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let-me-write-shit · 4 years

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Somebody To You: 1

A/N: It’s finally here! The first chapter of my second Harry Styles fic! We’re starting off with a LOOOONG, heavy one. I want to thank you all for patiently waiting. Most of the characters in this story is based off of some of YOU! Zoey, Nancy, Aurora, Andy, and Katie - Thanks for reading and being apart of this story. I’m sorry if I didn’t get your personalities right, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I’ll be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Enjoy.

<3 Shannon

To Read My Previous Story, Click Here

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CHAPTER ONE

Never in a million years did Zoey think she’d move across the country on her own. But here she was, driving down the interstate in her dingy 2010 Toyota Camry, car filled to the brim with her belongings. LA had always been a far fetched idea. Actually, if we were being honest, it was never her idea to begin with. It was Jessica’s. Moving to LA alone was never a part of the plan. Jess should have been here. They should have been blasting music through the stereo, complaining about the shitty A/C in the car, road raging together, and dreaming about all of the things they would do when they arrived.

Instead, Zoey drove in silence, briefly passing through all of the tourist spots and monuments they had always talked about visiting along the way, pulling into walmart parking lots for bathroom breaks or cat naps, alone. The only noise disrupting the silence was the hum of the engine and the occasional whisper under her breath as she spoke, in vain, to her best friend.

Jess was a force. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her would say the same thing. She lit up a room. She was the outgoing one. She’d talk to anyone and everyone that passed her, striking up random conversations that only she could come up with. And her laugh was infectious. Zoey always made Jess laugh and it got them in a lot of trouble over the course of their fifteen year friendship.

Jess always had her platinum blonde hair straight, never putting it up - something Zoey always did out of habit, rarely letting her hair down because she didn’t like how it looked. Jess always had a knack for the dramatics, which is why she wanted to move to LA since she was little. She had dreamed of becoming an actress. Zoey saw her in every high school and college play. And she was good. Really good. Honestly, she had potential to make it. But, to Zoey, all of the long talks of moving to LA was just that: talk. She could never let go of the comfort of being close to family in her small, Pennsylvania town with her best friend and boyfriend. Besides, how could they even afford it?

But all of that changed on June 9th of last year. It was Jess’ 26th birthday and the two girls went out to celebrate with a few friends at the bar they worked at together. Zoey and Jess were the last to leave and had drunk a little more than they intended, so they had Zoey’s boyfriend, Michael, pick them up. Not even 3 minutes into the car journey it happened. A drunk driver ran a red light and had rammed into the rear passenger side door at 50 mph. The car flipped and Zoey hit her head against the window, sending her unconscious.

She woke up in the hospital the next afternoon with a broken wrist, a few fractured ribs, and a concussion, surrounded by her parents who were crying, her little sister, Katie, who sat timidly in the corner of the room, and Michael who only had a few scrapes and cuts, but was ultimately fine, squeezing her leg that was tucked under the heavy white blanket. When her eyes fluttered open, her mom gasped and both of her parents hovered over her, her dad stroking her cheek. The first thing Zoey managed to croak out was, ‘Where’s Jess?’. Her mom lost it, uncontrollably sobbing. It was her dad that had to break the news to her. Jess didn’t make it.

It’s weird. You’d think hearing the news of your best friend’s death would send you into a fit of rage or hysterics, but that didn’t happen for Zoey. She felt numb. It could have been the shock, but it didn’t feel real. Jess couldn’t have been gone. She was here only hours ago, laughing her infections laugh and smiling her gorgeous smile. And even so, when Jess’ parents came to visit her at the hospital to discuss the funeral, it still hadn’t set in. She wanted to laugh at them to stop being so dramatic. That everything was fine. That Jess was still here, she was just sleeping. She couldn’t just be gone. Not Jess. She was too full of life to just be gone. But the bags under their eyes told a different story. They had lost their only child. How do you recover from that?

Zoey was stuck in the hospital for a little over a week, causing her to miss her best friend's funeral, which didn’t help in her denial. The day she was released, her boyfriend picked her up from the hospital and drove her to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis’ house. The walk up to the front door felt different. Over the past fifteen years, Zoey never knocked on the front food or rang the doorbell, she just walked in. She wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate now. Unsure, she knocked, hesitated, and cracked the door open where she was met by the exhausted couple who gave her a warm hug and led the two towards the back, past the pool where she had so many fond memories of laughter with Jess, the glistening water seeming so inviting on this warm afternoon, towards the pool house where Jess stayed.

Some had questioned why Jess still lived with her parents if she was 25 and worked a well paying job. But, to put it lightly, Jess’ family was very well-off. Her dad had built and owned a business from the ground up and it became a major success practically overnight. She had her own space, rent free. Besides, the pool house was big enough to fit three of Zoey and Michael’s apartment into it. Why would she not stay there?

But when they walked in, it hit her. Everything was exactly as they had left it, nothing had been moved. Except this time, the room did not feel full of life like it always had. It felt cold and empty. And Zoey broke down.

She felt stupid for crying in front of Jess’ parents. How could her pain feel compared to theirs? But they didn’t judge. Instead, they held her in an understanding and loving embrace. After all, Zoey had been a part of their family for fifteen years. With every sob, the pain from her still-healing ribs hurt more and more. Michael stood off to the side and let the three have their moment, and when the tears settled, they began going through some of Jess’ things, letting Zoey take whatever she wanted, which included a hoodie, a dress, a pair of converse shoes, the other half of their friendship bracelet that they had made in 10th grade, and finally a note that she had written in middle school to Zoey, stuffed with the hundreds of other notes in a shoebox under her bed.

The year that followed was tough. Zoey found herself lost for a while. She quit her job at the bar her and Jess used to work at, because working without Jess was too much for her to handle. She didn’t go out anymore, and hardly talked to anyone except for her younger sister, Katie. Growing up she didn’t really get along with Katie. It’s not like she didn’t like her, but Katie was eight years younger than her, plus Zoey was so focused on friends and boys that she didn’t make any time or effort for her younger sister. But after Jess died, Zoey got to know her sister a lot better. She learned that Katie, aside from appearance, was almost exactly like herself. Katie took after their Irish dad in the way of looks with long, dark brown hair and adorable freckles, compared to Zoey’s pale skin and dirty blonde hair. You wouldn’t think they were related by looking at them. But, in personality, they were almost identical. Both were afraid to take risks, shy at first keeping a very small group of friends, but very caring. The complete opposite of Jess who was care-free and miss positivity. Katie was essential in her grieving process.

Anytime someone brought Jess up in conversation, they always skirted around certain topics or words. They always used her name in past tense or said things like, ‘no longer with us’ or ‘passed away’. It was infuriating. One night, Zoey’s parents had invited her, Michael, and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis over for dinner nearly three months in. Her mom had brought Jess up for the fourth time in two hours and said something along the lines of ‘I’m still finding it hard to process Jess not being here anymore.’ And Zoey lost it.

“She’s dead, mom! She died! Okay?” Zoey shouted, pushing away from the table, causing her glass of wine to spill, and darting up the steps to Katie’s room that they used to share when Zoey lived there.

She collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily with tears streaming down her face, angry, when there was a faint knock on the door. Her fists clenched in annoyance, half expecting it to be her boyfriend as Michael had been extra clingy since Jess died, almost as if he was scared of what Zoey would do if she was left alone. Which was stupid. What good would it do anyone if she wasn’t here either? But to her shock and horror, it was Jess’ mom who walked into the room.

Zoey shot up straight and wiped the tears from her face, instantly regretting the outburst she just had. “Mrs. Lewis, I’m so sorry, I-”

“Don’t,” Jess’ mom cut her off, motioning for her to sit down beside her at the edge of the bed. Her expression was warm and not at all angry, “I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of times I wanted to say that over the past three months to anyone who mentions her. I know it’s hard, and I understand.”

Zoey nodded, twisting Jess’ bracelet that was now tightly wrapped around her wrist, a strand of her dirty blonde hair had fallen out of her hair tie and she pushed it behind her ear as Jess’ mom continued, “I only came up here because I thought it’s be a good opportunity to talk to you in private before we go.”

“What about?”

“Well, Mr. Lewis and I were going through some more of Jess’ things last week and we came across a bunch of old ‘Dream Journals’ the two of you wrote in over the years.”

Zoey felt the heat of embarrassment rise to her cheeks, remembering some of the things they wrote in there. The ‘Dream Journals’ were more of a fantasy bucket list than anything, but there were definitely a few inappropriate things involving Jared Padalecki and Jeremy Sumpter in there that she wasn’t too keen on the idea of Jess’ parents reading.

She continued, “Mr. Lewis and I noticed nearly every page was filled with things you two wanted to do in LA.”

It sounded more like a question than a statement. Zoey cleared her throat, “Yeah. We always talked about moving there one day.”

Mrs. Lewis nodded, “I know how much she wanted to go. And I know it probably always seemed out of reach. But, Zoey, I don’t want this to stop you from going. Jess worked hard to save up so you both could go. And I don’t want that to be for nothing. Mr. Lewis and I talked about it and we decided. Jess had managed to save up $18,000, and we wanted you to have it. And we know how expensive LA can be, so we wanted to add an extra $7,000 on top of it. Hopefully that’ll be enough for rent for at least a year.”

Zoey’s mouth fell open, trying to process everything Mrs. Lewis just said. So many questions ran through her mind. How did she manage to save so much on the same salary that she had? Stupid question, she had no bills. She twisted a little too hard on the bracelet, causing it to pinch her wrist and snap her back to reality, “$25,000? To move to LA?”

“It was her dream and she never got to fulfill it. We want you to live your life and hopefully bring a little bit of our baby girl to LA with you in spirit. All that we ask in return is that you try to find peace out there.”

That was the moment of revelation for Zoey. The turning point. The moment that made her get off her ass and stop the pity party. She didn’t want to take Mr. and Mrs. Lewis’ gift for granted. So, Zoey worked her ass off. She got three jobs as a warehouse worker, waitress, and got her old bartending job back to save up even more money. She had eventually even found a room that two girls were renting out in a beautiful skyrise condo on the nicer end of LA, and had got a bartending job lined up and waiting for her when she moved. Zoey vowed to herself to start adapting some of Jess’ personality into her own. She wanted to be more outgoing and try to say ‘yes’ more often, to learn to let her hair down (figuratively speaking), and she wanted to try and be more adventurous. It wouldn’t be an overnight success, but she would try. Baby steps.

Finally, almost a year later, it was time to move. Zoey had finished saying goodbye to her and Jess’ parents. Even Michael had come to see her off. The two of them had broken off their nearly four year relationship a couple months ago, but still remained close. Zoey could tell that he was heart broken, and so was she, but she also knew that things had changed between them after Jess died. They weren’t the same people anymore and it seemed like they were holding on to each other to force the fraction of normalcy they had left. They didn’t deserve that. They deserved to be happy, not just content, but genuinely happy.

They gave each other a tight hug and Michael sweetly kissed her cheek, whispering her a farewell. Saying goodbye to him stung a bit more than she had anticipated. Not because of some kind of lost love, but because he was the only other person in her life who she could talk to about Jess and who would actually understand. He knew Jess in almost the same sort of capacity that Zoey knew her. Poor Michael was forced to be the third wheel so often that he saw sides of her and Jess that no one else could possibly know about. And that sense of understanding comforted her. Now that she was letting that go, it was a little harder for her to leave.

Katie stood off to the side, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, twiddling her fingers together and avoiding her older sister’s gaze. The freckle faced teenager bit the inside of her cheeks, trying to focus on anything other than Zoey leaving. As horrible as this past year has been, she knew that the bond they built would not have happened otherwise. Katie had become just as reliant on Zoey as Zoey had been on her, and for her sister to be leaving was heartbreaking. She held back her emotions, but all Katie wanted to do was cry.

A frown formed on Zoey’s face. Her sister looked like a shelter puppy who’s owner had given up on them and knots formed in her stomach. Should Zoey really be leaving now, just as things started to come together for her? But as Katie’s demeanor cracked and she embraced her sister with a loving and understanding hug, she knew that this was the right move. Zoey still had some healing to do and Katie would always be there. Jess would have wanted this for her.

The silent journey to LA was full of self reflection and internal pep talks. Not only did Zoey want to adapt a little bit of Jess’ personality, but she knew that this move gave her the opportunity to start over and live the life she always wanted. But what was that exactly?

As she neared her destination her heart began thumping faster, nervous for this new chapter. She looked at her surroundings of the bustling city, gorgeous people on every block, recognizing some buildings from her sleuthing around Street View on Google Maps after speaking with Nancy about moving in.

She’s been talking to Nancy via text and facetime over the course of a month since they met online and made plans for her to move in. Nancy seemed like one of the coolest people she had ever talked to. Tan, with the curliest, raven toned hair, she had nine ear piercings and the most interesting eyes-one brown and the other a deep green. She styled herself more on the rocker chic side, but somehow made it look so feminine and fitting. She could be a bit intense at times, but somehow made you feel comfortable and constantly laughing.

Zoey didn’t know much about her other roommate, Aurora, or Rory, as most people called her. She only knew that Nancy had met Rory when she first moved to LA when they were 18 and they were best friends. The two of them just recently moved to their new condo and since Rory was gone most of the week for work and they had a spare bedroom, Nancy felt more comfortable and safe if there were another roommate there so she didn’t have to live on her own.

Nancy and Aurora had an interesting dynamic because they were practically polar opposites. Rory was born and raised in both Paris and a small town in England. She was new on the modeling scene but apparently making her way up the ladder rather quickly. And from the pictures that Nancy showed her, it was no wonder why. She was beautiful, with long brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and the sweetest, freckled baby face that reminded her of her little sister.

The GPS announced that she had reached her destination as she pulled up to the parking garage of the skyrise condominium. Zoey plugged the code that Nancy had given her into the keypad to enter the parking structure and drove in, finding a spot two rows in. She took her phone off of the car charger and checked the time. 3:14 PM, Thursday, April 23rd. It took her almost 4 full days to get here and it almost felt surreal that she had finally arrived. She stepped out of the car, legs buckling a bit from being sat in one position for so long, before stretching and calling Nancy’s phone.

“Are you fuckin’ here?” Nancy’s loud voice boomed excitedly.

Zoey laughed, stifling a yawn, “Yeah. In the parking garage.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you down in the lobby. Same code as the parking structure to get in.”

The call ended and Zoey felt her nerves settling as she glanced down at her wrist adorning Jess’ friendship bracelet. Everything will be fine. She grabbed as many things as she could manage to hold, realizing she’d have to take several trips to completely unload her car, before bounding towards the door. In order to put the code in she had to set some of her bags down, and as soon as it was unlocked, she yanked the door open, scooped up the bags, and headed down a hallway towards the huge, modern lobby. The walls were light gray with twelve foot ceilings lined with abstract black and white artwork and industrial light fixtures, a huge water feature right in the center. It seemed so extravagant that she almost felt silly for wearing the same gray sweatpants, matching small t-shirt layered with a long, white cardigan and white flip flops that she had worn since she left Pennsylvania, her hair now in an insanely messy bun, and not in a cute way, desperate for a shower. She could hear her flip flops echoing throughout the room along with the chime of the elevator door reaching her level.

Nancy stepped out, curly hair framing her face, barely any makeup on but maybe some mascara, and so naturally pretty. She wore an oversized aerosmith shirt that had been splattered in bleach and barely covered her black shorts. Nancy’s eyes widened at the sight of Zoey and she ran over, smiling.

“Hey!” Zoey giggled, hiking up a bag that was slipping down her shoulder.

Nancy gave her a careful one-armed hug so as not to knock down the tower of belongings in Zoey’s arm before grabbing two bags to lighten the load a bit as she was led towards the elevator. Nancy talked her ear off about her day so far and what she had planned for dinner tonight when they reached the twenty second floor and got out. There was a small lounge area in the center of a large landing with a single door on the other three walls, each leading to three separate units. Nancy led her to the unit on the far left - 2201.

“Okay, so the code is pretty easy. It’s all four corners of the keypad. So 1,3,7, and 9,” Nancy punched in. A green light appeared and Nancy pushed the door open, stepping inside. “Zoey’s here!” she called out as Zoey readjusted the bag that was slipping down her shoulder again.

She looked around as she made her way past a small bathroom and suppressed a gasp when she reached the beautiful, modern kitchen that opened up into the living room, the wall lined with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the city. Seeing the apartment in person was a completely different experience than virtually. The pictures didn’t do it justice. How could she afford to stay here? Jess would have lost her mind if she saw this. Zoey was so distracted by the view that she almost didn’t notice the two figures on the couch until they both stood up and started making their way over.

“Zoey! It’s so nice to meet you,” a sweet voice called. Aurora’s accent was an odd mix of French and British, only adding to her appeal.

“Hello!” A soft, deep voice greeted her.

Zoey smiled kindly, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of beauty in the two. Like the apartment, Rory’s pictures did not do her justice. She was more beautiful in person, almost making her feel inferior. And as for the guy beside her, he was scruffy with tousled brown hair and dark green eyes. His perfect white teeth could be seen through his smile and his dimpled cheeks made him even more discernible.

“I’m Harry,” he spoke.

Zoey blinked, so exhausted from the long car journey that she was unable to decide what emotion to feel and unsure of how to respond. Her arms trembled from the weight of her luggage. The trembling caused a shoe to fall out of one of the bags, making a thump on the floor. Harry let out a startled gasp and quickly bent down to grab it, “Here, let me help,” he offered, grabbing the stack of bags out of Zoey’s hand, leaving her with just two on her shoulders. “Where would you like these?”

Before she could answer, Nancy spoke up, “Her room. Come on,” and led the way down another hall, Harry en suite.

Aurora smiled brightly at Zoey, “You must be exhausted,” she said, motioning for Zoey to follow the other two, “I hope the ride in was okay.”

Zoey tightened her bun and wiped beads of sweat from her forehead, glad that Aurora was being nice to her. “Yeah, lots of traffic as soon as I hit the city, though.”

Aurora laughed as they reached the doorframe, “You’ll get used to it.”

As the bedroom came into view Zoey saw Harry gently placing her things at the foot of the full sized bed. Thankfully the room was already furnished with the larger items. He huffed as he stood back up, dusting his hands together before pushing back the strand of hair that had fallen in front of his face. It was only a split second of realization. What the hell was happening? Was this just another dream? How could she be in LA, in a beautiful skyrise condo, with a gorgeous model and the coolest girl she had ever met as roommates, and Harry-fucking-Styles was standing in her bedroom? Surely she was still in her small one bedroom apartment back in Pennsylvania.

“Is this all you brought?” Harry asked, his accent snapping her back to present.

“Oh, uh, no. I have more in my car.”

“Let me help bring your things up,” his eyebrows raised as if he was waiting for an answer, but his tone was more insistent.

Zoey hesitated, still in shock from the whole situation. Thankfully Nancy spoke up again before the silence got awkward, “Yeah, let’s go.”

She led the way out of the room followed closely by Harry who smiled nicely at her before his glance shot to Aurora. Zoey was sure he had meant to be more discreet, but she could have sworn he had winked at Rory. And the coy smile on her face seemed to confirm the hunch. Zoey kicked herself for being so awkward, mentally reminding herself to channel Jess’ sociability.

The four of them made conversation while they took a few more trips from the car to the apartment until all of her luggage riddled her room and her arms felt like jello. They all sat lined up on the large, pewter sectional with Zoey on an end cushion, Nancy sat cross-legged in the corner, and Aurora and Harry on the other side, close but with safe distance between them. She found out that Harry was in the middle of a U.S. tour and had a few days break, so he flew here to hang out and would be leaving again first thing in the morning. She also found it interesting to learn how they met each other a few months ago at a charity dinner event that Aurora had attended with Nancy as he plus one. They had all been sitting at the same table together and this was only their third time seeing him in person due to his tour.

“And now I have another friend,” Harry grinned, motioning towards Zoey.

“Yeah, until you scare her away with your horrible dad jokes and eating habits,” Nancy snorted.

Everyone laughed as Harry lightly nudged Nancy’s leg with his foot, “Just because you can’t beat the master at jokes doesn’t mean they’re horrible,” he shook his head in mock disappointment before turning his attention back to her, “So what made you move out here, Zoey? Work?”

Zoey gulped, not wanting to bring up Jess. She knew if she had, she would break down and cry and they didn’t know anything about Jess yet. I mean, how would everyone feel if she blurted out, ‘my dead best friend’s parents insisted I make their daughter’s dream come true and paid for me to move here’?

She quickly composed herself, “Change of scenery. Thought I’d try out a new time zone,” she joked, causing them to chuckle. “I’m trying to be a bit more independent and adventurous,” she admitted.

Harry noticed her hesitation and looked at Rory and Nancy to see if they noticed it, too, but they seemed to be oblivious to it. He shrugged it off. He respected her desire to be more independent; something he understood all too well. The singer listened, impressed as she revealed how many jobs she had been working in order to save just to come here and how proud she was of herself for taking the leap and coming here. Zoey didn’t seem braggy about it, in fact she seemed humbled, crediting her family and even her ex-boyfriend for the support. It wasn’t often you met someone down to earth in LA. It could be because she was so new to it. But Harry thought she would make a great fit with Aurora and Nancy. They had been here for seven years and the Hollywood Bug hasn’t bit them yet. He had his fair share of friends on the west coast, but it was nice to be close with ones who made him feel more grounded like these two.

The four ordered postmates and continued talking and laughing over Nancy’s stories as the sun began to set, casting a beautiful orange and pink hue over the city. As soon as she was done with her chinese food Zoey quickly excused herself to call her family. Once out of sight the three friends turned to each other.

“I like her,” Aurora decided.

Nancy kicked her feet up on the couch where Zoey had been sitting, “Yeah, thank god she’s not like any of the other crazies that messaged us to live here.”

Harry smiled, looking over at Aurora who laughed and he felt a little flutter in his stomach. She was obviously beautiful and fit every characteristic of his type. He could relate to her from living in a small English town but also found her intriguing that she had also been raised in Paris and spoke fluent French - a language he was always attracted by. Aurora and Harry were clearly attracted to each other, but the timing wasn’t exactly right. They met right as Aurora’s modeling career started to take off and just before Harry left for tour. They hadn’t even been on a first date yet, or even kissed for that matter. Just shameless flirting via text.

In an effort to make an excuse to come back again, Harry spoke up, “Well, next weekend I have off. I don’t know what Zoey’s new work schedule will be, but if she’s up for it, how about we take her to Secrets as a little welcoming party? My treat.”

Secrets was a popular bar in the area that had private rooms you could rent for karaoke. Most of the club-goers were known to be gay, though a lot of straight people went with friends if they wanted a fun clubbing experience without any unwanted nuisances. It was always a good time whenever they went.

“That’d be lovely,” Aurora grinned.

“Yeah, sounds fun! I’ll talk to her about it and find out her work schedule,” Nancy agreed.

Harry nodded, excited about another opportunity to hang out with Rory. And honestly, he was excited to get to know Zoey, too. She seemed easy to talk to. And his instincts in people were pretty good.

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gwentoryfics · 5 years

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okay thank you all for bearing with me this week 💕 i’m going to do a little summary of my adventures & the nct 127 concert after the cut (don’t want to take up too much blog space with this stuff since this is technically a pentagon blog). i should be pretty much back on track on monday, since i’m going to be traveling again this weekend.

if you don’t want to read below the cut: i’ve driven 24+ hrs for the sake of kpop and have 13 more to go, the concert was awesome AND i got offered the job that i’ve wanted.

yes, you read that right 24+ hours of driving. i moved to wisconsin about six months ago, but my best friend still lives in pennsylvania (where i’m from). so yes, i could have gone to the nct concert in chicago, but i drove all the way to pa (13 hours) so that i could take my friend to the concert in new jersey (which was another 4 hour drive). FRIENDSHIP.

she & i got to newark like 30 minutes before the concert started, got to the prudential center like 3 minutes before the concert started, and stood outside for like 10 minutes waiting for the freaking mobile tickets to load on my phone. cricket wireless sucks lmao but lesson learned: always load up your tickets at the hotel BEFORE you get to the venue.

thankfully we didn’t miss anything because they started about 10 minutes after 8pm. we had pretty good seats too, directly across from the stage and not too far back. i think they were technically p3 seats? i don’t remember.

the boys opened with cherry bomb, and each member got a little introductory dance break throughout the song. i don’t remember the rest of the song order, but they had a fantastic set list. there was a portion of the concert that was ballads & more mellow songs, and i nearly cried when they sang “no longer.” it’s not one i listen to very often, but i’ve never witnessed such heartfelt, vulnerable vocals live. it was so powerful and doyoung & taeil just simply amazed me with their talent (the other boys too, of course, but the two of them particularly stood out to me with the raw strength of their live vocals).

they also premiered three new songs from their upcoming album and i’m so stoked for the new music to come out next month!! “jet lag,” “highway to heaven,” and “superhuman.” it was so cute - after “jet lag,” they paused to talk a little, and haechan said something to the audience to the extent of “that was so nice, didn’t it almost feel like we went on a date together?” and all of the other guys were like SDLKFJINIO STOP IT HAECHAN.

after two hours, they wrapped up and said “we have just two songs left!” but of course everyone knows there’s going to be an encore. still, i saw people leaving after the boys left the stage, which was crazy to me. because once the boys came back, they premiered “highway to heaven” and “superhuman,” and i think they did some other songs too? WAIT after they did “superhuman” the oldest members went to get changed again while the younger members talked with us about the album. then the younger members changed while the older members did a contest to see who we thought was the coolest member lmao basically the whole encore added an extra 45-50 minutes of content. SO DON’T MISS IT.

anyway, the concert was incredible and nct 127 is so so talented and they all did such a good job with their english, too. they clearly put in a lot of work for this concert and i appreciate their dedication so much. 💕

after the concert my friend and i drove through the sketchiest part of newark to try to go to ihop, but ended up not eating there because it seemed so unsafe lmao probably the most stressful part of the trip.

yesterday after we left our hotel, we made a short trip to NYC even though we tell ourselves every single time that we’re not going to go into the city again. BUT there’s a kpop store and i wanted albums mwahaha (and also i needed more face powder from innisfree). i purchased the new stray kids & the new pentagon albums, and i’ll probably post some photos/videos of genie:us later. i’m so in love with it lol

got back to my house last night, and i have to drive another 3 hours today to get my friend back to her home. then i’m going to spend some quality time with my parents tomorrow, and on sunday my boyfriend, dog, and I are all piling into the car and making the 13 hour drive back to wisconsin.

WAIT AND I FORGOT THE BIGGEST NEWS

I GOT THE JOB

AHHHHHH

there’s this healthcare software company that i applied to work for back in november. they had a technical writer position open (basically someone who writes documentation, nothing creative). i applied and got rejected after a phone interview. okay, whatever.

end of january, i decide to try applying again. i had added some freelance writing experience to my resume and i hoped that might help my chances. this time i was invited on-site for an interview. i think that happened towards the end of february? they said “we’ll let you know one way or the other in two weeks.”

two weeks passes, then another week, and another week. i kept getting in touch with my hr contact about it and she said over and over “i’m so sorry, we don’t have an answer yet but i’ll let you know as soon as we do.” okay, cool. i’ll be patient.

in the mean time, i took a job doing copy writing for a small marketing company. the healthcare software company finally got back to me at the beginning of april, saying that it’s a no this time.

then last week, my roommate (my bf and i live with one of our friends) said he’s basically being forced to move to dubai for work, which means he can’t help us out with rent anymore, which means that my copy writing job will no longer be sustainable. i freaked out because now i have less than a month to get something figured out before he moves.

so i emailed my hr rep at the healthcare software company, saying ‘hey you considered me for a quality assurance position too, is there any chance that could work out since the writing position is a no go?’

and she got back to me this past monday saying ‘oh hey we actually just got approval to bring on more writers and we were talking about offering you the job. can i call you to chat about the details?’

UH YES OF COURSE YOU CAN

she offered me the technical writing job that afternoon, and i accepted wednesday morning. i’ll be making more than enough to support me and my bf (who can’t work right now due to a yet-to-be-diagnosed mystery illness - that sounds sassy but i swear it’s not, he’s actually very sick). i can actually afford rent and food for both of us and it’s like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

i don’t start until the beginning of june, but i am so so so excited. i can’t believe that i can actually make a living wage doing something with writing.

this ended up being way longer than i intended, and i don’t expect any of you to actually read this brain dump. i just wanted to share all of the fantastic things that are happening right now 💕

#blab post #nct 127 #neo city - the origin

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theliberaltony · 5 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

Nearly 20 candidates are now crisscrossing the country to court voters in early primary states, including Rep. Eric Swalwell who declared that he was running for president this week. But despite being one of the early-poll front-runners, former Vice President Joe Biden is still sitting on the sidelines for now, while the party embraces some of the lesser-known contenders.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, for instance, out-raised several well-known Democratic candidates, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, according to an ABC News analysis of candidates’ preliminary fundraising numbers from the first quarter of 2019. And in a Saint Anslem College poll of New Hampshire registered voters out this week, Buttigieg was in third place, behind Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 11 percent of the vote. A new Quinnipiac poll of California voters put Buttigieg slightly lower, tied in fourth place with Warren, with each earning 7 percent of the vote. It’s early yet, though, so whether Buttigieg’s bump in the polls will continue, or if another candidate will edge him out, remains to be seen.

Here’s the weekly candidate roundup:

April 5-11, 2019

Stacey Abrams (D)

The Georgia Democrat continues to hover on the periphery of the 2020 field as she decides whether to run for president or Senate (or neither). When asked during an interview with CNN whether there are too many Democrats running for office, she said, “No, I think that’s a false narrative.”

“The point of a primary is to winnow down the number of people who are actually going to be viewed by the public and go through the fisticuffs of debate,” she said.

Michael Bennet (D)

Days after announcing his prostate cancer diagnosis, the Colorado senator hit the campaign trail with back-to-back stops in early-voting states. The potential 2020 candidate returned to New Hampshire for his second visit over the weekend. He then jetted to Iowa on Monday for a meet and greet with the Polk County Democrats.

Joe Biden (D)

Despite capturing headlines last week over claims that he made several women uncomfortable by inappropriately touching them, Biden avoided controversy during a speech to accept a lifetime achievement for his work supporting cancer access and affordability, particularly for African Americans.

At the close of his remarks, he told the crowd in Washington, “I am convinced, as we make significant progress in cancer, the only truly nonpartisan issue facing the country, that the rest of the nation is going to say, ‘Dammit we can do anything. This is the United States of America.’”

With an announcement expected in the coming weeks, according to CNBC, Biden stopped at the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday for a panel discussion on the opioid epidemic. He will also deliver the eulogy for late U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings in Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday.

Cory Booker (D)

Booker, who formally announced his entry into the 2020 race in February, is hosting a hometown official kickoff on Saturday to launch his “Justice for All Tour” that will take him on a two-week trip across the country.

At the onset of the week, the New Jersey senator introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to form a commission to study reparations. Booker told The Root that he “unequivocally supports” reparations for black people. His bill is a companion to HR 40, introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the U.S. House.

“Since slavery in this country, we have had overt policies fueled by white supremacy and racism that have oppressed African Americans economically for generations,” he said. “[The bill] will bring together the best minds to study the issue and propose solutions that will finally begin to right the economic scales of past harms and make sure we are a country where all dignity and humanity is affirmed.”

Pete Buttigieg (D)

Earlier this week, Buttigieg traded barbs with Vice President Mike Pence after he criticized the former Indiana governor for his views on LGBTQ issues.

“If me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade,” he told a crowd at the LGBTQ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch. “That’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me — your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”

Pence’s press secretary responded to Buttigieg’s comments, writing in a tweet, “The last time we recall Pence even mentioned @PeteButtigieg was in 2015, after news that Pete came out, Pence said: ‘I hold Mayor Buttigieg in the highest personal regard. I see him as a dedicated public servant and a patriot.’”

The 37-year-old South Bend mayor, who announced his exploratory committee in January, is poised to officially launch his candidacy on Sunday at a rally in his hometown.

Julian Castro (D)

In the hours after President Trump touched down in San Antonio for a fundraiser, Castro held an opposing rally in the city, according to the Corpus Christi Caller Times. Admonishing the president’s hardline immigration policies, the former San Antonio mayor said: “People in San Antonio understand the value of immigrants. This is a city that has been built up by immigrants, and it’s one of the most successful cities in the United States. It’s a testament to the power of immigration over the generations.”

The former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development travels to Iowa on Sunday for his third trip to the first-in-the-nation caucus state since announcing his candidacy.

John Delaney (D)

Delaney, one of the first candidates in the field, emphasized his centrist platform on the trail in Pennsylvania to cast himself as a “different kind” of Democrat, according to the The Daily Pennsylvanian.

On Sunday, Delaney makes his 17th trip to New Hampshire, meeting with voters in Bedford, Nashua, Laconia, Meredith, Conway, Lancaster and Deerfield.

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

Gabbard, who launched her campaign in January, hit a significant milestone on Wednesday: reaching the 65,000 donor threshold needed to qualify for the first Democratic debate.

Thank you! I’m extremely grateful that over 65,000 of you have now donated to our campaign, ensuring our voice will be heard in the upcoming debates. For a small campaign that doesn’t accept PAC money, I knew we had to rely fully on the power of the people. Aloha & Mahalo! pic.twitter.com/Uw303e2JUh

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) April 10, 2019

“For a small campaign like ours without a big dollar donor network and a campaign that refuses PAC contributions, we knew we had to rely fully on the power of the people,” she said in a video posted on her Twitter account. “We’ve been blown away.”

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

The New York senator contended with past congressional votes this week as she addressed her controversial record on immigration during her tenure in the U.S. House while also embracing her relationship with former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

“When I was a member of Congress from upstate New York, I was really focused on the priorities of my district. When I became senator of the entire state, I recognized that some of my views really did need to change,” Gillibrand said during a CNN town hall Tuesday. “They were not thoughtful enough and didn’t care enough about people outside of the original upstate New York district that I represented. So, I learned.”

GIllibrand also said in the town hall that Clinton has given her advice about her presidential campaign and is a “role model for all of us.”

“Hillary Clinton put that 65 million cracks in that highest and hardest glass ceiling. She’s inspired the world by her bravery and courage,” Gillibrand said. “Secretary Clinton is still a role model for all of us.” But despite her admiration for Clinton, Gillibrand said that she believes former President Bill Clinton should have resigned after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Kamala Harris (D)

Harris signaled that she’s open to an all-female Democratic ticket in 2020, saying in an interview on SiriusXM Progress’s Make It Plain, “Wouldn’t that be fabulous?”

Harris landed in third place in a new Quinnpiac University poll of her home state of California. The poll found that Harris had the support of 17 percent of Democrats and voters who lean Democratic, putting her behind Biden (26 percent) and Sanders (18 percent).

She also made her third trip to Iowa earlier this week — focusing on the issue of raising teacher pay — according to her campaign.

John Hickenlooper (D)

The former Colorado governor took the stage at the Building Trades Conference in Washington to court the pro-union crowd, urging that the country “needs a president” that supports unions.

In his speech, Hickenlooper focused on his private sector experience as a business owner, saying that it will complement his ambitions in the public sector.

“I didn’t check off how many times I said you’re fired,” he told the audience, an apparent jab at President Trump. “I said you’re hired. … That’s why I am running for president.”

Hickenlooper will also make six stops in Iowa starting Friday, during his second trip to the state.

Jay Inslee (D)

Inslee, who has staked his 2020 candidacy on climate change, reinforced his focus on the issue Wednesday while seeking to show his broader record beyond climate.

“We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation, literally, who can do something about it,” the Washington governor said at a CNN town hall.

He also took aim at one key debate playing out across the 2020 field — reforming Senate rules and the filibuster. “We’re not going to be able to get health care done, or anything else for that matter, unless we get rid of the filibuster,” he said. “If the filibuster is still in Mitch McConnell’s hand come 2021, all hope is sort of down the tubes to be able to do real significant reform.”

Inslee travels to Iowa on Friday to visit community members who have been affected by recent flooding, according to his campaign.

Amy Klobuchar (D)

After announcing earlier this week that her campaign committee, Amy for America, raked in $5.2 million in the seven weeks after the launch of her campaign, Klobuchar stopped at a union conference in Washington to deliver a pitch to voters.

Politico reported that the Minnesota senator spoke about her grandfather saving money in a coffee can to send her father to college and her father’s struggle with alcoholism later in life.

“I saw him sink to the lowest valleys because of his struggles. He got three DWIs, and it was on the third DWI that he finally had to go and get treatment,” she said. “Because of his work, because of people that worked with him … just like people work with you, he was pursued by grace, and his life changed.”

Terry McAuliffe (D)

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is still considering a run for the White House, signaled that he is closer to making a final decision. “I have not made my decision yet. I am very close,” he said at the Building Trades Conference in Washington. “If I do decide, I’ll make a decision in a couple of weeks.”

McAuliffe spent most of his speech Wednesday touting his record as governor of Virginia — before underscoring his willingness to take on President Trump.

“I think when you’re looking for your next president, you have to look at the governors because they are CEOs,” he said. “I just want you to remember one thing — of all the candidates running, how many have actually wrestled a 280-pound, 8-foot alligator for a political contribution for $15,000.”

“If I can wrestle an alligator, I can sure as hell wrestle Donald Trump,” he said.

Wayne Messam (D)

After announcing his long-shot bid for president, Messam traveled to both South Carolina and Nevada, before heading to California on Thursday. The Democratic mayor of Miramar, Florida, kicked off a two-day visit in the state with a stop at the University of Southern California’s College Democrats meeting.

Seth Moulton (D)

The Massachusetts Democrat embarked on a tour through the early primary states of New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and, most recently, Nevada.

The former Marine, who is considering a 2020 bid, sought to bill himself as an “outsider” in his pitch to a core group of Nevada voters: veterans.

“I’ve always been an outsider,” Moulton said, according to the Nevada Independent. “I’ve always been willing to take on the Washington establishment. That’s been true in almost everything I’ve done, and I’m someone who doesn’t have a long political history. But I am someone who believes in this country.”

As Moulton inches closer to a decision, Politico reported that he is asking voters if he should run for higher office in digital advertisements running on social media.

pic.twitter.com/s9kHe5Qo3Y

— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) April 10, 2019

Beto O’Rourke (D)

The presidential hopeful recently told the Texas Tribune that he had a change of heart about a controversial vote he cast in 2016 on offshore drilling.

His campaign spokesperson told the news outlet that his vote to allow federal dollars to fund oil and gas exploration studies in the eastern Gulf was about trying to “get off of our foreign reliance on resources in oil and gas that has caused so much foreign wars and American lives and troops and resources.” But after speaking with voters on the campaign trail, the spokesperson said, O’Rourke “wouldn’t cast the same vote today.”

The former Texas congressman has been crisscrossing early voting states, bringing the style of his unsuccessful 2018 Senate bid against Ted Cruz to the rest of the country. After an 843-mile drive through Iowa, O’Rourke returns to South Carolina on Friday for his second trip since announcing his candidacy, for a three-day drive through Charleston, Clemson, Denmark, Beaufort and other communities.

Tim Ryan (D)

In a pro-worker pitch to a union audience at the Building Trade Conference, the newly announced 2020 candidate anchored his speech to his roots in the Midwest, pushing a populist message to the predominantly blue collar audience.

“The national emergency in the United States today is that the American dream for millions of Americans is on life support,” he began. He also took a swipe at Trump, without mentioning him by name: “Put the phone down, let’s get to work.”

But the native Ohioan then turned his criticism inward, to his own party, suggesting that Democrats don’t need a “savior” but someone who can “grind it.” He also added that the party should “not be so hostile to the free enterprise system, not be hostile to business.”

Bernie Sanders (D)

All eyes were on the two-time White House hopeful’s tax returns this week. Sanders, a millionaire, told The New York Times he would release 10 years of tax returns by April 15. He refused to do so in 2016, which brought comparisons to President Trump.

Sanders also introduced a signature piece of legislation Wednesday: the Medicare for All Act. The bill, which he has introduced several times in the past decade, is far more sweeping than previous versions; it would provide government-run, Medicare-style health insurance for all Americans.

“Health care is a human right not a privilege,” Sanders said. “Together, we are going to end the international embarrassment of the United States of America — our great country being the only major nation on earth not to guarantee health care to all as a right. That is going to end.”

Earlier this month, Sanders reported that his first-quarter fundraising numbers show that he pulled in an impressive $18.2 million. Sanders heads to several Midwest battleground states this weekend, holding rallies in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Howard Schultz (I)

The former Starbucks CEO, who has not formally entered the race, stopped in Johnson County, Kansas, this week to pitch running as an independent to voters.

Schultz said he plans to make a decision over the summer on running, according to the Kansas City Star. During his trip through Kansas, before continuing on to Arizona and Utah, he told a crowd at a local community college that “the extreme ideology of the Republicans and the extreme ideology of the Democrats do not represent the vast majority of Americans who are at the center of this country, and we have to unleash them.”

Eric Swalwell (D)

The U.S. House member from California officially announced his candidacy on Monday on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“It’s official,” Swalwell said. “Boy, did it feel good to say that.”

Swalwell also unveiled that gun control and student loan debt will be the centerpiece of his 2020 agenda on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.

“I’m telling folks, keep your rifles, keep your shotguns, keep your pistols, we just want the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous people,” Swalwell said. “Most gun owners believe that.”

At his first event as a presidential candidate, Swalwell visited Broward County — the site of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 students and teachers. “Throughout this campaign, there will be other issues that I talk about — health care, education and climate change,” he said. “But my pledge to you tonight is that this issue comes first.”

Elizabeth Warren (D)

Warren announced a $6 million fundraising haul in the first quarter from 135,000 donors. The average donation was $28.

While the Massachusetts senator bested two of her colleagues in the Senate — outraising both Klobuchar and Booker by $1 million — she still fell short of others like Sanders and Harris.

The announcement came on the heels of Warren releasing her 2018 federal tax returns, which revealed that she and her husband together made nearly $850,000 and paid about $231,000 in federal taxes after deductions on that income.

“I’ve put out 11 years of my tax returns because no one should ever have to guess who their elected officials are working for. Doing this should be law,” Warren said in a statement.

Andrew Yang (D)

Yang told ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” that his cornerstone universal basic income proposal — which would provide every U.S. adult with a $1,000 guaranteed monthly income — will prepare the U.S. economy for the 21st century.

“We have to solve the problems that got Donald Trump elected in 2016,” Yang said. “And to me, the main driver of his victory was that we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, the swing states he needed to win.”

Yang said he’s running to prepare the country for a future in which new technologies could cause a third of the nation’s jobs to disappear.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Kendall Karson

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swradiogram · 2 years

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Shortwave Radiogram, 14-19 April 2022: Digital modes that are probably not responsible for the temperature swings on Neptune

The Greek government has decided to delay the decision to eliminate shortwave broadcasting from March 31 or May 31. To help the Greek government in its decision, last week Shortwave Radiogram transmitted Greek text, as a demonstration of radio as a substitute for an increasingly censored and restricted internet. At the bottom of this email, you can see the Greek text received in Greece by our friend Merkouris. Videos of last weekend’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 249) are provided by Scott in Ontario and Frigid RF in Virginia (both Friday 1300 UTC), Merkouris in Greece (Saturday 0230 UTC Greek excerpt), and Mike R. somewhere in the USA (Sunday 2330 UTC excerpt). (And see the April meeting of the Palomar Amateur Radio Club in California with a demonstration of Fldigi, using Shortwave Radiogram audio.) The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is prepared by Roger in Germany. Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 252, 14-19 March 2022, in MFSK modes as noted: 1:34 MFSK32: Program preview 2:41 MFSK32: Surprising temperature swings on Neptune* 7:40 MFSK64: Fiber-optic cables through water pipes 12:07 MFSK64: This week’s images* 28.10 MFSK32: Closing announcements * with image(s) Please send reception reports to [email protected] And visit http://swradiogram.net We’re on Twitter now: @SWRadiogram * with image(s) Please send reception reports to [email protected] And visit http://swradiogram.net Twitter: @SWRadiogram or https://twitter.com/swradiogram (visit during the weekend to see listeners’ results) Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/567099476753304 Shortwave Radiogram Gateway Wiki https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Shortwave_Radiogram_Gateway

Shortwave Radiogram Transmission Schedule

| UTC Day | UTC Time | Frequency | Transmitter | |----------|---------------|------------------|-------------------| | Thursday | 2330-2400 UTC | 9265 kHz | WINB Pennsylvania | | Friday | 1300-1330 UTC | 15770 kHz | WRMI Florida | | Friday | 1500-1530 UTC | 15750 kHz DRM | WINB Pennsylvania | | Saturday | 0230-0300 UTC | 9265 kHz | WINB Pennsylvania | | Sunday | 2330-2400 UTC | 7730 kHz | WRMI Florida | | Monday | 0800-0830 UTC | 5850 7780 kHz | WRMI Florida | | Tuesday | 1430-1500 UTC | 9955 kHz | WRMI Florida |

The Mighty KBC transmits to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on 5960 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK is at about 0130 UTC. Reports to Eric: [email protected] . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/. “This is a Music Show” Most of the show is a music show, but the host transmits some MFSK-64 text and image near the end of the broadcast. It’s transmitted on WRMI, Thursdays at 0200-0300 UTC on 5850 kHz (Wednesday evening in the Americas). Also look for a waterfall ID at the beginning of the show. [email protected] www.twitter.com/ThisIsAMusicSho/ @ThisIsAMusicSho https://thisisamusicshow.com Pop Shop Radio from British Columbia, Canada, includes “a whole variety of pop music, such as records from the 1960s and 1970s that were played on Top-40 radio stations not only in North America but also on offshore radio and stations like Radio Luxembourg.” The programs now include some MFSK32 text and an image. Website: popshopradio.ca. Twitter: @popshopradio1 Email: [email protected].

Merkouris in Greece received the Greek text and accompanying image, 9 April 2022, 0230-0300 UTC, 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania. See also his video and decode of all the images. …

#shortwave digimodes

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voaradiogram · 2 years

Text

Shortwave Radiogram, 14-19 April 2022: Digital modes that are probably not responsible for the temperature swings on Neptune

The Greek government has decided to delay the decision to eliminate shortwave broadcasting from March 31 or May 31. To help the Greek government in its decision, last week Shortwave Radiogram transmitted Greek text, as a demonstration of radio as a substitute for an increasingly censored and restricted internet. At the bottom of this email, you can see the Greek text received in Greece by our friend Merkouris. Videos of last weekend's Shortwave Radiogram (program 249) are provided by Scott in Ontario and Frigid RF in Virginia (both Friday 1300 UTC), Merkouris in Greece (Saturday 0230 UTC Greek excerpt), and Mike R. somewhere in the USA (Sunday 2330 UTC excerpt). (And see the April meeting of the Palomar Amateur Radio Club in California with a demonstration of Fldigi, using Shortwave Radiogram audio.) The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is prepared by Roger in Germany. Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 252, 14-19 March 2022, in MFSK modes as noted: 1:34 MFSK32: Program preview 2:41 MFSK32: Surprising temperature swings on Neptune* 7:40 MFSK64: Fiber-optic cables through water pipes 12:07 MFSK64: This week's images* 28.10 MFSK32: Closing announcements * with image(s) Please send reception reports to [email protected] And visit http://swradiogram.net We're on Twitter now: @SWRadiogram * with image(s) Please send reception reports to [email protected] And visit http://swradiogram.net Twitter: @SWRadiogram or https://twitter.com/swradiogram (visit during the weekend to see listeners' results) Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/567099476753304 Shortwave Radiogram Gateway Wiki https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Shortwave_Radiogram_Gateway

Shortwave Radiogram Transmission Schedule

The Mighty KBC transmits to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on 5960 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK is at about 0130 UTC. Reports to Eric: [email protected] . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/. “This is a Music Show” Most of the show is a music show, but the host transmits some MFSK-64 text and image near the end of the broadcast. It’s transmitted on WRMI, Thursdays at 0200-0300 UTC on 5850 kHz (Wednesday evening in the Americas). Also look for a waterfall ID at the beginning of the show. [email protected] www.twitter.com/ThisIsAMusicSho/ @ThisIsAMusicSho https://thisisamusicshow.com Pop Shop Radio from British Columbia, Canada, includes "a whole variety of pop music, such as records from the 1960s and 1970s that were played on Top-40 radio stations not only in North America but also on offshore radio and stations like Radio Luxembourg." The programs now include some MFSK32 text and an image. Website: popshopradio.ca. Twitter: @popshopradio1 Email: [email protected].

Merkouris in Greece received the Greek text and accompanying image, 9 April 2022, 0230-0300 UTC, 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania. See also his video and decode of all the images. ...

#shortwave digimodes

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theonyxpath · 6 years

Link

Hope everybody had a great time reading this blog last week with guest blogger Mighty Matt McElroy. Big thanks to Matt for stepping in and posting!

A bunch of stuff has happened in these last two weeks that I haven’t had a chance to comments on, so I’m just going to go down the list and cover as much as I can from my own slightly warped viewpoint.

1- If you read this section before jumping right to the Project Progress section, which I know all insight-lovin’ folks do, then I’ll note that some things that moved forward last week are now, or still, in bold this week. I just wanted to get caught up myself on what was new or newish, and so I emphasized a few projects again rather than chance missing them.

2- Last week, our Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought Kickstarter campaign wrapped up and we were just wowed by how well the campaign ran! The enthusiasm of the backers and the awesome communication encouraged by our “Kickstarter Concierge” James Ring-a-Ding Bell, in-house dev Dixie Cochrane, and EX3 developers Robert Vance and Eric Minton really made for a fun and exciting KS!

Backer suggestions were mixed in liberally with the outline of plans concocted by the team, and we were able to pass over 30 Stretch Goals. The Dragon-Blooded Companion alone is going to be a big book of additional DB material that truly complements and adds to the main book. It’s a great perk with these KSs to be able to provide a really solid and useful set of additional projects that have turned the Dragon-Blooded book into a “mini-line”.

Boggans illustration by Drew Tucker

3- The big thing that went on all of last week and culminated on Saturday, was the launch of the pre-order for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition from our friends, and licensing partners at White Wolf. It’s a helluva package of books and accessories, and as Mighty Matt noted last week, they are being distributed into stores by our other friends at Modiphius.

A few folks wrote to me expressing their concerns; everything from us losing the license, to how we were being ripped off by White Wolf. But really, not a whole lot of our gang here who follow Onyx Path, because, as you all know, none of this was out of line based on the info I and the rest of our team have been sharing with ya’ll along the way since the news of the WW purchase first hit our social media several years ago.

This makes me proud and glad; that we’ve been able to explain and illuminate the ins and outs of Onyx‘s license and what that means to both us, and the bigger picture of how we fit into the continued revival of the great WW game lines, to all of you these last couple of years. It’s not easy being as transparent as we strive to be in the midst of a sale from one company to another of the game lines you are licensed to create projects for.

And, in case anyone did miss where we are in all this: we still have the license to create WoD projects (and CofD and Exalted), whether for the 20th Anniversary lines or for 5th Edition WoD. We continue to work with the gang at WW to make these new projects work together with their bigger plans for the WW IPs across all media.

Chopper illustration for Pan’s Guide by Brian Syme

4- Another group of folks we are affiliated with is the Bodhana Group, the therapists and teachers that I’ve talked about before who use gaming as a way to help adults and kids. We’re proud to be able to help them with their efforts in a lot of ways, and this year they are having Eddy Webb as a guest at their Save Against Fear convention in central Pennsylvania. (Details about that in the Conventions section of the blog, below).

Let me pass on a request from them, if you have an interest in what they do or want to help generally: could you go onto their Facebook page and “like” the group? It would help them greatly in their efforts to be able to point there as an indicator of how many folks support them. And personally, my thanks to anyone who can pop on and “like” them. https://www.facebook.com/thebodhanagroup/

Illustration by Michael Gaydos

5- Eddy is also part of our team of three “in-house developers” who are not only stepping up across the board and helping your favorite projects and gamelines get finished up and out to you, but all three of them – Eddy, Dixie Cochrane, and the always-delightful Matthew Dawkins – just posted their 2nd episode of the Onyx Pathcast podcast on Friday. This one features an interview with one of our favorite up-and-coming writer/developers Meghan Fitzgerald, who has been absolutely impressive not just with the quality of the work she can do, but with the range of game lines she can handle so very well.

It’s a good one, if only to hear Matthew offer up an emergency question to Eddy and Dixie for use if they get stuck (he was unable to actually interview Meghan himself), and for them to ask her the question right in the beginning. Boom! Check it out here: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

6- Finally, this Wednesday we are opening the Slarecian Vault: Scarred Land Community Content site on DTRPG.com, and you can access the content creation materials early, like right now, if you have ideas and want to get in on it ASAP, although nothing goes on sale until Wednesday.

This is the second of our Community Content sites, along with Canis Minor, the Realms of Pugmire CC site, and we’re pretty excited to put another one up. The Scarred Lands has a lot of folks from over a decade ago who have some excellent ideas from the games they’ve been playing, and we’d love to see those go up on the site. Yet, fear not true believers, this won’t be the last Community Content site we open; we have Scion and Trinity Continuum ones in the works!

This is, after all, the truth of Onyx Path: we have…

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Now that the massive Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought Kickstarter campaign has triumphantly finished, we’re prepping for a puppy of a different color with Fetch Quest, the adventure card game set in the Realms of Pugmire!

As we try and find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

The devs have added a whole bunch of new game lines’ dice and rolling bg’s and got caught by a bug Apple needed to fix, so be sure to update your app and soon that should be fixed.

There’s been tweaks to all elements of the UI, you can now preview every die type in the store, and you can use multiple die types per roll! Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

(The Solar Anima special Dice above)

Promethean: The Created and Demon: The Descent dice on a Demon: The Descent tabletop

Hunter: The Reckoning and Mage: The Awakening dice on a Mage: The Awakening tabletop

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

Our latest offering is the Mage 20 Cookbook, now in a convenient Kindle ebook version! https://www.amazon.com/Mage-Cookbook-World-Darkness-Enlightened-ebook/dp/B07C71BRDC/

Nook version is coming soon!

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

And even more books are now on Amazon and the Nook store!:

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

And here are the Champions of the Scarred Lands fiction anthology and the Huntsmen Chronicles anthology for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition!

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

Wave 3 of our extra Kickstarter projects is now on sale at IPR!

Here are the direct links for the Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras Prestige Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Dark-Eras-Prestige-Edition.html

Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Dark-Eras-Storytellers-Screen.html

Deluxe Exalted 3rd Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Deluxe-Edition.html

Ultra-Deluxe (Orichalcum) Exalted 3rd Edition: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Ultra-Deluxe.html

Exalted 3rd Edition Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Storytellers-Screen.html

EX3 Chibi Bookmarks: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Chibi-Bookmarks.html

Deluxe W20 Shattered Dreams: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/W20-Shattered-Dreams-Deluxe-Edition.html

W20 Shattered Dreams Storytellers’ Screen: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/W20-Shattered-Dreams-Storytellers-Screen.html

Plus price adjustments on M20, Book of the Wyrm, Anarchs Unbound and a few other projects!

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

To celebrate the opening of the Slarecian Vault for Scarred Lands, we’re going to put four Scarred Lands posters on sale Wednesday via DTRPG.com. These 12″ x 18″ posters feature both clasic SL covers with Hollowfaust and the Blood Sea, and new images from the new book, like the SL PG cover wrack-dragon, and a hearty band of adventures well met and ready to divvy up their magical treasure.

Ask the darkness, and it shall answer: the Beast: The Primordial Player’s Guide PDF and physical book PoD versions will answer your questions now on DTRPG.com! http://drivethrurpg.com/product/236135/Beast-Players-Guide

The Beast Player’s Guide expands on the material presented in Beast: The Primordial, with additional information on the Families and Hungers, what it feels like to be a Beast and experience the Devouring, and how to commune with the Dark Mother. You’ll also find two new Families and two new Hungers!

The book also includes a plethora of new Atavisms, Nightmares, Merits, and Birthrights, as well as systems for creating smaller, subservient versions of the Horror, new forms of Inheritance, and details on the mysterious Obcasus Rites.

There are some things that even a Demon fears – Night Horrors: Enemy Action for Demon: The Descent has arrived in PDF and physical book PoD versions: http://drivethrurpg.com/product/236133/Night-Horrors-Enemy-Action

“Fighting the Machine is like fighting the ocean. You literally cannot hurt it. Doesn’t matter how much poison we dump into the ocean. We’ll only kill the things in it. We’ll never kill it. Same with the God-Machine. Kill angels, traitors, stigmatics, cultists, cryptids, whatever, you’ll never hurt the Machine Itself. No, that doesn’t mean we stop trying. You stop trying, you drown. Screw that.”

—Mr. Bliss, Guardian Inquisitor

Night Horrors: Enemy Action includes:

• Dozens of Storyteller characters, including Unchained, angels, exiles, cryptids, and stigmatics, for use as antagonists, allies, or just inspiration

• Multiple plot hooks and story seeds for your Demon: The Descent chronicles

• A brief look at cults in Demon, including the Ten Thousand Names of God, a secret society fueled by the God-Machine

When you need a Changeling 20th character and a way to get started with C20: here are the C20 Ready Made Characters in PDF and physical book PoD versions! Available on DriveThruRPG.com! http://drivethrurpg.com/product/225641/C20-Ready-Made-Characters

Running a one-shot game of Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition? Starting up a chronicle with new players who aren’t sure what to play? Looking for some examples of how the various kiths might look?

Thanks to our generous Kickstarter backers, these thirteen ready-made characters cover each of the Changeling kiths. Each character is provided with background, roleplaying suggestions, art, and some potential motleys and story seeds — everything you need to immerse yourself in the Dreaming!

Coming NOW as both PDF and physical book PoD on DTRPG, we reveal The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb, a Jumpstart adventure for Pugmire. www.drivethrurpg.com/product/232337/The-Secrets-of-Vinsens-Tomb–A-Pugmire-Jumpstart

A cat living in Pugmire disappears, but neither the police dogs nor the cats of the Cat Quarter know why. When zombies attack the heroes, however, all signs point to an invasion by the Monarchies of Mau. But how does this intrigue tie into the lost tomb of the first king of Pugmire?

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb is a Pugmire story for three to six characters. This jumpstart contains all the rules and characters you need to play — just grab some dice and go! You can also use this adventure with the full version of Pugmire.

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb contains:

• An evocative and mysterious setting that’s both family friendly and deep enough to create compelling stories.

• A summary of Pugmire’s traditional fantasy rules system. It’s designed for streamlined play, with an emphasis on cooperation and action over competition and violence.

• A complete adventure for a Guide to run for three to six players. Also useful for Guides running a full Pugmire game of first or second level characters!

• Six ready-to-play characters, so you can jump into the action.

Can your good dogs discover the secret of Vinsen’s Tomb?

Also available NOW, are two physical PoD spell card packs and PDFs for Pugmire: the Artisans‘ and the Shepherds‘ spells.

Appearing now on DriveThruRPG are the PDF and PoD physical book versions of Arms of the Chosen for Exalted 3rd Edition! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/226224/Arms-of-the-Chosen

Take up the panoply of legendary heroes and lost ages, and awaken the world-shaking might of their Evocations. Before the dawn of time, the Exalted wielded god-metal blades to cast down the makers of the universe. In an ancient epoch of forgotten glories, Creation’s greatest artificers forged unimaginable wonders and miracle-machines.

Now, in the Age of Sorrows, kingdoms go to war over potent artifacts, scavenger princes risk everything to uncover relics of the past, and the Exalted forge great arms and armor on the anvil of legend. These treasures are yours to master.

Discover the mystical power of the five magical materials and the secrets of creating your own Evocations. Wield weapons of fabled might and don the armor of mythic heroes, making their puissance your own. Claim Creation’s wonders: the miraculous tools of the Chosen, living automatons, flying machines, hearthstones, and more. And unleash the mighty warstriders, titanic god-engines of conquest and devastation, to once more shake Creation with their footfalls.

CONVENTIONS!

Matthew Dawkins, Steffie de Vaan, and Mighty Matt McElroy will be at the UK Games Expo in June running games and talking shop with fans and retailers.

Prep is also underway for Gen Con 2018 in August, which takes place in Indianapolis, IN. In addition to our booth presence, be sure to check out the games and panels in the Gen Con Event Schedule.

From Fast Eddy Webb, we have these:

Eddy will be speaking at Broadleaf Writers Conference (September 22-23) in Decatur, GA. He’ll be there to talk about writing for interactive fiction, and hanging out with other writers who have far more illustrious careers. http://broadleafwriters.com/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference-speakers/

Eddy will also be a featured guest at Save Against Fear (October 12-14) in Harrisburg, PA. He’ll be running some Pugmire games, be available for autographs, and will sometimes accept free drinks. http://www.thebodhanagroup.org/about-the-convention

If you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Fetch Quest (Pugmire)

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

WW Manuscript Approval:

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Editing:

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Scion Hero

Trinity Continuum – Got notes and text for both Aeon and the Core.

Wr20 Guide for Newly Departed – Everything with Gaydos.

Geist 2e

The Realm

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Wraith 20 Screen – I’ll pull this together while doing errata. I got the list from Dansky of what tables to pull… just want to make sure they are right.

Fetch Quest – Working on the logo.

EX3 Dragon Blooded

Monarchies of Mau – Layout is firmed up to Chapter Two… aka the seven hour soul breaker. Rest should go quick

Changeling: the Lost 2 – With Josh.

Proofing

Cavaliers of Mars – Splats and map should be in by end of the month.

Scion Origin – Inputting Neall’s first round of corrections.

Boggans – Yep. That happened.

At Press

Beckett Screen – At shipper.

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – At fulfillment shipper. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.

Prince’s Gambit – Being sent to the US, expected at fulfillment shipper this week.

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary– Deluxe edition printing now.

Scion Dice – At fulfillment shipper.

Wraith 20 – Errata being input.

SL Champions of the Scarred Lands Anthology PoD – Re-uploaded and processing.

Pugmire – Pan’s Explorer’s Guide (or whatever) – Prepping PoD files.

Book of Freeholds – PoD processing.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Tomorrow is MAY DAY! Let’s hear it for Flora, and the onset of greenery and flowers (at least in this part of the world). If you are in the UK, you might espy Matthew Dawkins holding onto a ribbon and dancing around the maypole or watching Morris dancing in a small local village while a particularly sinister minister looks on.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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orbemnews · 3 years

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Biden leans on his Capitol Hill experience while pitching big Covid-19 relief deal He’s told Democrats over a series of meetings he’s willing to reconsider some aspects of his plan, in particular whether to more narrowly target direct payments going to Americans. But in most other areas he hasn’t budged. And in some conversations he has warned against getting strung along by Republicans in a repeat of the opening days of the Obama administration. The mindset of the senator-turned-president has been on full display this week, with Biden welcoming 10 Republican senators to the White House on Monday, dialing into the Senate Democratic weekly lunch on Tuesday and calling House Democrats and inviting the leaders of key Senate committees to the Oval Office on Wednesday. Since being sworn in two weeks ago, Biden has invited more than one-fifth of the Senate to fireside meetings in the Oval Office. He’s held smaller but lengthy sessions at the White House with longtime allies and surprised Republicans with private phone calls to discuss the plan. While the ultimate outcome of the flurry of outreach remains an open question, given negotiations over the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill are in their earliest stages, it represents the biggest burst of legislative activity from both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue in years. “I think we’ll get some Republicans,” Biden said at the start of his Oval Office meeting on Wednesday, though he did not expand on his hopes for a bipartisan result. Earlier in the day, the President signaled to lawmakers he’s unwilling to wait for Republicans to come along and has said he’s unwilling to entertain the GOP Covid-19 relief package that comes in at nearly a third of the cost of his own. And though it remains Biden’s impulse to convince some Republicans to support his plan, Senate Democrats are laying the groundwork for passing relief without any Republican votes using a procedural shortcut known as budget reconciliation. “I’m not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people,” he told Democratic House members during the morning telephone call, saying it was “not in the cards” to get behind Republicans’ $618 billion package after proposing a $1.9 trillion bill himself. “We’ve got a lot of people hurting in our country,” he said on the call. “We need to act fast.” But he also warned his party about the dangers of engaging in intraparty battles, contending their strength is in their unity with narrow majorities in both the House and the Senate. “We hold a small majority in the House, and the barest majorities in the Senate, and we’re gonna succeed or fail together,” Biden said. “There have been three Democratic presidents in 28 years. Each one faced a tough midterm loss that cost a lot. It happened in ’94 and it happened in 2010. We don’t want to let that happen here. So, let’s stick together.” As he enters the third week of his presidency, Biden is making clear that he intends to be at the heart of any deal-making on what he hopes will be his first signature piece of legislation. And Biden has shown that he respects the legislative branch, rather than viewing it as a subsidiary of his party or administration, which former President Donald Trump often suggested. The fact that Biden has returned to an entirely different Washington is underscored in myriad ways, including the fact that only 31 current sitting senators — less than one-third of the chamber — served with him before he was elected vice president in 2008. Of the 10 Republicans that Biden met with on Monday, he served only with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. He has relationships with others, including Rob Portman and Mitt Romney, but did not serve with them in the Senate. Yet of the 10 Democratic committee chairmen and leaders he huddled with on Wednesday, Biden overlapped with eight of them during his 38-year tenure in the Senate, which affords him far more familiarity with the key players as his plan heads down a path known as reconciliation. The President’s advisers say he made a decision to become more directly involved in the talks than even he had initially planned, believing that he could help jumpstart the negotiations. In one-on-one conversations over the last two weeks, Biden heard from lawmakers who had been starved of presidential attention over the past four years. “It’s his instinct to negotiate,” a top Democratic official outside the White House tells CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe Biden’s private dynamic with his aides. “Whether they want him to or not, he will be involved.” The President and his aides have cast their proposal as an urgently needed injection of funds for a lurching vaccine rollout plan and a jolt for a moribund economy. Included in the measure is billions for vaccines, direct $1,400 payments to households, funding for school reopening and more aid to small businesses affected by the pandemic. Biden has stated the greater risk is passing something too small rather than approving too much aid. Delaware Sens. Chris Coons and Tom Carper, both Democrats, met with Biden for nearly an hour Wednesday morning on a wide range of issues. Amid the push for a bipartisan Covid relief bill in the Senate, Coons said he provided “insight and feedback on what we’ve heard from our Republican colleagues and what’s possible while still keeping an eye on the urgency of relief.” There was a recognition during the conversation, Carper noted, that “to the extent that we can work with our Republican colleagues, then let’s do that.” “At the end of the day, if we can’t, then that’s fine, but I am thrilled that the President met with Susan Collins and nine of my colleagues this week and we encourage more of that discussion,” he said. For Biden, like all new presidents, the clock is already rapidly ticking toward the mythical 100-day mark of his term that is an early metric of progress. But even before taking office, Biden bristled at the notion that a honeymoon period even exists anymore. “I don’t think it’s a honeymoon at all,” Biden told reporters in December, speaking of the urgency surrounding the Covid-19 relief bill. “I think it’s a nightmare that everyone is going through and everyone wants it to end.” He also dismissed suggestions that his approach to bipartisanship was naïve. “You have a different team in town,” Biden said. “I’m not going to villainize the opposition.” After a long career in Washington that spanned nearly a quarter-century, one thing remains the same: success is judged on the outcome of negotiations, not the frequency of presidential meetings. CNN’s Manu Raju, Lauren Fox, Ryan Nobles, Ali Zaslav and Betsy Klein contributed to this report. Source link Orbem News #Biden #BidenleansonhisCapitolHillexperiencewhilepitchingbigCovid-19reliefdeal-CNNPolitics #Big #Capitol #Covid19 #deal #experience #Hill #leans #pitching #Politics #relief

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theliberaltony · 5 years

Link

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a new weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

There were no new entrants into the Democratic primary field this week, but several potential 2020 hopefuls stepped into the spotlight to criticize President Trump’s proposed border wall and to call for votes on funding bills that would end the partial government shutdown that is now in its 21st day.

Democratic leaders advocated for an end to the impasse as quickly as possible, arguing that the border wall was an expensive and unnecessary solution to an exaggerated problem and one that could be negotiated at a later time without paralyzing the government. Most of the public, meanwhile, placed responsibility for the shutdown on Trump’s shoulders, according to recent polls, providing fodder for eventual stump speeches.

Jan. 4-10, 2019

Michael Bennet (D)

The Colorado senator changed his Twitter handle from @BennetForCO to @MichaelBennet, renewing speculation that he was interested in seeking higher office. Sources close to Bennet previously told Colorado Public Radio that he was considering a run for president.

Joe Biden (D)

The former vice president is in the final stages of deciding whether to run for president, The New York Times reported Sunday. Biden, who led some of the first Democratic national and Iowa caucus polls, is “skeptical” that other Democrats considering a run can defeat Trump, according to the newspaper.

Biden’s political action committee outraised those of some of his potential rivals, bringing in over $2 million in 2018, Politico reported Tuesday.

Biden’s brother Frank told The Palm Beach Post that he has been encouraging his big brother to run and that he thinks he will. Frank Biden also said that his brother would have won several states that Hillary Clinton lost in 2016, including Pennsylvania. According to Frank Biden, a group of Biden family members there voted for Trump.

Michael Bloomberg (D)

According to a Bloomberg Philanthropies press release, Bloomberg will be in Texas on Friday for announcements in Austin and San Antonio related to his philanthropic “American Cities Climate Challenge.” The former mayor of New York City will be joined by the mayors of Austin and San Antonio for meetings and a press conference.

Cory Booker (D)

The New Jersey senator was part of a bipartisan group that announced this week that they would re-introduce legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. The bill seeks to prevent a sudden dismissal of the special counsel by providing for an expedited judicial review of a firing and ensuring that any such decision is made solely for legitimate reasons.

According to CNBC, Booker met recently with Wall Street donors, one of whom said anonymously that “the meetings aren’t officially about running, but of course they are about running in 2020.”

Sherrod Brown (D)

Brown’s wife, Connie Schultz, said a decision on a presidential campaign will come “within the next two months,” in an interview with CNN.

The Ohio senator responded to Trump’s Tuesday Oval Office address on the government shutdown, saying that the situation at the border was “not a national emergency” but one that Trump created himself.

Julian Castro (D)

On Saturday, Castro will formally announce his decision about a 2020 presidential campaign at an event in San Antonio, where he previously served as mayor.

In an appearance on ABC News’s “This Week” on Sunday, Castro criticized Trump’s leadership and defended Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s call for a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent, noting that it was once as high as 90 percent.

On Monday, Castro, who led the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration, traveled to Iowa, where he met with Democratic activists and outlined his vision for the future. On Tuesday, he stopped in Nevada to meet with Latino leaders.

John Delaney (D)

Delaney this weekend will open campaign offices in the Iowa cities of Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. After a weekend of traveling through the state, he is scheduled to meet with county-level Democratic officials and deliver a presentation in Davenport on future trends in trade, education, health care and climate change, among other issues.

Jeff Flake (R)

Flake on Monday tweeted a defense of his replacement, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, after a national Republican committeeman referred to her as “Senator Madonna” in a Facebook post and said she was elected in part because of “dumb ass people.”

No, @kyrstensinema won because she ran a good race and had a message that resonated with Arizona's voters. The sooner we Republicans recognize this, the sooner we will we be in a position to win the next contest. https://t.co/iMNwvMWxKJ

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) January 7, 2019

Jay Inslee (D)

On Saturday, the Washington governor will give the keynote address at the annual summit of the Nevada progressive advocacy organization Battle Born Progress.

Inslee signed the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge” on Tuesday, promising not to accept donations from the political action committees, executives or groups affiliated with the fossil fuel industry. “This is just one small statement that they should not continue to have undue influence over our decision-making over the existential threat against our nation,” he told HuffPost.

Inslee and fellow Washington Democrats announced legislation Tuesday that would give state residents a “public option” for health insurance, The Seattle Times reported.

Last Friday, Inslee began to solicit applications for clemency from Washingtonians convicted of marijuana possession misdemeanors in the years before it was legalized.

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

In a column in The Hill on Tuesday, the Hawaii congresswoman criticized Democrats for “weaponiz[ing] religion” in relation to the November questioning of judicial nominee Brian Buescher, who was asked by the Senate Judiciary Committee about his Catholicism and Knights of Columbus membership. “While I absolutely believe in the separation of church and state as a necessity to the health of our nation, no American should be asked to renounce his or her faith or membership in a faith-based, service organization in order to hold public office,” wrote Gabbard, who said she nevertheless opposed Buescher’s confirmation.

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

Gillibrand has been reaching out to Wall Street executives to evaluate support for a potential presidential campaign but has been met with divided responses, CNBC reported.

Kamala Harris (D)

Harris released two books on Tuesday: a memoir, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” and a children’s book, “Superheroes Are Everywhere.”

In interviews with ABC News’s “Good Morning America” and “The View,” Harris said that she was not ready to announce whether she’d decided to enter the presidential contest but said that she thought the country was “absolutely” ready for a female president of color. The California senator criticized Trump over the shutdown, labeling his proposed border wall a “vanity project.”

John Kasich (R)

In response to Trump’s Oval Office address on the shutdown, Kasich issued a statement criticizing the president for not “putting the country ahead of his politics and being more flexible with his goals.” The former Ohio governor added that “the President and Democrats need to learn how to compromise and put the American people first.”

Amy Klobuchar (D)

The Minnesota senator made news Wednesday when she tweeted that her attempt to meet with attorney general nominee William Barr was denied because of the government shutdown.

I tried (as did Blumenthal) to get meeting w/AG nominee Barr and was told he couldn’t meet until AFTER the hearing. The reason given? The shutdown. Yet shutdown didn’t stop him from other mtgs. This is a 1st for me w/any nominee as a member of judiciary. #Uncool #BadSign

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) January 10, 2019

The impasse appeared to be resolved Thursday morning, however:

Thanks everyone. My meeting is now set for this afternoon with AG nominee Barr. Coffee will be hot.

https://t.co/jUn2AONuQg

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) January 10, 2019

Beto O’Rourke (D)

Beto O’Rourke grew a beard — one (unlike that of his former rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz) that received decidedly mixed reviews from the internet after he debuted it during a Facebook Live video on Tuesday.

Facial hair aside, O’Rourke’s Facebook Live video featured his thoughts on Trump’s proposed border wall. The former Texas congressman said such a barrier “would cost $30 billion and take private property and cause death and suffering as more asylum seekers are pushed to ever more hostile stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border” as he shared views of the border from El Paso.

According to The Wall Street Journal, O’Rourke’s aides are plotting a cross-country road trip for the Democrat as he continues to consider a presidential bid. The newspaper reported that such a trip would be made solo, without advisers or press, and avoid Iowa and other early-voting states.

Despite indications that O’Rourke is leaning toward a run, Politico noted that advisers to the former congressman are not returning the calls of prominent Democrats in New Hampshire and Iowa.

Richard Ojeda (D)

Ojeda, who is one of the few officially declared presidential candidates, plans to resign from his West Virginia state Senate seat next week to focus on his campaign.

“I cannot — I will not — allow myself to not be sitting in my seat and leave it empty,” the Democrat told West Virginia Public Broadcasting on Wednesday. “It needs to be filled with somebody who’s going to go in here and just going to do their best to help the state.”

Bernie Sanders (D)

Sanders held a press conference Thursday to introduce legislation focused on lowering prescription drug prices — an issue that was at the forefront of his 2016 presidential campaign. The three bills would peg U.S. prescription drug prices to median prices in five other major countries, allow the health and human services secretary to negotiate prices under Medicare Part D, and permit drug imports from abroad.

Politico reported Thursday that a former Sanders presidential campaign adviser made sexually charged comments to another staffer and forcibly kissed her at a gathering after the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 2016. (The accused adviser denied the allegation in a statement to Politico.) The account was the latest in a string of stories alleging sexism and harassment within Sanders’s campaign.

Should Sanders run for president this cycle, his campaign will not be managed by Jeff Weaver, who held the position in 2016. Weaver told CNN that he would likely take the position of senior strategic adviser, a decision that came before the emergence of the allegations against the campaign, according to a CNN source.

Tom Steyer (D)

The billionaire Democratic activist announced Wednesday that he would not run for president “at this time” to instead focus on his effort calling for the impeachment of Trump. Although his words left the door open for a campaign at some point in the future, Steyer said that for now he intends to concentrate on pressuring Democratic leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch impeachment proceedings in the House.

Elizabeth Warren (D)

After announcing her presidential exploratory committee last week, Warren spent a busy weekend in Iowa at several organizing events and roundtables. The Massachusetts senator’s stump speeches focused on her desire to combat income inequality, making health care more affordable and empowering women.

This weekend, Warren will attend an organizing event in Manchester, New Hampshire, during her first visit to the state since the launch of her exploratory committee.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Adam Kelsey

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