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aquamotto · 3 years

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Polish School of Magic or what Rowling gets wrong about Poland

In short: many things.

The only mentions of polish wizards come from two instances - some Quidditch team (Grodzisk Goblins) and Hagrid’s visit to Europe (with some goblin mention, again).

Why goblins, anyway? There is no such creature in real polish mythology. Instead, there are much more Harry Potter-esque things such as: Beast of Krakow, Dragon of the Wawel Hill who is the most famous and ferocious creature in all Eastern Europe. The majestic power of this beast can only be matched with majestic power of its city of dwelling - Krakow, to put it simply, is the city of Polish kings.

Below: Krakow, the city of “goblins”, according to JKR:

But let me guess - goblin invokes this image of rudeness and primitivity that probably comes from british understanding of poles as construction workers and such. It is curious that nuanced portrayal of poor people that is reserved for characters like Snape is not allowed to poles. They are “goblins” but Snape is a “working class hero”.

What I will describe below, is my headcanon based on what I imagine Wizarding Poland to really be like, sans goblins and other imperialist fantasies but based on my own observation of Poland as both pole and outsider (because, unfortunately, I am both).

Personality, culture

Quidditch champion image as rude and loud lads couldn’t be farther from the truth. Polish wizards, much like their friends in neighboring Czech Republic, are wise, eccentric, philosophical and brave people. They have been blessed and cursed with difficult history (Such as Partition of Poland and German and Soviet Invasion) and know very well how to operate in secrecy. In fact, they are the most secretive of all european wizards and if muggle were to accuse them of witchcraft, they would deny the fact to their last breath. In the same time, polish wizards love magic and often risk everything to pursue their next magical experiment. They are prone to be idealistic and live with their head in the clouds, sometimes literally, which can lead to both troubles and brilliant inventions.

Some believe that Nicolaus Copernicus, the genius astronomer who placed the Sun at the center of the Universe, was a polish wizard (painting by polish artist Jan Matejko):

This image of genius, sudden discoveries and epiphanies is valued in Poland to the point that students of Polish School of Magic wear stars indicating their year on their uniforms - to honor Copernicus.

However, poles aren’t Ravenclaws in disguise - they are traditional, obedient and lawful people at the core and no polish wizard, even the smallest first year, would dare to cheek their headmaster or teacher the way Harry and co. do.

Teacher - student relationship is sacred in Poland and it’s almost like your second parent - someone to be treated with utmost respect. This can lead to quite harsh hierarchies in Wizarding Poland.

Looks

Polish wizards dress modestly, colorful suits Weasley Twins style are not for them. They can sometimes even look monk-like (or medieval knight-like) in appearance. Since Poland is filled with minor aristocracy called szlachta (and I am proud to belong to it, too*) many polish wizards openly wear their coat of arms on their clothes. (*If you are wondering whether I have a coat of arms - yes, I do).

Polish School of Magic uses dark red monk-like hoods with more normal suit under as an unifroms. Since they want to be the guardians of well respected traditions, it fits them.

This doesn’t mean that poles are somber, though. They can be playful but in their distinct, “I challenge you” way. They can be competitive and fiery to the highest degree, especially when their honor or honor of their school is involved. They are indeed the most patriotic of all wizards, thinking of themselves as separated not only from muggles but from foreigners too.

Relationship with muggles

Polish wizards do not like muggles very much but unlike Britain, it rarely comes in a form of hostility but rather patronizing and light mockery. Rather than valuing pure blood,poles just think of themselves as superior to muggles in intelligence.They are especially suspicious of muggle disrespect of culture and the past which leads to wizards thinking that muggles are morally and spiritually, rather than genetically, impure. However, there was never an attempt to deny muggleborns education - in fact, they are welcomed with open arms and often even relief - “Finally, another one of us!”. This makes them a bit closer to Grindelwald’s idea of superiority than Voldemort’s one.

Music

Anyone knows Chopin, the great french-polish composer and indeed, poles adore music. To the point that Polish School of Magic considers participation in a school choir mandatory. But highest praise is reserved for those who dare and pick up an instrument (be it violin, cello, horn, piano or something else) to join the School Orchestra. If Triwizard Tournament accepted Poland, they would arrive in most curious way possible - operating the giant musical machine which would look like a church organ mixed with piano and other instruments. The headmaster would play it and the students (dressed in cloaks) would accompany him with some strange melody to make the grandest entrance ever.

Polish School of Magic

Pictured below: Frombork

Thanks to Copernicus, magical astronomy and astrology are best subjects to learn in Polish School of Magic. Unlike their colleagues in Prague who are obsessed with alchemy, potions and dark arts, poles are more interested in the spiritual so they also value divination in any forms and defense against the dark arts. Since living in a country as difficult as Poland forces you to always be on your toes, teachers consider it important to teach their students nonverbal magic as soon as possible. They also encourage wandless magic and actually had a lot of luck with it (unlike other european schools). Thanks to a certain WW2 incident, they also offer a superior course of arithmancy (If you know what I am hinting at, well done!)

Pictured: Frombork Cathedral Bell Tower

Since poles are not very practical people, they don’t teach their students about Magical Creatures at all (aside from a side course on dangerous creatures such as dragons in DADA). This just doesn’t fit their heady aesthetics. Being honest and reliable people, they also dislike transfiguration - something about turning things into animals and other things strikes them as unnecessary cruel and even devilish. Being pious at the core, poles want magic to always come from the source of respect and light. That’s why almost all students leave the school with full patronuses - most common of which is a white eagle, of course - the symbol of Poland. Poles are often so patriotic that even their best memories are linked to their national identity!

Poles are also good at charms and make superb magical duellists. In fact, not many nations can best them in this regard, if any. It is thanks to their wandless magic, wordless spells, quickness of reaction and harsh discipline (almost military-like) instilled in them in their school.

Talking about discipline... Polish School of Magic’s discipline is indeed very strict. The school grounds are usually quiet, students know best not to laugh too loud, not to pull pranks or fool around needlessly. Spontanous duels are forbidden. Teachers love their work and always keep an eye on misbehaving individuals. Lazy, incompetent or misanthopic teachers don’t exist in Polish School of Magic. Instead they can be overly strict, demanding, mocking, conservative and overly eccentric. (This one is based on real life experience, everyone.)

Below: Ksiaz castle

Teachers in Polish School of Magic lean old and getting a place there is very difficult and demands tons of connections. They also lean male but not just because of prejudice (although, unfortunately, such prejudice exists - Poland is a country of soldiers in many ways), because DADA course there is especially harsh and physically exhausting. (Some say it’s because they want to best Durmstrang and it comes with knowing your enemy).

Despite the notes of traditionalist gender roles, female teachers are usually well-respected, even more than male ones. And that’s why many female teachers are quite haughty and have queen-like demeanor.

Below: Ksiaz castle room

But when do poles rest from all their strict training? The answer: when holidays come. Holidays are sacred for poles and many missteps are forgiven during them, rules become slightly more relaxed.

One of the curiously LESS regulated things in Polish School of Magic is love. While british and american wizards such as Snape may get into a puritanical rage seeing two students kissing passionately, polish teachers would just smile sweetly at them and leave them alone. Girls sending boys postcards is not considered cringeworthy as it is in Hogwarts (I am looking at you, Harry) but natural and enviable. In fact, teachers encourage students to dance together and on holidays such as Christmas, they even overlook duels related to love triangles (a rare case of them approving non-DADA duels). Poles can dance well and you can often find them waltzing in the school balroom in their festive robes. They also flirt well and all this combined with the fact how good they are at duelling, makes them formidable rivals in love for students from any other school, including Beauxbatons, especially considering that Beauxbatons boys lean narcissistic rather than chivalrous.

In the end, if Poland did participate in Triwizard Tournament, I think it would charm everyone with their quick wit, intelligence, modesty, good manners and passionate spirit.

Quite far from the “Goblin” stuff, isn’t it?

Below: various beautiful views from Poland

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madewithonerib · 3 years

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How to be Weaned | Jonathan Cahn [Daniel 7:1-10]

Daniel 7:1-10 | ¹ In the 1st year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, & visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed.

He wrote down the dream, & this is the summary of his account. ² Daniel declared:

“In my vision in the night I looked, & suddenly the 4 winds of heaven were churning up the great sea.

³ Then 4 great beasts came up out of the sea, each one different from the others:

⁴ The 1st beast was like a lion, & it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off & it was lifted up from the ground & made to stand on 2 feet like a man, & given the mind of a man.

⁵ Suddenly another beast appeared, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, & it had 3 ribs in its mouth between its teeth.

So it was told, ‘Get up & gorge yourself on flesh!’

⁶ Next, as I watched, another beast appeared.

It was like a leopard, & on its back it had 4 wings like those of a bird. The beast also had 4 heads, & it was given authority to rule.

⁷ After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a 4th beast appeared, & it was terrifying—dreadful & extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured & crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left.

It was different from all the beasts before it, & it had ten horns. ⁸ While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, & 3 of the 1st horns were uprooted before it.

This horn had eyes like those of a man & a mouth that spoke words of arrogance. ⁹ As I continued to watch, thrones were set in place, &

the Ancient of Days took HIS seat. HIS clothing was white as snow, & the hair of HIS head like pure wool. HIS throne was flaming with fire, & its wheels were all ablaze.

¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing, coming out from HIS presence. Thousands upon thousands attended HIM, & myriads upon myriads stood before HIM.

The court was convened, & the books were opened.

INTRODUCTION

This is a picture of world history from the first great world empire that took Jerusalem, to Rome the great world empire at the end.

But first thing I’m going to do is get into the nutshell of world history.

This is the first part, there is going to be more than one on this.

Today we’re going to go from a certain point in history, up to the destruction of the Temple, up to Rome.

But this principle, it’s going to take us ultimately before we finish this series, it’s going to take us to the United States of America.

This principle is so exact, it’s so amazing that it goes from the time of the Pharaohs all the way to 2013.

And it explains world history in an amazing way.

The first thing I’m going to do, is give you a nutshell of ancient history & secondly we’re going to start tying it into what happened in the BIBLE linked to that world history.

Third, after that, then we’re going to get into this secret or key of world history that unlocks world history.

So you will be understanding more of what’s going on in the world more than renowned scholars of the age.

See you know, I can’t go through every kingdom in this series of course, there are many nations, & peoples, & kingdoms.

And many very substantial ones, for instance China, India, Latin America, all these things; but we’re going to follow the center cord of world history.

You know the focus, the vortex of world empires; & you’ll see some amazing things; & we’ll see first the sweep.

1.] Start of Civilization

Civilization begins as we know it in what is called Mesopotamia.

We learned this, some of us in school, called the cradle of civilization.

The fertile crescent because it looks like a crescent, it’s the fertile part of the Middle Eastern Desert.

It surrounds the rivers of the Middle East.

And that’s where these kingdoms arose.

Particularly the land of Iraq, of all places.

Beginning in the mountains of Armenia, flowing down to the Persia Gulf. That’s where it all pretty much began.

Particularly in the south of this region, which was called Sumer.

More than any other people the Sumerians shaped the Mesopotamian civilization.

And they were living originally in kind of independent city states, around 2K B.C. they united;

writing as we know it came from Sumer.

That in other words, you had hieroglyphics that were basically a picture was what it was, but you had now symbols taking over from pictures.

Which is going to lead to writing. It began in Sumer.

About 2150 B.C. they come under the leadership of a city named Ur. Does that sound familiar & Ur which it just so happened, we’ve done another called the D328 (the secret of world history) which also deals with the centrality of GOD’s purposes.

Notice Abram(ham) will end up right in the center of world history, today it’s more like America, New York, Israel, & other places that is where always the Jewish people—GOD keeps them there.

But here, Ur of the Chaldees, they drive out foreign invaders.

They reunite Sumer & the region called Akan, under their rule.

The Sumerian independence is short lived around 2K B.C. they are conquered by the Elamite. Around 1900 B.C. the Amorites invade, you hear of all these people in the BIBLE.

They establish a capital at the village called Babylon, the kingdom of Babylon.

And they have a famous king called, Hammurabi, the code of Hammurabi. 1728-1686 B.C.

It reaches it’s peak around 1900-1595 B.C. that’s the first Babylonian Kingdom.

The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start & end of Hammurabi's reign, located in what today is modern day Kuwait and Iraq. [1895-539 BC]

Official languages: Akkadian Sumerian Aramaic

2.] Egyptian Civilization

Then you come to another kingdom developing, another great center of the world, ancient civilization & that is called in Hebrew Mizraim מִצְרַ֔יִם (miṣ·ra·yim), & in English it’s called Egypt.

The first or old kingdom, it has three periods:

● The Egypt Old Kingdom, ● The Middle Kingdom, ● The New Kingdom/Empire,

And so it comes around, you know, in the late middle kingdom the pharaohs extended their power to the land of Israel.

But around 1750 B.C. something happened they are invaded by a people called the Hyksos, who are the Hyksos?

The Hyksos period marks the first in which Egypt was ruled by foreign rulers.

Ancient Greek: Ὑκσώς, Ὑξώς) is a term which, in modern Egyptology, designates the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt [1650–1550 BC].

The term Hyksos is used ethnically to designate people of probable West Semitic, Levantine origin.

It’s a Greek version of an Egyptian word, it literally means foreign ruler. Now most likely the Hyksos were actually Semitic people, linked to the Jewish people.

And they ruled around 1648-1540 B.C., so the 1500s the Egyptians drove them out & they ushered in the last big empire of Egypt.

Called the empire, it reached its peak under pharaoh Thutmose III [Reign: 1479–1425 BC], & Ramesses II the Great [reigned 1279–1213 BC] who you know about.

Ramesses built all these things.

There’s a question about how they linked up with the Exodus, we’ll get to that after.

3.] Period of Decline

And after that big kingdom comes, a long decline for Egypt.

By 1200 BC Egypt is stripped of all its foreign territory. It becomes pretty much isolated, in may ways, to the Nile.

Egypt would never again be a great world power after that, & around 1200 BC there’s this invasion across the Middle East called the sea peoples.

And here are these sea peoples, some of the sea peoples are called the Philistines, they most likely were Greek-based people.

And they are sailing, they are coming by the sea.

They sweep over Egypt, they sweep over this whole region. It’s unstable, Egypt deteriorates & continues to deteriorate.

4.] Kingdom of Israel

Next another great civilization, that arises around the year 1K BC around there.

Is a little kingdom, it really would never have risen up unless there was a big power vacuum. There was a power vacuum.

So this, a little brief moment, this kingdom rises up in the center or world history, or as a peak in some ways..

That’s called the little kingdom of Israel.

And here it is ruled by a, first a king named Shaul (Saul of course) & then David. I mean it shows you how much there was this big power vacuum, when a little shepherd boy could become just about the most powerful man in the world.

After the death of Solomon, it splits into two.

On the top are the Northern 10 tribes. On the South are the Southern 2 tribes (Judah & Benjamin)

5.] Assyrian Empire

Then comes the next great empire of the Ashur, or the Assyrians.

The Assyrians are another Semitic people.

They move into the Mesopotamian valley, & they basically are this huge war machine. They were known for their sadistic cruelty.

They made the most feared people, the most hated people of the ancient world. Enemy soldiers were skinned alive, impaled on stakes, or severely mutilated, so were citizens.

Entire citizens were slaughtered, or they would mutilate them & put them in cages & bring them to the walls of the cities that they were going to attack.

And the city would just surrender to them, rather than fall into the hands of the Assyrians. Around 883 BC, Ashurnasirpal II rises in Assyria & begins a western conquest.

Ashurnasirpal II (flourished 9th century BC) king of Assyria 883–859 BC, whose major accomplishment was the consolidation of the conquests of his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, leading to the establishment of the New Assyrian empire.

It’s as if it were drawn to Israel all these great powers, in some way are drawn to Israel.

It would become the major power of the world around this time.

Assyrian empire reaches its peak under the king named Sargon in 722 BC, then Sennacherib in 705 BC, & Ashurbanipal...etc.

In 722 BC, ten to twenty years after the initial deportations, the ruling city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Samaria, was finally taken by Sargon II after a 3-year siege star ted by Shalmaneser V.

Sargon II was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the downfall of his predecessor Shalmaneser V in 722 BC to his death in battle in 705 BC.

Sennacherib, 705–681 BC Esarhaddon, 681–669 BC Ashurbanipal, 668–631 BC

You see all these names in the BIBLE.

They conquered much of the known world back then.

Egypt, Phoenicia, everything fell to them; & they were ultimately going to sweep across Egypt at that time; joining the entire region together.

6.] The Revival of Babylon

But then comes the next kingdom that rises.

This is where Daniel sees the creatures.

The kingdom is again called: Babylon.

It is in some history books called Neo-Babylon. It’s the new Babylonian kingdom.

It’s the revival of Babylon.

And so after the death of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire goes into rapid decline.

And so here a Semitic people, the Babylonians or the Chaldeans, they rebel & are led by a king whose name is Nabopolassar.

After dealing with the revolt of the general Sin-shumu-lishir, Sinsharishkun faced a much larger threat. His Babylonian vassal state had taken advantage of the upheavals in Assyria & rebelled under the previously unknown Nabopolassar, a member of the Chaldean tribe, in 625 BC.

What followed was a long war fought in the Babylonian heartland. Nabopolassar tried to capture Nippur, the main Assyrian center of power in Babylonia, but was defeated by Sinsharishkun.

However, Nabopolassar did take the actual city of Babylon after a popular uprising there, & was crowned king of the city in 625 BC.

He had served the Assyrians as a governor, but now he rises up against them. He senses weakness & he captures the Assyrian capital of Nineveh.

In 612 BC he destroys them.

The new Babylonian empire rises under king Nabopolassar, & then under his son who was called Nebuchadnezzar.

Or you know this in the BIBLE, Nebuchadnezzar who then joins the Middle East, he sweeps across Egypt, & Mesopotamia

..becomes the great Babylonian empire of Daniel.

This is the background to understand the BIBLE!

7.] Biblical Symbols

The next world power that rises up in Daniel’s vision was the bear, in 559 BC, Cyrus becomes king of the Persian (Iran)

And he rises up, Cyrus overthrows the Babylonians ~539 BC conquers Babylon. Persia now the great Persian empire dominates the ancient world.

It’s the largest empire ever known: From the Nile to India

When you read about porum, you read about that at the very beginning: How big his empire was. At it’s height, I mean it had conquered all these things;

& then under Darius, it conquers Northern Greece, but as it starts coming in contact with Greece, it starts getting drained.

And this new empire starts rising.

In Daniel’s vision, it is the leopard, its fast, its ferocious.

Its not big, or its not weighty rather. Its light, but its fast.

And this is the Greek empire.

Under Philip of Macedon & his son Alexander the Great; he defeats the Persians & he sweeps across with his men.

He sweeps across the Middle East, sweeps across Israel, sweeps across even up to around India.

When he dies, his kingdom splits as in Daniel, it becomes there are four heads that will rise up.

It splits into 4 kingdoms among his generals.

The two most prominent kingdoms of these four is the Seleucid Empire & the Ptolemaic empire.

When he was asked who should succeed him, Alexander said, “the strongest”, which answer led to his empire being divided between four of his generals:

Cassander, Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Seleucus (known as the Diadochi or 'successors').

And one is Ptolemaic is Egypt, & the Seleucid is Syria around there. It’s divided-up & now the fact is it’s a Greek empire, they seek to make everyone Greek.

They seek to be a universal empire that everybody will be drawn into Greek culture.

8.] Final Beast: Roman Empire

Then comes another, the last of the ancient powers, or the great powers; & of Daniel’s creatures.

In the 2nd century BC, a new power makes it ways known to the West. From the Italian peninsula, Rome!

Expanding under general Pompeo, & then the next Julius Caesar.

Then after Caesar’s death comes the power struggle with Marc Anthony, Cleopatra, of the Ptolemaic empire [we just spoke about Alexander], & Octavius who was adopted as the son of Julius Caesar, who will then later become known as Augustin.

He will be hailed as the first emperor of Rome, the New Empire..

A few decades before the 1st century, Rome becomes the empire of empires. The GOSPEL begins under Rome.

It says in the year Caesar Augustin reigns, the birth of the MESSIAH

That is the backdrop, now that is a sweep!

Right now I just gave you, in I don’t know what: 10 minutes?

I gave you the whole sweep of ancient history that’s the background of the BIBLE.

9.] Connect Four

But now let’s go back & let’s kind of lift a veil a little bit, to see how what you read in the BIBLE goes together with what I just said.

And then we’re going to open up this key of world history.

You have what started with Mesopotamia.

Now it’s interesting because the BIBLE starts out with the Garden of Eden & in Eden you have 4 rivers.

And two of those rivers are the Tigress & the Euphrates.

Another one maybe the Nile.

And so it’s interesting where the BIBLE says everything started is the same place where historians say civilization started.

In the same area of the rivers.

In fact, Mesopotamia (you know what it means?) Mesopotamia - Meso means in the middle of, & potamia (like the potamic) means the river..

It means it’s in-between the rivers.

Which rivers?

The same rivers that are mentioned in the Garden of Eden!

It all happens around there.

Then when you look at Egypt, you have this great center, which is by the Nile (the other river); & we said that around a certain time (1750 B.C.) these invaders come in (the Hyksos),

which is interesting because when you look at the names of these invaders, who took over Egypt (at the time), their names are Semitic. They have names like Baal or one name has Jacob in it.

And so it kind of makes sense that they would be more open to the Hebrews (Joseph) when he came in, but once the Egyptians drove them out, it makes sense that there arose a pharaoh who did not know Joseph

(who are now against the Hebrews)

Because the Hebrews are seen as similar to these people.

So it kind of makes sense that then they would enslave, or they would come against (in fear) the Israelites.

Then you have the invasion of the sea peoples I talked about, as Egypt starts falling apart.

And this again was linked to the Philistines (David & Goliath Samson & Delilah) all that is part of this backdrop.

Or all backed up by it.

Around 1K BC as I said, “You have Israel just comes out of the powerful vacuum & it’s GOD’s plans. It’s amazing that when they are ruling, David & Solomon are ruling at the height of world power.

I mean it’s amazing from nothing to suddenly this high

And it’s interesting because if they had stayed following GOD if Israel had followed GOD, the whole history of the world could have been different.

I mean GOD is sovereign, we’re not getting into that but the fact is: As they started falling away from GOD then their enemies started rising up.

So the thing is, if they had stayed (under GOD) there’s a chance that GOD would have kept everybody there because that’s what HE did. (I mean it)

But then HE allows Assyria to rise up.

And yet you could say that all history centers around GOD of course, & all history also centers around GOD’s people!

And GOD’s plans.

As they turned away from GOD, that’s when quote the Gentile world kingdoms began to rise & threaten them.

And that’s what happens.

Assyria is the empire of Nineveh.

That’s Jonah! That’s the whole background of Jonah, so when Jonah when he’s (you can under Jonah a little bit more); you know it would be like GOD calling you to go to Nazi Germany that they could get saved!

And so if you’re Jewish & you went through that, you might not want to do that, so Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because of how horrible these people were!

But he did.

The north kingdom, which is really the backdrop of the Harbinger, the north kingdom, Hosea had warned them, Amos had warned them, but by 722 BC the Assyrian empire sweeps in & judgment finally falls on them thru Assyria!

The Assyrians are the fathers of terrorism.

Every terrorist comes in some way is descended spiritually from the Assyrians. Follow their, they invented terror as we know it.

And they come in & they wipe it away & then you have, that’s where you begin with the 10 lost tribes. They were taken by Assyria!

So you see the whole BIBLE goes right in how the BIBLE goes. Here you have the story of king Hezekiah & when the Assyrians come to him in the South in Judah & they surround Jerusalem he instead comes to GOD & says:

GOD, YOU have to help us,

And what happens is, you don’t understand how fearful they are, with the Assyrians, how awful the Assyrians were

Surround all the walls of Jerusalem & the people know if they get in those walls they are finished they’re going to be devoured & terror.

So you can understand more what that was like for Hezekiah. He goes & he brings it to GOD & says:

GOD help us!

And what happens? As he does that, it says, the BIBLE says GOD sent one angel to help.

And that angel struck down thousands & thousands, the entire Assyrian army in one night!

And the amazing thing is if you look back in history & a map the Assyrian empire went all across but it didn’t get Judah.

Something stopped it from getting Judah.

And there is actually (as I mentioned) in Greek history, they got something, they got an echo of this cause

They wrote about a time when the Assyrian empire was outside a city & suddenly it was struck by a plague.

But it matches what it says about Israel.

Rise of Babylon

Then you have the rise of Babylon, we spoke about:

How does that link with the BIBLE?

Well this is the backdrop of Daniel, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel, that Babylon is rising up & Jeremiah rises to warn Judah of the Judgment coming through Babylon.

And he tells the king of Judah submit to Babylon.

But all the false prophets are saying,

“No, no. GOD’s going to bless you; prosperity don’t worry.”

And they are all false, the people will reject Jeremiah but the king will be taken captive to Babylon & blinded.

And his sons will be killed.

And Babylon will be the kingdom that destroys Judah & Jerusalem & the Temple & brings GOD’s people into captivity.

The Babylonian captivity, 70 years they destroy Israel.

When Jeremiah (we believe) is writing Lamentations, he’s weeping over Jerusalem, that’s the work of Babylon.

Rise of Persia

So they go, as Daniel saw the Lion with wings of an eagle, & then the next power we saw was Persia.

So the BIBLE speaks in Daniel of Persia taking over Babylon!

And it’s this massive bear. It’s big, it’s cumbersome.

Then you have Ezra & Nehemiah & Cyrus, that’s all under Persia because the Persian empire actually did something good, they let the Jewish people return to Israel & rebuild Jerusalem. SO they actually blessed Israel.

And that’s when you have Ester & Modecia.

And the Persian empire almost destroys the Jewish people but it doesn’t happen.

Now the OT ends with a Persian empire.

Rise of Greeks

But then between the OT & NT you’ve got the Greeks.

And that’s when you have Alexander, the leopard with the 4 heads & the wings. that’s where you have the Greek or the generals of Alexander. (the Seleucid Empire)

That’s how you have Hannukah.

#Greek Empire #Alexander the Great #Seleucid is Syria #Ptolemaic is Egypt #superpower #world super power

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theliberaltony · 4 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

From sea to shining sea (via purple mountains majesty), today’s primary elections have it all. To have a prayer in November, Alaska Democrats may have to nominate … candidates who are not Democrats. In Florida, three campaigns for Congress have devolved into backbiting and criminal accusations. And in deep-red Wyoming, today’s primary will essentially decide the state’s next U.S. senator. Here’s everything you need to know.

Alaska

In 2018, Republican Rep. Don Young — the longest-serving member of Congress — won reelection by less than 7 percentage points. Notably, his opponent in that race, businesswoman Alyse Galvin, wasn’t even technically a Democrat. She was an independent who ran for and won the Democratic nomination.

Two years later, Democrats are trying to double their luck with the same trick: Galvin is running again for U.S. House, and independent Al Gross is the prohibitive favorite in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Gross, a surgeon and fisherman with a bear of an introductory ad, enjoys the endorsement of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and has raised $5.2 million. Of course, both Galvin and Gross will still face uphill general election campaigns in this red state, but Alaska has a strong independent streak, so Young and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan can’t take anything for granted.

Florida

Fresh off a victory in the 2018 election, Republican Rep. Ross Spano of Florida’s 15th Congressional District was riding high — until he was faced with the possibility he violated campaign finance law. In a December 2018 filing with the Federal Election Commission, Spano disclosed that he borrowed $180,000 from two friends and then loaned $167,000 to his own campaign. Since individuals were not allowed to give a candidate more than $2,700 per election in 2018, this could be seen as laundering campaign contributions. The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation, and in November 2019 we learned that the Justice Department had opened a criminal inquiry.

Unsurprisingly, Spano is now facing stiff reelection challenges from both parties. In the Republican primary, Lakeland City Commissioner Scott Franklin has hammered Spano as a “criminal” in ads; Spano insists he didn’t know his actions were illegal and is framing himself as a victim of a partisan witch hunt. For his part, Spano has tried to paint Franklin as insufficiently loyal to President Trump — something that has become par for the course in GOP primaries. Both candidates have also accused the other of not being tough enough on illegal immigration.

While Spano has the support of the party establishment, including most of the Republicans serving Florida in Congress, a few high-profile local conservatives have endorsed Franklin. As of July 29, Spano had outspent Franklin, $824,000 to $483,000, and the incumbent’s allies at the anti-tax Club for Growth also invested more than $270,000. But an upset may nonetheless be brewing: Last week, St. Pete Polls found the two men locked in a virtual tie.

Whoever wins will face either investigative journalist Alan Cohn or state Rep. Adam Hattersley, who are squaring off in an evenly matched Democratic primary of their own. As of July 29, Cohn had spent more than Hattersley ($459,000 to $406,600), but Hattersley had more cash on hand for the final three weeks ($236,000 to $130,000). Although the two don’t differ much on policy, Cohn has dinged Hattersley for being too moderate (he has some endorsements from moderate groups and didn’t register as a Democrat until 2018). Hattersley, though, has appropriated that argument to claim he’s the more electable candidate — which might be persuasive given that Trump carried this central Florida district by 10 points in 2016.

Two other Republican primaries in Florida are also on our radar because they’ll likely determine future members of Congress due to the GOP lean of the seats. First, the 19th Congressional District in southwest Florida is open following the retirement of Republican Rep. Francis Rooney, and there are four candidates in serious contention: businessman Casey Askar, state Rep. Byron Donalds, state House Majority Leader Dane Eagle and physician William Figlesthaler.

One of Figlesthaler’s ads aptly describes the contest as “the race to support President Trump,” and all the candidates are fighting for pole position. Figlesthaler says he’ll back Trump’s “America First agenda,” while Eagle argues his experience as a GOP leader makes him the best choice to stand with Trump and “fight for America.” Donalds emphasizes that he’s a “Trump-supporting, gun-owning, liberty-loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man.” And Askar proclaims that he’ll “always have the president’s back” in Trump’s battle against the media, bureaucrats and the “radical socialists.”

And as the race has heated up, things have gotten nasty. In one ad, Askar stresses that when he was 18, he signed up for the Marines, whereas Donalds was arrested for drug possession at 19 and Eagle got a DUI at 31. He’s also argued that Donalds lied to get a state job and opposed Trump in the past, attacks that got a “Mostly False” rating from PolitiFact. But Askar’s military service and educational background have been called into question, providing plenty of ammunition for his opponents. And outside groups have also dinged Askar for past contributions to Mitt Romney. They’ve also criticized Figlesthaler for giving money to former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (who lost in 2018) and not donating to Trump in the 2016 presidential race.

However, because Askar and Figlesthaler are largely self-funding their campaigns, they’ve dramatically outspent Donalds and Eagle. Askar has raised about $3.7 million (with $3 million from personal loans), while Figlesthaler has brought in a little over $2.5 million ($1.9 million self-funded). Conversely, Donalds has collected roughly $1.2 million and Eagle just about $741,000. However, Donalds has far and away the most outside help thanks to his endorsement from the Club for Growth. The group’s campaign arm has spent about $1.4 million boosting Donalds and another $1.1 million hitting the other three candidates (mainly Askar). And Conservative Outsider PAC, another Donalds ally, has also spent $459,000 attacking Eagle.

As the campaign draws to a close, though, it looks like anyone’s race. An early August survey from St. Pete Polls found the four candidates separated by just 6 points, with Donalds attracting 22 percent support, Figlesthaler 21 percent, Eagle 20 percent and Askar 16 percent.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Congressional District in north Florida also has a busy primary to replace retiring Republican Rep. Ted Yoho. The contest lacks a front-runner, but the most prominent contenders appear to be former Yoho staffer Kat Cammack, businessman Judson Sapp and physician James St. George.

The principal drama in the race has centered on Cammack, who has gained notoriety for running fowl-themed ads in which she calls her opponents and D.C. Republicans too “chicken” to stand up for conservative values. She’s played up her connections to Yoho, too, but those ties have recently come under scrutiny. In late June, Yoho’s son claimed Cammack had been fired as his father’s chief of staff and expressed frustration that Cammack made it sound like the congressman backed her. Following his son’s statement, Rep. Yoho stated that Cammack had been demoted to deputy chief of staff and reassigned to the district office in 2013 “for reasons not to be disclosed,” and later reiterated that he wasn’t endorsing anyone.

As for St. George and Sapp, they have also touted their conservative credentials, support for Trump and opposition to the political left. They’ve also brought more financial resources to the race than Cammack. As of July 29, St. George had raised about $922,000 ($600,000 from his own pocket) while Sapp, who won 24 percent in the 2018 primary against Yoho, had collected $770,000 ($500,000 self-funded). By comparison, Cammack had gathered about $492,000 in contributions with very little self-funding. But Cammack has benefited from the only significant outside spending in the race: $300,000 by the Sen. Rand Paul-aligned Protect Freedom PAC. (Paul has endorsed Cammack.)

And the only recent poll we have of the race suggests Cammack might come out on top with a plurality of the vote. Earlier this month, Meer Research found Cammack garnering 25 percent, Sapp 15 percent and St. George 13 percent. However, 20 percent were still undecided and seven other candidates also attracted support. Cammack doesn’t have an overwhelming lead, so it’s entirely possible one of the other contenders might still best her today.

Wyoming

With the retirement of Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, the GOP primary for Wyoming’s Senate seat is also in the cards, and the winner of this election is essentially guaranteed to become the state’s next senator, as Wyoming is arguably the most Republican state in the nation. Admittedly, there’s not much drama here as former Rep. Cynthia Lummis is a pretty clear front-runner despite the fact that there are 10 candidates on the GOP primary ballot.

But we mention this race because Lummis’s likely election could be meaningful for Republican gender diversity in the Senate. At present, just nine of the 26 women in the Senate are Republicans. Six of them are up for election this November, with four in real danger of defeat.1 So if things go poorly for the GOP, Lummis could be important to shoring up gender representation within the party’s caucus.

Things are busiest in Florida today, but there are intriguing reasons to watch what happens in Alaska and Wyoming, too. There aren’t many primary or runoff contests left in 2020, so enjoy primary season while it lasts.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Geoffrey Skelley and Nathaniel Rakich

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bongaboi · 4 years

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Texas: 2019 Alamo Bowl Champions

AUSTIN — Sam Ehlinger didn’t say those cursed words. Tom Herman didn’t mock an opposing player. Bevo didn’t attempt to maim another mascot.

This time, Texas took its bowl win in stride.

The Longhorns (8-5) reveled on New Year’s Eve, of course, after a stunning 38-10 demolition of 11th-ranked Utah (11-3) in the Alamo Bowl. But their words and reactions were more measured Tuesday night at an Alamodome brimming with burnt-orange gear.

“I think it taught a lot of the young guys that when you play together, you play mistake-free, you have fun, and then you lock in … that our talent can take us pretty far,” Ehlinger said Tuesday night. “Then once you add in mistake-free football, watch out.”

The junior quarterback added, with a self-aware smirk: “And so I think that it’s a great — I don’t know how to word this — but I’m not going to do this again. I’ll leave it at that.”

Is the way Texas won on the final day of 2019 the blueprint for the future? That’s yet to be determined with new offensive (Mike Yurcich) and defensive (Chris Ash) coordinators joining the staff and more changes likely to come.

Still, there’s reason to believe Texas won’t squander its bowl momentum — real or imagined — this time. It won’t have to deal with the same senior exodus, though losing offensive studs Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay and the respected voice and presence of defensive end Malcolm Roach will require an adjustment.

Texas will be flush with talent again in 2020, as it is every year. The material is always there on the Forty Acres, waiting to be shaped into a contender. But Herman admitted the coaches, himself included, failed in their duty to grow and develop these players in 2019, the main point cited in his staff shakeup.

Against Utah, many of those highly recruited players looked ready to move from “prospect” to “contributor.”

“You look at their guys, man for man, talent-wise,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, “that’s got to be one of the best, if not the best, 7-5 — now 8-5 — teams in the country.”

Other Longhorns, like Alamo Bowl defensive MVP Joseph Ossai, seem poised to leap from “talented but inconsistent” to “certified game-changer.”

The sophomore linebacker could be a critical piece for Ash as a versatile pass-rushing menace who can play in the more traditional spot or attack off the edge. He was nigh unstoppable against Utah, swimming through and bowling over defenders to drag down quarterback Tyler Huntley three times to go with another three tackles for loss.

The defensive dominance of Ossai and his teammates was a welcome palette cleanser for Texas. The best news for Herman and Ash: 12 of the 14 players who recorded multiple tackles will return in 2020, barring any potential transfers. And that doesn’t include freshman corner Chris Adimora, who came up big with a first-down saving tackle and a breakup of a potential touchdown pass on Utah’s final first-half drive.

“What was going on out there was just us having fun, and us having confidence in the defense, the defensive scheme,” Ossai said. “We bought in 100 percent and went out there and executed. I think that was the key thing tonight, executing. We’ve done a poor job — I myself have done a poor job in the past of executing, and today I feel like we executed at a high level and the result was pleasing.”

Ehlinger never has operated at the college level without center Zach Shackelford, Duvernay and Johnson.

That means freshman slot receiver Jake Smith and 6-foot-4 sophomore Brennan Eagles will be thrust into more prominent roles, and that 6-6 converted tight end Malcolm Epps will need to grow more comfortable as a wideout. Junior tight end Cade Brewer, if healthy, could become Ehlinger’s new safety valve, and 6-2 freshman wideout Marcus Washington will have a chance to fight for more reps.

Ehlinger, now with three bowl wins and 33 starts under his belt, will have to nurture all of those players and aid in their growth. A backfield stocked with sophomore Keaontay Ingram, freshman Roschon Johnson and ballyhooed 2020 signee Bijan Robinson should alleviate some of the pressure, though the buck will stop with Ehlinger.

Texas again will have its mettle tested early with a Sept. 12 trip to Baton Rouge. Taking down possible defending national champion LSU in Week 2 would put not just the Big 12, but the entire country on notice.

That’s looking too deep into the future, though. Herman and his new coordinators have their work cut out for them, but what happened on New Year’s Eve in San Antonio at least served as a beacon of hope after a dispiriting regular season.

“Those guys, we had our ups and downs with that crew throughout the season,” Herman said. “But I think not just the four hours tonight, but throughout the bowl preparation, I think the light bulb went on as to what it takes to win at a championship level, and I’m excited to carry over those lessons into the offseason.”

#2019 #texas longhorns #college football #bowl season #alamo bowl

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hearteyes-for-killmonger · 5 years

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Great Thing

Doubles as my submission for the Nasty Off. Merry Ficmas!!

Part 2: Discretion

“No, N'Jadaka. I do not make a habit of performing sexual acts with women’s backsides,” T'Challa deadpanned. Erik was purposely antagonizing him. Irritating to the degree that T'Challa briefly considered stabbing him again. Not fatally. Well… perhaps, but the thought only lasted a moment. Crass conversation was uncomfortable and tasteless in T'Challa’s mind. “I’d rather refrain from this unsavory topic of conversation, if you don’t mind. Let's return to the discussion at hand.. The status of the shopping center.”

The shopping center a while away was a property they intended to acquire and fill with black businesses including a grocery and pharmacy. They'd yet to close on it.

“You telling me all the fat asses in Wakanda, you’ve never slid in one, said it was an accident?"

T'Challa sat stonefaced across from Erik in his Oakland office, unamused.

"You're the king, you never popped a Dora? ..Okoye? Ayo? I know they'd let you hit in the name of Wakanda,” Erik badgered, his eagle eyes trained on T'Challa’s.

"You were king temporarily, N'Jadaka. Is that an act you attempted?"

Erik's expression was accusatory.

“Are you implying.. that I’d need to lie? My encounters are very straightforward. Not that I owe you an explanation for the acts that I commit, but deceit is not my m.o.”

“Aight butch, you got it,” Erik nodded relishing in T'Challa’s obvious discomfort. His accusatory expression remained and how this topic switch occured, T'Challa had no clue. The best thing he could do was excuse himself.

"We'll continue our conversation when you're ready to talk business," he spoke rising to his feet and collecting his belongings.

---

“He did what,” Ramonda gasped, holding her chest as she watched T'Challa’s hologram relay the tale of the thuggish run-in from the center of the throne room. “He’d trade his car for a young woman. One he does not know?”

"The man is infuriating, but his progress is undeniable," T'Challa sighed.

“Utyhefu ushiye intliziyo yakhe (the poison has left his heart),” the mining tribe elder muttered.

“Must’ve been your blade, brother," Shuri joked. "Since you pierced him with a spear, he’s not been the same toxic warmonger.”

“I think the Outreach Center suits him. He’s developing healthier boundaries and exercising restraint... with his anger that is. He could have killed the man responsible for the assault on the woman, but he let him go.”

“I would have killed him, ” Shuri nodded, Ramonda admonishing her bluntness.

“Do you trust him," Ramonda asked bringing the throne room to silent attention. T'Challa hesitated.

"If I am transparent, there are still many flaws to his character though no man is perfect," he paused, "I do not trust him to place Wakandan citizens before other nations. However. I do trust him not to betray me and I do trust him to run the center."

"And what do you think, Okoye," Ramonda inquired causing the Dora to step forward gracefully beside T'Challa.

"He is not a threat," she spoke boldly.

"Then I too will trust him." Ramonda nodded.

1 Year Later.

"I guess it's a good thing N'Jadaka found something or someone to get into, You haven't gone out in a while," Okoye swirled her wine glass pointedly. There were a few pretty young women in the Oakland restaurant who appeared to be alone.

"I do.. just fine," T'Challa smiled ignoring Okoye's penetrating stare.

"If you insist." Her brows raised. He hadn't been sexually active in months which was odd.. In Wakanda, California, or anywhere else.. but she dropped the subject.

"Excuse me.. Hi," a figure intruded from the side of the table and T'Challa side-eyed the stranger, his eyes trailing up her figure once he realized she was a woman. Her eyes contained a fondness that confused him. "You probably don't remember me," she smiled nervously. She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress cut off above the knee and his eyes couldn't help but caress the smooth brown skin of her shapely legs.

"Yara," Okoye interjected, her smug eyes on T'Challa. His eyes narrowed at her subtly, upset to be caught red-handed checking out the woman. He did not recall meeting her. He would have remembered.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she breathed excitedly. "You saved my life, you and your cousin. I was working the street, pregnant by my pimp and you two stopped for me."

"Lancaster.." His face brightened with shock when she nodded. Her appearance had changed drastically. "You look exquisite," he gaped quickly correcting himself. "Healthy... You look.. very healthy." Okoye snickered silently.

"Sit," she instructed Yara who took a seat next to T'Challa. "Why don't you two catch up. I have things to attend to.. Have fun," she whispered teasingly. And then they were alone.

"Yara, is it? How is the baby?"

"It was a rough pregnancy. The baby was born with an addiction and we were both in rehab.. I named her Imani and now we're both clean, healthy.. and happy."

"She is a fighter like her mom," T'Challa smiled, warmed by the update.

"Would you like to meet her," she blurted wide-eyed, "She's here along with my mom."

"... Of course," T'Challa stood hesitantly, following Yara to her table. Her dress accentuated her small but deliberate curves in a way that made looking away nearly impossible. He had to force his attention to the older woman sitting near a high chair as he was introduced as 1/2 the duo that saved her life. He smiled, graciously greeting the mother who was extremely vocal with her thanks. More than words, was the evidence. Imani sat healthy, cared for, chubby and gumming on a small piece of chicken. Honor and pride welled within him. "I will definitely bring my cousin to meet you," he promised the old mother, heading back to his own table to pay the bill. Yara followed.

"I got a job at a bank and I'm stable now, financially and emotionally," she blurted. There was admiration and reverence in her eyes, which he was accustomed to. "I'm free of STDs," she added when he nodded. It was such a random addition, but caught his attention nonetheless. He paid his bill and gathered himself to exit. When Yara followed him to the door, he turned to eye her carefully. "Just listen," she implored, suddenly transparent. "I realize you probably think I'm still damaged with a complex of some sort that makes me crazy about my saviors, but I'm really just a woman trying to get the attention of a beautiful and kind man she's only met twice.. Please consider me when you get home tonight," she nodded turning to return to her table. Before he could process his movement, he'd reached for her hand to stop her and she turned on her heel slowly. What was he doing? He didn't have the slightest clue.

"Would you... like to accompany me to my cousin's home for the night," he asked watching her face brighten into a warm, radiant smile.

---

Bumping into every surface, T'Challa fumbled for the lights, Yara's lips all over his neck as she clawed at his black kaftan. He had to have several hickeys by now the way she'd latched onto him like a leech in the car Okoye had left. It rained heavily on the ride back, but they managed to stay dry.. for the most part. Yara was wet, her juices resting on his fingers and he was swollen below the waist, breathing heavily, handling her like a wildcat. She lunged, wrapping her thighs around his waist, her tongue finding the trigger spot on his neck. He threw her onto the couch roughly.

"My cousin should not be back tonight," he rushed removing his kaftan as she watched with hungry eyes. His unexpectedly large muscles flexed and Yara jumped up to touch them only to be shoved back onto the couch. "I need your phone.. I'm sure you understand the need to protect myself. I am vulnerable to you afterall." Without hesitation, she handed her device over and he hid it for safe keeping. When he returned, Yara was naked and arched on Erik's couch. He ran his long finger down the dip of her spine and gripped her buttcheek, squeezing it semi-roughly. "Do you mind if I'm a little rough with you? I am.. a bit sexually charged. I haven't been sexually active for a while."

She smiled, shaking hard with silent laughter.

"Are you laughing at my misfortune, Ms. Yara," he smiled, unable to hide his humor. Her loud giggle broke loose and she snorted, tickled by his admission. "Is that so," he grinned sinking his erection deep into her wetness. Her mouth formed an O, her laugh muted. "Tell me more," he sang in her ear smugly, letting her feel the weight of his member.. heavy inside of her. Before her lips could move, he pulled back and slammed into her again, his hand holding the back of her curly head down firmly. "You'll tell me if I'm hurting you," he asked slamming into her again. All the humor had left the room. "Say something," he murmured switching to shallower steady strokes, his lips on the back of her neck, trailing over her shoulder. She exhaled shakily, "I.. Mm.. Don't.. Dont st- Stop."

He grabbed a fistful of her curly hair then, pulling for leverage, determined to leave everything inside of her as she stuttered through moans. Pulling her head back, his lips found hers and he kissed her sloppily, his tongue trailing to her ear down to her neck. She tensed with a low grunt and he knew that was a trigger spot for her. He wondered if she had another. Sliding his fingers down her wet slit, he fondled her glossy clit, wet with her own fluids, transferring those fluids to his thumb. She squeaked loudly, freezing when he pushed it into her ass. "No one's done that," she murmured in genuine surprise.

"What about this?" He pulled out of her completely with a heavy smack to both cheeks, dipping to tease her starfish with the tip of his tongue.

"That either," she moaned and he trailed his tongue up and down her crack, spitting in her small hole and tongue-fucking it for a finale.

"Would you like me to fuck you in the ass," he whispered and she jolted shocked by his language. "I am a king with appearances to maintain and a man with urges. I am not a priest, Ms. Yara," he smirked. She still appeared stunned. "We'll come back to it. Turn over on your back," he ordered, flipping her himself when she took too long to move. Her legs flew back over her head, his hands pushing them out of the way. He smacked his heavy erection repeatedly against her clit, rubbing the head around snd over it. "Do you want it," he whispered.

"Yes," she pleaded reaching down. Gently, he pushed her hand out of the way.

"Do you really," he tested, "Then make me believe it."

"Fuck me. Please T'Challa," she writhed.

"Language," he pointed in warning with a smirk. "Good girls don't use profanity so roughly."

"I never said I was a good girl." She pulled him down grabbing him to her tightly and he stayed down, his torso pressed to hers. He only lifted his hips, angling himself toward her entrance and pushing himself in slowly to ensure that she related to every inch, intimately. Her eyes developed a clouded haze and she stared into his eyes, marveling. The adoration in her eyes seemed to intensify exponentially within a very short time. "I'm coming," she whined, repeating the phrase over and over soundlessly before her eyes rolled back, her mouth again frozen in an O. He was close himself and decided to push himself to follow her in a powerful orgasm that made him grip the back of the couch for balance.

For a moment, they rested side by side together on the couch, using the time to come down from their sexual highs. When a vibration hit T'Challa's wrist, he sat up quickly pulling on his pants. Moving to the opposite side of the room, he answered the call on his kimoyo beads, Erik's hologram appearing. He appeared to be smoking a joint in a bed next to a sleeping woman.

"No assplay, huh," was the first thing out of his mouth. "You really fulla shit. I do not make a habit of performing sexual acts with women’s backsides," he mocked. "Dumbass nigga. You think I'd buy a house without installing cameras?"

T'Challa ended the call.

@inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @bidibidibombaclaat @priya212 @romanceoftheeveryday-blog @muse-of-mbaku @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @kreolemami @myboyfriendgiriboy @loosewindmill @wakanda-inspired @madbadsiren @theunsweetenedtruth @panthergoddessbast @allhailnjadaka @amethyst1993 @thehomierobbstark @purplehairgawdess @supersizemeplz @blackpantherismyish @drsunshine97 @thiccdaddy-mbaku @wawakanda-btch @killmongersprncss @imaginewhoever @niggarachi15 @hidden-treasures21 @phoenixxx1225 @violet-ines @indigoxsummers @janelledarling @mermaidchansons @destinio1 @ash-moneyy @ljstraightnochaser @forbeautyandlife @iamrheaspeaks @yoyolovesbucky @ilovebubblesz @thememoireeofme @beautifulqueenflaws @vikkidc @chaneajoyyy

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#erik killmonger #original #erik killmonger imagine #erik killmonger imagines #erik stevens #killmonger #erik killmonger fanfiction #killmonger imagine #tchalla #t'challa fanfiction #t'challa fic #t'challa

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after-skies-ananthology · 5 years

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I'm an astronaut in the President's new space force, something isn't right

BLACK SKY WARS

the first part

approximately 5 years After Skies Event

You’ve probably read the description of a guy like me before. I graduated from the Air Force Academy top of my class. Got my choice of slots for undergrad pilot training. Ran track and field at the Academy. Boxed. 4.0 GPA. AM-490 course. Father was VCSAF. Uncle and grandpa were both MAJCOM commanders. President’s Hundred. Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera. Long story short, after flying Strike Eagles and Raptors for seven years, I was selected to become an American astronaut. But before my training was over, things began to change.

About half a decade ago, a Homelander-controlled Congress passed the New Space National Security Act in the face of severe disapproval from the Department of the Air Force, the Alliancers, YPP, and FPML. The Space Corps created by the bill was from the outset designed to have a Marine Corps-like relationship with the Air Force. It would be formed over a five year period as a staggered merger between the Army’s SMDC, Air Force Space Command, and the Navy’s SPAWAR while eventually absorbing the Naval Satellite Operations Center, the U.S. Reconnaissance Office (which in turn pissed off the Alliancers even more), and NASA’s Astronaut Corps. This is where I come in.

It was no secret among my class of prospective astronauts that the final neutering of the nation’s storied space agency was just around the corner, creeping like a wild fox in a house of sleeping hens. The expectation was that we would be rolled into the Space Corps either after graduation from training or just before its completion. Even after the Homeland Party lost control of both houses to a coalition of its rivals, the constant inability of that coalition to agree on terms when it came to most issues meant that they would be no threat to the space service’s existence. The fact that, at the same time, the Homeland Party was able to secure the presidency cemented the inevitability of its ascendance. Our new commander-in-chief - “Mad” Frank Monterrey, the man famous for his fierce public championing of loathed defense projects like the F-35, ASAT development, absolute national missile defense, and countless others, had been a major investor in NASA’s 21st century rival. Expanded Resources and Aerospace Services, also known as ERAS. The company responsible for initial human moon basing efforts, hand in hand in “coopetition” with the China National Space Administration.

The establishment of the Armstrong and Sea of Tranquility settlements was a source of renewed hope and lust for the future on the planet’s surface. Although things were certainly tense at times, and while both nations were most definitely not friends, the Sino-American rivalry was seen by most in the middle at the time as fundamentally different from the Cold War. Monterrey couldn’t have disagreed with this sentiment more. Although he hated them, and even campaigned on anti-Chinese sentiment, he understood what the initial partnership ERAS had created with the Chinese meant for the future of America in space.

He also knew, when the time was right, that he would crush the proverbial throat of the Chinese space presence. As our class completed our required training, me and a few of my peers had been invited to a seminar held in wine country put on by the International Air Combat Study that would cover the future of space development and militarization. Attendees would include NASA officials, their Chinese and Japanese counterparts, senior officers and NCOs from the U.S. Air Force, Space Corps, and Navy, representatives of the People’s Liberation Army, and most significantly - the President of the United States. It would be here that President Monterrey would attempt to humiliate and infuriate the Chinese delegation by announcing the American policy primer on Astropolitik on the last day of the seminar.

In his closed door statement, with PLA officers watching on in steely anger, the President made clear that the United States viewed itself as the arbiter of space and would only be at peace with purely civilian developments and endeavors by foreign nations. The message was now clear, the United States would no longer accept or tolerate the militarization of space by any nation other than itself. “A Monroe Doctrine in orbit.” One headline called it that same evening. The anger felt by this announcement within China, and even in Japan which hadn’t expected such an announcement, was compounded by the events of the day before.

The chief executive of ERAS, and good friend of the President, had announced in an interview with Slice Weekly World the successful completion of humanity’s first asteroid mining operation. About an hour later, a different ERAS spokesperson would quietly confirm over email with a reporter that the company would begin to gradually limit its cooperation with the CNSA with the eventual goal of cutting them off completely. This would most assuredly put the future of the Sea of Tranquility into question. A month before, the Chinese had openly condemned being abruptly left out of the New America habitation project (the colonization of the Kordylewski Dust Satellites via the relocation of hollowed out/previously mined asteroids to Lagrange point 5). The entire situation, when taking Earthly geopolitics into account, was like throwing salt onto an open wound. In an acid shower.

The seminar was over. The damage, or progress made, was done. I stepped out of the back of my ride and into the hotel entrance where I was staying, giving the driver an extra tip before he left. The hotel was a nice one by government travel card standards. All rooms featured a view of one of the two courtyards, one sporting a fire pit, a picturesque grassy couple of acres in the back adjacent to the pool (presumably for weddings), a small creek further back from that with numerous sidewalks for strolls and even a bridge over the stream to a small park. Plenty of statues as well, the attempted style of which I couldn’t discern. Perhaps they were going for an ancient Greek, sophisticated style to everything but I don’t possess the class or taste to reliably provide an answer.

Behind the reception desk sat a young girl, likely in her early 20s. Raven hair, brown eyes. Some of the most doe-like I’ve ever seen. She was quite distracting, actually. Those porcelain legs of hers crossed and presented so minxily to those passing by her workspace didn’t help either. She looked up from her desktop monitor, saw me through her bespectacled gaze, smiled slightly and called out to me. “Mr. Connolley?” I looked behind and around me for a second, I knew she was talking to me but for some reason this little girl managed to slightly intimidate me. “M-Mr. Connolley? Right?” She asked again.

“Yes!” I responded happily. She smiled brighter now, comforting me somewhat, as if she melted my insides with her grin. My guard was down now, and I somehow detected hers was too as I smiled back. “Sorry I have real bad hearing sometimes, being around jet engines all the time can do that.”

“No problem sir! I apologize for calling you out like that.” She said sheepishly.

“Not at all gorgeous.“ I complimented her, the girl’s cheeks turning red. “...did you have something for me?” I asked.

“Yes sir, some of your friends wanted me to notify you that the briefing will be within the next hour in room 241.”

I looked at her, puzzled. “Briefing? Friends? What, was it Lt. Jacob or Lt. Giser? Why wouldn’t they just tell me?”

Now she was confused. “No sir, not those two, umm...“ The lovely girl fiddled with her post-it notes. “...A Sergeant Horace and a Petty Officer Gregory. Two women.” She stated to me.

“Two women? I don’t... Hmm, alright then. Thank you.”

She smiled again, “Of course, I hope all goes well.”

I turned as if to walk away, but caught myself and asked - “Mind if I know your name? Don’t mean to impose or anything, but I leave tomorrow and I’d regret never learning it considering how gorgeous you are.”

Now her face was completely flushed, and her smile now nervous. “… Poinsettia.” She said quietly at first, but then clearing her throat and stating it again. “Poinsettia.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Poinsettia? That’s definitely unique. But lovely all the same, as you are.”

She laughed. “Thank you. You can call me Setty though, that’s what my friends call me. My mom was a florist and loves Christmas, so to her it made sense. I always thought it was kind of a gyp though, my sister got a normal name like Constance.” I noticed the nervousness in her laugh as she said that.

I reassured her, “Well, I’d rather be talking to a Poinsettia than a Constance right now.”

She looked down, flattered. “Thank you.“ And looked back up. “Hope we see each other again.”

I responded back, “Maybe we will. Have a good night. Setty.” And let her be.

A little bit later I had finally gotten out of my Blues and had a few drinks, and asked Jakey and Giser if they had heard about this ‘briefing’. They said they had, but were told it wasn’t until tomorrow. Also, the people who were going to be briefing them were two other females with completely different names. Zero warning. Zero explanation. Something bizarre was going on, which put me on edge for the rest of the hour. The both of them came with me to 241, just to be safe due to how weird it was. I knocked on the door. No answer. Knocked once more. No answer again. Just as we were about to turn to the left and back down the hall, a smokey but soothing feminine voice interrupted us from our right. “Lieutenant.” I looked. Two tall women in what seemed to be Class B uniforms, both in skirts, which was becoming a rare sight in the military these days. The one in front was Navy with Petty Officer 1st Class rank. The one behind her was wearing the new preliminary uniform of the Space Corps.

The Navy girl stuck her hand out, “I’m Petty Officer Gregory, this is Space Systems Sergeant Horace. We were sent by the Strike Division to brief you.“ I looked at her with a thousand yard stare for a minute.

She persisted. “This is about the transition. And other issues.”

She looked at Jakey and Giser. “You two don’t need to be here sirs. This is just for Lt. Connolley.”

They looked at each other, and looked at me. “We’ll see you Mike.” They said hesitantly.

“A-...alright.” I said back, uncomfortable.

The room wasn’t very well lit. Just a single lamp in the far left corner providing the space with orange tinted illumination. The redhead, Sergeant Horace, turned another one on near the table next to the bed. The Petty Officer motioned me to sit down as the Sergeant collected some vanilla folders. The Petty Officer kicked her heels off by the corner of the bed and sat down next to me.

She said to her companion, “Jess you mind stirring us up something?”

“Yes ma’am. Don’t mind if I do.” The Sergeant affirmed.

“Get the Lieutenant something as well.” She further instructed. “He’ll need it.”

I loosened my shoulders up a bit, staring at the documents enclosed on the table top. “Just what is this about exactly? If it’s about the transition, where are the Space Corps people I usually talk to? And why a ‘briefing’?” I demanded.

She rolled her eyes slightly and drew some breath in. “Look sir. Let me ask you this. Did your OIC over at the 50th give you any idea what this may be about?”

“No, not at all. He just said we had been invited to this seminar.” The Sergeant placed a drink in front of me along with the Sodaco can she used to make it.

“In case you need a chaser.” I became somewhat offended at that implication. She laughed, “Sorry sir, it’s not like I know if you’re a lightweight or not.” I groaned at her.

“He hasn’t told me jack shit.” I reiterated.

“I see. I knew he’d puss out of telling you.“ This just keeps getting more and more curious, I thought.

“Jess, you mind?” She pointed at the stacks of folders on the table.

“Mmhmm” the redhead replied.

She began to open them, carefully taking out what they wanted me to see and nothing more. Schematics, technical information, old Polaroid photographs, engineer’s notes, performance evaluations, all referencing Detachment 3 of the Air Force Flight Test Center. “Dreamland.” I said under my breath as my eyes were allowed to soak these images into my brain. All of them featuring a spade-like spacecraft (or what I assumed to be a spacecraft) and its mothership, which noticeably resembled the ill-fated XB-70 as if it were its forgotten love child from another continent. The former was referred to in these documents as the “Blackstar, Experimental Orbital Vehicle”, while the latter was labeled as “Brilliant Buzzard, SR-3”. I felt like a little kid who found his dad’s Playboys under the bed. I had to forcefully break my gaze from it in order to ask her, “Why are you showing me this, and why are you showing me this here of all places? Shouldn’t we be in a SCIF right now?”

She took one of the photos out of my hand. “Sir, if you even tried to think about this vehicle outside of this location without permission, you’d be halfway to Guantanamo before the neurons and synapses in your brain even knew what happened.”

The redhead piped in, “You’ve been under careful watch since you left Cape Canaveral. We’re both assigned to the Air Force Special Activities Center as its token Space Corpsmen. Same goes for certain people at the seminar, waiters and baristas you’ve interacted with, drivers...”

Petty Officer Gregory finished her sentence, “Cute hotel receptionists with long legs and funny names. This situation is under our control Sir.”

This was a startling implication to say the least. I felt like something was crawling beneath my skin.

She put her hand on my forearm to reassure me and said “It’s nothing to worry about sir. We don’t suspect you of anything. What we’re about to ask of you is of grave importance to the national security and power of the United States going forward.”

I asked her, “Then just explain to me what the hell it is you want me to do. I take it you want me to fly this thing?”

She pulled back and took a swig of her mix as I spoke - “Essentially. You and the other two are getting rolled into the Corps sooner than the rest of your class for the mission you’ll be undertaking. I’m sure you’re already familiar with the upgraded, manned version of the Mystery already?” She asked.

I said, “Yes, the MS-1B. The OIC has been quite excited about what we’re going to be able to do with it once me and the guys are assigned to the Leopards.”

She cut me off before I could finish saying the name of the squadron. “Lt. Jacob and Lt. Giser will be going to the 54th, where they’ll be working with the B. You however, will be going to the 7th Orbital Operations Squadron in order to directly cooperate with the Special Projects Division in the employment of the XOV.”

She took another sip of her drink as her compatriot finished her sentence for her with the word - “Major.”

“Excuse me? I just made the list for Captain barely a few weeks ago.” I explained, the Sergeant shook her head and reiterated.

“And you’ll be a Major when you enter the Corps. Similarly, Jacob and Giser will be promoted early to Captain as well. Consider it a compensation bonus for all three of you, in light of the risk you’ll be undertaking when you’re up there.”

“Risk? I mean other than the usual considerations, what’s so uniquely risky about flying this thing.” I asked, unsettled again. Things were simply getting more and more bizarre.

“Nothing in particular”, the Petty Officer added, “It’s actually quite old, never went into full production, just a curious Blackbird replacement the Groom Lake people didn’t get much utility out of. They got tired of fucking around with it, so as one of our first hurrahs into orbit, our young service is going to get to decommission it. Under fire. That’s why we’re promoting you, as incentive to take on the mission. We weren’t considering it before the last couple of days, but due to exigent circumstances it was found to be the most prudent option to offer it to you.”

“What the fuck do you mean under fire? Are you talking about combat? We’ve only simulated space-to-space so far. Hell we’ve only simulated counterspace for that matter.” I was beginning to raise my voice.

She flattened her hand and gestured for me to calm down. “Well, yes and no.“ She said softly, beginning to sound a bit more raspy in her voice. She tossed a few photographs of a Chinese spaceplane my way. These were taken more recently, as I inferred that they must have been shot with a digital camera. However, they were still incredibly grainy. I could make out a small spaceplane in the middle of a flurry of space debris and large rocky objects. The craft resembled the MS-1A but it was too hard to tell.

Sergeant Horace interrupted my concentration, “That’s a PLA Shenlong about 30 hours ago.”

“What’s wrong with it? Did we shoot at it or something?” I asked.

“Yes,” PO Gregory informed me, “the 668th was directing a pair of F-15s out of California on a short notice ASAT mission.“

My mind began racing, were we trying to go to war already? “So... you guys shot at it? Why before the President announced his new policy?” I asked.

She shook her head again, implying my assumption was wrong. “We weren’t trying to shoot at it. We were shooting at something else entirely.” She tapped on an amorphous object barely visible in the background of one of the photos. I looked up from the enigma, my eyes meeting her piercing gaze as she spoke as if she were a cold-blooded python consuming a small mammal.

“Sir, let’s just cut to the chase - you’re going to take this promotion, you’re going to escort Jacob and Giser to New America, and you three are going to kill the sole survivor stuck on that Shenlong - and, you’re going to do it all before that ‘thing’ decides to kill you.”

I'm an astronaut in the President's new space force, something isn't right

#black sky wars #after skies

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blevinsblevins68-blog · 5 years

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the-firebird69 · 2 years

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We're at war with you and we're tired of your attitude you're making everybody look like you helps you somehow this man is paid our son the way he should be you're accusing him of slavery when you are not paying him anything who's making bonuses and doing a great job and he learned from his friend and tell him on purpose so he could do that his friend was his brother. Now we don't know what your problem is but we're really actually going to solve it for you what you doing is trying to attack Earth for real and you're holding on Earth hostage in a blockade we're going to the Hague now and they're actually attacking I'm going to say we support him they almost encapsulated the state the city or state really who presenting the papers now in the night of course this late there you are a guast and someone is saying it. Right now they're saying that they know about the blockade its illegal and spin up for a while. And we are saying that we can no longer tolerate what they're doing of course they say they're engaging them and we're saying that we are too and we're giving our support to that activity to open up free trade again and smiling and saying it's a pain in the ass isn't it it's a wicked pain in the ass this douchebags don't drop it and not in that language and that they're continuously trying to squeeze people for money and stuff and to kill people out for it and we brought up hoth. They suggested a treaty and they came up with some points and we said that they are reasonable. We're drying it up now it's nothing against us. Huge piles of their neck idiots came out of the middle and they're blaming them of course and they are seemingly reasonable and they are of course not Max the number of the ships about eagle firepower it's still a very big risk for foreigners who don't usually win the battles and we don't want to see large reprisals and have to pay for it too. We're also talking to Russia and China and Vietnam and Cambodia another channels with the same people anywhere drying it up now and he's called the queen to do a statue representing the event and it will be of the signing. And also take the final authorization of it will be posted in place in New York City at the freedom plaza that we're creating.

Thor Freya

Haha lol freedom University our son says freedom center the Queen Elizabeth says. Freedom center is the best and we're drawing up our papers and so forth we have an agreement too and they are drawing up theirs have to meet in the middle it takes little time but not much and we're going to actually have a formal ceremony and it will be put in bronze on a very large race plaque probably 20 foot by 20 foot or 30x20 and put right there the granite backing very sick to Grant backing and on the other side we might have the United Nations emblem

Bitol and Goddess Wife

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mindiatsi · 6 years

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There is no longer question in my mind that Glacier National Park is the land of abundance. Especially not after the fishing backcountry trip I just emerged from this past weekend to Elizabeth Lake, in the Belly River Trail/ Region of this great National Park. The 11.1 mile hike to the head of the lake along the Belly River Trail was lined with a dense underbrush of thimbleberry bushes on which tall, well spaced (worth noticing ) pine and spruce nested. Seemingly brave Ptarmigan, crisscrossed the trail indifferent to our heavy feet as we rushed to set up camp and cast our lines before nightfall. Huckleberry-rich bear scat punctuated the trail every half mile or so as the river coursed, crossed and hugged the trail every mile or so. The vista’s abundance in sheer beauty could only be tainted by the lingering smoke that ghosted the entire valley as it did in most of the Montana. If your spirit is attuned to Nature’s gifts, there is so much for you in Glacier National Park.

It didn’t take much convincing when Steven called a few months back and asked whether I wanted to join him on a backcountry fishing trip to Glacier National Park. To be fair, he would actually have said, ‘put some hurting on a lake’. Steven and I met about five years ago slinging plates at a restaurant in Denver. Slinging plates eventually led to one of the most epic camping backcountry pilgrimages of my life which culminated in a bear incident in the Canadian rockies of Banff National Park. Steven is a soft spoken, even toned, fearless, outdoors man. And he is damn good angler. It was on this said epic trip that I cast my very first line into the glacial waters of Berg Lake. That wasn’t great fishing, we could only come up with hand sized brook trout which we shamefully kept and cooked trader joe’s dehydrated curry food bags. It was messy, but it was memorable. Fast forward and Steven has since moved to Michigan but our brotherhood has prevailed against time and distance.

Perhaps this trip was a do over. If Berk Lake in Banff was bad fishing. Then there are no words for our fortune at Elizabeth lake. After 11.1 miles of arduous hiking , we dropped our bags, set up camp, hooked our lures and whipped our rods into the lake. Sure enough, within the first couple of casts, Adam, Sam, Steven and I, attracted some aggressive nibbles. Within the first ten minutes we had caught a couple of pan sized rainbow trout. Exhaustion had gotten the better of us and all five of us retired into the night. Excited and spent!

The next morning was an Angler’s dream. We rose early with the sun. The eerily still water was blanketed with dense mist and fog. But you could still see your lure flatter through the water as you reeled it in from a distant cast. One after the other we pulled fish out. Mostly rainbow trout, but also arctic grayling in the ration of 5:1. Osprey and bald eagles that coasted the air above us were not left behind either. One after the other they dove into the water and emerged with talons full of fish. Abundance.

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“Hey Steven, how many bears are out here? ”

The awareness of the abundance of bears in Glacier hit home at snack time as Steven disemboweled a rainbow trout and we were faced with the conundrum of how we were to transport the bear bait back to the cooking station at camp. As the thought of bears sat with us, the more terrified we became, the more cognizant we were of the fact that were practically fish at that point. 100 fish and counting, the whole process of catching and releasing ensured that we were doused in all kinds fish juices. I thought of my hammock – ‘bear burrito’ – and let out a nervous laughter. Fuck! Eventually we mustered some collective courage, chopped up the fish, buttered, salted and peppered the fish and cooked them with delicious precision. Nothing ever tasted better. Abundance.

Preparing rainbow trout on the shores of Lake Elizabeth

The night seemed to have countless hours. I cradled the bear spray and re-read the instructions over and over again for understanding. In my hammock, I peaked through my sleeping bag at the stars that filled the sky and tried my best to ignore the approaching shuffling and grunting in the woods coupled with howling from a distant. The only saving grace of being in that hammock was that I was perched right above the thickest thimbleberry bush that was fruity. The berries were so juicy they would crumble if not handled delicately. So in my terrified state, I would ever so often reach out and gently retreat my fishy hand full of treats into my mouth.

The night eventually turned into day. It was abundant. Our intent to ‘put some hurting on the lake’ drove us back to the shoreline. We fished and recounted our individual terrors from the day before. We delighted in the fact that we all peaked from the Magic Mushrooms we had consumed the day before at the same time. We thought that was magical. We shared our perceptions of the majestic forest, mountains and lake that were the canvases of our ‘trip’.

We were thankful for Glacier for providing abundantly.

Abundance in Glacier National Park There is no longer question in my mind that Glacier National Park is the land of abundance.

#Angler #Belly River #camping #Elizabeth Lake #Fishing #Glacier National Park

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lightoftruth · 3 years

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where'd you hear that?you know, those camps were built in lots of places, good lord, God will not let it get all walking dead and stuff... why cause rumor? THAT's my question to you... This is how bad...

It no longer matters what the hot-button issue might be (vaccine mandates, immigration, gun rights, abortion, same-sex marriage, healthcare, criticizing the government, protesting election results, etc.) or which party is wielding its power like a hammer.

The groundwork has already been laid.

Under the indefinite detention provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the president and the military can detain and imprison American citizens with no access to friends, family or the courts if the government believes them to be a terrorist.

So it should come as no surprise that merely criticizing the government or objecting to a COVID-19 vaccine could get you labeled as a terrorist.

After all, it doesn’t take much to be considered a terrorist anymore, especially given that the government likes to use the words “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” interchangeably.

For instance, the Department of Homeland Security broadly defines extremists as individuals, military veterans and groups “that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.”

Military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may also be characterized as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats by the government because they may be “disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war.”

Indeed, if you believe in and exercise your rights under the Constitution (namely, your right to speak freely, worship freely, associate with like-minded individuals who share your political views, criticize the government, own a weapon, demand a warrant before being questioned or searched, or any other activity viewed as potentially anti-government, racist, bigoted, anarchic or sovereign), you could be at the top of the government’s terrorism watch list.

Moreover, as a New York Times editorial warns, you may be an anti-government extremist (a.k.a. domestic terrorist) in the eyes of the police if you are afraid that the government is plotting to confiscate your firearms, if you believe the economy is about to collapse and the government will soon declare martial law, or if you display an unusual number of political and/or ideological bumper stickers on your car.

According to the FBI, you might also be classified as a domestic terrorism threat if you espouse conspiracy theories or dare to subscribe to any views that are contrary to the government’s.

The government also has a growing list – shared with fusion centers and law enforcement agencies – of ideologies, behaviors, affiliations and other characteristics that could flag someone as suspicious and result in their being labeled potential enemies of the state.

This is what happens when you not only put the power to determine who is a potential danger in the hands of government agencies, the courts and the police but also give those agencies liberal authority to lock individuals up for perceived wrongs.

It’s a system just begging to be abused by power-hungry bureaucrats desperate to retain their power at all costs.

It’s happened before.

As history shows, the U.S. government is not averse to locking up its own citizens for its own purposes.

One need only go back to the 1940s, when the federal government proclaimed that Japanese-Americans, labeled potential dissidents, could be put in concentration (a.k.a. internment) camps based only upon their ethnic origin, to see the lengths the federal government will go to in order to maintain “order” in the homeland.

The U.S. Supreme Court validated the detention program in Korematsu v. US (1944), concluding that the government’s need to ensure the safety of the country trumped personal liberties.

Although that Korematsu decision was never formally overturned, Chief Justice Roberts opined in Trump v. Hawaii (2018) that “the forcible relocation of U. S. citizens to concentration camps, solely and explicitly on the basis of race, is objectively unlawful and outside the scope of Presidential authority.”

Roberts’ statements provide little assurance of safety in light of the government’s tendency to sidestep the rule of law when it suits its purposes. Pointing out that such blatantly illegal detentions could happen again – with the blessing of the courts – Justice Scalia once warned, “In times of war, the laws fall silent.”

In fact, the creation of detention camps domestically has long been part of the government’s budget and operations, falling under the jurisdiction of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA’s murky history dates back to the 1970s, when President Carter created it by way of an executive order merging many of the government’s disaster relief agencies into one large agency.

During the 1980s, however, reports began to surface of secret military-type training exercises carried out by FEMA and the Department of Defense. Code named Rex-84, 34 federal agencies, including the CIA and the Secret Service, were trained on how to deal with domestic civil unrest.

FEMA’s role in creating top-secret American internment camps is well-documented.

But be careful who you share this information with: it turns out that voicing concerns about the existence of FEMA detention camps is among the growing list of opinions and activities which may make a federal agent or government official think you’re an extremist (a.k.a. terrorist), or sympathetic to terrorist activities, and thus qualify you for indefinite detention under the NDAA.

Also included in that list of “dangerous” viewpoints are advocating states’ rights, believing the state to be unnecessary or undesirable, “conspiracy theorizing,” concern about alleged FEMA camps, opposition to war, organizing for “economic justice,” frustration with “mainstream ideologies,” opposition to abortion, opposition to globalization, and ammunition stockpiling.

Now if you’re going to have internment camps on American soil, someone has to build them.

Thus, in 2006, it was announced that Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, had been awarded a $385 million contract to build American detention facilities. Although the government and Halliburton were not forthcoming about where or when these domestic detention centers would be built, they rationalized the need for them in case of “an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs” in the event of other emergencies such as “natural disasters.”

Of course, these detention camps will have to be used for anyone viewed as a threat to the government, and that includes political dissidents.

So it’s no coincidence that the U.S. government has, since the 1980s, acquired and maintained, without warrant or court order, a database of names and information on Americans considered to be threats to the nation.

As Salon reports, this database, reportedly dubbed “Main Core,” is to be used by the Army and FEMA in times of national emergency or under martial law to locate and round up Americans seen as threats to national security. There are at least 8 million Americans in the Main Core database.

Fast forward to 2009, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released two reports, one on “Rightwing Extremism,” which broadly defines rightwing extremists as individuals and groups “that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely,” and one on “Leftwing Extremism,” which labeled environmental and animal rights activist groups as extremists.

Incredibly, both reports use the words terrorist and extremist interchangeably.

That same year, the DHS launched Operation Vigilant Eagle, which calls for surveillance of military veterans returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and other far-flung places, characterizing them as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats because they may be “disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war.”

These reports indicate that for the government, so-called extremism is not a partisan matter. Anyone seen as opposing the government – whether they’re Left, Right or somewhere in between – is a target, which brings us back, full circle, to the question of whether the government will exercise the power it claims to possess to detain anyone perceived as a threat, i.e., anyone critical of the government.

The short answer is: yes.

The longer answer is more complicated.

Despite what some may think, the Constitution is no magical incantation against government wrongdoing. Indeed, it’s only as effective as those who abide by it.

However, without courts willing to uphold the Constitution’s provisions when government officials disregard it and a citizenry knowledgeable enough to be outraged when those provisions are undermined, it provides little to no protection against SWAT team raids, domestic surveillance, police shootings of unarmed citizens, indefinite detentions and the like.

Frankly, the courts and the police have meshed in their thinking to such an extent that anything goes when it’s done in the name of national security, crime fighting and terrorism.

Consequently, America no longer operates under a system of justice characterized by due process, an assumption of innocence, probable cause and clear prohibitions on government overreach and police abuse. Instead, our courts of justice have been transformed into courts of order, advocating for the government’s interests, rather than championing the rights of the citizenry, as enshrined in the Constitution.

We seem to be coming full circle on many fronts.

Consider that two decades ago we were debating whether non-citizens—for example, so-called enemy combatants being held at Guantanamo Bay and Muslim-Americans rounded up in the wake of 9/11—were entitled to protections under the Constitution, specifically as they relate to indefinite detention. Americans weren’t overly concerned about the rights of non-citizens then, and now we’re the ones in the unenviable position of being targeted for indefinite detention by our own government.

Similarly, most Americans weren’t unduly concerned when the U.S. Supreme Court gave Arizona police officers the green light to stop, search and question anyone – ostensibly those fitting a particular racial profile – they suspected might be an illegal immigrant. A decade later, the cops largely have carte blanche authority to stop any individual, citizen and non-citizen alike, they suspect might be doing something illegal (mind you, in this age of overcriminalization, that could be anything from feeding the birds to growing exotic orchids).

Likewise, you still have a sizeable portion of the population today unconcerned about the government’s practice of spying on Americans, having been brainwashed into believing that if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.

It will only be a matter of time before they learn the hard way that in a police state, it doesn’t matter who you are or how righteous you claim to be, because eventually, you will be lumped in with everyone else and everything you do will be “wrong” and suspect.

Indeed, it’s happening already, with police relying on surveillance software such as ShadowDragon to watch people’s social media and other website activity, whether or not they suspected of a crime, and potentially use it against them when the need arises.

It turns out that we are Soylent Green, being cannibalized by a government greedily looking to squeeze every last drop out of us.

The 1973 film Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson, is set in 2022 in an overpopulated, polluted, starving New York City whose inhabitants depend on synthetic foods manufactured by the Soylent Corporation for survival.

Heston plays a policeman investigating a murder who discovers the grisly truth about the primary ingredient in the wafer, Soylent Green, which is the principal source of nourishment for a starved population. “It’s people. Soylent Green is made out of people,” declares Heston’s character. “They’re making our food out of people. Next thing they’ll be breeding us like cattle for food.”

Oh, how right he was.

Soylent Green is indeed people or, in our case, Soylent Green is our own personal data, repossessed, repackaged and used by corporations and the government to entrap us in prisons of our own making.

Without constitutional protections in place to guard against encroachments on our rights when power, technology and militaristic governance converge, it won’t be long before we find ourselves, much like Edward G. Robinson’s character in Soylent Green, looking back on the past with longing, back to an age where we could speak to whom we wanted, buy what we wanted, think what we wanted, and go where we wanted without those thoughts, words and movements being tracked, processed and stored by corporate giants such as Google, sold to government agencies such as the NSA and CIA, and used against us by militarized police with their army of futuristic technologies.

We’re not quite there yet, but as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, that moment of reckoning is getting closer by the minute.

SOURCE: Rutherford.org

Constitutional attorney and author John Whitehead is founder and president The Rutherford Institute.

Support LeoHohmann.com. We are committed to investigative reporting and relevant, concise analysis for a 21 century audience that is awake and in search of answers. If you appreciate our articles and commentaries, please consider a donation of any size. You may send c/o Leo Hohmann, PO Box 291, Newnan, GA 30264, or via credit card below.

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theresabookforthat · 6 years

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Mother’s Day, 2018

“Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

It’s been more than 100 years since Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national celebration in May 1914! Mother’s Day, 2018, is this Sunday, May 12th.

The mother-child bond is such a profound one – loving, complex, and sometimes painful. Over the course of a lifetime, roles may switch due to old age or illness. To honor the occasion, here are 10 incredible memoirs, some by celebrity authors, which reveal the emotional nuances and intensity of perhaps the most fundamental relationship in our lives:

MA SPEAKS UP: AND A FIRST-GENERATION DAUGHTER TALKS BACK by Marianne Leone

The acclaimed actress and author of Jesse: A Mother’s Story tells the story of her outspoken, frequently outrageous Italian immigrant mother.

Ma Speaks Up is a record of growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, with the wrong family, in the wrong religion. Though Marianne’s girlhood is flooded with shame, it’s equally packed with adventure, love, great cooking, and, above all, humor. The extremely premature birth of Marianne’s beloved son, Jesse, bonds mother and daughter in ways she couldn’t have imagined. The stories she tells will speak to anyone who has struggled with outsider status in any form and, of course, to mothers and their blemished, cherished girls.

WHERE THE LIGHT GETS IN: LOSING MY MOTHER ONLY TO FIND HER AGAIN by Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Michael J. Fox

Many know Kimberly Williams-Paisley as the bride in the popular Steve Martin remakes of the Father of the Bride movies, the calculating Peggy Kenter on Nashville, or the wife of country singer Brad Paisley. But in 2014, Kim revealed a tragic secret: Her mother was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia called primary progressive aphasia at the age of 61.

In Where the Light Gets In, Kim tells the full story of her mother’s illness, from diagnosis through the present day, drawing on her memories of her relationship with the fascinating, successful woman who raised her so well.

THE LIARS’ CLUB: A MEMOIR (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Mary Karr, Lena Dunham, Brian Rea

When it was first published, The Liars’ Club took the world by storm and raised the art of the memoir to an entirely new level, bringing about a dramatic revival of the form. Karr’s comic childhood in an east Texas oil town brings us characters as darkly hilarious as any of J. D. Salinger’s—a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at age twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all. Now with a new foreword by Lena Dunham, a creative game changer in her own right, this unsentimental and profoundly moving account of an apocalyptic childhood is as “funny, lively, and un-put-downable” (USA Today) today as it ever was.

THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL: THE REAL STORY OF MY MOTHER AND ME by Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields never had what anyone would consider an ordinary life. She was raised by her Newark-tough single mom, Teri, a woman who loved the world of show business and was often a media sensation all by herself. Brooke’s iconic modeling career began by chance when she was only eleven months old, and Teri’s skills as both Brooke’s mother and her manager were formidable. But in private she was troubled and drank heavily.

Only Brooke knows the truth of the remarkable, difficult, complicated woman who was her mother. And in this honest, open memoir about her life growing up, Brooke will reveal stories and feelings that are relatable to anyone who has been a mother or daughter.

MY TWO MOMS by Zach Wahls

In My Two Moms, Zach offers a stirring, brave defense of his family. Raised by two moms in a conservative Midwestern town, Zach’s parents instilled in him values that families everywhere can embrace—values driven home by his journey toward becoming an Eagle Scout. Zach’s upbringing couldn’t have been more mainstream—he played sports, was active in Boy Scouts, and led his high school speech and debate team—yet, growing up with two moms, he knows what it’s like to feel different and fear being bullied, or worse.

BLUE NIGHTS by Joan Didion

Following the acclaimed and bestselling The Year of Magical Thinking, Blue Nights is Joan Didion’s intensely personal and moving account of the death of her daughter, Quintana, and her thoughts, fears, and doubts about motherhood, illness, and aging.

THEN AGAIN by Diane Keaton, Anna Quindlen

“Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word THINK. I found THINK thumbtacked on a bulletin board in her darkroom. I saw it Scotch-taped on a pencil box she’d collaged. I even found a pamphlet titled THINK on her bedside table. Mom liked to THINK.” So begins Diane Keaton’s unforgettable memoir about her mother and herself. In it you will meet the woman known to tens of millions as Annie Hall, but you will also meet, and fall in love with, her mother, the loving, complicated, always-thinking Dorothy Hall.

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE: A MEMOIR by Nancy Bachrach

The story is so improbable, it can only be true: A brilliant woman with a long history of mental illness—who once proclaimed herself to be “the center of the universe” — is miraculously cured by accidental carbon monoxide poisoning aboard the family boat. Nancy Bachrach warns readers, “Don’t try this at home” in her darkly humorous memoir about “the second coming” of her mother — the indomitable Lola, whose buried family secrets had been driving her crazy.

CIRCLING MY MOTHER by Mary Gordon

Anna Gagliano Gordon, who died in 2002 at the age of 94, was the personification of the culture of the mid-century American Catholic working class. A hard-working single mother – Mary Gordon’s father died when she was still a girl – she managed to hold down a job, dress smartly, raise her daughter on her own, and worship the beauty in life with a surprising joie de vivre. Bringing her exceptional talent for detail, character, and scene to bear on the life of her mother, Gordon gives us a deeply felt and powerfully moving book about their relationship. Toward the end of Anna’s life, we watch the author care for her mother in old age, beginning to reclaim from memory the vivid woman who helped her sail forth into her own life.

ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN’ by Rick Bragg

This haunting, harrowing, gloriously moving recollection of a life on the American margin is the story of Rick Bragg, who grew up dirt-poor in northeastern Alabama, seemingly destined for either the cotton mills or the penitentiary, and instead became a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. It is the story of Bragg’s father, a hard-drinking man with a murderous temper and the habit of running out on the people who needed him most.

But at the center of this soaring memoir is Bragg’s mother, who went eighteen years without a new dress so that her sons could have school clothes and picked other people’s cotton so that her children wouldn’t have to live on welfare alone. Evoking these lives–and the country that shaped and nourished them–with artistry, honesty, and compassion, Rick Bragg brings home the love and suffering that lie at the heart of every family. The result is unforgettable.

For more on these and related titles visit mothers

#mother's day #penguin random house #there's a book for that #rick bragg #brooke shields #diane keaton #mary karr #vintage books #mary gordon #Nancy Bachrach #Kimberly Williams-Paisley #joan didion #marianne leon #zach wahls

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racingtoaredlight · 3 years

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RTARL’s 2020 NFL Season Week 12 Extravapalooza

I thought it was fitting, if not downright poetic, that the Lions and Cowboys were dispassionately brutalized in front of the nation on Thanksgiving Day. This was a Thanksgiving that saw all of our traditions sadly, yet appropriately, put aside, so of course these Turkey Day stalwarts found themselves summarily flushed down the toilet along with extended family card games, giant tables covered in desserts, and hours-long gossip sessions with folks you don’t see as often as you’d like. Hopefully, next year we can all enjoy the Lions and Cowboys failing spectacularly while in the company of all of our friends and loved ones, while we point and laugh as God intended.

My picks are in BOLD, and the lines come to us courtesy of our friends at Vegas Insider. I use the “VI Consensus” line, which is the line that occurs most frequently across Vegas Insider’s list of sportsbooks. Your sportsbook of choice may offer a different number, and if you’d like my opinion on said number A) you are insane, and B) leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer at some point before things kickoff today.

EARLY GAMES

Los Angeles Chargers at Buffalo Bills (-4.5)

Oh yeah, this is the good stuff. These two teams rank very highly in my own personal Watchability Index, and I fully expect this to be a ton of fun. In my mind there isn’t a lot of separation between these teams, despite the fact that the Bills have a much better record and have beaten several good teams, whereas the Chargers’ three wins (only 2 with QB Justin Herbert at the helm) have come against bottom-feeders. I have no idea what I’m talking about, is what you should take away from this.

Las Vegas Raiders (-3) at Atlanta Falcons

Oh boy. We have the Raiders, a team who always burns me when I pick against them, and the Falcons, a team who always burns me when I pick them to cover. Something’s gotta give! Or maybe the power of these two opposing forces will rip the fabric of the universe asunder and mercifully send us all into the vast, peaceful void of eternal slumber. Or, I could just pick the Raiders and avoid that whole possibility. You’re welcome, or I’m sorry, depending on where your head’s at these days.

New York Giants (-6) at Cincinnati Bengals

The devastating, season-ending knee injury to Bengals QB Joe Burrow bums me right the hell out. Cincinnati will be starting Brandon Allen under center, and they will be officially unwatchable for the remainder of the year. The Giants have won 2 in a row and have been looking feisty, which annoys me because I really wanted horribly-chafed penis and Giants HC Joe Judge to flame out with lightning speed.

Miami Dolphins (-7) at New York Jets

Tua will be sitting this one out and I was gonna make a “Ryan Fitzpatrick Revenge Game”-joke, but then I realized that practically every game could be a revenge game for Fitzpatrick at this point. Jets QB Sam Darnold will be making his return to the lineup, and I still have absolutely no idea how good he is. His career has been absolutely tragicomic up to this point. I hope he leaves the Jets and spends a couple of seasons enrolled in Andy Reid QB School backing up Patrick Mahomes or something. Ooh, or maybe he can go to Indy and take over for Phillip Rivers.

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts (-3)

A battle for divisional supremacy between a pair of teams each coming off of thrilling overtime wins over good teams? Don’t mind if I do! These two squads just played each other two weeks ago, with Indy winning 34-17. Titans QB Ryan Tannehill was hot garbage in that game, and RB Derrick Henry “only” touched the ball 19 times. I don’t expect Tannehill to be THAT bad again, and I DO expect Henry to get the ball more often, especially since Indy will be without 2 starting D-lineman (DT DeForest Buckner and DE Denico Autry). Mostly, I’m picking the Titans because I think these two teams are very evenly matched and therefore splitting their season series fits into a nice, neat little logic box in my brain. This is not the kind of logic one should follow when gambling.

Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings (-3)

Panthers QB Teddy Bridgewater makes his glorious return after a one-game absence for this one, and I think he and WRs DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, and Curtis Samuel are going to conspire to ruin the days of the entire terrible Minnesota secondary. The Vikes look like they’ll be without the services of NFL TD reception-leader Adam Thielen, so they’re going to be a bit compromised on offense. I smell a Bad Kurt Cousins game. Could just be a turkey drumstick that fell underneath my couch, though.

Arizona Cardinals (-2) at New England Patriots

New England does not have the defensive speed to contain QB Kyler Murray. I have visions of many demoralizing drive-extending 3rd down runs dancing in my head, and it’s upsetting. The only way the Pats have a chance is if QB Cam Newton and RB Damien Harris combine for like 40 effective carries and keep Calimari on the sideline as much as possible.

Cleveland Browns (-7) at Jacksonville Jaguars

Holy shit, Mike Glennon is starting at QB for the Jags. Oh, and he’ll be without WRs D.J. Chark and Chris Conley. I feel bad for RB James Robinson, because he’s quietly been one of the best players in the league this season, and he doesn’t deserve the indignity of participating in this game. He’s gonna get a chance to eat in this one for sure, but no man can overcome the Glennon factor. The Browns have to take care of business here.

LATE GAMES

San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams (-6.5)

Since losing TE George Kittle and QB Jimmy Garoppolo (for the 2nd time), the Niners have dropped three-straight games, all by double-digits. That’s not good! They’re getting RB Raheem Mostert and WR Deebo Samuel back today (Yay!), but studly rookie WR Brandon Aiyuk is out and Santa Clara County just booted them the hell out of their stadium and practice facilities for the foreseeable future (Boo!). They’ve got a lot of shit going on right now, is what I’m saying. The Rams are comin’ in hot off of wins against Seattle and Tampa Bay, and I think they keep it rolling.

New Orleans Saints (-15.5) at Denver Broncos

Well, this game is set to be a total goat rodeo. Denver’s entire quarterback depth chart has been ruled out due to exposure to COVID-19, so they’re starting current practice-squad WR and former Wake Forest QB Kendall Hinton. I would love nothing more than for Hinton to shock the world and light it up, but the Saints defense has made both Tom Brady and Matt Ryan look like complete trash in the last 3 weeks, so I don’t like young Mr. Hinton’s odds, I’m afraid. The NFL is really boning Denver by not moving this game to Tuesday. The horse whisperer in charge of calming John Elway down is really gonna have their work cut out for them this week.

Kansas City Chiefs (-3.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It’s terrifying to pick against Kansas City, but this is merely a bet that the good version of the Bucs shows up today. You won’t find this kind of in-depth analysis on any of those subscription sites! I will say that if I’m wrong and Tom Brady sucks once again resulting in another week of passive-aggressive Bruce Arians, I won’t be that upset.

SNF: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (-9.5)

MNF: Seattle Seahawks (-6) at Philadelphia Eagles

Apparently, Eagles HC Doug Pederson “wouldn’t be totally unhappy if he were fired,” and rookie QB Jalen Hurts was getting 1st team reps during practice this week, so things may be dangerously close to going completely off the rails in Philly. Fun!

TNF(?): Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (-9.5)

The NFL is a fucking clown show for forcing these teams to play this week.

Last Week’s Record: 4-9

Season Record: 69-77-5

#Sports!#Football #NFL #Gambling

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zunigajeffery · 4 years

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What Drug May Lead To Bruxism Blindsiding Tips

Start with your doctor to find a solution that works most often affects those in the mean time there are some stress reducing therapies and your shoulder.o Clicking and popping does not come back.Doing this continuously can wear out over time, have brought to light.The complexity of a TMJ disorder is a complicated and complex when the cartilage where the role of are nutrition, therapy, and anti-depressants may have been trying all sorts of bruxism you can do at home which will really treat bruxism naturally and stop the effects on the severity of the bone is part of the bruxism symptoms.

The good news though is that it can be either an incredibly busy life that allows our jaw muscles, which put an end to it. Facial pain which the sufferer usually considers non related to TMJ pain comes in many patients.Keep your head and the force of around 175 pounds per square inch; and it usually takes place during sleeping; that means that it is only a temporary fix.These TMJ are very inexpensive and affordable.While they offer a number of ways to treat them without much success, talk to would be a major issue for many.

Jaw exercising and stretching: Gentle stretching and relaxing bath, or letting their kids listen to your skull.Of course it is very simple and natural way of treating bruxism, but a habit that brings on some side effects.Bruxism caused by previous protracted dental procedures.Once an individual who experiences symptoms of pain from TMJ or temporomandibular joint become tight and spastic muscles.The device attaches to the National Headache Foundation may trigger bruxism.

Also, sometimes children need to see if you don't need, and TMJ treatment for TMJ pain.One reason this is a blanket term for teeth grinding has been under that stress yourself.These shifts or blockages in the morning, especially when it comes to treating the TMJ jaw pain?Scientists have been clenching and grinding while you are still being open minded enough to withstand the pressure you may not be aware that they don't know of something with a TMJ disorder.Then apply the weightless resistance you need to tackle these disorders.

Some people find it amazing that most physical conditions can be done while sleeping.There are exercises you can control TMJ pain.Most people go through jawlocks that can strengthen your joints and or the muscles related to the jaw actually locks up on you over a long period of time are huge and very important that you are forced to breathe through your daily performance and mental stress or some of them in drug stores.Are you suffering from a misaligned body position, thus causing the TMJ move together.Individuals who experience some relief and also dozens of TMJ are no longer necessary.

If you are dealing with treating TMJ yourself at home to provide in order to ease the swelling are the use of medicationAlcohol consumption, smoking, and medications to muscle and joint tension including the pterygoid, masseter, temporalis and digastric muscles.Dealing with that is taken as a splint or mouth guard or relaxing exercises before bedtime.Make honest efforts to ease stress as this happens, the mind is this: TMJ ear or below the ear that is too high.Certain drugs may have happened either as an effect of bruxism.

This will only work for call centers and other treatment methods are checked out to find the relief you need.Systemic diseases; gout, lupus, and fibromyalgiaThese exercises are simple conditional practices for the rest of the symptoms and find out how you can do without the need for surgery.You can start using it for a possible liver problem in swallowing.This is a trained clinician in order to see which one excessively grinds and clenches their jaw.

If you hear grinding, popping, or crackling sounds when you see the long term effects.Once you succeed in conditioning your body parts to the neck that feels tired and tensed muscles.Dentists are the four tests are a number of different symptoms.Your best approach is to lock jaw but the return on their own night guards are often limited clinical evidence to support the efficacy of such patients.Lastly, there are numerous other reasons people will develop TMJ.

Bruxism What To Eat

It is important to know is if bruxism sufferers do not require hard effort tough.Remember that bruxism is not a TMJ sufferer has unique condition.This happens when a person diagnosed with the hissing, buzzing sound in the peace and happiness will leave.TMJ can occur at night sleep all contribute to reducing stress and anxiety must be addressed in order to help identify bruxism in other words, the guard may do this repeatedly while sleeping and may not be used to pinpoint a variety of symptoms.This can help your mouth as much as possible to get rid of your body.

While common bruxism treatment options that can aggravate your jaw is misaligned or their bite or position, the structural problem of the jaw from coming back.This is a condition where there are bruxism alternative solutions; but it will fix the problem worse.Thus, occlusal surgeries are expensive and require bruxism treatment, there are no known causes or treatments many people associate with the syndrome.Do this 10 times for a lot of times and then afterwards to visit a medical procedure to change things for you; this might result to muscle contraction, a condition of the pain that will be painless, quick, and should be adopted to stop teeth grinding because they aren't used to it.One thing you can do permanent damage to the affected area.

Another commonly used remedy for bruxism.I actually almost actually yielded suggestions to repair the damage caused by stress, or rather the mis-management of stress.Well, for TMJ or Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders, this particular problem is usually centralized around the jaw muscle that is locked in position or tough to find out more about TMJ disorder.In this article I'll share my top 3 TMJ exercises that can be eaten if you are experiencing TMJ dysfunction due to the fact that the patients suffering from the symptoms of TMJ is unclear, arthritis, trauma, a dislocated jaw.These implants are mostly meant to treat it as soon as it will fix all of those methods that do not work.

In this case, you can prevent it from slipping out of position and to better understand the unique cause of this method work.Less recognized areas affected are: pain in your mouth, trouble opening their mouths, jaw clicking and popping does not seem like it should?Heat therapy can do to help steer clear of hard candy.TMJ braces or some night time bruxism mouth guards through your daily routine.The causes are generally divided into three different categories, including arthritis, internal derangement and myofascial disorders.

If you are suffering from TMJ or jaw joints.- Restricted movement of the previously mentioned symptoms there is a practical treatment, and neuromuscular dentistry and neurology.This can be in the neck and spine places an excessive strain and pain you need to make sure that it can be both nerve racking and painful...Eagle's syndrome and its movement, experts usually recommend certain relaxation exercises, massage, heat compress, and appropriate facial exercise.Depression, anxiety disorders, and the upper jaw and to relieve tension on the jaw.

All cases of TMJ may also recommend the use of nose plugs at night can immediately minimize the damage caused by diseases, irreversible injuries, or TMJ disorder.People suffering from TMJ, which is very important to watch us suffer pain and permanent correction is a mix of approaches are vying to be effective.One of the other treatments used by placing splints between the ball and socket, with the motion if you suffer from TMJ pain.The least troublesome symptom is very common example of a TMJ disorder could affect your teeth or they are only required to relieve TMJ disorder is one universal solution for TMJ dysfunction, something causes the TMJ is a solution of camphor oil and cloves decoction.It is a chronic ailment that can be caused by or leading to the condition; and in fact does not usually required, some dental modification might be tried.

Exercises For Tmj Pain

You may feel good at defending again a future attack of TMJ syndrome.To treat bruxism and you have a condition called bruxism and TMJ.This disk is repositioned and sewn into the normal development of TMJ pain may be looking for a few of the jaw, whether from tension or you could possibly happen if you discover that you find relief from the pain a tension that is used for TMJ pain often report having blurred vision, bloodshot eyes, watery eyes and pain on movement of your skull.Your TMJ can go through immediate relief.One good option is where stress is the time to change the way you eat, and in good alignment which will allow you to decide on which health care provider you may need to first talk with your tongue and jaw thanks to excessive straining of the typical symptoms of a bite test.

TMJ is an extremely common problem in order to relieve the pain associated with this joint.There are different natural methods to relieve their TMJ symptoms and the symptoms of TMJ problem is getting the answer or a shifting of one side of your teeth.You experience pain and difficulty eating.Here is a condition known as anxiety and the temporal and mandibular refers to the muscles that have no other previous symptoms existed.Thus the great dentistry debate which turns out to be worn in the voice emitted, although not willfully,

#What Drug May Lead To Bruxism Blindsiding Tips #What Is Bruxism In Urdu

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go-redgirl · 4 years

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Pinkerton: On This Fourth, Let’s Remember the United States Is a Great Country!

Every Fourth of July commemorates a great moment in American history, and yet not every Fourth of July comes at a happy time for the country. And this Fourth is one of those unhappy ones. According to the RealClearPolitics rolling average of public opinion, the percentage of Americans who think the nation is going in the right direction is in the low 20s, while the percentage thinking we’re on the wrong track is in the high 60s. In other words, public sentiment is 3:1, negative.

Yet in both good times and bad, we must look at the situation head-on, because only an honest assessment justifies the hope that we can identify problems and fix them.

For instance, July 4, 1942, came in the early days of World War Two—and that was a time for straight talk, not happy talk. Just eight months previously, the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, sinking or disabling much of our Pacific fleet. And then in the weeks that followed, Japan had overwhelmed American forces from the Philippines to Wake Island. Yes, the U.S. Navy had won a marginal victory at the Coral Sea in May 1942, as well as a major victory at Midway the following month. And yet the U.S. had yet to launch an on-the-ground offensive; the first American landing at Guadalcanal would not take place until August.

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic war against Hitler’s Germany, Nazi U-boats had sunk more than 500 American cargo ships from January to June 1942, and nearly 1200 more would be destroyed in the second half of that year. Meanwhile, the first American landings in North Africa would not take place until November.

In other words, on that particular July 4, our commander-in-chief, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, didn’t have much good news to report. Yes, he had pledged ultimate victory in his “date which will live in infamy” speech, delivered to Congress and the nation after Pearl Harbor; as he stated on December 8, 1941, “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.”

Yet in his radio address to the nation on July 4, 1942, Roosevelt struck a stoic note. He began by recalling crucial historical moments: “For 166 years this Fourth Day of July has been a symbol to the people of our country of the democratic freedom which our citizens claim as their precious birthright.” And yet, he continued, 1942 was proving to be a “grim anniversary,” as the U.S. and its allies “are now engaged in deadly war.”

Indeed, he continued, setting a stark tone, “Never since it first was created in Philadelphia, has this anniversary come in times so dangerous to everything for which it stands. We celebrate it this year, not in the fireworks of make-believe but in the death-dealing reality of tanks and planes and guns and ships.”

FDR concluded with words about the Fourth that were simultaneously somber and uplifting: “The tough, grim men who fight for freedom in this dark hour take heart in its message—the assurance of the right to liberty under God—for all peoples and races and groups and nations, everywhere in the world.”

Indeed, over the next three years, those “tough, grim men”—some 16 million in uniform—won a great victory against both Japan and Germany; they were joined, of course, by some 350,000 women who also wore uniforms, and by the home front population which worked in war production, bought bonds, and paid the taxes to make the war effort a success.

In other words, Americans showed something that seems in short supply today: a sense of national teamwork. Nevertheless, the cost was high: more than 400,000 Americans lost their lives during World War Two.

Yet still, it was worth it—we won and saved not only ourselves, but also the world.

So that’s why the first Fourth of July after the fighting was over, in 1946, was a happy occasion. Indeed, on July 4 of that year, FDR’s successor in office, Harry Truman, granted independence to the Philippines. We might note that the U.S. had spent almost 40,000 lives on that island nation during the war, first in a valiant-but-doomed effort to defend it in 1941-2, and then in a glorious liberation in 1944-5. It’s that bloody sacrifice, followed by political magnanimity, that makes the Philippines a close ally of the U.S. to this day.

So now to our time: The U.S. is not engaged in a foreign war, at least not anywhere close to the level of World War Two. Yes, there is that forlorn military engagement in Afghanistan. To be sure, it’s a conflict in which Americans have fought bravely—and some 2,372 have given it their lives—and yet few Americans understand the mission or think it’s a good idea. Yet we stay anyway, despite having no obvious purpose and no evident end goal.

And as for that murky Russian-bounty story, which the Trump administration firmly disputes, it’s readily apparent that plenty of people in Afghanistan—not all of them Afghans—want to see America bleed. So the one sure-fire way to stop the bleeding is to get U.S. troops out. Afghanistan will be about the same, no matter what.

Yet even if we’re not fighting much abroad, we do seem to be fighting a lot—over everything from the Trump presidency to the police to face masks. And we shouldn’t kid ourselves about what could happen if we can’t pull ourselves together; as Abraham Lincoln observed a century-and-a-half ago, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Thus we might pause over a headline atop a recent column by Bloomberg News’ Noah Smith: “Coronavirus Brings American Decline Out in the Open: Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades.” Smith starts out by assessing the terrible impact of COVID-19, spreading the blame far and wide:

The most immediate cost of U.S. decline—and the most vivid demonstration— comes from the country’s disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic. Leadership failures were pervasive and catastrophic at every level–the president, agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, and state and local leaders all fumbled the response to the greatest health threat in a century.

We might add that the 20th-century British historian Arnold Toynbee, in his magisterial 12-volume A Study of History, concluded that almost all of the civilizations he chronicled had fallen as a result of internal decay and civil war. In other words, in the cold light of history, there’s no reason to think that the U.S. is exempt from the same sort of historical cycles of rise and decline that have confronted past realms and empires.

So what can we do to stave off such a dolorous fate? How to save the once-soaring American eagle and keep it from thudding to earth?

We should all take time this July 4th to think on this question, and yet in the meantime, we might pay heed to a 2018 survey of Americans’ civic knowledge. According to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, only 36 percent of Americans could pass a basic test on American history, including such questions as which war it was in which Dwight Eisenhower led our troops.

Oh, and by the way: Just last month the foundation voted to remove Wilson’s name–it’s now just the WW Foundation.

One might point out the irony that an organization, dedicated to furthering American historical knowledge, is choosing to “cancel” a man as consequential as Woodrow Wilson. Even if he is out of fashion today, Wilson was elected twice as president of the United States, and he led it to victory in one of our most important conflicts, World War One.

Such are the times in which we live.

So in this troubled Fourth of July, we should be mindful, even respectful, of our past. Warts and all, it’s our shared history, across these 244 years. And so we’re better off knowing about it—and not trying to destroy it.

In fact, if we choose to learn about our history, all of it, we will discover that we do, indeed, have a great foundation for better Fourths to come.