it’s the people that I have met at WSC. Whether it’s an actor from the show or another fan, I love that WSC gives me the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life who love The Walking Dead as much as I do! The Walking Dead family is absolutely amazing!  And getting the chance to get together with a group of people who share my love for this show is such a great thing! I am so grateful to James Frazier for starting Walker Stalker Con and allowing me to be a part of this big, beautiful Walking Dead family! Rachal Belew (1 time WSC attendee): I love the TWD Family. It's amazing that everyone there will help you out and wants to be your friend. Stephanie Rodriguez: The family style spirit the fans share with each other. Robert Bernardo: Meeting fellow fans from all over the world. Connie Connelly: How everyone comes together and helps one another. The fandom is so warm and friendly it feels like family! Stacey Lee: Even though Atlanta is hugeeeee, it doesn't feel that way. You can literally walk up to the dude standing in front of you in line at the ops and you have a new friend: it's rad. Do you have a favorite memory or story from your time attending Walker Stalker Con? Jillian (3 time WSC attendee): My favorite memory is meeting 3 of my closest friends; Ashley, April, and Amanda.  Gemma Hewitt: One of my favourite memories so far was the Saturday of London, I managed to buy an Andy photo op from somebody 10 minutes before the shoot so it was a mad rush but I got to meet him & he was sooo lovely! [caption id="attachment_21861" align="alignleft" width="300"] Heather Robertson, Sparkles the Unicorn, and one of her favorites, Ross Marquand at WSC Nashville 2017. If you see Heather and Sparkles, make sure to say hello and take a photo with Sparkles![/caption] Heather Robertson: At WSC Charlotte in December 2016 is the first time I met Ross. He was so friendly and down to earth and I loved talking with him. He remembered my name on Sunday after just meeting me on Saturday, and that made me feel amazing. The best part was when he made this amazing video for me. It was him standing beside me and doing 3 different voice impressions. It was the best thing ever. I still go back and watch that video over and over. Stephani Walker: This is my 15th convention but for WSC, I have many great memories. I believe creating a painting of Norman and Mingus’ rescue cat, “Eye In The Dark” along with a quote from Norman himself. He gets hundreds of gifts daily and it was heartwarming to capture a video of him leaving with Sean Clark and security carrying the personalize canvas with him. Stephanie Rodriguez:  I found out I was pregnant on the same day I met Jeffrey Dean Morgan. When I met him I was happier than I imagined I would be and he remarked on my huge grin. I told him it was the best day ever because I met him and found out that my IVF had worked. We took our picture and then he gave me a huge hug and a peck on the cheek before wishing me good luck. He was so sincerely happy in the exchange, it was just a great moment and really fulfilled my expectations of meeting him. He was fantastic. Robert Bernardo: During the first Walker Stalker in Atlanta, I remember meeting Andrew Lincoln and introducing myself as “Robert from San Francisco.” He said, “Hello, Robert from San Francisco.” Then, later in the day when we were doing the cast photos—he yelled out to the rest of the celebrities, “Hey, everyone! It’s Robert from San Francisco!” That’s my fondest memory from all the Walker Stalkers. Connie Connelly: So far when I met the governor, I was very nervous. I couldn’t talk and he asked me, “What’s wrong? You’re not a fan of the governor,” As he goes to my throat to pretend to choke me.  Any advice for new Walker Stalker Con goers? Jillian (3 time WSC attendee): My advice would be keep an eye on the schedules. They can change at anytime. And if you need any help with anything ask anyone. We’re all willing to help you out. We’re a big family. Jennifer Cronin: Plan your day as far as photo op times, autos, panels, etc. Portable phone chargers are a must! Germ-x so you dont pick up the con crud. Mostly have fun, this'll be one of the best experiences of your life and it'll go so fast, so cherish every moment. Walker Stalker Con is just amazing. Gemma Hewitt: My advice would be to plan your schedule and check the floor plan so you know where you need to go. Don't waste valuable time looking for a table! Also, if you are like me and get shinier throughout the day, a powder compact will be your best friend! I topped up in every photo queue! Heather Robertson: Don’t be shy. Talk to other fans when you are waiting in line. Join the meet up groups and connect with others. You will learn so much from the veterans. Plan, plan, plan. Do your research, it will help your first con experience go smoother. Anna: If allowed, bring water and small snacks, comfortable shoes (if you’re cosplaying the most comfortable you can find), bring a bag of some kind to carry your stuff, buy photo sleeves ahead of time or find a vendor who has them for 2 or 3 bucks each. You can fit 2 or 3 photos in each one until you get home. Don’t stress too much about a schedule unless it’s very time specific such as photo ops or panels. I thought having everything planned to a T was a great idea when I went to my first con (NYCC of all places). My "plan" for the most part fell apart midway through the first day. After that I decided to just wing it. Surprises happened, I got most everything I wanted. It was a great time. Above all, expect the unexpected. You never know what will happen when you least expect it. And don’t be afraid to ask questions to people who have attended cons before. I don’t think I would have survived NYCC and NYC without asking a ton of questions beforehand. Some people will be jerks and not want to share "secrets" but we aren’t all like that. I do my best to pay it forward to newcomers to any con (I’ve done a few others besides WSC and NYCC). I remember all too well what it was like to be new. Mike Angelo: Plan ahead. Start a year out if possible. Angela Barr: Be prepared for lots of walking and waiting. The venues where the Cons are held are pretty big.   That means between the Panels, photo ops and meet and greets, you may have to walk from one side of the venue to the other several times a day. And there are lines for everything. Lines to pick up your badges, lines for photo ops, lines for meet and greets, lines to get into the Panels and lines for food. But being cranky about waiting will only spoil the experience for you and possibly for others around you. To pass the time, make a new friend while you wait in line. To make the most of your experience - remember to pack your patience and wear comfortable shoes. Rachal Belew: Aim for the big stars you want but never forget the co-stars. They are all so kind and take the time to make you smile too! Robert Bernardo: Here are my Top 3. 1. Prepare a schedule in advance so as not to waste precious time. 2. Plan ahead for any Photo Ops (costumes, props and specific poses). 3. Bring: phone chargers, cash (Note: photo ops and autographs are “cash only”!), any prescription medication, plastic photo protectors, and comfortable shoes. Stacey Lee: Breathe. Take it in. Smell Jeffrey's breath and have fun. Ingrid Bascope: Get ready for 3 days of excitement and study the maps so you know exactly where to go. And don't hesitate to ask a volunteer for help. That's what we are there for.   Want to go? You can purchase your WSC Atlanta tix here!