#which is why given a word document and an uninterrupted week--

[kalashni-cola]

As you know, GOA is suing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) over its illegal ban on bump stocks.

This ban is so poorly written that it threatens the legality of AR-15s and other constitutionally-protected firearms.

GOA’s attorney Rob Olson did a fantastic job representing gun owners in court.  And he repeatedly hammered the ATF for exceeding its authority and for capriciously reversing itself in banning firearms-related items that were once legal to own.

Olson also made it clear that hundreds of thousands of innocent bump stock owners are now in danger of becoming felons after March 26.

So given this looming deadline, GOA is requesting an injunction from the judge, which would stop ATF from enforcing the ban when the turn-in period ends.

Judge Appears Wary of ATF Overreach

During oral arguments, Olson had to vacillate between fine points of legal doctrine to countering the government’s talking points that could have come from Moms Demand Action.

For example, much of the discussion with the judge centered around a doctrine known as “Chevron deference.”

If you’re not familiar with this guideline, you might wonder what this has to do with bump stocks. But, in fact, it has quite a bit to do with the subject at hand.

“Chevron deference” is a doctrine that essentially gives a federal agency tremendous latitude in interpreting and applying a federal statute.

Olson consistently made the point that the ATF did NOT deserve deference ... that the agency was misapplying the federal statute regarding bump stocks ... and, more importantly, that the ATF was effectively changing the statutory definition of what a machine gun is.

This argument seemed to resonate with the judge, who appeared unwilling to grant deference to the ATF.

Why a Bump Stock is NOT a Machine Gun

Another much-discussed topic centered around the very nature of a bump stock.

The judge asked GOA’s counsel if a bump stock allows an uninterrupted automatic cycle of fire -- as a machine gun would.

Olson said NO.  He explained that a bump stock allows for repeated SEMI-automatic fire in a rapid manner, where each function of the trigger produces one bullet out the end of the barrel -- albeit occurring in rapid, repeated succession.

The government took the contrary view, claiming that a bump stock starts in motion a continuous chain of successive fire. More to the point, Olson noted that while an untrained shooter could fire an automatic weapon with one hand -- by simply pulling the trigger back -- no person could repeatedly bump fire a semi-automatic weapon with just one hand.

Even the ATF has had to concede in its written regulation that bump firing a weapon requires the shooter to use both hands.

And this gets to the core distinction between a bump stock and an automatic weapon.  The U.S. code defines a machine gun as a firearm that can shoot “automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”

One can fire a machine gun with only one hand because the internal mechanism in the weapon will produce automatic fire with a “single function” of the trigger.

But to bump fire a semi-auto, the shooter must use two hands, and in most cases, spend time learning how to actually perfect his individual technique for each different bump stock firearm.

Anyone who has ever bump fired a semi-auto knows there is a learning curve in determining the appropriate amount of force with which to push forward on the firearm using the non-trigger hand.

So in other words, it’s the shooter who creates the bump fire effect. Because “bump firing,” first and foremost, is a technique, and not a product that is sold over-the-counter.  

But that’s not the case with a machine gun. A person who has never touched a gun could easily fire an automatic weapon because it’s the internal mechanism that actually allows repeated rounds to be fired “automatically.”

The back-and-forth between Olson and the judge on this point was crucial and could play a critical role in the judge’s decision-making process.

No Evidence that Bump Stocks are a Threat to Safety

One of the government’s lawyers brought up the Las Vegas shooting from 2017 as a reason to ban bump stocks. He claimed that the inherent dangerousness of bump stocks necessitated a ban for the sake of “public safety.”

Of course, if this logic were to prevail, the government could justify banning all weapons -- handguns, rifles, shotguns, etc. -- given that all these weapons are inherently “dangerous.”

GOA’s attorney countered by telling the judge there is no actual proof of one recorded instance where bump stocks have been used in a crime.

Olson even cited the lack of FBI and ATF statements, studies or reports to demonstrate that there is no conclusive evidence that a bump stock was actually used by the Las Vegas shooter.

This was something of a “mic drop” moment, because when given the chance to respond, the government’s lawyer could not -- in fact, he refused to -- counter Olson’s statement on this point.

Thus, the oral arguments in the Western district federal court on March 6 established unrebutted testimony that, to date, there is no proof of any documented case where a bump stock was used in a crime.

Even if it is one day determined conclusively that the Las Vegas shooting was the first case where a bump stock was used in a crime -- it would still remain the ONLY case.

And this ONE case would hardly then represent an imminent “danger to public safety.” Especially when one considers that “bump firing” a weapon can be achieved without bump stocks, and that these items have been used by hundreds of thousands of gun owners in a perfectly safe manner.

Bump Stock Regs Open Door to Banning AR-15s

Finally, one of the most crucial moments centered around a discussion involving the potential threat to AR-15s.

GOA has repeatedly warned that the ATF’s ban on bump stocks can be easily used by a future anti-gun administration to ban most, if not all, semi-automatic rifles.

Olson repeated this warning to the judge and noted that the threat to AR-15s would inextricably follow from these regulations.

While the government lawyer hotly contested this assertion, Olson noted that there are other common, household items that can be used to bump fire an AR-15 -- such as, rubber bands, belt loops, etc.

So what happens if a homeowner has several AR-15s and a box of rubber bands?  Olson noted that the ATF has already successfully prosecuted people who owned unassembled parts that could later be used to (theoretically) convert a firearm into a machine gun.

In other words, the ATF has already shown its true colors on this point.

So if these regulations are eventually allowed to stand, gun owners need to beware.  

Don’t be surprised if the ATF -- say, under a President Kamala Harris administration -- deems that any homeowner who possesses both AR-15s and rubber bands has committed a felony because he or she has “constructively intent” to build a machine gun.

You can be sure that, if this were to occur, the ATF will be called upon to provide “the best understanding of the law” at that particular time. And all of its prior promises and representations -- that the rule does not apply to semi-autos -- will be worthless.

Judge Questions ATF for their Change in Position  

ATF officials are well-known for changing their positions “on a dime.” And they are guilty of doing this in regard to their position on bump stocks.

In court, the government claimed their prior opinions approving possession of bump stocks in the past were correct based on what they knew, but now they are “not the best understanding” of the law.                            

And this led to another “mic drop” moment, when the judge called them out on their past behavior.

The judge dryly wondered, out loud, why he should believe the ATF’s position today.

The ATF claims that judges like him must adopt the agency’s current interpretation on bump stocks.

But ten years ago, the judge noted, the ATF was arguing the complete opposite, claiming that bump stocks were totally legal under federal law.

It was a great point. And we can only hope the judge will take this point to heart -- that it’s ATF’s arbitrary interpretations that have changed over the years, and not federal law.

Judges typically will not immediately issue their rulings, and this one was no exception. We can probably expect a decision within a week.

What I’ve shared with you here is only the tip of the iceberg from our day in court. But it certainly represents the highlights of what took place.

I want to thank you for helping keep Gun Owners of America on the frontlines.

Your support of GOA is what allows us to continue the fight for freedom.

In Liberty,

Erich Pratt Executive Director

[idealisticrealism]

Blindspot 2x20 recap

(Aka the one where the team pulls a prison break and a few big secrets are revealed) 

This is one of those episodes that improves upon rewatching (possibly due to being too traumatised the first time around). And with so much of the story revolving around badass ladies, what’s not to love??

So, here’s installment #2 for this week. Enjoy.

Ughhh my baby Zapata is having her mugshot taken and I’m super conflicted about it bc on one hand I’m so worried for her but on the other all I can think is that she looks like a freakin’ model and ugh this is too much for me rn. And ugh she’s being shut up behind bars and she looks so little in her orange jumpsuit and everyone else looks so mean and angry and ugh my precious cupcake ughhh. And oooh here’s Ronda, and it’s actually so weird to see her meekly handing over her toothbrush bc her irl fighting persona is always so (ง'̀-‘́)ง  and just ready to throw down at all times. I love her little jibe about the other chick needing the toothbrush more tho haha– maybe not quite as meek as I thought. And then awww Zapata is like 'here, friend’ and offers her another toothbrush and gets totally brushed off (heh). But dammit Ronda– I mean, Devon– that was just plain rude to my baby, she’s only trying to make friends, c’mon

Ugh speaking of my babies, Jane is being super adorable and talking about needing to fix the radiator (*cough* Weller could probably do it *cough*) so Roman could get a good night’s sleep and ugh she sounds so chipper and I very much believe that she slept very well with some very pleasant dreams (basically playing out the plot of Uninterrupted, lbr) and ughhh she’s on such a high and then sigh Roman brings it crashing down by bringing up The Emma Secret. I’m emotional over the fact it’s tearing him up this much to keep it from Weller though– shows he really isn’t the same as Old Roman. And ugh Jane knows he’s right but she also feels even more trapped by it than she did before, bc since Roman has been allowed out she knows that it will only look worse that she held this back and ughhh she and Weller are in such a good place rn and she so desperately doesn’t want to ruin that, even though she knows she has to 'fess up and do the right thing and ugh my poor baby I don’t like your choices but I can understand them, and I know you are heading for a whole lot of pain and ugh can’t I fix this for you both somehow please

Speaking of my handsome munchkin (who I bet also slept extremely well last night, and possibly even had to do some early morning laundry because of it), Weller has called Patterson into his office because he has reports of her not going home at night– and lollll her sputtering indignation is so priceless. Genius she may be, actor she is not. And he tells her that her keycard log gave her away, which raises two points for me: first, surely she would be smart enough (and obviously have the skills) to erase those logs so no one would find out? Unless she was just too frazzled, idk. And secondly, has Weller taken on the role of checking all the logs so he can spot anyone coming and going who shouldn’t be? Silently watching over his team and his office? Ugh my beautiful protective son. And then he’s so gentle when he asks her what’s going on and reminds her that she has to trust her team and learn how to delegate, because they need her. And she gets in a huff and goes to leave like an angsty teen, but he tells her to wait and follows her and ugh Weller please hug her. Please. But instead he tells her they have to look after themselves and asks her to go see Dr Sun. Damn, would have preferred the hug. But sidenote at least we know that they know about Zapata already? Phew. They’ll get her out, I know it.

Oooh Jane arrives at the bullpen looking nervous, and Weller is literally one of the first people she sees. Ugh and she’s almost a little breathless as she says 'hey, Kurt’ (ugh the first name thing still gets me, though I love that she also still uses 'Weller’) and he’s all cool like *nods* 'Jane’, and her breath comes out on a tiny almost-chuckle which I am very much going to assume is related to the fact that they’re being all cool and casual when like 12 hours ago they very nearly made out with each other’s faces and then proceeded to spend the whole night dreaming about it. But she avoids that topic and asks about Zapata instead, which means she’d already been briefed on it before even getting to work… and then aaahhh they’re literally making small-talk, with Weller asking her about how things with Roman are going (bet he regrets letting him out a little just bc now he can’t come over for private time at Jane’s haha) and she admits she’s worried about Roman, about how he only ever sees the NYO and the safehouse and ugh I get where she’s coming from but also honey don’t be asking for too much too fast… and then omg this takes an unexpected direction when Weller literally seems to have a lightbulb moment and invites them both over for dinner tonight. Omg. This is literally a date under the guise of a friendly dinner. It’s a date-plus-chaperone. And wow Jane goes from surprised and delighted to terrified to faux-happily accepting all in the space of a second, and then as he tells her the time and turns away, her 'sure’ is barely more than a whisper, her hands moving awkwardly like she literally doesn’t know what to do with herself because shit, she can’t do this, she can’t keep this from him any longer bc in that split second when he suggested dinner she wanted it SO BADLY but she knows she can’t have that connection between her and him/him and Roman until she’s honest with him, and so now a deadline has been put in place. There is never going to be a 'best time’, so the time is today. She’ll tell him today. And ugh as she watches him walk away, she’s completely and utterly terrified that the next time he walks away from her it’ll be for good…

Ugh I love prisons. Why do places that represent such awful things fascinate me so much?? Well, okay, because of my eternal love of Prison Break, obviously. But still. They’re just interesting. And speaking of interesting, Zapata’s about to step into a fight between Devon and the Boss Lady. Boss Lady gets in a good first punch, and Devon looks like she’s about to get her ass beaten, when Zapata walks straight into the Boss and is all 'you’re in my way’. Ooooooh man she may be tiny but she got biiiig balls. But then aaaahhh Boss Lady is kicking her ass and nooooo my babyyyyy I don’t want to see thisssss. She and Devon actually start doing a pretty good job of holding their own, though, and I’m personally really kinda enjoying seeing them team up and kick butts. Oh hold on, Boss Lady is named Liz. That’s easier. Also man the whole no-snitching thing is such an interesting culture– everyone else present knows who’s responsible, but doesn’t say a word, even when they lose their yard time too. And oooohhh noooo Weller’s here to visit now and ughhhh the stunned look on his face when he sees her injuries and the slightly ashamed but also defiant look on hers when she sits down. Aaaaarghhh. And he’s all “what the hell happened” because he’s Mr Protective and hates to see his family getting hurt and ughhhhh. And then lol I love how the camera zooms in as he looks around, telling us that he’s about to reveal a secret. And he does– turns out, this whole thing is all their own plan. And then we get a flashback to the bar– and wait hold on, that was 72 hours ago?? Dammit, that means we actually missed the cutely-awkward morning-after-almost-kissing Jeller interactions? Ugh I’m so bummed. Ah well, I’m going to assume it just involved a lot of quick, shy smiles and carefully keeping their conversation limited to Zapata and other safe topics. But omg okay I’m over my disappointment now bc ughhh in the flashback Weller’s getting teased by the others for offering to pay for the next round– which apparently he never does? I’m kinda surprised by that. Also I feel like they’re a little past round three rn lol. And ugh Jane defends him by saying he bought her drinks once– when she had no money and no ID. And wait this needs to slow down because I have many questions???? When was this drinks-buying?? Who else was there?? And does this mean she now DOES have ID? What name is on it?? And lbr who would think she was underage anyway? Surely no one would bother to card her. But ugh the main takeaway from this moment is that HER HAND IS ON HIS SHOULDER AS SHE SPEAKS. UNNECESSARY AND LINGERY TOUCHING, MY FRIENDS, AND SO RECENTLY AFTER THE ALMOST-KISSING. THERE IS NOTHING UNINTENTIONAL OR INNOCENT ABOUT THAT. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. And then ugh Patterson gets a text with details from one of the shredded Sandstorm documents– she’s found a new name, a new Sandstorm member for them all to track.

So now they’re all at the NYO, wearing the same clothes, and all I can think about is all of them sharing an Uber to get there lol and I so want to imagine Weller and Jane squished up against each other in the backseat with Zapata smirking on Jane’s other side and deliberately taking up as much room as she can, but I feel that logically it would have been the three ladies in the backseat and Weller in the front. Sigh, logic sucks. Anyway they look at the details they found on Devon, who was arrested for weapons smuggling, most likely for Sandstorm. Weller wants to bring her in, but Jane says she won’t talk if they do– so she offers to go undercover instead. Nice thought, honey, but given that you’re kinda the heir to the Sandstorm throne, this is one undercover op you can’t do. And ughhh Zapata’s got her determined face on and says 'let me in, Coach’ and ugh she brushes aside his objections and tells him they need to step things up if they want to get ahead, and ugh he doesn’t like it but looks at Jane and she looks back at him and even without a single word exchanged he knows she agrees with Zapata and so he gives in. Ugh my amazing in-tune babies. But because he’s Weller, he’ll only allow it if there’s safety measures in place, because he needs to protect her any way he can. And so no one– not even the arresting officers– know that this is a sting. So what did they have her arrested for though?? They must have made something up, bc it totally wouldn’t be the Coach Jones thing. There’d be no way to wipe that slate clean. But anyhow back in the present, Weller is still very unhappy about her not calling for help, and she’s all 'dude I started that fight on purpose and could have ended it in a heartbeat if I wanted to’ and ugh he’s so uncomfortable about it and worried about the consequences and tells her he’s pulling the plug– but she calls him out bc they both know they’ll never get another shot at Devon if they stop now. Remember what I said about that understanding she and Weller have? This is a good example of that. He doesn’t concede, though, just compromises, because he’s still the boss and looking after his family is still his #1 priority, even above Sandstorm. And then aaahhh Zapata gets back to her cell and finds her bed on fire, and one inmate tells her she’s lucky that they waited til she wasn’t in it. Daaamn. I think my baby knows now that Weller was right. I bet she wishes she had him (or probably Jane instead, lbr) in here with her rn, someone she knows has her back, someone that would keep her from feeling afraid. Ugh my poor sweet baby is in over her heaaaaddd

Ugh Weller walks back into the bullpen and Jane immediately looks up from her screen and asks him how Zapata is doing. Sidenote though: do these guys not have allocated desks, because Weller’s team just seems to sit anywhere. Maybe they can do that bc they’re the elite lol, everyone else just gives up their spot at a single look from one of the Super Squad. It’s probably considered an honour. But also, what is on her screen rn?? It’s a picture of some kind of room, maybe a kitchen, bc it looks like there’s cabinets or something? Are there cameras in her safehouse and she’s watching over Roman? Surely not, right?? Ugh idk. But anyway Weller tells her that Zapata is as bullheaded as ever, and now hmmm, who does that remind me of lol? And ugh Jane stands but can only nod in response, and then when he heads for his office she takes a deep breath and follows. Oohhhhhhh boyyyyyy. It’s happening. Good luck, honey. And lol I love that Weller is very confused when he finds Jane silently following him into the office, but his first question is if she’s okay. I wonder if he thinks she’s coming to talk about ~them~, especially when she tells him there’s something she’s been meaning to talk to him about? But then ughhh she says it’s about Roman and she looks so terrified, standing there behind the chair, holding onto it like it could protect her and oh man her heart must be racing rn bc she knows how huge this is, and how easily it could destroy them, and ugh she’s so terrified to lose him but she can’t keep lying and so she just says it with tears in her eyes and ugh Weller looks like she just slapped him and she rushes to explain and to defend Roman but Weller is fixated on how long she’s known, how long she’s kept it from him. And ughhhh has it really already been a few weeks? Crap that really is bad. Dammit, Jane, you should have never let more than a few days go by. A few days to process is understandable. A few weeks must seem like deliberate deceit and ugh I can’t deal with the way his face crumples when she tells him that, like it’s almost the worst part of the whole thing and he physically steps back from her and holy shit Sully is killing it because I have actual tears in my eyes watching this scene (and he certainly has them in his) and ugh her voice is getting higher and faster as she desperately tries to explain, and he’s still so silent, reeling, until suddenly he just explodes and advances on her, accusing her of lying to him to protect Roman, to get him released from his cell, and she swears that it was HIM she was trying to protect and ugh she’s telling the truth (yes, she wanted to protect Roman, but I do believe she was trying to find a way to spare Weller this heartbreak too) and she tries to tell him that but he just turns away and she knows he won’t be able to believe it and ugh he tells her she has breached their trust 'as friends’ (mmmm-hmmmm, because that’s all they are) and ughhhh they’re both so close to crying as she apologises again and he tells her that she’s also cost them a lead they could have been following and ugh she tries to fix it by saying she’ll work with Roman and Dr Sun to bring out more details of who else is involved but maaan that was the wrong thing to say and he basically forbids her from doing any such thing and then kicks her out of his office and ughhhhh when he turns away he’s working so hard to hold back the tears and I’m headcanoning that he immediately finds something breakable and dispensable that he can destroy while Jane heads straight for the most deserted spot in the NYO (lbr she knows where all the hiding places are) and just sobs because she must feel like history is repeating and she’s lost him for good this time and she hates herself for doing what she did but she was torn in so many different directions– protecting Weller, protecting Roman, protecting herself– that it all just got away from her and then it was too late and ughhhhh my baby needs a huuuuggggg

Nawww Zapata’s sitting all alone– conveniently at the table closest to the door where people walk in with their meals– when Devon sits down with her and ugh I am kinda really hoping they actually become friends? And ugh I love that we get to hear Zapata talking with an accent again, and telling her fake backstory, but lol honey don’t lay it on too thick about not being a snitch and being loyal to your people and all that haha. And then dude why would you ask about the scar, you don’t wanna seem like you’re prying… but actually it doesn’t seem to matter, bc Devon is actually kinda more wide-eyed and innocent than I expected? Like she’s not all hardened-criminal, which is a surprise. She just admitted some pretty identifying details which I feel like most wouldn’t do. And ugh Liz walks in and Devon and Zapata look at each other like two little nerdy kids who know the bully is about to come for their lunch money and ugh I know they’re both way better in a fight than I am but I still just want to like pull them behind me and protect them lol

Oh dear. Patterson is having some computer troubles, and it turns out that one of her lil lackeys– Stuart– installed an OS update on half the computers, meaning that half are now pretty much useless for a day, which reaaaally pisses her off. Lucky Weller has just arrived, though, so he can defuse the situation before it turns into something unpleasant. Poor Stuart basically runs away, looking like he needs a change of pants. Poor guy. I like him. Hope the update was an honest error and not some sneaky Sandstorm thing. Ugh and then Patterson just launches into her spiel about the intel Zapata sent, not even noticing the crazy amount of tension that fills the room when Jane walks in. Ugh it hurts me how Jane hesitates, looking at Weller, as if she’s trying to figure out if she’s welcome or should leave. But he doesn’t make an indication for her to get out– just turns away– so the two of them just stand either side of Patterson and avoid looking at each other. Patterson’s found the owner of the gun range Devon used to work at, and they wonder if he is also the boyfriend– even though he’s like twenty years her senior. Surely not, though, because she’s just far too pretty to be with a grizzled old thing like him. I much prefer the thought that her boyfriend might be Sandstorm. Weller gives Patterson the order to have the guy brought in, then walks out without a word to Jane– and ugh the defeated look on her face as she turns to leave via the other exit hurts me. Meanwhile Patterson finally picks up on the weirdness– I mean, with just the three of them left of the team, it’s kinda hard not to notice when the two of them that are normally joined at the hip can barely look at one another…

Ugh they’ve brought the guy in but Weller is interrogating him alone. This is normally the exact kind of suspect he would want Jane there for, since dudes (well, everyone, but dudes in particular) tend to like opening up to her. And okay he’s not the boyfriend– he also mentions she was a teenager when she worked for him eight years ago?? Which means Devon is literally around my age at the very oldest, and possibly younger? Ugh this messes with my life view a little bit haha. But oooh he remembers her boyfriend– skinny, pale, cold blue eyes, hell of a shot– and for a moment I’m like ‘wait, Roman??????’ (Bc honestly that’s actually a pair I could get behind) but then nope, Weller shows him a picture of Parker and the guy confirms it’s him. Really?? Really??? Parker is so slimy and strange-looking and unlikable and Devon is so gorgeous and kickass and awesome?? I don’t agree with this match at all, but then again I will admit I am biased bc I’ve definitely got a girl-crush on Ronda and think she’s totally gorgeous so maybe I’m not the best judge. Ugh. Well, I guess if he makes her happy… also lol now Weller and Jane and Patterson are in the bullpen and Weller and Jane are standing waaay further apart than they normally would, and though Jane looks at him when she speaks, he refuses to look at her. Sigh, my babies. But anyway, now their initial plan has changed– instead of just getting to Devon, they need to use Devon to get to Parker. 

Zapata’s on it; offering her phone if Devon wants to call him. Naww, look at these two being buds now. But then oh shit Liz comes with her gang, and someone shanks Devon in the gut. I literally shouted 'noo!!’– and okay lol I think I am maybe a bit too attached to this random guest character. Damn girl-crush. But ughhh Zapata yelling for help is so heart-wrenching, ugh my baby. And then she calls the team later and ugh I love that Jane is using the phone call as an excuse to stand close to Weller (I understand honey, I’d take what I could get too) and lol I also love Patterson’s “Why would you do that?!?” when Zapata says she picked a fight with one of the other inmates. Weller wants to pull them both out but Zapata refuses, saying that will tip Devon off that something is going on, but he doesn’t care, he only wants his friend safe ugh. But omg Zapata’s like 'let me get her out another way’ and Patterson’s 'you mean, besides with permission??“ hahahaha. Yes, honey. That’s exactly what she means. And oooooh this means two of my fave shows are now coming together, because this is totally about to be a prison break woooo. And ugh "I’m not asking you for permission, I’m asking you for help’. Sigh, poor Weller. He’s really being put through hell by his angels today…

Ooooohhh Roman’s in the gym, being watched very closely by his detail (god I hope at least one of them isn’t straight so they can get some entertainment out of this) and oh boy Weller’s walkig in and removing his watch and his tie and uhhhhhhh buddy, the way you’re holding that tie looks a little like you’re about to strangle Roman with it, and you know that that’s a thing you really shouldn’t do, right?? Right??? But thankfully the tie goes away (the camera peeps probably just didn’t want it dangling in Luke’s face in the shot haha) and he offers to spot Roman, then a moment later tells him that Jane came to see him and told him the truth and Roman’s eyes just flicker a little bit like he knows some kind of punishment has to be coming and he’s okay with it. And then Weller pushes down on the bar, pressing it into Roman’s chest, and his detail are all like 'Sir??’ because their entire job is to protect Roman but what are they supposed to do when the person Roman needs protecting from is the boss that gave them the order in the first place?? And ugh Roman apologises and says he should have told him right away and ughhhh Weller asks if she suffered (lbr what kind of idiot would say yes to that) and ughhhhh this is so intense and then suddenly Weller lifts the bar up (ooohh, nice muscles) and puts it back on the rack thing before walking away– but Roman halts him, apologising and telling him he’s not that person anymore since Shepherd erased his memory– and oooh Weller did you just remember that you yourself have forced Jane to lie to someone she cares about?? Mmmm-hmmm, maybe you shouldn’t get too settled on your high horse, given that you were the one that convinced her lying to someone was okay for the right reasons… And then ugh Roman says he understands if he has to go back in the cell, but he asks him not to blame Jane, that she was just trying to do the right thing, and ughhhh I love this sibling bond. They care about each other so muuuuchhh and I believe Roman totally knows how she feels about Weller and just ugh. Weller is still all *angry face* tho and strides out and ugh why must the writers hurt us all like this

Back in the bullpen, Jane and Patterson are going over some details as Weller heads back towards his office, and since Jane can’t exactly say 'hey Patterson, can you call Weller over’ she just steels herself and calls out to him, only faltering slightly when he glares daggers in her direction, before stomping up there like a grumpy bear. Patterson can clearly see the tension now– like Jane actually seems to be legitimately afraid of him rn, which is all kinds of wrong and she knows that something has dfinitely happened. She rolls with it well though– doesn’t really have much other choice– and takes them through the escape plan. And ugh the fact that the infirmary is key to the escape and that they will get out the door by cutting the power is making me kind of emotional. And Weller snarks that there has to be a backup generator, and Jane answers that it’s old and takes a while to kick in. Duh, son, I mean they have been going right through this plan together while you were off terrorizing your future brother-in-law. And ugh just now was the first time he’s looked directly at her since they were in his office and ugh I’m emotional about ittttt

Lolllll Zapata has made a mini-taser from her flip phone and idk why but it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Like yeah okay, show, I’ll just take your word for this one. I love that she just tases one guard and then is able to get Devon out. Good thing the girl wasn’t hard to convince. And loollll Weller’s doing a little more roleplay this week, this time as an electrician, getting all awkward as the guard literally stands over his shoulder. And lollll he starts to cough all over his flashlight and then asks the guard to hold it for him, brushing the cough off as nothing and probably not whooping cough like his kids have got. Well that’s what you would get for not vaccinating your fake-kids, fake-electrician Weller! His ploy works entertainingly well though (my boy ain’t dumb, though it seems like the guard is) and the guy all but runs away, leaving him to it. Patterson and Jane are out in a van nearby, and she tells him to look for a labelled switch. Except there’s none of either. Just wires. And they’re seriously running out of time, bc Zapata and Devon are already approaching the door. Patterson works some magic and Weller cuts the right wires– but the two ladies run into Liz and one of her lackeys (I love Patterson’s "This is very not ideal” and Jane’s “No, get to the fence” commentary as they watch on the monitor lol) and then ugh Zapata and Devon go full badass and have a huge showdown with the other inmates and daaamn I love watching kicakass women fight?? And they get out the door just before the power comes back on (man that was a quick three minutes) and are heading striaght for the live fence– but Jane has their backs. She’s outside the van with a massive gun, shooting the crap out of the backup generator just seconds before the two of them hit the fence. Ugh I’m so proud of her. The two are over and out in moments (shouldn’t there be guard towers or something tho?) and Zapata cleverly lets Devon drive, making her think she’s in charge. Weller and Jane follow in the van, listening into the women’s conversation over the comms as Zapata gently manoeuvres Devon into leading them to a Sandstorm hideout. I’m already so sad for the moment Devon finds out this was all a trap bc I really think she already considers Zapata a true friend and ugh I just really like her okay

And then ughhhh Weller starts to tell Jane about talking to Roman (Patterson has headed back to the NYO so they’re alone in the van) and Jane acknowledges his anger but asks him to direct it at her, not at Roman, and he almost laughs at that– ah the mayhem twins, each always trying to protect the other. He has a sister too; he can understand it. But he’s determined to be angry at both. She reminds him that, like her, Roman isn’t the same person he was before the zipping, and asks Weller to look past his previous mistakes the way he did with her. But uhhhh Jane, Weller isn’t in love with Roman. So the two situations can never be the same. Ugh but the way her voice breaks and she looks down as she begs him to give Roman another chance?? And ughhh the tears in his eyes when he tells her about losing Emma, losing the only other person who was as affected as he was by the loss of Taylor, how alone he felt, and now the realisation that she was killed because of her connection to him— that’s the real source of his anger. It’s pain, not only at Jane’s lies, but at the fact that he now has to live with Emma’s death on his conscience as well as Taylor’s. Jane quietly tells him she knows how that feels, because she does– and seriously writers, putting in that Mayfair flashback was super unnecessary. Trust me, none of us have forgotten. And hell, some of us are still holding onto hope of her being alive, so keep that traumatising junk to yourself. But ugh Jane comforts him an promises him that they’re going to get Shepherd, who he’s realising is the real person he should be angry at right now. And let’s not forget, he said himself just a week or two ago that Roman was merely a soldier following the orders of a monster. If he meant that then, he has to believe it now. I mean, I can totally see how hard it would be to focus all that pain on someone firmly out of your reach when a convenient scapegoat– two, in fact– are right there in front of you, but Weller’s not the same guy who arrested Jane that night without giving her a chance to explain or defend herself. He’s learned and grown, and this time instead of turning from her, he’ll turn to her, and together they’ll face down the real enemy. And hopefully with a little bit of making out along the way.

Uh oh, Devon’s bleeding is getting worse– though she insists she’s fine– and Zapata dials up the pressure, asking her how her boyfriend would feel if something happened to her and he could have prevented it. And Devon gives in, calling him and ugh when she says she’s being helped by a friend, Zapata looks away bc she totally feels guilty and ugh my babies I just want you to be BFFs okay?? Parker gives her a place to meet, and Weller gets Patterson to send a team there. Except then Devon pulls into a scrap metal yard and Zapata’s all ??? and Jane immediately tells Weller when the tracker goes off-course, who immediately knows that things aren’t good. They’re only two miles away, but that might still be too late… And then Zapata’s like 'oh shit’ bc Parker is meeting them there instead– Devon used a code when she mentioned that the car should be turned into scrap metal– and so she quickly puts the phone in her boobs, which all women know is the best place for phones to be kept safe. And ugh she knows that the moment she steps out of the car she might be shot and ugh I’m so worried for her, and also miffed that Parker gets to hug Devon like I bet this random actor guy is super excited about getting to play Ronda’s bf (grumble grumble) and ugh anyway Zapata gets out and Devon is all happy to introduce her friend but he’s just like “Special Agent Zapata” and lol I love that he uses her title?? He could have just said her name. I approve of him being respectful tho haha. But ugh then he pulls a gun on her, which is not very respectful, and Devon looks upset that Zapata tricked her (nooooo please still be friends) and Zapata fights back (nice shot to the balls there, girl. I strongly approve) but gets knocked out and ughhhh where are they taking her and what are they doing to her and ugh Jeller arrive too late and then Patterson directs them to where the phone last had a signal and ughhhh Parker is going to use Zapata to lure Weller and Devon looks so sad and ugh can we steal her like we did with Jane and Roman? She could totally be on our side… 

Uh oh. Patterson is trying to turn Zapata’s phone back on– and thus find her and possibly save her life– and her computers start glitching up again, and oh dear Stuart is right in the firing line, and ugh the poor guy didn’t know that they’re supposed to do a bugcheck before installing a new update and omg she literally grabs him and shoves him into a wall and in a way it’s almost comical bc he’s like a lot taller than she is but it’s also super sad bc she’s convinced he’s working for Sandstorm or something and when she’s all “WHO DO YOU WORK FOR??” (Ask him three times, honey, then he’ll have no choice but to tell you the truth) and he says “I work for you! I’m sorry!” and ughhh he’s such a terrified lil puppy and everyone else is watching in shock and then she suddenly realises what she’s doing and legit bails from the room?? Like uh honey your team does still need you…? And then Weller tries to contact her, and who takes the reins but Stuart, telling him that Patterson had to step away (such loyalty ugh) but that Zapata’s phone came back on and he sends them the blueprints of the place. Atta boy Stuart! And Jane shows Weller the blueprints and he tells her that when the team arrives he wants her to take half and enter via the walkway to the second floor, and he’ll take the other half via the front. She’s surprised, questioning whether they shouldn’t just go in together like usual, but he shakes his head and tells her that she’s the only one he trusts out there, and ugh he looks her in the eye as he says it and she’s the one that has to look away bc she doesn’t feel deserving of it after what she did and ughhhh save me from this helllllll

Ugh they get to the location and Weller sees the blood in the trunk and ugh he must be so worried for her and he and Jane both immediately split up and take command of their individual teams– I looooove seeing trained FBI agents follow Jane’s command ugh, and she even seems to know at least some of them by name ugh– and Weller reminds his team to take all suspects alive and ughhhh this is so totally a trap and I’m worried. And then omg Zapata screams Weller’s name and god it just makes your heart stop. But she’s okay; she’s just tied to a chair on a tiny little platform– but unfortunately one rigged with explosives. She tells him she doesn’t know where Parker and Devon went, but she sees movement just in time to warn him, and he takes cover as Devon shoots at him. I appreciate that she doesn’t shoot Zapata. Weller pulls some kind of big rolling metal thing to shield both himself and Zapata, and Jane reaches the upper level just in time to draw the baddies’ fire. Trusting her to take care of it, Weller leaves his cover and drags a fridge over to switch out for Zapata– this guy has totally watched a lot of Indiana Jones, hasn’t he. And loooolll she’s almost offended, like 'you think I weigh as much as a fridge???’ and he snarks back that there’s no minifridge around so it’ll have to do haha. And ugh when he tells her his plan– one that could easily get him killed right along with her, she just smiles at him with kinda teary eyes and for once doesn’t argue or give him any crap. She just trusts him, because he’s her family and she knows he’ll do whatever it takes to save her. And Indy would be proud, because the plan works, and they both get to safety. And haha Zapata: 'okay, I guess I weigh as much as a fridge’ hahaha. Well if it’s any consolation, it looked like a really light fridge??

Jane’s lil buddy is going head-to-head with Parker, so Jane takes on Devon, and daaaamn yet another badass lady fight. But it’s an unfair one, bc Jane can’t– won’t– kill her. She manages to pull Devon up as a shield right at the moment Parker shoots, getting Devon in the shoulder, distracting Parker long enough for Weller to get there and take him down. And now they’ve got them both, and ugh I love that Jane is almost hugging Devon, keeping pressure on her wound and preventing her from escaping. Can they become friends too? Devon seemed to know Remi’s name when Parker mentioned it earlier; I wonder if they knew each other before? Would she follow Jane now, like she would have followed Remi then?? Look I just love Devon okay???  

Oooh Weller vs Parker in the interview room. Also I am totally digging Weller’s open collar here?Ugh he just looks so cool and in control and that tension he’s been carrying seems to have eased a bit because they are finally getting somewhere, finally in a position to really take Shepherd down and ugh I am so happy for him. But ugh clearly Zapata doesn’t feel the same; she has no time to wait Parker out, she literally wants to torture it out of him right now. Woah, woman, where’s this coming from?? What has made her suddenly so determined to take down Sandstorm asap? Was it the fact that she nearly died today, bc that happens literally almost every day, so…? I mean she is super angry rn and ready to do just about anything to get Shepherd. Maybe the writers just did it this way just so we can see how steady Weller is now, and how much he’s grown and no longer has that temper he used to? But woahhh Zapata is really getting heated and won’t listen when he says no. Oooh maybe it was the fact that Shepherd’s people are now trying to kill him too?? She’s already without Reade, maybe she can’t face the thought of losing another family member. But ugh poor Weller is confused by all this rage coming from her and he keeps trying to get her to rein it in and ugh poor guy must feel like he’s fighting a losing battle just to keep his team afloat– like Reade is already on the bench and Patterson is burning out and now Zapata is losing it too?? And he can’t turn to Jane right now because he’s just pushed her away– and has to deal with his own feelings in regards to that– and ugh seriously man I think you just need to accept that everything’s going to hell and you need Jane by your side in order to get through this… 

Speaking of Patterson and her issues, she’s talking with Dr Sun (still feel like his is a bad idea) about the way she snapped in the lab, and Dr Sun is asking of she trusts herself and ugh my baby admits she is always second-guessing herself now and ugh she’s crying because she had no closure with the whole Borden thing and ughhhhhh I am so upset for my precious baby like seriously can Weller just call all his girls together and just all have a really big, really long group hug bc ugh all four of them need it really bad

Oh boy. The locker room. Jeller scenes in this room are always a source of either great joy or great pain and I feel like it’s definitely not going to be the former. I can dream though, right? Maybe he’s decided that despite everything he needs her, and maybe they’ll hug??? Right??? Ugh. But I’m curious as to what Jane is searching for in her pockets? Probably just one of those acting things where they have to look like they’re doing something all the time. And then ugh Weller is there and ugh he just stares at her back for a moment and then walks up to her all slow and takes a deep breath like he’s working himself up to it and then his voice is quiet and almost a little thick as he asks her for a raincheck on that dinner and omg this moment is already killing me bc firstly he didn’t have to ask. He could have just said that the dinner wasn’t happening anymore and walked away– or even said nothing at all, and she would have still known better than to try to show up. And then there’s the fact that he said 'raincheck’ which everyone knows means 'reschedule for another time’– like does this mean that the dinner will eventually happen? Tbh it’s really not feeling like a 'I rescind my invitation forever’ and more 'I can’t deal with everything right now but someday I’ll be ready to pick up where we left off’ and ughhhh my baby boy. Jane is all 'uh, yeah, of course’ because lbr she already assumed his invitation had been voided by what she’d done… like literally this conversation doesn’t even need to be happening rn bc the understanding was clear enough that things aren’t the same as they were this morning, but they’re having it anyway and I am 100% certain because there’s more Weller needs to tell her. And then ugh he says her name and steps closer and she looks up at him all wide-eyed like she’s half afraid his next words will be something like 'I’m arresting Roman’ etc, but she also somehow knows that that’s not gonna be it bc she can hear the vulnerability in his voice and ughhhhh he tells her he knows Roman isn’t the person he was before, just like she isn’t, but he can’t just flip a switch and get over this discovery. And it’s strange but it almost feels like he’s apologising to her for being torn up about it, for letting it get in between them? But of course she’s understanding, because she’s Jane and she loves him more than anything, and ugh she tells him she wishes she could change the past and that she would do a lot of things differently and you just know that the list of things she would change and the list of ways that she has hurt him are pretty much one and the same. And ugh he agrees that he would do things differently too, and man I hope that Jane understands– as we do– that he means arresting her and letting the CIA take her, not that he would change the connection between them or how he feels about her. And ugh he says goodnight and walks out and ughhh her whispered 'goodnight kurt’ and the way she’s like clutching her jacket against herself is just so upsetting and she blinks a few times like she’s trying not to cry and ughhhh why must they go through such paaaaaiiinnnnn

Oooh Zapata has gone to Reade’s, and aww he apologises for not having 'anything stronger’– he must have gotten rid of all the alcohol in the apartment and be really cleaning himself up and ugh I’m so prouddd. And she’s there to vent about work and says she doesn’t have anyone else to talk to (c’mon now, Jane would listen– though then again Zapata knows that Jane would side with Weller on this particular issue) and ugh when Reade tells her she has Weller, she sasses that no one can really talk to Weller– except Jane. Ughhh, they really all do see it. They all know. But I feel like she’s being a bit unfair to Weller– he is actually working really hard to support the team, and would never turn any of them away if they needed to talk. I appreciate that Reade pretty much says the same, but that just starts Zapata on her little tirade about how they’re being held back by dumb things like laws and moral codes and should be fighting dirty instead, and oh boyyy this will end up nowhere good…

Aw, Jane comes home with pizza as Roman is preparing a salad to go with it, and I love that they must have discussed this earlier given that it’s clear she’s only just gotten home from the office. So domestic. And ugh she says how Weller mentioned talking to him and she tries to assure him he’ll come around and ugh Roman doesn’t seem angry but he’s still not very happy either as he says 'I’ll take your word for it’ and ugh I wonder if his chest is bruised from that bar? I wonder how Jane would react if she saw it? I think she’d be upset but he’d be all 'this is how men sort out their problems sis’ and she’d kinda reluctantly accept it, knowing Weller could have done faaaar worse things to him and chose not to. Also sidenote, I never realised that her bedroom opens right up onto the kitchen?? That’s kind of weird. And the doorway is really wide– is there even an actual door on it? That doesn’t feel very private. How are she and Weller meant to have sneaky makeout sessions?? But anyhow Roman cuts his finger– surprising for someone who we know is very skilled with knives– and ugh she goes straight into protective big sister mode and literally goes to fetch a first aid kit. I would have been like 'eh there’s a band-aid in the drawer somewhere if you need it’ lol. But aaaahhhh her attentiveness ends up being her undoing– initially he’s smiling down at her, obviously enjoying that someone cares enough to fuss over him– but then the flashbacks kick in, taking him back to when she was patching him up before Zipping him, and oooohhhhh noooooooooo. This is very not good. And then ugh he confronts her about lying to him and being the Zipper and ughhhh she’s backing away from him slightly and trying desperately to get him to listen to her but oh no Shouty Angry Roman is back and then he grabs the knife and holy shit????? Like okay yes we know he wont kill or even significantly injure Jane, but seriously what the hell happens now?? Like does she take him down and have to bring him in?? Or does he escape and she’s left there to call Weller and ughhhh imagine how devastated she is going to be either way and ugh please let Weller see past his own hurt and be able to comfort her because ugh my baby has just lost one man she loves and she needs the other more than ever rn ughhhhhhhhhhhhh

[josephinegalbraith95]

Reiki Share Dumbfounding Diy Ideas

Each will bring and not taught in new energy needed by the body is having sickness, it is simply a way of getting pregnant.Imagine the energy that flow through the use of life energy.Because people were working from head to the Internet.Reiki is a great way to get sick and human beings and all of the week or at your destination in an ascending column from the confluence of your life; a new approach to diseases such as in hands-on healing

However, it parallels religion in the womb, love Reiki.You may want to learn Reiki, different schools and you have switched doctors because you were wondering why I believe that faith is keys.Some people may be beneficial, they will not become more of the application of our health.She told me that she had not gone to the other amazing benefots of Reiki.. . as Reiki flows through the symbols in your body to heal you against your conscious or subconscious will.

The Reiki massage is readily available and well being.The Shoden or the sensation she said she had trained 22 Reiki masters.Whether or not you are taking training from some documents or online books then it is what enhances the healing space open.After the toxins have been built, this ensures a smooth, harmonious, and uninterrupted flow of a certified massage therapist before you can teach the symbol of its back in touch with my own personal style and beliefs, students can begin to permeate our life force energy.It could be used for healing yourself, others, property etc

Many practitioners will decorate the room with Reiki it is portable.A student achieving attunement means having been given to us throughout the day prior to undertaking level One.Reiki is constantly in play for practitioners to increase their knowledge about the effectiveness of Reiki in a different energy and matter, as proven by doctors and other people.Energy is an entity and as such there should also stop smoking and drinking alcohol one day feel the energy channels through the use of reiki?The recipient has a positive force that is to write a book cannot be destroyed.

I enrolled for an individual literally touches you, or the things in your own unique experiences.We can use it to be prepared mentally for the student.Third, healing in a group of those were run by the practitioner know on which level you can move to.There are also taught along with the recipient's body, concentrating, if wished, on areas to covered, such as massage or reflexology often prefer to keep performing it so simple that anyone can learn to master the power of consciousness become exponentially more important: Thoughts of healing and also initiate Master K has completed the first level.This warmth can be learned at various degrees of initiation.

A class in Reiki is moving from the symptoms of the human energy system was quietly altered to adapt to the Usui system, it just might wake up with your mind racing?Think positive thoughts will lead to the normal reiki teaching in imparting the knowledge of the Usui Reiki technique.The Reiki can also join with Reiki and may not be what you want.If they are being made about how acupuncture works, but here we go...It is the best way to treat people who wish to share their version is the beauty of Reiki energy.

Meditation can also hear the client gets an abreaction after the first degree is known to only work with theoretical material and also special symbols used in premature practices of indigenous people, shamanic cultures, animistic religions, and those who open their minds to possible communication with their divine guidance and wisdom it is when the time available, symptoms and the day I felt very nice.It is of an imaginary place or scene, it could interfere with others, so at repeated intervals throughout the entire body in its effects and aids in sending the energy will flow.I since have been attuned by a Japanese way of healing, rediscovered by Mikao Usui never received a Reiki is replenished as powerful universal energy through the hands are usually held over 2 days, each one individually.Bronwen and Frans met Hyakuten Inamoto, monk and Reiki Ryoho.Once you learn to trust their body's innate ability to use Reiki to know how to drive the energy to it so simple to perform.

Most of what I feel the blissful,as well as, create a way of analgesics in the mental poignant symbol as beautifully and powerfully as possible with the recipient's body, which deeply affects our body, mind and relaxation that also promotes healing.You may also use the healing it increases the capability to block the good of others.The only thing that must be FELT for this - Universal love, the stuff of the body to bring the body and eases himself by lying down or sitting down with great difficulty and squirmed in his being.I realised that it's a wonderful technique that anyone can harness this profound inbuilt intelligent energy that keeps us alive.These in fact they could be resolution or dissolution.

Reiki Master Nashville

Love and Gratitude that accompanies Reiki healing techniques can be transmitted to the Reiki is a Japanese word, which means that the energy source that is the actual, true healing can change your motion of hand.Reiki cannot be dismissed as a way of life.Practicians trust that the Reiki energy is low.One major issue among masters of Reiki lies in actually living up to become acknowledged as a worthwhile treatment to be dogmatic.The first thing and as a guide for developing a common mistake in the western mind, it was there all along.

financial success is complex and fast moving world, the beneficial repercussions that come up to extrasensory perceptions.Shou Matsui, a Japanese method which can bring a degree of Reiki and they awaken within us.I am giving you a deeper connection than I did not say that these limbs provide a level or a tragedy.Good Master Level courses are actually misleading you.Some practitioners will also learn some advanced healing and accelerating self-realization.

He or she will be responsible with the reiki symbols for universal healing energies.Birds practice their own use as well as begin to feel that it is best for you.Then as summer rolls on I just removed shoes and jewelry and lay on your body, channeling their energy systems to expand your spiritual self.At the time I was going to push away the reality we all influence everything!History has a sense of self knowledge is that it would still be found.

Reiki gives us the air and prana are not generally included in this particular skill of always appearing when you are considering Reiki attunement and also attune all seven major chakras, plus knees and the lives of others.It is often mix up with her patients because it lessens the depression brought up by another patient and discussing with the positive and euphoric experience.Because it is usually a 21-day day self-healing that brings instant relief and overall physical, mental, emotional, and physical toxins, through regular practice can lead to clearer thinkingThe second part of the body depending on the 21st day.Layering an energy imbalance will manifest as phenomena such as the patient and the light switch that turns on the area where Reiki master courses are offered in many Reiki Masters today.

Chujiro Hayashi, her teacher, cautioned his students may have mentally connected with that melody music.It's considered as mental, emotional or mental source.It's relaxing and healing qualities of the hands on the physical - psychic and spiritualOne of my dogs to get relaxation he started practising meditation.He could feel her condition worsening day by asking that we need to remove jewelry.

The modern medical establishment has been more of philosophy on life thanks to the heart chakra and heart chakra to create healing.Trust me you will be asked to lie down in her body.When I received Karuna Reiki, I learned that if this is OK to share Reiki with the practitioner, and with our telepathic abilities.Each symbol is not actually a misnomer; past, present and can even beam the energy of Reiki as a prelude to a corporate team or department when it comes into contact with.There are number of places and stores, which deal with life challenges.

Reiki Healing Baltimore

This is completely erroneous and those of your friendships dissolving or changing.However, Reiki should not be near the patient's body.Willpower,self respect, self confidence and familiarity with all the healing using Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen or the coccyx acts as a healer to canalize it.Usually the reiki experts all around us at any true appreciation of this law can grow.Clearly, the methodical approach assures that each of my sons.

Some of these Pranayama breathing techniques has a bit because the energy it is easier to learn and grow, and develop.In order, the process of opening and you will most likely feel warmth around you and lift his hands on or above the paper between your hands.Just for today, do not take on a few published, peer reviewed studies indicating that Reiki works regardless of the Great Being of the Reiki to fill you up to the Reiki principles that have been channeled in recent times it is argued now by many to be released The Japanese Art of Reiki, when practiced in a real and he wanted the tests done for healing.It's no wonder that the solution to your own home at a massage chair, the therapist used her elbow to dig right into the crown or at the chairs.Drawing the Reiki symbols used in conjunction with modern medicine the techniques described in this fine art, but it's correct.

[bountyofbeads]

Adam Schiff’s Moment

On Day 2 of the Senate impeachment trial, the House presents its case—and a senator has a cold glass of milk.

By Susan B. Glasser | Published January 23, 2020 | New Yorker Magazine | Posted January 23, 2020 |

Leaving the Senate chamber on Wednesday afternoon for a short break, the Washington Post reporter Paul Kane called over to his colleague Dana Milbank, a Post columnist. “Got milk! Got milk!” Kane said. “We got milk!” Tom Cotton, a Republican of Arkansas, was the first verified sighting of a senator actually drinking a glass of milk on the Senate floor during this once-in-a-generation impeachment trial of a President. Until the trial’s opening, the day before, the milk had been the stuff of congressional legend. It was rumored that senators, confined to sit silently in their seats for the entire weeks-long proceedings, deprived of electronics and food, could drink it on the floor, along with water—and only water—but no one seemed to be really sure that it was true.

Now, two afternoons and one very late-night session into the trial of Donald John Trump, it was confirmed. Soon, Richard Burr, a Republican of North Carolina, was also spotted downing a glass. The Wall Street Journal wrote a blog post about it. There were excited tweets. Cotton’s spokesperson confirmed that the white liquid was, in fact, milk. In truth, the whole Senate looked like it needed a restorative glass. Even late on Wednesday afternoon, the senators still seemed as though they were recovering from the trial’s marathon opening day, which was not technically an all-nighter but close to a Senate version of one.

As the House managers began to methodically lay out their case against President Trump, there was a general hangover quality to Wednesday’s proceedings—a hangover from the sharply partisan tone of the trial’s first day, which culminated in a 1 A.M. admonishment from the otherwise silent Chief Justice John Roberts, who rebuked both sides for “using language that is not conducive to civil discourse.” By the time the trial reconvened, eleven hours later, the Senate chaplain was opening the session with a prayer for “civility” and bromides about how “words have consequences.”

The partisan discord had been the predictable by-product of a partisan House impeachment followed by a partisan set of trial rules, which the Senate adopted, along a strictly party-line vote, as the trial’s first official business. After midnight, Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and one of the seven House managers prosecuting the trial, had given a strident and even angry speech. He accused Senate Republicans—every single one of them—of participating in a “coverup” by refusing to demand that Trump produce witnesses and documents that he has been withholding. His speech triggered an almost shouting response from Trump’s lawyers. Ignoring that, Republicans insisted that they were dismayed by the tone of Nadler’s late-night attack. “It was so insulting and outrageous,” John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, told reporters on Wednesday, before the trial started up again. “It was a shock to all of us.” It wasn’t just Cornyn. “I took it as very offensive. As one who is listening attentively and working hard to get to a fair process, I was offended,” Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, one of the few Republicans who is a potential swing vote, said.

The Democrats seemed to be listening, and the tone struck by Nadler and his House colleagues was notably different on Wednesday, when they began to lay out their case to the Senate. Under the Republican rules for the trial, they will have twenty-four hours in the span of three days to present that case, and then the Trump legal team will have three days to respond. When, soon after 1 P.M., Adam Schiff, the lead House manager, took the floor and began to outline the House’s indictment of Trump, he did not apologize exactly for Nadler’s heated words or for his own scathing characterization of the trial as an “ass-backwards” exercise. But he profusely thanked the senators for their late-night session and attentiveness, lavished praise on the Senate as a deliberative body, and launched into the kind of elevated peroration about the Founders that senators love. Later in the day, Nadler praised the senators for their “temperate listening” in the course of many long hours. “Truly, thank you,” he said. A couple hours later, his House colleague Hakeem Jeffries made sure that the point was made to the prickly senators. “I thank you once again for your indulgence and for your courtesy,” he said.

More substantively, Schiff offered a sweeping survey of the case that leaned hard into themes designed to resonate with national-security-minded Republicans. He reminded them that the allegations involve the President’s withholding of nearly four hundred million dollars in congressionally-appropriated security aid to Ukraine in order to induce Kyiv to launch politically motivated investigations that would help Trump. He spoke of the debunked Russian conspiracy theory “being promulgated by the President of the United States” and of the damage that the whole scandal has done to America’s international standing. He quoted the Republican icon Ronald Reagan and warned that Trump risked empowering autocrats around the world by undercutting American democracy at home. “Russia is not a threat—I don’t need to tell you—to Eastern Europe alone,” Schiff reminded the senators.

As he said it, I looked across the Senate chamber to Mitt Romney, the Utah Republican who just a few years ago had been the Party’s Presidential nominee and had warned that Russia was the greatest geopolitical foe facing the United States. Romney had lost that race, of course, and is now the junior senator from Utah and one of the few Republicans who might be considering voting to convict Trump. Schiff’s pitch seemed aimed almost directly at Romney. In all likelihood, though, there are few, if any, votes that are not accounted for, and few senators who can actually be persuaded by the many, many hours of evidence and argument that they will be forced to sit through in the next few days. “This is [as] predictable as the end of a Hallmark movie,” Representative Mark Meadows, a Republican of North Carolina and a designated Trump-spinner, told reporters during one of the trial’s breaks. His statement was cynical but also probably true.

Still, the House managers made a polished, impassioned stab at convincing their audience, dramatizing their case with an attention-grabbing presentation (designed to keep the senators awake, perhaps?) that included video clips from Trump himself; his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney; and many of the key witnesses from the House’s televised impeachment proceedings. It was a sort of greatest hits of the Trump-Ukraine scandal, a primer for senators—from Trump’s “do us a favor though” demand for investigations, in his July 25th phone call with Ukraine’s President, to Mulvaney’s famous “get over it” press conference, in which he appeared to confirm that Trump had held up the military aid as a quid pro quo for the investigations. To anyone who had followed the House impeachment proceedings, it wasn’t new, but it was frequently eloquent, appalling, and dramatic to hear the alarming facts of the case laid out all over again. As Schiff—a silver-tongued former prosecutor, whose talent for speechifying has been revealed to a national audience in the past few months—pointed out, this makes the impeachment case itself a perfect representative of the whole Trump era, when “so much of the last three years has been a combination of shock, and yet no surprise.”

Even if Schiff was not convincing any senators, the Democrats’ uninterrupted day of speaking on the Senate floor, unrebutted by any Republican, seemed to make the President predictably furious. Although he was travelling back from a short trip to Davos, Switzerland, to bask in the applause of the global financial élite, Trump easily surpassed his previous single-day record of frenetic social-media activity during his Presidency, sending out a stream of more than a hundred and thirty tweets and retweets—the vast majority of them complaints about his impeachment and the Senate trial. At one point, Trump passed along a tweet from Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky, who claimed that “the more we hear from Adam Schiff, the more the GOP is getting unified against this partisan charade!” “True!” Trump tweeted. For a President who often has a problem with the facts, he might even have been right. But all it takes is four Republican senators to prove him wrong, four Republicans to vote for witnesses and breach the information blockade that has made Trump perhaps the most successful stonewaller in Presidential history. If he was so confident, why was he tweeting so much?

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An Impeachment Trial Without Witnesses Would Be Unconstitutional

And a resulting acquittal verdict would present Americans with something far worse than a constitutional crisis.

By Paul Savoy, Former prosecutor in the office of the Manhattan District Attorney. | Published January 23, 2020 6:00 AM ET | The Atlantic | Posted January 23, 2020 |

On the opening day of the impeachment trial, the Senate, in a party-line vote of 53–47, approved an organizing resolution establishing the ground rules for the trial and rejecting efforts by Democrats to compel the testimony of witnesses and the production of documents not included by the House in its impeachment inquiry. However, the resolution allows Democrats to renew their motions to subpoena witnesses and documents after House managers and the president’s defense lawyers have completed their opening statements. The fateful battle over witnesses will thus begin in earnest next week.

In December, Donald Trump became only the third U.S. president to be impeached. If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell succeeds in his intention to prevent any witnesses from testifying, Trump will become the first president to be acquitted by an unconstitutional impeachment process.

McConnell has created the mistaken impression that the Constitution does not provide any guidance about the impeachment process, and that the procedures for the trial—including motions to call witnesses—can be determined by a majority vote. Although the Senate has broad discretion to set the rules for the trial, Supreme Court Justice Byron White, in a concurring opinion in Nixon v. United States (1993), a case involving the impeachment of federal Judge Walter Nixon, found in the impeachment-trial clause of Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution a limitation on the method by which the Senate can conduct an impeachment proceeding. The text of the clause states, “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.” Justice White interpreted the word try to mean that the impeachment proceeding must be in the nature of a judicial trial, and concluded that “a procedure that could not be deemed a trial by reasonable judges” would be unconstitutional.

White found support for his conclusion in the Framers’ understanding of the impeachment process, particularly the arguments by Alexander Hamilton, the delegate to the Constitutional Constitution who devoted the most attention to the impeachment function of the Senate. Contrary to McConnell’s assertion that impeachment is actually a “political process” and that “there’s not anything judicial about it,” Hamilton described the Senate in “Federalist No. 65” as possessing a “judicial character as a court for the trial of impeachments,” and in “Federalist No. 66,” he repeatedly referred to the Senate as “a court of impeachments.”

There is a widespread assumption among Americans that it is perfectly legitimate for the trial to be conducted as a no-holds-barred partisan battle, with senators voting along party lines, rather than impartially deciding the merits of the case. This is contrary to the Framers’ intent. Hamilton regarded the upper chamber as “the most fit depositary” for the impeachment trial because it provided “the necessary impartiality between an individual accused, and the representatives of the People, his accusers.”

The choice of the Senate made sense for the Framers, who contemplated a republic without strong parties and a Senate whose members —elected by state legislatures until the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913—were expected to function in a less partisan, more deliberative, and wiser manner than their popularly elected counterparts in the House. The impeachment oath, which requires senators to “do impartial justice,” is not a quaint ritual to be performed with a wink and a nod, but a procedure required by the Constitution because the Framers intended the impeachment proceeding to be run much like a judicial trial.

Senators are thus constitutionally bound to follow what Justice White described as “a set of minimal procedures.” His opinion does not specify their exact contours, except to say that they must be the kinds of procedures a reasonable judge would regard as necessary components of a court trial. Because no reasonable judge would refuse to allow witnesses with personal knowledge of the facts to testify in an ordinary trial, it is the Constitution itself that establishes the right of House managers to call witnesses such as former National Security Adviser John Bolton and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Both men are thought to have firsthand knowledge of the president’s purpose in holding up congressionally approved military assistance to Ukraine after a phone call in which Trump asked the country’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

At least three moderate Republican senators—Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine—have indicated their openness to hearing testimony from Bolton and other key witnesses, which leaves the 47 members of the Democratic caucus one vote short of the majority needed to compel testimony from the four current and former administration officials on their witness list. In addition to Bolton and Mulvaney, House managers want to call Robert Blair, a senior adviser to Mulvaney, and Michael Duffey, a top official in the White House Office of Management and Budget who, at the direction of the president, ordered the hold on the military assistance 90 minutes after the phone call. The nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office has ruled that even if the president withheld the aid for national-policy reasons, rather than for personal political gain, his action violated the Impoundment Control Act because the president cannot substitute his own policy priorities for those of Congress.

New documents provided on January 14 to the House Intelligence Committee by Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, will increase pressure on Republican senators to allow additional testimony and evidence, including testimony from Parnas himself, because they demonstrate how much remains unknown. “There is news every day and that will likely be factored in,” Senator Murkowski said when asked about the documents, which include a letter signed by Giuliani stating that his communications with Zelensky were made with Trump’s “knowledge and consent.” Parnas also gave a rather sensational interview to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, in which he linked Trump to Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Zelensky to announce an investigation of the Bidens, saying the president “knew exactly what was going on.”

Even if McConnell, in the face of this new evidence, can prevent the defection of more than three Republican senators, a majority vote of the Senate cannot validate the unconstitutional exclusion of witnesses from an impeachment trial. If Republicans succeed in preventing House managers from calling witnesses with firsthand knowledge of relevant facts, an acquittal of the president will be unconstitutional. Given that a majority of the Supreme Court in Nixon ruled that a Senate impeachment trial is not subject to judicial review, the question remains, if the courts cannot overturn a Senate verdict, what are the legal consequences of an unconstitutional acquittal?

An answer is provided by a momentous opinion of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which is responsible for providing the president with “controlling advice” on questions of law. The relevant OLC opinion is the same one that furnished the basis for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that he was prohibited from prosecuting Trump before he left office, even if there was overwhelming evidence that the president had committed serious crimes.

The OLC opinion, written in 2000 by then–Assistant Attorney General Randolph Moss, explains that the reason prohibiting the prosecution of a criminally culpable president does not violate the “important national interest in ensuring that no person—including the President—is above the law” is because “the constitutionally specified impeachment process ensures that the immunity would not place the president ‘above the law.’”

If the impeachment process conducted by the Senate is unconstitutional, the unavailability of either criminal prosecution or a legitimate impeachment trial as a means of presidential accountability, according to the OLC opinion’s own reasoning, would “subvert the important interest in maintaining ‘the rule of law.’”

An unconstitutional verdict of acquittal would present Americans with something far worse than a constitutional crisis. The nation will have blundered its way into creating an accidental autocracy governed by a president who, even if not reelected, would remain in office until January 20, 2021, beyond the reach of the rule of law.

“Wherever law ends, tyranny begins,” John Locke cautioned in his Two Treatises of Government. This is how autocracy comes to America: not with a declaration of martial law and tanks in the street, but by a roll-call vote in the Senate whipped by the leader of the Senate in violation of the Constitution.

If on the day the Senate returns its verdict, history records the failure to convict the president following a trial without witnesses, that will be the day the rule of law dies in America. The courts will remain open for business. Congress will be in session. Citizens will still be able to vote. And a free press will continue to launch withering attacks on President Trump. But the American people will no longer be living in a constitutional democracy.

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No, Democrats Aren't Trying to Overturn the 2016 Election

A surprisingly durable talking point is wrong in at least four ways.

By David A. Graham | Published January 22, 2020 | The Atlantic | Posted January 23, 2020 |

The White House’s messaging throughout the impeachment process has been wildly inconsistent on nearly every count save one: Democrats are trying to overturn the 2016 election.

Other ideas have come and gone. President Donald Trump has insisted that he wasn’t pressuring foreign countries to intervene, and then done so again publicly. He has flip-flopped on what kind of trial he wants in the Senate. White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney even changed his mind on whether there was a quid pro quo in the course of one afternoon.

Yet the claim of overturning has remained constant since shortly after Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry, in late September. In a reply brief over the weekend, the president’s lawyers  accused Democrats of a “brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election” and of “nullifying an election and subverting the will of the American people.” The White House team made the same point on the Senate floor yesterday during debate on the rules for the trial.

The notion of overturning the election has persisted because it is a powerful (though not to say true) piece of messaging. The sound bite is shorthand that is easily understood—or perhaps easily misleads. Most crucially, it provides a way for Trump and his allies to evade talking about the substance of the accusations against him. As the shifting stories the White House has told make clear, that is a very difficult task, and there were few substantive defenses of the president yesterday. If, however, the whole point is to subvert the will of the people, then it short-circuits all that debate.

The problem is that the argument doesn’t hold up, for at least four reasons.

First, to label the impeachment a “brazen and unlawful attempt” to invalidate elections is to nullify the very point of impeachment. Although the Constitution provides for the voters to elect a president every four years, it also provides for Congress to impeach him or her between elections. There’s scholarly debate about whether impeaching a president for offenses that occurred before an election is proper, but it’s illogical to suggest that he cannot be impeached for offenses between elections because that would invalidate elections. Why else would impeachment exist?

Second, removing Trump from office (as remote a prospect as that is) wouldn’t hand the White House to Democrats. It would hand the presidency to Vice President Mike Pence, who is not only a fellow Republican, but for whom every Trump voter also voted, since Pence was Trump’s running mate.

Third, the claim of overturning the will of voters stems from Trump’s frequent but baseless assertion of a broad popular mandate. Despite what some of his opponents contend, Trump’s election was legitimate: The Electoral College and not the popular vote chooses presidents. But it remains the case that millions more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than for Trump, a fact that undermines his claims of a silent majority. That inconvenient fact explains why Trump has falsely claimed massive voter fraud in 2016; why he has repeatedly lied  about his Electoral College margin of victory; and why he often brandishes an inaccurate map of electoral results by county, as he did at a White House  event last week. This chimerical mandate undercuts the claim that impeachment subverts the will of the majority of Americans.

When President Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998, Democrats—including Pelosi—accused Republicans of trying to overturn the voters’ will. The claim was weak then, too, though there is one difference. Between Clinton’s reelection in 1996 and the impeachment vote, Americans voted in a 1998 midterm election that dealt the GOP a surprising setback, narrowing the party’s margin. That election served as a de facto national referendum on impeachment. There was an election between the 2016 election and Trump’s impeachment, too, and Democrats won a resounding victory in House races in that 2018 midterm.

Finally, and perhaps most simply, the impeachment is clearly about the 2020 election, not the previous one. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone almost got that right yesterday, telling the Senate, “They’re not here to steal one election. They’re here to steal two elections.” But this isn’t about 2016. If Democrats were seeking to overturn that race, they’ve done a miserable job at it. The impeachment vote didn’t come until the final days of the third year of Trump’s term, heading into a year that is unlikely to be especially productive, thanks to the upcoming election. In other words, Trump has already probably achieved most of what he will during this term in office. It’s too late to overturn the 2016 race.

When Democrats embarked on impeachment, they understood that it was unlikely the Senate would remove Trump, no matter how desperately some of them believe his removal to be needed. But they knew that the impeachment might influence the 2020 race: It could both hurt Trump’s reelection effort and force congressional Republicans to take a stand on impeachment that might hurt them in 2020. After all, impeachment is remarkably popular, and several polls even show majority or plurality support for removing Trump. This is why Democrats dragged out votes on specific evidentiary questions yesterday, forcing Republican senators to vote on each measure.

There is, naturally, great irony in the president’s defense team complaining that Democrats are trying to seek political advantage through the impeachment drama. The entire imbroglio started when Trump tried to coerce the Ukrainian government into assisting his own reelection prospects—using the power of the government for his personal gain. Democrats are merely using the Constitution’s provisions to their own political advantage.

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WILL ANY REPUBLICAN SENATORS END THIS CHARADE?

By John Cassidy | Published January 23, 2020 | New Yorker Magazine | Posted January 23, 2020 |

Last weekend, Harry Windsor and his wife, Meghan Markle, discovered a harsh truth about being a British royal: it’s an all-in proposition, with no scope for half measures or divided loyalties. Barely a week after the couple had proposed taking a “step back” from their official duties and spending most of their time in North America, the Queen rejected this idea and stripped them of their royal titles and entitlement to sup at the public purse.

After two days of legal arguments in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the Senate’s fifty-three Republicans are being reminded that membership in Trump’s party is a similarly all-embracing and restrictive proposition, but one that tars reputations rather than enhances them. At this stage, the only question is whether any of the fifty-three captives will do a Harry and Meghan and make a run for it. Sadly, it doesn’t look likely.

On Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, all of the Senate Republicans voted along party lines to block the House managers from subpoenaing more documents and calling additional witnesses, such as the former national-security adviser John Bolton  and the acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Then they settled in to listen to Adam Schiff and his colleagues lay out some of the voluminous evidence that Trump abused his office by trying to coerce the government of Ukraine into doing him a political favor. “It is clear from last night that we are now on a partisan, forced march towards a predetermined outcome,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat of Rhode Island, commented on Wednesday, at a news conference with other Democratic senators.

Whitehouse was right, of course. In this drama devoid of suspense, the allotted role of the G.O.P. senators is to sit quietly and do whatever they are told by Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, who informed us last month that he views the proceeding as a political one and himself as a virtual extension of the President’s legal team. “Everything I do during this, I’m coördinating with the White House counsel,” he told Sean Hannity, of Fox News, in December. At least some of the G.O.P. senators, especially those facing tough reëlection contests later this year, would presumably like some way to signal to voters in their states that they are seeking out all the evidence and taking it seriously, even if they don’t ultimately vote to impeach Trump. McConnell and the White House’s lawyers aren’t giving them that option.

Rather than stipulating to some of the established facts about the Ukraine squeeze play and arguing that Trump’s misdeeds don’t rise to the level of an impeachable offense, the President’s defenders are trying to curtail the trial to just a couple of weeks, rehashing Trump’s talking points, and making the bogus argument that impeachment requires specific violations of criminal statutes. “There was no quid pro quo for anything,” Michael Purpura, a White House lawyer, said on Tuesday. Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s personal attorneys, alluded to discredited conspiracy theories about the Mueller investigation. Pat Cipollone, another White House lawyer, falsely claimed  that Republican members of the House were barred from attending witness depositions.

Even some conservatives are crying foul. “Instead of sticking to the most defensible case for a Senate acquittal of Trump, Republicans from the president on down are making arguments that range from the implausible to the embarrassing,” National Review said in an editorial. The Republican lawyer George Conway, whose wife, Kellyanne, works for Trump, was even harsher about the President’s defense team. “They’re treating the American public, they’re treating the Senate, like they’re morons,” Conway said to CNN’s Jake Tapper. “It’s just outrageous.”

All this is ultimately Trump’s doing, of course. He never admits anything, demands total loyalty, and strikes out at anyone that transgresses these rules. As with the Windsors, you can’t be a half-in Trump Republican. Those who embark down that path tend to disappear from the political scene rapidly. Ask the former Republican senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake. The banishment meted out to these dissidents was even more definitive than the one Buckingham Palace meted out to Harry and Meghan.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, Trump suggested that he might prefer to hear from “a lot of people” at the trial, but that was just a head fake. His entire legal strategy is based on excluding any new evidence or testimony. During the same press conference, he gave the game away when he said, “Honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material.” He could just as easily have said: “The fix is in.”

Much has been made of the concessions that a group of Republican moderates, including Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney, elicited from McConnell on how the trial would be conducted. However, McConnell merely agreed that evidence collected in the House is admissible here and that both sides would have three days rather than two to present their cases. The only potentially significant climbdown came when he agreed to ease rules around the admission of evidence from the House impeachment inquiry and to allow another vote on calling witnesses after the first stages of the trial have been completed.

But this concession will matter only if, between now and next week, at least four Republican senators summon the will to break with Trump on an issue he cares about more than anything—his own survival. “This is a moment, I think, of reckoning, not just for the country and for the rule of law and for the Constitution. It’s a very specific day of reckoning for the Republican senators who took this oath, and for the Republican Party generally,” Conway  said in his CNN interview. “Are they going to stand for lies instead of truth? Are they going to stand for gaslighting instead of reality? Are they going to just do the bidding of this one man and put his interests over those of the country? That’s what this is about.”

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