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i was on NPR talking about Autism shit two weeks ago, and i have the book sales figures from that week and that national media appearance had.... absolutely zero relationship to sales. on the typical week these days, 1,400 to 1,500 copies of Unmasking Autism will sell. The week that I was on NPR there was a slight dip; only about 1,300 books were sold.

i have done a lot of press for my books. For Laziness Does Not Exist I did easily a 100 damn podcasts and radio shows and newspapers and excerpts in magazines. none of it corresponded to a noticeable bump in sales. the biggest "get" my publicist found for my latest book was the Glennon Doyle show, a booking she and her team celebrated and then spent months clamboring excitedly for... it, too, had no obvious relationship to sales.

Unmasking Autism became a bestseller because some other guy made a tiktok about it, and then a bunch of tiktokkers made videos about it too. all on their own. without any prodding from me, or any relationship to me. it was completely organic, passionate, and sincere, and rooted in the book's true merits and usefulness to other people, and that's why it inspired lots of sales. and continues to more than a year and a half later. all the press I did for Unmasking Autism prior to the release of that tiktok did relatively far less. NPR, Goop, the LA Times, Lit Hub, Jacobin, Huffpo, the New York Times, the Financial Times, MSNBC, Business Insider. Didn't matter. at least not much. so why do i bother?

publishers really ride your ass trying to make you give lots of interviews and show up for lots of events but it's all based on the worship of traditional media and magical thinking that it will somehow convert listeners into buyers. and that's just not how it works. the truth is 95% of books never sell more than 5,000 copies, and most people don't buy books or read them. i love reading but i dont think this is itself some terrible loss, as most books are padded-out commodities made for sale more than a work of true artistic passion or scholarly merit, and sometimes listening to a 90 minute interview with an author tells you the bulk of what you need to know.

it's freeing to know that the effort i put into getting my books out into the world have almost zero relationship to the books' success. marketing just does not work. it's a relief. unmasking autism did fabulously because it's actually both good and useful. laziness has had a long life span because it speaks to real problems in people's lives and gives them a message they are desperate to hear. but no amount of thirsty ass online shilling will make somebody realize that and it's maddening to try. you just gotta focus on doing good work, work that you enjoy making or need to make and that you feel good about, let things flop if theyre gonna flop, and keep on living your life.

which is all good news because i really do hate a lot of these fucking interviews. how can i stomach being on npr or in the atlantic or whatever these days given how complicit nearly all major media outlets are in justifying this genocide. like who fuckin cares about them, who wants their approval. who needs it. it's of no value

Daily update post:

This morning, 15 minutes after the break in fighting was supposed to begin, Hamas fired two rocket barrages into southern Israel. This is what we mean when we say that Hamas has broken every ceasefire ever. The only reason why this didn't lead to the hostage deal falling apart, is because Israel chose to "contain" Hamas' violent rocket attack. But remember this when we explain why we can't accept Hamas' existence anymore.

Israel confirmed that the 13 hostages being released have arrived in Egypt, and there are already Israelis there, taking care of them. IDK when we'll get their names, and images of them safe back in Israel, but as you can imagine, everyone here is holding its breath for that. Still, their well being comes first, they're being taken to a hospital first, to see their families, and only then (and based on whatever they prefer) will there be anything more public. There will not be interviews, however, 'coz something they say might risk the other groups of hostages meant to be released in the upcoming days.

Hamas is also releasing some of the Thai nationals they've kidnapped (I heard 12 of the 23 taken hostage), which are being let go of unconditionally. Before anyone tries to make out this shows Hamas is humane, I'll just point out that Hamas terrorists murdered at least 33 Thais on Oct 7.

Some of my fave commentators recently on what's going on here since Hamas' massacre aren't Jewish, or even Israeli. Here's a few of their tweets:

Regarding the last one, I just wanna say that most Israelis will continue to trust most Arabs. That's just how we have always lived, despite the on going terror attacks. The day after Oct 7, I mentioned that I went to my hospital treatment. The guard there is an Arab guy. He carries a gun. I couldn't help but think about it. And then I did what I always do, I thanked him for his work (being a guard is difficult), and wished him a good day. He smiled big and wished me the same. He's lovely. What Hamas did on Oct 7 is not his fault. But the mistrust of survivors, and some of those who care about them, is also very human and understandable, as much as I'll continue to call on everyone not to generalize about Arabs, or any group.

Especially when some of Hamas' victims are themselves Arabs. Here's a young Israeli Muslim Bedouin woman, who has been speaking up on behalf of her friend, 17 years old Aisha al Ziadna, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct 7.

A Sky News reporter was particularly shameful the other day. She tried to use Israel's willingness to release 3 convicted terrorist per just 1 innocent civilian hostage to vilify Israel. Here's the reply she got:

Just a reminder, once again, that when you listen to western media, which is supposed to be objective, these are often their info sources on this conflict:

Speaking of lack of objectivity, an Israeli newspaper found out that the International Criminal Court has appointed a Danish lawyer to investigate the Israel-Hamas war, and it's a man (I'm not sure I'm transcribing his name from Hebrew correctly, but it should be something like Andreas Laursen) who has worked in the past for a Palestinian "human rights organization" which has been outlawed in 2021 for having ties to terrorist organizations, who was involved in 2018 in trying to make the case that Israel had committed war crimes, who has lived in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, and who is married to a Palestinian woman. This Israeli newspaper has contacted the ICC, asking why the person appointed to this investigation isn't someone who would at least appear to be unbiased. The answer was (I'm translating from the Hebrew article): "We maintain confidentiality about anything that pertains to specific subjects that are related to our employees. Every personal decision made by the head prosecutor fits the policy and relevant procedures that oversee the court's human resources matters."

Because there are still people denying the Hamas rapes:

I've spoken before about Liel, and how long it took to identify her body, but this tweet kind of broke me all over again.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

This is the incredible Caroline Cossey. She is probably the person who has had the greatest influence upon my development as a transwoman and my becoming the woman I am today. I'll explain why later. Some of you may know of her and her story already. If you do, please bear with me while I recount her story and try to explain why I admire her so much.

Caroline Cossey is a British model, author and actress who was born in Norfolk, England, in 1954. Through puberty Caroline was distinctly feminine in appearance due to an intersex variation of XXXY syndrome. Growing up she experienced confusing feelings about her gender and was bullied by her peers due to her feminine appearance and behaviour. At 16 she left home and moved to London.

She started transitioning while working as an usherette in London's West End. By the age of 17 Caroline was receiving hormone therapy and working full-time in a female gender role as a showgirl. At this stage she had not told her family about her transition and continually made excuses so as not to return home. Eventually she decided that she had to go home as she missed her parents and sister so much. She did not tell her family she was coming and simply walked into the house as a girl. Her family accepted her immediately and supported her completely.

Following breast augmentation surgery Caroline worked as a showgirl in Paris and as a topless dancer in Rome, so she could save money for her gender reassignment surgery. She saved up for her own surgery because the waiting-list to have it performed free on the National Health Service would have meant waiting years. After years of hormone therapy, and a legal name change, Caroline had her final surgery in December 1974 when she was 20.

Caroline then worked as a model under the name 'Tula'. She appeared in top magazines such as "Australian Vogue" and "Harper's Bazaar", and worked extensively as a glamour model. She was a Page Three Girl (a topless glamour model which featured on page three) for the British tabloid "The Sun" (once appearing topless alongside her sister Pam) and later appeared in "Penthouse" and "Playboy". These days transgender models are nothing unusual and they are openly accepted as transgender. In the late-1970s this was not the case. If it became known that Caroline was transgender her career could have been over.

In 1978 Caroline had a regular part as as a 'beautiful assistant' in a British TV gameshow. A tabloid jounalist then contacted her, revealing he had discovered she was transgender and planned to write about it in his newspaper. Other jounalists researched her past and attempted to interview her family. Caroline quickly dropped out of the show. After this she kept a low profile, accepting only minor modelling assignments.

In 1981 Caroline was cast as an extra in the James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only". Shortly after the film's release the tabloid newspaper "The News of the World" published a front-page headline which read "James Bond Girl Was a Boy." She was so upset by this that she contemplated suicide. As a result of this all her scenes were removed from the film.

However, she continued her modelling career by focussing, once again, on smaller assignments. Caroline then responded by releasing "I Am a Woman", which was her first autobiography, in 1982.

Caroline became engaged to Count Glauco Lasinio, an Italian advertising executive, who was the first man to date her knowing of her past. He encouraged her to petition for changes in the British law concerning transexuals. The engagement ended, but her legal efforts continued for seven years, eventually reaching the Europen Court of Human Rights.

After breaking up with Lasinlo, Caroline met Elias Fattal, a businessman who was unaware of her history until he proposed to her on Valentines Day, 1988. When she told him, rather than rejecting her, he stated he wanted to go ahead with the marriage. They were married in 1989, weeks after the European Court of Human Rights decided to legally recognise Caroline as a woman. They returned from their honeymoon to find that "The News of the World" had published a story on their wedding, which led Fattal to seek an annulment.

On 27th September 1990, the European Court of Human Rights overturned its earlier decision, following an appeal from the British government. Caroline returned to modelling which she had given up 4 years earlier.

In 1991, Caroline released "My Story", which was her second and final autobiography. In it she gave details of her transition, her relationship with Fattal and her unsuccesful battle with the European Court of Human Rights. She was featured in the September 1991 issue of "Playboy" in the pictorial "The Transition of Tula," as an acknowledged transgender woman.

In 1992 Caroline married Canadian David Finch.

Following her marriage Caroline continued to fight for her right to legally marry in the UK and to be legally recognised as a woman.

Caroline is now 68 years young, still beautiful, and has finally found the peace and happiness she richly deserves

......................................

I came across a copy of "My Story" in a second-hand bookshop when I was a teenager. At that time I was living and dressing full-time as a girl and living in a small country town in rural Hertfordshire. I didn't know anyone else that was transgender and had no-one I could really express my feelings and concerns to (apart from my family). I suffered some abuse and the odd beating from the boys I was at school with - and I felt a bit alone. I had lots of girl friends but despite all their encouragement and support i needed someone who understood what it actually felt like to be transgender.

Reading Caroline's book was an eye-opener! I related to so much that she said, especially about her early years. I found it incredible that at my age she was taking hormones and working as a showgirl! I couldn't see that being allowed for me - though I think I'd make a great showgirl! Times had certainly changed!

What shocked me most was the way she had to hide the fact that she was transgender or risk losing her career. That and the fact that the press went out of their way to out her and persecute her. I was disgusted by the way the press targeted her regardless of the consequences their actions may have had - including her potential suicide. No-one should EVER be outed without their permission.

At least Caroline's book showed me that things have improved for the better, however slightly and slowly. I'm so glad I wasn't transitioning back in the 1970's. I have nothing but respect for those that were.

Anyway, reading Caroline's book really inspired me. It also made me realise that I didn't really have much to complain about compared to what she went through. It really helped focus on what really mattered to me and made me wish I had half the courage she has.

I even wrote a letter to Caroline introducing myself and explaining who I was and how much reading her book had meant to me. I sent it to her publishers and didn't really expect a reply. However, I eventually received a lovely letter from Caroline in which she expressed her support and wished me the best for the future. She was really genuine and warm. She also enclosed a signed photo. I still have the book (now containing Caroline's letter) and the framed photo now stands on my mantlepiece.

Sorry this has been so long! Katie XXX

San Jose Sharks/San Jose Barracuda media resources!

HELLO everyone, I keep seeing more and more new faces in the notes of Sharks prospects posts, which is BANANAS because who even cares about the Sharks, but also, welcome, I am so glad you are here!! Being a fan of the San Jose Barracuda is easier when there are people who are suffering with you so I'm glad for every new person who sees a picture of some prospect and goes 🤨. Our prospect pipeline is full of delightful and charming young men who are varying degrees of incredibly boneheaded and development camp is always such a special, stupid, joy.

I thought it might be nice to do a round up of media resources for the teams, since there seem to be some new eyes on the players and interest in learning more! Luckily, San Jose is not Toronto, so the media landscape is much easier to navigate.

Note: this is not an exhaustive list, it's just media sources that I tend to hit up the most often and trust more than other sites. But again, we also don't have that much lol.

SITES:

San Jose Hockey Now: They have good access to the team and do a lot of prospect stuff. They also read like People magazine. It's incredibly entertaining. Most of their prospect interviews are locked behind a paywall but it's literally $3.49 a month* to subscribe so PLEASE consider signing up

Fear the Fin: They did decent stuff when they were part of SB Nation, however they were part of the cuts of SB Nation, so they're still getting back on their feet as an independent site. Their photographer is fantastic.

The Hockey News' San Jose Sharks vertical: Max Miller is fighting for his life in the trenches, but sometimes has interesting soundbites.

Again it's San Jose so we don't have like. very much. Also normally I'd recommend checking out local newspapers for their beats, but the Mercury News' Sharks beat reporter is not that great and you get so much further with SJHN or Corey Masisak.

TWITTER (and Instagram)

The state of our social media teams is such that they are absolutely horrific experiences to perceive, which is, to be clear, so reflective of living in San Jose generally.

San Jose Sharks on twitter // on instagram

San Jose Barracuda on twitter // on instagram

There are also player instagrams which you can look up on your own because I feel weird linking personal instagrams lol.

Media people worth following:

Sheng Peng: Editor in Chief of SJHN who gets some of the most charming soundbites out of the guys. Also some of the most ??? soundbites. And then, I cannot stress this enough, frames the conversations like a pulp magazine.

Corey Masisak: formerly of the Athletic, thankfully now one of the Sharks staff writers. He's quite a talented writer and has a good touch with the teams and has gotten some charming human interest stories out of the Sharks. We love him and hate Kevin Kurz. Follow him on Twitter for direct links to articles -- the NHL.com website is mostly press releases and hell to navigate.

Lizz Child: the Barracuda's staff writer, also their smm. Great interviews with the players, she's good at getting honest answers out of them. Also has an incredible wealth of knowledge about players coming out of the WHL.

Max Miller: the kid holding the Sharks beat for the Hockey News together, I don't have a strong opinion on him but he does come up with good stuff sometimes

PODCASTS:

What baffles me about San Jose Sharks podcasting landscape is that we have SO MANY FAN PODCASTS and yet somehow they're all garbage?? Where is our YCDT, our Tunnel Talk. I'd start one but I have no friends and nothing interesting to say and absolutely no one needs hear another man run his mouth off about hockey. Also I would jump off a bridge if the org perceives me again.

All links go to Spotify.

Locked on Sharks: JD Young is like my pet hamster. He is SO BAD at interviewing, however he is also a huge hype man of the prospects and gets interviews with some of the guys who don't get quite as much attention or who are not big names yet. (He's getting better at interviewing, but it's taking him. years.)

The Undercurrent with Tara Slone: One of the Sharks official podcasts, everyday I wake up and go how the fuck did we get Tara Slone on our payroll. It's a newer podcast, but she's already had some great conversations with prospects.

Cuda Confidential: NICK NOLLENBERGER, BELOVED. Nolly is the Cuda's play by play announcer for AHLTV and I think also the Cuda's head of PR. Generally very charming, he does good interviews, especially with the older guys. I also really like his game recaps for Cuda games, they're short and he does a good job of running through everything that happened

Sharks Hockey Digest: I have never listened to this because I think it's mostly PR conferences, but apparently they started to doing off season interviews so I guess I gotta. 🫠

ON TUMBLR

There are 4.5 fans in the cudablr fan community. Join us.

@18minutemajor is THE artist of our time

@tofumilanesa is giffin those Cuda games and Sharks games when their special dudes are involved and also has a great eye for when the players are doing some incredibly stupid shit on ice

@whoredeleau is grabbing the tweets and instagram photos and videos

@bunnymcfoo occasionally posts game day photos

me, who is mostly grabbing photos of old guys from the Cuda's flickr and very occasionally from Instagram, and posting live updates from the Cuda games that include such critical information for the broader fan community as "Coach Jmac got a haircut I think" and "Pat Sieloff looked tenderly at another old man today" and "Nick Cicek is riled up at the refs and it's giving 'my son asked for no pickles'" and "I just found out the arena sells cookies."

and for AO3 lmao.....hit me up on my main (@moregraceful) - I try to keep it lowkey on this blog ever since the fucking org found me.

Anyway, hope literally any of that is helpful!! I love when people get interested in this cringefail franchise. I'll be at the scrimmage tonight and hopefully have something interesting to report. Any questions feel free to ask!!

Happy Birthday Scottish classical violinist, Nicola Benedetti, born July 20th 1987 in West Kilbride.

Nicola started learning to play the violin at the age of four, by age eight she was the leader of the National Children’s Orchestra, at nine, she had already passed the eight grades of musical examinations while attending the independent Wellington School, Ayr, a year later she was studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School for young musicians under Menuhin himself and Natasha Boyarskaya in rural Surrey.

After an education like that she was destined for stardom.

When Benedetti was 14, she won a Prodigy of the Year contest on England’s Carlton Television network. A hint of her potential crossover appeal came when she drew a crowd of 10,000 at the rock-oriented Glastonbury Festival’s “classical extravaganza” in the summer of 2003. She told London’s Independent newspaper, however, that “I have not ruled out different types of music but I was trained as a classical musician. I don’t want to compromise what I do and what I love.” She’s not your typical Scot either, in another interview she said that “I’m not really into clubbing and I’ve never smoked or drunk much…”

Benedetti took a big step toward mainstream classical stardom when she won the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year award in May 2004, the first Scot to take home the BBC prize.

Nicola did have a healthy streak of that quintessential Scottish trait – prudence. This led her to eventually slow down her performance schedule so that she could further her musical studies and her technique, confident that she would be a better overall musician for it, and determined to play what she loves.

By the following decade, Benedetti’s schedule was as full as ever, taking in a 2010 debut at the BBC Proms; chamber music recitals at European festivals; chamber and concerto performances in North America and Europe in 2011

Honours were inevitable she was awarded doctorates from Glasgow Caledonian University in November 2007, and from Heriot-Watt University in 2010

In 2019, Benedetti formalised her commitment to music in education when she established The Benedetti Foundation, the same year she was also given the annual Royal Medal award by the Royal Society of Edinburgh for improving the lives of deprived Scottish children through Sistema Scotland and the Big Noise Orchestras. In 2020, she won the Grammy for best classical instrumental solo for Marsalis: Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite.

With three of her album releases topping the Classical charts and another reached number 2,  Benedetti’s has cemented her position as one of the most popular violinists of her generation.

Last year it was announced that Nicola would be the new director of The Edinburgh Festival, the first female to hold the position. Nicola has set out a vision for the 2023 Festival to deliver the deepest possible experience, with the highest quality performances, to the broadest possible audience.

Comprising 295 separate events from 4-27 August, Edinburgh International Festival 2023 features work from over 2000 local and international artists from across 48 nations, please note this is not The Fringe Festival, but it's big brother, which features professional performers, as opposed to mainly amateurs at the Fringe.

Benedetti says, “After we have celebrated 75 years of our Festival, we now enter into a new phase of redefining, together, where we go next.

"At a time of huge global change and challenge, we will hear powerful and diverse perspectives of artists from across the world.

“Edinburgh International Festival has long been dedicated to advocating world-class performing art and innovating new ways to bring it to audiences. I am immensely proud of this year’s programme, and look forward to expanding on this legacy in 2023”.

Unpopular K-POP Opinion: Somi's Releases Prior To Fast Forward Are Chronically Misunderstood

Now, whilst I love 'Fast Forward', I keep seeing people on the internet leaving comments everywhere alike how her music finally sounds like Somi, or that her music finally starts to sound good (by people making points about her previous songs that are just so misunderstood). Because Somi has always been Somi. I remember so many people, including big K-YouTubers say she was trying to appeal to the American market with "What You Waiting For". As a Dutch K-POP fan I'm still fuming. It's a song where she plays various characters where the names are either derived from her Korean name, her Dutch name or a mix! She dances on top of a building that has her Dutch name! She was owning she was biracial of Dutch descent in that song and all of you are like, "No that's American."

Are you non-Dutch K-POP fans even aware she already had an interview in a Dutch newspaper back when she was at JYP and actually vacationed to the Netherlands as her Canadian Dutch father did teach his kids about his roots? That she expressed it was her dream to someday be on a Dutch stage? In homogeneous cultures, there is still generally this tribal sense of 'you share our blood? Good, you belong with us.' Whilst Somi's father is of an ethnic minority called the Frisians, the ethnic Dutch don't have a long history of mistreating them (unlike some other countries *looking at you England*). In fact because the Frisians participated alongside us, shoulder to shoulder in our war for independence back when Spain ruled over our nation, they are amongst the oldest provinces around where they are free to speak their native language and retain their cultural differences. The Frisians are part of our nation and we see them as our brethren. What You Waiting For is Somi being patriotic to both South Korea and the Netherlands, and I understood her sound immediately because of it; she's aiming for a blend of euro-pop and K-pop. That's the kind of artist she wants to be. Which makes perfect sense. As for 'Dumb Dumb', I cannot believe the number of people calling it a 'rip off' off Jennie's 'Solo'. I am sorry, but her song did not invent that formula, Sunmi's 'Gashina' did and Teddy Park is recycling the formula like he always does. But honestly, Dumb Dumb is the better Gashina rip off. Thematically, Gashina and Solo are also similar which is amongst the reason why Solo is more forgettable. Because that song already exists in Gashina. Dumb Dumb's lyrics actually have a different theme. Gashina is about a break up, whilst Dumb Dumb is about getting together with someone. Which kind of makes the song sound like a follow up where the protagonist finds a new boy to move onto. Also, Somi still has her JYP essence, just like Sunmi which just matches that kind of beat. With JYP essence, I mean the playfulness artists at JYP or who started at JYP have. Just look at Twice, the queens of Bubblegum! It's this JYP essence why my mom is a casual fan of NMIXX, because she thinks the group has humor to their music *and also why Queencard is her favorite song from (G)I-DLE* Jennie's vibe honestly doesn't fits into a song that was made succesful by an artist with JYP roots, whilst Somi does because she also has JYP roots. Just look at how silly the title Dumb Dumb actually is, but Somi owns her lyrics with absolute confidence and playfulness like Sunmi does. In a way, because of Somi's song being more youthful because she's younger, one can even make this feel as a prequel about the protagonist's first love. In whatever way you want to attach this song's theme to Gashina's, it just works. Whilst Jennie's was a blatant repeat. Now with all that I have said, please don't kill me.

Some Jeffrey Epstein associates identified in unsealed documents

Names of more than 150 of Jeffrey Epstein's associates being unsealed Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are mentioned in the documents Expert says new charges against named individuals are unlikely Katie Smith #Epstein  #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs

Updated: JAN 5, 2024 / 01:55 PM CST

For the latest on the Epstein documents release, click here.

(NewsNation) — More than 900 pages of court documents were released Wednesday night from the investigation and trials surrounding former billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

A federal court began releasing previously secret documents Wednesday related to Epstein that disclose the names of more than 150 people associated with the disgraced financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The documents are being unsealed on a rolling basis, with two being held back until at least Jan 22. The records may include the names of those who worked for Epstein or only had weak ties to the financier as well as potential victims and witnesses. Appearing in the documents does not mean someone is connected to any wrongdoing.

‘Finally free:’ Gypsy Rose Blanchard has busy first week after release The names of those mentioned so far in the documents range from politicians to Hollywood actors, including some of the nation’s most rich and powerful.

Among those named in the initial documents include former President Bill Clinton, former President Donald Trump, Michael Jackson, David Copperfield, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.

Many of the names belong to people who had already been publicly connected to Epstein as his long-time associates or friends, including his former lawyer Alan Dershowitz who was mentioned in the documents 137 times. Dershowitz pushed hard for all of the court documents to be released to clear his name.

It’s imperative to note the list does not imply that everyone is accused of wrongdoing or illegal and immoral behavior.

The documents come from a settled civil lawsuit that Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was a victim of sex trafficking, filed against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.

The Miami Herald has been fighting to unseal documents filed as part of that lawsuit since 2018. The legal battle came to a head in December when U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered the names could be unsealed beginning Jan. 1.

At the time, Preska said many of the people named in the documents had already given media interviews or their names were listed in other public court documents pertaining to the case.

Jeffrey Epstein timeline: Sex trafficking, scandals, Ghislaine Maxwell She ordered that some names be redacted to protect the anonymity of minors who were victims of sex crimes.

You can read the full document below:

Maxwell’s attorneys, Arthur L. Aidala and Diana Fabi Samson, on Thursday, said Maxwell “took no position” on the decision to unseal documents in the Giuffre v. Maxwell case.

“These disclosures have no bearing on her or her pending appeal. Ghislaine’s focus is on the upcoming appellate argument asking for her entire case to be dismissed. She is confident that she will obtain justice in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence,” the attorneys said in a statement.

Social media has been rife in recent weeks with posts speculating that the documents would include a list of rich and powerful men who were Epstein’s “clients” or “co-conspirators.”

There was no such list. The initial collection of around 40 documents made public largely contained material that had been released previously, or exhaustively been covered in nearly two decades’ worth of newspaper stories, TV documentaries, interviews and books about the Epstein scandal.

Still, the records — which included transcripts of interviews with some of Epstein’s victims — included reminders that Epstein surrounded himself with famous and powerful figures, including a few who have also been accused of misconduct.

Giuffre says Epstein and Maxwell pressured her as a teenager to engage in sexual relationships with powerful men, including Prince Andrew. Those men denied the allegations, and Giuffre later settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew out of court.

One of the documents unsealed Wednesday is an email that appears to be from Epstein to Maxwell about trying to pay off Giuffre’s friends and family to refute her allegations, one of those being that Stephen Hawking allegedly participated in an underage orgy. Hawking was seen in pictures with Epstein in 2006 on his infamous island, Little St. James.

People named in the documents are unlikely to face prosecution if they haven’t already, criminal defense attorney Janet Johnson told NewsNation on Monday before the files were released.

Police arrest 2 in killing of Savanah Soto, boyfriend “These names were actually kept secret because the judge found that because they did not do anything wrong. There wasn’t any reason at that point to release them and embarrass them,” Johnson said.

Reports in anticipation of the release focused on Clinton’s name appearing about 50 times throughout the documents’ pages. That could be because Maxwell wanted Clinton to give a deposition in her case, Johnson said. Maxwell took the matter to court and lost.

Clinton’s name came up because Giuffre was questioned by Maxwell’s lawyers about inaccuracies in newspaper stories about her time with Epstein, including a story quoting her as saying she had ridden in a helicopter with Clinton and flirted with Trump. Giuffre said neither of those things actually happened.

“This isn’t just going to be a list of names,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a dump of hundreds and hundreds of pages, including deposition transcripts.”

That includes the transcripts from the deposition of Johanna Sjoberg, who says she was hired by Maxwell and sexually abused by Epstein. Sjoberg testified that Epstein told her that “Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”

Sjoberg’s testimony also references Copperfield, presumably the magician. Sjoberg claimed Copperfield asked her about the system that was in place for girls to find other girls for Epstein.

Copperfield was at a dinner at Epstein’s, and there was another girl present who looked young. Sjoberg asked what school she went to but did not recognize the school name as being a college.

She testified it was possible the girl was in high school. Sjoberg testified that Copperfield “questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls.”

YouTuber MrBeast tells Elon Musk why he won’t post videos to X Allegations against Epstein first surfaced publicly in 2005.

He pleaded guilty to sex charges in Florida and served 13 months in jail. He spent much of that time in a work-release program as part of a deal critics called lenient. He ultimately was required to register as a sex offender.

Federal prosecutors in New York went on to revive the case against Epstein after a series of stories by the Miami Herald in 2018 brought renewed attention to the matter.

In 2019, New York prosecutors said they weren’t bound by the previous non-prosecution deal, and Epstein was again arrested. He killed himself a month later.

Maxwell was arrested at a New Hampshire estate less than one year after Epstein’s death.

A jury convicted her in December 2021 of multiple charges including sex trafficking, conspiracy and transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The Associated Press and NewsNation digital producers Tyler Wornell and Devan Markham contributed to this report.

A young German-Israeli woman seen lying in the back of a pickup truck after being abducted from a music festival by Hamas gunmen is dead, Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday.The family of Shani Louk, 23, said they were informed of her killing earlier in the day. Her aunt, Ruthi Louk, said on Israeli radio that a fragment of her niece’s skull had been recovered from the rave site, according to The New York Times.Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported that the National Institute of Forensic Medicine had positively identified the fragment, which came from the base of Louk’s skull and indicated an unsurvivable wound.“At least she didn’t suffer,” her mother, Ricarda Louk, told German broadcaster RTL/ntv.The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed Louk’s death in a statement on X. “Shani who was kidnapped from a music festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists, experienced unfathomable horrors,” it said. “Our hearts are broken. May her memory be a blessing.”Shani’s sister, Adi, separately shared the news “with great sadness” on her Instagram account on Monday.Mom of Festival-Goer Shani Louk Says She’s Still Alive in a Gaza HospitalThe 23-year-old’s family had previously held out hope that she may be still alive despite disturbing video footage showing her in the captivity of armed militants in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre at the festival in southern Israel.Videos of Louk that emerged in the wake of her kidnapping showed the tattoo artist stripped half-naked with one of her legs bent at an unnatural angle.Her family had previously said they’d received information that she’d been seriously injured but was nevertheless alive and receiving treatment in a hospital.Louk’s cause of death was not officially confirmed. In an interview with the German tabloid BILD on Monday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog mentioned that her skull had been found—and added that the discovery meant “these barbaric sadistic animals simply chopped off her head.”Meanwhile, Israeli officials also announced Monday that Col. Uri Magidish, a female soldier who was abducted on Oct. 7, had been released during the ground operation unfolding inside the Gaza Strip.The Israel Defense Force (IDF) said she had been examined by doctors who said her condition was good.“The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to make every effort to bring about the release of the abductees,” the IDF wrote on X.The news came three days after Israeli ground forces moved into Gaza, witnesses said Monday that tanks and infantry advanced into the outskirts of Gaza City. The forces reportedly blocked a main road linking the north of the besieged enclave to the south, where residents have been ordered to travel for their own safety (despite repeated strikes in the south even after evacuation guidance).A video circulating online appears to show an Israeli tank and bulldozer obstructing the Salah al-Din Road—which locals had been told to use to avoid the invading forces. The footage shows a white car approaching the blockade. The vehicle then stops and turns around and starts heading back in the direction it came. The tank then opens fire on the car, seemingly destroying the vehicle.Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said three people were killed in the vehicle. A witness cited by the Wall Street Journal claimed the vehicle was a taxi with a white flag on its hood. Maj. Nir Dinar, an Israeli military spokesperson, told the Journal that troops have no means of distinguishing civilians from militants, and that they all use the same vehicles. “The IDF was not shown any proof that this is a civilian car and there’s no information on who is inside,” Dinar was quoted as saying. “Terrorists use civilian infrastructure like cars. They don’t have tanks or military jeeps.”The head of the Hamas government in office later said there’s “absolutely no ground advance inside the residential neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip,” saying Monday’s incursion amounted to a “few occupation army tanks and a bulldozer.

”“These vehicles targeted two civilian cars on Salah al-Din Street and bulldozed the street before the resistance forced them to retreat,” Salama Maarouf said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera. “There is currently no presence of occupation army vehicles on Salah al-Din Road, and citizen movement has returned to normal on the road.”According to Gaza’s health ministry, over 8,000 people—most of whom are minors and women—have been killed since Israel dramatically increased its strikes on the enclave in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, an unprecedented death toll in the decades of bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians. The figure of 1,400 Israelis killed by Hamas’ attacks is also without equal.On Monday morning, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari said ground activities in Gaza had “expanded” over the last 24 hours, and said that the families of 239 people have been notified that one of their relatives is being held hostage. “Returning the hostages is a supreme national mission,” Hagari said. “Our ground activity in the Gaza Strip serves, among other things, this purpose.”Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a video on Monday purportedly showing three of their captives sharing an angry message criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the three women in the clip—none of whom have been identified—said they had been in captivity for 23 days.“We know that there was supposed to be a ceasefire,” one of the women says, according to a Jerusalem Post translation of the footage. “You were supposed to release all of us. You made a commitment to release all of us.” Instead, she accused Netanyahu of “political and national neglect,” as well as “screwing up” militarily on Oct. 7. “It isn’t enough that Israeli citizens were killed,” she adds. “Let us go. Let us go now... Let us return to our families now!”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.

The World Changed When I Was Not Looking

    I joined Facebook three years ago to promote my books. Why did I wait so long to join social media? I did not see the point of exposing my private life because I did not need to connect with unknown people. Yet, once I was on, I found the experience to be rewarding, and I have met (virtually) many people whom I would have never met without social media. Plus, I connected with old friends, gained resources, and learned a lot.

    All seemed to go well until my daughter said, “Nobody uses Facebook except old people.” What? College students started Facebook for college students. It’s about partying and young stuff. Right? Well, no. It is a place for older people to post their ancient achievements and old-timey photographs. Young people have moved on to better social media platforms. What the heck? When did this happen? Where was the news report? Call out the National Guard!

    And here is something else. DVDs (Blu-Ray) are no longer a thing. What? Just, yesterday, I was shopping in Target and saw racks of them for sale. New releases, classics, bargains, compilations, and box sets existed. Of course, we all know that CD sales experienced a massive decline in the 2000s, but not DVDs. Right? Physical media is an outdated distribution model, and sales have moved online. Why? Streaming media is more accessible and environmentally friendly.

    Alright, those are small potato issues. No big deal. What about the actual issues? I certainly am on top of those. How about homelessness? Millions of Americans are homeless, and every day, there are thousands more. The topic dominates the news and our conversations. I even see homeless people in my neighborhood, and I can say for sure this was not the case five years ago. This problem is getting exponentially worse!

    Well… In 2007, the homeless population (according to The Department of Housing and Urban Development) was 647,000 and today it is 553,000. Not “millions?” So, this major problem is getting better? What the heck? Why didn’t somebody tell me?

    These three things quietly happened without my awareness. Now, wait a minute. I am a connected person who reads A LOT about what is going on in the world. How did these changes slip under my radar? The answer is that the world changed when I was not looking, and even a connected person like myself cannot be aware of everything.

    Growing up, I was aware of significant changes my parents did not fully appreciate. For example, I remember a conversation with my mother. “Soon, computerized cash registers will be in every store. This way, the employees will not have to remember prices.” She said that would never be the case. Why? Computers at the time were thousands of dollars, and only experts could operate them. That is a good guess, but not true.

    Have I become like my parents and can no longer see changes? Are there too many? Is the word too complex? Is my perspective skewed? The answer is that the world has always been complicated and in the process of change. Plus, there are many news outlets, and I pay attention to a limited number. For example, I rarely read the local newspaper. In addition, the news might not be aware of the change, and one person can’t know everything.

    Is it wrong that the world changed when I was not looking? It took me a while to answer this question. There will always be change, and discovering a change should not cause outrage. What this means is that I need to be more accepting of change, which is the mark of a mature person.

    So, I am going to end with the world indeed changed when I was not looking, and that is a good thing. Yet, I am posting this article on my Facebook page…

    You’re the best -Bill

    October 25, 2023

    Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

    Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

The Masked Singer: S10 E1 Running Commentary

It’s September and it’s finally time for The Masked Singer’s 10th season. There was a sneak peek a couple of weeks ago, featuring a performance from Guest Mask “AnonyMouse” 🐭, who was revealed at the end of the episode to be Demi Lovato. (They are the second guest/non-competition mask to appear, the first was Cludle-Doo 🐔 a few seasons ago, who was revealed to be judge Jenny McCarthy’s husband Donnie Wahlberg.)

But now it’s time for the competition to start for real. I have not seen any sneak peek promo performances in the lead up to this season and I haven’t even really looked at the early clues. This will be judge Nicole Scherzinger’s last season for now. She’ll be doing some stage work in the UK during filming for Season 11, so Rita Ora (who judges the UK version) will be filling in for Nicole next season. But that’s season 11 (which should air next February). Let’s get started with season 10! As always, I post before seeing any unmaskings, so these are solely my guesses, not spoilers.

Gazelle 🦌: Gazelle’s costume looks feminine in presentation. The clues: a poster reading “Hello Doll”. She mentions she took part in a national singing competition as a teen and “crashed and burned”. I think of both Lauren Daigle and Colbie Caillat, who both auditioned for American Idol, but didn’t necessarily get far in that particular competition. We also saw some bulldog statues. The bonus clue is presented by David Spade (who is hosting a new game show called Snake Oil). It reads “Movie Soundtrack”, and she says she’s acted and sung in movies. The singing voice kinda leans more towards Lauren Daigle than Colbie, but I’m at a total guess here for the moment. Robin’s guess of Lucy Hale kind of fits — as she was a contestant on American Juniors, which was a contest to create an American counterpart to the British group S Club Juniors, later known as S Club 8 after the original S Club 7 broke up — but Lucy actually made it into the group. (Unless she was saying that the group itself crashed and burned, as they only recorded one album that was primarily covers of S Club Juniors songs and they didn’t have any hit singles. Lucy later became known for her role on Pretty Little Liars.) I do not have an official guess for Gazelle’s identity at this time.

Diver 🤿: Seen reading a newspaper, saying he’s “everyone’s favorite person to hate”. Knight’s armor, a compass pointing to “MW”, and an hourglass. Sounds like he might be some sort of reality star, possibly either a Kardashian ex, someone who was on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, or maybe somebody from Jersey Shore. The bonus clue: “11 million eyes on Diver”. I’m going to guess it’s either Scott Disick or Nick Viall. Leaning more towards Nick Viall.

S’more 🍫: Went from obscurity to a heartthrob in a matter of weeks. I saw a tip jar covered in ice (“frosted tips”), a Chicago deep dish pizza. I keep thinking a boy band singer, and I initially thought Lance Bass (who hosts a podcast called Frosted Tips), but the singing voice seems too high to be Lance’s (he is the bass singer in NSYNC, although he has sung some more melodic stuff lately using a higher vocal range), and he’s also from Mississippi, not Chicago (unless the pizza is a reference to deep dishing, or conducting in depth interviews, which is what Lance does on his podcast). The bonus clue: “Starring S’more”, and says he’s talented on and off stage. Kevin Richardson from the Backstreet Boys is a good guess as well, although he also has the lowest singing voice in BSB (pretty much a full baritone). Given that NSYNC is about to release their first single in about 20 years this week, it is possible Lance could be S’more. Going from my encyclopedic knowledge of ‘90s boy bands, I think this could be either Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees (only Nick Lachey has appeared on there) or Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block (as mentioned earlier, Donnie Wahlberg has appeared as guest mask “Cluedle-Doo”).

Rubber Duckie 🦆 🛁: We see a video tape labeled “The Horror! 3-4”, a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio, a turtle statue. Not exactly the best singer. The voice did not sound familiar to me. He may have been a standup comedian or done comedic acting. The guesses of both David Arquette and Anthony Anderson sound plausible. But I’m totally stumped. I have a feeling he may be the one unmasked tonight, though!

Cow 🐮: Two-Step Coffee, a calendar marked “July 4th”, has won Grammys and performed in Vegas. A strawberry cake with wings on top. Despite being dressed feminine, Cow clearly has a masculine singing voice. The bonus clue: a movie admission ticket. Their fame started with a movie. I’m kind of stumped for the moment.

Of the major American boy bands from the ‘90s, here’s who’s appeared on The Masked Singer (to the best of my memory):

Backstreet Boys: Nick Carter (“Crocodile”)

NSYNC: Joey Fatone (“Rabbit”), Chris Kirkpatrick (“Hummingbird”)

98 Degrees: Nick Lachey (“Pig”)

NKOTB: Donnie Wahlberg (“Cluedle-Doo”)

‘Secret Canada ‘——Canada’s Secret Governments And Alberta Seems To Head The Pack

brianpeckford Jun 14 The Globe and Mail Newspaper has conducted a study into the Freedom Of Information Acts of Our Governments . They call it: 'SECRET CANADA'               Canada’s Secret Governments And Alberta Seems To Head The Pack How Canada’s FOI system broke under its own weight’ It describes how our Governments rather than having Freedom Of Information Acts have Acts that operate in a fashion to deny the citizen legitimate information to which the citizen is entitled. Some examples in the report: ‘A developer from Cornwall, Ont., is perplexed to find that his building permits are suddenly being denied. He files a request under freedom-of-information law for copies of any city records about him or his company. Three months later, he’s told he will need to pay a $1,963.50 processing fee. When he does, he receives pages of mostly blanked-out paper, a full box of his own building applications and files and a note that 3,500 records are being fully withheld. In Saskatoon, a woman wants to learn about the outcome of a police investigation in which she was a complainant. She submits a freedom-of-information request and specifically asks for a copy of her witness statement, as well as copies of e-mails that she had provided as evidence. In response, because of privacy concerns – privacy concerns about records she supplied. A wildlife protection organization is skeptical of an Alberta government claim that scores of wild horses need to be culled to prevent ecological damage. They believe the assertion is based on data that was given to the government by a ranchers’ association. The activists request those records, and are told they will need to pay the association for a copy. The price tag: $110,022.15. These cases, which are among hundreds reviewed by The Globe and Mail, are a snapshot of the frustrations and stonewalling Canadians encounter every day when trying to access public information using the legal framework governments have created.’ The report goes on to say: ‘Freedom-of-information laws – sometimes called access-to-information laws – give people the right to obtain records from public institutions. These laws exist in every jurisdiction in Canada and in countries around the world, and are meant to serve as a vital check on power. The legislation enshrines into law the principle that information in the possession of governments belongs to the people, and that citizens must be able to access that information to participate in society and make informed decisions. This is why freedom of information is often called the oxygen of democracy. When the federal government enacted its legislation 40 years ago, Canada was among the first 10 countries in the world to do so, making it a global leader. But today, after decades of neglect by successive provincial and federal governments, Canada’s freedom-of-information regime is broken. This is how the system is supposed to work: A person submits what is known as an FOI request  – a formal, written request for a record. Once a public institution receives it, an FOI co-ordinator will start tracking down the requested files. Access laws recognize that some things can’t be made public, so all the legislation sets out exemptions for certain information, such as anything that would pose a threat to national security or compromise someone’s personal information. An FOI co-ordinator is supposed to review each file line by line and only redact as necessary. The default is supposed to be transparency. From there, every access law says institutions must release the information to the requester within a set time frame – often 30 days, with some exceptions. But this isn’t happening.’ The report continues: For the past 20 months, The Globe has been investigating how and why the system has come apart, as part of a project called Secret Canada. Through hundreds of interviews, an analysis of thousands of government records and appeals decisions, as well as a national audit of FOI statistics and practices, this reporting has shown that – at a time of plummeting trust in government and institutions – every day, public bodies and governments at every level are breaking the law. Across the country, FOI units have been starved of resources and staff. Institutions can no longer meet their statutory deadlines. The laws themselves are impractical in a digital world. And it is normal for institutions to refuse to release records that judges and adjudicators have repeatedly said are public, such as government contracts. Meanwhile, public servants are regularly advised by their superiors to withhold information – even if the legislation permits its release – to avoid risk or embarrassment. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that, in the Canadian system, *there are few to no consequences for breaking access laws. As a result, institutions are denying the public access to its own information as a matter of routine. For users of the system, there is little recourse. Requesters of information can appeal if they’re dissatisfied with a public institution’s response, but that can take years. And even if an adjudicator determines an institution contravened access law, the most likely consequence is that the body will be forced to release records it had previously withheld. Even minor professional repercussions for public servants are rare. (Canadian access laws include “offences” sections with potential punishments, but these mainly relate to privacy breaches and knowingly destroying or altering records that should be released.)’ And Political leaders have effectively created a freedom of information regime that incentivizes institutions to keep public records secret. “The way government has been handling access, I think, is an affront to democracy. Period,” said Stephen Azzi, a political historian and former public servant. “If you believe in democracy‚ you have to believe that the public has a right to be informed. The public can’t pass judgment on government if we don’t know what the government is doing. But how can we assess the work of government if we don’t have information?” And here are some numbers: ‘ Canada’s access dysfunction, in numbers As part of the Secret Canada reporting, The Globe conducted an audit of how provincial, territorial and federal governments are handling access requests. (Each jurisdiction has its own freedom-of-information law.) In total, The Globe filed 253 individual FOI requests with every government department and ministry in the country, seeking access to their 2021 internal request tracking systems. All 22 ministries in Alberta refused to comply with The Globe’s FOIs. Those that gave explanations said there were “no records.” Andrew Hanon, communications director for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, acknowledged the province uses a tracking system, but said in a statement that fulfilling The Globe’s request would have required it to create a record that did not exist in electronic form. “Therefore, in accordance with section 10 of the FOIP Act, there were no records responsive to your request.” He added the province is exploring whether it can provide some of the requested information. Altogether, 225 public bodies were included in the analysis. The Secret Canada audit determined that only 21 per cent of FOI requests were granted in full in 2021. Another 46 per cent were granted with redactions. Only 50 per cent were completed within 30 days. Most jurisdictions require a decision to be made within this time frame. (Each access act allows for extensions in certain circumstances.) In total, 5 per cent of requests took more than six months. (These calculations exclude ministries of the environment in Quebec and Ontario, because, combined, they account for 33 per cent of all FOI requests in the data set, and their numbers skewed the results. The ministries receive high numbers of requests from lawyers and engineering firms doing research on properties, which disproportionately generate “no records” responses. When these ministries are included, the results are as follows: 19 per cent of requests were granted in full, 37 per cent were granted with redactions, 55 per cent were completed within 30 days, and 8 per cent took more than 6 months to process. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data did not overwhelm the data set, because it appears the department did not include personal records requests. Although only a small fraction of FOI requests are ever appealed, The Globe conducted an analysis of 1,098 publicly available provincial and territorial appeal decisions from 2022. That review found that, in cases where appellants had raised concerns about the overuse of redactions, *adjudicators ruled that public institutions had wrongfully withheld information 59 per cent of the time. But the true rate is likely much higher. The appeals decisions show that public institutions will often backpedal on their redactions – or discover new records – as soon as an appeals commission gets involved. For example, in a 2022 case out of Regina, a requester complained when the municipality refused to release records dealing with a development company. The city claimed an exemption designed to protect business trade secrets. Once the appeal was filed, the city released everything. “As such, this review will no longer consider the exemptions the City applied to the records,” the adjudicator wrote. When these types of cases are factored in, a conservative reading of public appeals decisions shows that unnecessary redactions and exclusions were present in at least 68 per cent of appealed cases. Appeals adjudicators also found that public bodies had conducted inadequate searches for records about a third of the time this complaint was raised, and that 93 per cent of complaints about delays were valid. Across the appeals reviewed by The Globe – regarding redactions, delays, fees, improper searches for records, attempts to decline to process requests – adjudicators disagreed with institutions’ decisions more than 60 per cent of the time. The Globe had to analyze Quebec separately because its appeals process runs, uniquely in Canada, as an administrative court. In the province, only about a third of publicly available cases resulted in wins for appellants. The most recent annual report from the federal appeals body, the Office of the Information Commissioner, concluded *that 64 per cent of complaints that required a decision were well founded.* (The vast majority of appeals – federally and otherwise – are resolved prior to a decision.)’ I word urge readers of this blog to read the whole report. Did someone say the word democracy, or transparency or accountability ? How about FREEDOM  and LIBERTY? ******** *Are you, or do you know someone, who is prepared to "blow the whistle" ? *https://thegnmsolution.com/privacy-and-security/* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: peckford42.wordpress.com/2023/06/14/secret-canada-canadas-secret-governments-and-alberta-seems-to-head-the-pack/  

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Foreword

Where to bad folks go when they die?

They don’t go to Heaven where the angels fly

They go to the lake of fire and fry

Won’t see ‘em again ‘til the Fourth of July

―Nirvana

     The last entry in the second of Alanna Sharpe’s journals, dated July 2028, jolted me.  Not only because of the shock of the events, but also the simple betrayal I felt right alongside her.

     Cole Sharpe was a family friend.  I worried about him the whole time I interviewed his wife Ariel, wondered why he had not shown up at all.  To my relief, he appeared on the last night I spent in the Sharpe house, and we spent a lot of time discussing his perspective on some of Ariel’s story.  There’s no way he could have betrayed her like this, betrayed his daughter.  Even though she was only three when I talked to Ariel, the love that I felt between Cole and Alanna was …

     Well, “beautiful” is the word that came to mind before.  Something like “tragic” came now.  I could not believe it was the truth, even though it was outlined right there for me, in Alanna’s own hand:

            The crack continues to form, until it’s completely across the eye shields, completely crossing his face.

            They shatter, almost in slow motion.  They fall off of the man’s face.

            It’s one I know very well.

            It’s my father.

     Up to this point, she was assuming that Tyrelius Scolar, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the New Empire of America, had simply been another commander she would have to destroy.  She held a great deal of anger toward him, toward the Regent administration which rules the nation with an iron fist, and to the entire Supernatural Suppression Agency.  With every passing word, she transferred that anger to me.

     Now I was sharing her betrayal, as well.

     The remainder of that particular journal was completely blank.  Apparently Alanna was so incensed by the turn of events that she simply stopped writing them for a while.  I decided that I needed a break before I started looking for the next volume.  Fortunately enough, I had lost barely any time transcribing … the spell on the books was effective, that’s for sure … so it was still mid-morning by the time I took off the special reading glasses and stepped outside to take a walk.

     A newspaper lay on the porch of my building, seemingly left there for me since I don’t subscribe.  What caught my eye about it, though, was the headline.

MASS NEW EMPIRE PRISONER AMNESTY

     My hopeless, betrayed mood instantly lightened.  Perhaps this would be it, my family would be released this time?  I eagerly read the story, and although it mentioned no names, one thing stood out to me: a promise to the Canadian government that all political prisoners held within the nation’s facilities would be released and permitted to return to their lives.

     For many of them, that won’t do a lot of good since they’ve spent so much time imprisoned.  But for my family, perhaps …?

     At that moment I forgot that I wanted to take a walk.  I turned and ran back up to my apartment, propping the newspaper next to my computer.  The box with the journals would serve a good purpose as an easel, so that I could remind myself that this nightmare was almost over.

     The journals …

     I pulled out all six of the books from the box.  The weird Celtic runic symbols met my eyes, confusing them, obscuring their actual content.  Two of them, at least, I knew I didn’t need now, and I knew them by the colors of their covers: the two black books were the first two volumes.  I set them aside, and then returned the reading glasses to my face.

     Instantly time slowed down once more.  I was at my leisure to read the journals, and decipher which one was the next one.  As I spread the remaining books in front of me, I noticed that someone, in a different handwriting, had written a helpful set of numbers on the covers to show the sequence. I looked for number three, only to be surprised by the markings of many of the books.

     Eventually I found book three, dated January-June 2029, so apparently Alanna did no journaling for nearly six months.  Hopefully this would be explained in detail.  I turned my attention toward getting the other books ordered, and only then noticed the weirdness of the dates:

            Book four, 18 days

            Book five, July-September 2031

            Book six, October 2031-February 2032

     Now I was thoroughly confused.  If the fourth book only covered 18 days, why did the fifth book not pick up until two years after the third one?  I had assumed that each book was supposed to cover, at most, six months: what became of the missing year and a half? This was truly worth investigating, and I sincerely hoped the answers had been entered into the journals.

     Working from that assumption, I cracked open the third of the journals, fired up my computer once more, and began typing what I read, a shocking continuation of Alanna’s story which took her, literally, to Hell and back.

Full text from article below:

Senior members of the SNP fear that former leader Nicola Sturgeon could be the next figure to be arrested in the Police Scotland investigation into the party’s finances.

The SNP has been rocked by the arrest of former chief executive Peter Murrell and current treasurer Colin Beattie, both of whom were later released without charge pending further enquiries.

One senior SNP figure told The Independent it was likely that Ms Sturgeon would also be arrested, given that she is one of the three names believed to be on party accounts.

Ms Sturgeon, Mr Murrell and Mr Beattie were named on the financial information presented to the SNP conference last year, the source said – but added that the police would want to “cover their bases” before any arrest.

On Tuesday, Police Scotland arrested Mr Beattie, who is also an MSP, as part of their investigation into how more than £660,000 in donations, earmarked for an independence referendum, had been used.

Some of the party’s MPs and MSPs have also said it is “inevitable” that Ms Sturgeon will be interviewed by police under caution in the weeks ahead.

One SNP politician told The Times: “Nicola must be next to be interviewed, it’s inevitable,” with another saying: “It’s obvious there’s a list and Nicola’s name is on it.”

A third told the newspaper: “They’ve interviewed witnesses, and now they are onto suspects. It was the small fry, and now it’s the big people – it’s the way the police work.”

The leader of the SNP, Humza Yousaf, who was recently elected to replace Ms Sturgeon, is facing calls to suspend the former leader’s membership of the party along with that of her husband and Mr Beattie.

Following Mr Beattie’s arrest on Tuesday, Mr Yousaf said that he does “not believe” the party is operating in a criminal way, and resisted calls to suspend Mr Beattie from his role as treasurer.

Mr Yousaf said he wanted to discuss “pertinent issues” with Mr Beattie – who was last night released without charge pending further investigation – and said: “People are innocent until proven guilty.”

Kate Forbes, one of the two defeated leadership candidates, said Mr Yousaf needs to take “decisive and quick action” or the party will be in trouble at the next general election.

She told BBC Radio 4 that claims about the party’s finances had been “mind-blowing”, adding that “people are watching with astonishment, but they want to see leadership in dealing with it and resolving it”.

She said: “I think we need decisive and quick action or we will be in trouble ... We perhaps have the next election in the early part of next year. They will vote in that election on the basis of how we have sorted out our internal problems.”

Her fellow leadership candidate Ash Regan appeared to go further, telling the BBC that any SNP members “involved” in the police investigation should be suspended – though she clarified that they would have to be found guilty of “wrongdoing”.

Police Scotland detectives investigating the party’s finances have been handed emails showing that Ms Sturgeon quashed the idea of appointing a fundraising manager in June 2021, according to Scotland’s Sunday Mail.

The newspaper also published a video in which Ms Sturgeon is seen giving officials on the SNP’s national executive committee a stern warning to be “very careful” about suggesting there were “any problems” with party accounts.

Craig Hoy, the chair of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “[Mr Yousaf] must show some leadership and suspend Colin Beattie – along with Peter Murrell and Nicola Sturgeon.”

The Tory chair added: “Colin Beattie should also stand down from membership of the public audit committee until the conclusion of the investigation.”

The Independent has approached the SNP for comment.

Happy Birthday Scottish classical violinist, Nicola Benedetti, born July 20th 1987 in West Kilbride.

Nicola started learning to play the violin at the age of four, by age eight she was the leader of the National Children’s Orchestra, at nine, she had already passed the eight grades of musical examinations while attending the independent Wellington School, Ayr, a year later she was studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School for young musicians under Menuhin himself and Natasha Boyarskaya in rural Surrey.

After an education like that she was destined for stardom.

When Benedetti was 14, she won a Prodigy of the Year contest on England’s Carlton Television network. A hint of her potential crossover appeal came when she drew a crowd of 10,000 at the rock-oriented Glastonbury Festival’s “classical extravaganza” in the summer of 2003. She told London’s Independent newspaper, however, that “I have not ruled out different types of music but I was trained as a classical musician. I don’t want to compromise what I do and what I love.” She’s not your typical Scot either, in another interview she said that “I’m not really into clubbing and I’ve never smoked or drunk much…”

Benedetti took a big step toward mainstream classical stardom when she won the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year award in May 2004, the first Scot to take home the BBC prize.

Nicola did have a healthy streak of that quintessential Scottish trait – prudence. This led her to eventually slow down her performance schedule so that she could further her musical studies and her technique, confident that she would be a better overall musician for it, and determined to play what she loves.

By the following decade, Benedetti’s schedule was as full as ever, taking in a 2010 debut at the BBC Proms; chamber music recitals at European festivals; chamber and concerto performances in North America and Europe in 2011

Honours were inevitable she was awarded doctorates from Glasgow Caledonian University in November 2007, and from Heriot-Watt University in 2010

In 2019, Benedetti formalised her commitment to music in education when she established The Benedetti Foundation, the same year she was also given the annual Royal Medal award by the Royal Society of Edinburgh for improving the lives of deprived Scottish children through Sistema Scotland and the Big Noise Orchestras. In 2020, she won the Grammy for best classical instrumental solo for Marsalis: Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite.[27][28]

With three of her album releases topping the Classical charts and another reached number 2,  Benedetti’s has cemented her position as one of the most popular violinists of her generation.

The video from the Glasgow Commonwealth games is great, the crowd just can’t help but joining in at parts of Loch Lomond, is it just me or does anyone else get a wee tear in their eye on occasions like this?

Just last month Nicola Benedetti was appointed Honorary President of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she is also Director Designate of the Edinburgh International Festival, and will become Festival Director on 1st October 2022.

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Parker and Watson reconcile in (vol. 2) #50 (#491, April 2003), and in #512 (Nov. 2004)—the authentic problem numbering having returned with #500—Parker learns his late girlfriend Gwen Stacy had had two children with Norman Osborn. In anticipation, Midway developed T2 the arcade recreation simultaneously with the film’s production and release. Utilizing glossy light guns for one or two gamers to play the roles of T-800 cyborgs, the sport featured Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Patrick, and Eddie Furlong reprising their respective roles in digitized footage.

Personality And Themes

The symbiote merged with Eddie and gave him the same powers as Spider-Man, in addition to making him resistant to the web-slinger's "spider-sense". Venom's main goal is normally to ruin Peter Parker's life and mess with his head in any means he can. Despite this, Venom isn't a conventional felony, as he is solely thinking about hurting Spider-Man and doesn't have interaction in legal acts, lacking the standard supervillain desires for wealth and energy. When Spider-Man first appeared within the early Nineteen Sixties, youngsters in superhero comic books had been usually relegated to the position of sidekick to the protagonist. The Spider-Man series broke floor by featuring Peter Parker, a high school student from Queens, New York, as Spider-Man's secret identity, whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" had been issues to which young readers may relate. The Eddie Brock incarnation of Venom is usually thought to be Spider-Man's deadliest foe, and has been described as an evil mirror version of Spider-Man in many ways. Originally a reporter who grew to despise Spider-Man, Eddie later got here into contact with the Venom symbiote, which had been rejected by Spider-Man. A tokusatsu collection featuring Spider-Man was produced by Toei and aired in Japan. Spider-Man also appeared in different print forms in addition to the comics, including novels, youngsters's books, and the day by day newspaper cartoon The Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted in January 1977, with the earliest installments written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita Sr. Spider-Man has been adapted to different media together with games, toys, collectibles, and miscellaneous memorabilia, and has appeared as the main character in numerous laptop and video video games on over 15 gaming platforms. In 2008, Marvel introduced plans to launch a collection of academic comics the following year in partnership with the United Nations, depicting Spider-Man alongside the UN Peacekeeping Forces to spotlight UN peacekeeping missions. Spider-Man has had a broad variety of supporting characters launched in the comics that are important in the points and storylines that star him. After his mother and father died, Peter Parker was raised by his loving aunt, May Parker, and his uncle and father determine, Ben Parker. After Uncle Ben is murdered by a burglar, Aunt May is just about Peter's solely family, and she and Peter are very shut. Peter Parker has superhuman spider-powers and talents derived from mutations resulting from the chunk of a radioactive spider. He additionally decided to insert a hyphen within the name, as he felt it appeared too just like Superman, one other superhero with a red and blue costume that begins with an "S" and ends with "man" . At that point Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the character's approval. In a 1986 interview, Lee described intimately his arguments to beat Goodman's objections. In particular, Lee acknowledged that the reality that it had already been decided that Amazing Fantasy would be canceled after issue #15 was the one purpose Goodman allowed him to make use of Spider-Man. While this was indeed the final problem, its editorial page anticipated the comedian persevering with and that "The Spiderman ... will seem every month in Amazing." The insecurity and anxieties in Marvel's early Sixties comic books, corresponding to The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, and The X-Men ushered in a new kind of superhero, very different from the certain and omnipotent superheroes earlier than them, and adjusted the public's notion of them. A BusinessWeek article listed Spider-Man as one of many prime 10 most clever fictional characters in American comics. The Norman Osborn model of the Green Goblin is most commonly thought to be Spider-Man's archenemy. While Norman is usually portrayed as an amoral industrialist and the head of the Oscorp scientific company, the Goblin is a psychopathic alternate personality, born after Norman's exposore to some unstable chemical substances that also elevated his power and agility.

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Spider-Man has turn into one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world, and has been used to promote toys, video games, cereal, sweet, cleaning soap, and many other products. Marvel has featured Spider-Man in a quantity of comic book collection, the primary and longest-lasting of which is The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years, the Peter Parker character developed from a shy, nerdy New York City high school scholar to a troubled but outgoing college student, to a married highschool trainer to, within the late 2000s, a single freelance photographer. Doctor Octopus also took on the id for a narrative arc spanning 2012–2014, following a body swap plot during which Peter appears to die. Miles later grew to become a popular superhero in his own proper and was introduced into the mainstream continuity, the place he generally works alongside Peter.

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Sometime after Siege, MJ invitations Peter over so the 2 of them might achieve closure over the marriage that did not happen and the breakup. Later, an enormous warfare ensued between Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man to get Lily Hollister's and Osborn's son, by which Spider-Man discovered that the kid was actually Harry's, who later leaves city to boost him. Spider-Man assisted the Avengers in defeating Doctor Octopus' military of Macro-Octobots. He then faced a brand new Hobgoblin and the Kingpin, but days later, he lamentably misplaced Marla Jameson in a battle between Alistair Alphonso Smythe's Spider-Slayers. At Loki's suggestion, Norman Osborn creates a rationale to invade Asgard, claiming the world poses a national safety threat. Doctor Octopus (a.k.a. Doc Ock) is a extremely smart mad scientist who makes use of 4 mechanical appendages for both motion and combat. He has been described as Spider-Man's best enemy, and the person Peter Parker might have turn out to be if he had not been raised with a sense of accountability. Doc Ock is infamous for defeating him the first time in battle and for almost marrying Peter's Aunt May. He can additionally be the core chief of the Sinister Six, and at one point adopted the "Master Planner" alias. ("If This Be My Destiny...!") Later depictions revealed him in Peter Parker's body the place he was the titular character for some time. A harsh critic of Spider-Man, he continually options unfavorable articles in regards to the superhero in his newspaper. Since the unique Lee-Ditko stories, Spider-Man has had the flexibility to cling to wall surfaces and ceilings. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe speculated that this was based mostly on a distance-dependent interplay between his physique and surfaces, known as the van der Waals force, although in the 2002's Spider-Man film, his hands and feet are lined with tiny clinging cilia within the manner of a real spider's ft. Spider-Man's different powers embody superhuman energy, pace, agility, stamina, reflexes, durability, coordination and stability, and a precognitive sixth sense referred to as his "spider-sense," which alerts him to hazard. Eugene "Flash" Thompson is usually depicted as Parker's high school tormentor and bully, however in later comic issues he turns into a pal to Peter and adopts his own superhero identification, Agent Venom, after merging with the Venom symbiote. Meanwhile, Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn, is mostly recognized as Peter's finest pal, though some versions depicted him as his rival. Thomas Fireheart's scientists, among the best on the planet, are unable to duplicate the fluid Parker created while in high school. After the occasions of "Go Down Swinging," Peter's life was plagued with problems on either side. As Spider-Man, Mayor Fisk publicly supported him, condemning all different vigilantes to have the ability to isolate him from his superhero peers. As Peter Parker, his educational credentials were revoked after being accused of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation from Octavius, leading terminator 2 pinball machine value to his firing from the Daily Bugle. For a short time, Peter Parker and Spider-Man were break up into separate beings due to an accident involving the reverse-engineered Isotope Genome Accelerator. After their respective homes are destroyed by a deranged, superpowered former high-school classmate, Parker, Watson, and May move into Stark Tower, and Parker begins working as Tony Stark's assistant while again freelancing for The Daily Bugle and continuing his educating. Spider-Man also cautions Harry that killing Norman will trigger Harry to "turn into the son Norman at all times wanted". Ditko claimed in a rare interview with Jonathan Ross that the costume was initially envisioned with an orange and purple color scheme quite than the more famous red and blue. You can play Wolfenstein 3D on this web site so that you need not download and install the sport on your pc. The recreation was a blockbuster hit 1991, and now 30 years later, Arcade1Up is thrilled to provide this title in a home arcade form factor. Arcade1Up game cabinets have rapidly turn out to be absolute must-haves for retrogame enthusiasts and pop-culture collectors; they play great, look nice, and are instant dialog pieces. With terminator 2 pinball machine for sale near me, , Arcade1Up fans will get their hands on some of the requested titles ever. Spider-Man joined the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1987 to 1998 as one of many balloon floats, designed by John Romita Sr., one of the character's signature artists. Peter Parker's romantic interests range between his first crush, fellow high-school student Liz Allan, to having his first date with Betty Brant, secretary to the Daily Bugle newspaper publisher J. After his breakup with Betty Brant, Parker ultimately falls in love together with his school girlfriend Gwen Stacy, daughter of New York City Police Department detective Captain George Stacy, both of whom are later killed by supervillain enemies of Spider-Man.