#Permit Pending Part 8 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theinfiniteservice · 3 months

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BIDI Registration: Requirements and Implications for Businesses

BIDI (Business Identifier) registration is a crucial step for businesses operating in Dubai, serving as a unique identifier in the local business landscape. The registration process is governed by the Dubai Economy (Department of Economic Development), and compliance with BIDI requirements is essential for legal operation. Let's explore the requirements and implications of BIDI registration for businesses in Dubai:

BIDI Registration Requirements:

1. Legal Entity:

Businesses must be established as legal entities in Dubai to be eligible for BIDI registration. This includes entities such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), and branches of foreign companies.

2. Valid Trade License:

Possession of a valid trade license issued by the Dubai Economy is a prerequisite for BIDI registration. The trade license specifies the type of business activity the entity is authorized to conduct.

3. Active Commercial Registration:

Businesses should have an active commercial registration (CR) with the Dubai Economy. The CR document contains vital information about the business, including its legal structure, activities, and ownership details.

4. Up-to-Date Information:

All information provided during BIDI registration, including business details, contact information, and ownership structure, must be accurate and up-to-date. Any changes to this information should be promptly updated with the Dubai Economy.

5. Financial Compliance:

Businesses are required to comply with financial regulations and maintain proper financial records. This includes adherence to accounting standards and timely submission of financial statements.

6. No Outstanding Violations:

The business should not have any outstanding violations or legal issues with the Dubai Economy. Any pending matters should be resolved before proceeding with BIDI registration.

Implications for Businesses:

1. Legal Recognition:

BIDI registration provides legal recognition to businesses in Dubai. It serves as a unique identifier and is often required for various transactions, permits, and interactions with government entities.

2. Access to Government Services:

BIDI registration facilitates businesses' access to government services and transactions. Many government agencies and departments require BIDI as a reference for providing services or processing applications.

3. Facilitation of Commercial Activities:

BIDI registration streamlines commercial activities by providing a standardized identification system. It simplifies interactions between businesses, government entities, and other stakeholders in the business ecosystem.

4. Enhanced Transparency:

BIDI registration enhances transparency in the business environment. It allows stakeholders, including consumers and regulatory bodies, to access accurate and updated information about a business.

5. Business Verification:

BIDI serves as a tool for verifying the legitimacy of businesses. It is often used by customers, suppliers, and partners to validate the authenticity and legality of a business entity.

6. Regulatory Compliance:

BIDI registration signifies regulatory compliance with the Dubai Economy. Businesses that adhere to BIDI requirements demonstrate their commitment to operating within the legal framework of Dubai.

7. Part of Digital Transformation Initiatives:

BIDI registration is part of Dubai's broader digital transformation initiatives. It aligns with efforts to create a smart and interconnected business environment, facilitating online transactions and digital interactions.

8. Integration with Other Systems:

BIDI is integrated with various government systems, allowing for seamless data exchange between different entities. This integration contributes to the efficiency of business processes and government services.

BIDI Registration Process:

Online Application:

Businesses can initiate the BIDI registration process by submitting an online application through the Dubai Economy portal.

Document Submission:

Required documents, including the trade license, commercial registration, and other relevant certificates, must be submitted along with the application.

Review and Verification:

Dubai Economy reviews the submitted documents and verifies the information provided. Any discrepancies or missing information may result in a request for clarification or additional documentation.

Approval and Issuance of BIDI:

Upon successful verification, Dubai Economy approves the BIDI registration. The business is issued a unique BIDI number, which becomes its official identifier.

Update and Renewal:

Businesses should regularly update their information with the Dubai Economy to ensure accuracy. BIDI registration may need to be renewed periodically, and businesses should adhere to renewal requirements.

Conclusion:

BIDI registration is a fundamental process for businesses in Dubai, offering legal recognition and facilitating seamless interactions within the business ecosystem. By complying with the requirements and keeping their information up-to-date, businesses contribute to the efficiency and transparency of the business environment in Dubai.

The The Infinite Service, Product Registration Consultant in Dubai

Can help business owners to do product registration in Dubai.

Click Here to learn more about their services.

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phillipcole · 4 months

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Scott Shannon in the Morning part 2

Shannon: Welcome back. Scott Shannon here speaking with our guest Phil Cole and Phillip and Cole's Variety Team. Phil, we have one more legal matter I'd like you to comment on before we switch to more pleasant topics. In Colorado and Maine, so far, maybe other states, they are blocking former President Trump from the ballot. The Supreme Court is going to hear the case next week I believe. Do you have any thoughts on that?

PBC: For that I defer to Ford, our legal and Supreme Court expert.

Ford: Hello, Ford here. I'm a recently retired judge from Tennessee, criminal division.

Shannon: So what is going on with the effort to remove Trump from the ballot?

Ford: If the court decides that he must be permitted on all ballots provided he has enough valid signatures and pays the fees they will be clearing him of the charges pending regarding the January 6 insurrection.

Shannon: Really?

Ford: Those charges will have to be dropped.

Shannon: My my, and what if it goes the other way?

Ford: The court has 2 options. The first option is to decide that all states have the right to exclude people from any ballot.

Shannon: Indiscriminately?

Ford: The decision should read that these are local matters and the state judges have the final word. In other words, don't bother us again about this.

Shannon: Wow! And the other option?

Ford: The other option is to uphold the decision to keep him off the ballot in Colorado and anywhere else. That will be the same as declaring that that man is guilty. At that point the trial for insurrection should go directly to the sentencing phase.

Shannon: Guilty of insurrection.

Ford: Just like Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and the other heroes of the Confederacy. By the way, I reckon it is much better for everyone if they decide that in May or June instead of December after he wins the election.

Shannon: Indeed..that's a...grim picture of the future of the country. Thank you Ford, for your great insight...well, folks, those of you who were listening to our show 8 years ago when Phil was on every week might recall a song he wrote and sang here. It's exclusive to our station. At the time we had a spirited race going, and on the Democratic side Senator Bernie Sanders was facing an uphill battle against Hillary Clinton. One day in April Phil sang this song. I'm going to play it now. It's called Don't give up on us, Bernie.

#scott shannon

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hardynwa · 1 year

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Nigerian High Court Vacates Order Removing Seplat CEO Over Alleged Racism

Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has reversed itself as it vacated its interim order in which it had restrained Mr Roger Brown from parading himself as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Seplat Energy Plc. In March 2023, the court restrained Brown from parading himself as the firm’s CEO pending the determination of a suit filed against him and others by aggrieved stakeholders of the company. SaharaReporters had reported that the aggrieved stakeholders including Moses Igbrude, Sarat Kudaisi, Kenneth Nnabike, Ajani Abidoye, and Robert Ibekwe, accused Brown of racism, favouritism for expatriate workers, discrimination against Nigerians and breach of good governance code. SaharaaReporters also reported that the Nigerian government revoked Brown’s work permit, visa and residence permit over the allegations. But The Punch reports that Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke on Thursday vacated the order when he ruled on applications filed by the respondents, which included Seplat Energy Plc, Brown, Mr. Basil Omiyi, and other persons affected by the ex parte orders in Suit No. FHC/L/402/2023. It was gathered that Justice Aneke explained that he vacated the interim order issued on March 8, 2023, based on the provisions of Order 26 Rules 9 and 10 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019. Brown and the other respondents had in their various applications prayed the court to set aside the restraining orders, as they argued that the petitioners lacked locus standi to file the suit. They also challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit on grounds that the complaints of the petitioners fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court and maintained that the interim orders were granted against persons that were not parties to the suit. Justice Aneke in his ruling on Thursday, however, dismissed the argument by the respondents that the petitioners had no locus standi to file the suit and that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the case. He said, “I find, as a fact, that the petitioners’ grouse can adequately be accommodated under the provisions of Section 354 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA which falls within the jurisdiction of this court. “I find and hold that the petitioners have locus standi to bring the petition before the court. Furthermore, this court has jurisdiction to adjudicate on the suit as it falls within the provision of Section 251 of the Constitution.” The judge, however, said he found merit in the prayer to vacate the interim order restraining Brown. “By virtue of Order 26 Rules 9 and 10 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019, the interim orders of the court made on March 8, 2023, are hereby discharged and vacated," he said. Justice Aneke thereafter adjourned the matter till May 16, 2023, for further hearing. Read the full article

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ladyblogger-margie · 3 years

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Permit Pending - Part 8

Summary: Will asks you to wake up extra early for a special surprise adventure.

Word Count: 2557

Warnings: M (Making out, References to sex)

a/n: This is tooth rotting fluff and the conclusion to the series! Thank you all for being on this journey with me.

Series Master List

Early Riser

The two of you were cleaning up after dinner as was your usual routine. Will would never go to bed with the dishes still in the sink. You definitely have helped to loosen him up a bit and bring some variety to his routine, but some things, like his cleanliness and organization, have definitely started to rub off on you in return. You really felt that you both had brought out the best in each other, it was the main reason you two worked so well together.

Bob Dylan’s “Wedding Song,” played softly in the background. You and Will had listened to it in his truck during your third date, and you’ve held it in your heart ever since. On bad days, he’d hold you close and whisper the lyrics in your ear. If he had a nightmare, you put the song on repeat and hold him close until he falls back to sleep.

When the song ended, Will said your name, and as always when your name touched his lips it made you feel warm inside. Your name wasn’t the only thing he said though.

“Will you wake up with me early tomorrow?” Will asked you. His palms were sweaty but his voice was steady.

“Why?” You asked, confused. It was the weekend, there was nothing written on the calendar to do, Benny didn’t even have a fight that weekend.

“I have something planned, but you’ll need to wake up really early,” Will responded vaguely.

“Can I wear pyjamas?” You joked.

“I was thinking you could wear that outfit you just got. The one you ordered online because you thought it was cute but had nowhere to wear it?” he turned his back to you and plunged his hands into the sink to busy himself with the dishes. He hoped his little tease about your shopping habit would distract you from the quiver of nerves in his voice.

Your interest was seriously piqued now. “Why?”

“I told you I have a plan, do you trust me?” Will asked. He turned back to you and looked straight into your eyes with his own piercing blue ones. He looked so vulnerable, so sincere in that moment you literally felt your heart skip a beat and you knew that you did, unequivocally, trust him.

“Okay, count me in.”

“It’ll be worth it,” he said, returning to his dishes, “I’ll even get you your Starbucks usual.”

“Is that a bribe?” you teased.

“If the shoe fits” he quips as he flashes you a dangerous smile before returning to his task.

You watch his muscular back as he scrubs the pot and you tried hard to think about what was so special about tomorrow that you seemed to have forgotten. But nothing came to mind, you decided just to let it go and see what tomorrow would bring.

You started to regret your promise to wake up so early the moment your alarm rang the next morning. You groaned as you rolled over, reaching to Will’s side of the bed, groaning louder when you found it empty. No matter how early you woke up, it seemed that Will was always awake before you.

“Morning, sweetheart,” Will’s voice reached you from across the room.

You blinked your eyes open and saw him in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

“Oh thank god,” you moaned and you reached out.

“I’m here, you okay?” Will asked, suddenly concerned and hurrying to your side.

“You brought coffee,” you sighed, grabbing your usual order from Will’s hand eagerly. He ducks down for a kiss, but you refuse him until you take your first sip.

He pulls the cup from your hands and you pout, “A kiss, please,” he said, holding your drink hostage.

“You’re mean,” you pouted.

He grabbed his chest in mock pain, “Just give me a kiss, darlin’, and I promise you’ll get your coffee back.”

You indulge him, and felt your weariness melt away as he pressed his lips to yours. You leaned into him, hungry and suddenly very awake. He broke the kiss before you were ready and handed you back your coffee.

“Come on and get ready, we’re on a schedule,” he said stepping away and dragging you to your feet delicately.

“How can you be so chipper when it’s still dark out?” you asked, dragging yourself through your morning routine.

“Because I love you so much,” he said, he wasn’t biting at your little digs this morning, the genuineness of him so thorough you felt off balanced. He seemed serious and you weren’t sure why.

Finally ready, he slipped your hat with his name stitched in the side onto your head and led you to the truck where he let you in the passenger side. You were suddenly reminded of the first day you had met him, the door thing, the Starbucks in your hands, it was all coming back in an inexplicable rush.

When he climbed into the cab beside you his hand went immediately to your thigh, and you were reminded of his touch on your first date on your way to Benny’s fight. The nostalgia of it all was starting to feel overwhelming as you stared at Will, lost in how much you loved him.

He drove you in the dark of the early morning through the sleeping town and you realized you were on your way to City Hall.

“Am I in trouble?” you asked when he pulled into the parking lot of your job.

“Why would you say that?” Will asked as he let you out of the passenger side and helped you step down from the truck.

“Why am I at work at the ass-crack of dawn on a Saturday?” you asked as he crowded you against the side of his truck.

“This is where we first met,” Will explained, “And it’s where I knew I wanted to do this.”

He interrupted himself to kiss you, gently but purposely with your back against the hood of his truck.

You kissed him back, confused but eager.

When he pulled back you said, “You know, I spent that whole day hoping you would ask me out,”

“Is that right?” he said with a classic half smile on his face that was endearingly him.

“Yup. Even lingered here, giving you one last chance.”

“Well I blew that, didn’t I?” he joked.

“Coming back the next day was a nice surprise,” you said, “I wouldn’t change anything.”

The corner of his mouth turned up again, and the smile lines around his eyes deepened as he leaned in to kiss you again.

He pulled away before you were finished and checked his watch, “Exactly on time. You ready for our next stop?”

You nodded with your brow furrowed, still not understanding the plot of the day. Though you were fully enjoying the trip down memory lane, why it had to happen in the dark you weren’t totally sure. You continued to rack your brain wondering if there was an anniversary, or romantic holiday you had missed that he was pulling out all the stops for. Will really was more romantic than people gave him credit for. He had a soft side to him only you truly knew.

Will let you in the passenger side before he climbed behind the wheel and took you to your next location. He pulled into the park with all the soccer fields you had taken him the first day you met.

“I thought we could check the nets for holes,” he explained as he led you towards the field.

“You remember what I was doing the first day we met?” you asked.

“I remember everything,” he said and he kissed you on the top of your head as you walked to the nets for a quick inspection.

Will watched you inspect the nets and smiled to himself. He knew you were trying so hard to figure out what was going on, but we’re coming up short.

“All good?” he called to you from the sidelines.

You nodded and yelled back, “All clear.”

Will looked around and as expected he had you all alone to himself. He caught you in his arms and kissed you slowly, but deliberately. He felt you tremble slightly under his touch as he pulled you to the ground on top of him, and he chuckled at your adorable squeal of surprise.

“I love you,” Will said softly.

“I love you too,” you replied as you straddled his hips and squeezed him with your thighs.

You leaned in and kissed him. You grabbed the side of his face as you did and ran your thumbs across his cheeks. You broke the kiss and looked into his eyes; you could swim forever in the blue eyes of the man you loved, get infinitely lost in the love you saw there looking back at you.

“What are we doing out here in the dark, William Miller?,” you asked, unable to help yourself.

He laughed, his eyes crinkling but never fully breaking away from yours.

“I’m actually surprised you haven’t guessed,” he admitted.

You humphed and he rolled you onto your back so he was hovering above you.

“The day is just getting started,” he kissed you quickly, knocking your hat off your head in his enthusiasm.

You wouldn’t let him rush you, he’d done plenty of that already this morning. You held him tight and kissed him, just making out for a while. You smiled through your kiss, and could feel him do that same. Will was an excellent kisser and you loved wasting hours just simply kissing him. To be fair, more often than not things would escalate and one or both of you would end up naked, but sometimes kissing was enough. He felt like home to you, and you loved any opportunity to be close to him.

Eventually though he broke away and helped you to your feet.

“Come on, still have a couple stops to make before the sun comes up,” he said, more jittery than you had ever seen him.

He wrapped an arm around you and walked you back to the truck.

When he pulled into the parking lot of the park where you two had previously committed acts of vandalism by removing the anti-homeless architecture, he watched you wrack your brain and come up short.

“Can’t figure it out yet?” he chuckled.

“Coffee hasn’t kicked in I guess,” you said, “I feel like the answer is really obvious, but I just can’t see it.”

“Just trust me, it’ll make sense after the next stop, I promise,” Will told you.

You did trust him, so you nodded and shook your head as he helped you out of the truck. He led you over to a bench near the center of the park, carrying his tool kit.

“Want to piss off some city planning guys?” he asked.

“Always,” you laughed and together you liberated the bench from its oppressive bar. After you removed it, you ran your fingers over the inscription plaque in the middle of the bench.

“I love the inscriptions,” you sighed, “The personal ones always make me cry in the best way.”

“I know,” Will said and you felt seen, understood.

You headed back to the truck as Will checked his watch, “We’re right on time.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from you, Miller,” you teased.

“Since I’ve been with you, I’ve been late a few times,” he rebutted causing you to flush and smirk. Most of those late times were absolutely sex related and you loved how flustered it made him to try and explain to someone why the ever punctual Will Miller was late.

Will pulled into the final stop of his grand gesture tour - your favourite park. He watched your face light up at your arrival and knew he chose the right spot for the occasion.

He walked you to your favourite bench between the grass and the sand just as the sun was rising over the lake, bathing the whole park in a glorious orange light. Together you stood behind the bench and looked out across the water.

“Okay, that view really is beautiful,” you said looking out over the sunrise, “I’m starting to see the appeal of the ass-crack of dawn.”

Will looked at you and said, “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Together you watched the sunrise for a few minutes. Will had his arms around you as he hugged you from behind with his chin resting on your shoulder. Your hands were on his forearms crossed at your hips and you leaned back into, enjoying the view and the company.

He kissed your cheek and gently spun you around to face him.

“I have something to show you,” he said as he led you in front of the bench and pointed to a brand new inscription plaque,

You saw the plaque had your name on it and beneath that it read, “Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole. I love you more than ever.”

“Bob Dylan, right?” you whispered.

Tears of love and joy sprang to your eyes as you ran your fingers over the plaque. You turned with the intention of asking Will for an explanation, but you lost your words when you saw him on one knee in front of you, an open ring box in his outstretched hand.

“Will you marry me?” he asked simply, his voice thick with emotion, his blue eyes open and full of adoration.

You nodded vigorously, “Yes, yes Will Miller, I’ll marry you.”

He slipped the ring on your finger before he kissed you so passionately you were pulled off your feet. You both smiled hard into your kiss as you ran your fingers through his short hair and he gripped your hips tightly.

Eventually you broke apart so you pulled him down to your bench and tucked under his arm. You watched the sunrise together, kissing, talking, kissing some more as you admired both the view and your new ring with warm hearts.

As you sat there, Will kept his arms around you, clinging to you. You’d said yes and he knew you two had a lifetime to come of days on this bench he had dedicated to you. He was going to spend his life with a woman who was smart, strong, and beautiful. No matter what challenges arose in the future, he knew he was going to be okay because he had you.

You sat there in Will’s embrace soaking it all in, reflecting on how thoughtful and perfect a proposal Will had given you. Later you knew you’d go home and fuck each other slowly in every room of your home and fall asleep in the early afternoon sun of your shared bed to recover from your early morning. Then for dinner you’d have the boys and Maria over for celebratory drinks and your family would spend the night together laughing, dancing, drinking, and making a ruckus.

But for now it was just the two of you on your bench and you breathed in every minute of your time alone together. You were ready to spend your life with the man who loved you more than anything in the world, and who you loved just the same.

The End.

#will miller x f!reader #triple frontier #triple frontier fanfiction #william ironhead miller x F!Reader #william ironhead miller #Permit Pending Part 8 #charlie hunnam

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warbyparker · 3 years

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Tag-a-friend Art Book giveaway

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES

1. SWEEPSTAKES DATES AND TIMES: The “Tag-a-friend Art Book giveaway” (“Sweepstakes”) begins on or about 11:00 AM Eastern Time (“ET”) on 2/18/2021 and ends on or about 11:59 PM ET on 2/21/2021 (the “Sweepstakes Period”).

2. ELIGIBILITY: This Sweepstakes is open only to individual legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in his or her state of residence if greater than 18) on date of entry. Employees of JAND, Inc. d/b/a Warby Parker (“Warby Parker” or “Sponsor”) and employees’ immediate family members (parents, spouses, siblings, children, and grandparents, regardless of where they reside), and members of the same household (whether legally related or not), and their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies, and advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible to enter or to win. Parties that are under any obligation, contractual or otherwise, that would limit or impair Sponsor’s ability to use the Entry as set forth in these Official Rules, and parties that are under a merchandising or similar agreement that would restrict exploitation of any right related to the Entry, are also not eligible to enter or to win. Sweepstakes void where restricted or prohibited. By entering, you represent that you have read these Official Rules and agree to abide by and be bound by all terms of these Official Rules.

3. HOW TO ENTER: To enter the Sweepstakes, you first need to have the Instagram application downloaded on your mobile device and be a registered user at time of entry until the time that Warby Parker notifies the potential Winner. There is no cost to download the Instagram application or to become an Instagram user. If you do not have an Instagram account, you can get information on how to sign up for one for free at http://instagram.com. By submitting your information and creating an Instagram account, you agree to Instagram’s Terms of Use (http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms) and Privacy Policy (https://www.instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/). If you do not agree to these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, you cannot create an account, or participate in this Sweepstakes.

During the Sweepstakes Period, tag a friend in the comments section below Warby Parker's Instagram post announcing our The Alphabet of Art at Warby Parker (the “Entry”).

Each eligible comment will be considered a separate Entry. There is no limit to the number of entries per person. All Entries must also comply with the Entry Requirements set forth in Rule #4 below in order to be eligible and the Instagram Terms of Use. Entries not submitted in accordance with the instructions provided in these Official Rules are subject to disqualification, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor. For the purposes of these Official Rules, receipt of Entry occurs when the Instagram servers successfully receive the comment. Sponsor shall not bear any responsibility for any late, lost or misdirected Entries. All Entries become the property of Sponsor.

4. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: By participating in the Sweepstakes, you warrant that your Entry:

(a) is your original work;

(b) does not contain any use of names, likenesses, photographs, or other identifying elements, in whole or in part, of any person, living or dead, without permission (proof of which must be provided to Sponsor upon request in a form satisfactory to Sponsor);

(c) does not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, logos, copyrighted material not owned by you (other than Sponsor-related materials), contract and licensing rights, rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights, and any other intellectual property rights;

(d) is not subject to any third party agreements, and that Sponsor will not be required to pay or incur any sums to any person or entity as a result of its ownership, acquisition, use, or exploitation of the Entry or rights therein;

(e) does not contain hateful content of any kind (including without limitation racism, sexism, etc.), content which promotes violence or harm to another living creature, or any other offensive, obscene, or inappropriate content, the determination of which shall remain in the sole discretion of Sponsor;

(f) does not promote any activity that may appear unsafe or dangerous; and

(g) does not contain reference to any political agenda or party.

You indemnify Sponsor from and against any cause of action, complaints, or other claims arising out of the breach of any of the foregoing warranties.

By entering the Sweepstakes, you represent and warrant that you have obtained all necessary rights, licenses, and permissions in writing from any person (or parent/legal guardian if person is a minor) or whose name may appear in the Entry. If, in the sole discretion of Sponsor, you have breached a representation or warranty contained herein, the Entry will be subject to disqualification. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry if, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, it considers an Entry inappropriate in any way or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right to not award the Prize in the event it does not receive any eligible Entries. Decisions of Sponsor are final and binding.

5. DRAWING: A potential winner (“Winner”) will be selected in a random drawing on or about 2/22/2021 from among all eligible Entries received. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Designation as the Winner is subject to the potential Winner’s proof of compliance with these Official Rules, continued compliance with these Official Rules, and approval by Sponsor. The decisions of Sponsor are final and binding in all matters relating to this Sweepstakes, including interpretation and application of these Official Rules.

6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Four (4) Potential Winners will be notified by the Sponsor by a response to his/her Instagram comment on or about 2/22/2021.

The potential Winner will be required to follow the instructions provided by Sponsor and respond via email to the provided email address within the time frame specified. The potential Winner may be required to sign and properly execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and Publicity/Liability Release (where legal) (collectively, the “Release”) and return the Release via email (and subsequently by mail) to Sponsor within the time frame specified. The potential Winner may also be required to perform additional clearance requests at Sponsor’s discretion. Upon receipt and confirmation of documentation, the potential Winner will be named the “Winner”. If the potential Winner fails to properly execute and return all information and/or documents described herein in the time specified by Sponsor, or if the potential Winner declines to accept the Prize, or if the potential Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, the potential Winner may be disqualified and, at Sponsor’s discretion and time permitting, an alternate winner may be selected (subject to all verification and eligibility requirements of these Official Rules) even if the disqualified potential Winner’s name, Instagram username, or Entry may have already been shown or announced online.

In addition, you acknowledge and agree that Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any potential Winner at any time, in its sole discretion, on the basis of anything contained in, or learned or obtained as a result of, the submitted Release or any other forms requested by Sponsor that, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, would constitute a breach of these Official Rules or any such forms, inclusive of any proof of permission that Sponsor may request in its sole discretion.

7. PRIZES: Four (4) Winners will each receive a copy of “The Alphabet of Art at Warby Parker” book (“Prize”). Prize is non-transferable; no substitutions allowed, except at the discretion of Sponsor. All details of Prize shall be determined solely by Sponsor. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of Prize, pending winner verification. Approximate retail value (ARV) of each Prize is $40.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: Neither Sponsor nor any of its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, nor any of their respective officers, directors, shareholders, agents, and employees, nor Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or any Internet access providers (collectively “Releasees”) are responsible for: incorrect or inaccurate entry of Entry information; human error; technical malfunction; lost/delayed data transmission; omission; interruption; deletion; defect; failure of any telephone, computer, or other network or of any computer equipment, software, or any combination thereof; inability to access Instagram; late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incorrect or incomplete Entries; or any other problems or errors related to the Sweepstakes. Entries that do not comply with these Official Rules, as determined by Sponsor, will be subject to disqualification from the Sweepstakes.

9. LICENSING OF ENTRY: By entering this Sweepstakes, and to the extent allowed by law, you grant Sponsor and each of its affiliates, licensees, promotional partners, advertising and promotion agencies, and third party marketing entities a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sub-licensable, unconditional, fully paid-up, and transferable license to use, edit, modify, cut, rearrange, add to, delete from, copy, reproduce, translate, adapt, publish, exploit, and use the content of and elements embodied in the Entry in commerce and in any and all media worldwide, without limitation or compensation to you, as well as the absolute right and permission to use your name, Instagram username, biographical data, photograph or other likeness (including your Instagram profile photograph), and prize information. You waive and release Sponsor and Releasees from any and all claims that you may now or hereafter have in any jurisdiction based on “moral rights” or “droit moral” or unfair competition with respect to Sponsor’s exploitation of the Entry without further notification or compensation to you of any kind, and agree not to instigate, support, maintain, or authorize any action, claim, or lawsuit against Sponsor and Releasees, on the grounds that any use of the Entry, or any derivative works thereof, infringes, or violates any of your rights therein.

You hereby acknowledge and agree that the relationship between you and Sponsor is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that your decision to provide the Entry to Sponsor for purposes of the Sweepstakes does not place Sponsor in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of the Entry, other than as set forth in these Official Rules. By submitting an Entry, you understand and acknowledge that Sponsor has wide access to ideas, photographs, designs, and other literary materials, and that new ideas are constantly being submitted to it or being developed by its own employees. You also acknowledge that many ideas may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to the Entry and/or each other in theme, idea, format, or other respects. You acknowledge and agree that you will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of Sponsor’s use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to Sponsor from other sources. You acknowledge and agree that Sponsor does not now and shall not have in the future any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of your copyright in and to the submission.

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11. DISPUTES/CHOICE OF LAW: The laws of the United States govern the Sweepstakes. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of you and Sponsor in connection with the Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdiction), that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York.

You agree that: (a) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Sweepstakes, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (b) if the parties are unable to resolve their dispute amicably, such dispute shall be resolved by arbitration; (c) any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Sweepstakes, but in no event and under no circumstances will you be permitted to obtain awards for attorneys’ fees; and (d) you hereby waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental, and consequential damages, and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.

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intimate-mirror · 3 years

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Shorter is a transgender woman who has undergone hormone replacement therapy, meaning her body is “openly female.” In June 2015, she entered the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix to begin a 96-month sentence for creating a fraudulent “tax services” firm. Although prison officials were aware that Shorter was transgender, they opted to house her in a room without a lock with 11 men. Prison officials screened her risk for sexual assault under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (“PREA”) regulations, and they concluded she was at “significantly” higher risk than other inmates because, among other reasons, she presented as transgender, was small in stature, and had previously been sexually assaulted at another prison facility. The screening report stated that Shorter “should not be housed with anyone perceived to be ‘at risk’ for sexual abuse perpetration” and would be monitored.

Despite these concerns, officials continued to house Shorter in a room without a lock with 11 men. Worried this living situation put her at risk for sexual assault, she asked to move to a two-person cell instead, citing policies of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) that supported her position. After initially objecting to this request, the prison reversed course and moved her to a two-person cell.

But the move did not fix the problem: the new cell also had no lock and was the furthest cell from the officer’s station. Shorter reported these issues to prison officials, along with other concerns about sexual harassment and assault, but they took no immediate steps to protect her. Instead, her counselor compounded the problem by assigning a sex offender as her cellmate. The sex offender was later removed from her cell, and Shorter followed up with a grievance to the warden.

A few days later, Shorter again expressed concerns about sexual assault and submitted a request to transfer to a different prison, along with a BOP Program Statement supporting her request. Demonstrating the depth of her concern, Shorter requested a transfer from the low-security Fort Dix to a higher security facility, as she believed the latter would provide more protection against assault. The transfer request asserted that Fort Dix was a particularly dangerous facility for her because it holds an unusually large number of sex offenders and does not permit locks on cell doors. Although the prison’s psychology department agreed Shorter should be transferred, she remained in the cell furthest from the officer’s station while her request was pending.

Prison leadership took 17 days to act on Shorter’s transfer request. On September 4, 2015, the BOP’s Gender Identity Dysphoria Committee decided Shorter should be transferred because there were “security concerns due to” her gender dysphoria and “the physical layout” of Fort Dix could not “provide the same type of supervision as in other institutions.” Id. at 106. Despite the apparent urgency of the situation, the warden took yet another 17 days before acting on the Committee’s recommendation and submitting a transfer request to the central BOP office.

Conditions in the prison only worsened as Shorter awaited transfer. She continued to submit written materials to prison officials detailing her concerns. And on October 5 and 8, 2015, the associate warden distributed two memoranda suspending certain inmate privileges due in part to the recent “significant increase in security issues involving staff and inmate assaults.”

On October 14, 2015, Shorter’s fears became real. In the middle of the night, an inmate entered her cell, raped her, and cut her seven times. After Shorter reported the incident, she was placed in involuntary protective custody. The prison conducted what Shorter characterizes as a cursory investigation of the assault but did not substantiate her claims. On November 3, 2015, approximately two and a half months after her initial transfer request and four months after she first complained to prison officials about her living arrangement, officials finally transferred Shorter from Fort Dix. She completed her sentence in 2019 and was released from custody.

“”“tfw you have to house women in men’s prisons in order to protect biowomen”““

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ivesory · 4 years

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10 Critical Parts of Guidance for Inventors

There are no one-size-fits-all technique inventors can adhere to, and there is no inventing roadmap to success that will certainly work in all instances. Notwithstanding, several things can and should be understood if an inventor is most likely to seek to invent as greater than a pastime.

By understanding some fundamental yet crucial information first you will significantly elevate the possibilities of doing well. This is not to claim that you will not make errors; mistakes are inescapable. You will, nonetheless, make fewer mistakes if you provide thoughtful consideration to what it is you are attempting to do. Running off as well as a beginning without gratitude for the process will prove costly. Before continue reading visit https://theavtimes.com/2020/07/01/amazing-ways-inventhelp-can-assist-you-as-an-inventor/

What complies with are 10 crucial items of recommendations for inventors.

1. Locate Your Passion as an Inventor

If you are a major inventor as well as do not intend on giving up the very first time an obstacle is placed in front of you, then you require to concentrate on something for which you have a true passion. The factor here is basic: The act of inventing takes a great deal of time so you need to like it to make it function. There will certainly be both successes and also setbacks, and any straightforward inventor will inform you of the troubles that surpass the successes. What makes inventing gratifying is the quest for success as well as the challenge. If you are not enthusiastic concerning your invention and also the field of endeavor the possibility you will certainly do well is really low.

2. Inventors Must Become an Expert

The greatest blunder I see all inventors make is they hurry right into a field of venture without actually recognizing what they are entering, or to resolve the trouble in an industry they do not understand. Every brand-new moms and dad all of a sudden end up being an inventor in the baby products area, however exactly how lots of having any kind of idea regarding the difficult government security policies enforced on baby products? While passion is called for, knowledge is additionally needed. A successful inventor will certainly find out whatever they can around each aspect of the area, from the technology to business, to the competition.

3. The Goal is Not Simply to Obtain a Patent

The goal is not to develop an amazing invention, the goal is not to get a patent, the goal is practically universally to generate income. The cool invention and license are a means throughout, not the end in as well as of themselves. Do not obtain so caught up in the imaginative facet of inventing that they fall short to quit and also ask whether they must be investing the time, money, and power into the production. The moral of the story is that the most effective innovation can cause no financial benefit, while often small improvements can lead to financial riches. Therefore, it usually makes good sense for the inventor to concentrate on inventing to fix specific troubles, as well as not just inventing to develop something unique.

4. Method Inventing in a Business Responsible Way

Treat your invention from day one as if it will certainly be hugely effective because by the time you recognize that this is the invention that will certainly be wildly successful it will be as well late unless you have grown the seeks for success early. Don't drop in love with an invention that is falling short when you can relocate on to the next project, which might be the one that will be successful.

You may also like https://azbigmedia.com/business/want-to-be-a-successful-inventor-use-these-ideas-to-help/

5. Don't Underestimate the Importance of a Patent Search

If it looks like just incredibly narrow patent protection will certainly be offered it most likely makes more sense to just relocate on to your following invention because inventors constantly have the next invention. Patent searches are also superb learning devices since they permit you to uncover which aspects of your invention are most likely to add to patentability.

6. Don't Underestimate the Importance of an Internet Search

Over the years I have preached to inventors about the relevance of doing a patent search. Previously in my career, I would certainly listen to from inventors who would certainly say that they browsed the Internet extensively and can not find the invention so they want to relocate ahead. For goodness benefits, if you come up with an invention the initial thing you must do is see whether it exists and can be purchased online or in shops.

7. Certificate Inventions Not Ideas

Without a patent-pending, you do not have anything to license aside from a suggestion that does not have substantial boundaries. When you seek to license a concept alone you can easily scare business. Even listening to a concept without substantial borders as specified in a minimum of a provisional license application can terrify business to the point where some, possibly many, won't intend to do it. Furthermore, the additional you can create your idea the better and better it will certainly end up being. A suggestion may be worth a little to an extremely minimal number of individuals, yet an idea that has taken shape and has become an invention is worth also more as well as to even more people. An invention that has been defined in a provisional patent application is worth more. Famous inventor trainer Stephen Key discusses a submitted provisional license application creating "viewed possession," and he recommends his inventor pupils seriously make the effort as well as the power to define their ideas in concrete methods to create those regarded civil liberties with a provisionary filing. That is exceptional advice.

8. Set a Budget

Inventing and also commercializing can be exceptionally expensive, and also if you are an inventor that implies you are creative and also it is insane to assume that your current invention will be your last. Many inventors have a handful of inventions at any type of one point, so the difficulty they have is selecting which one to seek first. That being the case, and the inescapable truth that you may not rack up with the initial invention you pick, you need to set a budget and also constantly review via the process to ensure that it continues to make good sense to go after the invention. Spending time and money is something, yet spending good cash as well as your time once the search has been demonstrated to likely not be rewarding is absolutely nothing short of a catastrophe. I suggest you establish a spending plan, which you can reassess if points appear to be relocating forward in a favorable instruction. When you reach your budget restriction if there is no favorable energy you need to proceed to what is following. Do not throw your work away, you never know when it might become appropriate or you may have an advancement motivation.

9. Proof of Concept

At some point, it will certainly come to be required to verify your invention, which is called a proof of principle. While it is real that an invention with a proof of principle will be more important than one without such evidence, it is still required for inventors to be cautious. You might begin functioning with an artist who can sketch your invention first on paper.

10. Plausibly Estimate the Size of the marketplace

There is nothing wrong with dreaming, however, there is an extremely vital cautionary tale to be outlined the significant harm that can be done to possibility when inventors exaggerate the market dimension for their invention. You don't intend to be the one that with confidence declares: "Everyone is mosting likely to require to get this invention." No one ever attains 100% market share, and if that is what you expect you will be let down. If you are serious about establishing the real size of the market you will certainly investigate openly readily available info and dig through the data using practical assertions. According to U.S. Census information, in 2016 40.6 million individuals were living in poverty in the United States. The poverty line for a person was $12,228, while the poverty line for a household of 4 was $24,563. So precisely the amount of individuals can manage to purchase your invention? And then think about how many people could need the invention. Also check out https://theavtimes.com/2020/07/01/amazing-ways-inventhelp-can-assist-you-as-an-inventor/

#Entrepreneurs #Products #Innovation #Technology #Inventions #Prototypes #Inventors #Patent #Ideas #InventHelp

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socialjusticeartshare · 4 years

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The Trump administration is rushing deportations of migrant children during coronavirus

Their father was missing. Their mother was miles away in Houston. Two sisters, ages 8 and 11, were survivors of sexual assault and at risk of deportation. With the nation focused on COVID-19, the U.S. government is rushing the deportations of migrant children.

BY LOMI KRIEL, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA MAY 18, 2020

This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.

The girls, 8 and 11, were alone in a rented room in a dangerous Mexican city bordering Texas. Their father had been attacked and abandoned on the side of a road and they didn’t know where he was.

For seven months the children had waited with their dad in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, to ask U.S. authorities for asylum. They had fled their home after death threats from local gang members and no help from police. They had also been victims of sexual assault.

But in March, after their father suddenly didn’t return from his construction job, a neighbor took the children to the international bridge. He said they should present themselves to U.S. immigration authorities, who would reunite the girls with their mother in Houston.

“Mami,” the eldest panicked in a brief call immigration agents made to the mother. “Daddy didn’t come home.”

The mother, at work in Houston, said she nearly fainted.

Before the coronavirus pandemic upended everything, the children likely would have spent a few weeks in the care of a U.S. shelter until they were released to their mother to pursue their asylum cases.

Instead, government officials placed the children in foster care through a federal shelter for two months. In mid-May, they suddenly notified their caseworkers that they intended to deport the sisters in a few days to El Salvador, where they have no place to go and fear the gang members who vowed to kill the family. At the last minute, the girls were released to their mother Thursday, pending an emergency federal appeal of their deportation.

As the nation remains focused on COVID-19, the U.S. government has aggressively begun to rush the deportations of some of the most vulnerable migrant children in its care to countries where they have been raped, beaten or had a parent killed, according to attorneys, court filings and congressional staff.

While the deportation of children to dangerous situations is not a new phenomenon for U.S. authorities, what has shocked even veteran immigration attorneys is that the government is trying to so quickly remove, arguably against federal law, those most imperiled — all during a global pandemic.

At least two children deported in recent weeks have been tracked down by international refugee agencies after U.S. counterparts asked them for help because the minors face such danger, including a 16-year-old Honduran girl who had been raped back home.

One boy is locked down in a relative’s home in Honduras, and said in an interview that he fears going outside because of abuse related to his sexual orientation. His mother is stuck in Mexico after her asylum case at the Texas border was denied and the pandemic halted travel across the Americas.

Another teen was deported without his attorneys being notified and despite an immigration judge agreeing to reopen his case. At least seven more children are fighting deportation with last-minute federal court filings after their attorneys said the U.S. moved abruptly to put them on planes home.

“These cases are probably the tip of the iceberg,” said Stephen Kang, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is monitoring the increasing reports.

The sudden spike of deporting children comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has cited the global health crisis to largely shutter the border, including to almost all unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters last month that during the contagion even migrant children “pose an absolute, concrete public health risk to this country and everybody they come in contact with.”

These deported children come on top of an additional 900 unaccompanied minors who under the emergency declaration have been turned back at the U.S. border in March and April, federal statistics show, often to danger.

Federal authorities have stalled the release of migrant children in the U.S. to relatives in some cases and in late-night moves are attempting to deport them with scant notice to their attorneys. In particular, the government seems to be focused on children who have crossed the border alone after U.S. authorities forced them and their parents to wait for months in Mexico in their bid for asylum.

Since March, the Department of Homeland Security has tried to quickly deport at least 15 such children, according to their lawyers, and removed at least six, including a 10-year-old. Another Guatemalan girl was set to be deported Monday, her attorney said.

All had been required to stay in Mexico under a controversial 2019 Trump administration program named the Migrant Protection Protocols, in which most had no access to lawyers. Roughly one in two such returned migrants were ordered deported without being able to attend their immigration court hearings in the U.S. As violence surged in Mexican border towns, and some parents were assaulted, kidnapped or even killed, children streamed into the U.S. alone.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, in charge of unaccompanied migrant children, began tracking those whose parents remained in Mexico in October, and since then it has identified 571, including more than 300 who are 12 or younger. Of those, a spokeswoman said, the vast majority, 476, had been reunified with their relatives or a sponsor in the U.S. as of early May. Four had been deported by that date.

The agency had about 1,450 migrant children in its care as of May 15, which includes the minors previously stuck with their parents in Mexico and others who came to the border alone or with relatives who are not their parents. That historically low number is partly because only 58 children were referred to the agency’s care after being allowed to cross the border in April. By comparison, more than 1,850 such children were permitted into the country in March.

The White House has long been trying to undo federal protections for immigrant families and children, who the administration contends are wrongly allowed to stay in the U.S. for years because of “loopholes” in federal law. The government, which tried separating immigrant parents from their children at the border before federal litigation halted the practice, is seeking changes to a settlement decree governing the care of migrant children, and expediting their cases in immigration courts.

“We are seeing a wholesale attack,” said Jennifer Podkul, director of policy for Kids in Need of Defense, a national nonprofit advocating for migrant children. “They are using the pandemic as an excuse why they are expelling children.”

April Grant, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement that children who enter the U.S. and have pending cases with their family under the Migrant Protection Protocols program will be given new cases as unaccompanied minors.

But if children already had been ordered removed under their family’s case in that program they are subject to deportation when they cross the border again — even if they do so alone and under completely different circumstances.

“If the minor was ordered removed from the U.S. by an immigration judge as part of the family unit, prior to being encountered as an (unaccompanied child) then the minor is subject to the final order of removal,” Grant said.

Attorneys in lawsuits across the country argue that is a violation of both a 2008 law intended to protect migrant children from trafficking and a 1997 federal settlement forcing the government to hold such minors in “safe” conditions and make “prompt” efforts to release them. The attorneys contend the government is breaking the law by not granting children entering the U.S. alone a new bid at asylum.

“The law is very clear that the children are unaccompanied, they entered unaccompanied, the government itself designated them as unaccompanied, so they are entitled to all these protections” of the 2008 law and 1997 settlement, said Asra Syed, a New York lawyer helping litigate the case of the Salvadoran sisters in Houston. “The only thing that makes it gray is not a question of the law, it is a question of how ICE is behaving.”

“We’re going to kill you and your family”

The ordeal of the Salvadoran girls in Houston began last year when their father, a 33-year-old aviation mechanic in that nation’s capital city, used his savings to buy a handful of cars and rent them as taxis. Gang members forced him to pay a monthly extortion fee, which they steadily raised. The father, Mauricio, began struggling to meet the payments, said his wife, Maria, who asked that neither she nor her husband be fully identified because they fear retaliation from both the gang and the government.

In March 2019, Maria said gang members pointed a gun at her husband’s head. He ran away, calling police, who arrested two of his assailants. That April, Mauricio and his wife briefly left the girls at home when the oldest phoned: “One of the cars is burning,” Maria recalled her saying.

Mauricio alerted the police. Then the phone calls began: “We know where your wife works. We know where the girls are. If you don’t work with us, we’re going to kill you and your family.”

In August 2019, armed men showed up at their house, threatening them again, so they filed another police complaint.

That September, Mauricio’s wife flew to Houston on a tourist visa she already had and planned to stay with her brother. But she said Mauricio and the girls didn’t have months to wait for a tourist visa application, so they left the next day on a bus to the Texas border. When Border Patrol agents apprehended them crossing illegally near Brownsville that month, they were placed in the Migrant Protection Protocols program and forced to wait in Matamoros for their U.S. immigration court dates.

Maria waitressed at a Colombian restaurant in Houston and sent them money so they could rent a room in the border town, to which the U.S. State Department has long warned against travel because of crime and kidnapping, classifying the state of Tamaulipas at the same danger level as war zones like Syria. Maria said she hired a Houston immigration lawyer to argue her family’s case, paying him $6,000 and sending copies of police complaints they filed.

The family was far more fortunate than most of the 60,000 migrants forced to wait in Mexico under the program in the past year. Unable to afford rent, many stay in sprawling tent camps such as the one in Matamoros where children younger than 5 made up a quarter of its 2,500 residents, according to a tally by Human Rights First, an advocacy group.

Unlike the Salvadoran family, only about 4% of migrants waiting for their U.S. hearings in Mexico have been able to secure an attorney to represent them, according to Human Rights Watch, an international nonprofit. By comparison, those in the U.S. are seven times more likely to find a lawyer — crucial in winning asylum.

During Mauricio and his daughters’ final hearing in January in the Brownsville immigration court, he told his wife that the lawyer poorly handled their asylum claim. The judge denied their case. That attorney declined to be interviewed.

Mauricio began working construction in Matamoros because Maria was trying to afford another lawyer to appeal their case.

In March, the father didn’t return from work. The girls waited all night and the next evening they said their neighbor dropped them at the international bridge. Knowing that migrants in Matamoros are often targeted by cartels, the neighbor feared the worst for their father.

U.S. authorities took in the girls, designated them as unaccompanied minors and placed them in the care of a shelter in downtown Houston. Caseworkers with the Office of Refugee Resettlement processed Maria’s application to receive her daughters, doing a home study of the apartment she shared with her brother to see if it met the government’s requirements, she said, and taking her fingerprints.

Then the girls made a shocking disclosure to their caseworker, who relayed it to the mother: For years, they said, a relative had sexually assaulted them while Maria and Mauricio were at work. The man died in 2018, but the girls never revealed anything to their parents.

The mother’s heart shattered.

“That was the worst day of my life,” she said.

She also feared for her husband.

After he was left nearly for dead when leaving work that March evening, he eventually made it back to the room he had shared with his daughters. By then, they were already in the U.S.

He has since escaped Matamoros for a different Mexican city because it was unsafe, Maria said. She has not had steady contact with her husband because he no longer has a phone or reliable place to live, but they talk when they can through Facebook.

The mother doesn’t know what they are going to do, but has focused on getting the girls back.

Maria underwent a mandatory course through the shelter triggered by her daughters’ sexual assault allegations, and in May, said their case worker told her everything had been approved. She even asked the mother to set up medical appointments for the girls.

A few days before they were to be reunified, ICE officials suddenly announced that they planned to deport the sisters to El Salvador, said one of their pro bono lawyers, Elizabeth Sanchez Kennedy of YMCA International Services in Houston.

The ICE official told shelter staff that the girls have final removal orders from the hearing with their father in Brownsville.

The attorney submitted an appeal to reopen that case and start a new one for them as unaccompanied children. In a separate application for a temporary restraining order in a Houston federal court, she argued this was required under the law.

El Salvador’s consulate general in Houston asked Maria where the girls could go if they were deported. The mother said the only family member left was related to the girls’ sexual assault allegations, and that they would not be safe. The consulate told her that ICE officials said if needed the girls could be sent to foster care in El Salvador.

“We are seeing a pattern emerge”

Lawyers across the country said it seems to be a coordinated new effort to target children who can easily and quickly be deported, particularly those in the Migrant Protection Protocols program, even though they contend the minors qualify for special safeguards.

“We are seeing a pattern emerge where ICE is insisting on deporting unaccompanied immigrant children,” Syed, another lawyer in the Houston case, wrote in an email. “But we haven’t seen it happen to two such young children — our clients are only 8 and 11 — who have a parent in the U.S. ready to receive them, and no one in their home country to care for them. ”

Children have been deported to serious harm, including the 16-year-old girl who fled Honduras with her mother after her testimony landed her father in prison for rape and now faces retaliation from her uncle, a convicted killer.

The girl and her mother waited in Matamoros for months, but in January their asylum cases were denied through a tent court hearing in Brownsville, her lawyers said. The migrant camp was dangerous, and she said cartel members tried to kidnap another girl.

She crossed into Texas alone and was sent to a federal shelter. Attorneys with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, or ProBar, filed a motion to reopen her old deportation order and argued that denial to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is pending.

In April, the teen was abruptly taken to an appointment with ICE agents, who requested she sign her deportation documents, her attorneys said. They filed a temporary restraining order in a Washington, D.C., federal court to halt her removal, arguing the government had wrongly denied her protections for migrant children required under the 2008 anti-trafficking law. She was owed an independent chance at asylum, they said, apart from her mother’s case.

Government attorneys contended the law only required them to place such children in removal proceedings — not necessarily grant them new cases as unaccompanied minors. They noted the girl still had time to fight her deportation order from her mother’s case.

The judge decided he didn’t have the jurisdiction to block the girl’s removal, and she was sent to Honduras last month. San Francisco attorney Stephen Blake, who argued the federal case, said he was communicating with senior lawyers at the Justice Department and that he felt a “very conscious decision was made by ICE” to deport the girl.

On her flight to Honduras was another child represented by the same attorneys from ProBAR. The boy told them he had fled an abusive father and gang members forcing him to join their ranks.

When he arrived in Ciudad Juárez across from El Paso last year, he and his mother were forced to await their case in Mexico. His mother returned to Honduras, but the boy feared the gang would target him. Juárez was dangerous, so the teen followed acquaintances to Monterrey, and was not able to return for his U.S. court date. A judge ordered him deported in absentia.

In January, he returned to Juárez, crossing alone and landing in a shelter where the ProBar attorneys began representing him. His lawyer, Julio Feliz, filed a motion to reopen his deportation case. On April 1, that was denied, but Feliz said he never received that notice. A few weeks later, the attorney filed supplementary evidence supporting that motion, and the immigration judge agreed to reopen the boy’s case.

But ICE deported him that same day, Feliz said.

He did not find out the boy had been removed until he was in flight. The teen is now in hiding with a relative in Honduras.

“We’re extremely concerned about both of these children’s safety, and we wish we could have had the opportunity to have their cases heard properly,” said Carly Salazar, ProBAR’s legal director.

Claudia Cubas, a lawyer with the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, a legal advocacy group in Washington, D.C., was one of the first attorneys to make these arguments in federal court after ICE tried to remove three Salvadoran children — ages 9, 14 and 16 — in March.

They had fled to Matamoros with their mother in 2019 after members of the MS-13 gang slashed their father to death with machetes, according to court documents, and terrorized their stepfather. A relative connected to the gang beat the mother so viciously her “bone was visible through her skin,” according to a legal filing. Three relatives were killed by MS-13 in an attempt to discover the family’s whereabouts.

The children’s stepfather came to the U.S. last year and was allowed to pursue asylum from Maryland, Cubas said. But when the children arrived at the Texas border with their mother, the family was placed in the Migrant Protection Protocols program and made to wait in Matamoros.

One child was sexually assaulted in the camp, according to court documents. When their case was denied in January, the mother sent her children across the border alone to join their stepfather.

“I have lived my life,” she told her lawyer.

The children were placed in foster care through a federal shelter and were set to be reunified with their stepfather. At the last minute, Cubas said the government halted their release to him when ICE suddenly in March tried to deport them. Federal litigation has paused their removal and allowed them to be freed to their father, but only while their legal case is argued.

“The government is removing very young children to no one,” Cubas said. “But our courts are in a state of emergency. Our media is COVID-19 all the time. We don’t even have congressional hearings right now in full force. There is less scrutiny.”

“Uncanny” timing

Some lawyers fear the recent surge of such deportations is related to an April order in the landmark 1997 settlement agreement governing migrant children in detention. In response to concerns that they would be exposed to COVID-19, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in California found children should be quickly released from government facilities, which she called “hotbeds of contagion,” unless their removal was “imminent.”

The government around that time seemed to escalate its enforcement of prior deportation orders for children, said Holly Cooper, an immigration attorney with the University of California at Davis, who is involved in litigating the federal consent decree. She called the timing “uncanny.”

Parents in the Matamoros migrant camp worry what will happen to the children they sent across alone, said Maria Corrales, a Honduran asylum-seeker. Her 12-year-old daughter is in a New York shelter after the family lost its immigration case at the border and the girl entered the U.S. by herself.

In the camp, Corrales said few parents still have their children with them because, by now, having lost their Migrant Protection Protocols cases or simply given up on the process, most have dispatched them across the border in desperation.

“We’re all single parents here,” Corrales sighed. “We have almost no children left.”

Federal litigation has forced the temporary reunification of some migrant children with their relatives and halted their deportations -- for now.

“These are only band-aids,” said Sanchez Kennedy, who represents the Salvadoran girls in Houston.

Late Thursday, the government granted her a provisional stay to argue their immigration appeal. A federal judge simultaneously blocked ICE from deporting the girls until this Friday, when attorneys will argue for a longer halt on their removal.

While the litigation unfolds, the government late last week released the girls to their mother.

They gushed when they saw her, hugging desperately.

But the government could still deport them alone.

Do you have access to information about migrant children or immigrant families separated for whatever reason that should be public? Email [email protected]. Here’s how to send tips and documents to ProPublica securely.

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#families separate #migrant kids separated at the border #deportation #coronavirus

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anddontbelat · 4 years

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The Ultimate Scroll Saw

Odds are, in case you're understanding this – you're taking a gander at buying a parchment saw for an undertaking that different saws can't exactly tingle – or maybe you've bought one, and need to take a gander at a beginning aide so as to start your parchment saw profession.

We have to explain before we proceed – what precisely is a parchment saw?

A parchment saw is a saw which is utilized for cutting perplexing shapes and examples, for example, bended lines and complex plans, with a concentration upon its artfulness as opposed to control.

As the parchment saw is outfitted towards a specific range of abilities, it's utilized in ventures that require these structures, as opposed to the concentration upon power in which numerous different saws are based on.

Stuck for time? Not an issue. We've made a fast diagram underneath for your benefit:

Utilized for their exactness and precision, scroll saws are ideal for those expecting to create complicated plans

Parchment saws have a lot of center highlights, table, sharp edge and arm type, just as extra highlights to upgrade your work

Parchment saw cutting edges come in stuck and pinless structures, in light of your model/plan or parchment saw

Extra highlights, for example, lights, air blowers, variable speed and edge pressure handles can be found on scroll saws

Sharp edges are found inside 8 explicit sorts, and can be utilized on various materials pending on their make

The Basic Features

To begin with the comprehension of how a parchment saw functions, we first need to take a gander at its separate highlights, both establishment and extra.

In the same way as other force apparatuses, a parchment saw has a lot of fundamental highlights, which are all around found all through all parchment saws.

The stripped down, the basics – whatever you like to call them, are the highlights that, without – the parchment saw basically couldn't do what it does.

For the parchment saw, these highlights are the table, arm type, and furthermore the sharp edge.

We'll be taking a gander at them intently beneath don't as well, stress in case you're not up to speed with them – we'll do that for you.

Table

Obviously, it's horrible having a saw without having the option to hold your pieces while working.

Fortunately, the parchment saw incorporates its own tabletop to work upon, and this is normally made of aluminum or iron.

Parchment saw-purchasing guide

A significant angle to note is the term, 'throat size'. This is the thing that you can discover through the paths of your tool shop or on the web, and this is one of the fundamental highlights which will separate a parchment saw from the others accessible available.

The throat size is the term given to the measure of room from the cutting edge to the rear of the table's surface, which gives a guide of the extents of material you're ready to work with.

Parchment saws can be found with throat measures that go somewhere in the range of 16" and 20", in spite of the fact that there are models which fit outside this range.

Another intriguing purpose of note is the slope, which is the edge the table can tilt either left or right. The slope, which is ordinarily to a 45° edge, can make for some intriguing structures, adding another measurement to your cutting game.

The table is the thing that you'll be utilizing to put your materials upon, as you're making cuts. It's imperative to keep this in a decent condition, as any trash or harms can influence your nature of work, and harm this while doing as such.

Obviously, it's just characteristic that after some time scratches will happen, yet a cautious eye will take out any harms from occuring later on.

Arm Type

The arm is the association between the engine and your work, which mounts the edge and takes into account slices to be made.

Parchment Saws are accessible in three kinds of arm, which are a C Arm, Parallel Type, and Parallel-Linked arm.

C Type Arm

A C type arm sort of parchment saw contains one rotate point, which permits the cutting edge to move in an upwards and downwards position, anyway because of the one turn point – it moves in a slight curve.

C-arm scroll saws are the most forceful of the arm types accessible, as they give a quicker cut.

Because of this, C-arm scroll saws are generally found in encountered carpenters' inventories, as they require a lot of ability to give an elevated level of exactness.

Equal Type Arm

An equal arm contains two arms which compromise with one another, that contain a turn point in each arm.

This permits the arm to travel all the while, which gives the name to the 'equal sort arm'.

With the two arms, the lower arm is connected to the engine, which it's associated with under the table of your parchment saw.

The upper arm runs over the head of the table, containing a mount at the front of the arm for the edge to be associated.

The two arms meet at the rear of the parchment saw, which takes into account the sharp edge to move in a responding movement, upwards and advances.

Equal Linked Arm

The equal connected arm is the most current adaptation of arm type to be found in scroll saws.

The purpose behind their turn of events and late passage into the parchment saw arm variety is because of the negligible vibration the connected arms give. With such an exact instrument, this is a distinct advantage.

The edge of the parchment saw is held between an upper arm, and the lower arm. These arms turn, in answer to the responding movement of the connection, which permits the cutting edge to imitate this movement inside its cut.

The arms of an equal connected arm are a lot shorter than a C or equal arm, which bring about a front-to-back development that is seen distinctly in this arm type.

The equal connected arm can be found in some very good quality parchment saws accessible, and like the elective arm types – accompany the two its upsides and downsides.

Cutting edges

Without a cutting edge, you won't have the option to make any cuts. Straightforward, isn't that so?

It essentially is.

A parchment saw is in the same class as its edge, and there are a wide range of types accessible.

What-You-Should-Know-About-Scroll-Saw-Blades

I've separated them all through this article, and we'll be investigating the setups of the cutting edges from a more profound perspective later in this article.

Right off the bat, nonetheless, we can begin with this.

There are two kinds of edges, stuck and pinless cutting edges, which we will be investigating in the segment underneath.

Stuck Blades

Stuck cutting edges are found in more seasoned models of parchment saws, anyway they are as yet discovered today in many parchment saws – as most models can acknowledge both stuck and pinless sharp edges.

Stuck cutting edges, similar to their name proposes, utilizes pins to hold the sharp edge into place.

It's very simple to change these cutting edges, as they are held into place by a holding snare, associated with a cross-piece which rests inside the snare.

To deliver these cutting edges, it's as straightforward as modifying the strain of the edge, which will at that point be effectively expelled from the snare.

Pinless Blades

Pinless edges, similar to their stuck partners, are additionally very simple to supplant.

They should be strung through the piece you're taking a shot at, interfacing into the openings which are situated above and underneath the table.

When you've finished this, they should be fixed at the two closures to guarantee they are associated appropriately.

Whichever cutting edge type your parchment saw acknowledges – there are no drawbacks or preferences to either over the other.

Extra Features

So we've secured the center highlights, presently it's an ideal opportunity to investigate extra highlights and embellishments which can be found on a parchment saw.

These highlights have their utilizations which improve certain parts of the electric saw and its yield, so don't hesitate to peruse underneath on these to perceive what might be ideal to suit you.

Variable Speed Option

This extra component is fantastically valuable for a parchment saw.

In case you're utilizing various materials and furthermore extraordinary thickness levels of these materials, a general set speed won't generally work.

This is the place a variable speed alternative becomes an integral factor. They are generally found as a switch on the parchment saw, or as a handle which can be changed in accordance with the speed you might want to reach.

With this, numerous variable speed alternatives likewise accompany a lock setting – permitting you to bolt onto a specific speed for the length of your meeting.

Edge Tension Knob/Lever

The edge strain alludes to how free/close the sharp edge is, the point at which it's mounted from the head of the table by the arm, to the base of the table.

Many experienced parchment saw clients can alter the strain of their sharp edges absent a lot of issue, because of endless hours spent on the machine, and knowing the intricate details of their parchment saw and edges.

Producers are currently presenting sharp edge strain modification highlights, so as to expel the problem and disarray that edge pressure fixing can bring.

With these, the sharp edge pressure alteration is found as a handle or a trigger. These have a keyed brace which can be extricated and fixed for the right strain, which is much simpler than physically doing as such, wouldn't you say?

Flexible Lighting

A greater part of parchment saws presently accompany a movable light, which is ideal for enlightening obscured workspaces.

Likewise, in addition to the fact that it provides a superior light for your general condition, yet in addition for your point by point cuts – giving you greater perceivability when taking a shot at the most troublesome of shapes.

These lights can be fitted in either a LED light, or as a bulb – pending on your inclination.

A greater part of these lights are customizable, with some being fixed.

Air Blowers

Air blowers are likewise another significant extra element which is found on most of parchment saws. These are actually as they sound, a little cylinder which can be balanced (in certain saws) to overwhelm overabundance dust which is made during the cutting procedure.

This improves your perceivability when chipping away at your piece, and furthermore keeps you from taking in any hurtful materials or residue.

Some air blowers are likewise connected to tidy ports, which gather the residue made during a meeting, which is unbelievably helpful when you consider how untidy a parchment saw can be on occasion through the du

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everlarkficexchange · 5 years

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Unmasked ~ Eight

Written by: ~ M ~

Prompt #88

Rating: E (Explicit) This fic will contain consensual sexual content; mild language; discussions of injuries, illness, and amputations in a historical setting; discussions of miscarriage; discussions of minor character suicide; references to non consensual sexual situations.

My thanks to the moderators of @everlarkficexchange for always running an entertaining event, and for playing along with a little fun and mystery. Please enjoy the eighth chapter of this adventure. Previous installments can be found here. Regards,

~ M ~

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

~~ Chapter 8 ~~

Saying farewell to Effie and Haymitch turns out to be a more difficult task than I expected. Haymitch quietly reminds me to keep him informed, that he and Effie both wish to be at my wedding, wherever I decide it will be held. The absence of any sarcastic comment from him unnerves me.

“Aunt Effie despises the country,” I say and Haymitch shrugs.

“She will brave the monotony for your wedding.” He winks then and I manage a small smile before he helps me into the carriage.

I find myself leaning out the window as we pull away, watching them grow smaller until we turn a corner and I can no longer see them. I will miss them, I realise when they vanish from view. As badly as my husband hunt turned out in the details, it was successful. I am engaged to be married, and there is no taking that back now. My success, questionable though it may be, is in large part due to their help. Now I simply have to learn to live with the consequences.

I settle into my seat and find Madge watching me. Unable to find the words I need to broach the thousands of things we should speak on, I turn vacant eyes back out the window, onto the street. We are silent as the buildings thin and then eventually fall away altogether.

The removal of their restrictive presence allows me space to breathe. Trees rise up around us, meadows and fields reach towards the horizon as though they might touch the sky if they could but grow fingers. I feel as I do at the end of the day, when a corset is removed and my body sings in relief.

This is where I belong.

“What shall you do first when we return to Everdeen?”

“Take Sagittaria out for a long ride, I should think,” I murmur and Madge hums. I frown as I realise how that must sound. “After seeing my family, of course.”

“Of course.”

“You must be happy to be seeing Maysilee.”

“Katniss, I know I failed you as a chaperone and as a friend. I should have seen more, advised caution instead of encouraging the haste–”

“I do not mean it as a criticism,” I say and turn back to her. It strikes me then how fortunate I am that Madge returned to my life at such a time. Without her, I would have no real friend. I cannot bear to have the events of the past month cause a rift between us. “I am not yet ready to talk about it, but we will. There will be time enough before the damned wedding to beat the subject to death with a spoon.”

“A soup spoon or custard spoon?”

“Well no need to make it difficult on ourselves, so I suppose a soup spoon.”

Madge laughs at this, although I am unable to join her just yet. After that, we are more like ourselves, able to converse and even smile. I avoid all thoughts of Robert and our night at the masquerade, if it even was him. Thinking on the questions that remain will no doubt make me mad. Whether that is a furious mad or an insane mad, I have not yet decided and am not yet ready to explore the possibilities. An ache resides in my chest every time I think on it, yet the further away from Capitol that we drive, the less it disturbs me.

Peeta Mellark and my pending marriage to him is a problem I will have to face eventually, but for now I must focus on more pressing issues.

************************

We ride our horses the last few miles, enjoying the fresh air and the perfumes of summer at Everdeen. I crane my neck to survey a few of the fields and check on the progress of our crops. All seems well enough, yet I cannot shake this feeling that something had gone amiss in my absence.

Primrose and Maysilee greet us at the front stairs. Matching smiles grace their faces. Madge, in her haste to dismount and greet her daughter, startles Diablo and is nearly trampled under hoof. The three of them talk over one another as Prim attempts to spill half a dozen stories while Madge showers Maysilee with kisses and affection.

When I finally manage to dismount, Prim ceases her chatter and embraces me. “We have missed you! I want to hear all about your time in Capitol. You were quite stingy with the details in your letters. Who is your betrothed?”

“We’ll talk about that later,” I wave the topic away. “How is our father?”

“The same, I am afraid. Doctor Aurelius worries about muscular deterioration and bed sores, but Mother has been working to prevent both. He says that Father could not have a better nurse.” Well at least she is managing well, I think but do not voice it. I can see in the way Prim shifts her eyes that she is keeping something from me. No matter. I will find out soon enough.

“Miss Everdeen!” A strange male voice calls and I look up to see a man on horseback approaching. Prim mutters angrily under her breath and releases me. “Miss Everdeen! We meet at last!”

“Have you found it then?” Prim asks him and he shakes his head.

“I did not. I found purple blooms with yellow markings but they did not possess blue thorns.”

“Well then back out to the woods with you, sir! I will need those flowers for dinner this evening as they are my sister’s favourite!” It is a bold faced lie and I search my memory for any flower I know of that matches the description. I come up with nothing.

“Miss Primrose, I think you send me on a fruitless hunt.”

“I would never!” Prim yells and I decide it is time I gain control of whatever mess this is.

“Excuse me sir. Who are you to accuse my sister so?”

“Your pardon, Miss Everdeen. I am your cousin,” he states and dismounts with a wide smile and, sweeping his hat from his head, bows low to the ground. “Rory Hawthorne at your service.”

I turn murderous eyes on Prim for a moment at this revelation and she wilts in front of me. “We will discuss this later,” I seethe and move closer to my dear cousin as he stands and staggers back. He could almost pass for our brother with his dark hair and gray eyes so like mine. He is objectively quite handsome and yet I wish that I were able to spit on his boots and send him packing.

“You were not meant to be here so early. In case no one bothered to mention it, my father yet lives. This is still our land, not yours.”

“I – that is – my schedule permitted a change and–”

“Your schedule permitted a change and yet you did not bother to ascertain if a change to ours was acceptable? Good sir, I do hope you’ve not been staying here while I’ve been gone… with my sister… unchaperoned.”

Primrose gasps and Madge sniggers softly as Rory Hawthorne gapes at me.

“No! I would not dare put Miss Primrose’s reputation at stake. But your mother–”

I cross my arms over my chest and glower at him. He gulps and then his mouth flaps open then snaps shut on repeat.

“Good sir, while I find your imitation of a trout quite amusing, you are wasting my time. I am weary from several days’ travel and have tasks to see to. If there is nothing else then?” I turn towards the house without allowing him a chance to answer.

“I am staying at the inn in Seam!” he blurts out and I glance back for just long enough that he gains control of his flapping jaw.

“I hear they serve an excellent dinner. Good day, Mr. Hawthorne. Come along Primrose, Countess Hargrove. I shall need both of you this afternoon. We shall all be much too busy to entertain.” Madge’s eyes widen and she curtsies to me. I try not to laugh as we sweep into the house, leaving Mr. Hawthorne to retrieve his jaw from the ground.

“Katniss!” Primrose hisses as the door closes behind us and Madge releases her laughter. “Good heavens what happened in the city? You were like a fire breathing dragon just now! Poor Mr. Hawthorne!”

“Poor Mr. Hawthorne nothing. The nerve of him, visiting and viewing the properties as though they already belong to him. I won’t give him a second before father is dead and buried to prepare our home for chopping to pieces and auctioning.”

“That is not why he is here!” Prim purses her lips, her cheeks a brilliant pink. I take note of her behaviour and wonder at it. Has Mr. Hawthorne been courting my sister, I wonder? I’ve no chance to pry.

“Katniss? Is that you I hear?” mother’s voice floats to me down the stairs and I turn in her direction. I have to swallow a gasp at her appearance. She seems so… drained. So thin and pale, her normally glossy hair and dull shade and kept back in a messy coiffure. Still, she hurries down the stairs and embraces me. “Oh my darling, I am so happy to have you home. Your father needs you. Perhaps if you could spare time to sing for him, it might help revive him. He did always love singing for you.”

She releases me with a choked sob and I mumble out some sort of pathetic agreement to sing to my comatose father.

“Oh but where is your new husband?”

“I am not married yet, Mama. Only betrothed.”

“Will we not meet this man, then? Your letter revealed nothing! Oh but we can begin work on your dress at least. I know it shan’t be as glamorous as what Effie would see you dressed in –”

“Mama, I –”

“–but you shall be beautiful bride no matter –”

“Mellark!” The name escapes me in a near shout and my mother lifts a hand to her throat, blinking at me as though clearing smoke from her eyes. “His name is Peeta Mellark.”

“One of Reginald’s sons?”

“Oh is he the one who rescued you that day?”

“Yes,” I croak and Madge saves me, handing her precious child right back to Prim and wrapping an arm around me.

“It has been a long day of travel. We both could do with some rest and then we will share stories tonight. We have so many!” The falseness of the cheer in Madge’s voice is lost on my family. They smile and agree, happy to let us go, assuming that they shall learn the entire story this evening.

Once the tub is filled with steaming water and scented soap, my clothes discarded, I climb in and sink beneath the surface, wondering if it is possible to drown in bath water. I blow out bubbles that are annoyingly anticlimactic given the level of my frustration as I expel my breath into the water.

************************

I immerse myself in the work of keeping Everdeen running smoothly. The more tasks I complete, the freer I feel. A week passes before I realise it, swallowed whole in the work of managing home and farm, as well as dealing with the lamentable presence of Mr. Hawthorne.

It becomes apparent to me, within a matter of days, that Mr. Hawthorne is rather fond of my sister. He lingers at her side to assist in even the most mundane of chores, regardless of how pleasant her mood. She blushes at the attention and yet it is not a demeaning blush. When he stumbles underfoot and I open my mouth to cut him to size and remind him that he has no right to be here while my father lives, that it is rude to linger about waiting for a good man to die, it is Primrose who rushes in to assist him. The words die in my throat every time that he thanks her and her blush deepens.

“How long do you wish to stay here?” I ask one afternoon. Prim makes a face at me until he turns to her, as though seeking her approval. She grants him a lovely smile and then a sharp glare, as though her manners win first but then something else takes over.

“Not much longer, I should think,” he says. “In truth, my brother Gale expected me days ago. I wrote my excuses already–”

“You should not keep your brother waiting so,” I say and ignore the strange glance that Madge gives me.

When he finally parts, promising to visit again soon to assure himself of our well being, he also whispers a promise to Primrose that he shall write, expressly to her. In his presence and even in his absence, she seems to walk and speak with a certain assurance, stand with greater height, although that may well be due to natural growth, but I cannot help but mourn the passing of her childhood nor can I help the fear that perhaps Rory Hawthorne will be her first love, only to have those hopes destroyed when he auctions off our home one piece at a time.

And yet, despite my reservations about my sister and Mr. Hawthorne, I cannot help feeling jealous of them, cannot help comparing their behaviour to mine and that of the man in the mask on that one, exquisite night.

No, not jealous, I remind myself each time the bite of green threatens to triumph.

“You could have been more pleasant to him. It’s not his fault his brother will inherit Everdeen.”

“And yet you sent him looking for a flower that does not exist,” I remind her.

“To keep him away for your return! I knew you would not wish to see him as soon as you came home.”

“Or you knew I would be upset at you withholding knowledge of his presence.” Prim purses her lips and does not attempt to deny my accusations. I sigh at her pink cheeks and bright eyes. She has the look of someone in love. “I would prefer it if you allowed yourself more time and a wider acquaintance before settling on a husband, Prim.”

“Who said anything about a husband?” she practically screeches and then flees the room.

“You’re only going to drive her into his arms faster if you forbid it,” Madge whispers and I lose it then.

“Well then what’s your grand idea?”

“It would not be so bad if they were to fall in love. Perhaps then his brother would take pity and give Everdeen to Rory.”

For one second, I sound as though I am gagging on food. “I will not sell my sister into marriage to keep the farm.”

“I did not suggest that,” Madge says with a slight bite in her tone. “Katniss, you have not been yourself since we returned. Prim was right that first day. You are like a dragon breathing fire at nearly every turn.”

“I am not,” I insist. Quite convincingly.

On some days, I attempt to sit with my father, to relieve my mother and my sister the burden of tending him, but I find that I cannot stay long. I cannot bear to see him so, not when my heart aches so and worries continue to weigh my shoulders down. I long to speak with him, to unburden my cares as I am so used to doing.

I stay silent during my time with him. Another week passes.

The gardens become a favourite haunt of mine. I examine their cultivated beds and consider changes to make the gardens more like the wildflower meadows, if slightly more tamed. It is on one such afternoon as I wander down the rows that Primrose nearly scares me half to death and once more, the tenuous situation we find ourselves in is thrown into sharp relief.

“Katniss! Katniss come quick!”

I grab fistfuls of skirt, crushing the fabric in my palms as I race up the stairs, panting hard as I reach the upper level and Prim motions me into my father’s room.

“His hand moved! I swear I saw his hand move!”

“Papa. It’s Primrose. Can you hear us? Do you think he can hear us?”

“Send for the doctor!” my mother orders and then grabs my arm, clinging to it for one desperate moment, her eyes wild. Then I become invisible, standing aside as mother and Prim and Doctor Aurelius once he arrives, hover over my father.

Hours pass with no change. No movement, only a whispered conversation between my mother and Doctor Aurelius that causes her to sob once then flee the room in tears.

“Mama!” Primrose races after her and Doctor Aurelius shakes his head.

“There is not much hope, is there?” I ask and the doctor sighs.

“I still can promise you nothing, Miss Everdeen. But from a medical perspective, no. There is not much hope. You should make preparations. Quietly if you do not wish to cause your mother more pain.”

That evening, I sit vigil, staring at my father’s fingers and willing them to move, to prove my mother right. But it is no use. By morning, all I have are itchy eyes, a distraught mother, and the overwhelming desire to crawl into a cave to sleep my life away.

But I cannot. Instead, I have Charles, one of the grooms saddle Sagittaria and escape into nature.

Sagittaria snorts in delight and chomps at the reins. She is, as I am, eager to gallop across the fields and to regain the time lost to our confinement in the city, or perhaps some sense of the world. The fragrant, smog free air rejuvenates me and I am better able to see clearly my situation and I am finally able to make decisions regarding the hundreds of problems I am faced with.

I cannot and should not be jealous of my sister, although I admit to myself that I have been feeling so lately. I made my choice for a marriage of convenience out of necessity, specifically to give her the luxury of time and the freedom to pursue a true love match. I do not regret my choice, even if the manner of it’s unfolding leaves much to be desired. I shall simply have to observe and counsel but not control the path of Prim’s relations with Mr. Hawthorne.

Madge is correct on yet another thing as well. As loathe as I am to admit it, the more days that pass with no word from Peeta, the more agitated I become. I cannot stall forever. I will have to marry him eventually, and I would prefer it to be on my own terms as much as is possible, rather than have him wander down the lane one day to insist he grows tired of waiting and demand my hand.

He left the choice in my hands, and so I shall choose. I struggle with it only a little as I brush Sagittaria with a touch too much vigour, angry with my limited options. She dances away from me and into the wall of her stall as I sigh and apologize to her. I should not exercise my frustrations on her.

My father still lies on the brink of death with no security for my sister, my mother, or myself on the other side of death. To say nothing of Madge and Maysilee as well as the several hundreds or so who have come to rely on Everdeen as their source of livelihood. With purposeful movements, I finish with Sagittaria and head straight for the study, not bothering to change from my riding habit as I sit at the desk and pen a letter.

Dearest future husband,

If we must be wed, then I would prefer to accomplish the distasteful deed here at my home. Though I risk ruining fond memories of the hills and the forests in doing so, I would rather have my mother and sister present at the blessed occasion. Send word post haste as to when I should expect you and we shall have a room and a wedding prepared for your arrival.

Sincerely,

Your dearest future wife

I stare at the words and then scrawl a messy post script.

Shall I expect any members of your loving family at this joyous ceremony?

A quick fold and seal then I search the desk for the letter he gave me before parting in Capitol, so that I might copy the direction. As I pull it from the back of a drawer, I scowl at the thing. I never opened it, too angry and heartsick over the manner of our engagement and the loss of the man in the mask…or rather Robert. I do not know which and rub my temples in confusion.

I never read this letter.

It seems to burn my palms as I stare at it. I drop it on the desk, copy the direction and then shove it back into the dark recesses of the drawer. I then sit there and consider burning it, gleefully watching the flames eat the parchment and Peeta’s words.

Instead, I leave it fester in the dark. I rise and take my letter to the hall, depositing it on the small stack of mail to be sent this afternoon. I then join my family in orchard where they have gathered to enjoy the sunshine and breeze.

“We have work to do. I have summoned the betrothed.”

************************

My darling future wife,

How pleasing to receive your letter. I did not realize you capable of such romanticism. Thankfully, I am not too much engaged in business at this time and will be able to join you at Everdeen no later that the 30th of this month.

The Marquise de Vale shall not be joining us for our wedding as he is much too busy this time of year. I shall, however travel with one companion. A stable hand who is indispensable to me and whom you have already met. My brother Henry and his family – you do recall I told you of him – expresses a desire to be present as well, although this depends on the date of the nuptials.

I do hope this shall be agreeable. I am not inclined to arrive only to meet you at the altar. Perhaps some time is needed before we say any vows. I look forward to discussing this with you at length.

Your ever loving future husband,

~ Peeta ~

I am gnashing my teeth before I even reach the end. The words almost spur me to tearing the letter into the tiniest of pieces. Or perhaps I shall dance on it in indignant rage, as he suggested I do with the letter explaining the gift of my boots I now wear. Then I read his post script.

I promise that Joe will not cut any laces on any more of your boots unless it is a matter of life and death.

To be continued…

#Springtime Edition 2019 #submission #prompt 88 #M #late submission

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goodnewsus · 4 years

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U.S. Presidents on Islam by Dave Miller, Ph.D. GEORGE WASHINGTON “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.”1 “While we are zealously performing the duties of good Citizens and soldiers we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of Religion. To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian.”2 THOMAS JEFFERSON AND JOHN ADAMS “We took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the grounds of their pretentions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our Friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation. The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”3 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS “In the seventh century of the Christian era, a wandering Arab of the lineage of Hagar, the Egyptian, combining the powers of transcendent genius, with the preternatural energy of a fanatic, and the fraudulent spirit of an impostor, proclaimed himself as a messenger from Heaven, and spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth. Adopting from the sublime conception of the Mosaic law, the doctrine of one omnipotent God; he connected indissolubly with it, the audacious falsehood, that he was himself his prophet and apostle…. [H]e declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind…. The precept of the koran is, perpetual war against all who deny, that Mahomet is the prophet of God.”4 BARACK OBAMA “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism—it is an important part of promoting peace.”5 ENDNOTES 1 George Washington (1779), “Speech to the Delaware Chiefs,” in The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, 15:55, emp. added, http://preview.tinyurl.com/Washington-G-1779. The author assumes that Washington’s belief in the priority of the Christian religion would apply to the Muslim as well as the Native American. 2 George Washington (1778), “General Orders, May 2, 1778,” George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, emp. added, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mgw3&fileName=mgw3g/gwpage003.db&recNum=181. Again, it is assumed that, if Washington considered being a Christian a person’s highest glory, being a Muslim would not be so considered. 3 “American Peace Commissioners to John Jay” (1786), The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827, Library of Congress, March 28, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib001849. The letter refers to Jefferson and Adam's meeting with the Ambassador from the Muslim country of Tripoli. 4 Joseph Blunt (1830), The American Annual Register for the Years 1827-8-9 (New York: E. & G.W. Blunt), 29:269, emp. added, http://www.archive.org/stream/p1americanannual29blunuoft. 5 Barack Obama (2009), “Remarks by the President on a New Beginning,” The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, June 4, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09. E-mail to a FriendPrint This Copyright © 2016 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved. We are happy to grant permission for items in the "Islam and Other World Religions" section to be reproduced in part or in their entirety, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) the author’s name must remain attached to the materials; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e.g., photographs, charts, graphics, etc.) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e.g., running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, excepting brief quotations, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken. For catalog, samples, or further information, contact: Apologetics Press 230 Landmark Drive Montgomery, Alabama 36117 U.S.A. Phone (334) 272-8558 http://www.apologeticspress.org

#READ MORE at. steve-finnell.blogspot.com

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ladyblogger-margie · 3 years

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Permit Pending Series - Will “Ironhead Miller x F!Reader

Summary: Will Miller has a routine, he gives his speeches, trains his brother, and maintains order. It’s a simple life, much different than his old one - the one that left him broken. His life changes again when he meets F!Reader while he applies for a Park permit on one fateful day.

Pairing: Will “Ironhead” Miller x F!Reader

Warnings: 18+ (Language, canon typical violence, fingering, hand jobs, oral F! & M! receiving, unprotected sex (wrap it up, people!), creampie, PinV penetration, general smut)

A/N: Eight Part Series (plus some bonus chapters) which takes place before, during, and after the events of Triple Frontier. No set release schedule. This is my first series for the character and movie, as well as my first reader insert so any feedback is appreciated!

MY MASTER LIST

PART 1 – Permit Pending

PART 2 – First Date *

PART 3 – Nightmare *

PART 4 – All In*

PART 5 – Memorial Day Weekend*

PART 6 – Fourth Frontier *

PART 7 – Forgiveness*

PART 8 – Early Riser

BONUS CHAPTERS

Thanksgiving*

Holiday Cabin*

New Year’s Eve*

Valentine’s Day*

#will miller x reader #will miller x f!reader #william ironhead miller x F!Reader #william ironhead miller #triple frontier fic #triple frontier #triple frontier fanfiction #Permit Pending Series #charlie hunnam

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warbyparker · 3 years

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Sandy Liang Pouch Sweepstakes

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES

1. SWEEPSTAKES DATES AND TIMES: The “Sandy Liang Pouch Sweepstakes” (“Sweepstakes”) begins at 11:59 am Eastern Time (“ET”) on 4 /28/21 and ends at 12:00 pm ET on 5/3 /21 (the “Sweepstakes Period”).

During the Sweepstakes Period, tag a friend in the comments section below Warby Parker's Instagram post announcing our Sandy Liang collaboration (the “Entry”).

Each unique comment will be considered a separate Entry. There is no limit to the number of entries per person. All Entries must also comply with the Entry Requirements set forth in Rule #4 below in order to be eligible and the Instagram Terms of Use. Entries not submitted in accordance with the instructions provided in these Official Rules are subject to disqualification, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor. For the purposes of these Official Rules, receipt of Entry occurs when the Instagram servers successfully receive the comment. Sponsor shall not bear any responsibility for any late, lost or misdirected Entries. All Entries become the property of Sponsor.

4. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: By participating in the Sweepstakes, you warrant that your Entry:

(a) does not contain any use of names, likenesses, photographs, or other identifying elements, in whole or in part, of any person, living or dead, without permission (proof of which must be provided to Sponsor upon request in a form satisfactory to Sponsor);

(f) does not promote any activity that may appear unsafe or dangerous; and

(g) does not contain reference to any political agenda or party.

You indemnify Sponsor from and against any cause of action, complaints, or other claims arising out of the breach of any of the foregoing warranties.

Each Entry may only be submitted by a single Instagram registered user. Multiple entrants are not allowed to share the same Instagram registered username. By entering the Sweepstakes, you represent and warrant that you have obtained all necessary rights, licenses, and permissions in writing from any person (or parent/legal guardian if person is a minor) or whose name may appear in the Entry. If, in the sole discretion of Sponsor, you have breached a representation or warranty contained herein, the Entry will be subject to disqualification. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry if, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, it considers an Entry inappropriate in any way or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right to not award the Prize in the event it does not receive any eligible Entries. Decisions of Sponsor are final and binding.

5. DRAWING: 10 potential winners (“Winners”) will be selected in a random drawing on or about 5/4/21 from among all eligible Entries received. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Designation as the Winner is subject to the potential Winner’s proof of compliance with these Official Rules, continued compliance with these Official Rules, and approval by Sponsor. The decisions of Sponsor are final and binding in all matters relating to this Sweepstakes, including interpretation and application of these Official Rules.

6. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Ten (10) Potential Winners will be notified by the Sponsor by a response to his/her Instagram comment on or about 5/4 /21.

The potential Winner will be required to follow the instructions provided by Sponsor and respond via email to the provided email address within the time frame specified. The potential Winner may be required to sign and properly execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and Publicity/Liability Release (where legal) (collectively, the “Release”) and return the Release via email (and subsequently by mail) to Sponsor within the time frame specified. The potential Winner may also be required to perform additional clearance requests at Sponsor’s discretion. Upon receipt and confirmation of documentation, the potential Winner will be named a “Winner”. If the potential Winner fails to properly execute and return all information and/or documents described herein in the time specified by Sponsor, or if the potential Winner declines to accept the Prize, or if the potential Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, the potential Winner may be disqualified and, at Sponsor’s discretion and time permitting, an alternate winner may be selected (subject to all verification and eligibility requirements of these Official Rules) even if the disqualified potential Winner’s name, Instagram username, or Entry may have already been shown or announced online.

7. PRIZES: Five (5) Winners will each receive two (2) Sandy Liang pouches (“Prize”). Prize is non-transferable; no substitutions allowed, except at the discretion of Sponsor. All details of Prize shall be determined solely by Sponsor. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of Prize, pending winner verification. Approximate retail value (ARV) of Prize is $400.

13. SPONSOR: JAND, Inc. d/b/a Warby Parker, 233 Spring Street, 6th floor East, New York, NY 10013.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by or in association with Instagram.

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bountyofbeads · 5 years

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https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article233668342.html?__twitter_impression=true

Lead U.S. prosecutor in ’08 Epstein case — who sources say wanted to charge him — resigns

BY JULIE K. BROWN AND JAY Weaver |Published AUGUST 08, 2019 07:38 PM | Miami Herald | Posted August 9, 2019 |

A. Marie Villafaña, the lead federal prosecutor who helped negotiate a controversial plea deal for accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, has submitted her resignation to the Justice Department, the Miami Herald has learned.

Her departure comes amid a federal probe into the role she and other federal prosecutors, including her former boss, Alexander Acosta, had in sidelining a 53-page indictment against the wealthy New York investor in favor of a state plea to minor prostitution charges in 2008. Epstein, 66, was accused of molesting dozens of underage girls, most of them 14 to 16 years old, at his Palm Beach mansion more than a decade ago. He is now facing federal sex trafficking charges involving minors brought against him last month by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is examining whether Acosta, who resigned his cabinet post as secretary of labor last month — and other U.S. prosecutors involved in the 2007-2008 case — committed misconduct in negotiating the secret pact with Epstein. A federal judge in February ruled that the prior deal was illegally negotiated because Epstein and federal prosecutors concealed it from his victims in violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

The Herald has learned that several people involved in the Epstein case have been questioned by the Justice Department in recent weeks as part of its ongoing OPR investigation.

Jonathan Biran, Villafaña’s lawyer, confirmed her resignation Thursday, noting that she has long planned to transition to a legal career in healthcare, and now plans to join the federal Department of Health and Human Services. In recent years, she has handled a number of healthcare fraud cases in South Florida.

Villafaña, 51, has worked in the Southern District of Florida, mostly based in West Palm Beach, for the past 18 years. She is the last member of the federal prosecution team that handled Epstein’s case in 2008 still employed by the Department of Justice. The other members of the team, including Acosta, left in the years after Epstein’s case was closed.

Acosta, appointed labor secretary by President Trump in 2017, stepped down July 12, six days after Epstein was arrested on new sex trafficking charges in New York. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, in announcing the indictment last month, dealt a rebuke to Florida-based prosecutors who dropped the federal case against Epstein.

“While the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women. They deserve their day in court and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment,’’ Berman said at a July 8 news conference.

Epstein was denied bail and remains jailed in Manhattan pending his trial, tentatively set for next June.

On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a criminal investigation into the state’s handling of the Epstein case, from his sentencing in 2008 to his incarceration and probation in 2009. In 2006, former Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer declined to prosecute Epstein on serious sex charges, which led to the U.S. Attorney and FBI taking over the case in 2007.

Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s role in the case is also under scrutiny since under his watch he permitted Epstein liberal work release privileges that allowed the multimillionaire to be chauffeured by his valet from the jail to his office in West Palm Beach six days a week, 12 hours a day.

Even when Epstein was in his cell at night, sheriff’s deputies reportedly allowed him to keep his door open.

The Justice Department’s probe, by its Office of Professional Responsibility, is similar to a police department’s internal affairs inquiry, focusing on possible misconduct or policy violations by federal prosecutors. It’s not clear what impact, if any, Villafaña’s resignation will have on the investigation.

Michael R. Bromwich, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, said it’s unlikely that Villafaña’s departure will derail OPR’s probe.

“There is no reason that they couldn’t continue the investigation, especially in a case like this where there is broad public interest in knowing what happened,’’ said Bromwich, a former inspector general for the Justice Department.

He added that it’s important for the department to make its findings public given that so much secrecy has surrounded the Epstein case.

“OPR’s tradition is to keep things bottled up in the department and to put very few of their reports in the public domain,’’ Bromwich said. “This time, it should be transparent.’’

The case has raised fundamental questions about whether well-connected, wealthy people wield influence over prosecutors and others in the justice system. Epstein had a wide circle of powerful friends, including former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Villafaña has never spoken publicly about the case. Sources close to her have said that she disagreed with Acosta’s decision granting Epstein and others involved in his activities immunity from federal charges.

Those close to Villafaña said that in the end, she was a loyal career prosecutor who toed the line of her boss while focusing her efforts on a provision in Epstein’s agreement that forced him to pay restitution to his victims. At the time of the deal, the FBI had identified 34 underage victims, most of them middle and high school girls who came from underprivileged backgrounds.

Epstein employed a number of people to help him schedule girls on a rotating basis to come to his Palm Beach home on the pretext that he would pay them to give him massages. The girls, however, told Palm Beach police that they were pressured to perform sex acts with him and with adult women. They were paid $200 to $300, and could earn more money if they brought friends, which many of them did, police documents show.

In November, the Herald published a series of articles, Perversion of Justice, revealing that Epstein may have sexually abused or molested more than 100 girls in Palm Beach alone. Court records and FBI documents also showed that at the time his case was settled in Florida the FBI had received tips that there were other victims in New York, New Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owns homes.

Recently released documents revealed that Villafaña strenuously objected to Epstein’s work release, and wrote a letter to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office in December 2008 pointing out that the crimes he committed were not accurately reflected in his work release paperwork and that those records contained “omissions” that should have disqualified him for the program.

She was overruled, however, and Epstein continued his work release, ultimately serving 13 months before being released in 2009. One woman has since come forward to say she was hired to perform a sex act on Epstein in his office while he was on work release.

Biran said Villafaña’s resignation had nothing to do with the Epstein matter, and that she has recently completed a two-year training program on healthcare compliance. Most of her career has been spent advocating for the rights of victims, and she has received numerous awards for her work, he added.

“Ms. Villafaña is confident that, when DOJ’s internal investigation has been concluded, the department will find that she acted properly in all respects as the lead prosecutor in the federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein,’’ Biran said.

Supporters said she has been a tireless prosecutor who rarely gives up a fight.

“If she was going to leave because of this case, she would have left a long time ago,’’ said former federal prosecutor David Weinstein, who supervised Villafaña early in her career.

“My experience with her is she digs in her teeth and doesn’t give up. She tries to uphold what all good prosecutors do, and that is to see that justice is served.’’

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