pov: you're scared to send an ask

kicking my feet thinking abt all the shy people following me :)

what's keeping you quiet n shy? are you scared to fumble thru being mean to a little puppydog bc its your first time? are you nervous or guilty about having kinks like mine and wish you could be brave enough to own it? are you somehow, for some reason, sure that even tho u know what i like, *you specifically* will fuck it up somehow n annoy me?

cause i do. i want fumbling first-time awkward asks and requests. i want you to know that you can do this. you can control me, no matter how new u are to this, or how much you've convinced yourself your self-esteem issues are reality <3

or do you have kinks similar to mine that you're not sure i'm into? or...are you holding back on sending an ask bc ur scared you'll like it too much? does it make you shiver, watching me debase myself and recognizing some violent and mean thrill in u when i whine, and you're not sure you can control yourself? that you'll get addicted...?

cause i want your "how about this" kinks, your "this might be too much, but..." i want ur addiction, i wanna hear about how i scare you by making you want to beat me into submission. i want ur obsession, ur most violent urges.

or are you just not sure? do u have questions about kinks i'm into, or basic parts of sex, that you think will make u look dumb/be embarrassing if you ask for clarification/advice? do u think u just don't have enough knowledge to interact in this space?

cause it's okay! i will answer anything i know how to answer! ur not stupid or cringe for not knowing about certain kinds of sex. it's good to ask questions, that's how u learn!

or are you a sub/puppy too? do u think that i only want the big mean doms/switches in my inbox, that i don't want to hear from fellow puppies gushing abt people being mean to them and barking at me, that i won't bark back? bunnies and kitties and anything else, do u think i won't want your softness, your sweetness, that i won't wanna nuzzle u and lick u and frolic the way only small creatures can?

cause i want you! i want ouppy. i want kittn. i want bunnie. i want "licks you licks you bites you licks you nuzzles you." i want blushy cuddling and the yip-yap and mrrp and squeakch.

whatever makes u think i won't love hearing from you, i want u to know it's in ur head. i'm literally ouppy. whether it's because i have bottomless love, or because i'm too stupid to see the danger, u should send that ask. <3

They are destroying Rebecca’s character this season and this Sam bullshit is the final nail in the coffin for her. What the f*** are they doing to their female lead ??

Well, I suppose this is the danger of offering resolution early in the piece and why so few television writers do it, particularly when it comes to romantic relationships. Because then there is the looming question of What Happens Next. So many writers prove that, while they may have the imaginative juice to create, they don't have what it takes to re-invent.

Whether you understand her as the protagonist or the antagonist of the first season of Ted Lasso, Rebecca's big revenge plot drove s1, gave it a clear narrative arc. This inaugural season likewise gave her character a clear and compelling arc. You could posit that, while Rebecca's pain drove season 1, Ted's pain is meant to be driving season 2...? But whatever Ted is going through does not have as clear-cut an objective so it is not giving the same sense of cohesion or direction. Within her s1 arc, we got to see Rebecca feel angry, frustrated, victorious, smug, thwarted, conflicted, heart-broken and vulnerable. Last season gave Hannah Waddingham so many opportunities to show the range of her skills as an actor and I still hope she wins an Emmy for this performance. But I doubt she will be winning any awards for her performance this season.

Most situation comedies stick to the same situation, snapping their characters back to where they were at the beginning of each episode. Certainly, this formula can become repetitive and dull after years. Ted Lasso received a great deal of praise when it broke this formula by offering resolution at the end of its first season no less. It broke the no-hugging-no-learning mantra of so many sitcoms when it allowed Rebecca to learn from her trauma, come clean and literally embrace Ted as a valuable part of her life. Since her character went on the biggest journey of the season, the question of What Happens Next was always going to be more significant for her than it was for any other character on the show.

Season 1 of Ted Lasso made me fall in love with Hannah Waddingham and the character of Rebecca Welton. But as much as it pains me to say it, in s2 she is nothing like the problematic powerhouse we met in s1. Her friendships with Keeley and Higgins continue on nicely enough. She's had some good moments with characters she had little interaction with in s1, like Roy and Nate. And it was great to meet her mother and god-daughter. But this fleshing out of the character is mostly work around her rather than work that propels her forward in any meaningful way. I understand that some people may be content just to watch Rebecca living her best life after the intensity of last season. But, for me, the pursuit of heterosexual romantic love by a woman to the exclusion of all else is a problematic aim since women have been told for centuries that securing a man is the single most important thing they can achieve in their lives.

Rebecca wants love and doesn't want to be alone. She's stated that, that's canon and that's fine. But romance seems to be Rebecca's ONLY aim, her single focus. We haven't seen her do anything in her role as club owner except make a phone call and look sharp, which I admit she does well. The woman looks INCREDIBLE. But if you are in your right mind (at least in my opinion), you are not expecting this amazing woman to end up with a pretentious windbag, a hot booty call or a wildly inappropriate youngster. So it all seems a bit aimless, purposeless. All of this dithering about with wrong dudes is just a waste of time when we have limited time with these beloved characters. We know we are only getting three short seasons of this show and I don't want to spend a full season watching a previously complex female character stare at her phone, only ever prompted into (questionable) action by her cute best friend. And I DEFINITELY don't want to watch...whatever the fuck they think this thing is with Sam.

Frankly, I am still flabbergasted that they have chosen this path. They genuinely seem to think that their audience will enjoy this as some hot romantic adventure...? And hey, a small but vocal minority are. Some diehard fans are trying to hold onto their faith with white knuckles. And the rest of us are just over here in compete and utter shock at the suddenness of the decline in this show's quality and ethics. The latest justification some fans are rather desperately grasping at seems to be that Rebecca's actions stem from her trauma. Now...okay. Trauma can be responsible for many things. But not this. Trauma can make you act in v strange ways but I don't see the connection here. I can clearly see how Rebecca's trauma from her first marriage dictated her actions towards Ted in s1. That is a very clear line to draw. I can see how, after her disastrous marriage, her judgement may be off and she may go for someone like John Wingsnight: someone safe, solid and appropriate. Again, a clear line to draw. I can also see why she would indulge in fun, shallow sexual relationships with the waiter in Liverpool and her booty call from bantr. All normal, understandable behaviour for a woman in her situation. And a v clear narrative line for the writers to draw. No problems there. Her actions in each of these cases can be traced back to Rupert and his abuse. But I cannot for the life of me draw a line between Rupert and Sam. As a traumatic reaction, that does not make a shred of sense to me.

It's true that sometimes those who have been abused become abusers, not that I'm saying Rebecca is abusing Sam in this scenario. What I am saying is that most trauma survivors will go out of their way to avoid becoming anything like their abusers. Most survivors try their damnedest to break the cycle of abuse, not perpetuate it. Most victim-survivors will act, sometimes even to their own detriment, to spare others from being impacted by their pain and trauma. Trauma and abuse does not break your moral compass. If anything, it makes it stronger. Trauma and abuse heightens your sensitivity to what is right, just and honest. Having seen Rebecca ultimately unable to follow through in her trauma-inspired revenge plot on Ted, it does not make sense to me that she is blindly (without any of the nuanced inner conflict of s1 Rebecca) allowing her trauma and abuse to lead her into a situation that not only emulates her ex-husband's hurtful, unethical behaviour, but endangers what is now supposed to be so valuable to her.

All the press for s2 as spruiked Rebecca as a dating disaster but enthusiastically committed to her club. There is a huge difference, however, between charmingly, comedically 'messy' and inept to the point of self-destructive stupidity. I just don't buy her as this dumb. Yet here she is, after all her dealings with the savage British press last season, endangering the reputation of herself, her club and one of its most vulnerable players. Oddly enough, the Rebecca we saw in s1, with her many layers and nuances, seems to me to be a far more moral (not to mention interesting) rendering of this character. This Rebecca was motivated by injustice, she had an acute understanding of what was and wasn't right. It's why she conceived of her revenge plot and also why she ultimately dropped it. It is one thing for writers to propose that there are multiple steps on the way to healing. It is one thing for them to lead a character into a dark forest full of conflict and complication. But, from what I can tell, some people don't know the difference between a dark forest and straight-up bad writing. And it really fucking shows.

Motorcycle Fairy - Part 1

Part 2 | Part 3

Planning on a part 2, but seems like we could all use a little pick me up, so here’s the first half today. 

Luka had worked a lot of jobs since he was sixteen, but he had to admit working in the motorcycle shop was one of his favorites. He got to see all the merchandise as it came in, he got to see and occasionally touch bikes he would never be able to afford, and the owner was fairer than most of his employers. 

Really, there was only one downside, and it was standing at his elbow right now bitching him out. Lula ignored him, continuing his inventory check. 

“You’re only here because the old man knows your mom,” sniped Jean.

Luka raised his eyebrows, but didn’t look up from his clipboard. “You’re only here because he’s your dad,” he observed dryly. 

“Kiss my ass, Couffaine.”

“Michel doesn’t pay me near enough for that.”

The bell at the door chimed as someone came in. 

“I got this one,” Jean said quickly, taking a step towards the door before Luka had even had a chance to turn around. Jean didn’t make it more than that first step before he jerked back from the hold on his collar. 

“Oh no you don’t,” growled Michel, the owner, his bushy eyebrows making an angry V over his nose.

Jean scowled. “Aw, come on, Dad, I took the class, what do you want from me?”

“I want you to not turn into a walking sexual harassment complaint every time a woman walks into this store,” Michel grunted. “That’s not even a woman, it’s an underage girl, and I am not going to subject her to you until you can prove to me you took that training seriously. Couffaine, she’s yours. Don’t talk down to her, understand? That’s a potential lifetime customer right there and you better not lose her.”

“Yeah,” Luka said with a half-smile to himself at his boss’s rather practical approach to equality. “Got it.” 

“She probably won’t even buy anything,” Jean grumbled. “No way a girl like that knows anything about bikes.”

Luka ignored the lecture he knew Michel was about to deliver on the issue and walked to the front. He had to hunt about a little bit, the girl wasn’t very tall and she’d disappeared in the racks of gear before he got a good look at her. 

He found her at a display of women’s helmets, standing on her tiptoes to look at a particular model. Jean kind of had a point; everything about her screamed sweetness and light, and nothing said biker.

Then again Luka’s sister was every inch the sophisticated model, yet she carried a switchblade that she absolutely knew how to use, so Luka knew better than to judge.

“Something I can help you with?” Luka asked, and the girl yelled and jumped away, flailing. Luka had to act fast to grab a rack of gloves that she nearly knocked over. “Sorry,” he said, straightening the rack. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

The boss was right, she looked a couple of years of years younger than Luka at least, which would make her seventeen or eighteen at most. Maybe younger, she had one of those faces where it was hard to tell. She was cute, with a light dusting of freckles across her nose, sweet blue eyes, and a growing blush as she stared at him.

“I’m sorry! I’m so clumsy!” she gasped, shrinking a little.

“Don’t worry about it,” Luka said with an easy smile. “I’m sorry for scaring you. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for or would you just like to browse in peace?”

“Oh!” she said, straightening and pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. “Umm, I need a helmet. This one, please. Preferably flat black if you have it. It said on the internet that you carry this brand, so, um…” She held out the note for him shyly and he couldn’t help thinking again that she was awfully cute. 

Luka smiled almost involuntarily as he took the note and unfolded it. It had the brand name, model, and even the size on it. “Cool, with this, I can go grab it off the shelf in the back no problem.” He looked up at her, smile growing at her excited face. “You can keep looking around if you want or just meet me at the counter. I’ll be right back.” 

Luka went to the stock shelves in the back, unsurprised when Michel popped up next to him. “I don’t think it’s for her,” Luka told him absently as he ran a finger down the row of boxes. “But if she knows someone who rides, maybe she’ll get interested in learning.”

“Hmm,” was all Michel said. He didn’t follow as Luka picked up the right box and walked back out front. She wasn’t standing at the counter. Luka set the box down and turned to look around.

“Miss?” Luka called. There was a yelp and a crash from behind one of the racks. Luka sighed and went in the direction of the noise. He found her on the floor surrounded by boxes of road flares that had been artistically stacked a few minutes ago. 

“I’m sorry again,” Luka chuckled, reaching down a hand. “I didn’t think I was that scary,” he teased, eyes twinkling.

“Oh, you’re not scary at all, you’re really nice-looking—I mean, you look nice!!” she sputtered as he grinned. “I’m just naturally jumpy,” she sighed as he helped her get to her feet. “And clumsy. My name’s Marinette by the way.” She looked at the boxes on the ground. “I’m so sorry,” she moaned, putting her hands on her head. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Luka reassured her, squeezing her shoulder. She looked up at him and he smiled kindly. “Happens all the time. I’ll clean it up after we get you checked out. Did you need anything besides the helmet?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Marinette said, tapping a finger to her lower lip thoughtfully. Luka had to look away. “No, that’s it,” she said more certainly. “For now, at least.”

Luka motioned her to go ahead of him, and then riveted his eyes to the ceiling when he caught himself checking her out as she passed him. She might be cute and maybe definitely kind of hot but Michel sent him to be professional. He was sure Jean was watching somewhere and the last thing he needed was to give the guy more ammo to resent him. 

Luka followed Marinette to the counter and put it between them, sliding over to the register. 

“May I take a look at it?” Marinette asked. 

“Of course.” He opened the box from her and let her turn the helmet in her hands. She ran her fingers over the outside thoughtfully, but didn’t try to put it on. 

Luka leaned on the counter admiring her concentrating face. “Is this for you or are you picking it up for someone else?” Luka asked. 

“Oh, it’s for my grandmother,” she said brightly, reaching into her purse. She held out a picture of a badass-looking grey-haired woman leaning against a red Misurati. Luka took it, looking closer. A rather younger Marinette, her hair in pigtails, was standing on her tiptoes grinning hugely over the bike’s saddle. 

“Nice ride,” Luka grinned, returning the picture. “She looks like a cool person.”

“She’s super cool!” Marinette exclaimed brightly. “She’s always going on all these adventures. Last time she went…” Luka leaned his elbows on the counter as she went on. She was more than cute, animated, effervescent and completely captivating as she told him about her grandmother’s travels. The amount of love and pride pouring out from her as she spoke touched him. 

“You must be really close,” Luka observed when she paused for breath.

“Oh, well we—I mean she’s gone so often—but when she’s here—and I mean my grandfather never really—you know what, it’s complicated, and I’ve taken up enough of your time, I can’t believe you even listened to me ramble on, I’m so sorry—“

“Please don’t apologize,” Luka smiled, setting the bag with her purchase on the counter. “I really didn’t mind. I’m sorry if what I said upset you. I just meant that I can see you love your grandmother very much.”

“I really do,” Marinette smiled. “She’s coming through town soon on her way to the races in Le Mans. I’m hoping I can get this painted by then.”

Luka raised his eyebrows slightly. “You’re going to get a custom paint job?”

“Yes!” Marinette said, and then hastily. “I mean no. I’m going to do it myself. I already designed the art for it!” She pulled a book out of her bag and flipped through it before showing him a page with a mock up of the helmet she had purchased. The design on the side featured a fairy sending a beam of light from her wand through a prism which fractured the light into a rainbow. Flowers curled artfully around the main design.

“Wow,” was all Luka could say. 

“She calls me her little fairy,” Marinette said, touching the fairy silhouette. “I hope she likes it.”

“I’m sure she will,” Luka looked up from the sketch and smiled. “It looks like it’ll be really special.”

Marinette seemed to glow under his praise, as if he was a friend instead of a random stranger. He kind of wished he was. She seemed like a really cool person. For a moment neither of them said anything. A noise from the back brought Luka back to Earth.

“Well, good luck with your gift,” he said. “And I hope you’ll come back if you need anything else. I really wish I could see the finished piece, it sounds awesome.”

“Oh,” Marinette straightened slightly. “Well...I mean if you’re really interested, I could give you my Instagram? That’s where I usually post things I’ve designed.”

“I’d love that,” Luka smiled, grabbing a post-it pad and a pen from beside the register and sliding it over to her. “I’m sure my boss would like to see it, too.” 

Marinette beamed at him and his breath caught for a moment. 

“See what?�� 

Luka jumped slightly as Michel loomed over him. “Ah, Marinette here is an artist. She’s planning to do a design on a helmet for her grandmother.”

“I see. Is Luka helping you get what you need?” the big man said gruffly, clearly (to Luka at least) trying to appear as non threatening as possible.

Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t look at all afraid of the big tattooed shop owner as she turned that blinding smile up again. “Oh, yes, he’s been very helpful, and here I’ve been taking up his time. Thank you so much Luka!”

“My pleasure,” Luka smiled back, handing her the bag. “See you next time.” He watched her until she was out of the door, and wasn’t even aware of his wistful sigh until Michel’s thick hand landed on his shoulder. “Good job, Luka. Not sure if she’ll be back but good customer service is never wasted, especially if she has relatives that ride. If she does come back, she’s yours.” 

“Thanks,” Luka said, hiding his smile by looking down at the post-it. He folded it and tucked it in his pocket. “I better go clean up that stuff she knocked down.” 

Michel grunted agreement, and Luka got back to work, humming a new melody as he thought about sky blue eyes and a sunshine smile. He ignored Jean’s disgruntled looks easily. 

The next time he had an idle moment, Luka leaned on the counter and pulled the post-it out of his pocket and pulled up Marinette’s Instagram. The profile picture was just a logo with a curly monogrammed M, but Marinette was in the first picture, smiling in front of the Eiffel Tower in a striped top and red beret. “Cute. Very French,” Luka commented to himself, and glanced around quickly to make sure he still wasn’t needed. “Wow,” Luka murmured to himself, flicking through the pictures. “These are cool.” He straightened suddenly. “Holy shit, is that Jagged Stone?” He stared at the picture of the rock star with his arm slung around Marinette’s shoulders, pulling a pair of tricolor Eiffel Tower sunglasses down his nose to wink at the camera. Marinette had a silly-looking, but still adorable, grin as she held up two fingers in a V. The caption said she’d designed the sunglasses for the rocker, and Jagged Stone himself (or at least whoever ran his Instagram account) had commented to endorse her. “Wow.” Luka sighed, leaning back on the counter again. “She’s amazing.” Beautiful and sweet and creative...like, crazy talented, wow. He glanced at the door forlornly and sighed. He hoped he got the chance to see her again.

*CHEF fics*

- Learning to Eat by @mbpgku : Celebrity chef Louis Tomlinson has a problem. He’s opening his first restaurant in 9 weeks, and he has yet to hire a pastry chef- apparently people think he’s ‘standoffish’ and ‘rude’ and ‘quick to temper’. Whatever. He ends up saddled with an annoying, happy-go lucky rookie who also happens to be obnoxiously good looking. His tv presenter and pop star best friends only add to the drama, and for fucks sake would everyone please stop quoting Julia Child?! Kitchen AU where Harry helps Louis re-learn how to eat.  (METAPHORICALLY) (38k, M)

- Every Good Boy Deserves Cookies , by @stunning-stylinson​ : “Y-yeah?” Louis asks breathlessly, “And then?“Harry giggles and moves his bum back to meet Louis. “Add the vanilla and crack the eggs, beating it all in with salt,” Harry says.Or where Harry is a chef who teaches a class and Louis swears it’s only Harry’s bossiness that turns him on, not the recipe for cookies and Harry likes being praised. (8.5k, E)

- Feels Like Coming Home , by @phd-mama: The last thing Harry Styles expects when he’s hanging out at the Someday Cafe in Somerville one rainy October day is for his ex, Louis Tomlinson to walk through the door, but that’s exactly what happens. After a spectacularly ugly break-up three years prior, Harry hasn’t heard one word from Louis, and he’s moved on. Gotten over him. But having Louis back in his life, not to mention working at the restaurant where he’s a chef, isn’t easy, and the feelings that Harry thought he’d left turn out to be not so easily forgotten. This is a story about love and the power of forgiveness, and how the hard choices we make define us, and change our lives. (60k, E)

- Before We Evaporate ,  by  crimsontheory  : Louis Tomlinson; executive chef and owner of his own five star restaurant, been voted one of the top chefs in London, and has won several awards for his work in the kitchen. He’s always dreamed of being on Chopped, but never believed it would actually happen. Until it does. Now that he’s officially made it onto the show, there’s one tall, curly haired distraction that might just ruin everything for him.Or the kinda sorta enemies to lovers Chopped AU with far more smut than necessary. (37k, E)  

- Fool's Gold , by @freetheankles : Or the Arnacoeur AU in which Harry is scheduled to be married to Liam in 10 days and Harry’s mother hires Louis and his team to break them up. (55k, E)

- Check Please      by  zedi   :      Louis has a shit date. Harry offers to cover the bill. They maybe fall in love. (2k, NR)

*BAKER fics*

- Relief next to me , by @haydolce : AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more. (333k, E)

- leave it to the breeze , by @hattalove :  or a great british bake off au in which louis cares about winning and winning only, harry is made of sunshine and rainbow sprinkles, and niall sticks his nose into other people’s business. also featuring liam as louis’s best friend-slash-concerned mother, and zayn as a macaron connoisseur. (81k, E)

- shine by @lourrynavy​ ; Louis is an actor who needs to get away from the real world. He does the only thing that he can and runs away, finding himself in a small town where he happens upon Harry. What Louis doesn’t expect is to somehow fall in love and end up having to face what he was running from all along. (40k, M)

- Tis the Season for…Love?   ,    by @afangirlfantasy:   Prompt: Harry seems to have it all: A successful career as a pastry chef, a Victorian home in London, and a dedicated boyfriend who he's been with for years.   One day he stops by his boyfriend's apartment to surprise him and finds out that he's not so dedicated to Harry after all. Shocked and too depressed to celebrate, he decides to skip Christmas and on a whim leaves on a plane to New York. In New York he meets Louis… Or...Louis might just be what Harry's needed all along. (27k, M)

-  Flour and Chocolate      by   teaandtumblr : Then he approached the display cabinet. And the foreboding slammed into him. Because every product had letters next to it. Letters. GF, DF, V, O, VGN. What. The. Fuck? Lifting his eyes to the chalkboard menu spread across the back wall Louis felt physically ill. ‘Gluten-free’, ‘organic’, ‘vegan’, ‘paleo’, ‘dair-…’ Wait, what the fuck was a paleo? He had entered some hipster-trash establishment and it was more than time to get out.  OR Louis is a single dad and Harry works at the newly opened bakery down the street.(145k, M)

- Float Down Like Autumn Leaves (Stay Now) , by @getmesometacos  : The AU in which Louis has a 6 year old daughter with a costume emergency that puts her school’s annual Halloween party at risk, Halloween decorated cupcakes are hard to find and tall men look absolutely ridiculously cute in giant vegetables costumes. Co-starring Harry, who makes really good food for the kids. Featuring Niall, who works in a bakery but has a part time job as a babysitter. And as much as he doesn’t believe in love at first (or second) sight, Louis is really infatuated and really wouldn’t mind seeing Harry again.(16k, M)

- we’re still going, eight in the morning , by @nooelgallagher​  and @yoursongonmyheart​ : Harry washes his hands quickly before grabbing his phone. His screen lights up to 3 notifications.DJTommo is now following you!@DJTommo mentioned you in a tweet!Direct Message from @DJTommo!Harry yelps, throwing his phone to Niall who just barely catches it.Niall looks down at the phone, seeing first the tweet, then the DM. He tosses the phone back to Harry, who nearly drops it. “What are ya doing, mate! Answer him!”Harry thinks for a moment about what he wants to say. This is his chance to actually talk to Louis Tomlinson. Louis Tomlinson messaged him directly. He can say anything he wants. He begins typing, his fingers shaky.Niall comes over to stand next to Harry and peers down, looking to see what he wrote. When he does, he lets out a groan….Or, the one where Harry owns a bakery, Louis is a radio DJ, and Niall and Liam roll their eyes at their incessant flirting. (31k, E)

- taste on my tongue , by @bethaboolou : Louis Tomlinson, second place winner on TXF four years ago, is looking to reinvent his career. Harry Styles is a baker who is desperate for a bakery of his own.Louis doesn’t bake. Or cook. Or know how to use an oven.Take Louis. Take Harry. Add in a heaping cup of sexual tension. Another cup of delicious (and not so delicious) food. A smidgen of competitive spirit. A dash of hopes and dreams. And you get Kitchen Wars, a TV show that promises to be the must-watch event of the fall. (77k, E)

- come away with me , by @suspendrs: Or, Louis has to pick up the pieces of his and his daughter’s life after his wife dies, and Harry is a beautiful stranger that just wants to help. (80k, NR)

- Whether Clouds or Clear Skies , by @onewasturning :   “You, young Harold, are a baker among curry houses and vintage clothing stores,” Louis says, and it forces a bark of surprised laughter out of Harry.  “I’m a— sorry, what?”  “Harry,” Louis says, “last night I had an experience bordering on profound.”  “You’re making it sound like you did something sexual with my muffin,” Harry says. Or, Louis gets into the habit of stealing baked goods while Harry’s busy keeping tabs on the weather. (25k, E)

- Every Story Ever Told , by @all-these-larrythings : Becoming a best-selling author isn’t as difficult as Louis would have guessed. It seems all you need these days is the perfect blend of alcohol induced philosophy, complete disregard for one’s dignity, a live blog about how fucked love is, and a bored publisher interested enough to offer him a deal. (54k, NR)

- Skin New, Hands True, My Hands All Over You , by PearlyDewdrops   : Harry designs wedding cakes, so of course meeting blissfully happy couples every day is part of his job description. Unfortunately, it’s caused Harry to perpetually hope each new day is the one he’ll find love, too. That is, until Harry realises everything he’s ever wanted is right under his nose in the shape of his best friend, Louis. But predictably, Harry only comes to this epiphany when Louis starts seeing someone else. And this is not a John Hughes movie as far as Harry is aware. Everyone else is pretty sure, though. Featuring a heavy dose of pining, copious amounts of alcohol, drunk dialing that results in a situation reminiscent of Rachel Green’s, a ginger cat that likes to interrupt intimate moments, and a Halloween party that changes everything. (44k, E)

* RESTAURANT OWNER fics*

- all the lights are full of colour, by @infinitelymint : So, fast-forwarding eight years from the day Harry met Louis, he is now a twenty-seven year old owner of one of the most up-and-coming eating establishments on the London restaurant scene, father of two wonderful boys and… separated from his husband. Now, that last part definitely was never a part of the original plan.  Or, Harry and Louis are separated, but for the sake of their two sons, they choose to spend Christmas together. It may just lead to a Christmas miracle. (26k, E)

- You'll Hear Me Calling for You , by  pinky_heaven19  : OR the one where Harry is an Alpha and Louis has a problem with it - until he doesn't. (42k, E)

- Let's Go Get Away , by @letsjustsee : Or, a fluffy AU in which Louis owns a restaurant that's next door to Harry's shop, and Louis is completely unaware how smitten he really is. (7k, NR)

* FOOD BLOGGING fics*

- 'Til I Tasted You  , by @icanhazzalou : Louis is Harry Styles' biggest fan. It doesn't matter that Harry is famous for being a food blogger and Louis can't cook to save his life.At least, until Harry offers to give Louis a cooking lesson. Then it matters just a teensy bit. (14k, E)

Puppy Behavior and Training - Training Basics

At what age can I start training my new puppy? You train your puppy the moment you bring him home and start exercising at home. Puppies learn from birth and good breeders start to drive immediately and socialize. A little workout can start as soon as the puppy can open his eyes and walk. Young puppies have a limited attention span, but you can expect them to learn simple obedience commands such as "sitting", "bending over" and "staying" between 7 and 8 weeks.

The formal dog training has always been delayed until the age of 6 months. In fact, this phase of youth is a very bad time to start. The dog learns from every experience, and delaying training means that the dog has the missed opportunity to know how he wants to behave. In the adolescent stage, the dog begins to establish adult behavioral patterns and advances in times of anxiety. The behavior of puppies may need to be changed. In addition, everything that has already been learned or misstated must be broken off and re-learned. Puppies can learn a lot at an early age.

Puppies can learn to sit, lie and stand using a method known as bait training. "

When training begins at the age of 7 or 8 weeks, use methods based on positive reinforcement and gentle teaching. Puppies have a limited attention span, so training sessions should be short but take place daily. Puppies can learn to sit down, stoop, and get up using a method known as bait training. We use treats to make the dog follow his nose in the right positions to "sit," "bow," "stand," and "stay."

How can I start training for food baits? You can use small food pieces or a favorite toy to motivate your puppy for most tasks. As long as the reward is attractive enough, the puppy can be asked to give the desired answer by displaying the reward, issuing a command and moving the reward to receive the desired response. For example, foods that rise on the puppy's nose and slowly retreat must have a "sitting" response; Foods that are lowered to the ground must receive a response from "below". The reported food must receive a response from "supportive". kept food must be answered with "come"; and foods that are kept in the thigh while walking should cause the puppy to "follow or follow." "By comparing a command phrase or a word to every action and rewarding every reasonable answer, the puppy must quickly understand the meaning of each command.

Recommended Reading: The online dog trainer review

How often should I order? Ideally, you should enter the instruction set once and then use your food to bring the puppy into position. Once the puppy completes the task, add verbal praise and a loving tip called a secondary booster (see below). If the puppy does not follow the first command immediately, it is likely that he is moving too fast. If he repeats the command, the puppy learns that several repetitions are allowed before he has to obey. Holding an attached leash can help you to get an immediate answer if the puppy disobeys.

Msgstr "" "If you continue to repeat the command, the puppy will notice that there are several repetitions Acceptable, before you have to obey. "

Remember that your puppy does not know the meaning of the word at the beginning of the training. Therefore, you can teach your puppy to sit with the word bananas (or in another language) as simply as sitting with the word. The key is to associate the word, in this case "sitting", with the action, to lay the ground on the ground.

How should I eliminate bait and food rewards? First, she lets the puppy see the food in her hand so she can grab her attention and use it as a guide. If your puppy adapts more easily, you can start to hide the food in your hand, but give the command and repeat the movement or signal that he has learned to follow. Soon the puppy will wait for the treatment every time he completes the task. Then show and give the command, but once she has completed the task, reward only with compliments and give the puppy a loving tip. Then you can start varying the frequency, praising it with "good dog" and maybe patting it each time, but give it randomly, maybe every 3 or 4 times. Over time, the puppy has to respond to the signal or control of the hand.

Over time, the words "good dog" and the word "loving" turn into secondary reinforcements. Because they have been linked to food in the past, they become more meaningful and self-reinforcing. It is important to use secondary fortification because you do not always have food when you need to obey your pet. If you trust the food your puppy needs to fill, you also have a puppy who does his homework only when you have a reward.

"Over time, the phrase" good dog "and the word" loving "turn into secondary amplifiers."

Recommended video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z69FFBG9mA&t=2s

Initially, the training begins throughout the day at set sessions with a large number of family members. All rewards must be recorded for these workouts. Over time, however, you should ask your puppy to perform the tasks at another time.

How much time should I spend every day training my puppy? It is not necessary to work out at a specific daily session. Instead, integrate these tasks throughout the day. A goal to be fought for is at least 15 minutes of training per day. These can be short 5-minute sessions spread over the day. Ask all family members to ask their puppy to complete these tasks. Do not forget to exercise in every room of your home. You want your puppy to "sit", "lie down" and "stay" everywhere, not just on the practice site. Practice in all places where your puppy should feel well and relaxed in the future.

"To have a well-trained dog, one must commit to almost strengthening the training tasks Daily for the first year of life of your puppy. "...

Use these training tasks to integrate the puppy into your life. For example, ask your puppy to sit down before feeding, sit down before getting in and out, and sit down before caressing. These are times when your puppy wants something and adapts more. In this way, he trains his dog throughout the day, sets predictable rules and interaction routines, and helps the dog know who controls the resources. If you train your puppy before it meets all the requirements, you can avoid problems. If you make sure that your puppy feels good before eating or before eating, avoid begging and teach your dog to sit down before opening the door so he does not jump or run. Be creative The time you spend training your puppy will now be rewarded if you have an adult dog. To have a well-trained dog, you must be almost daily in the first year of your puppy to strengthen the training tasks. The more you teach and supervise your puppy, the less likely he is to engage in inappropriate behavior. Dogs do not train alone, if they are allowed to determine their behavior, they behave like dogs.

What can I do if my puppy is too distracted or too excited to control it? Training should begin in a quiet environment with few distractions. The chosen award must be very motivating for the puppy to focus on the trainer and the reward. Although a small treat usually gives the best results, a favorite toy or treat for dogs may be more appealing. It can also be helpful to train the puppy just before the scheduled feeding time when he is most hungry. For difficult or stubborn puppies, it is best to attach a leash to the collar to make sure that the puppy has the desired behavior and reacts correctly to the order. In this way you can encourage the puppy to give the correct answer if he does not obey immediately, and the pressure can be released as soon as the desired answer is given.

When should I start socializing my puppy? Socialization should start as soon as you receive your puppy, which often means at the age of 7 weeks. Puppies naturally absorb new humans and other species and learn new situations during the socialization period, which takes place between the ages of 7 and 14 at the age of 16 weeks. This is the occasion for a multitude of presentations that create positive memories that will last a lifetime. Puppies are anxious at this time, explorers and unrestrained, and it is important to use this enthusiasm. Protect your puppy during this time and make sure that all experiences are positive, entertaining and safe.

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Why does my 16 week old puppy seem to be afraid? There is a natural and natural anxiety period that starts at the age of 14 to 16 weeks. During this time, a puppy can become suspicious and fear new people, species or experiences. It is a normal adaptation process. Watch your puppy carefully for signs of anxiety (cry, urinate and refuse to eat). Avoid bumping or sinking your puppy during this developmental phase.

Should I also consider training? Beginners can start a training program by following these simple steps. Repetition, time and stamina are necessary for the puppy to predictably and reliably respond to the controls in various situations. Consider only courses that use positive coaching techniques.

However, training fulfills many functions. The coaches can demonstrate techniques and guide them through the phases of training. They can advise you on puppy training issues and help you prepare your training for more challenging exercises. The puppy learns in a group situation with some distractions from real life. And due to human nature, the owner of the pet, who brings his dog to a class of puppies, must practice (do his homework) all week if he does not want to be left for the next grade. After all, a training class is a good place to meet up with other new puppy owners and chat and see how all the puppies behave.

Training courses for young puppies are also a great way to bring your new puppy into contact with a variety of people, dogs and other stimuli in a controlled environment. In addition, you will learn to avoid problems before they occur or to solve them without having to find a way to remedy the problems that have already occurred. Your puppy could also find friends of the same age. Then you can visit these friends (or vice versa) with your puppy for social games and workouts. Since the time of first socialization of dogs ends at 3 months, puppy socialization courses are particularly suitable for puppies over 8 weeks. If all puppies in the class are vaccinated at the beginning, they are healthy and free of parasites, the health risk is low and the potential benefit is enormous. Discuss the location in your area and when to start with your veterinarian.

Reference:

How To Train A Puppy – A Puppy Training Experience

Star Wars rewatch,part 1: Episode IV, A New Hope

I’d planned to write this last week, but life got busy, so instead it’s my last little May the Fourth celebration! I’m also updating my project from my initial plan; I’ve heard the animated series The Clone Wars praised so much as connective tissue between episodes II and III that I’m going to try to watch as much of it as keeps my interest (it’s available on Netflix). My schedule is thus now:

IV (May) V (May) II (June) Clone Wars (June-September) III (October) VI (October) VII (November)

General Impressions, or the Movie on Its Own

Well, Star Wars: A New Hope holds up pretty well after all these years. I was first exposed to the franchise through Muppet Babies (no, really) and I can’t remember how old I was exactly when I saw all the movies; maybe 7 or 8? It’s an engaging and exciting adventure story with likable characters and a lot of world-building that manages to be immersive without being overwhelming.

That said, the technology hasn’t aged well – by which I mean the depiction of computers, not the special effects. They have big keys spaced far apart, with tiny screens. Oh, and at some point in the future we decided the best way to transmit files was manually? And copying files erases them? I suppose perhaps they were being jammed for the former, and trying to keep up the flimsy pretense of being neutral for the latter. Still, it’s all very seventies in terms of its computer technology.

There’s also no way this movie would be rated PG today, not with the charred corpses of Owen and Beru, or that severed arm in a pool of blood in the cantina.

The Special Edition Stuff

I definitely remember seeing the Special Editions when they came out in 1997 (I was 13 at the time). Seeing the films on the big screen, especially that opening as the Star Destroyer first appears, was amazing. But even then, I knew there were changes that did not work.

Twenty years later, it’s easy to see how much Lucas overestimated the quality of CGI at the time. Machines and things left blurry in the background tend to look pretty good, but living organisms, especially if they are close to the camera, do not blend well with the background at all and look horribly out of place. Comparing it to, say, Maz Kanata in Force Awakens and you can see how technology has come a long way. Besides, a lot of the additions are completely unnecessary. A few droids floating around with the Stormtroopers? A few aliens in the background? They work. But having things walk between the characters and the camera is disorienting and serves no purpose. Mos Eisley doesn’t look bustling, it looks like they set the shot up poorly.

Nothing is worse than the Jabba the Hutt scene, which left the audience I was back then completely cold. It is truly terrible, and you can tell that Jabba wasn’t initially supposed to look like what he did. (Side note: has anyone confirmed if the design of Hutts was completely ripped off from the Regul? Because I think they were.) It breaks up the flow of Luke and Ben’s transition to the Falcon, and having Han make a deal with Jabba rather than being on the run after murdering one of his minions (“We’re a little rushed”) meshes better with him being on bounty hunters’ hit lists in the sequel.

That said, I do like Biggs having a short scene with Luke to give a little more impact to his death, though I wish there was even more.

Continuity, Part 1: Relation to the Original Trilogy

I know Lucas made a lot of changes as the trilogy went on, but I can easily believe that he had two things planned from the start. The first is that Han and Leia were going to end up together. While Luke has an obvious crush on Leia, and she’s fond of him, the banter between her and Han is more typical “romantic interest” writing. It’s also obvious that, for all of their hostility (he resents her class status, she resents his feigned mercenary attitude) they take a liking to each other pretty quickly. Han’s “Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her” is absolutely real, as is Leia’s admiration of his courage (as he leads what could be a suicide charge, something he mocked Luke for earlier). Given that she isn’t as despondent over Han leaving as Luke is, and her remark that “I knew there was more to you than money,” it’s safe to say that her “I wonder if he really cares about anything. Or anybody,” was more an attempt at goading him into action than sincere dismissal of his character. Plus that wink. 😘

I played a little game of adding “married in the future” to a lot of their snarky lines, including Han telling Leia to “Get on top of it!” in the garbage chute. It made me giggle. I am so immature.

The other plot development that complements this film nicely is Darth Vader being Luke’s father. Alec Guinness’ acting, the way he won’t meet Luke’s eyes, gives a strong impression that he’s hiding details from him – which it turns out he was. And of course the conversation between Beru and Owen becomes all that more sinister in retrospect:

Aunt Beru: Luke's just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him. Uncle Owen: That's what I'm afraid of.

The first time through, Owen comes across as simply a worrywart, concerned that Luke will die the way his father did if he ever sets foot off the farm. But if he knew that Anakin Skywalker had gone to the Dark Side, was one of the worst villains the galaxy, well yeah, he’d be very afraid that Luke resembled his father and want to shelter him from any chance of learning of the Force.

Continuity, Part 2: Relation to the Prequel Trilogy

That said, the relationship between Owen, Beru, Anakin, and Obi-Wan would make a lot more sense if Owen wasn’t Anakin’s step-sibling who he met only once. The convoluted connection between Luke and his aunt and uncle in the prequel undercuts everything in this film. How can Beru be an expert on Anakin’s character? Why is Owen resentful of Obi-Wan taking Anakin away if he only met him long after he became a Jedi?

If I’d been writing the prequels, I’d have made Beru be Anakin’s decade-older sister (allowing them to preserve his miraculous birth if they really wanted to go that way) and Owen her boyfriend who wants to buy her freedom and treats Ani like his little brother. Beru would be close to Anakin and Owen would have been around when Anakin left. It would raise the emotional stakes of them losing Anakin to the Dark Side a lot, too. Though maybe this is something Clone Wars tried to fix? I guess I’ll see.

After rewatching this film, I do actually buy that R2D2 secretly knew everything that was going on, while C3PO had his memory wiped. There are gaps in C3PO’s memories (he’s been in “several” battles, “I think”) and R2 obviously knows who Ben is, and again there’s a bit of an exchange between them like Obi-Wan suspects something is up.

There is one thing that the prequels do explain – why is Vader so hesitant when fighting Ben if he’s such a powerful Jedi? Well, he knows how it ended last time (with him having severed limbs at the edge of a pool of lava) and he’s being cautious.

Continuity, Part 3: Relation to the New Films

“If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical reading of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it.” And thus an entire movie was born. I don’t think I needed to have this “plot hole” filled in, but it worked out into a pretty good story, even if I desperately wanted more time to get to know the characters (who are pretty flat).

Obviously there are parallels between A New Hope and The Force Awakens, though not as much as people like to claim. TFA borrows from all the original films, and it’s impossible to draw direct parallels between the characters. Sure, Rey is an obvious fill-in for Luke, and Kylo Ren for Darth Vader, but Vader never captured and tortured Luke; they don’t even meet in this movie, which was probably according to Ben’s plan, separating himself from the group and luring Vader away from encountering his son. Beyond that, parallels start to break down. Person who sends off plans and gets caught by the villains? Leia and Poe. Only Leia wasn’t the one to destroy the Death Star…Duo who wind up stumbling on to the hero after being separated wandering in the desert? R2D2/C3PO and BB8/Finn, but C3PO didn’t defect from the enemy forces and free Leia at the start of the film, nor was he Luke’s love interest. Han is Han I suppose and Leia is General Dordana, and maybe Maz is Ben…? There’s a lot more originality to TFA than people want to give it credit for.

Conclusion: Bring on the Droid Revolution

DROIDS ARE SLAVES. That was the big gut-punch of watching it this time around. Like, how did I not see how horribly mistreated they are? They’re sold on market, wear restraining bolts, can have their memories wiped at their owner’s whim, or even “deactivated,” a fate C3PO clearly fears as much as a human would death. The cantina owner is bigoted against them, declaring that “We don’t serve their kind” and throwing them out of his establishment. Even C3PO’s attitude reflects a life of slavery: “We seem to be made to suffer, it’s our lot in life.”

Everything about droids is coded for them being an oppressed underclass, yet this has never come up in the films, ever. Are we supposed to be cool with it because they’re machines? They’re obviously sentient, though, and meant to be sympathetic. We spend a lot of time with R2 and C3PO before we even meet Luke, and them splitting up accomplished nothing other than character development.

They’re also obviously capable of emotion as well as intellect. I wasn’t joking when I said R2 and C3PO are the purest ship, they really are. C3PO is a classic tsundere character, claiming he doesn’t care about R2 right up until his counterpart is injured in battle, when he offers to sacrifice his own parts to save him. Seriously, I suspect “counterpart” is just droid for “life partner.” It may not be sexual (they’re gonadless robots for crying out loud) but it is true love, and I now ship it.

First Drive: 2019 Honda Pilot

The 2019 Honda Pilot is a vehicle that epitomizes what’s become known as the mid-cycle refresh. An automaker launches a new-generation model to great fanfare and builds it for roughly three years. Then it tarts it up some before selling it for another three or so. Hence, we have the “new” 2019 Pilot. It doesn’t matter if it needs to be changed; it must be changed, because without change, apparently, we wither and die. (Or at the very least a bunch of people would be out of work.)

Sure, some of the updates to the refreshed Honda Pilot are welcome, like the upgraded stereo (the volume knob returns!) and improvements to its optional 9-speed transmission. And the addition of standard equipment like the Honda Sensing safety suite is to be applauded. But did Honda really need to futz with the Pilot’s front- and rear-end styling and a few interior trim bits? Not so much. Really, these are all changes that could have easily been added here and there, but then there wouldn’t be “new” one to market to customers, would there?

As you can probably guess by now, our drive of the 2019 Pilot wasn’t so much a revelation as it was a recitation of what the Pilot already does well. What is that you ask? For one thing, it seats seven (or eight) people in reasonable comfort. That’s no minor feat: To fit that many adult humans into a vehicle without torturing them, you generally need one of those Expedition-sized family trucksters. But the Pilot is one of only a handful of crossovers with a third-row capable pulling it off. (Bonus: There’s still adequate cargo room with the third-row seat in place.)

The Pilot also drives pretty well under the right conditions. It has a light-on-its-feet feel that’s become a Honda trademark, which is all the more impressive given that we’re talking about a two-ton crossover. Honda has also done a great job dialing in the Pilot’s steering feel without overboosting it or eliminating on-center feedback. Dive into the curves at speeds that will make the kids throw up, and the Pilot’s body simply refuses to lean. It’s as if it built the damn thing with a cement foundation.

For the record though, I think Honda cheated some by having us pilot the Pilot on some of Southern California’s smoother roadways. The first time I drove the 2016 Pilot—when this generation really was all-new—it was on the well-paved roads of Kentucky, and I was impressed. But the second time I drove it was on the choppy pavement of New York City’s suburbs, and even the smallest potholes unsettled it. We had a thousand-mile road trip on the frost-heaved roads of upstate New York ahead of us, and my wife was not thrilled: “I thought you said this thing would be comfortable!” I still shudder at the memory of her withering glare.

Will the 2019 Pilot exhibit the same rough ride quality over bad roads that I encountered? The chief engineer told us that other than improved brakes, there are no serious changes to the chassis, so we imagine it will. Still, we’d have to dispatch one to Todd Lassa or Jamie Kitman, our men in Detroit and New York respectively, to find out for sure.

One thing that did (sort of) impress me is how well the 9-speed automatic performed. After taking some criticism for its operation, Honda says it made extensive hardware and software changes to the transmission for the 2019 Pilot, and routine driving is greatly improved. Nine-speed Pilots now accelerate smoothly from a stop, and part-throttle power demands are met with a crisp downshift.

Still, it isn’t perfect. Stomping the throttle on the highway often led to lazy feeling, two-step downshifts. And we experienced some hesitation when we floored the go pedal from a dead stop (especially when auto stop/start was engaged). It is worth noting that the ZF sourced 9-speed, which is only available for the top trim Pilot Elite (other trims continue to employ the Honda-built 6-speed auto), is the only transmission Honda has ever outsourced; usually it designs its own. Lesson learned, maybe?

The engine to which both transmissions are strapped is a carryover—Honda’s well-worn 3.5 liter V-6. Horsepower is 280, unchanged since 2016. It’s adequate, to be sure, but with a horsepower race going on elsewhere in the industry, it may have been a mistake for Honda not to rework it in order to give it some more grunt.

Besides the updated transmission, Honda was eager to shine more light on the the torque-vectoring ability of the Pilot’s all-wheel-drive system, so it set up an off-road course that involved lots of body-bending, wheel-lifting dips and ruts. It was an impressive display. The Pilot was steady on its feet and did a good job distributing power where needed, even with one paw hanging in the air. Yes, we know, few Pilot owners will be doing any serious off-roading. But it’s very likely they’ll be driving their Pilots in snow and rain, and that same ability to find grip and avoid slip will serve the Pilot driver well when Mother Nature gets a bug up her caboose.

In case you didn’t already know, the Honda Pilot will also tow: 3,500 lb out of the box and 5,000 lb with the addition of a transmission cooler, and yes, Honda wanted us to experience that, too. So it set up a Civic race car on an aluminum trailer for a Pilot to tow, a combination it said weighed about 3,900 lb. I’m something of a trailering snob, critical of even the slightest sign of instability. But I was truly impressed with how well the Pilot handled the load; power, stability, and braking were as good as advertised.

Inside, the interior has been revamped with a new (and slightly less sensible to us) gauge cluster and—Heaven be praised!—a new stereo with a real-live volume knob. (Honda took some flak from customers and the press when it went without volume knobs on some of its recent models, and has been rolling them back out.) Other than that, changes to the dash are minimal. The easy-to-use climate controls, big cup holders, and center console storage cubby large enough to hide a toddler all remain.

More importantly, Honda has made its HondaSensing safety suite—collision warning with automatic braking, road- and lane-departure assistance, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams—standard on all Pilots. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow Honda’s lead and make these important safety features standard on lower-priced models.

All Pilot trim levels get a smattering of new equipment. Among the bits and bobs you’ll find in different models: Cabin Control, which lets back-seaters use their smartphone as a remote for the rear-seat entertainment system; CabinTalk, one of those voice-of-God features that lets the folks in front be heard in the back; a hands-free power tailgate; and a wireless charging pad.

Did the Pilot need any major revamping? The only real issues we’ve experienced since the present generation’s debut has been its rough road ride quality, which Honda didn’t address, and the mixed bag that is the 9-speed transmission. Other than that, it’s been well equipped to take on the competition for several years now. But that competition is tough and getting tougher all the time: The good-to-drive Volkswagen Atlas, uber-roomy Chevrolet Traverse, upscale Mazda CX-9, competent Ford Explorer, and promising new Subaru Ascent are all impressive rivals for the Pilot to face down. So maybe a “new” Pilot isn’t such a bad thing, after all.

Ultimately, your choice may come down to locale. If you live in an area where the roads are messy (hello, Michigan) the Honda may prove to be too much of a rough rider. Still, its combination of a roomy interior, mostly-usable third-row seat, and a reputation for epic reliability make it an appealing choice. Not very terribly exciting, but definitely appealing.

2019 Honda Pilot Elite AWD Specifications

ON SALE Now PRICE $49,015 (base/as-tested) ENGINE 3.5L SOHC 24-valve V-6/280 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 262 lb-ft @ 4,700 rpm TRANSMISSION 9-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 7/8-passenger, front-engine, AWD SUV EPA MILEAGE 19/26 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 196.5 x 78.6 x 70.6 in WHEELBASE 111.0 in WEIGHT 4,319 lb 0-60 MPH 6.5 sec (est) TOP SPEED 110 mph (est)

IFTTT

First Drive: 2019 Honda Pilot

The 2019 Honda Pilot is a vehicle that epitomizes what’s become known as the mid-cycle refresh. An automaker launches a new-generation model to great fanfare and builds it for roughly three years. Then it tarts it up some before selling it for another three or so. Hence, we have the “new” 2019 Pilot. It doesn’t matter if it needs to be changed; it must be changed, because without change, apparently, we wither and die. (Or at the very least a bunch of people would be out of work.)

Sure, some of the updates to the refreshed Honda Pilot are welcome, like the upgraded stereo (the volume knob returns!) and improvements to its optional 9-speed transmission. And the addition of standard equipment like the Honda Sensing safety suite is to be applauded. But did Honda really need to futz with the Pilot’s front- and rear-end styling and a few interior trim bits? Not so much. Really, these are all changes that could have easily been added here and there, but then there wouldn’t be “new” one to market to customers, would there?

As you can probably guess by now, our drive of the 2019 Pilot wasn’t so much a revelation as it was a recitation of what the Pilot already does well. What is that you ask? For one thing, it seats seven (or eight) people in reasonable comfort. That’s no minor feat: To fit that many adult humans into a vehicle without torturing them, you generally need one of those Expedition-sized family trucksters. But the Pilot is one of only a handful of crossovers with a third-row capable pulling it off. (Bonus: There’s still adequate cargo room with the third-row seat in place.)

The Pilot also drives pretty well under the right conditions. It has a light-on-its-feet feel that’s become a Honda trademark, which is all the more impressive given that we’re talking about a two-ton crossover. Honda has also done a great job dialing in the Pilot’s steering feel without overboosting it or eliminating on-center feedback. Dive into the curves at speeds that will make the kids throw up, and the Pilot’s body simply refuses to lean. It’s as if it built the damn thing with a cement foundation.

For the record though, I think Honda cheated some by having us pilot the Pilot on some of Southern California’s smoother roadways. The first time I drove the 2016 Pilot—when this generation really was all-new—it was on the well-paved roads of Kentucky, and I was impressed. But the second time I drove it was on the choppy pavement of New York City’s suburbs, and even the smallest potholes unsettled it. We had a thousand-mile road trip on the frost-heaved roads of upstate New York ahead of us, and my wife was not thrilled: “I thought you said this thing would be comfortable!” I still shudder at the memory of her withering glare.

Will the 2019 Pilot exhibit the same rough ride quality over bad roads that I encountered? The chief engineer told us that other than improved brakes, there are no serious changes to the chassis, so we imagine it will. Still, we’d have to dispatch one to Todd Lassa or Jamie Kitman, our men in Detroit and New York respectively, to find out for sure.

One thing that did (sort of) impress me is how well the 9-speed automatic performed. After taking some criticism for its operation, Honda says it made extensive hardware and software changes to the transmission for the 2019 Pilot, and routine driving is greatly improved. Nine-speed Pilots now accelerate smoothly from a stop, and part-throttle power demands are met with a crisp downshift.

Still, it isn’t perfect. Stomping the throttle on the highway often led to lazy feeling, two-step downshifts. And we experienced some hesitation when we floored the go pedal from a dead stop (especially when auto stop/start was engaged). It is worth noting that the ZF sourced 9-speed, which is only available for the top trim Pilot Elite (other trims continue to employ the Honda-built 6-speed auto), is the only transmission Honda has ever outsourced; usually it designs its own. Lesson learned, maybe?

The engine to which both transmissions are strapped is a carryover—Honda’s well-worn 3.5 liter V-6. Horsepower is 280, unchanged since 2016. It’s adequate, to be sure, but with a horsepower race going on elsewhere in the industry, it may have been a mistake for Honda not to rework it in order to give it some more grunt.

Besides the updated transmission, Honda was eager to shine more light on the the torque-vectoring ability of the Pilot’s all-wheel-drive system, so it set up an off-road course that involved lots of body-bending, wheel-lifting dips and ruts. It was an impressive display. The Pilot was steady on its feet and did a good job distributing power where needed, even with one paw hanging in the air. Yes, we know, few Pilot owners will be doing any serious off-roading. But it’s very likely they’ll be driving their Pilots in snow and rain, and that same ability to find grip and avoid slip will serve the Pilot driver well when Mother Nature gets a bug up her caboose.

In case you didn’t already know, the Honda Pilot will also tow: 3,500 lb out of the box and 5,000 lb with the addition of a transmission cooler, and yes, Honda wanted us to experience that, too. So it set up a Civic race car on an aluminum trailer for a Pilot to tow, a combination it said weighed about 3,900 lb. I’m something of a trailering snob, critical of even the slightest sign of instability. But I was truly impressed with how well the Pilot handled the load; power, stability, and braking were as good as advertised.

Inside, the interior has been revamped with a new (and slightly less sensible to us) gauge cluster and—Heaven be praised!—a new stereo with a real-live volume knob. (Honda took some flak from customers and the press when it went without volume knobs on some of its recent models, and has been rolling them back out.) Other than that, changes to the dash are minimal. The easy-to-use climate controls, big cup holders, and center console storage cubby large enough to hide a toddler all remain.

More importantly, Honda has made its HondaSensing safety suite—collision warning with automatic braking, road- and lane-departure assistance, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams—standard on all Pilots. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow Honda’s lead and make these important safety features standard on lower-priced models.

All Pilot trim levels get a smattering of new equipment. Among the bits and bobs you’ll find in different models: Cabin Control, which lets back-seaters use their smartphone as a remote for the rear-seat entertainment system; CabinTalk, one of those voice-of-God features that lets the folks in front be heard in the back; a hands-free power tailgate; and a wireless charging pad.

Did the Pilot need any major revamping? The only real issues we’ve experienced since the present generation’s debut has been its rough road ride quality, which Honda didn’t address, and the mixed bag that is the 9-speed transmission. Other than that, it’s been well equipped to take on the competition for several years now. But that competition is tough and getting tougher all the time: The good-to-drive Volkswagen Atlas, uber-roomy Chevrolet Traverse, upscale Mazda CX-9, competent Ford Explorer, and promising new Subaru Ascent are all impressive rivals for the Pilot to face down. So maybe a “new” Pilot isn’t such a bad thing, after all.

Ultimately, your choice may come down to locale. If you live in an area where the roads are messy (hello, Michigan) the Honda may prove to be too much of a rough rider. Still, its combination of a roomy interior, mostly-usable third-row seat, and a reputation for epic reliability make it an appealing choice. Not very terribly exciting, but definitely appealing.

2019 Honda Pilot Elite AWD Specifications

ON SALE Now PRICE $49,015 (base/as-tested) ENGINE 3.5L SOHC 24-valve V-6/280 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 262 lb-ft @ 4,700 rpm TRANSMISSION 9-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 7/8-passenger, front-engine, AWD SUV EPA MILEAGE 19/26 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 196.5 x 78.6 x 70.6 in WHEELBASE 111.0 in WEIGHT 4,319 lb 0-60 MPH 6.5 sec (est) TOP SPEED 110 mph (est)

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REAR GUARD: EVEN MAGGOTS DON'T SURVIVE IT

Summer. Rabbits. Flies. More flies. Fewer rabbits. Nightmare. Then, Rear Guard comes to rescue. Vets recommend it. Rabbit welfare organisations praise it. Rabbit owners swear by it. Rabbits are queueing to have their fluffy bottoms lathered up. Problem solved.

I used Rear Guard in our early rabbiting days. The rabbit in question, Mushka, passed from unknown causes, and I can’t confirm or deny the link. I never thought of it at any depth, to be honest. We kept supplies of it at Helicopter Ears, and we’ve had many rabbits at risk of fly strike, but we never resorted to using Rear Guard. 

And yesterday I was glad we didn’t. 

If you want to hear what I think yet gruesomeness is not your thing, I have an abridged version for you:

Don't use it. 

If like me, you are the sceptical kind, read on.

Today, I chatted with one of our long-term supporters. About rabbits, as usual. I said how annoying it is when rabbits are diagnosed with 'gut stasis,' because in my experience, stasis is never an illness but rather a symptom of one: something causes it, and taking gut motility stimulants when a rabbit is in renal failure is akin to giving painkillers for a headache when there's a brain tumour to blame, which is when she told me that on one occasion, three of her rabbits went into stasis after they were treated with Rear Guard.

Hmm, that's interesting, I thought.

The rabbits became ill, she said, all at once, on the night they had been treated with Rear Guard, within hours after application. At first, they lost appetite, and by the morning, she had to take them back to the vet: they produced no droppings during the night.

The vet was not in any hurry to blame the miraculous and much-sought-after product which saved many lives (and lined many pockets) for the mysterious illness, but the rabbit owner was not quite so sure: three of her eight rabbits were ill following its application, and apart from Rear Guard, nothing had been different in their daily routine. A bit of a coincidence, no? I think so.

Some background information

Before we go on, this is what you must know about the lady, about her rabbits, about me, and about Rear Guard.

The lady is a super-experienced bunny-owner and diligent as can be. I didn't ask who applied Rear Guard, she or the vet, because I have no reason to think she would apply the product incorrectly, and there's not much room for error, frankly. It's foolproof.

She is sure that all of the rabbits had been healthy prior to the application.

All opinions, assumptions, guesses and any errors in calculations which follow are my own; the rabbit owner does not necessarily share my views or doubts her vet, Novartis or anyone who may recommend any of its products, including Rear Guard. I'm the one causing all the trouble here, and I'm the only one to kick, OK?

As it happens, Rear Guard does come with a warning. The manufacturer's label states a "temporary reduction in appetite" is possible (I can't recall the exact wording, as I binned our supplies, but it's something along those lines and not anything worth getting pedantic about).

Obviously, the less they eat, the less they poop, hence the stasis. Worrying and all that ... These paranoid rabbit owners, huh? Nothing but trouble, me included. And when it comes to me, you won't find much more paranoid than that! And, as I always wondered how this marvellous, expensive, and widely-recommended by the most credible and trusted of sources product works, anyway, and because I adhere to the view that a reduction in appetite is never just a reduction in appetite, Google, here we come!

My unscientific research

The first thing Dr Google spat out was the active ingredient in Rear Guard being cyromazine. According to not very many sources (1, 2, 3) (patience is not my strong point) I had the stomach to read, the acute LD (lethal dose) for rabbits (oral ingestion) is 1467 mg/kg. The solution is 6% w/v, meaning there is 60mg of cyromazine in 1 ml, and there's 25 ml in a bottle, which makes it 1500mg cyromazine per bottle, which, as we have learned, is sufficient to dispatch a 1 kg rabbit (with certainty).

Just so we are clear, LD is 'Lethal Dose,' meaning the subject will certainly die after ingesting that amount, while LD50 means half will certainly die. That is my personal, unscientific definition. Smaller "doses" (I don't know ... Do we "dose" poisons?) will more likely than not result in adverse effects.

But we're not feeding it to them, right?

Let's not forget that rabbits' faces spend a lot of time around their bottoms, both to groom and to consume caecotrophs.

But surely they can't ingest enough to cause harm, right?

That would depend on the size of a rabbit, how clean they like their bottom, and how thorough they are at cleaning it, I guess.

But why guess when we have science, right?

Finally! My favourite part. This science says ingesting 25 mg/kg/day (that's 0.4 ml's worth, I think!) or more causes rabbits to die from (brace yourself):

heart failure

pneumonia-pleuritis

lung congestion and oedema

other causes not possible to establish. Hmm.

That's just 0.4 ml: you don't have to drink the bottle. The bottle would be sufficient to knock out 62.5 kg's worth of rabbits. (Now, if you're Paddington, that's 7 of you. If you're Frankie, that's 62.5 Frankies. And that’s a lot of Frankies. We don’t even have that many.)

I didn't click on all the links to see how long it took them to die, but probably, not very. Anyway, moving on swiftly.

At just 10mg/kg/day, rabbits suffered a reduction in weight, and pregnant does had miscarriages. Male fertility was also affected. 

Graphic depictions of fetus malformations and birth defects featured in every paper I came across, and the didn’t seem to be dose-related:

multiple head deformities

cleft palate

hydrocephalus (for those wondering what it is)

spina bifida (not very nice)

a variety of hernias (diaphragmatic and umbilical)

vertebral and rib anomalies

tarsal flexure

absent kidney and ureter

And, as we read on, we finally learn reduction in faecal excretion was reported in "treated" groups. Ah, that's why the manufacturer warns about the appetite reduction!

Now, to the positives

I'm sure there are other "effects" to marvel at, but I'd had enough at that point and decided to focus on the positives:

No malformations were observed in kits dying at days 4-28. (Never mind they're dead.)

No changes in behaviour were noted.

Cyromazine is thought to be only very slightly cancerogenic. (Phew!)

But the best thing is: it prevents maggots from hatching ...

... for 10 glorious weeks ...

... at a mere cost of £30 or so ...

... and minor indigestion.

Ah, that's how it works! Now I understand! 

How it works

It's so freaking toxic even maggots don't survive in it.

My guess is, assuming a rabbit ingests this product, he will quite likely be somewhat ill. Possibly, very. Maybe, dead.

My guess is Novartis didn't follow up on the subjects of their "study" for long enough to know what possible consequences could result from the application of their product. ( I was so sick of it all by this point, and I didn’t go into too much depth, so I must admit, I didn’t go into it in too much depth, but upon a quick scan, it did appear 6 rabbits were studied for 21 days. Wow. )

My guess is if there are no immediately obvious adverse effects, they are more likely than not yet to come.

I'm not a vet, and my degrees are not in pharmaceuticals, so the opinions expressed are probably just guesses, anyway, and you should feel free to dismiss them as nonsense. If a reputable source you trust recommends Rear Guard, by all means, totally go ahead and use it. As to me, not being a huge fan of animal testing, I shan't experiment on our herd. Call me paranoid if you like.

If you must use it

The good news is: There's no need to pay over the odds!

Cyromazine is an AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDE, and as such, it very reasonably priced. A quick Google search will get you a litre of this miracle-drug for just $3 (that’s right, just three bucks). And if you think a litre is 40 x 25 ml bottles, wait until I tell you, it's undiluted. I'm not gonna reach for my calculator here, you can do your own math, but that's AHELLAFALOT OF RABBITS you can treat.

Something tells me that Novartis pricing Rear Guard handsomely at nearly £30 per 25 ml, and Rear Guard being nothing more than a common pesticide of a very thin dilution, we're being taken for a ride.

It comes with a health warning, though: you absolutely must follow the manufacturer's instructions and wash your hands after use! Cyromazine is toxicology category III, you know?

Which conveniently leads me to my next point:

Come on, Novartis ... I think a small label adjustment is in order:

For ideas on how to minimise the risk of fly strike in summer, please check this post, and don’t forget to share your experience and advice.

This post has been made possible by the generousity of our patrons. By supporting us, you help us continue working for the good of bunnies and bring you more content you will enjoy.

Helicopter Ears | REAR GUARD: EVEN MAGGOTS DON’T SURVIVE IT | Formatting changes | v.1.2 | 18-JUL-2018

Releasing Regret.

In today's economy, that is actually more crucial compared to ever before to actually hone your wholesale meals advertising capabilities to make sure that you could stand apart from the crowd and also grab the focus from end individuals as well as meals brokers. Possibly you would like some brand-new viewpoints regarding mistakes: Errors are actually valid and sensible: You might claim there's no such trait as errors, yet our experts are actually all quite made use of to that term. For this mistake I merely decided to have actually the inaccuracies taken care of, and also a brand new documents produced, to ensure that potential copies of guide would be actually appropriate. The important trait in my perspective is not to pin the blame for a blunder on a person, yet somewhat to discover what created the blunder. When you slip up you may make use of the Sedona Strategy to help you launch the negative psychological cost that supplements miscalculating. They try to participate in the target job, desire to appear excellent, as well as fully reject any type of participation in making the mistake. The ones that certainly never uncovered or even recognized their synthetic certainly never produced that into your business field as well as never ever made a distinction in their very own life, or even the arena. A terrific advantage of making a mistake is that you will learn something you didn't recognize before, and also perhaps you could utilize this lesson in your future. I'm uncertain that the decisions I made as operations supervisor from the Orbital Handling Automobile (OMV) course almost 3 decades earlier were necessarily oversights, however the troubles that inevitably got rid of the OMV were absolutely actual. The concern with condemning other people for our error is actually that our experts are going to go through the ache and also consequences from our blunder, yet will not pick up from this, consequently bingo! Explaining in a non-defensive technique what led to the mistake can help folks a lot better understand why that happened as well as the best ways to avoid it later on. Blunder # 4)) No Dating Funnel: A guy approaches a female, users a brilliant opener, acquire's her phone number, phones her a couple times later, he sets up a 1st day then they walk out. View that you perform not deliver a harsh consequence for a mistake that was actually offered good effort. The 3rd error is actually that once the provider experiences a tough time, they reduced their advertising budget and take inside their shell like a tortoise. And if you carry out have someone in your lifestyle which is actually attempting to keep you from forgetting and also moving on, discover that this is their very own globe they are developing and also they could enjoy holding those sensations and also notions from previous errors over you. When I miscalculate, I evaluate the emotional and mental condition that preceedinged the selection Sometimes, I discover that I decided from worry. The arithmetic instructor worked with the student after school to find out where she was actually making a mistake while aiming to fix the formula. However, if you profit from your mistakes and don't redo them, you will ultimately reputable on your own once more, and also be able to use true commitment to the upcoming individual. Your business of the Conservatives is actually to prevent the errors coming from being remedied. After a ton of catastrophic-seeming mistakes, I have actually pertained to recognize that couple of blunders are actually irreversible. If you have actually sinned, possess that. (In fact, if you have actually made a mistake, possess that as well.) Have the hit. The Birdman star was revealing the candidates for Ideal Assisting Starlet in a Movie when he reached Octavia Spencer's name and also claimed she was part of the movie 'Hidden Fences'. Regardless of what errors you create, and you will certainly continuously produce them, do not lose hope. Don't allow on your own be or even believe defeated. When this concerns inaccuracies having an effect on both the edges of multiple profiles, melioration of these types of mistakes can usually be enabled with the aid of an entrance created in the publication. You devote everyday from your entire life generating an identification yourself, but you feel that your business does not should have one. You may listen to or review it in the news day-to-day concerning someone's terrible tale of endangered identity. Errors from simple fact occur when an illegal defendant misunderstood some truth that negates an element from the unlawful act. A lot of of my customers, and the people that I are available in contact with, struggle with admitting blunders. BLUNDER 4: Excessive images and Flash animations- Graphics and also animation produce your site look attractive to the site visitors. Take a while to exercise the solution to these pair of questions, and also state all of them to your boss when you disclose the mistake. I am actually referring to company errors that were made unintentionally, whether that was actually something your group performed (or even failed to) carry out, or even that was one thing under your organization's accountability. When she indicated to inquire him regarding his election for the film Hidden Numbers, Jenna was questioning Pharrell Williams at the Golden Globes on Sunday. On a normal files are made in routine formats like Microsoft PowerPoint and also Microsoft Word after which they are actually developed into the PDF format for further handling. Since of the differing emotional makeup from men as well as females some are actually more constant to one compared to the other, many of the exact same oversights are created by both husband as well as partner yet. Then you will certainly certainly not find errors on your profile that could possibly be costing you a whole lot from funds, if you do not look at your claims properly. OVERSIGHT 7: Having obsoleted records- Creating a really good web site is not completion from duty, when that relates to internet search engine optimisation. Acquiring points that colleagues have is actually yet another common error created through individuals who are actually aiming to enhance their appearance, specifically their expertise at work. Don't make the blunder from arranging someone or even one thing to come throughout and make you satisfied. In other words, the oversights that occur in suggested accounts and also products profiles are the events that impact the internet earnings. Very most significantly, he profited from the oversight and also began to have a so much more regimented approach to cash flow. OVERSIGHT 5: Poor internal linking- Hyperlinks are the relationships in between sites and also are actually important in increasing the web traffic. The primary mistake managers make-and considering that this is primarily subconscious it is crucial to be caring with our own selves as well as each other-is to not become aware of, integrate, allow, and possess your very own authority. Having said that, this is actually just intensifying the mistake you've produced in increasing up on a dropping field by urging you carry out the same point next opportunity you remain in this setting. Paradoxically, much of the oversights that daddies and also mamas create are actually oversights created in a try to get an unreasonable conveniences. If you cherished this article and also you would like to receive more info concerning yellow pages residential search uk (artoftraveling.pl) kindly visit the web site. Sometimes oversights occur considering that our team just don't possess all the relevant information, all the resources or even sources essential for an effective outcome. Some folks attempt to prevent mistakes through certainly not working and through not taking care of folks, which is actually actually a significant mistake. They spend a bunch of time looking into their shoulders, terrified to have possibilities as well as think additional duty for anxiety they will create mistakes. One vital certification, having said that, is actually that this blunder of reality need to be actually straightforward and reasonable. Praise on your own wherefore you have gained from these oversights and also encounters. All factors thought about, these are actually several of the best well-liked mistakes that home owners typically make the minute they make a decision to change their aged home windows with PVC windows. Work toward getting rid of these oversights as well as everything, as well as every little thing you prefer is actually within your comprehension. Thus, try to observe mistakes and breakdowns as a best chance to know and grow as a person. The alternative is your supervisor finding out the error anyway as well as finding that you're at deficiency - which is certainly not a good scenario to be in. . V. United States, 66 C.C.P.A. 113, 118, C.A.D. 1231, 603 F. 2d 850, 853 (1979) (A blunder from truth is actually any error other than a blunder of legislation." Id. at 855) Hynix, 414 F. Supp. Any army commander which is honest with themself, or with those he is actually speaking with, will confess that he has made oversights in the treatment from armed forces power. You as a human being can not steer clear of making mistakes so long as you work as well as handle with individuals.

The Fall of Benjamin Netanyahu

By Uri Avnery, Antiwar.com, August 12, 2017

The vultures are circling. They can see the wounded man on the ground, and are waiting for his end.

So are the human carnivores--the politicians.

They sing his praises, swear to defend him with all their heart--but in their heads they are already calculating who might be his successor. Each of them mutters to themselves: Why not me?

Binyamin Netanyahu is facing the greatest crisis in his long career. The police are about to conclude their investigations. The Attorney General is under huge pressure to issue official indictments. The large demonstrations near the Attorney General’s home are growing from week to week.

The Attorney General, the Inspector General of the Police and the Minister for Internal Security were all personally picked by Netanyahu (and his wife). Now even this does not help. The pressure is too strong.

The investigations may drag on for another few months, but the end seems certain: State of Israel v. Binyamin Netanyahu will go to court.

When a member of the government is indicted for a felony, they usually resign, or at least take leave of absence. Not Netanyahu. No sir!

If he resigned, who would guard Israel and save it from the numerous dreadful dangers threatening the state from all sides? The Iranians are promising our extinction, the evil Arabs all around want to kill us, the leftists and other traitors threaten the state from within. How can we survive without Bibi? The danger is too awful to contemplate!

Netanyahu seems to believe this himself. He, his wife and his eldest son behave like a royal family. They buy without paying, travel as guests of others, receive expensive gifts as a matter of course.

Popular humor accompanies all these transgressions. The police has entered this spirit and decorated his files with many zeros.

File 1000 concerns the gifts. The Netanyahus are surrounded by a crowd of billionaires, who compete with each other in presenting gifts. Many jokes were made about the expensive cigars and pink champagne given to the family--until it transpired that their value amounts to tens of thousands of dollars. And the donors expect something in return from the donees.

File 2000 concerns a peculiar matter. Yedioth Ahronoth (“Latest News”) was Israel’s largest daily newspaper, until Israel Hayom (“Israel Today”) appeared--a paper distributed for nothing. It was founded by Sheldon Adelson, an admirer of Netanyahu and the owner of huge casinos in Las Vegas and Macao. It is devoted to the single task of glorifying King Bibi. In a recorded private conversation, Netanyahu offered Noni Moses, the owner of Yedioth, a deal: Israel Today would reduce its size and circulation if Yedioth started to glorify Bibi. Legally, this may amount to bribery.

And then there is File 3000, deep beneath the sea. The German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp (two names well remembered as Hitler’s weapons suppliers) builds our submarines. Three, six, nine. The sky--or the sea--is the limit.

What do we need submarines for? Not to sink enemy fleets. Our enemies, such as they are, have no powerful fleets. But they may obtain nuclear missiles. Israel is a very small territory, and a nuclear bomb or two could destroy it. But no one will dream of doing so if they know that out there lurk submarines, which will respond with nuclear missiles within minutes.

The German shipyard, with the support of the German government, sells the submarines to the Israeli navy. No middlemen needed. But there are middlemen who put millions in their pockets. How many pockets? Ah, there we are. Quite a number of pockets, and all these pockets belong to people very close to the Prime Minister.

Perverted minds may imagine that tens of millions have reached the PM himself, perish the thought.

This week, a prestigious TV program aired an investigation, and the picture was shocking. The entire military and civilian environment seems to be infected by corruption, as in a failed African state.

One of the few lessons I have learned in my life is that nobody reaches the top of any profession if they are not devoted to it absolutely, totally.

To get stinking rich, you must love stinking money. Not the things money can buy, but money itself. Like the miser of Moliere, who sits all day and counts his riches. If you also want something else, love or glory, you will not get to be a multi-multi-billionaire.

Don Juan did not care for anything but women. Not love. Just women, more and more of them.

David Ben-Gurion wanted power. Not the pleasures of power. Not cigars. Not champagne. Not several villas. Just power. Everything else, like his Bible club and his reading Don Quixote in Spanish, was just pretense. He wanted power and held on to it as long as he could. (In the end, when he surrounded himself with a praetorian guard of youngsters like Moshe Dayan and Shimon Peres, his colleagues ganged up on him and kicked him out, with some help from me.)

A person who wants political power, but also the amenities of life, several villas and a lot of money will not really reach the very top. Netanyahu is a good example.

He is no exception. His predecessor is in prison, and so are several former ministers. A former President of the State was just released from prison (for sexual offenses).

Netanyahu grew up in the a family which was not affluent. So did Ehud Olmert. So did Ehud Barak. So did Moshe Dayan. They all loved money too much.

Sarah Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s wife, is also about to be indicted. She is accused of paying for her extensive private needs with government funds. She is not widely appreciated. Everybody calls her Sarah’le (“Little Sarah”), but not from love. She also grew up in straitened circumstances and was a low-grade air stewardess when she met Bibi in a duty-free shop.

I was lucky. Until my tenth birthday, my family was quite rich. When we fled to Palestine, we soon became as poor as synagogue-mice, but much happier.)

Another lesson: no one in power should stay there for more than eight years.

People in power attract flatterers. Every day, year after year, they are told that they are just wonderful. So wise, so clever, so handsome. Slowly they become convinced themselves. After all, so many good people can’t be wrong.

Their critical senses become blunted. They get used to being obeyed even by people who know better. They become immune to criticism, and even get angry when criticized.

After the 11-1/2 tenure of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a wise and successful president, the American people changed their constitution and limited the terms of the president to two, altogether eight consecutive years. Very sensible.

I speak from experience. I was elected to the Knesset three times. I very much enjoyed the first two terms--eight consecutive years--because I felt that I was doing the right things in the right way. During my third term I felt that I was less keen, less innovative, less original. So I resigned.

Netanyahu is now in his fourth term. High time for him to be thrown out.

The Bible enjoins us: “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth” (Proverbs 24, 17). I do not rejoice, but I shall be very glad if he goes.

I do not hate him. Neither do I like him. I don’t think that I have spoken with him on more than two or three occasions in my whole life. Once when he introduced me to his second--not last--wife, a nice young American woman, and once when he saw my picture in a photo exhibition, wearing a pilot’s cap. He told me that I looked like Errol Flynn.

My attitude towards him is not based on emotion. It is purely political. He is a talented politician, a clever demagogue. But I believe that he is leading Israel slowly but surely towards a historic disaster.

People believe that he is devoid of principles, that he will do anything--just anything--to stay in power. That is true. But underneath everything there hide some ironclad convictions--the weltanschauung of his late father, the history professor, whose special field was the Spanish inquisition. Father Benzion Netanyahu was an embittered man, convinced that his colleagues despised him and blocked his career because of his extreme right-wing views. He was a fanatic, for whom even Vladimir Jabotinsky was far too moderate.

The father admired his elder son, Yoni, an army officer who was killed in the famous Entebbe raid, and did not respect Bibi very much. He once said that Bibi was not fit to be prime minister, but could make a good foreign minister--a very shrewd observation.

If Binyamin Netanyahu falls, which seems possible, who will replace him?

Like every clever (and unsure) leader, Bibi has destroyed every likely rival along the way. Now there is no obvious heir around.

But many people are now repeating a slogan: “Anyone, Just Not Bibi!”

How To Stop Your Dog or Puppy From Jumping Up

Perhaps the main reason for having a dog is enjoying the unbridled affection that they bring to their family.

After a long and stressful day, it is extremely exciting to come home with a beloved pet and look forward to seeing you. However, it is possible to have too much good.

When your dog receives you with love, it's great to make your dog feel loved.

But if this greeting gets too strong and involves jumping, it will be a problem. If nothing is done, this behavior can make these wonderful meetings something they really fear, and nobody wants it.

So, if your problem is a jumping dog, do not worry; you're not alone Even my own Black Lab, 5 years old, will need a nice memory. (It's not just the puppy's behavior!)

In this article you will find tips, tricks and resources that will show you how to prevent a dog from jumping and staying on the ground.

Why is my dog ​​jumping when he says hello? Before we can correct a behavior, it is important that we first try to understand it. We need to know why this is happening to prevent it from happening again.

Fortunately, depending on the behavior, the jump is relatively easy to understand. In the case of a jumping dog, it is more likely that it is a social animal.

You may have noticed that when dogs greet each other, much is snorted. In addition to the involuntary comic control of private rooms, dogs also tend to sniff and lick their nose. This is because a variety of scents emanate from these body parts and dogs learn a lot when they smell.

Since most dogs are relatively large, this can be done without too much effort. But when they try to greet a person, it can be far away in the face of a human being!

What you see is a completely natural dog behavior adapted to your family and your friends with two legs.

And if you have one of the richest breeds (which you're likely to do when you're on this site), or just about any puppy or younger dog, they're more likely to be involved in that behavior

On the other hand, my 12-year-old German shepherd dog is not interested in jumping on people who walk in the door, no matter how much they love him.

Is a market really that big? A jumping dog can cause discomfort and even injury when confronted with a big breed like a lab. A jumping puppy is cute, but a dog weighing 60 pounds or more is a force to be reckoned with.

Toddlers and the elderly will not stand it when a big friendly dog ​​flies in the air. You do not want your dog to jump with someone who's really scared of dogs.

For the comfort and safety of all, it is a behavior that needs to be corrected.

Is there more to jump than emotions? There is almost never a medical or physiological problem associated with greeting jumping.

In the worst case, a dog may have learned this behavior from a previous owner, or your dog may not be moving enough and may need more steam to explode.

Of course, it is always possible for your dog to feel anxious or worried and to seek your peace of mind and a safe hug. It is likely that a puppy will grow because of this behavior. However, if you have a larger dog with these trends, it may be due to a more serious problem.

Recommended Reading: The online dog trainer review

Bad behavior that we hate to love The jump is practically unique among the unwanted behaviors, as it is often rewarded, especially when the dog is young.

A playful puppy jumping on her leg is undoubtedly delightful, and the natural love of every dog ​​lover is to pet and play with him. Even if we do not notice it, the attention is a reward and once a behavior is rewarded, it becomes a routine.

To further aggravate the problem, the rewards for this behavior are regularly distributed by well-meaning visitors to your home and even by strangers on the sidewalk or in the park.

Even if you as the owner do nothing to encourage your dog to jump, this can still be a problem. Your dog has essentially become a victim of his own tenderness!

Ways to keep your dog on the ground Remove the reward If attention is a reward, lack of attention is the obvious obstacle.

I'm not saying that I do not know the problem and it will disappear. But the key to discouraging the jump is to remove the reward your dog is seeking for his behavior.

Your dog is always on the lookout for recognition and quickly learns if he does not get it to stop, which does not cause a positive reaction.

Get away from the jump If your dog jumps on you, the best answer is just getting away from it. You should also avoid eye contact with your dog.

I also put my hands to my chest. Many dogs will try to rub their heads with their hands to make clear what they want. If you take your hands off the equation, your dog will no longer have the opportunity to do so.

Your dog is very intelligent and will probably stop jumping if he does not get an answer. Once you have all four legs on the ground, welcome them calmly and gently. If the jump continues immediately, continue until they stop.

When you are all four on the ground again, offer praise and sweet affection. Although you would like to congratulate your dog with more enthusiasm, you should not do so, as this would encourage him to feel excited again.

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Use your words If your dog is already familiar with the Sit command, you can integrate it into your technique. Instead of getting away from your dog, step back and give the command, including all the hand movements you can use.

It makes sense that your dog can not jump or sit at the same time. It is therefore likely that your dog will do what he already knows what he likes.

Again, give praise and salute quietly when four feet and one back on the ground.

Other commands may be replaced by "sit", e.g. Eg "stay" or "down". However, if your dog is too excited to perform these commands properly (as is usually the case, especially in puppies), try to shift your attention elsewhere. Ask them to bring their favorite ball or toy, distract them and spend some energy. And reward, as always, good manners with praise.

Show them the door Another way to teach your dog to sit or stand is to welcome and use your door as an aid.

If your dog jumps over you as you cross the threshold, leave the house or room and close the door. Wait a moment for your dog to calm down and try again.

You may need to do this several times, but your dog will eventually realize that you will not go out when you jump.

When you open the door to find him sitting or standing, step in and offer him the praise he deserves, and maybe a gift.

Should I offer treats? A note on treats: These are great rewards, especially for dogs fed as farmers. However, if you are not careful, your dog will find that he receives a reward for his jump and sitting position.

Use sweets in moderation. If you mix your dog's rewards (treats, toys, compliments, etc.), you will have no special expectations and will not automatically combine the food with good behavior. This also saves you from carrying dog treats at any time!

What to do with visitors? Now that we know how to prevent your dog from jumping on you, we need to determine how it will be kept away from the visitors to your home.

Strangers can be almost as exciting as dog owners, also because they often take dogs with more enthusiasm. How does your dog behave with others as well as with you?

Strange danger! Foreigners in public pose a unique challenge to train their dog so that it does not jump.

Do not be afraid to tell a stranger that you are working with your dog to correct this behavior, and please do not touch him if he jumps.

Some people suggest that the stranger offers the dog a reward for not jumping, but he is reluctant to teach a dog that anyone approaching is a potential source of candy.

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Two steps forward ... Anyone who has helped a dog recognize the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior knows that it is seldom a linear process.

There will be progress and regressions before the final goal is reached, and your dog will go through so-called "behavioral outbreaks". It can just get worse before it gets better.

In this case, do not give up! This is a natural part of the process, and if you throw in the towel now, you will consolidate the bad behavior in its place.

To avoid things After having treated some good methods to keep your puppy from jumping, it is important to check some behaviors so that you can avoid them while working on having a non-ballistic dog.

Raise your voice Just like trying to teach your dog not to bark in certain situations, it does not help you to scream for your dog and generally be strong and lively. There is a good chance that your dog thinks you are joining the party, which encourages him to jump even more.

Packaging There is a school of thought that suggests educating your dog when guests approach and giving you time to calm down before making contacts.

My personal experience is that my dog ​​now has time to REALLY get ready and then explodes like the caricature of Tazman's Devil in a Bugs Bunny!

Dog crates do not directly solve the problem of behavior and seem more like a punishment. If your dog is aggressive towards strangers at home, it may be necessary to box while working on this topic, possibly with a professional trainer.

References: How to Stop a Puppy from Jumping on People