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#why do we think violence belongs to power and dutiful service to those without power
knowlesian · 2 years
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“why do i believe this” and “who benefits from me believing it” are the first steps to decolonization and we should all be doing this more
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sabineelectricheart · 3 years
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The Ochre Eagle
Summary: Ferdinand and Byleth have been maintaining a relationship for almost five years. When a letter arrives from Duke Aegir, decisions must be made.
Rating: K+ - Suitable for more mature childen, 9 years and older, with minor action violence without serious injury. May contain mild coarse language. Should not contain any adult themes.
Words: 2300
Notes: Today’s supposed to be Ferdinand’s 859th birthday, I am to guess. That’s a lot, so it ought to warrant a fic, does it not?
Anyways, Gerusia is the name of the senatorial body in the Byzantine Empire. Since there is a ministry cabinet and so, a senate would also to be expected, right?
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There was something beautiful about the Aegir coat of arms, which Byleth can admire whenever she looks at her ring finger. The same coat of arms that the letter that came along that morning bore on its seal.
The Imperial tetragrammatic cross, a one-headed eagle and the bugle horn of the Gerousia on its claws. For all her detachment and ignorance of worldly matters in Fódlan, she understood what all of those things meant and the weight they held over her.
Sometimes, when the young professor thought about her boyfriend of almost five years, she was reminded of the eagle and the bugle on that coat of arms.
Eagles are endemic in Fódlan only to the large forests within the mountainous northern Imperial lands, and it was an offence punishable by death to kill or maim a specimen within their borders. The bird was beautiful as it soared high in the air. Being the top of its food chain, it was also ferocious, swooping in and killing its prey in one bated breath.
Ferdinand was a lot like the eagle that adorned and symbolizes his homeland, the both beautiful and ferocious bird, and one that ought to fly so high in the sky that the land-dwellers may never reach it.
Byleth wonders, now, how she had ever let herself fall so completely for him, but then again, there always was something so freeing about his sunny smile, his amber eyes full of determination. She remembers with such clarity the first time she saw that smile directed at her.
*_*_*_*_*
“Hey! Professor, wait up!” A voice called for Byleth as she was leaving the classroom courtyard for the day.
The blue-haired woman whipped around, looking for the source of the voice, only to see Ferdinand von Aegir jogging after her.
“Ferdinand.” Byleth greeted succinctly but politely, as she raised her eyebrow at the young man, looking him over. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
She could not deny that he was attractive and very well put together, but with his usually shorn hair overgrown, he looked a bit like the careless mercenaries on her father’s band.
The Moons were quickly passing them by on her first year as a professor. Her days were mostly unassuming and unremarkable ever since Byleth and Jeralt relocated to the monastery permanently.
“Well, I, uh, is this yours?” He held out a book on proper speech of High Imperial Fódlan.
That was funny. In all her time of classes with Ferdinand, Byleth had never known him to stumble over his words. The boy was always so confident, cheeky even, she cannot help but wonder whether he thinks he is shaming her by asking whether the volume belonged to her.
It did. As she mostly interacted with commoners and uneducated people, she was perfectly fluent in the lingua franca of the continent, the significantly simpler Low Imperial Fódlan. However, ever since she joined the Church, she felt the need to learn more refined varieties, especially the High Imperial, the default choice for Manuela and Hannemann.
“Yes, it is.” She bowed and held out her hand to take the book. “Thank you, Ferdinand. I have not yet realized I had misplaced it.”
“It was no trouble. You have returned many prized items to me these last few Moons.” He smiled softly at the memory, but then hardened his expression once more. “Are you struggling with your language skills?”
“I guess you could say that. The language I am used to is much more…” Byleth bounced her head, looking for the right word. “Well, less refined than just basic.”
Ferdinand snorted, looking down at his toes. He did not say anything. Byleth waited for him to speak but he just stood there, looking down.
“Ferdinand?” Byleth prompted, curious.
Ferdinand whipped his head up.
“I was just going to offer, as I was educated in High Imperial, if you might want a tutor?” Ferdinand said softly.
Byleth was thoroughly confused with the Ferdinand was acting. First, he stumbles over his words, and now one could say he looked bashful! Still, she really was awful with High Imperial, and of course she knew the nobleman’s son to be from the Empire, and therefore he must know the language well. Better than most, for all that matters.
“Yes, very well, I would really appreciate the help.” Byleth smiled up at him. “Are you available tomorrow, after the lunch bell?”
“Yeah, yeah, that works great!” Ferdinand grinned, bouncing up and down. “I apologise, but I am late for my duties at the stables. I must go.”
He looked one last time in her direction and walked back the way he came.
Byleth could only stand there, speechless. In all of the time she has known him, she could not remember ever seeing him smile like that. It left her breathless, standing like a fool in the middle of the promenade, staring after him.
*_*_*_*_*
Looking back on it now, it was much too clear to tell that he had just wanted to spend time with her. Get to know her, be her friend.
He never had that many friends in the monastery, Byleth knows. Ferdinand usually chose to spend his time with his so-called noble pursuits or working with the horses in the stables or the weapons at the armoury. It was rare indeed that he deigned himself with having tea with one of his classmates or decided to spar, and his choice was nine out of ten times Edelgard, the Princess Imperial.
Byleth reached their small cottage, a short walk off the Garreg Mach village. It was rather detached from the religious structure, but still within the monastery’s walls.
It has passed over eight Moons since Ferdinand suggested finding someplace where they could be themselves, away from the rules of the Church and the Imperial nobility. Together, they found this place, abandoned by the sands of time, uninhabited since times immemorial.
After graduation, Ferdinand had refused to return to Enbarr just yet, electing to remain in Garreg Mach, ostensibly to further his training with the Knights of Seiros and provide the Church with his service, as a form of a tithe from House Aegir. It was, of course, all a lie, as he merely wanted to stay with his girlfriend.
Alas, five years have passed, and the Duke was growing impatient. It was high time for Ferdinand to come back to take over the Aegir territory and wed a Hresvelg princess or a Bergliez lady. Though, he could not, as he was already engaged with Byleth, a commoner and former mercenary. It would not go well over at the Empire, and so Ferdinand stalls and stalls his father.
The tiny hovel was small and poor, the kind of place a Duke’s son would never set foot, much less live in, but it was theirs. It was Ferdinand’s boots by the door, his weapons scattered randomly, oil staining parts of the tapestry no matter how much either of them scrubbed. It was Byleth’s grey robe by the door, her favourite mug left on the counter from her morning coffee, hair ties left in every crevice of the couch.
The professor’s usually cool heart hurt looking around the room, and his smell suffocated her, leaving her more choked up than she already was. She looked at the sun out the window, she wagered that Ferdinand should be home, and squared her shoulders. She found him just where she knew he would be, hunched over his working table, fiddling with some strange and horribly rusted blade.
Byleth stood in the door, watching him, for what felt like an eternity. Taking in the pattern of his curls today, the way he bounced his knee, and the back of his shoulders as they rose and fell with each breath.
She knew that he knew she was there. He was well-trained in the martial arts, he must have heard her coming since she set foot on their small produce garden out front. He was a very talented warrior and noble. He was radiant, a glowing force that any man with the power of sight could have felt his imposing presence from a mile away.
All the more reason for Byleth to not be the one to dampen him.
After a while, or probably when he finished whatever he was doing, he placed his project down and stretched. If Byleth was not already feeling devastated, she might have laughed at just how many joints he popped with one movement.
It was a wonder that the former mercenary had managed to shield her feelings from him so well, knowing that he should have felt what was wrong the second he looked at her.
“Hi, angel, how was your day?” Ferdinand finally looked up, a smile softening his features.
The woman could say nothing, staying in the doorway looking away and in absolute silence.
“Byleth?” Ferdinand stood, slowly walking over to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in.
Just for a second, she told herself, you can indulge yourself in his embrace for only a second. Byleth steeled herself, forcing herself to pull away.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” Ferdinand scrunched his eyebrows, staring down at her.
He was unnerved at how unresponsive she was, scared even. Wanting it all to be over, to be able to never have to do it again, the stoic woman prepared herself to speak.
“I think…” She paused to try to control her tone of voice, as to not betray her feelings. “I think we should stop.”
There they were, the words that had been controlling her all day, ever since she read that stupid letter from Duke Aegir, a letter that was not addressed to her, mind you, were finally out.
“Stop? Stop what?” Ferdinand’s voice was measured, his words were slow and tentative.
“This. Us” Byleth looked down, unable to look him in the eyes.
“Us. Us? Why? Why would you ever think that? What has happened? Have I done something?” He stuttered and starts to say whatever comes to mind in despair. “Byleth, you cannot just walk in and say that what is it!”
Frantically Ferdinand tried to catch her eyes, ducking his head down into her view. Byleth shook hard, doing everything she could to hold in her breakdown, despite her efforts, tears began to track down her cheeks. She took measured breaths, counting each one.
“I cannot be the one to hold you back.” Her voice cracked, more tears leaking through.
“Hold me back? Hold me back from what? You could never hold me back!” Ferdinand raised his voice but did not shout. “You have been, you are my professor. If anything, I am where I am because of you!”
“No, Ferdinand, you do not understand. You must return to the Empire, and you must do it alone. You have to and deserve to be the Prime Minister of them all, to have everything you have ever wanted, but I cannot go with you. It has been your goal for so long and I cannot take that away from you. I will not.” Byleth voice shook, but she was determined as ever, trying to just make him understand that this was for him. Not her.
“But I want you, not to be some… Some filthy noble! I want you!” He pleaded.
“Ferdinand, you still do not understand, your place is not at Garreg Mach, is at the Gerousia! My place is here in the monastery, teaching.” Byleth sobbed, backing away from him. “Your father is waiting for you. He has a betrothal contract for you to sign and a position for you to assume. You must arrive to Enbarr before the Moon changes.”
“No, my place is by your side!” He walked towards her, reaching for her.
She evaded his every attempt, solid in her decision and motives. This hovel is nowhere for a noble to live, and sooner or later he would realize that. It might be a little painful now, but if Duke Aegir makes do with his threat of disinheriting his oldest son, if he comes with a militia to punish them, it shall be much, much worse.
“Byleth, please, stop.” Ferdinand begged. “Come here, think about what you are saying. Let us talk about this.”
“There is nothing to talk about, Ferdinand. What I am doing is all for you, for your own good, and I will not reconsider.” She replied.
“The hell with my own good! I do not want this!” Ferdinand tried again, once more advancing.
Byleth shook her head and backed further away, towards the door. Taking a quick look around the room, she thought of every happy memory here. All the times they cuddled on the couch, the one Saint Cethleann Day they spent here, every moment.
Each called to her, and she longed to answer, to stay, but she could not.
Looking once more at Ferdinand, at his state of disarray. The tears in his eyes, his long and silk-soft ochre hair mussed from his hands, his body shaking. It broke her more than any of the words she said did.
“I am so sorry.” She cried, turning around for the final time, grabbing her robe and walking out of the door.
“Byleth! Byleth, wait!” Ferdinand lurched forward, desperately calling out for her.
His betrothed, however, was an agile warrior. By the time he reached the door, she was gone. He fell to his knees then and cried. Cried for Byleth, for their life, for the ring she left him on the dining table.
As Byleth walked away, hood drawn, she thought once again of the eagle. Free to soar high above, without anything shackling him to the ground. A force of nature, unbelievable, and so, so beautiful.
*_*_*_*_*
Fire Emblem Masterlist
Three Houses Masterlist
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thechasefiles · 4 years
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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 25/10/2019
Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Friday, October 25th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).
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AG: NO BAD APPLES IN BLP – Attorney General Dale Marshall yesterday defended the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidates who contested the 2018 general election, saying none was involved with people of ill repute or drug lords. He was responding to comments by Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley, in the House of Assembly Tuesday, that politicians were facilitating the influence of drug lords in communities. At a post-Cabinet press briefing at Government Headquarters and flanked by Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn, Marshall said Atherley’s claims were seriously misplaced and intended to “stir up a hornet’s nest”. He said it was only a few months ago that Atherley stood hand in hand with BLP members on political platforms during the campaign, while espousing the views of the party and supporting its manifesto, and now making the suggestion that some of those same colleagues would be involved with illegal activity. (WN)
ATHERLEY SLAMMED – Attorney General Dale Marshall made it abundantly clear today that his colleagues on the Government’s bench are in no way involved with this country’s drug-dealing criminal element. Marshall was responding to recent comments made by Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley, who fearlessly declared in Parliament during debate on the Award of the Pride of Barbados Bill 2019, that criminal elements were also being facilitated by “some who are involved in the political process”. “Since 2008 that has been clear to me, that there are people involved in the practice of politics [at the] elective level in Barbados who are attaching themselves to persons involved in illegal drug activity in Barbados, to help their cause and I dare anybody in here to stand and say that is not true,” Atherley charged. However, during a post-Cabinet press briefing convened at Government Headquarters this afternoon, Marshall vouched for the integrity of his Barbados Labour Party Parliamentary colleagues, stressing that Atherley can “only speak for his side of the bench”. “I am extremely disappointed that Bishop Atherley could take this course especially since in this current Parliament there are 30 members and 29 of which belong to the Barbados Labour Party and one belongs to the Opposition. Bishop Atherley can certainly speak for his side but let me say that as Attorney General of Barbados and as a member of our National Security Council, there are no members of this current administration who are involved or connected in any way to any drug lords, to any drug trade or to any illicit activity,” Marshall declared. As proof of the administration’s uncompromising nature, Marshall noted that since coming to office last year, Government has done all within its power to stamp out criminal elements. “Since coming to office we have applied our every energy to stamping out the associated gun violence. We have strengthened our laws, we have given the police more resources than ever before, so as to be able to fight the scourge of criminal activity. We have deployed the police along with the Barbados Defence Force in the trouble spots. There is no doubt that in some communities that there are drug lords who exert influence but for the Leader of the Opposition to go on to suggest that this is somehow allied or associated with this administration is not just wrong, it is completely untruthful,” he said. Marshall added: “This is to impugn the good name of the current crop of Parliamentarians, individuals who are working hard in the interest of Barbados, but it is also to impugn the efforts and dedication of our judges and to impugn the efforts and dedication of our Royal Barbados Police Force. It is a shameful thing that the Leader of the Opposition could feel that it is a useful tactic to try to demoralise Barbadians by suggesting that its leaders, without any evidence, are involved in dealings with drug lords.” He pointed out that up until May last year, Atherley was a vibrant member of the BLP and shared in the same ideals, which got the party elected. “I speak on behalf of a political movement that Bishop Atherley was a part of [until quite recently]. Bishop Atherley stood on the political platform alongside every single one of us, he embraced us, he may have even kissed some of us. We spoke from the same message, sang from the same hymn sheet and supported the same manifesto,” he stressed. However, the AG acknowledged that it was par for the course in political life, to encounter unsavoury characters in each constituency, noting that it was the duty of a Member of Parliament to serve all constituents. “Once you are involved in public life, you are not ever going to be a able to sequester yourself from a segment of your electorate and say ‘I will have no dealings with you.’ When I open my constituency office there is no reject button at the door to determine who to let in. We are here to represent all… I certainly do not differentiate in that way because I came to public life to serve and I do not ask persons what they do or what their job is, I simply ask what they need from the Government,” he stressed. (BT)
VINDICATED – Government’s was vindicated in its decision to pay the London-based consultancy firm, $27 million to negotiate this country’s local and foreign debt. This is the position of Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn even as he revealed this afternoon that the Barbados External Credit Committee did not represent the entirety of the external debt stock. Straughn contended that given the fact the country was saving a billion dollars per year in the just negotiated deal “in principle” with the Barbados External Creditor Committee, the concerns about the high fees to the firm, which were swirling in the public domain for almost a year, were shown up to be unfounded. Straughn also put on record his expectation that Barbados’ international credit rating would go up as a result of the deal. “Considering that we have been saving over a billion dollars per year on a debt, which prior to us coming to office, was creating a significant stranglehold on the backs of Barbadians, I think it is money well spent… I think that the work that they have been able to deliver on behalf of the people of Barbados, given the circumstances, is definitely worth it. In life you have to spend money to get things to happen and I am confident that the decision to go in this direction has borne fruit already,” he said during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Government Headquarters. However, when asked by Barbados TODAY to quantify just how much of the foreign debt stock the Barbados External Creditor Committee represented, Straughn said it accounted for a “significant portion” of the debt. “To the extent that the securities that were outstanding in the market in terms of the ownership, the committee represented a significant proportion of the holdings of those securities and therefore as was the case with the domestic side, we held those discussions based on the holdings of the securities. So therefore whilst they did not represent a hundred per cent of the entire debt stock, they represented a significant proportion,” said Straughn. He further explained: “We had a US$150 million that was due on December 2021, we had US $220 million due in August of 2022, $119 million due in 2035 and then the Credit Suisse which was $225 million. The threshold with respect to what the Credit Committee held on that was about 60 per cent of that. We have had discussions with others along the way and so therefore the meeting of the threshold in terms of the agreement in principle will allow us to be able to carry forward the exchange offer in terms of what we have agreed,” said Straughn. He further revealed that not yet in the negotiations were some debts related to Transport Board, Barbados Investment Development Corporation (BIDC) and the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC). “We rolled everything up into this structure as we re-issue the new debt. So whilst the foreign debt that were due to expire in 2021 and 2022 were held exclusively by the creditor committee as well as the Credit Suisse loan, there were a few smaller issuances to the BADMC and BIDC which rolled into that debt stock to fully restructure and therefore we anticipate that we should be able to be in a position to execute that exchange offer as soon as the resolution passes Parliament,” he explained. The Minister also took the opportunity to respond to concerns raised by Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies, Dr Don Marshall, who called some of the deal’s terms invasive. Marshall was referring to the clause providing for the reinstatement of forgiven principal and past due and accrued interest if Government defaulted on payment before the successful completion of the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He contended that this essentially removed Government’s ability to renegotiate terms with the IMF, should for example, the determination be made that the social ramifications were too onerous. However, Straughn argued that the exact clause was also enshrined in the deal struck with the local creditors and questioned why Marshall would raise this concern at this juncture and not before. “It is interesting that it is raised because the same clause applies to the domestic debt. So we have given a commitment to our creditors because in each case they have all taken haircuts on both principle and interest. We did it for the domestic and we are now doing it on the external. So it is interesting that it was described as invasive and that perhaps because this time it is on the foreign side,” he said, noting that much more details of the offer would be released in Parliament on Tuesday. (BT)
CRUSAB: DON’T EXPLOIT INTERNS – THE Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) wants to see more trained Barbadians being granted work internships. “The introduction of workplace apprenticeships is considered a desirable development as it serves the useful purpose of providing work experience for persons who are coming out of training and are currently unemployed,” it said in a media statement. General secretary Dennis De Peiza said the congress was mindful that most companies welcomed this development since it offered the opportunity to cash in on additional labour. “In as much that this is a laudable initiative, it recognises that the potential exists for the exploitation of the most vulnerable in our midst. It is a potential which labour must continue to set its face firmly against. “CTUSAB, therefore, calls on the authorities to institute the most rigorous form of policing so as to ensure that the fears of exploitation are not realised,” the statement added. The congress also said it was important that clear guidelines and standards are developed to guide the attachment of individuals, while noting it does not support the behaviour of companies which engage in apprentice labour and pay them a stipend, some as low as $120 for a five day/40-hour week.“This is unacceptable, in as much that the apprentice contribution is being undervalued. CTUSAB is concerned about the extent of exploitation where the apprentice is permitted half-hour for lunch. “Moreover, CTUSAB warns against the act, on the part of employers, of throwing apprentices in at the deep end by assigning them tasks without any orientation and training.” CTUSAB also called on the Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations and the Labour Department to carefully monitor the working of the workplace apprenticeship programme, and called on shop stewards to monitor and report any developments considered exploitative to their trade union leadership. (WN)
DIGITAL CASH ON THE HORIZON – Local officials believe digital currencies will replace hard cash in the future, insisting that it will create an opportunity for more people to have access to financial systems and services.
However, they cautioned that before this could take place in Barbados, all risks should be carefully considered and tight regulations be put in place. These views were expressed during a panel discussion at the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) public forum at the Grande Salle of the Central Bank on Tuesday night on the topic Money Without Cash – It’s a Trust Issue. Senior Examiner with the Central Bank of Barbados Runako Brathwaite made it clear that institution “has not yet issued a formal position on digital currencies”. However, he said research was ongoing to try to understand the risks of the technologies used to issue digital fiats currency. (BT)
INNOVATION IS KEY – Policymakers in Barbados are being called on to urgently attend to outstanding issues impacting on the ease of doing business here in order to attract more investment and to grow the international business sector. President of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) Julia Hope expressed disappointment that after years of calling for improvements only a few achievements have been made. She was addressing the opening of the association’s annual conference today, the flagship event for International Business Week at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre under the theme Harnessing Global Opportunities. (BT)
READY TO GO – Following what could only be described as a turbulent transition from ASYCUDO ++ to ASYCUDO World last month, which resulted in weeks of disruption in shipments in and out of Barbados, the Barbados Port Inc. is revealing that not only have they cleared up their backlogs, but they are also declaring readiness for the rush of the Christmas season. This morning Managing Director of the Barbados Port Inc David Jean-Marie told Barbados TODAY that based on the last report that he has received, the new paperless platform was functioning well and shipments were being processed faster than ever before. In fact, the head of the port is confident, “barring any unforeseen issues,” that this Christmas season could go down as one of the more smoother flowing ones, as it relates to shipment clearances at the Bridgetown facility. “We are surpassing the delivery levels of pre-ASYCUDO world. I would say that we are doing even better than we were before and in fact we are ramping up efforts in anticipation of the rush that would accompany the Christmas season. It is my expectation that things should be smoother this season than ever before but as you know there are a number of agencies operating within the port, but we will do all that we can to facilitate trade,” said Jean-Marie. Since switching to the new paperless platform on September 9, Customs had been plagued with several issues in the weeks after. Newly appointed Comptroller of Customs Owen Holder had promised at the time that it would have taken the Customs and Excise Department one more week to iron out any kinks it had encountered in upgrading its system from ASYCUDO ++ to ASYCUDO World. For weeks businesses cried out for relief from the bottleneck created in the system. Among them was Mount Gay Distilleries, whose Managing Director, Raphael Grisoni, told Barbados TODAY last month that a 400,000-bottle shipment, intended for Europe and the United States had been stuck in the port for over two weeks. This prompted Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce Dwight Sutherland to make an appeal for patience from the business community, promising that the gains from implementing the new platform will be well worth it in the end. (BT)
LOOP HOLES – The administration of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) is deeply concerned that legitimately obtained ammunition could end up in the hands of criminal elements. Deputy Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce told Barbados TODAY this afternoon that the Force is also worried about the management of lawfully acquired ammunition. “We are always concerned about ammunition and the management of ammunition. It is always a concern for the Force. It is always a concern for the Force if ammunition that is lawfully or legally obtained, gets into the wrong hands,” Boyce said. Speaking against the backdrop of three high profile marksmen who faced the law courts over the past two years for illegal possession of large quantities of ammunition, the Deputy Commissioner however said police had no proof to suggest that the ammunition found in the possession of one individual and allegedly found on two others could have likely ended up in the possession of criminal elements. “There is no evidence in the public domain to suggest that the ammunition they [two allegedly] had would go to somebody else,” he insisted.
Boyce said his concerns also related to situations where someone broke into another person’s home and stole legally obtained ammunition or instances where persons lost legally obtained ammunition. Over the past few years three members of the Barbados Rifle and Pistol Federation Inc. –  retired  Superintendent of Police John Mark Annel, retired Station Sergeant Ashford Athelbert  Jones and Richard Delisle Arthur, former Barbados Labour Party St Lucy candidate and brother of ex-Prime Minister Owen Arthur – have been arrested and charged for offences related to possession of large amounts of ammunition. Arthur was convicted on his indictment while the cases against Annel and Jones are still pending. In light of these prominent members of the Barbados Rifle and Pistol Federation being hauled before the law courts, the sports club president Antonio Boo Rudder has sought to defend his organization’s integrity. Rudder was adamant that the federation has put in place all the best practices necessary to discourage members from running afoul of the law. However, he told Barbados TODAY there was only so much the Federation could do. “We got all types of systems in place, but at the end of the day, you are dealing with human beings,” Rudder said. “Our position is that we will always err on the side of the law. We [are] here to respect the law and that is what it is,” he declared. The head of the sports shooting entity also said it was “particularly instructive” to note who some of individuals are that had been charged with illegal possession of ammunition. “When you are dealing with human beings anything can happen,” Rudder told Barbados TODAY. “Invariably, it is not a fellow off the block,” he added.Annell was charged on September 20, 2017 with six offences under the Firearms Act, inclusive of possession of 100 rounds of ammunition without a valid licence. The former lawman was also accused of committing a similar offence on August 3, 2017, this time with 150 rounds of ammo. Jones was granted $90,000 bail last week Friday for illegal possession of over 100 rounds of .40mm ammunition. Arthur was convicted in May this year for possessing 102 rounds of ammunition without a valid licence to do so.   (BT)
2 PERMITS REVOKED, 14 SUSPENDED – Two public service vehicle (PSV) permits obtained illegally have been revoked, while 14 will be suspended for a number of infractions, including operators not running the entire route.This was revealed yesterday by Transport Authority chairman Ian Estwick, who said their disciplinary subcommittee decided to take the action to help put the brakes on violations of their Code of Conduct. “The revocations were for the sale and purchase of permits. As a result, we have become more vigilant concerning the applications for the transfer of permits from one person to another,” he said. He however did not reveal the particular routes involved. In terms of the suspensions, which will run from November 1 to 30, Estwick said the authority’s attempts to reason with some permit holders had not borne fruit. (WN)
THIEVES BURNING CABLE FOR COPPER – Cable thieves are back on the prowl, and Barbadians are being urged to report any suspicious activity to the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF). This revelation came yesterday from Flow’s senior manager of communications in the Southern Caribbean, Marilyn Sealy, who disclosed the telecommunications giant has been a target of the recent spate of cable thefts. Sealy said since their connections served thousands of individuals and organisations, cable theft was a risk to public safety and national security if communication was compromised. “Flow Barbados is aware of the destruction and theft of significant lengths of the company’s aerial copper cables across the island. These occurrences of copper theft are of deep concern to the company as it undermines the ability to provide reliable broadband and voice services,” said Sealy. (WN)
BUTT SLAP A MISTAKE – As he passed a female to enter a shop, Kirk Clyde Edward Lorde’s hand inadvertently touched her buttocks. And that, he explained to Magistrate Joy-Ann Clarke, was the reason he ended up before her in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today. While the 47-year-old landscaper of Millyard Road, Brittons Hill, St Michael, pleaded guilty to unlawfully assaulting Nikimi Clarke on October 22, 2019, he claimed it was an accident. Prosecutor Station Sergeant Crishna Graham in giving the facts, revealed that the accused and the complainant reside in neighbouring districts in Brittons Hill. On the date in question, the complainant was on her way to the shop when she realized the accused was following her. When she reached the shop she felt a slap on her buttocks. She turned around and the only person she saw was the accused. She eventually reported the matter to police. However, Lorde recalled the events of that day differently. “On that day I went to the shop but I didn’t hit her. My hand brushed her on the way into the shop, it wasn’t anything intentional but she decide to say that I slap her,” the accused, who is known to the court, said. “I did not hit her intentionally.” After listening to his explanation, the magistrate fined him $350 in four weeks with an alternative of six weeks in prison. (BT)
AN HONEST MISTAKE – An “honest mistake”. That’s how Emerson Orlando Maynard described the circumstances which led to him appearing in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning. The 41-year-old bar proprietor of Nelson Street, St Michael, was charged with dishonestly receiving 36 bottles of beer valued at $96, belonging to Baywatch Limited, knowing or believing them to be stolen sometime between October 20 and 21, 2019. And while he pleaded guilty to the offence, he told Magistrate Joy-Ann Clarke he believed the story of the man who sold him the drinks. “This has never happened to me before. The fella came to me dressed in a uniform from the same establishment and told me he had a party and he had some drinks left back. The drinks were cold so I believed him,” the first-time offender told the magistrate. “It’s only when the police came and spoke to me that I was made to understand that the fella was on drugs and that he stole the drinks.”Following a meeting with the probation officer it was determined he would serve 160 hours of community service and would return to court on February 12, 2020. Earlier, prosecutor Sergeant Vernon Waithe told the court that police received a report of a burglary. They received other information which led them to Bounce Back Bar in Nelson Street which is owned by Maynard. Investigations were carried out and the accused admitted to purchasing the drinks. The drinks were eventually recovered. (BT)
BLIND DRUNK – Yesterday was just not Corey Omar Nicholls’ day. First he got drunk, then a woman with whom he intended to “mek little sport” left and never returned and finally he was arrested by police. That was the string of events which led Nicholls, a 34-year-old vendor from Sugar Hill, St Joseph, before the court charged with trespassing on a building known as Stall No.4 in The City with the intent to commit theft on October 22, 2019. When he appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today he pleaded guilty to the offence, but told Magistrate Joy-Ann Clarke he did not break in nor was he trying to steal anything. Prosecutor Station Sergeant Crishna Graham had earlier told the court that the complainant secured her stall on October 19, 2019 and left the property. She returned on October 22 after a report was made of someone trying to enter her stall. On reaching there the owner realized that her stall was damaged and the accused was seen inside the building. He was apprehended and handed over to police. But Nicholls told the magistrate that he was ‘as drunk as a skunk’. “I was in Nelson Street drinking by a bar and I get drunk. I left to go and catch a taxi but then I saw a woman who I know and we decide to go and mek lil sport. Normally we does do it by the stall so we went down there,” he explained. “When we get there the door was prised open so I ease through the space and went in. When she get in she realize she didn’t have any condoms so she tell me she coming back in five minutes. “I decided to lay down on the ground till she come back, but then I see some lights spotting on me. The police even had to lift me up cause I was hurt. I didn’t go to steal,” Nicholls maintained. After listening to his story, the magistrate told the accused he could not break into someone else’s property. She further told him that if he could not control his drinking it might be best for him to stop consuming alcohol. “Your story was interesting but at the end of the day you did something wrong. Do you think the owner wanted you in her stall doing your business?” the magistrate asked him. “If you can’t control your drinking ease up off the alcohol.” After the accused begged not to be sent to prison, the magistrate placed him on a bond to keep the peace. If he breaches the bond he will spend four months in prison. It was not a happy ending for Nicholls though, as a check revealed he was wanted by the District ‘F’ Police Station and he was taken into custody. (BT)
SIMPSON FAVOURTED FOR BIIG REPEAT – Barbados’ volleyball and squash captain Shawn Simpson seems certain to repeat as the Barbados Invitational Independence Games (BIIG) champion. But the 2018 female winner, Jada Smith-Padmore, faces a rocky path to repeat as queen.Yesterday, Monty Cumberbatch, director of the fourth BIIG squash edition, which starts next Tuesday, said Simpson, ranked No. 1, will face opposition from 15 other competitors, none of whom have ever conquered the 6’ 5” southpaw. On the other hand, Smith-Padmore, who is surprisingly ranked No. 2, will have to beat Jahcinta Adams and probably her twin sister, Jodie, to reach the finals.(WN)
BRUCE DONE WITH NETBALL JOB – Netball is without a national coach now that Sandra Bruce-Small has quit the post after three years. Bruce’s recent resignation came after the national team’s dismal showing at the Netball World Cup (NWC) in England in July. Barbados won just one match – their opening game against Singapore – and placed a disappointing 12th of 16 teams at the international tournament in Liverpool. That poor showing means Barbados is now ranked 13th in the world behind Caribbean neighbours Jamaica (4th) and Trinidad and Tobago (11th). Bruce, 58, was elevated to the position of head coach in 2016 after taking over from long-serving Anna Shepherd. (WN)
BARBADOS FOOD & SPIRITS ON SHOW – Several traditional and social media workers from Barbados’ top source markets are on the island to experience the 10th annual Food and Rum Festival. Today, they were treated to a media reception hosted by the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., at the Mount Gay Visitors’ Centre, Mighty Grynner Highway. BTMI’s Communications and Public Relations Manager Aprille Thomas said this year all of the source markets are represented. “So we have media here from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America and Europe which is a bit different for us. We have over 30 here on island with us. “In addition to exposing them to the actual Food and Rum festival we have created this media launch just for them to bring them all together, to get them to talk to our Chief Executive Officer [Billy Griffith], talk to our marketing team and the winning Barbados culinary team so that they can have any interviews that they want,” Thomas said. The media workers took part in a tour of the Mount Gay facilities including a sampling session. The first event for the festival kicks off this tonight at Oistins, Christ Church.  (BT)
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wootensmith · 7 years
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The thaw reached Crestwood long before the peaks of the Frostbacks and the glade was already green with deep moss. The pool was swollen to the brim from the snowmelt tumbling from the mountain. Solas pushed aside the thick curtain of arbor blessing that hid the eluvian and pulled the Inquisitor through. Spring frogs sang to each other, a great chorus now that the wyverns who preyed upon them were gone. “Here?” asked the Inquisitor. She glanced behind them. “How did I miss the eluvian last time?” Solas smiled and twisted one hand. The arbor blessing shimmered and faded under the illusion of solid rock. “Ah, I should have guessed,” she said. “I still forget, sometimes, what you claim to be.” “I still forget, sometimes, what others expect me to be,” he answered. “I suspect what you believe of me is far too generous, but it is not a myth I wish to dispel. Perhaps, one day, I may be worthy of it.”
“There is no need to pretend with me.” He wondered how long she would sound so certain in that. “I have something I wish to show you. And— something to ask of you.” “Something here? I thought you brought me here because it is quiet. Have you got another temple disguised as a rock?” He laughed. “Not a temple. There is something else here, but I would have come here with you regardless. The Veil is thin here. Can you feel it on your skin, tingling? Wisdom followed you here, when we were apart. It said there was barely any separation at all. That it would be as easy as pushing through a cobweb to join you.” “Should I— is there a rift?” she raised her hand. “No, there is no danger. No work to be done. There are— places, like this, that are not entirely physical and not entirely Fade. Halfway places, where one side of the Veil leaks a little, into the other.” “Isn’t that dangerous?” “Only for those who come to them angry or frightened. And even so— it is only a small tear. You made one yourself, in Skyhold, though you did not know it. The spells there protected us from— interference. Here, no spells hold back the spirits, but unless some act of violence occurs, they are not usually drawn to places like these.” “So what is in this halfway place? What has brought us to this one?” He hesitated. It wasn’t easy to peel away centuries of loneliness. No one except Wisdom had known of the place. No agent, no spy, no friend had been brought here. “You asked me some weeks ago what was meant to happen if I should fall before completing my task. You were still recovering from the lyrium. Do you remember?” “I remember.” “I have been thinking of it ever since. Death— is not something I considered. It was never—” he stopped, rubbing the scar on his forehead. “It is not an inevitable conclusion for someone like me. Not before I had finished my duty.” The Inquisitor shook her head and blushed. “You must think me such a fool, then. Wasting so much time fearing it—” “That is not what I think. As much as you fear your death, I fear it far more. The idea of living on for centuries without you— my own holds no terror compared to that. And so, I had given it no thought. I know it is the likely outcome of my plans—” She opened her lips to protest and he smiled, pressing a hand to her cheek. “Yes, Vhenan, I still have hope of finding another path, but I must act on the one that I know is there.” “Does this mean you are putting your plans aside? That you will stay?” Her expression was very still, but her voice betrayed her. The hope in it crushed him. “If only I could. Were it anything less—” he stopped himself, took a long calming breath. “You are unique. In all of Thedas, I never expected to find someone who could draw my attention from the Fade as you have. You have become important to me, more important than I could have imagined. You have told me again and again that you rely upon me, that you value who I am. I fear I have failed to show you all that you have meant to me, to tell you how much I rely upon you. You have been my champion, my ally, my friend. My conscience and sanity. I trust no one as I trust you, at times, not even myself. So— I offer you the truth. About my task, about this world, about why I cannot stay. If I should fall before you— there are none who will take up the deed. There are none who know and none will stumble upon it.” “You mean to give me the choice?” “I mean to arm you against what will come, no matter what may happen to me.” He led her to the far edge of the pool, slipping behind the trickling falls. He wound his arms around her and turned her to face the dark rock. The last of the evening light flickered purple and green through the water, washing her skin in cold flame. “The password is a sigil traced in veilfire,” he said, guiding her fingers over the shallow grooves in the rock. She called blue flame to her fingertips and repeated the pattern. The rock shifted, sliding away. She stepped slowly into the dark room. Solas flicked a flame into nearby lanterns, illuminating several carved shelves of ancient books. The Inquisitor moved farther in, drifting away from him. He resisted the urge to call her back, to seal it away again, protect her. There was no protection from this. Not for any of them. Come with me, he begged silently. “What is this place?” she asked, turning to him. “This is Wisdom’s library.” A book lay open on the large oak table beside her. It fluttered and he felt his heart pause for just a second. It wasn’t Wisdom. He knew it couldn’t be. But his heart was unconvinced. He let the rock slide shut behind them and tried to persuade himself it had just been a breeze. “But it— was a spirit. It had no physical form.” Solas smiled. “It did once, when it chose to. Before the Veil. And I helped it collect these.” He ran a finger down the spine of a clothbound book. “I came here when I woke, looking for Wisdom. But Crestwood was too dangerous. It was not here. Still, it proved a good place to regain my strength and to plan.” “Plan for what? What happened to wake you after a thousand years? What happened to send you to sleep? What is this place?” He moved to light a fire in the hearth. “I have to tell you a story now—” “Solas—” “Not a parable,” he amended, twisting to look at her. She came to sit beside him on the cold stone. “You asked me, once, to tell you the real story of Mythal. I did not tell you then because I could not yet tell you of my own story, and it is inextricably linked.” The tinder caught and her blood writing jumped and shifted in the moving light. His fingers glided over the same lines the guide had. Her eyes closed at his touch. “Mythal did not come from the sea. She did not move Elgar’nan to retrieve the sun. She was a general in a great war. The mother of a great dynasty. She was a Dreamer, like me. She was terrifically powerful and had been for centuries before my birth. They were called the Evanuris, the people that you once believed were gods. In truth, they were as mortal as you or I. But they collected spells, techniques, artifacts— anything to extend their power. That power led others to worship them as gods. And after centuries of worship, the Evanuris fell for the lie themselves. They took slaves. Believed they were entitled to anyone or anything they wished. Once every hundred years or so, another Dreamer would be born. Sometimes, a Dreamer would challenge the Evanuris. They’d be crushed or banished. That is how the Forgotten Ones were born. They made war on Arlathan, trying to tear down the Evanuris, mostly seeking to take their place. And the Evanuris took more slaves, sought more power to overcome those they’d banished. This was the world I was born into.” “Then— you are a Forgotten One? Oh, Solas, I am sorry that I made light—” “No, I am not, though I might have been,” he said, catching the hand she reached out to him. “I was fortunate. I was born belonging to Mythal.” “You were her slave? I thought you said she was your friend.” “She was, in the end. She might have banished me. Or killed me. But Wisdom found out what I was first. And it helped me hide my power. Mythal freed me after I performed a great service for her. She aided me in helping others, and freed her own people after me. Hid me from the other Evanuris for a time until I was powerful enough to evade them on my own. The war between the Forgotten Ones and the Evanuris raged on, and my own activities were mostly ignored. Insignificant to them. If I had done more, if I had acted faster, perhaps—” “There were thousands of names— I saw them. So many people had you to thank for their freedom.” She touched his knee. “So many more will have me to thank for their destruction,” he answered. “Our fall was already happening. It happened when I was very young. A soldier in Mythal’s army.” He stood up and crossed to the shelves. She watched him hunt for the familiar book. “I do not know the real reason that Andruil wandered into the titan, nor the bargain she made with the Children of Stone, but the result I saw for myself.” His fingers closed around the scarlet book and he brought it back to her. He had studied it for so long that it fell open on the portrait of Andruil without him having to find it. She stared at it, her hands gripping the way his had, her eyes fixed upon the ruby spear. “She returned with a spear of red crystal and armor of the same.” “Was it red lyrium?” He nodded. “It sang. I heard it myself. Andruil became— strange. And her people and lands sickened. You saw the memory of her land yourself.” “This is what the Tevinters dug up? This is what lay beneath the seal?” He sat beside her again, touching the page, feeling the warmth her fingers had left behind on the paper. “It is. Mythal’s forces killed the titan it had come from. She hid the spear and the armor with it and buried it under Andruil’s land so it would not infect anything else.” “Did Andruil die?” “No. And therein lies my hope for you.” “For me?” He sighed. “We will come to it. The whole story is here, in this place. Andruil slowly retreated from her madness after the lyrium was taken away. It was how I knew what you needed…” he trailed off, tracing the edge of her ear, as if the red lyrium’s melody had ever been inside it. “She was cruel and arrogant. But for teaching me how to help you, at least, I am grateful for her. Mythal, alone, knew where the spear and armor were buried. And for a few centuries, even their existence seemed forgotten. I built the place that would become Skyhold. I freed those that I could, helped those that came to me, and left Arlathan behind. Wisdom and I studied the sickness that had infected Andruil’s people. We tried to cleanse it, but ultimately, we ran out of time. The war turned and the Evanuris were desperate. They sought anything that promised more power against the Forgotten Ones. Any rumor, any invention, they tried. Andruil told them of the spear. And the Evanuris went to Mythal and demanded she bring them to it. When she would not surrender to them, they tortured her. Tortured her people. I was not with her when they killed her. But Wisdom was. It had gone to seek her advice. It brought me news of her death. She never broke.” The Inquisitor shook her head. “Why? If it could save her people, why didn’t she tell them? Let them destroy themselves.” “Because it spread the Blight, Vhenan. It wasn’t a punishment for entering the seat of the Maker. It was a weapon the Tevinters dug out of our ruins. And if the Evanuris found it, they would not have stopped. You felt it, you felt the power the red lyrium offered. It would have intoxicated them while the corruption spread over their lands and throughout our people. Mythal did save her people. Or, she tried. It was I who failed them.” “You said you weren’t even there. How could any of this be your doing?” “After her death, the Evanuris were enraged and frustrated. Andruil led them to believe that I knew where the spear had been hidden. Wisdom came to warn me. My tower was far removed from the Arbor Wilds and even more inaccessible then, but I knew I could not hold them off forever.” “That is why you sent your people away.” She closed the book carefully, deep in thought. “But you survived— how did you survive? I cannot believe even you could defeat them all.” “I did not. I let them believe I knew where the spear was. My people helped set a trap for them. An eluvian tainted with the Blight. It led to a chamber filled with red lyrium. I don’t know if it was the titan or if it had spread beyond the beast’s body. I brought them to it and their lust for power blinded them. They walked through and I shut it. I knew it would not hold them for long. I had no choice. I had to rip them from the Fade.” “You made them tranquil?” she gasped. “Oh, my love, if only I had known how to. I made the entire world tranquil. I created the Veil to hold them, to keep them from ever rising again. To keep others from stepping into their place.” “You made the Veil?” “I did. I had to, it was the only way to stop them from spreading the Blight to every corner of the world. But the effects— it was like losing your hearing or your sight, to be suddenly cut off from the Fade that way. Cities crumbled without magic to hold them together. There were no more immortals born. The spirits were closed off entirely from this realm, old friends utterly lost. And the gods were gone. There was no one left to lead the people. No one left to protect them.” “You were left,” she said, and he felt again the sting behind it. “I was. But I would not step into the space the Evanuris and Forgotten Ones had stood. I would not be the new slave master. I went to sleep. I gave them their freedom, such as it was. It was all that I could do.” She looked at him for a long moment. “The slow arrow,” she said suddenly. “That story is false.” “It isn’t, I just never understood it until now.” He sighed and leaned back against the leg of the table. “You cannot truly think me so cold as that story paints me. There was no village—” She grabbed his hand, excited. “There was, don’t you see? Elvhenan was the village. You could not save it, but your Veil was the arrow. Your Veil saved Elvhenan’s children. It’s not meant for you. None of the stories are. They are meant for the people left behind. To explain the world. And the Fade. That’s why they paint the Maker as silent, because there was no one left to answer them—” “I am not the Maker,” he said sternly. “Actually— if you made the Veil, then you are. And Cassandra would run you through if she knew.” “This is not a jest,” he said. He wanted to become angry, but the solemnity of her face made him soften. “No,” she said, “it is not a jest. But it was also not a mistake.” “How can you say that? It was the most dire mistake of my life.” “You see only the sadness in your actions. But there is more. History has altered your image and changed what you did. You’ve forgotten why you did it. You’ve forgotten the good you’ve done.” He shook his head and felt a bitter scowl twist his face. “A thousand years of war and servitude and cruelty. That’s what I’ve done.” She pulled his chin toward her, meeting his eyes. “No, Solas. That is what we have done. You saved us. It is not your fault that we squandered the time you gave us. You say that life without the Fade is akin to losing a sense. It is still life. It still has its joys and its loves and its dreams. It is still worth preserving.” “There are few of my kin who would think so. Mythal’s people dream their time away. And when they wake, they hope only to return to slumber again. To reconnect with the Fade.” She smiled. “So did you, once. But you found something worth having beyond the Fade. Or have you changed your mind?” “No, Vhenan,” he said quickly. “Then it is time to move on from your grief. The people you mourn are at peace. It is time to let go. We’re here. We’re alive and I have hope we can change what is wrong. Except for you, we might all be darkspawn—” He shuddered and stopped her with a kiss. “Don’t say that,” he said as they parted. “I don’t wish to picture you so.” A brief look of confusion crossed her face, but she let it pass. “Then let us speak of other things for a while. Tell me of this place. Show me something of a happier time, something of the way you were then.” He smiled. “Life in hiding didn’t lend itself to sitting for portraits.” She laughed. “Neither does life in battle, but somehow I have seen some terrible ones of myself on more than one occasion.” “Very well,” he said, pulling the scarlet book from her side. He paged gently to the back, trying not to crack the thin pages. There it was, the very last of the pantheon, a simplistic painting of himself. It was not a true likeness, not even then, full of symbol but void of him. A figure in wolfskin taking the vallaslin from the face of a slave. The Inquisitor bent over it, studying it in the low light. She touched the slave’s face, and for a moment he wondered if she had mistaken it for him. But then she ran a hand over her own face. “What are you doing to this man?” she asked looking up at him. “Setting him free. Taking the vallaslin from him to leave him unmarked and unclaimed.” He watched her, holding his breath. She rubbed her cheek again. “They were slave markings, my love. They claimed people for the Evanuris, marked them as belonging to them. To be used for work, for pleasure, for sacrifice. After Arlathan fell— the Dalish forgot. Or perhaps they kept them to defy the Imperium. To set themselves apart, or to cling to all that was left of their home. Even the awful parts.” She closed the book again. “A vast culture of magic and art and stories— and this is what we’ve kept? The broken shackles?” He caressed her cheek. “I did not mean to hurt you. If you like, I still know the spell to remove them.” “Did you have them?” “Once, long ago.” “All this time and you never said— It must be so ugly to you.” “No! No, that is not what I see when I look at you. I only— you deserve better than what those cruel marks represent.” She was silent. He thought she meant to let it lie, but when she spoke, it was firm and clear. “Yes,” she said, “cast your spell.” It had been so long. He wondered if he still knew how, but then his magic remembered for him, his hands moving in the old pattern without thought. And she was clean. The cage of ink that hid her from him, gone. He stared at her a second too long, his breath catching in his throat as if his love for her were a new thing, a shy and uncertain thing. She opened her eyes. “Ar lasa mala revas. You are free.” She touched her skin, flushed. “Why do you stare?” she asked, “Is it terrible?” “No,” he laughed, “You are beautiful. But then, you always have been.” “Sweet talker,” she said, but kissed him anyway.
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mikemortgage · 5 years
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AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s shift on concrete wall, tariff myth
WASHINGTON — Forced to back down on a government shutdown, President Donald Trump is shifting his story regarding his campaign promise to build a border wall. He’s also once again inflating the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
The president insists he never proposed a concrete wall, promoting instead a “see-through” barrier made of steel. That’s a change on how he talked in the past. He repeatedly pledged in 2016 to build a “big beautiful wall” and have Mexico pay for it, conjuring up images of an imposing, “concrete plank” structure along America’s southern border, too tall and strong for anyone to climb over.
On his claim that at least 25 million immigrants are in the U.S. illegally, Trump is contradicted by his own Homeland Security secretary and other sources.
The government has reopened for three weeks while Trump tries again to persuade Congress to approve $5.7 billion to build segments of border wall.
His retreat in the partial shutdown capped a head-spinning week in which Trump also repeated questionable assertions that a border wall would stop crime and drugs from “pouring in,” declared that the remains of U.S. service members are “back home where they belong” from North Korea even though that mission already has run into a roadblock, and exaggerated economic performance under his presidency.
A look at the rhetoric and the facts:
TARIFFS
TRUMP: “We have billions of dollars coming into our treasury — billions — from China. We never had 10 cents coming into our treasury; now we have billions coming in.” — remarks at a meeting with Republican lawmakers Thursday.
THE FACTS: This is wildly off base. The notion that the U.S. suddenly has revenue coming in from tariffs, thanks to his trade war, defies history that goes back to the founding of the republic. President George Washington signed the Tariff Act into law in 1789 — the first major act of Congress — and duties from imports were a leading source of revenue for the government before the advent of the modern tax system early in the 20th Century. Tariffs on goods specifically from China are not remotely new, either. They are simply higher in some cases than they were before.
Tariffs are a decidedly modest portion of revenue in modern times and Trump has not changed that with the escalation of his trade dispute with China. Customs and duties generated $41.3 billion in revenues last year, up from $34.6 billion in 2017 (far more than 10 cents). That $6.7 billion increase occurred in part because of the president’s tariffs. But it amounted to just 0.16 per cent of federal spending.
Moreover, tariffs are taxes paid largely by U.S. business and consumers, not foreign countries.
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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
TRUMP: “There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous! DHS.” — tweet Sunday.
THE FACTS: It’s not that high, according to his own Homeland Security secretary as well as independent estimates.
The nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center estimates 10.7 million immigrants were living in the U.S. illegally in 2016, the most recent data available. Advocacy groups on both sides of the immigration issue have similar estimates.
At a House hearing last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen acknowledged the number was “somewhere” between 11 million and 22 million, lower than Trump’s 25 million. Trump has previously asserted there were 30 million to 35 million here illegally.
According to Pew, the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally had reached a height of 12.2 million in 2007, representing about 4 per cent of the U.S. population, before declining in part because of a weakening U.S. economy.
——
THE WALL
TRUMP: “These barriers are made of steel, have see-through visibility, which is very important. …We do not need 2,000 miles of concrete wall from sea to shining sea. We never did. We never proposed that. We never wanted that, because we have barriers at the border where natural structures are as good as anything that we can build.” — remarks Friday in Rose Garden.
THE FACTS: Actually, he did pledge a wall made of concrete along the southern border. It’s true he did not say there needed to be 2,000 miles of it.
For example, in a Jan. 18, 2016, speech in New Hampshire, Trump said: “No windows, no nothing, precast concrete going very high. Let’s see about concrete going very high.”
In an Aug. 11, 2016, speech in Florida, he said, “The politicians would come up to me, and they’d say, ‘You know, Donald, you can’t build the wall.’ I said, ‘You have to be kidding. You have to be kidding. Concrete plank, you have to be kidding. Precast, precast, right? Boom. Bing. Done. Keep going.”‘
He referred again to a concrete wall in a Jan. 11, 2018, interview with the Wall Street Journal, even while signalling those plans might change, saying: “If you have a wall this thick and it’s solid concrete from ground to 32 feet high, which is a high wall, much higher than people planned. You go 32 feet up and you don’t know who’s over here. You’re here, you’ve got the wall, and there’s some other people here. …I can understand why I have to have see-through.”
And as recently as Dec. 31, Trump suggested a concrete wall was still being considered, tweeting, “An all concrete Wall was NEVER ABANDONED.”
Trump now commonly refers to the wall he promised as “steel slats” or “steel barriers.”
Regarding the wall’s length, Trump has noted as far back as 2015 that it need not run 2,000 miles, because natural barriers would account for some of the border distance. And former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told lawmakers in 2017 that it would not be “from sea to shining sea.”
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TRUMP: “What’s happening is the drugs are pouring in. And, yes, they come through the ports of entry, but the big trucks come through areas where you don’t have a wall and you have wide-open spaces … They’re loaded up with drugs.” — remarks Thursday in meeting with Republican lawmakers.
THE FACTS: His suggestion that a wall would stop most drugs from “pouring” into the U.S. defies his government’s findings on how the illegal substances get in. Most of it is smuggled through official border crossings, not remote stretches of the border.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says “only a small percentage” of heroin seized by U.S. authorities comes across on territory between ports of entry. The same is true of drugs generally.
In a 2018 report, the agency said the most common trafficking technique by transnational criminal organizations is to hide drugs in passenger vehicles or tractor-trailers as they drive into the U.S. through entry ports, where they are stopped and subject to inspection. They also employ buses, cargo trains and tunnels, the report says, citing other smuggling methods that also would not be choked off by a border wall.
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TRUMP: “Walls work … We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier.” — remarks Friday in Rose Garden.
TRUMP: “Without a Wall it all doesn’t work.” — tweet Thursday.
THE FACTS: There is no clear evidence how well border walls or other barriers actually work.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ auditing arm, reported in 2017 that the government does not have a way to measure how well barriers deter illegal immigration from Mexico. Despite $2.3 billion spent by the government on such construction from 2007 to 2015, the GAO found that authorities “cannot measure the contribution of fencing to border security operations along the southwest border because it has not developed metrics for this assessment.”
Few people dispute that barriers can contribute to a drop in crossings. When barriers were built in the Border Patrol’s Yuma, Arizona, sector in the mid-2000s, arrests for illegal crossings plummeted 94 per cent in three years. When barriers were built in San Diego in the 1990s and early 2000s, arrests fell 80 per cent over seven years. But both areas also saw sharp increases in Border Patrol staffing during that time, making it difficult to pinpoint why illegal crossings fell so dramatically.
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TRUMP: “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!” — tweet Sunday.
TRUMP: “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray!” — tweet Wednesday.
THE FACTS: His assertion is at odds with several studies that found immigration does not lead to increased crime. Trump’s claim that his border wall is under construction is also misleading.
Multiple studies from social scientists and the libertarian think-tank Cato Institute have found that people in the U.S. illegally are less likely to commit crime than are American citizens, and legal immigrants are even less likely to do so.
A March study by the journal Criminology found “undocumented immigration does not increase violence.”
The study, which looked at the years 1990 through 2014, said states with bigger shares of such people have lower crime rates.
As well, a study in 2017 by Robert Adelman, a sociology professor at University of Buffalo, analyzed 40 years of crime data in 200 metropolitan areas and found that immigrants helped lower crime.
On construction of a wall, no new miles of barrier construction have been completed under Trump. Existing fencing has been replaced or strengthened in a few areas. It’s true that many miles of barrier are in service — about 650 miles (1,050 kilometres) of fencing — but that was done by previous administrations.
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NORTH KOREA
TRUMP: “The Fake News Media loves saying ‘so little happened at my first summit with Kim Jong Un.’ Wrong! After 40 years of doing nothing with North Korea but being taken to the cleaners, & with a major war ready to start, in a short 15 months, relationships built, hostages & remains … back home where they belong, no more Rockets or M’s being fired over Japan or anywhere else and, most importantly, no Nuclear Testing.” — tweets Thursday.
THE FACTS: Trump is exaggerating progress with North Korea and overstating what’s been done to return the remains of U.S. soldiers who fought in the Korean War in the 1950s.
In August, the North sent to the U.S. 55 boxes that were said to contain American war remains from North Korea. The U.S. has yet to say whether those remains are exclusively of U.S. soldiers and how many are in those boxes. As of Jan. 15, just three have been positively identified. Meanwhile, North Korea has refused to begin negotiations with the Pentagon on terms for recovering and returning any of the thousands of additional remains.
Trump is correct that North Korea has stopped test-firing missiles and conducting nuclear tests. But North Korean leader Kim has not denuclearized or even agreed to a plan in which the North would give up its nuclear weapons and the means to produce more.
At the Trump-Kim summit last June in Singapore, the leaders agreed to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Their joint statement did not define that term or commit the North to any particular action.
The Pentagon said in a report this month on its plans to expand U.S. global defences against missile attack that “while a possible new avenue to peace now exists with North Korea, it continues to pose an extraordinary threat and the United States must remain vigilant.”
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ECONOMY
TRUMP: “The economy is doing great. More people working in U.S.A. today than at any time in our HISTORY.” — tweet Thursday.
THE FACTS: It’s true that more people are working now, but that is because of population growth. A more relevant measure is the proportion of Americans with jobs, and that is still far below record highs.
According to Labor Department data, 60.6 per cent of people in the United States 16 years and older were working in December. That’s below the all-time high of 64.7 per cent in April 2000, though higher than the 59.9 per cent when Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.
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TRUMP: “The Economy is one of the best in our history, with unemployment at a 50 year low, and the Stock Market ready to again break a record (set by us many times) – & all you heard yesterday, based on a phoney story, was Impeachment. You want to see a Stock Market Crash, Impeach Trump!” — tweet Jan. 19.
THE FACTS: The economy is healthy but not one of the best in history. Also, there are signs it is weakening after a spurt of growth last year.
The economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.2 per cent in the second quarter last year. That was the best showing under Trump and the highest in four years. In the late 1990s, growth topped 4 per cent for four straight years and even reached 7.2 per cent in 1984.
Almost all independent economists expect slower growth this year as the effect of the Trump administration’s tax cuts fade, trade tensions and slower global growth hold back exports, and higher interest rates make it more expensive to borrow to buy cars and homes.
The stock market reached a record high in early October when the Dow Jones industrial average topped 26,000, but markets have fallen and are not about to break records. The Dow closed at 24,737 on Friday.
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WHITE HOUSE: “President Trump is delivering on his promise to bring back American manufacturing. … Manufacturing added 284,000 jobs in 2018, the most added in a year since 1997.” — information sheet on Trump’s first two years in office, tweeted Wednesday by Trump.
THE FACTS: It’s true that 2018 was the best year for factory employment since 1997, but that mostly illustrates how much more is needed to “bring back” manufacturing. There are now 12.8 million factory jobs in the U.S. That less than the 13.7 million that existed just before the 2008-2009 Great Recession and far below the 17.6 million in 1997, the last time annual factory job growth was higher.
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WHITE HOUSE: “President Trump’s pro-growth policies are unleashing economic growth …. Due to President Trump’s pro-growth policies, real gross domestic product growth exceeded 3 per cent over the last four quarters.” — information sheet on Trump’s first two years in office.
THE FACTS: That’s correct as to the level of GDP, but it doesn’t suggest growth has been “unleashed” at a spectacular rate. The 3 per cent growth in the year ending in the third quarter is just the fastest since the second quarter of 2015, when it reached 3.4 per cent, and below the 3.8 per cent reached in the first quarter of 2015.
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CLINTON EMAILS
TRUMP, referring to Hillary Clinton: “Remember July 4th weekend when Crooked went before FBI & wasn’t sworn in, no tape, nothing?” — tweet Thursday.
THE FACTS: He is right that Clinton wasn’t put under oath for her FBI interview and that no tape recording was made. But that’s the standard procedure the FBI uses for questioning people, famous or not, and who, like Clinton, agree to be interviewed and aren’t in custody.
The same procedures would almost certainly apply if Trump himself ever submitted to an in-person interview with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators.
The concept of swearing in a witness typically applies to courtroom or congressional settings, as opposed to more informal voluntary interviews. But it’s ultimately a meaningless distinction because it’s a crime no matter the circumstances to lie to the FBI.
Trump is wrong to suggest there’s no record of Clinton’s interview with the FBI on July 2, 2016. The FBI, again per standard protocol, produced a typed-up document summarizing the main points of the interview. The bureau later released it, giving more transparency to the process than it typically provides.
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Associated Press writers Christopher Rugaber, Robert Burns, Jill Colvin and Eric Tucker in Washington and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.
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Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd
Follow https://twitter.com/APFactCheck
EDITOR’S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures
from Financial Post http://bit.ly/2CRFaME via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage
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americanliberation · 5 years
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Murray Rothbard Quotes Rebuttal
I’m not a political scientist or philosopher, but here my thoughts on some of these 33 choice quotes from Murray Rothbard. As a teenager, I too considered myself a Libertarian or Anarchist, but that was before I was really had a grasp of the role that government plays in the maintenance of the Suburban lifestyle that my life grew out of. Now these attitudes seem embarrassingly selfish and ignorant...lost in blue-sky philosophical absolutes and lacking in realism or nuance.
“If a man has the right to self-ownership, to the control of his life, then in the real world he must also have the right to sustain his life.”
What does ‘having a right’ consist of? A justification in one’s own mind? A guarantee from a legal system? How are individuals to be protected from violations of their rights except by some enforcement agency that governs those cases? Yes, sure in theory everyone should ‘have the right’ to sustain their life, but to what degree and by what means? Does my “life” include my preference for having several large estates with servants, or does it only allow me to avoid starvation and hypothermia? What happens when my rights to sustain my life conflict with your rights to do the same?
“On the free market, it is a happy fact that the maximization of the wealth of one person or group redounds to the benefit of all; but in the political realm, the realm of the State, a maximization of income and wealth can only accrue parasitically to the State and its rulers at the expense of the rest of society.”
This seems laughably in contradiction to reality. First of all what ‘free market’ has ever existed? Secondly, what benefit to all is redounded by the maximization of wealth by hoarding unoccupied housing to control the price of rent, or by investing in off shore bank accounts that force others to bear the burden of funding the commons? How does making money by manipulation of financial market fluctuations not count as ‘accruing parasitically to the investor at the expense of the rest of society’? When a state government spends money, it does things like employs citizens to improve physical infrastructure or subsidizes citizens directly who might otherwise suffer or die simply because they lack a constant cash flow at some vulnerable point in their life.
“The essential activities of the State necessarily constitute criminal aggression and depredation of the just rights of private property of its subjects (including self-ownership).” 
Criminal according to whom? Doesn’t the State define what is and what isn’t a crime? Sure, aggression and some degree of control over citizens and their property is a feature of government, but any large organization could exercise such control and aggression over individuals in the absence of a State also. Ideally, nobody should ever resort to violence for any reason, but in reality, violence is a very easy way for people to get what they think they want or need from other people. Is it better to have individuals and gangs fight each other directly a la Mad Max, or is it better to pay for an organization to manage such threats using a system of laws, courts, police, and military?
“The State, by its very nature, must violate the generally accepted moral laws to which most people adhere.”
Is it realistic to expect that a State (or City, Company, or Mercenary Army), being a supra-individual organization maintained by many individuals, would not behave in ways that individuals don’t. It is also a (typically Libertarian) presumption that moral ‘laws’ would be ‘generally accepted’ or adhered to in the absence of a larger organization’s power to enforce its policies.
“The State says that citizens may not take from another by force and against his will that which belongs to another. And yet the State…does just that.”
It seems sophistic and naive to see this as surprising. Why limit this to a State though? Don’t churches preach against materialism while using donations to build lavish empires? Don’t companies steal ideas and human resources from each other while making their employees sign Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete agreements? Yes, part of the injustice of power is hypocrisy. That in no way says anything about the superiority of pre-State power to State power.
“To go beyond one’s right of self-defense would be to aggress on the rights of others, a violation of one’s legal duty. And yet the State by its claimed monopoly forcibly imposes its jurisdiction on persons who may have done nothing wrong. By doing so it aggresses against the rights of its citizens, something which its rules say citizens may not do.”
This is pretty much the same as the previous. OMGz, powerful organizations are hypocritical and aggressive! Who would have thought? It seems painfully obvious to me that removing the State necessarily removes citizen-hood as well, so any expectation of civility would be based purely on the idea that people (including the violent sadists that Rothbard must imagine are running all States and executing their policies) will suddenly stop being aggressive and hypocritical once there is no State to punish them.
“The State is an inherently illegitimate institution of organized aggression, of organized and regularized crime against the persons and properties of its subjects… a profoundly antisocial institution which lives parasitically off of the productive activities of private citizens.”
This seems ridiculously arbitrary in its selective bias. Large modern States contain many institutions, most of which are quite benign and beneficial. Who plows the interstate highways when there is a snow storm or fights forest fires when they impinge on cities? How would paying fees for such services to thousands of private contractors be any different than what a State does? Rothbard’s assertion is no truer than it’s opposite. States such as the Nordic countries would seem to be legitimate and profoundly social institutions which nurture and protect the citizens that make them up, their properties, and their productive activities. A State is nothing but an Anthropological phase of human civilization. The State (agriculture) improves upon the chiefdom (pastoralism), the tribe (horticulture), and the band (foraging) by employing individuals as temporarily appointed or elected office-holders rather than individuals inheriting power automatically for life from a ruling family.
“Since the State necessarily lives by the compulsory confiscation of private capital, and since its expansion necessarily involves ever-greater incursions on private individuals and private enterprise, we must assert that the state is profoundly and inherently anti-capitalist.”
Again, there are counter factual examples to this unsupported assertion right now. Not every State expands by ever greater incursions on private individuals or enterprises, nor are states inherently anti-capitalist. Look at Norway or China.
“We must, therefore, emphasize that ‘we’ are not the government; the government is not ‘us.’ The government does not in any accurate sense ‘represent’ the majority of the people.” 
Eh. Governments are just groups of individuals, just like businesses or churches or gangs. They can represent the majority of ‘the people’ or they can represent powerful minorities, or they can represent the will of some particular individual. At least Democratic governments have statutes in writing that explicitly demand a formal and potentially enforceable commitment to represent the majority of the people. What else has that but a Democratic State?
“The great non sequitur committed by defenders of the State…is to leap from the necessity of society to the necessity of the State.” 
I certainly don’t leap to the necessity of the State, but I do understand that with all of its imperfections, it is an improvement over chiefdoms, tribes, and bands which would inevitably tend to fill any vacuum left in the absence of a State. There could also be a future sociopolitical form for humans that would transcend Statism, Capitalism, and Socialism. I have had some ideas for doing this.
“All of the services commonly thought to require the State…can be and have been supplied far more efficiently and certainly more morally by private persons. The State is in no sense required by the nature of man; quite the contrary.”
Wow, this is quite near sighted and in complete ignorance of Anthropology (my undergraduate degree). It is like saying that we are perfectly capable of breathing without an atmosphere because SCUBA gear exists. The bigger the business, the more it relies on the large scale stability that governments attempt to provide. Sure Amazon does a fantastic job of using taxpayer’s roads to efficiently deliver packages, but Amazon also has a reputation for treating many of its employees poorly. There is no indication that a world run by Amazon and Walmart would be any more moral or efficient than a Democratic government. To the contrary, we have only to look to the history of the Congo Free State to see what happens when ‘private persons’ are left to rule by their own unobstructed whims. I’m not really seeing anything worth commenting further on in this list. They all seem to just be ad hoc complaints about government based on the naive assumption that their absence would only result in positive effects and not threaten the basic civility that is taken for granted. Even the most superficial consideration of the empirical consequences of a Stateless power vacuum would suggest that such civility is more fragile and State-dependent than Rothbard imagines.
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we-co-lab · 5 years
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Art is not a luxury. Art is a basic social need to which everyone has a right. Art is a way of building thought, of being aware of oneself and of the others at the same time. It is a methodology in constant transformation for the search of a here and now. Art is an invitation to questioning; it is the social place of doubt, of wanting to understand and wanting to change reality. Art is not only a statement of the present, it is also a call for a different future, a better one. Therefore, it is a right not only to enjoy art, but to be able to create it. Art is a common good that does not have to be entirely understood in the moment one finds it. Art is a space of vulnerability from which what is social is deconstructed to construct what is human. Artists not only have the right to dissent, but the duty to do so. Artists have the right to dissent not only from affective, moral, philosophical, or cultural aspects, but also from economic and political ones. Artists have the right to disagree with power, with the status quo. Artists have the right to be respected and protected when they dissent. The governments of nations where artists work have the duty to protect their right to dissent because that is their social function: to question and address what is difficult to confront. Without the possibility to dissent, an artist becomes an administrator of technical goods, behaves like a consumption manufacturer and transforms into a jester. It is a sad society where this is all social awareness creates. Artists also have the right to be understood in the complexity of their dissent. An artist should not be judged first and discussed later. Artists should not be sent to jail because of proposing a "different" reality, for sharing their ideas, for wanting to strike up a conversation on the way the present unfolds. If the artist’s proposal is not understood, it should be discussed by all, not censored by a few. If one publicly expresses and evinces ideas in a different way from that of those in power, governments, corporations and religious institutions too easily declare that one is irresponsible, wanting to use guilt and incite the masses to violent reactions as their best defense strategy, instead of processing criticism and calling for public debate. Nothing justifies the use of violence against an idea or the person suggesting it. Governments have the duty to provide a space for self-criticism in which they are accountable for their actions, a space where the people can question them. No government is infallible; no human being --even if elected-- has the right to talk for all the citizens. No social solution is permanent and it is the artists who have the opportunity and the duty to suggest the imagery of other social alternatives, of using their communication tools from a space of sensitive responsibility. Artists suggest a meta-reality, a potential future to be experienced in the present. They suggest experimenting a moment which has not yet arrived, a situation of ¨what if that were this way.¨ Therefore, they cannot be judged from spaces in the past, from laws trying to preserve what is already established. Governments must stop fearing ideas. Governments, corporations (today they are like alternative governments), and religious institutions are not the only ones with a right to build a future; this is the right of citizens, and artists are active citizens. That is why artists have the right and the responsibility not only to think up a different and better world, but to try to build it. Artists have the right to be artivists (part artists/part activists), because they are an active part of civil society, because art is a safe space from which people can debate, interpret, build, and educate. This space must be defended because it benefits us all: art is a social tool. Governments should not control art and artists. They should protect them. Artists have the right not to be censored when gestating their work or during the research process of conceiving it. Artists have the right to create the work they want to create, with no limits; they have the duty to be responsible without self-censorship. Society has the right to have its public spaces as spaces for creativity and artistic expression, since they also are collective spaces for knowledge and debate. Public space belongs to civic society, not to governments, corporations, or religious institutions. Freedom of artistic expression does not emerge spontaneously. It is something one learns to reach leaving behind pressure, emotional blackmail, censorship, and self-censorship. This is a difficult process that should be respected and appreciated. Artistic censorship not only affects artists but the community as well, because it creates an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship paralyzing the possibility of exercising critical thinking. To think differently from those in power does not make you irresponsible. In moments of high sensitivity (wars, legislative changes, political transitions), it is the duty of the government to protect and guarantee dissident, questioning voices, because these are moments in which one cannot do away with rationality and critical thought and it is sometimes only through art that many emerging ideas can make a public appearance. Without dissent there is no chance of progress. Socially committed artists talk about difficult moments, deal with sensitive topics, but, unlike journalists, they have no legal protection when doing their work. Unlike corporations, they have no significant economic backing. Unlike governments, they have no political power. Art is a social work based on a practice that makes artists vulnerable and, as is the case with journalists, corporations, and governmental or religious institutions, they have the right to be protected because they are doing a public service. The right to decide the value of an artistic statement is not a right of those in power. It is not the right of governments, of corporations, of religious institutions to define what art is. It is the right of artists to define what art is for them. Art is a complex product without a single and final interpretation. Artists have the right of not having their oeuvre reduced or simplified as a schematic interpretation which may be manipulated by those in power to provoke and, consequently, result in public offenses directed to the artists, so as to invalidate their proposals. To create a space for dialogue and not for violence against works of art questioning established ideas and realities, governments should provide educational platforms from which artistic practice may be better understood. We must be cautious about the increasing criminalization of socially committed artistic creation under the rationale of national security and the need to control information because of political reasons with the purpose of censuring artists. There are many types of strategies for political censorship. Political censorship is not only exercised through direct political pressure, but censuring the access to economic support, creating a bureaucratic censorship postponing production processes, marginalizing the visibility of a project by drawing artists away from legitimization, and distribution circuits; controlling the right to travel, deciding who has the right to talk on what subjects; and, at times, even using "popular sensitivity" as censorship. All these are decisions taken and conducted from political power so as not to be challenged. On the other hand, there are artists who are internationally acknowledged and admired because of being artivists in their countries of origin and who, at a given time, for one reason or another, migrate and establish themselves temporarily in other countries where they find a new type of censorship, a censorship that relegates, pigeonholes, and sets them inside a limited mental geography where they are only allowed to talk critically of the country they come from and not the country to which they have arrived. This is a situation of censorship in which artists are relegated to being uni-dimensionally political: a used political object. The process of discovering a different society, the inner negotiation required to understand the place of arrival and the place one has left, is inherent to contemporary condition, which is, increasingly, a migrant condition. This is a condition that artists embody and on which they have the right to express. After all, a national culture is the hybridization of the image those who do not live in the country have of it and all present day by day build, wherever they have originally come from. We cannot ask artists, whose work is to question society, to keep silent and resort to self-censorship once they cross a territorial border. Artists have the right not to be fragmented as human beings or as social beings. Artistic expression is a space to challenge meanings, to defy what is imaginable. This is what, as times goes by, is recognized as culture. A society with freedom of artistic expression is a healthier society. It is a society where citizens allow themselves to dream with a better world where they have a place. It is a society that expresses itself better, because it expresses itself in its entire complexity. There is no other type of practice in the public sphere providing the qualities of the space created by art,. That is why this space must be protected. Governments have the duty to protect all their citizens, including those who may be considered uncomfortable because they question government or what is socially established. Critical thinking is a civic right which becomes evident in artistic practices. That is why, when threatened, we should not talk of censorship, but of the violation of artists' rights. - Tanya Bruguera
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Coming Home
Part III out of III of "Lidia's Day"
Aeneid stood at the entrance, the anxiety pushing her heart to its limits. The enormous Raven of the Underworld leaned its head against that of woman, curiosity shining in its ruby eyes. The lofty specter of an impossible ancient men wait for her inside, extraordinarily fit for someone dead for one century, shapely filling consular symbols and garb.
"Lidia." The lemur that had once been Marcus Valerius Corvus called her with a paternal and warm tone. “I understand that is hard to return to this place after all these years. I want you to know that even if the Shadow Senate has yet to accept you, this will always be your home. You do not have to prove anything to anyone by crossing the threshold today, we may postpone to a more auspicious day.”
The Raven cawed and gently pushed her forward. Aeneid lowered her hood and smiled as she caressed the bird’s feathers.
"I have to do this, I want to do this." Lidia declared, crossing over. A soft hum permeated the air as the very walls seemed to react to her Triumphant nature; crystal sphere shone bright with light, the flooring warming up to a kinder temperature and the gurgling of water reminded her of the hidden complexity of tubes required to keep the site remotely habitable.
"It is good again to see people around the Nest. This has been shut closed for too long." Valerius Corvus hovered towards the entrance. "It will take some time for everything to return to what it once was, so I will let you explore for a while, rekindle your memories in private."
"Is the Senate in session?"
"The Shadow Senate is always in session." A sigh from the infernal consul.
"Some things never change... " Lidia answered with a smile, her eyes fixated in the cracks in the roof. The flapping of wings warned her of the departure of her companions. She lowered her gaze, shamed, feeling judged by everything in the Next and blamed for its current condition. She found herself visiting the biggest section, the baths. A sad Lidia stared at the large pools, completely dry, no personal belonging or clothing hanging from the curved corners that offered some privacy. With loud echoing across the tubes a thin but determined water thread started tickling, drawing her closer.
“It is a mystery to me how these have never catch on up in the Urbe.” The warmth of the water against her lacerated hands was reinvigorating, relaxing her with a simple gesture evocative of better days.
The baths, immaculate, clean and decorated with vibrant colors, curtains of exotic cloth of the East marked this spot as an entire different world from the rest of the Nest. A toothless child sneaked in, with dirty blond hair that had just endured a growth spurt that left her with a rare height, interesting only in running between the curtains and spying on the guests. A man in the late stages of middle-age laid in the largest pool with his eyes shut, his clothing scattered in the floor. The tale they told was one of violence and struggle, torn and stained with the blood of many.
“Bath is supposed to be a relaxing experience.” The man exuded in a tired voice that still preserved some joviality. “How am I supposed to do just that with a spy behind my back, Lidia?”
Embarrassed, the child revealed herself, head low as she struck the floor with her feet.
"I have been thinking about something my parents told me, something I did not understood." She excused herself.
“What is so important that could not wait for me to finish washing?”
“The master will not remain home!” She screeched, exasperated with indignity that only a child can vocalize. “You will just rush out and become Keraunos, running off to beat up bad men!”
Master Keranus could not avoid laughing at that. His true power was limitless patience; at least for Lidia's outbursts.
Almost limitless.
A gust of cold air permeated the baths and Keraunos was no longer in the water. Dressing a light tunic and leaning over a cane, his face twisting in pain as he sat down in the bench closest to Lidia while pointing the girl to join at his side.
"Enlighten me, O great philosopher. What questions torment you so?"
"When we went to the market some people called me and my parents servi, escravos." Lidia explained. "They tried to teach me what it means but I do not understand! I got that I am a servus of master Keraunus, which is good, for the master is the smartest person I know. Surely, he can explain it better. Please, master, teach me!"
Keraunos answer was preceded by a sad smile.
“Where I am from, slave, the equivalent to what the Romans call servi, are nothing but thinking tools and not considered people.” Lidia gasped in shock. She was a person! Her parents were definitely people that had made another person! “That is not the case here. Slavery is a transitory state, literally someone “whose life was spared”, that would have died and cannot continue to exist without being under the wing of someone else.”
The little child closed her mouth, thoughtful.
“I remember mom saying something like that. How master saved them and they had a life debt; such like that, without master Keraunos I would never have had been born and for that I belong to him.”
“It is not entirely wrong.” Keraunos nodded in agreement. “However, when you grow up you will realize the terms involved are more complex.”
“Why?” Lidia was as curious as she was unbearable. “Does it involve things like Libertas?”
“Liberty. Where did you hear that word?”
“Master Keraunus!” The girl pouted. “That is the common word spoken in the Nest! Liberty this, liberty that.”
The man laughed, feeling his bruised kidneys before continuing.
“They are not wrong, for Libertas is the most important thing in their world. Nothing is such a part of Roman identity as yearning and fighting for liberty.
Lidia lifted an indicator towards her lips and nervously nibbled the finger.
“My parents say that as I was born a slave, due to belonging to master Keraunos, I do not have liberty.”
“That is true, my child.”
“But I want to be just as free as the others!” Lidia demanded.
“There lies the cruel reality, Lidia!” Keraunos could not restrain another painful laugh. “No one is born free. Our mothers risk their very lives bringing us into this world, our parents work to keep us fed, clothed, safe. They and the state invest in our education. We truly become men and women when we realize how much we are each other master.
Lidia blinked, did not getting even half of it.
“Lidia, do you recall the aedile?”
"Master Valerius!"
"Exactly." Keraunos proceeded. "As his client, it is my duty to present demonstrations of respect and offer my services; as it is his duty as a proper patron not to see me humiliated and assure I do not want for food or protection. Furthermore, Master Valerius owns his position and everything else to his father and must in every action he takes consider how they will reflect upon his family, at the risk of his life being forsaken. All of us contribute to the State, which in turn watches over the interests of us all, even the slave that has little besides their master. Servitude is part of human nature; only those that abandon their Humanity and hide in the world of beasts and monsters can call themselves unbound and unshackled.
The child shrunk, hugging her legs and touching the knees with the chin.
"Father told me something similar. The world existed before I was born and will remain long after I am gone. I must respect everything that those that came before did to offer us this opportunity, to allow us to live. I do not want to be a monster!"
"Your father taught you well."
Lidia did not understood it at the time, but she never forget that talk.
Nor the great question.
"Then, is Liberty a lie? Since we are all each other servi, nobody is free."
"Liberty is truth, Lidia, maybe the only truth that descended upon this world." Keraunos declared the girl's declaration. "Nobody is born free. Fact. However, a virtuous human being works every single day so that when they rest at night they are freer than they were at the dawn. The world is full of putative tyrants that see themselves as your master and do not want anything short of stealing your liberty. Liberty is something that you conquer, that we must fight for with each breath of air, that we must share. This is the weight that falls over the shoulders of heads of family, state and any person that finds themselves responsible for another: they must not only fight for their own personal Libertas, but assure that those that rely on them do not see their own liberty threatened.
"How do I set myself free? How do I achieve Libertas?"
"Fight, fight and do not think only about the end of the road." Keraunos revealed. "This is why I am here, sitting next to you; by talking with you about this, I am giving you freedom. By letting you free yourself, I also set myself free and this is the true meaning of being a servus. Your life has been spared, for due to circumstances outside of your control, you lost control over your own liberty. A master’s duty is to guide you back, help the slave once again become owner of their life and capable to decide the terms of their fight for Libertas. Dialogue, a good life, civic sense, sense of communitarian sacrifice, curiosity for the surrounding world, all these set someone free. Little by little, the slave we all are becomes a Man, from servus to Vir."
Lidia stared at her master, burning with determination.
“I want to be a Vir. Why don’t you free me now, master Keraunos?”
“Lidia, listen to me carefully.” Attention as given, the words engraved in her mind for the rest of her life. “The most cunning trick that tyrants have is convincing people that liberty is something that can be given, that there are people that can give or take it away. Whenever someone seeks to offer you freedom, that person only seeks to use you for their personal interests. True liberation can only be achieved by improving as a person, taking control over your life and struggling to make your dreams real.”
“Sounds hard.”
“It is the hardest thing you can do, for there are many temptations that seek to rob one of their liberty. Unless you become body and soul Vir, it is impossible to know if the decisions you make are fruit of your free will or if you are just a fugitive, a slave to your own fear and delusions.”
 Aeneid rose, drying her hand against the cloak. She went towards the large atrium at the center of the complex, filled with weirdly beautiful plants and fungi that grew in the gloom of the Underworld, disturbed by spectral bugs. Still with Keraunus haunting her mind, she found herself thinking about other Lidia: too tall for her age, short hair tied by a kerchief. The youth ran between the bushes, jumping over improvised obstacles.
Master Keraunos joined the scene. Diminished and with all his hair gray, much more of his weight was supported by the cane. He joined her at the center of the atrium, coughing all the way. Lidia stopped her exercises in order to help the elder to one of the benches.
“Your parents tell me that you grow stronger every day, that you run faster and further away. It brings warmth to my heart to see the virtuous woman you are becoming.” Pause for coughing. “I would be a liar if I did not admit to have some doubts about your education; your mother begged for forgiveness for not being able to teach you letters.”
Lidia cleared the sweat from her brow, her face reddening when confronted with her failure.
“I do not want to get my mom in trouble, master Keraunes. Believe me, she tried. I am the one unable to learn. If someone needs to be punished, it has to be me.” The silence that ensued established that Keraunos was not seeking excuses or someone to blame; he sought to understand what was going. “The letters dance between my eyes, it is impossible for me to make any sense of it.”
“Reading is important, Lidia. Reading allows you to relate to others, discover the point of view of people one world always or beyond the veil of death. It is an important step to cultivate your Libertas and Virtus.
“I know, master.” Lidia nodded. “However, if you allow me, that is what books tell you. To me they offer nothing, only headache and confusion. What master Keraunos describes I see in the face of all those that I meet, I feel in the beating heart of every man and woman. I finally started to understand everything you have been trying to teach me about liberty.”
“Oh?” Keraunos feigned surprise. “And here I was thinking that I would not manage to teach you anything before dying. So be it; if books do not teach you anything, it falls to me to stop lazing around and earning the right to call myself your mentor. Let me share with you what one hard life and many books forced me to understand.”
"Thank you, master!" Lidia displayed genuine interest. "Sincerely, there is something that has been gnawing my guts: I see more and more people trying to find true liberation, gambling the liberty of others, slipping out of their path and conspiring to subjugate their peers and climb a bit more while replacing metal chains for golden ones. So many ways to defend it, so many versions of liberty, I am afraid of losing my perspective. How can I be certain that I am living a good life without trampling upon the freedom of others? How do I know I am Vir?”
Keraunos paused to contemplate the garden. Today, with decades of experience, Lidia knew that he was pondering which answer would fit the developing personality of the girl.
“Do you enjoy running, Lidia?”
“More than anything else.” That was the youth’s readied answer. “Nothing like the wind against my face, the quickly changing scenery, new things at each moment, my racing heartbeat. Nothing pleases me like a good run.”
“With that answer, it is obvious. Athletic pursuits clearly give you pleasure and happiness.” The old man coughed. “However, when you get distracted or push yourself too hard, you might fall and get hurt, suffer from exhaustion and cause terrible pain by ignoring your limitations. To sum it up, even what gives you the most pleasure can also inflict the worst suffering.”
Lidia nodded. It was obvious. What was Keraunos’ point?
“There it is: all you need to know to have a virtuous life. Keep this guide close to your chest and you will be an exemplary citizen.”
"That's it? It could not be simpler."
"The idea might be simple; actually applying it to reality broke men and women wiser than I am." Keraunos was quick to add. "Focus in that that gives you pleasure, as well as that which brings happiness to others. Of course, never forget the specter of suffering. If something, no matter how pleasurable it might be at the moment, brings future pain and torment to your or another, you must stop and change your course of action.
Lidia looked at her fists, closing them.
"What if the only thing I am good at is violence? The only thing I can do is cause suffering."
Master Keraunos started coughing violently, almost falling from the bench. Lidia caught him, finding herself and the old man covered in his blood.
“We do not have much longer, Lidia. Soon you will have to take my place in the team. And that is a mystery to which I never found a satisfying answer.” A sad smile. “I hope that you find in the heart of others that which was denied to me from scrolls and books. The only advice I can give you is that if you have to trade blows for something, make sure that it is the last resort and what you are defending is worth it.”
 Aeneid crossed the atrium, lights appearing as she walked through, some of the strangest vegetation wasting away as she closed in. There were many exists; she picked the one most familiar to her.
The gymnasium was in worst shape than any of the other divisions she had visited. Half of one of the walls had collapsed, scattering weights and throwing disks, destroying various training dummies. A large cork board was covered in scrolls, some eaten by worms, others still keeping tabs on Triumphants, their tasks, registration of enemy confrontations and another myriad of notes. Or so she had been told; those were obligations in which Lidia always had to rely on others. Besides the board was something she did not remember, a new addition: a large map of the Mediterranean, crisis points marked as well as the last known positions of the Corvus. Aeneid confirmed that the last time the map had been updated, all the Crow were in Rome.
All but one.
One of the pins, a bone-white head, was fixed somewhere beyond the limits of the map. Lidia picked the pins one by one, leaving the map empty. She returned to the training dummies, raising the only one that remained whole. Verifying that her cestus was tight enough and cracking her knuckles, she gave herself permission to unleash her frustrations upon the poor target.
 A teenage Lidia darted around, wearing a white cloak instead of her modern scarlet one, switching between a blur and stasis just long enough to unleash powerful blows, keeping her frenetic pace for various minutes. She stopped only when a bald man with the obvious bearing of a veteran entered the gymnasium.
“Where is master Keraunos, Nox?” Lidia inquired, out of breath and tired, hugging one of the training dummies. “He asked to review my development; I can barely wait to have permission to act outside of Rome!”
The man lifted one of the finger in order to interrupt the girl.
“Keraunos is too sick to test you.”
“What happened?” Lidia released the dummy, worried. “He was really looking forward to it yesterday.”
“He is old, Lidia. It happens to everyone; there is not much light or clap left in his thunder. Just another reason for you to finish replacing him. I prepared a special surprise.”
The floor of the gymnasium shook, a stone pillar raising in the middle. The telluric intrusion started to fragment, slowly revealing an enormous humanoid creature, gray skin, elongated skull, enormous and pitch black eyes, long fangs and a disturbing tentacle-like beard. With an infernal scream it sealed the underground entrance.
Lidia jumped into its shoulders, laughing and swinging like a small child.
“Orcus! I saw how you faced those tomb raiders, it was amazing!” The creature spun its arm with inhuman articulations, managing to grab the girl. “Can you teach me something after the exam?”
The veteran Nox smiled, throwing a pomegranate at Lidia.
“He is your exam.” Lidia and Orcus fixed their eyes in each other for a moment; Orcus projected inside of Lidia’s mind an image of both of them fighting. Against all expectations, Lidia somehow grew even paler, face seized by terror as she ran towards the nearest corner. The creature reached to its mouth with its claws, detaching the lower jaw and growing tentacles pushing it towards the floor. Its limbs spread as it felt to all four like some freakish spider.
“Good luck, Pars Alba. Your trial is simple, all you have to do is keep the fruit until the end.” Nox gave her his best wishes before turning into silvery mist.
Lidia was still trying to understand what was going as the impossibly wide of Orcus started to pull towards it all the content of the gymnasium: training dummies, weights, sweat-drenched clothing, replacement uniforms. Everything, including a stunned girl that was running in the same spot, searching for something that she could grab without dropping the pomegranate. Such a futile exercise! Lidia fought to sustain the same distance, but the suction was too strong, forcing her to run faster and faster in order to avoid being swallowed. Quickly that became insufficient, the girl noticing with horror as the distance slowly but surely shrank.
Admitting the futility of resistance and avoiding tiring herself for nothing., Lidia slowed down a bit, getting closer to Orcus. Exploiting the sudden acceleration, she jumped and kicked the creature right in the slits that passed for nostrils; face, center mass.
“Sorry! Sorry!” Lidia screamed exasperated at the same time she spun around its neck, trying to avoid the tentacles. She jumped up Orcus back, punching it violently; it groaned but kept swallowing with the same intensity. Giving in to despair, Lidia threw herself against the creature’s legs, applying her weight to force Orcus to fall; watching as her examiner vacillated, Lidia sighed in relief and eagerly used her speed to jump between limbs, wounding them.
Orcus felt to the ground, granting Pars Alba the luxury of dreaming about victory. Lidia smiled, pondering if she should try to recover distance or continue to face Orcus. Her dilemma did not last long, the very floor betraying her.
Instead of raising from the ground, her examiner had somehow inverted gravity for one critical moment, throwing Lidia against the roof and lifting itself. The effect ended as suddenly as it was triggered, throwing the girl against the floor. Her senses drowned by the pain, took a while for her to realize two important things.
Orcus was once again sucking her in.
She had dropped the pomegranate during the battle, the fruit happily rolling towards Orcus’ mouth.
“No, no, no.” Lidia begged, shaking as she tried to raise; all complaints were in vain, her examiner glad to eat the pomegranate.
It was over. She had failed.
Had she? Dis Pater no.
She was Vir.
Pars Alba frowned, pulled her white hood up and for the first time in her life flashed the world and the cocky smile that would become the trademark of Triumphant Lidia. Evoking the absolute of her divine spark, Lidia rushed towards the mouth of a shocked Orcus, eyes shining with white sparks.
A long silence ensued, the creature looking around the gymnasium. It took it great effort, but Orcus managed to fix its jaw back. Nox reappeared, arms crossed.
“I never thought it would take this much.” The veteran admired. “Color me impressed.”
A gust of wind broke into the gymnasium, a beaten Pars Alba stopping in front of them, eating from an open pomegranate.
“Your stomach leads to interesting places.” Lidia remarked. “That would explain a lot about how your missions tend to end.”
“Go get some rest, Lidia. Master Keraunos will want to know how well you did today.” Nox congratulated her. ���Let’s go, Orcus.”
Initially following Nox, Orcus turned back; Lidia gave it a side glance. The creature share an image of her, doing exactly what she was planning to do. Staring back into those deep black eyes, no words exchanged, Lidia understood that Orcus knew what she was planning to do; somehow it understood her and was trying to dissuade her.
“I must do this. I hope you and the others might forgive me one day.”
Orcus nodded with its enormous head, leaving Lidia alone.
The girl did not waste time. If Orcus had realized, it would not take long for others to follow suit. Master Keraunos had taught her that she had to find her own Libertas; no matter how much she tried, she felt that within Rome and under the service of the Corvus she could not develop further. It torn her heart from her chest, but maybe she could liberate herself somewhere far away, in another corner of the world.
Lidia knew that if she hesitated even for a moment she would persuade herself to stay. Loyal to her resolve, she ran faster than she ever ran in her life.
 Aeneid did not notice as tears started to drop. She barely noticed the training dummy breaking under her blows or the return of Valerius Corvus.
"You must have so many questions. About what happened after you left." The lemur consul remarked in a low, sweet tone.
"Only one." Lidia dried her eyes. "Why was I not able to say goodbye? I did not even give them an opportunity to let me go; all I did was run away. If I had told them farewell, I believe in my heart that they would forgive me, no matter how hard it would be for them."
Valerius Corvus smiled.
“You became a woman ten times bolder and able than anyone trained within these four walls. I look at you and I dare to hope that the Corvus will fly again, towards heights they never reached before. Wherever they might be now, I am sure that they would be proud that you are continuing their work.”
“Right, work. I forgot, there is always something to do in the Nest.”
"Rest is the domain of tyrants and the tyrannized. The free Man only has the liberty to keep working."
“Not this Vir.” Lidia excused herself. “This has been a long day. Good night, consul. We start early tomorrow.”
She found no bed in the Nest, she found no bed in Rome.
Linens awaited for her across the sea, a warm bed in another company, in another continent.
She did fly high.
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