Where does fear reside in your body?

somewhere else;; what is known is what is safe. your fear is never inside you, always somewhere else. your home is the best place in the world; all other places are scary. the people you already know are better than anyone else. so you go on, playing with broken toys, wearing dead people's clothes. you can be torn down to shreds, abused, tortured and miserable. but at least you know where it comes from, which gives you a sense of comfort and even control. the unknown hides dangers you don't understand, so it scares you. but alongside the dangers, you miss the wonder, adventures and opportunities that you could've otherwise had. my guess is that you've dealt with grief and loss.

tagged by: @spookyagentfmulder tagging: @talentforlying @void-foxy @jefuiitor && anyone else who sees this and feels inclined to take this uquiz (tag me! i'll love to see your results !!)

By: Tom Slater

Published: Mar 30, 2024

‘Forte non Ignave’, ‘Bravely not cowardly’, is the motto of Batley Grammar, a free school in West Yorkshire, founded in 1612. How grimly ironic, then, that three years ago, it became the site of one of the most craven capitulations to religious bigotry Britain has seen since the Satanic Verses controversy.

On Monday 22 March 2021, a religious-studies teacher at Batley Grammar showed his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, as part of a lesson on blasphemy. The cartoons were from Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French magazine whose staff paid the ultimate price for their supposed blasphemy in 2015, when two al-Qaeda gunmen showed up at their offices.

The cartoons had been on the syllabus for at least two years, and no one had batted an eyelid. Up to that point, Batley Grammar – a secular state school – had no reason to suspect it should have to respect Islamic blasphemy codes, especially when teaching about religion, free speech and blasphemy. It was in for a rude awakening.

‘The lesson descended into chaos as pupils took out their phones and attempted to film the teacher’, according to one report. The teacher, according to another, had a heated phone call with the father of one Muslim pupil. Then things spun out of control. Word got out online. Protesters – a mix of parents and activists from Leeds, Rochdale and beyond – pitched up outside the school gates, shutting down the school for a number of days.

All the while, the teacher was menaced by death threats. A local Islamic charity, Purpose of Life, published a statement, outing the teacher and comparing his indiscretion – bizarrely – to the brutalisation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. A group called Muslim Action Forum also published his name, alongside more lurid libels, accusing the teacher of ‘inciting hatred’ and accusing his supporters of ‘blind hatred of the Muslim community’. These groups were, in effect, putting a target on the back of a man they had likely never met. Young men were spotted knocking at the door and trying the handle of the teacher’s house, where he lived with his wife and their children.

The bigoted caricature bore no relationship to reality, of course. According to the teacher’s Muslim neighbour, his was a nice family, who bought cards and sweets for the Muslim kids in the neighbourhood during Eid. Even so, no one should be expected to go through what this teacher went through – facing all the violent intolerance and hysteria of a medieval village, only spread far and wide by social media. He spoke to Dame Sara Khan, for her new report on modern-day mob censorship, which was published by the UK government this week. His treatment, Khan writes, left the teacher feeling suicidal.

He feared for his life, and with good reason. Five months before that fateful religious-studies class in West Yorkshire, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist. Paty’s ‘crime’ was almost identical: showing Charlie Hebdo cartoons to his pupils in a lesson on freedom of expression. Adil Shahzad, an imam from Bradford who shot straight to Batley to lead the protests, warned darkly at the time that Britain risked ‘becoming like France’. Shahzad insisted Muslims should make their feelings known in the ‘democratic way’. But it turns out he has a history of praising murderous anti-blasphemy groups in Pakistan.

Where Britain after Batley certainly differed from France after Paty was in the reaction. Thousands took to the streets in France, in solidarity with the slain teacher and in support of free expression. The murder inspired President Emmanuel Macron to mount a personal crusade against Islamist extremism. In Britain, there was just capitulation. The school suspended the teacher and penned a grovelling apology. For some reason, a West Yorkshire Police officer was enlisted to read it out to the protesters. All this was welcomed heartily by Labour’s Tracy Brabin, then MP for Batley and Spen. She said she was ‘pleased that the school has recognised it was inappropriate and apologised’. After an investigation, the teacher was cleared of any personal wrongdoing, but the cartoons were removed from the syllabus. The mob won. And the teacher is still in hiding.

None of this has calmed tensions, of course. It has only emboldened the hardliners. Capitulation always does. There’s been a string of similar blasphemy scandals since. In 2022, Sunni Muslim protesters managed to get Cineworld to pull screenings of The Lady of Heaven, a Shia-made film they deemed to be blasphemous. In 2023, another school, less than 10 miles from Batley Grammar, this time in Wakefield, found itself in the zealots’ crosshairs, after a schoolboy brought a Koran to school and accidentally scuffed it. He too was bombarded with death threats. In the end, the police took no action against those trying to intimidate a child. A child who also happened to be autistic. But they did record a ‘non-crime hate incident’ against him.

A hardworking teacher forever looking over his shoulder. Shias censored at the behest of sectarians. A schoolboy threatened with death and arson. This is the cost of our cowardice, of our institutions’ inability to make clear that no one can expect to have their views forcefielded from criticism and that a free society cannot tolerate violence and threats in response to mere speech, words, cartoons. Blasphemy trials are back – only they are conducted by the mob, rather than a court. We’ve sent out a signal – loud and clear – that threats and violence and intimidation work.

And we’ve done so due to some genuinely bigoted assumptions about British Muslims. The first is that they are incapable of being citizens of liberal democracies – that, unlike any other religious group, they should expect to have their heretics burned, or at least punished. The second misconception is that the screeching rent-a-mobs that now show up whenever a ‘blasphemy’ scandal erupts are the authentic voice of British Muslims. They’re not. In fact, British Muslims and ex-Muslims are often on the sharp end of anti-blasphemy intolerance. In 2016, Glasgow’s Asad Shah and Rochdale’s Jalal Uddin both lost their lives, within weeks of each other, for their respective ‘blasphemies’. Hatun Tash, an ex-Muslim turned Christian preacher, has been stabbed and been the target of a terror plot for railing against her former faith. Thankfully, she’s still alive.

Three years on from Batley Grammar, we need to fight for the right to blaspheme all over again, before any more Brits – Muslim, non-Muslim or ex-Muslim – pay the price for our cowardice.

==

Said it before and I'll say it again: start revoking citizenship and deporting those who make these threats. They're trying to make our liberal societies into their Islamic hellholes.

Everlasting: Chapter Two -Memories- (Levi x Reader)

(A/n: If you have not read the first chapter do NOT read! Read the first one of course! ^^)

*No one's Pov*

With an excited laugh, {Y/n} was was dancing around her mother and father, who were sitting down on a bed.

"Mother, Father, when is the baby coming?" The ten year old girl asked, spinning around with joy. It has been seven months since she was told about her mother having a baby. {Y/n} just couldn't wait until she has a sibling, sure she has other children to play with around the tribe, but having a sibling would make everything so much better.

"Settle down, {Y/n}," Eileen said, amusement filled her voice. She patted a spot in between her and Keegan. {Y/n} walked over, she would have just sat down, but the bed frame was a little bit high for her, since she was quiet small. So she had to climb up to sit. Once settled in, she looked up at her parents.

"The baby won't come until another few months," said Keegen, who placed a gentle hand on his child's head.

"Another few months? Why, that's a life time!" {Y/n} replied, dramatically falling onto her back.

Keegan chuckled quietly, a playful gleam filled his eyes. He tickled the little girl, making her squeal with laughter. Once he was finished, {Y/n} slid off of the bed.

"Don't worry though, the time will come eventually," Eileen said, patting her stomach. It was quiet large now.

Silents filled the air until a question popped up in {Y/n}'s head. "How do you get the baby in your body?" She inquired. Before anyone could speak, her {e/c} eyes widened in fear. "Mother, you didn't eat the baby right?" She asked, horrified.

Keegan and Eileen snorted a laugh. "No sweetheart, I did not eat the baby. It's how they grow before they are born," Eileen said, picking up her daughter and held her close.

{Y/n} smiled and hugged her. "That's good to know," She said. Her eye lids felt heavy, so she began to close them a little bit. Slowly, {Y/n} let the drowsiness take over, making her sleep.

"{Y/n} wake up!" An frantic voice yelled. {Y/n} opened an eyes, rubbing it. "What's wrong Mother?" She asked, her eyes filled with alarm once a scream was heard.

"We need to run, titans have attacked again," Keegan butted in, throwing a large sack over his shoulders. The titans attacked only a month ago. It seemed like less and less time goes by before they are attacked. This causes more death, also meaning less of the clan to fight. If everyone dies.

It's the end.

The clan will be nothing but a childhood tale.

Even at only ten, {Y/n} understood this and got up. She picked up her bag Eileen packed and ran outside with her mother's hand in her own.

"We need to follow Lady Fumika," Eileen whispered to her daughter as they ran behind all of the tents, trying their best not to be seen. Keegan had his katana out, ready to defend anyone.

After regrouping, {Y/n} saw how much their tribe have shrank. There were still many people, yes. But so many were gone now. "We are going to be okay right?" {Y/n} asked, shaking a little bit, her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at her mother.

Eileen stroked her child's head lovingly, and gently. It was quite comforting to {Y/n}, making her eyes stop watering. "Yes sweetie, it will alright, just follow Lady Fumika," She said calmly. She was very good at hiding her fear, only for her daughter's sake.

Lady Fumika motioned everyone to follow her, and without any hesitance, everyone followed. She was appointed leader by Lord Emmanuel, who always had good judgment. Who ever the leader may be, their word is law. You must abide to them, whether good or bad.

Not long after, they all made it to a nice quiet place. With no titans in sight or in the area, everyone who was able to, began making the tents again. This was their new home. Once again, try to find peace.

"Can we move into the walls? The ones the elders talked about? They said the people where safe from inside the walls. If we lived there, we wouldn't have to run away anymore. Right? The attack was so many years ago, there is not way they still want us dead, right?" {Y/n} asked loudly to Lady Fumika and her parents.

It seemed like everyone stopped cold.

"{Y/n} hush dear," Eileen said urgently, as if it was a bad topic. Dr. Mayu smiled a very little bit at the young girl's bravery, not many people would speak so casually to Lady Fumika. The lady was not mean but it's just something you don't really do to the leader.

"You may have a point," Lady Fumika said, slightly amused by {Y/n}'s bluntness, "But we can't do that. Not only can we get everyone over the walls, but how do you think they will react? They may not seek our blood, but they surely don't care about if we lived or died. One person or two might be able to move there, even so, it won't be unnoticed."

{Y/n} let out a sigh. "Maybe one day we can live over there," She said, looking up hopefully at the leader.

Lady Fumika bent down to the small child. "It's alright to dream, but I don't think it will be okay. Maybe when you are older, you can travel there if you please. But don't think we all can do it," She spoke softly, patting {Y/n}'s small shoulder.

With a defeated sigh, {Y/n} nodded. Lady Fumika stood up and smiled. "Alright, now lets all get settled in out new home!" She announced to her people. Everyone cheered.

It was true they lost the battle. But sometimes loss can lead to happiness.

A few months passed, they indeed had to move once more, but everything was find for the time being. {Y/n} had already become quite strong, which surprised everyone. Given {Y/n} was premature and very small for her age, it was unlikely she would have become so good at only the age ten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon after training, there was a yell from inside the {L/n}'s tent. It was feminine. The next thing {Y/n} knew, Dr. Mayu and Lady Fumika were rushing in. Of course, {Y/n} did too.

Eileen had already gone into labor. While Dr. Mayu and Keegan helped the woman give birth, {Y/n} vowed to never give birth to a child. Never will she even have one. Soon after, a baby was born into the world. Lady Fumika spread the great news to everyone. More children would insure the new generation for the Sasayaku Iki clan.

{Y/n} sat in a chair next to her mother and newborn sister. "Mother, what is her name?" The little girl asked, titling her head to the side a little bit. Eileen looked over at Keegan, wanting his opinion. "I like the name Lin," He suggested, glancing at {Y/n} before turning to his wife.

"I think it's a really nice name, what about you, {Y/n}," Eileen replied. She looked over at her oldest child with a tired smile.

"I want her name to be Rose," The young girl replied. It was odd, but she thought of the flower as her sister. Flowers always start off as small and helpless before they turn into a large, vibrant, and beautiful being. {Y/n} loved roses, and she could already know she loved her little sister.

"Rose, it really is a beautiful name," Eileen murmured, stroking the newborns sleeping head.

"Her name can be Rose Lin {L/n}?" Keegan asked in a low voice. His eyes sparkled with happiness.

"I love it, don't you {Y/n}?" asked Eileen. {Y/n}'s eyes closed as she gave her parents a wide smile.

"I love it!" the cute girl said.

"Welcome to the family, Rose." {Y/n} whispered to her sleeping sister, patting her head a little bit.

What a lovely beginning for a wonderful family....................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a gasp, {Y/n} woke up from her deep slumber. She jumped a little bit, almost falling out of the tall tree. The sun was high up, shining brightly while birds chirped happily, getting ready to migrate south.

'What am I doing up here? Why did I dream about that?' {Y/n} thought. Rubbing her eyes, she looked down on her lap and saw the necklace Lady Fumika had given her. All of the memories came flooding back.

Tears filled her {e/c} eyes again, but she used her long dirty sleeve to whip them away. Now was not the time to cry about everything. The young girl made up her mind. She was going to have to go back to not only look for anyone who might have lived, but also gather some stuff to live.

A small sigh escaped her lips ass she put on the necklace. She was no longer little {Y/n} with big dreams of going to the walls. Now she was Lady {Y/n}, leader of the Sasayaku Iki clan. One of the last people.

{Y/n} climbed out of the tree and looked around. It was best to take the longer rout to her home. Titans could still be there, and if she took the rout, it would take her to the back entrance of Lady Fumika's home.

Without a better plan, she began to make her way through the woods, cautiously. The titans never used to be this bad many years ago. It was almost like titan population was growing over time, maybe it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took quite some time to make it back when {Y/n} arrived. It was dark again, the only light was the stars and the moon in the sky.

She poked her head out of the tent, and looked around. There were no titans to be seen, as for now. She walked out, slowly. Looking around, a lump was in her throat.

Blood was dried and caked on the grass, tents, and carts. Some of the limbs of her family and friends were laying on the ground.

{Y/n} closed her eyes for a moment. Taking in a sharp and short breath, she opened them back up. Her bright {e/c} eyes held a confident and strong look. She walked to her tent, which was mostly crushed. She took a sack and filled it with some of her belongings. The few they were usable.

On the ground only a few feet away was Rose's stuffed bear {Y/n} had made her for her first birthday. {Y/n}'s lips parted as she smiled slightly. It was like yesterday when she made it. The stuffed bear never left Rose's side for the first five years.

Picking it up and putting it in her bag, she found a few of her parents belongings.

After going though the small town gathering as much as she could, she was then left with six large different sacks filled as much as they could hold. {Y/n} was able to find a small usable cart that had been spared from the attack, though, it was covered in some blood. It took a little bit to clean it off, but soon was done.

The next step was finding a horse to pull it. Most of the horses had ran off, some had been crushed by they titan's feet. {Y/n} whistled loudly, in hopes a horse will come, but knowing how smart they are, it was highly unlikely one stuck around.

After what seemed like ages, {Y/n} gave up. She sat down saying, "Ugh, what's the point? I'll never get out of here." To her liking, a horse had come over. Her cream colored horse she had been training since it was able to be trained.

"Celestia! You came back?" {Y/n} asked, shocked. Her lips parted with a sigh. "You always were there for me," she whispered and hugged the horses neck. Celestia neighed at her, nuzzling the female's face.

"Ready to go?" {Y/n} asked the majestic animal. Celestia nodded her head, maybe horses do understand what people say. Hitching her up to the small cart, {Y/n}'s eyes filled with sadness.

She walked around her long and wrecked home. It was safe.

It was pretty.

It was.

Was.

Closing her eyes, {Y/n} let the small gust of wind flow through her {h/c} hair as she opened her mouth to sing to her home one more time.

...Cover my eyes Cover my ears Tell me these words are a lie It can't be true That I'm losing you The sun cannot fall from the sky

...Can you hear heaven cry Tears of an angel Tears of an angel

...Tears of an angel Tears of an angel Stop every clock Stars are in shock The river won't run to the sea I won't let you fly

...I won't say goodbye I won't let you slip away from me Can you hear heaven cry Tears of an angel Tears of an angel

...Tears of an angel Tears of an angel So hold on Be strong

...Everyday, hope will grow I'm here, don't you fear Little one, don't let go Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh

...Don't let go (Tears of an angel) Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh (Tears of an angel) Don't let go (Tears of an angel) Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh Cover my eyes Cover my ears ...Tell me these words are a lie

{Y/n} opened her eyes again. Tears filled her eyes again. Only, this time she didn't whip them away, instead she left them flow down her face. "Thank you....Everyone for the life I lived with you all," She whispered to the empty air.

"Let's find a safe place," {Y/n} said to her last companion. Getting up on the seat of the cart, she then ordered Celestia to start to go. Her tears seemed like they would never as she rode away without looking back once.

Now everything there was now nothing but memories.

Yay! Another chapter done! I'm really sorry if it started to get a bit rushy! I was trying not to make it drag out to long since I know some people, like myself, can't read something for a really long time without getting bored!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! And I hope you all will heart this book so you can get updated when the next time I will post the next chapter! Levi will come in the four for fifth chapter so please be patient with me! I hope you all follow me and/or comment! See you in the next chapter!

Love you Reader-San!

~Lily

Saturday, March 20, 2021

More than 40% of people reported depression and anxiety symptoms since start of pandemic, survey finds (Yahoo News) When COVID-19 was first reported in the United States, many were optimistic that it would come and go quickly enough. But after a few weeks, reality set in and took a toll, not only on our physical selves but on our collective mental health as well. Over the past year, a lot of people have struggled with feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression and despair due to the global pandemic. Many have lost loved ones, missed funerals and births and other milestones, and dealt with emotions that some may not have even experienced before. What has been the overall mental health impact on our nation’s people in the past year? According to a recent survey by Yahoo/YouGov, 35 percent of adults in the U.S. report that their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic. And an even larger percentage (44 percent) report an increase in depression in the past year, with 48 percent stating that their anxiety symptoms also increased. “The mental health impacts of COVID-19 are just beginning to be understood fully,” says Catherine Burns, a Vermont-based psychologist and clinical supervisor for COVID Support Vermont. “As time passes, we are developing a clearer picture that increasingly highlights experiences of stress, anxiety and depression across the globe.”

Polluted waters around the world (Reuters) About 4 billion people experience severe water shortages for at least one month a year and around 1.6 billion people—almost a quarter of the world’s population—have problems accessing a clean, safe water supply, according to the United Nations. While the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals call for water and sanitation for all by 2030, the world body says water scarcity is increasing and more than half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed regions by 2050. In the run-up to the UN’s World Water Day on March 22, Reuters photographers used drones to capture dramatic pictures and video of polluted waterways around the world. In one image, a discarded sofa lies beached in the Tiete river, in Brazil’s biggest city Sao Paulo, into which hundreds of tonnes of untreated sewage and waste are tipped each day. Others show domestic waste clogging the Citarum river in Bandung, Indonesia, and sewage flowing into the Euphrates in Najaf, Iraq.

Gunmen kill 13 police in daytime ambush in central Mexico (Reuters) Gunmen killed at least 13 Mexican police in an ambush a short distance outside the capital on Thursday, local authorities said, in one of the worst mass slayings of security forces to rock the country in recent years. Photos of the grisly scene circulated on social media showing a bullet-riddled police car and an unmarked truck, along with officers’ bodies scattered out along the street or still inside the car. The convoy of security personnel was attacked in broad daylight by suspected gang members in the Llano Grande area in the municipality of Coatepec Harinas as it patrolled the area, said Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, security minister for the State of Mexico. The area is southwest of Mexico City and about 40 miles (64 km) south of the city of Toluca, the capital of the populous State of Mexico, which surrounds much of the capital.

British Airways considers selling its headquarters after homeworking switch (Reuters) British Airways said it was considering selling its headquarters building because of a switch to homeworking during the pandemic means it may no longer need so much office space. The shift to homeworking over the last year has already prompted some of Britain’s biggest companies to make changes to their office footprints. Banking giant Lloyds said it would cut office space by 20% within three years, with HSBC aiming for a 40% reduction.

Locked-down Spaniards seethe with envy as Germans flock to Mallorca (Reuters) Tens of thousands of Germans are planning last-minute Easter getaways to Spain’s sun-kissed islands, leaving many Spaniards, who are not allowed to do the same because of a travel ban, upset. “It makes absolutely no sense that in Spain we can’t move between regions but any foreigner can come in ... and spread infection,” said Emilio Rivas, 23, who lives in Madrid. The young tax assessor wanted to get out of town for the holidays but must instead stay home because Spain banned travel between regions over Easter to avoid a repeat of a spike in contagion seen after an easing in restrictions over Christmas. But tourists from European countries with higher infection rates like France or Germany can fly in for a holiday as long as they have a negative covid test result—something even top health official Fernando Simon described as “incongruous.”

Paris goes into lockdown as COVID-19 variant rampages (Reuters) France imposed a month-long lockdown on Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants forced President Emmanuel Macron to shift course. Since late January, when he defied the calls of scientists and some in his government to lock the country down, Macron has said he would do whatever it took to keep the euro zone’s second largest economy as open as possible. However, this week he ran out of options just as France and other European countries briefly suspended use of the AstraZenca vaccine. His prime minister, Jean Castex, said France was in the grip of a third wave, with the virulent variant first detected in Britain now accounting for some 75% of cases. Intensive care wards are under severe strain, notably in Paris where the incidence rate surpasses 400 infections in every 100,000 inhabitants.

US-Russia ties nosedive after Biden-Putin tit-for-tat (AP) U.S.-Russia ties nosedived on Thursday after Russian leader Vladimir Putin shot back at President Joe Biden’s description of him as a killer. In taking a tough stance on Russia, Biden has said the days of the U.S. “rolling over” to Putin are done. Also Wednesday, U.S. intelligence released a report finding that Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump’s re-election bid. Later that day, Putin recalled his ambassador to the U.S. and on Thursday he pointed at the U.S. history of slavery and slaughtering Native Americans and the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II. Responding to that, the White House said Biden would continue to look to work with Putin on areas of mutual concern but stressed that he was “not going to hold back” when he has concerns about Putin’s actions. Putin had been asked about Biden’s comment during a video call marking the anniversary of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, and he responded along the lines of “it-takes-one-to-know-one,” saying his counterpart’s words reflected the United States’ own problems. At the same time, he offered to have a phone call with Biden to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Myanmar security forces kill eight as Indonesia calls for end to violence (Reuters) Myanmar security forces shot dead eight opponents of a Feb. 1 coup on Friday, a funeral services provider said, as Indonesia sought an end to the violence and urged that democracy be restored, in an unusually blunt call from a neighbour. Ousted lawmakers explored whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) can investigate crimes against humanity since the coup, while authorities arrested two more journalists, including a BBC reporter, media said.

Lebanese are gripped by worry as economic meltdown speeds up (AP) Shops closing, companies going bankrupt and pharmacies with shelves emptying—in Lebanon these days, fistfights erupt in supermarkets as shoppers scramble to get to subsidized powdered milk, rice and cooking oil. Like almost every other Lebanese, Nisrine Taha’s life has been turned upside down in the past year under the weight of the country’s crushing economic crisis. Anxiety for the future is eating at her. Five months ago, she was laid off from her job at the real estate company where she had worked for years. Her daughter, who is 21, cannot find work, forcing the family to rely on her husband’s monthly salary which has lost 90% of its value because of the collapse of the national currency. The family hasn’t been able to pay rent for seven months, and Taha worries their landlord’s patience won’t last forever. As the price of meat and chicken soared beyond their means, they changed their diet. Taha’s family is among hundreds of thousands of lower income and middle class Lebanese who have been plunged into sudden poverty by the crisis that started in late 2019—a culmination of decades of corruption by a greedy political class that pillaged nearly every sector of the economy. More than half the population now lives in poverty, according to the World Bank, while an intractable political crisis heralds further collapse.

Fear and Hostility Simmer as Ethiopia’s Military Keeps Hold on Tigray (NYT) When Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, began a sweeping military operation in the restive region of Tigray on Nov. 4, he cast his goal in narrow terms: to capture the leadership of the region’s ruling party. The party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, had brazenly defied his authority for months, and then attacked a federal military base. But four months on, the operation has degenerated into a bitter civil conflict marked by accounts of egregious rights violations—massacres, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing, and fears that starvation is being used a war tactic—that have set off alarm across the world. In Mekelle, the region’s biggest city, many Tigrayans say they feel that they, not their leaders, are the true targets of Mr. Abiy’s military campaign. Hospitals are filled with casualties from the fighting that rages in the countryside, many of them terrified civilians arriving with grievous wounds. Schools house some of the 71,000 people who fled to the city, often bringing accounts of horrific abuses at the hands of pro-government forces. A palpable current of fear and resentment courses through the streets, where hostilities between residents and patrolling government soldiers often erupt into violence.

Goldman Sachs analysts say they work 95-hour weeks and endure ‘inhumane’ treatment (CNN Business) A workplace survey from a group of junior analysts at Goldman Sachs is about to make you feel a lot better about your job. About a dozen first-year analysts say they are working more than 95 hours a week on average, sleeping just five hours a night and enduring workplace abuse. The majority of them say their mental health has deteriorated significantly since they started working at the investment bank. “There was a point where I was not eating, showering or doing anything else other than working from morning until after midnight,” one analyst says in the report. The survey comes from a self-selected group of 13 first-year analysts who presented their findings to management in February, a spokesperson for the bank said. Few people entering the cutthroat world of Wall Street banking would expect a tidy nine-to-five. But the analysts in the survey are essentially pleading with their employer to cap their weekly work hours at 80.

Blue Bayou: Epilogue

Synopsis: Ben is nervous as he prepares for Bohemian Rhapsody. But just as he thinks nerves will get the best of him, he’s introduced to a woman who might just be the muse he needs. Inspired by the song Blue Bayou by Linda Ronstadt

Warnings: Nostalgia

Info: This is officially the last part to Blue Bayou. This part kind of closes the gap of what Emmy (OC) means in the story, not just to Ben. Rami Malek features heavily. I’d love feedback!

Epilogue:

Rami stood with his Oscar in hand, his weight shifting from foot to foot. The microphone in front of him demanded his voice, and the hundred-strong media presence in the room pressed with their questions. He couldn’t help but answer awkwardly, but the pride in his shoulders never faltered.

“I have to thank so many great artists who have brought me to the point where I’ve felt confident in my work,” Rami said into the microphone his free hand moving as he spoke. Like the feeling behind his words were too strong for him to stand still. “But it was the confidence that one person especially imbued in me that made me think I was capable of taking on this challenge of playing Freddie Mercury.”

 The post-ceremony interview was meant only for the winners. But Rami had let the cast stand offside of the little stage. At least some of them. Ben was in awe of all Bohemian Rhapsody had accomplished. With all his fears, he had done his best. And now he was so proud of the film and that the hard work put into it was being recognized by the world. Finally.

He smiled to himself, listening to Rami’s speech. Joe and Gwilym were over his shoulder, filming their best friend with their cellphones. This was a moment of a lifetime. And Emmy was here to share it with them.

Somehow, Ben had managed to talk her out of her hotel room and into the limousine. He didn’t once let go of her hand when they stepped onto the red carpet, and she didn’t once pull away. It was a warm feeling that washed over him whenever she was near. And even when she seemed to get nervous, pressing beneath his arm as the press shouted, asking for her name and wondering why she was here, she stood with her chin up. Smiled for the photos.

It was almost like a family photoshoot for them all. The entire cast stood in front of the white flashing lights, arms over shoulders. Not a single soul was going to be forgotten about. And when Brian called Emmy over for a photo with her and Roger, Roger gave Ben a firm handshake. Told him he did a good job. And to look out for his niece.

There was trust in those words, and Ben took them to heart. And now he had a hand on her hip, her back against his chest as she leaned against him. Blissfully at peace with the unpredictability of the world. Because even though it was as fragile as if it were made of sugar, she still was reaching out to taste it.

Now, because of her, so was he.

“I don’t know how this person thought a young man who felt so profoundly alienated with social anxiety could ever play Freddie Mercury. But I began to discover that in this audacious, wonderful, powerful icon….there was this sense of loneliness and a sense of anxiety and I could relate the two together.” Rami paused, a small smile on his face as they all listened intently. “I want to thank this person for discovering that in me.”

Ben encircled Emmy’s waist and held her tightly. He knew exactly who Rami was speaking of. Gwilym and Joe did, too. But she was oblivious, simply watching her new friend with happiness. The man who portrayed her father. The man who, really, allowed her to embrace herself, too. This win was so much bigger than all of them.

“Everyone, now is the time I’d like to present to you the heart of the Mothership. The woman who carries the last breaths of Freddie Mercury and Jim Hutton in her lungs,” Rami turned his head toward where they stood and grinned. “Emmanuelle Mercury.”

Beneath his touch, Ben felt Emmy freeze. Her entire body seemed to lurch, and then stood completely still. Through her spine he could feel her heartbeat thud as the gasps and whispers erupted in the room. Reporters stood from their seats, waving their hands in an attempt to get the first question in. But they all shared the same bewilderment. So did Emmy.

“Miss Mercury?” Rami called, outstretching his hand toward her.

Ben understood fear of judgment. Of not being able to live up to everyone else’s expectations. But the wisdom inside of her and the kindness she offered people from her lips had pulled him tight. The only reason he was able to be in this movie was because of her.

She hadn’t allowed him to miss this opportunity.

Now he was going to repay the favour.

Ben squeezed her tightly and leaned down to kiss her neck. The closest he had been to her skin. And she exhaled at the contact, giving him exactly enough time to pull away from her and gently nudge her forward with a hand at the curve of her back.

Emmy stumbled, if only for a moment, hand covering her mouth as her glassy eyes began to spill tears. The moment she revealed herself from the sidelines the cameras flashed like a fireworks show. Shutters clicked so loudly that none of them could hear as Rami moved his mouth and motioned for her. She reached her hand toward him like a blind woman trying to find her way.

And she found it.

Rami took her hand and pulled her toward the mic, and folded her fingers around the Oscar statuette. Joe and Gwilym whistled behind him as the reporters hushed themselves to bring applause to her name. To her meaning.

He turned back to the crowd. “Settle down,” he warned, and waited until they rumbles subsided and it was quiet enough for him to speak again. “This woman right here has taught all of us involved in the film to love the parts of ourselves that no one claps for. She gave every part of herself to make Bohemian Rhapsody possible.”

With a flourish signature to the film, Rami stepped back from the microphone and allowed her to step up. Tears glittered on her cheeks and her eyes were turned toward the ceiling. As though she was wondering if Freddie and Jim were watching her now. If they were proud.

When she hesitated to speak, cradling the award against her yellow gown, she turned toward them. Ben blew her a kiss, but her brows remained pulled low. Unsure of herself. Unsure of the room. Until he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and watched as Roger Taylor stepped forward. Still hidden, but nearly on the stage.

Emmy drew a small X shape over her heart with her finger, and he reciprocated. Just like they had both done that day in the studio. And whatever meaning it held, she took a deep breath and nodded to herself. And spoke.

“It is empowering to step outside of ourselves,” Emmy began, wiping a tear from her cheek, looking out at the ocean of journalists. “But my two fathers taught me that when we shed our doubt, we can become someone new.”

As she steadied herself, Ben took the moment of quietness to lean toward the drummer. “Excuse me, sir, but what does this mean?” he wondered, and when the drummer looked at him he drew an X over his chest.

Roger chuckled, turning back to the most beautiful woman in the room. “Whenever she needs reassurance, she’ll cross her heart, asking me to cross mine. Silently she’s asking me if I think she’s capable. And, of course I do, so I draw the X.” He gave a soft smile. “I silently promise her that I won’t let her fall. Neither will Brian, or Joe, or Gwilym, or Rami or the rest of us. And certainly not you.”

The answer made him blush. Of course she was as gentle as a flower, no matter the strong front she put on; everyone needed someone. So he turned back to Emmy, sliding his hands into the pockets of his slacks.

“We are not tarnished,” Emmy said, holding conviction in her words as she pushed her shoulders down. “In fact, we are pure, even if we can’t fathom it in the moment. And we get so lost in our heads and drown in our problems so often we never take a step back to appreciate the things around us. Within us.”

She allowed herself a smile.

“We fall off the mountain that took us forever to climb and we think it’s the death of us, but who can say it’s not just us being reborn? We begin again and again because we know it leads to something new. Something better. And my parents taught me that we should never let the flames determine our ending.”

With a little nod of finality, Emmy took a step back from the microphone and Rami immediately began to clap. The sound filled the silence, and then Roger added himself to the applause. Ben, Joe, and Gwilym couldn’t quite pull themselves from their awe fast enough to beat the burst of energy from the journalists, but soon they were clapping, too.

“Home is where the Mothership is,” Rami said to them all as he passed the mic to kiss her cheek.

She handed him back the Oscar statuette with a bow, her lips forming a dozen thank-you’s before she turned on her heel and gave him back the stage. Emmy, hands no longer shaking, leaned in to Roger’s embrace and the proud arms of Joe and Gwilym.

But when she turned to Ben, he found himself completely unprepared. She pressed her lips to his and it obliterated every thought. For the first time in a long time, Ben’s mind was locked into the present. The worries of everything and anything evaporated like a summer shower onto a hot car. His usual mode of running was suddenly suspended, and he didn’t want this kiss to end.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. He was drunk on her, and all he wanted to do was touch. And within moments, the soft caresses became firm, and he savoured her lips and the quickening of her breath that matched his own.

A kiss like this was a beginning. A promise of much more to come.

“Thank you,” Ben said as he pulled away, pressing his forehead to hers. He didn’t care that everyone was watching them.

Emmy smiled at him, hands on his shoulders. “For what?”

“For being you.”

And he leaned in to kiss her again.

In the Director’s Chair: Tom Shankland on learning from actors & unhealthy obsessions with Roman emperors

The latest director to answer The Drum’s questions in our Director’s Chair series is Tom Shankland, who is represented by Great Guns for branded content. Having worked on TV shows such as Les Misérables and House of Cards, Shankland talks to the Drum about being inspired by actors and why the original Tango ad is still the best ad.

Previously in the series, The Drum has quizzed Matías Moltrasio, Jamie Jay Johnson, Emmanuel Adjei, Henry Busby, Andrew Lang, Camille Marotte, Mea Dols de Jong, Klaus Obermeyer, Eli Roth, Mate Steinforth, Pamela Romanowsky, Traktor and Doug Liman.

Who or what inspired you to be a director? (or who are your creative heroes and why?)

Once upon a time in Italy, my dad took me to an open-air screening of Spartacus. I can still hear the cries of 'Io sono Spartacus!' echoing around the night sky as bats flew across the screen. At the time, I probably had a very unhealthy obsession with very violent Roman emperors, so I'm blaming Stanley Kubrick, Kirk Douglas, Emperor Caligula and my dad for my (healthier?) obsession with the awesome, emotional, inspirational power of cinema.

Outside of work, what are you into?

If I'm not dreaming up shots or cursing budgets, I love being as childish as humanly possible with my kids, leaping around a soft-play area, racing around the kitchen with my one-and-a-half-year-old in the guise of a squeaky anime creature. I like cooking for friends and family, transcendental meditation, pouring over photography books, and anything at all with my girlfriend.

How would you describe your style of commercial/film making? What are you known for?

My directing heroes like Billy Wilder or Howard Hawks seemed to make musicals one month, film noirs the next, and a classic Western just after that. I like to push myself towards genres I haven't tried before. It was great to venture into the Marvel universe for the pilot of The Punisher, come up for air and then dive deep into Victor Hugo's 19th France with Les Misérables and all of the challenges of a classic literary adaptation and period drama.

I love working with actors and have been lucky to work with some of the best – Tom Hardy (WΔZ), Olivia Colman (Les Mis), Robin Wright (House of Cards), Dominic West (Les Mis), David Oyelowo (Les Mis) and many others. As a director, I've learned so much from listening to the actors. A strong vision is essential but without collaboration, it can end up being imposing and dull. I always enjoy trying to squeeze every drop of emotional truth from a moment, however, heightened, bizarre, or seemingly implausible a scene might be.

 Much that I love actors, I'm also a massive Alfred Hitchcock fan, who famously quipped that actors are cattle. Hitch was probably just being mischievous but I've always loved his 'Total Cinema'. A good script and good performances alone don’t make filmmaking. I'm always looking for ways to use every element of the medium to max out on tension and create visual metaphors. Whatever I'm doing, I want to keep the audience on the edge of their seats!

I approach commercials in exactly the same way. Of course, short-form is a very different discipline, but the ingredients are the same: framing, sound, performance, design, the rhythm of the storytelling. I find it fascinating because it’s like a beautiful miniature. You have to work so much more forensically but it is still about pictures, people, and story.

Have you got an idea about what sort of projects you’d like to work on or are you quite open-minded about what work comes your way?

I love to have adventures I haven't had before. If I'm reading something new, I like that little feeling of fear and excitement about stepping into a story or setting I haven't explored before. The protagonist or people have to grab me in some way. I don't have to love them, I just have to be fascinated by what makes them tick.

Increasingly, if it is drama, I like scripts that try to talk about the world we live in now. I wish I was drawn to escapist entertainment, but I always gravitate to pieces that feel like they might resonate with the audience's own experiences. The Marvel shows I've done might look like superhero fun on the surface, but Black Lives Matter and the tough times faced by war veterans haunt Luke Cage and The Punisher. I'm not automatically drawn to period pieces but there was so much in Andrew Davies' adaptation of Les Misérables that made me think of our current chaotic political situation and social injustices. I'm not interested in preachy soapbox stuff, but I like it when great entertainment also tries to be smart and thought-provoking.

What's your funniest moment on set?

I love shooting and I generally find that the darker the piece, the more entertaining the atmosphere is on set. I made a film called The Children where little kids turn on their parents in increasingly disturbing ways. I wanted it to be a smart chiller about parental anxieties and how people deal with aggression in their kids. Needless to say, everybody was very concerned about making sure the child actors weren't remotely disturbed by the material, so the crew and I went to great lengths to turn everything into a fun game. One of the children we worked with actually got in touch with me recently and sounded incredibly well-balanced.

The kids loved the experience - the adults were completely freaked out! I can still remember one six-year-old going up to her screen mum at lunchtime, pretending to jab a pen in her eye. Once she had learned that she was going to do this for a scene, she thought it was hilarious. At the end of the shoot, the children wanted to keep their blood-spattered costumes as a souvenir. They were incredibly sad when it all ended. Scary film – a wonderfully fun shoot!

What's your best piece of work?

I'm proud of everything that I've done where I felt the vision was at its purest. This isn't the same as thinking of something as 'my best work'. It’s such a good feeling when the gap between ambition and finished work feels narrow. I sometimes think that if I've shot my tone book, then I've succeeded - this is probably true for The Children, The Missing, and Les Misérables.

There were also episodes of House of Cards that I did where we created a dreamscape that fitted the overall tone of that show and that was very satisfying to pull off. Recently, I made a four-part TV series called The City and The City that involved an incredibly challenging concept: two over-lapping cities in which each population pretends they can't see the other citizens. I was very proud that we dug so deep on a very challenging budget to find the right visual language.

Which ad do you wish you'd made?

There are so many. I should probably nominate most ads by Jonathan Glazer for their beautiful, lyrical, filmic sensibility, but just for fun, I'm going to say the first Tango ad because I know Ben, the actor, who nailed that look! I love Ben's face and I found a little part of him in Les Miserables. 'You've been Hugo'd'!

How well does the information flow between client, agency and production company on a job?

In my experience, the flow of information between agency, producer and client on an ad shoot is very good (maybe too good at times! ). I have learned quite a lot from that process of having to be incredibly precise in PPMs about what the shooting plans are. In a drama, you tend to want to balance being clear with execs about the plan for the shoot, but also allowing space for those beautiful happy accidents. In general, I'm a fan of bringing everyone with you on a shoot rather than keeping them in the dark. Much that I love an auteur, it is a bit of a fantasy that directors achieve their vision entirely by themselves.

What's been the biggest change to the industry during your career?

The film, TV and advertising industries have all changed massively in the last ten years or so. I have to say (but maybe I'm biased) that a lot of the most creative storytelling seems to be happening on TV now. This will all change, but there seems to have been a big re-calibration of budgets and creative freedom across the mediums; in TV, artistic freedom and budgets seem to have gone up and vice versa in the film unless it involves a superhero.

Of course, everybody is watching content differently now. You only have to look at Great Guns’ (the guys that represent me for branded work) work to see how progressive and inventive that medium has become across so many disciplines and genres - from branded short films to documentaries to music videos. I love how these long-form ideas are taking hold in the world of advertising. It is a confusing but potentially creative time as the world adjusts to this big transition.

Have you worked on any client direct commercials (no agency involved)? What's been the difference?

I've never worked on a client direct project so 'no comment'!

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/02/11/the-director-s-chair-tom-shankland-learning-actors-unhealthy-obsessions-with-roman

TOP tips for effective communication with your child

In our past in-depth blog entry, we discussed the importance of your involvement in your child’s education. It goes without saying that a large portion of this involvement is communication with your children. You can be involved in their lives by engaging in conversation with them that yields genuine fruit about their experiences and wellbeing.

And of course, it’s important to remember that communication is and will always be a two-way street.

What is effective communication with your child?

Good communication with your child is fundamentally tied to understanding their experiences and respecting what they’re going through. They need to feel aware that you’re genuinely interested in what they have to say.

In his 2003 book, Staying Connected To Your Teenager: How To Keep Them Talking To You And How To Hear What They’re Really Saying, parenting expert Michael Riera, Ph.D., says:

“The advantages of writing notes to your teenagers are twofold. One, writing notes involves you more in your teenager’s life. You are actively making observations and taking time to communicate them in a way that your teenager can take in. You are doing something concrete to strengthen your connection with your teenager. Two, you are respecting your teenager’s world. You know he is self-conscious and defensive, so you write a note because it slips by the self-consciousness and defensiveness. You also give him the best opportunity to take in fully what you have written – he reads it in privacy somewhere, in his room or car. And best of all, it’s something that he can keep and refer to in the future, perhaps even when he is down on himself or his relationship with you. “

You should also accommodate the developmental stages that your children are going through. For example, once again in the critical adolescent stage, teenage behavior can become erratic and negative. Parents need to position themselves as a “safe space,” a trusted partner who is willing to listen without judgement, rather than a parent known for lashing out in anger or lecturing immediately.

Techniques for effective communication

One of the best ways to foster effective communication is to express interest in your child’s experiences, but not in a cookie-cutter way that seems disingenuous. “How was your day?” is one of the least interesting ways to get started, whether you’re a child or adult, after all!

Asking the right questions

A great way to start is to ask meaningful questions that allow you to engage with them, at the end of every day. Here are a few good ones to try!

1. What made you laugh today?

We’ve previously discussed how positive emotions are an important part of all children’s development, and engaging with your child on the basis of positivity is a great way to encourage this.

2. What made you sad today?

Children go through the entire spectrum of emotions every day, and sometimes it can be difficult for them to process, especially when they’re too young to truly understand cause and effect. By discussing their sadness as well as their happiness, you’ll be able to get an idea of what pains them in school, and how you can work together to fix things.

3. Who did you play with today?

Play is such an important part of child development that United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child had to go right and say it, back in 1989. Play builds character and relationships. By looking out for who your child is playing with, you can get an idea of the relationships they’re forming. This works for teenagers as well, though the term to use is “hang out.”

4. What are you most proud of today?

A child’s feeling of accomplishment, no matter how small or big their achievement is, must be cultivated. Discuss what made your child proud and praise them for it or show interest in how they achieved it themselves.

5. What’s the most interesting thing you learned today?

Your child will be constantly learning things in school that may fill them with wonder and joy. Discuss these with them and show the same wonder; few things can inspire the desire to keep learning than a parent showing interest as well.

Working with your child in their own development

Your child isn’t just an isolated recipient of your will. You must work with them and engage them if they’re to take ownership of their personal development.

For example, whenever you scold them, they must become aware of what they’ve done right or wrong. You need to explain to them why you’re reprimanding them and engage them how they can make amends or adjust their behaviour. But this works both ways. You must also listen genuinely to your child if they have a reason for what they did. Don’t just go ahead and punish them – hear them out first and acknowledge their feelings. This will encourage them to keep approaching and communicating with you, if they’re aware that you do listen to them, not just blindly get angry.

This two-sided engagement is essential to developing your child’s communication skills. It gives them agency and promotes the notion that their thoughts, feelings, and ideas have value.

Use positive rather than negative statements

Don’t say “don’t.” Constantly telling a child what you don’t want them to do doesn’t really reinforce the behavior that you do what them to do. Talk to them as you would an older person – rather than telling them not to do something, ask them to do something specific. For example:

Rather than “Don’t stay up late,” say “Please go to bed at 10AM.”

Rather than “Don’t go roughhousing with your sister,” say “Please play gentler games.”

Make yourself a safe space for sharing

Many parents tell their children, “You can tell me anything,” but proceed to get very mad and enact punishment whenever they tell the truth. This eventually leads to resentment and fear rather than respect. While you must never become neglectful whenever you see perceived bad behavior in your child, you should also strike a balance that allows them to tell you about something they’ve done – with assistance and support coming first, and any judgement coming second.

Working with the school

One thing that every parent should be doing is working with the school to ensure that they’re aware of how their child is doing. This can mean anything from attending parent-teacher conferences, to scheduling one-on-one sessions with faculty and guidance counselors.

Parent-teacher dialogue at SISD

It’s especially helpful if the school hosts events that can promote this understanding and communication. Our Head of Primary School Mr Emmanuel Gauthier explains that ‘Keeping lines of communication open with parents is vitally important for schools; establishing effective lines of communication even more so. At SISD we embrace a personalised and targeted approach within our community. This involves but is not limited to weekly newsletters, our parent portal, formal and informal meetings. Transparency is something we champion at our school. One of the unique and effective strategies for achieving this is through our monthly pastoral coffee mornings where parents are provided with the opportunity to collaborate with the pastoral care team and visiting specialists in an open and reflective environment.’

SISD organises three parent-teacher conferences every year, during which the sentiments and concerns of students are discussed among the parent body and the faculty. We pride ourselves on having conferences with students, not without them, and the inclusion of the student body in these conferences allows us to learn how to communicate with each other, alongside each other.

This is a great time to learn exactly the kind of experiences that your child is having on-campus. This is especially useful for boarding students.

We also have monthly pastoral care events during which we bring specialists to talk about issues and concerns that parents have raised, and so that parents may learn more and provide feedback about how we support young people.

In addition, counselors and the pastoral care team are always available during these events to discuss and exchange, or even schedule private appointments for other concerns.

All of this is carefully carried out as part of a dialogue that takes place among parents, teachers and students. We have a parent forum committee, as well as class parents, who facilitate this dialogue.

The International Baccalaureate as a communications advocate

The International Baccalaureate is the foundation not just of our curriculum, but in the values that we wish to instill in our children.

One of the most important components of the IB Learner Profile is that of the communicator. It’s not just the parents’ job to be effective at communication, of course; through the teachings of the IB, every student becomes a better communicator, allowing them to more meaningfully express themselves.

Through the IB, we teach our students to communicate more fluently, and help develop their relationships with other people, including their parents. This is reflected not only in classroom teachings but in every interaction, we have with our children.

Some advice to offer to help foster communication with your children:

A commitment to developing skills can support communication between adults and communication with children.  Here are a few strategies that work:

Demonstrate being present in the conversation by placing mobile devices off and outside of visible and physical reach

Clarify understanding by paraphrasing to the speaker, showing that you understand what has been said

Draw out another’s thinking by asking ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions, instead of ‘why’ questions e.g. What made you do that? versus Why did you do that?

Modeling the behavior we want to see in others, whether children or adults, has longer lasting benefits.

Union Leader Emerges as the Public Face of French Strike

PARIS — The reckoning for France’s longest-ever transport strike is not yet in, even as the action itself is losing steam. On Monday, the national rail company said traffic was “near normal” on much of its network, although the strike is not officially over.

But when the winners and losers are tallied, one man previously consigned to the political dead will have to be counted among the living: Philippe Martinez, the combative head of the country’s most militant union.

Behind his giant mustache, Mr. Martinez, an ex-communist who heads France’s oldest union, the C.G.T., or General Confederation of Workers, has become the public face of the strike, which he has used to revive a moribund union movement that was shedding members.

He has risen as the counterpoint to President Emmanuel Macron and to his business-friendly vision for France. He is omnipresent on television and radio. His giant image plasters the walls of the city’s news kiosks. He is visible at the head of weeks of marches through Paris. He pops up at early-morning pep rallies to keep the strikers mobilized.

Mr. Martinez has been the Mr. No of the strike aimed at stopping Mr. Macron’s ambition to overhaul France’s pension system. It has been no to Mr. Macron’s pension plan, no to the concessions offered by the government, no to the conciliatory gestures of more moderate unionists.

He has said throughout that he wants nothing less than the government’s total surrender. He is not going to get it. But the strike has already given new energy to a union movement that was hurt last year by the Yellow Vest protests, which rocked Mr. Macron presidency even as they bypassed organized labor.

The strike has also, by Mr. Martinez’s reckoning, forced some major concessions from the government as it gets ready to formally unveil its pension reform at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Mr. Martinez argues that the French government’s numerous capitulations would never have happened if he hadn’t kept tens of thousands of his people in the streets, week after week. The strike is now well into its second month — the longest in the country’s recent history.

Over the course of it, the government has pushed back by 12 years the starting age for its planned pension changes — only those born after 1975 need be concerned — and carved out at least nine exceptions to its so-called “universal” plan. It has restored, for now, Europe’s lowest retirement age. Mr. Martinez claims the credit.

“It’s thanks to the mobilizations that we’ve gotten all of them,” Mr. Martinez declared in an interview in his office at the C.G.T., a sprawling glass-and-concrete Brutalist complex at the edge of the highway that circles Paris.

Mr. Martinez, pushing the strike ever forward, has become one of Mr. Macron’s biggest headaches. He and his union have successfully played off Mr. Macron’s past as a banker to heighten fears — erroneous — that the president is planning to remake the current French pay-as-you go pension system into market-based, American-style, 401(k)-like accounts.

On Friday night, Mr. Macron was booed by pension reform protesters as he left a Paris theater with his wife, and he had to be whisked away. His favorite restaurant, La Rotonde, on the Left Bank, was partially burned the same night by arsonists. Echoes of the Yellow Vest violence that rocked France are resurfacing.

Mr. Martinez has not pushed these new acts of wildcat defiance. But he makes no apologies for putting his people in the streets. Nearly swallowed up by his duffel coat, his brows furrowed, he buzzes around the demonstrators, stopping to chat with whoever comes up to him at the marches that have paralyzed Paris.

A world away in the Élysée Palace, Mr. Macron has preserved a kind of Olympian calm, rarely deigning to comment on the strike or the changes he is determined to push through.

“There have always been strikes on these subjects,” Mr. Macron told a group of onlookers last week in the southern city of Pau.

Instead of pension rights tailored to professions and crafts, carved out over decades, “We’ve got to construct a world where rights are attached to the person,” the president said.

The conflict “has called into being this kind of face-off between a very personal exercise of power, and a social movement carried forward above all by the C.G.T.,” said Stéphane Sirot, a well-known historian of French labor.

“Labor-capital relations in France are very much based on conflict,” said Mr. Sirot. “And historically it’s been the C.G.T. that has incarnated this conflict.”

Mr. Martinez has become a minor celebrity on television, but nobody makes a fuss over him at the marches. Some call out, “We’re with you, Philippe!”

To a group of demonstrators who approached him on a chill recent Saturday at the start of a march in eastern Paris, he said simply: “Look, we put a project on the table, just raise people’s salaries. That’s the best way.”

Already the government has been forced to promise raises to low-paid teachers, another striking group, that will add up to $1,000 gross a month. Others are unlikely to be so lucky.

The strike is winding down. Much of the Paris Métro is up and running again. But this son of a Spanish immigrant mother, who became an ex-supply chain specialist at Renault — he still has an office there — is claiming a sort of victory.

His father fought in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, against Franco. He won’t discuss whether his break with the Communists had an ideological component.

“At the C.G.T., we like to speak in concrete realities,” he said. “Why has life expectancy increased? It’s because we work less. We say, you have to heal work.”

Analysts don’t disagree with Mr. Martinez’s assessment of the current face-off. “He’s certainly put wind in his sails, especially compared to the period of the Yellow Vests,” said a historian of the C.G.T., Michel Dreyfus.

“They’ve scored some wins, sure,” said Mr. Sirot, the labor historian. “There have been concessions, and the concessions wouldn’t have been made if there had not been this strike.”

Still, he said, Mr. Martinez’s uncompromising stand would make it difficult for him to exit the strike looking like a winner.

But the union leader says he is not concerned about winners and losers. He thinks he has made his point.

“Really, what we are in is a debate about two conceptions of society,” he said in the interview. “This is not about egos. This is about a government that wants to radically transform the history of France.”

Mr. Macron “has a vision that’s very Anglo-Saxon,” he said. “His model is British, or American, a really different vision, very individualist. You must make do on your own.”

The C.G.T.’s vision, he said — invoking the word “solidarity,” which was among its founding credos — is “whatever happens, the community will be there to help get you out of it.”

In the Macron model, “you only get back what you’ve put in,” Mr. Martinez said. “But if you don’t put anything in, what are you supposed to do, sleep outside?”

“There are a lot of these young junior government ministers running around, giving us lessons in morality,” he said, frowning.

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French Strike Aims to Save an Envied, but Convoluted, Approach to Pensions

France’s pension system, which consists of 42 different public and private pension schemes negotiated with different unions, is staring at a potential deficit of 19 billion euros by 2025 if no action is taken. While France’s official retirement age is 62, but train drivers can retire at 52, public electric and gas workers at 57, and members of the national ballet, who start dancing at a very young age, as early as age 42. President  Macron wants to merge the disparate systems, public and private, into one state-managed system by 2025. As a result there have been massive protests, including transport strikes that incapacitated France this week have now been prolonged through early next week. If you were President of France, how would you address this situation? Why? What are the ethics underlining your recommendations?

Stéphane Vardon has worked as a conductor on France’s high-speed and suburban rail network for 20 years. It is hard work, he says, and he’d like to retire before he turns 58, a privilege he now fears President Emmanuel Macron is going to strip away.

So this week, when nearly one million French citizens demonstrated nationwide to protect pension benefits that are the envy of much of the world, Mr. Vardon, 46, was among them, marching through the streets of Paris.

“People will have to work longer and have less money for their retirement,” said Mr. Vardon, citing a common fear of Mr. Macron’s plans. “Macron isn’t close to the people. We know he won’t do anything for the workers.’’

While France’s official retirement age may be 62, the actual age varies widely across the country’s labyrinthine system. Train drivers can retire at 52, public electric and gas workers at 57, and members of the national ballet, who start dancing at a very young age, as early as age 42. That is to name just a few of the stark differences.

It is this sheer complexity that Mr. Macron has vowed to untangle, aiming to standardize 42 different public and private pension schemes into one state-managed plan.

At stake in the continuing standoff — much of France remained shutdown on Friday — is nothing less than the future of the country’s vaunted social safety net.

Elected in 2017, Mr. Macron has faced fierce strikes and street protests before as part of his attempts to add dynamism to France’s economy and make it more business friendly. But the pension overhaul is his biggest and most daunting test yet.

Unions are calling for another nationwide demonstration Tuesday, just before the government is scheduled to unveil fresh details of the pension overhaul. The transport strikes that incapacitated France this week have now been prolonged through early next week.

As Mr. Macron moves to overhaul the pension system, it is precisely workers like Mr. Vardon — those with the most generous ‘‘special schemes’’ — that he would like to address.

The country’s postwar retirement system was founded by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who was intent on establishing a social safety net in 1946 following the liberation of France.

Amid the postwar tumult, he bowed to demands by France’s mainly Communist-led unions to let different professions control their pension plans.

Instead of a centralized system, railway workers oversaw their retirement system, as did sailors, lawyers, notaries, teachers and, eventually, even ballet dancers and actors.

Because of the arduous nature of some professions, workers could retire early, a framework that persists today.

Mr. Macron has called the tangle outdated, unfair and unsustainable. France spends a whopping 14 percent of its gross domestic product on the pension system, more than almost any European country.

The system is staring at a potential deficit of 19 billion euros by 2025 if no action is taken, according to a landmark report issued by France’s pension czar, Jean-Paul Delevoye.

So Mr. Macron says he wants to merge the disparate systems, public and private, into one state-managed system by 2025.

He also wants to keep the deficit from growing, which Patrick Artus, chief economist of Paris-based Natixis bank, said could be achieved if every worker works at least another six months before retiring.

Whether Mr. Macron can succeed in his plans is an open question. No French president has managed to achieve a radical overhaul of pensions.

Mr. Macron says he isn’t seeking to reduce France’s pension spending — a point the government hopes will placate protesters.

Nonetheless, the changes he has proposed could alleviate the burden of some of the most generous pensions, which falls heavily on the government.

To get there, Mr. Macron plans to pivot to a centrally managed points-based system similar to one used in Sweden, where workers accumulate points over the course of their careers and cash them in.

Mr. Macron says the system would be simpler and fairer, and would create better funding security for pensions as the population ages.

Currently, the public pension fund is a pay as you go system that works like a group insurance, with workers and employers paying contributions from their income.

Pension benefits are currently calculated, in the private sector, based on a worker’s 25 highest earning years, and in the public sector on the last six months, when workers are likely to be at the height of their earning power.

Full pension benefits are earned after 41 to 43 years of contributions, depending on when workers were born, but workers can retire earlier, although those who do won’t get full benefits.

All workers are also required to pay into supplementary pension schemes to complement public pensions, which pay retirees an average of around 75 percent of pretax earnings — among the most generous in Europe, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The state would remain the main guarantor of pensions, continuing to provide workers with a safety net that is unheard-of in the United States, where about half of Americans have no access to retirement savings plans, and have little or nothing saved for retirement.

French unions say Mr. Macron’s plan is little more than smoke and mirrors and will benefit private-sector workers at the expense of teachers, railway workers, nurses, and other public-sector employees.

By valuing pensions on a lifetime of work, instead of the last six months, those in the public sector fear they will see their pensions slashed.

Mr. Vardon, the conductor, is among those worried about taking a hit. His base salary of 1,800 euros a month is enough for a decent pension under the current scheme.

But under the points system, his retirement check calculation would include the lower salaries he earned when he started working 20 years ago, so he’ll get less.

“It won’t be enough to have a retirement where I can live well,” he said.

As things stand, Mr. Vardon would like to retire at age 57 and a half, the threshold permitted by the national railway scheme.

In reality, he said, he will probably need to work until age 62 to reap his full pension. Mr. Macron’s changes could force him to work even longer — a thought that fills him with dread.

“We have difficult working conditions,” said Mr. Vardon, who assists passengers and manages work crews while maneuvering constantly on his feet as he crisscrosses the country at high speeds.

“We don’t eat at normal hours, we have short nights of sleep, which means that I am more tired and my body doesn’t have time to adapt,’’ he said. ‘‘I will age faster than someone who had a regular job Monday to Friday from nine to five.”

“Many of my colleagues died between the ages of 60 and 65,” he added, “So I’m worried I won’t make it.”

Economists agree that the biggest winners are likely to be private-sector employees. Because pension payments under the point system would be indexed to France’s nominal gross domestic product, private-sector workers will have their pensions revalued and likely revised up, said Mr. Artus.

“There will be winners and losers,” Mr. Artus said. While those losing out will face a painful transition, France’s overall pension system will be sounder in the long run, because a points system will make it easier to maintain balanced finances, he added.

A recent poll by Elabe, a French polling agency, shows that over half of French people are concerned the current pensions system isn’t sustainable. Still, the political challenges to streamlining it remain enormous.

The demonstrations are likely to go on as long as the French fear their pensions might suffer or they will have to work longer under any new system. French presidents have tended to back down from reform efforts in the past in the face of fierce public resistance.

Mr. Vardon is among thousands who have vowed to continue the fight. While the demonstrations may look raucous to the outside world, “We want people to live without having to work longer to have a retirement,” he said.

“Yes, we have a good system, but we think our system should be a model,” he added. “It allows people who have accidents, who are poor, who didn’t have any luck in life, to climb the social ladder and to continue — after a long career — to live, to feed themselves, to take a well deserved rest.”

“It’s a shame that other countries don’t have this,” he said.

basic information.

Name: Cara Donna Rossi ↪ Pronunciation: K-AIR-ah — d-AA- n-uh — r-ah-see Nickname(s) or Alias: Cara is short and sweet, and so she’s never needed to go by a nickname. In childhood, her father would dotingly play on her name and call her Cara mia. Gender: Female FC: Crystal Reed (*Jodelle Ferland for childhood/flashback purposes.) Age: 31 Birthday: April 10th. ↪ Zodiac: Aries Sexual and Romantic Orientation(s): Heterosexual Heteromantic. Marital Status: Never Married Religion: Raised Roman Catholic. Identifies with Agnostic atheism. Ethnicity: Caucasian; of Italian descent. City or town of birth: Boston, Massachusetts. Grew up in Roxbury. Currently lives: Maine Socioeconomic status: She is not living in poverty, but she’s not quite middle class. Occupation: ↪ Full-Time Doctoral Student – Fully-funded program, a small stipend is provided. ↪ Research/Course Assistant – Unpaid, Qualifies for tuition remission. ↪ Waitress – Enough hours to cover the rent. Native language: English ↪ Accent / Dialect: A childhood in Boston granted her the quintessential accent, including the dropped “R,” intrusive “R,” and the broad “A.” She has worked to beat this accent out of herself, though it rears itself on certain words. When yelling, it’s undeniable. ↪ Alt. Languages: Bits and pieces of the Italian language rattle around in her head, though most of it is lost to time. She speaks poor, conversational Spanish.

physical appearance.

Height: 5′7″ Weight: 126 lbs Hair color: Dark brown Hairstyle: Straight and parted in the middle. She lets it grow long most of the year, and then chops it just above her shoulders in the summer months. Eye color: Light brown Skin color: White Distinctive features: Strong jawline, “Shirley Temple” dimples. Tattoos: A small crescent moon sits on her upper left thigh, and a small sun sits on her upper right. They’re stick-and-poke tattoos; regrettable gifts from a regrettable boyfriend. Piercings: Two lobe piercings in each ear. Her nose was once pierced, though she hasn’t worn a stud in it since she was a teenager. Preferred style of clothing: She tends to live in a state of constant business casual.

personality.

Positive Traits: Alert, logical, meticulous, compassionate, hardworking, dedicated, focused. Negative Traits: Obsessive, envious, insecure, escapist, opportunistic, self-indulgent, strong-willed. Strengths: Passion, bravery, determination. Weaknesses: Reckless, overthinking, impulsive. Habits: Quitting smoking every two months, asking too many questions, laughing while lying, leaving sticky notes around the house, not sleeping through the night, talking in her sleep, humming under her breath, organizing and then reorganizing. Likes: Rain, exploration, true crime podcasts, long car rides, collecting books, keeping old movie tickets, incense, the moon. Dislikes: Being late, unmade beds, alcohol, cemeteries, meditation, the cold, inactivity, repetition/routine. Fears/phobias: Hospitals, bees, irrelevancy. Favorite color: Green. Bonus personality traits: ↪ Myers-Briggs Type: INTP: “Logician” ↪ Temperament: Choleric ↪ Enneagram: Type 8: “The Challenger”

relatives & relationships.

What They Look For In Others: A challenge. Someone who makes her think outside of her comfort zone. Someone who makes her excited. Someone who doesn’t demand.

FAMILY:

Angelo Rossi:

A first generation American, and the only one of his family to have made the trip across the pond from Italy. Earnest, hard-working, rule-follower, straight-shooter, big dreamer. Spoke with a thick Italian accent, which helped him with his romantic life. Was prone to falling in love. Dedicated himself to fatherhood when he learned that a girl who he’d been seeing was pregnant. He proposed to her the same night, and Gianna accepted, though they’d never be married. When they ended things two years after Cara was born, it was on Gianna’s terms – but Angelo had been relieved. He had a jovial attitude and tended to sing under his breath when working on something. He always seemed tired but rarely slept.

Gianna Esposito:

A lifelong Roxbury girl, and already a divorced single mother by the time that she met Angelo. There was a thirteen year age gap between the two, and Gianna had an eleven year old boy on her hands. It had been easy to fall for the sweet younger man with the endearing accent. The pregnancy was by accident, and a reluctant dedication to Roman Catholicism prevented her from aborting it. A love exists between mother and daughter, but raising another baby had not been the plan. She didn’t argue when Angelo offered to take on Cara full-time. She didn’t argue when, after Cara came to live with her, the younger girl stayed out of the house. She didn’t argue when she quickly moved away, either. The two have never seemed to really get each other. Now in her late 60s, Gianna is still a Roxbury girl – and has resigned herself to life as a grandmother to her son’s children. Gianna and Cara seem to have an unspoken agreement of a necessary bi-weekly phone call, but visits are few and far between.

Mason Hamilton:

As he was already 12 by the time Cara was born, the brother and sister never had much of a sibling dynamic. He was a babysitter to her for most of Gianna’s weekends, and was long-since out of the house by the time that Angelo died. He’s tried in the past to take a fatherly role with his sister, without much success. As adults, the two bonded over their shared interest in criminal justice. Not unlike their mother, Mason has remained close to home – he continues to reside in Boston, albeit with his wife and two children. He is a third grade detective with the Boston Police Department. In exchange for access to the find my iPhone feature, he pays Cara’s cellphone bill.

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS:

Liam Coleman:

A fellow employee of Riker’s Island, Liam was a social worker who asked Cara out shortly after she began working there. The two dated, moved in together, and became engaged for a time. There was nothing particularly wrong about Liam, but his utter satisfaction with things as they were irritated Cara. His image of a future for the two of them – a house out on Long Island, kids, and a dog – unsettled her. She broke off the engagement without much warning, and moved out almost immediately. The only thing of theirs she retains is the cat they’d once shared. If he hates her, Cara thinks she deserves it.

William Morris:

A local sheriff in town who took an interest in Cara not long after her arrival. When she was initially looking for employment, she went to the town’s precinct to see if they had any positions for a person with her qualifications. They didn’t – but Sheriff Morris offered to talk shop with her over lunch. He claimed he helped her with a job, though the truth is she went on to pick up shifts waiting tables at the diner where they’d had coffee. They went on two dates, and slept together once – she’s ignored his text messages ever since.

OTHER:

Church:

By far the most committed relationship she’s ever been in – Church the cat is the only piece of New York she has with her. The fat tabby is named after the feline from Pet Semetary, which was a favorite book of her childhood.

personal history.

CHILDHOOD:

born in boston, and raised in the neighborhood of roxbury. she was the only child born to her parents as a couple, though her mother had a child from a previous marriage. her parents were never married, and were no longer together by the time she was a toddler. gianna’s accidental pregnancy had been the primary motivating factor for their relationship, and after cara was born it became clear they did not mesh well as a couple. cara was raised primarily by her father, angelo.

she did have regular contact with her mother while growing up, and would spend weekends with her and her older brother, mason. her older brother was already a teenager when she was born, and so had little interest in her. in hindsight, it also seemed to cara that gianna had been disinterested in having a young child around. her mother was not unaffectionate, but seemed to just be tired. their lifestyle of living just above the poverty line did little to help the situation.

conversely, the younger angelo was an engaged and active father, despite a draining work schedule which entailed overnight work in hvac.  he did an admirable job of shielding his daughter from the crime-filled community they resided in, and encouraged her to use her burgeoning intellect to climb up the socioeconomic hierarchy.

ADOLESCENCE:

when cara was sixteen years old, her father was accidentally caught in the crosshairs of gunfire, and subsequently died of his wounds. cara was devastated by the loss, and was ceaselessly frustrated by the absence of justice – the individuals involved in the shooting were never caught.

she spent two years living full-time with her mother, which was trying for both mother and daughter. cara stayed away from home as often as she could, and was quick to get into romantic relationships if it meant she had a place to sleep out. she went through a rebellious phase that didn’t seem to rouse gianna’s interest.

with a renewed determination to take her father’s advice and flee roxbury, cara was diligent in her education and obtained a scholarship to attend nearby emmanuel college, where she insisted on dorming. her mother seemed relieved by the choice.

YOUNG ADULTHOOD:

cara was unsure of what direction she wanted to take her education in, however felt that lingering sense of injustice and wanted to channel it into something productive. she briefly considered becoming a police officer, but just as quickly dismissed the idea. on the advice of a counselor, she began to study psychology.

by the time that she’d finished her four years at school, she’d warmed up to the idea of counseling. given her naturally analytic mind and capability for empathy, she thought that it seemed to be a good fit. she transitioned into graduate school after a year-long break following undergrad, though she’d made the move to new york to do so – it had the comfort of city life without the memories of boston.

she spent one year in a traditional counseling program before her program director and advisor turned her on to the idea of working within a forensic population. initially, she was put off by the idea of working with criminals – but the longer she thought about it, the more fitting it seemed. in a way, it was a way of finding the answers to the questions she thought she’d always have: why do people become criminals? how do people commit murder? what motivates them? what would make them stop? can they stop? she imagined herself being utilized as an expert in court cases, and the thought of helping bring justice to others was appealing.

cara applied to and was accepted into the forensic psychology graduate program at john jay university. the program would take another two years, and when she finished she found herself able to break into a professional field at 26 – and began working as a case manager and clinician on rikers island.

after the first year or so, it became clear to cara that the work she was able to do with her level of education was not consistent with the level of work she wanted to do. most of her efforts with her assigned patients seemed to be focused on working through immediate issues such as squabbles with other inmates or ongoing addiction issues. her supervisors frequently cautioned her against diving too deep, warning her that she was doing acute treatment, and that she shouldn’t open pandora’s box.

despite feeling discouraged with her career, she endeavored to make it work. she tried to make a life for herself, and at one point found herself engaged and prepared to move on to the rest of her life. the deep feeling of dissatisfaction nonetheless persisted.

when it came onto her radar that elliot danes – whose books she had voraciously consumed – was on staff for a doctoral program in nearby maine, she was unable to get the idea out of her head. he was who she wanted to be – and the longer she stayed on at her job, the more apparent it became that she’d be unable to gain that level of notoriety without a doctorate attached to her name. she’d barely lasted two years on rikers before she applied secretly and impulsively to the university. when her acceptance came through, she was just as impulsive in imploding the life she’d built in new york: she quit the job and quit the fiancé without a second thought, and moved her life to start up the three year program.

she worked harder on the doctoral program than anything she’d worked on before – she was determined to take in any and every bit of knowledge she could along the way. when the opportunity presented itself to take up an assistantship role with elliot in her third year, she she jumped at it.

The Word of God

By Enii Emmanuel N. There were wails of anguish on all sides. The sky overheard, dark and devoid of its usual beauty swirled and twirled. Lightning carelessly flashed as if portending doom, and the roar of thunder caused hearts to shake with fear. Below, a multitude of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds; of different race and creed had gathered. Many great thrones formed a circle around them, and shiny beings of gold and emerald sat on them. Every now and then, someone was called up to face one of the shiny beings, and a verdict was passed. It was the day of reckoning. A man was soon called up before one of the great thrones. It didn’t take too long to reach a verdict. The man was judged guilty by one of the angels the Creator had assigned with expediting the judgment process, subsequently manacled and dragged off in the direction of hell- that blazing furnace in which the souls of the damned are consumed and destroyed. The manacled man begged in vain for the angels to spare him his assigned fate, but they wouldn’t listen for they had been given their orders. ‘The creator knows me' the man protested. ‘God knows me I swear. I prayed in his name. I did what he asked of me. How can you condemn me? Do you not know who I am?’ The angels said nothing to him, and kept dragging him along the spike strewn road that led to the burning pit where the souls of the wicked and unrepentant were destroyed. This was the “second death” from which there is no resurrection. It happened however, that in the course of dragging the condemned fellow away, God cast her eyes on the three: the unfortunate fellow and the two angels charged with executing him. And she hollered at them to stop. ‘I know that man' she said to the angels. ‘Bring him forth!’ The angels did as commanded, and dragged the man towards God’s great throne. They let go of him here, and shrugging off their hands, the man said to his to-be executioners, ‘ see what I told you. God knows me.’ He looked up at the great throne, and to his surprise God wasn’t the stern bearded man he had imagined him as, but a soft looking woman whose face was partially hidden with a veil. ‘Who are you?’ the man asked. God seemed to smile for a crow foot appeared in her eyes now. ‘Are you surprised?’ she asked him. ‘What do you see?’ ‘You’re a woman' the man said in disbelief. ‘So it seems' God replied. ‘Actually, most souls here see me in the form they least expect me to be. Only those with a clean heart can perceive my true form. And even then- anyhow, if you see me as a woman, then its because you least expected me to be a woman.’ The man shook his head, and tried to come to terms with this. ‘Father' he started out at first, only to correct himself immediately and go with, ‘mother, I have been wrongly condemned to destruction. I did what you instructed us in your holy book. I did everything to the latter. I was one of the most popular preachers in my time. You know this, don’t you?’ ‘I know very well who you are' the creator replied with a smile. ‘So you feel that you have been misjudged. Don’t you?’ The man nodded. ‘I have' he said. ‘And I think that you should stop your angels from doing the judging. They keep condemning the wrong people, and sending the right people to the New World.’ ‘My sincerest apologies good sir,' said the creator, ‘but if my angels pronounced you guilty. Then that is because you are. You are welcome to try and prove me wrong.’ The man was incensed and terrified at the same time to hear such words leave the creator’s mouth. ‘Why do you say so mother?’ ‘Tell me now,’ the creator replied, ‘when the hungry gathered outside your church premises, where were you? When that fellow who had nothing to his name but two thousand bucks to his name came to your church, what’d you say to him? Shall I remind you? You told him this: just as the widow gave those two copper coins in sincerity, give all you have to God, and you shall reap in abundance. Three months after he did as you advised, he committed suicide.’ ‘That was no fault of mine’ the man replied. ‘I simply stated what you said in your good book.’ The creator slammed her hand against the arm of her throne and there was a huge tremor that seemed to come from deep in the ground. The sky once dark brown, red interspersed, became black. It thundered, and for a minute, the noise that once overwhelmed the whole place was subdued by intense silence. The man quaked in fear. ‘You stole from everyone you could steal from' the creator said. ‘You didn’t point a gun at their heads, but through manipulation, you tricked them into divesting all they had. And what did you do with the money? Did you feed the hungry as I instructed you to do in the “good book”? Did you clothe the naked? Did you house the homeless as I instructed? No. Rather you bought jets, and built mansions, and larger churches to attract larger purses. And you say you were doing what I instructed you to do?’ The man trembled. ‘Do you know the original principles of religion?’ God asked. The man said nothing. ‘The salvation of the soul,’ she said, ‘and harmonious coexistence with others. And then Kings put their minds into religion and it all changed. It slowly became what it is in your time: an elaborate gimmick designed to divest funds from the unwitting and ignorant; a machine for sowing discord and encouraging suspicion. Now tell me again what you did in my name that was right. Tell me for I am listening.’ The man swallowed hard. The tumult had by now risen once more and the voices of many damned souls could be heard clamoring for mercy. And the sky had taken on a blood red hue that made the scene down below very apocalyptic. The man said very slowly, ‘I spread the good news. I spoke good things about you! I preached so that all men and women might hear and believe.’ God laughed. ‘I was quite clear when I said that if you could not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, offer assistance to those in desperation, and fought against evil and corruption tooth and nail, then you did not deserve the new life I promised. How different would it be after all from the first one? I saw all you did. I saw the churches you built- quite grand they were. I wish I could have lived in them. I saw the crowd that attended your services, as you preached about money, and breakthrough and cast aside the messages that mattered: of love, peace and tolerance. I saw the universities you built for your rich friends thanks to the money from your congregation- a great majority of who could not attend it. I saw the jets you bought for yourself, and the guards that you hired to protect yourself while convincing your ignorant congregation that stickers purchased from you were sanctified by the holy spirit and would protect them in the event if danger. And now, you think you deserve a second life. Why do you think so?’ Before the man could reply, an Angel came up to the Creator and whispered something in her ears. The creator nodded, and made a sign for someone to be brought forth. It was a girl, and a quite haggard one. She had blonde hair, sad brown eyes, and her skin was somewhat tanned. ‘A special case huh?’ the Creator remarked. She turned to the man with whom she had been speaking and raising her finger, she said, ‘give me a minute will you?’ She returned her attention to the girl. ‘They say you were a slut and an atheist' she began. ‘And that you didn’t believe in God. And that you drank and gambled quite excessively. My angels are afraid to take the case.’ ‘She's headed to destruction no doubt' the man chuckled. ‘Sentence me and be done with it' the girl said. ‘I have very few regrets.’ ‘Why did you think that I did not exist?’ God asked. ‘Two world wars were fought amongst other countless wars,’ the lady replied, ‘hungry people littered the streets, poverty and corruption ravaged the earth. Where were you then? What use was belief in a God who sat by and watched all this happen? So yes, I was an atheist, and that is it.’ God nodded. ‘I am sorry for all the suffering,’ she said, ‘but it was hardly my fault.’ The woman raised her eyes to meet his. ‘When I made the world,’ the creator continued, ‘I blessed you all with resources and all the good things. And I laid down rules by which you may live. But because I gave you all the will to choose, I could not force you to live the way I wanted. A few things are my faults. Volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, storms, flood, earthquakes- you name them. These are things you can blame me for. Hunger, wars, corruption? That’s not my doing. Humans make wars- out of ambition, out of greed. I cannot interfere in the way you all live no matter how pitiful it is to see. However, there are always repercussions for every action taken, for every word uttered- that is after all, the reason behind life. It is simply a test for a better place. Those who fail the test of life are destroyed; and those who pass cross over to the next one, for they have proven themselves.’ ‘What is to be my fate?’ the woman asked. ‘Destruction?’ God smiled. ‘You were a strange one' she said. ‘You had a problem with men. You abused your body. However, these are the afflictions of humans. Weakness and imperfection. It is a flaw in design. You did a lot of good however. That boy whom you have a home after his mother left him to die in the streets as a boy; the charities you donated to on behalf of the homeless and destitute. You were firm against corruption, and you did good out of your heart. Small these gestures might have been, they made a lot of impact. And that is why you will be taken to Paradise; to live out the rest of your life being good as you were in your former life, and better.’ The woman’s eyes lit up, and thanking God several times, she was led away. As soon as she disappeared from sight, the man erupted. ‘This is partiality’ he raged. ‘How can you let that whore- that vile wench to go to paradise. And I? You would damn me? This is not who you said you were! You made it explicit what good and bad was! How can you do this?’ The Creator smiled. ‘Good and bad has nothing to do with what you think' she said. ‘When you kill; when you cheat; when you destroy and watch evil being carried out! That is evil! Good is doing the right thing despite the difficulty of it. It is being honest! It is kindness and compassion! It is assisting the weak! It is harmonious coexistence!’ ‘And she didn’t believe in you’ the man argued. ‘How about that?’ The Creator shook her head. ‘Knowing God does not mean acknowledging my existence' she said. ‘I do not need the acknowledgement of mortals. It means living the right way. It is seeing the good in everything, and besieging in it. It is being good.’ ‘Your book was divinely inspired' the man further argued. ‘It didn’t make mention of this! How can you tell me that now?’ ‘What book?’ the Creator returned. ‘The Bible? The Sutras? The Baha’I Creed? I inspired humans over the ages; I opened their eyes to the truths I thought necessary for humankind to know. They were but a few. I wanted a harmonious existence for humans. The imperfections of humans are spectacular though. They are most often carried away. Despite my desire to teach the humans only the truth, establish a way of life that wasn’t centered around rituals and excessive laws, that is essentially what happened. Religions were born. And along with it, the farce that plagued the world. Recall that in the Holy Bible I told Moses to strike the rock one. He did it twice. Eli was my servant but he could not chastise his sons. Solomon built a temple for me, and rules his Kingdom with an iron fist. I gave Adam a simple test. And he proved to me that even in their most perfect state, humans are incapable of being perfect. Many whom I let in on my thoughts had a penchant of adding their own beliefs somewhere in between. It was not really their fault. They believed it was part of what was inspired. Thus, the birth of religions and holy books. However, in all of them can be seen the fundamental truths I hoped to instill in humankind. Those with whom the fault lie are those who treat these works as if they fell down from they sky. God is not found in temples and books. I am everywhere and anywhere. Every human knows what is right and what is wrong. Question is: can they do the right thing? If they can, then they have found God and salvation whether they acknowledge my existence or not.’ The Man kicked in anger. ‘This is bullshit. You’re a liar and you know it.’ The Creator snapped her fingers. ‘Take this one away. And put him where he deserves.’ The angels seized him. And obeyed the Word of God. #story #satire #religion

Friday, April 2, 2021

Bumpy road ahead for Biden’s infrastructure plan (AP) Infrastructure was a road to nowhere for former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama. But Joe Biden believes he can use it to drive America to the future after a dozen years of false starts. The trip is unlikely to be smooth. Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package, released Wednesday, would go well beyond the usual commitments to roads and bridges to touch almost every part of the country. It’s a down payment on combating climate change, a chance to take on racial inequities, an expansion of broadband, an investment in manufacturing and a reorienting of corporate taxes to pay for everything. To succeed where his predecessors stalled, Biden will have to navigate a conflicting set of political forces with winners and losers all around. Even before Biden delivered his opening speech on the plan, Republicans had latched on to Reagan-era labeling, dismissing the package as tax-and-spend liberalism. Some Democratic lawmakers, on the other hand, fear Biden’s plan does too little over eight years. Others see it as a chance to tinker with tax laws. Business groups have long backed bold investment in infrastructure—just not through taxes on their members. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable both strongly oppose the tax hikes.

US hunger crisis persists, especially for kids, older adults (AP) America is starting to claw its way out of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but food insecurity persists, especially for children and older adults. Food banks around the U.S. continue giving away far more canned, packaged and fresh provisions than they did before the virus outbreak tossed millions of people out of work, forcing many to seek something to eat for the first time. For those who are now back at work, many are still struggling, paying back rent or trying to rebuild savings. “We have all been through an unimaginable year,” said Brian Greene, CEO of the Houston Food Bank, the network’s largest. It was distributing as much as 1 million pounds of groceries daily at various points during the pandemic last year. America’s yearlong food insecurity crisis has been felt especially sharply by children who lost easy access to free school meals, and older adults who struggled to get groceries or meals at senior centers because they worried about contracting the virus.

Making cities more livable (The Conversation) Across the country, municipalities have countered death during a respiratory pandemic by cutting loose on restrictions when it comes to outdoor dining and recreation, taking parking spaces and streets intended for vehicular use and giving them over to restaurants and repurposing them as areas to walk through programs designed to open up spaces for city dwellers. While many of these initial attempts were designed to be temporary, many have high approval and will likely stick around. A survey of 130 mayors of cities found that 92 percent had created new spaces for outdoor dining over the course of the pandemic, and 34 percent planned to make these changes permanent. About 40 percent of mayors said they pursued widening sidewalks and adding new bike lanes. Further, 76 percent said they think residents will visit parks and green spaces more frequently than they did before the pandemic, with 70 percent expecting residents to walk more than before and 62 percent to bike more.

Rise of the digital dollar? (WSJ) The first glimpse of research that could eventually lead to a Federal Reserve digital dollar should arrive this fall, according to people working on the effort. Some time in the third quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, working with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will reveal the first stage of a project that could years down the road yield a Fed digital dollar, James Cunha, the Boston Fed’s senior vice president of Secure Payments and FinTech Research, said in an interview last week. The U.S. central bank is one of many around the world considering the introduction of a digital currency. Proponents of the idea say digital currencies would offer faster settlements, cut money-transfer costs or even eliminate them, and may even have benefits for monetary policy. But the Fed hasn’t offered details about what a digital dollar—which some have dubbed Fedcoin—would look like.

France to close schools, ban domestic travel as virus surges (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced a three-week nationwide school closure and a month-long domestic travel ban, as the rapid spread of the virus ramped up pressure on hospitals. It’s a departure from the government’s policy in recent months, which has focused on regionalized restrictions. School closures in particular had been seen as a very last resort. “We’re going to close nursery, elementary and high schools for three weeks,” Macron said, adding that a nationwide 7 p.m.- 6 a.m. curfew will be kept in place. Macron said restrictions already applying in the Paris region and elsewhere will be extended next week to the whole country, for at least one month. Under these restrictions, people are allowed to go outside for leisure, but within a 10-kilometer (6 miles) radius from their homes—and without socializing. Also, most non-essential shops are closed down.

Merkel appeals to Germans to stay home for Easter to stem pandemic third wave (Reuters) Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to Germans on Thursday to stay at home over Easter and meet fewer people to help curb a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, as the capital Berlin announced a nighttime ban on gatherings from Friday. “It should be a quiet Easter, with those closest to you, with very reduced contact. I urge you to refrain from all non-essential travel,” Merkel said in a video message, adding this was the only way to help doctors and nurses fight the virus.

Myanmar aid workers arrested, intimidated, hurt, Red Cross says (Reuters) Myanmar Red Cross workers have been arrested, intimidated and injured on the front lines as they tried to treat mounting civilian casualties, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. Myanmar Red Cross teams had provided care for over 2,000 people, a statement said. They have also been targeted. Videos on social media have shown members of the security forces assaulting and abusing medics and in at least one instance shooting up an ambulance. Reuters has not independently verified these videos. The unrest also threatened efforts to contain the COVID-19 epidemic, with testing, tracing and treatment sharply down. “We could be facing a perfect storm in Myanmar where another wave of COVID-19 infections collides with a deepening humanitarian crisis spreading across the entire country,” officials said.

Fake journalist (Foreign Policy/Le Monde) A French journalist who has recently defended the Chinese government’s policy toward the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and its approach to Taiwan does not exist, the French newspaper Le Monde reports. Laurène Beaumond claims to be a French expat who previously lived in Xinjiang in recent op-eds published on the Chinese international broadcaster CGTN’s French language site. In one post, dated March 28, Beaumond slammed a recent campaign by Western firms to boycott cotton from Xinjiang. Le Monde asserts the author is a fake, based on her name not appearing in any records kept by a French government commission that distributes identity cards to journalists, despite her claim to have worked in French newsrooms in the past. A cursory search by FP could unearth no record of the journalist either. If the author cannot be verified, it will provoke awkward questions for CGTN. The broadcaster only gained approval to operate in France in early March after being banned in the United Kingdom.

Hong Kong court finds veteran pro-democracy activists guilty of unauthorized assembly (Washington Post) Several veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, most over 60, were convicted Thursday for unlawful assembly and now face years in jail, as the dragnet closes around almost the entirety of the city’s opposition. The seven convicted include Martin Lee, an 82-year-old barrister who helped launch Hong Kong’s main opposition party in the 1990s, and Lee Cheuk-yan, 64, who backed the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and helped organize a yearly vigil for it in the city. Two others had already pleaded guilty. Their ability to live freely and continue their activism has for years been a bellwether of Hong Kong’s relative autonomy from mainland China, which Beijing has moved to crush with staggering speed and intensity. The activists, some of whom are former legislators, face up to five years in prison. Many are also defendants in other cases, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who has also been charged under Beijing’s new national security law and denied bail.

Imprisoned Palestinian leader’s entry shakes up planned vote (AP) A popular Palestinian leader imprisoned by Israel has registered his own parliamentary list in May elections, his supporters said Wednesday, in a last-minute shakeup that could severely weaken President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and help its militant Hamas rivals. Marwan Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, registered the list hours before the deadline set by the election commission. Polls indicate it would split the vote for Fatah, potentially paving the way for another major victory by Hamas. That increases the likelihood that Abbas will find a way to call off the first Palestinian elections in 15 years. Barghouti, 61, a former Fatah militant commander, is serving five life sentences in Israel following a 2004 terrorism conviction. But he remains a popular and charismatic leader, and by breaking with Abbas he could reshape Palestinian politics and potentially replace him as president. His entry reflects growing frustration with Abbas, who has presided over an increasingly authoritarian and unpopular Palestinian Authority that has failed to achieve national unity or advance Palestinian hopes for an independent state.

The Suez Canal ship is free, but the shipping industry’s ‘humanitarian crisis’ isn’t over (NYT) For nearly a week, the world was fixated on the spectacle of a mammoth cargo carrier blocking the Suez Canal, causing billions of dollars of damage to the global economy with every passing day. It was a surreal experience for advocates who have spent the past year desperately trying to draw attention to the hundreds of thousands of mariners who are stranded on container ships due to the pandemic, creating what has been described as a “humanitarian crisis at sea.” While more than 90 percent of all goods used worldwide are transported by ship, few consumers stop to think about the lengthy ocean voyage involved, or the plight of seafarers who go months or years without seeing their families to make that possible. The crisis in the canal forced the world’s attention on ships that despite their massive size are often all but invisible, suddenly making plain, and impossible to ignore, the extent to which global trade relies on vessels like the Ever Given and their crews, who predominantly come from developing nations. “Hero is a strong word, but they really have kept society moving for the past 13 months,” said Stephen Cotton, the general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which represents seafarers worldwide.

Famine Stalks Yemen, as War Drags On and Foreign Aid Wanes (NYT) Six years into a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, shattered the country and battered much of its infrastructure, Yemen faces rising rates of hunger that have created pockets of famine that aid groups warn are likely to grow, leaving even more malnourished Yemenis vulnerable to disease and starvation. The war has led to chronic food shortages in what was already the Arab world’s poorest country. A widespread famine was averted in 2018 only by a large influx of foreign aid. But the threat is greater this time, aid groups say, as the war grinds on, families grow poorer and the coronavirus pandemic has left donor nations more focused on their own people. “The famine is on a worsening trajectory,” said David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program, in an interview after returning recently from Yemen. “Our biggest problem now is lack of money—and the war. Six years of war has completely devastated the people in every respect.” Nearly half of Yemen’s population, 13.5 million people, are struggling to get enough food, according to the United Nations. That number is expected to rise by nearly three million by the end of June, largely because funding shortfalls have reduced how many people aid agencies can feed.

Bees, landmines, and drones (BBC) There are an estimated 80,000 landmines in Bosnia and Herzegovina and another 30,000 in Croatia, and clearing them is an exhausting, long-term effort that will take decades. In the past, researchers have been able to train bees to detect landmines, accomplishing this by getting the bees to associate the smell of TNT with sugary food. The bees are trained to cluster near places where mines are buried, and the efforts have been active for years. A new process brings drones and video equipment into the mix, allowing computer analysis of digital test footage to track the locations of bees with something like 80 percent accuracy, according to a recently published paper describing the algorithm.

World: Amid the Trumpian chaos, Europe sees a strategy: Divide and conquer

More important, for the long term, they have begun to believe that underneath the presidential narcissism, sarcasm and bluster there is a strategy.

But Trump’s European tour has still rattled many on the Continent and in Britain, who have watched from a distance the chaos he creates on a daily basis in the United States but had not been directly exposed to it until this week.

More important, for the long term, they have begun to believe that underneath the presidential narcissism, sarcasm and bluster there is a strategy: to undercut European solidarity in NATO and the European Union so the United States can exercise its economic and military power to shape relations with individual countries, just as China and Russia seek to do.

The atmospherics have been awful. Trump happily broke protocol at NATO and in Britain, skipping appointments with other leaders, forcing changes in the agenda, scolding other leaders, calling an early news conference to get onto morning television programs in the United States, making unfounded claims about agreements and giving an interview to the British mass-market tabloid The Sun that deeply embarrassed his host, Prime Minister Theresa May.

But Europeans are now convinced that Trump has an agenda that is inimical to their interests, said François Heisbourg, a French political analyst. “Europeans realize that he’s not just a temperamental child, but that he wants to dismantle the multilateral order created 70 years ago that he believes limits American power.”

European leaders had already taken into account the disrupter Trump, said Tomas Valasek, director of Carnegie Europe, a foreign policy think tank. “We’re not in the dark about him, but we’ve never dealt with this sort of political animal before,” Valasek said. “This is a new ballgame and we’re learning how to play it. We’re not necessarily more effective, but we’re getting wiser."

Different leaders have tried different strategies with Trump, from the “buddy-buddy” approach of President Emmanuel Macron of France and May, to the cooler attitude of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. “But we found that none of this matters,” Valasek said. “He’ll treat you like a competitor one way or another. He wants to pit countries against one another and use U.S. power and wealth against the others for his advantage.”

The frustration sometimes comes out in meetings. At the NATO meeting, for instance, Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark told Trump that Danes had suffered as many casualties per capita as the United States had in Afghanistan, and that blood mattered more than money.

“In direct and clear speech, I have made it clear to him that Denmark’s contribution cannot be measured in money,” Rasmussen said afterward.

The personal distaste could also be measured in body language, when European leaders made little effort to engage with Trump, chatting to one another while Trump walked along with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a semiauthoritarian outsider.

“Trump is becoming politically toxic in Western Europe,” Valasek said. “No one wants to be seen smiling with him after being berated on Twitter. Even more, Trump’s insults and his unpopularity among European voters make it harder for European leaders to do what he wants them to do, like increase military spending, even when they think they should do it.”

After Trump split with the Europeans on issues like climate change and the Iran nuclear deal, Valasek said, “leaders don’t want to be associated with anything he wants; it’s the kiss of death.”

They are also fearful of his populism, his support for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit, and his affinity with their political adversaries, who share his nationalist, anti-immigration message.

Yet, Europe faces a dilemma with Trump, as Sigmar Gabriel, the former German foreign minister, said in an interview with Der Spiegel. “The truth is, we can’t get along with Trump and we can’t get along without the U.S.,” Gabriel said. “We therefore need a dual strategy: clear, hard and, above all, common European answers to Trump. Any attempt to accommodate him, any appraisal only leads him to go a step further. This must be over. From trade to NATO.”

He continued: “We cannot delude ourselves anymore. Donald Trump only knows strength. So we have to show him that we are strong.”

How to do that, however, is less clear, since Europe’s security dependence on the United States is both obvious and will not change soon, despite European talk of more money for a joint European defense.

The problem is visible not just in Germany but in Spain, distant from Russia. Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s new Socialist prime minister, outraged the leftist lawmakers who helped put him in office when he pledged to raise his country’s military spending to 2 percent from the current 0.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

John C. Kornblum, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany who still lives there, said “the real problem is that postwar Europe seems not to have regained a sense of purpose and direction.”

“It cannot formulate self-confident and achievable goals,” Kornblum continued, “and above all seems unable to stand up for itself against the criminals of the world” — including former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s and President Vladimir Putin of Russia now.

The European nations’ great accomplishments — Continental peace and social welfare — have led them “to become self-righteous in their pride about them, but in reality these steps forward were only possible within an American bubble,” Kornblum said.

And now Trump has called them out on it and “spoken the unspeakable,” Kornblum said, and it is both unwelcome and uncomfortable.

If nothing else, Trump’s apparent willingness to turn over the table has gotten the attention of Western allies, creating a sense of urgency to meet the spending goals, and not everyone drew back in alarm.

The French newspaper Le Monde, for example, was relaxed. “Once again, Donald Trump brought on the show, but the damage was limited,” the newspaper said. “The NATO summit, which threatened to become a psychodrama because of the American president’s caprices, wound up reinforcing the alliance. The Europeans are ready to pay more for their defense, and the U.S. reaffirmed its military commitment to its historic allies.”

But the big question is whether any amount of spending would actually satisfy Trump, or whether his real attempt is to divide NATO and the European Union, both Heisbourg and Valasek said. Trump mixes his threats about more trade tariffs if the European Union does not come to better terms with his threat to withhold security from those same countries.

Of course, Trump also uses and misuses the figures he chooses. He often says that the United States pays for 90 percent of NATO, or sometimes he says 70 percent, when the latter figure is really about 67 percent, and includes the percentage of global military spending.

In fact, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, of the $603 billion the United States spends on defense, only about $31 billion goes to Europe. That number is increasing. But the European countries of NATO are spending about $239 billion and rising, even if their spending is not very efficient or coordinated.

Similarly, Trump likes to cite a $151 billion trade deficit with the European Union. But that figure is for goods only — not for services, which represent nearly 80 percent of the economy, where the United States has a small trade surplus with Europe.

For Heisbourg, Trump the businessman is simply “monetizing American power.” As Trump recently said, he regarded the European Union “possibly as bad as China, just smaller.” He sees Germany as dominating the bloc, and Germany, for which he has a special animus, as “the weak link in an organization vulnerable to linkage between trade and security,” Heisbourg said.

The same is true of Trump’s support of Brexit, on display again Friday in Britain. Trump’s view is that “if you have a soft Brexit and stick with the European Union too closely, it doesn’t work for me, so goodbye, you’re on your own,” said Pierre Vimont, a former French ambassador to Washington. “For Trump there are no allies and no enemies, just partners or not, and the U.S. will deal with them separately. And the Europeans have no key to answer this new U.S. foreign policy.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Steven Erlanger © 2018 The New York Times

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/07/world-amid-trumpian-chaos-europe-sees_14.html

They Shall Call Our Shame Emmanuel (Typed Sermon).

Here’s the transcript from the sermon I gave on February 18th, 2018.

The audio version is here.

I was supposed to start my new job this week.  I was supposed to be standing before you with 40 hours of a good job under my belt, smiling and proud, knowing that I was finally out of the financial situation my wife and I had been in.  That we could finally afford the finer things in life, like groceries and tithing and PBR.  However, I’d gotten into legal trouble in my past that was supposed to have been expunged.  Now, I’m dealing with courts and lawyers and judges in an attempt to get the paperwork required to prove that this stuff shouldn’t be on my record.   20 minutes into my new job, my career, mine and Stephanie’s future hopes and dreams, and I’m being asked to leave the building.  You wanna talk about a tangible understanding of shame, I’m fairly certain that this hit harder than eating a brownie over the bathroom sink or being caught picking my nose or going to a public pool shirtless.  I was broadsided on Monday when this happened and, to be honest, I still haven’t recovered.  As a matter of fact, I’ve written this sermon four times through the course of this week, finally settling on this version yesterday afternoon.

I had the fleeting thought while walking home that I should just step off the sidewalk, in front of a MITS bus.  That the life insurance policy that I have would be better for my wife, would help her out more, would be more beneficial to her than I was.  I told my wife that I failed her.  That I had failed us and our relationship.  I told her I would understand if she left.  She told me that I was an idiot.

I tried to call Josh as I walked the mile and some change back to my apartment.  I wanted to tell him to write a sermon for this week.  I wanted to tell him that I couldn’t do it.  I wanted to tell him that because of what had happened, I wasn’t suited to speak here anymore.  He didn’t answer.  

I wanted to hide this and myself away from the world.  I wanted to be left alone with my shame and suffering.  But, I told people what had happened.  I told them everything.  About my past, about the 20 minutes at the new job, about the walk home, about how I felt.  People cried with me.  People offered prayers and baked goods and stories.  People told me that they had felt the same thing.  And, I found, the more I told people, the more that it resonated with them and the more they shared with me, the more I wanted to tell people.  It was a weird cycle of community forming over heartache and consequences and shame.

I realize that this might be way too much to share in this format.  I realize that I am probably making some people very uncomfortable right now.  I can imagine that some of you are squirming.  However, there might be someone in here who is dealing with a thing and maybe they need to hear this.  Maybe they need to know that they’re not alone in their hurt or their suffering or their shame.  For those that are uncomfortable, I’m sorry.  For those that need to hear this, I know your pain.  For those that need to hear this, you are seen exactly where you are.  

I’m sure it’s merely a coincidence that last week, we began looking at shame.  Like Josh and I talked about we looked at shame through the lens of Genesis, the Adam story.  It’s where this whole thing starts off and it’s where we first see shame introduced in the narrative.  That idea, shame, then gets carried through the remainder of the text.  

There’s thousands of years worth of history happening between the Old Testament and the birth of the Christ.  And there’s people and shame and sin and suffering and the desire to step into traffic.  There’s 39 books between the start of the world and the Christ.  That’s 39 books full of people who sat in, and with, their shame and suffering.  That’s 39 books of people who wanted to step into traffic.  That’s 39 books of people that know exactly how you feel right now, in this moment.  39 books of people who didn’t know what to tell their spouse, or parents, of friends.  39 books of people saying, “I’m fine,” while swallowing all of the words they really wanted to say.  39 books of people trying not to scream, “I need help.  I need comfort.  I need peace."

From Adam and Eve, we get sons and daughters and they have sons and daughters and then they have sons and daughters and so on for generation after generation.  

(And we’re not given any indication or description about how these people look.  I wanna go through some of these giant Old Testament figures, give you an idea as to who they were once you step outside the cute children’s stories, and I wanted to put faces to the names.)

The world becomes full of bad people.  Awful, evil, wicked, vile people.  So, God goes to a man named Noah, says build a boat.  A real sweet boat.  Noah thinks he’s gonna be living that Lonely Island life and agrees.  God tells Noah to put two of every animal on the boat and to make a few rooms for his family.  Noah does all of this, making the SS End Of The World, loading it full of platypus (platypi?) and emus and highland cows and munchkin kitties.  The floodgates open up on earth and the rain pours down from the heavens and they all spend months together, sailing the high seas.  Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of whatever passed for rum in those days.

As soon as everything is dead, except those that are on the boat with Noah, the Earth dries up, they dock on the side of a mountain, and start rebuilding the world.  Noah, being a farmer originally, decides to plant a vineyard and makes himself a few bottles of Pinot.  Noah gets blitzed one night, really ties it on, and gets naked in his tent.  Something happens between him and his youngest son, Ham (best name ever, by the way), and Ham, father of Canaan is cursed by Noah.

I don’t know about y’all, but I have some body issues.  I mentioned my anti-shirtless public pool stance.  I sleep in gym shorts and a t-shirt because I’m even ashamed of my wife seeing me naked.  I’m soft as rotted fruit around my midsection and lumpy and doughy everywhere else.  Plus, there’s the hair factor.  So much awkward hair on my back and tumtum.  Go ahead and keep the donut you just ate down with that awful mental image.

That being said, if someone stumbled into my room and saw me drunk and naked, I don’t know that I would curse them and their lineage.  But, something happened in that tent that led to Noah cursing Ham and Canaan to the point where that curse is fulfilled when the Israelites finally go into the land of Canaan and slaughter every man, woman, child, and animal.

You gotta know real shame to lay that kinda curse down.  And that curse gets passed from generation to generation, as Noah’s kids have kids and those kids have kids and those kids have kids.  On and on it goes, descendent’s begetting descendent’s begetting descendent’s.

We come to a man named Abram, there’s a whole lot going on with this dude.  He ends up being the father of Israel.  But, prior to that actually happening, God calls to him in the night and tells him to take his wife and leave all of his family behind.  So, Abram packs up his tent and his sandals and his cattle and his slaves and charges his iPod and he and his wife Sarai take everything they own and hit the road.  They get to the plain of Moreh and God speaks to him again, telling him that this is his land.  Abram builds a couple of altars, and because of a famine, decides to head south into Egypt for a little bit.

It’s in Egypt that Abram prostitutes his wife out of fear.  He thinks that the Egyptians will kill him and steal Sarai if they know they are married, so he goes around saying, “See this hot gal?  She’s my sister.  I got me a smokin’ hot sister.”  Definitely not the kinda south that we’re used to.  There, sister and wife are usually synonymous.  Pharaoh hears there’s this dime piece traveling with her brother and he decides to buy her.  Because, you know, that’s how you find love.  He offers Abram sheep, oxen, donkeys, slaves, and camels, and Abram accepts.  Pharaoh takes Sarai into his house, if’n you catch the Bible’s drift.  And to think, I had to hit up every bar in a two hour radius to find my wife.  Should have invested in oxen, as opposed to Tinder Plus.

Here’s the crazy part, God gets mad at Pharaoh for this and puts a plague on him and his entire family.  Pharaoh somehow learns that this gal he just paid a small fortune for is actually Abram’s wife, so he brings Abram to him to question why he would sell his wife off like he did.  Abram shrugs his shoulders and, in an effort to be done with this, Pharaoh sends Abram out of the land with Sarai and all the wealth he’d given for her.

It’s hard enough going on a long trip with your spouse.  Imagine just how much more difficult it becomes when the trip home involves the conversation of “Why did you sell me to the dude with the funny hat and fake goatee?”

God appeared to Abram.  Promised him that he would be the father of God’s chosen people.  Promised him that the land he initially settled in would be his.  And Abram decides to head south where he ends up selling his wife and causing death to a group of people.

But, you know, I have trouble sleeping at night because I didn’t get a job that I wanted when I wanted it.  I beat myself up constantly over the poor decisions that I’ve made.  I was so ashamed that I wanted to walk into traffic because I thought no one could understand.

Generations pass.  The sons of Abram, now Abraham, descendent of Noah’s family, became the people of Israel.  They want a king and God gives them Saul.  Saul’s kingship falls to David.  And David, he’s a man of the people.  A peasant boy who makes a name for himself in battle with a slingshot and a handful of rocks.  

David, as king, has a bout of insomnia and starts wandering around on the roof of his palace.  While stargazing and looking out of the city of Jerusalem, he sees a woman bathing on the roof of her house.  He thinks she’s just the bee’s knees, so he sends some of his men to KIDNAP her.  He takes her into his house (if’n you catch the Bible’s drift, once more) and she becomes pregnant.  This is all well and good, because David’s the king of Israel.  The anointed head of God’s people.  Well, except that this woman has a husband.  David ends up masterminding a plan to have her husband sent to the front lines of the hardest battle, where he would surely die.  And he takes this new, pregnant widow as his wife.

Once more, years and generations go by.  People have kids and Israel is shamed and redeemed and conquered and freed and the cycle goes on and on.

And then…Jesus.

Jesus was born fully man and fully God.  He was human and divine.  And as such, he had the full range of the human experience.  He was born to a poor family in a poor town.  He would have learned the trade of his father, and lived with them until he began his ministry.  And, since Joseph was a carpenter, so would Jesus have been.  However, as his family was from Nazareth, a town of about 400, there wouldn’t have been jobs for carpenters, so it’s very likely that Jesus would have walked the five-ish miles to Sepphoris, the seat of Herod Antipas’ power, to ply his trade.

During the first century, Herod Antipas, “The Fox,” as he was known for his cunning, was on a massive building spree.  He, and the wealthy residents, flaunted their wealth and allegiance to Rome by building massive homes, mansions, with all the trappings of modern life.  Jesus would have been one of the poor migrant workers who would have had to build these estates to put food on the table for his family.

And being fully human, knowing the human experience, Jesus would have, theoretically, felt the crushing weight of the classist society that he lived in.  He would have known shame, standing in a luxurious home, and wondering why he couldn’t give that to his mother.  Why his father had to sweat and bleed and work while the people who lived in these homes lounged and gave orders?  He would have walked back to the one room apartment that he shared with his mom and dad and siblings and goats and, possibly, felt shame that he could not have afforded the same niceties he’d built.

He would have become his father’s apprentice somewhere around age 12.  That gives him a full 18 years of building, working with his hands, seeing the extremes of wealth and poverty, before he came into his ministry.  And once he began going about and preaching, a woman named Joanna was with him.  Joanna was the wife of Cuza, who was Herod’s steward.  Steward is just a super fancy was of saying he managed Herod Antipas’ estate.  So, we have this woman of means and wealth, who’s husband works for Herod Antipas, the man responsible for the buildings Jesus would have worked on, paying Jesus’ bills as he went from town to town, preaching and teaching.

Can you begin to process that, and then imagine what that would have felt like?  Jesus, son of God, relying on someone’s wife to pay his bills, and she got her money from someone who stood for what Jesus was preaching against?

I get anxiety when my parents loan me money.  I can’t imagine getting money from someone who I stand in direct opposition to.  If Joel Osteen, Larry the Cable Guy, or Eddie Vedder were to give me money, I would probably want a bleach shower and then sit in the dark trying to figure out where exactly I went wrong in life.  I would be ashamed taking and spending their money.  The punk rock kid that lives in my heart would scream “SELL OUT!”

So, Jesus would have had all of these mixed up emotions in him.  He would have been caught in this weird place of knowing some sort of external shame, or the shame placed on him by his culture.  He would have felt the weight of expectations and how, on some level, he wasn’t meeting them.  

He has his ministry.  He is going from town to town, city to city, community to community, preaching the Kingdom.  Telling people about this upside down, flipped version of life that he’s ushering in.  This world where the least, those that are shamed and marginalized and pushed to the edges, rule at his side.  

He’s calling people to step out of the cultural norms that they’ve been living in, he’s calling the lame and the persecuted and the exploited and subjugated into a life where their shame is their strength.  He’s calling people full of vulnerabilities and weaknesses and people who have known, lived, sat in suffering into an experience, a movement, where these things no longer define their lives, but their lives are enriched because of these things.

Josh preached about what the healings of Jesus show us.  He’s ushering people who were pushed the edges, forced to live in their shame, back into the fold.  He was giving them the opportunity to know community without shame.  Without the external indicators of their inward transgressions, as the community understood it.  He was giving these people peace.

And, as he and his disciples and the crowds following him grew and grew and grew, he walked on towards Jerusalem.  Coming into the city, proclaiming peace.  

It’s here in Jerusalem that Jesus begins to teach during the time of Passover.  We can’t begin to comprehend how big this would have been.  The American church gets flooded with people on Easter and Christmas.  The numbers here double.  Those are national holy-days.  As an American, it is your patriotic duty to be in church on one of those two holidays, if not both.  

Passover would have been the same thing, except the temple at Jerusalem was THE church.  It was the place to be.  People travelled from all over the country of Judea to the temple at Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, experience the party, and join in the blessing of the sacrifices.

Thousands upon thousands upon thousands would have been present to hear Jesus teach.  They would have heard him deliver his subversive, counter-culture, anti-Empire, politically charged message.  They would have basked in his glory.  They would have exalted him and regaled him with the praise he is due.

And it would have been exhausting.  He retreats to the upper room with the twelve.  His chosen brethren.  His community of brothers.  Those that have walked the miles with him.  Those that have eaten with him, slept next to him, showered with him, known him.  And, when it’s just them, he tells them one will betray him.  He tells Peter he would deny him.

Then he eats with them.  With the weight of anxiety and shame working through each of them.  Who would betray him?  Why would Peter deny him?

He goes from being with thousands, to being with the twelve.  And finally, we get to the text for today:

Luke 22:39-44

Jesus came out of the room. Then He went to the Mount of Olives as He had been doing. The followers went with Him. When He got there, He said to them, “Pray that you will not be tempted.” He walked away from them about as far as a stone can be thrown. There He got down with His face on the ground and prayed. He said, “Father, if it can be done, take away what must happen to Me. Even so, not what I want, but what You want.” An angel from heaven came and gave Him strength. His heart was much troubled and He prayed all the more. Water ran from His face like blood and fell to the ground.

Thousands, to the twelve, to three, to alone.

We see Jesus, full of human emotions, full of shame, self-doubt, fear, anxiety, begging God to take this from him.  Begging God because he doesn’t feel adequate, he doesn’t feel strong, he doesn’t feel capable of doing the thing that he is to be doing.

There is no more human an emotion expressed to me in the Gospels than right here.  This is every single day of my life, I feel.  This is every struggle, hardship, pain, shameful moment of my life.  

God, please, do not make me do this.  God, please, give me another way.  God, please, take this from me.

Here we are not only given insight into Jesus feeling fear, externalized shame and anxiety, but we also see his broken vulnerability.  Jesus is pleading with God, begging the Father to give him an out.  Here we have a scared Christ who does not want to go through with whatever is coming down the pipe for him.  And, not only is this an example of how we are to pray, this is an example of how we are to be.  This is the human condition summed up in a few verses.  This is daily life for some.  

I don’t care where you are in your life, where you are in this moment, because we have all been where the Christ was in this passage.  We have isolated ourselves, we have been face down begging for something to change.  We have all had that overwhelming sense of shame and anxiety and fear and dread.  

We know the rest of this story.  

The temple leaders and the Roman guards come and take him away.  They beat him.  They take him before Pilate who sends him to Herod.  The same Herod who’s manager’s wife is footing the bill for the past three years of Jesus’ ministry.  To both, Jesus keeps quiet.  To both, he sits with the shame that is thrown on him.  To both, he acquiesces.  Herod sends him back to Pilate.  Pilate begs the people to allow him to release the Christ.

He’s marched to the hill, with a stranger carrying his cross, and he’s crucified.  His clothes are torn from him and given away.  He’s hung between two “lestes,” which is the same word used for the kind of people that Jesus kicks out of the temple when he storms it.  

As he’s hanging, naked, bleeding, having insults hurled at him, he once more begs the Father, but this time is to forgive these people.  

He dies.  Is placed in a tomb.  And three days later, he’s resurrected to physically join God as the signpost to a completed creation.

As we spoke last week, if ALL of this came from the what was, the singularity for those who believe in the Big Bang or the word and mind of the Creator God, then Christ’s suffering and shaming existed alongside the Garden story.  Christ’s suffering and shaming existed alongside your story.  

I made a handful of calls on my mile and some change walk back to my apartment this Monday.  One of those calls was made to Jarrod, from Guardian Brewing Company.  He just so happened to be at the brewery and asked me to stop by.  Jarrod, for all intents and purposes, is a non-believer.  Yet, as I felt the shame welling, along with the tears, Jarrod offered me comfort.  He told me a story about something stupid he’d done in his past and how it came back years later.  He shared in my suffering and shame, by bringing his own to the light.

Kyle, another friend, cried on the phone with me after I’d left Guardian.  He told me that he felt like he was letting his wife down every single day that they struggle in the kitchen for 24 hours straight.  He told me that he felt like he was letting his wife down every time they had to decide which bill to pay and which they could float for another month.  He told me that he knew what I was going through and he would be there for me through it.

When I finally worked up the courage to call my wife, I was afraid it was the last time I talked to her.  But, she said she understood.  She said that she had felt that way.  She said that we would get through this, together.  She said she didn’t care about the money.  She said she didn’t marry me because I might land a good paying job one day.  She said that she loved me.  Exactly where I was in that moment.

This is what the crucifixion story is to me.  It is the suffering and shamed figure of Jesus, with arms, quite literally, outstretched, saying, “Come to me.  I understand.  I have been there, brother.”

I’ve always had a hard time digesting the crucifixion story.  Going so far as to write this in my journal when Josh and I first started talking about me doing this series:

I think it’ll readily apparent that I wrote this somewhere else, at some point earlier in time.  I don’t think anyone here believes that I’m making this up on the spot (he says as he holds paper in his hands, clearly reading), nor do I think anyone believes I wrote this this morning before walking over from my apartment.  Does anyone even own a printer anymore?  C’mon.

So, to speak to the writing of this.  During it’s writing, I’m sitting in The Cafferinery.  It’s a few days before Christmas.  Josh texted me last night about ripping a hole in the crotch of his favorite pants.  There’s a duo of college age girls sitting at the table to the right of me, drinking a variety of things (coffee, cappuccino, water) and discussing the importance of cross-fit and kale water.  To my left are a group of elderly folks.  They’re discussing matters of health and politics and things well above and beyond my limited understanding.  A mother with her daughter are at the counter, ordering pastries for breakfast and something decaf for the daughter.  A Mariah Carey Christmas album is playing just a little too loudly.  It’s that strange volume where I can hear it, so you know, they should turn it down.  The senate has just passed their tax plan.  The most recent tragedy hasn’t happened, yet.  And I’m arguing with a pastor over the internet on what the Kingdom of God truly is.

I do not want to give this sermon.  I do not want to sit in this place, at this time, and write these words.  I struggle with them still.  Months after writing them.  I wrote last week’s sermon during the same week as this one, but I had no struggle in writing that.  It was fun.  It was enjoyable.  Anytime I get to call my wife a “cat hoarder,” well, that’s a good time for me.  Any time that I get to speak to shame as it relates to the Garden story truly resonates with me.  

But, this message.  These words.  These ideas.  This will be a struggle for me.  

You see, today, today we’re talking about the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christ, and what that means for our shame.  And, if I’m being honest with you, I struggle with this concept on a daily basis.  If you meet me on the street, or if you meet me where I am when writing this, at a coffee shop, with, as Josh says, “My fancy coffee,” which is just an African pour-over, chances are we will talk about everything under the sun, except for the crucifixion and resurrection.  

Up until this point in history, looking at the major world religions, any deity that has descended to earth has done so for selfish reasons.  Odin, according to Norse legend, hung himself on the world tree, sacrificed himself, not for his people, but so he could gain the wisdom of the runes.  He gave up his eye for wisdom, too.  Zeus came down from Olympus to sleep with whoever he found to be attractive.  Pharaohs were gods who came to earth to rule and build and wield power to suit their own whims.  But, the Christ, he came to die for us.  At our hands.  Because of our will.  

This does not sit well with me.  That this was part of the plan.  That after centuries of blood sacrifices, God could not come up with a better plan.  That one more bloodletting was required.  The final sacrifice.  God required one more offering of spilt blood, one more broken body.  What am I to do with this?  How do I teach this?

Two months ago, I had it all wrong.  Two days ago, I was still struggling with this.  The crucifixion is the story of one who is fully man and fully divine, living the human experience, feeling the pressures of society and culture and control.  It’s the story of a man who would have felt fear and anxiety and known shame and suffering.  Just so you don’t have to feel those things alone.  

It’s God kneeling to skin the animal and clothe Adam and Eve.  

It’s Jarrod sharing his story with me.  

It’s Josh telling me to write this sermon.  

It’s my dad who checked up on me every single day this week.  

It’s my boss, Corey, at the bar who gave me a hug.  

It’s my wife telling me that I’m an idiot.  

The crucifixion is the ultimate act of solidarity and comfort.  It’s the final, “I feel you.  I see you.”

It’s that spirit that I want us to bring into this time of communion.  We have the juice and the bread up here.  We are so dang fancy, we even have a gluten free option.  This meal is us entering into a story that’s larger than we can begin to understand.  It’s us entering into something that has slightly different meanings and applications for each of us.  

Today, right now, as those who are serving come forward, and as the band takes the stage…

We take the bread, the body of Christ, which was broken to understand how you are broken.  This isn’t just day-old bread from a local bakery, this is the physical representation of the co-suffering love of the Christ.  This is the physical representation of the lengths God went to in an effort to show understanding and compassion.  This is, once more, God kneeling to comfort our shame.  This is God coming to where we are, meeting us in this place, to offer us peace.

We take the juice, the blood of Christ, which was spilled to cover us.  Millions of gallons of blood were spilled during the Jewish sacrificial system but not even a drop offered tangible comfort.  For thousands of years, blood was poured out over the altar as atonement for sin, shame, to end suffering, to bring rain and a plentiful harvest.  But, the blood of the Christ was spilt to meet you in this place.  To share in your story of suffering and shame.

Today, right here, this very moment, in this very place, you can let it go.  Your shame.  Your suffering.  Christ has carried that Cup for you already.  He joined in this mess to tell you that he gets it.  He was beaten, broken, and killed to show you that there is peace and hope and comfort.  He was raised to see and know you in this moment.

Josh is gonna come out and pray for us and then you are invited to partake in communion as you feel called…

The street where the country home of the leader of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) is located in Afara Ukwu Community in Abia State, which used to be crowded like a market place is now deserted as passersby look left and right to be sure that no one is following them. The last topic any resident wants to discuss with you is the issue of Nnamdi Kanu’s family as they are suspicious that you may be working under cover for security operatives who have the IPOB under their radar. Those who summoned up courage to talk toSunday Sunreporter did so on the condition of anonymity. None of them agreed to disclose his or her name as they were not sure of their safety if the information filtered into the ears of security operatives, who they alleged have made it a ritual to rush into their community from time to time to look for scapegoats. “The last time they came here, it was a mere passerby who looked at the family house of Kanu that incurred their wrath and I am sure that the man will never pass through this place again,”Sunday Sunwas told by a man who declined to be identified. Another resident, a woman who tried to speak did that while walking as fast as her legs could carry her. “My brother, here, people live in fear as some of us who witnessed the invasion are still going through the trauma of what happened. It is not as if we are not bothered about the whereabouts of his parents, what can we do? Here, even if you are discussing it within the confines of your room, you still speak in hush-hush voice for fear that someone might be eavesdropping on you. “These people are our flesh and blood and we still care about them, because if their son had succeeded, Afara people would have also become the first beneficiaries. It is unfortunate that some of us are condemning them because of the way things are today. I for one don’t know where they are, whether the military took them away or they ran away in that confusion. My brother, you needed to have witnessed what happened here. It was a war situation,” she said and quickly walked away. The family house of Kanu looks like a place that has been abandoned for many years. The partially collapsed roofs of two big canopies located outside the perimeter wall indicate that they were probably damaged during the attack that took place there last year. Yet the canopies are doing their best to shield the two vehicles, a Sienna bus and car models, parked under them. It is believed that the vehicles belong to Kanu’s family. Bring back our parents dead or alive. Kanu's family tells military. The dust raised by the invasion of the home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on October 26, last year, has refused to settle, four months after the military raid. The family of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the of Biafra agitation group, has remained consistent in accusing the army of taking away three key members of the family – their father and traditional ruler of Afara community, HRH (Eze) Israel Okwu Kanu, his wife, Ugoeze Kanu and Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader himself. In a chat withSunday Sun, spokesman of the family, Prince Emmanuel Kanu said: “We’ve been asking the military to produce my brother, Nnamdi, and our parents because since after the raid on our home, we’ve not seen or communicated with any one of them yet.  The military should provide them anywhere they are. “As I speak with you, no one would really say if my parents are still alive because we’ve not seen nor heard from them ever since the invasion by the army. It is the hope of every family member that they are still alive because they did not do anything wrong to warrant their being killed. The hope that they are still alive of course is what is keeping other members of the family going till today.” Kanu said members of the family have severally urged the military to release their parents and also the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, to them whether dead or alive; including their mother’s boxes of clothes which the soldiers that invaded the compound allegedly took away. He demanded that the boxes be returned to the family. He, however, regretted that each time they make the request, the army always deny having Kanu’s parents and the IPOB leader himself in their custody. Kanu accused the army of telling lies to deceive the people and the international community. His words: “Each time we make the request, the army would come out to deny that they never arrested the monarch and his wife. But it should be noted that the Nigerian Army has been known as people that tell lies so much; they are full of lies all the time. When they kidnapped my brother in 2015, they lied about it until pressure came before they admitted and the DSS too. “So, the same thing has happened again. The same thing that happened in the case of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has happened again. So, their duty is to unlawfully take people, keep them wherever suits them until they find out what to do with that person. So, I believe Nnamdi Kanu is still alive somewhere, but then, we expect them to produce him whether dead or alive. “The other time we drew the attention of the international community about the military invasion of our home, the Chief of Army staff, Lt. General Buratai said that they never invaded our house until the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali said he authorized the invasion of our home which made it a little clearer to the wider world.” Kanu said his father’s long absence is being felt both in Afara Ukwu and Abia State in general. “The Afara Ukwu community, my father’s subjects and his cabinet, they miss him so much, the executives of Isiama Afara Ukwu miss him too. In fact, the entire Ibeku and Abia State as a whole miss him so much. “Particularly, Afara Ukwu people feel his absence much because he is the chief security officer of the community and you know what it means for him to have been away from his kingdom for this long, they miss his leadership and they miss the interaction with them so much.” While urging IPOB members to remain very resolute and loyal to the leadership of the group, Kanu reiterated his call for the army to release his parents and brother, Nnamdi Kanu, whether dead or alive. Source : sunnewsonline

TIME TO HEAL, JULY 2017 ENRGY FORECAST

Skip to content Witches Of The Craft® PRIMARY MENU  Time To Heal – July 2017 Energy Forecast Posted by Mistress of the Myst

Time To Heal – July 2017 Energy Forecast

 a message from Emmanuel Dagher To view more of Emmanuel’s insight, please visit his website, EmmanueldDagher.com Hi My Friend,

It’s such an honor for me to connect with you in this way. Thank you for choosing to consciously align with a path of love and expansion, and for allowing your heart to be open.

There are many new changes happening right now, so let’s get right to them!

Expressing Ourselves

The first few weeks of July are all about coming out of our energetic shell. There will be a strong desire to step out of our regular routine, to try something different.

If we have a naturally outgoing personally, this will only be enhanced. If we tend to be a bit more shy and introverted, these next few weeks will open up something within us, giving us the opportunity to let go of much of the armor we’ve built around ourselves.

This armor had the purpose of protecting us in the old paradigm. However, it is no longer needed, because our mind is expanding to a point where it fully understands that our Spirit is and has always been taking care of us, every step of the way.

That armor can be set aside now.

Being Seen

We came into this world to been seen.

Being seen starts with consciously choosing to “see” ourselves first.

If we are not seeing ourselves fully for the magnificence that we are, we will keep searching outside of ourselves for approval, love, and acceptance.

Doing this will keep us in “chase” mode, where we are constantly seeking something, and never feeling truly happy and fulfilled.

When I mentioned that we came into this world to be seen, did that feel true for you? Or did you feel some resistance come up?

If you felt resistance, know that that is absolutely normal. Often, the reason we are resistant to anything that helps us make ourselves a priority, or that allows us to shine brightly, is that we have conditioned ourselves to believe the opposite is preferable.

Most of us taught ourselves early on to “blend in” with the majority of society.

We made up our mind that it was not safe or OK for us to fully be ourselves. And when we were being ourselves,

we seemed to get punished for it, because the world didn’t seem ready for what we had to offer.

Of course, we know that this is not what was really happening, when we look at it from an expanded perspective. But to the mind, these experiences were very important, and shaped how we started showing up in the world.

The way to move beyond the need to identify with the old patterns of remaining “safely invisible” is to understand that it was never about anyone else seeing us.

It was us about seeing ourselves.

Every experience we have ever had brought us the gift of this awareness. The awareness of seeing, loving, and honoring ourselves fully.

During the first half of July, we may find ourselves desiring to connect and communicate with others more. This might happen face to face, over the phone, online, or in some other way.

However it shows up, it’s important to honor that moment by not holding in whatever we truly desire to say.

We may also find ourselves trying new things. It could be anything from trying a new class or hobby to getting a completely new hairstyle, and everything in between.

Whatever presents itself to us, as long as it feels positive and exciting … now is the time to try it!

Expressing our thoughts, feelings, ideas, and heart in the early parts of July will set the foundation for the second part of July, which is all about taking action, especially with the things we are most passionate about creating and experiencing.

A Time to Heal

During the past few weeks and continuing well into July, many of us will notice and experience big changes, especially when it comes to our healing journey.

The paradigm we have expanded into now is allowing for quick changes in healing to happen in our physical, emotional, mental, and financial bodies.

Healing used to be more about “doing,” which required more of an “effort” energy. Now it is more about simply “being,” where we operate from a space of allowance.

When we allow things to unfold as they are naturally meant to—when we move out of the way—the healing occurs on its own.

Those who serve as a holistic/wellness practitioner or spiritual teacher, and those who are in the creative arts, may have noticed their gifts have evolved quickly over the past few months.

It takes a certain kind of practice to reach a state of pure allowance, where we no longer exert as much energy as we may have in the past, especially when it comes to reaching a desired outcome.

One of the main reasons for this, is that the need for or attachment to reaching a particular outcome is itself actually falling away. That opens us up to even greater outcomes the mind may not have consciously thought of yet.

This is where that saying, “Let go and let God/the Universe take care of everything” finally begins to make a lot of sense.

When we operate from this space of complete nonattachment, we become witness to instantaneous physical, emotional, mental, and financial healing, within ourselves, others, and the world around us.

If you feel you have not been able to receive or notice the healings taking place within and around you, now is your opportunity to be willing to let go of your expectations for specific outcomes.

Those expectations may be holding you back from experiencing the ultimate, much higher reality available to you.

One of my favorite morning intentions is to affirm: “I choose to let go, and let love.”

This reminds me that whatever burdens and attachments I’m still carrying, I can lovingly hand them over to my Higher Self / Spirit Self so that I can make space for new blessings to enter my life.

The attachments the mind often creates to keep it operating in the “doing” energy actually serve as fillers or placeholders in our inner vision that prevent us from noticing and being open to new, unexpected blessings in our lives.

As simple as the intention “I choose to let go and let love” may sound, to the mind it can present a real struggle.

This is because when the mind tries to let go of something it thinks it still needs, it fears that it’s losing something important.

In reality, by letting go of what no longer serves our highest good, such as attachments to specific outcomes that keep the mind in fear, worry, lack, judgment, etc., we’re not losing anything.

Instead, we are gaining everything.

How? The mind may ask.

When we let go, we are letting go of the illusion. We can also call it “the chase.”

The illusion or “the chase” is simply another way of saying “expecting a limited reality.”

So when we let go of our belief in the limitations around a reality, what happens?

We step into a reality of Infinite Possibilities. expanding into our greatest potential, and no longer keeping ourselves small.

We are then opening up to Life in the fullest sense.

Ending the Chase

Society has taught us to look outside of ourselves for anything we want to create and experience.

This conditioning has created the illusion known as “the chase.”

This occurs when the mind has decided that it has to pursue and attain something, exerting lots of energy and time and moving through challenges, in order for it to get what it thinks it really wants.

Doesn’t that sound exhausting? Yet we all know this process very well, don’t we?

Choosing to live in chase mode does at times satisfy the left brain, which is all about order, structure, and organization. It satisfies that part of the mind, because it feeds its ability to operate in linear time, which is where mental structure and survival patterns thrive.

It’s important to honor the structured aspect of ourselves.

Yet if we are always operating from this space, especially when it comes to living the life we truly desire, it creates many limitations, and exhausts us on all levels.

The key to attracting well-being, joy, abundance, and all of the fun blessings life has to offer, is to recognize that the world around us is a direct result of the internal awareness, thoughts, and actions we are choosing daily.

It’s about understanding that we are the magnet that is bringing to us all of the experiences we are having.

So with this awareness that we are the magnet, and not our actions, we can then pay attention to whether we are creating from a space of being in the illusion/the chase, or creating from a space of being fully aware.

We attract to us everything we are experiencing as a result of what we project out into the world.

So if our desire is to receive more love, we can then become love. If our desire is to become more financially wealthy, then we can share and give from a place of joy and nonattachment.

The big difference here is that one reality exerts a lot of energy through forcing things to happen, while the other allows us to simply attract and bring in the things we desire with ease and grace.

If we are ready to heal, we are being given the opportunity to do so now, in a very real and lasting way. If we are not fully willing and ready to heal, that’s OK too … there will be more opportunities to do so in the future.

Everyone is exactly where they are meant to be on their journey.

If you are being called to learn and enhance your natural healing and/or creative gifts, trust your inner guidance. You might choose to enrich your gifts by taking a class or a workshop that resonates with you, or to read a book that feels empowering.

Receiving support from a compassionate wellness or spiritual practitioner would be another way to contribute to your healing. Being a practitioner myself, I find that it can be easy for me to forget to ask for support.

In fact, asking for support used to be quite challenging for me. But once I decided to move out of my comfort zone and ask for help, many doors that were once closed opened up for me. I even became a better practitioner as a result.

Finding an opportunity to give back and to be of service to humanity is also something that will greatly support our own expansion and healing. This allows the mind to move out of the pattern of being self-involved, and redirects its awareness to the betterment of all humanity.

The Universe LOVES acts of service that come from a place of our simply wanting to experience the joy of helping others.

Taking Inspired Action

As mentioned earlier in the forecast, during the second half of July, beginning around July 17, we will experience a newfound confidence that will help us take inspired action when it comes to creating and aligning with the things we are most passionate about.

Inspired action is about taking action from a place of complete flow and awareness. It is not forced. It doesn’t require a lot of effort.

A big part of taking inspired action is about allowing ourselves to be seen. Rather than staying home most of the time, this will be the time to get out of the house and have some fun.

With this kind of “being out and about,” all that is required of us is simply to be ourselves.

Everything else will take care of itself, as long as we are present and in the moment, and noticing the opportunities as they come in.

For those of us who are ready to expand and heal, the temperature is perfect for all of that to happen now.

As always, it’s such a gift for me to get to share with you in this way. If you enjoyed or benefited from reading this forecast, please pass it on to someone you love and care about.

With so much love,

Miraculously yours,

Emmanuel

Advertisements  Share With Others   Share on Tumblr inShare 1PrintEmail  Posted on July 6, 2017 by ladyoftheabyss Posted in Articles, Daily Posts RELATED The Tide is Turning - July 2016 In "Articles" New Adventures - August 2015 In "Articles" The Lightness Returns - February 2016 In "Articles" Post navigation Previous Previous post: THE WITCHES MOON PHASE FOR JULY 6TH IS THE WAXING GIBBOUS PHASE Next Next post: MONTHLY ASTRO-FORECASTS JULY 2017 2 THOUGHTS ON “TIME TO HEAL – JULY 2017 ENERGY FORECAST”

ITAH JUDAH NDUKA July 6, 2017 at 7:38 pm Are these messages only for women? because am a male

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Reply LADYOFTHEABYSS July 6, 2017 at 7:41 pm I am Lord of the Myst. I don’t know if you read why we are having to use Lady A’s account or not but, I am a male. And to answer your question, no they are not just for women. If you do a search, you will find there are plenty of articles on here for men. I have put several on here in regards to the Druids and Druidry. I would say there is probably as many men in the WOTC as there are women.

Welcome brother, Lord M

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Summer Moon Hungry Ghost Moon Ripe Corn Moon Crane Moon Moon of the Middle Summer Moon of Claiming Mead Moon Rose Moon  MOON FOLKLORE FOR THE DAY

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