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scotianostra · 3 years

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Happy 60th Birthday Susan Boyle.

Susan was born on April 1, 1961, in Blackburn, West Lothian, her father, Patrick Boyle, was a miner and WWII veteran. Her mother, Bridget, was a shorthand typist. Susan, the youngest of eight surviving children, was deprived of oxygen at birth long enough to cause mild brain damage. The physical trauma created learning disabilities for the young girl. Susan grew up in a musical family her father sang, and her mother sang and played the piano and she found comfort in music at an early age.

An industrial town of fewer than 5,000 people, Blackburn was hardly a place to nurture the young Susan's musical interests. School wasn't a refuge for Boyle either; at school she was diagnosed with learning difficulties, and she became a target for bullies. She was often mocked, and her peers called her "Simple Susie." Yet Boyle persisted with music, and began performing in school productions at the age of 12. Her teachers, recognizing her talent, encouraged her to continue performing at school, but she graduated with few academic qualifications.

Boyle landed a job in the kitchen of West Lothian College, and enrolled in several government-training programs. Boyle continued singing for pleasure, and occasionally went to the theatre to hear professional singers. It was during one of these performances that she first heard the song "I Dreamed a Dream" performed in a production of Les Misérables. "It took my breath away," she says. "It was amazing."

In 1995, Boyle went to Glasgow to audition for My Kind of People, she was nervous during the audition, and felt she didn't do her performance justice, but her brother theorizes that she was rejected because of her unconventional looks. She was summarily rejected from the show, but Boyle remained undeterred. She continued to sing at church, and at the local karaoke nights in her regular local pub at the Happy Valley Hotel.

Susan suffered a personal loss in 1997, when her father passed away. After his death, she put her big dreams on hold to care for her ailing mother. As the youngest -- and the only child in the family with no spouse or children -- the burden of care fell on her shoulders. The mother and daughter, who were very close, often talked of Susan's possible fame. Bridget Boyle supported her daughter's talent, and encouraged her to take part in singing competitions. "She was the one who said I should enter Britain's Got Talent. We used to watch it together," Susan later told reporters. "She thought I would win."

Encouraged by her mother, Boyle used all of her savings in 1999 to pay for a professionally cut demo tape, which she sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national TV. She continued to dream of a day when the world would recognize her talent. But Boyle faced hardship yet again in 2000, when she lost her sister Kathleen to an asthma attack. She took the loss hard, and turned to her music for solace.

Boyle began taking singing lessons from voice coach Fred O'Neil in 2002, hoping to improve her chances of fame. She made several amateur recordings for benefits and local performances, but seemed resigned to only local notoriety. In 2007, Boyle's mother passed away. The death crushed Susan, who subsequently withdrew from the local talent show and karaoke circuit. For nearly two years, Susan refused to sing. Instead, she lived alone in her mother's house with her cat, Pebbles. Now unemployed, Boyle devoted her time to volunteering with the elderly at her local church, and rarely thought of singing.

But in August of 2008, Boyle's singing coach urged her to tryout for the television talent show Britain's Got Talent. Convinced that the performance would be a final tribute to her mother, Boyle auditioned in Glasgow, Scotland. She performed a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables on the first round of the show, which was watched by over 10 million viewers when it aired on April 11, 2009.

Boyle's humble looks provided a sharp contrast to her studio-quality voice. The performance stunned the audience and cynical judges, including Simon Cowell. Boyle's performance was widely reported, and the clip became the most watched video on YouTube. She soon became the dark horse favourite of the competition, and her admission on the show that she had "never been kissed" endeared her to audiences.

After the show aired, Boyle became known as "The Woman Who Silenced Simon Cowell." Her overnight fame overwhelmed her, and on the eve of the final show, she threatened to quit the competition. After rallying for her final performance, Boyle lost to the dance group, Diversity. Critics of the loss say that Boyle may have lost due to an internet voting scam. Regardless, Boyle continues to perform. Her first album, I Dreamed a Dream was released in November 2009. It was a huge hit, selling over a million copies in six weeks, and topping charts in the United States and United Kingdom. A year later, in November 2010 Boyle released a Christmas album titled The Gift. The Gift also soared to the No. 1 spot on U.S. and U.K. charts. Boyle's third album, Someone to Watch Over Me, was released in November 2011.

In June 2012, Boyle announced that she had begun recording a fourth album with a new producer, but hasn't released any specific details about the project. On her website, Boyle wrote to fans about her newest album: "I'm not going to give any hints at the moment, as I want this album to be more of a surprise, but I'm having a great time and I'm working with another fabulous guy, so I'm hoping you will all love this new album

It took till 2013 before she played her first solo tour in July 2013 with 7 concert dates in Scotland before more concerts in England, Wales the North America, probably her proudest moment was singing "Mull of Kintyre" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

To mark the anniversary of her appearing on BGT Susan released her eighth studio album, Ten, on 31st May 2019. , she also just managed to complete her "Ten Tour", which kicked off in Edinburgh's Usher Hall.

#Scotland #scottish #singer #susan boyle #happy birhtday

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frogoat · 4 years

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A Timeline of the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes Games

Most of the following is based on direct information found in the various Sherlock Holmes video games made by Frogwares. While the games make several references to the original Canon as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, they function separately as perhaps an alternate version of events with new material. For example, when some of the Canon cases are adapted or elements of cases are borrowed for the games original cases. That said, we can at least refer to and compare the Canon with the games own timeline for clues as to how it all lines up...or doesn’t line up at times.

I’ll attempt to provide sources where necessary for any claims I make that aren’t overtly referenced in the games themselves. I will be looking exclusively at the mainline games from Frogwares, not the more casual games released on handheld devices etc. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

1869+ - Chapter One (2021)

*As this game has not been released at the time of this writing, this is all based on the details we have from trailers and interviews*

Acting as a prequel to all previous entries in the series, Chapter One is said to revolve around a 21 year old Sherlock returning to his former family home on a Mediterranean island to investigate his mother’s death. As shown in the first trailer, Holmes’ mother is given the name ‘Violet Holmes’ on her gravestone, along with the years ‘1829-1869′ which evidently refer to the year of her birth and death. It’s possible the game takes place in 1869 shortly after Violet’s, though this hasn’t technically been confirmed as yet. In fact, the previous game Devil’s Daughter has a brief reference from Holmes to his mother dying when he as very young, so it’s possible this was foreshadowing. If the game does take place in 1869, it makes Holmes significantly older in his later adventures than might have been expected. Alternatively, perhaps Holmes returns to investigate Violet’s long-ago death following the introduction of new information. Other trailers say the game takes place ‘at the end of the 19th century’. Time will tell.

1888 - Versus Jack the Ripper (2009)

Events of this game occur from the 31st of August to the 9th November 1888 and loosely follow the historical events surrounding the mystery of Jack the Ripper. The location of Whitechapel is seen again in Testament of Sherlock Holmes and mentioned in Crimes & Punishments. At present this is the earliest point in the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes timeline, though evidently the next entry Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One will be set far earlier, dealing with a 21 year old Sherlock.

1894 - The Awakened (2007)

The game establishes in the opening scenes that it takes place ‘Two years ago, London, 6th of September 1894′ and spans a few months, ending in ‘Scotland, Ardnamurcham Lighthouse, December 1894′. During this time, Holmes’ and Watson’s journey spans from London to Switzerland to New Orleans back to London and finally the aforementioned Scottish lighthouse. Notably, while investigating the Swedish Edweiss Institute, Holmes discovers a seemingly brain damaged and amnesiac but very much alive Professor James Moriarty. During his escape, Sherlock triggers the Professor’s memories of his archenemy, which will lead to complications later on. Also, aside from the obvious Lovecraftian references and a few to the previous entry’s Silver Earring characters, we also get some solid D & D nods and brief encounter with a boy by the name of Hercule Poirot.

1895 - Crimes & Punishments (2014)

This game is probably my favourite in the series. It’s also the first to present a collection of smaller mysteries, rather than an overarching plot. That said, the game does present a loose thread throughout the background of the various and otherwise unconnected mysteries which leads to the final case involving the anarchic and socialist group known as The Merry Men. The first case -an adaption of The Adventure of Black Peter- can be definitively dated as taking place in 1895 due to the titular victim being born in 1845 and established as 50 years of age when he dies. According to the original Canon, Peter died July 1895, meaning at least this single mystery may take place right around the time of the Arsène Lupin game, either before or after.

The second case is loosely based on The Lost Special, a not-quite-Canon story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which was released in 1898 but set in 1890. However, the thread about The Merry Men makes it apparent that the game’s version of the adventure occurs after the previous case, so potentially still in 1895.The following case is an original one called Blood Bath and features a suspect named Sir Percival Blinkhorn. I mention this because there is a nod to this character in The Devil’s Daughter which gives his date of death as 1895, making it pretty easy to pin down when this mystery takes place. Additionally, because Crimes & Punishments presents the player with moral choices at the conclusion, via the mention in Devil’s Daughter we also have a canonical outcome for the case.

The next case is a fairly close adaption of The Adventure of the Abbey Grange set in 1897, but based on a photo dated 1893 that is said to be from ‘a year and a half ago’ this case mystery could be easily placed in either 1894 or 1895 much like the other cases before it. A document seen later in the case complicates matters by giving the murder victim’s date of death as November 7th 1894. Still, it may be possible to explain this, as in both the original story and this game’s case Holmes tells the guilty (though noble) party to return for his love in one year’s time. Perhaps the main case is set in 1894 before the rest of the game’s adventures? This is supported by the fact The Merry Men are not mentioned during the case, making it’s placement less connected to the prior mysteries.

The following case is a wholly original adventure taking place at the Kew Gardens and thanks to a few documents found throughout the investigation, it’s evident that it occurs in 1895. The concluding case of the game is also an original one called A Half Moon Walk which brings The Merry Men into the finale. This case sees Holmes and Watson in Whitechapel once more and features references to the Ripper, naturally. This case specifically identifies fireworks being used in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Birthday and Sherlock notes it is May, which lines up with the real world event but indicates Black Peter may have occurred earlier in the year than previously thought. Confirmation of the year 1895 is found when comparing dates of the theft of jewellery said to be a decade prior in 1885. Curiously the games ending cinematic makes mention of a woman moving in next door, presumably intended at the time to foreshadow the next game in the series.

1895 - Versus Arsène Lupin/Nemesis (2007)

This battle of wits spans less than a week from the 14th to 19th of July 1895, with the titular French gentleman thief sets challenges for the master detective across London landmarks. Lupin is foreshadowed in the previous game, Awakened by way of a newspaper article detailing one of his exploits. Furthermore, we get another retroactive reference to the thief during the chronologically earlier Jack the Ripper game when Holmes receives ‘A gift from a young admirer’: a bottle of French champagne from ‘Raoul d’Andresy.’ The game also has overt references to the previous game thanks to Watson’s troubled nightmares and a Cthulhu statue. Oh, and there’s a cute Batman reference for those paying attention!

1896 - Mystery of the Persian Carpet (2008)

More of a side-story, this game begins on the 7th of August 1896 and appears to span only a few days. This game usually isn’t included with the main series of games, often being grouped with the handheld releases instead. I don’t have much to say about this entry, I’m afraid. It relies mostly on reused assets from the previous release in the form of still images for it’s mostly click and find gameplay. If anyone knows of any connections to other games in-universe, let me know!

1897 - Secret of the Silver Earring (2004)

This game also spans a brief period of time; the 14th to the 18th of October 1897. A character mentioned in this game (Hermann Grimble) is mentioned as having been burgled in a later game in the series, Arsène Lupin, making another retroactive connection between two of the games.

1898 - Testament of Sherlock Holmes (2012)

While the framing scenes of this games’ narrative features three little children reading from Watson’s journal at an indeterminate point in the future (though one that becomes more clear as the story progresses), the main story concerning Holmes begins in September 1898 as seen on the newspaper articles throughout the game. We also see returning characters Lucy and Danny from the Jack the Ripper game make appearances. Far more importantly, this game sees the return of mastermind and archfoe Moriarty and marks the first appearance of his daughter (unnamed at this point) in it’s closing moments. Moriarty dies for real this time, leaving his young daughter behind. Holmes adopts her.

1899 - The Mystery of the Mummy (2002)

The one that started the Frogwares video game series of Sherlock Holmes adventures. This story is very clearly set in ‘London 1899′ based on the opening cinematic, and features a solo Holmes answering a request from his distant cousin Andrew’s soon-to-be-wife Elisabeth Montcalfe. The case involves investigating the Montcalfe manor for clues relating to the disappearance and apparent death of Elisabeth’s father Lord Montcalfe, a respected Egyptologist. Dr Watson only appears in the final cinematic of the game, having been on vacation with Mrs Watson, which is I believe the only mention in the games of John’s marriage. This is also -on the surface- the latest chronological adventure for Sherlock, however I have one more I’d like to touch on that I believe *should* take place afterwards.

1895 or 1904/5 - The Devil’s Daughter (2016)

I’m going to be throwing speculation and a corrections into this entry’s timeline. Why? Because without it, the timeline falls apart and I feel it’s easily remedied with a little effort. This game forms a more connected plot which plays across the smaller cases Holmes investigates. The overarching plot surrounds new neighbour Miss Alice De’Bouvier. I think the previous entry, Crimes & Punishments was intended to lead directly into this game, with the teaser of a new female neighbour but as you’ll see that doesn’t make sense. Not only do we meet Miss De’Bouvier, but we also get to know Holmes’ young adopted daughter Katelyn who has been sent home from boarding school unexpectedly. Katelyn is the daughter of James Moriarty first seen as a small child in Testament. Kate becomes aware of the facts of her parentage by the game’s conclusion. Now, the first case, Prey Tell, provides our first continuity problem thanks to a boy named Tom from Whitechapel whom Holmes deduces was ‘born in 1887′ and is ‘8 years old’. This obviously places the game’s events no later than November 6th-7th 1895 (which is further confirmed by pre-paid rental slips and letters seen a little later), which doesn’t fit with Katelyn being a part of Holmes’ life before the events of her introduction in Testament set in 1898. I attribute this discontinuity to Frogwares changing plans during production, as they also made the creative decision to change the physical appearance of both Watson and Holmes and recast the voice actors in an evident attempt to softly refresh the series. There’s a potentially self-aware nod to this changed timeline: Tom has a copy of The Strand Magazine which first printed ‘The Adventure of the Norwood Builder’ by Doyle in his possession. This Canon story is set in 1894 but was published in 1903 however the cover in-game gives it an 1893 cover date, a whole decade earlier than in the real world. Further discontinuity occurs when Katelyn is gifted a copy of ‘Dracula’ by Alice. If the story were to take place in 1895, then Dracula wouldn’t be in print for another two years in 1897 let alone, as is mentioned, banned from Katelyn’s boarding school library.

The second case, A Study in Green is where we see the earlier mentioned reference to Sir Percival Blinkhorn. Additionally, Miss Alice gives Katelyn a copy of The Adventure of the Empty House, which in the real world was published in 1903 and is set in 1894. It details Sherlock’s miraculous return following his apparent death 3 years prior during his struggle with Moriarty. A victim in this case may be a reference to Tarzan, being named Zacharias Greystoke. Oh, and a Sir J Brombsy is also among the list of deceased donors, presumably a relative to the family seen in the Silver Earring game. An expedition in 1881 is said to have been 14 years prior.

The third case presents us with Miss Alice’s birth certificate which gives the year 1867 and we know she is at least 21 years of age (though, evidently older) thanks to another letter. Sherlock discovers he played a major role in Alice’s father being arrested in 1875 which is said to be 20 years prior, again setting the events of this game in 1895. While it’s not impossible that Holmes was active in 1875, it does make it an extremely early adventure based on the Canon, one that predates Watson’s first meeting with Sherlock.

Despite all of these clear and established dates, we still have to consider how this story fits into the continuity of the other games, particularly Katelyn only entering Holmes care in 1898 as established in Testament. A part of me suspects the writers simply liked the concept of Holmes raising the daughter of his greatest foe and perhaps preferred to have this occur earlier, to line up better wth Moriarty’s original death in the Canon during The Final Problem. Either way, I find it more satisfying to use a looser approach to this entry: ignore the established dates from documents and simply place it where it best fits in the game series order of events over all. Essentially, I propose we adopt a sliding timeline to the series, almost. I don’t believe there are any in-dialogue references to the years in question, so we could apply the same lower-tier canonicity to the dates in documents as one might to movie props that contradict the year given on screen or in dialogue. There’s some fun little discrepancies in the fourth case that make me more certain that the game should at least take place at a later year then indicated.

The fourth case Chain Reaction (and my person favourite of the game) involves investigating a traffic ‘accident’. A key aspect of the mystery involves a stolen technical cab from the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, which is in fact a real company that upgraded the existing system of underground railway between 1903 and 1905 to use electricity. If this adventure and the rest of the game were to take place in 1895, this would be an anachronism. Hence why I propose a date of 1904 (or 1905 if you prefer a nice round decade jump) which allows for the electrical system to exist and also gives Katelyn a sensible placement in the timeline after the events of Testament. In fact, it also allows Katelyn to be the older child who attends boarding school, reads Dracula (published in 1897) and generally behaves like a girl older than the small child seen in Testament. Perhaps 6 years older? Of course, this requires us to ignore the specific dates in all the previous cases in the game, but as none of them appear to be tied to anything that absolutely requires them to take place in 1895, I think it would be just as easy to move them forward a decade without affecting anything relevant to the narrative.

So, yes, it’s not a perfect solution but it does correct the continuity errors inherent by placing this story earlier than Holmes’ first meeting with Katelyn in1898. 1904 or 1905 is a better placement for the narrative of the Devil’s Daughter. This is where I think the games narrative should be set. I personally believe the superficial appearances of Watson and Holmes further justify this approach, as visual design and details change throughout the series based on the development teams influences and preferences at the time and can thus be dismissed when they are contradictory to the overall narrative. Who knows, maybe Watson just changed the dates and this game is merely a retelling with his usual embellishments?

Anyway, that was my attempt at a timeline for this great series of games. If you have any notes, please don’t hesitate to share them!

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intensionsuspension · 5 years

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Death Stranding Timeline

I put together a rough timeline for the overarching narrative of Death Stranding. I was able to piece together some parts of the timeline almost approximately, but admittedly, much of it is based on headcanon and conjecture due to parts of the lore being rather scant. Regardless, I tried to make it fun and I utilized invented details to enrich the worldbuilding. I also put together a few paragraphs explaining my methods in obtaining the more approximate dates. I’ve seen people talking about character age headcanons and attempting to pinpoint the duration of the Death Stranding, and I think I got pretty close to the truth with a few of these. Anyway, enjoy, tell me what you think. The full timeline is below the cut.

Death Stranding Timeline

August 25th, 1975 - Bridget Strand is born

November 27th, 1979 - Clifford Unger is born

August 16th, 1984 - Lisa Bridges is born

May 18th, 1985 - John Blake McClane is born

February 7th, 1995 - Deadman is ‘born’

March 13th, 1995 - Amelia Strand is ‘born’

May, 1997 - Bridget Strand earns a Bachelor’s degree in political science

August, 1997 - Clifford Unger enlists in the United States Army

October, 1997 - Bridget Strand becomes a political consultant under the campaign staff of

democratic senator Scott Faulkner

June, 1999 - Clifford Unger is one of 7,000 ground troops deployed during the end of the Kosovo War

September, 2000 - Clifford Unger joins the United States Army Special Forces

September, 2001 - Clifford Unger participates in the invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11 terrorist attacks

March, 2003 - Clifford Unger participates in the invasion of Iraq

September, 2003 - John Blake McClane enlists in the United States Army

November, 2003 - Bridget Strand is promoted to campaign manager of democratic senator Scott Faulkner’s reelection campaign

May, 2005 - Clifford Unger earns a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice

May, 2006 - Lisa Bridges earns a bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Law Enforcement

September, 2006 - John Blake McClane joins the United States Special Forces

January, 2007 - Lisa Bridges begins her career as a Law Enforcement Ranger at Whitewater State Park near Rochester, MN

April, 2007 - Clifford Unger is promoted to the position of commanding officer (captain) within ODA 1116, Alpha Co, 1st Btn, 1st SFG

May, 2008 - John Blake McClane earns a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Intelligence

November, 2008 - Bridget Strand is elected into a democratic seat in the United States Senate

July, 2009 - John Blake McClane is transferred to ODA 1116 following the death of one of its Intelligence and Operations Sergeants

June 30th, 2010 - Heartman (Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Jacobsen) is born

July 16th, 2011 - Lucy Dimmonds is born

December 18th, 2011 - Iraq War ends

October, 2012 - Clifford Unger meets Lisa Bridges while on military leave, encountering her in Whitewater after he stumbles across her escaped German Shepherd,Victoria. A romance soon blossoms.

November, 2012 - Scott Faulkner and his running mate Bridget Strand win the presidency

October, 2014 - Clifford Unger and Lisa Bridges are married

February, 2015 - Lisa reveals to Cliff that she is pregnant, he retires from active duty to be with his family

March 15th, 2015 - Death Stranding occurs

May 29th, 2015 - Målingen and Lockne Leifsdottir are born

June, 2015 - President Faulkner creates the government organization ‘Bridges’, which is designed to create a network across the fractured America in order to administer aid to the civilian population. Its other, classified purpose is to research the cause of the Death Stranding and to synthesize potential solutions to the social, economic, and infrastructural issues it has caused.

July, 2015 - John Blake McClane leaves the United States Army Special Forces to pursue a career opportunity as head of Bridges security. Much of Bridges’ security personnel is comprised of military veterans.

August, 2015 - President Faulkner is killed during a voidout that obliterates Manhattan Island. The voidout is caused by the death of a stillmother during the preliminary embryonic chiral experimentation trial runs conducted by Bridges, experiments which would go on to become the blueprints for the ‘Bridge Babies’, also known as ‘BB’ units. The existence of the embryonic experimentation being brought to the public eye causes widespread outrage, and the research is discontinued. Following Faulkner’s death, his vice president, Bridget Strand, succeeds the presidency. While the embryonic chiral experimentation is officially discontinued, President Strand continues it in secret, desperate to discover the secrets of the new element ‘chiralium’ and its vast potential to bolster technological development.

September, 2015 - Cliff and Lisa are hit by a drunk driver while driving home one night after attending a play. Both receive serious injuries, Cliff; a shattered collarbone, humerus, and ulna, and Lisa; severe whiplash and head trauma, which leaves her comatose. Miraculously, the 7 month old fetus is largely unharmed.

October, 2015 - Cliff enrolls his family in an experimental medical care program that promises to utilize state of the art technology to provide them the best chance at recovery, as recommended to him by an old military buddy. An emergency C-section is conducted, and the 28 week old Baby Bridges ‘BB’ is placed in a portable pod synchronized with his mother’s heartbeat.

Bridget Strand acts as overseer of the experiments in secret, under the pseudonym Dr. Samsa. She hides her true identity behind a steel masquerade mask.

February, 2016 - Cliff grows increasingly irritated and untrusting of Dr. Samsa as she continues to avoid his questions and lie to him. BB is kept in his pod long past his due date and prevented from growing through the usage of hormone blockers.

December 23rd, 2016 - When John realizes that Cliff’s family is being harvested for chiral experimentation, he warns Cliff of what is going to be done to them. When Cliff tries to escape the facility with his baby, he and his entire family are killed. Baby Bridges is revived by Amelie on the beach, and he is christened ‘Sam’. Bridget Strand makes the decision to raise him as her own, as he was no longer a BB candidate after Cliff released him from his pod. After this unnatural resuscitation, the laws of nature are made gravely upset. Sam becomes the first repatriate and DOOMS sufferer, one who can travel between Earth and Hades and detect the spectral dead using his 5 senses. The dead, the Beached Things, return physically to the land of the living and claim more human souls, dragging the damned with them as they returned to the other side. Timefall, rain that rapidly ages anything it touches, begins to fall in showers across the American continent.

December 31st, 2016 - Sam Strand is ‘born’

March, 2017 - John Blake McClane fakes his death with the help of President Strand. He returns to the broken political scene under the pseudonym Die-Hardman and becomes a personal aide to the president.

October 1st, 2017 - Fragile (Giselle Depardieu) is born

November 8th, 2019 - Higgs Monaghan is born

April, 2020 - The United Cities of America (UCA) is established, as the state governments and boundaries have all but crumpled as a result of continuous voidouts, and only a few key cities remain.

June, 2020 - Deadman earns the position of Bridges head coroner as a result of his government-sponsored artificial personhood program.

May, 2033 - Lucy Dimmonds earns a Bachelor’s degree in psychology

March, 2034 - Lucy Dimmonds becomes a licensed therapist

February, 2038 - Sam has his first meeting with his therapist, Lucy Dimmonds. In the following months, the two begin to form a close and unprofessional relationship.

December, 2039 - Sam and Lucy are married, and Lucy retires from her practice.

February, 2040 - Lucy contracts DOOMS after becoming pregnant with her and Sam’s child Louise. She begins to have horrible visions of the apocalypse, which Bridget assures her are real portents of the future.

September, 2040 - Lucy chooses to commit suicide in order to avoid bringing a child into the world where the apocalypse is imminent. Her death causes a voidout, and Sam, who was busy making deliveries at the time, returns home to a smoking crater; all that’s left of his hometown. The survivors eye him warily and he can tell that they blame him for the disaster. In shame and grief, Sam resigns from Bridges and begins work as an independent porter. He changes his name to Sam Porter Bridges.

January 11th, 2045 - President Bridget Strand dies of metastasized uterine cancer. The plot of Death Stranding begins.

References and Reasoning Used in Creating Timeline

Deadman mentions that WW1 took place more than 100 years ago, meaning that the present day in Death Stranding is past 2014-2018

Deadman mentions that WW2 took place a century ago, which places the timeframe of Death Stranding’s narrative anywhere from 2039-2045. I opted for the late estimate as to make Sam a little older and give the timeline some room to breathe

Based on appearance, behavior, and age in relation to other characters (he was a baby when Cliff, Die-Hardman, and Bridget were all mature adults), I placed Sam at around 28-30 years old. If he were any older, characters such as Die-Hardman and Bridget would appear much too young in the present day. This would also make the period in which the Death Stranding occurred around 30 years.

Deadman explains that Clifford Unger took part in the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War. This would place his years of service from 1999 to right before the Death Stranding and Sam’s birth, around 2015. We know his military career did not begin any earlier, as there is no mention of him serving during the Balkan Wars or Persian Gulf War. Assuming that he was around 18 for his first deployment during the Kosovo War, it can be pretty reasonably inferred that Cliff was born around 1979, and was therefore around 36-37 when he was killed. This lines up nicely with the age restrictions surrounding combat in the United States Army Special Forces (ages 20-36). Essentially, Cliff must have been 36-37 in 2016, for if he was any older he would not have been only recently retired from combat, and if he was any younger he would not have been old enough to have served during the Kosovo War.

Bridget Strand’s age is determined similarly. As both vice president and president, she would have had to have been 35 years of age or older, if she was vice president in 2012, she would have had to have been at least 35. I placed her at 37, which is still very young, but not quite the youngest on record. But, since she assumes the presidency in 2016 following the death of the president, she would have become president at 41 years of age, which would make her the record-holder of the title of youngest American president. Assuming she is 41 in 2016, she would be 70 years of age at the time of her death in 2045, which seems reasonable.

Most other aspects of the timeline are built around these key definable pieces of the puzzle and are subject to change as more lore is revealed.

Essentially, this is full of headcanons that I’ll be happy to alter if and when we get more information.

#death stranding #death stranding headcanons #death stranding spoilers #sam porter bridges #cliff unger #cliff death stranding #fragile death stranding #die-hardman #mama death stranding #lockne death stranding #hideo kojima #death stranding lore #amelie strand #bridget strand #higgs monaghan #beached things #chiralium #death stranding timeline #death stranding timefall

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dumbhypmicheadcanons · 5 years

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the truth of when hypmic takes place: part two

Now that I have argued my point, it is time to actually use this information. Let’s start with birth years for everyone. This is, of course, assuming that the HypMic universe is currently at the date of 7/7/27, because this theory (and everything else tbh) revolves around Dice and Dice’s birthday. So, without further ado…

Jakurai: January 9th, 1992

Doppo: May 15th, 1998

Jyuto: May 30th, 1998

Hifumi: June 22nd,1998

Rio: June 21st, 1999

Samatoki: November 11th, 2001

Ramuda: February 14th, 2003

Gentaro: April 1st, 2003

Dice: July 7th, 2007

Ichiro: July 26th, 2007

Jiro: February 6th, 2010

Saburo: December 16th, 2012

These dates could easily be moved around if you change up which day we’re going by, for example, if we changed it to be December 31st, many of these characters would have been born a year later. These are simply estimates, but they are close enough for them to be useful.

So, with this information, let me tell tell you a thing. Jakurai? A millennial, through and through. He’s also a real 90’s kid. Jyuto, Doppo, Hifumi, and Rio are all fake 90’s kids that no one respects because they can’t remember shit about the 90’s. They, and potentially Samatoki, Ramuda, and Gentaro, all grew up thinking they were millennials but then people started calling them Gen Z and no one is quite sure which they are because they’re in that middle ground. The rest? Gen Z. They’re all constantly joking about how they want to die and playing Fortnite. Also, Saburo was born only days before everyone thought the world was going to end. This means there is a possibility that the bros are orphans because their parents drank like it was the end of the world because they thought it genuinely was and then they died.

I am aware that Japan almost definitely doesn’t have the same generational structure as the west, and I have been told that all of the characters were born in the Heisei era, but I have no clue what that means and I’m pretty sure Japanese people don’t stereotype people based on which emperor was ruling when they were born??? Eh maybe they do. I’m not an expert. However, we’re not here today to learn the good info and make accurate posts, we’re here for me to project myself onto these characters. So now, using these dates, lets analyze the childhoods of everything… through my American eyes.

Jakurai is a 90′s kid, which means he grew up in the prime era of moon shoes, tamagotchi, furbies, and of course, the gameboy. Jakurai played the original Pokemon games because he was Cultured like that.

Doppo, having no friends, absolutely started playing Pokemon when he was old enough to know how to press buttons. He probably really wanted to play Gold and Silver, but they came out before he knew how to read and his parents didn’t want to buy him some random video game. As soon as Ruby and Sapphire were released, however, he cried for days until his parents finally gave up and got him a copy of Sapphire. He played the fucking shit out of it, his first starter was a Mudkip and he adored it. When he and Hifumi met, he was appalled that Hifumi had never played Pokemon before and practically forced Hifumi to get a copy of Ruby so they could trade and battle each other. Doppo was such a hardo, he had a perfectly balanced team that could overcome pretty much any type weakness and he leveled up all of his Pokemon and tried to teach them really good moves. Hifumi literally just caught any cute looking Pokemon and didn’t train them at all. He never beat the Elite Four. His starter was a Torchic but as soon as it evolved into a Combusken he started crying because his adorable fire-chicken turned into a weird fighting penis-chicken but he still loved it and tried his best. Hifumi’s favorite part of the game was contests. They continued playing Pokemon for years and they still play it even in 2027, they will always buy the latest game no matter how old they get. Hifumi still sucks at it but Doppo doesn’t mind. They bought the game for Jakurai and got him to play it and he is so confused because like??? Horde battles? Mega-evolution?? What the fuck is this new shit he hasn’t picked up a game since Platinum??? And yet even without knowing what the fuck he’s doing, Jakurai is still better at the game than both of his other teammates and they don’t understand how he’s managed to perfectly EV train his team when he has never heard of EVs before.

Gentaro and Ramuda were around 7 when Silly Bandz got big. We all know that Ramuda fuckin loved those things. He was the kid who made his parents buy all of the newest designs, he would always make unfair trades with other kids like “I’ll give you my tiger if you give me your penguin, dolphin, and princess.” Ramuda was also the kid who had so, so many of them and he would wear all of them at the same time so he always had to be sent to the nurse for potentially cutting off circulation to his hands because he had Silly Bandz, in rainbow order because he was good at art class, from his wrists up to his shoulders. Ramuda got them banned from his school and every one in a 20-mile radius.

Now, let’s look at how old these characters all are today, this very day, April 22nd, 2019 (in my timezone). This is accounting for birthdays that have already happened, but if you are seeing this post at a much later date it will probably be wrong. It also will need to be adjusted if you don’t believe the Hypmic universe revolves around Dice like I do. However, the ages are close enough for shitposting purposes.

Jakurai: 27

Doppo, Jyuto, Hifumi: 20

Rio: 19

Samatoki: 17

Ramuda, Gentaro: 16

Dice, Ichiro: 11

Jiro: 9

Saburo: 6

What does this mean? Well, it means a lot of things.

Jiro is playing Fortnite at this very moment, yelling Russian slurs at random-ass people. Several other characters could also be playing Fortnite, like Dice, but Jiro is that fuckin kid that keeps beating the shit out of you and spending all of his brother’s money on v-bucks. Saburo is just a little boy, probably dealing with Jiro playing Fortnite at every opportunity. I don’t know what six-year-olds do with their time in this day and age but if I had to guess from the ones who constantly yell at each other in my vicinity, it would probably be roasting each other and playing Fortnite so… I guess Saburo is roasting Jiro over Fortnite?

The 29-year-olds are currently 20 which means they are adults in Japan and can get drunk off their asses legally! It also means they’re probably in college and their bloodstreams have been replaced with vodka and ecstasy. Jyuto does not have ecstasy in his system because he wants people to stop being drug addicts but he does keep going to parties and offering to be a stripper as long as he gets paid.

Samatoki is running a hardcore feminist Tumblr blog right now. Some people think it’s creepy that a 17 year old boy is reblogging posts that say something along the lines of “All men should fucking die they’re all scum” but he’s just being respectful.

Gentaro? He’s writing fanfiction now. That really nicely written rarepair slowburn with a bunch of poetic smut in the later chapters? Gentaro wrote that. He’s got some drafts for an original story he wants to write but he keeps putting it off and writing fanfiction instead.

There’s definitely other shit that I’m forgetting but these are my interpretations of Hypmic life that I can remember. Feel free to fight me or add your own interpretations, whichever makes you happier.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #theory #shitpost #dumb headcanons #long post #fling posse #buster bros #matenrou #mad trigger crew #2027 theory

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classic-rock-roller · 6 years

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The Van Halen Timeline

Mostly Taken from Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga by Ian Christe, everything after March 2007 is from my own research

October 13th, 1947: Sammy Hagar born in Monterey, California

May 8th, 1953: Alexander Arthur van Halen born in Holland

October 10th, 1953: David Lee Roth born in Bloomington, Indiana

June 20th, 1954: Michael Anthony Sobolewski born in Chicago, Illinois

January 26th, 1955: Edward Lodwijk van Halen born in Holland

July 26th, 1961: Gary Cherone born in Malden, Massachusetts

Winter 1962: Jan van Halen emigrates with his family to California

1967: Edward gets $100 Teisco Del Ray guitar from Sears

1971: Alex and Eddie Van Halen form the Trojan Rubber Company

Autumn 1973: David Lee Roth joins the Van Halen brothers in Mammoth

1973: Sammy Hagar joins Montrose, records two albums, and tours heavily

Spring 1974: Mike Sobolewski joins Van Halen, becomes Michael Anthony

May 1976: Gene Simmons “discovers” Van Halen at the Starwood, finances unsuccessful demo tape

1976: Sammy Hagar leaves Montrose, launches solo career

May 1977: Ted Templeton rediscovers Van Halen, signs band to Warner Bros.

February 10th, 1978: Release of Van Halen; leading to tours with Journey, then Black Sabbath

October 10th, 1978: Van Halen goes platinum

March 23rd, 1979: Release of Van Halen II; first headlining tour runs through October

March 26th, 1980: Release of Women and Children First

August 29th, 1980: Eddie Van Halen meets Valerie Bertinelli

April 11th, 1981: Eddie marries Valerie

April 29th, 1981: Release of Fair Warning

April 14th, 1982: Release of Diver Down

May 29th, 1983: Van Halen paid $1.5 million to play for four hundred thousand people at US Festival ‘83

January 4th, 1984: Release of 1984, featuring band’s first number 1 singe, “Jump”

September 2nd, 1984: Final show by classic lineup in Nuremberg, Germany

December 31st, 1984: David Lee Roth releases Crazy from the Heat

1985: Cherone’s band the Dream wins MTV’s Basement Tapes

April 1985: David Lee Roth exits Van Halen

September 1985: Eddie Van Halen announces at Farm Aid that Sammy Hagar is Van Halen’s new lead singer

November 19th, 1985: Sammy Hagar’s ninth studio album, VOA, becomes his first platinum-selling disc

March 24th, 1986: Release date of 5150; first “Van Hagar” album sells triple platinum by October

July 4th, 1986: Release of David Lee Roth’s platinum solo debut, Eat ‘Em and Smile

December 1986: Jan Van Halen dies

May 24th, 1988: Release of OU812, followed shortly by Roth’s Skyscraper

Summer 1988: Eddie attempts sobriety while Van Halen tours with Metallica, Scorpions, and Dokken

February 1989: Tone Lōc;s “Wild Thing” reaches number 2, a rap single that samples Van Halen’s “Jamie’s Cryin”

April 22nd, 1990: Van Halen performs at opening of Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico

June 8th, 1990: Extreme’s “More than Words” single hits number 1

February 2nd, 1991: Release of David Lee Roth’s A Little Ain’t Enough, his last gold record as a solo artist

March 16th, 1991: Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen born

June 17th, 1991: Release of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Van Halen’s third-straight number 1 album

January 1991: Eddie debuts the EVH Music Man guitar and the Peavey 5150 amplifier line

April 20th, 1992: Gary Cherone joins surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in London

February 23rd, 1993: Release of first official live album, Right Here, Right Now

October 16th, 1993: Van Halen’s manager since 1985, Ed Leffler, dies

March 14th, 1994: Sammy Hagar releases solo collection, Unboxed

October 2nd, 1994: Fresh from rehab, Eddie Van Halen announces he will never drink again

January 24th, 1995: Release of Balance, the fourth consecutive number 1 studio album

April 7th, 1995: Eddie arrested at Burbank Airport carrying a loaded gun

April 26th, 1995: Van Halen returns to Europe after eleven years, as an opening act for Bon Jovi

Fall 1995: David Lee Roth appears in Reno and Las Vegas with a fourteen-piece band

November 29th, 1995: Sammy Hagar marries second wife, Kari

June 1996: Eddie and Sammy fight during a phone call; Sammy Hagar leaves Van Halen

August 7th, 1996: Van Halen certified diamond for ten million sold

September 4th, 1996: Original members of Van Halen appear together at MTV Video Music Awards, leading to renewed quarrels

October 4th, 1996: Alex and Eddie announce that Van Halen’s new singer will be Gary Cherone

October 22nd, 1996: Release of Best of Volume I, with two new songs featuring Roth; despite the recent split with the band, it is his first number 1 album

March 17th, 1998: Release of Van Halen III, the first VH . studio album not to go platinum

November 5th, 1999: Gary Cherone leaves Van Halen

May 2000: Texas hospital confirms Eddie in outpatient cancer prevention

Summer 2001: Van Halen completes at least three new songs with David Lee Roth

January 2002: Van Halen’s partnership with Warner Bros. ends after twenty-three years

April 15th, 2002: David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar announce joint forty-date summer concert tour

May 2002: Doctors declare Eddie Van Halen cancer free

July 2002: Eddie and Valerie Van Halen announce separation

April 2004: Sammy’s Cabo Wabo Cantina opens a branch in basement of a Lake Tahoe casino; Cabo Wabo tequila ships over 110,000 cases for the year

June 11th, 2004: Van Halen launches reunion tour with Sammy Hagar; relations sour by the end of the summer

November 19th, 2004: Eddie smashes two Peavey Wolfgang guitars, ending his thirteen-year partnership

December 6th, 2005: Eddie and Valerie officially file for divorce

January 2006: David Lee Roth replaces Howard Stern as morning radio DJ; lasts through April

September 2006: Eddie Van Halen announces that Van Halen will tour in 2007 with his son, Wolfgang, playing bass

December 2006: Roth rehearses with a new all-Van Halen lineup

March 2007: Van Halen inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

September 27th, 2007: Van Halen started their new tour in Charlotte, North Carolina

March 5th, 2008: World Weekly Entertainment to CBS News reported that the reason the tour had been interrupted was Eddie Van Halen’s needing to reenter rehab

June 2nd, 2008: The tour ended at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan

July 3rd, 2008: Van Halen headlined the Quebec City Summer Festival

August 2010: Warner/Chappell Music extends its administration agreements with Van Halen

January 17th, 2011: Van Halen enters the Hensen Studio C with Producer Jon Shanks

December 26th, 2011: Their official website is updated, announcing that tickets for their 2012 tour will be available beginning January 10th, 2012

January 5th, 2012: Van Halen plays an intimate gig at Café Wha? in New York City

January 10th, 2012: Van Halen’s single “Tattoo” makes it’s premier on radio stations

February 7th, 2012: A Different Kind of Truth is released

August 30th, 2012: Eddie Van Halen is diagnosed with diverticulitis and undergoes surgery, which postpones the shows in Japan

April 20th, 2013: Van Halen performs it’s first show outside North American with Roth since 1984

February 2015: Van Halen fansite, VHND.com, announces that Van Halen is releasing their first every live album with David Lee Roth, Tokyo Dome Live in Concert

March 24th, 2015: Van Halen announces a 39 date tour with Roth that will take place between July and October across North America

March 31st, 2015: Tokyo Dome Live in Concert is released

April 2015: Eddie Van Halen tells Rolling Stone that the band “will probably hunker down and do a studio album” after their tour

January 16th, 2016: Michael Anthony clears up the rumor that he might be rejoining Van Halen

February 26th, 2016: David Lee Roth clears up some rumors about his recently released song “Ain’t No Christmas”, saying that it has nothing to do with Van Halen

May 25th, 2016: David Lee Roth says he believes he’ll be back with Van Halen

August 17th, 2016: Sammy Hagar apologizes to Van Halen

December 23rd, 2016: Rumors start to fly about Van Halen reuniting for album and 2018 tour

March 12th, 2017: Michael Anthony says that it’s time for Roth/Hagar Van Halen tour

June 22nd, 2017: Michael Anthony says that now is a perfect time for a reunion of the classic lineup of Van Halen

November 2nd, 2017: Sammy Hagar says that there is no chance of a Van Halen reunion

January 5th, 2018: Michael Anthony is interviewed for upcoming Van Halen documentary

January 20th, 2018: Van Halen is rumored to have new music and 2018 tour

January 29th, 2018: Eddie Van Halen sues to stop release of “5150 Vault” documentary

#van halen #eddie van halen #alex van halen #david lee roth #michael anthony #sammy hagar #gary cherone #wolfgang van halen #van halen timeline

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k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9 · 1 year

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Whitechapel - Fairy Fay

#Whitechapel #The Somatic Defilement #Fairy Fay #Release date: July 31st 2007 #Full-length #Genre: Deathcore #Lyrical themes: Whitechapel murders (early); Anti-religion Corruption Inner struggles #USA

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cardsvistas · 4 years

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13 Things To Avoid In Us Visa Bulletin December 13 | us visa bulletin december 13

MIAMI — Added than 30,000 Cuban Americans accept active a address requesting that President Donald Trump about-face a decree issued in June to append clearing from the island — including ancestors reunifications — until the end of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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“This announcement is amid families, a lot of children, parents, spouses and brothers/sisters accept been cat-and-mouse continued years to be reunited with their families,” said the address acquaint on the White House’s “WE the PEOPLE” site.

For Maidelys Crespo Gómez, a Cuban civic who resides in Havana and has been afar for years from her husband, Brayan Cordero, who lives in Miami, the controlling adjustment added lengthens the “ordeal” of separation.

“Thousands of families accept waited continued years advantageous for a acknowledged action in hopes of reuniting. It is an eternity. Accouchement who accept developed up afterwards parents, wives afar from their husbands … Only those who accept gone through this action apperceive of the affliction and affliction that marks a ancestors afar by years,” Crespo, 30, told el Nuevo Herald.

Crespo additionally said that Cuban American citizens and abiding association “have formed hard, paid taxes and followed the acknowledged aisle to be able to accumulate with their family.”

Crespo said her family, amid those who active the petition, feels as if they’ve been “forgotten” by the U.S. government.

“We are requesting President Donald J. Trump to abolish this announcement and admission our families access to the United States as anon as borders accessible and that we do not accept to adjournment until December 31st, 2020,” states the petition, which is circulating online.

WE the PEOPLE is a area of the White House armpit for citizens to accurate their views. For a address to be advised for review, at atomic 100,000 signatures charge be calm aural 30 days. The address requesting the “cancellation of announcement suspending acknowledged clearing to the United States” has been on the White House armpit for two weeks.

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The White House has said the admeasurement seeks to assure American workers from an barrage of foreigners as COVID-19 has larboard 21 actor Americans unemployed. However, the abridgement afresh showed absolute signs, creating 2.5 actor added jobs, according to assorted account reports.

The controlling order, active in June, is a assiduity of a antecedent admeasurement issued in April that bound clearing to the United States for three months, breeding altercation amid groups that avert civilian rights in the U.S.

For clearing advocate Wilfredo Allen, who practices in South Florida, the furnishings of the new controlling adjustment on Cuban clearing are “draconian.”

The adjustment active by Trump affects the claims gluttonous ancestors reunification by abiding U.S. association to spouses, from parents to accouchement of acknowledged age and those developed accouchement now with spouses in Cuba. It additionally affects claims of those gluttonous to accumulate with siblings, said Allen, who calculates that the administration’s akin behavior against Cuban abandonment accept prevented the accession in the aftermost three years of about 60,000 people.

“The clearing action to the United States is abundant added complicated for Cubans because the Parole Ancestors Reunification Program, a appropriate affairs for Cubans accustomed in 2007, has been on authority for years,” Allen said. “Many of the clearing categories afflicted by the new admeasurement were those with bags of bodies who accept been cat-and-mouse for their case to be advised for years.”

The Trump administering abeyant that affairs for Cubans, abrogation added than 20,000 families in limbo.

The U.S. government additionally abeyant the processing of immigrant visas at its admiral in Havana afterwards camp bloom incidents that larboard dozens of American and Canadian diplomats ill.

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To the controlling adjustment of President Trump is added the acting cease due to the communicable of the United States Consulate in Guyana that had been processing immigrant visas for Cubans.

“There is a actual ample allotment of Cubans who are abandoned at the bound appropriate now who accept accessible acknowledged clearing cases,” said Allen. “The burden central Cuba and the adjournment of the arrangement accept fabricated them accident aggregate and cantankerous through Mexico to appeal cover at the border.”

According to official statistics from the Customs and Bound Aegis Office, in budgetary year 2019 added than 21,000 Cubans accomplished the southern border, amateur that of the antecedent budgetary year, back there were aloof over 7,000. As of February this year, the latest accessible statistics, about 3,300 Cuban immigrants had arrived.

There is affair amid the winners of the alleged acceptance action who will not be able to access the country until the new year either. Many of those acceptance winners (essentially a accidental raffle) accept abutting the address effort.

“The Cuban winners of the assortment acceptance draw are actual anxious that we could lose the befalling of our lives if the controlling adjustment continues. We charge to accept our acceptance afore September 30,” said Cristian Daniel Cristo, one of the winners.

Cristo, who has visited the United States as a allotment of a student-exchange program, said that he asks the Cuban American association and the politicians of South Florida for advice “so that bags of Cubans can accomplish their dream of freedom.”

Last year, Cuba and Venezuela led the cardinal of visas won in the assortment draw with 2,703 and 1,068 visas, respectively.

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Following the controlling order, tens of bags of winners of the assortment lottery, which grants abiding abode to citizens of countries with little representation in the United States, accept been larboard afterwards the achievability of traveling to the United States.

“The acceptance action is a ambition of the Trump administration, which wants to annihilate it,” said clearing advocate Alejandro Vázquez. Trump had ahead criticized the acceptance lottery, adage it was “a abhorrence show” and that “some actual bad people” accept migrated through that program.

Vazquez said a accumulation of attorneys seeks to claiming the administering in cloister to ensure that the winners access some anatomy of aegis and can immigrate to the United States.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

For their part, Cristo and added winners of the acceptance raffle accept created groups on amusing media to abutment anniversary other.

“The United States is the country of befalling and freedom,” he said. “There you can be as you are afterwards abhorrence of actuality judged. I am not activity to accord up because I appetite to assignment and eat abundantly with adamantine work, the diaphoresis off my forehead.”

PHOTO (for advice with images, acquaintance 312-222-4194): USCUBA-IMMIGRATION

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garrettczyt333-blog · 5 years

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Some People Excel At Income Tax Services And Some Don't - Which One Are You?

Service tax is a indirect tax, that is pertinent towards the services which are taxable. This levy arrived to effect because the Central Government looked for a fairly easy option which is clear naturally and will create revenue to the country in a simple manner. It was launched in India in 1994 according to Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994.

Service Tax in India

Over recent years, service tax has become imposed on different services. Its features aren't comparable to VAT, that's imposed on commodities and merchandises.

It is levied on different categories of services which are available from financial institutions like stock exchange, banks, transaction providers, colleges, and telecom providers.

Banks were the first to impose service tax on the customers. From the time of the commencement, they often times expressed service costs in the form of processing charges. The duty of collecting the levy is entrusted while using Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), that's an expert within the Ministry of Finance. This authority devises the tax system in India.

For the rationale of imposing it, the cost of any taxable service needs to be the gross amount fixed by the vendor for that service provided by him.

Rate of Service Tax

In India, service tax first arrived to existence with effect from July 1, 1994. Every company in India, apart from those invoved with the state of Jammu and Kashmir, has to pay this levy. At the outset, just three services were grouped under its net. The rate was 5% at this point. Slowly, more services were brought within the whole world of this duty. The rate grew up from 5% to 8% with effect from May 14, 2003. The rate was again hiked to 10% from 8% on September 10, 2004. In addition to this, 2% education cess about the service tax amount has also been initiated. In the Union Budget of Government of India for fiscal 2006-2007, the service tax rate was upped from 10% to 12%. On February 24, 2009, with all the purpose of offering reprieve for the business and commerce sector staggering within the brunt of economic slump, the speed was lowered from 12 percent to 10 percent.

Currently, the obligation is payable @10% with the "gross amount" charged by the company for offering this type of taxable service. The education cess is payable @2%, and higher and secondary education cess is payable @1% with the amount due.

Due date for paying Service Tax

For proprietary firms, individuals, and partnership firms, it needs to be paid with a quarterly basis (4x a year). The deadline day for payment could be the 5th in the month instantly subsequent towards the particular quarter. April to June, July to September, October to December, and January to March include the four quarters. Nonetheless, payment for that final quarter that is January to March has to be carried out by March 31st itself. For any other types of providers than stated earlier, it has to be paid monthly, with the 5th from the the following month. Nonetheless, payment for March has to be made by March 31st itself. Service tax should be paid for the sum collected/obtained through the assessee throughout the applicable period (a quarter or possibly a month as appropriate).

The exclusive aspect of Service Tax is reliance upon gathering of tax, mostly via unpaid observance. The scheme of self-assessment of ST Returns by service tax assessees was released with effect from April 01, 2001. The jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise has the power to cross look at the accuracy of self-assessed returns. These returns are expected to be submitted after every few months. Central Excise officials are empowered to execute inspections to find the probable assessees beneath the tax net.

What are the forms for submitting service tax?

The following forms can be used submission:

ST - 1: Application form for registration under Section 69 with the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 2: Certificate of registration under Section 69 of The Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994)

ST - 3: Return under Section 70 in the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 3A: Memorandum for provisional deposit under rule 6 with the Service Tax Rules, 1994

ST - 4: Form of Appeal to the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals)

ST - 5: Form of Appeal to Appellate Tribunal under section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 6: Form of the memorandum of cross-objections towards the Appellate Tribunal under section 86 of Finance Act, 1994

ST - 7: Form of application to Appellate Tribunal under Section 86(2) [or Sec.86(2A) from the Finance Act,1994

G.A.R. 7: G.A.R. Proforma for Service Tax payments (For payments from April 2007 onwards)

AAR (ST-I): Application for Advance Ruling

ASTR - 1: Application for filing claims of discount of cess and service tax paid on taxable services exported

ASTR - 2: Application for filing an incident of discount of levy paid on raw materials, cess and service tax paid on input services

Application

Proforma for Application for approval to submit ST-3 Return online

Form - A

Application for reimbursement of CENVAT credit under Rule 5 in the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004

Constitutional and official stipulations behind the imposition of Service Tax in India

Constitutional legitimacy

Article 265 with the Constitution shows that no tax shall be imposed or received apart from from the power of law. Schedule VII splits this theme into three classes-

a) Union list (only Central or Union Government has the authority of enacting laws)

b) State list (only State Government has the authority of enacting laws)

c) Coexisting list (both Central and State Government have the authority to enact laws).

Registration for submitting Service Tax

An individual person legally responsible to spend service tax has to sign up for registration within four weeks (a month) in the date where the service tax on specific taxable service becomes effectual or within 1 month in the beginning of his business.

All suppliers of an taxable service need to obtain registration by completing the Form ST-1 in photocopy using the authoritative Central Excise Office.

A "registered" supplier is denoted just as one "assessee".

One registration is adequate even though an assessee is offering well over one taxable service. Nevertheless, he has to list every one of the services provided by him inside registration application as well as the field office is likely to make appropriate notes/approvals in the registration certificate.

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#income tax. income service #income tax service

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judahyded587-blog · 5 years

Text

Revolutionize Your Income Tax Services With These Easy-Peasy Tips

Service tax is a type of indirect tax, which can be pertinent on the services which might be taxable. This levy got into effect because Central Government looked for a fairly easy option that is clear anyway and will create revenue for the country in a simple manner. It was released in India in 1994 in accordance with Chapter V from the Finance Act, 1994.

Service Tax in India

Over of late, service tax continues to be imposed on different services. Its features are not much like VAT, which can be imposed on commodities and merchandises.

It is levied on different kinds of services which might be provided by financial institutions like stock market, banks, transaction providers, colleges, and telecom providers.

Banks were the first to impose service tax on the customers. From the time of these commencement, they often times expressed service costs by means of processing charges. The duty of collecting the levy is entrusted using the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), which can be a specialist within the Ministry of Finance. This authority devises the tax system in India.

For the rationale of imposing it, the price tag on any taxable service needs to be the gross amount fixed with the company for your service given by him.

Rate of Service Tax

In India, service tax first came into existence with effect from July 1, 1994. Every vendor in India, besides those who work in the condition of Jammu and Kashmir, has to pay this levy. At the outset, just three services were grouped under its net. The rate was 5% at that point. Slowly, more services were brought underneath the an entire world of this duty. The rate spent my youth from 5% to 8% with effect from May 14, 2003. The rate was again hiked to 10% from 8% on September 10, 2004. In addition to this, 2% education cess on the service tax amount have also been initiated. In the Union Budget of Government of India for fiscal 2006-2007, the service tax rate was upped from 10% to 12%. On February 24, 2009, using the function of offering reprieve towards the business and commerce sector staggering within the brunt of economic slump, the pace reduced from 12 percent to 10 %.

Currently, the obligation is payable @10% of the "gross amount" charged from the supplier for offering this kind of taxable service. The education cess is payable @2%, and better and secondary education cess is payable @1% of the amount due.

Due date for paying Service Tax

For proprietary firms, individuals, and partnership firms, it should be paid with a quarterly basis (4x per year). The due date for payment will be the 5th with the month instantly subsequent for the particular quarter. April to June, July to September, October to December, and January to March include the four quarters. Nonetheless, payment for the final quarter that is certainly January to March has to be carried out by March 31st itself. For any other sorts of agencies than stated previously, it should be paid every month, with the 5th of the later. Nonetheless, payment for March must be produced by March 31st itself. Service tax should be paid on the sum collected/obtained with the assessee through the entire applicable period (25 % or possibly a month as appropriate).

The exclusive aspect of Service Tax is attachment to gathering of tax, mostly via unpaid observance. The scheme of self-assessment of ST Returns by service tax assessees premiered with effect from April 01, 2001. The jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise has the ability to cross confirm the accuracy of self-assessed returns. These returns are expected to be submitted after every half a year. Central Excise officials are empowered to execute inspections to have the probable assessees under the tax net.

What are the forms for submitting service tax?

The following forms can be used submission:

ST - 1: Application form for registration under Section 69 from the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 2: Certificate of registration under Section 69 of The Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994)

ST - 3: Return under Section 70 with the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 3A: Memorandum for provisional deposit under rule 6 with the Service Tax Rules, 1994

ST - 4: Form of Appeal for the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals)

ST - 5: Form of Appeal to Appellate Tribunal under section 86 with the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 6: Form of the memorandum of cross-objections towards the Appellate Tribunal under section 86 of Finance Act, 1994

ST - 7: Form of application to Appellate Tribunal under Section 86(2) [or Sec.86(2A) in the Finance Act,1994

G.A.R. 7: G.A.R. Proforma for Service Tax payments (For payments from April 2007 onwards)

AAR (ST-I): Application for Advance Ruling

ASTR - 1: Application for filing a claim of discount of cess and service tax paid on taxable services exported

ASTR - 2: Application for filing claims of discount of levy paid on unprocessed trash, cess and service tax paid on input services

Application

Proforma for Application for approval to submit ST-3 Return online

Form - A

Application for reimbursement of CENVAT credit under Rule 5 from the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004

Constitutional and official stipulations behind the imposition of Service Tax in India

Constitutional legitimacy

Article 265 from the Constitution suggests that no tax will be imposed or received aside from with the power of law. Schedule VII splits this theme into three classes-

a) Union list (only Central or Union Government has the authority of enacting laws)

b) State list (only State Government has the authority of enacting laws)

c) Coexisting list (both Central and State Government have the authority to enact laws).

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Registration for submitting Service Tax

An individual person legally responsible to pay service tax must submit an application for registration within four weeks (4 weeks) from your date on what the service tax on specific taxable service becomes effectual or within thirty days from your beginning of his business.

All suppliers of your taxable service have to obtain registration by completing the Form ST-1 in photocopy with all the authoritative Central Excise Office.

A "registered" company is denoted as an "assessee".

One registration is adequate even when an assessee is providing over one taxable service. Nevertheless, he must list every one of the services available from him in the registration application and the field office can make appropriate notes/approvals within the registration certificate.

#income tax. income service #income tax service

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beckettpjlf301-blog · 5 years

Text

13 Myths About Income Tax Services

Service tax is a type of indirect tax, that's pertinent on the services which are taxable. This levy arrived to effect because Central Government looked for a simple option that is clear naturally and will create revenue for that country in a straightforward manner. It was released in India in 1994 according to Chapter V with the Finance Act, 1994.

Service Tax in India

Over of late, service tax continues to be imposed on different services. Its features are certainly not much like VAT, which is imposed on commodities and merchandises.

It is levied on different groups of services which can be made available from banking institutions like stock market, banks, transaction providers, colleges, and telecom providers.

Banks were the first one to impose service tax on his or her customers. From the time with their commencement, sometimes they expressed service costs by means of processing charges. The duty of collecting the levy is entrusted while using Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), which can be an authority beneath the Ministry of Finance. This authority devises the tax system in India.

For the rationale of imposing it, the price tag on any taxable service has to be the gross amount fixed with the supplier to the service supplied by him.

Rate of Service Tax

In India, service tax first came into existence with effect from July 1, 1994. Every service provider in India, aside from those who work in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, must pay this levy. At the outset, just three services were grouped under its net. The rate was 5% when this occurs. Slowly, more services were brought under the whole world of this duty. The rate spent my youth from 5% to 8% with effect from May 14, 2003. The rate was again hiked to 10% from 8% on September 10, 2004. In addition to this, 2% education cess for the service tax amount was also initiated. In the Union Budget of Government of India for fiscal 2006-2007, the service tax rate was upped from 10% to 12%. On February 24, 2009, while using intent behind offering reprieve to the business and commerce sector staggering under the brunt of economic slump, the rate was lowered from 12 per cent to 10 per cent.

Currently, the duty is payable @10% of the "gross amount" charged through the vendor for offering this type of taxable service. The education cess is payable @2%, and and secondary education cess is payable @1% from the amount due.

Due date for paying Service Tax

For proprietary firms, individuals, and partnership firms, it needs to be paid on a quarterly basis (4 times per year). The payment date for payment is the 5th in the month instantly subsequent on the particular quarter. April to June, July to September, October to December, and January to March include the four quarters. Nonetheless, payment for that final quarter that is January to March should be done by March 31st itself. For any other sorts of agencies than mentioned above, it has to be paid monthly, with the 5th in the the following month. Nonetheless, payment for March must be produced by March 31st itself. Service tax should be paid for the sum collected/obtained from the assessee through the entire applicable period (a quarter or a month as appropriate).

The exclusive part of Service Tax is reliance on gathering of tax, mostly via unpaid observance. The scheme of self-assessment of ST Returns by service tax assessees was published with effect from April 01, 2001. The jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise has the strength to cross look into the accuracy of self-assessed returns. These returns are anticipated to be submitted after every few months. Central Excise officials are empowered to carry out inspections to have the probable assessees underneath the tax net.

What include the forms for submitting service tax?

The following forms can be used submission:

ST - 1: Application form for registration under Section 69 in the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 2: Certificate of registration under Section 69 of The Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994)

ST - 3: Return under Section 70 of the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 3A: Memorandum for provisional deposit under rule 6 with the Service Tax Rules, 1994

ST - 4: Form of Appeal on the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals)

ST - 5: Form of Appeal to Appellate Tribunal under section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994

ST - 6: Form of the memorandum of cross-objections towards the Appellate Tribunal under section 86 of Finance Act, 1994

ST - 7: Form of application to Appellate Tribunal under Section 86(2) [or Sec.86(2A) of the Finance Act,1994

G.A.R. 7: G.A.R. Proforma for Service Tax payments (For payments from April 2007 onwards)

AAR (ST-I): Application for Advance Ruling

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ASTR - 1: Application for filing claims of discount of cess and service tax paid on taxable services exported

ASTR - 2: Application for filing an incident of discount of levy paid on raw materials, cess and service tax paid on input services

Application

Proforma for Application for approval to submit ST-3 Return online

Form - A

Application for reimbursement of CENVAT credit under Rule 5 from the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004

Constitutional and official stipulations behind the imposition of Service Tax in India

Constitutional legitimacy

Article 265 in the Constitution shows that no tax will probably be imposed or received besides through the power of law. Schedule VII splits this theme into three classes-

a) Union list (only Central or Union Government has the authority of enacting laws)

b) State list (only State Government has the authority of enacting laws)

c) Coexisting list (both Central and State Government have the authority to enact laws).

Registration for submitting Service Tax

An individual person legally responsible to cover service tax has got to submit an application for registration within 1 month (a month) through the date which the service tax on specific taxable service becomes effectual or within 30 days from your beginning of his business.

All suppliers of a taxable service have to obtain registration by completing the Form ST-1 in photocopy with all the authoritative Central Excise Office.

A "registered" vendor is denoted as an "assessee".

One registration is adequate even if an assessee is offering well over one taxable service. Nevertheless, he should list every one of the services made available from him in the registration application along with the field office could make appropriate notes/approvals in the registration certificate.

#income tax. income service #income tax service

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mbkcares · 5 years

Text

"Spring Forward" by Ihsan Hines

I was going through my archives and I just found this article I wrote 7 years ago. If you have the time to read it, I hope it encourages you. And I'd like to hear your thoughts.

“Spring Forward”

Written by Ihsan Hines

Saturday, March 10, 2012 12:00pm

Over the years I’ve come to realize that no person is exempt from the human experience. Our specific experiences may differ but we all have our seasons of life and as we all know, seasons vary. Natural weather seasons include winter, spring, summer, and fall and our life seasons involve similar transitions. At times life seems very warm, followed by periods of loss and change, followed by coldness and loneliness. I’m extremely excited that new life always allows us to spring forward. I know these seasons very well and like many people, I struggle with processing the opportunity to spring forward after I’ve had to fall back. Tonight an important event will take place that I’m sure most of you are super eager to experience. We will all have one less hour to sleep!! Yes, it’s daylight savings time and in order to be on the same time schedule as everyone else, we must set our clocks an hour forward. I find it interesting that just before a season that represents so much new life and a beautiful atmosphere, we lose something. The environment changes drastically but we lose something. Now this may sound simple and sophomoric but I do have a point that I’m trying to make. If you give me a few moments, I will try to explain and share some thoughts that have come to me as gifts from my experiences. Spring represents so much more to gain than the loss that we encounter. Actually, some of what we lose represents an improvement or gain.

As a Christian, I’ve been reminded that to live is Christ and to die is gain. What does that mean? It means that as I live in a relationship with my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, I am in a very good situation. It also means that even when my life clock runs out of time, I will have an everlasting hourglass. I am by no means trying to force decisions regarding faith but I am sharing my own source of hope. There is a metaphor represented with spring time that I see within faith. Counting blessings rather than amplifying minor losses can help us appreciate the moment we live in. Tomorrow morning when we wake up after our shortened night of rest, we will be able to count one major blessing immediately. We woke up!! Looking at the bright side of our circumstances is necessary just like buying gas is necessary for a car to drive. And I understand gas is extremely high right now but if we pour water into our gas tanks, we will not be able to drive anywhere and we will actually damage the vehicle. This is similar to what pain and depression does to the human vehicle. If positive days and positive energy is fueling our hearts and minds, we will be better equipped to spring forward.

Some of you may be thinking that all sounds like the right perspective but it’s easier said than done. You are absolutely right. Healing is a process. I have been frustrated countless days and nights during the process of getting from dark places to where I know I should be. Just like it takes time to get from winter to spring, it also takes time to get from hurting to healed. This winter has been very mild and it seems like we didn’t get much snow at all. It’s not like last winter or the one before that when we had multiple days of snow up to our belly buttons. That’s an important thing to acknowledge because not only do seasons change from one to another but seasons change within themselves. That’s a reflection of healing. Most of us, if not all of us has experienced the loss of loved ones either by death or separation. We lose friends and relatives as they transition from life to death. We lose close interaction with people when families separate due to divorce or breakups. And there are other forms of separation such as relocation for employment, military obligations, and prison sentences. Some people have even had to experience separation due to kid-napping. I don’t want to make light of the pain that each circumstance causes but I want to attempt to make the healing process heavy. Just like last winter doesn’t look like this winter, we can develop hope as time goes on after our major life losses. I hope someone can relate to me when I say I have not forgotten the loved ones that were lost but I have seen progressive days for me to cope after each loss.

What did I lose? I’m not an expert on pain nor do I have all the solutions for life. What I am is a man who is living, learning, and hopeful to help others as much as I can. During the spring and summer of 2007, I felt like I was on top of the world. My family was happy. I was a new father to my first son. My heart was healing after a breakup and I fell in love with an amazing woman. I was traveling frequently as a recording artist and I released my first album that July. I remember being very excited because the date of the release fell on 07/07/07. That was a great time in my life, but seasons change. I have a younger brother named Atif who I love dearly. My mother raised us by herself and she always taught us to love each other and look out for our family. Atif has a daughter named Jordan who looks just like him. He had a great career as a supervisor at US Airways and his life appeared so well managed from the outside looking in. In August of 2007, I cut my brothers hair and I had no idea that would be the last time I’d ever see him. On August 31st 2007, while I was preparing to perform at a concert, I received a text message from Atif that said, “I’m sorry, I love you”. I thought nothing of it and I actually assumed that he sent it to the wrong person. I mean we didn’t have an argument and he didn’t do anything to me. What I didn’t know is that this was Atif’s way of saying goodbye forever. On that day he made a decision that changed seasons for his life and everyone who knows him. After spending the day with his daughter, he went home with a gun that he purchased that day and took his life. Suicide…. For reasons that I will never truly know, my brother committed suicide. I was in denial for a while and thought that someone killed him and made it look like suicide. Although seasons gradually improve, I lost my little brother…. my mother lost her child and some of the pain will probably be with us forever. Atif died on a Friday and my birthday was coming up on the following Monday, September 3rd. I spent most of that weekend surrounded by relatives and friends while helping my mother make funeral arrangements. The most difficult paper I have ever had to write was the obituary for my little brother. His life was gone and our lives were changed forever. There was no way I could have a happy birthday. I was emotionally unstable and my wonderful girlfriend at the time did her best to comfort me. She talked to me, she listened to me and she tried to stay by my side. In the days leading up to the funeral, she and I had an encounter which led to her becoming pregnant with our daughter. The season was still changing. I was just learning how to be a father and now I had to adjust to losing my brother while expecting the birth of my second child. My girlfriend and I became engaged but our relationship ended before my daughter was born. The season was still changing. The end of the summer caused heat in my life and as the fall season came, I lost a lot. The winter of 2007 was very cold and lonely. Even Christmas seemed pointless to me and I hated my life. I couldn’t sleep well, I could barely eat, and I became very non-social. I was extremely depressed, I was hurting, and I made reckless decisions. I tried to enjoy myself and I even sought sexual comfort.

I thought I was at the end of my rope and I experienced a strange loneliness. I would feel lonely even when other people were in the room with me. I wished for death almost everyday for about three years. I went to work unhappy only to come home to an empty house. When I would spend time with my children I would experience great joy but the low feelings would come back strong when I was alone. I thank God for giving me the gifts of children because they bring me joy, they give me purpose, and they are constant reminders of love and hope. Although I’m at a better place now, some residue and regrets still exist to this day. Healing is a process. Along this long road, I’ve encountered some important people and my understanding of God’s love has improved. Love heals. When hope feels like a fairy tale, love heals. When a heart is broken and tears are overflowing, love heals. When the whole world seems like a big party that you aren’t invited to, love heals. Love is the most important component of healing. Why? Because most of the pain we experience in life comes from the absence of love. As seasons change, voids from poor love are filled with true love. Not only on small scales either. God is love and separation from God means a person has no true source of eternal peace.

I benefited from speaking to counselors and sharing my heart with others. I learned how to appreciate life and the limited time we have to engage in healthy relationships with people. Life is so valuable. Even the moments that seem like a waste of time or tragic seasons have value. Some wisdom comes from experience. We learn and mature from our own experiences, mistakes and all. Those who have experienced things before us and around us offer models that we too can learn from. We also gain wisdom from God who promises to give it freely to anyone who asks for it. There are countless examples of people in the Bible that we can gain wisdom from. It offers testimonies of obedience and disobedience as well as weak and strong faith. I believe that every person is worthy of love and should have the gift of love expressed to them by others. Rejection through bullying and abuse are not examples of love. If anything, it’s an expression of the lack of love being received by the one doing the negative actions. Ever heard the expression, hurt people hurt people? It’s natural because sometimes we give what we get. That’s why it’s important that we give love to everyone we encounter. I like to compare acts of love to recycling. Our planet is not in the best condition due to pollution and waste and everyone is affected by it. When we recycle, we are taking an opportunity to make a difference in even if it’s a small impact. Many small steps can add up to become tremendous journeys. If someone else recognizes the small difference, he or she may strive to make a difference too. Two years ago I began to recycle my trash and weekly I placed my blue recycling bin on the sidewalk. I noticed that my neighbors gradually began to do the same. I’m not saying that I started a movement, but I did recognize a pattern of change. If we purposely love the same way, we will notice a pattern of change in our families, our communities, and most importantly our hearts.

Everyone is at a different season in life right now. Some of us may be extremely happy while others may be deeply saddened. Some of us may be in the very middle. Seasons change and I believe that it’s important to respect everyone and communicate with others about our seasons. Not bragging nor complaining but rather healthy communication. That communication should include listening to each other, speaking kind words, forgiving and seeking forgiveness, as well as helping to meet needs when we can. We also can communicate with God as we pray for others. These are some ways that we can care and truly love people as we spring forward.

God promises that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose. That is a very special promise that includes our good and bad experiences. My hope today is that someone will truly hold on to life and love when it seems impossible to do so. It may take some time but healing is a process and life is worth living. No, the journey isn’t always comfortable or fun but we can make it. Death is the final destination for everyone’s earthly bodies but we don’t need to help death come any faster. When I was deeply depressed and felt like giving up, a pastor who was mentoring me once told me that he desired that I hold on and enjoy life. He said he didn’t want me to stay alive and live dead. He didn’t want me to walk around daily thinking yesterday was the best day. The rest of our days can be the best of our days as we spring forward!!

You know, an interesting memory came to mind as I was preparing this. I recall driving to work the morning before my brother died listening to a song called “Seasons”. It’s a beautiful song by Pastor Alyn Waller from Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. As the lyrics played, I remember thinking it’s time for my season to change. I had no idea how much it would change, but then again no one does. We have a promise from the Lord that offers hope and helps us during life’s seasons. This promise can be found in the Bible in the book of John Chapter 16 verse 33. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” No, I cannot guarantee that everything that has worked for me will work for everyone but I can guarantee that He who has worked in me will work in anyone.

Tonight, before setting your clocks, I want everyone to count the many blessings that you have experienced in your lives and consider them as gain before you count the one lost hour of time. What does that look like practically? Well, some people have had children at times that seemed inconvenient and have now found their joy comes from being a parent. Some people have experienced painful breakups only to be reunited at a better time or perhaps they have moved on and learned to love again. Jobs have been lost and better jobs have been found. Grandparents have passed away and grandchildren have been born. Life has many cycles and seasons change.

Our seasons can become heated like summer, things may fall apart like autumn, loneliness gets bitterly cold like winter, but we can spring forward into new life. Let’s spring forward!!

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