Maduabum Law Firm LLC

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A King’s Ransom, Part Nine

Word Count:  4541

TW:  Violence (unsanctioned cage-fighting).  18+ only.

AN:  Part of an unfinished series.  The series masterlist here.

Nevada was at an utter loss at what to do.  First of all, no woman ever walked away from him.  Second of all, if any other woman had walked away, he’d probably just shrug and move on to some new piece of ass.  Between the club and his other, less legal activities, there was always a steady stream of girls – girls with ambitious boyfriends who wanted his ear, girls who wanted a job of their own, girls who just liked the allure of a bad guy like him.

But you were the one he wanted, and you had ignored his apology.  More than that, you and your roommate had been completely unflustered by his lame threat.  If word got out that a couple of mousy-seeming bitches were running the show, it’d be a blow to his reputation.  More than half of his success was due to fear and intimidation, after all.

He was reeling at what to do next.  When he didn’t have enough information, he found a way to get it – so he put two of his best guys on each of your tails.

The guy who tailed you gave Nevada much of the same information he already had:  business in Manhattan and Queens, business in the Heights.  Softball games – you had a hard-looking line drive, and you always went out with your team afterwards but limited yourself to a single beer before you took off.

You had your usual defense and fighting classes.  Your usual nights out with Jules – now at a bar on the boundary between Inwood and the Heights – where your roommate got sloppy drunk and grinded on guys and you sat at the bar, stone-sober, and made sure she got home safely.

You managed to shake the tail from time to time, and it made Nevada wonder if you knew you were being watched.  He had his guy put a tracker on your car when you were at Jiu Jitsu one night, and he was able to see where you went when you shook your tail.  Hell’s Kitchen.  Hunts Point.  Newark, a few times.  All the worst places.  

There was only one reason why you would go to places like that, Nevada figured.  You used to go slumming at his club, you dropped into the gutter and fucked him a few times.  You were obviously the type of woman who was tightly-wound and needed a release with trashy, dangerous men.  And since Nevada was out of the picture, you had moved on.  

The realization made him see literally red.  It crept around the edges of his vision until everything was awash in crimson, and he ended up putting his fist through the mirror in the men’s room of the club, cracking two bones and cutting himself so deep that he needed serious stitching.

The guy on Jules brought Nevada more information.  , Jules was Juliana Aimé, a local lawyer.  Jules was a sort of jack-of-all-trades to the Heights and surrounding neighborhoods.  Nevada searched for her on the internet and found a bit more information.  She, too, had a simple, elegant website, and she specialized in everything from immigration paperwork to real estate deals.  She had social media, and Nevada trawled it until he found a few pictures of you.  One photo had clearly been taken at his club months back:  you were in your usual black getup, and you had arms slung around each other and genuine smiles.

Past that, there were older pictures.  From college.  It looked like you and Jules went to the same university.  Nevada scrolled through one night, taking deep swallows of whiskey as he examined every picture of you.  It was like traveling back through time.  The graduation pictures where you looked a lot like you did now, just a little younger.  Then the pictures of you and Jules at college shit:  parties and football games and lounging around in dorm rooms.  All the way to freshman year, where you were a skinny, awkward looking teenager with an awful haircut that made him smirk.

Well, maybe you didn’t want Nevada around anymore, but he still had a business to run.  And now that he was shifting the focus of his entrepreneurial endeavors, he needed a lawyer to help handle the paperwork.

-----

Gabe set up the meeting, keeping it purposely vague under the pretense of a “new client consultation.”  The SUV pulled up in front of a bland looking office building where Jules kept a small suite of rooms for her operation.  Nevada climbed out of the vehicle with a small bag clutched in his uninjured hand, and he pulled his sunglasses off in the gloomy, overcast November day.

When the secretary led Nevada into Jules’ office, she didn’t even look surprised.

“Mr. Ramirez,” she said.  She stood up and shook his hand as if he were some usual asshole looking for help with their form N-400.  “What can I help you with today?”

Nevada settled into a chair while Jules sat back down.  He looked her over – she was gorgeous in her own right, and in a well-cut suit and polished, subdued makeup.  Nevada wondered if you and her were in some sort of psycho bitch club that required modest clothes.  When his eyes settled on her face, he noted a very similar smirk to yours.  He was already fucking irritated again.

He kept his temper under control though.  In broad terms, he laid out the business plan you had essentially given him – or as much as he could remember from when he read it and before you took it back.  He wanted to explore purchasing a few more cash-based businesses; specifically, a spa-type place and a dry cleaner.  He needed someone to help with the legal paperwork – the purchase and sale agreements and all the other boring shit.

Jules smiled at him.  “I can help you with that, but do you have properties in mind?  Are you financing the purchase or paying in cash?  What about escrow?”

He shook his head, uncertain.

“I don’t really handle any of that,” she continued.  Her smile widened.  “I know someone that can help though.  She’s good with numbers.”

He narrowed his eyes a fraction but forced himself to keep his voice level.  “She won’t talk to me.”

She leaned back in her seat, rocking back and forth as she tented her hands in front of her.  “She’s stubborn, for sure.  Hard-headed, and I’d know – we’ve sparred enough and I’ve landed enough head-shots to know that her skull is thick.”

Nevada snorted at this.  

“Still, you deserve it.  You misjudged her.”

He was silent a moment, running his thumb over the edge of the bandage on his injured hand.  “I don’t know her at all,” he finally admitted.  

His mind flashed back to the first night you spent together, when he woke up in the hotel room and watched you sleep beside him.  Then his mind shifted to the thoughts that had plagued him for days, pure imagination that made him envision you fucking some other dude, some other piece of shit in all black or too much gold jewelry.  He gritted his teeth and held his temper in check as best he could.

“Sounds like you thought you did though,” Jules said.

He nodded but didn’t reply.

Jules lifted her hands, palms up in a gesture of consolation.  “Well, business is business.  She may help you.”  She opened her mouth to continue, but then thought better of it and paused.  Nevada could see her struggling with what to say.

He took the opportunity to reach down and pick up the bag he brought with him, placing it on her desk.  It was the real reason he was here anyway.  She didn’t move to touch it but looked at him quizzically.

“It’s for her,” he said simply.  “She did a lot of work for me – good work – and she never charged me for it.  I owe her, and I hate being in anyone’s debt.  I estimated how much time she spent working and rounded up.”

“She’s going to hate it.  It’ll make her feel like a whore.”

Nevada shrugged.  “If so, she’s a very high-priced one.  We only fucked four times, on two occasions.”  Jules quirked an eyebrow at that, but he continued.  “Make sure she knows this is for her work.  Make sure she knows I appreciated it.”

She stood up and took the bag, opening it a bit and glancing inside.  “No,” she finally said.  “I’ll ask her if she’ll help with the other stuff, but I’m not serving as your bag-man.”  She zipped the bag shut and pushed it back over it towards him.

Nevada’s temper flared up.  How many women had fawned over him for his money?  Not your or your roommate though.  Neither of you had any fucking regard for the cash he practically threw at you.  He reflexively clenched his bad hand and winced at the pain.

“How the fuck do I get this to her if she won’t see me?” he growled through his clenched jaw.

Jules sat back down in her seat and resumed her gentle rocking back and forth as she considered him.  “You’re following her.  Find an advantageous moment and toss it out the window of your SUV at her for all I care.”

Nevada had the good sense to look a bit ashamed.  Of course you two knew he was tailing you.  Jules threaded her hands together.  Her face grew serious.

“You know,” she said.  “I don’t think you’re good for her, because I don’t think you’re good for anyone, really.  And I’m not saying she was happy, because I’m not sure she can be happy…” she trailed off.  She shrugged, mostly to herself.  “All I’m saying is, you threw her off her balance a little, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  You distracted her a bit.  She needs a distraction, especially right now.”

Nevada wanted to ask a hundred questions.  What had you told Jules about him?  What did she mean about throwing you off balance?  Why did you need a distraction now?  And why couldn’t you be happy?  

Instead, he scoffed at Jules.  “She’s already got a new distraction, I heard.”

Your roommate nodded at him, her mouth set into a hard line as she frowned.  “And she’s going to get seriously hurt.  Or killed.”

“Who she fucks is her business,” he replied, ignoring the odd twist in his chest at the thought of you hurt or worse.  Jules tilted her head at him in confusion though.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.  “Jesus Christ, Trujillo.  She’s not fucking anyone.  She’s fighting them.”

*****

Everyone needed an outlet from their everyday lives.  For normal people with normal jobs, it was a glass of beer after work or a pint of ice cream or a hobby like running.  Some people slept around, some people did drugs.  Some people went to Atlantic City and lost money they didn’t have on the slots.  It was a pressure valve that kept things from boiling over.

Jules’ outlet was getting wasted and grinding on dicey guys, and you obliged her because she was more of a sister than a friend.  And she joined you at all your fighting classes, burning off some energy there too.

You had a normal job, but your real job was anything but normal, which meant that you needed other outlets to blow off steam.  The classes usually sufficed:  you’d master one form of fighting, then move on to another.  It helped you clear your mind and kept you exhausted enough to fall asleep at night.  Kept the demons at bay, as it were.

The interlude with Nevada had been a nice change of pace, but it had ended, as you knew it would.  Unfortunately, it ended just when you probably needed it most.  The situation with Meredith’s family – Gaines and Alastair Brooks – was like a constant pressure in your skull.  The pictures you pulled from their computer drifted behind your eyelids when you tried to sleep at night.  You felt tense constantly, your shoulders around your ears and your neck knotted with stress.  

A small part of you considered going back to Nevada’s club, biting back on your pride.  It wouldn’t be hard, you thought.  You could wear a fucking low-cut dress.  But you were too intractable, in the end.

You lost control one night in boxing, whaling on a guy until the instructor broke you up and gave you hell.  You knew exactly what happened – he looked a little bit like Meredith’s brother, and something in you snapped and you saw red.

You hadn’t seen red in a very long time.

But after the class, the instructor had slipped you an address and a number.  You started to make an excuse, but he cut you off and explained he wasn’t asking you on a date – he was telling you about an unsanctioned club.

“They’re always looking for more women fighters,” he told you.

The location changed every week.  The first week, you fought a woman and won, then took a second match later and won that too.  The second week, none of the women wanted to pair off against you, no matter the odds, so you got paired with a small man.  

He was short but roped with lean muscle, and the odds were heavily in his favor.  You put a hundred on yourself.  Then you took to the ring, slippery with blood from the last match.  He danced around you for a moment, peacocking.  Once he got close enough, it was three hits:  one to the sciatic nerve, one to the brachial plexus, and the final to his jaw.  He went down hard, and you collected a hell of a payday.

But it didn’t get the images out of the backs of your eyes.  It didn’t stop the pressure in the back of your skull.  It didn’t help you sleep at all.  You still spent long nights lying in bed, your eyes dry and irritated and your skin feeling too tight.

Tonight, you were fighting another man.  Bigger.  He had a foot on you and fifty pounds, easily.  His legs were like trunks, his chest was broad and laden with muscle, and his meaty fists were scarred from a lifetime of fighting.  He leered at you openly as you made your way into the ring to join him while the emcee went over the rules – mainly, that there weren’t many rules.  Tap out or knock out.  That was about it.

You should feel scared, but part of you wanted him to hurt you.  Possibly kill you.  If he hurt you, the pain would give you something to focus on other than the relentless helplessness you were feeling.  And if he killed you…. well, there was no sleep deeper than that.

*****

The week’s fights were in Hunts Point, and Nevada took a small entourage to the location.  He had enough street cred that the crowd parted around him, but he stayed in the shadows, watching for you.  Jules had given him the information.  It was against her better judgment, but she was worried about you, which worried Nevada even more.  Jules seemed unflappable.

His plan was to find you and get you the fuck out before you did something stupid.  Nevada was pretty fucking tough and even he felt hinky.  It was an abandoned warehouse, and the ring was surrounded by a high chain-link fence that was locked during each match, making escape impossible.  

The crowd was rowdy, and Nevada’s nose curled at the testosterone, blood, and sweat that hung over the warehouse like smog.  He actually hated crowds, which was why he tried to stick to his balcony at the club.  But at least his club was just horny, drunk assholes.  This place had a dangerous air to it, and the thought of you coming here – alone – made him feel sick.  

He kept his head on a swivel and his guys did the same.  All he had to do was find you.  You could do damage, but if he and he guys all got to you at once – you couldn’t fight them all.  They could drag you to the Escalade and drive you back to Inwood where you belonged.

One match ended, and the loser was dragged from the ring, a thin stream of blood streaking across the mat.  A worker darted in and mopped it up quickly while the emcee announced the next round.

“Shit,” Nevada heard Gabe say, and he felt his captain nudge him and point.  Nevada followed where his finger was pointing and saw a huge man take to the ring.  He shifted his gaze a bit and saw you mount the stairs right behind him.

“Mierda!” Nevada yelled.  He was too far away; his men were too far away.  He shoved through the crowd as he watched, helpless, as you were locked into the ring with a mountain of scarred muscle that looked at you as if you were a meal to be devoured.  You just gazed back at your opponent with that placid look you had, like the mild-faced saint statues in his mamí’s church.  Beatific.  Serene.

The emcee called out the rules, pitiful few that there were as last-minute bets were placed and wads of cash changed hands.  The odds couldn’t be in your favor.  Nevada could probably place a tenner on you and come away a millionaire at this point.  Your opponent towered over you, and you just rolled your neck and stretched your shoulders.

Your opponent was in boxing trunks and heavy boots and nothing else but a feral grin.  You wore black tights that ended just below the hinge of your knees, showing off your shapely calves.  Low black sneakers.  A simple black tank top underneath a black track jacket with blue stripes running down the arms.  

Nevada wanted nothing more than to get you out of there and into his SUV.  He didn’t even care if you broke his other hand in the attempt.  He didn’t care if he never saw you again, as long as you were away from the animals in this warehouse.

But the emcee climbed out of the ring, hit the bell, and the fight started.  Nevada could do nothing but watch.

*****

There was no way you could beat him head-to-head.  First of all, your head came to the middle of his broad chest, and second of all, one of his legs probably weighted as much as your entire body.

You laid out a strategy in your head:  defensive first.  Wear him down with footwork, let him tire himself out with showy, meaty swings that didn’t connect.  Stay soft and loose.  Once he was tired, get him on the ground.  Jiu Jitsu was all about smaller people defending themselves against stronger people, and getting them on the ground was a great equalizer.  If you could get him in a chokehold, you might get out with minimal damage.

He started out exactly like you figured – he threw one heavy punch, a jab, and then followed it with a slow and heavy cross.  He was a slugger.  There was no finesse or thought to his hits.  He just wanted to land blows, heavy and cruel.

He was easy to dance away from.  He had a longer reach, but he was so slow.  You dodged him, and once or twice, grabbed his arm and used his forward momentum to throw him into the chain-link.  It made the crowd jeer and howl, making his face grow dark with fury.

“You think you’re fucking Sweet Pea Whitaker?” he snarled.  “We fucking waltzing here?”

You didn’t respond, focusing on his fists.  He raised his left arm and swung a wild haymaker that missed its mark and unbalanced him.  You took the opportunity to lay two hits of your own – a quick, stinging jab to his bicep that you hoped would temporarily paralyze him there, and then a punch up high under his ribs as he turned away from you.  A kidney shot.  Whatever happened to you, he’d at least be pissing blood in the morning.

It went this way for eternity:  him lumbering around the ring, you dancing away and taking quick jabs designed to hurt, paralyze, or otherwise tire him out.  

But he wasn’t tiring, and you had a solid two weeks of poor sleep under you.  You could feel your legs getting heavy.

It was the mat that undid you.  They never fucking mopped up properly after each fight, so there were always little minefields of sweat and blood (and a few time, loose teeth) to watch for.  Focused on your opponent, you missed the slick of blood near one corner and felt your foot start to go out from under you.  Your eyes darted down, and you missed his fist as it connected square to the side of your face.

You heard the crowd roaring but it sounded faint and far away.  There was a buzzing in your head like a hive of bees, and you looked up just in time to see your opponent’s cruel grin as his second punch hit you right in the gut, knocking your breath from you.

He shoved you against the chain link fence, his forearm pressed against your windpipe as you struggled against him.  He shoved a knee, hard, against your groin and seemed to remember suddenly that you weren’t a man.

“You don’t belong here,” he sneered, his rank breath hot against your face.  “But maybe after, me and some of my buddies can show you where you do belong.”  You gritted your teeth and tried to push against him, but he just leaned in close to your ear and whispered all the filthy things he and his friends were going to do to you after the match.  The buzzing in your head grew louder and louder.  You shook your head once, twice, but it was too late.  

Red flooded your vision, hotter than the center of the sun.  You lost control, and the muted, logical part of you whispered that it shouldn’t feel so good.

*****

Nevada felt a riot of conflicting emotions:  concern, worry, fear, anger.  He watched as you danced around the lunk you were fighting, making it look like an art form, admiring the way your body twisted and weaved around the ring.  You made your opponent look like an idiot, and he almost thought you had him.

Until you slipped, and then it was two heavy punches to the head and gut.  Nevada could feel the reverberations in his own bones, and he cringed in sympathy.  He pushed closer to the ring until he was right against the chain-link fencing, desperate to get to you.

He watched as the guy pressed himself against you, and he ignored the flare of fury that rose up in him.  He’d find out who he was, torture him slow, kill him.  No one touched you like that but him.  He watched as the guy whispered something to you.  Nevada focused on your face, crumpled in pain and frustration at first.

Then something shifted.  The guy said something that made your eyes snap open, but they weren’t your usual bright, teasing eyes or even the furious ones when he had tried to lay his hands on you that one time.  They were flat and black, a dark version of the lifeless eyes of the nurse sharks he used to see when he went out in his abuelo’s boat as a kid.  He watched the grimace of pain drop off your face completely.  Your body went limp in your opponent’s arms and, confused, he dropped his hold on you.

You were on him in a flash, so quick he couldn’t even raise his arms to defend himself.  Your fists were small, but as you had demonstrated, you knew exactly where to hit.  A flurry of punches around the man’s body, and he stumbled away from you, a perplexed look on his face.  Nevada almost laughed to see it.

You swept his legs out from under him, and the entire crowd roared, in triumph to see an underdog get an upper hand, or maybe in frustration to see a bet be potentially lost.  He scrambled clumsily to get back on his feet but you were as fast as lightning, twisting his body under yours until you had him in a hold.  

You wrapped both of your legs around his neck and one of his arms and then rocked backwards.  He struggled, but Nevada knew better than most how strong your thighs were.  He felt a faint pulsing in his groin to remember that night at the hotel, when he showed you what his mouth could do.  He remembered the feel of your thighs on either side of his head, tightening and loosening and responding to him.  

Your opponent thrashed, flailing his free arm, but you just tightened your hold, visibly squeezing your thighs against his neck while your arms held his locked arm tight.  Nevada couldn’t see your face, but he could see your opponent’s.  It was growing darker and darker as the blood was pinched at his carotid.  

With no other option, the man took the last of his remaining strength and surged backwards.  It wasn’t enough to break your lock on him, but it was sufficient for him to swivel his head just enough against your leg.  Nevada caught a gleam of the man’s yellow-stained teeth before they sunk into the soft meat of your inner thigh.

You bellowed in pain and released your hold, but the man’s victory was short lived.  Within a second, you were straddling him, pinning his arms under your knees as you sat astride him, high up on his chest.  He was huge and you were tiny and he should have been able to buck you off of him, but your fists were on him, a storm of punches to his face that left him stunned at first and then dazed and then eventually unconscious.  

Nevada could hear the sound of bones breaking – he’d heard it a million times in his own line of work, and he winced again in sympathy.  He heard the liquid gurgle as your opponent started to choke on his own blood.  The cage was unlocked and the emcee and another man crowded in and pulled you off of the man, struggling against you until you realized you had won.  You stopped resisting then and allowed the emcee to hold one of your arms up in victory as your opponent was half lifted, half dragged out of the ring.  The crowd was so deafening that Nevada could feel it in his bones, a primal thrumming that you had created.

Nevada couldn’t look away from your face.  The flat, dead look in your eyes was replaced by a fury he’d never seen before, on you or anyone else.  He was simultaneously afraid and turned on.  He wasn’t sure which emotion was stronger, but he knew one thing:  the rage and wrath written across your face belied an uncomfortable truth – something terrible had happened to you, and this raw violence that he was witnessing was its legacy.

  FIRST BE CAUTIOUS!! In case your abuser uses the same device you are using to search for help online, clear the history and make sure to use some other device to get help. In the worst-case scenario call 911 or another emergency line and wait for them in a safe place where your abuser can’t find or reach you.    To know more visit here https://abogadodelgado.com/    

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Therefore please examine with China embassy, consulate or visa application service middle in your country. Starting from 15 March 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China will present the following facilitation for visa candidates who've been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China and obtained the vaccination certificate. Oman E Visa For Chinese Language Residents One visa application form, absolutely accomplished and signed-Click Here.All utility varieties should be typed in.No hand written varieties will be accepted by the consulate. For foreign tourist desire a visa to China, may have an invite letter from an official journey company. We will supply this letter to our purchasers after they verify a tour reserving with our firm. This proof doc can be a copy of your driver’s license or utility bill. Minors who don’t have a driver license can submit a duplicate of the parent’s driver license. You must present the unique Foreign Experts Certificate issued by the Chinese Foreign Expert Bureau OR the Work Permit issued by the Chinese Labor Ministry. QR codes and health kit apps should be downloaded prior to travel. Inter-regional travel remains restricted in some elements of China and passengers could additionally be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine when getting into or leaving a high-risk area. Quarantine is enforced on a neighborhood stage and procedures differ relying on the severity of the outbreak. Proof of a negative NAT take a look at may also be required when getting into or leaving a high-risk space. To acquire a work visa , you have to have an employment license or a piece permit issued by the Chinese government. You should additionally obtain an invitation into the nation by a China-based enterprise to get this visa. It’s usually a single-entry visa whose typical duration of keep is days. First time candidates who have been born in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau must submit a photocopy of their earlier passport. The China Embassy has suspended visa companies for Tourist visas and Family go to visa. A notarized letter of consent may be required for minor candidates if the dad and mom just isn't also making use of for a visa. If you are staying with someone in China and are not staying at a hotel, you must present an invite letter. Student Visa Requirements For students getting into on a F visa, the Form I-94 states the expiration date as "D/S" which means that the scholar may keep in the United States as lengthy as the scholar is in scholar standing. In specific, it suffices to get a new I-20 with a later expiration date. However, for M standing, any extension of keep requires the submitting of Form I-539 along with acquiring an updated Form I-20. 台胞證費用 by the ESPN-owned web outlet FiveThirtyEight pointed out that the key distinction in whether a global student-athlete may revenue from NIL deals is the sort of visa the person holds. In March 2020, in two items of steerage issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic within the United States, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued guidance temporarily modifying the Student and Exchange Visitor Program . A Presidential Directive on May 7, 2002, known as for the creation of the Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security . At least, if you want to present you're a genuine, considered one of a kind-ish, aspiring trade student. You’ve tossed up between one of the best cities to reside in, comparedAustralia’s top universities, scrounged through scholar lodging, and planned your funky change student wardrobe. If USCIS and your DSO have permitted your OPT however you depart earlier than you get a job, your OPT ends and you can't re-enter. If you've a job, nonetheless, you could travel and re-enter to renew work. The 30-day grace interval is meant to arrange for departure. I wish to apply for an internship for 5 and a half months (2014 March 10 – August 9) as part of a School Overseas Internship programme. Having stayed the prior yr in China for just a quick interval with a residence allow isn’t a ground for denying an extension of that allow. I am presently working as a trainer in Rizhao, China with a Z visa. A lot of students ask about applying for a model new visa stamp in a convenient third nation, similar to Canada or Mexico. You may need this feature, but it's normally not a good idea to use it. There is all the time the chance that your utility shall be delayed. Kenya Visa Necessities For Chinese Language Citizens If a client is dissatisfied with the changes being made, the client's sole and unique treatment is to refuse the providers which the Application Centre provides. The Application Centre will save the collected clients' data in bodily or digital kind and take cheap administrative measures so as to forestall info leakage or unauthorized use and make sure the correct use of all the knowledge. 1.eleven “Extended Services” refers to companies provided by the Application Centre for the convenience of shoppers other than the Basic Services. From 2020, Chinese residents will be capable of apply for a Japan eVisa on-line. A photocopy of your airline ticket or journey itinerary issued by your travel agent. Both the date of arrival at Taiwan and date of departure from Taiwan should be clearly specified within the itinerary or ticket. Please be advised that a customer visa holder, even with all attainable extensions obtained from National Immigration Agency, is just granted a maximum of a hundred and eighty days of length of keep in whole in every of her/his go to to Taiwan. Please DON'T apply if you're NOT going to enter Taiwan in 3 months. For instance, digital Turkey e-Visas for US residents are multiple-entry. The most length of stay per visit is ninety days, and all entries should be made throughout the 180-day validity period. From September 27th, 2019, guests from China will have the ability to request a one-year, multiple-entry eVisa from Saudi Arabia that may grant them a stay of up to ninety days within the Kingdom. This is enough time to get to know the country’s rich heritage, vibrant tradition, and its great pure setting. Travelers can enter Malaysia through any port of entry by presenting a printed A4 copy of their accredited eVisa together with their passport, proof of sufficient funds, return flight ticket, and proof of lodging. It is crucial to use the identical passport for both the online type and to travel to Malaysia. Travelers from 10 eligible countries can get the a quantity of entry visa in a few steps. Every traveller, even infants and elders might need to present a travel authorization upon their arrival in Schengen to be able to be permitted to enter. Visa Sort, Verify Listing And Main Function Of Visiting To China A related coverage was reported to be implemented all through Guangdong Province in late 2016, and has been carried out efficient May 2019. A comparable scheme was jointly introduced by the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Hebei Province, which entered into pressure on 28 December 2017. The 144-hour coverage was expanded to the cities of Shenyang and Dalian in Liaoning Province on 1 January 2018. On 1 January 2019, the 144-hour policy will be expanded to the cities of Xiamen, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and Kunming. If they're planning to stay in the country for a brief keep, they may apply for the South African electronic visa. EVUS solely applies to People’s Republic of China passport holders carrying 10-year B1/B2, B1, or B2 visas. If you hold a People’s Republic of China passport, however your visa is valid for just one 12 months, you wouldn't have to enroll in EVUS. All travelers, no matter age, possessing a 10-year B1/B2, B1, or B2 visa in a People’s Republic of China passport require a legitimate EVUS enrollment to journey to the United States. Enrollments typically last for two years or when the traveler’s visa or passport expires, whichever comes first. Applicants ought to apply for a visa about one month earlier than their intended date of entry into China, and they should not apply more than three months prior to their journey. The variety of entries of a visa refers again to the variety of instances the visa holder is permitted to enter China within the visa’s validity. Even if there are still unused entries, the visa isn't legitimate either if its validity has already expired. However, upon certification from the varsity and different authorities, college students qualify for an internship. This article will shed gentle on everything you have to learn about China Visa, together with the application method and numerous classes of visas obtainable. How lengthy you end up staying in China will be decided by the Temporary Residence Permit. China First time candidates who were born in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau must submit a photocopy of their previous passport. The China Embassy has suspended visa services for Tourist visas and Family visit visa. Cruise ship passengers don't, normally, need visas to enter Jamaica. They should, nevertheless, have a valid passport and proof that they are eligible to re-enter the United States of America. The Iranian and Iraqi "TD" is no charge with one entry over a interval of three months. Orders cancelled previous to submission shall be assessed CVSC’s service fees. Once the appliance has been submitted to the appropriate issuing authority, full charges will apply. The overwhelming majority of EVUS enrollments shall be processed within minutes; nonetheless, it may take as a lot as seventy two hours. CBP recommends enrolling in EVUS properly upfront of your planned travel. They ought to print a replica and carry it when touring from China to Turkey. This means the coed must bring all of his/her application documents to China ; failure to do so will mean paying an extra 200 RMB for a JW202 copy.

The Top Twenty Books I Read in 2020

My main takeaways:

I’m glad that I set certain reading goals this year (i.e., reading an even mix of different genres and writing about each book I read on this tumblr). I feel like it really expanded my horizons.

There are a lot of proper names on my Top 20 list this year, which possibly means something about identity? That, or I just tried to read more Victorian novels. 

Be horny, and be kind.

Now...

20. The White Mountains by John Christopher (1967)

In a world ruled by unseen creatures who roam the countryside in tall metal tripods, all humans are “capped” (surgically fitted with metal plates on their heads) at age fourteen. Thirteen-year-old Will Parker looks forward to becoming a man, but a conversation with a mysterious visitor to his village raises a few doubts. This early YA dystopia has gorgeous world-building (notably a trip to the ruins of Paris) and expert pacing. The choices Will has to make are also more surprising and complicated than I ever anticipated.

19. What Happened at Midnight by Courtney Milan (2013)

John Mason wants revenge on his fiancée Mary after she skips town following her father’s death...apparently with the funds that her father, John’s business partner, embezzled from their company. When he tracks her down, though, she’s working as a lady’s companion to the wife of a controlling gentleman who refuses to pay her wages, and John’s fury turns to sympathy and curiosity. This is a smart, well-plotted Victorian-set novella about a couple who builds a better relationship after a rocky start.

18. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1943)

It’s 1773, and fourteen-year-old Bostonian Johnny Tremain has it all: a promising apprenticeship to a silversmith, the run of his arguably senile master’s household, and...unresolved grief over his widowed mother’s death? When a workplace “accident” ruins his hand and career, though, he must “forge” a new identity. Despite its jingoism and surfeit of historical exposition, I fell in love with this weird early YA novel. It’s a fascinating, heartbreaking portrayal of disability and ableism, and, to be fair, Forbes was just jazzed about fighting the Nazis.

17. Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf by Hayley Krischer (2020)

After universally beloved jock Sean Nessel rapes starry-eyed junior Ali Greenleaf at a party, his queen-bee friend Blythe Jensen agrees to smooth things over by befriending his victim. Ali knows Blythe’s motives are weird and sketchy, but being friends with a popular, exciting girl is preferable to dealing with the fallout of the rape. This YA novel is a complex, astute exploration of trauma and moral responsibility.

16. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (2017)

Rothstein details how the federal U.S. government allowed, encouraged, and sometimes even forcibly brought about segregation of black and white Americans during the early and mid-twentieth century, with no regard for the unconstitutionality of its actions. He brings home the staggering harm to black Americans who were kept from living in decent housing, shut out of home ownership for generations, and denied the opportunity to accumulate wealth for generations. It’s an impactful read, and I was honestly shocked to learn Rothstein isn’t a lawyer, because the whole thing reads like an expansion of an excellent closing statement.

15. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (2012)

In this graphic memoir, Backderf looks back on his casual, fleeting friendship with future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, a high school classmate who amused Backderf and his geeky friends with bizarre, chaotic antics. Backderf brings their huge, impersonal high school to life, illustrating how the callousness and cruelty of such an environment allowed an isolated, troubled teen to morph into something much more disturbing without anyone really noticing. It’s a work of baffled, tentative empathy and regret that stayed with me long after I finished it.

14. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876)

Gwendolyn Harleth, beautiful and ambitious but with no real outlet, finds herself compelled to marry a heartless gentleman with a shady past. Daniel Deronda, adopted son of her husband’s uncle, finds himself drawn into her orbit due to his helpful nature, but he’s also dealing with a lot of other stuff, like helping a Jewish opera singer and figuring out his parentage. I love George Eliot and, although this bifurcated novel isn’t her most accessible work, it’s highly rewarding. The psychological twists and turns of Gwendolyn’s story are a wonder to experience, and Daniel’s discovery of his past and a new community is moving.

13. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2004)

The Roths, an ordinary working-class Jewish family in 1940 Newark, find their quiet lives descending into fear, uncertainty, and strife after Charles Lindbergh, celebrity pilot and Nazi sympathizer, becomes president of the United States. This alternate history/faux-memoir perfectly captures the slow creep of fascism and the high-handed cruelty of state-sanctioned discrimination, as well as the weirdness of living a semi-normal life while all of that is going on. Also: fuck Herman and Alvin for messing up Bess’s coffee table! She is a queen, and she deserves to read Pearl S. Buck in a pleasant setting!

12. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

Young David Copperfield has an idyllic life with his sweet widowed mom and devoted nursemaid Peggotty, until his cruel stepfather ruins everything. David eventually manages to find safe harbor with his eccentric aunt, but his troubles have only begun. Although the quality of the novel falls off a little once David becomes an adult, I don’t even care; the first half is one of the most beautiful, funny, brilliantly observed portrayals of the joys and sorrows of childhood that I’ve ever read.

11. The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt (2017)

Greenblatt examines the evolution and cultural significance of the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible to the modern day (but mostly it’s about Milton). I can’t speak to the scholarship of this book--I’m not an expert on the Bible or Milton or bonobos--but I do know that it’s a gorgeously written meditation on love, mortality, and free will. Greenblatt brought me a lot of joy as an unhappy teenager, and he came through for me again during the summer of 2020.

10. The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg (2019)

Self-conscious seventeen-year-old Jordan is mortified when his widowed mother hires Max, an outgoing jock from his school, to help out with their struggling food truck. As they get to know each other, though, they realize that they have more in common than they thought, and they end up helping each other through a particularly challenging summer. This is an endearing, exceedingly well-balanced YA romance that tackles serious issues with a light touch and a naturalness that’s rare in the genre.

9. Red as Blood by Tanith Lee (1983)

In nine wonderfully lurid stories, Tanith Lee retells fairy tales with a dark, historically grounded, and lady-centered twist. Highlights include a medieval vampiric Snow White, a vengeful early modern Venetian Cinderella, and a Scandinavian werewolf Little Red Riding Hood. Fairy tale retellings are right up my alley, and Lee’s collection is impressively varied and creative.

8. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (1908)

Unnerved by an impulsive make-out session with egalitarian George Emerson on a trip to Florence, young Edwardian woman Lucy Honeychurch goes way too far the other way and gets engaged to snobbish Cecil Vyse. How can she get out of this emotional and social pickle? This is an absolutely delightful romance that gave a timeless template for romantic comedies and dramas for 100-plus years.

7. My Ántonia by Willa Cather (1918)

Jim Burden, a New York City lawyer, tells the story of his friendship with slightly older Bohemian immigrant girl Ántonia when they were kids together on the late-nineteenth-century Nebraska prairie. It was a pretty pleasant time, give or take a few murders, suicides, and attempted rapes. This is one of the sweetest stories about unrequited love I’ve ever read, and it has some really enjoyable queer subtext.

6. Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn (2012)

In 1956 Maryland, gawky teen Nora’s peaceful existence is shattered by the unsolved murder of her friends Cheryl and Bobbi Jo right before summer vacation. Essentially left to deal with her trauma alone, she begins to question everything, from her faith in God to the killer’s real identity. Hahn delivers a beautiful coming-of-age story along with a thoughtful portrait of how a small community responds to tragedy.

5. The Lais of Marie de France by Marie de France, with translation and introduction/notes by Robert Herring and Joan Ferrante (original late 12th century, edition 1995) 

In twelve narrative poems, anonymous French-English noblewoman Marie de France spins fantastically weird tales of love, lust, and treachery. Highlights include self-driving ships, gay (?) werewolves, and more plot-significant birds than you can shake a stick at. Marie de France brings so much tenderness, delicacy, and startling humor to her stories, offering a wonderful window to the distant past.

4. Maus by Art Spiegelman (1980-1991)

In this hugely influential graphic novel/memoir, Art Spiegelman tells the story of how his Polish Jewish parents survived the Holocaust. He portrays all the characters as anthropomorphic animals; notably, the Jewish characters are mice and the Nazi Germans are cats. I read the first volume of Maus back in 2014 and, while I appreciated and enjoyed it, I didn’t get the full impact until I read both volumes together early in 2020. Spiegelman takes an intensely personal approach to his staggering subject matter, telling the story through the lens of his fraught relationship with his charismatic and affectionate, yet truly difficult father. 

3. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire (2010)

McGuire looks at a seldom-explored aspect of racism in the Jim Crow South (the widespread rape and sexual harassment of black women by white men) and the essential role of anti-rape activism led by black women during the Civil Rights movement. This is a harrowing yet tastefully executed history, and it’s also a truly inspirational story of collective activism.

2. In for a Penny by Rose Lerner (2010)

Callow Lord Nevinstoke has to mature fast when his father dies, leaving him an estate hampered by debts and extremely legitimate grievances from angry tenant farmers. To obtain the necessary funds, he marries (usually!) sensible brewing heiress Penelope Brown, but they face problems that not even a sizable cash infusion can fix. This is a refreshingly political romance with a deliciously tense atmosphere and fascinating themes, as well as an almost painfully engaging central relationship.

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (1814)

Fanny Price, the shy and sickly poor relation of the wealthy Bertram family, is subtly mistreated by most of her insecure and/or self-absorbed relatives, with the exception of her kind cousin Edmund. When the scandalous Crawford siblings visit the neighborhood, though, it shakes up her life for good and ill. I put off reading Mansfield Park for years--it’s practically the last bit of Austen writing that I consumed, including most of her juvenilia--and yet I think it’s my favorite. Fanny is an eminently lovable and interesting heroine, self-doubting and flawed yet possessed of a strong moral core, and the rest of the characters are equally realistic and compelling. Austen really made me think about the point of being a good person, both on a personal and a global scale.

The Black Dilemma (per The Baltimore Sun) An important read for everyone

An editorial in a very liberal newspaper (The Baltimore Sun) Don't shoot the messenger.

The English came and they were poor and now they are rich. The Scots came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Germans came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Irish came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Poles came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Hungarians came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Cubans came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Vietnamese came and they were poor and now they are rich.

The Latins came and they were poor, but they are working hard and now they are rich.

The Africans came and they were poor and now they continue to be poor. Why? Read below.

"The Baltimore Sun" is definitely not known as a Conservative newspaper, so this very well written assessment of the situation in USA comes as something of a surprise..

The Black Dilemma "For almost 150 years the United States has been conducting an interesting experiment. The subjects of the experiment: black people and working-class whites. The hypothesis to be tested: Can a people taken from the jungles of Africa and forced into slavery be fully integrated as citizens in a majority white population?”

The whites were descendants of Europeans who had created a majestic civilization. The former slaves had been tribal peoples with no written language and virtually no intellectual achievements. Acting on a policy that was not fair to either group, the government released newly freed black people into a white society that saw them as inferiors. America has struggled with racial discord ever since.

Decade after decade the problems persisted but the experimenters never gave up. They insisted that if they could find the right formula the experiment would work, and concocted program after program to get the result they wanted. They created the Freedman’s Bureau, passed civil rights laws, tried to build the Great Society, declared War on Poverty, ordered race preferences, built housing projects, and tried midnight basketball. Their new laws intruded into people’s lives in ways that would have been otherwise unthinkable.

They called in National Guard troops to enforce school integration. They outlawed freedom of association. Over the protests of parents, they put white children on buses and sent them to black schools and vice-versa. They tried with money, special programs, relaxed standards, and endless hand wringing to close the achievement gap. To keep white backlash in check they began punishing public and even private statements on race. They hung up Orwellian public banners that commanded whites to Celebrate Diversity! and Say No to Racism. Nothing was off limits if it might salvage the experiment.

Some thought that what W.E.B. DuBois called the Talented Tenth would lead the way for black people. A group of elites, educated blacks would knock down doors of opportunity and show the world what blacks were capable of.

There is a Talented Tenth. They are the black Americans who have become entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors and scientists. But ten percent is not enough. For the experiment to work, the ten percent has to be followed by a critical mass of people who can hold middle-class jobs and promote social stability. That is what is missing.

Through the years, too many black people continue to show an inability to function and prosper in a culture unsuited to them. Detroit is bankrupt, the south side of Chicago is a war zone, and the vast majority of black cities all over America are beset by degeneracy and violence. And blacks never take responsibility for their failures. Instead, they lash out in anger and resentment.

Across the generations and across the country, as we have seen in Detroit , Watts, Newark , Los Angeles , Cincinnati , and Ferguson , rioting and looting are just one racial incident away. The white elite would tell us that this doesn't mean the experiment has failed. We just have to try harder. We need more money, more time, more understanding, more programs, and more opportunities.

But nothing changes no matter how much money is spent, no matter how many laws are passed, no matter how many black geniuses are portrayed on TV, and no matter who is president. Some argue it’s a problem of culture, as if culture creates people’s behavior instead of the other way around. Others blame white privilege.

But since 1965, when the elites opened America’s doors to the Third World, immigrants from Asia and India people who are not white, not rich, and not connected have quietly succeeded. While the children of these people are winning spelling bees and getting top scores on the SAT, black youths are committing half the country's violent crime, which includes viciously punching random white people on the street for the thrill of it that has nothing to do with poverty.

The experiment has failed. Not because of white culture, or white privilege, or white racism. The fundamental problem is that American black culture has evolved into an un-fixable and crime ridden mess. They do not want to change their culture or society and expect others to tolerate their violence and amoral behavior. They have become socially incompatible with other races by their own design, not because of the racism of others - but by their own hatred of non-blacks.

Our leaders don't seem to understand just how tired their white subjects are with this experiment. They don't understand that white people aren't out to get black people; they are just exhausted with them. They are exhausted by the social pathologies, the violence, the endless complaints, and the blind racial solidarity, the bottomless pit of grievances, the excuses, and the reflexive animosity. The elites explain everything with racism and refuse to believe that white frustration could soon reach the boiling point."

Ian Duncan

The Baltimore Sun

The suspect in the shooting death of the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas is dead, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey confirmed Monday afternoon.

The FBI had identified attorney Roy Den Hollander as the suspected gunman who attacked the home of a federal judge in New Jersey on Sunday.

The gunman allegedly shot and killed Daniel Anderl, Salas' 20-year-old son, and wounded her husband, criminal-defense lawyer Mark Anderl, 63.

Salas was reportedly unharmed in the attack, the New Jersey Globe reports.

"Den Hollander is now deceased," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. Officials did not provide any details about how or when the suspect died. However, New York state police say he was found dead Monday in Rockland, N.Y.

The investigation is still underway.

Den Hollander was a self-described anti-feminist lawyer who filed suits alleging that women get special treatment in violation of the Constitution. He also pushed to outlaw ladies' nights at bars and college women's studies programs.

A cached version of his website, which is now inaccessible, proclaimed, "Now is the time for all good men to fight for their rights before they have no rights left."

He also accused all forms of government — from local to state to federal — of treating men as second-class citizens. "Need I say the courts are prejudiced, need I say they are useless, need I say it's time for men to take the law into their hands?" he wrote on the site.

His disgust extended beyond women and what he called PC attitudes. He also espoused anti-immigrant sentiments on his website.

Media outlets report that the former lawyer entered Salas' home in North Brunswick, N.J., dressed as a FedEx driver.

Daniel Anderl, 20, was Salas' only child and was home from college at the time of the attack. Salas' husband, Mark Anderl, a criminal defense attorney and former assistant Essex County prosecutor, reportedly underwent surgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and was listed in critical but stable condition.

The FBI in Newark, N.J., tweeted on Sunday that it was "investigating a shooting that occurred at the home" of Salas and that the bureau was "looking for one suspect."

Salas, the first Latina to serve as a federal district judge in New Jersey, was nominated to her current position in 2010 by President Barack Obama.

The Globe said it was not immediately clear whether Salas, who it said had received threats in the past, was the target of the shooting. She has presided over high-profile cases, including the 2013 fraud trial of The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Joe and Teresa Giudice.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted late Sunday: "Judge Salas and her family are in our thoughts at this time as they cope with this senseless act."

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said: "I know Judge Salas and her husband well, and was proud to recommend her to President Obama for nomination to NJ's federal bench."

"My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice," Menendez was quoted by the Globe as saying.

Democratic divides take center stage at first debate

https://wapo.st/31ZcPzE

SOULESS Trump 😢😭🖕👉“BORING!” he tweeted as the candidates began discussing the deaths of a father and daughter at the border.

Democratic divides take center stage at first debate

By Toluse Olorunnipa and Michael Scherr | Published June 27 at 12:16 AM ET | Washington Post | Posted June 27, 2019 |

Deep divides over health care and economic policy dominated the first Democratic presidential debate Wednesday, as 10 candidates jousted in Miami over the best formula for beating President Trump and fixing the economic struggles of the middle class. 

The result was a prime-time display — the first national event of the election season — showcasing economic and regulatory differences that have riven the Democratic Party, including transformative plans to eliminate private health insurance, fund free college for most Americans, break up giant corporations and impose sharp tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. 

The ambitious slate of proposals highlights the Democrats’ leftward shift, a trend Republicans are seeking to take advantage of by linking the party with socialism and government control. The generally sober event also highlighted one of the key dilemmas that Democrats face in their attempt to oust Trump — a bombastic showman whose name was only occasionally mentioned but whose presence loomed large over the proceedings.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), standing center stage with the most early attention from moderators, drove much of the debate with a passionate defense of disruptive plans that would face long odds of passage in Congress. She framed each of the issues as a question of determination, saying she was willing to fight and take on the “corruption in this system” that had created the problems. 

“We’ve had the laws out there for a long time to be able to fight back. What’s been missing is courage, courage in Washington to take on the giants,” she said. “I want to return government to the people, and that means calling out the names of the monopolists and saying I have the courage to go after them.”

Her rivals were forced to respond, though they avoided taking her on directly, trying to explain their plans as different routes to the same goal. 

“I do get concerned about paying for college for rich kids; I do,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), a thinly veiled reference to plans supported by Warren to make public colleges free for all Americans.

But the two-hour debate proceeded without a significant viral or humorous moment to rival the kind of spectacle created by Trump during the 2016 debates that were dominated by the real estate developer’s shocking comments, off-color jokes and biting attacks on his rivals.

Trump’s campaign characterized the debate as “the best argument for President Trump’s reelection,” arguing that Democrats were proposing “a radical government takeover of American society that would demolish the American Dream so many are gaining access to under the growing Trump economy.”

Rather than paint a hopeful vision of the nation’s future, the Democrats onstage focused on the grim challenges facing the country — warning of a long list of serious threats to the nation’s well-being, such as corporate power, global warming, the humanitarian crises on the southern border and the growing economic power of China. 

Perhaps seeking to introduce themselves to a national audience, the candidates only rarely addressed one another directly or strayed from well-rehearsed lines.

When Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) was asked about previous comments criticizing politicians who pledge to break up specific companies — as Warren has — he seemed to shift in Warren’s direction, saying “I don’t think I disagree” that corporate consolidation is a problem.

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke gave his first answer in both Spanish and English, but he struggled to respond directly to the question about how high he would bring the marginal tax rate for the wealthy. He spoke instead about ending gerrymandering while bolstering the Voting Rights Act and same-day voter registration. 

“I would support a tax rate and a tax code that is fair to everyone,” he said, after the question was repeated to him. 

Wednesday’s debate marked the first of 12 scheduled by the Democratic Party, including at least two split over two nights, with 10 more candidates scheduled to appear in Miami on Thursday. Polls show a wide-open race, even as most of the 23 candidates struggle to register even 2 percent support.

Warren was the only candidate to appear polling in double digits, with clear momentum after months of tireless campaigning. Three other candidates, O’Rourke, Klobuchar and Booker, have been struggling to maintain the early expectations of their campaign announcements. Six more, including Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, have found themselves struggling to be noticed in the crowded field. 

But all of the candidates were given a chance to weigh in on the key divides in the party. Only Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio raised their hands when asked whether they would get rid of private health insurance.

“I understand: There are a lot of politicians who say , ‘Oh, it’s just not possible.’ . . .,” Warren said, fully embracing the single-payer health-care plan backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who will be onstage Thursday. “What they’re really telling you is that they just won’t fight for it. But health care is a basic human right. And I will fight for it.”

The issue of immigration, an area of relative agreement in the Democratic Party, prompted one of the few fierce exchanges of the night — between the two Texas politicians on the stage. Former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro sought to draw a contrast with O’Rourke by saying the former congressman opposed repealing part of U.S. immigration law that allows for criminal prosecution of migrants who come to the United States without proper documentation. Castro has called for decriminalizing undocumented immigration, a position Republicans have branded “open borders.”

“I think that you should do your homework on this issue,” Castro said, turning to O’Rourke. “If you did your homework on this issue you would know that we should repeal this section.”

O’Rourke said he favored immigration policies that ended the family separations that have taken place during the Trump administration, and to ensure that migrants seeking asylum are not detained.

For most of the candidates onstage, the debate marked one of only two chances they will have, in addition to the July debates, to spark the interest necessary to get them on the September debate stage, when the polling and donor qualification requirements will dramatically tighten. 

Several candidates made clear attempts to grab and hold the spotlight in the hopes of breaking through. 

At both ends of the stage, de Blasio and former Maryland congressman John Delaney, who poll the lowest, forced their way into the conversation repeatedly, with the former arguing he was the most passionate liberal on the stage and the latter playing the role of the most practical moderate.

“What we are hearing here already in the first round of questions is that battle for the heart and soul of our country,” de Blasio said. “This is supposed to be the party of working people. Yes, we’re supposed to be for a 70 percent tax rate on the wealthy.” 

Delaney responded by calling such ideas unrealistic. “I think we have to do real things to help American workers and the American people. Right?” he said. 

Booker’s strategy in the debate was to repeatedly personalize the issues that were raised. When talking about guns, he spoke about his Newark neighborhood where seven people were recently shot. “I live in a low-income black and brown community,” he said when asked about corporate consolidation. “I see every single day that this economy is not working for average Americans.”

Candidates focused mostly on policy but also spent time attacking Trump for his governing style and his record since taking office in 2017. Trump’s erratic approach to foreign policy came in for blistering attacks.

“I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at 5 in the morning,” Klobuchar said.

“This president and his chicken hawk Cabinet have led us to the brink of war with Iran,” Gabbard said. 

“The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump,” Inslee said to applause. 

Ryan was one of several candidates who blamed Trump for conditions at the border, where migrants from Central America have been traveling in family groups, overwhelming U.S. facilities meant to house adults. Lawyers visiting some of the facilities have said that children in the facilities were living in squalor without access to basic hygiene items.

For his part, Trump weighed in from Air Force One, where he was en route to the Group of 20 summit in Japan. He focused on technical difficulties that forced NBC to cut to a commercial break when audio problems surfaced.

“.@NBCNews and @MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate,” he tweeted from over the Pacific Ocean.

The president didn’t attack any specific Democrat during the debate, instead focusing on a candidate who was not on the stage.

“Ever since the passage of the Super Predator Crime Bill, pushed hard by @JoeBiden, together with Bill and Crooked Hillary Clinton, which inflicted great pain on many, but especially the African American Community, Democrats have tried and failed to pass Criminal Justice Reform,” Trump tweeted from his presidential plane before the debate even started. “Please ask why THEY failed to the candidates!”

 The president has repeatedly weighed in on the Democratic primary, and he spent part of Wednesday doing the same. His focus has largely been on Biden, who in early polling has been leading Trump in some key states. Biden will join Sanders and eight other Democratic candidates at Thursday’s debate.

On Wednesday, with Biden not on the stage, Trump appeared less interested in the actual substance of the debate.

“BORING!” he tweeted as the candidates began discussing the deaths of a father and daughter at the border.

Owner of Information Technology Staffing Company Charged With Visa and Naturalization Fraud

NEWARK, N.J. A Middlesex County, New Jersey, guy was arrested this morning for allegedly submitting 11 fraudulent H-1B visa applications as effectively as fraudulently procuring his own citizenship, U.S. Lawyer Craig Carpenito announced.

Neeraj Sharma, 43, of Piscataway, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with 1 count of visa fraud and one particular count of naturalization fraud. Sharma is scheduled to make his original visual appeal this afternoon in advance of U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer in Newark federal court.

According to paperwork filed in this case and statements created in court: Sharma recruited foreign staff with purported IT knowledge who sought operate in the United States. When submitting the possible staffers' H-1B visa paperwork to U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Companies, Sharma falsely represented that the foreign workers had complete-time positions awaiting them at a national bank, a prerequisite to securing their visas. In truth, Sharma had never ever secured function for the candidates and submitted phony letters to USCIS on the bank's letterhead with forged signatures of bank executives. The H-1B program applies to employers trying to find to employ nonimmigrant aliens as staff in specialty occupations or as vogue models of distinguished merit and ability.

The visa and naturalization fraud fees carry a maximum probable penalty of 10 many years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Lawyer Carpenito credited specific agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Protection Investigations (HSI), Newark Field Workplace, underneath the path of Specific Agent in Charge Brian A. Michael, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector Standard, New York Area, beneath the route of Exclusive Agent in Charge Michael C. Mikulka, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies Office of Fraud Detection and Nationwide Protection, Vermont and Newark Discipline Offices, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Lawyer Ryan L. O'Neill of the U.S. Attorney's Workplace's Public Safety Unit in Newark. The costs and allegations contained in the complaint are just accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and right up until established guilty.

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Looking for an Immigration Lawyer on Ferry St. in Newark, NJ?

Are you thinking about immigrating to the US? It may be a complicated process however do not worry, there are professionals who allow you to navigate the legal maze. If you are in Newark, New Jersey, especially on Ferry Street, you are probably thinking about which to locate an immigration lawyer to assist you.

Gloria J. D’Souza is a numerous metropolis, and lots of people come here from all around the world seeking new opportunities and better lifestyles. However, the immigration process can be daunting, with many forms, deadlines, and necessities to satisfy. That's where an immigration attorney is available.

An Immigration lawyer Ferry st in Newark, NJ is a prison professional who focuses on immigration law. They can help you with numerous factors of the immigration manner, including obtaining visas, making use of green cards, and navigating the complexities of immigration court.

If you are on Ferry Street in Newark, NJ, you are in success because there are possibly numerous immigration attorneys within the location who can assist you. These experts have the expertise and revel to manual you through the manner and make certain that your immigration adventure goes as easily as possible.

When seeking out an immigration legal professional on Ferry Street in Newark, NJ, make certain to do your studies. Look for someone who has experience working with clients such as you and who has excellent recognition in the community. You'll want to locate someone who is straightforward, dependable, and compassionate, as the immigration technique may be stressful and emotional.

Once you've determined an immigration legal professional you accept as true, schedule a consultation to discuss your case. During this meeting, the attorney will assess your scenario and offer you guidance on the first-class direction of action. They'll explain the procedure to you in detail and answer any questions you may have.

Remember, immigrating to a brand new USA is a huge step, but with the help of a skilled Immigration lawyer Ferry st in Newark, NJ, you can navigate the process with self-assurance. So don't wait any longer – reach out to a nearby immigration legal professional these days and take the first step towards realizing your American dream.

Federal Criminal Law Variations vs. State Criminal

Prosecution occurs at both the federal and the state levels and so a federal violation is one that is prosecuted under federal criminal law rather than under state criminal law under which the majority of the crimes committed in America are prosecuted. Federal offenses normally involve federal government agencies such as the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the DHS, the Internal Revenue Service, the Border Patrol, Secret Service, or even possibly the Postal Service. There is a network of twelve circuits in the Federal court system, distributed throughout the United States. Each circuit has a central location along with a number of smaller district courts located in cities nearby. U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (Washington, DC) U.S. District Court, D.C.- Washington, DC U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit (Boston, MA) Example: U.S. District Court, District of Puerto Rico- Hato Rey, PR U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (New York, NY) Example: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York- Brooklyn, NY U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit (Philadelphia, PA) Example: U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey- Newark, NJ U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit (Richmond, Virginia) Example: U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina- Charlotte, NC U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit (New Orleans, Louisiana) Example: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas- Houston, TX U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati, OH) Example: U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee- Memphis, TN U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit (Chicago, IL) Example: U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana- South Bend, IN U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (St. Louis, Missouri) Example: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa- Des Moines, IA U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit (San Francisco, CA) Example: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California- Sacramento, CA U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit (Denver, CO) Example: U.S. District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma- Tulsa, OK U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (Atlanta, Georgia) Example: U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia- Macon, GA Average Federal crimes can contain: Drug distribution Crimes affiliated immigration to the U.S. Crimes that include weapons charges Gang activities White-collar offense Electronic crime and fraud Factors to Engage a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney The federal criminal justice process is not meant for individuals to represent themselves. In case you are detained, you want a lawyer to stand up to your rights, fight back against overzealous police officers, and obtain the very best result possible. Speak to a qualified federal criminal law firm in your area to learn more about what you’re up against. Many federal law firms, like Carver, Cantin & Mynarich in Missouri provide a free initial consultation, where they will walk you through the details of your federal charges, explaining possible outcomes and outline a strategy they might pursue.   This is 1 reason for a lawyer. You do not need to wander aimlessly at any stage during the legal system without a manual. Getting lost in a jumble of legislation and questionable convictions aren't just scary but can put the remainder of your life in peril. The viability of your life ought never to be a bargaining utility when you are facing time in court. The state court and federal court have been two entirely different strategies -- with different courthouses and judges. Federal judges will preside over national criminal situations, while elected state court judges preside over state criminal circumstances. Assistant U.S. Attorneys litigate federal situations, whilst country district attorneys and city attorneys insure state crimes. Criminal defense attorneys are the best investment to make regarding case identification. Not merely do they know the intricacies of the legal system, however they can look at your situation with unbiased and fresh eyes. They also spend their lives working to defend you and your nearest and dearest from regulations that are unnecessary. It's their passion to keep others from an outcome too harsh for the crime. An experienced lawyer isn't only able to assist you with your situation, but in addition, utilizes their trained intellect to find issues with the prosecution. Just because someone was arrested on suspicion for a crime does not imply that the presumed victims aren't to blame in some manner as well. Every case differs, and tiny details can serve to sufficiently swerve a court ruling. Nobody would like to be given much more of a punishment that is representative of the crime. Often, the area is greeted with a personal sense of shame and guilt, instead of having an enthusiastic and greedy attitude. So then, the question would be : why do so many people put off finding a criminal defense attorney? Without a lawyer that understands a situation, how then can anybody keep from unnecessary charges? Having a large number of individuals arrested yearly for a whole slew of criminal offenses, it becomes simple to bulge into a single group: guilty. This isn't accurate a sizable quantity of the moment. The media and common culture like to consider from the stunning, and so it will become hard to slough off the word when in the courtroom. A defense attorney understands the difficulty society induces and thinks on your innocence. Individuals commonly misinterpret the thought that they should hire an attorney only after they have been arrested or charged with a violation. This, however, is entirely a farce. Without an attorney present during police interrogations, then there's absolutely not any counselor there to help you from admitting to a crime you did not commit or from saying anything which could serve as a detriment for your own defense. Regardless of what crime you've been charged with, it is essential to procure legal representation that is knowledgeable and experienced in navigating the criminal justice strategy. This is of special importance if you've been charged with a federal crime because the terms for national fees are so stringent. Some Cases Tried by a Federal Criminal Defense Law Firms might be: Sexual Assault Attempted Killing and Conspiracy to Enact Murder Bank Fraud Liquidation Fraud Bribery Conspiracy Embezzlement Extortion Extortionate Extensions and Collections of Credit Federal Bank Robbery Firearms Charges Use or Carrying Firearms Relation to a Crime of Violence or Drug Selling Offense Confiscation Proceedings Forgery Harboring a Fugitive Health Care Theft Hobbs Act Extortion, Stealing and Public Corruption Kidnapping Loansharking Postal Fraud and Digital Making Untrue Statements Misprision of a Felony Mortgage Fraud Money Laundering Narcotics Charges Obstruction of Justice Perjury Public Corruption RICO Financial Fraud Sexual Abuse of Children Stalking Tax Cheating Theft of Government Assets Unlawful Hiring of Aliens What are the Penalties for federal charges? Another significant gap between federal crimes vs. country crimes is the essential sentence. Federal justices have been instructed by the federal sentencing guidelines when giving a sentence. Mandatory minimum prison penalties that national sentences tend to be much more lengthy than nation paragraphs. Even when their offenses are alike, a person being stranded for a federal crime will typically face a much more unpleasant punishment than somebody who has been convicted of a state crime. There is a large system of federal prisons throughout the   You may reside at any of them depending on a number of factors. If you have psychological or physical medical issues, you will most likely go to a Federal Medical Center like the one in Springfield, MO. MCFP is a common name for the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. The centers where phrases are completed differ, as well. Individuals sentenced to do time to get a federal crime is going to be delivered to federal prison, although people who serve time for a state crime is going to probably be sent to state prison. Federal prisons tend to home more non-violent offenders (such as individuals convicted of same-sex offenses ), whilst local prisons home mostly populations of people convicted of violent crimes.

Standard post published to Anthony Pope Law Firm at October 17, 2021 16:00

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Anthony Pope Law Firm is one of the most well-known law firms in Newark, NJ. They were founded by two lawyers with 30 years of experience who wanted to offer affordable, high-quality legal assistance.

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Why Harvey Keitel’s Lansky Looks for Goodness in Bad Men

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The biographical crime feature Lansky attempts to pull off a major heist: the historical legacy of the mob mastermind Meyer Lansky. One of the most notorious and infamous of the Jewish gangsters who rose during prohibition, Lansky was a businessman with a head for numbers. He was called “the Mob’s accountant,” and the film wants to set the record straight. Played by Harvey Keitel, we can count on an emotionally accurate portrayal of the man who helped set up the national crime syndicate.

John Magaro, who will be playing young Silvio Dante in the upcoming The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, plays young Meyer Lansky. Writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s crime drama is loosely based on the real-life story his father, Robert A. Rockaway, and the interviews he conducted before Lanksy died. His book was called But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters, and it included noteworthy figures like Waxey Gordon, Arthur “Dutch Schultz” Flegenheimer, Jack “Greasy Thumb” Guzlik and the Purple Gang out of Detroit.

Rockaway spoke with Den of Geek about those gangs and why Meyer Lansky’s life was the story which most needed to be told. He also explains why Lansky needed Harvey Keitel to tell it.

I appreciate the history behind Lansky, how much of your father’s encounter do you remember?

Eytan Rockaway: Well, I wasn’t born back then, but I did take his research and his transcripts and I interviewed my father at their meeting. The movie is mostly historically accurate, except for that part where my father was a down-on-his-luck reporter. And I did rely on his research and his transcripts, and he wrote a book about gangsters. Meyer Lansky was one of the dozens of big gangsters that he interviewed. I relied a lot actually on his feelings for Meyer Lanky just before he died when he was in his 80s.

The book was But He Was Good to His Mother. Which of the other Jewish mobsters in it  do you think would be most cinematic?

I think Bugsy Siegel, but they covered him in that great movie. I think that the Purple Gang are an interesting group. I think that Murder, Inc. in general is a very, very interesting group because most of the people who started at the Bugs and Meyer gang then transferred to Murder, Inc., and then they brought the Italians.

But I think the people in Murder, Inc. are definitely some of the toughest and some of the most notorious killers. I mean, the FBI said they killed between 500 to 1,000 people. They were vicious killers. They’re not great guys, but I think it would be an interesting story. But there are so many. Dutch Schultz and Lepke Buchalter and all of them had interesting lives. But Meyer Lansky, by far, I think, surpassed not only them, but most gangsters in American history, just because of what he managed to achieve and accomplish.

I’ve read books on Lasky and I was actually surprised at the arc of Lansky’s son, Buddy.

Well, he loved his son Buddy. Lansky put a lot of love and effort in him and he was very close to him. I tried emphasizing that relationship specifically because I thought that it showed, even when he was in his ruthless years as a criminal and doing all these bad things, he still had a soft spot, especially for family and it still was the most important thing to him. And I think, the relationship with his son that had all these issues, health issues, that I emphasized that.

One of the things your father’s book points out is that the Jewish mobsters were only one generation of the children of immigrants. Why didn’t it continue in generations, the way the Italian mobs did?

It’s a cultural thing. I think that a lot of these Jewish gangsters, because they came to America and they were second-class citizens and immigrants and had a tougher time, most of them were ashamed of that life. Because culturally, they just came from a different place and are being persecuted around the world. It’s a good question.

I think many historians and Jewish historians could answer that better. But in general, what is true is that there was always one generation when you had a gangster and he wanted his children to not to be part of that world and become a doctor or become a lawyer, but they never wanted their children to continue in their footsteps.

What was most fascinating about Lansky the man?

I think that he had two different sides of him. Most gangsters, there’s good, there’s bad. Lansky played on that thin gray line. He did a lot of bad things. He did a lot of good things. One thing was that he wasn’t notorious and people think that he was an accountant. He wasn’t. He started one of the most ruthless gangs in Manhattan back in the day with Ben Siegel. He was a gangster and he was a criminal, but he also was an academic.

He was great with mathematics, almost to the genius level. He was a great businessman. He structured the underworld with Lucky Luciano. He structured it like a Fortune 500 company. If he wasn’t born in the slums of New York, he would probably run a Fortune 500 company. At one time, he gloated they were bigger than U.S. Steel because he really, with the National Crime Syndicate, created one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world at that time, aside from pioneering gambling. He’s one of the founders of gambling in general, not only in America.

Was your father ever contacted by the FBI?

No, but my father was the first civilian to get access to the secret FBI files. He was a very well-known professor and he covered gangsters and the underworld all his life. He was one of the first ones. He never was contacted by the FBI in that capacity, but he did work a lot with the FBI. The FBI was searching for Lansky until he died. They were looking for his money. They were trying to catch him. But that storyline was the fictionalized element, the reporter dealing with the FBI.

The film captures the Bund attack very accurately from what I read. What did you do to maintain the accuracy?

I really did what he actually did. I mean, he was a patriot. He hated Nazis. And in general, not only was he Jewish, but he was a very, very proud American and he did everything that he could, not only to squash the Nazi presence in America but also help in the war efforts. I touched on it. It was much more involved and there were dealings with the American government back then, because back then in World War II, the Germans were sending spies and the gangs of New York controlled the docks.

And he was still never given citizenship in Israel?

I suspect, and I allude to that in the movie, that because of his cooperation with the American government, maybe that’s why they couldn’t catch him or put him in jail. In Israel, they didn’t allow him to get in. He was the only Jew not to be allowed to enter Israel and that was a political move. And I guess that it hurt him very much. It was a very embarrassing moment in his life. I was trying to be as objective as I could in this movie. I didn’t want to portray him in necessarily a bad way or good way. I presented the moral conflicts that he had and then I want the audience to decide they’d like him, hate him, or both.

How did you maintain period accuracy? The clothes, the cars, in general?

I had an amazing production designer, April Lasky, and set decorator Laurel Belle, and they did an amazing job.

We shot in Alabama for a reason. We needed Miami in the 1980s and we needed New York in the 1930s and Alabama afforded us both, because it borders Florida beaches. We shot in Gulf Shores, which looks like Miami 30 or 40 years ago. And then we shot in Mobile and other places there that have buildings from the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s that are untouched. It was a perfect location to shoot it, but it was excruciating.

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Lansky: Harvey Keitel Gives a Gangster Legend a Subtle Farewell

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We had to shoot this entire movie in 20 days and the scope of the movie, it’s like this epic movie. and we had to condense it. Twenty days shooting three different time periods with action sequences, I don’t recommend.

How did Harvey Keitel get involved in the project?

There was an actor, Danny Abeckaser, who plays the young FBI agent. He put me in contact with him. Harvey read the screenplay and liked it, but from the moment that he read the screenplay, three years passed. And we lived in New York in the same area a few blocks away. Once in a while, I used to see him in the street and I’m like, “Harvey, it’s the director of Lansky.” And after a year, he was like, “Oh, here we go again. That guy.” And eventually he’s like, “Who is this crazy director?”

And then eventually, at the end of the shoot, he gave me a book, because three years passed from the moment he signed on. “Hey, Lansky! We’re doing Lansky!” And he gave me a book about [Elia] Kazan. He wrote inside, “To my dear friend, Eytan. The only stalker I was ever happy that caught up to me.” Because he thought it was the stalker director.

Working with him was probably a privilege and one of the greatest experiences in my life. He’s such a great actor and he’s such a great human being. It was just phenomenal. I learned so much from him.

Does he come on to the set with his character fully formed or does he like being directed?

He very much enjoys it. He’s respectful. He’s the type of guy, he walked on set, before we started the shoot, he shook every single person’s hand from the caterer to the grips, every single person before we shot the first scene.

And he’s very, very, very open. The one thing that he won’t allow you to do is, because he’s a method actor, he said, “Don’t ever tell me what to feel. Give me an action.” Every actor likes to work differently, but he’s such a great method actor and has been head of the Actors Studio for two decades. You learn a lot working with somebody like him, but he’s such a good human being and we became good friends. I see him once a week now, because we had such a good time.

In my review, I say, “In the hierarchy of gangster movies, Keitel is Lansky.” Not just from the movies. He grew up in this, he joined the marines at 16. Does it correspond to your father working with Meyer?

When Harvey takes on a character, he makes it his own and precedes it. But the way that I wrote the screenplay was along the lines of the way my father perceived Lansky. But again, my father, I don’t think was as objective as I am because he met Lansky when he was 82 years old, this aging gangster, and Lansky reminded him of my grandfather. So, he wasn’t completely objective. But I think that the way that my father meant, and what he perceived from him when he was older, is pretty accurate.

Now the young Lansky, that’s a whole different story. He was a different human being when he was in his 20s, 30s, and 40s. But I think everyone, when they get older, they start acting differently, looking at life differently. And I think that I was true to the way my father perceived him at an old age.

I remember my father told me a funny story. When Meyer Lansky set up a meeting with him, he was at my grandmother’s house and she got a call and he’s sitting, eating breakfast. My grandmother is older and she gets a call and she picks up the phone and she goes, “Hi, who is it?” And he said, “I’d like to speak with Robert Rockaway.” And she asked him, “Who is this?” And he says, “Meyer Lansky.” And she got scared, so she takes the phone and puts her hand on it and she goes to my father, “It’s Meyer Lansky.”

He was like, “Why are you whispering?” Back then, Meyer Lansky was such a scary individual for most people and she was terrified. And for my father, he was an 82-year-old, 81-year-old guy that he was wanting to interview.

What movies were you watching? Because I saw a nod to Miller’s Crossing and a few other movies.

I’m amazed that you got that. Miller’s Crossing was definitely one of the greatest inspirations for this movie, including that forest scene. The problem was, I had to shoot it in 20 days. Me and the DP had this whole visual feast of things that we wanted to do. But when you go on set, you have 15 or 20 setups, the assistant director says to you, “Listen, you have two or three.” So every morning, you wake up to throw your shot list in the garbage and you improvise. And luckily, I come from the independent world and when you have your back to the wall, we did it.

But I did try Miller’s Crossing, some other classics, but I did try also giving it a modern feel to it. So everything in the 1980s, I tried shooting classically to represent his slow-paced life and everything in the 1930s and forties, I tried as much as I could to give it kind of like this modern feel, handheld cameras when I could and stuff. And then the same thing with the coloring and also the music. If you notice, the  electronic synthesizer score mixed with classical to give it that modern 1980s feel throughout.

Where do you see the gangster genre going?

I can tell you I love the genre. People like gangster movies, these mythical characters, these dangerous, adventurous lives. And they did a lot of good and bad. They had their own rules of conduct, and I think that’s what most people like about them.

I think there’s a great market and I really hope they put some money behind it and do some other big movies with historical figures that have depth in it. And it’s not about just killing people and shooting people, but there is depth. That’s what I tried doing with this movie. Show a man when he was young and a man when he was older. The aging Meyer Lansky is about a man dealing with his morality and the perception of his life, and the reporter learning what’s important.

Your last film, The Abandoned, was horror. Do you think we love gangster and horror movies because it gives us an excuse to root for the monsters, even in the old movies where we knew they had to die?

I think that’s a pretty good, accurate statement, to be honest. I think that it throws us into a world that we’re not used to. It’s almost like a rollercoaster. You’re on something scary and then it lands safe. And I think, especially horror these days, a lot of it is so elevated and there are so many things that you can get from it. Because life is not about black and white, good and bad. There’s a thin gray line between the two and I think gangster movies and horror movies can help kind of emphasize that.

A lot of people painted The Irishman as the swan song for gangster movies. Scorsese spoke about toxic masculinity and atonement. Do you think that that changes how gangsters will be portrayed moving forward?

I don’t think so. I think every filmmaker has his own take on gangster movies, his own messages. And also, it comes down to the person that you’re making the movie about. For me, Meyer Lansky wasn’t about that thing. It was completely different.

I think Scorsese has his storyline and he’s the greatest, I think, when it comes to the crime genre, but he has his story and he has his own evolution as an artist. I don’t know if I’ll do another gangster movie, but I’m sure that other filmmakers that come on board will bring a new take into it and their own different perceptions and stories and thoughts on it.

You have two completely different types of violence in this film, mob violence and domestic violence. Can you tell me about the difference in preparing to capture those?

Well, mob violence, at least in this movie, was mostly justified. So it was kind of fun. Domestic violence is a hard scene, it wasn’t fun and it’s not called for in any shape or form. Luckily, AnnaSophia Robb was just such an amazing actress, and John as well. They were just both amazing. And I just gave them the freedom to explore it in their own way.

When you shoot something like that, just like shooting other intimate scenes, you just let the actors, and especially if they’re great actors, do their thing and you give them the space. But for me, it was definitely harder.

Shooting the Nazi Bund scene, for instance. I am an Israeli Jew and suddenly I’m in the middle of Alabama with a hundred extras and this swastika sign. I remember walking into the room and then seeing that sign, it first gave me a kind of like that feeling. But when we started shooting, I made it my own. Suddenly it diminished. I remember a lot of these extras were just people that we picked up. When they had to do Heil Hitler and all of that, they were very ashamed. And I’m like the Israeli Jewish director on the stage: “You have to say Heil Hitler better.”

Those scenes were fun because it had a purpose for me and it was justified. Doing the domestic violence scene in the relationship with his wife, that was much harder, but that’s where the great acting comes in and you let the great actors do their thing.

How did you consciously approach the film to make it different from other gangster movies?

To be honest with you, I tried keeping it a bit lighthearted. The murder scene of Maranzano, I just wanted to show how Ben Siegel enjoyed killing people, which he did. When I was directing David Cade, I was telling him, “Look in his eye, I want it to show that he’s enjoying not only killing, but he also was enjoying killing a traitor.” But I tried, when I could, kind of leaving it lighthearted at one point.

I really enjoyed Magaro and Cade’s  scenes together. They seemed to have a lot of fun. Was it a sociable set?

It was a sociable set, at least for them. When they weren’t shooting, they got to hang out and have fun. I was working 17, 18-hour days just getting the days done. The set, especially in the 1930s and ’40s, all of those scenes, it was a fun set. It was definitely much different when we were shooting in Miami with Sam and Harvey. It was much more serious. But when you have a younger cast and they’re having fun and everybody’s dressing up as gangsters and stuff and John and David had this connection because they were hanging out in the hotel so much and just drinking and having fun while I was working, I think that came on screen and you could see that they had a really great connection and chemistry in general.

Magaro is going to be playing Silvio Dante in The Sopranos prequel movie.

He’s a great actor. He is phenomenal. I mean, you see him and he looks one way and then he goes on set and you see that click. And you’re like, “Who the hell is that?”

A lot of the film runs like a documentary. Obviously, some of that is because of the budget, but did you have an eye towards true crime shows?

Yeah, when we finished shooting the movie, I had to cut 15 to 20 pages of the screenplay just because we didn’t have time to shoot, but they had so much information. I know that people are going to look at this movie and say, “You can make five movies about Meyer Lansky. It can be a miniseries.” There’s so much to cover. So, what I tried doing is finding the key moments in his life that I thought were important to at least understand and get a picture of who that man was.

Because I had to cut out so many scenes, we had to be creative in the editing room and I added a bunch of voiceovers to fill in the blanks. I wanted people to get a clear picture of how things happened. What was the history? What were the key moments? Scenes that I couldn’t shoot, I did with voiceover. So yeah, I tried playing with both. I think we achieved it and I think people will get a good picture of not only the organization, not only his rise to power, but also who he was at an old age and a young age and everything around it.

At one point in the movie, Lansky says, “I’m an angel with a dirty face.” And that’s almost the title of one of my favorite movies. What are some of your favorite gangster movies?

Well, I mean, Miller’s Crossing. The Godfather. There are just so many, but I think the one that really stayed with me the most was, for some reason, Miller’s Crossing. I don’t know. There was something about that movie that just stuck with me. And by the way, that line, “Angel with a dirty face,” that was Harvey’s idea. And he said, when he was in New York, gangsters used to say that to him, when he met a few of them.

And he said, “Meyer Lansky probably would have watched that movie and probably would have said that because I had other gangsters that I met in New York back in the day that said that line to me, because back then it was a famous movie.” So that’s Mr. Keitel and his improvisation at its best.

Lansky hits select theaters and will be available on demand on June 25.

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